Opening Night

Making It Through
First of all I am totally biased - words cannot express the respect I have for Gena Rowlands - she is my favorite actress. You can't help but be "seduced" by her - she is so lovely and has so much class. Even when the movie stinks bad she is at her utmost best. This movie confused me at first -but most Cassaveteses movies do. They frustrate and make one sweat with anger and anxiousness - and that's what makes them so good. Although it confused me it kept my attention and then I finally got it. Gena pulls you in making you sympathize with her plight while at the same time making you glad she gets what she deserves. I was a little disappointed that John had a small part - I love the way he's so cynical, distrusting, and funny at the same time. It's wonderful to see a man enjoy giving his lady the spotlight. I was new to his movies - absorbing them is an experience. How does the saying go - I was lost but now I'm found! If you're looking for entertainment that makes...

this movie is amazing
so...I don't know about the dvd. I have only ever seen this as a movie on the big screen (thank you rep houses and indie cinemas!). but, if you like cassavettes films, opening night is one of his best. gena rowlands gives a mind-blowing performance as a woman dealing with and running from her fears and responsibilities. it's a gorgeous and heavy movie about how staggering it can be to come to terms with who you are and where you are in your life, vs. where you think you should be. of course, as it's a cassavettes film, it's also a lot about what you bring to it as well.

it won't please everyone(see one-star review) but it impresses the hell out of me every time I see it.

Brilliant 'actor's film'
Truly outstanding film about the theater, actors and alcoholism. Only Cassavetes and Rowlands could get this kind of truth on to film - don't miss it! A huuuuuge hit here in Europe!

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The 39 Steps

Criterion does it again...
I just ordered the Criterion Hitchcock "set" which includes "The 39 Steps", a movie I've watched many times over the last 20 years, but NEVER in a form this crisp and well-transfered; it's been restored beautifully, and as with all the films("My Man Godfrey" and "The Lady Vanishes", to name two)that have been kicking around with duped, grainy, fuzzy prints for the last 60-some years that were FINALLY restored-it's almost like watching a new movie-even if you'd thought you'd memorized all the dialogue and action! There's just so much that's missed in a bad print. Here, we have Hitch at his finest....there just isn't a dull second in this film. It's really as sure-fire as any movie ever made, in terms of entertainment. I believe this too was Hitchcock's first huge breakout international hit, although happily for us, he didn't "go Hollywood" for another 3 years or so(and gave us the later "Lady Vanishes"-another Criterion...

It doesn't get better than this
I won't argue the merits of DVD or recount the plot--but I do want to say this is a practically perfect film; it has it all: humor, suspense, romance, action, intrigue. I think it is Hitch's best British film, with the "The Lady Vanishes" coming in second. All of the actors are great, the script is fantastic, and Hitch's direction is unparelleled: the way he moves the camera, uses cuts, and frames the shots. This is such a fun and well-made film I almost hate seeing some of his later Hollywood movies which may have featured superstars like Bergman and Grant, but were made under the constrictive thumb of either Selznick or Hollywood moral conventions. "The 39 Steps" is a flat out wonderful movie, and Hitchcock was an absolute master.

"The 39 Steps" As It Should Be Seen
A stylish blend of mystery, romance and light humor, "The 39 Steps" is one of Alfred Hitchcock's finest achievements. Unfortunately, the public-domain status of this 1935 classic has resulted in plenty of inferior video copies at cheap prices. Avoid them! You're better off purchasing the Criterion release, which features a stunning 35mm print and some nice bonuses. "The 39 Steps" represents the highpoint of Hitchcock's British period and should be seen in the best possible quality. In terms of value for money, the Criterion version remains second to none.

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Walkabout

Coming of age in the outback of Australia
A very unusual film for its time, Walkabout combines many themes in what is ostensibly a tale of survival in the Australian outback. I suppose it was a bit too racy for American audiences as Roeg focuses lovingly on a young nubile Jenny Augutter but that would be missing the point of this movie which contrasts the sterile life of a young British girl and boy with an Aborigine man-child.

The film depicts the initial bleakness of the Australian desert which the two children find themselves thrust into after the father mysteriously chooses to commit suicide, but eventually shows the immense diversity of the outback as the young Aborigine leads the lost children back to civilization. Roeg uses a variety of cinematic techniques to paste together his poetic vision, ultimately developing the sexual tension between Agutter and the Aborigine, culminating in a fateful courting ritual which Agutter appears oblivious too. However, the star of the movie is the little boy, Luc Roeg, who forms...

Thank you again, Criterion
In Gus Van Sant's Elephant, we follow several teenagers around for half a day, with little or no dialogue, and with nothing to connect us to the characters. We watch a father drive his kid to school, drunk. We watch three girls vomit in the bathroom after eating lunch. We watch two teenagers shoot up the school, ala Columbine, all without any given reason. That film won the Golden Palm and Best Director awards at the Cannes Film Festival. Although I was not a fan of the film at all, in fact I was disgusted by it, I have learned to understand why Van Sant chose to shoot his film the way he did; little or not plot, and no back story for the characters, and little audience interaction with the characters.

Walkabout is somewhat similar to the style that Van Sant used in Elephant, and reportadley also in his films Gerry and Last Days, but it was done over 30 years prior. Its a beautiful film, told quite simply, over the course of an unkwown number of days. We get to know...

wonderful culture clash, with simmering adolescent sexuality
I saw this soon after it came out, and as an adolescent was utterly mesmerized by the story. With very little dialogue and virtually nothing explained, it was a profound experience of shocking loss, disorientation in a deadly yet beautiful environment, and finding one's way back. Accustomed to the pat formats of hollywood, I had never seen anything like it: little resolution, reflection, or overt lessons. Yet it stimulated a great dialogue with my father, who had insisted that I accompany him to it in the face of my adolescent unwillingness. Though I have not seen it since 1972, its images stuck with me as if in a dream.

Now, nearly 40 years later, I bought it for my daughter, to nurture her interest in anthropology. I am happy to say that she was swept into it in the same way, wondering what it meant and wanting to learn more. What better success could there be for a film experience than that?

The story begins in a normal city in AUstralia. A father takes his...

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The Browning Version

Beautiful, Powerful, Heart-Rending, Delicate, Deft!
Terence Rattigan's screenplay for "The Browning Version" expands and greatly improves his short stage play of the same name. The title refers to a translation by the poet, Robert Browning, of "Agamemnon," a classical Greek tragedy. The film's protagonist, Andrew Crocker-Harris, an English private school teacher brilliantly played by Michael Redgrave, once wrote a translation of "Agamemnon," and has been trying for years to teach 14-year-old boys to read the Greek original. Because of poor health and general dissatisfaction with his performance, he has resigned his position.

In the tragedy, Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, aided by her lover. In the film, Crocker-Harris is spiritually dead, partly from spousal "murder," although the slaughter has been reciprocal, and his wife, Millie, is in worse shape than he. In tragedies, the hero starts out happy and becomes miserable. In this film, full of the sadness of professional and domestic failure, Crocker-Harris moves away from...

Perhaps the finest movie I have ever seen -- a true classic
I watched this movie many years ago on PBS simply by chance. I have since acquired my own copy and have watched it many times. The story and characters have remained with me ever since. Michael Redgrave gives a performance that is, quite simply, stunning. Redgrave plays an aging and depressed schoolmaster at an English boarding school who, despite a promising start as a teacher many years before, has now failed as a teacher and as a husband. His wife is a nightmare -- conniving, duplicitous and unfaithful. His tolerance of her maliciousness, and of his own failings, is touchingly played out in one heartrending scene after another. Into this malaise comes a young student who, unlike his fellow students, recognizes the brilliance and potential of the old schoolmaster. When he gives the old man the present of a book of poems by Browning, it reawakens a long lost spirit. If you see no other movie, see this one -- please. You'll never forget it. I never will.

Probably Redgrave's Greatest Screen Performance
In a classroom of a British public school modeled on Harrow, students are waiting for their classics master, Andrew Crocker-Harris. "I don't think the Crock gets a kick out of anything," says Taplow, one of the students. "In fact, I don't think he has any feelings at all. He's just dead, that's all...He can't hate people and he can't like people. And what's more, he doesn't like people to like him. If he'd give me a chance, I think I'd quite like him." "What"" says another student. "Well, I feel sorry for him, which is more or less the same thing, isn't it?"

Crocker-Harris (Michael Redgrave) is a middle-aged teacher, pedantic, precise, not so much dead inside as numb. He has taught 18 years at the school as the lower fifth classics master. He was once a brilliant scholar and could see a wonderful career as a teacher. His wife, Millie (Jean Kent), has become a shrew. She had her ambitions, too, and they eroded in the face of the couple's incompatibility. Millie longs for...

