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tt0052305 | Tot Watchers | Babysitter Jeannie (voiced by Janet Waldo) is instructed to look after the baby while his mother goes out. However, Jeannie pays more attention to the telephone than her actual babysitting. In the midst of Tom and Jerry's usual fighting, they see the baby crawling out of its pram. Any attempt to return the baby to where it came from simply results in the baby escaping from the pram again. During one escape, the baby crawls into Spike's dog house. Tom accidentally grabs Spike instead of the baby, and is promptly attacked, scratched and bit. This time, Tom angrily brings the baby back to Jeannie herself, who hits Tom over the head with a broom, thinking that Tom has taken the baby away from her.
Realising that the baby is no longer worth the trouble, Tom does nothing the next time that it crawls from its pram. However, he and Jerry are forced to react after the baby crawls down to the street and into a construction site. The baby crawls from one steel beam to another while the cat and mouse look on. Jerry manages to catch up, and saves the baby from crawling off a wooden plank by grabbing his diaper. The diaper comes loose, and the baby falls, but he is then caught by Tom. Tom attempts to put the baby's diaper back on, but in the impending confusion, ends up putting the diaper on himself while the baby crawls off, nonchalantly.
Tom and Jerry catch up with the baby, only to lose it again, and fearing that it has crawled into a cement mixer, the cat and mouse dive straight in, only to find that the baby never did enter the mixer but instead playing with a hammer. Then a baby playfully bonks Tom on the head.
Later on, Jeannie is in panic and crying, telling an animal control officer that she was babysitting, took her eye off the baby for "one teensy minute" and the baby was gone. Tired Tom and Jerry arrive with the baby. Jeannie grabs the baby while the two try to escape, but the animal control officer (voiced by Bill Thompson) arrests Tom and Jerry, assuming they were "baby nappers". In the police car, the police officer cannot believe Tom and Jerry's explanation. Just then, to their surprise, the baby crawls past in the police car and walk into a distance away. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | This Is Pure Mid-To-Late '50s.
It's odd to watch hundreds of Tom and Jerry cartoons from the 1940s and early '50s and then see a "culture change" with characters, furniture, cars, the music and the overall artwork that is "so 1950s." Here, "Jeanie," a baby-sitter, has the ponytail, dress and classic mid-'50s look.
She lies upside on the wide, low couch talking on the telephone, etc.
- you know, all the '50s things.
Janet Waldo has a lot of lines in here, as the gabby teen on the telephone, who stops talking every 30 seconds to go hit Tom on the head for bothering the baby.
Of course, Tom is just trying to do the right things and keeps getting blamed or falsely accused of bothering the infant.
You have to feel sorry for the poor cat.That's the theme of the cartoon: the baby wandering off all the time, Tom saving it but then getting pelted on top of the head.
I can't say, for justice sake, I enjoyed the storyline, nor was in that funny, but the cartoon was well-drawn and a real nostalgia piece for the period.This cartoon is noteworthy for being the last William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced Tom and Jerry cartoon.
It is presented in the widescreen CinemaScope and is part of Disc 2 of the Tom and Jerry Spotlight Collection Volume Two DVD..
The One that Finished it All!.
On August 1, 1958 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera produced and directed their final Tom and Jerry cartoon short!
This short represents what is known as the last Tom and Jerry cartoon in the Hanna-Barbera era.
In the years to come others would attempt on making a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
But while others succeeded other didn't and regardless no one could ever match the quality of the Hanna-Barbera shorts.
Those were 18 great years!
This final short sees Tom and Jerry after years of rivalry team up to take care of a baby the babysitter seems to have forgotten.
This short sort of reminds me of the Buttons and Mindy segments from Animaniacs.3(***)out of 4(****)stars.
Not much better than Deitch.
By this point Hanna and Barbera had gotten pretty lazy about Tom and Jerry.
The animation isn't so good; it's worse than when Jones did them in fact, and the cartoon just isn't funny.
The baby crawling in and out of danger is a gag that isn't funny to begin with and rapidly becomes downright mind numbing, and the baby sitter beating Tom and Jerry just irritates me.
Compared to Deitch it isn't too bad; it doesn't seem like a Tom and Jerry themed nightmare you might have, but it shows how far they'd fallen from their glory days..
The end of a memorable era.
Cat and mouse duo Tom and Jerry get caught up in the problem of the negligent babysitter Jeannie not looking after a baby properly.This leads to all sorts of mishaps, but that is all I can say without giving too much away.
What I WILL say, however, is that this was the last of the 114 Tom & Jerry cartoons that had the involvement of their original creators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
Ever since the first of this series, 'Puss Gets The Boot', was released in 1940, this duo have won seven Oscars for best cartoon, and got nominations on many other occasions.
Not a bad legacy for such a fine series, wouldn't you say?.
The inspiration for the Roger Rabbit shorts?.
A mother leaves her baby in the care of teenage babysitter Jeannie while she goes out for a couple of hours, during which time the girl spends most of her time on the telephone, chatting to her friends.
While Jeannie is busy gabbing, the baby crawls out of its pram and into several precarious situations, only to be saved in the nick of time by Tom and Jerry.Tot Watchers doesn't appear to be very popular with the other reviewers here on IMDb, but while it is certainly no classic, I enjoyed it more than the last few T&J shorts (Royal Cat Nap, The Vanishing Duck and Robin Hoddwinked).
I like how the little nipper repeatedly gets into potentially fatal scrapes only to be saved by the cat and mouse at the last moment—it reminds me a lot of those Roger Rabbit shorts where Roger has his work cut out for him looking after Baby Herman.5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.N.B. This was the last Tom and Jerry cartoon produced and directed by Hanna Barbera.
The next batch of T&J capers would be made on the cheap in Czechoslovakia by director Gene Deitch..
A rather disappointing swan-song for Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry.
This makes me sad as I love Tom and Jerry, at their best(which was late 40s to middle 50s) their cartoons were close to or were masterpieces.
Tot Watchers is far from Tom and Jerry's worst, it is far better than the abominable Gene Dietch cartoons(then again almost anything is) but at the same time it is not an example of them in their glory days.
The music of course is outstanding, and apart from the poorly drawn baby I did like the colourful if not always fluid animation.
The end gag is quite amusing, and Tom and Jerry are still likable characters, though Tom is the only character that you feel any shred of sympathy for.
Unfortunately, I didn't find Tot Watchers all that funny.
Apart from the ending being amusing, I spent most of the cartoon actually worrying about what would happen to the baby which really detracted from my enjoyment.
The story started with a concept that would either work or wouldn't, and instead of interesting it got increasingly formulaic and dull.
The side characters are poor, the baby is little more than a plot device and a completely bland one at that, and Jeannie the babysitter is annoying.
Overall, for Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry this was a disappointing swan-song.
But at least it was better than what was going to come.
5/10 Bethany Cox |
tt0034585 | Case of the Missing Hare | A bald-haired magician named Ala Bahma is nailing self-promoting posters on every conceivable surface, including a tree in which Bugs is living. Bugs protests having his home encroached and his right to private property compromised, until the magician apologizes and offers Bugs a blackberry pie. The rabbit's expression momentarily changes to joy as Ala Bahma magically brandishes a blackberry pie from underneath his cloth, then suddenly splatters the pie in Bugs's face. As the magician walks away laughing, "What a dumb bunny!", an enraged Bugs decides that it is time for revenge and says his famous line: "Of course you realize, this means war!"
Bugs exacts his revenge through a series of public humiliations at the Bijou theater, where Ala Bahma is performing. First, Bugs replaces himself with a carrot during Ala Bahma's hat-trick and gets into his outfit. Despite Ala Bahma's objections, Bugs claims he will to help the magician. He goes into his hat and repeats Ala Bahma's hat trick and accepts brief applause. Bugs gets into Ala Bahma's hat, kisses the magician and ties up his mustache. When Ala Bahma unties his mustache, he sees a sign posted by Bugs to tempt him with a carrot. Next, Bugs grabs Ala Bahma's mallet and hits him as he grabs the carrot and eats it. Ala Bahma puts his hand in the hat, only for Bugs to pull the magician in. As Bugs emerges, however, Ala Bahma grabs him and after they fight off-screen, the magician barricades his own hat with wood planks and nails to make sure that Bugs does not get out.
Later, Ala Bahma does an Indian Basket Trick performance with Bugs posing as a volunteer. During his trick, he puts the knives in the basket. When Ala Bahma discovers that Bugs has snuck out from behind him while feigning pain, Bugs runs and attempts to jump into his hat but hits it on the barricade. Ala Bahma charges at Bugs to kill him, but Bugs plays a statues game on the magician. Once Ala Bahma gets close enough, Bugs dresses up as a fencer for Ala Bahma to fight him. Bugs escapes to the balcony to heckle Ala Bahma. Realizing that he has been tricked again, Ala Bahma uses a shotgun and fires at Bugs. However, Bugs appears from Ala Bahma's hat and places a cigar in his mouth, which promptly explodes. After kissing Ala Bahma, Bugs brandishes his own blackberry pie. He says to the audience, quoting Red Skelton's "Mean Widdle Kid", "If I dood it, I get a whippin'...I DOOD IT!" and splatters the pie in Ala Bahma's face. Bugs ends his performance with "Aloha 'Oe" on a ukulele as he descends into the hat. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | "Case" of the giggles!.
TIDBIT - Hey, all you up-and-coming magicians: it's not a good idea to get a bunny mad at you.In "Case of the Missing Hare", Bugs Bunny takes matters in hand when vile magician Ala Bama (as mystical as the same-named state) plasters posters for his show all over Bugs' woodland home and gets plastered himself with a blackberry pie.
Of course you realize, this means war!That night at the theatre, the magician finds himself embarrassed, humiliated, clobbered and otherwise cut down to size by the vengeful Bugs as Ala tries to pres-ti-digi-toot (or pull) a rabbit out of his hat and fails...several times.Director Jones and writer Pierce create a case for all magicians to stick with working with more docile animals...like tigers or lions, maybe.
And as always, Mel Blanc's voices make it all the funnier.Ten stars and a RED LIGHT for this nut "Case"..
A Few Questions........
Ala Bahma, the world renown magician is performing at Bijou Theater, amidst a lot of fanfare.
(Billboards announcing this event are everywhere.) It turns out the slob magician is the one posting all the notices.
He makes the mistake of posting on on a tree in which Bugs is occupying.
(That's the first time I've seen Bugs living in a tree.
What's with that?)Anyway, Bugs gives the guy lip and the portly one throws a blackberry pie in the rabbit's face.
It is then we hear the famous words, outside of "What's up, doc?" of a BB cartoon: "Of course, this means war!"Unfortunately, the war isn't much.
It would have been 5-10 years later in the Looney Tunes cartoons but these early 1940s ones weren't very wild.
They were very tame - too tame - compared to the 1950s editions.
In other words, not a lot happens here.
Also, what's with all the big kisses on the lips?
It seems to be another trait of the period, along with the corny humor.
I see it here several times and in other cartoons of the early '40s?
Kissing your opponent on the lips.....was that supposed to be funny?.
we all get a whipping sooner or later.
When a--hole magician Ala Bahma nails a poster over Bugs Bunny's tree-hole (since when does Bugs live in a tree?) and subsequently shoves a pie in Bugs's face, Bugs decides that it means war.
So, Ala Bahma's show that night becomes a venue for Bugs to make a mess of everything.
Whether it's the carrot, the swords, or the end, this is a magic show unlike any other.
So, maybe "Case of the Missing Hare" isn't the best Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies cartoon ever, but it's still a real pleasure.
Bugs always knows how to turn the power structure on its head, even when dressed like a little kid.
Really funny.He dood it alright..
So what if Bugs Bunny lives in a tree!.
In this Bugs Bunny episode, we meet the rascally rabbit living happily in a tree.
And why are some people not OK with this?
It is perfectly fine - it is actually quite a good touch to the episode - funny in some aspects.Also, kissing can be quite funny, cartoon or real life.
The way that the Looney Tunes characters used to do it can strike up a chuckle or two.
In this day and age, I do not find it terribly funny, but it does not matter.Anyhow, this is a very funny episode, another one of those ones where Bugs Bunny earns revenge from a nasty stage person.
The animation of Bugs Bunny is good, the jokes are good (especially where Bugs Bunny is imitating a dog with his fingers) and the theme of the episode is used well.In this short, a stage magician is putting up posters advertising his magic show.
He so happens to pin a poster over the door of Bugs Bunny's home - a tree, funnily enough.
Bugs Bunny starts to become annoyed with the stage magician, who in fact turns out to be an obnoxious meanie.
Bugs Bunny will soon fight for revenge...I recommend this Bugs Bunny episode for anyone who likes stage magic (a lot of the jokes here are based on it), old Bugs animation and Looney Tunes.
Enjoy "Case of the Missing Hare"!
Bugs Bunny in the hat.
Bugs Bunny starts a war with a magician called Ala Bahma.When Ala is on stage, it's Bugs who comes out of his hat.Case of the Missing Hare (1942) is a Chuck Jones short.Mel Blanc is the voice of both Bugs Bunny and Ala Bahma.This short has a lot of hilarious stuff.Ever since Bugs gets a pie in the face and uses the Groucho Marx catchphrase: Of course you realize this means war!
One funny moment is where Ala tries to lure Bugs out of the hat with a carrot, and Bugs hits Ala with a mallet that was meant for Bugs.And what about when Bugs pretends to be a little boy from the audience, assisting the magician.Bugs goes in the basket, and the magician sticks swords through it.Bugs screams inside the basket, as if the swords penetrate him.And that causes excessive sweating to Ali.Also the use of colors brings a stylish touch to this short..
Bunnies live in trees??.
When a magician desecrates Bugs Bunny's tree home (yea I know Bugs doesn't usually live in a tree, but just go with it), the rabbit decides to go to the magician's show to heckle him unmercifully, making him look quite the fool in front of his audience.
If you can get over the whole tree thing, you'll find that this IS a truly funny short, and worthy to be more widely known than it appears to be.
This animated short can be found on Disk 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 3 and includes an optional commentary by Greg Ford which is quite informative by itself and is worth at least one listen.My Grade: B+.
Of course you realise, this is a flimsy pretext for war!.
Chuck Jones's 'Case of the Missing Hare' is a slow- moving and not particularly funny cartoon.
An early Bugs Bunny short, 'Case of the Missing Hare' pits Bugs against a weak magician character who never proves to be much of a foil for the rabbit.
Opening with a feeble pie-in-the-face routine which serves as a flimsy pretext for a "Of course you realise this means war" moment, 'Case of the Missing Hare' quickly segues into the magician's magic act and Bugs's inevitable sabotage of it.
Ultimately, the script isn't all that funny and Jones has little to work with but he also seems to be having an off day, showing none of the sparkle which characterises his work.
The result is a flat, dull cartoon with little to no laughs..
Bugs Never Backs Off. This is pretty much one of those cartoons where someone crosses our famous rabbit.
This is a mistake because once you confront this guy, he'll get ya!
Here a famous magician wants to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but that rabbit is Bugs, and he's not interested.
What happens is a series of events that drive the magician crazy.
It's not bad, but there is nothing that stands out..
Don't Mess with the Bunny.
Case of the Missing Hare (1942) *** (out of 4)Magician Ala Bahma is in the forest hanging up posters for his upcoming show and he crosses paths with Bugs Bunny.
After throwing a pie into his face, Bugs decides to go to the show and cause the magician some trouble.While this film is far from a classic it still contains enough good moments to where fans of Bugs will enjoy watching it.
As you'd expect the animation quality is extremely high and that beautiful color is on full display throughout.
Ala Bahma appeared in several shorts and I honestly never found him to be the greatest of villains.
The entertainment factor certainly comes from Bugs with one of the highlights dealing with swords..
Another Looney Tunes gem.
I love this cartoon, I think it is clever and original.
These Looney Tunes cartoons were part of my childhood, and this was one of those that I constantly loved and still love watching.
The animation is detailed and expressive, the music is sparkling, the dialogue is funny and the sight gags are clever and inventive.
And I love the chemistry between Bugs and the magician.
Bugs is still his rascally and somewhat arrogant self, while the magician himself is an interesting character, for he is weak, obnoxious and inferior at his job.
Just watching Bugs outsmart him is part of the fun of this cartoon.
On a finishing note, Mel Blanc once again is faultless with the voices.
Overall, another gem.
10/10 Bethany Cox.
"Look, Doc!
Do I go around nailing signs over YOUR house?!".
Written by Tedd Pierce, animated by Ken Harris, and directed by Chuck Jones, "Case of the Missing Hare" is a very good Warner Bros.
cartoon that pits Bugs Bunny against a world-renowned magician, who invades the sanctity of Bugs' home.
This cartoon proves a very well-known point: If you pick on Bugs Bunny, you sure as hell better watch out, because he'll give it back to you a lot worse than you can imagine.One particular scene in "Case of the Missing Hare" I especially find funny: Assisting the magician with a swords-through-the-basket trick (in which the swords don't penetrate, as the magician explains), Bugs actually squeals in mock pain with each sword, causing the magician to sweat profusely.
I also like how both the magician and the rabbit have difficulty pronouncing "prestidigitator".Director Chuck Jones was still in his experimental stages with "Case of the Missing Hare", and there ain't nothing wrong with that.
One particular oddity, however, is that the onstage backgrounds keep changing color.
Big deal..
Octavia Spencer's four times Great Grandma invented the "Pie in the Face" .
. movie comedy bit during the Third Lincoln-Douglas Debate in the 1850s.
Overwhelmed by the odoriferous "Old Family Recipe" pastry Ms. Spencer's ancestor had just plastered onto his visage, Douglas famously fell flat on his kisser as Abe quipped, "A pie divided against itself cannot stand." Though many cinema pioneers tried to top this "Who cut the cheesecake?" moment from the Sepia Age of Film, no one came close until 1942's animated short, CASE OF THE MISSING HARE.
While the pie fillings involved in HARE may be more mannered than the Spencer Family Manure, the facials exchanged between magician Ala Bahma and Bugs Bunny up the ante considerably (or, as Bugs says, pie-faced to the hilt, "Of course you know, this means War!").
Warren Buffet has brought this American political tradition forward into its Third Century, with his posting of the $10 million Project Pie Prize for the first group to get Donald Trump this-faced in Cleveland this summer.
Vegas odds-makers have made Black Lives Matter a 3-2 early favorite, though the last I heard the Occupy Movement was closing fast. |
tt0048703 | Ten Wanted Men | Adam Stewart (Lester Matthews), a lawyer heading west with grown son Howie (Skip Homeier), is persuaded by brother John Stewart (Randolph Scott) to settle down near him in Ocatilla, Arizona, where he has a ranch and romantic interest in a widow, Corinne Michaels (Jocelyn Brando).
The menacing rancher Wick Campbell (Richard Boone) has an attractive ward, Maria Segura (Donna Martell), and also lusts for her, but she wants no part of that. Her interest in Howie strikes a jealous chord in Campbell, who hires gunfighters led by Frank Scavo (Leo Gordon) to rid the region of the meddlesome Stewarts once and for all.
Campbell's thugs kill a rancher and stampede cattle. One picks a fight with Howie, who surprisingly beats him to the draw in self-defense, only to be locked up by Sheriff Gibbons (Dennis Weaver), falsely accused of murder. Howie busts out and flees with Maria.
Adam is killed in cold blood by Campbell, for which Howie blames himself while promising to get even. During a gun battle, the cowardly Campbell uses the sheriff's wife as a hostage. Scavo kills him, intending to take over the territory himself.
With assistance from the sheriff, John and Howie take on Scavo's men and prevail. The town has law and order at last, while the Stewarts celebrate a double wedding. | revenge, murder, sadist, prank | train | wikipedia | Ten Wanted Men (the title hints at something far more dramatic than is actually in the picture) is a serviceable, but instantly forgettable Western from the Scott-Brown production company.
Bruce Humberstone, with a screenplay by Kenneth Gamet (from a story by Irving Ravetch) and filmed in Technicolor out in Old Tuscon, it feels (and is) lifeless and poor on structure and execution.With some misplaced humour and a cobbled together plot, this ultimately ends up as a time filler for Randy Scott completists only.
There's some enjoyment to be had from watching our Randy lob dynamite around, and Leo Gordon steals the movie as menacing villain Frank Scavo, but sadly it never comes together to make a worthy mark.
Which when you have cast list that contains Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Lee Van Cleef, Skip Homeier and Dennis Weaver!
The rancher John Stewart (Randolph Scott) welcomes his brother and lawyer Adam (Lester Matthews) and his nephew Howie (Skip Homeier) that have just arrived in the pacific Ocatilla to implement law with a party in his ranch.
Howie flirts with the Mexican Maria Segura (Donna Martell) and the greedy Wick Campbell (Richard Boone) that has raised the girl since she was orphan tries to force her to live with him; however John Stewart protects Maria and she moves to his ranch.
Campbell hires ten gunmen to work for him; he first kills John's neighbor that was going to pay a debt with him to have his lands; then he rustles John's cattle with the gunmen; frames Howie in a duel in the bar and he is arrested in jail; and kills Adam Stewart in a lonely road.
The fifty-seven year-old Randolph Scott is still convincing in the role of an old cowboy that became a successful rancher and needs to use weapons again to protect his family, his friends and the town he helped to build.
Lee Van Cleef in the beginning of his career has a minor role as an outlaw and Richard Boone and Leo Gordon perform the typical villain.
It has some big stars, including the most fun Western actor of all time, Randoph Scott.
"Ten Wanted Men" probably would not make a list of must see films, for the simple reason that it was released during the 50's as a movie bound for the Saturday afternoon double feature bill at the local movie house.
The viewer will recognize a lot of Grade-B western movie actors, and this does give a bit of nostalgia to the film.Scott plays the rancher in the valley with most of the power and influence, while Richard Boone plays an up-and-comer who has designs to crowd in on Scott's area.
Assisting Boone in this plan are veteran western heavies Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef and Dennis Weaver playing the sheriff before his "Gunsmoke" days.
A great looking movie with unusual touches that set it apart from most other westerns of the period and put on a par or beyond some of the later Bud Boetticher films.The reality is so heightened and the sexual obsession so strong throughout that I was reminded of Nicholas Ray's classic Johnny Guitar.
The men (good and bad) are as pretty as the girls and the violence is in places grueling with a twist in the final shootout (they don't use guns) that was surprisingly effective.For these reasons the film scored an unexpected 10 from me.
Ten Wanted Men starts off with one big thing in its favor - it is a beautiful movie to watch.
The story itself is reasonably good - I found myself engaged in it fairly early when Campbell gets into it with Howie Stewart.
(This is the second movie of Homeier's where he played someone named Howie.) I like Randolph Scott a lot but I'm also a Homeier fan, and he had a good part in this movie.
As far as the story goes, I would have liked to see Scott use the dynamite to greater advantage against the bad guys; they had it coming.So, this is not the greatest movie ever made, but I think it rates a seven at least.
In contrast to his usual roles as a loner or "stranger in town", Randolph Scott plays a very successful rancher, but doesn't really fit the patriarch mould, though he does get to wear a fancy waistcoat.Like other commentators, I thought that his practical joke at the beginning was foolish, and that the way the chip on bad guy Wick Campbell's shoulder grew was a bit unbelievable.
And it was way into the film that I started to wonder about the "Ten Wanted Men" of the title.
The relationship between Maria and Howie seemed to happen instantaneously, and the "ten wanted men" turned up in town almost spontaneously.It was good to see Skip Homeier acting against type; he's nearly always a bad guy who gets killed; here he's even slow to rise to provocation from one of Campbell's heavies.
I was half-expecting him to turn out bad but...Leo Gordon stole quite a few scenes from Richard Boone, who didn't perform that well.
"High Noon" apart, his filmography up to now had been unimpressive, but his day was coming.Quite apart from his misplaced sense of humour at the beginning, Scott took a foolish risk by walking into the bad guy's saloon by himself, and where were all his ranch-hands in the final confrontation?
Ten Wanted Men is one of the best of Scott's films.
The beginning, when they play a bad taste joke on the two Stewarts sets the violent tone which will prevail throughout the film.
Richard Boone is the bad guy which became obsessed with love for Maria (Donna Martell).
Leo Gordon and Lee Van Cleef are the bad, bad guys and they are quite good at it.
If you enjoy a good action western, do not miss Ten Wanted Men..
Exceptionally fine cast from top to bottom, from Boone and Gordon at the top to Pyle and Louis-Jean Heydt in support, and of course in the starring role, the great Randolph Scott.
And the fact that Harry Joe Brown produced suggests that this is a 1955 warm-up for the classic Boetticher-Ranown Western cycle that was soon to follow.So, with these kinds of ingredients, why isn't the movie better than I think it is.
I have been a fan of Randolph Scott westerns since childhood and enjoy most of his work, but this movie plods along so slowly that you wish that everyone would shoot each other early and end the misery.The good guys & gals are too noble and self-righteous and the villains are obviously rotten, evil and stupid.The best thing about the film is the color scenery.1 * out of 5..
Those of us who went to see the feature (as opposed to the kids just out to raise heck in the audience, were usually pretty pleased when the name Randolph Scott appeared on the opening credits.
It was cowboy day, and just about any oater would do but a Scott flick was usually considerably better fare than most of the films made for the 50s kiddie market.I first saw Ten Wanted Men at the State Theater in downtown Schenectady New York.
I don't remember if I got a soda or a Hershey bar on the way in, but those were my go-to matinée snacks at that time.Scott made some pretty impressive "B" westerns but Ten Wanted Men had absolutely nothing going for it, other than Scott.
Time has not dulled my disdain for this remarkably poor excuse for a Randolph Scott western - but it has dulled my memory for titles.
It was in my house, and I was left with no choice but to either watch the movie or send in back.My sense of thrift just about compels me to be a good lad and sit in my seat paying strict attention to a movie I really would have rather avoided forever.Unless you are an absolute completest for Scott westerns I suggest you do your best to avoid my horrible mistake.Pay no mind to the extensive list of reliable western bad men in the cast - even Richard Boone was a completely lackluster villain in this film.
Considering the Cast and Production Value (including Technicolor) This One Turned Out to be Quite Clunky, Uneven, and Worth a Watch Only for a Few Interesting Elements.The Sometimes Gritty Violence is Softened Routinely with Awkward Dialog About "Violence" and the Occasionally Rousing Scenes of Cattle Rustling and a Stand Off are So Pedestrian as to be Laughable at Times (the dynamite scenes).In the Randolph Scott Legacy of Over 60 Westerns this Barely Makes Average, Helped by the Few Things that Elevate it to Acceptable.
The Good Bad Buys, Featuring Richard Boone (not at his best playing a smitten lover), a Couple of Violent Outbreaks (with Boone and Leo Gordon) of Sadistic Murders, and the Sprawling Locations.The Good Good Guys are Inconsistently Used for a Balance to the Brutality.
Overall, Only Recommended for Undiscerning Western Movie Fans and Randolph Scott Completest..
This is one of 61 Western movies Scott made and no better than his average, perhaps a bit below average.
If it sounds familiar it's because a similar scene shows up in Howard Hawks' "Rio Brave", among dozens of others, and I was wondering if Hawks might have seen "Ten Wanted Men", released a few years before "Rio Bravo," and decided to turn the dynamiting into a gag..
Saloon owner Richard Boone and cattle rancher Randolph Scott have had an uneasy rivalry for years.
But the final straw comes when Scott's nephew starts sparking Donna Martell who Boone had considered his private preserve.
Of course she never saw it that way and when she goes to Scott for protection, Boone starts a range war over it.Richard Boone is presented to us as having a chip on his shoulder to begin with.
Boone rustles Scott's cattle of course, he shoots Scott's lawyer brother, he imports several hired guns like Leo Gordon, Lee Van Cleef, and Denver Pyle.
Pyle in fact tries to rawhide Scott's nephew, played by Skip Homeier, into a fight.
But he does think Boone's motives a bit nuts and lets him know a few times in the film.It's not one of the best of Randolph Scott's westerns and it does seem a mighty silly reason to start a range war..
Actor-Producer Randolph Scott and writer-producer Harry Joe Brown collaborated on a number of good westerns.
Richard Boone has a number of gunmen working for him, but it's never apparent any of them are wanted for anything, though they should be.WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERSThe movie opens with Scott having engineered a bogus stagecoach robbery, intended as a practical joke.
Skip Homier and Scott's ranch foreman see Boone's men rustling Scott's cattle.
Yet, when Boone says Scott has no witnesses, Scott doesn't challenge him.Homier kills Denver Pyle in self defense, using Leo Gordon's gun.
Even though Gordon and Boone's other men are clearly unreliable witnesses and Homier is known not to carry a gun, the sheriff arrests Homier.The editing in TEN WANTED MEN is frequently choppy, never more so than the climactic fight between Scott and Leo Gordon.
From the trajectory of the hole in the glass, Weaver should have been hit in the neck, but Weaver's character is given the old, reliable shoulder wound.Two stunt men drop their horses BEFORE Scott's dynamite explodes.The acting ranges from indifferent to terrible.
Even the usually reliable Richard Boone is off his game.Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Lee Van Cleef, Leo Gordon, Denver Pyle.
I like Randolph Scott Westerns, but I am the first to admit they all were not gems.
While I give this one 4 of 10, this is mostly because I like Scott and his acting--no matter how clichéd and sloppy the movie was.First let's talk about sloppiness.
In one scene, Scott's brother is sitting in his wagon and shot three separate times when being cross-examined by the Baddie (Richard Boone).
Looks like it was filmed in the same Arizona cactus town as Scott's later BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE was filmed in, only it's not as good as that film, unfortunately.Randolph Scott plays John Stewart, a powerful rancher who gets caught up in a dispute with Wick Campbell (Richard Boone) over a Mexican girl (Donna Martell) that Stewart's been sheltering.
Caught up in all this is Stewart's newly arrived brother Adam (Lester Matthews) and his nephew Howie (Skip Homeier) who falls in love with the Mexican girl.Wick gets all jealous over this and calls in the big guns (played ably enough by Leo Gordon & Lee Van Cleef) to wipe Stewart out.
They stampede and rustle his cattle and kill some of his ranch hands, trying to force Stewart to play his hand.During a bar scene, Howie is forced to shoot one of Wick's men and is locked up for it, but later escapes because he doesn't understand why he's being punished for acting in self-defense.
They think he's the one who's sheltering Howie, so now John Stewart is now out for blood, regardless of the consequences to himself.There's the inevitable standoff in town between Wick & his men vs.
He blows some of them up with dynamite (looks clumsy) and then has an unconvincing dusty brawl with heavy Leo Gordon in the dynamite damaged saloon before having to shoot him.It's competent enough, although by no means a classic the way the later Boetticher/Scott westerns were.
Well I don't know if there were more than three or four of the ten wanted men of the title to challenge Randolph Scott in this mid 1950's Western, which played a lot more like an oater from a decade or two earlier.
The best villain title of the picture goes to Leo Gordon in what could have easily been the second lead in the story to Randolph Scott himself.
Gordon's character even turns on his boss Wick Campbell (Boone), showing that you just can't trust a bad guy when it comes to money.
Lee Van Cleef and Denver Pyle hadn't hit their peak yet as character actors, and it's cool to see them as part of Gordon's bad guy posse, even if they didn't last long.
Skip Homeier makes quick work of Pyle, and Scott unceremoniously wastes Van Cleef's character in a quick gun battle.As for the main protagonists, I would have to say that the showdown between Randolph Scott and Richard Boone takes the prize as the shortest range shootout ever - about three feet across a wooden table!
I would have re-wound to see what I missed but I caught this on Encore Westerns, so there was no way for a do over.Oh yeah, there were a couple of romantic angles going on (Homeier and Donna Martel, Scott and Jocelyn Brando), but the chemistry didn't seem right in either case.
All in all, a rather clumsy effort and not one of Randolph Scott's finest hours, though it might have been for Leo Gordon..
This film, which features a production credit for star Randolph Scott and direction by H.
Jocelyn Brando appears, without much to do, but the film does have some nice bits for Richard Boone, Leo Gordon, and Lee Van Cleef (all of whom would later reappear even more memorably in the Ranown series with Budd Boetticher later in the 50s/early 60s).
early in the film, the focus is more on Scott's family, and later it is more focused on Dennis Weaver's sheriff character.
If they are to survive John will have to pick up his gun belt once again and fight back.The story isn't the most original but there is a lot of action packed into the film's eighty minutes; there are shoot-outs, chases on horseback, a cattle stampede and a final showdown where there is a lot of shooting and plenty of destruction caused by dynamite!
The murder of Tunstall is done, and the Kid was a favorite of the Mexican people, who attempt to warn Homeier away from the battle.) Of course, it's always a pleasure to see Scott out West, and Boone was one of those who could play any part..
A whole lot of people get murdered, one by one, and some of John Stewart's(Randolph Scott) cattle get rustled, all instigated by a dispute over a shy senorita : Maria Segura(Donna Mortell), by cattle and saloon owner Wick Campbell(Richard Boone), and newly arrived from the East , Howie Stewart(Skip Homier):John's nephew.
By the end of the film, all10 of Campbell's hired guns are dead or run out of town, some killed or scared by John's throwing lite dynamite sticks at them.(The long fuses must have burned down mighty quickly to get an instantaneous explosion!).
Somehow, John had gotten ahold of the stash of dynamite the Campbell's men used to damage John's stage line depot, and to throw at the Stewarts as they tried to escape down a river in back of the stage depot.......I agree with Howie and some of the reviewers that the opening fake stagecoach holdup, involving the arrival of Howie and his father Adam, was not particularly funny, and might have turned tragic if Adam or Howie happened to have a pistol on them........In the end, as you no doubt expect, things are looking up for most of the good people who survived the war(Adam Stewart was murdered).
Randolph Scott (John Stewart), Jocelyn Brando (Corinne Michaels), Richard Boone (Wick Campbell), Alfonso Bedoya (Hernando), Donna Martell (Maria Segura), Skip Homeier (Howie Stewart), Clem Bevans (Tod Grinnel), Leo Gordon (Frank Scavo), Minor Watson (Jason Carr), Lester Matthews (Adam Stewart), Tom Powers (Green), Dennis Weave (Sheiff Clyde Gibbons), Lee Van Cleef (Al Drucker), Louis Jean Heydt (Tom Baines), Kathleen Croiwley (Marva Gibbons), Boyd "Red" Morgan (Red Dawes), Denver Pyle (Dave Weed), Francis McDonald (Warner), Pat Collins (bartender), Robert Ivers (John Stewart acolyte), Paul Maxey (cattle buyer), and George Boyce, Franklyn Farnum, Terry Frost, Edna Holland, Reed Howes, Jack Perrin, Carlos Vera, Julian Rivero.Director: BRUCE HUMBERSTONE. |
tt1135952 | White Material | Maria Vial is a white French farmer who runs (with her ex-husband, Andre, and his sickly father) a failing coffee plantation in an unnamed African country in the present day. Maria and Andre have a lazy, mentally unstable son, Manuel, while Andre has another half-African son, Jose. Civil war has broken out and rebel soldiers, many of them child soldiers, are advancing on the area. The French military, while pulling out, makes one final plea for Maria to leave, but unyielding in her desire to protect her family's home and blinded by her own anti-white prejudice, she ignores the warnings. Meanwhile, a rebel DJ on the radio urges the rebels on and advocates attacks on emblems of colonialism. Maria's workers flee for fear of the upcoming conflict. Maria stubbornly refuses to abandon the plantation and its harvest, which will be ready in five days. Risking her life and unable to find Andre, she drives to a village to hire men to finish harvesting the coffee. On the way, she is forced to pay off bandits who threaten to kill her at a roadblock. After hiring the workers, she stops at the elementary school and collects Andre's other son, Jose. Jose is an upbeat boy of about 12, and we later learn that his mother is Andre's father's young housekeeper.
Meanwhile, we see Andre in town meeting with the African mayor, Cherif. Cherif seeing that Andre is desperate, takes advantage of the situation and offers to purchase the plantation for the cancellation of Andre's debts. Cherif requires Andre to get his father to sign over the coffee plantation to him. Having returned to the plantation, Maria searches out her son Manuel and finds him in bed after midday. Trying to rouse him, she laments his listlessness and scolds that he is without purpose. Manuel rises, and after a swim, is intrigued by a noise in the house. He follows it to two young rebels. They run, and in spite of his lack of shoes, Manuel follows them far from the home. They eventually corner them; he discovers that they're armed with a spear and a machete. The rebel boys threaten him, cut his hair, and retreat to the bush, firing shots from a revolver. Maria, Andre, and some workers converge on Manuel and are shocked to find him stripped and standing naked in the field. The fact that the oldest boy stuck his revolver down Manuel's pants, as well as his state of shock, the dirt on his hands and knees, and his later over-reaction, indicate he was raped off camera. Maria loads him in the tractor and heads back to the house. Manuel obviously traumatized and out of his mind abandons the tractor and goes to his grandfathers home. There the heavily tattooed Manuel reacts to his assault by shaving his head, stealing his grandfathers shotgun, attacking Jose's mother, and disappearing on his mother's motorbike.
Despite Andre's continued pleas that they should flee, Maria remains steadfast in her efforts to bring in the coffee crop. She discovers the wounded rebel hero known as 'The Boxer' in a barn and feeds him. As night falls the workers bed down and Maria falls asleep dreaming of an earlier evening where we see her discussing Manuel with Cherif in what appears to be a romantic situation fueled by marijuana. Cherif warns her that her son is 'half-baked', a statement which makes her laugh. She awakens and attempts to start work again. However, the radio issues reports that the Boxer is being harbored by the "foreigners" and that loyal citizens should oppose them. Her workers, hearing this, demand to be paid immediately. Upon threat, Maria opens the safe to find that the money is all gone, likely taken by Andre to secure passage out of the country. The workers demand to be driven back to the village. Maria agrees and starts driving them back.
Before they can reach the village they are stopped by a band of young rebels who appear to be wearing her clothing and jewelry. The rebels demand the truck and, when a worker protests that they are just poor villagers, the rebels shoot him and drive off leaving Maria by the roadside. Maria discovers they have looted the pharmacy and killed the doctor and his assistant. Driving the truck down the road the rebels are pursued by Manuel who tells them that he knows where the Boxer is, and leads them back to the plantation. He is clearly mad as he assists the rebels to loot his own family's food store. The rebels and Manuel gorge themselves on the food and then ingest the many pharmaceutical products which they have stolen. Almost all then pass out in and around the house.
Government troops then retake control of the area. We see them slip onto the plantation grounds immediately in front of Andre's father who calls out no warning to anyone inside. We see the troops move from room to room, slitting the throats of the rebels who are passed out from the orgy of food and medication. Government troops then lock the gun-toting Manuel in one of the farm buildings and burn him to death. Andre is shown dead on the floor of the house holding the family passports.
In the town Maria is overwrought, she is seeking a way back to the house when Cherif sees her and gives her a ride. At the plantation Maria finds Manuel's charred body. Andre's father is shown walking around the barn where Manuel was burned. Maria hacks Andre's father to death with a machete, presumably seeing him at least partly responsible for the death of her son. Another reason may be the fact that Andre's father had promised Maria that she would inherit the plantation, but has broken the promise this very day by selling the land to Cherif, the mayor. Since Maria's ex-husband, who was instigator of the sale, has already been killed, his father is the only one in the family left to be punished.
At the end, we see one rebel leaving the area with the wounds to his head. He carries the beret of the Boxer. He tucks it into his trousers and continues into the countryside. | insanity, violence, avant garde, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2625810 | Into the Forest | In the near future, two teenage sisters, Nell and Eva, live in a remotely located home with their father in an old-growth forest. There is a massive, continent-wide power outage that appears to be part of an overall technological collapse. Nell is careless with their car so that the battery is drained, so they are left stranded for days. Eventually their father is able to get the car working and they make it to the nearest town where they are able to buy some limited supplies including gas from a man called Stan. Later Eva attends dance class while her sister meets up with Eli, a boy she has a crush on. Returning home, they see a stranded car and the girls' father offers to help the passengers, but after they brandish guns he moves on.
They are low on gas, and things seem increasingly hostile, so the girls' father tells them they will not be returning to town until the power is back on. Shortly after, while cutting down a tree in the forest, the girls' father has an accident and cuts his leg with a chain saw. Before dying he tells the girls to take care of each other and love one another.
The girls struggle onwards for two months as they run low on food. They are surprised one night by a knock on the door that turns out to be Eli, who walked there looking for Nell. He tells the sisters that he had searched the surrounding houses and they are all abandoned. Nell and Eli sleep together several times and he finally tells her that he heard that out east there is still electricity, internet, and order. He convinces Nell to go with him, but Eva chooses to remain behind. Nell briefly leaves but then turns back after a night away from home, unwilling to leave Eva.
Reunited, the girls begin to do research on the plants in the forest and use it to collect berries and other edibles. One day, after Nell gets her period and realizes she is not pregnant, she encourages Eva to celebrate by getting drunk with her, and the two use some of their gas on the generator and watch home movies of their deceased parents, and Eva dances to music for the first time in half a year.
The following day Nell goes to collect berries while Eva stays behind and chops wood. She is approached by Stan, who rapes her and then steals the remaining gas they have. As a result, the girls become more reclusive, boarding up the house and refusing to go outside. Nell tries to help Eva with her depression, playing her a song and revealing that she had actually hidden the gas and that Stan did not take the rest of it.
Eventually Eva realizes she is pregnant, which helps to jolt her out of her depression. Though Nell encourages her to try to abort the baby, Eva insists on keeping it, saying that she doesn't want to lose anyone else. During her pregnancy Eva states that she'll have a boy and Nell believes she'll have a girl. The two bet on the gas, saying that whoever correctly predicts the baby's gender will win the remaining gas.
During a storm several beams of the roof break and Eva begins to have contractions. The two sisters flee for a hollowed out tree stump that once served as their playhouse, where Eva gives birth to a baby boy. Returning to their now destroyed home, Eva decides to use her prize to destroy their home, so that passersby will think that they died in a fire and they will be safe from stragglers.
Rescuing a few precious items, the sisters burn down the house and then relocate to their new home, deep within the forest. | home movie | train | wikipedia | For a film about two sisters, one Lycra clad and fashionable, the other boyish living in a glass house in a forest in the midst of a disaster of world wide proportions the film is lacking the sense of emergency and impending doom you would expect in this scenario.
(I intentionally tried my best to avoid spoilers, but please let me know if I didn't) I would have lost a bet if someone told me Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood were in a flick that sucked, but here you go.
Good performances for both, some great emotion, but the whole of the writing suffers from plausibility problems, almost like a freshman film student didn't have a mentor review her work before final submission.
That can be massaged by the writer to match her message as she sees fit (some of the messages are not all that great, but I'm a guy), but what is obviously lacking in the story is the amount of technical consult work that must be done to ensure any viewer that has a slight idea of how things work doesn't turn away from the film before the conclusion.
Before walking in, all I knew was that it starred Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood--actresses whom I thought were talented as is-- and that it was a "post-apocalyptic" film.
However, rather than zombies or nuclear fallout wiping out humankind, what I saw was an emotionally powerful story of how two sisters enter a new world while discarding an old one; through this process, I saw some of the most believable character arcs thanks to Page and Wood's incredible performances.
But if you want to instead see a film that makes you feel raw emotions and reflect as you watch the sisters' transformation in a time of adversity, then I can't recommend this film enough..
This movie tells us the story of building a new life without ordinary acquisitions of the modern world as well as the basic human needs such as safety, sheltering and hunger.
The movie wants us to ask ourselves some basic questions about the concepts of home, family and society.Cinematography and acting are also great.
Page and Ellen are perfect in their leading roles as well as the chemistry between them.This movie is not about saving humanity from a power disaster or an alien attack.
Evan Rachel Wood is also really good, she does her sensitive character a lot of justice and portrays a vividly brutal scene with real honesty.
The direction was good - the pace was tense and believable, the only slow part I didn't care for were some of the love scenes in the beginning, and the dance scenes were pretty dispensable, but all in all I really liked it!.
Listed as a drama and a sci-fi here but there are not very much sci-fi about it except for it taking place a couple years maybe into the future, but yeah no time traveling, aliens or robots or any of the sort so don't go into it expecting anything of that.It is a rather down to earth human drama with some scenes of suspense but mostly a drama about human endurance in hard times.Reading through some of the negative comments on the message-board I get the impression that people thought that this would be some sort of lesbian erotic drama (maybe because the only trivia currently listed is that Ellen Page does her first nude scene in it) but that is not the case, and the scene is not very explicit either.And some complain about animal cruelty, which is not even shown on screen, there is a quick scene where a animal gets visibly butchered but it's ridiculous to call it animal cruelty as the animal most likely suffered more humane treatment than the meat you buy in store and it was of course already dead.So those things are something I think are partly the reasons why there are quite a few negative reviews about it.Not saying that the movie is flawless but I think it was a well spent 95 minutes and one I will watch again sometime most likely..
It starts to stink pretty early on when it becomes apparent the editing or ad hoc screen writing started to jump around with implausible leaps.It's so bad, you'd rather the ending was "woke up and it was all a dream." Again, no spoilers, the plot has nothing to do with a dream or surreal adventure (though I wish it were so.) It's a stinker of a movie..
I'm normally a bit dim with movies, when it comes to what's going to happen next, but this is the most predictable film I have ever seen in my life.
Evan Rachel Wood and Ellen Page are sisters living in a post-apocalyptic word, with their father.
That said, I gave it 9/10 and think for those who watch it expecting a family drama set in a post-electricity world, the movie delivers well.
It was a well put together story.I noticed that a lot of reviewers gave this movie a low rate, but I give it 8/10, because when watching this movie, you have to imagine yourself in that situation, and how you would react in such case.I loved the Chemistry between Ellen Page & Evan Rachel Wood.
with just enough of a smattering of 'real behavior' for the writer to feel like she was 'true to life', but not nearly enough actual reality for the budget, cast, and story to make this a good film.Its a professional motion picture, with a marketable cast and is shot well enough, with a decent enough story not to be a complete bomb.
The situation is made far worse with the family in this picture as they live out in the woods a few miles away from the nearest town.I've seen a lot of post apocalyptic movies and this is my favorite one yet.
One day the lights go out and they never come back on, and in a secluded house lives two sisters and a dad, but not for long, accidents happen, and well, now its just the two girls, and its pretty boring...
Then it dawns on me(as I turn it off and hope minimal royalties are forwarded to this production).....this whole movie is like so many now adays, it is written, produced, acted by people who are not real.
The electrical grid fails, and all these people can find drama in the human condition is them bitching about not watching old home movies so they are not sad?!?!?!
It appears on that site under "Drama, Sci-Fi", and rightly so.For those versed in the meaning of spiritual parables, it is a symbolic rendering of coming to this world, experiencing being but a human, all to eventually bring new life here, after going through many forms of suffering, like losing one's contact with our original life force(electricity) and Source (the Father) by no longer enjoying His company, and destroying our original home.
And even though at first the human self consciousness is painful to us, like rape is to a woman, and the ego is forcing itself on our soul (that which reasons, remembers, and wills) the end result is Heaven on Earth.In that sense this movie is very valuable to those of us who have at least some "Back stage" memories and remember they voluntarily chose to be born into this world (which is like a virtual reality) and what the divine plan is..
It's about the relationship between two sisters, but the relationship doesn't feel like a real bond.The movie does a better job of showing a world without power.
The only thing I knew about this film apart from a brief synopsis, was that it was low budget.When I started watching this quiet, powerful little film, I realised it isn't about what happens as such, but rather how the two main characters evolve to cope.
I can understand why many people don't like this film, it's certainly not for everyone, but it is one that has made a real and heartfelt impact on me, and I think it will stay with me a long time..
dog food is dish of the day.Town nearby....so what.Sister gets raped by towns person who is clearly disturbed by this catastrophic power cut.NO I'M NOT making this up as I go.No sense/reason/explanation/plan/......absolutely nothing.OH BOY Its so bad!!!!
You see their story develop in that odd setting the end up in and it completely makes sense how the girls team up and learn to survive.
Power is not restored and the family has to cope with the new situation.This is an interesting movie that deals with the end of a world and its way of life.
And even though the movie ended up being more "art-house" and less "post-apocalyptic" than I was expecting, Into the Forest is a fascinating experience which definitely deserves an enthusiastic recommendation.
Like the title says, this is one of the best post apocalyptic movies I have seen.
A near future survival story with Evan Rachel Wood (Eva) and Ellen Page (Nell)?
Two sisters, Nell and Eva, are left orphaned after their dad succumbs to the injuries he received from a chainsaw accident, leaving them helpless at their house with no electricity.This is a story that tries to highlight the bond between the two sisters played by Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood who deliver terrific and above-average performances respectively.
Like using their last available bit of fuel to burn their house down during heavy downpour and deciding to take shelter in a tree stump instead (with an infant, mind you!) while they could have at least used the gasoline to warm themselves later on.Nevertheless, the movie does score high on performances and this is probably why one wouldn't want to write off the film altogether.
At first I thought it was going to be little interesting to see how they all survive, but as the movie goes on you find out the characters are the kind that would not survive any kind of apocalypse in the long term.
The movie might seem like it has a good ending, but in reality they wouldn't last a week with an infant without a decent shelter.
Deciding to burn the house down because of 'black mold' and then living in a tree stump while it's beating down rain (and winter is coming soon) is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen.
After "It Comes At Night" had absolutely nothing come at night, i'm getting sick of these moody post-apocalyptic dramas with titles that are completely wrong or misleading as to the actual content of the movie.the movie at the start is about a single father with two young adult daughters, Nell and Eva, living in a house out in the woods on the west coast.
At the end, suddenly the house is seeing huge pieces collapse due to black mold, and with Eva having a baby, she decides not only can she not live in the moldy house anymore but she wants to use the last of their gasoline to set it on fire and leave.I don't know how to handle a mold outbreak in a house, but in a post-apocalyptic setting where there's been no electricity in virtually the entire country for over a year, and no communication with the outside world beyond rumor, I think ditching and burning down a huge house that has gone 15 months without being raided or even discovered by potential bandits and looters is suicide.
She agrees that the best option, with her sister's baby just having been born, is to burn the house and go live inside a tree bark while it's raining and doesn't look like it's gonna stop?
Utter waste of time - this movie is one ridiculous scene after another, with pointless decisions which make no difference to the lives of the characters apart from make their situation worse, to the point that they start in a house and end up living in a tree stump.
as the movie starts to seem like a survival instructional video, then slides into a 'sisters 4eva!' girl power movie.Another very strange point...
No explanation for this very weird self destructing house (and those reading who are lazy on cleaning gutters, please rest easy - it takes YEARS of not cleaning them before the roof starts caving in...)I didn't score lower, because, despite the many flaws, the actors themselves are top notch and bring their A game, and the beautiful setting is magic to get absorbed in, you can almost smell the pine..
Heck, she could have danced outdoors if she really wanted to.The movie really didn't show the sisters working all that hard, so it was hard to figure out how they managed to grow enough food to eat for months at a time.
The whole movie happens in a beautiful house situated in a gorgeous, safe forest.
So at this point we find out that Evan Rachel Wood as Eva, is into ballet, and her sister is Ellen Page as Nell except they look nothing alike but okay ill believe you its a movie.
Suddenly the power-grid breaks down in all of US or just the era( I never quite could figure that out) Than their dad dies in a chainsaw accident.And this is when the movie main story really starts.The two girls have to fend for them self in the middle of the woods.Which is where the movie seem to struggle, in terms of what it wants to be.A lot of the scenes are just mere pointless,like several scenes focusing on the oldest sister dancing.There are no really point to these scenes,in terms of driving the movie forwards.There are a lot of plot holes here to.
Also, I would expect that when you have no electricity and no food most of the time would go to hunt for food.So in terms of survival The movie portray the life of the two girls as pretty easy.
Also, I would expect that when you have no electricity and no food most of the time would go to hunt for food.So in terms of survival The movie portray the life of the two girls as pretty easy.
The girls behaved in a way i believe we all would in the circumstances and find it hard to survive and we would make so silly choices and be unprepared, Music was good and enhanced the filmSo what was bad.This section could be quiet long but i will keep it short.The father died way to soon, a practical man somehow forgot to to tighten his chainsaw blade after using it to start his car and being shown to tinker with it afterwards The house falls apart in just over a year, i appreciate if water gets in a building will start to decay but this was very soon and unbelievable There was a short rape scene which not graphic and somehow pointless The birth soon was weird and for some reason we had to have a gratuitous double breast shot.
The sisters burnt the house down which appeared to burn in a very artistic way and with them not appearing to take anything very useful they wandered off into the forest to raise a child with no plan or it seems any idea what on earth they were going to do and the films ends..
I went into this blind, not knowing anything much about it and i have to admit i've come away not knowing much more about it after watching it.The premise sounded good enough - Massive power cut, two sisters left to fend for themselves in resulting Blackout.
They dance and study and eat all their food.The do start gathering late in the game but I had zero belief that these two would last 3 weeks in the woods much less months.After a long and very questionable series of bad decisions, they make the worst decision at the end.Anyway I would not recommend watching this unless you have 2 hours you just need to kill..
further scenes were dumped into this movie like a boyfriend trying to take one of the sisters away and, of course, a rape scene out of nowhere, which goes on forever!
Most parts of the movie were simply nonsensical and made no sense such as the death of father with a saw, giving birth to a child in such situation, burning the house down and living in a tree in winters and not going anywhere and the story of the lover.
We'll never know because that's where the movie ends.There are a couple of scenes that are quite moving, but set against such an absurd plot, I just wish I'd not wasted my time watching it..
If it were you that had directed this movie or indeed written the script, it wouldn't be that hard to actually do something a bit more:a) realistic (why would they burn down the house FFS) and b) a bit more hopeful.Overall, I'd say it could have been so much more a cliché but true!Acting was reasonable, location good and story line not unfeasible (though quite why the entire planet appears to have gone offline is never explained)..
'Into The Forest' is a post apocalyptic film about two sister learning to survive on their own in their cabin home.
There is also an element of unease that makes you nervous the entire time because we all know that people cannot be trusted.Page and Wood excel in this character piece about survival and loyalty, and will make you want to go home and hug your sister.
The movie starts with a dreadful whiny song in the background and some pretentious dancing of one of the characters.Then power goes out, people do stuff.Then idiot dad gets himself killed while cutting wood.Then the girls argue.
Unfortunately this happened way too many times for this movie to be salvageable.Spoilers ahead!.....From the very 1st drops of water falling from the ceiling in the living room any thinking person would be like "hum, we better see what we can do about that before the roof caves in". |
tt0255477 | Pinocchio | The story begins with an inventor named Geppetto making a robot, Pinocchio, as his son. Meanwhile, an evil mayor named Scamboli is building a technological city called "Scamboville" to get rid of nature. He also hates all children, except for his beloved daughter, Marlene. When Marlene expresses concerns to Scamboli about there being no space for children to have fun, he sets out to make a kids-only theme park called "Scamboland".
That night, Geppetto and Spencer the Penguin are preparing to make Pinocchio come to life. But Scamboli has seized control of the city mains to light up his theme park for the Grand Opening, so, Geppetto has no choice but to steal his electricity. Suddenly, Scamboland has a power outage and the children leave. After Pinocchio comes to life, much to his family's delight, Cyberina the fairy appears. She decides to grant Geppetto's wish to turn Pinocchio into a real boy if he learns about right and wrong.
The next morning, Pinocchio is walking his way to school with Spencer when he meets up with Zach, Cynthia and Marlene. Marlene challenges Pinocchio to an Imagination game, hosted by Cyberina. Marlene wins the game, but Pinocchio snatches the medal from her. As he runs away, he comes across Scamboli's robotic henchmen, Cabby and Rodo, who take Pinocchio to see Scamboli. While they talk to each other, Pinocchio says, "Life would be great if kids were more like us", sparking an idea in Scamboli's diabolical brain.
With the true opening of Scamboland, he makes Pinocchio into an attraction, but when Geppetto gets word of this, he tries to convince him to come home. While Pinocchio performs at a concert, Scamboli kidnaps Geppetto. Afterward, all the children board a roller coaster ride called "A Whale of a Change", which transforms all of them into "Scambobots". Meanwhile, Pinocchio gives Marlene her medal back and befriends her, and they spend the night together at Marlene's private garden.
As they awaken the next morning, Marlene is crestfallen to find that Scambobots have destroyed her garden. Hearing Pinocchio laughing at her dismay, she gives the medal to him and revokes her vow of friendship. But Pinocchio, realizing that he had accidentally helped Scamboli, leaves to find his Dad. He returns home, but finds that his father isn't there, but Spencer is. He tells Pinocchio that he went off to get him, so they head off to find him, only to find Scamboli turned Geppetto into a robot to kill Pinocchio. After Spencer blinds Scamboli with his camera and steals the remote that controls Geppetto and the other Scanbobots, Pinocchio and Spencer hide out in the "Tunnel of Danger" ride, where Scamboli manages to trap them. Marlene arrives and helps Pinocchio to avoid the tunnel's many dangers. However, Scamboli incapacitates Marlene, so he can kill Pinocchio with a laser gun. Pinocchio uses the medal to shield himself from the laser, causing the beam to reflect back at Scamboli and destroy his weapon. Meanwhile, Cabby accidentally gave Geppetto the remote that controls all Scambobots, getting them fired. Geppetto then commands the robots to get Scamboli.
Scamboli attempts to escape in Cabby's shuttle, but is caught by a Scambocop. It tosses Scamboli inside a shuttle and flies down to the Whale ride. Pinocchio, Geppetto, Marlene and Spencer go to turn the robots back into children. Soon it's Geppetto's turn, but Scamboli presses a button to stop the machines. Pinocchio goes inside the whale and tries to fix it. Pinocchio finds the out-of-reach button, so he begins to tell a lie about his personality . Once he reached it, Scamboli was caught on the cart. Pinocchio then realizes that everything was his fault. Cyberina appears, Pinocchio tells her that he has learned about Right and Wrong and turns Pinocchio into a real boy and Geppetto back into a human. Suddenly, Scamboli, turned into a robot, appears and Marlene was shocked. Cyberina borrows Cynthia's "Funbrella" to make sunshine and bring all the plants Scamboli has destroyed. It ends with Spencer taking a picture of Pinocchio, Geppetto and Marlene. | fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0094667 | Apartment Zero | Adrian LeDuc (Firth) is the owner of a revival house in Buenos Aires. Adrian is emotionally repressed, prone to suspicion and paranoia, devoted to old movies and to his mother, who resides in a nursing home, suffering from dementia. Adrian visits her frequently, holding conversations that, as her illness progresses, become increasingly one-sided. Adrian is a tenant in a rundown apartment building; he lives in apartment 10, although the 1 is missing from his door (hence the film's title). Apart from his mother, the core of his emotional life is movies--specifically classic American movies and stars. Apartment Zero opens with a shot of Adrian in his theater, watching the final scene of Touch of Evil.
As his theater, Cine York, loses more and more money, Adrian advertises for a roommate to share his apartment. After several unsatisfactory applicants he meets the handsome, charming, and macho American Jack Carney (Bochner). Adrian is clearly attracted to Jack and Jack is clearly aware of it. Jack agrees to take the room. They quickly settle into a domestic routine, with Adrian taking over laundry and cooking duties for Jack and Jack joining Adrian for films at his cinema. They also begin to bond emotionally.
In contrast to Adrian's standoffishness, Jack establishes relationships with several of the neighbors, a rather odd bunch. Adrian, upset and jealous, lashes out at Jack, telling him that the neighbors aren't to be trusted. Despite Adrian's jealousy Jack continues to socialize with several of them, including becoming sexually involved with a female neighbor (with implications that he's similarly involved with two of the male neighbors as well). Claudia, the ticket seller at Adrian's cinema, is involved with a political committee that's investigating a series of murders that bear a striking resemblance to those committed by members of death squads that operated in Argentina dating back to the 1970s.
Adrian learns that Jack has been lying about being employed with a local computer company and becomes paranoid that Jack is spying on him but at the same time terrified that Jack will leave him. He searches Jack's room and finds a number of photographs of Jack in paramilitary garb. When Jack returns, a highly agitated Adrian begs him, "If that's a mask, either take it off now or leave it on forever." Jack calms him but his own suspicions are aroused when he realizes that Adrian's been in his room.
Despite being himself apolitical, Adrian allows Claudia's committee to use his theatre to view footage of death squad members. Adrian watches some of it and is horrified to see the same sign in the film as appeared in some of the photos of Jack he'd found earlier. Jack, realizing that Adrian is growing more suspicious, falsifies Adrian's passport and prepares to leave Argentina. Unfortunately for him, the passport is expired and he can't leave. Jack picks up a gay man at the airport and goes to a hotel with him, where he murders him for his passport--but then makes a hash of trying to paste his own photos into the dead man's passport. Claudia spots Jack in a death squad photo. He's identified as "Michael Weller" and listed as dead, but was identified only by his papers and a ring.
Meanwhile, Adrian is devastated by the death of his mother. Adrian gets drunk and creates a disturbance in his apartment, concerning his neighbors. The following morning a television report of the murder of a young man ironically leads the neighbors to think that Adrian has done something to Jack. That evening, the neighbors confront Adrian, forcing their way into his apartment and physically attacking him. Jack--unsuccessful in solving his passport problem--returns just then and soothes and tends to the badly injured Adrian.
As Adrian attends his mother's funeral, Claudia comes to the apartment and recognizes Jack. Adrian returns to find Claudia dead at Jack's hands. Jack tries to charm him, telling him "let me clean up and I'll put the mask back on, OK?" A clearly unhinged Adrian, as terrified of losing Jack as he is horrified by the murder, helps Jack dispose of the body. On the way out they run into one of the neighbors and Jack says he's leaving for California in the morning.
After they dump the body, Adrian suggests they really go to California together and Jack enthusiastically agrees. Back at the apartment Adrian changes his mind and goes for Jack's gun in the living room. Jack comes out of his room and Adrian runs back toward his. Jack realizes what's happening and they both go for the gun. Jack gets the upper hand and begins strangling Adrian, but can't go through with it and lets him up. Adrian again goes for the gun and he and Jack struggle again. With the gun pointed at him and with Adrian's finger on the trigger, Jack says "Do it" and the gun goes off.
Some days after, Adrian is having dinner when a neighbor comes to the door seeking Jack's address in California. Adrian says he hasn't heard from him and shuts the door. He returns to the table and pours two glasses of wine, one for himself and one for Jack's corpse, which he has kept and sat at the table. The final scene shows Adrian's cinema, with a fairly large crowd--all men--pouring out--apparently the lean days are over. That's because the cinema is now a porn theater. Adrian, who has never throughout the film gone out in public without a suit and tie (and umbrella), leaves the building wearing a tee-shirt and Jack's black leather jacket, smoking a cigarette--all just as Jack used to do. | cruelty, murder, violence, flashback, insanity, romantic | train | wikipedia | But I kept hearing about it over the years, about Colin Firth and Hart Bochner's performance, people quoted lines from the film and I, still loyal to my first impression, kept saying meh.
The subject of Colin Firth came out and that lead to Apartment Zero and to an argument that ended in a challenge.
Looking at Colin Firth as Adrian, years after Pride and Prejudice and A Single Man is quite something in itself.
And a big lesson learned, now I'm going to watch Philippe de Brocca's King Of Hearts, another film I didn't care for the first time I saw it, but my friends seem to love.
The cast is superb, and I think this has a good reason, as minor characters play an important role in distinguishing Adrian and Jack's bond from the rest of the world.
Even though Jack is playing all the time, he is a really good actor that caters to any listener's needs, it is obvious that he too develops a strong kind of tie with Adrian.
Surprisingly, even those who were studying film in college and knew Colin Firth's canon well had not.The latest DVD release is priceless for the addition of an original 6 minutes which were cut following the Sundance 1989 and Seattle Film Festival showings and the commentaries from director Martin Donovan and writer/producer David Koepp.
I watched this DVD with my 19 year old film student son, and he found Koepp's and Soderbergh's discussion more informative than any class he's had to date.I won't try to reiterate the comments of other reviewers on this site-- particularly with respect to Firth's excellent performance--but I have to say something about Hart Bochner.Bochner certainly was an inspired casting choice.
Bochner's character's introduction in the movie is at Firth's doorway, a set shot that has Bochner framed in identical clothing and pose as James Dean in a black and white immediately to his right.
Hart Bochner (what an intriguing piece of casting) makes a star entrance that seems to come straight out of Adrian/Colin's cinematic mind.
Hart Bochner - his character's name is Jack Carney, "carne" in Spanish means "meat" - realizes very soon the power he has over Adrian but he doesn't know how to use it.
I have never written a film review but I felt like talking about "Apartment Zero" and here I am, talking.
I've never seen a character like Colin Firth's Adrian in any movie, before or since.
I don't know if it's just coincidence but Martin Donovan, the heart and brain behind this work of art was Luchino Visconti's assistant in "Ludwig" Donovan stays on his characters's faces creating a feel of intimacy that made it a very personal experience for me.
Colin Firth is utter perfection as Adrian - a truly scary, brilliant performance that he has never even come close to before or after.
And, Hart Bochner, now if he had Mr. Donovan to work with again, he might be able to go beyond his devilish good looks, and delve into a character the way he does her, where he has a real director, who obviously adores him, to fall back on.
I wonder if Jack has ever met anyone like Adrian, if he ever had a friend - I mean a friend he didn't have to lie to - The chemistry between Colin Firth (Adrian) and Jack (Hart Bochner) is so compelling that you start to be with them even if, in real terms, they are not likable characters.
Colin Firth is magnificent in the part and his performance is so beautifully constructed that you're bound to discover new things every time you visit "Apartment Zero".
I call it a thriller because that's where you find it, under "thrillers" but for me is as far away from a thriller as "Persona" - that could be considered a thriller too - "Apartment Zero" is one of the most powerful love stories ever put on film.
I'm talking about it now because I bought the DVD, I hadn't seen the theatrical version, only on tape and I had resisted the temptation of seeing it again because I have a powerful memory of the film and 9 times out of 10 the experience of seeing a loved film after many years is kind of depressing.
Creepy and Dark Gem. In Buenos Aires, the lonely sociopath Adrian LeDuc (Colin Firth) owns the Cine York specialized in cult-movies but the poor box-office associated to the costs of the large apartment where he lives alone forces him to rent one room to help in the expenses.
When the mysterious American Jack Carney (Hart Bochner) applies to rent Adrian's room, the needy landlord feels a great attraction for the handsome tenant.
The intriguing and suspenseful story of loneliness and insanity is very original, with top-notch performances of Colin Firth in the beginning of career and the handsome Hart Bochner.
I have already watched at least four times this masterpiece and I include "Apartment Zero" among my favorite films.
There is a moment within the first ten minutes of the film in which we have Adrian (Colin Firth) in bed talking, mumbling rather, to himself.
I know the film so well that a new scene I've never seen before arriving at a totally unexpected moment threw me for six and yet, it made sense, completely.
Colin Firth's performance couldn't be improved but the extra moments he has on the screen not only adds to his perfection but completes the strange and mesmerising journey that the "Apartment Zero" experience is all about.
I'm sure a Hollywood movie would never allow its supporting players to have so much screen time but, personally, that's one of the many things I love about this film.
Jack Carney with his movie star looks, his sensuality and his mystery will fit not just in Adrian's apartment but in his fantasies.
"Apartment Zero" is one of those rare films that you can see many times and that, according to ones mood, it will deliver something different.
Colin Firth (Adrian) creates a unique film character.
I've seen the film a few times but last night I noticed for the first time that Adrian goes through his life only aware of what he fears and that movies, naturally, are his only way to feel free.
It takes you and leaves you there, in the middle of nowhere, just like Adrian, Colin Firth's character.
The structure of the story held together well, being so multi-layered, especially with Colin Firth's character, a cinema owner, who shows films to an ever decreasing audience - until the political faction takes over and fills the cinema again.
The layers of his character are shown visually, through the publicity photos of film stars, and through his emotional reaction to his dying mother.Bochner is also superb, but of course, we know as soon as he appears - and this is what adds to the tension: Adrian's innocent belief in the beautiful man, and the hypnotic stares of the killer.It is a dark movie, but superb, I think.
What it may look like a straight forward thriller is in fact a psychological, erotic, puzzle with false doors and moving walls.Over the years "Apartment Zero" has become a point of reference to me and one of my favourite films of all time..
Colin Firth gives a performance of such maturity that I feel he was ripe for Oscar consideration even then, 23 years ago.The idea of a recluse opening his world against his will and letting the devil into his world has been explore many times in the movies but never quite like this.
Colin Firth gives life to a character I have never seen on the screen before.
In fact Jack looks like those portraits of movie stars that populate the walls of his apartment.
When Colin Firth is trying to convince him to take the apartment, Hart Bochner looks at him innocently but harboring a red hot sexual note: "Is that what you want me to do?" Perhaps, the strangest thing for me is that I was terrified.
Every detail in the movie adds to the actors performances: the frightening neighbors (the way they invade his life is no surprise to his disliking them so much), the music, the camera shots of the "living" city opposed constantly to the claustrophobic dark apartment and even the apartment itself which is almost a character per se.
I was about 13 when "Apartment Zero" came out and I wasn't into "art" films at the time.
Apartment Zero is truly one of the best films I have ever seen.
Though the film is not perfect, it does give one the opportunity to meet the complex characters Jack played by Hart Bochner and Adrian played by Colin Firth.
And something strange happened, I started to look at "Apartment Zero" from my friend's point of view and realized that she was absolutely right...as the film ended and after we took time to catch our breath, she confessed to me that had seen the film with my perspective in mind and, she concluded, I was absolutely right.
While Adrian (Colin Firth) and Jack (Hart Bochner) fight for the gun one of the two shouts "Do it!" Which one?
I've heard about "Apartment Zero" over the years but I saw it only last night for the first time.
Set in Argentina, he introduces the viewer to the bizarre world of Adrian (Colin Firth), his neighbours and his new housemate, Jack (Hart Bochner).
I was so shaken the first time I saw "Apartment Zero" that in my film going experiences, everything I see is somehow related to that initial overwhelming emotion.
A Single Man. After seeing "A Single Man" a film for which Colin Firth will, most likely, get his first and richly deserved Oscar nomination, I felt the urge to see "Apartment Zero" again.
I remembered it as a film that opened my eyes to certain aspects of my own nature and thought/felt that Colin Firth was actually playing me.
Adrian Leduc, an extraordinary and very young Colin Firth plays an Argentinean pretending to be British and, his performance is impeccable, surprising and ultimately, shattering.
Colin Firth with an Oscar nomination last year for "A Single Man" and probably one this year for "The King's Speech" deserved one in 1989 for "Apartment Zero" His performance is layered so completely that the character becomes real, so real.
Adrian (Colin Firth) lives his life like a man from another era.
I wanted Jack (a surprising and splendid Hart Bochner) to take him in his arms, to look into his eyes and tell him "I love you" I bet Adrian would have become something.
In a short time, Jack has Adrian, along with the other lonely residences in the apartment complex, dependent upon his affections.While the film itself feels a bit dated after more than twenty years, and it takes its own sweet time to explore its possibilities and eventually assume its inevitable direction, there is much to relish along the way.
Too long at times for its own good but "Apartment Zero" will do things to you that very few other films have done to me.
"Apartment Zero" is not a film I can say I like but I do love it.
The central character Adrian, played magnificently by Colin Firth - also ahead of his time - lives his life where the only points of reference are movies.
Colin Firth plays Adrian LeDuc in a performance of such perfection that the character becomes as real as someone I've known for a long time.
This became crystal clear as I watched the film last night, for the first time in many years, there is an enormously human element that protects Adrian for being what he appears.
It is these subtleties that make it all so effective, so seductive and so frightening.As Hitchcock said, "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." It is Donovan's superb script and direction coupled with the exemplary performances not only from the two leads but the supporting cast that makes it all come together as a highly engaging piece.Two versions of the film exist and it is Donovan's re-edit for video that is the more effective of the two with some of the more overtly Homo-erotic and violent scenes cut to add more ambiguity and mystery to the characters.
"Apartment Zero" is one of the best psychological character studies ever put on film.
Colin Firth (in an amazing performance) portrays Adrian LeDuc, a lonely movie theater owner in Buenos Aires whose mentally ill mother is in the hospital.Adrian and the other misfit tenants in his apartment building (a transvestite, two elderly British alcoholic sisters, a lonely housewife starved for attention, et al) are all smitten by Adrian's charming new roommate, Jack Carney (played by Hart Bochner, who smolders with every close-up).
Creepy, original and very intense, Apartment Zero does not fall into any neat classification but is equal parts suspense thriller, political message film, psychological character study, and black comedy.
His apartment is filled with posters of movie actors (mostly gay) and he engages Jack in games about movie trivia.Both Firth and Bochner are outstanding, though both play "types" and their characters are explored only on a surface level.
The gay subtext between Colin Firth's character and Hart Bochner's is nicely played by both actors.
I found myself grinning several times as I viewed Apartment Zero - not because the movie is a feel-good romp - on the contrary.
APARTMENT ZERO is one of those rare movies that has to be seen more than once in order to really appreciate it.Once you know what's in store for the main characters, the film suddenly looks and feels different and it basically becomes a love story of sorts between two demented men.
Colin Firth and Hart Bochner are both outstanding in this psychological thriller filmed in Argentina.
When struggling Buenos Aires art house owner Adrian (Colin Firth), is forced to take in a border, yuppie business man Jack Carney (Hart Bochner) agrees to share living quarters and expenses.That Jack is more than he seems at face, and that Adrian is even wierder than one might imagine gives this psychological study in character the foundation it needs to succeed.
It would have made more sense for Jack, the gorgeous Hart Bochner, to have become Adrian's (Colin Firth) lover and therefore provided himself with an excellent cover for his covert operations in Buenos Aires, where the film is set.
Such as it is 'Apartment Zero' is a creepy film and succeeds in creating a dangerous atmosphere that keeps the viewer's attention riveted on what will happen next.Colin Firth is superb, one of his best performances of many on the screen.
The music is wonderful and Adrian's apartment (Zero) is a fascinating setting.Not a great film but very good none-the-less..
The shocking climax of this tale of deceit, perversion, and murder reveals the darker side of the human psyche," according to the DVD presentation of "The Original Theatrical Version" (restoring trims).An influential film (to those who've seen it), "Apartment Zero" is well worth knocking up.Director Martin Donovan, with assistance from David Koepp, create an "Odd Couple" in desperate need of psychiatric care.
Reclusive and closeted Colin Firth (as Adrian) is fixated on both his ailing mother, and Hollywood movie stars, like Montgomery Clift.
Financially strapped, Mr. Firth decides to rent a room in his apartment to sexy and mysterious Hart Bochner (as Jack).
For two hours, the tension between the two men mounts, and you're never really sure who is going to come out on top.******* Apartment Zero (9/30/88) Martin Donovan ~ Colin Firth, Hart Bochner, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Mirella D'Angelo.
Set in Buenos Aires in 1988, "Apartment Zero" tells the tale of Adrian DeLuc (Colin Firth), a paranoid, alienating Englishman obsessed with movies (he even runs a lowly-attended film club), and whose mother is in the latter stages of crippling dementia.
Some may find "Apartment Zero" comparable to the works of Hitchcock, but for my tastes, it's more in step with Roman Polanski's masterpiece, "The Tenant" (1976)--the character of DeLuc plays very similarly to Trelkovsky (Polanski), but the addition of a political and implied homosexual subtext very much makes this a film of the times.
The first Adrian, Colin Firth, an Englishman living with his mother in Buenos Aires and second Jack, Hart Bochner, an American working for some communication firm in the Argentine capital.
With Adrian's dying mother sent to a nursing home he put up her apartment for rent and one of the people looking to rent it is a good-looking charming and what seems like a very nice person Jack who's from the USA working in Buenos Aires.
The ending of the movie "Apartment Zero" was somewhat like the ending of the movie "Psycho", with Adrian acting and looking almost unrecognizable but unlike the Hitchcock horror classic this ending made absolutely no sense at!
Once Adrian has a lodger that looks like one of the movie star pictures that decorate his apartment he will develop a different kind of need.
I remembered it as a film I enjoyed with a great central performance by a very young Colin Firth that's why a generous 8.
Both characters are playing a role, they are both in hiding, consciously, for different reasons but it is Adrian - the magnificent Colin Firth.
I loved the performances, starting with Colin Firth - there is not a single empty moment, his mind and his heart going, sometimes, in entirely different directions.
Adrian LeDuc (played by Colin Firth) lives in Apartment 10, but the 1 fell off the door and was never replaced.
And at the end the final layer is to decide which is Jack and which is Adrian.This was a foreign film for purposes of the Academy Awards, and neither Firth nor Bochner was nominated for Best Actor, though both deserved the award. |
tt1047931 | Il capo dei capi | === First episode (1943–1958) ===
15 January 1993. Cosa nostra 'superboss' Salvatore Riina has been arrested after 23 years, and receives a visit in prison from his childhood friend, Biagio Schirò, triggering a flashback. In 1943, as a boy of 13 years, Riina is working in the fields around the town of Corleone when he finds a buried bomb. His father decides to take the bomb home, in order to extract the gunpowder from inside in order to sell it to hunters in order to supplement his very low farm labourer's income. The bomb explodes, killing Riina's father and younger brother, and leaving Salvatore as the head of the family to lead a life of misery.
Tired of living in poverty, Totò, together with his friends Bernardo Provenzano (aka Binnu), Calogero Bagarella and Biagio Schiarò, begins to work for Luciano Liggio, Picciotto of the boss Michele Navarra, who meanwhile orders the kidnapping and murder of Placido Rizzotto. Soon after, Totò gets into a murderous fight with 'Menico, the son of a miller to whom he sells his grain, and ends up in prison; meanwhile Schiarò's change of heart takes him back to school. Six years later, Totò, an adult by now, is freed. Waiting outside the prison gates are Provenzano, Bagarella and a new member of the gang, Luciano Maino.
Riina soon picks up where he left off in Liggio's gang: intent on more power and infamy, the gang murder the capo Michele Navarra and plan to expand towards Palermo. Schirò, meanwhile, has become a police officer and is working with Chief Inspector Angelo Mangano on Liggio and his gang. Totò meets the studious younger sister of Calogero Bargarella, Ninetta, and falls in love. It soon emerges that Ninetta is a close friend of Teresa, who in turn is dating Biagio Schirò.
=== Second episode (1963–1969) ===
The full Corleonese Clan (Luciano Liggio, Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, Calogero Bagarella and Luciano Maino) prepare to go to Palermo for a 'business discussion' with Salvatore La Barbera and Vito Ciancimino. As soon as they arrive, they begin straight away to demand respect: first killing a butcher who would not pay for a load of clandestine meat, then killing an accountant who had paid protection to the wrong family. One evening, while the Corleonesi are in a night club (where Maino meets a girl, Maria Nigro) Salvatore La Barbera is kidnapped and killed by Michele Cavataio. All the other mafiosi in La Barbera's clan flee from Palermo.
Back in Corleone, Totò's relationship with Ninetta Bagarella strengthens. Biagio discovers from Teresa that word has it that Riina will be at Ninetta's one evening, and organizes a search. Nevertheless, Totò manages to hide both himself and his friend Calogero, and neither are caught. Totò promises to Ninetta not to enact revenge on Teresa for the betrayal, but she tells him that she had already decided to break all links to her friend, rather to continue her relationship in secret with him.
On June 30, 1963, in the Ciaculli quarter of Palermo, a police officer notices a parked Alfa Giulietta. Unaware that the car is packed with explosives, an officer opens the boot which triggers the bomb inside which kills seven people. This leads to many arrests, with many other mafiosi, including the Corleonesi, going into hiding. Maino refuses to do so, preferring to stay in Palermo with his girlfriend. While fleeing from Corleone, Totò and Calogero are stopped by a police patrol. Calogero manages to escape but Totò is arrested; he attempts to provide forged identity documents but these fail when he is recognized by Biagio.
A few days later, Biagio tells Teresa (who has just graduated) that Riina has been caught, and that the two can marry without threat. At the same time, an eavesdropping Ninetta (also recently graduated) overhears everything. Schirò goes to the parents of Teresa to ask her hand in marriage and, after an awkward conversation with her father, is given their blessing.
Meanwhile Maria, Maino's girlfriend, discovers his hidden life via the newspapers, and convinces him to go to the police. He tells Judge Cesare Terranova everything he knows about the Corleonesi. Shortly after, Luciano Liggio too is arrested by Commissario Mangano and Schirò, discovered hiding in the wardrobe of the ex-girlfriend of Placido Rizzotto.
The Bari trial begins, and Maino stands as witness, fingering directly Totò and his companions, and testifying to all of their murders. Despite this concrete proof, Liggio, Riina and the other convicts are released thanks to a lack of evidence - the jury had been threatened. A few days after the trial, Luciano Maino is found, hanging, at his home.
=== Third episode (1969-1978) ===
Biagio and Teresa have married, and have a baby (Antonio) at the beginning of the episode. Simultaneously Riina and his fellow mafiosi - Provenzano, Bagarella and two other men, soldiers of Tano Badalamenti, boss of Cinisi - enter the offices of Michele Cavataio dressed as police officers of the Guardia di Finanza. The aim of the attack is to assassinate Cavataio, who had earlier killed Salvatore La Barbera.
One of Badalamenti's henchmen, nervously lets his gun fire, killing two men and triggering a massacre - no longer under cover, they have to murder five others before reaching Cavataio. Following a spree of bullets, Cavataio feings death until Totò and Calogero enter, when he turns and shoots, hitting and killing Bagarella. Enraged, Provenzano responds by beating Cavataio to death with the butt of his gun.
In Corleone, Totò informs his own sister, and girlfriend of Calogero, Arcangela, of his friends death. He then calls on his Ninetta, Calogero's sister, calling her away from her teaching job and giving her the news; meanwhile Schirò requests a transfer to Palermo. Needing cash in order to make key investments in Palermo, Riina decides to kidnap the young lad, Antonio Caruso, from the town hall while visiting now mayor Vito Ciancimino. This triggers the disdain of the mafiosi of Palermo, in particular bosses Stefano Bontade and Giuseppe Di Cristina.
On May 5, 1971, Riina orders the homicide of District Attorney Pietro Scaglione, and during the ambush Maresciallo Lo Russo is also killed. Totò wishes to flee with Ninetta to Venice, and marry. Having discovered the body of Bagarella, the police decide to search the home of his sister, Arcangela, and find a photo of Ninetta and Totò. Implicated, the police arrest Ninetta. During her trial, Vito Maranza, one of Riina's men, goes to Biagio's house and kidnaps Teresa and Antonio, holding them to ransom until Bagarella is released.
Luciano Liggio is arrested in Milan by commissario Mangano, as a consequence Riina becomes the main capo of the Corleonesi Clan, and is chosen by Don Michele Greco as his 'prediletto' (his favourite).
Two of Riina's soldati are ordered to kill Giuseppe Di Cristina but fail, killing instead his driver. Shadowing Di Cristina, they discover that he is collaborating with Commissario Boris Giuliano. Meanwhile Totò and Ninetta marry.
Some of the mafiosi - Pippo Calderone, Badalamenti and Di Cristina - begin to have problems with Totò, and their interaction becomes cold. At a successive meeting of the Commissione, Riina asks for their lives and is given permission to kill only Cristina, though he also kills Calderone.
At the end of the episode, Silvio Albertini, an honest colleague of Schirò, chances upon the hiding place of Riina, his wife and Provenzano. He immediately telephones Biagio from a phone box, and summons him to the location. As soon as he arrives, Schirò heads up to the apartment and finds Silvio's lifeless body on the floor. Suddenly, Riina's two soldati appear and beat Schirò. Riina emerges and warns his old friend to leave his family alone, especially Ninetta, before knocking him out cold.
=== Fourth episode (1979–1981) ===
=== Fifth episode (1982-1987) ===
The fifth episode begins with Pio La Torre, regional secretary of the Communist, which on one hand is a debate in Corleone to prevent the construction of a military base in Comiso and the other side with the full Commission. In the commission there is a certain Apuzzo, a dear friend of Tommaso Buscetta pretending to be loyal to Toto Riina.
The Mangano Commissioner, now retired, advised the magistrates in Palermo (who want to fight the Mafia at all costs) Schiro as wildcard to find all the large and back to Corleone to tell Schirò to go to Palermo to work with Giovanni Falcone Paolo Borsellino and Rocco Chinnici.
While Toto plays with her son Giovanni, Ninette is pregnant again and is concerned for the ideas of her husband. Toto then decides to call a few of his soldiers and ordered the murder of Pio La Torre.
Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa was sent to Palermo. The first action of General Dalla Chiesa is to send his men to search the collector of Ignazio Salvo, powerful man colluded with the Mafia. Shortly after General Dalla Chiesa was killed by "soldiers" Riina and Nitto Santapaola. Also killed Rocco Chinnici.
Meanwhile Apuzzo travels to Brazil by Tommaso Buscetta. Toto as they are known and does kill him and all of Buscetta relatives. Tommasino was arrested for heroin trafficking. In the Brazilian prison he is tortured, but did not speak. He is transferred to Italy and started working with Giovanni Falcone, which explains the structure of Cosa Nostra. After questioning are arrested hundreds and hundreds of people, among them was Vito Ciancimino.
July 28, 1985 he was assassinated the commissioner Giuseppe Montana, who was investigating with Biagio on victims of the Second Mafia War. He is accused of murdering a young man. Brought to the police station, Giacalone (police constable) is carried away by the violence and killing the boy. The Ninni Cassara informs Falcone and opens an investigation by the judiciary on. Teresa and Antonio (wife and son of Schiro), who were in Rome, meanwhile, returned to Palermo.
On 6 August 1985 Ninni Cassara was killed by Joseph Greek "Scarpuzzedda", under the eyes of his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, in the home district dell'Asinara (in Sardinia), Falcone and Borsellino prepare the Maxi Trial that a few days later, he began his work. At the end of the process, Riina and Provenzano were sentenced in absentia while Michele Greek and Luciano Leggio and many others, present in the courtroom, are also sentenced to life imprisonment.
The episode ends with a shootout where we find on the one hand and on the other Schiro Vito Maranza and Leoluca Bagarella. The outcome of the shooting is a dead (Vito Maranza) seriously injured (Biagio Schiro).
=== Sixth episode(1988-1993) === | murder | train | wikipedia | A must for all mafia-buffs!.
After I bought this series on DVD and watched the first episodes, I found myself glued to the television, and finished the 4DVD set in two days.
Riveting stuff!
The Series follows 4 young boys from the town of Corleone.
Two of these are celebrities like Toto Riina and Bernando Provenzano, eventual leaders of the Cosa Nostra, and the hero Biagio Schiro – who in the face of Mafiosi turns to the straight and narrow path (something of a rarity in the mafia stronghold of Corleone).
Biagio vs Riina drives the story throughout the better part of 50 years and it is a classic case of cat and mouse.
The Main characters and the people connected to them (wifes and children) are well developed.
I quite often found myself in the mindsets of both Schiro and Riina, and the actors portraying this pair did a great job.
The only character I felt lacked something was Provenzano.
He was a very important figure to the corleonesi-cosa nostra but is not as prominent as one would expect.
However, acting, directing and dialogue are top notch in general.
The hours just fly by!
I particularly enjoyed the scenes between Schiro and Boris/Falcone, where there is some much needed comic relief and nice one-liners.Don't get scared by the Italian, put the subtitles on and enjoy one of the best mafia tales of the 00's!.
il capo dei capi.
A great mafia film in six parts with excellent acting, I've watched it a few times, something I couldn't understand was the lack of detail in more than one occasion when killings took place in cars, during the killings it was clear to see the windows shatter in the cars but as the camera panned away there was no damage to be seen, this however didn't spoil the film, I speak Italian so it was bonus for me but I had to wait a bit to find an Italian that had also seen it to compare opinions, he thought it was great as well.
The story started with the death of Totó Riina's father and the responsibility of Totó becoming head of the family at a young age, Totó soon got the idea of wanting more out of life than working the land as a peasant, he teamed up with three other youths, one of them followed the path of the law and became the fictitious Biaggo Schiró that represented any tenacious and brave cop that was to fight against the mafia over decades, the character of Biaggio as a cop always wanted to investigate even when his superiors would rather leave things alone for the sake of an easy life an he would drop everything to continue his work at the expense of his family.
The character Luciano Ligio also played a great part in this film..
A story of the Mafioso based on real events....Superb !.
A TV series I liked after a long time.
Engrossing from the beginning.
They could have easily made it a much longer series as there are so many stories within the story it its the editing and streamline presentation which makes it that's much more intense.
Not being Italian had to use the subtitles which I think is more beneficial as you tend to have to concentrate and hence enjoy it more.
Also not being Italian I didn't realise notably that these were based on real events but got the clues when I started to see real clippings from TV news etc.
The acting from all the central characters is so laid back and real that you'd be forgiven if you thought they were the real characters.
The direction is good and does justice to such a difficult story and like I said earlier the editing was the key and a job well done.
Occasionally story flow seemed disjointed but I almost felt like it added to the whole charm.
A must watch series !.
A must watch series !.
Every detail is believable.
I am a Sicilian and I also happen to know quite well all the characters represented, apart from Schiro' which is the only fictional one.
I am amazed at the way Sicily and the Sicilians are portrayed: so accurate.
The dialogues, the accents, the tics, the looks in their eyes are incredibly real.
A lot of the actors are not Sicilians yet they manage to capture the essence of the culture of the island.
Never during the series does anyone speaks in a less than perfect Sicilian (with a Palermo accent even).
The Sicilian dialogues in the Godfather are ridiculous...
But apart from this, the series manages to show how it is possible that someone after all so ignorant like Riina becomes so powerful, because he's very smart and clever, and uses his own code of communication in which he's very articulate.
The mixture between reality and fiction never comes to the detriment of one or the other, it's a perfectly fine balance.
I appreciate that Sicily is not abused in the photography, the background is never too idyllic or too crude.
A real masterpiece!.
Amazing!.
Having been very fortunate to spend over five years living and working in Italy with my family I look out for 'Italian' series and found in Corleone an amazing storyline that took in events that I even remember!
The story line is full of twists and turns and by starting with four young lads and telling their life stories I was (and still am) glued to my television.
The two main characters of Toto Riina and his once best friend Schiro Biagio completely captivate you and the 'one step ahead of the other' storyline is spellbinding.
You are completely engrossed in the various plots and to even imagine the horror going on around the lives of the Sicilian/Italian people is for us Brits, unimaginable!
Loved it..
The Corleone series.
Truth & fiction Having read the John Dickie's Cosa Nostra I found the Corleone series a bit disappointing.The main reason is the introduction of the fictitious police officer Bragio Shiro.
Unfortunately a most common interspersing strategy in series based on a true story.
In this case the trick did not function very well in my opinion.
Too much of the story was focusing on the relationship between Schiro and Riino from an early stage, and then later Falcone and Schiro.
A series that started out most promising ended up in irritation on my account.
A rating of 4 points are all I'm willing to give.Terje Ådland Bergen Norway...
A brutal reminder of the last 3 decades in Sicily, Wonderfully put together..
A magnificent documentary, in 6 parts, that portrays the life of Toto Riina, a simple peasant that grew out to be the head of the Italian Mafia, a guy that has been hiding out for almost 3 decades to the authorities.
Arrested and condemned somewhere around '96, he denied the existence of any underground organization like the Mafia and pleaded as being "a simple peasant".
125 million $ were to be taken out from him later on.The movie has 6 parts, each consisting of 1:30 hours.
It was broad casted on the Italian national TV and it was watched by Toto himself from behind the bars.I can't find a flaw in this movie to be honest, and i've really tried.
The action is as expected constructed around the main character Toto, a brutal individual aiming to overcome his "poor" condition.
He followed the simple codes of the brutal, ancient world of the Sicilian countryside, where force is the only law and there is no contradiction between personal kindness and extreme ferocity.
"His philosophy was that if someone's finger hurt, it was better to cut off his whole arm just to make sure," As he mentions every now and then "the hunger" is what motivates him and .
The acting is flawless.
The dialogs are well though.
The situations are real.The movie is a brutal reality of the last 3 decades in Sicily.I gave it 10/10 and i consider this to be a masterpiece of Italian cinematography.
Basically it just keeps you in front of the TV for the whole 9 hours.Definitely a must see!!!
Enjoy..
If you're a hardcore mafia-fan, watch this!.
When I first got this 4 disc DVD-set as a gift from a sister I thought it wouldn't be as good as it was, but it turned out to be brilliant!
The acting is truly outstanding, and there's enough action for those who require that.
Almost everything in this series happened with few exceptions.
It's important for the viewer to know that Biagio Schiro is a character made up in order to develop the plot through the timelines.
The character probably represents all of the brave men fighting against the mafia.I can't state enough that this TV-series is not the usual romantic view on the mafia you see in The Godfather etc etc.
I give this a 10 out of 10 because of actor performances, setting, plot, dialog, and the fact that someone actually had stones to make this TV-series in a more realistic way.That been said you should buy this, it's definitely money well spent!.
Brilliant.
One of my favourite series hands down.
From the beautiful Italian countryside to the wonderful acting by each cast member it will forever stay in my mind.
Toto Riina was a man on a mission to say the least, he rises up the pecking order until he controls it all; along the way you feel both sympathetic and intrigued by such a remarkable demeanour.
The role is played by two actors, one youthful riina and an older riina, both played the role extremely well.Masterpiece to say the least.
Full marks 10/10.
Absolutely Superb.
I just finished watching the entire series, and I can only heap more praise on the producers and directors of this.The lead villain is played brilliantly.
So menacing, and the thing that got me was that normally you start rooting for the villain.
You think, yes they did what they did because they were so poor......however, your sympathy for the villains goes about half way through when they start crossing a line.
The brutality gets worse.
The assassinations increase.Even if you don't like mafia type films, just watch this for the sheer spectacle, and storyline.
Real people and real emotions and how events effect them.
You really couldn't make up a story like this, and what hits home is that these were real people. |
tt0056412 | Ride the High Country | In the early years of the twentieth century, an aging ex-lawman, Steve Judd (Joel McCrea), is hired to guard a shipment of gold from a high country mining camp to the town of Hornitos, California. Six miners were recently murdered trying to transport their gold on the one trail leading down from the crest of the Sierra Nevada. In his prime, Judd was a tough and respected lawman, but now his threadbare clothes and spectacles serve as reminders that he is long past his prime. Judd enlists the help of his old friend and partner Gil Westrum (Randolph Scott) to guard the gold shipment. Gil, who makes his living passing himself off as a legendary sharpshooter named The Oregon Kid, enlists the help of his young sidekick, Heck Longtree (Ron Starr).
Judd, Gil, and Heck ride up into the mountains toward the Coarse Gold mining camp. Judd doesn't know that Gil and Heck are planning to steal the gold for themselves—preferably with Judd's help, but without it if necessary. Along the way they stop for the night at the farm of Joshua Knudsen (R. G. Armstrong) and his daughter Elsa (Mariette Hartley). Knudsen is a domineering religious man who warns against those who "traffic in gold" and trades Bible verses with Judd at the dinner table. That night, Elsa and Heck meet in the moonlight, but Knudsen interrupts their conversation. Back at the house, he admonishes and slaps her for her behavior. Unable to tolerate her domineering father any longer, Elsa leaves her home the next morning. She later joins Judd, Gil, and Heck on their ride to Coarse Gold where she intends to marry her fiancé. Along the way she and Heck flirt and he tries to force himself on her but is stopped by Judd.
When they reach the Coarse Gold mining camp, they soon discover that the girl's fiancé, Billy Hammond (James Drury), is a drunken lout who intends to prostitute her to his four thuggish brothers, Elder (John Anderson), Sylvus (L. Q. Jones), Jimmy (John Davis Chandler) and Henry (Warren Oates). Judd and Heck rescue the girl from the marriage, and the next morning, Judd, Gil, Heck and Elsa start back towards town with the gold. Along the way, Judd talks to Gil about right and wrong and how that's "something you just know." After all the lost years working in disreputable places, he tells Gil that he's now grateful to have gained back some of his self-respect and intends on keeping it "with the help of you and that boy back there." When Gil asks if that's all he wants, Judd replies, "All I want is to enter my House justified."
Realizing Judd will never go along with his plan to steal the gold, Gil plans to steal the gold without his help. During the night as Gil and Heck prepare to leave with the gold, Judd confronts them at gunpoint. Angered by his old friend's betrayal, he slaps him and challenges him to a draw, but Gil throws down his guns. Planning to put them on trial when they return to town, Judd is forced to change his plans when the Hammond brothers appear in hot pursuit of the girl. In the ensuing gunfight, two of the brothers, Jimmy and Sylvus, are killed, and Billy, Elder and Henry escape.
During the night, Gil leaves camp and heads back to the site of the gunfight, where he takes a horse and gun from one of the dead brothers . Then he follows Judd, Heck, and Elsa down the only trail. Meanwhile, Heck has shown himself to be trustworthy, and even though he will most likely go to prison, Elsa tells him she'll be there when he gets out. When they reach Elsa's farm, the Hammond brothers are waiting, having already killed her father. A gunfight breaks out and soon both Judd and Heck are wounded. Just then Gil comes riding in to help his old friend, and together the pair insult and challenge the brothers to a face-to-face shootout in the open. When the dust settles, the three brothers are dead, but Judd is mortally wounded. He tells his old friend, "I don't want them to see this. I want to go it alone." When Gil pledges to take care of everything just like he would have, Judd says, "Hell, I know that. I always did. You just forgot it for a while, that's all." Judd casts a look back towards the high country and then dies. The film's final shot is of a mountain in the background. | murder, atmospheric | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0387724 | Buru Jenda | In the year 2009, Yuji Kaido is an average young adult male diagnosed with a serious disease (the "B-cells") and is put into cryogenic stasis until a cure is found. Twenty-two years later, he is awakened in the midst of a raging battle between armored soldiers and insectoid beings called the "Blue" which have overrun the Earth.
The group of soldiers are from an orbiting space colony collectively called Second Earth and were ordered to recover "sleepers" around the Earth. Among them is the soldier Marlene Angel, who at first appears to be heartless toward others. On the journey to the space colony, Second Earth,Yuji meets many of the humans that were left behind during the evacuation due to limited resources. Standing orders for Marlene and the other troops are to consider any human survivors on the surface to be already dead, which greatly troubles Yuji.
On their journey all of the soldiers are killed, except for Marlene, causing Yuji to fall into a deep depression as he recognizes the destruction around him and his own inability to save those he cares about. During their travel to Baikonur space base through the mountains, Yuji and Marlene start to develop a bond that softens her sharp edges. Eventually, in Russia, Yuji and Marlene come across another group of soldiers and devise a battle plan to get back to Second Earth. During the operation to escape, Marlene is the last remaining pilot and completely overrun by the Blue. Just when Marlene is about to self-detonate her Armor Shrike, Yuji arrives. Determined not to leave her behind, he comes to her rescue with a team of supporters (service robots). Marlene is overwhelmed at Yuji's efforts to save her. This is a turning point for Marlene and her feelings for Yuji are quite clear for the rest of the series. During the shuttle flight to Second Earth, Marlene and Yuji expose their emotions for each other. Marlene and Yuji's scene is abruptly interrupted as a mutated Blue which hid in the shuttle attacks Yuji, critically injuring him.
Upon arrival, Marlene and Yuji are separated, and Marlene is sent back into training at the education station. Not knowing what happened after he was attacked, Marlene rebels and is bent on finding Yuji. When she does, she finds he has healed and is being trained to use a new specialized "sleeper"-specific Armor Shrike (AS) called the "Double Edge", a battlesuit that is much stronger than the originals used in war against the Blue. It is discovered the illness that Yuji is afflicted with is the key to help destroying the Blue and taking back the planet. He, and other "Sleepers", have "B-cells" which are also the genetic makeup of the Blue.
After intensive training, Yuji and Marlene return to Earth with two other Sleepers named Tony Frost and Alicia Whistle. Tony is an inexperienced AS pilot, but his B-cells are very adept, giving him great AS skills. Alicia is only a young teenager with no combat experience and not much sense of what is going on around her. They and the other forces of Second Earth battle the Blue. They are successful at destroying a few of the largest nests before they head back to Second Earth. However, the battles begin to have a negative effect on Yuji, who has very little regard for human life and is completely obsessed with being better than Tony at killing the Blue. Yuji's actions deeply concern Marlene and she begins to realize something is wrong.
Shortly after returning to Second Earth, the High Council orders the Sleepers on a second offensive against the Blue. Marlene is separated from Yuji once again, but in his current state he does not seem to care. As the Sleepers are carrying out their mission, a battle on Second Earth between two factions is waged. Seno, the head of Second Earth's science division, leads the "Ark" rebellion taking control of the military, lunar resource, and education stations of Second Earth. The High Council escapes to and retains control of the medical station. Marlene learns about the nature of the illness that put Yuji in stasis, the source of his abilities, and the source of the Blue Insectoids. They are a defense mechanism enacted by the Earth to purge the existence of humanity, and the B-cells that exist in the Sleepers could become a potential threat to humanity as well.
After the Ark successfully takes over Second Earth from the ignorant High Council, Marlene heads down to Earth in search of Yuji. When she finds him his B-cells are already beginning to activate, and he begins to go berserk as a killing machine. After struggling and fighting with him, Marlene is finally able to get through to Yuji and helps him overcome his madness by showing her human emotions and feelings for him (this is ironic because in the beginning of the series Marlene is the brutal military soldier and it is Yuji who uses his emotions to help Marlene realize her human sensitivity). Meanwhile, Tony and an unknowing Alicia have also abandoned the remaining ground forces. The troops fend off waves of Blue before escaping with the few remaining survivors. Tony and a now brainwashed Alicia also eventually return to Second Earth, but bring with them several Blue when they board the medical station.
When Yuji and Marlene return to Second Earth, they find that Tony plans to ram the medical station into the military station, which would therefore destroy the heart of Second Earth. He sees this as the "Grand Will of the Earth", in which he will become a "messiah" and cleanse the planet of humanity forever. However, Yuji, Marlene, and a group of other soldiers infiltrate the station, and manage to free Alicia's mind after injuring her. Later, Yuji and Marlene confront and eliminate Tony, while Rick (a close friend and partner to Yuji and Marlene) is slaughtered by a Blue. Alicia ventures back to Tony to die with him as the military destroys the medical station.
After the decision by Seno's junta to abandon Earth, Yuji becomes depressed and contemplates his existence, wondering what he has been fighting for, why he was woken, why he cannot save his friends (Joey near the beginning, Tony from his madness, and Alicia from Tony's brainwashing), and what is truly Earth's will. However, Marlene again is able to get through to Yuji; the two realize they need each other, and finally become lovers.
Yuji decides to return to Earth to once and find out what Earth's will is. After learning from Seno about a new migration pattern of the Blue, Yuji and Marlene take a group of volunteers and head to an area where a massive nest is located. There they find a group of humans surviving in the area. The nest seems impenetrable at first, but they eventually find an entrance with the help of the local people.
The entrance leads to a tunnel where the walls, ceiling, and floor of the cavern are composed of fossil-like Blue. The team finally comes upon a crystal formation in a massive cavern. A huge Blue is birthed from the gel substance sitting atop the formation, and kills everyone except for Yuji and Marlene. Yuji kills it and comes to the conclusion that the sphere will hold the answers he seeks. He sends Marlene, who is pregnant with their child, away to the surface to wait for him. He then gets a vision and can see what the Earth itself can see. Yuji comes to understand how mankind can live alongside the B-cells, and returns to Marlene.
Meanwhile, Second Earth's military station's citizens revolt against Seno. The station's personnel abandon the station for Earth via shuttles. Eventually a firefight erupts over the last remaining overcrowded shuttle, and the station is destroyed by a massive explosion. All around the world from former Blue Nests, long strings of coalescing energy ascend into Earth's atmosphere and form a ring. Marlene and Yuji watch this, realizing Earth is now a safe place to be, and look forward to the rest of their lives together as the sun sets. A final view of the Earth from space is shown with a slightly garbled narration, presumably by the Earth, stating, "Welcome to your next journey". | violence | train | wikipedia | Wake Up: It's the End of the World.
Yuji Kaido is an average guy with a problem: he's sick, and there's no cure.
Doctors simply don't know enough to fix the problem, but they can offer Yuji an amazing opportunity.
After reluctantly agreeing, Yuji is cryogenically frozen until a cure for his condition is discovered.
But things are very different when he wakes.
Tokyo (the entire Earth, for that matter) is in ruins, consumed by merciless, insect-like predators known as the Blue.
Pursued by the massive arthropods, Yuji is rescued by icy professional soldier Marlene Angel, a member of a military team assigned to recover "sleepers" like Yuji and transport them back to the orbital space station where humanity has taken refuge.
As the Blue hunt them at every turn and team members start to die, Yuji and Marlene will have to rely on each other to survive and to escape from the planet.This is an exceedingly well-made show.
The Blue are interestingly designed and frighteningly portrayed, the characters are likable (well, the good guys are), and the storyline never bores the viewer.
The general film "rules" about who can and cannot die (children are safe, noncombatants are safe, etc.) are not rigidly followed here, and the series is all the more suspenseful for it.There are a few issues, like a small amount of nudity that can jar you if you're not expecting it, and an environmental plot element that can feel somewhat preachy at times.
However, these aren't enough to justify taking away any more than one star.Blue Gender has a dark tone and its fair share of violence, and is not for everyone.
However, if you enjoy the genre, this is a visually and, I kid you not, emotionally appealing series that can be horrifying, exciting, and even touching..
Dark Anime.
I've seen a lot of anime, this is by far the darkest, most disturbing anime I have ever seen.
When I first saw the trailer for Blue Gender I got goosebumps.
It's really a fantastic series that has twists and turns around every corner that leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.
With the voices of Eric Vale (DBZ's Future Trunks) and Laura Bailey (Kid Trunks, Keiko Ukimura).
Word to the wise: Don't get too attached to any character, because there aren't any Dragonballs to bring them back.
I got attached to a few characters that were killed off pretty quick.
Also, the voice actors speak very low, so you might need to turn the volume up, but that captures the darkness about it.
All in all Blue Gender is a very unique and dark series that any anime fan would love..
Blue is Good.
Yuji Kaido is a normal 20 something with the rest of his life ahead of him but after coming down with a serious and strange sickness he decides to go into suspended animation until a cure is found.
Finaly in the year 2031 22 years after going to sleep he awakins to a nightmarish world no one could of expected.
Upon his awaking he is saved by a group of futuristic military squad know as the Sleeper Recvoery Team, equiped with the heavest of weapons and lead by the cold yet beatuful Marlene Angel.
Realizing the team is his only hope of survival and discovering now that the world is overrun by large bug-like creatures only known as the Blue.
Yuji must now find his own destiny and ends up on a path that may not only save or destroy himself but the hope of mandkind.
Without knowing who to trust on the real Earth or Second Earth(A Space station filled with survivors) Yuji turns to the only person who may be able to save him Marlene.
A very good show if you've seen Starship Troopers and liked it then check this out.
The best episode in the season is Episode 15 Calm.
In the episode you really get the feeling of sparks between Yuji and Marlene.
Emotionally Driven Cartoon.
I'm not really a big anime guy; in fact, the genre as a whole sort of repulses me.
Blue Gender really only piqued my interest because it was on Adult Swim's lineup around two, three years ago (back when AS was worth watching) and I caught a couple episodes.
I'm a total sucker for post-apocalyptic scenarios, and giant, mutilating bugs never hurt anything, so I recently got hold of the series in complete.
36 hours later, I'd watched the series from beginning to end; not so much because it was gripping (that's only partially true), but more because I'm a maniac.Blue Gender is driven not by the prototypical giant robot action Japan is (in)famous for, nor the horrendous monsters, nor even, for that matter, the dialog.
The viewer is compelled through Blue Gender by the characters and their subsequent emotional arrangements, more specifically the leads, Yugi and Marlene.
It's basically an epic, sci-fi soap opera with heavy metal and big bugs.Marlene is the ideal woman.
(Yeah yeah, she's a cartoon, "ew gross", get over it: that's not the point.
The point is the idea being conveyed by whatever layered ink it travels through:) Marlene portrays the aesthetic of an ideal woman: strong, self-sufficient, but irrevocably feminine.
I'd argue that she's more of a focal point for the viewer than Yugi, but Yugi is also a necessary component.Yugi is a bumbling, sometimes whiny character that often accomplishes incredible things.
This the viewer can appreciate and identify with; his relationship with Marlene, because of the viewer's identification with him, is the key in the ignition for this work.
The audience is propelled through the series hoping intensely he'll get himself together and snag this pristine idol of a woman.The interactions that follow the setup between these two are worth the 500-whatever minutes of moderate quality animation and dialog.The other characters, for the most part, are semi-interesting.
The atmosphere and setting are kind of cool; the creators do a pretty good job of portraying an insect infested planet Earth, but again, this is mostly beside the point.In this ultimately lonely life, people often underwhelm us.
I'm constantly disappointed by the trite selection of people placed before me.
Fiction provides a remedy to this, allowing us to construct a composite ideal of characters we'd like to know within the stage of our minds.
After all, the only difference between memory and reality is the level of detail.Anyways, philosophic drooling out of the way, I'm glad to say that this series instilled in me memories of a character I appreciate, and I'd endure double the length of these episodes, spotty details and all, just to glean what I have.On an end, this series has softened my harsh glare towards cartoons.
While I doubt I'll be browsing the Anime section anytime soon, I'm a bit more open to taking animation for the ideas it's portraying as opposed to the raw, intrinsic value of the animation itself.Oh, also, keep a keen eye out for the hilarious Engrish used in the animated computer interfaces...
This series had promise, but failed ultimately in its conclusion.
Which was weak at best.
In spite of its good story build up, I found this anime wasted a lot of time on over-dramatic shots of characters emoting over and over.
The theme of the story is thought provoking, about humankind destroying earth with our carelessness.
But the ending is carelessly put forward (which I found predictable), it needed a lot more thought to wrap it up.
I had hopes, but was sadly disappointed.
Princess Mononoke or Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind handled similar themes more maturely; despite not being 'mature' rated.
You may like it, try it out..
Robotech with sex and violence.
This series despite being less than perfect has it's share of moments.
The premise of the series is much like Robotech perhaps in the Invid storyline where a bunch of mysterious bug monsters have seized control of earth.
The monsters are truly disturbing and there are some heart wrenching moments in the series.
The truly spectacular part of this series is the emotional journey of the main character as he awakens in the future to find the world he knew destroyed and his desperate fight for survival.
Where this series is very different from Robotech is that it treats it's subject matter in as gruesome and horrifying a way as it rightfully deserves to be..
Insects of the giant type have taken over the world!.
This anime was rather good, it really pulled you in the first few episodes, however at a point it loses some of its steam and is just not the series I was expecting it to be.
Basically, the story starts off great as this dude with some mysterious illness is put into cold storage so that one day he can perhaps be revived when a cure is found.
He is awakened, but not to a bunch of doctors saying "We did it!".
No, instead he is awakened in a nightmare as the earth has been overrun with giant insect creatures, his only chance of survival a mysterious girl using some type of robot vehicle to fight off the many different creatures now seemingly intent on killing people.
This part of the story is great, seems they have some plans on using the dude to stop the creatures, his illness being the key.
A lot of people are now living in space and this is where the girl must get the boy so they can begin setting a plan of attack against the bugs in motion.
It is a really good series up to the point you sort of find out what the people with this illness are needed for and you ask yourself "what"?
I just never got what was so special about them, seems like they really had no special ability to me.
The series once it reaches the go back to earth phase kind of loses its luster that it built up in the very exciting escorting kid back to the spaceship part of the show.
I also never saw the last episode of this series so while I saw all the others I still feel incomplete when discussing this start with a bang series.
Just needed work on the second half of the show..
Undeveloped concepts and themes , weak dialogue , idea drought.
Some interesting themes are approached in blue gender.-A kind of 'Gaia hypothesis' viewing the earth as a single organism and humanity as a kind of cancerous cells.-The conflict between the desire for new technology and the potential disastrous impact it can have.-Human evolution.There are also a slew of common sci-fi tropes, powered exo-skeletons, bug eyed monsters , A GI Jane with a soft heart , cryogenic sleepers woken into a strange future , to list but a few.Many of these ideas are introduced early on yet the series is more character than idea driven.
A common technique used within the show is to introduce the viewer to several new characters and then kill them off quite brutally and often without warning to drive home the reality of the warfare.
Unfortunately this , through overuse , becomes quite expected and although the idea is to communicate to the viewer that "anyone can die" the two primary characters are clearly with us till the end.
The rapidly rotating cast also doesn't allow us to empathise with or begin to relate with any other but the two leads.This is unfortunate because although Marline is a , mostly ,likeable and consistent character , Yuji's emotional flip flopping becomes rapidly irritating.
His character ranges anywhere from a comatose terrified adolescent to a fearless killing machine.Given that the series seems to degenerate as it progresses and that several new developments are only revealed in the last few episodes .
It seem as though the scriptwriters rapidly exhausted ideas and moved onto new ones.
Within the show this is often explained away by a new revelation that the blue are "evolving" or by some weak plot hand-waving.
Is the core idea that war is a kind of personal hell (as several character express)?.
Is it that humanity is being punished by the blue (a possible analogue for disease or disaster) for their unchecked expansion and environmental destruction?
Is it supposed to be a warning about the dangers of unchecked scientific advance?
The desire of humanity to rule the earth?
Or as I believe "a tale of sound and fury , signifying nothing."The ending is .
I really fail to grasp how the pregnancy revelations , new age 'earth-spirit' interactions and violent conflict on 2nd earth were supposed to be taken but to me they read as , 'wrap it up , don't worry about the neatness , just get it finished'This review may seem excessively critical to some but when Blue Gender is viewed in comparison with other Anime in the sci-fi genre it seem trite and shallow.The dialogue is the typical cliché ridden machismo that military sci-fi suffers from, coupled with the terrible 'romantic' dialogue between Marline and Yuji.My review gives 4 out of 10 for the decent level of animation for its time, the use of light and colour as well as some inventive camera work at points.It also gains points for at least raising some interesting themes though scores low for failing miserably to explore them.Despite showing some promise, I bestow the worst criticism I can on Blue Gender.
Its not worth watching..
The best anime i've seen to date.
About a week back sat down to watch the blue gender without having really high hopes.
But i was impressed with the first episode and how it goes, Everything i wanted to see in a anime or a movie or TV series was there, the action , the survival horror with aliens , science fiction, nice story line with good characters that spread far and wide through out entire 26 episodes.
I've seen many anime's but this one is exceptional.
I loved it so much for many reasons and i will re watch it many times because of it's good ending.
I loved the ending, never left any loose ends, it was all over in a good way.
That's something you don't get in anime everyday.
I am a type of guy who loves to finish off things whether it's good or bad it has to end without loose ends and Blue Gender does it in a grandeur way according to my book.Id say if you are a type of person who is looking for a good action filled anime with science fiction plot, awesome characters and robots and best of all a clean good happy ending after all the struggle.
Without a doubt i'd recommend you to go ahead and see it.
Only spoiler i am putting in to my review is that this has a "GOOD HAPPY AWESOME ENDING".
that's all, rest you go ahead and find out..
Exciting and emotional 'bug-hunt' anime.
When Yuji Kaido is diagnosed with an untreatable condition he is put into suspended animation in the hope that one day a cure will be found.
Twenty two years later he is awakened but it isn't because a cure has been found!
He discovers that the Earth has been overrun by creatures called 'The Blue' and a group of heavily armed soldiers is intending to transport as many 'sleepers' as they can to Second Earth; an orbital space station.
Amongst the soldiers is one called Marlene and she is the series second protagonist.As they make their way to spaceport, faraway in Russia, they must confront numerous Blues and inevitably take heavy casualties.
Getting to the space station isn't the end of their troubles; once there Yuji learns why they wanted the Sleepers and finds himself in the vanguard in the struggle to retake Earth from the Blue.I watched the opening episode of this series years ago and didn't think too much of it at the time so dropped the series but wanting something new to watch I decided to give this a second chance
I'm glad that I did as I quickly found myself gripped by Yuji and Marlene's struggle against the Blue.
These to protagonists were pretty good as their characters developed nicely during the twenty six episode run; secondary characters also get some development meaning that we care for those who are killed along the way
and there are quite a few of those.
The action is pretty solid and fairly gory at times
anybody who has seen a 'bug hunt' film like 'Starship Troopers' will know the sort of thing to expect.
As well as quite a bit of gore there is some sex and nudity although it is fairly tame
if you are old enough to watch the violence it shouldn't offend you!
The animation is pretty good especially in the action scenes even if there are the occasional 'shaky still frames' rather than full animation.
Overall I'd say this is well worth watching if you like bug-hunting sci-fi.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles..
One of the best.
I can say that this is one of the best anime I've ever seen.
Too bad that it's a bit lax in the last episodes, but over all it's excellent.
Character development is very good, and it inspires a lot to attach to them.
Too bad, because most of them are dying quite fast.
Marlene is maybe the most important character, and I am sure that for a lot of watchers she can be the ideal woman.
Yuji is the main character, and he goes through some memorable adventures, along with Marlene.
Though, the movie is not so good, it actually spoils all the story development, in fact in contains not more than ultra condensed series, without very important explanations and introspections.
That's why i highly recommend the series, which take from me 5/5, and forget about the movie. |
tt0049452 | Love Me Tender | Presley plays Clint Reno, the youngest of the four Reno brothers who stays home to take care of his mother and the family farm as older brothers Vance, Brett and Ray fight in the American Civil War for the Confederate Army. The family is mistakenly informed that eldest brother Vance has been killed on the battlefield. After four years of war, the brothers return home and find that Vance's girlfriend Cathy has married Clint. Although Vance accepts this wholeheartedly ("We always wanted Cathy in the family"), the family has to struggle to reach stability with this issue. The subplot of unresolved passion carries the film; it is clear from the outset upon the Reno brothers return home that Cathy still loves Vance, although she is true to the younger Clint. Honor prevails for Vance, but jealousy turns Clint into an irrationally thinking rival for the love of the heroine. In the film's opening scenes, the main plot is presented; the three Reno brothers, serving as Confederate cavalrymen, attack a Union train carrying Federal payroll of $12,000. They do not know that the war ended only a day before. The Confederates come to a decision to keep the money as spoils of war, an issue that will come back into the plot after the Reno brothers return home. A conflict of interest ensues when Vance tries to return the money against the wishes of some of his fellow Confederates, all of whom are being sought by the U.S. Government for robbery. The film reaches its tragic conclusion with Clint's death during a final shootout. In the end, the money is returned, the Reno brothers are released, and the other three ex-Confederates are arrested. The youngest Reno brother is laid to rest at the family farm | cult, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | Hearing that the eldest son Vance (Egan) has died, Clint (Presley) and Vance's former love (Paget) marry in the aftermath of the murder of her parents and the Reno boys father.
As is in wartime, things become increasingly more difficult when he and his two other brothers Brett (Campbell) and Ray (Drury) to find this, as well the spoils of war haunting them shortly upon their return.It's an honest look at a difficult time in this country, with great performances all around -- from the handsome, impressive lead Richard Egan on down the cast.
Egan gives glimpses into the inner turmoil that sits just below the characters surface, making the character heartbreakingly sympathetic and admirable.It's Elvis Presley's best performance and (dare I say only worthwhile) role and film.
This was not one of the more cheesy moneymakers that Col. Tom Parker stuck him with for the remainder of his career (Girl Happy or Blue Hawaii for instance).Elvis showed great depth as an actor in his role as Clint Reno and also showed the potential to broaden his career from the premier musical superstar of our time into one of the crossover megastars that we see commonly today.His music is an integral part of the movie but it isn't put on display the way his future movies do.
When you watch this film, try to remember he hadn't done any of those 90-minute rock-n-roll videos with the likes of Ann-Margaret and Nancy Sinatra.LOVE ME TENDER is worth viewing if the viewer is willing to set aside their preconceived expectations of "just another Elvis movie.".
That the "King" is not in the main role gives the film more credibility and you can really say that Love Me Tender is a good movie.
With Elvis only as a troubadour works fine and the film remains a proper western too.Perhaps there has been better westerns too but the storyline in this one is enough interesting: a man returns from the American Civil War and finds his wife at home married to another man.
My guess would be that the story for Love Me Tender was probably laying around the offices at 20th Century Fox and would have been a B western starring Richard Egan.
Of course four songs had to be added, including the title tune, which was a rewording of the famous Civil War era ballad Aura Lee.The Reno brothers, Richard Egan, James Drury, and William Campbell go to war, enlisting in the Confederate Army.
The youngest brother Elvis Presley stays home to take care of Mother Reno, played by Mildred Dunnock and the family farm.
When it's reported that Egan was killed, fiancé Debra Paget marries Elvis.Of course all three Reno brothers return, sound of wind and limb.
The day after the Civil War ended, the brothers and others rob a Yankee paymaster and split the money.They're outlaws now, but a reasonable carpetbagger administrator played by Robert Middleton is willing to forgive and forget if he gets the money back.
Of course his hip wiggling gyrations in the post bellum South seem out of place, but that's what the ticket buyers to an Elvis film wanted.And he certainly sang Love Me Tender real good..
A trio of brothers fresh from a raid of a Union payroll find out that the war is over on their way to turn in the money to their General with the unit.Their commander Vance (Richard Egan) decides there is no Confederate Government to turn the cash in to.
Finally got around to seeing Elvis Presley's debut film in its entirety and in widescreen, and I think it's a good deal better than it's usually given credit for.
Richard Egan plays Vance Reno, who is serving in the Civil War and returns home after the war ends to join his family and reunite with his lover (Debra Paget).
But a tragedy ensues when it's learned that while he was away, his young brother Clint (Elvis) fell in love with and married his girl, after hearing that Vance had died.
Also factoring into the trouble is that Vance has kept some Union cash which he never delivered to its destination when he found out the war had ended in the interim.This turned out to be a good, solid story with fine performances, especially by Richard Egan.
For a film fan who never had any professional acting training or experience, he's really quite good as Clint Reno.
Though he didn't want to sing in this film, Presley was already a big recording star so of course there had to be songs in the movie.
Good beginning to Elvis Presley's film career.
Though this is the one film that Elvis didn't receive top billing for, his tremendous singing and acting ability go a long way toward making it a lot of fun to watch.
"Love Me Tender" was filmed as "The Reno Brothers" and was a solid western drama concerning a train robbery by Confederates before word got around that the war was over.
This was Richard Egan's and Debra Paget's movie; with Elvis Presley in a supporting role as Egan's hot headed kid brother.Therein lies the only fault with this picture.
In 1956 he was faulted for bad acting, which was a bum rap.Any Civil War movie benefits from being told from the Confederate side, as we were the good guys and the best fighters.
Despite switching the film's title from The Reno Brothers to Love Me Tender in order to capitalize on the young singer's popularity, Elvis still took second billing in his big screen debut, a typical Western that takes place just after the completion of the Civil War.
Love Me Tender's plot sets up a love triangle involving two brothers: Elvis' character Clint Reno (love that name) marries his big brother's sweetheart when the elder sibling fails to return from the war, but brother Vance unexpectedly shows up and naturally is not happy about the state of affairs on the family farm.
Headed by a cast that includes Richard Eagen, Debra Paget, Mildred Dunnock, Bruce Bennet, James Drury, and, oh yes, a young crooner making his film debut, Elvis Presley, "Love Me Tender" is a tidy post-Civil War western.
When the three brothers reach home, they face several unexpected changes that propel the rest of the film.Without Presley as Clint, the youngest Reno brother, who stayed home with their mother, "Love Me Tender" would likely have gathered dust in the vaults of Twentieth Century Fox. Not that the film lacks merit.
As an actor, the young rock and roll singer is quite good in the dramatic scenes; he has an easy natural quality, and the camera loves him.
Unfortunately for the film, but fortunately for his fans and music history, "Love Me Tender" features several songs by Presley, which have nothing to do with the Civil War. He delivers the rock songs with his trademark hip swiveling, which sent audiences wild on the Ed Sullivan show, but might have merited strong disapproval from Ante-Bellum Southerners.
A mixed bag, but all on the positive side, "Love Me Tender" showcases a young actor with dramatic potential, some 1950's rock and roll hits, and an engaging western story.
Elvis was truly beautiful in this sweet movie about a man who simply falls in love and marries his brother's girl.
A good film -two good actors Richard Egan, Elvis Presley!.
Richard Egan and Elvis Presley made this film.
I think it is the best film Elvis ever made.Yes a couple of other movies Elvis made (before he got into that "girlie here...girlie there...girlie everywhere thing" thanks to Col. Parker's unfortunate influence...)were good but this one (his first) was him at HIS BEST.Debra Padget and Richard Egan were great I thought.
A movie fans of Richard Egan and Elvis Presley will enjoy!!.
Elvis Presley's first movie "Love Me Tender" had an impact way beyond the imagination of many movie critics of the time.
The beautiful Debra Paget was well cast as Elvis's wife, and the popular actor Richard Egan along with Neville Brand playing the heavy gave the movie a lot of substance.The title song "Love Me Tender" became an Elvis classic in 1956 and helped to raise the movie way above many of it's contemporaries.
The story line was pretty much like a tv western and seemed awkward trying to fit Elvis' songs into the script.
Released in 1956 - Love Me Tender would be Elvis Presley's much-anticipated screen debut.
At 21 years of age, Elvis, the Pelvis, actually showed a truly remarkable zeal and assurance in his role as Clint Reno.Set in Texas during the American Civil War - Love Me Tender is a fairly entertaining Western/Drama, filmed in b&w, and featuring 4 musical numbers with Elvis (naturally) being the one at the helm of things.
This would be the one and only time in an Elvis Presley film where the soundtrack actually wasn't more important than the script.Love Me Tender's story revolves around the conflicting politics that take place between the 2 Reno brothers, Clint and Vance, and their mutual love for the same woman.
Rivalry and resentment naturally makes a play in all of this when the woman of their affections, Cathy, makes her final decision about which of the brothers she prefers as her special man.If you're a true, die-hard Western fan, then, perhaps, Elvis' swivelling hips may not be considered acceptable as an authentic period detail, but, all the same, past or present, the young, Texas gals in this flick absolutely loved it..
Three brothers return to the South after the Civil War with a load of Yankee money that the winning side wants back; at the same time, one brother finds out his girl hasn't waited for him.Presley's first film isn't bad.
There is some stiffness here, which isn't unexpected in anybody making his debut (though with Elvis it was something that was never completely shaken off) and his trademark moves during the songs while fun to see feel anachronistic in a Civil War Western film.
The other three songs are not quite as great but are still good, regardless of what can be said about how they're placed and how they fit.He is very well supported by the rest of the cast, the heart-wrenching Richard Egan stealing the film pretty much and Debra Paget is sympathetic and charming.
The conflicts are interesting enough, and the tragic finale is genuinely moving.For a modest budget, 'Love Me Tender' looks good, the western setting while not majestic, evocative or sweeping is handsome and not cheap and the black and white is quite nice.
Nor is the start of the film, until Elvis appears 'Love Me Tender' is pretty dull and uneventful.Parts don't fit with the story or setting as well as ought, one never feels like the film is set in the 1860s instead feeling like a 1950s film set amidst a Civil War backdrop.Overall, a decent if not great film and one of Elvis' better films and performances.
would love to see this one AND King Creole colorized, WOW you have to admit that would be so cool, it would be like watching a movie ABOUT Elvis Presley with Elvis playing himself!
