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tt0070229 | Isn't It Shocking? | The movie opens with a man putting gel on the paddles of what would best be described as a "fibrilator," a device that does the opposite of a defibrillator, it causes someone to have a heart attack. He uses it to electrocute an old woman.
A man (Alan Alda) and a woman are in bed together, The doorbell rings waking them, and she has to answer it because it's a customer and she can use the $8. Implying something taudry, he suggests that the way she looks she could probably get $10. She tells him that if he'd move in with her, quit his current job, and they got married, he'd be able to stay later and not have to leave at 5 a.m. to go home, plus the kids would love to have him around. Also, she's heard a rumor that a nearby town might offer him the job of sheriff. We then discover that she's running a motel, the man who checked in (whose name is Oates) is the one who electrocuted the old woman. The man who was with her goes to his car and we discover he's a police officer. As he walks past a pedestrian while entering the police station, he is greeted as the chief
His subterfuge doesn't last long, as Blanche, the receptionist at the police station (Louise Lasser) smiles at him and asks him how things were at his girlfriend's place, since she had tried to call him at home because of a death at 5 A.M. (the one in the opening of the film), and he wasn't there. Since he probably wasn't going to 6 A.M. mass at the local church, the only other place he could have been was at his girlfriend's. She also wants to know if his girlfriend proposed to him again. Embarrassed, he tells her that's his private business.
He is throwing bird seed out the window, and over the movie we discover he is a very accomplished amateur ornithologist. able to identify very rare birds from a minor description.
The other officer, Jesse, arrives and tells him it looks like the old woman, who is identified as Janet Barber, died of a heart attack in her sleep, her husband Ralph is out of town at a VFW convention, and the only thing unusual was she wasn't wearing her nightgown, that she was naked. The receptionist laughs at this, saying she sleeps in the raw too. The chief decides to go investigate. At her house, he discovers that she has no nightgown at all, which seems suspicious.
When he gets back, Jesse mentions to him that he's also heard that the nearby town of Horse Creek may offer the chief the job of Sheriff. They go to meet Ralph to inform him about the death and later they attend Janet's funeral. Later, the chief is eating dinner with his girlfriend and her kids at a restaurant, and another police officer comes over to inform him that Ralph has died.
The town doctor arrives, and she says that there is no indication Ralph's death was anything other than a heart attack, no ligature marks, no needle punctures, no burns or other evidence of foul play. The chief finds it unusual that Ralph also died nude.
Later the chief goes back to the police station to discover that Jesse, who is 63, has also died of what is apparently also a heart attack. It is at this point he calls the local mortuary and identifies himself as Dan Barnes, and in tears, tells the mortician that Jesse has died.
When he attends Jesse's funeral, he notices that Jesse's dog is not there. The dog was always around the police station, and now suddenly is missing. Dan doesn't believe that Jesse just died, he suspects something and so he'll have the body exhumed and discover why. He drives off to get a court order.
When the autopsy is completed, discusses his feelings with the county coroner, feels three deaths from heart attacks this quickly is unusual, that old people get cold and are unlikely to not wear a nightshirt. The coroner states the only thing unusual is a smell, like turpentine or something. Later Jesse's dog is found, dead, and a smell that might be the same turpentine, or nutmeg, or something else. It's deduced to be a topical decongestant, a vaporizer ointment, and the dog did not die of natural causes, there were burn marks on it and it was murdered.
Fearing something worse might happen, Dan asks to borrow a couple of police officers from a nearby town.
While sleeping on a cot in the police station, Dan is woken by the receptionist, who calls him to tell him that all of the people who died were in the same class in school, the class of 1928. The two of them look at the records, and discover a potential future victim who lives just across the line in Vermont. Dan goes to check and is almost killed by someone in an automobile rams him in his police cruiser, then drives off after disabling it, only to return in a last attempt to finish the job, but Dan escapes. The other driver also disappears. Walking up to the house he was going to visit, Dan discovers that this person has also been murdered, so now there are only a handful of people left from the class of '28.
Returning to town, he discover's the town's cab driver is driving erratically, just as she did when she had to drive because the mortician's hearse is broken down, and she had to take Janet's body to the mortician. He discovers the shopkeeper is dead. The coroner then believes that the murderer was using a machine to stop hearts but ran out of insulating gel and is now having people touch something to ground them, But there is no such machine available that could do this.
Based on various evidence, Dan suspects that Mr. Oates, who has checked out of the motel, is the one committing the murders, probably because he is embittered for the perceived mistreatment he received from the members of his school class more than 40 years ago.
The murderer is caught, he had been in love with Marge, with whom Ralph had been having an affair for many years. He will probably end up in a mental hospital instead of prison. Dan decides he doesn't want to take the Sheriff's job, he's comfortable in the town. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0049004 | Between Heaven and Hell | In 1945, on a Pacific island, Sam Gifford (Wagner) is busted from platoon sergeant to private and reprimanded by his battalion commander for striking an officer. Because he had earned a Silver Star, he is given a choice of being sentenced to the United States Disciplinary Barracks in Leavenworth or transferred to George Company, a de facto punishment company assigned to a dangerous area of the front lines. Gifford chooses the punishment company, which is commanded by Captain Grimes, a former First Sergeant (Broderick Crawford). Captain Grimes insists everyone call him "Waco", wears no rank insignia and forbids military salutes lest he become a target for snipers. Everyone in George Company hates Waco except for some pre-war regular army comrades-in-arms Millard (Frank Gorshin) and Swanson (Skip Homeier), who act as Waco's personal bodyguards. Impressed by Gifford's combat record, Waco offers him a membership in his private circle as a radio operator. This ends when Gifford beats up Swanson for making suggestive remarks about his wife's photograph. Waco burns the photograph. The incident triggers flashbacks in which Sam relives the path that brought him to this purgatory.
Before the war Gifford was a wealthy cotton farmer in the South who treated his sharecroppers with callous disregard for their personal lives. When the United States gets involved in the war, Gifford's National Guard unit is called to active service with the United States Army. Gifford's father-in-law, Colonel Cousins (Robert Keith), is also his regimental commander. Despite Gifford's wealth and commanding position in civilian life, he is not a commissioned officer but a platoon sergeant. His close association with his former croppers under miserable and dangerous conditions changes Gifford's perspectives and he becomes close buddies with several of them. Though capably leading his platoon earns him a medal for valor, Gifford outwardly exhibits signs of fear, battle fatigue, and neurosis. These weaknesses intensify when his father-in-law is killed by a sniper. Another officer, a wealthy landowner disdainful of his men both as workers and as soldiers, machine guns Gifford's friends out of cowardice and panic. Gifford attempts to beat him to death with the butt of his rifle. The flashback is broken when Waco calls Gifford into company headquarters.
Waco orders Gifford to lead a six-man patrol to check a town believed to be the location of a Japanese headquarters. The patrol finds the town abandoned. Gifford takes the name plaque off the front door of the town's church. During the patrol Gifford and his men spot a platoon strength unit of the Japanese Imperial Army equipped with mortars heading towards the hills near George Company's Headquarters. Gifford reports his findings to Waco. Waco accuses Gifford of not going to the town but hiding in the hills but Gifford tosses the plaque on Waco's desk as proof. The headquarters receives a heavy barrage from the Japanese mortars that Gifford warned Waco about in which Millard is killed. Sam is sent by Waco to outpost duty with a lieutenant nicknamed Little Joe (Brad Dexter). There he forms a friendship with another former sharecropper, Willie Crawford (Buddy Ebsen). After an attack, the outpost has lost radio contact with the company and Gifford is sent back to company HQ for fresh batteries. He arrives to find that Waco has been relieved of command when several wounded men informed battalion headquarters of his behavior. Waco, in formal uniform including rank insignia as he prepares to leave, is shot and killed by a Japanese sniper when he demands that his soldiers salute him.
Gifford returns to the outpost, which is hit with another attack in which Little Joe is killed. Gifford and Crawford are the sole survivors. With Crawford wounded in the leg, Crawford orders Gifford make it through the lines alone to warn the Company of an impending large attack. At first Gifford refuses to leave Crawford behind, but Crawford insists, pointing a pistol at Gifford and saying it's an order. Gifford fights his way through Japanese soldiers to make his way back to the Company but he is wounded along the way. Upon reaching the company he finds that most of the Battalion has come up to begin a new offensive. Gifford warns them about the Japanese units massing in the hills. He demands that help be sent to rescue Crawford. Just at that moment a patrol comes in with Crawford on a stretcher. Crawford and Gifford are told because of their wounds they are being shipped home. Gifford tells Crawford that he wants Crawford to live with him and his family at his mansion back home and he can have a job at Gifford's company. | flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0100095 | Maine Pyar Kiya | Karan (Alok Nath) is a poor mechanic who lives in the countryside with his only daughter, Suman (Bhagyashree). He decides to travel overseas in Dubai so that he can accumulate enough wealth to get his daughter married. He decides to leave his daughter with his family like friend Kishan (Rajeev Verma). Kishan lets Karan's daughter Suman stay at his house as he cannot turn down his old friend's request and Suman comes to live with his family. Suman is befriended by Kishan's son Prem (Salman Khan), who assures that a boy and a girl can be platonic friends.
Prem takes Suman to a party organised by Seema (Pervin Dastur) who is the only daughter of Kishan's business partner, Ranjeet (Ajit Vachani). Jeevan (Mohnish Behl) son of Ranjeet, humiliate Suman and Prem and accuse both for their false claim of being friends. Suman leaves in tears and distances herself from Prem. At that point, Prem and Suman both realises that they have fallen in love with each other. Kaushalya (Reema Lagoo) finds out about Prem and Suman's relationship and approve of Suman as her daughter-in-law, but Kishan is quite unhappy with the relationship asks her to get out of his house and life, as he feels that she has taken advantage of his hospitality. Karan returns from abroad and is enraged at Kishan's behaviour. Kishan accuses him of plotting to set up Prem and Suman. Karan and Kishan quarrel, and eventually Karan and Suman return to their village humiliated.
Prem refuses to accept the separation. He goes to Suman's village and begs to be allowed to marry her. Karan, angered by Kishan's accusations, says that he will allow the marriage on one condition: Prem must prove that he can support his wife by his own efforts. Prem then works as a truck driver and laborer in the nearby quarry.
At the end of the month, Prem has earned the required money. On the way to Karan's house he is ambushed by Jeevan at the head of a group of ruffians who attempt to kill him. He survives but his wages are ruined in the fight. Karan harshly dismisses Prem's efforts but Prem begs for another chance to prove himself. His stoic determination melts Karan's heart and he agrees to let Suman marry Prem. Meanwhile, Ranjeet, believing that Jeevan has successfully killed Prem, persuades Kishan that Karan has killed his son. When Kishan arrives at Karan's village, they are surprised to find Prem alive. When Prem confronts Jeevan, Ranjeet and his supporters turn on Kishan and Karan and Jeevan abducts Suman. Prem, Karan, and Kishan defeat Ranjeet's supporters and save Suman. The estrangement between Karan and Kishan comes to an end and Prem and Suman marry. | romantic | train | wikipedia | A True Classic Love Story.
The characters were all well drawn out from the parents to the "bad guys." The "sweet" character of "Suman" was shown to have a different side of her when she become a seductress on the rooftop as she celebrates her birthday with "Prem." The viewer gets to see that side of her which is passionate and perhaps not so innocent...the side the parents do not.
;-) This is a great movie for those who believe in true love!.
Sooraj Barjatya's best movie.
Maine Pyar Kiya the highest grossing movies of 1989 and considering it had to contend with Yash Chopra's Chandni that is very good indeed.
Salman Khan and Bhagyashree made their debut along with debutant director Sooray Barjatya.
Bhagyashree went on to get married whilst Salman Khan went on to star in Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Aapke hain koun and Hum Saath Saath Hain.
Most people may claim HAHK was Mr Barjatya's best movie but I find it ridiculously overrated, MPK was Mr Barjatya's finest hour.
The thing I love so much about MPK is the songs, each one is a masterpiece.
Usually when I listen to a movie soundtrack I normally listen to a couple of songs and skip the rest but not the case with MPK, I can listen to the songs over and over again and never get bored.
Simple story but outstanding direction, acting by the two new comers, Salman khan and Bhagyashree.
All other actors have done justice to their roles.Songs are great to watch and listen...a must for a Hindi movie fan.
And yea...Maine pyar kiya and Hum Aapke hain koun, and DDLJ are in the same league, popular romantic flicks, watchable by everyone.It does have some comedy however and some sensible action (i mean..the regular fights).
I love this movie!It is great story about two people falling in love.Salman Khan(Prem) and Bhagyashree (Suman) made an excellent job.It is so romantic.I watched it many times and I can watch it always.Story is classic.Girl from poor family meets rich guy and they fell in love.My favorite scene is on the rooftop were Suman showed her different side,that she is not that innocent.Also very romantic was when he had to earn some money to prove that he loves her.It sounds cheesy,but there is something about this movie special.Music is also very beautiful.It is different from American romantic movies.I recommend everyone to watch this movie!Because of this movie I became Salman Khan's fan!.
Most films fail to display family emotions and what happens within families and how they get torn apart but this film sheds a unique light on love, family values and the rich / poor divide.A great moral movie with plenty for everyone to enjoy.
Great acting, beautiful songs and a story that wants you to sit in eager anticipation and hope that prem succeeds in his quest to gain approval from his would be father-in-law.Alok Nath plays his role well and so does the young Bagyshree.
The only person who I felt played under himself was the character who played Salman Khans Father.
a typical Hindi film - but oh, the beauty and the tenderness and the warmth of the love story...its the reason i fell i love with films!
not to forget the fact that it gave Hindi cinema one of its biggest stars - salman khan.
Best Salman Khan film.
This is one of the Best Films of all time.
Salman Khan did a fabulous job in the movie that launched him into a superstar.
The movie is directed by Sooraj Barjatya who has given us great movies in the future like Hum apke hain kaun and Hum Saath saath hai.
Maine Pyar Kiya kind of gave birth to the successful Romantic Genre that took place in the 90s.
I have seen this movie 34 times.I remember each and every scene, and all the music.
I just love the romance and passion shown in this movie.
The innocence, the love, dedication feelings displayed were absolutely good.
I can see the movie several times without getting bored.
Some people may call it as a goody, goody movie, but I love to see it again and again..
Best love classic which i like to watch again and again.
Maine Pyaar Kiya is one of the best love classics which i like to watch again and again.Every time it is fresh to watch at any day.
The story is an evergreen one which makes this a classic.Performances are heart warming and loved again and again.The direction is fantastic which also makes one view again and again.This is an enchanting classic even after 2 decades.All basic elements required for a good film are surely in this classic.Nothing more to say .I want to watch again and again this classic till the day of my death..
A very good movie.The direction is wonderful.The dialogues are wonderful.The costumes are nice.The story is nice.It tells us about Suman who is a poor girl.Lives in a village.Her father goes to Dubai.He leaves her in a city at his friends house.She is in love with Prem the mans son.One day Prems father sends her out of the house.Prem is sad and wants to be with her.He goes to her house trying to woo her.Father(Sumans)refuses and wants him to leave.A nice romance story.The acting is great.Salman is brilliant,Bhagyashree wAas brilliant too,Alok waas great,Reema and Rajeev did good.The opening scence was great.The screenplay is good.Mohnish and Pervin had negative shades but they did well.The editing is quite good.The songs are wonderful.The picturisations are great.The lyrics are nice.The chemistry and romance was beautiful.A must see Rating-9/10.
The lead actress stole the show in this movie...She was simply brilliant, not just a pretty face but also portrayed the character in a rather intelligent and sensitive manner.
Prem's fathers friend's daughter was being a good daughter from her perspective...Love is not so black and white.I think that typology reflected the time and genre...I have noticed these stereotypes in all Indian cinema.
Now there are all types of films...I have always loved Indian Cinema from the actors-songs-story.
That is a big deal and I am proud of her, its too bad not many Indians are aware and appreciative of this fact.My favorite song in the movie is the song game, when he is angry that song is mad funny.
The chemistry between Salman Khan and Bhagyashree is one of a kind, portraying the innocence of youth and the blossoming of their friendship into deep love for each other is truly a heartwarming experience.
It is unfortunate these kinds of movies will never be made again, at least in my life time due to change in mindset from generation to generation, but this movie is a sweet reminder of the past of what we left behind and will most certainly be an inspiration to future generations who get a chance to watch this classic.
Also, after reading some other reviews, I was very happy to see that some people found inspiration to find true love in their lives after watching this movie.
This movie is fantastic, the best Hindi movie of all time, and like I said, it is the Titanic of Indian cinema.
Usually, I hate watching a movie second time.
Maine Pyar Kiya is the only movie which I love to watch again and again.
The music of this movie is excellent with great lyrics.
I believe Bhagyashree took a right decision of not acting in movies for that retained her popularity..
" Maine Pyar Kiya " is not just a family-romantic movie, but also a historical debut of Salman and Bhagyashree.
The casting is also a perfect match for the plot.The movie will remind your past love life if you have one.
This was the film that made Salman Khan a huge star, and he deservedly won the filmfare best male debut award for this.
Salman Khan is fantastic; his role in the movie could only have been played by him - no other top actor could have pulled it off.
Bhagyashree was also great and it is unfortunate that she didn't star in many films.The actors and actresses in supporting roles also played their part in making this film a great one.
The film explores the themes of love and friendship and, because of this, it is a great family film - you can watch it whenever you want.
The actors and actresses in supporting roles also played their part in making this film a great one.
The music is great and I can't say which two tracks are the best of the bunch because they're all great.Overall: great story - everyone should watch this regardless of any of the factors that would influence your decision to watch a movie .
In all honesty ad-mist all the contaminated films that were around "Maine Pyar Kiya" was a whiff of fresh air.
With the unadulterated & pristine love-story Sooraj ensured the young generation walked over the clouds.
Every teenager was practically mouthing the lines from "Maine Pyar Kiya" (predominantly "No sorry, no thanks" and "I love you so much that it hurts" Ouch!!).
How I wish all the fairy-tales would turn true.Salman Khan became every teenager's poster boy.
The nation suddenly looked up to this guy's well tones muscles who gave a new meaning for a must-have qualities of an actor.Alok Nath, Reema Lagoo & Rajeev Varma were adequate.
Sooraj Barjatya poured his heart and soul into "Maine Pyar Kiya" and it showed.
Some people criticize his movies for their ultra sweet characters, but I disagree.
I think we all know what the story is abt, so I'm just gonna move on to the performances, music, and of course, SALMAN KHAN.Aside from the magical pairing of the lead hero-heroine, what people to this day remember most abt MPK is its melodious music-which is stupendous and the Lata-Subramaniam combo as usual is in fine form.
The regular family characters which we've seen numerous times by now in other flicks also provide fine support.....but the biggest reason Y MPK works is still the chemistry between newcomers Salman Khan and Bhagyashree.
Sooraj does a fabulous job of portraying classic "puppy love".
This was Salman's beginning to stardom, and the physical difference between today's SK and back then is huge....and believe me, u'll like this version.
MPK was just a smashing debut for Salman Khan and if there is one reason why u wanna watch this movie, it's because of him..
I was so much influenced by this movie that later i think, that i did almost same as love marriage with talking to my father in law in front to front and asked for her daughter hand and many more.
It's best love movie i have ever seen in my entire life.
BEST MOVIE OF MY LIFE.
BEST MOVIE OF MY LIFE.
Salman Khan and Sooraj Barjayta's First Combo Blockbuster.
The Best Entry Limelight for Salman Khan.
Salman Khan and Bhagyashree had excellent young Innocent chemistry and fabulous performances, he was at his level best.
Story, screenplay and dialogues were outstanding,Great multi casting and performance by supporting actors, Great vision by Sooraj Barjatya, melodious music, lyrics,choreography was super-hit.
Overall: A blockbuster musical and romantic performance for Salman Khan.
Sweet Love Story.
Prem (Salman Khan) returns home from the US to find Suman (Bhagyashree) visiting with his family.
Bhagyashree did an excellent job as a gentle teenager feeling first love.The music and choreography are not memorable, and the fight scenes were a bit over the top.
Overall, it's a movie that leaves the viewer happy for having watched it.
I first watched "Maine Pyar Kiya" when I was 6-7, and still I've the remembrance of the movie as a childhood memory.
The speciality of the film is its innocence and beauty with which the romance is blossomed.
The performances of the new comers Salman Khan and Bhagya Shree give a freshness to the movie.
Overall, "Maine Pyar Kiya" is one of the most beautiful movies of Bollywood, which saw a wide success for a genuine reason, and proved good movies succeed rather than the big star studded blockbusters.Rating: 2 stars out of 4.
My all time Fav. After watching various movies for 25 years now , MPK is still my no.1 favorite movie.
We do sit together and watch the movie whenever we can ..
Electric chemistry between the main actors, great vocalists and music, a number of great story arcs make this one elixir of a Hindi movie.
The romance looks and feels real because of newcomers Salman Khan and Bhagyashree.
If you want to see Salman Khan at his best, it is here.
This is not to take anything away from Bhagyashree who held her own as sweet, sultry, and loving.There's a lot of depth to the themes as well easily making this film a universal sort of love story.
Maine Pyar Kiya is a wonderful quintessential Indian movie deserving a place in space capsule as a slice of life shared by many in one corner of this Earth..
This is perhaps one of those films that is so bad it's good.It was one of the biggest Bollywood films of the 80's - making Salman Khan a star.
The movie's music was a huge hit, no doubt contributing to its success..
I remember watching this movie on 16th April 1990 the day after I finished my 9th grade final exams in India.
I was in love with the movie and wished it happened with me.
I actually celebrated the anniversary of the movie by watching for the 12th time exactly a year after.
During that time I remembered the duologue's of the entire movie from start to the end.The movie had a great impact on the manner love is depicted in Indian movies.
The director Suraj Barjatya beautifully showed the friendship slowly blossoming into love between the lead pair Prem (Salman Khan) and Suman (Bhagyashree), over the first half of the movie.
The second half of the movie surprised the audiences when Prem shows his worth to the father of Suman (Alok Nath) to attain his love.
This was the first time in Hindi Cinema when true character of the love in Indian Culture was revealed; achieving the desired love with parents consent instead of eloping.The music given by Ram-Laxman was excellent.
Her eyes were pouring love on the silver screen throughout the movie.
Salman Khan also looked fresh and delightful in his second movie.
Sequences where Salman Khan workouts in front of Bhagyashree specially the one handed push-ups made him a youth icon among school and college students.
Though Bhagyashree decided to stay as a housewife breaking the heart of millions of her fans.Even today MPK stays as my most favorite movie..
This movie portrays a real relationship growing slowly and both the characters going through friendship, that inevitable.."what exactly are we" section...love, sex, passion and true love.
I loved how Sooraj Barjatya showed how the characters comfortably fell in love without really even knowing it - thus turning into that "what exactly are we" stage.
I also loved how he portrayed the sexual tension between the characters of Prem and Suman.
and Salman Khan for such a well done scene.
For his second movie I could not believe how much passion and emotion he put into making Prem.
This movie touched my heart and hopefully if u appreciate true love u also will feel as though you've been touched too..
Like most of the people belonging to the generation that grew up in the 80's and 90's and early 2000,i have literally survived on MPK,DDLJ,HAHK,KKHH,K3G,through out my teenage.Even today without fail i watch these movies on TV whenever they are shown.The sweet and clean chemistry of the lead stars make us wonder that what has gone wrong with the youngsters today that the word romance and love is more about sex that the sweetness this very emotion has.Having found my soul-mate and soon to be husband in my childhood best friend of 22 years(Nursery to till date) i actually believe that love should happen slowly and blossom from friendship and not the lust what the movies these days portray.I am personally a mad mad fan of these 5 movies and so mad that i have lost count as to how many times i have seem them.Well all i have to say for MPK in specific is that if for not the sweet love do watch it to see salman at his sweetest best.A salman which we don't get to see AT ALL now.The sweet and innocent lover......
Great Film Maine Pyar Kiya all time Favorite Film Love Story Salman Khan is Superstar Music Blockbuster.
I love this movie!It is great story about two people falling in love.Salman Khan(Prem) and Bhagyashree (Suman) made an excellent job.It is so romantic.I watched it many times and I can watch it always.Story is classic.Girl from poor family meets rich guy and they fell in love.My favorite scene is on the rooftop were Suman showed her different side,that she is not that innocent.Also very romantic was when he had to earn some money to prove that he loves her.It sounds cheesy,but there is something about this movie special.Music is also very beautiful.It is different from American romantic movies.I recommend everyone to watch this movie!Because of this movie I became Salman Khan's fanI have now started finding better movies through www.flickstree.com.
Still remembered as one of best romantic films.
This was first film of Sooraj Bharjatya, Salman Khan as a lead, Bhagyashree and Laxmikant Berde's first Hindi film.
The film is still remembered as one of the famous love stories.
This is perhaps his only film where there are villain and some action too afterall it was a 80s film The film does have cherishable romantic moments between Salman and Bhagyashree, at times it is a bit cheesy, corny but bollywood loves it like that.There is also a funny smoking scene between Salman and Laxmikant. |
tt0100232 | Navy Seals | The USS Forrestal, an aircraft carrier on station in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, receives a mayday from a cargo ship. The ship reports that they have been attacked, are on fire and adrift. A deployed Navy SH-3 helicopter attempts to rescue the crew, but is downed by a gunboat and the aircrew is captured.
Meanwhile, a squad of United States Navy SEALs (Charlie Sheen, Michael Biehn, Dennis Haysbert, Rick Rossovich, Cyril O'Reilly, Bill Paxton, and Paul Sanchez) are recovering from a bachelor party. Graham (Haysbert) is to be married, but the wedding is canceled at the last minute when the whole Team is paged to return to base to rescue the captured aircrew.
In the Mediterranean, the leader of the terrorists that shot at the Navy helicopter, Ben Shaheed, (Nicholas Kadi), orders the execution of the hostages. One crewmember is executed on the spot and another is beaten up, but the SEAL team arrives just in time to prevent any further executions. Responding to a suspicious noise, Hawkins (Sheen) breaks silence when he encounters Shaheed in an adjoining room, inadvertently alerting the terrorists. Shaheed claims to be an Egyptian sailor also being held by the terrorists, and is left by the SEALs. As the SEALs evacuate the hostages from the area, Hawkins and Graham stumble across a warehouse containing Stinger missiles. Hawkins attempts to return to the warehouse to destroy the missiles, only to be ordered by Curran (Biehn) to proceed with extraction.
On board an aircraft carrier later that night, the individual Team members are debriefed by Naval Intelligence. Curran's decision to leave the Stinger missiles behind is questioned, but Curran retorts that his primary mission was to rescue the aircrew and that Naval Intelligence did not do their job properly. It is also obvious that Hawkins is highly agitated by the mission and has trouble dealing with the emotional upheaval the mission provided. Curran tries to calm him down but is rebuffed by Hawkins.
At the Pentagon, Shaheed is seen in a video interview. The Joint Chiefs of Staff identify Shaheed and his organization, the Al Shudadah. They also identify the interviewer as Claire Varrens (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), a journalist and author who is half Lebanese. Her questioning of Shaheed yields an admission that he and his group participated in the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. Shaheed admits the complicity freely, saying they only sought revenge for the bombing of their homes by Navy ships and warplanes. The Joint Chiefs are briefed on the recent mission and Curran requests permission to destroy the Stingers, but Navy Intelligence has learned they have already been relocated. The SEALs are ordered on R&R and enjoy a game of golf. Curran, brooding over the previous mission, reads a book authored by Varrens. During the golf outing, Graham convinces his fiancée (S. Epatha Merkerson) to try to finish the wedding again, regardless of the hazards of Graham's job.
The team receives their orders for the next mission. Naval Intelligence has heard that the Stinger missiles are on board a merchant ship, the Latanya, off the coast of Syria. The SEALs deploy from a submerged submarine, the USS Nyack, and successfully board the ship, neutralizing two disguised gunmen, only to find out from an EOD team that the missiles are not on board after all.
Frustrated by the recent unreliable intelligence, Curran solicits Varrens's cooperation. Curran takes Claire on a tour of Navy SEAL training and attempts to woo the journalist over an elegant dinner. Claire is initially wary but opens up to Curran after learning that a Stinger has been used to shoot down a peace delegation in Lebanon. Claire provides pictures of men she has encountered who may possibly provide information that may lead the SEALs to the location of the missiles. While trying to identify possible contacts, Claire tells Curran and Hawkins that one of her contacts is missing, most likely having been kidnapped by the Israelis. Inspired by this, and an outburst by Hawkins, Curran presents the idea of kidnapping a potential informant to his superiors who subsequently recommend the proposal at a National Security Council meeting. A CIA executive at the meeting identifies one of the targets as a known CIA informant who could be co-opted if taken into custody. On that basis, the SEALs are authorized to bring him in.
The SEALS infiltrate the area by performing a HALO jump and swimming to shore. Curran leads several of the team inside a house to secure the informant while Hawkins, Ramos, and Graham remain outside. When Ramos is pinned down by patrolling militia, Hawkins disobeys Curran's order to stay quiet and instigates a firefight. Although Hawkins finally succeeds in killing the militiamen, Graham is killed during the firefight.
Curran reluctantly informs Graham's fiancée of his death, and a funeral with full military honors is held. After the wake, the men drown their sorrows at a pizza place/bar. Hawkins gives a toast to Graham for being the best friend a guy could have. Curran scolds Hawkins for his carelessness that caused Graham's death. Later, Claire arrives at Curran's houseboat to find a still grieving Curran. They walk on the boardwalk and Curran tells the woman about the mission, which leads to a night of intimacy. Curran quietly leaves the next morning with Claire in bed.
The SEALs are deployed to Beirut, this time to meet a local resistance fighter who will guide them to the building containing the Stingers. Although Dane (Paxton) is killed while attempting to set up a sniping overwatch position, the SEALs do locate the Stingers in an old school building in a heavily-bombed area of the city. Curran leads Leary (Rossovich) and Rexer (O'Reilly) inside the building to destroy the missiles while Hawkins and Ramos maintain overwatch outside. Hawkins shoots a local gunman questioning him, alerting the terrorists. Leaving the building, Curran gets shot in the abdomen and thigh. Curran is pinned down near the building door and orders Hawkins to destroy the building regardless of Curran's being in the blast radius. Hawkins disobeys the order and rescues Curran while the other SEALs provide suppressing fire before the building is finally destroyed. The SEALs commandeer a car and attempt to exfiltrate from the city while evading pursuit by an enemy BTR-152 with a machine gun. The automobile is eventually hit by gunfire and Rexer killed by a stray bullet to the head. Leary, using a recovered Stinger missile launcher, manages to destroy the APC, and the four remaining SEALs escape to the beach.
Shaheed steals a boat from a pier-side fisherman and follows the SEALs across the water. He spots Curran's body floating in the sea. As he attempts to pull the body from the water he is attacked by the SEALs and, in an underwater fight, Hawkins kills Shaheed. The other SEALs take out the remaining topside terrorists and destroy the small boat. With the mission finally accomplished, the designated exfiltration submarine surfaces, recovering the SEALs. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0042628 | The Kangaroo Kid | In the 1880s, the Remington detective agency sends Tex Kinnane to Australia to track down a notorious gold robber and murderer called John Spengler. In Sydney, Tex makes friends with Baldy Muldoon and travels with him to the small town of Gold Star, where Baldy's wife runs the local saloon. Tex adopts a baby kangaroo and earns the name "Kangaroo Kid". He is hired as a stage coach driver and befriends barmaid Stella Grey, who offers to look after his kangaroo.
Tex is challenged to a shooting match by local thugs Phil Romero and Robey, but Tex outshoots them, causing a fistfight. Sgt Jim Penrose warns him about his behaviour. Penrose visits his girlfriend, Mary, who says that her father, miner Steve Corbett, has been acting strangely since Tex arrived and wants to leave town.
Vincent Moller, an American living in Australia for health reasons, plans to rob the stage coach with Crobett, Romero and Robey and implicate Tex. Corbett is reluctant to join in and Moller plans to kill him.
Tex is driving the stage when it is held up by Romeo and Robey, who kill the guard and knock out Tex, leaving him in the bush. Sgt Jim Penrose is convinced he is guilty. He tracks down Tex and puts him in gaol for robbery and murder. Moller visits Tex and agrees to arrange his escape if he leaves the country quickly. This makes Tex suspicious. He escapes and proves that Moller is John Spengler.
Tex takes Moller back to America but promises to return for Stella. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0367345 | Joan of Arcadia | In the pilot episode, God appears to Joan and reminds her that she promised to do anything he wanted if he would let her brother survive a car crash that left him a paraplegic. God appears in the form of various people including small children, teenage boys, elderly ladies, transients, or passersby. Joan is asked by God to perform tasks that often appear to be trivial or contrary, but always end up positively improving a larger situation.
One of the more obvious effects of Joan's actions occurs when she is asked to take a reclusive bully to the school dance. While both her mother and the assistant principal object, Joan follows through with God's task. At the dance, it is revealed that the bully has a bottle of alcohol with him, but Joan convinces him not to open it. Despite this, the assistant principal later reaches into his jacket, finds the alcohol and expels him. In his anger, the boy threatens the chief of police (Joan's father) with a handgun, and he is then arrested. Joan later finds out from God that, while this turn of events seems rather bleak, it was the lesser of two evils—without Joan's actions, he would have shot over a dozen students and teachers with a handgun, before turning the gun on himself. This ending is noticeably more direct than most episodes, since it is the only time God comments so clearly on "what would have happened" rather than primarily allowing events to speak for themselves.
The series starred actors Joe Mantegna and Mary Steenburgen as Joan's parents Will and Helen, Jason Ritter as her paraplegic older brother Kevin, and Michael Welch as her younger brother Luke. The family relationships and plot situations were written more realistically than other shows with spiritual themes. Various storylines that spanned multiple episodes dealt with the consequences of Kevin's accident, Will's job as a police officer, Helen's career as an art teacher, and Luke's aspirations to be a scientist. God quotes Bob Dylan, Emily Dickinson and the Beatles rather than any scripture or verses. Furthermore, God is portrayed with a very human personality. In "Touch Move", he tells Joan that he has to send her "down there", and laughs when she becomes worried he means Hell, when he meant the school basement. Also, in one episode, he hands Joan a book from a store they have just left. When Joan accuses him of stealing, he remarks "Well, technically everything's mine".
Christopher Marquette also stars as Adam Rove, a close friend of Joan's who has an on-and-off romantic relationship with her. Another of Joan's best friends is Grace Polk, played by Becky Wahlstrom. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0033558 | Dressed to Kill | Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is a sexually frustrated housewife who is in therapy with New York City psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine). During an appointment, Kate attempts to seduce him, but Elliott rejects her advances.
Kate goes to the Metropolitan Museum where she has an unexpected flirtation with a mysterious stranger. Kate and the stranger stalk each other through the museum until they finally wind up outside, where Kate joins him in a taxi. They begin to have sex and continue at his apartment.
Hours later, Kate awakens and decides to discreetly leave while the man, Warren Lockman (Ken Baker), is asleep. Kate sits at his desk to leave him a note and finds a document indicating that Warren has contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Mortified, she leaves the apartment. In her haste, she has left her wedding ring on the nightstand, so she returns to retrieve it.
The elevator doors open on the figure of a tall, blond woman in dark sunglasses wielding a straight razor. Kate is violently slashed to death in the elevator. A high-priced call girl, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), happens upon the body. She catches a glimpse of the killer, therefore becoming both the prime suspect and the killer's next target.
Dr. Elliott receives a bizarre message on his answering machine from "Bobbi" (voice of William Finley), a transgender patient. Bobbi taunts the psychiatrist for breaking off their therapy sessions, apparently because Elliott refuses to sign the necessary papers for Bobbi to get a sex change operation. Elliott tries to convince Dr. Levy (David Margulies), the patient's new doctor, that Bobbi is a danger to herself and others.
Police Detective Marino (Dennis Franz) is skeptical about Liz's story, partly because of her profession, so Liz joins forces with Kate's revenge-minded son Peter (Keith Gordon) to find the killer. Peter, an inventor, uses a series of homemade listening devices and time-lapse cameras to track patients leaving Elliott's office. They catch Bobbi on camera, and soon Liz is being stalked by a tall blonde in sunglasses. Several attempts are subsequently made on Liz's life. One, in the New York City Subway, is thwarted by Peter, who sprays Bobbi with homemade mace.
Liz and Peter scheme to learn Bobbi's real name by getting inside Dr. Elliott's office. Liz baits the therapist by stripping to lingerie and coming on to him, distracting him long enough to make a brief exit and leaf through his appointment book. Peter is watching through the window when a blonde pulls him away. When Liz returns, a blonde with a razor confronts her; the blonde outside shoots and wounds the blonde inside, the wig falls off, and it is Dr. Elliott, revealing that he is also Bobbi. The blonde who shot Bobbi is actually a female police officer, revealing herself to be the blonde who has been trailing Liz.
Elliott is arrested and placed in an insane asylum. Dr. Levy explains later to Liz that Elliott wanted to be a woman, but his male side would not allow him to go through with the operation. Whenever a woman sexually aroused Elliott, Bobbi, representing the unstable, female side of the doctor's personality, became threatened to the point that it finally became murderous. When Dr. Levy realised this through his last conversation with Elliott, he called the police on the spot, who then, with his help, did their duty.
In a final sequence, Elliott escapes from the asylum and slashes Liz's throat in a bloody act of vengeance. She wakes up screaming, Peter rushing to her side, realizing that it was just a dream. | murder | train | wikipedia | Dressed to Kill is one of the most enjoyable 'B' movies I've ever seen.
Lloyd Nolan is terrific as Michael Shayne, detective, and his supporting cast is superb to say the least.
William Demarest is the best hapless police inspector this side of James Gleason, a youthful Henry Daniell plays a stuck up prig to perfection, Milton Parsons is a bad baddie, and we even get small turns from Mantan Moreland and Billy Benedict.
The story is reasonably well written, fast paced, and a lot of fun..
Lloyd Nolan's Michael Shayne is a refreshingly human private detective, jumping to wrong conclusions and once not even being able to say his own name correctly (you'll see why).
The two policemen assigned to the case are delightfully dense.Shayne is within hours of being married when he and his bride-to-be hear a scream that he investigates.
He has to spend the rest of the movie not only attempting to solve the crime but placating and putting off his impatient fiancée.
Secret passageways and trapdoors, people who have changed their identities, magicians' sleight of hand, and a hilarious singing-telegram scene add to the tasty mix.I really enjoyed this and found the humor a welcome addition to the murder investigation..
IMDb gets it right; the movie's credits are wrong.
I sat bolt upright at the end of this movie because it looked as if there was a serious error in the credits.
The movie's streaming on Netflix, so you can see for yourself: 20th Century Fox reversed the names of the two African-American actors who provide some of the brightest points in this bright little movie.
They often entertained as a team, and in this movie Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter play two theater janitors who first appear doing a sweet backstage dance sequence with their brooms while Mary Beth Hughes (too little of her in this movie) sings on-stage but off-screen.
Their characters are called Rusty and Sam, with the bigger part going to Rusty, who is played by Moreland, the more famous of the two.
But in the final credits, the names are reversed with the roles, crediting Ben Carter as Rusty.
I find that impressive.The movie's impressive, too-- a B movie with a ridiculously complicated plot with a lot of theatrics, quick-witted dialog, and sure-footed performances by Lloyd Nolan, William Demarest, Henry Daniell, Moreland and Carter, and Mary Beth Hughes-- of whom, as I said, there was far too little screen time.
Far too little of her in movies in general, in fact..
Lloyd Nolan brightens up the screen as investigator Michael Shayne in "Dressed to Kill" from 1941.
While picking up his fiancé (Mary Beth Hughes) from her residential hotel so that they can finally get married, Shayne hears a scream from upstairs.
Racing up there, he finds two people sitting at a dining table in costume and quite dead.Eventually Shayne is led to a play done years earlier by the victims and begins looking at the other performers.
Meanwhile, he's constantly tripping over both his angry fiancé and Police Inspector Pierson (William Demarest).There's lots of comedy in this B movie, mostly provided by Demarest, who is one-upped every time by Shayne.
The acting is terrific, with some really neat character actors: Virginia Brissac, Erwin Kaiser, Henry Daniel, and Mantan Moreland.
Though in a stereotyped role, Moreland shows his talent as he does in the Charlie Chan films, this time even going into a dance.Recommended..
Economical B movie that has a snappy pace and some terrific lines.
Among the best "The stork that brought you should have been arrested for dope peddling!" Lloyd Nolan is perfect in the lead, attractive but believably an everyday guy that you'd run into as a private detective.
Always a reliable supporting player whether cast as a heavy or a hero he gets a chance to hold down the star spot in this.
One of the great things about the old lower budget films was the opportunities it presented for the quality secondary actors in A level productions to play parts with a bit more variety.
William Demarest and Henry Daniell play their stock characters but as always extremely well and add zing to the picture.
Something that probably came and went without much fanfare at its release this is a snappy little pic that will please most viewers..
One of the best B-movies ever!.
Watching this and other Mike Shane entries in this series is truly a treat.
Lloyd Nolan is a glib, fast-talking, somewhat arrogant Mike Shane but these traits only add to the character.
This one was filmed on a set--unlike some of the others--and the viewer doesn't get a time-travel perspective of the way things looked in 1941.
Even so, this little film is well worth watching and owning.
Black cast members are given roles of ghost-fearing janitors and one--Mantan Moreland--has his name misspelled in the credits.
Oh, if you like double-breasted suits, this film is for you.
Shane and other male members of the cast wear them in every scene..
"Dressed To Kill" was an excellent murder mystery and the third entry in the Michael Shayne detective series of the 40's.
It is the first one I've seen and I enjoyed the way Lloyd Nolan fit the title character like an old shoe.
It had a great supporting cast and a story to match, unlike many B murder mysteries of this era which are often formulaic and predictable.This one took considerable thought, and both the denouement and deus ex machina are pretty clever.
Shane/Nolan has to solve a double murder in which the victims are killed at a dinner table with two different guns, and along the way we get to meet some very interesting characters, played by some very interesting character actors.
It creates a cheerfully amiable atmosphere, despite the grumpy Chief Inspector, played by William Demarest in his customary bombastic style.
Also on hand is Henry Daniell as a theatrical snob, and Mary Beth Hughes, maybe the prettiest B picture girl who never made the jump to more important pictures.I thoroughly enjoyed it and I think I will buy the Shayne collection selling on Amazon.
Always appreciate good, solid movie-making and "Dressed To Kill" is a sterling example.
An excellent leading man (Nolan) and good production values make for a fun detective comedy..
Dressed to Kill (1941)There are several movies by this name, and this is one of the lesser of them, a comic detective yarn with an improbable murder and some fun settings.
Key to its success--because it isn't half bad--is the leading man, Lloyd Nolan, who has an ease and likability that makes his scenes fun to watch.
And he's in every minute of the movie.This is one of a series of Michael Shayne movies (that's the detective's name), and the first seven of the thirteen movie versions star Nolan.
These aren't like the great detective movies of the 30s and 40s, and not a bit like the noirs of the 40s and 50s, just to be clear.One of the surprising high points is the script--very witty, and unrelentingly clever.
NiceExpect very good production values, a decent supporting cast, and a kind of over-convoluted Agatha Christie kind of plot with lots of characters that are really hard to get to know in just over an hour.
In the big picture these are a little like the Sherlock Holmes or the Mr. Wong movies with Boris Karloff.
Fun, but no great shakes..