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Mala Noche

art house release from 1985 too long unavailable
Mala noche is a 'bad night.' Skid Row in Portland is full of bad nights for the central character, a clerk in a pocket packet store. Sweaty, sexy Mexican kids come to the store for booze and cigarettes. One in particular throws him over into a sea of lust and unrequited love.

Who is a 'bad knight' and who is a knight in shining armor is never really resolved. The clerk tries to teach the Mexican day laborer to drive, but maybe he just wants to get away on the road in the Dodge Dart, icon of all things PNW.

Gus Van Sant produced this in 1985, the same year he produced the music for his William S. Burroughs CD Elvis Of Letters. The 'sensual despair' that haunts nearly every Van Sant film was forged in these Portland days of the Director.

I saw this film just once at a film festival in Seattle when it first came out, and I have ached to see it again, if for no other reason than to...

Gus Van Sant's Auspicious Debut
Mala Noche was Gus Van Sant's feature film debut and an early example of what would become known as New Queer Cinema in the 1990s. More significantly, it was the first film in an informal trilogy set in Portland, Oregon that would also include Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho - Criterion Collection. One can see, in retrospect, Mala Noche as the thematic blueprint for these two other films: a fascination with street life and the characters that inhabit it - hustlers, store clerks and street kids.

The film has a gritty look thanks to the murky black and white cinematography of John Campbell (who would work with Van Sant again on My Own Private Idaho and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues) that suggests film noir (with skewed angles and everything filmed in...

Van Sant's first, and not his best.
Before Gus Van Sant assumed the role of indie figurehead with earnestly progressive biopics and earnestly plotless art-house fodder, he made low-budget films about marginal people with risky lifestyles. There were three of them: Mala Noche (the first), Drugstore Cowboy (by far the best), and My Own Private Idaho (watchable, but already starting to lose the plot). Mala Noche is about a grungy grocery store clerk who becomes attracted to, and wants to be accepted by, a group of illegal immigrants from Mexico.

Van Sant's use of black-and-white in this film was largely dictated by budget constraints, but it effectively uses darkness to make the city look dangerous. The use of shadow may have...

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Vengeance is Mine

Savage.
Again, Shohei Imamura's total control of his craft shows itself in his brutal masterpiece Vengeance Is Mine. This true story follows Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata), a con artist, thief and killer. The film starts with Enokizu's capture and uses unusual, but brilliantly effective editing and pacing to unravel the story of his life. We see Enokizu as a troubled boy in a strict Catholic home and turn into a scam artist and womanizer. As an adult Enokizu's resentment towards his religous father is compounded by rumors of an affair with the father and Enokizu's wife. As his hatered grows stronger and his crimes become more serious, we see first hand Enokizu's downward spiral into murder and the devastating consequences for those around him.

The disturbing nature of this film doesn't lie in it's gore factor (there are very few actual murder scenes), but rather with the non-judgemental view taken of the killer. Imamura neither glorifies nor condems Enokizu. He simply lets the character...

Portrait of an unrepentant killer
We like killers. Not your run-of-the-mill murderer thugs or violence-prone thieves who kill for profit, but the inverted psyche of serial killers is a fascinating subject. They hold the fascination of a predator species, like the great white shark or the alligator, dangerous and somehow cool. We don't want to meet them, and hope to god that they never walk though our door, but from the safety of a screen it is a thrill to flirt with their danger and ride along with them for a little while down a truly dark path. Especially in the hands of a master director like Shohei Imamura.

"Vengeance is Mine" ("Fukushu suruwa wareniari") is Imamura's take on Japanese serial killer and fraudster Akira Nishiguchi who went on a 78-day killing spree in 1964, claiming the lives of five people before being captured. Re-named to Iwao Enokizu in the film, he is a cold and reptilian character, able to lie and murder without any apparent shadow of a conscious, only taking the actions that...

On many complexities of the human soul...
In the beginning of Vengeance, there is a key scene of the film's main character. He is unrinating, in order to wash his hands off the blood of his victim. He then notices he's under a tree, wipes his hands with his jacket and picks an apple. He takes a bite and spits.

However, the point -we understand as the story unfolds engrossingly to contain many other characters in similarly true moments- is in fact to lay bare the human soul.

Immamura achieves very successfuly this main objective, through his immense storytelling powers: the over the top performances he pulls from his superb cast and his brilliant melding of the many subplots.(The editing here, in my opinion, is one the best works ever done in a movie.)

In a little over two hours, Vengeance speaks volumes about the many complexities of the human soul and offers many opportunities to confront its dark side. Thus, it is not an easy movie to watch. Yet it offers many insights to the Japanese culture, and is a great point...

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La Promesse

Best of 1998
This is not a warm fuzzy picture by any means, but it is film for people who love people and appreciate the higher instincts of mankind that transcend nationality, race, gender, and age. Does one follow instinctual bonds to family, or honor and committment to a worthy promise.

I absolutely loved this film...and so did my Parisian friends to whom I recommended it.

Flat-out my favorite film of the 90s
If you haven't seen this one, well... Its emotional impact on me was devastating. I saw it when it opened, and a friend and I, who are normally quite talkative after a good movie, walked at least two city blocks afterwards before either of us said a word. I compare it in style to "The Dreamlife of Angels" (hand-held cameras, naturalistic acting, a plot that unfolds gradually and builds to a harrowing finale, and no musical score) and in theme to, of all things, "The Apartment" (main character is waist-deep in wrongdoing but has a crisis of conscience that forces him to re-evaluate himself and his actions). Please find a copy somehow, or go ahead and spend the money here -- I don't want Amazon to get angry with me.

Promise Keeper!
Belgium documentary film makers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne deliver an unflinching glimpse into the horrors and exploitation of undocumented workers and the opportunistic people who prey on them in order to improve their own sordid, wretched lives. The directors also have an amazing eye for casting as all the actors are so natural that you think you are watching a documentary, rather than a compassionate piece of fiction.

The heart and soul of the piece is Igor portrayed by a stunning looking fifteen year old Jérémie Rénier (Summer Hours (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]) in an amazing first performance. Every good story needs a great villain and here it supplied by Igor's father Roger in a bravura performance by Olivier Gourmet (Rosetta [Region 2 Import - Non USA Format]). The lying, cheating, brutal Roger...

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Clean, Shaven

One of the best indie flicks in recent memory
I caught attention of this hardly known gem at a local video store, noticing bold statements as "Dare to watch it" and "Boldest, most unforgettable film of the year." This is one film where you can believe the hype. Not since "Henry: Portrait of a serial killer" has a movie really shown an in-depth cinematic representation of the mind of a serial killer. But "Clean, Shaven" is a step above films like "Henry" and "Man Bites Dog". Winner of many awards, it tells a simple story of Peter Winter, a very dangerous schizophrenic just released from an institution, and his search for his daughter, while at the same time police are trying to catch up with him. Peter Greene is absolutely convincing as the deranged schizophrenic...he shows no emotion as he shaves his head and cuts his scalp in the process, nor is oblivous to pain during a very notable scene involving his fingernail and a very sharp object. And Kerrigan's excellent...

Jawdropping Cinema
My, oh my...This is the direction that more filmmakers should take. I don't believe that I have ever been so impressed by the imagery of a film from a first-time director as this. Lodge Kerrigan sees angles, shots, and displays mood better than most experienced directors, bar none. Picking Peter Greene to play the lonely schizophreneic is a stroke of casting genius, and all the more amazing, given Greene's penchant for self-destructiveness. The movie is very disturbing, particularly if you have children, and I wouldn't hesitate to keep them out of the viewing room, but the attention to detail is truly jawdropping, given the minute budget. This film was made over the course of 2 years, and although Greene doesn't appear to age, Kerrigan's film shows a tremendously well thought out visual flair. Visually, it reminded me of some early David Lynch works, minus the strange pointlessness and perverse sexuality. Altogether, a wonderful first effort, and an amazing, although...

Disturbingly Clever!
Clean, Shaven will shake the audience as they follow a young schizophrenic man frantically attempting to find his adopted daughter. The young man is traumatized by serious hallucinations and severe paranoia that emotionally and socially shake his everyday life . As the audience is following the footsteps of the young man, it is next to impossible to avoid attributing some additional characteristics to his other bizarre behaviors. These attributions will influence the audience's perception of the young man and his behavior among other people. Clean, Shaven uses the psychological disorder of a young man as an engine to create a story with true realism that will, in the end, cause pondering.

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Rocking Horse Winner

above and beyond the film
This film drips atmosphere. A creepy, gothic, moral tale of sorts, given a classic British treatment. Not only is the presentation of the film above par - it looks great - the entire package is stellar. Between the original story reprinted in its entirety, a reading by John Shea, and another film interpretation by Michael Almeryda, shot in Pixilvision, this has to be the be-all, end-all examination of a written piece and its various adaptations. Really cool. Enough said.