Strictly as a star-vehicle (for a singer who was not yet a movie star), "Love Me Tender" proves to be an interesting footnote in the legend of Elvis Presley; as a piece of western-genre cinema, it is quite dreadful.
Richard Egan (in the most prominent role) does well, and the supporting cast featuring Debra Paget and Neville Brand is solid, yet it is Presley's acting debut which garners the most attention, and with good reason: his self-conscious sneering gives the picture its only intrinsic excitement (as well as a campy kick).
Love Me Tender is a supremely stupid movie, but one that has a certain appeal for nostalgists and lovers of drive-in level plotting and acting (not to mention Elvis fanatics who want to see him before he became a Viva Las Vegas cliché).There's no point in talking about the story itself--who would ever have thought the Post Bellum South looked so much like the hills where the TV show MASH was shot--and there is a whole rebel-whooping crowd of professional actors (except the ridiculous Debra Paget) who have to run blocker for the 22-year-old boy with a great, great voice and charisma, so why should you watch Love Me Tender the next time it shows on AMC?Cuz it's Elvis, singing the title song, the prettiest single piece of music he ever performed..
The singer was you know who, and he made his acting debut here as Clint Reno, naive, hip-swivelling younger brother of Richard Egan.
The singer would become a bonafide movie star with this box-office megahit, but only a handful of his subsequent films would be better, and only a few would even be as good..
As the US Civil War ends, three Confederate brothers and their gang rob a Union train.
Arriving home, they find little brother Elvis Presley (as Clinton "Clint" Reno) has grown up and married.
Older brother Richard Egan (as Vance) is hit hard by the news, because pretty Debra Paget (as Cathy) was waiting to be his bride.
While the three lovers work out their marriage problem, others are looking for the missing money...The first Presley film has the "rock 'n' roll" superstar taking over the screen.
Presley sings the multi-million selling classic "Love Me Tender" (which replaced "The Reno Brothers" as the film's title).
Webb ~ Elvis Presley, Richard Egan, Debra Paget, Mildred Dunnock.
Love Me Tender (1956) ** (out of 4) Over-dramatic film set at the end of the Civil War about a family torn apart due to stolen money and a love triangle.
"Love Me Tender" brought to the movies one of the most popular entertainers of all time, Mr. Rock 'N' Roll himself, Elvis Presley.
Why 20th Century Fox felt that starring him in a Western would be successful is merely academic
When Elvis broke into gyrations and song, audiences were electrified
The storyfilmed in black-and-white CinemaScope was about a bunch of Confederate soldiers who stole a Union Army payroll and then discover that, just five days ago, Lee had surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, ending the Civil War
Hiding the money, The Reno brothers (Richard Egan, William Campbell, and James Drury) decide to use it for themselves, and return home to the family farm and their kid brother Clint
Presley was cast as a Texas farm boy who marries his cavalry-man brother's sweetheart when news of his brother's death filters through
But the brotherplayed by Richard Egan isn't dead at all and incurs Presley's jealousy by resuming his friendship with his former sweetheart the beautiful Cathy Reno (Debra Paget)
The situation went from bad to worse
In his first motion picture, Elvis proved to be a rugged fighting man, a wonderful loving man and a terrific singing man
Hear him sing: "Let Me," "We're Gonna Move," "Poor Boy," and "Love Me Tender.".
This film is a solid Civil war drama w/ a strong cast and a realistic and believable main story and supporting subplots.
When it was announced that 21-one year old Elvis Presley would make his debut as a film actor, the publicity was huge.
Dean was also a trained actor by the time he became a star, whereas the thought of making Elvis Presley into an actor was clearly based on a wish to capitalize on his popularity as a singer.The result, LOVE ME TENDER, was a decent enough start.
It's a straight-forward western, covering the lives of four brothers, three of whom have just returned home from service during the Civil War in 1865.
Both their mother and fourth and youngest brother Clint (Elvis Presley...) are extremely happy to see them back.
In the very last scene, we witness Clint (or really, Elvis) singing "Love Me Tender" to us through a ghost-like image.
I actually found the rest of the actors in this films pretty boring and forgettable, but I think it was made that way so the focus would be on the rising star at that time, Elvis Presley.
The ending was actually my favorite part of the movie, where Clint (Presley) has just been shot and he begs of forgiveness to his brother.
Elvis' First Movie Is A Pretty Good Post Civil War Western.
Elvis' first movie is pretty good.
Indeed, Elvis didn't win top billing, but he has the plum role in "Love Me Tender."The story opens on April 10,1865, and the Reno brothers, are part of a Confederate General Randall's unit that raids a Northern payroll train down around Louisiana and takes the money.
When he shows up, Vance discovers that Cathy has married his younger brother Clint (Elvis Presley) because she thought Vance had died.
Elvis dies in the end, the only time that he ever died in a movie.
A well done post civil war western drama set in April 10, 1865 with the Reno Bros.
Vance (Egan) plans to get married to his sweetheart Cathy (Debra Paget) who's been waiting 4 years but is surprised to find she's already married to his brother who stayed home Clint (Elvis Presley).
Mike Gavin starts filling Clint's head with idea's that Vance's only intention is to run off with all the money & Cathy whom they were in love before & during the war.
This is a good debut for Elvis in a solid western drama with a good story & plot & some twists & surprises.
Elvis sings 4 songs which are good but unnecessary but at least the music doesn't overshadow & dominate the movie & get in the way of the story.
It has an excellent cast & it's one of Elvis' best acting as he does a good job in a supporting role. |
tt0031516 | Juarez | The film focuses on the conflict between Maximilian I (Brian Aherne), a European political dupe who is installed as the puppet ruler of Mexico by the French Napoleon III (Claude Rains), and Benito Juárez (Paul Muni), the country's president.
In 1863, Napoleon III of France, fearful he will lose Mexico to Juárez, circumvents the Monroe Doctrine by instituting sovereign rule and controlling an election that places Maximilian von Habsburg on the Mexican throne.
Upon his arrival in the country with his wife Carlota (Bette Davis), Maxmilian realizes he is expected to establish French supremacy by confiscating land that Juárez had returned to the native people and penalizing the rebels under his command. Maximilian decides to abdicate his throne but is deterred from doing so by Carlotta.
Maximillian offers Juárez the position of prime minister, but Juárez's refusal to compromise democratic self-rule for the Mexican people creates an unbridgeable rift between the two. When the American Civil War comes to an end, the United States warns Napoleon that it intends to enforce the Monroe Doctrine by military force if necessary, sending arms in support of Juárez's army. Their efforts are thwarted by Vice-President Alejandro Uradi (Joseph Calleia), who seizes the American ammunition and therefore virtually guarantees victory for Maximilian. However, Napoleon orders all French troops to evacuate Mexico, leaving Maximilian without an army.
Angered by this move, Carlota returns to Paris to appeal to Napoleon, but she suffers a mental breakdown. Juárez and his rebels capture Maxmillian and his men. Although arrangements to set him free are made, he insists on remaining with his supporters. Tried and found guilty, they are sentenced to death by firing squad. | violence | train | wikipedia | JUAREZ was a possible exception, in that it was to chronicle the odd events of 1862 - 1867 when (in the shadow of the American Civil War, and the temporary inability of the U.S. Government to exercise the Monroe Doctrine)Emperor Napoleon III decided to set up a puppet Hapsburg Emperor, Archduke Maximillian to rule Mexico.
The film is supposed to be centered on Benito Juarez, Mexico's greatest liberal and President (his closest 20th Century counterpart is Lazaro Cardenas, who tried to get real land reform into the country).
The result was that the scheme was doomed from the start.The real heart of the film is the competition between Juarez and Maximillian for the hearts of Mexico - both presenting conflicting views of government (but, ironically enough, good government).
Garfield, by the way, is not so bad as Diaz - he actually was to play a stronger part had the film not been cut - he would have been confronting the aging Juarez at the end (as historically he did) as the dictator of the future who ruled Mexico for 30 years, and gave it more stability and economic growth than any other leader in it's history (while selling the country off to American and European investors).
Certainly his story in its entirety with Maximilian and Carlotta as just one part of it would be a mini-series.Benito Juarez who rose from being an illiterate Zapotec Indian from Oaxaca province in Mexico has developed into the Mexican statesman with the biggest popular appeal in American culture.
Aherne was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Thomas Mitchell for Stagecoach.Hollywood usually can't resist a mad act and Bette Davis might have been nominated herself had she not been already nominated for the much better Dark Victory.
The one jarring note in the cast is John Garfield who sounds more like he's from the Lower East Side of New York than Mexican as Juarez supporter and future dictator of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz.
Brian Aherne, as the Emperor Maximillian, is the strongest thing going for this historical film depicting the failed attempt by Louis Napoleon to create a puppet government in Mexico.
Paul Muni playing the Zapotac Indian, Benito Juarez, manages to just look stoic and sullen and is not called upon to do much acting.
Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard are outstanding as Napoleon III and his queen Eugenie and they play at the devious political game with just the right amount of intrigue.The film is historically correct and that is part of the problem.
Hers is an interesting story but Davis may not have put enough incipient madness into her characterization.On the whole,this is a pretty good history lesson with no Hollywood happy ending tacked on, that tells of a well meaning, gentle man who was badly used by the French emperor, sent to rule a people of whom he knew nothing, in a land where he was not wanted.
Although there are some mistakes historically speaking,this is an absorbing screenplay,with superlative performances by Paul Muni,Bette Davis and Brian Aherne,who should have been at the top of the bill too,for he has more scenes than his two co-stars.Muni is almost frightening with his impassive face and his slow delivery.If looks could kill,his certainly would...Davis ,although she does not look like Charlotte physically ,gives a captivating portrayal of the empress.The scene when she prays Virgin Mary is impressive ,but not true: she was not sterile,but she and the emperor used to sleep apart!Their relationship was much more complex than the one depicted by Dieterlé: actually,the emperor was often away,it seemed that their strange love worked from a distance.Little by little,Maximilian lost all interest in power and Charlotte was ruling while he was gone (which often happened)or was staying in his Cuernavaca "paradise" .Aherne is Maximilian in the flesh.It's interesting to notice that his brother Francis-Joseph had deprived him of all his rights and his titles in Austria.Historians generally agree that he would not have accepted the Mexican throne,if Charlotte had not been his wife.
the problem is that the film doesn't show us the couple BEFORE they get to Mexico:one thing to bear in mind is that Max did not accept the throne overnight;and many people in Europa (notably Queen Victoria and Empress Elizabeth aka "Sissi" ) had warned them it was more a curse than a blessing.Charlotte (Carlotta) ,someone reportedly said ,wanted to reign over any people anywhere.Sissi called her Max's black angel.
Maximilian is depicted as a chivalrous noble sovereign which he was in a way.But of course ,he had lots of (Mexican)lovers since he didn't sleep with his wife Dieterlé does not pass over in silence the obnoxious role played by Napoleon the Third (and wife Eugénie de Montijo).Charlotte does show her contempt:"He is an impostor,his family is not an old one like ours ".The famous scene of the orangeade is included .Today,no serious historian would put forward that the drink was poisoned.But it might be possible that she was poisoned before leaving Mexico.Davis shines when she plays these scenes of madness.The scenes in Paris are not thoroughly accurate though:Eugenie (an incredibly beautiful Sondergaard) met first Carlotta alone in the Grand Hotel -they did not invite her to the Tuileries,which meant a lot about what they felt-Metternich was not the person who helped Carlotta :she first took refuge in the Vatican where the pope had trouble to get rid of her,then her sister-in-law Marie -Henriette ,queen of Belgium,came to her rescue when she was treated almost like a prisoner in Miramar.All that concerns Maximilian's death is accurate ,his last words were "poor Charlotte!"Poor Charlotte indeed.She was to outlive almost everyone,even Empress Eugenie!
In particular Bette Davis who is very compelling in her role, Brian Aherne's dignified Maximillian and Claude Rains who plays urbane better than anyone(except perhaps Cary Grant).
On the whole, a great cast, a splendid score and lavish production values are definite things to like, but Juarez is spoilt sadly by bad pacing, too much talk and two actors who don't convince as much as they should.
It has the perfect cast for this kind of epic: who better to play stoic, long-suffering historical figures than Paul Muni?
I really enjoy seeing Porfirio Diaz (who later seized the Mexican presidency in a coup, and maintained control for close to 35 years -- and is now a mixed figure in Mexican history, sort of like Lenin with the Russians, or Ataturk among the Turks) played by John Garfield.
An amazing conflagration of actors populates the cast of 1939's "Juarez" -- Brian Aherne, Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Gilbert Roland, and Louis Calhern.
It shows that Warner Brothers put everything behind this epic film.The story concerns the short reign of Maximilian von Hapsburg (Aherne) as Emperor of Mexico, seduced into taking the position by Napoleon III (Rains) who convinces him that the Mexican people want a monarchy.
Opposing Maximilian is the man of the people, Benito Juarez (Muni), who has the support of the United States.
Both Maximilian and Juarez want many of the same things, but Maximilian's hard work to unite the Mexican people and stop the fighting fails.Though the title is "Juarez," the workhorse role belongs to the underrated Brian Aherne, an excellent actor from the theater who took second place to Errol Flynn at Warner Brothers.
Nowadays one only thinks, "Why is John Garfield playing a Mexican?" "Juarez" is rich in detail - it occasionally is plodding and runs a bit long in an effort to supply the historic happenings.
obviously spared no expense to do justice to a story of JUAREZ (PAUL MUNI) but spent so much time on the ill-fated reign of Emperor Maximilian (BRIAN AHERNE and his wife Carlotta, BETTE DAVIS), that the film might just as well have been called MAXIMILIAN.
An even better title comes from a play on which this is based, called THE PHANTOM EMPEROR.Brian Aherne has the most screen time in what appears to be the central role.Ironically, he was nominated for an Oscar in the "Best Supporting Role" category.
If billing in Hollywood was fair, instead of governed by studio politics, he should have shared star billing with Paul Muni and Bette Davis in the opening credits.Having said all that, the details of the story have been given in expert fashion by many of the other commentators who are better acquainted with Mexican history than I am, so I can't talk about the accuracy or inaccuracies of the plot.
However, the ability of the writers to cover so much ground in the course of little more than two hours is an achievement in itself.The acting is splendid for the most part--but unfortunately Muni has chosen to play Benito Juarez in almost mute fashion, his stoic expression hardly ever changing and relying on heavy make-up to do the job for him.
Davis is especially compelling in Empress Carlotta's scene of incipient madness; Aherne gives dignity and sympathy to Maximilian; and Claude Rains, Gale Sondergaard, Donald Crisp, Gilbert Roland, Joseph Calleia and Montagu Love are excellent in support.The only casting misfire is JOHN GARFIELD in swarthy Mexican make-up as Gen. Diaz.
JUAREZ, despite playing fast and loose with certain historical facts, is nevertheless rousing and sumptuous epic film-making about the struggle for justice - on the one hand by the Mexican people and on the other by their hapless monarch.
The people are represented by Paul Muni impersonating Mexican president Benito Juarez; his expressionless face and slow, monotonous line readings are almost laughable; he comes across as a sort of Unconquerable Zombie of the People.
The hounded monarch, Archduke Maximilian, is played by Brian Aherne in what may well be the best casting he was ever assigned on film.
In another parallel to the later Russian events, his domineering wife Carlotta (played by a beautifully photographed, no-holds-barred, black-bewigged Bette Davis) takes matters into her own hands to support his flimsy but ardent claim to the leadership of the country; Aherne, like Muni, is also frequently seen in proximity to a framed portrait - of his wife.
John Garfield, one of the best film actors of his time, is unconvincing as a Mexican general.
The thing i liked about it most was the fact that you hardly got to know Paul Muni's character and spent more time Brian Aherne's character.
It is about the French imposed emperor of Mexico, Maximilian (excellently played by Brian Aherne, as a well meaning dupe, in well over his head, and his wife played by Bette Davis in a role suited to her talents), rather than his opponent republican president Juarez(played by Paul Muni, with laconic and stoic, and thus rather stiff, dignity).
The twin handicaps of a dull, dull script and some odd casting make this tedious viewing indeed.A history book of film guide will offer up the synopsis: Louis Napoleon of France seeks to keep control of Mexico's resources by making Archduke Maximillian of Austria and his wife Carlotta puppet rulers, despite the fact that Mexico, led by Benito Juarez, is struggling to establish itself as a republic.
He wins the viewer's sympathy, even though one is made to feel a little guilty liking a dictator, especially when scenes cut to Paul Muni as Juarez gazing with admiration at a portrait of Lincoln and intoning the word "democracy" with spooky reverence.
In what seemed to be an attempt to portray the endurance and stoicism of Juarez who rose from being an illiterate Indian to a visionary leader, Muni instead delivered a robotic, almost monotone, performance and his make-up man went overboard: he looks like a cross between George Lopez and Raymond Massey in "Arsenic and Old Lace" and sounds like Stephen Hawking.In the scenery-chewing histrionics category, the nominees are Claude Rains as Louis Napoleon and Bette Davis as Carlotta.
Since Maximillian and Carlotta never have a child and must resort to adopting a small boy to be their heir, we'll assume the second didn't work out, either.It's bizarre that the cast represents many nationalities and cultures, but with the exception of the always great Gilbert Roland (who was born in Juarez, Mexico), no one is Austrian, French, or Mexican.
He attempted to retain French influence by persuading the Mexican conservatives to call upon a member of the Hapsburg Royal family, the liberal minded Ferdinand Maximilian, brother of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria, to accept the throne of Mexico.
There is a solid performance by Brian Aherne as Maximilian, and there are some fine sequences showing the court of Napoleon III, but Hollywood quickly becomes out of its depth when depicting nineteenth century Mexico, and viewers of this film never really become involved with its characters in the way that is necessary to create a powerful drama.
It is supposed to be about the great Mexican president Benito Juárez, but it ends up focusing more on the story of Emperor Maximilien.The story: In the 1860's, the French Emperor Napoleon III (Claude Rains) sends French forces to occupy Mexico, on the pretext of establishing a North American regime of the French empire.
Napoleon sends the Austrian Maximilian of Hapsburg (Brian Aherne) and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium (Bette Davis), to be his puppet Emperor and Empress of Mexico.
But Benito Juárez (Paul Muni) organizes the Mexican peasantry to fight back against the French.As usual with biopics, this is the American Hollywood version of Mexican history.
The American filmmakers obviously decided that it was better to focus on the romantic European characters than on the Mexicans.Paul Muni, meanwhile, has little to do in his role as Juárez.
Bette Davis lends a fairly good (but not great) supporting performance as the troubled Empress Charlotte, who goes mad after Napoleon withdraws from Mexico and abandons her husband to his fate.
John Garfield appears as Porfirio Diaz, and Claude Rains and Gale Sondergaard have brief but well-done scenes as Napoleon and his smarmy French Empress.
With a cast of Paul Muni, Bette Davis, Brian Aherne, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Gilbert Roland, John Garfield, Gale Sondergaard, Harry Davenport, Joseph Calleia, and Louis Calhern, you wouldn't think the movie would be bad.
Since he's done that in so many of his movies, why don't you rent something else tonight?The movie shares screen time between Benito Juarez and Emperor Maximillian, played by Paul and Brian, showing the push and pull of Mexian politics during the 1860s.
The times we live in show how rare a grasp of history is and I applaud Muni for his selection of roles and great skill in portraying figures such as Benito Juarez.Many students today do not realize that Louis Napoleon's France had a Realpolitik role in our Civil War by way of its "bet" on the course and how that would play out when France attempted to install a monarch in neighboring Mexico.
The plot of this film devotes more time to the character of Emperor Maximilian than it does the title character of Juarez.
As for the comments about the lack of battle scenes, the plot is about intrigue, not the war.I think viewing this movie is a worthwhile expenditure of time, just to see so many good actors in one film..
Lengthy, but somewhat interesting historical biography of famed Mexican dictator Bennito Juarez played by Paul Muni.
One would expect that a movie with Bette Davis, Paul Muni, Claude Rains, John Garfield, Gail Sondergard, and Donald Crisp would have many things going for it, but you'd be wrong.Paul Muni's Juarez is, to quote Pauline Kael, "like a heavy dose of medicine".
John Garfield is badly miscast as a mexican general, and despite her co-star billing, Bette Davis really has only a supporting role with a few strong scenes.The movie as a whole is laden with talk and lacks any real energy or political point of view.
Juarez concerns itself with one of the more interesting episodes of Mexico's fascinating history: The brief and rather tragic reign of the puppet-emperor Maximilian, a liberal-minded Austrian nobleman who was foisted upon the Mexican people by the machinations of Napoleon III.
The movie divides its time between Maximilian and his wife Carlotta (Bette Davis), and their chief antagonist, Benito Juarez, the so-called "Abraham Lincoln of Mexico" (an image that is emphasized rather heavy-handedly).
In 1863, with the Civil War in America nearly won by the North and the Monroe Doctrine about to be imposed, French Emperor Napoleon III realizes he can't overtake Mexico by force and decides to establish a Monarch in the country--much to the dismay of the Mexican people and their president, Benito Juarez, who realize it's a puppet dictatorship.
Paul Muni gives one of his better performances here, and the film is fairly engrossing, but Bette Davis is totally wrong for the role.
Most of the time it plods through sounding like Sister Mary Ignasius' 7th grade class doing a Cinqo de Mayo commemoration play.Imagine this scene: Bette Davis as the barren Carlotta is bidding her fair Max adieu on her way to France to rip Napolean a new orifice for not sending more soldiers to slaughter more mestizo peasants in support of her Emperor husband.
this is not a surprise.If anything, Brian Aherne and Bette Davis come off better in their story lines, but again, seen from a Mexican point of view, their actual involvement there only extends itself from 1864 - 1867, the period JUAREZ chooses to frame its story.
The story of Archduke Maximilian, the Austrian nobleman who was induced by Napoleon III to assume the role of monarch of Mexico in 1863, displacing Benito Juárez, Mexico's liberal president, played by Paul Muni.
Brian Aherne is Maximilian -- "Max", as his wife, Bette Davis calls him -- is a dignified man full of good intentions, whose policies (with one notable exception) followed those of Benito Juárez.
I came into this movie mainly to see Bette Davis chew the scenery in her mad scene as the Empress Carlotta, but the film totally belongs to Brian Aherne, who was rightly nominated for an Oscar as Emperor Maximilian. |
tt0035896 | For Whom the Bell Tolls | During the Spanish Civil War, an American language teacher, Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper), who lived in Spain during the pre-war period, fights in the International Brigades against Francisco Franco's forces. An experienced dynamiter, Jordan is ordered to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a critical bridge with the aid of a band of local anti-fascist guerrillas. The bridge must be blown up to prevent enemy troops from traveling across it to respond to an upcoming offensive against the fascists.
Jordan meets an old man, Anselmo, who is a guerrilla fighter who will serve as Jordan's liaison with the local guerrilla fighters. Anselmo leads Jordan to a group of Republican guerrillas who are led by a middle-aged man named Pablo. Jordan falls in love one of the guerrillas, a young woman named María. María's life was shattered by her parents' execution and her gang-rape at the hands of the Falangists (part of the fascist coalition) at the outbreak of the war. Jordan has a strong sense of duty, which clashes with the unwillingness of the guerrilla leader Pablo to commit to helping with the bridge-blowing operation, as it would endanger himself and his band. At the same time, Jordan develops a new-found lust for life which arises from his love for María. Pablo's common-law wife, Pilar, usurps Pablo's leadership and pledges the allegiance of the guerrillas to Jordan's mission. However, when another band of anti-fascist guerrillas, led by El Sordo, is surrounded and killed in a desperate last stand, Pablo destroys Jordan's dynamite detonation equipment, hoping to prevent the bridge demolition and thereby avoid fascist reprisals on his camp. Later, Pablo regrets abandoning his comrades and returns to assist in the operation.
However, the enemy, apprised of the coming offensive, has prepared to ambush the Republicans in force and it seems unlikely that blowing up the bridge will do much to prevent a rout. Regardless, Jordan understands that he must still demolish the bridge in an attempt to prevent fascist reinforcements from overwhelming his allies. Lacking the equipment destroyed by Pablo, Jordan and Anselmo improvise an alternative method to explode the dynamite by using hand grenades. Jordan attaches wires to the grenades so that their pins can be pulled from a distance. This improvised plan is considerably more dangerous than using conventional detonators, because the men must increase their proximity to the explosion.
While the guerrilla fighters—Pablo, Pilar, and María—create a diversion for Jordan and Anselmo, the two men plant and detonate the dynamite, costing Anselmo his life when he is hit by a piece of debris from the exploding bridge. While the guerrillas are escaping on horseback, Jordan is maimed when a fascist tank shoots his horse out from under him. Jordan cannot feel his legs and he knows that if his comrades stop to rescue him, they too will be captured or killed. He bids goodbye to María and ensures that she escapes to safety with the surviving guerrillas. Armed with a Lewis machine gun, he waits until the horse-mounted fascist soldiers appear in his gun sights. He then pulls the trigger, firing a sweeping barrage at the oncoming soldiers. The film ends with Jordan firing the Lewis gun directly at the camera. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0119013 | Double Team | Having successfully completed his final mission three years prior, which was to retrieve a truck load of plutonium stolen from a US military base in Croatia by freelance international terrorist Stavros, government anti-terrorist agent Jack Paul Quinn is relaxing by his pool in Southern France with Kathryn, his pregnant wife. Quinn is approached by a government representative who tells him that Stavros, Quinn's nemesis, has become active again and tries to convince Quinn to come out of retirement telling Quinn that he ‘can’t retire until he [Stavros] does’. Quinn is reluctant to return to duty but agrees after the same representative is killed by Stavros shortly after the meeting with Quinn.
Acting on intelligence received, Quinn travels to Antwerp, Belgium where he meets up with quirky arms dealer Yaz, who equips Quinn with weaponry and then proceeds to meet the Delta team put together to capture Stavros. Stavros has been tracked to an amusement park but Quinn hesitates to give the order to shoot Stavros when it becomes apparent that Stavros is meeting with his six-year-old son.
Stavros exploits Quinn's hesitation and a shootout ensues in which Stavros’ son is killed and Stavros is able to escape into a hospital, pursued by Quinn. Stavros and Quinn fight in the hospital’s maternity ward with Stavros getting away after knocking Quinn unconscious in an explosion. Quinn wakes up on 'The Colony', an inescapable, invisible penal institution island for secret agents.
Quinn learns that he has been sent to the Colony due to his failure to capture Stavros, that his family has been told he was killed and that only agents considered "too valuable to kill but too dangerous to set free" are committed to the institution. The occupants of the Colony are expected to help analyse terrorist threats and have to register themselves present every day using a fingerprint scanner. Meanwhile, Kathryn receives a call from an art gallery in Rome telling her that they would like to display her sculptures and that they will fly her out immediately. When she arrives, Stavros kidnaps her.
Whilst analysing information received from a terrorist bombing, Quinn picks up a message from Stavros telling him that Stavros has captured Kathryn and so Quinn realises he must escape the Colony if he is to save her. Quinn devises a system to fool the fingerprint scanner and is able to leave the island by attaching himself to cargo due to be extracted from the island from the air.
Quinn goes to Yaz, the only man who can help him, pleading for assistance in return for access to CIA bank accounts. Yaz agrees to help and the two go to Quinn’s house where they are ambushed by Stavros’ men. After fighting the men off, Quinn receives a message from Stavros telling him that he must go to Rome for his baby’s sake. When they arrive in Rome, Yaz learns that Quinn's wife is pregnant after Stavros delivers a sonogram of the baby to the given rendezvous. Quinn emails Stavros encouraging him to meet in a town square, knowing that Stavros will have to take the bait.
At the meeting point, Quinn catches sight of Kathryn in a car but is intercepted by Stavros before he can reach her and a shootout occurs as Kathryn is driven away. Quinn tracks Stavros’ henchmen down to the hotel suite where Kathryn was being held and finds a clue to her whereabouts — a prescription bottle label. Meanwhile, Kathryn is transported to hospital where she gives birth.
Using the prescription bottle and with Yaz's help, Quinn is able to track down the hospital where he finds Kathryn but discovers that Stavros has taken his son. Thanks to assistance from a nurse, Quinn locates Stavros and the baby in an explosives-rigged Roman amphitheater. Stavros leaves Quinn in the middle of a minefield with his son and then unleashes a tiger.
Yaz arrives on a motorbike and is able to snatch the baby, leaving Quinn to escape from the tiger and go after Stavros. Quinn and Stavros fight in the minefield until Stavros steps on a mine (after Yaz moved the markers) and is left stranded. Quinn, his son and Yaz run as Stavros is charged by the tiger and takes his foot off the mine, a chain reaction rips the amphitheater apart and Yaz is able to shield his friends from the ensuing blast by sheltering under a vending machine. Stavros and the tiger are killed in the blast. | revenge, cult, violence | train | wikipedia | Continuing the tradition of successful Hong Kong directors going to Hollywood only to end up directing Jean-Claude Van Damme movies comes Tsui Hark with 'Double Team'.
I have nothing against Van Damme, but he seems to be some sort of trial-by-fire for any Hong Kong director with ambitions of making action films in Hollywood: If a director succeeds, he go on to Dolph Lundgren and then mainstream Hollywood action (John Woo), otherwise the director is faced with sticking with Van Damme movies or going back to Hong Kong.Counter-terrorist Jack Quinn (Van Damme) is planning to retire after one final mission to nail the villainous Stavros (Mickey Rourke).
Out for revenge, Stavros kidnaps the pregnant Kathryn Quinn (Natacha Lindinger), and the only way Jack can save is wife is team up with Yaz (Dennis Rodman) and kick-box his way to a happy ending.Watching 'Double Team', I thought it was pretty clear than even Van Damme realizes that his movies are a joke to all but the most hardcore of action fans.
All it really amounts to be is 90 minutes of action fun.While fans of director Tsui Hark would be disappointed with this effort, something good came of Hark's short-lived collaborations with Van Damme: He went back to Hong Kong and directed the incredibly awesome 'Time and Tide' (which did not feature Jean-Claude Van Damme at all).'Double Team' doesn't come to close to being one of Van Damme's best, and it might not even please hard-core Van Damme fans, but its all in good fun - 5/10.
A brilliant story line and Damme good action are what really bring this movie together, the action scenes are like watching Michelangelo's David take shape and all you can do is stand in awe at it's beauty.
Double Team is the third movie that Van Damme has done for a former HONG-KONG action-movie director.
Double Team is the third movie that Van Damme has done for a former HONG-KONG action-movie director.
I actually really enjoyed this JCVD effort, it a had a fair but of money thrown at it in this case $30m plus, it's stylishly filmed, JCVD is as wooden as ever, but there's plenty of action which is what you want in a JCVD flick, and I even don't mind Rodman's performance, he's far from being the worst actor I've ever seen, but the worst part of this movie is that it becomes needlessly complicated especially on the 'Island' which is a reference surely to the 1960's cult TV show with the now late Patrick Mcgoohan.
After he gets off the Island he has to track down the awesomely evil villain Stavros(Mickey Rourke) with the help of wacky sidekick Yaz(Dennis Rodman).I wont give too much away because you have to see this film for yourself, really.
Wise choice from Dennis Rodman; if you don't want to look bad as an actor, star opposite Jean Claude Van Damme.
And the misplaced attempts at humor didn't really work in favor of the movie.Jean Claude Van Damme delivers his usual action and martial arts, but the script didn't give him much to Work with.
i can see why people hate this movie so bad i know it's a bit silly and i am Big Fan Of Jean Claude Van Damme and Mickey Rourke and Dennis Rodman was Awesome and Funny but not much as Action Star didn't do much of Movies and in this movie was pretty awesome seeing Van Damme fighting with Rourke and movie wasn't that bad come on if your fan van Damme fan you should enjoy this movie it's fun Movie i don't care what people say and the opening scene when van damme driving the big truck in opening scene was cool and part in of Dennis was funny but they could of got Wesley Snipes rather then Dennis Rodman but it doesn't matter it's still good idea for me and Quinn escapes from the colony and goes after Stavroes for revenge.
Quinn is helped by Yaz Dennis Rodman Double Team they helping each another in mission to get his wife and baby and fight scenes with Van and Mickey was Awesome but i know Mickey Rourke doesn't like van Damme with some reason i don't know about but the fight scenes was fun didn't go for that long but you don't need to see long as showdown when van Damme fights were amazing like in Bloodsport if you enjoy Hard Target and Double Impact and Knock off and Kickboxer and Bloodsport this is fun movie that you will Enjoy for Van Damme Fans like this only 4.4 i will give this 10.10.
And now i come to the great director Tsui Hark ( i know if you just seen this film and his other movie starting Van Damme Knock Off you could be asking yourself "great director my ---") the director who gave us Once upon a time in china 1,2,3,4,5 and Pecking Opera Blues and other great hong kong movies.
But after a number if re-writes, the script had changed from a dark action flick into a more cartoon like action flick and this is clearly seen in the movie.Mickey Rourke and Van Damme set the pace for a very thrilling film in the first 30 minutes until Dennis Rodman rears his ugly head and destroys the movie.
But Double Team is completely different on all levels.Forget the fact that like any Van Damme movie, all character and plot development are non-existent, this movie still finds a way to suck to a new level.
I realize that a lot of people actually enjoyed "Double Team", that its director Tsui Hark is a talented and hard working fellow responsible for some outstanding Hong Kong cinema in years past, and that Jean Claude Van Damme has at least managed to stay pretty buff even as his career declined (unlike his contemporary Steven "Make Mine KFC" Seagal).
But "Double Team" sounded the Death Knell for Van Damme's movie career, which was finished off and consigned to direct-to-video Hell by Hark's follow up "Knock Off" in 1998.
It's cool, that with Van Damme's martial arts background - a black belt in Shotokan Karate, several middleweight full-contact Karate titles, and training in ballet (yes, ballet), which makes his kicks and flexibility defy normal-person standards (not to mention the fact that's he's just one of the most impressively-built men in the world) - his film career would pan out better."Double Team," directed by the Hong Kong veteran Tsui Hark, is Van Damme's first foray into the world of Asian/American cinema.
The plot is incoherent and insensible, with even worse script-writing and acting (the last is a moot point, but you understand).Van Damme is Jack Quinn, one of the world's leading counter-terrorist experts, who is leading an operation to nab master terrorist Stavros (a plastic-looking Mickey Rourke).
Of course, no prison can hold Quinn, who meticulously engineers his escape in one brilliant sequence (the best one in the entire film, in fact), teams up with flamboyant arms-dealer Yaz (Color-me-bad former San Antonio Spurs basketball sensation Dennis Rodman) and together the two go after Stavros, who has kidnapped Quinn's pregnant wife and is threatening to kill her once the baby is born and then raise it has his own."Double Team" is a ridiculous action-fest the likes of which have yet to successfully transition into mainstream American films.
If you're looking for a good action film, go watch Face/Off or Ronin, don't waste your time with Double Team..
As it turns out i was more entertained by the low-budget Hasselhoff flick i rented as well.This movie had all the elements i look for in a BIG, DUMB action film (i.e government agents who play by there own rules, sociopathic madmen, sports figures masquerading as actors) but i was completely let down.
Jean-Claude is "double-teamed" with basketball star (does that qualify you to be a movie star?) Dennis Rodman in this exciting flick from action maestro Tsui Hark.
If you like this movie try watching Van Damme in the 1995 action/thriller Sudden Death which is equally good.
This film will be known for the teaming of Dennis Rodman (Yaz) and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
A lot of people call "Double Team" a "crappy movie" or a "plothole fest", since that people claims that "Indipendence Day" is a good movie, why i can't say that Double Team is cool and better than Indipendence Day ?The movie stars Jean Claude Van-Damme (playing the character Jack Quinn), i don't care about your opinion, most of people hate him because of his "bad acting" (seriously, do you care about acting ?), but he have a lot of potential and like in most of his movies, he shows good skills in martial arts.
Mickey Rourke (playing the character Stavros), plays the villain, good performance also.Double team is directed by Tsui Hark, a awesome Hong Kong director, i liked Double team as i liked his movies made in Hong Kong.The action scenes are great, we get both martial arts fighting and shootouts.The score is great also, the music in the credits by Crystal Waters (featuring: Dennis Rodman), made me watch it until the credits rolled to the last second.The cheesy CGI effects had their fashion.
DOUBLE TEAM Aspect ratio: 2.39:1Sound formats: Dolby Stereo / DTSA counter-terrorist officer (Jean-Claude Van Damme) pursues the criminal mastermind (Mickey Rourke) who has kidnapped Van Damme's pregnant wife (Natacha Lindinger).An American action movie, directed by noted Chinese filmmaker Tsui Hark on European locations, featuring an unlikely combination of Belgian beefcake (Van Damme) and US basketball icon (Dennis Rodman) as the good guys pitted against Rourke's pumped-up terrorist, seeking revenge for the death of his infant son!
The script is ridiculous, full of clichéd references to "the game." And the fight sequences, arguably the only reason to watch the movie, are so dominated by stunt-doubles I wonder if Van Damme and Mickey Rourke ever met during filming.Still, I love it.
Anti-terrorist spy Jean-Claude Van Damme and shady arms dealer Dennis Rodman star in this ridiculous and sometimes down-right stupid would-be action thriller.
A logic-free action flick that stretches plausibility way beyond breaking point, Double Team stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as counter-terrorist expert Jack Quinn who, after a botched mission to kill international terrorist Stavros (Mickey Rourke), becomes an unwilling participant in a top secret think-tank on a remote island colony for agents that are considered 'too valuable to kill, but too dangerous to set free'.When Stavros (Mickey Rourke) abducts Jack's pregnant wife, having vowed revenge for the accidental death of his son during the earlier shootout, Jack escapes the colony, seeks help from an S&M freak gun dealer named Yaz (played by eccentric basketball bad-boy Dennis Rodman), and embarks on a dangerous rescue mission that culminates in an explosive showdown inside a coliseum.Opening with Quinn escaping from some bad guys by jumping a heavily armoured stolen vehicle through a speeding train (without the aid of a ramp), this film is completely crazy from the get go, and Hong Kong director Tsui Hark doesn't let the insanity subside until the very end, chucking in such spectacular nonsense as Van Damme kicking the crap out of bad guys while hanging from an air-plane cargo net, a Chinese killer who uses his knife with his foot, a top secret society of cyber-monks, and a finale that sees the good guys fight a tiger in the middle of a mine field before escaping certain death from fireball through the use of a Coke vending machine.Special mention must also be made of the incredible amount of glass that gets smashed during the film (usually because someone has been thrown through it).Although I'll never quite understand how this film got green-lit, I'm sure glad it did: a more enjoyably insane piece of 90s nonsense you'll be hard pushed to find.Call me crazy, but I rate Double Team 8 out of 10 simply for being so bloody silly..
But to be who Rodman is and mix that with the absolute fact that he can act about as well as he shot three-pointers (23.1%) makes a mess recipe for a movie."Double Team" even had Mickey Rourke when he was an a-hole everyone hated instead of The Wrestler reborn a-hole that everyone suddenly thinks is cool because he is in Iron Man 2.
It is not one of my top 10 favorite Van Damme movies, but I like it, even more than Knock Off. I have always enjoyed this film more than Knock Off. Double Team was Van Damme's first time filming with Chinese film director Tsui Hark, because one year later, they both made together Knock Off another underrated action movie.
In my opinion beside Van Damme, Mickey Rourke and Dennis Rodman both of the actors did a solid job and performance together playing their characters.
I like the idea, When Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a former counterterrorist agent fails to catch alive a terrorist leader Stavros (Mickey Rourke) and accidentally one of his Agent's kills Stavros 6.year old son, Jack Quinn is exiled to colony for dead agents on an empty deserted island and their is no escape from this island.
I liked the performance from Van Damme and Rodman, I don't think they acted stupid in this movie, they did not!
Training and action sequences are excellent and Double Team is also Van Damme's action movie that I like.
Double Team is a 1997 action film that marked the first American movie directed by Hong Kong director Tsui Hark (A Better Tomorrow III).
6/10 Grade: C- Studio: Columbia Pictures Corporation, Mandalay Entertainment Film Workshop Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, Paul Freeman, Mickey Rourke, Natacha Lindinger Director: Tsui Hark Producers: Moshe Diamant, David Rodgers Screenplay: Don Jakoby, Paul Mones Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 33 Mins.
Instead we have Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman teamed up in one of the more unusual movie pairings I've seen lately.
Mickey Rourke, despite looking very out of place in a movie like this, plays a decent villain to menace Van Damme and his family.
Jack Quinn(Jean Claude Van Damme, who gets to do plenty of the high kicks that he's famous for) retires from being a counter-terrorist, is brought back(yup, the clichés, formulaic nature and stereotypes that drown every line of dialog and every other aspect of the writing in this come in right at the beginning) to take out Stavros(Rourke, who makes for a cool villain and comes off as a genuine match to him, in the realms of fighting and tactics), who used to...
Hong Kong action director Hark Tsui brings many explosive, fast-paced action scenes in this Jean-Claude Van Damme movie.
Jean-Claude Van Damme plays Jack Quinn, counter-terrorist operative who on his final mission fails to kill Stavros (Mickey Rourke).
Van Damme is good as Quinn and Rourke makes a great villain; Rodman's acting is pretty bad, but he's funny.
The idea of Dennis Rodman first of all as an action hero is bad enough but the fact that he makes Jean-Claude Van Damme seem like an Oscar contender is something that is quite surprising.
The only reason I would watch a Van Damme movie is purely for action, not plot or story.
But then again, Double Team is good for Van Damme style action that will always retain its excellence..
fantastic.Mickey Rourke is great - he only knows to play one kind of man: a brute ashtray macho villian, but he's a real expert in that.Even Van Damme is good: his first film without having him suffering all the time (I used to think, he is some kind of "anti-hero" because he is allways suffering so much in his movies).The directing and camera work is really amazing, the plot is ridiculous, but the Action is highly enjoyable..
sure dennis rodman looks out of place, but any movie with a smackdown vs van damme and micky rourke cant be anything but great.
Also if you are wanting one of the best final showdowns between good and evil then the ending of double team will blow you away.In conclusion, Double Team is a excellent movie for all you action fans out there with a love for van damme flicks..
Quinn joins forces with vivid arms dealer Yaz to fight Stavros, and a tiger.....This film, and Knock Off are easily Van Dammes most bizarre movie, but they are nothing short of entertaining.The editing is all over the shop, and the script is undoubtedly awful, but I had so much fun watching this, and still do every time I put it in my machine.Van Damme is as good as always, and Rourke as you would expect.
Double Team starts as counter terrorist agent Jack Quinn (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is assigned one last job, to catch international terrorist Stavros (Mickey Rourke) at a funfair in Antwerp.
Jack teams up with arms dealer Yaz (Dennis Rodman) to get his wife & child back & settle some unfinished business with Stavros himself...Three of Hong Kong's most well known action film makers have all made their American action film debuts directing a Jean-Claude Van Damme flick, John Woo made the excellent Hard Target (1993), Ringo Lam made the average Maximum Risk (1996) & now Hark Tsui follows his compatriots lead with the quite frankly awful Double Team.
Both Van Damme & especially Rodman are pretty awful in this, the basketball jokes & one liners are literally painful to listen too.Double Team is a crap action film that could have been great, it had the budget, it had a decent cast on paper & a good director but it turned out to be a disaster.
This gets a bad rep from a lot of movie buffs but I found it to be fairly entertaining stuff, it's nowhere near Van Damme's best but it's still a perfectly enjoyable action film!.
Spoilers attached maybe: Van damme and Dennis Rodman team up to be directed by one of asian action cinema's best action directors Tsui Hark. |
tt0039441 | Gunfighters | In the frontier town of Tombstone, Arizona, the troublesome Clanton brothers, Ike, Phineas and Billy, are in town in search of Doc Holliday to settle an old score over the death of another brother called Reuben. They meet up with their hired hand Seth Harper at the Last Chance Saloon. He knows what Holliday looks like and describes his coat and demeanour. This is overheard by bar singer Kate, who lets her paramour Holliday know he is in danger.
The TARDIS has arrived in a nearby stable, with the Doctor in agony from toothache. He and his companions Steven Taylor and Dodo Chaplet, dressed as cowboys, soon encounter local marshal Wyatt Earp, who offers them his protection and warns them to keep his counsel. The Doctor finds the dentist – Holliday himself - while Dodo and Steven book rooms at the local hotel. There they are mocked by the Clantons, who suspect the Doctor they refer to is Holliday himself. Seth Harper is sent to the dentist’s surgery and invites the Doctor, tooth removed, to the hotel in five minutes to meet his friends. Holliday is initially happy to let him be shot in his place, allowing the real Doc to disappear, but Kate intervenes to ensure the Doctor survives. This buys some time until Holliday relents and hides in an upstairs chamber of the hotel, firing his gun at appropriate moments to con the Clantons into thinking the Doctor is indeed Holliday the sharpshooter. Soon afterward Wyatt Earp and Sheriff Bat Masterson arrive and break up the fracas, taking the Doctor into custody for his own protection. Steven now becomes embroiled in a plot to smuggle the Doctor a gun to help free him from the jailhouse, but the Doctor refuses to be armed. Steven is shortly afterward confronted by a rabble wound up by the Clantons, who are intent on lynching him as an associate of the disreputable Holliday. Once more it is Earp and Masterson who defuse the situation, and also take Phin Clanton into custody to ensure the co-operation of his brothers. The Doctor and Steven are freed and told to leave town as soon as possible.
Dodo has meanwhile fallen in with Kate and Doc, who both plan to leave town and take her with them. When Seth Harper stumbles across their escape plans, Holliday kills him, and the trio then depart. Harper's role as aide to the Clantons is soon replaced by a new arrival, Johnny Ringo, who shoots local barman Charlie by way of an introduction to the town of Tombstone. The Doctor and Steven return to the Last Chance Saloon in search of Dodo and encounter the dangerous Ringo.
Wyatt Earp’s brothers Warren and Virgil have meanwhile arrived at Tombstone to help him enforce the law. The Doctor soon tells them that Ringo is in town. Events take a harsh turn when the other Clanton brothers visit the jail to free Phin, killing Warren Earp in the process.
Meanwhile, Steven heads out of town to look for Dodo with Ringo in tow in search of Holliday. Steven and Kate end up being taken by Ringo to the Clanton ranch where the Clantons recamp and tell their father, Pa Clanton, that they have killed an Earp. Wyatt Earp swears vengeance and starts to build a posse of lawmen to deal with the Clantons once and for all. Doc Holliday returns to Tombstone with Dodo, and offers his services to his old friend Earp too. Attempts by the Doctor to defuse the situation amount to little: there will be a gunfight at the O.K. Corral. On the one side are the three Clanton brothers and Johnny Ringo; on the other, the two Earps and Doc Holliday. At the end of the gunfight Ringo and the three Clantons are shot dead. Shortly thereafter, the Doctor, Steven and Dodo slip away in the TARDIS.
They arrive on a strange planet, and decide to go out and have a look. As they leave, a strange man is seen approaching the TARDIS on the scanner. | romantic, revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0119771 | Nejasná zpráva o konci sveta | A magical and realistic vision of an unbalanced world takes place in a village in the mountains at the end of the world - at an unknown time. The village in a picturesque setting is a metaphor for the world and humanity at the rise of the 3rd millennium. During the 25 years when the story takes place, we can see change over several generations and various symbols of different civilizations, church and culture. The main motif of the film is the love between Verona and Goran. Their passionate relationship is so different from any other and so they have to be punished in the name of so-called morality and equality. By following them, the village people are trying to hide their transgressions against nature and themselves. Patriarchal rituals are in conflict with a civilization without God and equality. Nature punishes them with earthquakes. The houses of all the guilty people are destroyed. Wolves are a symbol of danger. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | A triumph of life?.
This is a very bizarre fairy tale.
It commences with a wedding and singing and dancing but nearly the whole village is wiped out by wolves.
The bride gives birth to a daughter several months later and promises her to the boy who saved her.Ten years later there is another disruption when Some circus folk come by and the villagers trick them into staying.
Tragedy ensues...This has a strange cast, dwarfs, giants, priests and occasional intrusions from the modern world in the form of the police and a wonderer who returns bringing to the village the good news of Nostradamus.
It is a long film but it honestly does not drag.
and if you get bored of the plot you can always look at the sumptuous Countryside..
A Folked up masterpiece!
Like "the Village" seen through the eyes of Kusturica, Paradjanov and Jodorowsky!.
"An Ambiguous Report about the end of the World" is a bizarre end of the world fairy tale.
It was two years in the making for director Juraj Jakubisko.
The story is based on the prophesies of Nostradomus, that's why it takes place in a non existent time.
At first I though I was watching a time piece film, but later you see a motorcycle, helicopters and men in contamination suits.
Some of the costumes of the film are strange looking, especially if your not familiar with European culture.
There is Czech folk outfits, men with feather hats and other strange gypsy like clothes.
Don't let the outfits distract you, because the film is simply amazing.
The beginning is disturbing as the village is massacred by wolves after a wedding.
Even a baby and children fall victim.
The musical score was so powerful, that this scene haunted me long after it was over.In the attack, a man named Goran saves a baby, Verona the mother promises him the daughters hand in marriage when she gets older.
Then the movie goes ten years into the future.
A circus comes to town and becomes a slight disruption for the village.
There's a crazy cast of Felliniesque circus freaks.
There's an 8 foot tall lady, a midget and even a monkey.
The film even includes a kiss between the the midget and monkey.
Weird huh?
Finally the film goes further in the future by ten years, but the environment looks the same.
Goran finally marries the girl, because she is now twenty.
But Goran still has feelings for the girls mother.
So the situation turns into a folk gypsy Jerry Springer style drama, except without the trailer court.
is original and unlike anything you have ever seen.
Gorgeous cinematography, heartfelt performances, haunting images and an amazing musical score by Jan Jirasek.
Director Juraj Jakubisko won many well deserved awards, including 4 Czech Lions.
I enjoy eastern European directors because they put there heart and soul into all their work.
A very Ambiguous report, I must say!.
A very Ambiguous report, I must say!.
It is a fantasy - and it has problems.
The other reviewer noted:It is happening in non-existent time (20th century, perhaps) and is based on Nostradamus propheciesS/he also said:"Some of the costumes of the film are strange looking, especially if your not familiar with European culture.There is Czech folk outfits, men with feather hats and other strange gypsy like clothes.."Here I differ: If you are familiar with Czech (or rather Slovak or Ukrainian) culture, history and customs,you will find the costumes even more strange than the story.That does not bother me; I like a good fantasy:Example of a good fantasy (a fairy tale, using Czech/German folklore is The Brothers Grimm (2005)"..Not quite the story of the Brothers Grimm I know..Shot in Prague, Czech Republic, the film is dark, yet beautiful.
.." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0355295/The problem with this movie is not that authors invented a parallel universe.Problem is that they packed the movie with exaggerated episodes of all what is wrong with many regional Czech/Slovak movies: It is mostly about getting drunk, incoherent pub shouting and eating with intensity but not finesse of a food-porno movie.
All that with necessary pig-slaughter ceremony rendered in naturalistic details with lots of blood and gore and - eh - bad manners.I suppose some people may like such naturalistic scenes.
I had to fast-forward trough most of them.
I do not recommend this movie, particularly not for gentle souls..
The definition of the word "pretentious".
This is the worst movie I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty abysmal wastes of film.Slovakian director Jakubisko has made some very good films; unfortunately, this is not one of them.
He cast his wife, Deana Horvathova, as the lead, and this was not the least of his mistakes.
Horvathova is one of the worst "actresses" in film today; she is completely wrong for the part she plays, and you don't believe a single thing she says or does.
The woman simply should not be involved in the film industry in any way.The story, such as it is, is ridiculous.
A village almost wiped out by wolves?
People in 18th-century clothing being firebombed by helicopters?
Gunfights in the woods?
Forget it.This is a complete waste of time.
Don't even let someone pay you to see it..
what did i just watch?.
when i saw the title of the movie and even the IMDb rating i was interested.
,,hmm'' i thought, maybe this will be good and interesting.
it was boring...
and weird.
basically the entire plot is about people in a small 19th century village talking and shooting wolves???
then a modern helicopter(!) with some army guy shows up and then it goes back to boring scenes of people talking and shooting wolves.
1/10 don't recommend |
tt0041497 | I Shot Jesse James | Bob Ford of the Jesse James gang is wounded during a bank robbery. He mends at Jesse's home in Missouri for six months, although Jesse's wife Zee doesn't trust him.
Cynthy Waters, an actress Bob is in love with, comes to town to perform on stage. Bob catches her speaking with John Kelley, a prospector, and is jealous. He knows that Cynthy wants to get married and settle down.
In need of money, Bob hears of the governor's $10,000 reward for Jesse. He betrays his friend, shooting Jesse in the back. Bob is pardoned by the governor but receives a reward for just $500.
He spends the money on an engagement ring. Harry Kane, who manages Cynthy's career, books Bob for stage appearances in which he re-enacts the shooting of Jesse. He is booed by audiences and mocked in public for his cowardly deed.
Bob goes to Colorado to try prospecting and runs into Kelley, who is rejecting offers to become Creede's town marshal. Bob wakes up one day to find both Kelley and the engagement ring missing. Cynthy arrives just as Kelley returns, having captured the ring's thief. Kelley is disappointed when Cynthy accepts Bob's proposal, so he accepts the job as marshal.
Frank James, brother of Jesse, overhears a conversation in which Cynthy confides to Kelley that he's the one she truly loves. Frank makes sure that Bob learns of this, knowing Bob will make the fatal mistake of confronting Kelley face to face. In the street, Bob draws on Kelley and is shot dead. Kelley gets the girl and Frank avenges his brother's death. | revenge, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1601188 | The Spectre | Following Gareth Mallory's promotion to M, James Bond takes leave from MI6, which is merged with MI5 in a series of reforms to the British intelligence community. However, a posthumous message from the previous M leads Bond to carry an unauthorised mission in Mexico City, where he stops a terrorist bombing plot. While confronting the criminals' leader, Marco Sciarra, Bond grabs his ring which is emblazoned with a stylised octopus. Upon returning to London, Bond is indefinitely suspended from field duty by M. Parallel to this, M is in the midst of a power struggle with Max Denbigh (whom Bond dubs "C"), the head of a privately backed agency, the Joint Intelligence Service. C campaigns for Britain to form "Nine Eyes", a global surveillance and intelligence co-operation initiative and uses his influence to close down the '00' section as he believes it to be outdated.
Bond disobeys M's order and travels to Rome to attend Sciarra's funeral. He seduces Sciarra's widow Lucia, who tells him Marco belonged to Spectre, an organisation of businessmen with criminal and terrorist connections. Bond uses Sciarra's ring to infiltrate a Spectre meeting, where he identifies the leader, Franz Oberhauser. When Oberhauser addresses Bond by name, he is pursued across the city by Spectre's assassin, Mr. Hinx. Moneypenny informs Bond that the information he collected leads to Mr. White, a former member of Spectre subsidiary Quantum, who has fallen afoul of Oberhauser and has been marked for assassination. Bond asks her to investigate Oberhauser, who was presumed dead years earlier.
Bond locates White in Austria, where he learns that White is dying of thallium poisoning. He tells Bond to find and protect his daughter, Dr. Madeline Swann, who will take him to L'Américain; this will in turn lead him to Spectre. White then commits suicide. Bond approaches Swann, and after rescuing her from Hinx, the two meet Q. Through Sciarra's ring, Q forensically links Oberhauser to Bond's previous missions, identifying Le Chiffre, Dominic Greene and Raoul Silva as Spectre agents.
Swann takes Bond to L'Américain, a hotel in Tangier, and discover White left evidence directing them to Oberhauser's operations base at a massive crater in the Sahara. Taking a train to a remote station, Bond and Swann have an encounter with Hinx that sees the assassin killed, and are eventually escorted to Oberhauser's base. There, Oberhauser reveals that Spectre has been funding the Joint Intelligence Service while staging terrorist attacks around the world, creating a need for the Nine Eyes programme. In return C will give Spectre unlimited access to intelligence gathered by Nine Eyes, allowing them to anticipate and counter-act investigations into their operations. Bond is tortured as Oberhauser discusses their shared history: after the younger Bond was orphaned, Oberhauser's father Hannes became his temporary guardian. Believing that Bond supplanted his role as son, Oberhauser killed his father and staged his own death, adopting the name Ernst Stavro Blofeld—going on to form Spectre and targeting Bond. Bond and Swann overpower him and escape, destroying the base in an explosion and leaving Blofeld to die.
Bond and Swann return to London where they meet M, Bill Tanner, Q, and Moneypenny with the intention of arresting C and stopping Nine Eyes from being activated. Swann and Bond are abducted separately, while the rest of the group proceed with the plan. After Q succeeds in preventing the Nine Eyes from going online, a brief struggle between M and C ends with C falling to his death. Meanwhile, Bond is taken to the ruins of the old MI6 building, which is scheduled for demolition after Raoul Silva's bombing. Moving throughout a ruined labyrinth, he encounters a disfigured Blofeld, who tells him that he has a choice between escaping the building before explosives are detonated or die trying to save Swann. Bond finds Swann and the two escape by boat as the building collapses. Bond shoots down Blofeld's helicopter, which crashes onto Westminster Bridge. As Blofeld crawls away from the wreckage, Bond confronts him but leaves him to be arrested by M, before leaving the bridge with Swann. | paranormal, revenge, neo noir, murder | train | wikipedia | great short included on "Justice League :Crisis on Two Earths".
i really enjoyed this little gem which is included as a bonus on the Justice League:Crisis on Two Earths DVD:it's basically a sort of a film noir type mystery.it's only about 11 minutes or so,but it gives you a brief idea of who The Spectre is,if you're not already familiar with the character.this short film is a good way to introduce the character,and to gauge fan interest,as he is what could be considered a fringe character.i believe the character could probably do justice to a full length feature and hope that DC has that as one of their goals in the future.regardless,i really enjoyed seeing The Spectre on the screen,even briefly.for me,DC Showcase: The Spectre is an 8/10.
Loses a point for not being a full length feature.
If the ghost of Christmas Future had a creepier crime fighting relative, "The Spectre" would be it.
By day, Detective Jim Corrigan investigates homicide cases; his latest case being the explosive murder of a Hollywood film executive producer.
Incidentally, the victim is also the father of his girlfriend Aimee Brenner.
The usual investigation red tape gets in the way of his investigation as Corrigan finds himself powerless to bring the suspects to justice.
But Jim Corrigan has an ace up his sleeve.
By night, Corrigan assumes his true form as "THE SPECTRE", an avenging spirit with immense supernatural powers.
Unimpeded by the limitations of a human form, the Spectre seeks out the suspects of the murder case and dishes out his own supernatural form of justice.
However, the clues might not be as obvious as he thought and the real suspect may be closer than he thinks.From the get go, "The Spectre" animated short film is a beautiful tribute to classic film noir supernatural thrillers.
Everything from the old school music to the "grindhouse" film grain is heightens that "1970s" feel.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, who also directed the awesome G.I Joe Resolute movie, the animation and artwork here is astounding.
Character movements are just so "real", so lifelike and extremely fluid.
The artwork too has a higher level of detail even when compared to the full length "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" main feature that this short film came with.
Easily better looking than many of the best Japanese anime too.Writer Steve Niles is no stranger to the horror genre, having penned the critically acclaimed "30 Days of Night" series.
Clocking in at barely over 11 minutes, the entire set up of "the Spectre" is a classic, though rather predictable, detective story.
But the scenes involving the Specter, glowing green eyes swirling cape and inhuman voice adding to air of creepiness, are genuinely scary with a couple of real shocks.
Fans of horror movies will be able to pick out some noticeable homages to films like "Chucky" and "Final Destination".
Seeing as how The Spectre might not be as famous as Batman or as popular as Superman, it was probably a wise move for Warner to only make one short film in order to gauge viewers' interest.
The result was so spectacular, so oozing with style and boasting high end production values that it really is a pity Warner did not go all out to make a full length feature from the start.
Having a mature narrative makes this short film accessible to even viewers who are not fans of animation as it plays out very much like a live action movie.Definitely not to be missed.
Get it now with the blu-ray or 2 disc DVD copy of "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths" or get the "DC Showcase: Original Shorts Collection" DVD and blu-ray due out in November 2010.
Oh yes, there is quite a fair bit of violence, actually more so than the main Justice League feature; so be warned..
The Spectre: Interesting enough I suppose.
I'm not particularly familiar with The Spectre and I guess that's the point of these DC Showcases, an opportunity to become acquainted with lesser known heroes.With the neat voice talent of Gary Cole & Alyssa Milano this DC short gets to the point quick.It tells the story of a detective searching for a killer of a Hollywood actor, meanwhile the shadowy figure that is The Spectre is handing out his own brand of justice.Again not being familiar with The Spectre I didn't really know what to expect and have to say it has a real film noir feel about it.
Combine that with his powers seeming somewhat overpowered and I'd be curious to see more.The Good:Good voice talentWell animatedThe Bad:Limited due to the time constraintsThings I Learnt From This Short:Gary Cole needs to do more voice work.
"You can't kill a dead man...and the guilty must be punished for their crimes!".
This short was such a cool little surprise and I ended up liking it a whole lot more than the movie it came with!
It had a lot of edgy noir-esc pizazz and a very appealing retro visual look with seventies type grain and a soft glow to the picture, and I was quite hooked by that style almost right away, it gave the short a terrific tone, as well as making the superb animation stand out more.
I enjoy the brief murder mystery plot of it, for such a short..short they do a good job of giving it an effective setup, middle and payoff, but I really loved it because of the title character, a dark avenger I'd never even heard of before watching this.
He was so awesomely mysterious and his abilities were so otherworldly, I was surprised to find out that he's actually one of the oldest comic book characters, having decades on creations like Ghost Rider and Spawn, whom he immediately made me think of.
I'm not saying that my personal knowledge goes for everyone, but compared to Superman you'd be hard pressed to find the average person in the street who knew who the Spectre was, and that's a shame because there's some pretty great potential there, I could watch a whole series or an animated movie based around this guy if it were as well made and gripping as this short.
He really kicked ass, when he wasn't masquerading as the hard boiled fifties gumshoe detective that he was in life, the Spectre was like a dispassionate judge who delivered frightening ethereal doom down upon those that the harsh form of cold cosmic justice that he embodied, deemed guilty!
I think his particular style of merciless punishment prevents him from being considered a true hero, definitely more of an anti-hero..
What he did to the guilty was downright brutal, and while not quite gory, it certainly didn't pull any punches with the death and violence, with a very creepy sequence of a man trapped in a movie studio full of monster props that catch and eat him, and a beautiful but heartless debutante who had her own father assassinated for his money being blendered alive by a whirlwind of the ill gotten dollar bills as sharp as razors!
I love the classic horror movie references, the brilliant homage to John Carpenter's Christine is pretty unmistakable, but I also spied little nods to The Exorcist and a quick music theme near the end that sounded very similar to that Italian band that were in a lot of giallo horror movies Goblin!
So while you may require a pentient for the macabre to really love this, I found it to be a great thrilling and atmospheric short that made me want to see more of this ghostly guardian of dire justice who truly brings new meaning to the word Wrath!
Excellent and well worth seeing.
X. Good for older fans.
Be warned the Specter is a character that is very dark for a child to watch so don't show them this short.
The animation and voice acting are good but the story is just too much WTF did I just watch.
In the story, the Specter kills someone by using his dummies against them, controlling a car and ramming it into them and turning money notes into paper cuts.
It is an okay short..
An underused hero.
This is another of these roughly 11-minute-long animated short films made by Warner Bros that came out 5 years ago.
The director is Joaquim Dos Santos and his work here and also in the other showpieces lets me think that it would actually be nice if he got his own feature film at some point.
The Spectre is a superhero who is relatively unknown and it would be equally nice if he got his own film at some point, maybe even live action.
The story here is about a man who gets killed and The Spectre, who has the ability to breathe life into inanimate objects, takes revenge.
First we think, it is because of a thing he has going on with the victim's daughter (voiced by Alyssa Milano), but then things move into another direction.
The final plot twist elevates a fairly mediocre film to this point.
Good writing here, although I still believe that he solved these cases far too quickly.
Maybe one villain in the middle of the film would have been enough and instead some more elaboration on how he found out who was really behind it all.
Still, that's just a minor criticism.
The animation is pretty good and this is a decent film.
I still believe "Jonah Hex" is the best of these, but "The Spectre" is maybe 3rd behind Superman as well, but better than Green Arrow and Catwoman.
Recommended. |
tt6563112 | Clique | Massie (Elizabeth McLaughlin), Dylan (Sophie Anna Everhard), Kristen (Bridgit Mendler) and Alicia (Samantha Boscarino) are the most popular girls at Octavian Country Day, calling themselves the Pretty Committee. However Massie is devastated when the Block family takes in the Lyons family, who have moved from Orlando, Florida with their teenage daughter, Claire (Ellen Marlow). Claire attempts to impress Massie by convincing her mother to buy her designer clothing at the mall, where she bumps into Dylan and the two become acquainted. Meanwhile, Massie meets a boy named Chris Abeley (Keli Price) while horseback riding and immediately finds him attractive.
At school, Claire bumps into Chris in front of the steps, which makes Massie jealous. Massie orders the girls to exclude Claire because she had a fight with her. Claire meets the eccentric Layne Abeley (Vanessa Marano), they become friends and eventually make plans on Friday.
On Friday, Claire ditches Layne because Massie's mother invites Claire to Massie's weekend sleepover, but eventually leaves due to teasing. In the morning, Layne comes by to hang out with Claire and Chris tags along. He is revealed to be Layne's older brother.
Massie holds a meeting for Kristen's project, which is to create a homemade makeup line called Glambition. They see Claire swimming in the pool and they tease her about her cheap bathing suit. Later that night, Claire goes to Massie's room to confront her but Massie is gone. In attempt to gain friends Claire Instant Messages Alicia, Kristen, and Dylan pretending to be Massie to drive the girls apart.
When the Glambition makeup arrives, the girls get together to sort through the packages. They make snide comments at each other about their supposed dishonesty before realizing that Claire had manipulated all of them. They ambush Claire in a four way call and tell Claire that she doesn't belong there. Now friends again, the girls tell Massie that since the charity auction is on Chris' birthday, she should jump out of a pop out cake to impress him and Massie happily agrees.
On a field trip to New York City, the Pretty Committee tries to sell their Glambition make up but their recipe contains peanut oil, which triggers allergic reactions in their classmates. In amidst the panic, Massie anonymously texts Claire to use Layne's oatmeal snack to reduce the swelling, which makes Claire a hero.
At the charity auction, Claire meets Chris' girlfriend, Fawn and prevents Massie from jumping out of the cake. After the auction, Massie tells Claire that the reason why she had been mean was because she saw Claire as a threat. | psychological | train | wikipedia | First four episodes just OK, fifth very good, sixth good.
Or, in terms of ratings out of 10, I would say 6-6-6-6-8-7.
The first four episodes are slickly made but uncreative and predictable; the people you expect to be good are good and the people you expect to be bad are bad.
Things get more interesting in the last two episodes, when the heroine doesn't know who she can trust anymore, and the focus switches to Rachel Hurd-Wood, who emerges as the real star of the show (she outacts, as well as outlooks, the rest of the cast).
On the whole, the story could have been told in a two-hour movie - there wasn't really a need for six 45-minute episodes.
A "take it or leave it" kind of show - no harm done either way..
Found the plot incredibly engaging and complex.
It draws you in and you won't be able to stop watching until you've finished the series.
Characters are complex and are very well acted with strong leads.
The tone is dark whilst still maintaining some lighter moments.
Overall a good watch that is thought compelling and exciting at the same time.
Worth the time!.
Worth the time!.
Surprising.
I read the description and expected it to be a banale teenage seeries.
What I saw was an excellent Scottish crime drama.
It's about young people yes, but then not only.
Good plot, good actors..
British drama's always meet the mark don't they?.
Finishing the short but sweet 6 episode season 'Clique', I'm not left feeling deflated!
Clique is a drama that is dark, entertaining and quite sexy- whilst not trying to be too philosophical about itself.
Watch this show because you enjoy dramas with a thick (and perhaps, unrealistic) plot and good looking actors who all do a great job.
Also, watch this show if you're into nice aesthetics combined with great filming; it does just that.Not too much of a slow burner, but not too fast either, 'Clique' conveys the slow decline of a friendship between two young women as they enter a darker, grown up world at university.
With lots of drugs (which I found slightly too much, considering they're meant to be broke students, but hey!
It's still a fun watch) and mystery that is actually engaging, this show doesn't disappoint- unless you're not into glossy late- teen shows, then stay away!All in all, an interesting show that pokes at gender roles and feminism in a dark and engaging way- I highly recommend and PLEASE HAVE A SECOND SEASON!.
Don't waste your time..
One of the worst shows I have seen.This doesn't make any sense at all.
The writers seemed to have tried creating a dark, dramatic drama but came up producing a long series about depressed people drinking and just having sex.The characters are boring and their dialogue is usually short and just dragged out.
Nothing makes sense.
Main character is very annoying and just quiet and walks around.
There is no emotion, no energy just nothing.
I did hope for some kind of energy or moment that would catch my attention but was left clueless and angry.I really don't understand how the rating is so high as most of my friends regularly watch BBC iPlayer shows and can confirm this is the worst show produced by BBC THREE.
I didn't even finish it because it was that bad.
This does not portray the youth or university at all.
It's just rich snobs being boring and trying to be mysterious.
It is horrible..
tis OK.
The show starts slow but soon especially at the end of the pilot picks my interest.Sometimes, I found the actors' accents too strong.The whole team looks really glamorous, the outfits and the looks created for each character are great.
Hats off to the style team.The production of the show is realistic..
Sex drugs and not much studying.
I didn't go to university but if I did I wouldn't have minded going to the one in Clique.
Rather like Julia Brittains previous show Skins set in a sixth form college in Bristol.
The students are on a mission to have as much sex do as many drugs and booze as possible.
No need to worry about student grants here as most are filthy rich and parade in designer clothes and drive luxury cars.
Whilst this may not be an accurate portrayal of student life there is enough going on to keep the viewers interested.
And like it's predecessor Skilns there is some fine young acting talent on display in particular Synovve Karlson who along with stunning looks has a bright future ahead..
Quite an engaging and provocative thriller.
The series open up into a venture of passage to adulthood.
Two childhood friends reinvent their desires and are challenged by their past.
Some figures -posing as role models and such- intrigue these two friends.
And, in a few episodes, we witness the development of a not so basic but more complex story line, with a thread of problems to be solved.
All the while, the show encourages the viewer to reflect on themselves via its story line and most importantly does not lose its simplistic beauty.
Youth, drama, crime can rarely be subtly and properly synthesized like this..
If you wanted a crime drama pretending to be a University story.
Nothing has yet to top the impact Skins had on the british youth from its representation of class, poverty struggles and adolescent drama.
Clique looking seemingly fill this spot using the backdrop of university fails to act as both a young adolescent drama and crime story.
The story is unbelievable at best whereby the suspension of disbelief is trying to the viewer, yes the story doesn't have to be held to precisely real world dramas of a university student, but then again the shooting and setting of Clique attempts to lend itself to some sort of university cultural reality, which it most certainly does not succeed in.
The nagging lead female character (I've honestly forgot her name) which pushes away her friends because one second your a saint before university and the next your a drug raddled prostitute taking part in university initiations is just hilarious.
I couldn't watch more than four episodes before I tapped out and realised that what's been created should be forgotten..
Brilliant.
I doubt I am the target audience for this, being a 61 year old, just couldn't stop watching it.
Great script (touch of Luther about it series 2), supremly acted and believable filming.
If all you see is sex and drugs then you are missing a real treat.Series 3 please and hurry up!.
Annoying.
Cringe-worthy.
Main actress's face (which fills almost every shot) is banal and void of character.
Unrealistic horrible characters.
Ridiculous plotline.
Whole thing is just annoying..
Pretentious series with facile stereotypes..
Clique set in and around Edinburgh University.
I was a post grad there in the dark ages.
The series is compelling pseudo art house that's let down by its crude stereotyping and senseless facile characters.
Everyone in the series is drinking and eating themselves into an early grave.
Yet, none of them are overweight.
All the men and women are perfect shapes which is shockingly inaccurate.
That's fine in a fantasy series but Clique series perports to be realistic and yet none of the characters are realistic they are all stereotypes that only exist in TV and film.
There's a compete absence of any disabled people in clique.
Once again this doesn't easily fit in with a series begging to be taken seriously.
None of the characters are likeable.
Quite the opposite.
And yet behind all of this there's a decent, compelling storyline.
It's almost lost in the bland and pretentious people in the series.
My problem with clique that it's written by the type of arty people who decry stereotyping in society.
However, they've made a series that does the very thing they'd decry in other series.
There's not a single character in the series that is real or remotely likeable.
To conclude.
I'm very ambivalent about clique.
On the one hand it's full of vile characters whom the writers try and pass off as being real.
Whilst on the other hand there's a compelling series begging to be taken seriously.
Maybe I've missed the point of clique.
Or maybe the point is that clique is just a sea of stereotypes where it's characters are all physically perfect who can eat and drink as much as they want.
They can take as many drugs as they want and there's sex in every closet.
They can do all of these things with impunity.
Life isn't like that.
Clique is trying to present itself as a reflection of life today.
It wants to be taken seriously
It's impossible to take it seriously.
And yet I watch it..
Seriously this series really addicting.
I really need season 2.
I really need season 2.
You can't do this to me OMG.
I need to know what will happen with Rachel aka Milly.
And the reason Holly visited her.
and what happen with Alistair.
There's still so many things to be explained.
and the story line is really great I didn't expect anything at all.
I always loves mystery.
Clique Series 1.
**SPOILERS**
The Scottish drama that you probably didn't know about created by the talented former 'Skins' writer Jesse Brittain.
'Clique' follows Holly McStay played by a relatively new comer called Synnøve Karlsen (When you watch this show you'd think she's been doing this for ages).
Holly is a university student just beginning her first year in Edinburgh with her best pal since childhood Georgia Cunningham (How rare is that in real life?)
One day they go into a lecture led by the charismatic Jude McDermid and her brand of feminism lures both Holly and Georgia to discover more.
As the first episode goes on Georgia becomes ever more distant to her once best friend and begins following a 'clique' of bright students that she feels she now identifies with as they have a similar view on the feminism that Jude spoke about.
However, it turns out that Jude is the alpha of this so called 'clique'.
As time passes Holly continues to try and reconnect with Georgia but is left as an outcast which motivates her to try and enter this closely guarded circle to find out what is happening.
She finds out at the lavish parties this circle is populated by Edinburgh's most powerful men and women leading to Holly exposing it's corrupt core.
This proves to be a lot more dangerous than imagined and Holly's past is threatened to resurface.
'Clique' has noir like undertones but looks at modern university life with a bit of added drama, the team definitely make good use of the city and Scotland as a location, I remember reading an article that stated that this could be the next 'Gossip Girl' personally I don't think it's like 'Gossip Girl' unless its the fashion aspect they're talking about, in terms of students and the shows demographics wanting to dress like the characters.
Who doesn't want to look elegant? |
tt5725894 | Ghosthunters | A group of paranormal investigators, Neal, Henry, Jessica, Neal's girlfriend Amy, and Jessica's girlfriend Devon, have arrived at a house where Henry's wife and daughter were murdered by a serial killer known only as the Night Stalker. The team hopes to free the pair's souls via a device created by Neal, which can capture ghosts and seal them in containers. As the investigation proceeds Devon leaves and is killed by a floating knife while another Amy experiences a series of visions. These visions not only show her the deaths of Henry's wife and daughter, but also reveal that Henry is the Night Stalker. Henry had murdered them as part of a paranormal experiment, in the hopes that their extreme distress would amplify paranormal energy. Amy manages to get a recording of Henry confessing to the murders, an action ends with Henry shooting Neal with a gun he was carrying with him. Amy and Jessica flee, but are caught by Henry. They are almost shot, but are spared when the ghost of Henry's wife appears and distracts him long enough for Jessica to break the containers of ectoplasm. The now released ghosts attack Henry, giving Amy and Jessica a chance to escape - only for Jessica to get shot and die. The film ends with Amy, the sole survivor of the night's events, leaving the house as police arrive. | paranormal, violence, murder | train | wikipedia | Asylum aims for the middle again..
I signed up for IMDb just to write this review.
I think that is an important thing to make note of.
I came into possession of this movie and saw NO reviews of it, only a semi-favorable rating.
I thought, "I can enjoy a bad horror movie now and again, so why not give it a go?
I should not have given it a go.Whenever you start a horror movie and the "Asylum" logo appears on screen, you already know what to expect.
Unless you're drunk, you will not enjoy this movie.
The acting is bad.
The visuals are mediocre.
The story is uninteresting and you will predict the ending at around the 30 minute mark of the movie.
You may ask yourself if you should even bother continuing to watch at this point, the answer is no.There is a woman in this movie who is supposed to be hacking for some reason, I guess she's hacking ghosts?
I stopped paying attention to what she was supposed to be doing when I realized that her computer screen was just a random number generator and she was mashing keys haphazardly the entire time.
There is a scene where shadowy ghoulish figures appear - however it is clear that they are just men in black morph suits, complete with visible wrinkles and seams.The best part of the film is right at the end when the credits are over and you can go reflect about how you wasted about 90 minutes of your life and you will never get them back..
not so bad.
This film is not so bad, there were some scary moments but the story is really simple and easy to predict, if you don't have any film to watch and this comes up, I'd say go for it...the acting was pretty average also.
there were some good scary scenes and some gore to the film.
I just wished they would had a more complex storyline which would made it scarier but I was expecting a really bad film but I was proved wrong.
Watched it with my wife who's an avid horror fan and she was not thoroughly disappointed with the movie.The director of the film and the special effects team should be given praise as well.
There aren't a lot of American horror movies but this one should be given a look or two at..
Deadly dull ghost hunting.
Have made no secret in the past of intensely disliking, and even outright hating a lot, a vast majority of The Asylum's (near-universally maligned for good reason) output, though there is curiosity as to whether they are capable of making something good and compulsive about their output's badness.
Admittedly, The Asylum do have a small group of watchable films and the occasional (big emphasis on that word) above average one, unfortunately outweighed by the lacklustre at best and often dreadful films they churn out.'Ghosthunters' is not quite one of The Asylum's all time worst, they've definitely done worse that have been more amateurish and insulted the intelligence more.
With that being said, even when taking it for what it was, and from watching other films from The Asylum it is abundantly clear it shouldn't be taken seriously, it was a very poorly executed film and towards the bottom, compensated only by some eerily creepy scenery.Visually, 'Ghosthunters' looks incredibly cheap even for something made on a low budget.
It's very drably and sometimes dizzyingly shot, incoherently edited (bacon-slicer-like) with glaring and unforgivably sloppy continuity errors, wasting some eerie-looking scenery.
Regarding the effects, they still look very cheap though and like they were an afterthought and made in haste.
The ghosts look goofy and too reminiscent of people in costumes and are not scary at all.
Am aware of the film being low-budget, but there are examples of low-budget films that still don't look awful and manage to be pretty good.Can remember little about the music, which tended to be intrusive, annoying and out of place.
The script makes little sense, sounds awkward constantly and on the wrong side of camp throughout.Nothing thrilling, tense, suspenseful, emotionally investable or fun about the story.
The predictability (with the ending being incredibly obvious very early on) may have been forgivable if the film was actually engaging let alone exciting but it fails to be either throughout.
'Ghosthunters' is basically non-stop dullness, and intelligence-insulting ridiculousness, with a complete lack of tension, suspense, scares or even atmosphere.
There is also, as is the case with a lot of The Asylum films, unintentional humour because of the excessive cheese and laughably goofy interpretations of the ghosts, numerous illogical moments, bouts of mawkish drama (couldn't get behind the whole derivative and over-sentimental previous circumstances regarding the family murders, should have been tense and affecting but was neither) and irritating character behaviours that makes one endear to them even less in a film with not one interesting or rootable character.Acting sees the actors either over-compensating or sleepwalking through their roles, nobody gives a halfway decent performance and instead never rises above mediocre (often awful).
In summary, deadly dull.
1/10 Bethany Cox. Great Film, Amazing Acting.
What a wonderful surprise.
As a horror fan I highly recommend Ghosthunters.
It has a great twist that was very unexpected, also a story line that makes sense.
I am familiar with Pearry Teo's work, having recently seen The Curse of Sleeping Beauty.
This film exceeded that film by far for me.
The acting was incredible, stellar casting.
I was very impressed with the emotional level and the adrenaline of the actors.
The cinematography was also very well done.
The set of the house also looked great (Curse of Sleeping Beauty) fell short for me in that department.
I would definitely give this one a spin.
I actually just purchased the DVD as well..
Why oh why was this movie ever made.
This was a very feeble attempt at making a serious scientific scary movie.
At no point during this movie did I experience even an iota of fear or dread.
It was one cliche after another stolen from some of the best scary movies but failing miserably in its execution and delivery.
I may as well have watched this one with all the lights on (I always watch scary movies with all the lights off for maximum effect) and the experience would have been the same.
The plot twist at the end was absolutely ridiculous and nonsensical.
Which basically sums up the movie.
Don't waste 90 minutes on this you'll only walk away saying wtf..
Asylum's dud.
GHOSTHUNTERS is another cheapie from The Asylum, released to capitalise on the GHOSTBUSTERS all-female reboot.
This has nothing to do with any of the Hollywood films and instead is a typical low budget haunted house horror flick in which a team of paranormal investigators set up base in a haunted house in order to capture the spirits living there.
One of the team has a personal connection to the dead but that's all the depth you're going to find.
This is slow, slow stuff indeed, with rubbish direction and stilted acting.
The gloomy visuals are sleep-inducing and the whole thing has an air of tired predictability..
Run the decoder!.
The film opens with the horrific deaths of Martha (Phyllis Spielman) and Gabby (Anna Harr) by a man with a mask and a voice enhancer so we can't understand what he is saying.
Henry (Stephen Manley) the father in the family invites a team of ghost hunters to a home so he can put their souls to rest after they were tortured for a long period of time with the home prepared for torture.Our team has special glasses to see ghosts and a machine to capture them and turn them into ectoplasma that is not fluorescent green.
Oh yes they have that binary thing to extract a voice.You have the film figured out when the guy inside the house behind the police barricade opens the door.
This is a poorly conceived Asylum mockbuster for the new and most likely better "Ghost Busters 2." It is a bad combination of ghost/slasher movie, filmed at one location to save money.Guide: No sex or nudity.
No swearing in FF mode.
Pearry Reginald Teo should not be writing or directing films.
He sucks at it. |
tt0108149 | Six Degrees of Separation | A young black man named Paul shows up at the home of art dealer Flan Kittredge and his wife Louisa, known simply as "Ouisa", who live overlooking Central Park in New York City. Paul has a minor stab wound from an attempted mugging, and says he's a friend of their children at Harvard University. The Kittredges are trying to get the money to buy a painting by Paul Cézanne and now have this wounded stranger in their home. Paul claims he is in New York to meet his father, who is directing a film version of the Broadway musical Cats. Paul continues to charm them with his story, though, in reality, it is all a lie: Paul is not a Harvard student but obtained details on the Kittredges from another male student he had seduced. Eventually Paul uses their home for an encounter with a hustler, but is caught red-handed. The police are called, but Paul escapes.
Soon after, Paul starts up another con against a sensitive young man named Rick and his live-in girlfriend, Elizabeth. The young couple are new to the big city and, based on Paul's con, invite him to live with them until he gets everything sorted out with his wealthy father—who Paul tells them is Flan Kittredge. The trio become good friends, with Paul spinning a tale of being estranged from his racist father; the girlfriend tells Rick not to lend Paul any money. One night Paul takes Rick out on the town, and seduces him in order to get the money. Later that night, Rick tells Elizabeth that Paul is gone, that he has all their money, and that he and Paul had sex. In a fit of fury, she cruelly suggests that Rick's father had always questioned his son's sexuality. Soon afterwards Rick commits suicide.
In desperation, Paul calls the Kittredges for assistance. Partly due to strained relations with her children, Ouisa finds herself feeling emotionally attached to Paul, hoping to be able to help him in some way despite the fact that he has victimized them. Over a protracted and laborious phone call, he agrees to give himself up to the police; however, during the arrest, he and the couple are separated. Despite their efforts—Ouisa's more than Flan's—his fate is unresolved, except for a possibly tragic end. Towards the end of the play, in a climactic moment of reflection, she delivers the play's most famous monologue: | cult, humor, satire | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0094673 | April Morning | The novel begins in the afternoon of April 18, 1775, when Adam Cooper's father, Moses Cooper, sends Adam out to draw water from the well for his mother, Sarah Cooper. After completing this task, Adam heads upstairs to talk with Granny. During the talk with her, they engage in a debate on religion. Afterwords, they head downstairs to eat dinner. Then the family prays and the meal, consisting of bread pudding and donkers, begins. In the middle of the meal, Moses confronts Adam about a "spell" to be said while drawing water. As a result, the confrontation starts an argument, which is interrupted by Cousin Simmons arriving. Cousin Simmons, chosen to draft a letter on the rights of man, comes to Moses with his draft seeking criticism. Another debate arises over Cousin Simmons' description of rights as "god-given." Moses asserts that rights come from the people backing them, not God.
After dinner is over and Adam finishes some evening chores, he heads over to the Simmons' house to meet with Ruth, his love interest, and go on a walk. Before he is able to see Ruth, however, Aunt Simmons makes conversation with Adam and feeds him pie. Then Ruth comes downstairs, and Adam and Ruth leave on a walk. While they are walking, they talk about various things, including their futures and what they want to be in the world. After a kiss Adam walks Ruth home and then he himself heads home. Upon arrival, Adam spots Levi cleaning his gun. Adam does not like this but his mother insists that he let Levi do it. Then Adam heads upstairs and goes to bed. Before falling asleep he overhears his parents talking about the committee meeting. Finally he falls asleep.
Suddenly, Adam is awakened by his brother Levi. Levi draws attention to a speedy rider that stops in the center of town. Now the whole family is awake and curious. People gather around the rider on the green, who informs the town that the British are coming and may be marching through the town. He then rides off. Because of this news, arguments stir in the crowd on whether to muster the militia. The people of Lexington agree to muster it. Adam signs up and is then tasked to take Ruth home. After doing so, he comes to his home to overhear his parents designating him a man. As he walks in his father chastises him, then has Adam load his gun and go to the muster.
After Adam and all the other men arrive at the green, the militia muster falls into order and the women and children are sent inside. They stand there for a few hours until the redcoats march into town. The British fix bayonets, then fire upon the militia. Adam's father falls and Adam runs away. He hides in a smokehouse until Levi comes in. Levi tells Adam to leave the town because the British are searching the town. Adam leaves and jumps over a wall and meets Solomon Chandler. He feeds and comforts Adam on the events Adam just witnessed. Then they walk until they meet Cousin Dover, Cousin Simmons and the Reverend. The company continues to walk until they arrive at the militia encampment. There the militia plans several ambushes and Adam shares his story of the massacre on the Lexington green. Then the militia sends a horseman to scout ahead while the others lie in wait by the road. The horseman returns, then the British come. The militia releases a few volleys before retreating over the hill. The militia, not pursued by the British, stop to rest and plan the next ambush.
During the next ambush Adam falls asleep under some brush. He is awakened by Cousin Simmons and the Reverend searching for his body and talking about him. Adam calls to them, to their relief, and they send him home. He returns home and is greeted by Levi, who walks Adam into the house. The house is occupied by mourners, Ruth, Granny, and his mother. Adam's mother sends him to get his father a coffin and take it to the church. After a brief conversation with the coffin-maker Adam returns home. He eats dinner, then his mother sends him to light candles by his father's coffin. Ruth accompanies him and they talk for a while, until Adam walks Ruth home. Then he himself goes home and retires to bed. | violence | train | wikipedia | Television movie about the battle signed the initiation of American war of Independence.
This TV film is based correctly on historical events developed in April 19,1775 , beginning hostilities for a shot was fired and starting the American Revolution, skirmishes among the British troops and the colonial militia were in Lexington and Concorde(Massachusetts); the deeds are the following : The first battle of the American War of Independence was in Lexington,northwest of Boston.Anticipating a rebellion ,The British general Thomas Gage sent 800 troops to seize stores at Concord and arrest John Hancock and John Adams ,two prominent American rebels.The rebellious were warned by Paul Revere(Vlasta Vrana).An advance party under Major Pitcairn encountered a party of about 50 Minutemen ,American rebel militia troops,on Lexington Common.They refused to disperse when ordered to do so,and Pitcairn ordered his troops to open fire.
Eight Minutemen were killed and the remainder retired.Fervants patriots(Tommy Lee Jones,Chad Lowe and Robert Urich) against redcoats were led by Salomon Chandler(Rip Torn).
The British party turned back for Concord and was later ambushed ;it was only saved by reinforcements sent out from Concord .The total losses in two actions were 73 British killed and 174 wounded,49 Americans killed and 39 wounded.The movie is a good adaptation upon the notorious historic events and based on a Howard Fast's(Spartacus) novel .
The film is produced by Robert Halmi Jr from ¨Hallmark , Hall of fame¨ TV , which has produced several films and series about historical happenings and known personages , as : Cleopatra, Odyssea(Ulises), Hercules , Jason and the Argonauts, Joan of Arc, Lion in Winter( Henry II and Leonor Aquitania), Prince and pauper( Henry VIII and Edward VI ), among others .
The movie is well directed by Delbert Mann (Marty).
The flick will appeal to American history buffs..
a great fiction movie about the start of the revolutionary war..
i thought this movie was great!
i saw it in my social studies class, and loved it.
they really gave you some great information about how the war began.
it may have been about a fictional boy and how he wanted to join the militia to impress his dad, but it had some real things that happened.
one of them was not when the guy was riding on the horse screaming about the British coming.
someone in my class thought that his job was cool because he got to ride on a horse through the town screaming about the British coming..
he then said if the British caught him, he would cover his eyes.
i'm very glad my social studies teacher had us watch this movie, because it taught me more about how the war began.
i give this movie two thumbs up..
Good history movie based on novel..
This is a made-for-TV movie adaptation of Howard Fast's novel "April Morning," one of the few assigned novels I enjoyed reading in school - a story about Adam and Moses Cooper and their involvement in the battle that initiated the American war for independence.From what I remembered in this film, the teleplay does follow the novel pretty well and it is a fascinating movie that I thought included some decent acting, interesting history overview of the American Revolution, some exciting action and suspenseful elements.
Just the part where Adam Cooper (Chad Lowe) attempt to conquer his fear and fight alongside his fellow soldiers in battle is intriguing to watch.The setting, make-up and costumes used in the film represented that period in time very well.
Though a movie based on war, there is an absence of gore and graphic scenes, which makes it suitable for a larger audience including children.
In addition, Director Delbert Mann took great care in making the movie interesting minus all the excessive gore and violence and, instead, relied on the substance, history, drama and character impact.Overall, this is one of the few war movies I could remember that I've found suitable and enjoyable for the entire audience.Grade B.
Good job of presenting history.
On April 18, 1775, along a Massachusetts road, Solomon Chandler is secretly delivering shot and gunpowder to colonists who want to stand up to the British.
He is captured and beaten by Redcoats.The people of Lexington are divided on how exactly to handle the situation, but if the British are coming, they want to be ready.
15-year-old Adam, whose father does not respect him, wants to join the militia.
Amazingly, Adam's father does not try to stop him.
His mother fears Adam will be killed if the circumstances lead to gunfire.Eventually, the people are warned that, in fact, "The British are coming!" (This exact quote is not in the movie.) The men have to be ready for anything.
Those who know history have some idea what will happen next.Tommy Lee Jones did a great job as Moses, though he was somewhat more low-key than Agent K or Samuel Gerard.
The fact that he came across so differently than those more outspoken characters proves he has acting skill.Rip Torn gave the standout performance here as Solomon.
Most of the other actors playing Americans also did a good job.
I couldn't help but feel the British were portrayed as buffoons, but this was nothing like "Hogan's Heroes".I thought a little too much time was devoted to the relationship between Adam and Ruth.
I did like Ruth, though.What is important here is that this movie makes the American Revolution personal.
Regardless of how much a man wants to be free, can he actually shoot and kill another human being?
What if that other human being wants to kill him?
Was all the killing really necessary, or could the situation have been handled better?
The face-off in Lexington that April morning was an impressive thing to watch.
Perhaps no one had to die that day, but we all know that would have been unlikely.
I won't say exactly what did happen there, but before the movie was over, at least one major character lay dead on the field of battle.I would recommend this movie for high school or even junior high school history classes.
The violence was not that explicit, and it was necessary to the story..
Fictionalized but worthwhile.
A great pro-Second Amendment statement..
After disposing of the fact that this film was significantly under budgeted, and, in spots, more than a bit overacted, what remains is a realistically cold and existential account of the first day of the American Revolution.
While the principal characters have decided to take a stand against British domination, most are a bit vague in their feelings and haven't judged exactly how far they are willing to go.
Yet, the events of the Day assume a life of their own and sweep everyone along.I was most impressed by the way the film depicts the confusion of war and the mostly improvised pattern of resistance against the redcoats.
Firing is heard all around, though no one is exactly sure from where or by whom.
Men move through the woods with their guns, forming ad hoc groups to ambush the roadbound British columns---whose primary mission was the confiscation of privately owned firearms.
The tactics are historically accurate.
They fire, and retreat to concealed positions to reload.
Most of these men are reluctant warriors, resigned to an unpleasant task, yet resolved to carry it through.
A fine illustration of the ultimate Check and Balance of an armed citizenry; a concept enshrined in our Constitution yet too readily dismissed by many who claim to believe in democratic principles.Another interesting and rather rare touch is the fact that the scriptwriters made a real effort to have the characters speak as people of the time would have.
I have found that in many "historical" films the actors use words, sentence structure and alliterative devices from modern times.
In some instances, well intentioned editors concerned with realism overcompensate to the point where the dialogue is overly formalized, archaic, and stilted.
The actors really sound like what one would read in contemporary, primary sources describing the event.
This by itself gives the film considerable educational value.A good "war is hell" movie still suitable for younger viewers due to its lack of gratuitous gore, and a memorable portrayal of ordinary people facing up to the bold task of confronting tyranny..
A thought provoking film about War and it's effect on peoples lives..
Based on the idea that war is hard on the families of those who fight in them.
It was written from news articles of the Revolutionary War during the Veitnam War and showed that nothing changes when it's your family facing the fight for freedom no matter in what the time period..
A poor, melodramatic historical drama..
"April Morning" tells of the skirmish between colonial militia and the English army at Lexington, MA which is regarded as the beginning of the American Revolutionary War. The film is a melodramatic made-for-tv drama which spends more time with fictional accounts of the April 19th battle than it does with matters of history and warfare.
Obviously conceived to be palatable for prime time viewing and sell commercial products, this film is a poor American history lesson.
Nonetheless, poor may be better than none at all..
Dreadful, over-cooked melodrama.
I really thought this might be good but it was an overdone, sappy, made for TV soap opera about the Lexington-Concord battle.
While some large facts were accurate, it was a pretty, fictionalized, maudlin piece of crap.
Molasses moves faster.....in January.
Awful..
Starting the Revolution ....
This summary contains spoilers.For Revolutionary War buffs (yes the species does exist) the pickings in the film industry are pretty slim, this winter's "The Crossing" and this summer's "The Patriot" notwithstanding.
Medieval movies are easy to find, WW II movies are everywhere, and Civil War movies are always an on screen favorite.
Yet for some reason, the American Revolution is largely ignored by Hollywood.One of the excellent films in this small genre is April Morning, a Hallmark hall of fame presentation that was aired in 1988.
The film focuses on a 15-year-old lad named Adam Cooper who lives in the sleepy little hamlet of Lexington, Massachusetts Bay Colony in April 1775.
Life for Adam consists of doing his farm chores, courting his sweetheart Ruth Simmons (Meredith Salenger), daughter of Joseph Simmons (Robert Urich), and desperately trying to win the approval of his gruff, temperamental yet good-hearted father Moses (Tommy Lee Jones - before he was ultra-famous).
Other characters include Adam's mother Sarah (Susan Blakely), his Granny (Joan Heney) and local firebrand Solomon Chandler (Rip Torn).
Lexington is a quiet town, and would remain so if it didn't have the misfortune of being the halfway point along the main road from Boston to Concord MA, where patriot militia groups have been stockpiling arms and gunpowder.
On the night of April 18th 1775, the British launch a secret raid with the goal of surprising Concord and securing the contraband.
Col. Francis Smith commands the expedition of 1000+ red coated soldiers.
Nothing goes right for the redcoats.
The surprise is blown even before the march begins as Paul Revere and his co-riders ride through the countryside and warn every little town, including Lexington.When the morning of April 19th dawns, 70 or so men are drawn up on the green as the British march through the town.
Inexplicably, Maj. John Pitcairn, commanding the advance party, picks a fight with the men, even though they do not block his path.
He demands their dispersion and the surrender of their weapons.
Refused, he forms a line of battle and advances on the minutemen.
Someone, somewhere fires a gunshot.
To this day his (or, for all we know, her) name is unknown.
For dramatic purposes, the movie has Chandler pulling the trigger.
Believing themselves under attack, the soldiers charge and shoot down Lexingtonians left and right.
10 are killed and 8 wounded.
Moses is one of the fatalities, Adam, Joseph and Solomon running for their lives.The English reform, and continue their already much-delayed march to Concord.
Solomon predicts that "It'll be easier for them to go down that road then it will be for them to come back." He's right.
The soldiers find almost nothing of value in Concord, the contraband having been recently removed.
After skirmishing with more militia there, the British return to Boston via the same route they came.
What follows is an English slaughter.
The road is practically walled with farmers with guns, whipped up into a bloodthirsty and lethal rage by the carnage at Lexington.
The colonists, including Adam, Solomon, and Joseph fire on the redcoats from every tree, rock, fence, and bush.
The British take most of the casualties, but not all.
By the time the day is out, Solomon is dead, and Adam and Joseph return to Lexington, quite aware that quiet peaceful days are gone forever for Lexington, Massachusetts, and the 13 colonies.To the best of my knowledge this movie stands with Disney's ancient "Johnny Tremain" as the only two films to depict the beginning of the Revolutionary War. True, the body count at Lexington wasn't much, but for starting a war, it was enough.The battle sequences are well set up and photographed, one of the most striking audile effects being the drums of the advancing English force, which we hear through the trees for a full minute and a half before the lobsterbacks come into view.
The steady increase of fear in the militia is palpable.
So too are all the details of the mighty British host preparing to advance.
From the rasp and clank of bayonets being fixed to the shouts of hurrah, every effort was made to make the British army look as scary and mechanical as possible.Tommy Lee Jones and Chad Lowe both went on to successful careers, and this movie proves that they had their acting chops down long before they were famous (April Morning Pre-dates Life goes on and Under Siege).
This movie also serves as notches in the acting guns of Urich and Torn.Meredith Salenger of "The Journey of Natty Gann" and more recently "Lake Placid" is lovely and wholesome as Ruth, and portrays her character with an excellent blend of support, worry, faith, and horror for the two men in her life - her father Joseph and Adam.
Ruth is what any man who is forced into a war so desperately wants to come home to.
The fact that Ms. Salenger is not as recognizable in the movie world as her costars of this film are is proof to me that there is not enough justice in Hollywood.This movie is a treat for all fans of history, Lowe, and Jones.
Contrary to what this database says, it IS available on home video, if you look hard enough.
Check out your nearest Blockbuster or Movies Unlimited and find the guy/girl who most looks like he knows what he's doing.
They'll probably be able to set you up.
It's worth the search..
Based on the actual events at the Battle of Lexington/Concord as seen through the eyes of a 15 yr old boy who becomes a man.
While the movie takes some liberties with actual historical events, the over arching story is real history.
I thought that this version of the battle was even-handed.
It did not demonize the British or the colonists.While there were times I caught myself saying to the main character "oh grow up" I would quickly realize that his reactions were very human and realistic to his age and experiences.
I thought his and the supporting cast performances were very believable.
This movie asks us the audience to grapple with the same difficult questions that the characters face: fear, courage, just-war, the right to kill another human being..
The Shot that Changed The World.
Synopsis: On "April Morning," April 19 1775, a shot fired on Lexington green changed the world forever.The prosecution of Robert Goldstein for the movie Spirit of 1776 put down the Revolution in the theatre.
Literature has produced greats in the genre but only a short list of motion pictures embraces a subject with issues which remain contemporary.American leftist Howard Fast produced several notable novels on the Revolution: April Morning about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, The Unvanquished about the disastrous Battle of Brooklyn, "The Crossing" about the battle of Trenton and Citizen Thomas Paine about the apostle of democratic revolution.Two of Fast's critically acclaimed books were made into movies: The Crossing and April Morning.
Neither movie version drew large audiences.Often compared to Red Badge of Courage, April Morning dawns over the sleepy hamlet of Lexington where 15-year-old Adam Cooper's main concern is the chores on the family farm, courting his girl and hanging out with his friends.
Creeping toward the quiet town, is a red coat column bound to destroy the patriot's caches of arms at Concord.Forewarned the local militia musters some men to stand on the green.
Inexplicably, Major John Pitcairn, commanding the advance party, orders the militia to disperse.
Refused, the British advance on the minutemen.
A shot rings out.
Firing begins.When the smoke clears, 10 locals are killed and 8 more wounded.
Adam and his friends are sent packing.
As English lines continue the march to Concord, Adam's friend Solomon predicts "It'll be easier for them to go down that road then it will be for them to come back." After skirmishing with militia at Concord, the British return to Boston down a road walled with angry farmers whipped up into a rage by the incursion.
Redcoats face hostile fire according to legend from every tree, rock, fence, and bush.The British take casualties, but inflict not a few on their aroused adversary clinging to the protection of the bush.
A more mature Adam returns home with the painful knowledge that peaceful joys are over.The battle sequences are well staged with the drums of the advancing British beating a terrifying warning of the approach of the mighty British host whose clanking bayonets and the accompanying huzzahs send a soul splitting chill. |
tt0205410 | Shôjo kakumei Utena | === Anime story ===
The anime series is divided into four story arcs, in each of which Utena comes to face a different challenge at Ohtori Academy (Enoki Films calls it "Otori Junior High School"). In all of them, Utena must defend her title as the owner of the Rose Bride, with the intention of protecting Anthy. The duels almost always occur when someone with the Rose Crest ring challenges the current Engaged, though the Engaged may challenge other Duelists as well. No refusal is accepted. The matches occur in the dueling arena, a large, high platform in the academy's outskirts, which is only open to duelists. The Rose Bride pins roses to the Duelists' jackets. They then sword fight until one duelist wins by knocking away the opponent's rose with his or her blade.
(The story arc names below link to more details than given here as well as the episodes.)
Student Council Saga (Seitokai Hen)
Episodes 1 to 13. This first part of the series introduces Utena, Anthy and most of the main characters. It depicts how Utena ends up winning the Rose Bride, and her initial duels against the Student Council members. They in turn insist for various reasons on fighting in order to defeat Utena and win Anthy in order to gain the power to revolutionize the world.
Black Rose Saga (Kurobara Hen)
Episodes 14 to 24. After repelling the Student Council's attempts to take Anthy, Utena faces another obstacle, Souji Mikage. Disguised as a genius 18-year-old school counselor, he uses his powers of persuasion and knowledge of psychology to put people under his control by coaxing them to confide their deepest hostilities and fears. Almost always, these people are students whose problems stem from conflict with Utena, Anthy and the Student Council. He then sends them, wearing black Rose Crest rings on their fingers and frozen, black roses on their chests to fight Utena. This arc also introduces Akio Ohtori.
Akio Ohtori Saga (Ōtori Akio Hen)
Episodes 25 to 33. After solving the Mikage situation, Utena must fight rematches against the Student Council, whose members attain new abilities upon meeting Akio. At the same time, she finds herself the target of Akio's seduction, creating a rift between her and Anthy.
Apocalypse Saga (Mokushiroku Hen)
Episodes 34 to 39. As the conflict escalates, the dark secrets of the duels and Akio and Anthy's true intentions behind them are unveiled, and Utena confronts Akio in a final duel to free Anthy from his influence.
=== Manga plot ===
The plot of the manga starts off with Utena at a different school. She is seen as having conflict with the staff of her current school and they call in her aunt, who is an interior decorator. Utena's friend Kaido is introduced and the two seem to have a strong friendship. It is then explained that Utena may be as headstrong as she is because of her parents' death at such an early age. Utena gets a letter from someone who has been sending her letters every year when the roses bloom. She says it started after she was rescued by her prince as a little girl. Kaido is intent on finding out who is sending her the letters. Later on Utena meets a co-worker of her aunt's, Aoi Wakaouji. He seems to bear a strong resemblance as well as the same ring as Utena's prince. She is drawn to him but only to have her hopes that Aoi is her prince shattered when she catches him and her aunt in a passionate moment. From there the scene from her childhood is recreated right in front of Kaido's eyes. He informs her that he found that all the letters reveal themselves to be a picture of Aoi's alma mater, an exclusive prep school. From this knowledge Utena decides to change schools. She leaves a heartbroken Kaido, who it seems has feelings for Utena, to find her prince. | psychedelic, avant garde, fantasy, romantic | train | wikipedia | I think people get too caught up in attempting to understand something foreign to realize that many elements in Revolutionary Girl Utena are not meant to be taken literally and at times, seriously.
If one can look past or even appreciate the strangeness, one can find a worthwhile story that's both entertaining and insightful.The main character, Utena Tenjou, is a student at a boarding school.
She meets Anthy Himemiya, a shy girl who is the Rose Bride, the key figure in a mysterious plot by the Student Counsel to "revolutionise the world".
To support the main story, there are many subplots and filled with colourful supporting characters, who add drama, humour, and complexity.The Student Counsel members often recite a poem with portions borrowed from Herman Hesse's Demian.
Like the Demian, Utena is about the antagonist's personal journey uncovering truth within their world and within themselves, through the transitional periods of youth.
Some of the ideas touched upon are the meaning of gender, gender roles, the meaning of self, etc.Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of my favourite television series.
I actually greatly enjoy the surrealism, with over the top drama that both pokes fun of itself and other series within the shoujo (manga and anime for women and girls) genre.
It has beautiful animation, wonderful storyline, character development, humor, and one of the chief reasons that this show doesn't have as big a following as it deserves, it's extremely surrealistic.
Some folks may find this show "bizaar", but I found this a deeply moving, thought-provoking, and at times absurdly hilarious show worthy of a watch by anyone who desires something a little bit more cerebral and twisted.Set in a school covered in a rose motif, Utena is the tomboy protagonist, beloved by all, who finds herself suddenly enmeshed in the secretive dealings of the student council, and finds herself suddenly "engaged", to a girl, no less!
You have kids playing at adulthood, and if you see Utena as a coming of age show, you can see between the lines of how all the characters are not trying to achieve a "revolution of the world" in that they're gonna start a civil war, but that they are actually just trying to reach adulthood, pressing beyond the threshold to the other side, which all but the heroine are unable to do.Sound cerebral?
The music is overall wonderful, especially the background music--The Sunlit Garden is perhaps one of the best instrumental pieces I have ever heard on a Tv show, and is worth a DL any day--and the voice acting is done well, even on the English dub, which I generally think are foul, cursed things, but Software Sculptors, the American distributor, did an okay job.This is a worthy series.
You'll find something new every time, and it'll still be enjoyable even on third and fourth watches.Oh, and though the box might say it's rated PG or PG-13, and that it's from the director of Sailor Moon, don't think that this is for kids.
Though the first 13 episodes are all right, beyond that the show gets a little too hard to understand--though when you're a kid all that stuff makes sense--and also has some undertones that some of the more conservative might not like their children getting hints of(i.E. homosexuality and incest).
Not only is it visually pleasing and funny (in its own way sometimes, I must admit), it makes the viewer THINK in order to get the story behind the characters and their odd behavior, something most anime fans today are forgetting to do.
But, Shoujo Kakumei Utena does have weirder (eerie) twists and mysterious (eerie) characters.
So if you want something different, something not one-dimensional,like Dragonball, let's say, take a look at Shoujo Kakumei Utena.
It's one of the best shoujo series around; after all, the girls in it all rule in some way or another..
an incredible story, but you have to watch ALL 39 episodes to get the full-impact.
This is a series where you can watch it over and catch new thing every time.
Although some may see it as somewhat pointless to the main plot line, the Black Rose Saga does wonders for understanding more about the minor characters.
This is most certainly NOT one for the little children!!^__^ The plot is full of symbolism, the story line is complex and can often touch onto twisted or morbid subjects, and the characters are deep.
Anyway, This is a GREAT series, personally, one of the top animes out there, in my opinion!!WAAAAAI!!!!
to put it in the most simple terms i can, Shoujo Kakumei Utena is among the best anime to ever come along.
Whilst I'll admit many people could never understand it, let alone like it, any fan of anime in general has to give this series a chance.
From the overall surrealism to the bits of sexual innuendo, this series delivers an intriguing world of roses, swords, roses, stopwatches, roses, princes, and did i mention roses?
The characters are a wide range of personalities, all linked to these duels(and thus the End(s) of the World) in some way or another.
The imagery is ongoing, and sometimes even takes me a second, third, even fourth watching to get it all(well, to get most of it, some of the series I believe is meant to never FULLY be understood.), and I dont usually need to see anything more than twice to catch it all.
While not for everyone, fans of deeper, even more provocative series' will find Shoujo Kakumei Utena a very entertaining anime series..
It's shoujo, it's drama, but it's also got action (sword duels, and they're just...awesome), comedy (yes, the quintessential Cute-Animal-Mascot, but even he's a little...different), and a plot that actually forces you to think.
This series is a very modern fairy tale with a whole lot of mystery surrounding the characters.
And what of the mysterious "End of the World?" Well...you'll have to watch to see for not only the answers to these questions...but quite a few more that will come up!Though there are mature themes in this series, everything is handled tastefully through metaphors and such.If you get the chance to view this show, please do!.
When I first started watching the series, I thought it was sweet, girly, and fun.
Utena starts out with the childish dream that you can be a prince and make anything happen, but as the show goes from fantasy to reality (as deeply expressed in the last episode), it's all a bunch of lies and nothing comes easy.
The manga outfits and Utena's rose colored uniform appealed more), plus the opera/punk (yes, such a genre is possible) songs that play during the duels.
There are few technical inaccuracies in the duels (many of the moves the characters use in their fights could get them yellow carded) and Utena seems to be helped by Dios a little too much instead of winning them on her own, but it's worth it anyway..
(The other 3 members are playboy Touga, intelligent Miki, and the mature yet beautiful Juri.) There, the two commence in a sword duel over the master of the powerful Rose Bride, fellow student Anthy Himemiya.
Utena wins, only starting her strange journey into the world of the Student Council & their odd mission to change our existence as we know it...
THIS IS A GREAT ANIME SERIES FOR ALL SHOUJO FANS!
The cover said "suitable for most audiences," it was from the director of the popular "Sailor Moon" series targeted to children, and it looked like the sort of fairy-tale princess fun my daughter enjoys.
Instead, I got hit with a stealth attack by the counter-culture.All of which is a shame, because the series contains elements that my kids love: exciting but bloodless sword fights, a noble tomboyish heroine who stands up for the downtrodden, a sinister mystery to solve, the beautiful fairy-tale castle environment the story takes place in.
The show could easily have been what its marketers pretended it was, had not the director had a social agenda.Viewing "Revolutionary Girl Utena" was like bending down to smell a bouquet of roses and discovering a scorpion within..
Basically, the story follows Utena Tenjou, a student at Ohtori Academy, through her dealings with The Student Council and a mysterious girl referred to as "The Rose Bride".
What starts out as a pretty to the point, normal looking series soon warps into a strange tale about human nature and the woes of adolescence.+Great artwork+Indepth storyline chock full of symbolism+Awesome soundtrack-Sometimes hard to follow.
Utena is one of the more original television series, animated or not, to be released in the past several years.
Judging by the lighthearted nature of the first episodes from "Revolutionary Girl Utena", one would think that it is something like "Sailor Moon" (in fact, the creator of this series used to work on that anime show) but it eventually turns into something much more complex and darker, involving adult themes and creepy plot twists.There is a sharp contrast between the comical, almost childish beginning with what happens much later in the story, but I won't spoil the surprise for those who haven't seen this anime yet.
"Shôjo kakumei Utena" is one of the most intriguing anime series I already watched.
Sadly I couldn't finish all episodes, but I watched the majority of them and I already know how the whole series ends.
A lot of mystery surrounds all the characters and many episodes seems quite surreal, but I guess this is what makes it original.
LoL)People need to pay attention on the metaphors that is all the time present in this anime.I think '' Utena''has one of the most amazing soundtracks already produced and it's not coincidence that I have three Cd's of it!My favorite characters are Utena and Touga,by the way.
;) (This is one of the things I love in this anime...the amazing surprises and revelations that come with it!
A long time ago a little girl called Utena lost her parents.
There she won in a fencing duel and won Anthy, who is the rose bride..."Utena" is the darnedest thing.
The director Kunihiko Ikuhara ( always made the best episodes in "Sailor Moon" )is a wild genius that likes the surreal and so this anime looks much more like Hideaki Anno's "Shin Seiki Evangelion" or Jean-Luc Godards "Weekend" than an normal, romantic shoujo show.
But there were too many supporting characters who took away too much time from Utena who was suppose to be the main heroine.
And don't get me started in that episode when Nanami want's to put snails and snakes into Anthy's closet but other animals appear from there too!
Could it be that Anthy and Utena are one person, living in fantasy and traumatized by incest?All in all, "Utena" is a very good piece of intellectual anime but it wasn't what I expected.
Surreal, postmodern, feminist, Jungian- these are just a few of the words used to describe the strange but beautiful series Revolutionary Girl Utena.
The art is beautiful, though the constant reuse of Utena climbing up the stairs to the arena every episode gets exhausting after the third or fourth time.
At the time the story takes place Utena is at middle school and things are about to get strange!
One day she challenges the captain of the kendo club to a duel; he tells her they will meet atop the strange tower behind the school
here she learns that he intends to fight using a real sword that he draws from the chest of Anthy Himemiya; 'The Rose Bride'.
Over the course of the series Utena must face a succession of challengers and learns more about Anthy and 'The End of the World' a mysterious character who writes letters to the student council instructing them what to do.I've heard this described as the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion of Shojo anime' and I can understand why; especially towards the end when things get even stranger than they were already
this wasn't a bad thing though; it kept things interesting.
Early on I feared it would be too repetitive as almost every episode featured a duel which always began with the same song as Utena climbs the tower then feature the same scenes as she draws her sword from Anthy; strangely the more I saw these repeated scenes the better I thought they were; both because they emphasised the repetitive nature of Utena's life at the school and because the song was rather catchy!
While this probably won't appeal to very young viewers there is little to cause offence if slightly older children wish to watch; the duels aren't to the death or even intended to wound
they may fight with real swords but victory is secured by cutting a rose from the chest of the opponent.
I watched this show growing up, the first time liking it, thinking it was strange and eccentric for all its symbolism and over the top characterizations, and gradually appreciating its real meaning the more I grew up and experienced relationships in which events and personalities of people started overlapping with that of characters of the show.It is very well thought out, almost every choice in concept, story and direction is intentional.
Watch this anime for the Revolution of the World!.
(Warning: This review does contain some spoilers after the SPOILER space, so if you want to watch the series to find out what happens, you might not want to read after that point)Shoujo Kakumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) is an anime that doesn't really get the popularity that it deserves because the series is kind of hard to follow.
There are many characters, all driven by their own motives to bring revolution to the world by dueling to be "engaged" to Himemiya Anshi (Anthy), the Rose Bride.The entire series is extremely surreal, and very much a "shoujo" anime.
Some people might not like some of the men in the series having long hair(Touga, Saionji, Akio), but I think it adds character.
Roses are also a constant motif in the series.The music is wonderful, and the opening theme song is one of the best I've ever heard (Rinbu Revolution).
Each duelist has his or her own song, which relates to each of them in some way.All in all, I think that this is an anime worth watching if you can handle the surrealism and follow the twisting plot through all 39 episodes, but I suggest skipping the movie, Adolescence Mokushiroku.SPOILER* ** *** ** * ** *** ** *Utena is the main character, who was comforted by a prince on a white horse after the death of her parents when she was very young.
Becoming a prince is Utena's driving force throughout the series.After Utena's best friend Wakaba has her feelings terribly hurt by the Student Council Vice-President/Captain of the Kendo Club (resident wife beater/major jerk), Utena challenges him to a duel.
After she beats him, she is "engaged" to the Rose Bride.Utena becomes entangled in the affairs of the secretive Seitokai (student council), and becomes the friend of Anshi and her monkey-mouse Chuchu.
Utena is the Victor of the Duels, but does she become a Prince like she dreamed of?
Well, you'll just have to watch the series and find out.
Not the best anime ever, but worth watching !.
This series has become one of my favorite even if I've only seen the first twelve episodes...
I love weird anime (my favorite of all times is Lain).
So logically I like Utena a lot :)The thing I liked first was this self-derision, this way to use every shoujo cliché they can...
Well, I guess Touga is my favorite character in this series...
Even if I like Utena herself a lot.
And her story is cute ^o^Well, I would not recommend Utena to someone new to anime, it's far too surrealistic !
But for someone with quite a culture in anime it's quite funny, and for someone who likes weird, oniric stories it's...
First, the Technical aspect: The ANIMATION in Revolutionary Girl Utena is very well done, for it's time.
Another constantly repeated scene is the 30 second elevator ride the Student Council takes in almost every episode, reciting the same 4 or 5 lines about breaking the world's shell.The SOUND is not noticeably bad or good.
Ending Song is forgettable.One of Utena's biggest problem is it's CHARACTERS.
However, unlike series such as Saikano, She -The Ultimate Weapon- or movies such as Grave of the Fireflies, Utena does not earn these tears, nor do I think it deserves them.One redeeming quality in the character department is the shadow girls.
Anthy is not very engaging in the early episodes, but at least she's sympathetic, in that she has not fallen for any of the cruel men in the series.
However, I will restrict myself only to events in the first couple episodes.By the end of episode 1, Utena is the top duelist, making her the default fiancée of Anthy, the Rose Bride.
Thus does Utena's episodic "duel of the week" nature reveal itself.
In nearly every episode, another duelist tries to win the Rose Bride.
The basic structure goes something like this: A character is slighted by Utena or Anthy, intentionally or unintentionally, resulting in a challenge.
This gets very boring very quickly, as it does in every DragonBall Z episode I have ever seen.Among the flaws in Revolutionary Girl Utena[, there is 1 that is fatal, bringing the series to a startling halt.
What little interest I had left for Revolutionary Girl Utena resided in Anthy's innocence.
Unfortunately, it is not, and I was so upset by it that the rest of the series was ruined for me.After episode 15, we realize that this terrible incident involving Anthy is not going to be resolved anytime soon.
There are no sympathetic character's left, save Utena, who spends the rest of the series being steadily broken down by all of the evil people around her. |
tt0120570 | From the Earth to the Moon | The story opens some time after the end of the American Civil War. The Gun Club, a society based in Baltimore and dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), comes together when Impey Barbicane, its president, calls them to support his latest idea. He's done some calculations, and believes that they could construct a cannon capable of shooting a projectile to the moon. After receiving the support of his companions, another meeting is held to decide the place from which the projectile will be fired, the dimensions and materials of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder they are to use.
An old enemy of Barbicane, a Captain Nicholl of Philadelphia, designer of plate armor, declares that the enterprise is absurd and makes a series of bets with Barbicane, each of them of increasing amount, over the impossibility of such feat.
The first obstacle, the money to construct the cannon (and against which Nicholl has bet 1,000 dollars), is raised from a number of countries in America and Europe. Notably, the US gives four million dollars, while England does not give a farthing, but in the end, nearly five and a half million dollars are raised, which ensures the financial feasibility of the project.
Stone's Hill in "Tampa Town", Florida is chosen as the site for the cannon's construction, predating Kennedy Space Center's placement in Florida by almost 100 years. Verne gives the exact position as 27°7' northern latitude and 5°7' western longitude (of course relative to the meridian of Washington that is 27°7′0″N 82°9′0″W). The Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon, which requires the excavation of a 900-foot-deep (270 m) and 60-foot-wide (18 m) circular hole, which is made in the nick of time, but a surprise awaits Barbicane: Michel Ardan, a French adventurer, plans to travel aboard the projectile.
During a meeting between Ardan, the Gun Club, and the inhabitants of Florida, Nicholl appears and challenges Barbicane to a duel. The duel is stopped when Ardan—having been warned by J. T. Maston, secretary of the Gun Club—meets the rivals in the forest where they have agreed to duel. Meanwhile, Barbicane finds the solution to the problem of surviving the incredible acceleration that the explosion would cause. Ardan suggests that Barbicane and Nicholl travel with him in the projectile, and the offer is accepted.
In the end, the projectile is successfully launched, but the destinies of the three astronauts are left inconclusive. The sequel, Around the Moon, deals with what happens to the three men in their travel from the earth to the moon. | historical | train | wikipedia | Occasionally, some of the scenes still bring me very close to tears.This mini-series details the history of the Apollo program from how manned spaceflight got started to the last man on the moon.
The casting was done so great that this is the first time you cannot pin leading roles in any of the episodes let alone the whole series, even with big names (Hanks, Tony Goldwyn, Mark Harmon, Adam Baldwin, Tim Daly, Cary Elwes, Jay Mohr, Stephen Root, and Lane Smith, not to mention several other big names).
Episode 12, probably one of the most emotional episodes in the series, is about Apollo 17 (the last mission on the moon) and how this mission relates to the a dream from 70 years before by a man called George Melies when he created the moving picture "Le Voyage Dans La Lune." The performances of Hanks (his only appearance as an actor in the series), Daniel Hugh Kelley, Tom Amandes, Tchéky Karyo, Lane Smith, and Stephen Root, with the voice-over of Blythe Danner, make this episode very emotional, especially with everyone except for Karyo in interviews as their older selves.As much factual information is used while keeping any fictionalized material to a minimum, such as the TV network featuring Emmitt Seaborn (Lane Smith)anchoring the missions for the nation.This mini-series reminds me what we have worked for in our society and how we are letting that deteriorate now.
A program with a dictate set forth by President Kennedy: to get men to the moon, and return, safely, before the end of the decade.This 12-hour (12 x one-hour segments) tribute is the personal mission of two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, a man with a childhood love for the astronauts and the space program, and a man with enough clout to get this big-budget extravaganza made.Each segment is in and of itself a story, each with a different point-of-view on the major aspects of the program.
Tom Hanks has brought to life the true story of man's greatest adventure to 'land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth'.
If you have even the slightest interest in the space program, obtaining a copy of this DVD set is a must.Coincidently, Apollo 11 landed exactly 35 years ago today.
I stayed up for the entire 30 hour televised stretch, from lunar landing to liftoff, stealing a moment every now and then to go outside and gaze up in wonder at the moon, filled with awe that two human beings were actually there, living and working on its surface.
A real space junkie, religiously watching each mission after that, coaxing my Mom to let me stay home from school (recurrent cases of 'moon sickness', no doubt), clipping out every newspaper, Life, Time or Newsweek article I could find (now faded yellow with age) and trying to tape as much of the audio coverage as I could (few private individuals could afford a video recorder back then).
Although it might not seem so today, 500 years from now the moon landings will undoubtedly be remembered as the most significant event to have occurred in the 20th century.It's hard to choose my favorite E2M episode since they were all so good.
The mini series details every step of the way, touching on the Apollo 1 disaster, all the steps to getting to the Moon (staying in orbit, space walks, docking, etc), the development of the Lunar Modules, and the inevitable voyage of Apollo 11 that landed on the Moon.
This series even makes the stories of the guys who built the lunar lander, the geologists who studied the moon rocks, and the wives of the astronauts as appealing and fulfilling as the triumphs and tragedies that are better known..
From the Earth to the Moon is a stunning masterpiece that captures the triumph of a defining moment in the history of the world: Humankind's arrival to, short exploration of, and return from, it's planetary neighbor the Moon.Tom Hanks brought together actors, writers, directors, producers, and composers of the highest caliber to deliver an accurate, outstanding, hard hitting film.From the Earth to the Moon is a 12 hour movie spanning the United States involvement in the space race from the first man in space in 1961 to the last lunar landing in 1972.
The movie teaches, gives insights, paints portraits of real people, and is simply fascinating.The stories told in From the Earth to the Moon are inspiring, captivating, funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking.
Generations from now will watch Apollo 7's lift-off to be amazed that humans could achieve such an engineering and technical marvel and scholars will debate in awe how the political, social, and economic environments of the time made such an event possible.
The best thing about this series is the fact that it will either teach or remind a great many people about the accomplishments of the race to the moon.
Michael Kamen'spoignant music, Tom Hanks' exacting production standards,outstanding performances from a range of excellent actors andspecial effects that leave one wondering what it would have lookedlike on a movie screen ---- all make this series a must-see.
It progresses through the Gemini and finally the Apollo missions all the way to the last Apollo 17 lunar landing.I learned quite a few things about the space race that I never knew before, such as: The surly nature of Alan Shepard, the fate of the astronauts wives, the fun nature of the Apollo 12 crew and the internal politics within the ranks of the astronauts themselves.
Awe at what man has accomplished, awe at the ingeinuity and the diligence that it took for us to take the mighty and unbelievable step as the journey from the earth to the moon.Tom Hanks' series can only be characterized as the definitive chronical of the space race.
Given enough time to properly dissipate the stories, enough talent to portray, and enough insight and intrigue to be accurate, he has put together episode after episode of historically credible and entertaining accounting of this.Part 1, entitled "Can We Do This?" captures the feeling of overwhelming that America experienced when faced with the daunting task of actually landing on the moon.
From the earth to the Moon tells the whole story of America's space program.
Acting a bit as television companion to Ron Howard's feature film Apollo 13, this miniseries covers the years between 1961 and 1972, this epic twelve hour miniseries covers the race to the Moon from the perspective of those in NASA who went on the missions, supported them from the ground and watched them take place.The epic cast of the miniseries is where much of its success lies.
Then there is of course executive producer Tom Hanks who acts, at the start of all but the last episode, as a sort of Chorus introducing the viewer to the story that is about to unfold.The series is also blessed with fantastic effects work.
Perhaps better then a documentary could, the miniseries' writing brings to the light of day the ambitions, dreams, egos, emotions, politics and the people behind the scenes of the Apollo mission to the Moon.
For those of us who grew up long after the fascinating events of the 1960's and already lived in a world in which shuttles and space flight were a reality, "From the Earth to the Moon" provides us with a sense of the awe and wonder which so gallantly captured that time.
Perfectly written, wonderfully acted, and beautifully placed on the screen, this mini-series is one of the greats, that when future societies dig up information on our culture, "From the Earth to the Moon" will provide a great example of what the American spirit was all about..
