When Trumpets Fade

Well Worth Seeing
This movie focuses on a sad chapter in the history of the U.S Army in World War II. The Hurtgen Forest was a deathtrap the could have more or less been bypassed. Certainly a low point in the annals of command, though through no fault of the G.I.s involved. This movie made a point to bring out the frustration and waste experienced by the men of the 28th Inf. Div. in that campaign. I think Spielberg set a new standard for the war movie genre with Saving Private Ryan. So far, When Trumpets Fade is one of the few recent military movies to even come close to that standard. It's a shame that, being a made for cable release, it hasn't been seen by more people. The movie is technically very well done. Uniform and equipment portrayal is excellent. For those reviewers above who find fault with a G.I. wearing his watch cap backwards, try wearing one under an M-1 helmet sometime. It's more comfy turned backwards I assure you. The only thing the movie couldn't represent, being...

A Gritty & Realistic Look At Life In The Front Lines!
The opening scene in this HBO movie is perhaps one of the grittiest and most realistic depictions of the realities of combat ever filmed, at least this side of the first 30 minutes of `Saving Private Ryan'. The viewer is immediately transported into the surreal world of death, decay, and destruction, where the panorama in view is a smoke-seared scene that the young soldiers labor through in the midst of all this horror. In this excellent depiction of General Omar Bradley's ill-fated decision to strike deep into the forbidding terrain of the Hurtigen Forest, accuracy and detail are everywhere one looks. The situation described in the film is quite accurate, and the young cast of mostly unknown actors do a convincing and credible job in conveying the insane circumstances surrounding combat, especially of the lonely, nerve-racking and suddenly murderous nature of isolated units moving cautiously forward through the sometimes impenetrable glades of the forest.

All of the...

Pretty Accurate Portrayal of the Hurtgen Forest Fight
I am a captain in the United States Army and have studied the battle for the town of Schmidt and the Hurtgen Forest. This movie accurately portrays one of the darkest moments in US Army history in World War II. Inept leadership from the highest levels down to the regimental and battalion level launched the underesourced 28th Infantry Division into a suicidal attack across 13 miles of dense forest. The movies characters very closely showed the horrible confusion and improper tactical decisions made by leaders under fire. The poor weather negated the American advantages of tanks and close air support. The American infantry as shown in the movie were victim to attacks by unrelenting artillery and tanks. In one real case, the American soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry regiment, so unnevered by constant artillery, actually got up and fled their positions in the forest village of Vossenack. This was 400 soldiers, including officers, who up and ran. The movie...

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Notebook: Ultimate Collector's Edition [Blu-ray]

One of the Best Love Stories of All Time
THE NOTEBOOK has long been my favorite of Nicholas Sparks' many books, so it is a happy surprise to me that the wonderful story transferred to the big screen with all the sweetness, warmth, and tenderness that made the book a runaway best seller.

The best part of this movie was the incredible chemistry between Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling as the young lovers Allie and Noah. Their story was told by an elderly couple in a nursing home. James Garner and Gena Rowlands were outstanding as the devoted "Duke" and the woman with irreversible dementia. As Duke recounted the story of Allie and Noah from the notebook he carried with him, the lady's memory began to come back and she could remember.

The movie always changes the book but the one major change (the ending) which had the audience letting out a collective gasp and reaching for the nearest tissue was, in my opinion, really good even if it was pure Hollywood melodrama.

Why does a movie like THE NOTEBOOK appeal to so many...

During the throes of Winter, remembering Spring
THE NOTEBOOK is an old-fashioned love story with the topical subject of Alzheimer's Disease thrown in to heighten the Hankie Factor.

The film opens in the present at a genteel, riverside, Southern facility for the long-term care of the aged. An old man, "Duke" (James Garner), is in the habit of reading from a book to an elegant, but chronically confused and distant, lady (Gena Rowlands) of equal antiquity. The story concerns two teenagers during a hot, carefree, South Carolina summer preceding World War II. They are (in extended flashback) Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams).

Noah, working in the local sawmill, is the uneducated son of a dirt-poor father (Sam Shephard). Allie, in these months before she's off to a prestigious New York college, is the only daughter of snobbishly wealthy parents, John (David Thornton) and Anne (Joan Allen) Hamilton.

The book's plot is that hoary one about two young lovers of disparate backgrounds and financial...

(4 1/2 ) A Well Acted, Old Fashioned, Romantic Tearjerker
This screen adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' bestseller is a deeply emotional story of young love, the process of maturity, the crucial choices in our lives, and the frailty of old age. I have not read the book, and thus cannot comment upon the fealty of this film to Sparks' manuscript, but its emotional tone and import is certainly consistent with his other works with which I am familiar. In the opening scene we meet Duke (James Garner), who resides in a nursing home and apparently spends most of his time befriending another resident there, Allie Calhoun (Gena Rowlands), who is captivated by a 1940's story of young love which he reads in installments to her from THE NOTEBOOK which is his constant companion. Allie is suffering from some variety of dementia and these interludes provide some small comfort to an otherwise apparently colorless and bland existence.

