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tt0109770 | The Fantastic Four | Childhood friends Reed Richards and Ben Grimm have worked together on a prototype teleporter since youth, eventually attracting the attention of Professor Franklin Storm, director of the Baxter Foundation, a government-sponsored research institute for young prodigies. Reed is recruited to join them and aid Storm's children, scientist Sue Storm and the somewhat reckless technician and her younger brother Johnny Storm, into completing a "Quantum Gate" designed by Storm's wayward protégé, Victor von Doom, who begrudgingly agrees to help due to his unrequited feelings for Sue.
The experiment is successful, and the facility's supervisor, Dr. Allen, plans to send a group from NASA to venture into a parallel dimension known as "Planet Zero". Disappointed at being denied the chance to join the expedition, Reed, Johnny, and Victor along with Ben use the Quantum Gate to embark on an unsanctioned voyage to Planet Zero, which they learn is a world filled with otherworldly substances. Victor attempts to touch the green-lava like substance, causing the surface they are on to collapse and the ground to erupt. Reed, Johnny, and Ben return to their shuttle just as Sue brings them back to Earth. Victor is seemingly killed after he falls into the collapsing landscape. The machine explodes, altering Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben on a molecular-genetic level, affording them superhuman abilities beyond their control: Reed can stretch like rubber, Susan can become invisible and generate force shields, Johnny can engulf his entire body in fire and fly, and Ben becomes bigger and develops a rock-like hide which gives him superhuman strength and durability. They are then placed in government custody and confinement to be studied and have their conditions and abilities tested. Blaming himself for the accident, Reed escapes from the facility and tries to find a cure for their changes.
One year later, Reed is now a fugitive and has built a suit that is able to adapt to his body's plasticity and help him control his ability. Hiding in Central America, he is eventually found by the United States military with Sue's help and captured by Ben, who has become a military asset along with Johnny and Sue. Johnny and Sue have been outfitted with specialized suits designed to help them stabilize and control their abilities. Reed is brought to Area 57, where Dr. Allen conscripts him to open another portal to Planet Zero in exchange for giving Reed the necessary resources to find a cure. Arriving in Planet Zero, Dr. Allen's explorers find Victor, who has been fused to his spacesuit and can now control the elements, as well as having telekinetic abilities, and bring him back to Earth. Believing the human race needs to be destroyed so he can rebuild Planet Zero in his image, Victor kills scientists and soldiers in the base including Dr. Allen and Professor Storm and returns to Planet Zero using the Quantum Gate, with Ben, Johnny, Reed, and Sue in pursuit.
Now dubbing himself "Doom", Victor activates a portal on Planet Zero using the Quantum Gate II, and a structure consisting of the rock formations in Planet Zero he made while in the realm, that begins consuming the landscape of the Earth. He is confronted by the four and, after a short battle, Ben punches Doom into the portal's energy beam, disintegrating him while Johnny closes the portal. Returning to Earth, the group is rewarded for their heroics by being given a new base of operations by the US military known as "Central City" to study their abilities and without government interference. They decide to use their powers to help people and adopt the mantle of the "Fantastic Four". | good versus evil, revenge, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0080310 | 'Breaker' Morant | In Pretoria, South Africa, in 1902, Major Charles Bolton (Rod Mullinar) is summoned to a meeting with Lord Kitchener (Alan Cassell). He is told that three officers of the Bushveldt Carbineers—Lieutenants Harry Morant (Edward Woodward), Peter Handcock (Bryan Brown), and George Witton (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) -- have been arrested and charged with murdering captured Boers and a German missionary. Explaining ominously that the Kaiser has protested diplomatically about the latter killing, Kitchener asks Major Bolton to appear for the prosecution. To the Major's visible dismay, he is told that witnesses which would help the defence have been sent to India and that the defence counsel is expected to give him no trouble.
Meanwhile, Major James Francis Thomas (Jack Thompson) meets Lieuts. Morant, Handcock, and Witton the day before he is to represent them in court. He tells them that he knows only the basic facts, which don't look good. A small town solicitor from New South Wales, Major Thomas explains that he has never handled anything except legal documents like wills. Lieut. Handcock quips, "Might come in handy."
As court martial proceedings begin the following morning, Major Thomas argues, because his clients are Australians, that only the Australian Army can court martial them. Unmoved, the president of the court martial, Lt.-Col. Denny, explains that the defendants may be tried for alleged crimes committed while serving under British command in the Bushveldt Carbineers. Without further ado, Denny reads the indictment. The three stand accused of the murder of a Boer prisoner named Visser and the subsequent shooting of six other captured Boers whose names are unknown. Furthermore, Lts. Morant and Handcock are also charged with the murder of the Reverend C.A.D. Heese.
Maj. Bolton begins by calling witnesses who describe a lack of discipline, drunkenness, widespread looting, and corruption among the Bushveldt Carbineers at Fort Edward. Maj. Thomas, however, manages to damage their credibility during cross examination. The testimony then turns to the shooting of Visser, which is shown in flashback.
On 5 April 1901, Lt. Morant's close friend, Captain Simon Hunt, had led a group of men to a farmhouse at Duiwelskloof intending to capture or kill Boer Commando Field Cornet Barend Viljoen. On arrival, the Carbineers found the farm swarming with far more armed men than expected. Captain Hunt was wounded, pinned down by enemy fire, and left behind when he ordered his men to retreat.
When the patrol returned to Fort Edward without Captain Hunt, Intelligence Corps Captain Alfred Taylor (John Waters) suggests Morant "avenge Captain Hunt". After returning to the farm and finding Captain Hunt's body mutilated with knives, Morant gave chase, ambushed Viljoen's men, and forced them to retreat with heavy losses. After capturing a Boer named Visser who was wearing Captain Hunt's jacket, an enraged Morant ordered his men to line up into a firing squad and shoot him. They obey his order.
Back in the courtroom, Maj. Thomas argues that standing orders existed to shoot "all Boers captured wearing khaki". To the shock of Maj. Thomas and his clients, Maj. Bolton explains that those orders only applied to Boers wearing British uniforms as a ruse of war. When Morant takes the witness stand and is grilled by Bolton, he defends the shooting of Visser by saying that he fought the Boers as they fought him. When asked which of the rules of engagement justifies shooting an unarmed prisoner, Morant shouts, in reference to the caliber of his rifle, "Rule 303." That night, Maj. Thomas angrily tells Morant that he was the best witness the prosecution has yet had. The following day, testimony turns to the shooting of the six Boers.
Captain Taylor testifies that, prior to his death, Captain Hunt had paid a visit to Kitchener's headquarters. Following Hunt's return to Fort Edward, Lt. Morant had brought in a group of Boers who had surrendered, only to be told by Captain Hunt that new orders from Kitchener, relayed through Col. Hubert Hamilton, decreed that no more prisoners were to be taken. Saying, "The gentlemen's war is over", Hunt had had the prisoners all shot while Morant watched. Captain Taylor testifies, however, that Morant had continued to bring prisoners in until after Captain Hunt had been killed. Afterwards, he always ordered his men to shoot them. On cross examination, Maj. Bolton damages Taylor by forcing him to admit that he is also awaiting court martial for shooting prisoners.
According to other witnesses, a group of six Boer guerrillas had approached Fort Edward after Captain Hunt's death, bearing white flags. Morant ordered them disarmed, lined them up, and had them shot. When one prisoner attacks Witton, he kills him.
In response, Maj. Thomas demands that Kitchener be summoned as a witness. He argues that, as his clients only followed orders, all charges must be dropped. Lt.-Col. Denny recoils at the suggestion that Kitchener, a man revered throughout the British Empire, would be capable of giving such criminal orders. Equally contemptuous of the idea, Maj. Bolton privately tells Maj. Thomas that, if Kitchener testifies and denies giving the orders, the defendants' lives will be doomed. He vainly urges Maj. Thomas not to insist.
In a private conversation, Kitchener tells Col. Hamilton that, when he had issued orders to take no prisoners, he was trying to break the Boer guerrillas by waging total war. Now, however, he is trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afrikaner people and arrange a peace conference. To this end, a few soldiers "have to be sacrificed" for the misdeeds of the whole British Army. He orders Col. Hamilton to testify in his place and, when asked for what to say, Kitchener comments, "I think you know what to do."
The following day, Col. Hamilton takes the stand and denies ever having spoken to Captain Hunt. An outraged Morant stands up and screams that the Colonel is a liar. Lt.-Col. Denny, however, comments that there will be no more talk of orders to shoot prisoners. Maj. Thomas, however, explains that Col. Hamilton's testimony is irrelevant. The fact is, his clients believed that such orders existed and thus cannot be held accountable for following them. The trial then turns to the murder of the Reverend Heese.
A Corporal Sharp testifies that, shortly before the massacre of the six Boers, Rev. Heese had passed through Fort Edward in a buggy. Shortly after his departure, Lt. Handcock had ridden up to Morant, spoken briefly to him, and then ridden off, looking "agitated", in the same direction as Rev. Heese. Maj. Thomas damages Sharp on cross examination by revealing his hatred of the defendants.
Upon taking the stand, Morant explains that Heese was under orders to never speak to prisoners while passing through Fort Edward and violated them. When Maj. Bolton asks why such orders existed, Morant explains, "It was for security reasons." When Morant had confronted the Reverend, he had been told that the prisoners had begged Heese to pray with them and that he could not refuse. Heese then left the Fort and was later found, shot to death, along the road. Bolton suggests that Heese was going to inform their commanding officer of Morant's plans to kill the prisoners and accuses Morant of ordering Handcock to silence him. Unmoved, Morant insists that his commanding officer already knew and suggests that he be recalled from India to testify. He smugly adds, "I don't mind waiting."
After Morant stands down, Maj. Thomas requests and is granted a brief recess to confer with Lt. Handcock before putting him on the stand. Late into the night, Maj. Thomas pleads with Handcock to tell him the truth, calling the Heese murder "the most serious charge." At last, Handcock opens up about his whereabouts.
The following morning, Handcock testifies that, when he left Fort Edward, he had travelled to the homes of two married Afrikaner women and slept with them. As Maj. Bolton eyes him, Maj. Thomas produces signed depositions from the women to confirm Handcock's story. The court and the prosecution accept the depositions without summoning the women to give evidence.
Later, in the prison courtyard, Lt. Witton wonders aloud about who really did kill Rev. Heese. Handcock smiles and says, "Me." To Witton's horror, Handcock explains that his visits to his "two lady friends" happened afterwards. When Witton asks whether Maj. Thomas knows, Morant explains that there is no reason for him to know. Morant explains that the Bushveldt Carbineers represent a new kind of warfare "for a new century". As the Boers do not wear uniforms, the enemy is everyone, including men, women, children, and even missionaries. That is why, after Rev. Heese had left the Fort, Morant had told Handcock that he believed that the Reverend was a Boer spy and had said that he was going towards Leydsdorp. A seething Handcock replied that anything could happen on the way there, had ridden after Heese, and shot him.
After a powerful summing up speech from Maj. Thomas, the defendants are found guilty of shooting the prisoners but acquitted of murdering Rev. Heese.
As they celebrate their probable evasion of the death penalty, Captain Taylor takes Morant aside and tells him that he and Handcock are almost certainly going to be shot. He offers to have a horse ready and says that many of the Highland Scots guards are sympathetic. He urges Morant to flee to Portuguese Mozambique, take ship from Lourenço Marques, and "see the world". Unmoved, Morant says, "I've seen it."
The next morning, all three defendants are sentenced to death, with Witton's commuted to "life in penal servitude". Desperate to save his clients, Maj. Thomas rushes to Kitchener's headquarters to demand a commutation. Upon arrival, he learns that Kitchener has already left. He is also told that both Whitehall and the Australian Government have expressed support for the verdict and sentences. Furthermore, there now will be a peace conference and every British and Commonwealth soldier will soon be going home.
The next morning, as Lt. Morant's poem Butchered to Make a Dutchmen's Holiday is recited in voiceover, both he and Lt. Handcock are led before a firing squad. Moments before being executed, Morant shouts, "Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!" The final shot shows the bodies of both men being loaded into coffins. | murder, anti war, violence, flashback, tragedy, historical | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0028492 | Westward Whoa | Beans and his companions are travelling and exploring in a wagon train. At the front, Beans plays an accordion, and Little Kitty strums a banjo. The two also sing while the rest harmonize. Soon the travellers set up camp in the woods and enjoy their night.
Ham and Ex sneak out to explore a bit, but then they notice some feathers around a boulder and raise an alarm of Native Americans. When Beans shoots at the feathers it is revealed to be a turkey. Ham and Ex of course knew that and Beans warns them not to create any more false alarms.
Just to spice up their little adventure and to entertain themselves, Ham and Ex perform the Indian charge call. This raises another alarm, so Ham and Ex hide in the woods and stumble into an actual Native. The Native gives chase, but the pups escape and head back to camp to warn everyone. No one believes and this is another of their pranks. Ham and Ex then hide themselves in a chest. Shortly the whole Native tribe arrives, alerting the camp. The explorers manage to counter the invasion, while Ham and Ex get nabbed by one of the Natives. Beans rescues them by tossing a foothold trap at their captive. As the pups watch Beans he plays a little prank on them with a holler call, scaring them into chest. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | It's Sad To See A Complete Character Go So Early. Although Beans can be spotted moving in Plane Dippy, this cartoon marks his last regular appearance. After watching a few Beans films, I knew the cat was something more complex than the hog who stole the spotlight from him. I can only wonder what kind of perception film viewers had back then. Whatever they were thinking, it makes me wish Beans had a much longer run than he actually had. What a pity, considering he was groomed to be a star. The cat was a complete package of cuteness, funniness and adventure.In this film, we have Beans and his friends who traveled west in their wagon train. Beans advices Ham and Ex that if they spotted any Indians, they should come and warn. However, the pups began making false alarms, triggering hysteria at the wagon fort. Eventually, the Indians did show up, therefore adding to the thrill. One thing about this short film is that it gives a good illustration of American history.If I were a producer working under WB, I would come up with a TV series. There, I would revive Beans. Porky would also be included, and those two will be cast as best buddies.. Beans goes west. Love animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.'Westward Whoa' shows that, as to be expected, that Porky is a likable character and he is and also amusing, cute and interesting, though he is more a cameo supporting role. Beans, in another of his dozen cartoons of his short-lived Looney Tunes career (here his penultimate cartoon and his last pairing with Porky), is more the lead here and has a decently engaging enough personality to make things interesting.Ham and Ex are sweet and likable and just about escape the trap of being annoying, even if their antics are not hilarious. The Indians are fun and liven things up when they appear.The story in 'Westward Whoa' is slight and much of the first half is set up, and fairly formulaic set up at that. There is not enough humour here agreed and what gags there are are amusing but more in a mild wry smile sort of way, nothing really hilarious here.Once the Indians are introduced, the pace livens up, there's more glimpses of a story and there's more action and humour, even if nothing exceptional still.Animation is characteristically great, especially later on, crisp, detailed and fluid throughout. The music is not Carl Stalling or Scott Bradley and does lack variety at times, but it is still lush and characterful and adds a good deal to the action if not quite enhancing it.Voice acting is very good, particularly from Billy Bletcher. Joe Dougherty's Porky voice still doesn't do much for me though, not as natural as Mel Blanc's and the stutter has always sounded overdone to me.In conclusion, above average but not great. 6/10 Bethany Cox. Out West. Westward Whoa (1936) ** (out of 4)Decent animated short has Porky, Beans and others on a trip out West when they are attacked by Indians.WESTWARD WHOA isn't the worst animated film that you're going to watch but at the same time it's certainly not the best either. The biggest problem with this film is the fact that there really wasn't any laughs and worst of all is the fact that what jokes there are fall flat on their face. Basically you've got the characters running around, acting scared and trying to avoid the Indians. If you've ever seen a Western before then you'll realize the gags that they're going for but none of them work. At least the animation is nice to look at.. It may be as old as Aesop's Fables, but Warner Bros. warns us about the President who "Cried Wolf!" . . .. . . . with this 1936 clairvoyant Looney Tunes offering for We Americans of the (Then) Far Future, WESTWARD WHOA. Warner Bros.' work horses "Ham and Ex" play Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway here, spending their first 100 Days as Red Commie KGB U.S. Strongman's Amerikan deputies constantly crying wolf about the Bowling Green massacre, the Swedish massacre, the Waterford massacre, etc. Perhaps it is natural for this to happen, because every time either Bannon or Conway glimpse themselves in a mirror, they see a Raving Mad Dog Terrorist leering back at them. This ludicrous situation ALMOST would be comical, if the Future of Our Free World did not hang in the balance of this deplorable pair's unhinged minds. While Porky Pig makes a cameo appearance as Chris Christie with his trousers falling from his porcine midriff down to his ankles, Ham and Ex's "Uncle Beans" is presented as the hopeless adult in the room. Since Beans can only symbolize Putin's odoriferous puppet Rump, Warner does not seem to be holding out much hope for present day America in WESTWARD WHOA. |
tt4547056 | The Girl with All the Gifts | Twenty years ago humanity was infected by a variant of the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. The infected, referred to as "hungries", quickly lose their mental powers and feed on the flesh of healthy humans. The disease spreads through blood and saliva, but can also spread through spores created by the fungus. In England, the few surviving uninfected humans either live in heavily-guarded areas such as Beacon, or roam in packs of hostile, scavenging "junkers".
The authorities in Beacon set up a remote military base for the study of a specific group of child hungries. They, unlike others, are able to retain their mental powers and only lose control when they get too close to human scent. Soldiers, led by Sergeant Eddie Parks, find such child hungries and bring them to the base, where they are educated by teachers and tested by the head scientist, Dr. Caroline Caldwell. This often means she vivisects the children, which Helen Justineau, a behavioural psychologist and teacher at the base, dislikes. Justineau sees the child hungries as people, and is especially fond of Melanie, a 10-year-old with a genius-level IQ. Melanie loves Justineau as a surrogate mother. Like the other children, Melanie does not understand that she is different from the adults.
Dr. Caldwell, who believes that she is close to a cure for the fungus, chooses to dissect Melanie. As Justineau interrupts and tries to save her the base is attacked by a group of junkers and hungries; Caldwell is badly wounded, and in saving Justineau, Melanie eats flesh for the first time, awakening the "hunger" of the fungus. The three find Parks and Private Kieran Gallagher, and flee the base together. The group decides to travel to Beacon, 74 miles away, but the adults argue over whether to bring Melanie. Parks only agrees after placing a muzzle and handcuffs on the child; Melanie cooperates, now aware of the danger she poses to the others.
Melanie proves useful to the adults; hungries do not attack her, and she can lead them away from the humans. While Caldwell still sees Melanie as a specimen, the others begin to trust the child. After several encounters with hungries, including a few adults that also retain some human-like behavior, the group finds the mobile laboratory Rosalind Franklin. It was built soon after the epidemic began with state-of-art facilities for experimentation and attack, but disappeared on its research mission. Caldwell, who is dying from sepsis, uses its equipment to urgently continue her research.
While Melanie sates her hunger away from the others by eating wild animals, she finds a group of child hungries. Melanie sees that they, too, retain their mental functions, although they have no language of their own, being uneducated. Afraid that they will be experimented on, Melanie instead tells the adults she saw a large group of junkers, but reveals the truth to Justineau. Gallagher, scared of junkers, flees the lab. He is found by the intelligent hungries, killed, and eaten.
While Parks and Justineau search for Gallagher, Caldwell—obsessed with finishing her research before dying—captures one of the intelligent hungries and experiments on him. She makes remarkable findings but does not let the others inside, fearing that they will interfere. Melanie finds a giant mass of fungal fruiting bodies that have grown in the years since the infection began; while there are enough spores to infect the entire world by air currents, the pods that contain the spores (sporangia) do not open on their own.
Melanie tricks Caldwell into letting her inside. Before dying, Caldwell shares her findings with Melanie: There is no cure or vaccine for the fungus. Intelligent hungries are second-generation ones, conceived by hungries who retained some human behavior. Those born in this way retain their mental abilities.
Outside the lab, Parks and Justineau are cornered by hungries. Melanie frightens them away, but Justineau is knocked unconscious and Parks is bitten and infected. Parks asks Melanie to shoot him before the infection cycle finishes so he does not turn into a hungry; she agrees to do so. She asks him to shoot the mass of spores with a flamethrower, deducing correctly that the environmental trigger to open the spores is fire. Before Melanie complies with Parks' request to kill him, she explains that as long as there are healthy humans, the war between them and the hungries will continue. For second-generation hungries to be born and rebuild the world, every human must first be infected.
Justineau awakens in the Rosalind Franklin. Melanie leads her to a group of intelligent hungries, to whom Justineau, wearing an environmental protection suit, starts teaching the alphabet. | dark, haunting, sentimental | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0457376 | Demento | Fiona Belli is an 18-year-old girl who recently moved to college. While visiting her parents, she is involved in a car accident, and awakens in a cage in the dungeon of a castle. Her memories of the incident are hazy. Noting that the cage that keeps her prisoner has been left unlocked, she steps out and begins searching for answers and a way out of the castle. Soon after, she befriends a White Shepherd named Hewie. As Fiona begins to unravel the mystery in which she finds herself, she learns that she is the carrier of the Azoth, an alchemic element, which for unknown reasons is being sought by Riccardo, the castle's keeper.
The first enemy Fiona encounters is Debilitas, a large, mentally disabled groundskeeper who thinks of Fiona as one of his dolls. Fiona learns from a mysterious man named Lorenzo, that to escape the castle, she needs a staff from the chapel. However, upon taking the staff, Debilitas corners Fiona and Hewie, forcing a confrontation. They eliminate Debilitas, but soon find their next enemy, Daniella, an icy maid. Daniella covets Fiona's ability to smell, taste, touch, feel, and "experience pleasure." She is especially jealous that Fiona can create life (via a fertile womb). Daniella is defeated when she is impaled with a shard of broken glass from a ceiling window.
The third villain is Riccardo, who wields a flintlock pistol. For the majority of the game, Riccardo keeps his face hidden under a hood. Upon revealing himself however, Fiona is shocked to see her dead father's face. Riccardo reveals that he and her father, Ugo, are clones. He murdered Ugo in the car accident as revenge for leaving the castle and marrying Fiona's mother. He plans to use Fiona (by means of her womb and use of her Azoth) to bring about his own rebirth, so that he may live forever. As they fight atop a water tower, Hewie rescues Fiona by attacking Riccardo, causing him to fall from the summit.
The final enemy is Lorenzo, who seemed to be an ally, but who now menaces Fiona in several different forms. Fiona first meets him as an old, crippled man. He tells Fiona that Riccardo was always the problem child, and that he created both Riccardo and Ugo in an attempt to find a body with an Azoth which he could use to gain immortality. Ugo had the Azoth, but left the castle to marry Ayla. Now with Riccardo dead, Lorenzo believes that Fiona is his, so he can take the Azoth she inherited from her father. He chases after Fiona, but she is able to crush him in a rock press. However, she soon encounters a resurrected, youthful Lorenzo; the life energy he acquired from Riccardo's body has allowed him mastery over his own aging process. With the help of Hewie, Fiona causes Lorenzo to fall into a pit of lava. At this point, the castle begins to shake and collapse, and Lorenzo returns as a flaming skeleton. He chases Fiona as she heads for the exit, and attempts to block her escape, but as they reach the door, he finally dies, and Fiona and Hewie leave the castle. | insanity, psychedelic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1435513 | Hysteria | An American, Chris Smith, wakes up in an English hospital unable to remember anything of his life before a recent car accident.
Four months later he has recovered physically but has still not retrieved his memory. His amnesia is being treated by a psychiatrist, Dr. Keller, who tells him that his bills are being paid by an anonymous benefactor, who has made an apartment available to him. Dr Keller warns him that he might suffer hallucinations.
The only other link to his past is a photograph torn from a newspaper. Chris has fallen in love with his nurse, Gina.
Upon release from the hospital, Chris moves into a flat and hires a private investigator, Hemmings. Chris visits the photographer of the photo, who tells him that the subject is dead, the victim of a shower murder.
In his flat Chris hears strange voices coming from next door - a couple arguing. He keeps seeing a woman around town, from time to time, who reminds him of the woman in the photo. And he discovers a bloody knife in his shower.
Chris receives a late night visit from Denise, who claims to be the widow of the man responsible for the automobile accident which caused Chris to lose his memory. Denise bears a remarkable resemblance to the woman in the photograph.
Denise plies Chris with drugs, and after one such episode, he discovers in his shower the body of a murdered woman, which later disappears.
Assisted by Hemmings, Chris tricks Denise and Keller into admitting that they are the murderers, having planned to frame him for the crime, and that the victim is the physician's wife. Chris is reunited with Gina. | historical | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0071198 | The Bat People | Dr. John Beck, recently married, decides to take his wife, Cathy, spelunking in Carlsbad Cavern for their honeymoon. While there on a tour, the couple gets lost in the bat cave. Dr. Beck, who specializes in bats, is bitten by a fruit bat. He then, inexplicably, begins to transform into a vampire bat. He visits a doctor who attempts to help his condition. Unfortunately the doctor’s treatment did not seem to be working. In fact, they are aggravating his condition. As he begins to transform, Dr. Beck unwittingly goes on a killing spree, catching the attention of the cruel Sergeant Ward. The doctor begins to wonder if Dr. Beck is just imagining everything, and suggests he seek a psychiatrist. Beck returns to the original cave to seek solace. In the end, Cathy becomes a vampire (after having sex with Beck) and rejoins her husband in a bat cave. | violence | train | wikipedia | The only one who could talk some sense to him was his wife.Directed by Jerry Jameson (Airport '77, Raise the Titanic) made a watchable but disjointed horror film that attempts to be truly scary but fails.
Moss gives a good performance and there's early make-up effects work by the late five time Oscar-Winner,Stan Winston (Jurassic Park Trilogy, Aliens, Interview with an Vampire).The DVD is a double feature with "The Beast Within" from MGM.
Because, unlike the majority of crap in that list, "The Bat People" is a legitimate bad film and it deserves to be on there regardless of any media influences or internet buzz!
The film's title is inaccurate, as "people" refers to a number in plural whereas the story actually just revolves on one Bat Person.
They wander off from a guided tour group and he gets bitten by a bat whilst trying to protect his wife from the animal's vicious attack.
The prosthetic hand Stewart Moss wears looks good but his face makeup after his transformation makes him look less like a bat and more like the ugliest extra in the PLANET OF THE APES.
This movie would have been much better had they used a monster that looked something like those creepy bat people on the Marc Singer BEASTMASTER film.This movie centers on married couple Stewart Moss and Marianne McAndrew, who are married in real life.
Near the end of the film, Marianne is getting busy with her man when he changes into his bat form midway through the Barry White ballad)..
After being bitten by a bat in a cave,a doctor named John Beck undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man-bat creature.His wife assures him that there's nothing wrong with him,it's all just due to rabies or the anti-rabies drugs he's taking.The local cop thinks that John is responsible for several gruesome murders."The Bat People" by Jerry Jameson is one hell of a horrible film.The script is deadly dull and there is no gore nor nudity.This pointless piece of crap is so mind-numbingly boring that you'll scratch your head in a total disbelief after suffering through it.Even the design of a man-bat creature by a young Stan Winston is completely pathetic and unmemorable.Avoid this stinker like the plague.2 out of 10..
Anyway, "The Bat People" is about as flat as a rug, bland as a sack of flour and as exciting as a rock...and as intelligent as all three combined.Okay, plot in a nutshell (fitting vessel, that...): a doctor (Moss) gets bitten by a bat while checking out a cave with his wife (McAndrew) and subsequently turns into a bat - well, not exactly a bat but a bat-like creature that looks more like a werewolf who kills his victims in a first-person camera viewpoint....But then there's the business of the sheriff (Pataki), who is about the WORST kind of sheriff: the hick kind.
What did you expect, Oscar caliber stuff?And what else can you say about a film that not even MST3K can save?How about...no stars for "The Bat People", full version OR MST3K version!By the way, if there's ever a sequel for this movie, I'm burying my TV..
A ten star review may be reaching a bit, but notwithstanding some of the insipid and exaggeratedly low reviews here, this film DOES have a plot, takes it time getting there, and features good acting and a satisfying conclusion.
If you appreciate B films with merit, and if you also like bats, check out The Chosen Survivors, also available from MGM Midnite Movies, and also a 1974 release, which makes a terrific companion piece to this film..
Whether the bat bite causes these transformations is not clear, since he already was having some symptoms prior to the bite.While the title seems inappropriate, the implication at the end is that the same thing is happening to another person.
Not a very good movie, but I liked the variety of the desert, cave, and ski-slope locations, and some of the weirder scenes.
Stewart Moss & Marianne McAndrew play a newlywed couple(married in real life as well) who go exploring Carlsbad Cavern, where Moss(Dr. John Beck)is bitten by a fruit bat after he falls into a hidden crevice.
He is helped by his sympathetic wife, but pursued by the local sheriff, who has designs on Mrs. Beck...Film has a distinct aura of melancholy about it, and isn't badly acted at all, but is awfully slow-paced, with inadequate make up F/X by future Oscar Winner Stan Winston.
Real life husband and wife team (Moss & McAndrew) are enjoying a delayed honeymoon on the ski slopes, when Dr Beck (Moss) is bitten by a rabid bat during a cave tour, transforming him into a murderous bat freak.
The metamorphosis scenes are pretty lacklustre to say the least; each time Moss' eyes roll back into his head, the grainy stock footage of bats appears amid psychedelic hallucinations, while he goes into convulsions on the floor.The doctor's lovely wife becomes completely deranged, impregnated with the bat freak chromosome after an intimate, 70's loop-style embrace.
McAndrew is a dark, brooding beauty, but with precious little to do except look neglected or supportive dependent on Moss' mood, and former 20th Century Fox studio player Paul Carr is also on hand to offer medical support.If perchance you're wondering what would a bat manimal look like, it's not dissimilar to one of John Chambers' primate creations from the Apes movies.
I mean, this is a movie about a guy turning into a bat, and aside from the above-mentioned hand, the only time he actually turns into a bat, it looks like they borrowed an ape mask from a bad 1950's werewolf movie.The acting is horrid, the plot paper-thin, the script awful, the music painfully bad, the ending lame, the effects laughable (except, as always, for the hand), and the directing is atrocious.
Heck, even the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this movie is mediocre.Okay, okay, to be fair, the scene with the hospital wristband is not THAT bad, but any movie that features a woman who turns into a bat after having sex with a man who was bitten by a bat...trust me, avoid this movie at all costs.
I found this one interesting, it's a pretty cool film.This really is your classic werewolf story - kinda like The Wolf Man but replacing wolves with bats.
After a doctor is bitten by a bat, he goes on a killing spree as a man-bat creature.The Bat People is a slow and sluggish film with very little thrills or excitement.
It's about this guy who gets bitten by a Bat while he, and his wife are in a cave.
He then goes through these symptoms, and then becomes a human bat like creature himself killing other people.
The movie is just as fun as staring at the sun.Sheriff Pataki is a total retard that loves nothing better to do than sit on his fat rear making a smoke ring from his puffy cigars and drinking booze while the doctor acts like a zombie version of Nicholas Cage sucking up all that so called "Blood" which in reality seemed like Fruit Punch.Most of all the plotting seemed very horrid to even call this piece of crap a movie.The rest of the characters in this movie are total wastes of time, the ending was awful, the outlines were cheesy, and the scenes were terrible.
While exploring some caves with his wife, a doctor is bitten by a bat which causes some alarming side effects...Occasionally creepy atmosphere and some decent (though under used) makeup effects don't save this B horror flick from being a sub-par tale of man-becomes-creature.
After being bitten by a bat in a cave, a doctor (Stewart Moss) undergoes an accelerating transformation into a man-bat creature, which ruins his vacation and causes considerable distress for his wife (Marianne McAndrew, Moss' real-life spouse).So, yeah, there is a lot of unnecessary fluff, such as scene of skiing and sentimental music playing.
That connection completely lost me.) Bitten by a bat while he's in the cave, he begins to transform into what I guess was supposed to be a human-bat hybrid (although when we finally see him in makeup he looks a lot more like an ape-man of some sort) and a killing spree starts.
The problem is that this sequence happens about fifty minutes too late to save the film, most of which consists of one or more people running around, screaming, waving their arms about at jabbering excitedly about some poor goofball who managed to get bitten by a bat during his vacation.The fear is that he is coming down with rabies, which does indeed suck, so their vacation is ruined, as the plot synopsis on the top of THE BAT PEOPLE's reference page does indeed point out.
So here is an effective summary of the movie: A young couple goes on a romantic getaway which is ruined when the guy is bitten by a bat.
You don't try to give him drugs, you don't try to tell him you love him, you give the guy his space, go home, and try that scenic getaway next year.But no, the people in this movie all behave like morons, insist on pushing the guy to his brink, and he flips out, mutates into a part man part bat type creature, and kills a bunch of non-essential secondary characters.
Instead of a monster movie, we get lots of people running around trying to get this guy to take a chill pill, and eventually he runs off into the hills looking very much more human than he should have, people insist on trying to chase him down and pay the expected price.The main thing wrong with the movie is that this should have happened in the first fifteen or twenty minutes, thirty tops, and the movie should have been about the guy AFTER he had turned into a Bat Person, rather than about the journey there.
It takes a good eighty minutes to really pick up steam on that front, with some interesting character sketches along the way involving the always entertaining Michael Pataki as a small town cop who's lost his moral edge, and the late Paul Carr as a physician friend who doesn't quite get the message.The movie is dreadfully boring, about fifteen minutes too long and missed the opportunity to be a nice, forgettable little Creature Feature about a mutant run amok like the Italian horror favorite RATMAN, which I watched today and was sadly inspired to try this one after seeing.
I was very young at the time and couldn't remember much about the movie except that it was about a guy who is bitten by a bat and morphs into some huge bat creature.
The MST3K version has the good taste to edit out the rape attempt scene involving the sheriff and Bat-guy's wife.
The Bat People starts as a scientist researching Bat immunology Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) & his wife Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) take a public tour of an underground cave system, like a typical woman Cathy gets into trouble & ends up at the bottom of a crevice.
Sergeant Ward (Michael Pataki) likes a quiet life & all these murders are upsetting him, he sets about tracking John down & putting an end to his murderous reign...Directed by Jerry Jameson & despite it's bad reputation I rather liked The Bat People, it certainly isn't any sort of masterpiece but as monster on the loose type thing I though it was watchable if nothing else.
The script by producer Lou Shaw is hard to defend, if I'm honest its a bit slow, it can get dull at times, it's silly & never explains why John turns into the Bat creature he does & when all said & done not that much happens.
The Bat People is one of those films I can't recommend as if I think about it with my head it's total crap but there's something in my heart which made me enjoy it, I'm sure monster film fans would like it to some extent although more casual viewers may want to skip it.Director Jameson does OK & I just love the 70's atmosphere, the clothes the fashions & the way it's shot.
This was Stan Winston's second film as a make-up artist & he probably did the best he could on a low budget but if John turns into a Bat creature where are his wings?
The acting is alright with Pataki as the sleazy police officer standing out.The Bat People is crap if I'm completely honest, having said that I liked it despite it's faults however I think many won't.
He is turning into a bat person and killing and a sheriff that seems to have plenty of evidence to take the guy in, but would rather just hound the good doctor instead.
From cave tours that happen days apart, but feature the same people, to a guy turning into a bat and a hobo who is very proud of his stink...this episode has it all!
"Bat People" (which I saw under the title "It Lives By Night") is just such a movie.
The movie has something to do with a doctor who gets bitten by a bat and consequently starts to morph into a Were-Bat who drinks human blood.
(Actually, you'd think if he was turning into a real bat, he'd be eating mosquitoes by the gallon bucket, but because this is a cheap, lurid horror movie, blood's the word.) In spite of the fact that he has grand-mal seizures at the drop of a hat, and black-out episodes almost every night, his friend and fellow physician, Dr. Mustache Aspen-Extreme, insists that he's just having an 'allergic reaction' to the rabies shots.
After getting bitten, and turning into the werebat creature, Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) attacks and kills a number of people (while unconscious).
With the body count mounting, he is soon the focus of the police manhunt and he becomes less and less human and more of a wild bat.*Special Stars- Stewart Moss, Marianne McAndrew, Paul Carr, Michael Pataki.*Theme- Modern science can only do some much.*Trivia/location/goofs- The couple in the film were really married in life.
Everything in the film plot is boring until the odd ending when the wife of the infected man goes off to join him in his misery rabies holding bat cave..
But it's definitely not very memorable overall, even if one takes it on a "so bad it's good" basis.Dr. John Beck (Stewart Moss) and wife Cathy (Marianne McAndrew) make the stupid, fateful decision to wander off on their own while exploring caves with a tour group, and he's soon bitten by a bat.
This leads to a standard enough plot wherein John starts to suffer violent seizures and succumbing to homicidal impulses, while his distraught wife stands by, unwilling or unable to believe something weird is going on.The movie serves as an early credit for makeup effects legend Stan Winston (here billed as 'Stanley'), but aside from one cool hand-turns-into-bat-wing sequence, it's clear his best work was ahead of him.
Veteran actor Arthur Space does a nice job as a drunken, philosophizing hobo, in another of the movies' better scenes.The main problem is making the effort to care very much about the characters or this tragic story as it plays out.
Whilst all this is going on, a local sheriff looking like poor man;s McCloud with jacket, hat and all is hot on the trial of bat droppings and making moves on the missing doctor's wife in one truly bizarre scene.
The guy playing Bat Man is Stewart Moss - the real life husband of his screen wife Marianne McAndrew.
One of the main plot points of this movie is that we don't really know whether Dr. John Beck is turning into a bat, or just imagining it.
According to this film, bats love to attack people and there are vampire bats in the US--both of which are not true at all.Oddly, after being bitten, the man doesn't even bother going to the hospital!!
When it's totally obvious to everyone that the man is a crazed killing machine, the wife (who, like her husband, has a grapefruit for a brain) refuses to believe he's dangerous--even after he attacks people, steals an ambulance and runs a police car off the road!!
Had this been really cheesy, the film would have merited a 1.In the very end, in a twist that hardly made any sense at all, the wife inexplicably turned into a crazed bat lady and had a swarm of bats kill the evil sheriff.
While THE BAT PEOPLE has been seen with the title "It's Alive", the two movies are not at all related.
"It Lives By Night", "Bat People", whatever you choose to call it - well, to quote the "Video Movie Guide" - "It sucks under any name." The cast has two real actors (Arthur Space, who plays said drunk; he was in, according to IMDb, 163 films!; and the more recognizable character actor Michael Pataki as the skanky Sgt. Ward), and a bunch of no names.
It's very hard to feel bad about Dr. Beck's turning into a bat(or whatever he actually turned into), because you just don't like him.
This bad movie tells the story of a man who's bitten by a vampire bat and eventually turns into a giant one himself.
The entire movie is pointless as nothing really comes out of it as the man (bat?) and his wife live.
After being bitten by a bat, people near Dr John Beck begin dying in weird and horrible ways.
Dr Beck believes he may be going through some sort of weird bat-like transformation and may be responsible for the murders.
I love the scene where Beck's hand changes from human to something more bat-like. |
tt1135500 | Homecoming | After having lived in the United States for several years, Teddy brings his wife, Ruth, home for the first time to meet his working-class family in North London, where he grew up and which she finds more familiar than their arid academic life in America.
Much sexual tension occurs as Ruth teases Teddy's brothers and father and the men taunt one another in a game of oneupmanship, resulting in Ruth's staying behind with Teddy's relatives as "one of the family" and Teddy and their three sons returning home to America without her.
=== Act one ===
The play begins in the midst of what becomes an ongoing power struggle between the two more dominant men, the father, Max, and his middle son, Lenny. Max and the other men put down one another, expressing their "feelings of resentment," with Max feminising his brother Sam, while, ironically, himself claiming to have himself "given birth" to his three sons.
Teddy arrives with his wife, Ruth. He reveals that he married Ruth in London six years earlier and that the couple subsequently moved to America and had three sons prior to his returning to the family home to introduce her. Ruth's and Teddy's discomfort with each other, marked by her restless desire to go out exploring after he goes to bed and followed by her sexually suggestive first-time encounter with her brother-in-law Lenny, begins to expose that there are problems in the marriage. After a sexually charged conversation between Lenny and Ruth, Ruth exits. Awakened by their voices, Max comes downstairs. Lenny does not tell Max about Teddy's and Ruth's arrival at the house and engages in more verbal sparring with Max. The scene ends in a blackout.
When the lights come up the scene has changed to the following morning. Max comes down to make breakfast. When Teddy and Ruth appear and he discovers that they have been there all night without his knowledge, Max is initially enraged, assuming that Ruth is a prostitute. After being told that Ruth and Teddy have married and that she is his daughter-in-law, Max appears to make some effort to reconcile with his son Teddy.
=== Act two ===
This act opens with the men's ritual of sharing the lighting of cigars after lunch, ending with Teddy's cigar going out prematurely and symbolically. Max's subsequent sentimental reminiscences of family life with Jessie and their "boys" and his experiences as a butcher also end abruptly with a cynical twist.
After Teddy's marriage to Ruth receives Max's blessing, Ruth appears to let her guard down. She relaxes and, focusing their attention on her ("Look at me."), she reveals some details about her previous life before meeting Teddy and how she views America (68–69). After Max and his brothers exit, Teddy abruptly suggests to Ruth that they return home immediately (70). Apparently, he knows about her past history as "a photographic model for the body" (73) and about which she reminisces when talking to Lenny alone after Teddy has gone upstairs "to pack" for their return trip to America. When he returns with the suitcases and Ruth's coat, he expresses concern about what else Lenny may have gotten Ruth to reveal. As Teddy looks on, Lenny initiates dancing "slowly" with her (74). With Teddy, Max, and Joey all looking on, Lenny kisses Ruth and then turns her over to Joey, who asserts that "she's wide open"; "Old Lenny's got a tart in here" (74). Joey begins making out with Ruth on the sofa, telling Lenny that she is "Just up my street"(75). Max asks Teddy if he is "going" so soon; ironically, he tells Teddy, "Look, next time you come over, don't forget to let us know beforehand whether you're married or not. I'll always be glad to meet the wife." He says that he knows that Teddy had not told him that he was married because he was "ashamed" that he had "married a woman beneath him" (75), just before peering to look at Ruth, who is literally still lying "under" Joey. Max adds that Teddy doesn't need to be "ashamed" of Ruth's social status, assuring Teddy that he is a "broadminded man" (75), and "she's a lovely girl. A beautiful woman," as well as "a mother too. A mother of three." Contrary to the concurrent action, even more ironically, Max observes that Teddy has "made a happy woman out of her. It's something to be proud of"; right after Max further asserts that Ruth is "a woman of quality" and "a woman of feeling," clasped in their ongoing embrace, Joey and Ruth "roll off the sofa on to the floor" (76).
Suddenly pushing Joey away and standing up, Ruth appears to take command, asking for food and drink, and Joey and Lenny attempt to satisfy her demands (76–77). After Ruth questions whether or not his family has read Teddy's "critical works" — leading Teddy to defend his own "intellectual equilibrium" and professional turf (77–78) — Ruth and Joey go upstairs for what Lenny later says turns out to be a two-hour sexual encounter in bed, without going "the whole hog" (82).
While Ruth is still upstairs, Lenny and the others reminisce about Lenny's and Joey's sexual exploits. Lenny, whom the family considers an expert in sexual matters, labels Ruth a "tease," to which Teddy replies, "Perhaps he hasn't got the right touch" (82). Lenny retorts that Joey has "had more dolly than you've had cream cakes," is "irresistible" to the ladies, "one of the few and far between" (82). Lenny relates anecdotes about Joey's sexual prowess with other "birds" (82–84). When Lenny asks Joey, "Don't tell me you're satisfied without going the whole hog?", Joey tentatively replies that "sometimes" a man can be "happy" without "going any hog" (84). Lenny "stares at him." Joey seems to be suggesting that Ruth is good at "the game" that Lenny ultimately gets the "idea" to "put" her "on": Lenny proposes to Max that he "take her up with me to Greek Street" (88).
Max volunteers that Ruth could come to live with the family, suggesting that they "should keep her" while she works for them part-time as a prostitute. The men discuss this proposal in considerable detail, seemingly half-joking to irritate Teddy and half-serious (86–89). Sam declares the whole idea "silly" and "rubbish" (86), Teddy adamantly refuses to "put" anything "in the kitty," as Max asks (87), and Lenny suggests that Teddy could hand out business cards and refer Americans he knows to Ruth when they visit London, for "a little percentage" (89–90).
Ruth comes downstairs "dressed" and apparently ready to join Teddy, who is still waiting with his coat on and their packed suitcases (90). Teddy informs her of the family's proposal, without going into explicit detail about their intention to engage her in prostitution, saying euphemistically that she will "have to pull [her] weight" financially because they are not "very well off"; then he offers her a choice to stay in London with the family "or" to return to America with him (91–92). Ruth appears far more interested in the idea of staying with them. She negotiates the terms of their "contract" (93) using business terminology in a professional manner that makes her seem adept at getting what she wants in such transactions (92–94). Teddy prepares to return to America without her.
Having spoken up a few times earlier to voice his objections, Sam blurts out a long-kept secret about Jessie and Max's friend MacGregor, then "croaks and collapses" and "lies still" on the floor (94). Briefly considering the possibility that Sam has "dropped dead" and become a "corpse" (94), the others ascertain that he is still breathing ("not even dead"), dismiss his revelation as the product of "a diseased imagination," and mostly ignore his body. After a pause, Ruth accepts their proposal: "Yes, it sounds like a very attractive idea" (94). Teddy focuses on the inconvenience that Sam's unavailability poses for him: "I was going to ask him to drive me to London airport" (95). Instead, he gets directions to the Underground, before saying goodbye to the others and leaving to return home to his three sons in America, alone. As he moves towards the front door, Ruth calls Teddy "Eddie"; after he turns around, she tells him, "Don't become a stranger" (96). He goes out the door, leaving his wife with the other four men in the house.
The final tableau vivant (96–98) depicts Ruth sitting, "relaxed in her chair," as if on a throne. Sam lies motionless on the floor; Joey, who has walked over to Ruth, places his head in her lap; and Lenny, stands looking on. After repeatedly insisting that he is not an old man, and getting no reply from Ruth, who remains silent, Max beseeches her, "Kiss me" – the final words of the play. Ruth sits and "continues to touch JOEY's head, lightly," while Lenny still "stands, watching" (98). In this "resolution" of the play (its dénouement), what might happen later remains unresolved. Such lack of plot resolution and other ambiguities are features of most of Pinter's dramas. | insanity, romantic, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0082479 | Antropophagus | A pair of Germans visiting a remote Greek island go to the beach, and are slaughtered by someone who emerges from the ocean. On the mainland, five travelers are preparing to tour the islands, and are joined by Julie, who asks for a ride to an island that some friends of hers live on. The only one who objects to this detour to the island (which Julie explains has only a few permanent residents, and only sees tourists a few months out of the year) is Carol, whose tarot cards convince her that something bad will happen if they go to the island. The group sails to the island anyway, and while disembarking the pregnant Maggie hurts her ankle, so she stays behind on the boat with its owner. A man attacks the boat, ripping the sailor's head off, and abducting Maggie.
The others explore the island's town, discovering it in disarray, and abandoned with the exception of an elusive woman in black, who writes "Go Away" on a dusty window. In a house, a rotting corpse which appears to have been cannibalized is uncovered, prompting everyone to rush back to the boat, which is adrift. With no other options, the group goes to the house owned by Julie's friends, where they find the family's blind daughter, Henriette. After wounding Daniel in a panic, Henriette is calmed down, and rants about there being a madman who smells of blood prowling the island.
To stop Daniel's wound from becoming infected, Andy and Arnold go into the town to search for antibiotics. Carol walks in on Daniel flirting with Julie, and goes into hysterics, running off into the night. Julie goes after Carol, but loses her, and meets up with Andy and Arnold. Back at the house, the disfigured killer breaks in and rips Daniel's throat out, but leaves Henriette alone and flees as the others return. In the morning, everyone treks through the island, and find a mansion belonging to Klaus Wortman. Julie mentions that she read that Klaus, his wife, and their child are assumed dead, having been shipwrecked, a tragedy which caused Klaus' sister Ruth to become unhinged. Ruth (the woman in black from earlier) watches the group enter the building, comforts the sleeping Carol, and hangs herself.
After waking Carol, Andy and Arnold look out a window, and see that the boat has drifted close to shore. The two men go to secure the vessel, and Julie finds a partially destroyed journal among the objects in the mansion, and it reveals that the killer is Ruth's brother, Klaus, and that the bodies of all of Klaus' victims are in a hidden room. Andy and Arnold split up, and the latter reaches an abandoned church, where he finds Maggie, and is confronted by Klaus. Klaus has a flashback that reveals he and his family were stranded in a raft after being shipwrecked, and that Klaus accidentally stabbed his wife while trying to convince her that they should eat the body of their dead son to survive. Klaus then ate his wife and son's corpses, driving him insane.
Klaus regains his composure, stabs Arnold, and rips out and eats Maggie's unborn child. At the mansion, Julie uncovers the room where Klaus' victims are, and skims another diary she finds in it. Carol stumbles into the chamber, and drops dead from a slit throat. Klaus then attacks Julie, who locks herself and Henriette in the attic after a short chase. Klaus breaks through the ceiling and kills Henriette, and is then knocked off the roof and into a well by Julie. Klaus attacks Julie when she peers down the well, but she is saved when Andy appears and stabs Klaus in the stomach with a pickaxe, causing the cannibal's intestines to spill out. As a last dying act, Klaus gnaws on his own innards, staring at Andy, while Julie looks at Klaus in horror. Klaus then falls over and dies. Andy and Julie stand there, staring at each other. | dark, cruelty, grindhouse film, murder, cult, violence, flashback, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0097235 | The Dream Team | Dr. Jeff Weitzman (Dennis Boutsikaris) is a psychologist working in a sanitarium in New Jersey. His primary patients are Billy, Henry, Jack and Albert. Billy (Keaton) is the most normal of the group and their unofficial leader, though he is a pathological liar with delusions of grandeur and violent tendencies. Henry (Lloyd) is obsessive/compulsive and he has deluded himself into thinking he is one of the doctors at the hospital, often walking around with a clipboard, lab coat and stethoscope. Jack (Boyle) is a former advertising executive who believes he is Jesus Christ. Finally, Albert (Furst) is a man-child who only says things he hears during baseball games, particularly from former ball player and commentator Phil Rizzuto.
Convinced that his patients need some fresh air and some time away from the sanitarium, Dr. Weitzman persuades the administration to allow him to take them to a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, he accidentally encounters two crooked cops just as they murder another officer. The doctor then gets knocked unconscious trying to get away and is put in the hospital. The group is now stranded in New York City, forced to cope with a place which is often more bizarre than their sanitarium. One of the both comic and serious plot twists is that the inmates have to listen to Albert's baseball jargon in order to get clues as to what happened to Dr. Weitzman, because he is the only one who witnessed it (he is just afraid to say it because of his catatonic condition). Two other running gags throughout the film are: Henry's threats to report psychologically disturbing behavior of the other patients (never realizing his own problems until near the end); and Billy's violent, unpredictable but ultimately harmless behavior in several different scenarios. A lesser gag is Jack, in his persona as Jesus Christ, causing a rousing sermon at a black church, only for the parishioners to come to their senses and expel him (without any clothes), and the other three patients get Jack new (albeit garish) clothes from an army surplus store.
After Dr. Weitzman's beating and coma, it is up to the patients to save their doctor from being murdered by the crooked cops. They end up having to both use and overcome their delusions and disorders in order to save the only man who ever tried to help them, with both the police and the killers looking for them. Three revisit scenes from their pasts: Billy (former girlfriend Riley, played by Lorraine Bracco), Henry (his wife & daughter), and Jack (his former employer). As each patient does so individually, they each behave in a sane, clear manner, Henry genuinely missing his family, Billy wishing to pursue a stronger relationship, and Jack appealing to his boss that he and his friends are in trouble (but the boss reports Jack to the police).
Throughout the film there are minor scenes showing the interaction between the two crooked police officers (Philip Bosco and James Remar) and what their plans are in framing the patients for the murder of Officer Alvarez earlier in the film. | satire, murder | train | wikipedia | In the hands of lesser a director and less talented actors, THE DREAM TEAM's plot about four mental patients loose in Manhattan would be silly and childish.
The four patients are Michael Keaton, as a loose tempered but charming liar, Peter Boyle as an ex-executive who now believes he is Jesus Christ, Christopher Lloyd as a compulsive neat-nick and Stephen Furst as a catatonic TV commercial/Baseball fan.
If you like Michael Keaton, Peter Boyle, or Christopher Lloyd, you will like this film.
But even if you are not fans of the aforementioned talents, I think you will still enjoy this movie.Keaton is at his sarcastic best with his role as a guy with anger problems.
I don't know of any other contemporary actor who could deliver these lines with the same effect.Similarly, Peter Boyle surpasses his performance in "Young Frankenstein" with his comedic portrayal of a man who believes he is Jesus Christ.
It would be difficult indeed to watch this talented comedic actor play a straight role.Stephen Furst is excellent as a man who can only speak in baseball metaphors.
It's basically a screwball version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," using that movie's famous baseball game scene as its starting point: An easy-going doctor takes his patients to a Yankees game, and runs into trouble on the way there.
Everyone shines here--Michael Keaton (his reference to the World Trade Center was funny then, bittersweet now); Christopher Lloyd; Boyle; even Lorraine Bracco, in a small role.
This was a humorous film about a small group of mental patients who are let loose in New York City for a day.
They are "Jack" (Peter Boyle), "Henry" (Christopher Lloyd), "Billy" (Michael Keaton).and "Albert" (Stephen Furst).
As a baseball fan, I appreciated Furst's performance best.Peter Boyle ("Jack McDermott") plays one of several insane people who are "lost in New York" and are out on the streets having a good time.
They also have crooked cops in here - another shock.The film still had a lot of funny moments, thanks to the actors and the interesting premise of mental patients fending for themselves in the big city.
We get introduced to four mental patients: Billy Caulfield (Michael Keaton) is actually close to normal, Henry Sikorsky (Christopher Lloyd) believes himself to be a doctor, Jack McDermott (Peter Boyle) believes that he's talking to Jesus, and Albert Ianuzzi (Stephen Furst (yes, Flounder from "Animal House"!)) barely does anything.
Funny comedy about a group of mental patients who take a trip to the big city under the supervision of their doctor, and wind up being framed for a murder they didn't commit.
Far-fetched and far from great, but made enjoyable by a few funny fish-out-of-water/mistaken-identity sequences and the spirited performances by Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd and Peter Boyle: all three of whom, it may be noted, seem to have lost their careers in recent time...but were at the top of their games during the era and are certainly at home here in a film that is never quite as good as it could be but is nevertheless a whole lot better than I ever expected it would be.I like the beginning sequence with Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack" over the credits.
This is comedy at its best, and also has that 80's feel,a good story, specific to comedies until the 90's when they started to rarely have an interesting one.Four mental patients suddenly find themselves alone on the run in the Big Apple and "better get sane real goddamn fast" , as they are being accused of attacking their psychiatrist -what a great premise for a comedy.Michael Keaton was born for this part, the "mental patient with a history of violence".Peter Boyle is also great as an ad executive who believes Jesus is speaking to him, Lloyd and Furst are also great.Combined with the great dialog, delivers one of the best comedies made in the 80's.Memorable quote:"Ah, it's great to be young and insane!".
One of my favorites of Christopher Lloyd's films, though I came to love the ensemble casting of Michael Keaton, Peter Boyle and Stephen Furst.
(That's perhaps not the glowing recommendation of this film that I mean it to be....) It's like if Lloyd's other "looney bin" movie "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" had a happy ending.
Michael Keaton ("Batman") , Christopher Lloyd ("Back to the future") , Peter Boyle ("Friends of Eddie Coyle") and Stephen Furst ("Animal house") deserved better .The good thing is that I don't think anyone should feel offended by this movie despite a rather risky subject it deals with.What a waste.
Liking all four of the actors that play the characters in the nut house, I bought it.You basically have the baseball nut who can't talk, the imaginative one who can fib just about anyone, the doctor who is extremely tightly and the Son of God who walks around the institution naked.Put these four together and you get a riot of laughs.Personally, Christopher Lloyd and Michael Keaton are the funniest.Peter Boyle alone can take the show, no doubt.
It is the story of four mental patients, one who can't speack, one who is a neat freak, one who believes he is Jesus and one who can't control his temper as their doctors decides to take them on a field trip to a baseball game.
The cast are all great as the loveable loonies especially Peter Boyle as the man who thinks he is Jesus.
The guys discover that two corrupt cops (Philip Bosco, James Remar) are trying to kill Weitzman but nobody believes the four runaway mental patients.The four leads are a fun group of comedic actors.
It features Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle and Stephen Furst, all of which are brilliant in their rolls.
It stars Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, Stephen Furst and Lorraine Bracco.
Music is by David McHugh and cinematography by Adam Holender.Billy Caulfield (Keaton)-compulsive liar and prone to violent outbursts; Henry Sikorsky (Lloyd)-tidy freak who thinks he's a doctor; Jack McDermot (Boyle)-thinks he's Christ; Albert Ianuzzi (Furst)-near catatonic personality who can only speak in sports jargon.
So it be with this here amusing picture, a film that basically sees four odd balls let loose in New York as they try to find their missing doctor and foil the couple of dirty cops who want to silence said doctor for good.
Boyle arguably steals the film by way of some excellent visual comedy, but it's most likely Keaton's caustic observations and one line zingers that will leave the lasting impression.
But it also interested me because it features Lorraine Bracco in an ingénue role 15 years before she became famous as Tony's psychiatrist in HBO's "The Sopranos." Her delightful voice/speech is so recognizable!!!It would seem natural to compare this to "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," but that would be like comparing an AA minor league team to the New York Yankees.
Moreover, Michael Keaton is good but he's no Jack Nicholson.Christopher Lloyd (playing the nut who thinks he is a psychiatrist) is excellent.
I also appreciated the performances of Peter Boyle (he thinks he is Jesus Christ but preaches nakedness), and Stephen Furst (he is a semi-catatonic who speaks only in baseball announcer clichés.).
4 mental patients and their Dr. are on their way to see the New York Yankees Baseball team play at Yankee Stadium but get sidetracked by a witnessed murder.
Michael Keaton (Batman and Batman Returns) takes on the role of the Jack Nicholson character while Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future Trilogy) plays a patient with an obsessive compulsive disorder for having everything neat and clean.
Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstien) is a patient who suffers Messiah Complex, he thinks the key to life is to be as naked as God created Adam and Eve. And finally Stephen Furst (National Lampoon's Animal House and Midnight Madness) plays a Catatonic Patient who says nothing except when tv is on and he repeats everything said on it.
Keaton, Lloyd and Boyle running loose in New York.
Some ferocious talents - Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, and Peter Boyle, supported by a talented cast - star in this comedy about four mental hospital patients who roam New York freely after their doctor is severely beaten.
One of them (Keaton) has severe anger issues, another thinks he's a doctor (Lloyd), and one thinks he's Jesus Christ (Boyle) and constantly quotes the Bible.
Boyle ends up in a revival meeting giving testimony as Jesus, Keaton looks up his old girlfriend (an almost unrecognizable Lorraine Bracco) - soon, two sets of police are looking for them - with different motives.Though I certainly enjoyed this film, I found it a little slow getting started, and felt it could have been funnier, though the very beginning is great.
Keaton plays a mental patient with a history of violence, on a field trip to see the Yankee's play with the rest of his therapy group, a neatness freak, played superbly by Christopher Lloyd, a man who things he's Jesus Christ, and a man who only appears to talk when the television does.Their doctor is attacked and hospitalized without their knowledge and what follows is their attempts to prove their innocence, with the help of Keaton's ex-girlfriend.Keaton brings the depth that he has brought to almost every role he's played, Lloyd gives a very touching performance while the film maintains the comedic moments which help carry the film along.The film draws your attention to the stress of modern city life which has driven all the patients to the edge, though at the same time showing that there is still a sane person simply hiding behind a facade of insanity, which even some of the other doctors in the movie fail to see.Initially, quite a funny movie, on repeated viewings it shows its greater depth, which should have been more explored by the writer and director..
Poor Albert played by Stephen Furst....didn't talk much but loved baseball and when he did say something he would say something like big inning and keaton says that's a definet yes.
After seeing Lloyd in Taxi, believe me you'd expect so many laughs in this movie but unfortunately you want have any.It's just a silly movie with a bunch of very good actors.
Had it been those great actors in the movie, I wouldn't have bothered watching till the end.Really it's a frustration that Michael Keaton (Multiplicity), Peter Boyle (funniest character in Everybody Loves Raymond), and The Christopher Lloyd (Taxi, Back to the future, and others), all didn't really make this movie a worthy experience..
Howard Zieff directed this amusing comedy that stars Michael Keaton as Billy Caufield, a new inmate at the New York state sanitarium where he is admitted for observation.
One day, his group psychiatrist decides it a good idea to take Billy and three other inmates(played by Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle, and Stephen Furst) into the city for a baseball game.
Clearly inspired by "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest"(there is a similar sequence in that film too) this film still works moderately well, with a good cast and funny scenes, even if it is predictable and unlikely..
Dream Team, The (1989) *** (out of 4) A semi-comic version of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST has Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle and Stephen Furst playing "mental patients" whose doctor takes them out of the hospital and on a trip to see the Yankees play.
I had sat down with a book to soak up some of the boredom, but as the minutes passed I found myself getting more and more into the film, to the extent that within fifteen minutes the book had been discarded and I was making pre-commercial plans to grab some refreshment, which is a sign of how much I was enjoying this.Michael Keaton and Christopher Lloyd play two members of a group of four patients from a psychiatric hospital, singled out for a little exposure to the outside world after many years interned.
It may not be as good as I think it is, but this movie entertains me thoroughly, and that should mean something.The thing about 'The Dream Team' is that it's not just a Michael Keaton showcase movie, like some of his movies that were obviously made to show him off as an actor.
('Multiplicity' is one that comes to mind.) No, 'The Dream Team' is a group effort and the entire group performs well in their roles.For a movie that I watch as often as I do this one, it should be getting old & tired, but I still laugh at the jokes as much as I did the first time I saw this movie.I highly suggest seeing this movie.
The Dream Team has the main characters- a quick-fuse (Michael Keaton), an obsessive compulsive (Christopher Lloyd), a Jesus-delusional (Peter Boyle), and a common near-catatonic type (Stephen Furst)- set loose in New York City after their doctor, who's taking them out for a day out of the mental hospital to go to a Yankee game, gets knocked unconscious by a couple of cops in an alley.
From there the characters are put into a kind of crux because a) they're stuck in the thin plot line of the cops being crooked and covering up a crime/needing to bump off the doctor, and b) the patients then got to help save their van and their doctor before anything worse happens.Now this doesn't mean there aren't some spots open for some good comedic touches, and a good few of them come out of Boyle's religious-nut character (one scene I thought was great was when he steps into a black baptist type service and until a certain point doesn't seem any crazier than the rest of the attendees), plus with a great heap-load of Jack Nicholson ala Cuckoo's Nest type attitude in Keaton's performance.
In fact the filmmakers even try to throw in some touching moments or stuff to sort of wrap-around that the patients (even Furst's hard-to-talk character) are getting 'better', whatever that means in the loose context of a comedy-thriller.
It's probably a lot of fun, if not necessarily a challenge, to play a crazy person, and it doesn't seem like at all like the actors (Lloyd the exception) possibly observed or were around mental patients in preparation for the roles, unlike with 'Cuckoo's Nest'.
But still, the simple though of a group of mental patients walking around by themselves in New York makes you smile.Go see it and you might catch a glimpse of Peter Boyle topless ;).
Michael Keaton has the Jack Nicholson role and he looks a lot like him.
There's some genuinely funny bits but Michael Keaton comes off like a poor man's Jack Nicholson impression and after a while he's just annoying.
Man Lorraine Bracco was young.It's an OK little comedy romp with some funny bits strung together and a few times I really did laugh out loud, but for god sake, rent, don't buy, unless you go to half.com and find it for 75c..
This is a film that had the right elements,but a comedy about supposed mental patients is very difficult to pull off without it being insulting-this wasn't insulting-it just wasn't interesting, realistic, and for the exception of Michael Keaton, no one here was funny.
Michael Keaton is great star who deserves a strong comeback.The story is about patients from a mental home who are on an outing, when their psychiatrist in charge is harmed after witnessing a murder, and the patients are left on their own.
Keaton and Boyle shine brightest in this comedy about a bunch of loonies who take a trip to see a baseball game and are sidetracked when their doctor is kidnapped after seeing a crime.
The Dream Team is such a film, and is one of the great sleeper hits of the late 1980's.A remake of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", The Dream Team is about four mental patients who have been institutionalised for different reasons.Billy Caulfield (Michael Keaton) is a compulsive liar with a violent temper.
The four of them have to learn to cooperate with each other to save Dr Weitzman from the cops.Michael Keaton gets a lot of the best lines, as he can be funny, disturbed and troubled all at the same time.
The scene where he goes to see his wife and daughter for the first time is my favourite part, and is very touching when he discovers he hasn't lost them.Peter Boyle gets a lot of funny scenes, especially when he starts preaching at a Black church, and when he goes back to the advertising agency ("Wa wa wa wa").Stephen Furst doesn't get to say much, but he does play an important part because he is the only one who witnessed what happened to Dr Weitzman.
It's been 3 weeks since 4 mental patients were taken off of their medication and the psychiatrist in charge of them has decided that it would be good therapy to take them into nearby New York City to see a Yankees baseball game.
When their real doctor is mugged on a field trip to Yankee Stadium, they are forced to form a reluctant team in order to resolve what becomes an ever worsening situation.A very slow start is marginally redeemed by a lift in proceedings as the gang hit the road, but really we see no inspiration from any of the cast (Michael Keaton, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Boyle and Stephen Furst) nor do we see any riotous comedy.
The patients include sensible, but also easily stressed leader Billy Caufield (Michael Keaton), Henry Sikorsky (Cuckoo's Nest's Christopher Lloyd) wanting to be the authority and paying more attention to other peoples' behaviour than his own, Jack McDermott (Peter Boyle) who believes he is Christ, and Albert Ianuzzi (Stephen Furst) who never talks for himself and mainly imitates others speeches. |
tt2005164 | Breathless | Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a youthful criminal who is intrigued with the film persona of Humphrey Bogart. After stealing a car in Marseille, Michel shoots and kills a policeman who has followed him onto a country road. Penniless and on the run from the police, he turns to an American love interest Patricia (Jean Seberg), a student and aspiring journalist, who sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. The ambivalent Patricia unwittingly hides him in her apartment as he simultaneously tries to seduce her and call in a loan to fund their escape to Italy. Patricia says she is pregnant, probably with Michel's child. She learns that Michel is on the run when questioned by the police. Eventually she betrays him, but before the police arrive she tells Michel what she has done. He is somewhat resigned to a life in prison, and does not try to escape at first. The police shoot him in the street and, after a prolonged death run, he dies “à bout de souffle” (out of breath).
=== Closing dialogue ===
Michel's death scene is one of the most iconic scenes in the film, but the film's final lines of dialogue are the source of some confusion for English-speaking audiences. In some translations, it is unclear whether Michel is condemning Patricia, or alternatively condemning the world in general.
As Patricia and Detective Vital catch up with the dying Michel, they have the following dialogue:
MICHEL: C'est vraiment dégueulasse.
PATRICIA: Qu'est-ce qu'il a dit?
VITAL: Il a dit que vous êtes vraiment "une dégueulasse".
PATRICIA: Qu'est-ce que c'est "dégueulasse"?
In the English captioning of the 2001 Fox-Lorber Region One DVD, "dégueulasse" is translated as "scumbag", producing the following dialogue:
MICHEL: It's disgusting, really.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said, "You're a real scumbag".
PATRICIA: What's a scumbag?
The 2007 Criterion Collection Region One DVD uses a less literal translation:
MICHEL: Makes me want to puke.
PATRICIA: What did he say?
VITAL: He said you make him want to puke.
PATRICIA: What's that mean, "puke"?
This translation also was used for the 2010 restoration print. | comedy, murder | train | wikipedia | "Raising Arizona" type humor but the movie isn't as funny.
A movie you laugh at even though you know you shouldn't.
"We are in Texas there are no accidents.
There's alive and there's dead." Lorna (Gershon) is very upset with her husband Dale (Kilmer) after years of prison for robbing convenience stores he is free.
She finds out that he has robbed a bank and she is upset because he isn't sharing with her.
She calls her friend "Tiny" (Giddish) over to help her though her problem but things go from bad to worse.
I have to say that for the most part this was a pretty entertaining movie and it made me laugh a few times but it is not anything really good.
The humor is the "redneck" type of humor like the kind in "Raising Arizona" but it's not quite as funny.
I've said for a while now that Val Kilmer has really gone downhill for some reason.
While this is his best (and by that I mean only watchable) movie in a while his acting is terrible.
Ray Liotta has been going down that road too but his acting is actually decent in this movie.
This is nothing amazing but it is pretty funny in a very dark & I shouldn't be laughing at this kind of way.
Overall, not a bad way to spend an hour and a half.
Nothing, just watch this movie please!!!.
I can't believe there's only ONE review for this movie!
I just saw it and have so much fun from beginning to end that it's almost impossible to describe!Within its genre this movie is a masterpiece, this movie is...PERFECT!
Black humor from the word GO, relentless, suspenseful, hilarious...
On top of that its script is so clever, SO CLEVER that you don't have an idea.Everything came out as round and smooth as that crystal skull they found in Perú (or some place like that) and it's --they say-- several thousand years old, but with a surface so smooth that only could have been polished with a laser beam.
This is exactly the impression I got from this film, sheer perfection!!!Convoluted script, because it consists of several layers, layers the director peels away, one by one, like a superb magician and you look like a dumb child, the trick being performed in front of your naked eyes but you don't see the obvious tricks until towards the end when the whole puzzle starts getting its pieces in the right places and you close your open mouth saying: "Well...
I'll be darn...
so that was the way it happened"...I tell you, incredible.As incredible as the acting, because the idea is quite difficult to put through and make it believable --truly believable-- otherwise, with mediocre actors, this film would have crumbled from the very beginning, and these crew was superb (maybe with a small reservation for Val Kilmer, over the top in his overacting bit, fortunately in a cameo part) but the two women were fantastic.Yet you get to know the characters little by little, small gestures, ticks, reactions to one another according to the dialog, situations, doubts, a myriad things, and yet, you are fooled from beginning to end, one step unfolding its real meaning until the next step unfolds a new, unexpected surprise, till the very last frame!!!One of the best movies I've ever seen, and I hate movies with this kind of characters that speak with those accents and live in those places and listen to that kind of music!!!Granted, it isn't "Pantaleón y las visitadoras" (2000), "Barry Lyndon" (1975), "Death in Venice" (1971), "L'ínnocente" (1976), "Tous les matins du monde" (1991), "Blade Runner" (1982), "Le scaphandre et le papillon" (2007), "Los otros" (2001), "Tom Jones" (1963) -- I just mentioned a few of the many movies I admire and will stay with me forever more, but again, considering the characters, their place under the sun, their music and their speaking accents...
this movie is TOP DRAWER.
(And I myself have the nerve to talk about accents in English...!!!)..
Imagine if Thelma and Louise had settled down.
Given the nature of the film, a very smart pick for the lead character, but the rest of the character choices end up being one of the few problem areas of the film.
80 of 100.What if the younger character in Thelma and Louise had followed the normal path, remained a waitress, grown old, and become a deteriorating middle-aged housewife?
This film provides one amusingly satirical answer to that question.Destined to be a cable and cult classic where big name actors and a big ad budget isn't necessary.
The lying and counter lying mixed with the Texas setting makes it something worth repeat viewings..
Definitely worth a watch..
Refreshing, funny, entertaining, great performances by a great cast.
Good story with a talented director as well.
I truly enjoyed this movie from beginning to end.
I did not realize what a talented actress Gina Gershon was until I watched this little gem-sleeper.
I have a new appreciation for her skills.
The rest of the cast was great as well, no matter how small there part..I think that was the beauty of it, these legendary seasoned actors with these small parts added so much to them.
I truly made me laugh out loud...especially Val Kilmer's lines..he was great!
The story kept me interested from the beginning to the end of the movie.
Good fun, great acting, great direction and great cast with a unique, funny script..
Breathless Is Out of Breath.
The main problem with Jesse Baget's 'Breathless' is that it takes itself too seriously thinking that it's slicker, cleverer and funnier than it actually is.
The weak script is perforated with holes.
The dialogues try to be clever and funny but they hardly impress.
A movie like this really needs to sustain its tension and element of suspense but every breath that 'Breathless' takes is predictable.
Moreover, the pacing drags especially the dialogue ridden scenes that after a point sounds like mumbo jumbo.
Of the performances, Gina Gershon does a fine job.
Kelli Giddish performs adequately.
Val Kilmer is funny in a brief role.
Ray Liotta is far from his best.
Production value looks quite good.
All in all, 'Breathless' is lacks the life to sustain the viewer's attention.
For a dark comedy, its just not that funny..
High ambitions.
The movie starts off pretty good, but descents fast too.
Still it is nice to see Val Kilmer in a decent role (does not happen that often, but then again he is not the main actor here and he doesn't have a lot to do either, so that might help the fact), plus Gina Gershon can show some things she might have learned during "Bound".
Ray Liotta is a side note and the whole thing is very predictable.Funny enough (or not): While the movie tries to be clever, the coincidences and other things that just happen conveniently, really destroy the whole thing and make you wonder, what they were thinking.
The basic idea was nice and the accents are interesting too (though some might say this is a bit of a one sided look at Texas), but the overall movie fails to impress.
An extra point for trying though ....
So slow, you'll think that time runs backwards.
You really have to be a fan of the actors, to sit thru the whole movie.
It's just so slow and predictable.
I wasn't really hyped and didn't expect much when i watched the trailer ...
but damn was i ever so right.
The movie wants to be smart but fails with long, pointless dialogues.
Twist?
Let's say that it looks like Captain Obvious wrote the whole thing.Scenery?
Two locations.
Seriously.
Acting is fair.
Val Kilmer does a good job in a brief funny role.
Ray Liotta and Gina Gershon are decent but far from their best.And all the gore that wants to be "over the head" is unnecessary.
It just makes movie even more shallow.
Watch it if your life depends of it...
But rather just pass..
DOES BLOOD MAKE ME LOOK FAT?.
I enjoyed the opening credits with bright use of the color red and showing the painted hands of a women preparing dinner.
Gina Gershon stars as Lorna in this dark comedy that takes place in Texas in 1981.
Dale (Val Kilmer) her husband of 17 years, is laid out on the floor as Gina's girlfriend Tiny (Kelli Giddish looking like a young Jane Curtin) walks in.As things go on Val Kilmer, who is now tied up in a chair and has confessed to a bank robbery, is accidentally killed.
The women suppose the money is hidden somewhere in the trailer.
They decide to look for the loot and dispose of the body using household appliances.
As the story goes on, the plot takes a number of twists, so much so that the final twist becomes easy to figure out.This is a Coen style comedy, but falls short of the masters.
I enjoyed this quirky film in spite of some of the predictability.
Several laugh out loud moments as Gina creates a memorable character.PARENTAL GUIDE: No F-bombs, sex, or nudity. |
tt0416960 | Marmoulak | Reza Mesghaly, known as Reza the Lizard, is a thief known in criminal circles for his ability to bare-handedly climb all walls (from which he derives his name, "the Lizard", or "Marmoulak" in Persian). At the very beginning of the film, he is arrested and charged with armed robbery, a crime that as revealed near the ending of the film, he did not commit. Nonetheless, he is sentenced to life in prison, and is met at the jailhouse by a strict warden, who says that his intention is to "make a person out of prisoners"; thus they will be led into heaven; "by force," if necessary.
Reza is very restless at the prison, to the point where he steals medicine from the infirmary with and commits suicide. He is unable to go through with the act, however, and is stopped by his cellmate, who in the course of fighting with Reza causes the medicine bottle to break and cut open his arm. Reza is sent to the hospital to recover, where he meets a cleric, also staying in the hospital, also by the name of Reza. During his stay, the two become friends, and Reza Marmoulak overcomes his dislike of the Islamic clergy to accept the mullah after he is told a profound statement which stays with him for the rest of the film - "There are as many ways to reach God as there are people in the world."
Before he is discharged back into the prison, Reza Marmoulak steals the cleric's clothing, and impersonating him, is able to escape the prison and contact one of his friends, who tells him to go to a small border village and contact a man who will give him a fake passport to cross the border with. In the meantime, the warden is informed that Reza has escaped, and seeing this as a personal blemish on his record, pursues the criminal to the border village. Arriving by train at the village, Reza is taken in by the villagers who mistake him as the new mullah who was supposed to join their mosque.
The remainder of the film documents Reza's attempts to get in contact with the criminal underworld to obtain his false passport, while the police pursue him at the behest of the warden; and all along Reza tries to avoid tipping off the villagers to his actions. In the course of this, he becomes something of a hero in the eyes of the villagers, who misinterpret his attempts to track down his false passport as his visiting the homes of poor people and giving them charity. These actions continue to draw the praise of the villagers, convincing those who have abandoned faith in their religion to come to the mosque once again to hear the sermons of Reza Marmoulak, most of which are derived from his brief contact with the cleric in the prison's hospital.
Through this several speeches it is that Reza eventually yet gradually comes to an understanding of the phrase the real Mullah told him; and how all men will always own a path, bringing them to God.
At the end of the film, Reza is finally tracked down by the warden, and on the night of a religious celebration at the mosque, he is arrested, without the villagers noticing. He hands over his robes to a small boy who had watched him over the course of the entire film, possibly the only person in the village who had guessed his identity all along, and goes peacefully with the warden and the police officer back to the prison in Tehran. As they are entering the car, the officer attempts to handcuff Reza, an attempt stopped by the warden and followed by his famous line, "Not necessary any more".
The film ends with a shot inside the mosque, now being finally full of eager prayers because of Reza. as the police car leaves for Tehran, the prayers look at it; probably wondering about the petty thief in it, while waiting for the great Mullah. This frame is frozen, and the same words spoken by the mullah in the hospital and the most important message of the film are heard for one last time; this time expressing Reza's destiny.
"There are as many ways to reach God as there are people in the world." | comedy, satire | train | wikipedia | Hilarious and powerful..
I had the chance of watching this excellent movie yesterday at the Montreal World Film Festival.
This is the second Iranian film that I've seen (the first was 'Taste of Cherry') and I'm enchanted.This is the story of a thief who has an extraordinary agility at climbing walls just like a lizard (Marmoulak), his escape from prison, and his redemption.
To hide his identity, he becomes a mullah (Muslim religious scholar) and improvises as best as he can.
The dialogs on theology and Muslim daily life are funny, yet very powerful.
This excellent movie is not only a slap to the ruling clergy in Iran, but also a slap to religious fundamentalism of any faith.
The acting is very good.
The 'Mullah' role is performed beautifully and the Lizard gives the Mullah the right dose of authority and charisma while remaining a very down-to-earth person.
I enjoyed every minute.
This is a movie that I'll be delighted to watch again.Highly recommended.
Nice and totally different.
It's rare to see a film that as much as it amuses, it also takes an angle on serious matters.
These last fifteen years have seen a series of films flourishing out of the path of some very talented Persian directors, expressing their views on life, on people, on the political issues and so on, through an anthology of subjects that come to show with finesse things that couldn't be said otherwise.
"Marmoolak" is one of those.
Only here, the destiny of men and women of an entire country subject to the whims of its rulers symbolized here by one man (the fake cleric played with gusto and talent by Parviz Parastui) is shown not by the means of drama, but throughout comedy.
And comedy is something that Persians seem to know about.
To say that this film is funny is a euphemism.
There is situation comedy here, and it is treated with much lightness.
But if one goes farther and looks through it, one can easily capture the fate of an entire people.
Works like this, in the form of a film or a book, etc, usually help change things.
Let's hope this one does.
Talent as they say, has no boundary..
what a great movie.bravo!!!!.
I have seen this movie over 10 times.
As an Iranian I found that the movie was very funny yet very thoughtful.
I think Mr. Kamal Tabrizi (director) is trying to distinguish between true believers and the ones that use religion in a negative way to control the masses.
Here is a felon who escapes from prison using some cleric's clothing.
That same cleric tells "Maroulak', before his escape, that there an as many ways to reach God as there is people on Earth.
The cleric uses a proverb in Persian witch means almost the same as the one in English, You can't judge a book by its cover, after Reza (maroulak) curses mullahs and finds out that he is one also.
He also reads him a paragraph from the book called "The Little Prince".
After his escape, Reza ends up in a small town that has an almost unfrequented mosque but slowly people start coming back to see who this new cleric is.
For me this movie is very symbolic of the way Iranian live today with there religion and leaders.
There are some people that can't differentiate between the good ones and the "evil" ones.
Most of them judge a cleric as soon as the see he is dress like one therefore Mr. Tabrizi tries to tell us to hold our judgements until we are sure of them.
We also see a little boy throughout the movie that never talks witch is the same little prince, in my opinion, from that famous book.
I find that this was one of the best movies I have ever seen and a great contribution to Persian cinema.
But sadly many Iranians that I have talked to don't understand the movie for what it is.
So if you going to see the movies remember that this movie is mainly based on one sentence: YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER.
I also suggest that one read the mentioned book before watching the movie..
excellent movie...
excellent movie...
worth to see !.
Not Iranian, nor Muslim, nor religious, all that makes I'm supposed to have a free open mind to see it, without prejudice, in any way or about...
:) What brought me to see Marmoulak ?
I don't know : the ways of God are impenetrable !
Kiding, of course, with not offense to anyone...Until now this is my first and only Persian movie I saw...and I enjoyed it a lot : good story, good acting, excellent music...It's a bitter-sweet comedy, about Reza the lizard, his short adventures in jail, and then a (may I call it like that ?) kind of involuntary redemption...Don't expect, if you're like me a western European citizen, to laugh very loudly, but to have a certain smile all along the movie...I mean, following Persian(?) commentaries it seems that depending on your national and cultural background, you will laugh more or less, very loudly....
but nevertheless think it is an excellent movie.It doesn't deal with all the stupid clichés one might have about religion, (any of them) but present an profound human aspect of anyone trapped in something which was not chosen...Touching and interesting, I'm glad it entered my library !
Opposing to some comments, I think this good movie is Not only for Iranians...but if you are an average middle abc/nbc/cnn/fr1/ab1 television type freak, may be you better turn on your TV daily program...who knows, be careful, it could open your mind !***A film is never really good unless the camera is an eyes in the head of a poet Orson Welles***.
My Favorite Iranian Film Yet. Just saw this film at its American debut (?) at the Neptune Theater as part of the Seattle Int'l Film Festival.
Marmoulak (The Lizard) is a heartwarming and saddening tale about a man on the run who disguises himself as a Mullah while trying to sneak across the border to get out of Iran.
A comedic satire in the tradition of La Ley de Herodes, Marmoulak is full of gentle humanist irony which becomes sadly evident but never too overt.
Parvis Parastui gives an outstanding performance in the lead, and all the supporting roles are also acted at a highly competent level.
The story and cinematography are quite professional as well.
After a very successful run, Marmoulak was banned in Iran as sacrilegious.
It's definitely worth checking out.
Every American who thinks about the nuclear option when the Middle East is discussed should certainly be forced to watch this film..
First, I need to thank the Seattle International Film Festival for locating a copy of this movie and screening it.
They went to enormous lengths to make sure a few hundred Americans saw The Lizard, but it was worth it.The film focuses on Reza "The Lizard," a robber doing time in a prison run by a warden who plans to make him go on a "diet for the soul," so that Reza can enter heaven.
Reza has obviously had some negative experiences with religion in the past, and this doesn't do anything to change his view.
When he sees an opportunity to escape by dressing as a Mullah, Reza, fearless of the religious implications, takes it.
Hilarity ensues.He ends up in a small town where he must pose as the new leader of their mosque.
In so doing, Reza is given a unique opportunity: to create a religion built not on the hypocrisy of others and all the negative things he sees other religious people doing, but one that truly represents the positive possibilities of his faith.I am firmly agnostic and my study of religion is and always has been one born of curiosity rather than personal belief.
This movie was inspiring and moving in a way that few others are, not only for its eventual embracement of the good aspects of all faiths but as a simple parable that religion is unique to each person rather than a reflection of the negativity of some of its practitioners.Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this movie will ever be on DVD, and except for the one copy screened at SIFF 2005 it will probably never make it outside of Iran (where it was banned for being sacrilegious).
If you ever get an opportunity to see The Lizard, don't pass it up..
One of the best Iranian movies, but for an Iranian audience.
Summary: One of the best Iranian movies ever made, but for an Iranian audience only.Marmoulak is a political/social satire, but its comedy is subtle and better understood by an Iranian audience.
I'd like to compare it to "Blazing Saddles", often cited by American movie watchers as one of the funniest movies ever made, while a non-American audience is only mildly amused by it.
Cultural differences play a big role.Marmoulak's power of humor lies in the comments, words, situations and overall behaviour of the characters, which are not always understandable to the non-Iranian crowd.
For instance, many of the seemingly innocent comments in the movie are copied or distorted very cleverly from the political/religious slogans, speeches and actions of Iran's religious clergy.
Those parts are easily identifiable and enjoyable by Iranians, while non-Iranians may not quite understand the subtlety of it.That said, the movie is powerful, enjoyable and with brilliant acting.
The story is quite simple and has been repeated in many forms before.
A jailed thief seizes upon a chance encounter to escape from prison using the stolen clothes of a clergyman.
With Prison's warden (depicted as a despotic maniac) after him, he escapes to a border village where the local people think he has been sent for preaching in their mosque.
The rest of the movie depicts the thief's efforts to find a way across the border, while playing the role of an unconventional preachers who actually plays a huge role in the life of the villagers.
Parviz Parastooi plays the lead role in a breathtakingly magnificent way, and this fact is again only obvious to an Iranian audience who know exactly the class of people he is trying to portrait.
The movie has a good pace; in contrast with other well known Iranian movies such as Kiarostami's and Panahi's works that are typically very slow.
Dialogues are extremely clever.Given 9 out of 10 by this reviewer..
Humorous, yet, touching and profound film.
I, as an Iranian, think this is by far one of the greatest films I have ever seen in my life, and although you may think that I'm bias, I was actually born and raised in the United States.
The move was a comedy, yes, it was funny, but that is a very minor element in this film where I think profound Iranian culture, spirituality, and decency was brilliantly portrayed.
I have seen this move over 5 times, and each time I watch it, I am refreshed by the moving inspiration and profound subtleties of the film.This movie beautifully depicts the traditional outlook of mullahs (as well as the common traditional believers in Iran), and the universal spirituality of being a true believer.
If this movie is merely interpreted as a jest to put down mullahs, or as a pure comical film of the trenches of disguise and deceit, then I feel sorry for that viewer's simplistic view.
Well-done to the director for making this masterful film, and I'm sorry for the non-Iranians who will probably only get 30 % of the essence and meaning of this film.Lastly, this film IS prevalent and easily ACCESSIBLE in Iran, and it is on DVD..
a wonderful movie.
Living in Iraq with almost the same enormous and irrational religious influence on community i appreciated the movie to be the real expression of educated and enlightened people living in the shadows of injustice and multiple boundaries that is limiting the talents.The movie is giving us very important message about what God and religion is all about..
Did you watch :Gasht-e ershad (2012)-Gasht-e ershad 2 (2017)
this are realy good just try it !.
An interesting film SPOILER.
Being a practicing Muslim myself, hearing the storyline of the film gave me reservations.
An Iranian film about a thief escaping prison by emulating and dressing as a religious scholar, I knew the film was going to deal with sensitive religious and political matters.
Although not Iranian myself, I was aware of cynicism towards the Iranian government and its religious rulings on its citizens.On that basis I knew that when I had to judge the film I had to also try to understand it from the perspective of an Iranian living under the government.
When I saw the film, however, I realized that it had a deeper meaning than I thought it would.
I found it to be an intelligent film that had a comical plot and funny parts but with more serious implications.
The thing I most like about the film is that it is quite fair and balanced.
The thief, after pretending to be a religious scholar, realises that God is good and finds religion during this point, instead of criticising religion.
This helps to show a distinction between the perfection of religion and the imperfection of human beings, who at times misuse religion.However whilst saying this I did find some parts of the film quite offensive to religion such as the mockery of the young boys who were inspired by the scholar.Overall I thought the film was quite deep and was made in a clever manner but the issues dealt with were too sensitive and quite offensive at times..
this time it doesn't cause any tears.
Of all Iranian movies, this is the only one which made me laugh and think about the little details about Islam and how people who claim to be so devoted to their religion might be dragged on by a thief.
It was very amusing, full of irony and sarcasm.
The thief always reveal his true nature in every single occasion, even his journey into Islamic local area doesn't make him a believer.
I exploit it so cunningly and luckily that he gets away all the time.
The movie takes us to decide whether he is a good person in nature or not.
We get to the end of the movie just to learn the result.
That's why the movie lets us inside and never let go. |
tt1334439 | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian | 1,300 Narnian years after the events of the previous movie, Caspian, a Telmarine prince and heir to the Telmarine throne, is informed by mentor Doctor Cornelius that his uncle, Miraz, is plotting to kill him and seize the throne for himself and his newborn heir. Cornelius gives him Queen Susan's ancient magical horn, instructing him to blow it only at his greatest need. Caspian flees into the woods being chased by Telmarine soldiers where he encounters two Narnian dwarfs, the dwarfs try to fight against Caspian but then they see Queen Susan's horn. They fight the Telmarines and take Caspian to their house for first aid as his head was injured. After telling them that he is Prince Caspian and his uncle wants to kill him for his throne, Trumpkin and Nikabrik head out straight to a jungle where they again encounter Telmarine soldiers, Nikabrik is injured in battle and feeling danger Caspian blows Susan's horn but soon a badger named Trufflehunter arrives at the spot and kills all Telmarines and was going to thrust his Rapier in Caspian when Trumpkin stops him telling him that he is on their side.
In England (where only one year has passed), the Pevensie children are waiting for a tube train when the station suddenly starts collapsing, and they are magically transported to Narnia. They are overjoyed, they go to the hall not knowing it yet and take back their weapons which Narnians safeguarded for years, but soon Lucy realizes that it is their castle at Cair Paravel and convinces others to remember the time of their coronation but now it is in ruins and with evidence it was attacked by catapults. In the Telmarine castle, the lords of the council learn that Prince Caspian is gone, and Miraz says that the Narnians abducted him at which everyone laughed telling him that Narnians are not real but then he presents Trumpkin in front of them, using Trumpkin, who has been captured, persuades them to attack the Narnians to retrieve Caspian while secretly plotting to kill him instead. Lord Sopespian suspects Miraz's motives, and discusses his treasonous thoughts with his ally, General Glozelle.
The Pevensies save Trumpkin from being drowned by two Telmarines. He tells them he did not know who they are but then sees the symbol of Aslan on Peter's sword, but Peter to prove that they are who they say they are he tells Edmund to duel with Trumpkin in which Edmund wins, Trumpkin then realizes that the four children are the Kings and Queens of Old and they continue on together. Lucy glimpses Aslan and tries convincing the others that she has seen him; only Edmund believes her. Nikabrik and Trufflehunter lead Caspian to a gathering of the old Narnians and Centaurs, where he convinces them to help him win his throne so he can return their land. They meet the Pevensies and Trumpkin, and all journey to Aslan's How. Peter decides they will attack Miraz's castle, rejecting Lucy's advice that they wait for Aslan to return. The Narnians raid Miraz's castle, but Caspian ruins the plan by freeing Cornelius instead of opening the gate. He learns that Miraz killed his father, and confronts Miraz but is wounded. Overwhelmed, Peter calls for a retreat. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Caspian and the Narnians escape with heavy losses. Upon returning to Aslan's How, Peter and Caspian argue, while back at the castle, Miraz is crowned King.
Nikabrik, with the aid of a hag and a werewolf, offers Caspian his help to guarantee victory. The hag uses black sorcery to summon Jadis, the White Witch. From inside a wall of ice, the White Witch tries convincing Caspian to free her, when Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Trumpkin arrive. Peter kills the hag, Edmund kills the werewolf, and Trumpkin stabs Nikabrik when he attacks Lucy. Peter knocks Caspian aside to face the Witch himself, but begins to be entranced, until Edmund shatters the ice, destroying the Witch's apparition. As Miraz and his army arrive at Aslan's How, Caspian suggests Peter and Miraz duel to the death, with the loser's army to surrender, to buy Lucy and Susan time to find Aslan. Miraz agrees to the duel, not wanting to look like a coward in front of his men. The girls are attacked by Telmarine soldiers, so Susan remains behind to fight them while Lucy continues alone. Peter defeats Miraz, and gives Caspian his sword to finish him off, but Caspian spares Miraz's life. Sopespian kills Miraz with one of Susan's arrows and accuses the Narnians, leading to a battle, with the Telmarines gradually winning. Lucy finds Aslan in the woods and he awakens the trees, turning the battle in the Narnians' favor. Sopespian orders a retreat to a bridge, where they are confronted by Lucy and Aslan. Aslan summons the river god, who destroys the bridge, killing many of the soldiers, swallowing Sopespian and winning the battle.
Caspian invites the Telmarines to remain in Narnia if they will coexist peacefully with the Narnians; but if they wish, they can return to the human world from which they originally came to Narnia. Some, including General Glozelle, agree to do so, and Aslan creates a portal for them and the four Pevensies. Susan kisses Caspian, knowing they will never meet again, as Aslan told her and Peter that they will never return to Narnia. The Pevensies return to England, leaving Caspian as King. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0205214 | The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns | An American businessman, Jack Woods (Randy Quaid), ostensibly wants to spend a calm holiday in the sleepy Irish town Kerry and rents a cottage there. During a hike, he sees Irish beauty Kathleen Fitzpatrick (Orla Brady) swimming naked. Kathleen catches him and chases him off, but Jack is smitten with her beauty. That evening, Jack tries to drown his sorrows in Irish poitín, when he has an encounter with an invisible leprechaun. They struggle for the bottle of poitín, and Jack falls, knocking himself unconscious. The next morning, he sees the little man again and chases him to a nearby river, where the leprechaun falls in. Jack jumps in after him, saving his life (because water is the only thing that can kill the immortal leprechauns), then Seamus Muldoon (Colm Meaney), the saved leprechaun, becomes Jack's new friend. Seamus introduces Jack to his wife Mary (Zoë Wanamaker) and his son, Mickey (Daniel Betts), and shows him the mystical world of the leprechauns.
The "solitary fairies" (which includes leprechauns) love to play tricks on others, especially on the snobbish "trooping" fairies. The leprechauns and the trooping fairies have been enemies for ages, but the Grand Banshee (Whoopi Goldberg) has decreed that they must stop fighting each other. Jack gets used to the little people he shares the house with, because they help him to get to know Kathleen.
Jack offers to drive Kathleen's cart for her in a beach race because she's not allowed to on account of her gender. He wins and convinces Kathleen to take him on a tour of the local environs. While on their walk together, they kiss.
Meanwhile, Mickey, along with his friends Sean Devine (Tony Curran) and the brothers Jericho (Kevin McKidd) and Barney O'Grady (Kieran Culkin) sneak into a masked party in the flying castle of the trooping fairies. There Mickey sees the fairy-princess, Jessica (Caroline Carver), the daughter of the fairy-king Boric (Roger Daltrey) and queen Morag (Harriet Walter). Jessica eventually finds out that Mickey is a leprechaun, but they have already fallen in love. Jessica's hot-headed cousin, Count Grogan (Jonathan Firth), discovers their presence, and the leprechauns flee.
Later Count Grogan seeks out Mickey and attempts to fight with him, but Mickey declines. Sean steps in and battles Count Grogan, eventually losing. The Grand Banshee appears and takes Sean's life as punishment for breaking her decree. Mickey attacks Count Grogan, killing him, too. After Jessica's parents learn that Mickey has killed Count Grogan, they send her with her governess, Lady Margaret (Phyllida Law), to a hidden underwater-castle. Mickey eventually finds her, rescues her, and flies with her to his uncle Sir Aloysius Jantee (Stephen Moore), the butter-fairy. Jessica's parents think Mickey kidnapped her and they start a war with the leprechauns. The Grand Banshee continues to take their lives.
Jack and Kathleen have a problem too, because she finds out that he is in Ireland to buy up homes in Carrick for his company to build a holiday-park. Jack does not want to do that any more (and loses his job because of it), but Kathleen does not believe a word he says.
In the human-world nature starts to collapse: in the summer it starts snowing and there is torrential rain. This happens because the fairies aren't taking care of nature any more because of the war. Jack and Kathleen decide to help Jessica and Mickey to seek out the Grand Banshee and ask her to help them end the war. The Grand Banshee reveals to them that Nature is dying because of the war and if it doesn't stop, soon, everything will be destroyed. She also says she cannot stop the leprechauns and trooping fairies from doing what they really wanted to do.
As the war escalates, Mickey and Jessica decide to do something radical: they obtain a poison from the butter-fairies and threaten to take it if their parents won't stop the war. Their parents took them seriously but were unable to make peace, so they take the poison. Their bodies are brought before their parents who immediately become distraught. Jack convinces the warring parties to make peace. Both Muldoon and Boric agree. Kathleen immediately rushes to give an antidote to the lovers but an attack-tunnel dug by general Bulstrode (Frank Finlay) collapses. Kathleen brakes her carriage to avoid the pit. The vial with the antidote flies from her hands and breaks. Jack runs to help and falls into the pit, knocking himself out. Kathleen panics until she learns that he's alright. The Grand Banshee says she can still save them, but only if everyone agrees to peace. Eventually they all do. The Grand Banshee then brings back not only Jessica and Mickey, but all of the lost leprechauns and fairies (with the exception of Count Grogan who the Great Banshee decides to keep so there wouldn't be trouble caused because of him). In the end Mickey and Jessica marry, Jack and Kathleen are reconciled, and the long-lasting war is finally over. | fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0079453 | The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by name of Sleepy Hollow ... A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.
The story is set in 1790 in the countryside around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (historical Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded glen called Sleepy Hollow. Sleepy Hollow is renowned for its ghosts and the haunting atmosphere that pervades the imaginations of its inhabitants and visitors. Some residents say this town was bewitched during the early days of the Dutch settlement. Other residents say an old Native American chief, the wizard of his tribe, held his powwows here before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson. The most infamous spectre in the Hollow is the Headless Horseman, said to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper that had his head shot off by a stray cannonball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War, and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head".
The "Legend" relates the tale of Ichabod Crane, a lean, lanky and extremely superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut, who competes with Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, the town rowdy, for the hand of 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter and sole child of a wealthy farmer, Baltus Van Tassel. Crane, a Yankee and an outsider, sees marriage to Katrina as a means of procuring Van Tassel's extravagant wealth. Bones, the local hero, vies with Ichabod for Katrina's hand, playing a series of pranks on the jittery schoolmaster, and the fate of Sleepy Hollow's fortune weighs in the balance for some time. The tension between the three is soon brought to a head. On a placid autumn night, the ambitious Crane attends a harvest party at the Van Tassels' homestead. He dances, partakes in the feast, and listens to ghostly legends told by Brom and the locals, but his true aim is to propose to Katrina after the guests leave. His intentions, however, are ill-fated.
After having failed to secure Katrina's hand, Ichabod rides home "heavy-hearted and crestfallen" through the woods between Van Tassel's farmstead and the Sleepy Hollow settlement. As he passes several purportedly haunted spots, his active imagination is engorged by the ghost stories told at Baltus' harvest party. After nervously passing under a lightning-stricken tulip tree purportedly haunted by the ghost of British spy Major André, Ichabod encounters a cloaked rider at an intersection in a menacing swamp. Unsettled by his fellow traveler's eerie size and silence, the teacher is horrified to discover that his companion's head is not on his shoulders, but on his saddle. In a frenzied race to the bridge adjacent to the Old Dutch Burying Ground, where the Hessian is said to "vanish, according to rule, in a flash of fire and brimstone" upon crossing it, Ichabod rides for his life, desperately goading his temperamental plow horse down the Hollow. However, to Crane's horror, the ghoul clambers over the bridge, rears his horse, and hurls his severed head into Ichabod's terrified face.
The next morning, Ichabod has mysteriously disappeared from town, leaving Katrina to marry Brom Bones, who was said "to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod was related." Indeed, the only relics of the schoolmaster's flight are his wandering horse, trampled saddle, discarded hat, and a mysterious shattered pumpkin. Although the nature of the Headless Horseman is left open to interpretation, the story implies that the ghost was really Brom (an agile stunt rider) in disguise. Irving's narrator concludes, however, by stating that the old Dutch wives continue to promote the belief that Ichabod was "spirited away by supernatural means," and a legend develops around his disappearance and sightings of his melancholy spirit. | murder | train | wikipedia | The best Ichabod ever..
I love this version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Jeff Goldblum is the best Ichabod Crane I have ever seen.
Unfortunately, I have only seen it maybe every other Halloween, shown on various local stations that don't advertise their lineups in the TV guide.
Also unfortunately, the film is aging poorly so every year it gets a little fuzzier.
But it doesn't feel like Halloween until you see Goldblum's stammering and Adam's apple bobbing and the lovely romance emphasized in this version.
I'm crossing my fingers that it will be remastered and put on DVD.
Am I crazy?
Yes, but I can hope..
This is a Totally 80's Classic!.
This version of Legend of Sleepy Hollow has all the ingredients of a classic.
The mood is set in the beginning through music and a great opening scene...I make it a point to watch in the autumn between Halloween and Thanksgiving...I guess you need to have grown up in the 80's to really appreciate the feel of this particular version...Great Family Film and stands on the ability and confidence of fine acting...even in the quirky monologue...This film is getting rave reviews from at least 20 or 30 of my family and friends.
I suggest anyone reading this review to go and get yourself a copy on the VHS format with the original cover...I don't know why they didn't print any DVD version yet...it is worth a view either way..
An older but better Sleepy Hollow.
Ever since I saw this on tv many years ago, it has been my favorite Sleepy Hollow.
I've seen 3 other Sleepy Hollows, including the most recent one with Johnny Depp, and I still prefer this one.
One of the elements I love most is its authenticity.
I think it is very true to the original story that everyone knows, and so many of the actors and actresses are perfectly suited for their characters.
Jeff Goldblum is excellent as Ichabod Crane; besides his tall and gangly appearance, he has an amazing ability for playing quirky characters.
I have yet to see someone do a better performance.
Dick Butkus gives a great supporting performance as the coarse, insensitive Brom Bones as well.
This is a movie that I wish would be shown every year at Halloween; I think it could become a tradition just like The Grinch at Christmas.
If you come across it in a video store, it's definitely worth seeing..
Jeff Goldblum IS Icabod Crane.
Yes, I realize that this is a made-for-TV film with a less- than-stellar budget.
And yes, I realize that it deviates a bit from Washington Irving's original short story.HOWEVER, this remains my single favorite version of Sleepy Hollow committed to film!
Who better to play Icabod Crane than lean, lanky, bumbling Jeff Goldblum at his early and most Goldblum- y?
I love the development of all the characters, the setting, the costuming, and the banter.
I love the superstitious, but well-meaning, townspeople.
You can truly feel the connection of a community that knows one another perhaps a bit too well.
Even the music score has a haunting, albeit distinctly 80s, atmosphere.This is the version I grew up on.
It is a point of nostalgia and personal taste for me, and I REALLY, REALLY wish it was available on DVD!.
Good Fun in Sleepy Hollow.
I've been a Sleepy Hollow affectionado ever since i saw the animated Disney classic as a kid, and I suppose I've seen pretty much every version from TV, movies, and cartoons since the 1950's.
In many ways, the Disney one is still my favorite.
I loved the Tim Burton film with Johnny Depp, but something about it wasn't right.
In a world where Biblical names were commonplace, "Ichabod" is a most unflattering name, meaning "the glory has departed" - but Ichabod Crane, originally NOT the nicest of men, has become a hero over the years.
Depp's Ichabod was too handsome and brave, and there were no NYC police in 1799, let alone forensics specialists.
And so Jeff Goldblum remains probably the best-cast Ichabod Crane of all time.
He has a look similar to the Disney one, but he has a much more pleasant manner, Burton's film, is ghostly and mysterious and well done.
The subplot with a brutish Brom Bones (wasn't Bram the hunky one?) and a girl friend (NOT Katrina)ain't that great - but the overall film is very enjoyable, and seems to have quite a fan following.
A good Halloween tale for all ages..
A great movie.
The TV movie version of Washington Irving's classic American story diverges from the book in many ways, however this is a great movie.
Jeff Goldblum is great as Ichabod Crane, with his tall, skinny frame storking throughout the movie (although for some reason he's constantly licking his lips).
Fritz VanderHoff, his patron and introduction to Sleepy Hollow's supernatural side, is amazing comic relief and really gets into the historic side of his handyman character.
Paul Sand is also quite good as Fred Dutcher, Dick Butkus' sidekick.
I grew up with this movie and still love it, from the period clothing and locations to the close ups of Palmer in the barn.
Every time that I watch it I come away with something new.
The picture quality is lacking, as it is a reproduction of a 1980 TV movie, so its just itching for a DVD release.
This is truly an American classic and Jeff Goldblum; et.al.
should be petitioning for it's re-release on television, if not a theatrical release..
Jeff Goldblum fantastic!
Do we have a DVD yet?.
Jeff Goldblum is simply a supreme actor.
He has the talent of drawing the audience into the role he is playing at the time and that is a rare thing indeed!
This move is a wonderful example of the Headless Horseman story.
I wasn't even aware there were VCR copies of the movie.
Hopefully the studio/production company will become aware of the need for a DVD of this movie.
Considering all the DVDs out there at this time, this DVD would be a step in the right direction of quality home entertainment.
Plus, it is not just a seasonal type of movie.
The story was very interesting and creative.
Definitely worthy of year-round appraisal.
See it, it's great!.
A wonderful flavor of colonial times.
I've loved this movie since its first airing back in 1980.
Actually I only caught the ending that night because of being out late trick or treating..lol.
Great cast, especially Jeff Goldblum and Dick Butkus.
For a lot of the movie you get so wrapped up in the characters that you almost forget about the real headless horseman.
There's just something very nostalgic about this film.
The clothing, the log cabins, the small community, the nice manners, the ghost tales, the hospitality, the music, the location..so much to enjoy!
The story is a little modified from the original but that's okay, it still works very well.
I don't think much of it was filmed in a studio which gave it that more realistic feel.
Just a wonderful film from beginning to exciting end.
Yes a DVD release would be very nice..
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Really quite enjoyable.
We've seen the tale of Ichabod Crane plenty of times before (Too many) but this is by far my favourite at time of writing.Starring Jeff Goldblum as the man himself, and the tantalising Meg Foster this comedy take on the timeless classic is one of the most charming movies I've seen lately.When Ichabod Crane a school teacher arrives in Sleepy Hollow for his new job he discovers a town full of believers in superstition, ghosts and the infamous headless horseman.
Being an educated man he doesn't believe, but then night time comes.....It's hard to believe this came out approximately 7 days before I was born!
And credit where credit is due it actually looks great for its time.Charming, whimsical, genuinely funny and well performed this is everything that Sleepy Hollow (1999) thoroughly failed to be.Sure it's not without its flaws and I wasn't keen on the ending, but regardless this is a lot of fun.The Good:Meg FosterMeg Fosters eyesVery charmingReally quite funny in placesThe Bad:Dodgy endingSome heavy changes to the original materialThings I Learnt From This Movie:Meg Fosters eyes steal every scene of every movie she is in.
Goldblum as Crane?
Hole in One!.
I loved this one!
Icabob Crane is here and Brom Bones (Dick Butkus) is angered that Katrina Van Tassel, his "girl" is taking a fond interest in Crane.
When poltergeists appear, Crane still doesn't believe until one fateful night...
My only problem with this is that it does not remain trueful to the book by Irving..
Sunn Schick did some really wonderful films and this is one.
I strongly believe that Sunn Schick Productions did posterity a great service.
This film and Deerslayer are only two of the many films they did in the 1970's.
Do you remember the Life & Times of Grizzly Adams ?
They made that too.Legend of Sleepy Hollow is as clear to Washington Irving's story as I can tell and they kept it in tact without this SDFX mess that so many newer films use now.
Jeff Goldblum shines as Icabod and the cast are all favorites, including Mr. Woodman from Welcome Back Kotter as the elderly helper who looks after the school building.I would rank this and all the Sunn Schick films a 10++ See if whenever you can get a copy..
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Jeff Goldblum!.
This version with Jeff Goldblum is pretty good.It is one of them films where nothing spectacular happens until the end but the end is worth waiting for!Some of the scenes are very similar like the cartoon.Goldblum was the perfect choice to play Ichabod Crane as he is tall and thin!That's all I'll say but if you like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow story and the new film and are able to check this out do so because it is a very rare film and it is a good watch for the mystery and horror fan!.
Fun, but NOT true to story.
I remember watching this on TV as a teen.
This movie is a fun flashback to the early 80's for those who grew up then, but despite what other reviewers have said, this version is NOT EVEN CLOSE to Washington Irving's short story.Prior to visiting Sleepy Hollow, NY recently, I re-read the original story.
Great great fun---great descriptions!!
But most movies stray from the story.
Personally, I love Tim Burton's version, but I don't consider it Irving's story, but Burton's.It's too bad that all we have are old VHS copies of this.
The copy I obtained from a local library was damaged beyond belief.
There's gotta be a master somewhere--maybe someone can clean it up a little and put out a DVD--please?.
TV Version.
Henning Schellerup directed this TV version of the classic Washington Irving story that stars Jeff Goldblum as schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, who has recently arrived in the New England town of Sleepy Hollow, and soon runs afoul of bully Brom Bones(played by Dick Butkus) after showing romantic interest in the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel(played by Meg Foster) but legends of ghosts and headless horsemen haunt Ichabod as he tries to win Katrina's hand, and keep his head...
Jeff Goldblum is perfectly cast here, as is Meg Foster, but film is harmed by too many supporting characters and dramatic padding to fill out the running time; would have been far more effective about 20 minutes shorter..
Not bad for a TV movie..
I think because this movie is based on one of the best short stories ever is what made it decent.
This the story of Icabod Crane.
And how a dark night he runs into a ghost the Headless Horseman.
This is a very spooky movie.
It has a great story line.
It also has great acting.
The 1949 version the Bing Crosby is better.
The 1999 version with Johnny Deep is also better.
But still this a good movie.
But still this a good movie.
Jeff Goldblum is a great actor.
Meg Foster is a great actress.
The 1972 short cartoon is better.
But still this a good horror film.
Is pretty scary.
Dick Butkus is a great actor.
Laura Campbell is a great actress.
This movie is a must see..
A Forgotten Gem Of American Feel-Good-Old-Time.
This isn't a groundbreaking work of cinematography and theatrical performance.
But it's precisely its low-budget and humble means that really adds a character and feel tot he movie that you just can't find anymore today.
Plus, it has a nostalgic effect, since I first saw this back in my elementary days and so watching the movie really takes me back.
There's a Facebook page I started to help get this title moved onto a more modern format, especially streaming services..
Wonderful version that I have to watch multiple times a year.
This version, to me, takes Washington Irving's classic tale and really brings it to life in a family friendly, lighthearted vein.
It's not a horror movie, it's not even suspenseful because you know who is doing what, but there is an element of wonder and the superstitions of the rural communities in upper New York make it a lovely treat to watch.
If Jeff Goldblum was born to play a role, this was it.
He is the scrawny, hawk-faced beanpole sort that you picture when you read Irving's classic.
Meg Foster's simply beautiful in this version.
I like the fact that they added another female character to give Katrina someone to play against even though it's not in the original.
I love the setting with the deep snow and the bare trees.
So many times shows 'pretend' to be set at a certain time of year but if you pay attention to the surrounding trees they are lush and green when they should be bare or it should be dreary and it's sunny and bright.
It says it was filmed in Utah so it would be easy to build the primitive rural structures required for the shoot.