Overlooked British gem gets solid DVD treatment
I agree with the other reviews here. This is an unusual but very effective little fantasy based on DH Lawrence's most famous short story. Apparently, this was a pet project of John Mills, who produced the film and appeared in a key supporting role. The child actor is suprisingly good, and the cinematography is creative and appropriately creepy.

This DVD has some of the most unique extras I've ever seen. Basically, Home Vision Entertainment has packaged it as a collection of different interpretations of Lawrence's story, and the entries are very interesting. Best of all are the Almereyda short film and a full copy of the original story in place of liner notes. HVM have teamed up with Criterion in the past, and they do not disappoint here. The transfer is fine.

The only thing that keeps me from giving this a full 5-star rating is that, unlike Criterion, HVM hasn't provided any substantial info on the feature film. This is an oversight in my opinion because this...

Unusual British Film
"The Rocking Horse Winner" is adapted from the out-of-print short story by D. H. Lawrence. An upper-middle class family in post-war Britain is strapped for cash and continually spending beyond their means. The mother is played by Valerie Hobson, who starred as Estella a few years earlier in the extraordinary adaptation of David Lean's "Great Expectations." She is impatient with her husband's relatively low wages and wishes continually for more funds, seemingly not caring about the source of the money. Her young son (John Howard Davies, who later produced "Fawlty Towers") hears her pleas and soon is betting on horse racing with the help of their gardener, Bassett (played by the peerless Sir John Mills). Surprisingly, the boy seems to be rather lucky and begins to win, but complications soon arise.

The "Rocking Horse Winner" is not particularly well-known, and it definitely deserves a larger audience. The film is highly enjoyable and unpredictable, with some...

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Bulldog Drummond Escapes

There's a better way to own these films
This set contains:

BULLDOG DRUMMOND ESCAPES
Starring Ray Milland, Guy Standing, Heather Angel, Porter Hall, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive, Fay Holden, Clyde Cook and Walter Kingsford.
Directed by James Hogan(1937)

BULLDOG DRUMMOND COMES BACK
Starring John Howard as Bulldog Drummond and John Barrymore as Inspector Neilson of Scotland Yard. With Louise Campbell, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive, J. Carrol Naish, John Sutton and Helen Freeman.
Directed by Louis King(1937)

BULLDOG DRUMMOND'S REVENGE
Starring John Howard as Bulldog Drummond and John Barrymore as Inspector Neilson of Scotland Yard. With Louise Campbell, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive, Nydia Westman, Lucien Littlefield, John Sutton.
Directed by Louis King(1937)

BULLDOG DRUMMOND'S PERIL
Starring John Howard as Bulldog Drummond and John Barrymore as Inspector Neilson of Scotland Yard. With Louise Campbell, Reginald Denny, E.E. Clive, Porter Hall, Elizabeth...

Lighthearted British crimefighter saves the day on this DVD!
This is a great deal of a DVD. Two features are presented for your viewing pleasure, starring the very entertaining precursor to The Saint, Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond.

Created by novelist Herman C. 'Sapper' McNeile, "Bulldog" Drummond was a Captain in World War I. After the war, Drummond missed the life of action his military career offered. He joined the police force, and then resigned to become an independent player in the game of crime and punishment.

While each film is only about an hour long, don't let that dissaude you. You'll get a lot of action and fun packed into each movie.

In the first feature, "Bulldog Drummond Escapes", a young and handsome Ray Milland plays the famous action-seeker Captain Drummond. Wonderful as always, Milland portrays the character with such whimsy, you'll be hooked right away.

Drummond sets out to rescue the beautiful heiress Phyllis Clavering from the unscrupulous forces keeping her prisoner for her fortune...

LESS THAN "SUPER-DUPER"
Perhaps we should just be grateful that these nine rare titles are available. Then again, "minimally happy" seems more apropriate. Sound quality is O.K. on all titles, however picture quality leaves much to be desired. It appears as though the source material came from one of the old time 16 MM "basement dupers". Fuzzy picture, washed out faces, poor contrast, etc. Had I been aware of the very poor picture quality, I probably would have passed. But, coming from Alpha Video, I should have been forewarned. They are just like a box of chocolates (you never know what you'll get). So, I remain "minimally happy" yours; Don Kruse, Memphis.

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El Norte

Much Better Than Survival Shows
I purchased a copy of this film in the 80's. It is one of the most powerful statements about the kinds of things which were happening in Central America during a time when most Americans lived in belief of their government's lies. It also is a most powerful statement about family and the strength one draws from that connection. The real problems in adjusting to a different culture without losing those values with which one has been raised is also a theme of this movie. I still rank it as one of the best movies I have ever seen. I would like a copy again as mine disappeared to one of the people to whom I lent it. If it becomes available in either DVD or VHS I would certainly recommend the purchase and I would be first in line. El Norte.....que magnifico!!!!!!!

EL NORTE
I have never seen a better movie than this one, I will never see another movie like this one.
It is a "masterpiece", it is the only movie that is based on the reality of the world (filmed in Guatemala, Mexico and United States) not only it showed the life of the 80's (the massacres of people by the governments of our countries) and it also tells how and why most of us came to this country "The North" seeking not only refugee but also a new life after being abused and tortured by the law enforcement of the Central American governments. This is the case of a brother and sister who's father is decapitated and tortured by the Guatemalan soldiers just because they don't agree with the way rich people treated their countrymen. THE BEST MOVIE EVER !... Subtitled both English/Español and Español/English. A must have, a must see.

Illegal immigrants in the Promised Land. Eye opening!
El Norte depicts the plight of a brother and sister. They are Mayan Indians living in Guatemala but after their father is murdered in a rebellion and their mother is arrested, they have to flee their country to save their lives. They are headed north, through Mexico and then on the United States, which, like so many immigrants before them, seems like the Promised Land of electricity, flush toilets and big cars.

First they have to travel through Mexico and make believe they are Mexicans. When they finally get to Tijuana they have the difficult task of finding a way across the border without being robbed by the many unsavory characters who all compete for their small amount of money. Their first attempt ends in failure but eventually they make it by crawling on their hands and knees through a sewer pipe where they are attacked by rats. Once in Los Angeles their lives seem to improve, but they soon discover the reality of being illegal. This is not a happy story and the...

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Tokyo Story

Are you kind to your parents?
Like many of Ozu's films, "Tokyo Story" ("Tokyo Monogatari") examines a very simple stage in life, one that I hope most of us will be lucky enough to encounter at some time or another. In this case, it is how we treat our parents once we no longer need them for survival. Are they a bother? Do we resent their old-fashioned ways and slower pace? Are we perhaps a bit too eager to shuffle them to the sidelines?

The story seems so simple, an elderly couple leaves the country to visit their children who have moved away to Tokyo. Country folk meet city folk, age meets youth, life meets death. There are no big blow-ups, no crisis points reached or contrived dramas, just life flowing along as it does. In Ozu's gentle hands, the entire story is told between the lines, with perhaps not a single sentence of direct dialog spoken in the film. Under the calm surface is an ocean of depth, emotions flowing with an unstoppable power, yet never able to breach the veneer of...

Never before have I been so moved by a film
Ozu's "Tokyo Story" is simply the most emotionally profound film I have ever seen. It is the sort of film that, after seeing it, may easily change you. I originally purchased the film because I was incredibly interested in the "Ozu style". There are many aspects of this little Japanese man's style, including shots of nature to break up the story, the tatami mat camera angle, the unmoving camera, and the shooting of characters speaking directly into the camera (which makes it all the more profound, it puts the viewer into the story). Ozu scarcely EVER drifted from this style, therefore it MUST have been quite incredible, for he never had the desire to change it. However, although I was compelled by the extremely elegant filmmaking style, it was the emotional impact that sticks with me the most. The story felt very slow as it unwound, with much of the dialogue feeling very small talk-ish. However, despite the fact I was initially disappointed by this small talk-like...

"None can serve his parents beyond the grave"
Often voted one of the greatest films of all time, Yasujiro Ozu's most famous film (made in 1953, but not released in the US until years later) follows an elderly couple as they leave their seaside town where they live with their youngest daughter, Kyoko, to visit their two eldest surviving children, Shige and Koichi, in Tokyo, stopping to meet their youngest son, Keizo, in Osaka along the way. Although their children seem to mean well, they are greatly inconvenienced by their parents' visit and do not take time off from work to show them around the city, instead asking their widowed sister-in-law Noriko to squire them about instead; Koichi's young sons treat his grandparents with sullen rudeness. Finally, Shige and Koichi dump their parents off at a hot springs resort not far from Tokyo, where the elderly couple feel out of place. On their return by train home, the mother becomes mortally ill, and the grief-stricken children and Noriko must come bury their mother and must face up to...