Detective Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) and his girlfriend Joanne (Mary Beth Hughes) are on their way to be married when a scream from a nearby hotel room draws his attention to a pair of theatrical murders.This was the fourth in a series of Michael Shayne detective films.
The first seven were made by 20th Century Fox and starred Lloyd Nolan.
The final five were made by Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC) and starred Hugh Beaumont.
There were also three radio shows (1944–1953) and a television series (1960–1961) based on the Michael Shayne character.Interesting racial stereotypes, with Otto Han as a Japanese servant with poor English skills and the humorous Mantan Moreland (who was in "King of the Zombies" this same year)..
An all around rat gets killed.
In this entry in the Michael Shayne series at 20th Century Fox Lloyd Nolan is about to be married to Mary Beth Hughes.
The plan is to go to Niagara Falls just as soon as he can dig up a proper suit to be married in for the wedding pictures at City Hall.But Nolan and Hughes stumble into a murder of a theatrical producer and his leading lady at the next door theater where the producer had a private entrance to his suite at the hotel and a few other hideaways and by ways.
The man led quite a busy life with the ladies.In fact the whole thing revolves around a show he produced 25 years earlier and a performer whose wife he stole at the time.
But being that the victim was an all around rat there are no shortage of suspects.Nolan makes a deal with one of the newspapers for an exclusive if he beats the cops to the solution.
Not that it is all that hard because William Demarest the chief inspector is from the Keystone Academy of Police.
Stuff that private detectives like Sam Spade, Philip Marlowe or even Jim Rockford avoid doing or at least get caught at doing Shayne does with abandon.Other than the fact that the perpetrator commits a third murder of a witness you do feel kind of sorry for him.
Nolan fits the role better than the glove fit OJ..
"I'm a private investigator -- reasonable rates, service guaranteed.".
The third Michael Shayne film Lloyd Nolan made for Fox. This one has hard-boiled detective Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) set to marry his sweetheart (Mary Beth Hughes) but a double homicide in a theatre draws his attention away.
Nolan is great in this role.
He was made for delivering the snappy dialogue that was the best part of the Michael Shayne films.
Mary Beth Hughes is very cute but doesn't get much to do here.
She appeared in two other Shayne movies, playing a different character in each one.
Nice supporting cast includes William Demarest, Henry Daniell, and pretty Sheila Ryan.
Demarest is especially fun.
Mantan Moreland and Ben Carter also provide some comic relief.
It's a good B detective picture helped by healthy doses of comedy.
I also liked the moments of weirdness such as when Shayne first discovers the murder victims in their bizarre costumes.
It's a good way to pass the time if you like detective stories..
Despite some notable features, this programmer fails to rise above standard detective shows of the time.
Nonetheless, the opening scene is a hoot, as a double-breasted Shayne (Nolan) gets harassed by an aggressive clothing salesman.
In fact, Nolan's the best thing about the film.
I'm just sorry we don't see more of Mary Beth Hughes whose brassy personality is a perfect foil for her meandering fiancée, Shayne.
Then there're two exotics from the period—creepy Milton Parsons (Max) in a beard no less, plus snooty Henry Daniell (Julian) getting sympathetic treatment for a change.That initial murder scene remains a grabber.
The dog's head plopped onto one of the corpses is like nothing I've seen and shows real imagination.
The trouble, for me at least, is that the whodunit part never really gels, despite clever touches with the murder weapon.
At the same time, the pacing is uneven, better suited at times to character study than to plot.
There's also the standard dumb cop humor, plus Mantan Moreland doing his familiar bug-eyed comedic bit.All in all, it's an unexceptional entry, mainly for fans of Nolan, myself included..
How odd for a murder mystery to be "fun"....
This is a fast-paced comedy/mystery starring Lloyd Nolan as Private Eye Michael Shayne, attempting to solve a double-murder.
Nolan seems to figure everything out before the bewildered police inspector, played by William Demarest.
The banter between Nolan and Demarest is great.
Mary Beth Hughes appears in a subplot as Shayne's fiancée, but their wedding plans keep getting interrupted by Shayne's pursuit of the killer (whose identity did surprise me).
Milton Parsons has a juicy part, and Henry Daniell shows a flare for slapstick.
Mantan Moreland is hysterical, and I do hope that he laughed all the way to the bank given the roles he was given during his career.
Don't think too hard about this one, and you'll have a good time.I have to admit, though, that just once, it would be interesting if the dumb police inspector actually turned out to be the killer.
An Absolute Must for Lloyd Nolan's Legion of Fans.
If ever a "B" could be said to have a surfeit of production values that movie is Dressed To Kill, the third in the seven-picture Fox series (that was then taken over for a further five films by Producers Releasing Corp).
Just look at that cast!
It's so richly extensive in name players that some of the top-billed people like Sheila Ryan are in and out before you can blink an eye.
Mary Beth Hughes' fans are not well served either as she has an unsympathetic role (which she plays well).
On the other hand, Mr Nolan exerts his fulsome presence in almost every scene and does his level best to squeeze the other players out of the action.
Fortunately, it's mighty hard to steal scenes from a master of slapstick like William Demarest (the bit in which he falls into the orchestra pit is a hoot!) and director Eugene Forde is also on hand to see that actors like Henry Daniell get a fair shake.
Forde even slows down his admirably fast pacing on occasions to allow his players time to breathe.
Mystery fans will be pleased to note that the identity of the killer is very cleverly (but not unfairly) concealed.
Beautiful camera-work and great sets add to the movie's appeal.
In short, a most entertaining "B" that will appeal to everyone who can at least tolerate Lloyd Nolan..
"I guess after being murdered he was too tired to go to bed!".
"Dressed To Kill" is, in my opinion, the least interesting of the first three Michael Shayne movies.
The mystery is not bad, but it's not that gripping either, and it has no character depth, unlike the previous entry, "Sleeper's West".
The most telling example of that difference can be found in the return of Mary Beth Hughes, who was a three-dimensional woman in "Sleeper's West", but here she plays an entirely different character - the nagging soon-to-be Shayne's wife.
Third-billed Sheila Ryan has precisely two (2) scenes in the film.
The character whom Shayne has the most natural chemistry with is the frustrated police inspector played by William Demarest.
One of their best exchanges goes like this: "You saved my life!" - "Think nothing of it.
Lloyd Nolan as Private Investigator Shayne cracks a murder case in the building where his bride-to-be.
He gave comic flair in this who-did-it film.Henry Daniel, a usual heavy in films, is comparatively light as the major suspect, who may have defrauded the victim while carrying on with the latter's wife.
Both the wife and Danielle's parts are greatly understated.William Demarest is effective as the head police officer, often victimized in the film, especially by the real killer.The movie just proves that even a man can seek revenge even after 26 passing years.
The killer is as devious as they come.As far as the planned marriage goes, you can forget it.
We have an assortment of suspects here and most are even comical when you think about it..
Killed on the spot.
***SPOILERS*** Just when private detective Michael Shayne, new suit and all, was about take his long suffering girlfriend night club singer Joanna La Marr down to city hall to tie the knot things really started jumping.
That's when he hears a scream upstairs from his hotel room at the Du Nord and gets himself involved in a double murder of both Broadway producer Louis Lathrop and his lead singer Desiree Vance.
Putting the wedding off Shayne soon starts to poke his nose into the crime to the distaste of the man in charge of the murders Inspector Pierson who feels, rightfully so, he's messing up the evidence at the crime scene.Shayne not at all disturbed in what Inspector Pierson feels about him soon uncovers evidence that the two were involved in a reunion of their 1915 hit play "Sweethearts of Paris" who's star in the play Carlo Ralph played the leading role of "Beppo the Dog".
Shayne indistinctly feels that somehow Ralph, he doesn't really say why, somehow had something to do with both Lathrop and Vance's murders in finding a dog custom, as a calling card, over Lathrop's dead body.
The problem is that Ralph supposedly died in German captivity during WWI back in 1916 some 25 years ago.****SPOILERS Shayne uses all his skills and talents to track down Lathrop and Vance's killer and in the process has the hotel maid Emily found dead in her room from poison that she supposedly took.
In a suicide letter Emily states that not only is she former actress Lynne Evens but that she murdered both Lathrop and his lover Desiree Vance for cheating on her.
As Shayne soon found out this was all a BS story on the real murderers part who in fact turned out to be the supposed long dead Ralph coming back from the dead or so everyone thought.
That's to get his revenge for being chested out of his salary in his leading part as "Beppo the Dog" in the play by Lathop while in German custody.
As for Shayne his involvement in the case got his soon to be fiancée Joanne La Marr so mad that she dropped him and went back to her first love Bruce who at least unlike Shayne put her first before anything else! |
tt0119925 | The Postman | Despite the post-apocalyptic scenario and several action sequences, the book is largely about civilization and symbols. Each of the three sections deals with a different symbol.
The first is the Postman himself, Gordon Krantz, who takes the uniform solely for warmth after he loses everything but his sleeping clothes. He wanders without establishing himself anywhere and performs scenes from William Shakespeare plays for supplies. Originally a student at the University of Minnesota, he has traveled west to Oregon in the aftermath of the worldwide chaos that resulted from several EMPs, the destruction of major cities, and the release of bioweapons. Taking shelter in a long-abandoned postal van, he finds a sack of mail and takes it to a nearby community to barter for food and shelter. His initial assertions to be a real postman build not because of a deliberate fraud (at least initially) but because people are desperate to believe in him and the Restored United States.
Later, in the second section, he encounters a community, Corvallis, Oregon, which is led by Cyclops, who is apparently a sentient artificial intelligence created at Oregon State University which miraculously survived the cataclysm. In reality, however, the machine ceased functioning during a battle, and a group of scientists maintain the pretense of its working to try to keep hope, order, and knowledge alive.
Eventually, in the third section, as the Postman joins forces with Cyclops's scientists in a war against an influx of "hypersurvivalist militia", the Postman begins to find that the hypersurvivalists are being pressed from Oregon's Rogue River area to the south as well. The hypersurvivalists are more commonly referred to as Holnists, after their founder, Nathan Holn (many times through the book, curses are uttered that damn Holn for his actions). Nathan Holn was an author who championed a virulently violent, misogynistic, and hypersurvivalist society. Holn himself is said to have been executed sometime before the events in the novel, but in the time following what should have been a brief period of civil disorder, Holn's followers prevented the United States from recovering from the war and the plagues that followed.
As the story comes to a climax, the Postman allies with a tough tribal group made up of descendents of ranchers, loggers and Native Americans from Southwestern Oregon's Umpqua Valley region who are led by a Native American who is a special forces veteran. The Umpqua people have developed a warrior culture very similar to Native Americans of the Old West and are bitter enemies of the Holnists; they have defeated the Holnists at every turn but until the Postman's arrival, they were not inclined to help the "weak" townsfolk of the Willamette Valley against the Holnists. At the end of the novel the Postman discovers the Holnists have another organized enemy to the South. The Holnists' southern enemy is a bit of a mystery, and the Postman is able to identify this Holnist enemy only by the symbol they rally behind: the Bear Flag. The final scenes of the novel give the impression that the groups (symbols) may come together in an effort to revive civilization.
Another message of the plot deals with the backstory of the post-apocalyptic world: specifically, that it was not the electronics-destroying EMPs, the destruction of major cities, or the release of various bio-engineered plagues that actually destroyed society, but rather it was the Holnists themselves, who preyed on humanitarian workers and other symbols of civilization. | boring, murder, cult, violence, humor, alternate history | train | wikipedia | When released in 1997 this breathtaking, thought-provoking epic was largely ignored and limped to a box office gross of $14 million, thanks to some vicious reviews.Lest we forget, Costner made the magnificent Dances With Wolves, but that was in the days when we were told it was okay to like him.
Like Michael Cimino, his efforts are belittled and mocked while directors with clearly less talent are applauded.So to all those people who stayed away in droves and screw their faces up at the mention of this film, I say watch it before you criticise it.
This was a GOOD movie: it had a strong and intelligent story; excellent and interesting characters; and real feel for the post-Apocalypse genre.
I felt that Kevin Costner's everyman act worked beautifully in this film and created a sense of reality for the character and of his situation.
"The Postman" is a good solid film about the end of the world and the chaos and confusion that follows with the unwitting soul that destiny choose to bring those who survived the apocalypse back to a better life and promising future.
With the cast of Kevin Costner on down giving the film the sort of believability that you just don't see in most of the "End of he World" movies that have been projected on the silver screen since "Things to Come" back in 1936."The Postman" unlike most "End of the world" movies carries through the entire movie, which is almost three hours long, a positive and uplifting theme that you rarely get to see in these type of films.
The ending of the film, call it corny it you will, was really moving without being obnoxious like it could have been had it been made by a lesser talent then Kevin Costner..
I know it is three hours long (I got refills on both the popcorn and super-size soda and still ran out), but I didn't find it as unbearable as those less-than-perfect-movie-critics have claimed.
Bottom line...if you want to do something nice for your postman, tell them you are going to go see the film in their honor...because like their motto says...not rain, nor shine, nor sleet, nor nothing...not even the lack of being a country will stop the mail from getting through..
"The Postman" is one of those films that has become almost synonymous with the concept of "lousy, awful, horrible, terrible, stinking mess of a movie." Like "Plan 9 from Outer Space," "Ishtar," or "Gigli," it is sometimes invoked in this manner on Internet message boards or in chatter between friends.
Costner squandered his mega-star status with a series of expensive yet mediocre duds such as this one, and in the end "The Postman's" crime is not that it is a truly terrible movie, but that it is simply a not-great movie that deflated the public's hopes and expectations of what Kevin Costner film should be.
The worst aspect of this movie is its occasional pomposity and self-importance, derived from Costner's own enormous mid-90s ego, and it is easy to laugh at the final scene or various dramatic sequences with swirling symphonic music and glistening slo-mo shots.
But if you can get beyond this and look at the movie as just a somewhat entertaining way to pass a few hours, it really isn't that bad, especially if you are a fan of the "dark future" genre of films.
Will Patton in particular provides a good, convincing performance, as do a number of other minor characters.And the world of "The Postman" -- a decayed, post-apocalyptic, decentralizedAmerica where the federal government has collapsed -- is interesting in its own right.
Remember, this film was borne of the early/mid 1990s, a time that gave us Timothy McVeigh, anti-government sentiment, Waco, and fear about "militias." There was a sense in the air that America could possibly disintegrate and fragment into local areas battling each other in the long run.
This film is a must-see for thinking people...for all you brainless slaves of the critics...stay home and watch Titanick(Hurl!) for the tenth time..
I've enjoyed a few of Kevin Costner's movies over the years and respect the many talents he has as an actor, writer, producer and director.
The concept is great, the scenery pretty good (though not particularly outstanding), and it starts off pretty well, but the music is pompous and grating in the extreme, the acting ludicrous, the continuity of the story lumbering, the dialogue pathetic (I have never heard one single word repeated so many times as 'postman' in this flick) and the ending made me want to retch.
It's hard to say which was worse, this or ''Waterworld,'' but I'd have to go with ''The Postman.'' The scene at the end where the man looks at the statue and cries, ''That was me,'' is among the most laughable in movie history.
''Ride, Postman, Ride!'' As for the comment earlier that ''we were told'' not to like Kevin Costner's direction anymore, hard to believe.
By reading the description of the film my wife thought this movie must be nice, so we agreed to give it a try.
Surprisingly Bad. The film looks like a very long US Postal Office advertisement.
Kevin Costner had the dubious distinction of producing the worst film of all time in "Waterworld", but the little scoundrel actually outdid himself with this one.
I suppose one could say that parts of this film aren't as bad as parts of "Waterworld," but that obviously doesn't pay it any compliments.Actually, this film reminds me a lot of the old Italian post-apocalyptic thriller "The New Barbarians" (I Nuovi barbari,(1982)) - except that it's nowhere near as fun.The two films share much the same plot.
But it is fast paced, completely unpretentious, unabashedly ridiculous - a real hoot.The acting in "The Postman" is just as bad as that in the Italian film, but the dialog is far worse without being any funnier, the characters much less interesting.
And just like waterworld he failed.If you like to see a good movie about a lonesome guy wandering in a post apocalyptic desert, go see 'Mad Max the Road Warrior'.Okay, in this one Kevin comes up with a more original story than Waterworld (the story of Waterworld was just stolen from the "Road Warrior").On the other hand, waterworld was still enjoyable as a simple action-adventure movie.
'The postman' however is just boring and pretentious.Kevin Costner may try as hard as he can, he will never be the mean guy and hero-against-his-will-type like Mel-'Mad Max'-Gibson was.The postman is a three hour-long torture of stupid dialogues, bombastic symbolism and self-glorification.I even feel pity for Tom Petty.
Somebody said "I'd like to make a movie based on the idea of how the US Postal Service is a good idea, it just needs restructuring." Unfortunately, rather than give it to the "TV Movie of the Week" people, they gave it to Kevin Costner."I want this movie to have people in the aisles, screaming GOD BLESS AMERICA", he must have said.
I have to say up front I'm not a big fan of Kevin Costner to begin with so I only picked up the movie because I couldn't find what I was really wanting from the library the other day.
What he *did* eventually make was a three hours overlong (no mistake here), boring, choppy, silly, naive ridiculous soap opera that - this time deservingly - got more trashing than all his previous movies combined.
I still can't see why "Water World" or "Robin Hood" took such beatings in America - they're very popular and liked in Europe, and besides, they're good movies.
But "The Postman" is one of the worst movies ever made, making Ed Wood's work seem like The True Art. It deserves all the bad opinions it gets.
The storyline is horrid; the movie is very, very long (I had to take breaks!) and the acting is at best mediocre.The story has Kevin Costner as the heroic postman, saving the day when restoring the postal system.
When watching the postman my mood changed from at first outrage: "How could anyone make such complete nonsense" to laughter in the end when it became apparent that some stupid Americans would watch this and think what a great country USA is.Costner started out directing with style in Dances with wolves, scraped the bottom with the expensive waterworld and then wrote himself into history with the Postman.
In a post-apocalyptic America, a vagabond (Kevin Costner) finds a dead postal carrier and takes his uniform and bag of letters and manages to con a meal and a place to sleep from a walled town with a letter addressed to one of the town's residents.
This action sets off a chain of events that culminate with The Postman becoming a reluctant hero and helping the townspeople stand up to a heavily armed and organized KKK led by the self-styled "General" Bethlehem.This is a terrible movie and has an interesting twist on the post-apocalyptic frontier America type of sci-fi but Kevin Costner shouldn't have starred in it.
If Kevin Costner can get rich producing drivel like this movie, we all can.
By buying this atrocity on DVD you are telling him "Please, Kevin keep pooping on reels of film" I had always wondered what a mind f**k would be like and now I know, it's the fact that people with your intelligence have lived this long.
Besides the weak story (which vaguely resembles the so-so novel), poor editing, and bad casting (Will Patton!!!???), this film suffers from and reveals a major flaw: Kevin Costner is not a good enough actor to carry a film.
Not that there's anything wrong with long movies, if length is required by plot and material; but Costner has confused over-long with epic (does the bloated story really merit its treatment?
I used to like Kevin Costner, but after seeing such films as Waterworld, No Way Out, and now this, my opinion of his acting skills is much lower.
About the only expressions Costner makes in this film are to smile and to stare at something.If you are looking to watch a good adventure movie, watch the Lord Of The Rings trilogy or Dances with Wolves etc., but whatever you do, DO NOT WATCH THIS Film!.
It was a long movie, which is a point against it with the popular audience from the start , but can work if you have a lot of story to tell.
Now she doesn't want to watch movies with me anymore, since I made her suffer through "The Postman".I knew that the movie had received bad reviews, but I wanted to form my own opinion anyway (sometime this fall, I'll probably even rent "Spice World").
It was wonderfully acted and it was a really good story.I don't understand why all the reviews made it out to be a terrible movie and it was voted one of the worst movies of all time.
I guess the cinematagrpahy was good, and you can laugh at the plot and dialog, but at 3 hours you can only laugh so long before you turn it off.Its funny, I never really felt the patriotism people mention when they review this film (even if a reviewer is for or against the film), so those that say this makes them feel patriotic, I have no idea what the hell your talking about, I think you just must be a moron from Texas or something to feel all "god bless America" about this stupid boring, bad movie."President Starky"?
Despite it's length (3 hours) i was charmed the whole time.This movie is original and has all the great ingredients of a great epic.It's also interesting to see how the Postman transforms when incidents thrust him to hero status - how can he live up to what people believe him to be ?
I want to buy it on video, but I can't find it for sale in any store (and I don't shop on-line).Of course, as a rule, if I read a bad review in the newspaper, I know I'll like the movie - I haven't figured out where these people come from, or if they even saw the same movie I did!
Thing is, I'm fairly masochistic when it comes to watching bad movies, I love cheesy post-apocalyptic flicks like Mad Max, Hardware, Tank-girl, Steel Dawn, Waterworld (yes!
It seems this is a movie you either love or hate, so my recommendation would be to watch it and make up your own mind.Still, it really is a tedious and utterly boring yawn of a film..
Even I was getting a little tired of Kevin Costner after "Waterworld", but "The Postman" was a great movie!
If memory serves, the cause of the apocalypse is not made clear, it is not important, but whatever the event was, the impact of it was worsened with severe droughts and food shortage.The baddies are the Holnists (named after their dead founder Nathan Holn) - an army led by Will Patton's excellently played character, General Bethlehem, a terrifyingly cruel man that has no mercy and was never in the army before the apocalypse (look out for the reveal of his job before the apocalypse is one of many lighthearted moments in the film).The goodies are led by Kevin Costner's never-named accidental hero, a self appointed postman, "The Postman".One of my favourite films.
It does get a little sentimental at times but most of Costner's movies do.
I don't know what Costner's deal is with making long movies.
After escaping an army and pretending to be a postman, Kevin Costner sets out to rebuild America.The only bad thing I can say about this film is that some of the actors were really poor.
Certain plot holes exist if you pay attention (I noticed for example that everyone knows the president is in Minneapolis, although the only time Costner said this was in private to the enemy) but the overall premise of rebuilding through the use of communication is somewhat realistic and a very intriguing idea if nothing else.The woman playing Abby was great, maybe even greater than she was in "Rushmore" (though that film reigns supreme).
OK, there may be a little bad acting from secondary characters yet it is hidden in the midst of a lot of Good acting and some people may think fifteen year-old letters delivered by this postman cannot be that mighty in doing all this change that the story expresses but I may have a little bit of a difference in opinion cause I believe that hope can be born with the slightest you do to create it as long as the person in who's heart this hope is born is willing to have such hope.Now in a world where everything of value is fading away, people would be willing for the slightest ray of hope, now the fifteen years old letters viewers of the movie criticized as being an overstatement of a power giver is actually considered by myself a great ray of hope.To make this short all I would want to say is, if you wanna watch a great movie called the postman, Then watch one that stars Kevin Costner and Olivia Williams cause if this movie isn't that perfect then at least all I know is it sends the viewer two important messages which are it is never too late to change everything that is wrong around him and it is a human's belief that he is weaker than another is what makes him actually weak........
Perhaps this is because I have always loved Kevin Costner's style of making movies.
To see the character grow into his role as the leader of a movement, even down to taking extraordinary risks to protect them from danger, was inspirational and moving.I know the movie didn't receive great reviews when it came out, and neither did Costner's Waterworld.
Instead Costner has created a sort of wild west world that is fresh and interesting to watch.So if you like PA movies, don't miss this one!Ps. This film reminded me very much of a brilliant post-apocalyptic book that everyone who loves this genre MUST read : Lucifers Hammer..
Costner came through again with another great movie, making this film the "Dances With Wolves" of science fiction films.
Another post-apocalypse film, this time with Kevin Costner starring as a drifter turned hero..
As The Postman, Kevin Costner brings hope, faith, and joy to the people he delivers the mail to.
Continuing my plan to watch every Kevin Costner movie in order, I come to The Postman from 1997.Plot In A Paragraph: Whilst living in post-apocalyptic America, a nameless drifter (KC) dons a postman's uniform, and armed with a bag of mail sets out to con his way into various communities, for free food and shelter.
The knives were well and truly out for this film and its star Kevin Costner.
This film could have been much shorter, because it's basically just a story of a good guy who stands up against a bad guy in a post-apocalyptic setting.
And, I suppose, a story about how one person at the right time and place can inspire change that affects thousands or even millions of others.I've heard critics say that the movie plays as cheesy or maybe that it plays to Costner's ego or something.
I suppose the problem is that it came out after Waterworld, and that movie was so bad nobody want to risk money on another Costner post-apocalypse movie.
The movie's general insight into men's (and women's) conflicting motivations is quite good.I found the first 2 hours spotless and exhilarating, even if the insemination scene ruled out the possibility of my kids watching the whole film.
So, the postman movement was over-emphasized (although Ford Lincoln Mercury was great) and the postman himself was too ambivalent about it.I think of this as one of Costner's concept movies, like Field of Dreams and Dances with Wolves. |
tt5511512 | Trial & Error | Charlie Tuttle (Jeff Daniels) is a partner in a successful law firm, Whitfield and Morris. His boss and future father-in-law sends him to Paradise Bluff, Nevada, to request a continuance in a mail-fraud case involving a distant relative who is believed to be guilty, and is very likely to be adjudged guilty. But the timing of the trip conflicts with Charlie's bachelor party. After Charlie drives from California to Paradise Bluff, he is unexpectedly greeted by his best man, actor Richard Rjetti, (Michael Richards) who is determined to show his friend a great time prior to his wedding.
During the celebration, Charlie is knocked out in a barfight, and is later prescribed painkillers for the resulting pain. The next day — the day of the court appearance — Richard checks on his friend and finds Charlie has taken all of the pills in the bottle. Charlie winds up in no shape to appear in court that day, as legal counsel for con-artist Benny Gibbs (Rip Torn), so Richard impersonates Charlie. When the case unexpectedly goes to trial, Richard and Charlie must continue the charade, or they both will go to prison for perpetrating and conspiring to perpetrate a fraud upon the court.
Charlie coaches Richard as to the use of the rules of evidence, masquerading as Richard's "assistant", surreptitiously using flash cards to tell Richard which basis for objection to use. Charlie eventually loses it and screams at the judge, (Austin Pendleton) trying to overrule Charlie, when Richard disobeys Charlie and takes the "defense" in a broader direction, and Charlie is banned from reentering the courthouse. Later, Richard and Charlie devise a communication system involving a baby monitor and morse-code sounding of Charlie's vehicle's horn, heard through an open window, to instruct Richard as to which type of objection to use.
Meanwhile, Charlie meets and falls in love with an attractive waitress Billie Tyler (Charlize Theron) who causes Charlie to rethink his impending wedding to his shrill, self-absorbed fiancée, Tiffany (Alexandra Wentworth). Richard becomes involved with the prosecutor, Elizabeth (Jessica Steen) against whom he ultimately finds due process for "his" client. | murder | train | wikipedia | I usually don't enjoy comedy sitcoms, as they are rarely funny and often boring, cliché with second hand humor.
I watched this only because John Lithgow.
I love his work and I think he is delightfully funny.
Trial & Error: Quirky, Fun, Twisty-Turny, and Absolutely Freakin' Hilarious!.
I think "Trial & Error" definitely deserves a second season.
She'll bring a whole new dynamic I think.I watched the whole first season in one day because I was so hooked.
I was sooo very wrong because it's such a fun and smart comedy.
It reminds me of "The Office" and of "Parks and Recreation." I so love these mockumentary style shows.
With mentioning these, I do want to say that "Trial & Error" is different from these two in that it's a lot more about the people and their quirks than it is about a workplace.Another thing that sets this show apart is the many plot twists and shocking moments, which to me feels very innovative; this is not just a sitcom, it's a serialized comedy.
Another unique factor is that there are some touches of dark comedy and absurdist humor that really give this show its own identity, which I absolutely adore.So brilliantly cast because the cast does a very good job at delivering funny and heartfelt performances.
Considering the executive producer wishes to make 7 seasons of this show, and I'm totally up for watching them all if they stay this much fun, remain this witty, and uphold this quality.Oh, and, just for the record: Anne is my favorite!
Ugh. Just love her!If you haven't been watching this show you're totally missing out on something so funny, smart, and refreshing.
Like a lot of people, I'm a big fan of John Lithgow, who is a very versatile actor.
The writers make use of a lot of devices to get the humor across, including some quick-hitting sight gags you need to watch for or you'll miss them.
(As an example, check out the slogan for the health club in one of the episodes as the trial begins.)Jayma Mays is a bundle of sexual tension in her role as the ambitious DA and is nearly as funny as Lithgow's character.
Overall, the cast is wonderful and seems to be having a lot of fun with the show.I will say that I don't know if this is a show that has a lot of staying power, though, because it's hard to see where it can go after this first season.
Still, it's a very funny half-hour that really is a lot different from most of what's on right now.
I liked the characters right off the bat, I laugh out loud at every episodes, multiple times.
It's just a good, light, fun show to help you relax and forget about all the sh*t that's happening in the world right now.
I watch it and always mutter that "this show is REALLY WRONG on so many levels (even say "f***ed up often)" but in a good way.
Absolutely one of the best comedies in years!
Best new comedy in a very long time!.
If you love slapstick characters, fast paced smart writing with endless humor, surprising emotional twists with a murder mystery still being the focus point of this show for the season as a who done it, then Trial & Error is for you.
This show is so ridiculous & is only going to get better & better as the season progresses, think of it as if Law & Order had a love child with Parks & Rec.
I do believe you have to have some black humor and be entertained by backwoods-inbred-stupidity to like it as much as we do, but it is now one of our favorites.
I mean, the show has John Lithgow, it has to be good, right?.
Great mix of characters, quirky, funny show....
I have loved Lithgow since 3rd Rock From the Sun, back in the day.
This show is especially funny if you are southern and familiar with certain southern traits such as our dislike of strong displays of painful emotion ("I've never seen my wife so upset!" Camera zoom on wife showing no emotion whatsoever).
Sherry Shepherd is particularly good in her role as a woman who suffers strange ailments for every circumstance.
It's full of quirky nonsense and it makes you laugh all the time.
This show is hilarious, I laughed out loud about 10 times an episode.
Each character is funny and unique in there own way.
I would highly recommend this show to anyone who likes a good laugh..
A young New York lawyer (Nicholas D'Agosta as Josh Segal) is sent down to handle the preliminaries in Larry's trial.
His two assistants--chosen from local talent--are dedicated to the cause, but fairly useless.The conceit of this comedy is that the viewer is watching documentary footage.
Other comic underpinnings are the fish out of water nature of Josh coping with Southern customs and prejudices, the dumb redneck, the secretary who suffers from a plethora of psychological syndromes, and the wackiness of Larry (John Lithgow).
This show has everything you could want in a show.Also watch the season one at least 3 times new jokes everytime you watch it.As to season 2 the fun keeps coming yeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Smart, Unique, Laugh-Until-You-Cry Comedy.
We have to pause each episode multiple times because we're laughing so hard we can't hear what happens next.
Its a lot like modern family in style, and diversity of humor.
A documentary film crew follows inexperienced New York lawyer Josh Segal (Nicholas D'Agosto) defending Larry Henderson (John Lithgow) accused of killing his wife Margaret.
The second season has Josh moving permanently to East Peck and town founding family member Lavinia Peck-Foster (Kristin Chenoweth) as his new client.This is a quirky faux-doc legal comedy of quirky characters.
I would have liked to have one or two more seasons..
i binge watched each of the season.
I caught this show in its first season and fell in love with it.
It is outrageously funny with some of the weirdest characters you'll find in a TV show.
My favorite characters are the two that work for the main character (Josh, a defense lawyer): Ann (played by Sherri Shepherd) and Dwayne (hysterically portrayed by Steven Boyer).
If you enjoy comedies like "Airplane","Blazing Saddles", and other movies of that type, I think you just might really enjoy "Trial & Error" (more error than trial in this show).
This show is so good, and just so funny.
Such a smart idea to have a new client every season, so many places the writing could go..
I really looked forward to a new comedy starring John Lithgow.
Some writers can make any subject hilarious, but too many of them write jokes in the way which remind me of what I used to think was funny when I was 10 years old.
At least John Lithgow has a way of making even stupid jokes seem innocent and funny.
John Lithgow should have passed on this series regardless of what they are paying him.
After just watching the pilot episode and a second episode we understand that the premise of this series is that a slightly quirky Larry Henderson (John Lithgow) does not seem to be too worried that he is the prime suspect after his wife was apparently murdered and he seems to be more upset that the cable guy is late for his appointment.So Larry Henderson is being represented by a crack pot team consisting of junior lawyer Josh Segal (Nicholas D'Agosto) who is referred to as a good lawyer because he is a north easterner (another name for someone with a heritage that rhymes with "new").
Now this dynamic du(d)o is supported by an administrative assistant named Anne Flatch (Sherri Shepherd) who has an endless supply of ridiculous illnesses such as she cannot recognize any face five seconds after she has seen it, she laughs uncontrollably even when there is bad news being relayed, and she faints when she sees a pretty picture.
I assume the writers thought that we would find Anne's idiosyncrasies funny but I barely grimaced, let alone chuckle.Jayma Mays whose last starring TV role was in the 2009 series Glee plays assistant District Attorney Carol Anne Keane who would like nothing more to than win this murder conviction and see Larry Henderson receive a lethal dose of poison, which she states is the most humane way of ridding the world of Larry who is accused of murdering his wife, who surprisingly happened to die in a similar manner as John's first wife.
Oh and as for John's reason for killing his second wife it is claimed he likes to lock lips with his male personal trainer.In summary Trial and Error is a cross between the 1977 comedy series Soap and the 2009 comedy series Modern Family.
Unfortunately the first two episodes were forgettable and I do not give this series much of a chance of being extended as long as either of the aforementioned comedy series Soap or Modern Family.
I just hope John Lithgow's salary was guaranteed for the first 13 episodes which is more than I can say this series is guaranteed to make it through.Sorry John...
Trial and Error has an entertaining premise and great acting.
"Trail and Error" doesn't but it is entertaining and it's always good to see John Lithgow.
Initially I was going in skeptical based, in part, on the DVD cover & summary looking like a cheap TV soap, crime & trial script, but quickly captured by the intelligent facetious spoofing sardonic & definitely irreverent well acted & scripted look at everything from the crime itself to all the characters involved including the community, defendant, judge, jury & lawyers.
This series is really good with truly several laugh out loud moments in each episode..
Apparently the director must have been saying "you're not overacting and making each joke obvious enough, try harder...Lithgow you've never been more over the top, keep mugging.".
Sherri Shepherd, such a delightful casting, as Sherri is very good and I always enjoy watching her.
*John if this doesn't work out - please do something for those fans of yours - we love seeing you!!.
Dear Jeffrey Blitz, Matt Sohn and Jennifer Celotta (directors, producers & writers of the Office), OK you got away with these stupid zoom-ins and zoom-outs in The Office, but did you have to reproduce that annoying effect in this series?I've tried watching 3 episodes and I couldn't get past 10 minutes into each one.Of those 10 minutes, the humor was stale and the actors try too hard.
Sure, John Lithgow is funny, but humor isn't about acting stupid, childish and pathetic, all the makings of this series.
I watched the premiere of the show and I will tell you that I have not received a good laugh like this at least in a few months from NBC this is definitely not for those who don't get comedy and are not looking to laugh at the show but it is a very good time for the required audience and I will be watching this show for awhile at least John Lithgow is a good fun to watch guy who is just trying to clean up the caious that has just entered into his life and prove his innocence of not killing his wife It is quite a bit more than one Senior citizen can handle this is a very bad situation but a funny story and the cast of it is hilarious i say watch it it's on Tuesday at 10.
We had been looking forward to this show because love John Lithgow-Third Planet From the Sun was one of our favorites.
The camera is tryng to be part of the cast.I like quirky, but I hate this.
The show could be fun if it wasn't for the idiot director trying to be clever and insert hm/herself into the cast..
I have been watching all 3 of these new comedies and I will say that this is in-between the two not sure if it's as funny as imaginary Mary but it is sure funnier than making history i love the entire staff and Lithgow is incredibly hard not to like as he is hilarious and heartwarming all on his own but I don't think I can think of a bad thing to say about this show i highly recommend that you watch it.
Lithgow is perfect for 'Trial and Error'.
With the popularity of true crime shows like 'Making of a Murderer' and 'The Jinx', you knew it wouldn't be long before a show came along to spoof them...and this is definitely it!Starring John Lithgow (The Crown) as Larry Henderson, a roller-skating obsessed poetry professor who has been accused of killing his wife by throwing her through a plate-glass window.
Hired for his legal defense is 'northeasterner' Josh Segal (Nick D'Agostino), who is assisted by bumbling ex-cop Dwayne Reed (Steven Boyer) and completely ineffective secretary Anne Flatch (Sherry Shepard).Viewers of the show "Parks and Recreation" might find this show quite similar to that one.
Although there were funny lines from all the characters, is was definitely Lithgow who carried the show with his incredible comedic timing and dead-pan expressions.
Although the first couple of episodes may have been a little too similar to other 'documentary style' sit-coms, 'Trial and Error' has one important thing that those other shows did not...Lithgow.
***MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS OF ENTIRE FIRST SEASON***I love John Lithgow, and just about anything he's acted in.
Of course, there are - because it's a sitcom, not real life - inconsistencies with reality, but I enjoyed it's portrayal of small- town South Carolina, because I met many of those characters.
But still funny.I didn't find anything in Lithgow's character, Larry Henderson, that reminded me of prior TV characters in similar situations.
I love how Lithgow made Larry lovable, considering his affair, his lies, and other outrageous behaviors.
It seems to me that the writers should have put a little more effort into this, and instead of using the ubiquitous mockumentory style that's so overused today, they could have perhaps had Larry narrate his story (as an epic poem, of course, since Henderson was a poet), or had an omniscient narrator, or even - if you want to take the genre of the Investigation Discovery true crime shows further, had Larry's late wife herself narrate the story from a different omniscient perspective.
I wonder what new and strange medical conditions Sherry Shepherd's character will present with?
I'll start off by saying, I've liked John Lithgow as an actor in general, but I always hated his acting in 3rd Rock.
I've never watch a full episode of that show because the overacting turns me off within a few scenes.
I did like his portrayal as Barney's father on How I Met Your Mother, so I watched the first two episodes of this to see how it would be, but with the above "prejudice".
So with that said....Trial & Error, two episodes in, is in all respects, completely unoriginal and derivative.
It's all the same faux-cumentary gags that have been played out in many other good shows - and many more bad ones.
Or if there is, there's no talent or attempt to find it.Another thing that stood out to me was that this feels like a cheep ripoff of Arrested Development, especially in the lead character of Larry Henderson.
It all just felt like second hand clothes - once fresh and crisp, now just worn and limp.Josh Segal, played by Nocholas D'Agosto, sits uncomfortably in the Michael Bluth slot, the one "normal", sane character surrounded by absurdity - just more the fish-out-of-water in that he's an outsider to the small southern town where the story is set.
Another review mentioned My Cousin Vinny, which I hadn't thought of when watching it, but that is a story that does an infinitely better job of using the the character and idiosyncrasies of southern culture to further the story.
Trial & Error just throws in jokes that have been done a thousand times, lazily presuming they're funny when they're just boring.As for John Lithgow, his portrayal of Larry Henderson, the completely inept, situationally incompetent poetry professor accused of murdering his wife, isn't quite as over-the-top, over done, and buffoonish (from my perspective) as 3rd Rock, but it still has that same feel - just reigned in a little.
And I would probably give him more time to develop the character - if the rest of the show wasn't so uninspired.The only other character I enjoyed a bit was the receptionist Anne Flatch, portrayed by the wonderful Sherri Shepherd.
She pulls back a little on her exuberance in her performance here - but in a good way.
here, with their one fresh idea, the writers even managed to screw it up - they introduced four or five of these disorders over the course of two episode to the point that it took an adorable character with a quirk or two to a total basket case.
Shepherd did her part portraying these, the writers kind of blew their load by throwing so many into what should be a brief glimpse into this character, that they just turned her into a nut job.
As far as character development it's just lazy.Which, I guess, leads to a summary: the writers/creators took a good group of actors, a possibly decent premise, but in the end everything else felt lazy, uninspired, and generally ripped off of other, much more creative predecessors.
The pilot is bad news for comedy.It's simply not funny at all.
The actors, the cast, not all too bad either and I see how on paper this could look funny.
I think its the writing.Over the top, simplistic, easy and not very well thought through.Its a comedy, a murder happened, a young lawyer goes to a small hillbilly town and runs into all sorts of characters. |
tt0482424 | Samurai 7 | Samurai 7 tells the story of a village named Kanna. Set in a futuristic world that has just witnessed the end of a massive war, scores of villages are terrorized by Nobuseri bandits. But the Nobuseri are no normal bandits. They were once Samurai, who during the war integrated their living cells with machines to become dangerous weapons now appearing more machine than man. Absolute power corrupts, and their reign of terror is increasing its hold on the countryside.
The elder of Kanna Village has decided that to protect the village they must hire samurai to fight against the bandits. However, the village has no money and thus must find samurai willing to protect the village for a payment of rice. Three members of the village leave to attempt to recruit samurai. They travel to the city and search for samurai willing to work, and after finding several samurai and having a few encounters with the local government, they return to Kanna village to prepare defenses against the bandits.
The samurai train the villagers in the use of bows, building walls, and construct a giant ballista to defend the village against the bandits. After successfully defeating the bandits, the samurai then launch an attack upon the capital to defeat a power-hungry ruler who has recently risen to power as Emperor. After heavy casualties for the samurai, and the near-destruction of Kanna village, the capital is finally defeated. | violence | train | wikipedia | First of all, this high quality anime series comes from the Kurosawa company so it has the blessings of the Kurosawa family for whatever that's worth.At first I was skeptical about the transference of the story to some sort of fantasy future.
While not in league with the strong characters of a "Cowboy Bebop" or other top animes, Samurai 7 has a well thought out and developed crew.
The story is paced for a full series so your memories of the film have to be tempered.
The whole production has the integrity of the Zatoichi film series and other classic samurai dramas.
There are some other anime concessions (beautiful girls, mega destruction) but overall it doesn't hurt the series.Some notes on the US DVD release: The video quality is excellent but the sound and translation are a mixed bag.
With episodes 5 - 8, the Japanese track has the sound effects turned way down, giant crashes sound like small drops, but the English track has the music and sound effects overpowering the vocal track..
Fun and Enjoyable Adaptation of Seven Samurai!.
First of all, this is definitely a high quality anime series that does have the blessings of the Kurosawa family.At first I was unsure about the story being changed into some sort of fantasy future.
This is one good looking anime series.
This is one good looking anime series.
While not in league with the strong characters of other top animes, Samurai 7 has a well thought out and developed cast.
The story is paced for a full series so your memories of the film have to be kind of tempered.
There are some other anime concessions (beautiful girls, mega destruction) but overall it doesn't hurt the series.Some notes on the US DVD release: The video quality is excellent and so is the sound and translation .
A lot of dialog is slightly different or changes the original intent of the Japanese writers.
With some episodes, the Japanese track has the sound effects turned way down but the English track has the music and sound effects overpowering the vocal track.Overall, I believe the series is very enjoyable and fun while not being over the top...9/10.
One of the Best Animated Action Series ever..
I can understand how others can enjoy it, with the quirky characters and bright colors, but for me, it just stands as a mostly un-enjoyable genre.As for this series, Samurai 7, a futuristic recreation of the classic black-and-white masterpiece?
I absolutely loved it.Samurai 7, while taking some generous liberties with the original film (obviously there weren't giant mechs raiding villages back in any 30's film) stands on its own as an engaging story that uses top-notch animation and clever translation/writing to keep itself intriguing.