The moviegoer is then transported to the 1940's, and the relatively brief appearances of the elderly Duke's and Allie...

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Learn to Play Electric Guitar (4-DVD) for beginners

Great!!
I just got a guitar from a friend and really want to learn how to play. I ended up ordering this DVD set and it was a great start for me! After I finished up the lessons here I checked out JamPlay's main site and learned even more. Highly recommended!





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Last of His Tribe, The

excellent on many levels
This film is a must see for many reasons, primarily because it documents the very end of the ~15,000 year legacy of free Native Americans on this continent: "Ishi," the last Yahi and free ranging Native American is forced by circumstance to enter modern civilization in the early 20th Century in California. The historical significance alone makes it worth seeing.

Beyond that, Graham Greene and Jon Voight give outstanding and moving performances. Greene (who is always excellent - Clearcut, Thunderheart, Dances With Wolves, etc.) as Ishi, and Voight as the genius anthropologist who takes him in.

Voight's character is a pure scientist through and through who finds it difficult to get emotionally involved with much of anything. He prefers to look at the world in terms of evidence and hard data. He is distant as his wife is dying, and Ishi tells him (paraphrasing) 'you put me in your book, but not in your heart.'

A satisfying, sweet, & good, (if not great) movie
"Last of his Tribe" is a satisfying, sweet, & good, (if not great) movie. It is the simplified (& slightly fictionalized) account of the last Yana Indian nicknamed, "Ishi" by A. Kroeber (an early anthropologist at U.Berkley). It accurately portrays Kroeber's struggle to keep emperical distance from his subject as his love & friendship grew for this stoic, kind, and generous man. It is based upon the (second-hand account) book written by Kroeber's second wife Theodora (also an Anthropologist) over a decade after the events. A. Kroeber never published anything about Ishi- and even quit Anthropology for a few years after Ishi's death, so distraught was he over his friend's death, and the perception that they had killed him by working him too hard (Ishi died of tuberculosis 3 months into Sapir's linguistic analysis). The film is sensitively acted by experts (Jon Voight, Graham Greene, David Ogden Stiers). The sets & details are reasonably accurate , but even when they could...

Heart Wrenching!
I read the book, but the movie really brings home what the story meant. Truly amazing and heart wrenching - you will cry for Ishi, you will cry for all the Native Americans. Truly a must see! You will not be disappointed. Greene does another remarkable job!

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Rene Fleming: Live at the Opera National de Paris

What a Singer! What Productions! What a Bargain!
The three operas contained here, live performances at the Paris Opera and starring Renée Fleming, are Manon, Rusalka, and Capriccio. I reviewed all three of them at Amazon US when they came out as singles and will append those reviews here:

Manon:

This DVD comes from a June 2001 performance at the Opéra National National de Paris/Opéra Bastille and stars Renée Fleming as Manon and Marcelo Álvarez as des Grieux.

Fleming says that Manon is one of her favorite roles, and I can believe it. She invests the character with a good deal of feeling, and although she seems a little old and not quite giddy enough to be playing the simple school-girl in Act I, she gets better and better as the action proceeds. Her singing, of course, is nonpareil. Indeed, for me the action doesn't really catch fire until the final scene of Act II (although 'Nous vivrons à Paris,' in Act I, is exciting and beautifully sung by the young...





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Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 7

"FINALLY Some WARREN WILLIAM Films REMASTERED......"
This seventh volume of TCM/Warner Brothers/Warner Archive's FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD series finally makes available on DVD for the first time two of Warren William's best films, both of which were responsible for rocketing him to the top of his profession, albeit briefly. This set, the third under Warner's Archive imprint is set to be released on factory-pressed DVD's for it's initial run, as were the previous volumes. I was hoping that Warner Archive would release a remastered set featuring EMPLOYEE'S ENTRANCE and SKYSCRAPER SOULS with two of his other star performances, THE MOUTHPIECE and THE MATCH KING (I even contacted them a while ago), but hopefully these will also be released in the near (I hope!) future. Now on to the contents......

"Love is as useful as wings upon a cat..." or so thinks Tong leader Nog (Dudley Digges, THE EMPEROR JONES) in 1932's THE HATCHET MAN from First National directed by William Wellman (NOTHING SACRED, A STAR IS BORN). Edward G. Robinson...