The use of John Sylvester White as a confidante for Ichabod is wonderful.
He is best known for his role as Principal Woodman in "Welcome Back, Kotter" and this role allows him to be gruff and comedic but not ridiculous.
Dick Butkus is likewise perfect for his part.
He is big and kind of dumb--a bit ox-like--but he's not without sympathy.
You can easily see him bullying people in the area and being possessive of the fair Katrina Van Tassel.
Still, he isn't so horrible that you want him to get hurt or killed.
You simply want him to stop being so mean.
The other members of the supporting cast: Paul Sand, Laura Campbell, James Griffith, and Tiger Thompson just add more layers to a well-known story..
A Fun Version Of The Story.
I knew there was another version of Sleepy Hollow that I watched as a preteen/teen - I when I saw this one on YouTube I said "I knew it!
This is the film I've been trying to remember!" So good to see this one again!!
The movie is just as good as my memory was telling me.The movie is not so much of a horror as it is more of a light comedy-horror.
It's has a great atmosphere, fun version of the story and Jeff Goldblum as the famous Ichabod Crane.
Goldblum is great in this role, he's well suited for the part.If you like Sleepy Hollow then I do suggest that you give this version a try.
And for more Headless Horseman & Ichabod try The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) and Sleepy Hollow (1999) - the three would make an excellent triple feature for a night of Headless fun.9/10.
OMG!
THIS MOVIE WAS HORRIBLE!.
Okay, I am so fascinated with the "Sleepy Hollow" movies, but this one is the most inadequate one.
The acting is horrible, the camera shots are worse, but this movie does hold a place in my heart, so I gave it a 7.
It was an okay movie, Jeff Goldblum was not a good Ichabod though, but Butkus rocked.
It always comes on here in Chicago the Wednesday before Halloween from 4 in the morning to 6.
I have it now, it was released on video for some time.All in all, this is an average TV movie, and WOULD BE BETTER AS A "LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE" HALLOWEEN SPECIAL.
If you get a chance, check this out..
1980 Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a great version!.
The 1980 version of Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a great version to watch if you are in the mood for a light Halloween tale.
This video is on YouTube in different places.
The writer's stay somewhat close to the original text except in the end Katrina and Ichabod do fall in love and it is implied that they will get married and live happily ever after.
I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Brom and Ichabod throughout the movie.
However, the setting, acting, and overall atmosphere of the movie is sufficient for a good and nostalgic viewing of the story!
Lastly, although Meg Foster gets a lot of the attention for her role, one can not overlook the beautiful Lauren Campbell.
Also, in this version we meet an old school master named Winthrop Palmer.
I do not believe he is in the original text.
His role fits well in this version.
Enjoy. |
tt0062194 | Return of the Gunfighter | An old gunslinger Ben Wyatt (Robert Taylor) is released from prison after five years. He meets Lee Sutton (Chad Everett), who is on the run for killing a man in a gunfight. Wyatt finds that his close friends the Domingos have been killed. He takes Sutton, who is weak from being wounded in the gunfight, to find Anisa Domingo (Ana Martin), the daughter of Wyatt's slain friends. Wyatt agrees to let Anisa help him find her parent's killers.
The three ride toward Lordsburg. Sutton leaves them to go to his family's ranch. He and Anisa say goodbye but hope to see each other again. With Anisa's help, Wyatt finds the men responsible and they are Sutton's brothers. Wyatt kills one in a street gunfight in self-defense.
Lee finds that his older brother, Clay (Lyle Bettger), killed Anisa's parents. Lee leaves the ranch for Lordsburg to free Wyatt, who is in jail for the gunfight. Together, they defeat Clay and his thugs to save Anisa from being killed as the only witness to Clay's murders. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | The Weary Gunfighter.
Probably the best role Robert Taylor had in the last five years of his life was in this made for television western, Return of the Gunfighter.
Though no new dramatic trails are broken here, Taylor is just right for the part of a character very much like Gregory Peck's Jim Ringo in The Gunfighter.Unlike Peck who's returned to a wife and child he abandoned for the wild ways of his youth, Taylor has no family.
We meet him after he cashes out of a poker game after catching one of the players cheating.
When the cheat objects and draws on him, Taylor shoots him down and just mutters "why won't they leave me alone." He's just tired of it all, but it turns out his skill is needed by an old friend Rodolfo Hoyos who's being forced off his land.
Taylor is summoned but arrives too late.He does pick up a traveling companion of sorts in young gun Chad Everett who's got three mean brothers on his trail.
Let's say that the two of them help each other in their situations, though for Everett it does cause a crisis of conscience as you'll see if you watch the film.And watch it you should.
Robert Taylor liked doing westerns, you can see it in his performances in them.
He made fun of the 'iron jockstrap' parts like Ivanhoe, but he loved going west.
Personally I think he should have concentrated on them in the sixties or looked for a big budget television series like his ex-wife Barbara Stanwyck had.Taylor's chief nemesis is Lyle Bettger the man who killed his friend and others.
Bettger once again brings one of his sadistic psychos to the screen and effectively.
This one does have a healthy respect for Taylor's reputation and skill as he tries to tell young punk John David Chandler, when Chandler seems to buffalo Taylor in a saloon.
The fact that Chandler had several friends with him, kind of stacked the deck.
It's a scene very similar to one that John Wayne and George Kennedy did in The Sons of Katie Elder.This was the second of two films that Chad Everett did with Robert Taylor and he always spoke of Taylor's kindness to him as a young player and his generosity in that he never worried about Everett stealing any scenes.
Taylor was back at MGM for this final film with them, the studio where he held the longest contract in screen history.
Had Return of the Gunfighter been made 10 year earlier, it surely would have gotten a theatrical release..
Ravished Taylor is excellent..
Robert Taylor aged more strangely than any of the stars.
From the beautiful young man that ravished Garbo in "Camille", he emerged from World War 2 ravished himself.
I don't know a lot about him, but I suspect his war experiences had a major emotional effect on him that really showed in his face.
Not only did he look worn, he also became far more interesting as an actor.
Here he is 56, in the last two years of his life, and his craggy face and striking blue eyes portray a world-weariness that carries tragic weight.
He is that often seen Western character, the famous gunfighter tired of killing.
I believe Clint Eastwood must have based his character in "Unforgiven" on Taylor's performance here.
Taylor makes this fairly ordinary Western extraordinary..
Chad Everett?!.
I'm sorry, but I just couldn't get over seeing Chad Everett in this western film.
Now I don't think he did a bad job, but seeing this handsome actor who is most closely associated with playing a TV doctor as a gunfighter took me by surprise--as I grew up watching him on "Medical Center".The film is one of Robert Taylor's last films.
As he was older and more haggard, the writers did a good job in dealing with this instead of pretending he still was the man with matinée idol good looks.
Here, he plays an aging gunfighter who is sick and tired of the violence--and he actually tried NOT to fight and would back down if possible.
I liked this aspect of the film and it kept me watching--as well as my wife, who is NOT a fan of the genre.However, aside from both Taylor and Everitt doing a god job, the rest of the film is very, very standard.
It's the usual big nasty guy with money versus the innocent farmers/ranchers.
While I don't give the film super-high marks, it is well acted and interest interesting and a decent late appearance for Taylor..
I'm tired of death - It keeps on following me..
Return of the Gunfighter is directed by James Neilson and adapted to screenplay by Robert Buckner from a story by Burt Kennedy.
It stars Robert Taylor, Chad Everett, Ana Martín, Mort Mills, Lyle Bettger, John Davis Chandler and Michael Pate.
Music is by Hans Salter and the Metrocolor cinematography is by Ellsworth Fredericks.Aging gunfighter Ben Wyatt (Taylor) receives a request to go aid an old friend who's in trouble.
Upon arrival at the family ranch he finds that both his friend and his wife have been killed.
Locating the surviving daughter, he teams up with hot headed drifter Lee Sutton (Everett) and sets about avenging the murder of his friend and the girls parents.By this time Robert Taylor was winding down his career and his life, 1967 would see him depart from the Western genre of film, how splendid to find he doesn't in the slightest disgrace himself here.His character is weather worn, a gunfighter tired of all the killing, of looking over his shoulder all the time.
This proves to be perfect for Taylor, who gives the role a believable sense of pathos, the passing of time and that fate will not leave him alone hangs heavy.
Breaking it down it's a straight forward narrative, where the one time bad guy is called on to use his deadly skills for some good, to rid the plains of some nasty sorts.
The relationship with the young upstart (Everett the whitest teeth in the west) builds nicely, leading to a finale that attacks the emotions of the major players.There's a healthy quotient of action, decently staged by the tech crew, the Old Tuscon locations are nicely photographed, while support players impact with credit on the story.
It's not all plain sailing, Salter's score is sometimes well in keeping with the era, but at other times it comes off like a Sccoby-Doo piece.
Susension of disbelief is of course required, none more so than when Ana Martín goes about the town pretending to be a boy and everyone falls for it - she is simply too pretty to remotely pass as male, and the appearance of Butch and Sundance in the plot is most odd.Yet it's a lovely Oater this, feeling more like one from the 1950s than the tail end of the 60s.
Highly recommended to Taylor fans and fans of traditional Western fare.
Characters Got In the Way of A Good Movie.
I'm not sure if "Return of the Gunfighter" is a sequel to "The Gunfighter" with Gregory Peck but if it is it's a far cry from the original.The overall story was fair enough and could even be said that it was good.
Ben Wyatt (Robert Taylor) is a retired, yet still fast, gunfighter that's out to find justice for his friend Luis Domingo.
He uses Luis's daughter, Anisa (Ana Martin), to find his killers.
Along the way he befriends Lee Sutton (Chad Everett) who becomes an essential character.It would have been an OK to good movie if it weren't for Anisa and Lee Sutton.
They were two very simple characters that I found nauseating.
Anisa, the simplest of all, was the naïve, protected, childlike character with the features to match.
She had to be the cleanest, softest-skinned Mexican-farmer's daughter ever.
That just helped complete the innocent virginal image.Lee Sutton was a simpleton of a different kind.
He was the young, dumb, full of you-know-what kind of simpleton.
I will say that he partially evolved by movie's end but not enough to shake off that first impression."Return of the Gunfighter" is about gunfighting after all just like kung fu movies are about kung fu.
It's almost as if the characters get in the way of the true objective.
No characters were particularly captivating, they were all just a means to an end..
Tired western.
Apparently Metro Goldwyn Mayer, while giving the movie a theatrical release overseas, sent this western directly to television in North America.
It's pretty easy to see why MGM wasn't totally confident that the movie would attract domestic audiences.
The script is the main problem.
The story is made up of many elements and plot turns you will have seen in countless westerns before; I bet even audiences in 1967 found the story clichéd.
Not only that, the script insults the audience by taking more than half of the movie to set everything up; there's no reason why it should have taken so long for this creaky story to define everything.
Also, that first half of the movie is pretty dull, with almost no action or anything else that might be considered lively.
The second half of the movie is a bit more energetic, but it's too little and too late.
Why the present owners of the movie thought it was worth a DVD release through their on demand video line, I cannot say..
Robert Taylor is wonderful as the aging gunfighter Ben Wyatt..
Robert Taylor was always the perfect cowboy, and this role is probably one of the best roles he had in his later years.
Ben Wyatt is an aged gunfighter who is just sick and tired of the death and destruction caused by a "reputation." Just out of prison he is called upon to help and old friend, and although he is reluctant, he agrees.
Upon his arrival he finds that his friend is dead, the victim of a land grab.
The only survivor is his daughter, Annissa.
He sets out with the girl to get revenge for the deaths, and along the way meets Lee Sutton, (Chad Everett)a wounded gunslinger, and takes him along begrudgingly.
The pursuit of the bad guys leads to the real killers, and ultimately he avenges the friends and helps the girl move on.
Watching Taylor, his face lined and worn by age, is truly magnificent.
Just the sight of him on a horse, his blue eyes still glowing beneath the Stetson, is worth the watching of a consummate professional.
It is a shame that he did not live long enough to do more character roles like this one..
Robert Taylor Exits Gracefully.
Return of the Gunfighter" was not Robert Taylor's last film.
He did a couple of B productions in Europe, working into 1968.
In October of 1968 he had a lung removed and did not work again.
Nonetheless, "Gunfighter" is a suitable farewell.
Taylor plays a reformed gunfighter, recently released from prison after serving 5 years for a bogus murder conviction.
The character, Ben Wyatt, seeks only to live in peace but events make this impossible.
When a friend and his wife are murdered, Wyatt must see that justice prevails.The meat of the story is the relationship between Wyatt and young gunslinger Lee Sutton, played by Chad Everett.
A secondary motif is Wyatt's love for his "niece," Anisa, played by Ana Martin.
It isn't a love triangle at all but a passing of the flame to the younger generation.
Everett, a happy-go-lucky young man, learns to be a responsible adult by confronting the villain, Clay Sutton (Lyle Bettger), his older brother.
Under Wyatt's influence, he faces evil and wins the young girl's love.Everett is charming and handsome as Lee Sutton.
His self-centered playfulness is gradually replaced by a sense of morality and accountability.
Ana Martin's acceptance of him as a suitor comes only as he matures.
Martin had a better role than women usually do in westerns and handles it satisfactorily although not memorably.
The supporting cast is uniformly professional and effective.The picture, however, belongs to Taylor.
He is still handsome and his lined face conveys emotion with quiet authority.
As others have said, no one rode a horse the way he did--his straight yet graceful posture, his easy control, his oneness with the animal.
The pretty boy of the thirties has become a superb actor without ever being showy or "going Hollywood." It is disturbing, however, to watch his labored breathing, knowing what caused it.
The last scene, where he walks away from the camera, alone in the street, is very moving..
For Robert Taylor Fans Only.
I like this movie, but I'm a Robert Taylor fan and this is a good solid role for him.
If you don't like Robert Taylor, this is pretty cookie cutter.Here's what I liked:Nice job building the mystique about pistolero Ben Wyatt.Robert Taylor does his usual excellent work replaying the Jimmy Ringo character from the original "Gunfighter".
I won't criticize this for "ripping off" the 1950 film, since they pay tribute to the original film in their title.
I liked the main henchman Sundance, played by John David Chandler.
He had a real Steve Buscemi kind of look to him.
He was also one of the four weird Hammond brothers in "Ride the High Country".
He was also the bounty hunter at the end of "The Outlaw Josey Wales" whom Josey tells, "Dyin' ain't much of a livin' boy", before shooting him down.Nice use of Mexico and Mexicans.Here's what I didn't like:Weak heavy.No comic reliefNothing new added to clichéd plot.Riddled with plot holes and implausibilities, not worth detailing. |
tt0019729 | The Broadway Melody | Eddie Kearns (Charles King) sings "The Broadway Melody", and tells some chorus girls that he brought the Mahoney Sisters vaudeville act to New York to perform it with him in the latest revue being produced by Francis Zanfield (Eddie Kane). Harriet "Hank" Mahoney (Bessie Love) and her sister Queenie Mahoney (Anita Page) are awaiting Eddie's arrival at their apartment. Hank, the older sister, prides herself on her business sense and talent, while Queenie is lauded for her beauty. Hank is confident they will make it big while Queenie is less eager to put everything on the line to become a star. Hank declines the offer of their Uncle Jed (Jed Prouty) to join a 30-week traveling show, but consents to think it over.
Eddie, who is engaged to Hank, arrives and sees Queenie for the first time since she was a girl and is instantly taken with her. He tells them to come to a rehearsal for Zanfield's revue to present their act. A blond woman sabotages their performance by placing a bag in the piano, which causes a fight with Hank. Zanfield isn't interested in it, but says he might have a use for Queenie, who begs him to give Hank a part as well, saying both will work for one wage. She also convinces him to pretend Hank's business skills won him over. Eddie witnesses this exchange and becomes even more enamored of Queenie for her devotion to her sister. During a dress rehearsal for the revue, Zanfield says the pacing is too slow for "The Broadway Melody" and cuts Hank and Queenie from the number. Meanwhile, another woman is injured after falling off a set prop and Queenie is selected to replace her. Nearly everyone is captivated by Queenie, particularly notorious playboy Jacques "Jock" Warriner (Kenneth Thomson). While Jock begins to woo Queenie, Hank is upset that Queenie is building her success on her looks rather than her talent.
Over the following weeks, Queenie spends a lot of time with Jock, of which Hank and Eddie fervently disapprove. They forbid her to see him, which results in Queenie pushing them away and the deterioration of the relationship between the sisters. Queenie is only with Jock to fight her growing feelings for Eddie, but Hank thinks she's setting herself up to be hurt. Eventually, Eddie and Queenie confess their love for each other, but Queenie, unwilling to break her sister's heart, runs off to Jock once again.
Hank, after witnessing Queenie's fierce outburst toward Eddie and his devastated reaction to it, finally realizes they are in love. She berates Eddie for letting Queenie run away and tells him to go after her. She claims to never have loved him and that she'd only been using him to advance her career. After he leaves, she breaks down and alternates between sobs and hysterical laughter. She composes herself enough to call Uncle Jed to accept the job with the 30-week show.
There's a raucous party at the apartment Jock had recently purchased for Queenie, but he insists they spend time alone. When she resists his advances, he says it's the least she could do after all he's done for her. He begins to get physical, but Eddie bursts in and attempts to fight Jock, who knocks him through the door with one punch. Queenie runs to Eddie and leaves Jock and the party behind.
Sometime later, Hank and Uncle Jed await the return of Queenie and Eddie from their honeymoon. The relationship between the sisters is on the mend, but there is obvious discomfort between Hank and Eddie. Queenie announces she's through with show business and will settle down in their new house on Long Island. She insists that Hank live with them when her job is over. After Hank leaves with her new partner and Uncle Jed, Queenie laments the fact that she wasn't able to help her sister find the happiness she deserves. Ironically, Hank's new partner is the blond who tried to sabotage the act when the sisters first arrived in New York. The final scene shows Hank on her way to the train station. She promises her new partner they'll be back on Broadway within six months. | humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0028258 | The Singing Vagabond | At a St. Louis opera house in 1860, a singer in blackface named Jerry Barton, known as "King of the Minstrels", comes backstage and asks his sweetheart, Lettie Morgan (Ann Rutherford), to elope. Lettie's Aunt Hortense, fearing that Barton is a fortune hunter, tells Lettie she is not the heiress she thought she was and that she has been living off her aunt's charity. With no fortune to hunt, Barton informs Lettie that an artist cannot be burdened with the responsibility of a wife.
Outside the opera house, Lettie meets a chorus girl named Honey (Barbara Pepper), who is preparing to leave with her theatrical troupe in a caravan heading West. When the troupe's producer mistakes Lettie for the star, she joins the group as "Mary Varden". The troupe's wagon train is escorted by Captain Tex Autry (Gene Autry) of the U.S. Cavalry and his singing plainsmen. The troupe misses the wagon train, however, and must travel alone.
On their way to San Francisco, the caravan is ambushed by a gang of thieves. Tex and his men arrive on the scene and following a gunfight, the gang is chased off. After Tex saves Lettie from a runaway wagon, he comments on the foolishness of risking his men's lives for a bunch of "crazy showgirls". Angered by his insolence, Lettie decides to walk rather than ride with Tex. Eventually she gets tired and asks Tex if she can ride with him. The troupe arrives safely at Fort Henry, which is run by Colonel Seward (Frank LaRue).
An Indian named Young Deer warns Tex that Chief White Eagle is preparing to attack the army. When horses are stolen from the fort by a renegade named Buck LaCrosse (Warner Richmond), Tex saves the horses. Utah Joe (Allan Sears), who is in league with Chief White Eagle, falsely accuses Tex of complicity with the Indians, and Tex is soon arrested for treason. Aunt Hortense arrives with Judge Forsythe Lane (Niles Welch), who hopes to marry Lettie and use her money to run for president. Aunt Hortense encourages her to marry Lane. Lettie appeals to Lane on Tex's behalf, hinting that she will marry him if he will save Tex. As the wagon train prepares to leave, Lettie sadly says goodbye to Tex, and Lane promises to join Lettie after the trial. However, Lane double-crosses Lettie and helps to secure Tex's conviction.
Following his conviction and death sentence, Tex escapes with the help of his friends. Suspicious that Utah Joe has promised to supply Chief White Eagle with ammunition, Tex orders his friend Frog (Smiley Burnette) to join the wagon train to spy on Utah Joe. While the caravan camps, Frog tells Lettie that Lane encouraged Tex's conviction. Honey, who has fallen in love with Frog, tells Lettie that Lane was probably jealous of Lettie's feelings for Tex, but Lettie denies loving the soldier. When Utah Joe announces plans to take a new route through Kern Valley, Frog warns that the valley is filled with renegades and unfriendly Indians.
Later that night Tex arrives and overhears Utah Joe direct Chief White Eagle to the wagons stocked with gunpowder. Tex pulls his gun on them, and a fight ensues, during which LaCrosse arrives on the scene. As Frog and Tex try to fight off the renegades, the soldiers ride up. Chief White Eagle is shot during the scuffle, but Utah Joe escapes. LaCrosse is arrested and, under the threat of a firing squad, confesses that Utah Joe instigated the horse stealing at the fort, while he let loose the clever black stallion who opened the corral gate. LaCrosse also warns the caravan that Utah Joe is leading them into an ambush.
As the caravan prepares to leave, Utah Joe, now dressed as an Indian, sends a smoke signal, and the Indians approach. Frog is grazed by a bullet and inadvertently becomes attached to the underside of the runaway powder wagon. Tex manages to save him, and igniting the wagon, sends it into a throng of Indians. The Indians retreat once the plainsmen arrive, and as the wagon train departs, Tex and Lettie kiss, with Honey nursing Frog behind the embracing couple. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Action Packed Oater That Should Please Gene Autry Fans. The opening musical/comedy skit may be a bit much and even downright offense to the modern viewer, but it does provide a historical glimpse of a dead art form, the minstrel show, which evolved into vaudeville and thus found a place in early Hollywood movies. Since the story takes place in 1860, the skit is apropos for the plot of the film. The producer takes the show westward via wagon train and with it many-a showgirl, including a runaway, Lettie Morgan (played with aplomb by beautiful Ann Rutherford, aka Polly Benedict of the Andy Hardy series), whose aunt has just told her that she is not as rich as she thought she was, to ward off an undesirable suitor. The wagon train runs smack into trouble and to the rescue ride Captain Tex Autry, aka Gene Autry, and his band of cavalry buddies, including, of course, the redoubtable Smiley "Frog" Burnette. As Rosanne Rosannadanna would say, from there if it's not one thing, it's another. Tex (Gene) is framed by the bad guy, Utah Joe, played with standout surliness by Allan Sears. And the rest of the movie involves Tex (Gene) and his buddies trying to prove his innocence and Utah Joe's guilt. This includes a rousing shootout between the cavalry and renegade Indians who have been stirred up by Utah Joe. The wagon filled with explosives provides a fitting closing for this action-packed, early Gene Autry entry that most should enjoy. Unfortunately, the songs are not up to Gene Autry standards, even though he and Frog, both talented songwriters, helped pen most of them.. Pretty good Autry -- as "Tex". This is, I think, the only Gene Autry movie where he didn't use his real first name. He is "Tex Autry" in this one. Don't know whose idea that was, but it was never done again.
The Singing Cowboy and his group spend a good part of the film fighting a fierce Indian tribe near a U.S. Cavalry fort, singing, and, for Tex, romancing a lovely leading lady, Ann Rutherford. She has come from back east, where the movie begins at a New York theater where we see part of a minstrel show. Some may find this distasteful in this politically correct age, but it didn't bother me a bit, as at the age of 9 I was privileged to see the last live minstrel show ever put on in my hometown.
Anyway, there's a lot of good action in the film, and Gene Autry is starting to show acting talent that his critics always claimed he never had. Worth a view!. "You have anything to say, you better say it quick.". Well I learned something today after watching the opening scenes of this film. Both horse drawn streetcars and black-face minstrel shows date back to the 1830's, so they were not out of place in this story that takes place in 1860. I would have sworn both references to be anachronistic, so on that score I have been educated. Even so, the black-face presentation seems a little jarring outside of an Al Jolson type movie, but seeing it in these early pictures helps one understand how far we've come as a country.This is one of Gene's earliest movies, and as such he looks astonishingly young. Along with that, the story seems a bit disjointed and the characters seem to lack continuity from one scene to the next. For example, Gene (as Tex Autry) seems genuinely annoyed that he had to save Lettie Morgan (Ann Rutherford) from a runaway wagon in an early scene, but soon after is singing 'Honeymoon Trail' with her to entertain the cavalry troops. Similarly, Gene's reputation as a cavalry scout and guide is sterling, but he's summarily courtmartialed on the say so of renegade Utah Joe (Allan Sears) after trying to stop a fleeing herd of cavalry horses. With a little more exposition, these events could have been developed a bit more believably, but I guess the film makers figured that young audiences of the time could fill in the blanks themselves.Because it's one of Smiley Burnette's early team ups with Gene, he doesn't seem to have a lot to do here. He only slips into 'Frog' mode a couple of times or three, and with no context to explain why his voice goes low key. Nor does he get to sing solo or play one of those unusual instruments he came up with from time to time in pictures with Gene or Charles Starrett. In fact, Gene actually belts Smiley a good one near the end of the picture during another runaway wagon scene; it seems that Smiley/Frog was going to off himself by blowing up a band of Indians while aboard the wagon loaded with dynamite! Makes you wonder what the writers were thinking about.So with all that as background, I don't think you'll find this to be one of Gene's better films, but again, it was an early picture and starring role for him. The one hour run time goes by pretty quickly, and it's neatly partitioned for a handful of tunes with Gene leading the way with his Singing Plainsmen. |
tt0043343 | Bird of Paradise | As a yacht sails into an island chain in the South Pacific, a large number of natives in pontoon boats sail out to greet them. The natives dive for the trinkets the yacht's crew throws them. A shark arrives, scaring most of the natives away. Attempting to catch a shark by throwing it bait that has been tied to a harpoon-sized hook, Johnny Baker (Joel McCrea) accidentally steps into a loop that tightens around his ankle. The shark takes the bait, and the rope grows tighter, causing the rope to yank the young man overboard. Luana (Dolores del Río), the daughter of the chief, saves his life by leaping into the water and cutting the rope.
It is not long before they meet in the middle of the night. Swiftly falling in love, they discover she has been promised by her father to another man – a prince on a neighboring island. An arranged wedding with an elaborate dance sequence then follows. Johnny appears at the nick of time, runs into a circle of burning fire, rescues her as the natives kneel to the fire.
They travel to another island where they hope to live out the rest of their lives. He builds her a house with a roof of thatched grass. However, their idyll is smashed when the local volcano on her home island begins to erupt. She confesses to her lover that she alone can appease the mountain. Her people take her back. When Johnny goes after her, he is wounded in the shoulder by a spear and tied up. The people decide to sacrifice both of them to the volcano, but on the way, the couple are rescued by Johnny's friends and taken aboard the yacht.
Johnny's wound is tended to, but his friends wonder what will become of the lovers. Luana does not fit into Johnny's world. When Johnny is sleeping, Luana's father demands her back. She goes willingly, believing that only she can save her people by voluntarily throwing herself into the volcano's mouth. | romantic | train | wikipedia | I will never forget when I saw "Bird of paradise" and I have never forgotten the name Debra Paget.
I was 16 years old, it was in 1952 and the movie was shown at the local cinema, a tiny place hiding under the pine trees in the village in mid-Sweden where I grew up.
Of course the volcano's eruption immediately stopped when this wonderful woman sacrificed herself for her people.
When I first saw "Bird of Paradise", I was an adolescent and I saw it on television as a not-so-recent movie.
I already had a crush on Debra Paget from having seen her as Morning Star in "Broken Arrow." I was also a bit enamoured with her sister, Lisa Gaye as Collette DuBois on "the Bob Commings Show." But I figured that sooner or later I would get over my adolescent infatuation with the exotic characters these sister actresses were playing and eventually I'd settle down, marry a white bread woman, and get an office job like my father.Now it is 40 years later and I have spent the vast majority of that time serving, studying, and teaching in Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan.
When getting my masters in Far East Asian Studies, each time I described one more aspect of the "Bird of Paradise" wedding to a colleague whose specialty was the study of Bali culture, he gasped, "That's just like it is in Bali!""Jeff Chandler explains to Louis Jordon, 'You must come at night and steal her.' 'But I thought her parents approved of the marriage.' 'They do.
But if they freely let her go, it would mean they don't love her and it would be an insult to her.' 'OK, I come and steal her.
She will scream and fight you.' 'But she loves me and wants to marry me.' 'Yes.
But if she goes with you freely, it would mean she doesn't love her parents and it would be an insult.' 'OK.
You and the young men of the village helped me build it.' 'Well, on that night, we won't be able t find it.
That will be your wedding night music.'Even more than she is in "Broken Arrow", Debra Paget is devoted to her white husband.
I am ready." I never did find a woman as fully exotic and as completely devoted to me as the image radiated by Debra Paget in "Broken Arrow," "Bird of Paradise," "Demetrius and the Gladiators," and "The Ten Commandments." But I have been living with the same Asian woman for 31 years.
One of the reasons I decided to study this field, believe it or not, were the island films.
I loved this film.
Jourdan was French and charming and Debra Paget was beautiful.
My grandmother has told me a lot ancient legend of the Hawaiian islands.
I've seen the Bird of Paradise movie for the first time when I was in grade school, then the last time as a adult.
This movie has a lot to say to the new generation about life.
This is one movie I would like to get.
And understand that in life there will be love, suffering and sacrifices.
This movie is a true classic of it's own.
And I thank the people who did the movie very well.
Cult movie on the Big Island where it was filmed.
The color version film is still played regularly in downtown Hilo where it has always been a cult classic.
This great movie is ever poignant where each night you can see the glow of the lava still flowing from Madam Pele's Kilauea Volcano.
With these words the Spanish newspaper "SUR" from Málaga in is issue nº 5249 announced on Saturday 4 October 1952 the release of the film "Bird of Paradise" in the Goya Cinema of this city.Being then myself 11 years old boy this film met the expectations aroused by the advertisement in "SUR".
I saw this movie on Thursday 9 October 1952 and I became extremely impressed by the aesthetic outlook and the contents of the adventure in spite of bitter ending.Many years later, I saw this movie again on TV and I realised the there were many aspects I missed on my first watching, because they underlie what it was simply descrpitive or visual: the interesting anthropological study of the acculturation.
Tenga, a "kanaka" (Jeff Chandler), was unable to adapt to the occidental way of life; André Laurence (Louis Jourdan) is also unable to accept, in spite of this efforts, the way in which a tribal social organization solves the problems presented by wild nature, in this case with the ritual sacrifice of his beloved Kalua (Debra Paget).Debra Paget's physical performance -gestures, looks, dances- as communitive elements, specially with André, is excellent.
The movie was actually filmed in a remote spot on a private estate (my family's) on the Island of Hawaii.
She was a life long member of Haili Church in Hilo which is near where the film was made.
Her daughter, well into her 80's and remembering few things always remembered the only line her mother had in the film: AHHHH.Other members of the cast - local extras - were also from Haili Church and generally from the Brown family (Violet Nathanial was a Brown before she married)The filming location is on a large estate outside of Hilo that remains, more than 50 years later, with the same family and has since been used for one of Hawaii 50 episodes..
After studying in the States, the son of a Polynesian Chief (with white in his blood) returns home to the superstition-laden islands along with a vacationing Frenchman he met at the University; despite dire warnings from the soothsaying Kahuna, the white stranger--who represents a portent of turbulence to come--falls in love with his friend's blue-eyed sister and decides he wants to stay.
Adapted and directed by Delmer Daves, the splendor of native life is given a frisky, romantic allure--until the last act when an angry volcano erupts (mostly via stock footage).
Stars Jeff Chandler and Debra Paget (playing brother and sister, fittingly since they both share a dimpled chin) and Louis Jourdan approach the material with dreamy seriousness, avoiding camp and actually creating two-dimensional characters.
Some may argue this production lacks a high-level of gloss or strong special effects, though I believe Daves was focused far more on the customs and beliefs of these people--and also on the love story--than he was on the technical aspects.
As such, it's a better, more emotional picture than its predecessor, and certainly the music by Daniele Amfitheatrof and Ken Darby is a wonderful asset.
45 and never saw a better movie yet!!!!!.
My family and i just loved this movie when we first saw it over 27 and a half yrs ago.
I too can not find this film anywhere.I have searched i don't know how many movie stores their is in hawaii and california and can't find it.
The best part of all i love about his film is when kalua rubs her face against that red material in the end when andre is remebering her she looked beyond outstanding, absolutely ravishing, it's a shame they don't have it out on vhs or dvd by now what, on earth is the problem.
I must say since that last time i saw that movie i was so glad i was with my family both parents and sisters and brothers if i were to watch it today i'd feel alittle empty because all my sisters and brothers are all over the world with families of their own and both my parents has passed, but i have children and grandchildren i'd love to watch this movie with, one great reason is because their is no violence,no nudity,no swearing,just a good clean home movie.
so thank you for letting me express my comments and i hope to see that movie again before my time is over.
Bird of Paradise is a movie that stays in your mind after you see it for its fascinating story,natural sceneries and acting.Debra Paget is so sweet and sweet and sweet in her performance of "Kalua".Just remember the final scene when her lover (Louis Jourdan) is leaving the island after the volcano eruption, and he is thinking and remembering her,and the spectator can see that beautiful sweet smile of Kalua.Jourdan's acting was very good also as the lover.
I dont know if the negative of this film has been lost or what.But is a good question why the studios has not released this film already on video.The only one available is the one of the 30's.
I think we should have available on VHS and DVD this wonderful 1951 version.
I, too, saw this many years ago.
I've been looking for it for YEARS, too, but somewhere along the line I got confused and thought the name was "Isle of Paradise", so thanks to you, I've gotten straight on that!
Another movie I'm looking for is The Crowd Roars, starring Robert Taylor.
These 2 movies are my favorites from long ago and it would mean SO MUCH to find them.
I am wondering if this movie will be done in DVD.
My family is in this movie, my Dad, Aunties, Uncles and cousins...many of whom my children do not know.
I am always sharing about this movie with them, and would love the opportunity to own it, watch it, and share it with my family.
The reason I am writing to you, is that my Mom told me today, that one of our cousins has the movie, in VHS form, and they were watching it last night.
My Dad, he is the boy at the end of the movie running down the aisle.
My Aunty Violet, she is my great grand Aunty, and she played the Chiefess and I remember spending time with her, before she passed away.
I know that if this movie came out, many, many of the family members would be purchasing this memoir.
Most memorable movie I have seen..
I saw this movie "Bird of Paradise" many years ago.It left such a deep impression on me,it will be forever my favorite movie.
I don't go to the movies anymore,I don't like the sex and violence and the attitude that is going on.
I wished I could buy a DVD or Video of the movie,to show it to my children and grandchildren.I have told them so much about the movie,they would like to see it too.
Why don't they make movies like that anymore?
The actors were still very individual,nowadays they look almost alike.The music was so special,so unforgettable.The story was very romantic,had truly innocent love.The location was a dream,-everything was so great.I have seen many movies in my life,but none of them were so unforgettable..
It is a wonderful mix of beautiful landscapes, great characters, romance, and emotion.
Debra Paget is just outright beautiful.
A beautiful love story.
A beautiful love story.
If you enjoy great old movies, then this is a must see.
My mother told me about this movie, and now I have shared it with my daughter..
Bird of Paradise is a very unusual picture, a subconscious blend of two emerging cultural patterns in 1950s America: 'exotica' and film noir.
Beautiful location photography and a thoughtful screenplay by director-producer Delmer Daves make this one to catch on the late late show (or on Fox Movies!)..
Yes, I've seen the movie too and loved it.
I loved the story line of a simple, happy people who could have done a lot better if the Haole would have just stayed out!
Now look at what the White man has done to those beautiful islands of paradise.
Very little is left of the true Polynesians depicted in this movie.
I just think its appalling that the white man has to destroy every culture, every race, every way of life just to benefit his own greedy lust!
Bird of Paradise: a teen-age crush and a wasted cultural opportunity.
I saw this film in the theater when it was first issued.
Much of this film's portrayal of Polynesian culture is authentic and was carefully researched.
But because scholarly research gets embedded here in such an unbelievable story, the film's central message of cross-cultural universality gets seriously diluted.
Chandler's discomfort with his role may well have stemmed from the fact that he was gay in real life and spends much of his screen time in shots together with Jourdan in which both have very little on.
Jourdan has little to do but look absolutely gorgeous, a skill at which he shines in every film he made.
I saw Bird of Paradise when it first came out and was struck by Debra Paget's beauty and gentleness.
From that time on, I have read innumerable books relating to islands of the South Pacific.
Now, 55 years later, I have written my own "island" books.
I would like to be able to contact Debra Paget for permission to use her pictures in my fourth book in the series.
I recently watched the 1951 version of "Bird Of Paradise" on cable TV and enjoyed it once again.
Directed by Delmer Daves this exotic tale of forbidden love has the usual native customs, rituals, an active volcano and even a Kahuna to hold your interest.
The players including Debra Paget, Jeff Chandler and Louis Jourdan handle their roles adequately.
Highlights include the breathtaking beauty of Debra Paget as the lovely Kalua and the stunning cinematography by Winton Cittoch accented by the original music of Daniele Ampitheatrof.
Footnote: Natural beauty Mary Ann Ventura played Chandler's wife in this her only film and the evil Kahuna was played by non-other than Maurice Schwartz..
Having visited Hawaii once I've maintained that it's such a beautiful place it's impossible not to make a beautiful looking film on location there.
This remake of Bird Of Paradise has both color cinematography and great Hawaiian locations.When I reviewed the 1932 version of Bird Of Paradise with Joel McCrea and Dolores DelRio I said it was dated but entertaining.
The story originally started as a Broadway play by Richard Walton Tully and starred the legendary Laurette Taylor and the one thing that Taylor, DelRio, and Debra Paget in this film have in common is the fiery death by volcano that all these women.
Otherwise we have three separate plots.Here Jeff Chandler, native prince of the island is returning to the South Seas accompanied here by Louis Jourdan who is there for a visit, the two of them having gone to school together.
Chandler has a sister in Debra Paget and she and Jourdan get to kanoodling hot and heavy.But it seems that fate is against these two having a life together as all the signs of their animist tradition are against them.
In the end that's what defeats them.As in the 1932 version there is a healthy respect for those native traditions shown in this, less unusual than for the time of the first film.
Iʻve actually seen this movies once in the Theaters here in the Islands.
My family, friends, and I have been waiting for this movie to be released on DVD.
Will this movie ever be release to the public on DVD?
It is a classic with the Hawaiian Islanders, Iʻd have to say now, with the older generation as our younger generation has yet to see this movie.
I first saw this movie as a young teenager (probably in 1951-2).
I believe it was my favorite movie of all time and I have searched and inquired about a video or replay of movie and have never been able to find anything out about it.
I would love to find someone with influence with local networks to request a replaying of this movie for everyone to enjoy.
Anyone knows why the studios have not release yet on video the 1951 version of "BIRD OF PARADISE"?
I have been looking for this film and all what I have been said is that the studio has not released it yet.This is a beautiful movie with all the ingredients such as the locations scenes,I think is Hawaii,the colors,the music,the acting specially Debra Paget and Louis Jourdan and the touching love story in it.
I don't care if the movie is released on VHS or DVD.
Just is about time this film is available to us..
I grew up watching this movie with my sister.
I love this movie!!!.
I love this movie!!!.
This was a beautifully done picture of Island life, it's superstitions and prejudices.
The acting was superb(Jeff Chandler, Louis Jordan, Debra Paget, Jack Elam) all played their roles true to character.
No fairy tale ending.And the music It was true Hawaiian sounds and hauntingly beautiful.
Does anyone else share my opinion on this movie besides my family?.
From my early growing up, I remember Bird of Paradise as one of the truly beautiful love stories of the screen.
Debra Paget is simply gorgeous as the island girl Kalua who gets involved in doomed relationship with Louis Jourdan.
Jeff Chandler plays Kalua's ever watchful brother who has doubts about the affair from the beginning.
You will need to watch for yourself to see how it all turns out and as you do, you will be treated to beautiful island scenery, a stunning and gorgeous musical score and pretty decent acting from all concerned.
The volcano effects are impressive for its time.
I'm only sorry that film has not received very much air time and the DVD versions are severely under par.
This movie haunted me for years.
I saw this movie in the early 1960s when it was played in black and white on television on "Saturday Night at the Movies." I was in my early teens and very impressionable.
I fell in love with the Polynesian island settings and culture.
More than 40 years later, despite the fact I've never seen this movie again, it still lives vividly in my memory. |
tt0108517 | Warlock: The Armageddon | In the distant past, Druids have stopped the rise of Satan's son using six magical rune stones that create light to vanquish the darkness. While the Druids perform a ritual upon a woman Satan has selected, they are attacked by Christians who feel their work is Satanic. Most of the Druids die and the rune stones are scattered.
In the present, a young man and woman are in love but are having relationship issues. Their parents are Druids; while the girl's father is a priest and has neglected his responsibilities as a Druid, the boy's father kills his son so he can rise again with the aid of Druid magic to become a Druid warrior.
Elsewhere, a young woman has possession of one of the rune stones due to it being passed down through her family. She wears the stone to impress her date, but, as she looks out her kitchen window at the lunar eclipse, she rapidly becomes pregnant and gives birth to the Warlock, Satan's son. After he is reborn, he kills the woman who gave birth to him after she insults him. The Warlock communicates with his father, who speaks to him using the dead woman as a conduit, telling his son to find the other five rune stones. These have the power to summon him to Earth, but he has precisely six days to do this. The Warlock peels the flesh from his deceased mother's stomach and makes it into a map, enabling him to track the other runes.
The young man, destined to be a Druid warrior, learns how to use his powers, and it is not long before his girlfriend joins him. They suffer persecution from the villagers but are protected by the girl's father, the priest. Meanwhile the warlock gains the other rune stones to raise his father Satan from his prison to rule the world, murdering various people along the way.
The last rune stone is worn by the Druid warrior; he and his lover fight the warlock but he defeats and imprisons them and gains the runes which he uses to open a portal to Hell. As Satan rises, the Druid boy and his girlfriend use their powers to turn on the lights of a nearby truck; the Warlock screams in terror as he is killed and his father Satan is sent back to Hell, the two of them defeated by evil's ultimate enemy: LIGHT. | good versus evil, cult, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | The characters weren't near as annoying as that girl who lost her bracelet in the original, and the Warlock was actually given some pretty cool lines and parts.
Yes, because the early nineties were a cheesey time, but sometimes it's fun to look back at the past and smile.If you like cheap, cheesey horror films, this one might make you grin..
Of course you will have more depth to the warlock character, if you have seen it, but you will not miss out on anything if you haven't.This sequel is as good as the first movie in the series.Again, the role of the sinister warlock is portrayed by the charismatic Julian Sands.
Julian Sands is so perfect for the role of the warlock.The cast is good, and the roles of the druids are good, both for the young druids and the elderly druids.The movie has a bunch of cool effects and wicked magics, something that have to be seen.
That knife is perhaps the worst CGI effect I have seen to date.For fans of adventure genres or for people who like to play D&D games, this movie provides good entertainment.
And like the first "Warlock" movie, this also have enough entertainment for more than one watching.
This time the Warlock makes a most memorable first appearance, and then he goes after these magic stones so he can release Satan into the world.
However place it within the genre of comedy, and it is up there challenging with the best of comedy films.The basic storyline made it easy to understand i.e. did not have to concentrate, which is good because i was crying with laughter too much.It follows the old theme of the evil being lead back to the main characters at the end, via the collection of 6 stones, randomly placed around the world, from Circuses to museums.Excellent acting from the son of the devil, made me believe that he actually was the son of the devil and his ways of murdering the stone holders was humorous to say the least, except for the one in the circus where that brought genuine fear to my mind.A well written script with such instances as rabbits being run over and hair being pulled off makes for an exciting and humorous viewing of one of my favouritist films of all time.Simply an 8.5/10 due to effective blood ridden moments, great acting and funny moments.Hail the guy that created this masterpiece.
Julian Sands again stands out as the evil oozing, soft spoken disciple/ son of Satan in this slightly less well done sequel to "Warlock." The problem is mostly one of a script that could have been a little more exciting and with a few more thrills.
This time our evil warlock, the great Mr Sands, who I must say was born to play this role, is here for much more evil purposes, like bringing the world to an end, where the only hope to end him, is a young lad Kenny (an older and much taller looking Chris Young, from The Great Outdoors) who possesses a telekinetic, talent, but is a bit rusty.
Director, Hickox, still fresh off the heals of Hellraiser 3, which also starred Marshall, makes a name for himself with these super entertaining flicks (the sexual psychological C Thomas Howell thriller, Payback came next) with some nice ECU shots, like one involving a smiling, and very much in love Marshall.
The battle to the death between good and evil is very suspenseful, and I guess was a but overlong, but I couldn't go back to ever watching the original, as this is super entertaining, with a lot of yucky blood, and great effects, and that great warlock humour..
Okay this wasn't a great movie but Julian Sands is great as the warlock.
Julian Sands as the warlock (son of Satan) is back at it again, and his suave presence fitting as usual in a rather devilish sequel.
This time around he makes much more of a bloody mess as he cruelly and imaginatively toys around with the owners of the scattered magical runestones, Druid Guardians and two meddling small-town teenagers who are the only ones that can stop him from opening the gateway to hell.When we get Sands making people look foolish, it was a wicked blast - from the sardonic wit to the sexed-up vibes and the graphic shocks heavily reliant on practical make-up effects (like the insane birth sequence?!).
During this short period of time, the Devil has the chance to take over the earth if and only IF his son, the Warlock, manages to bring together five magical stones and involve them in some sort of satanic ritual.
"Warlock: Armageddon" is a surprisingly entertaining B-movie, mainly because it's fast-paced and featuring quite a large amount of gory killing sequences.
Julian Sands' performance also contributes a lot to the fun-factor of this movie, as he portrays his Warlock character as a truly obnoxious bastard who walks up the catwalk in the middle of fashion shows and deliberately runs his fast car over cute innocent bunnies.
Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) would be a total waste of space if it wasn't for Julian Sands as the Warlock, his scenes are great fun to watch, all the other characters in this film are awful and boring.Julian Sands is the Warlock who is on a mission to get hold of 6 magical runestones that will enable Satan to raise hell on earth, Only 2 people have the power to stop him, 2 teenagers who have inherited druid warrior power!!!
Like i said before, this film is a one man show, the scenes with Julian Sands are funny, entertaining and the way he kills off various people with lots of clever special effects makes it great fun to watch.But overall i give this movie 5/10, coz all the other scenes were so dull..
What happens is that the Warlock is born ( From a scene stolen from XTRO ) and he goes on a journey which involves him killing people in a bloody way every five minutes .
I criticised the original movie for not using its great potential but this sequel had no potential to start with I suppose gore hounds might like it but anyone expecting a coherent story and good acting should give this a wide berth.
Handsome, charismatic Julian Sands reprises his role as the title character in this sequel that's pretty much just adequate all the way down the line.
It has very little to do with the first movie, but has a basically similar plot, as The Warlock is reborn, and sets about uniting five precious gems in order to help his father Satan regain access to the world above.
He is opposed by an order of druids; one of them is Will Travis (Steve Kahan), whose son Kenny (Chris Young) is destined to be one of two druid warriors that must battle the evildoer."Warlock: The Armageddon" has enough entertaining moments to make it passable, whether they're a great visual gag or otherwise amusing bit of business.
There's nothing to make the movie particularly memorable, as the music, production design, cinematography, and the like are all competent without possessing any real pizzazz.Young ("The Great Outdoors") and the lovely Paula Marshall ("Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth") are a likeable hero and heroine, if not all that interesting.
Certainly the interest lies with other cast members: Sands ("Arachnophobia") is a standout as the sardonic Warlock, and Kahan (Captain Murphy in the "Lethal Weapon" feature films), Charles Hallahan (John Carpenters' "The Thing"), R.G. Armstrong ("Children of the Corn" '84), Bruce Glover ("Diamonds Are Forever"), and Ferdy Mayne ("The Horror Star") comprise an excellent bunch of character actors.
And Zach Galligan, who'd worked with director Anthony Hickox on his earlier film "Waxwork", has a funny cameo.This shows the viewer a decent time, but is a little over extended at just over 98 minutes.Six out of 10..
I'm not a believer of any religion and this is why I enjoy movie like God VS Satan.This movie have good visual effect (for that time) and like almost people here said, Julian Sand play well the son of Satan.
For me, the only sad thing, finally, what is the old name of God????!!?!?So, if you like fantasy movie with a bit of horror, witchcraft and God vs Satan, I highly recommend this one.
Only a pair of warriors can stand in his way.This is a stupid, pointless horrible sequel that is merely an attempt to make more money rather than make an entertaining horror movie.
Ok, iam from austria and my English is not very good but, when i saw this movie at the first time i was overhelmed of julian Sands.
All in all is Warlock: The Armageddon a verny nice horror film, but one person makes this movie immortal, Julian Sands!!!!.
Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) * 1/2 (out of 4) The evil Warlock (Julian Sands) finds himself back on Earth as he looks for some gemstones that could help him destroy mankind.
If only the following scenes had been squeezed into the original "Warlock" movie...
Such flicks are a disgrace if you are into thought-provoking kick-ass horror films (the original "Warlock" and "Wishmaster" are good examples).
Especially Julian Sands as evil incarnated had a charm and presence that one couldn't help but to root for him, despite all his mischief.Indeed, "Warlock" has the stuff that made it a cult-movie.
Grant are missed greatly.Same goes for the special effects: true, "Warlock II" is slightly gorier than its predecessor and, true, the effects where still pre-CGI and hence had a more natural feel than 99 percent of the SFX today, but none of the scenes could match the magic that the original "Warlock" had.Speaking of Zach Galligan, compare "Gremlins" to "Gremlins 2": yes, the sequel was disappointing because it couldn't live up to the first part, but in the end, alright, it wasn't a bad movie.
In the end, what saved the movie is the direction of Anthony Hickox who is in the same league with Miner; a veteran of cheap, straight-to-video horror flicks with a heart (minor trash-gems like "Waxworks", "Full Eclipse" and "Spaceshift" are testament to that).In retrospect, it's not even a bad movie if it had stood on its own.
I'll join the general consensus (of the time of writing – things may look different if you happen to read this in a hundred years or so), and give the film five points from five – and if I'll watch a few more contemporary horror flicks, infested with CGI and lifeless actors, I may even give it six or seven..
How about this: when a woman dons the wrong necklace during an eclipse the usual process of impregnation, gestation and delivery are amalgamated and fast tracked to a 40 second process – I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese were involved, they make everything run more smoothly – imagine her surprise (if all that wasn't shock enough!) that her new child is immediately adult sized and can speak.In a further miraculous turn she instantly regains her pre-baby body (Hollywood stars = JEALOUS!!), only to have the unfortunate news that she is about to die and have her own skin turned into a map.The upshot of W2 is that once again the Warlock is trying to bring about naughty things, this time the birth of Satan's son.
He has but 6 days after his 'rebirth' to collect 6 precious stones in between eclipses while God ain't looking.Of course he can't have it all his way, two "I know that guy from somewhere" character actors and an old guy turn out to be modern day druids hellbent on stopping the Warlock from succeeding, only they can't do it alone so they conscript two young teens named Kenny and Samantha to be Druid-Warriors (what a combo that must be in Dungeons and Dragons) to do most of the leg work for them.So again we have a situation where the Warlock fangs around collecting things while the good guys prep his downfall from a remote location.
This is because realistically there is no way known that two kids could take on a Warlock, so they must keep the two sides apart until the finale, by which time the audience no longer cares and will believe anything if it helps end the movie.Training for the young witch-fighting duo consists of learning to deal with dodgy CGI – seriously this was made in the 90s and Star Wars puts it in the shade as far as FX go – and tension is created by them repeatedly being told the same facts about the Warlock
he's dangerous, he'll kill you, blah-blah-blah.The amusement on the other hand is created unintentionally by a Reverend and father of Samantha, through his overacting and hamming up every scene that he appears in.
The acting is acceptable, and the script is alright.It's kind of funny how the premise of this movie has the Warlock moving from east to the west coast, opposite of the first film.
Another thing I love the movie was when Kenny and Samantha were fighting against the warlock at the same time.
decent sequel has great acting by Julian Sands and Paula Marshall (who i always thought was underrated it has lots of gore a decent and creative plot and script and some cool battle sequences of gore to satisfy the gore hounds Julian Sands eyes and always serious looks highlight this sequel it has great gore effects a really neat finale interesting characters and a gory birth this is slightly better then the first because it is faster paced even though the first one was fairly fast paced so overall i give this a **1/2 out of 5 only flaws slow beginning and some lame dialog and couple of non amiable characters but overall a fun little flick so rent this it is a good time waster.
Good bye `Videodrome', hello `Lawnmower Man'.`Warlock 2', (also gone were the roman numerals after the sequel's title, because whoa the shame of being a crappy part two) has these really bad CG effects that used to look so amazing and fresh when you where a teenager raised on rubber, but now, man oh man are they dated and corny.
Improved sequel finds the son of Satan (Julian Sands) in search of some stones that will bring Satan back to earth.
"Lets do a sequel and make some money movie" Julian Sands is performing rather well but the feeling and mystery is gone.
We witness the birth and training of a druid warrior as the title warlock is closing in, collecting a series of stones that together has the power to unleash Satan on mother Earth.
What a letdown.Now I wasn't the biggest fan of the original movie, but at least it had some sense of momentum and not to mention David Twohy's script and Steve Miner's direction.In this sequel i did however enjoy seeing the late Charles Hallahan as a druid warrior, all though his appearance can only be considered a minor cameo, and Bruce Glover (the memorable Mr Wint in Diamonds Are Forever) as a priest..
This is one of those movies where one actor is absolutely responsible for why a flick works, and he really does carry the whole thing and steals every scene that he's in and his presence elevates it above average horror fare to me.
Classic 'B' movie horror, again starring Julian Sands, and as sequels go, I find this one to be a more entertaining endeavor than the flick from which it spawned.
The film follows the druids training their youngest members for battle while the Warlock travels across the country, collecting the remaining stones and committing magically-assisted murders."Warlock: The Armageddon" is essentially two movies stapled together.
Sands never winks, maintaining the seriousness of the Warlock character, while letting the audience know what a good time he's having.
Gory, silly quasi-slasher thrills like this are probably what you'd expect from an underachieving sequel to a sorta-popular eighties horror movie.The other movie "Warlock 2" also is doesn't entertain in the same way.
Any time the movie focuses on this plot line, the audience really wishes it would be back to the Warlock killing people.Director Anthony Hickox had previously directed the "Waxwork" films, "Sundown: The Vampires in Retreat," and, most pressingly, "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth." Like "Hellraiser III," Hickox has made a movie about a formally serious villain suddenly performing over-the-top kills and cracking wise about it.
Then Netflix got it, oh man, stop now.The special effects are horrible to todays standards, and then the acting is great, but I think its one of the most entertaining B horror films ever made.
'Warlock: The Armageddon' is a more than capable sequel to the original film.**SPOILERS**A druid ceremony is interrupted and five sacred stones are stolen and buried, hoping to never be used again.
The Warlock (Julian Sands) is reborn and goes off in search of the five sacred stones that are needed to bring his father back to Earth.
Sands really seems to have fun in the role as he actually kills people in this movie.
There are also bits from HELLRAISER, THE TERMINATOR, a final shock scene directly lifted from CARRIE, and many more horror film clichés which are wince-inducing, like the tired "is the baddie really dead?" routine.So it's basically the special effects which are the reason to keep watching.
The special effects at the end of the film are very good, where the Warlock melts into a skeleton and into the ground, and there are some stabbings, impalings, scalpings, splatterings, breakings and interesting morph work too.
I like to play with twisting myth myself in my own stories but they could have at least called him a Sorcerer or Necromancer, evil magician and not a Warlock which is a totally wrong word to use starting with the first movie and instead of making these people Druids, make them some secret society that fights evil.The word warlock does NOT mean a male witch. |
tt0109053 | Against the Wall | The docudrama is a partially fictionalized account of the four-day Attica Prison riot in 1971 at the Attica Correctional Facility, where prisoners took over much of state prison to protest inhumane conditions. The movie is focused on rookie prison guard Michael Smith (Kyle Maclachlan) and inmate Jamaal X (Samuel L. Jackson) who develop a wary friendship with each other. It is largely told through Smith, who was shot four times, and based on Smith's testimony. Jamaal X is based on several inmates, including the inmate Smith credits with saving his life. Clarence Williams III plays the inmate Chaka, one of the more ruthless prisoners who does not participate in the riot for honorable reasons.
The film opens with a montage of news footage from the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the assassination of Robert Kennedy, students killed at the Kent State shootings and the Watts riots. The movie then shows the quiet streets of Attica, New York and a 22 year old Smith in a barber shop getting his long hair cut. Smith is an expectant father who decided to become a corrections officer because of the pay. After the hair cut, he goes to start his new job at the prison where black militant Jamaal X also arrives. The film shows the first day of the two men, cross-cutting between them. The terrible prison conditions are revealed. Prison guards treat the prisoners abusively, with violence and needless strip searches, and basic needs like functioning toilets are ignored. The spirit of the Vietnam war protests is influencing the prisoners to seek recognition of their human rights.
Smith begins hearing of complaints of degrading conditions from increasingly politicized prisoners, particularly Jamaal X, a Muslim leader prominent in the fight for prisoner rights. Smith is portrayed as the only guard who treats the inmates with respect and his occasional signs of sympathy for the prisoners make his co-workers suspicious of him. The seasoned prison guards, like Lieutenant Weisbad, do not allow challenges to their methods of complete, and often humiliating, control. Ultimately Smith's alliance with Jamaal saves his life.
Initially Smith allows himself to dehumanize the prisoners, cooperating with the inhumane treatment of the prisoners as he obeys the orders of his supervisors, even if it goes against his morals. His wife Sharon (Anne Heche) expresses disappointment and contempt when she tells him "You're changing!" However, Smith loses the willingness to follow orders during the uprising, after he is beaten by prisoners in the metal shop he supervises. Several prisoners led by the psychopath Chaka were able to overwhelm the guards and take them hostage when a gate malfunctions. Jamaal protects the guards from Chaka and the other sadists, recognizing they will lose the ability to negotiate with government officials if the hostages are killed.
Smith refuses to humiliate himself in exchange for basic needs unlike the other captured officers. He tells his puzzled co-workers, "I wasn't a guard long enough to learn how to be a prisoner." Jamaal comes to respect Smith for his non-conformity and considers him to be a kindred spirit. Jamaal recruits Smith to speak to a news crew, to testify that the hostages have not been tortured or killed. As the news conference, Smith hints to Jamaal that he cares more about his own dignity than the approval of others, an attitude he did not show prior to the crisis. However, New York's governor ends negotiations on the fifth day of the uprising and orders a raid by law enforcement officials and soldiers. Inmates and their hostages are fired at indiscriminately as their vision is impaired by tear gas. Chaka, Jamaal and Lt. Weisbad are among those killed. Smith is shot several times in the stomach by a friend who is an Attica police constable.
The statistics in film's epilogue convey its importance to the present. The U.S. prison population had risen 300 percent since the uprising, surpassing South Africa as the biggest per capita in the world, and this was likely to worsen with the three strikes law. Forty states were currently cited by the courts for overcrowding or other inhumane conditions. | revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1278322 | Colin | Injured in the arm, Colin arrives home to the house he shares with Damien only to find it empty. While cleaning his wound in the kitchen sink, he is attacked by Damien, now a zombie. He manages to "kill" Damien by stabbing him multiple times in the head with a kitchen knife, but soon afterwards becomes a zombie himself. Now one of the undead, Colin wanders the streets of London during the onset of a probable zombie apocalypse. He acquires the usual zombie cannibal taste for human flesh but avoids conflict. While being mugged for his trainers, he is seen by Linda, his sister. That evening zombies invade a house party and kill everyone within. Colin follows the sole survivor of the carnage (who, we later discover, reminds him of Laura, his friend) before she is trapped by a madman / serial killer in his basement with a group of blinded zombies.
Linda and a friend finally capture Colin and take him to their mother's house, but Colin cannot recognize them. Linda has already been bitten by Colin when trying to save him from the muggers, and turns into a zombie, while she is reanimating she is locked in with Colin and her boyfriend and mother leave. Colin and Linda shamble away. The film also follows a cowering group of human survivors who finally go on the offensive. Led by Slingshot guy, the humans attack a large group of zombies with a makeshift grenade, which explodes near Colin, destroying most of his face. Three of the humans are bitten during the fight and are brutally killed by the rest of the group after one starts turning.
Colin survives and finds his way to his friend Laura's home, where the film cuts to a flashback to when he was still human. Arriving at the house, he discovered that Laura had trapped a zombie in the bathroom. While attempting to kill the zombie, she was bitten and died in his arms, before reanimating and biting him. He then killed her before going home, which brings the viewer back to the film's beginning. | violence | train | wikipedia | Quite frankly I was expecting this unknown low-budget horror to be as awful as it sounded, but it actually turned out to be the best movie of the night in many ways.
The director and main star of the film were both in attendance, and I had a chance to congratulate Marc Price on creating a damn fine little movie on what was clearly a shoestring budget.Let's get the downsides out of the way first.
Other movies in the genre have the zombies as a faceless horde of implacable eating machines, but "Colin" plucks one half-eaten face from the crowd and makes him a highly believable character.
every one of these stories gives hints of the wider chaos that must be going on, making this a very believable, and very English, zombie uprising.This is a film that absolutely deserves to be seen by a wider audience.
I can only hope that a distribution company picks it up and ensures that it gets a full release in the same way that other low budget films like Blair Witch Project and Open Water did.
It might look low budget, but script- wise this is as strong as anything being released by the major studios.If you have ever enjoyed a good zombie film, then do seek out "Colin" because it is truly a fine example of the genre.
Looking exactly as you'd expect a £40 zombie movie to look (replete with a complete disregard for cinematography, alarmingly hammy acting and plenty of unconvincing, off- colour bloodletting) Colin is an extraordinarily hard slog.
This is particularly true of its opening half hour, which is almost totally bereft of dialogue and filled with way too many ugly and aimless shots that last at least four or five times longer than they need to, without any justification.Despite the odd moderately impressive exterior shot, Colin's "story" is one constructed around the constant need to justify the shooting locations - which are all, for the vast majority of the time, someone's drab and under-lit living room.
Spades of kudos must go to the enterprising young sprouts who clearly worked like dogs to get this film made, and I'm thrilled to live in an age where filmmakers of this level can get their work seen and distributed nationally on DVD, but to be brutally honest this is film-making of an extremely sloppy vintage, and the complete lack of plot renders it monumentally, deadeningly boring.A friend of mine remarked that he'd rather sit down in front of a decade's worth of his neighbour's holiday videos than sit through Colin again.
Marc Price's ambitious independent and original zombie film shows us proceedings through the undead's perspective (the role of Colin played by Alastair Kirton).This is a genuinely moving film which contains a number of unforgettable scenes.
It's literally a camera following a zombie while it walks around town and someone occasionally gets eaten.We tried to figure out the plot but the film gives you no information about anything.
Again in 'Land of the Dead', and also 'Dawn...' and 'Day of the Dead' there was a recognisably empathic portrayal of the pilot in 'Dawn'(when he turned) and Bub in 'Day'.There's no doubt that 'Colin' is well done if the statements about the budget are correct - there are some very good aspects to the movie: the soundtrack/score; some of the make up and effects; some the acting.But this movie is really an extended student film, the cinematography is awful, the editing is okay as long as there is no more than 1 or 2 actors in scene, any more than that and it's very difficult to work out what's going on.Not to denigrate the efforts of the director, cast and crew - but this is an idea of a movie and should be seen almost as a showreel than a finished product..
Nothing happens, and though we begged for Colin to die, the director refused to put us out of our misery.This film would have been interesting as a 3 minute short, every second after that was a waste of time.The comparisons to Romero are farcical, those films capture the attention, there is nothing in Colin to do, other than the vain hope that someone will drive a screwdriver into his eyeball.I can't believe that people gave this film reviews of 10, what exactly were they smoking?
Obviously, being a very low budget film it has its technical flaws and in some cases the shaky camera work doesn't quite hit the spot that it was meant to, but none of this can take away from the quality of the story, acting and execution of this film.
There are moments of pure emotion which bought a tear to the eye of many of the people watching the film and this is all bought about by Alistair Kirtons (Colin) great ability to play with your emotion without saying a word and Marc Prices ability to do the same with the world he creates, he uses also uses music to good effect and the soundtrack of this film is very good in this regard.
This is a great zombie flick made with real passion by people who are obviously good fans of the genre and a potentially very talented film maker in Marc Price & Actor in Alistair Kirton, I have not really felt for a Zombie since Bob from Day of the dead.I Loved the score/soundtrack.
This movie is just awesome, and is what so many other horror films try and fail to achieve - its scary, its eerie, its grainily shot which adds to the eeriness and it tells a story from the different perspective, lol, i.e that of a Zombie.
It was obviously shot on a very tight budget but so many great horror films were, even so it looks good and is well acted, even tho dialogue is kept at a minimum (obviously zombies do not converse very well,lol).
Ow. After twenty minutes i had a headache from the Shaky Cam and couldn't watch much more, Sadly while i admire the fact that this got out there being a very low budget film, i cant help thinking that I know people who have been making much better films than this for there own enjoyment for years...Mr. H you know which i mean!
I don't know if it gets better as after 28 minutes I thought Bugger this for a lark and switched it off.Give me Bub (from Day of the Dead, Romero, 1985) over Colin any day!.It leaves me asking how did it get a release let alone the good reviews posted on here.As with all my reviews it is my opinion so if your interested try it just don't come to me asking for a refund!.
The success of Colin stems from the fact that it does something wholly original and tells the story from the zombie's point of view.Colin admittedly looks terrible - but when you shoot a film for the same price as a video game then that can certainly be forgiven.
Colin is a 2008 British zombie film written and directed by Marc Price.
OK I want to start off by saying I feel this movie is highly underrated and deserves a far better score, Colin is a zombie movie but rather than being just any generic zombie movie based solely around the survivors it follows Colin someone who is bitten and subsequently zombified and thats really it, we see Colin walk through the deserted streets and see through his eyes what life is like as a zombie.
I urge all fans of the zombie genre and any other genre to watch this, yes it is a zombie movie and yes it is a gory title but it should not be shrugged off as a mere action horror, its so much more, we see the human deep side of this zombie and as the movie progresses we really are able to feel for this so called "mindless zombie" and with every attack from the humans to the zombie I felt more hatred towards the humans and felt more sympathy for zombies, its rare in fact unheard of for a zombie movie to do this, this is by far my favourite zombie movie and one of my top ten all time movies now, I urge all fans of movies to see this film and not be put off by the gore or the fact that it's a low budget title..
Saw this at the Leeds film festival the other night and 'Colin' is definitely one of the more original zombie movies I've seen.
There are a couple of twisted characters, some excellent gore (at least for such a low budget) and a few surprisingly sad and poignant moments - one of the greatest things about this film is that you actually empathise with a zombie for once.
The very-shakeycam and high-contrast visuals give it a gritty, home-made feel that mostly works well with the subject matter, but too often it's also confusing and hectic, leaving you wondering what the hell just happened.It also felt too long, despite being only 97 minutes - there are plenty of scenes that could have been snipped down and as simply effective as the premise is, there's just not enough story to fill an hour and 40 minutes.
I have watched a thousand different zombie/infected films and my book and movie collection fills a full 3 bookshelves and all I have to say is this.
After so many films and after so many spins on the "undead" story I believe that this film delivers everything I ever wanted or needed out of a zombie movie.
It had heart, it had the gore, the comedy and the emotion, it had interesting and compelling characters and the films creative structure was in itself a masterful piece of art.Props to the guy who made it, I signed up just to review this movie and I hope to see more from this creator.Cheers, Rorke.
This is not the best zombie movie by a long shot, but it is highly original and shot on the supposed budget it was, it is a fascinating piece of film making.
It exists on the uncertain edge of the quasi-normal, where friends try to party anyway, and the slow, relentless, total failure of all social structures, right down to the smallest, most sacred ones.It shows the horrible, paralyzing grief you feel when you watch your bf / gf die, then multiplies that horror when their dead body wakes up and slowly approaches to bite you, eat you, kill you, and make you like they are.And it gets even worse.It shows the despair and sadness when you are forced to kill the person you love most because they either died, turned, and are slowly walking toward you; or even more horrible, they were bitten but are still alive, and you have to kill them anyway because you don't have time to watch them get sick and die.
This film's laundry bill alone would have amounted to more than that (fake blood doesn't come out of clothes by itself, you know), let alone all the other costs that are unavoidably incurred during the film-making process, no matter how cheap the production: catering, administration, travel, make-up supplies etc.Sadly, Colin's clever '£45' marketing ploy turns out to be the most effective thing about the whole film.
Despite a valiant attempt to try something different with the whole living-dead schtick, and for seriously less dosh than most low-budget horrors, most of the time the film proves to be a less than scintillating experience, the basic idea being far more suitable to a 10 minute short than a 97 minute feature.Watching recently turned corpse Colin (Alastair Kirton) slowly dragging his feet around South London for an hour and a half, pausing to contemplate road signs or traffic lights on the way, is pretty dreary stuff.
Director Marc Price occasionally picks up the pace, such as when Colin stumbles upon a house siege or a group of survivors take action against the undead (resulting in a unsettling scene where those wounded during the battle are cruelly dispatched before they can become zombies), but for the majority of the time, this is dead boring..
I don't believe this production cost a total of £40 to produce, while it does feel like the film did cost nothing to make what about the electricity costs in the edit process alone?Atrocious film to be frank, very unwatchable by the absurdly shakey hand held camera approach, needless jerky for no reason.Got to a point where I could not stomach any more, the terrible acting and camera on a spring brought me to my knees!1/10 please don't make any more zombie films..
Made in 2008 at the dawn of the whole low budget indie movie journey Colin claims to have been made for $50.
Good low budget zombie film.....
I watched the micro-budget horror film Colin this evening and i thought that it was a great film, made for just £45.
But i thought that it was a good film which shows you that you are still able to make a movie even on a very low budget.
Now we all know that most of these micro budget films the actors don't get paid, but all their expenses still cost, maybe not to the cost of the filmmaker, lets hope the people involved got reimbursed for the cost to them, which lets face it would of brought the production costs higher than £45 pounds.Even on low budget indie films you would expect the filmmakers to take care of their cinematography which was abysmal, sound was bad as was the acting.I really have nothing good to say about this film apart from Kudos for the marketing it obviously worked, but failed at making a entertaining film97 mins of my life I won't get back.
Colin is bitten by a Zombie; he dies, returning from dead and tackles what every zombie has to deal with, the living.A poor mans micro-budget zombie film that is less effective than the low budgeters Autumn (2009) and Zombie Diaries (2006).
Alastair Kirton gives a good zombie performance as Colin and the supporting cast are fine.
Nevertheless, the filming suffers from problems of most low budget movies.
You actually find yourself feeling genuine sympathy for the zombies.A lot of the hype has been about the ridiculously low budget of the film, and it holds up surprisingly well, considering.
Colin has to adjust to being a zombie & deal with all those nasty humans who try to kill him, this is his story...This English production was shot, edited, written, produced & directed by Marc Price & I am finding all the positive comments absolutely baffling as Colin is surely one of the inept & tedious films ever made.
For a start lets a get a couple of things straight, Colin is not the first film to be told from a zombie's point of view neither it is the first film to try & create sympathy for it's flesh eating undead despite what some may say.
To be fair the concept of a zombie film told from a zombie's perspective is cool but with such a low budget & very little talent on show the concept was doomed to die as we get endless scenes of Colin stumbling about doing nothing in particular.
Nobody says a sentence for like half an hour into the film, Colin doesn't speak until the very end in which he has a flashback revealing what happened at the start which should have been at the start rather than the end as it might have made us relate to Colin a bit more or emphasise with his transformation from ordinary bloke to mindless zombie.
The make-up effects are poor, there's some fake blood splashed around & some bits of meat probably brought from a local butcher for the zombies to chew on but there's no proper special effects here.Probably edited on a PC or in camera Colin really is nothing more than a home movie, & a bad one too.
Colin suffers from several major flaws (and no, I'm not talking about the zombie virus that plagues the main character - ba doom boom chish!), and these flaws undo what would have been an otherwise praiseworthy piece of indie film making.I'm not going to critique the cinematography, because at the end of the day this was a low budget indie film, and it wasn't too bad when considered in that light - however there are other problems with Colin that being a low budget indie film is no excuse for.Firstly, it's simply far too long for the story it tells - there's no way it needed to take 1 hour and 37 minutes to tell this story.
Proving once again that great entertainment is not contingent upon money or the nebulous studio production system, Colin met and far surpassed my expectations for this no-budget zombie flick.
COLIN is a British zombie film famously made on a camcorder with a budget of just £45.
The one thing which makes me not appreciate the scathing reviews of Colin is that with films which are made with such a uniquely low budget and mainly cast of people who aren't even obscure actors, it is key to try and review this film with some relativity to the fact it does not measure up in production values and acting talent.With that considered, Colin has several plus points which conventional and modern films will always lack.
The next thing you know Colin is a full flesh eating undead creature, and the rest of the film follows him in his journey to find a human victim.
It is quite astonishing that this home made film from debuting director Marc Price only had £45 budget, achieved by free extras, home made special effects and saved make-up, but it looks actually very professional, and it's fun viewing. |
tt0378306 | Shadow of Fear | To learn more about the Mysterons and Mars, Spectrum has conceived "Operation Sword". The objective is to place a space probe in orbit around Mars to capture detailed images of the surface. Although the Mysterons destroy a first probe, a second — Mini-Sat 5 — successfully lands on the Martian moon Phobos to carry out surveillance. When Phobos has completed one orbit of Mars, the images will be transmitted to Earth for reception at K14 Observatory in the Himalayas at 3 a.m., local time. Since K14 is beyond the range of the Spectrum Angels, Cloudbase is moved into Himalayan airspace on its horizontal jets. Captains Scarlet and Blue have been dispatched to K14 to assist scientists Carter, Breck and Angelini. From the astronomers' perspective, Mini-Sat 5 was able to touch down on Phobos thanks to the "shadow of fear": "phobos", the name of an attendant of Mars in Greek mythology, means "fear" in Greek, and the probe avoided detection by the Mysterons by approaching the moon from behind.
That night, a few hours before reception, Breck is observing Mars through a telescope when the planet begins to flash brightly. Overcome by the dazzling light, he is killed and duplicated by the Mysterons. Knowing that K14's aerial will have to be retuned to receive the images from Mini-Sat 5, his reconstruction fixes an explosive device to the rotation gear — set to detonate when caught in the machinery — and then hides among the rocks above K14. With the aid of a Spectrum helicopter piloted by Melody Angel and Captain Grey, Scarlet and Blue locate and confront the reconstruction minutes before 3 a.m. Firing on the officers, the duplicate is killed by Scarlet, but not before revealing its act of sabotage. Before Scarlet and Blue can warn Carter and Angelini, the astronomers rotate the aerial and the bomb detonates, causing the structure to crash down onto the K14 observatory. However, although Carter and Angelini are dead, and Earth has missed the reception of the images, Colonel White insists that the setback does not mark the end of Operation Sword. | murder | train | wikipedia | "Shadow of Fear" draws upon the elements of suspense from the famous genre of film noir.
All three films focus on a secret male society that goes outside the law to protect the interests and advance the agendas of its members.
I admired director Rich Cowan's camera angles and stylish cinematography in "Shadow of Fear." There was also good suspense sustained in the mysteries activities of the secret club.At the heart of the action is the character of Harrison French, admirably played by Matthew Davis.
He is subsequently manipulated by the ringleader of the secret brotherhood, performed with great relish by James Spader.
The cast is rounded out with veteran actors Peter Coyote and Aidan Quinn, along with good support from Robin Tunney, Alice Krige, and Lacey Chabert.Beyond the effective and suspenseful plot, I was especially intrigued by the consistently morose and clinically depressed cast of characters.
Despite the great affluence portrayed in the film, the main characters all suffered from guilt for their past conduct and by the obsession of keeping their skeletons in the closet, through assistance of Spader's oily attorney, William Ashbury.
It is especially revealing when throughout the film, the protagonist Harrison is chomping on prescription antidepressant medication in order to cope with even the slightest setback.In "The Brotherhood of the Bell" and "The Star Chamber," the secret society went outside the lines of society's ethics in the pursuit of such concepts as "truth" and "justice." By contrast, in "Shadow of Fear," there were no redeeming ideals as the members of the society sought only to cover up one another's past transgressions.
The only thing that attracted us to watch it was the presence of James Spader, Peter Coyote and Aidan Quinn, perhaps the best known actors in the cast.
First of all, the screen play is vague in explaining what we are watching.The opening sequence shows us Harrison sitting near the table where his father-in-law and his cronies, presided by the creepy William Ashbury are discussing things that probably Harrison can hear, yet, he is not invited to participate in the discussion.
No, instead Harrison disposes the body not too far from the road, a move that will carry terrible consequences for this young man.This being said, sounds like the premise of a good mystery film, but instead, the writers have complicated the story in such a way, that at times, one wonders with incredulity all the twists and turns in a plot that doesn't ultimately prove anything at all.
By not making clear the activities of the group, we start losing interest in the film, and nothing that is done later on to explain why everything happened makes sense.James Spader doesn't add anything to his otherwise excellent career in the movies.
Ditto for Peter Coyote, Aidan Quinn, and the rest of the cast.
Matthew Davis who is at the center of the story appears to be miscast for the role of Harrison.
***SPOILERS*** Convaluted suspense drama that gets more and more confusing as it goes along with a conclusion that had to be inserted in since it makes no real sense at all to what you saw up until then.
Being a member of this secret society headed by reclusive and weird high-power attorney William Ashbury, James Spader, young Harrison France, Matthew Davis, learns right away what is needed for him to belong to that secretive group; Ashbury having the goods on you and using them to make you do whatever he want's you to do.
Having trouble paying off the mortgage and also having a big real-estate deal fall through Harrison is up sh*t's creek with him too embarrassed to ask his father-in-law Congressman Henderson (Peter Coyote), also a member of this secret society, for help.
Driving home in a rain storm Harrison hit's this stranger on a lonely country road and finds out that he killed him.Panic-stricken Harrison pulls the dead body off the deserted road and hides it in the brush as he drives home feeling that whatever happened is between him and his conscience and no one else; until the next morning when he sees the news.
A bank robbery took place the day before and two men got away with $200,000.00 but the bank security camera video taped one of the robbers who was dressed,in a black hood and leather jacket, a lot like the person that he ran over the previous evening.
Realizing that he must have run down one of the the robbers of the bank Harrison goes back to the underbrush where he hid the strangers body and finds a sack with the stolen $200,000.00 in it.
Burying the robbers clothes on his property it's later dug up by his dog Shane, William Shakesbear, which alerts Harrison's wife Wynn, Robin Tunney, in thinking that it somehow has to do with the bank robbery!
It's now when the story takes a very strange turn when it's discovered that the person that Harrison killed is, after DNA tests proved it beyond a doubt, non-other then Chris Henderson Harrison's brother-in-law a local town junkie and petty criminal.
It's then when things starts to get bizarre for Harrison with Ashbury coming to his aid to help even though he never told him anything about his accident.
Harrison took the $200,000.00 and put it in a bus station locker but Ashbury had him photographed doing it where he could use the photos to blackmail him.
Picked up by the police, who Ashbury obviously tipped off, poor Harrison is interrogated by Det. Schfield, Aidan Quinn.
Just when it looked like he was going to crack and confess for Chris' death or murder as well as the armed robbery of the bank Schfield's boss chief Webb, John Grant Philips, comes into the interrogation room and tells Harrison that he can go free.
There Ashbury again came to Harrison's rescue by getting this pasty Patrick Treadway a homeless drunk and drifter to go to the bus locker and take out the money, or half of it,out and have him photographed!
Showing that Harrison had nothing to do with the bank robbery or Chris' death!
Now if you think that the movie was strange up until then it gets even stranger when Harrison later being at a social gathering, with his wife and father-in-law, goes up to Ashbury's suite in the hotel where the gathering was taking place.
there he finds that Chris Henderson, whom he though he killed in a road accident and hid his body, is really alive and staying with Ashbury in his hotel room!
The film completely falls apart after that in trying to make Harrison French into some kind of avenger and have him concoct this unbelievable plan to turn the tables on the conniving Ashbury and have him face the music that he forced him and all the other members of his weird society to face all these years.
The ending taking place on the same road, and even in a likewise rain storm, where all the troubles for Harrison began in the movie is so outrageous that you wonder if "Shadow of Fear" wasn't really meant to be a comedy instead of a suspense drama and that the real story got lost during the final rushes and editing of the film..
So when they showed the film again four days later I began to see it again and found it intolerable after 30 minutes.I don't know just what the screenwriter was thinking.
Well, James Spader as an actor is always nice to watch and here's no exception.
Really, I expected the film not very good, but I didn't know I won't get the story at all..
poor plot+average acting= poor movie.
a movie about a secret society of men who are made to pay too high a price to redeem themselves of their sins.
The movie focuses around main actor Harrisson French who is made to believe that he ran over his brother -in -law by the leader of this secret society, William Ashbury and the only way he is to keep from getting busted by the cops is to provide favours for Ashbury.
This past Sunday evening while waiting for SIX FEET UNDER to start, & having nothing better to do & being a JAMES SPADER fan I watched this.This is a very confusing film, hard to understand for a few reasons.
Many times the actors spoke so low I doubt that the actors they were speaking to heard them.Matt Davis, a newcomer(very good looking) is the lead performer, SORRY TO SAY HE NEEDDS ACTING LESSONS.
James Spader, Peter Coyote & Aiden Quinn all accomplished actors in other movies do not shine here.All the actresses seem to walk through there roles.At 88 minutes it is very long.
I liked this movie.
I suppose it was a lame plot with lame actors (average B movie), but I liked it.
James Spader plays his usual sleaze-ball rich guy and as usual, he does so quite well.
I have to admit I was a bit confused the first time through as to the exact purpose of the Tuesday meetings--things became clearer as the movie progressed.
I'm surprised this movie has got such a high rating.
After that the movie falls apart little by little, until it becomes so borderline non-sensible that I just had to turn it off.
It is not a matter of "plot twists" as some viewer suggested.
I see an alarming trend in the new DVD-market where many movies are put out quicker and easier to DVD than it was possible in the good old video days.
Anyway, "Shadow of Fear" is not a horror-movie.
If it had only lasted until he got back to his wife, and she then turned into a demon or something; then it would have been a good "Twilight Zone"-episode but when a movie-plot collapses like that in one superfluous scene after the other then it becomes irrelevant to watch.
It sounded promising but in the movie this organisation seems completely devoid of power, so what's the point?.
Spader is lost and tries to find confort by looking into his box of tricks but they don't fit since the story is going south.
The concept of the secret society created by demonic William Ashbury is quite entertaining and relationship between main character and his father-in-law is somewhat original.
The main character is rather dull and Matthew Davis isn't the best actor for the part.
Davis looked almost like a lazy drag who didn't remove the make-up after the show was over..
Spader is the Best thing about this movie!.
I mostly liked this movie for James Spader's terrific performance as an enigmatic and powerful lawyer.
The girls have hardly anything to do in the movie sadly.The story is different and manages to keep the viewers engaged, though the end seemed a bit implausible.
If only the screen play had been a bit tighter and someone better had been cast in Harrison's role, it wld have worked even better.
Still, I wld say the movie is worth the watch for Spader's work.
Now some movies have been known to be boring and Shadow of Fear is nothing different.And this is no movie for a fan to watch.Shadow of Fear try is a boring movie.There's no point so trying to figure out the story is a pain.Also the movie can't be worth anything.The movie limits the enjoyment of the movie, so the movie itself becomes rather boring, rather fast.The acting in the movie is just simple awful it's not even funny.Don't get me wrong, I like the cast of the movie.The music is not all that great.Shadow of Fear is a failure.If you really want a great movie, try something else, this movie has nothing that makes it worth watching.I give Shadow of Fear 4 out of 10.AVOID AT ALL COST.
"Shadow of Fear" has some pretty good production values for a low budget direct to DVD movie.
Unfortunately, it's hard to build any enthusiasm for the rest of the movie.
The story elements and the characters are often so murky that it's hard to understand what is going on at times.
Some elements are (eventually) explained, but much of the movie remains confusing.
You'd be better off waiting for a director's cut instead of watching the movie as it is right now..
Harrison French(Matt Davis)is a young businessman who's career is headed for the crapper.
On the way home from a gathering he accidentally runs over and kills his own brother-in-law on a rainy highway.
The man to help cover up this crime is a smart and powerful attorney William Ashbury(James Spader), who is the leader of an underground society of other men of notoriety trapped in a web of fear and blackmail.
But sometimes a new future is able to slip away from the shadow of fear.Intense and gripping with a well thought out finale.
In the supporting cast: Peter Coyote, Robin Tunney, Aidan Quinn and Lacey Chabert.
A good movie with a nice twist.
I found the movie a lot more interesting than the trailer was.The trailer looked a bit boring and I figured it would be a simple movie.It was anything but simple.It was very well acted and a bit complicated to figure out at first.It may not be for everyone and not completely original but I personally found it enjoyable and got wrapped up in the plot and couldn't wait to see what would happen or unfold next.Right from the start of the movie after a guy was hit by a car on a rainy night and the driver didn't know what to do about the body I was interested in what would happen to him.Good performance's by all the actors.I thought James Spader's character was the most complicated but fun.You couldn't tell if he was a good guy or bad guy.The movie was anything but boring and I liked how all the characters in the movie were connected to each other in some way or another..
If you had James Spader, Aidan Quinn and Peter Coyote in your cast, would you make Matt Davis the star of your film?
How is a young actor virtually no one has ever heard of like Davis supposed to avoid getting blown off the screen every time he's in a scene with one of those veteran performers?
These filmmakers had the money/connections/Columbian nose candy to get Spader, Quinn and Coyote in their motion picture, but then the best they could get for the most important role in the whole shebang is Matt Davis?
Shadow Of Fear certainly has other problems, but this thing never had a chance to be any good due to such an inexplicable imbalance in experience and star power.Harrison French (Matt Davis) is a young businessman who just lost a big deal.
One, it turns out the guy Harrison killed robbed a bank that very morning.
Two, it seems the guy was also the brother of Harrison's erratic wife (Robin Tunney).
Desperate for help, Harrison turns to the enigmatic William Ashbury (James Spader), who promises to help Harrison avoid the dogged pursuit of Detective Scofield (Aidan Quinn).
Throw in the disapproving father of Harrison's wife (Peter Coyote) and a sister-in-law (Lacey Chabert) who wants to jump Harrison's bones, and that's Shadow Of Fear.I can't say Matt Davis does an awful job in this movie because Harrison French is such a worthless character that all but the best would be hamstrung in their performance.
And he's the HERO of this affair.The only interesting thing about Shadow Of Fear is William Ashbury, both because Spader is always interesting and because the character is like the Star Trek Mirror Universe version of the hero of a Stephen J.
Ashbury assists rich and powerful men in covering up their misdeeds, then punishes them by making their repeat their sins over and over until they're sick of them.
Why he does it all and to what end is never explained or even hinted at, but there's something intriguing about a character who could very easily be a good guy instead made out to be a villain.
It's also amusing to see how incredulous Ashbury is at the end to be taken down by such a nonentity as Harrison, largely because it comes off equally as Spader's incredulousness at how his talent has gone to waste in this turkey.If Robin Tunney and Lacey Chabert had gotten naked and Davis had been replaced by someone capable of standing up to his older co-stars, Shadow Of Fear might have made an implausible but tolerable pot boiler.
I give this a 3 out of ten, and that's only because cuties Quinn, Spader, and Coyote (in that order) were in it.
Aidan Quinn gave the best performance, living up to his sensual, commanding presence as a cunning detective.
He is as handsome as handsome gets and was quite frankly the only reason I kept watching the movie until it ended (the end being reminiscent of a "Ya seen one, ya seen 'em all: SuperHero Saves the Day" moment).
I suspect he had no clue the final cut of the movie would render such a poor product, much less that it threatened to weaken his very reputation as a reputable actor!
Spader gave likely the worst performance I've ever seen him yield--with virtually no emotion and even less vocabulary employed throughout.
The movie was played out like everyone was rehearsing the script for the first time in an audition and someone just happened to have a videocam nearby and decided to kill some time.
(Or were they all just really hard up for some cash that month?) The only thing missing was Spader's tights, cape, and evil mask as some cartoonish villain and hearing everyone that passed him cry, "Heil Ashbury!" The movie is a blight to them all.
first it was an interesting movie I saw it on TV late at night.
so far that is what I have seen and only half way thru the movie. |
tt0039160 | The Arnelo Affair | A lawyer's wife, Anne Parkson(Frances Gifford) is bored and neglected. She begins meeting with one of her husbands clients, a nightclub owner Tony Arnelo (John Hodiak) for interior design work. One afternoon she arrives at Tony's and soon after Tony's girlfriend shows up. The girlfriend is upset by Anne being there and starts making a fuss. Tony arrives, hits the girlfriend, and Anne Parkson runs out. Soon after police find Anne's unique compact near the body of Arnelo's murdered girlfriend. Tony planted the compact in a clever plot, Anne finds herself blackmailed and implicated in murder. Tony is in love with Anne and attempts to force her into leaving her husband. A homicide detective soon figures out the facts and confronts Tony. When Tony is made to realize that his lies and blackmail will destroy innocent Anne's place in society, he commits "suicide by cop" attempting to escape the detective's custody. | murder | train | wikipedia | More romantic weeper than noir, Arnelo Affair bulges with lost opportunities.
In The Arnelo Affair, the letter `A' keeps cropping up again and again - as a monogram on a dressing gown, a compact, a key.
Ostensibly it signifies one of the two main characters: Tony Arnelo (John Hodiak ), a predatory nightclub owner, or Ann Parkson (Frances Gifford), wife of Arnelo's square-rigger of an attorney (George Murphy).
But really the `A' serves to remind us that the story is chiefly about the Scarlet Letter of Adultery - the Affair of the title.The movie's sinister, noirish elements are not quite an afterthought, but almost.
During the first half of the movie, ignored and restive, Gifford sulks nobly in the household she shares with Murphy, forever working late on his legal briefs, and her nine-year-old son (Dean Stockwell) who thinks he could benefit from psychoanalysis.
(She, however, may be a riper candidate for the couch, given as she is to swoons and passive-aggressive feigned headaches.)When smooth-talking Hodiak flatters her and hires her as decorator, she obliges and soon finds herself with the key to his apartment and an inclination to use it for naughtier purposes than updating the chintz.
But she soon finds out that Hodiak has many another slip in which to dock his dinghy; and when one of his stable of lady friends is found murdered, Gifford's initialed compact is found with the body.
With the prompting of police detective Warner Anderson, Murphy is jolted out of his complacency and sets out to find the truth....Like The Unfaithful of the same year (a sweetened-up remake of The Letter), The Arnelo Affair seems geared to the women in its audience, more a weeper than a noir.
Even the redoubtable Eve Arden, as a dress-designing upstairs neighbor, gets paraded out as much for her eye-popping post-war get-ups as for her trademark mordant lines (and she's a welcome foil to all Gifford's suffering saintliness).
The Arnelo Affair holds interest, if slackly; its director, Arch Oboler, hadn't much of a feel for the possibilities inherent in the script or the knack for bringing them out.
It's telling that the most memorable characters in the movie are not the principals but Anderson, Arden and the nine-year-old Stockwell..
I have just caught this Movie on TCM, and can understand why George Murphy went into Politics if this was the best MGM could serve up to him.
It is so slow-moving that the attempt to make it a real film-noir effort does not come off.
It featured two of my favouriteplayers in Eve Arden (completely wasted) and Dean Stockwell(the best actor in the Film), but what really hit me was that the leading lady Frances Gifford went through some 90 minutes (it seemed longer!) without changing the expression on her face--her fainting scene was comical.
John Hodiak played his role OK, but the script let him, and the rest of the cast, down very badly.
The Arnelo Affair has John Hodiak in the title role of a nightclub owner with tax troubles getting an affair going with his lawyer's wife Frances Gifford.Frances is a woman with an itch and Hodiak is quite willing to scratch it.
Later on when Woodbury is murdered Hodiak is on the short list of Detective Warner Anderson suspects, but so is Gifford.This film is a great example of the Code strangling the creativity of film making.
George Murphy played Gifford's husband and his is a strangely underwritten role.
If I were doing the film and being that Hodiak is having tax troubles, when Murphy does find out there are hundreds of creative ways he could have done Hodiak good and proper.Eve Arden is in the film in an Eve Arden part.
That too should have been brought out more.The Arnelo Affair if someone decides to remake it has lots of room for improvement..
This movie is unsuccessful as a noir, a crime drama -- as anything, really.John Hodiak is always compelling, though he isn't a convincing villain here.
George Murphy is barely adequate.Frances Gifford -- whose bio I just read here, and who had a tragic life -- is very beautiful but directed to act as if in a coma.Even Eve Arden's quips fall uneasily flat in this context.The best performance is given by Dean Stockwell, as the strangely troubled child Murphy and Gifford profess to adore but who seems to be ignored by his father and to have an extreme affection for his mother..
George Murphy is one of those "leading men" that cause you to scratch your head and figure it must have been who was available at the time after better choices were not.John Hodiak is contemptible, as was his usual film persona.
Our heroine is repulsed, but drawn to him; again, the frustrating element that sadly made up the story.
Why didn't this dame get her focus off herself, get actively involved in her child's life, school, friends, volunteer work, learn to make potholders - anything to get herself off the severely underemployed roster.But, that's the way of this type of story, and once bit, you have to endure to the cure.
Okay crime drama is helped by the competence of the film makers but hindered by the flat performance of one of the leads.The actual story of a bored housewife seemingly framed for murder by a cad certainly isn't fresh but Frances Gifford is properly anguished in the lead.
MGM was giving her the big push at this time but almost immediately after this was completed she was involved in a major car accident in which she sustained severe injuries which effectively ending her career and causing her mental problems for the remainder of her days.
Hodiak is also quite good as the rotten Arnelo of the title who manages to shade his rather contemptible character with a bit of conflict.
The divine Eve Arden is also in the cast proving once again she's the best friend a leading lady ever had.
In addition to being a bright spot she looks sensational in one glamorous outfit after another.Where the film suffers is in the role of the husband portrayed by George Murphy.
He could not possibly have played the role more flatly if he actually tried.
Though a remake of EVELYN PRENTICE, THE ARNELO AFFAIR is a perfect example of post-war films meant to reinforce the notion that a woman should be happy at home.
For one thing, John Hodiak gives a good performance as the bad guy.
As for the troubled wife character.
Frances Gifford helps us get a sense of the woman's internal state.
When she reads her son's thoughts about her and breaks down, that's probably the emotional highlight of the film.
Meanwhile, Eve Arden's character puts a bit of a satiric spin on the proceedings, helping it not to become too overwrought and to stay light in the right places.
Ultimately, it's another spin on the old infidelity story, combining the gangster genre with the woman's melodrama..
Frances Gifford gets mixed up in "The Arnelo Affair," a 1947 film also starring George Murphy, John Hodiak, Eve Arden and Dean Stockwell.
In fact, the film was on TCM as part of Dean Stockwell's birthday.
He certainly was an adorable little boy.Gifford plays Anne Parkson, the neglected wife of a successful attorney, Ted Parkson (Murphy).
One night, Ted brings home a shady client, Tony Arnelo (Hodiak), who owns a nightclub.
Arnelo has an immediate attraction to Anne and, upon learning that she has dabbled in room design, he invites her to decorate his club.
Though Anne hasn't yet said "yes," he gives her a key to his place after their first meeting and invites her back the next day at 2.
Tony slaps the woman and the frightened Anne runs away, the compact that her husband gave her falling out of her purse.
In exchange for the compact and a letter he later steals, Tony wants Anne.This is a good-looking film, with beautifully tailored mens suits on Hodiak and Murphy and smashing clothes for Gifford and Eve Arden, who owns her own dress shop.
The dialogue is totally predictable - when Anne asks her husband to go away with her, the words were out of my mouth 30 seconds before she said the line.
The attractive Gifford is a bore and gives no shading to her role at all.
Murphy has a pleasant way about him and Hodiak is okay, but frankly, Dean Stockwell as Anne's son steals that show.
Eve Arden is good but wasted.The music is overpowering, and the pacing is slow.
"The Arnelo Affair" needed a strong actress in the lead, better dialogue and faster pacing.
Bland performance by Frances Gifford in key role ruins the impact....
FRANCES GIFFORD had one of the best roles of her career as the troubled wife of lawyer GEORGE MURPHY in THE ARNELO AFFAIR, but the director fails to get more than worried looks and a coma-like expression that she wears most of the time--while looking very beautiful.
Facially, she bears a strong resemblance here to Donna Reed.She's a woman who feels neglected by her busy husband and falls prey to the flattery of a womanizing man (JOHN HODIAK) who later kills a woman and sets up Gifford as the murderess.
Only through the keen detective work of a doggedly determined officer (WARNER ANDERSON) and the gradual realization of her husband that she's been seeing Hodiak, do the deceptive Hodiak's schemes fall apart as clues are unraveled.
EVE ARDEN, as a dress designer friend of the heroine, has her usual quips but none of them are particularly inventive.It's strictly a B-film that has all the MGM gloss but falters because of a weak script and a poorly directed actress in the leading role.
Miss Gifford gives a bland performance in a role that calls for more than close-ups of a fixed expression.Hodiak is fine as the cunning predator and nine year old DEAN STOCKWELL is lively as Gifford's loving son.
GEORGE MURPHY is unable to do much with the role of the neglectful husband, a thankless role that he plays in stolid style..
pretty classic film noir.
The story of a woman (Frances Gifford) whose marriage to a successful attorney (George Murphy) leaves her feeling under-appreciated.
When she catches the eye of a client who owns an upscale night club (John Hodiak) and, as a means of getting to know her on more intimate terms, offers her a job to redo the interior decorating on his apartment, she eventually accepts, seemingly knowing what this would lead to.
Married with a cute son (Dean Stockwell), she realizes she has everything to lose in the Arnelo Affair, especially when Tony Arnelo turns out to be a womanizer who is not above knocking off an interfering ex-lover, the evidence of which points to Gifford, thus adding considerably to her already heightened sense of anxiety, which seems to put her in a state of semi-shock.
The affair goes on within her social circle which is captured in a great scene in Arnelo's night club after the murder, with Eve Arden, who is Gifford's friend, noticing something going on between Arnelo and Gifford.
Murphy is pretty good as Gifford's husband who realizes she went astray due to his lack of attention.
Gifford is worth seeing for her part as she gives in to her desire for Arnelo all the while racked with doubt and guilt and then fear of losing everything dear to her over doing so.
And Hodiak turns in a great role as Arnelo, with exceeding smoothness and subtlety..
Just one the most confused crime stories ever to reach a movie screen before the advent of Quentin Tarantino.
A lovely "ordinary" housewife (Frances Gifford) - who also dresses like Greta Garbo's understudy - finds herself fatally attracted to a fiery-eyed Italian greaseball (John Hodiak) who owns a nightclub.
Her husband is a nice, reliable, hunk of manhood, that any woman (of that time) would have given her eyeteeth to bed (George Murphy).
Her adorably precocious, pretty and curly-haired nine year old son who has recurring nightmares about chocolate (!) and whose psychological problems provide comic relief (!!) is played by Dean Stockwell.
She has a devoted Black maid and her best spinster friend is an amusing wisecracking clotheshorse in eye-popping outfits (played by Eve Arden) who can sniff out "man trouble" a mile away.So what's wrong with this picture?
It's basically a Harlequin-type women's novel (also known as women's porn) that would like to pretend it's also a murder mystery film noir and witty enough to be an Oscar Wilde adaptation by Joseph L.
The heroine is not guilty of adultery, just of having flirted with the idea of having a life, a career and aspirations to happiness of her own, outside the domination of her boring, all-knowing husband and the prevalent "feminine mystique" which defines her persona, while also lusting for the exoticism of a fling with pencil-mustachioed impudent male Latino flesh.
The powder compact she leaves behind at the scene of the crime actually shows more signs of life and expression than she ever does.
The Tony Arnelo character is really guilty of being a dirty no-good wop from the wrong side of the tracks in spite of his stated (uppity) obsession for beauty and his highly suspicious fixation on his mother.
And what about the Dean Stockwell character's equally ambiguous attraction to his own mother?
The gangster's girlfriend is an actress (i.e. another transgressive working female, a.k.a. a whore, which is the only alternative to being a "mother" and a "dried-up old maid" in this universe) who deserves to die and whose only excuse for living is making trouble for everybody else.
This is also the film that put a definitive end to Eve Arden's career as a serious character actress playing funny women and turned her into a prop and the role model for drag queens everywhere, i.e. a frustrated old maid milliner whose financial independence allows her to indulge in extravagant dress, barely controlled nymphomania, tough-girl mannerisms bordering on lesbianism and unfunny deadpan cracks that simply overstay their welcome for lack of substance and meaning, double, single or otherwise.The men walk like they are afraid to dent or crease the architecturally daunting square-shouldered suits they are expected to macho-posture in and the women are made breathless and dizzy from the repression three-way girdles exercise on their vital organs and cute hats on their brains.
By the time the Frances Gifford character turns off that horrifically elaborate chrome and lucite monstrosity of a lamp at her bedside, you really wish to God the sleeping pills will take effect and this nightmare will end, even though she has sleep-walked in a near-comatose state all through the film..
"The Arnelo Affair" is like a pig wearing a Chanel dress.
So, while the movie looks nice since it was made by the top studio of the day, at its heart the film is unappealing.Mr. and Mrs. Parkson (George Murphy and Frances Gifford) appear to be a happy and successful couple.
After all, he's a lawyer, they have a cute son (Dean Stockwell) and have a lot going for them...except Mr. Parkson is about as romantic as a punch in the kidneys!
Considering how much he neglects his wife, it's not surprising that Anne would be drawn to Tony Arnelo (John Hodiak)...a suave thug who runs a swank nightclub.
On the pretense of going to his apartment to give him decorating ideas, Anne goes alone to Arnelo's...and he tries to woo her.
She never says yes, she never says no...and seems like a bit of a milquetoast, actually.
Later, she comes to his apartment again and witnesses him slapping around an actress...and Anne stomps off due to his boorish behavior.The next day, the newspaper says that the same actress was found dead...and Anne is pretty sure Arnelo did it.
EVERYTHING she does from her on in the film makes zero sense and made me question whether or not the character was supposed to be suffering from a head injury or a case of indigestion.
Regardless, Frances Gifford delivers a confusing mess of a character--some, no doubt, due to bad writing.
And, by this point, the film completely lost me.
Bad dialog, confusing and irrational characters and a script that seems like it never even went through re-writes or revisions make this a very difficult film to finish.
I don't know who's to blame for Gifford's unrelieved stony face, but it's like she and Hodiak are having a dour-off to see who can be more expressionless.
Even the usually affable Murphy gets little chance to beguile.
The premise is pretty standard crime fare—a neglected wife (Gifford) is drawn from her comfortable shell by a handsome shady character (Hodiak).
Since the wife's also a mother, she struggles with the temptation, but is constantly reminded how neglected she is by her lawyer husband (Murphy).
Soon a murder connected to Hodiak occurs.
Now a potential scandal hangs over the luckless Gifford's and her attempt break with the heartless Hodiak.Writer-director Oboler was an interesting talent.
Thanks to that airbrushed studio, we can't even be sure there was an actual affair between the wife and the practiced seducer.
That way, the wayward wife doesn't have to be punished more than she is, and audiences could go home feeling good.
That way, Oboler might have been drawn in a noirish direction, which the material richly deserves.
Anyway, only the presence of sassy cynic Eve Arden and canny kid Dean Stockwell lend the film any spark.
I especially like that scene with dad Murphy and son Stockwell fixing the broken stool.
And a good example of Oboler at his worst is Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer's "The Arnelo Affair" (1947).
You don't need to actually view the movie.
Aside from Eve Arden (admittedly she has the best of the wordy screenplay), the acting, led by frozen-faced Frances Gifford and stiff-as-a-dummy George Murphy, is almost as bad as the over-lit sets and the incredibly store-windows wardrobe. |
tt0089789 | The Peanut Butter Solution | Michael Baskin is an average 11-year-old boy. His father, Billy Baskin, is a struggling artist and temporary sole caregiver of the children while his wife attends to the needs of her recently deceased father in Australia. Upon hearing the news that an abandoned mansion has recently burned down, Michael and his friend Connie decide to explore the remains. Outside the mansion, Connie dares Michael to take a look inside, leading to a frightening encounter with the ghosts of its homeless inhabitants who had died in the fire. Michael does not know this yet, but his fearsome run in with the ghosts has given him a mysterious illness simply known as "The Fright". Michael wakes up the next morning to find out that "The Fright" has made him lose all of his hair. After a failed attempt with a wig (his wig was pulled off by an older boy during a fight in a soccer game), the ghosts visit Michael in his sleep and give him the recipe of a magical formula for hair growth, the main ingredient of which is peanut butter. Michael's first attempt to make the formula is thwarted when his father and sister think he is making something to ingest (rather than use topically) and dispose of it.
The ghosts return the following night, giving themselves a second chance to pay him back for giving his money to some homeless people, and also give Michael special instruction not to add too much peanut butter, as it will end in dreadful results. Michael successfully makes the formula this time, but ignores their instructions not to overdo the peanut butter, and wakes up the next morning to find that his new hair has already begun to grow. After only a few minutes, Michael has grown a full head of hair. Suspicious of his fast growing follicles, Connie confronts Michael about his unusual ability. When Michael reveals to him his concoction, Connie decides to apply some to his pubic area, in an attempt to create the illusion that he's going through puberty. Connie soon discovers that the joke is on him. Pretty soon, Michael and Connie's hair grows to such lengths that it has become a nuisance for the school and their classmates, resulting in their suspensions. While Michael frantically searches for a solution, Connie discovers that the hair will stop growing by yelling at it.
The art teacher at Michael's school, simply called the Signor, frightens children and forbids them from using their imagination. After getting fired from the school, the Signor finds out about Michael's condition and kidnaps him (and many other neighborhood children) to make magic paint brushes from Michael's ever-growing hair, in which he subdues Michael with a knockout drug. The kidnapped children are put to work under tough conditions. "We have to make 500 brushes a day, or we don't eat!" The paintbrushes are so powerful that they paint whatever their user imagines without need for detail or neatness. Connie and Michael's sister, Susan, discover the Signor's magical paintbrush factory and try to rescue Michael. Connie tries to use force, but he is overpowered by Signor and his dog James. Instead, Connie tricks the Signor into painting a picture of the abandoned mansion. Connie then dares him to investigate inside, leading "The Fright" to be passed on from Michael to the Signor. The Signor, now bald, escapes from the haunted house and chases the children, locking them up. Just as Connie is about to escape with Michael, Susan and their dad find the factory and the Signor is arrested by the local police. The film ends with the family reunited as the mother has returned home, and Michael's hair has stopped growing out of control. | absurd, cult, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | There's peanut butter mixed with flies and other gross stuff, super fast-growing hair, paintings that come to life, a sugar trail being washed away, and other random images.
I wonder if this movie was actually inspired by a dream, or by someone picking random words out of a dictionary maybe?Anyway, I loved it and longed to be able to paint a picture that I could walk into.
I too, saw this movie when I was very young(seven), and I remember getting quite scared by it.
The funny thing is that at seven years old, I was very much into action/sci fi movies, and I had just recently watched my first Horror movie, A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, which I thought was great.
The only other Horror movie I had seen at the time was 'The Gate', which I thought was kind of creepy.
One day after walking through the video store, I came across 'The Peanut Butter Solution', and it looked so strange, that I decided to rent it.
It's not a good movie by any means, but it's definitely worth viewing, especially if you want to see something weird and creepy..
It seems almost all the posts people have on this movie are memories of watching it as a child, and then having vague memories of bits and pieces as an adult...I must say, I'm not much different in this matter either.
I do remember getting nightmares from it (like most people), not that this is particularly a scary movie by today's standards, but to a child it definitely puts a psychological fear that stays with you.
I think perhaps it wasn't marketed correctly back in the 80's because while it seems like a childs movie, I wouldn't recommend it to young children.
I would bet that there are probably even people today who have been scarred from watching this as a very young child...So, if you come across it, it's worth checking out.
I ve been working in videos stores for 5yrs now and every time someone new comes and works in the video store I always ask have you ever seen a movie where this kid loses his hair and uses this stuff with peanut butter in it to make his hair grow.
I bought a VHS copy from Amazon and just watched it with my 6yr old son but I don't think it scared him as much as it did to the kids in the 80s.
It was everything I remembered but I had forgotten all about the ending with the magic paintings which now looks like the moving pictures you can buy in the mall.
Whenever I reminisce about old 80s movies, this one always comes to mind, yet NO ONE else has ever seen it or remembers it.
My favorite part is when that one kid puts the peanut butter solution on his crotch and the hair grows out his pants.
The acting isn't award winning, and the special effects certainly wouldn't stand up to today's standards, however this film does have a unique premise and the dialog rarely comes off as childish, this isn't really a childs movie and I feel it was mis-marketted as one.
If you enjoyed this film I also recommend watching The Dog that Stopped the War (1984) a great film put out by La Fete immediately before the Peanut Butter Solution.
There's nothing better than human hair paint brushes and peanut butter mixed together to make a picture come alive.
My favorite part of the film is when the boys hair was growing through out the house, and the man was cutting it off to turn the hair into paint brushes.
i loved the peanut butter solution so much that i went to see it twice in the cinema when i was about 7 or 8 years old.
strangely, my sister cannot remember a single thing about it or ever even going to see it although she went with me both times, and until i decided to look it up here i had never heard of or spoken to another person who had seen it.
as soon as i get the chance i am going to start scouring video stores to find a copy of this to rent and watch as an adult and show to my sister and friends.
I just was cleaning out our basement and came across our old betamax movie collection.Aahh memories....Anyways one of the movies was Peanut Butter Solution...it immediately brought back forgotten memories, but sadly, since we no longer own a beta machine, I cant watch it.Now, I haven't seen this movie since I was a (young) kid, but one thing I do remember about this movie was that it FREAKED ME THE HELL OUT!
I don't remember the complete story, except for the fact that the peanut butter stuff grew hair (sounds funny) but I don't remember laughing at all, I remember my sister loving this movie but I hated it cause it scared the hell out of me, and creeped me out big time, I really am looking forward to finding this somewhere and watching it now that I'm older....And although ET still freaks me out to the point of not being able to watch it, maybe this will be different..
To really get something out of the Peanut Butter Solution, you have to watch it in the right mindset.
You cannot watch this movie seriously, hoping to see a great film; you have to watch it knowing that it is so bad and so goofy in order to really enjoy it.
I watched this movie when I was really little all the time and somehow the title stuck with me.
I can't even count all of the hysterical scenes that are in this movie; ranging from Connies pubic hair hanging out from his pant leg like a horses main as he skips along the crosswalk to the inspirational speech Michael gives in school, "I want to be educated.
The acting was just as bad, it would have been funny if not so sad.Some of the story was sort of interesting, but this film isn't for kids.
The premise of the film is one thing, but the ghostly couple were/are still some of the creepiest people I've ever seen in a "kids" movie.
When I was little I remembered a movie about the characters spreading peanut butter on their head, but I couldn't remember why, I just remembered that it had stuck with me for about 15 years.
I could never remember the title to this movie, but like some movies you get a certain smell or sense when you watch it.
I was so infuriated with myself that I couldn't think of the title to this movie that I went to google and typed in Movie Peanut Butter on Head and it came back with "The Peanut Butter Solution." There is definitely something strange about this movie that has lurked me for over 15 years and I have no clue what it was.
It is so hilarious to see how many people remember little bits of this movie from seeing it as a child.
I must have been 6 or so when I saw it and for years I have been trying to figure out what movie it was that terrified me and involved hair loss/extreme growth, peanut butter and a haunted house.
