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.

Click to Editorial Reviews

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...

Click to Editorial Reviews

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.

Click to Editorial Reviews

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...

Click to Editorial Reviews

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...

Click to Editorial Reviews

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...

Click to Editorial Reviews

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...

Click to Editorial Reviews