Another strong entry in an interesting series.
All of these movies have something going for them. I was kind of wary of having to see the great Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young made up as Chinese but, in its own way, it works as a story of morality and redemption. The leads play their characters straight, not as caricatures. Though the "San Francisco" Chinatown is anything but, it is still interesting and pretty believable. Loretta Young actually looks beautiful and frankly, I really like her in these pre-code films as opposed to her later, sanitized image. It's also nice to see Edward G playing a "nice", though dangerous, guy. Both "Skyscraper Souls" and "Employees Entrance" are the best films in this collection. Much intrigue and "scandal" in these. Warren William is an absolute cad and once again, Loretta is in danger with her morality. The on-the side romantic stories, there are several, in "Skyscraper Souls" are excellent and inventive. The skyscraper in question effects all...

Average "pre-code" selections
This selection of pre-code films isn't as daring as Volumes 1 and 2, but the storylines are fairly good. I purchased this set because I'm a Bette Davis fan and I don't have "Ex-Lady" in my collection (except for the snippet from the film that is used in "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"). Also I have "Skyscraper Souls" and "Employees Entrance" on a "Forbidden Hollywood" laserdisc set, so I wanted to replace them. The pre-code elements of "The Hatchet Man" include adultery,"hitman" style murder, and an ending that would do "Friday the 13th" proud. "Skyscraper Souls", like "3 on a Match" in Volume 2, contains a fairly shocking suicide scene. Also it, along with "Ex-Lady" and "Employees Entrance", contains lots of pre-marital sex, which, of course, the Hays Code would ban in 1934. A note of interest is Hedda Hopper as Warren William's wife in "Skyscraper Souls", before she gained notoriety as the famous Hollywood gossip columnist.

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Silver Linings Playbook

This is why we go to movies
This is why we go to movies. Silver Linings Playbook is that rare breed of movie where all the moving parts got put together in exactly the right way. The dialogue is sharp, witty, insightful, funny, and often brutally honest. It respects and holds true affection for its characters and the wonderful ensemble cast makes it look easy. The direction, editing and soundtrack are spot on. It is a future classic and the best movie of the year.

Pat is an underachieving substitute high school history teacher who has just been released from the Karel Psychiatric Facility after spending an eight month court-ordered stint for nearly beating the history teacher to death when he finds him in the shower with his wife. His doting, eternally optimistic mother brings him home hoping that the worst of his previously undiagnosed bipolar symptoms are under control. But his refusal to take his meds and an unfortunate incident concerning Earnest Hemingway and a window quickly dispels that...

The Year's Best Ensemble In A Big Hearted Comedy About Love, Family, And Redemption (And Football, Dancing And Mental Illness)
David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" is a big hearted and nearly irresistible concoction that presents one of the year's most unlikely romances. I've been a huge Russell fan since his debut with "Spanking the Monkey" and "Flirting With Disaster" is one of my favorite flights of outrageousness. Russell can have an edgy cynicism about his eccentric characters, but he knows how to make an audience identify with even their most offbeat characteristics. Make no mistake, "Silver Linings Playbook" is loaded with an expected array of troubled souls. But the most remarkable thing about this film (and its screenplay) is the amount of compassion it shows to just about everyone. With a stellar cast including Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert DeNiro, Jacki Weaver, Chris Tucker and John Ortiz, the movie boasts easily one of the best ensembles of the year. Each of these actors is given a fully written character and each makes a huge impression in the screen time allotted...

Bravura Account of Quirky Love. Lawrence is Jaw-Dropping.
I didn't expect to like this film since I've disliked Bradley Cooper's past roles and because the script sounded shallow and formulaic. Initially, I thought they'd included De Niro as a come-on. In fact, the only reason I saw the film was because of Jennifer Lawrence, whose sophisticated performance in WINTER'S BONE convinced me I'd seen the breakthrough of a gifted actress.

Well, I was wrong about Cooper, wrong about De Niro's inclusion, wrong about a formulaic script, and dead-on about Jennifer Lawrence. Simply stated, this quirky, brilliant story of the evolution of love between two world-worn, emotionally troubled people -- against the chaotic background of family madness -- was one of the most satisfying, funny and affecting movies I've seen in recent years. In terms of clarity, continuity and heart, it surpasses the book on which it was based.

Since others have described the plot on this page, I will say that millions of viewers who have not seen the film...