Like many others, I have explained my odd memories of this movie to people and have been told I'm delusional.
I saw this movie years ago when I was a kid...was forced to see it twice.
And then the other day, I was looking through our old movies and then I saw "The Peanut Butter Solution" and I couldn't help but take it out and watch it.
It unfortunately did nothing, until I was about 13 then I saw the effect taking place...I really want that paint brush though, unfortunately you can't really jump into paintings either, for I tried and ruined every picture in the house.It made me also believe that bums were magical, and they could make weird concoctions that would grow hair and not beg for change.This is a great movie, but not to be taken literally, this was my first lesson in the difference between myth and reality..
However this movie may definitely be defined as "unique" its absolutely NOT meant for children and does not have any humor to it at all.I remember watching it as a child and being terribly frightened by this film-today as an adult I can still remember how scary this is-it has definitely left a mark on me and several other people i know who have watched this as a child.It is essentially about a young boy who goes into a haunted house and becomes unconscious because he was extremely frightened-he wakes up to find that he has lost all of his hair and will have to wear a wig-this causes him a lot of problems in school; because of these problems the ghosts who previously scared him, come back to give him a magic potion so that his hair will regrow-all this potion does is cause his hair to never stop growing-he is so humiliated he runs away and is kidnapped by an old man from his school who has kidnapped hundreds of children and exploits them for their hair/making paint brushes and magic pictures.I would be sure to sensor this before showing it to a child..
Like many others, I saw this movie when I was around 10 or so, which was 15 years ago.
I can't think of a darker film.I saw this as a child and have vividly horrible memories of the scene where he gets his wig yanked off in the soccer game.
It was my favorite movie and I would watch it whenever I got the chance.
Weird thing is around the age of ten I found a copy of the movie that I hadn't seen in years.
As I watched it again at the age of ten the movie I remember I loved so much (which still nobody I've ever known has heard of) scared the life outta me!
To this day I still think its the craziest movie ever, and sorta wished I wouldn't have watched it as a child.
Only thing different from others comments then mine is I watched this movie a ton as a child and remembered the name and everything just thought I would look it up on IMDb randomly, And I found a copy to see what I thought of it today.
Anyway if you hadn't seen this as a child you would definitely think this movie is beyond ridiculous but if you had seen it as a child its a great film to eerily reminisce over scared and alone (just kidding...
Agree entirely with what the other guy wrote, peanut butter solution is one of those movies that you watched when you're a kid and want to tell the world about it now but just can't quite get the title off the end of your tongue.
Truly a classic from the 80's!!!It's even still good enough to let your kids of today watch it..
IDK the title but i know it involved two kids (brother and sister) who were free falling and trapped in bubbles for such a long time that they end up just sitting there looking bored, waiting to hit the ground.
http://www.wizmovies.com/ Just look under the selection of titles they have and you will be able to find it there-- I believe it was uploaded off of an old either VHS/Or Beta copy lol as it shows the tape speed a couple times during the movie- Great quality though considering how old it is.
I remember dreaming about having paintings like this and always thought they should have maybe done some more with the idea of people going into them...Anyway...
I have asked so many people over the years if they have ever heard of "The Peanut Butter Solution" and I believe, after asking close to 75 people (...literally, by the way, because I had asked during a giant college group process and there were about 50 people in my group at least) I have gone through High School and am in college and, other than my sister and I, I have found two people who know what this movie is, one of which couldn't remember the title but knew when I described it.
i watched the peanut butter solution a looong time ago, and like most others, it scared the crap out of me.
the movie came out before i was born, but as a small child, the idea that there could be something so scary it could make your hair fall out terrified me.
i don't remember the acting or dialogue, only that the movie was amazing and i loved it, even if it did scare me...
The peanut butter solution was made of some nasty things too, i remember him cracking a raw egg over his head?
As I tried to explain the following to friends often, I would get a blank stare in response : "A kid goes into a house for some reason, i think he falls backwards, gets amnesia and loses his hair.
Anyway the young boy goes up into this old beaten down house & slides down a slide of some sort when he lands he has no hair!who remembers this part?
I haven't been able to locate a copy of this anywhere, I found that not many people have seen this movie but I would very much love to see this again so if anyone has any idea where I could get a copy that would be great:-).
I remember that this kid went into this haunted house, got so scared that his hair started falling out, and the Peanut Butter Solution he slathered all over his head to grow his hair back.
I saw this movie on TV when I was around 10 years old.
I could never remember much of it, just something about peanut butter and a boy whose hair grew really quickly and these people who kidnapped him and made paintbrushes out of his hair, but it seemed so freaky I thought maybe it was just a dream I'd had back then.
*twitch*I saw this movie when I was little and I remember having the most horrific nightmares.
It's funny...either I was the biggest TV head or I was forced to watch it, because of all the times I saw this movie, I don't remember once enjoying it.
I'm sorry, but..a kid goes to a haunted house...he gets so scared that the next day his hair starts to fall out..until he's completely bald!
If that's not bad enough, they introduce this "peanut butter solution" to the poor boy(which looks just like plain old peanut butter) and tell him this will grow his hair back...
The peanut butter solution is a good story for young and old alike.
It was a little slow at the start of the movie but it got better as the film went on.
I saw this movie when I was about eight and remember being terrified!
Just a warning to any eight year old who'd like to watch a movie about peanut butter: don't repress it.
Actually, this movie is so weird, it is worth watching.
All I can remember is that one kid puts the peanut butter on so he could grow pubic hair.
I never wanted to see this movie again, now I'm a little curious though, I'm not sure if I'll watch it again because that scene bothered me so much but I'm tempted to, just to see if it's as bad as I remember.
i don't even remember how old I was when I saw The Peanut Butter Solution, but its memory has stayed with me and recurred for at least 15-17 years.
this movie makes you realize quickly, even as a child, that life is so thoroughly bleak that you will even try putting peanut butter mixed with a bunch of gross crap all over your head to make it better..
"The Peanut Butter Solution" is a children's film from the 80's that aims for outlandish but settles for strange.
It works, but now the boy's hair won't stop growing and eventually leads to him being kicked out of school at which point he is promptly kidnapped by his former art teacher who uses the boy's hair to make paintbrushes in a secret sweatshop full of other kidnapped children.*taking a long sip from water bottle* A lot of the reviews on here are by people who saw this film as a child (like me) and have spent a considerable amount of time trying to track it down as adults (not like me).
I saw this movie so you don't have to, and if you're asking what you can do to make it up to me, please remember...I'm into cash.GRADE: C.
i don't remember if i enjoyed it or not, but rated peanut butter solution as 8 anyhow.
really i just remembered the long hair growing fast, a conveyor belt (?) loaded with long-haired kids, evil adults, and paint brushes.oh yeah, and peanut butter.more memories are jogged by these comments..
i love b-movies so i don't think i'll be disappointed either way, although i've seen the trailer and it doesn't look AT ALL how i remembered it.
"The Peanut Butter Solution" is not for children you love.
I remember being very frightened of this movie, but also fascinated at the same time.
I feel as though a investigation into this movie should be made.IF YOU WANT TO WATCH IT TO REMEMBER THESE HORRIBLE MEMORIES OF YOUR CHILDHOOD YOU CAN SEE IT ON GOOGLE VIDEO..
Here's what I recall: A kid gets scared in an old house by some ghosts and all of his hair falls out.Everyone makes fun of him ... |
tt0434541 | Macbeth | === Act I ===
The play opens amidst thunder and lightning, and the Three Witches decide that their next meeting shall be with Macbeth. In the following scene, a wounded sergeant reports to King Duncan of Scotland that his generals—Macbeth, who is the Thane of Glamis, and Banquo—have just defeated the allied forces of Norway and Ireland, who were led by the traitorous Macdonwald, the Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth, the King's kinsman, is praised for his bravery and fighting prowess.
In the following scene, Macbeth and Banquo discuss the weather and their victory. As they wander onto a heath, the Three Witches enter and greet them with prophecies. Though Banquo challenges them first, they address Macbeth, hailing him as "Thane of Glamis," "Thane of Cawdor," and that he shall "be King hereafter." Macbeth appears to be stunned to silence. When Banquo asks of his own fortunes, the witches respond paradoxically, saying that he will be less than Macbeth, yet happier, less successful, yet more. He will father a line of kings though he himself will not be one. While the two men wonder at these pronouncements, the witches vanish, and another thane, Ross, arrives and informs Macbeth of his newly bestowed title: Thane of Cawdor. The first prophecy is thus fulfilled, and Macbeth, previously skeptical, immediately begins to harbour ambitions of becoming king.
King Duncan welcomes and praises Macbeth and Banquo, and declares that he will spend the night at Macbeth's castle at Inverness; he also names his son Malcolm as his heir. Macbeth sends a message ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about the witches' prophecies. Lady Macbeth suffers none of her husband's uncertainty and wishes him to murder Duncan in order to obtain kingship. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she overrides all of her husband's objections by challenging his manhood and successfully persuades him to kill the king that very night. He and Lady Macbeth plan to get Duncan's two chamberlains drunk so that they will black out; the next morning they will blame the chamberlains for the murder. They will be defenseless as they will remember nothing.
=== Act II ===
While Duncan is asleep, Macbeth stabs him, despite his doubts and a number of supernatural portents, including a hallucination of a bloody dagger. He is so shaken that Lady Macbeth has to take charge. In accordance with her plan, she frames Duncan's sleeping servants for the murder by placing bloody daggers on them. Early the next morning, Lennox, a Scottish nobleman, and Macduff, the loyal Thane of Fife, arrive. A porter opens the gate and Macbeth leads them to the king's chamber, where Macduff discovers Duncan's body. Macbeth murders the guards to prevent them from professing their innocence, but claims he did so in a fit of anger over their misdeeds. Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and Ireland, respectively, fearing that whoever killed Duncan desires their demise as well. The rightful heirs' flight makes them suspects and Macbeth assumes the throne as the new King of Scotland as a kinsman of the dead king. Banquo reveals this to the audience, and while sceptical of the new King Macbeth, he remembers the witches' prophecy about how his own descendants would inherit the throne; this makes him suspicious of Macbeth.
=== Act III ===
Despite his success, Macbeth, also aware of this part of the prophecy, remains uneasy. Macbeth invites Banquo to a royal banquet, where he discovers that Banquo and his young son, Fleance, will be riding out that night. Fearing Banquo's suspicions, Macbeth arranges to have him murdered, by hiring two men to kill them, later sending a Third Murderer. The assassins succeed in killing Banquo, but Fleance escapes. Macbeth becomes furious: he fears that his power remains insecure as long as an heir of Banquo remains alive.
At a banquet, Macbeth invites his lords and Lady Macbeth to a night of drinking and merriment. Banquo's ghost enters and sits in Macbeth's place. Macbeth raves fearfully, startling his guests, as the ghost is only visible to himself. The others panic at the sight of Macbeth raging at an empty chair, until a desperate Lady Macbeth tells them that her husband is merely afflicted with a familiar and harmless malady. The ghost departs and returns once more, causing the same riotous anger and fear in Macbeth. This time, Lady Macbeth tells the lords to leave, and they do so.
=== Act IV ===
Macbeth, disturbed, visits the three witches once more and asks them to reveal the truth of their prophecies to him. To answer his questions, they summon horrible apparitions, each of which offers predictions and further prophecies to put Macbeth's fears at rest. First, they conjure an armoured head, which tells him to beware of Macduff (IV.i.72). Second, a bloody child tells him that no one born of a woman shall be able to harm him. Thirdly, a crowned child holding a tree states that Macbeth will be safe until Great Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and forests cannot move. Macbeth also asks if Banquo's sons will ever reign in Scotland: the witches conjure a procession of eight crowned kings, all similar in appearance to Banquo, and the last carrying a mirror that reflects even more kings. Macbeth realises that these are all Banquo's descendants having acquired kingship in numerous countries. After the witches perform a mad dance and leave, Lennox enters and tells Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England. Macbeth orders Macduff's castle be seized, and, most cruelly, sends murderers to slaughter Macduff, as well as Macduff's wife and children. Although Macduff is no longer in the castle, everyone in Macduff's castle is put to death, including Lady Macduff and their young son.
=== Act V ===
Meanwhile, Lady Macbeth becomes wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. At night, in the king's palace at Dunsinane, a doctor and a gentlewoman discuss Lady Macbeth's strange habit of sleepwalking. Suddenly, Lady Macbeth enters in a trance with a candle in her hand. Bemoaning the murders of Duncan, Lady Macduff, and Banquo, she tries to wash off imaginary bloodstains from her hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows she pressed her husband to do. She leaves, and the doctor and gentlewoman marvel at her descent into madness. Her belief that nothing can wash away the blood on her hands is an ironic reversal of her earlier claim to Macbeth that "[a] little water clears us of this deed" (II.ii.66).
In England, Macduff is informed by Ross that his "castle is surprised; [his] wife and babes / Savagely slaughter'd" (IV.iii.204–5). When this news of his family's execution reaches him, Macduff is stricken with grief and vows revenge. Prince Malcolm, Duncan's son, has succeeded in raising an army in England, and Macduff joins him as he rides to Scotland to challenge Macbeth's forces. The invasion has the support of the Scottish nobles, who are appalled and frightened by Macbeth's tyrannical and murderous behaviour. Malcolm leads an army, along with Macduff and Englishmen Siward (the Elder), the Earl of Northumberland, against Dunsinane Castle. While encamped in Birnam Wood, the soldiers are ordered to cut down and carry tree limbs to camouflage their numbers.
Before Macbeth's opponents arrive, he receives news that Lady Macbeth has killed herself, causing him to sink into a deep and pessimistic despair and deliver his "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" soliloquy (V.v.17–28). Though he reflects on the brevity and meaninglessness of life, he nevertheless awaits the English and fortifies Dunsinane. He is certain that the witches' prophecies guarantee his invincibility, but is struck with fear when he learns that the English army is advancing on Dunsinane shielded with boughs cut from Birnam Wood, in apparent fulfillment of one of the prophecies.
A battle culminates in Macduff's confrontation with Macbeth, who kills Young Siward in combat. The English forces overwhelm his army and castle. Macbeth boasts that he has no reason to fear Macduff, for he cannot be killed by any man born of woman. Macduff declares that he was "from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd" (V.8.15–16), (i.e., born by Caesarean section) and is not "of woman born" (an example of a literary quibble), fulfilling the second prophecy. Macbeth realises too late that he has misinterpreted the witches' words. Though he realises that he is doomed, he continues to fight. Macduff kills and beheads him, thus fulfilling the remaining prophecy.
Macduff carries Macbeth's head onstage and Malcolm discusses how order has been restored. His last reference to Lady Macbeth, however, reveals "'tis thought, by self and violent hands / Took off her life" (V.ix.71–72), but the method of her suicide is undisclosed. Malcolm, now the King of Scotland, declares his benevolent intentions for the country and invites all to see him crowned at Scone.
Although Malcolm, and not Fleance, is placed on the throne, the witches' prophecy concerning Banquo ("Thou shalt get kings") was known to the audience of Shakespeare's time to be true: James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England) was supposedly a descendant of Banquo. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0469318 | Dark Country | Newly weds Dick (Thomas Jane) and Gina (Lauren German) decide to head across the Nevada desert for their honeymoon, driving at night to beat the heat. Before they head off, a stranger warns Dick to be careful, as couples have been known to get lost, and to stick to the Interstate. Shortly afterward, the couple realize they are heading the wrong way and turn off the highway onto another road. Dick turns off the car headlights to drive by starlight and Gina masturbates herself to orgasm as they head across the desert. Eventually Dick turns the lights back on, immediately swerving to avoid a figure in the middle of the road. Investigating, they find a man severely injured from a car accident. Unable to get a phone signal, they decide to drive him to a hospital themselves, only for the road to come to a sudden end a few miles ahead.
During the drive, the couple argue and the injured man awakens with a scream. He asks Gina for a cigarette, advises her to leave her husband and becomes increasingly erratic, finally attempting to strangle Dick and almost causing the car to crash. Gina stops the car and the two men tumble out, continuing to fight until Dick beats the stranger to death with a rock. Dick convinces his wife they need to dispose of the body, and together they bury it in a shallow grave. While she fills the hole, Dick finds a revolver in her handbag. Soon after, they arrive at a rest area where several cars are parked. They tidy themselves up and argue until Dick discovers he lost his watch while they were burying the stranger. Refusing to go back, Gina waits at the rest stop with the gun while Dick returns to find his watch. Arriving at the site where they hid the body, Dick finds the grave empty. Gunshots ring out across the desert and Dick races back to the rest stop to find Gina is missing. Nearby, he stumbles onto a woman's grave and realizes that the other cars are rusted and covered with dust.
In a panic, he flees, almost colliding head-on with a deputy sheriff (Ron Perlman). In the back of the police car, he rides with the deputy to a crime scene, where police are excavating murder victims from a mass grave surrounded by abandoned vehicles. The deputy explains that this was where the rest area had been 30 years before. Dick recognizes the spot as the location where he buried the stranger. As he watches on from the back of the police car, a deputy exhumes Gina's body and finds Dick's watch. Dick kicks his way out of the patrol car and escapes in one of the nearby vehicles, leading the squad of police in a chase across the desert.
Driving with the lights off, he loses them, but a short while later he finds a swarm of insects, losing control and rolling the car. Thrown clear of the wreck, he is then almost run down by another car before he passes out. Some time later, Dick wakes to find himself in the back of his own car, listening to himself and Gina argue, and realizes that he was the mysterious stranger that he fought with and murdered earlier in the evening, screaming at this. | violence, neo noir, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0317447 | Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick | The game begins three years after the events of "Hail to the King". Ash Williams is telling the story of his battles with the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis to an Asian man, and then starts to tell the story of how he ended up with the man in the first place through a series of flashbacks.
=== Dearborn, Michigan: Last Night ===
A special "Live" episode of Mysteries of the Occult starts at the local KLA2 television station (a reference to the movie "The Day the Earth Stood still"; KLA2 is pronounced "Klaatu," the name of the protagonist.) Trisha Pettywood, a journalist out to expose the truth of the Necronomicon, is the host, with her guest, the parapsychologist and best-selling author Professor Alex Eldridge, a colleague of the late Professor Raymond Knowby, who has written a book based on the Necronomicon. Ash is sitting at his favorite bar in the red light district, having a few drinks during the broadcast, and badmouths Eldridge, claiming that he wouldn't know the real Necronomicon from "a roll of extra-fluffy two-ply". The bartender, who apparently knows Ash, gives him a free drink, telling him that he is sorry about Jenny, a subject which is apparently still very painful for Ash. Trisha also mentions a local Dearborn man (namely Ash) who claims that the Necronomicon can raise the dead and interdimensionally travel through time, but Eldridge dismisses it as the sad, depraved ramblings of a lunatic, while also claiming that it is easy to get caught up in the book's mythology. Hearing this, a drunken Ash babbles on about his remark, and also about his fights with the Deadites and how he had to amputate his own right hand. Trisha has somehow obtained the tape recording of Professor Knowby, and plays it live as a "treat" to the viewers. Ash, knowing what will happen if they do so, shouts at them not to play it, but, of course, they do not hear him. The Deadites are released into the world once more, and the Evil Force floats through town, right into the bar, and possesses the bartender, who is promptly shot down by Ash, who strangely has his boomstick with him.
Ash goes outside to check out the seriousness of the situation, and it's pretty bad: Deadites are roaming around town, transforming civilians into Deadites themselves, and the local police are apparently going to great lengths to stop them. Ash decides to check out the KLA2 station, since that's where the trouble began, and get more weapons as well, as he is almost out of shotgun ammo. He finds a shovel nearby, and also finds that the Deadites have invaded the Kitten Club (Dearborn's local strip joint), and the police are blocking both the entrance to the bar and the part of town behind it to slay any creatures who come out. He manages to convince the chief of police to let him past after acquiring a police I.D. from a fallen officer and a chainsaw in the lumber yard. However, he discovers that the television station's gates are locked and jammed solid so that Ash cannot open them even with the key, and the station itself is on lockdown and only the doorman has the key, and he went to the Kitten Club to "die with a smile on his face". The chief allows him in after he uses dynamite to blow up the Deadites in the club's back lot. He acquires the card key to the station, as well as a spell book, along with a spell that temporarily grants him the strength of ten men, which he uses to kick down KLA2's gates. Upon entering, he discovers Trisha and Eldridge being attacked by Deadites and saves them. He talks to Eldridge about what happened, and they unanimously agree that they need to find Professor Knowby's notes about the Necronomicon in order to discover a way to drive the Deadites back.
Afterwards, Trisha and Eldridge run and take shelter in the church, leaving Ash to do the dirty work. Around town, multiple vortices have opened up, releasing Deadites into the town, and the preacher at the church tells Ash that he needs silver to close them. He acquires some from a biker gang after saving them from the Deadites and acquires a handgun from a police officer, as well as Knowby's notes from a professor at the university; unfortunately, Knowby wrote the notes in code, being clearly aware of the dangers posed by the book, and they need a cipher to read them. Ash gives the notes to Eldridge and acquires another spell that allows him to possess Deadites, which he uses to bypass a massive horde of Deadites behind the police station and get the cipher and an envelope addressed to the local auto repairman from the trash can. He gives the envelope to the repairman, but it's only Knowby's payment for his car repairs; however, the guard gives him some explosive shotgun shells as a reward for his troubles. When he returns to the church, he discovers that the door has been broken in, the preacher has been killed, and Trisha and Eldridge are missing. He sets out to find them, and discovers that they have been taken by the Deadites to the park, along with mass amounts of civilians. Ash breaks into the park, kills the Deadites, and gives Eldridge the cipher. Eldridge reads the notes and discovers information about the Kandarian Summoning Stone, a mystical artifact that allows the possessor to control (and destroy) the Deadite hordes. They all deduce that the Stone may be in the local museum, as the museum's founder, Nathaniel Payne, was obsessed with occult artifacts and delighted in collecting them. Trisha and Eldridge go to the museum to search for it, and Ash accompanies them after closing all of the vortices around town.
When Ash arrives at the museum, he finds everything to be strangely quiet; Trisha and Eldridge are nowhere to be seen, and even the Deadites seem to be taking a breather. However, things soon heat up after Ash is locked in the basement and attacked by a small pack of undead sabre-toothed tigers, which he quickly defeats. Afterwards, he encounters more humanoid Deadites and acquires a card key from a dead security guard, which he uses to escape the basement, and two antique Greek vases. He finds a gasoline pump a live security guard in a locker room, who at first mistakes Ash for a Deadite and orders him to stay back until Ash provides one of his famous wisecracks. The guard tells him that he had always known that something like this would happen, and states that Nathaniel Payne had built a temple believed to be used for human sacrifice under the museum, and one day had gone down into the temple and never returned. He opens up all of the basement doors (although one is malfunctioning and automatically closes whenever Ash comes near it) and he stays there to continue with the broken door. Ash discovers Trisha and Eldridge, locked inside of the east wing by a power surge, and goes back to the basement to find a way to cut the power. He discovers a spell that allows him to possess hellhounds, and uses this spell to gain access to the malfunctioning door (which happens to also house the power grid) and blows up the generator with a stick of dynamite, freeing Trisha and Eldridge. He returns to the locker room, only to find that the guard has become a Deadite as well, and kills the guard. He finds a divining device hidden behind a portrait of Nathaniel Payne, uses it to find four magical gems, and uses these to gain access to Payne's chamber. He encounters Payne, who has long since been transformed into a demonic, fireball-launching monster, and defeats him by deflecting his fireballs back at him with the shovel. Afterwards, he grabs the Kandarian Summoning Stone and flirts with Trisha, though she has reservations about dating him, as people around town have claimed that he is crazy, perhaps even dangerous. It is soon revealed that Eldridge knew about the true nature of the Necronomicon all along, and plans to use its power and the Stone to take over the world. He opens up a vortex and disappears into it, and Ash decides to follow him. Trisha asks him if he is crazy, but he merely states that "crazy is as crazy does", kisses her, and follows Eldridge into the vortex while Trisha stays behind.
=== Dearborn, Michigan: circa 1695 ===
Ash lands right after Eldridge, who had correctly predicted that he would follow him, in the colonial times of Dearborn. Eldridge sends a horde of Deadites after him and escapes. After killing them, a group of villagers arrive and mistake Ash for the town blacksmith, simply named "Williams the Blacksmith". Ash soon meets the blacksmith, who turns out to be his ancestor and resembles him in both appearance and mannerisms. When Ash reveals this to him, he is not the least bit surprised due to the Deadites running amok. He upgrades Ash's shotgun, allowing it to fire eight consecutive rounds before needing to reload, and also converts the gas pump into a flamethrower using some of his own moonshine. Ash looks around town for more parts and finds a piece of scrap iron, but when he returns, he finds mass amounts of Deadite bodies laying about and the blacksmith missing. Ash quickly sets out to find him, realizing that the death of the blacksmith in the past will also erase him from existence, and, after passing through the town cemetery, discovers that Eldridge has kidnapped the blacksmith. Eldridge uses the rules of time paradoxes to blackmail Ash into finding a spell scroll that will allow him to safely pass through the vortex, promising that he will let the blacksmith go if Ash complies. Ash does so, but Eldridge does not make good on the deal and escapes through the vortex, warning Ash that his two monstrous Deadite bodyguards will kill the blacksmith if he attempts to follow. Ash quickly finds a way around this by acquiring another possession spell and using it to kill the two Deadites. Ash gives the blacksmith the piece of scrap iron, and follows Eldridge through the vortex after the blacksmith coins their new family motto: "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."
=== Dearborn, Michigan: circa 1863 ===
Ash once again lands after Eldridge, this time in Civil War-era Dearborn. Eldridge quickly enters the Unionists' fort and opens a vortex. In order to get into the fort, Ash manages to convince both the Unionists and the Confederates to call a cease-fire and help him defeat the Deadites; the captain of the Unionists is the great-great-great-grandson of Williams the Blacksmith, who is in possession of a Gatling gun that the blacksmith made from the piece of scrap iron that Ash gave him. Ash confronts Eldridge and shoots him, but this only transforms him into a monstrous dragon-like demon. Ash manages to defeat monster-Eldgridge, and travels back to the present time.
=== Evil Dearborn ===
Ash arrives back in the present of Dearborn, only to discover that the Deadites have taken over the whole town in his absence and are led by their Queen, who is in possession of the Kandarian Summoning Stone, which Ash stupidly left back in the Unionists' fort. After freeing the prisoners, Ash confronts the Deadite Queen, who turns out to be Trisha. Ash kills her using dynamite, and reacquires the Stone.
=== Epilogue ===
Now back to where the game first began, Ash attempts to use the Stone to restore Dearborn to its former glory, but blunders and ends up warping himself back in time to medieval Asia, right around the time of Genghis Khan's attack, where he has been captured by guards. As it turns out, the men he has been telling the story to cannot understand a word he's been saying, though they claim that he hasn't shut up for three hours. They decide to use the Kandarian Summoning Stone against Khan and execute Ash, but before they can do so, the Evil Force returns and possesses the man who Ash has been relating his tale to, as well as some nearby samurai. Ash grabs a katana from one of the guards and tells the Deadites to "come get some!" in perfect Japanese, thus ending the game. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0922547 | Parasomnia | Danny Sloan is an art student who works in a record shop. He visits his friend Billy (Dov Tiefenbach), who is in drug rehab in hospital. Billy suggests Danny goes to see the "psycho ward" before he leaves, to see Byron Volpe (Patrick Kilpatrick), a serial killer kept in a padded cell after being convicted of murdering his wife Madeline (Sean Young) by hypnotizing her into jumping from a building. Volpe is explained to have extraordinary powers of hypnotism, and is kept restrained and hooded to stop hospital staff from seeing his eyes. During the visit, Danny sees Laura Baxter (Cherilyn Wilson) sleeping in the room next to Volpe. She suffers from a form of parasomnia in which she sleeps most of the time, and wakes occasionally for short periods of time.
Danny falls in love with Laura, and continues to visit her at the hospital. When he finds out that she is due to move to a clinic run by Dr. Bhyle (Louis Graham) where she will be used for medical experimentation, he resolves to rescue her. Disguised as a doctor from the Bhyle clinic, he kidnaps her and takes her to his apartment. The following morning Danny discovers that a neighbor has been murdered, and Laura attacks him with a knife while seemingly in a trance. When Detective Conroy, investigating the neighbor's death, comes to Danny's apartment, Laura kills him. Danny decides that Volpe must be controlling her, and decides that he must kill Volpe to stop him. He buys a handgun and visits the hospital, but Volpe overpowers him, escapes and takes Laura. Danny visits Volpe's derelict book shop, where Detective Garrett (Jeffrey Combs) finds him. After Volpe speaks to Garrett on the phone, he too falls under Volpe's control and takes Danny to Volpe. Volpe then sets Garrett to repeatedly playing Russian roulette.
Volpe explains to Danny that rather than just kill him, he must make Laura forget about Danny so that she will love only Volpe. Volpe hypnotizes Danny into denouncing his love for Laura, but the sound of a gunshot made by Garrett shooting himself breaks the spell, and Danny and Laura fight and finally defeat Volpe. Garrett, who was only wounded by the gunshot, then shoots Danny in the side of the head, rendering him comatose. The film ends with Danny and Laura being cared for together by Dr. Corso (Timothy Bottoms) back at the hospital. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0078880 | Bloodrage | A young man named Richard visits Beverly, a local prostitute, and runs into her boyfriend, a police officer named Ryan, on the way into Beverly's home. Richard and Beverly get into an argument, which ends with Richard accidentally shoving Beverly through a window, killing her. Richard cleans up the scene, evades Ryan when he returns from running errands, and hitchhikes to New York City after disposing of Beverly's body.
Richard acquires a room in a dingy motel, gets a job at a bottling company, befriends a neighboring drug dealer named Candice, and spies on Nancy, a prostitute who lives across from Candice. Intoxicated by what he felt during Beverly's death, Richard murders a woman named Lucy, torturing and humiliating her beforehand. Ryan, suspicious of Beverly's disappearance, heads to New York in search of her, enlisting the aid of the local police, and passing photographs of her around at clubs and bars. During the course of his investigation, Ryan spots Richard in a restaurant, and hears a broadcast announcing that Beverly's remains were uncovered. Concluding that Richard probably killed Beverly, Ryan finds out where he is staying, and heads there.
At the motel, Richard gets into a fight with Candice, and kills her, and her dog. Ryan finds Candice's corpse, and sees Richard at Nancy's through the window Richard broke when he threw the body of Candice's dog out it. Richard attacks Nancy, but she fights him off with the help of a straight razor, and a pair of pimps. Ryan happens upon the scene, grabs Richard, and throws him out a window to his death. | revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | More like raging hormones..
A psychotic young man heads to New York after murdering a prostitute of a small town.
Thinking that he has escaped the police, he tries to live a normal life, but he encounters the very sleazy life of the city and goes about fixing up the problems, like knocking more prostitutes.
On his trail is a town cop who's looking for him in the hope he can find out what had happened to the first prostitute that he secretly killed off.I'm so baffled.
I went in expecting something of a horror story cross vigilante action piece like it seems to advertise.
Um instead, the picture on my video case never seemed to appear in the film.
Also the title is very misleading.
With the name like Joseph Zito tagged to the project, you'll be expecting something passionately wild and out going (think of Red Scorpion, Missing in Action and Invasion U.S.A) and gruesomely unpleasant (The Prowler and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), but what a glum character study on a insane killer that tries to be thoughtful, but it just doesn't work when it's going for this aspect.
I guess he learnt later on from this effort, as this was just his second feature.
This immensely sleazy slasher is strictly average and too slow.
It only goes for about 75 minutes and it still lulls about in monotonous scenes that feel like fillers.
Thanks to its stone-cold approach, inspired visions and gritty locations, but it could have used a whole lot more verve in its execution.
The deaths and the lead up to them are rather bloodless, but still quite misogynistic.
Just wait around for the dog scene.
Blood might be little, but sex and nudity (a lot of window peeping) isn't discarded.
The 70's New York atmosphere generated a circuit that was scummy, filthy and dreadfully corrupt.
Zito filtered this into the flick superbly.The clueless story has some unbelievable developments (a sudden conclusion) and very little structure to it, as it plays many cards like a psycho serial killer to soft porn and then a look through the damaged mind created by a forsaken society (ala Taxi Driver).
Even the husky voice-overs that the film begins off with have a familiar ring to it.
But in all it's basic.Surprisingly the performances are acceptably fair.
The spaced out Ian Scott plays the uptight young lad Richard in a very disquieting temperament.
Legendary hard-boiled actor Lawrence Tierney is in a minor thankless role that asks very little off him.
James Johnson, Rita Ebenhart and Blair Trigg chime in with some solid performances too.Flat pacing can kill it at times, but this raw project has its moments.
Not a bad early effort by Zito..
Sleazy and depressing serial killer movie..
"Bloodrage" tells the story of Richie,a withdrawn young man with the penchant for murdering hookers.He kills Beverly,a small-town prostitute and after concealing his crime goes to New York.As his killing spree continues Richard becomes more and more fascinated with a prostitute who lives across the alley.He watches her undress through the window and we hear his innermost thoughts via voice-over monologues."Bloodrage" oozes sleaze and misogyny.The seedy atmosphere of 70's New York is well-captured with its peeling-wallpaper interiors and dirty alleys.The murder scenes are quite brutal and there is plenty of full-frontal female nudity.If you enjoyed "Maniac" or "Don't Go in the House" give this grimy slice of psycho cinema a look.7 out of 10..
Good title but that's about it.
A title like "Bloodrage" is enough to catch the attention of any horror fan, the cover is also promising but the movie itself isn't that good.
Ian Scott plays a violent young man that is about to snap at any moment, the event that leads to that is a encounter with a prostitute that went sour.
When she asked him for money and threaten to call his mother, he lost it and unveiled his more basic violent instincts.
To escape the police he moved to New York, checking in a motel.
Soon he started to feel the pressure of the big city, full of things that deeply bothered him.
First in that list, the prostitutes, which he'll hunt down one by one until he meets one that will give him a run for his money.
Not only he has to deal with the city life but also the small town cop that came to New York trying to find the person responsible for the death of the first prostitute.
Who will get to him first?The movie's plot is simple, nothing wrong with that if it was well executed, in my opinion it wasn't.
It's rather slow-paced.
Only in the first murder we see any blood, not enough for a movie called "Bloodrage".
The characters aren't developed enough to make them interesting, their actions don't make much sense.
Ian Scott reminded me of Ted Raimi, specifically in "Skinner", they kind of look alike..
Forgotten misogynist slasher..
The synopsis on the back of the ancient VHS cover box describes the plot of "Bloodrage" as reminiscent to "Taxi Driver" and "Death Wish" and the director's styles and methods for creating tension as "Hitchcockian".
You can unquestionably guess without even seeing the movie for yourself that these generous comparisons are just *slightly* exaggerated, but it's nevertheless a decent and overlooked psycho-shocker that comes recommended to the selected group of avid fans of this type of obscure and grim exploitation cinema.
Director Joseph Zito's predecessor to the much more known and infamous "The Prowler" is clearly inspired by the success of "Taxi Driver", since it's more or less also a portrait of the sleazy and pauperized streets of New York's red light district, but it definitely benefices most from it's atypical serial killer protagonist.
Unlike Travis Bickle, the psychopath here Ritchie is a seemingly shy and introvert young lad; barely out of his teenager years and presumably from a decent social background.
Ritchie visits prostitutes but ends up barbarically killing them because they aren't like he expects them to be
whatever that may be.
Even when he meets a "normal" girl, she turns out to be an infidel nymphomaniac and Ritchie gradually sinks deeper into misogynist rage and madness.
Meanwhile, the secret lover of one of Ritchie's prostitute victims a ruthless copper follows the trace to New York and hunts him down like an animal.
Particularly the opening fifteen minutes covering Ritchie's first murder prior to his escape to the big city are immensely powerful and shocking.
You really don't see this fragile kid capable of murdering but he is and, moreover, remains stoically focused throughout the entire process.
Ritchie's odyssey in the rancid streets of New York is far less exciting, mainly because we're on more familiar territory here, but the murder sequences nonetheless remain harsh and ultimately brutal to look at.
With is lurid atmosphere, copious amounts of gratuitous nudity, grainy and cheap looking photography and uncompromising violence against women, "Bloodrage" perfectly fits in the late 70's/early 80's trend of misogynist slasher pictures, like "Don't Go in the House", "Maniac", "Hitch Hike to Hell" and "Don't Answer the Phone".
And if you really wonder where the connection lies with "Death Wish", you just wait until the downright fan-tas-tic end scene!.
Disturbing, Taxi Driver-style effort about a psycho in New York.
In the 1970s, grindhouse cinemas were awash with sleazy stories of killers and thugs, murderers and prostitutes.
These low-budget thrillers often had a gritty, on-the-street look to them, just filming out in the streets amidst the crowds.
Violence, drug abuse and prostitution was the norm.
The best of the genre was undoubtedly TAXI DRIVER, Scorsese's excellent look at loneliness and madness, and as with any popular film it spawned rip-offs.
BLOODRAGE is one of these, a delightful story about a young man who kills prostitutes.The man is the film's main character, a kind of anti-hero who sometimes narrates his thoughts, just like De Niro.
What surprised me is that BLOODRAGE is slightly above the run-of-the-mill for this particular genre, mainly because it has good direction (from Joseph Zito, who later went on to helm many an '80s action flick) and some surprisingly decent turns from the cast.
Ian Scott, as the killer, has a lot of screen time and handles his role very well.
He's creepy, frightening and seemingly disturbed, which is all that is needed for this kind of role.
Inevitably there's a sub-plot about a cop stalking the killer, and James Johnson is also very good as this guy.
The actresses playing the prostitutes are grubby and convincing, making you wonder whether they really are 'women of the night'.What I liked best about BLOODRAGE is that it never descends into plot less gore and depravity, as with so many of these movies.
Sure, it's sleazy, but that's inevitable when the entire cast list is populated with hookers, dealers and their clients.
The New York locales add grimy authenticity to events, and there are one or two stand-out moments.
There's a voyeuristic aspect to the movie as he goes Peeping Tom, scenes which reminded me of Hitchcock in places.
There's also a ton of nudity, but for a movie called BLOODRAGE, virtually no blood, except in the opening scene.
It's not a great movie, and it's forgotten today for a reason, which is misogyny.
But I found it a surprisingly compelling entry in the genre that manages to hit the mark more often than not..
Beaver rage.
I noticed on the Net that this one isn't available on DVD and neither on VHS in the US.
So for me as an European I was able to catch the ex rental VHS.
Watch out, there are two movies from that time titled Bloodrage.
This flick here is the bloodless one, the other one is available on DVD but totally ripped to pieces, you have to catch the VHS which is the only one uncut.
Anyway, this flick came out on the Vipco label and stated as the bloodiest of their collection.
What's nice of this one are the shots made in New York.
Depravity New York, still with their pornshops and grindhouses.
I was once their too at 42nd but they started to tear places down.
The movie starts of pretty well with a shy boy, a peeping tom, visiting a hooker.
It gets out of hand and things aren't pretty well for him as for the hooker.
That's the bloodiest part of the movie, well done too, so very promising.
When he gets to New York the movie turns over into T&A.
Nothing to do with the plot of the movie and it all falls down slowly, it's a shame 'cause his second killing was nice too.
And then we go on from one full bush shot to another.
Nothing else happens, playing peeping tom and suddenly the cop tracks him down with an surprising end.
So almost no blood, sometimes really boring and a lot of titties and 70's bushes..
"Don't you have nothing better to do with your time...
like jerk off" Dull psycho slasher film without much psycho slashing..
Bloodrage starts with a small town prostitute named Beverly (Judith-Marie Bergan) seeing a regular named Charlie (Jerry McGee) out the door as her boyfriend arrives, a local cop named John Ryan (James Johnson) who knows about her chosen career but turns a blind eye.
Once he leaves Beverly is visited by a young, shy & sexually repressed man named Richard (Ian Scott) who, in certain scenes, is a dead ringer for Christopher Walken.
Anyway, Beverly invites him in & says that she has noticed him watching her & that he has to pay her for her time whether he stays or not.
Richard doesn't like her demanding money from him & when she threatens to call her boyfriend Ryan, Richard becomes violent & aggressive.
In an ensuing struggle Richard pushes Beverly & she ends up going head first through a window & ends up with her throat being slit on the broken glass in the frame.
At that moment Ryan drives up outside the house in his squad car but is held up talking to a guy named Gus (Patrick Hines) about nothing in particular.
Richard has to think & act quickly, he cleans the blood up (gee, large amounts of blood sure does come off white walls without leaving a single trace easily & quickly doesn't it?) & hides Beverly's body in a closet just as Ryan enters the house.
Even though he thinks it seems a little strange that Beverly has all but disappeared eventually Ryan leaves & then Richard disposes of Beverly's body out back, Richard then hitch hikes & gets into a truck which takes him to Times Square, New York City.
There he rents a crappy run down hotel room, finds a job in a beer packing factory & befriends one of his neighbours, Candice (Rita Ebenhart).
However, because of the pressures of living in New York Richard soon feels the urge to kill again & singles out yet another prostitute, this time named Lucy (Blair Trigg).
By some bizarre coincidence Ryan feels that Beverly might have gone to New York & sets off to find her, he contacts detective Tom Malone (Lawrence Tierney) & asks around at various strip bars.
By an even more amazing chain of coincidences Ryan becomes aware of Richard & sets out to stop him & gain some revenge...Produced & directed by Joseph Zito I thought Bloodrage was a little bit too dull & slow for my liking.
The script by Robert Jahn is poorly paced as it starts out very well with the brutal murder of Beverly but then goes into a real lull for an absolute age from which it never really recovers.
The character of Richard is a problem, he never interacts with anyone at any point in the film as a normal person except his neighbour Candice & even then it's hardly a normal relationship.
We know virtually nothing about him when Bloodrage starts & more or less the same when it finishes, Richard is given a few monologues to try & give him some personality, background & motivation but they aren't overly effective or insightful.
The script tries to paint Richard as a normal everyday person living a dull 9 to 5 life in isolation, that's fine I suppose but it's not what I personally want to see in a film as most of us live that life anyway.
Occasionally Richard decides to take out his pent up frustrations out on women & he justifies his actions by the fact they are prostitutes & strippers.
The coincidences which lead Ryan to both New York & Richard are rather far fetched, Bloodrage ends very abruptly as well.
This is a film which concentrates on set up so don't expect a high body count, in fact Richard only kills three people during the film, & one dog.
There's not much blood or gore, the slit throat by broken glass is quite nasty but the other two are strangulations & contain no blood even though they are surprisingly brutal & cold.
Technically Bloodrage is generally fine throughout even if it isn't going to win any awards, the acting was surprisingly strong & the seedy late 70's New York Times Square locations really add to the unsettling atmosphere, it's just a shame the film plods along at such a slow pace.
Even at a relatively short 77 minutes I won't be watching Bloodrage again anytime soon that's for sure, having said that I didn't think it was a complete waste of time just a somewhat misguided attempt at a serious portrait of the beginnings of a serial killer.
Unfortunately I can't recommend Bloodrage to anyone as it's just too slow, dull & ultimately provides little in the way of entertainment value but it isn't without one or two merits..
Drawing first blood..
With having read over the last months on the IMDb Horror board fellow IMDb'ers highly praising John Grissmer's 1987 Slasher movie Blood Rage,I was thrilled to recently discover the film being sold at a very good price.Rushing to put the DVD on as soon as it arrived in the post,I quickly found out that the "Blood Rage" that I had brought was not the 1987 film,but a 1979 movie called "Bloodrage",directed by Joseph Zito!.Despite having found Zito's 1981 Slasher The Prowler to be an unbelievably dull movie,I decided to push any negative preconceptions to the side,due to hoping that Zito would unleash his "blood rage" in this film.The plot:Gaining enough self-confidence to at last visit the prostitute who he has been secretly looking at for a number of weeks,Ryan quickly gets into an argument with the prostitute over not wanting to pay her,which leads to his becoming explosive,and ends with Ryan killing the woman.Quickly cleaning up the spilt blood,Ryan grabs the body and hides,when he hears the prostitute's boyfriend (who is also a cop) arrive.Waiting until the cop has gone,Ryan puts the body away so that it is hidden from view,and starts his long hitch-hike up to New York,where he hopes his exciting,new found blood rage will be allowed to fully flow.View on the film:Shooting the film on location on the streets of New York,director Joseph Zito makes the mean streets the star of his hard-nosed Grindhouse Horror,with Zito surprisingly keeping the blood to a minimum,to instead smash the viewer's face repeatedly on the curb by showing the New York that Ryan (played by a great,angelic looking James Johnson) to be one that is filled with thugs,pimps addicts and not one single likable character.Matching Zito's directing style,the lean screenplay by Robert Jahn has a strong nihilistic streak running straight through it.With the places that Ryan visits,Jahn reveals them to be covered in seedy grime and grunge,which Jahn shows are made extra murky by the blood that Ryan splatters across the streets as his rage takes control. |
tt0074657 | Hugó, a víziló | The harbor of Zanzibar becomes infested with a group of vicious sharks, which makes it impossible for trading ships to dock. In an attempt to fix the problem, the Sultan charges his advisor, Aban-Khan, to bring twelve hippos from Africa into the harbor to keep the sharks away. His idea works well enough, but once the hippos are no longer a novelty and the people no longer feed them, they begin to starve. After the hungry hippos rampage through the city looking for food, Aban-Khan viciously slaughters all the hippos except one, a little baby hippo named Hugo. Hugo escapes across the sea to the city of Dar es Salaam, on the African mainland.
A group of children, led by a farmer boy named Jorma, find Hugo and attempt to hide him as best they can, building a garden to feed and take care of him. However, Hugo is discovered, and the garden is burned by the angry parents to prevent their children wasting their time with him and neglecting their schoolwork. As a result, Hugo is forced to scavenge from the local farms for food. When Aban-Khan, still obsessed about catching Hugo, hears of the incident, he travels to Dar es Salaam and with the aid of the Sultan's court wizard converts the farm of Jorma's family into an enchanted garden filled with gigantic fruits and vegetables. Once Hugo is lured into the trap, the plants turn into bizarre monsters thirsting to kill both Hugo and Jorma, who has come to Hugo's aid. Despite their best efforts to get away, they end up overwhelmed and captured by Aban-Khan.
Hugo is put on trial for the damage his nighttime raids caused. Fortunately, the children manage to contact the Sultan, who agrees to appear in court to speak for Hugo. The ruler makes a powerfully impassioned speech about how the hippos were mistreated both by their neglect and their uncalled-for culling, which removes all doubt that Hugo is the true injured party in this affair. As a result, while Aban-Khan comes to feel the wrath of a populace's mind turning against him, Hugo is released and the children are charged by the judge to care for him for the rest of his days. | cult, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | I first saw this film when I was about 4 (a whole 24 years ago!), and have been enchanted by it ever since.
A wonderful tale of morality - about how money corrupts and the importance of not forgetting those who help you.
But the message diffuses into you, as you become lost in the fantastic animation (think Disney Fantasia levels of imagination) and songs that Lloyd Webber and Rice would be proud to call their own (I remember all of the words to all of the songs even now, and I haven't seen the film for at least 20 years!).
I don't have any other sentimental attachment to any other programmes of my youth, but this fantastic film touched me in a way that no other has.
If you do get a chance to see it, you really must.
An enchanting, engaging film, with beautiful animation, charming songs and a lovely story which takes you through an emotional sine wave as you follow the adventures of Hugo and his friends (and those who are certainly not his friends).
Once viewed, never forgotten.
You will be singing the songs all week, at least.
You will be singing the songs all week, at least.
Fantastic for young children and adults alike.
I can't recommend it enough..
mind-blowing!.
My buddy found a VHS from 1980-something with this movie on it, and I was shocked and amazed that anything this good could come outta the 70's.
Couple things I noticed: The Animation rocks the casbah - the colours all meld very nicely, the segues are all prefect (you can't even tell they're there until the next scene starts), and the motion of the characters is a lost art; the story provokes every emotion you can have - sadness, envy, happiness, disappointment, fear...
the list goes on; the songs are so good, one of my friends sampled a couple of them and uses them, to this day, in his house sets...I definitely agree with Peter's comments - IT'S GOLD I TELL YOU!
GOLD!.
Just Phantasmagorical!.
Hugo the Hippo is an excellent children's movie.
I don't think I would have been able to spell hippopotamus without it.
This movie has brought back some of my fondest childhood memories and I think it should be made available on DVD.
In terms of content, it was a cartoon beyond its years, the storyline, the colours and the music.
The sharks were humorous and quite memorable but the message even more, how easily we forget, discard and turn against people( in the movie that lovable hippo) once they are of no use to us.
I hope that this movie makes a come back and is not lost for all eternity.
It's just simply phantasmagorical!.
Perhaps the greatest film ever made!.
Yes, I did call this a candidate for the greatest film ever made.
Its a masterpiece of hippo films.
A truly magical experience for everyone who takes part in it.
Its about this hippo.
This hippo named Hugo.
He's the prince of the hippo's.
He saves the day.
Their are songs along the way and some great animation.
It's gold, I tell you, GOLD!!!.
I just have to comment on this movie!
It's one of those films you see as a kid and get vague flashbacks of forever and wonder 'Where do I get those images of cartoon men in turbans shouting at hippos??' Thankfully, my brother is 4 years older than me and he was always there to tell me these memories were from a real film; 'Hugo the Hippo'and that I wasn't a crazy person.
I'm adding this comment just to say, that if you haven't seen this film for years and years and have happy/crazy memories of it, leave it that way!
Please don't watch it again as you will be disappointed!
Oh, OK, maybe just once, but never again!
This movie is crazy!
Check out the lyrics to the song that goes 'It's really real, this story is real, it really is real, it's really real...' Odd..
Mother of mercy, is this the end of Fakrash and Uncle Arthur?.
Bill Feigenbaum's "Hugó, a víziló" ("Hugo the Hippo" in English) is one of those movies that leads the viewer to think "Oh my god, someone actually put this on the silver screen." This Hungarian-American co-production purports to be about a hippopotamus and how the children befriend him after the sultan's assistant has the other hippopotamuses killed.
In reality it comes across as the sort of movie bound to give children nightmares.
Particularly confusing is the fact that even though it takes place in Africa, the children all have American accents.
Moreover, Paul Lynde does the voice of the sultan's assistant and basically turns the character into a rehash of Uncle Arthur on "Bewitched".
Oh, and Marie Osmond sings some of the songs.Now that you have had a chance to let all this sink in, I should note that much of the movie is a bunch of politically incorrect stuff trying to be psychedelic.
Burl Ives narrates and the sultan (voiced by Robert Morley) looks very much like Ives's gregarious genie in "The Brass Bottle".
This was truly a movie that "Mystery Science Theater 3000" should have riffed.
It's worth seeing if you want to have to have your mind blown..
A weird childhood memory.
Now the television schedules (in England, at least) are crammed with home improvement, bargain-hunting, house-hunting and cookery shows in the afternoons, the chances of any of the terrestrial broadcasters digging out a complete obscurity like this to occupy a couple of hours of screen time on a slow afternoon are slender, to say the least.
But back in the eighties, the BBC did just that, and guess what, I watched it.
And it's a testament to the overwhelming weirdness of this Hungarian-American co-production that I can still remember large chunks of it, over twenty years later.
To begin with, the eponymous hero appears briefly during the opening titles, only to vanish again for at least half an hour.
(Imagine AN American TAIL re-edited so Feivel is nowhere to be seen, and you'll appreciate how confusing this is.) There's a supremely bizarre bit of animation where one of the characters gets his elaborately waxed moustache tweaked and stretched, complete with a boingy sound effect that causes him to go boss-eyed.
Probably hilarious if you're stoned, but to a child, quite disturbing.
Speaking of which, the infamous 'hippo cull' scene is represented in an abstract manner - clouds in vague hippo shapes are struck by lightning - but it's still pretty unpleasant.
In fact, this film is pretty cold and uninvolving throughout, a sad state of affairs hardly helped by the strange-looking production design, all muddy colours, wobbly lines, bloated forms and that uniquely European bleakness reminiscent of Jan Svankmajer, only not as compelling.
Then, to cap it all, we get songs by the Osmonds!
This isn't so much an awful film as a deeply misguided one, not so much phantasmagorical as a rather bad trip..
Disturbing and violent crap...not recommended for kids.
When I was younger, I remember seeing this movie on TV and having nightmares about certain sequences, including the one in which all of the hippos were slaughtered.
Was this film really intended for kids?
It's weird how people complain about shows like "South Park" which are geared towards adults, yet consider something like "Hugo The Hippo" as family entertainment.As for the main villain being voiced by Paul Lynde...I know the guy was gay in real life, but it's rather homophobic for such movies to portray their male villains as effeminate, conniving queers (e.g. Scar from Disney's "The Lion King" is another example).And if that doesn't turn you off from watching it enough, the movie also features sappy and vomit-inducing musical numbers.Do yourself a favor and avoid this piece of excrement at all costs. |
tt2344508 | Night of the Living 3D Dead | In this latest interpretation, the characters Barb and her brother Johnny arrive late for their aunt's funeral and find the cemetery overrun with zombies. After Johnny abandons her, Barb flees the cemetery and is rescued by Ben, a local college student. The two seek refuge in the nearby farmhouse of the Cooper family (Henry & Hellie Cooper, Henry's daughter and Hellie's stepdaughter Karen, farmhand Owen, and farmhand Tom and his girlfriend Judy), and attempt to live through the night along with other survivors, including the pyrophobic mortician, Gerald Tovar, Jr. As Barb and Ben attempt to convince the Cooper family that the zombies are heading to the house, Tom and Judy are attacked while having sex in the barn. After hearing Judy's screams, Barb and the rest of the household attempt to save her, but they are too late. When Tovar arrives, he explains what is happening. Owen the farmhand and Karen succumb to zombie bites and become undead.
Barb and Ben leave with Tovar to what they believe is safety, while Henry and Hellie barricade themselves upstairs. Henry, who was bitten by a reanimated Karen and thus doomed to become a zombie, and Hellie, who is completely distraught over the death of her stepdaughter and the eventual reanimation of Henry, decide to commit suicide, and do so. After reaching his house, Tovar knocks Ben out and reveals that he was the one who brought the zombies back to life, even so much as bringing his own father back and feeding him with his own blood. Barb sets the house on fire, but Tovar catches her and brings her back to the mortuary along with an unconscious Ben in the trunk. Ultimately, Tovar plans to have Barb reborn as a zombie, but Barb gets the upper hand and throws him to a pack of zombies, who devour him. Barb and Ben escape and lock the other zombies in the garage. Ben realizes that he has been impaled with a tire iron, but is apparently unharmed; moments later, he transforms into a zombie. Barb uses the last bullet to kill him, and the zombies break through the gate. | suspenseful, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0033928 | Murder by Invitation | The relatives of Cassandra "Cassie" Denham, an old unmarried lady living in New York who is reputedly good for three million dollars, try to make a judge declare her unable to take care of herself financially. The attempt fails, and in charge of handing in the petition is Cassie's nephew Garson Denham, a lawyer. Instead he summons a newspaper reporter, Bob White (Wallace Ford), and his girlfriend, Nora O'Brien (Marian Marsh), and tells them he has been invited to stay a week at Cassie's estate up in the mountains.
The invitation states that any relative not arriving at the specified time will be excluded from the will. Garson believes his aunt is mentally unsound and plans to kill them all during the stay. Despite this Garson and his wife, his brother's Tom and Larry and their mother Martha keep the appointment.
As they arrive Cassie tells them that they are there so that she can learn which one of them should inherit the bulk of her fortune. She also tells them that she keeps of all her money at the house.
That night Garson is stabbed to death in the library. Bob and Nora receive the news of his death and show up at the estate with a photographer to write about the killing. Sheriff Boggs is already questioning everyone at the house about their whereabouts during the night, and Bob, Nora and the photographer are all invited to stay at the estate by Cassie.
The next night, Larry is killed again in the library, and the sheriff continues his investigation. The dead bodies disappear and turn up again in Bob's closet, but they disappear before he is able to show them to the others.
Later, Eddie sees the bookshelf in the library open revealing a secret doorway and as Cassie comes out from one side, he walks in via the reverse side of the bookshelf unseen by her into a secret passage. Cassie asks Eddie to guard a small box with her valuables, offering him $10,000 to do so, and says she suspects her neighbor, Trowbridge Montrose, of being involved in the killings. The neighbor is supposedly in love with Cassie.
Tom is the next stabbed whilst he is talking to Mary in the garden. However the assailant is unknown as everyone present in the property appears to possess an alibi for the time of the attack. Cassie is determined to catch the killer and tells Bob of a plan she has, saying she will see to it that everyone is outside and then set the house on fire to see who tries to run in and save the money within from destruction..
When the house is in flames Mary, Cassie's house servant, suddenly panics and angrily confronts her employer, stating that she should have the money for working for her for several years and tolerating her imperiousness, saying she was entitled to inherit something, and hysterically admits committing the murders, implicating also her accomplice, Michael, the chauffeur, whom she announces that she has secretly married. She is arrested, and after a chase through the woods the chauffeur is also apprehended by Bob armed with a revolver.
Trowbridge then proposes to Cassie; Eddie presents the box to Cassie and gets his money, but the twist in the tale is that it turns out to be old Confederate States of America currency, and quite worthless. Cassie then reveals that all of her 'fortune' is in the same denomination, but Trowbridge announces that it is unimportant as he has enough for them both to live upon. The film ends with Bob also getting the girl in the form of Nora. | murder | train | wikipedia | An old lady is taken to court by her heirs because they feel she is wasting her fortune and that she should be put away for her own safety.
Turning the tables on the greed family in the courtroom she insists that any of her heirs who want a piece of her money show up at her house that night.
What happens next is a very enjoyable murder/comedy as people start dying as every scrambles to find the fortune.Anyone expecting anything other than a silly time should stay as far away from this movie as possible.
Yes, there is a mystery, but there are a good bunch of laughs as well, as reporter Wallace Ford and his girl wander among the crazies trying to get a story while trying to stay alive.I really like this film, especially the old lady that who is smarter than the relatives who are trying to put her way.
No doubt prompted by the success of Elliot Nugent's 1939 remake of THE CAT AND THE CANARY, Monogram's MURDER BY INVITATION is a spit polishing of dusty doings distinguished by a cagey awareness of its own derivativeness.
Like the imperiled teens of Wes Craven's SCREAM, the dramatis personae here heirs to a sizeable legacy - enter into danger with full knowledge of the rules of the game - with comic star Wallace Ford (FREAKS) even cracking: `I'm the handsome young juvenile of this story he never gets hurt.'
Supporting the ever-watchable Ford is a cast of faces familiar from the Poverty Roll payroll: Sarah Padden (THE MAD MONSTER), Dave O'Brien (THE DEVIL BAT, REEFER MADNESS), Minerva Urecal (THE CORPSE VANISHES) and John James (DEVIL BAT'S DAUGHTER), as well as Marian Marsh (Trilby to John Barrymore's SVENGALI) and Gavin Gordon (Lord Byron in THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN).
A former Edison camera man turned prominent silent film director (ABRAHAM LINCOLN), Phil Rosen exhibits little enthusiasm for George Bricker's scenario, and seems grateful that the conventions of the murder mystery allow characters to remain seated for long stretches at a time.
French cameraman Marcel Le Picard also shot the low-rent SPOOKS RUN WILD and VOODOO MAN.Not a must-see film, but undemanding fun for fans of the murder mystery - and Wallace Ford never disappoints..
Perennial second-from-the-left-cop-in-the-station-house, George Guhl, has a featured role, would you believe, in Monogram's 1941 tale, Murder by Invitation, which turns out to be a sort of Mrs Longfellow Deeds Meets the Cat and the Canary.
George Guhl was a big letdown, and I was also disappointed that Marian Marsh was simply just another pretty blonde in this outing and no longer the charismatic charmer of Beauty and the Boss..
Relatives gather in old dark house for murder, laughs.
Rich old Aunt Cassie considers herself "the only sane person in a family of nitwits." She invites her greedy relatives to the creaky family mansion—instructing them to arrive on Friday at midnight—where she will decide which of them will inherit her millions.
Assorted crackpot characters include several shifty relatives, an oddball sheriff, and a snoopy neighbor.Sarah Padden cackles gleefully as the eccentric Aunt Cassie.
Marian Marsh is lively and likable as White's assistant Nora, although she isn't given much to do except keep up with Ford's jokes and detective work.This Monogram production is certainly a cheapie: while some scenes look like they may have been rehearsed, others definitely don't.
However
a sense of good natured fun carries the picture along, and joviality mostly makes up for lack of production polish.Also livening up this B mystery are a few cute comments alluding to the fact that this is, in fact, a B mystery.
Just past the midway point, for example, Ford discusses the two missing corpses: Dead bodies, he says, always go missing in murder mysteries and "it generally happens just past the middle of the picture." It ain't profound but it's pretty easy viewing for those who enjoy good silly lowbrow fun.And what a great closing line!.
This is a comedy using the murder mystery genre as background.
The story revolves around old aunt Cassie, whose odd 'uh-heh' laugh is closer to caricature than character-defining.
The newspaper columnist who serves as the detective in this film, is played by Wallace Ford.
The sheriff - presumably from New York somewhere, as that's where the court case was heard - sounds more like an Okie than an upstate New Yorker, and follows his own stereotype of the hayseed lawman, accent included.
A daffy old lady, Aunt Cassie (a terrible performance by Sarah Padden who seems to be reading her lines off of cue cards) invites her greedy relatives to her country estate for the weekend and murders start to pop up all over the place.
A reporter (Wallace Ford) and his secretary (Marian Marsh) arrive at the estate to get the scoop.
Minerva Urecal (whom I usually like) overacts here as one of Aunt Cassie's relations.
Zany dialog is almost unbelievable at times and Ford (although likable) is too old to be pretty Marsh's sweetheart boss.
In spite of itself, "Murder By Invitation" is a film that works, although I don't quite know how!.
This is the kind of film, where you will really have a hard time deciding if you like it or not.
But only almost.There is nothing here that we haven't seen dozens, hundreds of times: old rich lady with greedy relatives, who are all sweet and lovely with her in one minute and try to put her in an asylum the next.
We have the ambitious, but pretty much clueless local sheriff, the clever reporter (Wallace Ford), who does all the job the police should, his pretty assistant and all those other stock characters that pop up at all the similar films.
And that the old lady decides the invite all the would-be heirs to her house at midnight?
The scene where Ford states, that he can't die, as he is the handsome young hero or when they even go as far as mentioning their most obvious inspiration, The Cat and the Canary (which had a hugely successful remake two years before this came out), referring to its similar invited-at-midnight theme...?
But my personal favorite is probably when Ford states that "There comes a time in every murder mystery, when all the corpus delicti are missing and it generally happens just past the middle of the picture." Guess what happens in the movie and when.
But we even know who's going to be the first victim, way before the actual murder takes place.
The screenplay is pretty badly written: the opening scene at the court already puts our expectations pretty low (the wisecracking lady is pretty funny, but the lawyer's complete lack of evidence make the whole scene very awkward), no surprises, no suspense, the characters are mostly very shallow (after they get killed, you will have a hard time remembering who some of the victims were) and even the motives are rather pointless.
With a bit more effort, it could be a little gem, like the rather similar, but far superior One Frightened Night (1935 - also starring Wallace Ford), which worked wonders with its similarly minimal budget.
Old Dark House Mystery.
Thsi film is one of those Old Dark House murder mystery films that Hollywood was so fond on in the 1940s.
This B movie stars Wallace Ford as a popular newspaper columnist and Marian Marsh as his secretary/girlfriend.A rich old lady (Sarah Padden) is claimed to be insane by her family and is taken to court.
Shrotly thereafter she invites all her family members to her mansion in upstate New York to spend the week so that she can watch over them to decide who to leave her $3 million estate.
One by one family members are murdered, with the killer seemingly hiding and watching from hidden passageways that are throughout the house.A typical second feature film, this movie is somewhat enjoyable, but for those of you who are used to suspenseful spooky house movies, this is not what you are looking for.
Even though this B-movie had a running time of only 67 minutes, it seemed to me more like 3 hours, as the whole story was so tedious.
I gave it a watch because Marian Marsh was in it, and she was incredibly captivating in several of her films of the 1930's.
There is one basic principle shortchanged here, and it is one that I believe is basic to any kind of drama (comedy or serious, from wild fantasy to kitchen-sink realism) - the sense that those involved in the production - from the writer to the director to the actors - are playing for keeps, giving it their best.
A rich old woman with an annoying chuckle invites her relatives over to her big house for a week, so that she can study them "just like a scientist studies rats in a laboratory." Her rationale is to determine which one of the relatives deserves her $3 million dollars when she dies.
The light, overall tone of the film conveys the impression that the film was intended as a parody of murder mysteries.The protagonist is Bob White (Wallace Ford), a "famous columnist", who worms his way into the house, after a murder occurs.
Background music is nondescript, manipulative, and in some scenes too loud.With its contrived, paint-by-numbers script, its barely passable visuals and audio, and its cheap sets, "Murder By Invitation" is not a movie I would care to watch again..
We've seen this creaky, old plot rolled out in dozens of 1930s and 40s mysteries, but never with such a poorly written script, or such bad acting.
Wallace Ford, the leading man, is too old and too out-of-shape for the roll of a dashing reporter, and he looks out of place as the boyfriend of pretty "girl-Friday" Marian Marsh.
The rest of the cast are equally unconvincing including the local sheriff, played by George Guhl, whose Upstate New York lawman acts like a hay-seed from Deliverance.
Sarah Padden, who plays the lady whose family has lived in the old mansion for generations, is perfectly willing to burn it down in order to flush out the murderer.
The film is only 67 minutes long, but for those set on watching to the end, it will seem like an eternity..
Well you'll have yourself some fun with this murder mystery even if it turns out to be somewhat nonsensical by the time it's over.
The family of sixty five year old Cassandra 'Cassie' Denham (Sarah Padden) is trying to have her declared incompetent so they can get a crack at her three million dollar estate.
Who was the real crazy one here?During the course of the story, one of the characters mentions that it has all the elements of a good murder mystery, if by that you mean a midnight invitation to a spooky old mansion, a mysterious set of eyes under a hooded mask peering through sliding doors, and a pair of bodies falling out of a closet more than once.
I was surprised they didn't use the old lights out trick here as that would have been standard for the era and quite to be expected.Even with the dead bodies turning up, this one never gets to be all that serious, as New York Evening Star reporter Bob White (Wallace Ford) keeps things light with photographer sidekick Eddie (Herb Vigran) and girl friend Nora O'Brien (Marian Marsh) along for the ride.
You won't believe Aunt Cassie's solution to the problem of turning up the murderer; I think she really might have been crazy after all.
In this, one of her last films, she is stunning and it is a pity she didn't make more films.A family is trying to get their aunt declared mentally incompetent, so they can get their hands on her $3 million dollar fortune.
She sends each of them a letter saying if they want to stay in her will, they will have to come to her mountain lodge at 12 midnight.When one of the relatives is murdered Bob White (Wallace Ford) ace reporter is called in to cover the story.
Along with his very smart and sassy secretary O'Brien (Marian Marsh) he tries his best to solve the crime.This is a good comedy mystery where everyone seems to have a motive, even the aunt.
The aunt has her suspicions about her neighbour - an odd old gentleman, who likes to wander the garden at midnight, smelling the roses!!!
Aunt Cassandra (Sarah Padden) has a strange idea about how to catch the murderer - she has already given $3 million dollars to photographer Eddie, for safe keeping.
The script has some knowing moments of satire at the genre (the outsider who comes in the "last 3 pages", the disappearing corpses "just after the middle of the picture", the closing gag about the Hays office, etc.), and fairly unpredictable culprit(s), but the final twist leaves a bad taste behind since it renders the preceding deaths both meaningless and avoidable.
As the eccentric and sharp-tongued aunt, Sarah Padden is the best out of a generally B-level cast.
Perennial second-from-the-left-cop-in-the-station-house, George Guhl, has a featured role, would you believe, in Monogram's 1941 tale, "Murder by Invitation", which turns out to be a peculiar amalgamation of Mrs. Longfellow Deeds Meets the Cat and the Canary.
George Guhl was a big letdown, and I was also disappointed that Marian Marsh was simply pictured as just another pretty blonde in this outing and no longer the charismatic charmer of "Beauty and the Boss"..
****SPOILERS***When the attempt to declare Cassie Denham, Sarah Padden unable to take care of her finances as well as herself failed she turns the tables on her greedy relatives including her shyster nephew Grason,Gavin Gordon, who tried to get her committed.
That's by her inviting them to stay the weekend at her place in the Catskill Mountains "Graylock" in order for them to get a piece of her three million dollar fortune.It's at "Graylock" that things start to get a bit creepy with a number of the guests including Garson ending up dead with Cassie suspected in murdering them.
It turns out that Cassie has hidden't the three million dollars somewhere in the house and is using it a bate to get the real killer to expose him or herself as well by killing off all his competition for the money.
The big surprise is what Cassie has planned at the very end of the movie in setting the place on fire, yes she has fire insurance, and see who's the one who'll run into to the place to get his or her hands on the money, the three million, hidden there.
That would expose the killer and exonerate her at the same time.***SPOILERS***Were also giver hot shot reporter Bob White, Wallace Ford, and his pretty assistant Nora O'Brien,Marian Marsh, a chance to do their thing in the movie for more or less comedy relief.
In the end the killer or killers are finally exposed or smoked out by them freaking out when the mansion 'Greylock" is put to the torch by Cassie and after being arrested by the police lead by Sheriff William Boggs, George Guhl, who invited himself in and admit their involvement in the murderers.
The biggest surprise of all in Cassie's three million dollar fortune that she had hidden turned out to be confederated or funny money dating back to the Civil War!
So does apparently eccentric matron Sarah Padden, the spinster matriarch of a greedy family who wants to put her in a nut house so they can get their grungy hands on her fortune of $3 million.
She invites them all to spend a week in her mountaintop mansion where you know what starts to happen.
You've seen this all before, but right from the beginning, this film's tongue is so far into its cheek that the laughter starts rolling as soon as the old dear takes the stand in her defense.
Padden is adorable, insulting her family and outlandishly insufferable in-laws (which includes Minerva Urecal, the "poor man's" Marjorie Main) and even columnist Wallace Ford whom she admits to that she reads his column but didn't reveal it on the stand because it might hurt her case.While this plot line has been overdone (often very predictably), it has never been done so fun, and you can see elements of later comedies with the same theme ("Murder By Death" and "Clue") in its short 64 minute running time.
"Murder By Invitation" is what's often referred to as 'an old dark house film'.
This is because quite a few films like it were made--films where a group of people find themselves at a spooky old house--and they are killed off one by one.
Interestingly, this film goes far as even talk about this sort of film when one of the characters mentions early on that this reminds her of "The Cat and the Canary"--one of the earliest and perhaps most famous of the genre.
And, in addition to being an old dark house film, it's also a 'know-it-all reporter film'--another very, very popular sort of film from the era.The story is about a wacky old lady whose greedy relatives can't wait for her to die so they can get her fortune.
When that doesn't work, she invites all these jerks to her home for a mysterious midnight meeting--at which point she says she insists they all stay a week so she can figure out which ones should inherit the estate.
So, by the end, it's up to this wacky old lady to work out the solution to the murders--and WOW is her plan nutty!
While this film is low-budget and occasionally the writing and acting are not great, the overall picture is actually very good.
I mentioned the one "Cat and Canary" comment above, but I also like the ways the film made fun of things such as the Hays Office, Ferdinand the Bull (from the Munro Leaf book) as well as Philo Vance and other film detectives. |
tt0026129 | Bordertown | The opening titles explain that American corporations are using the North American Free Trade Agreement by opening large maquiladoras right across the United States–Mexico border. The maquiladoras hire mostly Mexican women to work long hours for little money in order to produce mass quantity products.
Lauren Adrian (Jennifer Lopez), an impassioned American news reporter for the "Chicago Sentinel" wants to be assigned to the Iraq front-lines to cover the war. Instead, her editor George Morgan (Martin Sheen) assigns her to investigate a series of slayings involving young maquiladora factory women in a Mexican bordertown.
Worker Eva (Maya Zapata), originally from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, takes a bus to go back to her shanty-town home after work. After a while she is the last passenger still in the bus. The driver asks her if she minds if he goes to a gas station to fill up, and Eva agrees. However, he takes her to a remote place and assaults and rapes her, together with another man, who then tries to strangle her. The two men, believing she's dead, bury her alive. With the little energy she has left, Eva escapes.
Adrian heads to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on the U.S.–Mexico border to investigate the murders, hoping that if she does well she will be promoted by Morgan to be a foreign correspondent. In Juárez, Adrian meets up with Diaz (Antonio Banderas), whom she had been working with six years before, and who is now the editor for the local newspaper "El Sol de Juárez". She also meets Eva.
The three try to find the two killers and have them prosecuted. For this purpose she starts working in the factory, in order to act as bait on the bus ride. The driver tries to assault her in the same way he did Eva, and although police assistance has been arranged, they are at the wrong place. She manages to escape her attacker. Later Diaz gets shot and killed in a drive-by shooting. Eva changes her mind and does not want to testify any more for fear of revenge, and tries to flee to the U.S., together with others in the trunk of a car. She gets caught and is sent back. Adrian convinces her to testify after all. For political reasons the Chicago Sentinel refuses to publish Adrian's story. Adrian quits and becomes the editor for El Sol de Juárez. | insanity, murder | train | wikipedia | The idea of the poor Mexican immigrant that wants to better himself, only to see people step all over him, is at the center of this tale.Juan Ramirez, the young lawyer, trying to defend the victim of an accident caused by the young and reckless Dale Elwell, is defeated by a much more experienced Anglo lawyer, who happened to know the system and the judge, obviously.
As a result, Juan, decides to leave L.A. to go to a border town, probably Tijuana, where he becomes a partner of Charlie Roark, a decent man who sees the potential in Johnny, as he calls himself now.What Charlie doesn't know is that he is married to a scheming woman that couldn't care less for him.
She has to get rid of her husband in order to get her hands on his money and looks to Johnny to help her, but of course, he wants nothing to do with her.Paul Muni was a great star at Warner Bros.
In minor roles, the formidable Eugene Palette plays Charlie Roark and Margaret Lindsay is seen as Dale Elwell, the rich girl that provoked the accident.This film is a rarity seldom seen these days..
Her devious upper-class lady is compellingly natural and unaffected, an interesting contrast to Muni's undiluted staginess.Anyway, the movie may be a come-down from Warner's pre-Code product, but still includes a couple of good twists (e.g. the first courtroom scene).
Although Paul Muni does go over the top a bit in Bordertown, the film remains a savage indictment of racism, concentrating as it does on the struggles of one man in a racial/ethnic minority to find a place in this society.In a biography of Paul Muni I read that he deliberately hired a Mexican driver who stayed with him for several weeks so he could copy his mannerisms and get down the proper speech pattern.
He didn't do half bad as Johnny Ramirez, the disbarred attorney who turns to the dark side.The story has Muni bright and eager to start making a living as a lawyer and please his mom Soledad Jimenez who sacrificed a lot so her kid could study law.
Broken in spirit, Muni ends up working for Eugene Palette at a road house as a bouncer.He also catches the eye of Palette's wife played by Bette Davis.
This was the second of two films in which Paul Muni played a person of Mexican background.
Paul Muni was an East European Jew, so naturally he was cast as a Hispanic Californian.Well, heck, to name just one, Leo Carrillo, a native Hispanic Californian, was cast as everything from Greek to French to Italian to Latino, and so many other "ethnic" actors played various nationalities besides their own heritages.Muni apparently wore dark makeup for this role, but it wasn't a stereotype; it was, in fact, a very sympathetic character.Bette Davis never looked lovelier.
For years, I have tried to spread my conspiracy theory that she was not made up, but made down, that she was, in fact, a very lovely lady and the Westmore family apparently had it in for her and put the make-up on in such a way that her looks were coarsened, and she was aged long before her time.She was such a great actress that her looks didn't matter, but she was very attractive and I find it a shame she wasn't allowed to show her natural beauty.The female, though, who stole this movie, both in looks and in animated characterization, was Margaret Lindsay.
PAUL MUNI with dark make-up and an Hispanic accent is a hot-blooded Mexican lawyer who turns to a different sort of life when his career as a lawyer leads nowhere.
On the sidelines watching him is BETTE DAVIS, in one of her early femme fatale roles, a bleached blonde whose advances toward Muni are promptly rebuffed.A sub-plot involving Muni's romance with a society girl (MARGARET LINDSEY) is really rather predictable, especially when she flirts with him from the start and then turns on him when he becomes serious, flinging words at him like "savage" and "brute" and telling him to stay with "his own tribe." The script resolves this ill-fated affair in an abrupt manner before the fade-out.The highlight of the drama is Bette Davis turning on Muni too, on the stand, declaring that he conspired with her to kill her husband, when in fact she is the guilty one.
She goes to pieces on the stand, allowing us a Bette Davis moment that was an indication of the kind of actress she was on the verge of becoming.Frankly, this whole story bears a strong relationship to another tale Warners produced in '41 with Ida Lupino as the stressed out woman filled with guilt over the murder of her husband.
In fact, the whole picture was smoother and produced with more polish than this similar version using some of the same story elements.Summing up: Intense drama suffers from Muni's overacting as the Mexican lawyer and a script that doesn't develop the wife's character sufficiently to lead to her mental breakdown.
"Bordertown" is the story of a Mexican attorney, Johnny Ramirez, and his fight to make something of himself and realize the American dream.
Johnny has also come to the attention of Marie Roark (Bette Davis), the restless wife of the boss, and she throws herself at him.
Marie kills her husband, and when he rejects her again, she tells the police that Johnny killed Roark.Paul Muni was an excellent actor whose style of acting is perhaps dated by today's standards.
In Los Angeles, poor Mexican-American mechanic Paul Muni (as Johnny Ramirez) studies hard to become a lawyer.
Disbarred, and carrying a chip on his shoulder, Muni goes to work as strong-arm manager for gravelly-voiced Eugene Palette (as Charlie Roark) in a Mexican "Bordertown".
However, Muni must fend off bosomy blonde bombshell Bette Davis (as Marie), Mr. Palette' s trophy wife.
Muni prefers pretty socialite Margaret Lindsay (as Dale Elwell)...Eventually, Muni finds himself on the wrong side of the law...The main problem with "Bordertown" is that the message is to stay in your own "place," and with your own "class" of people.
Both would end the year with better roles, and "Academy Award" winning performances.***** Bordertown (1/23/35) Archie Mayo ~ Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Margaret Lindsay, Eugene Palette.
"Bordertown" features a far more convincing performance from Paul Muni, who manages to curtail his usual theatrical approach to film acting.
Paul Muni plays a newly qualified lawyer who decides to make a career for himself near the Mexican border after some problems earlier on in the film.
The second half of "Bordertown" was remade by "Warner Bros" for the 1940 film, "They Drive By Night." It is a coin toss as to who is more fiery and feisty out of Bette Davis and Ida Lupino in the same role.
Young Mexican-American lawyer Johnny Ramirez (Paul Muni) is disbarred after punching out a lawyer who beat him in court!
There Johnny falls for a stuck-up socialite (Margaret Lindsay) while he becomes the object of infatuation for the boss' crazy wife (Bette Davis).Good WB drama with broad but enjoyable performances from Muni and Davis.
In Bordertown, Paul Muni plays a Mexican who gets his United States citizenship and tries to build a new life for himself.
. .Paul Muni fans can rent this movie for another great performance, but if you're looking for a solid Bette Davis performance, this isn't it.
BORDERTOWN (Warner Brothers, 1935), directed by Archie Mayo, stars Paul Muni in one of his many ethnic characterizations for which he is famous.
As much as BORDERTOWN virtually belongs to Muni during its entire 90 minutes, the movie overall is noted more as a Bette Davis film shortly before her achieving super stardom by 1937.
Johnny Farada Ramirez (Paul Muni), is a young Hispanic man living with his people in the Mexican quarter of Los Angeles, California.
After leaving the Café La Paloma with her escort and lawyer friend, Brook Mandigan (Gavin Gordon), socialite Dale Elwell (Margaret Lindsay) drives off in high speed down the road, crashing into the truck driven by Johnny's poor friend, Miguel Diego (Arthur Stone).
A year later, the once down-and-out Johnny Ramirez has now risen from ballroom bouncer to adviser and partner to Charlie Roark (Eugene Pallette), owner of a gambling casino, The Silver Slipper.
Knowing his full worth, Johnny wants and gets his 25 percent interest in Roark's business, thanks to Roark's young and attractive wife, Marie (Bette Davis), who happens to be much more interested in Johnny than her middle-aged, fat businessman husband.
Raft assumes the Muni part as the ambitious trucker while Alan Hale plays the Pallette part of boss and business partner, but it's Ida Lupino who comes off best reprising Davis' impulsive Marie.
For BORDERTOWN, Davis shows her early ability to become a good dramatic actress, especially during the courtroom scene where her method of going insane is different and better constructed than Lupino's.
Though the role of the ambitious Mexican Johnny could have been played by a Hispanic-born actor as Gilbert Roland for example, it's the better known Paul Muni, in darker hairstyle and Spanish accent, who becomes more Mexican by being as opposed to playing a Mexican.
Although the film may occur dated in many respects, the protagonist Johnny Ramirez (played by Paul Muni beautifully fitting to the role) may still have much to offer to a modern viewer.
He seems to be quite a likable character but nobody is his friend on the subject of money.Johnny born in a Mexican quarter of Los Angeles in a very traditional environment (we actually do not have any mention of his father) becomes an attorney at law with a belief that all he needs is strength and a pair of shoes for successful work.
Having overcome much trouble, his final decision may deservedly disappoint viewers...BORDERTOWN is one of the very few films of the old Hollywood where there is no highlight of particular stars.PAUL MUNI does a great job in the role highlighting the character's spontaneous youthful attitude, unrestrained ambition and 'savage' (as labeled by Dale Elwell) manners.
Former crook Juan 'Johnny' Ramirez (Paul Muni) manages to work himself out of his Hispanic slum and become a lawyer.
Encouraged by his mother, he sets up his own office and faces his first court case after wealthy socialite Dale Elwell (Margaret Lindsay) crashes her car into the cart of one of Johnny's poor neighbourhood friends.
But Roarke's bored wife Marie (Bette Davis) has other ideas and sets her sights on running her own club, and seducing Johnny to her cause.This Warner Brothers vehicle for star Paul Muni uses racial stereotypes - of which would be highly condemned nowadays - to portray a damning indictment of the American system and the idea of 'The American Dream'.
Paul Muni plays a Mexican (!!) lawyer trying to make it in law in the Mexican part of LA, but loses his first case badly, not because of his mishandling of the law , but also, as the judge states, he's got that Mexican savage blood in him!
The manager's wife (played by Bette Davis) can't stop making goo-goo eyes at him, even killing her husband to get her our of the way.
Paul Muni never hits a convincing or credible note playing a dirt-poor citizen of Mexico who becomes a lawyer whose affections are caught between two distinctly different women: a classy society dame (Margaret Lindsay) and the vindictive wife of a businessman (Bette Davis).
I just thought I'd mention that in case you decide to purchase it - there is no other way to own it.This film is not an introduction to Bette Davis.
Paul Muni is the actual star as a Latino man with big dreams (Johnny Ramirez) as he finally graduates from night school with a law degree.
A disheartened Johnny wanders down to a border town where he becomes friends with Charlie Roark (Eugene Palette), and soon becomes partners with him in a casino there.
Bette Davis plays Roark's wife who secretly loves Johnny.
She thinks the only thing coming between her and Johnny is her marriage, so she leaves her drunken husband in the garage one night with the car running, making his death look like an accident to the authorities.
However, Johnny really loves a society girl, and this drives Roark's widow to even more desperate measures.Muni's last lines in the film and the apparent moral to the story will have modern audiences probably saying "What the...", but you have to remember this was made in 1935 and appreciate it for the performances..
BORDERTOWN has German-born actor Paul Muni playing Mexican, in a made-up tan and fluctuating "accent".
Anyway, the story of a Mexican lawyer who gets involved with a murderous female while having his own attraction to a patrician socialite (Lindsay) is a better than average crime-drama that would be remade less than ten years later as THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT.
Made at around the time that OF HUMAN BONDAGE had been released, Bette Davis manages to out-act Paul Muni in her portrayal of a very wicked woman with little to no scruples, but despite her manic energy on screen and the blackness of Marie Roark, she remains fairly suppressed down to the moment her character spins out of control in a key scene.
Another is Johnny Ramirez in BORDERTOWN.One can make an excuse for Muni playing a Mexican hero like Benito Juarez.
There was supposed to be similar sympathy for Ramirez, but Muni really blew it apart in the opening of the film.Johnny has just become a lawyer - and has just hung his license up.
Johnny willingly takes the case, but he is a terrible lawyer (and, to tell the truth, anyone seeing this performance would think Muni is a terrible actor - the scene in the court is the worst overacting).
But he subsequently starts working for Charlie Roarke (Eugene Palette), a jolly and good natured man who has a roadhouse with gambling.The plot is that Roarke's wife Marie (Bette Davis) meets Johnny, and falls for him (not hard - he's a romantic Mexican, and look at jolly but short, fat, and old Chalie).
(There are Spoilers) Having studied for five years to get his law degree self-confident in his ability in to practice law Johnny Ramirez, Paul Muni, gets the shock of his short professional career as a small time lawyer when he ends up belting defense lawyer Brook Manville, Gavin Gordon, on his first case.
As things turn out Charlie's scheming wife Marie, Bette Davis, sees in Johnny a meal ticket and tries to make a play for him.
The source of temptation is the alluring Bette Davis, the wife of Muni's portly boss, Eugene Palette.
Paul Muni, Bette Davis and Margaret Lindsay sizzle.
It's based on a Robert Lord story, and Henry O'Neill appears uncredited.Paul Muni plays Johnny, a poor Mexican working as a mechanic while he puts himself through law school.
As a hard worker, Johnny quickly becomes Charlie's partner, earning unwanted affections from his wife Marie (Bette Davis).
Two films that Bette Davis and Paul Muni did together evolved around Spanish heritage-this one and 1939's "Juarez."When I saw this film, I began to think of "They Drive By Night," which came several years later and had Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogard in similar roles where a spurned Lupino, who had killed her husband in the same way that Davis did in the Eugene Palette character, goes berserk when Bogart ignores her.Lupino's outburst in the court that the doors made her do it was much more effective than Davis's insanity scene.Nonetheless, we have an excellent film here with the element of class identity and racism added to the mix.Muni as Johnny Ramirez is perfect.
Ramirez finds success another way, by opening a nightclub after he formed a partnership with Palette and met Palette's bored, lust filled Davis.In a supporting performance, Margaret Lindsay is effective as the high class society spoiled woman who turned the tables on attorney Ramirez in court, only to meet him some time later, when he is a success, but only to reject him again.Remember Rita Moreno's statement in "West Side Story?" Stick to your own kind, stay with your own kind.
It's a shame, though, as some story elements are quite entertaining and in some ways the film is better than its remake, THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (1940).The film begins with Paul Muni playing a Mexican-American graduating from a tiny law school with apparently very low standards.
In fact, Davis wants him so much she kills Palette and makes it appear as if it were an accident.Muni has no idea that Davis is a murderer, but makes the most of the boss' death--building a newer and more successful casino with Davis' money.
As for Lindsay, she's just a shallow dame looking for a good time.At this point, Davis begins acting jealous and placing demands on Muni.
This court scene, frankly, was pretty bad--with Davis overacting and rolling her eyes in a scene so histrionic it made me laugh.Now, acquitted of this murder, Muni runs to Lindsay to ask her to marry him.
Paul Muni and Bette Davis overact monstrously while lacklustre studio hack Archie Mayo seems distracted and oblivious in this racially provocative film that derives its "bittersweet ending" by condoning segregationist attitudes.
Heavy handed and poorly constructed the film collapses under its own weight within the first fifteen minutes with an out of control courtroom scene that it never recovers from as Mr. Muni begins to chew up scenery by the yard hollering and howling away in an almost incoherent fashion.Johnny Ramirez is a Mexican American from the other side of the tracks who through determination and grit attains a law degree from a store front night school.
Margaret Lindsay as Muni's American Dream is cold, remote and flat.Bad as Bordertown is (and it is very) it remains an interesting indicator of the times and acceptable attitudes. |
tt0907852 | Exposed | A police detective investigates the circumstances behind his partner's death. The mysterious case leads to an attempted police cover-up and a dangerous secret involving an unlikely young woman. The two parallel story lines initially appear to have little in common, but as events gradually unfold in the two separate urban worlds, the young woman appears to somehow be involved in the detective's demise.
The dead cop was depraved and corrupt. His colleagues fear that the investigation into his death will bring these facts to light. The results would include bad press for the police department and the loss of his pension for his family. The fear is based on the fact that one of the prime suspects in the case is a young ex-convict who had allegedly been sexually molested with a broomstick wielded by Detective Cullen. Supervisors within the precinct would rather let the murderer go free than to open up a Pandora's Box of troubles for everyone concerned.
Meanwhile in Isabel's private world, she believes that the strange beings she has begun seeing on the streets are angels. Accordingly, she thinks that her mysterious "impossible" pregnancy is a gift from God. Strangely, however, nobody in her family believes her. Surprisingly, they are eventually proven to be correct.
Isabel's "angels" are a fabrication of her own mind. She created them to accompany a fictional narrative that would replace the unbearably traumatic memories of being raped by Detective Cullen on the subway platform the night that her "visions" began. She further suppressed the memory of catching him off guard afterwards and killing him in a fit of righteous rage. The buried memories are released in an avalanche of images after a brief stay at her parents' house triggers a sudden recollection of sexual abuse from her father many years ago.
There is a plot device employing the use of a young girl whom Isabel befriends who, it is finally revealed, is almost as imaginary as her "angels". The girl is revealed to be Isabel as a child. She disappears from the pew in the church as Isabel prays for the strength to accept what has happened. | suspenseful, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | Very tightly executed thriller. Had this recommended to me from a friend. Watched it last night on Amazon VOD and enjoyed it very much. A very dark, exciting and unpredictable story. I also really liked the acting, the actors all did an amazing job. The writing is very good too, and I feel like they did a really good job of avoiding tired old thriller cliché's and character tropes. This one really kept me guessing!If you are into more dark thrillers with a bit of an indie edge I would really recommend this film. To be honest, I was getting a little tired of the genre and only took a viewing of it based on a recommendation from a friend and I can't say I am disappointed at all. Check this film out if you can, it's worth it. |
tt1570989 | Tiny Furniture | Having been dumped by her boyfriend after graduation, Aura (Lena Dunham) moves back home to her mother's loft in TriBeCa for the summer. Aura's plan is to save money until her friend Frankie finishes her degree at Oberlin College and can move to the city so that they can be roommates. Aura's mother Siri is a successful photographer who takes pictures of scenes using tiny furniture. She is aided by Candice, her assistant, and Aura's teenage sister, Nadine. Siri is initially supportive of her daughter's return home while Nadine appears condescending toward her. Upon moving back into her old room, Nadine commands Aura to replace a lightbulb. While searching for one, Aura stumbles upon her mother's journals from when she was Aura's age, and she begins reading them clandestinely.
Shortly after arriving home, Aura goes to a party where she meets Jed, a mildly successful filmmaker who puts his work on YouTube. She also runs into her childhood friend Charlotte (Jemima Kirke), a recovering drug addict. She and Aura return to Charlotte's apartment that night, where they smoke marijuana. Charlotte also helps Aura land an $11/hour (no tips) job taking reservations at a restaurant. The news that she has landed a job is quickly overshadowed by the fact that Nadine has won a prestigious poetry prize for high school students. Aura begins to feel anxious in comparison to her put-together younger sister and resents the close bond between Nadine and their mother.
Depressed, Aura begins to spend time with Jed, who is couchsurfing as his agent tries to land him a TV development deal, and flirts with Keith (David Call), a junior chef at the restaurant. When her mother and sister leave for a week in order to tour colleges, Aura invites Jed to stay with her. Together they discover that Aura's pet hamster Gilda has died, and they store it in the freezer in a plastic bag until Aura can bury her. Jed and Aura ultimately neglect to take care of the apartment while drinking most of Siri's wine and eating frozen dinners. Siri eventually confronts Aura about these things upon her return, which Aura first lies about before throwing a tantrum in front of her mother and sister. Despite this, Aura later asks her mom to let Jed extend his visit by having him stay on an inflatable mattress in her room. She is eventually forced to kick him out after he annoys Siri with his entitled attitude.
Meanwhile, Aura's flirtation with Keith hits a snag when she discovers he has a girlfriend and only seems interested in her ability to obtain prescription pills through Charlotte. After Keith stands her up when they make plans to get high together, Aura impulsively quits her restaurant job. Later that night, Nadine has a party in their loft while their mother is out for the night. Aura becomes ostensibly upset by the number of drunk high schoolers at the party, and calls Charlotte to help deal with the situation. Charlotte, however, only enjoys the party for herself. Nadine eventually confronts Aura over her immaturity, yelling at her to grow up. The next morning, Aura's mother finds the frozen hamster in the freezer, which Aura promptly disposes of. Aura also tells a bewildered Frankie that she no longer can move in with her, offering the excuse that her mother needs her too much.
Unsure of what to do with her filmmaking degree, Aura lucks out when Charlotte asks a curator friend to put one of Aura's college videos in his gallery. At the exhibit, Charlotte is annoyed when Frankie appears to discuss living arrangements with Aura. Charlotte encourages Aura to leave Frankie in order to spend time with Keith, who also showed up. Ditching Frankie, Aura goes with Keith and the two smoke marijuana in the street. Encouraged by Charlotte's earlier advice to be spontaneous, Aura makes a move on Keith who, despite still being in a relationship, responds with passion. As Keith still lives with his girlfriend and Aura cannot bring him to her mother's apartment, the two crawl into a pipe in a construction yard where they have unprotected sex.
Returning home, Aura fights with her mother but eventually apologizes. She later climbs into bed with her and tells her about her evening with Keith. Aura confesses to having read her diaries, though her mother calmly replies she is not upset over it. Aura uses the opportunity to get to know her mother, and asks her about what she was like when she was Aura's age. | psychedelic, boring | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0086802 | Snorks | The Snorks are a race of small, colorful beings that live happily in the undersea world of Snorkland. They have snorkels on their heads, which are used to propel them swiftly through the water. As evidenced by the cartoon series, when a Snork becomes excited their tube makes a "snork" sound. They have much of the same technology as contemporary humans, adapted to their own aquatic environment. The Snorks use clams as currency ("clams" is also a slang term for money).
According to the Snork back-story, which was described in the show's first opening theme, a few ventured to the surface (which the Snorks believe is "outer space") in 1643, and watched a Royal Navyship of the Spanish Armada being attacked by pirates. The captain wound up in the water, and that was the first contact between the species when the Snorks saved his life, to which the captain then expressed his gratitude by writing down the encounter in his logbook, although very few humans believe in the existence of the Snorks. Since then, Snorks have adopted several human habits, such as wearing clothes.
There are a few episodes which have human encounters with the Snorks. In the episode "Allstar's Freshwater Adventure", the Snorks (who are saltwater snorks) meet freshwater snorks. Freshwater snorks have two snorkels on their head and a distinctive biochemistry from saltwater snorks. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0095990 | Return of the Living Dead: Part II | The story begins with a military truck transporting barrels of Trioxin. The soldier, driving the vehicle through a downpour, is unaware when a barrel breaks loose and falls into a river. The next morning, a young boy, Jesse Wilson, is at the cemetery with two local bullies. The trio investigate the Trioxin tank that they find, and Jesse warns them that they should not tamper with it. The bullies trap Jesse in a derelict mausoleum and leave him. They then return to the trioxin tank and release the toxic gas. A van pulls up to the graveyard, introducing the characters Ed, Joey, and Brenda. Ed explains to Joey that they are there to rob graves; Brenda expresses her fears for cemeteries, but Joey assures her that it will be worth their time and leaves Brenda in the van. He heads into the cemetery with Ed. They decide to loot the mausoleum and open the locked doors, releasing Jesse, who immediately runs home. At his home, Jesse watches his older sister, Lucy, doing aerobic exercises to a work-out video; she tells Jesse to do his homework or he will be grounded.
Later, in the night, a cable technician arrives at the Wilson house to install cable TV. As he enters, Jesse manages to sneak out the back door and heads to Billy's home, one of the bullies from earlier. Upon Jesse's arrival, Billy's mother tells Jesse of Billy's illness and allows him a brief visit. Jesse is shocked to see the effect of the Trioxin, which is making Billy ill. Billy whimpers to Jesse not to tell what they've found, but is interrupted by his mother, who asks Jesse to leave. Jesse returns to the sewer drains to further examine the Trioxin tank, and finds a phone number for the military. He is attacked by a tar-covered zombie who has escaped from the tank. He flees to the cemetery and witnesses a hand reaching from one of the graves and runs home before the zombies rise.
Ed and Joey are still inside the Mausoleum and witness a zombie awakening from its tomb. They club him with a crowbar, which has no effect. Outside, a worried Brenda enters the cemetery, unaware of what is going on. She is spooked by a zombie's approach and tries to flee, only to be stopped by a zombie that has crept up on her from behind. She punches him, crushing his face, and runs deeper into the graveyard. Brenda encounters Joey and a frantic Ed, and they escape to the streets, where they meet Billy's parents and warn them of the zombies before fleeing. Jesse returns home to an angry Lucy, who chases him into their parents' bedroom; he locks the door and calls the military for help and is placed on hold.
Outside Joey, Ed, and Brenda steal Tom's van and accidentally knock a zombie into a telephone pole, disconnecting Jesse's call. Billy's father threatens them with a gun, but he is attacked by the supposedly-dead zombie. The streets are now flooded with the living dead, and the traumatized group run to the Wilson house for refuge. After they enter, an argument occurs over what is happening; Joey and Ed also show symptoms very similar to Billy's. Jesse assures everyone that they're zombies and that Dr. Tom Mandel, a neighbor, can help them all escape. Billy's mother leaves her house and sees her husband being eaten by a group of zombies. She quickly returns to her house, removing her glasses, and is then killed by a now-zombified Billy. Jesse and his group make their way to the Doctor's house and get trapped in his garage. Zombies break in but the doctor escapes with Jesse and the others in a vehicle. Tom drives through a horde of zombies, knocking one onto the car's roof. During their journey, the zombie reaches through an open window, only to have its hand cut off. The hand continues to attack before it is thrown from the car's window.
Arriving at a deserted hospital, Joey's and Ed's health deteriorate. Jesse, Lucy, and Tom leave to get more ammunition and guns from their uncle's home after realizing there is no help. Dr. Mandel tells Brenda that Joey and Ed are more or less dead; she vehemently disagrees with the diagnosis and calls him a quack. She leaves with the dying Joey; Ed, however, follows - much to Brenda's annoyance. They are stopped by three military men wielding guns. Ed attacks one, eating his brains, and the two remaining soldiers drive off, leaving Brenda helpless. Ed is occupied with eating his victim, so Brenda uses this opportunity to ditch him, and escapes with Joey. In the car, Joey transforms into a zombie. He confesses that he wants to eat Brenda's brains and attacks her; she escapes unhurt from the car and bumps into a dazed zombie. She manages to get her hand trapped in the zombie's mouth, and rips his jaw from his face. Joey runs toward her and chases her into an empty church, explaining that he wants her spicy brains. Brenda retaliates by saying, "I'm not into dead guys!" Joey explains that he loves her. Seeing no other option, Brenda allows him to eat her brains.
The others return to the hospital and collect Dr. Mandel. They devise a plan to lead the zombies to a power plant and electrocute them all, using a trail of frozen brains. After arriving at the plant, they place brains into puddles of water, with electrical wires in each puddle. Zombies ambush them after Billy opens the large entry gates. Lucy and Tom hide in the back of the truck, and zombies begin breaking through the truck's door. Jesse, who is now inside the plant, is attacked by Billy and stabs him with a screwdriver. Jesse activates the power, killing all of the zombies. Billy walks in, holding the screwdriver, and pushes Jesse onto a control panel. While this is happening, a large transformer falls through the roof. Dr Mandel distracts Billy by telling him his fly is open, and Jesse kicks Billy into the transformer, electrocuting him. As Jesse, Lucy, Tom, and Dr. Mandel leave the plant, the military arrives to dispose of the bodies with flamethrowers. | cult, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0084044 | Hajji Washington | A fictionalized account of the first Iranian ambassador in the United States, Hajji Hossein-Gholi Noori, a loyal Qajar statesman who goes to Washington to found the embassy. After meeting with President Grover Cleveland, Haji proudly rents a mansion and hires several servants and staff, however there are no Iranians in Washington and the embassy does not have any visitors. Haunted by nostalgia for home and his beloved daughter, Haji becomes plagued by nightmares. In his reports to the King, he writes exaggerated narrations of his activities using grandiose ornamented language. Funds dwindle and the embassy begins to disintegrate; the staff leaves and Haji’s dialogue with the King slowly declines into a personal monologue. One night president Cleveland shows up in the embassy. An excited Haji entertains his guest single-handedly while dreaming of writing another grandiose letter to the King of Persia only to learn that his guest is no longer president of United States, but a simple farmer who wants to learn how to grow pistachios. Not long after, a Native American enters the embassy to seek asylum and a friendship grows despite their inability to communicate. Haji refuses to handover the refugee and is removed from his post. Haji, now in the state of madness and absolute silence, boards the boat to return home. | alternate history | train | wikipedia | null |
tt6581364 | Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai | The story revolves around the Shekhari Rajput family – a blind brother Rishabh and his younger sister Geetanjali. The story begins with the love Story of Geetanjali and Captain Abhimanyu Singh Rathore, a military officer. Though refused by her brother, Geetanjali disobeys him and marries Abhimanyu. This outrages Rishabh, but he finally accepts them. The story takes a u-turn with death of Abhimanyu in a car crash. Since his body is not found Geetanjali believes him to be still alive.
The story takes a 7 year leap. There is an entry of a boy named Priyam who tells himself to be an incarnation of Abhimanyu, which he proves to Geetanjali all the time, but her brother does not believe him. He reveals that death of Abhimanyu was a murder not an accident. This causes Geetanjali to spy over. She slowly starts doubting on everyone. She doubts on her brother when learns about Ragini her brothers{rishabh} past and than comes to know that her choti maa, Kavya and Driver were involved in Abhimanyu's murder. But before she could tell anyone, she is trapped in the passage by Ratna. She is saved at the last moment by Priyam. Thinking about how to reveal Choti Maa, she plans Chanda's marriage and lures out the driver Radheshyam who was pretending dead until now. The driver Radheshyam tries to attack Geetanjali in the party but Rajveer saves her. Then Geetanjali tells everyone that choti maa is responsible for Abhimanyu's death and asks her to leave the house. Priyam scares Rishab that he would be his next target. Next morning Geetanjali meets Ragini and later confronts Rishabh about Ragini and their relationship. Priyam gets kidnapped and Geetanjali blames Rishab for it. In the evening during the karwa chauth function, Geetanjali gets stuck in the fire and a masked man saves her. The masked man is revealed to be Abhimanyu. Meanwhile, police bring back Priyam. Both Priyam and Abhimanyu together say,"main aa gaya hun gaura, tumhara abhimanyu laut aaya hai" Geetanjali is too tensed on seeing Abhimanyu as he says that he has lost his memory on the accident and remembers nothing but her name. Geetanjali runs to her room. Abhimanyu challenges Priyam in gun assembling competition and wins the competition. Geetanjali burns up the things of Abhimanyu and gets unconscious when Rishabh and Abhimanyu break in. Meanwhile, Khushi (Geetanjali's cousin) comes to know that Priyam is a fraud and that he has a very good memory and remembers everything when taught to him. He was a 10 year old orphan not a 6 year old boy and his actual name was Varun. She tries to warn Geetanjali but it's late. By now Priyam already gave the last dose of pills to Geetanjali. Later, through Khushi, Rajveer and Rishabh comes to know that Abhimanyu had adopted Priyam to make Geetanjali mad and their staff was loyal to Abhimanyu and they used to give illusion pills to Geetanjali so that she gets the illusion of Abhimanyu's ghost, all this was done by Abhimanyu and his family to take revenge for their daughter's death (Ragini who was Abhimanyu's elder sister. She committed suicide after Rishabh ditched her on the last moment of wedding. It is believed from the previous episodes that Rishabh was madly in love with her and used to hear her voice recordings. Also Ragini is the mystery behind Abhimanyu's favorite song "Lag ja galle" which is hated by Rishabh.) But Geetanjali knew it, as she had found a microphone-speaker which falled from Priyam's ear and heard their plan. She vows to take revenge from Abhimanyu for the fraud and cheating. Geetanjali sets up her fake murder story with the help of Rajveer and plans to blame Abhimanyu for it. Geetanjali and Rajveer got the evidence to prove Abhimanyu culprit but abhimanyu runs away to Bikaner. This was their trap to get revenge from him. In the train to Bikaner Geetanjali disguise as a banjaran Chamki but Abhimanyu didn't see her face. After the train reached Bikaner he saw her face and was shocked. He followed her to a fair where she displays her aiming skills. Abhimanyu took three test to confirm her identity, about which Geetanjali and Rajveer knew already. He took her knife for figure print test but Geetanjali was wearing gloves, they swapped DNA test reports and the last test was Geetanjali's phobia. Geetanjali is Claustrophobic but when Abhimanyu tested her she faught her fear and passed the test. Abhimanyu told her whole story and asked for her help. Firstly Chamki refused but then agreed for sake of money. Inspector saw Geetanjali and believed that she's alive and Abhimanyu's charges are cleared. Rishabh didn't believed her and thought she was a fraud. In order to check her he took her to Geetanjali's horse, who allows only Geetanjali to ride on him. When Geetanjali was riding the horse she knew the horse recognized her and Abhimanyu will get doubtful about her identity so Rajveer used an ultrasonic whistle who's voice is heard by the animals only, and animal become restless hearing that sound. With this Rishabh gets confirmed that the girl is a fraud and Bhavani started believing her loyalty. She asks half of the property as fees for acting as Geetanjali. Slowly they target Abhimanyu to to doubt on everyone for different reasons. Later it came to know that the Inspector who was the incharge of Geetanjali's murder, the doctor who treated Geetanjali before declaring her dead and Rajveer were childhood friends and they helped them in every single step. First Abhimanyu doubts on Ratana for trying to kill Chamki and frame him for Geetanjali's murder. He orders her to prove her loyalty by transforming Chamki to Geetanjali so that everyone in Geetanjali's birthday party believes that Geetanjali is alive, but on the other hand Rishabh is trying to kill Chamki so that Abhimanyu gets the punishment of his deeds. Rishab and Munshi hire a killer to kill Chamki at Geetanjali's birthday party. However, Rishab finds out Chamki is Geetanjali and saves her from the arrow. He gets wounded and Geetanjali screams and cries. Abhimanyu is once again suspicious of her being Gaura and kidnaps her. They have a brawl and Abhimanyu once again believes Chamki to be different than Gaura because Chamki didn't have the knife mark on her back. Abhimanyu and Chamki reconcile and Chamki is dropped off at the hospital to continue her acting as the loyal sister. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Kavya is Bhavani's illegitimate daughter. Bhavani had raped Ratna and got her impregnated. To hide that fact, he got her married to Rishab's father. Kavya is shocked and leaves the room and cries to god for being so unfair. Just then, Munshi comes and tells her the truth of Chamki. Kavya goes to the hospital to clarify what Munshi said is right or not. In his subconscious sense, Rishab blurts out all the truth and Kavya finally knows that Geetanjali is Chamki. Munshi and Kavya drug Rishab and just when Geetanjali arrives at the hospital, Kavya blackmails Rajveer and Geetanjali. She puts up the condition that if they want to keep everything a secret, Geetanjali has to transfer all the property to Kavya and Rajveer has to marry her. Geetanjali refuses but Kavya, with the help of Munshi, scares Geetanjali by taking off Rishab's oxygen mask and tells Geetanjali that she will kill Rishab. Rajveer tells Geetanjali to not give in but Geetanjali agrees. Geetanjali tells her that the property isn't under her name yet and Kavya tells her to seduce Abhimanyu into signing it. Geetanjali returns home and cries about how she has to be close to the person she hates the most. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai. A review on actors:-Surbhi Jyoti (Geetanjali)- Surbhi is a wonderful actress. However she did not impress me much in the first episodes. I felt she over acted at many places. She has the potential to do much much better. She did too much in some places. She was nice as a serious person but the lively chirpy role was not finished properly by her.Shoaib Ibrahim (Abhimanyu)- Shoaib did a good job, he is perfectly out of the 'Prem Bharadwaj' image. He was quite impressive. It is too early to give a detailed reviewSharad Kelkar (Rishab)- Sharad did a very good job, playing a blind person is not at all easy. He did the role with ease. Expecting a lot more from him in the upcoming episodes.Shaleen Malhotra(Rajveer)- Shaleen did not have that much of role in these episodes. His screen time was quite less. Too early to give a detailed comment. Whatever he did was done with ease. He suited the role.Nivedita Bhattacharya (Choti Maa)- She did a lot of justice to the character. Proper show of emotions. Amazing! Waiting for more from her.Sreejita De (Kavya)- Sreejita's screen time was very less. Her portrayal of a 'spoilt' girl fed up of her mother for giving more attention to Geetanjali was done beautifully. Too early to comment on her too.Ekroop Bedi (Chanda) – Ekroop Bedi did a fine job, especially in the scene where the 'spirit is said to be entering' . She is a good actress. She will do well in the upcoming episodes hopefully.Mita Vashisht (Bhairavi-the Tantrik type lady 😛)- Mita did a very good job. I don't know why I felt the double voice in the beginning was unnecessary. Perhaps the makers were trying to give a spooky effect. OK but not needed. In the next scene of hers, that double voice was not there. She has the capacity to do this role beautifully.. vote. Wonderful serial i like it Surbhi Jyoti (Geetanjali)- Surbhi is a wonderful actress. However she did not impress me much in the first episodes. I felt she over acted at many places. She has the potential to do much much better. She did too much in some places. She was nice as a serious person but the lively chirpy role was not finished properly by her.Shoaib Ibrahim (Abhimanyu)- Shoaib did a good job, he is perfectly out of the 'Prem Bharadwaj' image. He was quite impressive. It is too early to give a detailed reviewSharad Kelkar (Rishab)- Sharad did a very good job, playing a blind person is not at all easy. He did the role with ease. Expecting a lot more from him in the upcoming episodes.Shaleen Malhotra(Rajveer)- Shaleen did not have that much of role in these episodes. His screen time was quite less. Too early to give a detailed comment. Whatever he did was done with ease. He suited the role.Nivedita Bhattacharya (Choti Maa)- She did a lot of justice to the character. Proper show of emotions. Amazing! Waiting for more from her.Sreejita De (Kavya)- Sreejita's screen time was very less. Her portrayal of a 'spoilt' girl fed up of her mother for giving more attention to Geetanjali was done beautifully. Too early to comment on her too.Ekroop Bedi (Chanda) – Ekroop Bedi did a fine job, especially in the scene where the 'spirit is said to be entering' . She is a good actress. She will do well in the upcoming episodes hopefully.Mita Vashisht (Bhairavi-the Tantrik type lady 😛)- Mita did a very good job. I don't know why I felt the double voice in the beginning was unnecessary. Perhaps the makers were trying to give a spooky effect. OK but not needed. In the next scene of hers, that double voice was not there. She has the capacity to do this role beautifully.. Totally different from saas-bahu clichés on TV. It's definitely one of the best shows on Indian TV in recent times. At a time when some viewers were getting bored with same old saas-bahu, supernatural or clichéd love story type serials; Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai came as a blessing for them. It's a refreshing change on Indian TV. The show not only had a different genre like suspense thriller, but it also highlights a social issue like honour killing, which still exists in some parts of India. So besides being an engaging thriller, it also gives social message against honour killing, which is definitely a praiseworthy attempt on TV.The story was totally unique, the script was pacy & gripping. The background score & cinematography is par with movies. All the actors have done their job beautifully. Sharad Kelkar was brilliant as blind Rishabh. Rishabh's anger, pain, emotions, cruelty; everything he portrayed beautifully. Surbhi Jyoti, Shoaib Ibrahim, Sreejita Dey, Shaleen Malhotra, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Ekroop Bedi, Sudesh Berry; everyone was very good in their respective roles. But for me, acting-wise, child actor Varun Buddhadev as Priyam stole the show. he beautifully portrayed Priyam's innocent as well as grey side. He deserves this year's best child actor award. And Megha Gupta's cameo was as Ragini was also very good.There are some loopholes in the show, but if you compare it with other serials, you will forget these faults. The script is so powerful that you will easily ignore these faults.The best thing is every character has something to do here & no character is wasted. Almost every character has grey shades, which is a very rare thing on TV. That's why every actor got ample scope to perform their roles.On the whole, Koi Laut Ke Aaya Hai is totally different from today's clichéd serials in every aspects. Unique story, gripping screenplay, dark & well thought-out characters, good acting, a social message & most importantly, short duration of only 33 episodes are its plus points. A welcome change from saas-bahus & naag-naagins. |
tt3148890 | Embrace of the Vampire | Charlotte is a "chaste" good girl, who is having some very bad dreams about sex. Her dreams are the only place where her dream lover is a dark, handsome vampire; however, that is a bit of a dilemma for her real-life boyfriend, who is not quite as fascinating as the vampire dream boy. Charlotte is given the choice between staying with her life as she knows it, or becoming a part of the vampire's world. There is also the usual struggle between such opposing entities, as Charlotte sees that not only does she have to choose between her boyfriend and her mysterious night-time visitor, but also between light and dark, and good and evil. In the end, after briefly kissing Milo and being interrupted by Eliza, the campus slut (who was killed by the vampire by banging her head against the wall, then licking the blood from the wall), she ends up having the dream one last time. This time, the vampire is telling her to come to him, as he believes there is nothing left for her here (on earth). After some dream scenes, finally, Charlotte is in the tower with the vampire. Chris (her boyfriend) is there, but the vampire pushes Chris away, and is about to put the bite on her when she utters Chris's name; he at first tells her not to think of Chris and instead think of himself and her as a couple. Then, after Charlotte utters Chris's name again, the vampire then says that she cannot take his life to the eternal life, and disappears. Charlotte and Chris wake up in the morning and kiss, and the vampire is destroyed while laying in a sunbeam. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt3398252 | Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance | In 1991, after taking down the Katana crime organization, Detective Joe Marshall plans to settle down with his wife Jennifer when she is suddenly murdered at a park. Twenty-five years later, Fuj Fujiyama has reorganized Katana Inc., but they are in the middle of a gang war with the Shinjuku and Ginza clans. He informs his Vice President Doggé Sakamoto and subordinates that the war has awakened Joe, and they must defeat him in order to secure the future of the clan.