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Babette's Feast (English Subtitled)

5-Star Meal, 5-Star Cinema
The feast of the title doesn't take place until well into the film. In fact, the majority of the film is spent telling the story of 2 godly sisters and the choices they made in life. Both sisters passed up true love and the promise of success in order to remain faithful to their religious beliefs. Instead they pass their lives assisting their minister father and carry on his work after his death. They continue their quiet lives past mid-life until one of the sisters' former suitors sends them a Parisian refugee, Babette. Babette spends 14 years with the sisters as cook, her only link to her former life being a lottery ticket that a friend in Paris renews for her every year. One day she wins the lottery and decides to use the money to prepare a sumptous dinner for the sisters and their small congregation. More than just an epicurean delight the feast is an outpouring of Babette's gratitude.

If the plot sounds thin, be assured it's anything but. The story is as rich and...

AN EXQUISITE MOVIE THAT GREATLY BENEFITS FROM DVD!
I don't think I can add any more information about the wonderful story itself in light of all the superlative reviews found here. If you've seen it, you know it's a classic that is definitely worth owning, to be viewed and enjoyed repeatedly. If you've never seen Babette's Feast, you owe it to yourself to see it and find out what people mean when they say they experience a film. Yes, it's that good and that powerful. And the best part of it all: no guns, no explosions, no sex, no vulgarity.

The DVD is, without a doubt, THE format for this movie. The print has been considerably cleaned up and brightened. What a difference with my "old" fuzzy VHS copy! The widescreen format benefits this film tremendously. The sound is crisp and even, with no sudden drops or surges in volume. The DVD offers three language tracks: the original Danish/French, English, and Spanish. I personally recommend that you keep the Danish/French track with English subtitles. It's the only...

But this really *is* Caille en Sarcophage!
For years I had heard that this was a good movie, but I resisted seeing it. How could a Danish movie about a dinner be all that compelling? I finally broke down and rented it - and watched it, stunned. This is truly a great film.

The story is simple. Two pious Danish sisters hire a French maid, Babette, out of a sense of charity. Fourteen years later, Babette wins the lottery. Out of her winnings, she proposes to serve the sisters and their fellow religionists a meal.

The film is simple. And like all things that are truly simple, it is a very, very rich feast.

The film can be enjoyed on many levels, but it is an overtly Christian film; and the feast is the Lord's Supper. Babette's gift to the sisters and their community is the gift of grace. Unasked for, unearned, and of inestimable value.

The sisters were daughters of a stern Protestant who had formed a devout community. When the sisters were young and beautiful, they were each tempted by the chance to have great...

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Bulldog Drummond in Africa

The Gang's All Back
Though H.C. Snapper McNeil's Bulldog Drummond can be traced all the way back to nitrate film of the silent era, certainly the most fun is derived from the "B" series, of which, "Bulldog Drummond in Africa" offers plenty. All the regulars fans of this series love return in this one, and it has tons of atmosphere augmented by humor and some nice pacing from director Louis King.

This incredibly entertaining outing has Bulldog (John Howard) once again being sidetracked on the eve of his wedding to Phyllis Clavering. Heather Angel gets ample screen time as Hugh's cute and fabulous girlfriend and shines like the African sun during midsummer.

The solid and stalwart Tenny (E.E. Clive) is at Bulldog's side while bumbling but loyal pal Algy (Reginald Denny) runs last second errands, desperately hoping no new adventure will arise to interfere with the nuptials. When Phyllis sees Colonel Nielson being kidnapped from Greystoke Manor by spy Richard Lane (J. Carrol Naish),...

Okay entry in this series!
This one is okay for it's genre. Nothing special but a good supporting cast including J. Carrol Naish, H.B. Warner and Anthony Quinn helps. A short running time of 58 minutes won't put you to sleep either. Originally a Paramount release, this is a Congress Films reissue or TV print (probably a dupe at that!) and like most of Alpha's product, it leaves something to be desired. At least it looks like the source material was film rather than VHS tape. If you like the Bulldog Drummond series, you'll probably find this one entertaining.

Preserving a Military Secret
Bulldog Drummond in Africa, 1938 film

The story begins with a view of Parliament and Big Ben in London at night. Hugh Drummond inspects a stamp. Hugh and Tenny are confined to their home to keep them out of trouble. Hugh calls Algy about the tickets and trousers. "What'll I do?" No telephone calls either. Richard Lane visits Colonel Neilson, he asks for secret information about a radio wave disintegrator. Phyllis Clavering sees Neilson carried out to a car! The butler gives a name: Richard Lane. Can they get to Hampton Heath to stop the airplane? No. The police order Hugh against flying. Will there be a trick? Yes. "Welcome to Arbi" in Spanish Morocco.

Recognize those people at the British Embassy? Mistaken identification? No, we see the villains. Will they plant a bomb on Hugh's airplane? Hugh returns to land, after this the bomb explodes! Tenny has a hidden pistol. "Be careful!" Lane questions Neilson. Is Neilson lying? Can he trust Lane? Hugh and Algy prowl...

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Party Crashers

Now THATS what I call fair and balanced
I'm open minded about the Tea Party, but I've been very skeptical of the way they've been portrayed in the media. This movie was as a fair a look at the movement as you could ask for. It's just the facts. Whether good or bad, it let's you make up your own mind about them. I personally found myself liking them more after the film than before it, even if I don't consider myself one of them.

More journalism should be approached this way. This is a movie anyone interested in the Tea Party should see!

Great educational video
Wow! Finally my curiosity is satisfied about the Tea Party. I really didn't understand what they were all about. This was a very balanced and I thought, honest and easy to understand history of the movement's beginnings.

The real deal
Finally a good movie about the tea party. We see a lot of liberal media bashing but this movie tells the history of the tea party and explains the issues clearly. Good watch, highly recommended.

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Moto 4: The Movie

Excellent film for dirt riding enthusiasts
This film is awesome! Moto 4 displays an excellent soundtrack for all riding scenes, a nice mix of mx and enduro, and great camera work. Really, the camera shots and slow mo makes me wanna go ride and film!

If you liked the other moto movies, you will not be disappointed. This is the best one yet!

Hard Core Riding
Once again the Moto series of movies does not disappoint. Incredible aerial filmography of the worlds best offroad riders in different terrain from the Carmichael Farm to sand tracks in Europe. My sons and I watched it 3 times over the 48 hour rental period.

Excellent - but this title is FREE on NetFlix
This is a great Moto movie. I have been watching these types of movies since the 90's. This is definitely a great one. Highly recommended. However, you can watch it for free with Netflix Streaming subscription. Just sayin...

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The Good Witch's Gift [HD]

...silver bells and wedding bells for a good witch...
2010's THE GOOD WITCH'S GIFT marks the third entry in Hallmark's fabulously whimsical series as we catch up with Middleton's most mysterious resident, Cassandra Nightingale (Catherine Bell), and her friends, the Russell family. The story opens one week before Christmas, and Cassie and her fiancé, Chief of Police Jake Russell (Chris Potter), have finally set a date for their wedding. Surprisingly, it's the methodical Jake who suggests that they get hitched on Christmas eve.

Cassie, as is her wont, goes with the flow, although seven days is a seriously daunting time frame to put together a wedding. It might take a miracle. It might require... magic. Or, at the least, lots of not panicking. Can Cassie keep a cool head and mow down each obstacle that surfaces?

Lessee, bad investments have reduced the town's mayor and his meddling wife into broke-arse people and compels the mayor's wife, Martha Tinsdale (Catherine Disher), to go job hunting. When she decides to...

Wish Hallmark would give us all 5 movies!
The Good WItch series are the best "feel good" movies I've ever watched. I'd buy all 5 at one time if they'd put them out!

excellent movie
The Good witch Series is an inspiring movie to watch! I wish they would put the Good witch's garden on amazon. Buy the Good witch and enjoy. It is worth the price and you will laugh, cry and be inspired by these movies. Absolutely Magical!!!! great cast and Hallmark Channel has a hit with the Good witch series!!!

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Brave

Wonderful story for girls
I've read some of the bad reviews, and they seem focused on a few things: 1) Scary scenes, 2) Nudity, 3) Lack of romance. Well, my three year old is super brave so I do agree that a lot of sensitive littles may have an issue with the movie, but it's not really an issue in our household. Nudity? Well, that's kind of laughable as it's an animated movie. I guess some people would rather hear fart humor and characters calling each other jackass ("Shrek"), and if that's you then skip this one, but it's really just two quick scenes and not in a scandalous way. And about that lack of romance... one of the reasons I love this movie for my daughter is the lack of romance for the main character. In fact, the whole plot is about teenager Merida trying to change her "fate" which is to get married before she's ready. She passionately pleads during one speech to the parents of her suitors to let their children decide when they are ready for marriage and to choose their own spouses. This is beyond...