Perhaps the Manhatten Project would come close, but it did not have 400,000 people working together as one.To me, it is totally amazing that it was done on the tools available: Slide rules and rudimentary computers.They went to the moon on a computer that had a whopping 32K of memory if I remember correctly.Most home appliances, cell phones (not to mention computers) have much more processing power than what they used to send Apollo to the Moon.Truly an feat that will be remembered for all of history, at least I hope so.Lesson for today is to remember that given a 'impossible' task that almost anything can be accomplished if you set the human mind free and believe.
The writing, acting, directing, cinematography, visual effects, everything is so wonderful, and I'm finding myself choked up at scenes, laughing out loud and being immersed in the scenes so deeply, it's like I'm watching for the very first time.It's a shame that all features shot for TV aren't of the caliber of this series..
I believe I'm a couple of years older than Tom Hanks - and though at the age of 5, I remember thrilling to Alan Shepard's trip into space, and of course to John Glenn's orbit, by the time of Gemini, my interest in history had so trumped my interest in science that I was bored by the space program.
Although I certainly watched those grainy pictures of the moon on July 20, 1969, I have to say that I found it all dull and (except for the disasters of Apollo 1 and 13 - both of which I vividly remember) very predictable.This amazing series converted my contemporary indifference to awed fascination.
As the spotlighted review far more eloquently stated, the space program in the 1960s was one of the most extraordinary feats in the history of mankind -- and this series makes it completely absorbing, inspiring, full of extraordinary (and previously unknown to me) personal tales, humor, and just marvel at the ability of the filmmakers (including the actors) to create this amazing document.No matter whether you were then alive or have any interest in the space program, you are missing something very valuable and unique and completely enjoyable - if you fail to see this series.I've seen a number of television series that are as memorable as any movies I've ever seen - Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, I Claudius, the various Ken Burns documentaries (particularly the one on the Civil War), the Tinker-Tailor/Smiley's People series -- and this wonderful and marvelous From the Earth to the Moon.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers glossed up the positive aspects and left out a lot of the darker albeit more interesting aspects of this incredible venture.The made-for-television mini-series comes off more like a NASA press conference or a tour for fifth-graders at a museum than a stark honest depiction of the actual events leading up to the first moon missions.
The film "The Right Stuff" did a far superior job of showing the craziness, the absurdity, and some of the foolishness that comes along with these kinds of projects that involve millions of dollars and 1000's of people.Probably the strongest and most informative episodes were the following: "Spider", the episode that chronicles the design of the LEM, aka the lunar module, "Galileo Was Right" which depicts one of the later missions in which the astronauts train to become like geologists, and "Le Voyage dans la Lune" concerning the early 20th-century silent film of a voyage to the moon, which was made in France.The most disappointing of the series has to be the first landing, "Mare Tranquilitatis".
One of those was Apollo 1 and another, of course, was sitting in my living room with my parents on a hot July evening in New York watching, as man first landed and then walked on the moon.As the parent of a teenager, who has had the good fortune to be fairly well traveled, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of NASA facilities over the years with my son.
Not only does it do an outstanding job of giving a fairly factual account of the of the events surrounding mans voyage from the Earth to the Moon, but it also gives those who were not alive to witness it first hand a sense of the excitement, wonder, awe and worry a great portion of the world experienced in the 4 years between December 1968 and December 1972.Unfortunately, events such as those depicted in this series are not ones we are not likely to see again in our lifetimes.
Tom Hanks executive produced this mini-series after completing Apollo 13 as a way of detailing the entire Apollo program.
Sure there are some areas that some viewers have found where cinematic hiccups occur, but if you just watch the show and lose yourself in the story, there is little chance of anyone, space program follower or not, that you can't help but enjoy this outstanding series.
all of it comes together so well - and maintains its continuity through 12 wonderful episodes.I would highly recommend this awesome mini-series to those who know little about the Apollo program as well as to those who consider themselves experts.Everyone will enjoy this series from start to finish.
In the beginning of episode 8 about Apollo 13 Tom Hanks laments that Americans had become bored with the space program.
The whole history of getting a man on the moon, from the Mercury program through Gemini to the Apollo missions are chronicled.
I didn't know many details about the early space program other than the fact that Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.
The Apollo 13 episode was the weakest but all I do is insert the movie in here when I watch the series.
Everything that was put into something of this magnitude adds up to be one of the greatest stories telling of a nearly unrivaled triumph."We choose to do these things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.""From the Earth to the Moon" captures the essence of the Space Race, and while I myself was not alive for it, after viewing this, it certainly feels like I was..
This series looks at the stories behind the stories of the Apollo moon landings, and is not your usual linear documentary.
Tom Hanks who produced this series is a "space nut" and it shows with its absolutely incredible effects that will make you believe you are there every step of the way.Tom's aim was to have you say after every episode "I didn't know that", and I believe he achieved that.
I was 5 at the time of the first moon landing so most of the events were a blur, thus I loved watching this series.If you didn't live through it, and you want to know why we should have made such a monumental effort, you should watch this series to understand what humanity can really do when it puts its differences to the side and focuses on a common purpose.The only reason this set isn't totally perfect is that the superb original music was never released.
Not since the 1960's the era of Gemini and Apollo, has the entire story of the quest to land a man on the moon has been told.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."This is a drama with documentary-ish elements mini-series of 12 episodes about the space race of the 1960's from USA's perspective, that gave us one of the biggest achievements in mankind's history, landing man on the moon.
Just one more reason to love the guy.The series covers different aspects, different major events and different people involved in the whole ordeal, from Kennedy's wish and promise to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, to the last apollo mission in the 70's.
For example velcro was invented in this time.The characters of this miniseries are some amazing people with the likes Armstrong, Jim Lovell, Alan Shepherd and all of the other amazing astronauts of the Apollo space program..
Check it outI absolutely love everything about this series, being a big fan of Apollo 13 & Tom Hanks This is an excellent piece of work, it is entertaining, a must for anyone interested in the space race, a nostalgic step back in time for those of us who were around the day Neil Armstrong took that famous step.
From the Earth to the Moon is the story of the latter and specifically the Apollo program that led mankind to make its first steps on the surface of another world.
The story of the space race in the 1960's has always fascinated me and as I write this I can think of no single achievement in human history that rivals the moon landing.
The mini-series is great and probably, along with the film Apollo 13, is the best story of the thousands of people who participated in the greatest journey of mankind's history, but the show never really reaches the highs that it could (I'm looking at you "The Original Wives Club"), but thankfully never reaches the lows either.
One of the decisive moves in the American History was the Apollo Mission to the Moon.HBO has always been successful in providing us Miniseries with riveting experience.Last time I felt like this was in case of 'Band of Brothers'.'From the Earth to the Moon' portrays NASA's Space Program from its conception to its ultimate dream of sending man to the moon.Through the set of twelve episodes we are immediately emerged into the life of the extraordinary team which will make it viable for the man to make the ultimate dream achievable for the generations to remember.Each Episode starts with Kennedy's memorable speech and a short note from Tom Hanks.
Tom Hanks not only is the best actor we have today he is proving he knows what people want to see in films, Earth to the moon is one of the two best mini series ever made along with Lonesome dove, you are captivated from the first moment to the last of every episode.
I understand that Tom Hanks had already done the Apollo 13 movie, but that episode was brutal.
From the 1st manned Mercury to Apollo 11 which traveled " from the Earth to the moon" in Episode 6. |
tt0071229 | The Black Windmill | Two schoolboys are playing with a model plane on an abandoned military base in the English countryside. They are approached by two RAF personnel who rebuke them for trespassing, and take them to see their commanding officer. It soon becomes apparent that they are not really in the military and the two boys are kidnapped.
In London a British intelligence officer, Major Tarrant, is engaged in an undercover operation to try to infiltrate a gang of arms smugglers – who are selling weapons to terrorists in Northern Ireland. He makes an initial approach with Celia Burrows, a member of the organisation. He arranges to come back the next week to meet her boss. He then heads to a large country house, where the head of MI6 Sir Edward Julyan lives, and makes a report about his operation to Julyan and his direct superior, Cedric Harper. While he is there he receives a telephone call from his wife – who tells him their son David has been taken and she has received a strange phone call. Tarrant reacts calmly, revealing to his superiors only that he has a family problem, and is given permission to leave.
Tarrant goes to his wife's home in time to receive a second call from a man identifying himself as Drabble. Drabble demonstrates he knows exactly who Tarrant is and what jobs he does. He instructs him to get Harper to answer the next phone call – making it clear he has Tarrant's son David and is prepared to torture him. Tarrant goes to Harper, and informs him of the situation. Harper agrees to take the phone call and begins to put a surveillance operation into motion – to discover the identity of Drabble. When Drabble gets in touch, he demands that Harper give him £500,000 in uncut diamonds and make a rendezvous in Paris. Harper had recently acquired that exact amount of diamonds to fund another operation he has planned. Harper deduces that Drabble must be acting with information supplied by a member of British intelligence. He immediately begins to suspect Tarrant of staging the kidnapping, and has him placed under observation. Tarrant, meanwhile, has to assign his arms-smuggling case to another officer.
The Drabble gang have placed incriminating evidence into Tarrant's flat, which appears to show a relationship with Celia Burrows, and this is found by Scotland Yard officers conducting a search. This further fuels Harper's belief that Tarrant has in fact arranged the entire kidnapping himself. Harper meets with Tarrant in his office and tells him that he cannot allow the ransom to be met, as the British government does not negotiate with terrorists. Tarrant seemingly accepts this, but when Harper has departed, he breaks into his office and impersonates Harper on a secure telephone – arranging to have the diamonds made available. He then takes them to Paris to make the rendezvous – giving the slip to the tail Harper has placed on him. In Paris he is met by Celia Burrows at the rendezvous. She takes him to a building where it is claimed Tarrant's son is being held.
It soon becomes apparent to Tarrant that Drabble has not got his son there. Instead Drabble makes a cryptic reference to a place in Southern England where there is a view of two windmills. Once he has got the diamonds the ruthless Drabble murders Celia Burrows, and leaves an unconscious Tarrant lying beside the corpse. Tarrant is arrested by the French police - and handed over to Harper and British intelligence. A rescue is then staged by Drabble gang, freeing Tarrant from Harper's custody, but then trying to murder him. Tarrant manages to escape and head back to England. He realises that Drabble meant to try to silence him for good – therefore protecting whoever in British intelligence was supplying him from information. Tarrant then attempts to flush out the traitor, by pretending to be Drabble and arranging a rendezvous at the two windmills with various senior British officers which he now knows to be the Clayton Windmills near Brighton.
The man who comes to the rendezvous is Sir Edward Julyan who is ambushed by Tarrant. Under duress he admits that he arranged the whole thing as he urgently needed large amounts of money to enjoy a comfortable retirement with his free-spending wife. He tries to get Tarrant to accept half the value of the diamonds, but he refuses – and instead demands to know the whereabouts of his son. Julyan tells him that he is being held in the black windmill by Drabble. Tarrant then storms the windmill and rescues his son, killing Drabble and his henchman. He carries David out of the windmill and along the road singing "Underneath the spreading chestnut tree" to him. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0896031 | The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond | The film tells the story of heiress Fisher Willow (Bryce Dallas Howard). Fisher returns home from overseas to find that her father has become a hated man in Memphis as he had intentionally blown up the southern half of his levee earlier that year, resulting in the deaths of 8-9 people and enormous property damage for anyone downstream. Fisher is to come out to society this season, but because of her father's reputation – and her inappropriate/wild behavior – she is unable to find a man willing to be her escort. She asks Jimmy (Chris Evans) to be her escort for the season.
Though Jimmy is not currently her social equal, he is the grandson of the former governor and she was always taken with him. His father works at Fisher's commissary though he is a heavy drinker and is at risk of losing his job, and his mother was committed to an insane asylum and no longer recognizes her son. Jimmy agrees to be her escort as she is willing to pay him and he could use the money to help his parents. Fisher arranges for him to be outfitted properly, and promises that there are better places for Jimmy's mother.
Fisher borrows $10,000 teardrop diamond earrings from her aunt to wear to these social events. Fisher and Jimmy attend the first society party together, where she causes a scene when she has the band play controversial music and dances in "flapper" fashion. Soon the entire party views her as a joke and laughs at her, insulting her father and the fact that she had to pay a man to be her escort. In response, Jimmy yells at everyone to shut up and helps Fisher to the car.
The only other social gathering that Fisher is invited to is a Halloween party, given by her friend Jules in northern Memphis, where no one knows of her father's previous actions. As he waits for Fisher to pick him up for the next party, Jimmy mentions to his father that Fisher seemed to be sending him the message that she wanted to become more intimate. Jimmy suggests that if he were to agree to be more than her escort, then it would certainly lead to marriage. This would mean a permanent job for his father and better care for his mother.
On the way to the Halloween gathering, Fisher asks Jimmy to stop up at the levee so she can look at the water. She rests her head on his shoulder before moving to kiss him. Jimmy, in spite of what he said to his father earlier, pulls back instead, causing Fisher to be hurt and embarrassed. When they arrive at the party, Fisher is so angry with Jimmy that she gets out of the car before it fully stops. When she straightens out her clothes, she realizes that one of her teardrop earrings has fallen off. Becoming frantic and somewhat hysterical – especially when Jimmy recognizes a girl outside, Vinnie, an old romantic interest of his – Fisher believes that the earring fell off when she walked away from the car and begins searching the ground for it. When she is unsuccessful, she remembers that she had rested her head on Jimmy's shoulder earlier and asks him to check his pockets to see if the earring was there. Jimmy misunderstands and thinks that Fisher is accusing him of stealing the jewelry. He becomes furious, as his father was fired from a job once for stealing, and demands that she search his jacket. Fisher, confused as to why he is so angry, refuses, causing Jimmy to go into the party and demand that he be searched down to the skin in order to clear his good name.
Fisher, needing to get away from all the commotion, goes upstairs where she meets her friend's Aunt Addie, who is bedridden and unable to move her limbs due to a series of severe strokes. Addie says that she senses a kindred spirit in her, the same character that will not bend to the rules of society, and tells Fisher of a drug she used to use – opium – before she was sick. She points to a bottle on the shelf and says it contains the last of her stash. She asks Fisher to give her all of the pills (since she is unable to move herself) so she can die and stop the pain. Fisher agrees, but before she can go through with it, she is interrupted by Vinnie telling her that Jimmy was searched and the earring was not on him. Fisher puts the bottle back on the counter and places her remaining earring next to it, promising Addie that when she comes back to get her earring, she would give her the rest of the opiates.
Fisher goes back downstairs to find everyone suspects her of "losing" her diamond on purpose so that she could blame Jimmy and not have to pay him for being her escort. Jimmy is still angry at Fisher for her accusation of theft and leaves her alone to go be with Vinnie. Soon, the people begin to play Post Office, a kissing game. Jules gives her the highest card so that she can call Jimmy away from the other girl and kiss him herself. Fisher, growing increasingly distant, hides in the bathroom. She finds a bottle of Addie's "medicine" which contains a small amount of opium and drains it. Drifting through the party, in a dreamy haze, she reveals to everyone that, while overseas, she was actually at a mental institution. Still in a daze, Fisher misses when Jules asks who has the highest card and so Jimmy, who had the next highest, calls Vinnie to go out on the porch with him instead of Fisher. When she realizes that he chose Vinnie over herself, Fisher goes to the piano and plays a beautiful song, crying the whole time.
In the meantime, Jimmy and Vinnie have sex in a car outside. Vinnie tells Jimmy that she had an offer of marriage from a respectable man, but turned him down because she wasn't attracted to him like she was to Jimmy. Claiming that she didn't want any secrets between them, she brings him over to the back garden and digs in the ground to unearth the missing teardrop diamond. She had seen it on the ground and taken it herself. Vinnie says she knows where the other one is (she saw where Fisher put), and that she and Jimmy could run away with the jewelry and start a life together. Jimmy refuses, telling her that just because they are poor, it doesn't mean they are without honor, and she should return the earring to Fisher. Vinnie, angry, runs away with the earring.
Jimmy goes to look for Fisher and finds her in the car. She says she wants to go home, but Jimmy won't let her leave (he wants to find Vinnie and get the earring back). Jimmy pulls Fisher out of the car and there is a brief moment when they are close and Fisher looks longingly at him, before they are interrupted by Vinnie. She came back to return the earring to Fisher. Jimmy yells that they can leave now that she has her damn earring back, but Fisher remembers her promise to Addie and runs back inside. After she leaves, Jimmy thanks Vinnie for doing the right thing. Vinnie says that they will probably never see each other again as her only option now is to go marry the gentleman who proposed earlier. They embrace, and Jimmy returns to the car to wait for Fisher. Fisher retrieves her other teardrop diamond and fulfills her promise to Addie, giving her the entire contents of the bottle and bidding her farewell. Addie tells her to go with God. Fisher replies that she is: she's leaving with Jimmy.
On the way home, Fisher asks Jimmy to stop at the same levee they went to before the party so she can see the moon on the water. They stand on the levee together, and Fisher tells him that she intends to fix her father's mistake and that she can't run away anymore. She makes an offer to Jimmy: that his mother will be taken care of, his father will always have a job, and while she knows that no one could ever love her, he could get used to her. She reaches up to touch his face, but he pulls away again. Heartbroken, Fisher turns to walk away, only to find that Jimmy had grabbed her hand – a silent agreement to her proposal. She turns back to him and once again rests her head on his shoulder. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0091709 | Outrage! | === Overview ===
Outrage argues that several American political figures have led closeted gay lives while supporting and endorsing legislation that is harmful to the gay community. The film examines the mass media's reluctance to discuss issues involving gay politicians despite many comparable news stories about heterosexual politicians and scandals. Outrage describes this behavior as a form of institutionalized homophobia that has resulted in a tacit policy of self-censorship when reporting on these issues. The film is based on the work of blogger Michael Rogers and his site blogactive.com.
=== Subjects ===
Among other subjects, the film includes:
Ed Koch, Democratic Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989, was a lifelong bachelor, dogged by "endless gay rumors", who publicly denied being gay. Although his record on LGBT issues is generally positive, he is blamed for treating the emerging AIDS pandemic in the gay community reluctantly, unlike the health crises he handled in other situations. New York and San Francisco were the main epicenters of AIDS in the early 1980s. Critics, most notably Larry Kramer, believe Koch handled the AIDS crisis poorly because he was closeted. Koch died on February 1, 2013, of congestive heart failure.
Ken Mehlman, the former Republican national chairman, was named in the film as a closeted homosexual though he was against policies friendly to gays.
Larry Craig, former Republican politician and Senator from Idaho. In 2007, Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport on suspicion of lewd conduct in a men's restroom, where he was accused of soliciting an undercover police officer for sexual activity. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | Good film for Preston to go out on.
This is a film that makes us realize there is sometimes a difference between justice and the law.
Robert Preston shines as the grief-stricken father, who, after a miscarriage of justice, takes matters into his own hands, and is put on trial for it.
Beau Bridges, as his attorney, realizes there's something to the fight Preson is making.
Mel Ferrer, as the judge who had to let a criminal go, is outstanding.
His conscience bothers him, but he abides by the law he's sworn to protect.
And Burgess Meredith is a crusty as ever.
Some great old pros in this one.If this film doesn't make you think, you need to watch it again..
Taut Story.
Robert Preston portrays a grief-stricken dad who kills the man who raped and murdered his daughter.
Beau Bridges is the lawyer who defends the man's actions in court.
This film raises some deep issues about the justice system.
It especially questions the notion that criminals seem to have more rights than victims and their families..
Truly Unusual Irwin Allen Production!.
The most stunning thing about "Outrage" is not so much the intriguing storyline, but rather the fact that it was produced by Irwin Allen, the "Master of Disaster" of '70s cinema, and also responsible for erstwhile sci-fi TV series of the '60s like "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and "Lost In Space." His productions are usually criticized for their lack of attention to the finer details like the script and dramatic performances.
But here, he surprises his critics (and fans) with a taut, and timely subject that is more "Law and Order" than "Poseidon Adventure." No action sequences, no explosions or people running around in rubber monster suits.
Just good acting with a provocative plot line.My only complaint is that Robert Preston's character seemed a bit 'dated' by 1986 in the way he lived through his religion....I mean, I didn't know many New York Irish Catholics in the '80s that were THAT religious (particularly a man).
I assume the director wanted his Catholicism 'played to the hilt" to emphasis Preston was above reproach to further the courtroom dramatics..
Was Remade.
I saw this movie in 86, and later noticed it was remade, starring Beau Bridges, in 97 "Defenders: Payback".
Same premise carefully retold 11 years later, only with John Larroquette as the vigilante "I don't want no attorney" father, instead of the original with Robert Preston.
Though the suspect chase would be used in the other "Defenders" TV movie "Choice Of Evils".More or less, a decent Hollywood justice type of film If you take it for what it is in that context.
The main idea is to show the viewers that not all homicide cases are black & white.
Instead, this film attempts to show (or rather pose to) the viewer, how YOU might react if your child's rapist or molester had been released on a technicality, even though he confessed to the crime.
Would YOU become a vigilante too?.
Great!
It hits - dead on..
Great movie!
It really makes one think about how the Justice system really does work.
Great story and performances by all, especially by Beau Bridges.
The system itself on trial.
Robert Preston's farewell performance is in this fine made for TV movie Outrage!
If you watch this film outrage is exactly what you will feel.The film opens with Preston buying 38 caliber pistol after being assured it will
'do the job' in a state with less stringent gun control laws then coming back to
New York City and after tracking him down, emptying the pistol into the body
of Stan Haze who got off on a technicality after raping and killing Preston's
daughter Susan Mackin who is only seen in flashback.After committing this act Preston walks into a police station and gives himself
up and waives counsel and makes a full statement as to what he did and why.Judge Burgess Meredith in a move who truly regrets asks young attorney Beau
Bridges recently of the DA's office to take the case and defend Preston.
A lawyer is supposed to defend his client zealously, but not quite as zealously as
Bridges does when he put the system on trial itself.Preston is a truly broken man, he's got one surviving child, a son who became a
priest and lives and works in a remote part of South America, one son killed in
Vietnam and this daughter who died.
His wife Selma Archerd dies shortly after
the dismissal of charges in the daughter's case.
Preston feels he's got nothing
to live for.
Makes him a truly dangerous man to one he hates.Purportedly the object of our legal system is justice.
Justice went quite a bit
awry here.
When Bridges questions the whole system that led to this Outrage!
he walks on the fighting side of Burgess Meredith.Colleagues do stick together and the 'system' is what these guys live by.
as Meredith says after many contempt citations judges have long memories.
His colleague on the original rape case is played by Mel Ferrer.
For his defense
strategy Bridges borrows from what Clarence Darrow did to William Jennings
Bryan in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Some good performances come from Linda Purl as Bridges wife and big breadwinner in the family at this point, William Allen Young as the Assistant
District Attorney, and most of all from Anthony Newley.Newley is one of those bottom feeding agents who wants the rights to Preston's and Bridges story.
He's already spending his agent's commission on
book and movie rights to be.
He's loathsome, but he might prove necessary
for the future.
This is one outstanding made for TV film and as good a one for Preston to go
out on as The Shootist for John Wayne and The Misfits for Clark Gable..
Interesting issues.
SPOILERS.
Whoever wrote it went to the trouble of looking up some law.
The question it deals with is pretty interesting.
A black man rapes and murders a white woman in New York.
When the alert goes out, the police capture the rapist, stopping him because he is the only African-American on a street in Little Italy.
They take him to the station and search him, finding jewelry from the victim in his pockets and scratches on his face.
He is read his rights but waives his right to an attorney because, "It won't do me no good." Other evidence of culpability is collected, so there is no doubt whatever that he is the rapist/murderer.
But the evidence is subsequently thrown out because the police did not have probable cause to stop him or search him.
Even his confession is suppressed because, although he didn't ask for an attorney during questioning, it seems he was on parole for a previous crime (a rape) and the attorney appointed for that crime still represented him, and so should have been present.
A bit complicated, but the victim's father, Robert Preston, simplifies things by blowing the murderer away when he walks.
This courtroom drama deals with Preston's trial for murder.
Preston is candid and sane.
He shot the guy because the law did not do its job.The movie conforms to the classic template involving tension between the rights of the accused and the sanctity of the law.
Too bad it's executed so perfunctorily.
The performers aren't all bad.
Mel Ferrer brings a quiet dignity to his role as a judge who sees himself as an instrument of the law, although he doesn't agree with it.
Linda Purl, in the traditional role of female support for a hero filled with self doubt, wears big glasses and is as dainty as can be, her shoulders narrow, he limbs vulnerable looking, as if they could be snapped by the slightest pressure.
She has enormous blue eyes and tiny lips that curl up at the outer edges, like Meg Ryan's.
Her acting skills are modest but adequate to the job at hand.
Burgess Meredith is another matter.
I kind of like the guy, but sheesh he can overact.
"No more OUTbursts!
This is NOT a FOOTBALL game.
This is a COURT of LAW!" His hair is a delightful mess but his smile is so taut that it seems to signal an immanent explosion.
Robert Preston is okay but is more effective in lightweight roles.
He has strong features and looks in fine shape for a guy who's career began back in the 1930s.
Beau Bridges is the weakest performer and it's too bad because his role is critical.
He just doesn't have much range.
It wasn't much of a hindrance in some of his earlier performances but it is here, where real drama and the blessings of Thespia are required.The director is of no help to him or anyone else.
Blocking is professional enough but Bridges and Meredith are allowed to overact outrageously.
Every question -- every statement that Bridges makes in the courtroom is treated as a climax.
As a result the courtroom scenes suffer from multiple climaxes and leave the viewer sobbing with relief and gratitude when the verdict is finally delivered.
I'll leave you to figure out what the verdict turns out to be.Well, maybe I won't.
It gets off to a slow start.
Robert Preston is dead meat.
But he's a proud man and won't plead insanity or any such nonsense.
He feels he deserves his punishment.
Bridges puts the law on the stand instead and criticizes the various legal issues that led to the rapist's release even after there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he was guilty of particularly heinous crime.
The jury finds instead that Preston is innocent but the justice system is guilty."We are a nation of laws, not men," said John Adams.
If you don't like John Adama -- and many didn't -- there's always Aristotle: "The law is reason, free from passion." In this case the law didn't prevail despite the cogent summary by the prosecutor.
What prevailed instead was passion, the very thing the law was designed to prevent from having influence over a decision.
J. Simpson case.
And it's amusing to imagine the audience applauding Bridges when he's scolded for trying to put the police and the judges on trial -- "sending a message to the police", as it were.
It's precisely what Johnny Cochran told the jury to do in the Simpson case..
Preston's Farewell Performance and an interesting look at the justice system.
As I mentioned in FINNEGAN BEGIN AGAIN, OUTRAGE!
was Robert Preston's last performance on film.
He plays Dennis Riordan, a man of quiet determination.
His daughter was raped and murdered, and as a result his wife died of the horror and strain of the tragedy.
But what made it worse was one of those legal technicalities came up regarding the even handedness of the "fair trial" theory of our law.
As a result the perpetrator is released.
So Preston, a few months later, tracks him down and kills him.Preston, of course, is arrested, and would have a perfect defense of temporary insanity.
He refuses the suggestion of his lawyer Beau Bridges to use this defense.
He knew what he was doing - killing a mad dog who destroyed his family.
Of course, in our legal system, that is not a viable defense...or is it?OUTRAGE!
picks at the defects of the judicial system.
The perpetrator was not stopped and seized by the police properly.
He was grabbed because of a racially chosen reason (he did not racially fit into the neighborhood the police grabbed him in).
Had the court not thrown the arrest and the evidence collected out, the perpetrator would have ended up in prison.
But it is one of those "fruit of the poisonous tree" legal no-nos, because it is not based on a reasonable, non-biased reason to have suspected the perpetrator.
That this view is actually ridiculous under the circumstances does not matter.
As Ambrose Bierce points out, in one of his FANTASTIC FABLES, when a Supreme Court Judge allows a man the right to use a boat on a river that sinks and drowns him - the state of the boat was not brought to the Judge's attention!
This, unfortunately, is a problem we all share (even, by the way, the criminals - I wish somebody would one day do a film showing a "successful" criminal tied up in knots by the legal system that has previously helped him).
Bridges wants to find out why the perpetrator got out, and slowly finds it was a decision by Judge Mel Ferrer (a fine performance of a man who hates having to do such things).
Bridges shows that this legal nit-picking is responsible for real loss of respect for the law.SPOILER COMING UP: Bridges in his summation turns the situation around on it's head.
He points out to the jury that what it all came down to was a legal decision for philosophical reasons to throw out important evidence against the rapist killer because it did not seem fair.
So, Bridges says, he wishes that if it was up to him, the jury would consider the actual physical and eyewitness testimony against Preston as so much evidence that can be discarded for the same reason.
The jury takes the hint, and releases Preston.Preston's health must have been beginning to deteriorate (he died in 1987).
His character has some good moments in the script, chatting with Bridges about the idiocies of a legal system he really can't understand.
But he is not as central in the film as Bridges or Ferrer are.
Still the film was thoughtful enough to make it a good final film for Preston's career to end with. |
tt0038363 | Blithe Spirit | Seeking background material for a mystery he is working on, novelist Charles Condomine invites eccentric medium Madame Arcati to his home in Lympne, Kent, to conduct a séance. As Charles, his wife Ruth and their guests, George and Violet Bradman barely restrain themselves from laughing, Madame Arcati performs peculiar rituals and finally goes into a trance. Charles then hears the voice of his dead first wife, Elvira. When he discovers that the others cannot hear her, he passes off his odd behaviour as a joke. When Arcati recovers, she is certain that something extraordinary has occurred, but everyone denies it.
After Madame Arcati and the Bradmans have left, Charles is unable to convince Ruth that he was not joking. After Ruth retires for the night, Elvira becomes visible, but only to Charles. He becomes both dismayed and amused by the situation. Relations between Charles and Ruth become strained until he persuades Elvira to act as a poltergeist and transport a vase and a chair in front of his current wife.
Ruth seeks Madame Arcati's help in sending Elvira back where she came from, but the medium professes that she does not know how. Ruth warns her disbelieving husband that Elvira is seeking to be reunited with him by arranging his demise. However, the spirit miscalculates; Ruth, not Charles, drives off in the car she has tampered with and ends up dead. A vengeful Ruth, now in spirit form, harasses Elvira to the point that she wants to leave.
In desperation, Charles seeks Madame Arcati's help. Various incantations fail, until Arcati realises that it was the Condomines' maid Edith who summoned Elvira. Arcati appears to succeed in sending the spirits away, but it soon becomes clear that both have remained. Acting on Madame Arcati's suggestion, Charles sets out on a long vacation. However, he has a fatal accident as he is driving away, and he joins Elvira and Ruth as a spirit. | comedy, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0077278 | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century | In 1987, NASA astronaut Captain William "Buck" Rogers is piloting the space shuttle Ranger 3 when he flies into an unexpected space phenomenon and is frozen for 504 years. In the year 2491, his shuttle is found drifting in space by the alien ship Draconia, which is headed to Earth for a trade conference, under the command of Princess Ardala and her aide de camp, Kane, a former native of Earth. Rogers is revived from his cryogenic sleep. Princess Ardala is visibly attracted to Buck, but Buck rebuffs the Princess and is put back on his shuttle and sent towards Earth.
It turns out though the Draconians are actually planning to conquer the Earth through staged pirate attacks on Earth's shipping fleet, forcing Earth to seek a treaty with the Draconians and unwittingly opening up their defenses to the invaders. They plant a homing beacon aboard Roger's shuttle to track a way past Earth's planet-wide defense shield. Buck lands in New Chicago and is immediately taken into custody by Colonel Wilma Deering of Earth's military forces. He is interrogated and learns that Earth has been rebuilt over the centuries in his absence following a nuclear holocaust, and now the only thing left is this big city surrounded by desert wasteland. Over the course of his time in detention, Buck makes the acquaintance of Dr. Elias Huer, the leader of Earth's Defense Directorate, the AI computer Dr. Theopolis, and the robot drone Twiki.
While recounting his encounter with the Draconians, Buck notices several discrepancies and suspects that the Draconians must be armed, contrary to the terms of the trade meeting. Against advice, Buck ventures outside the city to the ruins of old Chicago in an attempt to see that what he has been told is real, eventually finding his own parent's grave and having to be rescued by Wilma and her troops from the mutants inhabiting the ruins. Following Buck's return to the Inner City, the Draconian tracking device is found aboard his ship, and the authorities accuse Buck of espionage. Buck claims the Draconians set him up, and eventually Wilma persuades Dr. Huer to test Buck's claims by requesting a meeting with Princess Ardala and Kane aboard the Draconia. The Draconian marauders attack their flagship as a diversion, but Buck manages to destroy them single-handedly, thus earning Wilma's respect.
At the official diplomatic reception, Ardala, who is still attracted to Buck, invites him back to the Draconia, but Buck merely goes along to find out the truth behind the Draconians. On the ship, Ardala says she needs "a man, a REAL man" to rule by her side and offers Buck the position. After drugging Ardala, Buck explores the ship and discovers their plans to attack Earth, which is imminent. Dr. Theopolis and Twiki, who have followed Buck aboard, eventually meet up with him and alert Earth to the Draconian threat. Wilma immediately scrambles Earth's starfighters and attacks the Draconia, while Buck sabotages the Draconian bomber fleet prepared to attack Earth and fights off Ardala's bodyguard Tigerman. During the battle, the Draconia is critically damaged, but Buck, Theopolis and Twiki are rescued by Wilma before the ship explodes. Ardala and Kane also escape the Draconia's destruction in a shuttlecraft, while Kane vows to return and to take his revenge on Rogers. | sci-fi | train | wikipedia | If that phrase puts you in the mind of Gil Gerard, Erin Gray and lots of "Star Wars"-derived FX, you already know where a movie like "Buck Rogers" is coming from.If not, then let me enlighten you.Most everyone familiar with sci-fi know Buck's story (frozen astronaut from 20th century is revived in the 25th century, must learn to re-adapt).
Felix Silla makes a good impression as Twiki (with a more-than-equal assist from Mel Blanc's voice wizardry) and as Princess Ardala, Hensley gives what must be the most sensual performance from an alien up to that point in time.But the special effects are clearly from the '70s, as is the music (disco music in the 25th century?
A long time ago, in a childhood far, far away...I remember seeing 'Buck Rogers' in the theater in 1978, back when 'Star Wars' was king of the box office, 'Battlestar Galactica' was smashing all ratings records, and science-fiction was experiencing a renaissance of sorts - it was a great time to be a kid.'Buck Rogers' struck me as an all-right kind of guy: dashing with the ladies, quick with a punch, did a nifty spinning side kick, had a way with a laser pistol, occasionally danced a little disco.The movie itself was a harmless piece of fluff.
Which, at the time, was me.But 'Buck Rogers' had something going for it, something none of the other sci-fi shows ('Battlestar Galactica', et al) had going for them.Erin Gray.Oh, yeah.
BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY could easily have become dated camp, by now (Rogers' disastrous space tour was supposed to have occurred in 1987...did we miss it?), but there's such a sense of joy and humor to the production that it actually is more fun to watch today than when it was briefly released, theatrically, in 1979.
(And in the "Is this a coincidence?" department...Her character is named Ardala, and wears a horned headpiece...Could George Lucas have been influenced by her when he created Natalie Portman's Princess Amidala in STAR WARS: EPISODE ONE - THE PHANTOM MENACE?) The other major male roles are filled by Henry Silva, as Ardala's superbly evil partner, Kane, and Tim O'Connor, wise and sympathetic, as Earth scientist Dr. Huer.
Ignore Twiki, the low-tech R2D2 rip-off (Mel Blanc voices him, with dialog lapsing into disco-era clichés and bad sexual puns), and Dr. Theopoulis (the talking Frisbee...well, that's what he looks like!), and concentrate on the decent FX and Gil Gerard's charismatic performance...and I think you'll find BUCK ROGERS a winner!.
It has lots of hokey, enjoyable dialog, a zippy story of a guy returning 500 years later and dealing with everything he has missed, lots of familiar faces from my childhood, and the aforementioned Erin Gray who actually is fairly tame in this pilot/movie released for public consumption in theaters(Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala gets to get the motors running in this one!).
Returning to it has brought back fond memories, and unlike some shows that interested me as a child but made an unfavorable impression in middle age - Buck Rogers withstands the test of time and is still fun to watch.
Other notable performances in this pilot are again Erin Gray(I don't know why but my mind keeps shamelessly drifting to her, Hensley, Tim O'Connor in the thankless role of Dr. Huer, Joseph Wiseman, and Henry Silva as Kane.
Twiki the annoying robot is in here, and I am sure I liked him when I was younger but now more than anything I find his role to be unnecessary and a serious detractor from the plot as he seems to be able to understand Buck's language and speaks it with 20th century references to the point of Ad Nauseum.
Gil Gerard is a handsome block of wood playing Captain Buck Rogers, an American astronaut launched 500 years into the future and finding himself in the middle of a space war.
Pamela Hensley is the sultry villainess Princess Ardala while Erin Gray is the no-nonsense Colonel trying to get Rogers out of her way (he seems more interested in loosening her up than flirting with the seductive princess).
Others were a bit uneven; like Star Trek TMP, and this film.The effects were fine, for the time period, but can't hold a candle to today's CGI, or even ILM's work of the era.
buck rogers following in the aftermath of failed battlestar galactica was a corny but fun movie,and TV series following.it is a far cry from the classic original with buster Crabbe,who was gearing up for his last flash Gordon serial,you know flash Gordon conquers the universe in 1940.this movie serves as a pilot after a few edits at the end.Gil Gerard plays buck rogers.the special effects were pretty good,before the upcoming computer graphics so popular now.the cast is very good as well beautiful sexy and smart Erin Gray plays col Wilma deering,Tim O'Conner plays Dr.huer,Pamela Hensley as the sexy slinky and villainous princess ardala.with sinister Kane (Henry Silva)at her side.in the series Micheal Ansara assumes the role of Kane.i first saw buck rogers as a feature film at the movies.in like a few weeks later it seems it was on TV as series.about a year after battlestar galactica was canceled.incidentally buck rogers was also produced by Glen Larson.oh yeah there's also the little robot twiki played by Felix Silla.and voiced by the late great Mel Blanc(bugs bunny,Barney rubble,porky pig,etc;etc;)like i said its corny but fun,its not up to Star Wars but its fun to watch.the series lasted for two seasons.the second season was'nt as enjoyable as the first,since it was revamped and they tried to make it like star trek.as a blast from the past buck rogers delivers some good solid camp.I'm giving it 7 out of 10..
As I recall, it was reported in the press that Larsen said the "Buck Rogers" and "BattleStar Galactica" series were scripted long before "Star Wars" was released theatrically.
The success of "Star Wars" obviously gave network executives the impetus to give these two the "Green Light".If anything, "Star Wars" began to more resemble "Buck Rogers" in adding the romantic aspects that were obviously missing from the first episode of "Star Wars".Except for the war in outer space, "Buck Rogers" was a highly original movie that had the guts(though not the first obviously) to tackle the post nuclear holocaust, and the division between the "haves" and "have nots" on earth (its too bad this was not pursued more in the TV series).
Bad guys, good guys, lots of laser blasts in space: just everything you crave for, if you like sci-fi in that ueberlife comic and pulp magazine style.With Gil Gerard as Buck Rogers and Erin Gray as Colonel Wilma Deering we get a charming duo (love is in the air, even if they still don't know it) fighting the bad guys and saving Earth and humanity.The synopsis tells us everything we need to know: a 20th century astronaut emerges out of 500 years of suspended animation into a future time where Earth is threatened by alien invaders.What else!?
Buck Rogers in the 25th CenturyThe key to deterring space invaders is making the Earth as inhabitable as possible.Fortunately for the future earthlings in this sci-fi movie, modern man almost succeeded.Awoken from suspended animation in 2491, Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) finds his home world a wasteland besieged by space-pirates being held at bay by Earth's defensive shield.Teaming with a resistance Colonel (Erin Gray), a doctor (Tim O'Connor), a supercomputer and a robot (Mel Blanc), Buck plans to thwart the nefarious plans of an enemy envoy (Pamela Hensley, Henry Silva) headed to New Chicago for a peace treaty.Based on the operatic outer-space comic strip from the 1920s which inspired Star Wars creator George Lucas, this 1979 feature-film adaptation is hindered by its made-for-TV origins, and its similarity to the aforementioned galaxy far, far away.However, unlike Star Wars, you can rest assure that all of Buck's droids are out of the closet.Yellow Light.
It proved to be a modest hit (raking in $21 million), and thus NBC commissioned it to be turned into a weekly series.It starts off with a rather Bondian opening title sequence, featuring several lovely ladies wriggling and writhing their way around, over and under a sleeping Buck Rogers (Gil Gerard) as a vocalized version of the 'Buck Rogers' theme plays.
There is also a special-effects bonanza near the end of the film, when a hologram from the Draconian Warlord appears to chastise Kane (Henry Silva) for launching the attack (and failing!) before his arrival.All of these aforementioned scenes were cut out in the TV Release, to make room for commercials, and to appease network censors.
The only two reasons to watch this are Erin Gray and Pamela Hensley..and only Hensley shows any amount of skin in this one outside the opening credits.If you want real Buck Rogers adventure, I suggest you look to the excellent serials instead...but if you are a fan of the two ladies mentioned above, you might enjoy this rather innocent adolescent fantasy which fulfils the dreams of many a teenage boy-what with two gorgeous women chasing after you-the dashing swashbuckling adventurer..
I can recommend this movie (and the series) to everybody who likes the late 70s and early 80s, something else than Star Wars and especially something else like Battlestar Galactica..
I remember going to see buck Rogers in the theater shortly after the release of Star Wars.
I didn't know who Buck Rogers was but the movie was likable and the series was interesting and well done despite the era that it was done in.
He finds an Earth ravaged by nuclear war (the scene in bombed-out Chicago is particularly amusing to me, as a life-long Chicago native, even if the sets look NOTHING like State Street)but with survivors carrying on in underground cities.Earth is about to be atacked by the evil Draconians, led by a lovely but devious Princess.
Anyway, the Draconians pretend to offer Earth help defeating some "Space Pirates", but the Pirates are really Draconian fighters.What follows are some classic space battle scenes, a lot of running around in dark spaceship corridors, and a classic love triangle between Buck Rogers, the Evil Princess, and a female fighter pilot from Earth.
THE STORY: In 1987 Captain William "Buck" Rogers (Gil Gerard) solo-pilots a space shuttle when a meteor storm freezes him into an orbit that returns him to Earth 500 years later.
They return Rogers to Earth where he meets Col. Wilma Deering (Erin Gray), Dr. Elias Huer (Tim O'Connor) and a curiously phallus-looking robot drone, Twiki (voiced by Mel Blanc), accompanied by the A.I. computer Dr. Theopolis (voiced by Howard F.
This pilot movie (and the series) is quite cartoony and the effects are downright lame compared to the awe-inspiring "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," which came out (at the end of) the same year.
So "Buck Rogers" scores well on the female front.The film is hard to rate because, on the one hand, the cheese-factor is so high with the comic book tone, flimsy sets, dubious special effects and banal storytelling, but the main protagonists and guest stars are outstanding and somehow pull off the material.
Nevertheless, I can't in good conscience give "Buck Rogers in the 20th Century" (aka "Awakening") a higher rating.THE MOVIE RUNS 89 minutes.GRADE: C+.
Titled "Armageddon: 2419 A.D.", the story had spelunker, Anthony Rogers getting caught unawares in a cave filling up with a sleep-inducing gas; kind of like having a cavern full of ferrous oxide (that's Laughing Gas, Schultz!) He slept in that next night for a record 500 years; only to awaken to a future Planet Earth dominated by a pack of outlaw gangs.NEWS about this Sci-fi pulp magazine unqualified success of the appearance in the Amazing Stories lineup soon spread far and wide.BEfore long the John Dille Company had negotiated a pact with the author, Phillip F.
The adaptation changed Buddy's name, century of birth, occupation and relationship to Miss Deering.FINALLY in getting down to today's special guest dissectee in this BUCK ROGER movie.FIRST of all, Buck (Gil Gerard) was now a wise cracking NASA Astronaut, who was held in an orbit around Earth in a Space Capsule filled with that old laughing gas stuff.
There he meets up with Wilma (Erin Gray-Woo,woo,woo,woo!), Dr. Huer (Tim O'Connor), one Princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley-Woo,woo,woo,woo!) and Killer Kane (Henry Silva).
You see, the movie is classified as being 'Made for TV', it did have an extensive theatrical release early in the year; only to be shown on NBC as the premiere, special length episode of the BUCK ROGERS TV Series.
Didn't the special effects look pretty good at that time (just like in Galactica)?
Gil Gerard has a lot of energy in the role of Buck Rogers, and he makes the silly concept work.
They look amateur now, but were not then.Buck Rogers was originally released to theaters in 1978, and showed up as a TV series later that year.
Gil Gerard strikes just the right balance of winking coolness and bewilderment as Buck and Pamela Hensley is very sexy as the evil Princess Ardala.Fast, funny and recommended..
When i first saw the movie on video i was 12 years old, and was addicted with the series to.at that time Buck Rules and the special affects were not that bad at that time but they should not put that Disco music on the series to.
They should make a remake of the movie from 1979 with the C.G.I. effects of today ,with a new script how he could save earth in the 25th century,a whole new SF/adventure with Buck Rogers in the 25th Century with the special effects of today.
Instead of being Earth-based, it was set in a "Star Trek" type of format with Buck and his lovely sidekick (Erin Gray, who was a blonde in the the first series and a brunette in the second) looking for human life in the galaxy.
Shows like this should be for fun, not forums for political indoctrination.Also in the second series, the show also committed near heresy by not bringing Mel Blanc back to voice the robot Twiki.
In the wake of "Star Wars" cute little droids were in, and Buck Rogers had Twiki.
Voiced by Blanc in the first series, Twiki's role was to come out with twentieth century expressions Buck had taught him.
And finally, middle fingers up for series two, after which "Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century" disappeared into a timely oblivion.Between "Star Trek" and "Far-Out Space Nuts" this show probably flops closer to the latter.
Buck is then recovered by the Draconian envoy, lead by princess Ardala (Pamela Hensley) and Kane (Henry Silva).
When Buck gets back on Earth he meets, among other earthlings of course, colonel Wilma Deering (Erin Gray) and two robots Dr. Theopolis (Howard F.
The adventurous feel of the film is almost comparable to Star Wars.And speaking of Star Wars, a film that came out two years prior to Buck Rogers, we get to the special effects, which are okay, but not Star Wars quality, which were a lot better even in the non touched up new distributions.
Capitalizing on the popularity of Star Wars, with a lower budget than producer Glen Karson's Battlestar Galactica, "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" is catered to a television audience who loves the combination of sci-fi, action, and babes.
Gil Gerard's signature role is Air Force Captain and astronaut of Ranger 3, William "Buck" Rogers, whose space ship is adrift after a cryogenic mishap freezes him, awakening 504 years later, in the 25th century, the Planet Earth is not the way he left it, a Holocaust having wiped out most of mankind, cybernetic beings restoring the world slowly, humans actually answering to them.
A lot going on plot-wise in our introduction to the series, including Buck becoming friends with Twiki, a "midget" robot ("Bidi-bidi-bidi"), and sphere cybernetic robot named Dr. Theopolis (softly voiced by Howard F Flynn); carried around on a necklace by Twiki) , who accompany him on various adventures such as his journey outside the inner city, seeing the remnants of what was Chicago (visiting his parents' gravesite) with radioactively scarred mutant humans who try to hunt them down in a trap and on board the Draconian's finest ship when he attempts to interrupt their plan to attack Earth.
Star Wars is an obvious inspiration for the series as Earth's squadron and the masked Draconian attack ships appearing as supposed pirate marauders engage in space battles.
Good 1970's Fun. I loved watching Buck Rogers when I was younger.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century was the pilot movie that set-up the television series of the same name.
I doubt there's anyone with even a passing interest in science fiction who doesn't know the basic plot: After having spent 500 years floating in space in a state of suspended animation, Buck Rogers is revived by aliens from Draconia.
Buck must adjust to his new surroundings, prove his loyalty to those left on Earth, and help defeat the Draconians.If you're looking for a deep, meaningful storyline, big budget special effects, or award caliber acting, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century probably isn't for you.
But if you just go with it and take it about as seriously as the people who made it seem to be taking it, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century can be a fun, entertaining experience.
One thing I get a kick out of watching Buck Rogers in the 25th Century some 30 years after it was made is the "look" of the film.
"Captain William 'Buck' Rogers" (Gil Gerard) is an American astronaut who has taken off on a 5-month deep space flight.
Personally, I think Gil Gerard fit the role as Buck Rogers almost perfectly and having two lovely women like Erin Gray (as "Colonel Wilma Deering") and the aforementioned Pamela Hensley makes it even more enjoyable. |
tt1391469 | Hanger | Unable to bring in anymore money for Leroy, her abusive pimp, the pregnant Rose tries to run away in the middle of the night, but is caught by Leroy. Using a clothes hanger, Leroy performs an impromptu abortion on Rose, unintentionally killing her in the process. Leroy disposes of Rose's baby in a dumpster, where its cries attract the attention of a homeless man, who raises the disfigured child as "Hanger".
On his eighteenth birthday, the vagrant sends Hanger off to live with John, his biological father, who the man had earlier met at a junkyard. John informs Hanger that he has gotten him a job at the junkyard, and that he will be working there and living with Russell, an acquaintance with Down syndrome. As he drives away with Hanger, John runs over the homeless man (who was defecating in his tent) and joyously tells his long-lost son "Welcome to the rest of your life!" John gives Hanger a picture of Rose, and picks up a prostitute for him to have sex with, but upon seeing Hanger's mutilated face, the woman goes into hysterics, so John crushes her head in his truck door.
While Hanger is watching pornography with Russell in their home, a Jehovah's Witness visits, and Hanger mauls and partially eats her while being cheered on by Russell. Later, John drops by, and reveals to Hanger that he has a plan to get revenge on Leroy for what he did to Rose. On his way out, John is approached by Foxy White, Leroy's girlfriend, who offers to help John kill Leroy. John turns down Foxy's offer, but says he will make Leroy suffer "a little extra" if Foxy watches over Hanger.
While Hanger is at work, John is captured by Leroy and a prostitute named Trashy, who disfigure him with a blow torch, and a hanger. Foxy finds John and tries to release him, but Leroy walks in on this, and shoots Foxy in the head. As that occurs, Russell and Hanger are drugged by Phil, a co-worker, who rapes them while wearing a Santa suit; at one point, Phil inserts his penis into Hanger's leaking colostomy. Russell and Hanger get their revenge on Phil at the junkyard, knocking him out, and placing him under a pile of garbage. Russell goes home and drinks tea made from used tampons, but after getting a call from Hanger, Russell goes to the junkyard, and finds Nicole (the owner's daughter) unconscious in her office, Hanger having knocked her out with Phil's drugs.
Russell takes Nicole's tampon, and she is later found by Leroy, who rapes her while she is unconscious, and threatens her into luring away Russell so Leroy can be alone with Hanger. Once he is in Nicole's office, Russell is seemingly killed by Leroy, who chokes him with one of Nicole's tampons. Outside, Hanger stomps Phil's head in, and is confronted by Leroy, but John (who was left for dead, but recovered and killed Trashy by shoving a douche up her nose) appears and calls Leroy out. Leroy and John fatally shoot each other, and a distraught Hanger runs off with the hysterical Nicole. | revenge, murder | train | wikipedia | Whoa mama!
Just like Ryan's past movies he seems to not have a problem with giving his actors full reign of their characters.
And when you have actors who aren't so hot at acting, it more than likely ends up being like this.A thought that popped in my head a few times while watching this was how close it came to becoming a porno.
Maybe think about it, eh?There aren't many film-makers out there that are as carefree and in love with the horror genre as Mr. Nicholson, and that is the sole reason I keep seeing his movies.
A creature feature or a big foot movie, but with the works.Hanger was a gross, sleazy, dirty flick that should have been a crazy fun time, but ended up being boring, unlikeable, and felt like it tried much too hard to be funny and shocking.
Basically this could guarantee some interesting 90 minutes for fans of Movies like Pulp Fiction/Boondock Saints and underground horror.
But what Nicholson delivers here qualifies for the Troma Catalog in one of the lowest drawers.The movie is set in the dirty red light district and revolves around a prostitute who gets a back alley abortion with a clothes-hanger by her pimp (is that guy supposed to be black or what...
Now Mr. Hanger meets his father (like most characters with serious prosthetic work on his face and especially nose) and they plot some rough revenge.
Funny thing is that this "plot" always tends to be dropped on the sidelines for some lame masturbation or gay sex jokes as well as ridiculous soft-core sequences of some meaningless chick (I don't get her deeper idea for the plot) working her snatch in her office.All this leads up to one of the most ridiculous shoot outs in movie history (let me guess....
Basically all you get is tasteless jokes about deformed retards (all those back alley hicks reminded me a lot of "Street Trash" yet "Hangers" stretches it much further), you get some guy collecting tampons and making tea out of it, a gay retard using hangers stoma for a fun ride, fart jokes, prosthetic dicks with cartoon "boing" samples, some killed prostitutes and a torture sequence with a blowtorch (Hmm, reminds me of something else) which is like many of the not so many gory moments in this movie plain ridiculous.
The way the scenes are bound together and especially the dialog come across like written by a retarded horny 16year old writing a script with his dick in his hand.Come on Mr. Nicholson...
Obviously trying to appeal to audiences who love all things sick and twisted, Hanger desperately tries to be offensive and controversial.
Especially after the directors previous film Gutterballs turned out to be so good..
I don't know how many Debbie Rochon movies I have seen, but there is always room for another one.This is the latest edition in Troma's catalog, and it even features Lloyd Kaufman.Most will be grossed out in the first 10 minutes after witnessing an abortion by coat-hanger.
Otherwise the movie would be over, as he seeks out the pimp who killed his mom (Rochon).This movie has all the trash you can imagine: cannibalism, freaks, smashed heads, blood, gore, and things too disgusting to mention..
Live Feed was a good gory movie, Gutterballs was better, so i was very excited to view Ryan new movie, Hanger.
4/10 for Hanger but all my support to Ryan Nicholson for always try to deliver the goods with extreme gore.
If I had seen that this movie had anything to do with the people that made Gutterball, I wouldn't have bothered to watch it.
It was a piece of B movie garbage that I would watch again and again.Now don't get me wrong here, if you're looking for a truly great movie, just forget about even looking at this film.
Chalk full of sex, violence, gore and for some reason, every man in this movie has a messed up face (which really grew on me).Even the good guys in this film are completely vile, so you can only imagine how disgusting the bad guys are.I vote a 9/10, simply for the fact I love the over the top dialog, grotesque characters, violence and gratuitous sex..
The whole thing comes off like a medieval allegorical play, with all the players in masks representing their roles.Overall, not as funny or interesting as "Gutterballs." It is much more extreme than "Run, Bitch, Run," which hardly rose to the level of exploitation anyway.
Pathetic SFX, coupled with actors who wouldn't even pass an audition for Big Brother, & topped off with a cameraman who can't even keep the "action" in screen OR focus provides one of the all time lows in movie making history!
Say what you like about indie director Ryan Nicholson, but the man is fearless when it comes to depicting on-screen depravity: there is nothing that he isn't afraid to show in the name of 'entertainment' (and if there is, then I'm not even sure if I want to see it).
Since his low budget debut short Torched seared itself into the minds of extreme horror fans with scenes of OTT gore and eye-watering genital mutilation, the man has assaulted our senses with his full-length torture-fest Live Feed and the 80s-flavoured, ten pin bowling themed rape-revenge/slasher Gutterballs.Now the director plunges even further into the depths of perversion and filth with Hanger, a sure contender for the title of 'most offensive trash movie ever', topping even the excesses of Troma's Terror Firmer and cult melt movie Street Trash.
I guess whether you see that as a recommendation or not depends entirely on your particular taste in trash.Hanger certainly starts as it means to go on, with a gut-wrenching scene featuring the forced abortion of a baby via coat-hanger, performed on soon-to-be-dead whore Rose (Debbie Rochon) by her sadistic pimp Leroy (Ronald Patrick Thompson).
Also working at the plant are the less-than-friendly gay rapist Phil (who cooks up a GHB topped pizza in order to roger Russell in the ass and Hanger in his stoma!), and Nicole (Candice Lewald), the incredibly hot office worker who likes nothing more than the odd-spot of impromptu masturbation (taking the film firmly into porn territory).
As our hideously scarred hero becomes accustomed to his new life, The John (who turns out to be Hanger's dad) plans revenge on Leroy and his skanky ho accomplices, a job which requires him to enlist the help of his son.Nicholson's most bizarre movie to date, Hanger doesn't seem to have fared too well with fans of his previous work, and as I write, not one of the 7 IMDb comments have rated it higher than a 3/10.
I can understand some of the backlash—the film is a departure in style for Nicholson, the flow of the narrative is kinda awkward, the absurd humour and extreme violence seems incongruous at times, and the ending is perhaps a little too abrupt—but despite these drawbacks, I still found Hanger to be a worthwhile experience.
Maybe it's the fact that I respect Nicholson's uncompromising, no-holds-barred approach; perhaps it's because, despite being so unashamedly stupid at times, the film still manages to shock when it matters; or maybe it could be that I'm just a bit wrong in the head: whatever the reason, I found this to be a satisfyingly silly and sick flick that succeeds in making the viewer feel dirty for having watched (always a 'positive' in my eyes), and one which I can see developing something of a cult following over time.I'm going to buck the trend and rate Hanger an unprecedented 6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
The director here apparently likes to declare his love for horror cinema now and again but sadly he hasn't a clue how to produce it, instead thinking that stringing together a bunch of (hopefully to him) offensive shots will pass as some kind of great horror art.
I'm not going to list the things that take place in Hanger, but I wasn't offended, rather I found the entire piece of excrement irritating to the extreme.
Rubber penises, full frontal soft porn, and some pretty bad special effects just aren't funny at all though, and I'm guessing by now my review is reading like some disgruntled Hollywood blockbuster lovers who stumbled upon the wrong type of movie and became appalled by what he saw.
I found Subconscious Cruelty as a movie enthralling, and I'm particularly mentioning this film as it's said the director of that set out to shock but (ironically) failed for a totally different reason.
Rose is a hooker who has become pregnant.Her abusive pimp Leroy decides to perform an abortion on her by using a coat hanger.But the baby doesn't die during horrible procedure.Eighteen years later Hanger gets a job and a apartment.With the help of The John they both plan to get a bloody revenge on Leroy."Hanger" is a dirty and exploitative indie horror flick directed by always reliable Ryan Nicholson.It's totally bad taste and politically incorrect.The atmosphere of "Hanger" is grubby and dirty and it resembles "Basket Case" or "Street Trash".The film is not as fun as "Gutterballs" and "Live Feed",but if you are a fan of utter cinematic smut and filth you need to see "Hanger".7 abortions out of 10..
Sure most people are going to hate this movie.
In today's realm of horror films, one director who I'm not a particularly big fan of is Ryan Nicholson.
A part of the newer generation so to speak, he's an effects man (whose worked on the infamous "August Underground" series) turned director whose movies seem to take a juvenile approach to shocking and offending people with nasty gore and all kinds of depraved behavior.
Case in point: "Hanger", which may be his worst effort at trying to offend viewers yet.The film starts with a pregnant prostitute named Rose (Debbie Rochon), who becomes a hooker (remember, that's what they become when they are dead-or at least the show "Archer" says so) and has said fetus aborted via wire hanger.
In actuality, the movie is essentially an excuse for Nicholson and his cast to get away with all kinds of gross and all around perverse behavior, which would be fine if it weren't akin to a kid putting on a geek show to shock and offend us.
Look, I'm all for shocking movies, but this tries way too hard to be shocking and all around disgusting, and it's clear that's all it has going for it.
I don't have time for a movie that has things like an grotesque, racist Asian stereotype, tampon fetishes, graphic masturbation, and plenty of rape, mud and nastiness and nothing else.
First of all I loved Ryan Nicholsons earlier film GUTTERBALLS, so I was eagerly anticipating HANGER.Now I have seen it, I did,nt rate it as much as GUTTERBALLS, but I still enjoyed HANGER, but it definitely is'nt for everybody.There is some pretty nasty stuff going on in this film, a coat hanger getting shoved up a vagina to remove an unborn baby!...Tampon tea!!!
to name but a few nasty treats.But seriously, it is'nt pleasant viewing but if you enjoyed GUTTERBALLS, I would say give it a try...I can't recommend it really, but I did like it myself - There are some funny moments in it as well, some quite good lines and the Chinese kid made me laugh too.My advice is rent it if you can, my wife bought my one for Xmas pressie and Im pleased with it, but as I already said it is difficult to recommend.7 Out Of 10 for me..
This wasn't supposed to be a "Feel Good" movie that you sit down with your wife and kids and watch.
If you didn't like the movie, you didn't have to watch it!Hanger does its job perfectly.
The story is good, and the events that take place in this movie, are well, I'll let you watch and decide for yourself!
However if you like Comedy horror spoof gore films, you should love this movie..
Hanger (2009) * (out of 4) Hardcore gore about a pimp who discovers that his prostitute is pregnant and when she refuses to have an abortion he decides to take care of the matter himself.
HANGER is a very disgusting film that is so vile that most people would be outraged just by hearing what's in the movie let alone actually being forced to watch it.
This film here features some pretty graphic, in-your-face material and this includes the opening where we see a hanger going into a woman and then (a fake woman used here) the baby being ripped out.
Is HANGER a good movie?
Is HANGER a good movie?
However, I must admit that if you're into this type of thing then I'm sure you're going to enjoy how depraved, shocking and vile it is.
Director Ryan Nicholson certainly isn't going to win any awards for the picture but he at least knows how to build up at atmosphere and it's clear he's not afraid to cross the line.
Hanger begins 18 years ago, with a pregnant prostitute named Rose (Rochon), who is given a homemade, unwanted abortion by her pimp.
I'm no expert, but if I was to make a movie, and I was fortunate enough to end up with Debbie Rochon, I might try and work around killing off the gorgeous one before the story even gets started.
The problem with the "It's so bad it's good" situation is too many film makers today are going for exactly that as if their predecessors originally wanted their art to be considered the worse film ever made.Not everyone can be Troma, and having the great Lloyd Kaufman make an awesome cameo in your movie is not going to get you there.
Then we see Leroy who is fed up with her not bringing in any money from her pregnancy.Next scene we she her with someone else and Leroy attacks her after he catch hers with the that other man, who had just dump her and he get rid of the baby with a hanger This movie is sick and twisted and not in good away, i do not want to see man trying to step a bloody pregnant lady,stomach even if see a prostitute (That was in the first seven minutes of movie) Then movie get even worse 18 Years later for some reason the child is now some kind of monster who goes after prostitute and kills them ?
Twisted rape scenes not even good death scenes like I said cheap movie with cheap make up and gore.
no one is safe from Hanger.It takes a very specific mindset to not only enjoy films like those of Ryan Nicholson, but even to stomach them.
To ease up the difficulty of some of these ideas, there is some outward humour, like B-movie legend Lloyd Kaufman (co-founder of Troma Films) as Melvina the Tranny.
Even some of the most hardcore horror fans may have to look away at some scenes.Even with the grotesque and depraved nature of the film, it does not feature the spark it requires to make it an overly worthwhile watch.
but, I was expecting something entertaining at least like his last film 'Gutterballs.' Even with all the disgusting gore, vicious violence, crazy characters, and nonstop nudity, the film really was a pretty tedious task to sit through.
The photography and audio of the movie are of an inferior quality making Hanger look very reminiscent to a Henenlotter vehicle, except less funny and more obnoxious.
That's right the concept and idea of the film is amazing.A lady of the night is pregnant and her pimp aborts the baby with a cloths hanger, but since she is already far enough long the baby is ripped out alive and thrown in a dumpster while his mother dies.
So after being raised on the streets as a disfigured freak he is out for revenge.See amazing concept, the DVD case has stuff of that nature on it which is why I bought it, but was I fooled.It's nothing like that, well a lady of the night is with child and her pimp does so and she does die but then he's raised buy a bum who treats him like trash, gives him to his father, the man who loved the lady of the night, and he's the one who goes for revenge not Hanger.No Hanger just gets a job, lives with an Asian guy, and kills for no reason.
Yeah that's right the guy we as an audience should be rooting for kills people for no reason.Every character in the film is a bad person and not really likable so who cares about them and the only character worth paying attention to is the Asian guy because he does say some funny things.It should be a grind-core, exploitation, gore-fest of a horror film but instead it plays like a horror comedy that is not a good film in either genre.You can skip it and live or see it and be mad it's not what you wanted.This is the type of film that needs remade by a real writer director not a SFX guy..
What a useless character.All that said, its strange, disturbing, and at times painful to watch, but sit through it, you'll look back and you'll like it a lot more once its over..
Her pimp becomes enraged that she isn't making him money and performs an impromptu abortion with a coat-hanger.
This includes crushing a hookers head open when she screams at his face, a Jehovah Witness who intrudes into their apartment, and Phil, a man who drugs and rapes both Hanger and Russell (the movie does not cover much up).
And that's the end.Like Gutterballs, this movie is very gory and the special effects are top notch.
Ryan Nicholson knows his audience and makes movies for them; they're exploitative, schlocky, violent, everything campy B horror/schlock should be. |
tt0070854 | Under Milk Wood | The play opens at night, when the citizens of Llareggub are asleep. The narrator (First Voice/Second Voice) informs the audience that they are witnessing the townspeople's dreams.
Captain Cat, the blind sea captain, is tormented in his dreams by his drowned shipmates, who long to live again and enjoy the pleasures of the world. Mog Edwards and Myfanwy Price dream of each other; Mr. Waldo dreams of his childhood and his failed marriages; Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard dreams of her deceased husbands. Almost all of the characters in the play are introduced as the audience witnesses a moment of their dreams.
Morning begins. The voice of a guide introduces the town, discussing the facts of Llareggub. The Reverend Eli Jenkins delivers a morning sermon on his love for the village. Lily Smalls wakes and bemoans her pitiful existence. Mr. and Mrs. Pugh observe their neighbours; the characters introduce themselves as they act in their morning. Mrs. Cherry Owen merrily rehashes her husband's drunken antics. Butcher Beynon teases his wife during breakfast. Captain Cat watches as Willy Nilly the postman goes about his morning rounds, delivering to Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard, Mrs. Pugh, Mog Edwards and Mr. Waldo ("It's another paternity summons").
At Mrs. Organ-Morgan's general shop, women gossip about the townspeople. Willy Nilly and his wife steam open a love letter from Mog Edwards to Myfanwy Price; he expresses fear that he may be in the poor house if his business does not improve. Mrs. Dai Bread Two swindles Mrs. Dai Bread One with a bogus fortune in her crystal ball. Polly Garter scrubs floors and sings about her past paramours. Children play in the schoolyard; Gwennie urges the boys to "kiss her where she says or give her a penny." Gossamer Beynon and Sinbad Sailors privately desire each other.
During dinner, Mr. Pugh imagines poisoning Mrs. Pugh. Mrs. Organ-Morgan shares the day's gossip with her husband, but his only interest is the organ. The audience sees a glimpse of Lord Cut-Glass's insanity in his "kitchen full of time". Captain Cat dreams of his lost lover, Rosie Probert, but weeps as he remembers that she will not be with him again. Nogood Boyo fishes in the bay, dreaming of Mrs. Dai Bread Two and geishas.
On Llareggub Hill, Mae Rose Cottage spends a lazy afternoon wishing for love. Reverend Jenkins works on the White Book of Llareggub, which is a history of the entire town and its citizens. On the farm, Utah Watkins struggles with his cattle, aided by Bessie Bighead. As Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard falls asleep, her husbands return to her. Mae Rose Cottage swears that she will sin until she explodes.
As night begins, Reverend Jenkins recites another poem. Cherry Owen heads to the Sailor's Arms, where Sinbad still longs for Gossamer Beynon. The town prepares for the evening, to sleep or otherwise. Mr. Waldo sings drunkenly at the Sailors Arms. Captain Cat sees his drowned shipmates—and Rosie—as he begins to sleep. Organ-Morgan mistakes Cherry Owen for Johann Sebastian Bach on his way to the chapel. Mog and Myfanwy write to each other before sleeping. Mr. Waldo meets Polly Garter in a forest. Night begins and the citizens of Llareggub return to their dreams again. | flashback | train | wikipedia | A film of rare magic.
This little known but top-notch production is whimsical, thoroughly engaging, and delicately controlled.The atmosphere is consistent throughout, with universal types exaggeratedly peopling and animating a small Welsh seaside town.This is as close as any British film has come to creating a Fellini-like mood.Narrative lyricism overpowers any actor's personal performance, though Peter O'Toole excels as Captain Cat. Glynnis Johns's performance also stands out, as do those of a motley mix of more minor characters.Over it all, Richard Burton's driving cadences worthily guide Thomas's verse to an eccentric and vibrant cinematic life.
Dylan Thomas' play for voices has always worked best as a radio text, where its rich poetry can be fully appreciated.
This film version is indeed true to the text but as a visual medium, is saddled with the need to open out and show scenes as described in the text - with sometimes risible results.However, there are certain strengths that even the filmed treatment can't ruin.
Chief amongst these are Peter O'Toole's interpretation of the blind Captain Cat, dreaming of his lost love, Rosie Probert (played by an overly made-up Elizabeth Taylor); and O'Toole's then wife, Sian Phillips, as Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard, abusing both her dead husbands as they lie with her.
Polly Garter and Myfanwy Price, Thomas' corrupt and innocent, are well-played by Ann Beach and Glynis Johns.Richard Burton is 1st Voice, as he was in the memorable radio production of the 1950s.
But here he is also a malevolent presence wandering quietly round the village of Llareggub, influencing the action at some points (the scene in the barn seemed out-of-place and slowed the pace of this film).
I'm not knocking Burton's voice, which was superb for the material, but perhaps his presence would have been better restricted to a narrator..
a beautiful adaptation of Dylan Thomas' "Play for Voices".
Do notice the "second voice", the wonderful late and much lamented Ryan Davies, an actor and comedian revered here in Wales, probably the biggest star who never became known outside his own country, he sadly died in 77 at a tragically young age, 42 i believe.
Also look out for a very young David Jason as "no-good Boy" and topless performances from a young Susan Penhaligan and Ruth Madoc!So much to see in this film there just arent enough words!
Peter O'Toole was brilliant as Captain Cat, and Elizabeth Taylor wonderful as raunchy Rosie....vulnerable, sexy, sad all in one delicious bundle!
Do try to catch this film...you wont be disappointed..
Conceived for the voice, and easily obtainable on BBC compact disc with the wonderful voice of our Stranger here, Richard Burton, this film of UNDER MILK WOOD still has a lot to offer.
Poetry is for the imaginative eye, but Burton and O'Toole give nice performances, and who would like to mis Rosie Probert, who passed away but forgot dying, on the silver screen ?
Forest leaves, cobble stones, rippling waves and Elizabeth Taylor make this film exciting.
I agree with many of the review comments already posted here, so I won't say more about the film itself.
Instead, it hasn't yet been pointed out that the DVD (produced by Sundance and Hart Sharp Video) also contains an hour-long documentary about Dylan Thomas, tucked away in the extra features.
"Dylan on Dylan" is in some ways more interesting than the film adaptation of _Under Milkwood_.
It runs through a biography of him along with old photos and audio, bits of biodrama reenacted, and especially includes footage from the WWII wartime morale propaganda films that Dylan Thomas wrote!
One of those is a genuinely forceful parody: he appropriated the original propaganda film made _for_ Hitler by Reni Riefenstahl, and redid the sound -- so that Hitler's speech is more of an honest description.
This feature documentary also includes a brief interview with two actresses who performed with Dylan Thomas live in _Under Milkwood_ virtually on the same day that he collapsed and died..
Firstly you must remember that this was originally a play for voices.
To fully appreciate this surreal movie you need to listen to a recording of Dylan Thomas' play beforehand.The imagery in the movie totally worked for me.
The only performer I had "issues" with was Peter O'Toole as Captain Cat. He was obviously too young for the part - or his make-up was just not good enough.
I enjoyed the way that the 2 Narrators were able to move around the town like ghostly interlopers, observing and describing the behaviour of the denizens.
Using voice-over instead of direct speech added to the "other worldliness" feel of the whole.
Such a shame that Richard Burton was allowed to monopolize the dialogue - Ryan Davies should have read more lines.
Interesting to see Elizabeth Taylor (quite obviously in this due only to Welsh hubby Burton's involvement) playing the part of the popular local village prostitute no less.
(For a sample of the same affection shown to Rosie Probert see "Never On Sunday" (1960) with Melina Mercouri.) Regarding the gratuitous menage-a-trois in the barn - if you view this as a surreal adaptation then the scene fits even though this was never written in the play.A long time ago I read that it was common in these small isolated Welsh villages for the water supply to became contaminated with heavy metals - probably due to all the dams that were built in the valleys that prevented the natural flow of water into the local wells.
It is said that Dylan Thomas' play was describing this type of life.
If you decide to watch this movie bear this in mind when considering the eccentricities displayed by the characters..
Dylan Thomas' genius translates well onto celluloid.
The movie is a painting of scenes, and a romance with English words that, oddly enough, only Celtic people seem capable of; Welshman Burton's riveting voice gives life to his countryman's work like perhaps none living could, today .
The language is so lively and the metaphors so concentrated that the film may leave some scratching their heads; but for lovers of poetry, or literature at large, this well-conceived and directed interpretation of Dylan is worth the viewing.
Peter O'Toole and Elizabeth Taylor give interesting performances, and the film contains several scenes that will stay with the viewer long after the film is over.
The lush countryside of seaside Wales, and the sleepy little village in which the action plays out, are also quite haunting.
Dylan Thomas's poetic flow is all that counts with 'Under Milk Wood.' Perhaps it could have been made poetic visually as well, but this effort doesn't prove it.
In fact, the direction is pedestrian, and some odd liberties with the text (the scene in the barn with Burton & Davies getting it on with a woman, for instance) only makes things worse since it is the text that matters.Then there is Richard Burton.
No doubt that he would be THE actor for this film being a fellow Welshman like Thomas and a champion of the writer's work, but he is actually a bizarre presence in this film.
He and Ryan Davies play a pair of wanderers drifting through town, their characters having little interaction with the folks, but Burton's character somehow has an omniscient knowledge of all of them.
Burton doesn't speak on camera: his vocal performance is all voice-over narration.
Ryan Davies never speaks a word on camera or off, as if he wandered in from a silent movie.
Sadly, Burton strolls through the entire film with a goofy grin on his face, looking pale and drunk.
And his wife Liz Taylor, handed a cameo, maintains her hideous late 60's makeup and renders herself unwatchable.
But to be fair there are a lot of pretty women in this film and they are continuously slobbered over by a series of ugly Welshmen.
The other featured star is Peter O'Toole as the blind Captain Cat. I admire this actor but he carries himself strangely in this film: he moves like a marionette straight out of the 'Thunderbirds.' Lastly, a weak music score doesn't help, especially with the lovely lyrics.
There is no way on earth that this film can ever compare visually with the lyrical lines written by Dylan Thomas.Although it is nice to hear Burton speak the words of his great idol, the inclusion of Elizabeth Taylor as Rosie Probert is a mistake.Full marks to Peter O'Toole for a fine effort as Captain Cat..
This is a marvelous piece of theater (yes: theater) put on a roll of film and released as a movie.
This is a work for voices, conceived by Dylan Thomas (I think) for the radio, not for the TV (1954).
As a matter of fact the subtitle says: "A Play for Voices".
And here you have almost the best as far as voices are concerned: Burton, O'Toole, the others.
I did it, and found myself dreamily trying to follow the rhythm of the voices.
Before they made a musical of T.S. Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats," they made a movie of Dylan Thomas...sort of.
UNDER MILK WOOD is based on his poem/radio play about the eccentric denizens of a tiny fishing town.
Ardent admirers of the Welsh bard may find this film a delight; I found it alternately tedious and enchanting...but not enchanting enough.Since there is no plot, the result is a series of recurring, mostly whimsical vignettes (the wife with two husbands; Organ Morgan, who can't stop playing; blind Captain Cat, who lives in a house that looks like a ship; etc.).
(I found it helpful to watch with English subtitles turned on.)Do NOT expect a Liz Taylor vehicle; her role amounts to a cameo.
This film is cool, but the 17 year old looks about 30.
I think the film is at times bizarre but at other times an everyday life story.
Elizabeth Taylor (Butterfield 8) is badly cast but O'Toole is fantastic as the blind fisherman.
Never sentimental, at times a little hard going, but rewarding.
Under Milk Wood is seriously one of the strangest movies I've ever seen.
Virtually the entire movie is set to Richard Burton's narration of Dylan Thomas's prose.
Most of the scenes are an overlay to his voice; the people in the scenes don't generally speak for themselves.
To start, Richard Burton and his odd-looking companion walk the streets of a seafaring town at night, and as they look upon residents' houses or shops, Richard Burton tells the audience a little about the townspeople, or what they're dreaming about.
There's a man sleeping next to a skeleton dreaming of his mother, a woman dreaming of her cobbler lover, and a blind retired sea captain who remembers his former crew and love interest.If you know Dylan Thomas's writings, you'll know what to expect.
Every Christmas, I watch A Child's Christmas in Wales, so I'm used to his ramblings about the residents of a small seaside town and his colorful descriptions, but if you've never heard his words before, you'll probably find the sentences in this movie very strange.
Honestly, if Richard Burton can't save the movie, it's pretty bad.
And it is pretty bad.DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend, since sometimes the camera swirls.
In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!".
This is "A Play for Voices".
Dylan Thomas sub-tilted Under Milk Wood with "A Play for Voices".This is where this is best.
With the words allowing the listener to develop some lovely images.
The film as little if anything to the Argo or BBC recordings (or should I say soundscape?).Buy either of the audio tapes or CD and enjoy.The film is best left alone..
This was 'a play for voices' - pictures are superfluous.
Dylan Thomas, whose surname was borrowed by someone born Zimmerman, was a weaver of words.
He wrote a radio play, not a film script.
The visual elements, although they merge well enough with a faithful adaptation of Thomas' words, add little and tend to distract.If you insist on watching, there are some irrelevant treats.
It's good to see Elizabeth Taylor playing a scrubber (of a floor).
Not so with 'Under Milk Wood'.
Thomas demands attention with the ears, not the eyes.
This film is a worthy but misguided attempt to bring the work of a great writer to people who can't be bothered to read or listen.Dylan Thomas knew best: this is 'a play for voices'..
I saw this film again after a gap of many years.
What really captured and engrossed me was the 'time frame' of the film in it's setting of Fishguard.
It is of another age,innocent and simple, lost in the vaults of time.
Watching and listening to Burton is to enjoy the rich voice of a great artist.
And, has Elizabeth Taylor ever looked so stunningly beautiful as in this film ?
just read the play.
First, a caveat: What I'm about to say is in regards to this film version only.
The play itself is beautiful.
I'm currently involved in a stage production of Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood." The language is nothing short of breathtaking.
Truly, it's a beautiful play.Very minor spoilers ahead:However, this film version of "Under Milk Wood" is nothing short of ridiculous.
Large chunks of the wonderful narration have been left out, chronology changed, and general mayhem has been wreaked with the script.
There are two creepy guys (accompanied by creepy music) who wander around the town, but appear to serve no real purpose.
They don't narrate (as Voice One and Voice Two in the script do).
They simply wander around creepily, and at one point have completely random, completely gratuitous tag-team (fully clothed) sex in a barn with some random woman.
I'm left wondering, "What on earth were the people who made this movie thinking?" Thomas's script does not, in fact, include tag-team sex in a barn.
It's ridiculous.This is not to say that the film has no redeeming qualities.
The woman who played Mrs. Banks in "Mary Poppins" turns in a nice performance as Myfanwy Price.
Peter O'Toole plays a fairly good Captain Cat. The actress who plays Mae Rose Cottage does a lovely job.
Mr. Pugh is played quite well.On the flip side, Liz Taylor's portrayal of Rosie Probert is forgettable.
Mrs. Pugh provides little motivation for her husband's intense hatred.
The two creepy guys succeed in being creepy, but may as well have wandered on from another set for all the reason they seem to have for being in the film at all.
Nogood Boyo is very badly cast, and may as well have been renamed Nogood 30-Year-Old Guy.All in all, I can't say I'm at all impressed with this film.
If you want to know "Under Milk Wood," you'd be better off by far just reading the play then watching this bastardization of such a lovely work..
One day in a small village along the coast of Wales, a fishing harbour that is surviving in coming modernity that is going to destroy it and later on transform it.
The film enables the director to create a real world extracted from Dylan Thomas's words, and the general description of the historical heritage of the village can be uttered by some guide on a bus half full of old ladies touristing around the country and the conclusion is the village can get levelled down no one would protest.
That was a long time ago.
Since then these small fishing villages on the Welsh coast have become seaside resorts for all kinds of rich people.
Dylan Thomas tries to recreate the life of the village the way he remembers it.
The film shifts the observing eye from the author to first a couple of unnamed male strangers going through the village and saying absolutely nothing, hence being pure creations in this film to focus especially on one observer, through whose ears and blind eyes we can discover everything, Captain Cap. This is also a great shift in the point of view of the poem.
The medium is the message and the camera imposes its own point of view.
I will definitely say it is a good thing to visualize the poem that is otherwise difficult to follow, but at the very same time it is imposing one interpretation, one reading onto the poem, a linear reading that does not accept contradictions and multifariousness.
Personally I think a poem should not be visualized on a screen.
A recording of this language is already reducing the number of possible readings, but it cannot really reduce it to one reading.
Images do not accept metaphors very easily except through ellipses, which are more metonymies than metaphors, whereas words can easily express sleepless green ideas that sleep furiously.
Yet the film is interesting because the editing makes us jump from one place to so many others with hardly one blink of one eye that we get a little bit dizzy and that is supposed to create in us a certain nostalgic feeling for the past, the long gone and forgotten and lost past.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Paris Dauphine & University of Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne.
.I guess that this was the way to do it.But who had the harebrained idea of doing a play for voices as a film, the most visual of media?
All the actors, with the exception of Elizabeth Taylor, were very talented people, and were clearly doing their best, but conditions were against them.
And even Taylor wasn't precisely BAD--it was just that so much of Rosie Probert's part was cut that one couldn't get a fair impression of what she could do with the part.And why was so much of not just Rosie Probert's part, but the play as a whole cut?
I'd say, save your money and buy a recording of some other version of MILKWOOD done as an audio play as God and Dylan Thomas intended. |
tt0898943 | Raqeeb | The story is about Sophie (Tanushree Dutta) and how she tricks two men to fall in love with her through her charms. Sophie is in love with Sunny (Jimmy Shergill) and, to improve their lifestyle, she starts conning men into falling in love with her. Then she murders them and steals all their money. However, Sunny does not know that Sophie is planning to take all the money and frame him for the murders.
The first victim, Remo (Rahul Khanna), is a multi-millionaire simpleton who truly loves Sophie. However, she has him brutally murdered by Sunny, who she is also planning to murder soon. When Remo's childhood friend, Siddharth (Sharman Joshi), finds out that Sophie had him murdered, he plans for revenge. The climax has an unexpected twist of revenge.
Siddharth planned the whole scheme with Sophie for murdering Remo and framing Sunny for it and taking Remo's money and fortune. He is shown as the villain as he was the step-brother of Remo, whose father disowned him due to which his mother lost her mental balance and was undergoing treatment in an asylum. A number of fight scenes follow between Sunny and Remo and Sunny and Siddharth. The unexpected twist is that Remo isn't dead and is well aware of all that was happening and faked his death to find the culprit. A final lengthy fight takes place in the end in which Remo defeats Siddharth who accidentally kills himself as well as Sophie. Sunny is released and he befriends Remo while Remo pays donation to the asylum where Siddharth's mother is being treated. | romantic | train | wikipedia | excellent film.
what is with all the hate towards this film ?
i think this is film is a really excellent piece .
this movie from the beginning has kept my interest up and the twist and turns made it even better.
all the actors did a great job .
Raul khanna did a great job .
tunashree dutta did an excellent job .
and sharman joshi and jimmy shergil did great jobs as well .
there's not much going for music but dushmana is the best song in the movie.
this movie reminded me a lil bit of Fida and Race .
overall this is a great movie .
the plot and twist are great .
tunashree dutta looks beautiful [[ i don't know why people think shes ugly ]] .
Raul khanna is great as so was he in elaan ..
and great to see sharman joshi in a negitive role.
A garbage thriller.
This movie pretends to be a gripping thriller with loads of wannabe-unpredictable and non-smart twists.
Because Jimmy Shergill was in it and I liked most of his work, I thought this one would be worth my time but I was wrong and why the hell did he choose to play this remains a mystery to me.
Anurag Singh's direction is amateurish and the screenplay is suited for the B-grade thrillers.
I would like to ask Rahul Khanna that if he's only going to appear in about two Hindi films every 5 years, why pick the rotten apples from the trashcan?
No doubt that the actor has talent, now only if he picked the right films.
None of the performances are up to mark.
This is the first Tanushree Dutta film, I've seen and she's quite a bad actress.
Shergill is wasted and Joshi is bad.
The twists and turns are so stupid and very predictable.
The director actually thought he was making something smart!
Maybe he should have his brain checked..
Rival to the viewers.
A poor thriller that was extremely slow although it was 2 hours that should of been cut down to about 1.5 hour.
The suspense in the first half was so predictable that you didn't even have to be of average intelligence to know who is bad and who is good.
The story was OK about a guy Remo who is shy and his friend Siddharth constantly pesters him to socialise so that he can meet a few girls and fall in love.
The direction was weak thanks to Anurag Singh (Sarcasm) and with rubbish casting, each actor was worse than the other.
Rahul Khanna's only good film was Elaan and that was because of John Abraham & Arjun Rampal.
The twists & turns in the second half slightly got rid of the boredom but it did not make the film any better.
The music was interesting made by one of my favourite music composers Pritam; the best song is Dushmana during the opening credits but what is the use of good songs in a bad film, that too, if you have someone like Tanushree Dutta who dances with two left feet?.
A bad thriller.
What is wrong with Jimmy and Sharman?
Well maybe they want to do something different but end up signing any crap b grade thriller After the release of LIFE IN A METRO Sharman came back with a negative role in RAQEEB The film's problem is that it tries too hard to be a thriller but ends up being a bad one It starts off well and some twists are good but the script is bad and so is the execution The climax is badDirection is awful Music is okaySharman Joshi surprises with a powerful performance in a negative role which is different from his comic roles Jimmy Shergill's role of an obsessive lover is done to death and he is good but his role is sidelined suddenly Rahul Khanna is average Tanushree is awful and her dubbing by someone else is awful rest are okay.
Cool movie.
This movie was brilliant and entertaining but it's really enjoyable as well Songs are the best highlights of the movie the storyline is fine Acting performances is superb jimmy is brilliant Rahul is brilliant sharman is good playing the negative role The heroine is fine direction is fine though I am a huge fan of jimmy and the directors moviesOverall 7/10.
Raqeeb for Rahul Khanna.
I just watched this due to I heard that Rahul Khanna plays the role of a security engineer in the movie.
Nothing other reason(s) I can say for watching this movie.
Well the movie is considered as a slow suspense thriller but it has many downfall plots and screenplays that blocked the movie from winning the audiences' hearts.
There is a big question mark for Tanushree Dutt why she accepted this role when offered to her?
After a smash hit of Aashiq Banaya Apne she doesn't seem to continue her sense of choosing roles.
Jimmy Shergill did his role just as the script demands but still not satisfying enough.
And the same goes to Sharman Joshi.
Again, Rahul Khanna suits enough with his role in the movie but how long will he continue the one-sided role again and again, with the same body language he did before in Elaan.
The director Anurag Singh has the director's sense but he should be little effective in making movies..
Lots of unrealistic twist.
What can you say (or write) about the movie which starts with the leading actress oozing from the swimming pool, with the minimum clothes allowed Bollywood movies?
Yup, thats what Raqeeb is all about, and thats what exactly Tanushree Dutta continues to do in rest of the movie.
So if you are looking for that this is the movie you will like.But not most people will like it.
The movie is supposed to be a thriller, but in that way its a hyper thriller.
The twists happened in the regular interval, and when you think there is nothing more, more twists happen.
In all lot of twists happen.
Three main actors and one leading actress, all are good at one time and bad at other times.
The main problem is there are lots of turns and twists.
Songs are not great.
Actors are immatures.
A too much twisted and turned story + body of Tanushree Dutta + not so great actors = Raqeeb..
Misguiding the audience.
One thing I don't get is why Indian directors tend to throw off the audiences particularly in suspense movies by showing scenes which otherwise either "break the truth" of the story or are absolutely unnecessary.
For example, in Raqeeb there are a couple of scenes which after seeing the movie you realize were actually wrong in context of the story and were put in to misguide the audience.
The first scene is when they show Siddharth chatting with Sophie and "setting" her up against Remo.
In the end we find out that Siddharth knew Sophie and they plotted Remo's murder.
That being the case, why would the director show Siddharth telling Sophie (on behalf of Remo) that he's a different kind of man, that he's gay..etc.
Doesn't make sense.
The "setting up" would've happened behind doors.
The second scene designed to throw off audiences is when Sophie goes to Siddharth's party and pulls him aside to tell him why she was tensed.
Again Siddharth and Sophie were partners in crime and they knew what was happening.
The scene was designed to have audiences think Siddharth was innocent.
Also, in the movie they show that Sophie makes up a story where here parents died in the crash caused by Remo's mother.
Totally unnecessary, just complicating the plot and adds no value to what Sophie and Siddharth were trying to achieve.Overall, the plot is OK.
Can watch on video or DVD.
But I just wish that Indian directors mature soon enough..
Lovers too many !.
The title says, rivals in love !
what exactly does that mean ?
No doubt, Tanushree Dutta, a one time Miss India, is sexy, bewitching, dramatic, smart, waxing eloquent on the philosophy of love and life etc.
, but three men in love with the same woman ?
isn't that a bit too much to handle ?But our heroine Sophie,seems to manage it with considerable ease, as she is an expert at her seductive games, and like money and diamonds, so she has to really strike a balance, as to the richest man, and also the one, who would satiate her passion.
As far as the casting is concerned, Rahul Khanna, and Tanushree are well chosen, so also Sharman, who plays Siddhartha.
but it's Shergil, who seems a little out of place, with the get up that's given to him, as well as his character, which is a confused one.
He and Tanushree make an odd pair, where as Sharman fits the bill with his exotic dances, and young age.
However, he tends to ham many a times, when he shouts his heart out, over the supposedly traumatic childhood , and the long term hatred nourished for his father, who disowned him, and unnecessarily for Remo, who was just a child at the time of the tragedy.While you wonder, who is the real love of the shady heroine, the plot line gives you a jolt, by bringing Siddharth into the picture, and ideally, the movie could have ended there itself, saving the viewers, a lot of inconvenience, to see Remo alive again, Sunny helping to arrest the real culprit, Siddhartha emerging with that killing rod, Sophie's action making Remo aware of the danger, and both the villainous characters dying their gruesome deaths, as per the demand of the poetic justice !
Haven't we seen these kind of one-up situations plenty of times ?
On other counts, Rahul Khanna gives a very mature and sensitive performance.
It's creditable, that unlike Amitabh Bacchan, who leaves no stone unturned, to hype and boost Abhishek, his son, both Akshaye Khanna, and now Rahul, try to stand on their own merits.
why the industry is not using more of this talented actor, is beyond understanding.
Tanushree looks good, and has an average, yet one of her better performances to her credit.
others are o.k. what is outstanding of this movie, is the dialogs, which are penned down quite matter of factly, and also delivered sensibly.
Cinematography is pleasant, and music scores are tolerable.
but why were those hurting blue lights were used in some of the scenes ?If only they wouldn't have dragged this movie, in order to stretch the imagination to the maximum, like in one of those Hollywood flicks, Wild Things, or even Humraaz, of Bobby Deol, i would have rated this one at 8 out of ten.
still, it's not avoidable either, for it's twists and turns, and especially for the male viewers, Tanushree sizzles !.
Confused and overambitious.
The movie sets out to be a gripping thriller with numerous unpredictable yet well carried out twists but ends up a hash of everything filmy.
To be fair, the movie does get around to catching your attention for a while in the second half.
However, the director finds himself in the twilight zone unable to decide between making it a 'wild things' or a 9:00 pm TV Soap.
The final half hour or so seems more like a free for all with perhaps everyone from the actors (most of them of the ham variety), to the spot boys contributing dementedly to the script.
The twists are not in sync with the first half of the movie and are as believable as Tanushree Dutta's histrionics.
If Sidharth (Sharman Joshi) was always hand in glove with Tanushree, then why would he speak to her over the phone in the beginning and do the whole act of introducing his friend as a gay.
For such an expert planner, why would Sidharth and Tanushree just go off for a Bahamas vacation immediately after the murder.
If the plan was just to shoot Mr Khanna, then why did Tanushree have to entice, trap, sleep with and set up poor guy Jimmy Shergill.
Any hired killer would have done it without a hassle.
How did the money suddenly disappear from the ICICI account.And yeah, did they really have to bring in a tormented mother angle to the proceedings, why couldn't Sharman Joshi be just plain vanilla evil.
These and many more remain either unanswered or imminently avoidable or both.
If only someone had paid a little more attention to details in the movie, this one could well have been one of the better ones to come out of Bollywood.
A pity. |
tt1190617 | An American Carol | Left-wing activist and filmmaker Michael Malone (Kevin Farley), a parody of Michael Moore, campaigns to end the celebration of the Fourth of July holiday. Malone holds pronounced anti-American views and truculently argues that America's past and present are both offensive, and therefore should not be celebrated.
On the evening of July 3, Malone watches a speech from President John F. Kennedy and mistakenly interprets the speech to mean avoiding war at any cost. President Kennedy rises out of the television set, corrects Malone regarding the intent of the speech, and informs him that he will be visited by three spirits.
The following morning, Malone is visited by General George S. Patton (Kelsey Grammer), who shows him an alternate United States where slavery still exists because Abraham Lincoln (founder of the Republican Party) chose not to fight the Civil War. Malone later sees George Washington (Jon Voight) who gives a passionate speech about God's gift of freedom and the price many people pay for others to have it. Malone is visited by the angel of death (Trace Adkins), who takes him to a future Los Angeles completely taken over by radical Islamists. He is then taken to the ruins of his hometown in Michigan, which has been destroyed by a nuclear bomb planted by Al Qaeda. In a mortuary, Malone learns that he will be killed in this attack, leaving nothing behind but his trademark hat and "big ass." Facing his death, Malone pleads for his life with the Angel, promising to change. However, all is not well after Malone's revelation, for Aziz, a Middle Easterner he had interviewed, is actually a terrorist who will bomb a 4 July rally along with his underlings Ahmed and Fayed. However, when Fayed and Ahmed learn they are going to be detonated along with the planned bomb, they figure their slim chance of survival is by seeking out Malone.
Later, Malone arrives at an anti-Fourth of July protest rally and publicly renounces his former views. This triggers an outraged mob from which he is rescued, however, by American servicemen. Meeting up with Malone, Ahmed and Fayed defuse their own bomb, thus sparing the people at the anti-Independence Day rally and resulting in the capture of the terrorist Aziz. Safe inside a country music concert, the three are formally welcomed to "the real America" by Trace Adkins (this time as himself). A reformed Malone then goes to a Navy base to see his nephew Josh off to the Persian Gulf. He tells Josh how very proud he is of him and promises to look in on his wife and family during his deployment. In the final scene, Malone now decides to make films he feels people would appreciate, as well as Fayed and Ahmed as part of the crew, who have been pardoned for foiling the bombing. Malone is last seen working on a biographical film about President Kennedy. | absurd, satire, storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0053930 | Hyde and Go Tweet | Sylvester is sleeping on the ledge of a tall building. He is just outside the window of the laboratory and office of mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll, who is shown entering the laboratory, drinking a Hyde Formula and briefly turning into a monstrous, evilly laughing alter-ego. Sylvester hears the laughter and awakens startled, but when he looks inside the window, he sees only the re-transformed Jekyll departing the laboratory. Sylvester laughs it off and resumes his sleep.
Suddenly waking up, Sylvester tries to catch some pigeons, but to no avail. He then pursues his prey, Tweety, along the building's ledge. Tweety escapes inside the laboratory and hides in the Hyde Formula bottle. Sylvester demands that Tweety show himself, which he does now as a crazy, giant bird of prey that - after years of harassment, being chased and with payback on his mind - begins chasing Sylvester.
Sylvester is frantically summoning the elevator, and he turns and looks down a corridor, and Tweety/Hyde is ambling along, laughing maniacally.
For most of the rest of the cartoon, Tweety frequently switches between his usual, innocent self (which Sylvester chases) and the evil bird-monster (from which Sylvester runs away). After several back-and-forth chases (which includes Sylvester being tricked by the normal Tweety into running into an out of order chute for an elevator, as well as jumping out a window to escape the monster form), Sylvester nabs a normal-sized Tweety. Unaware of the fact that the monster bird and his potential meal are one and the same, the cat locks himself in a small kitchen, throws the key out the window to make sure that Tweety doesn't "...get out and that 'goon' don't get in," and begins to make Tweety into a sandwich. But while Sylvester is searching for some ketchup, Tweety changes back into his menacing, Hyde-like self and devours his adversary whole in a single gulp. Sylvester frees himself and tries to escape the room.
Just then, Sylvester awakens... to realize that this was only a nightmare and to see a normal-sized Tweety struggling to fly to the ledge of the building. Fearing the events of his nightmare are about to come true, Sylvester is convinced that Tweety poses a giant risk to his well-being. Sylvester cries out and runs through a brick wall to escape (He is found by Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in Quackbusters). Two cats (variants of the cats in Birds Anonymous) observe his action and refer to it as cowardice. Tweety agrees on that. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Hysterical.
While not the first on most lists as a great Tweety and Sylvester cartoon, this is one of my personal favorites.
It features a classic moment of a huge yellow finger, capped with a crooked claw, tapping Sylvester on the shoulder, with Sylvester literally falling to pieces when he turns around.
All in all, a loud laugh for me every time I see it!.
The concept has been done to death, but Hyde and Go Tweet is still very funny and very clever.
Hyde and Go Tweet is one of my personal favourite Sylvester and Tweety cartoons.
The concept loosely based on the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde idea isn't exactly original, and has been done to death not only in Looney Tunes but also in Tom and Jerry and Scooby Doo, however despite this which is by no means a flaw, Hyde and Go Tweet is very funny and very clever.
The animation is very impressive I think, it is colourful and vibrant, and the music sets the atmosphere well.
The dialogue is minimal but is good, but the sight gags are what make the cartoon especially when Tweety turns into a Hyde-version of himself at unexpected times.
Tweety is cute at times as he usually is, and his Hyde-version did scare me admittedly when I was little.
Sylvester is even better, he is the butt of the joke and he takes it well.
And Mel Blanc is exceptional, especially as Tweety's-Hyde version, actually it was the laugh that frightened me most about Tweety's-Hyde form.
Overall, funny and clever, with a slightly unoriginal concept, but it makes the most of it and makes something interesting out of it.
10/10 Bethany Cox. One of the Last of the Best.
This classic Tweety and Sylvester cartoon was one of the last great ones from that era of magnificent Looney Tunes shorts.
The sight of a huge, slobbering Tweety in a role reversal of chasing Sylvester around, was not an original idea, but an old idea done with that 50's Warner Bros.
flare that has sadly never been equaled.Two years ago I took my family out to the movies for a couple of nights in a row to see a mini Looney Tunes film festival.
The second night Hyde and Go Tweet was one of the selections and was a huge smash with the sold out audience (you hear that AOL/Time/Warner/etc?
- SOLD OUT!).
Not any of us has seen this cartoon since then, but we were recently talking about those two nights and recalled this one quite fondly..
"Just being a pussycat is a constant hazard.".
Tweety, on the run from Sylvester, jumps into a bottle of Dr. Jekyll's Hyde formula and changes into one of the scariest cartoon birds I've ever seen.
A funny short from Friz Freleng that is yet another cartoon take on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
It may have been done before but this is still very enjoyable.
Every time Tweety changes into that thing and poor Sylvester gets scared, you'll find yourself laughing.
Great music from Milt Franklyn.
Wonderful voice work from the incomparable Mel Blanc.
The animation is nice and colorful with well-drawn characters and backgrounds.
Pretty fun stuff.
The Hyde Tweety alone makes it worth a look.
My only complaint is that I didn't like the ending much..
living on the (l)edge vs.
cowardice.
I remember that I originally saw "Hyde and Go Tweet" in the compilation film "Daffy Duck's Quackbusters", but now I've finally gotten to see it in its own form.
I actually derive that there's more to it than simply being a cartoon.
Early on, Sylvester - after nearly falling off the ledge on the side of a building when he tried to catch some birds - says "Being a pussycat is a constant hazard." Less than a minute later, Tweety - having shakily landed on the ledge - says "They still haven't perfected flying." That's when Sylvester chases Tweety into a science lab, where Tweety jumps into Hyde formula; the rest, as they say, is history.It's interesting to think that, despite their evident antagonism towards each other, Sylvester and Tweety appear to live somewhat parallel existences in this respect; obviously, things become more dangerous for them as they chase each other back and forth throughout the cartoon.
Maybe if they both came to understand how unsafe life is for each other, they wouldn't be enemies.Of course, I mean all that figuratively/metaphorically.
But there is yet another topic that the cartoon brings up: cowardice.
He was lucky that he was a civilian and not a soldier, because had that been cowardice in the face of the enemy during wartime...well, just watch Stanley Kubrick's movie "Paths of Glory" and you'll see what I mean.I'm probably reading too far into this cartoon.
It was most likely intended as pure entertainment, and it does come out pretty entertaining.
Worth seeing..
The always eponymous Warner Bros.
through their crack team of Animated Shorts Seers (aka, The Looney Tuners) explicitly reveal the character of "Tweety" for the unmitigated Threat to Humanity that it allegorically represents in this brief cartoon, HYDE AND GO TWEET.
After being doused in the "Mr. Hyde Formula" (that is, money) Tweety turns into an overbearing monster that eventually eats "Sylvester Cat" (representing we True Blue Normal Average Loyal Patriotic 99 Per Center Progressive Union Label Americans, of course).
To add to the fiendishness of the situation, Tweety ALTERNATES between his normal digitally-challenged self (notorious on Twitter, but frequently dismissed--with tragic consequences--as "all bark, no bite") and the Russian Red Commie KGB-controlled two-ton ogre now calling all the shots in the once Independent USA.
At 5:30, when Tweety finally swallows Sylvester, can any of Today's viewers NOT see Warner warning us through their cartoon prophets about Putin's SCOTUS attacks against World Travelers, Union Members, LGBT-Q folk, and Democracy (i.e., "One Citizen, One Vote) this week? |
tt1043844 | Eyeborgs | The movie opens by explaining current events such as the passing of the "Freedom of Observation Act" and the subsequent implementation of ODIN (Optical Defense Intelligence Network), including the development of a new type of mobile camera drone, the eponymous "eyeborg". The system is administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Sankur (Dale Girard) is making a deal to purchase a shotgun while an eyeborg watches the transaction. The eyeborg is discovered and the deal is aborted. Homeland Security agents rush in to find that Sankur has escaped and the other party in the gun deal is dead.
Brandon (Devin McGee), the lead singer of a band known as "Painful Daze", is in a car with a girl. "G-Man" (Danny Trejo), approaches them to deliver a rare bag of banned North Carolina tobacco. After G-Man leaves, the two begin smoking the tobacco - but are interrupted and killed by a large six-armed eyeborg.
With Brandon missing, Jarett (Luke Eberl) becomes the lead singer of "Painful Daze" at the next night's gig. As he sings, eyeborgs search for Sankur, who has entered the building. They signal an alarm that causes a panic, during which Sankur tries to shoot Jarett. An eyeborg blocks the shot. Jarett falls, unharmed, but breaks his guitar. It is revealed that Jarett is the President's nephew.
Sankur is captured and taken to the regional DHS office. During interrogation, Sankur is shown video footage of his earlier gun deal, showing him to be the dealer's killer. Sankur protests his innocence despite the apparent proof of the video. Agent Gunner (Adrian Paul) gets a message to report to the front desk, leaves the room with his partner, and locks the door. Four eyeborg security cameras detach to attack Sankur, but the door opens, allowing him to escape. A foot chase occurs, stranding him on level six. When the elevator he is waiting for opens, a large eyeborg emerges and pushes him over the banister, causing him to fall to his death.
Jarett and Ronni (Julie Horner) are making out when the news is announced that the President has declared war on the (fictional) country of Zimbekistan, which catches Ronni's attention. She shows Jarett a bank error where a large sum of money has been deposited in their account from Zimbekistan.
Back at the regional DHS office, Agent Gunner comes under fire over security footage showing that he failed to lock Sankur's door. Meanwhile, Barbara (Megan Blake) (newswoman) and Eric (Juan-Carlos Guzman) (cameraman), who earlier witnessed Sankur's death, find a video file in Sankur's apartment. Meanwhile, Jarett goes to G-Man, whose face is finally revealed, and asks him to fix his guitar. During their meeting they discuss the eyeborgs, which Jarett approves of and which G-Man doesn't trust.
Eric analyzes the video from Sankur's apartment and calls Barbara to tell her the video file is fake. En route in a news van to give her the evidence, he is attacked by a new type of eyeborg. It force feeds him a bottle of whiskey and causes him to crash, attempting to make it look like the result of drunk driving. While he manages to get out of the news van alive, he is immolated by a flamethrower carried by the eyeborg that attacked him. Barbara is notified of the wreck and, when told that he was drunk at the time of the accident, she doesn't believe it. Shortly thereafter, G-Man is attacked and killed by a large eyeborg. Jarett arrives and is momentarily pinned to the ground by the escaping eyeborg, after which he finds G-Man's body. He tells Gunner what he saw, but video of the alley shows a human leaving G-Man's place rather than an eyeborg.
Growing increasingly suspicious, Gunner asks Jarett to meet him and tells him that he believes that Jarett did see an eyeborg leaving the scene of G-Man's murder, and that he suspects that the system is compromised and that the President may be in danger. He asks Jarett for help in warning the President, since Jarett has been asked to play at the President's campaign debate. While Jarett is out, Ronni is attacked by two eyeborgs and manages to call him, but the call is cut short. When he arrives, he finds her dead, with her wrists slit as though she has committed suicide.
Jim Bradley (John S. Rushton) and Gunner go back to G-Man's to see if they missed anything. They find a secret room containing plans for weapon-carrying eyeborgs, plus a malleable C4 variant which was formed into the pickguard on Jarett's guitar. They try to leave to warn the President that Jarett's guitar is a bomb but Jim is killed by an eyeborg, which Gunner manages to disable. Gunner gets to the Millennium Center, where the Presidential debate is being held. But when he arrives on stage, there is no President or crowd present. He realizes that the President is dead, and that ODIN is in control and has been using Presidential power to declare war so that it can spread.
A group of warbots shows up and begins firing on the DHS agents. Barbara is run into by her new camera bot, but she tells Gunner where he can find Jarett. Gunner and his team manage to free Jarett, whose likeness is being scanned for use by ODIN, just as two newer and more deadly eyeborgs attack and kill all but Jarett, Gunner, and Barbara. As Gunner is leaving with Jarett, Barbara gives him the only video evidence of what happened at the Millennium Center. Too injured to leave herself, she shoots the eyeborgs to distract them before shooting the guitar, detonating it and the barrels of flammable liquid in the basement, destroying the Millennium Center.
With the explosion of the Millennium Center broadcast on national television, the President is considered dead. The news shows the vice-president being sworn in, and in an address to the public declares Jarett a traitor and shows video of him detonating his guitar in the debates, killing the President and all in attendance. Gunner goes to see Jarett, who is alive and disguised as an altar boy, and tells him that Barbara's video has gone viral and even ODIN cannot stop it.
The movie ends with Gunner shooting an eyeborg in an alley and declaring he does not need their eyes anymore. | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | Low-budget execution of a good concept.
With a name like "Eyeborgs", you know it has to either be really bad or really funny.
You'll see in the end that it's a pretty original idea; it just suffers from mediocre execution, likely due to its low budget, which is a real shame.
Far from polished, the script was only "eh", and the fight choreography was worse, especially when the robots and humans fought hand-to-hand.
The placement of CGI within real-world shots was generally not too believable, but that's somewhat understandable considering the budget.
The little camera robots are cute, like tiny robotic gremlins going around killing people, with distinct and consistent personalities.Unfortunately, the first hour or so of this isn't that absorbing.
The concept itself is good though, and you won't fully appreciate it unless you sit through the entire movie to find out the real deal.
The last 20 minutes are when things pick up and I actually felt absorbed by the movie, and I dare say, it may actually end up leaving you with something to think about..
Eyeborgs is a Sci-Fi flick that seems part Robocop part Predator.
It is low-budgeted but pretty good for an Independent flick and worth at least a rental..
Eyeborgs on Blu-ray looks very good for an Independent low-budgeted film.
The acting is a little shaky but most of it is the supporting cast with the exception of Supporting Actor extrordinaire Danny Trejo.
The Eyeborgs themselves remind me a lot of the Ed-209's in Robocop (they even sound like them) at least the miniature ones do.
The bigger Eyeborgs are another robot/creature entirely.
You can read my full review here - http://www.movie-vault.com/reviews/eyeborgs-bluray/.
I am giving this 10 out of 10 because it is a surprisingly good science fiction film that should have a much wider viewing than it is getting.
If you know your science fiction you will easily see this film's pedigree.
If you don't know your science fiction, you should do everyone a favor and stick to reviewing what you know and enjoy.In Eyeborgs, we are treated to a near future surveillance and mechanized police state society gone to its logical extreme.
It is done in a campy but satisfying way not unlike the Robocop movies.
If you like science fiction get your Jiffy Pop ready and spin this one up on your little DVD player or patch into your high speed internet and let the electrons and photons begin to stream..
As a Highlander Series fan I watched this film hoping for good things, but was disappointed.At a high-level the plot and premise have real potential, but this potential is never realized because the actual script and directing are mediocre at best.
Character development is also weak and you really don't get to know the characters or care about them much.Adrian Paul's performance was competent, but uninspiring, probably due to mediocre dialog.
Likewise, the other actors performances are hard to critique because they really did not have much with which to work.Somehow, in spite of the above, the ever present cameras and Eyeborgs do create a really creepy atmosphere and made me think I do not want anything even close to a society infested with Eyeborgs.So in spite of its many flaws, good special effects and just enough of everything else still allows Eyeborgs to achieve its objective of making us question an ends justifies the means approach to fighting terrorism..
I saw Eyeborgs at its premier screening in St. Pete Beach, and it is a fun "killer robot" movie wrapped around a moral/political message.
However, in essence it is a fun movie about robots being used to take over society.
An independent film with a very high production value and excellent special effects.
Very good performance by Adrian Paul as the Department of Homeland Defense Agent.
I definitely recommend this movie for sci-fi fans..
Robot Watchers Are Watching Now. This movie has it's good points and it's bad points Yet there is just something about this movie that holds your attention all the way through.
The special effects are not fantastic but they are very good.
The acting in general is not great, but it is for the most part, fairly good.
The story line is not new yet, it seems to work within the context of the movie.
Don't expect Star Wars or Star Trek but there is mystery and action and a little bit of thrills, and plenty of robots.
Very importantly, I did not feel the movie was slow in parts as it kept my mind engaged and I also found myself thinking more about what was going on in the movie rather than what I thought could have been done better.
It does borrow concepts from other great movies to an extent, but given that there are so many science fiction movies out there now, it is hard to come up with any real new and "never been done" ideas.
For those that like to get an idea of the basic concept of the move and it's components like acting and plot, I think of this movie as an updated version and cross between 1984, and Colossus: The Forbin Project.
Surveillance Security vs Freedom
Slick Low-Budgeter.
Slick Looking Conspiratorial B-Movie with a Multitude of CGI Surveillance Robots that are the Government's New Tool in a "Big-Brother is Watching" Scenario that is Beginning to Find its Place in the Cinema of the New Millennium.
Cue Benjamin Franklin.This is a Scary and Creepy Film that At Times can be too Good Looking for its Own Good.
Some of the Ominous Observing Robots can Look Cute and Cuddly and Maybe that's the Point.
Just Like the Government is Your Friend and Bill O'Reilly is "Definitely looking out for You".The Excellent Plot and its Twists are Above Average for its Type.
Of Course, the Images are Sent Back to a Centralized Network (Skynet?) and Manipulated to Make it look like anything They want and that's the Flaw in the Argument Against the Peeking Patrols of Not Only Eyes in the Sky but Eyes Everywhere.This is a Fine B-Movie that Thinks and Entertains with Some Gusto from a Talented Director.
Second, a mobile robotic system of cameras have been introduced, called "Eyeborgs".
There is an attempt to assassinate Mr. Eberl, but he survives when handsome ODIN agent Adrian Paul (as Robert "Gunner" Reynolds) and his Eyeborgs make the scene.
Pushy blonde TV reporter Megan Blake (as Barbara Hawkins) smells a story...Curiously, Eberl is the nephew of the President of the United States.
Even more curious, Mr. Paul's subsequent investigation of the killer reveals something disturbing about our protective Eyeborgs.
"Eyeborgs" would rank a couple notches higher if not for the shaky cameras.
Some of the wobbling looks natural, but there are many times when the camera is shaking uncontrollably.
It's not too bad during the erotic car wash, though...****** Eyeborgs (4/29/09) Richard Clabaugh ~ Adrian Paul, Luke Eberl, Megan Blake, Danny Trejo.
Excellent Entertainment; movie is way under-rated..
Great science fiction story and a scenario that could actually become a reality.
Movie starts out a bit rough with kiddy's attempt at music which is noise to delicate ears, but, the saving grace is the torture is short lived.
If you're into good science fiction this is it.
I found this movie better than Robocop.
The story has mystery to it that I doubt any movie goer seen coming.
The special effects and acting was up there so as not to mark down for.
After viewing this movie you may be looking for cameras the rest of your life.
In sum, it's a better than average science fiction movie.
I really liked it for how they handled the SF elements, developing a reasonable What If scenario which they spin off from the surveillance aspect of our governmental enthusiasms for security theater.
Even without that, the characterizations and action sequences would be enough to place this movie much higher than what you'd normally find by frittering away the same amount of time on, say, a SyFy channel original movie.I doubt there were many $$$ involved in this.
It's good to see a SF movie which starts with a decent story and is handled with enough care to show that the makers don't think they're looking down on the audience..
Low budget and bad bad bad acting.
Story line good.
But acting is bad at its best.
Its really frustrating to look at the film.
I had to fast forward the film few times to avoid seeing the bad acting parts.
Acting of the boy is really really bad.
I don't think he is a good actor.
he should have recognize that there were lots of bad acting.
The story line have lots of places where you could easily bring up thrill.
This is one of the really bad films I have ever seen.
This could become a great hit if not for this bad acting.
Pretty good B-movie.
EYEBORGS executes a simple B-movie premise with energy and efficiency: various characters encounter and are forced to battle against a new wave of 'eyeborgs', which are strange robotic critters that appear to be drones with legs.
Said 'eyeborgs' have been taken over by a nefarious power, their forces growing while investigators attempt to uncover the conspiracy behind them.What this all boils down to is an action-packed flick in which the protagonists are constantly fighting off attacks by the deadly machines.
The hero duties are handled by Adrian Paul (TV's HIGHLANDER), playing his tough-guy routine with aplomb; also along for the ride is Danny Trejo, although he appears to be locked in a basement for his scant screen time.What I noticed most about EYEBORGS is that the CGI effects are actually very well achieved.
They're not 100% realistic, of course, but for what must have been a low budget they're excellent and the robots get plenty of screen time too.
As usual, the script is what ends up lacking the most, but the plentiful action at least keeps this one entertaining throughout..
When I saw this movie on the Syfy channel, I couldn't get into it and was surfing around to other channels, this movie was cheesy where there should had been a tension and suspense, but I came back toward the end to see what might happen, as this is so bad it was good and I wanted to see where this movie would end.
And I was surprised, it was if there was another movie that had come on.
The 3rd act of Eyeborgs presents a thought provoking concept and has good action.
So remake this movie with a decent budget and script, it's a great story..
In a near-future USA its citizens are under perpetual surveillance from Eyeborgs, mobile robotic cameras, used by the police to stop crime happening and to convict any criminals they see.
A big hairy ranting paranoid man is arrested when tries to shoot Jarrett Hewes (Luke Eberl) the nephew of the American President as he is performing with his punk band.
Agents from the Department of Homeland Security 'Gunner' Reynolds (Adrian Paul) and his partner Bradley investigate to see if there is any other threat.
During the investigation Gunner become suspicious of the Eyeborgs and his suspicions are confirmed by evidence from TV reporter Barbara Hawkins (Megan Blake).This film covers a lot of old ground but it is a pretty good take on the ideas that make up it main story.
While 'The Matrix' and 'The Terminator' had humans at war with the machines this film suggests that their route to dominance and control may be through taking advantage of suspicion and fear to encourage humans to surrender their freedom to the machines.The design of the robots was okay especially the little two-legged ones that almost look like toys but they turn out to have more in common with a certain silver ball from 'Phantasm'.
This is film is worth a watch, not too deep and not too dumb.
Ignore the negative reviews - this is a good, exciting movie!.
I don't know where the barrage of negative reviews on this site comes from - given the plot of the movie, about out-of-control government surveillance, I'd almost believe they were part of a campaign to deter people from watching it.The film is suspenseful, thought-provoking and well-acted.
The script was tight and literate and the direction and camera work kept me glued to the screen.And given the premise, it raises a disturbing question of how much of what passes for news in the media is actually real - a photo-shopped picture of a monkey holding a semi-automatic handgun that was used by FOX News to illustrate a discredited story about monkeys being taught to kill U.S. soldiers - immediately comes to mind.So if you are looking for a fast-moving, well-done and entertaining way of passing some time, don't believe the bad reviews.
When I saw this I thought it was going to be a cheesy, low budget, poor acting movie.
The movie wasn't able to maximize its potential but it still makes you think.
So let's break movie down: ACTING.
The movie flows OK but there's so many unexplained bits and pieces that should have been linked or explained.
The singer from the band and the girlfriend are killed in the car making the President's uncle the new lead singer.
No connection to the movie's plot.
It's like two plots to kill the President.
The plot line is confusing at times.
We never figure out who is controlling the eyeborgs (likely the VP) or if they are acting independently (AI).
Sometimes it seems like it has to be the latter but the basic plot line only seems to benefit the VP.GRAPHICS.
The larger units looked a little too computer generated at times but other units, such as the soldier units, looked good.So why give it a 6 instead of a 2 or 3?
In the movie people could never get away from the cameras.
Even low end criminals selling guns, dope or plotting to kill the President couldn't keep them out of their houses.Also found it unsettling how they relied on robots for all evidence such as film footage, blood samples and other crime scene investigations.
No one thinks for themselves.Finally it has the feeling and the closing that would work well as a pilot for a TV show.It's worth a rental or purchase in the low cost movie bin..
This was fun.Possible future in which an advanced AI has control of remote cameras that are now mobile and can move and act.
If I hear that there's a movie floating around called Eyeborgs, that's it: I'm kind of honor-bound to watch it.
I'll admit that I grabbed this Blu-ray disc expecting some sort of schlocky campfest with a cartoonishly over-the-top sense of humor and bargain basement CGI...something ripped out straight of the SyFy Original Movie playbook.....
......The scale and scope of Eyeborgs' visual effects work is staggering by any standard, but that's especially true for a movie shot on such a low budget.
Again, there are somewhere around 700 visual effects shots throughout the film along with a legion of different types of machines.
While the basic idea and storyline has some faint potential in it (even if its a ripoff of the terminator franchise) the execution is below par, with 1-bit characters, crappy acting and crappy cgi sequences.
The last two might be attributed to low budget, but you don't need loads of money for a good screenplay.I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that this wasted strip of celluloid has over 5 points rating.
Maybe the audience really isn't thinking, or did our standard really fall THIS LOW?
What I really don't understand though is why did they make it to end like there is already a sequel in the making, did they honestly believe that this will be a hit or what?
Or if I think more on it, the ending makes this look like it was intended to be a back-door pilot for a TV show.
Everyone is under constant surveillance from mobile robotic cameras known as "Eyeborgs." Federal agent Robert J.
'Gunner' Reynolds (an excellent performance by Adrian Paul) uncovers a sinister conspiracy plot concerning the Eyeborgs while investigating a series of bizarre deaths.
Director Richard Clabaugh, who also co-wrote the clever script with Fran Clabaugh, relates the enthralling and entertaining story at a brisk pace, does a sound job of crafting a nicely paranoid atmosphere, and stages the exciting action set pieces with real aplomb.
The solid acting by the capable cast rates as another major asset, with especially praiseworthy work by Megan Blake as pesky reporter Barbara Hawkins, Luke Eberl as brash punk Jarrett Hewes, John S.
Danny Trejo has a small, but cool role as irascible guitar maker G-Man. The CGI robots look pretty funky (and they make these mean'n'snarly growling noises!).
I thought the acting was really hurting, and the lead actor was really a bad choice for a lead character.
I will say that the CG was good, but that was the only thing that was good about the entire movie.
All trash movie admirers will love it.
I had the impression that the movie was shot in a week and they did not have money to repeat some scenes.
The boy, his girlfriend, terrorist and a TV reporter are the result of the extremely bad casting.
Apart from Danny Trejo, the best acting in this movie is done by eyeborgs..
I wish I could rate the entire movie here, but the jerky camera work was making me so nauseated that I had to stop watching.
Sure, the acting pretty much was dismal, and some of the effects were obviously awful, but the premise of the movie's storyline was what grabbed me.
I could see where this could be going and the idea of cute little robots attacking and killing people at whim is something I really wanted to see. |
tt0093658 | Number One with a Bullet | Nick Barzack ("Berserk"), an irrational, unkempt and unpredictable cop, and Frank Hazeltine, his cultured, polite, and suave partner, follow a circuitous and highly circumstantial trail of clues, evidence, witnesses, and accomplices through Los Angeles. Barzack pauses only briefly for his mother, but repeatedly for his ex-wife. Hazeltine is almost too busy with every attractive woman he sees to pay attention to the thugs trying to kill him and his partner. But despite these distractions, Nick's dogged determination to get the man behind the dope scene eventually pays off.
The ladies' man Hazeltine and the borderline psychotic Berzack are narcotics detectives with a long history of wild behavior and effective work. Following Nick's hunch, they attempt to trace a new drug "black tar" to its source, beginning at a church fair which ends with Nick and his suspect in an armed standoff in drag. To calm the community, Nick and Frank are sent out of town to pick up a snitch, who is killed en route before naming his boss.
Nick tries to relieve his own stress by beating up a street pusher, then ends up in his ex-wife's arms, but she wants nothing to do with him. His mother's nagging only serves to remind him of why he's so driven. Frank relaxes with Zen and random women, but is inevitably interrupted by Nick's sick sense of humor and drive to get his man.
Following a lead from a fence, they use an addict to locate the hit-man who killed their snitch (and then the addict), but another hitter puts an end to their investigation. While on forced vacation, they interrogate the pusher Nick encountered earlier, who puts them onto a big deal going down soon. When their surveillance is interrupted and the kingpins nearly escape, followed by attempts on both of their lives and Nick's ex, they realize they're fighting a mole in their own department. Nick cracks, and threatens his suspected drug lord without evidence, and is suspended. But with help from Nick's mom and the fence, they set a plan in motion to expose the mole and the real ringleader. | murder | train | wikipedia | "Jesus man.
I love being a cop.".
Nothing new, but this routine action comedy (Produced by Cannon's Golan Globus) with its buddy cops angle gives it plenty of life as Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams' natural chemistry strikes up some amusing dialogue exchanges and messy situations.
It's on the cheap
and it looks it, but this doesn't fault how enjoyable it happens to be.
Cannon simply produces the goods; shattering action (shoot-outs -- one in drag and car / truck / air chases), a humorous script ("Old MacDonald had a shotgun"), likable good guys, scummy bad guys and a jazzy soundtrack.Nick Berzak (known as "Berserk" on the streets) along with his partner Frank Hazeltine are two L.A narcotic detectives, where Berzak believes the mayor of the community just also happens to be a big drug dealer despite everyone including his partner thinking otherwise.
Berzak would go to any lengths to prove it, but their undercover operations always seemed to be foiled as if there's a mole in the department.Carradine plays his character with a rugged, if crazy edge (he even eats raw meat) while Williams is the opposite as the affably smooth partner (a real ladies man).
However they both share a kooky sensibility and use unorthodox methods to get the job done.
Some character dramas appear; Berzak's relationship with his ex-wife (Valerie Bertinelli) opens up another side, while the moments with his mother (Doris Roberts) was another comical inclusion.
Barry Sattels made for the perfect slime ball.
The support cast is good; Peter Graves, Mykelti Williamson, Bobby Di Cicco, Ray Girardin, Michael Goodwin and Jon Gries.
Director Jack Smight visceral handling is sturdy, if at times clumsy but it moves at a comfortably steady clip and Gail Morgan Hickman's material has a real sense of irony and some running gags ("I'm just talking to myself sir").Stock, but entertaining 80s crime hokum."Don't say freeze.
It only pisses them off.".
"NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET"...
more bang for the buck..
Here we have an enjoyable buddy cop film, fresh from the buddy cop hey-day of the mid '80's.
Robert Carradine plays Nick Berzak (dubbed "Berzerk" by the perps who know him best), a rough and tough cop who always seems to be down on his luck.
His partner, Hazeltine (played by the original "Ladies Man", Billy Dee Williams), is the one who keeps him in line.
A perfect combination of good cop, bad cop.They're hot on the trail, with their gut instinct that the local mayor, DeCosta, is behind some elaborate drug smuggling connection.
Naturally, no one else on the police force believes either one of them, and it becomes clear throughout that there is a "rat" among them, who may be in on the scheme.Like I said, I found this enjoyable.
It's merely a "paint-by-numbers" action film, that is salvaged by the likeable charms of Carradine and Williams, with a good supporting cast headed by Peter Graves and Valerie Bertinelli.
If you are a fan of the Cannon Group and their "canon" of '80's action flicks, you should enjoy this.Story by Gail Morgan Hickman, who also wrote the Cannon/Charles Bronson films, "MURPHY'S LAW" and "DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN".
The script recieved a polish by James Belushi, to whom this film was initially intended as a starring vehicle.
* For added fun, one could develop a drinking game based on every time Carradine spouts the name "DeCosta"..
Nuthin' I like better than a good 'MOM' joke..
No one will ever say this was a "great film", but it's still got plenty of redeeming qualities that place it far above most of the tripe Hollywierd is pumping out these days.
An endless stream of subtle but hilarious one-liners ("Man, I was just on the toilet thinking' about you.
Ain't life a bitch?" and "I guess he shoulda froze." "Well, it's not like we didn't tell him."), scene setups that have been copied to death for their comic potential (like the drying-out scene), and the cliché but still fresh presentation of a classic buddy-movie.
Even the annoying characters (like Mom) are somehow entertaining in their own way.
It doesn't surprise me that this title is conspicuously absent from rental shelves, but I, for one, will be glad when it's finally available on DVD.PS I still find myself quoting this movie at least once a week: "No, thanks.