The CGI for the numerous robots and the hand drawn animation for the rest of the characters all looks great, though I did notice in the later installments of this series that there were points of animation that suddenly looked sub-par.
Don't ask why, my guess is that the better animator got sick or something and they called in a cheap replacement.But what really makes this series stand out, and is also a feature I feel is desperately missing from the majority of the anime genre, is the simple, relatable humanity of the characters.
As with any "team" film or series, which have large ensembles of interacting and different characters, Samurai 7 relies of the simple yet difficult art of human subtlty and foibles to deliver diologue and conflict that is above and beyond most animated features.
Even for the characters that are mechanical (I don't believe its ever explained how the people are put in robotic bodies)you feel a definite attachment and understanding for them, and in the process, you care for them.
There are virtually no over the top anime-staple "weird faces," or whatever they're called by anime fans, where an over-the-top emotion causes the face of a character to become "super-deformed." I find this a welcome breath of fresh air, and its absence truly keeps the idea that these are actual people in the story alive, though some odd character designs do occasionally mar the experience, if only for a few brief, forgettable seconds.As for the action, fear not.
Especially between the hand drawn characters, the fighting couldn't be better, with a beautiful mix of "Kung-Fu" and "Samurai-champloo" esquire combat that truly leaves you breathless.
My one complaint in this aspect of the series is that the giant mech characters, who are each about the size of a building, seem a bit helpless to the small, faster human characters, who dice them up like cheese at a deli over and over again.
Fortunately, as the mech characters are few, this never really bars anything down.While the visual style may irk Seven Samurai purists, and the storyline is greatly molded to fit this post-war, cyber/steam punk universe the plot is set in, open-minded fans of Seven Samurai and its several spin-offs ("Magnificent Seven" anyone?) will find tons to love, as well as anime and animation fans in general who have never seen the film.Dig up this vastly underrated series.
Based on the old samurai film made by Japan's legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, Samurai 7 is probably the first remake ever to be fully approved by the Kurosawa Estate after years of being 'unofficially' spawned into several versions by other international filmmakers.This animated TV series tells the story of a maiden and her friends who seeks for the seven warriors who are willing to protect the rice fields in a faraway village from the bandits (basically, the premise is almost the same as the original, albeit with different arrangements and settings).
Despite the fact that the show's anachronistic nature (humans and robots roam in this industrialized-world of feudal Japan) seems to be ripped off from a Final Fantasy game, it still retains the crucial themes and its dramatic storytelling that make the original Seven Samurai a legend among film buffs.
It's an entirely new realm, everyone may admit, but hey, it's still worth the price of its complete DVD collection.Let's start off with the animation flow: generally, it's really good but no, it's no Miyazaki (and it's not even up to the par with the giants like Cowboy Bebop and Evangelion) but its butt-kicking action scenes are undoubtedly impressive anyway.
If only they were designed as they were on any Gundam shows (and hey, some of the giant mecha samurai DO resemble of Gundams, only stiffer) Characters develop nicely throughout the show, with some valuable info slowly coming out into the light, revealing the main reasons behind the feudalistic atmosphere and yes, there are some hidden pasts behind each of the characters that will augment only the story's thematic plot.There are so many reasons why Samurai 7 is both loved and hated by not only fans of Mr. Kurosawa but also anime buffs as well.
To be honest I had been aware of but avoiding the Samurai 7 series.
I had no inclination to watch a animated remake as I felt its would be the same story but with drawings.
Yes its a remake of 7 Samurai but different setting and story arch.
The art work is brilliant in the beginning of the series but part way through the standards fell.
Kurosawa's masterpiece changed into post-apocalyptic sci-fi anime, hmm.
I just watched the first episode of this take-off on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai on IFC, dubbed into English (and possibly edited in other ways I'm not sure).
At first I wasn't sure what to make of it, and in the first five minutes or so I had no idea what connection, if at all, this had to Kurosawa's original story.
Then as the episode unfolded I could see the relationship to it, if only on a loose basis; large mechanical machines in battle and dominance over people has a farming community panicked, leading to reaching out to find samurai to protect them.
In the first episode there is only minimal swordplay towards the end, as the "one" is discovered, at least one of them I could figure.In order to have more of an appreciation for the show, I think, one has to take it sort of apart of the original film.
Watching this series, I could see this owes a lot more to the dozens of other anime like this, where samurai are cast against the light of a science fiction backdrop (some of the opening animation made me think of Star Wars, also a connection to Kurosawa coincidentally), as technological forces of mass destruction face off against those ultra-skilled with a sword, or maybe more.
The hero of this episode, for example, and who I can imagine has a much greater role in the course of the series, is like the Takashi Shimura character from the Kurosawa film crossed with one of the characters from an ultra-stylized Magma comic book, to give a generic comparison to be sure.I'll keep on watching the series to see how and when the action unfolds, and I'm even intrigued enough to seek out the uncut, Japanese-language version of the DVD.
But make no mistake, this will divide (or just make made) those who place the Kurosawa film in such high regard, as to whether such a work of art can be transposed into a well-made, if not that spectacular on a first go-around, anime show.
Those who are already fans of the animation style anyway may gravitate to it, however when compared to programs like Fist of the North Star and Ninja Scroll it isn't quite the caliber either.
My recommendation- if you have IFC, it's worth a view, but if you are expecting a literal translation from live-action film to animation, look elsewhere..
Samurai 7 is a good show, The plots & characters are decent & original.
CatDog failed to be that good.IFC is really faithful now that there airing anime & DVDs are probably gone dunning it's cancellation.
As a fan of the original movie, i like this very much.
This is an Japanese Animation series made as a remake from the Japanese 50's Seven Samurai.
But the difference is that this is based in the future as the nobuseri (bandits) whom were mechanized samurai before are robbing the villages around the "world".
So one village decides to send a "water maiden" her sister and a peasant Rikichi to find a suitable crew of samurai to beat the bandits.
The movie has great battle scenes (as the battle in the beginning of the first episode where the armies of mechanized samurais fight).
there's about 28 episodes in the series.
I hoped that they would actually continue the series etc.i would give 9/10 for this anime series as it is a good remake from a great movie..
An interesting retelling of the 'Seven Samurai' story.
This series, loosely based on the classic film 'Seven Samurai' is set in a world that resembles feudal Japan but also features futuristic machines.
The farmers of Kanna village are fed up with living on gruel because mechanical bandits keep stealing their precious rice harvest so they decide to engage the services of a group of samurai to help them fight back.
To this end three member of the village; water diviner Kirara; her young sister Komachi and farmer Rikichi head to the nearby city to find samurai.
Kirara also catches the eye of Ukyo; the adoptive son of the city's leader and will need the help of the samurai to get away from him.
Once back at the village they manage to fight off the bandits but their fight is far from over and not all of them will survive.I had been put off this series by trailers featuring lots of 3D mechs battling in space and a rather gloomy DVD box cover but once I started watching it quickly became apparent that this was something special.
The main characters were interesting and emotionally involving; this was particularly true of Katsushiro the young samurai who has yet to see combat and is changed forever when he does; experiencing both excitement and tragedy in battle.
The main character designs look great and they are well animated, the 3D mechanical bandits they fight aren't so good; they stick out too much from the main 2D animation.
Those wanting plenty of action shouldn't be disappointed and those wanting some lighter moments should like it too
some good laughs are provided by Komachi and her new friend, the mechanical samurai, Kikuchiyo.
Ukyo proves to be an interesting antagonist; at times it seems like he might not be bad after all and at others he seems conniving and dangerous.
Overall this series was much better than I expect it and I certainly recommend giving it a go
and if you do don't skip to the next episode when the credits start; after the 'coming next' prologue there is a little section featuring Komachi writing a letter to her friend Okara.These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles..
I'd like to say, I'm a little bit prejudiced about the samurai themed animes because of the Afro Samurai.
Samurai Champloo was the first series proved me I was wrong.
I was reluctant to watch Samurai 7 both being prejudiced about Samurai themed animes and the average point on IMDb. I thought if it couldn't even be over 8, it wouldn't be impressive.
Then I watched the series and it was everything.
Thanks to directors and writers, I watched this kind of a amazing series.
Story, characters (both psychologically and visualization), philosophy and especially last episodes.
I've watched pile of animes so far.
The main characters were dying one by one in a reasonable way.
Great series.
This was an excellent series about the farmer, the farmers life, and the war between the common man and an emperor.
During this series, it was a wonderful look into the politics of how a simple merchant dealer's son became an emperor.
Now in the middle are seven samurai warriors who must stop this new tyrant from up heaving a peaceful village which grows and deals their rice to the emperor for fuel cells to the capital city which flies above the ground.
These fuel cells are then traded with mechanical bandits which are ex samurai turned machine.
Kambei, a samurai of pure instinct and excellence with his sword is called in by a simple water priestess who hires his help to stop the oncoming battle at her village.
With him are Katsushiro, a rogue young samurai who wants to learn how to fight properly and asks Kambei for help, but refuses.
In his so doing, Katsushiro then later understands it is only his unique qualities that make him a samurai to stop the emperor.
Excellent swordsman and spears man, but does not like the fighting.
And for this to happen a water priestess named Kirara, hires Kambei to stop the evil which plagues her village, who is Ukyo a son of a merchant dealer who became an emperor.
And joins forces with the samurai to stop his own son.
All in all this series is an excellent example of how differences and politics can sometimes cause too much power for one to handle.
I recommend this series to those who love to watch the code of the samurai in its fullest extent and clarity..
This series is a reinvisioning of the 1954 Akira Kurosawa film.
The basic story is the same -villagers plagued by rice-thieving ex-Samurai turned bandits hire Samurai from the city to defend their village paying them nothing but rice.
This version takes place in a post-war future that mixes machines with some old-world environs in a beautifully animated ensemble that conducts values of noble Samurai versus the corruption of the merchant class with the peasants caught in between just trying to stay alive with some dignity.The series has a few advantages over the movie in that the extra time it takes to plot out episodes lets you see a more vibrant interaction and development of the characters.
The "steam punk" elements may seem to trounce the realism and action Kurosawa included in his original film, but I believe the updated imagery helps convey Kurosawa's story to 21st century audiences.
'Samurai 7' may or may not be a trend-setter, but its imagery, music, and plot do Kurosawa's story great justice..
This is an intelligent adaption of 'The seven Samurai' as Anime.
Yes, it is a typical Anime with comic elements but beautifully told and crafted excellent from cinematographic point of view.
The story is never boring over all 26 episodes so it keeps you watching until the end.
The character development is excellent and because you have the seven main characters plus some side-kicks, there are enough interesting things which can be told about these characters for 26 episodes.
Each episode, something new is revealed about the characters in a natural way, which fits excellent to the development of the story.
It is the theme of 'The seven Samurai' and the only movie, I know of, which got approval from Kurosawa's family.
There is some small love story but the most impressive parts are epic fights taking place in huge battle scenarios with thousands of robots and huge battle castles - at the climax of the story towards the end.
This is the main element the Samurai fight for.
It is also about oppression from the leaders and their political games between robot Samurai, rice farmers and the land lords.
This is the setting for the story about the farmers, trying to get help from jobless Samurais - after the big wars have ended - to fight against the oppression of the 'Lord of the heaven' and their relation with the salesmen, taking the rice from the farmers with force.
I can highly recommend to watch it and you will see - It's all about the rice. |
tt0040076 | Adventures of Don Juan | Late in the reign of Elizabeth I of England, Spanish noble Don Juan de Maraña (Errol Flynn) is repatriated from London to Madrid, following a diplomatic scandal caused by his dalliance with the British fiancée of a Spanish nobleman. The Spanish ambassador in London, Count de Polan (Robert Warwick), an old family friend, sends a letter of recommendation to Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) of Spain.
He requests that she provide an opportunity at the Spanish court for the rehabilitation of Don Juan's reputation from the swirling gossip and scandal that have followed him around Europe in the wake of his many illicit love affairs. Accepting her old friend's suggestion, Queen Margaret thus appoints Don Juan as a fencing instructor to the Royal Spanish Academy, where he is a great success. During his time at court, he secretly falls in love with the Queen but remains a staunchly loyal subject to her and her irresponsible and weak husband, King Phillip III (Romney Brent).
Don Juan discovers a treacherous plan by the Machiavellian Duke de Lorca (Robert Douglas), who is holding the loyal Count de Polan as a secret prisoner. The Duke is plotting to depose the monarchs, usurp their power over Spain, and declare war on England. With the support of his friends at court, Don Juan heroically defends the Queen and the King against de Lorca and his henchmen, finally defeating his plan in a duel to death, saving Spain.
The queen professes her love for Don Juan, now seeing his many virtues. Despite loving her deeply, more than any other woman in his life, he says that they could never be happy or survive such scandal. Both her subjects and Spain would fair poorly under the sole rule of the king. They both have a higher duty that must be served. Since the queen is the one woman he truly loves and can never rightfully have, he asks that she allow him to leave court and to continue his life elsewhere. She painfully grants him his wish, and he leaves the palace forever to continue his journeys in Spain. | cult, action, romantic | train | wikipedia | She died in 1995 at the age of 75."The Adventures of Don Juan" is well directed by Vincent Sherman and is probably his best remembered movie.
It ranks as one of the cinema's finest duels and Flynn will always be remembered for it even though that amazing leap with the knife was performed by stuntman and B picture actor Jock Mahoney.Then, of course there is the music by Max Steiner - one of his very best scores!
Interestingly Flynn's usual swashbuckling composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold - who had served him brilliantly on past successes such as "Captain Blood", "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" and "The Sea Hawk" -was originally slated to score "The Adventures Of Don Juan" as far back as 1945, but by the time the picture went into production the esteemed composer had left Hollywood and returned to his birthplace Vienna.
But alas we will never know!So quite a wonderful disc all round with good extras consisting of a commentary by director the late Vincent Sherman and Flynn authority Rudy Behlmer, a trailer and some instantly forgettable old fashioned shorts but the movie is all, so enjoy.
Like his swashbuckling predecessor Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn tackled the part of Don Juan in his late years, he was 39 when he made this film for Warner Brothers.
Not unlike the real life Errol Flynn.The Adventures Of Don Juan finds Tirso De Molina's famous lover sent home after a couple of escapades in the newly formed Kingdom of Great Britain.
The real Queen Margaret who was his Hapsburg cousin did in fact have considerable influence over domestic and foreign policy in Spain.The Adventures of Don Juan was given a sumptuous production and won an Oscar for Costume Design and was nominated for Art&Set Design.
I think the film's best asset besides Errol Flynn is Max Steiner's music.
As Flynn films usually are well scored, this one even stands out among that group.The Adventures of Don Juan marked the thirteenth and last film that Alan Hale made with Errol Flynn.
In the end of the Seventeenth Century, Don Juan de Marana (Errol Flynn) is repatriated from London to Madrid after a serious diplomatic scandal caused by his affair with a British fiancée on the Eve of her marriage with a Spanish noble.
The Spanish ambassador in London Count de Polan (Robert Warwick) sends a recommendation letter to his friend Queen Margaret (Viveca Lindfors) to give an opportunity in the court to rehabilitate Don Juan from the gossips and rumors about his love affairs, and he is hired as instructor of the art of fencing in the Spanish Academy.
Flynn looks like he belongs in whatever time the film is set.
Instead it turns out that in The Adventures of Don Juan, not only is our hero still swashbuckling up a storm and almost as handsome as ever -- let's not forget, ten years and many events have now elapsed since Robin Hood -- but he is also man enough to laugh at himself along with the audience.
Errol Flynn plays the role he spent his whole life "training" for -- Don Juan -- in this spectacular Warner Brothers adventure film.
Flynn does his best work in years as Don Juan, ably supported by perennial sidekick Alan Hale and Robert Douglas as the evil Duke De Lorca.
The costumes are amazing, the sets splendid, the Technicolor never looked better -- but to top it all off, the swordplay, choreographed by the legendary maestro Fred Cavens (Adventures of Robin Hood, The Mark of Zorro) is second to none.
Future Perry Mason Raymond Burr has a memorable role as one of the villains in this court intrigue adventure, and Viveca Lindfors is excellent as the Queen, but it is Flynn, with his wit, panache and blade skill, who dominates, just as it should be.
Errol Flynn, at 38, was not exactly as dashingly handsome as he was in his earliest triumph ('The Adventures of Robin Hood') for his life style had begun taking a physical toll on his health.
Amusing and entertaining swashbuckler has Don Juán (Errol Flynn in his self-mocking best) saving Queen Margarita (Viveca Lindfords) who secretly loves her champion from her evil First Minister , (the British Robert Douglas) .
At the end Don Juan finds a worthy fencing adversary in the treacherous Duc of Lorca (actually , Duke of Lerma , favorite of King Felipe III) at an exciting final duel .Errol's last spectacular and overwhelming epic features impressive duels , elegant costuming , impressive production design , marvelous gowns , and loads of action .
This was the major ¨Sword and Swagger¨ film mounted by First National Pictures and Warner Brothers for its superstar of swashbucklers , Errol Flynn .
Errol Flynn was 38 when he made this movie , but his wild lifestyle had diminished his health and made him less able to perform his own stunts, as he had in earlier films .
Support cast is pretty well , such as Alan Hale Jr as his squire , Rommy Brent playing the silly King Felipe III and Robert Douglas is too good for his baddie role .
Flynn was clearly comfortable with light comedy; it featured some great "bad guy" work by Robert Douglas; and, despite production problems caused BY Flynn's excesses, the editing in of sequences from Robin Hood and Elizabeth and Essex worked very well.
Unfortunately, the color production, Flynn's first swashbuckler in nearly a decade, was not a box office hit, but the comic adventure is today embraced by his many fans as one of his best roles!It was not an easy film to make, as Flynn's carousing and disappearances (officially called 'sicknesses') stretched the filming, and forced frequent reshooting.
This was a film which, despite Errol Flynn's self-destructive lifestyle, had enough talent involved to still stand up as one of the better films of the 1940s.The plot involves roué Don Juan, tossed out of England after breaking up a 'diplomatic' wedding (a VERY funny scene), returning home to Spain to find evil Duke de Lorca (the sublimely nasty Robert Douglas) controlling weak King Phillip, and taxing the population to near starvation, with only the beautiful Queen Margaret standing in his way.
Flynn quickly dispatches a de Lorca press gang, earning the Count's hatred, and the Queen's attention...and Don Juan finds himself truly falling in love, for the first time, with the youthful monarch (played by the radiant Viveca Lindfors).
On the run, he discovers de Lorca's ultimate scheme (manipulating the Crown into war), and with the help of the students of the Academy, he must save the King and Queen.Featuring a great early appearance by Raymond Burr (as a de Lorca henchman), and a stirring final duel between Flynn and Douglas (expanded from the 1926 version, and featuring an astonishing climactic stairway jump, performed by stuntman and future 'Tarzan' Jock Mahoney), THE ADVENTURES OF DON JUAN is a gloriously adventuresome romp.
Having said this, "The Adventures of Don Juan" is a wonderful, entertaining movie with Mr. Flynn looking handsome, fit and very comfortable in this role.
I'll second all other comment-writers who point out the witty humor and Errol Flynn's still nimble swashbuckling at 38 in this very entertaining film, but I'd also like to point out another feature of Errol Flynn's performance (also applicable to many other of his films):He is also good at delivering more serious lines in exchanges with the villains (in a very believable, underplayed manner) and, for that part, more sincere dialogue with the beautiful ladies.I think this is an often overlooked part of Errol Flynn's charm and why many of his films, although light in subject, make for truly timeless pieces, just like The Adventures of Don Juan..
EVERYTHING WORKS, from an aging Errol Flynn, Alan Hale as his sidekick, a witty script, great action, a young Raymond Burr as a sword fighting (!) bad guy, to one of Max Steiner's best scores.
When we saw this epic swashbuckler on it's original release in the late 40s, little did we know that it was to be Errol Flynn's last great adventure/love story.
Once again Flynn is reunited with his greatest screen sidekick Alan Hale,who is always a delight.Viveca Lindfors plays the Queen with grace and a strong will and her beauty further enhances her performance.
The film is good, but plays more as a parody of Flynn's former films such as Robin Hood, Sea Hawk, etc., with little emphasis on action until the final reel, which gives us one of filmdom's best sword fights with Flynn vs.
Hale (in his last film w/ Flynn) plays the role adequately, and Douglas is superb as the villain.
this was apparently Warners last big Budget swashbuckler with Errol Flynn, and Don Juan must have clothed him to a T!
Don Juan (errol flynn) is a romantic well know lover in spain.
Errol Flynn is best remembered today for the four classic swashbuckler roles that he played in the 1930s and 1940s.The first three were made when he was young, robust and in the fullness of his prime----"Captain Blood" (1935), "Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) and "The Sea Hawk" (1940).
"Don Juan" is also the last time we will ever see Flynn in all his glory (in a beautifully restored Technicolor rendition) as our adventurous rogue (albeit an aging one) pursuing his final great quest.
"The Adventures of Don Juan" was the final hurrah for Errol Flynn as far as big budget films were concerned.
Errol Flynn is great as the womanising, care-free adventurer and Alan Hale features one last time as the ever faithful friend.
Very good color filming, great costuming, a terrific music score are some plus factors for this swashbuckling movie.
Movie perennial Robert Warwick gives one of his best performances as the good Ambassador and friend of Don Juan; he makes his role more human and less cardboard than some of the other roles in this movie.Errol Flynn is carefully filmed to appear strong and handsome, but heavy make-up and no shirtless scenes are some of the techniques used to disguise the sad fact that that Flynn was forty-ish and not physically well.
Errol Flynn plays the great lover (and apparently swordsman) Don Juan in this enjoyable attempt by Warner Bros.
Super and spectacular is this movie and gets high marks for the costumes,color,for which it won an Oscar.Womaniser Do Juan returns to his homeland in Spain and in great swashbuckling fencing style needs to save his country from a tyrant who seeks to persuade the Monarchy to go to war.Good story,excellent design and presentation and the whole picture is gloriously colorful with plenty of wit and action.Thank you:TCM.8/10.
Errol Flynn is once again cast in a swashbuckler, this time playing Don Juan.
Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk and Robin Hood are tough acts to follow, but Don Juan is still a decent feature for a Sunday afternoon with the family.Errol rocks in the role, although don't expect anything knew, the plot is very simple.
It's fantastic, rousing and a lot of fun.The direction and screenplay are decent.The Adventures of Don Juan doesn't provide much new material for Errol Flynn, but you can't help but enjoy the picture especially if you love his previous work!.
This is the last of the swashbuckler films made by Errol Flynn.
Although Flynn did look a tad older, he seemed in good shape and the action scenes worked just fine--but again, they seemed so much like those from his other similar films.
Along with "The Adventures of Robin Hood," Errol Flynn is in his element as Don Juan.
Robert Douglas always makes a most formidable and imposing villain in movies like this, but here he outdoes himself, and Viveca Lindfors, who was a very striking actress, gives a very thoughtful performance as the Queen, decked out in Oscar-winning gowns by Travilla (his only Oscar win - he didn't even win for dressing Marilyn Monroe in two different films.) With young ladies throwing themselves at Don Juan, such as Ann Rutherford, and exciting duels throughout the film, this is an Errol Flynn film that really gets one stirred up and leaves you feeling good and satisfied long after it's over.
This was Errol Flynn's first swashbuckler in almost a decade, thanks to a string of World War II roles, and it was arguably his last great costume adventure.
The New Adventures of Don Juan is not quite as great as Captain Blood and especially The Adventures of Robin Hood(the latter being one of my favourite films).
The New Adventures of Don Juan looks fabulous with huge spectacular sets, lush photography and Technicolour and some of the best ever costumes(no wonder they won an Academy Award) for any film.
Max Steiner's vibrant as well as elegiac music score compliments the film perfectly and, while not among the best film scores of all time like Korngold's for The Adventures of Robin Hood is(at least to me), is one of the composer's finest of a positively consistent body of work.
The New Adventures of Don Juan boasts some deliciously witty dialogue, some fine sword play and some of the best fencing in film history, the standout of all the action being the truly exciting final duel between Juan and Lorca.
Dawn of the 17th century swashbuckler Errol Flynn (as Don Juan) wields his swords and whey, from England to Spain, in glorious Technicolor for Warner Bros.
Both legendary lovers played the "Don Juan" role in real life, then found more love in glasses than lasses.****** Adventures of Don Juan (12/1/48) Vincent Sherman ~ Errol Flynn, Viveca Lindfors, Robert Douglas, Alan Hale.
You could look at it cynically and view Adventures of Don Juan as a career life support, seeing Errol Flynn going to back to doing what made him famous in the first place after a string of unsuccessful pictures at the box office but it is none the less Errol Flynn returning to do what he does best.
Flynn's signs of ageing are increasingly apparent but considering his health and status as a star this would have been the final time Flynn could have headlined a big budget production such as this.The Technicolor here doesn't have the striking vibrancy of The Adventures of Robin Hood but the beautiful, detailed backdrops and very large scale sets with immaculate attention to detail are superb.
However, in this film, he is confronted with his own bad reputation and ultimately finds the true love where he least expects to find it.The film is directed by Vincent Sherman and is perhaps his most famous film today, a fact that owes much to the immortal Errol Flynn, who plays the main character.
As usual, Flynn comes out very well in his role, similar to what he had in other swashbuckler's films as "Captain Blood" or "The Sea Hawk": he is the hero, the adventurer heartthrob who saves the day and wins the heart of the lady.
Errol Flynn is back in swashbuckling costume eight years after the excellent "The Sea Hawk", and it feels like he never went away.
This film is about Don Juan in love, with his Queen (a suitably regal Viveca Lindfors), and putting his life on the line for Spain.
The film opens in 17-Century Europe...After many shameful incidents, Don Juan is forced to return to Spain where he discovers a country without life, driven to war, and a King in petticoat with a dissatisfied Queen...But, despite of all the court's intrigues, Don Juan saves the lovely Queen and the confused King Philip III (Romney Brent) from the treacherous schemes of a malicious minister, the great Duke De Lorca and his puppeteers Raymond Burr & Douglas Kennedy...His farewell scene with the Queen of Spain remembered me "Prisoner of Zenda."Don Juan, wisely, persuades the Queen that her duties lies with her people, and after kissing her, he says: "I shall be the only one who knew that for a little while there was no Queen."Flynn had the flair and style to play, with elegance, the charming manipulator, gaining admiration through his charisma, talents and abilities, seducing loving maidens, coming against angry husbands, causing a striking impression on the tall, dark, beautiful Queen...
She is a passionate young woman before Don Juan, her eventual true love...Robert Douglas played a stupendous villain in many adventure films, crossing swords with great stars (Burt Lancaster, Cornel Wilde and Robert Taylor).
His declaration remembered me Vincent Price in "The Three Musketeers," when he states, in his role of Cardinal Richelieu, "I'm France!"The duel between De Lorca ("I warned you, Señor, this time I shall cut deeply.") and Don Juan ("This time, I'm wearing my old clothes.") is exciting and stylish...With humorous moments displayed by the sympathetic dwarf actor Jerry Austin (Don Sebastian) and with a splendid exhibition of young swordsmen, lovely ladies, secret plots, drinking escapades, swords clashing, furious fights, and with a great complementary score by Max Steiner, "The Adventures of Don Juan" is a great entertaining swashbuckler, highly recommended....
Errol Flynn the Best Swashbuckler.
If I were a movie director, and could get Errol Flynn to act for me in a leading man role, I know I could get a great performance out of him every time.
Directed by Vincent Sherman, with a screenplay by George Oppenheimer and Harry Kurnitz that was based on the Herbert Dalmas story, this average adventure drama not only marks the last swashbuckler role for Errol Flynn (at 39 years old), appropriately playing the title character, but also the actor's last of more than a dozen pairings with sidekick Alan Hale.
Last night I again watched one of my all time favorites, 'The Adventures of Don Juan' starring the amazing Errol Flynn and talented, lovely Viveca Lindfors.
Sadly the movie was a box office flop at that time and the budgets on later Errol Flynn films were cut dramatically.
Perhaps it's because Errol Flynn was so much like Don Juan, even in the last scene you could substitute his name for that of the famous Spanish lover when he says to Leporello (Alan Hale) " My dear friend, there's a little bit of Don Juan in every man, and since I am Don Juan, there must be more of it in me! |
tt0077621 | Goin' South | Henry Lloyd Moon (Nicholson) is a third-rate outlaw in the late 1860s; a convicted bank robber, horse thief and cattle thief. He is sentenced to be hanged in Longhorn, Texas, to the glee of the locals who gather to watch his execution. A local ordinance dictates that a man condemned of any crime other than murder may be freed, if a lady will marry him and take responsibility for his good behavior. Well aware of the ordinance, many of the townswomen scrutinize Moon as he mounts the gallows.
An elderly woman offers to marry him, but dies on the spot immediately. As Moon is dragged back to the gallows, Julia Tate (Steenburgen)—a headstrong, genteel Southern virgin—agrees to marry and take charge of him. She weds Moon, intending only to use him as labor in a secret gold mine under her property. This evolves into a shaky partnership as he gains her trust, then develops into much more.
The local sheriff's deputy (Lloyd) repeatedly accuses Moon of stealing "his" girl, although there is no evidence that Julia ever had any interest in the deputy, and it was she who offered marriage to Moon. Moon's old gang complicates matters when they arrive at Julia's home and introduce the teetotalling Julia to intoxicating beverages. They discover that Julia and Moon are successfully mining gold. Moon schemes to betray Julia and steal the gold, but a cave-in at the mine changes the nature of their relationship. | comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0092978 | Escape from Sobibor | The film begins with a new trainload of Polish Jews arriving for processing at Sobibor. The German Commandant gives them a welcoming speech, assuring the new arrivals that the place is a work camp. Other SS officers move along the assembled lines of prisoners, selecting a small number who have trade skills (such as goldsmiths, seamstresses, shoemakers, and tailors). The remaining prisoners are sent away to a different part of the camp from which a pillar of smoke rises day and night. It is some time before the new prisoners realize Sobibor is a death camp, all of the other Jews are exterminated in gas chambers, and their corpses are cremated in large ovens. The small number of prisoners who are kept alive in the other part of the camp are charged with sorting the belongings taken from those who are murdered and then repairing the shoes, recycling the clothing, and melting down any silver or gold to make jewelry for the SS officers. Despite their usefulness, these surviving prisoners' existence is precarious, and beatings and executions can occur at any time.
Gustav Wagner is the most clever and sadistic of the German officers. When two prisoners escape from a work detail in the nearby forest, Wagner forces the remaining 13 prisoners of the work gang to each select one other prisoner to die with them and then executes all 26.
The leader of the prisoners, Leon Feldhendler, realizes when the trains eventually stop coming, the camp will have outlived its usefulness, and all the remaining Jews will be executed. He devises a plan for every prisoner to escape, by luring the SS officers and NCOs into the prisoners' barracks and work huts one by one and killing them as quietly as possible. Once all of the Germans are dead, the prisoners will assemble into columns and simply march out of the camp as if they have been ordered to, and it is hoped the Ukrainian Guards, not knowing what is going on and with no Germans left alive to give orders or raise the alarm, will not interfere. A new group of prisoners arrives, Russian Jews who were soldiers with the Soviet army. Their leader, Perchersky, and his men willingly join the revolt, their military skills proving invaluable.
The Camp Commandant leaves for several days, taking Wagner with him, which proves an advantage as the most cunning of the SS officers will be absent from Sobibor. On 14 October 1943, the plan goes into action. One by one, SS officers and NCOs are lured into traps set by groups of prisoners armed with knives and clubs. Eleven Germans are killed, but one officer, Karl Frenzel, unwittingly evades his killers, discovers the corpse of one of his colleagues, and raises the alarm. By now, the prisoners have assembled on the parade ground and, realizing the plan has been discovered, Perchersky and Feldhendler urge the prisoners to revolt and flee the camp. Most of the 600 prisoners stampede for the perimeter fences, some of the Jews using captured rifles to shoot their way through the Ukrainian guards. Other guards open fire with heavy machine guns from observation towers, cutting many of the fleeing prisoners down, and other would-be escapees are killed on the minefield surrounding the camp. But over 300 Jews reach the forest and escape.
As the survivors flee deeper into the forest, a voiceover narrator tells of the experiences and fates that befell some of the survivors whose accounts the film was based on. Of the 300 prisoners who escaped, only approximately 50 survived to see the end of the war in 1945. For example, Perchersky makes it back to Soviet lines and rejoins the Red Army, surviving the war, and Feldhendler lives to see the end of the war but is killed shortly afterwards in a clash with anti-Semitic Poles. After the uprising, the largest escape from a prison camp of any kind in Europe during World War II, Sobibor was bulldozed to the ground, and trees were planted on the site to remove any sign of its existence. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0098156 | R.O.T.O.R. | A leading scientist in the field of police robotics, Dr. J. Barrett C. Coldyron (Gesswein with voice over by Loren Bivens), whose corrupt boss, Division Commander Earl Buglar (Michael Hunter), orders an experimental police robot prototype - dubbed R.O.T.O.R. (Robotic Officer of the Tactical Operations Research/Reserve Unit). He wants it completed in 60 days so that Senator Donald D. Douglas can take public credit for the project and use it to catapult himself into the White House.
Coldyron warns Buglar that the prototype is several years away from completion but is forced to resign and is replaced by his incompetent assistants, Dr. Houghtaling (Stan Moore) and his robot Willard. In Coldyron's absence, R.O.T.O.R. is inadvertently activated and put on duty. The robot executes a motorist (James Cole) for speeding and terrorizes his young fiancée, Sonya (Margaret Trigg), who the robot views as an accomplice in her boyfriend's infraction. Upon learning his creation has escaped, Cpt. Coldyron enlists the help of his beautiful colleague, Dr. Corrine Steele (Jayne Smith), who designed the unit's combat chassis. Together, Steele and Coldyron track down the rampaging robot and attempt to stop it from killing again. | murder | train | wikipedia | Unfortunately for us, such laws had yet to be invented and this lady behind the counter said that they didn't have RoboCop yet, but they had R.O.T.O.R. Now being young and naïve, we looked at the box and saw that both films had similar letters in their titles and R.O.T.O.R. had a picture of a robot man jumping off a bike and firing a gun.
Yes it is, but if the punishment for speeding was death then we'd all drive a little more carefully.Well, the budget isn't quite up to that of Water World, and I think that it was made by a group of friends (one of who was going through that transition of man to woman), but I can't really get mad at these guys 'cos at least they tried.However, heed my warning.
Dr. Steele, by the way, is a bodybuilder woman with a skunk on her head.The opening scene reveals the end of the movie immediately telling you that you are wasting an hour and a half.
These three guys (the director, writer and star) came up with enough money to take RoboCop, The Terminator, and Judge Dredd (which was merely in comic book form at the time) into one completely awful masterpiece.When we go back to the beginning of the story, the clock strikes 5:00 and Coldyron wakes up.
It just makes no sense at all.I won't go into too many more details, but the worst part of the entire movie must be the fact that ROTOR can take off his sunglasses AND SEE INTO THE PAST!
None of the technical jargon even sounds like it makes sense, but he didn't even try going into sensor recall.You have to see SENSOR RECALL in action to truly appreciate it's sheer madness.At the conclusion of the movie, Coldyron utilizes a technique Shoeboogie spoke of earlier to kill ROTOR, as if to tie everything together in some sort of nice neat way.
Another is that a few pieces of string defeat this unstoppable supercop.Another is that I am trying to make sense of a movie in which the comic relief is delivered by a Robot who can think on his own, but the supercop won't be ready for another 25 years.ROTOR is the worst movie ever made.
I've seen my share of bad movies and when I read the entertaining reviews of a truly awful film I am amazed that there always seem to be some knucklehead that gives the film a ten rating even though there is no redeeming value whatsoever.
Now is the time for me to become said knuclehead as R.O.T.O.R. is one of the most entertaining bad movies ever.Professor/Cop/degreed sci-fi writer Coldyron performed by Richard Gesswein and dubbed with the voice of Loren Bivens (Why?
The ending is even more absurd as R.O.T.O.R. is defeated quite easily with the right combination of car horn and thin rope.The dialogue is what makes this movie so much fun.
A perennial favorite at 'bad movie nights with friends', this piece of solid gold belongs in a film museum somewhere..
Ya know, little things like making sure that it doesn't suddenly go from day to night to day again from one shot to the next, or the benefits of having two consecutive lines of dialogue that are related logically to each other, or finding actors who don't literally read from cue cards or stare at the floor to make sure they hit their marks.After hearing about this movie's pure awfulness for so many years, I finally got to catch it on On Demand.
Needless to say, it did.If you do choose to subject yourself to the pure bliss (or pure torture, depending on your tolerance for really bad movies) of ROTOR, make sure you stick around for the very end of the credits.
Also any movie that has a line like "what is this some kind of bad sci-fi flick".
If you merely want to kick back and watch some good unadulterated nonsense this is your picture, if you are trying to expand your mind and learn more about the world of robotics, than watch Short Circuit, R.O.T.O.R is much too technical for you.Final word: big guns, motorcycle riding lunatic robot cops, poor voice overs and shallow character depth render this movie highly potent and watchable (maybe not RE-watchable, but you should subject yourself to it at least once in your life).
Police robotics expert Captain Coldyron (Richard Gesswein) attempts to track down R.O.T.O.R., a renegade robot cop who punishes every crime with death.R.O.T.O.R. has me completely baffled: it's a dreadful 80s sci-fi film that rips off other better known classics (notably RoboCop and The Terminator), but while there's nothing particularly unusual about that, it is so thoroughly terrible in every imaginable way that it's hard to understand how such a dire film actually came into being.
Gesswein's charmless performance; the pitiful action scenes; the lousy 80s music; the embarrassingly bad stop-motion endoskeleton that practises karate; Dr. Steele, the muscle-bound female scientist with the 'skunk-stripe' hairdo; Shoeboogie, the moronic 'American Indian' lab assistant; Willard, the comedy-relief police robot with the peaked cap; the diabolical dialogue (my favourite line being from Coldyron's strangely poetic account to the police "a buttery morning sunlight painted a golden glow through the ranch house windows"; the man sure has a way with words): so much cringe-worthy nonsense in just the one film is hard to take.Although part of me would like to believe that R.O.T.O.R.'s awfulness was intentional, a calculated attempt to appeal to B-movie fans who lap up such trash, I sincerely doubt it, the film alternating too wildly between complete inanity and total seriousness; part of me would also dearly love this to be a genuine case of bad film-making (the 80s being THE decade for such drivel), but I find it impossible to accept that people can be THAT untalented..
Richard Gesswein is Dr. Coldyron (if there's one thing I love about this movie, it's that name), a scientist working in the tactical / robotics department of a Texas police force.
The good doctor must now go out and find his Frankenstein monster before it can harm too many people.Man, I've seen a number of "so bad it's good" low budget B movies in my time, but this one really takes the cake.
The action is pretty rote: our robotic villain barely roughs up a few people, kills even less, and spends most of the movies' running time relentlessly tracking down Sonia a.k.a.
Michael Hunter, who'd had a small role in "RoboCop" (viewers new to this one will likely automatically be reminded of that much more popular film), is the crooked commissioner Buglar, and he's a real ham."R.O.T.O.R." must be seen to be believed.
Did Cullen Blaine and Budd Lewis know they were making a bad movie?
It is a good laugh if you have friends over who like to watch bad movies because this one has a plethora of questionable things in this movie to make fun of.
There is a Rifftrax version of this movie that is very funny and I suggest watching that the first time through this awful film..
ROTOR has moments, just MOMENTS mind you, that could have been cool but bad acting, casting, directing and script bring things down to MST3K level pretty quickly.
Found a gem...hybrid terminator and bad robot cop knock off with mullets, tons of yokel accents, stiff dialog, and hilariously timed synth music.
I watch a lot of bad movies and rate some of them far higher than I should.
The special effects are dreadful, the dialogue is silly and nonsensical, the music is beyond annoying, the actors have zero charisma, the acting is painful to watch, the few attempts at comedy are cringeworthy, the ending is totally ridiculous, and the whole thing is a boring mess.
I don't know why the characters in the movie go through so much trouble to defeat the robot when all they really needed to do was lay on a car horn and disable it.
Cheap ripoffs like this movie really makes Robocop look outstanding - and this is another cheap ripoff of Robocop (and a bit of The Terminator).
I can say this movie is awful but better than the worst ripoff of all: Robo Vampire (1988).This film started out a little interesting right at the beginning where the car with the man and woman stopped in the road to see the lead actor all covered in blood leaning over a dead woman - that scene was interesting but when they got to the police station and the lead actor was telling his story the film became very blah to me very quickly.
R.O.T.O.R. is not one of those films.unlike most of the b-movies of the 80's R.O.T.O.R. is actually bad enough to be good: the loose and ridiculously padded shot direction (how long does it take to walk five metres to your horse, and why do we have to watch all of it?), hammy performances, lengthy and clumsy dialogue, hilarious special effects (the stop-motion endoskeleton display, the absurd 'sensor recall' thing R.O.T.O.R. himself does).
i remember watching this film when i was about 15,it was in our local video library with a 2mm thick covering of dust,so my friend suggested renting it out,90 minutes later over 4 cans of special brew we still could`nt stop laughing,if you can find it,watch it for the incredably hammy acting and cardboard special effects,even better check out the end scene fight,where a certain advertisment for a 4 wheel drive vehicle will give you hysterics.
There are indeed plenty of laughs to be had here, but they mostly come from the pretentious dialog, cheap set pieces, dumb character names, poor action scenes, and hilariously bad music and songs.
But when a lab accident succeeds in activating the android, causing it to run amok, Coldyron must find a way to stop it.Ask many genre fans what they believe to be the worst genre film of all time is & the answer would usually be either PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE or ROBOT MONSTER (some wags might suggest Uwe Boll's craptacular adaptation of HOUSE OF THE DEAD).
Everything about it, from the poorly written script, to the horrendous dialogue, even to the extremely cheesy visual effects (just watch the scene where a stop-motion robot skeleton does karate chops!), is so bad that it causes anyone watching to either die from embarrassment or to die from laughing so hard – in any case I recommend taking out a life insurance policy before sitting down to watch the film.Budd Lewis, who tries to multitask as best he can (in addition to writing the script, he also produces, conducts some of the visual effects & does the art direction), only to fail on almost all counts.
People with a low tolerance for inept cinema are likely to faint or even die from a stroke during the first half hour already and even experienced bad movie fanatics will, in fact, face severe difficulties to sit through R.O.T.O.R from start to finish.
Imagine everything and I do mean every slightest thing that can go wrong in a film, and you pretty much have an apt description of R.O.T.O.R. We're talking basic story ideas that desperately attempt to cash-in on previous blockbusters ("The Terminator", "Robocop") abominable acting performances from a largely amateur cast, completely incoherent narrative structure (with flashbacks within flashbacks etc
), errors in continuity that are as large as life itself, miserable dialogs and pathetic attempts at inserting comical elements, a soundtrack that makes you want to rip off your ears, "special" effects accomplished without any budgetary means and hands down the most pathetic depiction of a cyborg ever.
In the future humanity is on the verge of destroying itself which leads to the scientists at ROTOR to make a cyborg policeman who goes berserk and starts killing people for speeding, now it's up to the scientist to destroy him while (in the film's most laughable moments)he waxes philosophical about the robot's place in the universe.
This thing makes those godawful films from India look like high art.