Pixar's First Fairy-Tale Hits The Mark!
Pixar Animation Studios has always been known for their unique approach to filmmaking. They have always put the story first and foremost, something that so many other studios seem to take for granted. They also know the rest of the ingredients to add to make their films stand out from the rest: Great characters, lots of heart, and a goodly quantity of humor.

While not continuing the 21st century tradition of turning the fairy-tale on its head, as in the case of "Shrek", "Brave", feels like a rediscovered story by Grimm's with an unmistakably Pixarian flavor. Legends and myths abound in Scots folklore, and the writers at Pixar didn't have far to go in order to come up with their own story, one that is at once relevant, quite original, and yet entirely congruous with one's expectations of the perfect fairy-tale. As fresh and surprising as any of the studio's previous successes, I enjoyed it immensely, and could watch it many times over without growing tired of it. It's hard...

For every mother, daughter, and/or Warrior
I don't enjoy every box office hit animated movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed Brave. The ending theme may be about bravery, but the story is rich in family relationship and in choosing who you are, who you want to be and how you treat others. It's a great movie to take your kids to see with you.

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The Last Metro

A true classic
One of Truffaut's and Deneuve's best pictures. It has warmth, history, a sense of the absurd, excellent pacing, and a bit of suspense. It's also has more a linear storyline then many French films. All of the performances are excellent.
Two Warnings:
1. Avoid dubbed versions (Deneuve's sense of humor is in her voice, not on her face, resulting in a mirthless character when dubbed).
2. The new Fox version changed the sub-titles and wrecked some of the best lines.

Truffaut at his best
I was first drawn to this film when I read a news article that this film had been considered by many French critics to be the best French film of the 80's. I couldn't have agreed more with that judgment when I saw it. Truffaut goes beyond telling a story of love and tragedy in Nazi-occupied France, it shows how intensely he feels about art and theater and how inseparable they are from human life. Theater is a big part in the lives of the central characters and hence a key ingredient of this film as well. Truffaut uses that fictional theater and interweaves that with real lives so seamlessly that it sometimes blows your mind away. I think in many ways it is an extension of 'Day for Night'. A terrific achievement, to say the least.

Peerless Dramatic Performance
During the nazi occupation of Paris, when missing the last metro meant a long and dangerous night on the streets, everyone must play a part. There are great sub-plots related to freedom and tyranny, but the star is Deneuve. This is her best role, and she has had many great ones. Here, she is an actress who cannot betray her love for the leading man, Depardieu, to her playwright husband in hiding who "directs" by what he hears. Great dramatic tension, great performances, and a great illustration (or a parable) of the realities that are created by drama. Maltin is obtuse when he says the movie, especially the finale, is pointless. The end is entirely fitting and pleasant, although startling. The war is won, the subterfuge can be abandoned, and the protagonists in the drama continue to create and order reality.

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Rules of the Game

Review of Criterion 2011 Blu-ray, 2011 DVD, 2004 DVD
*** NOV-22-2011: ADDED REVIEW OF 2011 BLU-RAY & DVD ***

Criterion now has released 3 editions of this French classic: 2004 DVD edition (blue cover with photos) that has been put out of print, 2011 DVD edition (bright cover with vintage drawing) that has identical content save for a revised supplement, and a corresponding 2011 Blu-ray edition that is a high-def version of the 2011 DVD.

The 2011 Blu-ray and DVD appear to have used the same source that yielded the 2004 DVD. As those who have seen the 2004 DVD know, the original source is not in the best of shape, even though it is the best material Criterion was able to get. Google "nytimes hunting rules of the game" to see the report on Criterion's effort in tracking down the best material of the film. So does this Blu-ray look as good as the "Casablanca" blu-ray, the "Gone of the Wind" blu-ray, the "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" blu-ray? No, it doesn't. But as usual, Criterion maintains the integrity of...

The exquisite decline and fall of Old World Europe...
Jean Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME takes place on the eve of World War II at an aristocratic house party in an opulent chateau just outside of Paris where the overlapping `affaires d'amour' of all social classes are observed with a keen and compassionate eye. Renoir looks to the eighteenth-century world of Commedia dell'Arte and Mozartian opera, and seamlessly integrates farce with tragedy, using a classical form to offer his audience a profound and multifaceted parable on the disturbing realities that underlie the veneer of contemporary French society.

It is the middle-class aviator, André Jurieu (Roland Toutain), who embodies the film's central conflict between the private passions and a sense of obligation to a larger social body. Right at the outset of the film, he violates the unwritten "rules" of social propriety by declaring to a radio reporter his disappointment that the woman he had been courting, Christine de la Chesnaye (Nora Grégor), is not present at...

Renoir's Masterpiece
No history of cinema would be complete without "The Rules of the Game" (1939). Director Jean Renoir's brilliant, perceptive study of a dying French aristocracy remains among the finest examples of visual poetry captured on film - as evidenced in the savage "rabbit hunt" and the haunting final shot. Along with "Grand Illusion" (1937), "The Rules of the Game" represents the high-water mark of Renoir's career. It's as close to perfection as a film can get.

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Stranger Than Paradise

Brilliant, hilarious study of aimlessness & anomie
This deceptively simple movie, Jim Jarmusch's first, has been called the first modern independent film. Shot in black and white, it follows the nonadventures of three completely aimless characters, Willie, Eddie and Willie's cousin Eva. The first scenes mostly show Willie lying in bed or smoking a cigarette in his dingy Brooklyn apartment. His friend Eddie visits and they sit silently drinking beer. When Cousin Eva from Hungary arrives, the three of them sit around watching television. Not very exciting maybe, but there is a subtle genius to the way this film progresses. Eva goes to Cleveland to live with her aunt; Eddie and Willie decide to visit her. Soon the three drive down to Florida. Each landscape is portrayed as desolate and depressing. The shots look like black and white photos from the Old West, or perhaps the depression. Gradually the three interact and display emotion, though it is all within the rigid confines of their incredibly limited existence. There is quite a bit...

Engrossing Film By Jarmusch
An excellent example of why independent films are so invaluable, "Stranger Than Paradise," written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, is a bare-bones production that never would have found the light of day in the mainstream. Essentially a character study, the story is a glimpse into the lives of three people: Willie (John Lurie); his cousin, Eva (Eszter Balint), recently arrived in New York from Hungary; and Willie's friend, Eddie (Richard Edson). After a couple of weeks in the Big Apple with Willie, Eva moves to Cleveland to live with their Aunt; a year later, Willie and Eddie are off to visit her. One thing leads to another, and the trio wind up in Florida (the designated paradise of the title). Watching this film is like spending time with some people you know; the characters are real people, so much so that watching them becomes almost voyeuristic, the camera somehow intrusive, exposing as it does the private lives of these individuals. It succinctly captures their lack of...

Low-budget, minimalist meditation on the American Dream
Mundane and deliberately paced, yet strangely appealing, this oddball ultra-low-budget movie (made with left-over film stock given to Jarmusch by director Wim Wenders) from Jarmusch deals with three people who take an unsuccessful road trip from Detroit to Florida.

The DVD reveals the limitations of the original film, both in terms of sound and picture. It's grainy thoughout, and the dialogue does not always sound clear. Luckily, both of these strike you as appropriate for this film. Jarmusch's characters stubbornly refuse to reveal much of anything about themselves, either to the audience or to each other.

Many find Stranger than Paradise difficult to watch, mostly because of Jarmusch minimalist approach to this film, along with the fact that boredom, frustration, and disappointment are the primary elements of the film's subject. There's very little action. . .it's not funny, exactly. . .there's not a lot of drama. . .there's no sex. . .but somehow it still manages to succeed...

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The Wages of Fear

*EXPLOSIVES*
It is difficult to overstate what a terrific blend of suspense, biting images, and nihilistic philosophy this film is. It works at several levels, the most compelling being a thoroughly existential treatment of the action adventure movie. Clouzot layers his irreverent cynicism into every aspect of the film, but it is actuated by the tight interplay of the characters. They are the kind of fugitives, hucksters, fortune seekers, down on their luckers you'd expect to find at a squalid, end of the world drilling camp. The director portrays them all in a dour, brave light as they struggle with futility and fear.

The corruption, exploitation and innocence, are brought to a boil by a raging inferno and a couple of truck loads of nitroglycerine. Three hundred miles of rugged roads are all that separates these desperadoes from a ticket out of town. Clouzot rolls his audience into the drama with ingenious visual cues, cables stressed to snapping, tobacco blown from its paper. He...