I'm on a low-mucous diet." :-D.
Very average-poor, but personal classic.
Don't get me wrong, this is a horribly by the numbers, worthless and forgetable film, but in my circle of friends it has developed a cult classic status.
This is due to a friend giving me repeated copies of it as gifts as a long running joke.
This caused me and some other friends to make our own sequel to it, Number 2 With a Bullet, to give to him on his birthday.
After showing our film to some more friends we then made another, Number 3 With a Bullet.
We even plan to make another in the next month.
These are crudely made pieces but are highly entertaining nonetheless (more so than the original it has to be said).I hope that one day the makers of this poor buddy movie discover the legacy they have created (just as long as they don't sue)..
Number Zero with a Dud. This has to be one of the worst films I have ever seen.
There is absolutely no action, to much no since talking, and very bad music.
I was about to hang myself with my belt if Robert Caridean sang one more tune as he has beetle eyes.
Billy Dee Williams couldn't fire a gun if a 800lb person stood one inch in front of him.
Doris Roberts should have retired thirty years ago for she has too many wrinkles for saying a quote.
I would rather have my nose bit by a rattle snake while eating liver and onions than to see this film again.
So save your time and watch real action films like Chuck Norris.
I give this film 1 out of 10,000,000 Mountain Dews. |
tt1398428 | YellowBrickRoad | In 1940 the entire town of Friar, 572 people, abandoned their town and walked into the wilderness with only the clothes on their backs after a viewing of The Wizard of Oz, a film that the entire town was obsessed with. No one has ever been able to explain why they did this. Only 300 of the townspeople's bodies were recovered: some had frozen to death in the elements, while others were killed in horrific and bloody ways. The remaining 272 citizens were never found, and the government designated the trail that the townspeople took as classified. Despite this, the town was eventually repopulated, although the townspeople are cautious of the town's history.
In the present day, the trail's coordinates have been declassified, and a film crew has arrived to travel the trail to learn about the disappearances and deaths, as well as what lies at the end of the trail. Crew leader Teddy found the trail's coordinates via Friar's cinema. The crew befriends Liv, a townsperson who works at the local cinema, and she agrees to accompany them on their trip.
The journey goes well initially, but soon the crew is terrorized by loud and jarring music that appears to come out of nowhere. Then crew member Daryl brutally murders his sister Erin and flees in the only vehicle, which also contains their food supply.
Desperate, the crew begins to argue and turn on one another. Several of the group's members kill themselves, either out of despair caused by abandonment or because they have been driven mad by the music and associated events. Daryl returns and murders Teddy's wife Melissa, before being killed himself by Liv. A weary and visibly shaken Teddy crawls to the final portion of the trail, where the music finally stops. He finds himself at what appears to be the cinema from the beginning of the film. There, he meets a sinister Usher, who forces him to sit in a theater empty except for a brief glimpse of smiling theatergoers implied to be the spirits of the dead townspeople. On the screen is footage of his wife, who has been transported by the Usher into a hellish landscape. Horrified, Teddy begins to scream but is cut off. | insanity, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1642252 | Kyonyû doragon: Onsen zonbi vs sutorippâ 5 | Ginko and Lena work at an unsuccessful strip club called Paradise Ikagawa Theatre with several other strippers, including Nene; Maria, an intelligent, red-headed gothic bookworm with a penchant for self mutilation; Lena, a fortune-teller; and Darna, who is raising money to see her siblings. Explaining how she became a stripper, Lena says that after returning from Mexico in desperate need of cash, she got drunk and slept with a homeless man instead of finding work. Hungover and disgusted, Lena steals his umbrella and leaves.
Lena receives a phone call from Manjiro, a deadbeat Ikagawa Promotions manager. Manjiro informs Lena Ginko got arrested recently, and he needs a dancer to perform for ten days. Lena reluctantly accepts. Lena meets up with Yudai, an employee of the strip club. Yudai tells Lena about a man whose unsuccessful attempt to build a spa resort next to the strip club led his family to commit suicide. Yudai informs them that the theatre will be closed tomorrow. After trying to lie his way out of paying them, Manjiro agrees to pay for the gig and offers them a strip show gig at a spa resort.
At the spa resort, a spa worker tells them that sex trade workers must come through the back door. Ginko says they are dancers, not strippers or prostitutes. The group performs a show for one of the spa attendees. The lead attendee insists on a sumo wrestling match between Lena and Ginko. Lena wins a cash prize, and Ginko is reluctantly forced to become a human sushi bar. Lena ends up unintentionally sleeping with the lead spa attendee after getting drunk.
Ginko becomes angry with Lena's habit of sleeping with men when drunk, and the two of them fight, ripping each other's shirts off and knocking down a stack of boxes. While cleaning up, Maria discovers a door leading to an underground cellar. The strippers discover the former owner had a collection of occult books and a strange, sealed-off well called the Well of Spirits. Darna finds a hidden stash of yen bills, and, Maria finds a medieval Book of the Dead. Believing she can use the book to perform necromancy, Maria chants several spells, which do not seem to work. Disappointed, Maria and the other girls leave the basement.
While preparing dinner, Ginko and Nene discover that the spell worked and has caused all types of deceased life, including raw fish and sushi, to return from the dead and terrorize Ikagawa. Darna sneaks into the cellar where she saw the money. She discovers a zombie is hidden underneath the pile of cash and is torn to pieces.
Back in the dressing room, Ginko and Nene inform Lena and Maria about the zombie sushi incident but are interrupted when they hear of a large audience outside. The audience is revealed to be zombies who have recently killed Yudai. The zombies attack them, and, although Nene is bitten, she escapes with Maria, Ginko and Lena. The zombies continue to emerge from the well and slaughter the citizens of Ikagawa, eventually spreading over Japan in a manner of seconds according to a reporter who is soon devoured. Although sharing the basic characteristics of infectious zombies, the zombies still retain their intelligence and intellect they had prior to being zombified.
While cornered in the dressing room, Maria betrays Lena, Nene, and Ginko and escapes. The three escape in the Ikagawa Paradise Theatre van, eventually driving to the spa resort. The van is ruined when running over an elderly human. Ginko recognizes a one eyed zombie among the crowd who was a killed Ginko's younger sister. He could not be touched legally due to being insane. Ginko kills the man by impaling him on an umbrella.
Meanwhile, Maria returns to the abandoned spa's basement, where she discovers the mutilated remains of Darna. The zombies attempt to kill Maria, who bribes them with flashing and candy. When these attempts fail, Maria chants a spell from the Book of the Dead and controls them. | violence, adult comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0094980 | The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years | The documentary follows the heavy metal scene in Los Angeles, with particular emphasis on the glam metal subgenre. Spheeris explores the more famous musicians, including Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Mustaine and Paul Stanley. She then explores unknown bands, such as London, Odin and Seduce. The film also features interviews with members of Poison, Tuff, Vixen, Faster Pussycat, W.A.S.P. and more. Serious issues such as drug usage, alcohol abuse, and censorship are tackled, as well as vanity issues like celebrity and sales.
The film is well known for its many scenes featuring rock star excess. The scenes include:
Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. is interviewed in a swimming pool beside his mother while extremely intoxicated. He stumbles through the interview, proclaiming himself "a full-blown alcoholic" and "a piece of crap" while pouring a fifth of vodka both in his mouth and on his head. It was later claimed the bottle of vodka that Holmes poured onto himself was actually water.
Randy "O", the lead singer of unsigned band Odin, insists the band will become millionaires and more famous than The Doors.
An interview with club owner Bill Gazzarri, who at the time organized a 'sexy rock and roll' dance contest, which was presented as being sleazy and sexist, at his club, Gazzarri's on the Sunset Strip.
Discussions with various musicians about the way women in general, and groupies in particular, are treated badly in the metal scene.
Riki Rachtman and Taime Downe, then owners of the Cathouse club in L.A., discuss how girls get entry to the club faster if they dress "sleazy."
Paul Stanley of Kiss is interviewed in a bed while surrounded from head to toe with girls.
Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith talk about spending millions of dollars on drugs and compares the band's style to masturbation.
As Ozzy Osbourne cooks eggs in a kitchen, he spills orange juice all over the table, apparently due to uncontrollable shakes. This was later claimed to have been faked. Spheeris also interviews him about sobriety, to which Ozzy replies, "It fucking sucks."
An interview with Lemmy from Motörhead. In his autobiography, he claims that Spheeris interviewed him from a distance, possibly in an attempt to make him look stupid.
Candid and sobering interviews from various artists about drug use, abuse and dying (or nearly dying) from overdoses.
Lastly, Spheeris takes her cameras to Sunset Strip to film the nightlife in 1980s Los Angeles. | cult | train | wikipedia | I have read the comment of my fellow viewer and apparent Heavy Metal Connisseur, who says this film falls short of completely covering the Heavy Metal scene at the time.But I really don't think that that's what Spheeris was trying to do.
Like any truly great documentary, it somehow manages to capture life, raw and unfiltered.The characters are funny, loveable, sad, pitiful, admirable, inspiring, bewildering, all at the same time.
While to the casual viewer the film may seem shallow and all fluff (which is how the LA metal was widely portrayed), if one looks past the hair, excess, bravado, t & a, and flowing alcohol,it is easy to uncover the painfully lonely, opportunistic, naiveté' of the struggling bands, and even some of those who "made it." The scene with Chris Holmes guzzling vodka in his pool was simply heartbreaking...and the expressions on his mother's face were fully able to convey her harsh reality.
One interesting element in viewing the film almost 20 years later, is how some of the bands downplayed or sidestepped the issue of drug use (note the expressions on their faces when substances are discussed), then appear on "Behind the Music" years later to reveal their debilitating addictions.Having been involved peripherally in the scene for a few years, I can say that Spheeris' portrayal was 100% accurate based on what I witnessed.
I would've liked to have seen the inclusion of other important bands of the LA scene (Motley Crue, Skid Row, etc), and a separate documentary highlighting British metal (Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest)would've been fantastic.It was a fun, irreverent, and exciting time!
If you lived through this period (like I did) and loved the music, then you will find much to enjoy here, from the live performances by L.A. staples Lizzy Borden and young (at the time) hopefuls Odin and Seduce, to the words of wisdom from hard rock royalty like Gene (Kiss) Simmons, Lemmy of Motorhead, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Looking at this movie nearly 20 years later you wonder how many of them wound up asking "Would you like fries with that, sir?" when the grunge movement came along in the early '90s and wiped hair metal off of the musical map.
In addition to the unintentionally hilarious interviews with the many band members and assorted hangers-on, the film is worth seeing for two things: the absolutely harrowing scene featuring Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P., who floats in his swimming pool, drunk as a skunk, telling the world "I drink because I'm not happy," and the scenes featuring Megadeth in the studio working on the song "In My Darkest Hour." In their interview scenes, Megadeth seem to be the most "together" and lucid band in the entire film, which is kind of ironic now because that short-lived Megadeth lineup eventually dissolved due to massive drug use.
We hear about struggling metal-heads who use women for their money and their food (they of course plan to pay them back with furs and cars when they get big.) And the always entertaining Poison treats us to a healthy dose of rock n' roll stupidity.
Interesting, in that almost all the bands showcased are so bad, and the "musicians" so horrid, that you can't take your eyes off them.You get a bunch of big guns, like Ozzy, Alice, Kiss, Poison, Lemmy and a few more.
Only thing is, this film is dead serious."The Delusional Years" would have been a decent title for this movie, when it comes to the unsigned bands they speak to - ALL of them are sure they are going to be rich, wealthy, legendary rock and rollers.
It's kind of cookie-cutter, just like the bands - a typical documentary that really could have been about many genres of music.The saddest part of course is the Chris Holmes sequence, with him drunk in a swimming pool while his mom watches.
The first film is such a brilliant snapshot of a certain time, and the social problems, great music, politics, and lifestyles on display are directly and deliberately contrasted with the dummies (NOT talking about Lemmy, Mustaine, and Aero here) in the "Metal Years" film.
I LOVE THIS MOVIE SOOO MUCH IT HURTSIt's brilliantthe best bits are chris holmes from W.A.S.P. drinking himself to an early grave in a swimming pool while his mother watches and frowns every time he says the "F" word, Odin being laughably awful and claiming they'll be bigger than the Stones and Zeppelin ("What if you don't make it?" "Oh but we will!" "Yeah but what if you don't?" "Oh, but we will though, see!?!")ha haIt has interviews with Aerosmith, Poison, Lemmy, Ozzy Osbourne (before he went all new-metal and put together the Ozzfest (grrr), Faster Pussycat, Riki Rachtman, Janet Gardner (before Vixen got big) & Megadeth and Live stuff from FASTER PUSSYCAT !!!this film is totally amazingIt's just a shame it's really hard to find in the UK!100000000000000000000r out of 10.
This is for 'timsd', You wanted to know where Teri Weigel is in this movie.......When Odin plays the two songs.......during the hot tub scene, Teri is one of the girls in the hot tub.......you cannot miss her.......if you know what Teri looks like........anyway, I guess I need to have 10 lines of bs here before I can post it, so I'll just keep going...........best parts about this movie...........Gene Simmons, Odin being bigger than Zeppelin or the Stones, Gazzarri's pageant, Chris Holmes drinking himself into an early grave while his mother sat by watching.....I remember this movie being right up there with Headbanger's Ball for those of us in the 80s.
Decline of Western Civilization Part 2, The (1988) **** (out of 4) I had seen the Aerosmith and Alice Cooper clips of this documentary via a bootleg but never got around to watching the film until IFC showed it the other night and I'm certainly disappointed that I waited so long because Penelope Spheeris' film is one of the best out there of its type and ranks highly among the best documentaries to be made about rock 'n roll.
I'll admit right off the bat that I didn't respond as strongly to the Decline of Western Civilization 2: the Metal Years as I did to Penelope Spheeris's first film and documentary, even as I know I did like this film.
The former was a kind of fly-on-the-wall (as I recall, not as many direct interviews, more concert footage) look at this way of rock and roll life- of LA punks- that Spheeris knew intrinsically.
In the Metal Years, she here isn't as much a fly on the wall in the sense of just getting the pure feeling of these people as she is getting answers to questions by a mix of highly popular and working-the-bottom bunch of Metal rockers.It of course can't cover everything in such an amount of time, and one might be slightly disappointed to see Britain's metal scene is sort of overlooked in the course of the film (not that it isn't represented in interviews with Ozzy and Lemmy, but Maiden and Priest fans, among others, may wonder wtf).
But if there is any single strength to this seemingly longer-than-90 minute film, with the interviews strung together in a interesting fashion alongside the concert footage, it's that this particular scene of American metal- particularly LA metal's scene- is captured very well.And in this capturing of this time and place and the people all abound in it, it's of course of note to mention that everything the musicians say is not 100% reliable, and here and there it definitely has the feeling of bulls***ing with Spheeris's questions (however clever and funny).
But there are enough true moments to really get the sense of these people at the time, that there is maybe at least some depth to the members of Poison (with really one good song in my opinion), or that Ozzy does have a very clear and honest view of what's gone on with him and the scene, or what rock means or drugs mean or sex.If there isn't always a focus in the line of questioning, or if there doesn't seem to be much of a structure to the film, maybe it's part of the point.
One interview with the drunk in the pool gives the most to try and shake off, even as the manipulation of the filmmaker kind of kicks in with having his mother right there watching him in his over-drunk state.But, it is at the end of the day an entertaining documentary, if only as being a fan of the sub-fold of music myself.
There was, like with other good documentaries, enough talk coming out of people to really chew on, and it shows Spheeris in a sort of different direction than in the other look at life in underground rock and roll.
(He doesn't try very hard....you can almost hear the cash register in his head going ka-CHING!) The other names on display (Ozzy, Tyler & Perry, Alice, Lemmy, etc) at least have genuine affection for the scene and the music - you can tell there's still a fan's heart beating in their chests.Let's hope the Odins and Jaded Ladys on view here didn't end up doing time later on, as these boys are jailhouse date-bait to the nth power.
This documentary delves into that period and only hints at the fracturing of the metal music scene.By the late eighties dinosaur metal bands like Iron Maiden and Judas priest were still around, but Metallica was moving doing speed metal and Venom had created black metal (or death metal) a few years before.
Bands like Megadeth and the godfathers of speed metal, Motorhead, have moments but are not really the focus of the documentary, perhaps because they rarely made it onto the charts or radio.Too bad, since the viewer receives something of a limited exposure to the dark, brooding, violent, and disaffected component to metal that appealed to a large swath of alienated working class and suburban youth.
What's left is the indulgent excess of the hair bands with lipstick, hairspray and spandex.In some ways this limits the movies relevance insofar as pop and glam metal imploded right around 1990 and is now relegated to nostalgia albums.
So while "Decline" barely hints at the parts of metal that survived, it concentrates on the glam elements that have largely disappeared, or been relegated to 100 seat venues in Ames, Iowa.No movie would have been able to gather in the whole spectrum of Metal attitudes, styles, music, history and the like, and this one doesn't even try.
(answer no: Pop Hair Band is more accurate) I would love for her to do a where are they now version---especially because London, Odin, Seduce went nowhere and Alice Cooper now golfs and is an upstanding member of the community (watching his interviews you can tell his persona is just an act...
A decent documentary about heavy metal in the 80's with interviews by Aerosmith, Poison, Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, and more.
The film includes footage & interviews of popular acts (KISS, Ozzy, Aerosmith, Megadeth, Alice Cooper, Poison), moderately successful bands (Faster Pussycat) and up-and-not-coming artists (London, Odin, Seduce).There are obviously staged parts, like the orange juice spill, Paul Stanley in a bed with three lingerie-clad women and the drunken pool sequence with Chris Holmes & his mother.
These portions were included to amuse, but they're also informative, as far as the commentaries from the actual musicians involved in the 80's metal movement go.The rest of the movie is footage of live interviews and concerts, mostly at clubs with emphasis on bands that frequented the L.A. strip.
The film covers the 87/88 metal scene and the people thereof, their ideas, attitudes, lifestyles and fronts.It's interesting going back in time to see iconic musicians when they were younger, like Lemmy, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Dave Mustaine and Alice Cooper.
so close.) And Lemmy being cool when everyone else (I am looking your way Paul Stanley) is simply trying too hard.The Bad: The bands; while the original The Decline of Western Civilization certainly didn't have all winners they at least had some bands that would later become famous (Black Flag) and some and that was actually good (X).
(Do you wear makeup and dress like a girl because you are in the band or did you join the band to wear make-up and dress like a girl seems to be an obvious softball just hanging there for some of these guys.) There are also very silly asides that drag the movie out such as an interview with the LA prosecutor investigating the Heavy Metal scene and an endless sexy rock and roll dance contest that is neither sexy nor rock and roll.In Conclusion: It is easy to forget with today's youth filming every moment of their lives how rare it was in the eighties for someone to point a camera at you.
A follow up to director Penelope Spheeris' earlier definitive punk rock documentary, its focus on the men (and women) who make hard rock and heavy metal is certainly a natural progression, since so many parental and authority figures abominated these genres as well.The film mostly consists of sit down interviews with some of the reigning kings of the genre and the confident (you could easily call them overconfident) up and comers of the era sharing their thoughts.
Obviously, the aspirations of groups like London, Odin, and Seduce for super stardom didn't pan out, and as Poison front man Bret Michaels points out, it is important to stand out from the pack in some over crowded genres.The sequences with Bill Gazzari, the so-called "Godfather of Rock 'n' Roll", only serve to add a titillation factor (not that some people will complain about that, mind you), and interviews with an anti-metal authority figure will likely get some viewers hopping mad.I found it interesting that Megadeth, one of my favorite acts from this era, are saved for near the end, given that they're one act that's portrayed as actually caring more about the music than fame and lifestyle.Overall, decent entertainment with a variable soundtrack (some of the new music is okay, some of it not so good).Seven out of 10..
I think the film was well worth watching for some of the bigger names: Ozzy Osbourne was pretty funny (when he was at least coherent), Lemmy was probably the most truthful about the scene and industry at the time, KISS (Gene Simmons and Paul Stanly) showing the pretentiousness of it all.
A cleaned-up Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith relate tales of their narcotic excesses, a rehabilitated Ozzy Osbourne has an amusingly pleasant morning chat while preparing breakfast {at one point, he misses a glass almost completely while pouring some orange juice and talking about his own alcoholism and drug use}, Alice Cooper in full makeup on the theatrical set takes umbrage at a certain band for what he feels is unjustified replication, KISS' Gene Simmons offers intelligent and concise commentary on the going-on within the industry, Paul Stanley also offers cohesive commentary amongst a bevy of beauties in bed, Lemmy Kilmeister of Motorhead offers gruff realities overlooking Hollywood, and WASP's {at the time} Chris Holmes drunkenly rambles on about his intoxicated exploits as his poor mother sits poolside, progressively becoming more inebriated with two bottles of Vodka - one can readily perceive his unfortunate mental degeneration.I thought club owner and sharp dresser Bill Gazzarri had quite a remarkably life-loving attitude, offering great opportunities to many bands who may otherwise would have never seen the spotlight, and initiated salacious events such as dance and strip contests for sexy young ladies.
This film concentrates largely on Hollywood 'pop-metal' and Glam rock._________* Incidentally, 'The Decline of Western Civilization part 3' features interviews with some of the homeless street dwellers of Hollywood..
The film makes the viewer feel smothered, as it pummels us with one horrid band after another, each one insisting, "well, we're not famous yet, but just wait til you hear our new album!" The successful musicians, like Paul Stanley and that drunk guy from WASP, come across as dorks who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
I discovered this film after hearing Megadeth was in it so I tracked down a PAL format VHS to DVD rip of the movie - needless to say, it suffers from the poor quality of the rip but still very enjoyable Anyways, I recently caught it again in hi def on IFC Films and reminded me why I like this so much - so many people who think they can make it by imitating others so much so that no one can tell them apart - great documentary and should be mandatory watching for any band that is up and coming (to keep their heads out of the clouds).One of the things I really enjoyed the most out of this, though, was to look back now and most if not all of the unestablished bands didn't even make anything out of themselves...
We hear from many well-known rock stars from such great bands as Aerosmith, Kiss, Ozzy, and Alice Cooper.
Featuring interviews with such popular musical acts like Kiss, Aerosmith, Poison, Alice Cooper, & others, also showcasing up and coming, unknown bands, like London, Lizzy Borden, Odin and Seduce through musical performances; the documentary electrifyingly chronicled the hair metal scene, from 1986 until 1988.
Besides, Motorhead's Lemmy, the famous musicians in the film, barely related to those locations; so scenes like the dancing contest at Gazzarri's come across as jarring and time-wasting.
Overall: While, the film doesn't have the informative depths that something like 2006's documentary, 'Heavy: The Story of Metal' or the raw edge of the first movie in Spheeris's series; it still worth watching for the amusing musical acts and the hilarious sequences that follow, even if some of them, were highly exaggerated & staged, such as Ozzy Osbourne making breakfast scene & the amount of Vodka that Chris Holmes drinks. |
tt0412467 | August Underground | Presented as a severely degraded home movie, the film opens with a man named Peter inviting his camera-wielding friend into his basement, where he is holding a woman named Laura captive. Having already killed her boyfriend (whose castrated body has been left in a bathtub to rot), Peter is keeping Laura alive so he and his accomplice can torture her at their leisure, committing sadistic acts such as slicing one of her nipples off, and covering her in feces and urine.
Next, the two are shown picking up a female hitchhiker, whom Peter coerces into performing oral sex on him. After climaxing, Peter beats the hitchhiker, and leaves her for dead on the side of the road. After returning to Laura, to whom they force-feed one of her now dismembered boyfriend's toes, the duo attend a concert (which they are kicked out of for rowdy behavior) and visit a farm, returning to the house afterward to find Laura has died.
After some mundane outings, such as touring a slaughterhouse and visiting a cemetery, Peter murders an old woman in her home, which he and the cameraman ransack. Later, the two harass and stab a convenience store clerk, and torment a pair of shoppers. The two try to take the wounded clerk or one of the bystanders with them, but abandon those plans when they hear police sirens approaching. The two then proceed to tour Roadside America, and visit a tattoo parlor. When the tattoo artist finishes giving Peter a tattoo, he and his twin brother are captured by Peter and the cameraman. The tattoo artist has a leg cut off with a meat cleaver, and is finished off by being bludgeoned with a hammer, his brother sharing his fate moments later.
The two are next shown at home doing drugs with a pair of prostitutes, with the cameraman going upstairs to have sex with one. When finished, the cameraman finds Peter in the basement, sodomizing the other prostitute while beating her with a hammer. Upon discovering the fate of her companion, the remaining prostitute tries to escape. In the chaotic chase that ensues, the camera is dropped and cuts off. There's dead silence as the credits roll. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0210094 | Happy Campers | When the rule-enforcing camp director at Camp Bleeding Dove gets struck by lightning, the counselors find themselves in sole charge of their campers, and themselves. Among them are the brooding and intellectual Wichita; Wendy, who is guileless and unabashedly religious; Talia, an outcast and former college friend of Wichita's; Pixel, a waifish hippie who bathes in the camp lake; Jasper, an openly gay man; the brutish Adam; and Donald, a nerdy and unconfident virgin.
Wichita, who initially finds himself repulsed by Wendy who is his polar opposite, begins to find himself attracted to her, and the two begin to court one another while the rest of the campers and counselors look on. An atheist, Wichita begins to question his belief in God after he finds a photo of himself as a child in the background of one of Wendy's family photos at Mount Rushmore; however, he does not tell her about it. The two eventually admit their feelings for one another, and Wendy loses her virginity to Wichita after having an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Meanwhile, Talia, who has feelings for Wichita, becomes disillusioned after he admits he simply wants to be friends; she later finds he and Wendy have become physically involved. Donald, urged by the rest of the counselors, attempts to court Talia, but she is resistant. Wendy, in order to test the legitimacy of Wichita's feelings for her, has Pixel attempt to seduce him in the woods. Wichita, who overheard their plan, kisses Pixel in front of her, and Wendy leaves in tears, believing he failed the test.
On the penultimate day of camp, Wichita confesses to Wendy that he had purposely failed she and Pixels' test; the same day in the woods, Adam confronts Pixel over their sexual relationship, and she rejects him, saying that their relationship was just a fling for her. At the camp mess hall, Donald and Talia incite a riot with the campers, and they all run into the woods in body paint and attack Adam, Pixel, Wichita, and Wendy with condoms fashioned into water balloons.
The next day, as Wendy and Pixel prepare to leave, Wendy notices that half of her family photo from Mount Rushmore has been torn off, which Wichita had taken and eaten to dispose of. As the campers and counselors prepare to leave, the children confess how much they meant to them. On the bus ride back, Wendy is forced to sit next to Wichita. Donald takes a photo of them with a camper in-between, asking them to smile for the photo, which appears on the cover of the following year's camp staff manual. | romantic, comedy, prank | train | wikipedia | This movie "sucks"...in a good way, according to Brad Renfro.
The film starts off seemingly as just another teen movie where stereotypes and cliches abound.
Some of the quotes from this movie are the most touching and profound lines I've heard from a film since "The Breakfast Club" (still, my all-time FAVORITE movie), such as "When it comes to the ritual of growing up, sometimes you smile because you're happy.
But hey, a smile is a smile." Those lines show that this movie goes deeper than just another teen flick and in the end, you have a feel-good feeling that stays with you for a while.
Profound meditation on the loss of sexual innocence disguised as a summer camp movie...got that?.
Daniel Waters guaranteed himself a place in cinema history with his debut screenplay "Heathers", one of the sharpest, blackest and downright original films of the second half of the eighties.
Thus the phrase "Daniel Waters' directorial debut" immediately raises expectations, will it be a twisted and perverted return to his "Heathers" world view?
The answer is yes.The premise is as warped as one would expect - a black, and I mean black, satire on the banal summer camp genre, using it as a metaphor for the point in our lives when, as teenagers, our childhood innocence gives way to the disappointments and tribulation of adulthood.
The film's primary saving grace, besides a typically biting screenplay from Waters, is his outstanding casting, notably Stormare, Swain, Renfro and, particularly, the underused Bergl, all of whom deliver fine performances but struggle with the main flaw in Waters' script, none of the characters are very likable.
Daniel Waters, the writer of Heathers, takes a turn in writing and directing his latest feature: Happy Campers.
Some parallels can be made between this film and Heathers, showing that Waters knew which elements worked: both have an overweight child who is picked on, then is later highly respected; both have a song/jingle that is overplayed, which drive a main character crazy; and both try to invent new words and catch phrases.
Someone says, "...doth protest too much," straight out of Hamlet; The term "fairies" is thrown around and the head counselor's name is Oberon, who was king of the fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream; and they toy with the idea of death by poisoning, which is a common end to many Shakespearean tragedies.
I greatly enjoyed this film - It took chances, and fought to stay out of the "cleaned-up summer camping movie" category.
Here it is ladies and gents, a heartfelt homage to something (seemingly) impossible to pay tribute to - late seventies/early eighties teen flicks (camp or slasher factor put aside).Lacking a strong narrative, "Happy Campers" seems to be drifting along without a clear flow, but the way the movie changes gears from obvious dumb-founded Teen-Comedy to a rather insightful character study is just amazing.
To direct something bad is easy, to direct something good is hard, but to take something that was once bad and elevate it to a meaningful and even touching movie about adolescence is next to impossible.
Sure the odd bits and pieces sometimes don't fit together, but anything this loosely structured is bound to have a few things falling by the way side.Nevertheless, I think only a handful of people could have been able to get away with a movie of this sort.
Daniel Waters brings us another underrated teen comedy that is destined to find a following just like his now cult classic writing debut "Heathers".
I picked up this movie solely because Dominique Swain is in it.
I didn't laugh a single time throughout the entire movie.And you would think that with Dominique Swain, Justin Long and Peter Stomare that you would be in for at least a somewhat enjoyable movie.
But alas, no, "Happy Campers" didn't deliver where it counted.The story is about a summer camp where the camp director is injured in a lightning accident, and it is up to the college student camp counselors to step up and run the camp in the directors absence.For a comedy "Happy Campers" was disturbingly devoid of laughs and funny situations.
And it was as if director Daniel Waters just wanted to focus on the sexual situations that he may or may not have experienced in camp himself.
As such, the movie sank from mediocrity right into downright ludicrous stupidity.This movie isn't worth the time or effort, and there are far better movies available in this late teen/early adult comedy genre..
There was nothing really that complex about Brad Renfro's character or Dominique Swain's character or James King's character.
Brad Renfro just didn't carry off the "hot stud camp counselor" and Swain never gave me any indication that she had any depth.
As a camp counselor and former camper myself, I've gotta say this is probably my favorite movie.
For those of you out there that enjoy dark indie comedies with hot college co-eds, this is a great film.
Wichita & Wendy: their flourishing romance, Pixel's floopiness and hot fashion, all the counsellors and their completely opposite personalities and backgrounds...and of course all the happy campers.
At least in the preview screening last year, this film looked like another piece of teen trash thrown upon the heap..
Here, he is cast in a summer camp movie that refuses to show off his, or any of the other actors, talents.
i love the bitter un-Hollywood ending...life sucks and this movie tells it like it is....but secretly i weep b/c i myself am a hopeless romantic *sniffle, sniffle* sigh this movie really touches on that great feeling you have as a child...and the torturous existence of growing up.
I haven't seen heathers as of now...but this movie makes me want to see it.
I was expecting an American-Pie-esquire teen sex romp, but what I got what a hysterically funny mature comedy with extremely colorful characters.
They set out to diversify the camp, and change things up, and along the way they discover themselves.The dialogue is just great, and it truly captures teen spirit and the way that teenagers talk.
The counselors struggle with both relationships, finding themselves, and caring for the campers, a responsibility that some of them are unable to handle.All of the great aspects of this movie come together so perfectly.
The well-written script is brought to life by a lot of the most underrated actors of all time, which in turn are directed by a sensational director who gives the movie a great look and feel.
Brad Renfro plays Wichita, the brooding camp counselor that everyone idolizes and looks up to.
Dominique Swain, the side character in most movies like Alpha Dog and Face/Off, takes center stage as one of the main characters, Wendy.
Keram Malicki-Sanchez, who has a history of small stand-out roles in Johnn Q, Cherry Falls, and the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plays Jasper, the homosexual camp counselor that all the girls at camp are completely goo-goo over.
Justin Long, yet another underrated actor from films like Dodgeball, Jeepers Creepers, and Accepted, plays the nerdy Donald with such sincerity.
As much as this movie sounds like it's filled with stereotypes, the actors and the scripts break away from them completely, and most often do the opposite of what you would normally be expecting.
The only person in the cast that I absolutely hated (and will most likely always hate) was Peter Stormare, who plays Oberon.
Something about his voice just grates on my nerves and I don't feel that he has any real acting talent to speak of.Another thing I liked about the movie was the narrating by all of the characters.
For a second you think it's going to be a Justin Long comedy film, but then each of the actors take turns narrating, and in the end almost everyone had the same amount of screen time.
The movie also had a great deal of heart, and it has a very subtle message, not the in-your-face crappy Hollywood movie messages.The cast is so perfect and the script is so good that Happy Campers easily emerges as one of my favorite films of all time.
When 'Chief Oberon' (Peter Stormare), the camp's only responsible adult, is hit by lightning, it's a hormonal free-for-all as the counselors 'Wichita' (Brad Renfro) and 'Wendy' (Dominique Swain) score with each other while trying to control the underage masses.
Debuting director Daniel Waters' teen sex comedy is alternately appealing, embarrassing, teasing, and stupid.
Unfortunately, emphasis is firmly on the latter.** Happy Campers (1/21/01) Daniel Waters ~ Brad Renfro, Dominique Swain, Jaime King, Justin Long.
The Movie was funny in parts, but I think I was expecting more from Daniel Waters, I mean the cat gave us Heathers, Ford Fairlane, and Demolition Man. Not to say this is a bad movie in the least, just that it's sadly mediocre in every way.My Grade: C+ Eye Candy: Jamie King goes topless.
"Happy Campers" is a useful movie only because it prompts basic questions about its writer/director Daniel Waters and his breakout film "Heathers" (which he wrote but did not direct).
Did he use up all his good stuff writing the Heathers screenplay and have nothing left for "Happy Campers?
Did he lose most of his active brain cells shortly after making Heathers (an event that would account for both the 'Hudson Hawk"and the "Happy Campers" screenplays)?
Or is Heathers so open-ended that critics and viewers attributed significance to a very ordinary movie.
All these explanations are possible either jointly or collectively.For "Happy Campers" Waters tries to weave "Breakfast Club" themes into a "Meatballs" story.
All seven of the main characters get some voice-over time, a device that is very confusing and pretty much destroys any possibility of the movie having any unified theme.Dominique Swain has the biggest part as Wendy, the terminally peppy cheerleader type (appropriately pictured in a cheerleader outfit on the DVD).
Swain is the only good thing about the movie, it is an over-the-top caricature that plays to her acting strengths.
The other four counselors have a fair about of screen time and some lame misadventures but nothing particularly memorable.Some effort is made to introduce the actual summer campers to the story but none of it even remotely works.
Although Swain might have been able to carry the whole thing like Murray the script does not allow this and things never really get going in "Happy Campers".Waters apparently believed that audiences would react positively to a movie where 90% of the comedy involved sexual references that most preteens would consider moronic.
"Happy Campers" is by far the best teen movie i have ever seen!
It's nothing like the typical, American Pie, it has it's own genre of great camp movies!
Sex is all they can think about, and the movie ends up with everyone getting laid!
I tried to think back to my 12 year self and I think she would have liked Happy Campers.
A good teen movie is frivilous and meaningful and this was both..
If you're interested in seeing a summer camp movie, check out Wet Hot American Summer..
Well, here we have a wonderful film for morons...entertaining only as much as seeing James King topless, and watching Lotila star Dominique Swain act cute.
Worth a rental, no more..waste of two hours, instead rent something like...american pie if you are looking for trite teen sex play..
This movie sucks like a Hoover.
"Happy Campers" is not just another summer camp flick which is about sex and s'mores and sex and food fights and sex and water sports and sex and counselor pranks and sex and Kumbaya, etc.
"Happy Campers" is a flick only a sexually preoccupied juvenile could love.
It may be another "Teen" Movie, but appeals to both teens and those who left their teenage years a decade ago.The filming style is very independent and very beautiful, If you watch it just for a plot, sure it is quite similar to the usual "Teen Dramas", If you look a bit deeper, and take something from this title, well you will be a Happy Campers addict like me.It contains the basic of love found, friends made, and the interactions of various persons from various backgrounds.
Happy Campers is a great movie about a handful of counselors taking over camp for the director who umm, is electrified.
If you want to get back to your teenage years without the raucous comedy of American Pie, see Happy Campers (which is a comedy, just not raucous).
Dominique Swain is in this movie.
Another movie with dominique swain that just made me love her and her movies more.
I think that some people can miss the point when watching this movie.
i gotta say i love this movie, and im normally a battle royale/audition kinda guy.
Given the long and storied history of camp movies, who would have thought that this one would be anything more than a teen sex-comedy romp?
Happy Campers uses the camp setting and its inevitable sex as the staging ground for its characters to regress into a primal state of sexual savagery.
I was mildly looking forward to seeing this movie because i think Brad Renfro is great,but i was sadly disapointed with it.
Although the movie was in a way a bit different from what I had imagined.
This is a movie about young teens and sex.
I liked the movie, but I will watch anything with Dominique in it.
...........There is another hot girl in this movie that feels up Dominique and they kiss, that is cool too.
Happy Campers was a great and new movie for the new generation.
They really told it like it is at a boy and girls camp with no adults.
I really liked the end when Jasper (the gay guy) told a young boy "Rick" that he should wait till he was 18 till he followed through with his feelings of being gay.
That right there was a great touch to the end of the movie.
All in all the movie was great but only to be viewed by 13 and up I think..
Although I must admit, Happy Campers is not exactly an Oscar-winning title, nor is it as a movie.
Where Lolita was ornate and timelessly beautiful, Happy Campers takes over where that movie left off.
This movie is cutting edge and is propelling teenage sexual independence into the 21st century.Happy Campers is quite frenetic, but at the same time, takes a no-prisoners attitude.
I was expecting a dumb summer camp movie.
But I was shocked to find one hell of a movie......Brad Renfro was great.........Its shows what a good actress Dominique Swain is.....I wish there was a summer camp like that when I was that age....
Happy Campers was a good movie!
but I loved the movie!
Spoilers herein.Films have the same mystery as love: you find the best experiences in the most unlikely places.This movie gives the impression of a Bull Murray stupidity: teenagers and sex along the lines of `Breakfast Club.' Its underscored by using C and D list actors.
Daniel Waters writes films that seem to saturate their home genre, yet transcend them in ways more subtle than parody or the faddish irony.
His notion of child-sex is purified, innocent.Now look what we have here: a film about sex at a preteen camp, starring the same girl who recently played Lolita (Dolores), with a single obsessed adult, and lots of exploration of an abstract sort of sex.Very risky approach; very few will get it.
I'd have to watch it again to do so.More interestingly, I think it is the first time that I saw a 12 year old gay character in an American movie?
Not Rashomon by a long shot of course, but still, it's way better than genre flics like 'She's all that' and '10 things I hate about you.'Actually, there's no comparison, the only thing they have in common with _Happy Campers_ is that the character are young teens.
Ultimately, this is about loss and coming of age, and the fact that some of us do have a great time at camp.
I even remember the gay counselor, which brings me to my only qualm about the movie: Who cast the cook???There is no way that a handsome 20-something gay guy who has the nerve to make a bet with the hottest guy in camp in order to go down on him would have gone for a "romantic picnic" with that cook just because he's the only other gay guy there.
I haven't seen such a sloppy, random, uneven, incoherent, pointless and down-right sad movie than the inaccurately titled Happy Campers in a long time.
Barely did I laugh in this "comedy," barely could I root for a single lost soul, barely did this rise above the solid one star (out of five) it deserves – and that's due to the actors playing counselors at least attempted to make something of the horrid direction they were given by Waters.And how the mighty had fallen; Waters wrote Heathers, probably his only great movie.
Heathers, which would have a hard time being released as is today – with all the school shootings, killings since – was at least original, fun, dark and a very well made movie.
Happy Campers is an all over the place mesh of random scenes and tiny skits/bad ideas just horribly spliced together.It's hard to write a synopsis due to the wandering of the script, but I'll try: punk counselors of all stereotypes await for the kids to arrive for a very long summer camp in the opening, while making fun of the manual – ding, ding plot point!
Even when the single adult is taken out of the picture for a really dumb accident, he had just about equal control as when he wasn't comatoast.There is zero point to this movie, unless you like the late Renfro – which I do and that's why I watched it. |
tt0118818 | Career Girls | In 1996, Annie is on the train to London to spend the weekend with Hannah, her flatmate when at university (the Polytechnic of North London) six years earlier. Hannah laments about her alcoholic mother and Annie tells about her mother's search for a new boyfriend. Annie, who still lives with her mother, admires Hannah's independence. In contrast, Hannah laments being forced to be independent since she was a child.
Back in 1986, Hannah and Claire interview and accept Annie into their flat. Annie and Hannah discuss getting rid of Claire the next year. Hannah and Annie discuss how Hannah hasn't cried since she was eight when her parents split up. Annie, whose parents also divorced when she was eight, says she cries all the time. The following year, Ricky Burton, a socially awkward stutterer, has temporarily moved in with Hannah and Annie after being kicked out by his landlord. While discussing psychological traits with them in a pub, Ricky's untactful probing angers Hannah. While Ricky visits the Chinese restaurant beneath the flat, Annie and Hannah discuss the argument and how Ricky fancies Annie. In another memory, Ricky drunkenly confesses his love for Annie, but Annie says she's in love with someone else. Ricky leaves, but he doesn't reappear, so Hannah and Annie visit his Nan's home in Hartlepool. His Nan tells them that Ricky has gone out, possibly along the sea front, they go to look for him.
In present day, Annie accompanies Hannah as she looks for a flat to buy. One flat is owned by a Mr. Evans, whose flat contains a painting of his naked ex-girlfriend and pornographic magazines. Evans hits on Hannah and offers both women alcohol. They run out of the flat making excuses and are still laughing as they drive off. Adrian Spinks, a real estate agent, meets them at the next flat. Annie recognises him as an old college boyfriend, but Adrian says he doesn't recognise them. In between their conversations, flashbacks show Hannah and Annie's history with Adrian. After meeting at a club, Hannah takes Adrian home and sleeps with him. The following morning, he walks into Annie's room and tries to chat her up. In other flashbacks, Annie tells Adrian about a recurring sexual fantasy. Later, they kiss and discuss why he split up with his ex-girlfriend. Adrian says he didn't want the commitment, and leaves when Annie asks why.
In the present, Hannah and Annie learn that Adrian is married with a child. At a restaurant, Annie and Hannah discuss how they have changed since university and wonder what happened to Ricky. Annie says she hadn't stopped thinking about Adrian for 10 years. Hannah says she was hurt by the situation back then but said she didn't say anything because she knew that Annie was in love with him. In a flashback, Annie and Hannah cry and hug as they pack away their flat at the end of their four years at university.
At the present-day dinner, Hannah recalls being overwhelmed upon meeting Annie's kind family, as opposed to her own dysfunctional family. They see their old flatmate Claire running, and discuss the coincidence of seeing two old acquaintances in one afternoon. They decide to visit their old flat. There they spot Ricky sitting on the steps outside the flat, holding a toy elephant. Ricky, who seems angry and delirious, tells them he says he arrived from Hartlepool the previous day. He says the toy is for his son, but the mother won't admit that the child is his. He tells them that his Nan died, he says that they don't care when Annie asks where Ricky lives. They leave.
In a flashback to their visit to Hartlepool, they find Ricky by the sea. They ask how he is and he shouts and swears at them that he doesn't care. They chase after him and he screams at them to leave him alone.
In present day, they return to the railway station, where they say goodbye. | realism | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0109781 | Faust | The demon Mephisto has a bet with an Archangel that he can corrupt a righteous man's soul and destroy in him what is divine. If he succeeds, the Devil will win dominion over earth.
The Devil delivers a plague to the village where Faust, an elderly alchemist, lives. Though he prays to stop the death and starvation, nothing happens. Disheartened, Faust throws his alchemy books in the fire, and then the Bible too. One book opens, showing how to have power and glory by making a pact with the Devil. He goes to a crossroads as described in the book's procedure and conjures up the forces of evil. When Mephisto appears at the roadside, he induces Faust to make a trial, 24-hour bargain with the Devil. Faust will have Mephisto's service till the sand runs out in an hourglass, at which time the Devil will rescind the pact. At first, Faust uses his new power to help the people of the village, but they shun him when they find out that he cannot face a cross. They stone him and he takes shelter in his home.
Faust then makes a further deal with Mephisto, who gives Faust back his youth and offers him earthly pleasures and a kingdom, in return for his immortal soul. Mephisto tempts Faust with the vision of a beautiful woman. He then takes him to a wedding feast in Parma, to meet the subject of his vision, an Italian Duchess. Faust departs with her, leaving the Devil to kill her groom. Just as Faust is making love to her the sands run out. He is obliged to seal the deal permanently in order to continue his love-making; he is Mephisto's forever.
Faust soon grows weary of debauchery and yearns for "Home". Here Faust falls in love with an innocent girl, Gretchen, who is charmed into loving Faust by a golden chain left by the Devil.
Faust comes to Gretchen's room. The devil rouses the mother who sees them and drops dead from shock. The devil then incites her soldier brother, Valentin, to run home to catch her lover. Valentin and Faust fight a duel. The Devil intervenes and stabs Valentin in the back. He then goes around town shouting "murder". Faust and Mephisto flee on the back of a hellish steed.
Valentin condemns Faust for his murder and his sister as a harlot in his dying breath. She is put in the stocks and subjected to jeering. The girl has a child (by Faust) and ends up in the streets. In a blizzard she sees a vision of a warm cradle and lays her child down on the snow, where the child dies. Soldiers find her and she is sent to the stake as a murderess. Faust sees what is happening and demands Mephisto take him there. Faust arrives just as the fire has been started to burn his lover. Faust wishes he had never asked to have his youth back. Mephisto smashes the mirror with Faust's reflection and he loses his youth. He runs through the assembled mob towards Gretchen; and it is as an old man that Faust throws himself onto the fire to be with his beloved.
Gretchen recognizes Faust and sees him in her heart as a young man again as the fire consumes them together. Their spirits rise to the heavens. The angel reveals to Mephisto that he has lost the bet because Love has triumphed over all. | absurd, psychedelic, dark, magical realism, philosophical | train | wikipedia | There are also a bunch of insane devil marionettes and the whole thing has the vibe of a medieval Punch and Judy show.Probably the main thing I liked about FAUST was the fact that, although it is a fairly surreal film, it doesn't go out of it's way to be strange for strangeness's sake [like the Czech film DAISIES or the Georgian REPENTANCE, though those are okay movies].
Sure, you have bizarre goings-on like a stop-motion fetus in a jar growing old and turning into a skull, but many of the details you thought were unrelated to the story all wrap up in a very pleasing manner.Of course, not all of your questions will be answered.
We played FAUST on our TV just tonight, and at least ten customers were intrigued enough to stop what they were doing and watch it for a little while--far more people than when we played JERSEY GIRL the other day.
Sure, FAUST is not for everybody, because not everybody likes unusual or even minorly challenging movies.
"Faust" is a wonderful blend of real-time and stop-motion storytelling by a master of the surreal.
Suddenly, the man finds himself becoming the legendary Dr. Faust, selling his soul to the devil in exchange for magical powers.Jan Svankmajer is the true sorcerer here.
He blends stage sets with real locations and seven-foot puppets with live actors, making magic of it all.The film has been dubbed for English audiences, but there has perhaps never been a less obtrusive film dub.
The voice performances are excellent and actually add to the surreal quality of the film..
Jan Svankmajer is one of the best animators of all time and one of the best artists of the 20th century.
There is simply no one else making animation like this: disturbing, hilarious, dreamlike.
"Faust" is one of the best films I have ever seen, combining the visual sensibility of Salvador Dali with the philosophical sensibility of Mikhail Bulgakov.
Svankmajer has captured the essence of a dream in full form and put its application to the archetypal story of Dr. Faustus.The integration of live action, puppetry, and stop-motion animation is the work of a true genius/madman.If you are looking for something to exercise the bizarre regions of the brain and the human imagination, WATCH THIS FILM.
The classic tale of Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil, is given a strange twist.
Czech animator Jan Svankmajer is most notorious for his nightmarish stop motion film "Alice"(1988).
In "Faust" he also combines his usual elements of live actors, puppets and clay animation.
So if you enjoy surrealism, stop motion animation or any film that is in a category of its own; you should definitely see Jan Svankmajer's unique vision of "Faust"..
Surrealism tends to fall in one of 2 categories:(1) Random, confounding, absurd images best enjoyed under the influence of psychomorphic drugs(2) Careful, structured, lucid themes augmented by unusual visuals, all of which is designed to raise our understanding beyond what is "real"Or, I could also say that Surrealism tends to fall in one of 2 categories:(1) Sucky movies(2) Awesome moviesI'm happy to report that in both cases, this film is a #2.
Svankmajer has that same creative spirit, the same eye for the bizarre and yet the same intelligence in presentation that makes for great art.
Svankmajer has a fantastic sense of humour, too, so you never get the feeling that he's some pompous, pretentious jerk showing off what he can do with a camera.This movie's hallmark, as with much of Svankmajer's work, is the fantastic use of puppetry.
This is truly a fantastic work.An important note: You should really read Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus" before watching this movie.
Jan Svankmajer probably has visions and dreams that few of us would want to have, but luckily for us he's so creative and talented and all-that-and-a-bag-of-chips with a mound of clay and (in this case) marionettes that he can put them all on display on film.
His version of Faust is sometimes confusing, bewildering, and, as I gathered from not reading the original play or (sadly) not yet seeing the Murnau silent feature, not altogether makes a lot of sense.
This is of course shown at one pivotal moment in the film, but if you think you know what to expect from this outcome or how it's presented you might have to rethink things.If you've seen Svankmajer's other films, however, like Alice, then some of his approach shouldn't seem too far out...
In this case it's not as non-dialog laden as Alice, as there are often scenes with the marionettes going on and on with their dialogs, and then with the man and the Satan figure him/itself (whether it's a man or an 'it' I can't say for sure, as Svankmajer makes it a being who materializes first as some skull, then into a near reflection of the man himself as some crazy theologian).
This is key.But beyond simply that, it's just a pure pleasure to take in how the filmmaker mixes the elements, tricks it up on the audience (i.e. after the marionettes inside for so long, they bust out into the streets without puppeteer's hands), and with the stop motion, and the moments of Bunuelian surrealism with the man going between puppet form and reality, and then out in the middle of some field.
Jan Svankajer's feature film follow up to his masterpiece Alice is a rather free interpretation of the classic and often referenced tale of Faust.
Like in 'Alice', Svankmajer approaches the story in a unique and original fashion, both conceptually and visually - as usual, he mixes various genres and art forms, combining live actors, puppetry and claymotion.
The film shows Svankmajer's brilliant creativity and imagination, and his fantastic and unique stop-motion technique, at their best; even though I find it only slightly inferior to 'Alice' (the overdubbed voices are again annoying, but much better than on 'Alice').
It has a wonderful surreal and dark atmosphere, some brilliant character designs and even a couple of scenes that are quite entertaining (like the old man who collects legs).
I adore the way Mephistopheles turns himself into a clay mirror of Faust himself, the head-changing puppet which is both devil and angel, and the delicate transformation of Faust turning from man to puppet and back.
If you're a fan of Svankmajer, or are interested in classic animation and puppetry, buy Faust now..
Grotesque, macabre but with a very weird sense of humour present at all times, this stop-motion animation / puppet & real actors film has to be one of the strangest films.
Actually in the beginning I was not quite linking to the character Faust, as he was too alienated in whatever happened - but while it went on, it began to make sense in a deeper level than the simple surrealism I had thought in the first place.For all people interested in strange, weird films, black humour & fed up with the trash Hollywood serves us, then go for this spectacular film!.
The first time I saw 'Faust', I was instantly compelled, and completely indulged in it's content, framing, sound, atmosphere..if you are a Svankmajer fan, or just finding out about his work, this is one film that I recommend owning.
Svankmajers 'Faust' has become one of my number 1 favorite films, of all time.
Jan Svankmajer's telling of the German folk tale "Faust" is--like his rendition of "Alice in Wonderland" (simply titled "Alice")--a refreshingly surreal treat of a film.
The plot plays out like a Greek Tragedy, with the ill-fated Faust (Petr Cepek) wheeling and dealing with the Devil and his minions, manipulating Old Scratch until finally succumbing to a seduction that results in his demise.
While the English dubbing is atrocious and Svankmajer sometimes lets the film lull too far into a dream-like state (to the point where I had to take a brief nap halfway through), that shouldn't inhibit you from seeing "Faust.".
A very artistically playfully free film with the use of stop motion which must take a hell of a lot of work.
This film is full of alchemical humour with the use of marionettes and what not.
Svankmajer is profoundly imaginative and consistent in his creativity, his work is pretty astounding.
Here he plays around with the myth of Dr Faustus with the use of very diabolical life size marionettes and demons from hell who offer our main Czech actor all that he could possibly want in return for his soul.
A surreal, masterful blend of reality and stop-motion fantasy.
Svankmajer's film uses a great range of archetypes in this film that appeal to our sense of symbolism.
Many scenes in the film have the poetic resonance of dreams: a cryptic note hurriedly pressed into our hands by a stranger, a dimly lit vaudeville stage, dark, grimly portentous puppets at the threshold, magic, illusion, damnation.
Using the Faust legend as a starting point, the film explores such themes as predestination, religion, fear, folly and conjures a mesmerising film that I will watch many times for its enchanting originality.
This is my favorite one within the 4 works I have seen, which are Little Oik, Conspirations of Pleasure and Alice in different times.
Every time, I saw Svankmajer's work, I was a bit shocked and excited.And I can always see marionettes, tongue, biting food, juice, repeat (which quite annoying, cos the repeat is beyond the limit you can bear).
Like the clown read spell to control the movement of the devil again and again, same thing happened in Alice.I found Svankmajer like whipping, like close-up shots of the scene when people biting food.I broke laughter when Faust had sex with the female marionettes and found she was the devil in disguise.I think Frust will be much better if more conversations are deleted and some plots are cut.
Cos people with patience like me are so few.In conclusion, it is a nightmarish marionette movie for children but a funny one for adults, isn't it?
There has been numerous stage and film adaptations of Goethe's tragedy Faust, where the eponymous hero sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for the Devil serving Faust during his time on the Earth, as long as upon death, Faust will serve him in return in Hell.
F.W. Murnau's 1926's Faust is probably the most acclaimed film adaptation, whilst Istvan Szabo's 1981 masterpiece Mephisto transformed the setting of the play to WWII-era Germany.
I would imagine that there has never been such an imaginative and unpredictable interpretation than animator Jan Svankmajer's 1994 effort.
Combining live-action, stop motion animation, and puppetry, the Czech's various talents come together to make a surreal, and brilliant, piece of art.The film begins as Faust (Petr Capek) finds a map on a train that leads him to an abandoned theatre.
The play/story goes on, as Faust plays with his new powers, and is frequently influenced by the Devil.It's quite hard to write a formal review about a film that had its impact on me a couple of hours after the credits have rolled, and some scenes where I genuinely did not know what was happening.
It plays out like a sort of medieval Punch and Judy show, with some strangely creepy characters.
It's undoubtedly quite childish and playful, but at the same time it is dark and complex, and more than anything else, frequently surreal.In my favourite scene, the Fool character who is reading Faust's textbook discovers that he can the Devil whenever he likes and dismiss him just as quickly.
Personally, I like this film.
I think, though, that Jan Svankmajer fans are likely to be disappointed.
Svankmajer is known as a stop-motion animator, but his Faust contains little animation.
Actually, the medium that is most abundant in Faust is marionettes.
This isn't as interesting as stop-motion animation, but it still works.
I had wanted to see this film for a long time, and had big expectations I sat down with my purchased copy, but unfortunately it didn't quite make it for me.
I think it's those annoying marionettes spending half the movie running around making silly noises.
like the use of claymation,stop-motion and life sized puppets for some of the characters.
Well, I'll admit the marionettes can be a bit annoying, but really, I thought the movie was pretty damn good.
It is a very creative piece and a unique version of Goethe's Faust (not the play).
Faust was the first Jan Svankmajer's movie I've seen and I've been literally stunned by his wicked and exotic interpretation of this classic plot.
This is not a literal adaptation of the book written by Goethe, but a surreal combination of the different version of the original story (Like, for example, the play of Cristopher Marlowe) with stop-motion animation, live action performances and puppets.
It's easy to see in what way filmmakers like Terry Gilliam, the brothers Quay were influenced by the astounding work of Jan Svankmajer: There is a great, dark atmosphere, filled with bizarre creatures and strange situations, like in the movies of those directors.
If you love dark, surreal films, then you will like a lot this..
The directory, however, is done by one of the greatest and most influential stop-motion-animation masters and puppeteers, greatly appreciated by the well known Quay Brothers (see The Cabinet of Jan Svankmajer) as well as the others.
This means that very imaginative and expressive combination of animation, string puppets theater and acting is expected.When one thinks about the story of Faust, the question that often pops in one's head is what would be the price on my soul.
Jan Svankmajer(Alice/Conspirators Of Pleasure), who I've been watching a lot of, as of late, has a story that incorporates elements of the Faust play, book, and folk tales, in a unique stop animation/claymation/ and puppetry driven surrealist film.
A man receives a map on a subway from a stranger follows it to strange theater, housing life size puppets manipulated by always out of sight puppeteers(only their hands are visible), where he sells his soul to Lucifer, making himself Lucifer's servant until death, and is unmade by his hubris.
What's interesting about it is how he combines the forces that influence man with those that control the puppets.
Jan Svankmajer is becoming one of my favorite filmmakers.
His Alice movie introduced me to a new world of cinematic animation and surrealism.
Again, he has chosen to adapt one of my favorite books, Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.This movie has less stop-motion animation than Alice, but it has more surreal imagery.
Again Svankmajer shows a talent to create scenes full of dread, dark humor and mystery.
Characters quote from the original play, sets change around instantly, opera invades the movie halfway in, men turn into puppets, plasticine creatures become human.
Other times he shows an audience watching the play within the movie, and sometimes Faustus can't even distinguish which is which.This is a great surrealist movie, perhaps superior to Alice.
Anyone who enjoys Marlowe's play or a good strange movie should get a kick out of this..
Like "Alice in Wonderland", the story of Faust has been almost infinitely adapted to various interpretations based on the nationalist and socialistic concerns of the time, making it perfect material for Svankmajer to play with.
In terms of Svankmajer's other work, this fits more closely to his 1970 short "Don Sanche", but overall it's the most populated movie of his I've seen thus far.
Here, he tries a little bit to provide a world populated with extras and background, but it isn't long before he removes the action (once again) to an abandoned theatre wherein he can get his puppets and claymation to work.Instead of a straight-up adaptation, Svankmajer plays it loose and surreal, introducing multiple layers of narrative and letting them dance with each other.
This approach to storytelling is matched by the mixed media he includes with life-sized puppets, stop-motion animation, claymation, and live action, sometimes at the same time, sometimes taking over each other, and sometimes giving the floor to another.
It's interesting that the primary recognizable Faust narrative is contained in puppetry, meaning that even behind the metaphysical story of the fateful struggle over a man's soul are unnamed human hands authoring the tale.
On one hand, an argument could be made that the story doesn't really even start until the second half of the movie, meaning it could have been cut to about 45 minutes in length; on the other hand, like any serious animator's work, it's really much more about movement, and it never really drags.Of all of Svankmajer's work, this is one that seems like previous knowledge of him would be helpful going into.
A lot of the symbolism, such as all of the food that gets eaten, the disembodied leg, the clay baby, and the close-ups of mouths are all much more easy to understand as shorthand to his usual concerns; I feel like had I not recognized them as such, I could have gotten bogged down trying to figure it all out and the movie would have been a bit more confusing.
The scene in the dressing room where Faust converses to an always metamorphosing Mephistopheles is really where all of the imagery and themes come together in their smoothest and most actualized forms--AND it's enough to disturb for weeks.
I especially like the little angels and demons coming out of the big angels and demons; that scene also reflects the "consuming" nature of a lot of the earlier imagery.Anyway, definitely for die-hard fans of Svankmajer, though others might be a little put off, if not by its imagery, then by its pacing.--PolarisDiB.
For mainly a Czech film, this is a good surreal film with interesting puppet and stop motion sequences.
I can really only work out most of the beginning, where Petr Cepek as Faust is given a map in the street from some guy.
It seems to be Faust has been given some powers and rule over the many puppet and clay characters, or something like that. |
tt0202236 | Tribulation | It is the present day. In their home, the family Camboro - Eileen, Calvin and Tom – reminisce a childhood memory of an afternoon picnic. Tom’s brother-in law Jason abruptly enters the kitchen. Jason makes unsettling comments about European President Franco Macalousso, an outspoken advocate for global peace and unity. Tom Camboro believes that Jason needs psychiatric help, to the disagreement of his wife Suzy, who distrusts hospitals and doctors.
Later that night, Tom is called to intervene on a crime. Tim Tucker, college professor on psychic theory and admirer of Macalousso, is being violent towards his Christian wife, denouncing the Bible as a lie. Tom arrives at their apartment, and is startled when Tim displays supernatural powers, such as wielding a knife without touching it. Tim abruptly snaps and commits suicide by jumping out the window.
Back home, Jason falls victim to a similar phenomenon, verbally abusing the Christian Eileen. He also concludes by jumping from the window in a fit of madness, yet survives. While Tom is driving Suzy to visit Jason in hospital, they argue about what happened. Suzy, having witnessed the event firsthand, reports to her husband that Jason was speaking insanely about Macalousso. Tom is troubled by this detail.
At the hospital, Jason tearfully begs Suzy not to allow the doctors to keep him. Eileen believes that Jason needs help from God, advice which angers Tom, who demands his sister to get a grip on reality. An argument ensues, in which Tom denounces the illogical nature of biblical stories. He eventually agrees to compromise by attending church next Sunday, so long as Eileen cease her preaching in future.
Meanwhile, an elite group of Satanists has been working behind-the-scenes to trigger similar phenomena worldwide. Using their collective psychic power, they intend to awaken supernatural capabilities hidden within all people. Back at the hospital, a doctor alerts the family that Jason’s mind has psychic areas active which usually remain closed. In his room, Jason sees a vision of a satanic man. The apparition tells Jason he was in the right frame of mind – anger, doubt and resentment of God – at the wrong time, but soon the whole world will follow suit. Jason screams in horror, drawing his family’s attention. Sensing trouble afoot, Suzy and Eileen determine to get Jason out of the hospital.
As Tom returns from checking the medical report, his way is blocked by two agents – presumably in league with the Satanists – who are searching for Jason. Tom manages to escape the hospital and get to his car. But before he can reach his family and warn them, the vehicle is telepathically caused to collide with an oncoming truck.
The film cuts to several years later, following the events of Apocalypse and Revelation. Tom awakens from a coma in the same hospital. The building is deserted except for another patient, Evan, who lacks one arm. Evan warns Tom not to trust anybody, and beware the VR Goggles. Confused, Tom leaves the room, but witnesses Evan being seized by guards and forced into wearing the goggles.
Evan is transported to an alternate reality, a vast expanse of empty whiteness, possibly Purgatory. He is bewildered to notice that his arm has been restored. Franco Macalousso appears before Evan and presents himself as the Messiah. Macalousso tempts Evan, offering him enhanced supernatural powers, in return for accepting the Mark of the Beast. Evan falls for the deal and accepts.
Having escaped the hospital, along with new clothes and a shaved face, Tom witnesses a similar event when a man named Ronnie is arrested and forced to wear the goggles. In Purgatory, Ronnie refuses to fall for Macalousso, naming him the Antichrist. Ronnie pays for his defiance when Macalousso conjures a snake that kills him. Seeing Ronnie’s body become still, Tom is shocked to notice that the people around him have ‘666’ burnt into their knuckles.
In the outside world, Helen Hannah, Suzy Camboro and Jake Goss are airing old Christian video tapes from a broadcast van, as part of a desperate attempt to denounce Macalousso as the Antichrist. During one broadcast, however, Hannah is captured.
That night, Tom returns to his house, where he is encountered by Calvin, who has accepted the mark. Tom tries to reason with his brother, including by mentioning Eileen, but Calvin shouts that they have no sister. Desperate to understand what is happening in the world, Tom begs for information. Calvin claims that the Devil and the Messiah are the same person – Franco Macalousso. He then attempts to force a pair of the goggles onto his brother, but Tom succeeds in overwhelming Calvin before he can resort to supernatural powers.
Tom flees into the forest, and comes across the same tree where he spent the afternoon picnic in his youth – Eileen had told him and Calvin to seek it should they get lost. As if by an act of God, Tom finds Jason at the tree. Jason informs his brother-in-law about what is happening in the world. The Christian Church has vanished in the rapture, Eileen included, and the world is ruled by O.N.E. (One Nation Earth), a puppet government headed by Macalousso and the Satanists. Macalousso’s master plan is to harness the psychic abilities of all humanity. United and psychically powerful, the human race would be capable of overthrowing God, cementing the devil’s revenge.
Meanwhile, an agent puts the goggles on Helen Hannah. Upon encountering Macalousso, Hannah tells him she has already made her choice. Macalousso tells Hannah that God fears his creation, knowing that it could one day become as powerful as Him. Hannah rejects the Antichrist and tells him his plan is doomed. Macalousso explains to Hannah that he does not care for his followers, and they are destined to damnation in the Lake of Fire. Whereupon he has Hannah placed on guillotine and pulls the lever.
Calvin awakens and puts on his goggles. He confesses to Macalousso that he let a Hater get away. Macalousso is furious and causes Calvin's heart to explode. Tom comes in and takes the helmet off of Calvin, but is too late. Hearing O.N.E. agents enter, Tom hides in a cupboard and hears them mention Rat Lake, a place where Suzy Camboro owns a cottage. After the agents leave, Tom and Jason rush to Rat Lake, where they find Suzy and a group of Haters in the cottage. An agent working for the rebels arrives, and claims he has a tape which will publicly disgrace Macalousso.
The agents, including the man who appeared to Jason several years ago, enter another cottage, having been misled by the rebel agent. Blindly shooting into the room, they are killed after hitting a pack of explosives set as a trap by Tom and Jason.
The tape is broadcast. Helen Hannah tricked the Antichrist by recording their conversation using a concealed lens camera. Around the world, people renounce the Mark. Tom, now reunited with Suzy, finds a derelict church and enters. Speaking to God, he says he will keep his promise to Eileen. | insanity, violence, murder, christian film | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0109331 | Brave | In Medieval Scotland, Merida, a young princess of the clan Dunbroch, is given a bow and arrow by her father, King Fergus, for her birthday. Her mother, Queen Elinor, is dismayed. While venturing into the woods to fetch a stray arrow, Merida encounters a will-o'-the-wisp. Soon afterward, Mor'du, a huge demon bear, attacks the family. Merida flees on horseback with Elinor, while Fergus fends off Mor'du, though the fight costs him one of his legs.
Now a teenager, Merida discovers that to her dismay, she is to be betrothed to the son of one of her father's allies. Reminding Merida of a legend of a prince whose pride and refusal to follow his father's wishes destroyed his kingdom, Elinor explains that failure to consent to the betrothal could harm Dunbroch.
The allied clan chieftains and their first-born sons arrive to compete in the Highland games for Merida's hand in marriage. Merida twists the rules, announcing that as her own clan's firstborn she is eligible to compete for her own hand. She easily bests her suitors in an archery contest, shaming the other clans. Later, she and Elinor argue and Merida leaves. After following the wisps to the hut of an elderly witch, Merida bargains with her for a spell to change her fate.
When Merida gives the spell, in the form of a cake, to Elinor, it causes Elinor to transform into a bear, though still retaining most of her human personality. Merida returns to the witch's cottage with Elinor, only to find it deserted, and discovers a message from the witch: unless Merida is able to "mend the bond torn by pride" before the second sunrise, the spell will become permanent. Merida and Elinor are led by the wisps to ancient ruins, where they encounter Mor'du. Realizing that Mor'du was the prince in the legend, Merida vows that she will not let the same thing happen to her mother, and concludes she needs to repair the tapestry she damaged during their argument.
They return to the castle to find the clans on the verge of war. Having learned from her experience with her mother, Merida intends to declare herself ready to choose a suitor as tradition demands, but with encouragement from Elinor, instead insists that the first-born should be allowed to marry in their own time to whomever they choose. The clans agree, breaking tradition but renewing and strengthening their alliance. Merida sneaks into the tapestry room with Elinor. Elinor, who is losing her humanity, attacks Fergus, but suddenly regains her composure and flees the castle. Mistaking the queen for Mor'du and unable to listen to Merida, Fergus pursues the bear with the other clans, locking Merida in the castle. With the help of her triplet younger brothers, who also ate the cake and have been transformed into bear cubs, Merida escapes and repairs the tapestry while riding after her father. Fergus and the clans capture Elinor, but Merida intervenes and stops her father before Mor'du arrives. Mor'du batters the clan warriors and targets Merida, but Elinor intercedes, holding off Mor'du and causing him to be crushed by a falling menhir. This releases the spirit of the prince, who silently thanks Merida for freeing him. As the sun rises for the second time, Merida realizes the mistakes she has made and reconciles with Elinor, causing the queen and the triplets to turn back into humans.
With Mor'du gone, Merida and Elinor work together on a new tapestry when they are called to the docks to bid farewell to the other clans. | flashback | train | wikipedia | Bleak interpretation of a bleak subject.
Brave was Marillion's seventh studio album, their third with Steve Hogarth.
It was that most unfashionable of products, a concept album from a prog-rock outfit in the early 90's.The story was complete invention, starting from a real event; the police found a young woman wandering on a motorway bridge.
She couldn't or wouldn't tell them anything.
From this starting point, the group wove a story which covered abuse by her father as a child, moving on into drug abuse and a few other events leading to her being on the bridge, contemplating suicide.The film is an interpretation of the story, with the co-operation of the band - although they feature only in passing on screen.
This film is about as far from MTV video as it's possible to get!The story is mostly told via the images and Marillion's music - there is little dialogue.
As such, I feel the film is something of a curate's egg; some of it works really well, while others need more explanation.
The scenes with the Hollow Man (the man in the mask) could do with something extra, since it's not really clear if this is simply a barrier the girl erects to protect her from people who hurt her, a cipher that means these people are interchangeable, or something else entirely.Not a bad effort, but not brilliant, either.
If you're unfamiliar with the original album, be prepared to be baffled the first couple of times through..
Haunting, depressing, gripping.
The haunting video that accompanied the Marillion's eighth studio album.
The film tells the fictional story about a confused runaway girl who's picked up by the police when found wandering at the Severn Bridge.A police psychiatrist tries to unravel the mystery about the girl, who refuses to talk.
He learns about her problems in her childhood, when she was abused by her father, her running away, her drug-abusing and more terrible things.
Meanwhile almost all the songs of Marillion's album is being played.Although maybe not the best film in the world, it will definitely leave you with a strange taste in your mouth.
It helps if you like the Marillion's music though..
A golden opportunity thrown away.
Arguably Marillion's greatest achievement in a career of consistent lack of recognition, Brave is a remarkable piece of music with astounding lyrics.
Steve Hogarth sinks into the world of an angst ridden teenager with frightening accuracy, but in the hands of Richard Stanley the idea of making a vivid visual accompaniment to the songs collapses into embarrassment.
The movie looks dreadful for a start, with horridly crude special effects.
The little dialogue there is is cringeable.
And a relatively simple story becomes complicated and confused, with men in masks and voodoo temples wandering in and out of the story for no reason.
This is just being obscure for the sake of it; there are no meanings being this chaotic mess.
Even the opening sequence of the girl on the bridge is bland.
It's shot in daylight...everything that could be wrong with such scenes is.
Josie Ayres is suitably expressive in the lead but she clearly deserves better than this.
It's childish and tries to shock, but only alienates.
It all goes to show that the idea of a music video is frequently a bad one, robbing music of the richness of your own personal imaginings.
And yet Marillion have done a few god 'uns, namely Kayleigh, Sugar Mice and He Knows You Know..
Why Have Thou Forsaken Me Richard Stanley?.
I liked director Richard Stanley's HARDWARE and I really liked DUST DEVIL so when I saw this "concept" film by the director on DVD, I forked over the money and crossed my fingers.
Brave is a film that revolves around it's musical score which is a full length album by a British band called Marillion.
Now, I'm not a fan of their music.
Aside from some nice ambient moments I can barely stand the tunes but I wasn't going to let this stand in the way of my enjoyment of the film.
I figured Stanley would amaze me given the creative control one assumes comes with making a "concept film".
Expecting the surreal, bizarre and abstract, I was instead given a repetitive, boring and clichéd 50 minute music video.
The story concerns a young woman who has lost her memory and is being hypnotized, remembering various (mostly painful) moments of her life that have led he to a bridge, possibly to kill herself.
Sounds promising but everything is so dull and predictable.
The effects look cheap and the imagery lacks the punch I was hoping for.
Worst of all, Stanley cuts to footage of the band "rocking out" or close ups of the singer being a poser and singing into the camera throughout the film.
There's a lot of emotion in the songs, performances and story, but it all falls flat for me.
Fans of Marillion might be forgiving but those watching this hoping for a dose of Richard Stanley will likely be disappointed.
Three stars out of ten for the honest attempt and the odd moment that works..
A weak attempt to repeat teenage tragedy, suicide, surreal and psychotic.
After a clockwork orange and the wall, did you really think you stood a chance?
Marillion, stays mediocre for a reason,...
This dead and beaten horse needs to stay in the grave..
Marillion's feeble attempt to revive such modern clichés wasn't meant for video, it is clearly not the best vehicle of choice for crafting and communicating a concept album, especially after compiling the tracks first, and the film later.
The production has a paint by numbers feeling to it, not enough place for imagination nor any power of suggestion left open to interpretation.
On the other hand, I'm sure it made great publicity for it's time.I have been following Marillion since 1984 and endured the transition from Fish to Steve Hogarth, not sure what to think, either a mockery of Derek Dick's old camp (the old band)or the story of a very,very lost and misplaced childhood.
If video killed the radio song Marillion just proved it.... |
tt1322312 | Going the Distance | Erin Langford (Drew Barrymore) is a 31-year-old woman who is having trouble pacing her life. She is still in grad school and she recently got a job as a summer intern at a newspaper in New York. While out with a friend at a bar, she meets Garrett (Justin Long), who interrupts her game of Centipede. The two then drink together and end up at his place, where they smoke from a bong and have sex while Garrett's roommate Dan (Charlie Day) "DJs their hook up". The next morning, Erin is anxious to leave but Garrett asks her to have breakfast with him and she agrees. She then tells him that she is only in New York for six weeks and is not looking for a relationship. He agrees to keep things casual.
Erin and Garrett start having a fling, but they soon develop feelings for each other, and Erin tries to convince her boss to find her a permanent position. Before the end of her internship, she writes a well-received article, and her boss asks her to contact him in January regarding possible job openings. Meanwhile, Garrett, who works at a record label, is given an assignment to manage a band he does not like, and is starting to dislike his job.
They both continue with their fling, but when the six weeks are up they find it difficult to let go. After Garrett drives Erin to the airport they say goodbye, but just as Erin is about to leave Garrett runs after her and tells her that he is crazy about her and wants to have a long-distance relationship with her. She agrees.
Over the next couple of months Erin and Garrett spend all their free time texting and calling one another trying to work out times when one of them can fly in. Garrett surprises Erin by showing up on Thanksgiving and they have a very emotional reunion. When they go to Erin's sister Corrine's house (where Erin is currently staying), they start to have passionate sex on the dining table while, unbeknownst to them, Erin's brother-in-law, Phil, is having dinner. Corrine eventually walks in and there is an awkward moment. The next day, Erin and Garrett are out to see The Boxer Rebellion, and they agree that the band is good. Garrett gets jealous when he sees that Erin is friends with Damon, a handsome bartender who works with her. Garrett eventually has to leave and goes back to New York.
In January, Erin calls her summer internship boss and asks him about the possibility of a job. Her boss tells her they are not hiring—that in fact they have just laid off 100 employees. Not finding comfort in a phone conversation with Garrett, she goes and gets drunk with Damon and almost kisses him, but ends up going home. Later, her professor mentions that he recommended her for a position at the San Francisco Chronicle and she goes for an interview. Meanwhile, Garrett tries to have phone sex with Erin, but it does not go well.
A month later as Erin is packing to go to New York she gets a call from the Chronicle letting her know that she is hired. She goes to New York and tells Garrett, and the two have a fight. The next day they make up and he asks her to make the decision whether or not to accept the job. A week later he calls her and tells her he wants her to move to New York so that they can live together and start fresh. She agrees and he goes to San Francisco to sort things out. However, after a conversation with Corrine, Garrett realizes that he cannot be the reason that Erin turns down the job and the two part ways after an emotional conversation and a long hug in the airport.
Six months later Erin is doing well with her career, having written her first front page story, and Garrett has not been with any woman since Erin. He quits his job and starts managing The Boxer Rebellion, the first band he and Erin saw together. He sends Erin tickets to their show and she goes, not knowing that he is the manager. She runs into him there and he tells her he has moved to Los Angeles. Since that is only a few hours away from San Francisco, they have another chance at a relationship. Late that night they go back to Corrine's house, and interrupt Corrine and Phil dry humping on the dining-room table (like Garrett and Erin earlier in the film). The film ends with Erin's niece, Maya, descending from upstairs during the awkward moment, and they all scream "Maya! Statue!" (a running joke where Corrine always yells "Maya! Statue!" at her daughter to quiet her and make her stop moving around). | comedy, humor, boring, romantic | train | wikipedia | But Garrett's eccentric roommate Dan (Charlie Day) and Erin's sister's personality quirks add real spice to most scenes, and the very real chemistry between the main characters (Barrymore and Long have had a real life on-off-on relationship) transcends the simplicity and makes Going the Distance something more.Barrymore, as always, is capable, and her innate sweetness shines out from the screen.
But what made it a good movie was the fact that, for all the genuine laughs, it quite simply rang true.POLITICAL NOTES: None.FAMILY SUITABILITY: Going the Distance is rated R for "sexual content including dialogue, language throughout, some drug use and brief nudity." While this is not a movie for small children, the tenderness with which the central relationship is played and the integrity and genuine caring portrayed by each half of the central couple wouldn't be a bad lesson for teens to learn.
I saw the trailer for this movie before going to see it and I thought it looked good, but far too often with this type of film, all the best bits are in the trailer.
Going the Distance: Good for the Guys Too. This is one of the most real AND funny Rom/Com's that have come out of this stale city in quite some time.
It's just how life happens!I've seen this movie and can contest that it is the perfect concoction of humor, fun, romantic moments and hard R moments to make it a good fit for most couples.
Justin Long and Drew Barrymore play the two main characters who begin a no strings attached relationship, but end up falling in love despite the fact that Drew's character, Erin, is moving from New York to San Francisco.
Justin Long is Garrett, a guy who works in New York for a record label and who isn't looking for a serious relationship with Erin because he knows she is going to leave soon, but their friendship grows and love blossoms.
The chemistry between Barrymore and Long is good and the screenplay has several funny moments, but at the end of the film you realize you have already seen this movie before since it ends up being pretty predictable.
For people who have gone through long distance relationships and its struggles, then they may feel drawn towards it and identify with some of the things happening, but as a comedy I was expecting a little more.http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/.
It's not the type of film that will have lots of complicated twists and turns, so in that context it's fairly predictable, but it's really well acted by the main characters, particularly Justin Long, Drew Barrymore and Christin Applegate.
Going the Distance is a very enjoyable honest romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.
Just watched this romantic comedy starring sometime off-screen couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.
Justin Long and Drew Barrymore have real chemistry, making it seem fairly romantic, and Long and his friends are actually very funny men, making the film come across as more funny and less not-funny.I generally really like films picking simple stories and just telling them straight.
It is laugh-out-loud funny in places, and now, I am even more of a believer that Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day are very much underrated, great comedic actors.
Good jokes, hilarious situations, and a bit of lavatorial (literally) humour, all tossed with realistic, three-dimensional roles is a recipe for a more than average romantic comedy (and funny at that for a change!).
Erin (Barrymore) and Garrett (Long) enjoy a summer fling that turns into more than a fling, but now they have to settle for a long distance relationship.Here's the thing: there were a lot of very good funny lines in here and if they kept the F-bombs and other smutty language out of it, this would have become, with a major exception, a very funny film you could share with your grandparents.
The draw of Going the Distance will undoubtedly be its leading stars of Justin Long and Drew Barrymore, being an on-off-on real life couple and the premise of a long distance relationship will likely not be lost on these two.
See, I told you Going the Distance casts doubts despite its comedy at the right places to lift the film from its doom and gloom, nevermind if director Nanette Burstein manages to hook you in and convince you to root for the leads Erin (Barrymore) a soon to graduate journalist intern, and Garrett (Long) the record label employee told to babysit and promote some young kids band whom the record company is hoping to be the next Jonah Brothers.
Co- stars Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis as best friends of Garrett also help to Unfortunately with this film being the typical Hollywood rom-com means the sticking to an expected feel good formula, as well as just scratching the surface of the issues it raises for the most parts.Such as the deliberate crafting of their occupations, where making fleeting and sweeping statements of the state of the music and newspaper industry wasn't minced, and you get periodic reminders of it.
There is a level of chemistry that is obvious at points but the script clearly lets them down, with it being overworked and clumsy in parts.Sadly this offers nothing new at all nor a fresh approach such as seen with The Proposal last year, I would recommend avoiding unless you really want to spend 90 minutes looking at your watch wondering when it is going to end..
The only character that we really felt was doing a good job was the actress Christina Applegate who played Drew's sister.This movie had a reasonable plot and story line which could have been developed further and more completely.
Jason Sudeikis wasn't funny either, more creepy in this film.Going the distance is filled with more sexual jokes, crude humour than most rom-com's.
With Drew Barrymore and Christina Applegate, I was expecting a good movie ...
It's just my opinion but what was wrong with this film was the following, I like Drew Barrymore but she's getting too old for these roles, she looked like Justin Long's mum at times.
But it does make sense, because their chemistry is really good and one of the more positive aspects of the movie.Other than that we have great cameos (like Jim Gaffigans intro, though you might have seen it in the trailer) and very nice scenes overall.
Not that it will matter to the group of people it is aiming at, but some things seem awfully wrong at times.Still one of the better Rom-Com's of recent years and hats off for going R-Rated rather than making it (completely) sweet and cute.
Going the DistanceThanks to technology, you can meet, date and dump a person without ever having met him or her in person.However, the newly dating and distantly challenged couple in this romantic-comedy would rather the face-to-face.When record label scout Garrett (Justin Long) fortuitously encounters Erin (Drew Barrymore), an intern at the local paper, in a New York bar, he and his two friends (Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day) instantly take a shine to her.Turning their one-night stand into a "thing", all are grief-stricken when Erin must return to San Francisco to finish her journalism degree.To ease their pain, they decide that it would be a good idea to continue their affair far away from each other.Containing keen observations on the subject, and a seminal comedic performance from Charlie Day, Going the Distance works.Now, if there was only a way you could continue a long deceased relationship.
Drew Barrymore & Justin Long share good chemistry and this makes the movie engaging.
But all in all, it was working well enough."Going the Distance" differs from so many other romantic comedies, and it has a somewhat deeper level to it and more aspects to its story and plot line.
In some ways describing this film as a romcom is misleading there is indeed rom and a great deal of com but for a lot of men the word drips with sentimentality whereas a lot of Going the Distance is a far broader comedy.
The guys as a sort of chorus is funny as is the steely persona of Christina Applegate, but for me it is drew who carries it,she makes you laugh a lot out loud,she is a good physical comic,watch out for her drunk in a bar- and she carries you through the occasional longueurs of the film.
Which is the most positive aspect of this movie, cause a lot of people that have or had long distance relationships can relate with it.
Although the long distance relationship aspect of the film was done pretty good, but as the film dragged on I started to not care if this couple got together in the end or drifted apart.
I really like Drew Barrymore, this part was perfect for her to bring her tomboyish charm, because on the page this female lead could have been slightly annoying.Garrett (Justin Long) too played his part well, although I just didn't find him attractive, I was confused though, as I couldn't work out if I was suppose too, but then again if they cast a much more beautiful actor then perhaps the character might have been slightly unbelievable.Christina Applegate was great as always, she was my favourite.Some scenes are hilarious, but some of the dialogue is a bit off putting, I am no prude but some of it was a bit distasteful.If you like Pretty Woman, then you'll like this, just not as much though..
In Going the Distance, Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore) meet while arguing over a lost game of Centipede.
Drew Barrymore and Justin long play romantic leads here, their chemistry is just alright, let's just say that they aren't a couple I'd be compelled to pull for, didn't really matter to me whether they stayed together or not in the end.
The romantic comedy film, titled Going the Distance can be described up the same way.
Sure she is also a "strong working" and "kick ass" girl of our times but at heart, you can see how sensitive she is.So I was expecting something sweet, funny and adorable, just like her...But this is the total opposite of those words.Trust me it's more an horror flick than a romance or comedy one.
However "Going the Distance" by choosing a somewhat milder downtrodden path fails to capture much of the gist of long distance relationships, instead taking genre short-cuts that go amiss, forcing the story into a dramatic dead-end.Erin (Drew Barrymore), a 30-ish intern at a New York magazine, hits off a precarious relationship with Garrett (Justin Long), a music talent scout with commitment issues.
Just the same, I believe I can write about it and rate it.This movie shows a woman in a relationship that is acted pretty closely to what I expect Drew Barrymore's relationships are really like.
They both want to be near each other because they're worried love won't last.Not that either of them is getting much in the way of advice, Drew from her sister and brother-in-law, Christina Applegate and Jim Gaffigan and Long from his brain dead friends Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis.Going The Distance is your typical comedy of the new century, helped along in large part by the charm of its leads.
'GOING THE DISTANCE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Surprisingly funny rom-com with the odd pairing of Justin Long and Drew Barrymore as the romantic leads.
The movie is witty and funny thanks to a clever script (by first time writer Geoffe La Tullippe) and a great supporting cast including Charlie Day (of 'IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA' fame), Jason Sudeikis (of 'SNL' fame), Jim Gaffigan, Rob Riggle, Ron Livingston and Christina Applegate.
I'm not the kind of guy who usually is quick to rush out and see a romantic comedy, but Going the Distance just seemed like it had something more to offer than that genre usually tosses out.
And I have to say that my positive expectations were mostly fulfilled.One of the best things about the movie is that it's a relationship comedy/drama that's genuinely funny, and it avoids the usual contrived problems that rom-coms throw between the two leads, in favor of realistic situations that anyone who has been in a long distance relationship can relate to.
The movie gets a bit more serious and less lighthearted as it goes on, but it never completely forgoes the funny dialogue and jokes that really helped get me into it from the very beginning.Justin Long and Drew Barrymore also were a big reason why Going the Distance leaves a lot of similar movies in the dust.
The cute and sweet Drew Barrymore is back once again in another romantic comedy and this one rightfully titled "Going the Distance" is a very funny and touching one.
It involves two thirty year old's in New York Barrymore as Erin a newspaper reporter and Garrett(Justin Long)as a record producer who both meet at a bar and have a one night stand.
Still the film focuses on the real life matters of decision making such as job placement and settling into the right geography location.In the end like most romantic comedies things work for themselves, overall "Going the Distance" is a very funny and humane obscenity treat in which Drew Barrymore is as cute and sexy as expected and Justin Long shows some good skill as an actor.
Most of all this romantic comedy proves timing needs to be right to give love a chance and long distance relationships are possible..
Adorable Drew Barrymore (Erin) and Justin Long (Garrett) are a real life couple (at the time of writing this synopsis) and on screen they are equally made for each other.
Original story, a whose-who list of fantastic secondary characters and genuine chemistry from two very likable leads in Drew Barrymore and Justin Long.
The cast of Justin Long and Drew Barrymore works really well together and Justin's friends in the film (played by Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day) are hilarious!
I really liked this movie, maybe because I've been in a long distance relationship and one that worked out in the end but I was nodding at all of the frustrations and foibles they were having not seeing each other.But this was a comedy not a drama and there was great chemistry between all the characters, especially garret's two roommates, Jim gaffigan was a bit underused but the eating at the dinner table scene when erin and garret has to consummate was truly laugh out loud stuff.Drew barrymore did look a little old for this role and I don't know how realistic it is to be an intern at 31 but overall, this qualifies as good date material stuff.
They try to go the distance.Phone sex, video chats, text messaging, and many other methods of long distance communications are used in humorous, thoughtful, and romantic ways as this rom-com becomes less about clichés, and more about chemistry.Garrett's friends played by Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis are hilarious, and sometimes extremely filthy as they try to guide him through the process of a long distance relationship, and try to give him tips and tricks to stay together.What really works in this film are the jokes.
As long as how we get to that is funny, the characters are charming and not just the male and female unit, and if the film can throw in some extra perks like music and some great shots, it's a good or great romantic comedy.
And Going the Distance is.Starring: Justin Long, Drew Barrymore, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day. Directed by: Nanette Burstein..
The characters are all well cast, if we forget for a moment that Drew Barrymore, although her usual likable self, looked rather drawn and tired and thus a little too old for her part.The story is well-written and believable, and before I knew it Erin and Garrett were apart and more or less suffering their long distance relationship.
My rating – 3/5 Going the Distance is not novel or unique but it has everything you may expect when watching a romantic comedy.
Even though I have seeing fat better romantic movies in past years 'Going the Distance' has its own things to talk about.Erin (Drew Barrymore) is a summer intern in a New York news paper and six weeks away from leaving to her home town which is 3000miles in California.
Maybe pretending to be drunk was the toughest scene in the whole movie.If you are mild at heart and likes some love and fun in a mix, 'Going the Distance' is just the right thing for you.
Between him and Christina Applegate who play Drew's sister they absolutely made the film for me.A few downsides, Justin Long's story didn't go where the movie signposted it might, Ron Livingston played a small cameo as his boss and it seemed we'd get to see more of what Justin did - the bands he didn't like vs the ones he wanted to champion but that plot line just tailed off.
Justin Long, Christina Applegate,Ron Livingston, Jim Gaffigan, Jason Sudeikis, and Charlie Day from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are all great, but Drew Barrymore's lisp got really annoying.
From Movie Man Dan Anyone who's ever been part of the long distance relationship thing will know what it's like; waiting weeks to see your loved one only for those few moments to be over in what feels like seconds.
I also liked the close guy friend of Drew Barrymore in the movie.
I thought there was some pretty good on-screen chemistry between Long and Barrymore, and several fairly funny scenes especially in the first half.
But I surrendered to Going the distance.The two leads(Justin Long and Drew Barrymore) begin the film as slackers.
Going the Distance (2010): Nanette Burstein / Cast: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Christina Applegate: Total snore fest with absolutely no entertainment whatsoever. |
tt0465482 | Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories | In 1998, Antonio "Toni" Cipriani, having been forced into living abroad after killing a made man on the orders of Salvatore Leone, decides to return to Liberty City. Upon arrival, Toni is greeted by Salvatore and a member of the Leone family, Vincenzo "Lucky Vinnie" Cilli, who rose to prominence during Toni's absence. Vincenzo is instructed by Salvatore to set Toni up with an apartment and job in Liberty City. Not long after, Toni quits upon the realisation that Vincenzo had set up a job designed to ensure Toni would be caught by the police. Toni then begins working with a former member of the rival Sindacco crime family now loyal to Leone, J.D. O'Toole, but this is short-lived as another member of the Leone crime family is ordered to kill O'Toole on the same day he was intended to become a made man within the family.
A time after, Toni receives a call from Vincenzo during which he insists that he is apologetic toward the situation regarding Toni's previous job with him and asks Toni to meet. However, this turns out to be a trap set by Vincenzo so that he gets Toni's place in the Leone family. Toni is then attacked by henchmen loyal to Vincenzo but quickly subdues them and kills Vincenzo in the process. Following Vincenzo's death, Toni resumes working for Salvatore Leone.
Toni reunites with his mother only to be met by her disapproval of his status within the Leone ranks. She orders a hit on Toni but he manages to kill the hitmen instead, leaving the business unfinished between both he and his mother. Toni's relationship with Salvatore and his wife, Maria, grows as he continues working for them eventually leading Salvatore to place his trust in Toni and set him up in a larger apartment in exchange for Toni chauffeuring them to a secluded area of Liberty City and away from the rising attacks on the Leone family by various gangs. In particularly, a war is orchestrated between the three leading Mafia families, the Leones, Sindaccos, and Forellis.
Toni continues working for the Leone family in an effort to display his loyalty and eventually becomes a made man as a result. Toni's mother receives the news and is elated to learn her son's status has finally risen to what she'd hoped and eventually calls off the hit she had ordered on Toni previously. The celebration is cut short however, as the Liberty City police arrive and arrest Salvatore under suspicion that he is a gang leader known only as "Mr. Big". Toni remains loyal to Salvatore and poses as his lawyer, while continuing to accept jobs from him which led to Toni attacking Salvatore's rivals, culminating with Toni killing the head of the Sindacco family, Paulie Sindacco, who was the main reason of Salvatore's arrest and had made the new mayor arrest Salvatore.
Toni soon becomes a respected leader within the Leone family. Salvatore is eventually taken to trial, an event which his rivals plan to use as an opportunity to be rid of him. Toni realises this and intervenes, keeping Leone safe. After Salvatore is released on bail, he comes to conclude that Massimo Torini is behind his troubles and realises that to prevent recently elected mayor, Miles O'Donovan, from dropping the charges against Leone that Torini has taken the mayor hostage.
Both Salvatore and Toni head to the island where Torini is holding the mayor and a fight ensues, resulting in the two killing Torini and using the time with the mayor to establish that O'Donovan is now in the Leone family's debt and as the game concludes, Salvatore demands that O'Donovan grant protection to the Leone family while Toni attempts to unsettle the mayor to ensure it is granted. Afterward, it is revealed that Torini was the underboss of Salvatore's uncle, who had been trying to undermine his nephew's control of the city. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1525890 | The Caller | When troubled divorcee Mary Kee sets up home in her new apartment, she stumbles across an old telephone which she quickly falls in love with. Struck by its antique charm, she gives it a place of pride in her home. Before long, Mary begins to receive strange phone calls from a mysterious, unknown caller. Over time, she discovers that the caller is a woman named Rose, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. However, when Rose claims to be calling from the past, Mary begins to question her new friend's motives.
As Rose's phone calls become ever more disturbing, Mary's sense of terror escalates. Feeling haunted in her own home, she cuts all contact with Rose. Enraged by Mary's betrayal, Rose threatens to exact her terrible revenge. Not on Mary in the present but on Mary as a child in the past. Mary finally realizes that she will have to kill Rose in order to save herself. But how can she kill someone living in the past?
She fails. Rose pours hot grease on the young Mary Kee causing the adult Mary Kee to wretch with her new burn scars. After this Mary Kee tries to kill Rose by inviting her to a birthday party at a bowling alley she knew would catch fire and burn, killing all in it. Rose misses the bus and the plan fails, so Rose has the young Mary talk to the adult Mary on a day that the old Rose attempted to barge in and kill her. Mary coaches the young Mary to break a mirror and use the shards to kill Rose, thus ending the attack and the calls, but Mary's abusive husband, Steven reappears, she asks him to leave or he may be sorry, as he denies to go Mary kills him. | insanity, revenge, murder, clever | train | wikipedia | Especially with the turn the genre took to torture porn ( with saw on the very end of the positive side of the spectrum and films like hostel on the very negative part) i got a bit tired of the whole circus.And then, just when you officially are ready to give up and kill the odd hours with rubber sharks or other pests brought to you by SciFi a movie like the caller comes along.I never gave a 10 rating to any film,but this one does it right, to tell anything about the plot and developments within is a crime.
I totally agree with the other reviewers that say that the film is not your average horror, it draws you in and is very clever and is a very good film of the horror genre without being a total cop out in the slasher come blood guts type, and its the story line that gives it its power, excellent.I know of a lot of this type that do not deliver in the way that you wish, but this film does not operate in the visceral way ,its more of the mind and makes you think more of what comes next, believe me , this film is better than most run of the mill films of this type.horror films and I would recommend it most highly to anyone that appreciates intelligent but not over the top dark, but not total degenerate films of that ilk, I hope this has helped your choice..
i went to see this movie without thinking i was going to be completely engrossed in the film and its complex characters.
in time, strange things begin to happen and the movie takes a scary turn, it becomes extremely suspenseful and scary even though there is a lack of blood and graphic violence.
Slowly, their casual conversations veer toward an ominous direction, and one by one, people around her start dying or disappearing after she tries to cut off contact with the deranged caller.If you have the patience to wait out the first 20 minutes, The Caller is a decent, straightforward mystery and suspense type thriller with reasonable acting and the welcomed absence of any CGI.
I'm tempted to give this movie a 6/10, just because of her, but she was the only good thing in it, really.There are a few times when you're left scratching your head, wondering why the characters are so dumb, but these kinds of thrillers absolutely depend on stupid characters doing things that defy all common sense.
If you liked this movie, I'd suggest checking out 100 Feet, a supernatural thriller featuring an abused wife trying to convince people that she's being haunted by her dead, abusive husband.
An old woman, who seems at first to need help, but ten other developments ensue.Luis Guzman has a good cameo here as sometime maintenance/owner of apartment building she lives in There are twists and turns, the dog, the sudden appearances of sadistic ex-husband (reminds me a bit of "Sleeping with the Enemy" in beginning).
There are no major scares or gore to speak of; it's more a case of inescapable mental torture.If you can put up with your films a little slower than normal and without any action, effects or gore then give it a go - all performances better than your average horror/supernatural flick and a slightly different premise which really works.http://thewrongtreemoviereviews.blogspot.co.uk/.
The Caller is by no means the greatest horror film, nor is it particularly original but it is quite enjoyable, mainly thanks to the wonderful Rachelle Lefevre, she has graduated to leading lady very well in The Caller, let's hope she gets more leading roles more often, she has a great screen presence and is very nice to watch.The Caller has an interesting premise, newly separated Mary moves into a new apartment to escape the clutches of her douchebag husband, only to be harassed with menacing phone calls from a woman who says she is living in the past, the year 1977 to be exact, this is when the supernatural element pops up and starts to get you thinking.Parts of this movie are really scary, other parts are slightly awkward, but for most of the film I was genuinely interested in the character of Mary and her quest to uncover the truth about the person who is causing the horror in her life, is it her husband?
I just wished the ending lived up to the rest of the movie, which was quite a cut above the usual horror fodder we see of late.Luis Guzman and Stephen Moyer give solid supporting performances too, it's nice not to see old Bill Compton all broody and serious, and Luiz is just awesome no matter what.Impressive enough that I'd watch it again I just wish the ending was different.
The star of "The Caller" is a beguiling, personable young actress named Rachelle Lefevre and her unpretentious acting is one of several things that catapult this little glossed-over gem from the catacombs of third-rate horror.
It is thoroughly engrossing and seriously scary without the blood and gore.I would recommend The Caller to anyone who likes suspense/horror/thriller movies..
The movie is suspenseful, you'll find yourself biting your nails waiting for whats going to happen next, it has ominous music and scenery that will leave you feeling a little unnerved waiting for the next jump scare (that may or may not come), there is a strong tension established early on that continues to build up until you hope for a lighthearted scene to allow you to ease up.
She's brutally psychotic and as the young woman tries to ignore the phone calls things and people begin to change in Lefvre's life because the crazed woman is murdering them in the past.
I've watched a lot of crappy horror movies on Netflix, so when I run into an actual good one, it's a refreshing treat!
Instead, I got pretty much the exact opposite: a cool premise with not only supernatural elements, but a little time-manipulation as well; believable, sympathetic characters, and a fresh take on the usual horror fare.I thought the lead actress, Rachelle Lefevre, did an excellent job conveying the right mix of toughness and vulnerability, given her situation, and it was nice to see Stephen Moyer NOT being a vampire.
Big fan of horror/thriller and this movie actually had me take the time to reset my password so I could write something.
If you like a good thriller, would not call this quite horror, then this will keep your attention and you will enjoy this movie.
Is it a five in the group of all my other fives (or what I would put as a ten on IMDb), probably not but I wanted the overall rating on netflix and IMDb to go up since most people that check the movie won't see this review so if I helped raise the total rating up from the 5.8 it was at now to higher 6.5 or 7 that I think it deserves then some handful of fans that might have otherwise overlooked this gem of a thriller will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did..
This is a solid title, and the only reason I can see someone giving it a low rating is because they were scared or confused.This movie felt very original since I've never seen a particular take on something like this done in film.
I'm biased because I have a soft spot for thrillers involving telephones, mostly due to seeing When a Stranger Calls at a very young and impressionable age, and to keep things interesting the filmmakers must get very creative and when done right it can make for a truly engaging and unique film experience.
If there happens to be any other freaks out there like me obsessed with any and all thrillers or horror movies revolving around phone calls, check this out..
The film begins as a thriller, but develops more towards a superstitious horror movie.
I expected nothing more than an average typical thriller movie but this one kept me intrigued due to the mystery of who the caller is, why she was calling and what she was going to do next.
***SPOILERS*** A lot like the 2000 time traveling movie "Fequency" in the "The Caller" there's this young woman Mary Kee, Rachelle Lefevre, who somehow gets in touch with her past in 1979 through a number of mysterious phone calls from this woman who calls herself Rose,Lorna Raver, who claims that she stole her boyfriend Bobby away from her.
A a bum he is looking for every excuse to get into Mary's apartment to raid the refrigerator for free food & beer which he's too cheap to buy for himself.It's later in the movie that Mary finally realized that this Rosa is holding her hostage as a little girl back in 1979 or 32 years in the past and planning to kill her to keep Mary stealing her just back from the Vietnam War, with serious mental problems, boyfriend Bobby when she grows up!
***SPOILERS**** Mary in checking out old newspaper microfilm in the public library sees that a major fire took place in her neighborhood bowling alley around the time-September 1979-that Rosa is calling her and tries to get her to go there to see her with the excuse of boyfriend Bobby being there so she'll end up being one of the fires many victims.
Like in the movie "Frenquency" this film about changing the past as well as future is a bit too confusing as well as hard to follow.
It in fact does have a somewhat happy ending with both Rosa in the past and Steven in the present getting their comeuppances which is about the only good thing you can say about the film!.
You suspect that the ex-husband is in some way behind the strange phone calls that Mary starts to get from Rose.
You're not sure, because what seems to be happening with Rose is truly bizarre - also possible in a movie.Rose seems to be calling Mary not from another place, but from another time.
It seems to be 1979 (for Rose.) You're forced out of time a little bit right at the beginning of the movie when Mary moves in to her new apartment - and she has a rotary telephone.
It's quite disorienting, and then come these creepy phone calls from a woman claiming to be in 1979, while at the same time you know that there's a very real and present danger in the ex-husband.
The premise is interesting, its creepy at times and Rachelle Lefevre does a good job with Stephen Moyer playing the boyfriend.
There are lots of (obviously placed) red herrings and mind bending aspects to think about regarding changing the future by doing nasty things in the past, and the "sweet "old lady on the phone "Rose" is ultra creepy.
So for a made for TV B-movie its definitely okay.Rachelle Lefevre is Mary, a recent divorcée who after moving into a new apartment begins to receive a series of increasingly harassing phone calls.
At first she thinks its a wrong number (and a sweet old lady) but she comes to realize the voice on the other end of the line is actually calling from the past.This sets up a chain of events with Mary questioning everyone around her; her stalkerish ex-husband, the evasive gardener (Luis Guzman) and ultimately running for her life but (for some reason) still answering the phone.
And then a wrong number mysterious woman (Lorna Raver) starts calling, she realizes there's something strange going on.This is a smaller movie which also stars Stephen Moyer, and Luis Guzmán.
All is fairly normal until Mary starts receiving phone calls from a mysterious woman named Rose (Lorna Raver from Drag Me To Hell).
In this, Rachelle showed range as an actress, and she showed that she could carry a movie.All in all, the acting was surprising solid, and the story (though derivative) had enough little wrinkles to entertain.What I didn't like was the logic, which was absent at times.
lot of good reviews for this movie, i guess i'd like to address the balance.a good psychological horror movie needs carefully built up suspense, this had zero, there was the flimsiest of plots, something about a divorcée and her ex, but that was never explained or elaborated on.Basically, you didn't care about the characters which is a shame because Moyer of True blood fame and Guzman are solid character actors.Director parkhill has barely been in charge of a full length movie and it showed, I don't often quit before the end but I had to here, the general implausibility, plot holes (simply block a number) and lack of ideas was enough for me..
It's an odd story that will captivate you.The scenes with the creepy husband put a bit of a drag on the movie, but I stuck with it.There are other sort of anomalies like why doesn't she have an answering machine instead of having to rely on always answering the phone.
This leads up to the idea that perhaps there was never a time loop, that perhaps Mary's having a psychotic breakdown and imagining what looks like a time warp, and that maybe Mary returned to Rose's apartment (where she was abducted and held as a child) to kill and hide her abusive husband (who has stalked her all the way back to Puerto Rico) in the wall where Rose's victims lay undiscovered!
However, the movie kept me intrigued and it had a lot of unexpected twist that towards the end of the film got very suspenseful and tense for you didn't know what else to expect from the psycho caller from the past.
The user-reviews here made it sound like one of the best horror movies of the year, so as it started to fall apart, I got more and more frustrated with it.
This movie has complex twists and suspense from the FIRST phone call.With the exception of the old style rotary phone that looked like it came from the 50's instead of the late 70's this was a very good tale.I'm still shaking my head trying to figure out what I would do in her place and that, for me, is the mark of a good story.Rachelle did an excellent job of portraying a woman who did not fall apart when hit by seemingly impossible events, in fact, she seemed to have gained strength more and more right up to the very end.To say that this movie kept my attention is an understatement.
Both movies do very well on their own and I suspect that both the producers and writers of each film would be annoyed with anyone that tried to compare them to the other.If you enjoy a good thriller with a lot of suspense, this movie is for you, please DO give it a watch and ENJOY!.
This movie has a genuinely great plot and to my surprise (and disappointment), I see many theories floating around the ending, when it is much clearer and simpler to comprehend.My personal view on the flaws of the movie are the following: The characters lacked depth, especially for the main actress, Mary, who was a typical young woman, moving in a new apartment.
These may be typical, but I would enjoy the film a lot more.I have rated the movie with 9/10 for its fantastic plot.I shall now hint out the ending and its interpretation:The people Mary met were not ghosts, whose bodies were recovered after years.
This enabled her to engage in a criminal activity without a second thought (something that would never occur, if she had never answered the phone or had not provoked Rose).Even though the matter of how the subsequent calls from the past were achieved (as in how was the past bridged to the present) remained somehow transparent, a theory was still addressed by John, when he drew the curved line of time, with a break point on top, to give Mary an explanation.All in all, this was one of my favorite movies.
a young girl (Mary Kee) is on a divorce and moves to a new apartment to start a new life, and that's where some strange calls begin.A woman, Rose, insistently calls, we realize that she is depressed and with some problems.
Determined to find out who the mysterious caller is, Mary starts to look into who the previous apartment's occupants were but nothing can prepare her for what is really happening and who the calls are coming from.The Caller is another one of those "work it out for yourself" types of films because the way the story evolves as the movie goes on, you literally do have to work it out for yourself as the plot really gives you nothing as to why things are happening.
Mary realizes with horror that Rose can do things in the past which affects the future she is in.
Although the ending was not as good as it could have been, I was happy to see that she learned something out of it.Rose tells Mary in the beginning that something as odd as the time calling could only happen for a reason.
I was surprised when I sat down to watch this movie, and I actually found myself engrossed in the film as well as a little creeped out.
As much as I complain that all horror films are the same, this movie is very refreshing in its premise except for the ending.
Coming to the plot which starts normal for the first 30 minutes, Mary (Rachelle Lefevre) moves in to an apartment complex in Puerto Rico to escape her abusive ex-husband who is none too happy about the divorce or the restraining order placed against him.
The woman starts to lose it and the movie ends with her killing her ex husband? |
tt0072735 | Breakheart Pass | In the 1870s, residents of the garrison at the Fort Humboldt Army outpost are reported to be suffering from a diphtheria epidemic. A train is heading towards the fort filled with reinforcements and medical supplies. There are also civilian passengers on the train – Nevada Governor Fairchild (Richard Crenna) and his fiancée Marica (Jill Ireland), the daughter of the fort's commander.
The train stops briefly in Myrtle, where it takes on board local lawman Sheriff Pearce (Ben Johnson) and his prisoner, John Deakin (Charles Bronson), a notorious outlaw who was identified via a picture in a newspaper advertisement offering a $2,000 (approximately $44,000 today) reward. But as the journey goes on, several train passengers, including most of the train's soldier escort, are mysteriously killed or go missing. Deakin, who is actually a Secret Service agent, discovers en route that the "epidemic" at the outpost is actually a conspiracy between a group of killers led by the notorious outlaw Levi Calhoun (Robert Tessier), and a tribe of Indians under Chief White Hand (Eddie Little Sky). Instead of medical supplies, the train transports a large secret shipment of weapons, ammunition and dynamite stolen from U.S. manufacturers for sale to the Indians, in return for allowing Calhoun and his men to mine and smuggle gold from their lands. Most of the people on the train, including Governor Fairchild and Sheriff Pearce, are Calhoun's partners in crime, and those innocents who discover the evidence for his sinister plot are quickly silenced. Eventually, Deakin narrows his list of allies down to Marica and Army Major Claremont (Ed Lauter), who agree to assist Deakin in his efforts to prevent the arms delivery.
At Breakheart Pass, all hell breaks loose as Indians attack the train to take the weapons they were promised, and Calhoun and his men ride out to take the train in order to find out what's going on. Deakin and Claremont use dynamite to ground the train before it reaches the fort, and while Deakin runs interference, Claremont rushes to Fort Humboldt to free the soldiers imprisoned by Calhoun's gang. A gunfight breaks out when the freed soldiers clash with the Indians and bandits at the train; Calhoun is killed by Fairchild when he threatens Marica, but the governor is then in turn cut down by Claremont. At the end of the battle, Deakin interceps Pearce and shoots him when the corrupt Sheriff decides to go down fighting. | mystery, intrigue, action, murder | train | wikipedia | The one book that he wrote which doesn't fit either of those descriptions is Breakheart Pass, a western set aboard a train.
This film version of it is surprisingly enjoyable, and features the added bonus of an expressive, colourful characterisation by Charles Bronson.The train is travelling to a fort in the Wild West with medical supplies to cure an outbreak of a nasty disease.
However, some of the soldiers aboard the train are mysteriously disappearing, and anyone who's ever seen a film like this will figure out straight away that there's a murderer on board.
People start getting killed on this trip, even before the train leaves and as I said no one is exactly who he seems to be.Alistair MacLean for a non-American writer managed in this story to get the western ambiance down pretty good.
entertaining but ludicrous western mystery, starring charles bronson at the height of his career, with beautiful outdoor scenery, a familiar cast and an uneven but at times memorable score from jerry goldsmith.bronson plays an alleged arsonist and murderer who is being escorted to trial by a state marshall, on board a train that's also on a rescue mission to an army camp beset by disease.
most ridiculous development sees murder suspect bronson allowed to roam the train at will, as he figures everything out.but the taciturn star has his roughneck charms, the railway sequences through the wintry, mountainous terrain are lovely, and there's an incredible, lengthy fight atop the rolling train that is eyepoppingly good -- no special effects here -- and escalates to a jaw dropping climax as the train rolls over a high wooden bridge.nothing special, but an entertaining diversion..
But aside from that, I like this film.A good story, good cast, great scenery, and something I thirst for in westerns: good iron horse action, with actual American rail equipment of the era (unlike, say, the European stuff in Sergio Leone's westerns).
Breakheart Pass is a wicked tough, badass Charles Bronson action vehicle steeped in the macho charm on the 1970's, and filled with ever changing photography as a train hurtles across the Nevada and Idaho mountains during a snowy winter.
Based on Alistair MacLean's novel about a troop train transporting soldiers and medical supplies to a plague ridden fort, that is threatened by hijackers and other secrets from various characters like the territorial governor, doctor, and a mysterious prisoner.Featuring a fine cast that includes Charles Bronson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland, Charles Durning, and Ed Lauter, this suspenseful and action filled western thriller(directed by Tom Gries) is great fun all the way, and also has a twist laden plot to keep the viewer guessing.Some graphic violence at times, but intelligently done, and beautifully filmed on real snowy locations.
A good time is guaranteed when one sits down to watch this exhilarating blend of action, Western, and suspense - largely set on a train.
Based on the novel by Alistair MacLean, and scripted by the author himself, it has an engaging plot with twists and revelations along the way.Charles Bronson delivers a fine performance as John Deakin, a wanted man who is brought aboard a train headed to Fort Humboldt, which is supposedly experiencing an outbreak of diphtheria.
Ben Johnson, Jill Ireland (looking quite beautiful), Richard Crenna, Charles Durning, Ed Lauter, Bill McKinney, David Huddleston, Roy Jenson, Robert Tessier (who curiously seems to be dubbed by Paul Frees), and Sally Kirkland are all present and accounted for; the young trooper Rafferty is played by Paul Newmans' son Scott.The action is first-rate and the movie, just like the prominent mode of transportation, races forward.
Breakheart Pass is a good, mystery western with an appeal relative to the 1985 movie "Clue" (except there isn't three or four different endings like there was in Clue).
The movie takes its place on a train on its way to Fort Humboldt, and Charles Bronson acts as a man accused of many ill-doings.
This film is particularly emphasized for some fight images aboard the train between two-fisted guy Charles Bronson and the hunk Archie Moore ; it was performed without stunt doubles.
Bronson is well accompanied by a fine support cast , such as : his wife Jill Ireland, being ne of many films in which Charles Bronson co-starred with his early deceased spouse , Ben Johnson , Charles Durning , Ed Lauter ,Bill McKinney , David Huddleston , Robert Tessier , Roy Jenson , and a previous light heavyweight prizefighter boxing champ turned-actor Archie Moore, among others .
An intriguing western and mystery wrapped in one, the film starts off quite strong, but it later spirals into run-of-the-mill action sequences that feel added in just for thrills, some of which are awkwardly silent.
Charles Bronson is a prisoner, being transported by a sheriff (Ben Johnson) on a train carrying vital medical supplies to an army outpost suffering from a diphtheria outbreak.
The action sequences (especially the fight on top of the train) are well staged and the film manages to fit the period (the 1870's) more than many of its Hollywood contemporaries (despite a 1970s aesthetic that is abetted by Jerry Goldsmith's 'commercial' but catchy music).
Having Alistair Maclean get involved with the production this movie has a proper high class standard,Tom Gries has been proved in a fine western in late sixties with Chuck in "Will Penny" and this mystery train which Charles Bronson as usual made a good job,nevertheless the story is quite unbelievable to start,even so the picture floating in resounded tracks,has a cold atmosphere and mystery,corpses were found during the journey,the casting are quite fabulous,Ben Johnson,Richard Crenna and Charles Durning and lot of others good actors in this solid and enjoyable in a amazing winter landscape!!
Let me start by saying that this movie is pretty damn good, and original, westerns are usually your typical tired old formula that you've seen done a billion times.The thing I like about this film is that it was a mystery story, that involves your intellect and it was smart and treats it's audience as smart and not like idiots, also give us something new.Charles Bronson is great in this film as Deacon, also the rest of the cast was very good in this I don't want to say anymore with out ruining it for you but this film was awesome.Overall, a great mystery-western that was original and made completely fresh, which I think was a nice change of pace, hopefully we'll get more original westerns like this.I give it a 7/10.
Deputy Marshal Pearce (Ben Johnson) looking for a way to board the train, arrests Murray.Aboard the train as it leaves are Governor Fairchild (Richard Crenna), Marcia Scoville (Jill Ireland) who is going to meet her father, Reverend Peabody (Bill McKinney), Dr. Molyneux (David Huddleston), a platoon of soldiers led by Major Clairemont (Ed Lauter), as well as, the conductor (Charles Durning), a steward (Joe Kapp) and the cook Carlos (Archie Moore).Fairchild reveals that the purpose of the trip is to bring medicine to the fort which is suffering from an epidemic of diphtheria.
"Breakheart Pass" it's a decent action movie, in which we have several distinguished actors, Ben Johnson in particular, Richard Crenna, Ed Lauter, Charles Durning.
This leaves Charles Bronson to put the jumbled pieces together.Mechanical, but a highly polished and enterprising feature that benefits greatly by the striking use of the sweeping camera, plenty of things going on in Alistair MacLean's tight-lipped screenplay (adapted off his own novel) and a strong tailored cast who really do put in.
It's a competent display with little in the way of flair as there are a couple of pretty good set-pieces involving two carriages of soldiers meeting an unpleasant end and a tussle (between Bronson and Archie Moore) on top the train.
An aging Charles Bronson in the "Death Wish" period, but still a curious film set mostly in a dramatic railroad-western.
A fun movie that tries to compound everything western into a classic Bronson film.
There are a few good things one can say about "Breakheart Pass" (Bronson's acting is effective, the music score is rousing), but, unfortunately, they are overshadowed by the bad things, like the murky script and the routine direction.
A real dreadful clinker involving Indians and bad guys in cahoots for guns and gold and silver.The action is on a train where Charles Bronson is supposedly an escaped fugitive.
It stars Charles Bronson, Ben Johnson, Richard Crenna, Jill Ireland, Charles Durning and Ed Lauter.
On board is a small U.S. Army unit and an assortment of passengers, all of whom are about to be in the middle of murder, mystery and dastardly plotting.Not exactly loved by the critics of the time, but liked well enough by the paying public, Breakheart Pass is a thoroughly enjoyable movie.
The action sequences are impressive (the train roof fight is as great as you have heard it is), with stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt (in his final assignment) once again excelling.Elsewhere, Jerry Goldsmith's score is wonderfully robust and chest thumping, a real triumph from the great man.
This tightly plotted Charles Bronson whodunit plays somewhat like one of writer Alistair MacLean's World War Two stories, transfered to a western setting with a bit of Agatha Christie thrown in for good measure.Combining that with excellently photographed northwest locations, a great cast of fine character actors, and some well-staged action scenes, makes this quite an enjoyable time for fans of Bronson and MacLean, as well as mystery, action-adventure and western aficionados.It's always great to see Ed Lauter (in a rare heroic role), Robert Tessier, Bill McKinney, and David Huddleston, four very underrated actors.As time goes by, I miss Bronson's presence on the big-screen more and more.
In the 1930's, he revolutionized the art of action in the movies and along with young B-western star John Wayne, pretty much invented the way film fights were (and still are) staged and photographed.
American film 'Breakheart Pass' is a highly entertaining western film about the death defying adventures of some passengers on a moving train.
Here the film starts with a train arriving at a station where absolutely nothing happens for the next 15 minutes.Despite this major flaw - Maybe films in the mid 70s sold on the names of Bronson and Maclean rather than script structure ?- once the film gets into its stride it is rather entertaining .
Now I like Western movies pretty much, especially the gun fighting, and train rides as well.
Bronson begins by playing an alleged convict who is tied to a corner but, before you know it, he is going up and down the train conducting an in depth investigation without anyone apparently wising up to it, apart from a cook with whom he trades punches atop the train.Crenna is predictably the smooth villain, Edward Albert not so predictably the good soldier, and Jill Ireland is as beautiful as she is exceedingly limited as an actress, and the rest of the cast takes turns coming on and disappearing.I could not wait for the end of this totally forgettable flick..
For those who consider Bronson as just another actioneer star, this is actually a mystery film, with a great deal of suspense.
(Then again, when didn't he?) Gries assembled a great cast of some of the 1970s finest character actors (Charles Durning, Ben Johnson, David Huddleston, Bill McKinney, Ed Lauter), and turned them into a terrific ensemble.
Bronson plays John Deakin, a prisoner on a train carrying medical supplies and soldiers through the Rockies to Fort Humboldt, California.
Maybe it's because I read a lukewarm review in Brian Garfield's excellent guide "Western Films"; or maybe it's because I feared it would be another "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974), one of the dullest movies I've ever seen (you can barely make out a word of Finney's heavily accented dialogue), not to mention the totally absurd murder mystery (as the ending reveals) (still, it's worth catching just for the all-star cast and the lush train sets).
Both films are murder mysteries that take place on steam-engine trains back in the day; the difference is that "Breakheart Pass" has a more interesting story and Western action, which is to be expected since it was written by Alistair MacLean.Speaking of action, the energetic climax with everyone chaotically running around – shooting people and exploding things -- is the film's weakest part as it doesn't completely work.
Wonderful story, and better landscapes,and everything with Jerry Goldsmith's unforgettable score.And not to forget,the thrilling is also effective.So,watch this film,it's in the best way of Agatha Christie.And of course at least as good as Hitchock's train-thriller.At least as good.When not even better....
Undercover Secret Service Agent John Deakin(Charles Bronson;Deakin is posing as a notorious criminal so to fool Ben Johnson's Marshal Nathan Pearce)has followed hidden Winchester rifles(to support notorious in-jun Whitehand and his men in a collaborative effort to collect gold and silver)to a certain train holding military whose leader Maj. Claremont(Ed Lauter)is suspicious to why he is being ordered around by a "piss-poor" politician(Gov. Richard Fairchild played by Richard Crenna).
In one particular harrowing sequence someone unlatches the train compartments holding Claremont's soldiers..they can not escape as it goes off the tracks crashing into the ground below.When you have a cast featuring such names as Johnson, Crenna, Bronson, Ireland, Durning, and Lauter, it's definitely not gonna be boring.
There came a point in the movie when I began wondering to myself, how come John Deakin/Murray (Charles Bronson) is running around loose without scrutiny or in the presence of any of the authority figures, like Marshal Pearce (Ben Johnson) or Major Claremont (Ed Lauter).
If bestselling Scottish writer Alistair MacLean and American superstar Charles Bronson appear like a difficult match to imagine, even more so is the "Where Eagles Dare" author penning a murder & mystery set in the Old West on an Army transport train with lots of suspicious characters.
The mustached Bronson heads an all-star cast of seasoned actors: Richard Crenna, Ed Lauter, Jill Ireland, Ben Johnson, Charles Durning, David Huddleston, Bill McKinney, Rayford Barnes, and Robert Tessier.
Is it Ireland's "Seven people, my God, Richard, how awful!" or Bill McKinney as a preacher exclaiming: "How dare you expose all of us to this dreadful pestilence!"Of course, lines like those tax any actor's selling ability, and it's no wonder Crenna, Johnson, and Charles Durning (as another of the train's mystery men) are content to slouch their way toward a paycheck here.
Bronson's his typically inert self, taking only what the script gives him, but director Tom Gries is no Sergio Leone, and Bronson's acting has a laggard quality all-too-familiar in his "Death Wish" days."Breakheart Pass" was the last film for fabled stunt coordinator Yakima Canutt and one of the last Westerns for cinematographer Lucien Ballard, who memorably shot "The Wild Bunch" and "True Grit." Canutt with a fight on top of a rail car and Ballard with his views of the train chugging through snowy valleys give the best work here, along with Ed Lauter who as U.S. Army Maj. Claremont manages to win our rooting interest.
Gries' static exterior compositions, his dull, repetitious framing of the actors and scenes, and his over-reliance on MacLean's bland and pokey script all doom any entertaining quality this film might have had.SPOILERS FOLLOW - Why does the deputy marshal allow Deakin to freely roam around the train after taking him into custody for the murder of seven people?
Moreover, the stellar cast keeps things buzzing: Bronson does credible work in a juicy lead role, Jill Ireland looks positively ravishing and exudes considerable charm as the gutsy and outspoken Marica, Ed Lauter has a welcome and refreshing change-of-pace good guy part as the no-nonsense Major Claremont, and Richard Crenna pours on the slippery smarm as the crooked Gov. Richard Fairchild, plus there are sound contributions from Ben Johnson as the rugged Marshal Pearce, Charles Durning as the huffy O'Brien, David Huddleston as the ill-fated Dr. Molyneux, Bill McKinney as the hard-nosed Reverend Peabody, Roy Jenson as gruff engineer Chris Banion, and Robert Tessier as vicious outlaw Levi Calhoun.
It turns from a mystery into a Western action movie.
What Breakheart Pass has going for it are some fine character actors like Ben Johnson, Charles Durning and David Huddleston; the look of the film...the hovel of the tiny rail town of Myrtle in the Rockies, dry, gray, worn-out plank buildings, a shack of a train station, a utilitarian brothel that's all business; the tired steam engine and worn carriages but with a plush interior of the wood-paneled dining car and parlor; the rugged snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains; the stunt work directed by Yakima Canute in his last picture; and, of course, Charles Bronson, phlegmatic, stoic, always watching and seldom speaking.
Aboard is the territorial governor, the daughter of the fort's commander, a doctor, a minister, a train official, a major, some of his soldiers and a lawman with his prisoner, a man called Deakin (Charles Bronson).
Based on a novel by spy-master Alistair MacLean, BREAKHEART PASS is one of those twisty suspense films in which nobody is really whom they first appear to be and there are bad guys everywhere you turn.
I thoroughly enjoyed this mystery story, which benefits from a perfectly-cast Charles Bronson playing the film's hero.
Aside from Bronson, there are good turns from a range of willing character actors including Rambo's Richard Crenna, veteran actor Ben Johnson, Charles Durning, Paul Newman's son Scott, the ubiquitous Jill Ireland – Bronson's wife at the time – and finally a young-looking Ed Lauter, who would later team up once more as Bronson's gun-buddy in DEATH WISH 3.
A classic must-see for fans of Bronson, Westerns, mysteries or train movies.
Make sure to see this movie if you like Bronson, Westerns, trains, or Alistair MacClean novels..
***SPOILERS*** Action adventure super star Charles Bronson doesn't disappoint his fans in the movie "Breakheart Pass" as the wanted for arson murder cheating in poker and not paying his dues desperado Deakin. |
tt0102969 | Spotswood | In late 1960s Melbourne, Errol Wallace (Anthony Hopkins) is a financial business consultant who we meet in the course of his being hired by the board of Durmack, an automotive component manufacturer, where he assesses a large work force redundancy and recommends major layoffs.
Balls, a moccasin factory located in the Melbourne suburb of Spotswood, is his next client. Mr. Ball (Alwyn Kurts), the owner of the company, is affable and treats his employees benevolently. Wallace on a factory tour finds the conditions wanting with shabbiness, old machinery and the workers lackadaisical.
A young worker at Balls, Carey (Ben Mendelsohn), who is finding his place in the world and life, is asked by Wallace to assist in his review, compiling worker condition and performance information. Carey is reluctant until he learns that Mr. Ball’s daughter Cheryl (Rebecca Rigg), whom he fancies, is part of the review staff.
Wallace learns that there is an instigator in the midst, his colleague Jerry (John Walton), who leaks the Durmack report, inflating the quantity of sackings as a means to demoralize the union.