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Spira Mirabilis

A truly unique experience
If you're into classical music you'll hear thousand times musicians speaking about "listening to each other", "making chamber music on larger scale" and stuff like that, and I'm sure that most of the time they believe in what they say. Well... this experience raises the bar to new, unexpected heights.
The reason is that the goal here is not to present "a product" but just to dig deep into a score, sharing this path in all of its stages with the people who are interested in. It's music seen through the eyes of musicians. And human beings.
Also available in Blu-Ray Spira Mirabilis [Blu-ray]





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Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene

Dangerous Edge: Graham Greene's Intrigue and Depression
Dangerous Edge: Graham Greene's Intrigue and Depression

During his tenure with British intelligence, Graham Greene reported directly to the notorious Soviet mole Kim Philby. It was rather fitting the espionage novelist and chronic adulterer would be so closely associated with such a significant betrayer. Yet, Greene consistently offered tortured defenses of his friend. He was "complicated" that way. Thomas P. O'Connor surveys the writer's work and ironic life in Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene (promo here), which airs this Friday night on most PBS outlets.

Greene was never awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he was nominated for an Oscar. Indeed, with so many Greene's books and screenplays produced for the big screen, O'Connor has a wealth of cinematic imagery available to illustrate Greene's oeuvre, without ever scraping the bottom of the barrel. In fact, at least two of Greene's scripts became outright masterpieces: The Third Man and...

A Graham Greene Biopic Walks the "Dangerous Edge" Between His Failures and Successes
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene is a comprehensive look at the life and work of British author Graham Greene. While he is best known for his novels The Third Man, The Quiet American, and The End of the Affair, he also worked in British counter-intelligence for a time and spoke out against the United States government's misguided attempts at nation-building. As a writer and a public figure, he has a complicated but important legacy as a man who fought for the underdog and fought to survive his severe depression as thoughts of suicide plagued him his entire life. PBS has produced an excellent documentary that covers all these aspects of his life while still staying focused and informative.

I knew I was in for a treat with this documentary when I saw that Sir Derek Jacobi was the film's narrator and that Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead) would be reading Graham Greene's letters and other correspondence. I had heard of The Third Man but had no idea of its...

Kind of Blah
Watched this last night and had high hopes for it. I've read a great deal of what Greene has written, but I only knew a very little about his life. What I had known before this was his promiscuity and he use of alcohol and drugs and his constant travelling. Just a reading of a few of the books would give one an idea of what his inner life must have been like, though.

This film did give a decent outline of his life and there was a fair amount about his depression and promiscuity, but it was put together in a lackluster and really in the end boring way.

For a guy who wrote until really the end of his life and produced good work for most of that time the feel for his books was lacking. He traveled all over most of his life "to escape the boredom" he said and some of that was certainly covered, but once again the film makers just couldn't draw you in.

Still if you really know little or nothing about his life and would like to learn more this would be a...

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Truman

Sinise is Brillant!
I have watched this movie many times and have always felt better for it. I have always had a great respect for President Truman. Mr.Sinise's performance was heart-warming & captivating. He brought the essence of the character to life. The movie transports the viewer to his time and does not let go until the end (which, I found myself wanting to know more of the Trumans, post-White House). Diana Scarwid's portrayal of Bess Truman conveyed that the man who made some very tough calls in a nation's darkest hours had a woman of steel behind him. He made decisions that were unpopular and yet necessary. "War is Hell". Our 33rd President did what he felt was right at the time. He is in my estimation one of the most under-appreciated US Presidents and important historical figures of the 20th Century.

Sinise's crowning jewel
Brilliant made for cable film about the life of President Harry Truman. Although not a complete account of his life, this film nevertheless covers all the major events that helped shape the man. There is no better casting choice than Sinise. In one of his rare occasions as THE MAIN star of a film, his talents are brought to the surface brilliantly.

HBO dvds up to this time have never been known to have many supplements on them, and unfortunately this is no exception. The live action menus are a refreshing addition. However, there are countless extras you can add when it comes to historical figures like these. There are no trailers, no documentaries. Certainly a disappointment there. Tne film itself is worth getting however. Truly a milestone for a great actor.

Gary Sinise does it again!
This DVD stars Gary Sinise as Harry S. Truman and covers his life from when he is a farmer, through marrying Bess, up until the time he leaves the White House. Gary is terrific as usual and when he gets going as the older Truman on the campaign trail, he is dynamic. Also stars Diana Scarwid as Bess, who is usually in campy movies such as playing Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest, but she is also very endearing as Mrs. Truman. There are some very cute points, especially when the Truman's move into the White House, the "first house they have ever had alone" and Mrs. Truman comments about how dirty it is! Not to be missed! One minor flaw - there are NO special features on this DVD.

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All The King's Men

In Spite of Flaws, This Political Noir Is Still Powerful
There are certain subjects that films in general and Hollywood in particular never handled very well--and chief among them are politics. But even some fifty years after it first hit theatre screens, ALL THE KING'S MEN still has plenty of power. Filmed in a "noir" style and based on the famous novel which was in turn based loosely on the rise and fall of Louisiana's Huey P. Long, the film offers the story of Willie Stark, a small-town lawyer who is nominated for govenor by a political party seeking to defeat their opponet by dividing the rural vote. When Willie gets wise to the plot he turns on his false benefactors and rockets to political power--but once in power the honest small-town-joe becomes even more corrupt than those who sought to manipulate him for their own gain.