One of the greatest thrillers ever finally gets a worthy DVD
We can thank the Movie Gods that Jean Gabin didn't want to play a coward or else we'd never have had Charles Vanel's superb performance in Clouzot's The Wages of Fear: it's notable that Friedkin's intriguingly feverish but suspense-free remake didn't even attempt to give its equivalent deadbeat killer a similar arc, despite the fact that the character and his curious shifting relationship with Yves Montand cuts to the very core of the story's take on the nature of courage, bravado and machismo. At the beginning of the film Vanel is the tough guy who can walk the walk, while Montand is his puppy doggish sidekick, throwing over his best friend for his new crush until his feet of clay are revealed when the chips are down. Even in a place where, in the absence of white women the white men cling to each other, this relationship seems to go a few steps beyond mere hero-worship, but when they hit the road the power in the relationship shifts, and in the process we get to watch Yves Montand...

Great movie in 148-minute format
I wanted to amend my earlier review. I reviewed the 148-minute VHS version, which I highly recommend. I strongly caution against getting the (less expensive) 131-minute VHS version. The picture quality is very poor and the subtitles are often almost unreadable, i.e. white writing against an almost white background. The full-length VHS and DVD versions are terrific, with clear, crisp picture and perfectly legible subtitles.

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Mystery Train

There's a fix for the subtitle problem!
I recently got this DVD and was dismayed to find that the English subtitles were missing (as the last reviewer pointed out.) I just found a fix that may work for some people. The "Subtitles" screen lists only French and Spanish as choices. But the remote for my Toshiba 3109 player has a "Subtitles" button that can be used while the movie is playing. With "Mystery Train" this button brings up four choices: "1 Fre", "2 Spa", "3 Fre" and "4 Spa". The first two will bring up French or Spanish subtitles as expected. But choosing either "3 Fre" or "4 Spa" will cause English subtitles to appear for the Japanese portions of the film! So the disc is indeed bungled, but this workaround made it watchable for me. And yes, it's a great movie!

Memphis Blues
A quirky minimalist movie by Jim Jarmusch that is well thought out and cleverly devised that will leave viewers either fascinated or cold. It takes place during a single night in Memphis, and revolves around three unconnected storylines: a Japanese couple on a "pilgrimage" to Elvis shrines, an Italian woman whose flight back to Rome has been delayed, and a trio of young sleazes who get drunk and shoot a liquor store owner. They all spend the night at a fleabag hotel (The Arcade, run by Screamin' Jay Hawkins!). Jarmusch's use of flashback, a la RASHOMON, is clever and inspired. But Jarmush also likes to use long takes of scenes in which virtually nothing happens, which can make the movie feel long and ponderous. It's still the best of his movies, though.

Quirky but effective
What "Mystery Train" gives us a dandy, light slice of indie noir. Here, three tales in a broken-down hotel. One about an Italian widow. Second, about a corrupt British Elvis impersonator and his American girlfriend. And lastly, about two Japanese tourists.

What makes "Mystery Train" so interesting and involving is the way the characters are portrayed and how they react to certain things. Example: The Italian widow speaking to the ghost of Elvis.

But it's Jarmusch's directing that makes this quirky, funny, and touching, which should have won him an Oscar for "Best Independent Film of the Year." Sumptuous, funny, touching, and offbeat, it's a delight from start to finish.

Rated R for language and some nudity.

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Grey Gardens

Hypnotic Documentary
"Grey Gardens" is a one-of-a-kind documentary exploring a mother-daughter relationship. These aren't just two anonymous people though; instead, the film chronicles Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, "Little Edie," who just happen to be the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. The filmmakers, Albert and David Maysles, initially intended the film to be about Jackie's sister, Lee Radziwill. However, after being introduced to Edith and Little Edie by Lee, they decided to shift the focus.

What makes these two women so interesting? First, they live in a giant decaying mansion (the titular "Grey Gardens") in luxurious East Hampton. The family was extremely wealthy at one time, until Edith divorced and lost most of her money. She apparently stayed in the 28-room Grey Gardens mansion despite a lack of money for upkeep. The women show pictures of themselves from years earlier, and they were obviously beautiful society scions. However, they became more and more...

Searching for Grey Gardens
This stellar portrayal of two women, a mother and daughter, who spend their days in a run down house and are ironically aunt and cousin to Jackie O, displays documentary film-making at its very best. Although much has been said about the film, the focus always tends to emphasize the sordid living conditions that Edith Bovier Beale and her unmarried daughter, Little Edie inhabit, in an old estate in Easthampton, New York. Their house has been condemned by officials in Easthampton, and they live with cats and raccoons, but they don't give a damn about it. They are virtual recluses in their upscale community, "full of nasty Republicans." However, the film is not about the squalor that most of us would balk at in conventional situations. Their surroundings are only a backdrop and metaphor for the lost opportunities, and isolation that the women are subjected to as societal outcasts. Whether this is by choice, or due to their eccentricities is a mixed bag, but "Big...

"I'm not ready; I have no makeup on... but things are getting better!"
The Maysles Brothers' famous 1975 documentary of a former society mother and her grown daughter (both former cousins of Jackie Onassis and both named Edie Beale) falling to pieces in their similarly-dilapidated East Hampton mansion has acquired a consider cult following over the years due to the Miss Havisham qualities of its subjects, who once both were great wealthy beauties and have fallen to bare subsistence living (and who both seem clearly mentally ill). The Maysles have been greatly criticized for showcasing these women as circus oddities, but as little Edie makes clear in a tape-recorded interview included in this beautiful Criterion Collection edition, both women loved the chance to have the attention given to them; the film also made it possible for little Edie to follow her dream of moving to NYC to work, albeit briefly, as a cabaret star.

But it would also seem wrong simply to characterize the two women as free spirits doing their own thing and being fabulous,...

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Ivan's Childhood

There are not many filmmakers who are able to hit a grand slam for their first film. But Andrei Tarkovsky did it with this film
For every filmmaker, there is the debut of that first film.

There are people and film critics that would say that the first film shows hints of what a filmmaker could be. Some are just bad and the filmmaker tries to distance themselves from it. Some are so popular that the filmmaker who loathes the popularity switches their style. And then are those who are able to hit a grand slam and create a masterpiece.

For Soviety and Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky (who would go on to directed the films "Solaris", "Andrei Rublev", "The Sacrifice", "The Mirror"), his debut film from 1962 titled "Ivan's Childhood", based on Vladimiri Bogomolov's 1957 short story, would be considered a masterpiece.

A film that achieved critically acclaim and the winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the film would achieve praise from filmmakers such as Ingmar Bergman, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Sergei Parajanov and a few others.

But what made "Ivan's...

Perfect
Like all Tarkovsky's films this is far more than entertainment, it's art. Combine that with a perfect transfer from Criterion and you cant ask for more.



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Seven Samurai

Thinking about upgrading?
As a huge fan of older films and music, I am very aware of the many attempts of studios and record companies to reissue and re-market a previously released product in a new and improved format. While many of these reissues are often superior to their previously released counterparts, I have never been one to buy into the "upgrades". I feel that you don't need to have the best sound, the crispest picture, or the excess of supplemental materials in order to enjoy a film and have it affect you. In all my years collecting music CD's (particularly jazz) and DVDs, I think I've upgraded no more than three items from my collections.

I had been hearing for a while now about a new version of Seven Samurai coming out on Criterion that was supposed to have a brand new transfer from a recently discovered source that was to be greatly improved from any other previous edition. Being one of the most beloved films of all time (and one of mine as well), this has been creating alot of...

THE 1:33:1 ASPECT RATIO ON THIS DVD IS CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lest anyone be dissuaded from purchasing this masterpiece because they believe it is not presented in its original aspect ratio, it should be known that THE 1:33:1 ASPECT RATIO ON THIS DVD IS CORRECT. Akira Kurosawa did not begin working with the widescreen format until later in the 1950s. Anyone who asserts otherwise is mistaken.

This is a true 5 star films that ANYONE will enjoy. It's particulary recommended to those who would never dream of watching a movie with subtitles. Anyone looking for a great action movie should take a chance on this. Unlike that copy of Armageddon you watched once and is now collecting dust on your shelf, this is something you'll watch again and again. For those who love John Ford-type westerns, The Seven Samurai puts a marvelous spin on that classic genre. Even if you don't like action movies, you'll respond to this movie. It offers genuine human drama with an insight into a different culture and time that becomes increasingly...