OK, most of the idiocy here is obvious, but here's what I want to know:How could anyone be so dumb as to think a robot cop who is programmed to act as judge, jury, and executioner would catapult its sponsor to the White House, even if it worked perfectly?Now, I can see how a talented demagogue might be able to whip up a temporary popular enthusiasm for such a thing.
Okay; I'm not a director; I'm not a producer and I may not be a good actor, even, but I could have done everything on this movie better(including sweeping the sets afterwards)!R.O.T.O.R. seems caught in a cultural time warp; see, it's set in the "not-too-distant-future", but was made in 1989, while all the actors look like they're livin' like it's 1979 (even feathered hair makes a comeback!
Unless you like to inflict pain on yourself, or want to try using this film as a drinking game, avoid this movie at all cost..
If you watched the movie and did not get that none of this was in any way a serious attempt at anything more than making a "bad movie" after seeing the first ten minutes, I can't help you.You should have had more than a clue after seeing the gratuitous Beach Boys references, the overwritten dialog ("He's like a chainsaw set on frappé!"), the lame jokes about Pee-Wee Herman, the acting that was over-the-top, but then again just shy of not over-the-top enough to be amusing, and the fact that most of the cast has dubbed over voices.
I have tried 3 times to watch this movie all the way through.
However while there are starving children all over the world and people persist in waste money on making movies like this, I will not be a happy bunny.Although I am a fan of B-movies, do not watch this film, I would however endorse recommending this movie to someone you didn't like as you will have wasted two hours of their lives watching this pants film.What annoys me is that the box looks really bad (in a good way) the acronym R.O.T.O.R. brought a wry smile to my face as I imagined the worst acting.
Dialogue, bad effects, movie genres, and by far the most god-awful acting since "Laserblast".
But where other bad sci fi movies fail, ROTOR succeeds...
I don't feel like wasting anymore time over this movie, but since it was the worst film I've ever seen, mainly due to the unbelievably horrible over-dramatic acting, I had to let others know.
The acting is BAD, (not bad meaning good), and includes an obvious transvestite playing a female engineer, which could have been a great example of "camp" casting, except that the movie expects us to believe that this is a real woman!!!
From the horrible acting to the bad graphics this was going to be a gut buster.One of the first actions is the setup for the end of the movie.
ROTOR would have benefited hugely from a name star in the Coldyron role, that would have brought the interest level way up.By far the best character in the film is Willard, a "happy birthday Paulie"-style robot who wears a hat, answers the phone (not seen) and is even sassy.
Boy, does this hilariously horrendous honey possess all the right wrong stuff to qualify as a real four star stinkeroonie: Ham-fisted (mis)direction by Cullen Blaine, an absurd plot that's played ludicrously straight, clunky martial arts fights, an appalling Native American stereotype secondary character named Shoeboogie, a blithely preposterous script complete with unavoidable cheesy one-liners, ineptly staged action set pieces (the awkward fight between ROTOR and three rednecks is simply sidesplitting!), an irritatingly bouncy country rock soundtrack, terrible acting from a hopelessly lame no-name cast, primitive computer graphics, an annoying comic relief robot called Willard, a gloriously ridiculous conclusion, and even a surprise bummer ending.
Wherever ROTOR goes (remember he looks just like a human police officer) some hick wants to fight him.
however if you want to see a movie that's a clinic of bad film-making, then R.O.T.O.R. is, without the slightest doubt, an amazingly awesome tour de force of cinematic ineptitude!The plot goes something like this: Captain Barrett C.
And in no time R.O.T.O.R. the super-cop, with a head full of bad wiring, starts murdering civilians - and so the question is WHO is up to the challenge, WHO can stop the R.O.T.O.R.!The movie gets more and more inconsistent, illogical and downright scattershot as it goes, but the keyword for R.O.T.O.R. has to be: anti-climatic.
Come to think of it Dr. Steele does next to nothing, other than look painfully ridiculous and did anyone notice at one point during the finale, that Coldyron called Sony "Tony", so evidently even the names of the characters slipped the minds of the actors - just one more mistake in a movie that's over-flowing with them.
The movie has no idea about whether it wants to be a comedy or an action film.It has elements like the comical police robot, which I think was probably not a cheap prop to build, but really didn't help the plot along.
Other scenes like the buck toothed cook getting his face pushed into a grill, you are no sure if these are supposed to comedic or horrific, so they end up being horrifyingly bad.The plot is that a Police Scientist develops a Robot for the future in 25 years when civil society has broken down and they need robots that will just flat out execute people for traffic violations because..
In fact, at the end of the movie, the main character, Coldyron.
the movie was made in 1989, but it looks more like 1979.
better yet: watch it for the camp value to see how bad a movie can go wrong. |
tt0171685 | Ratcatcher | The film opens focused upon James's friend Ryan Quinn, being forced to put on his wellington boots to go to visit his father, who is in jail. He'd rather play with James instead and runs off while his mother is not looking. Ryan meets James at the canal and during some rough-house play he is drowned, clearly with James bearing much of the blame for not having raised the alarm. James believes his inaction has gone unnoticed.
Ryan's family are eventually re-housed and on the day of leaving, Ryan's mother gives James the pair of brown sandals she had bought for Ryan on the day of his death.
The film follows the sensitive James as he tries to come to terms with his guilt, and make sense of the insensitive aspects of his environment.
His one escape comes when he takes a bus to the end of the line and ends up in the outskirts of the city, where a new housing estate is under construction. He explores the half-built houses, and wonders in awe at the view from the kitchen window: an expansive field of wheat, blowing in the wind and reaching to the horizon. In a scene central to the film, he climbs through the window and escapes into the blissful freedom of the field.
James befriends a girl, Margaret Anne, whom he tries to help after her glasses are thrown into the canal by the local gang. James and Margaret Anne become close friends. She is his only other relief from his home environment. She has problems of her own, allowing herself to be abused by the local gang. The two find comfort in each other's company.
One of James's friends, Kenny, receives a pet mouse as a birthday present. After the gang throw the mouse around to make him "fly", Kenny ties the mouse's tail to a balloon and we see it float to the moon, where it joins a whole colony of other mice frolicking on the moon.
The same friend later falls in the canal and is rescued by James's father, making him briefly into a local hero.
Though the military eventually comes and cleans up all the garbage in the neighbourhood, James realizes that his situation will most likely never change. He plunges himself into the canal, and we are shown a brief scene in which James's family is moving into a new neighbourhood. | romantic | train | wikipedia | i loved ramsay's ability to create intense and harsh situations without slipping into the provocative manipulation that is characteristic of many similar child starring films (think harmony korine).
The film is more about atmosphere than a linear plot, and the lingering, intriguing glimpses it offers of the young character's life will stay in your memory like a particularly vivid dream.
This is the most beguiling British film about childhood since Kes (1969), a slowburning look at days in the life of a small boy on the brink of adolescence.
From with the deprivation, the film is set on a housing estate during a binman's strike, she finds moments of real beauty - a joyfully filmed tumble in a hayfield - and strikingly surreal moments, such as a backward boy's pet mouse flying to the moon on a balloon.
If Ratcatcher has a forerunner, excepting Ramsay's own award-winning shorts, it is not The Bill Douglas Trilogy, a semi-still life of a Scottish slum boy, which it eclipses completely, but the great hand-crafted films of Lindsay Anderson: This Sporting Life; If..., and O Lucky Man!.
RATCATCHER is a beautiful movie, though hard to watch because of the desperate conditions of its main characters.
Don't believe the whiners about this movie - it's NOT pretentious, it's inclusive and generous, and though it doesn't provide us with an easy let's-have-popcorn-and-watch-Schwarzenegger-blow-things-up kind of entertainment, it's well-crafted, well-written, beautifully shot, and worth watching and thinking about..
To reduce Ramsay to a filmmaker only dealing with social realism misses the entire point of her film, which is to reconstruct a narrative as it would appear to a young boy plagued with guilt over his involvement with the death of a friend.
At times it is not an easy film to watch but it is hard not to relate to the struggle of the young boy at the centre of the story as he tries to make sense of his situation and to dream of an escape from squalor.
The non-professional cast are uniformly excellent, particularly the boy playing the main character, and the film always feels rooted in the real lives of real people continually up against it.
There are moments in Lynne Ramsey's "Ratcatcher" that are powerful and affecting--the opening death/murder scene, the moments that follow; James' trip to his future house, his exhuberant play in the field behind.
Ramsey is talented at creating interesting, compelling images--the opening shot; the mouse tied to the balloon and his/her flight into space and crawling on the moon; James trip to his new house.
When i was little, other kids said i tied a mouse to a balloon and sent it to the moon, although it didn't really happen and the other kids were just twisting things for me, this is where lynne ramsay got the idea for the kid in the film who does the same, i knew lynne well, her brother james, who acts in the film was my very first friend as a small child at school, we grew up together though drifted apart.
Ratcatcher is a beautiful film set in the less aesthetically pleasing back drop drop of the Glasgow tenement blocks of the nineteen seventies.
The dream like quality as main protagonist James escapes his rat-infested urban home and escapes to the countryside are some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful scenes I have ever witnessed on film.
William Eadie as James is tremendous throughout, most especially in his scenes with young John Miller's Kenny.Unlike Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing" which I recently saw, this film I think had more than a little leavening in its bleak peak at the underclass.
Despite rarely going ten minutes without a strong feeling of apprehension washing over me, there were enough warm flashes of affection to make this feel more like we were seeing people, and not statistics brought to life.I'm not sure how Lynne Ramsay did it, but whenever the kids laughed, it felt genuine.
If you need a strong narrative line, this movie may not be for you (that seems to be the main complaint among the negative responses); otherwise, I highly recommend it, and expect great things of Lynne Ramsay.
Lynne Ramsay's film, 'Ratcatcher', is an utterly unsentimental portrait of those times, though imbued with a measure of hope that only hindsight proves false.
Moreover, at times 'Ratcatcher' seems stylistically overloaded for no particular purpose (the strange fantasy scene with the mouse, for example, seems out of place in the rest of the movie), while when the film gets it right (such as in the opening scenes, which are almost unwatchably harrowing), it's still unclear for what higher aim Ramsay is putting her audience through the emotional wringer.
Taking this film together with 'Morvern Callar', her second feature, my feeling is that Ramsay is a director of considerable talent, but maybe still trying, in this early phase of her career, a little too hard.
The act of escaping drowning acts as a metaphor for his escape from his life of squalor.Usually I like to talk about a film's story first but it's difficult here as it doesn't really have one.
The only thing would be that audiences not familiar with the accents (I'm from Northern Ireland close enough) might have problems with the dialogue.Overall it tries to be realistic and profound at the same time both take away from the other and produce a film that has touches of intelligence and originality but ultimately is a little dull and disappointing..
One the films strong points is it's beautiful imagery, despite it's grim settings it contains so many haunting or breathtaking images ( the curtains blowing in the wind at the start, the tense dance between the parents to name but a few).
The Ratcatcher does not deserve to be perceived as a poor-mans Ken loach, it has a dream like quality, mixing with unflinching eye for the grittiness of life - in terms of lyrical quality, I see a lot of Terrance Mallick in Ramseys work.
In the first scene of "The Ratcatcher", nine- or ten-year-old James (William Eadie) accidentally drowns his friend Ryan as they play in a canal.
We meet James' friends and family--his loving mother; his spiteful, alcoholic father; his sisters; a gang of neighborhood bullies; his friend Margaret Anne, an older girl who lets him see her naked and touch her privates; and his friend Kenny, who is mildly retarded and collects animals for his private zoo.What we don't see is much of a point to all this until the final act.
In the scenes where the story moves forward, it attains a powerful urgency, and the acting is uniformly great.This is a grim, slow, but fairly good film.
When I last visited Glasgow I thought the city was a lot more vibrant, respectable even glamorous than the griminess depicted in Ratcatcher.Lynne Ramsay's film is set in 1973 Glasgow where rubbish is being piled up because of the dustbin men strike.
However, when it's all you know there is nothing dour or dark there, only a realm of discovery to be experienced like every other child and Lynne Ramsay bottles this essence of youth to perfection.Ratcather is visually stunning and the story is played out with an expert touch managing to capture a unique glimpse into a very Scottish time and place.
As her debut film, Lynne Ramsay is a wonderful proof there is always a room for poignant & reality centered movies, than British films in recent years were anything but doped gangster stories and sultry comedies.Despite the fact that it is a poorly implemented anti-idyllic Glasgow district, which frames the story, it's more of a psychological than a social realism that make up the film's thematic background.
Ramsay's instruction is nothing less than masterful, like Eadie's performance backed him up by the film's other actors.Ratcatcher is one of those films that, at the outset not to promise much about where it wants to go, constantly taking the audience with its new roads.
The film's portrayal of James' psychological life is unique and challenging without being conclusive.James dreams of going to the outskirts of Glasgow, he ends up there one day by chance.
Ratcatcher tells the story of a young boy, James, on a Glasgow estate, wracked with guilt over a friend's death and faced with a future that seems already mapped out for him.Set against bin man strikes in the 1970's, with black rubbish bags strewn across the grim urban wasteland and rowdy bullies always around the corner, Ramsey's film creates a bleak vision of this era for a boy's upbringing.
The film follows James and observes the relationship with his parents and peers and how he creates hope when there appears little.The visions of hope can be seen throughout, but only, like James, if you take the effort to explore or look closely; the field, the bus driver, the medal, the teenage girl, the shoes, the glasses, the mouse etc.
Ratcatcher contains some super images, my favourite being James upon the sofa (I won't spoil it, watch it and see).If you're really into this type of bleakness, why not create a double bill with "Young Adam"?
and yet, whilst the film seems very down to earth with that air of gritty realism rarely reserved for anything other than scottish cinema, it is also strangely surreal, giving the entire film a sense of childlike wonder that reflects the point of view of the main male character.amidst the entire poetic nuances of the film (ignore that mildly pretentious statement!) are the ultiamte questions of the meaning of the ending.
his only escape is briefly when he catches a bus to a building site of a semi built housing estate, surrounded by a field of beautiful golden wheat, one of the few glimpses of colour we see in the whole film.
there are a number of images in this film that i suspect will never leave me, but the one i will remember so fondly is that of a young boy and girl laying semi naked on a couch, simply holding eachother , sex never enters their minds as their loneliness is muted for a short while by their mutual longing for love..
Lynne Ramsay clearly has ability as a director and may well go on to make some great films.
It's Scots, through and through, and beautiful.Ramsay's 2nd feature, _Morvern Callar_ is also good, but go out of your way to see _Ratcatcher_.
1970's low-end Glasgow looks like an alien landscape in this horrifically depressing chronicle of a young boy's barren life.
Set amid a refuse collection strike, the film makes piles of rotting garbage look like part of the infrastructure: rats, dead dogs, and head lice all but crowd out the people.
I saw Lynne Ramsey's later film MORVERN CALLAR and thought it was the biggest waste of celluloid it had been my displeasure to see so I wasn't expecting anything better with RATCATCHER However I was surprised by Ramsey's feature length debut .
I can't believe that comparisons have been made between this film and Kes: Ratcatcher has none of the charm of Kes and Lynne Ramsay did not convince me that she understands pre-teenage boys at all.
There are ever present in some form or another and Ratcatcher served as Lynne Ramsay's directional debut.In a rough housing estate in Glasgow in the 1970s James Gillespie (William Eadie) is a 12-year-old boy who accidentally kills another boy during a fight.
Despite his guilt James hopes his family can move to a new housing estate and way from the urban decay and poverty of his home area as rubbish builds up on the street.
During the course of the film James befriends an older girl, Margaret (Leanne Mullen), who is used as a sex toy for a gang of local thugs, sees the anti-social behaviour and social deprivation of the area.Ratcatcher is certainly a grim film as we see the world of urban poverty, whilst Ramsay also adds some artistic flashes.
There are obvious themes about a young boy coming-of-age, losing his innocents in a number of ways, his sexual awakening and wider themes about urban decay, social commentary about ignored estates and how authority is distrusted as we see it through a child's eyes.There are many story lines that could easily have worked as their own films, whether it is a whole story of a young boy trying to hide what he did whilst also struggling alone with his guilt, or a film about why Margaret is abused and the impact on the girl or even seeing more through the boy's eyes.Ratcatcher is a very well-acted film with the young cast and Ramsay does not shy away from the more controversial aspects of the film.
But there is a sequence with a mouse floating when tied to a balloon which was really out of place.Ratcatcher is a solid debut film from Ramsay, but it is a film that is lacking a real story or drive.
It was the most personal film I had ever seen - I grew up in Glasgow, I was the same age as the protagonist when the dustbin men went on strike, I climbed among the same mountains of rubbish bags, I could see that canal from my living-room window, I played on the foundations of a new estate being built near my home on the way back from school, and my first love was an older neighbour.
When the film finished, I was speechless; I felt like Lynne Ramsay had stolen my soul.
I would probably never want to set foot in Scotland if the only view I ever saw of it were in films like this one and those of Ken Loach.
This film tells a compelling story and has a deliberately ambiguous ending that could be interpreted in one of two ways, one upbeat and positive, one bleak and depressing.
Ratcatcher, a tragic but touching tale of a young Glaswegian boy's coming of age and increased alienation from the society to which he belongs, shows its director's roots as a photographer (that is, Ramsay trained in photography) all too obviously, in its strikingly impressive and poetic metaphors and symbolic, seemingly irrelevant shots of inanimate objects.
I'd just like to be safe: if you haven't seen the film, I'd rather you didn't read this in case I spoil something for you.Ratcatcher, a tragic but touching tale of a young Glaswegian boy's coming of age and increased alienation from the society to which he belongs, shows its director's roots as a photographer (that is, Ramsay trained in photography) all too obviously, in its strikingly impressive and poetic metaphors and symbolic, seemingly irrelevant shots of inanimate objects.
I thought the film was an excellent contrast of the beautiful and horrific, and the perverted life of its young protagonist, who has the typical naivity of a child, but has been forced to grow up prematurely after his friend is accidentally drowned in the local canal by his hand.
I thought the film was an excellent contrast of the beautiful and horrific, and the perverted life of its young protagonist, who has the typical naivity of a child, but has been forced to grow up prematurely after his friend is accidentally drowned in the local canal by his hand.
The curtains suggest the image of a body bag, something the boy will eventually need when he goes outside moments later and drowns in a filth-infested pond.The idea of innocence mired in poverty is the theme of Ratcatcher, one of the most amazing debut films I have seen.
With this one film, Lynne Ramsay has given me images that I will never forget.
Like many great films, Ratcatcher redefines its genre.
There are shots here that are too rich for words, but are so perfect, so lyrical, I wanted to wallpaper my house with them.With this one film, it's clear as the yellow corn fields that she depicts so brilliantly, that Lynne Ramsay is a director to be reckoned with.
If that time in my life were to flash before me in some dream-like, cinematic montage, it would undoubtedly include moments not unlike many I saw in Ratcatcher.
But despite many shared parallels, RATCATCHER is much less a feel-good, you-go-boy movie, more an extremely sensitive, sometimes brutally realistic portrayal of a lad with a secret and how he ultimately comes to terms with it.
It's a deeper, more emotionally complex film, blessed with a languid tempo and a plethora of symbolic images sure to inspire rumination for weeks to come.Twelve-year-old James (William Eadie) is living in a Glasgow slum during a months-long garbage strike.
He tumbles through the big open field before them, takes a whiz in a brand-new toilet, and absorbed in revelry, kicks a can all the way home.Driven purely by images and emotional content, RATCATCHER is an auspicious debut by Glaswegian writer/director Lynne Ramsay, whose sensitive eye reminds us how truly excruciating childhood's tortures can be.
What is intriguing about Lynne Ramsay's debut film is how it initially positions us from Ryan's perspective, presenting James as the seeming bully, before asking us to consider his personal struggle for redemption.
After watching my third Lynne Ramsay film, I really enjoy her minimalist style (though it can make it harder to follow), and she just has amazing endings.
Scottish screenwriter and director Lynne Ramsay's feature film debut which she wrote, was shot in Glasgow, Scotland and is a UK-France co-production.
It tells the story about twelve-year old James who lives with his father, mother and two sisters in a poor neighborhood in Glasgow 1973 where the working class is influenced by a garbage streak that over-floods the streets with trash, rats and misfortune.
These scenes are effectively filmed to give testament to James' desires for freedom and a better life, desires that his fate will prevent.I give the movie credit for style--the colors and music help with providing emotional content for the episodes. |
tt0086112 | The Pirates of Penzance | Act I
On the coast of Cornwall, at the time of Queen Victoria's reign, Frederic celebrates the completion of his twenty-first year and the end of his apprenticeship to a gentlemanly band of pirates ("Pour, oh pour the pirate sherry"). The pirates' maid of all work, Ruth, appears and reveals that, as Frederic's nursemaid long ago, she made a mistake "through being hard of hearing": Mishearing Frederic's father's instructions, she apprenticed him to a pirate, instead of to a ship's pilot ("When Frederic was a little lad").
Frederic has never seen any woman other than Ruth, and he believes her to be beautiful. The pirates know better and suggest that Frederic take Ruth with him when he returns to civilisation. Frederic announces that, although it pains him, so strong is his sense of duty that, once free from his apprenticeship, he will be forced to devote himself to the pirates' extermination. He also points out that they are not successful pirates: since they are all orphans, they allow their prey to go free if they too are orphans. Frederic notes that word of this has got about, so captured ships' companies routinely claim to be orphans. Frederic invites the pirates to give up piracy and go with him, so that he need not destroy them, but the Pirate King says that, compared with respectability, piracy is comparatively honest ("Oh! better far to live and die"). The pirates depart, leaving Frederic and Ruth. Frederic sees a group of beautiful young girls approaching the pirate lair, and realises that Ruth misled him about her appearance ("Oh false one! You have deceived me!"). Sending Ruth away, Frederic hides before the girls arrive.
The girls burst exuberantly upon the secluded spot ("Climbing over rocky mountain"). Frederic reveals himself ("Stop, ladies, pray!") and appeals to them to help him reform ("Oh! is there not one maiden breast?"). One of them, Mabel, responds to his plea, chiding her sisters for their lack of charity ("Oh sisters deaf to pity's name for shame!"). She offers Frederic her pity ("Poor wand'ring one"), and the two quickly fall in love. The other girls discuss whether to eavesdrop or to leave the new couple alone ("What ought we to do?"), deciding to "talk about the weather," although they steal glances at the affectionate couple ("How beautifully blue the sky").
Frederic warns the girls about the pirates ("Stay, we must not lose our senses"), but before they can flee, the pirates return and capture all the girls, intending to marry them ("Here's a first rate opportunity"). Mabel warns the pirates that the girls' father is a Major-General ("Hold, monsters!"), who soon arrives and introduces himself ("I am the very model of a modern Major-General"). He appeals to the pirates not to take his daughters, leaving him to face his old age alone. Having heard of the famous Pirates of Penzance, he pretends that he is an orphan to elicit their sympathy ("Oh, men of dark and dismal fate"). The soft-hearted pirates release the girls ("Hail, Poetry!"), making Major-General Stanley and his daughters honorary members of their band ("Pray observe the magnanimity").
Act II
The Major-General sits in a ruined chapel on his estate, surrounded by his daughters. His conscience is tortured by the lie that he told the pirates, and the girls attempt to console him ("Oh dry the glist'ning tear"). The Sergeant of Police and his corps arrive to announce their readiness to arrest the pirates ("When the foeman bares his steel"). The girls loudly express their admiration of the police for facing likely slaughter at the hands of fierce and merciless foes. The police are unnerved by this but finally leave.
Left alone, Frederic, who is to lead the police, reflects on his opportunity to atone for a life of piracy ("Now for the pirate's lair"), at which point he encounters Ruth and the Pirate King. They have realised that Frederic's apprenticeship was worded so as to bind him to them until his twenty-first birthday – and, because that birthday happens to be on the 29th of February (in a leap year), it means that technically only five birthdays have passed ("When you had left our pirate fold"), and he will not reach his twenty-first birthday until he is in his eighties. Frederic is convinced by this logic and agrees to rejoin the pirates. He then sees it as his duty to inform the Pirate King of the Major-General's deception. The outraged outlaw declares that the pirates' "revenge will be swift and terrible" ("Away, away, my heart's on fire").
Frederic meets Mabel ("All is prepared"), and she pleads with him to stay ("Stay Frederic, stay"), but he feels bound by his duty to the pirates until his 21st birthday – in 1940. They agree to be faithful to each other until then, though to Mabel "It seems so long" ("Oh here is love and here is truth"); Frederic departs. Mabel steels herself ("No, I'll be brave") and tells the police that they must go alone to face the pirates. They muse that an outlaw might be just like any other man, and it is a shame to deprive him of "that liberty which is so dear to all" ("When a felon's not engaged in his employment"). The police hide on hearing the approach of the pirates ("A rollicking band of pirates we"), who have stolen onto the estate, intending to avenge themselves for the Major-General's lie ("With cat-like tread").
Just then, Major-General Stanley appears, sleepless with guilt, and the pirates also hide ("Hush, hush! not a word"), while the Major-General listens to the soothing breeze ("Sighing softly to the river"). The girls come looking for him ("Now what is this and what is that"). The pirates leap to the attack, and the police rush to the defence; but the police are easily defeated, and the Pirate King urges the captured Major-General to prepare for death. The Sergeant has one stratagem left: he demands that the pirates yield "in Queen Victoria's name"; the pirates, overcome with loyalty to their Queen, do so. Ruth appears and reveals that the pirates are "all noblemen who have gone wrong". The Major-General is impressed by this and all is forgiven. Frederic and Mabel are reunited, and the Major-General is happy to marry his daughters to the noble pirates after all. | comedy, action | train | wikipedia | History records that Gilbert and Sullivan were personally often at odds when producing their great comic operettas - no doubt that, if they are still monitoring this, they are surprised to find both their humour and their music - despite its limitations in both time and location - still has a great appeal to audiences throughout much of the world.
This film is a movie version of a 100th anniversary Broadway stage production of this operetta in New York.
They also make it clear that this is a very fine production; and it would be a serious omission if I did not re-emphasise it is almost a classical example of the way in which a major stage production should be presented on film, both to retain the best of the original production and to as fully as possible exploit the more fluid form of presentation that is possible on the screen.To your reviewer who reports fears about wearing out her taped version, I would recommend doing what I have done and converting this to a VCD disk that she can play, almost for ever, on her DVD player.
We remain thankful that minority tastes can still be satisfied without infringing on the perogatives of the majority, and that in the process of doing so the film will be seen by many who initially have little sympathy with the production, but who find that - as with so many of us in the older generation - they have come to appreciate both its music and its humour..
I recently had the task, for a organization's class, to assemble various performances of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta "The Pirates of Penzance".
There are a few small issues, such as the fudging of Linda Ronstadt's and Rex Smith's vocal parts (It is clear, whenever Smith sings, that lots of electronic enhancement is being used to bring his voice into the same universe with the other more capable singers, but still he has right delivery and it works well; for Ronstadt, she does very well, but for "Poor Wandering One" her part has been transposed down a bit, probably so that she can manage the highest notes), and the overdubbing of a couple other performer's singing by better singers, but overall the dancing and singing is as good as any I have seen.The staging is deliberately campy, somewhere between traditional stagecraft and a movie set, and it adds extra charm to the proceedings.
There has been some carping about Angela Lansbury's singing, but what she does is in line with the requirements of the role, and is in fact typical of other performances of Ruth's character (I recall the director, during casting of the performance I was in, saying of Ruth, "we don't need a GOOD singer, only a FUNNY singer).A quick review of the offerings of Pirates on Amazon reveals that the only DVD version of this cast is taken from an outdoor staging in New York (and without Lansbury).
The cast is an absolute joy, especially Kevin Kline as the Pirate King.
Tony Azito absolutely cracks me up as the Chief of Police, those "undaunted men in blue" make me laugh every time.The one person that everyone seems to forget, however, is the one whose performance I enjoyed even more than Kline's -- and that's saying something.
This fantastical, comedic, interpretation of the wonderful Gilbert and Sullivan musical updates the music, the humor, and performance, while actually enhancing the theatrical quality of the original play and leaving the plot, characters, and script largely intact.
The story is about Frederick (Rex Smith), a young man who has just left his indenture under the flamboyant, somewhat unsuccessful and soft-hearted 'Pirate King' (Kline) and his band of fairly inoffensive ruffians.
I first saw this film version of THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE in a movie theater in Dayton, OH, the night it premiered.
I don't have time or space to single them out and discuss my thoughts on each actor, but if you are either a G&S fan, a general musical theatre fan, or fans of anyone in the cast, then I encourage you to rent or buy this wonderful film!!.
I first saw this incarnation of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" at the age of 10, but just recently saw it again when my school decided to perform it for our annual spring musical.
This is a wonderful adaptation of a great operetta, and becomes even better with the experience of performing it.Fans of Kevin Kline rejoice!
He delivers his lines with precision and, along with David Hatton (Samuel), adds a much needed low bass-baritone to Rex Smith(Frederic) and the rest of the pirates' tenor in the pirate tunes.The late Tony Azito(Police Sergeant)'s performance is literally unbelievable, as he looks more like a man made out of rubber rather than flesh and bone.
The cast has such fun with this it is hard not to be drawn into it.All-in-all, "The Pirates of Penzance" is a modern update that loses neither the spirit nor the substance of Gilbert and Sullivan's original.
This film version of the Broadway production proves that Linda Ronstadt can do almost anything musically.
(I wish she'd do more Gilbert and Sullivan.) While Kevin Kline is not a favorite, Rex Smith is charming.
Angela Lansbury plays a role very different from Jessica Fletcher and shows great understanding of British musical comedy.
While it is enough just to enjoy the film, the viewer might also want to think about the commentary on duty, the pull between the ethics of obedience to duty and the morality of obedience to conscience.A much lighter version of this material is available in The Pirate Movie, starring Kristy McNichol.
The four main characters in the movie, Frederic (Rex Smith), Mabel (Linda Rondstadt), The Pirate King (Kevin Kline) and Ruth (Angela Lansbury) make this Gilbert and Sullivan production come alive with modern enthusiasm and a clever contemporary feel.
Nice Starter Kit. If you don't know anything about The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan and are hesitant to watch it because of the "classic" and "operetta" labeling, please let me clarify a few things.
Stage veterans like George Rose (Major General), Kevin Kline (Pirate King), Tony Azito (Police Sergeant) feed on the audience's laughter, and their characters truly come alive on-stage.
What makes this film worth seeing is the brilliant acting by Kevin Kline as the pirate captain, but all the actors are good.
However, it is rendered with tongue in cheek and wonderful irony all the way, and although the constant invasions of tiresome group ballet performances with hysterical song gets tiresome for their desperate inaninity, the whole thing is crowned by a terrific finale, where the gymnastically virtuoso pirates and tiresome policemen's army, all fighting with each other, invade a theatre with a true Gilbert & Sullivan performance of "H.M.S.Pinafore", which raises this film considerably to a level of admirability - but you would let it rest a long time before you would want to see it again..
I saw the movie version of "Pirates Of Penzance" again six years after my first viewing;I have to admit it wasn't quite as good as I remembered.
It falters again for several minutes while Kline, Stevens, and Lansbury struggle gamely with the "Leap Year" birthday number (it just isn't all that funny,guys); and the gimmick of staging the big fight between the cops and the pirates through an community theater staging of "HMS Pinafore" is way too cutesy and self-referential.
But man, that scene where the pirates are parading through the commons singing "WITH CAT-LIKE TREAD, WE HARDLY MAKE A SOUND" at the top of their lungs...it makes me forgive the movie any of its obvious flaws.
Kevin Kline was born to play the "Pirate King" and the movie is worth watching for his (and the Major General's) performance alone.
The stage version that is now available on DVD showed all the hard work it takes to put on this type of production, all the dancing is great.
I have seen this play in the theater along with many other Gilbert and Sullivan productions and they are always a lot of fun no matter how much poetic license the artists take along the way.
If you just sit back and enjoy the movie, Gilbert, Sullivan, Papp et al will get things past you that would, if less skillfully done, make you say "huh?".The casting is great.
Ranging from the accusatory "Oh False One You Have Deceived Me" to the majestic "Hail Poetry" to the lively "Come Friends Who Plow The Sea", the songs have as much life as the characters who sing them.Although not the complete operetta, "Pirates" fans won't be disappointed with this movie.
While still, mysteriously, overlooked by film and film musical lovers alike, "Pirates" is a definite smash and even on repeated viewing continues to delight.This was a ready-made movie of sorts, a for-the-cameras version of a Broadway production that originated at the NY Shakespeare Festival.
Considering its roots, the film is remarkably un-stagey.(It didn't play long in theatres, and took a decade just to come to DVD.)The libretto for the film, as well as the stage production (from which, unlike the movie, there is a soundtrack available for purchase), features lyrics and songs lifted from other G&S works, which intensify Gilbert's penchant for self-ridicule.
As they are licensed for use only by the G&S estate, these supplements make this movie somewhat of a rarity among "Pirates" incarnations.The players are stellar- yes, Kevin Kline is outstanding, Tony Azito is the other real standout.
Kevin Kline is at his manic stage ( an act he repeated in a Fish Called Wanda) and Rex Smith as Frederick is brilliant especially his facial expressions when Mabel (Linda Rondstat) keeps on singing and he is trying to kiss her.
This film is a lot of fun, very like the operetta, and much better than a production that was made at the same time as this, in relation to the latter while Keith Michell and the music were brilliant and the dialogue witty as ever the whole production seemed amateurish and under-rehearsed and some sluggish pacing undermine what could have been a witty and charming performance.
This version, while far from flawless, is far better.The Pirates of Penzanze has a fun and charming story and some of the zaniest characters ever in an operetta(cue Major General Stanley), also the music is outstanding with some of the wittiest and literate lyrics you'll find anywhere.
My other problem is Paradox, it was a definite improvement over that of the other production I spoke of, and I liked the staging and acting but I think the conducting was too fast and although I wasn't sure whether it was the performers enjoying themselves or whether they were trying to get it over with but the whole number seemed rushed through.
The standouts however are Kevin Kline who plays Pirate King with such a voluptuous swagger -and he seems to be enjoying himself immensely- that you warm to him immediately and George Rose who is everything Major General Stanley should be.
I saw the Kevin Kline-Linda Ronstadt-Rex Smith Pirates of Penzance on Broadway and loved it.
It is in fact a filmed stage show rather than the movie which does feature Angela Lansbury.
But did anyone think they could sing and dance, too?In 1983, Wilford Leach directed Gilbert and Sullivan's masterpiece The Pirates of Penzance.
But, with all of this cast aside, Frederic decides to venture ashore where he falls head over heels for the lovely Mabel (Linda Ronstadt), daughter to Major General Stanley (George Rose).
It's a perfect fit.The Pirates of Penzance is one of my favorite musicals and this movie does that operetta much needed justice.
They are also quite beautiful, including some very romantic love songs, although the duet includes Linda Rondstadt, who looks a lot like Ms Piggy in this film.
Classical Gas. Gilbert and Sullivan purists may find a lot to quibble over in this freewheeling adaptation of the classic operetta, "The Pirates of Penzance," but the end result is a pleasing concoction of deliberately hammy acting married to Popeye gags and great music.After 13 years of being indentured to the semi-ruthless Pirates of Penzance, 21-year-old Frederic is given his freedom.
There are some awkward reaction shots, and the signature number "I Am The Very Model Of A Modern Major-General" as performed by George Rose is grievously truncated for some reason, but the overall effect is so enjoyable it's like complaining about ants at a sunny summer picnic.A lot of attention in the early 1980s (not regarding the film, which slipped under everyone's radars, but the earlier Broadway show) was given to pop singer Linda Ronstadt's turn as Mabel.
She does a good job singing, but with all due respect to Mr. Kline, the best performance may well be by the unjustly-forgotten Rex Smith as Frederic, who carries more of the story and does a fine job sending up his character's essential credulity.
Anyone who is a Gilbert and Sullivan Fan will undoubtedly love this version of the Pirates of Penzance.
It is amazing to listen to the performers tackle the high tempo lyrics as they bounce to the quick pace of the songs yet, there are many romantic melodies as well.Its great to hear Rex Reed add his innocent voice to the role of Frederick.
Kevin Kline is an excellent and talented choice as the Pirate King and Angela Lansbury adds her matronly talent as Ruth.
Additionally, George Rose was excellently cast and performs the very comedic yet intellectual role of the Major General.The sets are simple but, added charm and atmosphere to the movie.
Rex Smith does a brilliant Elvis impersonation, Angela Lansbury is perfect as Ruth, Linda Ronstadt has the *most* exquisite voice, I could go on and on and on.Gilbert & Sullivan operettas are never staged "faithfully", and this one remains true to that tradition.
Sprawling and magical adaptation of the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta with Kline, Rose, Smith and Ronstadt beautifully reprising their Broadway roles.
Who could be better in that role?Even though they have added songs from other Gilbert and Sullivan plays, this is a wonderful movie.
It is all very clever and the rapid delivery of George Rose is fantastic-but I could not understand all of it.When the whole chorus sing those rapid passages -forget it!!I like the look of this movie and the performances are more than adequate - saying that,I just do not like Linda Ronstadt (in this or anything she does - I don't know why!) I enjoyed the way the sets look like a stage production.
Most of the leads, such as Linda Ronstadt, Kevin Kline, Rex Smith, Tony Azito, and the unfortunate George Rose are in their roles here.
Even without seeing any other, however, I'm convinced that the Rex Smith/Linda Ronstadt/Kevin Kline version must be among the best.Beautiful melodies have an edge in lending themselves to successful adaptations to a different musical form, but there's a limit.
Singing aside, her screen personality fit perfectly with that of Mabel.To people who love this adaptation of Pirates, Kevin Kline is often the reason why they do.
Kevin Kline as the Pirate King is a classic example of an actor who could take on everything from dramatic movie roles to the silly role he plays here.
Linda Ronstadt, of all people, plays the beautiful Edwardian heroine Mabel, daughter of the Major General Stanley (George Rose).
Good looking and slim Rex Smith sings the tenor role of Frederic, the pirate who captures Mabel's heart.
This is a delightful treat for fans of Gilbert and Sullivan, but it would not have been an attention grabber if not for the participation of Linda Ronstadt, Kevin Kline and Angela Lansbury..
112 minutes.NOTES: Based on the 1879 Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, this is a movie record of Joseph Papp's 1982 Broadway revival, filmed in England.
They would have done better to introduce the doctor of divinity — a glaring omission from Gilbert's original cast list — as a singing and dancing member of the chorus — and to have retained the whole of the "Policeman's Lot" song by dubbing in a stronger singing voice for the energetic Mr. Azito.Also it wasn't a wise idea to cut General Stanley's dialogue — he has little enough to do in the Second Act as it is without further cuts, and George Rose is such a terrific performer, the more of him we see, the better we like the film.As it is, Act One is such a more pleasurable experience than Act Two — I laughed till I cried — that Act Two comes across as distinctly anticlimactic.
And the same can be said for Kevin Kline's dashing pirate king (as well, of course, of Rose's Major Stanley).
This delightful, deliberately stagy adaptation of the Broadway Pirates of Penzance is a treat both for G&S fans (I am one) and anyone who is new to their particular combination of great music and zany humor.I saw this production in London in the early 80s, and it remains my favorite version of any G&S opera, and one of the most enjoyable evenings I've ever spent in a theater.
They have nothing to do with the original play or the Broadway version, but they help bring the film to a joyous end.(When Pirate King Kline shouted "SIT" to the police dogs - and all the policemen immediately sat on the ground - I was wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.) One of the best "feel-good" movies you are ever likely to watch..
Comical cops pop in to fight the pirates for a climactic battle scene that is never bloody, and like all good old fashioned musical comedy or operetta, everything turns out all right.
After seeing this movie, I fell in love with Kevin Kline and his sense of humor. |
tt4361050 | Ouija: Origin of Evil | Set in 1967 Los Angeles, a widow named Alice Zander works out of her suburban home as a spiritual medium, accompanied by her daughters, 15-year-old Paulina "Lina" and 9-year old Doris; although they stage their seances, Alice's real intent is to help people move on. The family is still reeling over the recent death of Roger, Alice's husband and the kids' father. After Lina suggests that Alice incorporate a Ouija board into her readings, Alice does so, and unknowingly contacts a spirit named Marcus that begins to possess Doris. This is breaking one of the three rules: never play alone, never play in a graveyard, and always say goodbye.
Alice receives a foreclosure note, meaning they may lose their house. Doris contacts the board for help, believing she is communicating with her dead father, and the spirit leads her to a secret compartment behind the basement wall containing a pouch of cash. Doris, breaking another of the three rules, forgets to say goodbye to the spirits. When she gives the money to her mother, the family has a Ouija session, believing they can contact Roger. When the board answers a question only Roger would know the answer to, a thrilled Alice begins believing that they are in contact with her dead husband.
Soon, Doris becomes possessed by a shadowy spirit. Lina, who is becoming disturbed by the changes in her sister, finds papers written by Doris in fluent Polish, a language she does not know, and brings them to Father Tom to translate. Troubled, Father Tom visits them for a Ouija session under the pretense of contacting his dead wife Gloria. Although the session appears to be successful, Father Tom later explains to Alice and Lina that Doris did not contact Gloria. Instead, for every question he asked, she read his thoughts and repeated the answers he was thinking in his mind. He reveals that the pages are entries written by a Polish immigrant named Marcus, who was taken captive during World War II by a sadistic doctor who conducted experiments on him and other captives inside the house's basement. These spirits knew answers that only Roger would know because they have been watching the family since the day they moved in.
Meanwhile, Doris kills Lina's boyfriend Mikey and she hangs his body. Upon seeing this, Father Tom, Alice, and Lina burn the Ouija board downstairs. When Father Tom discovers skeletal remains in the basement wall, they realize that they have been using the Ouija board in a graveyard all this time thus breaking the third rule. Father Tom finds the secret room where the experiments were conducted, and is possessed by the spirits. He attacks Alice and Lina, but momentarily seizes clarity, only to be killed by Doris. Alice is captured, while Roger's spirit carries an unconscious Lina to her bed. Lina wakes up and recalls an earlier moment where her doll's mouth was stitched by her father's spirit "to shut out the voices", realizing that she must sew Doris' mouth shut to quiet the spirits' voices and stop the evil. During the struggle, she successfully sews Doris' mouth shut and Doris dies, reuniting with her father. After this, Lina is temporarily possessed and stabs Alice. While dying, Alice sees Roger and Doris together, and happily joins them, leaving behind a sobbing Lina.
Two months later, Lina remains committed in a mental hospital for the suspected murder of her mother. She is interviewed by a doctor and is unable to say what happened to Doris' body, but states that she, Lina, will never be alone again. She tries summoning her sister inside her cell and the doctor watches, unbeknownst that the possessed Doris skitters across the ceiling towards him. In a post-credits scene set in 2013, a now elderly Lina remains in the asylum and receives a visit from someone claiming to be her niece.
=== Alternative Ending ===
In an alternative ending featured in the Blu-Ray, after Lina stabs Alice, she remains possessed as she places Doris in the way she was found in the first film, and she covers that part of the basement with rocks. Later that night, police and paramedics arrive, in which an investigator tells Lina that her story doesn't make sense, and asks what happened to Doris, which Lina responds to "she's in the dark," and says that if she continues to be a good sister, Doris will keep her promise. She is later seen to be taken to a mental hospital, and picks up in the part where she tries to contact Doris. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0108526 | We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story | The film opens with a trio of young bluebirds harassing their youngest sibling, Buster (Blaze Berdahl). As Buster leaves his family, he meets an intelligent orange T. rex named Rex (John Goodman) playing golf. He explains to Buster that he was once a ravaging dinosaur, and proceeds to tell his personal story.