Broderick Crawford justly earned an Oscar for his performance as Willie Stark, whose ego and thirst for power grows to horrific proportions--and whose corruption gradually taints even the most honorable...

The classic still packs a punch
I'm not much for political movies and thrillers, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this old classic still packs a considerable punch. Based on the life of Huey Long, it chronicles the rise to power of an obscure but ambitious backwoods Louisiana lawyer, Willie Stark, who initially seems to stand for honesty and reform in contrast to the entrenched and corrupt political machine he is fighting, which is determined to defeat him at all costs, rightly perceiving an honest man as a threat to everything they stand for.

Stark triumphs, however, and we watch as he himself takes on the trappings of official power, which he takes to like a duck to water. Stark builds new schools and colleges, hospitals for the poor, improves the roads, and seems to be everything the common man could hope for in a champion and leader. But there is a darker side to Stark, as he himself ultimately becomes assimilated by the corrupt machine he sought to topple and reform, and evidence surfaces that he has...

Very Well Written and Expertly Acted Film About Politics!
This film is a fascinating study of the political process. It depicts the rise and fall of a Huey Long-like character, from his idealized beginning to his slow descent into corruption, alcoholism, blackmail and greed. Broderick Crawford gives the performance of a lifetime as Willie Stark, his powerful screen presence makes us at first admire his character, then we slowly start feeling bad for him, but at the same time scares and ultimately we get to pity this man that was corrupted by the system. Assured direction by Robert Rossen and a superb script keep the film moving at a steady pace. Also an amazing supporting cast of which Mercedes McCambridge stands out as Stark's tough-as-nails assistant. From a scale of 1-10 I give this film a 7!

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Requiem For A Vampire

introduction to rollin: lesson 1
OH YEAH! it's great & redemption has made this collection available with an amazingly low cost. yes, that's 3 great films of rollin at a small price. for those of us who've wanted to study the maestro's classics or just indulge in some fantastic eurotrash, this is an absolute dream come true. infact, this was my introduction or 1st lesson in my education of jean rollin. of all three films, i'd have to say i love rape of the vampire best. as strange as this might sound, i was initially very confused when i saw this film & wouldn't have rated it so highly had i not given it a second viewing. having said that, i loved the images which are macabre & beautiful almost all at once. needless to say, that 2nd viewing really stole my attention & gave me a deeper appreciation of the film altogether. i was able to piece together the events & characters the 2nd time around & i realized what a genius jean rollin truly is. rape of the vmapire is to jean rollin as eraserhead is to david lynch. a rare...

astoundingly beautiful
Picked up this set expecting some typical vampire films and was blown away by the photography and ambiance. This set introduced me to the beauty and strangeness of Rollin's work. It was his later films that really captivated me: Fascination, Two Vampire Orphans, and Fiancee of Dracula. These are hard films to describe but there's something very beautiful about them. You'll either get it or you wont. The films in this set aren't as captivating to me as the three films I mentioned above but they have some amazing moments and I'm very pleased that I discovered this set of films since they introduced me to the work of this visionary director and led me to experience the glory of his later films.

Painting as Cinema
This collection of 3 films will be best enjoyed by those with an understanding of surrealist or symbolist painting. Otherwise if you are not familiar with the motivations behind these movements, you will find yourself bored by the lack of plot and character development, and slow pacing. Even your average 'B' movie fan will be disappointed here - despite the low budgets - there are not enough laughs here to make it a good fun night with your friends. Instead Rollin approaches these films with lofty ambitions and in the main part succeeds in creating some memorable images. The first half of Rape of the Vampire is a great and striking short film. The second half is obviously tacked on and is completely incomprehensible. Shiver of the Vampires in contrast to the black and white of ROTV has impressive use of colour and is probably the strongest of the three films. Requiem for a Vampire, is the slowest paced of the three, building up to some jaw dropping, sadistic torture scenes that evoke...

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If These Walls Could Talk

Hauntingly memorable
Abortion�s current sound bite nature means that both sides of the debate forget the women wanting control of their own bodies--and lives.

Graphically showing how government decisions impact private citizens, this film places women back into the center of this social issue. The audience is constantly reminded each of the women in the vignettes is a three-dimensional person with dreams and aspirations; only a callous person would believe women undertake abortions for fun.

I have previously seen many horror movies, but nothing prepared me for grim "1952". Discovering she is pregnant, nurse Claire Donnelly tried to obtain a safe illegal abortion. Repeatedly suggesting death/mourning (ironically in a supposedly 'pro-life' era) Claire's world is intentionally drab and the frequently drawn curtains also convey secrecy and shame. The white nightgown worn on the night of her septic abortion made her already pale complexion even more ghostly. Watching this segment is still very...