Take a second look at one of the greatest films ever made
Akira Kurosawa made "Seven Samurai" because he wanted to make a real "jidai-geki," a real period-film that would present the past as meaningful, while also being an entertaining film. Kurosawa considered "Rashomon," the film rightfully credited with making the West aware of the Japanese cinema, with being neither. But in his attempt to make a truly "realistic" film, Kurosawa redefined the conflict at the heart of Japanese films. Before "Seven Samurai" this conflict was that of love versus duty, where the central character is compelled by fate to sacrifice what he loves in the name of duty. In "Seven Samurai" the focus remains on duty, yet the conflict is now between the real and the pretended. Calling yourself a samurai does not make you one, something proven time and time again in the film, from the test of skill turned deadly between Kyuzo (Seiji Miyaguchi) and the tall samurai to the first appearance of Kikuchiyo (Toshir

Amarcord

The magic of Fellini
Fellini's theme of coming of age memoir works as a beautiful nostalgic piece. The film resonates from an earlier film of his 8 1/2 showing the director's flashes to his seaside hometown. I've watched this film several times and on every occassion find something new. Here's a tip to enjoy watching a foreign film - Do NOT watch the English dubbed version if there is any - so much is lost in the film. Fellini's films work with subtitles because they make you forget you're reading them at all and as always, Fellini pleases both eye and ear and subsequently the heart. The musical score by Nino Rota is something one looks forward to in every scene. His music perfectly sets the tempo of each image, and I mean each and every one. What a duo of artistic genius these two men are! Watching the film on its excellent Criterion-restored DVD version, one can only wonder what the cinema world would be without Fellini.

Being Oneself:Always an Act of Creation in Amarcord
The theme of this story is the compassion that allows close-knit, small-town Italians in the 1930's to lead a meaningful existence in the context of Fascist oppression and economic hardship.

This story is culturally valuable because it shows the beauty of meaningfully existing, unchanged, amid destructive and oppressive forces. When a peacock lands in the snow with its beautiful, vibrant blue and green feathers, it exemplifies beauty, simply existing, within harsh conditions. The point of the story is not that the characters of this small Italian town make any world-altering advances, but rather that they maintain what they already have and admire--their sense of community and individual compassion--despite oppressive odds. Fellini gives his audience mischievous adolescents, oblivious teachers, a "crazy" uncle, a humorous grandfather, an idealistic and extremely feminine beauty, a generous but sickly mother and her easily-angered husband, dissatisfied workers, a...

Fellini's Other Deeply Personal Extraordinary Film
Like 8 1/2 before it, Amarcord marks an extremely personal film for Fellini. Like his relationship to Guido in 8 1/2, the character of Titta serves as an extension of Fellini on film. Whereas Guido served as an extension of Fellini's state of mind, Titta serves as an extension of Fellini's childhood memories.

Through the retelling of emotional stories that deal with Titta and his family, Amarcord (which translates into "I Remember") presents a cyclical collage of wondrous nostalgia for the Italy of Fellini's childhood. Starting in the spring and ending their one year later with the return of the yearly "puffballs", we are presented with and touched by the many experiences that Titta comes face to face with.

At the same time, the film is much more than a mere visual presentation of Fellini's own nostalgia, for it also questions the true validity of one's own memories. This questioning of memory by Fellini is made apparent in the manner in which single scenes can go from...

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader [HD]

Another seagoing epic in Lewis' magical "chronicles"!
If there's anything that Walden Media's CHRONICLES OF NARNIA movie franchise (based on C.S. Lewis' timeless novels) is known for lately, it could very well be that it ever continued at all. The first film, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, was a box office smash, but successor PRINCE CASPIAN didn't achieve the same success. But when Disney, who distributed and funded both films, decided not to participate in anymore NARNIA adventures, it seemed as though Lewis' tales were destined to remain forever frosted by the White Witch. But thankfully, Walden Media refused to let NARNIA die so easily, and so they've teamed up with 20th Century Fox to complete the third movie in the series, THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER. It could also very well be the last entry; critics have been lukewarm to negative on this film, and faced with so much competition this year from family films such as TRON LEGACY, HARRY POTTER, and even upcoming duds like YOGI BEAR and GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, this film...

A Tale With a Different Tail
Right off the top, if you're looking for a literal book-to-movie adaptation, you're going to be very disappointed. Aslan may as well be a tiger. There are countless modifications that did not completely align with the book and numerous subtleties noticeable to anyone familiar with the story.

For the most part, however, TVOTDT stayed true to form, following Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Keynes) - along with their easy to hate cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) - through the fabric of a family painting and into the vast tapestry of the Narnian world created by C.S. Lewis and onto the Dawn Treader (the ship in the painting). Aboard the ship the join forces with recently crowned - a year in Earthly time, and three in Narnia - King Caspian (Ben Barnes) who, along with his crew of sentient beasts and willing sailors, seeks out seven Telmarine lords and swords. Almost immediately after they board the Dawn Treader, and unequivocally after they disembark for their first...

This is not a movie review, this is a product/case review
At least on Amazon right now, this is the only 3 Disc (BD, DVD, Digital Copy) version for sale. So I had no choice. But the photo Amazon includes does not show this case as being anything other than the standard plastic case with a sleeve.

Which I would have loved. But nothing I hate more than a crappy storage case for a 3 disc blockbuster title.

I have included pics. I give this product 3 stars for "OK". Even though I hate it. If you want a movie review, check out the many movie review sites. If you want a film transfer review for video and audio quality, check out blu-ray.com.

This is one of the most annoying storage cases I have owned. The worst was the Toy Story complete box set, which was so bad that I returned it at a loss and bought all the films individually with multiple versions just to have the better cases.

So what makes this storage so bad? Check out the pics. It's basically paper sleeves for the discs (2 of 3), folded together...

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Quadrophenia

An unforgettable teen angst classic
When "Quadrophenia" first came out in 1979, I think most people were expecting a "Tommy"-like rock opera, with music by The Who blasting from the speakers and Roger Daltry playing pinball adorned in a mask. Much to most people's surprise, "Quadrophenia" is a story about teen angst in England, with background music by The Who. The story is the key, and "Quadrophenia" details the historic Mod/Rocker riots of the 1960s. The riots were fueled by teen rebellion, rock music and a youthful generation seeking its identity.

The beauty of "Quadrophenia" is the film's themes of youths trying to find their place in the world is timeless and internationally identifiable. You don't have to be a British lad to love this story. Several scenes are so emotionally harrowing as to be disturbing. The protagonist Jimmy Michael Cooper (brilliantly played by Phil Daniels) begins to self destruct as the movie progresses. He loses his home, his job, his...

Brilliant look at the brink between adolescence & adulthood
This film deserves to be in the pantheon of classic teen angst films (though it will really speak to adults reflecting on their years more so than it will for teens). I think it's the best film I've ever seen in that genre (and is based on probably the best album that ever covered such ground). There is real grit to the film, real emotion and pathos (but also a teriffic sense of humor). The cast is also outstanding (why Phil Daniels didn't become a big star is anybody's guess). But add to this the knockout soundtrack (from the "Quadrophenia" LP and other radio hits of the 60s), and you practically have a perfect film (I'm always hesitant to say anything is truly perfect). But I wouldn't change anything here. It is an unqualified success.

It helps to understand the milieu of the film, so read up here on the mods and rockers so that you understand the time and place. But then hang on for a long, LOUD ride! This movie just knocks me out! I wish I had seen it when I was a...

One of the best rock films to date
Very few movies based on rock albums are ever any good. "Quadrophenia" is the exception to this theory. Considering the relative inexperience of cast and crew alike, the producers have pulled off the unexpected: a rock film that doesn't bow down to the egos of the rock stars; a low budget, anti-special effect film; a teen film that doesn't condescend to the teens in the film and the audience; and, ultimately, a script that is not dictated to by the songs on the album. In fact several key songs from the album aren't even in the film--not the least of which is "The Punk Versus The Godfather".

What I enjoyed about the film, also, was that it doesn't just portray the working-class teen as a malcontent who can't identify with anything. Instead, Jimmy (played brilliantly by Phil Daniels) rebels against Rockers, the "establishment", older people, etc.; however, his desire for independence only goes so far because he MUST be a Mod. And here is the real ambivalence of...

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The River

A Wonderful Movie Of Great Humanity By Jean Renoir
This is a movie of great calm and humanity, which moves at its own rhythms. It's also a beautiful movie, shot in India by one of the great visual directors of our time. The story may seem simple on the surface, but it moves deeply into the currents of life, using India and the Ganges as metaphor. I can only say that the movie is an affecting look at how life goes on and how we grow within our lives.

The River tells its story through three girls on the brink of adulthood. Harriet, the daughter of the English manager of a jute mill on the banks of the Ganges; Radha, the daughter of their English neighbor whose mother was Indian; and Valerie, the daughter of a wealthy English couple whom we never meet. The three are close friends but each is dealing with with their changes in their own way. Then one day the American cousin of their neighbor arrives to stay for awhile. He lost his leg in the war and is handsome. All the girls develop feelings for him and suddenly their own...

Jean Renoir's visual poem, in Technicolor
Jean Renoir, after spending almost a decade in Hollywood struggling to establish an independent filmmaker staus, went to India. As it must have been for Renoir himself, THE RIVER is a breath of fresh air to its audience, which still holds a singular unique place in cinema.

Based on Rummer Godden's autobiographical novel on her childhood spend on the bank of the Gandhis River, the film explores a radically poetic narrative which depends neither on a plot, nor driven with strong characters. It is really a visual poem. It doesn't "describe" anything, in preference to capture (as well as to create) a certain atmosphere, in eccense a whole universe of a certain life, beeing "felt".