In prehistoric times, Rex was a savage, frightening creature who terrorized smaller dinosaurs. But one night, he encounters a strange spacecraft and a small green alien-like creature named Vorb (Jay Leno). Vorb captures Rex and feeds him "Brain Grain", a special breakfast cereal that vastly increases Rex's intelligence. Rex is given his name and introduced to other dinosaurs that have been fed Brain Grain: A green Parasaurolophus named Dweeb (Charles Fleischer), a blue Triceratops named Woog (Rene LeVant), and a purple Pteranodon named Elsa (Felicity Kendal). They soon meet Captain Neweyes (Walter Cronkite), the inventor of Brain Grain and pilot of the spacecraft, who reveals his goal of allowing the children of the present time to see real dinosaurs, fulfilling their biggest wishes. He plans to take them to Dr. Julia Bleeb (Julia Child), who will guide them to the Museum of Natural History in New York City. He also warns them to avoid Professor Screweyes (Kenneth Mars), his insane brother.
Neweyes drops the dinosaurs off at the East River in 1993, but they fail to meet with Dr. Bleeb. Instead, they meet a young boy named Louie (Joey Shea), who plans on running away to join the circus. Louie agrees to help the dinosaurs. Louie soon encounters a girl named Cecilia, who is miserable with her life because of her neglectful parents. She agrees to run away with Louie and help the dinosaurs.
To prevent mass panic, Louie decides that the dinosaurs need to stay hidden during their journey to the Natural History Museum. He disguises them as floats in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the parade, Rex hears all the children wishing to see real dinosaurs, so he starts to sing "Roll Back the Rock (To the Dawn of Time)" (the movie's theme song). When he sees the Apatosaurus balloon coming out in the parade however, Rex mistakes it for being real and hand shakes it too tight with his claws, causing its air sealer to pop open. The balloon runs out of air and falls on the dinosaurs, who are otherwise unharmed. When the audience realizes that live dinosaurs are among them, they fly into a panic. The local authorities are called in to stop the dinosaurs.
As the dinosaurs lose the police, Louie and Cecilia venture to Central Park, where Professor Screweyes is running his "Eccentric Circus". Unaware of Screweyes' sinister nature, the children sign a contract to perform in his circus troupe. The dinosaurs arrive and try to prevent this, but they are too late. Screweyes, upon meeting the dinosaurs, explains that he delights in scaring people and believes that the dinosaurs would make a great addition to his circus. He then reveals his very own "Brain Drain", pills that are the polar opposite of his brother's Brain Grain. He demonstrates the Brain Drain on the two children, devolving them into chimpanzees; however, he offers the dinosaurs a deal: if they consume the pills and join his circus, he would destroy the contract and release Louie and Cecilia. Reluctantly and sadly, the dinosaurs accept the offer.
As the kids awake the next morning, they are greeted by a circus clown named Stubbs (Martin Short). Upon seeing the dinosaurs returned to their natural savage states, Louie and Cecilia, with the help of Stubbs, plan to sneak into the night's show and save the dinosaurs. Professor Screweyes claims he can control the now-savage Rex, and proceeds to hypnotize him. Everyone watching the show gets frightened during the performance, and many run away. However, a crow accidentally activates flare lights, breaking Rex out of the trance. The savage Rex realizes he has been tricked, becomes enraged and tries to attack Screweyes. However, Louie steps in and desperately tells Rex that killing Screweyes will not be worth it; these impassioned pleas serve to return the dinosaurs to their kind and friendly natures. Just then, Captain Neweyes arrives in his spacecraft and congratulates Louie and Cecilia, who proceed to kiss in front of a whole crowd of people. Stubbs announces his resignation from Screweyes' employ. Neweyes, Louie, Cecilia and the dinosaurs board the aircraft, leaving Screweyes to be swarmed upon by the crows. When the crows take off, all that is left of Screweyes is his fake eye, in which one of the crows takes and flies off with.
The dinosaurs spend the rest of their days in the Museum of Natural History, allowing children to see live dinosaurs, fulfilling their wishes. Meanwhile, Louie and Cecilia reconcile with their respective parents, and the two become a couple.
Rex returns Buster to his family before returning to the Museum of National History, humming the movie's theme song to himself. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | The basic plot: Four dinosaurs (made more intelligent by a kindly scientist) are given the chance to delight children by coming into the future to live with Dr. Bleeb at the Museum of Natural History.Why it works: Kids love dinosaurs (especially big cuddly talking ones that sound like John Goodman), kindly scientists, time travel, and (when given the chance) Natural History.The animation is good quality, the basic premise is fun, the music (with a surprise by Thomas Dolby) is good and well placed (no one bursting into an annoying song every 30 seconds) and the voice talents are wonderful, featuring well known actors such as Martin Short and Rhea Perlman, voices we know from elsewhere--Walter Cronkite and Julia Child, and veteran Voicers Yeardley Smith (the unsinkable Lisa Simpson) and the remarkable Charles Fleischer (Roger Rabbit).Some characters needed a little more character...a little more explanation (such as Professor Screweyes--who went mad and turned evil because he lost his eye--??).
Jurrasic Park, The Land Before Time, (the original, not the crappy umpteen sequels), and We're Back especially were my favorite movies.Now when I look at it again, I see that the movie's plot made no sense, the characters were stereotypical, and that it was sappy at the end.But as a kid, I didn't care.
And somehow in all the critic reviews and hype and over analyzation of movies in general, I forgot what it was like to watch a movie as a kid and to just enjoy it regardless of plot and characters.I get the same feeling from watching old Saturday morning cartoons.
Kids will definitely love it and won't mind the flaws, and the adults can guess the actor behind each character and admire the subliminal messaging of the film.
Sure this film isn't perfect, and it is not as good as a dinosaur movie such as Land Before Time, but it is good fun.
well I can't remember much of this film but saying it was good movie with some corny music and silly things but its still fun to watch the story is about Dinosaur who was became a human type dinosaur after meet eating beast and meets a boy who has problens in his life and helps him suit them out and they became best friends but are taken away by a evil mad person who trys to scare people and turns the dinosaur back into a real dinosaur and the boy turns his friend back to normal this story is charming really good to watch all in all its not the greatest Animation ever made because its a little bit short but its still good to watch so if are looking for rare this is one of them you must find I am not sure if it is on DVD we will so find out.I give this movie a 6.6 out of 10 just because its not awful but great as well its alright to me..
this was a personal favorite of mine when i was young, it had everything that was great with 90's kids movies...
lovable dinosaurs, cute kids, an eccentric villain, and a few great songs (and not the typical little mermaid/beauty and the beast type songs, but ones that are atually entertaining)!
In this case "We're Back a Dinosaur Story" succeeds where other movies; which tried to jump on the Jurassic Pack media bandwagon, like the Carnosaur (goar) series, failed..
First of all, this animation movie was great, I'm having fun while watching it.
Third, in this film,making the dinosaurs good to humans was excellent.
I love the Movie We're back!a dinosaur's story!
I'm a child at heart, so I enjoy this movie every time I watch it, even now when I'm a teenager.
Just because kids love dinosaurs doesn't mean you can just slap together any old story and show it to the children.
What you find in this film could easily be substituted by a more ideal episode of PBS's Dragon Tales.The selling point (which also serves as the most surprising name on the project) is executive producer Steven Spielberg, who of course made the other dinosaur movie released in 1993 that deserves no introduction.
Our story revolves around an orange Tyrannosaurus Rex named Rex (voiced by John Goodman) and his dinosaur friends, who run into Louie (Joe Shea) when they are transported in time to present day New York City.
That's all well and good, until an evil circus owner (Martin Short) reveals his plans to kidnap the kids, leaving the dinosaurs as their only source of rescue.The plot alone makes this a very strange movie.
I love how he progresses in his character with the help of the dinosaurs (especially Rex) to not only get his wish for a friend but also find there is more to life than being a "tough guy" because the "original tough guy" chose the life of love and heart instead of teeth and claws.
Thinking of it that way, one cannot belittle that moment in the plot by saying this movie doesn't have a lot of heart.
They looked a lot like mushy balloons to me and as an artist and fan of animation I would have loved to see a film with a more realistic and anatomically substantial set of lovable, cuddly dinosaurs.
I would have loved to see Rex looking more like a friendly version of Sharptooth because I've always found these animals beautiful just the way they are.
As a child I didn't understand Screweyes was a villain because he manipulated the kids and the dinosaurs.
Yes I know he IS evil and shows this later in the film but the first thing you get from the movie as proof of his evilness is that he runs a scary circus and prefers horror to comedy.
Even Rex as a monster couldn't find a reason to eat the poor guy.Overall I love this movie.
Sometimes watching the darker animated films from that time is good for kids.
The time machine operator Captain Neweyes (wisely voiced by Walter Cronkite) informs the dinos that he has chosen them to be sent to the present day to fulfill kids wishes.
Thats when they are dropped off in New York City.Yes, I found this plot a bit strange (it's based on a children's book) but it was fun enough to enjoy.
This film has nicely done animation, the character drawings are good and James Horner's score is pleasant to listen to.
The dinosaurs were well casted with likings of John Goodman (Rex), Charles Fleischer (Dweeb), Rene LeVant (Woog) and Felicity Kendal (Elsa).
is colorful, silly and has friendly dinosaurs, things children like.
It may not be a masterpiece, but kids are going to enjoy this movie a lot if they can forgive the few scary scenes.
For the first half or so of this movie, we get the usual cartoon buisiness of some cute goofy dinosaurs befriending some annoying kids.
Then the kids get lost in the park and the movie wanders into new and very weird territory.This is when we meet Dr. Screweyes.
Let's make a dinosaur cartoon with an evil circus and nightmare scenes!" Unbelievable.So here comes the Gremlin's lil' rant on parents who think "J.
If kids wrote all of the dinosaur movies ever made, the whole damn running time would be filled with Dinosaurs Eating Things!
"We're Back!" was one of my favorite books as a kid, and I'd already grown beyond the target audience when this movie finally came out; hence the reason it's taken me 22 years to get around to it (having a 5 year-old also makes a difference).
But I do think it's kinda sweet that Spielberg put out another dinosaur movie in '93 better suited to little kids.
After the huge success of Jurassic Park, Amblum Entertainment knew that making an animated movie about talking dinosaurs would certainly be a smash hit.
This is a strange cartoon, and sometimes, for little kids (who this is geared towards), this can be really scary.With the scarce running time of 72 minutes, or 65 without end credits, this flick moves at a brisk speed.
It has to scare the little kids with the evil Dr. Screweyes, a circus ringmaster who has a screw for an eye (hence the name), and fears the dark.
There's much more to the plot too, including a dinosaur circus, which might scare toddlers to death, and an amusing scene where the dinosaurs walk through a parade singing a catchy tune.The animation is quite good in this film, about as good as Disney animation was at the time.
The characters are likable, including the dinosaurs, all voiced by television actors, led by John Goodman as Rex, the T-Rex. The story is strange, involving rival brothers, Captain Neweyes, and Professor Screweyes.
Genre: Dinosaur, animation, New York, time travel, circus.?Main characters: Rex the Tyrannosaurus rex, Elsa the pterodactyl, Dweeb the Parasarolophus, Ooo the Triceratops, a boy called Louis, a girl called Cecilia and Captain New-eyes.
? Actors: John Goodman (Rex), Yeardley Smith (Cecilia), Martin Short (Stubbs the clown), Felicity Kendal (Elsa) etc.?What happens: Four dinosaurs (see above) are fed some "brain grain cereal" and are now cuddly, friendly dinosaurs who are going to be nice to children.
The animation of the dinosaurs when they go cuddly and friendly is a bit floppy and not-so-good, but they look pleasant all the same that way.
:-)Recommended to: People who like good children's animated films, people who like dinosaurs, John Goodman and people who think that circuses aren't always what they seem
Enjoy!
If you thought, "The Land Before Time", was the only animated film with Dinosaurs, guess again.
Because on Thanksgiving Day 1993, there was an animated film called, "We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story".
The film was a box-office bomb and got a lot of negative reviews (Yes, Rober Ebert did a review of the film and he didn't like it).The animation in this film was very sloppy, the story and the plot were lame, I didn't care for any of the character's, and the movie was more of an acid trip.But I did like John Goodman and Walter Cronkite's voice acting and the song, "Roll Back the Rock (To The Dawn Of Time)"."We're Back: A Dinosaur's Story", is a lame animated film that is not worth watching at all.
If you're looking for a good animated film with Dinosaur's in it, watch, "The Land Before Time"..
A Dinosaur's Story is a childhood favorite of many people, but it's not very good at all.
Basically, Dinosaurs come aboard this ship piloted by some weird old fart named Neweyes(which I needed after I watched this movie).
By the way, does it seem weird that out of ALL the wishes of the children in the world, Neweyes grants the wish of bringing Dinosaurs to modern times?
Finally, when the Dinosaurs get to modern times they start singing, dancing and wrecking havoc(basically the kind of thing you might see on a bad LSD trip, I mean where else could you see a T-Rex playing golf and jumping on a balloon of Spider-man?).
They end up in the circus and Neweyes Brother Screweyes(???) makes the kids that have befriended the dinosaurs sign a blank contract.
Dinosaurs are taken back to our time period to fulfill the wishes of little kids in New York City who want to see real dinosaurs, and they are fed this Brain Grain cereal which makes them good-natured and intelligent.
I wouldn't recommend it for little children, so don't take the G-rating as a sign of cutesie children's movie with dinosaurs.
Don't be too fooled by the Alt.title it's still well a kids film,anyway although it's been seen as a G-rated version of Jurassic park I found it very enjoyable not just for kids but well for adults,the animation is well good,the storyline places itself in well,the relationship between Louie & Cecilia is well rather interesting,although my problems are that like many other Don Bluth films it gets a little frightening for the little ones later on(Professor Screweyes Circus),so basically not only this is a good kids film it's also a good film for people that thought "Jurassic Park" was something to pacify dino-fans..
As it is a kid's movie, one shouldn't expect too much.Even so, this "dinosaur's story" is a bit of a curious creation.
Before long, the four dinosaurs--with the names of Rex, Elsa, Dweeb, and Woog--are whisked to modern day New York City where they meet two children: tough-talking (but secretly soft-hearted) Louie and a neglected cutie named Cecilia, both of who are running away from home.
all before arriving at their destination, the Museum of Natural History, where the dinosaurs are to become real-life talking exhibits for many children.The plot, such as it is, is pretty wishy-washy, and the routine execution barely elevates WE'RE BACK above anything but your typical, average kids animated fare.
The four dinosaurs, for instance, are your typical talking animals that, while cuddly and likable, never develop into fully realized personalities, and their supporting co-stars don't get much to do either.Probably the only character who does show any depth is Louie, the freckle-faced street kid.
The voice cast includes some solid performances, too, notably John Goodman as the gruff yet gentle Rex, Walter Cronkite as Captain NewEyes (and yes, he says his trademark "that's the way it is" toward the end), and Martin Short in a cameo as a comic clown.
The musical score by James Horner is beautiful, although at times it does sound like a rehash of many of his other scores (a trait not uncommon with most of the composer's work, it seems).In short, WE'RE BACK is passable fare as a family animated film; it's cute and funny, but that's about it..
With the family friendly dinosaurs and story, it is hard to not see the connection between this film and the classic film, "The Land Before Time".
The difference between the two is that this film has no good qualities, the characters are stupid and boring, and the premise that lacks all logic--and I'm not talking about the cereal that makes the dinosaurs smart, the fact that there is time travel, or the fact that there is a circus dedicated to scaring people.The film opens up with a bird who is being picked on by his siblings and decides to leave the nest.
They learn that Professor New Eyes has chosen them to go to the future so they can make children's wishes come true.With this, the film starts it decline.
This is bad as the writers have spent tons of time basically throwing at the audience that you should like the dinosaurs and the kids and hate Screweyes and the complete opposite sort of happens.The film has two elements to it, dumb and awkward.
You were the guy who starred in timeless masterpieces such as Roseanne and Monsters Inc. Why did you have to appear in a bad kid's movie like this?!
its great i loved it ha cause i love dinosaurs they r the greatest animals but i loved the show cause it wasn't copied from another show and it was a originals ha it has a good storyline and great for little kids (if they like dinosaurs that is) i have a few downs too its not all that great cause of the dinosaurs look a little mutated so i should have had but a 7 but right now is a little late for that yay 4 more lines to go it is great for a fantasy show though warning this might spoil a part for u so if u don't want it to be spoiled don't read on plz near the end is kinda weird cause all they need to do is get dang i forgot what it was so nvm guess its not a spoiler so never mind i loved it and its my opinion and sorry for any missed spelled words if any.
It's one of the weirdest animated movies ever made and that's saying a lot given the kind of movies coming out now.The movie follows four dinosaurs in prehistoric times named Rex, Elsa, Dweeb and Woog (John Goodman, Felicity Kendal, Charles Fleischer and Rene LeVant), who have been living ordinary dinosaur lives until a futuristic ship arrives and gives them a breakfast cereal that makes them very intelligent as well as giving them the ability to talk and think.
However, before they are zapped into a present day New York City, Neweyes warns the dinosaurs to beware of his crazy evil brother Professor Screweyes (Kenneth Mars).
While watching this movie, it became very clear that the animation was scanned into a computer as I saw pixels around the characters quite a few times.
A Dinosaur's Story" is probably one of the poorest examples of an animated movie with Steven Spielberg's involvement.
The film is not horrible per say, but I don't feel it's as strong as any other animated movies he's worked on.
The story is very bizarre and strange, the animation looks a little too pixelated, and, in general, the characters are just underdeveloped.
I feel that for those that want a stronger animated dinosaur movie with Spielberg's involvement, they should instead look at The Land Before Time and leave this film as a fossil.Note: This review was originally written and published May 7, 2017 for Rotoscopers "Indie-Mation Club"..
For a kids movie this film made perfect sense!
This movie has a mixture of fun, dinosaurs, action, fear, laughs, oh and a pretty clever musical number!
The only cautionary warning about this film is that there is a moment in the movie that is dedicated to ghosts, monsters, and really scary stuff to kids.
Great kids movie, a little scary for the youngest crowd..
This is what I like the most about the movie I guess, that the main characters don't do mean things to each other halfway through...
A Dinosaur's Story is a silly cartoon about a dinosaur called Rex (voiced by the wonderful John Goodman). |
tt0063415 | The Party | A film crew is making a Gunga Din-style costume epic. Unknown Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi (Sellers) plays a bugler, but continues to play even after being shot and after the director (Herb Ellis) yells "cut." Bakshi later accidentally blows up an enormous fort set rigged with explosives. The director fires Bakshi immediately and calls the studio head, General Fred R. Clutterbuck (J. Edward McKinley), about the mishap. Clutterbuck writes down Bakshi's name to blacklist him, but he inadvertently writes Bakshi's name on the guest list of his wife's upcoming dinner party.
Bakshi then receives his invitation and drives to the party. Upon arrival at Clutterbuck's home, Bakshi tries to rinse mud off his shoe in a large pool that flows through the house, but he loses his shoe. After many failures, he is reunited with his shoe.
Bakshi has awkward interactions with everyone at the party, including Clutterbuck's dog Cookie. He meets famous Western movie actor "Wyoming Bill" Kelso (Denny Miller), who gives Bakshi an autograph. Bakshi later accidentally shoots Kelso with a toy gun, but Kelso does not see who did it. Bakshi feeds a caged macaw bird food from a container marked "Birdie Num Num" and accidentally drops the food on the floor. Bakshi at various times during the film activates a panel of electronics that control the intercom, a fountain replica of the Manneken Pis (soaking a guest), and a retractable bar (while Clutterbuck is sitting at it). After Kelso hurts Bakshi's hand while shaking it, Bakshi sticks his hand into a bowl of crushed ice containing caviar. While waiting to wash his hand in the bathroom, he meets aspiring actress Michèle Monet (Longet), who came with producer C. S. Divot (Gavin MacLeod). Bakshi shakes Divot's hand, and Divot then shakes hands with other guests, passing around the fishy odor, even back to Bakshi after he has washed his hand.
At dinner, Bakshi's place setting right by the kitchen door has a very low chair that puts his chin near the table. An increasingly drunk waiter named Levinson (Steve Franken) tries to serve dinner and fights with the other staff. During the main course, Bakshi's roast Cornish game hen accidentally catapults off his fork and becomes impaled on a guest's tiara. Bakshi asks Levinson to retrieve his meal, but the woman's wig comes off along with her tiara, as she obliviously engages in conversation. Levinson ends up brawling with other waiting staff, and dinner is disrupted.
Bakshi apologizes to his hosts; then needs to go to the bathroom. He wanders through the house, opening doors and barging in on various servants and guests in embarrassing situations. He ends up in the back yard, where he accidentally sets off the irrigation sprinklers. At Divot's insistence, Monet gives an impromptu guitar performance of "Nothing to Lose," to impress the guests. Bakshi goes upstairs, where he saves Monet from Divot's unwanted sexual advances by dislodging Divot's toupee. Bakshi finally finds a bathroom, but he breaks the toilet, drops a painting in it, gets toilet paper everywhere, and floods the bathroom. To avoid being discovered Bakshi sneaks out on the roof and falls into the pool. Since he cannot swim, Monet leaps in to save him, but he's then coerced to drink alcohol to warm up. Bakshi is unaccustomed to alcohol, and he struggles to put on a dry red terry toweling jumpsuit. He finds Monet crying in the next room and consoles her. Divot bursts in and demands Monet leave with him. Monet says no, and Divot cancels her screen test for him the next day. Bakshi convinces her to stay and have a good time with him. They return to the party in borrowed clothes as a Russian dance troupe arrives. The party gets wilder, and Bakshi offers to retract the bar to make room for dancing. Instead, he accidentally opens a retractable floor with a pool underneath, causing guests to fall in the pool. Levinson makes more floors retract, and more guests fall in. Clutterbuck's daughter arrives with friends and a baby elephant painted with "THE WORLD IS FLAT" on its forehead and hippie slogans over the rest of its body. Bakshi takes offense and asks them to wash the elephant. The entire house is soon filled with soap bubbles from the cleaning.
Back at his home, Divot suddenly realizes that Bakshi is the fired actor who blew up the set, and he races back to the party. As the band plays on, Clutterbuck tries to save his suds-covered fine-art paintings. The air conditioning blows suds everywhere as the guests dance to psychedelic music, and Clutterbuck's distraught wife falls into the pool three times; twice from an upper balcony and once from the main level. Divot pulls up as the police and fire department personnel work to resolve everything. Bakshi apologizes one last time to Clutterbuck as Divot reveals who Bakshi is, but Clutterbuck accidentally chokes a waiter instead of Bakshi. Kelso gives Bakshi an autographed photo and Stetson hat as Bakshi and Monet leave in Bakshi's Morgan three-wheeler car. Outside her apartment, Bakshi and Monet appear on the verge of admitting that they have fallen for each other. Bakshi gives Monet the hat as a keepsake, and she says he can come get it any time. Bakshi suggests he could come by next week, and she readily agrees. Bakshi smiles and drives off as his car backfires. | absurd, cult, comedy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0299551 | Blood Lake | A septet of friends (Andy, Roger, Tricia, Max, Nell, Charlotte and Nicole) travel to a cluster of lakeside cabins, where they unearth a "blood book" that tells the story of Preacher Jacob, a priest who took over the nearby town's congregation in 1896. Jacob had his followers commit mass suicide under the belief that he could resurrect them as a new, perfect race enlightened by their deaths. Max and Nell go off to have sex, but before they do so Max skims the blood book and reads an incantation aloud, summoning the homicidal spirit of Preacher Jacob.
The first of the group to be killed is Roger, who Preacher Jacob axes in the back. The preacher then captures Nicole, ties her to a tree, and hacks her to death with the axe. Next, Sam is garroted with a rope, while Nell has her throat slit in the shower. Tricia realizes what is going on, and tries to get help from Andy and Charlotte, but the two are kept sealed in their cabin by a supernatural force, which relents after Tricia flees at the sight of Preacher Jacob. Andy and Charlotte decide to barricade themselves in the cabin until sunrise, and pass the time by having sex.
Later, Charlotte goes to wake Andy up, but finds Preacher Jacob in his bed. The undead holy man kills her, then goes after the wounded Andy (who has the blood book) and Tricia. Jacob chases Andy and Tricia to a dock, strangles Andy, and is seemingly destroyed when Tricia sets the blood book on fire. Tricia gets in one of the cars and drives away, but as she leaves the campgrounds, Preacher Jacob appears in the vehicle, and attacks her. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | This has to be the most hilariously awful movie I have ever seen, and clearly the worst slasher film ever.
Features probably the worst acting of any film in recent memory.
Blood Lake (Quick Review) This particularly awful film revolves around a group of poor-acting kids in a cabin on the lake wherein somebody starts killing them.
Well, roughly 25 minutes of this film are spent watching the kids water skiing on the lake.
They didn't spend this much f*cking time on the lake in "Piranha." The kills don't even look good and there is really no gore at all.
You just might kill yourself.Recommended to: Absolutely no one should ever watch this film.
The plot of "Blood Lake" is very simple:a group of partying teenagers is stalked and murdered by crazed killer in cowboy boots during their summertime holidays close to a large lake.There is water-skiing galore and extremely poor acting.The script is so bad that it was probably written by monkey.Long and tedious scenes which lead absolutely nowhere fill "Blood Lake".There are few gory killings including particularly nasty throat slitting,but the lack of suspense can't be forgiven.The film drags pointlessly to the point of extreme boredom.The killer is more laughable than menacing.So if you like hysterically bad slasher flicks like "Savage Water" or "Don't Go in the Woods" you can't go wrong with this amateurish "Friday the 13th" rip-off.3 killer cowboys out of 10..
This is only the 2nd horror flick shot with video that I've seen, theother being Phantom Brother.
the worst thing about the movie is a quickshot of the tiniest spider, during a murder..
Since then, I've gotten my hands on a long, lost VHS tape of what is possibly the rarest shot-on-video Horror movie of the 80's.
If you haven't seen Blood Lake, you couldn't possibly comprehend the utter ineptness of this long, lost treasure of schlock.
After many years of obsessively collecting bad Horror, I've got a hold of everything from Criminally Insane, to Gore-met Zombie Chef From Hell, to Better Living Through Killing, but now...
It really comes off like a bunch of teenagers are spending the weekend at a lake, and one of them brought along his parent's cam-corder.
The acting is so terrible that it really seems like a bunch of awkward teens mumbling to each other, as opposed to actors, who normally speak up, when on camera.
Li'l Tony is gonna get with his chick, this weekend, just like the big boys, even if his little 12 year-old life depends on it.
Every time someone raises their voice, the background music gets louder, So, it doesn't matter how good your seeing and hearing is, you'll still only catch about 1/3 of this spectacular joke of a movie.At times, it's painfully obvious that some of these people just don't know what to say.
All the mumbling, not-so-well-thought-out wise-cracks, and scenes involving everyone talking at once, will no doubt entertain those who "get" this type of Horror.Wanna hear something funny?
I actually rented this movie, from Blockbuster (of all places) in the early 90's, when I was a kid.
Luckily, over the years, my liking for bad Horror would eventually grow into a full-blown passion.
Just because you like low-budget Horror, doesn't mean you're gonna approve of Blood Lake.
Ultimately, this legendary low in acting, the complete ineptness of the whole movie, and of course, li'l Tony make Blood Lake more entertaining than all the Friday The 13th movies combined, which isn't that big of a deal, but still.
I have seen the bottom 12 IMDb movies, and I can safely say, this is worst!
I know that the on the box the artwork at the video store may be a little misleading but we are watching a home-made movie.
There is a so bad it's good element to this movie but the better elements are the 80's slasher themes.
Surely he could see and sense the terrible acting taking place as he was directing; then I imagine him just ignoring it and focusing on just finishing the movie.Some people comment that the characters aren't acting, that it doesn't feel scripted, and that it seems more realistic this way: however, this is not the case.
Later on in the movie, we learn that his motive for going on a killing spree is because he never received payment for the house those teenagers are staying in from one of their father's.
And don't even get me started on the ending sequence..During half of the movie, the characters are moving around in the dark.
The movie was shot on some sort of video format, but not a home camcorder, mind you, so you know that issues of lighting will crop up.
There are a few rock n' roll vocal tracks, but nothing special.This movie was so bad, in fact, it drove my friend to perform the terrible act of biting into an onion like it was an apple.
To make a long story not too short, this movie can be watched, but you have to come into it with a certain mindframe.
One of the most boring slasher films of all time!.
The plot is typical, involving a group of teens who head to a house by the lake for a few days, only to have a bland and uninspired killer arrive.
It's loaded with filler material involving the core group of people having good times, riding fast cars, water skiing, playing quarters, and exchanging dialogue so light- hearted, it would almost be offensive to teenagers to suggest they have such timid nature.
It's far too little, far too late, involving a character with the most miniscule motive, killing not enough people in settings too dark for anyone to truly appreciate the gore effects that don't even look that bad.
This has to definitly be the worst horror film.
Sometimes when i hear a bad review about a horror movie, I just blow it off because I like to experiene the movie myself, but this time I should have taken the advice.
Attack of the Killer Refrigerator is like 15 minutes long and still better than this one..
I have seen many, many, MANY, many horror movies.
It seriously makes Zombie Lake look like the cream of the crop.The plot goes.......far away before the camera starts rolling and you get a group of kids who had a dollar and their parents new cam corder whilst spending a weeks vacation at the summer home.Stay away.
I have seen this movie 5 times and I still cannot come up with an answer to a question a friend of mine had.
Who knows, maybe they will release a special edition DVD and we can find out in the, no doubt, enthralling audio commentary.Please do not rent this movie unless you really like bad horror movies.
I, to this day, herald this as the worst movie I have ever seen.4 out of 4 onions.
I rented this with a friend of mine and I must say that it is so so so sad that some stupid video distributor could possibly find this film decent enough to release.
It doesn't even serve as camp value or a "so bad it's good" movie.
Just an awful movie, the worst Ive ever seen!
Sure this has probably the worst acting, writing, directing, producing, filming, distributing, editing, sound and picture quality around but it still is NOT A BAD FILM!
It's their first film and most don't know how to act.
Most of the teens in this movie probably don't know the first thing about acting.
Now I've seen two films by the now apparently obsolete "United Entertainment." The first, Blood Lake, and the second, The Last Slumber Party.
The Last Slumber Party was truly awful (read my review) but Blood Lake is just excellent.
I can't explain my absolute liking and respect of this film.
**1/2out of****I guarantee that you won't like this film after you watch it for the first time.
Come on guys; If you're going to make a crappy horror movie on video at least have the common decency to provide us with a little bit of fun.
actually i am dumb enough because i paid 3 bucks to see this movie because i thought it looked halfway decent, like an actual good slasher film.
its amazing, if i were in 1987 maybe i could have gotten a video camera and shot a film as bad as this.
the acting is terrible, the script is worse, there are like no good death scenes, the music sucks, the ending sucks, this film just sucks sucks sucks!
for a decent flick rent the glenville films or slumber party massacre or something like that, not this junk.
Single worst slasher effort of the 80's, "Blood Lake" is thy name.
Another late 80's routine teen-slasher picture like there were at least fifteen per dozen around that time.
This dud found a spot in my list of absolute worst 80's slashers alongside: "Don't Go in the Woods", "Deadly Games", "Appointment with Fear", "Berserker", "Cardiac Arrest", "Hollow Gate", "The Stay Awake", "Blood Tracks" and "Hide and Go Shriek"..
Worst slasher flick I've ever seen..
It looks and sounds like someone filmed it with their home camcorder.
The true horror comes from the fact that you've given up over an hour of your life that you can't get back.Like I mentioned before, I had a relative that contributed a lot to this movie.
Time actually seemed to stand still as we watched and we actually started thinking "a rousing game of chess would be fun" it became blatantly clear that not only was this film a total waste of time, but it was pure crap as well.
A matching Mullet...I particularly liked watching people water ski (badly) for 25 minutes.
after the ambulance carts of the surviving teens, we are treated to a post-apocalyptic 15-minute music video of Blood Lake dried up, with Jed standing impressively like only a killer hick with no motive can do..
Yes, the time you spend watching this movie will prove that you are truly a media harlot.
I mean any attempt at trying to get an audience response with such short quick stupid teenage uncool blather leaves the viewer so unrewarded that you end up not liking anyone but the alleged killer.
Some fat guy with a knife goes around killing Friday the 13th-type movie teenagers, typical of a repulsive slasher movie.
Never have I seen a movie that is so dull, poorly acted, and incoherent.
Being a HUGE fan of the horror genre, I have come to expect and appreciate cheesey acted, plot-holes galore, bad scripts, horrible lighting and effects, and cliches after cliches.
But these things is what make me like horror movies so much.
The movie plays out like a bad, bad soap opera and transcends into a laughable mess.
The killer and his motives are like something out of a bad "Scary Movie" clone rather than something that is attempting to be a serious slasher film.
With that said, amazingly enough I WOULD recommend Blood Lake to any SERIOUS horror movie fan, if only to see the good old days of the horror genre, when a films like this could get made..
One of them is collecting and rating slasher movies, which as you can see by review list - is something that I'm very passionate about.
I know very well that there are many people globally like me who love these old hack and slashers and some of them are really hard to find.
I am not sure, but my apologies if the review is short(er).Now, I am all for a group of guys getting together with a camcorder and making a movie with their buddies.
The location is based alongside a large lake, so they make the most of their time by water-skiing and the like.
However what I wouldn't do, if I got that chance to make a feature film, was expect people to enjoy watching me use it for fifteen minutes.
However what I am not too interested in is sitting and watching a quarter of an hour of unappealing actors getting dragged around behind a boat during a horror film.
In fact, long, tedious and ultimately pointless scenes are the director's trademark and he seems to like nothing better than filling the screen with plot points that take the story absolutely nowhere.
Character development I understand, but watching a Trans Am full of teens drive down the road for what feels like an eternity can start to grate VERY quickly.
By this point the film had begun to feel more like this was an over-long Youtube video on how cool the Blood Lake posse are at weekends than a slasher flick.As I mentioned earlier, the chance to make a horror movie is an opportunity that not many of us get.
I won't spoil it for you, because it's the best thing that Blood Lake had to offer.
It showed a sense of humour from the film- makers though and shows that they probably knew how bad their movie was.
And why is the lake dried up at the end.THIS MOVIE SUCKS!.
Are adventure into terror starts out as what looks to be a Gardener is murder with a knife by a big fat guy in overalls and cowboy boots outside a lake house, we then fast forward to a unknown date were two country talking' couples Mike (Doug Barry), Becky (Angela Darter), Bryan (Mike Kaufman) and Kim (Andrea Adams) as well as Mike's kid brother Tony (Travis Krassner) (who I must say manages to ham it up and keep the first half of the film mildly watchable) and Susan (Christie Willoughby) arrive at the same lake house, however it isn't long before the killer returns and begins cutting the groups numbers down one-by-one, but why is he doing all this?
If there's one thing I've figured out its that movie distributors in the 1980s must have been really desperate for product, I mean when a guy takes his friends out and pretty much shots a home video of them on vacation and then gets that home video distributed which in turn lands in thousands of video stores across the country then the level of desperate is pretty high.
This movie was released by a group called "United Home Video", who also released other shot-on-video classics like Blood Cult (1985) and The Ripper (1985) staring Tom Savini, and from what I here it was in a lot of video stores and was a pretty common video in the late 80s and early 90s.
To start things out like almost all SOV flicks this one has a crap ton of padding.
The first half of this movie is pretty much like I described as a home video, the couples who talk very country and sport some hilarious mid west twang hick accents (which is no surprise since it was filmed in Cedar Lake, Oklahoma) pretty much do as follows.
Talk endlessly to each other, go out on a boat, smoke pot, talk about having sex (even tho it never happens there is no nudity here), some other neighborhood hick boys come over, go back out on the boat and water ski, smoke more weed, talk about having more sex, play quarters (in a scene which lasts nearly 8-10 minutes), at first I admit I found this all to be pretty amusing with the mullets and 80s cheesiness, but, that soon went away and it got pretty repetitive.
Somewhere about the 50-55 minute mark our killer (who is played like I said by some ugly fat guy in cowboy boots) decides to show up, then murders the two local boys, The couples then begin to fall one-by-one however its all shot in the dark so nothing is hardly seen, even tho we finally get some blood.
Its also hilarious how in these tips of movies characters seem to act absolutely non caring about people being killed around them.
The movie then ends as usual with a twist, as the lake has now dried up (which in reality it actually did!) and our killer now a ghost roaming the lake house.
Even tho "Blood Lake" is by no means a good film even by its SOV sub-horror genre, what keeps most of these DIY films from this time period entertaining is there reliance on Sleaze and H.G. Lewis style Gore, this really had neither, so what your left with is a rather dull homemade slasher flick, however, its still a charm to watch something like this, I recommend it if you can find a copy or your into this particular sub-genre, others should defiantly stay away!.
One of the worst slasher movies ever made!.
It seemed like a home made movie.
OK so I can agree with the other comment about the lake scene, yes it is like 15 min long.
I mean yeah we get the point that there is a trans am with kids going to a lake.
The killings in the movie are a big disappointment, all it is, is a guy walking around in cowboy boots.
The acting is horrible and the movie is a big waist of time.
They even filmed it with a home video, so the lighting was horrible and was very shaky.
I just hope that they don't ever make a movie like this again..
Truly, the worst movie I have ever seen..
Take a really bad movie, multiply its awfulness by 100, run it over with a tank, dice it up and then glue it back together you'll get Blood Lake.
One of the things I thought was humorous was like the 15 minute ending where they showed the killer walking around doing nothing.
And I think they ended up getting it on.You should see this movie, it'll give you a laugh..
"Blood Lake" is one of those movies that has to be seen to be believed. |
tt0113682 | Loch Ness | Opening on a pub near Loch Ness, a scientist named Dr. Abernathy steps out for some air. Standing on the shore of the loch, he sees something rise from the water. Astonished, he takes a single photograph before slipping and falling on the rocks, which kills him.
A short time later in Los Angeles, disgruntled freshman college tutor, Dr. John Dempsey (Ted Danson), is obliged to journey to Scotland to replace Dr. Abernathy, who was searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Dempsey is reluctant to do so, as he ruined his respected zoology career after a fruitless three year search for the Sasquatch and is now considered a joke amongst his colleagues. The only reason he agrees to go is because he is broke and cannot pay alimony to his former wife, Caroline, after whom he named a newly discovered species of wasp.
Dempsey travels to Scotland and reluctantly begins on a cryptozoology mission along with Adrian Foote (James Frain), former assistant to Dr. Abernathy and an eager young Scottish man who fanatically believes in the existence of the creature. Dempsey repeatedly claims there is no mystery and that the monster is just a hoax created by the locals of Loch Ness to support their economy. John books into a small inn and meets his grouchy landlady, Laura McFetridge (Joely Richardson) and her nine-year-old daughter, Isabel, who quickly grows close to John.
John quickly finds himself in hot water with the locals, in particular one named Andy McLean (Nick Brimble), who sees Dempsey as a rival for the affections of Laura. The water bailiff, (Ian Holm), guardian and protector of Loch Ness, does all he can to ensure that Dempsey fails in his search and leaves the loch empty-handed. After the sonar equipment is sabotaged by the locals, Dempsey confronts the water bailiff, who insists that the mystery of Loch Ness will never be destroyed. Dempsey challenges him to "come out and watch him". After scanning the entire loch and finding nothing, Dempsey declares it is the end of the Loch Ness monster, leaving Adrian crushed, but the subsequent argument between them ends on a slightly reconciliatory note when Dempsey tells Adrian that, despite his scepticism, he did want to find the monster.
Throughout the film, Laura overcomes her initial dislike of Dempsey and they quickly grow attracted to each other. Isabel possesses a second sight and is able to foretell certain things, such as her mother's growing affection for Dempsey. The day before Dempsey's departure from Loch Ness, Adrian brings him the remainder of Dr. Abernathy's possessions, including his camera. The next morning Adrian is awakened by Dempsey, who says they are going back out for another sweep of the loch. He reveals that after developing the pictures on Abernathy's camera, the last picture on the roll shows a large, rhomboid shaped flipper submerging into the water. After tracking a 40 ft object chasing a school of salmon, it collides with the boat, sinking it and sending Dempsey and Adrian into the water. Dempsey nearly drowns but somehow surfaces after a large dark object is seen moving in the water behind his quickly sinking body. After returning to the inn, he is ecstatic, claiming to have seen the creature while under the water. After Dempsey is beaten up by Andy McLean for "moving in on his woman", Isabel makes him a get well card which features a drawing of what she calls a "water kelpie." Dempsey realises that Isabel, too, has seen the monster, as her drawing of the creature's fins are identical to the picture taken by Abernathy. After Dempsey promises to buy her the red bicycle that she has always wanted, Isabel agrees to show him the monster.
Later that day, Isabel leads Dempsey to an underground cavern beneath Urquhart Castle and warns him not to use lights as it scares the creatures. After a startling encounter with some sea otters, Dempsey prepares to leave, humiliated. Suddenly a plesiosaur rises from the water and Isabel is shown to know it very well, even being able to communicate with it through a series of whistle-like calls. Responding to the calls, a second creature appears, the two animals apparently being mates. While in an astonished euphoria, Dempsey ignores Isabel's warnings and takes a photograph, the flash alarming the creatures, causing them to dive back into the water and cause havoc. Isabel falls into the water and almost drowns and Dempsey is saved by the furious Water Bailiff.
Dempsey develops the photographs and faces Laura's wrath about him using Isabel and nearly getting her killed. Laura refuses to have anything to do with Dempsey or his discovery of the monster, despite his claims that when he reveals the existence of the creatures, Laura's business will boom as people from all over the world come to the loch to see the monsters. Laura evicts John and Isabel is deeply hurt that Dempsey used her in such a way. Upset, but not about to give up his chance at vindication, he leaves for London to attend a press conference at the Natural History Museum where he plans to reveal the photos of the monsters to the world.
The water bailiff follows him on the train, imploring him not to reveal the truth of Loch Ness. Dempsey insists that exposure will be best for the creatures, claiming that science will be able to care for the creatures professionally. Scornful, the water bailiff points out the irony in that it was not science that helped his "discovery", but a little girl. He also reminds Dempsey of the harm done to the planet because of science and that these creatures have survived unaided since before the ice age.
At the conference, Dempsey is unable to go through with it and replaces the real photos with Isabel's drawing of the "kelpie", causing an uproar while he discreetly leaves. On the way out, he tells a baffled Adrian that he had the pictures made by computer before he ever came to Scotland. Adrian, knowing the truth, understandingly plays along. Meanwhile, on a bus headed back to Loch Ness, the water bailiff discovers the pictures inside his suitcase and is moved almost to the point of tears. Dempsey returns to the inn and reunites with Laura, along with the red bicycle he promised Isabel. In Loch Ness, the plesiosaur pair is seen swimming underwater with a baby alongside. | paranormal, romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | I think TRAINSPOTTING might be more your line.I'd go further than saying that Ted Danson was "good" in this - it is by far his best movie (with the possible exception of GETTING EVEN WITH DAD).
As discredited, financially strapped and harrassed Dr Dempsey, Danson is bundled off to Loch Ness to disprove Nessie's existence.
Not only does he fail in his task, but he finds something even yet more unlikely - the unconditional love of a little girl and her innkeeper mother played with feisty gusto by Joley Richardson.
I would defy any true romantic to withhold a tear at the end of this movie...easily one of the most touching films of all time.