A Powerful Take on a Continuing Controversy
This trilogy of stories is both powerful and thought provoking. The movie follows the stories of three women of different eras who are conflicted regarding their unplanned pregnancies. While fictional in form, in reality it reflects the changing views and policies toward abortion from the 1950's to the present era.

The setting of all three segments is in a single house. This masterful production/directorial technique seems to be symbolic for an issue which has always been controversial to many. As the house becomes more and more dilapidated over each segment, we also see that the right to abortion is becoming a compoundingly fragile right that could be taken away at any time. Instead of gaining strength over time, the volatile issue is subject to the demands of the political party in command.

The dynamics of the eras are reflected so realistically in each segment, that a viewer cannot help but to be actively drawn into the drama. The segments feature all-star casts including such...

Good movie, but biased...
I'll start off saying that even as an abortion supporter, I found the movie biased. The one segment of three, which was set in the 70s and acted brilliantly by Sissy Spacek, where the woman chose not to have an abortion was the weakest. The story focused more on her life rather than the abortion, and I jus felt it didn't speak to me as much as the first and last segments. It was still good, but that segment seemed out of place. I also found the 70s segemnt out of place in the sequel, but that's a different subject.

The first segment, set in the 50s spoke to me the most. You could feel Demi's pain. I wanted to just strangle her sister. As I said before, the 70s segment was acted well, but lacked a moving story for me. I just didnt feel for Sissy's character like the other two. The last segment, set in the 90s, ws my favorite. Maybe it was because it is more relevent to me, since it's when I grew up. The end was really an unexpected turn, and superbly acted by Matthew Lillard. He...

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Episode 5 [HD]

Sweet dreams are made of this...
"The Syndicate" is not for anyone, just for those of us who enjoy a fairy tale, broken hearts, broken dreams, happy endings, and thick Northern England accents. Set in the rather grim industrial city of Leeds, the five-episide mini-series tells us about five ordinary, mostly decent, working class individuals, all employees of the same discount supermarket, who form a lottery syndicate.

Their future seems a bit bleak, the supermarket has been acquired by a larger chain and all five face redundancy, that horrible British euphamism for out of a job and up a creek. Each character accepts the news differently...some with stoicism, others with panic, some are driven to acts of desperation. This is soap opera manipulation at its best, and within the first 20 minutes, I was hooked.

Just when things look especially dodgy for all concerned, lightning strikes and The Syndicate's lottery numbers come up. Each member wins one million pounds, about $2.5 million...a lot of...

8 million lottery win fuels co-worker dysfunction
If this was a novel, it would be a bestseller, then adapted into a mini-series.
The Syndicate, a grocery lottery ticket buying group, wins. How will millions change 5 lives, and those closest to them. It's what we ask ourselves while scratching tickets, or checking numbers, praying for THE BIG WIN. This 2012 TV series vividly details the price of wealth. Kudos to the writer (also sometimes director, producer) Kay Mellor.

The Syndicate is a character study extraordinaire. You become enraptured with 5 leading roles, plus people close to them. Viewer emotions may include hate, love, endearment, despair, disdain, and more. You WILL be moved. The lucky winners: Brothers Jamie (Matthew Lewis- Harry Potter) & Stuart (Matthew McNulty- Lark Rise to Candleford); Leanne (Joanna Page- Love Actually); Denise (Lorraine Bruce); and Mgr Bob (Timothy Spall- King's Speech). Series filled with star actors.

SDH SUBTITLES optional for five 54min hard-pausing-between...

Fabulous series
Real drama, pathos, human emotions. Amazingly well written and acted. My wife and I were absolutely engrossed from the first minutes.

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Titan A.E.

"Who's your Daddy! "
I went to see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" the second day it came out,(and boy was I dissapointed) during the previews I saw a small teaser trailer for this film with Cale speaking while the Titan escapes the Earth's destruction. I expected that Titan A.E. would be an all-CG film ala "Antz" or "Toy Story" so I was curious. Later on I discovered that it would be a hand drawn animated film combined with CG animation and effects. I grew even more curious, but I was a serious anime fan, and after seeing great stuff like "Akira," "Bubblegum Crisis" and "Ghost in the Shell" I was convinced that I would never see anything the least bit close of quality come out of the U.S., I was in for a huge surprise.

Titan A.E.(in which I went to see the first day of it's release) turned out to be an awesome experience that was just as exciting as any anime I've seen. First of all the animation was simply incredible, the...

Brilliantly written and executed
Once again, I find myself defending the substance of a movie that everyone claims has none.