Following the murder of a senator at the hands of Katana agent Hera and the Katana's massacre of the Shinjuku at a night club, Detective Frank Washington is led to a secret compound 400 miles away from Los Angeles and reunites with Joe, who had been in hiding for decades. After dispatching a group of ninjas at the compound, Joe reluctantly agrees to once again team up with Frank after being told that the case of his wife's murder will be reopened for his vengeance. After being reinstated as a detective, Joe proposes to set up a surveillance on the warring clans. At the same time, he develops a relationship with a brunette woman named Milena Roberts, but cannot help that she reminds him of Jennifer.
During a surveillance mission, Joe enters a nightclub, where he is suddenly greeted by a blonde Milena before a shootout between the Katana and the Ginza ensues. One night, Frank reveals to Joe that Milena is not who she says she is. The next day, Frank is suspended due to his failure to stop the war while Joe is informed that the case is now under the jurisdiction of FBI Agent Carter, who is actually the Ginza's new leader. Joe and Frank decide to work above the law to take down all the clans at the secret hideout known as "The Complex". Joe storms through The Complex and encounters the Ginza clan before Carter is suddenly gunned down by Mola Ram, leader of the Yick Lung clan. He kills Fujiyama and his henchwomen, then defeats Doggé in a sword fight. Linton Kitano, the new leader of the Shinjuku clan, battles Joe and is swiftly taken down, but confesses to Joe that he was the one who murdered Jennifer 25 years ago. Linton prepares to commit seppuku, but Milena intervenes, revealing that she is his sister and they used Joe to infiltrate the Katana and help the Shinjuku become the only clan in the country. A disillusioned Joe leaves The Complex and parts ways with Frank and Detective Higgins before Lauren Kimura, a former Katana henchwoman, proposes to join forces with him. | violence, cruelty, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0308674 | Oomai Vizhigal | A group of college girls, driving a light blue matador, arrive at Chola Picnic Village. They book a hotel room by a picnic spot. At night they go out to the beach, light a bonfire, and enjoy singing and dancing. After the song ends, the girls return to the hotel. One of the girls, Vasanthi, separates from the group. She comes across a pi shaped bell stand, and rings it three times. A man, P.R.K, appears, riding on a carriage. He looks into her eyes, and rides Vasanthi down, grabbing her hair and kidnapping her.
The next scene shows Raja entering into the Chola Picnic Village. He takes some photos, and comes across the pi shaped bell stand. A beldam is found to sit below it, and he snaps a photo of her. Wandering farther, he finds a priest, and introduces himself as Assistant Editor for the Dhinamurasu Magazine. Raja asks about a girl's body, that four to five days ago, was found floating by the Picnic Village's beach. He says that the police reported the murder as a suicide, and that he would like some clarifications. The priest refuses to answer, and Raja takes a photo of him. Lakshmana, the younger brother of P.R.K, shows up, smoking a cigarette. Raja leaves.
Chandran is the editor of the Dhinamurasu Magazine. He and Raja develop the photos and Chandran asks Raja how he is getting such sensational news. Raja tells Chandran he has a source in the suspect's house. Her name is Uma, and she is a stenographer. The suspect is none other than MLA Saanthanathan. The phone rings in the MLA's house and Velu asks Uma to answer the phone. She picks up the phone and says that a person named P.R.K wants to talk with MLA. Uma overhears their conversation through her phone. P.R.K tells Sattanathan that an editor came to Picnic Village to enquire about the girl's death. Saanthanathan says that he will take care it.
The next morning, Chandran receives a phone call at his office from an inspector who asks why the newspaper is carrying on an unnecessary investigation. Chandra tells him to mind his words. Vijay, a friend of Raja, joins the magazine. Raja and Vijay stay in Devi's house for rent. The next day, Raja brings Uma's blind father and leaves in her house. There Devi is found seating.He says to her that in two-three days he wants some clarification's regarding the Picnic Village. Vijay-Devi and Raja-Uma were fall in love together. When the birth day of Uma, she was killed by MLA in front of Raja. The case is sent to DSP Deenathayalan for investigation.
Then the scene shifts to a newly married couple, Ramesh and Shanthi, honeymooning at Chola Picnic Village. They spend the time merrily, but during that time they are being watched by the beldam. By the time Maamarathu poo song finishes, it becomes night and when the couples are involved in romance in the hotel room, P.R.K comes and makes karthik fall down unconscious. Then Shanthi escapes from the village, where she is being helped by passerby whose car suddenly stops. When P.R.K opens the gate of the village and approaches her to kill her the car starts and that passerby admit her at a hospital. He also informs vijay about a girl who was coming undressed from the village and he has admitted her in a hospital. By the time raja arrives there,one of Sattanathan's people go there to kill Shanthi. He hide in shanthi's room to kill her. Raja comes there in time and he is stabbed by that thug. Raja also kills that thug and brings Shanthi to DSP's house and dies there. Vijay gets disheartened on seeing this. Then Peter, Ramesh, and Vijay all join hands in order to know the reason why P.R.K does this. After this P.R.K gets everyone and chains them. He also reveals that he loved someone, especially her eyes but she cheated, so he wanted take eyes from the girls he see, actually Beldam is his step mother who gives him info about the girls. At last DSP gets to know about this and punishes everyone. Ramesh and Shanthi rejoin thus making the end of silent eyes. | murder | train | wikipedia | Oomai Vizhigal (U/A)---------Rating:4/5. Oomai Vizhigal (U/A)---------Rating:4/5Extraordinary suspense thriller.... but a very long movie.....A group of college girls come in a light blue matador to Chola Picnic Village.They take a room in a hotel at that Picnic Spot.It becomes night and it is a full moon day. They go out the beach,lit a bonfire and enjoy by singing and dancing for Raathiri Nerathu Poojayil. After the song gets over,all the girls return to the Hotel. One of them is missing, that is Vasanthi. One of the girls ask among themselves where is vasanthi and one of the girl answers that she has gone for walking along with her pet dog Rita. She comes across a bell hung in a "Pie symbol" based structure. The bell is tied to one of the legs of the structure. She looks at it,goes near it and rings it for 3 times. Then a beldam is shown who is sleeping on woods and suddenly gets up on hearing the bell sound and looks scarily on both the sides and then again goes to sleep. Then a Berlin carriage is shown in which one of the horse rubs the ground with one of its legs. Then it is shown that Vasanthi stops ringing the bell and returns back trying to lift the dog and carry it. But the dog barks and PRK is found to stand on the cocking cart with a cigar in his mouth. He looks into her eyes.Then the dog gets frightened and runs away.He sits on the footman's seat of the carriage and whips it. The cart moves and Vasanthi starts running(Rita is also shown running in a frightened voice). At one point of time, PRK gets hold her hair and takes her along with him. The next scene shows Raja entering into the Chola Picnic Village |
tt0059601 | Una pistola per Ringo | The film opens as the films protagonist, a gunfighter known as "Angel Face" or Ringo, kills four men in a gunfight. He is then arrested for manslaughter and locked up in the city jail where he awaits trial.
Meanwhile, Major Clyde and his daughter Ruby are celebrating Christmas with several guests on their ranch. They are interrupted by a bandit gang who storm the hacienda and take them hostage. The bandits have narrowly escaped from a bank robbery in which their leader Sancho has been wounded. In a desperate attempt to deter their pursuers, they decide to hold the family hostage threatening to execute two a day until they are allowed to go free.
The house is surrounded by a posse led by the town sheriff, however he fears for the safety of the hostages, including his fiancee Ruby, if he attempts to free the hostage by force. He decides to enlist the aid of Ringo, who agrees to infiltrate the gang and free the hostages in exchange for his freedom and a percentage of the stolen money.
He manages to successfully join up with the gang, posing as a fellow outlaw on the run, however Ringo's plans quickly become complicated as Sancho begins ordering the execution of hostages as well as the tension within the house as Delores, Sancho's woman, encourages Major Clyde's romantic feelings while one of Sancho's men begins making advances towards Major Clyde's daughter, Ruby. He at first seems to double-cross the sheriff, however he succeeds in deceiving Sancho and allows the sheriff and his posse to storm the hacienda freeing the hostages and defeating Sancho and his bandits. | western, violence | train | wikipedia | This is one of the better Spaghetti Westerns I've watched but whose reputation despite the popularity of the title character seems to me to be relatively underrated (and the film itself criminally unavailable in an affordable DVD edition; the same thing goes for its follow-up, THE RETURN OF RINGO [1965]).While pretty straightforward in comparison to later efforts in the genre (often politically-motivated and thus heavy-going), just because it's unpretentious the film emerges as more readily enjoyable than most of its type benefiting from the presence of Giuliano Gemma (certainly one of the more likable Italian stars in spite of a somewhat limited range), a typically fine score by Ennio Morricone, but also the unusual time-frame of the plot (it's set largely inside a hacienda under siege over the Christmas period!).
Besides, there are agreeable (though not over-emphasized) touches of humor throughout to counter the exciting action sequences, some surprisingly good dialogue (director Tessari also wrote the script) and, equally unexpected for such an early Spaghetti Western, interesting characterizations.
In fact, the milksop hero is an opportunist who's extremely resourceful at outwitting burly villain Fernando Sancho; the latter's woman played by Nieves Navarro, better known as Susan Scott, and the wife of the film's co-producer Luciano Ercoli is an elegant and seductive Mexican who wins the affections of the aristocratic owner of the remote mansion where the gang is holed in; while the old man's daughter, fiancée of the sheriff but who gradually falls for Gemma, is coveted by one of Sancho's lecherous cronies.Most of the cast and crew were re-assembled soon after for THE RETURN OF RINGO which is superior to the original (mainly because the Homeric inspiration of that film's narrative adds some much-needed depth to the protagonist) but, starting off with Gemma coming home from the Civil War, is actually a prequel to it: his military duty is mentioned in passing in A PISTOL FOR RINGO, though not the fact that he had been married (the latter is possibly an added element to the second film so that Gemma could finally get together with leading lady Lorella Di Luca, billed as Hally Hammond)..
This is the original installment from Gemma-Tessari trilogy formed by ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and ¨Kiss, Kiss , Bang , Bang¨ , though the later is set in modern times and deal with a heist .
All of them are amusing and entertaining and starred by similar cast as Gemma , Fernando Sancho , Lorella De Luca , Nieves Navarro and Antonio Casas ; furthermore same artistic equipment .
They are familiar films , in fact , the actress Lorella De Luca married director Duccio Tessari and Nieves Navarro married the producer Luciano Ercoli .
Meanwhile , the gang of a nasty Mexican named Sancho (Fernando Sancho) and his bandits ( Nazzareno Zamperla , Jose Luis Martin) trespass the little town and occupy a mansion and take the ranch and its inhabitants as hostages following the foiled getaway .
The ranch is surrounded but when Sancho threatens to murder two hostages a day unless he and his band are freed , the local Sheriff ( Jorge Martin) who has his bride among the hostages , gets no option but to send in Ringo.
Ringo goes the ranch and seeks vengeance against Sancho's hoodlums (Nazzareno Zamperla , Jose Luis Martin , Frank Oliveras ) who kill , mistreat countrymen and attempt to rape a young ( Lorella De Luca) .
Ringo comes to the ranch just in time to make sure its inhabitants , taking place a cat and mouse game , but later the events get worse .This Western is superior than subsequent entries because it displays thrills , stirring adventures, shoot'em up , riding pursuits and is pretty amusing .
This is a good S.W. plenty of action , shootouts , fist-play and some touches of humor in charge of Giuliano Gemma character .
As always , the musician Ennio Morricone, composes a nice Spaghetti soundtrack and well conducted and splendid leitmotif ; it's full of enjoyable sounds and emotive score .This Italian writer / filmmaker Duccio Tessari so consistently mixed the good with the mediocre that it became quite impossible to know what to expect from him next .
He directed five Western with abundant touches of humor as ¨Vivi o preferibilment Morti¨, ¨Don't turn the other cheek¨ and ¨Zorro¨ with Alain Delon and of course ¨Ringo ¨and sequel , mostly starred with his fetish actor Giuliano Gemma .
"A Pistol for Ringo" is an above-average Spaghetti Western.
The anti-hero (Gemma) and villain (Sancho) are both very charismatic, and each has a good sense of humor.
The film has some unusual twists; for example, the bandits are executing two hostages per day, even after the anti-hero joins the gang, and he makes no effort to halt the executions.
There is an interesting contrast between the behavior of the anti-hero (Gemma) and the sheriff (Martin) who behaves like a traditional Western hero.
In any event, the film was such a financial success that the seven principal actors were reunited in "The Return of Ringo" (a sequel in name only, since all characters were different).
Christmas is only two days away, but the towns-folks festive celebrations are about to come to an abrupt halt, when a band of mexicans, led by Sancho (played, quite aptly, by Fernando Sancho), take a ranch and its inhabitants hostage following a failed escape from a bank-robbery.
The local sheriff, Ben, (played in true Hollywood style by Jorge Martin) has the ranch surrounded, but cannot attack for fear of the hostages being massacred.
Ringo (Gemma) is spending time in jail for the killing (albeit in "self defence") of a local gang.
But when Sancho threatens to kill two hostages a day unless he and his gang are freed, the Sheriff has no option but to send in Ringo.This is a really enjoyable movie, that sits somewhere in-between the dirt and grittiness of Leone and his Italian counterparts, and the classic American western.
Even Morricone's soundtrack leans towards 50/60's Hollywood, with its crooned (and toe-tappingly catchy) theme tune.The leading roles played by Gemma and Sancho are very convincing, and the dialogue is entertaining and full of classic quotes throughout: "God created men equal.
Although not quite as strong as Director Tessari's follow up "Return of Ringo", this is one of the best of the early Spaghettis, and definitely a must view..
On one hand, we have a cynical hero seemingly only motivated by money: after a bank robbery, Ringo only agrees to help and free the hostages after his demand of a 30 per cent share of the stolen money is accepted, and he's not ashamed to ask the bandits whether they would offer more?
On the other hand, we see a sheriff (George Martin) in love with one of the hostages (Lorella de Luca) and a land owner who keeps up the traditional values of hospitality, courtesy and honor even under the most difficult circumstances, recalling the 1950s."A Gun For Ringo" is a lively movie created in the middle of a small revolution, the beginning of a successful European western wave, and the makers seem to have had a feeling "we've got our hands on something here!", a certain excitement that hasn't faded away.
Great fun to watch, and both the youthful Giuliano Gemma (Ringo) and the charismatic Fernando Sancho (Sancho, leader of the bandits) went on to play similar roles in many movies of the following years..
While not really a Christmas-themed movie per se, the backdrop for the film is laden with people acknowledging and celebrating the holiday, complete with decorations and a Christmas tree, which makes this the closest thing to a Christmas western that I've seen.
As such, for the spaghetti western fan, it is a welcome seasonal alternative to watching "It's a Wonderful Life," or the latest Moron Clause movie on your local big screen or cable movie channel.Giuliano Gemma does a fine job, as usual, portraying the protagonist of the film, and Fernando Sancho is even better as "Sancho," the Mexican bandit.
Nieves Navarro is breathtaking as "Dolores," the female bandit who becomes romantically involved with one of her hostages.The production is above-average for a euro-western, and the film has an engaging storyline with lots of action and suspense.
Add to that a great music score by Ennio Morricone, and you definitely have a winning combination that spaghetti fans will be sure to enjoy..
When smarty-pants bandito Fernando Sancho and his gang rob a bank and begin executing hostages while conducting a standoff at a near-bye ranch, local authorities send in ultra-slick (and equally glib) gunfighter Giuliano Gemma to infiltrate the ranch and hopefully rescue the survivors.Sancho is a hoot and Gemma oozes charm in this light-hearted, action-filled, and fast-paced flick that spawned a slew of bogus "sequels" and catapulted the name Ringo to icon status, like fellow one-name spaghetti stars Djang, Sartana, and Trinity.Although not quite a masterpiece, A Pistol For Ringo is an awful lot of fun, with a memorable score by Ennio Morricone, making it worthwhile viewing for fans of European westerns..
This Italian Western - which just so happens to be set at Christmastime - made a star out of the charismatic former stuntman Giuliano Gemma.
The law enforcement types come up with the idea to have Ringo infiltrate the criminal gang, which he does in his own inimitable style."A Pistol for Ringo" is a solid and engaging example of the Spaghetti Western.
We're never quite sure what to make of him, but we do know that he's fun to watch.The exceptional composer Ennio Morricone, who's done hundreds (!) of scores during his life and career, gives this film a typically atmospheric soundtrack.
Antonio Casas is excellent as the hospitable Major Clyde, as is George Martin as Sheriff Ben, who is in love with Ruby (you can't blame the guy).Exciting action scenes and a healthy dose of humour also make this quite pleasing to watch.Seven out of 10..
It stars Giuliano Gemma, Fernando Sancho, Lorella De Luca, Nieves Navarro and Antonio Casas.
Music is by Ennio Morricone and cinematography by Francisco Marin.When a gang of bandit bank robbers hole up at a rich family's hacienda - taking all who reside there as hostages - the authorities free the gunman known as "Angel Face" from prison to ingratiate himself into the bandit horde.
His mission is to destroy from within and free the innocent...Filmed in Technicolor/Techniscope out of the familiar Spaghetti Western stomping grounds of Almeria in Spain, A Pistol for Ringo is a very enjoyable piece of pasta.
From the quirky sight that greets us at pic's beginning, where our anti-hero gunman with the baby face plays hopscotch with children - then quickly dispatching four enemies enemies in the blink of an eye - to the wholly satisfying finale, it's quirky yet dramatic entertainment.Set at Xmas time, Duccio enjoys dallying with the season's motifs as part of the narrative, and even Morricone gets in on the act, imbuing his varied score with seasonal strains (the Silent Night section simply wonderful).
Tessari Makes This Original and Fun. A Pistol for Ringo (1965) *** (out of 4)Mexican bandits rob a bank and ride off but the posse following them forces them into a ranch owned by a rich family.
The bandits won't allow anyone to get close but the local sheriff offers Ringo (Giuliano Gemma) his freedom if he can get in and save the people there.
Ringo manages to get onto the ranch where he decides to play both sides against one another.A PISTOL FOR RINGO turned out to be a lot better than I was expecting it too and a lot of the credit has to go to writer-director Duccio Tessari.
What really sets this film apart from the countless other Spaghetti Westerns is the fact that this one here seems to be spoofing the genre.
Their non-stop back and forth is a lot of fun and certainly helps carry the film.Having the film set around Christmas time was another interesting touch and then you've got Ennio Morricone great score.
The story as one follows it, has a Gun-Man called 'Angel-Eyes' and is better known as Ringo (Montgomery Wood) for the film " A Pistol for Ringo " Following a shoot-out with some killers who have come gunning for him, Ringo ends up in jail, at the same time, a gang of Mexican Outlaws rob the bank and kill a few of the citizens and take refuse in a Fortress hacienda.
Infiltrating the gang led by a Bandit name Fernando Sancho, (Sancho) From the beginning the movie is a tests of skills between the bad guys and Ringo.
Spaghetti westerns have style.The greatest weakness of this movie is exposed in the opening shot; the lack of style.
This spaghetti western was apparently a big hit when it was released, enough to get a sequel ("The Return of Ringo") made.
When there is gunplay, it often comes across as kind of disturbing, with little regard for life by those who fire their guns (even the hero is guilty of this on more than one occasion.) And the Ennio Morricone score is far from his best.
Reluctantly, he turns to a prisoner he's holding, Ringo (Giuliano Gemma), for help.
The plan – have Ringo, an outlaw himself, infiltrate the group and work from the inside to free the prisoners.A Pistol for Ringo is an interesting and entertaining early Spaghetti Western.
New – the anti-hero, bandits like Sancho, the body count, and crazy plot points and twists.
Lighter feeling than some of the other early Spaghetti Westerns, A Pistol for Ringo has something of a playful tone to it despite the violence.
Director Duccio Tessari keeps things moving at a nice pace with lots of action, gun fights, and interesting set-pieces throughout.
Gemma, Sancho, and the beautiful Susan Scott (Nieves Navarro) help make A Pistol for Ringo worth watching.
Writer & director Duccio Tessari, who co-scripted Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars," helmed this entertaining, above-average Spaghetti western, "A Pistol for Ringo," starring Roman-born actor Giuliano Gemma--billed here as Montgomery Wood-as the eponymous hero with perennial villain Fernando Sancho as his treacherous adversary.
For the record, the profligate Sancho appeared in over 230 movies and basically played the same slimy Mexican outlaw in 35 westerns.
Simply said, nothing about this hostage crisis western set in the arid Southwest that co-stars George Eastman, another Italian who made his share of Spaghettis, is half-baked.
Ennio Morricone composed the beautiful orchestral score and Morricone's magical music is far above what this violent western could have hoped for, especially the lyrical title tune about the wily protagonist.The first time that we lay eyes on our hero, Ringo (Giuliano Gemma of "Day of Anger"), he is playing hop-scotch with a bunch of children in a village.
"Don't look for trouble," he points out, "It'll come by itself." Nevertheless, after the sheriff clears Ringo of the shooting death of the Benson brothers and the citizens grudgingly agree to 30 per cent as a reward for our hero, he agrees to help them.
Ringo tells them about his predicament as well as their predicament and demands 40 per cent of the loot in exchange for getting them out of the ranch."A Pistol for Ringo" is head and hands above most generic Spaghetti westerns.
After killing four men in self defence, gunslinger Ringo(GIULIANO GEMMA),also known as "Angel face" is arrested by the town sheriff(GEORGE MARTIN).Shortly after Ringo has been locked up in the town jail, a massive bandit gang led by Sancho(FERNANDO SANCHO)crosses the Rio Grande and arrive in the town, where they proceed to hold up the bank.
Sancho and his men take refuge at a Hacienda owned by Major Clyde(ANTONIO CASAS)and his daughter Ruby(LORELLA DE LUCA)who is the Sheriff's fiancée.
The sheriff releases Ringo, who goes to the Hacienda and infiltrates Sancho's gang in the hope of freeing the hostages and recovering the stolen money.
Can Ringo successfully free the hostages without having his cover blown...?After the release of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS(only 8 months prior to the release of this film),the Spaghetti western was firing on all cylinders.
A PISTOL FOR RINGO is an excellent sign of things to come regarding the Spaghetti western.
The script provides Ringo and Sancho with sharp dialogue and cracking one liners which are scattered throughout the film.
These one liners inject humour into the film and create fantastic chemistry between the hero and the villain, which is rarely seen in a Spaghetti western.
Ringo is an immensely likable character, even though he's not the rugged,sadistic,stereotypical Spaghetti western brute, he is one of my favourite western action heroes.
Fernando Sancho is rather hilarious as the cruel bandit leader, although he still brings an air of ruthlessness to the film.
These shootouts were also superb and included typical Spaghetti western deaths like guys flinging their arms in the air as they get shot and falling from rooftops.
The main title song "Angel face" by Maurizio Graf was exceptional and is one of my favourite Spaghetti western songs.Masterfully directed by Duccio Tessari, A PISTOL FOR RINGO is escapism at it's greatest.
This film, and many other Spaghetti westerns like it helped lay the foundations for what I believe to be the best sub-genre in the history of cinema.
The very likable and attractive Giuliano Gemma stars as Ringo ("Angel Face", as he is nicknamed), a milk-drinking pretty-boy that also happens to be a ruthless mercenary.Gemma is sprung from prison to help the sheriff capture a band of bandits holed up, with hostages, at a nearby ranch.
The color schemes of the sets and costumes are, however, a little gaudy and stagy, not the usually grime-and-grease look one associates from this genre; it makes the film feel a little more "Hollywood" than other Italo-westerns.This is, overall, a good early-cycle Spaghetti. |
tt0084972 | Alvin & the Chipmunks | A tree that the chipmunks Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) live in is cut down and driven to Los Angeles. Once in L.A., the Chipmunks meet struggling songwriter and composer David Seville (Jason Lee) who had his latest song rejected by JETT Records executive Ian Hawke (David Cross), his old college roommate. Dave also once had a relationship with his next door neighbor, Claire Wilson (Cameron Richardson).
After winding up at Dave's interview, the Chipmunks hop into a basket Dave stole from one of Ian's coworkers and follow him home. Once there, Dave discovers the Chipmunks and kicks them out, only to hear them sing "Only You (And You Alone)". Dave then makes a deal with them; they sing the songs he writes, and he provides food and shelter for them. Unfortunately, when Dave tries to present the Chipmunks to Ian, they fail to sing to him on account of stage fright. Making matters worse, Dave is dismissed as the chipmunks ruin his job presentation by coloring on it. When Alvin tries to set the mood for Dave's dinner with Claire, things become peculiar and she rejects Dave after having been told about the Chipmunks. To make it up to Dave, the Chipmunks go to Ian in an attempt to get a record deal.
Once the Chipmunks sing Dave's song to Ian, Ian signs them to the label and calls Dave the next day. After a few singles, the Chipmunks have a worldwide success. When Dave expresses concern for their well-being and insists that the Chipmunks are "children" who do not need so much craziness in their lives, Ian convinces the Chipmunks that Dave is holding them back. After a misunderstanding with Dave, they go live with Ian. They become enchanted with Ian at first, but once they set off on a nationwide coast-to-coast tour, Ian takes advantage of their naïvete, changing their image and working them constantly. Meanwhile, Dave misses the chipmunks and he wishes they would come back home. He calls Ian to see if he can talk to them but Ian refuses, and then conceals Dave's motives from the boys. Later, the Chipmunks are wearing out, and it is all over the news. Angered by what Ian has done to the three, Dave decides to take matters into his own hands by infiltrating their concert.
On the night before the big concert that is to transition the coast-to-coast tour into a world tour, a vet (Adriane Lenox) explains to Ian that the Chipmunks' voices have worn down due to exhaustion, and suggests that they take a long rest. Rather than cancel the concert and hand out refunds, Ian advises the Chipmunks to lip sync. With Claire's help, Dave sneaks into the concert, but gets ejected by security. With the commotion seen, the Chipmunks realize that they've been tricked and, deciding that they have had enough of Ian, they stall the concert. Ian locks them in a cage and prepares to take them to the world tour. Dave tries to convince Ian to let the boys go but Ian refuses. Ian then leaves in his limo with the boys and Dave chases them but the boys have already escaped to Dave's car. Dave immediately pulls over and admits that he loves them like his own family. Meanwhile, Ian looks in the cage and is shocked to see the boys have replaced themselves with international merchandising dolls, just as he is chauffeured away toward the airport and yells in defeat.
Later that night, the boys are fully accepted as part of the family, and they invite Claire over for dinner again. Alvin accidentally creates a short circuit after having difficulty opening a champagne bottle. Though Dave decides not to say his catchphrase, the short circuit causes a blackout in the kitchen. As a result, Dave can no longer prevent it and finally yells out his catchphrase, "ALLLLVINNN!!", to which Alvin responds with "Okay!".
In a mid-credits scene, Ian (now unemployed) tries to make three squirrels sing, but fails. After this, a message is shown dedicating the film to the creator of the Chipmunks, Ross Bagdasarian, Sr., "who was crazy enough to invent three singing chipmunks nearly fifty years ago". | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Childhood memories....
Another Saturday morning cartoon I have a soft spot for...I even got a Chipmunks coloring book for Christmas one year!
Cute characters and stories, and I thought it was so cool that Alvin, Simon and Theodore sang and did videos to the hot pop songs of the day (Up Where We Belong, Hungry Like The Wolf, etc).
OK, it's cheesy now but it was great fun.
By the way, has anyone else noticed that the Chipmunks theme song and Van Halen's "Jump" sound awfully similar?.
I LOVED this show when I was a kid!!!.
"Alvin and the Chipmunks" was, and is STILL one of my childhood favorites.
This show had good story plots, characters, humor, and it was original.
I loved it when Alvin, Simon and Theodore were singing songs from that time, and years earlier.
P.S. Don't watch the episodes where they lampoon movies.
I just came across the theme song (we're The Chipmunks ooohhhh!).
I started crying when I heard it because it reminded me of a happier time.
A time when my entire week was built up toward Saturday morning TV.
Once Saturday morning TV was over, a cloud of darkness appeared because I knew that I had school on Monday.
This cartoon was one of the classic cartoons of all time.
I feel sorry for todays generation, they don't get to experience the Saturday morning TV that my generation got to experience.
This cartoon is up there with Captain Planet, Thundercats and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles..
Another great '80's cartoon.
This was probably the one cartoon made by Ruby-Spears Enterprises that lasted more than two seasons, but this is still a great cartoon.
Even today, it looks more meticulously drawn and animated than a lot of other American cartoons now.
I am a child of the '80s, and I grew up watching this show.
It makes me wonder why we don't draw cartoons to this caliber anymore.Most of the episodes are about the Seville brothers Alvin, Simon and Theodore, who often get themselves into a jam, and needing to get out of it, without causing too much more trouble (and without getting Dave too angry).
The three chipmunks kept their old personalities from "The Alvin Show" (1961), but they now have different voices.
They included "The A-Team", "Miami Vice", "Charlie's Angels", "Moonlighting", (that episode is a favorite of mine) etc.
The Chipmunks also occasionally go into a song number, but it's not stupid Disney-like garbage.
They performed "Surfin' USA", "Uptown Girl", "Do you Love me", "Monster Mash", and even classic '80's hits like "Beat It".
Makes you feel all nostalgic inside..."The Chipmunks Go To the Movies" offered parodies of late '80's/early '90s movies, like "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", "King Kong", "A Christmas Carol", and "Batman".This cartoon is currently running in syndication on Cartoon Network.
You'll love it.
And if anyone hates the boys just because they're chipmunks who appear to be living in a human world...well, Bugs Bunny is taller than Elmer Fudd, but no one gripes about it.
"Anyting's possible inna cartoon!" -Bugs BunnyRoss Bagdasarian's son, Ross Bagdasarian, Jr., did this cartoon in 1983, and had a movie, "The Chipmunk Adventure", in 1987.
Pick it up today!The 1980s had some of the coolest cartoons.
It's, like, the stuff of legend, dude.
Alvin and the Chipmunks forever.....
good cartoon; skewed message.
Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were three characters young boys could relate to: one was brainy, one hungry, and the other naughty.
They practically represented the personalities of all boys.
Unfortunately, the creators of the show brought in female characters in reaction to this, each the antithesis of their male counterparts.
They never won, and while these scenarios might have given girls inspiration and confidence in the real world; the show's creators completely forgot about the young boys who originally tuned in to watch the chipmunks harmless antics.
Ultimately, the message the show gave young boys was that girls are competition.
The creators of the show should have emphasized a message of cooperation like they do in many present day cartoons.
Instead, by having the girls beat the boys in practically every episode they were in, many young boys grew to resent the idea of female empowerment-- an idea no young boy should learn to resent..
I used to watch this show when I was a little girl.
If you ask me, it was a good show.
I remember the opening sequence and theme song vaguely, too.
The performances were top-grade, too.
I hope some network brings it back so I can see every episode.
Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever, even though I don't think I've seen every episode.
Now, in conclusion, if some network ever brings it back, I hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good..
I love the Chipmunks.
I think anything to do with the Chipmunks is AMAZING.
The songs are catchy all the movies and series are GREAT if your a real Chipmunks fan you'll appreciate all the series and their cuteness and the fact that they and the Chipette's are so cute.The series I would particularly like is "The Chimunks" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks".Alvin is cute and a lead singer.
He's a babe and a star, Simon is smart back up singer and helps Alvins stay in line, Theodore is little babyish plays the drums loves his brothers and food.Brittany is a perfect match for Alvin she's also cute lead singer and very conceited she and Alvin are constantly challenging each other as they are both stubborn.
Jeanette isn't so much naturally smart but more so clumsy and a gorgeous dweeb she's interested in the same things as Simon only that she must study to be half his equal.
Eleanor and Theodore are a very good match because they share the same interests they both like food and are both chubby and proud except little blonde Eleanor is maternal and not so innocent.P.S. Does anyone know where it's possible to buy the series?!!
Classic 80's Cartoon.
Classic 80's Cartoon.
This was the perfect way to begin the excellent animation generation of the 80's.
It had great plots, characters, humor, & originality.
It also had great music.
It also had great music.
The Chipmunks had a cartoon series before.
It was also very good.
It was also very good.
This is more of an updated versian of the original classic.
And unlike other updates, doesn't ruin the original style.
This is what cartoon animation is all about...FUN, Creativity, & just plain good..
I still remember the theme tune to Alvin and The Chipmunks...
but if truth be known they still air this cartoon which is a massive signal to show the fact that this was a good cartoon...
It's simple really three Chipmunks that have been adopted by a human (yeah I know!) Dave!
The cartoon follows the wacky antics of Theodore, Simon and that damn pesky Alvin!Ah the memories!.
When I was a kid, I loved this show and the movie The Chipmunk Adventure.
At 18, I still love it, it is just so endearing and fun with wonderful characters especially.The animation is very good, bright, colourful and lively and it should be.
The music is another strong asset, the theme song is among the catchiest theme songs I have ever heard on an animated show.
The story lines are simple, but engrossing and well constructed, and the writing is superb, hilarious and touching, and it is one of those instances where every joke that occurs works.
The characters are really likable, Alvin, Simon, Theodore, David, Miss Miller et al.
just wonderful characters with unique personalities.
And the voice acting is top-notch, very expressive and dynamic.Overall, wonderful underrated show from my childhood.
10/10 Bethany Cox. A hip cartoon show!.
This was a hip cartoon show that I've watched during my childhood - about three chipmunks named Alvin, Simon, and Theodore and their misadventures, with their adopted owner, Dave, thrown into the mix.
I've always remember Alvin to be the adventurous one, Simon to be the brainy one, and Theodore to be the cuddly and thoughtful one.
A different cartoon that shows the hipness and a little bit of young-adult fun that attracts an audience of all ages.
A catching opening tune and some unique stories.
The Chipmunks are almost unknown here in Sweden, but in the mid-1990s one TV channel showed the 1980-90s series on Sunday mornings.
I found it by sheer coincidence while zapping between channels, and it was love at first sight!
I was a nearly 30-yrs old cartoon buff with the penchant for classic Looney Tunes and the like, I couldn't dream of falling for a cutesy-pootsy "kiddies" cartoon like that.
But I simply HAD TO get up early every Sunday morning to watch it!
The plots were usually rather tame (with some brilliant exceptions), but the dialog was fun and witty with lots of jokes a grown-up could appreciate.
And these little guys were soooo CUTE and so COOL!
The animation was so well done, and then there was the MUSIC!!
It was so fun hearing those classic rock-and-roll tunes sung with those silly Chip&Dale-type voices.But I must admit it took a few episodes to get the grip of things.
Like: What are these very peculiar-looking little boys supposed to be?
They doesn't look the slightest like chipmunks to me.
Why are they goofing around in those ridiculous nightshirts all the time?
Why are they living with that human guy in a realistically drawn human world?
All other talking cartoon animals live among other cartoon animals, not among humans.
For many years I assumed The Chipmunks was something new, that David Seville was just a cartoon character, and Alvin, Simon and Theodore had always looked like their 1980-90s versions.
So it was rather confusing to come across songs written by "David Seville", plush animals from 1959 resembling an ugly rat or distorted guinea-pig but supposed to be "Alvin from the Chipmunks", gramophone records from 1960 showing the boys as "real" chipmunks on the cover, and so on!
Anyway, a great cartoon, so unlike the mass produced cheap crap of today (but the "Chipmunks goes to the Movies" series were rather poor -the movie spoofs were often not even funny)..
Alvin, Simon, Theodore!
Alvin and The Chipmunks is one of my all-time favourite cartoons alongside Johnny Bravo and Thundercats.
The success of the show later spawned remakes in 1983, 1989 and The Chipmunks Go To The Movies: a cartoon that featured renditions of famous Hollywood movies such as Frankenstein, Indiana Jones, Back To The Future and a chipmunk version of Batman entitled: Batmunk to name.
The stories were great, the characters were extremely likable and cute plus, the music was your standard pop and rock fare.
But very rarely were there cartoons where popular music was used as a theme within the narratives- and yet Alvin and The Chipmunks was the only animated programme that I know of, which successfully combined animation and great story lines with renditions of contemporary Popular and Rock anthems.
These anthems included Michael Jackson's 'Beat It', Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 'I Love Rock'n'roll' performed by The Chippettes and The Beatles 'A Hard Day's Night'.
The personalities of the three chipmunks brothers couldn't be any more different: Alvin was the so-called hell-raiser/trouble maker and lead vocalist of the band, whose antics often upset Dave, their adoptive father; Simon was the geek and intellectual who was on keyboards and/or the piano whilst Theodor was the slightly overweight,but innocent and sweet looking one, of whom played the drums.This show was shown a lot on TV during the 80s and I used to tune in from school to watch these guys.
As I mentioned, the opening sequence was excellent, the theme song is one of the most instantly recognisable, not to mention sing-a-long TV anthems, ever and the stories were varied but wonderful.
And whilst this was originally a 60s creation on the part of Ross Bagdasarian, he and his son and wife Janice Karman have rightfully carried the touch for this show and thus their efforts have, in the process, gained a new generation of fans alongside the older generation throughout the 80s, 90s and today.
Watching these episodes brings back so many great memories.
As an 80s child, it was a great decade for cartoons and Alvin and The Chipmunks was entertaining,great nostalgic fun that people of all ages can enjoy.
And this was a great show..
"We're the Chipmunks".
"We're the Chipmunks".
I totally love this show, I wish it was easier to find on television.
I haven't seen it on tv, for along time, and it was on Cartoon Network.
The characters paired together are perfect.
Alvin the schemeful troublemaker who often does things that are illegal and oh, I love Dave's Trademark, getting his patience tested regularly, going, "Alvinn!
Simon being the smart one, and Theodore the tenderhearted, fat one who eats alot, and has the most squeaky voice.
The characters are perfect.
There's always a great misadventure..
I used to watch this when I was little now I am 15 and I still love it The chipmunks are so sweet!!
And I love there songs 10/10 one of the best cartoons better than rubbish stuff like Edd,Ed and Eddy or Tom and Jerry..
I was channel surfing when I came across "Alvin and the Chipmunks." I decided to watch it, it might be amusing.
I was surprised, I was expecting a corny 80's cartoon with dumb jokes.
And, well, it IS a corny 80's cartoon, but the jokes are much better than I expected.
I don't know how to explain it; picture this: Alvin and the chipmunks have run away from home, and they order coffee at a diner.
The waitress asks, "Aren't you a little young for coffee?" to which Alvin replies in a surly tone and that ridiculously high voice: "We're orphans.
No one cares if we stunt our growth." Just re-watch it with an open mind.
And...ignore the dumb songs in each episode..
So Many good memories, I can barely choose!.
As a child, I used to spend a lot of time in the United States during the late 1990s and if there was anything that invokes good memories of that innocent time of my life, it has to be the three singing Chipmunks, Alvin, Simon and Theodore Seville.
Although the show's original run had ended before I was born, reruns could still be seen on Cartoon Network's Saturday Morning Show, and it as just great.
I remember sitting in front of our Television in Vermont watching this show with a bowl of cereal in my lap.
For me and my brother, such a brilliant little show was a stark difference to the nothingness that was on at home, and when we had to go back to the UK, we essentially died inside when it came to the fact that we couldn't watch Alvin and the Chipmunks until we went back to the USA.
Eventually we got a Skybox but by that time it had been taken off the air.Now you may be wondering, what's to like about 3 singing Chipmunks?
The stories, the songs, the characters and most of all, the innocence of it all.
Unlike the swarm of Japanese shows that were starting to invade Cartoon Network like Digimon, Pokemon and Beyblade, where start to finish was non stop cartoon barbarism, Alvin and the Chipmunks was almost a last shred to that time of the 1980s where kids shows were made to be unintentionally innocent but still have their fair share of innuendos, almost like an earlier Animaniacs except for the Cartoon Barbarism.
Also, the show wasn't like modern equivalents in the sense that it didn't go out of its way to be deliberately disgusting.
Most shows that took AATC's place on the Saturday morning show had prolonged scenes of disgust and toilet humour that really should have been run during the middle of the day during school time, I saw no real enjoyment in it and sometimes felt physically sick.
AATC on the other hand managed to blend humour with innocence without having to resort to the lowest common denominator of toilet humour and disgusting, overly violent stereotypes.
All this innocence and humour would always be wrapped up in a song, and you have to hand it to Ross Bagdasarian, his ability to write really good songs of continuing originality must make him one of the great songwriters, up there with Jeff Lynne or Freddie Mercury.
It could also be said that AATC got me into my Rock n' Roll choice of music as they would often use existing songs from bands of the 70s and 80s, songs which were actually worth a listen and weren't fully laden with swear words and descriptions of one's sexual fantasies.Of course the most important things were the stories.
I can't say I've watched every episode, but I don't seem to remember any episodes that didn't have at least some originality in them from the previous episodes.
Most of the episodes had the tale of Alvin getting into trouble and it was up to him to get out of it before Dave found out, but each and every situation he was put it was unique and what happened between start and finish was always different and always had you wondering whether he would be able to fix his messes in time.Overall, this has to be one of my favourite TV shows from my childhood, bringing back some of the best memories of my holidays as well as my youthful years of innocence.
When and if I ever have children, I wish to introduce them to this show as well so they can get a true idea of what kids programming in the 80s and 90s was really like. |
tt0066064 | The McKenzie Break | At a Prisoner of War (POW) camp for Germans in the north of Scotland, Kapitän zur See Willi Schlüter (Helmut Griem) - a submariner – challenges the authority of the camp’s embattled Commanding Officer, Major Perry (Ian Hendry). British Army Captain Jack Connor arrives to investigate what's happening at the McKenzie POW Camp.
Connor believes the camp disturbances are a cover for an escape attempt. During a mass brawl two POWs escape dressed as British soldiers and Connor notices an outcast German POW named Neuchl (Horst Janson), being dragged from the barracks and fleeing from the Germans. He is badly beaten and later that night in the hospital is strangled before Connor gets the chance to learn about Schlüter's plans.
With Connor investigating the camp, Schlüter leads his 28-man escape party out of a tunnel the next day. Meeting the two escapees who have arranged a U-boat to pick them up, they all head for the coast. Unknown to Schlüter, Connor has broken the code used in letters sent by POWs to Germany and knows the plan.
Connor, along with General Kerr (Jack Watson), starts searching for the prisoners. The Germans head for the coast and burn their escape lorry, which is seen by a reconnaissance plane. Drawn by the burning lorry, Connor (now in an aircraft) locates the Germans attempting to paddle towards a surfaced U-boat at dusk. Connor calls in a Royal Navy motor torpedo boat (MTB) with depth charges to engage the U-boat. With only 50 yards to go, Connor orders the pilot to 'buzz' the inflatable dinghies, delaying Schlüter's craft, and with the MTB arriving, the U-boat dives, leaving Schlüter and three comrades stranded. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | An irish intelligence officer (Keith) has been given the unwanted task of figuring out what is going on in a british P.O.W. camp for german officers.
He suspects the captives, under command of a submarine captain (Griem) are planning a major prison break, and during his investigation has several confrontations with his german counterpart.
Brian Keith gives us one of his best performances opposite Helmut Griem (also memorable) in this suspenseful and highly original World War II drama.
If you enjoy realistic war movies that doesn't deal with "guys on an impossible mission", you should love the underrated McKENZIE BREAK..
In this film " The McKenzie Break " German navel officers in a P.O.W camp are given secret orders to help 28 submariners escape and return to duty.
Unable to fathom the reason, Captain Jack Connor, an intelligent officer (Brian Keith) {supurb acting} is given tactical command over the camp run by Major Perry (Ian Hendry) to ascertain the reason.
While there, Connor engages in mind games with Captain Willy Schlueter (Helmut Griem) a German Submarine commander.
Although not on the caliber of The Great Escape, this movie nevertheless gives a stirring and dramatic performance to excite audiences and the cast renders a good account of themselves.
Whereas many supposedly modern films such as `Saving Private Ryan' play along a clear black - and - white scheme (us = good decent chaps, Germans inhuman war robots), `The McKenzie Break' goes down a different path; neither of the central characters is readily likeable or even understandable.
His antagonist Kapitän Willi Schlüter is a fanatical Nazi, yet we unwillingly sympathize with him because, young and sharp - witted, he is a prisoner desperately trying to break free.Because the film does not force a constructed morality on the viewer, it is truthful and keeps us in suspense; we are never able to predict the ending or even the next turn of events.
`The McKenzie' break is truly a neglected gem, an honest, engaging and intelligent movie that stands out among its genre..
An interesting war film that differs from others in a number of ways.
Firstly,the plot concerns German prisoners of war held in a POW camp in Scotland planning an escape.
While many films have featured Allied POWs, it's quite rare to find one that focuses on Germans held in captivity (Hardy Kruger as "The one that got away" is another example).
Another interesting point is that - in a subplot - the film has a gay German POW being persecuted and subsequently murdered by his own compatriots.
WWII story about a plot by German POWs to escape from Scottish concentration camp.
This is a splendid film that succeeds largely because of particularly nice interpretations , it deals with a daring breakout from inescapable Scottish concentration camp carried out by Nazi officers incarnated by a good star cast and magnificently realized by Lamont Johnson .
The continuous escapes have caused the British staff ordered 'putting all the rotten eggs in one basket' as the officer prisoners are reunited into a special concentration camp called McKenzie , being commanded by a hard-drinking Major Perry (Ian Hendry) who efforts to stifle riots of the wily Nazis .
Irish Intelligence captain named Connor (Brian Keith) , a special troubleshooter , is sent by General Kerr (Jack Watson ) to Scotland for resolving conflicts in the problematic camp .
Connor suspects astute captain Schlueter (Helmut Griem) of being the mastermind behind the scheme about a mass escape and he is supposed to stop the action .
twenty and some escaped prisoners throughout Scotland trying to make their bid to freedom .This exciting story contains thrills, intrigue, tension, excitement galore, entertainment and lots of fun .
Suspenseful WWII drama about a concentration camp from a German point of sight , it packs exceptional plethora of prestigious actors as British as German incarnating the motley group of POWs , all of them giving good acting and support , as Helmut Griem as U-boat Squadron leader who plans the massive breakout as Ian Hendry as serious Major and of course a sensational Brian Keith whose character , an arrogant Intelligence officer is sent to foil the getaway attempts .
Interesting and unusual story of a pack of German POWs plotting to break out of a prison camp in the UK and the new commanding officer's own plots to deal with them.The British Army commander played by Brian Keith is hard-drinking, clever, Irish, cynical, shrewd, complex and street wise.
Keith's captain drinks a little whiskey and plots with resolute calm.
The German sings a few Nazi songs and plots with resolute calm.
This is a fascinating World War II story that takes place neither on the battlefield or some goofy nostalgic homefront, but still contains plenty of action and thrilling suspense.
Keith and Griem fight a battle of wits and wills in this intriguing, but ultimately unsatisfying prison escape drama.
Set during WWII, Griem is a Nazi Captain being held prisoner along with 600 of his men in a Scottish POW camp.
When the current camp commander (Hendry) is unable to maintain control of the prisoners, gruff Irish Captain Keith is called in to suppress the men and maintain control over the camp.
It seems that Griem's men are burrowing a huge tunnel with plans to let two dozen prisoners escape to a rendezvous with a U-Boat.
Keith realizes what's happening, but opts to let the plan progress so that he can score the bigger coup of not only stopping the escape, but of capturing the U-Boat as well!
About one fourth of the dialogue in the film is presented in German, but without the benefit of subtitles!
The film was shot in Ireland and, oddly, Turkey, though it isn't immediately visible which parts were done in Turkey (or why!) Credibility is strained in a couple of spots, such as how can all the dirt from the tunnel fit where they put it and how does a POW get a pair of women's shoes and make-up (for the little show they do?) There is entertainment value here.
The McKenzie Break refers to a prison in Scotland during World War II where some German prisoners are very anxious to get back to the fight as they see it.
This is the early war years and the only prisoners there are Luftwaffe and Sailors, more specifically prisoners taken off captured U-Boats.McKenzie Prison is in for some big trouble, commander Ian Hendry can smell it.
It's due to the presence of U-Boat captain Helmut Griem who has taken over the leadership of the prisoners unofficially.
Griem plays Captain Willy Schluetter as I conceive Reinhard Heydrich to be, a handsome charismatic leader, totally dedicated to the Nazi cause and one stone cold killer.British Intelligence in trying to get to the bottom of things sends Captain Brian Keith who from his accent I'm guessing is an Ulster Protestant.
Keith's a smart guy, but just maybe a bit too smart for his own good.The McKenzie Break is dominated by Helmut Griem as well it should be.
Catch it by all means if it's broadcast, you will enjoy the surprise ending when neither Keith or Griem get everything they want..
It is about the use of foreign languages, in this case German, in American movies.There were several occasions when the German POWs were talking amongst themselves in this film, and - quite rightly - the medium of communication switched then from English to German.
Perhaps Griem instinctively wanted to compensate for groups 1 and 2, and surely the director wasn't in a position to tell that he was overdoing it.What some American movie makers (and this is a prime example, another one would be 'Die Hard') fail to realise is that whenever the original version of such a film is viewed by native speakers then foreign language scenes built on such premises will not work, they just make the knowing viewer cringe.
Just think about what it would do to 'The Great Escape' if some of the inmates were played instead by German actors who speak English with a strong German accent..
Brian Keith is well-cast as an Irish-born Army Captain with the British forces during WWII who is penalized for some indiscretions and busted down to Intelligence Officer at a prisoner-of-war camp in Scotland; the German inmates there take their orders from a megalomaniac Nazi Kapitänleutnant, who is supervising the digging of a tunnel underneath the barracks to freedom.
The picture runs too long and has some beleaguered plot-threads (such as the sacrificial homosexual), though the match of wits between adept, assured Keith and smug, shrewd Helmut Griem is riveting.
The locations (via Ireland and Turkey) give the film a vivid and unique look, and screenwriter William Norton's dialogue is extraordinarily direct.
I have watched this film a few ti mes and think it is quite good, but the one thing that stands out to me (a female ) is the scene where Connor and the 'postmistress' are reading the letters and begin to think they may be a code.
I used to like buying war comics like Battle and Commando and used to love watching all those B & W war movies , but I was disappointed with THE McKENZIE BREAK first time I saw it probably because the plot mainly involved British guards going into a prison compound , getting beaten back by the German prisoners - Repeat every 15 minutes After seeing it again recently I do realise that my memories are somewhat simplistic but that doesn't mean the film has suddenly improved in my eyes .
Since I first saw this movie I have seen many similar movies like BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI , THE GREAT ESCAPE etc films that are either more dramatic or more entertaining than this one , that's probably the problem with TMB it's rather serious in its tone without being compellingly dramatic and the one subplot that I found interesting during its recent broadcast of one of the prisoners being a suspected homosexual by his Nazi peers is rather unexplored There's a couple of other things that stuck out in my mind about this movie and not in a good way .
One thing was when a character mentions that a couple of prisoners escaped and made it into the Irish free State .
As every schoolboy from my generation knows not one single German prisoner held in allied captivity escaped back to Germany .
Where would they have been captured and why go to all the trouble of keeping them in a Scottish POW camp ?
A very average film that will only appeal to people interested in men standing on roofs singing Nazi marching songs.
The setting is a prisoner of war camp for German soldiers, located in Scotland.
A tough, cynical, hard drinking Irishman named Jack Connor (Brian Keith) is called in to help out camp officials, since there is now much unrest among the Nazis.
Connor and the others realize that their prisoners are planning an elaborate escape, and Connor has an idea that could either lead to glory for him, or be a bad, bad mistake.There are no true "heroes" and "villains" in this interesting, unusual, even-handed narrative, scripted by William W.
Both Keith, and Helmut Griem, as his primary foe, are flawed, but charismatic.
The relationship between Keith and Hendry is kind of a thorny one, as they differ over methodology, but it's just as fascinating to watch them butt heads as it is to see Keith and Griem engage in their little chess game.Granted, the camp personnel end up not looking very good since the Germans are able to pull off so much.
Held in a Scottish POW camp, a group of German soldiers plot an escape while the Scots bring in an unorthodox Irish officer to work out what the Germans are plotting in this unconventional World War II movie.
First off, the Germans are given more screen time and juicier characters than the Allies.
Secondly, the Germans actually converse in German (with subtitles) rather than awkwardly speaking English (more common in war movies back then).
Thirdly, the film attempts to show both sides of the incident, taking on the perspectives of both the German and Allied soldiers.
Also, try as Brian Keith does to make his Irishman interesting, Helmet Griem outclasses him every step of the way as the charismatic German Kapitän, which in turns makes the Germans' side of the tale more fascinating to view.
Whatever the case, the film is very ably directed by Lamont Johnson, who would later go on to direct the classy likes of 'A Gunfight' and 'The Groundstar Conspiracy' and a solid supporting cast helps.
I'm always interested to see neglected movies that appear to have good credentials, but in this case the film's neglect appears justified.
One very likely reason is that - in the print I saw on TCM, anyway - none of the scenes where the Germans talked among themselves were given titles.
Brian Keith is pretty good here, but the reputations of "The Great Escape" and "Stalag 17" will not be challenged by this flick..
is ¨the mckenzie break¨ starring brian keith.
its about german pow's held in scotland in ww2.
the pow's are plotting to escape to get back to the u-boats to help the war effort.
helmut griem gives a great performance as the ringleader and as a loyal nazi.
This is a rare movie about German POWs planning an escape from from their British prison camp.
The only movie of a similar plot I'm aware of is "The One That Got Away", another rarely seen film and one I recommend.Brian Keith is a Captain for Army Intelligence sent to a POW Camp in Scotland after a riot occurs to discover what the prisoners are really up to.
Naturally, he and the German Kapitän are soon at odds, both providing good performances in their battle of wills.Military historians would be happy to see that this movie incorporates some real events into the story.
As in the film, there actually was a break out of 28 Germans from a camp in Canada, and there were some real cases of riots, and Germans murdering Germans as well.There are many very good POW movies and it is too bad that this one pales in significance to them.
There is not much that is original or spectacular but Brian Keith and Helmut Griem make it a very watchable movie.
'The McKenzie Break' is very much in the tradition of the POW movie that seemingly dominated British screens in the 1950s.
There is the same elaborate tunnelling; the same stand-off between Brit and Nazi, prisoner and commandant; an introduction of a theatrical scene to emphasise the idea of role-playing to deceive one's enemy.
The whole film has that admirably dour emphasis on the literal mechanics of plot - of getting the job done - which is unglamorous, but has an integrity that gives you an illusion of realism, and makes the lollipops of escape, suspense or action all the more satisfying.So with the exception of colour, there is very little difference between 'Break' and all those 1950s films invariably starring John Mills and Richards Attenborough and Todd.
The prisoners are German.
In the 1950s POW movies, there was never any attempt to make the soldiers likable - they were tough professionals doing their job; the fact of their Britishness and the shared experience of the war gave the audience the involvement and emotion absent from the films themselves.
Narrative logic suggests that we will be on the side of the prisoners, the people who are trying to provoke action - the essence of film - not contain it.
The film is a game of chess between a Nazi and an undisciplined Irishman with little gra for order, justice or the English, just a gambling man's love of impossible odds.
Maybe it's some hidden patriotism on my part, but Brian Keith is a wonder, a drunken Irishman who seems to be the only one able to establish order, but actually (deliberately?) creates chaos.
Basically the story of a duel of wits between a German submarine captain (Helmut Griem), ranking officer in a Scottish POW camp, and an Irish captain in the British army (Brian Keith) who is sent to administer the camp and investigate the reasons for the POWs riotous behavior.
Until the very end, that is, when the escapees are discovered boarding a U-boat off the Scottish coast and, alerted by Keith, a British patrol boat interferes with the escape.
"Well, Willi, it looks like both you and I are in the ****house." Interesting film in which nobody really wins.
And it's unusual to see Brian Keith, as a genial, quiet, thoughtful Irishman outwitted by a ruthless German like Griem.
Keith nods and comments with a smile, "Furtwangler did it better." (Furtwangler was not only a German conductor, but a German conductor who played footsies with the Nazis.) The thrust and parry extends to prison yard scenes as well.
There's quite a bit of action.It must have been filmed in Scotland.
I don't blame Griem and the rest for wanting to escape from there.
William Norton's excellent script and expert direction by Lamont Johnson obviously structure this ambiguous and engaging film narrative.
I scored the film highly because I enjoyed watching it.
It comes as a surprise to me that someone was at this in 1970 with a humble POW movie.The inmates are tunnelling out.
That this is a British POW camp the those escaping are German prisoners is unusual and welcome.
Underneath the genre trappings there's a good little drama with a central duel between an Irish Captain in British Intelligence and the U-Boat Commander commanding officer in camp.
However, overall this is a good film and definitely one to watch if you like your post-modernism freshly minted from the 70s. |
tt0085692 | The Hound of the Baskervilles | Dr James Mortimer asks Sherlock Holmes to investigate the death of his friend, Sir Charles Baskerville. Sir Charles was found dead on the grounds of his Devonshire estate, Baskerville Hall, and Mortimer now fears for Sir Charles's nephew and sole heir, Sir Henry Baskerville, who is the new master of Baskerville Hall. The death was attributed to a heart attack, but Mortimer is suspicious, because Sir Charles died with an expression of horror on his face, and Mortimer noticed "the footprints of a gigantic hound" nearby. The Baskerville family has supposedly been under a curse since the era of the English Civil War when ancestor Hugo Baskerville allegedly offered his soul to the devil for help in abducting a woman and was reportedly killed by a giant spectral hound. Sir Charles believed in the curse and was apparently fleeing from something in fright when he died.
Intrigued, Holmes meets with Sir Henry, newly arrived from Canada. Sir Henry has received an anonymous note, cut and pasted from newsprint, warning him away from the Baskerville moors, and one of his new boots is inexplicably missing from his London hotel room. The Baskerville family is discussed: Sir Charles was the eldest of three brothers; the youngest, black sheep Rodger, is believed to have died childless in South America, while Sir Henry is the only child of the middle brother. Sir Henry plans to move into Baskerville Hall, despite the ominous warning message. Holmes and Dr Watson follow him from Holmes's Baker Street apartment back to his hotel and notice a bearded man following him in a cab; they pursue the man, but he escapes. Mortimer tells them that Mr Barrymore, the butler at Baskerville Hall, has a beard like the one on the stranger. Sir Henry's boot reappears, but an older one vanishes.
Holmes sends for the cab driver who shuttled the bearded man after Sir Henry and is both astounded and amused to learn that the stranger had made a point of giving his name as 'Sherlock Holmes' to the cabbie. Holmes, now even more interested in the Baskerville affair but held up with other cases, dispatches Watson to accompany Sir Henry to Baskerville Hall with instructions to send him frequent reports about the house, grounds, and neighbours. Upon arrival at the grand but austere Baskerville estate, Watson and Sir Henry learn that an escaped murderer named Selden is believed to be in the area.
Barrymore and his wife, who also works at Baskerville Hall, wish to leave the estate soon. Watson hears a woman crying in the night; it is obvious to him that it was Mrs Barrymore, but her husband denies it. Watson has no proof that Barrymore was in Devon on the day of the chase in London. He meets a brother and sister who live nearby: Mr Stapleton, a naturalist, and the beautiful Miss Stapleton. When an animalistic sound is heard, Stapleton is quick to dismiss it as unrelated to the legendary hound. When her brother is out of earshot, Mrs Stapleton mistakes Watson for Sir Henry and warns him to leave. She and Sir Henry later meet and quickly fall in love, arousing Stapleton's anger; he later apologises and invites Sir Henry to dine with him a few days later.
Barrymore arouses further suspicion when Watson and Sir Henry catch him at night with a candle in an empty room. Barrymore refuses to answer their questions, but Mrs. Barrymore confesses that Selden is her brother, and her husband is signalling that they have left supplies for him. Watson and Sir Henry pursue Selden on the moor, but he eludes them, while Watson notices another man on a nearby tor. After an agreement is reached to allow Selden to flee the country, Barrymore reveals the contents of an incompletely burnt letter asking Sir Charles to be at the gate at the time of his death. It was signed with the initials L.L.; on Mortimer's advice, Watson questions a Laura Lyons, who admits to writing the letter in hopes that Sir Charles would help finance her divorce, but says she did not keep the appointment. Watson tracks the second man he saw in the area and discovers it to be Holmes, investigating independently in hopes of a faster resolution. Holmes reveals further information: Stapleton is actually married to the supposed Miss Stapleton, and he promised marriage to Laura Lyons to get her cooperation.
They hear a scream and discover the body of Selden, dead from a fall. They initially mistake him for Sir Henry, whose old clothes he was wearing.
At Baskerville Hall, Holmes notices a resemblance between Stapleton and a portrait of Hugo Baskerville. He realises that Stapleton could be an unknown Baskerville family member, seeking to claim the Baskerville wealth by eliminating his relatives. Accompanied by Inspector Lestrade, whom Holmes has summoned, Holmes and Watson travel to the Stapleton home, where Sir Henry is dining. They rescue him from a hound that Stapleton releases while Sir Henry is walking home across the moor. Shooting the animal dead in the struggle, Sherlock reveals that it was a perfectly mortal dog - a mix of bloodhound and mastiff, painted with phosphorus to give it a hellish appearance. They find Miss Stapleton bound and gagged inside the house, while Stapleton apparently dies in an attempt to reach his hideout in a nearby mine. They also find Sir Henry's boot, which was used to give the hound Sir Henry's scent.
Weeks later, Holmes provides Watson with additional details about the case. Stapleton was, in fact, Rodger Baskerville's son, also named Rodger. His now-widow is a South American woman, the former Beryl Garcia. He supported himself through crime for many years, before learning that he could inherit a fortune by murdering his uncle and cousin. Stapleton had taken Sir Henry's old boot because the new, unworn boot lacked his scent. The hound had pursued Selden to his death because of the scent on Sir Henry's old clothes. Mrs Stapleton had disavowed her husband's plot, so he had imprisoned her to prevent her from interfering.
The story ends with Holmes and Watson leaving to see the opera Les Huguenots starring Jean de Reszke. | murder, haunting | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0263491 | Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain | Gangaram alias Ganga (Govinda) lives a simple, straightforward life in a small village with his mom and dad (Shivaji Satham and Reema Lagoo), and his girlfriend, Saawni (Sonali Bendre). When the time comes for Ganga to marry, his parents inform him that his biological parents live in the city and want him to settle there. Ganga bids tearful farewell to his village and its inhabitants and travels to the city of his birth parents. He finds that he has an elder brother, who is married to Supriya, and younger siblings, as well as his birth parents, Avinash (Shakti Kapoor) and Radha (Himani Shivpuri), who are all very wealthy. Ganga struggles to cope up with the modern and city lifestyle. His sister-in-law also begins to dislike him more as days pass by. Soon word spreads about Ganga being the latest eligible bachelor. He is asked to marry a socialite, Tina (Rinke Khanna), as per his parents' wishes. Ganga agrees to everything his new-found family wants him to do. Things get really bad for Ganga that he runs away from his biological parents' home and finds his older brother being blackmailed by a woman and two goons. He saves his brother but his best friend gets stabbed in the stomach by one of the goons who flee the scene and gets accused for stabbing his own friend. Ganga refuses to speak the truth about the incident at court as he does not want his family's reputation to be ruined until his sister-in-law who learns the truth from her husband, speaks out at court and proves his innocence. After the verdict, Ganga and his best friend return to their village where he reunites with Saawni and his parents who agree to get him and her married. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Rustic Comedy.
A typical Govinda movie, with lots of wise cracks and goof ups.....but HILARIOUS !Strictly for Govinda fans only......anyone else, Handle with Care as it tends to go a bit overboard.
But all in all, a good movie with loads of good peppy tracks which pop in regularly..Downer - The 2 heroines.
Saving Grace - Govinda.
A comedian, a village belle and the city sex kitten.
Comedian Govinda - Ganga,leaves the city at a young age to get a cure for an illness which for some reason can only be cured in the village and returns 20 (should be 40!) years later.Village Belle Sonali Bendre - Sawni,Ganga's love (h)interest is a girl at the village that he dances with and always gets really humorous with.City sex kitten Rinke Khanna - Tina,the most sexiest thing in the world falls in love with Ganga after coming to the city and she expresses it and she jumps into her dresses and gyrates her hips and dances to the chartbusting popular hit 'Kem Chhe'.Ganga realizes the city has changed.Bombay is now Mumbai made up of seven islands and is no more a nice city to meet people with.It is now a carbon copy of NYC with thousands of builiding and sky scrapers kissing the sky and 12 million cruel city people that know nothing about village people.Govinda is very good as Ganga,except now he is 40+ and needs to stop running around with younger heroines (Kareena and Amisha and Bipasha and Diya and Amrita are his next victims) at the time in 2000,Sonali was 24 and Rinke was 23,and he was 42!Sonali puts a smile on your face.Not only is she just beautiful and dancing to songs,but she gives herself to the audience and does it well.Rinke was the USP of this film and after a long gap between her debut and JDMGRH,she makes you give her attention with a whole new look and putting the 'sex' in sexy,because while she is dancing in one song,she feels the song a little too much and starts getting into it!Plus,she is in one of the 20 most popular songs of the year 'Kem Chhe' which was my favorite with Sunidhi Chauhan singing in a sexy tone!Reema Lagoo and Supriya Karnik are not just supporting artiste now,because they were both first-rate and I am glad they are getting more roles instead of the airhead comedian mom or the evil duhtie gyal.8/10.PS,if you want to see sexy,watch Rinke in the songs and Sonali in the beginning..
Rent it if you like Sonali.
'Sonali Bendre' were the 2 words that coerced me to rent this movie, which normally I wouldn't have (Govinda factor) and Oh boy!, Do I get a decent portion of it :) .The movie starts with Govinda's standard antics in a stereotypical Bollywood village.
He goes on dancing and prancing around with Sonali (Kewl!).
The hell breaks out when Sonali's folks go to Govinda's folks with her matrimonial.
It is rejected and 'fatal illness' story (so funny) is narrated, which is miraculously cured at that moment.
So Pa (Shakti) comes to take him 'home' (I never understood why the Ma did not come).
The foster mom plays a drama so that Govinda goes with Pa, and he takes his Deaf and Dumb friend, ironically named 'Sannata'.The part 2 starts, Govinda tries to acclimatize himself with the Bollywood stereotypical urban modern family which has it's own problems.
In the process of solving the problems, Lo behold Rinki Khanna pops up, (where personally I think, the Kapadia lineage gets less attractive by the decent) and the romantic triangle is complete.
For the rest see the movie.Tolerable photography and storyline.
Some songs are good, especially with Bendre babe, as well as well picturized.
The 'Prem Che' song is pretty catchy.Have Fun!.
Crap.
VAASTAV(1999) a film people remember even today, It was Mahesh Manjerekar's debut as a director and Sanju's turning point after his jail return and it's also one of the best performances by him and one of his best filmsAfter VAASTAV Mahesh gave another outstanding women oriented film ASTITVA(2000) which too worked well and Tabu gave an outstanding performanceThe same year Mahesh gave a decent though recycled film KURUKSHETRA which also had Sanjay Dutt again who gave an excellent job and then his supposedly debut NIDAAN released which too was a good filmSurprisingly in the same year JDMGRH released which was trashMahesh tried to make a comedy and faltered badly After this film barring a few here and there Mahesh slowly lost his touchThe film is terrible, in fact one of the worst comedies by GovindaThe comedy is bad, there are jokes made on people being cockeyed, A person repeating his master's last line every time and lot more even the main plot is a joke, Govinda due to some disease has to stay away from his family and grow up in a village The film tries too hard to be funny but falls flat Most of the jokes are bad and even the romance, drama is bad The finale sees a murder mystery involving Milind Gunaji and Rakhi Sawant which leads to a change of heart in his Bhabhi who hated Govinda till thenDirection by Mahesh Manjerekar is terrible, he shouldn't direct comedies Music is okayGovinda does very well in dramatic scenes, Mahesh again proves he can direct actors very well in drama but in comedy?
Govinda does his best but sadly due to the badly handled scenes his comic act seems repetitive Rinki Khanna is awful Sonali is decent Amongst rest Shivaji Satham and Reema after VAASTAV again play parents of the hero and are good in their parts especially Reema who mostly gives her best in Mahesh's films Amongst rest Kunika and Milind Gunaji are theatrical Shakti Kapoor annoys in comedy but is decent in serious scenes Rakhi Sawant is horrible amongst rest the guy playing Sanata(from VAASTAV) is okay.
Movie is good.
Overall movie can be watched for once .
I liked Sonali Bendre very much in O Piya O Piya romantic song.
She has done a very good romance and given enough sensual expressions which will make strong arousals .
Especially her navel and waist in that song is very hot to handle.
Love you Sonali. |
tt0037270 | Sheriff of Las Vegas | The Duchess Alice Fleming, living in Las Vegas, Nevada promises to help the local schoolteacher Ann Carter (Peggy Stewart) with her “wild” boyfriend, Tom Blackwell (Jay Kirby). Red Ryder is asked to lend a hand by the Duchess but when he does, he discovers Tom drunk in the saloon owned by Dan Sedley (William Haade). Red is interrupted however, by an attempted bank robbery. He foils the heist and retrieves the money, which he returns to Arthur Stanton (Selmer Jackson), the bank president. What Red doesn’t know is that Stanton has embezzled over $40,000 from his bank and afterwards, had his bank robbed to cover the crime.
In the meantime, Tom Blackwell’s father, Judge Homer Blackwell (John Hamilton) says that he’s tired of his son’s behavior and will cut him out of his will. He asks Stanton to bring a list of his securities to his office that he might reconcile his books. To protect himself, Sedley slips into the Judge’s office and kills him.
Red Ryder, who has been appointed Sheriff, is compelled to arrest Tom who had threatened his father. Meanwhile, Red has a newspaper story printed stating that he has discovered evidence that vindicates Tom. The worried Stanton orders his crime partner, Sedley, to stir up a lynch mob. He wants to takeover Stanton’s large estate to cover the embezzled funds.
In order to protect Tom from the gathering lynch mob, Red hands him over to the Duchess but then tells Stanton that Tom is hiding in Ann’s schoolhouse. Red’s suspicions of Stanton are confirmed when the illicit banker sends Sedley to the schoolhouse to kill Tom. In the process, Sedley is mortally wounded by Red but before dying, confesses to the Judge’s murder.
Ryder sets a trap for Stanton by sending Tom to Stanton’s office seeking help. Stanton, sensing an opportunity, pulls a gun on Tom but is captured by Red Ryder before he can kill Tom. Sedley is later convicted and imprisoned.
Tom reforms and is ready to settle down with Ann, even vowing to use some of his inheritance to elect Red to the office of territorial governor. This proves to be too much for the red-headed cowboy who is last seen on the screen, riding off in the distance with Little Beaver (Robert Blake). | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0096018 | Running on Empty | Mike (Terry Serio) is a young man who is a budding street racer, and owner of a Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase III. His best mate and mechanic, Tony (John Agius), are both steel workers by day, but when they aren't working, they are racing.
Fox (Richard Moir) is the top street racer of the area, and owner of a Dodge Challenger; no one dares cross him and his tight group of mates, and he is currently unbeaten, but when Fox wins a race against an unnamed racer in a Holden Monaro, who then, following the race loses control of his car in anger and ends up perishing in a fiery crash, no one has the stomach to race.....Fox is now facing a drought of racing and therefore money.
Julie is the voyeuristic young girl portrayed by singer Deborah Conway, and seemingly involved with Fox. Mike fancies her, and the feeling is mutual. Fox takes advantage of this weakness, and pursues Mike, and basically tells him that if he wants whats his (Julie) he has to race for it.
Mike loses the first race to Fox, the fact being his Falcon just isn't fast enough. They decide to go out to the country (filmed in Cobar, New South Wales), to race easy wins to make enough money to build up the engine (351 Cleveland) of his Falcon to beat Fox. Between playing "Spotto" (a form of eye spy) on the way and scamming service station attendants, we only see them racing one group of people, a bunch of dim-witted bogans called the Gazard boys, in an EK Holden, who they knew they would beat and go on to do so. They agree on a double or nothing race for the next day.
The next morning they find themselves at Rebel's garage, who they crossed paths with the day before, and they realise that Rebel (Max Cullen) is blind, but still has a great passion for life and cars. He still drives his prized blown '57 Chevy coupe, with the help of his wife Joan (Annie Semler).
Mike then sets out to find the racers from yesterday, with them leading Mike, Tony and Julie into a trap, where the racers threaten to burn the Falcon to the ground with them in it unless they give them back their money that they lost the day before. They proceed to get angrier wetting the car with gasoline and then setting it on fire, with Mike trying to drive away and in the process roll the car a few times, but managed to start it up again and drive the car into a shallow lake to quench the fire.
They arrive back at Rebel's, the car barely moving, and Rebel allows them to stay just as long as it takes to get the car fixed. Over the course of a few weeks, Rebel, Mike and Tony repair the car back to its former glory and after a few days of testing the car and tuning it with nitrous they return to the city to race Fox once again.
As the cars line up at the start line (The brick-yards in Homebush, Sydney) As they set of and reach redline speed in what seems like a setup from Mike's point of view but was really just an accident, a truck pulls out in front of Fox and Mike during the race, destroying the Falcon and injuring Mike.
After Mike's recovery in hospital, it seems he has given up—until Tony is bashed by Fox's head thug for riding a bicycle after Fox told them "no wheels and off the street". Mike confronts Fox and challenges him to a race. Mike plans to race and bet Rebel's Chevy, he knows it will beat the Dodge - he just has to convince Rebel to let him use it.
Mike heads back to Rebel's and asks him for the car. After Rebel's reluctant agreement, teaching Mike to drive it and handle the car properly, they head back to the city once more, only to have Fox, realising that he has no chance against the Chevy over the quarter mile, decides they will run Kemps Creek instead, which is a mile long race, figuring that he has the speed advantage.
After the eventful race through Kemps Creek and Mike's eventual victory, there is a dramatic sort of stand-off between the two, and Fox, possibly coming to terms that he lost, drives the Dodge full speed into a wall, killing himself and destroying the car, as if to make the point that Mike would never have his car. The movie ends with Mike's not so fussed reaction to this event and fades into the credits. | anti war, romantic, avant garde, dramatic | train | wikipedia | The best reason to watch this film is of course the performance by River Phoenix, which now that he's dead, we will never know if he could have topped this.
Although it wasn't a box office hit, I believe it will be remembered as one of Director Sidney Lumet's best films and certainly the best one to watch if you want to remember why the talented actor River Phoenix's death was so tragic..
When I was 16, I used to hang out with a tough crowd and my best friend at the time was a real trouble maker, we would always get into fights with other guys our age and sometimes men, and he was a really tough kid, anyway one night he calls me and tells me that he watched the saddest movie he had ever seen, he said it was the first time he actually cried since he saw E.T. I was laughing at him continuously, until I watched it and got so profoundly effected by it that even thinking about that last scene makes my eyes water.
One scene is particularly powerful and makes me tear up every time I watch it: The luncheon meeting between Annie, the mother (Christine Lahti) and her father, played by Steven Hill.
No special FX, pretty tame action (mostly involving music and dancing), only six main characters, but a great entertaining and inspirational film.Rated 9.9 out of 10, in case something better ever comes along.
Watching it with my wife tonight (her first time seeing it) and I still cried at the conclusion.This movie, more than any other, even Stand By Me, makes me miss the adult actor that River Phoenix might have become.
Annie Pope (Christine Lahti) transmits to son Danny (River Phoenix) her musical gift, but also imbues him with an exceptional sensitivity and appreciation of beauty.
I thought this was a powerful movie about '60s radicals on the lam for 14 years and a crisis that develops when the family's 17-year-old son is talented enough to enter Juliard School Of Music which means , because of identity problems, they may never see him again.
Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti play the husband and wife and River Phoenix and Jonas Abry are their kids.There is excellent acting in this film and particularly by young Phoenix.
I wouldn't recommend viewing for everyone; the film is slow in comparison to modern offerings, but if you're interested in romance, drama, or even just River Phoenix this is definitely a must-see movie..
However, going by the excellence of this film, "Running On Empty", I honestly don't see how you could see him as anything but.Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti both give wonderful performances as the ex-radicals on the run from the FBI for 17 years (and the worried parents of two fast-growing-up boys,) but the undoubted star of the picture is (a then 18-year-old) River Phoenix as their eldest son.
Who, for all his young life, has moved from town to town with his parents and younger brother, changing schools, homes, and identity at each stop, so as not to be located by the government and punished for the acts his parents committed before he was born.The film concentrates on the latest identity, the latest stop on the Pope families' never-ending quest to evade the law.
Phoenix's character falls in love with a girl (played by Phoenix's real life girlfriend at the time, Martha Plimpton) and wants to stay.
If you can picture a subtle mix of some of the best aspects of James Dean and a young Henry Fonda and you're coming close to what Phoenix achieved here.'Running On Empty' is a classic example of great, poignant, affecting, emotional film making (and acting) and I give it 10/10.
The characters were not your average expected radicals, they were normal people with convictions who placed themselves and their children in an abnormal situation.The story line is a family on the run from the FBI.
Playing the son of the activists on the run from the law for almost 20 years, River Phoenix gave one of his best performances ever in this film.
And of course, The Late/Great River Phoenix is beyond excellence.'Running on Empty' Synopsis: The eldest son of a fugitive family comes of age and wants to live a life of his own.'Running on Empty' isn't merely a tale about fugitives, its a tale, of family, bond & coming of age.
A pair of anti-war radicals on the run with their nuclear family, Annie and Arthur Pope (Lahti and Hirsch) are answerable for a napalm laboratory bombing in the 70s (with one casualty of injury), designated as an anti-Vietnam war protestation, and have been lying low with new identities every once in a while henceforth, until their eldest son Danny (Phoenix) reaches 17, a watershed is laying out, some big decision needs to contemplate by both parties.
The whole close-knit cast has done a cracking job, Judd Hirsch, although one can hardly condone that him and Phoenix are cutting from the same family tree from their physical appearances, pulls off an earnest father and an activist with ardor, whereas, Christine Lahti is viscerally sublime in her Janus-faced versatility: checking the scenes where Annie pseudo-cavalierly converses with Danny's teacher and later a lachrymose tête-à-tête with her own father for the first time in 15 years, that is the testimonial.
Sensibly filleting the more sensitive political agenda (there are worms in their noble cause too) which is concomitant with the story-line, RUNNING ON EMPTY is in essence a well-meaning, good-natured encomium of family value and altruistic sacrifice, only its rushed finale (at least the logistics team could have packed some items in their departing truck considering they are fleeing from the place for keeps), hits like a fly in the ointment in a hearty 80s tale, incidentally, if the same story happens in a CCTV-rampant age like today, the family's fly-by-night endeavor will definitely not last such a protracted length to even face their offspring's growing pains..
The director, Sidney Lumet, has directed some great American films dealing with important issues, including Twelve Angry Men, Fail-Safe, The Pawnbroker and Network, among many others; he was no doubt aware of the lives of fugitives whose criminality came to haunt them because of social alienation or contempt for waging war in the Vietnam.
In the opening scene of this movie about one such family, we find the elder son, played by River Phoenix, coming home to a comfortable house only to find FBI agents driving around the property.
The parents, played by Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti, have the know-how and social skills to make the best for their tight-knit family of four.
The encounter between Annie, the mother (Christine Lahti) and her father, played by Steven Hill, is the most moving scene in this movie, bringing together regrets, heartbreak and lost opportunities.
"Running on Empty" is an achingly beautiful film about a fugitive family which has come to a fork in the road - their 17-year-old son, a musical prodigy, wants to go to Julliard, thus splitting up and possibly endangering the family.
The crux of the story is the struggle between the older son, Danny (played with extraordinary sensitivity by the late River Phoenix), and his parents, but it is so much more.
The main character, Danny (played amazingly by the Wonderful River Phoenix) has been moving and changing his name since he was two years old.When the family moves, Danny meets a girl named Lorna (played triumphantly by Martha Plimpton) whom which he falls in love and doesn't want to leave when his father tells the family it's time to move again.
(I doubt he would have killed himself, as well.)Knowing that the FBI had lost a lot of interest in old radicals by the time it was filmed made the subject matter more palatable to the studios while still seeming "hip." The actors perform well but the character of the parents were nearsighted and selfish for most of their lives, and the ending can't really undo that much damage.
The "Pope" family consists of a father (Arthur = Judd Hirsch), a mother (Annie = Christine Lahti), and two young sons (River Phoenix and Jonas Abry).
There seemed to be a lack of character development on-screen, which led to several points of disconnect that ripped me right out of the plot each time.There were some decent scenes, like the restaurant scene between father and daughter, and overall I can't complain about the performances of either Lahti or Hirsch.
He succeeds in capturing our attention fully with this tale of love, sacrifice and quest for redemption.River Phoenix got his (sadly) only Oscar nomination for his part of the elder son of parents who were once political activists (played by the equally wonderful Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) who are now constantly on the run from the law after taking part in a political bombing.
In the meanwhile, his mother tries to convince her rather wealthy parents to take Danny into their safe and stable home and give him an opportunity to become a concert pianist.It is a very emotional and melodramatic movie, but without Lumet at the helm, I think it would likely dissolve into just another sappy and boring love movie and the dramatic content would be neglected or pushed in the background where it would do no good.
Teenager Danny Pope (River Phoenix) notices that people are following him and he initiates the family to go on the run again.
except for Running on empty.Every time I watch the birthday scene with the beautiful Fire and Rain by James Taylor, I cry like a baby, because there's real love in that family.
Of course I also adore Lahti, Phoenix and Plimpton, but to me, the final scene with that old bike and the face of Judd Hirsch looking at his son, and River Phoenix looking at his family is so moving...
Some critical decisions will have to be made by him and by his fugitive family.Running On Empty got two Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and for Best Supporting Actor for River Phoenix.
I'm sure that background also prepared for the radically different part he played in My Own Private Idaho.Still for all the acclaim River got my favorite scene in the film and its climax involves Christine Lahti and her father Steven Hill when they reunite surreptitiously in a restaurant where all the pent up feelings on both sides get to hang out.
At the place they're living Danny meets and falls in love with a wonderful girl (Martha Plimpton) and finds out he has enough talent to be accepted to Juilliard--but his father won't let him go.A quiet yet very moving movie.
Running on Empty, a 1988 film by Sidney Lumet, is a sympathetic look at a family in hiding from the authorities as a result of having committed a bomb attack on a napalm laboratory in 1970 to protest the Vietnam War. The attack left a janitor blinded and led to the pursuit of the family by the FBI for fifteen years.
The film describes the disruption in the lives of the parents, Arthur and Annie Pope (Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti) and its effect on their two sons, 17-year-old Danny (River Phoenix) and 10-year-old Harry (Jonas Abry).
The conflict is resolved but only after a gripping and emotional scene.Running on Empty is reminiscent of another Lumet film Daniel that showed how the political activity of the parents (in this case, the Rosenbergs) changed the lives of the children forever.
Now they have two children, Stephen, a young boy, and Michael, a teenage piano prodigy, played by a wonderful River Phoenix.After they arrive in a small town in New Jersey, the teenager falls in love with his music teacher's daughter and applies to Julliard in NYC.
But when the family needs to skip town and go on the run again, he is torn between his aspirations and his family.Christine Lahti and Judd Hirsch are both great as the streetwise, idealistic parents, but the real star here is the late River Phoenix, who gives a wonderful, angst filled performance..
When I saw it first in the middle of the schoolmate crowd, I didn't care much about it, but when a couple of years later I saw it alone at home, it touched me deep inside, feeling quite identified with the youngster.It's a brilliant performance especially by River Phoenix and the rest of the cast too, playing a family who lives underground for past political activities having to change identity and move continuously in order to escape the police, but at the same time trying to lead a life as normal as possible.
Sidney Lumet directs the singularly beautiful and sensitive movie, which still affects on multiple levels.River Phoenix, the son of Vietnam protest criminals, still on the run from the FBI, has reached an age where he needs to pursue his own life and ambition, requiring a stable home environment.River's relationship with Martha Plimpton's character, both lonely and disconnected adolescents in 1980s America.River's parents, conflicted about their relationship with their children, the cost to both themselves and their sons of the life they chose to live, and conflicted in their relationship with each other - both knowing their life cannot last the way it is, but unable to deal with the inevitability of the end of their family unit.Christine Lahti's re-awakened relationship with her estranged father, and the pain of 15 years absence.River was wonderful.
Love despite adversity is what keeps this family together.The story may be a bit slow for fans of action films and cheap toilet comedies, and the movie was never given any piled-on "hype", so it is easy to see why this never saw any mainstream success.
river phoenix al well as martha plimpton are wonderful actors,i recommend this movie to everyone who is interested in a good story and strong emotional playing..
Only at the very end of the film does Arthur realise this contradiction and makes the final gesture (I won't say what it is) which shows that he has learned to put his children's needs before his own.River Phoenix, the young actor who died from a drugs overdose at the age of 23, stars as Danny.
(I certainly preferred this film to the overrated "My Own Private Idaho" which is sometimes cited as his best).There are two other good performances from Judd Hirsch and Christine Lahti as Arthur and Annie.
for me its a beautiful film, still a hidden gem of Sydney lumet, and i love it mainly for river phoenix and the love story setting with Martha plumpton.
The whole counter-culture theme seemed curiously out of date though, especially the scene where Lahti's old radical boy friend turns up, but at least the film told a different and interesting story very well.River Pheonix's performance was somewhat inexperienced, especially in his body language.
Turns out the film has a lot to offer.The teen make-out scenes with Martha Plimpton and River Phoenix were strictly PG but were perhaps the hottest I've seen in 60 years.
And to do so, he might never see his on-the-lam family again."Directed by Sidney Lumet, from Naomi Foner's 'Golden Globe Award'-winning screenplay, this powerful, bittersweet movie also stars Martha Plimpton and Steven Hill, and earned acting honors for the emotional performances of Lahti ('Los Angeles Film Critics Best Actress Award') and Phoenix (named 'Best Supporting Actor' by the 'National Board of Review')," according to the DVD sleeve description.This film doesn't tout itself as being "based on a true story," but writer Naomi Foner seems to have been inspired by Bill Ayers and his "Weather Underground".
Nixon's escalation of the Vietnam War, the group specialized in the bombing of sites related to the war effort - without human casualty; but, in "Running on Empty", the protesters blind a janitor.The film's performances are a highlight, as was noted by wins and nominations among movie award-giving groups; they considered River Phoenix the "Supporting Actor" in the drama, but he clearly handles the starring role.
Finally, due to his untimely death, watching River emote with James Taylor's "Fire and Rain" in your brain is positively prescient.******* Running on Empty (9/7/88) Sidney Lumet ~ River Phoenix, Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch, Martha Plimpton.
A thirty-something husband and wife, responsible for Viet Nam War protest violence in past years, are forever on the run, trying to evade capture by the F.B.I. What makes the story interesting is that the couple has two sons, one of whom is Danny (River Phoenix), a gifted piano player.
Christine Lahti, River Phoenix, and Martha Plimpton all shine.Given the 1960s youth rebellion back-story, I could have wished for some corresponding 1960s era music.
River Phoenix stars as a coming of age teenager whose parents are fugitives from the vietnam war protest era who must frequently be on the run to keep one step ahead of the law..
The best scene in the movie, as far as I'm concerned, was between Christine Lahti and Steven Hill, who plays her father.
"Running On Empty" is a moving family drama told through the point of view of Danny Pope, aka Michael Manfield, aka Richard McNally (sp?), played by the very talented and lamented River Phoenix.
The audition scene is one of my favourites."Running On Empty" has a lot going on for it: a good though slightly flawed script, talented actors (Phoenix, Christine Lahti, Judd Hirsch and Martha Plimpton), and BEAUTIFUL music.
As is Christine Lahti, the mother, River Phoenix as the son, and Martha Plimpton as the girlfriend.
Mississippi Burning is another film that springs to mind.The Pope family are fugitives.They have been on the run from the FBI since the early 1970s.Arthur(Judd Hirsch)and Annie (Christine Lahti) were once student radicals who blew up a lab that produced weapons, as a protest against the Vietnam War. Think Weathermen Underground and you get the picture.Their act of terror resulted in a fatality. |
tt0069466 | The Visitors | Bill Schmidt and his long-term girlfriend Martha Wayne and their young son Hal live in a small Connecticut farmhouse owned by Martha's overbearing father. One snowy winter Sunday, two of Bill's ex-army buddies, Mike and Tony, arrive. A few years ago, they had all served together in Vietnam in the same platoon but later ended up on opposite sides of a court-martial. Bill has never told his girlfriend what happened in Vietnam nor at the court-martial. The story slowly unfolds. Under orders in Vietnam not to take any prisoners, and faced with potentially hostile civilians who might attack them if left behind, Mike kills a civilian. Bill testifies against him and Mike is sent to the stockade (military prison) for two years. He is angry. There is sexual tension between Mike and Martha. The tension builds and culminates in a fight and a rape. | revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | If you look at this in terms of Kazan's career and the way he puts his own experience in every film (even though I'm sure he'd rather not, but he just can't help himself), this is a masterpiece.
A haunting Vietnam aftermath game by Elia Kazan.
CoW was based on a real story, this fictional 1972 film shows what happened afterward.
First of all it's James Wood's debut, second it's allegedly the first fictional film to deal with Vietnam in a serious manner, and third because of how intense the film manages to get.
These are the men Wood's turned in for raping and killing a Vietnamese girl.The atmosphere screams of dread and you sit back horrified wondering when it's all going to explode.
Slow and creepy, The Visitors is a very low budget story about two Army buddies, newly released from the stockade after serving their terms for rape, who drop in on the comrade responsible for their conviction.
It is a basic retelling of many story's we've seen before, (old army buddies come back after the war to seek redemption on the friend that did them wrong) but it was a bit of a stand out in the it has a very unexpected, shocking ending.
It explores the violence and the tension of the situation well, moving slowly and methodically, which works for a while but then falls short, as you have to say "enough all ready" and get on with it.Decent performance by a young James Woods and also by Steve Railsback in his first film (who later goes on to star if the cult classic "Life Force".
If you liked Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" (though I particularly didn't) I would recommend this film..
This curio is a low budget drama directed by Elia Kazan from a script by his son.
He plays Bill, a young man, just back from the Vietnam War and living in a rural menage with his girl, her older husband, and his child.
At their door appear a couple of Bill's old army buddies, and one of them has a grudge to work out, since Bill ratted him out something back in the war zone.
Untypical material for Kazan: this curiously amateurish amalgam of ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948) and THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955), updated for the Vietnam era, is unworthy of the director's unquestionable talent (despite being written by his own son!) and emerges as a pointless talking marathon - in which the dialogue is muffled most of the time anyway, because of poor sound recording!
Patricia Joyce comes off best from the hand-picked cast, which includes James Woods' debut role as the wimpish hero(!) and Steve Railsback as one of his two revenge-seeking war buddies; these actors must have thought that they had it made when they were chosen by Award-winning director Kazan (who had, after all, virtually discovered Marlon Brando, James Dean and Warren Beatty) to feature in his next movie but, unfortunately for them, THE VISITORS sank without trace despite being an official entry in that year's Cannes Film Festival!
While the film could easily have turned into a nasty shocker in the vein of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) - which might even have been preferable in the long run - the story just meanders on towards a lame and inconclusive ending.
A couple spend a quiet day at home, until the husband's 2 Vietnam "pals" come to visit.
First of all, I feel Kazan was a great director and ,secondly, i adore James Woods.This is a very moody film that paints the world very bleak and creepy.
The Visitors (1972) ** (out of 4)Bill (James Woods) and his wife Martha (Patricia Joyce) are spending time with their son when two of Bill's former Vietnam buddies (Steve Railsback, Chico Martinez) show up.
The wife isn't sure what the two are doing there but the secret is that both of them just got done doing time for rape, which Bill turned them in on.
THE VISITORS isn't really the type of film you'd expect from someone like Elia Kazan but after viewing the film and seeing that he was going for a psychological type thriller, I can see why he was hired but in the end I don't think the film works.
I don't think there's any doubt that Kazan, working with a screenplay written by his son, wanted the viewer to sit in the dark fearing what these two dangerous men were going to do to the man who turned them in.
Kazan directs the film in an extremely slow way as all of the scenes just drag on and it really does seem that the thing runs much longer than its 88-minutes.
The majority of the film is just slow, drawn out dialogue sequences but the problem is that they're boring.
Not once did I get caught up in anything going on and in fact the highlight of the movie is a sequence where the wife's father (Patrick McVey) has a neighbors dog killed.
The film is trying to say something about Vietnam, friendship, loyalty and several other things but everything just gets so muddled that you can't help but start yawning.
The performances from the five people are all good and it's this that keeps the film working.
THE VISITORS isn't quite as graphic as its reputation would have you believe but it does have the feel of something like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT.
In fact, the visual look of this film compares highly to the Wes Craven shocker that was released the previous year..
Elia Kazan's last great work comes from an original script by his son Chris (his only screenplay), which is inspired by a 1969 article from The New Yorker Magazine.
The article's real story was filmed by Brian De Palma's underrated work "Casualties of War"; Kazan's film is an 'what if...' kind of situation where viewers could see it as a real sequel to De Palma's film.
Here, war seems a distant fog that somehow always finds its way to get deeper in the memories of all the five major characters from the film.
Martha and Bill (Patricia Joyce and James Woods) are a nice couple, they have a baby, and they're quietly living in this small farm estate owned by her father (Patrick McVey), a war veteran from another era who now writes novels.
A simple day in their lives, Bill goes out for something and when he returns, his wife tells him that two of his army buddies were there for a visit.
By this part of this story, if you're not into reading plots you can only imagine that something was really wrong between those friends during their time in Vietnam, the tension cuts the air like a sharp sword and those two caustic visitors aren't there for a friendly visit.
Before that, we have the opportunity to see Sgt. Nickerson and Rodrigues trying to establish contacts with the couple; later on going to lady's father house - and the man adores them practically since they can exchange war experiences; then we gradually understand that Woods character is deeply concerned about their visit.
Most I can tell, so you can enjoy the film, is exactly the view Martha gets from Bill about what happened in Vietnam and revolved around a court martial - but if you're familiar with "Casualties of War" you know the real deal.With a pulsating twisting nerve, "The Visitors" is an intense film that deepens the wounds a nation weren't yet ready to get exposed, except in news media, when it comes to not only the already exhausted Vietnam conflict but also the reality of the veterans coming back home to not find much prospect of a new life.
It's not like both Kazan's movie is a highly political film but the themes are there.
With the exception of McVey, all the four main actors are making their film debut in this picture and they were all great.My problems with the film is some settings that look implausible or fail to convince much; the guitar song that seems to announce the most awaited third act, it just doesn't work.
This was a serious candidate in becoming a perfect classic of the 1970's, an era with many realistic inputs and conventions, almost similar to the Dogma movement of the 1990's with some films making use of music from original sources in the background, no new composition - in fact, it's classic songs that Kazan used as a background without no indication of let's say music playing on a stereo - which also happens later on with great pieces and to a spectacular tense effect.
But when he introduces the guitar theme it just puts you off from the effect of seeing a more realistic piece of filmmaking, almost like an exciting play - and I wonder how come there's no play version of this?
But Kazan succeeds in making a more intimate film, very independently, modest and somber.And through everything presented, we wonder what the future will bring to those characters?.
***SPOILERS*** Very personal movie directed by the late great Elia Kazan with the screenplay written by his #1 Son Chris involving naming names or testifying against fellow GI's and the consequences that result from it to the person who felt obligated to do so.The movie "The Visitors" takes place in early January 1969, judging the New York Jet Baltimore Colt Superbowl Game shown on TV, in snowy Newton Connecticut.
It's there where young Vietnam vet Bill Schmidt is living a quite and peaceful existence with his live in girlfriend Martha Wayne and the couples out of wedlock two year old boy Hal. Bill trying the make ends meet with his job at a local helicopter plant is in luck in both him & Martha being allowed to live in Martha's dad's, Harry Wayne, home rent free.Wayne is anything but impressed with Bill's very in your face pacifism even though he served as a combat infantryman in Vietnam with honors.
It's on one cold & snowy morning that Bill's fellow Vietnam vets Mike Nickerson & Tony Rodrigues show up unexpectedly at the Wayne home that the past suddenly catches up with him.
It was some three years ago that Bill testified against both Mike and Tony in a brutal rape and murder that they committed in Vietnam which he was an eye witness to.Like a spider spinning a web for its intended victim both Mike & Tony begin to set Bill up for the kill with his girlfriend-Martha-having at first no idea of what their planning to do!
Bill ashamed and feeling like a turncoat in, by testifying against them, having sent Mike & Tony away for two years at the Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary kept what he did from Martha, as well as Harry, all this time!
But now all that was about to come out in the wash with Martha, besides Bill, being the one to end up paying for it.James Woods in his movie debut is both touching and tragic as the troubled Vietnam vet Bill Schmidt a man with a conscience that never goes away.
Troubled in what he was involved with, in doing nothing to stop it, in the Vietnam War Bill turned evidence against Mike and Tony at their court-martial trial that has now come back-like a boomerang- to haunt him.
Although the production values are those of 1960s and 70s films which make The Incredibly Strange Film Festival, that is to say not good, this one is still worth watching if you happen to like film noir and see it on your cable TV schedule.
A ex-Vietnam veteran lives with his girlfriend Martha and their baby, and nearby her father, a world war II veteran.
They get on well with dad but when it is revealed they were part of a gang rape of a 16 year old girl in Vietnam, needless to say Martha isn't very comfortable.
Both film feature a sexually confused woman and a battle between a soft man and super masculine men.The idea for the film supposedly came from the same story that Brian De Palma's Casualties of War was based on.
This is a fictional version of what could have happened after everything in the story Casualties of War is based on.
Two of the men who raped the girl in Vietnam come home to the person (Bill Schmidt) who reported them to have their revenge.I loved the character battle in this film.
He however falls in love with the guys who come for a visit to take revenge, the Vietnam war criminals!
Sounds like Funny Games to me :)I have no idea why this film is so underrated.
Veteran actors James Woods and Steve Railsback made their film debuts in this not uninteresting, obviously low budget drama, made in a very stark and simple way by director Elia Kazan.
Cited as an early effort to tell a serious Vietnam War related story, it's a fictional follow-up to the tale filmed 17 years later as "Casualties of War" (the latter was based on a true story).
Characters' resentments towards each other emerge, but things never get completely ugly until the final act.Basically, a former soldier in Vietnam, Bill Schmidt (Woods) lives in a remote location with Martha (Patricia Joyce), the mother of his child, and Harry (Patrick McVey), Marthas' father who toils away as an author.
Mike and Tony endear themselves to Harry, a gruff & macho WWII veteran who feels nothing but contempt for Bill, whom he sees as a weakling.It may be that "The Visitors" is one of those films that engenders personal reactions: viewers may either appreciate what Kazan tries to do, or be appalled at the darkness on display.
Certainly Kazan doesn't promise his audience a conclusive resolution (you wonder what will come next for the characters after the credits end) or a happy one.
The performances are solid across the board, with the young Railsback already showing that incredible intensity that became his trademark and served him well a few years later in the 'Helter Skelter' miniseries.Film buffs might want to give this a chance if just for curiosity's sake.Six out of 10..
"The Visitors" is such an example of a peculiarly obscure film in spite of the great names involved.
It was directed by Elia Kazan, who won 2 Oscars and even an Honorary Award, and it was the first major film role for both James Woods and Steve Railsbeck.
These names alone should have provided the film with a tremendous classic status and cult reputation, but instead it's a totally unknown effort that never ever gets mentioned when people are discussing the highlights of either Kazan or Woods.
More likely
"The Visitors" probably ranks in the top 5 slowest-paced films I've ever seen and the story keeps building up towards a devastating climax that actually never comes.
If it weren't the names that convinced me to watch "The Visitors" already, then the brief plot description certainly would have: Vietnam veteran Bill Schmidt lives a quite life in the countryside, along with his wife and their baby.
This isn't friendly visit, however, as Tony and Mike were just recently released from prison where they served a sentence for raping and murdering an innocent girl during their Tour of Duty.
The film could have been a forerunner of the popular trend of home-invasion movies (like "Last House on the Left" or "House at the Edge of the Park") or it could have been a raw and powerful post-Vietnam revenge thriller (like "The Exterminator", "The Farmer" or "Rolling Thunder").
The filming locations and snowy landscapes are astounding and the soundtrack features a couple of nice classical music moments, but that's hardly worth a recommendation..
The husband (James Woods--in his first film) doesn't seem happy to see them.
Later, you SLOWLY find out why--he testified against them in a trial during the Vietnam War, as the two had participated in a rape and murder of an innocent woman.
Normally, you'd think that he'd throw them out or call the police...but he doesn't.If I didn't see on IMDb and in the film's credits, I would have no idea that this movie was directed by the great Elia Kazan (of "On the Waterfront" fame).
That's because the film looks so amateurish in many ways--with blurry and sloppy cinematography.
How far had the career of Kazan fallen that he ended up doing a film like this?!
And, in my summary I mentioned eracehead's review--and I think they summed it up nicely when they mentioned the amateurish look and the fact that it took so darned long for the film to get moving.
All in all, most of the emotional impact was lost by the time the big rape scene (which was VERY telegraphed--such as showing the woman topless while dressing early in the film and the fact that the men had been involved in the prior rape) occurred.
I mention the rape scene, as I know many viewers DON'T want to see this sort of thing (too many memories for many victims, for example).
If you have read the basic premise for "The Visitors", you probably think you have a good idea as to how the movie will play out if you have seen your share of hostage dramas and revenge thrillers.
This film is basically a bastardization of Daniel Lang's story "Casualties of War" which was adapted into a film by Brian De Palma in 1989.
In Elia Kazan's 1972 version two Viet Nam vets who were sentenced to two years in Leavenworth Prison for their role in the gang rape and murder of a 15-year-old Vietnamese girl during a patrol somewhere in Viet Nam pay a visit to the fellow soldier who turned them in, presumably for the purpose of letting him know that they harbor no hard feelings but the visit ends when they beat the guy unconscious and rape his wife. |
tt1085382 | Chicago Overcoat | Lou Marazano was once a feared hit man, but his reputation has dimmed significantly twenty years after his retirement. Unable to help his daughter financially after her ex-husband fails to pay child support, he asks the street boss, Lorenzo Galante, for work. Though reluctant to give him the job, Galante sends him to kill several witnesses who will testify against D'Agostino, the mob boss. After Marazano sends flowers to the widow of one of the men he kills, Ray Berkowski, a veteran cop, reopens a case that involved a string of murders from the early 1990s. Though discouraged from investigating, Berkowski and his partner, Ralph Maloney, stake out the second target. Picked up at the scene of he crime, Marazano does not talk, and the police are forced to set him free when his girlfriend and her neighbors provide an alibi.
Worried that Marazano may talk in order to avoid jail time, Galante orders him killed. Marazano stays a step ahead of his former friends, and he is able to kill the crew sent to assassinate him. Knowing that he must also kill Galante, Marazano heads to Galante's bar, where Galante threatens Marazano's family. Unmoved by the threats, Marazano kills Galante and offers his gold watch to an elderly man. When the elderly man is taken in by the police as a potential witness, they spot the distinctive watch and realize that they have enough evidence to arrest Marazano. Meanwhile, Marazano collects the money from his job and receives his final target, Maloney, who has taken over the investigation once Berkowski became frustrated with the department's red tape.
When their captain says that he has important information to share, Maloney and Berkowski, who has returned to active duty despite his cynicism, meet him in private at a parking lot. Unknown to the others, Mazarano tails the cops. Revealing that he is corrupt, the captain shoots both his subordinates. Before the captain can finish off either man, Marazano kills him. As Marazano turns to leave, Berkowski and Maloney attempt to stop him. In the ensuing gunfight, Berkowski accidentally kills Maloney. Enraged, he chases after Marazano, whom he blames for Maloney's death. When Berkowski confronts him, Marazano kills him. At his daughter's house, Marazano gives her all the money and urges her to leave the city, which he also plans to do. | revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0251285 | Myst III: Exile | Exile begins 10 years after the events of Riven, when the Stranger arrives at the home of Atrus and his wife Catherine. Atrus is a scientist and explorer who has mastered an ancient practice known as the Art: he can create links to different worlds, called Ages, by writing special books. This ability is by an ancient civilization known as the D'ni, whose society crumbles after the D'ni city is devastated by a plague. Atrus calls the Stranger to his home to display his newest Age, Releeshahn, which Atrus has designed as a new home for the D'ni survivors.
As Atrus is preparing to leave for Releeshahn, a mysterious man appears in Atrus' study, steals the Releeshahn book and leaves behind another. Following the thief, the Stranger arrives at J'nanin, an Age that Atrus had written long before as a way to teach the Art to his sons. Because the thief has caused considerable damage to the J'nanin book, Atrus cannot accompany the Stranger.
The mysterious man is named Saavedro. Twenty years earlier, Atrus' wayward sons Sirrus and Achenar destroyed Saavedro's home Age of Narayan and trapped him on J'nanin. Saavedro believes his family is dead and swears vengeance on Atrus, unaware that Atrus has already imprisoned his sons for their crimes and that Saavedro's family is still alive. The game can end several ways depending on the player's actions. In the most ideal scenario, Saavedro returns to Narayan peacefully after giving back the book of Releeshahn. Other endings result in Saavedro destroying Releeshahn or killing the player; another option allows the player to leave Saavedro trapped forever. | revenge, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | In terms of graphics, Riven was a simple step up from Myst.
But Myst III adds a whole new level of realism to the franchise.The main new feature is that you can look anywhere you want in any direction withing the photo-realistic worlds when before you could only look at a limited amount of certain things.
The graphics are so convincing that the roller-coaster ride in the middle of the game will make you feel like you're really there.
Not only do the graphics stand out but sound effects pan across the sound-field when you spin around and wind whistles between the rocks.The story involves the maniacal sons of Atrus (that would be Sirrus and Achenar) continuing to wreak havoc through-out the ages.
They have destroyed a world known as Narayan and left sole-survivor in exile on the island of J'Nanin.
This man is Saavedro (Brad Dourif), who ultimately blames Atrus for his sons going off the deep end.Atrus (played by Rand Miller as always) calls upon you to go to J'Nanin and find Saavedro, who has stolen Atrus new age Raleeshan.
Saavedro traps you into going through many different worlds, unlocking secrets, finding clues and seeing for yourself what Sirrus and Achenar did to Narayan.
Each world has a different look from the last but still retains that spooky feeling no matter if your in a swamp, caverns, beach or mountaintop.But still, the most impressive thing about Myst III is Jack Wall's brilliant score, which is simultaneously haunting, beautiful, dark and Gothic.
Definitely the best score a video-game has ever known.
And that's a pretty big statement.I got the Limited Collector's Edition of this game which comes with the score CD (now very hard to find and very expensive) a 'making of' CD, the Prima Official Strategy Guide and lots of other inserts.
I minor quibble though.Overall, I highly recommend Myst III, it's not just a game, it's a journey..
Myst III continues the saga of Myst and Riven with a new perspective on things.
No longer limited to purely static images with only minimal scenery animation, the game's technical leaps help destroy the fuel that the series' denouncers have used against it.Taking the first two games' approach to puzzle solving, you'll still be left out in the open, having to search for the proper clues in order to progress, but unlike in Riven, you won't have to do quite as much footwork to go from clue to puzzle or to see the results that the solved puzzle brings.The quality of acting in Myst III leaves the performances of the majority of games with live actors in the dust.
It would be hard to imagine a Myst game without Rand Miller portraying Atrus, but Hollywood actor Brad Dourif also appears in the game as the central antagonist.
The direction seems very competent, unlike in a game such as Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun. You know it can't be good directing when even James Earl Jones looks wooden!With all that said, if you enjoyed Myst and Riven, you will undoubtably find enjoyment in Myst III: Exile.
I wear headphones, so if a game has good stereo sound, I almost feel as if I am there.
Good music can also add emotion to a game.
This game has all that (as did the original Myst), wonderful raytraced graphics, and seamless Quicktime overlays.
When not playing the game, load the M3Data subdirectory into your MP3 player, to hear all the pretty themes again (1.5 hours of mp3's!).
If you really like the music, there is a Jack Wall soundtrack CD, though it is currently out of print.Graphics.
Myst depends heavily on realistic graphics to increase immersion.
While 3d graphic cards keep improving, raytracing still looks better.
The large storage capacity of CD media allows the Myst games to avoid the downside of raytracing: rendering speed.
Exile adds the ability to "turn around" at each location -- the render is for an entire sphere, rather than just the rectangle of the monitor screen.
Quicktime movies allow playing back video recordings left by characters in the game.
The "anniversary" edition of the Myst trilogy is on a DVD-ROM (at about what I paid for Exile alone).
After spending about 5 hours -- upgrading my video and sound card firmware and drivers, trying multiple versions of DirectX, updating Quicktime, and banging my head, I thought to diff files.
To fix, I just copied the CD "Data" directories across the network, from a computer with a better CD drive.Game trailer / advertisement.
Search apple.com for "myst exile".Summary.
I love the Myst games, because I feel like I have spent the evening outside, in beautiful natural settings.
Cheat your way through the game, if needed, just so you can see all the beautiful worlds.
It is a remake of Myst, with interactive (ala Quake) graphics.