Kim (Russell Crowe), a salesman at Balls who also has his sights set on the boss's daughter, shows his ruthlessness and ulterior motives when he comes to Wallace's home one night with a complete set of the company financial records that detail non-existent profit for years and reveal that Ball has been selling off company assets to keep the outfit afloat.
Wallace realizes that whatever productivity improvements have been implemented are not enough to save the company even with an elimination of workers and yet that is his recommendation. Mr. Ball responds, "It’s not just about dollars and cents. It’s about dignity, treating people with respect.”
Wallace's mind set starts to change when his car is vandalized and some Ball workers come to his aid, workers who then start to include him in their off-hours activities. Mr. Ball announces the work force redundancies and Wallace is clearly uncomfortable seeing them, knowing that it was his recommendation that sealed their fate.
The union at Durmack capitulates and management celebrates with a party at which Wallace becomes disenchanted by rash sackings and realises that product diversity can potentially make the company profitable since the skills set is in the workers.
Carey realises he has feelings for his work mate and friend Wendy (Toni Collette) and together they climb up onto the roof of the factory and hold hands as they look out over Spotswood. | storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0073922 | You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown | The cartoon begins with Snoopy playing tennis against Woodstock while Linus and Sally are unable to play due to the courts being occupied. (Sally tries to intimidate those playing by stating "her boyfriend" was going to clobber them, causing Linus to high-tail it out of there.) After failing to beat Woodstock, Snoopy destroys his racket in frustration.
Peppermint Patty arrives on a small motorcycle and alerts the kids about an upcoming motocross race, and suggests that Charlie Brown and Snoopy enter. Linus volunteers to be the pit crew and the two pool their limited financial resources to purchase a shabby old bike. Snoopy enters the race under the pseudonym of The Masked Marvel and Marcie is on hand as the announcer. Charlie Brown and Snoopy crash within minutes of the start of the race, and an ambulance shuttles them off for immediate medical care.
In the confusion, Snoopy is admitted to a regular hospital while Charlie Brown ends up at the vet. After regaining consciousness, Charlie Brown escapes and retrieves Snoopy from the hospital. Upon return, Linus informs Charlie Brown that motocross rules dictate that all drivers must be fitted with a helmet, which was lost during in the crash. Linus proceeds to outfit Charlie Brown with a hollowed-out pumpkin as a helmet and Charlie Brown, demoralized with such ridiculous headgear, returns to the race.
As the race continues, every other competitor falls victim to various mishaps (particularly assorted mud-traps)...leaving Charlie Brown as the only contender left to cross the finish line (his old bike proves to have amazing durability, despite its poor speed). Then he discovers that those who sanctioned the race could not afford the intended grand prize of Pro Bowl tickets. As a consolation prize, Charlie Brown is given a kiss from Loretta - the incredibly homely "Motocross Queen" - and a certificate for five free haircuts...which are useless to him, since his dad is a barber (and since Charlie has very little hair to be cut). Linus consoles Charlie Brown by telling him that the fact that he won against overwhelming odds is more important than receiving a prize.
The next day, a confident Charlie Brown is ready to pitch another baseball game, saying to the team that in spite of his 980 straight defeats, has come to understand what winning is, and is certain that he will win this game. Instead, a line drive plows past him, causing his clothes to go flying in all directions. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Get those mini bikes a-racing!!.
I remember this story of Good Ole' Chuck the moto-cross racer.
Man it's been years since I have seen this and it was only once unfortunately.
This is a 1975 classic Charlie Brown episode and I would love to find this on D.V.D. now for my 2 children.
A story not just about competing, but being a good sport as well.
This like just about all the other 'PEANUTS' videos are great.
My personal favorites, range in time from 1965 to 1986 Those are some of the old style animation before they had computer for everything.
The old animation style is warmer and more friendly, much more authentic to me.
So if you are reading this and you have kids, you can't go wrong, pick up a copy of one of your favorite 'Peanuts' episodes today!!.
Whoop-Dee-Do!.
When it comes to being an all-round sport - This sweet, animated short (25 minutes) from 1975, has our young, pumpkin-headed protagonist, Charlie Brown, going in for such all-American, pastime activities as tennis, baseball, football, and, yes, even dirt-biking.Of course, being good, ol' Charlie Brown (the ultimate blockhead) failure just seems to be his destiny in any sports arena.
But whatever he tackles, you can always be sure that Charlie Brown can be counted on to plunge into any given activity with the winning spirit of a real loser.This particular short was an Emmy Award winner.
Its creator, Charles M.
Shulz, is considered to be one of the most influential cartoonist of all time.Sad to say - On Feb. 12.
2000, Charles M.
Shulz, 77 at the time, died of cancer..
You ought to try a new sport, Charlie Brown.
Bored with football and at the end of his tether with Lucy for always pulling the ball away at the last second during place kicks (he just never learns) Chuck tries his luck at Motocross after Peppermint Patty turns up riding a new motorcycle.
There's a big race coming up but the only bike poor old Chuck can afford is a shambling wreck (much like he could only afford a pathetic excuse of a Christmas tree).The race, of course, is a disaster.
But luckily Chuck has the least bad luck of all the contestants and manages to limp across the finish line in first place.
However the promised prize of tickets to the Pro Bowl is not available and instead Chuck is awarded vouchers for free haircuts (Charlie Brown's dad is a barber).Even when Chuck has some good luck it turns out bad.
Though it's nice to see him win for once..
A typically delightful Peanuts TV special.
Charlie Brown competes in a grueling motocross bike race against scruffy tomboy Peppermint Patty and his ever-irrepressible pooch Snoopy, who participates in the race under the funky alter ego of the Masked Marvel.
Director Phil Roman and writer Charles M.
Schulz expertly craft a lively and funny twenty-five minute diversion with a warm, engaging tone, bright, colorful animation, a funky and syncopated get-down groovy 70's workover of Vince Guaraldi's infectiously jaunty'n'jazzy score, and, most of all, a good-natured quality which in turn makes this program quite appealing and enjoyable.
Comic highlights include Snoopy excelling at a solo game of tennis and throwing a fit after he loses a game to Woodstock, the always hilarious football gag, Marcia conducting interviews with the race's contestants and hogging the spotlight during said interviews, Charlie Brown being sent to the vet and Snoopy being sent to a fancy hospital after they both wipe out in the big race, Linus making an impromptu helmet out of a pumpkin for Charlie Brown, and Snoopy having a quick picnic during the race.
Amazingly, the usually hapless Charlie Brown wins the race, although the prize he receives turns out to be really lame and useless.
Still, it's nice to see Charlie emerge victorious for once and the central message about how it's more important to try your best than it is to win is sweet and inspiring.
A total treat..
Not a fan, but it was okay all in all.
"You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown" is an American 25-minute cartoon and the title gives away that here we got another Peanuts episode circled around Charlie and the gang.
This one's from 1975, so already over 40 years old and it won an Emmy back then.
The fact that Phil Roman directed here made me especially curious as I am really a big Garfield fan, his trademark series, and he didn't let me down with this one either.
Script and story are as always by Charles M.
Schulz.
This one's all about sports, motocross for the most part, but the first five minutes belong to Snoopy playing tennis and due to my personal liking in the sport and in the character, this was the highlight for me without a doubt.
Would have made a good 5-minute short too.
Anyway, of course Chuck wants to kick the football again, more than ever this time given the film's subject.
The rest is typical Peanuts humor.
If you like their other stuff, you will enjoy this one too like the scenes with the interrupting reporter or the barber part at the very end or the pumpkin helmet.
There is always some kind of sobering, maybe even slightly depressing, comedy to these Peanuts shorts.
Grown-ups and their voices don't play a big part in here.
It's probably not among the most known from the series, but it is among my top5 favorites perhaps, but then again I am far from a big Peanuts fan.
No shot at number 1 though.
All in all, I give it a thumbs-up and positive recommendation. |
tt0114671 | Land and Freedom | The film's narrative unfolds in a long flashback. David Carr has died at an old age and his granddaughter discovers old letters, newspapers and other documents in his room: what we see in the film is what he had lived.
Carr, a young unemployed worker and member of the Communist Party, leaves Liverpool and travels to Spain to join the International Brigades. He crosses the Spanish border in Catalonia and coincidentally ends up enlisted in a POUM militia commanded by Lawrence, in the Aragon front. In this company, as in all POUM militias, men and women – such as the young and enthusiastic Maite – fight together. In the following weeks and months he becomes friends with other foreign volunteers, like the French Bernard and the Irish Coogan, and the latter's girlfriend Blanca - with whom David Carr later falls in love - also a member of POUM, and also the ideologue of his group.
After being wounded and recovering in a hospital in Barcelona, he finally joins – in accordance with his original plan and against the opinion of Blanca – the government-backed International Brigades, and he encounters the Stalinist propaganda and repression against POUM members and anarchists; he then returns to his old company, only to see them rounded up by a government unit requiring their surrender: in a brief clash Blanca is killed. After her funeral he returns to Great Britain with a red neckerchief full of Spanish earth.
Finally the film comes back to the present, and we see Carr's funeral, in which his granddaughter throws the Spanish earth into his grave after speaking lines from "The Day Is Coming", a poem by William Morris.
Join in the battle wherein no man can fail,For whoso fadeth and dieth, yet his deed shall still prevail.
Afterwards she performs a raised fist salute, honouring his beliefs. | flashback | train | wikipedia | Add to that outside involvement, principally from Mussolini and Stalin, the vacillation of Britain and France and, of course, the omnipresence of Hitler, and anyone might wonder where to start.Loach and Allen take their approach through the eyes of an unemployed Liverpudlian, David Carr (admirably played by Ian Hart) who, as a card-carrying member of the Communist Party, answers the call to fight for the Republic.
In particular, the debate amongst the militia about collectivisation after they have taken a small town takes no sides, but simply allows a number of valid arguments to be exposed within the context of the shifting sands of the war.There is still ample material for the industry to go on to make more films on this important period in history.
Land and Freedom is Ken Loach and Jim Allen's tribute to the ordinary volunteers that risked their lives for a better world in the fight against fascism.
All these sentiments drive the story of the film.The movie pins the defeat of idealism represented in the Civil War on Stalin's perfidy.
I also love this film.It's a wonderful, intense, realistic and insightful look at the Spanish Civil War with the highly naturalistic cinematography and committed performances characteristic of Loach.The reviews and debate concentrate on the action in Spain, which, for me, is only half the story that Loach is telling.
Someone who knew them would sometimes say "he was torpedoed four times" or "he was two years in Spain fighting Franco" and that would be that.So I am delighted that David Carr, played by the incomparable Ian Hart, and this movie is such a fabulous testament to all of them.
This is the authentic texture of twentieth century history in perfect context, portrayed through the lens of one man's experience.And there is hardly anything else like it on film.A true masterpiece of the art which deserves a much bigger reputation and a place in the British Movie Pantheon alongside the very best..
The director made an outstanding job representing this glorious and terrible part of the Civil War. It's a movie with a low budget, a good historical representation and a great job from the actors.
This movie is about a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, played brilliantly by Ian Hart (who is also in "Michael Collins", another favorite of mine) who goes to Spain in 1936 to fight in the Spanish Civil War. He is persuaded to join the Partido Obrero de Unificacion Marxista, or POUM.
"Land and Freedom" also shows the May days in Barcelona, when 500 people were killed in a mini civil war within the forces of the anti-fascist Republic.
I would like to say that, although when discussing the Spanish Civil War one will always find their bias, Mr. Loach certainly shows his.
This film is a very good film, but as I said with regards to "Michael Collins", another film Ian Hart is in, one would be better seeing this film, then reading extensively on the subject of the Spanish Civil War to get the full picture..
Here they are shown more accurately as organized and committed to the nitty-gritty basics of the revolution of everyday life.British director Ken Loach made a film that finally attempts an anarchist's view of anarchists in Spain during the civil war against the fascists.
The picture begins in recent times when a granddaughter looking for papers aware her grandfather fought in Spanish War Civil (1936-1939) that is the subject matter of the movie.
The film originated an intense discussion in Spain about its principal theme , the Spanish Civil War .
Though set in Spain during the time of the civil war of 1936-39, Loach's film belongs more to the genre of anti-Stalinist cinema than it does to films about Spain.
And the climactic moment in the film is when he rips up his Communist Party membership card.The crimes of the Stalinists are portrayed throughout the film -- they deny decent, modern weapons to those sections of the front which they do not control; they actively engage in repression against the POUM and the anarchists in Barcelona; in the pages of the British Daily Worker which we briefly see on the screen, we are shown the daily barrage of lies they spread (such as Trotsky's 'support' for Franco fascism).Anyone who sees this film as simply a black-and-white, good vs evil portrayal of heroic young people aiding the brave Spaniards in their battle for freedom is missing what is, I believe, its main point.
A film like "The Way We Were" shows the American Communist Party only during those moments when its positions would today be considered palatable (supporting the Spanish republic, backing Roosevelt and the US war effort in World War II, and later calling for nuclear disarmament).It doesn't show the time of the Moscow Trials, nor the real role played by the Soviet Union and its agents in Spain, nor the Communist Party's opposition to fighting Hitler and the Nazis in 1939-41, nor the post-war period when the Party did what it could to encourage nuclear proliferation by passing on atomic secrets to Stalin.Land and Freedom does try to show one of the Comintern's uglier moments, to its credit.A film like this was made possible by the fact that Loach comes out of the British far left, and the British far left has long been dominated not by Stalinists but by their Marxist opponents -- primarily the Trotskyists of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).
Whatever disagreements I or others may have with the SWP (and they are many), at least they rejected Stalinism.What we need are more films like this showing the real role played by Communist Parties all during the history of the Soviet regime.
For example a film set in any European country during the period between September 1939 and June 1941 (the time of the Hitler-Stalin pact) which honestly portrays Communist parties as allies of the Nazis (even in occupied countries like Norway and France) would be welcome..
Well, the lad does not actually get wounded in the throat during the course of the movie, but otherwise this is the biography of Eric Blair (George Orwell), as described in his book "Homage to Catalonia".In spite of the single source cribbing, I did like this film in general since films about Spain in English, other than Canadian ones with Donald Sutherland as Dr. Norman Bethune, are few and far between.It was wonderful to see a priest being shot in this film -- I don't mean it that way!
-- since anti-clericalism was an important element both in the Spanish Civil War and in the French Revolution although it rarely seems to be mentioned much in the English-speaking world.
At the other end of the political scale, the poor treatment of priests in Spain was a motivating force for Fascists in France to join the Charlemagne division of the Waffen SS to defend the cause of Christianity, or so The Sorrow and the Pity attests.The Spanish war was about liberation from autocracy amidst a blizzard of competing, doctrinaire, left political philosophies.
That was a really exciting time to be politically active, and there is a great scene of grassroots socialism in action at a town meeting.The film has a rough-hewn, half-finished look characteristic of Ken Loach, but don't let that put you off.
Land and Freedom is one of the few non-Spanish feature films about the Spanish Civil War. This is a shame, but at least this one film almost makes up for the paucity of cinematic treatments of this event and period.The story bears some superficial resemblance to George Orwell's experiences, as detailed in Homage to Catalonia -- a British leftist joins the POUM militia and gets mixed up in the events of May, 1937 and the suppression of the party.
Nationally, with the organization of the International Brigades and Soviet support for the republic, they were the good guys.From David Carr's and Blanca's perspective, however, the national level was not important, so there really is a great deal of honesty in this film..
Ken Loach's Land and Freedom is the great movie dealt with class struggle since 1900(Bernardo Bertolucci).
This is an interesting little film starring Ian Hart as an Englishman, David Carr, from Liverpool who goes to Spain to fight on the socialist/communist side during the Spanish Civil War.You know it's a Ken Loach film right from the start when you see the typical bleak urban landscapes of modern Britain council tower blocks, ugly roads and traffic as David Carr dies in the ambulance on the way to the hospital leaving behind a vast collection of letters, photographs, newspaper cuttings and mementoes from his time in the conflict fifty years before.Every seemingly old, boring person may have led a fascinating and remarkable life; his grand-daughter trawls through this personal time-capsule and the generation gap is no more.The depiction of the civil war itself is beautifully and painstakingly recreated with authentic uniforms (or lack of), rustic farmhouses serving as HQs and plenty of bandit/partisan-style shoot-outs, presumably the essential nature of the conflict in its early stages (before the International Brigades took over).
I would like to see Land and Freedom based on the life of George Orwell and perhaps a greater, less idealistic political exploration of the circumstances and events of the Spanish Civil War. Orwell is the man..
He tells a small and personal story David Carr, a card carrying communist from working class Liverpool, who travels to Spain to fight for land and freedom.Everywhere you can see the restrictions of budget in this movie, but the story unfolds on a highly personal level without becoming melodramatic (Hemmingway tries too hard in For Whom the Bell Tolls to make the story personal enough).Here we see socialism in action, appearing successful until the left destroys itself.This is not the definitive Spanish civil war movie and no movie could be because the left has been blaming each other for the failure.
This is a great movie for everyone who have some time in their lives believed in the ideal of socialism, although a bit biased towards the Trotskyist view (I think Loach is affiliated with the SWP)..
The fight for freedom in the Spanish Civil War 1936, through the eyes of a young man from Liverpool, England.
Religion and conservatism are about maintaining control.This movie is based on Orwells Homage to Catalonia and his experiences during the Spanish Civil War. Read this book if u want an indepth view of what went on.
How 'bout neither?A combination English/foreign film, with subtitles mixed in liberally, this is the story of the common peoples' fight against Franco's fascist regime in Spain.
Loach shows how big he can be as director, he give us a very complete film, quite historic, funny, but above all, a story of just people trying to live a normal life in abnormal circumstances.
The film shows a very good casting playing great characters, Ian Hart and Rosana Pastor (as Blanca) are both in their best works.
His and Ken Loach's Marxist, Trotskyist, and anti-Stalinist orientations are evidently present in the film, although it is arguably the theme of Stalinist repression of anti-franquist communist and anarchist militias in Spain during the Civil War, to be mainly portrayed.
The story develops through flashbacks, and it recounts of a David Carr, a British unemployed member of the Communist Party from Liverpool, who decides to go and fight the cause of the anti-franquist movement in the Spanish Civil War. The narration takes place through some letters Carr wrote, newspaper clippings, and other documents he collected, found and read by his granddaughter, right after his death.
which has to start from and stay with the bottom, base and column of the society.thanks to Ken Loach for this evocative movie about the Spanish civil war and its militias.don't understand the limitation that comments have to be at least 10 lines long.
then i will recommend interesting literature for those who want to know more about the militias and the anarchistic-syndicalist movement before and during the Spanish civil war:"the short summer of anarchy" by Hans Magnus Enzensberger published by Suhrkamp publishing.
Ken Loach's 'Land and Freedom' borrows heavily from Orwell's 'Homage to Catalonia' in telling us the story of the Spannish civil war.
The film is all at once a realist drama, a political thriller and a war movie; Ken Loach's trademark vérité style dogging every cut; composition; transition and individual scene resulting in a near breathless film-watching experience of conflict, both of an internal and external sort, tribulation and strife.
The film is very much The Spanish Civil War, as well as those of whom fought in it, through the eyes of Loach; an event of which, like several other background incidents that have since plagued Loach's work, such as Ireland's Independence throughout The Wind That Shakes the Barley; The Navigators, and its covering of men suffering at the result of British Rail's privatisation, but also albeit fleetingly, Looking for Eric's monopolisation of Manchester United football club, is melded into what is first and foremost a character study feeding off an intense sense of realism.Ian Hart eventually comes to play that of David Carr, a young Liverpudlian man of whom we first see in the then-present of the mid-nineties alone and in a bad way as he alone occupies his tower block apartment having suffered a heart attack.
Amidst the photos; the collections of dirt kept back and the letters we, through the granddaughter, build an image of David's experiences abroad at an important time in his life.Principally, the film is one long flashback with brief darts back to the present also arriving as we witness Dave's exploits in tandem with that of his granddaughter's uncovering of the facts; her character most probably discovering as much about the Spanish Civil War as Loach's intended audience are.
Seemingly desiring a life away from what foundations he has, Carr accepts what proposals are outlined that day in the darkened, enclosed locale of the picture-house and it isn't long before he is riding a train in northern Spain to the front-line of what is The Spanish Civil war raging between Conservatives, and those of a more leftist-nature on the political spectrum, against the Fascist might of Franco and his followers.There is a beautifully placed scene very early on in Carr's venture out there, an exchange on board a train as he makes his way across and through the somewhat barren northern parts of the country depicting him barely able to even say the Spanish word for "Thank you".
With that scene Loach is saying that those people who are against the actions against the church are in fact that ones who don't get along with the opinion of the so called "deeply religious people of Spain".There are many more definite parts of the film against Stalinism but since I had a loud and heavy argument with a Stalinist about the Spanish Civil War I specially like this one..
the best film about spain civil war.
It's good to see him in a lead role.Land and Freedom is a gem, a film from 1995 that isn't well-received in America, but I do hope others view it and enjoy it.At times it can be tedious with the different languages and political views, as well as lengthy conversations, but the setting is in 1936, there are no Aliens or Predators around, so do concentrate, it's well worth it.Cheers.
This is a good representation of how foreigners came into Spain to fight against the regime of fascist dictator Francisco Franco, such as David does in the movie (and many United States citizens did through the Lincoln Brigade).
For the American side, see the documentary "The Good Fight: The Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War." Of course, the NAZI's and Italian Fascists used the war as training for their invasion of Europe as they supported Franco's revolt.This is a romantic story of David (Ian Hart) who joins the fight on the side of freedom against the forces of Franco and the Catholic priests, who used women as shields and abused them in their service of the rich landowners.
He stays until the end even though he is disillusioned after the involvement of Stalin, which results in the breakup of the Republicans and, of course, the eventual loss of the war.Hart (Breakfast on Pluto, A Cock and Bull Story) was superb in his portrayal of the disillusioned freedom fighter and Rosana Pastor showed great promise as Blanca.Director Ken Loach (McLibel, 11'09''01 - September 11 ) was honored at Cannes for this film..
A powerful and moving study of the tragedy which was the Spanish Civil War. Ian Hart again proves that he is one of the most talented British actors of the moment with a strong performance in the central role.
I think this is the first film about the Spanish Civil War since For Whom The Bell Tolls.
POUM, whose tale is told in this film, were a small force on a front that barely moved throughout the war.That a Communist Party member should accidentally join POUM is no more likely than a Free Presbyterian accidentally taking Catholic communion.
Militia activity during the Spanish Civil War. Land and Freedom is a film of Ken Loach about the Spanish Civil war.
David, who is a member of the BCP and out of work, travels to Spain and joins a militia of the POUM (apparently a Trotzkyist-anarchist fraction in the Spanish government).
Vivid and moving film of Spanish Civil War, seen through eyes of young British volunteer.
The film is very serious and very political, and the Spanish Civil War was inextricably bound up with politics, both national and international.This is not an easy film to watch, because the subject is a painful one for the Loyalist supporter, as the original spirit of the working class people fighting fascism gives way to internal power struggles and hopeless division. |
tt0066970 | De la part des copains | During the Korean War, Joe Moran, a U. S. Army sergeant, was convicted for striking a colonel. He was imprisoned in Germany. In the military prison he encountered his former company commander Captain Ross, and a fellow soldier who served under Joe called Vermont. They had been imprisoned for black marketeering and hijacking army vehicles. Joe agrees to escape with them. The escape is organised by a former French Foreign Legionnaire named "Katanga". Things go according to plan until Katanga kills a curious German police officer. Frightened and disgusted by the murder, Joe escapes by himself, abandoning his friends and Katanga, who are recaptured.
Years later, Joe is known as Joe Martin. He makes a legitimate living renting boats in the South of France. He lives with his wife, Fabienne, and 12-year-old daughter. Things are going fine for Joe. When Joe's picture appears in a local news story, Ross, Vermont and Katanga appear. Now wanted drug smugglers, they want revenge on Joe and use of his rental operation to move contraband. To ensure Joe's cooperation, they kidnap his wife and daughter and hold them hostage. | revenge, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | Though proudly billed as Terence Young's COLD SWEAT, this turned out to be a below-average international concoction: the plot is formulaic albeit adapted from a novel by Richard Matheson one that Bronson often returned to, of a man whose past catches up with him (in fact, I recently watched Sergio Sollima's similar but superior VIOLENT CITY [1970]).The film is doubly disappointing, however, for wasting the talents of actors of the caliber of James Mason and Liv Ullmann the latter clearly wishes she was elsewhere, while the former often resorts to hamminess (with a ridiculous American accent to match).
As expected, the narrative flanks Bronson with real-life spouse Jill Ireland here in perhaps her most embarrassing performance as a spoiled hippie brat; needless to say, the star more often than not lets his physique do the acting for him but his is an undeniable screen presence and, as I've written elsewhere, he just happened to fit the bill for what was required of an action star in the late 60s/70s.The supporting cast also includes Michel Constantin (who was also in VIOLENT CITY), "Euro-Cult" regular Luigi Pistilli, and Jean Topart all of them appearing as members of Mason's gang, with the latter being the most villainous of the lot and who gets his just desserts in memorable fashion.
The best thing the violent film has going for it are the plentiful and exciting action sequences, particularly a lengthy if somewhat irrelevant car chase towards the end (once again, the work of Remy Julienne).
This film has a cast of all time greats of the Silver Screen, James Mason(Ross)"Lolita" who tries to hide his British accent, but he occasionally slips.
Liv Ullman(Fabienne Martin) looks beautiful in this picture and plays a wife to Charles Bronson(Joe Martin)famous for his "Death Wish flicks" and the late Jill Ireland(Moira) who was married to Charles Bronson in real life.
If you like Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Liv Ullman and James Mason when they all looked young, this is worth watching.
On the action 50 pack classics I'm watching many older movies for the first time,since i enjoy the Charles Bronson films i thought i would enjoy cold sweat,i was right its a good Italian/french/Belgium co production about a Korean war veteran(Charles Bronson)who moves on with his life after being involved with gangsters who were in the military with him,most notably is an army captain (james mason)gone bad, he holds Bronson's wife(Liv Ullman)and stepdaughter(yannick delulle)hostage there's some good car chases,fighting and some pg violence.Bronson's real life wife(Jill Ireland)plays the captains hipper girlfriend.its not as good as deathwish,but its a well made early Charles Bronson actioner.
Charles Bronson takes his drearily and ultra-violent vendetta after his spouse , Liv Ullman and daughter , are kidnapped by a drug boss , James Mason , and his hoodlums: Michael Constantine , Luigi Pistilli , Jean Topart.This brutal thriller contains noisy action , car chases , intrigue , and lots of violence among crooks .
Based on the novel by Richard Matheson called "Ride the nightmare" which is butchered to produce the ordinary vengeance movie .It boasts superior cast with prestigious secondaries as Luigi Pistilli, Michael Constantine , the great James Mason and Jill Ireland, Bronson's wife.
This would be the first international production (the others to follow 'Red Sun (1971)' and 'The Valachi Papers (1972)') and the weakest of three films, which director Terence Young would have Bronson in the leading role.
Along side him there are recognizable faces in James Mason, Liv Ullmann, Jill Ireland, Luigi Pistilli, Michel Constantin and Jean Topart.
Of course, his couple with Liv Ullmann is laughable, James Mason looks bored to death (he should be), Jill Ireland is pathetic as a hippie drug dealer (she did it again in "Assassination" years later).
Charles Bronson (as Joe Martin) appears to be leading the good life, on the French Riviera.
Mr. Bronson has a beautiful home, where housewife Liv Ullmann (as Fabienne Martin) watches westerns on TV, and fetches him beers.
Ms. Ullmann and daughter are relatively recent additions to Bronson's World - which is about to be rocked by the return of some really BAD men he knew when he was "Joe Morgan"."Cold Sweat" is a fairly typical Bronson film, despite its origin, in France, as "De la part des copains"; and, the surprising appearance of Ullmann as the periled wife.
The real Mrs. Bronson (Jill Ireland) appears later on, as the main squeeze for the film's villainous James Mason (as Captain Ross).
**** Cold Sweat (12/18/70) Terence Young ~ Charles Bronson, Liv Ullmann, James Mason, Jill Ireland.
My female companion asks "I thought you loved everything Charles Bronson did?" I don't reply, simply throw the movie in the closet time capsule and hope future generations don't run across this terrible film..
One of Bronson's European action movies and certainly not a bad one, although some reviewers will always want to say negative things about Charlie, because, well, he is Charlie.
because it is a real delight to admire Liv Ullmann , James Mason or Charles Bronson acting.
short , a B movie and this status represents the real problem because only memory remains the flour mask of James Mason and the pain of Liv Ullmann in a more than uncomfortable role..
**SPOILERS** It seems that the film-makers of the movie "Cold Sweat" didn't happen to see the rushes in that one very huge and obvious plot-hole in the movie has two of the heavies Fausto & Katanga, Luigi Pistilli & Jean Topart, reappear in the flick after the hero John Martin aka Moran,Charles Bronson, unceremoniously dispatched them just moments before!
It was never even explained how they came back to life or to the hideout of the head of their Keystone Kops-like drug smuggling ring lead by ex-US army Captain Ross, James Mason, who's southern accent was about as phony as a three dollar bill and just as cheap.
Living the good life as a fisherman in the south of France John Martin is married to beautiful Fabienne, Liv Ullmann, as well as spending his free time drinking partying and gambling, where he never seems to lose, until his past catches up with him.
Now seven years later these same gangsters, who were captured and sent back to prison, are out looking for revenge and plan to make John's life,as well as that of his wife's Fabienne and 12 year old step-daughter Michele(Yannick Dululle), hell.
Instead of killing John the Ross gang seem to want to have him suffer as well as use his boat to smuggle heroin into France but their so inept that they end up all dead by the time the movie is over, most of them by their own hand!
This sets up the movies exciting and dangerous car chase sequence with Molra and especially the doctor(Paul Bowifas),in the back seat, having trouble keeping awake.Back at the hideout both Fabienne & Michele make a run for it with Katanga hot on their tail after Capt.
The last we saw of Molra and the doctor was at the hideout trying to save or bring back to life the already dead Captain Ross.The movie "Cold Sweat" ends with a bang with the still alive and active Katanga, all his fellow hoodlums were long gone by then, getting John to take him out to sea at night in order to still pull off the switch, with the cover of darkness, in a heroin deal with a Turkish freighter.
The car chase, which was highlighted as the best thing was also a major let down, it was boring and stupid.Don't waste your money, even if your a James Mason fan such as me.
How can this guy have been the most highly paid actor at one time?) If you want Bronson "action", watch Death Wish, a good film.
If it wasn't for James Mason and Charles Bronson, well.....
Jill Ireland makes a great appearance as a 'hippie' if I can use that term loosely, she was a very beautiful woman I might add too, boy did Charles Bronson have taste in women!
But like I said this movie wouldn't have two feet to stand on if it hadn't had the great James Mason and you guessed it...the legendary Charles Bronson.
Cold Sweet (1970) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Charles Bronsplay plays Joe Martin, a man living a happy life with his wife (Liv Ullmann) and her daughter.
Captain Ross (James Mason) demands that Joe use his boat for a drug trade and this leads to a cat and mouse game.Terrence Young directs this entertaining if rather light weight action picture that fans of the action legend will enjoy while others will probably not be overly entertained by the thin plot.
Even by 1970 we had seen countless movies dealing with the family man and his past catching up with him.What keeps COLD SWEET moving and entertaining is the fact that you've got a wonderful group of actors.
Jill Ireland plays a hippie chick and it's Luigi Pistilli who steals the picture as a cold-hearted bad guy.COLD SWEET features some very good action scenes including the finale with an excellent sequence of a car going down the side of a cliff that is highly entertaining.
Cold Sweat is a Charles Bronson film done at the cusp of his career change when he was transitioning from character supporting player to rugged leading man.
As the Bronson phenomenon was taking off James Mason who plays one of several villains in the film said he was assured of a good pay day by appearing in a Bronson film in support.Bronson is a Hemingway type of character American expatriate in Southern France making a living as a charter boat captain supporting his wife Liv Ullman and stepdaughter Yannick Delulle.
And they hold Ullman and Delulle hostage.The film also features Jill Ireland who was Bronson's real life wife and mistress to James Mason in Cold Sweat.
Jill's probably digging Mason's Tennessee accent, the same one he used a few years later in Mandingo.Cold Sweat is a routine action adventure programmer.
The thing I like in older action films that they always have great car chase scenes.
Although big name cast (legendary Charles Bronson who probably made push-ups before every scene, Liv Ullmann and James Mason, who was in this movie only because he was very good friend with Terence Young) the acting was average, but not the worst I have seen.
Bronson reels this one in on auto drive playing the usual tough guy he's played a hundred times before, but seems way out of his depth outside of the fleeting action scenes, and uncomfortably wooden especially beside Liv Ullman playing his naive wife.
Bronson not surprisingly relaxes more by his (off screen) wife Jill Ireland who also plays a pathetic stereo typical 'wild child.'From a dull start, this film continues to amble on even when Mason and his henchman show, it is only when Bronson has to fight off a ticking clock both in the story and the film's evaporating running time does 'Cold Sweat' come alive, with an obligatory but none the less well executed car chase.
After Bronson ditches the car 'Cold Sweat' reverts back to it's predictable proceedings and inevitable conclusion, resulting in a regrettably thin Bronson vehicle, all the more surprising considering it was based on a Richard Matheson story and directed by Terence Young, of early Bond films such as 'Dr No' and 'Thunderball.'.
It's the title of Richard Matheson's novel ,but it's not what you expect from this sci-fi / fantasy and horror writer.It's an English director (James bond) but it's a France-Italy-Belgium co-production.And it was filmed on location on the Côte d'Azur.It features Liv Ullmann but it's not "food for thought" .Bergman is far away.It features James Mason ,but he does not play Francis -Joseph like in Young's 1968 film "Mayerling".It features Jill Ireland like in many "Bronson movies" but she is not the star here.It features a car chase,but a GOOD care chase.In fact it is the best scene in the movie..
Conveniently, or coincidentally, or however you want to look at, after watching Once Upon a Time in the West not too long back, I decided it was time to explore some of actioneer Charles Bronson's other roles (good & bad...) so...BANG...here we have it.
Kind of surreal (but a different kind of surreal than say, Bergman surreal...) Anyway, probably for Charles Bronson, Liv Ullmann, or Terence Young completists only.
But it's also a document of several notable actors—Ullmann, Mason, Ireland.Bronson was, in the now distant '70s, one of the American action stars affordable for the European thrillers.DE LA PART DES COPAINS seems very characteristic for the kind of movies this director, Terence Young, and these actors made in the '70s, when Bronson was, on the footsteps on Marais, Belmondo and Delon, the action star of such Euro thrillers, Mason was, after a more distinguished movie career, a dependable character actor while Mrs. Liv Ullmann did various supporting parts in average outings (--she looks a bit innocent for her role in DE LA PART DES COPAINS--).
Katanga, a kind of an arch--villain, is the least interesting character.Jill Ireland does a bit part.In DE LA PART DES COPAINS the pace is good and the flick proves quite suspenseful.
This is a great Bronson film, that has some wicked car chases, and great performances!.
This is a great Bronson film, that has some wicked car chases, and great performances!.
The character development was excellent, and Charles Bronson and Liv Ullmann had very good chemistry together, and i was rooting for them all the way, plus Bronson had some very cool one liners!.
This is a great Bronson film, that has some wicked car chases and great performances, i highly recommend this one!.
Charles Bronson is AMAZING as he always, and is amazing here, he is very likable, witty, intense, had some very cool one liners, had very good chemistry with Liv Ullmann, kicked that ass, was tons of fun to watch, and i really dug the mind games between him and Mason!.
Liv Ullmann is very good as Bronson's wife i liked her lots.Jill Ireland is beautiful, and does her job adequately, she was OK.
Charles Bronson Versus James Mason.
James Mason, Liv Ullmann, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Luigi Pistilli and Jean Topart co-star in this no-nonsense, muscular yarn with the agile, charismatic Bronson.
In "Cold Sweat," Joe Martin lives with his wife, Fabienne, and her daughter and operates a charter fishing boat out of the port of Beaulieu-sur-Mer on the French Riviera between Nice and Monaco.
"Cold Sweat" opens with Joe Martin (Charles Bronson of "Hard Times")owns a deep-sea fishing boat and he is letting a client steer it into the harbor after a successful fishing expedition.
When it looks like they have worked out their differences, Ross signals Katanga to open fire on the car that Fabienne is driving with her daughter.
Joe has to race back with the girlfriend and the doctor before Katanga kills Fabienne and his step-daughter."Cold Sweat" qualifies as above-average with Bronson outsmarting both the criminals and the authorities.
The novel charm of "Cold Sweat" is the off-beat casting of British actor James Mason as a drawling southerner and actress Liv Ullumann as Bronson's love interest..
But Joe doesn't take too kindly to those who threaten his family & promptly tries to sabotage their mission.Charles Bronson was one of the 1980s B-grade action icons, mainly due to starring as legendary vigilante Paul Kersey in the Death Wish series & some supporting roles in films ranging from the Vincent Price classic House of Wax to the likes of The Dirty Dozen.
There are also glaring flaws in the film's story & internal logic.But what makes this otherwise mediocre thriller rate as passable for me is the fact that Charles Bronson, who is somewhat an underrated actor to me, gives a good performance (even though he only has one facial expression in that granite slab that passes for his face) & even has a little fun constantly thwarting the bad guys' plans.
The scene where Bronson & (future wife) Jill Ireland & a doctor they abducted to treat James Mason's wounded villain are speeding to evade the police while Mason & a traitor comrade exchange gunfire while Liv Ullmann & Yannick de Lulle attempt to escape is passably exciting.
This is also probably the only film you'll ever find that has James Mason speaking in a Southern accent AND Jill Ireland playing a spaced out hippie.
It's a lesser effort shot in a small French seaport where Charles Bronson is an improbable fisherman with a wife (Ullmann) and daughter.
Say, did anyone else do a double take to see Katanga and Fausto back at Joe Martin's place after it looked like he killed them both?
That was just so distracting, but I forced myself from re-watching those scenes until the end of the film to be sure I had it right.And how about the fire Fabienne (Liv Ullmann) started as a diversion right after escaping Katanga at the cabin?
A grass fire would never have made that much of a fuss.I guess that's all part of the dubious thrill one might expect from "Cold Sweat", but all it made me want to do was go out and get a copy of "Death Wish" for some real Bronson action.
I wonder what James Mason was thinking to get mixed up in this vehicle.Last but not least, and I'll have to kick myself for thinking about this movie way too much, but why did Katanga hang around to terrorize the wife and daughter once he had the money?
They come back so many years later, and one of the men happen to be james mason with a gang of thugs who want to kill.
Bronson says he'll help him if he leaves hes wife and daughter alone, He lets Mason use his boat to escape. |
tt0065063 | Take the Money and Run | Virgil Starkwell's (Woody Allen) story is told in documentary style, using both stock footage and interviews with people who knew him. He begins a life of crime at a young age. As a child, Virgil is a frequent target of bullies, who snatch his glasses and stomp on them on the floor. As an adult, Virgil is inept and unlucky, and both police and judges ridicule him by stomping on Virgil's glasses.
Virgil falls in love with a young lady, Louise (Janet Margolin), a laundry worker, and they live together. They even have a baby.
Virgil is arrested for trying to rob a bank after handing to a teller a threatening note with the word "gun" misspelled. He is sent to prison, but attempts an escape using a bar of soap carved to resemble a gun. Unfortunately for him, it was raining outside and his gun dissolves. He does escape, but by accident. Joining a mass breakout plan, Virgil is the only inmate not warned that the scheme had been called off.
Outside but unemployed, Virgil finds no way to support himself and his family. Eventually he is rearrested and sent to a chain gang, where he is undernourished (the single meal of the day is a bowl of steam) and brutally punished (consigned to a steam box with an insurance salesman).
Virgil again escapes but is eventually captured when attempting to rob a former friend who reveals he is now a cop. He is sentenced to 800 years, but remains upbeat knowing that "with good behavior, I can get that cut in half". In the last scene, he is shown carving a bar of soap and asking the interviewer if it is raining outside. | comedy, satire, entertaining | train | wikipedia | null |
tt3715320 | Irrational Man | At the small-town fictional New England college campus of Braylin, philosophy professor Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) is experiencing an existential crisis. He is depressed, sees no meaning in his life, and drinks excessively. Despite this, he immediately catches the eye of two women: chemistry professor Rita Richards (Parker Posey), and Jill Pollard (Emma Stone), one of his students. Jill has a serious boyfriend and lives with her parents. Rita lives with her husband, but is dissatisfied with her marriage. Abe chooses to sleep with Rita but is careful to have only a platonic relationship with Jill. Abe's depression becomes even more apparent when he fails to have an erection during his first sexual experience with Rita.
At lunch, Abe and Jill overhear a conversation; a woman says she will lose her children in a custody battle because of a seemingly unethical judge in family court. Abe is troubled by the injustice and, without telling Jill, decides to help the woman by murdering the judge. Abe reasons he's unlikely to be caught because he isn't involved in the case and, therefore, won't be suspected. Abe steals a key to the college's chemistry lab from Rita where he procures cyanide. He then discovers one of the judge's routines: an early morning jog followed by sipping a cup of orange juice on a bench in the local park. Abe puts the poison in an identical cup and exchanges the cups surreptitiously on the bench while the judge is reading a newspaper. He subsequently dies from cyanide poisoning. Abe feels reborn upon learning of the judge's death. He tells himself that he has finally done something worthwhile with his life by ridding the world of one evil man. Consequently, his mood improves dramatically. Abe and Jill's friendship then blossoms into a romance but Jill says nothing to her boyfriend, Roy (Jamie Blackley). However, Roy strongly suspects Jill is in love with Abe and breaks up with her.
Despite Abe's careful planning, Jill and Rita, who are friendly, begin to suspect Abe's involvement in the murder after piecing together a few clues, such as the missing key and Abe's unexpected presence in the chemistry lab where a student spotted him. Rita decides that even if he is guilty, she wants to leave her husband and live with Abe in Europe.
Consumed with curiosity, Jill enters Abe's house through an open window while he's out and finds incriminating notes. Jill confronts Abe and accuses him of the murder. Abe then admits his guilt and explains his motive. Jill decides to break off their relationship but promises not to turn him in. However, after an innocent man is accused of the crime, she presses Abe to go to the police, warning him that otherwise she will report him. Abe, who has only recently started enjoying life, is determined to stay out of jail. He attempts to kill Jill by pushing her into an elevator shaft, but, instead, he stumbles backward and falls down the shaft to his death. Jill then begins repairing her life. Her first step is to reconcile with Roy.
The film ends with Jill gazing out to sea while standing on a beach and reflecting on her experiences with Abe. | murder | train | wikipedia | I think it does, often quite well, and it makes a sort of cap to an unexpected, thematic trilogy of movies, which I'll get to in a moment.In Irrational Man it starts out like what seems to be a story of a philosophy professor (Phoenix) caught in despair, while an eager, bright student (Stone) starts to fancy him.
It turns this professor's life around, albeit with a rather dark twist.By Hitchcockian it's easy to throw that label around, but this is a filmmaker who has previously used a scene from Shadow of a Doubt (I forget which movie, but I remember characters watching it in one of his films), and now has some elements taken from it.
Phoenix, meanwhile, gets a lot of this man's despair, and then his odd joy too - though Phoenix may not seem like the most spot-on actor to show 'energy' in the later half of the film, he is still completely there for what this character requires.What I liked about Irrational Man, even with some of its familiarity in the Allen world - professor with a younger student romantically, questions of morality, what it means when PURE luck really defines what happens for people - is that it was genuine about how its characters saw and changed with their views on the world, and that on its own you get wrapped up in the question of "Will he really get away with this?" To be sure, this question was asked with greater intellectual rigor in Crimes & Misdemeanors, and Match Point had an even tougher, bleaker view of what it means for people to get ahead in the world no matter who stands in heir way.
On the other hand again, it's an existential comedy that takes itself very seriously, or a semi-romantic and dramatic love story that has some light touches (and that ending!) Irrational Man isn't great, but it's very good, exceeding any expectations I could've had, in large part thanks to a cast and, by the way, some really skillful and beautiful direction on the whole (and the warm cinematography, all shot in Newport, Rhode Island).
And with 'Irrational Man', this is absolutely the case.Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone are clearly enjoying themselves as the grumpy philosophy professor and his admiring student and lover.
Also, he throws in a murder mystery and makes the suspense last until the very end.'Irrational Man' will not be one of Allen's greatest movies, because it lacks an extraordinary element like Cate Blanchett's performance in 'Blue Jasmine', or the historical dimension of 'Midnight in Paris'.
How often do you expect me to believe that this professor drinks from his flask throughout the day without falling asleep or having someone say 'Hey dude, stop doing that, you're on a college campus'.I wish I cared for the characters, but between all the abrupt cuts from one scene to completely different scene without ever feeling grounded, and the abundance of very lukewarm dialogue - 'philosophy is just verbal masturbation' (wow how witty for a philosophy professor to say) - i just never felt like I knew who the characters were, or wanted to know them.
I haven't laughed this hard at someone trying to kill another person since Preston Sturges's 1948 film Unfaithfully Yours, even though it's ultimately a much more understated English style of humor (very Comedy of Manners-ish.) As such, it doesn't surprise me that Irrational Man has been hated by most critics, since they are likely to fall into the trap of expecting that this movie will be one of the aforementioned tragicomedies, and thus simply think it fails to deliver.
It almost feels like they can turn the intensity up as easily as turning a knob, and there are three moments when you really get a sense of how far they can go.This will certainly be on a list of Woody's most underrated movies in ten years time if the bad reception it gets doesn't slow down, and I hope that people will take the time to realize just what this movie is because I think they'd really have a good time watching it..
In Irrational Man, Phoenix plays a college professor who is new to the campus where Stone's character studies, although his reputation proceeds him, as students and lecturers alike are abuzz with excitement over his arrival.
I regret being unable to elaborate on this part of the story and dwell on a few examples to clarify my comments, as this will give away too much of the surprising plot twists.All in all, the many positive reviews did put me on the wrong foot and convinced me to finally go and see a Woody Allen movie, in spite of my resolutions many years ago to do that never ever again.
Rational Irrational Man. Basically, I'll watch any film that Woody Allen makes.
Instead, this potential plot twist is brushed aside and, sadly, the rest is more or less predictable.The acting is good enough, though the romantic relationships among the characters are shallow and not well-developed, making them somewhat difficult to believe.Woody Allen fans may find the film interesting enough, but don't expect another Midnight in Paris or a crime story as good as Manhattan Murder Mystery.
Woody Allen has made two masterpieces, 1989's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and 2005's "Match Point", and a reasonably good film, 2007's "Cassandra's Dream", about people who commit murder and have to live with it.
"Irrational Man" follows that theme with the story of Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix), a depressed, alcoholic philosophy professor who decides to murder a corrupt judge in order to serve the "higher moral good".
Once the deed is done, Abe feels he has done the world a favor, and is reborn: he feels alive for the first time in years, and finds love again with an adoring student (Emma Stone) and a married colleague (Parker Posey).
Phoenix is given little to do but mope, while Stone - in her second bad Allen film after 2014's goofy-in-a-bad-way "Magic in the Moonlight" - has such a paper-thin character and such terrible dialogue that she can't help but come off as rehearsed and mechanical.
The story, issues, characters, setting (Newport, RI) have no resonance whatever in the present, and the clever "moral issue" was all covered infinitely better in "Crimes and Misdemeanors." A 13-year-old making a movie in the style of Woody Allen would be far more interesting.
Of course I discovered--on checking--that Woody was indeed the writer and director of the film.Joaquin Phoenix plays Abe Lucas, a college professor overcome by impotence in a broad sense of the word.
The promiscuous Professor Rita Richards (Parker Posey) unsuccessfully tries to have sex with Abe. However he feels a platonic attraction by his brilliant student Jill Pollard (Emma Stone) and spends most of his leisure time with her as a friend.
Will he set his plan in motion?"Irrational Man" is a film by Woody Allen where he blends his style with the idea of Hitchcock´s "Strangers on a Train".
It should be great actually.But the plot never really gets going, the characters not strong enough to fully hook me in, so it becomes an average film rather than a good one.Emma Stone is the best thing in it, and dazzles in every scene.
Oh, and liking Woody Allen, Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone would help.Joaquin Phoenix plays Abe Lucas, a philosophy professor who has signed on to teach a summer course at a small-town college.
Small town philosophy professor Abe Lucas sets his mind to planning and carrying out "the perfect crime", something that he is able to rationalize, but could only be seen by other people as the action of a completely irrational man.This is not your typical Woody Allen film.
As the plot becomes almost surreal, audience members may find themselves as unsure about what to think as the characters are about what to do."Irrational Man" features a typically strong Woody Allen script with typically interesting performances from his actors.
The film follows Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix), a disgruntled alcoholic of a philosophy professor who has recently taken a job in the philosophy department at Braylin, a small-town New England college.
If you watch Woody Allen films you know that they are different and they showcase people with their struggles of life and finding love and happiness.
When classes start Abe also has his eye on Jill(Emma Stone) a young and bright student who has wonder and thought of poetry, life, film, talk, and love.
The story develops a lot of suspense in a very subtle way with the usual surprise ending that I like in Allens movies.
This is a superior film, that is held sharply by Allen, while the performances are top-notch!'Irrational Man' Synopsis: A tormented philosophy professor (A Remarkable Joaquin Phoenix) finds a will to live when he commits an existential act.'Irrational Man' isn't about whats right or whats wrong.
It is derivative of other Allen films like 'Crimes and Misdemeanours' and 'Match Point', which were both philosophical and dark (while the former had a perfect mix of comedy and drama and succeeded brilliantly at both) and explored the themes much better.
In the 21st Century, Woody keeps churning out films, and loyal admirers like me keep seeing them, but the magic is gone.Most of the action of Irrational Man takes place at a small private liberal arts college in Rhode Island.
Once you start thinking that your life has meaning and your actions are important - voilà, you are happy and enthusiastic, even though those actions are pointless (or even morally wrong).I love when titles of the films by Woody reveal a lot about the essence of the film (remember "Whatever Works", "You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger", "Match Point", "Anything Else").
Revisiting one of his favorite themes – life is meaningless – this latest provides a funked-up burned-out philosophy professor as our tour guide.We feel for the three lead actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Parker Posey.
Jill (Ms. Stone) is the talented and gregarious student, and daughter of two professors, who should be entirely too smart to fall for anyone as self-loathing and careless as Abe. Drawing the shortest of all short straws is Ms. Posey as the stereotypical middle-aged woman seeking excitement somewhere other than her stable husband.Evidently quoting Kant is designed to provide depth to character and story, and trick us into thinking existentialism is the only topic worthy of discussion
as long as it occurs while sucking down beer and nursing a flask.
Now plenty of women are ready to make him appreciate life, most notably Jill (Emma Stone), one of his bright students, and because this is a Woody Allen movie, his lover.Naughty college prof gets away with courting her in front of the entire community, another Woodman fiction or wish fulfillment.
"Irrational Man" (2015 release; 97 min.) brings the story of Abe Lucas (played by Joaquin Phoenix).
To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: first, in life, there are few certainties: death, taxes, and like clockwork every year a new movie from writer-director Woody Allen.
Last but not least, "Irrational Man" was the last film from long-time Woody Allen producer Jack Rollins, who recently passed away.
It's obvious five minutes into 'Irrational Man' that it has that 'Woody Allen feel', not surprising since he both wrote the screenplay for and directed this 2015 film.
Ironically, having an actor similar to Woody Allen was what was needed to make this movie go from just passable to really great ~ perhaps someone like the quirky Owen Wilson playing the lead role of Abe Lucas instead of Joaquin Phoenix.
Quite frankly, nobody does fractured characters better than the great Woody Allen, but it would have been incredibly creepy seeing him have a sexual relationship on screen now at the age of 80.As well, I think Wilson would have played opposite college student Jillian "Jill" Pollard (Emma Stone) much better than Phoenix did.
As the plot grew increasingly dark, it needed someone with Woody Allen's brilliant timing and inflections to make the scenes jump off the screen, and not the mundane offerings of the non-dimensional Phoenix.All in all, 'Irrational Man' was not great, but not terrible either.
It is the aftermath of the murder that makes this film really interesting.Using the device of alternating voice-over, the story starts with world-weary philosophy professor Abe coming to teach in a small town university and striking up a platonic friendship, as least initially, with bright and admiring student Jill.
Emma Stone as His infatuated Student, and Parker Posey as a Faculty Member are in Close Proximity and it affects Them in different ways.The Film is unusually Dry for Woody Allen and the Pacing never varies.
Irrational Man lobs these themes back and forth, with style and confidence, but the film just does not develop the necessary details in its narrative and characters to make it riveting drama.In fact, Mr. Allen's film can be summed up in this pointed question: Does an evil act truly remain evil if its end result is good?
Yet the biggest irrational flaw I had with the film was not so much that specific act and its consequences, but his self-destructive deeds prior to that action which seemed readily acceptable behavior within a college community (openly guzzling booze from a flask on campus, playing a game of Russian Roulette at a party, bedding your student...Yet there are no red flags for dismissal?) Totally unrealistic.That said, Abe's cynical view of the world clouds his reason (and the director's) and leads him to ponder the thrill of the kill.
The director also relies on "irrational" plot contrivances rather than realistic turns of events to further the action, resulting in a less-than-satisfying ending.With all of its intellectual rants of Kant, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, its influence of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, and a little of Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, Woody Allen's Irrational Man never successfully brings all of its engaging elements together.
Woody Allen's 2015 film, Irrational Man, brought the writer/director back to America, but not back to New York.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone, Irrational Man follows a philosophy professor who determines that the only way to give his life meaning is to take a decisive action, despite the moral consequences.
Suddenly, Abe secretly decides that the only way to give his life meaning is to end the life of another.Much like Match Point, Irrational Man didn't "feel" as much like a Woody Allen film as I am used to.
-Irrational Man is a 2015 American mystery drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, Parker Posey and Jamie Blackley.
The site's consensus reads, "Irrational Man may prove rewarding for the most ardent Joaquin Phoenix fans or Woody Allen apologists, but all others most likely need not apply." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 53 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
The characters start off interesting, but then become standard at the end.And to top off, as a Woody Allen movie, it starts to feel a bit gross when he has a guy ignoring the woman of his own age and going for the young girl instead (despite first saying 'I won't go for you because it's not appropriate because you're too young')..
"Irrational Man" seems to have been grossly misinterpreted by critics who saw in this movie Allen striving for profundity and then falling short when, in fact, this is one of Woody's best and brightest comedies in years.
Starts Off Great But Falls Apart During the Third Act. Irrational Man (2015) *** (out of 4) Depressed and life-less philosophy professor Abe (Joaquin Phoenix) gets a new job where he continues to preach how pointless life is.
That all changes when they overhear a story about a corrupt judge and Abe gets the idea of killing him, which gives him a new outlook on life.Woody Allen's IRRATIONAL MAN starts off terrific and for the first fifty minutes or so it seemed like we were ready for another classic from the legendary screenwriter- director.
There were still a few very good moments scattered throughout and there's an obvious wink to Hitchcock that works.IRRATIONAL MAN seems to be getting beaten by a few critics but I thought the film starts off well enough and features such a great performance by Phoenix where it's very easy for me to recommend it..
Allen's "Irrational Man" stars the not-so-rational actor himself Joaquin Phoenix as Abe Lucas, an alcoholic Philosophy professor who joins up as an adjunct professor at a Connecticut university.
When he overhears a woman in a diner with her friends that a no good judge is likely to give custody of her children to her ex-husband, Abe becomes alive, he plans to murder the corrupt judge, a rational act to make the world a better place and as he is a stranger, he has no motive and hence above suspicion.Once the deed is done, life becomes more complicated, Abe is all intellectual arrogance but now he has Rita and Jill circling round him with suspicions.However this film is not Allen at its best.
What I saw of Irrational Man on the surface that was being portrayed in trailers is nothing compared to what was being passed off as the real plot of this movie.Phoenix give such an magnificent performance I feel that it's more his vehicle than a Woody Allen movie.
A combination that screams Woody Allen!I actually didn't read any of the critics review, but as people talks seems like they didn't enjoyed the movie at all...
Though Woody Allen's film centers upon a professor of philosophy — the epitome of rationality — it's titled Irrational Man. Abe Lucas (Joaquin Phoenix) shows how carrying the rational to its extreme becomes madness.
Woody Allen seems to have made Irrational Man for philosophy lovers: Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Sartre, Dostoevsky, and Hannah Arendt's thesis dance in this film. |
tt0048591 | Schneewittchen und die sieben Zwerge | At the beginning of the story, a queen sits sewing at an open window during a winter snowfall when she pricks her finger with her needle, causing three drops of red blood to drip onto the freshly fallen white snow on the black windowsill. Then, she says to herself, "How I wish that I had a daughter that had skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony." Some time later, the queen gives birth to a baby daughter whom she names Snow White, but dies shortly thereafter.
A year later, Snow White's father, the king, takes a new wife, who is very beautiful, but a wicked and vain woman. The new queen possesses a magic mirror, which she asks every morning, "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" The mirror always replies: "My queen, you are the fairest in the land." The queen is always pleased with that, because the magic mirror never lies. But as Snow White grows up, she becomes more beautiful each day and even more beautiful than the queen, and when the queen asks her mirror, it tells her that Snow White is the fairest.
This gives the queen a great shock. She becomes envious, and from that moment on, her heart turns against Snow White, whom the queen grows to hate increasingly with time. Eventually, the angry queen orders a huntsman to take Snow White into the deepest woods to be killed. As proof that Snow White is dead, the queen demands that he returns with her lungs and liver. The huntsman takes Snow White into the forest. After raising his knife, he finds himself unable to kill her and he spares her life. Snow White is told that her stepmother wants her dead and to get far away from the kingdom as possible. He instead brings the queen the heart of a wild animal.
After wandering through the forest, Snow White discovers a tiny cottage belonging to a group of seven dwarfs. Since no one is at home, she eats some of the tiny meals, drinks some of their wine, and then tests all the beds. Finally, the last bed is comfortable enough for her and she falls asleep. When the dwarfs return home, they immediately become aware that someone snuck in secretly, because everything in their home is in disorder. During their loud discussion about who snuck in, they discover the sleeping Snow White. She wakes up and explains to them what happened, and the dwarfs take pity on her and let her stay with them in exchange for housekeeping. They warn her to be careful when alone at home and to let no one in when they are away delving in the mountains.
Meanwhile, the queen asks her mirror once again: "Magic mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?" The mirror replies: "My queen, you are the fairest here so true. But Snow White beyond the mountains at the Seven Dwarfs is a thousand times more beautiful than you". The queen is horrified to learn that the huntsman has betrayed her and that Snow White is still alive. Planning to kill Snow White, the queen disguises herself as an old peddler. The queen appears at the dwarfs' cottage and offers Snow White colorful, silky laced bodices and convinces Snow White to take the most beautiful laces as a present. Then the queen laces her up so tightly that Snow White faints, causing the queen to leave her for dead. But the dwarfs return just in time, and Snow White revives when the dwarfs loosen the laces.
The queen then consults her magic mirror again, and the mirror reveals Snow White's survival. The queen dresses as a comb seller and convinces Snow White to take a beautiful comb as a present. She brushes Snow White's hair with the poisoned comb and the girl faints again. She is again revived by the dwarfs when they remove the comb from her hair. When the mirror again indicates that Snow White still lives, the queen makes a third and final attempt on Snow White by disguising herself as a farmer's wife, an offering a poisoned apple to her. The girl is at first hesitant to accept it, so the queen cuts the apple in half, eating the white (harmless) half and giving the red poisoned half to Snow White. The girl eagerly takes a bite and falls into a state of suspended animation. This time, the dwarfs are unable to revive Snow White. Assuming that she is dead, they place her in a glass casket.
After a short period of time, a prince traveling through the land sees Snow White. He strides to her coffin. Enchanted by her beauty, he instantly falls in love with her. The seven dwarfs succumb to his entreaties to let him have Snow White. The moment he lifts the coffin to carry it away, the piece of poisoned apple falls from between her lips and Snow White awakens saying "Where am I?" The Prince then declares his love for her and soon a wedding is planned. Snow White and the prince invite everyone to come to their wedding party, including Snow White's stepmother.
Meanwhile, the queen, still believing that Snow White is dead, again asks her magic mirror who is the fairest in the land. The mirror says: "Thou, lady, art loveliest here, I ween; but lovelier far is the new-made queen", which enrages the queen. Not knowing that the Prince's bride is her stepdaughter, the queen arrives at the wedding and sees that the bride is Snow White, whom she thought dead. She chokes with rage, falls down, and dies. Snow White and the prince reign happily over the land for many, many years and sometimes traveling into the mountains and visiting the dwarfs, who had been so kind to Snow White. | romantic, fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0200071 | Rosetta | When her probationary employment ends, Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne) causes a violent struggle against her manager and the policemen when she refuses to leave the premises. She returns home to "The Grand Canyon", the trailer park shared with her alcoholic mother who mends worn clothes for her to sell. Rosetta is also seen laying out traps to catch trout for food. Unable to receive unemployment pay and desperate for work, Rosetta goes around to ask about vacancies until she happens upon a waffle stand. She befriends the worker, Riquet (Fabrizio Rongione), after an inquiry. Rosetta treats her period cramps with pain relievers and a hairdryer massaging the area.
Riquet makes an unexpected visit to the trailer park, startling Rosetta. He informs her a coworker was fired and thus she will be able to have a job. Her mother's promiscuity resulting from alcoholism prompts Rosetta to encourage her to seek a rehabilitation clinic so they can finally have a better life. However, her persistent denial causes her mother to run away. Rosetta decides to stay with Riquet for the night. During the awkward evening, she discovers a waffle iron in his possession. As she lies in bed, she tries to convince herself that her life has started to function normally.
At work, she is replaced after three days by the owner (Olivier Gourmet) because his son failed school, leading to another violent confrontation. Rosetta is moderately pacified when he tells her she will be contacted if an opportunity arises. She begins a new search for employment while keeping Riquet company during work. Later, Riquet falls into the water when he helps Rosetta with her traps. She watches him thrashing in the muddy water and hesitates before helping him out. Later she discovers Riquet has been selling his own waffles during business hours from his offer of an under the table job helping him mix the batter. After some contemplation, she tells the owner. Rosetta looks on as Riquet is thrown out of the stand and is handed his apron. Betrayed and hurt, Riquet chases Rosetta on his moped as she attempts to evade him. Eventually he catches up to her and demands her motive. She states she wanted a job and had no intention of saving him from the water.
Rosetta encounters Riquet as a customer when she begins her first day in his stead. She returns home to find her mother barely conscious and inebriated in front, dragging her inside and putting her to bed. She calls her boss and tells him she will not be at work the next day. She then turns on the gas to make an egg before bed. The gas runs out. She goes to the landlord to ask for another one. As she hauls the canister of gas with great difficulty, Riquet, on his moped, appears to circle around her. Rosetta walks a short distance before collapsing to the ground and cries. Riquet grabs her by the arm to pick her up. She turns around to gaze at him as she slowly regains her composure. | tragedy | train | wikipedia | The actress Emilie Dequenne, especially in the final scene of "Rosetta," really makes you glimpse why desperation drives some people to do the things they do -- although you may not totally understand.
The acting is so realistic, it is hard to imagine that the story is fictional and is shot in a documentary type style, where the hand held camera follows the actors, sneaks glimpses of their world in much the same way an ENG crew would on a story about poverty in a small European town where the economy is so bad there is little one can do to survive outside of desperate acts.
In this case, Rosetta, the young girl with an alcoholic mother, lives in a trailer with no heat, has to sell re-sewn clothes to make a meager existence until she finally sees an opportunity open up for a job selling waffles at a small stand in a high traffic part of town.
Things may be seemingly repetitive: again and again we see her crossing that traffic roadway, jumping into the bush trail; we hear the rustling leaves, the thumping of her footsteps; we watch her stopping by the hideout where she kept her rubber boots, changing her only good pair of working shoes; we follow her as she crawls through the wire fence loophole, arriving at the campers -- feels like a mindless routine.
I'd like to point out also the magnificent use of music in this film (you could hardly find two movies a year in which the music is not a nuisance nowadays, some directors should limit themselves to the music that comes from the scene itself -a radio, a piano...- ): it appears only once, and is a messy, distortioned home recording of drums, which serves the co-starring as an excuse to dance with Rosetta.
To those who are looking for a contrast in the movie, it's precisely this boy and specially this scene the ones that offer a way out.Do the people that need to know why Rosetta is like that also want to know why the birds attack the humans in Hitchcocks classic?Is it possible to construct such a character without showing, by repetition of sequences, the redundance of Rosettas' life?
i think, this movie is an intense experience in real life from the first to the last minute.maybe the camera is a little bit uncommen in the beginning; but very soon you forget about that and you get drawn into the plot.
Rosetta believes, and has been taught to believe (ironically, by society) that the way that she can achieve this dignity is by getting a 'true' job - so much so that she phones her boss to tell him that she won't be at work before her suicide attempt.
Her victory is to see that she has a friend who was there all along, and this gives us a remarkable ending that is full of drama; packs a considerable emotional punch and is unforgettable, thanks especially to a stunningly naturalistic performance by Emilie Dequenne, who won an award at Cannes for her portrayal of Rosetta.
It is an unremitting portrayal of the most dire hardships, centred around Rosetta (Emilie Dequenne), a young, spirited girl who battles with desperate tenacity to find a job and not so much escape as merely survive in her surroundings.
In addition, Dardenne's performance, for which she won the Best Actress Award at Cannes, brings to life with understated excellence her fight, not to live well, but simply to survive by any means in a world that, for her, contains few hopes and no love.The Dardenne brothers make no excuses or apologies for their presentation of Rosetta's base strivings, delivering a film that charts how far individuals can fall.
Rosetta is one of the most greatest productions about fighting to live in the cinema industry."life is a valuable gift so you should protect it by being as strong as you can."I think this is the main message of the film.Emilie Dequenne in the role of Rosetta would remain in the memory of cinema forever.She didn't speak that much but she was such a professional actress that showed all her feelings in her face.The scene that Rosetta spoke with herself before sleeping was fantastic.Technical features such as carrying camera on hand and using no music even at the end of the film,make us to believe that this is going to be a special documentary..
Verité to the max, the single hand-held eye of the film follows a teenage girl (Emilie DeQueene) on the fringe of extinction, poor almost to the point of homelessness, saddled with an alcoholic quasi-prostitute mother, desperate for work, for some semblance, any semblance of "normality," doing everything humanly possible to keep her head above water, at one point quite literally almost drowned by her mother.Life at the razor's edge, reduced to the basics, shows us what we are, what we are made of and need most but take for granted, forget as soon as we can.
and then the movie hooks you with a ferocious performance by Emilie Dequenne, who plays Rosetta, a teenager from the Belgian underclass coping with the despair of her predicament while dreaming of a "normal" life.
Simply,"Rosetta" is the best fin de decade European movie.I have to search my memories to find something vaguely recalling Dardenne's work:maybe Robert Bresson's "Mouchette" or Kenneth Loach's darkest hour.French cinema generally does not like those who have been left out of economic growth.Rosetta and the boy are on the wrong side of town.She lives in a seedy trailer with her alcoholic mother who's always ready to sleep with the first to come if he provides her with a bottle.She refuses charity,she claims dignity and dignity means work.To get a job ,Rosetta would do anything.Desperate,she tries to steal the boy's one:he sells waffles in a van.When he nearly gets drowned,she is tempted to abandon him to his fate!Later she becomes an informer and exposes his little swindles to his boss.Dardenne does not judge.He knows we are able to understand that,in this world,conventional moral has got no sense.Besides ,Rosetta confesses to the bewildered boy she wishes he had sunk.The form is absolutely stunning and fits the content like a glove:close shots,at best medium,but no panoramics at all,a tight editing:the director does not want us to take pity on this place where human beings feed themselves with waffles , hard-boiled eggs,or French bread (luxury),where they carry heavy gas bottles without even a wheelbarrow,where they fish in the river to get something to eat without even a fishing rod.Actually we know nothing about Rosetta but her first name.She is the embodiment of poverty as Victor Hugo's Cosette was in "les misérables" during the nineteenth century(the two names almost sound the same)."Rosetta" is the cries of the oppressed.A disturbing overwhelming movie..
Or others have said it goes no deeper than saying life isn't fair, or that the circumstances of poverty can reduce the poor to atomistic, asocial competition, where they are impelled to turn even on their friends.Well, that's part of it, but it misses the larger point.There is no effort in this film to portray Rosetta as "every girl" -- who copes just like anyone else would in her situation.
She doesn't have time for friendship for its own sake -- although she does allow one with the young waffle seller quickly enough when she figures he can help her somehow.There may well be better ways to go about escaping from Rosetta's situation than the strategy she purses here, but this film certainly graphically illustrates how hard it can be.
This technique, which shatters the illusion of privacy we all like to feel we have in our lives, is obviously designed to make the audience become more fully a part of Rosetta's drearily dysfunctional world and life.
Even though at one point we see her having a schizophrenic pep talk with herself as she is falling asleep convincing herself that she will one day be able to lead a `normal life' Rosetta is so emotionally cut off from the world and the people around her that we actually begin to question her mental health at times.
Now, with that style having been done to death by filmmakers from all over the world, the hand-held camera acrobatics of films like `Rosetta' serve more as a distraction and distancing device than the approximation of reality that the filmmakers seem to want to capture.
Here are my complaints: a film like this has to be saying something, and, in order to work, it has to make me think about the world around me, especially regarding our old friend, the Human Condition.
Like in Dardenne brothers films, in this one we witness how the main character makes a mistake because of hardships of life or because he/she is naive, then realizes the mistake and corrects it, eventually doing the right thing.
When we watch this whole process with the kind of fantastic and unconventional closeness - the engrossing & realistic Dardenne-style of close up shots - we actually fall in love and sympathize with the main character - the girl Rosetta.
While the story of Rosetta is indeed depressing, I found it to be compelling, and despite the sometimes nauseating camera work, at no point did I want to give up on the film and quit watching.
At least to me, realism requires that the story be captured in a way that is as close to actually being there as possible, which requires camera work that is willing to look away from the character, at least briefly, in the moments when she is interacting with something offscreen.
It's a bit much overall, although the performances, especially of the title character, is quite excellent, and the overall direction is good.Plus, I do like when directors let you figure out the story yourself.Altogether, however, La Promesse is the better, more engrossing, less obviously agitprop film..
The Dardennes brothers style of filmmaking is integral to the power of "Rosetta", it can look like pretentious art-house take-the-camera-and-shoot cinema verité but the content is so genuinely powerful that you can't accuse the form.
"Rosetta" always walks one step ahead of the camera, we often see her from behind going from one direction to another, this is a young girl struck by poverty and unemployment, living in a trailer park and witnessing the downfall of her mother, prostituting herself for booze.
And Rosetta, played by Emilie Dequenne (she won the Cannes Prize for her performance) rarely smiles, she's suspicious, tacit except when it comes to ask for a job, she's got the will, the determination but Dardennes' movies aren't filmed like melodramas but documentaries, which doesn't diminish their power in terms of pure storytelling.
And again, the directing is part of the film's greatness, it takes us to very uncomfortable and closeted places like the inside of a trailer, a small bathroom, a waffle stands, we all feel like intruders, put in a place that are no cinematically pleasing, but that's the point, the camera goes where Rosetta goes, to places cinema usually ignores.
Rosetta (1999), directed and written by the now critically acclaimed Dardenne brothers , is a film with a simple premise, a young and impulsive girl, looking for a job.
Rosetta is the ultimate prove that these two brothers of cinema are masters in creating intensely naturalistic films about lower class life in Belgium.
Like always though circumstances are working against her.The Dardenne brothers shot this film with hand held cameras and you can tell with the way it moves and sways as it tries to keep up with Rosetta who is constantly moving.
The Dardenne brothers as always do a great job of shooting the film with natural lighting in long takes often following the character almost if she is an animal in the wild and if they get too close she will run away.
The war movie comparison is really accurate : "Rosetta" is shot like the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" and she spends her time running, attacking, retreating, attacking again, followed by an omnipresent hand-held camera.
The turmoil and tenacity of a seventeen-year-old girl, desperately seeking employment in the slums of Belgium is documented in 'Rosetta', the new film from those happy go lucky scamps Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne -- directors of the 1996 laugh riot 'La Promesse'...
For ninety-minutes we follow Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne) around the Belgium ghettos with a cinematic intimacy that boarders on pornographic -- with handheld cameras pressed so close to her face that her breath fogs the lens, and one wrong step off the mark means the actors run the risk of physical penetration -- the film looks like the work of a demented Lars von Trier fan, only with the lack of subtlety and restraint usually reserved for Joel Schumacher productions.
Having recently watched Bruno Dumont's excellent 'L'Humanité', a film that mixed shocking sexual imagery and updated neo-realist technique to deliver a story and a character that gripped rather than griped, it worked in shocking contrast to 'Rosetta', which was an hour shorter than 'L'Humanité' but felt much, much longer.
Jean-Pierre Dardenne, one of the two brothers who authored 'Rosetta' was co-director a couple of years before this film of a strong documentary describing the life of the homeless orphan children in post-Communist Romania.
That film which became a repeated item on some European TV channels like Arte-TV when they need to say something about Romania seems to have inspired the Dardenne brothers in making 'Rosetta'.
The acting is very good and Émilie Dequenne is excellent as Rosetta, the 17 years old Belgium girl who can't find her way in life.
Certainly, this could be called "realist cinema": The entire film was shot hand-held (whoever was lugging that camera around, pulling focus all the while, deserves some praise), with several long takes, creating a jerky, eye-level world meant to place us in Rosetta's perspective.
Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne wrote and directed 'Rosetta', winner of the Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1999, a film about an adolescent girl who shares a trailer and her entire existence with an alcoholic mother.
Its simple story is put together with an intimate, naturalistic style: Rosetta carries the burden of what little is left of her dysfunctional family and aspires to get a job, her own place, to live a normal life, to find freedom; one day, she meets a young man who is willing to help her...
The heroine of this admirable but depressing French import is a sullen and troubled (both for good reason) teenager living in trailer trash penury with her alcoholic mother, and stubbornly pursuing what she calls "a normal life": defined as a paying job and someone to call a friend.
Rosetta (1999) is about a girl who gets excluded from the society and is trying desperately to get back in.Usually the films by the Dardenne brothers build around the moral choices their characters have to make.
So the films by the brothers are like pieces of life.Rosetta (Émilie Dequenne) is a young girl living with her alcoholic mother in a caravan at an industrial area in Belgium.
Unlike the similarly themed dogme movement, or the more iconic works of Lars von Trier etc, the Dardenne brothers are unconcerned with changing the face of cinematic reality, but rather, take their cue from people like Ken Loach, Bruno Dumont and Robert Bresson; by creating honest, often-bleak works of film that take their character from despair, to hope, and sometimes, right back to despair, in order to give the audience a taste of a world away from the more comfortable social milieu we might be accustomed to.
Both films are here are heavily indebted to the naturalistic/realist work of Bresson and Loach, particularly films like Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Riff Raff (1990) and Raining Stones (1993); with the filmmakers presenting the viewer with a series of characters continually forced to the brink of despair, but desperate to pull themselves back.Rosetta was their follow up to The Promise and is the film that garnered the most attention when first shown at the Cannes film festival back in 1999.
The film follows the brilliant Emilie Dequenne as a troubled young teenager desperately searching the Belgium ghettos for work, whilst also having to put up with an alcoholic mother, a lecherous landlord and a series of ignorant civil servants.
If the point of this film was to show how pathetic a life Rosetta had, then it was covered within the first fifteen minutes of the movie and then the credits should have been running.
The desperate and determined Rosetta fights to obtain a job and find a way to obtain the basics of life for herself and her alcoholic mother.
You don't think "Wow, that's a good actress!" here because you face cold reality with a real life character.For those who liked the movie, I recommend Dardenne's previous film, "La promesse", which I (very) slightly preferred..
And, slowly the story of Rosetta, the young girl that desperately looks for work, gets bigger and will never get down again.
It is a good point that Rosetta wants to work and this is driving the film, without this will-power there is no story.
It's a French film and I don't know the main actress who plays the teenage girl but she's really great in her character.Basically her mother is an alcoholic who sometimes works but usually just drinks and is a drunk (and another problem for the girl to take care of).The girl desperately tries to get work.
But the effect of following SO CLOSE to Rosetta with the hand-held made it seem more like a suspense film at first...
Rosetta, like many of the Dardenne brother's films, opens in medias res, with a young girl confronting an employer about being fired. |
tt0104604 | Ranma ½: Kessen Tôgenkyô! Hanayome o torimodose!! | On a training journey in the Bayankala Mountain Range in the Qinghai Province of China, Ranma Saotome and his father Genma fall into the cursed springs at Jusenkyo (呪泉郷). When someone falls into a cursed spring, they take the physical form of whatever drowned there hundreds or thousands of years ago whenever they come into contact with cold water. The curse will revert when exposed to hot water until their next cold water exposure. Genma falls into the spring of a drowned panda while Ranma falls into the spring of a drowned girl.
Upon returning to Japan, the pair settle in Nerima, Tokyo at the dojo of Genma's old friend Soun Tendo, a fellow practitioner of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū (無差別格闘流) or "Anything-Goes School" of martial arts which Genma passed on to Ranma. Genma and Soun agreed years ago that their children would marry and carry on the Tendo Dojo. Soun has three teenaged daughters: the polite and easygoing Kasumi, the greedy and indifferent Nabiki and the short-tempered, martial arts practicing Akane. Akane, who is Ranma's age, is appointed for bridal duty by her sisters with the reasoning that Akane dislikes men and since Ranma is only a man half of the time, they are perfect together. Both Ranma and Akane refuse the engagement initially, having not been consulted on the decision, but they are generally treated as betrothed and end up helping or saving each other on some occasions. They are frequently found in each other's company and are constantly arguing in their trademark awkward love-hate manner that is a franchise focus.
Ranma goes to school with Akane at Furinkan High School (風林館高校, Fūrinkan Kōkō), where he meets his recurring opponent Tatewaki Kuno, the conceited kendo team captain who aggressively pursues Akane, but also falls in love with Ranma's female form without ever discovering his curse (despite most other characters knowing it). Nerima serves as a backdrop for more martial arts mayhem with the introduction of Ranma's regular rivals, such as the eternally lost Ryoga Hibiki who traveled halfway across Japan getting from the front of his house to the back, where Ranma spent three days waiting for him. Ryoga, seeking revenge on Ranma, followed him to Jusenkyo where he ultimately falls into the Spring of Drown Piglet. Now when splashed with cold water he takes the form of a little black pig. Not knowing this, Akane takes the piglet as a pet and names it P-chan, but Ranma knows and hates him for keeping this secret and taking advantage of the situation. Another rival is the nearsighted Mousse, who also falls into a cursed spring and becomes a duck when he gets wet, and finally, there is Ranma's impish grandmaster, Happosai, who spends his time stealing the underwear of schoolgirls.
Ranma's prospective paramours include the martial arts rhythmic gymnastics champion Kodachi Kuno, and his second fiancée and childhood friend Ukyo Kuonji the okonomiyaki vendor, along with the Chinese Amazon Shampoo, supported by her great-grandmother Cologne. As the series progresses, the school becomes more eccentric with the return of the demented, Hawaii-obsessed Principal Kuno and the placement of the power-leeching alternating child/adult Hinako Ninomiya as Ranma's English teacher. Ranma's indecision to choose his true love causes chaos in his romantic and school life. | violence | train | wikipedia | Wonderful film, perfectly in-line with the series.
I must disagree with Techno Panda.
Though I haven't read the manga, I've seen much of the series (subbed and dubbed), and for me anyway, this movie was just the icing on the cake.
Albeit there were many breast shots, but it's not like you don't see many of those in the series as it is.
Every part of this movie was in keeping with the spirit of the series, especially the end, but I don't want to ruin it for anyone so I won't go into detail.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie..
Fun and witty.
I enjoyed "Nihao My Concubine", and thought it was both fun to watch and had some good non-obvious humor in it.
Take the title - to "get it", you need to both be aware of the Chinese film "Farewell my Concubine", and know that nihao means "hello" in Chinese.Although there was some (very minor, very brief) nudity, I didn't feel it was gratuitous or offensive.
YMMV.I will grant the plot is tenuous at best, but I don't approach any of the Ranma 1/2 anime with an expectation of deep plotting.
They're just fun to watch.
Lighten up..
I liked it.
I'm not an otaku, so take that as a preface.
I'm more a casual fan who got exposed to Ranma years ago and I enjoy it.
The romantic dodecohedrans (rather than triangles) and the slapstick humor is always good fun.
And call me shallow but for an adult male skimpy bathing suits on the girls is no minus.
I write for those who don't follow anime so closely and say this is a fun movie and worth a rental if not a purchase..
Need a refresh after watching the Ranma TV series?
Ah Ranma, how much I love the manga and TV series as child.
Sure the bare boobs and shapely behinds are part of the attraction to the series but underlying personality conflicts to obvious solutions is what makes the series such a fascinating watch.But even at the time the TV series was ongoing the art and sound was a bit lacking in quality.
So if you have finished re-watching or even watching the first time the Ranma TV series than Nihao My Concubine is a nice refresh.The is still today of excellent quality and stands the test time with the style used (a more detail contouring of all the characters' body profiles).
The music is lively and the voice energising.
Best watched with English subs as the dubbing is not good even though the English voice actors do try their best with the lines given.
Let's just say you find it hard to differentiate quality of the dialogue from let's say La Blue Girl.Nihao My Concubine is probably one of the best examples of defining what Ranma is all about and the wackiness that goes with it.
Although, Ranma is flashing boobs some of the time the other characters are still dressed and they are not drawn in overly suggestive poses.
Think of how Runway and fashion magazines are shot.Overall, an excellent anime to watch or to used to introduce someone to anime.
Child safe despite the nudity which your kids have probably seen worse by cable TV or net..
Better than the first !.
To my taste, this film was better than the first (Big Trouble in Nekonlon, China).
The jokes are funnier and more silly.
The animation is pretty much the same.
The story is rather lame and could have been told in about 2 or 3 comic-chapters.
The plot girl-guy saves girl isn't really that much different from Movie No. 1.
The women's breasts are bigger and the legs are longer, and since all takes place in an exotic beach-environment, the creators have the opportunity of pointing this out to the viewer fairly often.
Better than the first, but still not that great.
Oh, but I must admit, I thought the main theme was kinda cute..
Beaches, Babes, Breasts, and Big, Big Fun!.
now here's somethin you don't see everyday, ranma girl breasts a jigglin!
the writers sure had a lot of fun.
this is a real cool moive, my favorite of the two.
the story is cool, stealing the girls for a man to marry.
akane is, of course, the choice of the head guy.
the animation is classic, the humor is still top notch, and the gilrs showing off their skin?
great!
i especially love the dragon fist and lionheart moves ranma and ryoga do.
then, there's shampoo...hubba hubba!
LOL.
all in all, see this for more great humor!.
Ranma goes exotic.
Ahhhh, Ranma.
For those of you not familiar with the Ranma situation, here's a quick explanation: It's the typical old boy meets girl, boy turns into girl, girl gets engaged to girl routine.Anyway, Ranma is a fine martial arts comedy based around a boy, Ranma, who changes between male and female form because of a curse laid upon him while training in the mountains of China.
This is the second Ranma movie (based on the TV series, which, in turn is based on the original manga).The Ranma 1/2 series is top-notch hilarity from start to finish, every time.
This movie, however brings a bad name to the name.
Nihao My Concubine is full of gratuitous breast shots, lame non-humour and a severe lack of plot.
The american dubbed version is (believe it or not) worse still, having ridiculous puns strewn about, thoroughly distracting and annoying to say the least, not to mention the acting standard.
As for the actual animation, it's more or less regular Ranma standard - that is, high quality, but relatively simple artwork, that does the job well.
If you must see this movie, make sure it's a fan subtitled edition, but better still, miss this movie altogether and pick up some of the original Manga ;).
"Baywatch" anime.
If you get your rocks off watching generously endowed cartoon teenage girls bouncing around in gravitationally-improbable bikinis, This Is the Movie For You!The Ranma series, as with much anime, offers two things: sex and violence.
Unlike the previous Ranma movie (released in the States as "Big Trouble...", this one concentrates on sex.) That's not to say that it is obscene; there's no full-frontal nudity, no tentacle rape.
Actually, no intercourse at all.
Just a lot of slavishly drawn teenage girls in bikinis and evening gowns.Oh, the plot has to do with the entire Ranma crowd being on vacation, and the girls all being kidnapped by a local prince who wants to marry one of them.
one of the best!!!.
on the line of the series, is a bit (even more) of the endless funny discussions among ranma, akane and ryoga, and the same desire to demonstrate who is best to martial arts kuno, mousse, shampoo etc..
a nice sunny boat trip is turned into a "LOST" like drama when all friends (i mean ALL) came to a desert island and kuno's boat has been destroyed by a storm, all girls in the island become fade of, starting by beauty kasumi, kidnapped by a illusion master's warriors, all but one, (ranma girl!) who's guide the rest of the "rescue team" to the mysterious prison island where the girls are caught, but all girls are in a fashion pretty party in order the illusion master can make a choice of a bride.
and guess who was the irreverent winner!!we can see brand new things, as night dressed nabikki very awesome!, interesting things: the hall fight where tendo, saotome, ranma, mousse, kuno, ryoga and hapossai fight together as a team, and expected things as the same "funny drama" between akane and ranma to express their love themselves where they are into an extreme situation, and after that, "anybody says anything" but they two know it in deep.
a film to remember and laugh highly recommended for series's fans.
This movie does the "Ranma 1/2" name proudly.
The following may contain some spoilers...be advised.I have recently completed watching every season of the Ranma 1/2 anime, including the movies, OAV's, and all the Manga.This movie by far I have enjoyed simply because, while it is still a rehash of Akane being a damsel-in-distress type of story...which really was a repeating arc in the series.
It is done at least freshly here outside of the confines of Japan, Furinkin High School, or Jusenkyo.
A fresh look that was a very rare occurrence in the series.
Besides it's "Ranma", you don't watch for deep plot lines or realistic stories.
You watch because of the comedy and to see the progression of the Ranma/Akane relationship.You can easily pick any of the Ranma characters and find something of yourself in one of them.The animation in this movie has been by far the best of the entire series IMHO.
For fans of the series, you already know there is a distinct style between all of the seasons, the movies, and the OAV's.
This particular movie has a distinct OAV style.
One thing to watch for all of the young female characters seem to have "grown up a bit", if you get what I mean).
The character design is blatant in targeting a specific demographic obviously...especially with the designs of Female Ranma, Nabiki, Shampoo, Akane, & Ukyo.
I would recommend watching at least the first 3-5 seasons of the anime series before watching this film.
(I personally watched all 7 seasons before I hit the movies.) Something that we have not seen before in this movie is the presence of dripping blood (Ranma) and weapons piercing the skin (Mousse).Speaking of Mousse.
His fight scene with the Bird-man for Shampoo is by far the best of the entire franchise.
For the first time we see real emotion out of Mousse as a serious character, not just the butt of jokes.
Excellent scene.Again, the storyline is basically the same as the majority of the anime series.
But if you are watching ANY part of the "Ranma 1/2" franchise for the plot...your missing the point.
With the twist in location, the superb animation, and updated character designs...this movie is by far very entertaining.The opening sequence is an eye opening experience. |
tt0097670 | Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects | Hiroshi Hada, a Japanese businessman in a troubled marriage, sees a woman being groped in a crowded Tokyo subway. He is fascinated by the fact that she moans silently, involuntarily orgasms, but does not cry out or let people know she is being sexually molested. When Hada is transferred to Los Angeles, he has too much to drink at a business party and tries to imitate what he saw by groping a Caucasian school girl while riding a crowded bus. But unlike the Japanese woman that Hada saw in Japan, the American girl screams. Hada runs away, but is robbed and beaten by a mugger. Meanwhile, several innocent Asian men are beaten by bystanders who suspect that one of them is the man who groped the girl.
The girl happens to be Rita Crowe, the daughter of an LAPD vice-squad detective, Lt. Crowe (Bronson), an officer with a strong sense of justice who is very protective of her. Shortly afterward, Fumiko, Hiroshi Hada's daughter, is kidnapped into a child prostitution ring led by the infamous 'Pimp-King' Duke. Crowe, who has developed a general dislike to the Japanese due to his daughter's incident, is assigned against his will to find the girl. His feelings about Japanese people start to change when he realizes that the Hadas care about their daughter as intensely as he cares for his daughter.
Crowe and his partner, Eddie Rios, eventually find Fumiko and rescue her from the pimp and his gang. They kill one member of the gang, but the others escape. The Hadas visit Crowe's house with gifts to show their appreciation for his work. Rita recognizes Hiroshi as the man who groped her on the bus - and he recognizes her - but says nothing. However, despite this apparently happy ending, Fumiko has been so traumatized by her experiences as a prostitute - she was raped by Duke and his gang members and then sold to customers of both sexes - that she commits suicide by an overdose.
Crowe and Rios decide to find Duke and locate him on a boat in a harbor. In the ensuing fight, Duke and his remaining gang members kill Rios, but Duke eventually ends up in the harbor. Since Duke can't swim, Crowe has the choice of letting the gangster drown, but ends up dragging him out. However, as a way of "poetic justice", Crowe has Duke interred in a prison wing inhabited by sexually aggressive inmates, with his designated cellmate making blatant allusions as to what he is going to do with him. As Duke screams in anguish, Crowe walks away in deep satisfaction. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0078109 | The President's Mistress | Donna Morton has been having an affair with the President of the United States for several months, regularly meeting with him for assignations in a safe house in Washington, D.C. She is always picked up in a car by a Secret Service agent.
In Moscow, an agent in the Kremlin manages to get hold of a secret document identifying Donna Morton as a KGB agent sent to spy on the president. This document is passed back to Washington, where it comes into the possession of the CSA (a thinly disguised version of the CIA). They begin to put Donna Morton under surveillance.
The same day, her brother Ben Morton – a Washington businessman and occasional courier for the CSA – arrived back in the city. On the plane he meets and romances Mugsy Evans. When Donna Morton suddenly turns up dead in her apartment moments before she was due to be picked up by her Secret Service driver, he begins to investigate.
He discovers her affair with the president, and through his contacts with the Secret Service, he discovers a CSA agent was seen leaving her apartment building around the time of his death. The Secret Service agent who regularly drove Donna, informs him that the CSA were there, but before any more information can be passed on, she is killed.
Realising now that the CSA had played a large role in her death, Ben Morton confronts the head of the CSA, who tells him it was the Soviets who killed her, and that she was a Soviet agent. He explains that the man who probably performed the deed was the head KGB agent in Washington, Anatoly.
Anatoly is the Soviet Naval Attaché who he interrogates at gunpoint in the car. He tells him everything he knows – that the classified document identifying Donna Morton as a Soviet agent was a fake, designed to throw the CSA off balance, which had always been intended to fall into American hands. The KGB had thus hoped to destabilise the White House during crucial talks with China. | murder | train | wikipedia | Where a lame script meets bad casting. THE PRESIDENT'S MISTRESS is a very dull American TV movie from 1978 focusing on a murder mystery involving the White House and the various security agencies (particularly the now-defunct CSA) as well as Russian spies. Unfortunately it takes an age to get going and the murder itself doesn't take place until at least halfway through which makes it a real slow to sit through, and the poor script means that it's often laughable rather than compelling.I was hoping for something exciting and suspenseful, along the lines of a Columbo story from the era perhaps, but what I got was mere nonsense. The best thing about this is the presence of director John Llewellyn Moxey, best known for the atmospheric Christopher Lee horror film CITY OF THE DEAD in 1960 and who worked extensively in American TV after that point. Beau Bridges is the indifferent lead and very boring in the part too; rather hilariously he's made out to be a heart-throb in one scene which makes me wonder if the role wasn't intended for his brother Jeff. Larry Hagman is here too, but sadly gets only a very minor and inconsequential role. There's a little bit of action in the second part of the tale, but too much of the screen time is occupied by a lame and cheesy romance in which Bridges comes off as a creepy stalker rather than endearing suitor. |
tt2846600 | Don't Move | Timoteo (Sergio Castellitto), a surgeon, gets the shocking news that his fifteen-year-old daughter Angela (Elena Perino) has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. As she is operated upon, Timoteo looks out of a window to see (or imagines seeing) a woman, her back facing him, proceeding to sit down on a chair in the rain outside. He notices her prominent red heels and turns away in disbelief, indicating he was familiar with them. His subsequent reminiscences about an old affair comprise the remainder of the film.
A subsequent scene shows Timoteo sitting in a bar in an unfamiliar location on a hot day. Italia (Penélope Cruz), a woman of Albanian origin working at the bar and wearing red heels, offers to let him make a seemingly important call from her home. The inebriated Timoteo, having entered her flat, rapes Italia and subsequently he pretends fall in love with her. He learns from her, among other things, she was sexually abused in her childhood by a dress salesman (who is later revealed to be her father). He decides to leave his wife Elsa (Claudia Gerini) and conveys this to Italia but,just as he is about to come clean, he discovers that Elsa is pregnant. Meanwhile, Italia also becomes pregnant with his child. Timoteo, now in a real dilemma, cannot gather the courage to confront Elsa in her condition. Italia, unaware of this, interprets Timoteo's hesitation as a lack of commitment on his part and is heartbroken by this perceived betrayal. Later, Timoteo encounters a seemingly unstable Italia dancing frenziedly outside her house. On his chiding her, Italia tells him agitatedly that she has had their child aborted at a nearby gypsy's,adding bitterly it was for the best as she wouldn't have made a good mother anyway. Greatly disturbed by this development,Timoteo leaves and goes home to his pregnant wife.
Some months later, Timoteo, shopping with his wife who is about to deliver, spots Italia in a crowd and rushes after her in the rain. After catching up with her, he profusely apologises to Italia, asking her forgiveness for all the pain he caused. After reacting violently initially, Italia tells him that she knew now why he could not leave his wife and that she understood. He also learns from her that she would be moving to another town shortly.
Next morning, Timoteo offers to drive Italia down to her new town. During the journey, his feelings for Italia grow stronger and he confesses his desire to marry and settle down with her in the new town. While having dinner, Timoteo marries himself off to Italia and refers to her as "my wife" while speaking to a waitress. That night, he is woken by Italia's screams as she is gripped by unbearable pain in her abdomen. She is rushed to the local hospital, where an ultrasound reveals her belly to be full of blood, indicating a botched abortion. A desperate Timoteo then proceeds to operate on Italia. She dies soon after briefly regaining consciousness.
His recollections are interrupted by a nurse who informs him that his daughter's condition has stabilised. He then visits her with his wife. In the final act, a relieved Timoteo takes out Italia's red shoe, which she had lost on the way to the hospital the day she died, and that the funeral company had refused to put in the closed coffin, and which he had carefully preserved, and kisses it as a gesture of thanks. | violence, haunting | train | wikipedia | A+ special effects, good acting and slightly original idea. While the idea behind Don't Move is nothing special, it is interesting and makes the viewer think a little bit. You can just imagine how difficult it would be to stand perfectly still as if your life depended on it; it's relateable and I feel like that's what makes it feel so unnerving. The fact that you could watch your friend die before your eyes and wouldn't be able to flinch a muscle lest you meet the same fate is terrifying and exactly why I found Don't Move to be such a well-executed short.The acting is decent and the special effects are flawless; albeit the gore is overdone as is the case with most horror shorts (gotta pack a lot into such a brief run-time I suppose). Because of the overdone gore and the fact that the idea is very unoriginal in most aspects, I'm being slightly generous with my mark of 8/10. With camera work, special effects and acting like this, Don't Move could even be considered better than most modern full-length horror flicks.. Great Horror. A low-budget independent film with some spectacular production standards and a well crafted concept. Well written, well produced and well executed. This is a top quality short movie with some production value and a very well directed mini-plot.The 13 minute short "Don't Move" is actually better than the last dozen or so full length horror movies I've watched. The voices volume are kind of lowered in comparison to the score, but the sound effects live out one second to none which result in an excellent surrounding outcome.A Ouija board can somehow be seen as cliché but nevertheless, this is one of the scariest short movies I have ever seen and believe me... I have seen a lot.. Generic little horror movie. "Don't Move" is a British 14-minute horror film from 2 years ago and it's pretty much what one can expect. lots of blood, lots of gore and violence, but unfortunately not really a convincing or interesting story that hasn't been done before. There are some comedic elements like the ending, but it's also not working particularly well from the fun perspective. Fans of the television series "EastEnders" will maybe be shocked watching this one and its lead actress Rachel Bright. The director is Anthony Melton and the writer is David Scullion and it shows that both have not too much experience in the movie industry. But you can also hold this in their favor and hope they manage to step it up with their next projects. "Don't Move" is a film where I say: Don't watch. |
tt0065079 | Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here | The film's story revolves around the Paiute Indian outlaw Willie Boy (Robert Blake), who escapes with his lover, Lola (Katharine Ross), after killing her father in self defense. According to tribal custom Willie can then claim Lola as his wife. According to the law, Deputy Sheriff Cooper (Robert Redford) is required to charge him with murder.
Willie Boy and Lola are hunted for several days by a posse led by Cooper. Willie manages to repel the posse’s advance when he ambushes them from the top of Ruby Mountain. He only tries to shoot their horses, but ends up accidentally killing a bounty hunter, resulting in another murder charge.
Days later, as the posse closes in, Lola dies by a gunshot wound to the chest. It is left deliberately ambiguous whether Lola shot herself in order to slow down the posse's advance or whether Willie killed her to keep her out of the posse's hands. Cooper is inclined to believe the latter and then goes off ahead of the posse to bring in Willie dead or alive. As soon as Cooper catches up, he comes under fire from Willie, who is positioned at the top of Ruby Mountain. Cooper narrowly avoids being shot on several occasions.
In the film's climax, Cooper maneuvers behind Willie, who has donned a ghost shirt, and tells him he can turn around if he wants to, which he does. The two pause before Willie raises his rifle at Cooper, who beats him to the draw and shoots him. Fatally struck in the chest, Willie tumbles down the hillside. Cooper picks up Willie’s gun and finds that it wasn't even loaded, making it apparent that Willie deliberately chose death over capture. Abashed, Cooper carries the slain outlaw the rest of the way down Ruby Mountain and delivers him to other Paiutes, who carry the corpse away and burn the remains.
When confronted by the county sheriff, Cooper is told that the burning of Willie's body will ruin the people's chance to see Willie in the (now-dead) flesh, denying them the ability "to see something". Cooper retorts: "Tell them we're all out of souvenirs". | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | The film's four leads are excellent: Robert Redford is a wise and humane Coop, the sherriff obliged to lead the inappropriate manhunt: Robert Blake is perfect as the nihilistic, elemental Willie: Doctor Elizabeth Arnold is played by Susan Clark, developing nicely the ambivolence of a woman who needs Coop sexually but despises herself for it: Katharine Ross is the spry, athletic Lola, the young indian girl who becomes Willie's 'wife by capture'..
Every character (including Blake's Indian) is weak, vacillating & morally changeable, which makes for a wonderfully complex tale.Blakes dialogue gives us the film's title: "Well, at least they'll know that Willie Boy was here." He says this in responding to Katherine Ross' comment asking why he is willing to keep running, even though the whites will eventually trap & kill him.
Even Willie Boy is pig headed, monomaniacal and self-destructive.I think Blake does a great job in this role.
I consider Robert Blake's performance in this movie to be one of his best, and this comes from someone who has always thought he was a fine actor.
Robert Redford, too, shines here as the sheriff, and almost all the supporting cast keeps up with the two male leads.Blake's character is a Paiute Indian who is the object of a manhunt which is sensationalized by the press because of its concurrence with a visit by President Taft.
The sheriff is pressured into hunting down the Indian and the girl he loves but whose father has forbidden the match.It's a good solid early-1900s Western with much better-than-average acting.
TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE has top-notch color photography by Conrad Hall, a thinking man's script that is character driven, and good performances all around by a cast that includes ROBERT REDFORD, ROBERT BLAKE, SUSAN CLARK, BARRY SULLIVAN and KATHARINE ROSS.
But it's a lumbering tale that takes a good hour before the dust begins to settle and we get some action along with the character development of both Blake and Redford.Every scene is painfully slow in getting to the payoff so that the film seems a lot longer than one hour and thirty-six minutes.
The first hour is devoted to the manhunt for an Indian killer (Blake) and then the plot involves the arrival of President Taft in 1909 California and the effort to protect him from any kind of assassination attempt.Redford's role as the reluctant sheriff is never too clear since he's a man of a very few words (a regular Gary Cooper type), so it's up to Blake to carry much of the film and he does.
He's terrific as the Indian lad who's trigger happy when the posse starts getting too close.The last twenty minutes should have been a model of suspense as they close in on Willie Boy, but it's allowed to drag out interminably.Summing up: Character driven tale had the potential to be a fine western, but badly paced direction of Abraham Polonsky is no help nor is the sluggish script.
This lesser known Redford film has been recently, exploitively unearthed in the wake of co-star Blake's real-life arrest and trial for murder.
Blake plays a Peyote Indian in 1909 who kills in self defense and is tracked all over the desert by a small posse led by sheriff Redford.
Notable as the return to directing by a man who was blacklisted for 18 years prior, it has strong social commentary and the characters really represent aspects of a more contemporary society (namely the one that went on a Communist witch-hunt in the 1950's!) The film, though the plot line is fairly straightforward, isn't always easy to understand because many of the characters' traits and motivations are blurry.
Beautifully filmed, the movie creates the same edge-of-your-seat tension to see the outcome as the book by Harry Lawton, and, indeed, the real events must have engendered.Too bad Hollywood once again played with the truth.
While much of the film appears to fairly closely follow history, with a few excusable abbreviations, two crucial incidents and Redford's character are Hollywood inventions.
They add to the drama and mystery of the sad story, but considering most people know only the history they see on film, it's a shame to see the truth corrupted.Blake is outstanding.
Ross is completely unbelievable as an Indian.The movie captures the essence of this turn-of-the-last-century western environment transitioning from horse & buggy to automobile, from cowboy to urbanite, from the remaining blend of Indian autonomy side-by-side with encroaching white man encroachment and ultimate domination.The fact that it took several posses of 75+ men on horse, with supplies, days and nights of tracking to catch up with one Indian on foot without more than a rifle, a few shells and only what food he could scrounge, speaks volumes for the Indian-vs-white fight for survival and the tactics used.Quietly intense, the movie is dramatic, captivating, and over-ridingly sad at the unavoidable outcome of the decidedly unbalanced "battle.".
Here is the true account of this story as told by posse member Law-man Ben de Crevecoeur in 1941.Willie Boy was a 25 or 26 year old Paiute Indian.
Isoleta's father, Old Mike Boniface was a Paiute Indian.Willie Boy had an unrequited interest in Isoleta.
Her father didn't like Willie Boy. Willie Boy kidnapped Isoleta the first time from the family's camp at Twenty-nine Palms, Ca. Her father found them, took her back and told Willie Boy that if he came near her again he would kill Willie Boy.Some days later, after drinking with a White friend, Willie Boy went to the Gillman Ranch, near Banning Ca., where the Boniface family was working and crept up on Old Mike, his wife and their 7 children where they were sleeping under a Cottonwood tree.
When she couldn't go any further, Willie Boy shot her in the back and killed her.Lawman Ben Crevecouer said, "The sight of that girl's body was something a person would want to forget, but couldn't.
She had worn through her thin little shoes and her feet were raw and bloody".The posse eventually discovered Willie Boy's body after chasing him for 11 days and 500 to 600 miles in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in Ca..
Willie Boy killed himself with his last bullet.Willie Boy was just a scumbag who murdered two of his own people but ,of course, this director, Abe Polonsky, turns the story into another anti-White Hollywood propaganda film.Info from interview of Ben de Crevecouer in "Desert Magazine", Nov. 1941..
Good and interesting film about a stoppable manhunt to a Paiute Indian well played by Robert Blake.
Based on the Willie Boy incident that was one of the most savage chapters in frontier history .Contemporary Western drama set in 1909 , it tells the story of one of the last and violent western manhunt.
Set in Joshua Tree , California , about a killing carried by a Paiute Indian , Robert Blake , who murders his bride's father in self-defense , it triggers a non-stop pursuit .
Later on, Willie Boy and and his white bride , Katharine Ross , escape and go on the run across the sunny desert .
They become the objects of a manhunt by a tough posse led by the reluctant local sheriff , Robert Redford , and his followers : Barry Sullivan , Ned Romero , John Vernon , among others .Well paced film with bitter irony and stunningly directed by Abraham Polonsky , this was once-blacklisted Polonsky's first movie in 31 years .
A sober Robert Redford gives fine acting , he plays as a reluctant as well as stubborn sheriff who pursues mercilessly Willie .
After defying the comittee by refusing to name names , 8Polonsky was pursued , juzged and condemned by the HUAC , once blacklisted he only wrote and directed a few films as Romance of a horsethief and this Tell them willie Boy is here.
A drifting Paiute Indian in 1900s Southern California kills the father of his Indian girlfriend in self-defense; the couple escape into the desert, but a sheriff and his posse are on their trail.
The depiction of relations between the Indians and the white man has historical interest, but aside from Robert Blake as macho Willie Boy, these actors do not look comfortable in their roles.
Bad movie due to below average production and editing.The message regarding the Native American plight was good but wasted on this movie effort.Too bad bacause the actors gave good performances.The last 20 minutes was the best part but nothing you can't miss.Flows like a slow TV movie.Thank God Redford is preety.Still worth a look if you are a fan of pro Native American Western action drama or a big fan of the lead actors.......
In the era of Peckinpah and Leone, 'Willie Boy' cannot but look dated, feeling more like one of those naive 50s liberal Westerns where the Indians were played by minstrels.
look a lot like medieval Verona, Italy but the story is the same.The title role of Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here is played by Robert Blake who is a
in the national media and blows up the story.Robert Redford plays the sheriff charged with bringing in Blake dead or alive.
Loosely based on the true story of the West's last famous manhunt in 1909, a Chemehuevi-Paiute Indian named Willie Boy (Robert Blake) kills a man in self-defense and escapes into the desert wilderness with an Indian woman (Katharine Ross).
While a modest hit, it failed to achieve the success of the other two films, especially "Butch Cassidy." It has since fallen into nigh obscurity and is almost never mentioned in 'Best Western' lists.Along with "Hombre" (1967) and "Butch Cassidy," and soon-to-come Westerns like "The Missouri Breaks" (1976), "Willie Boy" ranks with the breakthrough 'modern' Westerns of the 60s-70s.
The director was an admitted communist who was blacklisted by the McCarthy squad in the late 40s and "Willie Boy" was his big return to filmmaking.The cast is great, also including the stunning Susan Clark as a patronizingly liberal white missionary, and the desert scenery is spectacular.
The real Willie Boy was in his mid-20s and kidnapped the 15 year-old Isoleta, his second time, after murdering her father in his sleep.
It stars Robert Redford, Robert Blake, Katharine Ross and Susan Clark.
Hall."In the summer of 1909 a member of the oldest American minority, a Paiute Indian named Willie Boy, became the center of an extraordinary historical event.
This is what happened in the deserts of California."It's a very intense and captivating movie, sad even, it is well performed by the boys up top, beautifully photographed and boosted tonally by a haunting musical score that takes its heart from Jerry Goldsmith's score for Planet of the Apes, yet there's just something too Hollywood about it that stops it breaking through into a film worthy of the subject matter.Problem in the main is that in trying to tune into the coolness of Robert Redford, and he is very smooth here, the focus of the film is more on Redford's Sheriff Cooper than it is Robert Blake's Willie Boy. Oh for sure the Willie Boy axis, as he goes on the run with his Indian girlfriend Lola (Ross unconvincing in race terms but emotionally impressive), is explored, but it's Cooper's movie and that just can't be right.
The opening explains, "In the summer of 1909, a member of the oldest American minority, a Paiute Indian named Willie Boy, became the center of an extraordinary historical event.
This is what happened in the deserts of California." The setting seems more 1969 than 1909.The plot gets started when downtrodden Indian Robert Blake (as Willie Boy) is caught in a sexual liaison with his Indian mate, Katharine Ross (as Lola), by her father.
Mr. Redford isn't as prejudiced as others in his posse, who'd prefer Blake be brought back dead.This film gets credit for renovating the careers of Jennings Lang and Abraham Polonsky; but, it isn't, otherwise, very remarkable.
Redford and Ross, riding on the success of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", receive relatively exaggerated billing, over Blake and Susan Clark (as Liz Arnold).
The film is well-intentioned, but dull.**** Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (10/31/69) Abraham Polonsky ~ Robert Blake, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross.
(I doubt this film did anything for Redford's lover-boy image.)At the same time, none of the principals is particularly likable, certainly a departure from usual box-office appeal.
My guess is that Polonsky used perhaps too much caution in dealing with what is admittedly tricky subject matter.Nonetheless, it remains an interesting film, well acted and beautifully photographed, making good use of the barren edge of California's Mojave desert.
According to Lawton's obituaries he remained committed to Native American rights and culture throughout his life.Willy Boy (Robert Blake) kills a man who was bigoted and goaded him.
Also, while thirty three years since Little Big Horn, and nineteen since Wounded Knee, the possibility of an Indian uprising was not hard to dismiss (the great chief Geronimo died in 1905, shortly after attending Theodore Roosevelt's inauguration - we were that close in time to the period when he was on the warpath).The film goes to it's tragic conclusion - a long, hard chase to the death of a representative of a defeated people.
Blake plays a character who shoots the white father of Ross's character, and ends up on the run.
There is a better scene when the sheriff (Redford) finds Ross's character shot dead.
Dusty little towns like Banning and Lancaster are now sprawling environment engulfers but I digress.Robert Blake is the Paiute Indian, Willie Boy, who kills the white father of his girl friend, Katherine Ross, and takes off with her into the desert, which Hall captures as a rather benign place with towering Washingtonian palms creating a shady oasis, the breeze whooshing gently through the fronds.
Robert Redford is Sheriff Cooper ("Coop") who pursues Blake and Ross from one picturesque place to another.
But when Katherine Ross's body is found with a bullet through her heart, he's compelled to track down the worn-out horseless Blake and, finally, shoot him in an act of suicide by Sheriff.This was directed by Abraham Polonsky, one of the famous blacklisted writers who returned from exile.
Thus, the final confrontation between Sheriff Coop and Willy Boy had no suspense factor for me- and I didn't care when either he or the Katharine Ross character (no, she did NOT look like an Indian!) died.
The only real relevance to the proximity of the US President was that it also meant there was an over abundance of newspaper reporters near San Bernardino and Riverside who sensationalized the chase not even knowing that Willie Boy was already dead before most of them had even heard of him.The true story of the manhunt (or at the least the closest to the truth as it was based on eyewitness and second-hand accounts from the remaining witnesses) is The Last Great Manhunt by Harry Lawton, the book TTWBIH is based on (Lawton even changed the title to that of the film).
Years later a couple of politically correct college professors wrote articles claiming Lawton's book was all wrong and Willie Boy was a hero, even going so far as to suggest Carlotta was killed by the posse.
Redford looks so much younger here; it must have been the mustache as The Kid. Curiously, he had a similar scene here with Susan Clark as Sundance did with Katharine Ross, a kind of surprise bedroom attack that was used as misdirection before the true relationships became known.Robert Blake does a convincing job as Willie Boy, on the run from the law with his 'captured wife' after killing her father in self defense.
Sheriff Chris Cooper (Redford) treads that line carefully, as he knows he must bring Willie Boy to justice, but is keenly aware that it wouldn't take much for his search party to turn into a lynch mob.
The prelude to that showdown is perhaps even more of a shocker, as Willie's girl Lola commits the ultimate sacrifice so her man has a better chance of escaping.I haven't seen Robert Blake in a lot of films besides this and "In Cold Blood", though I was a regular viewer of 'Baretta'.
Like NAKED GUN, this WILLIE BOY Western stars a Real Life Lady Killer, ironically playing the mad dog slayer responsible--either directly, or indirectly--for the female shot dead off-camera.
Apparently, a seriously fictionalized adaptation of the saga of troubled Paiute "Willie Boy", transforming it into a Romeo and Juliet-like tale, with Willie(Robert Blake) and his half-breed girlfriend, Lola(Katherine Ross), the victims of racial slurs and prejudice by judicial authorities.
In part, it's also a standard western, with a long posse chase of this horseless fugitive and his girl through a rocky desert wilderness in southern CA, followed by a hide and seek shooting duel with Deputy Sheriff Coop(Robert Redford) on a bare rocky Ruby Mountain.
Coop's action was in apparent self-defense, as was Willie's earlier shooting of Lola's father.
However, Coop is regarded as a hero, whereas Willie rightly assumed that he would be regarded by white authorities as an unjustified murderer.The film ends with Willie's body being cremated at the base of Ruby Mountain, where he died.
The white girl's father never approved of his daughter's love for the boy just because of his American Indian heritage!
Robert Redford as Sheriff Cooper "Coop"(pretty as ever and gives a fine performance) and Robert Blake (very convincing as Willie Boy) meet physically only twice during the film, but they form a superb ensemble.
Spreading the gap between the white man and the American Native is TELL THEM WILLY BOY IS HERE.
Willy Boy, a Piute Indian(Robert Blake)kills a man in self-defense and becomes the subject of a manhunt in 1909 California.
With him is his lover Lola(Katherine Ross)trying to stay one step ahead of a posse led by Deputy Sheriff 'Coop' Cooper(Robert Redford). |
tt0816545 | Kabluey | Leslie, whose husband is in Iraq, is in danger of losing her benefits if she does not return to work.
Salman, her brother-in-law, arrives in her town to help watch over Leslie's two kids. In part this is due to Salman's having no other place to go. He seems a bit spacey and was fired from his last job at a copy shop because he enjoyed laminating so much that he laminated everything in the store that was laminatable (including the money in the till).
Leslie's eldest son, Cameron, takes an instant dislike to Salman and threatens to kill him. Her other son Lincoln follows his lead. Salman's difficulty in handling the two hyperactive children does not impress Leslie, so she asks him to leave. Unfortunately that's not an option as Salman has no money and nowhere to go.
So, struggling for answers and a way to keep things from falling apart, Leslie finds Salman a job at her company. They will trade off working and watching after the kids. Leslie does not realize that the job Salman gets is as a blue-costumed corporate mascot called "Kabluey". Salman's job as Kabluey is to hand out flyers (advertising office space) on the side of the road for her company, a faltering dot-com called BluNexion. The costume has its unique challenges, being extremely hot inside and having no fingers on the hands, forcing him to grip the flyers under his arms. Standing on the side of the road also seems completely pointless - as the only people who drive by are farmers who don't need office space. Kabluey (the mascot) also interacts with passing road workers, and an insane woman (who lost all of her money investing in BluNexion in an ENRON type scandal) who constantly drives by and even tries to kill Kabluey with her car. Despite all this, Salman finds strange confidence through his suit and alter ego - and his life begins to change.
Salman is asked to entertain at a birthday party in the suit. He manages to gain the respect of Cameron and Lincoln in the process. He later discovers Leslie is having an affair with her boss Brad but is afraid to confront the issue. When he later discovers that Brad is sleeping with another woman, he attacks Brad (wearing the costume) while Brad is in a motel room with the other woman, but not before calling Leslie to the scene.
Confronted with the reality of the situation, Leslie slaps Salman and walks away, but later breaks down in Salman's arms. She tells him that she never loved Brad and never planned on leaving her husband, that the situation had simply developed due to stress and as a way to keep money coming in. Leslie's husband returns home to a family happy to see him, and Salman disappears. | comedy, satire | train | wikipedia | I saw Kabluey, and after hearing many good things about it, I have to say it probably is one of 2008's best surprises.Technically, it is from 2007, but it came out this year.
Scott Prendergast plays his character of the loser brother-in-law Salman very well, and he makes my line-up of Best Actor(but will eventually fall out).
The basic premise of 'Kabluey' may sound familiar but this non-glamorous, non-polished and subtle film stays true to life.
Skillfully downplayed, in the beginning her character is not very likable but one does sense Leslie's pain and despair and gradually sympathize with her as Kudrow peels the layers exposing the depth of this working mother.
Then you see Leslie's house which is at times cluttered and at times tidy but never does it feel like 'a home' because it doesn't look like it's being taken care of.It is the treatment Prendergast gives to 'Kabluey' that makes it such an original, refreshing, funny but also uplifting film.
In addition, I really liked the unconventional soundtrack and the little animated feature that appears during the end credit.Prendergast has created a little gem and 'Kabluey' has been a delight to watch.
Logically, I know it shouldn't be surprising to see a low-budget film capture characters that are so real, and yet do parody and comedy so well.
Then I saw "Kabluey." For the first half of the film I was laughing my head off, not only at the sheer outrageousness of it all but also at Scott Prendergast's brilliance at building gag on top of gag, making you laugh harder at each one until by the end of his "stack" you're literally screaming with joy.
Let's hope Scott Prendergast keeps making simple, unpretentious and utterly hilarious movies like this..
Scott Prendergast, the writer, director, and star of the film, made a very creative comedy that's so much fun to watch.Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) needs help taking care of her two wild kids because her husband is off fighting in Iraq.
Her brother-in-law Salman (Prendergast) decides to help out, after all, he needs a place to stay anyway after recently getting fired.
And somehow Salman manages to get a job as a mascot for Leslie's company.I loved this movie, it's a very clever script.
Sure, it's sort of a familiar story about a guy trying to look after some wild kids, but there are so many original and inventive moments throughout, especially the entire story of Salman as the office mascot.
Every moment she's on screen is hysterical, she's so perfect at comedy, I wish she had a movie of her own.There are many huge laughs throughout this film.
Scott Prendergast captured the socially-inept, guy-that-never-got-his-act-together-after-high-school character pretty well and manages to drive the story with very little actual dialogue, emotion or expression, which is kind of the point of his character.
After the film ended, Prendergast tells us that his co-star, Lisa Kudrow, actually phoned him up one morning and told him in person she'd do the film.
Apparently, after she signed on, several other stars (including Teri Garr and Christine Taylor) followed suit.Not only is the cast of characters spot on, but the film itself certainly delivers a wide spectrum of joyous emotions.
Either way, I was quite amused and had a smile on my face the entire time.The quirky concept of the film is an oddball kind of guy, Salman, trying to help his sister-in-law with her two, non-stop ruckus driven brats, while her husband is away in Iraq.
Salman ends up getting a seemingly useless job as a guy who dresses up in a huge blue, faceless suit and hands out flyers promoting office space for rent at a glorious expanse of a building so large and magnificent and yet, so empty.
In a nutshell, the story concerns a woman(Lisa Kudrow)desperate for some help taking care of her kids while her husband is off fighting in Irak.
He eventually gets a job wearing a ridiculous blue suit and handing out fliers in the middle of a highway to promote an Internet company( check out the poster to see this thing).
A lot of the humor comes from the blue suit and the character's difficulty in doing such simple things as handing out fliers or drinking while wearing it.
She's hateful and funny, a really good performance.And newcomer Scott Prendergast, co-star, writer and director does a unique turn here as the black-sheep weirdo who becomes a kind of superhero that saves the family.
The blue suit joke drew one chuckle, and they beat that device into the ground, negating it.Is anyone truly as obtuse and socially comatose as the Salman character, played by Scott Pendergrass?
In between I had my eyes in tears both the laughs and touchy scenes.Being a single parent with two children to take care of, is really a handful for Leslie(Lisa).
Things don't get any better with the children's slightly retarted Uncle(Leslie's brother-in-law Salman) is assigned to take care of them.
Salman also gets a job to make his ends meet and so the blue outfit promoting real estate space.
But yes, it has an inspiring quality that makes it beautiful and a must watch.Note: Lisa Kudrow wasn't Phebe Buffe, but I think she's great in any kind of role..
It's quirky throughout, laugh out loud funny at times, and has the deadpan sensibility of indie film gems like "Rushmore" and "Napoleon Dynamite".The movie starts out by introducing Leslie (Lisa Kudrow), an Army wife whose husband is stationed in Iraq.
Leslie then learns about her husband's 32-year-old brother Salman (pronounced how it's spelled), who doesn't have a job or a home for that matter.Salman, played by writer and director Scott Prendergast, is the 21st century version of a vagrant.
Salman arranges with Leslie to watch the kids while she works to pay off the children's Medicare and other expenses.
Salman in turn would stay at her house and work until he is back on his feet.The premise so far sounds like a family comedy, but it's far more original than that.
It's also funny when he discovers that the only way to use the bathroom is through the zipper in the butt area of the costume, resulting in his having to temporarily wear the costume backwards.There are many interesting subplots in this film, and they all come together very well to reveal a lot about the characters.
Her situation is entirely understandable, and she's one of the best things about this movie.When I saw Prendergast, I couldn't help but think of Ben Stiller.
There are times when characters like the one played by Teri Garr, could've been more developed and not as random and cruel.The 'beer can scene' is hilarious and shows the true comic talent of Prendergast.
I thought the blue suit idea had a lot of potential and would take the main character on all sorts of wild adventures with all kinds of characters, however many dragged out boring scenes of the same characters (mad woman driving past in Ford Capri trying to run him over), which were unfunny in the first place consumed a fair proportion of this God-awful movie instead.
The storyline was boring (Father goes off to Iraq and brother takes care of his kids and his wife gets him a job, because she is fed up with him) and the acting was atrocious.
Honest to God there was not one thing I could say I mildly enjoyed about this film, except for when the credits appeared and I knew that this nightmare was finally over.STAY CLEAR.P.S. I am normally generous in rating movies.
I gave it a 4.Most people won't like this movie because it doesn't pertain to violence, action, horror -- its a Drama of a real life situation for a lady, a family, a brother, a uncle..
When Kabluey strips away the quirks, humans emerge and the story moves the viewer.The story opens with Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) hiding in the closet from her two menacing children and speaking with her mother-in-law about how overwhelming her life has become since her husband left for Iraq.
In order to help with bills Salman takes the job of a giant blue company mascot.
The mascot suit proves a fantastic comic device and makes for excellent visuals and funny physical gags.As Salman settles in to his new life, he discovers myriad problems.
Released in 2017 and directed/written by Scott Prendergast, "Kabluey" is an offbeat dramedy starring Prendergast as the bumbling black sheep of the family who comes to town to help his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) & two unholy terror nephews after his brother is deployed to Iraq.
just an independent film proposing a blue little man looking for his small slice of happiness.
Lisa Kudrow does a real great job and the kids are the best ingredient for a story about self definition in basic terms.
It's the kind of film that will make you dread the next morning, or even the forthcoming hours of the day, but will rub you on the back in hopes to give you some energy.The film is the brainchild of first time writer/director/actor Scott Prendergrast, who plays Salman, who goes to live with his sister-in-law Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) since her husband's term of duty in Iraq has just been extended.
In the mix of this lurid situation, Salman accepts a job offering from Leslie, who works for BluNexion, an internet company facing an enormous decline in sales.
The job comes with the vague title of "maintenance," and results in Salman having to work an untold amount of hours a day, for $6 and hour, wearing a featureless, bulky blue costume with an oversized-head on the side of a lonely country road.
I'm curious to know how many of them currently feel how Salman does in life.The amazing thing about the film is how easy it is achieves its morose state of being.
There are times when I sincerely wanted to dive into Salman's head just to hear and see his motivations, thoughts, and internal processes of thinking since the character releases such little depth and color on-screen ("but what does he have left?" is the question).
It's not often you think about characters this deeply long after a film concludes.Starring: Scott Prendergast, Lisa Kudrow, Conchata Ferrell, Teri Garr, and Christine Taylor.
Scott Prendergast wrote, directed and stars in "Kabluey!," an indie comedy that's as quirky and offbeat as its title."Friends"' Lisa Kudrow stars as Leslie, a small town woman whose husband has been off fighting in Iraq for a year and a half and whose two unruly sons are more than this harried, overstressed mom can reasonably cope with on her own.
Enter Prendergast as Salman (like Salman Rushdie, he proudly proclaims), Leslie's ne'er-do-well but well-intentioned brother-in-law who comes to live with the family and ostensibly offer his assistance - though Salman may be in as much need of help as Leslie and the kids."Kabluey!" is distinguished primarily by its droll and understated visual humor, which comes primarily through the humiliating costume Salman is forced to don for his job delivering flyers advertising a flat-lining dot.com company to utterly uninterested and even dismissive passersby.
Salman has been pretty much a failure his entire life, but he soon discovers that , even though he can lose himself and even take a proactive role by hiding his identity in the suit, it is ultimately only by shedding the costume that he can hope to grow up a bit and become a responsible, fully functioning adult."Kabluey!," like most idiosyncratic independent comedies, captures the capricious flakiness of the people and environs of small-town life and the special quality of alienation that seems to reside in such places - and no one is more faceless and alienated than Salman when he's stuck in that suit.
Its talented cast also includes Terri Garr (Kudrow's real-life mother and perfect voice-match), Christine Taylor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and "SNL" and "Portlandia"'s Chris Parnell.It's a nicely atmospheric look at post-9/11 America, one that mixes humor and pathos in roughly equal measure..
Scott Prendergast wrote, directed, and stars in this disheveled tale of a dejected 32-year-old sad-sack who goes to stay with his sister-in-law and two destructive little nephews after her soldier-husband has been deployed overseas; he earns his keep as a babysitter, and even gets a job handing out flyers while dressed in a foam-rubber costume, but time is running out for him becoming a useful member of this household.
It's a thin basis for the plot of a feature film; Prendergast knows where he wants to take this story (and his character, in particular), but he chews up too much time getting us to that proverbial arc.
Why not invite her hubby's brother, Salman (Scott Prendergast, who also wrote and directed the movie), who is between jobs, to come and make an extended stay?
Leslie already has one, after all, while Salman gets a job with her company.
He gets a job at an Internet company where he dons a huge blue suit and stands on the side of the street handing out flyers.It's a hilarious scenario as his life couldn't sink any lower, and its hilarious to watch.
Kabluey is the story of Salman (Scott Prendergast, who hands in a fantastic performance, and also wrote and directed the film quite nicely), an almost no skilled man who goes to live with his brother's wife, Leslie (Lisa Kudrow).
Prendergast has made a triple threat film, he does a great job acting, writing, and directing all in one.
The premise is completely unbelievable- as the man in the blue suit, Salman gets invited to entertain kids at a kid's birthday party, except you would think they would hire a clown.
That said, if you're willing to leave the real world for two hours, and have a good old time, then Kabluey is the movie for you..
Not many things in life are worth watching that will inspire you to laugh at other people's crazy situations more than this film.
Filmed in and around Austin, TX, this 86 minute film wins you heart by captivating you with a surrealistic story-line that depicts the players lives as pure chaos.Our hilariously funny young man Scott Prendergast makes his feature film debut as the lead role, director, and writer.
This sort of life imitating art is perfectly balance off as Salman (Prendergast) is suddenly thrust into the middle of his sister-in-law Leslie's (Lisa Kudrow) miserable situation as a wife with two small bratty kids trying to make ends meet while her husband serves another tour in Irag.It's quite hard to pick up on but Suze (Teri Garr) is supposedly the mother of Leslie (Lisa Kudrow).