First off, let me say that this movie has a unique and complex plot. I really don't see how anyone can dislike Titan's storyline. The Titan is NOT like the Genesis device from the Wrath of Kahn (Titan builds a new planet, while Genesis provides instant terraforming of an existing world) and Cale has NOTHING in common with Luke Skywalker except blonde hair. I've seen movies that ended with the end of the world (End of Evangelion, for example), but this is the only one that begins with the end of the world and tells of what happens afterward. Simply put, this is a movie about finding hope after everything you know has been lost. Don Bluth tells this type of story well, and though Titan is certainly no Land Before Time, it does a damn fine job of pulling its characters' heartstrings. The first few minutes after the opening credits are VERY finely crafted, and they thoroughly convince...

Titan After Earth: TAKE THAT DISNEY!
Ok, so the film bombed, and killed ANY chance to see another spectacular film like this from Fox Studios ever again. I hope it will get much more attention on DVD then it did in theatres. Hopefully it will also have alot of fun and cool features for the fans.

This movie shows that Disney isn't the only ones with animation talent. But unlike Disney Fox isn't afraid to market to an older audience. The characters are all very cool, with an original plot to boot! Some neat plot twists along the way, and VERY VERY VERY cool animation mixed BEAUTIFULLY with the best special effects you'll ever see in an animated film. This movie wasn't predictable, and kept me guessin HOW it was gonna all end. The ending is a stretch of the imagination. I did notice someone mutter how "impossible" it was. But this is science fiction! who cares! My only problem is that it ended too quickly, I would've enjoyed it even more had it been 2 hrs. The voice talents are great, but at times...

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Rendezvous

A Solid Movie
If you enjoy watching the ever-urbane and always dapper William Powell straightening out a complex mess and catching the bad guys, give this movie some consideration. This movie is a drama interspersed with some funny moments with Roz Ruzzell. These moments are actually pretty funny, and so is she. I enjoyed her in this movie. She and William synergize well.

Even though they team well, don't expect the jocularity of The Thin Man. He is neither hard-drinking, nor cracking wise at every turn. He is an army officer working hard to thwart spies in a time of war. This offers a nice contrast to pursuing a murderer.

A murderer and a spy network are the same inasmuch as they both endeavour to conceal their identities. But, this is where the similarity ends, and the juxtaposition begins. When a murderer is found out, he attemps to flee.

To a spy network operating in a country, that is at war with their own country, it is an entirely different rodeo. Fleeing is...

An excellent film
Greatly enjoyed this film which has both witty dialogue and superb acting by Rosalind Russell and William Powell.
Strongly recommended with a high quality reproduction.

William Powell at is best!!!
Just when I thought I had seen all the William Powell movies, I discovered this delightfully funny movie. Check out Star of Midnight - his absolute best!!! You can see these were inline with his character in the Thin Man series.

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Only The Young / Tchoupitoulas

Worth the Watch
Only The Young

In "Only the Young" Elizabeth Mims and Jason Tippet capture the majesty and bare reality of life as adulthood closes in on Garrison Saez, Kevin Conway, and Sky Elmore during their last year of high school. What may come off merely as adolescent drama, is, in the hands of these directors, an authentic, moving coming of age story. The Mims and Tippet have bottled intense feelings of love, excitement, pain, and anxiety of life in such a way that no matter the viewer's age or background it all tastes the same going down. Bitter, and sweet, and familiar. "Only the Young" tastes like growing up.

The cinematography is beautiful and the subjects human. We see the darkness in Kevin, the poetry in how they care for each other through inelegant sentences. Spending the majority of their time in quiet, abandoned and empty spaces we witness how they create something out of nothing. "Only the Young" is a wonderful and emotional journey as...

Great DVD!
I saw the documentary "Only the Young" on PBS one night and loved it so much I felt the need to order the dvd!

Wonderful movie!
We were able to see it when it prevailed in Los Angeles! Awesome movie made by a very talented young man!

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The Grapes Of Death

When preying on humans, the red or the white wine?
Only having seen three of Jean Rollin's films, I will not attempt to give you any insight into this interesting French director. My opinion of this film is the same as the other two I have seen by him: occasionally boring, yet well done with some good bloody moments. Out of the three I've seen, this is a little less exciting than The Living Dead Girl, yet less dull than The Night of the Hunted.

The story is pretty straightforward: a girl is attacked by a zombie on a train, leaves the train, then roams the French countryside looking for people who can help her with the ever-increasing zombie problem. The Grapes of Death title refers to wine made from pesticide-laced grapes, which is responsible for turning people into the zombies. It's different than, say, your typical Romero or Fulci zombiefest in that the people turn into the living dead gradually. It'll be just a hand decaying at first, for example, and the FX showing this and the other gore scenes are pretty effective...