Proof if such be needed that one can make a beautiful family movie with not a single swear word or offensive scene.
Ted Danson does a wonderful acting job outside of "Cheers" and the special effects are magical.
the whole production has a rather Disney feel to it as it makes you believe in magic and takes a different realistic view of one of the world's biggest mysteries.
The cast are brilliant, especially Joley Richardson and Kirsty Graham as mother and daughter - although it is a little unfair to imply that these two alone make the film watchable; others (Ted Danson, Ian Holm, & James Frain) really do help to make this a great film.
The special effects are limited which allows for the storyline to show through and, even though the end is a little predictable, It's still good to watch right through to Rod Stewart's brilliant closing song.
It stars Ted Danson, Joely Richardson, Ian Holm, Kirsty Graham and James Frain.
In the last chance saloon, he's packed off by his superiors to debunk the Loch Ness Monster legend, where hardly enthused anyway, he finds a small community unwelcome to his being there.
After finally booking into a small inn run by single mother Laura McFetridge (Richardson) Dempsey forms a warm relationship with Laura's nine year old daughter, Isabel (Graham), who just may hold the key to the mystery of Loch Ness.Once it was made available for viewing it struggled to gain any significant support, both by critics and film fans alike.
Caught in the 1990's creature feature slipstream created by Jurassic Park, hopes were high for a very different type of Loch Ness Monster movie.
Henderson's film is a human interest story first and foremost, one that has the Loch Ness Monster as its backdrop.
Solve the Loch Ness Monster mystery.
Helps, too, if you kind of want to believe in the fantastical, like a bit of whimsy with your film supper.An insult often used to beat it with is that it copies Local Hero's template.
In fact Loch Ness is more family friendly, adult enough for the discerning grown up, whilst beguiling the kiddies too.
Fusco's script is also witty, with much fun mined from Danson's fish out of water portrayal as he finds himself at odds with everyone except the Nessie keen assistant played with wide eyed energy by Frain.
The rest of the cast are roundly great as well, Danson (affable supreme), Richardson (quality Scottish accent), Holm (grumpy curmudgeon) and Graham (one of the most natural and unfussy child performances ever), lead the way.
While good secondary support comes from a barking mad Keith Allen and Nick Brimble as the self appointed love rival for Laura's attentions.Bolstering the film is a majestic score from Jones, with the expected Celtic harmonies neatly sitting along side the more brassy and keyboard thrusts as the narrative hits its peaks.
He does, however, know how to light a pretty face, the beautiful Richardson benefiting greatly here.With a big human heart and awash with family friendly mysticism, Loch Ness is a lovely picture.
(But how else was I to get your attention?)Ted Danson, who still seems just like Sam Malone from "Cheers" - only with a bad hair day - is quite winning in the lead role of this film.
He plays a rather cantankerous, and somewhat discredited, American anthropologist who is sent to Scotland to disprove the existence of the "Loch Ness Monster".
He doesn't (at first, anyway) mix well with the local Scottish residents living near Loch Ness.
Her influence on him, along with that of the water bailiff, played by Ian Holm, profoundly change him towards the end of the film.
It is a very enchanting movie that is worth watching.
(While you're at it, rent another thoroughly enjoyable movie which was also filmed in Scotland, "Local Hero" (1983)).Watch.
I also love the idea that in some little corner of the boondooks you can stumble on a Scottish fair maiden whose twinkle in the eye can steal your heart.
A young James Frain shows outstanding appeal and promise as a powerhouse actor in his character as an idealistic and enthusiastic sidekick to Ted Dansen's beast hunter, a fun character to watch.The story is paced and told with an experienced hand; it provided a very pleasant getaway on a winter's afternoon, transporting the viewer to the famous Loch Ness region of Scotland.
I think the photography could have been more painterly and mystical, but you get a good eyeful of the dramatic Scottish landscape.The music score is a nice selection of Scottish influenced themes, with the soaring "Rhythm Of My Heart" by Rod Stewart as the final credits roll.So if you're a romantic, you should thoroughly enjoy this movie.
Look for Loch, its a nice family film with a touch of romance.
Dempsey (Ted Danson) is a sort of photojournalist of the weird happenings on planet earth.
First, this film has a terrific setting, the beautiful country around Loch Ness.
If you always wishes to go to Scotland but, have little money and big flying anxieties, you will be enchanted with the view.
Then, the main actors are quite good, with Danson doing a variation of his smug humor and Richardson looking great and sporting a fine accent.
In short, look for Loch, you fans of romance and family-friendly features.
the acting at first i thought seemed a little dry but really builds up character throughout the movie, now Ted Danson adds a great actor to the cast and the little girl really brightens up the movie, all in all not a bad flick for an afternoon movie.7 out of 10..
A discredited American scientist (played by Ted Danson) is appointed the task of proving once and for all whether there is an unknown species in Loch Ness.This is a fine family film which manages to be warm and sincere without losing sight of its main theme.
If you are looking for a creature feature, if you are looking for a monster movie, if you are looking for the cheap thrills that are stereotypically imagined coming from a movie with a title such as "Loch Ness", you are not going to get any of these.
As an adult, I enjoyed this delightful, if somewhat flimsy, little independent film."Loch Ness" is, to a certain extent, not even about the Loch Ness monster.
The movie stars Ted Danson as a discredited American scientist who has come to Scotland to not find the monster, but, to quote his boss "use the latest technology to prove it's a hoax." Danson himself doesn't believe in the monster even though he's made a name for himself chasing Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest.
While in Scotland, he picks up a research assistant (James Frain) and forms a friendship with the local pub owner (Joely Richardson) and her ubiquitous daughter (Kirsty Graham) who seems to know a little more about the loch than anybody else does."Loch Ness" is, all in all, a family movie.
The movie really boasts the question many people have: does the monster even exist?
If it were a serious monster movie, we'd know right from the start.
But it keeps that question going and going and for that reason, I enjoyed it, for it wasn't just another monster tale, because I personally have seen that movie over and over again, such as in another Loch Ness monster tale called "Beyond Loch Ness" in which the creature was revealed to be real after only five minutes of speculation.Performances are quite good.
James Frain is also good, although he does at times overplay his character, but it is refreshing to see the mentor-student relationship between him and Danson whereas it typically would be a tag team.
I also liked Joely Richardson and was especially fond of Kirsty Graham as the mysterious little girl with a secret.
And the screen is also aided by the presence of veteran actor Ian Holm as a water bailiff who always seems to watching Danson with a suspicious eye."Loch Ness" doesn't reach its full potential because of a somewhat flimsy screenplay, with some scenes ending before we hardly even realize they've started.
Some of the dialogue is rather poor, some supporting characters just time-wasters, and such, but all in all, it's a simply fine family movie although it will not ring the bells for everybody.
I liked it for its sense of wonder and mystery about the loch where this creature may/may not exist (the movie plays that note), I liked it for the performances, I liked it for the beautiful, ear-warming music score by Trevor Jones, the crystal clear cinematography by Clive Tickner, the unique and seldom-explored nature of the ending, and just an overall enthusiastic tone that director John Henderson instilled into this delightful, if flawed family movie..
This movie can be enjoyed as long as you are prepared to accept the plot for what it is - A far fetched romantic tale to well the tears in your eyes and make you think "Awww...
isn't that sweet" The plot as far as the actual "Beastie of the Loch" is far-fetched enough without stretching the bounds or reality with the love story.Being far-fetched does not, however, mean that this movie is not worth watching.
I actually quite enjoyed it, and was able to watch along with a young family without having to cringe at foul language or blatant sex scenes.
Take this movie for what it is - family entertainment.
The kids will live the monster storyline and the special effects, the romantic among us will sniffle at the course of true love, and the others will probably find this to be a fairly average, fairly entertaining way to spend 90 minutes or so of your time..
Ted Danson plays a disillusioned cryptozoologist who is sent on assignment to Loch Ness, Scotland, to disprove the mythical creature's existence.
With the assistance of a clairvoyant girl (Kirsty Graham) he discovers life-changing things.If you're remotely interested in cryptozoology "Loch Ness" is a must.
Despite the fact that the story is predictable, this is a very well-made film.
Although it was primed for theatrical release, and released as such in Europe, in America it was ultimately decided to release it on network TV in September, 1996.The film has a lot going for it: Danson is perfect as the jaded scientist; Joely Richardson is Beautiful; the little clairvoyant girl is cute and spiritual; the locations are continuously breathtaking; the people are likable and the story touches on important themes of which most can relate.
If you're in the mood for a slasher/monster horror flick with lots of gore, this isn't the film to see.
However, if you care to explore some of life's most vital questions, look no further.Danson's character, Dr. Dempsey, has given up on love in the aftermath of a divorce; he's also given up on his life's work, his dream.
Note his powerful statement to his Scottish partner at Loch Ness:"I'm a joke.
If I nailed a dinosaur in Loch Ness I would be vindicated a thousand times over.
That's just a wish list to make us feel like there's something more to life than the $#*% we got stuck with."As you can see, the film is more than just cutesy family fare or mindless monster mayhem.
We may not be looking for the Loch Ness monster, but we all have dreams; we all hope to discover love in some manner; we all hope to find meaning in life.
Unless, of course, we've given up, like Dempsey in the story.
And (2.) that there's an intelligent design to the universe and, although it's somehow "fallen" (severely messed up), there IS meaning, love, hope and purpose, even if we are presently unable to fully comprehend it.The film addresses the clash of these two opposing views.
Dempsey says seeing is believing, but the little girl insists that believing in unseen reality is more important than physically seeing, if you know what I mean.THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Just a great family fun film..
Lock Ness had great acting, scenery, music and story.
It's hard to believe the little girl who played the daughter hasn't been in more movies since.
I'm not being a snob or saying I hate kids films or fantasy, I love that stuff, but nothing happens and the love story is a bit lame and empty.
I'm sure stories of things like the Loch Ness interest most people, so I was looking for it to be more about this, you'd think so from the name, but I was just let down.
You'd think the whole point of spending so much money on a film called Loch Ness would be to concentrate on this..
A one-of-the-usual family adventure films, where a great secret is explored and solved, only to be hashed "for the greater good".
As I said earlier, if that was always the case we would be still living in caves.What's so wrong with a film showing a great mystery solved and the consequences of this discovery?
Ted Danson and the spectacular Scottish scenery elevate a rather trite and predictable yarn.The romance angle is a bit forced, the motives of the locals are a bit shallow and the peripheral characters never really leap out of the screen.
This is nearly a delightful film...minus the foul language and 1 verbal reference to premarital sex, this would be a great movie.
Nice movie...I would watch again or buy..
The rest of the 'actors\actresses', director and writer, don't give you your day jobs.Worth watching for humour value only.Ben. worst film ever!!!!.
the love story is so hammy and acting is very bad, well what do you expect from ted danson....
There is not enough of the "Loch Ness monsters" to make this picture worth viewing.
Ted Danson was extremely annoying as the "romantic lead." I enjoyed Ian Holm as the "Water Bailiff" and wished there was more footage of Nick Brimble as "Andy McLean." He was the high point of an otherwise dull, improbable picture with a strange, mish-mash ending that made no sense whatever..
I've been studying documentary filmmakking in school now for 7 years and LOCH NESS is quite possibly the greatest documentary I've seen since "Hoop Dreams." I will say that the doctor in this doc looks surprisingly like that of Ted Dansen from CHEERS.
And by the way "reviewers," the Loch Ness monster's name is Nessie not Joely.
A family film on a Scottish Legend.....
Its hard to picture Ted Danson being anyone but Sam from Cheers, but he delivers a good enough performance as the scientist who is lost, a career ruined by his thirst to find the impossible.
Joely Richardson's role as the mother is heart warming she plays her role with care, while Kirsty, the young Isabel.The film starts off with the death of a professor whose aim is to find the Loch Ness monster, so another is sent.
A man whose accomplishments are great, yet shrouded by his obsession to find the unexplained, Dempsey, who is lost finds more then he bargained for in Scotland.One thing I liked was the scenery, it showed the highlands and beautiful shots of the water; which gives a sense of beauty, mystery and calm.
But the one thing that ruins the film is the uncovering of the Loch Ness monster...I think they should have never shown the creature, it keeps a little more mystery..
Having always been in love with the idea of there actually being a monster in Loch Ness, I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
Although to this day, i'm unsure whether or not the film makers should have actually shown the monster because the film is good without it!
It is a warm and funny story which centres around Ted Danson who plays a character called Dr Dempsey who is sent from America to prove the monster doesn't exist.
Whilst he stays on the shore of Loch Ness, he gradually falls in love with the place and the attractive owner (Joely Richardson) of the inn he stays in.
The little girl who plays Isabel has some very funny lines and is really cute in the things she says.
Having recently finally been to Loch Ness myself, it is worth watching to see all the fabulous scenery again also!.
The story of the Loch Ness Monster has been told for many years, and this time with a different angle.The movie itself has a slow, laid back feel throughout, and yet has has some action sequences as well.
I won't explain that, other than say "monster" doesn't really describe the legend.And that becomes the point of the movie in the end...some legends deserve to "live on" as legends....
I'd never heard of it before it popped up on TV yesterday and I figured I liked Ted Danson in Cheers and Joly Richardson isn't exactly chopped liver so I'll watch the first reel and see what happens.
Okay, forget looking for the monster if I thought there was a lady as lovely Joley Richardson walking around loose in a small Scottish village I'd light out for bonnie Scotland in jig-time. |
tt0036377 | The Song of Bernadette | François Soubirous (Roman Bohnen), a former miller now unemployed, is forced to take odd jobs and live at the city jail with his wife (Anne Revere), his two sons, and his two daughters. One morning he goes to find work, and is told to take contaminated trash from the hospital and dump it in the cave at Massabielle.
At the Catholic school (run by the Sisters of Charity of Nevers) that she and her sisters attend, fourteen-year-old Bernadette Soubirous (Jennifer Jones) is shamed in front of the class by Sister Vauzous, the teacher (Gladys Cooper), for not having learned her catechism well. Her sister Marie (Ermadean Walters) explains that Bernadette was out sick with asthma. Abbé Dominique Peyramale (Charles Bickford) enters and awards the students holy cards, but is told by Sister Vauzous that Bernadette does not deserve one, because she has not studied, and that it would not be fair to the other students. Peyramale encourages Bernadette to study harder.
Later that afternoon, on an errand with her sister Marie and school friend Jeanne (Mary Anderson) to collect firewood outside the town of Lourdes, Bernadette is left behind when her companions warn her not to wade through the cold river by the Massabielle caves for fear of taking ill. About to cross anyway, Bernadette is distracted by a strange breeze and a change in the light. Investigating the cave, she finds a beautiful lady (Linda Darnell) standing in brilliant light, holding a pearl rosary. She tells her sister and friend, who promise not to tell anyone else. They do tell, however, and the story soon spreads all over town.
Many, including Bernadette's Aunt Bernarde (Blanche Yurka), are convinced of her sincerity and stand up for her against her disbelieving parents, but Bernadette faces civil and church authorities alone. Repeatedly questioned, she stands solidly behind her seemingly unbelievable story and continues to return to the cave as the lady has asked. She faces ridicule as the lady tells her to drink and wash at a spring that doesn't exist, but digs a hole in the ground and uses the wet sand and mud. The water begins to flow later and exhibits miraculous healing properties. The lady finally identifies herself as "the Immaculate Conception". Civil authorities try to have Bernadette declared insane, while Abbé Peyramale, the fatherly cleric who once doubted her and now becomes her staunchest ally, asks for a formal investigation to find out if Bernadette is a fraud, insane, or genuine.
The grotto is closed and the Bishop of Tarbes (Charles Waldron) declares that unless the Emperor (Jerome Cowan) orders the grotto to be opened, there will be no investigation by the church. He says this will be a test for Bernadette's "lady". Shortly thereafter, the Emperor's infant son falls ill and, under instructions from the Empress (Patricia Morison), the child's nanny obtains a bottle of the water. Arrested for violating the closure order, she appears in court, identifies herself as the Empress' employee, and pays the fines of the other persons who attempted to enter the grotto, so that they will not have to serve time in jail. The magistrate permits her to go and to take the bottle of water with her. The Emperor's son drinks the water and recovers. The Empress believes that his recovery is miraculous, but the Emperor is not sure. The Empress upbraids him for doubting God, and at her insistence, the Emperor gives the order to reopen the grotto. The Bishop of Tarbes then directs the commission to convene. The investigation takes many years, and Bernadette is questioned again and again, but the commission eventually determines that Bernadette experienced visions and was visited by the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God.
Bernadette prefers to go on with an ordinary life, work, and possible marriage, but Peyramale does not think it is appropriate to turn Bernadette loose in the world, and persuades her to become a nun at the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, the Saint Gildard Convent. She is subjected to normal although rigorous spiritual training and hard work, but also emotional abuse from a cold and sinister Sister Vauzous, her former teacher at school, who is now mistress of novices at the convent. Sister Vauzous is skeptically jealous of all the attention Bernadette has been receiving as a result of the visions. She reveals this to Bernadette, saying she is angry that God would choose Bernadette instead of her when she has spent her life in suffering in service of God. She says Bernadette has not suffered enough and wants a "sign" proving Bernadette really was chosen by Heaven.
Bernadette is diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone, which causes intense pain, yet she has never complained or so much as mentioned it. The jealous Sister Vauzous, realizing her error and Bernadette's saintliness, begs for forgiveness in the chapel, and vows to serve Bernadette for the rest of her life. Knowing she is dying, Bernadette sends for Abbé Peyramale (who in reality died a few years before Bernadette) and tells him of her feelings of unworthiness and her concern that she will never see the lady again. But the lady appears in the room, smiling and holding out her arms. Only Bernadette can see her, however, and with a cry of "I love you! I love you! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for me", she reaches out to the apparition, and falls back dead. Peyramale utters the final words of the film, "You are now in Heaven and on earth. Your life begins, O Bernadette". | brainwashing | train | wikipedia | I've never been so moved by a story demonstrating the incredible power of innocence and simplicity as performed by Jennifer Jones in this faithful adaptation of the true story of the now-canonized Bernadette Soubirous.
Bernadette Soubirous, 1844-1879, was a modest, shy, retiring religious girl of strong convictions in her faith who would have passed through this world unnoticed by many, but for an incident in her hometown of Lourdes in France.
If you believe it was all a hallucination than this film will mean nothing to you.But there are a great many people who believe that the pious young lady was chosen for a visit from the Virgin Mary one day when she was an adolescent teen.
Playing the Virgin Mary in an unbilled part was Linda Darnell, a fact I believe that did not come out until after Ms. Darnell's death in 1963.Director Henry King gave his young unknown a lot of support by assembling a thoroughly professional cast without a bad performance in the lot.
Cobb, Vincent Price, Charles Dingle, Gladys Cooper, Roman Bohnen, and Anne Revere were just perfect in their parts.As was Charles Bickford in the role of the priest and director of the Catholic school in Lourdes.
Bickford was nominated for Best Supportin Actor, but lost to Charles Coburn and Cooper and Revere both received nominations for Best Supporting Actress, but lost to Katina Paxinou.Even with a more recent film telling the Bernadette Soubirous story that came out in 1989 with Sydney Penny, this film is still owned and shown in many Catholic churches and schools to this day.
From Our Lady and through Bernadette the spring started to flow
.to this very day it continues to help the faithful who are sick and disabled.A beautifully scripted film, it tells the story of Bernadette Soubirous, a young French girl who was chosen above all others to bestow her eyes on the Mother of Christ.
The Story follows her journey from poor peasant girl till she enters the convent.One of the many reasons why I love this film is because of the sincerity and unrelenting faith one person can have, faced with so much doubt and ridicule shown by others.
Religious figures became big success in distinguished films like "Going My Way," "The Keys of the Kingdom," "The Bells of St. Mary's," and "The Song of Bernadette."The film is the story of a simple peasant girl who wins the quality of a 'Saint.' Bernadette was born in an isolated French village called Lourdes, in January 7, 1844...Jennifer Jones, in a well deserved Academy Award as Best Actress, performs Bernadette Soubirous, the eldest of 9 children from a poverty-stricken family, who would not find happiness in this world, but only in the next...In 1858, at the age of 14, while gathering firewood, the pious Bernadette had numerous visions of a 'beautiful Lady' on a hillside, on the left bank of a stream...
Bernadette stands firmly defending the 'genuineness' of these visions despite strong opposition from her frightened parents (Anne Revere and Roman Bohnen), the local clergy (Charles Bickford) and civil authorities as the Imperial prosecutor, Vital Dutour (Vincent Price).Events have become more stressful...
She always wanted a proof...Jennifer Jones is superb as the honest girl who declares that she is not very brilliant, but who never hesitates from her insurance of a miraculous contact...Henry King's sensitive direction is marked by energy and interest, maintaining a steady clear vision on the heart of the story and its characters...Alfred Newman's highly music is tender and spiritual...I highly recommend this beautiful movie...
The bright lighting and soft focus on Jennifer Jones, for example, makes her angelic pose of peace believable.One scene near the end of the film is utterly beautiful, and truly makes the movie.
But the second kudos of the film go to Gladys Cooper, who should have won a best supporting award as the old nun, who cannot accept Bernadette for who and what she is.
Charles Bickford is great as the dean of Lourdes and Gladys Cooper gives a memorable performance as Sr. Marie Thérèse, not to mention the great Vincent Price as the hateful, yet intelligent Imperial Prosecutor.The town of Lourdes is taken back to the 1850s in this faithful re-telling of the famous story of the apparitions of the Immaculate Conception way back in the last century.
But, like him, she finally finds the proof she has been always seeking - the secret of suffering in silence - and from then on (that is to say the last 7 minutes of the film) she becomes Bernadette's best friend and helper.This movie is definitely a winner in all respects and its Oscar awards for
were all vell deserved.
For those who do not believe in God, no explanation will suffice." Thus, 20th Century Fox made clear it's stance on the incident involving a poor ignorant peasant girl from the western Pyrenees who one early spring witnessed a vision of a "beautiful lady".
Jennifer Jones is excellent in the role of Bernadette, the girl so sweet and truthful, you just have to believe her story.
Filmed brilliantly in Black and White, with one of the best musical scores ever (kudos to Alfred Newman) "The Song Of Bernadette" is an inspiring classic brilliantly acted, and regardless of anyone's religious association, the story is inspiring.
Jennifer Jones gives the best performance of her career as the simple peasant girl who sees the Beautiful Lady in the grotto and sets in motion the story, based on Franz Werfel's best-selling novel.
no explanations is necessary .For those who don't ,no explanation is possible.The lines which opens the film are repeated towards the ending by Father Peyramale.Few legends have been woven from humbler stuff,and this particular encounter between one of the poorest peasant girls in a tiny village of the Pyrenées and "the Lady" led to events that shook not only my native France but the entire Christian world.Lourdes has become the second Christian pilgrimage place in the world after Rome,the second hotel town in France after Paris.Like in the book,the film begins with the humble life of the Soubirous.The first pictures show Bernadette's father taking infectious clothes from the hospital to the dump.And the family was housed in a dark place which the inhabitants of Lourdes used to call "le Cachot" ("The dungeon").Henry King's film is absolutely inspired.Jennifer Jones (who would play another -fictious- French character ,"Madame Bovary" and who would become the par excellence romantic heroine ),thoroughly deserved the AA she won.The characters she would play later in her career ("Duel in the sun" ,"Ruby Gentry" "Gone to Earth" and MInnelli's Flaubert's adaptation)and Bernadette are worlds apart.Her metamorphosis was extraordinary: her portrayal of the young illiterate peasant girl ,her look,her sweet humble voice,her self-denial ("I don't promise you happiness in this world but in the next one") made her the absolute French saint.French words have been introduced in the dialog (Bernadette always uses:"Monsieur" ) To a hostile world (the bourgeois,the Church),Bernadette puts forwards her faith ,her beaming smile and her moving clever answers which will remind you of those of Joan of Arc during her trial;the two heroines were chosen among the humble few.That's what Sister Vauzous (a sublime Gladys Cooper)did not understand : and however,hadn't Bernadette suffered from TB ,her childhood in a room as dark as a dungeon,her humiliations when she was at school ,the exhausting questionings she had to cope with ,wasn't it enough?
"The Song of Bernadette" is so intense a movie it can appeal to atheists too.Prosecutor Vital Dutour cannot enter Bernadette's world cause it takes a lot of faith and he realizes that he will die a lonely man too late.Like this ?Try these....(great religious movies about French saints) "Monsieur Vincent" Maurice Cloche 1947 (Saint Vincent de Paul) "Thérèse "Alain Cavalier 1986 (Sainte Therese de Lisieux) "Bernadette" Jean Delannoy 1987 (Although despised by most of the French critics and inferior to KIng's version,it's essential viewing for anyone interested in Bernadette's story;it's to my knowledge the only recent French film dealing with the subject).
In the movie, it seems like she was there for a year or so.The luminous Jennifer Jones gives a simple and beautiful performance.
Jennifer Jones is wonderful in her debut appearance and the supporting cast includes such veterans as Vincent Price, Charles Bickford and Anne Revere.
Edward Epstein discusses Jennifer Jones; John Burlingame delves into the Oscar winning score of Alfred Newman; Donald Spoto covers the production and speaks of the films importance from a religious angle (his remarks are very thought provoking).
The script, direction, all of the performances (especially Jennifer Jones), the cinematography, the marvelous sets and the Newman music all work to make this one of the truly great films from the 20th Century Fox library.
Jennifer Jones gives the Oscar-winning performance of her career as Bernadette Soubirous, a French girl who in 1858, claimed to see a wondrous vision of The Virgin Mary (played by Linda Darnell).
In the convent, she is scorned and reprimanded for her 'ignorance' by Sister Marie Therese (played by the wonderful Gladys Cooper), who, once Bernadette dies, regrets never believing in the faith and devotion of the young girl.
Partly because of being so busy, but also, although being an admirer of a lot of the cast and crew, finding that the subject matter didn't appeal to me for a while.Goodness knows why though, because finally getting round to it 'The Song of Bernadette' was a miracle of a film.
The luminous black and white photography wholly deserved its Oscar, that, the atmospheric lighting and sumptuous production values help make 'The Song of Bernadette' one of that year's (that half of the decade even too) most visually beautiful films.
Despite being a long film, the production values, music and performances are so wonderful, Henry King's direction so sensitive and the emotions so high that one is riveted throughout.Jennifer Jones, in her debut performance (in her own name that is, having done a few other previous projects under a different name), seldom gave a more touching or better performance, of her five Oscar nominations this was the only time she won one and it was a very deserved win from personal view.In support she is particularly well aided by Gladys Cooper, on fiery form, Vincent Price, impeccably giving his character menacing colour and unusual restraint, and Charles Bickford, suitably sympathetic.
Jennifer Jones was groomed by David Selznick and was loaned by Selznick to his Brother In Law William Goetz to star in this beautiful film produced via 20th Century Fox and directed by Henry King.
While Bill Goetz and David Selznick and Daryl Zanuck were non Catholics they gave this movie loving and tender care and is a moving and spiritually uplifting story of the meek peasant girl who witness the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
An overwhelming success, its film rights were sold almost immediately to 20th Century-Fox. THE SONG OF BERNADETTE (1943) Starred Jennifer Jones and had a huge, outstanding cast.
Movie based on the true incident of Bernadette Soubirous, whom in February of 1858, saw the image of the Virgin Mary in a grotto in the south of France.
This is the story of Bernadette Soubirous, a French peasant girl from Lordes, France who in 1858 claimed to have been visited on 18 different occasions by the Virgin Mary.
Jennifer Jones in an early starring role is Bernadette with a fine supporting cast in Glayds Cooper, Anne Revere, Charles Bickford, Vincent Price, and Lee J.
Jennifer Jones plays Bernadette Soubirous, the young girl who claimed to see the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
I was once reading a book about the Oscars, and the author, whose research required him to watch Oscar-winning and -nominated films throughout the years, said he had put off "The Song of Bernadette" because he was turned off by the religious subject matter and assumed it would be a heavy-handed, sanctimonious film for believers.
As with most things, our culture demands that people pick a side and refuses to acknowledge shades of gray, so in that way this film was a bit much to take by the time it ended, which is a LONG 156 minutes from the time it started.Jennifer Jones received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, and she's fine, but it's the supporting players around her that are far more interesting, including Oscar-nominated Charles Bickford as the village dean, and Gladys Cooper as a bitter nun who has a marvelous scene late in the film during which she faces a crisis of faith.
In 1858 France, Bernadette (Jennifer Jones), an adolescent peasant girl, has a vision of "a beautiful lady" in the city dump.
This movie is beautiful and Jennifer Jones' performance is wonderful and believable.Many people don't realize that the greatest miracle of Lourdes was Bernadette's identifying the beautiful lady she was seeing as The Immaculate Conception.
Jennifer Jones won a well deserved Academy Award as an innocent peasant girl(Bernadette) in 1858 France who claims to have seen a vision of the Virgin Mary in the city dump.
Eventually Bernadette joins a convent, where her faith will be tested in all new ways...Excellent film is beautifully directed by Henry King, acted by all, and told with sincerity, and as a result is deeply moving.
"Song of Bernadette" is the film that helped make Jennifer Jones famous.
And, to me, her performance was a bit odd to say the least.The film is about a famous peasant girl, often referred to as Bernadette of Lourdes--a young lady who reputedly received visions of the Blessed Virgin and who discovered a well with reputed miraculous properties.
The Song of Bernadette is also one of a number of Christian religious pictures from the war period.Playing the eponymous saint is Jennifer Jones in one of her earliest roles.
I've seen her!' Bernadette (Jennifer Jones) exclaims at a crucial point in the story, as she tries to convince the non-believers in her village that her visions are authentic.
One of the best films of all time and maybe Henry King's best - the real story of Saint Bernadette.
One of the greatest films of the golden era of Hollywood was a religiously themed film about the private revelations of the Blessed Virgin to Bernadette Soubirou, an illiterate peasant girl from the town of Lourdes in the year 1858.
Despite being a little long at almost three hours and not all that exciting, I will watch this again if for no other reason than to see a young, beautiful, sweet Jennifer Jones once again in her screen debut.Much of this film is a frustrating experience as the sincere and honest "Bernadette" (Jones) is not believed by the powers-that-be: the local politician and clergyman.
That disbelief goes on and on and on as Bernadette sees the image of the Virgin Mary, and cannot convince politician-staunch atheist Vincent Price and some stubborn heads of the Catholic Church that she's seeing exactly what she's stating.The real story goes that Bernadette had conversations with Mary (only referred to as "the lady" in the movie) for 15 straight days and miracles took place where the two talked.The acting in here is very good, top to bottom.
This movie is one of TWentienth Century Fox finest ever productions.Jeniffer Jones, just 23 at the time gives a superb performance as Bernadette Soubirous, and Vinncent Price as the District Prosecuotr, Gladys Cooper as Sister Marie and Chjarles Bickford as The Dean all give good accounts of themselves.The film is gloriously photographed and the direction by Henry King is outstanding.
One scene in Particular is wonderous.It is right at the end Bernadettes death scene is wonderfully performed by Jones and Cooper.Jones rightly deserved her Academy Award for Best Actress and the film won 3 other Oscars too.I have never cried so much while watching a movie before, but Song Of Bernadette is so wonderfully moving and while a religiously themed movie it stays away from the heavy preaching of Kings later Stroy of REuth (1960) and tells its story in a simple uncomplicated fashion.Song of Bernadette deserves its reputation as the finest biographical movie directed be Henry King, and it also will move you, and make you think that sometimes miracles do happen!!!!.
The Song of Bernadette is a film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous,who reported eighteen visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France.It stars Jennifer Jones as Bernadette together with William Eythe,Charles Bickford and Vincent Price.
The film was adapted by George Seaton from a novelization of Bernadette's story,written by Franz Werfel; and was directed by Henry King.The movie is a reverent recounting of the life of St. Bernadette of Lourdes.
As a teen-aged peasant girl growing up in the tiny French village of Lourdes in the 19th century, Bernadette experiences a vision of the Virgin Mary in a nearby grotto.
From the Franz Werfel novel of the same name, director Henry King and screenwriter George Seaton (to retain nominal street cred) adopt the skeptic's stance and are careful that Bernadette never actually claims to see "Virgin Mary" but "a beautiful lady," which is like saying George W.
The hook of this narrative for me personally was the classroom scene as Bernadette (Jennifer Jones) was being Hammered by her Teacher Sister Marie Therese played to perfection by Gladys Cooper.
The film is a faithful and reverential retelling of the life of young Bernadette and the miracle at Lourdes, France in 1858.
Interestingly, while the villagers of Lourdes almost immediately ascribed her visions to that of the Virgin Mary, Bernadette herself never made that claim, though it becomes clear by the end of the story that it could have been no other divinity.
As the film professes a number of times, true believers will accept the story of Bernadette on faith while for doubters there can be no proof whatsoever. |
tt0067302 | Kidnapped | The central character and narrator is 17-year-old David Balfour. (Balfour is Stevenson's mother's maiden name.) His parents have recently died, and he is out to make his way in the world. He is given a letter by the minister of Essendean, Mr. Campbell, to be delivered to the House of Shaws in Cramond, where David's uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, lives. On his journey, David asks many people where the House of Shaws is, and all of them speak of it darkly as a place of fear and evil.
David arrives at the ominous House of Shaws and is confronted by his paranoid Uncle Ebenezer, who is armed with a blunderbuss. His uncle is also miserly, living on "parritch" and small ale, and the House of Shaws itself is partially unfinished and somewhat ruinous. David is allowed to stay and soon discovers evidence that his father may have been older than his uncle, thus making David the rightful heir to the estate. Ebenezer asks David to get a chest from the top of a tower in the house but refuses to provide a lamp or candle. David is forced to scale the stairs in the dark and realises that not only is the tower unfinished in some places, but the steps simply end abruptly and fall into an abyss. David concludes that his uncle intended for him to have an "accident" so as not to have to give over his nephew's inheritance.
David confronts his uncle, who promises to tell David the whole story of his father the next morning. A ship's cabin boy, Ransome, arrives the next day and tells Ebenezer that Captain Hoseason of the brig Covenant needs to meet him to discuss business. Ebenezer takes David to a pier on the Firth of Forth, where Hoseason awaits, and David makes the mistake of leaving his uncle alone with the captain while he visits the shore with Ransome. Hoseason later offers to take them on board the brig briefly, and David complies, only to see his uncle returning to shore alone in a skiff. David is then immediately struck senseless.
David awakens, bound hand and foot, in the hold of the ship. He becomes weak and sick, and one of the Covenant's officers, Mr. Riach, convinces Hoseason to move David up to the forecastle. Mr. Shuan, a mate on the ship, finally takes his routine abuse of Ransome too far and murders the unfortunate youth. David is repulsed at the crew's behaviour and learns that the captain plans to sell him into slavery in the Carolinas.
David becomes the slain cabin boy's replacement, and the ship encounters contrary winds which drive her back toward Scotland. Fog-bound near the Hebrides, they strike a small boat. All of the small boat's crew are killed except one man, Alan Breck Stewart, who is brought on board and offers Hoseason a large sum of money to drop him off on the mainland. David later overhears the crew plotting to kill Alan and take all his money. David and Alan barricade themselves in the round house, where Alan kills the murderous Shuan, and David wounds Hoseason. Five of the crew members are killed outright, and the rest refuse to continue fighting.
Alan is a Jacobite who supports the claim of the House of Stuart to the throne of Scotland. He is initially suspicious of the pro-Whig David, who is also loyal to King George II. Still, the young man has given a good account of himself in the fighting and impresses the veteran soldier.
Hoseason has no choice but to give Alan and David passage back to the mainland. David tells his tale to Alan, who in turn states that his birthplace, Appin, is under the tyrannical administration of Colin Roy of Glenure, the King's factor and a Campbell. Alan vows that should he find the "Red Fox" he will kill him.
The Covenant tries to negotiate a difficult channel without a proper chart or pilot, and is soon driven aground on the notorious Torran Rocks. David and Alan are separated in the confusion, with David being washed ashore on the isle of Erraid, near Mull, while Alan and the surviving crew row to safety on that same island. David spends a few days alone in the wild before getting his bearings.
David learns that his new friend has survived, and David has two encounters with beggarly guides: one who attempts to stab him with a knife, and another who is blind but an excellent shot with a pistol. David soon reaches Torosay, where he is ferried across the river, receives further instructions from Alan's friend Neil Roy McRob, and later meets a catechist who takes the lad to the mainland.
As he continues his journey, David encounters none other than the Red Fox (Colin Roy) himself, who is accompanied by a lawyer, a servant, and a sheriff's officer. When David stops the Campbell man to ask him for directions, a hidden sniper kills the King's hated agent.
David is denounced as a conspirator and flees for his life, but by chance reunites with Alan. The youth believes Alan is the assassin, but Alan denies responsibility.
The pair flee from redcoat search parties until they reach James (Stewart) of the Glens, whose family has heard of the murder, is burying their hidden store of weapons, and is burning papers that could incriminate them. James tells the travellers he will have no choice but to "paper" them (distribute printed descriptions of the two with a reward listed), but provides them with weapons and food for their journey south, and David with a change of clothes (which the printed description will not match).
Alan and David then begin their flight through the heather, hiding from government soldiers by day. As the trek drains David's strength, his health rapidly deteriorates; by the time they are set upon by wild Highlanders who are sentries for Cluny Macpherson, an outlawed chief in hiding, the lad is barely conscious.
Alan convinces Cluny to give them shelter. The Highland chieftain is offended when David covenantly refuses to play cards but defers to the respected Alan's opinion of the lad. David is tended by a Highland doctor and soon recovers, though in the meantime Alan loses all of their money at cards with Cluny, only for Cluny to give it back when David practically begs for it.
When David and Alan resume their flight in cold and rainy weather, David becomes ill again and nurses a childish anger against Alan over the affront of having to beg for their money. Alan patiently tries to help the sulking David for several days, but he finally gives in to his own pride and begins taunting him. David forces a showdown with swords by insulting Alan's courage and loyalty, but Alan cannot bring himself to fight him. David, now sick in the extreme, at last feels contrition and realizes a plea for help can do what an apology will not: mend the rift between them. Alan carries David on his back down the burn to reach the nearest house, fortuitously that of a Maclaren, Duncan Dhu, who is both an ally of the Stewarts and a skilled piper.
David is bedridden and given a doctor's care, while Alan hides nearby, visiting after dark. During David's nearly month-long recuperation, he is visited by many curious but loyal neighbours in the region and by a foe of Alan's, Robin Oig, the son of Rob Roy MacGregor and a wanted outlaw. Alan and Robin nearly fight a duel, but Duncan persuades them to leave the contest to bagpipes. Both play brilliantly, but Alan admits Robin is the better piper, so the quarrel is resolved. Alan and David prepare to leave the Highlands and return to David's country.
In one of the most humorous passages in the book, Alan convinces an innkeeper's daughter from Limekilns (unnamed in Kidnapped but called "Alison Hastie" in its sequel) that David is a dying young Jacobite nobleman, despite David's objections, and she ferries them across the Firth of Forth. There, they meet a lawyer of David's uncle's, Mr. Rankeillor, who agrees to help David receive his inheritance. Rankeillor explains that David's father and uncle had once quarrelled over a woman, David's mother, and the older Balfour had married her, informally giving the estate to his brother while living as an impoverished schoolteacher with his wife. This agreement had lapsed with his death.
David and the lawyer hide in bushes outside Ebenezer's house while Alan speaks to him, claiming to be a man who found David nearly dead after the wreck of the Covenant and says he is representing folk holding him captive in the Hebrides. He asks David's uncle whether Alan should kill David or keep him. The uncle flatly denies Alan's statement that David had been kidnapped but eventually admits that he paid Hoseason "twenty pound" to take David to "Caroliny". David and Rankeillor then emerge from their hiding places, and speak with Ebenezer in the kitchen, eventually agreeing that David will be provided two-thirds of the estate's income for as long as his uncle lives.
The novel ends with David and Alan's parting ways; Alan returns to France, and David goes to a bank to settle his money. | intrigue, action | train | wikipedia | This classic story of romantic adventure by Daniel Mann , filmed in location , comes to life enriched by the brilliant photography , as the color of the Scotland's fields is stunning and being freely based on historical events .
A good clean fun with a legendary Scottish adventurer against the British army , the Red Coats .
In 18th century Scotland , during the Jacobite Rebellion , David Balfour (a feeble Lawrence Douglas) claims his inheritance from his uncle (Donald Pleasence who turns a fine studio of evil) , but he is sold as a slave who has him shanghaied on a ship where David meets fugitive Jacobite rebel , a Highland patriot called Alan Breck (the cockney Michael Caine who gives a lift just when it needs it most ) .
Breck is a dash and adventurous rebel who is escaping from Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culludon .
As they getaway from the slave ship and return to battle the British ."Kidnapped" is an amusing adventure movie that certainly hits the mark ; being plenty of action , thrills , colorful cinematography , luxurious costumes and catching score ; all meld together under Delbert Mann's fine direction .
This version covers both the novel "Kidnapped" and the first half of its sequel "Catriona¨ .
It is a little slow , at times , in the telling , mainly because of the stolid acting of the sad couple playing David and Catriona .
As Lawrence Douglas seems a little frail for the adventurous David Balfour and Vivien Heilbron is hardly casting as Catriona Stewart .
But Michael Caine is magnificent , though uneasily cast with his cockney accent , he lends the part sufficient swashbuckling gusto to make it work .
The support cast is frankly excellent -though many of them were not paid because of cash problems- such as Trevor Howard as Lord Advocate , Donald Pleasence as Ebenezer Balfour , Gordon Jackson as Charles Stewart , Freddie Jones , normally seen in comedy characters , as Cluny and Jack Hawkins who had lost his voice in 1966, was dubbed by Charles Gray .
Being luxuriously shot by Paul Beeson , he was also the Director of Photography for the film Kidnapped (1960) .
The flick will appeal to adventures buffs .They are several versions based on Robert Luois Stevenson classic novel , though producers do seem to choose the most unlikely players to perform Stevenson's Alan Breck : the American Warner Baxter , subsequently Australian-raised Peter Finch , then , the Cockney Michael Caine and finally the New Yorker of Italian descent Armand Assante .
1960 a Disney movie by Robert Stevenson with Peter Finch , Jamez MacArthur , Peter O'Toole .
It is loosely based on two Robert Louis Stevenson novels, Kidnapped and its sequel Catriona.
The plot may not be entirely accurate in detail (the Appin murder, etc), but the portrayal of the Jacobite Rebellion is both very accurate and insightful, surprisingly so for a big-time film.
Michael Caine makes the movie.
I love that this version follows the true chronicle, especially in the beginning and I felt like I was truly along with the characters in every scene.
Donald Pleasence played Ebenezer Balfour brilliantly and his scenes with David are true to the original story.
Actually, comparing with the many filmed interpretations it is a fair representation of Robert Louis Stevenson's grand story.
At least it was filmed for the most part in Scotland and the lovely scenic shots add to the authenticity.I think there have been some unfair comments made on this particular interpretation but in general I would say it deserves a far better reception than some have given.
I have no problem with the English actors playing Scottish characters, Caine here is a passable lowland Scots as Allan Breck.
However, I'm not sure that Caine's costume would be one anyone would be seen dead in, it was clearly awful, and hardly the sort of attire a rebel would be running around in.What matters is, that it is a fine interpretation of Stevenson's story..
This is an adaption of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel.
Set in the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 18th century Scotland, a young man is sold into slavery by his unscrupulous uncle.