This actually happened once before on Friends (1994) with Phoebe's character.The most disturbing things about this film, is that Salman has no way of controlling his two nephews, Lincoln (Landon Henninger) and Cameron (Cameron Wofford).
This is the tough crowd into which Scott Prendergast presents Kabluey!.Norminally, the story involves a man named Salman (as I said, Quirky Indie Comedy, nobody is named Ellen or Abbie or Scott, they're named Juno and Olive and Salman, played by our writer/director, Prendergast), inept and fired from every job he has (most recently as a laminator who got fired for...overlaminating), who is contacted by his sister-in-law (Lisa Kudrow) after her husband's stop-loss National Guard duty in Iraq is extended and she risks losing her health insurance unless she can get a job.
A strong performance from Lisa Kudrow, however, keeps the less artful moments of the film from dragging the whole thing down.Leslie (Lisa Kudrow) is a woman with a two-story house in the suburbs, a husband off serving in Iraq and two little boys (Cameron Wofford and Landon Henninger) who are so out of control that Dr. Spock would have beaten them with a belt.
Needing to go back to work or her kids will lose their health insurance, Leslie reluctantly calls in Salman (Scott Prendergast), her husband's sad sack loser of a brother.
As soon as he does, Leslie feels her place as mother threatened and gets Salman a job at her work so he can help pay for daycare.
Salman gets stuck in big blue suit that makes him look like a featureless, hydrocephalic Smurf and plopped along the side of the road to hand out fliers for office space in the internet firm's largely empty building.Being a weird looking blue thing allows Salman to bond with his almost-feral nephews, interact with a sunken-eyed supermarket cashier (Angela Sarafyan), enrage an old woman (Teri Garr), discover that Leslie is having an affair with her boss (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and gain the confidence to act that he's lacked his entire life.
The story then ends with one of those "happy, but really not" endings that actually works for this movie.Every moment that Salman is in costume, Kabluey is funny, clever and visually entrancing.
Every moment he's out of costume, Kabluey is just another indy flick trying to find humor in how much life sucks.
If it had been about Leslie putting on the hydrocephalic Smurf suit, this movie would have instantly become 100% better.Writer/director/actor Scott Prendergast created something intelligent, entertaining and even a bit touching.
She has to return to work to make ends meet.Salman is a man that has not amounted to much in his life.
The only good thing that comes out of this job is getting hired for a birthday party where he is offered a hundred bucks for entertaining the kids that are mesmerized looking at him when they go by.
Written and directed, as well as acted by Scott Prendergast, this indie comedy has its heart in the right place.
The film works because Salman is not judgmental about anything.
He walks through situations where nasty minded individuals thinks he is incapable of doing anything right, and yet, he proves he is way above everyone.As Salman, Scott Prendergast does a deadpan take on the character he created.
Lisa Kudrow plays Leslie, a small, but effective role as the harried mother with big problems she cannot solve. |
tt3829874 | Black Road | William Nessen, an American freelance journalist, travels to Aceh, Indonesia to cover the conflict which was taking place there at the time. Shot over a period of four years, The Black Road follows Nessen as he transforms from being an objective journalist to a supporter of the Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, or GAM).
While the 2004 tsunami made Aceh, an Indonesian Province on the northern tip of Sumatra, well known across the world, most people remain ignorant of its 27-year struggle for independence.
William Nessen first travelled to Aceh in 2001, as a print journalist. At this point, Nessen had no plans for a film, but recorded footage which he intended to sell to television networks. He began to visit General Bambang Darmono, the leader of the Indonesian military in Aceh. Gaining the trust of General Darmono, Nessen was able to obtain information and shooting opportunities that would have been unavailable to most other journalists. During this period he fell in love with a trusted military translator, Sya’diah Syeh Marhaban, who was a spy for the separatist movement. They worked together, continuing to extract sensitive information from General Darmono. Nessen, as his collection of footage grew, thought of making a film. This idea would later evolve into The Black Road.
Nessen and Marhaban were married in Aceh. Only a few days after the wedding Nessen’s best man, a human rights activist, was kidnapped and murdered by Indonesian security forces. It became clear to Nessen that the independence movement was supported by the majority of the Acehnese. As his personal experiences began to influence him, he too began to support the GAM. He went to live on the front lines with the rebels many times, travelling between General Darmono and the guerrillas in secret. In total, Nessen spent more than a year with the GAM before the military realised what he was doing. He was hunted and almost killed by the Indonesian military, who accused him of espionage. After being ordered to stop reporting from rebel held areas, Nessen spent weeks running from the authorities. After many near-death experiences, he turned himself into the military and was then imprisoned for forty days. Following this he was deported to Singapore and banned from entering Indonesia for one year, a ban that has been renewed each year since 2004. | cult, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0161985 | Space Ace | Space Ace follows the adventures of the dashing hero Dexter, who prefers to be called "Ace." Ace is on a mission to stop the villainous Commander Borf, who is seeking to attack Earth with his "Infanto Ray" to render Earthlings helpless by transforming them into infants. At the start of the game, Ace is partially hit by the Infanto Ray, which transforms him into an adolescent version of himself, and Borf kidnaps his female side-kick Kimberly, who thus becomes the game's "Damsel in Distress." It is up to the player to guide Dexter, Ace's younger incarnation, through a series of obstacles in pursuit of Borf, in order to rescue Kimberly and prevent Borf using the Infanto Ray to conquer Earth. However, Dexter has a wristwatch-gadget which can optionally allow Dexter to "ENERGIZE" and temporarily reverse the effects of the Infanto-Ray to turn him back into his adult self "Ace" for a short time, and overcome more difficult obstacles in a heroic manner. The game's attract mode introduces the player to the story via the following narration and dialogue:
Narrator: Space Ace: Defender of justice, truth and the planet Earth! Ace is being attacked by the evil Commander Borf.
Ace: Hold your fire! [to Kimberly] Who's that creep?
Kimberly: Borf!
Borf: Earthlings must surrender to me!
Ace: No way, Borf, ol' buddy!
Borf shoots Ace; Ace turns into a teenager
Ace: Aargh! I've been hit!
Kimberly: By the Infanto Ray!
Borf: Earthlings must surrender to me!
Narrator: Struggle with Dexter to regain his manhood. Destroy the Infanto Ray. Defeat the evil Borf.
Ace: Hey, Borf! [laughs] C'mon, Kimberly, let's go!
Borf shoots Ace
Ace: I've been hit! [turns into child again] Aargh!
Narrator: Be valiant, space warrior, the fate of Earth is in your hands! | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Watching the whole game. I was fortunate to wander into my local Schaumburg arcade when a master at SPACE ACE was there with a big pocket full of quarters. You know how usually nothing is more boring than watching someone else play a video game? SPACE ACE and DRAGONS LAIR are the exceptions. Not having to worry about making any decisions (like when to joggle the joystick), I was able to just watch the action on the screen.It's a helluva ride! A great acrobatic raygun duel (that I know dang well I would never have survived!). Beat the bad guy and the game goes into a humorous epilogue and a nifty surprise ending.. Amazing.... Played this game for the first time in 1985. The control method wasn't advanced, but hey, was it difficult! This was the first arcade game i ever saw and i was hooked. My old man wouldn't let me go to the arcade, because he was afraid I'd spend my whole allowance there, but I snuck out anyways. I learned later that this game owed it's good graphics to the fact that it was laserdisc driven. A real classic.. A bit more to this one, than Dragon's Lair...in the same vein though. This game, like Dragon's Lair, is basically an interactive cartoon. You are not directly in control of the character, but rather you sort of guide him. You use a controller to decide when he goes in a certain direction and you use a button to tell him when to blast enemies with his ray gun. Unlike Dragon's Lair, this one came after and added a few new wrinkles as it has different paths rather than there being only one correct way...like in Dragon's Lair. However, this one is also a bit difficult at times as it is very unclear at times what to do. I can see this one taking a whole heck of a lot more quarters than did Dragon's Lair for someone to finally conquer the game. With Dragon's Lair, you could actually get through a room or two the first time...I just do not see that happening with this one. You will be lucky to get by an obstacle or two the first time without perishing here. I also played the Sega CD version of this, and I do not think it was a very good conversion.The story has you as Dexter, also known as Space Ace! You have been hit with the villain Borf's infant ray and you are a bit geeky at the moment. You and your cute sidekick, Kimberly (who constantly gets captured) must stop the evil Borf from turning his strange weapon on the Earth and thus reducing its population to infants. The cartoon actually is good, to bad you are going to be witnessing Space Ace die a lot, especially in the Sega CD version. You will also tire of having to hear the same cutscenes over and over again as you have to replay certain levels numerous times.So it is fun, but I prefer Dragon's Lair more. This one has a better story, but like I said, it was just a bit easier to figure out what to do in Dragon's Lair than it was here. As a kid I was able to get by some rooms in Dragon's Lair the first time, here I was killed on every screen multiple times! However, the games are close and I think Kimberly was a bit cuter than princess Daphne in Dragon's Lair.. Now available on DVD. I have a three pack on DVD including Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair 2, and Space Ace. They play using your remote control. Same patterns and video as the originals - It was a great novelty to play through these again. Plus it was pretty hard too because I forgot all the patterns in the 20yrs since i beat the games originally. OK i need 10 lines of text apparently so. It is an interesting storyline Dirk the daring must rescue princess whatever from the evil dragon...um, in the 2nd iteration of the game Dirk the daring must rescue the princess again i think. Space ace must rescue someone from the evil Bork i think, oh well is this 10 lines? |
tt1198413 | The Wild Swans | In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed king with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked queen who was a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans (they are allowed to become human by night) and forces them to fly away. The queen then tries to bewitch their 15-year-old sister, Elisa, but Elisa's goodness is too strong for this, so the queen has Elisa banished. The brothers carry Elisa to safety in a foreign land where she is out of the reach of her stepmother.
There, Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather stinging nettles in graveyards to knit into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill her brothers. The king of another faraway land happens to come across the mute Elisa and falls in love with her. He grants her a room in his castle where she continues her knitting. Eventually he proposes to crown her as his queen and wife, and she accepts.
However, the Archbishop is chagrined because he thinks Elisa is herself a witch, but the king will not believe him. One night Elisa runs out of nettles and is forced to collect more in a nearby church graveyard where the Archbishop is watching. Ghoulish spirits that devour the bodies of the dead are also in the churchyard, and the archbishop believes that Elisa is in league with them. He reports the incident to the king as proof of witchcraft. The statues of the saints shake their heads in protest, but the Archbishop misinterprets this sign as confirmation of Elisa's guilt. The Archbishop orders to put Elisa on trial for witchcraft. She can speak no word in her defense and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake.
The brothers discover Elisa's plight and try to speak to the king but fail, thwarted by the rising sun. Even as the tumbril bears Elisa away to execution, she continues knitting, determined to keep it up to the last moment of her life. This enrages the people, who are on the brink of snatching and destroying the shirts when the swans descend and rescue Elisa. The people interpret this as a sign from Heaven that Elisa is innocent, but the executioner still makes ready for the burning. When Elisa throws the shirts over the swans, her brothers return to their human forms. (Sadly, the youngest brother has a swan's wing instead of an arm, as Elisa did not have time to finish one sleeve of his shirt.) Elisa is now free to speak and tell the truth, but she faints from exhaustion, so her brothers explain. As they do so, the firewood around Elisa's stake miraculously takes root and bursts into flowers. The king plucks the topmost flower and presents it to Elisa, and they are married. | fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0095332 | The House of Usher | Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) travels to the House of Usher, a desolate mansion surrounded by a murky swamp, to meet his fiancée Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey). Madeline's brother Roderick (Vincent Price) opposes Philip's intentions, telling the young man that the Usher family is afflicted by a cursed bloodline which has driven all their ancestors to madness. Roderick foresees the family evils being propagated into future generations with a marriage to Madeline and vehemently discourages the union. Philip becomes increasingly desperate to take Madeline away; she agrees to leave with him, desperate to get away from her brother.
During a heated argument with her brother, Madeline suddenly dies and is laid to rest in the family crypt beneath the house. As Philip is preparing to leave following the entombment, the butler, Bristol (Harry Ellerbe), lets slip that Madeline suffered from catalepsy, a condition which can make its sufferers appear dead.
Philip rips open Madeline's coffin and finds it empty. He desperately searches for her in the winding passages of the crypt but she eludes him and confronts her brother. Now completely insane, Madeline avenges herself upon the brother who knowingly buried her alive. Both die as a fire breaks out, ending the Usher bloodline, and Philip escapes and watches the burning house sink into the swampy land surrounding it. The film ends with the final words of Poe: "...and the deep and dank tarn closed sullenly and silently over the fragments of the 'House of Usher'". | insanity, gothic | train | wikipedia | good sets, lame ghosts.
A couple of obvious continuity problems caught my eye, but I won't get into it.
I did not care for the ghosts and they were never explained.
All viewers will feel extremely cheated by the ending.It's set in a visual interesting House of Usher decorated mainly with flowing drapes and robed statues.
That held my attention, but then I got angry about the last scene..
Producer Harry Alan Towers is so cheap he didn't pay for THE FALL OF for the title!.
Ryan Usher (Rufus Swart) and his girlfriend Molly (Romy Windsor) head to his uncle's isolated estate after receiving a letter from him.
Before arriving they crash their car when they see two ghost children on the road.
Molly makes it to the home and is told Ryan has already been picked up and is being cared for.
She then meets uncle Roderick (Oliver Reed), who assures her all is fine despite his reluctance to let her visit Ryan and the fact he won't let her leave.
Yup, ol' Roderick is a perv and, after burying the still-alive Ryan, forces himself onto Molly to carry on the family line.
Also, in a nod to THE OLD DARK HOUSE, a crazy brother named Walter (Donald Pleasence) lives up in the attic.
As you can see, this barely has any connection to the Poe short story outside of a few events and character names.
Filmed in South Africa, producer Towers at least got his monies worth with some nice looking sets.
And leads Reed and Pleasence are total pros, although I suspect Reed enjoyed his moments feeling up the attractive Windsor (who was already accustomed to primordial beasts as she just survived HOWLING IV).
Director Alan Birkinshaw can't be bothered with things like suspense or terror though.
He does throw in a few gore scenes for good measure.
Towers' two other Poe "adaptations" were MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1989; with Frank Stallone and Herbert Lom!) and BURIED ALIVE (1990)..
Surprisingly, not boring....
This movie can hardly be considered to be an adaptation of Poe, because it barely has any touch points.
They are built on the same base, but the construction is completely different.
It's not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case it is.
Ideas that changed Poe's story are not that bad, but the realization is lousy.
The complete scenery screams FAKE, the story is inconsistent, acting mediocre, directing like in porn, and ending knocks the final nail in the coffin.
If we simply cut the last scene and end movie with the one before, without any changes, we'll get an average '80s B horror ending.
Why did they feel the need to additionally annoy viewers, already annoyed by wasting an hour and a half on a crappy movie, by adding terribly stupid, inconsistent, illogical and most of all redundant nonsense to the movie that already had a decent ending in the previous scene...
I have a feeling that team, who spent their lives making porn exclusively, suddenly decided to make Poe adaptation.
If that's true, good job guys, but if it's not the case, then please, change profession, or at least keep your hands off of classics.4/10.
this wasn't all that great.
There are only a few parts in the movie I liked.
the rest wasn't even scary at all.
The acting was good but I really didn't care for this story to be updated.
I guess the gore was OK.
The music was ok.
Over all I don't really recommend this movie to anyone cause it just wasn't worth watching.
It really didn't catch my attention at all.
Maybe if your board watch it but thats it..
very bad.
This depiction of Edgar Allen Poe's classic tale is a big joke.
I never bash movies but this film had unrealistic acting and came off to me a just plain humorous.
Retro 80's music is great, but fails to tell a valid story without seeming comical.
Tries to maintain seriousness but ultimately fails.
All of Oliver Reed's reaction scenes towards smells are too funny.
Possible conception of the house "settling" and falling apart may symbolize how Usher's decomposition in health is apparent.
The only reason you should consider viewing this film is the great Donald Pleasence plays Usher's brother.
Terrible looking fake sets combined with boring visuals leaves this film to be a yawner.
Unnecessary ending...Viewer beware!.
Dire adaptation of classic horror.
Harry ALan Towers' produced this, another remake of Poe's classic tale.
Oliver Reed does a lot of whispering and Donald Pleasence runs around a lot with his chainsaw.
Not really a very good film but worth a look for it's two stars, who are again lumbered with a none too bright script.The youngsters Rufus Swart and Romy Windsor are positively dire, but scenes like a hungry rat being placed on a man's privates are quite fun to watch..
House of Idiot.
Comment title paraphrases French & Saunders' skit on the 'The House of Elliot'.
But here, it's application is unquestionably adroit.A rare directorial effort from the man responsible for 1978's video-nasty-that-never-was, 'Killer's Moon', produced by soft-porn Eurotrash (ie TRASH, as in rubbish, junk) magnate Harry Alan Towers.A slightly modernised version of Poe's Gothic saga; due to the complete technical incompetence of the above pair all this has to offer, in the way of thrills, is shaking furniture and fires.
Pleasance jobs as the 'sinister' butler, which is at least a plot twist that affords him the opportunity to do something interestingly nasty (an off-screen incident involving an in-subservient maid's hand, and a meat mincer).An experience akin to scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel - only, from beneath..
Beyond awful.
This movies starts put okay, gets bad about a quarter of the way through, and just keeps getting worse and worse as it goes on.
Unless you are into really bad '80s horror I definitely suggest skipping this really horrible movie.
The only upside is Oliver Reed gives a pretty good (though disturbing) performance.
Pleasence really hams it up though.
This is a complete butchering of Poe's story. |
tt0330217 | Dil Ka Rishta | Jai (Arjun Rampal) is wealthy young man who supports many charities. One day, he accompanies his friend Anita (Ishaa Koppikar) to a school for the deaf, which his is sponsoring. There, he meets Tia (Aishwarya Rai), a teacher, and develops feelings for her. He helps her wherever he can and tries to be near her— believing that Tia feels something for him too. Tia, on the other hand, views him simply as a good friend. When he finally admits his feelings, Tia reveals the existence of her fiancé Raj (Priyanshu Chatterjee). Despite knowing of her engagement, Jai continues to pursue Tia since he cannot forget about her. Tia marries Raj and they have a son named Anshu. The trio live a poor but happy life together. Jai is devastated, since several attempts to win over Tia's heart, fail.
After a night out with friends, Jai becomes extremely drunk and drives home with Anita. He meets in a serious car accident, and it is revealed that Tia and Raj were in the other car. Anita and Raj die immediately at the scene. Tia herself survives but loses her memory.
The doctors believe that Tia will not be able to handle the mental anguish caused by the return of her memories and advise Tia's mother (Raakhee) to move her daughter to a place where nothing reminds her of her past. Jai wants to look after Tia, since he is responsible for her condition and offers to take Tia and her mother to South Africa to live with him so that she can recuperate. Tia's mother accepts for Tia's sake, though she loathes Jai for taking killing her son-in-law and causing her daughter's memory loss. Tia is told that Anita was her best friend, who died in a car accident, and Anshu is Jai and Anita's son. Tia is told that Anshu loves his "aunt" very much and that she should look after the boy so he won't miss his mother too much.
In South Africa, Tia's mother realizes that Tia is developing feelings for Jai and warns him not to encourage her or reciprocate her feelings. Jai looks after Tia, but whenever she tries to get close to him, he keeps his distance. Jai's father (Paresh Rawal) tries to set them up to be together but Jai refuses — even though he still loves her very much. Finally Tia's mother accepts the fact that her daughter is in love with Jai. However Jai is still reluctant to enter a relationship with Tia since he feels guilty for causing the accident. Tia confronts Jai about his attitude towards her, which leads to an altercation. Tia flees and Jai follows her. When she threatens to commit suicide Jai is forced to admit that Anshu is Tia's son, Anita was only his friend, and that her husband died in the accident as well.
Jai's father, who arrives with Tia's mother, explains that Jai is very much in love with Tia, but he hopes that she regains her memory and punishes him for what he did: killing her husband in the car accident. However Tia forgives Jai, telling him that the accident was her destiny, and if he had not crashed into her, someone else would have. She says that since Jai does not want to be with her, she will take her son and leave. Jai stops her, saying that he wants to be a father figure to Anshu, tells her that he loves her and asks her to marry him, which she accepts. | romantic | train | wikipedia | A forgettable relationship.
Well, Dil Ka Rishta is a poorly written melodrama which offers nothing special to its audiences except for some moments here and there and a beauty named Aishwarya Rai. The story is clichéd and pointless, and the proceedings are nothing but ordinary and uninteresting series of events which make absolutely no sense.
At times I felt it was just made for the sake of making.
The film's music is also not particularly good, which is a great disappointment since I've always liked Nadeem Shravan's compositions regardless of how much I enjoyed a film.
The title song is nice though.
The film stars Aishwarya Rai in the leading role of Tia. She is beautiful, that's something that has been said a million times already but it's not enough to carry the film, especially considering that her acting is not very impressive in this film and she is just okay.
See movies like Devdas and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to understand how the combination of her beauty and acting makes wonders.
Arjun Rampal is also okay though in his favour it can be said that he tried his best.
Talents like Isha Koppikar and Paresh Rawal are once again wasted, and sadly so.
To sum it up, Dil Ka Rishta is a forgettable film which could be easily skipped or avoided..
Not worth a Rishta.
Dil ka Rishta will soon be a forgotten memory in Ashwaria career.The concept of the story is a tried and tested formula guaranteed with some level of success.
Unfortunately, it comes at a time when Indian audiences are expecting more from movie then a simple story being retold.
They expect a new twist or angle or a new concept all together.
This Dil ka Rishta does not deliver.There is nothing new to the story that has already not been seen before: boy likes girl, she likes someone else and by coincidental twist of fate the boy is responsible for the girls future.
The locations are all to common and the songs not that memorable.It is an unfortunate fact that Ash, as good as she is has not delivered an entertaining movie since her Taal / Devdas days, and with only a few big banner projects for 2004, one wonders if she is still the reigning queen of bollywood?.
Movies from my childhood imagination.
Dil Ka Rishta's script is like it came from my childhood romantic imagination.
I love romantic movies, I love musicals, I love beautiful people.
This movie has it all.
It was my very first real Bollywood movie.
As I watched it, I could not believe my eyes.
An extremely beautiful leading man falling for an extremely beautiful leading lady, songs galore, drama, comedy, music, dance, etc.
Does a movie need anything more?
I know that the script is a little hard to take for the western world but, let it slide, and embark on this wonderful ride that is Bollywood.
Aishwarya carries the weight on the movie on her able shoulders especially when it comes to the dancing.
She is a wonder to behold!
In all of the songs, she is a revelation but more so in Saajan Saajan..
Fantastic!.
I loved this movie.
The acting was phenomenal and the story was incredibly well written.
A touching romance.The irresistible, macho and perfect man Jai fails to win over the woman of his dreams Tia. Destiny plays its cruel games and in Tia's eyes, Jai soon sees the love, affection and adoration that he had only dreamt of.
However, he cannot reciprocate her affection; cannot give Tia a place in his heart although he loves her silently and intensely.
What makes Tia fall in love with Jai?
Why does Jai turn away from that precious love?
All is revealed in 'Dil Ka Rishta', a touching film and an emotional journey on celluloid..
Worth a one time see..
for aish.
Dil ka rishta is a worth see for fans of aishwarya but for others it doesn't delivers too much.
The pre-release hype rose expectations of viewers but apart from good performances by aishwarya (as tia) and arjun rampal (sa jai) the film fails to deliver much.
The movie is about this guy jai who loves tia so much that even after around four years of their last meeting he drinks to fight with the memories of his first (and last) love.
And finally when he decides to give up the alcohol thing he crashes into tia's car.
Tia loses her husband and guess what her memory (..phew).
Any how first half keeps you interesting but the fate of the movie depends on the second half which is penned unimaginably.
Predictably now tia is after jai and he cant reciprocate knowing the truth (and the presence of tia's mother).
Somehow he describes the whole thing to tia (though Dr claimed it could cause her death..:() Anyhow arjun rampal has come up with a great performance while aishwarya has done her bit looking amazing sometimes and disappointing othertimes (esp in the song daiya daiya..).
A lot of effort wasted i guess with a loose ending.
The writer and the director should have culminated the story in a much more intriguing and efficient manner..
Dil Ka Rishta is really not a bad movie, but it does falter in a bit.
The story-line is way too predictable.
Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl but girl is in love with another man.
Then boy gets depressed and girl marries the other man until tragic happens.
Yup. That sums it up in 2 hours of a movie.
I like romantic movies but this one i can just pass and call it a day.
Performance wise: Aishwarya Rai was good but she really needs to stop crying at everything.
Arjun Rampal was okay.
I honestly wished someone else can fill in for Priyanshu Chaterjee, but then again who would wanna be wasted?
Paresh Rawal and Rakhee Gulzar were amazing.
I wish i could see more Rakhee in newer films.
The saving grace of the movie was the music.
I don't know why you guys hate the music?
The music was excellent.
All the songs were great.
Nadeem-Shravan never disappoints with music, though i wish they could make more.
Nowadays, Bollywood music sucks.
I wish the old days were back.
And that's why i rated the movie with 7, mostly because of the music.
Not So Good.
I think that the first time I saw it, it will be good because the cast are Arjun and Aishwarya and their both were famous, but my opinion was absolutely wrong, the movie was bad and they were acting very bad until I can not feel any emotion from this movie.The story is not so bad if they can make it better for the ending.
I really feel dismiss by this movie and don't know what to say anymore.
Even Aishwarya can not save this movie from run down from the box office.
Beside there is nothing important moment that I can think that it was good enough to watched.Aishwarya was so thin in this movie, looks like she doesn't eat enough food in this movie (thank God she's fatter in Bride And Prajudice)..
A movie that is not even worth watching the whole way through even if it is your first time watching it.
You would think that a movie starring the beautiful Aishwarya Rai and Arjun Rampal, there would be potential, but no, it fails on every level.
It starts off like a normal family film, but takes a sudden turn once Rampal's character, Jai, finds out that Rai's character, Tia, is engaged to the love of her life, Raj (Priyanshu Chatterjee).
From there, the movie goes downhill.
Tia loses her memory and starts falling for Jai, but he constantly pushes her away.
It just gets ridiculous when they say that regaining her memory will cause her to go crazy, but when everything is revealed at the end, she forgives him because she doesn't remember the past.
That's a major plot devise.
I feel sorry for Alka Yagnik and Kumar Sanu, two of the best singers, to have sung the songs in this film.
Do not even go near it.
If you see, just walk away..
Poor film, bad plot and bad choice of characters.
Worst movie I have seen.
This film is promotes drink driving and justifies the killing of two innocent people.
Makes me quite sick that the main character walks away from two murders- when in fact had he been in US/UK he would be put in prison for a LONG time- and gets the girl he wants and lives happily ever after.
There is no justice in India, if you are rich you are above the law.
This film is an insult to anything India and the Indian justice system, or lack off.
Waste of time, I am thankful i did not pay for it.
This is an insult to Bollywood, please do not watch this film.
The tagline says, "when the past connects" which is justified by the fact that some past tried-and-tested formulas connects the scattered storyline of this caper.It's the usual boy meets girl start.
The boy Jai (Rampal) proposes.
Alas the girl Tia (ever heard such a name?) is already booked by Raj (Priyanshu).
RUMpal, drinks and drives and gets only Raj and Tia's car to crash in.
Jai takes charge of Tia's family and eventually girl starts loving boy.
Moral of the story: To get your ex-love back 'Drink And Drive'.
Moral of the story: To get your ex-love back 'Drink And Drive'.
Mommy Rai's obsession for scripting bears faint resemblance with Tum Bin, which in turn was a spin-off on Gulzar's Kinara.
Nadeem Shravan's tunes are passable but Kumar Sanu hissing hay hay hay in the background whenever the cupid strikes is somewhat irritating.
Ash acts very unnatural, carrying a plastic smile throughout.
To sum up, Dil Ka Rishta fails to bond a strong relation with your heart..
Arjun Rampal and Aishwarya Rai burn up the screen with their chemistry in this cute film!.
The script is very hard to take but once (and if) you can get over it, the film is pure bitter-sweet and life sagas.
The chemistry between Arjun and Aishwarya (former modeling partners) is undeniable!
Aishwarya plays Tia, a young plucky school teacher whom Jai (Arjun) spots and falls in love with on a trip to India from South Africa to celebrate his mother's birthday.
It's lucky for him that his childhood best-friend is Tia's co-worker and so he develops excuses to hang around the school in order to meet Tia. The meeting eventually takes place and he begins to seduce Tia with gifts and the likes, only to find out abruptly that she has a boyfriend and is actually engaged to him.
This doesn't matter to Jai as he continues to try and use his riches and charm to seduce Tia, to catastrophic levels!
The films is directed by Naresh Malhotra {The game of love, Sahibaan} and showcases some spectacular song and dance numbers!
Paresh Rawal and Priyanshu Chatterjee co-star..
Nothing like the trailer.
I saw the trailer on YouTube which which sparked my interest on this Bollywood film for several reasons.
I really enjoy Bollywood films for the dancing and the music where the trailer mostly contained and I am a big fan of Arjun Rampal who I rarely see.
I also enjoy the lovely Aishwarya Rai, who in the Trailer came across as a entertainer who was trying to get Arjun's attention for some reason in two occasions where she performed wonderful fantastically.
I didn't get a clue about the car wreck or her husband ( or him being killed ) in the trailer at all !
Talk about walking into a movie blind.
That's really the bad part of the movie for me.
That's really the bad part of the movie for me.
Yes, the plot really needed work such the Mother's role in the second half where she would appear suddenly like a Vulture with that hateful stare.
Damn, it could burn a house down.
Good work for the actress playing her, sorry I forgot her name..
Strong relationship between Arjun Rampal and Aishwarya Rai. It's the usual boy meets girl start.
Needless to add, love blooms at first sight.
Needless to add, love blooms at first sight.
The boy ?
Jai (Rampal) proposes.
Alas the girl ?
Tia (ever heard such a name?) is already booked by Raj (Priyanshu).
Jai still keeps trying but Tia marries Raj and multiplies.
Jai still keeps trying but Tia marries Raj and multiplies.
RUMpal, drinks and drives and and ...
accident.
Raj dies and Tia suffers from the regular memory loss syndrome, something that follows after each Bollywood accident.
Raj dies and Tia suffers from the regular memory loss syndrome, something that follows after each Bollywood accident.
Jai takes charge of Tia's family and eventually girl starts loving boy.Moral of the story: To get your ex-love back 'Drink And Drive'.Mommy Rai's obsession for scripting bears faint resemblance with Tum Bin, which in turn was a spin-off on Gulzar's Kinara.
Nadeem Shravan's tunes are passable but Kumar Sanu hissing hay hay hay in the background whenever the cupid strikes is somewhat irritating.Ash acts very unnatural carrying a plastic smile throughout.
Surprisingly Arjun Rampal, improves shaking off his wooden image.
Surprisingly Arjun Rampal, improves shaking off his wooden image.
Isha Koppikar is wasted for there's no scope for an item number.
Isha Koppikar is wasted for there's no scope for an item number.
Priyanshu's bit though sweet, is so short that by the end of the flick the audience tends to say bhaisaab, aapko pehle bhi kahin dekha hai.
Priyanshu's bit though sweet, is so short that by the end of the flick the audience tends to say bhaisaab, aapko pehle bhi kahin dekha hai.
On the whole Dil Ka Rishta fails to bond a strong relation with your heart. |
tt0285331 | 24 | Dr. Sethuraman (Suriya) is a reputed scientist and watchmaker who lives with his wife Priya (Nithya Menen) and newborn son Mani in a mansion with a laboratory. In January 1990, he invents a watch using which a person can travel back and forth in time for a maximum of 24 hours. His evil twin brother Athreya (Suriya) tries to take the watch and kills Priya in the process. Sethuraman escapes with Mani and boards a train. Before Athreya arrives, he hands Mani to a passenger named Sathyabama (Saranya Ponvannan) and pleads her to save his son. Athreya kills Sethuraman and is seriously injured in an attempt to escape. Sathyabama's father (Girish Karnad) is against her decision to save Mani, and she leaves with him for Chennai to honour the promise given to Sethuraman.
26 years later, Mani (Suriya) becomes a watchmaker who considers Sathyabama as his biological mother. A paralysed Athreya wakes up from coma and decides to find the watch; he hopes to go back to 1990 and save himself from the accident. In a series of incidents, Mani finds Sethuraman's watch and explores its powers. Using them, he manages to impress Sathya (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), his client who hails from Sathyabama's native place Gopalasamudram. Athreya's close aide Mithran (Ajay) issues an advertisement offering five crores to the one who finds Sethuraman's watch. Including Mani, many prepare the duplicate of the watch and submit them. But Athreya spots Mani's design accurate and kills him, thereby gaining possession of the watch.
Athreya is shocked to know that the watch can only help him travel back and forth only for 24 hours and decides to revive Mani. Mithran places the watch on Mani's right hand and leaves. Mani wakes up next morning and is shocked as he wore the watch on his left hand. He travels back to last night and secretly follows Mithran. Athreya predicts this and manages to fool Mani with Mithran's help that he is Sethuraman who survived from Athreya as a paraplegic. Mani learns from Sathyabama that Sethuraman left him in the train and faced Athreya in another compartment.
Mani leaves with Sathyabama for Gopalasamudram and unites her with her estranged family. He also comes to know that Sathya is Sathyabama's niece, and the duo fall in love. Athreya arrives with Mithran and convinces everyone including Mani that he is Sethuraman and that Athreya is dead. Sathya learns about Athreya's identity later and tries to reveal it to Mani. But, Athreya manages to fall from a staircase and Mani, unaware of the reality, travels back in time and saves him. Sathya forgets about Athreya's identity and assumes that he is Sethuraman.
Mani learns from Mithran that his father is going to die soon and wishes to see Priya for one last time by traveling back in time to 1990. Mani modifies the watch and tests it, which reveals the truth about Athreya's identity. He tricks Athreya to tell about the date and time of Priya's death and gives him a fake watch. Mani uses the original watch to travel back in time to 1990 and Athreya accompanies him by touching the real watch in use.
In January 1990, Sethuraman and Priya spot the modified watch on their baby's hand. Initially joyous, Sethuraman senses danger; he feels that Mani returned to a toddler's age as they may not be alive when he was able to speak. Athreya, now young and healthy, attacks Sethuraman to find the watch. Sethuraman and Priya escape with Mani, and Athreya accidentally kills Mithran. Priya and Mani hide in a room, as Athreya faces Sethuraman in the garden. Sethuraman freezes the time and lays Athreya before a bullet, thus killing him. He then flees with Priya and Mani and boards the same train. They meet Sathyabama and agree to teach science to children in a school constructed by her father in Gopalasamudram. | mystery, revenge, suspenseful, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | If you start to watch a episode with all the suspense and REALLY GREAT action, you'll keep sit on the couch till it's end!
If you expect a drama, or worst, a similar show to any of those recent movies such as "body of lies", you can turn your head to the other side, 24 only offers what best the TV got, the pleasure of be inside the screen..It's a perfect 10 in 10 for 24 and Jack Bauer!.
The reason this show is so ground breaking is the fact that it has used split screen cameras, and a real time format to create the element of a quality made show.The show follows the worst days of likable, down-to-earth hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and each episode chronicles every hour of the day, and is shot in real-time.
What makes this show so unique are the character relationships, the shows writing and the attention to detail.Whether the shows themes are about kidnappings, bomb threats, personal vendettas, assassinations, or terrorist attacks the themes are handled in such a compelling way that the viewer is hooked at every jump and turn.The viewers really learn to care about Jack as we learn more about his life and his past.
You will also see most of the camera focused on Jacks point of view and this is to make the show from a humans point of view and it helps to bring the viewer more involved in the show.The story may change; new characters may arrive and leave but one thing always stays the same; the underlying story of the show is about one mans fight to do what is right.
This is the most creative, intelligent, well-written, unpredictable, and suspenseful program that I have ever seen, and this is coming from a man who watches a lot of television.Throughout its four seasons, 24 provides a cliff hanger at the end of most episodes to keep you attached and has provided some of the most unpredictable twists that I have ever seen, including the ultimate shocker at the end of the first season (which I won't go into because somebody may read this before watching the first season).
Kiefer Sutherland leads a cast of exceptionally impressive and compelling actors/actresses that make the show great week after week.I would strongly recommend that if you do not already watch 24, start now because you're really missing out..
Network: Fox; Genre: Action, Drama; Content Rating: TV-14 (language, brutal violence, some gore and occasionally strong sexual content); Available: DVD, Syndication; Perspective: Modern Classic (star range: 1 - 5); Season Reviewed: 5+ seasons Sometime in the next 24 hours, a devastating terrorist attack is set to take place on American soil.
Each self-contained season of 24 episodes encompasses a full action-packed day filled with moles, political power-plays, knock-out twists and tragic sacrifices.Debuting in the middle of the Reality craze, "24" demands a lot of the viewer and, so, is a finger in the eye to the network's conventional idea of audience viewing habits.
It even manages an unheard of feat, making the stress that our big-name Hollywood lead might actually not make it to the next season as real as it comes.A slick assemblage of gritty visuals and Sean Callery's wonderfully versatile original score create an atmosphere of tension and the emotional wallop of a movie.
Subtle character bits are woven efficiently into the action and the audience is trusted to pick it up in the snap-shot of their lives we are seeing."24" reaps all the benefits of the serial series' long form narrative format which lets them wring every last drop of intensity out of the action - and also makes it a satisfying watch each week.
The show-runners structure the episodes like the levels of a video game, giving us mini-challenges and climaxes inside the larger story so that each week we don't feel like we wasted our time (hello "Lost").And the glue that brings it all together is Kiefer Sutherland.
Chloe O Brain was jack good side a voice of reason who could help him stay sane you need someone like that in jack line off work.hope the new cast keep the core off the show real, but put there spin on it and if Jack Bauer made an appearance that would be the icing on the cake for me..
The series is just amazing, and every season keeps on getting better, lot of surprises and overall the best show I have seen on TV, and the acting of Gregory Itzin, the one who played Logan, was incredible.
Each episode leaves you wanting more.Simply perfect for those people who like watching movies and spending the time deciding who is in the conspiracy and who is not.A must watch..
so as far as his show goes, its not only bad, its not only poorly acted, poorly written and poorly shot, its also a shining example of just how simple minded people are, if you're reading this thinking to yourself how good this show actually is, then take a gun, shove it up your own ass and pull the trigger, cause morons like you should just go away and let the rest of us live in our normal, non terror filled world, because to let you in on a little secret, the taliban was created by the U.S government and chances are you will never be killed by a terrorist.
I've been watching Kiefer Sutherland for a long time(ever since he enthrall audiences in such hits as "Stand By Me",and others)and he gets better in everything he does and so much more.
Way better than those other shows that specializes on reality and sitcoms,but here it more suspenseful and more action here than any show I've seen in a long time.
In fact, the only cliché that the writers of "24" missed was "Then I woke up and found it was all just a bad dream." I watched the entire first series in the (vain) hope that, somehow, this program that had been so lauded would turn out better than it started.
OK seriously i don't understand how a show THAT predictable with people with no acting skills and bored printed on their foreheads managed to last this long.I feel like i've lost HOURS of my life watching this and i was actually in the mood to watch something with drama/conspiracy yada yada..
Although i like Kiefer Sutherland i think he's offered NOTHING as Jack Bauer.It's like a McGuyver fanboy meets Ken Ken.Im sure his old fans keep the rates going or something.There are some amazing guest stars on the show who make it easier to watch but overall it has been a disappointment to me.I really expected better from that kind of budget TV series.The script is POOR and predictable and the sense of agony is lost..
I've recently finished re-watching the first season of Millennium, as it came out on DVD, and I'm still shaking in disbelief over a show that is just that triumphantly ingenious and carries so much weight and depth, at least throughout its first season, that I cannot express how indebted I feel to Chris Carter and all the others that made that series possible.I was reminded of that, once again, now having started watching 24, by an episode written by Chip Johannessen, someone I remember from Millennium, now writing for 24.So what about it?
I just finished watching the first season on DVD and while the production and acting are first rate, the storyline is total fantasy, and by fantasy I mean unbelievable.I could list numerous examples but this would constitute a spoiler for anyone who has not seen it.Probably the most interesting part of the first season is the changing relationship between Senator Palmer and his wife...now THAT is believable.Everyone says "24" is as addictive as crack...I could take it or leave it..
Eventually I find myself thinking that this is the worst type of fiction television, where a viewer has to watch every single episode of a series for the show at all to make any sense.
I love the well written television series that deal with a story on its own each week and get to know the characters that way.
It is an interesting concept about real time stories being put into action, but I think that it would be much better, both story wise and credibly wise, that the stories was 12 hours or something like that.
The only drawback is that every episode, the tension is maintained mainly by the next plot twist, making it almost impossible to see more than once, or maybe twice at most.The story's plot is great - a CIA (?) Counter-Terrorist Unit's chief (Kiefer Sutherland) has his family kidnapped and is forced to assassinate a popular presidential candidate.
But by far the worst feature of this series is the character of Jack Bauer himself, a strange mixture of hero and antihero who seems to be designed to cater to the post 9/11 US moron audience where the ends always justify the means and no actions have real repercussions.
Much like the rest of the viewers who watched the amazing first season, the only reason I was drawn in was because of the whole real-time aspect of the show.
Until now the writers have managed to support the idea that the each season's story has been pre planned to some degree, a paper thin illusion that to my mind has been completely torn apart in the third season, finally proving that like so many other shows, the story has been made up as they went along.One of the show's other greatest flaws is the sheer overabundance of filler material, once again stemming from the real time format.
The most obvious use of subplots and even characters being used solely to bulk out the running time is evidenced (at least in the first two seasons) by Jack's family, more specifically, Kim. First of all, let me say that I have absolutely no problem with Kim in the acting department.
The action started too soon for one thing (shows like the X-Files have intriguing story lines, but take time to play out, this one threw in too much action and plot too soon).
I know there is a lot to like, and perhaps the show got better as time passed (though at its pace, how it could be interesting for 24 episodes or even 24hrs (if 2hr movies were thrown in], is unclear to me), but from the first six episodes, its lackluster ratings were in my opinion justified.Update: I stand by my criticism and find the appeal this show continues to have understandable but still troubling.
Useless sub-plots divert attention and make viewers feel cheated.The producers will have to trade off between the greed of 24 episodes/season and the long-running of the series..
A father would never have put his child in such a situation...especially since that man-child is so important in the country of origin.Meanwhile....why is the mother.........talllliiinnnggg..........like....this.I don't know if the writing is done to formula by committee (lets plug in some absurd problem) but not a single character or situation is believable...in fact, this program is irritating and not just boring after the first three episodes.
Anyway, now that I have time to watch long TV series I thought I'd give 24 another go.What a bad decision that turned out to be.Technically there's not much wrong with the programme, the acting's OK, the style is OK - apart from the shaky camera stuff that I personally hate - and the idea of showing events in "real time" was novel for the time.Where this show falls down, and falls spectacularly, is in the plotting.
Coincidences happen every 5 minutes, people do things that people would never do, the attempt to kill the Senator is ridiculously overly complicated, information isn't shared when it would resolve situations, nobody eats or drinks or visits the loo, and nobody is exhausted after being awake for 30+ hours.I could go into details about the many, many plot holes and stupid situations in the show, but there are other reviews on this site that provide all the examples you could want to read.And, of course, this being an American show, you don't actually get to watch an hour of TV every hour, you get to watch 40 minutes of TV.
The show now in its final year has more plot holes, unbelievably unbelievable moments than anything made in this era,and yet it is a fantastical roller-coaster of action and twists and betrayal with the uniqueness of its format heightening its appeal.And of course it has the best hard hitting character who above all, shows no remorse.
The concept is marvellous and marvellously exploited, Kiefer Sutherland is one of the best actor I've ever seen, I love the style (a series with a general plot all over a season) and the rhythm, it's not my favorite show of all times (The Wire took care of that) but it's by far the most entertaining/gripping.
yeah, Jack kills a lot of people but is interpreted with talent and is human, in the end (it would be nice the writers try to go more that way for episodes in coming).
In fact, characters in this series behave amazingly stupid (i.e. Jamie when interrogated by Nina and Tony), and Jack's wife after calling the CTU about Alan.It seems like that Robert Cochran took a soap-opera style family story and just mixed it up with technical terms (like "formatting files") and electronic equipment even the NSA would be proud of.
There are some people who are of the opinion the subsequent seasons were pointless and are rehashing the same idea, and maybe that's true that the idea is being down over and over again, but I don't care, because the writing continues to be great, the twists are still unpredictable, there is continuing character development and you simply can't stop watching.
This review is based on seasons 1-3 and so far the plots have serious problems and characters do things that reasonable people wouldn't do.
Whenever I see her pop up on screen, on any movie, I feel terrified that she is going to be grabbed again and a new 24 nightmare will start over!Well, 9 seasons of this shythe and a terrible series ending with no closure: Jack surrendering to Russians 39th time, as happened 8 seasons before.
He is dream of every 13 year old juvenile who wants to be world saving hero and maximized ignorant ultra patriots...Unbelievably stupid plot twists and holes , badly written dialogue , sci-fi technologies , instant beaming between from one distant location to another which is impossible in most ideal conditions with conventional means in real life ( there goes real time aspect which this show supposed be all about ) and characters without natural needs complete the picture.
Maybe one day we will also learn special mutant powers of Jack Bauer...Only three stars for real time idea and drama aspect of first two seasons.
Jack Bauer is tortured for 2 years and as soon as he is released, and is fighting evil in what we are led to believe is about 40 minutes time.Even the emotional response and reaction of people after a major terrorist attack is absolutely ridiculous.
The first 4 seasons are still quite good and original and might entertain you if you're the first comer to the world of Jack Bauer.6/10.
This was one of my very first tv shows i start watching when i start watching tv shows and i have to see ive never seen a tv shwo with a format so catching and compelling "the one-hour-real-life-episode" format got me everytime i found myself at the very edge of my seat looking at the clock ticking nervious about what was going to happen next and Kiefer Sutherland IS Jack Bauer thats the reason why Legacy failed and with it i think that cause some sort of "Missing-Ace-Effect" that happens when the prime character, the face, of a tv show gets erased from the formula and the show fails and this alreadsy happened a couple of times i mean The Good Wife when Josh Charles's character gets killed and the same will happen with House Of Cards this year trust me (WARNING: Im not saying Spacey should stay but its inevitable the downhill without him) anyway bacjk to 24 i agree maybe that after FIVE seasons the show can get a bit downhill about plots and all but this shiow is good and thaks Jack for making me watch more tv because you were my FIRST tv show and i loved you there Kiefer is Jack and Jack is 24!!
But it's fun to know that Kim Bauer (Elisha Cuthbert) will be getting directly involved with CTU's plot plans so she won't keep annoying people as Jack's airhead daughter who by making all the wrong choices has caused too much trouble to everyone else...
So basically, you know it will end good (they've got to have another season), but you have to wait many episodes.
Some of the characters took an episode, some to a few episodes, some a whole season to develop, hell, some, like Jack and Chloe, took the entire series and still were developing and changing up until the very last episode.
With its Real Time format, 24 episodes per season, the clock never stops ticking until that final hour When first watching Season 1 of this incredible series, i was drawn into a world where anything can happen within one day, Presidential Assassinations, nuclear bombs going off, and Government conspiracies on top.
Then one Friday my Dad said there is a new TV show thats getting good ratings want to check it out, being 11 and having nothing else to do I said: "Sure." I am now hooked on this show I have watched every season and have always been impressed by its tension, characterization, dialog and of course action. |
tt1244754 | Conviction | The film is based on the true story of Betty Anne Waters, a single mother who works tirelessly to free her wrongfully convicted brother, Kenny. The story unfolds in flashbacks, and the film opens with the scene of the brutal 1980 murder of Katharina Brow in Ayer, Massachusetts. In many ways, Betty Anne's life revolves around her brother, who is now in jail for the murder. Despite Kenny's knack for getting in trouble, they have always been close. After the murder, Kenny is initially brought in for questioning by Sergeant Nancy Taylor (Melissa Leo), but released. Two years later, based on new testimony from two witnesses, Kenny is arrested and tried. The evidence presented at Kenny's trial is entirely circumstantial, but he is convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. The three main witnesses against him are Sergeant Taylor, his ex-wife Brenda (Clea DuVall), and ex-girlfriend Roseanna (Juliette Lewis).
Three years later, Betty Anne lives with her husband, Rick (Loren Dean) and two sons, Richard and Ben. She is frantic that she has not heard from Kenny, who calls her every week from prison, and finally discovers that he tried to commit suicide. Betty Anne decides to go back to school and become a lawyer so she can exonerate him, but her husband is skeptical and unsupportive, and eventually they split up. As Betty Anne struggles with being a working mother attending law school, flashbacks reveal that her mother was callous and uncaring, forcing Kenny and Betty Anne to fend for themselves. The two were very close, but frequently got into trouble, and were eventually taken away from their mother and sent to separate foster homes.
Betty Anne continues to visit Kenny in prison, working in a bar while going to school, but her busy schedule causes her to miss a planned outing with her sons, who decide they would be better off living with their father. Struggling in school, demoralized and exhausted, Betty Anne stops going to classes, until a friend from school, Abra (Minnie Driver), comes to her house and prods her to just get up, get dressed, and get back to class.
In a study group, Betty Anne learns about the new field of DNA testing and realizes that this could be the key to overturning Kenny's conviction, as only blood types had been matched at the time of the trial. She contacts attorney Barry Scheck from the Innocence Project. The backlog of cases will mean waiting at least 18 months unless she can pass the Bar exam and find the blood evidence from Kenny's trial herself to have it tested. At first she is stonewalled, then told the evidence was destroyed, but she refuses to give up, and she and Abra embark on an odyssey to recover any evidence that might still be stored away somewhere. In the process, Betty Anne learns that Nancy Taylor was fired from the police department for fabricating evidence in another case, which deepens Betty Anne's suspicions about Kenny's conviction and the evidence presented at trial. Finally the DNA results come back and establish that the blood was not Kenny's. Betty Anne and Kenny are overjoyed anticipating his release, but Martha Coakley, of the District Attorney's office, refuses to vacate the conviction, claiming that there was still enough evidence to convict Kenny as an accomplice. Kenny is convinced that no matter what, the authorities will find a way to keep him in prison to avoid admitting their mistake. Betty Anne is heartbroken again, but refuses to give up after Barry advises her that their discovery not only proves Kenny's innocence, but also that the main witnesses against him were lying.
Betty Anne, Abra, and Barry Scheck visit the other two main trial witnesses, Kenny's ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend. Both tearfully confess that Sergeant Nancy Taylor coerced and threatened them into perjuring themselves at Kenny's trial. With an affidavit from Kenny's ex-wife and the DNA evidence, Kenny's conviction is vacated and he is freed from prison after 18 years in June 2001. Betty Anne is able to persuade his daughter, Mandy (Ari Graynor), whom he hadn't had any contact with since she was a small child, that he never stopped trying to reach out to her while he was in prison despite his ex-wife's efforts to estrange them. He is able to reconnect with his daughter, and is reunited with his sister and her sons.
The epilogue states that Betty Anne secured a large civil settlement from the City of Ayer's Police Department for Kenny's wrongful conviction eight years later, but former Sergeant Nancy Taylor (whom Betty Anne also won the settlement against) was immune from prosecution because the Massachusetts statute of limitations had expired. Betty Anne continues to work at the pub and is still a part of the Innocence Project, helping to prevent other wrongful convictions, while the real murderer of Katharina Brow has never been found. | violence, sentimental, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1581835 | Daydream Nation | Seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) and her father move from a large city to a small town where an industrial fire burns endlessly and many of the students in her new high school seems to be permanently stoned. One of Caroline's classmates, Thurston Goldberg (Reece Thompson), quickly falls for her after they first meet at a party. Caroline is attracted to her high school English teacher Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas) and the two begin to have sex.
On Halloween, Thurston and his best friends Paul (Landon Liboiron), Charles (Jesse Reid) and Craig (Calum Worthy) spend most of the day getting stoned and inhaling cleaning products which later causes Craig to have a violent seizure during health class. Afterwards, Mr. Anderson cancels his plans with Caroline in order to help the health teacher Ms. Budge (Rachel Blanchard). Mr. Anderson tells Caroline that they should probably go out with other people to avoid looking suspicious, and blows Caroline off on the phone. Feeling upset, Caroline goes out with Thurston where they end up having sex in her car. He admits to her that he was a virgin until that night.
The next day, Mr. Anderson apologizes to her, but says that their relationship must be as discreet. They make up and Caroline spends the night after reading Mr. Anderson's draft of his new novel. Thurston continues to try to pursue Caroline, coming to her home with cupcakes. After he is rejected at the door by Caroline's father (Ted Whittall), Thurston's mother (Andie MacDowell) intercedes on his behalf, which leads to her and Caroline's father sharing intimate moments over drinks. Caroline eventually realizes that Mr. Anderson is deeply dysfunctional, and breaks off the relationship in favor of Thurston. In return, Mr. Anderson does everything to sabotage the budding romance, and Caroline's life descends into chaos. Meanwhile, the local TV station, KCRR reports that there is a serial killer who killed a high school cheerleader.
As Caroline and Thurston's relationship develops, Mr. Anderson becomes even more unstable. He tells Thurston that he was just a cover, and on a rampage, Thurston breaks up with Caroline. Caroline leaves and goes to confront Mr. Anderson, who is on the verge of a mental breakdown. After Caroline leaves, he tries to commit suicide but shoots himself in the leg instead. Caroline goes to try to find Thurston and calls him while driving, leaving a message telling him to stay at the Christmas party where she will go to find him and that she loves him.
In the meantime, Thurston goes to the Christmas party and almost has sex with another girl, Jenny (Katie Boland) who is obsessed with him. Caroline inadvertently crashes her car into the serial killer, who dies from his injuries. She is thought to be a hero and gets back together with Thurston. Ms. Budge shows up at Mr. Anderson's home to tell him the serial killer is dead and takes him to the hospital to treat his injured leg. | comedy, mystery, psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0274242 | The Brian Conley Show | The show was commissioned following Conley's last successful comedy series, Brian Conley: This Way Up. The show lasted for four series, although a live special was shown a year after the series ended, and a Christmas special aired a year after that. Shows were broadcast Saturdays on ITV between 22 February 1992 and 22 July 1995. Repeats began to show a few years later on the now defunct Granada Plus, though episodes stopped showing on the channel a few years before it closed, and has since never been broadcast again. Extracts from various episodes were uploaded to a dedicated YouTube channel, but was subsequently closed due to copyright claims.
The show was a mix of comedy, music, sketches, and variety acts. The first two series were recorded in the Churchill Theatre in Bromley rather than a television studio, giving the show a "live" feel. Conley would perform musical numbers, stand-up routines and sketches, the latter of which were performed on sets that were wheeled out onto the stage, and he'd often change costume in front of the audience. Series three and four were filmed in The London Studios and given a new look. Sketches were now performed on a rotating platform that switched between different sets as it spun. However, Conley's trademark characters were either performed on their own set or were pre-recorded.
Conley decided that the fourth series would be the last when, in an interview with TV Times, he decided to pursue a career on stage. However, after Conley compered the Royal Variety Performance in 1999, the show returned in 2000 albeit in a chat show format, dramatically different to the original show. Whilst it retained Conely's stand-up sets at the beginning of the show, as well as his special guests, sketches and Conley's characters were removed from the show. Whilst this had some fans unhappy, the show managed to pull in some famous guests including Leslie Nielsen and Kathleen Turner. The revival lasted for three series. | comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0118632 | The Apostle | Euliss F. "Sonny" Dewey (Duvall) is a charismatic Pentecostal preacher. His wife Jessie (Fawcett) has begun an adulterous relationship with a youth minister named Horace. She refuses Sonny's desire to reconcile, although she assures him that she will not interfere with his right to see his children. She has also conspired to use their church's bylaws to have him removed from power. Sonny asks God what to do but receives no answer. Much of the congregation sides with Jessie in this dispute. Sonny, however, refuses to start a new church, insisting that the one which forced him out was "his" church. At his child's Little League game, Sonny, in an emotional and drunken fit, attacks Horace with a bat and puts him into a coma; Horace later dies.
A fleeing Sonny ditches his car in a river and gets rid of all identifying information. After destroying all evidence of his past, Sonny rebaptizes himself and anoints himself as "The Apostle E. F." He leaves Texas and ends up in the bayous of Louisiana, where he persuades a retired minister named Blackwell (Beasley) to help him start a new church. He works various odd jobs and uses the money to build the church, and to buy time to preach on a local radio station. Sonny also begins dating the station's receptionist (Richardson).
With Sonny's energy and charisma, the church soon has a faithful and racially integrated flock. Sonny even succeeds in converting a racist construction worker (Thornton) who shows up at a church picnic intent on destruction. While at work in a local diner, Sonny sees his new girlfriend out in public with her husband and children, apparently reconciled. Sonny walks out, vowing never to return there.
Jessie hears a radio broadcast of the Apostle E. F. and calls the police on Sonny. The police show up in the middle of an evening service but allow Sonny to finish it while they wait outside. In the poignant finale, Sonny delivers an impassioned sermon before telling his flock that he has to go. In the final scene, Sonny, now part of a chain gang, preaches to the inmates as they work along the side of a highway. | dramatic, violence, boring, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | But I think that, if one is not distracted or confused or simply put off by the loud, emotional, sometimes corny religiosity portrayed here, one can see a strong, compelling story of a seriously, ultimately fatally flawed man whose faith in God and in God's mission for him reaches to his very core.On the surface, one can view Sonny Dewey as just another example of a certain type of religious fraud: the backslapping, perpetually-grinning, wisecracking good old boy who uses religion and exploits his flock for his own selfish ends.
But he makes no excuses for them and, in the end, he knows that he is going to pay for them.What really draws me into the film, and what really makes Sonny interesting for me, is the way Duvall has made him such a complex character.
But some of the more revealing moments of the film are not when Sonny is in front of a congregation, or even with other people generally, but when he is alone with God: ranting at God in anger; dedicating himself to God in the moment that he becomes the Apostle; the soul-searching moments when he forgives his wife and resigns himself to his fate.The no-punches-pulled realness of Sonny's struggle is a refreshing departure from the usual film portrayals of religious figures: plaster saint, con-man, one-dimensional milquetoast.
And while the well-known actors in the film (Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thornton, Miranda Richardson) all turn in fine performances, it is the unknowns --the church members and townfolk -- that really give the film an added authenticity..
He must of seen a lot of southern preachers as he grew up, because he wrote this as well and the role suited him to a tee.The supporting cast is fine, with Rick Dial and John Beasley getting kudos for their work, but the movie is first and foremost about The Apostle.
Robert Duvall is an ambitious actor and film maker, and The Apostle hits home with its perceptive and loving portrayal of country people in the United States.
It's said by some folks that Robert Duvall has been trying to make this film for a lot of years, and there are parts of The Apostle that contain faint echoes of his 1983 project Tender Mercies.
Duvall's story is engaging and beautiful in the way it shows the flaws amid great talent in a man who chooses for himself the calling of Apostle.
I love this film, the accurate portrayal of some aspects of southern U.S. life and culture, and especially Duvall's performance..
Here is a few thoughts to help capture this wonderful creationEulis `Sonny' Dewey is a Southern Pentecostal Holiness Evangelist and Preacher from Texas living a seemingly happy life with his wife Jessie and his two `beauties' (children).
Another subtle example is when he is doing his charismatic preaching on the radio, while the secretary is watching his intensity, and he follows it by preaching to her, (meanwhile, there is this calculating sales pitch with sexual sub-text between the two people).A subtle but revealing example of Sonny's character is shown by Duvall's acting in two `sales-like, asking for the order' scenes.
Sonny and members are having an `altar call', and have been singing, `Softly and Tenderly Jesus is Calling', and as a final plea to a parishioner to accept Jesus into his life, Sonny keeps using his sales phrase `Come on now!' Even though the words are previously used for his earthly desires, in this scene he captures his passion to perfection and his tears are genuine as he pleads with all his heart.In my mind, I can describe Robert Duvall's Academy Award deserving character acting as a poignant, perplexing, portrayal of a paradoxical, problematic, passionate, preacher.
Even though I could also choose Jack Nicholson's role in `As Good As It Gets'(who won the Oscar), the depth and breadth of Nicholson's acting don't measure up to the job done by probably America's greatest actor, Robert Duvall.
I believe this technique of documentary style filmmaking places the burden of carrying the movie on the acting and solely on Robert Duvall's Academy Award winning shoulders, and he delivers.
Duvall's performance was so convincing that had he performed this role live I'm sure he would have moved the whole audience to tears.I resisted seeing this film at first expecting that it would be the usual tired, antireligious stereotype that late twentieth century script writers revel in.
Highly recommended movie with great acting, a story that makes you think and a balanced portrayal of evangelical Christianity..
The Apostle is based on straightforward storytelling, great character development and nice, gentle pacing - but with a strong kick.Robert Duvall, one of the best actors of the last thirty years, gives a powerful performance as the preacher driven by his inner demons - and gods.
Ranging from his most charismatic (doing a Joe Dolan impersonation?) to his most personal, one feels that Sonny (the apostle EF) is real, believes what he is doing is real and is confident in his destiny - no matter how odd or quirky he appears at times.The film is character driven with a good sprinkling of incidents throughout.
Story points introduced early on and developed before half way give the film a strong feel of The Fugitive, the TV series - laid back, story based but with the undercurrent of "a ticking bomb under the table" (Alfred Hitchcock).Minor quibbles: Miranda Richardson's character is a little too young for Robert Duvall's.
Robert Duvall gives a great performance as the sincere but flawed Pentecostal preacher, Sonny Dewey.
Here, he changes his name to "The Apostle E.F." With the help of a local Black preacher, The Apostle starts a new church, called the "One Way Road To Heaven" Temple, a tiny wooden building out in the middle of nowhere.As good as Duvall is in his performance, reinforced by a brilliant performance from Miranda Richardson in a support role, the film's non-actors, local people brought in to add authenticity to the setting, are even more convincing.
This movie is another powerful exhibit in the case for why there *should* be an Oscar category for Best Casting.Apart from Mr. Duvall's identifying acting, so rightly hailed elsewhere on this forum, what truly makes this film stand out as so genuine, so founded, so real, is the casting.Take the radio guy, right down to his supermarket-style glasses.
The Apostle is a wonderfully constructed work that deals with a few intense issues including faith and the Christian's relationship with God. The director uses small scenes and sequences to illustrate how Sonny lives out his faith and to help the viewer experience Sonny's life more fully.
Though The Apostle is a work of fiction, it does a great job of presenting faith that is shunned by the world and continuously proved by God. When Sonny stops to pray at a car-crash, it appears that the wife is probably dead and the husband is in fairly critical condition.
As Sonny is leaving, the viewer sees the wife's hand grip her husbands, presumably showing God's work in the situation; Sonny's reply: "Momma, we made news in heaven today." Duvall's film also deals greatly with the humanity of Christians.
I am not a Billy Bob fan by the way, but even his character, that came to destroy Sonny's church, and ended up changing his own life in that process.
I have always appreciated Robert Duvall as an actor, but everything he's ever done pales in comparison to his performance as "The Apostle E.F." in this movie.
Thank you to Robert Duvall for this powerful performance.The movie had flaws.
In his most ambitious project, `The Apostle,' in which he directs, is a screenwriter, acts and is an executive producer, Duvall finds himself in uncharted movie territory as a preacher whose unhealthy obsession with God and his church leads to his own downfall.
`The Apostle' is the story of Eulis `Sonny' Dewey (Duvall) who parish is taken away from him when his adulteress wife Jessie (Farrah Fawcett) decides to leave him and take their children away for a younger preacher in the same parish.
Duvall comes off as both enlightening through his sermons and utterly terrifying through his anger towards his wife, her boyfriend, and to an unruly member of society (Billy Bob Thornton) who doesn't want the Apostle E.F.'s church around.
An engaging story driven by a very powerful performance from Robert Duvall.The story of a minister in a evangelical Christian church who starts a new life after committing a crime.
The service was very structured and organized, and a long story short I found myself at home in a place with a much more reserved style of worship experience.But with that going on in my personal life at the time, it made it difficult for me to want to see "The Apostle", a film that to me looked like it was promoting the style of religion that I had struggled with all my life.
As the movie progresses Duvall has several extended scenes where he's preaching in church, and the performance is amazing.
It's a bit eerie in a sense, and some might find it uncomfortable given the subject matter--but then you realize that this is the same guy from "The Godfather" movies, and that's when it hits you that this is an amazing feat of acting in a well made film.All that said, "The Apostle" may be a bit foreign and hard to watch for some people who have an averse reaction to matters of faith or who are uncomfortable with Christianity.
Robert Duvall's performance makes this movie worth watching to see terrific acting.
Robert Duvall's performance makes this movie worth watching to see terrific acting.
However although it is not a masterpiece nor does it use any special effects, it is really a powerful movie who tells us a very simple story of a man who not only strongly believes in what he preaches but also has the power to convince other people by his words.
He also proves himself to be a competent director, even though that hasn't been a calling he's pursued subsequently.It's just criminal that Jack Nicholson beat Duvall for the 1997 Best Actor Award with a performance like the one he gives in "As Good as It Gets." Grade: A.
I had heard many good things about this film, not the least of which was Robert Duvall's performance.
Created by Robert Duvall as a fiction film, but worth taking in as a documentary, 'The Apostle' is a striking commentary on contemporary Christian Americana.
a Latino who takes you to the old time revial tent days with an extremely accurate portrayal of the real deal Hollyfield southern church scene....I have never been so moved by a movie in all my day ...being Afro American and growing up in the church, I'll tell you he really done some serious Homework!!!....there is no faking the hollyspirit...BUT Duval pulls it off in AAA 5 star fashion..this one should have got an Oscar!!!!!!!!!booooooooo!!!
Writer-director-star Duvall plays `Sonny' Dewey, a Pentecostal preacher in Texas who suddenly loses his church and family when he accidentally kills his wife's lover (his own youth pastor) in a fit of anger.
Sonny takes to the road and re-baptizes himself as `The Apostle E.F.,' and eventually rallies the citizens of a tiny Louisiana hamlet and starts a new church, zealous as ever to serve God in spite of his all-too-human flaws
and a past that is slowly catching up with him.Southern preachers are a staple of Hollywood, usually portrayed as frauds, hypocrites, and loonies.
And did a good job writing his character to be realistic, like how southern preachers act, as in how they preach to the congregation.
Duvall chose to portray the good with the bad, and enabled movie-goers to experience what comes from powerful stories portrayed by a wonderful supporting cast.I found John Beasley's performance the strongest I have seen from a supporting character, possibly ever.If only Hollywood and the movie moguls could make more human stories like this, life would be too sweet.
In the time of high predictability in movies, this one had small surprises, some good, some bad - all very real!Kudos to Duvall for going that extra mile on his one way trip!.
Duvall`s amazing performance both as an actor and director,one of his career`s finest!The story is focused on a small comunity preacher and his maniac attraction for preaching.Unfaithful wife(Farah Fawcett)is just "match in the gasstank".Under a new id(as apostle EF)he is given the chance to perform again as a preacher,which seals his faith in the end as a fugitive,after having murdered.A both moral and dramatical brilliant performance,which why exactly didn`t deserve the Oscar?
This movie is intense & comes uncomfortably close to reality at times, Due in large part to Robert Duvall's riveting performance in the leading role as the Apostle E.F.
Watching the preaching sequences, you completely forget he's an actor playing a part - he's just Sonny the charismatic full gospel man of God. During those scenes I found myself hunting around the theater for one of those old timey cardboard fans to cool down with & nearly shouted 'Amen' a couple of times.
This movie is totally ABOUT the Apostle E.F., a holy madman seeking to do all the good he can before the payback he knows is coming for his greatest sin, killing his wife's lover in a moment of rage (pure Darwinism - he warned the silly ass in no uncertain terms to stay out of his face!).E.F. is an acting tour de force for Duval, and why he didn't get an Oscar is beyond me though I haven't checked what he was up against.It helps to be a Christian (even a wimp liberal mainstream one like me) to really appreciate this movie - at the beginning you sort of have him figured for a phony and it becomes more and more apparent that he believes in God and his mission all the way down to the core despite his many failings.
How many people have I met like the Robert Duvall character in this film?
The apostle is a realistic tale of a man's struggles with his flesh nature in contrast to his heart for Jesus while capturing the sheer uniqueness of Sonny's character then delivering a powerful, inspiring and truthful film.
The Apostle is a showcase movie for Robert Duvall, who gives a flawless, intense portrayal of a flawed tragic hero.
Robert Duvall gave the finest performance of his career playing a woefully inadequate christian at war with his feelings and desires versus his commitment to God. I can't believe he actually made me feel sorry for him by the end of the movie!
To me, cinema is the same way: you could make a perfect film, with > perfect direction, photography, writing and performances, and still not have a great movie, or even a good one.
Growing up Southern Baptist (and by the way, the Duvall character in this film is a Holiness preacher for those who can't seem to tell the difference between it and Baptist), I witnessed many revivals and church meetings in which people were "saved." As I grew older, I grew apart from religion in general and am an Agnostic now.
Robert Duvall gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the Apostle on his way to redemption, but the crime he commits you do not blame him for, in the film you are constantly rooting for him and hope that he makes it in this new town.
He finds it in a small town in Louisiana, where an abandoned church provides a new source of hopeAll of this makes the film sound like a smarmy story with lots of exclamations of "Praise God!" and "Amen!" as people clap and sing in the small church to Duvall's leading.
I love a movie that moves at the pace of a good book, As you move through a book page by page absorbing the emotions, the feel the atmosphere, you become absorbed by the pictures the words paint, well congratulations Robert Duvall for painting a masterpiece on using film as your medium.
The Apostle takes the subject of good old revival style southern preaching, and patienty explores it through an in depth development of Robert Duvall's superbly acted character, "Sonny" the Apostle E.F.
It is true we see Sonny, or E.F., as a flawed but recognizable human, and Duvall not only distances his character from the racism the South has been accused of, but also the intolerance of other religions(the scene where he watches a different service and says in essence, "You got your way, I got mine, but we both want the same thing." shows his tolerance).
Robert Duvall comes through big in this film about the life of a fascinating man who makes a mistake and decides to start off anew.
"Sonny" (Robert Duvall), winds up starting a rural church from scratch in a small town in Louisiana, and is eventually discovered and sent back to Texas to jail.Duvall gives a tremendous acting performance in here, one of the best I've seen on film.
Also shown are supporting characters who are all sincere, good people who help "The Apostle E.F." (Duvall) build the church and help make it grow.In the end, despite all his flaws, Duvall's character turns out to be one of a sincere evangelist who truly loves God and wants to do His work wherever and whenever, even on a chain gang as the ending credits attest.The more I watch this movie, the more I appreciate the cinematography in here.
He runs off to Louisiana, becomes part of a small community, and starts a new church where he brings hope and salvation to his loyal followers.Robert Duvall is a powerhouse; he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in this movie - and it's wonderful. |
tt0023312 | Pack Up Your Troubles | In 1917, Stan (Stan Laurel) and Ollie (Oliver Hardy) are drafted into the American Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. Their ineptitude during basic training antagonizes the drill sergeant and they are assigned to kitchen duties. They misunderstand the cook's instructions and empty the garbage cans into the general's private dining room. The cook (George Marshall), who is thrown in the stockade with them, curses their "snitching" and threatens them with violence after they are released. They escape his wrath when they are shipped to the trenches in France.
Serving close to the front line, they befriend soldier Eddie Smith, who receives a Dear John letter from his wife. When Eddie is killed in action, the boys determine to rescue Eddie's daughter (Jacquie Lyn) from her brutal stepfather and deliver her to Eddie's parents. They distinguish themselves in combat by losing control of a tank and accidentally forcing a German platoon into the open.
After the Armistice, Stan and Ollie venture to New York City to retrieve the girl and look for Eddie's parents. Using the city telephone directory, the task proves both monumental and problematic as the boys blindly attempt to visit each Smith until they find the grandparents. After taking punches from an annoyed prizefighter and disrupting a society wedding, they resort to telephoning first.
While operating their lunch wagon, the boys are approached by an unpleasant civil servant (Charles Middleton) who demands Eddie's child so that she can be placed in an orphanage. The boys refuse, and the man says he will return with the police to have the boys arrested.
They try to secure a loan with their lunch wagon to finance their escape to another city, but the banker smirks that he'd have to be unconscious to make such a deal. While laughing, he topples a bust onto his own head and knocks himself out. Taking this as approval, the boys take what they need from the bank vault.
Tailed to their apartment by the police, the boys unsuccessfully try to hide Eddie's daughter in a dumbwaiter. The police bring the three of them to the banker for identification, and it is discovered that he is the Smith they had been seeking. Following a happy reunion, the banker drops the charges and invites them as his guests for dinner. The cook storms out of the kitchen to tell his boss that he will not adjust the service on a moment's notice, and recognizes Laurel and Hardy as the "snitches". The cook chases them with a kitchen knife. | revenge | train | wikipedia | All some serious heavy dramatic stuff but yet the boys manages to make this movie a perfectly entertaining one with some good slapstick humor and comical situations.The movie at times is a sappy one that goes definitely over-the-top but yet for most part the story and its drama works effective.
Stan and Ollie taking care of the young daughter of Eddie and their quest for her grandparents is quite heartwarming.
Especially since the boys in this movie have an amazingly good chemistry Jackie Lyn Dufton, who plays the young girl.
The slapstick humor is especially top-class and the boys manage once more to get themselves into some silly and hilarious situations.The movie its supporting cast is also good.
Stanley's and Oliver's army buddy Eddie Smith gets killed in a war, so the boys have to find the grandparents of Eddie's daughter.So they go from door to door looking for every Smiths there are in the town.It's not an easy job for the boys to do, because there are many Smiths but only two boys.And it doesn't make the job any easier that they get blamed for a bank robbery.
But most of Pack Up Your Troubles is spent with the boys as veterans looking for the family of their late comrade Don Dillaway on behalf of his daughter little Jackie Lyn Dufton.
Next best scene in the movie is the little girl reading Stan a bedtime story, Goldilocks and the 3 Bears and Laurel falling asleep.Pack Up Your Troubles has an unusually good cast of recognizable character players in roles that we all identify them with.
But also there's Charles Middleton as a welfare inspector, Billy Gilbert whose daughter blows up a marriage to Grady Sutton when the boys think he's Dillaway's father and Mary Gordon as a delightful old Irish mother babysitting the little girl for Stan and Ollie.
Stan & Ollie almost pull off the impossible: to make World War One trench warfare seem funny.James Finlayson plays the Boys' exasperated General.
I'm surprised this film came along so relatively early in Laurel & Hardy's career because, although it has a couple of stand-out moments, for the most part it falls below the usual high standard of their output with Hal Roach.
Unfortunately, the friend they make in the army isn't so lucky and leaves an orphaned little girl at home that the boys decide to return to her grandparents.Laurel & Hardy were still predominantly making shorts when this feature-length movie was made in 1932, and you get the impression that an awful lot of padding was involved to reach the hour mark.
At one point, there's a neat role reversal as Stan struggles to keep his eyes open while she recites her own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears – in fact, thinking about it, the entire film could be seen as a remodelling of typical fairy-tale plots.As a meaningless aside, have you ever wondered who does the really dull jobs in the glamorous world of movies?
Early Laurel & Hardy feature isn't among their best, but still provides entertaining viewing.Story begins with America entering the First World War, and L&H conscripted into the army after being spotted loafing on a park bench.
Here Laurel & Hardy find themselves responsible for a dead army buddy's little girl, whom they must return to her rightful guardian.Film isn't as polished as later entries, and certainly can't compete with the likes of 'Sons of the Desert'.
"Pack Up Your Troubles" is a much funnier and better made film for Laurel and Hardy.
The opening of the film is 1917 - the year America entered the First World War. Stan and Ollie are drafted into the army where they befriend a fellow private.
Stan and Ollie try to locate the child's grandparents and this is what dominates the majority of "Pack Up Your Troubles." The team are on top form and they have great material to work with.
So it's up to the boys to take care of the child as they try to locate her grandparents--whose name, unfortunately, is Smith!This film is a very uneven film, as it tries to give quite a bit of plot to the comedy duo and it tries to inject a little bit of pathos--something I absolutely HATE in comedies.
No, I would have preferred less plot and more stupid highjinks, but alas, some execs thought it would be nice for the boys to take care of a cute little girl following the segment on the war, and so a lot of the film is devoted to this.
The trench scenes are probably the funniest parts of the film with Ollie getting blamed for Stan " Cleaning out a coffee pot " and Stan wishing Ollie luck as he`s forced over the top After the war scenes we`re transported a few years into the future where the boys are trying to track down their old comrade Eddie Smith who has a daughter and I failed to get a joke because social mores have changed so much in the meantime .
The action takes place at a wedding of a man called Eddie Smith ( An entirely different Eddie Smith ) where Stan , Ollie and a young girl appear .
Their comic timing is impeccable.'Pack Up Your Troubles' looks good visually, is full of energy and the direction gets the best out of the stars, is at ease with the material and doesn't let it get too busy or static.
One of the earliest examples was the Laurel & Hardy flick "Pack Up Your Troubles", wherein the boys get drafted into WWI.
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES (Hal Roach/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1932), directed by George Marshall and Raymond McCarey, marks the second starring feature film from comedy team, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and one of their finest efforts.
Though categorized as a war comedy, the film in itself, divided into two parts, starts off with war related themed material while the second half concentrates more on the team's attempt in locating a little girl's grandparents while civilians after the Armitice.Opening title: "April 1917 – when the scratch of a pen on Capitol Hill caused crowns to rattle." After a brief montage of newspapers going to press with large headlines reading WAR DECLARED, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are seen seated on a park bench reading the latest news.
"It didn't take Uncle Sam long to whip this raw material into real fighting machine." Causing their short-tempered drill sergeant (Frank Brownlee) to go out of his mind over their bumbling antics, Stan and Ollie create more trouble while on K.P. duty, taking foul odor garbage to the general's (James Finlayson) residence, ending up in the brig with a tough cook named Pierre (George Marshall) after naming him the one who told them to place the trash into the general's home in a sarcastic manner.
Eddie Smith (Donald Dillaway), the boys' best pal, receives a letter written by his wife telling him she has left him for another man, resulting on Eddie to leave his little daughter (Jacquie Lyn) in the home of a bickering couple (Rychard Cramer and Adele Watson) for the time being.
With the war ending November 11, 1918, civilians Stan and Ollie locate Eddie's daughter, take her away from the unhappy environment.
More problems arise as they try getting a $12,000 loan from the bank on their lunch wagon, and face losing Eddie's child to a mean officer of the Welfare Association (Charles Middleton) with efforts on taking her to an orphanage.While the final print is somewhat handicapped by some rough cuts resulting to flimsy material, it's a wonder whether the original concept of the movie was initially longer longer than the theatrical 68 minute time frame, probably explaining after repeated viewing why certain characters, especially those part of the Laurel and Hardy stock company of James Finlayson, Billy Gilbert or Charlie Hall, have only brief bits.
There is no plot development nor how Laurel and Hardy got to become such good friends with Eddie Smith.
His dying in battle leads to the purpose of the story with Stan and Ollie doing a good turn by taking the responsibility for his little girl while spending months trying to locate her grandparents.
Memorable scenes include Jacquie reciting a bedtime story to Uncle Stanley, struggling to keep awake; Stan and Ollie's individual attempts locating the many Smiths in the telephone directory; arriving at 311 Chester Drive where Stan and Ollie disturb a wedding ceremony addressing the child to be Eddie's baby, Eddie being the hapless groom (Grady Sutton); Stan going to Poughkeepsie to acquire if the Smith Brothers of cough drop fame to be the relatives, among others.
Fine casting goes to Mary Carr as the baby's nanny; Mary Gordon as Mrs. McTavish, the baby sitter during the second half of the story; and Charles Middleton going with honorable re-mention as the one with a face mean and scary enough to "haunt a house." Jacquie Lynn, who sometimes speaks like future child star, Shirley Temple, gets in her finest moments mimicking Stan and Ollie both in mannerisms and famous line quotes, adding much to the fun during their troubles.While the title, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES, was used again for a Ritz Brothers comedy for 20th Century-Fox (1939), this is where the similarity ends.
Home video prints to the original Laurel and Hardy edition (black and white or colorized) often eliminate material involving unpleasantness between the bickering couple looking after little Jacquie.
Adding a touch of World War nostalgia with background music from that era, including the title song, "Where Do We Go From Here?" and so forth, PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES is one of those films that seems to get better and funnier after repeated viewings, especially for devotees of this most famous of comedy teams of all time, Laurel and Hardy.
PACK UP YOUR TROUBLES only begins to pick up at the point the boys decide to track down the father of a little girl in their care.
The best scenes involve their relationship with the cute tyke, who has a wonderful scene with STAN LAUREL where she puts him to sleep with her own version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.Another highlight has the boys needing $2,000 and going to see a bank manager who has a good laugh when he sees that their restaurant business is nothing more than a traveling cart on wheels."I'd have to be unconscious to give you any money for that," he cries, and presto he knocks over a heavy vase that falls on his head.
The boys escape with the money and even wackier developments follow.Finally, the situation is straightened out when they accidentally run into the girl's grandparents who intend to see that L&H get the proper award for finding their lost grandchild, just in time for the happy ending.A bit too plot heavy, but there are many scenes that are good for the kind of laughs you expect from any Laurel and Hardy film.Worth seeing, but not one of their best..
Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) *** (out of 4) Laurel and Hardy's second feature has them drafted to go and find in WW1.
Being this is a Laurel and Hardy film you can expect plenty of laughs even though the movie is somewhat uneven and really plays like three short subjects put together to make a feature.
There are laughs throughout the film but none of them are overly hysterical and in the end the film is somewhat weak but the good performance from the boys and the nice supporting cast makes it worth watching.
I think the start of the film is the weakest when the boys are going through basic training as we get the same type of gags that we're use to and that includes them not being able to march and having a prank pulled on them, which gets them into trouble with the General (James Finlayson).
The second half of the film contains the most laughs as Laurel and Hardy must try and find a "Smith" out of thousands in the phone book.
In the most memorable scene, the boys interrupt a wedding with the father of the bride, played by Billy Gilbert, going crazy thinking that his future son-in-law has a kid.
Some of the comedy doesn't work and that includes a rather long scene where the little girl starts telling Laurel the story of The Three Bears, which he falls asleep on..
One of the factors that keep you smiling are the lineup of familiar faces from other Laurel & Hardy films of the same vintage, most of them on good form; plus a hilarious uncredited cameo from co-director George Marshall as a crazed army cook..
Pack Up Your Troubles is quite a funny Laurel & Hardy movie with some sentiment thrown in concerning a little girl.
Anyway, when the little girl-Jacquie Lyn-was doing the story of "The Three Bears" with sleepy Stan's reactions in close-up, I remember a relative I was living with laughing heartily at that and while it was funny to me as well, I don't remember laughing as loudly.
I just watched it again this morning and I found myself laughing not only at that but most of the rest of the picture as Stan & Ollie join the army during World War I, make friends with a guy named Eddie Smith, and then try to find Eddie's parents after he dies in battle with his daughter I mentioned in tow.
Hilarious supporting turns from usual L & H players like James Finlayson and Billy Gilbert as well as Grady Sutton and George Marshall who co-directed with Ray McCarey.
P.S. On this videotape I mentioned earlier in the review, Stan's daughter Lois put some home movies before the feature showing her on her fourth birthday and fifth birthday parties, and then showed her playing with Jacquie either in a sandbox or riding in a toy plane (cute seeing them kiss a couple of times there), a gift from her Uncle Babe (Hardy).
This was the boys' second feature length movie after Pardon Us, and this time there is a more cohesive plot to hang the comedy scenes on.
L and H's rounding up of what looks like half the German front line (entirely unintentionally, I might add), Ollie's one-two pummelling by "Steamboat" Smith, Stan falling asleep when the little girl tells him a story, etc.
Billy Gilbert has a nice cameo scene here, as does Jimmy Fin as an army general whose home gets a bit whiffy thanks to Stan and Ollie!
along the way there is a really really heavy drama trip put on us by a woman that would abandon a cute 3 year old blond girl, very sad, if you are into the film it may make you cry a little like I did (and of course, I cried later).Anyway, this is Laurel and Hardy in their still young days, connecting still as the common people, and not as total child buffoons.
In this L&H feature film, Eddie Smith is a combat buddy of thee boys, living in a trench.
A little later, when they tell her they hope to unite her with her grandparents, she says she hopes they don't find them, because she likes them, especially, Stan, calling them uncles.
Turns out the Smiths used to live here, but the phone book is out of date...........With the Welfare Association looking for them, the boys figure they need to get out of town quickly, with the girl(So, how are they going to find her grandparents that way?).
Those top one per-centers of the era could probably afford a lot of those.The film ends on a successful note with Laurel and Hardy locating the appropriate Smith family before the welfare association of the era could force the boys to give up their young ward.
The first quarter of the movie has them doing all they can to avoid the draft (a very funny scene where they pretend that they both only have one arm), the next quarter is them proving their ineptitude, and finally the last half has them back in the states taking care of the young daughter of an army buddy and avoiding the police and child protection services who want to take her away from them and place her in an orphanage.A bit funnier than their previous film ("Pardon Us"), this actually seems to be several of their two reelers rolled into one to make a feature length comedy.
The last half has a few moderately funny moments when the boys are trying to hide themselves and the little girl from the police and growing crowd, but its pretty maudlin material to be totally enjoyable.
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy are the most famous comedy duo in history, and deservedly so, so I am happy to see any of their films.
Their friend Eddie Smith (Donald 'Don' Dillaway) gets a letter from his wife saying he's leaving him for another man, and he is unsure what is happening to his baby daughter (Jackie Lyn Dufton).
Out of uniform the boys start looking for Eddie's father, "Mr. Smith", to take the daughter to him, and they knock on a few Smiths doors, a black man, a boxer, and a wedding groom (Grady Sutton).
While the mean male relative reports the boys taking the baby, Stan and Ollie open their sandwich van, with a mean man telling them he wants to put the daughter in an orphanage, so they go to the bank to get a loan to move away, and the bank manager is Eddie's father, Mr. Smith.
They are caught though and taken to Mr. Smith, and when he sees Stan and Ollie in a photo with his son Eddie everything is explained, the daughter finds her true family, while the boys are chased by the stressed chef from earlier. |
tt0079378 | Julius Caesar | The play opens with the commoners of Rome celebrating Caesar's triumphant return from defeating Pompey's sons at the battle of Munda. Two tribunes, Flavius and Marrullus, discover the commoners celebrating, insult them for their change in loyalty from Pompey to Caesar, and break up the crowd. There are some jokes made by the commoners, who insult them back. They also plan on removing all decorations from Caesar's statues and ending any other festivities. In the next scene, during Caesar's parade on the feast of Lupercal, a soothsayer warns Caesar, "Beware the ides of March." This warning he disregards. The action then turns to the discussion between Brutus and Cassius. In this conversation, Cassius attempts to influence Brutus's opinions into believing Caesar should be killed, preparing to have Brutus join his conspiracy to kill Caesar. They then hear from Casca that Mark Antony has offered Caesar the crown of Rome three times and that each time Caesar refused it, fainting after the last refusal. Later, in act two, Brutus joins the conspiracy, although after much moral debate, eventually deciding that Caesar, although his friend and never having done anything against the people of Rome, should be killed to prevent him from doing anything against the people of Rome if he were ever to be crowned. He compares Caesar to "A serpents egg/ which hatch'd, would, as his kind, grow mischievous,/ and kill him in the shell." He then decides to join Cassius in killing Caesar.
Caesar's assassination is one of the most famous scenes of the play, occurring in Act 3, scene 1. After ignoring the soothsayer, as well as his wife's own premonitions, Caesar comes to the Senate. The conspirators create a superficial motive for coming close enough to assassinate Caesar by means of a petition brought by Metellus Cimber, pleading on behalf of his banished brother. As Caesar, predictably, rejects the petition, Casca grazes Caesar in the back of his neck, and the others follow in stabbing him; Brutus is last. At this point, Shakespeare makes Caesar utter the famous line "Et tu, Brute?" ("And you, Brutus?", i.e. "You too, Brutus?") Shakespeare has him add, "Then fall, Caesar!" This suggests that such treachery destroyed Caesar's will to live.
The conspirators make clear that they committed this act for Rome, not for their own purposes, and do not attempt to flee the scene. After Caesar is killed, Brutus delivers an oration defending his actions, and for the moment, the crowd is on his side. However, Mark Antony makes a subtle and eloquent speech over Caesar's corpse, beginning with the much-quoted "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!" In this way, he deftly turns public opinion against the assassins by manipulating the emotions of the common people, in contrast to the rational tone of Brutus's speech, yet there is method in his rhetorical speech and gestures: he reminds them of the good Caesar had done for Rome, his sympathy with the poor, and his refusal of the crown at the Lupercal, thus questioning Brutus's claim of Caesar's ambition; he shows Caesar's bloody, lifeless body to the crowd to have them shed tears and gain sympathy for their fallen hero; and he reads Caesar's will, in which every Roman citizen would receive 75 drachmas. Antony, even as he states his intentions against it, rouses the mob to drive the conspirators from Rome. Amid the violence, an innocent poet, Cinna, is confused with the conspirator Lucius Cinna and is taken by the mob, which kills him by tearing him to pieces for such "offenses" as his bad verses.
The beginning of Act Four is marked by the quarrel scene, where Brutus attacks Cassius for supposedly soiling the noble act of regicide by having accepted bribes. ("Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake? / What villain touch'd his body, that did stab, / And not for justice?") The two are reconciled, especially after Brutus reveals that his beloved wife Portia had committed suicide under the stress of his absence from Rome; they prepare for a war against Mark Antony and Caesar's adopted son, Octavius. That night, Caesar's ghost appears to Brutus with a warning of defeat. (He informs Brutus, "Thou shalt see me at Philippi.")
At the battle, Cassius and Brutus, knowing that they will probably both die, smile their last smiles to each other and hold hands. During the battle, Cassius has his servant Pindarus kill him after hearing of the capture of his best friend, Titinius. After Titinius, who was not really captured, sees Cassius's corpse, he commits suicide. However, Brutus wins that stage of the battle--but his victory is not conclusive. With a heavy heart, Brutus battles again the next day. He loses and commits suicide by running on his own sword, which is held by a soldier named Strato.
The play ends with a tribute to Brutus by Antony, who proclaims that Brutus has remained "the noblest Roman of them all" because he was the only conspirator who acted, in his mind, for the good of Rome. There is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which characterizes another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra. | tragedy | train | wikipedia | More Television Technique Than Usual Here.
This production of Julius Caesar was directed by Herbert Wise.
It was his first and only contribution to the BBC Shakespeare series, and he was undoubtedly offered the job because of his superlative work directing the series "I Claudius." (Be sure also to track down his "The Woman in Black," a case study of how to scare the stuffing out of the audience with zero 'yuk' factor.) Shakespeare makes different demands than Robert Graves or Nigel Kneale, however, and the director gives us a production more tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of the television medium than most in the series.
Only here do we get gigantic closeups of the actors' faces, which are sometimes not sufficiently photogenic for such intense scrutiny.
On one of today's large-screen televisions, the effect can be overwhelming.
Also, the soliloquies are almost all voice over on the soundtrack accompanying the face of a closed-mouth actor, with actual speech only on certain key passages.
Either you find it more psychologically valid, or totally disruptive.Thanks to Herbert Wise, the general interplay of emotion is considerably more precise than in many others of the BBC Shakespeare series.
People talk, listen, act, react, think in the most detailed way, and the pace is always just.
Though the political aspect of the drama is given its due, the emphasis here is on the interpersonal relationships.The director is on record as saying that Shakespeare and television make a bad fit, and that no one up to this time has "cracked it." We can argue among ourselves whether he was right or not, but this show is different from all the others, and well worth watching.Richard Pasco, Charles Gray, Keith Michell and Virginia McKenna all turn in well-rounded performances.
Elizabeth Spriggs surprises as a warm and mobile Calpurnia.
given her chatty Mistress Quickly in "Merry Wives," and memorable turns in TV adaptations of "Middlemarch," "Martin Chuzzlewit" and "Sense and Sensibility." David Collings' Cassius starts out lean and hungry, but goes mushy and hysterical a little early.The play itself usually runs out of steam after Antony's oration, and here it is less of a problem than usual.
The physical production by Tony Abbott is good, providing a more spacious Rome than that of the Coriolanus broadcast, and a somewhat flowery battlefield.However, for those in search of an alternative, find on the Internet the audiocassette of the Caedmon Shakespeare Recording Society version of a generation earlier.
Anthony Quayle is the Brutus, John Mills the Cassius, Alan Bates the Mark Antony and Sir Ralph Richardson as Julius Caesar.
Even without visuals, everyone is one size larger, and I for one appreciate it..
A full play gives fuller characters and themes.
Unlike the movies, this is a full version of the play, clocking in at a little under three hours.
In performing the whole play, we see that Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's best plays- not simply for the masterful rhetoric but for the characterisation.
There are shades of Iago in the manipulative Cassius, eaten away by jealousy, and Brutus is a mixture of Macbeth and proto-Hamlet.The BBC Complete Shakespeare series has been criticised for over-reverence to the text, emphasising educational value over dramatic value, and for its low budget productions.
However, by presenting the full play, or at least, as full a version of the play than you are ever likely to get, they show subtleties and ambiguities that aren't present in streamlined versions.This production's strength is that it does not offer us the big tragic hero.
Initially, it looked as if Richard Pasco was going to play Brutus as the typical bland noble hero.
However, once Brutus does the deed, Pasco presents him as a lonely man with a lot of power but the inability to do anything with it.
This adds a wonderful irony to Brutus' earlier soliloquy musing on the extent of Caesar's ambition.David Collings initially presents us with a villainous ambitious Cassius, but then Cassius slowly becomes a tragic figure, who does what he does out of love and admiration for Brutus.
Admittedly it does come across as a bit stereotypically homosexual at times, but it is interesting to see Cassius as ultimately a good guy.Charles Grey is a very toad-like Julius Caesar.
Initially I disliked his performance; Caesar has generally been presented as a feeble man with a God-delusion.
Grey's Caesar is very much a man of the people.
He represents popular politics that are based around personalities (much like today's politics), which helped to contrast with Brutus' archaic concepts of honour.
Keith Michell as Marc Antony also showed that he belonged to the school of politics that appeals to emotions rather than honour.
Antony is probably the closest thing the play has to a hero, and even he looks villainous at one point, as he orders the death of his nephew.I would urge people who think they know the play to watch this production, look past the skimpy togas, and discover a play rich in themes and characters.
Julius Caesar is an eternally relevant play, more so than any other Shakespeare play..
So much more interesting at full length.
The strengths of this otherwise ploddingly straightforward production are that it gives us the whole play, which is for two-thirds of its length quite absorbing, and that it is so well spoken - from the principals to John Elliott as Octavius' messenger.
I wish it had been clearer that we'd moved from one scene to the next, and the unmouthed soliloquies work less well than in, say, Olivier's 'Hamlet'.
But Richard Pasco is a throughly decent Brutus (noble and nearly always wrong!), at his very best in the 'quarrel scene', David Collings (though overshadowed, as are all others I've seen since 1953, by Gielgud in the Mankiewicz film) a fine, mercurial Cassius (alas he played only a tiny part in the recent revival of the play at London's Barbican), Keith Michell is a thrilling, crafty Marc Antony and Charles Gray is splendidly self-important as 'JC' himself.
Sam Dastor's laconic account of Caesar's refusal of the crown is masterly, though thereafter he fades.
As for the women, a gaunt Virginia McKenna is a poignantly vulnerable Portia and Elizabeth Spriggs a warm Calpurnia.
The final battle is, as usual, distinctly underwhelming!.
Men at some time are masters of their fates.
When it comes to compiling a list of Shakespeare's best plays, from personal opinion, 'Julius Caesar' would not make the list, though it would certainly not be on the lesser play list.
That is not saying that it's a bad play, quite the contrary.
It is compelling with fully rounded characters, interesting themes and some of Shakespeare's most famous lines and speeches, Shakespeare once again showing how unrivalled he is in mastery of language, text and poetry whether in a few lines or big monologues.
It does though run out of steam dramatically towards the end and in performance very rarely is the final scene nailed.The late 70s-early 80s BBC Shakespeare adaptations are very interesting.
Quality-wise they are variable with not all of them being great, but it is great to see productions that are generally faithful and respectful and have distinguished casts (most with performances that are good or more, not all mind).
Even if some have problems with over-faithfulness, lack of imagination and under-budget.
Their 'Julius Caesar' from 1979 is towards the better end on the whole and the second best of the four productions transmitted at this point of the series, King Richard II' being the best and the others being 'Romeo and Juliet' (left me mixed) and 'As You Like It' (uneven but decent).
Though there is better in the series definitely.'Julius Caesar' is not completely perfect, a couple of aspects being hindered by budget.
Although there are worse in the series, the costumes are unimaginative and somewhat drab (though the attempt at authenticity is admirable), those togas do look quite cheap.As expected, but hoping the production would do it well, the final scene is once again not nailed and actually underwhelms.
The momentum had gone and the staging felt static.However, this production is interesting in quite a few respects.
The camera work is more expansive than that for most productions in the series and doing the solliloquies in voice overs had a very effective psychological qualities.
The characters are already fully rounded and flesh blooded, but are given more complexity and detail in the interpretations here (especially Brutus and Cassius).
The stage direction is on the most part involving on a dramatic level, everything makes sense and nothing distracts or comes over as tasteless, credit is also due in having more detail and precision in the interactions and emotions than most in the series, complex in some places and subtle in others.Costumes aside, 'Julius Caesar' doesn't look too bad with the sets being more authentic than those for the productions of the other Roman-set Shakespeare dramas/plays.
Shakespeare's text shines brilliantly, all the major lines having their impact and the speeches/solliloquies having the right amount of nuance and intensity.
There are great performances all round, a more subtle than usual Charles Gray portraying the title role with dignity and authority, nothing weak about him.
Keith Michell is a virile Marc Antony and Richard Pasco brings a conflicted edge to Brutus.
Same with David Collings as Cassius.
In the female roles, Virginia McKenna and Elizabeth Spriggs more than hold their own, the former very touching and the latter a warm and interesting departure from the roles she tended to usually play (very well just to say and more).On the whole, a 'Julius Caesar' worth praising and not one to bury.
8/10 Bethany Cox. A Fine Version of The Tragic Drama.
William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Julius Caesar, has always been one of his lesser liked plays.
It's predominantly an all male drama with only two supporting female characters like Calpurnia and Portia.
It was still a male dominated world in Caesar's time where women are wives, nurses, maids, and mistresses.
The BBC did a service in producing Shakespeare's plays faithfully to the word.
I watch the English subtitles to get a better account of the story.
The BBC has faithfully recreated the background scenes without much cost.
There is no audience for a reaction or applause.
The cast includes Charles in the title role.
He is a fine Caesar.
Richard Pasco and Keith Michell are also fine too.
Unlike Shakespeare's other tragedies, this story is about politics, power, corruption, and greed..
Cassius and Brutus plot to kill Caeser.
Heeding a warning and taking counsels is like a stitch in time which saves nine.
If Ceaser had listened to the counsel of refraining on the ides of march (15th march) he would have saved his soul alive.
On the other hand Cassius is a thoughtful and serious looking man who conspired with Brutus to assassinate the would be Roman ruler.
His ambitious life and high standards stopped his ears from counsels(as the saying goes in a multitude of counselors there is safety) The evil that men do will always live after them as the good that men do will inter with their bones unto their children's children.
For once swallow your pride and listen to reproves if perhaps you will be delivered.
Cassius has very curious looks and which Caeser could have noticed..
Best of the Roman-set Shakespearean dramas.
Heavy on dialogue and lacking in humour, "Julius Caesar" nevertheless has a great deal going for it - the powerful characters and some memorable speeches (I needn't list which ones), along with political intrigue combined with a supernatural undertone make this the best of Shakespeare's Roman dramas.Julius Caesar (Charles Gray) arrives back in Rome after a glorious victory in Pompey.
However, his inclinations towards political moves that would see him assume absolute control over the country see a rebellion among his inner circle that kick-starts a civil war that threatens to destroy the Roman Empire.Unlike "Coriolanus" and "Antony and Cleopatra", this production actually makes an effort for accuracy in it's period detail and the Roman costumes and sets (within the confines of a BBC budget) actually look pretty good.
The production employs an interesting technique of having the actors seem to 'think' their monologues (reacting wordlessly in camera as the monologue is spoken as a voice-over).
This is a great idea that I'd like to see used more often in Shakespeare screen adaptations.Charles Gray restrains the camp with which he imbues many performances and gives a very dignified and honest portrayal of Caesar.
Richard Pasco and David Collings are very good as the scheming Brutus and Cassius, and Virginia McKenna gives a very spirited and sensual performance as Portia.
Also of note is Keith Michell, who is excellent as Marc Antony.It's a sit-through with little humour to counter the drama but it's worth it..
A slightly dry political tragedy.
We have here one of the major plays by Shakespeare but it is not the one that is most often played or really and extensively quoted.
This is a political play with practically nothing else around.
The political bones are the very flesh of this animal.
Julius Caesar is a very short lived hero in this play.
He dies so fast that we can't even remember his face.
He is the hero of the play absent most of the time by failure of living long enough.
A small group of people come together to assassinate Julius Caesar because they are jealous of his fame and his power and his popularity.
They manage to get Brutus, the closest friend of Julius Caesar on their side and he will deliver the third but killing blow.
Then from that moment on the play is hijacked and becomes the retribution to the killers.
Mark Antony is the first and essential craftsman of that reversal of fate.
He manages to bring the popular crowd of Rome against the self-declared liberators.
And then the whole thing will have to be solved on the battlefield.
Brutus' brother will be lured into asking his ex-prisoner and freed soldier to kill him, which this one does with willingness because he can flee and be free after so many years of dependence.
Then all the members of the conspiration die one after another till the last one Brutus who manages to force a simple soldier to hold the sword on which he runs himself.
This is a typical cycle and construction for Shakespeare: someone disturbs the fragile equilibrium of society and society re-establishes its balance by eliminating every single member of the group that disturbed the peace of this society, Rome in this case.
The victors are those who were close to the first victim but not so close that they could have been eliminated at the same time as him.
If you listen careful to the play there are some tricky phrases that reveal more about Shakespeare's style.
"What trash is Rome?
What rubbish?
What offal?" Three questions, three negative words, three is the dooming number, the number of disquiet and disorder.
"Brutus is noble, wise, valiant and honest.
Caesar was mighty, bold, loyal and loving." That could be the perfect equilibrium of four plus four equal eight except that this balance is unbalanced by the antagonistic pair "is/was", and the order is important and means a rejection of the great man who has just been assassinated.
It is a second assassination.
And Brutus will give the logic of this construction by adding a fifth qualifying adjective, the fifth one of the diabolical pentacle, "ambitious", in a declaration that is the reversal of the tense line I have just pointed out: "As he was ambitious I slew him." It is obvious that this political assassination has no legal nor ethical foundation: it is the decision and the deed of a solitary man who decides all by himself that someone else has to die.
This is tyranny if tyranny does exist somewhere.
This play is probably less considered than Hamlet because there is no sentimental, emotional or simply personal element in it.
It is pure politics and as such it is austere and even cold, but Anthony and Cleopatra, or Macbeth, or King Lear have that "personal dimension that makes them "better".
The production of this play by the BBC is maybe slightly too slow.
They did a good effort for the setting to look grand enough not to be reduced to a sound stage, and for the crowds to be numerous enough to look like crowds, well at least large groups of people.
But they could and should have tightened up the rhythm of the play.
It is true too that the very difficult part of Brutus is maybe slightly too inward oriented, reserved or pacified.
Brutus is a fool who lets himself be fooled by jealous mediocre people who brandish the name of his ancestor who stood in front of Tarquin when his wife Lucretia was raped (and Shakespeare knew all the details since he wrote a narrative poem entitled The Rape of Lucrece) and by some other more or less superficial and light arguments.
Any sane general and any wise politician should have said no.
We know he did not.
But that's the shortcoming of the character and to render such an easily influenced person is extremely difficult and in this production they decided not to make him cynical but that might have been more credible or believable.
How could a fool like him become a general who was instated by the greatest general of the time, Julius Caesar himself?
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID |
tt0091738 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Peggy Sue Bodell sets off for her 25-year high school reunion in 1985 with her daughter, Beth, as company. Peggy has just separated from her high school sweetheart, now husband, Charlie, and is wary of attending the reunion because of everyone questioning her about his absence as they have been married since Peggy became pregnant right after graduation.
She arrives at the reunion and is happy to reconnect with her old best friends, Maddy and Carol. Charlie unexpectedly arrives at the reunion, causing an awkward scene with Peggy ignoring him. The awkwardness is ended when the event MC announces the reunion’s "king and queen." The king is Richard Norvik, a former class geek turned billionaire inventor. Peggy is named the queen and walks on stage, but after they wheel out the reunion cake, she faints.
When Peggy wakes, she finds herself back in the spring of 1960 during her senior year of high school, having passed out after donating blood in the school gym (where the reunion was). She finds all of her friends that she just left to also be their teenage selves, not just her. Still in shock, she allows herself to be taken home while she sees her surroundings are the way they were 25 years before. After a rough first night, she decides to have fun with the experience and behave as if everything is normal. However, when given the chance to break up with Charlie, she thinks it might be best since she knows how it will end.
Peggy makes friends with Richard Norvik, the class geek (and future billionaire), to figure out what is going on with her. Charlie gets jealous when she ignores him at lunch and makes arrangements to meet Richard after school to discuss time travel with him. When she tells him her secret, at first he thinks it's a joke. However, she tells things about him and the world that she would not know if she were not from the future. Although Peggy has decided to break up with Charlie (and her eyes have been on Michael Fitzsimmons given this new chance), she's the only one who wants that.
One night after a party, Peggy decides to sleep with Charlie. He then flips out and reminds her that she had rebuffed him the weekend before and therefore believes she's playing games, then drives her home. Instead of going inside, she takes a walk and ends up at an all-night cafe. As she walks by, she sees Michael Fitzsimmons — the artsy loner in school she always wished she’d slept with - and goes in to talk to him. After finding out they have more in common than originally thought, they ride off on his motorcycle. In a field, they smoke weed and find out more about one another. When he asks if she is going to marry Charlie, she responds that she already did that and will not do it again. After he recites some of his poetry for her, they have sex.
Michael reveals that he wants her to go with him and another woman to Utah (where polygamy is legal) so they can marry and support him while he writes. After his revelation, she tells him he should go and to write about their night together. In the middle of their conversation, she hears a voice she recognizes singing. When she looks at the stage, she sees that it's Charlie and realizes that she did not know everything about him. Michael is upset, thinks that she declined his offer for Charlie and is ready to go. After they leave, it's shown that Charlie was singing as a audition for an agent and is rejected. The next day when Peggy goes to talk to Charlie, he lashes out at her and she gives him a song she "wrote" for him (which ends up being "She Loves You", by The Beatles). She then goes to Richard to say goodbye so she can stop messing up her life and everyone else's since the reason Charlie stopped singing was her becoming pregnant right before they graduated. Richard proposes, but she refuses because she does not want to marry anyone and he has to be valedictorian. Confused, she visits her grandparents for her birthday. After her grandparents tell her that her grandmother can see the future, she confides her story in them. Her grandfather and his lodge friends then try a strange séance ritual to send her back to 1985.
Peggy is then kidnapped by Charlie, leaving everyone at the Lodge thinking that the ritual worked. He tells her that he told his dad that he gave up singing and was given 10% of the business so he can support her. He then proposes and gives her the locket she wore at the beginning of the film. When she looks inside, she sees baby pictures of her and Charlie, which resemble their children. Peggy sees how much he loves her and how much she loves him, and they kiss. They begin to make love, which would again lead to Peggy getting pregnant and marrying him. In the next moment, Peggy is transported back to 1985.
Peggy awakes in a hospital, with Charlie at her side. He is deeply regretful of his adultery and tells Peggy he wants her back. When she questions him about Janet, he swears it's over. It seems there's hope for them reconciling when Peggy looks at Charlie with new eyes and (citing a reference from her grandfather who claimed that her grandmother's strudel kept the family together) says, "I'd like to invite you over to your house for dinner on Sunday with your kids. I'll make a strudel." | dramatic, romantic, alternate history | train | wikipedia | If you liked the two movies I mentioned in my header, especially "Frequency" since it is about to be released on video - you will love this film!Kathleen Turner was excellent - I have seen Debra Winger (originally scheduled to play the title role) in several films, including "Terms of Endearment" and though I respect her as an actress, she just couldn't have done this part justice.
In the reunion of the twentieth-fifth anniversary of high school, the former popular student Peggy Sue, who is facing a divorce of her husband Charlie Bodell (Nicolas Cage), faints and wakes up in 1960.
Kathleen Turner is extremely beautiful in the lead role, and watching this movie in 2005, it is a great chance to see names like Jim Carrey, Joan Allen and Sofia Coppola twenty years ago in the beginning of their careers.
Too many scenes start the old water works for me.Peggy seeing her little sister for the first time, going into her old bedroom, and hearing her grandmother's voice on the phone are all quite touching.Call me crazy but I just love the moment where Charlie takes Peggy down into the basement and confronts her about what is going on.
When he leaves, Peggy opens a music box, pulls out a cigarette and lights it.Another special moment happens when Peggy smokes a joint and talks about what she'd like to be when she grows up, as she turns around and around under a starry sky.This is quite a good movie, filled with many special performances and scenes along the way..
Kathleen Turner is great in this movie, she more or less pulls off her task and is very believable as the teenager who gets to relive and, to some point, change and correct her past.
Francis Ford Coppola's talent for finding the perfect settings for his comic philosophic masterpiece is unerring throughout--even if he had to paint the streets in Petaluma purple just to get the exact effect that he wanted."Peggy Sue" would be very high on my all-time top 100 film list, if I had such a list.
She is now ready to step into her fate--her new enriched life (and there are also nuances of "It's a Wonderful Life" in the film).One last comment: nowadays, I cannot watch this "comedy" without tears in my eyes through pretty much the whole movie, and much of this effect is due to the masterful performance of Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue. Turner is usually on the hysterical edge of breaking down, and her proximity to the precipice is a knot in my gut through the whole movie.
Kathleen Turner is wonderful as the 40-something year old mother of two who is in the process of getting divorced from her husband(Nicolas Cage), but gets hurled 25 years into the past when she passes out at her high school reunion.
Originally intended for Debra Winger, but Kathleen Turner is wonderful as the title character Peggy Sue. It's a time-travel movie about a 42 year old woman who gets transported back in time to high school (circa early 1960's).
A much more touching time travel film than Back to the Future -- Turner's character (an unhappy middle-aged woman) has the chance to re-live her high school days and do things differently only to end up making the same mistakes she made before.
I consider Peggy Sue Got Married as one of the all time great movies.
Other than this the movie is very enjoyable to watch on ones own, with that special partner or even a girls-night in.One of a number of time-travel movies PSGM leaves the primary character initially confused with being aware of both the past, in which they are now living, & the future they have apparently left; 13 Going On 30 is a much better example scoring a perfect 10.PSGM holds together well for an old movie & should form part of your DVD collection..
Yes, it's great to see Cage, Hunt et al in one of their earlier movies but for me, Turner was, as usual, wonderful and elevated the film considerably.
"Peggy Sue Got Married" is a time travel movie you wish you could actually do.
It tells the story of a middle age woman who mysteriously, travels back in time, to her high school days where she attempts not to make the same mistake twice, i.e. marry her high school sweetheart and end up with an unhappy marriage.The movie never fails to bring me to tears in its poignant moments as Peggy Sue revisits her past- an early scene in which she speaks to her long dead grandmother on the phone is heartbreaking as is the scene in which she begs her soon -to-be husband, to give up his dreams of being a rock and roll singer because it will bring him grown up frustration and disappointment.
Turner's performance is easily her best and even Nicholas Cage's performance which was criticized heavily at the time, grows on you(he is attempting to create a character who is sometimes silly and unlikeable and it sometimes throws the film into a different direction).
I was really surprised with how much this picture affected me emotionally.Kathleen Turner plays Peggy Sue Bodell, who is attending her 25-year high school reunion with her daughter Beth (Helen Hunt).
Peggy Sue married right out of high school but now she and her husband, Charlie (Nicolas Cage) have separated.
Yes it would be awesome to return to a time where you could amass money and power, or change history for the better, but there is also something uniquely appealing about just being able to interact with the people from your own past and get a new perspective on what the world was like back then.One of my favorite moments in the film is when Peggy is talking to her then-boyfriend Charlie (Nicholas Cage).
Francis Ford Coppola's "Peggy Sue Got Married" is a sweet and tender fantasy film that explores all these thrilling possibilities.
And although it is probably inspired by the high school/ nostalgia/ coming to age wave characterized by the success of "Back to the Future" and Howard Hughes' teenage films of the 80's, the film borrows also some elements to a very defining movie of Francis Ford Coppola's generation, "American Graffiti".
No wonder, both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel made it in their Top 10 lists, they loved "American Graffitti", they loved "It's a Wonderful Life", how can't they love a film that borrows crucial plot elements to both, and still remain original.And Kathleen Turner is the Capraesque heroine; she plays Peggy Sue with a wonderful mix of childish enthusiasm and adult poignancy.
Peggy Sue is a woman in her 40's, with two grown-up kids, divorcing from her high school love Charlie (Nicolas Cage).
The irony of the movie is when Peggy Sue decided after the going back into her past that she should not have ever married her high school sweetheart (Cage).
My favourite part of the movie is where Katheleen Turner's character "Peggy Sue", who travel back into her past gives to Cage's character the lyrics to acclaimed song "She Love You" by the Beatles whereby he chooses to change the "Yeahs" to "Oohs" is too hilarious.
Kathleen Turner is very believable as the 30-something who goes back in time during a near-death experience and sees the cause and effect of what her actions would be in the future!I know someone complained about the voice Nicolas Cage used in the film-but it works!
"Peggy Sue Got Married" is one of the best examples in Francis Ford Coppola's achievement but if you look closer and examinate the story of the film you're gonna understand why he decided to make it almost if it was a retrospective look to his life and how things worked for him in terms of personal growth facing an incredible success in the 1970's and some failures in the 1980's.
In 1985, during a school reunion Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner, excellent) collapses in front of all her friends and schoolmates after being selected as queen of the prom and strangely travels in time back to the school days in the 1960's.
Resembling Marty McFly from "Back to the Future" series, Peggy changes some of her attitudes towards her best friends; her boyfriend Charlie (always remembering that someday he's gonna cheat on her); her parents (trying to enjoy more time with them); the future richer guy Richard (Barry Miller) who was a nerdy and underestimated guy (she approaches him telling the truth about her time travel and all the scientific things about to come in the future); and also she's gonna make some significant changes in her destiny, and one of these things is to know better Michael Fitzsimmons (Kevin J.O'Connor) a mysterious student she had a little crush but always were afraid to get close to him.But she's still trying to get some possible answers about her relationship with Charlie in this new past, torturing herself every time she stays with him, remembering all his love for her and then how things became so unbearable to her.
It gives Kathleen Turner a starring vehicle, playing a woman who travels back in time and gets to redo her adolescence knowing all of the things that life as an adult has taught her, and Turner, the trooper that she is, does what she can with it, but this movie couldn't be saved by anyone.It doesn't even have any style to it, and, given its director, one would expect that even if it had nothing else, it would have that.Grade: C-.
I could not possibly recommend Peggy Sue Got Married.A woman on the verge of divorce magically travels back in time to her high school years.
This film was a charming time-travel look at how one may revel in the past, rebuke the past, and yet maybe not change the past!I loved Turner in this movie, as I do with most of her work.
Now Peggy Sue is able to recognize the turning points in her life and, this time, she has the opportunity to make different choices.The film's one minus is Nicolas Cage's overacting.
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Peggy Sue Got Married is one of those movies I saw in theaters as a teenager, and though it's a movie about time travel, it really is so much more than that.
It's a movie that beautifully directed, scripted, acted, just everything about this movie is exceptional.A movie with such a great cast: Kathleen Turner (Romancing the Stone, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) as Peggy Sue Bodell, Nicolas Cage as her estranged ex-husband Charlie, Catherine Hicks, Joan Allen, Jim Carrey, and Helen Hunt.The What could've been story about Peggy Sue, who always wondered what went wrong, and what could have been, when she finds herself back in the 1950s at her high school reunion.
Francis Ford Coppola and his cameramen have selected a number of interesting angles from which to shoot the film, the music soundtrack is great, and there quite a few good performances delivered by the cast, with the best bits coming from Barry Miller and Kevin J.
The script includes the usual comic anachronisms of all time-travel plots, and ignores the familiar paradoxes (why doesn't Peggy Sue remember as an adult at the beginning of the film the second adolescence she is soon to experience?).
A confusing climax further stretches credibility way beyond the breaking point, but even with these few, nagging drawbacks and dubious central casting (Kathleen Turner looks too old for a teenager; husband Nicholas Cage is too young to be convincingly middle-aged) the film still marked a welcome return to Earth for director Francis Ford Coppola..
I saw this recently because I saw the review Siskel and Ebert gave of the film on youtube and since those guys were always pretty much on the spot I decide to watch it, and I was pleasantly surprised.The movie revolves around Peggy Sue Bodell, a beautiful woman on the verge of divorcing from her high school sweetheart Charlie Bodell played wonderfully by Nicolas Cage, who after fainting at her high school reunion finds herself back in time to the year 1960 when she was still a senior in school.The movie works so well because Kathleen Turner is such a fantastic actress and she really channels the character of Peggy Sue. This is unlike any character she'd played before.
But it's not just his voice, it's the heart he gives to his character that makes us see why the beautiful and popular Peggy Sue falls for him.The film also features great performances by Catherine Hicks and Joan Allen who play Peggy's loyal friends, Carol and Maddy.
There are more obvious choices for viewing Francis Ford Coppola as a director, but this little gem is worth viewing a Kathleen Turner's best movie, in my humble opinion.For me, it is probably the ultimate fantasy (except for being the one who makes Halle Berry a happy woman).
Peggy Sue (Turner) is living a crappy life and facing divorce from Charlie (Nicolas Cage), who was her high school sweetheart.
Peggy Sue Got Married follows the line of 1985's massively successful Back to the Future, with its protagonist travelling back in time a few decades to a world of rock 'n' rollers and high school dances.
And 2) The time traveler does not make changes in the past without expecting the future that he or she came from to be different as a result.But of course in this movie Peggy Sue does both--often.
This movie begins with a woman named "Peggy Sue" (Kathleen Turner) nervously preparing to attend her 25th high school reunion.
RELEASED IN 1986 and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, "Peggy Sue Got Married" chronicles events when the title character (Kathleen Turner) faints at her 25th high school reunion and mysteriously finds herself back in school just before graduation, 25 years earlier!
But an accident as Kathleen Turner is accepting her reunion queen crown knocks her unconscious and she's transported back to her high school days with all the folks she's enjoying happy and unhappy memories.Coming right down to it Peggy Sue Got Married is a combination of The Wizard Of Oz and It's A Wonderful Life.
All three films have the same moral, that there's no place like home.Kathleen Turner got her career role and an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in Peggy Sue Got Married.
The transformative stage in which we are discovering who we are and who we want to become is purely illustrated in this Coppola film.Dreading going to her 25th reunion occurring in the midst of her separation from her high school sweetheart due to infidelity, Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) dons a dress reminiscent of the type of dress she would have worn all those years ago.
Looking back, I realize there are so many things I would like to have done differently, I wonder if it would have changed anything, and Peggy Sue gets to do that.
Yet it has never been so poignant, so refreshing than it is in Peggy Sue Got Married, a classic high school movie from the great American director Francis Ford Coppola.What Coppola does here is put a spin on the classic Frank Capra-type story of using nostalgia and the past to bring deep emotions and feelings to the surface.
Another great element Coppola must have added was to have Kathleen Turner play Peggy Sue as an adult even when she is a teenager.
Peggy Sue Bodell, 43, goes to her 25-year high school reunion.He goes there with her daughter Beth for she's divorcing her high school sweetheart Charlie.At the reunion she faints and wakes up in 1960 as a 17-year old youngster.She has to wake up for school again where she meets all her old friends young and Charlie is her singing boyfriend.She wants her life to be a little bit different but keeps making the same mistakes.Francis Ford Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married is a fascinating film from 1986.It's a slightly different time travel themed movie than, say Back to the Future with Michael J.
Fox, which was made a year earlier.In this one we can't be sure whether the protagonist has actually travelled back in time or is she only dreaming.The role of Peggy Sue is played by Kathleen Turner who does a steady job.Helen Hunt is her daughter.Her best friends Carol and Maddy are played by Catherine Hicks and Joan Allen.The parents Jack and Evelyn are played by Don Murray and Barbara Harris.The legendary Maureen O'Sullivan is her grandmother and John Ames Grandpa.Nicholas Cage, the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, plays Charlie Bodell.We also see his daughter Sofia Coppola, who later became a famous director, playing Nancy Kelcher, Peggy Sue's sister.The bullied kid Charlie Norvik is portrayed by Barry Miller.Jim Carrey is in his early role playing Walter Getz, the class clown (surprise, surprise).Kevin J.
Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner) is a middle age woman getting divorced from her husband Charlie Bodell (Nicolas Cage) who has a young girlfriend.
The scene between her and Turner are the highlight of the film for me.A good idea with some good performances + a lousy Nicholas Cage = a movie that should have/could have been much better.5 out of 10.
"Peggy Sue Got Married" is a quirky time travel movie that is of course cute.
She wishes she could "go back and do things differently", and when she wins the title of class queen, she faints, and wakes up in 1960.She soon realizes she actually does have the chance to make some changes in her life, and starts out trying to break up with her boyfriend whom she will marry in the future, Charlie Bodell, played by Nicolas Cage.
With this knowledge, she is given a second chance to guide her life in another direction.Comments: Now, twenty years after its release, its kind of like watching a reunion of sorts with stars like Kathleen Turner, Nicholas Cage, Jim Carrey, Joan Allen, Helen Hunt and Sofia Coppola in early roles. |
tt0295721 | Taxi 3 | A group of thieves calling themselves the Santa Claus gang are wreaking havoc, using Santa Claus costumes to commit heists, and the Marseille police are, as usual, unable to keep up. Superintendent Gibert (played by Bernard Farcy) is distracted by a Chinese journalist (Bai Ling) writing a story on his squad, and is unable to stop the robbers.
Detective Emilien's wife, Petra, has just announced that she's pregnant and taxi driver Daniel (Samy Naceri) is in the midst of a relationship crisis. His long-suffering girlfriend Lilly has walked out on him after finding him customising his taxi at four o'clock in the morning, and complaining that their house has become a mere garage and how Daniel stopped paying attention to her.
After a string of mistakes in which the thieves outsmart the police time and time again, the journalist is kidnapped. It is revealed that the journalist is the leader of the Santa Claus gang. The police go in search, but Emilien is captured after another botched attempt to arrest them. The journalist sets a trap; she leaves Emilien tied to a chair in an old warehouse, directly in the path of a giant ball which will crush him five minutes later. At the very last moment, Daniel rushes in with his taxi and rescues him. They track the gang to their hideout in the Swiss mountains, where the journalist and her accomplices are arrested by a crack team of Alpine troops. Gibert lands in an ice-bound lake after leaping from an aircraft with them. Petra gives birth, Daniel proposes to Lilly and a Gibert is seen being pushed around in a wheelchair covered in ice. | humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0099669 | La gloire de mon père | This film is set in the period between 1900 and the First World War in 1914. Young Marcel was born in the country but raised in Marseilles. His father, Joseph, is a hard-working strongly atheist public school teacher in Marseilles. Marcel's Aunt Rose marries the round, jovial, and very theistic and Roman Catholic Uncle Jules. Joseph and Uncle Jules come into conflict over religion.
Over summer break, Joseph and Jules decide to take their respective families to a house in the country. Here, Jules decides to educate Joseph on hunting. Marcel wants to come hunting with them, but the two adults lie to him and leave the house while he is still just waking up. He follows them stealthily and is angered by the way Jules makes a fool of Joseph with his hunting prowess. Marcel is lost in the wilderness when he meets a boy called Lili, who tells him where the hunting party is. Joseph takes potshots at two rock partridges and they fall to ground beside Marcel. He watches as Jules reprimands Joseph for shooting at and missing the birds. At this point, Marcel reveals himself and the partridges.
Later, Lili, who knows everything about the countryside, becomes Marcel's friend and teaches him about the ways of the countryside. They regularly go exploring in the countryside of Provence, in southern France.
As the holiday comes to an end, Marcel plans with Lili to hide himself in a cave, and live there as a hermit, in order to continue living in Provence, which he has grown very fond of. On the day of their departure, Marcel gets up early in the morning. He has written a letter for this purpose earlier, explaining his disappearance to his parents, and excusing his behaviour. He warns them that they will not be able to find him in his "new home," and should not bother searching. He then walks to the cave with Lili, who was waiting for him near his house. As they arrive, Marcel begins to become afraid of living alone. He invents all kinds of excuses to avoid living in the cave. He then runs home quickly to prevent his parents reading the letter, which he had placed on his pillow. As he returns home, everyone is already busy loading up a carriage for the journey home. He runs up to his room, and discovers that the letter is still on his pillow, and he assumes that no one has read it. As he gets ready to leave the house for a last time, his parents make a remark which indicates that they in fact did read the letter. The film ends with Marcel and his family departing in a coach, and Lili looking on. | romantic, storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1194142 | Mercenaries 2: World in Flames | === Beginning ===
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is set in August 2010 in Venezuela. The story begins as the player approaches businessman Ramon Solano's villa. The player is greeted by a man named Blanco, who worked with the player in the past. In the meeting inside the villa, Solano hires the player to rescue a Venezuelan Army General Carmona who is being held prisoner in an old colonial fortress on an island off the coast by the Army after a failed coup attempt. The player uses weapons and air strikes supplied by Solano to assault the fortress and rescue Carmona. But once Carmona is rescued, Solano attempts to murder the player to avoid paying and to make sure there is no one to interfere with his plans. The player escapes despite being "shot in the ass", and begins to plan revenge on Solano.
Following a second successful coup by Carmona, Solano is chosen as the "civilian leader of a military government". Solano attempts to seize control of the country's oil supply, which is held by a company called Universal Petroleum (UP). Fierce fighting ensues between Universal Petroleum's hired mercenaries and the Venezuelan Army (referred to as the VZ in the game) under Solano's control. This results in the collapse of the country, especially in the city of Maracaibo, where the UP's overseas headquarters is located. This chaos drives people from their homes and causes widespread property damage. After taking control over Solano's villa, the player establishes their private military company (PMC) and helps the causes of the factions in exchange for money and information on Solano. This includes capturing VZ outposts, "verifying" High Value Targets (or "HVTs" for short) by either capturing or killing them, destroying key structures, and doing other work that the faction's forces cannot accomplish.