Gory, sleazy zombie flick
Jean Rollin is a name instantly recognizable to hardcore horror fans, yet meaningless to nearly everyone else. This ignorance is quite unfortunate because the French director concocted some of the sleaziest, most unusual films ever made during the 1970s and 1980s, films usually imbued with a disturbing mix of hypereroticism and bloody violence. I have often tossed Rollin's name around in impolite company with seeming aplomb even though I had never seen even one of the man's films. You read enough plot synopses about someone and you start to feel as though you know every intimate detail about their work. What I did hear from others about this director oftentimes did not bode well. He is apparently well versed in schlock filmmaking, which in and of itself is not a problem with me, a true lover of bad cinema, but several of his films continue to draw raves from a selected minority of genre fans. Well, I finally sat down with a Jean Rollin film, his 1979 effort "Fascination," and was...

The Grapes of Death
Jean Rollin achieves what many consider to be his finest work in THE GRAPES OF DEATH, which also serves as one of the first French Gore films. This second dubious honor is a bit misleading, however, as the film is intended to be a surreal fantasy rather than a zombie shocker. A woman returning home to her family's vineyard is horrified to discover that the pesticides being used on the local crops have turned the villagers into the living dead! As is the case in the majority of his pictures, plot and character become secondary to creating a visual canvas (a trait that would carry over into the works of Lucio Fulci). Rollin paints the French landscape in mists, fogs, and dilapidated buildings, which add to the rich atmosphere and eerie setting. His zombies still retain shreds of their humanity, with many of the ghouls begging to be put out of their pain and misery as the rot eats them alive. One of the film's most disturbing sequences finds a blind girl stumbling over the bodies of her...

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Broken City [HD]

Nothing You Don't See Coming
Broken City (2013) - Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind), Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, The Fighter), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Zorro), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace), Kyle Chandler (Super 8, Friday Night Lights)

This is a corruption drama. Mark Wahlberg plays a former cop turned private investigator hired by the Mayor of New York City (Crowe) to investigate the mayor's cheating wife (Zeta-Jones). It's a pretty standard story set against the backdrop of a mayoral race. It proceeds as you would expect - there are very few twists and turns in this paint by the numbers mystery. That said, is it a bad film? No. It's worth watching once - that said, I don't think this is a must have. Everyone gives a solid performance, though some come off a bit more hammy than others (Z-J/R.C. in their "dick measuring" contest scene). If you are a fan of Wahlberg and any of the actors listed, I recommend a rental.

A very entertaining movie that keeps you guessing right up until the end. Very much worth watching, I liked it. I say B+
"If you think you're investigating adultery Mr. Taggart you don't know Nicholas Hostetler very well." Private investigator Billy Taggart (Wahlberg) is struggling to make money. When Mayor Hostetler (Crowe) hires him to follow his wife to see if she is having an affair Billy is offered an amount of money he can't turn down. After his findings lead to a murder Billy isn't sure who to believe anymore. I have to admit that I wasn't all that excited about this movie going in. Not a big Russell Crowe fan and the movie looked a little too generic from the preview. While the movie isn't really anything that new I really did enjoy this and was entertained the entire time. There were enough twists and double-crossing going on that it kept me guessing who was telling the truth the entire time. That to me is the sign of a good movie. This is not a movie that will become a classic or win a bunch of awards but it is very much worth seeing and is very entertaining. I recommend this. Overall, a good...

Less Words Please
A former cop with the New York City Police Department had been double-crossed and framed; seven years later he is hired by the mayor to track a (possibly) unfaithful wife.... Why does this sound so familiar?

...Sigh...There is nothing new in this l-o-n-g (109 minutes) R-rated action-filled mess. Dirty cops, corrupt politicians, unfaithful wives, deadbeat customers, you know the drill. My biggest problem was finding someone I could root for! Maybe that darling secretary? Maybe the lover?

I watched:
* Mark Wahlberg ("The Fighter") is Billy. We want to root for him, but we can't forget those first scenes.
* Russell Crowe ("Les Misérables") is Mayor Hostetler. His phony smile can't disguise that little twitch under his left eye when he is tense.
* Jeffrey Wright ("Source Code") is Police Commissioner Fairbanks, who has me confused: is he clean or is he dirty?
* Catherine Zeta-Jones ("Rock of Ages") is Cathleen, the Mayor's wife. Is...

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The Seduction Of Mimi [HD]

A great film of the sixties, still has some great visuals
We loved it in the sixties. but now the film and its politics are anachronistic. Still, Lina Wertmuller has some great visuals and funny scenes. I wish it was as good as I remembered!

I would rate this higher than "Swept Away" (which I love).
Lina Wertmuller's best film, with most of the same actors from Swept Away (and I'm talking about the original Italian film, not the Madonna remake).



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