The two men form an alliance of sorts and subsequently become involved in an incident that creates various complications.The first thing that stands out from the outset here is that the cockney actor Michael Caine is starring in the role of Alan Breck, the Jacobite rebel.
It seems like it must be a bit of miscasting, as it is difficult imagining Caine in such a role, however, pleasingly he is very good here and his film star charisma is used to very good effect for this particular character.
The film also benefits a lot from plenty of nice on-location photography from around Scotland.
The story-line is compelling and the direction is well-paced, while the events depicted are less over-the-top than in later Scottish adventures set in historical times such as Braveheart (1995) and this for me is a good thing.
The story-line eventually dove-tails to a very bittersweet ending that seems like the only appropriate way to round things off..
The plot involves a young man accidentally caught up in the political events in Scotland following the Battle of Culloden..
The plot revolves around a young man who is betrayed by his uncle and is kidnapped for service aboard a ship.
On board the ship, he is befriended by Alan Breck, a rebel Scotsman.
The ship is wrecked off the coast of Scotland and Balfour (the young man) and Breck (played by Michael Caine) are forced to seek aid from some of Breck's relatives.
Balfour to confront his uncle and Breck to hire a ship for his escape to France.
Michael Caine plays the role with the same flair and style that he always brings to the screen.
He portrays a man who is a true patriot yet he must face the realization that the Clans have now been effectively destroyed by the British--the Scotland he loved and fought for no longer exists.
In doing so I shall not attempt a review of the film itself, other than to note here that it is reasonably well-made and entertaining.Whatever the rights and wrongs (ethically speaking) of the breakup of the old clan system in the Scottish Highlands, and the claims of the Jacobite Succession, it is just plain wrong (factually speaking) to refer to the English as the "British" by contrast with the Scots.
The term British refers to anyone who was a subject of the British Crown, subsequent to the Act of Union of 1707; it can refer indifferently to Scots, Welsh, English and Northern Irish, and historically (prior to Home Rule) to the Irish generally.There may be some sentimentality on the part of American viewers who, mindful of their own War of Independence, wish to identify with others struggling against "British" rule.
The BBC broadcast an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's KIDNAPPED a couple of months ago ( I really must get round to reviewing that sometime )so I found myself comparing it with this version and unfortunately this is very much inferior The problem lies in that the movie has very little in the way of action .
There's a set piece on a boat that is skimmed over far too quickly , there's a sniper attack and Alan Breck killing a couple of redcoats and that's basically it as far as action scenes go with much of the running time taken up with Breck telling everyone what a wonderful patriot he is .
I guess the dialogue scenes taking precedent over sword fights and battles is caused by the producers hiring the services of some fine actors and wanting them to appear on screen as long as possible .
It's fairly well acted , though I'm afraid Caine is rather miscast and he makes Alan Breck boorish and unlikable There is one thing that puzzles me in this movie and it happens fairly often , and that is people recognise Breck as soon as they seem him even though they've not met him before but why should this be ?
There was no mass media in the mid 18th Century so they'd be no TV cameras or photography and I doubt if a " Wanted " poster for Breck would capture his likeness and yet nearly every time Breck is spotted someone always gasps " It's Alan Breck !
" Oh and can I just add something about the English / British debate that the redcoats are the Hanoverian British army while the Highlanders are Jacobites , they're Highlanders supporting the Jacobite heir Bonnie Prince Charlie and it's unlikely they considered themselves to be all that Scottish never mind British.
This is a well made atmospheric romp through the Scottish Highlands.Action,romance,murder,treachery and Michael Caine.Beautiful scenery and good soundtrack.I really enjoyed it..
This is my favourite version of the Kidnapped novel.
Michael Caine is excellent as is all the cast.
The film takes the viewer from the Jacobite battlefields of 1745 to Edinburgh Castle with a chase adventure in between.
This is certainly not the worst film in history, but also far from great cinema.
Despite dating from 1971, it has the look and feel of a film from the '40s."Kidnapped" follows the story of David Balfour, an orphaned Lowland Scots boy betrayed and cheated by his drunken oaf of an uncle on the cusp of his eighteenth birthday.The British uniforms and civilian attire are done well, but the "Highland" clothing is laughably inaccurate.Michael Caine is a very good actor, though horribly miscast in the role of "Allan Breck".
The idea of having an Englishman play the role only adds weight to the fiction that anything here resembles genuine Highland history.
I can not count how many times I heard words like "heather", "bonnie", or "lassie" from people who should not even be speaking English.
It is overtly evident that none of the people involved with this movie, from the caterers to the director, had ANY historical background into Highland history and no knowledge of the culture apart from stereotype and myth.It was well-intentioned and not cynical, so it does have some strengths.
See Rob Roy if you want a historically accurate film on the Highland experience.5/10.
A Good Movie; Falters A Bit At The End. As a history lesson about the Jacobite Rebellion this fails, but as a movie for the whole family it's entertaining and a good cast makes it fun to watch.Michael Caine is Alan Breck, determined that the Stuarts should have retained the throne of England, who befriends young David Balfour (Lawrence Douglas) and sets off on a journey with him to Edinburgh, sharing a variety of adventures along the way.
In a limited role, Donald Pleasance added to the fun of the movie as the curmudgeonly Ebenezer Balfour (David's uncle).It was all working together quite well, I thought, until the very end of the movie, and I thought too much was left hanging with the way it concluded.
So an entertaining but historically inaccurate movie ended with a bit of a letdown.
When this film was released, although still young, I was a film buff (not just in terms of cinematography but history, political biases etc.) of at least 25 years.
I have to admit that I was severely biased against this version of 'Kidnapped' with Caine's casting and I am still puzzled as to the how/why of it's production.
What does come across, presumably from the script, particularly the comments of Trevor Howards character, and Michael Caine's 'less is more portrayal' of Alan Breck, is the sense of loss of the 'Celtic' past.
One gets a fuller and more rounded picture of the times that the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel Kidnapped is set in with this version of Kidnapped.
Not only is the famous Stevenson novel taken to David Balfour's return and vindication, but we go a bit farther with the story based on Stevenson's successor novel Catriona and we get the Kidnapped story firmly entrenched in the times it happened.Those times being the days after the Battle Of Culloden where the Scottish people chose between the returning French speaking Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Hanover monarchy of George II in 1745.
Those were bad times to be a Highlander and a supporter of the Stuarts.Lawrence Douglas plays young David Balfour and Michael Caine is Alan Breck his friend and rescuer during the kidnapping of young Balfour by Captain Jack Hawkins at the behest of Balfour's uncle Donald Pleasance.I'll not say more as the story of Kidnapped is well known.
As for the continuing material from Catriona, the differences between Alan Breck and David Balfour are brought out.
Lawrence Douglas is a Hanoverian supporter and Breck a soldier in the army of Prince Charles.
That sets the rival Campbell clan against him and puts Advocate General Trevor Howard in a delicate position.Howard's character is not in the first novel and he's a decent man in an impossible political position.
It's Alan Breck however who sets things right in the end for all concerned.Previous versions with Warner Baxter and Freddie Bartholomew and Peter Finch and James MacArthur only concentrated on the Kidnapped story.
This film is more adult and firmly set in the politics of the time with a good ensemble cast.
I'd check this out especially if I liked the work of Robert Louis Stevenson..
A compelling adventure film from the early-'70s.
This adventure film from 1971 is a highly credible cinematic adaptation.
Also in one early scene at the curmudgeonly Uncle Ebeneezer's bleak House of Shaws when young David is introduced to Captain Hoseason and is subsequently kidnapped, the morning sun-light shining on the door in the background gives the surface of the door a pure silver effect which seems profoundly metaphysical.
Indeed the Lord Advocate - played with flair by Trevor Howard, is very much a figure from the Scottish Enlightenment.
Michael Caine in one of his most committed performances plays the character of Jacobite soldier of fortune, Alan Breck Stuart: he sports green, blue and grey tartan with a silver brooch embossed with an amber gem.
The fight scene in the ship's cabin is a bravura set-piece..
Such is the Robert Louis Stevenson story Kidnapped.As far as period pieces go, this isn't a very good one.
Veteran actors Jack Hawkins and Trevor Howard take supporting roles, but they aren't really enough to save the movie.
I got a kick out of the reversal of fortune, though; ten years earlier, Michael Caine had small roles in films starring Jack Hawkins, and in Kidnapped, the billing was reversed.Michael Caine fans won't be very happy with this movie; they'd be better off watching the other Robert Louis Stevenson adaptation Jekyll & Hyde, in which he does a very good job.
I saw this film only once the year it was released and the only thing I can actually remember about it has me chomping at the bit to see it again.
It is the final scene where Allan Breck was led out into the beautiful Scotland countryside by his captors, presumably to certain execution.
I love this film in spite of its alleged inaccuracies in dress, accent and history.
I love the memorable set pieces such as the fight between Alan and David and the duel between Duncansby and David who 'doesn't know the back end of a sword from its front' and who won't 'play at the cards' with Freddie Jones, due to his promise to his father.
The locations were good with little studio work like the Disney version.
Micheal Caine was at his peak so must have been a coup for the producers who were hardly likely to make him a minor character.
I think the only better version was the serialised version with David McCallum as Alan Breck but as a serial had much greater time to give an in depth portrayal..
Mr Donald Pleasance - clearly basing his performance on Spike Milligan's interpretations of The Great McGonagall - is given a rare opportunity to air his "Scottish" accent.So,unfortunately,are Mr Freddie Jones,Mr Jack Watson,Mr Jack Hawkins and Sir Michael Caine,who,in "Kidnapped"is forced to wear clothes a P.G. Wodehouse bookmaker would regard as de trop.
Mr Delbert Mann is as entitled as the next person to have a pop,much as fellow American Mr Mel Gibson did many years later,but he was taking the p*ss a bit using big name English actors to do it.
It is a fact universally acknowledged that anything more subtle than the "See you Jimmy!" brand of Scottish dialect is beyond all but the finest mimics.Here,that beautiful treasure - house is raped,plundered then trampled over in favour of a generic accent like a third - rate touring company fumbling their way through "The Scottish Play" on a wet Tuesday night in Hull.An honourable exception is Mr Trevor Howard as the Advocate - General,a splendid exposition of the Upper - Class Scotsman,at home neither with the English nor his own countrymen.
Mr Caine decides on a "Gorblimey Guv'nor - the noo" style of speech that never works for me.At least Mr Jones gives it the whole eye - rolling Robert Newton routine,no half - measures there.
The exterior sequences are competent if not particularly exciting and there is a nice sense of the rugged countryside at times,but much of the movie is static,almost stagey in nature.The fight in the ship's cabin is clumsily handled and I feared some of the scenery was actually going to collapse under the weight of the flying bodies.
Mr Robert Louis Stephenson himself once wrote..."Sometimes it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive" - words to consider if you are to avoid disappointment after deciding to watch this version of "Kidnapped" |
tt0079227 | Good Guys Wear Black | Back in 1973, one United States Senator Conrad Morgan (James Franciscus), the chief delegate diplomat in negotiating the terms of the end of Vietnam War, made a deal in Paris, France with Kuong Yen, the North Vietnamese negotiator. The deal called for Yen to release certain key CIA POWs in exchange for Morgan setting up a death-trap for an elite group of CIA assassins, known as the Black Tigers. The treaty signed, the Black Tigers were sent into the jungles of 'Nam to their unknowing demise, under the guise that they were on mission to liberate American POWs. However, the truly important thing to understand is that the negotiators failed to realize one thing: the commando's team leader was one Major John T. Booker (Chuck Norris). So, needless to say and despite all odds, Booker survives. As do the four men wise enough to have remained in his general vicinity.
Five years after returning from Vietnam, Booker, now living in Los Angeles, California, is now working as a political science professor at UCLA, donning a post-war moustache, and with a hobby of race car–driving. Booker lectures to a bunch of kids on how the war should not have happened, and that the U.S. should not have been involved. He then jokes about singing patriotic songs the following week to atone. Sitting in on one of his lectures is a bright female reporter named Margaret (Anne Archer) who starts asking some very specific questions about the botched rescue mission. It seems that someone is slowly killing all the surviving members of the special forces team.
Booker is suddenly thrown back into his past when Morgan's appointment as Secretary of State spurs Yen to blackmail his ex-negotiations buddy into making good on his unfinished deal: the extermination of the Black Tigers. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0107131 | Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey | Chance, a disobedient American Bulldog (voiced by Michael J. Fox) and narrator of the film, opens by explaining that he is the pet of Jamie Burnford (Kevin Chevalia), but expresses no interest in his owner or being part of a family. He shares his home with Shadow, an older and wiser Golden Retriever (voiced by Don Ameche) owned by Peter Burnford (Benj Thall), and Sassy, a smart-mouthed Himalayan cat (voiced by Sally Field), owned by their sister, Hope (Veronica Lauren). That morning, Bob Seaver (Robert Hays) marries Laura Burnford (Kim Greist), and Chance manages to cause chaos by digging into the wedding cake in front of all the guests.
Shortly after the wedding, the family has to move to San Francisco because Bob must temporarily relocate there for his job. They leave the pets at a ranch belonging to Kate (Jean Smart), a family friend. Shadow and Sassy start missing their owners immediately, but Chance sees it as an opportunity to explore and have some fun. Later in the week, Kate goes on a cattle drive, leaving the animals at the ranch to be looked after by her neighbor Frank (Gary Taylor). He does not see her message, and thinks that she has taken them along. Worried by the disappearance of their host, the animals come to the conclusion that they've been abandoned. Shadow in particular is worried about Peter, as he is adamant that Peter would never abandon him; therefore, he decides to go find his owners, as he fears Peter may be in danger. Not wanting to be left alone on the ranch, Chance and Sassie determine that they have no choice but to come along with him.
They head into the rocky, mountainous wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas with Shadow leading by instinct. After a night spent in fear of the woodland noise, the group stops to catch breakfast at a river. Two black bear cubs steal Chance's fish, and when Chance barks at them in protest, they leave the fish and climb a tree. He cockily assumes that he has scared them off, but then a huge brown bear appears, causing the group to quickly flee. At another river, Sassy refuses to swim across to follow the dogs; therefore, she runs along the river until she reaches a path of wood that seems to cross its breadth. Halfway across, it breaks apart and she falls in the water. Shadow jumps in to try to save her, but she goes over a waterfall. Shadow and Chance search for her along the bank, but as night falls, they mourn their loss and continue on without her.
Meanwhile, a half-drowned Sassy is rescued from the river and nursed back to health by Quentin (William Edward Phipps), a man who lives in the woods. With Sassy recuperating from her injuries, the dogs struggle to catch fish from the river. Unbeknownst to the dogs, a mountain lion begins stalking them. While Chance is fishing, he spots the mountain lion and tells Shadow about it. The mountain lion chases them to the edge of a cliff. Chance assumes he is about to die, so he blurts his dark secrets to Shadow by telling him where he has buried everything at home. When Chance mentions that the remote control is buried under the seesaw, Shadow gets an idea to use a balanced rock shaped like a seesaw as a way to thwart the mountain lion. While Shadow acts as bait, Chance pounces onto the end of the rock and sends the mountain lion over the cliff and into a river. Sassy hears Chance and Shadow barking in celebration and follows the sound to rejoin them.
The animals continue on their way, but Chance tries to befriend a porcupine, ending up with a load of quills in his muzzle. His friends are unable to pull them out, and as they journey on, they find a little girl named Molly (Mariah Milner), who is lost in the woods. Too loyal to ignore her, they stand guard over her and keep her warm during the night. In the morning, Shadow finds a rescue party, which includes Molly's parents, and leads them back to her. The forest rangers, along with the party, recognize the animals from a missing pets flyer and take them to the local animal shelter, which Chance calls "The Pound." Because Chance has had experiences with being in a dog pound, and it is a place Shadow does not think exists, he panics and warns the others to run. Sassy gets away while he and Shadow are taken inside. As the medical staff removes the quills from Chance's muzzle, Sassy sneaks in and frees Shadow. Together, they retrieve Chance and escape the shelter, without realizing that their owners were on their way to get them.
The group is crossing through a train yard when Shadow falls through some old boards into a muddy pit, injuring his leg. With Sassy and Chance's encouragement, he tries to climb out, but is unable to climb up the slippery slope. Lying down, he says he is too old and that they should go on without him. Chance jumps into the pit to try to get him going, but Shadow refuses to move. Near dusk, the family is out in the backyard playing basketball when Jamie claims to hear Chance barking. The others think he is imagining things, but moments later Chance comes running over a hill, happily tackling "his boy." Sassy follows to be reunited with Hope. Peter looks for Shadow, but when he does not show up, Peter says he was too old, and it was too far of a walk for him and turns to go back inside. As he does, Shadow is seen limping over the hill. Peter turns back around and shouts Shadow's name as the two run towards each other. As everyone watches, Chance narrates how it was Shadow's belief that brought them home and how the years seemed to lift off of him, making him a puppy again after being reunited with his best friend. While everyone goes inside, Chance stays behind for a moment, ending his narration by saying he had a family and for the first time in his life, he was really home. He then happily runs into the house at the smell of food. | feel-good | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2015261 | 11/11/11 | The film starts with a dream sequence depicting Sarah and David Crone being trapped and ultimately dying in their burning home at 11:11.
Joseph Crone wakes in his hotel room on November 7, 2011 at 11:11AM. His manager, Grant, arrives and urges Joseph to write his next novel after telling him that his previous book sold over 5 million copies. Joseph begins writing about how after his wife and son died, he lost all faith in a higher power and God, and writes God is dead, or maybe he was never alive.
On November 8, 2011, Joseph attends his support group meeting where Sadie is telling her story. Outside, Sadie tells Joseph that he should speak up, calling him good with words. As Joseph departs, Sadie gives him a notebook. Joseph is then immediately in a car accident. At the hospital, he has an MRI Scan and the doctors reveal to him that he is perfectly healthy and uninjured while the other driver was killed in the crash. Joseph tells Sadie that he feels that he has no purpose and prays for God to kill him every day. He then examines his watch and sees that it stopped exactly at 11:11. That night, Joseph gets a call from his estranged brother, Samuel, who is living in Spain with their father, Richard. Samuel tells Joseph that their father is dying.
On November 9, 2011, Joseph goes to Barcelona, Spain, to visit his father. There, Joseph meets with Samuel, who is wheelchair bound. Samuel urges Joseph to put aside his hatred for the Church and asks Joseph to stay the night. Later Samuel tells Joseph that his congregation dwindled away, and asks him to try to get some of his fans to follow his church.
In Samuel's study, the local housekeeper Ana demands that Samuel show Joseph the video de los demonios. Ana shows Joseph a security video taken on November 3 that depicts the faint outline of what appears to be a demon at 11:11PM. Joseph tells Samuel that he's been seeing the number 11-11 frequently in the past few days. Joseph then goes to talk to Ana and finds a diary, only titled El Libro de Ana. When confronted about it, Ana tells Joseph that it's the gospel according to her. That night, Joseph reads that people who frequently see the number 11-11 have been "Activated". Joseph then saves Samuel, who is being strangled by demon-like creatures.
On November 10, 2011, at a meeting of Samuel's congregation, a man named Javier brandishes a gun at Samuel, dropping a camera in the process. Joseph disarms Javier, who runs off. Joseph and Samuel then visit the cemetery where their mother, Lauren, is buried. Joseph points out that Samuel's birthday and Lauren's death both took place on November 11. Joseph tells Samuel that the attack the night before, Joseph's accident, David's death, and the apparitions all occurred at 11:11 on the clock. Samuel urges Joseph to not look for meaning where there is none. Joseph then goes to find a shop to develop the photos on Javier's camera, and they tell Joseph that the photos will be developed the next day. Joseph goes to an Occult Book Shop where the keeper reads a passage from a book, detailing that on November 11, 2011, a sacrifice will be made that will destroy faith and the Serpent will rise. Joseph becomes convinced that Samuel is a prophet to save the church and that on November 11, 2011, at 11:11, Samuel will be sacrificed by these demons for the devil to rise.
On November 11, 2011, Joseph finds that Sadie has arrived in Barcelona. Joseph and Sadie are cornered in a maze by Javier, who brandishes the gun at Joseph before fleeing. When Joseph and Sadie return to the house, they find that Richard has died. Joseph breaks into Javier's home, and finds Samuel's photos in a diary with the word SACRIFICIO scrawled on its pages, along with 11-11-11. Javier finds Joseph and shoots him.
Joseph comes to that night, calls Sadie, and tells her to get the photos that were developed as he runs back to the house. He finds Samuel, who urges Joseph to save the notebooks that chronicle the church's history. Joseph and Samuel, with the notebooks, are cornered by the demonic beings in the house, and they take Samuel at 11:02PM. Joseph attempts to find and rescue Samuel as Sadie gets the photos. Joseph finds Samuel, suspended in the air, surrounded by the beings. A sinkhole opens, causing Joseph to fall away from rescue. Joseph manages to crawl out of the sinkhole as one of the creatures readies a blade to stab Samuel. Joseph steps in the path of the blade exactly at 11:11, and the beings disappear.
Sadie, looking through the photos, burns them all. Joseph and Samuel lie out in the rain as Joseph begins to die. Samuel tells Joseph that 11-11 was not a window opening, but one closing, and that the end of the world could only be stopped then. Joseph finds the notebooks and reads one that Samuel wrote, depicting his own death. Samuel stands, collects the notebooks, and leaves Joseph to die after revealing that the beings were, in fact, angels and that he was the devil that needed to be stopped. A new religion will start, and Joseph's, Samuel's, Sadie's, Grant's, and Ana's books will become the new gospels.
Some time later, a large church is filled with Samuel's followers, each bearing a book titled The Book of Joseph. | murder | train | wikipedia | From then on - the movie deteriorated: unlikable characters, plot full of holes, irrational decisions of the characters and the ending seems like someone got stuck with the screenplay and decided to wrap it up quickly and go home for dinner (don't get me started on the visual effects, either, which, although not being the main issue here, leave much to be desired).
I like endings that makes you think, but in this case, my only thought was "gotta warn others from wasting one hour and a half of their life on this".I guess my main dissatisfaction with this movie is that the storyline did not make much sense, even for the horror genre.so...
Terrible, do not waste your time..
I don't usually mind movies being a little rough around the edges but this one was just terrible.
I felt like the producers just said "meh, that will do." and released it without any thought about detail or quality.
The visual effects were not just poor but offensive, the plot had huge holes in it (more holes than plot) and the choices made during the story were just insane by any standards.
The most annoying part about the whole thing is the ending - or lack of one.
The story wasn't wrapped up, we have no idea what happened to 90% of the characters in the movie, and it just plain made no sense.
In short I would not recommend this train wreck of a move to anyone..
It is really difficult to make such a bad movie as this one, picking scenes and pieces from other better movies and putting them together in such a talentless way must have been a very hard work.
I started to watch the movie with some expectation and interest thinking that at some point I was going to be grabbed by the mystery or the action, but the truth is that after the first ten minutes I already realized that I was watching one of the worst movies I have seen.
The actors are bad amateurs that do not even manage to make one credible dialogue.
The film is inspired in so many old topics and scenes from previously released films that it is not even surprising in any way...the whole thing stinks.
In that sense it is really a horror movie..
It's a Movie by Asylum .....
And thats all you should need to know about the movie.
Asylum is known for making the rip-off movies in hopes that idiots like us will mistake it for the bigger blockbuster version and rent it instead.
I LOVE horror movies big and small but Asylum movies make me vomit in my mouth every time I have the misfortune of watching one.
There's ANOTHER movie out there called 11/11/11, BTW,written and directed by Darren Lynn Bousman from the Saw franchise.
Again, I'm not one of those reviewers who doesn't appreciate campy horror movies and then complains that it was awful - I truly love horror movies, particularly the bad ones, (think "Bugs" starring Antonio Sabatao Junior bad) but thanks to NetFlix and Asylum in particular I have learned the hard lesson that there are just some movies that are just really THAT awful.
Anything I've seen by Asylum falls into that lot.
You want to see more of their ilk how about "666: The Child" and it's horrible sequel (Damien, anyone?) or EXORCISM: THE POSSESSION OF GAIL BOWERS (Emily Rose?
The last Exorcist?) HG Wells War of the Worlds (NOT the War of the Worlds blockbuster you're thinking of!) Halloween Night (Not only does it share the Halloween title it shares the same plot line too)Snakes on a Train...God, the list goes on and on it gets worse and worse.
I'm done ranting now, just thought I'd point it out in hopes I could prevent someone else from renting their god awful movies.
We need something better than this adaptation of Satan-revival story....
And I think I can do that.There was some moments I liked, but most of the movie was just copy of many cliché.
We've seen that types of Satan sect/legend stories many times, so, I thought, maybe this could be something else.
Characters were interesting, and actors played them well, but their screenplay decisions couldn't make me believe that person could act this way.
Not mention disbelieving CG effects and action scenes.
Ending could be interesting even more, but it has something in itself.Sorry, but we need something better than this adaptation of Satan-revival story..
The only real horror is how terrible this movie is.
The Asylum's movies are mostly terrible(there are a few tolerable ones though), so there was little surprise that 11/11/11 would be too.
There is something compulsively watchable in how bad their movies are, hence the watching of them despite knowing how they'll turn out.
11/11/11 is a cheap-looking movie for starters.
The editing at best is choppy, there is nothing dynamic about the lighting and the special effects are laughably fake, almost as if it took 5 minutes and less than $5 to construct.
The sound effects and music are generic and sluggish, forgettable also in every way.
The dialogue has enough awkwardness and cheesiness to make your head hurt, and the story is terminally dull being too obvious and predictable to be scary, thrilling or suspenseful.
The characters are not likable or interesting in the slightest, the direction is amateurish and has no distinctive style and the actors can't act their way out of a paper bag, that's how painful it was to watch them.
In conclusion, a terrible movie, to be avoided and only to be seen just to see if The Asylum make another atrocity or a watchable movie.
Jack and Mellisa Vales soon suspect that the 'spooky' coincidences that occur at their new house could have to do with their son, who also might happen to be Satan.
Or the person that founded the Asylum movie company, they're pretty indistinguishable from each other.It's an Asylum film, so telling you that it's cheap, badly acted, or obscenely tedious would be an exercise in redundancy.
Having instant Netflix,however, I don't waste my money, just my time (which is also a travesty in its own way)My Grade: F+.
Icky Gooey Goings on with a Young Boy turning a DEVILISH 11 years old !.
This film is topical, fastly paced and very intense.The director/co-writer was first noticed by Asylum for his acting in '3Musketeers'.Unknown actors usually add to the realism of a film,Yes,It's true here too.There are numbers of creep-out moments that set us up for a fall- ALWAYS look for your cat ,As soon as it comes up missing.Beware of nannies (Aww,Check the news tonite and every night from now on).Birthdays can be a big deal to a whole town.Never,Ever move into a neighborhood,Sight unseen.
This movie started off OK making you question everyone, but takes a quick turn into predictable cheesy movie antics and bad graphics.
When the retarded young man was hit in the head with a bat the people were nowhere near him.
The father was given so many hints including one in the book that stated every disaster that adds up to 11 stated that his son would turn into the devil when he turned 11 on November 11, 2011.
The father was a moron, the antics were cliché like when the wife took a bath & it turned into blood or the son talking to people that weren't there, and the ending sucked in a way that makes me hate this director and shames horror movies, cult movies, and satanic based movies like the exorcism everywhere..
Complete Waste of Time.
Wow, that was the most pointless movie I've ever seen.
The writing is jumpy, which makes the story skip around with little cohesion.
Lady, you should know what color your cat is, you batty old dame.
It's either seriously bad editing on the script writer's part or deliberate hinting at the woman's insanity.Oh, then we get to the special effects.
It was too red, too staining, not dark enough when dried, and looked like raspberry syrup or diluted ketchup at times.
Also, the dead cat under the kid's bed was covered in mealworms, not maggots as it should have been.
If a dead cat was under the kid's bed in the first place, why is it that no one noticed the putrid stench of death?
Lastly, at 3 to 4 weeks' gestation, there is no way that the fetus would have a large, recognizable hand to press against its dead mother's womb.
Again, do your research, people!
Most of the cast couldn't act their way through a 1st grade play of Little Red Riding Hood to save their lives.
The fight choreographer needs to go back to their day job, because the punches thrown and how they "landed" look extremely fake.Lastly, I have major beef with whoever cut this film.
Did no one review the final cut for mistakes, continuity, or make sure that the film made sense before printing it?
A few times, the camera men can be seen in reflections in window panes.
The mom blinks three times while lying dead in the bathtub.
The cloth with chloroform (I am assuming) over Nat's mouth moves from over his nose to just his mouth and back again a few times during the scene where Annie is trying to kill him.Plot holes, no resolution, no hint as to what really happened at the end, the movie just ends without any of the conflict being resolved or explained, and the last 30 seconds are just strange and unnecessary.Seriously, do not waste your time.
This movie will just frustrate you unless you want to pretend to be Joel from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and rip this trash to shreds while you watch with your robot pals..
This has got to be the worst movie I've ever seen.
The blood looked so fake.
When the evil babysitter beats up the other baby sitter, it just looks so fake.
I hate how the boy has no lines in this whole movie.
This movie doesn't deserve to even be out.
Whoever made this movie should be fired.
This movie didn't scare me one little bit.
Worst "scary movie" ever award right here.
The ending when he kills his son, yes, again looks so fake.
The ending makes no sense.
So was his son the devil?
or was the baby inside his wife the devil they were all talking about?
Did he kill his wife and son and didn't know it or didn't mean to?
Just such a dumb movie to me.
Jack Vales(Jon Biddell), a college professor, along with his wife Melissa(Erin Coker) and son Nat(Hayden Byerly), move to a new neighborhood, where the neighbors seems a bit odd and peculiar.
Melissa learns she is with child and needs constant bed rest; thus a nanny for Nat must be hired.
The new nanny is Denise(Aurelia Scheppers), who's attitude is a bit childlike and...well, mean.
The Vales don't realize that their son will turn into the devil on his upcoming 11th birthday on 11/11/11.
As for the strange neighbors, they are all devil worshipers, who can't wait for the boy to take his reign.
Horrible acting and not so good special effects.
The only thing I really liked was...well, the nanny.
It isn't Scary...
I love a good Satanic apocalypse!
In a nutshell, here's the scoop: A family moves to Nowheresville, USA including a 10-year-old boy who's scheduled to turn 11 on November 11, 2011.
We know things will go awry when the kid makes the astounding revelation that the numbers in the address of their house total 11 - ooh, scary.
So, gradually, the kid (albeit quiet from the get-go) starts acting weirder and weirder as the fateful date approaches, including knowing his mom's pregnant before she does.There are a bunch of weirdos around town including a dingbat old lady who's continually looking for her cat (which has no relevance to the movie other than its powdery corpse later found under the boy's bed), and the realtor they purchased the house through who ends up being apart of a Satanic cult.
How they knew the child demon seed was moving to town, I don't know, nor will you.
I know what you're thinking - this might still be okay, right?
Kinda like a modern-day The Omen.
Sorry, no dice.So, dingbat keeps trying to lure the kid to her place where she can kill him because she knows he's destined to be the son of Satan.
So, the obvious question is, why does he need to come to your place to be killed?
Anyway, dingbat strikes out as do several others who try to spill the beans on the local Satanists and find an early demise for their troubles.But don't worry, the Satanic posse has an inside mole...a nanny who looks like a witch's apprentice (just the type I like for my kids).
I love the part when the dad discovers the nanny's manipulating the boy including teaching him about the apocalypse and scratching his body with this chicken claw thing...and what does he do?
Nah.But he'll be sorry, cuz when he comes home, the boy's gone off the deep end and is suddenly looking to open a can of whoop-ass Satan-style.
A bunch of people die in a sort of ho-hum fashion, including the kid and I practically fall asleep from the lack of scare, thrill or creep.I'd like to see this movie remade with the boy just as a normal kid who the Satanic cult insists is the son of Satan.
A bad film about numerology and Satan worship..
Jack, Melissa, and Nathan move to a new town and a new house in University housing.At least three of the neighbors knew that Nathan's birthday was coming right up.
The rotten meat in Jack's office desk was a third; the claw marks on the family room wall should probably count as well.
The fellow who came by to fix the claw marks takes one look, runs away, gets hit by a car.
Good start.Melissa has an unexpected bleeding event which leads her to find out she's pregnant.
Her new doctor prescribes complete bed rest coupled with getting a nanny for Nathan and a nurse for Melissa.
All sorts of clues come from neighbors and Jack's co-workers at the University.The nurse is rather sinister, but the nanny Rhonda seems light and pleasant.
Denise beats the living crap out of her, muscles in on the job, including stealing Rhonda's mobile phone.
She majors in comparative religions and works part time at a butcher shop.
Great stuff.This goes on and on: 'significant event' after significant event, right up to the end.
Unfortunately, the film brings none of this significance to fruition.------Scores------One star of five; two black holes for acting and screen writing.Cinematography: 5/10 For daylight portions, the fundamentals were good.
The filming during the first ritual sacrifice was hideously bad.
The night sequences were spotty.Sound: 7/10 Probably the best part of the film.Acting: 0/10 There were so many bad performances.
Jon Briddell, as the clueless father, was the worst of them all.Screenplay: 0/10 Lots of bad execution.
Very little of the action makes direct sense.
Jack could have saved his wife by lifting the cord.
Jack murdering people to save the son who killed his wife?
This is one of those so bad it's good movies.
First off this family moves to this college town.
It seems like they have a house on campus but I am not sure.
But mention was made of the neighbor living on the campus for years.
Where he replaced a Professor who ran off, disappeared or was killed.The family has a son who I thought was possessed from the start.
The mother I think is a little odd too.
The husband seems to be the only person in the family that acts normal.
I am not sure if the mother kind of knew about her son or just was not attentive.
Because the boy utters to his mother something about her being pregnant and she says she is not pregnant.
Why didn't the mother think it was odd that her son seemed to be some type of fetus whisperer.The doctor tells the wife and husband that she has to stay still and in bed because she might lose the baby.
Well the next thing you know he tells them they get a nurse and a nanny for the boy.
Their health plan takes care of that.
I can see a nurse but a nanny too.
Well that was just a way to get some of the cult members in the house to watch the boy and the mother.There is a crazy neighbor who is trying to kill the boy before his 11th birthday which falls on 11/11/11.
Yes because of that he is going to be responsible for the Apocalypse and that is what they want to happen.
My question what about all the other soon to be 11 year old with the same birthday?
Now I am not going to tell the end.
But let's say numerous people are killed including a cop being blown up and no one seems to notice.
I have to mention also that the whole town does not belong to this cult.
So why no mention of all of these dead bodies that keep on turning up?
People are getting killed in broad daylight.
And there is the required levitation scene that all of these types of movies must have.I say if you love movies that are so bad they are good, take a look.
But if you don't, skip it because you will never get that time back.
For you folks I told some of the plot and plot pot holes so you can decide if you want to waste your time or not.
I understand there is a sequel, hopefully it doesn't disappoint and it is as awful as this movie is. |
tt0068575 | Fat City | Billy Tully (Keach), a boxer past his prime, goes to a Stockton, California gym to get back into shape and spars with Ernie Munger (Bridges), an eighteen-year-old he meets there. Seeing potential in the youngster, Tully suggests that Munger look up his former manager and trainer, Ruben (Nicholas Colasanto). Tully later tells combative barfly Oma (Tyrrell) and her easygoing boyfriend Earl (Curtis Cokes) how impressed he is with the kid. Newly inspired, Tully decides to get back into boxing himself.
Tully's life has been a mess ever since his wife left him. He drinks too much, cannot hold down a job, and picks fruit and vegetables with migrant workers to make ends meet. He still blames Ruben for mishandling his last fight.
Tully tries moving in with Oma after Earl is sent to prison for a few months, but their relationship is rocky.
Munger loses his first fight, his nose broken, and is knocked out in his next bout as well. He gets pressured into marriage by Faye (Candy Clark) because a baby's on the way, so he picks fruit in the fields for a few dollars.
For his first bout back, Tully is matched against a tough Mexican boxer named Lucero (Sixto Rodriguez), who is also of an advanced age and in considerable pain. They knock each other down before Tully is declared the winner. His celebration is brief when Tully discovers that he will be paid only $100, which causes him to end his business relationship with Ruben. He then returns to Oma's apartment and finds Earl there. Earl, still paying the rent, assures him that the alcoholic Oma wants nothing more to do with Tully.
Munger is returning home from a fight one night when he sees Tully in the street, drunk. Munger tries to ignore him, but when Tully asks to have a drink, he reluctantly agrees to coffee. The two men sit and drink and Tully looks around at all the people immediately around him, all of whom now seem at an impassable distance. Munger says he needs to leave, but Tully asks him to stay and talk a while. Munger agrees, and the two men sit drinking their coffee together in silence. | cult | train | wikipedia | Fat City is an amazing film, made even more stellar by the casting of Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Candy Clark and Nick Colasanto.
Stacy Keach pulls you into this world, he lives and breathes the character he plays down to the last few minutes of screen time when he takes a look around the rathole of a restaurant he's in, surrounded by people like himself and the film freezes for about a minute before it moves on.You catch his stark awareness at that moment.
He defined an entire genre with his foot barely in the Hollywood door, then he kicked the door down and walked in to clear well deserved Oscars as both writer and director, he took his Oscars with him to Africa to get hammered with Erol Flynn and go out on safaris leaving behind him a big production to go to hell, then came back to find they had nailed a new door in place of the one he had torn down so he didn't bother to knock at all this time, he packed his things and went to a small dingy bar where Mexicans and barflies go to kill their time to make movies about killing time, movies about misfits and people who are dead inside, movies like Fat City and Under the Volcano, to adapt Flannery O'Connor and James Joyce, to soar above and beyond what anyone might have expected from any director of his generation.
We get the young upstart boxer with the fast legs and a bright future ahead of him if only someone could train him right but this character can only make sense when we see him standing next to Stacy Keach, the aging boxer who won't see thirty again and who maybe had a chance once but blew it for women and alcohol and now he's desperate for one last throw of the dice.The sad beauty of Fat City is that we're not looking at some kind of last defiant stand, we don't enter the ring for one last moment of triumph with the lights blaring bright and the crowd cheering, this is not The Wrestler anymore than it is Rocky, the lights were not only dimmed long ago but they probably never shone bright enough anywhere except in the protagonist's head.
The down-to-earth tale of two small hall boxers -- at the opposite ends of their careers -- and the blows they take in and out of the ring.This is one of the best American movies ever about normal working class lives where failure is common and the only thing you can do is pretend otherwise or drug it all away to nothing.
But while everyone focuses on (the admittedly very good) more famous works by Scorsese and Coppola, many equally worthwhile movies get little attention - 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia', 'Scarecrow', 'Fingers', 'Tracks', 'The Panic In Needle Park', 'Blue Collar', and this one, arguably John Huston's most underrated film.
John Huston's 1972 production of FAT CITY is a masterpiece of film-making and acting.
"I win the fight and I get my wife back", says Keach's character, Billy Tully.A great movie, but one that leaves you feeling sad; pondering your own hopes, dreams, and desires.
A remarkable supporting cast, high-lighted by a young Jeff Bridges, make FAT CITY one of John Huston's most memorable films.
Huston's muted study of despairing lives and the escape paths people create for themselves, strikingly shot by the great Conrad Hall, sets these men in Stockton and stands the despair of their lives against the single-minded perseverance of their hopefulness.The Stockton in his film is present in an America we have a propensity to put out of our minds about the more the divide grows between rich and poor.
Such an approach was relief from the stifling boundaries of Hollywood notions of entertainment when I first saw the film on ex-rental VHS and remains so today.The characters in this story are played by Jeff Bridges as Ernie, and Stacy Keach as Billy.
Finally, the Kris Kristofferson ballad 'Help Me Make it Through the Night' is prominently featured to excellent effect, in order to illustrate the desolation and loneliness of the main characters.The lack of a driving narrative is actually one of the virtues of 'Fat City', It makes up for this with lots of atmosphere and interesting and believable people.
While RAGING BULL uses boxing to the tell an epic story of rise and fall, and ROCKY is about someone working to prove himself to the world; FAT CITY is about the basic struggle that people go through just to make a few bucks.
Such might be the moral of this very atypical sports movie, starring Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges as aspiring fighters in the lower echelons of the boxing game in and around Stockton, California.John Huston was one of the most commercially and popularly successful of mainstream Hollywood directors, making such major classics as The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The African Queen, yet most film historians and critics have been reluctant to rank him among the best cinematic artists.
Fat City makes it hard to see why: this gritty, realistic film is one of those great films which surprises you by how much more it seems like real life than like a movie.
Keach and Bridges both give what may be their best performances, and Susan Tyrrell, an actress better known for stage work, gives an unforgettable performance as an alcoholic barfly, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, and she should have won.Fat City is not at all a typical sports film, which by Hollywood convention must show a hero overcoming early difficulties to rise to stardom, nor is it really about boxing, though it includes an extended fight scene which may be the best ever included in a Hollywood film -- the fact that Huston was a prize fighter himself in his youth no doubt adds to the authenticity of the prize ring atmosphere.
In the past, some studios in Hollywood considered themselves to be in a privileged position as they were producing a highly disparate genre of films about boxing and boxers.These films were made by a separate team who would write scripts,choose actors and direct films about success stories being crafted in boxing rings.One such 'boxing film' was briefly described in Coen brothers' "Barton Fink" starring actor John Turturro who is being asked by a studio executive to write a 'boxing picture'."Fat City" is also a boxing picture but it does not have anything in common with boxing pictures of the past.Director John Huston did not want to portray boxers as 'super heroes'.He aimed to present an honest account of boxers as ordinary human beings with their own share of joys as well as sorrows.
Very effectively staged by John Huston.The highlight of Fat City is Susan Tyrell who as TCM was showing this film as its prime time feature was reported to have passed away.
Others of us will just like the great performances and realistic filming that typifies Fat City..
I really like this film but I do want, more than commenting on it, I have a doubt: in the last scene the fighter, whose name I have forgotten,...in the restaurant where he is having some coffee with the other fighter...Jeff Bridges..the first one turns around and he sees something, in the back, people playing some cards..
Her boyfriend is Earl a really quiet black guy who just lets her rant.All the actors are good but it was Susan Tyrell who won the Oscar in a one-of-a-kind performance as the drunken incredibly loudmouthed tramp who drives everyone crazy.Movie is also helped by the great Kris Kristofferson song "Help me make it through the night" played at the beginning and end of the film.Note - this is not a boxing movie.
Instead of a carefully packaged ending where you leave the movie knowing exactly how you should feel about it, the resolutions are more subtle and thought-provoking, as they often are in life.Pay close attention to Susan Tyrell's Oscar-nominated performance (Best Supporting Actress).
John Huston didn't write Fat City, but it never feels shorter of being near or just about vintage work from him: it's about two boxers, one a has-been (or a never was) by the time he's 30, and one not even 20 and already knocking up a girl and a couple of loses in his first fights in the ring.
That's what it's about, but that's really all that can exactly be said save for the fact that Tully (Stacy Keach) is a drunk and Ernie (Jeff Bridges) is just a dumb young kid.
As Ebert noted as a main point in his review, it is a story of losers as many of Huston's films are, and there's a fascination inherent in being able to peer into the lives of people whom other directors would relegate to one or two scenes or at best supporting roles.
Somehow Huston sees more in the characters and makes us care about what might happen to them- if they can continue just one more day in some decent circumstances- which even includes those who become grating (Candy Clark's one-note performance is spot-on if almost overdoing it) or even silent (the one boxer Luciano).While the boxing scenes are filmed fairly averagely, if still excitingly by a professional director amid a low-budget, it's the acting and super-realistic dialog that keep things really good here.