The mercenary first works for Universal Petroleum in the city of Maracaibo. The merc is given his first proper contract by the CEO Dr. Lorraine Rubin, to rescue a high-ranking member of UP held by the VZ somewhere in the city of Maracaibo. Eventually, the mercenary finds him in an armored van on one of the main roads in the city and rescues him.
The player's next contract involves the protecting of the CFO of UP, currently stranded at the UP oil refinery. The refinery was evacuated due to Solano's "nationalization" program, which involved the overtake of the refinery. The CFO remained there in order to dispose of secret documents. The mercenary protects the CFO while he disposes of the documents, before they themselves escape as the refinery is overtaken by the VZ. During a conversation in the car on the way back to Maracaibo, the CFO reveals that Universal Petroleum didn't trick the country into letting them extract the oil for virtually nothing, but in fact that they tricked the country into paying UP for the oil rights.
At their return, Rubin gives the player the time of the meeting between Solano and Blanco, but doesn't know the location of the meeting. She then suggests that the merc should go to the PLAV, or the People's Liberation Army of Venezuela, for information.
Around this time, the player can choose to work with a faction of Jamaican-based pirate smugglers operating in the islands of the north section of Lake Maracaibo. Involvement with the "Pirates" does not alter the gameplay and the Pirates only offer HVT, bounty, and small contracts in exchange for money. There are no main contracts supplied by the Pirate leader, making them useful only for their superiority of the North section of Lake Maracaibo and their cheap equipment they can sell to the mercenary.
The merc meets with the PLAV (People's Liberation Army of Venezuela), a group of rebel guerrillas intent on taking the country back to civilian rule. The faction is backed by China, which is intent on gaining oil rights. The leader, Marcella Acosta, offers the mercenary some contracts in exchange for information, including taking of the town of Mérida from the Venezuelan army. After several contracts, Marcella conveniently tells the mercenary she knows the location of the meeting between Solano and Blanco and offers a final contract to destroy the oil platform the meeting is on and verify Blanco.
Upon verifying Blanco and destroying the oil platform, the player learns of Solano's hidden bunker at Angel Falls and attempts to destroy it, but fails as it is hardened against normal bunker buster weapons. Shortly after, the player is forced to defend their own headquarters from Carmona and VZ troops. After repelling the attack and verifying Carmona, it is revealed that sinking the oil platform triggered an international response. As expected by Carmona, a large coalition of US-led Allied Nation troops from the original game (an imitation of the UN) and the Chinese move into the country. However, Carmona and his men hold on to the country thanks to an agreement with North Korea which gives them advanced weaponry and training. The AN is supposedly a peacekeeping and nation-rebuilding force for war-torn countries (as seen in North Korea), but the player finds that at the center of the operation is a CIA agent named Joyce, who was ordered to secure the oil supply when it became clear that their allies, Universal Petroleum, could not do so. The Chinese Army invaded when it became clear that the PLAV only wanted to stop Blanco and Carmona for personal reasons rather than overthrow the new government. Both factions battle for control of Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, and the oil supply.
=== Allied plotline ===
As the Allies invade, they begin to make posts across the country, and heavily reinforce the city of Maracaibo, the location of the Universal Petroleum headquarters, and set their own headquarters south-west of Caracas, wishing to expand into the city with the help of the mercenary.
A CIA agent named Agent Joyce offers contracts in exchange for a Nuclear Bunker Buster. The first contract involves stopping the Chinese bombardment on the city using both artillery and boats.
The next contract is to destroy a CIA plane wreck on the nearby Chinese occupied island of Margarita and rescue the surviving crew as a bonus.
When the merc returns, they find Joyce crippled in a wheelchair due to an IED, as part of a small attack on the AN base. Apparently, Solano had found out that Joyce was working with the mercenary and set to "disuade" him. The final contract is to stop the impending Chinese invasion of Caracas. The mercenary is also told to "verify" General Peng, leader of the Chinese campaign in Venezuela. As the Chinese invade, the Allies prepare a counterstrike, and the mercenary secures the city and makes their way to Peng's castle near Cumaná, another occupied city to the east, causing the player to become an enemy of the state to the Chinese. Eventually, the mercenary makes their way to the castle and verifies Peng, saving the Allies from major defeat in the region. The player meets with Joyce, who gives them the money promised but refuses to hand over the nuke. However, they then see a mushroom cloud in the distance, and Fiona, the mercenary's support operative, tells them that Solano just nuked the Allied HQ. Solano then broadcasts over the city that if Allied troops do not evacuate the country immediately, more destruction will follow. Joyce is told by his superiors he must retreat back to America, and gives the mercenary the weapon to stop Solano.
=== Chinese plotline ===
China invades Venezuela to secure another source of oil to meet their growing demand. The allied take control of Margarita, an island in the northeast portion of the map, and the outskirts of the Allied-controlled city of Cumaná.
Soon after, the faction pays the mercenary to take various outposts around the city. After this, they meet with General Peng, who was promoted after his successful campaign in North Korea. Peng reveals he is glad the mercenary is back, and offers him a series of contracts in exchange for a nuclear weapon. The Allies are holding a Chinese soldier hostage in the center of Cumaná. To Peng's annoyance, the Chinese are ordered to halt operations until the soldier is saved. Peng tells the mercenary that in his first contract, he must rescue the soldier, and for a bonus, destroy the three key Allied-controlled buildings in the city. The Chinese then occupy the city for themselves. The second contract is to secure the oil for China by eradicating Universal Petroleum by:
Destroying the General Carmona bridge linking Maracaibo to Caracas and the bulk of the AN forces
Destroying the Universal Petroleum HQ in Maracaibo
Destroying the Universal Petroleum processing plant, thus rendering it useless.
The mercenary levels the buildings, leaving only ruins. China then secures the country's oil.
Peng offers the player his last contract, leading the Chinese assault on Caracas by verifying CIA operative Agent Joyce at the Allied HQ, destroying key Allied Nation occupied buildings in the city, and stopping any counterstrike from the AN. After battling through Caracas, the mercenary eventually gets to the Allied HQ and verifies Joyce. In Caracas, they meet with Peng, who tells the mercenary that the nuke and the cash are being delivered as they speak. They are interrupted in their conversation by a mushroom cloud going off in the distance, with Fiona revealing that the Castle of Saint Anthony near Cumaná, the Chinese base, was destroyed by Solano. Solano then broadcasts over the city that if Chinese troops do not withdraw from the country, more devastation will follow. Peng is ordered by Chinese superiors to return to China, and wishes the mercenary the best of luck with their final mission.
=== Ending ===
The player returns to Solano's bunker in a second attempt to destroy it. After fighting through Solano's heavier defenses, the player uses the nuclear bunker buster to blast open an entrance. Solano almost escapes the ruins in a helicopter, before the player hijacks it and kills the pilot. The player confronts Solano, with Solano begging for his life. The merc shoots Solano then bails out of the helicopter. If the player has captured all of the game's HVTs prior to capturing Solano, then Solano is knocked out and captured by the player, who calls the faction leader of the side assisted in the battle for Caracas, and informs them of this fact, wanting revenge for Solano nuking their HQ. The end cutscene does not change, however. The game ends with Fiona declaring Solano "Verified" on her laptop and talking about moving to India for their next contract. | violence | train | wikipedia | Forget the bad reviews, this game is brilliant. I came across Mercenaries 2 for very cheap in a second hand store and assumed that the low price meant that it would be an inferior game, but since I needed a game to play I just went for it. I was a little apprehensive about the negative reviews but once I started playing I was instantly hooked. They complained of glitches, but there really ain't any more than your average video game.Since I only had the Gamecube out of the last generation consoles I never got to play the first Mercenaries game, but it matters not. This is a stand alone sequel. You play as one of three characters (I chose Marcus Nilsson) hired and betrayed by a Venezuelan leader called Solano. The rest of the game is your hunt to find and kill Solano, working for various factions in order to gain info and supplies.The missions are all of the hunt/kill/rescue/deliver variety.I found some of them to be rather difficult but I never had to retry more than five times, so that ought to give you an idea of the overall difficulty. There are plenty of trophies too, but, annoyingly, a lot of them are rewarded for online play, which I am not really interested in.There are loads of guns and explosives and vehicles for you to experiment with, and almost everything in the entire gaming environment is destructible. I loved demolishing a towering skyscraper with a C4 package, tank or even air strike.Pros:Bright, colorful graphics featuring loads of sunshine and blue sky. Good music by Chris Tilton. Great voice acting by Peter Stormare. Grim satisfaction in gunning down adversaries and getting paid for each one.Cons:Annoying long drives between destinations. Timer on bets with friends used unfairly. Fiona's repetitious dialogue got on my nerves.The cheap price is not a reflection of quality. If you find this game don't hesitate to pick it up.Graphics A Sound A+ Gameplay A- Lasting Appeal A-. Stanleys Stamp Of Approval: This Game Is A Blast!. I loved Mercenaries, and when i heard about the second one, I was pumped. A few days later I saw a commercial and I told all my friends about it. Then I played it, and I was hooked for hours. The first one was amazing. The second one is amazingly awesome. You can have the usual helicopters, trucks, tanks, cars, and including some new stuff, like motorcycles, sports cars, and yes, a moped. You are in Venesuela, so there is an obvious Venesuela setting, with a soundtrack to match it. The environment is destructible, for example, if your driving a tank, and you see a non-sturdy house you can plow right through it. So its a bit more destructive than the first. So it I were you, I would take the money you got, go out, and immediately buy it. Its a game you wont leave easily!!! -$tanley |
tt0076516 | The Pack | The film opens with a farmer hearing sounds and going out to his barn to investigate. A short time later his wife awakens from her easy chair by the fireplace to see his cigarette burning in the ashtray but he is not in the house. She goes to find him and hears a noise in the barn. As she enters the barn, she is killed by an unknown creature.
The next morning a neighboring farmer, Adam (Jack Campbell) finds several of his sheep dead after having their throats ripped out by a creature in the night. Meanwhile, his wife Carla (Anna Lise Phillips) is working in her veterinary clinic and hears the report of the dead farmers on the radio. She snaps off the radio and sends her son Henry (Hamish Phillips) out to play. The daughter Sophie (Katie Moore) is on the roof of the vet clinic laying in a lounger talking to her boyfriend on the phone. Carla sits at her desk and picks up the overdue $435 phone bill and angrily calls her daughter Sophie, who ignores her prompting her mother to yank the cord out of the wall. Sophie storms into the clinic and argues with her mother about farm life being solitary confinement and how they should move into the city, Carla counters this by suggesting she help out around the farm or get a job to help pay the phone bill. Henry comes in to let his mother know the man is back. Carla sends the kids in the house and calls for her husband over the walkie talkie.
The man turns out to be a bank manager and during the course of conversation it is revealed that their payments are in arrears and the farm is being foreclosed despite Carla's clinic being a new source of income. The snide and sarcastic bank manager tells them they can take the reduced amount of $200,000 for their barn or be forced out in 48 hours, but Adam refuses to sell as the only reason they are unprofitable is because the sheep keep being attacked and stating that they will never have to leave. The manager drives off and stops on the side of the road to urinate, but before he can return to his car he is promptly attacked by a pack of wild dogs that viciously tear his flesh and drag him down the hill.
Later that night the family is having a quiet evening. Sophie, who is in the shower, does not notice the shadow of a dog in the hall. When Carla and Henry go into the basement to change a fuse and she jump-scares him and teases him about being afraid. Adam goes outside to start the generator, when he realizes the family dog is missing. Calling for it, he walks to the edge of the forest and sees a few sets of yellow eyes staring back at him. He backs away from the forest as howling begins and large shadows start to pursue him, and rushes back into the house just ahead of the dogs who try to get into the house.
When he goes to get his rifle he notices that there are only two bullets and questions Carla about it who tells them that they have been going missing, although it was revealed earlier in the film to be Henry who is taking them, Carla calls the police and tells them there is a break-in while Adam trains his rifle on the door and shoots through it hitting the dog. He opens the door to see if it is dead and is attacked by it, and accidentally fires off his other round before dropping his rifle which skids out the door. Carla grabs a weapon and begins to beat the dog. A police officer arrives at the farmhouse to investigate and attempts to radio in to the police precinct. He gets out of his vehicle and as he approaches the house the pack viciously attacks him before dragging his body into the woods. Adam goes out to his pick-up truck and lets the family know it is safe to come out so they can escape in the truck. Just then a dog leaps through his window breaking the glass and biting him. He hits the gas and his trucks leaps forward plowing into the police car totaling both vehicles.
Carla hides Sophie and Henry in the pantry while an injured Adam goes out to the vet clinic to get additional ammo as Carla began storing the ammo in her office to stop them going missing. Adam gets into the clinic and finds there are only a few shells left. He hears a noise in the other room and creeps over to find a wild dog eating the animals in cages. Sophie begins calling him over the walkie talkie which alerts the dog to his presence and it attacks Adam who fights it off with the rifle. Meanwhile, another wild dog is trying to get into the closet and attack the kids but Carla stabs it with a kitchen knife and it runs off. They make an alternate plan to climb up onto the roof of the vet clinic. Adam goes first to snipe the dogs while the kids stealthily go through the interior dog run. Henry stops to collect some unused rifle shells he has hidden there. Carla has been making firebombs from flammable liquid she had in the house to throw at the dogs while the kids run across the last patch of lawn to the ladder. The leader of the pack sees Carla and runs toward her. As she runs back for the house she sees it closing in on her. She goes to the pick-up truck instead and climbs through the back window to get the tire iron and beat it. She fights it off long enough to get the truck door open. As it leaps through the window and she slams the door, closing the dog inside. She hides under the truck but is soon dragged out by the dog. As she sits at the side of the truck with the crowbar still in hand, the lead dog approaches her slowly snarling and showing his teeth. As he is about to attack, Adam appears on the roof of the truck, and shoots him in the head.
As day breaks the bloodied exhausted parents lead the children back to the house and the family dog comes bounding out of nowhere to join them. The camera pans above the house and through the forest before a close up of a dark cave entrance. A pair of yellow eyes like the ones earlier in the film, peer out from the darkness before the end credits begin. | tragedy, violence, horror, murder | train | wikipedia | The Pack, released in 1977 with a cast of solid but not-all-that-well-known actors, is the inevitable killer dogs variation of the theme.
Surprisingly, the film proved to be very well-made, with lots of excitement and some skillfully edited dog attacks, plus an unexpected injection of humour (sample: R.G Armstrong has a hilarious line, commenting upon the disappearance of an overweight tourist: "if he had any sense, he'd climb a tree.
That is if he can get his fat ass off the ground!")Marine biologist Jerry (Joe Don Baker) has been working on a remote island called Seal Island, where he has begun to build a house for himself, his girlfriend Millie (Hope Alexander-Willis), and their children from previous marriages.
Things get awkward for the holiday-makers and the residents when they learn that a pack of dogs - mostly pets abandoned by tourists at the end of the season - are roaming the island.
One by one, the people on Seal Island are hunted by the bloodthirsty canines and torn apart, leading the survivors to barricade themselves inside a building where they attempt to survive until the arrival of the weekly ferry.Writer-director Robert Clouse (of Enter the Dragon fame) has fashioned a genuinely exciting story here.
The dog attack sequences are very well handled and seem realistic, which adds to the film's excitement (in films like Nightwing, the animal attacks looked too fake, too funny, to be frightening...
but not so in The Pack!) If you're searching for a rampaging animal movie that is actually good, then look no further..
On a small tourist island, a handful of people is besieged by a pack of wild dogs.
There is no hesitation on veteran action director Robert Clouse's part to show the dogs being killed in equal measure.
Joe Don Baker stars, and several familiar faces, among them Richard Schull, Bibe Besch and R.G. Armstrong, provide strong support.
Thanks to uncaring tourists, a pack of wild dogs has slowly been building on Seal Island.
beast war against the island's inhabitants led by marine biologist Jerry (Joe Don Baker, who qualifies as both man and beast).
A pretty darn exciting horror-action flick from director Robert Clouse that re-teams him with Baker after the equally entertaining GOLDEN NEEDLES (1974).
Baker is affable, but the real stars here are the pack of canine characters, led by a mongrel that probably spent his later years terrified of mono filament line.
There are also some dopey bits like people always running outside and the characters not being attacked as they carry a dead body out of the house because, as Baker puts it, "we have torches." I'm surprised at how much the recent killer dog flick THE BREED (2006) ripped this one off..
It takes place on a resort island where the year round residents, and some visitors, now have to deal with the problem of a ferocious dog pack that is the result of vacationers having adopted these dogs for the summer and then abandoned them.
The animal action is first rate - the principal trainer is Karl Lewis Miller, an old hand at that kind of thing for many years, and he gets utterly convincing performances from the canine stars, especially the primary antagonist, a mangy mongrel, and the pathetic straggler of the group who we see abandoned near the beginning of the movie.
The human cast does not fare badly, either, with the ever solid Joe Don Baker, playing a marine biologist, as the kind of hero you can root for.
(Of course, there are also the standard characters in this thing who you pretty much *hope* are going to come to a bad end.) Hope Alexander-Willis is his appealing leading lady, and the supporting cast features such reliable performers as Richard B.
"The Pack" is perhaps the best Killer Dog movie ever made.
The Killer Shrews, Savage Harvest, Day of the Triffids, and a hundred other films all used this same premise, some with greater results than others."The Pack" is one of the better ones.
But lots of menace, as a pack of dogs terrorize people on an island.What makes "The Pack" a cut above other films in its genre is that the dogs aren't played as blood-thirsty monsters.
In addition to a few genuine scares, this movie also has heart, and last scene will make you cry.Joe Don Baker, Richard B.
Shull, R.G. Armstrong and Bibi Besch are among the cast, and the performances are good, but the scene stealer is the lead dog, who's manic, vicious, lethal, and still an animal, a living creature, not just a monster."The Pack" was directed by Robert Clouse, who directed Bruce Lee in "Enter The Dragon."..
The basic premise of this underrated 70's "Nature revolting against Humanity" flick truly fascinated me, because I've always been concerned about how it would affect dogs' most primitive instincts if they were to be abandoned by their owners.
Personally I think this is a terrific outline for a low-budget horror movie, and in the competent hands of director Robert Clouse ("Enter the Dragon", "The Ultimate Warrior") it became a magnificently atmospheric and suspenseful thriller, with some very memorable moments and good acting performances.
The events take place on a small vacation resort called Seal Island, where tourists mainly come for to fish and to enjoy nature.
The animal eventually bites through his leash and joins an entire pack of abandoned and already bewildered of dogs, led by a vicious and truly menacing crossover breed.
This is easily one of the best "killer-dog" movies I've ever seen, and it benefices from a whole lot of secondary aspects like the isolated and claustrophobic island location, the detailed character drawings of the locals and the fact that the emphasis lies on tension instead of on graphic massacres.
Joe Don Baker gives a terrific performance as the marine biologist who eventually also turns into a loud-barking pack-leader himself.
The dogs and then particularly the leader of the pack are impressively scary, so big kudos to the people who trained them.
On an isolated island,a group of vacationers are trapped by a bloodthirsty pack of rabid dogs.After a fierce storm destroys communication with the island and no help coming for several days,the terrorize travelers struggle to survive the increasingly violent attacks by the ravenous canines.Very well-made and suspenseful animal attack flick with some genuinely intense dog attacks.There is truly nail-biting siege of the house and Joe Don Baker locked inside the cabin and fighting with rabid canines.The scene where Lois is attacked by the pack of dogs whilst being locked in a small Volkswagen predates Lewis Teague's "Cujo".The vacationers cruelly abandon their pets and it's time for dogs to get some bloody revenge!8 out of 10.One of the most underrated horror movies of late 70's..
The Pack is certainly the only film I've seen about a pack of wild dogs terrorising a group of humans.
However, in general; Robert Clouse's film just doesn't capitalise on its positive elements, which leaves it all feeling more than a little bit flat.
The plot centres on a group of people on Seal Island, whose serene existence is interrupted by a pack of wild dogs.
These dogs are, naturally, very hungry; and it's not long before they realise that the island features a plentiful food supply, and unfortunately for the people there - they are it.The film is at its best when the dogs are on the attack and the director delights in showing them looking rabid and hungry...but unfortunately, they never really look too threatening when they're not tearing into soft-top cars or breaking through windows.
Veteran actor Joe Don Baker takes the lead role, and does well in providing the offbeat hero as the man doesn't particularly look like someone who you would expect to be fighting off a pack of hungry dogs.
The island location provides a good setting for a film like this, though, and the way that the characters are isolated adds a little extra terror.
Horror movie about a pack of neglected dogs who go wild and start attacking people on an island.
The movie stars Joe Don Baker and a cast of somewhat familiar faces like R.G. Armstrong and the guy who played Paul on Cheers.
What works best is the location filming and the use of real dogs.
I know that might sound weird but today everything is CGI fakery so I always find the use of "real" refreshing when watching older movies like this.
Enjoying a weekend getaway, a group of high-society friends arrive on a secluded island getaway for a vacation finds the entire island is overrun by wild dogs left behind over the years and turned into vicious, hungry kills forcing them to battle the dogs to get away alive.This one here wasn't all that bad and has some good things about it.
The idea of having this be based around the dogs that have now turned feral and wild out in the wilderness makes for a pretty realistic scenario for this type of story, and is handled in a logical manner with them simply looking for nourishment rather than attacking for any kind of mutation-based change or other forms of alterations that have been attempted over the years.
A later chase scene through the woods and out to a large rocky outcropping on the top of a cliff is another rather enjoyable action-packed chase with the dogs continually closing in until the final encounter out by the sea, and there's even more great fun to be had here with their attempts at stopping the pack from them storming their hideout in the rain to the failed attempt at running them over with the car and the absolutely crazy attack on their fortress as the pack breaks in at several spots forcing them into some inventive and fun barricading themes that are part of what makes this so much fun.
However, that also brings out the film's single biggest flaw with the realistic use of the dogs here making this one incredibly hard to sit through which happens with all the brutality inflicted not only by them but also against them.
The scenes of the dogs being whacked with baseball bats, clubbed with pieces of logs and being chased around a small lot in a car that's barely missing their legs and snapping jaws is quite hard to watch seeing that the dogs are that close to being in real danger makes for quite a troubling watch for those that have a sensitivity to watching dogs in peril.
Great killer dog movie!.
Robert Clouse's "The Pack" is mostly your usual killer pets movie.
In this case, people buy dogs at the pound, and leave them on a vacation island.
While most of the cast does the sorts of things that we expect in one of these movies, Joe Don Baker is quite cool as the leader.
The people behind the camera probably fixed up the main dog so that he would look more menacing; I mean, I've never seen any mutt looking like that.I notice that this movie was filmed in Bodega Bay, California.
Is every movie filmed there going to feature non-human fauna attacking people?!
A woodsy island with a few locals that's occasionally visited by tourists is endangered by a pack of about fifteen feral dogs.
They're mostly dogs tourists bought and brought to the island to keep them company for a vacation, then left behind.
The movie might have been better if they picked wilder-looking or more muscular dogs, or ones that could act meaner.The wild dogs are first discovered when the dog belonging to Joe Don Baker's marine biologist character is attacked by the leader, and Baker spots it.
However, it becomes apparent it's one of many, and unfortunately Baker's CB radio isn't working, and a ferry isn't due for four more days.For those into gore, not much of the attacks are shown, and dead people are never shown (though people are killed), only some dead dogs are seen after being shot or run over.
The 1977 effort "The Pack" was not the first B movie to deal with a pack of wild dogs with their sights fixed on killing humans - in the previous year, the movie "Dogs" had the same premise.
It looks a lot better, from the locations to the production values, though director Robert Clouse does make sure to make the movie not look *too* slick.
Nature versus Man: Joe Don Baker against The Pack!.
The Pack a.k.a. The Long Dark Night (1977) was another one of those "nature rebels against man" films that were cranked out during the seventies.
This time it's dogs and that's where this movie went to.
Joe Don Baker and some residents of a Pacific Northwestern town must contend with a pack of mean and wild dogs who decide that they've had it with man.
Can Joe Don Baker and the beleaguered residents ward off the mangy mutts throughout the long dark night?It's a real cheesy movie that's no great shakes.
Joe Don Baker marks his territory all over this lumpy, when-animal-attack howler.
I see him as a big, jowly, bloodhound with a little bulldog mixed in for added heft.I'll admit, what I really wanted out of this movie was to see Joe Don on all fours growling through spittle-flecked jaws as he faces down the leader of the pack over a steaming fresh kill.
Instead what you get is a tepid when-animal-attack flick.The setting is Seal Island, which seems to be off the coast of Oregon or something.
Then, when you've had your way with this poor, canine prostitute, you abandon it on Seal Island.Is it any wonder that these unfortunate dogs immediately go feral and band together in a wild, howling pack?
Instead, it's up to real men like Jerry (Baker) and Clyde (Richard Shull) to stop these rampaging dogs.
Included in this group are the banker's mistress Marge (Bibi Besch) and his son Tommy (Paul Willson, "Paul" from Cheers).Enough already, let the dog attack action begin, right?
The leader of the dog pack does turn in a decent performance as a frighteningly rabid cur.
THE PACK is a pretty good '70's animals attack movie.
Joe Don Baker is a marine biologist who has to fight off a crazed pack of hounds left behind by uncaring vacationers.
It's funny that there was a time in America where you could be a Joe Don Baker and get the girl and save the day.There's some good jolts but the dogs aren't that scary.
THE PACK (1977) **1/2 Joe Don Baker, Hope Alexander-Willis, Richard B.
Affective old school horror film with a simple premise - isolated island community faces a new danger when a pack of ravenous dogs begins attacking the populace, including a vacationing bunch of bankers (read into that as you will metaphor of dog-eat-dog world) leads to a countdown to a face-off in man vs.
***SPOILERS*** Very underrated and almost forgotten movie about a pack of feral and wild dogs taking over an island of the coast of California tearing apart and eating anyone, man or beast, that they come in contact with.
It's up to marine biologist Jerry Parker, "Big Joe" Don Baker, to put an end to the carnage that the wild dogs are responsible for on Seal Island with time running out before he and what's left of the island's human as well as animal population are killed and devoured by them.
This all happened so innocently with the people vacationing on Seal Island leaving their pet dogs there thinking that they'll find both food and a home there; Which for the most part turned out to be those people living there.
Not once realizing that the dogs will resort to their primitive and wolf-like instincts and form packs in order to survive which in fact is what they did.Shocking scenes of man women as well as animals attacked and killed by this pack of some two dozen wild dogs with Jerry trying to get help from the coast with his radio transmitter knocked out by a winter storm.
Lead by this top dog mongrel the pack soon overwhelms the few humans on the island leaving it all up to Jerry and Seal Island's hotel manager Hardiman, Richard B, Shull,to take them on with barley their bear hands after they run out of the little ammunition, shotgun shells, that they had with them.***SPOILERS*** Much like the 1959 movie "The Killer Shrews" the film "The Pack" had the mad and rabid dogs killed not by starving them to death but by roasting them alive in Hardiman's hotel that Jerry, using himself as bait, trapped them in.
With all the blood violence and carnage in the movie the final scene will definitely tug on your heartstrings with Jerry who barley survived the dog attacks sticking his hand out in friendship to the last surviving member-scared shivering and cute little mutt-of the dog pack who only joined it when it was abandoned by its master in him feeling that it had a chance to survive in the wild..
A pack of vicious dogs who have been abandoned and left to fend for themselves by visiting vacationers terrorize the residents on a small island.
There's one scene where the dogs are chasing after the humans in slow motion and all I could think of was that they were running for dinner time.
Joe Don Baker's character as the marine biologist is really made to look as a complete idiot.
For a low-budget 70's action film, this is very well technically made, as it looks like it could've come out a few years ago.
Veteran actor Baker holds things together real well, and the dogs are freaky.
The attack scenes aren't too nasty, kept to just the dogs filmed at a distance pouncing on a victim. |
tt1210341 | One True Love | Migs Mijares (Dingdong Dantes) was so in love with Joy (Marian Rivera) that in less than a year, he asked for her hand in marriage.
Even when Bela (Iza Calzado), the childhood sweetheart of Migs, returned from Canada and made an attempt to win him back, Migs's decision to marry his present girlfriend was resolute.
But early on, a tragedy struck the blissful marriage of Migs and Joy.
Migs had an accident, which caused his isolated retrograde amnesia. His last memory was that of his first and ex-girlfriend, and he forgot everything about his wife.
Joy did her best to bring things back to normal, but her husband could not feel any emotional connection with her. Migs could not take his mind off his first love. Meanwhile, Bela tried so hard to distance herself from her Migs, but the latter was persistent.
For her part, Joy became too interfering, always checking the whereabouts of her husband and monitoring his calls. This provoked Migs to make a choice: Be with his first love.
Joy made a last-ditch effort to save the marriage by talking to Bela but the meeting was futile.
At first, Migs and Bela were happy. But after a while, Migs started missing his wife. He became confused again, and slowly, he began to realize which girl was really his one true love. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Best Romantic Movie. I really loved this movie. Marian Rivera is indeed great. She really moved me..... It's all about the eyes. I've always liked a girl with beautiful eyes, and I quickly fell in love with this movie. This is not the typical movie that a guy would like but, as a big fan of films, I do like this type of film.It's all about Marian Rivera and Iza Calzado's eyes. They cried buckets in this movie, I was very close too. These girls know how to act through their eyes, they didn't really need to say anything, I can already feel their pain. But between the two, Calzado brought the better part in acting; Rivera was equally good, but now match with the first, she was refreshing in every sense of the word.On the other hand, leading man Dingdong Dantes delivered a worthy amnesiac performance. Dantes has certainly grown up from his chubby "pa-cute" days to this strong figure of an actor.The film is worthy of its hype. Excellent direction and writing, with beautiful musical scoring from Von de Guzman. The film, however, fell short on one thing: pacing, sometimes it was just too slow trying to give us the whole picture. Plus the advertisements concealed within the film doesn't help.All in all, One True Love is a must see. Probably not the best Filipino film of 2008, but it is up there. I can't wait to see my next melodramatic love story... I guess I'll be watching Anne Curtis' Baler this Christmas.8/10. More Brandy Please. The popularity of Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes as a love pair in television could truly prop up their film One True Love. But this film is a bit more different. To view a film, you have to pay almost two hundred bucks for the admission (if you'll buy food too) as compared to watching teleseryes or sinenovelas in our very home. As a matter of fact, before you can drag anyone to watch a film, it has to surpass the expectations of the majority who has already seen the film. One True Love has produced a schmaltzy love story which acquired the appalling sentimentality of the soap opera tradition.Migs (Dingdong Dantes) is a neurologist who is engaged to a nurse named Joyce (Marian Rivera). Upon announcing their engagement to his family, his sister Ara (Bianca King) immediately informed Migs' past girlfriend Bela (Iza Calzado) and advised her to go back to the Philippines. After the wedding, Migs becomes involved in a motorcycle crash and suffers isolated retrograde amnesia. During the time of his recovery, Migs has lost all memories of his wife Joyce. But instead, he chooses to unite again with Bela.The premise is pretty interesting and it is the only good thing I can say in the film. I can also forgive the clichéd/formula story and plot devices they have adhered to for the past few decades. But it is beyond the pale if they have abused the formula itself. It is also given and yet it is still not cohesive. Migs has amnesia and yet he portrays his character that he also lost all his good values and manners. He acts like a puppet manipulated by the creative core of this film production. This is not love anymore as love gives reverence to the very essence of showing it. A person who suffers amnesia might be a little stressed and shows embarrassment but definitely not to the point of being rude. Even if the character's neurologists explained the side effects, the actor's execution is unbearable. Joyce is another problem as she embodies the maudlin expressions of empathy without reasonable gravity. She did at some point in time manage to get angry but it still does not advance the way she should deal with love as a matured individual. Anyway, she gets the sympathy which is entirely the idea of it. Although in the long run, a good story does not need any of this cheap gimmickry.It is disheartening to watch a film more so a film that tackles the universal language of Love and hate to see everything it has offered. The quality of the technicalities is satisfactory but the other essential foundation has been laid into a dull and gloomy terrain. The acting of the two stars is disgusting to imbibe. Good thing that Calzado gives a performance that could be well regarded as a decent performance and even the character appears to be the paramour.One True Love is not in any way true love and I am certain about it. I am glad to hear in the news that it did well in the box office even the entire production looks a bit low-cost. Hopefully the money they get in this film will be used again in making a film (hopefully a 'decent' one). Audiences are easy to please. With the theme love, it is more trouble-free as we get to feel it not exactly the same as when others feel it. It is always unique. One True Love has integrated the fantasy love formula that has been here for years. It could be shameful to use. But if it has the certain 'it', it will have magic and not an abysmal ending.Rating: 1.5/5 |
tt0188140 | Le petit poucet | Richard Johnson's The History of Tom Thumbe of 1621 tells that in the days of King Arthur, old Thomas of the Mountain, a plowman and a member of the King's Council, wants nothing more than a son, even if he is no bigger than his thumb. He sends his wife to consult with Merlin. In three months time, she gives birth to the diminutive Tom Thumb. The "Queene of Fayres" and her attendants act as midwives. She provides Tom with an oak leaf hat, a shirt of cobweb, a doublet of thistledown, stockings of apple rind, and shoes of mouse's skin.
Tom cheats at games with other boys and because of his many tricks, the boys will not associate with him. Tom retaliates by using magic to hang his mother's pots and glasses from a sunbeam. When his fellows try the same, their pots and glasses fall and are broken. Thereafter, Tom stays home under his mother's supervision. At Christmas, she makes puddings, but Tom falls into the batter and is boiled into one of them. When a tinker comes begging, Tom's mother inadvertently gives him the pudding containing her son. The tinker farts while crossing a stile, but Tom calls out about the farting and the frightened tinker drops the pudding. Tom eats himself free and returns home to tell his mother and father of his adventure.
His mother thereafter keeps a closer watch upon him. One day, he accompanies her to the field to milk the cows. He sits under a thistle, but a red cow swallows him. The cow is given a laxative and Tom passes from her in a "cowturd." He is taken home and cleaned. Another day, he accompanies his father for the seed sowing and rides in the horse's ear. Tom is set down in the field to play the scarecrow, but a raven carries him away. His parents search for him, but are unable to find him.
The raven drops Tom at the castle of a giant. The cruel giant swallows the tiny boy like a pill. Tom thrashes about so much in the giant's stomach that he is vomited into the sea. There, he is eaten once more by a fish which is caught for King Arthur's supper. The cook is astonished to see the little man emerge from the fish. Tom then becomes King Arthur's Dwarf.
Tom becomes a favorite at King Arthur's royal court, especially among the ladies. There is revelry; Tom joins the jousting and dances in the palm of a Maid of Honour. He goes home briefly to see his parents, taking some money from the treasury with the king's permission, then returns to court. The Queene of Fayres finds him asleep on a rose and leaves him several gifts: an enchanted hat of knowledge, a ring of invisibility, a shape-changing girdle, and shoes to take him anywhere in a moment.
Tom falls seriously ill when a lady blows her nose, but is cured by the physician to King Twaddell of the Pygmies. He takes a ride in his walnut shell coach and meets Garagantua. Each boasts of his many powers. When Garagantua threatens to harm Tom, he is cast under an enchantment and Tom hurries home to safety. King Arthur listens with amazement to Tom's many adventures.
Richard Johnson's 1621 narrative ends here, but he promised his readers a sequel that has never been found, if published at all. In 163,0 a metrical version in three parts was published that continues Tom's adventures.
=== Later narratives ===
Other versions paint a different picture to Tom's end. Dinah Mulock continued the tale and noted that Tom exhausted himself with jousting but recovered in Fairyland. When he returned to Arthur's court, he accidentally landed in a bowl of the king's frumenty. Tom enrages the cook and is threatened with beheading. He seeks refuge in the mouth of a passing slack-jawed miller. Sensing tiny voices and movements within him, the man believes he is possessed. He yawns and Tom emerges, but the Miller is so angry he tosses Tom into a river where he is swallowed by a salmon. The fish is caught, taken to the King's kitchen, and Tom is found and kept in a mousetrap until King Arthur forgives him.
The court goes hunting and Tom joins them upon his steed, a mouse. A cat catches the mouse and Tom is injured. He is carried to Fairyland where he recovers and dwells for several years. When he returns to court, King Thunston now reigns. Charmed by the little man, the king gives Tom a tiny coach pulled by six mice. This makes the queen jealous as she received no such gifts and she frames Tom with being insolent to her. Tom attempts to escape on a passing butterfly, but is caught and imprisoned in a mousetrap. He is freed by a curious cat and once more wins back the favor of King Thunston. Sadly, he does not live to enjoy it as he is killed by a spider's bite. Tom is laid to rest beneath rosebush and a marble monument is raised to his memory with the epitaph:
Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur’s knight,
Who died by a spider’s cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur’s court,
Where he afforded gallant sport;
He rode at tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went;
Alive he fill’d the court with mirth
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head
And cry, ‘Alas! Tom Thumb is dead. | psychedelic, fantasy | train | wikipedia | Great. I agree : this movie is really great and very poetic ! Its music (yes, scary some times but I don't see why it should be strange with such a story !), its atmosphere, the actors (Jean-Pierre Marielle as the ogre, Marie Laforet as the Queen - both of them very famous and good French actors), the lights... OK, the special effects are... well that's what you could do in 1972 with few money ! I loved it so much when I was a little girl ! And I can see that it is still true nowadays : my children love it too (unfortunately they can see only extracts online... )! You can't judge it with adult's eyes !!!! Don't forget that it is a story for children... Just see how children watch it : they 'live' it, it is incredible ! And this really is Perrault's world and not Disney movies which change the stories to make them 'politically correct'.... do you know what poetry means ?. This movie is a "cultissime" movie for people of my generation in France, and also for my children. This movie is very poetic, and intelligent, far from aggressive, violent, and conventional "modern" children movies today. Of course, the special effect are not made with tons of dollars, but it's much better !!!! I desperately looking for it somewhere...And the music is fabulous !!!! This movie is typically from the same style than "Peau d'ane" with Catherine Deneuve. You're really inside the charles perrault universe, you believe in it and you don't need computers and 5.1 DTS surrounds sounds effects for that. So please, don't criticize this film without a minimum of culture background. |
tt0829297 | Ten Inch Hero | The story revolves around a group of people who work at a sandwich shop (that sells ten inch heroes/the sandwiches). The main cast of characters are:
Piper, a young art student who has just moved to Santa Cruz. She has a secret: 8 years earlier she gave up her daughter for an open adoption, and all she knew was that the mother planned to name the child Julia and the father's name was Noah. The adoptive parents cut off contact with Piper when Julia was two, leaving a hole in Piper's life. When she read in an art newsletter about an 8 year old talented art student named Julia who bore a slight resemblance to Piper, she moved to Santa Cruz to see if she could meet Julia to see if she was OK. She gets a job in the sandwich shop.
Jen, a shy, plain-looking, kind-hearted girl who is a tech nerd at the sandwich shop and runs their website. She has an email romance with a stranger known to her only as Fuzzy22. She is afraid to meet him in person and is a late bloomer who has never dated.
Tish is a bold, outspoken woman who works at the sandwich shop. She is very beautiful and uses manipulative techniques to attract men, leading to brief, emotion-free flings with many of them—she cuts off contact if she feels they're getting emotionally involved.
Priestly is the cook at the sandwich shop. He is a free-spirited punk who uses humor, as well as numerous body modifications, to create a barrier between himself and others, and to hide his own emotions, thoughts, and true self. He wears T-shirts with hilariously inappropriate sayings, has numerous piercings, wears thick eye makeup, dyes his hair in bright colors and styles it into mohawks, has elaborate facial hair, and many tattoos.
Trucker, the restaurant owner, who is a laid back surfer child and hippie of the '60s. He's secretly in love with Zo, a spiritual woman who owns a shop across the street.
Tadd, an arrogant, wealthy, superficial but handsome man who dates Tish.
Shortly after Piper begins her job, she sees 8 year-old Julia with her father Noah at the beach. The three meet and Piper introduces herself as "Anna", in case Noah remembers her distinctive name from the adoption process. She quickly bonds with Julia over their shared love of art and drawing, leading to Julia asking Piper to become her art tutor. Piper also immediately hits it off with Noah, and she learns that Julia's mother is not in their lives anymore, though Noah is vague about the circumstances. Meanwhile, Tish has met Tadd, and greatly enjoys her time with him, though she thinks it odd that he is almost inseparable from his friend Brad.
Fuzzy22 has asked Jen to meet him in person, to which she reluctantly agrees, though Jen is very nervous—she and Fuzzy22 had agreed to not exchange any identifying information, so she has no idea how old he is, what he looks like, or if he is male or female.
Before the trip, Noah asks Piper out on a date, to which she agrees, although she says she has some things to tell him first. Piper, Tish and Jen go on their trip to meet up with Fuzzy22, but after they finally arrive at the meeting point, Jen sees that Fuzzy22 is an extremely handsome young man. She balks and runs away without meeting him, and she confesses to Piper and Tish that someone like Fuzzy22 could never like someone like her, because she is according to herself not very attractive. She asserts that the very conventionally attractive Tish and Piper don't know what it feels like to always be ignored and pushed aside because she's not pretty. She cares a great deal about Fuzzy22, and feels that a man as attractive as he is would, upon seeing her, become disappointed and uninterested and she could not bear that from him. Although the two friends try to convince Jen to go back and meet with him, she refuses, so they drive back to Santa Cruz.
Piper goes out on a date with Noah, and she prepares to tell him the truth about herself, but he first wants to share something: the reason he has been reluctant to talk about Julia's mother is that she lives on the east coast and severely abused Julia, leading to divorce and a court order that the mother is not allowed to contact Julia until her 18th birthday. During this conversation, Piper finds out that Julia is not adopted, and that Noah and his ex-wife are Julia's birth-parents. Realizing that Julia isn't the daughter she gave up, she runs away, upset, leaving behind a very confused Noah.
Tish and Tadd are in bed together, when Brad shows up and attempts to turn the coupling into a threesome. Tish becomes very upset and Tadd speaks of her contemptuously. The two men try to coerce her into having sex with them, and a now frightened Tish tries to run away but is held back by Tadd. They scuffle, and this leads to Tish hitting her head on a dresser. She runs away and appears the next day at work with a bandaid on her forehead to conceal the bruise. Tadd shows up to take her out, and she confronts him about what he did to her, but he is scornful and unrepentant. Tish asserts that he and Brad are gay, but will not admit it to themselves so they use the pretense of a threesome to have sex with each other. This infuriates the homophobic Tadd, and he hits her. Priestly attacks Tadd and is injured. The normally laid-back Trucker then arrives and subdues Tadd with heretofore undisplayed advanced fighting techniques, contradicting Trucker's surfer hippie laid-back persona.
Trucker takes everyone back to his home and admits that he was never a surf child who went to Woodstock, but that actually he was a very macho guy who served three tours in Vietnam, where he killed more people than he could count and learned deadly fighting skills. He then returned to the United States and was lost and traumatized, until he met surfers and decided to live a peaceful lifestyle. He vowed never to commit any violence against a human being again. He shows Piper, Jen, Tish, and Priestly his high school yearbook, demonstrating that he was captain of the football team and class president. When he's talking with Tish, he asks her to start dating nice guys, but Tish, quickly glancing at Priestly, says that good guys don't ask girls like her out. Jen, leafing through Trucker's yearbook, excitedly calls everyone's attention to a photo of Zo. Trucker realizes he doesn't have to hide his past from Zo because she already knows who he really is. He finally works up the courage to ask her out, to which she happily agrees. She has had a crush on him since high school, when she was a shy freshman, and even though it is decades later, she says that many still carry high school within themselves, so she could never show Trucker how she felt despite now being a confident and secure woman.
Piper and Noah have another talk, and he forgives her for lying and asks her if she still wants to be a part of the family. She happily agrees. At the shop, a homeless man comes in and tells Jen that he thinks she's really pretty, and that she's exactly who he had hoped she'd be. He then removes his homeless disguise and reveals himself to be Fuzzy22. He introduces himself to Jen and they happily hug. Priestly reveals that when Jen forgot to log off the computer one night, he talked to Fuzzy22 and told him the situation and how to meet Jen.
The next day, Priestly comes to the shop and is almost unrecognizable, dressed in Banana Republic khakis and an Oxford shirt, piercings removed, his hair parted down the middle with bright colors washed out, tattoos mostly hidden, and no punk makeup, and finally asks Tish out. He had been hinting throughout the movie that he was interested in her, but was frustrated because she seemed to never notice him and she was wasting her time with shallow relationships with guys she could manipulate, rather than seeking emotional intimacy. She agrees to go out on a date with him but only on the condition that he tell her his first name, which turns out to be Boaz. She then reveals that her first name is actually Platisha. The movie ends with all the new couples at the beach for Zo and Trucker's commitment ceremony to each other, at which they arrive riding horses, naked. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | If you are looking for a funny, touching, insightful, feel-good movie then Ten Inch Hero is for you.
It's a story about four young friends and their older, hippie dude boss at a sub shop searching for love and learning to see past outer appearances and let go of preconceived notions.It's a deceptively simple movie.
You believe in this sandwich shop and the diverse people that inhabit it and you become involved in their lives.If you have ever attempted love or been to High School and lived within the confines of cliques, you can enjoy and empathize with these characters.
There is no clock watching or restlessness, just an engrossing, satisfying movie.The script by first time screenwriter Betsy Morris is refreshingly realistic; it is not overly dramatic or contrived.
I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see this movie at the Phoenix Film Festival and I absolutely loved it.
Because at film festivals cast and crew and their families and friends often turn up, I was tempted to ask her if she knew the actor, such were her expressed feelings of seeming familiarity with him.
However, I was pleasantly surprised at the snappy dialog, good plot, fun characters, and genuine emotion that this film registered.
Ten Inch Hero is a touching, elegant and sweet movie about people not quite so ordinary, and the masks they wear for each other without even knowing, without even wanting to.
The dialog is witty and sharp, the plot elegantly constructed and absorbing, the music masterful (and funny, because it perfectly mirrors the plot and - surprisingly - brings comic relief in a few carefully chosen places), the filming beautiful and professional, and the actors good, funny and entirely believable.Clea DuVall is, as usual, a quiet but very intense presence on the screen, yet the filmmakers don't let her steal the show entirely.
Alice Krige was a wonderful casting choice, and her presence (complimented by the music) transforms the scenes in funny and touching ways.In other words, I want the DVD, and I want it right now!.
The chemistry between all the main characters was great, making it a real feel good movie.
Jensen Ackles stole the show--anyone who watches Supernatural knows he's got great comedic timing--but the other roles were well-played, too (particularly Clea DuVall), and the story/characterization unfolded believably (for a rom-com) and enjoyably.
When the scene end all I could think was wow that's there is a set of real true friends.As far as the ending goes, yes it ended happy but not every thing was turned out like you would have thought.
The dialog was fresh and edgy, and it was the first film that I have seen in a while that felt like it was written and directed by real people, and not vetted by a series of industry drones.
Shot like a TV rom com, acted like it was shot before a live audience by inexperienced actors (ie they stick with entirely average performances rather than work them into something decent), lit for TV, scripted with a "try to please everyone" dumbed-down - syrup coated - hollow - interconnection of not really connected stories.
Each scene ploddingly laid out, each emotional response labored and hollow, no interesting camera work to add any amount of impact, edited in a workman like fashion, nothing has any chance of lifting this movie apart from the slogans on Priestly t-shirts, and only then they provide a passing amusement.
I caught this on cable a few nights ago and, based on the synopsis ("Four friends search for love and happiness while working at a California sandwich shop"), I figured it would fall into the "so bad, it's good" category.
I laughed, gasped, got sucked into the movie and never wanted to leave it.I got to see it at the Newport Beach Film Festival, and was lucky enough to get to meet Jensen, Danneel, and Elisabeth.
Admittedly the reason that I first decided to see Ten Inch Hero was for Jensen Ackles (Priestly) who I must say did not disappoint, the young actor has wonderful comedic timing.
I can't wait the see this film in theater or at the very least on DVD and would love so much to be able to have in my possession the soundtrack of this movie.
All I can say is that I am so glad Jensen Ackles was chosen to play Priestly or I likely would never have seen this film, and that would truly have been a huge shame..
From the start the movie has that feeling that "Reality Bites" or "Empire Recods" once had: friends doing nothing but everything at the same time, discovering who they are and what they want.
I'm a Jensen Ackles follower, so I concentrated on his character (which was amazing in every sense, he can always pull it off, no matter what he's playing) but I was immediately in love with every single one of them.
He's the type of character that everyone loves, doesn't matter if you know Jensen or not; you simply love Priestly.There's something for everyone, and everyone will enjoy it!I recommend this movie, and I hope we get a DVD...
I had been waiting for a good long time to see this movie and finally got the chance at the July screening in LA.
The biggest compliment that I can think to give is that the movie captivated me from the first frame through the last and that it delivered exactly what I had hoped it would (with a few surprises along the way).The cast was fantastic, bringing the witty and touching words of the script to life in a fun, beautiful setting.
Though I had seen bits and pieces about the film through blogs and pictures, seeing it all play out in a theater was fantastic.There is so much more I could say, but I have refrained from even telling my friends the details because this is a movie best watched unspoiled for the first time.
But with Ten Inch Hero, as soon as it was over, I wanted to watch it all over again.I thought this was a sweet and funny film with a real heart.
They are the kind of people I'd love to know, and the kind of friends everyone should have.The film moved smoothly from jokes and fun into sweet and emotional moments and back again.
What I do know is that Hollywood, rumored to be a 'risk taker' is playing it too damn safe with their money sucking sequels and not realizing that, yes, the public likes those movies, but we also want something richly fulfilling and with a meaty heart.
Being a big Danneel Harris fan, she initially sparked my interest in the film, but I genuinely enjoyed each of the characters and their individual story lines.
A lot of the buzz surrounding the film seems to be focused on Jensen Ackles, and while he was quite the scene stealer (with his Crayola-colored mohawk, silly t-shirts and kilt), I thought the whole cast was great and played off one another really well.'The Ackles Factor' alone should have this thing sold - which is not to say that the movie is all about Jensen, of course, but one doesn't have to dig very deep online to see that there are legions of rabid Jensen/"Supernatural" fans around the world clamoring to see this.
Combine that with a good number of "One Tree Hill" fans (Danneel Harris ["Rachel"], Elisabeth Harnois ["Shelley the Clean Teen"] and Matt Barr ["Psycho Derek"] all appear in the film, and Bethany Joy Galeotti ["Haley"] contributed three songs to the soundtrack) and the fan bases of the rest of the cast - along with the overwhelmingly positive response from people who have seen the film so far - and it sounds like a winner to me!The screening was a very cool experience that I won't soon forget.
This film is a sweet, adorable, feel-good movie.
The movie is about a quirky, "not normal", group of people who work and/or spend time at a sandwich shop in Santa Cruz.
By the end of the movie you will have laughed, you may have cried, but you will undoubtedly leave feeling a little warmer inside.Verdict: I'll take the movie with the tasty cast, the fresh direction, juicy script, and i'll take it warm, but not corny.Oh. And I want the full Ten Inches..
The dialogue was absolutely hilarious (and sweet) throughout the entire movie and the actors playing the characters were brilliantly cast.
"Ten Inch Hero" NEEDS to be released into theater's so that the rest of the world can see how great Betsy Morris did writing the script, the wonderful acting, and every other little nuance hidden withing..
loving comedy that is like a fun home movie between friends.Think of your normal friend circle and the personalities that come together and make it work.
not everyone loves everyone else, but the dynamics make the group wonderful.should be the next cult classic :) lots of great moments, plenty of relate able characters, lots of quark, and down to earth plot.It's short and sweet, simple and deep.Cast of actors and actresses did wonderfully in portraying every day people and every day situations that fill all of our lives.I completely recommend this.
The story line and plot were appalling at the best!I give this movie two stars for the actor Jensen Ackles who plays Priestly.
I've seen (the start of) a hundred of these sorts of movies --- low-budget indie flick about a quirky group of friends, billed as a comedy but not really many laugh-out-loud moments.
Being a major fan of Sean Patrick Flanery and the chance to meet him and person and chat with him made me want to see this movie because it shows another one of his best attributes, His acting talent!
Also being a fan of Jensen Ackles seeing him play a funny yet heartfelt character such as Priestly really gives you insight to his wit and comedic timing.
I actually watched this movie because I am a fan of Jensen Ackles and I just loved the movie.
Well, the character Priestly might prefer 'challenging' looks (green hair, mohawk, eyeliner) but he is still charming and cute (thank you Jensen Ackles, you played a wonderful part).
If you need further proof to see that this movie is purposefully over-rated, then you may want to check the message boards as well; you will see many post regarding how people are desperately looking to buy the DVD if only it were available nearby, or how you can buy it..
I saw Ten Inch Hero at the Newport Beach Film Festival and I just wanted to say this movie is really cute and I can't wait to see it in the theaters soon.
I'm a huge fan of Jensen Ackles, Sean Patrick Flannery and Clea DuVall so to see them together would be wonderful.I have read many discussions online regarding this movie and I am sure that there is a large demographic that would go to see it.
The curiously titled independent film "Ten Inch Hero" by director David MacKay and screenwriter Betsy Morris follows a young woman (Elisabeth Harnois) into a quirky sandwich shop upon relocating to small-town California.
The ensemble film that ensues involves the young artist Harnois portrays, an attractive nymphomaniac, a tattooed bad boy cook, the quiet "homely" girl, and the hippy boss with a fascination with a weird Wiccan woman.The cast of characters feels a lot like the roster from John Hughes' "Breakfast Club" (brain, beauty, basket case, etc.) and the setting recalls the likes of James Mangold's "Heavy".
It is easy to identify with the characters, leaving you feel like a connection has been made between you and the movie, something that is refreshing in an era were films cover nothing more than war, terror and clichés.
I loved it and would definitely recommend anyone who likes romantic comedies, Jensen Ackles, or wants a great evening for oneself.
If you want to spend a night in and end up feeling good inside and smiling then watch this film.
But if you just want to watch a feel-good film then this is one that won't disappoint..
The film focus on four friends,Tish,Jen,Piper and Priestly who work in a sandwich shop in Santa Cruz, California.The shop is owned by the hippie surfer Trucker who's in love with Zo,a mysterious woman that works across the street.Everyone is hiding something, Jen hides her true self, Trucker hides his past, Piper gets trapped into a big lie and Priestly doesn't feel comfortable in his own skin.The movie explores such themes as honesty,friendship and finding love.You'll probably recognize pretty much all the actors if you watch TV shows.You obviously know Jensen Ackles from Dark Angel and Supernatural plus four of them have been in One Tree Hill and both Clea DuVall and Adair Tishler were in Heroes.They're all accomplished actors.
*drool* My only problem is that i would love to watch a nice, funny movie like this without the sex scenes.
Soon, her life becomes entwined with the rest of the cast as they dole out ten inch sandwiches and pieces of their past.Symbolically, the layers in the sandwich represent the layers these characters try to bury, until at last, they realize the past is the past, and it is the future, which will hold them together, like mayonnaise on a turkey and rye.What I found most amazing about this film was the way the writer, Betsy Morris, entwined laughter with sadness.
In reality, that's exactly what this movie turned out to be - an unexpected surprise and a truly uplifting story - when realistically, the average viewer would have just been satisfied to ogle Jensen Ackles sporting a mohawk.The story of Ten Inch Hero, written by Betsy Morris and directed by David Mackay, is told through the genuine and poignant interweaving accounts of an unlikely group of friends.
The focus of the movie rests mainly on four young characters: a young artist searching for her estranged daughter, a brunette temptress sleeping her way through California one man at a time, the quiet and reserved humanitarian looking for romance on the 'net, and last but certainly not least, the quirky but sensitive punk rocker searching for love and acceptance.Elizabeth Harnois gives an exceptional breakout performance as Piper, the artistic neophyte who introduces our 'Heroes' when she stumbles across the eccentric hippy-run diner and applies for a job on the spot, told "normal people need not apply".
Jen's transformation happens slowly throughout the movie, as she steps out from her sanctuary behind the computer screen to meet her potential true love, a man she has never met outside of a chat room.Finally, Jensen Ackles as hilariously witty and enigmatic Priestly is even more charming and adorable than expected, and well worth the wait.
With a different wonderfully weird hairdo and hilariously outragious t-shirt in every scene, Ackles brings a deadly combination of sensitivity and hilarity to the character, leading up to a delightfully romantic ending that is sure to leave every woman in the theatre staring up at the screen in love-struck awe.Even without a star-studded cast (or anything remotely close), Ten Inch Hero is a diamond in the rough.
Once they leave that set they probably won't interact again, but I don't think this is the case with them and that makes me love the film even more than I already could.I also have to say this really shows off the casts acting skills.
Everyone around me genuinely laughed and clapped and cheered something I also don't see much in movies and a lot of that was when the Priestly character was on screen.I also want to say I didn't know that much about Elizabeth Harnois previously.
I had seen her briefly on One Tree Hill and liked her on there, and also found out she was Alice whom I really loved as a little girl when I watched the Disney Channel but didn't really know exactly what to expect until the movie.
It was so nice to see, and I definitely want to see Elizabeth in more things to come, not to mention she is an incredibly beautiful actress.I also feel the same way about Danneel Harris I thought she definitely played the character of Tish wonderfully, especially considering I had a good 5 min chat with her and she is absolutely nothing like that.
As you're watching the film, it's less about watching characters, and more about watching the lives of people you already know, that you see everyday on the street, as they unfold.Second, the cast.
His character Priestly is very different from any other character I've seen him play before and is, in a way, a visual representation of many of the film's themes - that people are often not who and what they appear, that they are more than what we assume them to be, and that we need to look beyond the immediate.
on ten inch hero..great movie..
I was working a film festival this past weekend and got to see this movie where it was playing at and I so loved it.
I thought each character in this movie was casted very well.
We watch Supernatural and appreciate Jensen Ackles's work there so we were curious about this film.
Only one small spoiler, After watching Supernatural I wanted to see Jensen Ackles in some more roles and had heard about this film.
Although it had its moments in a little bit of funny parts, you can just tell how great I feel about a movie when all I comment on are the actors and what distracted me from the screen.I do admit this movie does cater to others.But, at times I felt it was worth watching just to see Jensen Ackles in a Mohawk and in a kilt and buying tampons. |
tt0071186 | Bad Ronald | Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) is a socially inept, awkward high school youth with budding artistic talent and a predilection for fantasy, who is often ridiculed for his behavior and mannerisms. His overprotective mother, Elaine (Kim Hunter), is in need of surgery and plans for Ronald to become a doctor and cure her illness. Ronald's father has not been heard from in years, having divorced his mother and then agreeing to terminate his parental rights in exchange for not having to pay child support.
One afternoon, while asking out Laurie Matthews (Shelley Spurlock), he is rejected and then ridiculed by her friends. As he returns home, he accidentally knocks over her younger sister Carol (Angela Hoffman). Carol, like Laurie, also taunts Ronald, at which point he pushes her over, inadvertently killing her when she strikes her head on a concrete block during the fall. He buries the body and confesses to his mother, but fearing the police will not believe that it was accidental, Ronald and his mother wallpaper the door frame to the downstairs bathroom and convert the closed-off space to a living quarters for Ronald, with a concealed trapdoor in the pantry through which Ronald can escape in an emergency. The plan is for him to hide in the room until the incident blows over, and Mrs. Wilby tells the police that Ronald ran away.
Ronald's mother keeps paying attention to what neighbors, particularly the nosy Mrs. Schumacher (Linda Watkins), and others are saying about the young girl's disappearance and tells Ronald that when it's safe, he can return to a normal life. One afternoon, she is taken into a hospital for gallbladder surgery, from which she unexpectedly dies. In the meantime, Ronald has created a fantasy world in his own head consisting of a prince and a princess that live happily until a devil appears and a struggle begins.
Shortly after Mrs. Wilby's death, the house is sold to the Wood family, consisting of a mother (Pippa Scott), father (Dabney Coleman) and three teenage daughters: Babs (Cindy Fisher), Althea (Cindy Eilbacher) and Ellen (Lisa Eilbacher). As Ronald needs food to eat, and begins to crave human interaction, sudden disappearances of food and odd noises are experienced by the new family.
Babs, the youngest of the Wood daughters, becomes identified with Ronald's princess and he identifies himself as the prince, while Duane Matthews (Ted Eccles) (who is well liked by the family), oldest daughter Ellen's boyfriend and brother of the previously mentioned Matthews girls, becomes identified with the monster that threatens their happiness. Ronald's goal is to "regain" his princess and remove anything, including the members of her family, that stops his dream from becoming reality. During this time, neighbor Mrs. Schumacher spots Ronald on a venture outside his space and dies of a heart attack from the shock; fearing the police will blame him, Ronald ends up burying her as well.
Mr. and Mrs. Wood then make plans to go out of town for a couple of days, leaving the girls on their own. Ronald confronts Babs when she is alone in the house and tells her she is his princess. She flees to Mrs. Schumacher's house next door (unaware of her aforementioned demise), but Ronald locks her in the basement and forges a note for her sisters to find, claiming she has run away. Both Ellen and Althea are skeptical of the note, but the police refuse to do anything. Ronald later attacks Duane, knocking him out and tying him up and gagging him. The police now suspect something is amiss and advise Ellen and Althea to check into a hotel, but they refuse.
Shortly after the police leave, Althea notices one of the many peepholes Ronald has drilled. When she approaches it, she suddenly sees Ronald's eye staring back at her, and screams in terror as Ronald then breaks through the wall. The police, who have been watching the house, hear the girls' screams and rush back. Ronald is captured as he tries to flee, crying out for his mother. Soon afterwards, Duane and Babs are both discovered, shaken but not seriously harmed.
The story stops without depicting any of the legal proceedings involving Ronald Wilby. | fantasy, murder, cult, revenge, violence, insanity, romantic, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | He fell asleep and I ended up watching Bad Ronald, the last thing on that night, all alone.All I know is, I couldn't stop watching until the end, and I have never forgotten this movie.
I'd love to see this come out on DVD, along with other classic ABC Movies of the Week like "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and "Crowhaven Farm"..
Many fans of 70s tv horror revere this obscure and neat movie from 1974.And with good reason!Ronald is a shy young man with a wild imagination who lives with his twisted mother.After he accidentally kills a neighborhood girl and buries her,his ma surmises Ronald should hide in a plastered-over room until things settle down.Ma dies and Ronald stays put,drilling peepholes into every room.By this point he's quite deranged and when a new family with pretty daughters moves in,look out!Scott Jacoby is great as Ronald and the whole movie is very creepy.I've seen other movies that borrowed elements of BR(hider in the house,christina's house),but none reached the eerie level of this one..
An eerie film about an outcast teenage boy who lives in a fantasy world of princes and princesses which he spends his time elaborately illustrating on paper as a hobby.
On the face of it, Bad Ronald doesn't look like it has much going for it, but despite some silly plot devices and the fact that it was made for TV back in the seventies; this is actually a very decent little cult gem.
The premise works from what is probably the most obvious plot device ever, as we watch the title character; an odd young man obsessed by the fantasy world that he himself has created, accidentally murder a young neighbourhood girl.
That's just the start of the chain of events, and when he comes home to tell his mother that he's killed a girl and buried the body in a shallow grave, she immediately decides that he must convert the downstairs bathroom into a secret hideout.
It's not long before a new family moves in, and Ronald isn't moving out...I'm probably overrating this film a little really, but the way that the story is delivered is completely undemanding, and that makes this a very fun film to watch.
Bad Ronald is a real bona fide cult gem; it may never achieve classic status, but its well worth tracking down and I highly recommend this film to anyone that gets their hands on it.
After he kills a neighbor girl, his doting mother hides him in secret room, but then she tragically dies and a new family with three teenage daughters moves in.
When Ronald accidentally murders a young girl after she mocked him one too many times, his mother sees no other solution than to construct an extra lair in their house and hide him from the cops.
The film Bad Ronald I think is really a commentary on what it is like to be an introvert, rather than just the story of an individual.
Also attempts to fight back against these people or join their society seem futile to outsiders, exactly like Bad Ronald's attempt to date a popular girl far to good for him and romance one of the girls that comes into his house of habitation.
A fantasy world, like Ronald's Entarantia (a movie parallel to geeks who live in the Star Wars universe), are their only way to stay sane.
The Brady Bunch type family moves in and Ronald has drawn artwork on the walls in his cubby, and written a fantasy-novel that shows his romantic feelings but also his mixed-up mind...A GREAT movie to spook you if you live in an old house...and the simple, 70's special effects make this a great thrill, that is not even diminished by it being in black and white..
Eventually the more intense films became controversial due to its large audience of young people (like myself) and the entire night was replaced with sit-coms geared to teens and families ("Happy Days," "Laverne and Shirley," "Three's Company.") ABC used "Fantasy Island" to incorporate many of the themes the film series developed and used many of the same actors.
Compared to today's standards, the film would pale in comparison to other TV movies, but what it lacks in lustre, Bad Ronald makes up for it in mood, tension, and imagination.
Ronald panics, and goes home to his overprotective mother, who decides to hide him in a secret room in the house, rather than tell the police.
Unfortunately, the mother is soon taken to the hospital for an operation, and never returns...so Ronald stays in the furnished room/house until a new family moves in, knowing nothing of Ronald's presence, only that he went missing...Good acting by Jacoby, and sensitive script give him a sympathetic portrayal of how he is lost in a fantasy world of his own creation, and how he tries to cope with the teenage daughters, whom he views as needing saving.
After accidentally killing a girl, teenager Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) is hidden away from cops in a secret room in the house by his domineering mother (Kim Hunter).
A new family eventually moves into the house, one day he is looking through a pinhole in the wall, and gets spotted, whereby he freaks out, rushes through the wall, and the cops kill him or something...That's all I remember of it, but it was very haunting, and very depressing.
Good stuff."One of the most cherished "Movie of the Week" entries, "Bad Ronald" holds up well nearly thirty years later...but an ambitious remake is definitely something for Hollywood's movie men to give thought to.The premise of a psychotic nerd holed up in your very own home has to be one of the creepiest ever thought up...and this one surely had impressionable kids searching the house for peepholes in the walls.
It was rerun quite often over the years and I always watched it if possible.Just imagine: Moving into a new home but totally unaware that an insane young man is also living there in a hidden room, coming out only at night to raid your fridge for nourishment!
The story of Bad Ronald is the clincher though; the "weird" kid in the neighborhood accidently kills a bully by pushing him onto the ground onto a sharp rock - he runs home to his clearly deranged mother, who hides him away in the space under the stairs, filling his mind with paranoia about being convicted of murder.
He stays under the stairs, the house is sold, and he falls in love with a young girl who moves in with her family.
Scott Jacoby gives a memorably creepy performance in this popular TV-movie about a young fugitive from the law who lives in the walled-up guest bathroom of his house after his divorced mother dies and a new family moves in.
This figure of intruder who lives in a hidden room of a house dwelled by a perfect bourgeois family is one of the most interesting subject I've ever seen in horror movies.
I will admit that Bad Ronald is very good by middle-seventies TV movie standards, but the rating it has gotten here is ludicrous.
To rate Bad Ronald with the best films of all time should prompt an immediate and extensive reality check..
Originally airing on October 24, 1974 on the ABC Network, this film tells the sad tale of Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane), a kid who is a great artist and lives in a fantasy world.
Where he is not like me is that his dad left town and never came back, leaving him with an insanely overprotective mother (Kim Hunter, Zira from Planet of the Apes) who has some mystery disease and wants Ronald to go to med school and heal her.
When teenage outcast Ronald Wilby (Scott Jacoby) accidentally kills a young girl, his overprotective mother Elaine (Kim Hunter) comes up with an unusual way to keep her son out of the hands of the law: she instructs Ronald to turn their guest bathroom into a hideaway, covering up the doorway with plasterboard and wallpaper and creating a secret entrance in the pantry.When the police inevitably turn up, his mother tells them that her son has left home and that she doesn't know his whereabouts.
Eventually, the lad loses his grip on reality, retreating into his imaginary world, and becomes obsessed with the youngest Wood daughter (Cindy Fisher), who he believes is a princess who must come and live with him in Atranta.Bad Ronald is a made-for-TV movie and, as such, doesn't exactly push the envelope (no gore or nudity here, folks); despite this, it still manages to be both creepy and bizarre enough to appeal to the cult crowd.
The premise might be a bit far-fetched at times, Ronald managing to remain undiscovered even when sharing the house with a new family (wouldn't they hear him flushing the toilet?), but solid performances and great direction make it easy to overlook the film's sillier moments (the worst of which involve cartoonish snoop of a neighbour Mrs. Schumacher, overplayed by Linda Watkins).Towards the end, Bad Ronald changes from quirky drama to tense thriller, with the now unhinged Ronald chasing 'princess' Babs through the house (director Buzz Kulik proving particularly fond of the 'upskirt' shot).6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb..
I remember years ago as a kid in the 80's one Saturday afternoon on "TBS" watching this old 70's TV movie "Bad Ronald", and I remembered how chilling and creepy it was and it's still effective as I just watched the film again on DVD after many years.
It paints a pretty picture of what it's like to be different and alone while having crazy, creep like perverted feelings.Set in California a young boy named Ronald(well done by Scott Jacoby)who's strange and different yet bright lives at home with mom and she has hopes of him one day becoming a doctor.
So on the way home Ronald commits a very bad thing upon a girl who teases him, after revealing this to mom she hides him away behind a wall room of the house as Ronald becomes sheltered from the people and the police can't find him!
Ronald likes being with his food, and loves to nibble on chocolate bars and passes time away by doing drawings of ancient figures and he believes in a world of another dimension of good and evil that involves strange people of a prince and princesses.
The Woods family consist of a mother and father and three teenage daughters(some of the cast include Dabney Coleman, Pippa Scott, Kim Hunter, Lisa Eilbacher and Ted Ecclesas as Duane Matthews one of the girls boyfriends).
And Ronald starts to sneak out and many scenes are chilling he's just like a peeping tom as he notices the young girls!
'Bad Ronald' tells the tale of a young teenage boy who accidentally kills a child, and is forced to go in hiding - within the walls of his own house!
The police are after Ronald, so his mother's master plan is to hide him away in their house.
It's exciting to watch Ronald hide out behind the walls, especially when the new family moves into the house.
There are some intense moments when he's watching them through a peep hole in the wall, and the ending is effectively eerie too.I highly recommend 'Bad Ronald' to all.
I would buy the DVD of this right now if it were available.Bad Ronald, at the time of the original airing was definitely a unique piece of work.
Granted I do not recall word for word or each scene from beginning to end, but as I previously stated this films unique characters, specifically that of Bad Ronald and his quite off-beat mother still hold a place of remembrance if not regard when thinking of my childhood and the movies that clicked.I would hope that they release this title on DVD in the near future or give me the rights and let me pursue the release as I think it could be worth the time and effort to make this available to an aging fan base.The next best thing would be for one of us fans (hopefully someone already connected to the movie industry) to pursue a remake, that is try and keep the same premise however make it current in both date and technology.
Now, I'm pretty sure I saw this same movie with the immortal Gary Busey (Lions, and tigers and bears...OH MY) and he was living in some family's attic and they didn't know about it, but I think Ronald has the dubious distinction of getting made first.
She goes in for an operation and dies, which means the house gets sold to a new family who Ronald stalks from behind the walls.
The movie has an overall creepy feel from the start of the film when we see the relationship between Ronald and his mother and it gets creepier as the film goes along as Ronald slowly begins to lose his mind.
You'll probably read descriptions of "Bad Ronald" that make it sound like a horror movie.
One of the many TV movies that became vogue in the 1970s, it focuses on a socially inept teenager who accidentally kills a girl and hides in a crawlspace in his house.
Things turn ugly after his mother dies and a new family moves in.It's easy to feel sympathy for Ronald until he lets his imagination take over.
I wouldn't call "Bad Ronald" a great movie but it's worth seeing.
I first saw this movie when I was 13, long before I knew what was a "good" movie or "bad." Granted, it's NOT a cinematic masterpiece, but being a picked-on geek myself, I identified with Ronald and the imaginary world he creates, and tries to drag a teenage girl into.
If you'd like to see Scott Jacoby in a much better movie, track down "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane," with a barely-post-"Taxi Driver" Jodie Foster and a still-playing-psychos (a la "Badlands") Martin Sheen.I just bought a CD from a band that I'd never heard of, just because their name was Bad Ronald ...
The scene which included Ronald's eye peering back through the peephole at the girl who has just found it, replete with blood curdling horror-scream, is, with it's creepy soundtrack and wide angle distortion, one of the defining moments of teenage tele-voyeurism we have, and was shown at least fifty times to Americans before the movie aired, prompting many parents to quip "you're not watching that," before the full program air.
Kim Hunter of Streetcar Named Desire and Planet of the Apes fame does a classic turn as the clinging, insecure nag of a mother, protecting her mamma's boy "Ronald" whom she had too late in life ("mommy I killed the girl next door, she was making fun of me!") by walling-in a bathroom and giving him Carnation powdered milk to drink (a metaphor for her own menopausal "change" and long-dried bosom), which had just come onto the market and in reality was something else disgustingly tangible for America's teens to further identify.
Ronald's existence, and later, his abandonment, inside his "room" is, essentially, one long "time-out" gone haywire, after he does THE dastardly deed of all deeds and doesn't come straight home like his mother said to.
Ronald's mother tells him that she has to leave for a week to have an operation but she dies.
As a result, a new family moves into the Wilby house while Ronald continues to live in the walls and spy on the new family and their three daughters.
A very young Dabney Coleman played Mr. Wood, who moved his wife and three daughters into the Wilby house unaware of Ronald's probing eyes spying on them from behind the walls.
The plot is more dramatic than scary but works perfect for a Horror movie (like Black Christmas or When A Stranger Calls) but very toned down.**SPOILERS** In the likes of "Psycho", Ronald finds in his mother trust, friendship, and love.
Scene cuts to Ronald telling his mother that he killed and buried a girl.
As Ronald learns that his mother died, new owners settled in the house.
"Bad Ronald" is a dramatic movie with Horror tones.
BAD RONALD was a childhood movie...
It is about a boy who accidentally kills one of his friends so his mother boards him up in his house and hides him from the law.
Now I don't recall if this is when the police come but later they do and Ronald comes crashing through the wall in an effort to escape but tumbles to the ground outside instead.I believe after 1979,this was not shown on network TV again,I do know it was shown on late night movies a few times but I haven't seen it in about 20-25 years now.
Played by Scott Jacoby, who starred as Mario in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), Ronald never meant to kill anyone.
It was just an accident that got him condemned to living in the walls of his mom's creepy old house.So why rate this relatively unknown mystery/horror film a 10/10?
When she goes for an operation one day, she dies in the hospital, leaving a new family buying the decrepit house and poor Ronald stuck trying to keep his home, and existence, a secret, especially with Mrs. Schumacher, the next-door old bat, always peeping in the windows to spy.The soundtrack, it's very nostalgic with a 1970's atmosphere, and both melancholy and incredibly creepy, perfect for this movie.
One humorous scene involves a nosey neighbor who perpetually peeks into Ronald's house, even after a new family moves in.
Most '70s made-for-television movies are great.I've noticed among video collectors that Bad Ronald is gaining some cult status. |
tt0114689 | Totsuzen! Neko no kuni banipal witt | For a whole week, Toriyasu and his little sister, Meeko, have been missing their pet dog, Papadoll. Toriyasu thinks he ran off, but Meeko claims it was an alien abduction. Though Toriyasu mocks Meeko for her over-imaginative ways, she isn't far off from the truth. On the way to school, Meeko sees what looks like a cat in clothes slipping into the shadows. Later that evening, three anthropomorphic feline scientists, Henoji, Suttoboke and HoiHoi go into Toriyasu and Meeko's room intending to take Toriyasu with them on a trip. Instead they end up waking and taking Meeko as well. She accompanies them in their vehicle (a balloon that resembles a cheshire cat) with a tired Toriyasu.
The cats soon reach their own world: Banipal Witt, a world of incredibly strange variety. Suddenly, they run into the Sleeping Cat, the very support of Banipal Witt. If the Sleeping Cat wakes, their world would be destroyed. The two children soon find that Banipal Witt is far different than their home: Three minutes in the human world is one day in Banipal Witt and the cats are only anthropomorphic in Banipal Witt (Henoji having remarked that, because of the human world, their life expectancy has decreased). Both Toriyasu and Meeko are turned into anthropomorphic kittens by the sun of Banipal Witt (which is magical in nature) as soon as they set foot on Banipal Witt.
Soon, the kids meet the leader of a resistance: Master Sandada, a powerful wizard. Sadly, in the absence of the trio sent to find Toriyasu and Meeko, Sandada has fallen victim to a curse from Lady Buburina, a dictator-like princess that has gone insane and (due to an enchantment) turns anyone she touches into a balloon. Sandada was unable to protect himself, because his last line of defense- a mystic glove called the Sorcerer's Arm -was stolen by DohDoh, his apprentice that had fallen to insanity due to a curse. Master Sandada explains that he brought Toriyasu here to catch Papadoll, who has supposedly been wreaking havoc across Banipal Witt.
ChuChu, DohDoh's younger sister and the strongest fighter for the resistance, comes to warn that Papadoll has been abducting more villagers and is approaching their location fast. Papadoll soon arrives and the kids can't believe their eyes: Their dog has been turned into a giant, flying monster. DohDoh leaves Sandada with an ultimatum from Buburina: If Sandada doesn't surrender before the next sunrise, great disaster shall befall Banipal Witt. Meeko manages to get Papadoll to calm down, but an interruption from Toriyasu sends Papadoll into a fit of rage. In the confusion, Meeko is taken hostage and things begin to look grim.
Some time later, Sandada explains that when a creature from another world is touched by the sun twice, they become what Papadoll has become. Expectedly, Toriyasu freaks out, demanding to go home, but the others manage to reason with him because of the fact that he needs to save his sister.
Meanwhile, at the palace, the prisoners (including Meeko) attempt to break out. Meeko comes close, but ends up trapped near the throne room. Listening in on a conversation between Buburina and her parents, she finds out that Buburina's power is supposed to be a punishment that was cast by a wizard who sought revenge against her for sending his daughter to her death (even though Buburina claimed that it wasn't her fault).
Back at Sandada's manor, Toriyasu (along with Henoji, Suttoboke, HoiHoi and ChuChu) are sent by Sandada to Buburina's palace to knock Papadoll out with a pill that contains sleeping powder that Sandada claims would make an animal like Papadoll sleep for a week and Papadoll's chain. Before leaving, Sandada says that only Toriyasu has the power to turn Papadoll back to normal.
Later that night, Buburina calls an assembly to inform her prisoners of their fate. She tells her prisoners of her plan to create a giant mouse that would be used to wake the Sleeping Cat should anyone rebel against her, sending Banipal Witt into turmoil. Meeko, however, ridicules Buburina's plan, claiming that Papadoll wouldn't do that. Meeko demands the return of Papadoll and insults the princess by calling her a witch. Buburina, having been upset by Meeko's insult, tries to turn her into a balloon and pop her, but finds she cannot (the curse only affects people from Banipal Witt). Realizing that Meeko is a human, Buburina plans to make Meeko her new monster slave once the sun rises. She then turns all her prisoners into balloons (so that she can finish her mouse balloon) and throws Meeko inside also.
Under cover of night, Toriyasu and the others prepare to sneak into the castle to free Papadoll and save Meeko. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry, as Toriyasu accidentally wakes Buburina up when the rope he is on slips, setting off alarms all over the castle. Toriyasu and ChuChu make an escape, while Suttoboke (who broke off from the group because he got Meeko's scent) runs into DohDoh in an attempt to save Meeko.
Quickly, Toriyasu and ChuChu (after having a bonding moment) regroup in time to see Suttoboke and Meeko release the mouse balloon. With Buburina's plan falling apart at the seams, DohDoh goes to try to kill Meeko and Suttoboke, while Toriyasu and ChuChu go to try to get Papadoll under control and stop Buburina.
In the ensuing air battle, Toriyasu suffers through a temporary depression caused by DohDoh's taunting (having remembered a time when he beat Papadoll to release some built-up anger that had been caused by teasing from three neighborhood bullies). DohDoh, however, is dealt a hard fate by karma, as he breaks the mouse balloon when he gets too close to the castle and loses his hold on the Sorcerer's Arm. Toriyasu, remembering what Master Sandada had said before he left, regains faith in himself and tries to take Papadoll back. Buburina, however, refuses to give back Papadoll and nearly makes Toriyasu fall to his death after Buburina tears Papadoll's collar off.
During his fall, Papadoll finally remembers Toriyasu (having ignored Buburina's orders to eat Toriyasu) and Toriyasu remembers how much Papadoll means to him (shown in flashback form). Toriyasu then goes insane for only a few seconds before regaining composure after landing on one of Buburina's victims. Using the victim as a means of transportation (even though the said victim tries to protest as best he can to this idea), he reaches Papadoll (avoiding seeking missiles fired by Buburina) and regains control of him with ChuChu's help. However, the signal tower (the enormous flare gun-like device that lights Banipal Witt's sun every morning) goes off, leaving Toriyasu and the others only a few seconds to save Meeko.
Quickly, they rescue Meeko and make it home. Buburina and DohDoh both end up with miserable fates: Buburina is left sinking into a small lake, and DohDoh tangled in what remains of the mouse balloon.
Toriyasu and Meeko return to normal (no longer transformed by Banipal Witt's sun), Toriyasu and ChuChu develop a relationship and the cats say that the two can visit any time and they can also choose to be cats again if they want. Before returning home, Meeko makes a prediction that Buburina will make a comeback.
The next morning, Toriyasu and Meeko return to a normal life. Unbeknownst to the children, Meeko is right again: The cats go to Toriyasu and Meeko's school due to some urgent business that came up only recently, leaving the movie on a cliffhanger. | fantasy | train | wikipedia | Extremely imaginative and visually rewarding.
I am not a big fan of anime outside of Miyazaki's films, but the fanciful designs on this DVD caught my eye.
I'm glad they did because although this movie doesn't seem to have built up much of a reputation it is a real gem.The story involves a boy and his younger sister whose dog Papadoll is missing.
They find out that he has been abducted by anthropomorphic cats to be brought to a world called Banapal Witt, which is built on top of a giant sleeping cat.
There the sun turns poor Papadoll into a bizarre giant monster.
He becomes the weapon and beloved pet of a spoiled Princess who turns everything she touches into balloons.
She plans to use Papadoll and a giant inflatable mouse to control the sleeping cat and thus Banapal Witt itself.Sound weird enough for you?
This story is dreamy and fun in a way reminiscent of Winsor McCay's Little Nemo stories.
I like the way it is full of weird touches like the Princess's balloon curse, which at first are nice because they are so nonsensical, but which then are explained in sad flashbacks.
The film did not have as powerful of an emotional effect on me as Miyazaki's classics like Kiki's Delivery Service and Porco Rosso, but it is so jampacked with interesting gimmicks and inventive imagery that its charms are irresistible.
The animation is of a much higher quality than your average anime, but it doesn't even have to be because the designs are so superb.
I will definitely be looking out for more from the designers of this film, who have created some the most interesting contraptions and creatures I have seen in a long time..
A pleasant surprise.
CATNAPPED!, directed by an artist who worked on the groundbreaking anime classic, AKIRA, makes for lively fare for the very young and young at heart.
A young brother and sister go in search of their missing dog, which has been stolen by other-dimensional cats and brought to their world, which sits atop a giant sleeping cat!
For some arcane reason, their sun has turned the beleaguered pooch into a giant, goofy-looking monster that can fly and does the bidding of an evil cat queen.
The kids arrive to save the day, but only after much travail.
sounds like a Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli effort, although it is not.
However, it is a nicely executed anime with colorful characters and backdrops.
The cats travel around in bizarre, circus-like balloons, for instance, and the evil queen's touch turns the cats into helpless balloon animals.
may remind some of THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND, which has a similar circus-like atmosphere.
Worth a look if you enjoy Miyazaki-style anime..
Pure fun.
Just finished a bit of anime called CATNAPPED.
Its about two kids who are taken to a world of cats in order to rescue their dog, and help stop a wicked princess.
Its fun.
Its not perfect and should be longer then the 75 minutes of its running time.
Its one of those movies, and lord knows there aren't many, that has its heart in the right place.
Its one where because you get this vibe off it that it knows what its doing even if its not perfectly done....
I think there are things I would have done differently but I won't quibble since I simply enjoy whats there.
I have no idea how the dub is since I have it subtitled, but that said its a cool movie with everyone turning into balloons.
Imaginative and very well done.
Animation is an art form they say, and in a few countries in the world there are some excellent animation; especially in Japan.
Me and my twin sister LOVE anime and this film is one my favorites; though I was shocked and surprised by the negative reviews I saw on the web, I thought this film was extremely imaginative and very well done.I love Banipal Witt, it is like anything you have seen before - truly a marvelous place to behold.
My favorite characters from the film are Meeko, she is so adorable; ChuChu and the lovely Lily Remlun, daughter of The great Magician Remlun.
Though she didn't get enough screen-time (flashback you know), I still love her.
And it was Lily's papa, that give the nasty princess Buburina the curse of turning everyone into balloons by touch.So overall, I love this film from beginning to end..
No big deal.
This movie was nothing special.
Although it did have a plot, it was far from being intriguing and involving.
To try is one thing, to get the job done is another.
There were many plot holes and flaws.
Many of the characters couldn't captivate, were underdeveloped and lacked any real chemistry.
Papadoll was one of the few really likable characters, especially as a massive flying monster.
Papadoll is an ordinary house dog that was mysteriously turned into this giant - the explanation for this is bizarre: because he is touched by the sun twice.There was very little of memorable in this movie.
I'm not big on anime films in the first place, their artwork isn't my cup of tea, but this one in many ways was weak in artwork even by anime's standards.
In conclusion, it's just another ordinary anime effort..
Wonderful!.
is a wonderful adventure anyone would enjoy.
When I first saw the DVD cover of this movie, I thought 'Ugh. This looks bad.' But I was wrong.
Catnapped!
Catnapped!
Catnapped!
Catnapped!
has well developed characters.
Each character has their own unique personality.
Meeko is a questioning, sometimes whiny character.
Toriyasu is a stubborn arguing character.Now, these two kids, Meeko and Toriyasu get called to a cat world called Banipal Witt by a bunch of felines, after their pet dog, Papadoll, mysteriously vanished.
(Meeko thinks that Aliens abducted him.) These felines travel in circus-like balloons, that are capable of going underwater.
Meeko and Toriyasu are transported to Banipal Witt, which is full of surprises, and supported by a giant sleeping cat.
On the first day, humans only transform into cats.
But on the second day, as Meeko and Toriyasu soon find out, being from outer worlds transform into huge, clown-like monsters.
Now, the kids only have a day to rescue Papadoll.
Soon after they arrive, you soon see Papadoll.
Papadoll had been transformed into a giant, purple, flying dog monster.
Meeko is determined to take Papadoll back.
Papadoll recognizes his owner, but the spell is broken by Toriyasu.
He is not convinced that this monster is Papadoll, and shows no interest in rescuing him.
He is commanded by Do-Do, a cat under a spell, to kidnap other cats, including Meeko.This is where we meet Princess Buburina, a spoiled brat who's very touch turns beings into balloons (discluding creatures from outer worlds).
Buburina has a plan to destroy Banipal Witt, and she is using the Papadoll monster to make it work.
By rescuing Papadoll, they will save Banipal Witt from destruction.
On the way, Toriyasu falls in love with a cat named Chu-Chu. Just before the sun rises, Papadoll is rescued and we are revealed a startling fact; Toriyasu abused Papadoll.
That is why Papadoll left.
After this, the kids go back to their world, and Banipal Witt is saved.The music is very catchy and will leave you humming the tune.
The music is used very well in certain situations and will make you feel just the way Toriyasu and Meeko did when they first enter Banipal Witt.
Without the music, the movie would be less pleasing.The animation is eye candy.
The style in Banipal Witt is very much like a circus.
The cats don't really look like cats.
They look more like cat-human hybrids.
The animation is very similar to Miyazaki movies.
So if you like Miyazaki movies, don't miss out on Catnapped!.
It is quite a kitty adventure!.
You know, I really thought I was never going to like this movie since the sister on this was quite annoying, but as I went along with it, I kicked back, relaxed and enjoyed it!
I found out about this movie through animelist and since I really enjoyed "the cat returns", it gave other anime movie recommendations that are relating to it and this movie was the #1 spot!
So I asked myself why not?
and gave it a watch!
I hated the fact it gave us a cliffhanger in the end, like its 22 years now and we still haven't figured out what the next message was for the kids to hear about and if Princess Buburina was causing chaos again?
I suppose she would because she wasn't "fully" defeated yet.
Or even will her companion Doh-Doh be the leader this time and have Chuchu fight against him?
I really like this anime regardless of the cliffhanger as it was enjoyable and like as an animal lover, it does brighten up your day like it is a pretty much upbeat movie! |
tt0074114 | Alice ou la dernière fugue | While leaving her husband, whom she has grown to despise, Alice (Sylvia Kristel) drives into the pristine countryside but must stop at an old house after her windshield cracks mysteriously. An old man and his butler welcome her at the mansion as if she were expected. The old man insists on her staying overnight. They even offer to have her car repaired in the morning. She is woken up in the middle of the night by a booming noise. The next day the car is there with a new windshield but she is alone in the deserted house. After a good breakfast laid out for her she jumps into the car again but she cannot find the gateway to the country house from whence she came. A tree trunk seems to be in the way. Reluctantly she returns to the old house. She then tries to walk the way with her suitcase and she meets a young man who tells her to accept the fact that there is no way out. Is she in limbo? She has to spend a second night in the mansion. The old man is there again and provides some explanations. The following day is a bright morning full of birdsong. Once more breakfast is ready for her in the lonely house. She takes the car again and here is the path and the gate to the highway. Is she really out? A few more strange characters come her way. Her windshield cracks again. | paranormal, alternate reality | train | wikipedia | ALICE OR THE LAST ESCAPADE (Claude Chabrol, 1977) ***1/2.
Though this was considered as something of an aberration in Chabrol's filmography and thus proved somewhat hard to find, for me it had always been the most intriguing entry from this ostensibly lean period (stretching from 1976 to 1984) in the director's career – being a unique foray for him into outright Surrealism and for which he obviously drew inspiration from "Alice In Wonderland" (even down to naming his heroine Alice Carol {sic}!).Anyway, I was thoroughly absorbed in the dream-like 'events' – helped in no small measure by Jean Rabier's exquisite photography, a moody score by Pierre Jansen and, of course, the beguiling presence of stunning leading lady Sylvia Kristel (fitted throughout in a variety of simple but very elegant dresses).
Given the latter's casting, star of the official "Emmanuelle" series of erotic movies, this clearly takes on an adult perspective – but, apart from one full-frontal nude scene and the barest hint of lesbianism towards the end, it is not otherwise explicit in this regard.Incidentally, the original source has always been somehow refuted of its prepubescent associations; even so, it is telling that the film under review (featuring the likes of Charles Vanel, Jean Carmet, Chabrol's own young son Thomas, as well as Fernand Ledoux and Andre' Dussolier, both in dual roles for no very good reason except adding to the fun!) is, to me, a more rewarding viewing experience than the many versions of the Lewis Carroll classic I have come across.
For the record, I am familiar with those made in 1933 (Paramount), 1951 (Walt Disney), 1966 (BBC-TV), 1972 (British) and 1988 (Jan Svankmajer) but still need to check out Tim Burton's latest adaptation, while also owning the pseudo-biopic DREAMCHILD (1985).Chabrol may have been motivated towards making this following the release of the similarly oddball, even more fanciful but also rather muddled BLACK MOON (1975), made by his peer in the "Nouvelle Vague" movement Louis Malle.
However, for all their illogical nature, the various episodes Alice finds herself a helpless and bewildered participant in – and which I have deliberately refrained from describing, since these have to be seen to be properly appreciated!
– remain firmly grounded in reality (set as they are in a country-house, a gas station and a restaurant).
The opening marital squabble and poignant closing shot, then, would seem to be evoking Jean-Luc Godard's CONTEMPT (1963), yet another of Chabrol's former colleagues!
Indeed, an opening title reveals that ALICE is dedicated to the memory of the late Fritz Lang, one of Chabrol's idols and an actor (portraying himself no less!) in the latter film.All of this creates a hauntingly oneiric feel which admirably approaches the contemporaneous work of my all-time favorite auteur, Luis Bunuel.
The last act even introduces a DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)-like circular inevitability to the proceedings, while the final revelation of Alice's 'in limbo' predicament recalls, of all things, Jess Franco's A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD (1971; albeit one of his better efforts).
In retrospect, it is regrettable that Chabrol did not go down this path more often in his career – and, while the film can be cherished as a one-off, it is also liable to get lost in the shuffle of his prolific oeuvre..
Excellent, unjustly unknown film.
Saw this by chance late one evening.Was attracted by the ambiance, which I found very Tarkovsky-esque, before I was attracted by Sylvia Kristel (she was not on screen during the first minutes I saw ;-)Was surprised to see her act.
Really loved the pace and the suspense.
Found the conclusion wonderful, though-provoking, unexpected.In my view this is clearly in the top 10 percent of Chabrol's production.
I don't understand why this film is not well-known - maybe because it has an ex-erotic film actress in it?A very good surprise..
Intriguing Unknown Masterpiece.
Alice Carol (Sylvia Kristel) leaves her husband (Bernard Rousselet) in a rainy night telling that she does not like him anymore.
She travels alone but when her car breaks the windshield in a lonely road, she crosses the gate of a creepy manor and is welcomed by the owner Henri Vergennes (Charles Vanel) and his butler Colas (Jean Carmet) that invites Alice to spend the night in the house.
On the next morning, Alice does not meet the two men and finds the windshield of her car surprisingly fixed.
She tries to leave the real estate, but does not find the gate.
She stops the car and walks around the wall trying to find an exit.
Sooner she finds that she is trapped and can not leave the property."Alice ou la Dernière Fugue" is an intriguing unknown masterpiece written and directed by Claude Charbrol and supported basically by the wonderful performance of the gorgeous Sylvia Kristel.
The story is developed in a nightmarish atmosphere and the name of the lead character "Alice Carol" seems to be a tribute to "Alice in the Wonderland" of Lewis Carroll.
Further, Adrian Lyne's "Jacob's Ladder" is visibly inspired in the storyline of this film.
The mystery is kept until the very last scene.
My vote is nine.Title (Brazil): "Alice".
An almost real "cauchemare".
I saw this movie on TV when I was 11 years old and it had a deep impression on me.
Watching it again, I can identify many elements which are (and already were in the 1976) very conventional, or even outdated: the existentialist/ nouveau roman-plot, the Margritte-aesthetics, the "Psycho"-allusions...The portrait of Alice (Kristel, sensuous as ever) and of her fate is sometimes of a certain merciless quality (misogynous tendencies?), but this movie is emulating the scenario of a real "cauchemare" far better than any other "Splatter" or "Horror"-Movie..
Brilliant.
A brilliant movie.
I liked it because all the time everything seemed so possible, but strange until the very end where you're shocked finding out what was really going on.
It gets you to think about so many things related to life, dreams, and death.In my view this is one of the best Chabrol's movies.
Unfortunately, it did not get as much attention as the others.Sylvia Kristel was good in her role.
She has actually shown she could act..
A psychologically disturbing film which compels us to think about life after death....
Surprising movie!
A twist in the end!
I like such movies, when the viewer is fooled ...when what we thought we understood is overturned!
Reminds me of something from 'The Sixth Sense'.
Do you agree?
I didn't like the the acting of Silvia Kristel in a few sequences, as she seemed to be making some effort to speak.
In the first shots with her husband, she acted strangely as she didn't seem distressed at all when announcing the latter that she would leave him.
There was no visible stress on her face and she appeared relaxed when communicating her departure.
The husband also acted strangely when he told her to stay one more night and to leave tomorrow morning!
No one would have realistically said that!
didn't like a few shots as well...For instance, some night shots in the beginning were not properly lit.
But, it remains a movie with a great script, with minimal dialog, with each shot compelling us to ask...'what will happen next?'.
The characters were all weird - and later we can deduce why....
Alice Carroll in wonderland..
Few people know this Chabrol movie and I agree with the precedent users:it's a work that deserves to be restored to favor.Almost unique in the director's canon ,it deals with the fantasy and horror genre:only the final sequences of "la rupture" (1970) verge on it.Its less-than-critically-acclaimed reception led Chabrol to ditch that new direction ,which was perhaps too bad,considering the big amount of mediocre films he made afterward.Probably influenced by American B movie "carnival of souls"(1962) and Louis Malle's "black moon" (1975),"Alice" walks a fine line that directly leads to works such as "Jacob's ladder" (1990) "a pure formality" (1994) and "the sixth sense " (1999).Sylvia "Emmanuelle -Krystel is not much of an actress,but it does not matter here because it's the atmosphere which counts:a green green landscape ,where Chabrol achieves the incredible feat of exuding anguish in the daylight,a gloomy mansion where,when you talk on the phone,your own voice echoes you;a strange library where the heroine finds a BOrges book-and it's no coincidence- Jorge Luis Borges's "ficciones"(one of his short stories is called "El jardin de Sanderos que se bifurcan":the garden with paths which fork),Borges whose spirit literally haunts the movie.The party where the guests celebrate "my sister's death" displays Luis Bunuel's influence ,notably " the phantom of liberty" (1974)A very strange supporting cast "plays" with the heroine ,and their behavior predates David Fincher's "the game" by more than twenty years:Charles Vanel and Fernand Ledoux ,whose careers began during the silent era,Jean Carmet,Andre Dussolier ,playing two parts ,dressed in white then in black and showing one more time Hitchcock's stranglehold on Chabrol's cinema when he says "the world is a pigpen,isn't it?" as Uncle Charlie in "shadow of a doubt"(1942).What will you find on the other side of the mirror?
Sorry...
of the wall?And when there's no wall anymore?"Alice ou la dernière fugue" should appeal to Chabrol's fans even if it's not really chabrolesque..
Film Fantasy Frolic.
Claude Chabrol's Alice or the last escapade is a rare foray into fantasy with many of the signature elements that made this French filmmaker a consummate storyteller and creator of suspense.
One night, the unhappy Alice Carroll (Sylvia Kristel) leaves her boring husband.
Then her car's windshield inexplicably breaks in the middle of a storm and she finds shelter in an estate.
The old owner and his butler kindly put her up for the night, but when she wakes up the inhabitants have disappeared and her car has been repaired.
However, she can't find the gate leading back to the main road.
She's trapped inside the estate's walls.Although written by Chabrol himself, the film is based on Lewis Carroll's classic novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Kristel reads Jorge Luis Borges' Fictions at one point.
One could also establish connections with a famous Ambrose Bierce short-story and Flann O'Brien's The Third Policeman.
It's a far cry from his realistic thrillers but I think it's also his sense of realism that makes the subdued fantasy elements work so well in this movie.
The strangeness of the movie comes mostly from plays on language – like the inhabitants who refuse to answer any questions – and old-fashioned camera tricks and sound effects.
When Alice climbs up the wall, thinking she get on the other side, she discovers there's just more estate, or as a character tells us, "there's no other side." These are all neat tricks that fortunately don't require elaborate special effects, but allow the movie to explore concepts like infinity, paradoxes and the nature of time.What makes the movie so remarkable, besides the strange concepts it explores and the bizarre situations it thrusts its heroine into, is that Chabrol never seems to be directing a fantasy movie.
In fact Jean Rabier's luminous camera captures every surface and space with a decidedly non-threatening light.
In an age when movies come out with preconceived palettes – you know a horror movie these days is going to have that sickly green hue – the colors in this movie seem out of place, radically so, and better suited in a drama.
It's this sense of unfamiliarity that makes the movie more settling.Sylvia Kristel was very good in this movie, although she was mostly a passive character being thrust from one absurd situation to another.
I think Chabrol was more fascinated with the beauty of the sets than with her legendary body.
Still, watching this movie, one wonders why her career derailed into a string of erotic movies.
She had all the qualities to make it as a decent actress.Alice or the last escapade is a frolic for movie lovers.
There's nothing visionary about this movie: it seems in the 1960s and 1970s everyone was doing their own weird fantasy movie: Robert Altman (Images), Ingmar Bergman (The Hour of the Wolf), Elio Petri (A Quiet Place in the Countryside, Roman Polanski (What?), and this is just another addition to this whimsical body of cinema.
But if you're a fan of artistic fantasy movies, you ought to watch it..
"What a shame this pendulum's stopped.".
Recently watching her debut again in Pim de la Parra touching Erotic Drama Frank en Eva,I decided to take a look at co-star Sylvia Kristel's other credits.
Making some offerings from film maker Claude Chabrol be part of my plan to watch 100 French films over 100 days,I was delighted to spot a credit from Kristel where she worked with Chabrol!,which led to me excitingly walking into Wonderland.The plot:Arguing with her husband, Alice Caroll leaves the house and drives down a stormy road.During the storm,Caroll's windscreen mysterious breaks,which leads to her taking shelter in a country house.Entering the house,Caroll gets a strange feeling that the owners of the house have been waiting for her.Waking up the next day,Caroll finds the car fixed and a breakfast on the table,but no soon of any humans,and the exit from the house completely removed.Rushing round the gardens to find an exit from the place,Alice soon finds her self entering a wonderland.View on the film:Floating on air, Sylvia Kristel gives an earthy performance as Alice Caroll.Scanning the grounds with limited dialogue, Kristel gives the title a whispering, dreamy atmosphere by holding Caroll's head high in the clouds,and also giving Caroll a determined streak to dig up the rabbit hole.Whilst skirting round a direct adaptation,the screenplay by writer/director Claude Chabrol does give some sweet surrealist nods to Lewis Carroll,from Alice's pill taking and meeting with a "childish" Mad Hatter,to the fantasy world being hit with a final jolt of reality.Taking a pause from his usual themes,Chabrol leaps around with an infectious energy in his surrealist Wonderland,which takes an episodic approach in Alice's off the wall encounters,which goes from all the birds singing to her,to Alice having to deal with a ban on questioning.Joining the tea party,Chabrol bounces the flight of fantasy with a sweet and sour psychological dip into an after life which opens the rabbit hole to the gates of hell,and reveals in a sharp final twist that Alice can never fully escape from the fantasy.Surrounded by the grounds of the house, Chabrol & cinematographer Jean Rabier sink Alice into a lush surrealist landscape.Covering the screen completely in green,Chabrol steams up a mythical atmosphere by stylishly using the miles of bright green plants and trees to keep Alice in a disorientating state,and also completely closing off Alice's wonderland from the outside world.
Joined by a majestic score from Pierre Jansen, Chabrol takes delicious detours that flip from a tea party to funeral transformation,to a high wall stopping Alice from leaving Chabrol's wondrous Wonderland..
Perfect.
A French surrealistic retelling of Alice in Wonderland with Sylvia Kristel in the lead?
It's as if a message from space was sent directly to my brain, demanding that I stop whatever I was planning and sit inches from my TV and yelling out every translated word via closed captioning.Alice Caroll is leaving her husband, who she has grown to hate, driving through the countryside until her windshield cracks and she ends up at an old house.
It seems she's been expected and is asked to stay overnight.
The next morning, the servants are all gone and her car is fixed, but she can't find the way out.She tries to walk away from the house and still can't escape when a young man tells her to accept her fate.
After staying a second night, she finally gets away in her car down the pathway before she crashes her car.
As Jason Mantzoukas would say, "This is a Jacob's Ladder scenario."Claude Chabrol - the "French Hitchcock" - dedicated this film to Fritz Lang and it's a visual essay of Kristel navigating scenery, of the futility of existence, of trying to navigate life's path without any answers.
It's gorgeous yet icy and mysterious, much like the visage of Chabrol's muse her, Kristel.I'd compare this to 1970's Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, as this is an absolute film, one that you experience on an emotional - and not rational - basis.
It's my first exposure to Chabrol, but I know it will not be my last. |
tt0107750 | Only the Strong | Former Green Beret Louis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his Capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off the school property, Mr. Kerrigan (Geoffrey Lewis), one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school, giving Stevens an abandoned fire station as their practice area. While doing so, Stevens earns the ire of the local drug lord, Silverio (Paco Christian Prieto), whose younger cousin, Orlando (Richard Coca), is one of Stevens' students. Silverio is also a master of Capoeira, and he engages Stevens in combat, beating him viciously. The horrified Orlando resolves to learn everything he can from Stevens. Stevens' class learns quickly, and they become very skilled at Capoeira. The principal, delighted, proposes a district-wide Capoeira program to the school board. After a field trip with his class, Stevens once again crosses swords with Silverio, who declares war against him.
Silverio's gang terrorizes the high school and sets fire to Kerrigan's classroom, resulting in the death of one of Stevens' students. As a result of this incident, Stevens is banished from the school grounds and the Capoeira program is terminated. In retaliation to the attack, Stevens sneaks into Silverio's chop shop and defeats the workers before setting a cash-filled car on fire. Furious, Silverio orders the gang to bring Stevens to him alive. Orlando flees to get help. After a desperate battle, Stevens is finally captured and brought to a bonfire, where Silverio awaits. However, Stevens' Capoeira students bar their path in an attempt to rescue their teacher. Before a brawl can ensue, the exhausted Stevens challenges Silverio to a single combat to win back his students. Despite a grueling battle, Stevens defeats Silverio before the police arrive, sending the gang scattering in all directions. With this defeat, Silverio's reputation as crime lord is gone.
Stevens' Capoeira program proves to be a success that his students graduate from high school. To celebrate, they join a Brazilian Capoeira team to perform for Stevens at the graduation ceremony. | cult, violence | train | wikipedia | Dacascos is the most graceful, watchable martial arts star since Brandon Lee, with an easy charisma that really comes across in a film like this and also the brilliant "Drive".
The plot and characterisation are admittedly 2-D, but what the hell, it's a 100% schmaltz-free feelgood movie.Two of my friends actually took up Capoeira after watching this film.
Unique Brazilian martial arts exhibited in a mediocre movie.
The real star of "Only the Strong" is the capoeira style of Brazilian martial arts (which is the pre-cursor of many break dancing moves) exhibited throughout the film.
There are many movies that concentrate on wushu, taekwondo, karate, aikido, and many others styles from different parts of the world, but capoeira movies are far and few between, which makes "Only the Strong" that much more unique.The story is nothing short of rehashed and predictable; a well meaning soldier (Mark Dacascos) with martial arts background from his previous station in Brazil, comes back to the U.S. and attempts to take charge of the rebellious, rival students in a troubled neighbourhood.
The troublesome students take a while to be won over by Decascos efforts, but eventually play along.Things get complicated when it turns out that one of the students is the son of a Portuguese gangster, a capoeira maestre himself, that is the terror of the town, leading to some battles and a showdown between the ruthless criminal and his followers and the well meaning teacher.The acting and the story is sub-par as mentioned previously, but this is , at the time of this writing, the only movie focusing on capoeira as a whole, and as such deserves a closer look by martial arts fans everywhere who are ready for something truly different..
ONLY THE STRONG Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: Dolby Stereo SRA former Green Beret (Mark Dacascos) is employed by his local high school to rehabilitate some of its worst students by teaching them the art of capoeira (a form of martial arts from Brazil, using dance-like moves).
But his work brings him into conflict with a local drug lord (Paco Christian Prieto), whose operations are threatened by Dacascos' interference...Predictable B-movie, elevated above the routine by virtue of its slick presentation and interesting cast (including Geoffrey Lewis), under the assured direction of Sheldon Lettich (DOUBLE IMPACT).
Excellent movie showing that great fighting art,Capoera.
I am a fan of the Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies, but this type of martial art has found a place in my heart.
Capoeira, the rhythm-based Brazilian martial art / dance, is the movie's chosen subject, and its saving grace: flamboyant and effortlessly acrobatic, accurately pulled off by a cast of the style's best practitioners.
Dacascos masters the art while stationed in Brazil working as a Green Beret, and returns to his old school in Miami to find the classes out of control, made up of petty criminals and drug dealers.
I think that the capoeira scenes are great, plus it has good music, but the story and characters could've been presented a little better.
Great film,displaying a lot of martial art skills and action!!!!!!!
Richard Coca,Mark Dacascos,Paco Christian Prieto,Ryan Bollman,Stacey Travis,Mark Cardwell.The others,although they are not mentioned.....have done a great job also.
The music is a lot of fun too and the soundtrack is a lot of fun!However, this is one of the worst offenders of movies that have thirty year old high school students - er - actors in their late 20s playing 16 year olds.
The main character does a Michelle Pfeiffer-esque dangerous minds revolution in what is supposed to be the worst high school in LA by taking a group of the "worst" students and teaching them martial arts.
Saw this movie and was very intrigued by it..Had it for a few years and still watch it..My daughter is learning the dance through the movie as a protection for her and enjoys the dance moves as well..We're from Hawaii also and I think Mark is a great actor..One of my all time favorite movies..Much Aloha to all!!Cyndi.
My only regret is that the producers saw a need to speed up some of the Capoeira play, as though it weren't impressive enough to stand on its own.Plot and acting aside, the only real flaw with the movie is that the entire movie, they use a fairly accurate Capoeira fighting style with legs being the predominant weapons, but in the second half of the final fight scene, the fighting style completely shifts to a more street style involving only elbows and fists.
Excellent Portrayal Of The '90s "Pop Culture" And Great Martial Arts Action!.
It also explores a "martial art" that was little known, since Capoeira is actually more closely related to a dance, than a fighting style (made popular in the U.S. in the fighting game "Tekken 2" and Tekken 3").
Aside from the fact that some of the actors needed a few more acting lessons, I think it was a very good movie and would (and do) recommend it whole-heartedly..
this flick is the type of movie that is timeless and will continue to inspire many generations of martial art's movie fans like myself to explore and venture into new territory.this hit of a flick does just that as it intrigues jackie chan,jet li,vann damme,steven seagal and don the dragon wilson fans like myself.i've ventured into alot of different style exploitations and this one(capoeira)definetely has my respect for it's grace,athleticism,finesse,and most of all it's upbeat enthusiasm.i can hardly believe that myself,a longtime practitioner and martial arts movie buff first saw this flick on hbo in 1996 and was'nt particularly enthralled by it back then,but guess what?i really decided to watch it(the whole thing and not just in bits and parts while i was doing other stuff on the side,like cooking and reading like i apparently did back in 1996.like i said,this time i gave it a chance and i really became enthralled, fascinated and rejuvenated from watching this very underrated breakthrough masterpiece of a martial arts classic that it obviously deserves to be.in other words,and putting it rather bluntly and frankly,check this flick out,please.give it the chance it deserves.you won't be disappointed.the only thing that disappoints me is that they haven't made a sequel for it yet and it's been out for 9 years.how freaky is that?my rating?definetely a strong 8.5.the music video is really cool too..
It is one of the few films to portray the lesser known (meaning no disrespect to it of course) Brazillian martial art of Capoeira.
It's an action packed movie,displaying great martial arts skills.It's THE BEST!!!.
I think it's a great movie.It displays great martial arts skills as well as potential and understanding.
In the movie....Luis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) teaches the guys,not only martial arts but compassion and understanding to one another.
In the movie....Luis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) teaches the guys,not only martial arts but compassion and understanding to one another.
I would just like to mention a few whom I think deserve a great deal of credit.....Richard Coca,Mark Dacascos,Paco Christian Prieto,Ryan Bollman,Roman Cardwell,Stacey Travis.
If you like martial arts movies and movies that are inspiring,this is a good choice.
Martial Arts film fans should be happy with it.Geoffrey Lewis quite unofficially brings in former Special Forces captain Mark Dascascos for a karate program for some of his biggest challenges at an urban Miami high school he teaches at.
Then it becomes downright personal.Martial Arts film fans will love Only The Strong and others will be entertained..
When one of the lessor known straight-to-video stars, Mark Dacascos entered the game, he brought us something out of the box with this film which features the Brazilian fighting style, Capoeira.
Though the message of a Teacher from the hood coming back to his hood to teach the worst kids in his old school how to respect themselves so it will influence them to not let the streets consume them is timeless, the delivery of this message could not be more early 90's.The acting was straight out of an after school special, and it feels like whoever wrote this movie was watching MTV while he did it, more concern with coming off cool rather than being actuate.
This movie made me obsessed with Capoeira for the next few years and even thought from this obsession I learned that the filmmakers took liberties with the fighting style, that does not matter, because the movie version of Capoeira makes this one of the best Martial art films made.Watching Mark teach these kids how awesome Capoeira is, puts a smile on my face every time,and watching him use the fighting style for both self-defense and aggressively was just so cool.
It was just mesmerizing and worth watching.It does not have the same legs as the Karate kid has but using Capoeira gives this movie an originality that most other Martial arts films don't have..
The fighting scenes from Dacascos are great and the only decent acting comes from him.
The story is a bit too sentimental at times and the whole thing of Capoeira changing the lives of these street kids doesn't bode much credibility,however the fight sequences are great..
One of the great martial arts films.
But, the trouble rises when Louis founds out that one of the kids is related to a local gang lord, who is also a capoeira master and so
Louis takes the fight to protect the kids, school, and his girlfriend.Now
the movie is simple, very simple and likable.
First of all, as a martial artist myself, I think that this film offers a beautiful scenes of capoeira and excellent, well choreographed fight scenes.
The movie offers a very beautiful atmosphere of Miami, good visuals
When it comes to the script, it's silly and simple, nothing to think about much
Mark Dacascos
well
of course, don't expect some fine acting from him, but he was brilliant in fighting scenes and this film remains one of the best in his career.
Stacey Travis, who plays his girlfriend Dianna, I saw her in few low budget films, and
well, she pretty much sticks to similar performances, Geoffrey Lewis already did some martial arts films, but he is not martial artist, so he was good in his own element.
And we have a villain Silverio, played by Paco Christian Prieto, I love this guy, a menacing and hilarious dude, the guy can't act worth of sh*t, but he made a terrific villain, and he performed some good martial arts moves too
but walking around, being a tough guy to Mark Dacascos's character
calling him "Santo", or "Hey, santo!"
that's a real comedy.So, overall
watch this film, it's highly recommended, especially for capoeira students, or for most of them who love martial arts
I don't care if you don't like martial arts, this is a cool, relaxing film and it's good for playing during the summer with friends..
All hail the 1990s and those wonderful low-budget STVs. In ONLY THE STRONG, a young Mark Dacascos plays a special forces veteran who returns home to find his old high school in total disarray.
In this formula actioner, Dacascos happens to know a unique style of of martial arts called capoeira, which combines gymnastics, dance and kung phooey.
The Brazilian martial art is very rarely seen, so it makes the fight scenes fresh and interesting.
It's a fun, feel good action film with a great lead and an awesome villain.
Even though it looks like this is made on a shoestring budget, they really managed to pull off a great martial arts movie here.
They are very good, Marc Dacascos is great in it, and overall it was a very enjoyable experience from start to finish.
The mix between martial art scenes and scenes progressing the feel-good story is perfect.
Then I see this movie on HBO about Brazilian martial arts and was hooked from the beginning!
The Martial Arts choreography is great, especially if you haven't seen Brazilian Martial arts before!Like someone also said, this is not Oscar material, but it's certainly entertaining.
"Only the Strong" certainly delivers in entertainment and in my opinion should have it's place among Martial Arts movies!.
Perhaps the worst martial arts movie of all time.
Mark Dacascos stars as Louis Stevens an U.S army ranger who teaches troubled kids a new style of martial arts that turns the kid's lives around, however a gang leader tries to find a way to sabotage Steven's work in progress in this dull action flick.
Mark Dacascos stars as Louis Stevens, a soldier turned teacher who gives the rough students at a local high school a crash course in the martial arts of Capoeira, however the head gang member, Silverio has other plans and therefore a war is waged between Stevens and Silverio.
However Stevens will need all the martial arts learned because Silverio is a master of the art of Capoeira also.
Although looking back on this, one must admit that the story is a bit too sentimental at times and the whole thing of Capoeira changing the lives of these street kids doesn't bode much credibility however when the fight sequences are this good and the showdown between Dacascos and Paco Christian Prieto that intense, one can only enjoy the silliness at hand.
Brazilian martial arts + bad guys from Rio d Janeiro + catchy soundtrack= a C+ movie.
This movie explores the Brazilian self defense dance capoeira which is not known much about unless you've seen it.
Lewis(Dacascos)returns to the high school from which he came where he is hired to teach a group of delinquents capoeira in order to harness their otherwise bad habits.
Lewis may be getting involved with a problem that he can't solve in this action/martial arts movie.
a very enjoyable film the martial art beautiful to watch dacascos on top form.
though the film is predictable you blatantly watch it too see the martial arts.ever since watching drive i have been a dacascos fan, but feel he can do so much better than the stuff he is given.just watch the film for the martial arts, for the uninformed amongst you the art in question is Capoeira (what eddy does in tekken 3) a Brazilian martial art that looks like dancing.dacascos alone embodies the art and is given help from the on screen badguy to pull off one of the most watchable and exciting fighting climaxes in history.i say its a no brainier with the bad guy, kid that needs help, sideline love interest and the mandatory good looking leading man but what the hell?
Mark Dacascos show us his great martial-artist talent.If you like Dacascos, you have to see Crying Freeman ;).
I love this movie for the capoeira..
I am a capoeirista (student of capoeira) and I have to say that I love this movie.
I even copied the scenes I liked and made an "Only the Strong: Abridged Capoeira No-Crap Version" so that I could watch all the good parts.
This is a great Mark Movie, See it!.
This is a great Mark Dacascos Movie, One of the best ones.The school life has changed for some "bad" school pupils.
This movie is about Capoera, a brazilian fighting style.
The main actor, Mark Dacascos can be seen in other martial art movies too.
The movie is pretty HOT and not boring like other martial art movies.
It shows that martial art movies can be good and intresting too.
this fil has to be the best 15 martial art film i have ever seen in my life.
Mark Dacascos (who i first noticed in the film "drive") is absoultly incredible and has to be one of the best martial artists i have ever seen.
The storry starts off with louis stevens (Dacascos) as a green baray in Brazil, and after spending many years there learns the art of Capoeira.
He returns to his high school and starts a capoeira class and trains the 12 worst kids in the school the brazilian kung fu so they can protect themselfs against the drug dealers that are tearing the area apart and to give them something to strive for, this film has more flips and kicks than some films that are classed as " martial art" and i throughly enjoyed it.
A tribute to Capoeira martial art, if not much more....
However, Only the Strong stands apart as the only film to contain more than a few frames of (decent quality) Capoeira, the low-profile(?) Brazilian martial art.
Dacascos, a talented athlete and an otherwise accomplished martial artist, but not a Capoeirista, does, in my opinion, a decent job out of performing some Capoeira moves, but it's the real Capoeiristas shown in the very beginning and very end of the film that make Only the Strong, a tribute to this wonderful martial art.
This is a film that is all about being tough and learning how to fight and how to be strong.
All the characters are awesome, and the story is really good as well, plus Mark Dacascos and Paco Christian Prieto are simply amazing in this.
It's really emotional at times and the final fight between Dacascos and Paco Christian Prieto is intense and really exciting, plus the training scenes that he was teaching the students were really cool.
This is an awesome Martial Arts film, that really is quite the underrated gem, with excellent fight scenes and very good performances, and I say it's a must see!.
This is an awesome Martial Arts film, that really is quite the underrated gem, with excellent fight scenes and very good performances, and I say it's a must see!.
This is an awesome Martial Arts film, that really is quite the underrated gem, with excellent fight scenes and very good performances, and I say it's a must see!.
Mark Dacascos is amazing here, he is extremely likable, very charismatic, surprisingly an excellent actor, one of the best martial artist's I have ever seen, kicked that ass, and had great chemistry with all of the kid's! |
tt0066181 | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever | Act I
Quirky Daisy Gamble sees herself as an unremarkable person and has low self-esteem, even though she can (1) make plants grow remarkably, (2) predict when a telephone will ring or someone will drop in, and (3) tell where to find an object that someone else is looking for. Her current problem, though, is her nasty smoking habit, which will interfere with the chances of her fiancé, Warren, for a job with great benefits. She seeks help from a psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Bruckner, to stop smoking. When he hypnotizes her, she describes living a previous life in late 18th century England as "Melinda Wells", who died in her late twenties from circumstances beyond her control. Free spirited Melinda was in love with portrait painter Edward Moncrief. Dr. Mark keeps to himself what Daisy has revealed to him, and he tells her that she should not be ashamed of her ESP.
At their next session, Daisy, under hypnosis, relates scenes from the salacious London Hellrakers' Club where Melinda met Edward. Melinda and Edward eventually marry, but the painter is unfaithful to her, making love to his subjects. Mark, the psychiatrist, finds himself falling for "Melinda" and becomes convinced that Daisy is really the reincarnation of Melinda. Melinda finally left Edward and set sail for America, but the ship never reached Boston. Before Mark can save Melinda from shipwreck, Daisy wakes up.
Act II
Mark reports on the case to his fellow psychiatrists, who ridicule his findings. Greek shipping magnate Themistocles Kriakos learns of Mark's belief in reincarnation and offers to finance a study of the events of Melinda's life in exchange for Mark's help in discovering who he will be in his next life, which will allow him to leave his fortune to his future self. Daisy accidentally discovers that she is the "Melinda" at the center of the growing controversy and that Mark prefers Melinda to herself. In her angry confrontation with the psychiatrist about the matter, she tells him that she is "through being a go-between for you and your dream girl. You're not going to go on using my head for a motel."
Daisy goes to the airport, ready to return home. Her ESP powers warn her that the plane on which she plans to travel will crash. She realizes at last how special she really is. She leaves her starchy fiancé (Come Back To Me) and she and Mark unite to explore their extraordinary future. | romantic, psychological, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0086013 | Nightbeast | A small alien spaceship is cruising around the solar system. When it reaches the vicinity of Earth, it is struck by an asteroid and crashes at night in the small town of Perry Hall. Some hunters hear the impact and alert County Sheriff Cinder. When they go investigating on their own, however, the pilot emerges and kills them with a disintegrator ray. The beast also attacks a couple in their home, and a family out for a drive.
Cinder confronts the beast with his men and some armed residents including a man named Jamie. However, the beast appears invulnerable to bullets and they lose many men to the disintegrator. The next morning, they enlist the help of an expert marksman who shoots off the disintegrator, disarming the beast. However, the marksman's son and another officer perish during the shootout.
The police department begin evacuating the town. However, they are unable to convince mayor Bert Wicker to cancel his party for governor Embry. Meanwhile, a delinquent named Drago abuses his girlfriend, who has been sleeping with Jamie. The police then arrive to give her the evacuation order, and after they leave, Drago returns and strangles the girl. When Cinder's police find out that Wicker's party is in progress, Jamie bluffs that poison gas is escaping from a nearby mine and the partygoers flee in panic. Wicker and his secretary Mary Jane, dispirited by this turn of events, stay home and begin drinking heavily.
At the office of doctor Steven Price, the beast appears and kills a few men. Price and nurse Ruth hide in the basement, and devise a trap to electrocute the beast with some frayed electrical cord. It works, and the beast flees the building. The body of Drago's girl gets discovered and taken to Price; Jamie, suspecting Drago, goes out on his dirt bike and beats him. Soon after, Cinder and his deputy Lisa discover a mutilated corpse, and the beast shows up. Lisa and Cinder make their escape, and the sheriff injures his leg in the process. Lisa takes him to her house to heal, and they have sex.
Meanwhile, Wicker and Mary Jane have gotten very drunk. Price is sent to watch over them until they can be evacuated. However, the beast gets past Price and kills Mary Jane in the basement. Her screams wake Wicker, and the beast rips his head off when he investigates. Cinder arrives afterwards, and Jamie suggests electrocuting the beast with a high-voltage coil from the local power plant. Price, thinking back to his success with the electrical trap, supports this course of action, and the sheriff drives out to the power plant with his men. There, Drago assaults Ruth and Cinder, but is stopped when Jamie shoots him with a shotgun.
Cinder and his crew return to Wicker's house and begin setting up their trap, laying metal wire between the trees and connecting it to the coil, which will discharge when they throw the circuit breakers. The beast takes them by surprise, and Jamie must hold onto the wire to keep it inside the trap. They throw the breakers, and the surge makes the beast explode, and takes Jamie with it as well. The camera pans up to the stars overhead and the film ends. | revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2296697 | Concussion | In 2002, former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster is found dead in his pickup truck, after years of self-mutilation and homelessness. Before his death, a fellow football player, Justin Strzelczyk, comes to him, and confides that he is starting to lose his memory, that he is saying odd things to his children, and nearly threw his wife against the wall. A disoriented Webster brushes the worries off, and deliriously tells him that the most important thing "is to finish the game", which is what he said during his Hall of Fame speech.
Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist with the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania cororner's office, handles Webster's autopsy. He wonders how a man, otherwise healthy, and fairly young, could have degenerated so quickly, and makes it a point to figure out why he died of a heart attack at only fifty. Omalu closely examines microscope slides of Webster's brain and discovers that he had severe brain damage. He ultimately determines that Webster died as a result of the long-term effects of repeated blows to the head, a disorder he later calls chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). With the help of former Steelers team doctor Julian Bailes, fellow neurologist Steven T. DeKosky and county coroner Cyril Wecht, Omalu publishes a paper on his findings, which is initially dismissed by the NFL.
Over the next few years, Omalu discovers that three other former NFL players, Strzelczyk (died 2004), Terry Long (died 2005), and Andre Waters (died 2006), had symptoms very similar to Webster's. He finally persuades newly appointed NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to allow him to present his findings before a committee on player safety. However, the NFL does not take him seriously and he is barred from the committee meeting, forcing Bailes, a former NFL employee, to give the presentation in his place. However, the meeting is a set up, where they claim the players' head trauma was due to past injuries, having nothing to do with football. As he leaves the meeting, former NFL Players Association executive Dave Duerson angrily confronts Omalu, and tells him to "go back to Africa".
Omalu is subjected to considerable pressure to back down from his efforts, as Football is a widely beloved sport in Pittsburgh, having provided jobs and allowed men go to college. Wecht is subjected to a politically motivated prosecution on corruption charges, and Omalu is forced to leave Pittsburgh soon after, lest he be deported, or sent to prison on petty charges as punishment for tarnishing the NFL. Before leaving he urges the NFL to tell the truth. Omalu's wife, Prema, suffers a miscarriage after being stalked. The Omalus are forced to leave their dream home outside Pittsburgh. They move to Lodi, California, where Omalu takes a job with the San Joaquin County coroner's office.
Three years later, Omalu is vindicated when Duerson commits suicide due to growing cognitive problem. In his suicide note, Duerson admits that Omalu was right. Omalu is allowed to address an NFLPA conference on concussions and CTE. He informs them that he once wished he had never known Mike Webster, but by knowing him, he has the responsibility to inform NFL players of the true risk they are taking in playing. He holds no resentment for the NFL, and tells them to forgive themselves, and be at peace. Amid growing scrutiny from Congress, the NFL is forced to take the concussion issue more seriously, and in 2011, NFL players sue the league for not properly informing them of the risk of CTE. Omalu is offered a job as chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia, but as explained in closing title cards, turns it down, remaining with Prema and their two children in California, where he became a U.S. citizen in February 2015. | queer | train | wikipedia | I watched this movie a few days ago, and I thought it was OK, but something happened.