Though its aim was radical, and so were the mise-en-scene strategies taken by Renoir which were very unusual back then and even so today --especially the use of colors, that Renoir with his art director Eugene Lourie often walked around the sets and locations with cans of paint--, the film...

Renoir's River of Life is a Masterpiece on the Human Condition
On the surface, Jean Renoir's film "The River" is a docu-drama on India and its people, replete with temples, religious festivals and cultural practices, set amidst the backdrop of the Bengal River. Scratch the surface and "The River" becomes a metaphor on the meaning of life, or at least the Hindu concept of it -- a cycle of births and deaths.

Several scenes allude to this theme. For instance, the statue of Hindu goddess Kali, symbolising creation and destruction, is moulded from the river's clay and returns to clay when it is submerged in the river after devotees complete a ritual celebration. Mr. John (Arthur Shields) at one point philosophises on life with his American cousin, Capt. John (Thomas E. Breen), stating one man jumps from the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge while another goes on his way across the bridge. When young Bogey (Richard Foster), Harriet's brother, dies from a cobra's bite a sibling is born some months after his death.

Between birth and...

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Yojimbo

Death in the Dust and the Wind
Although it lacks the scope of THE SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD, and other more widely known films by the celebrated Akira Kurosawa, the 1961 YOJIMBO (also known as BODYGUARD) is one of the most important films of the second half of the 20th Century--and a film that was deeply influenced by American film. Even so, YOJIMBO stands on its own merits: it's a magnificent piece of cinema that will fascinate even those who normally turn up their noses at "movies with subtitles."

In theory, the film is based on the 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel RED HARVEST--but transports the basic story to a period in Japan when the Samurai class has fallen on hard times and must seek employment as common body guards. Sanjuro Kuwabatake (brilliantly played by Toshiro Mifune, who appeared in several Kurosawa films) is such a one, a scruffy looking and aging warrior who finds himself caught between warring factions of a Japanese village and responds by playing the two against each other.

One of...

Awesome... but falls short.
Thank you so much Criterion for releasing all of their licensed Akira Kurosawa films in a single boxset! This is one epic collection in every sense of the word!

Most arm-chair critics do not take into account or acknowledge companies like Criterion need to pay royalties for the right to release films! And the royalty often come with an expiration date. An example of this is Kurosawa's 1985 film RAN was released on DVD and was scheduled to be released on Blu-ray only to have the rights expired. It was reverted back to Studio Canal, who eventually decided to release their own Blu-ray/DVD instead (at the time of this writing). Royalties/licenses are primary reasons why the following 5 titles are missing from this collection to make it COMPLETE:

The Quiet Duel
Dersu Uzala
Ran
Dreams
Rhapsody in August

I'm not an industry insider nor do I work for Criterion so I do not know the business decisions those 5 films aren't included in this...

good films,but a poor release
As there is so much written about this Box I want to share my opinion on it too !
First of all you already know that these DVDs are plain film,no extras!For a price around 300 dollars that's absolutely unacceptable,even though the films themself are pure masterpieces!
So my 5 Star-Rating only concerns the films,but not this poor release.
But even if the films don't contain any bonusmaterial,why are they also don't feature optional soundtrack-versions like a few of the individual Criterion-Releases have?
For instance the individual Release of "Rashomon" (Spine No. 138)also contains an optional english dubbed soundtrack.
The individual Criterion-releases of "The Hidden Fortress" (Spine No.116) , "Yojimbo" (Spine No.52) and "Sanjuro" (Spine No.53) also contain an optional 3.0 Soundtrack,while the releases in this box are only monaural. The individual release of "Throne of Blood" (Spine No. 190) contains 2 different subtitles to choose. One from japanese film...

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Sanjuro

Death in the Dust and the Wind
Although it lacks the scope of THE SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD, and other more widely known films by the celebrated Akira Kurosawa, the 1961 YOJIMBO (also known as BODYGUARD) is one of the most important films of the second half of the 20th Century--and a film that was deeply influenced by American film. Even so, YOJIMBO stands on its own merits: it's a magnificent piece of cinema that will fascinate even those who normally turn up their noses at "movies with subtitles."

In theory, the film is based on the 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel RED HARVEST--but transports the basic story to a period in Japan when the Samurai class has fallen on hard times and must seek employment as common body guards. Sanjuro Kuwabatake (brilliantly played by Toshiro Mifune, who appeared in several Kurosawa films) is such a one, a scruffy looking and aging warrior who finds himself caught between warring factions of a Japanese village and responds by playing the two against each other.

One of...

Awesome... but falls short.
Thank you so much Criterion for releasing all of their licensed Akira Kurosawa films in a single boxset! This is one epic collection in every sense of the word!

Most arm-chair critics do not take into account or acknowledge companies like Criterion need to pay royalties for the right to release films! And the royalty often come with an expiration date. An example of this is Kurosawa's 1985 film RAN was released on DVD and was scheduled to be released on Blu-ray only to have the rights expired. It was reverted back to Studio Canal, who eventually decided to release their own Blu-ray/DVD instead (at the time of this writing). Royalties/licenses are primary reasons why the following 5 titles are missing from this collection to make it COMPLETE:

The Quiet Duel
Dersu Uzala
Ran
Dreams
Rhapsody in August

I'm not an industry insider nor do I work for Criterion so I do not know the business decisions those 5 films aren't included in this...

good films,but a poor release
As there is so much written about this Box I want to share my opinion on it too !
First of all you already know that these DVDs are plain film,no extras!For a price around 300 dollars that's absolutely unacceptable,even though the films themself are pure masterpieces!
So my 5 Star-Rating only concerns the films,but not this poor release.
But even if the films don't contain any bonusmaterial,why are they also don't feature optional soundtrack-versions like a few of the individual Criterion-Releases have?
For instance the individual Release of "Rashomon" (Spine No. 138)also contains an optional english dubbed soundtrack.
The individual Criterion-releases of "The Hidden Fortress" (Spine No.116) , "Yojimbo" (Spine No.52) and "Sanjuro" (Spine No.53) also contain an optional 3.0 Soundtrack,while the releases in this box are only monaural. The individual release of "Throne of Blood" (Spine No. 190) contains 2 different subtitles to choose. One from japanese film...

Click to Editorial Reviews

Cronos

"My name is Jesus Gris. My name is Jesus Gris."
For some reason I developed an early low opinion of Mexican horror films and have since avoided them. Fortunately I didn't realize Cronos was Mexican ans so got to see this truly unusual film directed by Guilliermo del Toro. While it will never win a place on the heights there's a surprising amount of inventiveness and imaginative film work in something that probably has one-tenth the budget of the average Hollywood failure.

Imagine, if you will that a European alchemist fled Europe to Mexico in the 16th Century. Gaining appointment as the Governor's clockmaker he set about making a machine that would prolong his life. He succeeds and lives until a building collapses on him in modern times. His estate is broken up and sold and the real story begins when an antique dealer, Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi), acquires a statue of an angel. In it he finds a golden scarab-like machine. One with horrific powers that Jesus inadvertently activates.

Seeking the scarab...

A sad horror film that focuses on character not on slashers
Guillermo Del Toro's modern Grimm's Fairy Tale "Cronos" focuses as much on character as it does horror. In many respects, it's a throw back to the horror comic books or movies he watched as a kid updated. Antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) gets more than he bargains for when he covers a ornate gold "beetle" at the base of a decorative angel. He and his devoted granddaughter and wife discover the promise of immortality but also the horrible price one must pay when given a "gift" such as this.

Rich industrialist Dieter de la Guardia (Claudio Brook) has his brutish nephew Angel (Ron Perlman)searching for the device himself. Only Dieter knows about the history of the device, what it can do and the consquences of using it. When Jesus resists Dieter's offer for the device, it also puts his family in peril.

A rich, allegorical horror film that recalls the classic films of the 30's and 40's with its focus on character and the consquences of their actions at the...

A New Bite On An Old Mythology
A new vision of the vampire myth involving an insect trapped in a device that grants immortality (with a price of course), an innocent grandfather, his all but silent granddaughter, a human monster and his victimized nephew.

An elderly antiques shop owner, Jesus Gris, and his granddaughter, Aurora, discover an unusually device in a four hundred year old Archangel statue. Gris inadvertently triggers the device which begins a change in him that not only slowly makes him more youthful in look and energy but infects him with an addict's consuming fixation for blood. Unfortunately for Gris, he is not the only one with knowledge of the device's existence and power, and he becomes the target of the dying businessman De La Guardia's desire for immortality at any cost and his violent nephew Angel.

Loved this film! Loved it! I've always had a thing for vampires and I really enjoyed this new view of the vampire mythology. This isn't just a new story of vampirism...

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