Myst III: Exile is the finest game ever, not only are the graphics spectacular and the sound amazing (the soundtrack alone is equal to if not better than most movie soundtracks), but the surreal location actually seems believable.
Just like the backgrounds of the Final Fantasy games; the world does look real.And as if that's not recomendation enough, one of the main characters is played by Brad Dourif.
The advance from Myst to Riven was awesome but the advance from Riven to Exile is far beyond anything I could have imagined.The game is also suitable for players of any age although even the cleverest of adults will strugle with some of the puzzles.11 out of 10 and even with that score I'm being mean..
This game graphically alone is astounding.
While the movement is still point to point, which is somewhat of a trademark of the Myst games, you have complete spherical vision.
The puzzles are harder and more intertwined, the endings are dramatic, the visual effects and navigation are still the best, and there are several great surprises.
I just finished Exile about a day ago and I am still impressed just thinking about the game.
Everything, including sound, graphics, music, story and acting all came together to create this masterpiece.I could talk about all the technical aspects of the game, but I'll focus more on the movie aspects, namely story and acting.
Like Myst and Riven, you explore predominantly empty worlds, with the occasional actor to keep you company.
The story is not complicated, but it is enough to keep the player motivated until the end of the game.As for the acting, everybody holds their weight.
Atrus, played by Rand Miller, appears mainly at the beginning of the game.
He is used to playing Atrus, having done so in Myst and Riven.
Though a small role, she carries her weight as does Miller.The real star, though, is Academy Award Nominee Brad Dourif (Best known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest).
He does a great job.Overall, I highly recommend this game!
I found a few of the puzzles to be very difficult so I cheated and used a "walkthrough." After using so much of the "Riven Walkthrough" I was disappointed and so decided to "tough it out" with Exile.Recap:Myst = Part 1Riven = Part 2Exile = Part 3However, there was one part of Exile, the Island world of Edanna, which drove me utterly nuts.
The best of the three games in the sequel.
The graphics are beautiful, the sound is superb and the game play is captivating.
With the new 3D interface and the focus on sound design by the producers, this the third game in the Myst sequel tops them all.
A tad easier than Riven, much more expansive than Myst, the game is a must-have and many hours of enjoyment.
Picking Brad Dourif to have another go at his familiar nutcase role was a good idea, and as his is the character you see most of, this has payed off excellently.
If you don't have a computer with a good enough spec to run it, go and buy a new one..
The original Myst created a genre all its own.
It's sequel Riven took things to a new level by creating an incredible interconnected set of islands with puzzles weaved through them all.
Exile takes the best of both those worlds and mends incredible puzzles with an engaging environment.This was always one of my favorite installments in the Myst franchise because it really simplified things after the often-agonizing Riven.
Instead, you just solve one puzzle in one basic location and move on to the next one.The storyline still moves on in this one too, as it focuses on Saavedro, a man looking for revenge on Atrus based on the earlier actions of Sirius & Achenar (Atrus' sons).Finally, one new addition to the interface is the ability to look 360 degrees around you.
No more clicking like a madman trying to find the right angle to solve a puzzle, or missing a key detail because the angle isn't quite right.Overall, Exile is a great third chapter in the Myst saga.
It takes the foundation of the original, mixes it with the landscapes of Riven, and creates the best overall game in the franchise to that date..
On your internal hard drive, within the Applications folder, created a new folder, "Exile" 2.
4. If you play Exile as-is, the sound will be choppy.
The one you care about is "processor." When installed you can access it by going to the "apple," and clicking "system preferences" -- it shows up as a green-edged square at the end of the "hardware" items.
You should now be able to play the game fine.
When you're done, and exit the game, if you want to run on two processors again, just click on the gray square icon and choose 2 processors.
5. You may have been tempted to try to get another Myst game (Myst II Riven) to run by doing for it the kind of process I just described for Exile (copying files from the Riven DVD to a new Riven folder on your hard drive).
If you did this, Riven still won't work, and on top of that, it will screw up the sound and other elements of Exile.
Drag your new Riven folder to the trash and your Exile experience should work fine.
6. While you are playing Exile, you may find that suddenly the screen blacks out, as if you had triggered a screensaver "hot corner." Guess what -- you did.
Sometimes as you are moving the game's "hand" cursor, this invisible (to you) "real" cursor hits a corner of the screen.
If you have enabled one or more "hot corners" for your screensaver, this will trigger your screensaver to come on -- blacking out your game screen.
You will need to save the game, exit, and change your screensaver preferences to disable all "hot corners." 7.
If you save game, exit, and decide to do other things with your computer, and go to the gray icon box to turn-on both processors, you are surprised to see that both are already active!
That is the first time you realize that the sound problems you started experiencing during game play probably were because of inadvertently re-activating the second processor.
I don't know why the 2 in the circle didn't pop up when the second processor was activated; perhaps the program for the icon is written in such a way that because the game screen was covering the icon, the 2 in the circle would not be triggered to appear.
8. You need the DVD in the drive to play the game, and it gets hot.
This is a great game for its immersive 3D full-pan environment, sound, music, and the acting of Brad Dourif as Saavedro..
This is a very good game.The graphics are stunning, almost too realistic.
The water reflects and ripples, and yet, it dosen't take too many resources to run the game.The sound effects are very well done too.
The beings of the ages have real sounds too(you can hear the bird being captured in the tree age), the only slightly bad thing is the warping sound when you use a Linking Book.The only problem is that it is short, and at times a bit hard, but it is still worth the money..
Completed Myst 3 a while ago now, a very good game, thought Brad Dourif, who played Saavedro, was an excellent choice for the part.
Have seen a trailer and also read on www.imdb.com about the upcoming 'The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers' movie and discovered that Brad Dourif is to portray Grima Wormtongue - another excellent role!.
The puzzles are easier than Riven's, but thats not saying they're easy.
All I can say is, at least you know where you're going in this game.
By far the best Myst game, Myst III: Exile tells the story of a man separated from his Age (Brad Dourif in an amazing acting performance) and how Atrus's (Rand Miller, one of the creators of Myst) sons Sirrus and Achenar corrupted the people of Narayan and twisted the lessons they were to learn in each of the Ages their father designed.The graphics are superb, the story is told in an interesting way, the sounds and music are incredible and each Age is so different and unique from one another (in puzzles and atmosphere) that you really feel like you're there.Some odd puzzles of trial-and-error mar what would otherwise be the perfect adventure game..
Absolutely Breathtaking.
Exile delivers to be an excellent game for any fan.
Although it was made by a different company than the original MYST and Riven, it still stays true to the complex MYST storyline.
My only problems with it is that the specs for the game are a little high and a bit of the acting could've been better.
Brad Dourif played an excellent mad man, but Rand Miller's acting skills seem to have gone down since the original MYST, and the new Catherine actress just didn't seem to fit the role just right.
But it's still a challenging puzzle game with outstanding effects.
I am a fan of the first two games, having beaten both Myst and Riven.
But I was wary of a third Myst when I learned that a new company had taken over.
What I saw was a game slightly easier than Riven, yet more difficult than Myst.
I found myself so in love with Brad Dourif's performance, that my agenda no longer became helping Atrus, but seeking Saavedro.
The third in the MYST series of puzzle exploring games brings a more user friendly interface and some wonderfully rendered worlds.A new graphics engine lets you pan in all directions with a move of your mouse.
(Sphere wrapped images with you in the centre to be exact.) You still just fade between locations with the usual point and click to move interface but there are many pre-rendered animation sequences to keep you awe-struck.The puzzles are not the hardest of tasks but they keep you interested without resorting to too much back-and-forth running and no dexterity is required.
About 50 puzzles to work out, spread over 5 worlds which each have a unique style.A great addition to puzzle games but over too soon for serious puzzle fanatics..
My last review of this game were, as many of my comments, not suitable in giving enough detail.
So I'm at it again.Let me just say this game is beautiful.
Absolutely marvelous.
The sky is a deep, dark blue as you make your way through the foliage...Such is Myst III: Exile.
Saavedro was obviously trapped by Sirrus and Achenar, the two boys whom Atrus parted with in Myst.
He is out for revenge on Atrus, but accidentally takes the revenge out on you, the player.The puzzles are not too difficult.
They are much easier to master than Riven, which makes the game so much more fun.
It's a lot more fluid, but gives you enough space to explore everything while solving the puzzles.
Unlike Riven, these puzzles are nice, politely asking you to solve them.
I love this game; can't you tell?Besides all that, it really is a short game, having only five different worlds to explore (Tomahna doesn't count).
The puzzles and storyline will take up a lot of time, which makes it, in essence, an actual movie.
And a lot more entertaining.I enjoyed this game thoroughly thanks to its excellent design, graphics, score, and gameplay.
While once again logic and deduction rule the day through out most of the game, the story plot thickens.
Can't wait for Myst "4" to hit the shelves.You must solve three ages (levels) to reach the end.One level requires the ability to sequence events.
Without giving anything away, be prepared for a major logic let down which is highly unusual for this game series.
As a result, the choices that follow at that juncture are made by simply guessing instead of being linked to any previous game function or logical interaction.
Sorry to be so vague, but I do not like to spoil things for those who like to find out for themselves, great game otherwise..
At first, I was going to give this game a 6, but since the graphics are so astounding and the gameplay is so easy, my rating for it jumped to 7.
I have to say that this game is much better than its predecessors, Myst and Riven.
Myst was impossible, and Riven was so much worse.
The music in this game is excellent.
Myst III: Exile was only a little better than I expected, thanks to graphics, music, and gameplay.
The Review: Myst III: EXilE.
One of my all time favorite games in the world has to be Myst III.
Now, I really don't like movies and stuff that make up goofy names to fit with the World, but in this game it seems understandable.This is one of the hardest, most beautiful, and intelligent game ever.
You have to figure puzzles that have answers in different worlds. |
tt0361240 | Spartacus | In the 1st century BC, the Roman Republic has slid into corruption, its menial work done by armies of slaves. One of these, a proud and gifted man named Spartacus (Kirk Douglas), is so uncooperative in his servitude that he is sentenced to fight as a gladiator. He is trained at a school run by the unctuous Roman businessman Lentulus Batiatus (Peter Ustinov), who instructs Spartacus's trainer Marcellus (Charles McGraw) to not overdo his indoctrination because he thinks "he has quality". Amid the abuse, Spartacus forms a quiet relationship with a serving woman named Varinia (Jean Simmons), whom he refuses to rape when she is sent to "entertain" him in his cell.
Batiatus receives a visit from the Roman senator Marcus Licinius Crassus (Laurence Olivier), who aims to become dictator of Rome. Crassus buys Varinia on a whim, and for the amusement of his companions arranges for Spartacus and three others to fight in pairs. When Spartacus is disarmed, his opponent, an African named Draba (Woody Strode), spares his life in a burst of compassion and attacks the Roman audience, but is killed by an arena guard and Crassus. The next day, with the school's atmosphere still tense over this episode, Batiatus takes Varinia away to Crassus's house in Rome. Spartacus kills Marcellus, who was taunting him over this, and their fight escalates into a riot. The gladiators overwhelm their guards and escape into the Italian countryside.
Spartacus is elected chief of the fugitives and decides to lead them out of Italy and back to their homes. They plunder Roman country estates as they go, collecting enough money to buy sea transport from Rome's foes, the pirates of Cilicia. Countless other slaves join the group, making it as large as an army. One of the new arrivals is Varinia, who escaped while being delivered to Crassus. Another is a slave entertainer named Antoninus (Tony Curtis), who also fled Crassus's service after the Roman tried to seduce him. Privately, Spartacus feels mentally inadequate because of his lack of education during years of servitude. However, he proves an excellent leader and organizes his diverse followers into a tough and self-sufficient community. Varinia, now his informal wife, becomes pregnant by him, and he also comes to regard the spirited Antoninus as a sort of son.
The Roman Senate becomes increasingly alarmed as Spartacus defeats the multiple armies it sends against him. Crassus's populist opponent Gracchus (Charles Laughton) knows that his rival will try to use the crisis as a justification for seizing control of the Roman army. To try and prevent this, Gracchus channels as much military power as possible into the hands of his own protege, a young senator named Julius Caesar (John Gavin). Although Caesar lacks Crassus's contempt for the lower classes of Rome, he mistakes the man's rigid outlook for nobility. Thus, when Gracchus reveals that he has bribed the Cilicians to get Spartacus out of Italy and rid Rome of the slave army, Caesar regards such tactics as beneath him and goes over to Crassus.
Crassus uses a bribe of his own to make the pirates abandon Spartacus and has the Roman army secretly force the rebels away from the coastline towards Rome. Amid panic that Spartacus means to sack the city, the Senate gives Crassus absolute power. Now surrounded by Romans, Spartacus convinces his men to die fighting. Just by rebelling and proving themselves human, he says that they have struck a blow against slavery. In the ensuing battle, after initially breaking the ranks of Crassus's legions, the slave army ends up trapped between Crassus and two other forces advancing from behind, and most of them are massacred. Afterward, the Romans try to locate the rebel leader for special punishment by offering a pardon (and return to enslavement) if the men will identify Spartacus, living or dead. Every surviving man responds by shouting "I'm Spartacus!" (an idea from Fast's novel, not documented by history). As a result, Crassus has them all sentenced to death by crucifixion along the Via Appia.
Meanwhile, Crassus has found Varinia and Spartacus's newborn son and has taken them prisoner. He is disturbed by the idea that Spartacus can command more love and loyalty than he can and hopes to compensate by making Varinia as devoted to him as she was to her former husband. When she rejects him, he furiously seeks out Spartacus (whom he recognizes from having watched him in the arena) and forces him to fight Antoninus to the death. The survivor is to be crucified, along with all the other men captured after the great battle. Spartacus kills Antoninus to spare him this fate. The incident leaves Crassus worried about Spartacus's potential to live in legend as a martyr. In other matters, he is also worried about Caesar, who he senses will someday eclipse him.
Gracchus, having seen Rome fall into tyranny, commits suicide. Before doing so, he bribes his friend Batiatus to rescue Spartacus's family from Crassus and carry them away to freedom. On the way out of Rome, the group pass under Spartacus's cross. Varinia is able to comfort him in his dying moments by showing him his little son, who will grow up without ever having been a slave. | violence | train | wikipedia | The TV miniseries opens in Gaul 72 B.C. where the Romans put an end to Varinia's world making her a slave
Meanwhile Spartacus (Goran Visnjic) is free from the hell of the gold mines of Egypt to be trained as gladiator in the establishment of Lentulus Batiatus (Ian McNeice).Most of "Spartacus" contains many of the miniseries' best moments
The operation of the gladiatorial school and its training program is impressive and expressive; the apprentice gladiators are treated like special animals, tutored to perform in the arena as spectator-sport-killers, and occasionally rewarded with a woman in their cells
In this degrading manner Spartacus meets Varinia (Rhona Mitra) and it is his love for her and his hatred for his captors that brings about his decision to escape and lead revolt
Particularly effective is the scene in which Marcus Crassus (Angus Macfadyen) and his bored entourage visit the establishment and request for a private showing at its best of a pair of Thracians
Crassus wanted to see courage, passion, and above all finality
Spartacus is matched with the African Draba in a fight to the death, but Draba (maybe rather than live as a beast) chooses to die as a man, attacking his spectators
The scene summarizes the iniquity of the situation, the cruelty of bondage, and the subsequent uprising of gladiators in Capua becomes a triumph easy to understand
Director Robert Donrhelm did a decent job, carrying the grandeur and the decay of ancient Rome.
Truer to the Howard Fast Novel - New take on great movie.
This is primarily a war movie and the war is a fight for freedom by slaves against the Roman empire.
Most important in this the Draba character, the black gladiator who fights Spartacus.
This would make a nice DVD because the photography is good, the costumes detailed, the acting/casting good, and the story excellent.It is just not the same movie as the 1960 version.
It's more like Howard Fast wrote it originally than what Hollywood made of it in 1960.The 1960 version is superb, but it's not the same as this movie.
The 1960 version of Spartacus remains one of the best historical epics ever made but this new film rates very well beside it.
It is more historically accurate and much more faithful to the original Howard Fast novel on which both films were based.All the actors did a good job.
Goran Visnvjic was an effective Spartacus and Rhona Mitra a feisty Varinia very much in keeping with the book.
Alan Bates is at his best in the role of a senator playing a behind the scenes role in trying to stop Crassus in his drive for power over the Roman state.
I guess that Lawrence Olivier who played Crassus in the 1960 movie is a hard act to follow.The battle scenes are competently performed but the armies look much smaller than the historical record said they were.
Everything seems to be done right, from the first battle when the slaves abseiled down the cliffs of Vesuvius to attack the Roman camp to the splitting up of the slave army when Crixus and Spartacus had a falling out.
The gladiator scenes are just as good as the original too.All in all, a great movie that even die-hard fans of the Kirk Douglas version should enjoy..
Spartacus died in his last battle with Marcus Crassus, which is how the 2004 version is shot.
The 2004 version also shows the fact that Pompey, a popular Roman General called upon by the Roman Senate to help stop the slave revolt, took credit for defeating Spartacus when in fact it was Marcus Crassus who actually defeated Spartacus and his army.
If there is one thing I would have liked added it would be some sort of trailer language that described the remaining years of Marcus Crassus as he was a main character in the movie but the movie sort of left him "hanging" in the end.
In truth, Marcus Crassus never achieved the glory he desired for himself and eventually met a very horrible end when he battled the Persian Army years after the defeat of Spartacus.
Instead of the superhero-style portrayed by Kirk Douglas (which I happened to LOVE that movie), Goran added more depth to the character ...
I also liked how the show developed his skills as a gladiator by having him do some real fighting rather than how it was done in the original.Crassus (played by Angus MacFadyen) was likewise very three-dimensional.
If that character had been born in our century, he'd be king of our country by now.And there were surprisingly strong performances by others in bit-parts, like George Calil as Pompey, Ben Cross as Glabrus, and Henry Simmons as Draba.
And Rhona Mitra was a wonderful Varinia; she and Goran made a perfect couple for the love story in this action picture.The action was exciting, and I'm glad that Goran and the other actors playing gladiators did their own fight scenes.Flipping through a book on Roman history as I watched, I was also surprised to find how historically accurate this version is in both the characters and the events that took place.I loved it!
Highly recommended, especially for fans of Roman history who want a more accurate representation of the real event..
All in all, Spartacus was, in this humble writer's opinion, one of the most fascinating, beautifully choreographed and acted, and, most likely, underrated and unseen mini series of all time..
Spartacus and his army made the Romans pay in much blood and defeat leading up to his and their ultimate defeat, though, requiring 15 or 16 legions to chase them down.
Spartacus is a favorite hero of the Communists, BTW, being the working stiff rising up against the ruling class, etc...The 1960 epic is short on accuracy, instead showing the rebel army defeating the garrison of Rome and another legion or 3 along the way to Brundusium, only to turn back and get overwhelmed by multiple Roman armies.
But they both have the same love story tacked on along with treachery in the Roman Senate by ahistorical Roman Senators, and a Crassus obsessed with possessing the strength of Spartacus by possesing his woman.The 1960 remains my favorite version simply because its a well-done big movie (I wouldn't want to be the one to reprise Olivier's Crassus!)although it was good to see a more accurate portrayal of the course of events shown in the miniseries.
The acting was pretty good, with Spartacus' Visnjic a good choice for the title role..
Directed by Robert Dornhelm and writing credits to Howard Fast for the novel, and Robert Schenkkan for the teleplay, it is an exciting war of the slaves against the Romans.
This is different from the original because the love story is expanded; Spartacus fathered two children by Varinia; one is killed by Crassus, but the other lives after the crucifixion.
Spartacus is played by Goran Visnjic, Lentulas Agrippa is Alan Bates, Pompey is George Calil, and Varinia is Rhoma Mitra.
Spartacus is played by Goran Visnjic from the TV series ER and shows he can be a tough guy too.The film starts with Spartacus being bought by a wealthy Roman to be a gladiator.
Goran Visnjic is exceptionally strong as Spartacus and really has some great sword work in battle.
Starring: Goran Visnjic, Alan Bates, Angus Macfadyen, and Rhona Mitra.4 out of 5 Stars..
Goran Visnjic was perfectly cast as Spartacus, the Roman Slave turned Gladiator who leads a slave revolt that shakes the foundation of the Roman empire.
Goran Visnjic delivers a compelling and convincing performance as Spartacus and in my opinion no one could have done it better.
As Ebert and Roeper said recently in their review of another movie "not only is he (Goran Visnjic) a handsome leading man but a great actor." The History channel aired a history of "The Real Spartacus" shortly after the airing of the mini series.
Without giving anything away as to the plot (for those who haven't yet seen it) one of the differences between the history and the mini series is in the scene where Spartacus is given a horse as a gift from his men.
In the history of "The Real Spartacus" he supposedly takes out his sword and kills the hore instead of setting it free.
Spartacus - a great story of a slave.
Any remake of this story begs comparisons to Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece and when you come up against greats such as Olivier, Ustinov, Douglas and the old dude who played the fat senator you are going to come up short.
Kirk Douglas was too old and too "Anglo" to play the real Spartacus.
Crassus refers to Spartacus' slave army as "terrorists", talks about a "New World Order" and even uses the phrase "you're either with us or against us".
i just love it (above all, goran visnjich is really handsome as "spartacus", isn't he?) Today i bought the roman from howard fast: "spartacus" and i'm going to read it immediately.
i don't know if the film with kirk douglas is really better than this, because i've read a lot in the internet about people saying the actors act worse and there are too many bloody scenes but i don't think so.
For some reason, many people on this board seem to associate the name Spartacus only with Kubrick and Douglas and assume this is a remake.
It uses the base of what is known about Spartacus and adds fiction like the girl (by the way, I'm a big Rhona Mitra fan, she is sssmokin'), and the love story and so on.
Fast book or not but if this series is treated as another re-interpretation of the story rather than a remake of the old movie I think people would enjoy it a lot more.That said, I thought that this series is really well done, as are many mini-series of this kind such as the Dune ones or Merlin.
It was apparently a remake of the Kirk Douglas version of Spartacus which I saw this week.
The only good part of this movie is Rhona Mitra who played as Varinia and is really beautiful.
Great war movie about the slave revolt led by Spartacus.
This movie presents the story of Spartacus a Thracian slave that leads gladiator slaves out of a slave camp at Capua.
The battle scenes are great reenactments and they show the brutality of the ancient world.The actor that portrays Marcus Crassus plays the aristocratic stuck up general quite well and his rivalry with fellow senator Agrippa keep the plot moving throughout the entire movie.
Not only does this movie show you how these ancient people fought, but it also shows the brutality that the Romans had against there opposing armies.
Overall this movie is one of my favorites and Goran Visnjic was the perfect guy for the job..
The novel by Howard Fast deservedly works as a source for the story of Spartacus on the screen.
This resulted in a fabulous motion picture, a cult Roman epic, the last great production of the period; yet, that is the movie which, for more than half a century, has stood on its own as a more independent production rather than a good novel adaptation.
Robert Dornhelm's SPARTACUS is no remake, which makes all comparisons fruitless but its great challenge of adapting the novel to the modern expectations leaves many factors open for analysis.
The slaves (no human rank within the Roman society) are at the core, the slaves are the 'heroes.' Therefore, at the very beginning when Varinia and Spartacus are equally introduced to us, we feel the very spirit that is so unique in the novel: human stories, simple stories with no king, no hero.
The faithfulness to the novel is expressed in the development of characters, including Spartacus and certain aspects in scenes like the 'soul' blowing between Varinia and Spartacus, the true reason for the revolt in Batiatus' school at Capua, the ill ambitions of 'noble' Marcus Crassus, finally, the rescue of Varinia and the baby.
And that beautifully addresses the novel buffs.Second, unlike the novel built upon flashbacks (beginning with the actual crucifixions of slaves and young adventure seekers' journey for Capua), the linear content in Dornhelm's SPARTACUS better resembles the spirit and manner of epic productions.
performances.Goran Visnijic, to a great extent, emphasizes Spartacus' humanity.
He has little of a great superhero's features - Visnijic's Spartacus is sympathetic, he does not distort the image that was incorporated in the novel – a good husband, a good gladiator and a good 'father' for his peoples.
There is nothing about her that makes you think of Jean Simmons but Ms Mitra is indeed closer to the Varinia described by Howard Fast – a simple girl from Gaul, an emotional girl, a 'savage' girl that makes the proud Roman leader beg her for her love and a Roman senator say "You shame us." All those facts, however, do not justify Robert Dornhelm's SPARTACUS for its flaws that appear to be striking at certain moments.
First, it refers to the character of Draba and the viewers of Draba vs Spartacus fight – the key character and the key moment in the whole story.
You will not find one Gladiator from the Bronx, like the Tony Curtis character in the Kirk Douglas version, saying "I luv ya Spa-da-gus." Instead this excellently acted version of Spartacus is compelling and realistic.
It follows the history of the real Spartacus more closely than the Hollywood version.
Goran Visnjic's portrayal of Spartacus is the best.
PLUS, the lead role gladiators all did their own stunts in the gladiatorial arenas and on the battlefields -- loved the "twirling sword" action (like twirling a six gun.) There was a second airing a few days back and I watched it again.
It's as simple as this: Why try to do a remake of an incomparable masterpiece as Kubrick's Spartacus, even if you're gonna add new twists to the story?
That Goran guy who plays Spartacus is a horrid actor; the guy who played Crassus is not as bad as Goran, but it's plain sad to see him reprise the role made famous by King Olivier.
Rhona Mitra is sexy and gorgeous, which is fine for me, but it's pathetic to imagine that sex goddess as a poor roman slave.The only good (and sad) thing in this film is the presence of the wonderful Alan Bates.
MacFadyen, who played an equally milquetoast Robert the Bruce in Mel Gibson's wonderful Braveheart, downplays Crassus to the point of reducing him to a two dimensional roman farcic play actor playing at Crassus, while Alan Bates (may he rest in peace) does his best to underplay Agrippa although he'd like to act MacFadyen into the ground, but is too weak physically or just doesn't care.
And as much as I sometimes tire of Kirk Douglas's over-the-top acting, his raw power in the original Spartacus was a world-away more convincing..
Goran Visnijic really isn't up to carrying a movie, and when you're playing a strong role like Spartacus, you need to do more than brood.
The film's strongest point was that it closely followed "The True Story of Spartacus", as shown on the History Channel.
Well, honestly did you expected this made for TV-version to be better than the Stanley Kubrick 1960 movie starring Kirk Douglas?
I'm interested at what he can do with more resources and a bigger budget.The movie is definitely good looking and by no means cheap or clumsy, as you most likely would expect from a made for TV-movie about the story of Spartacus.
The movie has some surprisingly large and good looking battle sequences.
Marvellous epic version about Spartacus existence with exciting drama and overwhelming battles.
This is a new version about the true story of gladiator Spartacus (Goran Visnjic), formerly adapted by Kubrick in a famed masterpiece.
Sword cross, drama, gladiators fights abound in this spellbinding adaptation on audacious Spartacus existence , one of the most rebels in the history.
Although redundant to original movie , is a fitting description of Spartacus character, however is sometimes a shot for shot recreation but it doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence.
The movie will like to people enamored for historic deeds and epic feats..
Overall, I was not overly disappointed with this version of the Spartacus story - that of the Roman Gladiators Revolt.
At points it actually was more factually correct than the 1960 Kirk Douglas version and played at a more rudimentary level than the glorified Hollywood original.What I did find strange and not so surprising (here comes the spoiler part - although I don't think so) is the imagery created by the crucifixion and closing dialogue of the David character.
Anyone that knows the original movie or the actual events that inspired them knows that Crassius crucified the captured slaves along the Apian Way. As far as I know there is no factual basis for the character of David a Jew that revolted along with Spartacus from the Gladiator school.
I have always loved the original Spartacus.
I liked David, the Jewish gladiator,s in this movie, with more of an expanded role; Crassus was equally good, but didn't have as much seriousness to him as Laurence Olivier.
With this plot change, the movie loses several of the greatest emotional parts ever written or filmed: the famous, "I am Spartacus" scene, the fight between Spartacus and Antoninous, each trying to kill the other out of love, and the scene with Spartacus on the cross, and his last words to his wife.Although this remake was good, the original will live on forever.7 out of 10..
The movie Spartacus is a great movie about love and struggles.
Because in this film, Sparticus is taken in as a slave along with hundreds of other men (called gladiators) and women who have to fight to the death, just for entertainment of the people in the city. |
tt0059269 | A High Wind in Jamaica | A hurricane hits the isle of Jamaica in 1870. The Thorntons (Nigel Davenport and Isabel Dean), parents of five children, feel it is time to send the children to England for a more civilized upbringing and education.
During the voyage, pirates board the ship and take the children captive. The pirate captain, Chavez (Anthony Quinn) and first mate Zac (James Coburn) take an immediate liking to young Emily (Deborah Baxter), and decide to sail to Tampico and leave the kids safely with a woman there named Rosa (Lila Kedrova), a brothel madam with a good heart.
Rosa warns the pirates that the law is after them. Since they are innocent of the crimes attributed to them by the authorities—namely, the murder of the children—Chavez and his first mate (James Coburn) are unconcerned. But then one of the children, John (Martin Amis), slips from a window of the brothel and falls to his death. Chavez doesn't wish any more harm to come to the young ones so he refuses to attack a Dutch vessel that comes into view. His men mutiny, seize the Dutch boat, and capture its captain (Gert Fröbe).
A Royal Navy patrol vessel appears and the pirates re-board their own ship in panic. Chavez declines to join them. Awakened from sleep by the captured Dutch captain seeking her help, Emily mistakes his intentions and in a frenzy stabs him to death. The shocked Chavez intervenes too late and is left with bloodstains on his hands. He and his former crew are taken prisoner and shipped to Britain for trial. Under questioning in court, Emily places the responsibility of killing the Dutch captain on Chavez instead of on herself. The pirates are hanged. In the final scene children play innocently by a lake. Emily stands amongst them – staring at a model ship with adult eyes. | violence, action, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0099677 | The Golden Boat | The Golden Boat is inspired by American police series, mixed with Mexican soaps operas, and immersed in the artistic context of the Underground Art scene of the early 90’s of New York. In the street, a young student of philosophy and criticism at Village Voice, Israel Williams, meets Austin, an old man hurt and desperately in love with a soap opera star. Although he was stabbed several times, Austin does not seem to be affected by his injuries and refuses to go to see a doctor. He asks Israel to help him find his alienated son. Things get complicated when Israel discovers that the old man turns out to be a murderer. Israel is soon losing itself in a strange world populated by international celebrities, Marxist employees, and postmodern literary critics.
Shortly summed up as an absurdist odyssey through downtown Manhattan with a sweet old serial killer, a student rock-music critic, and international bohemians. The film is centered around the curious student Israel and the knife-happy Austin. Criminals in the film are desensitized and/or numb, with themes centralized around death, confusion, craziness, cowardice and loneliness. There are certainly more questions raised than answers given and the narrative seems to unfold in a way that parallels the narrative that is life. The film is primarily shot in color during which the audio, or music, seems to undermine the visuals through a technique of cutting in and out quickly. Ruiz jumps back and forth quite a bit from color to black and white visuals, during which the music seems to play a different role, for during the black and white shots the music seems to add to the visuals in a hyper-melodramatic way. | absurd, psychedelic, comedy, satire, violence | train | wikipedia | Decent first American film by Raoul Ruiz. Raoul Ruiz's first American movie is something of a parody of American TV with a few pinches of Mexican soap operas. Violence is treated as a normal means of interaction and it rarely has any real consequences. The film is structured as a series of episodes about Israel, a self absorbed young man who meets a Austin, a crazy old man who has just stabbed himself. Austin follows Israel before stopping to rest on a set of stairs. Israel, cool New York artist/critic/graduate student that he is, assumes Austin is dead and pockets his wallet. Throughout the rest of the film Austin periodically appears and people usually end up getting stabbed.The film is shot with Ruiz's usual sense of experimentation but there really isn't anything new here, Ruiz seems content to tread the same old ground technically. The film is very comical at times and is always entertaining enough to be worth a watch but it's far from Ruiz's best work. |
tt0385940 | The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story | The film is told through the perspectives of Scott and Laci Peterson's friends, who trusted and supported Scott until they could not believe him anymore.
Laci Peterson was a pregnant mother-to-be. On Christmas Eve, 2002, she disappeared. Her husband Scott Peterson (Dean Cain), and her family go out to search for Laci, but there are no signs of her anywhere. Months go by, but the media and the public begin to suspect that Scott murdered his wife. The Rocha family support and defend Scott, until Scott's mistress Amber Frey (Tracy Middendorf) comes forward at a press conference and admits to an affair with Scott. The Rochas start to doubt Scott's innocence, especially Laci's mother, Sharon (Dee Wallace), who had always believed Scott to be the perfect husband. Finally, the Rocha family publicly announce that they are against Scott.
In April, 2003, the body of Laci and Scott's unborn son washed up on shore: the remains of a torso later identified as Laci washed up a few miles away from the baby's remains, and the two were officially declared murdered. Scott was arrested. | murder | train | wikipedia | Living in a country where media coverage of the Laci Peterson story was minimal, this TV-film did a great job of depicting the tragic events.
The pace was good and the story telling was thoughtful without getting complicated.
Dean Cain was fantastic (as always) in his role as Scott Peterson, and Tracy Middendorf was great as his innocent girlfriend, Amber.
The only problem I see with the film is that perhaps it should have been made after the final outcome in the real Laci Peterson story, then there would have been more of an ending..
The Perfect Husband The Laci Peterson Story.
I thought the movie was good, and Dean Cain kinda looked like Peterson.
Good acting and i give this movie a B+.This trial went on and on as we know, but I think the whole world fell in love with Laci.
Dean Cain's FILM!.
Dean Cain(Scott Peterson),"Dragon Fighter",'03, gave a great performance with the actual facts of the story as we presently have seen them over and over again.
Dean Cain copied all the characteristics of Scott Peterson, which was a very difficult task to perform under all the circumstances concerning this case.
I wonder if Scott will ever get a fair trial after the showing of this picture.
SAD FILM BUT DEAN CAIN WAS GREAT AS SCOTT!.
I live in the UK and had not heard much about Scott Peterson or what he was being accused of.
My main reason for commenting on the film is the fact that seeing as this film is based on a sad true story (or should I say speculated from the writers and medias point of view)that Dean Cain played his part of Scott extremely well.
It would of been a much better film had the trial been over so the ending would of been more understanding.
I am writing this dated July 17th 2004 and I'm still not sure if Scott Peterson has had his trial.
And the fact that the police didn't seem interested in the old lady who was pretty sure she seen Laci in the town with the dog, it's as if they wanted him to be guilty and didn't care if he wasn't.
Also anyone who is being hounded by the press is going to try and disguise themselves (I know I would), I also heard that just because they found Laci's hair on her boat (yes I said her boat) there using this as evidence as well, but if it's her boat there's bound to be her hair on it.
It is a very good story in it's self and one which could've had a better ending but I for one did enjoy it but it wasn't what I expected to see.
I actually thought the film was going to show Laci and Scott together to see just how well they did get on.
I just wanted to comment on Dean Cain's superior acting skills.
Dean Cain and G.W. Bailey did a great job.
Dean Cain's portrayal was very good.
good movie but no end.
Especially, I liked the acting of Dean Cain.
I didn't like about this movie that it comes with an open end and you are made to think how the story ends.
I think, the true murderer was his friend Tom. I had the feeling he knows something he hadn't told us.
He believed so sternly in his friend Scott until the end.
Too bad, that Scott never got the chance to confess to his girlfriend who the true murderer was...Summary: If you want to see good acting watch the movie.
I have the Dean Cain film on this story as well as Amberty Frey: Witness for the prosecution's of Scott Peterson as well as the amber Frey book.
Both the film and book by Amber Frey explain the missing pieces from the dean Cain version off.
The Amber Frey has her version of accounts and it follows the trial right to the end.
I would recommend that you watch the amber Frey film as it would give you a better understanding of what happened.Scott Peterson started an affair with Amber Frey but he started to lie to her.
Amber then find out about Scott and lacy.
Amber's story is all about how she tried to help find lacy.
As well as telling her versions of events that happened from the time she met Scott till his trial of which came back the verdict of Scott getting sentenced to death .
The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story is a TV-movie starring Dean Cain as Scott Peterson, the man accused of killing his 8-month-pregnant wife Laci (Meredith Lieber) and who'd had an affair with Amber Frey (Tracy Middendorf) in 2002.The movie was filmed before the murder case against Scott had even began, so of course the movie has to be rather ambivalent in its treatment of him.
Without a settled case, the movie really beats around the bush as to whether or not Scott did the murder or if he was just a man with a bad secret who was wrongfully accused.For his part, Dean Cain plays the role well with hints of guilt, but the part was scripted as such it seems and he is not an endearing character.
Laci is non-existent as a character in the movie, mostly just referred to in the past tense.
But there are a lot of useless actors with bit roles (investigators, for instance) in the script to keep it true to the real-life people instead of amalgamated into a few more meaningful, dramatized characters.Overall, a lackluster effort and a movie made too soon with no real connection to the murdered individual.
(Well I haven't seen the movie but just the fact that there is one made)...can't Hollywood leave anything alone anymore?
Why is it that every real-life tragedy has to be turned into some MADE FOR T.V. MOVIE?
I guess producers can't come up with anything else more original and as if they don't have enough money already they need to bring in old soap actors (Sarah Brown as Laci Peterson???)into this just so their careers don't fade away completely!Seriously Hollywood, stop feeding off of the families' pain and come up with your OWN stories instead of trying to re-enact real life tragedies and leave well enough alone!.
Interesting As A True Life Story.
Though it's an interesting true life story, the production and release of the film in 2004 is unfortunate because at that time the outcome of the case was not known; no person had been convicted and therefore the case technically was still unsolved.
Accordingly, the timing of the release conveys the impression of tabloid journalism on the part of the film's producers, Sony Pictures, in an apparent attempt to capitalize on a personal tragedy.That said, "The Perfect Husband" is not a bad film.
Further, there's one mysterious telephone call to Scott that is never explained.Production values are about what you would expect for a TV movie.
I did not notice any problems with editing, though breaks for television commercials are obvious and slightly irritating.Overall, what makes the film worth watching is that it is based on a true story.
But I wish the film could have been delayed until the case had been resolved, to give viewers a better perspective on the characters, especially Scott Peterson, and on overall case details such as motive and underlying mental state of the killer..
Was it even appropriate to make this movie before the case goes to trial!?
To get around that dilemma the producers use the purposely gullible character of Tommy Vignatti to convey the outside possibility of Scott's innocence right up until the final scene of the movie.All the performances by all the leads in this movie are completely believable and they all do an excellent job of showing how those immediately involved went from initially supporting Scott Peterson to one by one viewing him with distrust and disbelief.
I don't know who wrote the film, but I feel like I could have done better myself being I've been following this case/trial since it started.
(I told you I'm anal about those types of things.)It would be nice to see a movie made once the trial is completed and a verdict is reached (even though I'm almost 100% sure who's to blame).
This made for TV movie, had the worst ending I've ever seen.
But this two times, I haven't seen the end of this interesting picture.
I agree that the actuation of Dean Cain is very good.
Then, the actuation of his best friend is excellent too, that guy shows all the time his loyalty to his friend, Dean Cain, above all the suspicious of almost all the friends, relatives and press.
Real life movie or fiction?.
To present a real happening as in a movie is unique and always interesting to watch.
However, smooth as the story line may be, the ending is rather cynical, without the 'real' presentation of the real case, if any otherwise it was only based on presumption.
It is 'presumed' that Dean Cain MURDERED his wife but without court verdict nor findings.
I don't know much about the real life story behind, or if the case has been closed or still an open end case or was it just the conclusion of the police and if so, why then made a movie based on real life story that has not ended with a finding?.
First of all, Dean Cain tries to do a good job playing Scott Peterson and even sounds a little like him.
It's sort of creepy but I kind of get the impression that Dean watched a lot of Scott's interviews and listened to him over and over again, trying to imiate him.
It came out way too soon before too many facts were out and it's also way too favorable to Scott Peterson.
It does try to make the cops involved in the case look bad.
The movie tries to convince us that they are more concerned with framing Scott than actually finding Laci Peterson.
It also makes Laci's family and friends look bad.
They are seen as people who turn on Scott very quickly, because of his selling of Laci's car and his affair with Amber Frey.
The attempt to recreate times that Laci's family and Amber went to the press are also bad and look poorly staged.
Since the conversations between Scott and Amber weren't public at the time, the writers tried to write out dialogue on what they thought Peterson might have said on his cell phone to Amber.
There's also a fictional (guessing) couple who are supposed to be friends of Laci's and Scott's who fight over whether or not Scott did it.
Typical idiot writers portray it as though it's the hysterical women (Laci's two friends) who think Scott is guilty and the cops who are after Scott.
I'm really so sure that the cops and her female friends were really anxious to see Laci's husband on trial for murder instead of the who did this.
I'm sure justice meant nothing to them and they were fine with the idea of the killer of the friend being on the loose as long as Laci's husband (whom they probably had to their houses dozens of times and who they knew thought they knew pretty well) getting sent to jail.
The annoying part in the movie that I'm sure never happened in real life was everybody going around hollering "How'that going to look when you do that?" "It's going to look bad if you do this, Scott".
Everybody was probably too upset about Laci to worrying about how things were looking, unless of course you've got something to hide.
Why would friends advise Scott on how to behave unless they suspected he was guilty and want to help him look innocent?
The press conferences were about trying to get people to give tips about finding Laci, not about looking a villain, lol.
Basically, this movie might have been interesting before all the facts and everything was out but now, it just makes you roll your eyes at it..
A waste of a story that could have been told without so much sadness!.
Bad acting, routine script, cheap production, no good dirty rotten movie in general.
It could have been told telling the good things that happened in Laci Peterson's life, not one sad incident that happened in her lifetime.
Also, I totally think that there could have been a lot better actors play these characters.
Good I hate that monster Scott Peterson.
The Scott Peterson Story.
The Perfect Husband: The Laci Peterson Story is a TV movie based on the life of Laci Peterson.It stars Dean Cain, Sarah Brown, Tracy Middendorf, Tom O'Brien and Dee Wallace-Stone.It was directed by Roger Young.It is a crime story that captivated and shocked a nation about the California man whose pregnant wife Laci was reported missing on Christmas Eve in 2002 which has triggered a search party that soon realizes its mission is moot when the police make public their suspicions of foul play.
Scott was arrested.The performances were decent except for Dean Cain,who was very good in his role of Scott Peterson, portraying his selfishness, his neurotic sense of self-control and his sociopath tendencies as well as his complete disregard for his wife Laci.Character development could have been stronger if the character of Laci could have been developed to a greater degree giving the viewers more of a feel for the full tragedy of her death.
They were too toned down for TV viewers.Overall,it could have been a better TV movie if these weren't really considered and if the filmmakers focused on telling a story behind a tragedy..
Dean Cain fan.
I thought this was a very good movie, though sad.
I watched it cause I'm a huge Dean Cain fan.
When ever I hear updates of the case on TV I think of Scott as being Dean and it makes me sad.
I wish in future roles Dean would always be the good guy like he was as Superman.
I think the movie was very good.
The movie was very good about going along with the real facts of the case.
Hard to Understand the real story or how could this have happened!.
The 8 is for the quality of the acting and portrayal of the story available before the trial.
Scott and Lacey had come up to where she lived at the time, in Mountain View.
She shared a condo at the home of a long time friend of Scott, from high school.
The friend told my daughter about the couple and how close they were.
(he didn't want to be seen on TV--girlfriend!!) When her body was recovered from the San Francisco Bay, along with the baby's body, Scott's fishing story started to link up with how Lacy ended up where she did.
In the story, Scott is portrayed to appear innocent, by his demeanor, but as my daughter suggested, he was that way.
And I almost neglected to mention, before Scott was arrested, sometime in January, he went up to his friend's condo, in MV, where my daughter still lived.
I remember my daughter calling me and telling me Scott Petersen was there that night, sleeping under the same roof.
Sorry this movie was made too soon and prior to any trial.
And strangely at the end of the movie it states: "The views of the convicted killer presented in this program are his own and not those of the producers or A+E Networks." Now THAT is really weird.
I had no idea it was based on a real story, but now that I know it I see it even worst.
For example: "When Scott leaves his house once her son and wife bodies are found by the sea shore he take his car to visit Amber Frey.
Dean Cain was not the best acting, his silly senseless smiles where completely out of tone, no dramatical differences between strongly touching parts and the normal movie rhythm.
Scott's best friend acts even badly, his face seems more than a mask put on him from the very beginning of the movie till the very end, his wife is just a sea of tears....
The original story it's a real tragedy, but once more Hollywood's directors and writers prove they care nothing at all people tragedies.
Why putting some more sorrow on Laci Peterson's family, why abuse of people's sad stories just for money??
i think this is so sad about LACY it is again on LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK,after not watching this for years.great movie!no complaint at all....................
i love Sexy dean Cain.he still is a cutie since playing Superman TV series love his acting.he look so much like a "better looking'Scott Peterson"i do see the strong resemblance,as the movie was a real good one,told by the friend perspective on it i think two of lacy and Scott friends or told by the two friends of lacy RIP.
They should'vie in a way yes wait until the trial conclude,however i am sure they just wanted 1 movie told from the friend P.O.V.(point of view)in the inception of her missing,so i am fine with that.
love the movie overall and what a great actress dean and Sarah j.brown(Carly corinthos)ex actress on general hospital.she was awesome!
very convincingly as KATE.The man who played the brother was OK as well as who play tommy was a good actor portraying the friend to Scott.and Dean just is always a great actor,with whatever part he is portraying.so obvious crazy loser Scott killed his poor son and wife lacy.Guy was not even crying upset really over Connor and her missing so flagrant.i give it 10 stars if i can,due to the nature of the true to life story.
and two of my fave actors in it mention above rocked EACH scene.so sad but a good movie. |
tt0216707 | Dil Kya Kare | Anand Kishore (Ajay Devgan), an architect, his wife, Kavita (Mahima Chaudhry), and their only child, an adopted daughter, Neha (Akshita Garud), live a happy and serene life in Delhi, India. Their happy and lovely life together is turned upside down when Kavita finds out that Neha is being stalked by a woman named Nandita (Kajol), who comes to see her at school every day. Though Neha insists that Nandita is a sweet "Aunty", Kavita is frantic and confronts Nandita. She is then told that Nandita is the biological mother of Neha.
Kavita and Anand had adopted Neha after Kavita was involved in a car crash while pregnant, resulting in infertility. Nandita requests to spend some time with her daughter; seeing that Neha favors Nandita, Kavita lets her stay in their home. However, deeply buried secrets threaten to surface when Nandita and Anand come face-to-face. With a shock, it is revealed that Anand is actually the biological father of Neha—she is Anand and Nandita's child.
They have a short-lived history: Anand and Nandita were traveling by train when thugs took over and tried to kill Nandita. Anand saved Nandita and the two instantly fell in love, despite not even knowing each other's names, and made love together that night. The next morning, Anand awoke to find Nandita gone. While Anand moved on with his life, Nandita became pregnant with his child, unbecoming to him, and was forced to give up her child, Neha, for adoption, due to her unaccounted father.
Anand and Nandita hide their past from Kavita at first, though Anand tries many times to meet with Nandita alone and talk to her, anxious to know her after sharing that fateful night together. Soon after however, Kavita finds out the truth and is disgusted with Nandita. Heartbroken, Nandita promises she will leave forever but since she has no one in her life, she requests to take Neha along, since she is her daughter. Kavita becomes frantic, as she refuses to give up Neha. Anand reluctantly supports Kavita after realizing how desperate she is to keep Neha.
When Nandita realizes that Anand and Kavita love Neha, she decides to leave her daughter in their care and go away forever. Anand is shocked at this and runs to the train station alone without Kavita. He makes it just in time. He sees Nandita on the moving train, peering at him with tear-filled eyes and watches her leave with a heavy feeling in his heart. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0091024 | Extremities | Marjorie (Fawcett) is a young woman who works in a museum and lives with two female roommates, Pat (Woodard) and Terry (Scarwid) in Los Angeles. One night, while getting into her car, she is attacked at knifepoint by a masked assailant (Russo), who forces her to touch him sexually.
Marjorie manages to escape, but not before the mugger makes off with her purse. She goes to the police but is told there is very little they can do. One week later, while Marjorie's roommates are at work, her nightmare comes true as the assailant (named Joe) casually enters her house, having used her personal information to find out where she lives.
A terrifying sequence of events unfolds as Joe subjects Marjorie to a continuous barrage of mental and physical assaults. The tables finally turn, however, when Marjorie overpowers Joe by spraying his eyes and mouth with insect repellent as he's getting ready to rape her.
Marjorie then ties Joe up and subjects him to the same kind of physical and mental assaults he used on her earlier, even reducing him to tears as he pleads for his life when he learns that he's ingested some of the insect repellent Marjorie sprayed at him. When Terry and Pat return home, they try to convince Marjorie, who is contemplating murdering Joe, to think about the consequences of her actions, because Joe didn't actually rape or attempt to kill her. Joe attempts to fabricate a story that he had a one-night stand with Marjorie at a party some time ago, which her roommates almost believe. Marjorie calls him a liar and attacks him, finding the sheath knife he used on her in the first attack, proving her story to Patty and Terry.
Marjorie forces Joe to admit his guilt by torturing him with the blade, and at one point threatens to castrate him if he does not tell the truth. Defeated, a sobbing Joe confesses that he watched the house and stole letters to find out details of the women's lives, and that he intended to rape and kill Marjorie and her roommates that day. He also confesses to the rapes and presumed murders of three other women. Finally at peace, Marjorie allows Patty and Terry to get the police. | revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0120619 | Break Up | Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn) and Brooke Meyers (Jennifer Aniston) meet at Wrigley Field during a Chicago Cubs game and begin dating, eventually buying a condominium together. Gary works as a tour guide in a family business with his brothers, Lupus (Cole Hauser) and Dennis (Vincent D'Onofrio). Brooke manages an art gallery owned by eccentric artist Marilyn Dean (Judy Davis).
Their relationship comes to a head after the latest in an escalating series of, "Why can't you do this one little thing for me?!" arguments. Brooke, feeling unappreciated, criticizes Gary's perceived immaturity and unwillingness to work on improving their relationship. Gary is frustrated by Brooke’s perceived controlling, perfectionistic attitude, and expresses his desire to have a little more independence (particularly when arriving home from work, wanting to unwind).
Brooke becomes irate when Gary fails to offer to help her clean up after a big dinner party at their home; and, still frustrated from their earlier, unresolved argument, breaks up with him (despite still being in love with him). Brooke seeks relationship advice from her friend Addie (Joey Lauren Adams), while Gary goes to tell his side of things to friend Johnny Ostrofski (Jon Favreau).
Since neither is willing to move out of their condo, they compromise by living as roommates; but, each begins acting out to provoke the other in increasingly elaborate ways. Gary buys a pool table, litters the condo with food and trash, and even has a strip poker party with Lupus and a few women. Meanwhile, Brooke has Gary kicked off their "couples-only" bowling team, and starts dating other men in an attempt to make Gary jealous.
When their friend and realtor Mark Riggleman (Jason Bateman) sells the condo, Gary and Brooke are given two weeks' notice to move out. Brooke invites Gary to an Old 97's concert, hoping that he will figure out that the gesture is meant to be her last-ditch attempt to salvage their relationship. Gary agrees to meet her there, but misses the hidden agenda, and misses the concert—unwittingly breaking Brooke's heart. When Gary goes out for a drink with Johnny, his friend points out that Gary has always had his guard up, has been guilty of a lot of selfishness, and never gave Brooke a chance, emotional intimacy-wise.
Afterwards, Brooke quits her job in order to spend time traveling Europe. When she brings a customer from the art gallery home one evening, Brooke finds the condo cleaned and Gary preparing a fancy dinner to win her back. He lays his heart on the line and promises to appreciate her more. Brooke begins crying and states that she just can not give in anymore and, therefore, does not feel the same way. Gary seems to understand and kisses her before leaving. It is later revealed that Brooke's "date" (who initially asked her out, but she politely rejected) was actually a client interested in a piece of artwork she kept at the condo.
Both eventually move out of the condo. Gary begins taking a more active role in his tour guide business, while Brooke travels the world, eventually returning to Chicago. Some time later, they meet again by chance on the street as Gary is bringing home groceries and Brooke is on her way to a meeting. After some awkward but friendly catching up, they part ways but each glances back over their shoulder and they share a smile. | flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0073076 | Grey Gardens | The film is based on the life stories of the eccentric paternal aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy, both named Edith Bouvier Beale. The elder Edith Bouvier Beale was the sister of Jackie Kennedy's father John Vernou Bouvier III and was referred to as "Big Edie", her daughter was referred to as "Little Edie". The Beale women were members of NYC high society, but in their later years, withdrew from the New York City life, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home/estate Grey Gardens. The house eventually fell into a state of disrepair that gave the Beale women notoriety.
Phelan Beale (husband of "Big Edie" and father of "Little Edie"), eventually divorced "Big Edie." In the movie, "Little Edie" decides to move to New York to pursue a career in acting (as well as an ill-fated romance with a high-profile married man). "Little Edie" sadly and slowly realizes her fate is to remain her mother's companion at Grey Gardens. The two women become reclusive and known around town as the highly eccentric proprietors of Grey Gardens, which has become decrepit and full of stray animals taken in by the Beale women. The plot includes the filming of the documentary Grey Gardens by Albert and David Maysles as well as events in the Beales' past, including their arrival at the estate, the disintegration of Big Edie's marriage, Little Edie's failed attempts to have her own life, and events subsequent to the premiere of the documentary.
The movie ends with Little Edie singing "Tea for Two" at the Reno Sweeney cabaret in Greenwich Village, and the quote, "My mother gave me a truly priceless life." | cult, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0029354 | Orphan of the Pecos | Rancher Hank Gelbert (Lafe McKee) receives a visit from his foreman, Jess Brand (Forrest Taylor), who wants to see Gelbert's daughter Ann. Knowing that Brand is only interested in Ann to get money to pay off his gambling debts, Gelbert tells him to clear off his property. As Gelbert opens his safe to pay Brand his last wages, Brand shoots him and takes off with the money. On the road he encounters Ann (Jeanne Martel) and tries to persuade her that he loves her, but she does not trust him, knowing he only wants to marry her as a way of getting the ranch.
Meanwhile, cowboy Tom Rayburn (Tom Tyler), a stranger to the area looking for work, encounters a medicine salesman and ventriloquist, Jeremiah Mathews (Theodore Lorch), on the road outside of town. While Tom is amused by the salesman's talents, he declines to purchase any of his "medicine" and continues on to the Gelbert ranch, where he discovers Gelbert's body. When Ann and Brand arrive at the ranch, Ann finds Tom leaning over the body and assumes that he murdered her father. While pretending to search Tom, Brand plants the stolen money in his pocket and announces what he "found". He then encourages Ann to shoot him, but she chooses to let the law handle it.
While they wait for the sheriff to arrive, Tom and Brand get into a fight and Brand is knocked unconscious. As Tom prepares to leave, Ann picks up Tom's gun and threatens to shoot him, but he knows she will not do it. He takes his gun, tells her he will return to her to explain, and then leaves. Later that night as promised, Tom returns to the ranch and shows Ann the letter he received from her father offering him the foreman's job. He also points out that Brand had much more to gain from her father's death than he did. Ann believes him and gives him her father's coat.
Tom heads into town and finds Mathews, who is the only witness who can prove his innocence. Brand sees them talking and kidnaps Mathews outside of town and take him to a shack, where they instruct him to sign a document that would undermine Tom's alibi. Meanwhile, Tom discovers Mathews' abandoned car, locates the shack, and frees the medicine salesman.
After Tom returns to the Gelbert ranch, he and Ann see Brand approaching. Ann urges Tom to stay hidden while she gets rid of Brand. In the house, Tom gets the draw on Brand and the three wait for Mathews to arrive. When he shows up he provides Tim with a clear alibi. Using his skills as a ventriloquist, Mathews throws his voice and pretends to be the dead Gelbert, unsettling Brand to the point where he confesses to the murder. Just then Brand's men arrive and during the ensuing fight, Ann and Mathews manage to escape. Tom also escapes with Brand and his men in hot pursuit. Along the trail, Tom doubles back and captures Brand and his men. When Ann arrives, she offers Tom the foreman position at her ranch and he accepts. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0097050 | Koneko monogatari | The film opens in 1986 on Nippon Farm with a mother cat named Moth Ari who has given birth to kittens. One of the kittens is named Milo ("Chatran" (チャトラン, Chatoran) in the Japanese version), and has a habit of being too curious and getting himself into trouble. He finds a pug-nosed pug puppy named Otis ("Poosky" (プー助, Pūsuke) in the Japanese version), and they soon become friends. When Milo is playing inside a box floating in the river, he accidentally drifts downstream. Otis runs after Milo. Milo goes on many adventures, escaping one incident after another.
He encounters Bear, escapes from Raven that infested Deadwood Swamp, steals a dead muskrat from Fox, follows a train-track of a train named Nippon Bearway to the home of Deer, who shelters him, sleeps in the nest with Owl, stays for a while with Pig and her piglets, catches a fish, only to have it stolen by Racoon, is mobbed the Seagulls, and evades Bear, then Snake, then falls into an old pit.
Otis, for his part, follows Milo throughout, usually only an hour behind and less than a mile out of range. Finally, the two catch up with one another. While Milo is in the hole, Otis pulls him out by means of a rope. Milo and Otis are reunited, and soon find mates of their own: Joyce, a white cat, for Milo, and Sondra, a French pug, for Otis. After this, they separate and raise puppies and kittens of their own. Milo, Otis, Joyce, and Sondra find their way back together through the forest to their barn and the credits roll. The credits note "The animals used were filmed under strict supervision with the utmost concern for their handling." | cute | train | wikipedia | "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" is a wonderful film about a pair of cute animals, an orange cat named Milo and a pug named Otis, who have been separated from each other and their home.
Milo and Otis, best friends since birth, grow up on a small farm and lightheartedly enjoy their youth together, having fun with the other animals and playing games, their favorite being hide-and-seek.
Otis, loyal friend that he is, runs alongside the box, trying to help Milo, but eventually, the two animals are separated and lost from home.
The movie follows the two animals on their quest to reunite and find their way home, as they tumble through exciting adventures and close calls.
The Disney film also features animals (in this instance, two dogs and a cat) trying to make their way home.
Whereas "Homeward Bound" features plain cinematography and lacks the ambition to speak to an older audience or comment on real issues, "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" strongly addresses topics like loyalty and friendship.
Although the Disney film was released with greater publicity and fanfare, "The Adventures of Milo and Otis," a hidden gem, is far better.
Above all, "The Adventures of Milo and Otis" is a wonderful film about the enduring qualities of loyalty and friendship and, as such, is entertaining for younger and older viewers alike..
Sure, the end result was a very cute movie, but now that I am a parent I would never allow my son to see this film.
The movie was filmed in Japan so it did NOT have the American standard of animal supervision, and it is interesting to note that the disclaimer at the end does NOT say that no animals were harmed.I would never want my son to think that it was ok to treat animals this way, nor would I want to support the film industry in making films this way.
They probably thought they were about to die any number of times during the filming, and that is assuming that none did die, which I'm not too sure of.I think it is important to consider the moral ramifications before viewing this movie or showing it to children..
As a young boy, I had an almost-obsessive love of animals and adventure, and so it should come as no surprise that 'The Adventures of Milo and Otis' was one of my all-time favourite childhood films.
Time and maturity, it seems, has done little to dilute the absolute cinematic magic of this extraordinary film.Originally a darker Japanese film entitled 'Koneko monogatari {A Kitten's Story / The Adventures of Chatran},' the extensive 400,000 feet of footage from one-time director Masanori Hata was taken by Columbia Pictures and completely changed, trimmed (from 90 to 76 minutes) and Westernised into the adorable children's tale of a cat named Milo and his canine best friend, Otis.
Whilst the Japanese version a huge box office success in its home country had been narrated by Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, British comedy actor Dudley Moore helmed the American version, providing the voices for all the creatures in the film.
deep down inside, we're all cats, right?" Despite being of stereotypically opposing species, Milo and Otis form a life-long friendship, becoming the best of companions and accompanying each other on their numerous exciting adventures.
As the uneasy cat begins to stray into scarily unfamiliar territory, he faces an array of difficult adversities including a hungry bear, a flock of seagulls, a venomous snake and a cavernous pit though he can always rely on the fact that his good pal Otis will always be in hot pursuit, despite his own share of potentially hazardous situations.Contrary to what some have commentated, 'The Adventures of Milo and Otis' is most certainly a children's film at heart, with a wonderful message of dedication, loyalty and friendship.
Perhaps some parents may feel tentative about the scene in which both Milo and Otis' female companions give birth to litters of youngsters; however, it's hardly graphic or obscene in any real way, successfully translating, I thought, the wonder of life and birth.
Indeed, there are moments during 'The Adventures of Milo and Otis' when our favourite animal characters appear to be in potentially dangerous situations.
Also taking into account the large time-span over which 'Milo and Otis' was filmed (in many cases, Hata simply let his animal actors roam free and filmed their natural actions), it seems unlikely that such an animal-lover would allow any of his mammalian friends to come to harm.
Where have you ever seen a cat nursing on a pig or a dog hitching a ride on top of a sea turtle, etc.?There are some incredible scenes involving a number of animals.
The famous scene when Chartran (Milo or Otis, in french the kitten name is Chartran) falls from a high cliff needed many kittens, one for each take...there's also all those terrible stuff about the little bear and the dog.
It's not a cute film for all ages, it's a snuff for kids, a HUGE mass grave that should be remembered only for all the atrocities it has done to those unwilling animals..
Kitten Snuff Movie -VERY DISTURBING ANIMAL ABUSE - don't show this to your kids.
The animal abuse in this movie is so apparent, it's amazing this got aired at all.My girlfriend and me tried to watch this, hoping for a sweet movie; we own a pug and kitten, we did not know what was in store for us.
Great movie if you hate cats.article about the animal abuse in this movie: http://theculturalgutter.com/movies-2/is_milo_in_heaven_mommy.html.
The animals were obviously frightened in some scenes and definitely did not belong in some of the situations; which include the cat being attacked by seagulls, being chased by a bear, and flying off of a sheer cliff into the ocean...someone had to have thrown him off the edge to make that convenient shot!
The movie is definitely cute and charming along the lines of "Little Dog Lost", shown now and then on the Disney Channel, with, unfortunately, far less concern shown for the animal actors.
"Very sad, big tragedy, bring out the next generic orange tomcat!" The cat (again) seemed to change size now and then, so it certainly could have been replaced now and then, though possibly it just aged.Cute enough to let the kids watch it, disturbing enough to talk with the kids about how the animal actors were treated..
There were numerous allegations of animal cruelty made against the movie makers when the film was released.
A cute movie for children about a kitten and a puppy who experience various adventures when the kitten gets lost.What WAS disturbing watching this movie was the obvious fear and anxiety the young animals were put through in order to film the scenes in the movies.
This is a movie about a great friendship of a kitten and a pug who are going on an adventure and try to make their way back to their home farm.
It was filmed for 4 years an came out in 1986 in Japan.This is mainly a movie for children, but anyone who loves animals will enjoy some scenes in it that have animal cuteness overload.
It wouldn't surprise me considering the time it was filmed, animal rights were far less of an interest back then, and certain scenes like the kitten falling off a cliff sure seem to be life endangering.
One ca make cute movies without doing this to animals and it is not worth the entertainment (it only ruins it).But yes some adorable scenes such as the kitty with the piglets are in this movie as well..
"Sure, let's throw the cat from the roof and put it on film, I'm sure the kids will love it!" I'm not saying that no animal was ever harmed on any other shooting that this one, but there's a difference between a horse with a broken leg and five cats thrown from a cliff until one survives and the sequence is wrapped up.
This is a movie about an orange tabby tom cat named Milo and a cream and black Pug named Otis.
This is a good kids movie because there is no violence, no five minute long makeout sessions, just good clean fun about two animal best friends and their adventures..
The narrator alone completely destroys any entertainment value to be had at films of cute baby animals.The baby animals have an unbelievable adventure involving animals that I don't believe are even all native to the land.
Appealing film taken from a Japanese movie from a few years earlier has actor Dudley Moore narrating this story about best friends Milo(a cat) & Otis(a dog) who become best friends as kitten & pup growing up together on a farm, then staying that way for life.
There were charges of animal neglect here, but nothing proved, and it certainly doesn't look like that was the case watching the film.
I think "Adventure of Chatran" is one of the most adorable films about animals ever made, and I have to thank Hata-san for that ^_^It is a tale of a Pug and Orange cat whom get separated from their farm and go through the Kyushu JApanese environment to try to re-unite with each other.
The animals unknowingly act out a very cute adventure story that shows the lengths two friends will go for each other..
The cinematography was breathtaking (filmed entirely in Japan over the course of 4 years), the storyline (the adventures of friends who are very different from each other and the lessons they learn in life) was universally heartwarming, the actors (only animals - humans would have been superfluous) were incredibly adorable, and Dudley Moore's narration was utter perfection.Disregard the negative reviews about the movie.
The more common "No animals were hurt during the making of this movie" could not be used because the American Humane Association (AHA) does not oversee non-American films.If you're looking for a movie that will delight you over and over again, make a beeline for The Adventures of Milo and Otis!.
Basically a nature film with a humorous human twist as the two titled characters get into all sorts of wild adventures as they try to find the way back to the farm that is their rightful home.
Lost after playing too far away, a cat and dog depend upon each other as they attempt to make their way back to their farm in this live action adventure film from Japan.
As it exists to the English speaking world, 'Milo and Otis' is arguably a perfectly adequate film for young kids with Dudley Moore's storybook style narration.
I first saw this movie when I was like 7 years old and I still love it (i'm 12)!
Basically, the film was about a cat and a dog who become great friends, and they get separated but eventually find each other again while braving across nature.
well this is a about a dog and a cat named Milo and Otis that go on a adventure together and going through danger and these to animal's are very cunning because they find there way back to the farm.
"Milo and Otis" is a cute animal film.
Another one of the great animal films.The story is about the friendship of a curious orange tabby kitten named Milo and a mature fawn Pug named Otis.
Dudley Moore does an interesting narration work.Following the tradition of the great animal films, this one also offers beautiful landscapes.
It's just a shame that Dudley Moore died(I always had a crush on him) and I also didn't know that some of the animals might have been hurt during filming this since it was made in Japan, they don't have strict laws like we do.
This film shows the story about a cat and a dog that are friends.It has been written and directed by a famous Japanese writer, Masanori Hata, in 1.986 and became a classic in Japan.
If you like Dudley Moore and cats and dogs this movie is right for you..
Shigeru Tsuyuguchi does a great job with narration and voice overs and Kyôko Koizumi has a nice lovely voice as she recites the poem at the very end of the film.The tale follows a Tabby cat and and Pug dog on a Kitakyushu farm on the Kyushu island of Japan, their seperation, their love for their new mates and their reunion.
The Adventures of Milo & Otis, previously a Japanese film called Chatran, is entertaining from beginning to end, highlighted by the well trained animals, and their real life reactions to the situations they face.
Dudley Moore as the narrator and the voice of the "starring" cat and dog, is a true highlight.Were the animals mistreated?
i loved this movie as "Milo and Otis".
I was told by adults at the time that it was just a movie and no kitten, dog nor any animal actually suffered.
I'm conflicted about the rating I'm giving, because I loved this movie so much for years, but I can't stand animal abuse.
The animals don't have their own voices like in Homeward Bound (which is much better Disney film) - and this movie is more boring then I thought.
This is a movie you can enjoy at any age which makes it a perfect family film.
Now, in conclusion, if you like movies with animals in them, I highly recommend this very good movie about a very special friendship for all ages that is sure to touch you and possibly make you cry..
*sniffle* The movie is amazingly charming, has a good voice-over by Dudley Moore, and features a bunch of insanely cute animals.
I do wonder about a couple of scenes in the movie, like where Milo leaps from a cliff into the ocean.
This is a live-action film about a cat and a dog + some other animals.
In this film, Milo and Otis, a cat and a dog, are best friends from the very first time they meet.
Milo and Otis is a very good film that has a good cast which includes Shigeru Tsuyuguchi, Kyôko Koizumi, and Dudley Moore!
1st watched 9/26/2004 - 6 out of 10(Dir- Masanori Hata): Cute real-life adventure type movie with very funny and inventive narration by Dudley Moore.
If that doesn't prove to you that this is animal cruelty, watch the unedited Japanese version for true horror.Ignoring the obvious facts to try and protect your favorite childhood movie will not make the cruelty that was done in this film go away.
I'm also sure they did many, many takes of the rapids and waterfall scenes before they got the shots of the terrified cat they wanted (I understand this movie took 4 years to shoot).They threw the dog into the water several times.
It's a very exhausting way for a dog to swim, and just about the point where the filmmaker sics the bear on him.The movie has a nice story, and some scenes are quite entertaining (the stuff with the fox in particular).
Warning: Gives away the plot of the movie.Yes, Milo and Otis is very cute and well done as many reviewers have said.
I am not suggesting they were "gay" cats and dogs, but this kind of hetero supremacy would do James Dobson proud.Then it gets worse: Otis, out in the mountain, meets a girl-dog, and now he "understands what came over Milo." This about made me turn the thing off.I think it is fine to make a movie about animals getting married and having cute kittens and puppies - i am all for it, but this ended up totally negating the whole feeling of the first hour of the movie.
When Milo gets washed down the river in a box however, Otis must follow it along the riverside in hopes of saving his friend.MY THOUGHTS: This movie is shot beautifully.
Through the narration of Dudley Moore, Milo the cat and Otis the pug come to life, having been friends almost since birth.
The Adventures of Milo and Otis (1986) is a heartwarming story of a pug, Otis, who sets out to find his lost cat friend, Milo.Before examining this film in further detail I will acknowledge the controversy behind this movie.
Milo is a kitten and Otis is a dog, a pug to be exact and they are born on a farm full of all kinds of other animals.
Its rather cute at times especially the way these animals love each other.
Throwing them in water and off of cliffs is pretty bad.I liked the film, its nice to watch every few years 4/10 stars..
Such was the success of the picture that an English version was produced a year later, with Dudley Moore relating the story of "Milo and Otis".First and foremost this is a children's film, targeting that audience almost exclusively, leaving little value for adult viewers.
(Yep, she gets to choose her own movies out of our "kid movie" folder.) The kids love watching the movie for the interaction of Milo (the cat) and Otis (the dog) with each other and other animals.
There is not a single human being in this movie, just animals with the voice of Dudley Moore.
That may be a tad annoying at times, but this is a fine family film and should please anyone who likes animals..
I first saw this movie and loved it when I was just a little kid.
Now I'm 17 years old, and I saw the movie again, and I think I actually enjoyed it even more than when I was a kid.
Milo and Otis's friendship and perseverance is admirable and the viewer cannot help but love these two animals.
The fact that this movie includes cute poses of the animals (i.e. Milo and Otis taking care of the egg while still at the farm) doesn't hurt either =).This movie is good for both kids and adults alike. |
tt0119923 | Post coïtum animal triste | Christopher and Leslie are a couple in their mid to late 20s who have no-strings-attached sex on a regular basis. After another get-together, they debate and argue over the meaning of their relationship and the nature of sex vs. love, with each of them claiming that the other is the only one developing feelings, before both finally say "I love you" to each other.
Freddy and Jay are a pair of college guys who, after having sex, argue over Jay refusing to admit that he is gay until Freddy tells him about his teenage years of hiding his homosexuality out of fear of being shunned and tells Jay that he cannot be honest with others about his sexual orientation before he is honest with himself.
Kristy and Sam are a teenage couple both of whom have just had sex for the first time in Kristy's bedroom and after some small talk, Sam has to hide when Kristy's mother, Janet, shows up for a talk about sex with Kristy.
Nikki and Kat are two college roommates who are in a casual sexual relationship where Nikki allows Kat to perform oral sex on her, but insists that she is not a lesbian and only likes the oral sex because Kat performs it better then a guy. During their visit to the campus library, Kat admits to Nikki that she really is a lesbian, but is comfortable with hiding the fact from her strict parents.
Trudy and Gene are a middle-aged, interracial couple who have sex in a nature park and, during the walk back, talk about how they first met at an orgy during the "sexual revolution" of the 1970s and about their children who seem not to understand their active sexual lifestyle.
Neil and Bob are a closeted 30-something gay couple who have sex in Neil's apartment. Afterwards, Neil drives Bob home to his house where, during the drive, they discuss their roles as gay men in a relationship and who is the "butch" and the "bitch", since they both have different backgrounds and careers. It is revealed the next day that Neil is the lead singer in a hair rock band and Bob is a high school football coach.
David and Jordy are an ex-couple who have met at a cheap motel for sex where David defends his infidelity and womanizing as the person that he is, while Jordy is a troubled woman who cannot seem to let go of her ex, despite her knowledge of his unapologetic cheating.
Marco and Alanna are two strangers who have sex after meeting at a nightclub where afterwards they arrive in Marco's loft where they learn more about each other, but Marco is soon disturbed about the dull-witted Alanna's admission of being a high-priced escort and of her love for sex with strangers for money. | pornographic, murder, storytelling, flashback | train | wikipedia | if you've ever fell in this kind of LOVE.
This is really a nice story, very true as my own experience, I believe anyone who ever been to that state or close to, things might go so tragic like that, The film is a truly reminder for all of us ---don't ever be that way when you fall in love, the ending could be whole lot different and you can get more than what it could offer.
Self loving is always the infinity, the forever lesson for all of us to learn and stand on foot with it this life.
We fall, then we grow.
Brigitte Rouan is really a talent, she deserves more recognition than this film did.
Great work as a female director, we need more of them like she is.
Working on a project that might call her soul and she did it faithfully..
At its best when it captures the feverish substance of her passion.
The movie is at its best when it just captures the feverish substance of her passion, which it does vividly and candidly with a striking lack of self-consciousness on Rouan's part.
But in its specifics, particularly in how it sets up the various male reactions to her behavior, the movie often seems somewhat schematic and labored, if not tedious.
Her husband is defending a woman who stabbed her husband in the neck because of his affair - as he practices and prepares for her defence he copes with his growing knowledge of Rouan's adultery, and in that process can't help but argue in mitigation of his own wife; the mechanism seems clunky, if only because high-profile murders are such overly familiar, convenient thematic vessels for one thing or the other.
The inspiration she provides to her main writer (who names his book after her description of a man's sweat) is too easy an external validation rather than a riding of the waves she creates for herself.
The scenes of her trashed state are too much decrepit chic.
Not that the overall trajectory doesn't more or less work, but the film constantly seems to be battling its own limitations, the restrictions it places on its central turbulence.
The ending certainly seemed to me a very melodramatic signaling of redemption..
Woman in Love and Desire.
In Paris, the successful forty and something year old book editor Diane Clovier (Brigitte Roüan) is married with the lawyer Philippe Clovier (Patrick Chesnais) and they have teenage son and daughter.
Diane meets the young engineer Emilio (Boris Terral) that is the roommate of the writer François Narou (Nils Tavernier) that is working with her, and they have an intense love affair.
Meanwhile, Philippe is defending their neighbor that has killed her unfaithful husband sticking a fork in his neck and one day he overhears a phone conversation of Diane and her lover.
When Emilio ends their affair, Diane gets deeply depressed missing her juvenile love, neglecting her husband and children that leave her.
Meanwhile, the novel of François is published and he tries to help his self-indulgent editor to recover her emotional balance and self-esteem."Post Coïtum Animal Triste" is a dramatic romance about a woman in love and desire for a younger man.
This film has a great performance of the director / actress Brigitte Roüan but the running time of 97 minutes is too long and the deserved a shorter edition.
The situation of Diane, totally neglecting her son and her daughter, is unusual for a mother and I found her an unlikable character.
The open conclusion is not clear and I do not know whether the intention of the author is to tell that Diane superseded her situation with her rebirth.
I watched this movie on a VHS released by Cult Filmes distributor.
My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Post Coïtum Animal Triste" ("Post Coitum Sad Animal").
appallingly self-indulgent portrait of female sexuality.
Two scenes illustrate the subtlety and sophistication of this film.
In the opening sequence, the image of a cat in heat is followed by that of the heroine-director writhing in the throes of a self-administered orgasm.
In a contrasting scene, following some clothes-ripping sex, we see our heroine crossing the street *floating on a little cloud*.
Rather than a portrait of uncontrollable "animal" passion, this film has the feel of a manifesto: you men think you can portray female sexuality, *I* know what it's really like.
But there is no genuine sensuality here, only hysterical febrility.
After the sensitive portrayals of _Outremer_, rooted in historical reality, the creation of this empty cat-woman and her so-predictable stud is most disappointing.
Even the implausible secondary plot of an elderly woman who murders her husband is refreshing by comparison..
It is an intense, emotional movie about the end of an affair from a woman's point of view..
It is a typical European movie and a typical woman's movie.
If you happen to like both, as I do, you will find it quite captivating and well made.
There is not much action per se though quite a few nude sex scenes, done quite tastefully and not pruriently.
The acting is good, the cinematography is average European, which is also good.
There is some suspense.
It is definitely not the best movie my wife and I have ever watched but we did not grudge the time and only once or twice felt like fast forwarding but the very next frame changed our minds..
Even in French it's awful.
For people who worry that they might be giving this film short shrift because they might not have caught all the subtitles, stop worrying.
In French it's just as bad.
You could miss all the subtitles and not miss anything.
And it's a shame because this is a film, made by a woman, about a middle aged, married with 2 kids woman, falling helplessly in love with a much younger man.
So it's the reversal of the standard scenario.
Unfortunately, there is nothing here to keep us interested for the length of the film.
The acting, though, is excellent..
Disappointingly mediocre.
"After Sex" tells of a comfortably successful middle aged professional women with a family who has an affair with a man 20 years her junior and goes into deep depression when he leaves.
A very ordinary film in all respects, "After Sex" does not do justice to the story and mixes humor with drama schizophrenically rather than synergistically.
Though the film does have its moments and is not completely devoid of appeal, it's not worth all the subtitle reading..
Failed to hold my attention.
Maybe this would be a better movie if I spoke French.
Although, actually I prefer subtitled movies to dubbed ones.
The film wasn't awful, it just wasn't good.
It bored me.
I can point to no part or cast or crew that was any better or any worse than the whole.
Don't waste your time.
Grade: D-.
Love story with little fun and a lot of pain.
This a story about a woman in love.
Love is painful.
And so is the movie...The movie is bad in any reasonable sense, except maybe for the acting.
If you are renting it with English subtitles, be prepared to miss about 50% of them.
The photography is awful.
The director tried to be pretentious, which made things worse.
Let me tell you one thing about this movie:If you didn't see it, keep it that way!.
Frustrated Pussy, Bemused Viewer.
SPOILER AHEAD.The opening shot is of a female cat on heat, miaowing around the apartment floor of Diane(Brigitte Rouan) and her husband Phillipe (Patrick Chesnais.
Puss appears again at the end, still on heat, her biological desire unfulfilled.
Meantime Diane a book editor in her 40s, with a nice husband and two teen-age children, has an affair with dark and handsome Emilio (Boris Terral), an engineer engaged in international aid projects.
Emilio happens to be sharing an apartment with Francisco (Nils Tavernier), an author whose his next novel Diane is trying to coax out of him.
Emilio is in his twenties but likes older women.
Phillipe is preoccupied with the defence of an elderly woman who has murdered her husband with a carving fork after 43 years of abuse.I found this movie slow-moving; despite some neat cutting from one scene to another it seemed longer than its 95 minutes.
There were one or two sexy bits, but nothing really to explain how Emilio the young stud feels apart from a casual remarks he makes to a friend ("four f*cks and she thinks I'm her future").
The inevitable break-up comes about an hour into the film and Diane does not take it well - in fact she nearly goes around the twist.
Yet a trip to Corfu with her favourite author and a jump off Saffo's cliff (isn't that Lesbos?) restores her sanity.
The last half-hour is pretty tedious.I liked the humour in what was otherwise a fairly sorry tale and some of the minor characters had some charm eg Diane's pompous twit of a boss and Francois the author who seemed to be writing novels quite removed from his life experience ("virgin writes searing romance").
The trouble with Diane is, that while we understand why she has done what she has, and why she finds the break-up so hard, it is somehow difficult to feel sorry for her.
It's hard to put a finger on why.
Perhaps it's the self-obsession, the narcissism she displays.
Perhaps the point is that anyone can get caught by an affair, but we don't all spend as much time looking into a mirror as Diane does.
Anyway the cat can't help it, but she can.We never get to find out what happens in the trial of the carving fork wife - all we see is Phillipe practising a jury speech which suggests she doesn't have much chance of an acquittal.
I think we need closure on that one too, to round off the story.
Do they all live happily ever after?
At the end, I didn't really care.
Maybe you have to be female (and smarter than the cat) to understand. |
tt1329177 | K-11 | Raymond Saxx Jr. is a powerful record producer who wakes from a drug-induced blackout to find himself locked up and classified in the segregated "K-11" unit for LGBT inmates. Plunged into a nightmarish world ruled by a transgender diva named Mousey, Raymond is truly a fish out of water. Complicating matters are a troubled but kind young transgender girl named Butterfly, a predatory child molester named Detroit, and the ruthless Sheriff's Deputy, Lt. Johnson, who sexually preys on inmates and abuses drugs. Ray's struggle to contact the outside world and regain his freedom seems impossible, but he must learn to navigate this new power structure if he is ever going to survive and get control of his life again.
The movie starts with Saxx in an LA prison, so high on drugs that he cannot be questioned. However, prison guard Johnson seems to take a special interest in him, bribes a colleague and puts him in a holding cell for cellblock K-11. With him is a young transgender woman who calls herself "Butterfly". After one night, Saxx is put in block K-11, though Butterfly is to remain in the holding cell overnight. Among others, he meets the self-proclaimed boss Mousey and the burly child molester Detroit. At first, the inmates frighten and disgust him, but he gradually begins to enjoy their company. There is a great trade in cocaine in the cellblock, which is being smuggled in by the guard who put Saxx in K-11, Lt. Johnson. When drug kingpin Ben refuses to give Johnson a bigger cut of the drugs, he is put in general population. Lt. Johnson attempts to rape Saxx during a riot caused by Mousey. After being raped by Detroit twice, Butterfly brutally murders him with a pair of razor blades and the other inmates help her to hide the weapons and they claim not to have witnessed the incident.
Saxx is told that he is being charged with the murder of his associate, songwriter Ian Sheffield, who happened to be having an affair with Saxx's wife. Saxx's lawyer informs him that his wife, the only witness of Ian's death, wants to divorce him, leaving him with only $30,000 and his car. If Saxx does not agree, his wife will testify that the death was a murder; if he does sign, she will tell police the death was an accident. Saxx signs the documents, knowing he will be released soon. He makes a deal with Mousey to get back at the corrupt Lt. Johnson before he leaves: Mousey has sex with Johnson and then files rape charges against him. After prison officers discover Johnson having sex with Mousey, Johnson is charged with rape and the murder of Detroit before being taken into custody and put in a cell next to Ben, who implies Johnson will be punished by other inmates. To complete the deal, Saxx deposits $13,000 in Mousey's account before being released. When he is a free man, his only assets are $17,000 and his car. When he gets into his luxury car, his first step is to get rid of the drug stash hidden in the vehicle. | violence | train | wikipedia | Not great, but not bad..
There will be people hating on this film because of various reasons, but I loved the story, even though it could have been much much better, I'd say this is rather rushed, but I wouldn't say it's bad.
This homosexual prison camp never came across my mind, at least it doesn't seem to exist in my country.
I looked up Doubleday's filmography and found this movie, at first I wasn't expecting much from her but I must say her role as Butterfly is really really fabulous, same for Visnjic, although I think he'd have done better with his emotions.If you have spare time, it wouldn't hurt to check this out as it is a rather different experience with other films..
Better than expected.
I had super low expectations going into this film, but I surprisingly liked it.The characters feel very real and damaged.
Raymond Saxx Jr.'s plight is uncomfortable and unfortunate for him.D.B. Sweeney is solid as the waste of space Lt. Gerald Johnson.
Goran Visnjic gives a sympathetic portrayal of record producer Saxx who got too deep into drugs.Kate Del Castillo as Mousey is not bad.
Portia Doubleday is unnerving and heartbreaking as Butterfly.Obviously, the film is low-budget, but I'm confused why the critics trashed it like they did.
I bet some of them never bothered to watch the film.
Although, this is not the type of film critics would love.
It's not an amazing film, but it's hardly exploitative...so take it for what it is.
I enjoyed the ending and I would watch it again if I saw it television.
An interesting directorial debut for indie director Jules Stewart..
a great concept fails for playing it safe.
I heard about this film and looked it up.
The premise seemed fascinating and the first thing that came to mind is "I must watch this".
Anticipating, from the visuals and advertising, this film would be a trippy ride through prison lane.
Unfortunately as soon as I started watching, I got the sense of a very sanitized film with actors who I am sure had lots of terms and conditions imposed on the filmmakers prior to diving into making the film.
In one word, the film just does not seem authentic.
A simple a word as that maybe, it is the lifeblood of films of this type.
If you are going to go through the troubles of doing a prison drama, get in there and get your feet wet.
Not sure if the script was written like that or what happened between the production and final cut.
Whatever may have happened in the process, it is obvious many things got chopped and with them the fear and tension that this sort of situation brings about for any straight attorney who would have been wrongly classified in a prison system.
If you are going to do something like this..
You would never see obviously real women in a K-11 section and that is what spoiled it for me.
Sometimes playing it safe can inhibit your film from all of the wonderful possibilities that could have been effective if more time and effort was placed in finding actors who could accurately portray a grim situation successfully in a rather dark place.
My suspension of disbelieve got interrupted several times and at every attempt I made to try to immerse myself in the reality of what should have been a very dark, disturbing, spine tingling situation for the viewer.
In other words I expected something around the realm of "OZ" the very successful cable series that did exemplify the tensions and fears that prison life entail.
Sad to say, I felt instead of OZ I got something along the lines of "the wizard of OZ" version sprinkled with mild to light tension.
K-11, the film critics reviewed without seeing..
What I realize after having seen K-11 is that virtually none of the critics who gave this film zero stars even saw it.
If you see the term "CAMP" or "EXPLOITATION" or here them claiming "it couldn't decide what it was" you know that those critic's wrote a review on the trailer and not the film.
This film has one problem only to them , Jules Stewart is Kristen Stewart's Mom .
They attack her even after Kristen was intentionally NOT cast in K-11 http://gawker.com/5990662/kristen-stewarts-mom-wanted- her-to-play-a-character-thats-raped-repeatedly.
Interviewers will start asking about the film and then turn to Kristen , helpless in their own lack of imagination and drawn finally to a personality that blinds them to everything around them.
Years from now when Kristen is no longer a young star people will re-examine this film.
Kristen is not even in this film , intentionally.
K-11 is a straight film, not exploitation or camp.
Portia Doubleday ,Goran Visnjic , DB Sweeny and most of all, Kate del Castillo, are brilliant.
They use the term "its like " because they need something to compare it to.
Its an incredibly good first film.
Making a film of this kind for a first time director is virtually impossible because everyone "knows better".
Jules stuck to her guns, finally taking the film back from her first editor and recutting it to the original script.
The films most memorable quote "Bad things happen to bad people" .
This is a great little film that stands on its own and the cast and crew did a terrific job..
'Bad things happen to bad people.'.
Someone likely had a good idea in planning this film: place a straight man in a prison cell area reserved for homosexuals and all variations of gender role playing.
But as written by Jared Kurt and Jules Stewart and especially as directed by Jules Stewart the film loses all semblance of originality, for one reason - because it casts women in the roles of transsexuals and transvestites so as not to offend the actors or the audience with same sex variations.But that is only one reason this film sinks.
The script is tepid to poor, a story is practically nonexistent, and the characters are tropes played by actors who seem embarrassed by what they are asked to do.
What little story there is can be summarized as follows: a wealthy but drug addicted and alcoholic record produced named Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic, one of our stronger actors usually) passes out, is arrested for homicide, and thrown into LA County Jail in a unit reserved for Homosexuals and sexual deviants K-11.
From there it is a power struggle run by transvestite Mousey (the first female - Kate del Castillo - cast as a male and it doesn't work).
Cocaine and other drugs are readily available through the corruption of Ben (Jason Mewes) who works in the office of the deputy Sgt. Johnson (DB Sweeney) who is likewise drug addled and preys on the inmates for sexual favors.
Bad things happen, such as the murder of child molester Detroit (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister) by transsexual Butterfly (Portia Doubleday) and Raymond finally comes out of his cloudy drug abused head and figures a way out of this very odd confinement, but not without a series of meaningless circumstances that serve only to point out the depravity of the inmates.Yes, it is that bad.
Try as you may to find a saving grace to this film is without success.
Perhaps if the writers and director had had the courage to use an all male cast instead of putting female actors in the roles of men who are range from simply nelly to butch to surgically transformed (in various stages) into transsexuals the film may have had a reason for being made.
As it is, it is an embarrassment for Goran Visnjic, and DB Sweeney and the rest of the actors who for some reason signed on to this poorly conceived and made project.
This film is set in a jail "reserved for homosexuals".
So, upon seeing seeing trans-women in the jail too, I thought, "Oh, they're going to touch on how trans-women are misgendered in the prison system--wonderful!", but that was wishful thinking.
Since none of the other reviewers have touched on this yet(or seem to think the words "transsexual" and "transvestite" are interchangeable), I'll be the one to say it.Transgendered women are women.
This film blatantly implies that we're simply men who transition our bodies to look like women for the purpose of sexual deviance--not only in the premise, but in the dialog from trans and cis-gender characters alike.
Contrary to popular social belief, we were not born as men; we're born as women with a male body.
Films like this only further serve to set back the leaps and bounds of progress we're making within society to achieve a sense of normality.
To be clear, being trans-gender has absolutely nothing to with sexual orientation.This film isn't overtly hateful towards trans-women, but it does further the many misconceptions we suffer from on a daily basis.
Horribly misinformed, but I liked the dark nature of it....
First and foremost, when will the film industry learn that trans women are WOMEN and not men playing dress-up.
This film is not overtly mean to trans-women, but completely goes on to reinforce all stereotypes of trans women.
Matters of transgender women and men should never be a joke, but this film uses them to try and get cheap laughs.I did like there wasn't a truly good protagonist.
This is the part I like.
A bunch of darkness in a world of darkness.Overall, barely watchable even with a hot main character.
It isn't that I wish I could have my 90 minutes back, but this film was solely a time-waster to distract me from my illness, and nothing more..
Goran Visnjic gives a sincere performance in the lead role, but really that is all that is halfway decent about K-11.
And this was from actually seeing the movie and giving it a fair chance, so there goes that rather ignorant assumption.
Some people probably didn't even see the trailer and saw it only for Visnjic, myself belonging in this camp.
The script is confused, it is not sure whether it wants to have exploitation laughs or sombre tragedy.
Instead it tries to incorporate both and neither work, the comedy being forced and can fall into the distasteful category for some and the tragedy being mawkish and you never care enough for the characters to genuinely feel it.
Another major failing is the story, it is slow and almost non-existent and you don't feel any of the tensions and fears of prison life.
Part of the reason why you are not engaged with anything here is because the movie in an attempt to trying not to offend plays it too safe.
There are also campy elements that are too artificially done and while the comic exaggerations are played for shocks, there was little that came across as genuinely shocking and instead it was too exaggerated and too overdone.
There are cheaper-looking movies out there, however K-11 does nothing interesting with the photography or the single-room cell-block, they are just there with no signs of life.
I couldn't care less about who Jules Stewart's family is- that's never been an overriding factor in my judgement of movies, never has been, never will be and also it shouldn't be- what really matters is whether her involvement in K-11 worked in its favour.
It didn't, it had intent sure but turned out to be every bit as confused as the script.
Visnjic gives the only good performance, the rest struggle with the cardboard characters and give cartoonish caricatures in the process.
All in all, apart from Visnjic- who deserved better than this- a messy movie that played it too safe and didn't know what to do with itself.
Such an odd film.
Man wakes up in jail, and finds himself in a strange prison cell; it appears to be a ward for gay and transgendered people.
Goran Visnjic is "Saxx", and he tries to navigate survival; everyone he meets is either a friend or foe.
From the start, we're shown one main corrupt officer that we can tell is going to be trouble.
And we're also shown "Mousey" (Kate del Castillo), who runs the joint.
The main plot here is that Saxx says he doesn't belong here, and he keeps making phone calls for help.
(yes, they are making Clerks III, so we'll see Jay and silent Bob again).
It's a prison, so expect anything to happen.
And the ending is a little cheesy, but not bad for a first film.
( Stewart is also Twilight star Kristen Stewart's mom!) Will definitely look for more projects from Stewart.
Written and directed by Jules Stewart, based on an original story by Jared Kurt.
It is prison, after all.
I'm no film critic, a media student yes, but I've never written a review before, to be honest I've never needed to.
Usually every film I come across can be expected to have hundreds of reviews by users on IMDb, most far better than any I could ever write.
Disappointed by the lack I found when reading up on K-11, I decided it was time to watch the film, and share my experience.
I had the usual expectations going into this film in terms of the prison film genre.
It's set in a prison, there will be violence, drugs and rape.
What I wasn't expecting from the directional debut of Jules Stewart was such a captivating story.
The interesting scenario our main character Raymond Saxx finds himself in, the characters that surround him and the interesting dynamic of K-11 make for a sometimes difficult but ultimately rewarding experience.
I found it an important tale to tell, unlike most films out there.
It had thought and meaning behind it, and the actors truly brought the film to life.
Would I recommend those of you curious about this film to watch it?
That's a definite yes..
I like the concept of how it was done and the story.
Though, some scenes felt like that it was plain acting, it could have been done better or just more convincing?
The Character's personality seemed inconstant at times too but I like their base character.
Especially the person who played Butterfly (though I'm sad for her story...)!Also I was sure that Mousey had large junk in the shower scene, what happened to it?!
Ray was so miserable with killing someone and then he is a bad ass in the end with a gangster driver?!
I wish it was explained!) Plot holes people!
I wish they had a time skip explaining how the person Ray killed died, if he got revenge on his ex-, or if he got Butterfly out and is caring her.Overall I enjoyed it..
Spoiler Alert...the bad guys lose..
It was really entertaining, I especially love how the bad guys get it in the end and the "better guy" (can't really call him the good guy because he isn't "good") tosses his illegal substances out of the window when he is released.
My daughter was confused because they had women playing 2 of the main (can't believe the word for biologically male ladies is prohibited!!) characters, but it works, they just look like REALLY authentic alternative persons.
Butterfly was also one of my favorite characters, just wish someone would have stepped up and saved her, angered me that everyone around just let it happen and didn't do anything.
All in all great movie.
All in all great movie.
Stark look at life in a homosexual prison wing.
CELL K-11 is an odd little prison movie with grindhouse sensibilities.
This one steps away from offering a realistic approach to instead go all-out with over-the-top characters and outlandish situations.
The main character, as played by former E.R. actor Goran Visnjic, is the usual innocent guy who wakes up one day and finds himself thrown into the homosexual wing of a Los Angeles jail.This film seems more occupied with detailing transsexual culture more than anything else.
The cast features a bunch of actresses playing transsexual or transvestite characters and many of them are believable in their parts, particularly Kate del Castillo, who steals the show as the completely convincing Mousey, the woman who runs the wing.
Others like Portia Doubleday (MR.
ROBOT) fare less well but still deliver kooky performances.The main problem with this film is the story, or rather lack of it.
It seems to slide along aimlessly, giving a good example of prison life but failing to involve the viewer in any way.
The supporting players are more interesting than the lead, including D.B. Sweeney's slimy prison officer, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister as the resident rapist, and Jason Mewes as, unsurprisingly, a drug dealer.
The usual sex and violence fills the screen, giving this a hard grindhouse edge..
Not really all that bad.
I watched this film on a whim, didn't think much of it when I viewed a trailer of it.
Let me tell you, although it does have some dramatic elements, 'K-11' was hilarious, especially during the beginning stages of the main character's introduction to a whole host of drug addicted inmates.
Kate del Castillo (Mousey) was totally outrageous and fun to watch, trust me you'll understand why once you see her in action.
Yes it was obvious K-11 was short on budget, but hey, they made due with what they had and did a good job considering.
K-11 did not lack on the entertaining factor due to the various wacky characters, which is why I'm not bashing this film.
I could guarantee you the cast had loads of laughs during filming.
K-11 is not gratuitous, violent or vulgar as it could have been, but still manages to make you 'drop jaw' a few times throughout the film.
So-called real film critics will pan this film, but don't let that sway you from viewing it.
It's really not all that bad as they (real critics) may lead you to believe. |
tt0025132 | Forsaking All Others | Ever since Jeff Williams (Clark Gable) was a child, he has been in love with Mary Clay (Joan Crawford). Returning from Madrid, Spain, he wants to propose to her firsthand. However, he comes to a halt, as he finds out that she is being married to Dillon 'Dill' Todd (Robert Montgomery) the very next day. The three had been friends since childhood, but no one besides the butler realized Jeff's feelings. So instead, he wishes all the best for the couple.
However, the next day, Dill doesn't show up to the altar, as it turns out that the night before the wedding, he ran off and married Connie Barnes (Frances Drake), a woman with whom he had had an affair in Europe some months before. Mary quickly gets out of her wedding dress and projects strength instead of fainting.
Although what Dill did to Mary was terrible, she still has a soft spot for him. Jeff and Mary are invited to a party at Dill and Connie's house, and the two decide to attend in order to cause some havoc and shock the newlywed couple. While the tension between Mary and Connie is palpable, Dill is shocked to see Mary. Dill and Mary share a romantic moment outside, and Connie awkwardly walks in on them. Jeff tries to smooth the situation over, but Connie remains furious.
Later, Dill calls Mary and Jeff finds out they intend to see each other. Mary knows she should not go, but the two go up to Aunt Paula's (Billie Burke) country house in Phoenicia, New York. The two share a romantic day, and they profess their love for each other. Dill calls his butler to tell him to pick them up tomorrow morning, but Connie overhears and sets off for Phoenicia. Aunt Paula also realizes the two are at her house, and goes there with Jeff in order to prevent the scandal from getting worse. In fact, the night previously, Dill accidentally burned himself, and the two did not sleep together.
As Connie arrives, Jeff and Mary pretend to be a couple, but Connie does not buy it. She wants to punish Dill for his perceived unfaithfulness, while Aunt Paula wants to avoid scandal. Connie accepts a lucrative settlement and leaves for Europe, thus leaving Dill free to marry Mary. Right before the ceremony, Jeff proclaims his love for Mary and tells her that he is leaving on a boat back to Spain. When the butler, Shep (Charles Butterworth), tells her the cornflowers sent to her last wedding were from Jeff and not Dill, Mary realizes she loves Jeff instead. She breaks off her marriage with Dill and joins Jeff on the boat—when Dill arrives at the wharf, the ship has already sailed. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Clark Gable returns from Madrid (we are not told what he was doing there nor really what anyone does for a living) in order to propose to Joan Crawford.
Clark has secretly loved Joan since they were children but in his absence, Joan has agreed to marry Robert Montgomery who she has loved since they were children.
Enter the old flame, Frances Drake, who whisks Montgomery away on the eve of his nuptial leaving Crawford standing at the alter.
The marriage does not work and soon Crawford steps out with Montgomery on the side.
Gable criticizes and consoles Crawford eventually making plans to return to Spain.
Good performances by Crawford (opening shot with cream on her face is in contrast to other stars who preferred glamorous introductions), Montgomery (he really is funny), Gable, Billie Burke (who can do "flustered" any better), Rosalind Russell (does well in one of her early films) and a very droll Charles Butterworth.
This is one of the several movies that Joan Crawford made with Clark Gable, and fortunately quite a few of them (maybe all) have made it to at least DVD-R via the Warner Archive.
It's a romantic comedy in which Joan plays socialite Mary Clay, who is about to marry lifelong acquaintance Dillon Todd (Robert Montgomery).
Clark Gable plays another of Mary's lifelong friends, Jeff Williams.
Jeff has been long away from home and decides to come back just to ask Mary to marry him, unaware that Mary is about to marry Dillon.
Robert Montgomery is playing the usual harmless playboy character here that he did so much of in the early 1930's.
It looks like Mary and Dillon's marriage is about to go off without a hitch until one of Dillon's old girlfriends appears on the scene.This film was released about six months after the precode era ended, so there is nothing really racey going on here.
However, W.S. Van Dyke is the director of this film, and he knew how to combine sexual tension and comedy in an age of aggressive censorship, and this is a fine example of his work.
I have to imagine that in order for MGM to justify using two of their top leading men with Joan Crawford, their parts in Forsaking All Others would have to have been built up considerably.
The original Broadway production of this comedy that ran 110 performances in 1933 starred Tallulah Bankhead and it was strictly her show.
As if it would have been any other way.I have to give Joan Crawford credit on this one.
She's got both Robert Montgomery and Clark Gable after her, but she chooses early on and in the end she finds out she chooses wrong.
In fact the only impersonation Crawford does is one of her Grand Hotel co-star Greta Garbo.Both Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery settle into familiar stereotypes for them.
Gable is another reporter character like he is It Happened One Night and Montgomery is an irresponsible playboy like he was in a gazillion films.
Montgomery and Crawford are set to be married, but Montgomery leaves her at the altar and runs off with his demanding mistress Frances Drake.
But Crawford has Gable's shoulder to cry on for most of the rest of the film.
No way that Tallulah Bankhead would have let that happen on stage.Charles Butterworth and Billie Burke are also on hand and young Rosalind Russell on her way up has a small part as one of Crawford's friends.
Granted I am a huge Clark Gable fan, I thought this movie was one of the most fun films I had seen in a long time and not just because he's pretty to look at-- the whole cast was great as was the writing.
The chemistry between Ms. Crawford and Clark Gable is palpable and registers like a blister.
The ever-clever and witty Robert Montgomery is in fine form as the character of "Dill", and an apt foil for the combine of Ms. Crawford and Mr. Gable.
fun cat & mouse romp with Montgomery,Crawford,Gable.
throughout the film, all the big names are laughing, joking, playing, having a grand ol time, until every now and then some real life adult situations get in the way.
Miss Joan Crawford (Mary) getting spanked.
Clark Gable (Jeff) and Robert Montgomery (Dill) keep stepping out of the shower.
A witty film that benefits mostly from the pairing of Clark Gable and Joan Crawford.
Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, and Robert Montgomery are childhood friends who are in not only a love triangle but a love quadrangle in "Forsaking All Others," from 1934.Crawford is Mary Clay, who is about to be married to Dill (Montgomery).
Gable is Jeff Williams, who returns from Spain with the intention of proposing to Mary.
Jeff puts on a brave face as Dill and Mary are two of his closest friends.
Dill, however, has some old business, and that's his ex-girlfriend Connie (Frances Drake).
Turns out Connie's business isn't as old as Mary and Dill thought because, as Mary prepares to walk down the aisle, Jeff gets a telegram saying that Connie and Dill are married.This is an entertaining comedy, with the three stars in top form.
Though comedy was never Crawford's forte, she actually plays this straight and is very good.Billie Burke costars and Rosalind Russell has a small role.
Crawford Gable and Montgomery Earn Their Money--The Hard Way. The sort of old movie that makes old movies seem, well, OLD.
The dialogue creaks and heaves towards the punch lines, the plot twists can be seen coming a mile away, and the characters behavior is totally subservient to the need to keep the hero and heroine from recognizing their obvious love for one another until the last possible moment.
That Joan Crawford, Clark Gable, and Robert Montgomery bring something even RESEMBLING emotional truth to this remainder-bin exercise is a tribute to their talent.
Anyone who says they don't make movies like they used to is right--and that isn't necessarily a bad thing .
Mary (Joan Crawford) loves Dill (Robert Montgomery) but he leaves her waiting at the altar and elopes with another woman.
Their friend Jeff (a miscast Clark Gable) loves Mary but won't say so because she loves Dill, even after the humiliation and despite him being married to another woman.
Why either Mary or Jeff would even want to be around this guy is beyond me but I guess they had to fill time with something.Crawford looks great but her character has little self-respect.
I hated seeing her pursue Bob Montgomery's character despite his dumping her to marry another woman.
I know times change and all but it taints the enjoyment of the movie for me when most of it is based around Joan wanting that creep back.
Montgomery is fine I guess but the character of Dill is a royal class jerk.
Having grown up seeing Joan Crawford films in which she was much older and with the reputation of being crazy and cruel, it's always fascinating to watch her very early films and see how truly engaging, charismatic and beautiful she was.
Her comfortable chemistry with Clark Gable is fun to watch, and although this film does't have stellar dialogue and is a bit low-brow, it's one I often just turn on when I have work to do or emails to catch up on.
I've noticed this expression being used in other films of the era - Robert Williams' character says it to Jean Harlow in "Platinum Blonde" as a way to note that he is free to love her, and Joan Crawford says it to Clark Gable in frustrated anger to stress to him she can make her own decisions.
The Joan Crawford Experience 16/59The film starts off the day before Mary (Joan Crawford) marries her childhood sweetheart Dillon "Dill" Todd (Robert Montgomery).
Aunt Paula (The Fabulous Billie Burke) bursts in to fuss over Mary, and that leads to everyone else coming in with cocktails for a chaotic scene.We understand that Mary and Dill are part of a very close-knit group of friends who are kind of wild and have a lot of history together.
Mary, Dill, and Jeff Williams (Clark Gable) have known each other since they were eight years old!At the same time, we see Jeff enthusiastically returning from an extended stay in Spain.
He is met by his old buddy Shemp (Charles Butterworth), and head directly over to Mary's apartment.
As Dill is home getting ready, he is visited by an old fling from a summer in Europe - Connie Barnes (Frances Drake).
She knows that he is getting married but wants to reminisce about the good times they had over a drink (or seven) before parting ways.The next morning we discover that Dill never made it to the bachelor's dinner; and boy he really missed a good time judging from the wreckage of Jeff and Shemp's hotel room and the chaos that caused.
Mary is left at the altar.She finds out via telegram that Jeff has married Connie.So instead of spending their honeymoon at Aunt Paula's cabin in upstate New York, she spends it -with- Aunt Paula trying to clear her head.
Jeff and Shemp head up for moral support (and to bring Mary her mail) and find that Connie has invited Mary to a cocktail party.Of course she's going to go!
She takes Jeff along as her date, and they discover his new crowd of friends are a lot more sedate than the old gang.
Dill didn't know that Connie had invited her and tells her "Connie, you're being just a little bit cheap!"A bit later Jeff and Mary have it out over her pining away for a married man and Mary slaps him!
So, while Mary is off running around with Dill, Jeff figures he'll go back to Spain.Or will he?This is a fairly good comedy / romance set amongst New York Society.
This love triangle comedy is worth tracking down for its great script, which is filled to the brim with humorous wit and colorful dialogue that keeps viewers on their toes.
Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay, based on a stage play.) And it certainly helps to have these lines read by the likes of Billie Burke and Charles Butterworth, whose inimitable comedic talents boost the so-so story.Robert Montgomery's and Joan Crawford's characters grow tiresome after a while, but the film is saved by the performances of Butterworth and Burke in their sidekick roles.
His character is the most likable of the three leads, but he drops out from the middle of the film.The plot takes some tedious turns, but the ending is satisfying.
Worth Watching for Crawford and Gable.
Forsaking All Others (1934) ** 1/2 (out of 4) MGM fluff has Jeff (Clark Gable) returning from Spain with plans of proposing to Mary (Joan Crawford) but once home he learns that she's about to marry Dillon (Robert Montgomery).
Jeff decides to take it like a man and step to the side but when Dillon runs off and marries another woman he must try and figure out the best way to get to Mary.
This isn't a bad movie but considering the cast and director one can't help but be a little disappointed that it's not better.
Gable is in top-form here as he's very believable in the role and you can't help but feel for the guy and enjoy the class that the actor brings.
The more I see from Gable pre-IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT films the more impressed I am.
Montgomery isn't too bad as the romantic slime but for some reason the screenplay seems to forget this is a drama when he's on screen.
There are countless scenes with him falling, tripping or hurting himself in other ways that gives one the impression that this was some sort of slapstick film at some point.
Charles Butterworth steals the film in each of his scenes and we also get Billie Burke as a real bad girl.
The opening credits here are extremely bizarre as the film opens with the three stars marching arm to arm down a row towards the camera with the biggest smiles on their face as if this was some sort of musical.
And yet another of the film pairings of Crawford and Gable, this time in one of the romantic triangles which became the norm for most of Crawford's films from the 1930s as Robert Montgomery is added to the mix of her suitors.
Essentially a will they-won't they situation, for a swift 84 minutes one is put to the task to see how long will it take before Gable and Crawford wind up in each others' arms.This one actually fares pretty good as a farce, mainly because the players make the story work in a light yet believable way even when the story per se becomes somewhat silly and even predictable.
Also of note is an early appearance by Rosalind Russell in a short role later in the movie..
The type of film that helped make living in the depression fun, acting like the depression didn't exist, that millionaires never lost their fortune, that everybody dressed in silks, ermine, white tie & tails.
Everybody was gay, when gay meant giddy....It's no wonder that Joan Crawford was the biggest female star of the mid 1930's, not a female impersonator who actually happened to be a woman (Mae West) or a snappy little girl with curls (Shirley Temple).
And here she is, a bride left at the alter by her childhood pal (Robert Montgomery) who nevertheless continues to see her socially on the side unaware that their other best pal (Clark Gable) is madly in love with her himself.
Montgomery is instantly unhappy in his new marriage to venomous Frances Drake and longs to rekindle his romance with Crawford.People forget that Joan was adept in both comedies and musicals, not just the women's picture, so this film (based upon a Broadway play that starred Tallulah Bankhead) is overlooked in the history of great screwball comedies.
Toss in flighty Billie Burke, droll Charles Butterworth and wisecracking Rosalind Russell (in one of her first films), and you end up with a practically perfect crowd-pleaser that shows us how "Mommie Dearest" was as once as hot as today's "A" list stars and got to the top in a style that can't be copied today.The fun opening credits instantly got my attention with music that made me think that the three stars were going rollerskating.
This scene flows nicely to another great scene with Montgomery riding a bicycle with a nervous Crawford on the handlebars that ends up with a nice pratfall.
There are many aspects of this movie that make it seem like Clark Gable has taken a step forward in his career.
At this time, Robert Montgomery and Joan Crawford were big stars and the movie isn't nearly as off-the-wall as many of the weird early Gable films (featuring him in a dizzying array of strange roles).
In addition, the plot really needed a re-write and Gable's character just seems really needy and weak.
Here's the plot--you decide if Gable is poorly used: Joan Crawford is left waiting at the alter by Robert Montgomery who runs off with another woman.
She spends most of the movie STILL trying to get Montgomery (why she would still want this schmuck, I have absolutely no idea).
Gable is friends to both but secretly loves Crawford.
However, he doesn't tell her because he really wants her to be happy--even if it means chasing after married Montgomery!
I hate movies that avoid such an obvious and simple resolution.Fortunately, despite this HUGE plot problem, the ride is enjoyable so if you just turn off your brain and watch, you will enjoy the film.
But, as I said, your brain must be turned off or you'll find yourself wondering why they made Gable so spineless, Crawford so needy and Montgomery such an amazing jerk..
84 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Jeff Williams (Clark Gable) returns from abroad just in time to act as Best Man at the wedding of his friends, Mary Clay (Joan Crawford) and Dill Todd (Robert Montgomery).
To everyone's surprise, Dill leaves Mary at the altar.
He marries his mistress, Connie (Frances Drake) instead.
As it happens, Jeff has always loved Mary himself.
Dill asks Connie for a divorce and makes a fresh proposal to Mary.
True, he begins promisingly enough with our returning hero, Gable, loading Butterworth down with balloons and peanuts; but Mankiewicz's notion of humor degenerates later on into a lot of irritating gibberish from Butterworth and a frilly nightgown for Montgomery.
Forsaking All Others actually ends up as little more than an Adrian fashion show led by exquisitely photographed Joan Crawford.