After a couple years in a relationship, there is a tempering of passions and real life takes over; the house, the kids, car payments, jobs and everyday life is rather boring and what do you do when one partner decides there is no room in her life for passion?
The performances were excellent, Robin Weigert was exceptionally good in the lead role of Abby and the writing was very good.
:) What I loved most is that even though this is a movie with "lesbians"...it's not really about lesbians...it's just about people and relationships and the primary character could have been straight, I don't think the movie would have been any different.
But to reduce it only to that (positively/negatively) would not be fair to the movie and the story it tries to tell.
Hope you can see through that and concentrate on the movie and its themes.It's about love in general, about loss and life and many other things.
But there's two in a marriage right?As part of an effort of self exploration as well as increasing unfulfilled sexual needs she rents an apartment down town and makes it something of a lesbian brothel which causes something of a transformation in her in the sense that from feeling inadequate and incomplete, suddenly she is filled with capacity to give pleasure to those who come her way.Such as is the nature of experiments like this, as the story progresses it leads to one big question: how long can/will she carry on leading a double life?Captivating and poignant, it is another gem of indie cinema..
It tells the story about a dutiful 42-year-old American mother named Abby Ableman whom after an incident begins fixing an apartment with a friend named Justin.
Distinctly and subtly directed by American filmmaker Stacie Passon, this finely paced fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the main character's point of view, draws a rarely straightforward, normative and understanding portrayal of a woman whom after having experienced a head injury makes a decision which could prevent her from dying internally of boredom or end her marriage.
While notable for its naturalistic and atmospheric milieu depictions, reverent cinematography by cinematographer David Kruta, production design by production designer Lisa Mayers, distant and far from stereotypical depiction of partnership, trendy choice of themes which serves the representation of the protagonist and use of light, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about a cinematic universe of women where men are neither excluded or significantly prioritized, where labeling, voyeurism and crowd-pleasing narrative choices are commendably surpassed by consideration of character and where a person in a mid-life situation whom has become so alienated from herself that she has to do something to regain what she has drifted so far away from, depicts a dense and in-depth study of character and contains a good score by composer Barb Morrison.This freshly humorous, unconventionally conversational and non-moralizing though liable indie which is set in the U.S. in the 21st century, and where a wife agrees to a suggestion which becomes an escape from her down-to-earth life with her son, stepdaughter and spouse, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity, distinct film editing, variegated characters and perspectives and the assured and authentic acting performances by American television and film actresses Robin Weigert and Maggie Siff.
Alright movie, with great lead performance, but leaves us cold in the end.
So this was coming out this week, and i said why not, i remember hearing good things about this movie when it came out at the Sundance Film Festival in the beginning of the year, so yeah, i gave this movie a chance.
Concussion is the directorial day view for director Stacie Passon and it stars Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky.And i don't think i have much to say about this one, i mean it has some quality, its a decent directorial debut, but the movie just did not hit me.
Concussion follows Abby a lesbian who is going through a mid-life crises, she has no sex with her partner Julie Fain Lawrence, and she goes to see a hooker.
So this actually came first than Blue is the Warmest Color another lesbian story, that unfortunately i have not seen yet, but i am very excited too.
But the movie is not really about lesbians, or the social problems or anything like that, this movie is about a women that is repressed sexually and is trying to help, another women that are also sexually repressed, she is really discovering herself doing this process.
She is really trying to figure things out, inside herself, she knows that she cant keep up with her boring sad life, she wants change.The performances are really good, Robin Weigert does some very impressive work in this movie has Abby, but really, that is just it, the movie just does not have enough to offer.
Decent debut for its director Stacie Passon and good performance by Robin Weigert but that is basically it.
After getting a knock to the head a bored lesbian house-wife becomes a suburban hooker in an attempt to give her life meaning.
She has to work her new hobby around a somewhat standard life.I'm not going to lie, the only reason I put this on is because I fancied some girl-on-girl action.
There is some, but this film is much more.The story is pretty straight forward but engaging and lean.
The characters are absolutely fantastic and I was soon drawn into the lives of the central character, her loved ones and her clients.Most of the weight rests firmly on the shoulders of Robin Weigert, who makes this look very easy.
She manages to portray a certain apathy with her life, that is strong enough for her to take action but never strays into depression.She is also physically well suited, she does look like a stereotypical suburban mother - but she is easy on the eye when it comes to the sex scenes.A great watch, there is some eroticism but mostly fantastic characters and simple but elegant story..
But apart from the above mentioned - the acting was damned good on Robin Weigert's part, and she alone kept it interesting for me.
If it's a lesbian film ????
There were lesbians in it, but I found it to be overall a society tale of a certain class of Americans, and Jeezz what empty lives they are leading sitting there on there little bikes in the gym, sipping cocktails and joining all kinds of charities.
Abby finally got her climax with random Sam - and I do not think that that stopped after the last frame - finally left her ice-prinsess Kate, and managed to get some happiness into her life.
this movie deserved a great finale but it's still worth the watch..
It was boring to watch and not very interesting.
The lesbians I knew were friends before they became lovers and never had sex with women otherwise.
There were many unrealistic things about this movie that pissed me off (I wanted to be a director on the set!) but being as I waited too long to get to this on my list of things to do and being 76, I forget what they were.
After watching this movie, I am feeling really unsatisfied.
OK, so the movie was good.
The acting excellent and the script was interesting and while some may think the pacing was slow, I thought it was well-done.
A lesbian housewife is bored *SPOILER ALERT* because her busy wife seems to have forgotten sex exists.
So, bored lesbian housewife seeks a little satisfaction with a prostitute.
So, it was interesting, entertaining and saying something somewhat meaningful up until the very end of the flick when the story just fizzles..
Slow-paced Sapphic 'passionate explorations', still registers well in pantheon of current art house indies.
Robin Weigert stars as Abby, a bored suburban lesbian housewife who seeks to turn her sexual fantasies into reality.
When she's hit in the head by accident by her son wielding a baseball bat, this appears to be the catalyst that propels her into a new life of sensuous abandon.The concussion itself may be the catalyst but the real reason why Abby seeks to make changes in her life is because of the lack of passion in her relationship with her wife, Kate, an attorney who no longer seems to be interested in sex.Abby tries two separate forays with prostitutes—the first a disaster, as the woman makes her feel dirty when they have sex.
Abby meets the latter through Jake, a young contractor who she's conscripted to work on her new avocation—renovating fixer-uppers in Manhattan for profit.
Things go so well with Gretchen that Abby decides to turn tricks herself for $800 a pop, with the help of Jake, who finds various clients for her.It does take a while before we break into Act Two when Abby sets off on her own, and often it's difficult to figure out who's who and what the characters are saying.
This may due in part to director Stacie Passon's cinema verité style.Once the protagonist begins meeting the clients, I would say what happens is mildly interesting.
Abby has three main clients: an obese student who's never had sex before; a well-off middle-aged woman who at first leaves without engaging and a third woman, Sam (Maggie Siff), a bisexual woman who lives in Abby's neighborhood.
The sex scenes are chaste in comparison to other 'art' films such as 'Blue is the Warmest Color' and here and there, Ms. Passon does a decent enough job of fleshing most of the characters out.The scenes involving the couples' children were obviously inserted to show that Abby's forays into self-gratification were not her sole preoccupation.
In fact, she comes across as an involved Mom, along with her significant other, despite their inescapable estrangement.Passon's strategy perhaps is to illustrate her own fantasy life which is comprised of an active sex drive as well as a need to play therapist (Abby never sends away the inexperienced women who are in need of comforting).Some may be put off by Abby's detachment but personally that didn't bother me at all.
'Concussion' indeed is a bit off-beat, but registers well in the pantheon of current art house indies..
Good image quality and good movie."Concussion" takes place within the mind of an early 40s housewife, Abby, who is unhappy in her marriage.
One afternoon while renovating an apartment with a handyman, Abby finishes her work and hires a female escort to who compliments her on her skills in the bedroom.
It's clear she isn't that interested in her marriage or even her children.
We don't feel anything from these scenes but what actor Robin Weigert wants us to see: melancholy.Concussion is a study in control by Robin Weigert and director Stacie Passon.
Abby eventually meets a fellow mom, Sam, from her children's elementary school as a client.
We think and even hope that Abby will finally have some type of passion in her life.
Abby can't understand why Sam would want to pay for an escort when she has a husband who appears totally into her.
The same-sex story has little relevance to the plot.
What is missing, if anything, is an idea of how Abby came to be in this phase of her life.
Entitled lesbian tries prostitution to fix her emotional constipation..
Abby gets a baseball to the head; hence the title.
At age 42, this event, plus general mid-life crisis, seems like a reason to change up her life significantly.She provisions a new apartment that she shares (non-overlapping time slots) with Justin.
She finds that his girlfriend is paying for college by arranging prostitutes for lesbians.
Abby tries a prostitute arranged through the girlfriend.
The prostitute has good things to say about Abby; after several talks with Justin, he agrees to help get her clients.Not unexpectedly, some of the client match ups work out well, others not.
Clients come and go.Since her relationship with Justin has deteriorated somewhat, she and Justin decide to sell it.At the end of the day, does her choice of activities make anything better?
But a film about trying to escape from the hum-drum existence of living in the suburbs has been done before.
Changing the husband-wife to same sex-partners attempts to add zip to the tired story.
I kept waiting.And waiting.Will Smith never showed up in a scene.I was just so sure the concussion that happened at the beginning of the movie was going to emerge later as some subarachnoid hemorrhage, and Will Smith would step in and explain how concussions can be silent sleepers.There is only one silent sleeper though in this movie, and it's not the person that is always worried about being selfish but on the other hand is only interested in self gratification, likely just mandating some prostitute 'witness' it with her so it actually seems real.I'd give this movie proper care but unfortunately I used up my role of 1250 (get the extra 250, it lasts a few days longer)."Hey honey, instead of dinner and a movie tonight, how about you eat alone, I lie to you eat out and order a prostitute - hold the pepperoni and cheese - I'll just take it with red sauce.Ugh - I can't WAIT until Japan's robot industry makes it around that final corner, because movies like this won't have to exist.After all- if it's just a helping hand you need, I'm sure Japan could just build 'The Arm' and at $14,995.00 it's probably a pretty good arm- extra 6th finger upgrade is only $3995.00 ?I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 - reasons withheld..
. lesbians married to each other are sort of asexual unless they suffer a concussion.
The movie begins with divorce lawyer Kate Abelman (Julie Fain Lawrence) and her wife, interior designer Abby (Robin Weigert) stuck in a routine of raising their two elementary or Pre-school children, taking care of the house, going to work, and working out (Abby is some sort of a fitness freak, running in her neighborhood, running on a treadmill, pedaling in a gym with a horde of other women on long ranks of stationary bikes, etc.).
This story implies things would continue like this indefinitely, but Kate and Abby's son pegs a baseball off the corner of Abby's left eye so hard (WHO taught him to throw like this?
As soon as her eye is healed, Kate takes "Eleanor" as her new sex worker name, and starts getting naked with any female who has $800 to spare.
When the other Junior Leaguer soccer moms at her kids' school (in this case, it's lacrosse) start climbing in bed with Abby/Eleanor, things get complicated at the local grocery store..
if you like soft core films please do not think this is the one for you because it features only small amount of sexual scenes,there is another movie called blue is the warmest color which i have seen and came to the conclusion that concussion is a better film then that if you like lesbian stories this isn't a film just for the sake of lesbian relationships its more then that i remember someone said online about Asian rock music legend Ali Azmat that he quoted people like being alone but they don't like being lonely.the plot:after getting hit by a ball Abby suffers head injury she needs a change in life,want to discover sexuality rather then be a regular lesbian housewife decides to become a prostitute and have sexual relations with other women having similar problems.the cast:Robin Weight & Maggie Siff looked awesome they did some good acting.Abby is a confused lesbian shes getting different aspects abut how things are but its not just that she wants sexual intimacy and love to live alone separate her meeting other girls in the town inviting them to have sex with her it changes her mid a bit as is this the stuff she really wants or not what if someone founds out,what if she falls in love with one of the women shes having intimacy with i mean there is a lot variation this film shows but its a bit lengthy as runtime goes longer then expected plus many scenes that should have been edited have been left in the theatrical cut it becomes very boring during the second half its Abby's life as where she finds happiness she will do those things it got me thinking what if she turns straight i must admit this script got me.overall concussion 2013 is a film that discusses a state of pause in topic of sex as sex like if you are a loner and want some sex if you get it whats next so all these thins are in this.
sex itself is a large topic,here is the thing this film reveals much more then viewer wants it depends on how you take it.My Rating For Concussion 2013 is 4/10 a one time watch for some nice acting..
Good story, well acted, complex but seems that script was incomplete.
Perhaps 6 is too low a rating for this movie, which was well acted and suspenseful in that you do not know where Kate and Abby's marriage is headed or what the consequences of Abby's prostitution will be.I do think it is of interest that the women are a gay married couple, depicting that their marriage is similar to others, yet individual.My problem was that either my brain's neurological connections are weak or the script assumed that we knew what Abby was doing with the loft apartment in the first place or even what Kate did for work.
Some other things were not too clear to me, either.I do recommend the movie, but you might have to let your questions on some mundane facts just unfold and pay attention to the important stuff. |
tt0472175 | Saving Shiloh | The movie begins with Marty Preston (Jason Dolley) explaining the events of Shiloh and Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season. Then Judd Travers (Scott Wilson) shows up at the Preston home with dead squirrels as a present for Marty and his family for helping him after his truck accident in the second film. A fearful Shiloh runs into the kitchen since he is still scared of Judd. Marty's sister, Becky (Liberty Smith), embarrasses her mother, Louise (Ann Dowd), when she calls Judd the meanest man since Judd says he has eaten dead squirrels all his life. Soon, Marty hears from his two best friends, David Howard (Jordan Garrett) and Samantha Wallace (Taylor Momsen), that after a fist fight, a drunken Judd has been charged with murder. Marty brings Judd some squirrel stew and offers to help Judd, believing that he hasn't committed murder. Soon after, when Marty is helping Judd build a fence for his hunting dogs, Judd accidentally steps on one of his dog's paws. The dog starts attacking Judd, biting his good leg. Judd doesn't show any fear, grabbing the dog and swinging him at a fence. Afterwards, when Dara Lynn (Kyle Chavarria), another of Marty's sisters, falls into a lake, Marty jumps in to save her. Shiloh jumps in to help but gets caught in the current, which leads toward Miller Falls. Marty goes back into the lake to save Shiloh but gets caught in a branch. Seeing this, Judd jumps off a cliff into the lake to free Marty. Marty explains to Judd that Shiloh is going to go over the waterfall unless he saves him. Judd saves Shiloh and begins a friendship with Marty and Shiloh. The film ends with Marty saying, "If you open your heart, anything is possible." | murder | train | wikipedia | Truly Moving Picture. I saw this film on April 5th, 2006 in Indianapolis. I am one of the judges for the Heartland Film Festival's Truly Moving Picture Award. A Truly Moving Picture "
explores the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life." Heartland gave that award to this film.This film is about a 12 year old boy growing up and coming of age in a small, picturesque town in the Midwest. Even though his family is of modest means, he has an ideal life with a loving family consisting of his father, mother, two little sisters, and his beagle dog, Shiloh.The boy takes on a challenge. He befriends an old, cantankerous man who has no friends or family, and is rumored to be involved in everything from dog beating, to burglary, and even to a current murder investigation. This old man was abused as a child and seems to be a hopeless cause. His cause seems hopeless not only because of his behavior, but also because he is forever the victim of gossip. The boy looks for the good in the old man even though he is not sure if he will succeed or whether the old man is capable of change.Along the way, the boy confronts other challenges closer to home. He has a senile Grandmother who appears to be an Alzheimer victim and is difficult to love. He also has a rebellious young sister who is a constant pain.Displaying sacrifice and compassion well beyond his years, the boy learns valuable lessons about life. However, this is not a preachy movie. The morality statements are understated, and the children are surprisingly fine actors who mostly display the fun of being young and open and naive. The whole family can enjoy this movie, which is part mystery, part adventure and part family drama.FYI There is a Truly Moving Pictures web site where there is a listing of past Truly Moving Picture Award winners that are now either at the theater or available on video.. Great Family Film. This is a very under rated movie that I had not even heard of before. The kids love it but it can be kind of emotional and sad for younger kids. It's got good performances and a good story though and the dog is adorable. This isn't a dumb talking dog type dog movie, it's a good story with a nice ending.. Shiloh, West Virginia, is a VERY REAL PLACE in WV.. I grew up in the REAL SHILOH, WEST VIRGINIA, and rode School bus #2 from the end of the SHILOH BRIDGE through FRIENDLY,WV 26146 on to Sistersville, WV 26175BEAGLE dogs were very common in the area and the dog inspiring the SHILOH book and film series was a real dog found under the Historic Shiloh Bridge in TYLER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA.ALL THREE MOVIES HAVE BEEN WONDERFUL FAMILY FILMS. THEY PROVIDE A SNAP SHOT IN TIME OF A VERY REAL WAY OF LIFE IN RURAL TYLER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA. I am a luck girl to have grown up there.If you have any questions about the REAL Shiloh, WV, area, please E-mail your questions. or write to MAYOR'S OFFICE, TOWN HALL, FRIENDLY,WV, 26146SHILOHWV GIRL |
tt0081150 | Melvin and Howard | In the opening scene, Howard Hughes loses control of his motorcycle and crashes in the Nevada desert. That night, he is discovered lying on the side of a stretch of U.S. Highway 95 when Melvin Dummar stops his pickup truck so he can relieve himself. The disheveled stranger, refusing to allow Melvin to take him to the hospital, asks him to instead drive him to Las Vegas. En route, the two engage in stilted conversation until Dummar cajoles his passenger into joining him in singing a Christmas song he wrote. Hughes then suggests they sing his favorite song "Bye Bye Blackbird", and they do. The man warms up to his rescuer and before he is dropped off at the Desert Inn (which Hughes owns and therein resides), he identifies himself as the reclusive billionaire.
Most of the remainder of the film focuses on Melvin's scattered, up-and-down life, his spendthrift, trust-in-luck nature, his rocky marital life with first wife Lynda, and his more stable relationship with second wife Bonnie. Lynda leaves him and their daughter to dance in a sleazy strip club, but eventually returns, but she remains frustrated by her husband's futile efforts to achieve the American dream. Melvin convinces her to appear on Easy Street, a game show hybrid of The Gong Show and Let's Make a Deal, and although her tapdancing initially is booed by the audience, she wins them over and nabs the top prize of living room furniture, a piano, and $10,000 cash.
Melvin agrees to invest in an affordable house in a new development, but while Lynda tries to keep their finances under control, he rashly buys a new car and a boat, prompting her to take their daughter and toddler son and sue for divorce. Melvin is comforted by Bonnie, the payroll clerk at the dairy where he drives a truck, and the two eventually wed and move to Utah, where they take over the operation of a service station her relatives had owned.
One day, a mysterious man in a limousine stops at the station ostensibly to buy a pack of cigarettes, but after he drives off Melvin discovers an envelope marked "Last Will and Testament of Howard Hughes" on his office desk. Afraid to open it, he takes it to Mormon headquarters and secrets it in a pile of incoming mail. It doesn't take long for the media to descend upon him and his family, and eventually Melvin finds himself in court, admitting he once met Hughes but vigorously denying he forged the will that finally fulfills his dreams. | cult | train | wikipedia | Director Demme and writer Goldman take a footnote to history -- a contested Howard Hughes will that named Melvin Dummar, a milkman who once loaned him a quarter, as one of his heirs -- and turn that slight material into a wry meditation on the American Dream.
The performances are terrific, especially Paul Le Mat as Dummar (whatever happened to Le Mat?) and Mary Steenburgen who won an Oscar for playing his wife.
Jason Robards does one of his patented cameos playing a real life character (his Howard Hughes makes a neat hat trick with his Oscar winning performances as Dashiell Hammett and Ben Bradley.) Watch for the real-life Melvin Dummar as the counterman in the bus station where Steenburgen makes a sandwich for her daughter.
Here's a strange tale of a couple and their on-and-off again marriage and the stupid things they do.....and the eventual flak over money billionaire Howard Hughes supposedly left the man.Paul LaMat plays the husband and supposed beneficiary.
Then again, his last years on this earth were a bit strange!It's a fictional story but those of us who remember, there WAS a lot of flak over the will of Howard Hughes.
In this day of $100 million plus movies with special effects that drown out the dialog and stars with out-sized egos and paychecks to match, a film like Jonathan Demme's minor masterwork, "Melvin and Howard," would be lucky to get a video distributor.
Based on a story that may or may not have been true, "Melvin and Howard" spins the tale of an easy going hard luck kinda guy named Melvin Dummar who gives a lift to an old man he finds asleep in the desert.
The man says that he is Howard Hughes, and, years later, when Hughes dies, Melvin finds a will that has been left on his filling station desk that names him as one of the heirs to the Hughes fortune.
Since we know the ending before the film starts, the pleasures lie in the quirky characters and situations that screenwriter Bo Goldman and a terrific cast have created.
Despite the circus that surrounded the question of the will's validity, Melvin was content just knowing that, during their drive, Howard Hughes had sung a song that Melvin had written.
Winning combination of scattershot comedy and wry, wistful drama tells the (alleged) true story of a milkman with big dreams and no money who is curiously named a recipient in the will of multi-millionaire Howard Hughes.
Melvin Dummar (played by Paul LeMat, in a terrific performance) had been saying all along he once helped out an old guy in the desert near Las Vegas who claimed he was Hughes, but Dummar didn't really believe him (they had a nice chat anyway, and Melvin got Howard to sing one of his self-written novelty songs as well as "Bye Bye Blackbird").
Good-natured film directed by Jonathan Demme rarely loses its way, and features an endearing collection of screwballs who make the loopy craziness of the situations and dialogue immediate and real--their eccentricities are the roots of the story.
Mary Steenburgen won a Supporting Oscar as Dummar's first wife, a dreamer like Melvin who is far less satisfied with struggling and who just wants to amount to something (but to Melvin, the struggles are the best part).
Jason Robards is perfect as Hughes; the normally bombastic actor takes a small role and lets it bloom subtly and beautifully for us, giving the movie a misty hue and making all of Melvin's hopes sweetly credible.
It's a true american classic involving a down on his luck man (Paul Le Mat, so great as Milner in "American Graffiti") who gives a ride to an injured hitchhiker in the desert that turns out to be none other than Howard Hughes (Jason Robards, who is brilliant in a small, understated performance).
The only problem is that there is no will to be found.Mary Steenburgen won as Oscar as Melvin's kooky first wife.
This is a sweet and very funny slice of life movie directed by Jonathan Demme who went on to many fine films such as "Silence of the Lambs." This is a true classic.
The scene in which the character of Melvin picks up Jason Robards, playing Howard Hughes, in the desert.
What helps the film, too, is the pairing of actors Paul LeMat as Melvin, and Mary Steenburgen as Melvin's wife, Linda -- they are an endearing couple.
I attribute the film's memorable tone and spirit to not only the actors (including Jason Robards & some of the supporting cast) -- I like to believe that director, Jonathan Demme, put his stamp on this, too.
Howard Hughes sang Melvin Dumar's song.
Of these, the finest was, beyond a doubt, Melvin and Howard.Based on a twentieth century addition to American folklore( the improbable saga of Howard Hughes and Melvin Dummar), Jonathan Demmes' film tells the story of a chronically unsuccessful Everyman, Melvin Dummar, who claimed to have unknowingly picked up Howard Hughes one night in the Nevada desert, and who also claimed to have been written into Hughes' will.
Demme uses these materials to fashion a parable about the American dream and human aspiration.It is funny, superbly acted ( Robards probably deserved a third Oscar, and Mary Steenburgen fully deserved hers), well written, and profoundly human.
Melvin Dummar may not have actually picked up Hughes in the desert, and the will may have been a forgery, but his life story does tell some important truths about the meaning of life..
Everyone thinks Raging Bull is the best film of the 1980's, but Melvin and Howard holds up better for me.
It's such a waste that Le Mat isn't used in more films.At least Mary Steenburgen's excellent performance didn't go unnoticed -- she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Bo Goldman's cleverly constructed, highly nuanced script won another Oscar.Director Jonathan Demme went on to greater success and acclaim with Silence of the Lambs, but he achieved something special with Melvin and Howard.
Most directors would play Melvin Dummar's story for easy laughs, and while Demme finds humor in the material, he also explores with depth and sensitivity how the American Dream has failed some of its most ardent aspirants..
The most interesting parts of this film are the beginning and the end, because those are the parts in which Jason Robards plays a morose old man who may or may not be Howard Hughes.
The rest of the film concerns the life of Melvin, with very little to do with Howard, and Melvin is by far and away the lesser interesting character of the two.
The soundtrack is often noisy, which makes it hard to hear what the characters are say, and Steenburgen goes over-the-top in a role that she very questionably won an Oscar for.
Some have interpreted the film as some commentary or satire on American lifestyle and society, but I personally can find little evidence to support that theory, and therefore I only recommend this film to those who want to see one of Jason Robards' best performances..
Working class Melvin Dummar (Paul LeMat) finds along the road a scraggly old man (Jason Robards) who may or may not be Howard Hughes.
When Hughes leaves Melvin a sum of money, Hughes' family fights it.Yes, it sounds like a rather plain story, but director Jonathan Demme knows how to make it interesting.
Mary Steenburgen won an Oscar for her role as Melvin's wife Lynda; she adds an interesting dimension to the film, confused by her husband's unexpected fortune, but doing everything possible to keep her life together.
The best parts are Robards parts (he's playing Howard Hughes) and there are only two times we see Robards in a whole movie.
Instead, I got a film that really looked like a mediocre made-for-TV movie about people I could really care less about one way or the other.
As a slice of life film, it did seem pretty real--just not compelling.The story is this--Melvin told everyone that he picked up a guy in the desert that claimed to be Howard Hughes.
Then, the next hour or more of the film is watching both Melvin and his wife, Lynda, screw up their lives again and again because they both have the wisdom and intelligence of tree shrews.
The man claims to be Howard Hughes (Jason Robards), the multi- millionaire business tycoon.
After setting Hughes off on the strip, Melvin continues into his life.Some years later, Melvin receives a letter, dropped off at the gas station he works in, by a mystery man (Charles Napier), which purports to be the last will and testament of Howard Hughes, and which also leaves Melvyn $156,000,000.
What he gets from this simple chance meeting, is that Howard Hughes sang one of his songs (Melvin writes songs, and they sing "Santa's Souped-Up Sleigh"), on their journey to Vegas.Jonathan Demme's stunning comedy-drama, which is based on a true story, written by screenwriter Bo Goldman (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (1975)), is a very well observed, and affectionate portrayal of an assortment of working class characters.
The relationships are palpable, played with ease by a great cast (Steenburgen won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress).
The country was still getting over the impact of Howard Hughes' death and the will(s) he left to different people, including Melvin Dummar.
The story line (Melvin picks up Howard, takes him to the Sands, drops him off, and goes on with his life as a milkman, gas station owner/mechanic, etc.
until he's handed the will, being called a liar, two wives, etc.) is as Leonard Maltin put it in his book of movie reviews "a genuine American fable." First wife Lynda (Mary Steenburgen, in an Oscar-winning role) works as a waitress and dancer and later recreates some of that on a talent show (in real life, the Dummars were on "Let's Make a Deal"-note the resemblance between actor Robert Ridgely and Monty Hall).
This movie is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon...it's one of the great stories in film history.
Mary Steenburgen deserved her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and Bo Goldman's Oscar-winning screenplay hits home(fact or fiction)..
Starring the ever great Jason Robards as Howard Hughes, this little gem was one of Jonathon Demme's first films, and one of his best.
I had never heard of Melvin and Howard before, but it was airing on TV here a few nights ago so I checked it out in bed, thinking I'd just fall asleep to it, but I ended up liking it too much.
Mary Steenburgen is awesome in this movie and really deserved her award.
The book "The Investigation: A Former FBI Agent Uncovers the Truth Behind Howard Hughes, Melvin Dummar, and the Most Contested Will in American History" throws an entirely new light on the so-called Mormon Will case.
A stranger leaves on his desk a will proclaiming Melvin to be one of 16 heirs to the fortune of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.
Once upon a time, Melvin had given a lift to an aged, decrepit looking individual (Jason Robards) who claimed to be Hughes.
All of a sudden Melvins' ordinary life isn't so ordinary anymore, and he even has to go to court to affirm that he's not making up this incredible story."Melvin and Howard" is further testimony to the versatility of the late Hollywood filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who'd gotten his start, like many of his peers, working for independent operator Roger Corman.
Here Demme makes the most of the engrossing script by Oscar winning Bo Goldman, and the two men succeed the most in portraying the various ups and downs of average American life.And, of course, it's pretty funny as well.
Most of the highlights are provided by the memorable Mary Steenburgen (another Oscar winner, for Best Supporting Actress) as Melvins' first wife, especially during a TV talent contest.
Mary is a delight - and even gets naked, for those who are interested.Demme fills the cast with top actors, although the unaware should know that Robards' screen time is relatively brief.
Dummar also turns up as a counterman in a bus depot."Melvin and Howard" is the kind of story that seems too far fetched to be true, yet it's all performed and filmed so endearingly that it moves along extremely well, holding ones' attention consistently.Eight out of 10..
Melvin and Howard is one of those rare movies that are overlooked.
Maybe that's why more movie fans haven't heard of Melvin and Howard.
The story of Howard Hughes contains enough material to make a hundred movies.
This is one of Jonathan Demme's best films.
But, I think the one who gave the best performance is Mary Steenburgen as melvin's wife.
I think it's a really great film and I should recommend this for all you people who absolutely like Jonathan Demme's films.
Paul LeMat is fine as a working class Melvin Dummar in the Southwest.
When he drops him off in Las Vegas which is worth seeing in 1980, he returns to his life in a mobile home with long suffering wife Lynda Dummar (played by Oscar Winner Mary Steenburgen) and his daughter, Darcy, played by Elizabeth Cheshire.
Melvin is a likable guy and perhaps he really did meet Howard Hughes.
Jason Robards should have gotten his third Academy Award for his performance as Howard Hughes..
I never knew him personally but Paul Le Mat is a fine actor who had a prominent role in 'American Graffiti,' usually driving a young Shelly DuVall around (to his dismay)in his yellow chopped pick-up truck.I have always adored Mary Steenburgen.
I remember Pamela Reed (who portrayed Gordon Cooper's wife in 'The Right Stuff' and Melvin's 2nd wife as well as many other films) and she is also a great actress.So, although the script was weak and had too little of Howard Hughes (Jason Robards) in it, I can understand, because the screen writer and director downplay Dummar's claim, which of course, was thrown out of court..
A chance meeting with the legendary Howard Hughes, millionaire in the desert is the plot device that propels this cute little film.Sure, downtrodden folks dream of hitting the lottery or inheriting money from an unknown relative, but it is possible that a desperate man in real life, Melvin Dummar, may have forged himself into Hugh's will, but I doubt it.
The actual story the film is based on: In 1968, four years before reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes died, he was reported to have had an encounter with a good-natured blue collar worker, Howard Dummar.
An actor I've never heard of before in my life, Paul Le Mat, plays Dummar with an innocent "aw shucks" attitude that endears him to the audience and strengthens our opinion of him as the rightful heir.
He lets himself get easily seduced by an older female customer when he's delivering milk and when the woman who turns out to be his second wife makes suggestive innuendo at him, he says "Bonnie, aren't you a Mormon girl?" His first wife Linda, who was the focus of my attention on this film based on the fact that the only thing I knew about the film was that it was Mary Steenburgen's Academy-award winning role, was an interesting character: underneath the guise of her provocative clothing and desire to be a dancer (be it exotic or tap), she's equally innocent and oblivious to the world around her.
The film wants us to feel that it's Bonnie's struggle as well that the press is hounding her and her husband is under national scrutiny because she's his wife, but because of the way marriages were coming and going in the subculture that Paul lived in and the initial chemistry between Linda and Howard, I was kind of hoping that Bonnie was just a temporary road stop en route back to Linda.
I was expecting a movie about how a chance interaction with an eccentric millionaire, Howard Hughes, can change a persons life or at least have some small effect on a person.
I would not recommend this movie if you are a Howard Hughes fan, or even a little bit interested in him.
I do recommend this movie if you are a fan of Melvin what's his name...Added Note: Howard Hughes left an estate estimated at $2 billion.
A very inaccurate title, this has about 8 minutes of total Howard Hughes screen time, which is great Jason Robards.
Melvin Dummar is just not a movie unto himself.
Melvin and Howard - not so great.
While waiting for Howard Hughes to die, all these really depressing things are happening to this character "Melvin" and none of it makes sense in the grand scheme of things.
Melvin's first wife, whom he married twice, played by Mary Steenburgen, may have a lovely body and shakes her booty nicely but she's pretty loose and whores around without a problem --- hey, that's life.
That's what Director Jonathan Demme packed into his little biopic about Melvin Dummar.
And this is an interesting 'nobody/loser' kind of guy, since he picks up an old bum one night who claims to be Howard Hughes, and then doesn't think much of it...
It's the story of this father and husband who is decent at the former but not so much at the latter, as his wife leaves him for being such a 'loser', but then over the course of the film, after being divorced, comes back to him to remarry and have more kids and try to get by a little better.Paul Le Mat plays Melvin and it's a very good performance, since he is able to look into this character and find what makes him human and relatable just in that first scene alone, where by determination (via the luck that's already happened) gets Mr. Hughes to sing a Christmas song Melvin has 'penned' and is so goofy/giddy about it.
There's a joy to him, and this comes through even in the awkward moments between him and his wife played by Mary Steenburgen. |
tt0038452 | Dark Alibi | Thomas Harley, an ex-convict who served time in prison eight years ago, is wrongfully arrested for a bank robbery he didn't commit. The police have found fingerprints on the crime scene, incriminating Harley, even though he was present at the Carey Theatrical Warehouse at the time of the crime.
The policemen do not believe Harley's explanation, partly because he claims to have been called to the warehouse by a note from an old cell mate by the name of Dave Wyatt, a man that has been dead for eight years. Subsequently, Harley is sentenced to death for the robbery. He goes off to prison to wait for his execution.
Harley's daughter June asks private investigator Charlie Chan for help to prove her father's innocence. Hearing about the suspicious circumstances, Chan immediately agrees to take the case.
With only 9 days before Harley's execution, Chan starts investigating the suspicious note to Harley, and find out that it was written on a typewriter belonging to Mrs. Foss, Harley's landlady, who often rents to ex-cons. He talks to the other tenants in the building: the poor Miss Petrie, bookkeeper Mr. Johnson, salesman Mr. Danvers and showgirl Emily Evans, whose work costume was found in warehouse near the crime scene. Curiously enough, both Danvers and Evans had been in other cities at the time of bank robberies there. When Chan, his son Tommy and the chauffeur Birmingham goes to the prison to see Harley, they are shot at. This makes Chan sure that they are on the right track and believes that the fingerprints on the crime scene must have been placed there by someone else.
When Chan looks into the other robberies he finds that the modus operandi was always the same, and the perpetrators ended up in the same prison. It also turns out the quiet Miss Petrie is married to a convict who works in the prison's fingerprint department.
Later Miss Petrie is overrun and killed by a truck outside the warehouse, and Johnson is at the scene when Chan arrives. Chan returns to the prison to check out the fingerprint department, and discovers that someone has exchanged the print cards. Miss Petrie's husband hears of Chan's suspicions and attempts to escape, but is shot and wounded.
Petrie's husband dies from his wounds, and Chan demands new prints from everyone living in Harley's building, including Johnson. He discovers that Johnson's prints are all over one of the print cards in the prison.
Chan returns to the warehouse again, and finds the tools used to forge fingerprints in the truck that ran Petrie over. Chan is discovered by Danver at the warehouse. It turns out Danver has killed Johnson to stop him from talking, and now he tries to kill Chan for the same reason. He fails and is arrested for all the robberies. Harley us released from prison. Chan tells Harley that June's boyfriend Kenzie was the leader of the robbers, and that he framed Harley because he did not consent to him marrying June. | mystery | train | wikipedia | Clues lead the police to the Foss Family Hotel where we meet a varied group of unsavory suspects.Thomas Harley, who resides at the hotel along with his beautiful daughter June, is the one that the police are after-- it was his fingerprints left on the safe that led the police to the hotel.He claims that he was locked up in a theatrical warehouse, but he has no witnesses.
Even more suspicious is his story that he had received a letter from a man he hadn't seen for many years, asking him to a meeting at the warehouse; but the prosecutor can prove that the man had been dead for eight years.Chan thinks the set-up is much too pat, and he doesn't give up on Mr. Harley when Harley's daughter June makes an appeal to him to help free her innocent dad.
I was a fan of Charlie Chan when the films were first released.
Dark Alibi is another enjoyable Monogram entry of the Charlie Chan series.
This is my twelfth review of a Charlie Chan movie in series chronological order on these consecutive days.
His daughter and lawyer are on the verge of giving up until Charlie overhears and offers his services...Directed by Phil Karlson who had previously helmed The Shanghai Cobra, he once again provides an exciting beginning and ending sequence for a Chan entry.
And despite the now-not-very-acceptable stereotype of a scared black man with bulging eyes in these modern times, Mantan Moreland is still funny to me when he does what he does here.
His comedy is perfectly aided, once again, by Benson Fong as "No. 3 Son" Tommy, and Ben Carter in a reprise of his and Mantan's "interrupted talk" from The Scarlet Clue.
Also, on a personal note, I started watching these Monogram Chan movies (usually starring Roland Winters) on my local station here in Baton Rouge on Channel 2, WBRZ-TV, in the late '70s during the late night lineup of movies on Saturday morning on "Charlie Chan Cinema".
Although the premise was way far-fetched Dark Alibi is nicely done and one of the better Charlie Chan features coming from Monogram.
Sidney Toler as Chan takes on a case where time is essential, the life of Edward Earle who was convicted for a robbery/homicide is at stake, he's scheduled to go to the chair in nine days.Ironically technology has caught up to the events of this film.
And it doesn't take long for Charlie to be convinced of his innocence when on the way to state prison someone takes some sniper shots at him.
And in fact there is one real big connection to the state prison where Earle is counting down his last hours.Ben Carter plays one of the prisoners and an old friend of Mantan Moreland playing the Chan family chauffeur Birmingham.
They know what they're talking about, but poor Tommy Chan played by Benson Fong is standing there without a clue.
Wonderful comic timing all around.Good Charlie Chan film and a masterpiece coming from Monogram..
Thomas Harley, a former criminal who's gone straight for years, is suddenly arrested for bank robbery and the murder of a guard - and although he insists that he was locked up in a warehouse at the time the crime was committed, his fingerprints are found on the scene of the crime; and so he's trialled and sentenced to death...Since his daughter June is convinced that her father is innocent, she begs Charlie Chan to take on the case; and since he remembers immediately that there have been two very similar cases in the last years, he starts investigating: at the hotel where Harley stayed, which is led by Mrs. Foss, a social worker who helps former convicts to start a new life.
But all the people staying at the hotel seem in some way connected either to the warehouse where Harley was locked up, or to the other two banks that were robbed in different cities, or to the prison where Harley had been years ago...And then Charlie gets a seemingly crazy idea: could it be able to FORGE someone's fingerprints and 'plant' them on the scene of a crime?
He comes to the conclusion that there's something going on at the prison's fingerprints department; and, at the risk of his own life, he tries once more to prove his theory's right, to find the real culprits, and to save a man from being murdered 'accidentally' by the State...A VERY clever and suspenseful piece of crime fiction, set partially at the creepy theatrical warehouse and partially in prison - but wherever they are, Charlie's 'sitting assistants', as he calls them, Tommy and Birmingham find time for hilarious jokes and hopeless confusion; but this time, they prove REAL helpful to Charlie, too!
ABSOLUTELY worth watching, not only for fans of the series, but for every friend of good old-fashioned crime entertainment; one of the very best of the Monogram 'Charlie Chans'!.
It was evident this series was coming to an end (as was Toler's life) in this unrealistic mystery that was held aloft by gimmicks.The comedy of Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) was the only bright spot which carried this movie through to it's conclusion.Although a credible actor,Benson Fong playing Tommy Chan, is just plain flat.
The fun cliché of this Chan episode is the warehouse full of theatrical props - like the fun house and the séance, a great setting for a movie mystery.Prison is never so wacky as when Tommy Chan and Birmingham Brown are let lose - don't fight it, just go with the silliness.
Birmingham's brother Benjamin shows up - as a convict, and the duo repeat their stage act for a bit of comic relief.No dramatic lighting in this one - Monogram wasn't going to pay for fine cinematography.
Though the suspect's daughter insists he is innocent, he is quickly convicted and the case seems hopeless--until Charlie Chan agrees to investigate, even though the execution is only nine days off.
Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong--as chauffeur Birmingham Brown and number three son Tommy Chan--assist Pop Chan as usual.
Chan's investigation roams from the rooming house where his client lives to the local prison (where Birmingham and Tommy lock themselves into a cell with gleeful convict Tim Ryan).It's really not particularly exciting or memorable, but it's easy to watch and doesn't take itself too seriously.
Charlie Chan (Sidney Toler) is asked to prove the innocence of a man already convicted of murder and scheduled to be executed.
So Charlie tries to get to the bottom of how the man's fingerprints could have been at the scene of the crime if he was innocent.
He's got help from incompetent son Tommy (Benson Fong) and trite comic relief Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland).
There's a moronic scene where Tommy and Birmingham wander around a prison with no guards even noticing.
Moreland's old vaudeville partner Ben Carter returns for the second time in the series to do one of their old vaudeville routines.
Don't even get me started on the lack of good aphorisms that Charlie Chan is known for.
If you're new to Charlie Chan movies, do yourself a favor and start with the Fox films.
Don't let your first Chan film be from Monogram or you might never want to try another..
Most of the movies in the Charlie Chan series were bona-fide mysteries that were short on plot credulity and laced with a measure of comic relief throughout.
There are a lot of suspects to choose from in the clever plot in which we have to figure out who is the bank robber/murderer who masterminded the crime and used someone else's fingerprints to frame an innocent man.
Recommended for Charlie Chan fans and for those who enjoy a mystery in which the murderer is very tough to spot (and don't worry too much about the details)..
Monogram Pictures had a hit-or-miss record with the Chan series, but for fans of the characters and of Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong, "Dark Alibi" can make a rainy afternoon more enjoyable.
Good enough, low budget Chan film.
Usually films with this much activity are cluttered and over- plotted, but it all works reasonably well in "Dark Alibi".
I can live without the Birmingham and Benjamin corny old vaudeville bit but it was popular in the 1940's era and it is a better filler for padding purposes than most routines (filler was probably necessary due to Toler's health).
Janet Shaw delivers one of her insouciant tough girl performances that always keep her watchable in films.Sidney Toler gets the job done but he really looks ill at times.
He manages valiantly to stay active enough to stride across a room now and then, but he is sitting down in some scenes, obviously for health reasons.Good work by the director, good red herrings, and lots of somewhat overloaded activity provide us with an OK low budget b-movie in "Dark Alibi"..
As is usually the case, Birmingham Brown and Tommy Chan do everything they can to mess up the case.
At one time or another, each has been convicted of bank robbery based on fingerprints found at the crime scene.
Charlie Chan's hunch is that the fingerprints were forgeries, and the victims were all set up by the real thief.
If you're keeping score, "Dark Alibi" is the eighth installment in the Monogram Studios series of Sidney Toler Charlie Chan films.
Benson Fong is Number #3 Son Tommy; and after a one film hiatus (Red Dragon), Mantan Moreland is back, this time sharing equal billing with Ben Carter.
The two reprise their "Pidgin" English escapades from "The Scarlet Clue" with three different conversations that are the comedic highlights of the film.As usual, there is a lot of misdirection with the introduction of the suspects, but one good clue comes with the identity of States Prison inmate #8251 - Jimmy Slade, a fingerprint file clerk.
It's interesting how many times the same gimmicks are repeated in the Chan movies.
Back in the 1940 film "Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise", Chan throws a coin to test the response of a man who claims he's hard of hearing.
He does it here as well, and again uncovers the subterfuge.As we've seen before, the mastermind behind the bank robberies and the murders is revealed at the end with no fanfare or buildup, only the convincing explanation by Charlie Chan himself.
It's a good enough reason by itself to watch "Dark Alibi"..
One of the better Chan films from Monogram.
While the quality of this Charlie Chan film isn't quite up to the exceptional quality of most of the Twentieth-Century Fox Chan films, it does rank among the better films of the series produced by Monogram Pictures.
Most of this is because the mystery itself is more interesting--more of a real mystery than you find in most of the films.As usual, one of the Chan clan is on hand to provide help for their father.
Tommy Chan (Benson Fong) actually is a bit more helpful and resourceful than usual.
However, the acerbic tongue of Sidney Toler (as Charlie) is as cutting as ever as he makes many amusing comments about the "help" usually provided by Tommy and their driver, Birmingham.This film begins with a man being convicted of robbery and murder.
Charlie is called in my the family to try to sort out how the man's finger prints could be at the crime scene and yet he be an innocent man.
While the technology to fake prints isn't apparently possible, how Chan is able to piece it all together is pretty interesting and makes for an excellent plot.By the way, Mantan Moreland and his old stage partner Ben Carter do a couple old comedy routines together throughout the film.
They also did a similar scene in another Chan film, SCARLET CLUE.
I own 20 Charlie Chan movies and have watched more than that, and this is the absolute worst one I've ever seen.
With about 5 or 10 minutes of actual plot, the bulk of the movie is mostly talk talk talk talk about nothing at all, several extremely annoying "comedy" sequences between Mantan Moreland and his vaudeville partner Ben Carter, and, most ridiculous of all, "assistants" Mantan Moreland and Benson Fong finding every possible way to ignore Chan's instructions, get in the way, and generally act stupid.
POSSIBLE SPOILER -- I enjoy humor in whodunits, but this isn't a whodunit (the entire plot consists of Chan asking a lab to experiment with fingerprints), just a series of jokes padded with boring filler.
DARK ALIBI is one of many B-movies of the 1940s starring intrepid Chinese sleuth Charlie Chan, played by Sidney Toler with a dodgy accent and no attempt at even looking remotely Chinese.
This time around he's tasked with aiding a criminal due to execution; the problem is that the man didn't do it, so Chan has nine days before an innocent man goes to the chair.At least half of the running time is made up of likeable but dated comedy featuring genre regular Mantan Moreland, at his shivering, OTT best.
Benson Fong as Chan's kid also plays it up for laughs, and indeed the humour is more pronounced than the mystery.
This Monogram Charlie Chan movie was maybe the last in the series where Sidney Toler was on camera frequently, i.e. most of the scenes, after the initial setup murder-robbery.
As a fan of the entire Warner Oland-Sidney Toler series, there was not a dissatisfying movie of the entire lot; buy the premise, buy the program.
The story centers on the framing of certain convicts' fingerprints appearing at the scenes of bank robberies and at least one murder to start our movie.
It is for Charlie Chan to work the odds of determining the real perpetrators, bring them to justice while freeing the doomed man framed for the crime.
The warden of the prison asks Charlie how is it possible to exonerate the condemned man.
Charlie works the crowd of suspects knowing the real guilt falls in part upon the hotel residents and a third person located in the prison, but not a convict.
Charlie has multiple scenes among the hotel, the prison and the police lab; all are important in solving the crime.
The ending occurs in the prison with the warden arresting the third party, responsible for masterminding the felony-robbery.Watch Chan work his clues finding the guilty while freeing the convicted.
Good timeless comedy, because the detecting tends to be average, the '40s equivalent of something like later TV series, or perhaps crime teleplays, but the comedy in it is delightful, and Toler's acting looks more dynamic than in other movies, it was cool to have a duo for the comic relief, a comic team (like O'Brian and Kerr), but the puzzle plot is good too, a puzzling mystery, how were the fingerprints forged, if they were, Wong visited people, but Chan does more than that, he visits milieus, here he has a lot of proverbs to offer, advices, some or funny, most are really useful, the scenes in the warehouse were effective, and there are the occasional bursts of violence (a girl is killed, an inmate shots himself), but there's also the characters' insouciance regardless of the body count, Chan's cases are about pretty ingenious means of crime and murder, and give a good sense of the places, the sets..
Charlie Chan mysteries.
The famous Honolulu Hawaii based Asian detective gets called in to another mystery and solves it with great deduction, humor, and charm.*Special Stars- Sidney Toler, Mantan Moreland & Ben Carter, Benson Fong.*Theme- A detective's observation and deductive power can solve mysteries.*Trivia/location/goofs- B&W.
This is the 40th of 47 Charlie Chan films made.*Emotion- Non-Asian playing Asian roles?
There have been many actors playing Charlie Chan, but Mr Sidney Toler seems to have captured the essence of the polite yet strong detective in his Chan portrayals.
Forged fingerprints has Charlie Chan helping free a wronged man..
Charlie Chan(Sidney Toler)is asked by a public defender(John Eldredge) to help clear one of his clients, Mr. Harley, who is wrongfully accused of bank robbery...and murder.
Charlie has a boarding house full of possible suspects to question; but the thing that really needs deeper investigating is the chance of forged fingerprints since Mr. Harley swears he has never been in the bank that was robbed.
Absolute hilarious is chauffeur Birmingham Brown(Mantan Moreland)seeing his brother Benjamin(Ben Carter)inside the prison while Chan gathers some information.
Tommy Chan is played by Benson Fong; other players include: Joyce Compton, Russell Hicks, Edna Holland and George Holmes..
A pretty young woman's father has been framed for a felony murder, his fingerprints having been found at the scene of the crime.
It's the job of Charlie Chan to prove those fingerprints were somehow forged and that someone is masterminding a series of robberies using the same method.It doesn't begin too promisingly, with Toler interviewing all the members of the boarding house in which the framed man lived.
But it livens up with Toler and his two assistants -- African-American Mantan Moreland and Enumerated Son Benson Fong -- visit San Quentin and then wind up in a climactic chase in a warehouse full of stuffed animals and other assorted junk.The film is full of the stereotypes of the period -- the frightened black chauffeur, the ambitious but dumb Chinese kid, the pinched and spinsterish social worker.
Moreland has some good scenes with Ben Carter in which each anticipates what the other is about to say.
As Toler says at one point, "Even small wind raise dust." Fong and Moreland have gotten themselves locked up in a cell with two convicts.
This movie won't carry you away in the same way but it ought to entertain you for its sixty-one minutes of running time..
Usually you surprise me!"There is the customary padding (the sequence where Chan's assistants are bumbling about in a dark warehouse), and the customary last-minute surprise killer. |
tt0029782 | Wine, Women and Horses | His gal pal Valerie buys compulsive gambler Jim a meal after he goes broke. Jim takes off for points unknown and, stopping in a small Midwest town, he wins $20 off of George Mayhew in a game of horseshoes, then returns the money when he learns George can't afford to lose it.
Jim takes a liking to George's sister, Marjorie, and it's mutual. She spurns her beau Pres to marry Jim, despite her reservations about his gambling. Jim promises to get a job and does, as a Chicago hotel's night manager. A guest there, Bright, is impressed with Jim's $300 win in a dice game. Jim accepts his job offer to look after Bright's racehorses, but Marjorie leaves him.
Valerie teams up with Jim for a $20,000 racetrack payday. He has lost his wife, however, returning home to find she's in love with Pres now and wants a divorce. Jim has a new horse, Lady Luck, and realizes now that Val will become more than just a pal. | depressing | train | wikipedia | From Dogs To Horses.
More than any other studio Warner Brothers loved remaking their old films, especially after the Code went into place when they could recycle the plots and make more of a G rated version of the same film.
That's what was done to Edward G.
Robinson's Dark Hazard remade in this case to Wine, Women, and Horses.
That last part was the change as the Robinson film centered around dog racing.Barton MacLane steps into the lead as a unregenerate gambling man who likes all the things in the title, not necessarily in that order all the time.
This man bets on everything from horses to horseshoes.
After winning a match from Dick Purcell, but feeling sorry for him, Purcell takes him home to meet his sister Peggy Bates.
The two hit it off and MacLane tries to reform, but it just isn't in his nature.
Especially after MacLane's old girlfriend Ann Sheridan steps into the picture.Wine, Women, and Horses is a decently made product from Warner Brothers B picture unit under Bryan Foy who cast his brother Charley in one of the supporting roles.
MacLane who was usually a nasally voiced thug in films whether a bad guy or an occasional good guy is cast in one of the few sympathetic parts I ever saw him in back in the studio days.
He does love Bates, but the gambling urge is too strong in him.One reason this film is not shown that often is the many casual references in racist terminology to black players in the film.
Not unfriendly mind you, but in casual conversation.The racetrack atmosphere is authentic with newsreel footage mixed into the movie.
The film is also one big commercial for the fairly new Santa Anita racetrack only open for a few seasons at that point.
If you can stomach the casual racism than Wine, Women And Horses is not a bad film..
Watchable.
"B" gambling drama with rare starring turn for character actor Barton MacLane.
He plays a big shot gambler who meets a woman (Peggy Bates) and falls in love.
The problem is she demands he quit gambling or she won't marry him.
He tries it for awhile but it doesn't stick.
So he gets back into his old ways and that includes old flame Valerie (Ann Sheridan).Remake of Dark Hazard (1934).
I'm not used to seeing MacLane playing a lead character.
The closest I can think of is when he played the male lead opposite Glenda Farrell in the Torchy Blane movies.
A little far-fetched that Sheridan would be so hung up on MacLane.
He's definitely not a ladies man type.
Short runtime helps but there's just not a lot of meat on the bone.
Watchable and probably more interesting for classic film fans as a curiosity.
Like the way MacLane tosses the 1930s slang around though..
Gambling in the Blood.
***SPOILERS*** Mildly entertaining horse race movie with Barton MacLane as happy go lucky degenerate gambler Jim Turner torn between the women Margorie Mayhew, Peggy Bates, who loves and wants to cure him of his gambling addiction and the filly "Lady Luck" whom Jim nursed back to heath and is entering her in the big race at the local racetrack for a $20,000.00,that's something like $250,000.00 in 2016 dollars, purse.Despite all her efforts to reform him Margorie can't get the gambling bug out of her husband Jim's system who's dead set to go down swinging or betting to his last $2.00 bet even if he has to go partners, with a fellow gambler at the track, to do it!
There's also the other woman besides the horse "Lady Luck" here in Valerie played by a 22 year old knockout looking Ann Sheridan who's as sick a gambler as Jim is yet has no trouble getting along with his wife Marjorie who doesn't seem to mind her corrupting him as well as stealing the big lug, who's as heavy as the horses that he bets on, away from her.***SPOILERS***You would think that Jim would finally see the light as well as smell the horse manure and clean himself up by the time the movie ends but in fact he gets even more crazy as well as rich, winning over $20,000.00 in bets, and rides off with both Valerie and his horse "Lady Luck" into the sunset.
Poor Marjorie she's left holding the bag together with hundreds of losing tickets in putting her bets on her husband to straighten himself out which him by divorcing her, a big No No back then in the movies, was the best thing he ever did for her!
The movie was among other things made to promote the newly opened and multi million dollar Santa Anita racetrack, where the "Breeders Cup" will be held this year, but most of the action took place at the third rate and fictional Bellport Park.
Since what it seemed like that Santa Anita-That the film was promoting- wanted nothing at all to do with the movie..
Paper Thin Plot Shows.
Barton McLane stars in this story of a man who needs "Wine,Women and Horses" to complete his life.
Along the way are the casualties , of course, the people he rubs elbows with are the takers and the givers.
Ann Sheridan is his female counterpart and his eventual companion.
Filmed in California in 1937 to possibly promote horse racing(Santa Anita) has just opened a few years prior.
Interesting if only for its historical references.
64 minutes of run time in B & W.
TCM airs it occasionally.
Lady Luck is he name of this equine hero who rides to victory for his new owners and of course the rest is film history.So take a stroll down memory lane and give this little side note a view.4 stars out of 10..
Pointless racing drama with uninteresting leads..
A big time gambler (Barton MacLane) attempts to go straight, but the addiction to horse racing is too strong.
He marries a nice girl (Peggy Bates), fathers a child, but is then drawn back into old temptations by an old flame (Ann Sheridan).
MacLane is a fine character actor, but he cannot draw enough sympathy in his tough characterization the way Cagney, EGR, or later Bogart would in similarly tough guy roles.
Ann Sheridan is wasted as the ex-flame, while Peggy Bates had a here today, gone tomorrow career on screen.
Set up to be understanding, Bates changes the character to be very judgemental.
At this time, there wasn't as much understanding as today on addictions of this nature, so perhaps it's not all that unrealistic.
But then there is the fact that neither MacLane or Bates show any sadness in a revelation about their baby.
That is the final nail in the coffin of this dull and uninteresting drama.
There is one positive aspect, however, which is important to point out.
The bit part of "Snow Ball", played by Eugene Jackson, is one of the few non-stereotypical portrayals of blacks in films of this time.
It's nice to see him being treated, if not as an equal, but as someone of character without the slow drawl or eye popping look of many post-adult black men of the era.
That is ruined, though, by MacLane suddenly rubs "Snow Ball's" head for luck.
The ending left me gasping in amazement, making everything which happened before seem pointless. |
tt0329162 | Devil's Pond | Newlyweds, Mitch (Kip Pardue) and Julianne (Tara Reid), escape their normal lives and travel to a deserted island for a romantic and adventurous honeymoon, staying for two weeks at an old cottage in the middle of a secluded lake. They discover the area has no electricity or phone coverage, as Julianne tries to settle in despite her fear of water and inability to swim. Mitch enjoys the country life, and when Julianne wants to go into town to call her parents, to confirm her safety, he gets overprotective of her.
While the two weeks go by, Julianne is eager to return home to start their new lives, but Mitch refuses to go back to that life, wanting them to stay put in his ideal setting, even when Julianne cannot find her birth control pills to prevent her pregnancy. When Julianne finds out Mitch had stalked her before they met and got married, she attempts to leave, and she sees a grave in the woods across the lake before Mitch brings her back. To ensure that she does not attempt to escape again, Mitch disposes of their boat.
One night as Mitch is asleep, Julianne takes the key worn around his neck to open his safe box, having grown suspicious of it. She finds a property deed and learns he inherited the land from his deceased father and that he had often visited the property with his dad. Using a raft to head across the lake, she tries to escape again in Mitch's pick-up truck, only for Mitch to find her there, and knock her unconscious. Chained to an anchor and a tree, Julianne realizes how psychotic Mitch is, and that he knew everything about her, including her fear of water, using it to hold her at their location.
Determined to leave, Julianne burns their matches, forcing Mitch to go into town to buy new ones. While he is gone, she gets an axe and breaks free from the chain. He comes back unexpectedly early, and she is almost discovered in her act of escape. When he finds out about it, Mitch begins physically abusing her. After he steps into a bear trap that she had buried, Julianne counterattacks and uses the shotgun he brought back to shoot him in the arm. Mitch remains alive, but he can barely move, as Julianne frees herself and leaves him for dead, with the shotgun. Overcoming her fear of water, she swims across the lake to the other side and later hears a gunshot, indicating that Mitch has killed himself. The last images show Julianne leaving her wedding ring in Mitch's disabled truck and walking away freely down a country road, to an unknown fate. | insanity, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0040305 | The Dude Goes West | A gunsmith and a marksman, Daniel Bone closes up his Brooklyn, New York business and travels west, where he feels he belongs. On a train, he encounters passenger Liza Crockett, then sees her purse being stolen by a man Dan confronts, disarms and throws off the train.
The man turns out to be a notorious outlaw, the Pecos Kid, who vows revenge against "the dude" who interfered with his holdup. Liza, however, mistakenly believes Dan was the one who tried to steal her bag. On their way to Arsenic City, Nevada, where a map to her father's gold mine might make Liza a wealthy woman, both she and Dan end up traveling from Carson City in a buckboard. Indians capture them, but Dan's knowledge of their language impresses the tribe's chief.
After arriving in Arsenic City, the two encounter another outlaw, Texas Jack Barton, and a corrupt saloonkeeper, Kiki Kelly, who are all interested in the mine. Dan finds the map, memorizes it and burns it. He falls in love with Liza and leads her to the gold. When the outlaws ambush them, their new Indian friends ride to their rescue. | murder | train | wikipedia | Terrific little overlooked, unconventional, Western.
Kind of a cross between "Destry Rides Again" and Bob Hope's "Paleface" series, this little sleeper of a film takes a good-hearted book-learned innocent whose skills with a gun (learned for his job, that of gunsmith) are no more important than his wisdom and mind.Considering this movie was made in the late 40's it's quite revolutionary in its approach to the Western traditions -- the roles of indians, women and "bad guys" being held up and examined in very interesting ways.
In that respect its comedic sensibilities make it a very good time indeed.Make no mistake about it -- this isn't a very deep film.
However it will make for a very enjoyable 90 minutes whether you like Westerns or not.
Eddie Albert and all the supporting cast turn in very credible performances.
It made me wish they had had made the sequel this was so obviously setup for (they didn't)..
Aw, shucks, ma'am; it's a charming little Western comedy.
The year is 1880-something, and gunsmith Daniel Bone (just one "o") decides to abandon tame New York for a part of the country where a person in his line of work can expect to be kept a little busier.
The thoroughly decent Daniel might be a tenderfoot, but between his professional skill with firearms and his great reader's head full of knowledge, he turns out to be more than a match for the desperados he meets en route to-- and in-- lawless Arsenic City, Nevada.
Our boy doesn't do badly with the local Native tribe, either.
Now if he could just get past the defenses of Miss Liza, an over-cautious innocent who's come West to find her late father's lost gold mine...Eddie Albert is quite charming as the titular dude in this slight but enjoyable, gently comic Western.
In fact, there's charm to spare here: James Gleason endears as the grizzled prospector-sidekick, Barton McLean (later Gereral Peterson in "I Dream of Jeannie") wins one over as the most sympathetic of a host of black-hatted bandits, and Gale Storm is refreshingly non-cloying as your standard-issue spunky, naive heroine.
Things never descend to the cartoonish, allowing Albert to get through a couple of on-the-trail ballads (which he croons in a pleasant tenor while strumming a guitar), a dramatic display of "Indian sign language," and even an idealistic law-and-order speech to an angry mob with his dignity fully intact.
Indeed, one's inspired to wonder why the future small-screen star never quite scored as a cinematic leading man-- he certainly seems to have had the potential.Available on DVD-- think I'll watch it again..
Reading is essential.
Eddie Albert is in the title role of The Dude Goes West and it's a role that we've seen him in before, the mild mannered guy who somehow manages to triumph.
This was years before his Oscar nominated roles in Roman Holiday and The Heartbreak Kid. And also before his incredible dramatic parts in Attack and Captain Newman, MD.
Albert was always a favorite of mine, he was a player with incredible casting range who never got his due recognition.He's certainly in a trade that the west needs, he's a gunsmith who to make sure he did a proper job learned marksmanship.
That's something some villains learned to regret.On the way west he runs into Gale Storm who is going west to claim a legacy, a gold mine her late father left her.
She's got a map to the place for which a claim was never filed and villains Gilbert Roland and Binnie Barnes are out to steal by hook or crook.
There's a third villain in the film, perennial villain Barton MacLane.
But he's not so bad here as you'll see.The whole film is a great commercial for 'reading is essential' because tenderfoot Albert learns a great deal about the west from books and the knowledge he has gets him out of some tight situations.
The Dude Goes West is a funny, but gentle comedy with Albert comfortable in a role he played a lot in his early film years.
The rest of the cast gives him fine support and this is a most enjoyable movie..
Very charming and very fresh..
I strongly recommend you see "The Dude Goes West" for one big reason--it's not like any other western.
If you think about it, there really are only about a half dozen different plots for about 99% of the old westerns.
Yet, somehow, the studio came up with some novel ideas that invigorate this film and make it quite charming.Eddie Albert plays a gunsmith (Daniel Bone) who lives in New York.
The problem is that with civility reigning there, he decides to move to the West where there will be a lot more business.
However, he is pretty naive and folks don't take him very seriously--after all, he's a fancy East Coast dude.
Little do they know that despite his naiveté, he is a VERY well-read and resourceful guy...and a guy who turns out to be a crack shot.
So, again and again when he comes into a collision course with various baddies (such as a tribe of Indians, Barton MacLane and Gilbert Roland), Daniel is able to somehow come out on top.
It's all very charming and enjoyable and actually is somewhat reminiscent of Albert's later TV series, "Green Acres"--where he plays a New Yorker who yearns to move to the country and where he certainly does NOT fit in, either!
It also didn't hurt that the film was so well-written and clever.
Well worth your time--especially if, like me, you are tired of the same old recycled plots in westerns.
This is anything but familiar!
I really loved this film..
This is one dude who knows his stuff.
Most of us have seen Western movies in which an Eastern-raised guy heads West.
To the cowpokes and people of the West, he's a dude (aka, greenhorn, tinhorn, tenderfoot).
The tinhorn is obviously an underdog.
At some point, he'll be the butt of a joke, an easy prey for gunplay, or face some other shameful put down.
Well, this is one such movie in which the dude comes out on top, in almost all instances.
It's almost the reverse of the standard fare Hollywood Western"The Dude Goes West" is a very fun and entertaining comedy Western.
Eddie Albert is the dude, Daniel Bone, who travels from New England to Arsenic City, somewhere in the Wild West.
He plans to set up shop where a gunsmith is still needed.
And, he knows his guns and how to shoot them.
He also has more knowledge about the West, Indians, survival, etc.
than most cowboys.
He learned it all from reading.
Daniel is a good guy who winds up in a role that any number of original Western stars have played.
John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Randolph Scott, Gene Autrey, and any number of other frequent cowboys in the movies have rescued a damsel in distress.
Much of the time, it's been over a mine, too.
But, the way Daniel does it in this movie is quite different, and very funny.
His good nature and trust of his fellow man causes him some troubles, but these add to the humor.
All of the cast are very good.
Gale Storm plays Liza Crockett, James Gleason is Sam Briggs, Gilbert Roland is the Pecos Kid, Barton MacLane is Texas Jack Barton, and Binnie Barnes is Kiki Kelly.
Binnie plays a tough hombre in this film.
One other thing different about this film – Daniel doesn't become sheriff or marshal.
This is a nice, entertaining yarn and fun way to spend an evening..
A classic overlooked comedy.
One of my favorite films of the 40's.
This mild mannered comedy western hits all the right notes.
One might have imagined it made by Bob Hope and a Paramount lovely like Gail Russell or Diana Lynn.
But instead it sneaks under the radar with a minor cast of Eddie Albert and Gale Storm who both deliver their best ever film performances.
I can't prise this highly enough.
It is a must see film for movie lovers.
You will thank me.
I recall seeing this in 1948 and thinking at the time how good it was and why didn't it make more of an impact.
There are just certain films that time treats kindly and this is one of them.
Small films that stay with you like THE GREAT DAN PATCH, THE LUCKY STIFF, OUT OF THE BLUE and IVY..
This Tenderfoot Kicks Butt!!!.
Eddie Albert is cast as amiable Daniel Bone, a New York City native of Brooklyn, who owns a gunsmith business in Brooklyn.
He decides to pull up stakes from the Big Apple and head off westward to Arsenic City, Arizona, where everybody totes a hog-leg.
Unmistakably a tenderfoot, Bone appreciates a good read and his familiarity with literary tomes helps him out of one tight spot after another.
He heads west as the Horace Greeley adage goes and meets a pretty young thing, Liz Crocket (Gale Storm), who is bound for Arsenic City herself to cash in on her dead father's mining claim.
Naturally, "Ellery Queen, Master Detective" director Kurt Neumann and "A Ticket to Tomahawk" scenarist Mary Loos and "White Buffalo" scribe Richard Sale pit these two young people through the standard-issue romantic wringer.
No sooner do they meet at a railway depot than Liz's mother tries to turn her against all men, particularly Bone.
They start out hating each other and end up in each other's arms.
This lightweight but entertaining comedy doesn't demonize Native Americans.
The Paiute Indians call Daniel 'Big Wind' because he fools them into liking him with parlor tricks after they escort Liz and he to their village.
This lively 86 minute sagebrusher from Allied Artists is worth watching.
Albert had a knack for playing upstanding citizens and rarely made a fool out of himself.
Latin sensation Gilbert Roland plays The Pecos Kid and he makes a charismatic villain.
Career heavy Barton MacLane plays desperado Texas Jack Barton.
Although the titular hero is a tenderfoot, he has spent so much time working on firearms that he can light a wooden match with a bullet.
He is a crack shot and this comes in handy when he must retire two gunslingers trying to abduct the heroine.
"The Dude Goes West" is a western spoof related in flashbacks with Albert narrating the saga for his grand children.
Amusing from start to finish..
"Man alive!
Where did a DUDE learn to shoot like that?".
Daniel Bone (Eddie Albert) is a New York gunsmith.
Seeking greener pastures, Bone heads to a Wild West town appropriately called Arsenic City.
Along the way, he meets a woman named Lisa Crockett (Gale Storm) who is also headed west seeking her fortune.
She has a map that leads to her late father's goldmine.
But there are others who want Crockett's map and they will do anything to get it.
Fortunately for her and whether she likes it or not, Bone saves her skin time after time.
At it's absolute worst, I'd still call The Dude Goes West harmless enough and a bit of fun.
At it's best, however, it's often quite funny and gives Eddie Albert a chance to shine in a leading role.
His character, Bone, is a fish out-of-water and this often leads to the funnier bits.
It's very reminiscent of his character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, that he'd play 20 years later.
There's a scene where Bone is lecturing the townspeople about the importance of the American judicial system that sounded straight off of Green Acres.
All it needed was a fife playing in the background.
Albert is joined by a very able cast featuring Storm, Gilbert Roland, and Barton MacLane.
The films's pacing is nice and at only 86 minutes, it never feels tired.
While the plot is often predictable, it's still fun to watch the events unfold.
Some of the comedy may seem corny by today's standards, but it works just fine to me.
Overall, a 7/10 from me..
A most enjoyable film!.
A King Bros.
Production.
Locations filmed in California's High Sierras.Copyright 30 May 1948 by Allied Artists Productions, Inc. No New York opening.
U.S. release: 30 May 1948.
U.K. release through Pathé: 9 May 1949 (sic).
Never theatrically released in Australia.
87 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Mild-mannered gunsmith moves from the Bowery to Arsenic City, Nevada, to cash in on the outlaw boom.
Time: early 1870's.COMMENT: A delightful western satire which proves that even a normally pedestrian director like Kurt Neumann can occasionally excel.
Of course he was handed a very entertaining script to begin with; and then had the services of a first-rate cast and the run of a large budget.
The King Brothers unit aimed for both economy and quality.
No doubt they persuaded some of the major studios to allow them to use standing sets that were otherwise idle (which explains the lack of an art director credit).
In any case there is no sign of penny-pinching on the screen.
Neumann's direction is relaxed, allowing such inventive touches in the script as the speech over the sign language (which is highly effective) and the delightful soliloquies to shine through.
Another admirable feature of the screenplay is its excellent characterization which gives a splendid array of supporting players meaty opportunities that stay amusingly in mind long after even Karl Struss' skilled photography is forgotten.
The plot itself is neatly constructed and allows Eddie Albert to exploit a side of his talent rarely utilized on the screen - his guitar-playing and singing.
His three delightful songs alone make The Dude worth seeing.The Sales (Richard and Mary) were to tap this vein of western humor again in A Ticket to Tomahawk. |
tt0094792 | Braddock: Missing in Action III | Colonel James Braddock (Chuck Norris), Vietnam veteran, had believed his Asian wife Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim) to be dead since the war ended in 1975, but he hears from a missionary, Reverend Polanski (Yehuda Efroni), that Lin is not only alive, but that she and Braddock have a 12-year-old son named Van Tan Cang (Roland Harrah III).
At first, Braddock does not believe it, but when cold-blooded CIA boss Littlejohn (Jack Rader) tells Braddock to disregard that information, that's when Braddock knows it's true. Braddock heads back into Vietnam through Parachute deployment and with the help of an Australian C-47 pilot. After parachute descent, Braddock outruns Vietnamese Navy Patrol Boats with a Jet-Powered speedboat.
Reverend Polanski leads Braddock to Lin and Van. Attempting to flee the country, Braddock, Lin, and Van are captured by the soldiers of the sadistic Vietnamse General Quoc (Aki Aleong). Quoc kills Lin on the spot, and has his soldiers take Braddock and Van to a compound to be tortured.
Later, Braddock overpowers his guards, frees Van, and heads for the mission that is run by Polanski. Quoc anticipates the move and takes all the mission children into captivity, along with Van and Polanski, and Braddock sets out to free them all from Quoc by going to his weapons cache that he had hidden a few days prior. He equips himself with a modified Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle with an underslung 6-shot rotary grenade launcher and attachments including a spring-loaded bayonet. He raids the camp killing the guards and loading up one of the trucks with all the children including his son, Van and the Reverend. Soon after escaping they are followed and attacked by a Vietnamese-captured US UH-1 Huey.
After they escape Braddock takes the children on foot and find a Vietnamese airstrip. Braddock silently takes out the guards and hijacks a C-47 Dakota plane. The plane is then assaulted by Vietnamese guards causing fuel to leak out of the plane, eventually crashing just outside the Cambodian-Thailand border. Braddock then raids the border station where Thai and US troops are watching on the other side, cheering Braddock on. When Braddock kills all the opposing troops more pour in. Braddock is injured by a grenade. When General Quoc then flies in on a Vietnamese Mil-24 Hind gunship thinking he has Braddock all to himself, two US helicopters on the side of the Thai border confront Quoc's gunship. Taunting each other to cross, Braddock and his son Van fire at Quoc's ship, hitting the pilot. The gunship crashes, killing Quoc. The US troops pour over the border and bridge and help the wounded Braddock and the children. | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | That's gotta count for something in these days of throw-away relationships.The final action scene is a touching "bonding" moment as father and son together take down the bad guy!
Rounding out my Chuck Norris Triple Feature DVD, we have "Braddock: Missing in Action III," undoubtedly the best in the series and probably the only 80s action movie to come anywhere near "Commando" in terms of awesomeness.
Here Chuck discovers that his wife and son are still alive under Communist rule in Vietnam, but the CIA is wary of letting him go there, most likely because the last time they asked him to accompany them there, he almost restarted the war.
Chuck of course scoffs at this and leaves anyway ("Don't step on any toes, Braddock." "I don't step on toes, Little John--I STEP ON NECKS.") For some reason, upon his return to Saigon, it turns out the Vietnamese military generals still want him dead for his war crimes.
It has three times as much action as the previous installments and some convincing scenes of total chaos, as well as Chuck doing somersaults through windows even though there are doors available, all combining for a hearty 10/10.
This is a routine actioner with Karate star Chuck Norris as the Vietnam veteran resulting to be one of the best roles he'd made to date , as he's fine as tough, cold , obstinate Colonel Braddock .
It's a predictable, xenophobic , shallow and brainless film though will appeal to Chuck Norris enthusiasts because of it contains some excellent action sequences ( when Braddock shoots with his machine gun , several explosions or scenes of motorboat and helicopters ) .
The film is the best of the trilogy , the first entry deals with Braddock who schemes to free some American soldiers still held prisoners in a far prison camp into Vietnam .
The motion picture is produced in average budget by Cannon films ( Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus ) and professionally directed by Aaron Norris , Chuck's brother .
Although the movie has some aspects a little tough to take , this moving film still has its fine moments getting a bemusing atmosphere with agreeable results , furthermore grossed lot of money at the box office along with the previous entries ..
I have trouble believing that Braddock killing easily a hundred Vietnamese would not cause an international incident and possibly re-launch the war.But anyway welcome to the carefree, action- friendly fantasy land that is Missing In Action.Braddock: Missing In Action III takes a little time to get going after an amazing beginning ,but once it does it doesn't let up.Braddock kicks,shoots and grenade-launches his way to freedom.Braddock is free to do what Braddock does.
Missing In Action III marks the final film in this trilogy and is probably hailed as the 'best of the bunch' with shocking plot points, great action, explosions, grenade-launching, multiple people mowed down by Chuck, great intro, and a greater last-45 minutes.The Verdict: 8 / 10 - A Classic!.
In the wake of "Rambo 3" and a bunch of police action thrillers with Vietnam War veterans or references and homages to the war as well as the recent hits of Oliver Stone and Stanley Kubrick, "Braddock: Missing In Action 3" doesn't have a shot in accomplishing anything original since similar material has already been done way too many times before during the second half of the 1980's.
However, Chuck Norris' starring role as the Vietnam War veteran who goes on another deadly mission to rescue more POW's prevents this film from being a complete downer but doesn't prevent it from becoming too routine..
It's got enough bloody squib action, various objects exploding into huge fireballs, and striking Philippines scenery to make it a pretty good time for fans of the genre.Chuck Norris once again essays the role of former Vietnam war P.o.W. James Braddock, who during the fall of Saigon tries to escape with his Vietnamese born wife Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim).
It was maybe because the story was a scrambled mess of incoherency and a story that just wanted too much but delivered too little.The story is about the end of the Vietnam War and all of Saigon is in turmoil, and as Colonel James Braddock's Vietnamese wife makes a run for the American embassy, her purse and passport is stolen.
Although it was also very predictable, to be honest.And seeing Chuck Norris lead a group of mixed American and Vietnamese children around the jungle, running from a mad Vietnamese officer hellbent on killing every last one of them, was just a bit too trivial and wore thin quite fast.Part one of the "Missing in Action" movies was adequate, and part two was actually good, but part three is a losing battle that Braddock should never have been involved in.
Chuck Norris returns to Vietnam to rescue his wife (presumed dead and son (he didn't know he had).
I step on necks." Chuck Norris is at it again as Col. James Braddock heading into enemy territory; Communist Vietnam to rescue to his once-thought dead Vietnamese wife and his unknown son.
Chuck Norris still show his character, "less talk, more fight" but his John Braddock's role should had more feeling with his son.
This movie has similar plot to the first Missing in Action, except the people who receive help by Braddock was now the American orphan children.
Chuck Norris returns again as Col.James Braddock in a sequel which basically contradicted the one before it, in this one he finds out his wife and child are alive and so he goes to Vietnam and rescues a bunch of Vietnam/American orphans in this tiresome sequel.
This movie is the absolute bottom of the barrel, an irresponsible vanity project that is a complete and utter waste of your time.I have no idea how Norris managed to get funding for this piece of drivel, and even less about how he managed to persuade people to let his brother direct it.To say that this film is unrealistic is to be entirely too kind.
Despite the fact that he is standing on open ground, and not moving, all the automatic fire directed at him somehow misses him and the children entirely.Another dramatic moment has Norris sneaking into a compound, and knocking out a guard by apparently kicking him in the leg.Finally, I point to an important rule in movie-going: The quality of a film is inversely proportional to the number of helicopters which explode in it.
It must have been a very sharp nail because he carries the same pained expression throughout the entire movie .As for the rest of the movie it`s just like you`d expect with the only real surprises being that the movie is half way over before Chuck kills his first commie , but don`t worry he more than makes up for it by the end
Chuck Norris returns as Col. James Braddock the one man army who returns to Nam to find his long lost family in this mindless sequel that stands out little from the crowd of bodycount actioners of the 80's except for the fact that it's really bad.
This is the third installment of the Missing in Action series, and it doesn't disappoint.Chuck, uh, I mean Braddock goes to extricate his wife and his son that he thought were dead in Viet Nam.Golan Globus Production was like the Asylum Pictures of today, making spoofs of other hit A List movies.
Also Golan-Globus' quality started to go up around the mid '80s, and in its wake, this turned out to be a high quality action movie.Chuck Norris never looked better as Col. Braddock, and his actions ranks up there with other A list movies.
The story here concerns our unflappable all American hero, Colonel James Braddock who returns to Vietnam yet again (damn, they must be sick of him by now!) this time to rescue his wife who he previously believed to have been killed way back during the fall of Saigon.
Fear not, for not to let a pesky mere army put a damper on his plans, our man Braddock is soon running around with a handy arsenal and saving a whole mission full of children as he attempts to get them across the border into Thailand.OK, so this is far fetched beyond belief as were its predecessors in fact, but if you can manage to suspend your disbelief and go with the flow, you will likely thoroughly enjoy this feel good action acting..
Colonel James Braddock (Chuck Norris) is one of the last at the embassy.
Similarities are Missing In Action in name, Chuck Norris, character name and movies happen in Vietnam.
Until we get drama part and from that we get to series of boring action scenes with Chuck Norris not feeling like acting.
Chuck Norris returns in Vietnam in search of his wife, whom he considered dead, and of his son.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsThe final part of the messily sequenced MIA films,with the sequel inadvertently being the original and the first film following on,is the biggest disappointment out the lot of them.Chuck's collaborations with brother Aaron are of mixed fate.They have made great films together,such as Sidekicks and Delta Force 2,but have also made complete crap like The Hitman,Hellbound and now this sorry junk.And sorry is the word for it.A pointless,poorly acted,poorly plotted ,unexciting,meandering,brain-dead waste of time that will have your bum aching after just half an hour.Dire.*.
Braddock: Missing in Action III (1988) ** (out of 4) To say this Cannon film was just a tad bit far-fetched would be like saying Chuck Norris was overlooked for a Best Actor Oscar-nomination.
Col. James Braddock (Norris) learns that the wife he thought died during the fall of Saigon is actually alive and he has a 12-year-old son that he never knew about.
It turns out the Vietnamese government doesn't like their people who worked for the Americans so the two are deep in enemy territory so Braddock must sneak back in and try to rescue them but he's got the sadistic Gen. Quoc (Aki Aleong) waiting for him.
The next sequence has Braddock learning the secret of his wife and son, being warned not to go by the CIA and the next thing we know he's in Vietnam and all of this happens in the matter of minutes.
And one part really makes me choke (a rare commodity in stupid B-movie action flicks!), when Chuck's wife excuses herself by saying "I'm sorry I'm not pretty for you anymore...".
Wipe away those tears and try not to blub America, Chuck Norris is back to kill all those horrible Vietnamese Communists who survived the war and this time, he's doing it for the children, those lovable little tikes that can't fight back.
Braddock: Missing In Action III is another spin on the Rambo 2 formula, with our titular hero travelling to the Orient to find his Asian wife, who he presumed killed when America pulled out of Vietnam.
Sure, your scarf wearing hipster friends may think that Chuck Norris is only good for those 'hilarious' facts that have been going around, but what those guys often overlook is just how riotously entertaining these old movies are.
This time he's found out (conveniently by some creepy reverend who just happens to be in the US from Nam for what seems like five minutes) that his wife is still alive and well (sorta) back in Nam. Old Chuck thought she had died during the fall of Saigon.
Chuck escapes after some mild torture, gets his MASSIVE assault rifle, heads back to the enemy base, saves a whole tonne of other kids recently imprisoned and coolly dispatched all the bad guys in a super-duper array of slow motion bullet hits and explosions.Its a serious film but at the same time its also a cheesy action flick.
The final part of Chuck Norris' no-brainer Vietnam trilogy is a loud, explosive and action-packed adventure yarn to be embraced by genre fans.
Possibly due to the fact that it was made three years after the second movie and this time it's directed by Aaron Norris.
this film is cheesy and not going to win awards but its fun to watch and fans of chuck Norris will love it.
It is beyond my imagination how anyone with the slightest idea what a good movie is can enjoy this.Chuck returns to Vietnam to rescue his long lost wife and son.
Scene after scene, Chuck continues to kill, kill, kill, and not in a good way like in the Rambo movies, or other good action movies like Die Hard.I also got to point out Chuck's acting, when he sees his 12 year old son for the first time, he has no emotion, when his wife dies, he doesn't even shed a tear!
Captured by Quoc, Braddock and his son are subjected to a particularly harrowing bit of combined torture before escaping the enemy stockade, soon after which Chuck's son is caught yet again, thus setting the stage for Braddock's return to free his boy and launch the explosive bloodbath implied by the MIA moniker.Though ample time is spent developing the story, this installment of the franchise packs more action into the proceedings than either of the two films before it.
My favorite turn of events revolves around a group of orphaned Amer-Asian children Norris "rescues," who, in the brief span of time they're in Braddock's presence, get imprisoned in a military installation, see dozens of their countrymen being violently slaughtered, are repeatedly shot at with machine guns, become involved in a precarious truck chase with missiles from a pursuing helicopter detonating all around them, and are forced to march miles through the Vietnamese jungles without food or water before Chuck finally loads the lot of them into a airplane...
I step on necks"), MIA3 carries a fairly serious tone throughout, and much as the previous films drove home the real-world plight of American soldiers abandoned by their country during the conflict in Vietnam, Braddock sheds a little light on the civilian casualties of that dreadful war.
Even if Chuck Norris hadn't done roughly 400 other low-budget action movies like Braddock: Missing In Action III, I'd like to think that his legacy would be secured by the not-unsubstantial merits of this outing alone..
Like the previous two Missing in Action films, average & only good for a few laughs..
Braddock: Missing in Action III starts in 1975 in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon where Colonel James Braddock (co-writer Chuck Norris) is searching for his Vietnamese wife Lin Tan Cang (Miki Kim) who works for the US embassy there, unfortunately Lin has decided to go home to pick up some stuff & on the way back to the embassy her bag is stolen with her ID in it.
The CIA won't help so Braddock decides to go in alone & rescue his wife & son but the Vietnamese authorities discover what he's doing & set out to capture & punish him for war crimes...Originally set to be directed by Joseph Zito who apparently had 'creative' & 'personal' differences with star Chuck Norris & so his brother Aaron Norris stepped up from second unit director to the main man running the show, while not particularly bad as far as second tier action films go Braddock: Missing in Action III isn't particularly good either.
Missing in Action 2: The Beginning (1985) starts in 1972 as Chuck Norris is captured by the enemy & he is held as a POW for ten years, that means he was in a Vitnamese prison camp in 1975 so how can he be flying around Saigon looking for his wife?
As for the film itself Braddock this time is waging war on evil Vietnamese General's to get his wife & son back, the script also throw's in a load of orphaned children just to turn up the false sentiment even more.
Again there's some fun to be had with some unintentionally funny moments, when Braddock meets his wife again for the first time she says 'I'm sorry I am not beautiful for you anymore', well Lin don't worry about it since Chuck Norris himself is hardly an oil painting.
The end as Braddock tells his son that he loves him & is proud of him is baffling since they only met each other less than a day ago & have barely spoken between Norris killing Vietnamese soldiers & blowing things up.The action scenes are pretty decent actually, from a car chase to various shoot-outs to explosions to skydiving to boat, helicopter & plane stunts to some good old fashion hand to hand combat.
Although competent the action never really excites, the film just plays out & while it's not terrible it's hard to get involved in the story.Shot in the Philippines it looks nice enough, there's plenty of Vietnamese buildings & equipment for Chuck Norris to blow up & plenty of evil soldiers for him to kill.
The acting is just bad.Braddock: Missing in Action III has some half decent action scenes & some quite funny moments as Chuck Norris tries to get emotional with the son he never knew he had but overall at over 100 minutes long I wouldn't call it anything better than a mildly entertaining time waster..
Chuck Norris made a third film in the missing in action series with each film even more preposterous than the previous one.
Here, as Braddock, he returns to Vietnam yet again to search for a wife and son he didn't know were alive.
It's probably slightly below average for a Chuck Norris film.
Return to present (circa 1988) where she tells Braddock about having to retrieve their three-year old son from her parents' house (again; to provide some continuity with biographic details given by Col. Yin in the second film).This is one trilogy I would really like to see revised, a la the 1997 STAR WARS trilogy, for the benefit of us die-hard Chuck Norris fans. |
tt0785007 | Over Her Dead Body | Kate and Henry are a happy couple. Henry proposed to Kate and they are about to be married, but on the day of their wedding, Kate is accidentally killed by an ice sculpture angel, because of the actions of an ice sculptor (Stephen Root). Unaware that she has died and her soul left her body, Kate awakens in Purgatory, and wastes precious time arguing with an angel who finally leaves before she can explain to Kate what she must do to move on.
A year later, Henry's sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) hopes that he will find closure by consulting Ashley (Lake Bell), a psychic who also runs a catering business with her gay best friend Dan (Jason Biggs). After an unsuccessful first meeting, Chloe gives Kate's diary to Ashley so that she can pretend to communicate with Kate and convince Henry to move on with his life. In the process, Henry and Ashley fall for each other... much to the consternation of Kate, who has been watching over Henry. When Kate voices her displeasure, Ashley hears her, unaware of what it means.
Angry over Ashley's deception and uncertain of what she's supposed to do, Kate later encounters the ice sculptor, and discovers that he is also a ghost (a result of a drunk driving accident). He explains to her that they must deal with their unfinished business. Believing that her job is to protect Henry, Kate proceeds to harass Ashley (who is the only one who can see or hear Kate). Using her ghostly abilities of intangibility, levitation, and auditory hallucination, Kate hopes to force Ashley to break up with Henry. Ashley persists, but then Henry discovers the fraud with the diary and breaks off the relationship. Despondent over the break-up, Ashley turns to Dan for solace, but is further distraught when Dan reveals that he's not gay and has secretly been in love with her for years. Over time, Ashley and Dan eventually reconcile.
After several months of watching Henry fall back into a depressed funk, Kate encounters the sculptor once more, who points out that if she had resolved her unfinished business, she would have moved on to Heaven by now. When the sculptor asks her what she really wants, Kate reluctantly admits that she only wants Henry to be happy... and realizes that he could be happy with Ashley. Then the sculptor reveals that Kate was his unfinished business and he had to get her to do the right thing before moving on, which he does. Kate first attempts to convince Ashley to get back together with Henry but Ashley doesn't believe her change of heart, and is preparing to fly to Las Vegas with Dan. In desperation, Kate finds she is able to talk to Henry through his pet parrot and gets him to meet Ashley at the airport. Realizing that Henry has forgiven her and that she has Kate's blessing, Ashley joyfully embraces with Henry. At their wedding, Ashley delays her walk down the aisle to sit briefly in the back pew, to promise Kate that she will strive to make Henry happy. Also at the wedding, Dan makes a new connection with Chloe. Now ready to move on, Kate arrives once more in Purgatory, congratulated for her efforts by the angel and requests the "orb of true light" collected from Kate's loved ones. The angel leaves once again, leaving Kate in Purgatory. | paranormal, revenge, comedy, haunting, romantic | train | wikipedia | The script was amusing, the delivery from the four leads (Bell, Rudd, Biggs, Longoria) precise and well timed.
Over Her Dead Body was a nice little movie, in general, that wasn't meant to be a masterpiece, but is just for enjoyment when you have nothing better to do, or are going to watch/see a so-so movie with your significant other.
With only one 'toilet humour' gag, Over Her Dead Body manages to actually come up with realistically funny scenarios and, without spoiling anything too much, some of the moments involving animals are hilarious.The staple ingredients of a good film are all there; script, director and actors and compared some other recent attempts at romantic comedy, this film stands tall.Sure, you aren't going to learn anything or have a spiritual awakening, but if you go with an open mind you will more than likely have a good time!.
Look it's Eva Longoria and Paul Rudd in a movie about a dead girlfriend haunting the new girlfriend.
Eva Longoria repeats her Gabrielle Solis act (of 'Desperate Housewives') except that this time her character is dead.
i wasn't a fan of seeing this movie at all, but when my gf called me and said she had a free advanced screening pass i tagged along only for the sake of seeing eva longoria and laughing at jason biggs antics.overall it was actually better then i expected but not by much.
eva did a good job of keeping up the sarcasm and paul rudd and the rest of the supporting cast (especially jason biggs) kept the laughs coming at a smooth pace.overall i liked the movie only because it had a good amount of laughs to keep me going otherwise i would have given this movie a lower rating.
I was just expecting this horrific movie, but it seems like the writers meant no harm, but the casting of Eva Longoria(Parker, sorry), she seems a little off set for the movie.
But Paul Rudd and Lake Bell had a decent chemistry that made the film somewhat likable.
The movie could've been funnier if someone had really paid attention to it and had a better cast.Henry just lost his bride to be, Kate, who was killed by an ice sculpture on their wedding day.
Kate is jealous and doesn't want Henry to move on so quickly and she will make sure that Ashley doesn't get him by torturing her day and night with her rambles, believe me, with Kate's voice, that's scary.Over Her Dead Body is an alright movie, not sure if it's worth the money, but I'd give it a rental for you if you want to see it or are curious.
Just with some re-writing and proper attention, this film could have been better, but instead we get the average predictable romantic comedy that will leave with with an empty feeling.4/10.
This movie has that scene too, but the disappointing script passes over it too quickly and with not much result for the plot.The highlight of the movie is the acting of two leads; Paul Rudd and the surprisingly funny Lake Bell.I've long had a growing admiration for Rudd, who has developed a style similar to that of Chevy Chase at his best.
If ever a serious production of sequels to the Fletch movies gets a green light, the casting agent would do wisely in considering Rudd.Lake Bell is rather new to me, and I was severely impressed by her comedy talent.
This Movie is So Bad. I gave it a 1 only because I couldn't figure out how to rate it what it deserves - a ZERO!Contrived, ridiculous, and incredibly stupid, this is the front-runner for worst film of 2008.It makes Eva Longoria unattractive, Paul Rudd unfunny, and Jason Biggs even more annoying than usual.The ghost returns to ruin the guy she "loves' chance a future happiness because she loves him so much?There's no chemistry, no humor, and no reason for this film to exist other than to pay for the summer homes of these stars.I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out of the audience and tell us we'd all been Punk'd!
With movies like this you know you are going to get the usual jokes concerning ghosts.
The plot was enough to tie it all together, a woman (Eva) dies on her wedding day and comes back to haunt the woman that is going out with her was-to-be husband, its sounds far-fetched but it actually works quite well.
Then, get this, a year later, her former fiancé falls in love with a beautiful psychic
and then, that beautiful psychic gets haunted by the ghost of the disgruntled dead bride who wants to keep her from stealing her boyfriend
he he
it'll be hilarious!." Polite chuckling.This, I like to envision, is how Jeff Lowell, the man who dreamed up "Over Her Dead Body," presented his concept to the studio execs over there at New Line Cinema.
The big mystery is how those very same corporate bigwigs could then turn right around and green light the project, allowing Lowell to direct the film as well as write the screenplay.For if you think that no movie could ever possibly be as bad as this original premise sounds, then clearly you have another think coming.
How else to explain the halfhearted, lifeless performances of Paul Rudd, Eva Langoria Parker, Lake Bell and Jason Biggs in their various roles?
Much of "Over Her Dead Body" is so painfully unfunny that I was actually squirming in my seat out of embarrassment for the actors.Eva Longoria proves that she can't carry a film in this terrible romantic comedy, and further, that she doesn't really even have any comedic timing.
The fiancé is played by Paul Rudd, drippy and charmless, while the psychic is played by Lake Bell, bringing the movie whatever anemic energy it has.
Unfortunately, she is up against the insurmountable task of making any movie that features Jason Biggs tolerable, and she is dragged down with the rest of the cast like Leo DiCaprio at the end of "Titanic." "Over Her Dead Body" actually pi**ed me off, because of its laziness and utter lack of effort.
Seriously, does Hollywood think movies like this are good enough?
Kate (Eva Longoria) is a bossy annoying bride to Henry (Paul Rudd).
There is a real need to have Longoria show her love for Rudd more than a few times at the start of the movie.
He would probably be miserable as Longoria's whipping boy.While I like Paul Rudd and Lake Bell separately and together, they don't strike me as the pratfall type.
have nothing to worry about (let alone Howard Hawks or George Cukor), but the screwball genre they worked so well in definitely inspires "Over Her Dead Body."\Beware Eva Langoria Parker's top billing -- Lake Bell is at least as important (and, in my mind, more appealing) in the film.
The whole supporting cast, mostly unfamiliar to me, is quite good.My favorite scene is between the Bell character's assistant and another guy toward the end of the film, with repercussions that carry on..
I admit i have not seen desperate housewives, But i think Eva Longoria Parker did an excellent job to make this movie SO frikin funny.
1) Paul Rudd - The guy is always funny, even when the script is lacking and this movie is no exception.
His dialogue was witty, it's just a shame the story could've been a whole lot better, but on such a poor premise I don't know how much more the writers could've done anyways.2) Lake Bell - I had never heard of her before this, since she was mostly a TV actress in the US, but her character was extremely likable, attractive and funny.
I will be checking out her prior and future work to see if she has any dramatic merit as well, but it looks as though she could become pretty big in Hollywood if she develops better taste in the movies she picks.Also, Eva Longoria Parker was pretty horrible in this, but she had a thankless task with the character she was given.
I don't think too many actresses could have done much more with the role, it was just badly written and completely unsympathetic.The acting basically saved what was a terrible script, premise and movie in general.
Longoria was the odd one out and most scenes involving her were the worst ones of the movie.I gave this movie a 7 for the acting and the strong lead performances of Bell and Rudd who, had this script focused more on instead of the dead girlfriend, could've made it even better.
Maybe it should've been made as a comedy/drama and focused on how Rudd gets over Longoria's death and Bell's journey to help him do it, but as it is, it's not bad by any means and should make a good date movie or rental.7/10.
His sister plots to get psychic Ashley (Lake Bell) to read Kate's diary so she knows some authentic information about her so Ashley can convince Henry that she is authentic, and then send him a fake message from beyond that tells Henry that Kate wants him to move on with his life.But faking Kate's voice will not be necessary as her ghost is back on earth, after another argument in the afterlife causes the angel who is supposed to tell her why she is being sent back to earth just throws up her arms and walks out.
So Kate's spirit is aimless on earth, other than knowing she does not like seeing Ashley and Henry together.The movie is largely predictable, but it is a nice relaxing watch if you just want to be entertained with something that does not involve violence or explicit sex scenes.
Over her dead body starring Eva Longoria and Paul Rudd is very formulaic, it follows the usual expected formula of a film in this genre, doesn't miss a beat.
I though Paul Rudd and Jason Biggs and lake bell were actually kinda annoying here, did not enjoy them at all.
I didn't think Paul had any good chemistry with Lake either, another issue I took with the movie.
Like I said, there are some funny lines and moments, all thanks to Eva Longoria.
That being said, don't get me wrong, because "Over Her Dead Body" is still entertaining enough for what it is.The story is about Henry (played by Paul Rudd) who is getting married to Kate (played by Eva Longoria).
A year later, Henry is forced to see the psychic medium Ashley (played by Lake Bell), but as she starts to fall in love with him, the ghost of Kate starts making her life difficult.The acting in the movie was good, and it was this that drove the movie.
She is then tries to ruin the relationship of her ex-boyfriend with his new girlfriend, a psychic who can see her.Obvious unoriginal movie wouldn't be bad in a clichéd sort of way, except that Longoria's character is hateful and obnoxious that she drains all of the fun out of the film.
Eva Longoria is at her worst (if she ever has a best) and in this movie she shows to all of the viewers that you can make it even if you have a complete lack of talent.
It is a pity then that the parrot, Cat & Dog were only in support & not the other way around, as the humans in it were pretty abysmal throughout.If I were you, Paul, Eva, Lake (what sort of name is that), Jason, & Lindsay, I would forget this acting lark & do something else, as all of you are as funny as watching paint dry, & awful actors to boot.The main gag in the film is one of the characters shouting, me not Gay, which is funny as if you weren't, you might change your mind if you had to put up with the three bossy, tedious & dare I say very plain women leads in the film.The worst film I have seen in years, & hopefully never see one as bad again, though I expect not..
What do you get when you mix a romantic comedy with ghosts and psychics, the result a corny movie with a predictable story.
The cast is good.Eva Longoria makes a good performance, Jason Biggs was funny convincing enough as a guy pretending to be gay.
Paul Rudd was a little weak and flat, and Lake Bell looks cute but her acting wasn't strong enough.
I have never watched Desparte Housewives, so I don't know how Eva Longoria is on that show, but in this movie she was horrible.
Over Her Dead Body wants to be an updated version of Topper but by making the ghost Kate (Eva Longoria) so unappealing and irritating, it damaged the premise of the film.Henry (Paul Rudd) is due to marry Kate his highly strung and bossy fiancé who dies on their wedding day when the ice sculpture falls on her.Death does not put a stop to her motor-mouth and bossiness where in the afterlife she is sent back to earth in spirit form but without any clear direction.In the meantime Henry who has been moping around for some time has been introduced to a psychic by his sister who is hoping that he will move on from Kate.
The psychic Ashley (Lake Bell) becomes interested in Henry herself, however Kate for some reason thinks that it is her job to put an end to this budding relationship in the hope that this will get her to move on in the afterlife.
The funny thing is that her character is actually not that different from her character in "Desperate Housewives".I found the first half hour a bit slow, to be honest, and the whole movie a bit flat at times, although there were some good scenes that made me laugh.It does pick up pace towards the end, and it's probably the last 15 minutes or so that made me rate this higher than I would have earlier on.I guess it's a nice enough movie and probably what one can expect.
The other characters are stereotypes and the plot is formulaic (I mean we are not talking 'Apocalypse Now' here) But the characters are likable, the story is engaging, the soundtrack, production and direction all work well.In all a great feel-good film that really deserves a lot more credit than it gets.Everyone has their own tastes but I really don't understand the one star reviews for this..
This had a good story...it had a nice pace and all characters are developed cool.I've watched a whole bunch of movies in the last two weeks and this had to be the best one I've seen in the two weeks.Jason Bigg's character was the best though.Even though it was small, it was cleverly crafted from the very beginning.This may be a romantic comedy and I don't like most, but the writing, direction, performing, sound, design overall in all capacity just was really thought out pretty cool.This film scored pretty high out of all the movie's I've seen lately - and the rest were big budget or better publicized.Good job in writing..
While Paul Rudd is at least handsome and looks like a nice guy, the taste in ladies of his character seems to need serious improvement as Eva Longoria seems too aged (sorry) for him, and Lake Bell seems too unattractive (sorry again).
Why would the only really cool character in the movie, the Paul Rudd character, want to have anything to do with the completely bitchy, condescending, control freak played by Eva Longoria?
And, more recently, Warren Beatty's "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), which was a remake of 1941's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." These were well-written, funny, entertaining comedies, all of which centered around supernatural creatures like ghosts and angels.Now comes writer-director Jeff Lowell, making his feature film debut with a story of an unlikable, bitchy young woman, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), who gets killed on her wedding day and then comes back to harass the fledgling spiritualist, Ashley (Lake Bell) who is falling for Kate's fiancé, Henry (Paul Rudd).
The lovely Eva Longoria Parker plays Kate, who dies after an ice angel crushes her before the "I do's" with fiancé Henry(Paul Rudd).
Henry, a veterinarian (Paul Rudd), and his bossy fiancé, Kate (Eva Longoria) are looking over the last minute arrangements for their reception.
Yet, the lovely medium, Ashley (Lake Bell) becomes interested in Henry herself, much to the chagrin of her catering partner (Jason Biggs).
She winds up there in a sort of heaven, & was still repulsive, I left shortly after.Eve Longoria portrays her & I hope I never see her again, she cant even act.She is just plain annoying.Paul Rudd an actor who normally can do no wrong also was in this dud.Jason Biggs ( no longer a teen) is also present,I do like comedies BUT not stupid ones about stupid people.Rating: * (out of 4) 30 points (out of 100) IMDb 2 (out of 10).
And it's enough pain when a wonderful comedienne I adore, like Eva Longoria, who established herself in a TV show such as (Desperate Housewife), does a movie where she gives no laughs in it !(Over Her Dead Body) is not bad; it just has some wrong matters.
During their time Henry and Ashley find themselves falling in love with each other, unaware that the ghost of Kate has returned to the world and is watching, and Ashley finds she truly has the psychic ability as she can see and hear her, and obviously she is not happy that she is with the man she was going to marry.
Longoria is alright as the bitchy dead woman trying to spoil things, Bell is okay as the girlfriend trying to have a relationship in peace, Rudd is likable enough as the guy in the middle, and Biggs gets his moments as the kook, unfortunately the script is lazy and full of clichés, it is not paced the right way, the attempts at laughs with crudeness and slapstick does not work well, and it just feels too mushy and predictable, a silly romantic comedy fantasy. |
tt0101751 | Dollman | Brick Bardo is a Dirty Harry-type cop on the planet Arturos, which is many light years from Earth. One day, a criminal runs into a laundry venue where lots of plump women and their kids happen to be, and he keeps them hostage while police officers are outside the premise. Bardo humorously enters to do his laundry, and the crook is rather surprised by this defiant act. After saving the scared hostages by causing the fat women to faint and fall onto the bad guy by threatening to use his gun to blow a hole through them—"the most powerful handgun in the universe", proclaims a young boy—Bardo, instead of being hailed a hero, is shouted at by the mayor, who knows of Bardo's usually violent methods and Bardo was supposed to be suspended.
The film then cuts to Bardo in his apartment, where a news broadcast implies that Bardo is being framed for the deaths of the hostages in the laundromat, as a setup. Just then, a man begins to fire at Bardo and tells him an "old friend" wishes to see him, before using some device which puts Bardo to sleep. After Bardo wakes up on a desert plain, Sprug—Bardo's greatest enemy—says that modern medicine did him wonders, unlike Bardo's deceased family. Sprug tells Bardo he will shoot all his body parts off, just as Bardo did to Sprug before (Sprug only has his ugly head remaining on a floating jet after all their previous encounters). The two men with Sprug are about to kill Bardo using Bardo's own custom Groger Blaster, but Bardo uses a magnetic field in his hand to retrieve his gun and quickly shoots the two henchmen into bloody chunks. One of them is blasted in half, smokes a cigarette and asks what Bardo wants, but he just says "nothing" in a monotone manner before chasing after Sprug. Despite an advertised warning not to enter an energy band (some mysterious glowing lights in space), both Sprug and Bardo go through one such energy band, eventually reaching Earth where they are shrunken to several inches in height.
The movie then shows various crime acts occurring in The Bronx, New York City. It turns out Braxton Red and his gang run things around this part of the city and kill other outside gangsters who find their way into their neighborhood, to ensure control of this urban jungle. Next we are introduced to Debi, a young Hispanic single mother who wants the police to do more to protect her area. When Debi is going home, some goons, Hector, Wick, and Jackson, that know about her meddling capture her and threaten her inside their van. As she fights back and tries to get away, the bad guys grab her and almost kill her using petrol, but Bardo appears and shoots Hector in his stomach, mortally wounding him, and shoots Wick in his head, killing him,. Hector and Jackson run off, leaving Debi to wonder if she's in shock due to Bardo being so noticeably tiny. Just as she takes Bardo and his ship away, Braxton Red and one of his gangsters spot Sprug and Sprug tells them that he has a powerful bomb they can use in exchange for them helping Sprug to repair his ship.
Bardo is taken to Debi's house where he is introduced to her excited son, Kevin. Back at the hideout, Braxton kills Hector in a fit of rage, after Jackson explains that it was his idea to burn Debi, since Braxton has feelings for her even though she won't side with him. Jackson said that they were stopped by a little "Dollman" and Braxton doesn't believe that a man that small could hurt anybody, but he takes a lot of the gangsters with him and goes round to Debi's place to demand she tell them where this alleged Dollman is. After they show up to look for the so-called Dollman, Bardo kills all the bewildered gangsters along with Jackson, save for Braxton, who runs away down the stairs but gets seriously hurt. He makes it back to the hideout, bleeding badly, and Sprug knows this is Bardo's handy work. As Braxton is dying, Sprug partially heals his injury after making some demands first, but Braxton recovers and squashes Sprug when he tells Braxton he is his new boss.
Although Braxton is still seriously hurt, he wants to kill Dollman more than ever. Bardo overhears some commotion going on outside the apartment the next day when Debi is coming home from work and being harassed, yet again. Bardo leaps out of a window and grabs onto the side of a car as it speeds off. Bardo follows the entire gang, and they stop near to where the two spaceships landed, as they await Bardo's arrival so they can have their revenge. Bardo enters an underground passage in order to surprise the gangsters who have been waiting for Bardo to show up for to rescue Debi. A huge shootout ensues with Bardo killing most of the gangsters by making their vehicles explode. Debi runs off but Braxton follows her, firing his machine gun at her. Feeling disrespected for keeping her alive for years, Braxton is about to shoot Debi after cornering her somewhere, but Bardo distracts him and shoots off one of his arms. Debi doesn't want Bardo to finish off Braxton even if he is evil, and so Bardo agrees not to kill Braxton, just for her. Then Braxton uses the bomb Sprug had to attempt a last resort murder-suicide, and Debi and Bardo quickly run for cover. Debi, after seeing that Bardo is safe, happily smiles, and Bardo asks her if size counts, just in time to end his first adventure on Earth. | cult, comedy, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0200087 | Sarfarosh | Arms trafficking is taking place in India. An arsenal enters Indian territory via the state of Rajasthan, which makes its way to interior of India with help of many middlemen. Bala Thakur, a gun handler in Chandrapur, provides the arms to Veeran, a forest dwelling brigand. Later, Veeran and his gang attack a wedding bus, mercilessly gunning down every person in it which includes women and children. The government appoints a Special Action Team in Mumbai to trace the roots behind the attack. The team learns about Bala Thakur, but thanks to his informants, Thakur flees before he can be apprehended.
Meanwhile, ACP Ajay Singh Rathod, a resident of Mumbai, is attending a concert by the famed ghazal singer Gulfam Hassan (a Muhajir), where he spots a familiar face, Seema. Ajay had a crush over Seema when they were studying in Delhi, but never got the courage to propose to her. The duo are happy to meet each other again and gradually fall in love. Gulfam, on the other hand, is Indian by birth, but had to move to Pakistan as a child during partition. Deeply scarred due to the experience, he is still happy that the Government allows him to live in his palatial residence whenever he comes to India. Gulfam finds a huge fan in Ajay, who used to attend his programs as a child. Despite the age difference, the two bond.
Inspector Salim a Muslim inspector is taken off from the Special Action Team when a notorious gangster Sultan escapes his clutches and he is severely reprimanded his superior for this failure and for cuing the death of three other officers in the attempt. Despite being an honest and upright police officer with the best intelligence gathering network in the force, Salim is rueful that he is being given second class treatment because he is a Muslim and is being perceived as having let Sultan escape because he was a Muslim as well. His anger at the system doesn't lessen when Ajay, who was his junior, is told to head the team. Ajay wants Salim on the team, but Salim refuses. It is revealed that Ajay's father was going to testify against some terrorist who had threatened him not to testify, but in an attempt to stop them from doing so, Ajay's elder brother was killed. Ajay's father was kidnapped and by the time the terrorists spared him, the man had lost his voice. This motivated Ajay to join the police force.
Unknown to Ajay, Gulfam is also working for the Pakistani intelligence which is attempting to create havoc in India and create a proxy war between both sides. Since Gulfam likes Ajay, he sees to it that nothing untoward happens to him. Here, Salim finds the location of Bala Thakur along with the information that Sultan, the man who escaped from his clutches, will also be there. Salim gives the information to Ajay who makes peace with Salim and convinces him to join the team again. An encounter at the criminals' rendezvous results in the death of Bala Thakur and Ajay is seriously injured. Though Sultan and his right-hand man Shiva manage to escape, the operation is deemed a success as the team is able to intercept a large consignment of lethal arms and ammunition meant for terrorist Veeran and his terrorist acts around the country. Sultan is later assassinated on Gulfams orders because of his failure and false information is leaked that he has escaped to Pakistan.
While recuperating, Ajay has an epiphany which leads the team to Bahid in Rajasthan and to "Mirchi Seth" Rambandhu Gupt. The investigative team save for Ajay and Salim camp in Bahid and gather all possible information on Mirchi Seth. Ajay comes over to Bahid to investigate and meets Gulfam who is temporarily staying in his ancestral manor near Bahid. Gulfam attempts to derail the investigation through political means and ordering an assault on Ajay to subvert the investigation, but of no avail. The repeated failures on Gulfam's part displease the senior officers in Pakistani Intelligence, who dispatch Major Aslam Baig to take care of the business.
Here, Ajay goes through the information collected so far and realises that he has seen many key suspects near Gulfam, but fails to make the connection. The investigative teams prepares for a final assault on the gun-running operation and in the pursuit of Mirchi Seth land up at Gulfam's mansion. Ajay feels betrayed when he learns of Gulfam's treachery, but is aware of lack of substantial evidence to indict Gulfam for his crimes. He goads and tricks Gulfam into killing Baig and arrests him for the offence. After realising what happened, Gulfam reveals how the incidents that happened during the partition embittered him and why he did those deeds.
In retaliation, Ajay makes him realise that his actions are not benefiting people of any religion. After Ajay makes him see the error in his ways, Gulfam, unable to stand the humiliation and guilt, commits suicide. Gulfam's suicide is hushed up and the team returns triumphant to Mumbai to much accolades for busting the terrorist racket. At Mumbai Airport, Salim is tipped on the whereabouts of Veeran and Ajay embarks on another investigation with his team. | cruelty, murder | train | wikipedia | Aamir Khan as ACP Rathore is superb.
This actor usually plays only "black" characters - this surely added to the impact of his performance (for me, at least).
Sonali Bendre as Rathore's love interest provided some (much-needed) light moments.
Aamir's the best actor- undisputed.
B4 watching sarfarosh, me n my pals were like these "cool" Hollywood movie buffs.
Mukesh rishi deserved best supporting actor award.
great movie - definitely worth a watch.
This movie leaves the theatre with you and stays in your mind for a long time.
A realistic and honest look at the problems our police system is facing is the theme of this movie.
Amir Khan, is as usual,incomparable and produces a strong and honest performance.
He and his team are a bunch of honest, hard-working cops trying to get Mumbai rid of all the terrorism and criminals.
Amir Khan plays a tough cop with a rough past (his brother was killed by gangsters) and the event has led him to try and sweep crime away from Mumbai.
All the actors in the movie have done their job very well, especially the actors in Amir Khan's police team.
Naseeruddin shah is amazing as usual, and goes through with his character with ease and perfection.Worth a watch, the movie will surely not fail to impress..
John Matthan directs a fantastic film in his directorial debut.
With so many characters popping in one after the other it would have been very difficult to maintain the flow of the film which John Matthan has done very successfuly.
Aamir Khan as usual has given an excellent performance as A.C.P Rathore who is set to end the flow of Arms and ammunition from Pakistan to India.
Aamir, the dedicated actor that he is, had studied all about the police force, the IPS people, talked with many police officers and stayed with some of them to study the role of ACP rathore.Nasserudin Shah has only 6 to 7 scenes but he dominates the movie.
The surprise factor of the film is the acting of Mukesh Rishi which has got lots of critical acclaim from the critics and the general audience.
Do not be surprised if he wins all the awards for "The Best Supporting Actor".
Although the film is very predictible,the climax is the best part of the scene.
This is the one of the best climax ever used in an hindi movie.
A good movie, very good action scenes.
The back of the DVD case claims that Sarfarosh is the first Hindi movie to take a look at some of the real reasons behind terrorism and insurgency in India.
I don't want to hold the claims on the DVD case against the movie though, as SARFAROSH is certainly an interesting take on the subject.Ajay Singh's brother is killed and his father brain damaged by terrorists when Ajay is a small boy, because his father was going to stand up against them in court or something.
Ajay takes this to heart (as you would), and as a young adult he devotes himself to becoming a police inspector and fighting against crime, and terrorists in particular.
The movie is essentially about one case, where Ajay has to get to the roots of an operation smuggling guns into the country.
The operation is backed by a Pakistani general, with the rationale that arming criminals in India is a cheap but effective way of waging war.
The movie does push a fairly unbalanced "Pakistan aggressors, India = victims" message, though it is very careful/keen not to equate this with Muslim vs Hindu and turn it into a religious issue.
The movie is fairly serious throughout - although there is a romantic interest (the lovely Sonali Bendre), it's not overplayed and does serve a useful function by building the character of Ajay and putting the case in the context of his life.
For the most part though, the movie is focussed on the investigation and the encounters between the police and the criminals as they trace the criminal network closer to its roots.
It's quite an action packed movie, and features some of the best action scenes I've seen in an Indian movie.
A lot of people die in the course of the movie, and a few of them in quite gruesome ways.
One thing I've noticed in quite a lot of Asian movies is that police violence is treated quite sympathetically - even as quite noble.
The cops in Sarfarosh don't mess around - if threatening, beating or framing a criminal is the best way to get a result then they don't hesitate to do so.
If a criminal happens to get killed in the course of an operation then they don't seem terribly upset either, unless it was somebody they wanted to interrogate .Ajay Singh is played by Aamir Khan, an actor I haven't come across before.
He's not a pretty boy by any means, but he does a very good job with the character.
The rest of the cast all do a good job too, although Sonali Bendre doesn't have a lot to do except look pretty and dance around in the musical numbers.The script for the movie is very tight, with both the criminals and the cops operations and motivations seeming quite convincing.
The direction is very confident and focussed, and sound and cinematography throughout are good throughout.All round, a good movie worth seeking out..
Universally liked movie.
Sarfarosh is a movie very few people can dislike.Movie is neither intense one nor over exerting.It is a movie tightly followed to a very good script.Story of the movie is fast paced,engaging like Sidney Sheldon's novels, has depth and all characters looks very natural and evolved.Although movie is over 3 hrs long but time just flies by.Topics like terrorism,crime , patriotism are dealt with a great aplomb.How arms are smuggled through border and reaches naxalites or bandits,how the police functions,movie makers had clear idea of.It is one good performance of Mukesh rishi as saleem,Aamir khan as ACP and even other small characters like Aamir's department's colleague,family members, everybody has done excellent job.None of the scenes in film looks forcefully inserted and movie progresses to a very concluding climax with every scene.A great movie from debutant director John Mathew Mathhan..
Who said Indians cannot make action movies.
Aamir Khan is too tough to look sweet in this movie.
A solid movie with sharp dialogues and a crisp script..
One of the best things about this movie is that it shows the hero taking the right path to revenge.
This is in contrast with the regular Bollywood hero, who takes the shorter and easier path justified with tit-for-tat logic to kill a particular villain in the story.
Best movie, Best Performance.
Aamir Khan has performed at his best.
Loved the movie.Ajay Singh Rathod (Aamir Khan) is a honest officer who hates the criminals and terrorist.
He gets some information about criminals who are involve in supply of arms in order to create terrorism.Ajay solves this mystery and reaches the root of this gang.
But at the end he comes to know that this terrorism was under-supervision of his very good friend and singer "Gulfam Hassan (Naseeruddin Shah)" The story, Music, Dialogues, everything is just perfect.A MUST SEE.
The movie haunts you long after watching it also.
The story of a sincere police officer in Mumbai crime branch is just a front end for many other stories like love, friendship, patriotism, religion and bigotry etc.Aamir Khan made excellent cop in Mumbai police.
But, the character of Inspector Salim is the most impressive in the movie.A must watch for all those movie buffs as this has been a very genuine effort to show what is happening across the Indo-Pak border.
What made this film a different experience is the genuinity in the script.A must watch for every one out there.
One of the best and most inspiring Indian movie.
The best thing about this movie is that it does not glorify the image of terrorists and cops.It shows how a common man can give his contribution to the society.Every thing from the direction to editing and acting and music,both songs and background is top class.It is the first movie directed by John Mathew Matthan but it looks like a very experienced direction.Performances by Aamir Khan,Naseeruddin Shah,Sonali Bendre and Mukesh Rishi are of top quality.The pace of the movie is very fast which makes it more adorable.The scene between Aamir Khan and Mukesh Rishi are the best part of the movie.A must watch for everyone irrespective of the age bars..
Now its the movie which turned my love for Amer movies into an obsession.."There are certain things that you do in your life, which at the end of the day make you proud, For Amir SARFAROSH is one such thing for him"Its songs are near to perfection....ACTING WISE amir was at his very best, and RISHI(inspector salim) was fantastic..sonali looked desperately beautiful in that mini skirt...
Even though every dialogue in this film are well knit ,but that one dialogue (when salim comes to amir to complain about people chastising him for letting a criminal go) salim: "kya yeh desh mera nahin hai"rathore:" shayad nahin hai"is the best....End is also a cliff hanger...one of the best i have ever came across...
A Very Realistic Movie featuring Most Realistic Performances..
Sarfarosh is the story of a man, Ajay Singh Rathod(Aamir Khan).
Ajay is a normal youth, he lives a life of every youngster in India until, one day his brother is killed by the terrorists, his father is beaten up ruthlessly.
Because they had the courage to say the truth, to stand up for it.Ajay Singh later begins his career as Police Officer.
An International crime, or Inter-Country crime, source is Pakistan, and Ajay has to find the root of the problem which starts at smuggling and ends at war, terror war from ISI(Pakistan Intelligence Agency).Coming to Performances:Aamir Khan as Ajay Singh Rathod is simply mind blowing in a hard hitting, sincere cop role.
Director John Mathew Matthan direction is spot on, and the pace of the movie is well maintained, except for some time in the middle of the movie where you feel that film is being dragged.
But for a debut this movie has to be a great achievement.Other Departments: Naseeruddin Shah is impressive as a Singer cum Terrorist.
Action scenes are well shot.On the whole this film deserves to be used as a Prototype for Cop/Terrorism-based movies.
I remember watching this film opening day in a crowded Ahmadabad theater when I was 9 years old (the good ole days); at that time I must have seen it a dozen times.
The story is set against the backdrop of Pakistani drugs and arms smuggling to India.
But at it's core, it's about one honest cop (Aamir Khan as ACP Ajay Singh Rathod in one of his best performances) and his personal fight to eradicate crime and bring criminals to justice...The basic story is well thought out/researched, dialogs are superbly written, cinematography is top notch, and acting is excellent by the whole cast (special mention to Mukesh Rishi who plays Salim and the always fantastic Naseeruddin Shah).
Of the songs, "Zindagi Maut Na Ban Jaye" which plays along with opening credits and details the smuggling operation stands out, as does "Hosh Walon Ko", a classic, which has been sung impeccably by the late Jagjit Singh.
The pace does slack towards the end and it veers into preachy Patriotism, but these flaws can be overlooked.This is one of the best Hindi films of the 90s and easily one of Aamir's greatest roles.
Awesome and one of the best cop films.
This is one of the best cop films except the Pak bashing which is one flaw yet the way the film is handled brilliantlyThe cops aren't shown larger then life here and are shown realistic Also even a Muslim is shown as a good person and that z niceThe film follows a no nonsense approach and works well throughout Though the pace slows and drags at times when the focus goes on the villains but luckily they are several good scenes and brilliant handling that overpowers itThe climax is brilliant too, the face off between Naseer and Aamir is brilliantJohn Matthew Mathan makes a commendable debut, his best work Sad he couldn't follow it up and made a dud like SHIKHAR Music is good and suits the film Cinematography is aptAamir played a cop in BAAZI with a filmy style but here he is more restrained, mature and natural He acts like he is for real and doesn't try to hog the limelight but let's us focus on the dialogs between the co-stars Mukesh Rishi for once gets an opportunity to act and be a good guy and he does a fantastic job as Salim He is superb, hope he gets such roles more Sonali provides comic relief and is good Naseeruddin Shah is given a clichéd role and he does well Amongst others Pradeep Singh Rawat(villain of Ghajini), Govind Namdeo and the cops are all perfect.
For a directorial debut, John Mathew Matthan put up a great show, bringing to us a taut storyline, impressive dialogues, a star cast full of undervalued gems and scintillating music, all wrapped in a cinematic treat.
Diverse, because it focussed on a variety of sub-genres under the umbrella of an action film - be it the innocent romance between the college sweethearts Ajay (Aamir Khan) and Seema (Sonali Bendre) or the grey natured Gulfam Hassan (Naseeruddin Shah) whose character was scarred for life with the ravages of the Partition - the film covers all extremes while keeping the pace of the film just perfect.
Note that this review has been written after seeing the film multiple times..
Aamir's best performance till date.
There are so many brilliant films given by Aamir Khan but acting wise his best should be counted as this and would rate it above lagaan, dil chahta hai, ghulam, rangeela etc but it goes the dangal way where also his acting was commendable and effortless...Direction and other pointers are amazing alongside a film of Mr. Perfectionist I can view anytime from anywhere as the plot is routine as usual making it memorable but not close to Gangaajal which remains the best cop-politician nexus ever in Bollywood and second one being this...Not to be missed!!.
Terrific film n terrific acting by the Dangal actor..
Aamir Khan and Naseeruddin Shah face off against each other here and both excel.
Aamir is convincing despite looking too young for his role.
The film is patriotic and squarely blames a rival nation for inciting trouble in India.
I personally liked a gentle ghazal sung by Jagjit Singh.
Am writing a review for this movie after many years of it release but its never late.I have watched this movie more than 50 times now and it still entertains me in the same way.
And i bet you won't be disappointed also.Aamir does a superb job of portraying the character of ACP.
She supports the character well.The songs are also nice and soothing.Overall a must watch for all aamir fans.I rate it 10/10 even after 8 years of its release and watching it uncountable times..
It may have been cutting edge then, however it now plays like an episode of Aaron Spelling's Glitter magazine (Season 99).Aamir Khan plays boy next door Ajay Singh (nice fro bro).
Tomorrow Andy is destined to be man addicted to ink who has forgotten how to exit the gymn.Supporting our hero, we have 2 very strong performance from Naseeruddin Shah (blind dude from Mohra) and Sonali Ben (unforgettable in Mumbai).Naseeruddin plays a gentle poet who sings ghazals sweet as the morning dew.
This provides Salim with the opportunity to make a forgettable but film award winning speech about 'how he loves Eden Gardens more than his future Mrs'.As for the ending.....
When I watched this movie, I was expecting yet another action flick with a decent storyline.
A great movie with some realistic scenes and an excellent story, this is probably the best action movie in a long time in India.In a country that has been target of terror, it is not uncommon that weapons like AK-47 are smuggled deep into the heart of it.
The film also touches sensitive subjects like the loyalty of the common Indian Muslim towards the state, the mentality of the people who have suffered the partition of India, friendship and loyalty etc.Aamir Khan does a splendid job as Ajay Singh Rathore, the patriotic cop previously a victim of terrorism who vows to fight them.
All the aforementioned actors did a good job, but the surprise package in the movie is Naseeruddin Shah.
He is probably the best actor in the country at the moment and one can say, looking at this role why.
He is brilliant as Gulfam Hassan, the singer born in India and brought up in Pakistan.A great movie with a good story and excellent performances.9/10.
As usual, Amir Khan is best.
But well here the direction, story, screenplay, dialogue are as good as he is.
It's John Matthan's first film, but its just amazing and fantastic to watch.
Nasiruddin Shah and Mukesh Rishi are unforgettable in the movie.
Sonali Bendre doesn't have much to do, but she has done her part well.Music score and the lyrics are very good.
Favourite Aamir Khan movie.
I am big fan of Aamir Khan and this is my favourite movie of his.
An intelligent film but still a commercial one which I like.
Aamir Khan is a joy to watch.
You can tell with some actors when they are trying hard to portray their characters it makes you enjoy the movie even more.
There are several scenes I enjoy in the movie.
I also love the dialogue between the Aamir Khan and Mukesh Rishi when he tells he tells him his purpose of joining the police force. |
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