Fortunately, Joan can do no wrong in my book, even in an inferior vehicle like Forsaking All Others.OTHER VIEWS: Here's an old-fashioned new-fashioned play.
For a starter, we have no-one in the Tallulah Bankhead class to play the main role.
Robert Montgomery, Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Rosalind Russell, are at the top of their game.
Everybody is rich, jet-setter types in tails, top-hats, and fancy ball gowns.Jeffrey Williams (Gable) is met at the New York dock by one of his old friends, Shemp (Charles Butterworth).
Jeff has just returned from Madrid and is planning on asking his childhood crush, Mary Clay (Crawford) to marry him.
When they arrive at a party in progress, he's shocked to find that Mary is already happily engaged to his other friend, Dillon Todd (Montgomery).Jeff swallows his disappointment, especially when Mary asks him to walk her down the isle, and resigns himself to getting appropriately drunk.
However, an old flame of Dillon's, Connie Barnes (Frances Drake), shows up at his apartment and talks Dill into running away with her and impulsively get married; thus leaving Mary at the alter.
But, Mary is determined to get with Dillon even if it's behind Connie's back to the disgust of Jeff, who frankly can't take it anymore. |
tt0273982 | Poolhall Junkies | Obsessed by the world of pool, Johnny (Mars Callahan) could be one of the best. But his mentor and "trainer" Joe (Chazz Palminteri), a shady hustler who decides how and who Johnny plays, is holding him back from his dream. When the day finally comes, Johnny breaks from Joe, which leads to only one thing—violence. Joe is beaten up by some of Johnny's buddies as a sign to leave him alone, and with this final act of freedom, Johnny leaves the world of pool-sharking.
After an ultimatum from his girlfriend Tara (Alison Eastwood), Johnny finally commits to a "real" job in the construction business, but is soon miserable there. He finds himself spending most of his time with his younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum) who it seems is following in his footsteps on the road to a life Johnny left when he broke from Joe.
As for Joe, he is bent on revenge for the beating he took, and soon he has a new protégé Brad (Rick Schroder) who is just as good if not better than Johnny. And he's got his eye on Johnny's brother.
The two play a high-stakes game of pool which ends in a huge debt owed to Joe, and soon Johnny finds that his brother is in jail for trying to steal the money he owes. The only way out for Johnny is to play Brad, which results in a "race to nine" showdown that pits two of the greatest players against each other for large sums of money, and Johnny and Danny's lives.
The game comes down to a very difficult shot for Brad. While calculating how to take the shot, Johnny provokes Brad by telling him how easy the shot is and how he would pay him to take it for him. Johnny takes the shot but doesn't sink the final ball. As Brad prepares to take the winning shot, Johnny stops him. Since he had taken Brad's shot for him, it is now Johnny's turn. Johnny easily sinks the last ball and wins the game, using hustling techniques he learned from Joe to do so. In the last scene, Johnny is playing on the pro tour. | revenge | train | wikipedia | Poolhall Junkies is one of those little sweet pieces of film that can hold your attention throughout, get you to grin even when a joke isn't that funny, and let the viewer know debut filmmakers, such as Gregory "Mars" Martin, can still serve a purpose in a widening scumish movie season.Martin plays Johnny Doyle, a poolroom hustler who after being controlled by a gangster (Palminterri) for fifteen years, breaks away in a sudden movie to go for bigger money.
Unfortunately, his movie isn't helped by his cocky little brother (Rosenbaum) and friends who try to hustle the money for themselves only to get in deeper trouble with a semi-pro player.The story and twists may have been seen in similar poolhall movies, yet the quick wit and even quicker style is on the mark.
It leaves nothing out - Jump shots, masse shots and superbly illustrated draw and bank shots.First and foremost, it is a sports film, though fundamentally incorporates certain genres like romance and action so as to not alienate the movie going audience.
However, unlike the hustler - which many perceived was a love story with a Pool backdrop, and the Color of Money - which put more emphasis on money and gambling than on the sport of pool itself, Poolhall Junkies displays Pool in all its unadulterated beauty.It failed to be a smash hit, I dare say, as there were no huge names in the film unlike the above mentioned two which had Tom Cruise and Paul Newman.
Furthermore Christopher Walken adds tremendous spice to the film as Johnny's stakehorse, with an exultant presence, inspirational philosophies and a few wickedly innovative pool shots to boot.Some bits seem derivative from the Hustler and/or the Color of Money, especially the clichéd hustle dialogue, but they work well, it's part of what makes a hustling film, and adds to its comedic value!
Christopher Walken happens to be one of my favourites, and it was a nice surprise to see him in this film - but even without his charismatic acting, it would surely have been worth the time.
Excellent showing of the game at it's brilliant best, it is also pretty funny, mostly believable (even tho a couple of times the hustling was made a bit too easy) and has more depth than Color of Money or the old one which had Minnesota Fats in it..
The film Poolhall Junkies centers on pool shark Johnny (Mars Callahan), who breaks free from Joe (Chazz Palminteri), his mentor and one of the dirtiest hustlers around.
Joe uses pool shark Brad (Rick Schroder) to bring Johnny's younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum) into the picture, as he hustles Danny and proceeds to beat him up and to threaten his life for the money he owes him.
It is then up to Johnny to play Brad for the cash to get his brother out of jail.Director Mars Callahan successfully made this a film about achieving greatness.
In doing this, he meets and befriends her Uncle Mike (Christopher Walken), who backs him and gives him the money he needs to possibly win his final game.The pivotal choice in music for this film is very original.
Being someone who enjoys the game of pool I loved knowing the hustler moves ahead of time.
(The kid falling for the 4 balls of the table trick was great, but he had to learn right.) Either way pool is a great game, and it's nice to see a movie that took the sport and turned it into a great visual experience through the lives of the actors.
Michael Rosenbaum (Lex from Smallville) and their set of friends added great humor to the screen.I just love that the movie reaches my generation and was fun to watch.
The writer/director/star of this movie couldn't act or write or direct.Case in point, this ridiculous mini-scene at an RV lot: "I'll bet you (something ridiculous) I can tell you where you got your shoes." "Yeah, where?" "You got your left shoe on your left foot and your right shoe on your right foot." (Cut to next scene, with the con accomplished.) What a load of crap!
The pool played in Poolhall Junkies is absurd, the way the plot develops is so slow and preictable and the ending is just dull.
A little harsh, I know, but it's really that bad.I wasn't expecting much, and it does have Chris Walken and Chazz Palminteri in it, so I figured it'd be worth 99 minutes of my life to just sit on my ass and check it out.
It's not much better from the rest of the cast either, except for Walken and Palminteri, which I am beginning to seriously question their goals in life by having the goods to be in big films, but instead choose utter crap like this.
Watching Poolhall Junkies, as I see it, is like finding out you have a terminal disease and doing your best to find new habits that may save your life for a little while.I couldn't sit through the film.
In another stupid piece of writing Johnny had to win at pool to get the money to bail his brother out of jail so to get the money to bet he got Christopher Walken too back him.
And the fact that Rod Stieger, Christopher Walken, Chaz Palminteri, Rick Schroder, and Alison Eastwood are in this movie is utterly amazing.My personal favorite scene is when Johnny(Mars) was talking to Saint Louis Louis(Massey).
He plays Johnny Doyle the lead character , who "was a kid that the cue was part of his arm." This is a very entertaining movie and all the performers have a lot of fun.
Callahan must love pool and my husband and I had a good time at the movies.
You wouldn't be wrong for mistaking Poolhall Junkies as a cocky vanity project for writer/director/star Gregory 'Mars' Callahan (who looks like Jason Lee and Casey Affleck had an affably obnoxious man-baby).
The pool hall scenes are flawlessly shot (pun!) with vivacious, crackling energy, and plentiful enough to keep the film breezy and bumping.The writing on the whole is about as high school calibre as you'd expect, from the hip smack talk posturing which reaches eye-rolling heights at times, to each and every poor female characters, risibly written as 'Male Love Interest Validation Device 101' (Alison Eastwood - yes, Clint's daughter - gamely shoulders the worst of this).
Finally, Rod Steiger is delightfully gruff as the pool hall owner with a heart of gold in his final film appearance here.There are few surprises here as the plot doles out, but the hustling extends beyond the narrative: Poolhall Junkies is too jaunty and enjoyable not to take to.
All Johnny Doyle his younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum) who it (Mars Callahan) ever wanted is to play pool against the best.
A female pool player at least would have been a new idea for the movies.The Michael Rosenbaum, Chaz Palminteri and Christopher Walken characters are underwritten, but maybe that's a reflection of the times in which we live.
I've read that director Mars Martin is a pool player himself, but you could never tell from the way these games are filmed.
Only in the movies do pool players like bank shots.
OK, I realize I'm nitpicking this part of the movie a bit and that most people probably want to see a story instead of a pool documentary, but still...About 20% of this screenplay hits the mark with its depiction of the life of real poolhall junkies.
Bit of guilty pleasure this film.All of sudden Hollywood was quite as a church for Mars Callahan after this stinkbomb.For a movie about hustling, you'd think they would have made the hustles good.
Poohall Junkies blows this movie away...and just laughs at it effortlessly.If you like the cast, pool, Christopher Walken and a well made, solid pool movie by Mars Callahan who is also superb in this movie, watch this.
The acting leans towards wooden (except for the typically excellent Christopher Walken) and the script thinks it's more clever than it really is (example, the gag "hustle" about the RV salesman's shoes).As a pool player, it's fun to see pool on film.
However, once I was able to look past its inconsistencies and get to the essence of the story and the characters, I found it to be an energetic and inspired work with some great (however small) performances by Rick Schroder, Chazz Palimenteri, Christopher Walken, and the late, great, Rod Steiger.There is no doubt that die hard pool aficionados will find the game sequences to be outlandish and exaggerated.
Its another movie with some good scenes, some decent acting by decent actors (although Ricky S would not have been my first pick for the protégé) and its considered a CLASSIC among some pro billiard players who don't pick it apart for its faults but rather enjoy it for its entertainment value.
Granted, the scenes of them playing pool was cool, and they had great trick shots, but most of the acting was sub par.
It comes down to a final game where winner takes all....literally.Mars IS an amazing pool player from childhood and all the playing and tricks done in this movie are by him.Chris Walken, Chazz Palminteri and Rod Steiger all believe in Mars Callahan's vision or they never would have done this movie.
Regardless of the previous comments regarding this movie, it certainly is worth watching, whether you're a pool player or not.Johnny Doyle (Played by Mars Callahan, real life pool-hustler and co-writer/director of the film) plays a pool prodigy discovered at an early age by a gangster wannabe Joe (Chazz Palminteri) Only to be held back by him.The movie features some great acting, by some as yet nearly unknown actors, absolutely stunning pool playing (Though granted, some of the shots are easier than given credit for...) A good solid storyline, very linear but nonetheless enjoyable, and some very creative dialog (even when on the odd occasion it does seem a little forced.).
However, there is something that drove me nuts during the entire movie, is it just me or does Mars Callahan look like what would happen if Christopher Walken and Chazz Palminteri had a baby?
But it's still a fun movie and has better pool shooting than The Hustler or The Color of Money.
In Mars Callahan's film "Poolhall Junkies" Johnny (Mars Callahan) wants to become the best pool player around, but after fifteen years with his greedy manager Joe (Chazz Palminteri), all he ever became was the best hustler.
In the end, Johnny takes the cue in an effort to save his brother, his money, and possibly his life."Poolhall Junkies" does a great job sending a message of hope and inspiration out through a great pool player's cue.
With only hope on his side, an injured and distraught hustler picks up the stick that seems to have brought him to his present turmoil, and tries to find a way out of his troubles, and maybe even become a pro.Altogether the film is appealing, its storyline is filled with big laughs and miracle shots, yet certain parts of the movie are repellent.
I enjoyed Mr Massey's appearance, and I think Chazz Palmintieri and Christopher Walken is an excellent finish to a movie that actually is predictable , unbelievable and yet surprises in the end.
The people making the film obviously love pool.If you have no affinity or ability at the great game of pool, you'll still get something from this movie from the super-cool lead performances.
Especially when you get some big players like Christopher Walken.Overall I enjoyed this movie, there are some really great quotes, some really funny scenes, and when all was said and done, I still liked the movie.
My roommate rented "Poolhall Junkies" one night hearing good things and I watched it, seeing as how I love pool.
There is a perfect blend of comedy as well and the way some of these guys hustle others will make you want to try it out on your friends.If you enjoy pool you will love this movie.
The director, writer, and star Mars Callahan is in real life a good pool player so he wanted to make a movie true to the sport.
The story, acting, and dialogue are all perfectly cast and I cant wait for Mars Callahans next movie.5/5 stars *****/***** EXCELLENT.
Even though the poolhall scenes late in the movie get a bit tired, it's still fun to watch the love/hate between Walken and Palminteri, Callahan and Shroder.
Sometimes you just want a fun movie, and if you play pool, it's immensely fun to watch the trick shots.
It won't win an oscar but that is a fine pool playing movie and, of the three I own, it's the one I enjoy the most watching.
i think this was a great movie, had some cheezy dialogue, its interesting how it rides a fine line with rounders, but it has a nice twist on it, i thought christopher walken did great and was very subtle and upfront in his character, i think that mars callahan also runs a close line to ben affleck, hahaha, but all in all a good movie.
They say that the mark of a good performance is that after the movie is over, you want to dress like the main character.
Such as Walken's few, albeit very enjoyable scenes that are aided even more by his very well written dialogue, such as the speech he give's Johnny in the poolhall restroom before the final game in the movie.
Not since the Hustler & Color of Money have I really seen a good film about pool that gets you into the atmosphere of a big money game.I loved those two films as they captured the essence of pool hustling and the tension and excitement of playing a big game.Each game I watched gave me the same feel as when I play in comp's or on the side bets!Being a pool/snooker nut I would have liked to have seen a bit more action with maybe Mike Massey who made a brief appearance, they could have hustled together for another great scene of action.I've nailed the timed banked shot, but a few other shots played in this movie will take some more practice!I wish the movie industry would release some more pool films instead of one good one every decade or so!The story line was a bit predictable with the flow of great talent but wasted then tries to be something he isn't followed by boy makes good at the end.
But with the characters played by Christopher Walken who was perfect in this movie and gave a very funny spin on things, it moves along nicely and you are always willing the guy's on.Overall I found the movie very good to watch, but I'm a pool freak so my opinion may appear biased to some people!.
Mars Callahan, the writer-director-actor behind Poolhall Junkies, misses no opportunity in creating a vast network of friendships (with extremely well-defined characters) and in exploring the pool hall sub-culture that dominates the central story of this film.
It's the sort of honest movie, much like Dazed and Confused, which viewers will begin to associate with a certain culture for a long time to come.Poolhall Junkies follows the story of a pool player named Johnny (portrayed in a sort of John Cusack/ Quentin Tarantino style by Mars Callahan), who's been coached and mentored since age fourteen by a fellow named Joe (Chazz Palminteri).
He made all the right choices with Poolhall Junkies (especially in casting Christopher Walken, who gives us more memorable quotes than we could ever wish for), and when (not if) this movie gains a following and makes some money, his name will be mentioned around Hollywood as much as `Hey Beer Man!' at a hot September football game.
I saw a screening of Poolhall Junkies and hope it hits the theaters soon because it is definitely a hip film that would appeal to all audiences (young, old, male, female and anyone who has ever enjoyed a game of pool).
I didn't really know much about Poolhall Junkies before I saw it except that it had Christopher Walken, and obviously, it was about pool.
The script is riddled with unconvincing characters, weak motivation, bad dialogue and clichés; with the exception of Christopher Walken, the acting is poor, and when you see thespians like Rod Steiger and Chazz Palminteri act badly, you know the director is inept; and Martin, in the lead role, probably does the worst job of the entire cast.
Although I will say there was some great shots being performed and if I was still 13 I'd probably enjoy this film, but if you wanna see great movies about pool watch Color of Money or The Hustler.
If you want to watch a real movie about pool, stick to The Hustler..
There were a few scenes where the line delivery was a little corny, but over all it was a great movie.It's not a rip off of Rounders, it just happens that the pool hustler life is very similar to the card players.
I'm not a big pool fan, but after watching this movie it made me want to learn how to play.
Playing Callahan's Nemesis and once-father figure Joe is The Italian bad-ass himself, Chazz Palminteri, who takes Johnny in when he's young and turns his talent the way of the Pool Hustler rather than pro.
Christopher Walken is also excellent (in the three scenes that he features), and is a good balance to Palminteri's character further on in the film.
Gregory 'Mars' Martin's Poolhall Junkies, is one of the best movies of 2002.
Christopher Walken co-stars with Martin in this very well done directed "pool" movie about what to do with a talent, and Hustling!!! |
tt0048713 | That's My Mommy | A mother duck is sleeping on her nest of eggs, but one of the egg suddenly rolls from the nest and begins to hatch. The duckling, Quacker, slips under a sleeping Tom outside and hatches underneath him, causing Quacker to assume Tom as his mother. While the duckling snuggles next to his "mommy", Tom places two sticks across a fire and ties Quacker to another stick, intending to spit-roast him. Jerry walks in, and horrified by the sight, rescues Quacker by placing Tom's tail on the rotisserie.
Jerry unties Quacker, but Quacker mistakes him for a kidnapper and cries for Tom's help. After Quacker runs back to Tom for comfort, Tom decides to inherit his mistaken role to keep a hold of the duckling and try to eat him. Quacker is watching Tom make pastry in the kitchen, which Tom uses as an oven bed for the duckling. After Tom closes the oven, Jerry smacks him with a broomstick and knocks him unconscious with the oven door. Jerry grabs Quacker, but the duckling once again fights him off and runs back to Tom, reviving him with water. The now conscious Tom angrily grabs Quacker, but Quacker kisses him and calls him a "nice mommy". Tom then makes "Stuffed Roast Duckling", giving Quacker a giant bowl of pudding to eat to make him stuffed.
Tom then places Quacker back in the oven next to vegetables, but Jerry comes to the rescue and uses a can opener to cut the door open. Quacker promptly starts throwing the vegetables at Jerry. Jerry carries the angry duckling into his mousehole to explain that Tom is not his mother, but Quacker stubbornly refuses to believe him, slamming the book shut onto Jerry before running away. When Tom notices Jerry chasing after Quacker, he traps the mouse in a jar, ties it shut with string and then throws it down a well. Still determined to eat Quacker, Tom then makes "Stewed Duck". Quacker then grabs the spoon off him, wanting to give him a rest, but then sees that a duckling is part of the recipe and finally realizes that Tom wants to eat him.
Deeply saddened, Quacker voluntarily prepares to jump into the pot to cook himself and make his "mommy" happy, telling Tom that he loves him. However, Tom has a change of heart and saves Quacker by grabbing him mid-air. Feeling guilty after the duckling's love towards him, Tom hugs Quacker and literally cries rivers of tears. Jerry manages to escape from the jar and return to the house, but then is stunned when he looks outside, seeing Tom and Quacker swimming across the nearby duck pond, with Tom having adopted the duckling as his own child. As a cartoon ends, the pleased duckling exclaims to Jerry: "That's my mommy!". | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Perhaps a little too short, but very funny and sweet.
I love Tom and Jerry, and I enjoyed That's My Mommy.
And yes, I like Little Quacker, he is very engaging and cute, not annoying like some people make him out to be.
The cartoon is perhaps too short at only 6 minutes, but it moves very quickly and is very satisfying.
The animation is stunning, and the music is a deft touch too.
The sight gags are consistently funny, and are delivered thick and fast, but I was most impressed by the ending.
And not in a bad way too, it was so unexpected and such a sweetly sentimental way to finish a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
Tom is crafty, Jerry is a lot of fun and Little Quacker is really cute I think.
Overall, a delightful cartoon, with just the right touch of the funny and the sweet.
9/10 Bethany Cox. One of my favorite Tom & Jerry shorts with Little Quacker.
I was shocked and surprised by the negativity towards Jerry's friend the duck Little Quackers, voiced by a fellow named Red Coffey NOT Clarence Nash as people say.
I thought he's a very cute character in the Tom & Jerry cartoons, despite a few faults (admittedly).
This short is one of my favorite shorts with Little Quacker; also one of my favorite Tom & Jerry shorts in Cinescope too.In this short Little Quacker is a duckling that thinks that Tom it's he's mother after being hatched at Tom's feet, because Tom was the first thing he see after he hatched of course.
But Tom was trying to make into a duck dinner, and Jerry was trying save the naive little duck.
I love it when Tom actually saves Quacker from willingly becoming a duck dinner.
With tears streaming down his face, Tom adopts the duckling as his own child - so cute!!.
Tom the mom..
That's My Mommy features that insufferably cute duckling Quackers, who, having been accidentally hatched by Tom, believes the cat to be his mommy.
Of course, Tom isn't going to waste a golden opportunity to have duck for dinner and gets out his cookery book, but every recipe is ruined by Jerry mouse, who repeatedly intervenes.As far as I am concerned, Quackers is only slightly less irritating than Nibbles the mouse, and his presence is guaranteed to get my back up.
Fortunately, there is still some sadistic fun to be had in watching Tom trick the duckling into a pastry dish or feed him full of stuffing before popping him into a tray of vegetables, even if Jerry inevitably spoils things.
The ending, however, is horribly twee, with Tom realising the error of his ways and adopting Quackers.
Gack!.
Okay, but not great....
This is another Tom & Jerry cartoon that features the little yellow duckling.
He hatches from an egg after ending up underneath the sleeping Tom, and thinks that Tom is his mother.
Tom tries to eat the duckling, while Jerry tries to explain who its real mother is.
This was the first cartoon William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced as well as directed after their previous producer, Fred Quimby, retired from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Although the two's skill is still evident, somehow the 'feel' is a bit lacking in comparison to previous episodes.
The items painted onto cels look a bit 'furred' around the edges, and are not as cleanly painted as before.
The backgrounds are also not too great, and the story just does not have quite the same level of humour that had been attained previously..
Dark Humor, With A Sentimental Ending.
"Little Quackers," voiced by Clarence Nash, kills me.
Yeah, I really laugh at the little yellow duck and love the material the writers use when he's in these Tom and Jerry cartoons.
A lot of the humor, as in this one, is a dark humor and a little more subtle than the usual Tom-Jerry chase scenes.
Sometimes I get tired of all the chases so the little duck provides a different kind of humor, although we usually see a similar storyline of Jerry trying to save Quackers from being eaten by Tom.When I say dark humor, I mean early scenes like the one here in which the baby duck hatches by mistake under Tom, thinks the cat is its mother and in seconds, is tied to a spit and being roasted by Tom.Throughout this cartoon, Quackers thinks "mommy" is being nice to him and the whole Tom is preparing him for dinner in various ways!
In a way, it's a little sadistic but it's funny and you know Quackers will survive somehow.In fact, the ending is a shocker and just the opposite of the black humor - a real sentimental finish.Highly recommended: lots of laughs and a sweet finish..
Heartwarming Cartoon..
Just leaving a quick comment before reviewing the cartoon, It really bothers me when people give credits for Fred Quimby being the greatest man involved in these cartoons, when it was clear that it wasn't, all he did was steal credits from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, in the Oscar ceremonies, he got the statues for himself and didn't even call them once for the ceremonies.
This was the first cartoon that Hanna-Barbera did without Fred Quimby in charge, and you can see it, the cartoons got more experimental.
Such as the unpopular "Blue Cat Blues", Tom and Jerry teaming up a lot in these cartoons, and other things.Moving to the Review, anyway, this cartoon got some really good sight gags, does a excellent use of the CinemaScope technology (A Thing that I wish that it was still on theaters today), the Music never disappoints, and the animation is really good, as always.The Story is that Little Quacker's Egg hatched under Tom, making him believe that Tom is his mother, and give him all the love, Tom doesn't correspond well, seeing him as meal instead, Jerry sees this, hilarity ensues.
This cartoon got a really heartwarming ending and brought a tear to my eye in the end.
It's really nice seeing Tom have a change of heart.I Recommend it to everyone that calls himself or herself as a Tom and Jerry fan..
One of my all-time favourite Tom and Jerry cartoons and my favourite episode to feature Quackers..
My mum and I once rescued an orphaned duckling.
I named it Ducken.
It would sit in front of the fire.
We gave it to one of those bird sanctuary places.
Anyway-aww!
This short is just too cute!
I love it very much.
Who ever couldn't?
It's very brief, but so much fun it don't matter.
For me all the laughter in this one comes from Quackers the duckling-or rather his hilarious and adorable voice, as provided by Red Coffey.
There are several different opinions as to who does the voice, but that's what it says.
I really love the humour of Quackers's homely attitude:"now you sit down, Momma, an gimme that spoon!" Three bits that make me laugh featuring him are when he indignantly refuses to believe who his mommy is and slams the book on Jerry, when Tom puts the little onions on his feet, and when he says goodnight to Tom just before he closes the oven door, and Tom pauses while he says it!
Sometimes on things of this nature it's the little things that can make you laugh.
All my favourites of this show have this particular look to them.
Much more humorous than dramatic, although you would surely have to have a heart of stone not to feel a little pang at what the duck says just as he's about to dive into the pot.
It's all very lighthearted.
I suppose from an adult perspective certain things in this little yarn could be seen as being vaguely "dark".
But no child would ever see it that way.
The final line, which is also the title, always got a big laugh.
The animation is colourful and as always lively and fun.
It is only a mere six minutes long so there's not too much to talk about-but who cares about that, it's a classic.
It's still as timeless and heartwarming as the day it was released.
Fifty years have done little if anything to diminish the simple joy of That's My Mommy.
Bye-bye..
Who would had guess that Tom had an change of heart?.
More of an dramatic picture if anything, this first of the post Quimby production era begins as the the baby duck's egg rolls to Tom and the cat hatches the egg.
The baby duckling (named Quackers) adopts Tom as his mother.
Even though Jerry tries to warn the duck, by showing him an picture book of an mother duck and duckling on one side, and the mother cat and kitten on the next page.
Meanwhile, Tom tries to cook the duckling various times.
Yet every time, Jerry saves the duckling from being cooked.
Eventually, the duckling realized the truth and decides to cook himself and yet, still tells Tom that he still loves him.
In an surprise move, Tom cries NO!
and saves the duckling just in time and tears are seen coming from Tom's face.
Meanwhile, Jerry, after freeing himself from the pan that Tom dumped in the well, couldn't believe his eyes.
As both Tom and Quackers are seen at an nearby lake quacking at each other.
The duckling gets the last word by telling the audience that Tom is his mommy.
I though the picture was good for it's dramatic scenes but for comedy, not so much.
I still recommend it only for it's dramatic parts and the ending.I give it an 7 out of 10. |
tt0060416 | Un fiume di dollari | Tyler is obsessed with the horror film The Hills Run Red, considered the scariest movie ever made, with the deranged serial killer Babyface in the lead role. However, the film's director, Wilson Wyler Concannon, disappeared years ago and there is no known copy of the movie. Tyler's obsession with the film leads him to neglect his girlfriend Serena. When Tyler discovers that Concannon's daughter Alexa works in a night club as a stripper, he decides to meet her and ask about the lost film. He visits Alexa and asks her about the project. As she gives him a nude lap dance, the audience sees Serena cheating on Tyler with their best friend Lalo. Alexa informs Tyler that the movie might be in her father's home in the woods.
Tyler drives out to Concannon's home, accompanied by Serena, Lalo, and Alexa. On the way, they are bound and attacked by rednecks, who threaten to rape Alexa and Serena. Babyface appears and kills the attackers before chasing the teens into the woods, and then disappears into the woods. Tyler breaks into the house and finds a red room that contains many film reels hanging from the ceiling. When Tyler hears pain-filled screams, he finds Alexa tied to a bed and releases her. The two leave the house and find Serena, but Babyface breaks through the door, brutally throws Tyler into a wall and injures Serena. Alexa is slammed against the wall by Babyface and says "fetch," telling him to run after Serena. Tyler drops unconscious as Alexa approaches him, smiling. Serena hides under the car parked in front of the house. Babyface enters a barn as Serena quietly moves to an adjacent building. Serena is shocked to find bloodied bodies in the room, which turns out to be a smoke house. When Babyface goes inside the smoke house, he doesn't find her and leaves. Serena emerges from a drum that was used to store blood and changes clothes. However, when she leaves the smoke house, Babyface jumps down at her from the roof.
Tyler wakes and finds himself tied to a wheelchair. On the shelves behind him are many film reels, all titled The Hills Run Red. Tyler is shocked when Concannon, the missing director of the film, appears. Concannon tells him the secret behind the scares in his film, and plays a video of twenty years before, when the film was in shooting. Concannon is dissatisfied with the actor portraying Babyface, and angrily explains to him how to properly make a scene feel scary. He takes Babyface's costume and axe, and violently axes the actor to death. It is then that the reason why screenings were canceled and all actors vanished is revealed: the film was considered too violent, and all the death scenes in it were real. He also tells Tyler Alexa was only thirteen years old when she "had him", indicating Babyface is a child born of incest between father and daughter.
Babyface is called away by Wilson and returns to the barn, leaving Serena alone. She breaks free from her binds and successfully escapes the room. Alexa stabs Lalo in the chest, killing him. Concannon tells his daughter he's the only director of the family and shoots her. Babyface, angered by Alexa's apparent death, turns on Concannon and fights him. Concannon screams out that he is Babyface's father. Tyler takes a camera and encourages Babyface to kill Concannon – which he does. Babyface then turns on Tyler but before he can kill him, Serena stabs Babyface through the back with a long iron staff, apparently killing him. However, Serena is hit by a shovel, and Alexa, still alive, hits Tyler as well, knocking him unconscious. Alexa then ties Tyler up and forces him to watch her cut of The Hills Run Red, driving him insane.
In a post-credits scene, Serena, still Alexa's prisoner, is several months pregnant. Alexa sings a lullaby to Serina's unborn baby, and the end credits continue to roll as Serena screams. | western, revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | Pleasant Spaghetti Western with usual nasty Henry Silva who steals the show as a merciless gunfighter.
A soldier named Brewster (Thomas Hunter) is taken prisoner in Fort Wilson .
The conflict is a simple one between avenger Brewster , now named Houston, and oppressors, nasties bandits commanded by cruel foreman (Henry Silva) and his chief Milton (Gazzolo), owner of the ranch Mayflower where lives his sister Mary Ann(Nicoletta Machiavelli).
Then Brewster is submitted a tempestuous trap by a saloon-girl and is caught and he faces the vicious bandits.It's an exciting western with breathtaking showdown between the protagonist Thomas Hunter against the heartless Henry Silva and his hoodlums.
Thomas Hunter is fine, he cries, ravages the screen, shoots, hit and run and kills but also receives violent knocks, punches, kicks and wounds .
In the film premiere attained bit success , nowadays is best valued and I think it turns out to be a good Spaghetti Western.
Interior filmed at Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica, Studios Rome and outdoor sequences filmed at Spanish outdoors located on Colmenar Viejo, and La Pedriza, Manzanares , Madrid.Carlo Lizzani's direction -under a pseudonym named Beaver- is well crafted, here he's less thought-provoking and broody and more inclined toward violence and too much action, because he's a expert on serious cinema.
In The Hills Run Red, two Confederate thieves fleeing on a stagecoach draw cards to see which one will stay on the coach to lead their pursuers away and which one will jump off and hide with their fortune in stolen loot.Five years later the unlucky loser of that card draw (Thomas Hunter) is released from prison to find his destitute wife deceased and his son sent away by his former partner, breaking the promise the promise to take care of them that the now wealthy rancher made to his friend.Overall, this is worth viewing despite being saddled with a wooden lead performance by Hunter (cast for his passing resemblance to Clint Eastwood?) and a less than spectacular script.It's made enjoyable by some gorgeous photography (the canyon bushwhack/stampede scene a standout), an excellent score by an uncredited Ennio Morricone, and good support by Dan Duryea and black-leather clad villain Henry Silva.I wonder if this was an inspiration for John Woo's A Better Tomorrow..
Directed by one time film critic Carlo Lizzani, "The Hills Run Red" is a welcome addition to anyone's spaghetti western collection.The film begins with ex-confederates Jerry Brewster (Thomas Hunter) and Ken Seagall (Nando Gazzalo) fleeing by stagecoach from soldiers following a successful heist.
Seagall had shunned them, keeping the money himself and starting a new life under the name Ken Milton.Brewster screams out his intention for revenge, and is soon faced by gun-hands sent by Seagall.
Luckily for him, an ageing gunman Winny Getz (Dan Duryea) is on hand to help out - a mysterious character that is never fully explained (although some assumptions can be made that I won't spoil here!) but acts as Brewster's "guardian angel" throughout the film.Learning that his wife has died and his son is missing, Brewster decides to settle his score with Seagall.
To confront Seagall and get his revenge, Brewster is forced to infiltrate the gang."The Hills Run Red" certainly has some interesting characters.
Duryea's portrayal of the mysterious Getz also merits much applause.The love interest is provided by Nicoletta Machiavelli as Seagall's sister Mary-Ann. Constantly having to dismiss advances from Mendez, her attraction to Brewster is immediate.Music is courtesy of one Leo Nichols (better known as Ennio Morricone to you and I).
An interesting take on the sub-sub-genre of Spaghetti Western with a Civil War revenge theme, attempting to reincorporate traditional Hollywood elements, it doesn't lose sight of its Italian inspired roots.The sets are a little slap dash, but the score and direction make up for it.
It deserves at least a 7-8 on the all time Spaghetti Western scale.The sets are a little slap dash, but the score and direction make up for it.
I started watching this and thought oh, lord, another howler with every hokey cliché inherent to bad spaghetti westerns.
All in all it's the kind of tale that Hollywood had so tired of by the mid sixties they'd have sent it up as a comedy romp with an all star cast cracking one liners- but with admirable humility the spaghetti western production crew delivered this with straight faced sincerity, as if they still believed in what they were doing.
Jerry Brewster (Thomas Hunter) and Ken Seagull (Nando Gazzolo) are two ex-Confederates who've successfully stolen some of the governments' money.
Realizing that only one of them can make good his escape, they draw cards, and Ken, having drawn the higher card, is allowed to bail out with the money.
Unfortunately, he learns after being released that his wife died poor because Ken hogged all the money for himself.
It's a given that Jerry is going to be ripe for revenge..."The Hills Run Red", as directed by former critic Carlo Lizzani, is no great shakes, but offers a decent amount of entertainment.
But the most entertaining acting to watch is courtesy of a hilariously hammy Henry Silva, playing Seagulls' minion Garcia Mendez.
There's nothing subtle about this guy; even his wardrobe is all black."The Hills Run Red" kills time easily enough for those who are devotees of the Spaghetti Western genre.Six out of 10..
Compared to the other two I've seen (both from Sergio Leone), this seemed more what I would expect from a normal western thus making it an easier watch for me.The story was simple and easy to follow but had the acting style (I believe anyway) of what you would expect of a Spaghetti Western.
But this movie is by far the worst I have ever seen in the western-genre.
Our hero seeks for revenge, but he stands alone...The movie is very very bad: the first half might work as a parody, but this is denied by a boring and predictable second half.
The acting is really bad, especially by the leads: Hunter is awful as the hero(look out for the scene in which he screams for revenge)and Gazzolo doesn't get much to do either.
The only actor I knew in this "film" was Henry Silva and his role(leader of Gazzolo's men) is, to say the least, dynamic, but pointless at the same time.
The dialog was taken right off the pages of See Spot Run. At the end of the movie Duryea pins a marshal's star on the bandit turned hero that looks like it came off of a 1940s Christmas tree at St. Vincent de Paul.
This movie is a very good revenge tale told in great spaghetti western fashion.
There's plenty of action, violence, over-the-top emotion, and some great music from Ennio Morricone.The best performance in the movie comes from Henry Silva as uber-creep Mendez.
As an added bonus Thomas Hunter has a few funny lines thanks to some strange bad dubbing, and his facial expressions go along with it very well, adding to the unintentional humor.
Nicoletta Machiavelli is hauntingly beautiful as Mary Ann.The ending is a great action packed "against all odds" showdown with lots of suspense, bullets, and dynamite.Overall, this is a very engaging and entertaining film which I wholeheartedly recommend to all hardcore fans of Italian westerns..
First of all,I'd have to say:That this is one of the most under rated Spaghetti Westerns of all times.It is a revenge story with incredible performances from Actors,Screenplay,and Stunt performances.Even the dubbing is superb.Thomas Hunter is great,and of course Henry Silva.It has all the good ingredients a good Western should have,yet it does not have the typical violence,and what we got from Leone and Corbucci,in general.Lizzani shows us a typical revenge story,with wonderful dialog and great music from Morricone.It's a real paradox that the Italians made better Westerns than the Americans did,after The Wild Bunch etc.(just an example).Just take a look at the Horror Master Mario Bava and what he did for the Horror genre!
Brewster (Thomas Hunter) gets locked up a few years in jail while his buddy Seagall (Nando Gazzolo) runs with the money they stole together.
His right hand man Mendez (Henry Silva) is the real villain, a man in black who enjoys to be bad, every minute of it.
But a certain Mr Getz (Dan Duryea) helps Brewster without telling him the real reason why...The surprise of this movie is Thomas Hunter who starred for the first time in a western and creates an interesting character here, not the superior Man With No Name, but an angry young man who isn't always in total control, so he needs Getz to help him out of trouble.
"The Hills Run Red" is above average for an Italian western due to good production values (comparatively at least), clever director Lizzani ("Requiescant"), composer Ennio Morricone and a great cast which does not only include the above mentioned Hunter, cult star Silva and Hollywood veteran Duryea, but also the lovely Nicoletta Machiavelli ("Navajo Joe") for which two different endings were shot: one in which she dies, one in which she survives for a happy ending.
Fun little b-grade Spaghetti, revenge themed western..
Basic plot involves Brewster taking the fall for his robbing partner Seagull and after being released from prison (which includes having to stand upright in a small barb wire cage) finds that his partner (now known as Milton) has taken the loot and prospered as an evil land baron.
Fair supporting roles for Henry Silva as the Mexican henchman, with the wondrously cliched name Garcia Mendez, and Dan Duryea as the angel of mercy, Getts.
The finale, like the film, is ridiculous, but fun and effective, involving Brewster and Gett's alone against a posse of bad guys, a ghost town, and some conveniently available dynamite..
a forthright, spirited and easy-to-watch Spaghetti Western.
Here is a Spaghetti Western that is from early enough in the genre's brief history that is seems colorful, fresh, enthusiastic and straightforward -- much more like a "traditional" Western that its later, more cynical counterparts.The little-seen American actor Thomas Hunter stars in a lush Dino DeLaurentiis production that is a brisk and intensely violent if simple revenge saga.
With help from American Western veteran Dan Duryea as a helpful Samaritan whose intentions seem to good to be true, Hunter sets to battle Gazzolo and his henchmen, led by the outrageously evil Mendez (Henry Silva).I really liked Thomas Hunter's squinty-eyed ferocity in this flick -- he is like a flipside of Clint Eastwood's brusque-demeanored persona.
One great moment of many for Silva in the flick, he is terrific.Also noteworthy in the cast are Duryea, as Hunter's ardent and everpresent ally, playing it solid and simple; Gazzolo in his small part as the cowardly, weirdly effeminate turncoat; and lovely redhead Gianna Serra as a two-timing saloon singer, whose sassy bravado and piled-high hair bring to mind a wild west version of B-52's singer Kate Pierson.The scenery and photography here are lavish for the genre -- filled with beautiful vistas and big-scale, epic sequences suggesting the pic was not done on the cheap.
The acting business is well-handled, too, with a highlight being the intense scene where Hunter finally reveals himself to his rival, verrry slowly lifting his head til his eyes are visible from under his hat.The big, brassy theme by Ennio Morricone also aids in the film's cause, as it is a powerful, unsubtle blast of a tune that is reminiscent of the famous MAGNIFICENT SEVEN sound.
A Sprawling Sensational Spaghetti Western Shoot'em Up That's Worth Setting Your Sights On .
Carlo Lizzani's "The Hills Run Red" is a Spaghetti western courtesy of well-known, international producer Dino de Laurentiis of "Conan" and "King Kong" fame who provided some better-than-average production values for this six-shooting saga.
Dino went on to do several other Spaghettis, some with American talent like Burt Reynolds in Sergio Corbucci's "Navajo Joe," James Garner in the brilliant "Man Named Sledge" and Chuck Connors in Burt Kennedy's "The Deserter." "The Hills Run Red" opens not long after the American Civil War has ended.
Ken Seagull (Nando Gazzolo of "Django Shoots First") and Jerry Brewster (Thomas Hunter of "Battle of the Commandos") decide to split up and see if their luck improves.
Ken manages to escape while the Union soldiers ride after Jerry.
When Getz takes the circle of skin to Ken, he believes that Jerry is dead and hires on Getz despite the admonitions of his second-in-command Garcia Mendez (Henry Silva of "Johnny Cool") decked on in black leather and chewing the scenery as an insane gunslinger.When we see Ken next, he is a wealthy horse breeder with a large herd of horses.
Meanwhile, Jerry adopts different name, Houston, and rides into Austin where he wins a bundle of money at dice and learns that Ken uses the name Milton and owns two-thirds of the land around Austin.
Moreover, Ken wants to take over Austin; for example, his trigger-happy gunmen have killed the only sheriff and everybody is too afraid to stand up to him until Jerry arrives in town.
The saloon owner Horner (Geoffrey Copleston of "Superargo Versus Diabolicus") explains that they need a man like Jerry to help them defend themselves from Milton.
About that time, Garcia intervenes and forces Jerry to fight more of Ken's gunmen.
The ensuing shoot'em up in a pass and the flaming balls of brush that Jerry's men rain down on Ken's gunmen is a sight to see.
The inevitable gun battle between Ken and Jerry follows.Lizzani never lets the grass grow under anybody's boots in this fast-moving 90 minute horse opera.
This is a big, sprawling revenge western with scores of tough-looking galoots getting gunned down left, right, center, and sideways.
Spaghetti westerns fans will find this one is above-average.
The scenarists could have done a better job with Dan Duryea's mysterious gunman and his revelation after the finale."The Hills Run Red" has one goof and that knocks off at least a star from my rating.
There Are No Heroes In The Hills!, Just Bad Men, Mad Men And Dead Men. Two ex-confederate soldiers, Jerry Brewster and Ken Seagull(pronounced Segal), head home at the end of the Civil war with a stash of stolen government money.
However they are caught by union troops and Ken is fortunate enough to escape, although Jerry serves five gruelling years in prison.
When he is released Jerry heads home to Texas only to find Ken in a corrupt position of power as a rancher who dominates most of the territory.
Demoralised and angered by his "friend's" betrayal, it isn't long before Jerry's death is ordered by Ken. Consumed by hatred, Jerry sets out to destroy Ken and his empire.Carlo Lizzani's oft filmed tale of greed and revenge in the old west is a highly enjoyable affair.
The Hills Run Red has all the traits of a 50s B western, still it's just a little too violent to be made by Hollywood but definitely not as grotesque as other spaghetti westerns.
Little known American actor Thomas Hunter makes for an inspiring hero in Jerry Brewster, his athleticism means the role is tailor-made for him and his obsessive rage is exploited to great effect.
Rising Hollywood star Henry Silva was quite hammy as bandit leader Mendez to the point of being hilarious.
Dan Duryea was a favourite in Universal's B westerns throughout the 1950s(Waco Johnny Dean in Anthony Mann's Winchester 73 anybody?)and here he makes his only spaghetti western appearance as Colonel Winny Getz, a gunman who aids Jerry in his quest for retribution.
The gorgeous Nicoletta Machiavelli was also excellent as Ken Seagull's sister Mary-Ann. The action scenes were nothing short of enthralling.
The fistfights were also really good and I was surprised to learn that the film was scored by Ennio Morricone, as always the maestro does it again with a roaring soundtrack that can only be defined as superb.
The song "Home To My Love" was rather beautiful, although again it's like something you would hear in a mid 60s Hollywood western.
This movie had a good run.
Originally titled A River of Dollars and often retitled as Blood In The Hills & Dollar Power, the film remind me of the psychological Hollywood westerns of the 1950s in how bland, it is.
The revenge plot isn't anything new, to the Western genre, as if it was often used in previous films like Marlon Brando's 1961's film, One-Eyed Jacks.
Directed by Carlo Lizzani, a former film critic and veteran director of a multitude of spy thrillers and war dramas, the movie tells the story of two ex-rebel soldiers, Jerry Brewster (Thomas Hunter) & Ken Seagull (Nando Gazzolo) fleeing toward the Mexican border in a wagon, having made off with a huge sum of money stolen from the United States government, during the end of the Civil War. Just before reaching the safety of foreign soil, they are intercepted by a U.S. army patrol and Jerry is capture and sent to a military prison.
Five years later, Brewster is released and returns home to reunite with his wife and son.
Without spoiling the movie too much, you can clearly see, by the appearance of the film's main actor, Thomas Hunter, that he was hired, because how much, he looks like Clint Eastwood.
Thomas Hunter isn't a bad actor, but he does overacted a bit.
I can't say, the same with Henry Silva's performance, as the Seagull's psychopathic henchmen, Garcia Mendez.
Dan Duryea looks way too old and tired, but turns in a touching performance as the stranger Getz, whose identity and motivation are only revealed in the film's final scene.
Director Carlo Lizzani does good work here, mixing solid camera-work throughout most of the film with some neat touches including a Corbucci-esque style close-up fistfight.
The feel-good ending is a little too American Western in style, but this is only a minor criticism.
Overall: The Hills Run Red is a welcome addition to anyone's spaghetti western collection. |
tt0108560 | Who's the Man? | Doctor Dré and Ed Lover are two bumbling barbers at a Harlem barbershop. Knowing full well that cutting hair is not their calling, their boss, friend, and mentor Nick (Jim Moody) tells the two maybe they should try out for the police academy. They refuse at first ,but Nick threatens them with unemployment. Crazily enough, it works out for the two, and they are accepted on the New York City police force. Things seem to be going well for them, when tragedy suddenly strikes, and they lose Nick. Now enforcers of the law, the tag team decides to investigate the incident, which they believe to be a murder.
Ed and Dre find out through the streets that a crooked land developer named Demetrius (Richard Bright) might have had something to do with their friend's death, and proceed to attempt to dig up as much dirt on him as possible. This proves to be difficult, however, when they've got a nutty Sergeant (Denis Leary), a moody detective (Rozwill Young), and a bunch of unwilling street hoods (Guru, Ice-T) to go through to get the information they need. Though there aren't any certain clues to be found, strange happenings are certainly going on, as the cops found out that Demetrius' company seems to be looking for oil rather than looking for property.
With their superiors not believing Ed And Dre's story and getting themselves in trouble,they end up being suspended. However, they get a lead to a warehouse where they find a lot of guns. They have enough evidence to arrest Demetrius at the fashion show, but Demetrius didn't kill Nick. It was revealed that Nick's friend, Lionel, was working for Demetrius and murdered him.
Ed and Dre are offered their jobs back, but decided to quit stating it's too violent for them. When they return to their old barbershop they discovered oil coming from the floor. Soon after, they're back in business re-opening the place giving customers bad haircuts. | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0169247 | So Weird | === Season 1 ===
The season began with Fiona Phillips on tour with her famous rocker mother Molly, brother Jack, a skeptic, bus driver Ned, his wife Irene, and their son Clu. Stringing together all of Fi's paranormal encounters was her search to communicate with her father, who died when she was three years old. Fi first "encountered" her father in the second episode titled "Web Sight" where an unknown force sent her internet articles warning her of the future. From alien invasions, time warps, and ghosts, Fi faced 13 episodes worth of paranormal activity. Also encountered: one powerful tulpa, a Bigfoot, angels, and more significantly, the Will o' the Wisp. The season finale featured Jack becoming possessed by a hyperactive Scottish will o' the wisp, also known as a Spunkie. The Spunkie told Fi she could save her brother from his control by speaking his one true name, which was only seven letters. Fi found the spirit's one true name, Bricriu,therefore saving her brother. Bricriu had offered to protect Fi from evil spirits who had battled her father and had also offered to give her contact with her late father in return for being allowed to possess her brother. She thought he was lying therefore rejected his offer. He reappears in later episodes to keep her away from other spirits and people who claims are a threat to her, depending on how one reads it, this may be seen as evidence he was telling the truth, but this is questionable at best, especially since in one episode he tried to prevent her from talking to a person who knew her father and wanted to give her information.
=== Season 2 ===
The second season was even darker than the first, playing out over twenty-six episodes. The premiere picked up with Molly taking time off the tour to record an album. Fi and friend Candy meet a medium who is proven to be a fraud. However, the one who uncovers the fake is actually a medium himself who aids Fi in contacting her father through music on his old guitar.
The character of Clu was reduced during the season, as he went off to college, and his brother Carey was introduced to fill in the gap. Many legendary creatures surfaced within the season, including vampires, werewolves, banshees, trolls, sirens, and merfolk. In a pivotal episode, Fi learned that her father investigated the same kinds of supernatural events that Fi did. In fact, this was exactly what led to his death. Upon learning this, Fi is angered by her mother's deceit in covering up the truth about her father. Molly was eventually possessed by Bricriu, the same Will o' the Wisp as Jack was in season one. Fi discovered that Will o' the Wisps or other dark powers, though not necessarily Bricriu himself, may have killed her father, resulting in the accident that police had assumed took his life. In this episode Bricriu tried to kill a former firefighter who had been present at Rick's car crash and was aware that Fi's dad had been dead, with no apparent cause, before the car crashed. Following this episode, Fi had further contact with her father, as the answer to a troll's question - Faith - was revealed on her computer and a plethora of cell phones. Fi briefly time traveled to her third year, when her father was still alive, in episode 13, Fountain.
The season ended with Fi discovering her father's twin sister received encoded messages from him in her sleep. The messages led Fi to a rooftop where she was attacked by a three-headed demon and saved by the ghost of her father. He left her with a message that the spirit world was angry with her and would try to stop her investigation about the paranormal. At last, Fi got the proper farewell to her father that she had been searching for. Many DeLizia fans consider this a proper, if not entirely fulfilling, finale.
=== Season 3 ===
After skewing somewhat dark and intricate in its second season, the show was forced into a lighter tone for its final batch of episodes. Cara DeLizia left after the first episode, which introduced family friend Annie Thelen. Fi had yet another encounter with Bricriu. In this episode her family turn into plants and animals and Fi has to go to Bricriu for help in saving them. He does and then he convinces her to give up investigating the occult to save her family, whom the spirit world threatened because of its anger at Fi's intrusions. Fi, who still didn't trust Bricriu even though he claimed he was trying to help, trapped him in a floppy disk. The attraction to the occult, manifested in the ring her father gave her, was passed on to Annie as Fi went to live with her aunt. Molly moved the family to a new, brightly colored house.
Annie's story arc was the mystery behind a spirit guide that followed her in the form of a panther. Her character was also musically talented, and episodes featured more of her singing than that of the older Mackenzie Phillips. The season's stories were a far cry from previous episodes, playing such plots as being sucked into a painting (which directly followed an episode of people being sucked into photographs), a stone from the Tower of Babel that caused xenoglossy and a detention class that never ended. Cara DeLizia never reappeared in the season, however Fi was still prevalent in many episodes via e-mail. She made a brief appearance in the episode "Earth 101" by a lookalike, and in the final episode, although in the final it was only a rerun clip from the first episode of the season. The mystery of the panther was solved: when Annie was three and living in the Amazon she saved a young tribesman at risk to her own life. His tribe, in turn, saved her and his father took on the form of the panther to always protect her as thanks for her selfless act. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | So Weird is like a PG-version of "The X-Files".
It explores paranormal phenomena but in a way that is still suitable for younger kids.The first and second seasons were good and entertaining.
Instead of Cara DeLizia as Fi, we see Alexz Johnson as Annie.
The explanation is that Fi moved away to live life as a normal girl, while Annie, as an aspiring singer, has decided to join Molly on the tour.
Coincidentally, Annie just happens to be interested in paranormal phenomena...
The only difference is that Annie can sing.So while Alexz Johnson is a talented singer and actress, the third season (unlike the first and second seasons) is just plain silly with ridiculous story lines and one-dimensional characters.
Annie's fascination with an invisible panther that she believes protects her does not have nearly the depth of Fi's unfulfilled longing for her deceased father.
In addition, the sibling rivalry between Jack and Fi is absent.While references to Fi are made several times in the third season and we see Molly hug Fi (probably not Cara DeLizia) from a distance in the Thanksgiving episode, this show's third season just isn't as good as the first or second seasons.That is why I call So Weird "a tale of two shows.".
When So Weird first started on the Disney Channel, I was afraid that it would be like most everything else they air; silly storylines, bad special effects, no real sense of suspense or drama and aimed at little kids.
Scenes like the one in which Fiona comes face to face with a ghost, or where the ghost looks out at her from a photo on her computer screen were very well done and even managed to give me a slight case of the creeps.The show continued to turn out some excellent episodes, with the best being (in my opinion) Angel, Rebecca, Lost, Medium, Mutiny, Banshee, Strange Geometry and Twin.
There were a few silly episodes, Simplicity, Boo, Troll and Shelter, but even those were fairly well done.Then for the third season, they replaced Cara DeLizia as Fiona with Alexz Johnson as Annie Thelan, switched to a different co-production company and apparently hired a bunch of grade-schoolers to be the new writers.
None of the third season episodes have any suspense or drama at all and you can see every plot twist coming from a mile away.Where Fiona used to search out the supernatural, Annie just kind of blunders into it week after week.
In an incredibly weak attempt to keep the character of Fiona active on the show, Annie has to e-mail her for advice about every single problem she encounters.
Of course you never see her, they just use her name.The first episode of the third season had Fiona in it to explain why she was leaving and to hand the show off to Annie.
The first episode with Annie as the star, Talking Board, had me groaning at how incredibly bad it was.
Since then, the third season has produced maybe three decent episodes, Voodoo (which went way overboard with the special effects), Exit 13 and Still Life.
It's as if they suddenly told the writers "Make every story so simple that even a 5 year old can understand it." While watching the episode Grave Mistake, anyone over the age of 8 will figure out the twist in the first five minutes and spend the rest of the episode wondering how the characters in the show can be so dumb as to not get it.Disney had a good thing going in the first two seasons of So Weird, but they ruined it.
The first two seasons revolve around Fiona "Fi" Phillips a 13-year-old who lives on the road with her musician mom Molly, her brother Jack, and the roadie Bell family.The show is surprisingly dark for a kids show and each show is eerie and original with Fi finding new and mysterious things in every town she comes to.
The original cast had amazing chemistry together and you really could feel the family element.While Alexz Johnson as Annie did a okay job in her role it changed the whole feel of the show.
more like a kids show then a good supernatural show.
Unlike Fi, Annie tended to stumble into the situations she encountered as opposed to Fi who often went looking for the paranormal.
Also, the family thing no longer existed with Annie like it did with Fi...
The only really good thing about season 3 was there was more music.
Though for GREAT So Weird music see the last episode of the second season (Molly's concert) is the best show to watch.Speaking of music, this show has great music.
This show has the drama (like the death of Rick-Fi's father) and the individual sibling disputes (between Jack and Fi), the problems a star (Molly) goes through, and the mystery (obviously from the adventures that Fiona drags Jack and Clu into in each episode.) The show also has talented actors (not to mention EXPERIENCED) like Erik von Detten who has acted several times previous to "So Weird" and Patrick Levis who did an excellent job in the episode where he has to face his fears of losing his sis and mother after losing his father and when he was taken over by the spirit of Spunkie.
I really like "So Weird." The scripts are good and the actors have nice talent.
I mean this show shouldn't be on Disney, no offense, Ijust think it should be on like the Sci-Fi channel or something.
It's about a unique fifteen-year-old girl(newcomer Cara DeLizia) who lives on a tour bus with her sarcasticolder brother (Brink's Patrick Levis) and her musician widowed mother(One Day At A Time's Mackenzie Phillips) this girl is into aliens,vampires, ghost and the works of the paranormal, and she alwayssearches for the weird things that happen where she goes..
So Weird is one of Disney's best made shows ever!
I have been watching Disney try and duplicate what they did with So Weird but have never got close.
The show had a perfect blend of weird stuff, action, awesome plot, and music that all mixed to create a lot of times a very emotionally powerful punch.
Cara Delizia the actor who plays Fiona is brilliant.
The main character is Fiona and in the later seasons, Annie, Who are very into the paranormal and love solving the mysteries about the strange things that happen.
Molly is the typical loving mom/pop starwho writes cool songs with bizzare lyrics and haunting melodies.
the newgirl Annie is smart and recourceful like Fi, but she lacks a lot of thedrive that Fi has.
SO WEIRD was a show played in Disney Channel whose principal characters were Fi, a 14 years old teenage; Jack, Fi's sister; Molly, a widowed-star; and the Bells.
Fiona Phillips (Cara DeLizia) started her first season really good, it was a show.
The second season started better, this time it talked deeper about Rick, about Molly's childhood and warnings to Fi, trying to stop her.
Disney would consider this season to be kind of "dark", and when they got known the third one was going to be worse, they tried to cancel the show.
First, instead of Fi, came this girl, Annie Thelen (Alexz Johnson) replacing her in episode Lighting Rod (the first of the 3rd season).
So Weird's real 3rd season would have contained this:In the original ending of "Twin", Rick would have told Fi that she was on the right course, and that she should continue in investigating the paranormal, and that it was her destiny.
- There was to be a Bermuda Triangle episode where Fi gets pulled into an alternate reality where her father never died, she had a little brother, and the Phillips-Kane Band was still together.
But, what is weird is that when Annie signed for So Weird, she did for 1 season, no soundtracks but, what is really interesting, a movie.
An interview was made to Cara DeLizia last year by an important Maryland magazine, and in this, Cara showed herself pretty interested in coming back (if it was possible, though a movie might never been recorded).So well, I'd tell the fans to keep the faith, and to remember: Life is SO weird..
its scary powerful and good acting love the monsters and the wow acting again its one of the best series i have ever seen it has every thing you need for a series i would give so weird 10 out of 10 because it is so good in every way plot so there you have it!!!.
I actully loved the first two seasons of this show, but when they brought that Annie girl in I practically broke my t.v.
I would have liked the show to last longer with Fi, but with Annie I'm glad it's gone..
Each and every cast member plays their part perfectly - Fi with the mysterious, but fun outlook; Molly with being a part-time star, part-time mom; Jack being the suspicious older brother; Clu as the radical friend.
If you want to watch a show with all of the above, or your looking for a teenage show about the unexplained, then "So Weird" is for you..
I was a little too young to be into the show when it aired, but I think I remember a few episodes and now I'm extremely anxious to watch even just one episode.
I hope they will be making another season of it, because then I would be happy.In other words, I love the storyline and plot of this show.
If you would like to sign a petition to get it back, go here: www.PetitionOnline.com/sss4e/petition.html Please help So Weird if you really love it!
i have seen all three seasons of so weird and loved each and every one of them........
i believe that we are lucky to have seen the show and have it on now if disney/ abc will bring it back on the air that would be great...........i believe that we need to push them until they return the show back on the air......and not with new episodes but the old ones are the best and nothing would make me more happy then to see this done......lets band together to do this and lets get it back on the air..............
Rock on and carry on people lets work to get the show that brought disney fame in my opinion back on the air............
The story lines are great, i love the parnormal, its the best show, well one of them but its number one out of the three best shows.
I wish they could have kept Cara, but I liked Alexz(Annie) too.
Fiona was by far better than Annie, but I can accept the latter.
I thought they wrote the scripts well enough that the paranormal phenomona was realistic.The only thing I'm disappointed with is that Cara DeLizia left in the third season.
the show WAS great until "Annie" (alexz johnson) arrived.
cara delizia is an awesome actress,her character Fi wuz definitley one of the best things about the show.
we see the will o the wisp for the 3rd time and Annie (alexz johnson) shows up.
A fan of So Weird since the beginning, I found Cara DeLizia's chemistry with the rest of the cast awesome; I was moved to tears during the stories with her father.
And Disney's lame attempt to draw in the preteen crowd with Alexz's singing ( which I might add, sounds like a cavity waiting to happen) is yet another drawback.
This show is really good, it is very entertaining and interesting to watch.
Maybe one day Disney might get it in their heads to put all three season of this awesome show on DVD.
I am 33 years old and I love to watch this show with my kids (or without them, for that matter).
A mix of the X-files and Twilight zone only with real facts about paranormal backing it up.A truly great show.More Shows like this should be made..
One of the most cool shows I have ever watched, The 1&2 season are real good but the 3 season is the a hard one to watch, I hope Disney does a better job in Season 4, I have to say Fi (Carla) does a good job act and you don't see her play too much.
The Younger Actor of Fi and Annie are real great.
Even if the Third Season was flat but still good, I don't see Annie too much.
Disney's think the 1 and 2 season was better but all there were good to watch..
I think that this show is one of the better shows on Disney.
So Weird is about a girl (Fi) and her life on the go with her mother (Molly) who sings in a rock group.
I love all the seasons, and both Fi(Cara Delizia) and Annie(Alexz Johnson) are great actresses.
The songs they sing are wonderful like "In the Darkness","To Dream About You","Never Give Up", and "Cause Your Watching Over Me".
Trust me watch it and if you like dark scarier episodes watch an episode from season 2.
If you like lighter episodes watch an episode from season 3.
If you want a typical weird episode watch an episode from season 1!
It was fun to watch a girl around my age discover paranormal phenomena and I enjoyed the story line of her searching for her father.
The third season Disney took Fi out and replaced her With Annie [Alexz Johnson ] The show wasn't as serious , but the third season was meant to be fun not serious.
I really enjoy Alexz's singing and The story line of the panther that follows her is intresting although they never showed the panther as often as they did Fi's dad.
I have seen every aired episode so far and still wait for the last two episodes of the third season.The characters are realistic.
Fiona [Fi] Phillips is a fourteen year old girl who is intrested in paranormal things and she is serious, kinda, sporty, and is really nice.
Anyone who is fair enough to watch at least ten episodes should find it a fun Adventure/fantasy/sci-fi family show..
Anybody who watches it will fall absolutely in love with Fi (Fiona) Phillips and her family, and the rest of the crew.
So Weird was a good show, like all of the old Disney Channel shows.
But i stopped watching it when Annie replaced Fiona.
I watched one episode with Annie and she was horrible so i decided to stop watching it.
Fiona was more interesting than Annie.
Fiona had a reason why she was searching for the paranormal--she was searching for her father the whole time.
Sure, the panther made things a little interesting, but she didn't have the same love for paranormal stuff as Fi.
The first two seasons of the show were not that great but the third was cool because they brout Alexz Johnson on the show and she is very talented.
I think this show and The Jersey were the two shows i couldnt stand to watch and only watched them when there was nothing better on the T.V. First of all Fi just annoyed me, she was so whiney and to be honest I felt like she was always trying to get attention by using her deceased father as an excuse, Jack, the level headed child in the family was annoying too no offense but i just don't like Patrick Levis but I feel like Fi took the spotlight and Jack which had suffered the same loss got pushed back in the shadows, Now, the third season when Annie was introduced on the show i felt like Fi's mom had a better relationship with her because of the music thing but the whole mysterious panther that followed Annie around was just stupid, The show never had an ultimate point and didnt answer the questions like would the freaky stuff ever end and at points it was just cheesy.
Half of the stuff that happened to the cast would not have gone unnoticed like it did usually like the episode when the family was at a county fair and they got turned into circus freaks Come on some one other than Annie would have realized it.
Dont get me wrong I love Disney Shows and this could have been an excellent show but some things were taken too far and didnt answer some questions..
Unlike Britney in the MMC So Weird will get Annie nowhere in her singing career.
but it could be a great TV series to watch with families, if only the scripts were brushed up on.
This is a very good show for the whole family to watch.Although I could admit they could do better with the scripts.But otherwise it is a wonderful show,with a GREAT cast!
Being a aspiring Teen actress/singer and having met Alexz Johnson (Annie Thelen) before,I understand the value a good cast,and I believe that Alexz does a wonderful job of playing her part (A cute yet kick-butt type of girl with WONDERFUL voice also!)While,Fi (Cara Delizia,from the 1999-2000 seasons.)Did a good job she,lacked the 'fun element',she was a opinionated and somewhat over-serious girl.But,I realy miss Clu (Erik Von Detten from the 1999-2000 seasons.) Who played the part of a cute,funny and funky best friend type just perfectly!Yet,even after all the change the show has been through in the last year,it still remains a very good show!.
"Hey, lets make a show with a weak pop band that always discovers paranormal stuff.""Yeah, that's a good idea, but it's a kid's show, so lets make sure the supernatural stuff isn't scary or realistic.""And on a side note, we can't afford to lose a lot of money, so lets hire the cheapest writers we can find, and actors who'll work for peanuts.""Won't that cut down on quality?"
The first two seasons of the show centered around Fiona Phillips, a girl with the ability to attract the paranormal wherever she goes. |
tt0173443 | Watch the Shadows Dance | A tight-knit group of high school students studies karate with Steve Beck (Vince Martin), a former soldier in an unnamed war. They begin working at 5:00 a.m., which makes them sleepy in Sonia Spane's (Joanne Samuel) class. Spane is Beck's former lover, and she complains to him about the relentless schedule of his classes. Beck's students also engage in a mock war game at night, which is held in a factory. The losers get tagged with a fluorescent dye on their faces. When Spane sees the dye on a student's face, she interrogates them about the game, which they call "kuma".
In addition to playing kuma at night, the students all hang out at a local bar. One of their fellow students, Guy Duncan (Craig Pearce), is a drugdealer who lurks on the periphery of their classes with Beck and at the bar. Robby Mason (Tom Jennings) is Beck's prize pupil, and the two are training intensively for a televised kickboxing tournament. During the course of his training, Robby grows closer to his classmate Amy Raphael (Nicole Kidman).
Because Spane was previously involved with Beck, she knows his intensity could be overwhelming for their young students. Beck is the only surviving member of his platoon, and he believes that he has stayed alive through the traits of discipline and determination that he is passing on to his students.
One day, Amy overhears Beck purchasing drugs from Duncan. Just before the kickboxing tournament, Robby spies on Duncan and Beck. Duncan tries to blackmail Beck into paying a higher price for his drugs. Beck kills Duncan with one blow to the face. A short time later, when they face each other in the kickboxing ring, Robby confronts Beck about killing Duncan.
After the tournament, Beck tries to run Robby over with his car. The two later confront each other in the factory during a kuma. The other students realize the truth about Beck, and they team up to keep him from killing Robby. Beck and Robby end up dangling over a large height together. Seeing the police gathered below, Beck lets go of Robby and falls to his death. | murder | train | wikipedia | a much-underrated effort.
technically - (sound / camera / scenery / lights) this is not the greatest effort ever but the film has so much going for it!
In the not too distant future youngsters play ninja/paintball games in an abandoned power station by night, and during the day they attend their studies which include martial arts lessons with a former member of the military You can watch the film just on those terms and go no deeper; * or you can look at the theme of the "passing of the flame" from the martial arts teacher to his students; karate starts and ends with courtesy, it is not for killing someone in a fit of temper); * or you can watch the film for some wonderful martial arts fight sequences.
(arguably the VERY BEST KENDO sequence I have EVER seen in any film) * or watch the film as a historical effort from early in Nicole Kidman's career.The casting of Vince Martin is nothing short of a stroke of cinematographic genius This movie gets a definite thumbs up!!.
Really a shame, poor direction ruined what could have been a far better film.
Solid, believable performances from a very young Nicole Kidman and a fine martial-arts actor, Tom Jennings, just aren't enough to save this.
The screenplay didn't quite realize the basic concept of a bunch of older kids staying up all night to play Ninja war games in an abandoned power plant, much to the neglect of their school work.
It was, to say the least, a bit muddled.
There were some good futuristic elements thrown in, but not convincingly enough to play true.
As to what year of school these "kids" were in, it's hard to guess.
They're clearly too mature for an American high school, but then again, it's an Australian movie, set in the future.With better editing, this movie could have been a bit more watchable, but I suspect there just wasn't enough footage shot that the editor had much choice.
Some sequences were reused in pointless mini-flashbacks that really didn't belong in the film.
This makes me wonder if it wasn't being padded to play on television.
And the director just didn't seem to be able to tell a story.
He did frame the occasional dramatic picture, but not often enough to achieve the artsy effect I think he was going for.
Besides, without being able to accomplish the basics, you should be careful with the frills.However, it's a treat to see the young Kidman.
Despite the bad direction, muddled script, all the martial arts sequences executed in the dark, and her thick Australian accent, you can see what everyone saw in her, even then.
Tom Jennings wasn't bad either, seemed to show a lot of potential, but I wonder what happened to him.
According to IMDB, he made one more movie in '88 and then dropped out of sight.I wouldn't recommend you go out of your way to see this one, but it lapsed into the public domain and is available very cheaply from a number of sources.
I can only think of two reasons to see this: 1) You're a die-hard Kidman fan who would watch ANYTHING if she was in it, or 2) You're lazy and dishonest and looking for an obscure script to recycle for a student film project..
Fallen Idol.
***SPOILERS*** Futueristic movie about a number of Austrailien collage students playing Ninja games all night then attending karate/physical classes at 5:AM and by the time they go to their regular classes are too knocked out to really learn anything.
Their karate instructor Steve Beck, Vince Martin,has a very strong grip on the students to the point of almost killing themselves in their Ninja night games to impress him.
Steve's best student and his biggest admirer is young Robby Mason, Tom Jennings, who Steve is guiding to the champion karate/boxing finals.A very impressionable young man Robby lost his father at an early age and Steve was the perfect father-figure that he needed so badly at this time.
One of Robby's teachers Sonia Spane, Joanne Samuel,is very concerned by her students, especially Robby, being so infatuated with Steve.
Sonia knows some things about Steve, by being his former lover, that they don't and those thing can be fatal to both the students as well as Steve.A highly decorated war veteran Steve is the only survivor of his army unit and has developed very deep emotional as well as psychical scares to the point where he can show no human feelings other then anger and violence to hide the fact he was the only one to survive.
Steve put all this violence and aggression into his karate/boxing classes and Sonia sees that those students who are so impressed by Steve are slowly turning into the violent and brutal person that Steve is.
Steve also developed a drug habit in the army and is being supplied with his daily dose by local drug dealer and all around sleaze ball Guy Duncan, Craig Pearce, who also is blackmailing him.
Sonia trying to get Robby away from Steve before he's caught up with Steve's secret life that can destroy him as well as Steve.
As hard as she tries Sonia can't budge Robby away from his hero worshiping of Steve and it took an incident the night of the big karate/boxing Champiship that Robby was to participate in that finally open his eyes to just what kind of person Steve really is.Very interesting movie with a young 20 year old Nicole Kidman playing Robby's girlfriend Amy Gabriel who caught on to Steve early in the movie when she saw him and Guy exchanging money for drugs and it almost cost her life for finding that out.
Do you like 80s action-drama films with weird plots that kind drag, but are interesting nonetheless?
Do not be mislead by the fact that it's one of Nicole Kidman's first films and by that get the impression that this is something else.
This movie is more like American Ninja than a drama.
Only, this is Australian Ninja.
Only, this is Australian Ninja.
I really enjoyed the movie because it had an original plot and a good moral in the end.
I was moreover pleased with the conclusion and how the writer tied all things together in the end, leaving zero holes and answers all questions brought about.
The other reviewers seem to be displeased because they were expecting something else.
But if you go in knowing that you're about to view an 80s action-drama, you might just enjoy this..
High School Ninjas Down Under!.
This one makes more sense than most Ninja movies, but that's not saying much is it?
A fun one if you like the bad movies.Actually, the Australian Teenage Movie has become one of my favorite bad movie genres.
OK, we got kids involved in dangerous secret stuff at night, but also involved with "good" activities at school.
Of course there's a caring female teacher who reaches out to help a troubled young man (and the ensuing titillation).
And we must also have the bad mentor, showing the kids the wrong way.Best of all, Nicole Kidman running around in a dark factory in a Ninja suit!
Also hysterical is the way they keep referring to the frumpy schoolteacher as a real looker!
Wait till she shows up on her motorcycle.
Also featuring painful 80's rock at local club, and sudden dream sequences.The pacing of this movie is pretty good, and with a little more care, could have been a better film.
Nonetheless very entertaining.
If you like this, you'll gotta see the Aussie teen flick, Street Hero..
This movie is like a dream where nothing is quite right..
Have you ever had one of those dreams where you seem to know everybody around and all the places you were at, but somehow it didn't match up?
For instance, you're at the Raiders game with your grandmother and a drug dealer and you're singing Christmas carols.
Doesn't quite go together very well.That is what this movie is like.
I couldn't tell if the characters were at their school, martial arts gymnastics dojo or some big boiler room or if they were all the same place.
At one point I got the distinct feeling that I was in the Cobra Kai dojo from the Karate Kid.The lack of any plot, it seems, makes this movie totally uninteresting in even the slightest manner.I do realize that this review doesn't make much sense, but that is because this movie makes no sense either.
It's just hard to explain.I did, however, watch a young Nicole Kidman pretty closely.
She looked so different and yet, still just as recognizable.
She definitely has "It", even at such a young age.
She is the only thing that kept this movie from being unwatchable.Even despite Kidman, I give this movie 3 stars out of 10.
Not recommended at all..
Not recommended at all..
worth a watch.
Not because of similar plots, but because of the similar way that a) it's clearly for teens and b)I really don't understand what the plot is, I was reminded of the movie City Limits.
There's a ninja Fight Club thing going on, and I can see them ninja-ing in the dark to the detriment of their studies and health, but I haven't a clue why they are.
There's a drug dealer and some other daytime sports scenes with a coach who gives me a creepy peek-at-the-boys-in-the-shower vibe (though I don't think that's part of the plot), a chronically angry "good teacher," a made-for-TV drug dealer, and a guy in a wheelchair ...
but these details don't all add up to anything that makes sense.
I have a suspicion that the director said to his buddy, "Hey, we have access to a bar, a school, and an abandoned factory next month.
Let's make a movie!" and then tried to come up with a plot to fit those locations.
I think they needed an extra month on that script.This gets a star for being a baby-faced Kidman's first role--and really, none of the actors are terrible, but 50% of my stars go to the music, a sort of no-particular-decade rock that I thought was pretty good.
Had I been 16 and Australian in 1987, I would have wanted the soundtrack..
I wasn't sure at first whether or not it was a convincing plot - however the acting is very good.
Kidman is freshfaced and delivers her role very well, despite there not really being a complexed plot to work with.Tom Jennings is very convincing too, not seen him in any-thing else at all actually which is a shame.
If any-one has any more info on him would be grateful.
The film is set within a school where kidman and jennings are both members of what seems to be a martial arts club.
They're both trained by their master who much to their dismay a drug dependent loony who in anger kills one of their fellow pupils.
Yes extreme but subtly done - as it is quite randomly fragmented.
(ie His dream sequence) However for a unique Australian gemstone of a film you have to watch it - the dubbing of the martial arts sequences are pitiful but to see kidman and jennings running about in ninja suits is truly priceless.
Even at that price, I was overcharged.
The plot (such as it was) was muddled, character development was nonexistent and the martial arts sequences were poor to say the least.
I've given this 2 on the strength of Nicole Kidman alone, who at one point actually did some acting, and for the one interesting scene where the Older Woman turns up on a motorbike to save Our Hero.
One for the "why was this ever made?" bin, for me..
interesting australian film.
this is an interesting film, set in australia, with nicole kidman and tom jennings.
the film is a little offbeat, and viewers would need to enjoy australian films.
if american style of films is your preference, then this might be for you, but i (as an australian) thoroughly enjoyed it..
Hmmm Nicole Kidman ......
I just bought a DVD player, and this was one of the free movies thoughtfully supplied with it.
I just bought a DVD player, and this was one of the free movies thoughtfully supplied with it.
Very interesting movie with a young 20 year old Nicole Kidman playing Robby's girlfriend Amy Gabriel who caught on to Steve early in the movie when she saw him and Guy exchanging money for drugs and it almost cost her life for finding that out.
The real star in the movie is Tom Jennings who was both strong and sensitive, what ever happened to him?, in his part of Robby Madson.
The real star in the movie is Tom Jennings who was both strong and sensitive, what ever happened to him?, in his part of Robby Madson.
In the end Robby had to face the truth, as well as the fists and kicks, of the person he looked up to for so long.
In the end Robby had to face the truth, as well as the fists and kicks, of the person he looked up to for so long.
Robby battles Steve in the abandoned warehouse that he and Steve's students practice on their Ninja/Karate skills that Steve thought them at the end of the film.
Robby battles Steve in the abandoned warehouse that he and Steve's students practice on their Ninja/Karate skills that Steve thought them at the end of the film.
The movie is hard to follow due to the very dark photography in it making it very difficult to tell who's who in the very thrilling fight sequence between Robby and Steve at the conclusion of the film but if you give it a chance and overlook that you may very well like it..
The movie is hard to follow due to the very dark photography in it making it very difficult to tell who's who in the very thrilling fight sequence between Robby and Steve at the conclusion of the film but if you give it a chance and overlook that you may very well like it..
Hilarious.
This is a very entertaining film.
The paranoid, defensive hero of the movie is shown to have serious underlying psychological defects, but somehow his sexual insecurities and strange delusions coupled with a predisposition to always be ready to inflict violence are held up to the light as shining examples of moral conduct.The hero has a profound rage and hatred towards his romantic rival who happens to be a drug dealer, and he reacts violently whenever they meet.
In his mind, he imagines his martial arts teacher (!?), his love rival and his girlfriend in his own living quarters, in a drug-fuelled sexual orgy.
On account of such dark thoughts, he is unable to sleep.
This and other instances of fantasy blending with reality (especially at the end of the film, where multiple endings are shown and in which the girlfriend is subjected to various demises and the student and teacher have several "final confrontations") turn the whole film into a particularly insightful and compelling piece of psychological drama.
This is quite inconsistent with the quality of other parts of the film.
For instance, most of the actors' performances are weak bordering on pathetic, and there are strange inconsistencies in the plot devices regarding the attitudes to drugs (i.e. the girlfriend is suggested to have been a drug user at some point, but she remains one of the "in" crowd despite that the drug dealer is universally shunned socially on account of having black, slicked-back hair).The adults of the film both male and female are shown as commandeering and competent.
Only the kids have overt insecurities.
However, there are strange irreconcilable behaviours at times.
For instance, the martial arts teacher is said to be an illicit drug user because he has PTSD on account of being a war veteran, and when his secret is accidentally discovered he inexplicably steps up his deviant behaviour several notches by threatening to kill a schoolgirl, then violently killing his dealer, and then trying to kill his own best student.
He chooses these actions instead of seeking out help, which seems odd within the film because he's shown to be a competent, assertive character who would probably be able to kick any drug habit..
It's all part of the strange 1980s fascination and moralising about drugs.
Reefer madness..All-in-all, this is a fascinating film and well worth seeing for a trip back into the 1980s, with the ninja preoccupation of that period, and its skillful depiction of adolescent angst.
There's a cheesy moment for everyone to enjoy!
However, it is not in the same class at classic 80s flicks such as Big Trouble in Little China or Death Machines, so having the wrong expectations it may disappoint. |
tt0042665 | Last Holiday | George Bird (Guinness), an ordinary, unassuming salesman of agricultural implements, visits a physician for a routine check-up and is told he has Lampington's Disease, a newly identified condition which allows him only a few weeks to live. He accepts the doctor’s advice to take his savings and enjoy himself in the little time left to him. A bachelor with no family or friends, Bird decides to spend his last days at an up-market residential hotel among its elite clientele.
Bird’s unassuming attitude generates a great deal of interest among the hotel's residents. He is seen as an enigma to be solved, with wild speculations offered as to his identity and possible noble lineage. The hotel's housekeeper (Walsh) guesses the truth, and Bird confides his secret to her. Bird quickly acquires friends and influence, falls in love (possibly for the first time in his life), sets wrongs to right, and is offered lucrative business opportunities. But these successes only serve to make him reflect on the irony that he will have no time to enjoy them.
During a strike by the hotel's staff, Bird comes into contact with Sir Trevor Lampington (Thesiger), the doctor after whom Lampington's disease was named. Lampington insists that Bird cannot possibly have the disease as he has no symptoms, and contacts the hospital to ask them to check. Just as the hospital discover their error Bird enters and it is confirmed that he indeed was given the wrong diagnosis. Overjoyed, he is ready to begin life afresh with his new sweetheart, friends and business opportunities. In a twist ending, however, he is killed in a car accident on the way back to the hotel, whilst taking a short-cut through the sleepy village of Fallow End. Meanwhile, the hotel guests, having learned the truth about Bird's identity and misdiagnosis, quickly begin to cast aspersions on him, but are interrupted with the news that he has died, which silences their gossip. | comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0058642 | Tini zabutykh predkiv | In a small Hutsul village in the Carpathian mountains of Ukraine, a young man, Ivan, falls in love with the daughter of the man who killed his father. Though their families share a bitter enmity, Ivan and Marichka have known each other since childhood. In preparation for their marriage, Ivan leaves the village to work and earn money for a household. While he is gone, Marichka accidentally slips into a river and drowns while trying to rescue a lost lamb.
Ivan returns and falls into despair after seeing Marichka's body. He continues to work, enduring a period of joyless toil, until he meets another woman, Palagna, while shoeing a horse. Ivan and Palagna get married in a traditional Hutsul wedding in which they are blindfolded and yoked together. The marriage quickly turns sour, however, as Ivan remains obsessed with the memory of Marichka. Estranged from her emotionally distant husband, Palagna becomes involved with a local sorcerer, while Ivan begins to experience hallucinations.
At a tavern, Ivan witnesses the sorcerer embrace Palagna and strike one of his friends. Roused into an uncharacteristic fury, Ivan snatches up his axe, only to be struck down by the sorcerer. Ivan stumbles into the nearby woods and perceives Marichka's spirit to be with him, reflected in the water and gliding amongst the trees. As reality merges into dream, the colorless shade of Marichka reaches out across a great space and touches Ivan's outstretched hand. Ivan screams and dies. The community gives him a traditional Hutsul burial while children watch through crossbraced windows. | insanity, psychedelic, romantic, melodrama | train | wikipedia | The first half of the film deals with that love and the second with Ivan's downfall after she dies in an accident.Shadows would probably not appeal to someone looking for great acting, strong characterizations and emotional pull.
Not exactly commercial fare, Shadows is a stunningly beautiful looking film and in fact a lesson in old Ukrainain culture.
The good news is that Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Shadows), a truly exceptional film, is out in DVD format—and, the color reproduction was well worth waiting for.
It's based on a masterpiece novel of the same name written by Ukrainian author (late 19th-early 20th centuries) Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky.Journey into the past and experience the world-renowned Ukrainian Hutsul folklore and folkways that encyclopedists, historians, and authors depict by way of words and the film gives credence to via imagery, moods, symbolism, and sounds.
Avenues you'll travel will branch off, giving you exposure to artistic embroideries, folk music, folk songs, ornate costumes, religious ceremonies, and traditional rituals (such as a traditional Hutsul wedding and a traditional Hutsul burial), along the way.Folklife comes alive as you float down a river in a unique wooden raft, partake in Christmas festivities, encounter a sorcerer, and lots more--all against a backdrop of the magnificent Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, where trees' shadows silhouette straight as they stretch for the stars and for the skies, where horses dress in tassels as they meander meadows and highlands, where Hutsuls converse across Carpathian Mountains via trembitas--and, where Ivan cannot forget his true love.Shadows isn't your typical feel-good film--it's for the connoisseur of fine arts.
If you want your senses stimulated, your imagination enlivened, and your knowledge of Hutsul culture expanded, then, this is the film for you!Film director, Sergei Parajanov, was an Armenian born in Georgia.
In his lifetime, he was persecuted by the Soviets, was arrested several times, spent years in prison, and his subsequent works were banned.Later renamed Wild Horses of Fire for most foreign distributions, Shadows was Parajanov's first major work, and earned him international acclaim for its rich use of color and costume--it won six international film festival awards: London, San Francisco, Mar del Plata, New York, Montreal, and Thessaloniki.Wikipedia states that Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan borrowed the title of their book, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors: A Search for Who We Are, from the movie of that same name, which they state has little in common with the "haunting 1964 film."The bad news is that a number of descriptive entries are inaccurate.
The descriptions on both the VHS and DVD covers state, in part, "depiction of the harsh realities of Russian regional history...." The phrase "Russian regional history" is incorrect and should read: "Ukrainian regional history." Not only is the film in the Ukrainian language, the Hutsuls are Ukrainians living in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, and the film is based on a novel by Ukrainian author Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky (1864-1913).Update: This has now been changed to good news on Amazon.com: the copy now reads "Ukrainian regional history." However, anybody looking at the actual VHS or DVD covers will still see these erroneous descriptions; thus, these points still need to be highlighted as incorrect.2.
1 above) regional history forced visionary director Sergei Pararadjanov (The Color of Pomegranates) into direct conflict with bureaucrats then controlling the Soviet film industry...."Director Parajanov insisted on filming his adaptation in the Ukrainian language and refused to dub it into Russian--that's what caused his conflict with Communist authorities--not his portrayal of the "harsh realities of Russian (sic—as referenced in no.
1 above) regional history." However, anybody looking at the VHS or DVD covers will still see these erroneous descriptions; thus, these points still need to be highlighted as incorrect.To see 45 photos depicting Hutsuls while learning more about their culture, please visit Amazon.com and click on "images" in Mandrivnyk's book review of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors.Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a must see/must own DVD--at the very least, it should appear worldwide on library shelves and in personal collections.
In a world of cinematic rubbish Paradjanov stands as a warrior fighting for long lost cause; making a movie that actually transcends the viewer to the world the director is trying to create.
The feeling of magic in creating images in light upon the wall never left him; perhaps it revealed to him the perfect medium for living out dreams.Watching "Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors" is like that moment of discovery: it makes us feel the same joy some have felt in discovering Bresson or Godard, the joy of finding out what film can do.
The movie, a sort of folk- Ukrainian "Romeo and Juliet," bursts with passion and physicality, chasing its protagonists through some of the most wild and beautiful landscapes ever caught on film.
Yet the real romance here is between director Parajanov and the camera, which swoons and runs and bounds as ardently as any young lover, whether falling like a tree to the ground or spinning through a field or moping grief-stricken in a corner.
Parajanov, like a honeymooning bridegroom, tries everything; he veers from silent-film subtitles to new-wave editing gimmicks to Russian iconography within seconds, and yet the tricks never feel anachronistic.
The experience is almost like being strapped to a malfunctioning rollercoaster, as a relatively straightforward story - young man falls in love with neighbour; she dies; he mourns; remarries; still loves dead mate (Wuthering Heights anyone?) - is violently attacked by hurling camera movements that reveal the most vertiginous spaces, both exterior and interior; bizarre angles (eg from a falling tree); a restless mix of music from Kusturica-like horn blowers, shards of modernism and thrilling Romanticism; content that blends myth, dreams, legends, folk tales etc.; and editing that bewilders and disrupts rather than matches and connects.
romeo & juliet in the carpathians a love story of children as adults as the people really are children,swirling hand held camera,unnatural colours,beautiful chromatic photography to set the tone of despair, paradjanov uses every trick in the book &then some.wonderful music & a sense of the times these people lived,the customs,clothes,religous iconography all come together in a wonderful film.one of my all time favourites.from a master..
The difference between worlds is simple; in the West, you had the luxury of painting and theater, and music melded into that with opera, so when cinema rolled around a few centuries later, there was already an established reservoir of ways to see and imagine.
The collective soul had to pour that way, which is why they still persist and resonate in these parts; in the work of Kazantzakis, Bregovic, Kusturica and others, also why Western-influenced makers like Angelopoulos or Ceylan speak far less to the common folk.You have to appreciate the significance of this in terms of cinema.
So a memory that is sang and danced out by the camera, and because he is not constrained by a visual tradition, the world of the film is freeform and spontaneous waters, an absolute marvel to watch.
Parajanov does neither, in a similar way to his friend Tarkovsky.He provides deeply felt illogical machinery of that world to swim into, remember this is a world where sorcery is believed and wards off a storm, and prayer manifests as a lout from the woods looking for sex, in other words, we are not mere spectators to a gaudy visual dance from faraway times, the film is made so that we feel the urges and pulls of the world dancing around us.
He pulls fabric to film from the ether around the edges of someome experiencing a story, the same deeply felt air that a singer cannot put to words and responds to with a song.Look for the amazing finale.
The thing is that him confronting or being confronted at the tavern, is, in itself, knowing about the sorcerer and his wife, knowing at the same instant that his father's death was the result of a similarly veiled and bubbling causality, knowing all in once that the universe, the cosmic dance, is not random but has inexplicable agency.An invisible axe is spunning and cutting the tethers.The way Parajanov filmed has been taken up by many, sure enough, Malick included.
The elements I liked about the film, and what makes it stand out, are the cinematography, use of color, costumes, and the occasionally poetic image.
There was also a conscious choice in one sequence to film in black-and-white for narrative reasons, to visually depict the protagonist's emotional state.
Moreover, the extreme beauty of some images, the camera "overwork" compared to the poverty of the acting and the lack of in-depth of the characters, makes the film look magnificent but also formalist, "manieriste" at the same time.
Among all this, a sort of plot emerges, with the story of the crazy love between Ivan and Marichka, a couple belonging to feuding families, and of Ivan's life and marriage with another woman called Palagna after Marichka's tragic death.
On the whole, I like Paradjanov's future feature The Color of Pomegranates better, which I think it's far more accomplished, but I this is very much well worth seeing to any cinema lover..
I first saw this film in 1973 when it was relatively new, and one of my most vivid memories of it was the director's marvelous use of rich colors.
Sergei Parajanov's Teni Zabytykh Predkov aka Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) is original, surprising film, baroque in style and extraordinary fast.
You can practically feel dizziness from the rapid and unusual camera angles and you will be mesmerized by the colors of the traditional costumes, sounds of the folk songs, and by the sheer magic of Paradjanov's world.
I can imagine how much ahead of time it was upon releasing.The story about Guzul guy Ivan who loved a girl, lost her forever, suffered deeply, tried to forget her by marrying another woman, could not make that woman happy and was ultimately betrayed by her, is told in incredibly triumphant exuberant, and poetic way.
The story of star-crossed lovers has been explored in art, literature, and cinema many times, and it is not surprising then the first half of the film sounds as rephrases of "Romeo and Juliette".
Parajanov -- one of such directors and his film looks feels absolutely seamless, wholesome, and organic.The DVD which I saw includes among the bonus features the documentary "Andrei Tarkovsky and Sergei Parajanov.
The 40 minutes long film explores the similarities in the work of two very different but outstanding artists who deeply loved and admired each other's Art. Tarkovsky said that Parajanov was absolutely free in the way he expressed himself in his films, nobody could compare with him in this freedom of expression, lust for life, and readiness to go to the end in order to make film according his vision.
My Rating : 7/10A simple story well-told about love and loss in the Hutsul culture of Western Ukraine.
If you like elaborate costumes, folk music and dance and the simplicity of village life this is your ticket.Otherworldly, visually unique, certainly for the arthouse film fan.
Watching Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is like being placed into a society where film-making evolved down a very different path.
Uninformed by the conventions of Western European & American films, where story arc and images follow a predictable pattern and continuously reference common social themes, Ancestors immerses itself in the visual imagery of a very different culture - the rural Hutsuls of the Carpathian Mountains in the Ukraine.
The film takes place in the Ukraine and the language is Ukrainian, the action taken from folk stories occurs centuries before in a culture as foreign to the Western European mind as if it had been shot in the Far East with little attempt to explain it as it rolls along.
Sad, monotonous folk songs, folk dances, awful musical score are supposed to fit with that (unspecified) historical period; unnaturally looking costumes clumsily worn by the actors and extras; practically no plot to speak of, and no meaningful dialog; beautiful mountains and woods shot with irritatingly jerky moving camera; flashing colors from time to time for no reason, surprisingly inept, unprofessionally looking and talking actors.*** for (mostly unsuccessful) effort.
From the looks of the reviews about it on this Web page there are many people out there who just love this film and I'm not sure why?
I haven't seen one like this before - a movie whose each frame bursts with color (at times deliberate lack of it) bringing a stream of beautiful art passing before your eyes!
Since the movie Is presented in such a subjective way I can't help but respond to what I see as honestly as possible, and it's both impressive for just how far this director and his DP get on the train to complete abandon of realism while at the same time leaving me...
She wants children but his mind stays on his lost love.The film is highly symbolic, making frequent use of religious and folkloric images that include crosses, lambs, graves, and spirits.
After refusing to change the film, Parajanov was soon blacklisted from Soviet cinema.I don't think i understand all the symbolism, but I loved the use of color.
All this culminates in two scenes: the old woman laughing after she's spoken the Christian blessing, and Ivan searching, and finding death in Marichka's cold hands, reaching for him from the realm of shadows & ghosts, which is not a bad place - it's just not for the living.
The burial ceremony is entirely superfluous (not to the film!), as Ivan has found his own way of passing, in the loving arms of Marichka's cold otherworldly ghost.***spoilers finished***It may take a bit of effort to get into, but this is not art for the sake of it, ah-ah.
Even through the language and culture barriers that seemed so overbearing, I was awestruck by the intensity of the movie's emotion, culminating in Ivan's death scene.
The story is not complex – a young Ukrainian peasant (Ivan) falls in love with the daughter of the man who murdered his father, and struggles in an unhappy marriage with different woman after his love dies tragically – but it is by no means easy to watch.
This documentary feel permeates the film – the elaborate costumes, the nearly constant presence of folk music, and the extreme attentiveness to details of ritual and labor have a completely immersive effect – one gets a real sense of the village culture.
However, the beauty and attention to detail, as well as the almost astonishing variety in thematic elements and camera-work, make this film impressive and worth one's time..
Because what Shadows is more than anything else is a snapshot of Ukrainian Hutsul life at some point in time, executed in an immersive way that makes you feel like you are actually there.
The acting isn't the main focus of this film.'Shadows' is a visual feast.
The camera moves wildly, immersing the viewer in a way I have never experienced in a film in my life.
The scene is filmed in such an empathetic way that you can imagine the life they had, at one with nature.
Pretty much every shot is a work of art in this film, framed in a unique way that grants you a new perspective.
We have here, recorded on film, customs and traditions and clothes that would otherwise be forgotten.The use of music is also unique.
But the way Ukrainian folk melodies and sometimes just sounds are placed in the film at first glance seems interspersed and almost random.
Parajanov's Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors is in its entirety an insightful and extremely beautiful portrayal of the backward Ukrainian culture near the Carpathians.
Though the depiction of a culture completely alien to most of us is the chief attraction of the movie, it is also an excellent display of Parajanov's exemplary use of colours and effects and a distinct montage.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was a nice film that made for a really unique viewing experience.
The landscape shots that were captured were extremely beautiful and later in the film, the camera did have some of the "running" motion that was seen in The Cranes Are Flying, though this time it was not from the perspective of any character.
Shadows reminded me of a silent film at times with the lack of dialogue and the style of acting that was present, though this is not a knock in anyway, in fact I found it to be quite beautiful.
A tree falling at random and crushing a young man to death appropriately kicks off Sergei Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a film that episodically tells a story about the unsteady relationship between faith and chance as well as explores and celebrates the ancient culture that inhabited the Ukrainian portion of the Carpathian Mountains.
The young man is the older brother of protagonist Ivan, whose continuous attempts from childhood through adulthood to live the kind of strong, honest Christian life of hard work, true love and marriage his culture fosters are repeatedly beset by occurrences that are equally unfortunate.
This includes authentic portrayals of its dance rituals, work habits and religious ceremonies, made all the more authentic via traditional Ukrainian music as well as production design that highlights the Carpathian region's natural beauty and color.
Parajanov appropriately directs the celebratory scenes with camera work resembling that of Godard, or better yet, Evil Dead-era Sam Raimi, while Ivan's story mostly consists of stark stillness.
From the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is where I found this Ukrainian film, of course like so many of the other foreign film entries I never heard of it before reading about it, but I hoped it was worthy of that placing, directed by Sergei Parajanov (The Colour of Pomegranates).
Parajanov helpfully tells what he's up to in the epigraph of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors as he explains that the film is a dramatic poem meant to evoke the old fables of the Carpathians. |
tt0453557 | Timesplitters: Future Perfect | The game begins in 2401 when the space marine, Sergeant Cortez, is leaving the space station that he destroyed at the end of TimeSplitters 2. His ship crash lands on the future Earth and two fellow marines greet him. Sergeant Cortez follows his squad of marines through the valley and battles unknown masked figures and TimeSplitters. Cortez is then tasked with following signatures in the past that were created by time travel and thought to be caused by the TimeSplitters. He then goes on a mission to go back in time to find a way to stop the TimeSplitters race from being created, with the help of Anya, The General's personal assistant.
Using his Temporal Uplink, a device connected to the Time Machine, (both of which Anya has invented), Cortez travels to the year 1924. There he meets a man named Captain Ash, who seeks Cortez's help. After raiding a Castle with Captain Ash, Cortez confronts an unknown man with a high concentration of Time Crystals, who then escapes with his own time machine. Cortez then travels to 1969 to stop Khallos (whom Cortez thinks is the time traveler) with the help of hippie secret agent Harry Tipper, to rescue his girlfriend, Kitten Celeste. After killing Khallos, Anya reveals to Cortez that a mansion burned down in the 90's.
In 1994, he is (painfully) greeted by a striking teenager named Jo Beth Casey. She tells Cortez that the house is haunted, and the two battle zombies and ghosts inside the abandoned mansion. After discovering that the creator of the TimeSplitters is a mad scientist named Dr. Jacob Crow, Cortez embarks on a new mission to foil the scientist's plans by destroying his labs throughout all of the time periods Crow had visited. He travels sixty years into the future, where Crow has advanced his gene splitting experiments. Cortez and Amy (a highly trained spy sent to defeat Crow as well) fight through his lab facility to find Crow, who escapes again.
Cortez then travels 200 years into the future where machines now rule the planet, and have waged war on each other. Cortez hacks into one of the machines, identified as R-110, and allies with him. He also teams up with a small group of rebels fighting against the machines to make his way to Crow's now extremely large and powerful lab, filled with thousands of TimeSplitter embryos. Cortez manages to destroy what he can of the lab, but is not strong enough to defeat Crow, who himself has combined with the TimeSplitter race and a war machine. Anya sends Cortez and R-110 back to 1924 to stop Crow before he can further his lab experiments in the first place.
Now in 1924 again, he and R-110 make their way to Crow. Cortez finds Dr. Crow fused with a large bipedal robot. Crow destroys Cortez's ally R-110, leaving him and Cortez face to face. Knowing he can't defeat the scientist alone, Anya sends Cortez back in time a few minutes to when he first arrived in hopes of being able to double-team Crow with two Cortezes (and R-110, who was never destroyed as a result of the time loop).
After Crow is defeated, Cortez puts a raw crystal into a device that causes a chain reaction that destroys the entire compound. Anya quickly warps the two Cortezes and R-110 back to HQ, leaving Crow and the Time Crystals to be destroyed. Cortez and Anya then observe the barren desert land restored to its former form; a lush, green forest filled with life. Anya labels Cortez as her hero to which he replies, "I know, it's what I do." | absurd, psychedelic, dark, gothic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0406650 | The Chumscrubber | Troy Johnson (Josh Janowicz), the supplier of prescription drugs to fellow high school students in the fictional southern California town of Hillside, commits suicide. Troy's best friend Dean Stiffle (Jamie Bell), is prescribed more antidepressants by his psychiatrist father Bill (William Fichtner) after discovering the body. When Dean returns to school, he is antagonized by drug dealers Billy (Justin Chatwin) and Lee (Lou Taylor Pucci), who were supplied by Troy. Their friend, Crystal Falls (Camilla Belle), flirts with Dean, but he soon realizes that her true intentions are for Dean to retrieve the remaining drugs in Troy's home and refuses to cooperate. To force Dean to procure the drugs, Billy and Lee plan to kidnap Dean's brother, Charlie (Rory Culkin), as a ransom, but they end up kidnapping another boy named Charlie Bratley (Thomas Curtis) instead.
The kidnappers hold Charlie Bratley – whose parents are unaware that he is missing – overnight at Crystal's home. Dean eventually agrees to go to Troy's house to find the drugs. Upon delivery, Billy discovers that the bag doesn't contain the prescription drugs and starts a fight with Dean, leading to Dean's arrest. While trying to explain everything to Officer Lou Bratley (John Heard), Charlie's father, Dean reveals that his brother Charlie replaced the drugs with a bag of the vitamins that their mother Allie (Allison Janney) sells. Neither Officer Bratley nor Dean's father believes his story, but he is released, whereupon his father increases his dosage of antidepressants. Meanwhile, Charlie Stiffle crushes the real drugs and puts them into a casserole that his mother made for Troy's memorial.
The next day is Troy's memorial service and the wedding of Mayor Michael Ebbs (Ralph Fiennes) to Charlie Bratley's mother Terri (Rita Wilson). Lou finally realizes that his son actually has been kidnapped and heads out to look for him. Now at Lee's house, Crystal asks Lee to help stop the kidnapping scheme, but he does not comply. Crystal goes to Dean's house for help, where she finds him hallucinating about Troy's death and finally expressing his grief. Meanwhile, a paranoid Lee, encouraged by Billy, tries to kill Charlie Bratley to avoid being caught, but Charlie fights back and slices the knife through Billy's eye. Billy runs out into the street, screaming in pain, and is hit by Lou's police car.
Dean attends Troy's memorial, where all of the visitors are intoxicated by the drugs that are in his mother's casserole. Troy's mother, Carrie (Glenn Close), discloses to Dean that she never knew her son. Dean tells her about Troy and acknowledges that they were best friends, and she thanks him. Billy is later sent to prison. Lee, who successfully changes the narrative of his involvement during the trial, is acquitted. A closing voice over explains that Dean and Crystal "escape together", and they are shown kissing. | violence, comedy, boring | train | wikipedia | Some lucky distributor is going to make bank off of this great film by a skilled director and soulful screenwriter.Although I was pleasantly surprised as famous face after famous face came on the screen, Jamie Bell (main character Dean) is without equal.
Suburbia pops up on the screen, one house at a time, and it's the most beautiful and peaceful neighborhood you've ever seen
until five minutes later when Dean (Jamie Bell) walks into a room and finds his best friend's dead body hanging by a rope.
At the same time, movies from the second and much smaller group for some reason (which is hardly explainable sometimes) get all possible attention and sometimes they can replace mainstream production in theaters.Chumscrubber, which obviously belongs to the first group, is a rather unique and courageous satirical attempt of showing on the surface quiet and peaceful life of suburbia and middle class people there.
The children are completely left on their own and soon Dean realizes that nobody's noticed that a kid is not home for a long time and he's the only one who could do anything to resolve a conflict even if it is no concern of him.The movie cast unites too many famous actors for a small budgeted indie movie.
Many of the performances are top drawer as are the unexpected cameos and all of these aspects culminate to a cult dark comedy.Some will be pre-emptive as the film is about drugs, teenagers, high school, bullying and well-worn characters with a cool soundtrack thrown in for good measure.
I had heard that it was similar to American Beauty which I liked but I didn't need another film about dysfunctional middle and upper class families living in suburbia.I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw it on Tuesday night, July 26th in Portland at a screening.
At times it seems the teenagers are the adults, while they run around carefree and behave like children.A couple of things you notice straight into the movie are Jamie Bell and the art of casting against expected type.
The adults coming dangerously close to the events of the teenagers' lives, almost grasping the actuality of what is happening, and either missing the point or choosing to avoid it totally.The perfect example of this is seeing the Mayor and his wife carry on towards their wedding day plans avoiding the fact that their son appears to be missing, and that that life in general seems to be falling apart around them.
No, it's a bit poor, but it's not the true climax of the movie.There's one other thing I didn't like, the Chumscrubber itself is based on a computer game character that some of the teenagers play through the movie, usually in the background.
It wasn't needed, I found myself confused and distracted by it, and I really think the movie would have been better without it.What this movie is good for, are some great castings, and the excellent performances by the actors playing the teenagers.
I was very surprised at just how strong Jamie Bell really is, and my feelings for Glenn Close (as an actress) were just reinforced from watching the last season of The Shield.This has a great plot, some great actors and performances, and is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that does have some things to say about adults and teenagers.
However, they kidnap the wrong boy, leading to a confusion of identities, and many opportunities for humor that are quickly lost in this dense film.The reaction at Sundance to this film was mixed, with perhaps half of the audience reacting as I did, and the other half claiming to have enjoyed it.My take on this film is that is was entirely devoid of heart and humor, and failed in its attempts to entertain.One scene that does work comes at the end of the film, between Dean (Jamie Bell) and the mother of his dead friend (played by Glenn Close).
The main character, Dean Stiffle(Jamie Bell) is a teenager with not many friends,but his "best" friend Troy commits suicide and from there on there is a series of incidents linking characters together in this small postcard-perfect California neighborhood.It is said to be an indie film,but for an indie film it has some big actors in it.I don't want to reveal much else,but its a very interesting movie with wonderful cinematography and acting with actors such as Jamie Bell,Justin Chatwin,Ralph Fiennes,Glenn Close,Camille Bell,Lou Taylor Pucci and much more.The Chumscrubber could be one of the biggest movies to touch on teenagers since Donnie Darko.Everyone has their own opinion,but this movie is one to be checked out so give it a try..
It's not like you can blame any one thing for the way society is anyway, so saying that this movie does that, is absolutely ludicrous and misses the point.
This movie uses a video game character that aptly describes the feelings, a kid who got his head cut off but came back to life and is neither alive, nor dead.
The main character longs for his father's acknowledgement and acceptance so he does whatever his father asks him to, the father hungers for importance so he writes a book about his son's problems and ignores his family, the mother wanted to be loved and accepted so she sells veggie vitamins looking for a family who will cherish her...It's about the solution being right in front of our face but instead of reaching out fulfilling our true desires we find some tepid remedy ignoring the reality of things as they slowly build and not seeing it until everything explodes...about listless entertainment and never knowing satisfying pleasure.
Anyways, if you liked American Beauty, or Donnie Darko, or Wristcutters: a love story...watch this film!!.
The story was good, the acting was excellent, the casting was flawless, the overall atmosphere was perfection, the intended audience reactions were felt (whether you wanted to feel them or not), and there were enough subtleties to make you feel better about yourself as a relative-to-body-size-large-brained-primate for catching them.Every actor in The Chumscrubber will go on from this movie and become new people and new faces all over again, never to be remembered strictly as "that guy in The Chumscrubber".
Why he would care whether this kid lives or dies makes no sense in light of him being on heavy meds to the point of not caring about much of anything.One thing I really like about this movie is the expose on ineffective parenting approaches.
By the end of this movie it has really entered after-school special territory and lost all credibility whatsoever.The name of this movie is based on a video game but that tie-in was poorly executed and inessential.I didn't think this movie was all that great but it did cover some topics that tend to be all of the areas where suburban people tend to be hypocritical failures.If you wanna get down with your teen angst and hate some suburbanites with your gonads and strife for a while, this is your movie.
The humorous scenes where the teens tell parents they are kidnapping a little boy so they can buy drugs compel laughs because the parents think the kids are attempting precocious satire.
The over the top tale about kids abusing prescription drugs could have been a gritty hard hitting flick, but it plays out like corny never-aired ABC After School Special.Jamie Bell plays Dean Stiffle, an emotionally disconnected boy who discovers his best friend hanging by the neck and doesn't tell anyone about it.
Some laughably skinny bullies from his high school want him to get some pills out of his dead friend's room, so they kidnap his brother to force him into complying, but it's really not his brother because they grab the wrong kid, and lots of people play a video game called The Chumscrubber that has a guy who carries his head around, and somehow that's supposed to be ironic or symbolize something that I'm apparently too dumb to connect together.The cast is outstanding with Glen Close, Rita Wilson, Ralph Fiennes, Allison Janney, Carrie-Ann Moss, and John Heard, but never has such a brilliant bunch of actors been wasted on such garbage.
The whole thing plays like some preachy film project from a mother who's kid died from an overdose.I shook my head and groaned during most of the movie that meandered all over the place and seemed to have a tough time deciding whether you wanted to feel sorry, or just laugh at all the screwed up characters.
It was fairly gripping and uncomfortable to watch, but the film segues to a humorously violent scene that seemed like it was ripped from a Monty Python film that had much of the audience laughing.The Chumscrubber is a loathsome empty piece that ends up being a headshakingly bad movie going experience.
Being a fan of both American Beauty and Donnie Darko (two films the Chumscrubber was compared to) I had high expectations and was expecting excellent writing and dark Ironic wit.
Ever since Donnie Darko - that excellent half teen satire / half sci fi and horror movie - it seems like it is all of the rage at the moment to make Donnie Darko-esquire movies.Chumscrubber tells the story of a teenager who gets caught up in a drug dealing ring at his high school.
I mean - the acting is pretty good and the plot is sort of "fairly original" but it didn't really do it for me.Maybe I found the whole drug dealing syndicate a bit convoluted - or maybe I thought I had seen this sort of thing before (eg: Donnie Darko) - and done so much better...Most of the characters are pretty vile and unappealing (see Billy).It was OK - but maybe I missed something...?.
Arie Posin's clever and different way of telling a story, the brilliant cast that turned up for this movie, the FABULOUS soundtrack by James Horner, and of course, the things you can learn about American suburbia in this film makes it one of my favorite.
In the making of the movie, the director claims that he wants to have parents watch this movie and know what life is like for their teenagers.
Such is the way in The Chumscrubber, a 2005 film from Israeli-born writer/director Arie Posin exploring the shallowness and vacuity of contemporary living in a warm, sunny American locale as people with successful jobs and promising kids are placed under a microscope of bleak comedy twinned with an aesthetic of realism blurred with surrealism.The film centres around a young, disillusioned male named Dean (Bell) and his relationship with his distanced family on one strand with his dangerous and temperamental relationship with a small gang of other youths, lead by the drug-dealing sociopath Billy (Chatwin), on the other.
Dean's father, a successful author and psychiatric doctor named Bill (Fichtner), has his back to us in a relatively long and unbroken take as we waltz around the family's kitchen and living room area; the little brother fixated on a shallow and vacuous computer game, the wife/mother on the phone speaking about whatever suggesting whiffs of domesticisation; while Bill weaves in and out of the place with his back to the camera, it's the closest we get to a form of identification of him.The film has that disconnected sensibility about it, that parents and their children are never quite on the same plain, indeed a police officer's son is essentially kidnapped very early on but doesn't quite realise until much later; other parents allow their problems, trivial things such as making sure order amidst who is in ownership of various pots and pans amongst neighbours is intact furthering that sense of depressing domesticisation as the vacuous gushing over the purchasing of dresses in locals stores hammer home the point.
But around all of this, we are invited into looking at this interesting, intrinsic little narrative Posin has weaved linked to Dean and his ongoing feud with Billy plus his cohorts: a deputy in Lee (Taylor-Pucci) and the teenage femme-fatale of sorts Crystal (Belle), of whom have brought into their possession young Charlie (Curtis) whom they have mistaken for Dean's brother, who's also called Charlie and played by Macaulay's younger brother, Rory Culkin.Posin's integrating of this plot around all of this substance is well crafted, here's a film that renders most of the adults childish and infantile in their actions and behaviours but the manner in which the adolescents behave see them strut around as if they were fully grown men and women living a life of potential sleaze, crime and terror.
but, as despicable as Billy's machinations are, the real focus is the insanity of the adult community, who determinedly remain blind to the events in the world around them.The truly incredible cast (especially for a film that few have heard of or seen) includes Glenn Close as Todd's mother, whose grief seems at first to make her the most imbalanced character, but who ultimately shows herself to be more connected to what's real than any other adult; Rita Wilson as the career-minded mother of the kidnapped child, too distracted by her re-marriage plans to be aware that her son is even gone; Ralph Fiennes as Wilson's husband-to-be, obsessed by his perception of an unknown, beneficent power guiding his life; Carrie-Ann Moss as a woman whose sexual security is so threatened that she attempts to prove herself in competition with her daughter; and William Fichtner as Dean's psychiatrist father, who uses his son as a case example in his pop psychiatry self-help books.Where Chumscrubber succeeds best is in portraying the reality of the teen who is pressured to achieve, even as he or she is convinced by their keepers of their unworthiness; and compelled toward success in a suburban milieu where "success" is itself a tawdry mediocrity.Unlike Donnie Darko, where the title character ultimately sacrifices himself to preserve the very landscape that gave birth to his misery, Chumscrubber offers little that is worthy of redemption in its bleak suburbia; even the main character's romantic interest, the very appealing Camilla Belle as Crystal Falls, is tainted.Though the ending suggests that perhaps there is a wise, beneficent power that ultimately guides us through this vale of dung, the overall impression I had of this film was of a sharp cynicism that is all-too-accurate, so that even the sunshiny image that brings the film to its happy conclusion seems a sardonic slap in the face..
I don't hate American Beauty- I just thought it was one of the most overrated movies that left me going "and the point was?" The Chumscrubber does not do any of this.
This film takes a look at the adults of today and how they're so focused on themselves, that they don't take time to notice their kids or the things happening around them.
There are subplots that involve each of the teenagers and their parents which are dark and interesting.This film is very different from the usual thing you see in the cinemas nowadays, but in a good way.
There are flaws, for sure, but as far as I've seen it's the most worthwhile film of its type.Some of the characters are a little over-done, like Billy, but this is a result of the experiences of the writer/directors.
Its message is how parents are too wrapped up in their own - legally medicated - worlds to notice what's happening to their own children.I can see a lot of people finding this film 'too weird' to be enjoyable, but, put simply, if you're a fan of 'Donnie Darko' type movies, you should like what's happening here, too.
I think that's because there weren't any.The film follows the life of Dean, a high school boy whose best friend, Troy recently committed suicide.
"Billy" was the most unbearable, over the top, and obnoxious character I've seen in a movie since Paulie Shore in Son in Law. And as for Jamie Bell, strike one was his dumb and useless sub plot character in King Kong, strike two, The Chumscrubber, where he plays a flat, boring and completely uninteresting Donnie Darko-esquire character with little to no explained motivation as to why he is acting so weird or so alienated.
The movie reminded me of Donnie Darko, only it made less sense, if that makes sense.There are some semi-big names in the cast, like Ralph Fiennes and Glenn Close and that British dancer kid Jamie Bell, who spoke with a remarkably convincing American accent.
You gotta admit that it's probably not as easy as it once was to come up with a fresh angle on a suburban teen angst plot, but Chumscrubber pretty much delivers.As the story unfolds, Jamie Bell's best friend is a high school drug dealer who keeps his classmates happy and high until the day he hangs himself at home while his mom is throwing a big party.
at least not until the very end of the film when the teen angst tension is released and a boy actually talks to an adult and the adult actually listens and the tears flow and we all learn to our great surprise that life would be so much easier if we all listened to each other and kept our eyes peeled for dolphins.There's a lot more to the story involving some bad kids who look less like thugs than Abercrombie and Fitch models who kidnap Jamie Bell's little brother in order to blackmail Jamie into finding the dead kid's stash of drugs.
He is not the same as others, but he feels good in that world, as Din in Hillside...Well i think its very stupid to talk about such kind of movies, because everybody must think about it by his own - If you like strong, funny and interesting films like "American Beauty" or "Tumbsucker" - you must see it.. |
tt1185242 | Finding Bliss | After a long humbling year temping as a traffic cop on a studio lot, Jody is faced with the hard decision of taking the only well-paying industry job she has yet been offered — editing porn at Grind Productions, a profitable adult film company run by former porn star Irene Fox (Kristen Johnston).
At first horrified by the prospect of exposing herself to the cockroaches of the film industry, not to mention the effect it would have on her strict Jewish parents, Jody has a remarkable change of heart when she realizes that Grind has all the facilities she needs to make her own low budget movie — on the sly of course — but things get complicated when Jody meets Jeff Drake (Matthew Davis), the charming Herr Director of adult films. Jeff, also an award-winning filmmaker, once had his own dreams of making "real" films, but now is a hard-worn cynic who masks his disappointment behind a façade of irony. In Jody, he sees the idealism he once had, while Jody starts to face her own sexual hang-ups as she begins to get aroused by the porn she so harshly judges. Jody and Jeff get close to each other, but she gets hurt when she sees him making out with one of his actresses, Sindi, who was actually taking advantage of Jeff in his drunken state. The movie made by Jody is well received by critics, and Jeff is also nominated for an AVN Award for his movie. Jody wants to set things right with him; she accepts help from Bliss, the lead actress in both Jody's and Jeff's movies, but with different identities, and pretends to be her to gain entry at an award function. On stage, when Jeff receives his award, he announces his retirement from the Adult Industry to move on. Jeff calls Bliss for special thanks. He realizes that Jody is in disguise as Bliss, and they kiss. | romantic | train | wikipedia | "Finding Bliss" is just a middle-of-the-road, soft-core film about a young film-maker struggling to succeed in Hollywood.
Unfortunately it doesn't play out much better than just a student film itself.It begins with every cliché and plot advance you expect to find in a chick flick.
I found "Finding Bliss" to just be a Hollywood-reflective soft-core film that is not nearly as insightful as it was supposed to be..
Finding Bliss is a fun, clever, entertaining, and very unique peek at the "porn" business as seen through the eyes of a wannabe filmmaker.
The story centers on Jody, who gets awarded "most likely to succeed" at her film school graduation, only to find out that her dreams of success in Hollywood may turn out to be, well just that, dreams.
Through a series of both fortunate and unfortunate events, Jody finds herself working at Grind Productions, a purveyor of adult fare looking to crossover into mainstream entertainment.
Porn and mainstream start off like apples and oranges, but as the story progresses, the lines begin to blur and Jody finds herself rethinking some of her preconceived notions about the biz, both Porn and Mainstream.
The sexuality and language are for laughs and not for shock, making this a great date night movie for adults.
LeeLee Sobieski is great as Jody, and shows that if given the part, she can carry a movie.
Matt Davis as Jeff Drake, the award winning Porn director brings great depth to his character and his complex past and present.
Jamie Kennedy's talents are well suited for his character Dick (literally and figuratively), and the rest of the cast in no particular order Kristen Johnston, Donnamarie Recco, Mircea Monroe, PJ Byrne complement the heart and soul of the story.
I saw this at Slamdance and I really enjoyed it.It's about a struggling filmmaker (Leelee S) who takes a job editing porn, but it's really more about her character's journey into her own issues (of the past and present) ...
and the fact that this self-discovery takes place amidst the porn industry, well, that adds a good dose of humor and a bit of sex.There's some laugh out loud moments, usually in the form of shock/crude humor or irony.
There's also some drama and romance mixed in there, so it's honestly hard to classify it to one genre of film.It's a lower-budget indie, but it has a great cinematic look with great performances by all the actors.
The actor opposite Leelee (Matthew Davis) initial appears as a jaded, cynical character, but of course, there is more beneath the surface and it's rewarding to see his character slowly unveil.Fun movie, overall.
The acting and directing were wonderful, especially for an independent film.
The story has a heart,good values and lots of fun to watch!!!
Matt Davis, Donna Marie Recco and Jamie Kennedy are true professionals- very good acting by all!!!
It must have been difficult to make a film about the porn industry, while keeping it semi-clean, and still making it funny, yet showing the deep emotions of the characters.
I have only seen this type of humor associated to male-led comedies, and I think it is quite bold to approach it from a female perspective -- and without apologizing for it.
Delivering hard laughs and, at the same time, portraying compelling characters that will make us care is a hard balancing act, but I think Bliss succeeds at both things.
Its in-your-face humor has nothing to envy to the crassest Farrelly brothers' flicks, but at the same time it shows a true indie sensibility in the leading character's journey to grow comfortable with her own sexuality.
This film is a warm, witty comedy that involves a clash of two cultures, just as "Pretty Woman" was.
Gary Marshall is the narrator/director of "Pretty Woman" and he is in the movie "Finding Bliss" and the catalyst in a way for everything that happens.Unfortunately, while Pretty Woman made zillions of dollars, "Finding Bliss" only made two dollars.
This is unfortunate, because I think anybody who like "Pretty Woman" would enjoy "Finding Bliss" While the film is sometimes formulaic in the romantic comedy mode, there are some strikingly original scenes.
The scenes of Sobieski getting turned on by the pornography that she's editing is genuinely erotic and striking.
It dances softly around the lines separating mass market and porn films.I watched Julie Davis' "Amy's O" and also found it a charming comedy dealing with sex.
Besides a great performance from Sobrieski (which one always expects), Kristen Johnson and Denise Richards also give wonderfully comic and sweet performances.One may criticize the film for having a naive or romantic notion of pornographic/adult film-making.
In a sense, rather than being realistic, this film could be considered more of 1950's movie fantasy in which virginal Doris Day gets turned on, rips off her pajamas, beds Rock Hudson, yet still manages to get married and live happily ever after.Does every film about the pornography movie industry need to be a moral lesson on the terrible abuse that often goes on in that industry.
Perhaps from a moralist point of view it does.However, we should consider this film does give a utopian vision of a gentler, more sophisticated porn industry that cares about its performers and especially women.
If you have protests about the liberal morality of "Finding Bliss," you should have the same protests with "Pretty Woman.".
It had an excellent combination of humour and romance with an adult entertainment twist.The acting was great and it was good to see familiar faces.
I've always liked Denise Richards and she was very good in this movie.
Leelee Sobieski was also entertaining.I highly recommend this movie!
It's a very smart take on the porn industry from a girl's point of view.
The girl is played by Leelee Sobieski who hasn't done much lately, so it was great to see her in such a different role.
Denise Richards plays against type as the good girl and pulled it off, much to my surprise.
what I really liked about this film was that it didn't play into all the stereotypes of most romantic comedies.
Everything was a little different than expected and the porn star characters were completely lovable and real.
Jamie Kennedy brought a lot of depth to his dumb as bricks porn stud character and the actress who played Sindi truly broke my heart at the end.
There were a lot of really dirty jokes, but the movie was also sweet and romantic which made it a very unique film.
I usually find most romantic comedies to be the same, but this was unlike anything I've ever seen.
Leelee Sobieski plays the lead, and is charming and accessible, but what really works is that she is supported by some hilarious actors like Kristen Johnston and Jamie Kennedy.
I honestly didn't expect much and would never have bothered to leave a review, but the previous reviews were to preposterous to have been genuine.Wooden acting, terrible dialogue, utterly predictable plot and possibly the worst sound track I have ever heard; there is really no reason to see this film.
I am actually a fan of Lee Lee Sobieski and keep hoping she gets a break into bigger roles, but this film was a serious bump in the road.Absolutely terrible..
Has a few zingy one-liners that keep it from being a complete dud, and a couple characters/actors that do well (the tech guy, the female head of the studio and "Jeff Drake", imo) but otherwise a yawner.
(Also not really any nudity to speak of, so don't bother if you're thinking it's a cheap way to get some thrills).Also has *nothing* meaningful to do with a woman getting hired to make pr0n from a female perspective or a (male) director trying to make classy pr0n (at least to me).
It's one of those movies you either love or hate, and that depends on your own personal sensibilities about sex, romance, and mostly, porn.
First off, because the film is from a young woman's point of view and takes place in the porn industry it opens itself up for criticism.
It takes an honest look at a profession that most consider disgusting and immoral, and although the main character herself is disdainful of porn, she comes to realize that people are the same everywhere, in any job, and for that alone, it's a very politically incorrect film.
The movie doesn't condescend or vilify the porn stars, on the contrary, it finds the humanity in them.
When Jody ends up getting turned on by the porn she is editing, the film veers off into territory that is sexy, funny, and even a little sad.
Watching a sexually inexperienced and insecure woman getting turned on by pornography is quite realistic, and probably something most people are afraid to see, and god knows it's probably a nightmare for most feminists, but for me, I found this movie fresh, insightful, and completely courageous..
Awkward mix of romantic drama and sex comedy.
Instead it is an awkward mix of romantic drama and sex comedy.
I know that it is a good movie can be equally enjoyed by both sexes, but this tries to combine the genres which have a set audience in mind.It is a B grade movie.
Even Leelee Sobieski has done not done a good job.
Everything is just to contrived.By the way it is not a sex comedy, so if you are expecting that I recommend you watch something else.
There is a small payoff for those who like romantic movies, but I don't think it is worth it to watch the whole thing..
This was a surprising eye opener for being an independent film yet it was one of the funniest that I've seen in a long time.
The humor comes from the best place of all, the underbelly of adult entertainment, which has seen it's share of jokes.
However, the sense of humor along with the well hidden, good nature behind a lot of the characters makes for a fantastic film with a great twist!
I would say this film is very under-rated and VERY well rounded and would also say that this movie is certainly not for kids..
A smart and hilarious movie which blends traditional romantic comedy with a fresh independent point of view.
I've never seen a film quite like 'Finding Bliss'.
The first half of the film is a raunchy, over-the-top character piece about an idealistic college grad, Jody, who moves to Hollywood with the dream of making romantic comedies.
She ends up getting hired to edit a porn film, and being broke and desperate, takes the job.
The second half of the film moves into romantic comedy territory when Jody falls for bad boy porn director Jeff Drake (played by Matt Davis, a delectable actor).
The porn stars aren't the typical trashy vacant types we so often see in films (even dim-witted Jamie Kennedy ends up having a loyal, loving heart), and good girl Jody isn't quite the good girl after all, but is a complicated woman, who makes choices that often contradict what she thinks she wants, and is really quite unlike any female heroine in recent memory.
In this film, that counts for not only romantic comedy, but real life.
Young woman in the adult film industry.
This is not your typical romantic comedy.A young Jewish woman named Jody Balaban ends up editing porn films.There she meets a charming porn director Jeff Drake.Finding Bliss (2009) is directed by Julie Davis.Leele Sobieski is just the right gal to play Jody.Matthew Davis does great work as Jeff.Denise Richards is terrific as Laura/Bliss.Jamie Kennedy is quite funny as Dick Harder.3rd Rock from the Sun's Kristen Johnston is great as Irene.Mircea Monroe is marvelous as Sindi.Caroline Aaron and Tim Bagley are very good as Jody's parents Debra and Alan.Garry Marshall is seen as himself, as is porn legend Ron Jeremy.This is a pretty sweet movie, despite the fact it takes place in the porn industry.It is about these two persons finding each other.At first these two share pretty few similarities.Jody is sexually more conservative while Jeff makes women do all kinds of acts in movies.The movie manages also to be quite funny.Like the dildo business.And it is pretty hot..
I have to say I too wanted to like this movie but unfortunately there was very little to root for other that Denise Richards and almost all of the supporting cast.
There wasn't a second that I bought LeeLee Sobieski as a "film geek", she was too ...
It strangely felt at times that the actors were saying someone else's line from another scene in someone else's movie.
It's almost like I wish they could cut out her scenes and put them in a better movie..
One, the cover of the DVD said "It's Boogie Nights for women", the second was that it was about a recent film school graduate who gets to work in the porn industry.
Well, not only to pay the bills, but so that she can use the studio at night and edit suites to make her own damn movie.
You can immediately tell, if you couldn't from the cast: Leelee Sobieski, Denise Richards, Jamie Kennedy, Kristen Johnston and then some porn stars.
It was written and directed by a woman, so the film is her basically a woman's view of the porn industry.
Obviously working as an editor on a porn movie during the day and directing your own movie at night will take a toll on you, it does for our lead character.
The real reason this film fails is because not only does it lack humour, but it lacks heart.
Psychological studies have been done that show a difference between the things that men and women find funny, and this movie, like "Sex And The City," ought to appeal to females.The story itself, no doubt covered elsewhere, has Sobieski as a recent graduate of film school who can only find work as an editor for what the handsome young producer calls "adult entertainment." She has to learn what a "gaper" is.
Young Film Editor Dreams of Making It Big in Hollywood.
I found it to be one of the most engaging, heart-warming, and funny romantic comedies of the year.
It always amazes me how some larger budget films get all of the hype and promotion when they have no real "heart" and a thin plot line, and how small budget movies such as this, with a great story and plot line are passed over.
The movie has a lot of heart.The story is about a girl who dreams since childhood of becoming a film maker, seeks her dream in Hollywood, only to be rebuffed by the usual obstacles, until she unknowingly responds to an ad for her editing skills and finds she is being interviewed by a porn studio.
A devil's bargain is struck, with possible predictable consequences, but the laughs from the hapless cast members, and the ups and downs of her relationships with them make for a wonderful story, well told, with a meaningful ending.Hopefully, this film will see a broader release and get the audience it deserves..
A mild comedy love story that isn't the porn movie that it seems to be..
I found this movie to be very good and dealt with the subject of Adult Entertainment in a way that did not over sexualize the movie or that it would cross the boundary of porn.
While LeeLee Sobieski did a good job carrying this film, I personally had a little difficulty with her filling this role following and often reflecting back to the job that she did in Joan of Arc; And I can't myself seem to move beyond how different these two roles are from one another.
Yet I recall her bit part in Eyes Wide Shut and seem to understand her versatility while she seeks to define and identify the type of actress that she wants to be remembered for, I truly hope that she and her fans choose not to define her by roles such as her two films Eyes Wide Shut and Finding Bliss which may stereotype her as a women of poor choices.
although I must acknowledge that she may have taken the role in Eyes Wide Shut just to work with the Stanley Kubrick.All the actors in this film were well fitted to their roles, Although I felt that the script and some of the dialog seemed to have holes that could have been filled better.
such as the basket of sex toys.Overall I would recommend this film to others with the stern warning and promise that while it was breaching a subject that many may find undesirable and often using language that may be broad in its descriptions as a way to bring reality to the story, This movie was done with as much taste as it could be given and still point out some of the realities of the Adult Entertainment industry.
This is a romantic comedy that uses the pron industry as a background so guys will watch it.
The adult aspect is the crude porn language and simulated sex scenes.Leelee Sobieski stars a Jody, a naive near-virginal woman with her own sexual hang-ups.
She ends up editing adult videos for director Jeff Drake (Matt Davis) who wants to show adult movies in main stream art theaters.
Jody has her own script, which is perhaps too autobiographical, about a girl who wants to wait for sex.
She uses the studio...and their actors to make the film.
It seems every porno star wants to be a legitimatize actor and would do anything for the opportunity.The movie was mildly funny.
This isn't a parody or a satire despite the movie plot being about the porn industry.
It has all the elements of a typical porn movie: pun name, hesitant virgin, perfect bodies, gratuitous sex.
It's not a romantic comedy.
Despite no education or experience, porn stars are genuine actors and deserve to cross over. |
tt0278315 | Arjun Pandit | Arjun Pandit (Sunny Deol) is madly in love with Nisha (Juhi Chawla), a model. He gets her kidnapped by his men and wants to celebrates her birthday, but she tells him that she does not like him.
In the past, Arjun Dixit (Arjun Pandit) was a peaceful, God-loving man who lived in Haridwar. He is a professor at a university in Haridwar. One day, Nisha comes to his town to research Sanskrit language. Spending time with her, Arjun realizes that he is in love with her. She is also attracted to him, but sees him as a coward man because of his peaceful ways of dealing with rogue like Sanjay (Shahbaz Khan), who is the rogue son of a woman MLA, bullies Nisha. Nisha challenges Arjun to show his manliness to Sanjay. Angered by Nisha's challenge Arjun beats Sanjay black-and-blue in public. Filled with anger, Sanjay swore vengeance on Arjun for the humiliation. Sanjay and his friends attack Arjun and Nisha while they were joyfully spending time together. Arjun fights Sanjay and his friends, Nisha then throws Arjun a sword which results in Arjun stabbing and killing Sanjay. Police arrives in a matter of time and Nisha tells the officer that Arjun has murdered Sanjay for his personal grudge. Arjun gets arrested and this is when Nisha shows her true colors and testifies against Arjun creating a confusing situation. Nisha visits Arjun at the prison and reveals that her full name is Nisha Chopra and that she is the sister of Sangeeta Chopra whom Arjun failed to save from the rogue like Sanjay whom was a son of MLA. In a flashback, Arjun remembers witnessing one of his students Sangeeta being raped by Sanjay. He runs towards the situation to assist but is stopped by Sanjay's friends. After Sanjay leaves alongside his friends, Arjun quickly takes her to the hospital and goes to the police station to file a complaint, but Sanjay threatens to rape Arjun's sister if he testifies against him, persuading Arjun not to testify. Hearing that Arjun would not testify against Sanjay. Sangeeta is told by the police that if Arjun gives the statement, they will arrest and punish Sanjay, ensuing Sangeeta to get justice. However Arjun, the eyewitness, is forced to give the inappropriate statement because of Sanjay's blackmailing. The case is closed, leaving Sangeeta burst into tears and urge to get justice. Sangeeta is then harassed and abused by majority of students at college. She writes a letter to her so-called sister Nisha about everything that happened to her including that if Arjun Dixit had the courage to give the right statement, she would get justice and would be able to avoid the dirty misunderstandings of people. Lastly, she writes that she will never forgive Arjun, neither should Nisha. She immediately commits suicide after writing the letter.
Returning to the present, Arjun is found guilty and is behind bars for murder, but then Sanjay's mother bails Arjun out using her influences and tells him that her son was wrong and deserved what he got. Arjun's parents and Nisha had already left the city. Knowing that, Sanjay's mother offers Arjun a job, but he turns down the offer, telling her that he has to go Mumbai. Arjun then goes to Mumbai in search of Nisha. While staying with his friend Shiva (Yashpal Sharma), he meets Haldiraam (Ashish Vidyarthi), a hideous criminal who runs a powerful gang. Arjun finally finds Nisha dancing in a club, while he tried to approach her he beats up a guy who was talking things about her in a vulgar way. The guy turned out to be the brother of a powerful don Ramu Kaalia (Mukesh Rishi) in Mumbai who is also one of Haldiraam's main rivals, taking this advantage Haldiraam kills the guy in the hospital making Arjun believe that he himself was responsible for the death. Haldiraam tells Arjun that the don will kill him, so Arjun should kill him first. Haldiraam hands Arjun a gun and tells him to go kill the don. The attempt is a failure, but this makes Arjun become a ruthless, cold-blooded criminal known as "Pandit", because of his hidden knowledge and yoga skills. Nisha is worried since Pandit is a strong criminal and he might pose a threat to her and her family. She is at a photoshoot, her photographer, as well as her friend, Imran (Annu Kapoor) notices her wrong posture and body language. She openly tells Imran that Arjun could harm her any time and that she is worried, though she reimproves her posture and gets busy in the photoshoot until Pandit reaches there. Seeing that Nisha is wearing tight and revealing clothes, he forcefully covers her and takes her to her house. Nisha says Arjun has no right to change her lifestyle and that she will wear whatever she wants. Pandit sets Nisha's clothes on fire, leaving her raged. She decides to marry one of her childhood friend Siddharth in order to get away from Pandit. Pandit learns that Nisha is getting married, so he makes his way to the marriage and messes things up, taking Nisha with him. Though police succeeds to capture Arjun and his men, but are threatened to stay still and not to shoot since Arjun was pointing a gun at Nisha. They take the jeep of police and flee. After too many ups and downs, Pandit forces Nisha to marry him by blackmailing her that he will kill her younger brother if she refuses. Nisha is forced to marry Pandit. Soon after they are married, Pandit emotionally laughs and says that in the past, he was also forced not to testify against Sanjay, or he would have raped his sister. Likewise now, Nisha was forced to marry Pandit, or he would have killed her brother. Nisha starts coming to the realization of her wrongdoing. Later Pandit allows Nisha to marry his friend Siddharth and start over. She is totally confused. Pandit takes her to Siddharth and apologizes for everything. While Pandit is returning to his car, he sees one of his man laying dead. This is when situation turns out blood-filled and violent. Haldiraam's men are after both Nisha and Pandit. Pandit makes his way to save Nisha and so he does. He beats all of Haldiraam's men and brutally kills Ramu Kaalia at the railway station. Haldiraam and other of his men are searching for Pandit and Nisha. Injured Pandit takes Nisha and hide underneath railroad track. They both see love in each other. Haldiraam is unable to find them until the train goes away, disclosing their hideout. Haldiraam finds them and hurts Pandit at first, but when he speaks smuttily about Nisha, Pandit is deranged and beats up Haldiraam. Though he does not kill him since they needed a witness to present in court. Nisha apologizes to Arjun and Arjun forgives her. In the end, they recall their student-teacher relationship and laugh. | romantic, revenge, murder, violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | Whoo!.
Arjun Pandit is truly one of the most mind-blowing action movies I have ever seen!
Sunny Deol's character is somewhat different as he plays a simple, god-fearing yoga professor, who believes in nonviolence.
Later circumstances lead him into a web of deceit and danger, as he eventually learns the truth and becomes Arjun Pandit, who is sort of a hit-man for one of the dons.
When he finds out that he is being used as a pawn, he turns vengeful against the baddies, and in a totally explosive and bloody battle, our Jat hero survives and wins the day at last, plus he gets the girl; the song in the climax was soooooo unnecessary.
This action film is the comeback of Sunny Deol with Rahul Rawail.
Their later movie together, JBSN in '05 was funny!
Arjun Pandit is a good action movie.
Recommended for Sunny fans!.
Good move But. Watched this movie recently.Unfortunately many doesn't know the fact that this is the remake/rehashed version of 1995 classic Kannada movie 'Om' directed by Upendra starring Shivarajkumar.I watched the original Kannada movie in theater at least twice.Here they completely shifted the story from Bangalore underworld to Mumbai underworld.As usual Sunny Deol over acts in some scenes.Rahul Rawail disappoints big time.Juhi Chawla does her job pretty good.This is only one time watchable movie.All the supporting cast did a pretty good job.I think the director made this movie after the success of Sathya.This movie is only for Sunny Deol fans..
remake of Kannada hit film-om-nobody except one mentioned it in reviews-watch original.
AM A BIG FAN OF SUNNY..
I HAVE WATCHED ORIGINAL KANNADA FILM STARRING SOUTH FILM STAR SHIVARJ KUMAR-ONE OF BEST COMBINATION OF SHIVU N UPENDRA...in Kannada it was a big hit n still today considered classic(although not with a good subject)..and remade in Hindi-Telugu(Dr rajshekhar ) Tamil,but all failed to win except Hindi n Kannada...!!both original and remake(Hindi) good.
its nice to c sunny in such role...
he did justice to his role..sunny rocks...i give it 9/10...must watch for sunny fans...
Not up to the mark..
Music is good.
Action is good.
Dialogue is good.
Sunny and Juhi as well as other done their best.
Combination of a good movie.
Buy typical '90s.
Old story.
Uneven execution.
Forgettable..
Not Bad Not Good.
Arjun Pandit has one of those highly improbable stories that only Bollywood can dream of, but powerful performances and steady direction make it tolerable and even watchable at times.
Mumbai is abuzz with news about a gangster called Pandit, whose chamchas seem to be abnormally worried about the well-being of Nisha Chopra (Juhi Chawla), a starlet/dancer.
When they finally take Nisha to meet Pandit, he turns out to be Arjun Dikshit (Sunny Deol).
You anticipate a long flashback, but none makes its appearance.
Instead, Pandit scares Nisha, celebrates her birthday, eats enough chocolate cake to make anyone sick, and leaves you wondering where the script is going..
Excellent Rahul-Sunny comeback.
An excellent comeback for Rahul-Sunny pair.
Actions are really very storming, esp, the one in Buddhist Math.
Also, action sequence in the climax became very lively amidst railway tracks.
The turning point where Sunny came to know that Juhi had played all the games just to take revenge was also good.
Overall, you will never feel bored in the movie.
This is another hit movie for Sunny-Juhi which turned out to be hit.
I don't think it would have been possible for any other actor to replace Sunny.
But still Sunny doesn't seems very comfortable in the romantic moments with Juhi.
During climax Juhi suddenly realizes Sunnys true love for her that was also portrayed very beautifully. |
tt0035170 | Panama Hattie | Act I
Hattie Maloney owns a night club in the Panama Canal Zone where she also performs. Three sailors from the S.S. Idaho, Skat Briggs, Windy Deegan and Woozy Hoga, ask her to sing at a party they are organizing ("Join It Right Away"). Nick Bullet, Hattie’s fiance, is a wealthy Navy officer. They are about to meet his eight-year-old daughter Geraldine (Jerry), off the boat from Philadelphia. He tells Hattie, "My Mother Would Love You". Hattie, eager to make a good impression on her prospective stepdaughter, spends three weeks' wages on her elaborately frilly outfit. But when she arrives, Jerry makes fun of Hattie's clothing and way of speaking. Feeling that her marriage is off, Hattie gets drunk on rum ("I’ve still Got my Health"). Kitty-Belle, the daughter of Admiral Whitney Randolph, wants to marry Nick, and she schemes to end his romance with Hattie.
Florrie, a singer in the night club, develops a crush on Nick's very proper butler Vivian Budd ("Fresh as a Daisy"). Nick’s efforts to persuade Jerry and Hattie to get along with each other finally succeed, with Jerry making the still hungover Hattie cut the bows off her dress and shoes ("Let’s Be Buddies"). Jerry gives Hattie advice on how to behave like a lady at a party where she is to be presented to Nick’s boss, the Admiral ("I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight"). Admiral Randolph is to be presented with a cup, and his daughter Kitty-Belle suggests that Hattie might present it filled with goldenrod. This gives Whitney hay fever; Hattie is blamed, and Nick is ordered not to marry Hattie.
Act II
The sailors from the S. S. Idaho uncover a spy plot involving saboteurs. Hattie swears off rum ("Make It Another Old Fashioned Please"). Hattie has it out with Kitty-Belle, whose boyfriend keeps being called in whenever Hattie is on the verge of hitting her. Meanwhile, Florrie continues to try to attract the romantic attention of Budd ("All I’ve Got to Get Now is My Man"). Hattie, two of the sailors and Budd meet regarding these various threads ("You Said It"). Mildred Hunter, Kitty-Belle’s best friend, turns out to be a terrorist ("Who would Have Dreamed"). She gives Jerry a secret package to put in Nick’s desk. Fortunately, Hattie overhears the plot to blow up the Panama Canal control room, finds the bomb and throws it out, saving the day. The grateful Admiral Whitney retracts his order and the sailors praise Hattie ("God Bless the Woman"). | romantic | train | wikipedia | I felt it my patriotic duty to write a comment, since this movie was commentless.
A little background: I'm a big fan of Cole Porter, Ann Sothern, musicals, and 40's movies, and had been wanting to see this film for a while before I actually saw it this afternoon.
I saw another 30's Cole Porter musical turned into 40's movie, Dubarry Was a Lady.
Red Skelton was an idiot.
So, I entered with trepidation the world of Panama Hattie to realise that the script was quite witty, full of sight gags, yes, but tasteful sight gags, the non-Porter songs were not crap, Ann Sothern is a competent vocalist(Nothing compared to Merman, who originated the part, but really, who is anything compared to Merman?), and Lena Horne's in it.
Any movie with two Lena Horne numbers is worth watching simply for Lena Horne.
But, I suggest watching this movie for more than just Lena Horne.
While she is the best songstress of the bunch, Virginia O'Brian is rather fun to watch with her deadpan singing.
She was quite famous for that, as I vaguely recall watching a short of her doing a lavish production number with Jimmy Durante or someone similar.
I found Red Skelton, whom I so loathed in Dubarry Was a Lady, to be extremely likeable, along with his sailor buddies.
Rags Ragland was the funniest of the three, but I came away wanting to marry Ben Blue.
Dan Dailey was also fun to see, but I thought it was very odd that he didn't get a musical number.
Anyway, the plot is slim to none, but the movie really wasn't about plot, it was about fun and peddling war bonds..
PANAMA HATTIE (1942) is two different movies, plotwise.
One movie is about nightclub singer Hattie Maloney and her romance with a young soldier from a well-to-do Philadelphia family.
The other film is a slapstick comedy about a trio of sailors on shore leave, with a penchant for catching spies.
Juggling both, only tenuously connected plots in a 79-minute time frame means that neither story is properly developed.
And both stories give way to extended musical numbers, particularly at the end.Despite its obvious weaknesses, PANAMA HATTIE is a very entertaining collection of parts.
Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, and Ben Blue make a fine comedic team.
Ann Sothern impresses with her singing and Lena Horne is showcased in a couple of musical numbers with the dancing Berry Brothers.Two favorites of mine, the offbeat "deadpan" singer Virginia O'Brien and the lovely Marsha Hunt, are welcome presences in the congenial ensemble.
O'Brien shines in fun numbers like "Fresh as a Daisy" and "(Did I Get Stinkin') At the Savoy".
Hunt's mildly antagonistic Philadelphia snob is a bit of a change of pace for her, and she has some great comedic moments opposite Skelton.The film's finale becomes an interesting showcase of wartime patriotism, capped by the entire cast singing "The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam" about bombing the Japs and Heinies right off their Axis and whatnot.
The comic antics of Red Skelton was substituted for the songs of Cole Porter in this MGM adaption of his Broadway show Panama Hattie.
His other contemporaries suffered the same fate, but in Porter's case more so because of the sophisticated and naughty lyrics he wrote.Ethel Merman starred on Broadway beginning a run that lasted 501 performances.
Only Rags Ragland who along with Ben Blue was one of Red's sidekicks as a trio of oafish sailors who capture enemy spies by accident is the only survivor from the Broadway cast.
Ann Sothern takes Ethel's place as the star and she performs along with young Jackie Horner the big hit of the Broadway show Let's Be Buddies.
Only I've Still Got My Health and Fresh As A Daisy survived from Porter's original score.
But one of the best is from Porter himself when Lena Horne sang Just One Of Those Things.
In fact it doesn't get better than that.In the title role Sothern is the owner of a nightclub located in the Panama Canal Zone which is frequented like Rick's Cafe Americaine of all kinds of people from our Armed Forces and from an international assortment of mysterious and intriguing figures.
Some of them are planning to do damage to the Canal.Some are planning to damage to Sothern like Marsha Hunt who has her eye set on Army sergeant Dan Dailey.
But with Sothern guarding what she's got a previous claim on and the comic sailors guarding the Canal the spirit of America carries on.
Panama Hattie is more Red Skelton than Cole Porter and Porter fans will not be happy.
But it is a fun wartime film..
Even though Ethyl Merman originated the role on Broadway, she was not considered attractive enough to carry the starring top billing.
I am a real fan of Cole Porter and will watch anything he is involved with.
Unfortunately, a lot of his work is either not included in movies that tout "music by Cole Porter", or is thrown out because it may not be mainstream for the audience of the day.
Good example is "Anything Goes."This is a movie you watch for the musical performance and dancing, not the story.
I pull out the DVD about twice a year and again visit Cole Porter and this innocent musical.Lena Horne is outstanding..
mediocre MGM version of Merman's Broadway hit.
Highly mediocre musical is a botched filmization of Ethel Merman's Broadway smash.
In this one, the marvelous Ann Sothern at the peak of her pin-up girl beauty almost saves the film with another delightful performance.
Glossy MGM production values and a game cast including Dan Dailey, Red Skelton, Virginia O'Brien and the lovely Lena Horne give it their all.
Story is very thin but this was still a huge hit at the time.
Probably because Miss Sothern was then one of MGM's top box-office draws at the time.
Sothern's "Lady Be Good"(MGM,1941) is a far superior film with a charming script and an Oscar-winning song but was somehow less popular than "Panama Hattie." WHo knows why some films make a fortune and others tank.....
Okay, taken as a whole, the movie is pretty much a mess, particularly the storyline, which even by generous standards of the Hollywood musical is pretty much impossible.
That too is not surprising given the large number of featured players, with some like Dailey and Esmond left to drift around the edges.
Add the undistinguished musical numbers, except of course for Horne's eye-catching and tuneful Just One of Those Things, and the 80- minutes amounts to a disappointment.However, there are compensations.
These are energetic and colorful little comedy segments—too bad the rest doesn't reach this level, especially the under-inspired and over-long mansion knock- about sequence.
Nonetheless, Ragland and Skelton are a natural team and would go on to bigger and better routines.
Anyway, the movie looks to me like a good example of a cast being a lot better than the material.
.. Film version of Cole Porter's Panama Hattie is a mixed bag but worth a look for anyone not minding that.
After years of only reading a bit about this movie, I finally saw Panama Hattie on a DVD I borrowed from the library.
Adapted from a Cole Porter musical comedy, this film version only retains 4 of his songs from it with another one he wrote called "Just One of Those Things" from another musical he wrote it for.
Lena Horne sang that one and another song written by someone else which she performs with The Berry Brothers dancers who also have another number.
The stars are Ann Sothern in the title role and Red Skelton as one of three sailors-the others being Rags Ragland and Ben Blue-who are involved in a plot to expose spies.
Ms. Sothern has a romantic subplot involving her romance with Dan Dailey but really, it doesn't really go anywhere while the sailors/spies one at least has some good laughs.
Oh, and since this was made during wartime, it ends with a number meant to get America cheering the eventual destruction of the Japs which while understandable for the time it was made sounds very politically incorrect today.
But none of this is supposed to be taken seriously so on that note, Panama Hattie is worth a look for anyone interested in these vintage old movies..
Ann Sothern is "Panama Hattie" in this 1942 film based on the Broadway musical starring Ethel Merman.
Also starring are Dan Dailey, Red Skelton, Rags Ragland, Ben Blue, Virginia O'Brien (as Flo, originated on Broadway by Betty Hutton), Marsha Hunt, Lena Horne and the Berry Brothers.
The story concerns a vivacious nightclub singer (Sothern) who falls in love with a man (Dailey) who has a young daughter, but she has competition from a socially prominent woman who warns Hattie that she's not of his class and won't make a good wife.
There is a subplot concerning spies who are uncovered by three sailors (Skelton, Ragland and Blue).This a very old-fashioned musical comedy plot with pleasant music, the highlight being "Just One of Those Things" as sung by the beautiful Lena Horne.
The singing from Sothern and O'Brien is very good, and Sothern does well as the insecure, vulnerable and sometimes overdressed singer.
The problem for me are the Three Stooges-like sailors - a little bit of that goes a long way.Watch it for the singing and the patriotic "Good Neighbors" finale - it was wartime..
Not exactly a Red Skelton film..
While the credits list Red Skelton and Ann Sothern as the leads in this film, it certainly is NOT a Skelton film...though he is in it.
In fact, he plays a smaller supporting role--one of three lovable dumbbell sailors who help out the title character.
So, if you are a big Skelton fan (like me), you'll probably find the film to be a big disappointment.The film is set in Panama but clearly is a script based on a stage production in style.
In other words, the plot seems to be very thin and often nonsensical and the production is stuffed full of songs.
The songs, while by Cole Porter, aren't especially memorable but the dance numbers by the uncredited Berry Brothers are awfully good.The plot is just plain goofy.
Hattie (Sothern) has somehow fallen in love with a soldier (Dan Dailey) who comes from a fancy-shmancy family...which is a problem since Hattie is just a dame who sings in nightclubs.
Can Hattie, with help from her three idiot friends, somehow win over the child and marry the guy?
Along the way, it gets SUPER strange--with spies, big production numbers and none of of makes a lot of sense.
That single kernel, that one diamond hidden in the dirt, is an excellent little dance routine by the three comedians.
More about that later.This is one of those movies constructed in a way I most loathe—the characters talk their way through an unpleasant story that bores me to death, and unsympathetic characters (Ann Southern doesn't get along with a child; how unsympathetic can you get????).
In amongst all this are three highly-talented comedians, and a bunch of speciality song-and-dance numbers.I hate specialty numbers.
It would be so much better if they did these acrobatics as part of a story, like Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd.
I hated it when Hal Roach did this to Laurel & Hardy and I hate it in this movie.But one scene—ONE number is the sole reason to keep this DVD.
About 31 minutes in, Red, Rags and Ben do a characterful little dance.
Now I've been searching to find out if Red Skelton could really dance—he said once that he could dance, but I've never seen him do a good number in his TV shows nor in all the movies I've seen so far; and I've wanted to see Ben Blue do a nice number—because I wondered how someone so contrived could have been a successful performer (and it was obvious that he was a great dancer).Well, here it is, for a very, very, MUCH TOO SHORT moment or two, the comedians get to do some real dancing.
This is dancing with technique, but also infused with great personality and THAT is the dancing I like to see!For the rest of the movie...
I don't see why people like Ann Southern—she has a voice like a kazoo and she doesn't do much with her dancing.
The comedy trio is good when they dance, but the rest of time......I would actually have preferred to see the Three Stooges doing their sketches!!
Red, Rags and Ben are SO LAME here I couldn't believe it.
Ann Sothern sings up a storm here, especially at the beginning of the film to remind us that this comic legend had quite a nice voice in her time.The picture starts off promising, but goes downhill rapidly even with Red Skelton and Ben Blue in it.
The two comedians are given little opportunity to show this comedic talents.
As her suitor, we really could have seen Ann's developing a better relationship with his daughter, after a very rocky beginning.How about the spy situation in that house?
The ending patriotic song was great, but the story line is so terribly weak..
Ordinary but mostly enjoyable farrago, mixing song and dance, propaganda, comic routines "a la Three Stooges", and espionage.
When it follows the plot of the romance between a refined American soldier and the trashy title singer (an American showgirl lost in Central America), aided by a trio of American sailors and the leading lady's American best friend, and hindered by an American officer's daughter, with all of them in a cardboard Panamá, it is a happy musical, the typical romantic comedy full of music.
The sing and dance numbers blend quite well with the plot (though a couple of songs are on the ugly side, as "Good Neighbors" and "The Sping").
But when the spying subplot is introduced out of the blue (to destroy the Panama Canal one more time), the film goes off-balance and it never recovers, with a terrible propaganda finale as the cast sings the awful "The Son of a Gun Who Picks on Uncle Sam" (by Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg) before the end title selling war bonds appears.
However the two previous acts were much better, and counterbalance the bad impression a bit, even if we take into consideration the rather offensive representation of Panamá as a small village out of a Mexican ranch comedy, in a time when international singers, orchestras and dancers (including Evita Perón) performed at prestigious cabarets in the capital city; and worst of all (for an American movie), a most inaccurate portrait of the Panama Canal Zone administered by the United States Armed Forces.
In spite of all the bad things said and written about the troubled film (with director Norman Z.
McLeod walking off the production), "Panama Hattie" will make you no harm in 79 minutes, it contains several fine moments of entertainment for you to enjoy, and I am sure that you have seen much worse musicals..
Old King Cole was not a merry Broadway soul with altered film versions of his biggest 30's and 40's hits..
Cole Porter and Ethel Merman struck gold on stage with half a dozen hits but the movie versions of these shows greatly edited down his songs, made alterations to the stories, and gave da Merm's part to contract players.
"Panama Hattie" went to M.G.M's Maisie, only changing the name to Hattie which makes the role indistinguishable for star Ann Sothern.
Add in newcomer Red Skelton, comic sidekicks Rags Ragland and Ben Blue, and it is obvious that this is a streamlined version of a stage hit that ran for over 500 performances.The plot switches gears from romance to farce, easily wrapping up each plot in order to throw in some specialty numbers.
Lena Horne has a cameo singing, very briefly, "Just one of Those Things", and later the mediocre "The Sping", which at least a lively dance sequence to go with it.
Virginia O'Brien gets at least a character to play in addition to her two deadpan songs.
Sothern does get two of Merman's hits and is especially memorable with "I've still got my Health".
Future Betty Grable partner Dan Dailey is Sothern's love interest and Marsha Hunt a bitchy rival, but both are wasted.
Pleasant and fun film that loses its way.
This film really belonged to Ann Southern (Hattie), but it came along just as Red Skelton was skyrocketing, so he got top billing.
I'm not complaining; I've always been a fan of Red. This is a pleasant enough B movie, but if you watch for the Cole Porter songs (this is an adaption of a Cole Porter Broadway musical), you'll be disappointed.
Only 4 of Porter's song make it into the film.
Interestingly, the musical numbers were staged by Vincente Minnelli.Skelton is just what you want Skelton to be, although it's pretty clear the top billing came after the script was written.
We have forgotten how talented Ann Southern was...perhaps because of her later years in television.
Rags Ragland (who was always best with Skelton) and Ben Blue are along for laughs.
Dan Dailey is Southern's love interest.
Lena Horne takes a couple of turns as a singer, but gets no billing.
And the spectacular African-American dancers The Berry Brothers are stunning, but also got no billing.Unfortunately, just about an hour into the film, it seems to lose direction.
Let's see, I thought it was about the love story between Southern and Dailey...oops, that disappears until the very end of the film.
Oh, suddenly it's about the zany trio (Skelton, Blue, Ragland) catching spies...well, it is, for a few minutes.
And so it goes.But, it's a sort of fun pic and good for a watch. |
tt0050763 | Night Passage | On the way to meet his former boss, railroad tycoon Ben Kimball (Jay C. Flippen), Grant McLaine (Stewart) rescues a young boy, Joey Adams (Brandon deWilde), from Concho (Robert J. Wilke). Ben informs Grant that his payroll has been robbed three times already by a gang led by Whitey Harbin (Dan Duryea) and the Utica Kid (Murphy). If Ben's workers don't get paid soon, they will all leave the end-of-track work camp. Grant accepts the undercover job of carrying $10,000 to the crew by train.
When the train is held up again, Grant hides the money in a shoebox carried by Joey. The ploy works, but the young boy turns out to be friends with the Utica Kid, who takes him along with him. When the robbers cannot find the money, Whitey takes Ben's wife Verna (Elaine Stewart) to hold for ransom. Concho, a gang member, pistol-whips Grant, tumbling him down the steep embankment unconscious. The train leaves without him.
When Grant wakes up, he trails the gang to an abandoned mining camp. He boldly asks to join up, revealing that he is the Kid's older brother [interestingly, the Kid's given name is Lee]. Utica is suspicious of his heretofore honest sibling, so Whitey (who dislikes the Kid) accepts him. Concho tries to shoot Grant unexpectedly, but Grant is faster to the draw. Afterwards, he tells the Kid where the money is, in an attempt to reform his brother. It doesn't work. The Kid gives Grant ten minutes to leave before he tells the gang, but Grant calls his bluff.
Then, railroad employee Will Renner (Herbert Anderson) shows up to collect his share of the loot. He had been Whitey's informant. He recognizes Grant (by the song he sings and plays on his accordion) as the man assigned to deliver the payroll. A gunfight ensues, in and out of the barroom. Grant, Verna and Charlotte "Charlie" Drew (Dianne Foster), the Kid's girlfriend, take refuge behind the bar temporarily. Grant sends Verna to safety down the mountain in an ore tram. Charlie refuses to leave. Meanwhile, the Kid is planning to quietly leave with Joey and the money.
However, Joey rushes to Grant's side, and the Kid reluctantly joins forces with his brother. They kill all the gang members except Whitey. When Whitey crawls up close and shoots at Grant, the Kid steps in, taking the bullet. Grant then kills Whitey. Grant buries his brother before they ride to the camp. With Grant's urging, Joey gets to work on his "promised" job, hauling water. Grant decides that his old job of railroad troubleshooter is a "better fit" than the offered position of being next in charge. The final scene is of the locomotive moving down the valley along the river into the foreground, with the theme song "Follow the River" softly playing. | cult, revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0045886 | Houdini | In the 1890s, young Harry Houdini (Tony Curtis) is performing with a Coney Island carnival as Bruto, the Wild Man, when Bess (Janet Leigh), a naive onlooker, tries to protect him from the blows of Schultz (Sig Ruman), his "trainer." Harry then appears as magician The Great Houdini and, spotting Bess in the audience, invites her on stage. Harry flirts with the unsuspecting Bess during his act, but she flees from him in a panic. When Bess shows up to watch Harry perform two more times, however, he corners her. Bess admits her attraction, and soon after, the two appear at Harry's mother's house, newly married. Bess becomes Harry's onstage partner, touring the country with him, but soon grows tired of the low pay and grueling schedule.
After Bess convinces Harry to take a job in a locksmith factory, Harry works as a lock tester while fantasizing about escaping from one of the factory's large safes. On Halloween, Harry and Bess attend a special magicians' dinner at the Hotel Astor, during which magician Fante offers a prize to anyone who can free himself from a straitjacket. Harry accepts the challenge and, through intense concentration, extricates himself from the jacket, greatly impressing Fante. Afterward, however, Fante advises Harry to "drop it," noting that Johann Von Schweger, a German magician, retired at the height of his career after performing a similar feat, fearful of his own talents. Bess then persuades Harry to give her his prize, a single, round-trip boat ticket to Europe, so that she can cash it in for a down payment on a house.
Later, at the factory, Harry locks himself inside one of the big safes, determined to make an escape. Before he can get out, however, the foreman orders the safe blown open, then fires Harry. That night, in front of his mother (Angela Clarke), Harry and Bess argue about their future, and frustrated by Bess's insistence that he quit magic, Harry walks out. Soon, a contrite Bess finds Harry performing with a carnival and presents him with two one-way tickets to Europe. Sometime later, at a London theater, Harry and Bess are concluding their magic act when a reporter named Dooley (Michael Pate) challenges Harry to break out of one of Scotland Yard's notoriously secure jail cells. Harry, who hired Dooley to issue the challenge, accepts the challenge, unaware that the jail's cells do not have locks in the door, but on the outside wall. Despite the added difficulty, the dexterous, determined Houdini picks the cell lock and appears on time for his next performance. Now billed as the "man who escaped from Scotland Yard," Harry begins a successful tour of Europe with Bess.
In Berlin, Harry is joined by his mother and begins searching for the reclusive Von Schweger. While performing an impromptu levitation trick with Bess at a restaurant, Harry is arrested for fraud. During his trial, Harry denies that he ever made claims to supernatural powers, insisting that all his tricks are accomplished through physical means. To prove his point, Harry locks himself in a safe in the courtroom and breaks out a few minutes later, noting that safe locks are designed to keep thieves out, not in. Vindicated, Harry then goes to see Von Schweger, who finally has responded to his queries, but learns from Von Schweger's assistant, Otto (Torin Thatcher), that the magician died two days earlier. Otto reveals that Von Schweger summoned Harry to ask him the secret of "dematerialization," a feat he accomplished once but could not repeat. Although Harry demurs, Otto insists on becoming Harry's new assistant and travels with him to New York City.
There, Harry finds he is virtually unknown, so for publicity, hangs upside down on a skyscraper flagpole, constrained by a straitjacket. Harry executes the escape and soon makes a name for himself in America. To prepare to be submerged in a box in the chilly Detroit River, Harry bathes in an ice-filled bathtub. During the trick, which takes place on Halloween, the chain holding the box breaks, and the box drops upside down into an opening in the ice-covered river. Although Harry manages to escape from the box, the current drags him downstream, and he struggles to find air pockets under the ice and swim back to the opening. Above, Bess and the horrified audience assume Harry has drowned and proclaim his demise. To Bess's relief, Harry shows up later at their hotel, saying that he heard his mother's voice, directing him toward the opening. Just then, Harry receives word that his mother died at the exact time that he heard her voice.
Two years later in New York, Harry, who has not performed since his mother's death, reveals to Simms (Douglas Spencer), a reporter, that he has been trying to contact his mother's spirit, without success. Harry invites Simms to attend a seance with him, and after the medium appears to have communicated with his mother, Harry and Otto expose her as a fake. After a public crusade against phony mediums, Harry decides to return to the stage and builds a watery torture cell for the occasion. Terrified, Bess threatens to leave Harry unless he drops the dangerous trick, and he agrees not to perform it. Before the show, Harry admits to Otto that his appendix is tender, but goes on, despite the pain. When the audience noisily demands that he perform the advertised "water torture" trick, Harry succumbs and is immersed, upside down, in a tank of water. Weak, Harry cannot execute the escape and loses consciousness. Otto breaks the tank's glass, and after reviving, the now-dying Harry vows to a weeping Bess that he will come back. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0085031 | The Hitchhiker | While travelling through Utah, Jack Carter picks up a hitchhiker, but kicks him out after a few minutes due to the man hitting on him. Hours later, Jack stops in a secluded area, and begins digging a grave for the woman he had bound and gagged in the back of his pickup truck.
Four women (Melinda, Patty, Kristina, and Denise) from Colorado Springs are driving through the area on their way to a nurse's conference in Las Vegas. Spotting Jack hitchhiking, the quartet pick him up, and soon after experience car trouble, forcing them to stop at a roadside motel. The manager tells the group that the nearest service station does not open until the morning, so they elect to stay. During the night, Jack shows interest in Melinda, and has rough sex with Kristina, who has a fiancé.
In the morning, the mechanic arrives, and is shot to death by Jack after the two travel to Jack's abandoned truck. Jack returns to the motel, where he murders the manager and takes the women captive after drugging them. Jack gives a misogynistic speech, and implies he is doing this due to having been "betrayed" by his girlfriend or wife. While sexually assaulting Denise and Melinda, Jack is knocked out by the latter, who tries to escape with her friends. The vehicles will either not work, or are missing their keys, so the women decide to kill Jack, who awakens while being attacked, and fatally shoots Kristina. The others are recaptured, and while Jack is binding Melinda (who he has developed a fondness for, and regards as "special") a married couple arrives, looking for a room.
After giving the couple a room, Jack kills the husband when he goes to investigate noises coming from the room Melinda and the others are in. Jack places the man's wife, Susan, with the other captives, and shoots Patty in the head after Denise goes on an insult-laden rant against him. As Jack sleeps, Susan uses her cellphone to repeatedly dial 911, prompting a pair of police officers to stop by in the morning. Jack gets into a shootout with the officers, who he kills while Melinda, Denise, and Susan drive off in their patrol car. A chase ensues, during which Susan is shot in the head, and Jack is run over.
Weeks later, Denise visits Melinda, and it is revealed that Jack had survived, and is being tried in Wyoming, where he murdered at least two women. That night, Jack, who had escaped from custody and hitchhiked his way to Colorado, breaks into Melinda's home, and ties her husband to a chair. Jack declares his love for Melinda, who responds by rejecting him, shooting him in the stomach, and then in the face. | revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | One of the best suspense and thriller series in TV history..
"The, Hitchhiker" had it all mixed into every episode a little suspense, drama, terror, revenge, sex, and fun.
This series always kept you on the edge of your seat you never knew what was going to happen, every episode was well written and the acting was clever the series featured many movie stars and stars of other series.
I remember watching most of my episodes of "The, Hitchhiker" in the early 90's on the USA Network it became an every Friday and Saturday night thing with me that was to tune in and watch "The, Hitchhiker".
I remember that HBO originally started this series in the mid 80's and it lasted until 1989.
Each episode starts out with the eerie theme music which in my opinion was one of the best in TV history.
Then Page Fletcher who was just great as the hitchhiker starts each episode off with an introduction speech and then summarized the story with a closing speech in the end.
Each episode was full of mystery and suspense one of my favorite was "The, Legendary Billy B." with Kirstie Alley as a nosy reporter who gets what she deserves.
Almost every episode featured beautiful women and it's bulk of sexy moments.
I miss this series so much I wish that some network would once again start showing reruns.
To my knowledge no network shows "The, Hitchhiker" reruns, I was told that certain episodes are available on VHS volume tape I wish I could find the tapes or someone would let me know where I could find the tapes at.
"The, Hitchhiker" was one of my favorite series of all-time I suggest you watch many episodes if you haven't, you will be glad you did..
To get right down to it, this show makes Tales From the Crypt look like a Disney series.
Some of the episodes are a bit corny, but they are so in that bizarre, remote 80's way.
I remember watching the re-runs on USA when I was in grade school (that song gave me nightmares), and those showings were edited.
The unedited episodes are the real deal, but unfortunately only a few are for sale on VHS and they are no longer shown on any HBO channel.
If you are an enthusiast of the series, buy the DVD and maybe there will more to come..
Nostalgia Aside, Still a Good Watch on a Saturday Night.
This series played on Friday and/or Saturday nights through my youth and so it shaped me every bit as much as Tales From the Darkside, Ray Bradbury Theater, Friday the 13th the Series, Monsters, and other such programs.
To my surprise, I recently found season one and two of The Hitchhiker on DVD at a local video store.
I rented and re-watched them after more than a decade and found them to be not only happily nostalgic, but generally very entertaining (some, of course, being much better than others).
There isn't much available on television any more that has the offbeat, cathartic campiness of every episode being taken from some short story of the horror or thriller genre.
While we're all in this dry spell of such programming, it is wonderful to find something like The Hitchhiker return on DVD (if not on TV)..
This old 1980's show from HBO is 10 times better than the stuff the studio puts out today, like Sex in the City and Sopranos.
The problem is it was well ahead of its time as proven by the success of a similar show, the X-Files.The series was basically a set of independent shows, the only common them was the pre- and post-show dialogue from a mysterious hitchhiker who passes through each episode.
Creepy and sexy, each show had its own moral as some (usually more than one) character would get their come-upance in the end.
All sorts of Hollywood stars signed up for guest appearances, Gary Busey, Harry Hamlin, Kirstie Alley, Willem Dafoe, even KISS lead singer Gene Simmons, and many many more.I've caught rebroadcasts recently on one of the gazillion HBO channels now being broadcast (HBO Zone is what I think it is called), so it is out there someplace.
The last poster and I agree on one episode "The Legend of Billy B." was my favorite too.
If I remember right, it starred Kirstie Alley as a reporter trying to track down an Elvis-like rock star who was supposedly dead.Catch this show if you can..
One Of The Most Underrated Shows In Television.
The Hitchhiker was a television series that was truly imaginative with every episode.
Each episode was unique in that you as the viewer did not know what to expect.
This series also launched many successful acting careers such as Helen Hunt, Gary Busey and others.
"The Hitchhiker" was a series that was ahead of its time.
It is certainly one of the most underrated shows that I know of....not to mention the most frightening opening songs which helped set the tone for the viewer and the "hitchhiker's" journey in each episode..
It kept audiences hooked, and you never could predict exactly how the episodes would turn out.
With a style somewhere between The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, everything about this show from the opening theme and hitchhiker's opening monologue to the final shocking scene was first-rate.
Try either to catch it on tv or the episodes available in the video store.
When I was living in Barbados, CBC used to carry this anthology series in its late night (and by late, I mean around 10:30) Tuesday slot - they definitely didn't show all the episodes of this, or "Tales From The Darkside" (which replaced it).
Not a patch on "The Twilight Zone," this anthology of tales about people who either got what they deserved or met their doom - and the two weren't always the same - was still effectively creepy, if a bit morbid, viewing.Some of the most notable tales topped and tailed by Page Fletcher's wandering man: a story with Michael O'Keefe's dog getting revenge on his enemies, and driving him to his death when his girlfriend told him he was his own worst enemy; a tale with a man who thought his girlfriend was an escaped mental patient, and ended up getting killed by the real loony; "One Last Prayer," with Lisa Blount as a singer who invented an image for herself that was guaranteed to succeed, but worked TOO well and ended up replacing the singer in real life; and an episode with Harry Hamlin as a developer under a curse, which stood out as one of the few stories with a happy ending.And yes, that music is very memorable.
"The Hitchhiker" was (still is) one hell of a TV series; much better than the junk currently being released in movie theaters.
Luckily, one can find reruns of it on HBO Zone.
As good is the ending-credits music found only in the 1987 season.This show was bold, thrilling, imaginative and sexy while at the same time more intelligent and relevant than most TV shows/movies released.
Some episodes had nudity and (strong) violence, but it was all at the service of the enormously talented writers and directors.
In general, episodes created mood and atmosphere without gore or anything shocking on-screen at all.Almost any episode of this show is great:"Killer" and "Homebodies" had story structures similar to M.
"Killer" opened with a long, unbroken tracking shot much later popularized in some movies from the mid-90's on up ("Boogie Nights," for example).
"Why Are You Here?" was shot entirely by the actors -- a precursor to the style of film-making found in the movie "The Blair Witch Project," however made 12 years before.Also great were religious-themed episodes like "W.G.O.D.", about a born-again preacher with a terrible secret, and "True Believer," where a detective confronts his own demons while trying to solve a murder case involving an "infested" convent.I can't say enough how wonderful this show is.
It's sometimes tough to watch, but there are many rewards to be found at the end.
Some episodes improved with repeated viewings.
Catch this show on HBO Zone while you still can..
"Tales from the Crypt" seemed like it was on longer, while this one to me seemed like it was on for only a brief amount of time in the 1980's.
A bit more adult oriented than say a "Tales from the Darkside" this one was on HBO so there was quite a bit of nudity to be found.
The episodes I am afraid though were not always that memorable, as I have a hard time remembering the plots to most of the ones I saw.
I also seem to mix up shows from "Tales from the Crypt" with this one too.
It did have a similar setup to that show, however, as each episode was introduced and then summed up by a sort of host...in this case the enigmatic hitchhiker character.
However, it was unlike Tales in that the show was usually more suspense and thriller oriented rather than horror oriented like both crypt and the host of other weekly shows that tended to focus on creepy things.
Still, I wish I could find this on DVD and watch them again and see them uncut as most of the episodes I saw were on USA..
Until the past few years, the only thing I had remembered about this series was the haunting opening theme song.
I have since watched many of the episodes, and I have a mixed review.
The early episodes were often great, and almost every episode was clever, imaginative, and at times, somewhat creepy.
For whatever reason, the later episodes just don't interest me the same way.
But whether you watch an early show or a late one, this is a program that should be checked out, if only to hear that theme song....
I never saw the HBO episodes unedited (My parents refused to get HBO).
However, I began to date a girl who liked shows like this and I became hooked.At one point in the series the hitchhiker seem to be Paris.
My only problem with the show was Page Fletcher--well not so much Page Fletcher but a particular part of Page Fletcher that the directors seem to like a lot--his butt.
Apparently a lot of women watched this show as well and liked his tight jeans shots (that's what I read).
Maybe all the directors' close up Fletcher's caboose help to introduce the sagging jeans era that rap popularized!
Hopefully if the sells of the DVD goes well the show will be put back into late-night syndication..
OK, I admit I have a misguided, nostalgic affection for this 80's anthology series because it was on HBO back when I was a young impressionable teenager, and the episodes always had a dose of gratuitous nudity back in the days before I had too much knowledge of real women (or had gotten Cinemax).
The series is loosely tied together by the most blow-dried and handsome hitchhiker you've ever seen (Page Fletcher), who narrates to the camera, cocking his head slightly back and making portentious and often non-sensical comments that usually only peripherally connect to the story he's apparently narrating.
He also never actually seems to get a ride, or really interact with anyone in the world of the series at all.(He has some great theme music though).The stories are an uneven mixture.
Some of the best are "Man's Best Friend" with Michael O'Keefe, "WGOD" with Gary Busey, and "Face to Face" with Robert Vaugn and Sybil Danning in red lingerie (the better for Vaugn, playing a hedonistic plastic surgeon, to cut off with a scalpel so he can snort cocaine off her breasts).
Both the good and bad episodes contain a lot of second-tier stars mercilessly chewing the scenery and sometimes each other (i.e. Vaugn and Danning).
If you look closely you'll also recognize some name directors in the credits like the Australian Philip Noyce back in his pre "Dead Calm", pre-Hollywood days.The best way to see this series ironically is to buy the used, out-of-print VHS copies which mostly focus on the early seasons; the three US DVD compilations are totally random and have a pretty sorry good episode/lame episode ratio.
The show was apparently Canadian and is also available there, but--buyer beware--the Canadian DVD seasons are completely different than the American ones (although I guess if you ARE Canadian you don't really need to beware).
Not recommended for everybody, but you know who you are..
Started off terrible then got better.
Anthology series from HBO.
Each episode started with a hitchhiker (a young hunky man) talking to the camera and introducing characters and tales.
There were all horror stories which didn't shy away from nudity or explicit gore and violence.The first season was wretched.
The stories were painfully obvious, the acting was terrible, there was non-existent production values and every episode had pointless female nudity--it seemed like a Playboy version of "The Twilight Zone".
Things changed the second season.
They got a new hitcher and went out of their way to show what a nice butt he had:) The female nudity was toned down.
The stories got better, they got some top-rank film directors (Paul Verhoeven directed one) and even the acting improved.
It ended up being a pretty good series.
But if you're into horror stories this is for you.
This was one of those shows that SHOULD come back.American Horror Story tires to do it, only on a much larger scale with a new story each season that is supposed to be connected in a grandiose way...and that is fine but...Like Tales From the Crypt, the Hitchhiker, just offered a new and unique story each week, written and directed and acted by some very talented people.
Some are science fiction, some were westerns, some were monster stories, some were comedies, but all were exceptionally well crafted.Part of the draw to it was that missing a week didn't mean you had to catch up at all.
And part of it was that, if you didn't like a particular episode you could come back next week and see something entirely different.The quality never failed and it allowed for an absolute originality..
Do this show, with a female with a cute butt and new stories..
A really disturbing and sick series from HBO that ran forever it seemed (1983 through 1990 actually).
"The Hitchhiker" was "The Twilight Zone" for the sex- and stomach churning gore-starved public as the titled character (originally played by Nicholas Campbell, but replaced early on by Page Fletcher) walked around and told short 30-minute tales of terror that always pushed the envelope on anything ever seen on television before or since.
The casts usually included has-beens and never-will-bes that struggled to carry tele-plays that were motivated in getting women naked and making its audience physically sick with unnatural causes of death.
Still one of those things that holds a strong candle in some circles, "The Hitchhiker" is best if left alone.
Very dark and adult cable TV anthology series.
Mainly notable as the HBO Network's first foray into making its own TV series, this nifty little show tended to adhere to the following strict formula: Bad people do something bad and something bad happens to them in kind, thereby confirming that cruel and evil actions often result in wickedly dire consequences.
What gave this program an extra potent and startling impact was that practically every episode ended on a brutal downbeat note in which the frequently rotten main character wound up on the receiving end of a usually bleak, yet still fitting comeuppance of some kind or another.
Sure, there was the occasional upbeat conclusion to an episode, but by and large this series kept things remarkably grim and negative.
In addition, a majority of the episodes fall into the gritty thriller category, with only the sporadic foray into more fantastic horror or sci-fi territory.
Of course, the other big draw back in the 80's was the fact that the show when it first aired on pay cable television certainly didn't skimp on the tasty gratuitous nudity, sizzling soft-core sex, and grisly violence.
Alas, the show lost its uniquely harsh identity when it was picked up for commercial television by the USA Network, but the first four strong pay cable TV seasons are well worth checking out for fans of decidedly dark and edgy adult omnibus fare..
A smarmy, badly written TWILIGHT ZONE retread..
I've only seen 10 episodes of THE HITCHHIKER, but they were on a DVD anthology.
If that's the case, then I would hate to see the worst episodes.
THE HITCHHIKER was a smarmy, badly written TWILIGHT ZONE retread.
It even took its name from a classic TZ episode.
Payola?I assumed each episode would begin with the Hitchhiker (Page Fletcher) getting out of the car of that week's main character and delivering his narrative.
And his monochromatic, soundbite-length attempts at profundity always fell short, particularly if one compares him to THE TWILIGHT ZONE'S Rod Serling.THE HITCHHIKER focused on bad people getting their comeuppance, either by natural or supernatural means.
Alas, the bad people in question are so one-dimensional, I didn't give a damn what happened to them one way or the other.
The writing here is surprisingly weak for a show that lasted six years on a major cable network (HBO).
While THE TWILIGHT ZONE frequently served up timeless morality plays, THE HITCHHIKER, in a fashion typical of the 1980s, offered style over substance.
While it may have been a stepping stone for up-and-comers like Willem Dafoe, Helen Hunt and Kirstie Alley, it was a decided low point for established performers like Darren McGavin, Peter Coyote, Margot Kidder and Gary Busey.If you want an anthology series that appeals to the intellect and not the prurient interest, eschew this crap for THE TWILIGHT ZONE or THE OUTER LIMITS. |
tt2055709 | Penthouse North | Sara Taylor is a photojournalist stationed in Afghanistan. She enters a building, in which she espies a woman crying for help. She raises her camera to take a photo of the woman before realizing that the baby the woman is carrying is actually a bomb. The bomb explodes, leaving Sara permanently blind.
Having returned to America, where her live-in boyfriend, Ryan, is desperate to marry her. Sara is planning a party and goes out to buy some supplies when she is knocked over by a cyclist. When she gets home Ryan appears to have stepped out - Sara is unable to see his murdered body. When she takes a shower, Ryan's killer is revealed to still be in the house, using his blade to push a towel in Sara's direction when she cannot find one.
Sara discovers Ryan's body when she slips in his blood. The killer makes himself known and ties Sara to her bed, asking for "the diamond" which Ryan stole from him. Sara is shocked by the revelation that Ryan is not the man he made himself out to be. She offers the killer, now known as Chad, the diamond, but then knocks him out and escapes the apartment. She hides in her building's basement where her friend Antonio hears her calls for help. He tries to save her but Chad slits his throat. Sara escapes to the street when she trips into the arms of Robert Hollander, who promises to keep her safe.
They retreat to her building and it is revealed that Chad knows Hollander and they are working together to find the diamonds. They finde a cache of hundreds of thousands of dollars hidden behind a canvassed photo that Sara took. Having confirmed that Ryan was a crook, Hollander and Chad renew their efforts, certain that the diamonds are hidden somewhere in the penthouse. Hollander throws Sara's cat over the balcony in a fit of spite before locking Sara up again. She tries to reason with Chad, then turns her attentions to Hollander, desperate to end the torment.
Blake comes over with her husband for the party Sara was preparing for earlier. Sara gets them to leave with a story that she and Ryan are fighting, plus the lucky fact that Blake, who is heavily pregnant, starts having contractions. Hollander sends Chad to fix him a drink while he takes Sara out to the balcony. Chad discovers the diamonds hidden within some ice cubes and hides them away before offering Hollander his drink. Chad attempts to kill Hollander but is shot by Hollander. With Hollander's attention on Chad, Sara stabs Hollander in the back with a garden shear. As Hollander grapples with Sara, Chad revives and attacks Hollander, who grabs Chad's blade and stabs him to death. Hollander searches for Sara, who has found Hollander's gun. She tries shooting him using her sense of sound, but New Year's Eve fireworks dull her senses, giving her a flashback to the moment she lost her sight in Iraq.
Sara manages to shoot Hollander in the arm. With the gun pointed directly at him she starts throwing the diamonds over her balcony, threatening to throw all of them away. When Hollander reacts, she is able to hear him and shoots him in the chest before pushing him off the balcony to his death.
It is revealed that Sara had kept the diamonds in her hand. She re-freezes them in ice cubes, while her cat is seen walking over Hollander's carcass on the ground below. | murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | You might like this movie if you enjoyed: Columbus Circle (1996), Brake (2012)Long Story Short: Sarah (Michelle Monaghan), a former Military photojournalist, has lost her sight due to an incident in Afghanistan.
It turns out that Ryan does have a secret and, which gets Sarah in great danger.Review: I have never heard of that movie before but I thought I give it a shot, and it was not a bog let down, but I wasn't blown away either.
Penthouse North is a vicious little 90's inspired slice of thriller fun, which sadly seems to have gained zero marketing and promotion, so unless it catches your eye on US Netflix or Shaw On Demand (which is where I watched it), you'll probably never even know you missed it.
Michelle Monaghan throws herself into the role of Sara, an ex-war photojournalist who was blinded in an incident.
The film benefits greatly from a frenzied performance from Michael Keaton as Hollander, the lead criminal and a real piece of work.
Mediocre movie but Michelle Monaghan is good as usual.
Almost came close to giving it a 6 but I don't really think it has much replay value so I'll just leave it at a five.Got interested in watching this after being pleasantly surprised by Michael Keaton's performance as a hit-man in MERRY GENTLEMAN so I was a little let down when he hadn't shown up in the first 25 minutes, but once he pops up (closer to the 30 minute mark), he becomes one of the key characters in the film.Has a bit of a rough start in terms of truly getting going and feels slightly amateurish but once it gets going it gets decent enough to keep watching, Michelle Monaghan initially felt a little miscast during the war-segments but once she goes blind she feels more natural.And even though Michael Keaton never feels truly threatening his screen-presence speaks for itself and makes it work somehow, it helps that Monaghan portrays her characters fear very well.Barry Sloane is the third lead in the film and he's just okay, not bad but he doesn't come across as terribly menacing either and doesn't have the same star-power charisma that helped Keaton to make his role a bit better than it was.As far as the story goes, we've kinda seen it all before although minor details feel fresh but they could have done so much more with it.
A blind reclusive war photographer is living in a penthouse in New York, when she is experiencing that someone has come into her apartment.
Too late she senses that there's someone there.Well it doesn't take long before the action gets going, that's the good thing.
Strange, because David Loughery, the man behind, had done good scripts like "Lakeview Terrace" and "Passenger57".What's evident, is that blind people sense more than it's the case here.
This film would gave been much better if a blind had been involved in the script writing, do that stupid things could be avoided.If you want to watch a similar themed move, seek out "Blind" by Eskil Vogt instead, which is a completely profound experience compared to this.
(Blind was a selected movie, and later prize winner at Sundance Film Festival in 2014.)The film is very predictable.
The storyline in "Penthouse North" was fairly generic and predictable, but it still made for an entertaining enough movie.
However, it is not the type of movie that you watch more than once.The story is about a war photographer by the name of Sara, who loses her eyesight while on assignment.
Years later, living a reclusive life with her boyfriend, Sara comes home to find her boyfriend murdered and the killer still in the apartment.Story-wise then "Penthouse North" wasn't particularly innovative or outstanding, but it was entertaining enough for what it turned out to be.
It was adequately paced, but didn't really have many 'edge-of-your-seat' moments, which a good thriller should have.What made the movie watchable was the acting performances of Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton.There are far better and exciting thrillers available, but "Penthouse North" is still worth giving a chance.
This is one of those movies that you know is going to be bad from the opening scenes, and despite starring two reliable actors like Michael Keaton and Michelle Monaghan the film is really dull and predictable.
The film was directed by Joseph Ruben, who is mostly known for his 1991 film Sleeping with the Enemy, but is responsible for other titles such as The Forgotten, Money Train, and The Good Son. Most of the movies he's directed have been bad, but this is probably his worst film.
Ruben teamed up with the screenwriter he worked with in Money Train, David Loughery, and if you thought the action in that movie was laughable just wait until you see Penthouse North.
I was excited to see Michael Keaton back in a bigger role (I think the last time I saw him in a lead role was in White Noise) and he is probably the best thing about this movie, but it is still not worth the watch.Sara (Michelle Monaghan) was a photographer during the war in Afghanistan where she suffered a severe accident in an explosion and was diagnosed with permanent blindness.
Three years later we see Sara living in a nice penthouse with her boyfriend, Ryan (Andrew Walker).
Michael Keaton also has an important role in this film, but I don't want to give too much of the plot away despite the twists being rather predictable.This is yet another failed attempt at a home invasion thriller (as bad as the one starring Nicole Kidman and Nicolas Cage; Tresspas).
Sara (Monaghan) a former photo journalist in Afghanistan became blind from an incident there lives with Ryan (Andrew W.
Enter Chad (Barry Sloane) and Hollander (Keaton) who are looking for something Ryan stole from them.
Sara claims Ryan only told her that he was an investor and never told her where anything of value was hidden in the penthouse, but Chad and Hollander don't believe her.
The main reason I rented PENTHOUSE NORTH was because of Michael Keaton.
But in this film he and the rest of the cast struggles with a horrible and simple script.The premise of a blind woman getting her home invaded is pretty creepy.
The major problem is the complete lack of story- and character development and thousands of plot holes.The acting is basic routine and feels like the actors know they are a part of a lousy film.
The characters are shallow and worst of all, you never get to know why the bad guys are doing what they are doing.Besides a decent start, I got really frustrated watching this film.
As for the cast, the best performance is carried out by Michael Keaton; the rest are okay, but not so memorable, Michelle Monaghan's as the leading character Sara's depiction is in-consequent - perhaps due to the script...
Lifetime Channel movies are getting better...a little.
They are using more well known movie actors, like Michael Keaton in this one.
Blindsided is still not an award winning script or performance but it's much better than some (mind you I'm a Lifetime movie watcher, no matter how sappy, although I'm using a bit more discretion with my time nowadays) This movie has decent acting & suspense.
The lead Michelle Monaghan is believable (and pretty) as a blind woman pursued by criminals, who think she knows where their "goods" are hidden.
It reminds me of Audrey Hepburn's, 1967 classic film, Wait Until Dark, a much better movie.
I'm old enough to remember being scared silly by Audrey Hepburn's movie of the 60's - a blind woman being terrorized for something her husband stole.
I just watched it and while some of the reviewers criticize it for its simplicity and lack of twists, i would say that is what gives the movie its power.
Actually, i think the makers have done a great job in making the simple story line interesting enough to be glued to your seat all the time, wanting to know whats going to come next.
Michelle Monaghan and Michael Keaton star in "Blindsided," a 2013 straight-to-video film coproduced by Keaton for reasons known only to him.Monaghan plays a former photojournalist, Sara, who was blinded by a suicide bomber while covering a war and still suffers from PTSD.
If she didn't suffer from it, she would have been by the time the action in this film finished.On New Year's Eve, the man she is living with, Ryan (Andrew Walker) is killed by a former associate from whom he stole a fortune in diamonds.
He is joined by the brains of the organization, Hollander (Keaton) and together they try by various sadistic means to find out where the loot is.This is really cliché-ridden claptrap, derivative, predictable, and how dare anyone compare it to Wait Until Dark.
You also know what the end of the film is going to be.
It's all too obvious.Michael Keaton does a terrific job, but this is a generic mean guy role.
Michelle Monaghan does okay, but these are all generic characters there to serve the predictable action.There were a lot of holes in this thing.
I've watched this movie now because I'm scheduling a thematic channel.As I said in 'Source Code' review I love Michelle (and her Irish surname, not Welsh, sorry).
Why You Might Like It: For starters, it was good to see Michael Keaton back on screen and he does a fine job in this movie.
There are many better films in this genre, but the story is good enough to keep you engaged throughout.
Overall, it is a slightly above average thriller/suspense film that is mainly carried by the acting instead of the content itself.Why You Might Not Like It: If movies with a large amount of unrealistic moments bother you, then you should skip this movie.
As mentioned, this movie is fairly average and predictable so you won't be seeing anything outstanding if you choose to watch it.
Possibly the most obvious knock is that the lead character's blindness seems to improve as the movie progresses, which is the main reason for much of the unbelievable moments in the film.Acting/Casting: 6.5* Directing/Cinematography/Technical: 5.5*Plot/Characters: 5.5* Entertainment Value: 5.5* Total - 6.5+5.5+5.5+5.5 = 23/4 = 5.75 - Worth a watch.
The director of this movie made the original Stepfather - which is among one of the great horror films of the 80s.
Indeed - it does very much feel like a slightly better than made-for-TV movie.All of the performances are good - but the main problem lies in the script.
I love Michelle Monaghan as actress and she's great in this movie.
Michael Keaton is always one of my favorites and them two together makes this movie a whole lot better.
An OK movie that is generic & predictable but the reason to watch is to see Keaton as a psycho bad guy, he really saves this..
This is a movie that is worth seeing, even though it is fairly generic and predictable.
The real reason to watch this though is to see Keaton as a bad guy.
Overall, an OK movie that is generic and predictable but the reason to watch is to see Keaton as a psycho bad guy, he really saves the movie.
The violence she suffers during the cause of this movie fails to give her even the slightest of bruising.She now lives in a luxury apartment in New York with a wealthy boyfriend who says he is an investor but is in fact is a diamond thief.However Monaghan's life is put at risk as the boyfriend is murdered by the men he betrayed.
Michael Keaton is the leader of the pack and Barry Sloane as the ruthless junior partner who having killed the boyfriend without finding out where he hid the diamonds now terrorises Monaghan without once hesitating to think that this blind person may really know nothing.This is an updated remake of Wait until Dark but a low budget B grade film despite the presence of Keaton who went back to better things soon after this film was released.
The acting is routine with Monaghan never once convinced me that she is blind.The film is directed like a straight to DVD film and that is just what it is..
Review: This movie seemed like it was made for TV because it's your typical thriller about a blind lady who has to protect herself against baddies who are looking for diamonds.
It was good to see Michael Keaton back on the big screen, but this isn't really a movie that will be that memorable.
I was waiting for twists in the storyline, but it just turned out to be a straight forward foodie against baddie type of movie.
At the end of the day, it's just a average movie with average performances and plot.
There was loads of times throughout the movie when it could have switched into a whodunit type of film, but the director just kept it plain and simple.
I recommend this movie to people who,are into there drama/thriller type of movies about a couple of guys looking for stolen diamonds in a blind girls apartment.
This movie had me laughing at a blind woman.
If you're still thinking about watching this movie after reading this review; YOU'RE A LOSER :).
After being rendered blind by a suicide bomber, one time war photographer Sara (Michelle Monaghan), finds love with Ryan (Andrew Walker).
Penthouse North (the swanky place where Sara lives with Ryan) brings absolutely nothing new to the formula, not even - in fact - adding a twist or any sort of surprises.
PENTHOUSE NORTH appears to be an unacknowledged remake of the Audrey Hepburn vehicle WAIT UNTIL DARK in which the actress played a blind woman menaced by hoods in her apartment.
In this one, it's Michelle Monaghan who finds herself at the mercy of a couple of vicious thugs who are desperate to get their hands on some missing loot.The two movies have the same premise but the general narrative is fairly different.
It is, however, a solid enough little thriller that makes good use of its single-location setting and which keeps the suspense ratcheted up from the outset.
At least there's one seasoned performer in the cast, Michael Keaton playing the chief bad guy, and he seems to be having a ball with this.
this movie makes me feel i'm a stupid to watch cuz there's nothing.
Sarah (Michelle Monaghan) is a war photographer who gets blinded by a suicide bomber.
It isn't long before this becomes a home break-in film with Michael Keaton and Barry Sloane as the bad guys.
It seems her boyfriend wasn't as nice as she thought.There must be a 100 home break-in films out there, some even involve a blind person.
Michael Keaton portrays a psychotic killer searching for $20-million in diamonds in "Money Train" director Joseph Ruben's lackluster suspense thriller "Blindsided," alternately entitled "Penthouse North," co-starring Michelle Monaghan.
You cannot watch this potboiler without comparing it with Terence Young's seminal blind woman in peril suspenser "Wait Until Dark," though "Lakeview Terrace" scenarist David Loughery has conjured up a lesser effort.
The film opens in with our heroine Sara Frost (Michelle Monaghan of "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang") as a civilian photojournalist embedded with American troops in war-torn Afghanistan who loses her sight when a female suicide bomber cradling a baby doll in her arms blows up in front of her.
Predictably, a helpful guy, Hollander (Michael Keaton of "Batman"), escorts her back to her building while masquerading as a cop.
Earlier when she came back to the apartment, walking around unknowingly about Ryan's murder, Sara finds her cat Shadow.
Michelle Monaghan plays the damsel-in-distress without a clue, while Michael Keaton is wasted in a bland role.
"Blindsided" qualifies as a fair thriller, but nothing that you should waste your time watching..
Pretty photo-journalist Michelle Monaghan (as Sara Frost) puts herself in danger while covering US soldiers in Afghanistan.
They are balding kingpin Michael Keaton (as Hollander) and his sadistic young companion Barry Sloane (as Chad).
They hint at an interesting plot – observe, for example the knowing way Monaghan makes ice – but little is done to make anything really engaging.
We never know what connects the characters and places.**** Penthouse North/ Blindsided (4/18/13) Joseph Ruben ~ Michelle Monaghan, Michael Keaton, Barry Sloane, Andrew W.
This film has been shown with the title of "Blindsided."Very similar to 1967's "Wait Until Dark," a blind woman is terrorized by thieves looking for goods hidden by her boyfriend whom they have gone on to kill.You have that eerie feeling every minute along the way for the woman, who was blinded by a suicide bombing while photographing in Afghanistan, manages to survive this extremely frightening experience.Michele Monaghan is the lady and Michael Keaton gives a strong turn as the psychopath killer who will not allow anything or anyone to get in his way.We naturally see the greediness between the thieves and the usual victim attempting to pit one against the other..
While it seems like they are on the way to the police section the truth is that he is involved in this and is the boss of Chad and escorts Sara back to her penthouse so they can continue and find out where the money are.
A good perspective of the things make the finding to be very easy and are willing to let her go but there is something more valuable hidden there and the two are convinced that she knows where they are and will not leave until they get back the gems.A good thriller if it wasn't like many more others with the two villains turning back on each other and the fact that a blind woman can become a winner in front of two power full and ruthless killer.
Fortune with the good acting from Michelle Monaghan who saves a little these flaws but still it's a mediocre movie. |
tt0251806 | Long Time Dead | The film begins showing people using a ouija board in Morocco. Throughout the scene, something is seen from first person perspective coming at high speed towards the people.
The main film begins with four housemates (Rob (Joe Absolom), Liam (Alec Newman), Stella (Lara Belmont) and Spencer(James Hillier) ) deciding to go out and party. Also going to the party is Lucy(Marsha Thomason)(a friend of Stella's and Spencer's girlfriend), Webster (Lukas Haas), Joe (Mel Raido)(a new housemate of the first three) and Annie(Melanie Gutteridge)(Liam's girlfriend). As the night progresses, they all try to find the biggest buzz they can, until Spencer suggests a ouija board, saying it is the weirdest buzz he's ever had. The partygoers agree and participate, all placing their right index fingers on an upside-down glass with the alphabet and the words 'Yes' and 'No' written in a circle around the glass. Lucy tells them that under no circumstances should they remove their fingers from the glass early – otherwise the spirit they summon will not be able to return.
At first, the glass moves slowly, spelling out 'DJINN', but when Liam asks if it can predict the future, the glass sharply goes to 'Yes'. It then proceeds to spell out 'ALL DIE' and then Annie's name. Before the ritual can continue, however, Liam experiences visions similar to the prologue that causes him to run away. Annie goes to see him to check if he's alright, but Liam refuses to talk. Annie realises she has left her inhaler in the room that they used the ouija board in, and goes back to get it. When she gets there, she becomes frightened by noises. Eventually she sees something that the camera does not see, and it gives chase (as shown through the first person view that was used in the prologue). Finding Liam nowhere and with her exits barred, she attempts to climb over a glass roof to safety, but the thing giving chase grabs her legs and she falls through the glass roof into the party below, dying instantly. As the camera pans out, severe burn marks are seen on her legs.
The group are distraught by her death, but while Spencer goes to find some hash to calm himself down, Lucy goes back to her boat and does some research. She comes across a description of a djinn, explaining that it's made of fire. She learns that it can be banished by using lawful magic. She is suddenly disturbed by banging all around her, but it turns out to be a boatman who is telling her that the electrics are down.
Lucy and Spencer go to the house where everyone else lives and discuss the events of the night. Lucy suggests to the housemates that they may have summoned a djinn, saying the burns on Annie are signs of this being true. The housemates are still skeptical, so they watch the tape they recorded of the 'summoning' to check if anyone was pushing it. Soon after Liam freaks out in the video, however, the electricity in the house goes out. Webster and Spencer break into Becker (Tom Bell), the landlord's, flat and find a hidden shrine of sorts to the Djinn with grisly photos and newspaper cuttings. It is also revealed that Liam's father, Paul Brennan, had been in the same predicament once (as shown in the prologue) and killed his mother as a result. He pleaded insanity and was put in a mental hospital. Joe attempts to get information out of Liam about it the next day at college, but he gets angry and leaves. Stella also leaves soon after, and goes to the toilet. She starts to freak out about a burning smell when an unnamed female black student (Tameka Empson) tells her it's just a joint. Calming down, Stella goes to leave, but is pulled into another stall, where she is brutally murdered (the viewer can only see her feet lifting off the ground as they slowly become covered in her own blood). Her body is discovered by the female student. Liam goes to see his father to get answers but it quickly descends into a row. When Liam mentions Becker his father shouts that he is there to protect Liam. Liam leaves without hearing this.
Meanwhile, Joe and Webster sneak back into the house (now under police guard) to get the camera which recorded the ritual and Webster insists on watching it there. Joe goes to the kitchen to get a light for his cigarette. Meanwhile, Webster is thrown into a panic by something on the film. He goes to look for Joe. In the hallway he turns the lights on and realises he is standing in a pool of blood. He runs for the front door which is locked, so he rushes back upstairs to get the keys. He has to hide under the bed as he is being chased by the djinn. While the djinn does not see him, it dumps Joe's dead body in the room - his throat has been slit. Webster silently exits the room with keys in hand but steps on a broken light bulb, alerting the djinn. He races back down to open the door, but the djinn catches up and kills him before he can succeed.
Rob and Spencer return to Lucy's boat and tell her of Stella's death. Lucy demands that they perform the banishing ritual, so they return to the warehouse where the party was held. Liam attempts to catch up with them, but upon arriving at their boat, they have already left. Lucy, Spencer and Rob begin the ritual, but as they are performing it, a sudden burst of flame from the ouija board frightens them all off. Spencer runs off and tries to look around, but when he drops a large metal pole he alerts the djinn, who has already arrived, to his location. He hides in a cupboard. We then learn that the djinn has possessed Rob. The djinn walks off, making Spencer think he is safe, until he bursts into the cupboard from behind and kills Spencer after knowing he was there by smelling the blood on his cut hand on a shard of glass he's holding tightly in fear.
Liam enters the building, as does Mr. Becker, who is holding a petrol can. As Liam walks into the ritual room, Rob runs out, shouting "Liam, it's Becker, he's here!" but is interrupted by Becker who hits him with a bat and proceeds to douse him with petrol. Liam, thinking Becker is the djinn, runs in to save Rob, accidentally pushing Becker down some stairs. When he goes back to look Becker has disappeared. Later Becker reappears and Liam is about to kill him in revenge for Annie until Rob rushes in and stops him. Seconds later, Rob kills Becker in a panic when Becker attempts to choke him. They start to leave, Rob attempting to convince Liam there really was no djinn but Liam remembers Lucy and they go looking for her. Liam finds her hanged in the lift shaft. Rob reveals to Liam that he is the djinn, telling Liam that it's his turn as his father sent him somewhere terrible, so now Liam will know the pain that he has. Liam attempts to stab him, but Rob blocks it with his hand, which bleeds but also starts a small flame. As Rob taunts Liam, Liam realises through another flashback that fire will kill the djinn. He grabs the nearby lantern and wards off Rob with it, but as Rob attempts to fake being unpossessed (by crying and admitting fear) Liam tosses the lantern at him, setting him ablaze. Liam kicks him down the lift shaft, but a few seconds later he grabs onto Liam's shin (now heavily burned and scarred). Liam finishes him by shutting the lift door on him, causing him to fall all the way down. After a while Liam opens the door to check he is dead, but a burst of flame pushes him back, signalling his body has been destroyed.
Liam goes back to the mental hospital to see his father face to face, and they reconcile only for Liam to reveal he too is now possessed. He kills his father. The djinn, now free, sets off. As the camera rolls back from the cell, it is revealed that Liam had killed a prison officer to get in, and Liam suddenly appears in front of the camera, and reveals his eyes are now permanently like the djinn's. | murder | train | wikipedia | A random group of young adults who are some combination of roommates/friends takes time out from their busy partying schedule to play with an improvised Ouija board, when they accidentally call forth a djinn who tells them that they will all die.Long Time Dead is quite a mess, made all the more frustrating by occasional flashes of competence.
It couldn't have helped that that a veritable army of writers--seven credited in all--worked on the story and script, including director Marcus Adams.After a brief prologue set in the late 1970s in Morocco which was far more promising than most of the film proper, we begin meeting our bloated cast of heroes.
Most of the plot seems like an excuse to put characters in very stereotypical horror/thriller scenarios, where they slowly walk around an environment frightened, becoming startled in various ways until finally some unseen thing kills them.
Much of Long Time Dead plays more like a sample reel of "scare scenes"; it has little coherency as a story.A big problem is that the chief villain is never clearly shown, explained or given any rules to follow.
Oddly, by the end, there is a concrete villain and the film has devolved into a fairly stock thriller, where we have to guess whom the possessed cast member is.Although the story has promise, and the ending is somewhat of an improvement, even though it never rises above the cliché, Long Time Dead is too burdened with severe flaws in direction, cinematography (the film is frequently far too dark) and performances to merit a recommendation.
The ending is quite good that's all I can say about it."Long Time Dead" is recommended for recent fans of the horror genre, even though it failed to promote the horror genre of the new century.
LONG TIME DEAD Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby DigitalDuring a Ouija session, several drunken teenagers summon a djinn which proceeds to kill them, one by one.Though clearly influenced by American horror movies, LONG TIME DEAD finds an echo in Michael Armstrong's UK thriller THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR (1969), in which bored teenagers inadvertently sparked the wrath of a deadly killer - in Armstrong's film, the villain was an all-too-human maniac, whereas Marcus Adams' updated version unleashes the forces of supernatural terror on its hapless protagonists.
The movie opened in UK theaters to scathing reviews and dismal box-office, and while the artless, multi-authored screenplay wanders aimlessly from scene to scene (the curse of so many modern horror films), it isn't nearly as bad as various reviews have suggested.
It is true though......Long Time Dead a good British horror/thriller movie, with some creepy moments in it, like the flashback scenes.
Though not brilliant and lacking a lot of the audicity of the Hammer films, as well as the eerie spookiness of the lastets supernatural hits - THE OTHERS and SIXTH SENSE, Long Time Dead does manage a few tense moments - nothing overly scarey mind you but I didn't hate it.The trouble is it is trying to follow an American formula - a group of teenagers fooling around with the supernatural unleash something terrible and most of them die as a result.
For the first time in my life it actually made me jump back in my seat- and that was pretty embarassing seen as there was a whole row of girls a couple of rows back!The plot itself is good and the scenes in which the djinn chases its victims down long flights of stairs and dark warehouse corridors were simply brilliant.
I did feel that the film itself was very short and if they had more characters bring killed of, like in Scream, it would have been better but nevertheless it lives truly up to being called a 'horror film' and definitely makes Jeepers Creepers look like the tweenies.
The photography and lighting are also used with expertise which greatly add to the experience.I'm surprised that the story works so well too, considering that there are seven writing credits, combined with the fact that it's about the biggest cliche: The Ouija Board.8/10 : The best British horror film since the brilliant 'An American Werewolf In London'Now comes the wait for 'Dog Soldiers'!.
After watching such teen horror movies as Cherry Falls and I know what you did last summer, I expected this to be similar: Too gory, too boring and too badly acted.I was wrong.Long time dead, A film in which a group of friends decide to have a night out, making out, getting high and dancing in the process, release a djinn (arabian Fire demon) accidentally while using a Ouija board.
Unfortunately for them The evil demon doesn't like the idea and pays them back by killing them one at a time......The film to me, seems much darker and more evil than "i Know what you did last summer" with scenes in places that would creep you out if you had your whole family with you, it doesn't help that they live in an old house with a "strange" landlord.
me nether....The other bad part of the film is that we quite often see the characters running away from the evil demon which does get a bit annoying after a while.All In all I think this film is very good, better than many I have seen..
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsSet and shot in Britain,LTD would be pretty indistinguishable from being shot in Hollywood.It's a horror thriller about a oujia board that works thanks to some nifty camera work,a jolty score and some rather grisly effects.And all at a running time of just an hour and a half.This is overall an intriguing and original premise,and while maybe not as delivering as it could have been,should be checked out,maybe with the aid of a speaker sound system.***.
Long Time Dead is the best horror film there has been out for ages.
This film however, is the biggest exception, and it is ABSOLOUTELY BRILLIANT, as it is a million times much better and more interesting than american teen horrors, which have become a bit dull over the past few years.
"Long Time Dead" represents one of the best horror movies to come out of England in recent years.
It truely is a really under rated teen movie, that if it was produced in America would be hailed as a classic and would rest alongside the likes of "Scream", to name just one of the overused american teen horror genre.The film deserves a watch, I rate it 8/10..
Well, as it turns out in the end it really was another scream franchise, Although it had great moments in it, specially the ouija playing scenes are so good and one involving a dead corpse and a hiding person, suspense is a good one for this movie, if you are a nervous kind of person you´ll be on the edge of your seat all the time, if you are a genere fan then you´ll have a better time than watching "Eight leggen freaks" that really sucked big time.
The Demon possesses one of the group, and gradually they all start dying one by one...Its not a typical slasher movie, and is different because its getting into your head, and is a very psychological based terror, although there a plenty of jumpy moments.Joe Absolom from Eastenders fame, reemerges in the movie, and is typical of scared Matthew.I am disappointed to see that this movie is not being released, with the right promotion, I think it could have done as well as scream, I know what you did last summer.All in all, a very modern, slick movie, with a nice little twist at the end.For this style, an 8 out of 10..
Long time dead sticks to all the clichés of America Teen horror films, however it manages to do so with a lot more class.
The fast movement in camera shot helps to make the viewer feel like being in this roller coaster ride of FEAR, and with one of the teens being possessed by the demon, it keeps you guessing, and a dark secret from one of the students causes more angst.However as soon as it is revealed the film dies out to a predictable end.
I thought because it was released in the same year as two other very well regarded British horror movies , one featuring a squad of British soldiers as good guys fighting a bunch of werewolves and the other featuring a squad of British soldiers as bad guys battling against crypto zombies , that LONG TIME DEAD may have got lost in the market place but after finally seeing it I doubt if the merits of DOG SOLDIERS and 28 DAYS LATER had anything to do with its failure - The reason it bombed is that it's a rather poor horror movieFirst of all can we please stop seeing movies where horny , drug taking teenagers get stalked and slashed .
Okay SCREAM and FINAL DESTINATION used the same plot but the producers at least tried to do something a little bit different with the plot where as in this movie it's just well worn cliché as is the set up with a ouija boardOkay I'm in a generous mood so I won't put the boot into director because it's a debut and I imagine Marcus Adams had a lot of enjoyment shooting the picture and it is fairly stylish .
The acting is quite good considering that the roles don't ask much for it.Anyways, watch "Long Time Dead" for mindless fun and some gory scenes.Don't waste your money on this , wait for it on late night cable.4/10.
As a horror movie fan, I was expecting something different from a British film and I certainly got my wish.
No offence to British film-makers, hey I'm British, but they are usually very, very bad at creating horror films, so I didn't really know what to expect when I went to see this film, but it got into the cinema so it must be worth it, with the exception of, 'Jay and Silent Bob strike back!' and 'Dog Soldiers' (that was a bit unoriginal and had some pretty pathetic lines in it), I mean.
But actually it was quite good, lots of jumps and I liked the characters, at times it was quite scary and I thought the ouji (don't know how to spell it) board idea was good, people say its unoriginal but hey, how many movies about ouji boards have you seen?
Anyway I found this quite a good film and the acting was quite good, I thought the way it was shot was really cool and gave a great effect to the movie, overall I give it ******** out of ********** for a horror flickGood Movie!
scared me a lot, good story line, the only horror to date that scared me,acting was good, some well know actors i will be buying on DVD,will watch again, music build up was good but to much blood,had us holding to on to our teddys tightley i was to too scared to go downstairs too get a drink on my own,had a to watch another film before i could go to sleep, surprise to see to was make in 2002 because i have never heard of it before,10 out of 10 it a must see movie but watch it alone if you dare if not watch with a friend.
I liked it very much...I couldn't help reading one of the posts to this movie where some stupid guy said that British horror movies are no good and jeepers creepers from USA is a lot better...
Sadly, LONG TIME DEAD cannot be saved from the garbage can that contains the horror films of the new century.
It was badly executed and was terribly acted.I don't recommend this film at all to those who like a good scare..
If you want to watch real horror from the good old days try movies from director´s like Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, George Romero.
this movie was a good horror but needed a plot it is just a lot of killing it looked like sequal set up was it?
Long Time Dead is a terribly weak movie, where the director seems to have thrown up his hands in horror about a third of the way through.
It's one of these movies which may have a good actor(ess) hiding in it, and in 50 years time when there celebrating their acting career, someone will show this film, just to see how bad their acting was in t.
It's one of these movies which may have a good actor(ess) hiding in it, and in 50 years time when there celebrating their acting career, someone will show this film, just to see how bad their acting was in the beginning.
It's from the people of Jeepers Creepers', and said to make their pervious look like The Tweenies', which wasn't difficult, as the monster thing in Jeepers Creepers' turned the film, into a comedy, Long Time Dead' however wasn't much better.
The truth is it was bad camara work in the making of the film.The movie itself had a good plot, with some promising young actors.
If this was a Hollywood movie then I'm sure it would be a smash hit around the world.However, letting the British industry down is a very bed production crew who not only don't know how to operate a camara and edit properly but they had an overhead microphone in practically every indoor scene.To top off the film, a scene at the end in a mental asylum has the camara zooming out from the door of a cell, only to show the 7foot high set with the big open space for the patient to escape from!!7/10 for plot 5/10 for acting 1/10 for production.
'Long time dead' has to be the worst horror movie i ever saw in my life, and there are some very bad ones on the shelves in the video stores.
British people have the right to be angered their hard-earned cash has been put towards such a travesty as this without them having any say in the matter.The plot of this movie sounds really great on paper - a group of students having an all-night party start messing around with a Ouija board and unleash an evil Djinn.
He was a good choice of actor to have in this movie but his talent is completely wasted.The dialogue in LONG TIME DEAD is truly terrible.
However, CRADLE OF FEAR was much funnier and enjoyable on the "so bad it's good" level thanks to some overacting on the part of lead actors, some weirdo characters who were interesting to watch and cheesy special effects.The score for this movie has nothing at all to do with the horror theme and sounds just like a random pop song of the kind Hollywood choose to tag on to the end of their movies.
I don't care what anyone says, this is a really bad film, its so awful it makes the tree channel seem interesting, bad acting, bad script, unoriginal plotline, boring as hell, I'm a fan of british cinema (of course I'm british) but this movie is an embarassment, just don't even bother wasting your time with this garbage..
The premise is flimsy: a bunch of students summon a demon from a ouiji board, it starts killing them off one by one; nothing you haven't seen a thousand times before.The characters are completely undefined - we never see them for more than a few seconds, I went through most of the film trying to work out who was who.
Have these trendy students never watched a horror movie in their lives?Lon Time Dead is boring and annoying.
What exactly is the point of movies like "Long Time Dead"?
The acting was great and there are some genuinely scary bits to the film which have you sitting on the edge of your seat.I would definately reccomend this film to anyone in two minds about seeing it!Overall, a good horror but won't go down as a classic..
Horror movies like this one really drive me crazy, because it sounds good, the previews are great, and when you sit down to watch it you find that the characters are so unbelievably stupid, that the film has no credibility what-so-ever.
If there was some humor or even a break from the main story, maybe parts of Long Time Dead wouldn't have been so bad, but this film is pure garbage from the drunken night out to the bloody end..
I consider myself a Horror fan, and I really enjoyed Long Time Dead.I've seen comments and reviews stating that the acting and script were bad.
All in all, I enjoyed every minute, and while Long Time Dead (not the right title in my opinion) might not have been one of the best Horror films I've seen, it's a long way from being one of the worst.
Before I continue, anybody who wants to watch this Movie, has not yet seen it, DO NOT pay attention to the bad comments.This film is a low budget horror and once again Britain manages to create something amazing.
I actually saw this movie last year and liked it but came across it again and wanted to see it.I liked it better then some of the newer American horror movies i've seen lately which were just nothing but cheap thrills and gore.Of course that's not to say there aren't good ones out there because there are tons,especially independent ones.Long time dead has a simple realistic story with a nice twist at the end and wasn't mixed with camp or too much comedy.It is classic horror with good effects.
Long Time Dead is one of those horror films that has nothing really wrong with it & entertains to a certain extent but suffers by being just so average a few script problems that should have been ironed out especially since four people worked on the thing. |
tt0333780 | Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde | Elle Woods wants her Chihuahua, Bruiser, to reunite with his mother, because she would like Bruiser's mom to attend Elle and Emmett's wedding. Elle hires a detective to find Bruiser's mother, only to discover that the owner of her dog's mother is C'est Magnifique, a cosmetics company that uses Bruiser's mother for "testing". She finds out that her law firm represents the C'est Magnifique Corporation.
Elle decides to leave Boston, where she and Bruiser have settled with her fiancé Emmett, and go to Washington, D.C., to work on Bruiser's Bill. Elle is upset that her dog's mother is in a make-up testing laboratory, and decides to take it upon herself to be the "voice for those who can't speak" and to outlaw animal testing.
While working for Congresswoman Victoria Rudd, Elle is met with skepticism and other barriers common to Washington politics. Rudd's member of staff, Timothy, sarcastically calls her "Capitol Barbie". (There has even been a Barbie doll based on Elle Woods.) After a variety of ups and downs including a failed attempt to improve her work environment by having her co-workers write compliments about one another and place them in the "snap cup", Elle starts to lose her faith in Washington politics.
As the story moves along, Elle discovers that Bruiser is actually gay, after she is paged by "The Paws that Refreshes: A Doggy Day Spa". Bruiser has been affectionate with Leslie, a Rottweiller owned by Congressman Stan Marks, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce which has jurisdiction over Bruiser's Bill. Elle also finds that Congresswoman Libby Hauser, the Ranking Member of the same committee, was a member of Elle's sorority Delta Nu. As a result, both Marks and Hauser warm to Elle and eventually come to support Bruiser's Bill.
Elle also discovers that Congresswoman Rudd has actually been working against her. Rudd has been doing so in an effort to satisfy the interests of a major campaign donor named "Bob" (who is never seen, but with whom Rudd has several telephone conversations). However, Rudd is eventually blackmailed into supporting Elle's petition, because Rudd's Chief of Staff, Grace Rossiter, eavesdrops on a recorded conversation during which Rudd admits to Elle that she has been working against Bruiser's Bill in order to help Rudd's sponsors who want to continue with tests on animals. As Grace is appalled that Rudd lied to Elle and blamed it on her, Grace and Elle eventually reach a place of mutual respect, especially after Grace admits she came to Washington D.C. with an enthusiasm not unlike Elle's, but later lost that idealism when she discovered how dirty politics could really be.
With the help of her friends, Elle's discharge petition is successful, and Bruiser's Bill is brought to the floor of the House. Bruiser's mother and the rest of the dogs are released by C'est Magnifique Corporation. Elle and Emmett get married in a park in D.C., albeit not at Fenway Park as they had planned, but standing on the home plate which has been delivered to D.C. by the UPS Guy.
In the final scene, Emmett asks Elle whether they want to live in Beverly Hills, Washington D.C., or Boston. As Elle has many legal and political job offers after the successful discharge hearing, she responds, "Oh, I think I know just the place," and winks as they drive by the White House. | stupid | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0059314 | Inside Daisy Clover | In the mid-1930s, Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) is a teenage tomboy, who lives in a ramshackle trailer with her eccentric mother (Ruth Gordon) on a California beach and dreams of Hollywood stardom. She submits a song recording to the well-known film producer Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), who puts her under contract. Ray and his wife Melora (Katharine Bard) foster Daisy's rise to fame by any means necessary, forcing Daisy to deal with the pressures of stardom and the Swans' manipulation of her life and career. Daisy reluctantly accepts the placement of her mother in a mental institution, to protect Daisy's reputation as "America's valentine", and is told to tell any interviewers that her mother is dead.
Daisy finds some relief in a fellow Swan-discovered star, Wade Lewis (Robert Redford). The two begin a relationship, though their heavy drinking and partying is not good for either of their reputations. Ray (whom Wade has nicknamed "The Prince of Darkness") fears that the romance will interrupt Daisy's busy schedule. To quell his worries, Wade asks Daisy to marry him, and the ceremony is held on the Swans' estate. However, the first night of their honeymoon in Arizona, Wade drives off while Daisy is sleeping, abandoning her. Daisy returns to the Swan home and runs into an extremely intoxicated Melora who reveals to Daisy that Melora had an affair with Wade who is actually a closet homosexual. The next morning, Ray tells Daisy that he knew about Wade's sexual orientation, but that she had to find out for herself, as did his wife. Ray then scoops her into his arms and kisses her, which begins their affair.
Daisy takes her mother out of the mental institution and moves her into a beach house. After her mother's death, Daisy has a nervous breakdown at the studio. She goes back to the beach house and spends her day after day silently in bed under the care of a private nurse. Melora visits, assuring Daisy she is not jealous of her affair with Ray. Wade comes to see Daisy, but the most he gets out of her is a smile. Ray, impatient that Daisy is taking so long to recover, loses his temper and tells her she must finish the pending motion picture. He also tells her that he has her under contract for five years, but does not care what happens to her after she completes the film. Ray fires the nurse and leaves the beach house.
Right after Ray's departure, Daisy attempts suicide by putting her head in the oven, only to be interrupted by ringing phones and the arrival of visitors. The next day Daisy cuts her hair, changes her clothes, and turns the gas oven back on. She then lights a flame on the stove, grabs a cup of coffee, and strolls out of the house to the beach. The house explodes behind her. When a passerby asks what happened, she shrugs and replies, "Someone declared war!" | cult, depressing, romantic, melodrama | train | wikipedia | Still, the look and atmosphere of the film are really extraordinary, and Christopher Plummer gives off sparks of neurotic heat as the head of the movie studio.
Robert Redford is a good screen match for Natalie, although his love-interest role is steeped in the hypothetical; Wood herself runs hot and cold, though she has some very strong early moments.
Her character is almost immediately jaded by the experience, manipulated by a studio head and a dubious male heartthrob, played by a stunning looking Robert Redford.
It's always amazed me that this movie doesn't get more respect--sure it's campy, but the performances are fantastic: Christopher Plummer's speech to Daisy by the pool after she's been abandoned by her new husband (a super young Robert Redford playing a gorgeous pansexual for God's sake--what more could a person ask?) is stunning and Natalie Wood's "The Circus is a wacky world"-induced breakdown in the sound booth is brilliant and scary.
Roddy McDowell's killing smile as he says "Good night, Miss Clover." Redford getting away with lines like "Good night, sweet, sad, lonely lady" and a drunken Malora (great name) screaming at Daisy "They say I've got a headache, BUT I'VE GOT A HEARTACHE!!!" The gorgeous black and white promotional video of Daisy singing and bouncing her way through the cardboard galaxies.
seems fake.Natalie Wood, 27 years old, plays 15-year old Daisy Clover, a spunky tomboy/brat/beach bum extraordinaire.
Daisy, who lives with her eccentric elderly mom, played by Ruth Gordon, in a shabby wooden trailer near the beach in Southern California, has Hollywood stars in her eyes.
And when Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), head of The Swan Studio comes calling, Daisy jumps at the chance to be a movie star.She leaves her mom and lets Swan remake her into America's ideal of a teenage girl.
Natalie Wood acts like a silent film star, mugging atrociously, and playing tomboy like a truck driver in army boots.
Scenes on the 1930s studio lot, and on the soundstage, are always as deserted as a tomb, and the studio head who is so evil he should be twirling his moustache like a silent film villain -- seems to have no other duties or interests than meeting incessantly with, and watching over, Daisy.
Natalie Wood plays Daisy Clover whose manufactured rise to fame is chronicled beginning on her 15th birthday.
At 26, Wood plays the tough talking tomboy for what its worth, but the streetwise Daisy seems to lose her spunk and ambition the minute she enters Swan Studios.
Except for Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford, the supporting cast is forgettable, and the only performance of interest besides Wood's is Ruth Gordon's as her mother.
Gavin Lambert wrote a biography of Natalie Wood in which he says the film was originally some 20 minutes longer, a musical number was cut, and Daisy's narration was heard throughout the film not just at the beginning and end as in the released film.
The film depicts the Daisy character of wanting to sing and be in movies, but when she gets the chance she does nothing but sulk and seem unhappy at her success!!
A decidedly odd film that is wonderfully script and filmed, with lovely performances from Natalie Wood, Robert Redford and Christopher Plummer (of course).
But of course this film would not be half of what it is without the great and adventurous acting skills of Natalie Wood, who was able to be a convincing fifteen year old when she was in her late twenties.
Inside Daisy Clover is not just any movie about a wanna-be-star that has her dream come true and in the process witnesses the changes and corruption that bring her to the top.
I must say the end is not exactly as dark as I would have expected it given the fact that we all know Daisy's path goes only downhill from the moment she meets Wade (Redford) but the queer thing (and what makes it a little unbelievable and lame) is that she manages to survive in such a random way that even the viewer wouldn't want her to.
Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy McDowell, Ruth Gordon
what a cast!
Much of the time, Wood does not even get to speak, but hangs her head and glares at the camera.Katharine Bard, who plays the mogul's serene and seemingly noble wife, looks like late period Marlene Dietrich and serves no purpose other than to inform us of Redford's bisexuality.
Last night I had the pleasure of watching my third Natalie Wood film of the week, and it was 1965's "Inside Daisy Clover," which I had never seen before.
She sends a recording of herself singing to studio head Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer...yes, in the same year that he appeared in "The Sound of Music"...quite a year for him), who sees something in her and turns her, practically overnight, into "America's Valentine," and a movie sensation.
Daisy soon starts to realize that the Hollywood life has its perils and pitfalls, and eventually marries another popular star, Wade Lewis (the ridiculously, almost angelically handsome Robert Redford), who turns out to be gay, or at least wildly bi.
The story is too melodramatric; was never remade for commercial TV or as a Lifetime movie of the week either.As for the acting, I've always felt that Natalie Wood was born at the wrong time for talking pictures - she would have been bigger than Mary Pickford had she been born at the turn of the century.
"Inside Daisy Clover" is a pointless and deceptive film with Natalie Wood in the lead role of Daisy Clover.
Daisy Clover is a naive barefooted teenager tomboy that lives in a shack nearby the sea with her insane mother that out of the blue is discovered as a singer by Hollywood producer Raymond Swan and promoted to be the America´s darling in 1936 (meaning in the Depression decade).
I kept hoping that INSIDE DAISY CLOVER would get over the clumsy opening scenes and turn into an interesting story about Hollywood's past.
On paper, it may have looked like a good idea but something went very much amiss.It's phony from start to finish with Natalie Wood pretending to be the awkward ragamuffin whose recording of a single song turns her into a Hollywood superstar who finds out that Tinseltown is really a nightmare for her sensitive "inside." Her singing (dubbed) is so lacking in anything suggesting a studio mogul would want to summon her for an audition, let alone an interview.Christopher Plummer is unbelievably caddish in the kind of role he ought to want to forget more than he does the captain in THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
Robert Redford has a meaningless role as the gay man Daisy loves and Roddy McDowall is simply acting pretty much like himself.The script has as much depth as tissue paper.
The opening voice-over in which Natalie Wood claims to be fifteen years old (she was 27 when this came out) sets the tone for a film in which everyone involved seems to realize that they are falling well short of credibility.
Viewing it from the year 2000, however, it looks like a dreary self-important 60's film attempting to be about the trials of an imaginary wannabee starlet in the 30's, never coming off as believable on any count.The one thing I found interesting about this film is that the story gave Warner Brothers an excuse to use their own movie studio as the setting for some of the shots.
Granted Natalie Wood is playing young when the actress was in her late 20's--but her legend is alive and well in this film.
The film seems like an eccentric comedy at first with 15 year-old tomboy Daisy (Natalie Wood) and her wacky mother (Ruth Gordon) both competing over who can chew scenery faster.
Natalie Wood is the neurotic teenage star of the title (shades of Judy Garland) signing away her soul and her sanity to Mephisophelian studio boss Christopher Plummer.
A great Hollywood story that unfortunately left me disconcerted by the fact that this is a story that takes place during the 1930s & 40's but Natalie Woods character is dressed and made up like she is in the 1960s.
Natalie Woods costumes are simply horrendous and the films ending looks way off and zany..
However, the performances (Ruth Gordon as "The Dealer" is a standout; Robert Redford in one of his earliest films plays a bisexual) and the settings will likely entertain you to the satisfying ending.
This was a film about people in insufferably painful conditions of poverty and societal rejection and pressure; their consequent needs to escape those realities in their respective ways were expectedly exaggerated, and I think this is something that critics of this film miss.Finally, the portrayal of a restless 15 year old, in my opinion as an actor, was indeed convincing, and the comedic conflict between Natalie Wood's character and her pre-senile mother was played superbly by Miss Wood and Ruth Gordon, respectively; I laugh when I remember Daisy, trying to penetrate her mother's fog in explaining her career aims, saying: "Concentrate," over and over.
Ruth Gordon is annoying as usual as her dimwitted Mother, and Robert Redford, as always, has a good chemistry with Natalie,as the homosexual movie actor she falls in love with.
15 year old tomboy Daisy Clover (Natalie Wood) lives with her flaky mother (Ruth Gordon) in a trailer on Angel Beach, California and works the picture booth.
She signs up with Hollywood studio head Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer) for 5 years.
Anachronisms abound."Inside Daisy Clover" started to lose me with its opening shot of a 15-year-old girl, played by an obviously 26-or-so Natalie Wood.
Poor Redford (who did his best), Ruth Gordon (in a small, under-appreciated role), and cinematographer Charles Lang (glorious photography), whose best efforts were wasted.Though Ms. Wood was an attractive and talented actress, her being a dozen years older than her character pushed me beyond the boundaries of "suspension of disbelief".
Natalie Wood, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford, Roddy MacDowell and the always extraordinary Ruth Gordon( quite heart rending here).
And the cast - how can you go wrong with Natalie Wood, Ruth Gordon, Christopher Plummer, Robert Redford and Roddy MacDowell?
Although Natalie Wood (even at 27 years of age) was uniquely qualified to play the title role of a 15 year old child actress – in this rags-to-riches story of a boardwalk 'street teen' wannabe singer that becomes America's valentine (the screen's latest Orphan Annie) – this drama is a pretty superficial look at Hollywood stereotypes.Directed by Robert Mulligan, the shallow story by Gavin Lambert with its cut-out characters lacks credence.
As insiders, the director and writer seem to have forgotten that their audience might not be able to fill in the blanks by imagining the rest, or they assumed too much.Robert Redford plays an Errol Flynn-like narcissistic sex symbol of his day, Christopher Plummer plays producer Raymond Swan.
Discovered by a film producer (the darkly sinister Christopher Plummer), Daisy quickly achieves stardom as a musical singing star (a la Judy Garland) but, unable to cope with the sudden fame, she escapes into a romance with matinée idol Robert Redford.
Later realizing that Redford is gay and that her studio sees her only as a commodity, a disillusioned Daisy has a nervous breakdown and attempts suicide before finally finding the strength to turn her back on Hollywood.
On the face of it, this film (based on a novel by Gavin Lambert) sounds compelling but too many cartoonish situations and characters (particularly Daisy's mother and sister) undermine the story.
Christopher Plummer and Robert Redford are both very good, however, and, in supporting roles, Roddy McDowall and Katherine Bard lurk mysteriously in the background (Bard seems to belong in a different film entirely.
Natalie Wood is fifteen year old Daisy Clover, a feisty kid who lives in a shack with her dotty mother, Ruth Gordon, in 1936 Los Angeles.
She comes to the attention of Christopher Plummer, owner of Swan Studios, who smooths the rough edges off her cygnet image, dresses her as Alice in Wonderland, and puts her in "major motion pictures" as "America's New Valentine." It's what Wood has always wanted -- fame, money enough to lift her mother out of poverty, and, mostly, self actualization.
He plays handsome homosexual actor Wade Lewis and you cannot help but fall in love with him just as Natalie's character Daisy Clover does.
I think Daisy is a variety of characters but mostly Judy Garland with a little Deanna Durbin, evident by the end and how Miss Durbin left Hollywood at a very young age.
The film stars Natalie Wood in an utterly fantastic performance as Daisy Clover, a 15-year-old tomboy and livewire who lives in a dilapidated trailer on Angel Beach in California with her highly eccentric mother.
She should have received a Best Actress nomination for the role.Although he is a little over the top in a few instances, Robert Redford, in one of his first major roles, is nevertheless very good as Daisy's fellow Swan Studios star Wade Lewis.
In spite of his callous behaviour, I certainly do not think that Wade is a bad man but merely one is extremely self-centred.Although Redford has the most interesting role of any man in the film, the male lead is the great Christopher Plummer in an excellent performance as Raymond Swan.
I admit I haven't read all the reviews of this movie, but of the ones I did read I was surprised to find that nobody mentioned that Natalie Wood has only about 12 lines of dialogue in a film in which she is the star.
Natalie Wood plays teenager Daisy Clover who sends a 45 vinyl record (it's the '30s) to Swan Studios and soon becomes America's "Little Miss Valentine." And she pulls it off, even though we saw her at the same age 10 years earlier in "Rebel Without a Cause." For aspiring writers and directors -- and for working ones -- I challenge you to find a film where the absence of dialogue is used with more effectiveness, in this case, underrated Natalie Wood saying nothing as her world whirls aorund her with dizzying speed, romanced by Wade Lewis (Robert Redford), mentored by Raymond Swan (Christopher Plummer), befriended by Mrs. Swan (Katherine Bard in a transcendent performance).
And the name Daisy Clover is just too stupid – I understand the movie is based on a book – still stupid.I'm always entranced at how absolutely beautiful Natalie Wood is.
Not just letting her run all over the place, out of control, after they've just groomed her up for a show – something like a little kid playing in the dirt in their Sunday best – i.e. if this is a studio family, where are the parents?A Miss: Obviously the charming cad Wade Lewis isn't good for Daisy – hijacking her away from her shows and premiere.
First of all, Christopher Plummer filmed the Sound of Music the SAME year he played this vulgar character, so that was a major turnoff for me.
Daisy (Natalie Wood) is a lost child, who is lost throughout the movie.
Mulligan's use of absolute silence in the studio when Daisy breaks down in the isolation booth is brilliantly disturbing, an unforgettable scene.By the way, the first few times I saw this film on TV years ago, the reference to the Redford character's homosexuality had been cut out.
There are two scenes where his swagger is similar to his role of Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," which was made in the same year as this film.The curious part here is played by Robert Redford.
Though director Robert Mulligan and actress Natalie Wood did fine work together on "Love With The Proper Stranger", their follow up picture, "Inside Daisy Clover", is a near total disaster.Set in the mid-1930s, the film centres on Daisy Clover (Wood), a teenage tomboy who hopes to escape a life of poverty by singing her way to Hollywood stardom.
From the director, Robert Mulligan, who brought us TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962, 9/10), INSIDE DAISY CLOVER is also a labour of love of its star Natalie Wood when she is at the top of her game.
The role of a 15 year old tomboy who dreams of and eventually becomes a movie star finally went to Natalie Wood, who works very hard to lose herself in the role.
The stars themselves were disposable, there always were more right around the corner, and the studio could promote them to the public to guarantee they would bring in the crowds.But for me watching this movie was fun to see early roles of Natalie Wood, Robert Redford, and Christopher Plummer.
While Redford was quite experienced in TV roles, it appears that this was his first theatrical movie.Even though she was probably 26 when this film was made, Natalie Wood is a 15-year-old girl, Daisy Clover, living with her mother in a small shack near the southern Califirnia beach, and making money selling fake autographs on photos of famous stars.
( I remember making a speaking record like that myself, in the 1950s, in a booth at the Ponchartrain Beach in New Orleans.) Christopher Plummer is wealthy studio boss Raymond Swan, and he gets Daisy's tape.
They set about making her a star.Robert Redford as Wade Lewis is another studio star and Daisy meets him at a house party.
He was probably playing his age, around 28 when the film was made.There are lots of things wrong with this movie, and the over-acting of Wood in her role as Daisy Clover is the one that bothered me the most.
Natalie Wood played a 1930s teen star who become famous and suffer a price for fame (married a handsome actor who turned out be homosexual, the movie studio made her not visited her mother in mental hospital (so Daisy became more lonely)and had mental breakdown. |
tt0420408 | Hercules | Hercules is the leader of a band of mercenaries composed of the spear-wielding prophet Amphiaraus of Argos, the knife-throwing thief Autolycus of Sparta, the feral warrior Tydeus of Thebes, the Amazon archer Atalanta of Scythia and his nephew storyteller Iolaus of Athens. Hercules is said to be the demigod son of Zeus, who completed the legendary Twelve Labors, only to be betrayed by Hera who drove him insane and caused him to murder his wife Megara and their children during a visit to King Eurystheus. Throughout the film, it is not clearly established that Hercules is truly the son of Zeus, and many are skeptical of the claim as well as of the stories of Hercules' famous Twelve Labors. Despite this, Hercules displays unusual strength and nigh-unmatched skill in combat. Hercules is frequently haunted by the memory of the deaths of his wife and children by his hand, as well as visions of Cerberus.
After finishing a recent mission and saving his nephew on the Macedonian Coast in Northern Greece in 358 BC, Hercules and his team are celebrating and drinking at a tavern when they are approached by Ergenia on behalf of her father Lord Cotys who wants Hercules to train the armies of Thrace to defend the kingdom from bloodthirsty warlord Rhesus. Hercules accepts after he and his men are offered his weight in gold, and the band is welcomed to Thrace by King Cotys and General Sitacles, leader of the Thracian army. However, Rhesus has reached the Bessi tribe in Central Thrace and Cotys insists that Hercules lead the army into battle to defend the Bessi, despite their lack of training. However, they are too late as Rhesus' sorcery has turned the Bessi against the Thracians.
After the Bessi are defeated, Hercules properly trains the army, then Hercules and Sitacles confront Rhesus and his soldiers on the battlefield before Mount Asticus. The Thracians force Rhesus' army to retreat, but Rhesus himself rides out to confront Hercules and is defeated by him. Rhesus is taken back to Thrace as a prisoner, where he is tortured and humiliated. Hercules takes pity and stops the townfolk from throwing more objects at him, then Hercules mentions Rhesus' actions of burning down villages, Rhesus tells him it was not him or his army, and tells Hercules that he has been fighting on the wrong side. Later in the hall of the palace, Rhesus has been chained up and left on display. Noticing that Ergenia has taken pity to him, Hercules confronts her and finds out Rhesus was telling the truth in that he was merely retaliating against Lord Cotys's aggressive attempts to expand his kingdom. Although Ergenia doesn't agree with Lord Cotys's methods, she goes along with them for the sake of her son Arius, Lord Cotys's successor to the throne, who is being threatened by Cotys.
After receiving their reward, the mercenaries are ready to leave, but Hercules decides to stay behind to stop Cotys, and all but Autolycus choose to follow him. However, they are overpowered and captured by Sitacles and his men. While chained, Hercules is confronted by King Eurystheus, who is in league with Lord Cotys. Eurystheus reveals that he drugged Hercules the night his family died, viewing him as a threat to his power. Hercules's family was in fact killed by three vicious wolves sent by Eurystheus, resulting in Hercules's constant hallucinations of Cerberus. When Lord Cotys orders Ergenia to be executed for her betrayal, Hercules is encouraged by Amphiaraus to believe in himself just as everyone believes in him. In a show of superhuman strength, Hercules breaks free of his chains, saving Ergenia and slaying the wolves with his bare hands. Hercules releases the prisoners, including Rhesus, and then confronts King Eurystheus, impaling him with his own dagger. He is attacked by Sitacles, who is then stabbed by Iolaus.
Outside, Hercules and his forces battle Lord Cotys and his army. Arius is taken hostage, but then rescued by Autolycus, who has decided to return to help his friends. In the ensuing battle, Tydeus is mortally wounded while protecting Arius, but fights on slaughtering numerous Thracian soldiers. Hercules again uses inhuman strength and pushes a massive statue of Hera from its foundations and uses it to crush Lord Cotys and many of his soldiers. The remaining soldiers see Hercules as lightning flashes in the background. The surviving soldiers bow to Hercules, and Arius takes the throne, with Ergenia at his side, while Hercules and his men depart in search of other adventures.
As the credits roll, an animated retelling of the Twelve Labors shows how Hercules accomplished these feats with the help of his companions. | murder | train | wikipedia | Additionally, the DVD showed that it contained the full frame version, which it did not and subtitles, which it did not.Check out the Sci Fi channel for showings.Love this movie..
The point of the movie was not the heroics, nor the political intrigue, nor the subplots, nor the eye candy (though, I have to admit Paul Telfer was certainly that!
It was about an ordinary man who, through his actions and determination, fought back against the prevailing beliefs of his day, to come to the ultimate self-realization: I, AND NO ONE ELSE, DETERMINE MY DESTINY.I watched this journey with my 10 year-old son, and in addition to the above, found example after example of courage and morals demonstrated.
(Wish it was a little less gory in spots though.) The second biggest lesson my son took away from the movie was how Hercules, though it wasn't completely "his fault", took full, unremitting responsibility for his actions, and made every effort to make full restitution and make the wrong right.
I love Greek Mythology and this saga did a good job bringing the hero Hercules to life.
Hercules was a welcome relief in the fantasy genre from the usual "dribble" on T.V. What ruined the overall story-line were two things: -Too many commercials -The original version got cut by over an hour.
The movie feels as though joining plot points were dropped to squeeze it into its time slot.If it were longer, it might make more sense, but it still wouldn't be much good.
So it's got a couple of intriguing ideas, but it doesn't do anything useful with them.Bad dialog, cardboard characters, and one interesting scene involving Hercules and his three antagonistic sons.
Story id of course very loose take on the legend but it doesn't matter since this movie and not a book Also great acting from everybody.
Same with Perkinks as evil mother.Only negative side is that special effects aren't very good at times.Great movie !
I was expecting some half hearted attempt to portray the Herakles myths, and because the commercials for it looked serious, I was expecting something that was halfway decent.Ten minutes into the film, I realized that it was utter CRAP.
This movie, with all the sex, violence, and nudity, was clearly intended for an older audience, yet the story presented in this was nearly inaccurate as the Disney film..
I really enjoyed it and would like to see the longer version, which will hopefully come out on DVD.
I think the movie was good and my son liked it.
I think Leeanna Walsman did a great job in this movie.
The movie also had some pretty good special effects.
Its strongest appeal comes from having attractive people as naked as US network TV will allow, but it's all tease and no substance, and having nymphs as backup characters can't justify several hours of bad TV.There are two basic problems that the cast can't overcome.
Yes, making changes to the Hercules myth (which is certainly not a single monolithic story in the first place) is traditional, but this version is relentlessly dull and much too frequently dumb (and sometimes downright head-shakingly peculiar), with terrible pacing, bits borrowed from here and there (and several parts seemingly belonging in different films), and truly awful dialogue.
I have no idea what the budget for this project was, but it sure looks like crap compared to "Clash of the Titans" or even "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and doesn't even compare very favorably with the old Lou Ferrigno and Italian 'spaghetti' Hercules movies.
Just painfully miserable.There are plenty of other problems -- the story is needlessly complex and can't keep up with itself, and Hercules himself isn't presented as a very interesting character.
But the terrible script and equally terrible effects sink the whole thing right off the bat.In fairness, "Hercules" was apparently intended as a four-hour miniseries but truncated (for this airing, anyway) to a three-hour TV movie.
I saw it on Monday night on NBC wow what a great movie, with new upcoming actors such as Paul Telfer!
The majority of the movie was kept as was the old stories of Hercules...
From the blatant disregard of the source material (sure to infuriate anyone remotely familiar with mythology) to the predictably insufficient production value, this entire mini-series is a train wreck.The cast (which includes some good actors, whom I pity) delivers the illogical dialogue in the same generic "European" accent so common to bad epics.
I know they meant well - really, they did.The locations were pretty cool but again, I felt like I was watching a bad remake of Lord of the Rings..
Paul Telfer, who plays Hercules in this TV film, has to be the hottest thing on two legs EVER.
Wow.But this film is a 100% distortion of the Hercules story.
I saw this movie as a part of the Scifi channel two part-four hour mini series and I must admit that I stayed up the second night to catch the second half.
Another complain I had was that the older Hercules (Paul Telfer) was not a very good actor and his emotional scenes were really awkward to me.
This frequently felt like the matinée movies of my youth with Steve Reeves et al, although a bit bloodier (but not necessarily more violent, however) and, unfortunately, talkier.
People, I recommend you to skip this movie, the story is also twisted, you won't enjoy it..
I have a particular interest in Greek mythology and actually found this movie quite interesting.
If you want *real* mythology, flawlessly executed, look for Armand Assante's "The Odyssey." Great storytelling doesn't need to be tweaked - the stories are fantastic on their own.
I enjoyed this movie because it put a twist in the myth.I did not understand why at first but the twist works within reason...Hercules had "12 tasks or Labours" He borrowed Cerberus from Hades and returned the hound when he was done.
His father (Zeus) took Amphitryon's form when he slept with Alcimene the departures are varied and complex but it all works...I love the special effects.
Your typical nymph would look like a bimbo but Leelee brings a simple charm to her role that's delightful to see.Paul Telfer looked good and brought ruggedness and humility in equal doses to the name.
Elizabeth Perkins was arch as Alcimene and that role will never be the same again.I thought Sean Astin was too close to SamWise in his portrayal but I think it will take a truly evil role or a total departure from character for us to see him as anyone else.The special effects were good and convincing in some cases bar the Hydra.
It's not a mind-blowing epic, it's a small beautiful tale, simply to paint the human side of Hercules, he was a demi -god but did not achieve immortal status till he died.Good Movie, A Must Own. Wow !
This was the best mini series I have ever seen.It is a little different from the original legends of the roman hero Hercules,but it's still 2 thumbs up.To me,the best actors are Sean Astin(Lord of the Rings)and Leelee Sobieski(Here on Earth),but you can be the judge of which actors you like the best.Anyway,it is very entertaining,well,if you like action,adventure and drama,then enjoy.I do not recommend this to children under age 7,because there are some big battle scenes that may not be okay for children under age 7,but if you let them watch The Lord of the Rings,then I guess it's okay,or just don't listen to me,PLEASE.I have seen Leelee Sobieski and Sean Astin both work with Elijah Wood,and now they are working together in this mini series,how cool.The costumes in this mini series are really cool too.In all,if you want a cool and all the rage mini series,then I recommend this for you!.
Hercules: The TV- Movie Hercules - A very twisted and molted version of the story about the Greek superhero.
Sean Astin rehashes his Sam Gamgee image by playing Lupin, a thrown in character to make the whole thing a buddy-movie picture.
An unexpected good performance comes from Timothy Dalton (one of the lesser James Bonds) as Hercules's father.
Once again, someone was given the chance to make a good movie and relay decent and truthful information about an amazing and interesting person to the public - but then decided to make a total piece of vile filth that I found extremely horrific!!!
For example:1) Zeus took the form of Amphitryon when he seduced Almene, not this made up character played by Tyler Mane.2) Alcmene was in labor for 7 days because Hera wanted Eurystheus to be born first, so that he could be King, instead of Hercules.3) Hera, not some swamp harpy, was tricked into nursing Hercules, and when he bit her, milk squirted out across the galaxy, creating the "Milky Way".4) Amphitryon (or Hera) released the asps into his crib, not his mother!
When I make my Hercules movie, I will make sure that these pathetic writers don't get within a million miles of it!
It is so frustrating when someone like myself would love to make a great movie about Hercules, and these idiots are hired instead.Just like with Merlin, you did not read T.H. White's "The Once and Future King", you just made it all up.Hopefully, by 9:00pm everyone changed the channel anyway to either the series finale of "Raymond" or to "24".
It makes up utterly needless things to try to integrate other myths in clumsy ways which bring into question the writers' having ever read the myths, like changing birds to harpies, lions to sphinxes, the Oracle of Delphi to Tiresias, and bulls to a pedantic version of Proteus, even integrating aspects, never seen outside of Sam Raimi's entertaining series, concerning his first marriage, to a woman with the co-opted name of one of the Furies so it sounds appropriate to the period.I could accept much of that, but it also fails completely in pure film standards; most painful is the dialogue, leaden, portentous pseudo-Shakespearean tripe.
Anyway, YEAH THIS MOVIE STINKS!I only watched because I couldn't believe it was as bad as the review in Friday's paper.I now know that person was kind.Boring plot dragged out to the point I could careless about anybody in this movie-not even the hero!Mythology should be fun and dramatic,example:"clash of the Titans" This mess had me wishing the GODS would rise up as one and put us and this bomb out of OUR misery!Soylent Green is people!.
At the start of the movie, I was amazed by its bold and unique take on the legend of Hercules.
From a certain point on, I was under the impression that the film had become a playground for kids who wanted to play roles from the movies.
Too bad, with such an approach and a much better director, better-chosen actors, and more focus on particular details that were ignored or in disproportion throughout the movie, it might have actually been great..
I never thought I would lament the days of the old Kevin Sorbo Hercules, but I think I do.
It was a bit bizarre actually as at times, it would portray characters who were real with a mysticism and build myth around them, yet at the same time, was using mythological creatures within the movie itself.
Nothing to get super worked up over but nothing to not want to watch either.The effects were surprisingly good for a low-budget TV mini and while the monsters looked pretty hokey on the cover art, I was actually happy with them in the movie.
Leelee Sobieski had an outstanding performance as well as Paul Telfer as Hercules.
Love It. I have a DVD version of this that is 3 hours 37 minutes long and if I have watched it once I have watched it a dozen times.
Granted it is a long way off from being an accurate depiction of Hercules the legend but I overlook that and watch it for the entertainment value.
Anyhow, no matter those with the low ratings are actually overlooking a very entertaining movie even if it isn't 100% true to the Greek history of Hercules.
Throughout the history of the Greek and Roman legendary movies they have always been open to interpretation depending on who is telling the story and very few of them are anywhere near accurate.
For a quick summery: B grade acting C grade special effects D grade for the overall movie.
Don't get me wrong, the story was pretty good and not kiddish so an adult too ride along with it, the "hero" is good looking so most women will like it :-), not a total chick flick as it contains some fight scenes and some bloodbut the way it is shot...
horrible the special effects->would be better suited for TV->on a kids show and lastly...send some of the actors back to acting school if they ever attended a class there.Trust me there are much better ways to waste 2 hours.You have been warned..
Another reason to see this movie is to learn about the supposed story of Hercules.
I thought some of the special effects a bit corny but overall the story was pretty enjoyable.
With the exception of the low-budget and the short story-line, I really enjoyed the movie.
Paul Telfer played an excellent role as Hercules.
As I said earlier, a longer uncut version should be released and I believe that anyone who truly enjoys mythology would enjoy this movie.
If I had the money, I would gladly produce a re-make of this film for the big-screen and cast Paul Telfer as Hercules.
If you're a true movie buff who understands that low-budget films don't have as great of special effects as big-screen blockbusters, then I think this movie is enjoyable..
It has a potential to be a great movie like LOTR if only it is not forced into 2 hours.The acting is not very convincing either.
Special effects are stupid and look like it is made ten years earlier (although the 1st monster is pretty good) Overall, I give it 4 out of ten for the reasons I described above..
But the story, far from being a botched tweak on the standard Hercules myth, is a totally new take on the myth, and it's a very interesting one.Think about it.
A story that raises such fundamental questions is clearly not a simple retelling of the Hercules myth.
Hercules' speech to the gods, the rising of the people, the (willing or unwilling) sacrifices of Alcmene and Megara, the marriage of Hyllus and Iole are all about this process and its goal.Paul Telfer said something interesting in one of the interviews he did for the movie: "There is also an idea of these myths becoming so pervasive in culture and lasting so long because they are endlessly re-interpretable.
For example, most people know that Hercules performed his labors as a penance for killing his children; and yet, if they look in Euripides' play "Heracles", they will see him quite clearly killing his children after his labors, which were done for a quite different reason.
Which, as Telfer says, is the way it should be.I hope everybody will take another look at the Hallmark "Hercules" when it appears again on TV or DVD and give it a chance to tell the story it is trying to tell.
I can summarize by saying it left a bad taste in my mouth.The movie started out OK, I think the initial characterization of Herc was true to the myths.
Add centaurs, satyrs, harpies and a Nemean Lion more like a Lion Monster, and I'm a happy viewer.6: Speeches Delivered To The Gods: Any movie that opens with Timothy Dalton (as Herc's dad Amphitryon) standing on the bow of a storm-tossed ship bellowing "ZZZEEEEEEEUUUUUSSSS!!!!!!!" is off to a good start.
A few pratfalls and wisecracks, and loyalty to The Hero.All in all, this movie was far more faithful to the Hercules myth than any other version made.
Paul Telfer Made The T.V. Movie Good.
What I thought was very funny in this movie (and I'm sure it wasn't meant to be) was that Hercules killed the Hydra, the lion thing and the bird things but on his last favor he came back without a supposed 3 headed dog and the crowd was saying things like, "What a coward." Then the king said, I ask what the crowd asks, "Where is the head of the dog, you coward." Anyway I enjoyed it as I love mythology and thought the special effects were fine.
It tries to tell the untold story of Hercules never before depicted, but it makes up a new far-fetched version.
The movie is a horribly condensed version of the true story, merging the details and confusing the motivations, quite insulting to the those purists who religiously follow the "myths" we left behind.
Paul Telfer looks a bit like Tom Welling, the actor playing that Kryptonian character, and obviously relishes in the role.
Yet another attempt to film the might Hercules (the Roman name; his original Greek name was "Herakles" but "Hercules" sounds better), here played as an affable lug by Paul Telfer.Hercules is unwontedly born to Queen Elizabeth Perkins after she is raped by who she thinks is Zeus but is really the Earth giant Anteous (I know it's stupid).
His step-father King Timothy Dalton thinks he's a good kid, just needs a little help being pushed in the right direction.
. The actors and actresses were fabulous; but the one thing I was was hoping for when I read the tittle was that they where finally going to show a movie with all twelve of the labors being done and completed but it wasn't.
I wish some day they would create a movie that would have the person portraying the legendary hero Hercules to perform all 12 labors, that would be great; especially with today's computer graphics they could make it a really great movie. |
tt0025532 | Murder on the Blackboard | Miss Withers (Edna May Oliver) discovers the dead body of her colleague, music teacher Louise Halloran (Barbara Fritchie), in a schoolroom. She summons her old friend, Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason), but by the time he arrives, the corpse has disappeared. Having watched the only entrance (other than a fire exit with an alarm), Miss Withers knows the killer must still be inside. When the police search the building, Detective Donahue (Edgar Kennedy) is knocked out in the basement. Meanwhile, Miss Withers notices various clues, including a tune on the blackboard in Halloran's classroom. The body is found being burned in the basement furnace. Then, the fire alarm goes off; the murderer has escaped.
Oscar Schweitzer (Frederick Vogeding), the school's drunkard janitor, had some financial quarrel with Halloran. Piper arrests him, but Miss Withers does not believe he is the one they are after. She goes to the dead woman's apartment, which she had shared with her friend and school secretary, Jane Davis (Gertrude Michael). There she discovers that Halloran held one of the tickets for the Irish Sweepstakes. A newspaper account reports it is for the favorite in the race and is already worth $50,000. If the horse were to win, the amount would be $300,000. Davis claims she had a half share in the ticket, giving her a motive for murder. Fellow teacher Addison Stevens (Bruce Cabot) admits that Halloran was attracted to him. MacFarland (Tully Marshall), the womanizing head of the school, asks Withers to investigate the crime, but suspiciously suggests she leave town to check out Halloran's relatives. Snooping around, she finds a fragment of a burnt love letter from him to Halloran.
Later, during another search of the basement, the light is turned off and someone throws a hatchet at Miss Wither's head. After getting over her fright, she triumphantly points out to Piper that Schweitzer could not be the killer, as he is still in jail. Then, they see a newspaper report that he has escaped. It is discovered that the victim was already dying of "pernicious anemia of the bones". When Donahue comes to in the hospital, he cannot remember what happened, but Miss Withers has Piper tell the newspapers that Donahue knows the killer's identity. When the murderer sneaks in to Donahue's hospital room to poison his medicine, the trap is sprung. The criminal turns out to be Addison Stevens. (The tune on the blackboard spelled out the first few letters of his first name.)
Seeing no escape, Stevens drinks the poison himself, but reveals his motive before dying. He and Halloran were secretly married last summer. However, when his feelings changed, she would not give him up. He tried poisoning her slowly (causing the anemia), but she became suspicious, forcing him to act more decisively. Later, when Miss Withers calls to console Davis, she is disillusioned when Detective "Smiley" North (Regis Toomey) answers the telephone and reveals he is having breakfast with the pretty woman. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0085061 | My Cousin Rachel | On the coast of Cornwall, the boy Philip Ashley is raised by his older and wealthy cousin Ambrose on a large estate. When the weather in Cornwall threatens Ambrose's health, he leaves the estate for a warmer climate, making his way to Florence and leaving Philip behind with his godfather, Nick Kendall. In Florence, Ambrose meets with his cousin Rachel and marries her. Later, Philip receives disturbing letters from Ambrose in which Ambrose is suspicious of Rachel and the supposed physicians tasked to care for him. Nick believes Ambrose is of unsound mind, raising the possibility that he has inherited his deceased father's brain tumour. When Philip travels to Florence personally, he meets a man named Guido Rainaldi, who tells him Ambrose has died of a brain tumour, produces a death certificate as proof, and that his will left the entire estate to Philip upon his 25th birthday. Rachel, who left Florence the day before Philip arrived, has inherited nothing and has made no claim on the estate. Unconvinced, Philip suspects Rachel of murder and vows revenge.
In Cornwall, Nick tells Philip that Rachel is in Plymouth. He meets her at the house and discovers he is different from how he imagined her, beautiful, ladylike and kind. At the end of the weekend when she intends to leave, he shows her Ambrose's letters and admits he planned to accuse her of wrongdoing, but no longer suspecting her guilt, throws the letters on the fire. He later instructs Nick to award Rachel an extraordinarily generous annual allowance of £5,000, suggesting the money is hers anyway. Rachel responds with gratitude and warmth and stays at the estate for an extended period, despite gossip. Nick also informs Philip that Rachel has overdrawn her accounts, despite the size of her allowance, and that in Florence she was notorious for "loose" living. Philip rejects Nick's warnings, and chooses to turn over the entire estate to Rachel on his 25th birthday. When the day arrives and he informs her, he asks her for a vague promise, which she gives, and they passionately kiss. However, the next day when Philip announces to his friends that he and Rachel are engaged to be wed, Rachel dismisses the announcement as lunacy. Rachel later tells Philip that her promise did not mean marriage, that she will never marry him, and she only showed him love the night before because of the wealth he gave her. Devastated, Philip turns violent.
Philip becomes feverish, while Rachel nurses him to health. In his fever, Philip imagines a wedding with Rachel, and wakes up three weeks later convinced they are married, surprised to hear from the servants that she intends to move back to Florence. Before she leaves, Philip becomes convinced that Rachel is attempting to poison him and that she indeed murdered Ambrose. Philip and his friend Louise search through Rachel's room for a letter from Rinaldi, assuming it will be incriminating. Instead, Rinaldi talks about Rachel's affections for Philip and suggests she take Philip to Florence. In the meantime, Philip finds Rachel has had a fall, and she dies in his arms. He is left to wonder if she was guilty of the various crimes he had suspected of her. | romantic, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0038666 | Kamennyy tsvetok | The story is told from the point of view the old storyteller Slyshko.
The skilled gemcutter Prokopych is getting old, and the landlord's bailiff forces him to take an apprentice. Prokopych tries to teach several boys, but none of them understands "the soul of stone". Eventually he picks a young boy Danilo, who appears to be very scatterbrain and careless in everything else, but shows extreme talent in shaping gemstones and creating patterns. He quickly surpasses his old teacher, who takes a liking to him. Prokopych decides to keep him away from the craft for the time being because gemcutting can seriously damage health.
Years pass. One day the landlord summons Prokopych. He announces that he has been to France and visited a marquess, who showed him the beautifully crafted casket; the landlord started bragging that he had "a better one at home", and they made a bet that the landlord's casket would prove more beautiful. He now needs to present the casket, so he orders Prokopych to make one that should be so beautiful that "you will not be able to take your eyes of it". Prokopych works day and night, but fails to think of an original design. Danilo makes the malachite casket for him. The landlord's wife is very satisfied with his work and orders a stone cup "that would look exactly like a flower". Danilo starts working on the cup. He wants to create something outstanding to reveal "the full power of stone". Prokopych scolds him for trying too hard for no good reason, but secretly admires Danilo's determination. He believes that it is a sign of the expert craftsman. Danilo works on his flower cup for several months, paying little attention to his fiancée Katinka. After he finishes the cup, every villager admires his work, but Danilo is unhappy. He feels that there is no true "living" beauty in his malachite cup, yet he wants to collect "all the beauty of the real flower" and convey it though stone. An old craftsman warns him against walking this path, otherwise he might end up as one of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain's craftsmen. Those craftsmen understood the beauty of stone after they saw the legendary Stone Flower. However those who saw the Flower never wanted to go back from the Mistress' domain. Katinka asks her beloved to forget about the Stone Flower, but he is tempted.
Danilo finally decides to marry Katinka. Nevertheless at the wedding he goes back to his room, destroys his flower cup and goes to the mine. He begs the Mistress of the Copper Mountain to show him the Stone Flower. She warns him that he would never want to go back to people after seeing it, and reminds him of Katinka. He replies that he does not feel alive anyway. In the domain of the Mistress, he finally sees the Flower. He stays there, working on the new cup. Danilo is saddened by the fact that his work, albeit marvellous, will never be seen by people. He admits that he thinks about Katinka day and night, but the Mistress of the Copper Mountain claims that she is jealous and refuses to let him go. She asks him to marry her, but Danilo refuses.
Katinka never marries another, believing that Danilo is still alive. She moves in with Prokopych and takes care of the old man. He teaches her some gemcutting. Although he believes that this is not "a woman's craft", Katinka's work is good. She earns enough money to make ends meet. While searching for some good stones in the forest, Katinka meets the Mistress of the Copper Mountain and demands that she lets her beloved go. Inside the mine, Katinka rejoins with Danilo. The Mistress praises Danilo for his honor and fidelity, and says that the couple passed her test. She presents a casket filled with jewellery for Katinka, and rewards Danilo by letting him remember all that he learned at her domain. Danilo and Katinka leave together. | romantic, fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0038924 | The Seventh Veil | Francesca Cunningham (Ann Todd) is a suicidal mental patient under the care of Dr. Larsen (Herbert Lom). Under hypnosis, Larsen leads her to describe her life events that brought her to attempt suicide. The film largely consists of a series of flashbacks in which Francesca talks about her life, removing successive "veils" to recover memories.
Only her second cousin and guardian, Nicholas (James Mason), a crippled musician, is interested in her. Nicholas, though, is a bitter man, faintly jealous of her talent and misogynistic, with a difficult relationship with his mother. However, he is a brilliant music teacher who encourages Francesca to excel, but also to avoid all emotional entanglements. At the Royal College of Music, Peter (Hugh McDermott), an American studying in London, becomes romantically interested in Francesca. Although she is initially unresponsive, Francesca and Peter later become engaged, but she has not yet reached her majority (then 21) and Nicholas, as her guardian, withholds his consent and insists she leave for Paris with him the next morning. She completes her education and begins her music career on the continent.
Years pass. Nicholas and Francesca return to Britain when she is invited to perform at the Royal Albert Hall, but she discovers Peter has married someone else. An artist, Maxwell Leyden (Albert Lieven), is invited by Nicholas to paint her portrait; they soon fall in love and agree to live together. Still apparently her guardian, Nicholas becomes angry at the news and strikes her hands with his cane while she plays. She flees from him, but, while with Max, is involved in a serious car accident and suffers burns to her hands. Francesca becomes convinced she will never play again.
After therapy — and now cured, according to Dr Larsen — Francesca realizes that Nicholas is her real love rather than Peter (now divorced) or Max. | psychological, atmospheric, melodrama | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0091341 | Kin-dza-dza! | The film is set in 1980s Moscow. Uncle Vova, a generic but gruff construction foreman is relaxing at home after a stressful day at work. His wife asks him to buy some groceries so Vova goes out to the nearest store. Standing right in the city centre on Kalinin Prospekt, a barefoot man dressed in a tattered coat appeals to anyone with a strange request: "Tell me the number of your planet in the tenture? Or least the number of your galaxy in the spiral?". Uncle Vova and a young Georgian student with a violin (The Violinist), stop and talk to the strange man. During a short conversation the stranger shows them a teleportation device – "traveler". Uncle Vova decides to test the veracity of the stranger's story and, despite the stranger's warnings, presses a random button on the device. Suddenly Uncle Vova and the Violinist find themselves transported to the planet "Pluke" in the "Kin-dza-dza" galaxy.
The natives of the planet appear human, with deceptively primitive-looking technology and a barbaric culture, which satirically resembles that of humans. They are telepathic; the only spoken words normally used in their culture are “ku” (koo) and “kyu” (kyoo), the latter being a swear word. However, the Plukanians are able to quickly adapt to understand and speak Russian and Georgian. The society of Pluke is divided into two categories: Chatlanians and Patsaks. The difference is ascertained only by means of a small handheld device (visator), similar to flash drive in appearance; when pointed at a member of the Chatlanian group, an orange light on the device comes on; when pointed at a member of the Patsak group, a green light comes on. It is also noted that the social differences between Patsaks and Chatlanians are not constant: Pluke being a Chatlanian planet, so Chatlanians are privileged, and a system of rituals must be followed by the Patsaks to show flattery; but there are Patsak planets where Patsaks hold the upper hand and Chatlanians are subservient. The visator shows that Uncle Vova and the Violinist are Patsaks.
The only group allowed to use weapons (“tranklucators”) and enforce their will are the etsilops ("police" spelled backwards in Russian). Outside being a Patsak or Chatlanin, respect towards others is determined by the color of their pants; different shades require those of lower social standing to "ku" at them a predetermined amount of times, displaying their submission. The nominal leader of the Plukanian society is Mr. P-Zh; everybody makes their best to display fervent worship to him and disrespect is severely punished; but, when encountered in person, P-Zh appears harmless and dumb. The fuel of Pluke is called luts and is made from water. All naturally present water has apparently been processed into luts, so drinking water is a valuable commodity (in fact, it can only be made from luts).
A good deal of the plot is based on the fact that ordinary wooden matchsticks (ketse) (or, rather, the chemicals of the match head) are considered to be extremely valuable on Pluke. Uncle Vova and the Violinist meet two locals, Uef and Be, who at various points either help or abandon the duo from Earth in their quest to return back to Earth, which at various times involves repairing Uef and Be's ship or raiding P-Zh's private compound.
Uncle Vova and the Violnist finally encounter the man from the film's beginning, but he disappears, making it uncertain if he took them with him. The film then jumps back to the very beginning, as Uncle Vova heads outside however there is no man at the city center, where he runs into the Violinist, however they do not recognize each other. Suddenly, a passing tractor with an orange flashing light reminds them of the ecilops and they both reflexively squat and say, "ku!" as was required on Pluke. They immediately recognize each other. Uncle Vova, looking at the sky, hears the sound of a song performed by the Uef and Be. | psychedelic, absurd, cult, satire, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1006947 | The Raven | "The Raven" follows an unnamed narrator on a dreary night in December who sits reading "forgotten lore" by a dying fire as a way to forget the death of his beloved Lenore. A "tapping at [his] chamber door" reveals nothing, but excites his soul to "burning". The tapping is repeated, slightly louder, and he realizes it is coming from his window. When he goes to investigate, a raven flutters into his chamber. Paying no attention to the man, the raven perches on a bust of Pallas above the door.
Amused by the raven's comically serious disposition, the man asks that the bird tell him its name. The raven's only answer is "Nevermore". The narrator is surprised that the raven can talk, though at this point it has said nothing further. The narrator remarks to himself that his "friend" the raven will soon fly out of his life, just as "other friends have flown before" along with his previous hopes. As if answering, the raven responds again with "Nevermore". The narrator reasons that the bird learned the word "Nevermore" from some "unhappy master" and that it is the only word it knows.
Even so, the narrator pulls his chair directly in front of the raven, determined to learn more about it. He thinks for a moment in silence, and his mind wanders back to his lost Lenore. He thinks the air grows denser and feels the presence of angels, and wonders if God is sending him a sign that he is to forget Lenore. The bird again replies in the negative, suggesting that he can never be free of his memories. The narrator becomes angry, calling the raven a "thing of evil" and a "prophet". Finally, he asks the raven whether he will be reunited with Lenore in Heaven. When the raven responds with its typical "Nevermore", he is enraged, and, calling it a liar, commands the bird to return to the "Plutonian shore"—but it does not move. Presumably at the time of the poem's recitation by the narrator, the raven "still is sitting" on the bust of Pallas. The narrator's final admission is that his soul is trapped beneath the raven's shadow and shall be lifted "Nevermore". | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | TV (non)Mystery movie. There was so much affectation in the acting and accents, I honestly couldn't wait for 'The Raven' to dispatch each of the characters. Why were these South African actors given an Australian dialogue coach to help them deliver English 'toff' accents? And I swear I heard a Welsh accent early on, why was it needed? It all kept me asking 'who are these people, why do they all seem to hate each other, and why are they having a party together? Were the disparate accents part of a master plan for a major international incident (with an end shot of The Raven stroking a fluffy white cat)?' The movie kept getting in the way of its story, and I lost interest pretty quickly. It wasn't fair to Poe's original story, but then there really wasn't much of the original Poe's 'The Raven' actually in this story, only nods and suggestions -- actually it may be closer to 'Mask of the Red Death', if anything. Oh, why was it called 'The Raven' then? I'll end with the sound of my toe tap, tap, tapping and think of this movie NEVERMORE.. Why does David DeCoteau feel like turning all of Edgar Allan Poe's novels into soft-core porn?. So far I've seen 6 movies directed by David DeCoteau and I'm starting to sense a pattern here... The movies that were loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe's novels are pretty much soft-core porn and two out of three Puppet Master movies are an insult to the franchise. So the pattern here is that David DeCoteau sucks! His later works, "The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were soft-core port too, but at least *those* movies had a somewhat good story. Sure, these movies are based on Edgar Allen Poe's novels, so the story was already provided, but "The Raven" has something that the other two movies do not: bad execution! I mean... come on! The acting was weird, the plot holes were many, the story overall was full of clichés and the editing of the so called "sex-scenes" was a joke! Looping footage over and over again to make the scene last longer, doesn't mean it'll make the scene better! And as for the ending... You know... a quote comes to mind: "There's plot convenience, there's Deus Ex Machina, and then there's just pulling stuff right out of your ass!" "The Pit and the Pendulum" & "The House of Usher" were not good movies! Nowhere, at any point, were they good movies. They too had pretty much the same flaws as "The Raven", but at least they weren't as boring! I have never been so bored watching a movie before! Never! Final thoughts: If you want the usual soft-core porn that David DeCoteau does so "well", got watch "The Pit and the Pendulum" instead! |
tt0409799 | Cashback | Aspiring artist Ben Willis develops insomnia after a painful breakup with his girlfriend, Suzy. To take his mind off Suzy and to occupy the extra waking hours he has recently gained, Ben begins working at a local Sainsbury's supermarket, where he meets colourful co-workers. Among them is his colleague Sharon, with whom he soon develops a mutual crush. As his personal means to escape the boredom inherent in the night shift, Ben lets his imagination run wild. In particular, he imagines that he can stop time so that he can walk around in a world that is "frozen" like the pause of a film. He imagines female patrons of the supermarket stopped in time, allowing him to undress and draw them. Finally the ability to stop time becomes real.
A series of flashbacks occur with each progression of the plot, accompanied by Ben's narration and an examination of the effect the situation had had upon him. He explains how he always has been impressed by the beauty of the female body: how he, as a young boy, witnessed a Swedish boarder walk naked from the shower to her room. In another flashback, the young Ben and his best friend Sean share Sean's discovery of his parents' adult magazines, and Sean pays a neighbourhood girl fifty pence to show him, and all the neighbourhood boys, her vulva.
Ben's boss, Alan Jenkins, recruits the staff for a weekend football game and, after an embarrassing defeat, 26-Nil, Ben freezes time again. This time he discovers that he is not alone when he sees a mysterious stranger who is able to move inside the frozen world as he can. When Jenkins throws a party to honour his own birthday and as a consolation for their defeat, Sharon asks Ben to be her date, to which he eagerly but nervously agrees. While there, Ben encounters his ex-girlfriend Suzy, who implores him to try their relationship again. Ben refuses her advance but she kisses him, just as Sharon witnesses from afar. Sharon angrily leaves the party. Ben realizes Sharon has seen the kiss, and freezes time. After spending several days "frozen", Ben concludes that although he can stop time, he cannot reverse it to correct the mistake. He eventually seeks to explain himself to Sharon at her apartment, and a confrontation similar to the film-opening breakup occurs. Sharon henceforth does not show up to work at the supermarket.
As a practical joke, colleagues Barry and Matt phone Ben; Matt poses as an art gallery owner who is interested in displaying Ben's drawings, and schedules an appointment for Ben to present more to him. When Ben arrives as agreed, the reaction of the owner quickly reveals that he has been pranked. However, the gallery owner is nonetheless interested in Ben's work and decides to exhibit Ben's drawings. Sharon receives an invitation to the exhibition (on November 31st !) and visits. She is moved as most of the pieces depict her and she happily greets Ben, congratulating him on his success. The finale occurs as Ben shares his ability to stop time with her and the two step outside into a time-frozen snowfall. | prank, flashback | train | wikipedia | When I first watched this movie I couldn't get past the nudity enough to see the art.
I watched it again and started to see that the nudes were so perfect they were more like mannequins than anything else.
How can a movie about night-fill at a supermarket possibly be any good?
Add Sean Biggerstaff , humour, and an outstanding writer/director such as Sean Ellis, and you get the perfect mix.
Sean Ellis, in his first attempt at movie making, takes you on a journey that perfectly mixes art ( nudity, lighting, Ben's drawings), with humour.
One can easily see that Sean Ellis has a great career ahead of him.
The amount of detail put into such a short amount of time certainly makes the film worthy of all the awards it has received at various festivals.
I'm looking forward to seeing the full length film now!.
Cashback, a short film, long on imagination and wit..
Cashback is a gem of a short film.
Sean Ellis gets beautiful performances from his actors, played out beneath the life sapping neon of this enclosed world, brilliantly creating the boredom of the lives of the nightshift workers in a 24 hour supermarket.
It makes you laugh and makes you think.You'll never look at a store worker the same way again.
It's a short film, long on wit and imagination..
A completely refreshing short movie that is able to combine many different emotions in 20 minutes!Working on the night shift in Sainsbury's, the movie shows how all the staff manage to pass the time to cope with the boredom of an 8 hour work shift.Each with a completely different view on doing this which range from a meat counter, dairy products, plasters,shampoos and a unique imagination that will have you in rumination one minute, flustered the next and then laughing the other.A brilliant performance from all actors/actresses.I can't help but smile when I go shopping at Sainsbury's late at night....
A clever short with a unique atmosphere.
However, from the very first moment, the movie grabs your attention and puts you in the shoes of Ben.The shots are done with style and panache and particularly effective is the use of the bleak, artificial supermarket lighting which throws this whole surreal, sleepless world into perspective.
Also effective is the portrayal of the nude women who are almost alien in their stillness and with their flawless features.
Sean Biggerstaff is a real asset to the film as his flawless acting and his narration especially complement the film to a great extent.
The comedy elements coupled with the creation of a unique atmosphere make this film what it is.
However, the imagination and the simple fact that so many ideas are crammed into the fifteen or so minutes of this short really make this film incredible..
watch the full length movie :).
alright - i first watched the full length movie, and this prompted me to look up the original short movie.
i was astonished to see the exact scenes from the full movie comprise this short length.
initially i thought somehow these scenes were later integrated into the full length, but my thought is that the full length was probably already in post-production when someone decided to 'promote' the film by giving out this short version first (which is nothing bad).it actually works as a short movie, but having seen the full one i cant really comment on it because it is like a trailer to the full movie - it has the essence of the main plot, but nothing more than a hint of the beautiful ideas and artwork of the full length movie.i loved the full movie, watch it and probably you will like it too10/10, which is how i vote for the full length movie :)peace.
Atmospheric short film.
For such a short film (15 minutes), 'Cashback' offered quite a lot.It is about staff who work the night shift at a supermarket and the stuff they get up to.
Then we see what Ben's imagination is to pass time.There are a few laughs and all the cast do a very good job.
The short film is extremely well made and does have a message.
The atmosphere builds up as it goes on so it really draws you in.At 15 minutes, you don't have much to lose, just give it a try.
I enjoyed it but I don't think I saw enough to make me want to watch the full length version which was released two years later.Don't watch if full frontal nudity will offend you.7/10..
Lots of nudity and angst--but is it art?.
CASHBACK was nominated for the 2006 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film, losing to SIX SHOOTER.
While the film had an interesting style and was filled with angst, I wonder if it was so artistic or interesting to merit the nomination.
While I have not seen all the other films it competed against, I felt that perhaps it was an odd choice because on one level it might be seen as an artistic film but on the other it really just looked like a young film student trying to make a pornographic and offensive film that could be considered mainstream.
The film is crammed with full-frontal nudity of some very beautiful women, though the scenes are not necessarily of a sexual nature (i.e., they are not engaging in sex acts).
However, there are more up close crotch shots than I would have expected for this category and the crude sexual references (such as the sausage and shampoo scenes) just made the film seem rather gross in spots.
Keeping the nudity and dropping the shampoo/sausage scenes would have greatly improved the film and given the project a greater sense of artistry--not smut.Perhaps I am just a prude, but I was left feeling quite mixed about the film.
It was interesting but seemed very gratuitous as well--like a film made by a few teens whose parents were away for the weekend.By the way, if they DID want to make a mainstream film, having the movie star a guy named "Biggerstaff" didn't help their cause..
A good film, apart from the lack of gratitude towards Nicholson Baker.
An OK film, it raises funnily and cleverly the questions of sex, beauty and the private moments of life.
Nevertheless, I have just discovered this film a couple of weeks ago during a visit at the video store and you know what my first thought was after reading the summary of the film on the DVD cover ?
And not a single mention of it !" I read the ""Fermata in 2004 and the book upon the shelves of my library offered the possibility to share views with the help of pieces of paper between the pages, I believe it is what you call book crossing.
This book, although I don't read that much, provided a great sensation because in my adolescence, I vividly wanted that kind of freezing power to undress women.
Nicholson Baker has had the art of translating a common human (male especially) fantasy, I believe.
Even if many of us had that kind of fantasy, I doubt Sean Ellis was unaware of the Fermata in the process of writing Cashback, therefore, he should have added an ounce of gratitude to Baker.
It's all about effective time management.
I literally just got back from my trip to NYC to see this film at the Tribeca Film Festival.I went in knowing it would be interesting, but I had no idea how amazed I would be.
And it is a beautiful artistic world.Sean Ellis and Sean Biggerstaff were both on hand for the Q&A session following the showing.
Sean Ellis revealed the plans for the full length feature, saying that the short itself will be placed in the film intact and the rest of the movie will happen before and after it.
He joked that he was lucky that he already has a 20-minute trailer for the film.The film was amazing and I can't wait to see it as a full length feature..
A well executed film.
The film provides a few minutes of amusement and is very well crafted.
It's impossible to comment on such a short film without giving away spoilers but give the film a go.
The mise en scene is constructed well and the musical score finishes the whole thing off in an upbeat fashion.I consider that the film has an impact that could last long beyond the viewing.
This was the "weakest" of the five nominees for the Live-Action Short category bestowed by AMPAS, which means it was only very good in a field of excellent shorts.
Because I want to discuss the short in a little detail, there will be spoilers: The basic premise is that people who work on the clock at a supermarket during the late shift all have different ways to make the time seem to go by more quickly, ranging from just not looking at the clock through simply goofing off to the most extreme, which is pretending that you've cause time and all movement but your own to come to a full stop.
Along the way, we meet a female checkout clerk, the overbearing and absolutely tedious supervisor who keeps trying to impress her (in vain), two arrested development cases, who are 22 going on 12 and the narrator, who is the one who makes time pass by acting like he's stopped it cold.
Oh yeah-he also likes to sketch the female shoppers (at least the prettier ones) in the nude.His narration is generally entertaining and often funny.
It's an entertaining short which may actually make a better feature, as it feels a tad constrained by its brevity.
All in all, a good short and well worth watching.This short is available on a compilation DVD containing eight of ten nominees for the two Academy Awards Shorts categories (two of the Animated Short nominees aren't included) and it's a very good DVD indeed.
I saw Cashback at the 2005 Seattle International Film Festival, in a showing with four other shorts.
The treatment of women in this film is deplorable.
There is a long sequence in which the main character "stops time" in a grocery store, then undresses all of the women and sketches them.
Or, I should say, sketches their breasts, asses, and hairless groins: their faces, and anything about them other than their bodies between their knees and their shoulders is apparently irrelevant.
To make this worse, the sketcher blathers about his love of the "beauty of the female form", when it would be more honest for him to say that he's obsessed with tits and shaved pussies.
I can't think of a more repulsive objectification of women on film (though, to be fair, I tend to avoid films that might offer competition in this area)..
To begin with this short movie looked promising.
The best shot is of a bag of frozen peas spilled on the floor which is actually the most artistic bit in the film.
He then talks about his love of the female form while looking up several young females skirts.
The next shot is of his childhood and of his life changing after seeing a naked Swedish exchange student walking up the stairs.
The rest of the film is made up of 'artistic' shots of attractive slim under 30s women.
Actually no, of attractive thin under 30s breasts, behind and shaven crotch.
Agreed there is artistic beauty in a attractive slim womans body, but what about her face, hair, eyes?
He mentions the uniqueness of their beauty, but all I was seeing was the same body type over and over.
If you are a straight guy or a lesbian this is your wet dream but for me being a straight women i found it degrading and pathetic except for the few moments of actual thoughtful art.
Art at the supermarket.
"Cashback" is an 18-minute short film from over 10 years ago.
It was nominated for an Academy Award in the live action short category, but lost to the brilliant "Six Shooter".
At least this time, the Academy got it right.
Still, writer and director Sean Ellis managed to build a fairly successful filmmaking career on the basis of that achievement.
The first half is basically about a young man's professional life at a supermarket, his grubby boss, his likable female colleague and two other colleagues who like joking around and playing pranks and also get in trouble with their boss occasionally.
The second half then is about the young man's childhood when he saw a Swedish foreign exchange student fully naked at his house and how this inspired him also to see the customers at the supermarket naked now.
Or does he really have the ability to stop time and see right through all their clothes.
It always had a touch of softcore to me and I saw almost no artistry in there despite Ellis' try-hard attempts in making this look like something significant.
You can include full-frontal nudity, but you have to spin a convincing story around it and succeed in depicting and explaining why you do so.
This movie came short in that regard.
They are far more liberal these days, so they had no problem with the nudity and they love to prove people wrong who say they are too uptight for films like this one.
Literally, this is the only reason I can think of why this got an Academy Award nomination.
It sure can't be because of the mediocre quality of this short movie.
The only thing I kinda liked here was the music, but that was also only because Ellis took famous pieces by other artists and included them here.
Amusing little short that doesn't have the content to deliver on the artistic offerings in second half (SPOILERS).
Ben is an art student who works in his local Sainsbury's to pay his bills.
As with all his colleagues the mind-numbing work makes time go even slower than it normally would and each of them deals with it different ways.
His knack is to freeze time dead in its tracks and embrace the freedom this gives him a freedom that his creative side and appreciation of the female form takes full advantage of.Someone recommended the film Cashback to me and, when I discovered it was originally a short film I decided to watch it first.
The film is a game of two halves and I'm not entirely sure how it all fits together.
The first half is a perfectly amusing bit about the realities of a menial job, one where you do the same thing over and over again and cannot escape the reality that it doesn't matter what they do.
This reminded me a little of Employee of the Month in the way that those in the supermarket find to pass the time, playing games or other little knacks.
In this regard the film is amusing but not hilarious and I was assuming that the film would mine this vein harder for its punch line.That it didn't do this is not a problem but what it did do didn't fit with the tone of the first half.
What the film becomes is Ben freezing time to mostly undress women and appreciate their bodies.
It is presented as an artistic pursuit but it felt a bit odd to me to see the character of Ben undressing women without their consent and it made me wonder what the point was.
Instead it falls back into a punch line related to the first half of the film but not one that ties to this sudden venture into female nudity.The end result is still amusing but I'm not seeing what about this got it Oscar nominated.
The comedy stuff isn't done with enough humour and imagination, while the artistic stuff isn't fully realised, leaving it feeling a bit weird with what it is saying/doing with the bodies of unaware young women.
Distracting stuff though and I will be looking at the full film to see what Ellis does with more time and resources to expand upon this..
Film short that eventually was made into a full length movie..
This 18-minute film short won a number of awards, and in 2004 was nominated for the Oscar for best short.
It is included in the DVD extras section of the 2006 movie of the same name.Anyone offended by frank and explicit female nudity, from several different angles, should avoid this movie, even though it is a romantic comedy.Set in England with British actors, the title has two references in the movie, which takes place largely in a supermarket and among its employees.
When customers pay with some type of debit card, they are asked if they want any "cash back." Also, character Ben Willis, in art college, can't sleep after his girlfriend dumps him, so he gets a night shift job at the supermarket, making use of that otherwise useless 8 hours, and for his efforts gets "cash back." Sean Biggerstaff is Ben Willis, art student who gets dumped.
The cashier at the supermarket is Emilia Fox as Sharon Pintey, and they take a liking to each other.The movie has a very unique premise, Ben can seemingly stop time, where everything around him freezes until he puts his hands together and "cracks" his fingers.
Having been curious since a small boy about the female figure, he stops time in the supermarket and partially undresses the pretty ladies and draws them, and of course putting all their garments back in order before he resumes time.It is not totally clear whether he is really stopping time, which would be a fantasy element, but it appears that he is, otherwise he wouldn't have had time to draw all the nice, complex drawings he made.Very interesting and entertaining movie, if seeing female nudity doesn't bother you. |
tt1984279 | The Swan Princess Christmas | Princess Odette and Prince Derek are on their way to Queen Uberta's castle to celebrate their first Christmas together. Unbeknownst to them, the evil sorcerer Rothbart has returned from the dead as a spirit and enlisted a black cat named Number 9 for help by promising him nine extra lives. Number 9 lures Derek to the cellar of Uberta's castle where he opens a chest with the initial R on it. When Derek leaves, Rothbart emerges from the chest as a ghost. From here, Rothbart starts his plan to destroy the kingdom's Christmas spirit, the only thing more powerful than the Forbidden Arts, as this will give him the power to be revived in bodily form. Rothbart is able to cast minor spells that cause people to fight; he does this to Queen Uberta and Lord Rogers, and later to the villagers until almost the entire village is in disharmony.
Derek and Odette learn of Rothbart's return as a ghostly spirit when wind chimes playing "Far Longer than Forever" make him visible and hold him immobile. They set up chimes all around the castle, but Rothbart eventually re-enlists the help of Bridget (his hag henchwoman from the first film who had turned good) and she helps remove the wind chimes for him.
As part of the Christmas festivities, Uberta and Rogers are staging musical performances, but because of Rothbart's spell they have become aggressive and competitive with each other. Odette, who is staging her own song, invites the children to perform "Christmas is the Reason" which momentarily weakens Rothbart's power over Uberta and Rogers. Odette follows up on this by inviting Uberta and Rogers to give gifts and food to the poor. This time the good will breaks the spell on the whole kingdom, and Rothbart is severely weakened.
Rothbart's last chance to ruin the kingdom's Christmas spirit is to sabotage the royal Christmas tree. He sends Number 9 to steal one of the Christmas lights, and Rothbart casts a dark spell on it that will destroy the tree. Derek learns of this plan thanks to Bridget, who has double-crossed Rothbart and traps him inside a giant chime.
Derek rushes back to the Christmas Eve party to stop the tree from being lit, but they are too late. The enchanted light bulb bursts the tree and its ornaments into flames. Rothbart becomes fully restored to his physical body, takes Uberta's crown, and kidnaps Odette where he takes her back to Swan Lake.
At Swan Lake, Rothbart once again turns Odette into a white swan and traps her inside a cage made of roots. He then casts a spell on the moonlight, so that when it touches Odette's wings, she will turn into a golden swan-shaped Christmas ornament forever. Derek arrives to rescue Odette and Rothbart has assumed the form of the Great Animal again to fight Derek. At first Derek is overpowered, but Odette starts singing "The Season of Love," which weakens Rothbart until he bursts into flames and dies. With Rothbart defeated for a second time, Odette changes back into a human. Derek dies in her arms due to his injuries, but a distraught Odette sings again, the great spirit of Christmas returns him to life and restores the royal Christmas Tree. | revenge, fantasy, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0028127 | Porky's Poultry Plant | Porky Pig is running his own poultry plant consisting of chickens, chicks, ducks and geese. Porky does his daily morning corn feeding. Later Porky sadly looks at photos of some of his chickens all taken away by a chicken-hawk and he shakes his fists at the poster of that chicken-hawk, vowing to get that hawk once and for all.
Soon that very chicken-hawk approaches the poultry plant. Porky raises the alarm and all birds manage to hide except one little chick. The mother hen Henrietta notices that one of her chicks is missing and the chicken-hawk has taken him away. Porky drives his airplane out of the barn and pursues the chicken-hawk. After Porky blows off some tail feathers, the chicken-hawk calls for reinforcements from other chicken-hawks. The whole squadron almost has Porky crash landing but Porky retaliates and the rescue for the chicken becomes a football game. Porky rescues the chick and expels smoke on the chicken-hawk squadron. As the squadron falls, the hens dig a hole and bury the squadron after they land in.
As Porky lands his plane, there seems to be another chicken-hawk circling around, but it's only Porky's weather vane. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Firsts.
A remarkable cartoon for the period.
First, it was Carl Stallings' debut as Termite Terrace's musical director, a position he would hold for twenty years, producing a remarkable body of work.
Second, it was Frank Tashlin's second directorial credit -- his first was three years before for Van Beuren -- and his mastery of directing is already obvious.
Notice the long panning shot that opens the movie, and the POV (Point Of View) shots from the chickenhawk's perspective.
Or perhaps it is a vulture; species are not rigid in the cartoon universe.This is not, I should add, a very funny cartoon.
The situations are handled dramatically and the number of gags is not very high.
But it is worth your time..
Porky on the Farm.
Porky's Poultry Plant (1936) *** (out of 4) Porky is feeding the various animals on his farm including the ducks and chickens.
Then his farm comes under attack by a hawk that has been stealing various chickens.
Now it's up to Porky to try and protect what is his.PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT is another winner for the series, which of course was still rather young here.
What's so fun about this short is that there's a lot of imagination going on and especially during the finale where Porky gets into his airplane and goes after the hawk who has stolen a baby chicken.
There's a lot of action going on and plenty of nice little laughs as this battle plays out.
Another good thing about this is an earlier scene where Porky is trying to feed everyone but the same chicken keeps getting left out..
Excellent cartoon from Frank Tashlin.
(From LT Golden Collection V4D2) Frank Tashlin's cartoons always have a great setup - think of Porky and Daffy trying to escape the hotel manager.
This one is a bit more basic but still fun, with Porky the owner of a poultry farm and a bunch of hens.
A run-in with a chicken hawk quickly turns into a pre-World-War-2 dogfight when Porky, still very chubby in 1936, takes to the skies in his equally paunchy airplane.
Really solid short with some very cool action shots.
The creative black & whites often are the best surprises because they're so often overlooked, and this one is no exception.A 10 line minimum for a 7-minute short does seem a bit steep, doesn't it?.
A fun Porky cartoon but not a great one.
Porky's Poultry Plant is interesting from a historical perspective for Frank Tashlin and Carl Stalling at the start of their Warner Brothers/Looney Tunes careers.
But it does deserve to be known for more than just historical value.
Tashlin and Porky have done much better since, but Porky's Poultry Plant is entertaining, sometimes cute and a decent enough start for Tashlin.
There is the sense that he was finding his feet(which is normal really), the cartoon does lack energy sometimes and the ending is too cutesy and abrupt.
It is unexceptional story-wise with a routine structure, and Joe Dougherty's voice work is very uncontrolled and not very dynamic(Mel Blanc is missed here).
However the animation is great, detailed, crisp and beautifully shaded, plus there is evidence of directorial mastery with Tashlin in the camera angles, the opening shot is simply gorgeous.
Stalling's music is similarly wonderful, it is lushly orchestrated and lively with Stalling's style all over it.
The dialogue is witty and amusing, and while never hilarious the gags are also decent.
The airborne chase is exciting and Porky's Pultry Plant's highlight, the snake charmer bit while a somewhat predictable gag is funny too.
Porky despite the lack of Mel Blanc voicing him is a decent lead character, if not the most charismatic.
The chickens are cute and the vultures are appropriately antagonistic.
All in all, not great but fun and interesting.
7/10 Bethany Cox. don't chicken out.
With some of the early Porky Pig cartoons, it seems that the people creating the cartoons often didn't go for outright humor (that may have started when Daffy Duck came along).
For example, "Porky's Poultry Plant" has a rather simple plot line: Porky runs a chicken farm and has lost some hens to a pernicious hawk/buzzard; the hawk/buzzard kidnaps a chick, and Porky flies after the villainous bird, resulting in an aerial version of football.Usually, I would expect Frank Tashlin's cartoons to contain a lot more in the way of sight gags, but this one sticks to its simple plot.
Maybe it was sort of a place holder while they were creating some of the more famous cartoons (1936 also saw the release of "I Love to Singa").
Still, it is worth seeing as a look at the early days of the Looney Tunes.
Just understand that they don't go for the really wacky stuff that would soon characterize their work..
Frank Tashlin and Carl Stalling both do great work with a lacklustre script.
Frank Tashlin's 'Porky's Poultry Plant' is a case of historical importance exceeding enjoyment factor.
'Porky's Poultry Plant' was not only the directional debut of Tashlin, it was also the first Warner cartoon with music by the irreplaceable Carl Stalling.
Tashlin and Stalling would both go on to produce an astonishing array of work for the Warner Bros.
cartoon studio and their enormous talents are much in evidence here despite the weak material.
The cartoon opens with a gorgeous pan across the farmyard which is typical of the live-action techniques Tashlin brought to his cartoons.
However, we then have to sit through a series of cutesy gags about feeding chickens into which even Tashlin cannot inject any energy.
Porky's voice is also excruciating here, provided as it was by Joe Dougherty, an actor with a real speech impediment who was unable to control his stutter as Mel Blanc later would.
Some of Porky's sentences seem to go on forever!
'Porky's Poultry Plant' picks up towards the end as Porky becomes embroiled in an airborne battle with some vultures, resulting in a terrific battle which showcases Tashlin's instantly assured direction.
It's too late to really save the cartoon though and it peters out with a cutesy gag that's more in keeping with the dull opening scenes.
'Porky's Poultry Plant' emerges as weak material brilliantly directed, probably of interest mainly to those who are interested in animation history but of little worth as the entertainment it was intended to be..
Even viewers who are NOT Warnologists .
. should have no problem seeing that Warner Bros.
is foreshadowing all four years of Benghazi with its animated short, PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT.
This cartoon begins with Porky stuttering.
Such repetition represents Hillary's Private Email Server, which Gratuitously Rebroadcast all of America's Top Hat Secrets here, there, and everywhere.
Porky's scattershot approach to chicken feeding denotes Hillary's haphazard expenditure of mere chicken feed on securing our U.S. embassies abroad.
The posters mourning the losses of Olga, Dorothy, Gertie, Rebecca, and poor Petunia are meant to prepare Americans for the attacks on our African Embassies (three in total), the U.S.S. Cole, and our NSA Protection Program under the Clinton Team.
When a clueless Porky cannot operate his own gun proficiently after the Chicknapping here, Warner is predicting Hillary's indecisive dithering during the Benghazi Zero Hour.
But Porky's Transformation into a fighter-plane-flying hero to wrap up PORKY'S POULTRY PLANT is Warner's way of saying "Don't give up--there's still hope, as long as America doesn't expect a chick to do a rooster's job!" Just be thankful that the Looney Tuners are so easy to decipher, that they cover such important topics, and that they allow us ample lead time to react to their warnings.
Eat your heart out, Nostradamus!.
"Oh b-b-b-b-boy-b-boy-b-boy, what a d-d-d-d-day!".
"Porky's Poultry Plant" is an early Porky Pig cartoon that marked the directorial debut of Frank Tashlin, who would eventually make a transition from animated cartoons to live-action feature films.
In this film, Porky doesn't look or speak the way we are accustomed to, but he is still such a lovable character as he watches after the livestock on his farm.There are two scenes from "Porky's Poultry Plant" that I especially like.
First, Porky plays a funnel like a snake charmer's flute in order to retrieve a few worms from the ground for his baby chicks to eat.
And second, when Porky flies his airplane trying to save a chick that has been swiped by vultures, a rooster serves as a football commentator!Lots of great action and quick camera cuts characterize the animated cartoons of Frank Tashlin, and "Porky's Poultry Plant" is no exception.
Tashlin was certainly a welcome addition to the Warner Bros.
cartoon family. |
tt0026744 | Murder on a Honeymoon | On a short flight to Catalina Island off the California coast, a passenger named Roswell T. Forrest (Brooks Benedict) gets sick. Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) and the others aboard are startled when he is found dead upon landing. It appears to be murder to Miss Withers, but she has a tough time convincing local Police Chief Britt (Spencer Charters) and coroner Dr. O'Rourke (Arthur Hoyt).
When she contacts her friend, Police Inspector Oscar Piper (James Gleason), for more information about the deceased, he recognizes the name: the man was a vital witness in a case against a crime syndicate and had a price on his head of $10,000. He flies from New York to assist her in investigating the case and protect her from mob retribution.
When he arrives, the pair argue over which of the people aboard the plane is the killer:
Joseph B. Tate (Leo G. Carroll), a famous Hollywood director
struggling actress Phyllis La Font (Lola Lane), who is angling for a part in Tate's next movie
honeymooners Kay (Dorothy Libaire) and Marvin Deving (Harry Ellerbe)
Captain Beegle (DeWitt Jennings), a retired, self-confessed former rum runner, and
pilots Dick French (Chick Chandler) and Madden (Matt McHugh).
Withers suspects poisoning – Forrest had been given a drink, a cigarette, and even a dose of smelling salts by Withers herself – but before this can be confirmed, the body is stolen. While Piper questions those involved, Withers discovers that McArthur (Morgan Wallace), the gangster who had offered the reward for Forrest's death, has registered at the hotel under the flimsy alias of Arthur Mack. When she eavesdrops on his telephone conversation, she learns that he will be leaving an envelope for someone. She purloins it from the mailbox and finds $10,000 inside.
More murders occur. Marvin Deving is shot and killed just before he can reveal some information to Piper. Meanwhile, Withers and Piper learn that the first victim was not Forrest, but his bodyguard Tom Kelsey. He and the real Forrest (George Meeker) had switched identities. After McArthur confronts Withers at gunpoint, trussing her up and putting her in the closet, from which she is rescued by Piper, McArthur is also found dead. Although it is staged to look like a suicide, Withers notices that the pistol in his hand is not his own.
When an employee complains that the fish in the hotel pond are all dead, Withers finds a pack of cigarettes discarded nearby; one of the cigarettes had fallen into the water, poisoning and killing the fish. With the murder weapon found, all the pieces come together. Withers takes Piper to see the grieving Kay. She offers the widow a cigarette, then casually mentions where she got it. When Kay refuses to smoke it, Withers tells Piper that McArthur's gun must be in the room. Kay pulls it out and tells them that she will have to kill them both now, but Withers manages to distract her, enabling Piper to disarm her. It turns out that the Devings thought they had been doublecrossed by McArthur when they did not receive their reward, unaware that Withers had taken it. When Marvin tried to betray McArthur in return, he was killed by his employer, and Kay then did in McArthur. | revenge | train | wikipedia | Another delightful entry with Edna May Oliver as amateur sleuth....
This time a murder takes place on a seaplane enroute to Catalina Island and all of the passengers become suspects.
Needless to say, a few red herrings are thrown into the plot but it's all eventually solved after Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) calls in detective Piper (James Gleason) to assist her in solving the case.Another minor entry in the Hildegarde Withers series with Edna May giving her all to a plot-heavy number of names and suspects.
Better just sit back and watch Oliver at work, stealing every scene with assurance and almost making us believe in the baffling proceedings.
Carroll does a nice job as a harried movie director.
Lola Lane is a pleasant distraction but it's Edna May's movie all the way..
Edna May Oliver returns as the indomitable schoolteacher/sleuth Hildegarde Withers.
Even while on vacation in California she has no trouble in finding murders to solve.Miss Edna May is again quite wonderful to watch.
This was her third & final outing as Withers - she would soon be leaving RKO for MGM and other memorable roles there.
James Gleason is back as her New York City detective boyfriend.
Comic relief is provided by Willie Best.The movie is enhanced considerably by location filming at Avalon, on Santa Catalina Island.
Murder On A Honeymoon finds Edna May Oliver on holiday to Catalina Island where on the small plane she's traveling on, a witness in a mob case from New York is poisoned.
The case piques the interest of Oliver's old friend Inspector James Gleason of the NYPD for him to come out and help the Catalina PD.In these three films Edna May is a virtual stand-in for Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple who is constantly making fools of the police wherever they may be.
But she and Gleason have a really effective chemistry in the three films they did.
Sad to say Edna May did not want to continue the series.
She and Gleason would have been a great weekly series in the age of television.Murder On A Honeymoon may have been the best of the three films because based on the other two, I thought I had the perpetrator all picked out.
Two other murders occur before Gleason and Oliver finally figure it out.
And a big red herring is also served up for the audience to convince you of the perpetrator's apparent innocence.Even on vacation it seems as though Edna May's Hildegarde Withers can't get away from murder..
Murder on a Honeymoon opens aboard a seaplane flying several passengers out to a vacation destination: it's a neat opening scene that sets the plot in motion with a murder and introduces us to all of the suspects as well.
Among those passengers is Hildegarde Withers, played one more time by the great Edna May Oliver, who is a bit sick during the flight but recovers nicely when the plane lands and it is discovered that a fellow passenger is dead.James Gleason returns as Inspector Oscar Piper; it seems the murdered man was involved in a case his department is on, so he hops a flight himself and quickly joins his old collaborator Miss Withers.
("Hildegarde, you get screwier every day" is practically the first thing he says to her when they meet, thus quickly re-establishing their outwardly adversarial, genuinely affectionate personal relationship.) Good photography—both of island scenes and in some atmospheric shadowy night shots—adds sparkle to a script that neatly balances comic banter with murder.
Carroll as a big shot movie director (who carries a flask with two compartments in it—one containing the good booze he drinks, one stocked with the cheap stuff he shares with others) and Lola Lane as an aspiring actress hoping to catch his eye.Overall, the suspense is a bit more taut, the solution more surprising than in the two previous Withers-Piper pictures; it's a top-notch B mystery.
Oliver, especially, is at her very best, especially when dealing with those who underestimate her—for example, the local police chief and doctor, who are beginning the murder investigation while still in their bathing suits: "Don't try to be impressive in that rig, my man," Miss Withers snaps when one attempts brusqueness.
Another fun Hildegarde Withers mystery starring the great Edna May Oliver.
This is the third and final Withers film starring Oliver.
Those don't match up to the Oliver entries in the series but are watchable.
The plot here is about Hildy flying on a plane when one of the passengers is mysteriously killed.
She contacts Inspector Piper (James Gleason), who quickly comes to help.
Oliver and Gleason are terrific, as always.
Their banter and chemistry is the primary reason to watch these movies.
Carroll and the lovely Lola Lane.
This, and Penguin Pool Murder, are just plain fun and pleasant.
As I get older, I like less drama and more mystery, and more characters.
Not a bad format for a TV mystery, like a light-hearted Columbo.I did not have an appreciation of James Gleason until viewing these two.
He is often a minor character actor as is Edna May Oliver (sometimes Mae).
It was fun to see a younger Leo G Carroll.These old movies give one a glimpse of early 1930's America, although perhaps an inaccurate one (it was Depression time).
Murder on a Honeymoon shows Catalina Island offshore of Los Angeles in 1935 and of travel/commute by seaplane.
Physical.
I like these because James Gleason does a ratatat detective, cigar-chomping, who always gets things wrong.
It was Gleason that makes these work.
The mystery goes from a pre-noir template to an Agatha Christie one: murder on a small airplane.
There's much, much more physical humor.
Edna May Oliver returns as Hildegarde Withers.
The always-delightful Edna May Oliver stars as old maid schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers in Murder on a Honeymoon, also starring James Gleason, Leo G.
Carroll, and Lola Lane.In this series entry, Hildegarde is on a seaplane en route to Catalina when there's a murder.
Oliver (who is only 52 at the time of this filming) is her usual scene-stealing self as she tries to solve the mystery and trades some snappy dialogue with Detective Piper (James Gleason).I love seeing the planes in these old films..
Interesting casting; a dowdy British matron teams up with a wisecracking New York City detective to solve a mystery.
Turns out it was a great idea, and you wish they could have made a whole series, like the Charlie Chans, instead of just three of them.
And that is our loss.Edna May Oliver is entertaining in anything she appeared in and the same goes for James Gleason.
"Murder On A Honeymoon" was even co-scripted by Robert Benchley and directed by Lloyd Corrigan - not too shabby on the credits.The plot is a good one and you will be hard-put to guess the murderer.
It's like that with many good movies that hold your interest throughout, a trademark of the way Hollywood used to make movies..
Murder on a Honeymoon is directed by Lloyd Corrigan and adapted to screenplay by Robert Benchley and Seton I.
It stars Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane and George Meeker.
Music is by Alberto Colombo and cinematography by Nick Musuraca.During a flight to Catalina Island a passenger falls sick and dies.
Hildegard Withers (Oliver) smells a rat but has trouble convincing the authorities that murder is evident.
Help is on the way, though, in the shape of Hildegard's side-kick, Inspector Oscar Piper (Gleason).The third and last outing for Oliver as fun crime solver Hildegard Withers, Murder on a Honeymoon gets in and does a grand job for entertainment purpose.
The by-play between Oliver and Gleason is very precious, harking back to a cinematic time when actors attacked their roles with brio, and here the actors are helped by having humourist Benchley at the writing table.
The mystery element is strong, and this even though we only have a small group of suspects, while the big reveal is a genuine surprise as the plot twists into crafty avenues.Phsyical froth meets murder mystery shenanigans.
Slapstick mix of comedy and murder.
This second follow-up to THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER sees amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers tackling a poisoning on a small plane where any one of the travellers could be the murderer.
It's a short and snappy affair, notably more comedic than mysterious, and adding in plenty of unexpected slapstick comedy into the mix.
Miss Withers is knocked about, kidnapped and undergoes all manner of hair-raising adventures as she attempts to solve the crime.These films work on the strength of the characters and Miss Withers is as delightful as she was previously.
Edna May Oliver has a great chemistry with James Gleason, who plays the bumbling Inspector Piper, and watching the two sharing screen time is great fun.
The mystery plot is fairly predictable in an Agatha Christie way, with lots of suspects and hidden motivations which come to the fore.
In the 1930s, Edna May Oliver made three Hildegarde Withers mysteries.
The first two ("Penguin Pool Murder" and "Murder on the Blackboard") were terrific--great B-movie examples of how to do a murder mystery right!
In particular, Oliver created a terrific character.
Sadly, after making "Murder on a Honeymoon", the studio replaced her with two other actresses and they just didn't have Oliver's great screen presence.This film begins on a seaplane.
Hildegarde hates flying though soon she seems to forget and begins socializing with the other passengers.
When they land, however, one of the passengers is found dead--and he appears to have been murdered.
Naturally, Hildegarde investigates and soon her friend, Inspector Piper (James Gleason) arrives to lend his support.
What it's all about and who's responsible you'll have to find out for yourself--but I liked seeing Gleason deck the murderer!
This is another excellent Hildegarde Withers film.
This is another excellent Hildegarde Withers film.
Great characters, a decent mystery and fun--all the necessary ingredients for a good time.At the 25 minute mark, there is a scene with a heel with the letter K in it.
I specifically looked for this and the letter appeared to be the correct direction--and there is no mistake.By the way, Willie Best (as his alter-ego 'Sleep 'n Eat') plays his usual VERY stereotypical black character that is bound to offend modern sensibilities.
Murder on a Honeymoon (1935) *** (out of 4) Third film in the series has Edna May Oliver returning as Hildegarde Withers, the school teacher who once again finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.
While on vacation Withers and Inspector Piper (James Gleason) investigate the murder of a man on an airplane who at first just got violently sick but then ended up dying.
There's no question that this third film is a step down from PENGUIN POOL MURDER and MURDER ON THE BLACKBOARD but thanks to the leads its still worth watching.
Once again we get Oliver and Gleason working perfectly together and coming up with some terrific comic timing as well as that wonderful chemistry that only they could deliver.
The screenplay gives both of them plenty of banter towards the other but it also has them working even better together as the majority of the laughs take a backseat to the actual mystery being unfolded.
I think the story here is a fairly good one but the biggest problem with the screenplay is that it really doesn't come up with very many good supporting characters.
We have an uptight director, a couple on their honeymoon and we even have one woman who will stop at nothing to become an actress.
None of these characters really stood out, although I will admit that Lola Lane was extremely easy on the eyes as the actress.
Gleason once again steals the film as the cigar-chomping Inspector who is always almost right but always needs that added help to get anything done.
This is, of course, due in large part to Oliver and Gleason..
***SPOIERS*** Best of the trio of movies involving school teacher detective Hildegarde Wither that happens when she's on vacation at California's Catalina island.
It's when vacationer Roswell Forrset is found dead on the plane carrying Hildegarde and a number of other vacationers to Catalina that foul; play is suspected by her.
Beegle aspiring actress Phyllis La Font and movie director Joseph Tate, as well as Hildegarde, are all suspected in Forrest's murder!
Since they were the last persons with him at the time of his death!What makes Forrest's sudden death even more mysterious is that he was supposed to be a witness back in New York City against the Mob who have put out a $10,000.00 reward on his head for anyone who knocks him off!
This has New York Police inspector Oscar Piper fly to Catalina to help in finding Forrest's murderer.
As you would expect Piper makes thing worse then they already are in him mostly suspecting the wrong persons who were involved in Forrest's murder.It's Hildegarde who by risking her life who uncovers the real reason why Forrest was killed and the person or persons who murdered him.
This after Hildegarde uncovered a secret post office box containing $10,000.00 that was to be paid to Forrest's killer!
Of course with Hildegarde getting her hands on the payoff money before Forrest's killer did it lead to both him and the person who was to pay him off ending up dead in thinking each double crossed each other.
***SPOILERS*** It was in Hildegarde finding the murder weapon a pack of poison cigarettes in Forrest's murder that broke the case wide open.
Pulling out the gun that was used in murdering the payoff man more then sealed the killers fate.
As well as a straight right to the kisser by by inspector Piper who got there just in time to save Hildegarde as well as himself from becoming the killers next victims!.
The best of the Edna May Oliver trilogy.
"Murder On A Honeymoon" is the last of the three film appearances of Edna May Oliver as schoolteacher and amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers, and is in my opinion the best of the three films, mainly for the following reasons: a) Slightly improved production values, with the Catalina island providing a nice change of sceneryb) A more intricate plot, with several surprising plot developments (not just limited to "who-done-it")c) Two terrific supporting performances, by Dorothy Libaire (who, if IMDb is correct, is still with us at the astonishing age of 107!) and Lola Lane (whose character forms a rare bond of friendship with Miss Withers - usually, Inspector Oscar Piper is Miss Withers' only "buddy").And of course, Edna May Oliver and James Gleason put on their usual good show.I give this one **1/2 out of 4..
NOTES: Third of the "Hildegarde Withers" series of six films, all produced by RKO and all based on works by the character's creator, Stuart Palmer.
The first three films starred Edna May Oliver.
On completing this assignment (for which she received rave notices), Miss Oliver accepted a tempting offer to sign with MGM.
RKO, unwilling to pay MGM's price for Miss Oliver's continued service, teamed James Gleason with Helen Broderick in film number four, and with ZaSu Pitts in films five and six.
To quiet public outrage at these substitutions, RKO put it out that Miss Oliver was "too ill" to continue with the role.
Directed by Lloyd Corrigan, the actor/writer, who whipped out around a dozen films in the 1930s before resuming his acting career, Murder on a Honeymoon boasts some very fine performances, both comic and dramatic, which help to bolster an already intriguing script.
However, not everyone will agree that Edna May Oliver outshines the rest of the cast.
Certainly the rest of the players are far more realistic in their approach, be it with comedy (Spencer Charters, Willie Best, Arthur Hoyt) or suspense (Lola Lane, Leo G.
Plane connoisseurs and nostalgia buffs will both revel in the flight to Catalina Island..
Thin plot, but Edna May Oliver makes it worth watching.
And the fun comes in the acting of one of my favorite character actresses -- Edna May Oliver.
Oliver was a wonderful supporting actress in a number of films such as "Drums Along The Mohawk".
It's nice to see her here as the star of a film (she did several in the genre), albeit one with a story line that's sometimes a bit shaky in terms of the writing.
Oliver makes up for that with her classic almost comedic timing and facial expressions.It's unfortunate that the plot is so weak.
Most of the characters are not very well developed.However, the two lead characters -- Oliver and character actor James Gleason -- are great and have real chemistry.
There are two other films in the series, and others beyond that with different actors.Another interesting factor in the film is that it was produced on the island of Catalina.Hey, if you ever want to just sit and enjoy an hour or so without thinking too much, this is a great film to watch.
If you don't Oliver yet, watch this and you won't forget her..
Terrific stars, terrible mystery.
Edna May Oliver and James Gleason were perpetual supporting players teamed as leads in a series of mysteries.
Oliver is wonderful as a vinegary schoolteacher with a nose for murder, and her banter with detective Gleason is terrific.The problem with this film is that it's two strong leads and some good dialogue in a story that makes less and less sense.
The beginning is solid, as a man is murdered on an airplane, resulting in a small pool of murder suspects.
Oliver looks for clues and makes deductions while Gleason pretty much arbitrarily suspects people and then is embarrassed when proof comes he was on the wrong track.Unfortunately Gleason's random suspect shtick gets wearying, and the solution to the crime is convoluted and unlikely, with some notable loose ends.
It's still worth watching just for Oliver, but it's not really a very good movie overall. |
tt0083578 | Arth | Pooja (Shabana Azmi), who grew up as an orphan girl and always dreamt of owning a house, becomes insecure when she finds out that she and her husband, Inder (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), have to leave the apartment they rent. The twist that occurred when Inder gives her the keys of a new house proves to be double-edged, when it is revealed that he is in love with another woman, Kavita (Smita Patil), with whom he earned the money (in the film industry) for the new apartment. While previously giving advice to her maid (Rohini Hattangadi) cheated by her husband, now Pooja becomes herself involved in a similar situation. When Inder deserts Pooja for Kavita, she chooses to leave the apartment for a women's hostel with only ₹2000 that she had when she got married. She is helped by Raj (Raj Kiran) to surpass the difficulties of life as a single person, to find a job and to rely morally on herself. Raj and Pooja become good friends. Gradually, Kavita's mental instability deepens her fears of insecurity, even after Inder requests Pooja to sign the divorce papers.
Raj falls in love with Pooja and proposes to her. She refuses saying she is empty and cannot give him anything. Raj tries to persuade her saying that she cannot spend the rest of her life feeling miserable about the past and that she should try to find a new life for herself. Pooja promises to think about it.
Pooja's maid, whose only aim in life is to secure a good education for her daughter, has saved ₹1000 towards her admission fees. She finds out that her drunk husband has stolen the money. Furious, she searches for him to find him in the arms of his lover after spending all the money. She kills him and goes to the police station and confesses her crime. Worried about her daughter, she calls Pooja who promises to take care of the daughter.
After the insistence of Kavita's mother (Dina Pathak) and her personal doctor (Om Shivpuri), Pooja personally assures Kavita that she is not interested in Inder any more. However, Pooja's attitude only convinces Kavita that breaking Pooja's marriage was a mistake. To escape from her feeling of guilt and insecurity, she breaks-up with Inder. The latter tries to revive his relation with Pooja, but is rejected.
Pooja continues to live with her maid's daughter and refuses to marry Raj saying that she has found a new meaning to life in being independent and being a mother to the child and marrying Raj will only weaken her. | melodrama | train | wikipedia | Mahesh Bhatt was one of the finest filmmakers of the 1980s in the Hindi film industry.
Most of his films of that period, whether it's Arth, Saaransh or Kaash, dealt with subjects most people have to deal with in their lives.
Arth is one of his finest works and is perhaps the most famous of his films of that time.
The movie is mainly about marriage, infidelity and divorce, but it also deals with other relevant issues through some of its minor characters.
These issues are handled exceptionally well by Bhatt, who keeps everything genuinely life-like and pays attention to details.
Arth depicts a world which is real and authentic and it captures the urban lifestyle of that time with complete precision.
It has the ability to captivate and enthrall simply because it is very easy to relate to.Arth may particularly inspire women to fight for their rights, but it can equally hearten any individual to never give up, showing that there always is a way of starting everything afresh.
The film's main protagonist, Pooja Malhotra, is a true example of that.
And finally, after coming to terms with herself, she understands the meaning of life and realises her own strength and ability to stand on her own and do it her way without anyone else's support or mercy.
Pooja is a brilliantly written character which is well developed and the viewers highly anticipate the moment she makes a place in the sun.There's one person who owns Arth and makes it the memorable picture it is today.
It is of course Shabana Azmi, who delivers one of the finest performances of Indian cinema.
Despite her heartbreak, Pooja never loses her sense of optimism and is brave enough to summon up the courage and fight for her dignity and for her right to find new happiness in life.
Pooja's pain, suffering, honesty, growth and ultimately her coming of age, are very real and involving, and that's simply because they are portrayed with rare subtlety, depth and sincerity by Azmi, who, by the way, looks absolutely beautiful, authentic and graceful throughout the movie.
Just see Pooja's phone call to Kavita, when she begs the latter to give her husband back to her as she has nothing without him; just see Pooja's devastation and the astonishing pain in her tearful eyes upon seeing her husband with his lover at a party during the poignant Ghazal "Koi Yeh Kaise Bataye"; just see the subsequent scene in which she gets completely inebriated, attacks Kavita and publicly calls her a whore.
Apart from other scenes between Pooja and her husband post their separation, another great scene is the one when Pooja goes to meet Kavita.
The scene, devoid of clichés, shows both Kavita's conscience and Pooja's forgiving nature, and at the same time we see that Pooja has finally overcome her divorce from her husband and does not hold any grudge.An equally great actress, Smita Patil delivers an incredibly convincing performance as the mentally unstable actress Kavita Senyal, a role that is smaller but even more complex than that of Azmi.
While watching Azmi and Patil share the screen, one can see a competition between the two, a healthy one I mean, not the sort of childish rivalry between the young actresses of today.
They were true actresses and unlike the new girls in the industry who may fight over who's had more hits, they competed to enhance the quality of their performances, and this extracted the best out of them.
Kulbhushan Kharbanda is excellent as Inder, the infidel husband whose own weakness and confusion lead him to self-ruin.The supporting cast--from Raj Kiran who plays the aspiring singer who falls for Pooja to Mazhar Khan, Dina Pathak and Kiran Vairale who play minor parts--is superb.
Given a role of very minimal screen time, she plays a lower-middle class woman who herself is married to a drunkard who abuses and cheats on her.
She manages to convey so much of her character's essence, whether it's her way of accepting her fate, her dreams of building a future for her daughter, or her compassion towards Pooja's state (despite having pretty much the same problems and even worse), that it's hard to believe she is there for only 20 minutes.
there are very few Indian films that confront real situations, without cheating the audience, treating them like children or giving them what they want instead of what they need.
'arth' is one of those few films.the story is a simple and timeless one, yet one that is rarely explored in Indian film.
what makes it so great is that each side of is represented, with two female points of view, another rarity in Indian film.
but the performances are what bring this great story to life.
the acting is superb, especially by shabana azmi and smita patil - two women with excellent performances in the same film, which is yet another rarity.the film is well directed, and mahesh bhatt highlights the emotional impact of the situation very well.
most importantly, each of the main characters is three-dimensional, and the film examines each of these characters and their states of mind very well, rather than having them react to events.the writing, directing, and acting in this film are absolutely perfect and this film is easily one of the best Indian films ever made..
Mahesh Bhatt's 'Arth' is said to be loosely based on his own marriage.
The main story is of a woman coming to terms with life after separation from her husband (who was having an affair with an actress).
It's not a slick fast paced movie but I liked that Bhatt takes his time to let the events unfold as the characters are faced with decisions to make.
It is very much a character driven piece and the film gives us the time to study these intriguing people.
Moreover, Jagjit Singh's ghazals beautifully reflect the inner feelings of the characters.Bhatt tells the story very convincingly and he has put a lot of heart into it.
I liked that he didn't turned Inder Malhotra (the character who's based on himself) into a good guy towards the end and that perhaps his portrayal of his story is honest.
But, whether real or not, that doesn't matter because the story in 'Arth' works very well regardless.
It is clearly one of his best films.Shabana Azmi gives a tour-de-force performance as the heartbroken Pooja.
It is her film all the way and Azmi displays Pooja's growth with élan.
Smita Patil is equally fabulous in a smaller role as Kavita, the tormented actress.
I always love watching these two actresses share the screen and here too their shared scenes are among highlights of the film.
The rest of the cast that include Raj Kiran and Mazhar Khan offer adequate support.'Arth' is a rare gem of the 80s which was known to be the worst decade of Indian cinema..
The best Indian movie about infidelity and the meaning of being a woman.
My bullshit antenna goes up and I end up avoiding such mainstream crap most of the time.The name of the file which I downloaded from the net was "Arth- A Mahesh Bhatt Classic".
Mahesh Bhatt casts Kulbushan Kharbanda as himself, a director of advertisements and movies, who falls in love with an actress.
Smita Patil plays the role of Parveen Babi.
He decides to move in with the actress and leave behind his wife, essayed here by Shabana Azmi.The dialogues ring true.
He has a feel for the feminine mentality and the women characters come across as strong and not cardboard caricatures.The music was composed by the late Jagjeet Singh and the songs include "Tum itna jo...
Azmi gives the performance of a life time as a woman who sees her world go up in smoke.
Good movie by Bhatt.
This is one of the best movies directed by Bhatt.
This slow moving movie is dotted with some excellent Gazals sung by Jagjith sing.
A good performance again from Shabana Azmi keeps the show going.
Arth is supposed to be the most popular 'Art' movie among the masses!
The world of Ghazals and Shaayari is mourning the sad demise of the one and only Jagjit Singh.
However Mahesh Bhatt's Arth (1982) is different in the sense that Jagjit Singh not only sang the Ghazals and Nazms but he only composed their music also.
The music director of Arth is none other than Jagjit Singh himself.
Though he had composed the music of Prem Geet also, Arth is his unique contribution to Bollywood music because in addition to composing the music, he and his soulmate Chitra sang all the Ghazals and Nazms included in the movie and all are invaluable gems for the lovers of music and Shaayari.
I pay my tribute to him through review of this movie which was considered quite bold at the time of its release.Arth (meaning) is the story of extra-marital relationship of Inder (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and Kavita (Smita Patil).
Inder is married to Pooja (Shabaana Azmi).
Inder leaves Pooja for the sake of mentally insecure and unstable Kavita but finally Kavita also discards him.
However Pooja decides to search an identity for herself in the world, independent of the support of any male.Mahesh Bhatt used to direct average movies prior to Arth (Manzilen Aur Bhi Hain, Lahu Ke Do Rang, Vishwasghaat etc.).
He always blew the trumpet that Arth was inspired by his own life-story (Parveen Babi being the abnormal other woman in his life).
Whether it has anything to do with his life or not, Arth is an admirable movie.
A good story was taken and the climax made the announcement of the true woman-lib, i.e., liberation from the shackles of dependence on men.Arth boasts of power-packed performances of all the three principal actors - Shabaana Aazmi, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.
However I say about Kulbhushan Kharbanda that it is definitely one of the best ever performances of this underrated actor.But the trouble lies in the fact that Mahesh Bhatt painted all these three characters with very thick colours.
And his over-enthusiasm did not allow the movie to become a classic or a masterpiece.
What Kavita realized later (that when Inder could leave Pooja for her, he could leave her too for someone else), could have been (and should have been) realized by her earlier too.
Inder returns back to Pooja (after he has been discarded by Kavita) like a beggar.
It does not match his basic Character.Raj Kiran as the Ghazal singer has performed even better than the main threesome and he has impressed the most because his character has not lost its natural flavour like the other three.
That's why Shabaana's refusing his love in the end does not appeal to the audience because independence from men does not mean a life devoid of love.Other than Raj Kiran, the other supporting characters also performed very well.
And it's the performance of the supporting cast which elevated the movie by a few notches.
The performance of Rohini Hattangadi as the maid of Pooja deserves special mention.Ultimately, it's the music composed by Jagjit Singh, using the Shaayari of Shabaana's father and the great Shaayar - Janaab Kaifi Aazmi which makes this movie an unforgettable one.
Jagjit Singh with his God-given voice perfectly suiting Ghazals and Nazms, only could do it as far as the songs of Arth are concerned.
Many great songs in a single movie with an intense story.
A masterpiece from Mahesh Bhatt.
One can easily relate this movie with anyone or with their life at any point of time..
The best part of the movie are the three songs and the music by Jagjit Singh.
I was hooked to these songs from the very first time I heard them couple of years ago.I would give this movie a 7/10 on an absolute scale..
Arth is a brilliantly made film.
I guess no other director in Bollywood, other than Mahesh Bhatt, had the guts to portray their real life relations on screen.
By deciding to portray his relationship with actress Parveen Babi on screen, Bhatt comes up with a timeless masterpiece that rests on the shoulders of two of its able performers: Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil.
Arth is the story of a woman (Shabana Azmi) who is trying to come to terms with her separation from her husband (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) who is having an affair with a schizophrenic actress (Smita Patil).
Bhatt intelligently weaves a grand saga of emotions because he is aided by nothing other than his own life's story.
Azmi leaves no stone unturned in trying to convey the turmoil within her as she is dealing with the separation from her husband.
Patil, despite a shorter role compared to Azmi's, leaves a great impact as a depressed, disillusioned actress.
Rohini Hattangadi lends ample support as a maid whose life mirrors the life of Azmi's character in the film.
Raj Kiran is good too as Azmi's admirer in the film.The editing is brilliant.
The memorable soundtrack by the Ghazal duo, the magnificent Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh leaves an everlasting impact on the hearts of the viewers.
Just LIKE this pagehttps://www.facebook.com/MovieReviewByYunusIrshad.Arth (A) Hindi --------- my Rating : 4/5 stars VERY GOODIt is a slow pace classic family drama.....VERY GOOD: *Performances : shabana azmi deserve to win awards....
*No adult contents except few words....FINAL VERDICT: It is a worth watching family drama with full of emotions......Arth (Hindi: अर्थ, in English: Meaning) is a 1982 film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Shabana Azmi, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Smita Patil, Raj Kiran and Rohini Hattangadi.
It features a memorable soundtrack by Ghazal duo, Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh.
The semi-autobiographical film was written by Mahesh Bhatt about his extramarital relationship with actress Parveen Babi.[1] It is one of the 25 Must See Bollywood Movies as compiled by Indiatimes Movies.
Pooja Malhotra shifts to a new apartment along with her actor husband Inder, who hands her the keys willingly .
The reason is that Pooja may soon be the sole resident of the apartment soon as Inder plans on staying with his illicit lover and co-star Kavita Sanyal.
Things get worse for the young lady when she gives up her home when Inder tells her it belongs to Kavita, and moves to a women's hostel, moneyless and jobless.
On the other side, Inder and Kavita's life together becomes sour as Kavita develops paranoia and anxiety disorder.Arth is translated as 'meaning' or 'reason' in Hindi; as Pooja's life undergoes these changes; she finds a new meaning of life and independence.
The decision taken by Pooja towards the end is bold and courageous and Bhatt deserves credit for not following a traditional ending.But the film does the mistake of stretching it's plot to 136 minutes and including some sub-plots that take away much of the focus on the core issue in the film.
To me, the shot from the beginning of the film which stayed in my head is of Inder handing the keys to Pooja.
When Inder leaves Pooja, the house is all hers, meaning she is independent.
But in the film, she sacrifices it in the first hour itself and moves to a hostel; I would have rather written my script in a slightly different manner albeit with the same characters and themes: 'Pooja and Inder shift to a new apartment bought by Inder and not Kavita.
Inder has sexual relations with Kavita and he tells Pooja he is leaving her.
Pooja lives with the maid and her child while Inder moves in with Kavita (I would have made her character slightly saner than she was in the movie, at least in the beginning scenes so that her degeneration is gradual).
Pooja doesn't leave her apartment but searches for a job to meet her expenses.
When Kavita rejects Inder, the hapless actor tries to make amends with Pooja.
Pooja gives Inder the same keys he had given her in the beginning, and tells her that she is leaving with the girl and living with Raj; she does this so Inder can realize and repent on the mistakes committed by him'Also some questions are left unanswered, for example, How did Inder and Kavita cope with the professional breakdown since both are actors and have to deal with the industry and press?
Mahesh Bhatt leaves out certain matters that I would, had I been a director/writer, have included and some things from the movie that I would've changed (my version of the script above).
People hail this as a product of realism in movies, but Arth still holds the Bollywood-ish feeling at times, unlike the movie Ankur, which is very crystalline in depicting human nature.
Also, the focus was dominant on Pooja rather than giving equal emphasis on both sides of the story.Shabhana, Smita, Kulbhushan and Raj pull through with impressive performances, especially from the ladies and Raj. Had Kulbhushan's character been written with more clarity and consistency, he would've interpreted his character in a better way.
Azmi can do better and has done considerably better in Honeymoon Travels, and she seems to have those facile hand movements commonly seen in theatre at times, but she plays her character with sincerity and conviction.
Patil can get screechy and painful at times but she plays her dramatic scenes with forceful intensity.My Rating: 6.9/10.
Mahesh Bhatt got noticed once he made ARTH the film was based on his own love story with Parveen Babi.
The film has ample dramatic scenes, emotional scenes and it's well handled by Bhatt.
Im not sure whether the film is entirely real but yet one must not ignore that a film will have cinematic liberties.Direction by Mahesh Bhatt is splendid Music is decent, Tum Itna Jo is a superb song by Jagjit Singh other songs too are goodKhulbushan Kharbanda is superb in his role, Shabana Azmi is good but the scene stealer is Smita Patil who excels in her role, Raj Kiran is decent rest are okay |
tt0068655 | Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire | Bernard Milan, the second-in-command of France's Counter-Espionage department, is out to discredit his chief Louis Toulouse so that he can supplant him. When a French heroin smuggler who has been arrested in New York claims that the drug smuggling was a secret mission on the orders of French Counter-Espionage (actually on Milan's orders), the resulting bad press reflects on Toulouse, who cannot prove that Milan was responsible. In retaliation, Toulouse hatches a plot to deal with his ambitious subordinate: in a room which he knows is filled with hidden microphones, he sends his assistant Perrache to Orly airport at 9:30AM the next morning, making Milan (who has been listening) believe that Perrache has gone to meet a master spy who will expose Milan's treachery. However, Toulouse secretly instructs Perrache to choose someone at random from the crowd of travelers arriving at that time.
After considering several possibilities from the flight arriving at the specified time, Perrache selects François Perrin, an unsuspecting violinist, who is noticeable because, as the result of a practical joke played on him by his fellow orchestra members, he has arrived wearing a black shoe on one foot and a reddish-brown one on the other. Milan takes the bait and immediately begins a series of attempts to find out what Perrin knows—never ever realizing the fact that Perrin knows nothing at all about espionage (although he is an expert on music). Milan's machinations involve Perrin in a series of increasingly peculiar adventures which he either avoids or escapes from by pure luck (which only confirm Milan's increasingly paranoid suspicions), and although Perrin is largely oblivious to the mayhem occurring around him he can't help noticing Milan's top agent, the beautiful femme fatale Christine. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Perrin is having an affair with Paulette Lefebvre, the wife of his best friend Maurice (both of whom are also in the same orchestra as Perrin), and Maurice, upon accidentally hearing a recording of Perrin and Paulette having torrid sex (made by Milan's agents and listened to inside a floral delivery truck), jumps to the mistaken conclusion that Paulette is having an affair with a florist. All the time, Toulouse and Perrache watch the chaos serenely, although Perrache is troubled by his chief's callousness towards Perrin's possibly being killed.
In a startling scene, Christine greets Perrin at her apartment's front door in a demure high-necked black-velvet dress, then turns around and shows that the dress is backless, displaying discreet buttock cleavage (a similar dress is seen once again—at a symphony concert—in the sequel film Le Retour du Grand Blond). A slapstick love scene (watched by Milan and his cohorts on a television monitor) ensues, concluding with Milan's decision (despite Christine's belief that Perrin couldn't possibly be an agent) to have Perrin eliminated. More mayhem (including Maurice's learning the truth about his wife's affair) and treachery (including Christine's defection from Milan's group to save Perrin, with whom she has fallen in love) follow, climaxing in the deaths of not only agents from both Toulouse's and Milan's groups but also Milan himself, who only learns the truth about Perrin from Perrache just before he dies. Realizing how he has been fooled, Milan dies with a smile of appreciation. Maurice, who has repeatedly walked in on the aftermaths of the shoot-outs in Perrin's apartment, suffers a total mental breakdown.
The film ends as it began, at Orly airport. Perrin pushes a huge Louis Vuitton steamer trunk in an airport luggage cart, talking softly to Christine, who is hidden inside. Their destination is Rio. Toulouse, who has been watching Perrin's departure on a monitor, instructs Perrache to contact Perrin when Perrin returns, remarking "After all, he handles himself pretty well." | cult, comic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0120532 | The Woodlanders | The story takes place in a small woodland village called Little Hintock, and concerns the efforts of an honest woodsman, Giles Winterborne, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. Although they have been informally betrothed for some time, her father has made financial sacrifices to give his adored only child a superior education and no longer considers Giles good enough for her. When the new doctor – a well-born and handsome young man named Edred Fitzpiers – takes an interest in Grace, her father does all he can to make Grace forget Giles, and to encourage what he sees as a brilliant match. Grace has misgivings prior to the marriage as she sees a village woman (Suke Damson) coming out of his cottage very early in the morning and suspects he has been sleeping with her. She tells her father that she does not want to go on with the marriage and he becomes very angry. Later Fitzpiers tells her Suke has been to visit him because she was in agony from toothache and he extracted a molar. Grace clutches at this explanation - in fact Fitzpiers has started an affair with Suke some weeks previously. After the honeymoon, the couple take up residence in an unused wing of Melbury's house. Soon, however, Fitzpiers begins an affair with a rich widow named Mrs. Charmond, which Grace and her father discover. Grace finds out by chance that Suke Damson has a full set of teeth and realises that Fitzpiers lied to her. The couple become progressively more estranged and Fitzpiers is assaulted by his father-in-law after he accidentally reveals his true character to him. Both Suke Damson and Mrs Charmond turn up at Grace's house demanding to know whether Fitzpiers is all right - Grace addresses them both sarcastically as "Wives -all". Fitzpiers later deserts Grace and goes to the Continent with Mrs Charmond. Grace realises that she has only ever really loved Giles but as there is no possibility of divorce feels that her love seems hopeless.
Melbury is told by a former legal clerk down on his luck that the law was changed in the previous year (making the setting of the action 1858) and divorce is now possible. He encourages Giles to resume his courtship of Grace. It later becomes apparent, however, that Fitzpiers' adultery is not sufficient for Grace to be entitled to a divorce. When Fitzpiers quarrels with Mrs. Charmond and returns to Little Hintock to try to reconcile with his wife, she flees the house and turns to Giles for help. He is still convalescing from a dangerous illness, but nobly allows her to sleep in his hut during stormy weather, whilst he insists on sleeping outside. As a result, he dies. Grace later allows herself to be won back to the (at least temporarily) repentant Fitzpiers, thus sealing her fate as the wife of an unworthy man. This is after Suke's husband Timothy Tangs has set a man trap to try to crush Fitzpiers' leg but it only tears Grace's skirt.
No one is left to mourn Giles except a courageous peasant girl named Marty South, who has always loved him. Marty is a plain girl whose only attribute is her beautiful hair. She is persuaded to sell this at the start of the story to a barber who is procuring it for Mrs Charmond, after Marty realises that Giles loves Grace and not her. She precipitates the final quarrel between Fitzpiers and Mrs Charmond by writing to Fitzpiers and telling him of the origin of most of Mrs Charmond's hair. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
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