Stacy Keach gives what may or may not be his best performance, at the least in a starring role (he's mostly been relegated to character actor parts or supporting roles like Sgt. Stedenko in Up in Smoke and the Nazi leader in American History X), being never unsympathetic or forcing the audience to feel pity where it's not earned in every punch thrown at him or beer or drink guzzled down; his is a tragic turn akin, and probably equal, to a similar sorrowful drunk Albert Finney in Under the Volcano.
Bridges also does very good in his smaller allotted screen-time, and has a particularly bittersweet moment after getting knocked out a second time and unable to say his name right away.Fat City is a glimpse at the other side of the tracks and the 'dregs' of society, who maybe aren't the nicest people once you get to know them but are never uninteresting or boring.
Fat City (1972) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Huston's grim drama about a washed up boxer (Stacy Keach) trying to make a comeback and the up and comer (Jeff Bridges) who doesn't have much to look forward to.
Bummer movie from director John Huston about two boxers, one washed up and one up and coming, and their refusal to recognize the limits of their talents.Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges give really good performances in their respective roles, but the whole movie is hampered by a screenplay that creates one-note characters for them to play.
John Huston's look at the grim world of boxing, as seen from the lowest possible level of the "sport." Story follows two boxers in Stockton, California.
In fact, if "Fat City" were the only John Huston film you were ever to see you would still know you were watching the work of a great director.
Fat City is a small film directed on location in Stockton, California by legendary director John Huston.It is about small time boxers and small time losers.
The booze oozes out of her pores and she really cracks that paralytic look in her face.Jeff Bridges is the up and coming boxer but he immediately loses his early fights, he gets his pretty girlfriend, Candy Clark pregnant and gets some irregular work as a labourer sometimes working with Keach in the fields.There is nothing grandiose or bombastic about Fat City.
Almost couldnt believe that Keach was actually acting sometimes, because he looks so wasted and completely lost.John Huston directed Fat City in a documentary kind of style.
The only problem is that there is no way to know what it feels like to pick vegetables in the summer sun in Stockton, Ca unless you've done it.The El Dorado Hotel, where the character Tully (Stacey Keach) lives in the movie, was mercifully torn down in the 70's - and not a moment too soon.
It's grim and downright depressing, but has the flavor of real life in its dialog and situations.STACY KEACH is the ex-boxer who thinks about making a comeback; SUSAN TYRELL is a lush who inexplicably attracts his attention at a seedy rundown bar and later becomes his wife; JEFF BRIDGES is a wannabe newcomer who Keach discovers working out in a gym and encourages to enter the boxing game.
Bridges looks as though he was born to play the role of the young boxer.But despite John Huston's excellent, forceful direction, it leads to a climactic fight that is almost painful to watch.There's no Hollywood ending.
Jeff Bridges looked a little too pretty, and "soft around the middle", as Keach remarked, for his role as up and coming boxer in dead end town.The tragedy of the sick and over-the-hill former Mexican star, Ruben, was overplayed.
The Late/Great John Huston delivers a gritty, complex film with 'Fat City'.
It's gritty, disturbing and depressing, but FAT CITY is quite involving and rarely boring.This obscure character drama follows the parallel lives of worn-out Tully (Stacy Keach), a once-promising-boxer-turned-alcoholic, and his young and eager protégé, Ernie (Jeff Bridges).
The final scene, where Bridges reluctantly humors the pathetic drunk by talking over coffee, is poignant and drives home the purpose of the film.Far from a feel-good ROCKYesque effort, FAT CITY chooses instead to tell the story of a boxer who doesn't make it and the vast untapped potential that will be forever drowned in glass after glass of liquor..
Stacy Keach is excellent as an unemployed, out-of-shape former boxer who talks a big deal about getting into the ring again; Jeff Bridges is an eighteen-year old who goes to see Keach's old boxing manager and gets a career started for himself.
Glancing with a documentary eye, John Huston's FAT CITY opens with Kris Kristofferson's lugubrious HELP ME MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT to accommodate to a downbeat tonality, and concomitantly fills the screen with montages of the story's locale and denizens, a rundown California town called Stockton in the 50s, and then introduces Billy Tully (a cleft-lipped and hair- receding Keach), a divorced, childless peckerwood and former boxer on the brink of turning 30, doing odd jobs from hand to mouth, he aspires to return to the ring, but both physically and mentally he hasn't been conditioned to reclaim his glory.
you know,i kinda liked this movie.i mean,it's definitely well made.it's interesting,for awhile.the problem is that it just moves too slow,and after awhile i had to stop watching.it stars Stacy Keach as a washed ex-pro fighter.he meets Ernie Munger(a young Jeff Bridges)at a local Y,hitting the boxing bag.the two spar together.eventually,Tully(Keach) takes takes Ernie under his wing and teaches him to become a good boxer.he also decides to get back in the ring himself.i didn't get that far(i lasted about 50 minutes)but i read it on the cover.anyway,if you have a lot of patience,you might want to give this one a try.for me,though,i just couldn't sit through it.my vote for Fat City:5/5.
Filmed on location in Stockton's skid row by Conrad Hall ('In Cold Blood'; 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'), 'Fat City' focuses on two small-time boxers, one just starting out and one at the end of his "career." In the latter category is Billy Tully (Stacey Keach), a thirty-year-old alcoholic has- been, eking out a living as a farm laborer, but unwilling to forsake his delusions of a boxing comeback.
By the time John Huston made Fat City in 1972 his glory as one of the finest directors in Hollywood was fading.
But this character study put him back up on top of the A list with the new breed of filmmakers of the period who were essentially going against the political core of the established movie-making industry.In Stockton California ex-boxer Billy Tully (Stacy Keach) takes a job as a day laborer to make ends meet and takes a break to go to the gym for a workout.
Stacy Keach's washed up boxer Billy Tully is balanced against eager, youthful Jeff Bridges as Ernie Munger and in this comparison the filmmakers make a simple statement of how choices of occupations not only determine a man's character, but his fate as well.The women figures in the film are also designed around a symbolic fulcrum.
Hall is one of only six cinematographers to have his own star on the Hollywood walk of fame.The film was based on the boxing novel Fat City (1969) by Leonard Gardner, who penned the script for the movie.
John Huston's "Fat City" stars Stacy Keach as Jimmy Tully, a washed up boxer who befriends Ernie Minger (Jeff Bridges), a young prize fighter whose best years seem ahead of him.
If you like a good movie, you're on the right track.Fat City, 1972, Starring: Stacey Keach, Jeff Bridges and Susan Tyrell, Directed by John Huston, 7.5/10 (B+).(This is part of an ongoing project to watch and review every John Huston movie.
Basically at a gym in Stockton, California, past his prime boxer Billy Tully (Stacy Keach) meets eighteen-year-old Ernie Munger (Jeff Bridges), they getting into shape and spar with each other.
Keach (whose part was originally offered to Marlon Brando) is good as the prize-fighter going down in the dumps, and Bridges does well as the young contender on the rise, their rocky relationship certainly creates some tension, most boxing movies have more fights, full of blood, sweat and tears, this film focuses more on the hardships on the career side of it, it is slow at times, but overall an interesting enough sports drama. |
tt0094169 | Tough Guys Don't Dance | On the 24th morning after the decampment of his wife, Patty Lareine (Debra Sandlund), Tim Madden (Ryan O'Neal), a former bartender and ex-con who was imprisoned for dealing cocaine, currently struggling to make a living as a writer and who is prone to blackouts, awakens from a two-week bender to discover a tattoo reading "Madeline" on his arm, and a bloodbath in his car. He shortly finds a woman's severed head in his marijuana stash in the woods, and the new Provincetown police chief Luther Regency (Wings Hauser) shacked up with his former girlfriend Madeleine (Isabella Rossellini).
Flashing back, Madden remembers the time when he encouraged Madeleine to go swinging with a Li'l Abnerish couple from down South, the fundamentalist preacher Big Stoop and his Daisy Mae-ish wife, Patty Lareine, whose ad Tim had come across in Screw magazine. On the trip back Tim and Madeleine's car crashes, due to Madeline being incensed that Tim has so enjoyed Patty Lareine's charms. The pregnant Madeleine loses her baby due to the crash.
Except for his father (Lawrence Tierney), who is dying of cancer, Tim suspects everyone, including Patty Lareine, multi-millionaire prep-school pal Wardley Meeks III — and even himself — of murder. Patty Lareine had left Big Stoop, married Wardley, left him in a messy divorce that netted her a rich cash settlement, and in turn married Tim, whom she fancied. Patty Lareine disappears, and Tim goes on his fatal bender that has left his memory in shards after receiving a letter from Madeline informing him that her husband (Regency) is having an affair with his wife (Patty).
Tim remembers his assignation in the local tavern's parking lot with the blond porn star Jessica Pond, while her effete husband Lonnie Pangborn watched from the sidelines, distraught. It was Jessica's head in the Hefty bag with his grass, but soon another head turns up in his marijuana stash, that of Patty Lareine.
Tim's father helps him get rid of the heads into the bay. Regency ultimately goes crazy and is shot by Madeline. | psychedelic, neo noir, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0032638 | Irene | Upholsterer's assistant Irene O'Dare meets wealthy Don Marshall while she is measuring chairs for Mrs. Herman Vincent at her Long Island estate. Charmed by the young girl, Don anonymously purchases Madame Lucy's, an exclusive Manhattan boutique, and instructs newly hired manager Mr. Smith to offer Irene a job as a model. She soon catches the eye of socialite Bob Vincent, whose mother is hosting a ball at the family mansion. In order to promote Madame Lucy's dress line, Mr. Smith arranges for his models to be invited to the soiree.
Irene accidentally ruins the gown she was given to wear and substitutes a quaint blue dress belonging to her mother, and it creates a sensation. Irene is mistaken for the niece of Ireland's Lady O'Dare and, in order to publicize his collection, Mr. Smith decides to exploit the error and moves Irene into a Park Avenue apartment. Dressed in furs and draped with diamonds while escorted around town by Bob, Irene's appearance prompts gossip columnist Biffy Webster to suggest she is a kept woman. Outraged, Irene demands Madame Lucy protect her reputation by revealing the truth, only to discover Don is the owner of the shop.
Irene agrees to marry Bob, but on the night before the wedding, Bob confesses he still loves former sweetheart Eleanor Worth, and Irene realizes she loves Don. The couple decides to make things right by reuniting with their rightful partners. | romantic | train | wikipedia | This movie is surprisingly enjoyable..
I saw this film on AMC one rainy Sunday afternoon last month.
I saw that it was listed as a musical and, not being a huge fan of the genre, I was a bit apprehensive.
But, I did get hooked on it after about 10 minutes or so and watched the entire thing.
Even worse..
I LOVED it!!
It was a charming and funny film that I recommend to all those who love a good black and white movie afternoon..
Anna Neagle & Ray Milland in Enjoyable RKO musical.
"Irene" is very entrancing screen version of Joseph Tierney and Harry McCarthy's 1919 stage musical, glossily directed and produced by Herbert Wilcox.
I happened to catch it the other night, and I loved it.
I was entranced by the charm of the actors -- and the songs, while not first-rate, are quite pleasing.
Anna Neagle stars as whimsical Irish sales girl Irene O'Dare who is introduced into Long Island's high society culture, and becomes infatuated with two suitors, Ray Milland and Alan Marshall.
Billie Burke plays their mother who becomes impressed with Irene, turns her into a celebrity sensation in "Madame Lucy" dress collection.
May Robson is very memorable as the irrepressible Granny; so is Roland Young as Milland's partner in business.
The highlight is the sumptuous ball sequence shot in Technicolor, "Alice Blue Gown", where Irene, dressed in blue, is waltzing with Milland in a very tuneful number.
The other songs include, "You've Got Me Out on a Limb", "There's Something in the Air", "Worthy of You", and "Irene".
Enjoyable stuff..
That Sweet Little Alice Blue Gown.
Anna Neagle was one of the United Kingdom's brightest musical stars.
She and Jessie Matthews seem to just about corner the market on British musical comedy leading ladies.
What films Neagle didn't do, Matthews did.
However unlike Matthews, Neagle came over to try her luck on the other side of the pond.
Irene was one of the ones she did her in a deal with RKO that also included her husband, producer/director Herbert Wilcox.Irene was a successful musical comedy that was updated from post World War I to pre World War II America.
On Broadway it had a run of 675 performances during the 1919-1921 seasons.
It concerns a young Irish working class girl who gets innocently trapped in a fashion store publicity stunt by Ray Milland who's smitten with her.
Store manager Roland Young aids and abets.The film is makes the twenty year transition well.
Most of the score is heard in the background or as show numbers.
The two songs that Neagle does, Irene and Alice Blue Gown were the big hits of the original show.
Irene is a pleasant enough film, it's too bad that the American movie public didn't see more of Anna Neagle..
An enjoyable musical comedy with a few surprises..
The music and dance of this musical comedy are well integrated with the story so I never got the feeling it stemmed from a 1919 show; the writers must have modified it considerably to avoid the "bursting-into-song" syndrome that was prevalent at the time, and which always bothers me.
The actors are fun to watch, and some of the songs, headed by "Alice Blue Gown" are very memorable.
I got a big kick out of the spoof of the Alice-Blue-Gown rage that was sweeping the country.
It comes in the form of a movie called "Rex Gordon's Moviebone News" (a take-off on Movietone News, for those who are too young to know) which all the principals watch in a packed movie theater.
In that film, we are treated with very heavy-set Hattie Noel in her Alice Blue Gown strutting her stuff, while other black actors and actresses, some in similar gowns, sing and dance.
Three of the singers were The Dandridge Sisters, which included Dorothy Dandridge, a very pleasant surprise.
The whole sequence was a pleasure to watch, despite the little screen time given to the Sisters..
Not bad pre-war era musical.
Anna Neagle was never one of my favorites.
She was one of those oh-so-ladylike actresses that you just couldn't picture doing things us mere mortals do every day without thinking.
However, in the early 40's, the British actress was Americanized for three musical films based upon old Broadway shows.
"Irene" was the first of the three (followed by remakes of "No No Nanette" and "Sunny"), and by far the most charming.
As the oh-so-Irish Irene O'Dare, Neagle becomes a superstar overnight when she shows up at a Long Island party wearing an old gown of her grandmother's (that salty old favorite May Robson) that has eyes all aglow.
Dashing Ray Milland and her dizzy mother (Billie Burke) are instantly taken with her, and she is soon a celebrity.
They believe her to be related to European blue-bloods, not realizing she is a simple working girl.
Only Milland and his business partner (Roland Young as "Madame Lucy", the apparent designer of the "Alice Blue Gown") know the truth.I was familiar with the score thanks to a recording of the 1973 revival with Debbie Reynolds; most of the songs are either cut or given minor arrangements, with the exception of "Alice Blue Gown" which is turned into a cute production number filled with a variety of different races wearing the outfit.
Hattie Noel and the Dandridge sisters are given the bulk of the production number, while Neagle earlier sang it to her grandmother and sisters.
Neagle's singing voice, while not bad, is no Jeanette MacDonald; It is hard to believe that she was one of Britain's most popular musical stars.
Her acting, however, is pretty good, and she is most convincing as an Irish lass.
Milland is handsome and quite charming; He is the perfect leading man.
Billie Burke and Roland Young (reunited from the "Topper" series as well as several others) are good as well, and May Robson is always a delight.
(The Broadway musical for those who are interested featured Monte Markham in the Milland role, and Ruth Warrick, Billy DeWolfe, and Patsy Kelly in the Burke, Young, and Robson roles respectively).RKO went all out for the production design of the film, giving it a marvelous art deco look.
It is equal in design to any of the Astaire/Rogers musicals, and just as charming.
The only thing I disliked was the lack of music; I wanted a production number of the rousing title song which gets more attention as background music than as a musical number.
Still, as a comedy with music, "Irene" is very well done, and being taken from that point of view makes it a film worth viewing..
Surprised by an exceptional beauty.
Watching this delightful movie I was captivated by the beautiful Anna Neagle.
While watching the early part of the movie and appreciating more and more the beauty of Miss Neagle, and the beautiful dresses she was modeling, I wished that this was a movie that they would convert to Technicolor.
Lo and behold suddenly the movie becomes Technicolor and the vivid red hair and Alice blue gown come alive.
Her graceful movements in the dancing and modeling are memorable.
I have seen some comments that her dancing was not first class but I do not recall a more alluring dance than her solo dance on the patio near the movie's end.
Unfortunately at this time the movie has reverted to black and white but this detracts little from the beautiful Anna.
Of course the music is dated but this movie taken as a whole is a musical comedy classic..
Anna Neagle is a delight in this movie, & a lovely dancer....
OK--must confess that I have not seen the entire movie; only saw the last 40 minutes or so, and look forward to getting to see the whole thing soon (which is why I didn't vote yet, though what I saw of it would rate an eight or nine).
It is one of those sweet, charming (without cloying--it has some wit to it) movies RKO did so well (Ginger Rogers' 5th AVENUE GIRL is another I recently saw--thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies).
Towards the end of this movie, Ray Milland's character discovers Anna Neagle's Irene dancing by herself, lost in thought and emotion.
He and we watch, unperceived by Irene, and the dance was an unexpected delight.
While the choreography could have used more variation (certain moves are repeated too much, and some of them have her shoulders up more than is ideal), Anna N.
proves herself a graceful, expressive dancer; I hope to see more of her dancing, if it exists in films.
The beginning of the dance also uses subtle slow-motion to good effect, which it occurred to me I haven't seen often, if at all, in musicals from this era.
I wonder why that wasn't used more, as it would seem to be a relatively easy effect to employ.
Anyway, I recommend IRENE, and look forward to taking my own recommendation to see the rest of it soon..
sweet musical starring Anna Neagle.
The musical Irene opened in 1919 and was revived in 1973, starring Debbie Reynolds.The basic story is the same as in this film, and similar to the 1926 film of the same name.Irene O'Dare (Anna Neagle), on an errand for her employers, goes to the home of Mrs. Vincent (Billie Burke) and meets Don (Ray Milland), a friend of Mrs. Vincent's son Bob (Alan Marshal).Don suggests that she try out as a model in the "Madame Lucy" dress shop.
For good measure, he invests in the shop himself.
However, Irene isn't sure she wants the job after the store manager makes a pass.
Don fires the manager and puts in another one, Smith (Roland Young), who visits Irene at her home and asks her to work for him.Irene is a smash hit as a model, and Smith assigns her the most beautiful gown to wear at Mrs. Vincent's charity ball.
Unfortunately, some Irish stew wrecks it.
Irene goes anyway, wearing a stunning blue gown that belonged to her mother, and knocks everyone's socks off.A guest at the ball, Princess Minetti, believes Irene is related to one Lady O'Dare, and Irene doesn't correct her.Smith decides Irene is perfect for a publicity campaign to put the dress shop on the map.
He sets Irene up in a Park Avenue suite, passing her off as the niece of Lady O'Dare.
This way, she will be invited to social functions and wear the shop's beautiful gowns.When a jealous fellow model tells a newspaper columnist that Irene is really shanty Irish, all hell breaks loose.This is a nice musical, and Anna Neagle is lovely.
She was an enormous stage and screen star in Britain and even has a street named after her.
She did musicals and drama up until 1985.
For 15 years, she was in the top 10 of biggest British box office stars.
In this she dances, sings, and acts beautifully and looks wonderful in all of the gowns.Good cast, well directed, a pleasant musical, and a good chance to see Anna Neagle, a British treasure..
Creaks and squeaks along to an inevitable conclusion..
This is the film version of a play that premiered more than twenty years earlier (1919), and boy does the story show its age!
The title character is so good-golly-gosh wholesome you'll either want to laugh or just haul off and smack her.
This being my first introduction to Anna Naegle, I can only hope it was the character and not a limited acting range.
She's the anti-femme-fatale, and that could not have been good for her career in the coming years in Hollywood.That being said, it's not such a bad little film with pros like Ray Milland and Billie Burke in the cast.
The opening credits with marionettes flipping cue cards is cute, but it sets a more comedic tone than this film can deliver.
I will say it is fun checking out the fashions of the era, not to mention the interior designs, and the story touches on class differences without the film really making any kind of statement about them.
It may be a little too-cute for its own good, but it's worth a look if you're curious..
Ray Milland is Madame Lucy.....
Don Marshall (Ray Milland) is rich...really, really rich.
And he's met a nice young lady, Irene (Anna Neagle) and wants to see her happy and successful.
So, he buys a fancy fashion studio and gets her hired as one of their models...and she has no idea that Don is helping her not that he is 'Madame Lucy', the 'lady' who owns the shop!
Soon, Irene goes from a poor working girl to the rage of society, as there is a mix up and folks think she's related to some rich O'Dare family back in Ireland.
In the meantime, one of Don's friends, Bob (Alan Marshall) has also fallen for Irene.
Who will end up with her at the end?This is a mildly enjoyable comedy-romance.
Nothing stands out other than the acting, though the film is an enjoyable time-passer.
Nice...but that's about it..
A nonmusical musical.
Based on a 1919 Broadway musical hit, and transferred reasonably faithfully to the screen, with much underscoring from the Harry Tierney-Joseph McCarthy original.
But only three songs remain, leaving acres of unprepossessing light comedy about a shanty-Irish colleen who lucks into modeling and is courted by friendly rich boys Ray Milland and Alan Marshal.
The plotting here goes far awry.
Alan Marshal spends the whole movie lusting after Anna Neagle, only to declare in the last reel he really loves Marsha Hunt, only because the screenwriters are desperate to have Neagle end up with Milland.
Some nice things happen: a whole reel in Technicolor, to show off Neagle's Alice Blue Gown, and one of Billie Burke's best society-flibbertigibbet turns, and Roland Young exuding wry bemusement.
And Neagle has a lovely solo dance near the end, about absolutely nothing.
But one does spend an awful lot of time wishing they'd get on with it, and wondering where the stage score went..
Charming Old Musical.
Very glad I caught this old-timer.
I am a fan of musicals, especially good ones, and this one was good.
It is also old and was on Broadway in 1926, according to the website.
According to Maltin, most of the music of the original has been left out, but what remains was very good; The title song, "Alice Blue Gown" and especially a number I never heard of before, "You've Got Me Out On A Limb", a lame title but very tuneful.
The 'Alice' number was done several times, including a jitterbug version by an all-black ensemble, which was bizarre.
The plot, in a nutshell, was a lovers triangle, between Ray Milland, Anna Neagle and Alan Marshal and they were ably supported by some of Hollywood's best second line actors, May Robson, Roland Young and Arthur Treacher among them.
It is a musical with some light comedy and the whole effect was enchanting, to dust off an old-fashioned word.
Do yourself a favor next time it's on - it's worth your time if you're a fan of 'charming old musicals'..
Wonderful romantic comedy with divine music and a wonderful Anna Neagle showcase this 1940 film.While it is certainly not Cinderella or My Fair Lady, a furniture upholsterer enters into the lives of the wealthy on Long Island and rises in the fashion world and to upper society as well.Billie Burke, for a change doesn't sound like her usual self, plays a society matron and mother of one of Neagle's suitors.
May Robson, as Neagle's grandmother, steals every scene she is in with her tough Irish brogue and mannerisms.
Ray Milland, the secret owner of the dress company, is charming and so very debonair in the role of the second suitor.
There is a brief hint of an anti Irish attitude shown in the form of prejudice by the head of the models who slips nasty information about Irene to a newspaper columnist.The scene of the ball shown in Technicolor is ravishing..
Froth..
It seems to have been powerful entertainment when it opened as a play in 1919, and why not?
There's nothing offensive about it, there are a few amusing moments, and some tunes that have lingered in musical memory like pressed flowers.
You'll recognize them when you hear them, not necessarily the names, but the melodies.
"Irene" is constantly used as the theme.
And "Alice Blue Gown" is even more endearing when you realize the eponymous color was named after Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice.But, overall, what a bore.
In 1940, the circumstances, the social conditions of the play, were only twenty-one years behind the audience.
That's not very far.
Twenty-one years ago, as I'm writing this, Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, there was an Ebola outbreak in Africa, Windows 95 and Javascript were introduced, and "Die Hard With a Vengeance" was playing in theaters.
The good folks of 1940 could remember bustles as easily as we can remember Whitney Houston and Michael Jordan.The audience could get with "Irene" but I had trouble.
I haven't got the slightest interest in fashions, in class endogamy, or in haute couture.
It was cute, what with the stereotypical Irish family, featuring Anna Neagle, and the aristocratic Proddies, featuring Ray Milland, but it had no substance, no comedy really except the most innocent sort -- cute, you know?
-- and no bite, a kind of cinematic cotton candy.
Somebody with a different sense of humor, Howard Hawks or Ernst Lubitsch, might have twisted it into shape.However, I can understand its appeal for some people, in the middle of these turbulent times. |
tt0029583 | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | Snow White is a lonely princess living with her stepmother, a vain and wicked Queen. The Queen fears that Snow White's beauty surpasses her own, so she forces Snow White to work as a scullery maid and asks her Magic Mirror daily "who is the fairest one of all". For several years the mirror always answered that the Queen was, pleasing her.
One day, the Magic Mirror informs the Queen that Snow White is now the fairest in the land. The jealous Queen orders her Huntsman to take Snow White into the forest and kill her. She further demands that the huntsman return with Snow White's heart in a jeweled box as proof of the deed. However, the Huntsman cannot bring himself to kill Snow White. He tearfully begs for her forgiveness, revealing the Queen wants her dead and urges her to flee into the woods and never look back. Lost and frightened, the princess is befriended by woodland creatures who lead her to a cottage deep in the woods. Finding seven small chairs in the cottage's dining room, Snow White assumes the cottage is the untidy home of seven orphaned children.
In reality, the cottage belongs to seven adult dwarfs, named Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey, who work in a nearby mine. Returning home, they are alarmed to find their cottage clean and suspect that an intruder has invaded their home. The dwarfs find Snow White upstairs, asleep across three of their beds. Snow White awakes to find the dwarfs at her bedside and introduces herself, and all of the dwarfs eventually welcome her into their home after they learn she can cook and clean beautifully. Snow White keeps house for the dwarfs while they mine for jewels during the day, and at night they all sing, play music and dance.
Meanwhile, the Queen discovers that Snow White is still alive when the mirror again answers that Snow White is the fairest in the land and reveals that the heart in the jeweled box is actually that of a pig. Using a potion to disguise herself as an old hag, the Queen creates a poisoned apple that will put whoever eats it into the "Sleeping Death", a curse that can only be broken by "love's first kiss", but dismisses that Snow White will be buried alive. The Queen goes to the cottage while the dwarfs are away, but the animals are wary of her and rush off to find the dwarfs. Faking a potential heart attack, the Queen tricks Snow White bringing her into the cottage to rest. The Queen fools Snow White into biting into the poisoned apple under the pretense that it is a magic apple that grants wishes. As Snow White falls asleep the Queen proclaims that she is now the fairest of the land. The dwarfs return with the animals as the Queen leaves the cottage and give chase, trapping her on a cliff. She tries to roll a boulder over them, but before she can do so, lightning strikes the cliff, causing her to fall to her death.
The dwarfs return to their cottage and find Snow White seemingly dead, being kept in a deathlike slumber by the poison. Unwilling to bury her out of sight in the ground, they instead place her in a glass coffin trimmed with gold in a clearing in the forest. Together with the woodland creatures, they keep watch over her. A year later, a prince, who had previously met and fallen in love with Snow White, learns of her eternal sleep and visits her coffin. Saddened by her apparent death, he kisses her, which breaks the spell and awakens her. The dwarfs and animals all rejoice as the Prince takes Snow White to his castle. | fantasy, murder, cute, good versus evil, romantic, entertaining | train | wikipedia | The colors are rich and lively, and the multi-plane camera does add some great depth to the movie.As you can tell, for an animation and Disney fan like myself, Snow White is a perfect milestone in the movie world.
There isn't much that hasn't already been said about "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", Walt Disney's first feature length animated film.
Along with a splendid cast of voices headed by Adriana Caselotti (Snow White) Harry Stockwell (father of Guy and Dean, as the Prince) and Lucille La Verne (The Queen), there are songs which can truly be called timeless: "Whistle While You Work", "Heigh Ho", "Some Day My Prince Will Come", etc.).
And when you think (before you are drawn into the story, and you ARE) that "Snow White", unlike today's computer-drawn animated features was entirely done by hand, that makes it even more of a miracle.In one scene, when Snow White is scrubbing the steps of the Castle, and pours water from a bucket on them, the effect is remarkable-and that one, near the beginning, is just one small sample of the film's artistry.Back to the DVD.
Incidentally, this year marks the film's 75th anniversary, and I can think of no better way to celebrate this movie milestone than picking up Professor Kaufman's beautiful new books The second volume '' Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs:The Art And Creation Of Walt Disney's Classic Animated film''is also published by Weldon Owen/Disney Press.It's a very extensive and fully detailed catalog of the ''Snow White'' exhibition,(currently at the Walt Disney museum in San Francisco,California).Here, the emphasis is more on the beautiful art as well as rough sketches and background paintings.
Along with it's companion book ''The Fairest One Of All'' it will educate and enchant anyone who cares about the history of Film, Disney Animation and especially ''Snow White'' They are, without a doubt,the definitive tributes to a Timeless Classic, and together, they make perfect souveniers for both the film's 75th Anniversary and and a once in a lifetime event..
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the very first animated film featured by Disney and one of the most charming.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is such a charming film and is another example of beautiful animation and a terrific story that could charm it's way into your heart.
Now the queen's the hottest girl in town, but the dwarfs come up with a clever plan to get her true love, the prince, he must kill the queen and save Snow White so they could live happily ever after.I'd say that's a nice summary, I try my best anyways.
It's one of the those movies that makes you feel good as you are watching it.To be honest, some of the scenes lag a bit and Snow White's operatic voice is a bit much for me, but those are the only complaints I could find in this classic film, one of the best ever from Disney..
Indeed, there are little moments throughout the film that help make up the greatness: the mood and atmosphere in the Queen's dungeon of witchcraft; the scene where the dwarfs go to sleep (a fly that rests on Sleepy's nose); the traits given to the animals in the forest (that little turtle is hilarious).All these parts help to add to the basic structure of the story- Queen wants the good looks, goes after her once the hunter fails, gives her the poison apple, then it goes even more predictable from their (though in a good way).
Then there is also the icing on the cake- the voice of Snow White, Adriana Caselotti (who got contracted into this being her only film role, based of producer/uncredited director Disney's insistence), brings something to the film that's hard to describe, except to say that it's, well, serene.Even if she's not the strongest character, her main goal of making people around her feel good and inspiring happiness makes her watchable, and in a way lovable.
Disney has made many animated feature films, and there are still animated movies aplenty being made out there in modern times, but very few can eclipse the very first one of all, which is the story of a beautiful young princess called Snow White who is under the watch of the wicked Queen, who forces her as a maid in the house.
This movie is now so highly rated and acclaimed that in 2007, the American Film Institute named this animated flick the 34th best American film of ALL TIME.Even while watching it as a little kid, watching it again as a grown up teenager still brings back awesome memories, proving that the story, the characters and beautiful music is gripping and makes this a fascinating tale.
There are just some things you just can't beat and Disney's version of Snow White still can hold its own to many other animated fairy tale films that are being put out today.
The way the liquid she's mixing comes alive is fantastic, and the close-ups on the crow sitting on the skull are a nice touch.The poison flooding towards the centre of the pot, engulfing the apple, and the jack o'lantern face on it afterwards.Some of Disney's most classic songs come from Snow White: Whistle While You Work, Heigh Ho (its off to work we go), and one of the most beautiful Disney songs ever, Some Day My Prince Will Come.There's also a very memorable piece of theme music that plays during the climactic storm scene.10/10.
Parents and kids loved this film decades ago and, a generation later, families can now enjoy this beautiful classic in Blu-Ray.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a musical with catchy, and beautiful singing done by Adriana Caselotti, (Snow White), Lucille La Verne (Queen) and others.
The Queen angrily learns about her failed death, and decides to poison the young princess!Since this is the Diamond Edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it is packed with extra features including a tour of the animation studios in the 1930s, actual interviews with Walt Disney, cool facts, (Did you know Snow White was originally designed to have gold hair?
She ends up taking shelter in the forest with seven dwarfs but soon the Queen has more plans to destroy her.There's no question that this is a legendary film and a very important one to history as it was the first feature-length film from Walt Disney Studios.
After all, it was a mystery if people in 1937 would be willing to sit through a feature-length cartoon and whether or not they'd be able to show emotions towards animated characters.As for the film itself, it's certainly a great one from Disney's original Golden Age. There's no question that the most impressive thing is how great the actual animation is.
The Walt Disney Studios went a long way towards earning its nickname of The Magic Kingdom with the release of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.
No film is perfect, even great films, but my God, people are too harsh on this one.No other Disney film possesses the innocence of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
I forgot just how many fantastic musical numbers this movie had, with "Whistle While you Work," "Heigh Ho" and "Someday My Prince Will Come" sounding as good as ever.This film spawned some of the greatest family films of all time, with Pinocchio, Bambi, Dumbo and Fantasia following straight after Snow White's success.
Out of every single film out there, and I'm just not talking about animated films, if there is one film that I think has the most beautiful moments, it's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.The songs are simply a pleasure to hear.
From 'I'm Wishing' to 'Someday My Prince Will Come', you'll fall in love.Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is the best animated film of all time.
So Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was the first ever animated feature length film, and people had told Disney 'It would never work'.
There isn't much that hasn't already been said about "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" 1937 version, Walt Disney's first feature length animated film.
Kaufman's magnificent new book (''The Fairest One Of All:The Making Of Walt Disney's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs''Weldon Owen/Disney Press, 2012)it's true that only after it's huge success, did fellow movie makers attempt their own full-length cartoon features.
Kaufman's magnificent new book (''The Fairest One Of All:The Making Of Walt Disney's Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs''Weldon Owen/Disney Press, 2012)it's true that only after it's huge success, did fellow movie makers attempt their own full-length cartoon features.
Much time and effort went toward developing the characters of the Seven Dwarfs and giving each a distinct personality (absent in the original story) which went a long way in making audiences care for Snow White's plight.
Much time and effort went toward developing the characters of the Seven Dwarfs and giving each a distinct personality (absent in the original story) which went a long way in making audiences care for Snow White's plight.
Before the beginning of the World War II in the 1940s, an entertainment industry was born and while most of the movies were made in the early 1910s and 1920s, a man named Walt Disney and several of his workers created a company known as the Walt Disney Company, a light-hearted entertainment industry, by releasing their very first animated full length feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" based on the Grimm fairy tale of the same name.It tells the story about Snow White, a girl dressed rags who meets a prince.
Meanwhile, the Queen, having found out the Snow White is still alive, transforms herself into an old hag and makes a poison apple so she can give it to her and will result in sleeping death.For their first attempt at an animated feature that will lead to their success and create other classics, Disney has done a fantastic job and to me, I remembered watching this as a child and it finally grew out on me which is why I'm giving this a full 100%.
The voice acting for the characters are what I would like to say "excellent", but the strongest aspects goes to the memorable songs (I'm Wishing, Whistle While You Work, Heigh Ho, The Silly Song, Someday My Prince Will Come) and the beautiful animation I've ever seen in any film out there today.Overall, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will always remain to Disney-fans as one of the most classic films in cinema history before MGM would later do the same thing by making The Wizard of OZ, an adaptation of L.
For without it, Pixar wouldn't have been able to add it's amazing graphics for films like The Incredibles and Monsters Inc.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the story of a girl who possesses deep beauty, and a wicked Queen who possesses vanity.The Wicked Queen without a doubt is the most cold and evil villain to grace the Land of Disney, and she is the first.
Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is arguably the single most endearing film of all time.
Besides Snow White and the Seven dwarfs (Doc, Happy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy, Bashful, and Sleepy); the only other characters were the Wicked Witch, the mirror (surprisingly having a personality of it's own), the prince and the Woodsman.Like any good Disney movie, it's filled with lots of animals who behave more like people: Birds (Doves, Raven, Vultures, owl, etc.), bats, alligators, rabbits, squirrels, deer, raccoons, chipmunks, butterflies, rats; there is even a mouse, fly, and horse).Of course, there are songs in good Disney movies as well.
She plots to kill Snow White so that she can be the fairest, but as in all Disney animated classic, good will always win, and there's a handsome prince to help.
As a kid, I had wanted to watch this movie in its entirety for the longest time, and didn't get a chance to see it until it was released on video, finally, in the 1990s.This film was better than I had expected, with catchy and sweet music (especially the Dwarf's Silly Song), memorable characters and beautiful sceneries and animation.
Songs that you grew up with were probably introduced in this movie like Heigh-Ho and Whistle While You Work.This story really portrays the gentleness, kind-heartiness, beauty and innocence of Snow White and the silliness, humor, yet selfless characteristics of the Seven Dwarfs.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is in total aesthetic harmony with the 'Silly Symphonies' (the setting, the presence of animals) and the drawing, especially of the dwarfs as cartoon characters, was the final step of what was developed during a whole decade by the Disney studios, inspired from the old classic European drawings that always had a sort of cartoon feel.
Disney meant business
And the result is a triumph of both storytelling and perfectionism, Disney didn't think animation and made it into a film, he thought of a realistic film first, hence encouraged his staff to use classic designs to draw the face of Snow White, the Prince, and the Evil Queen, they might look very basic compared to Disney's following works but they're human enough to suspend the disbelief that we're watching a cartoon, an important element in order to catch the interest of the adults and awakes their inner child.
The Evil Queen embodies the combination of beauty and vanity, she's so cold, she looks like a modern woman with an undeniable sex-appeal, and if one thing, she's the very proof of the Disney Golden Rule, there's no good Disney film without a great villain.And thanks to a final and successful pacing, the rest is history and like every classic masterpiece, each scene of "Snow White" is a classic on its own, the forest with eyes, the dwarfs coming from home, the Queen's haunting metamorphosis, so many songs forever engraved in our memories, "Whistle While you work", "Heigh-Ho", "Someday my Prince Will Come" the party and a finale that would make all the people, kids or adults, in the world cry and laugh, and finally cheer
discovering the Disney effect, that for each laugh, there would be a tear, a feeling that would last for many decades over and over again.Thank you, Mr. Disney for your contribution to the world of animation, film-making and entertainment!.
When it comes to Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, known as the very first animated motion picture, only one word to describe it, CLASSIC!
This film has got everything that we could hope for, a golden story, fantastic animation, & great characters, also there are a combination of emotions felt throughout the film, charm for Snow White and the Dwarfs, but at certain moments, that charm is outweighed by the horror elements from who might be the best Disney Villain to date.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is an excellent moral tale of good against evil, it's a historical film as it was Disney's first full feature animated tale and it's paced along perfect with songs and uplifting scores.
It goes without saying that we have come a long way technically when it comes to animated feature films,but the thing I appreciate about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the fact that prior to it's 1937 release,audiences had seen nothing like it.If time travel were possible,I would go back and sit amongst that first lucky audience that was fortunate enough to see this.It would have made it that much more enjoyable.Kids today are spoiled by technical advances,so the animation most likely won't impress them,but they will be drawn in by it's story alone.I have a 6 year old daughter who loves this film,and even though Walt has been gone from this earth for a long time now,he is somewhere smiling at the fact that after 70 plus years,Snow White is still making kids of all ages smile..
This is a true Hollywood classic, released for the first time in December 1937 the first full length Disney feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a brilliant portrayal of the brothers Grimm's chilling tale of an evil queen and her beautiful stepdaughter.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, while not great, is still a pretty good Disney animated feature.
After watching the recent Disney animated feature-The Princess and the Frog-I decided to finally see the recent DVD I bought of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs-Uncle Walt's first attempt at a full-length cartoon-for the first time ever.
So on that note, while I don't think this movie is one of the best animated features-Disney or otherwise-ever, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is still pretty compelling as such things go.
And the dwarfs are fantastic characters; all seven from Grumpy to Dopey.Yes, this movie was ground-breaking when it hit the silver screen, and I think all animated features from Disney is very good - well,up to the end of the 70s.
One of those films was "Snow white and the seven dwarfs." one of the earliest animated films based upon an old fairy tale.
I would say that Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is one of Disney's best movies.
Though it isn't the best of Walt Disney's creations (it would be surpassed on his very next feature `Pinocchio'--arguably the greatest film, animated or otherwise, ever made) and it has its share of continuity errors as well as character-development limitations, `Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' still has such emotional power that it must rank as one of the greatest cinematic creations of all time.
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was the very first full-length animated movie.
Well what can I say,Snow White is a classic in every way because it is so memorable,memorable songs,characters,plot,animated scenes you name it.This is not ONLY due to the fact it was the first of Disney's gorgeous animated features because is also has that little touch of magic that comes along. |
tt0084728 | Starstruck | Christopher Wilde (Sterling Knight) is a famous pop star and teen idol, whose music is very successful all around the world. Sara Olson (Maggie Castle) of Kalamazoo, Michigan is an obsessive fan of Christopher Wilde who seeks to use her family's trip to Hollywood, California to visit her widowed grandmother as an opportunity to meet him (Starstruck) for spring break. Christopher, meanwhile, is on the brink of landing a movie deal and has agreed to remain out of the tabloids in order to prove that he is serious about landing the role.
Once in California, Sara convinces her younger sister Jessica (Danielle Campbell), to accompany her to a nightclub where he is rumored to be delivering a surprise performance for his pseudo-girlfriend Alexis Bender (Chelsea Staub). Sara leaves Jessica outside the club to watch the car while she goes inside in a futile attempt to meet Christopher (Shades).
Fed up with waiting, Jessica leaves the car in search for Sara and meets Christopher when he hits her in the head while opening a door. Eager to avoid being caught by the paparazzi, Christopher takes Jessica to a hospital to be examined, then brings her to his house so that he can make an appearance for the film director (Hero). He then brings Jessica home, and Jessica allows him to stay in her grandmother's garage for the night when he learns the paparazzi have followed him.
The next day Sara brings Jessica to Malibu in the hopes of running into Christopher there. Sara goes off to sit down on the beach, but Jessica recognizes Christopher's disguise and sits down with him. The two are forced to make a quick exit from the beach when the paparazzi arrive; once they get away, Christopher shows Jessica around Los Angeles (Something About The Sunshine).
While attempting to return to Malibu, they are again spotted by the paparazzi, but manage to elude them by driving off the main road, losing Jessica's grandmother's car in a mud pool quicksand in the process. While walking back to Malibu, they get into a heated argument, with Jessica calling Christopher's life "fake". He tries to convince her his life is real. Christopher drags Jessica into a river and they forget their argument. Eventually, Christopher confides that he enjoyed hanging out with Jessica because she was not actually asking for anything from him. She agrees that it was fun having him alone.
When they return to the beach they almost kiss, but are interrupted when Christopher panics about being recognized. Christopher tells Jessica that no one can know what happened between them that day, telling her that the paparazzi would ruin her life as well as his (Hero (Reprise)). Heartbroken and angry, Jessica returns home to Kalamazoo with her family, but not before the paparazzi establish a connection between her and Christopher.
Back in Kalamazoo, Jessica watches Christopher tell a talk show host that he had never met her. Angry with the way the paparazzi forced Christopher to lie and hide himself from the real world, she confronts the paparazzi camped outside her house, and tells them that they destroyed him and that she "never met [the Christopher that they were all so obsessed with]." Christopher's best friend, Stubby (Brandon Mychal Smith) convinces Christopher to make his own choices. Alexis finds out that Christopher has been with someone who is not famous, and she breaks up with him. Christopher realizes that he is free to pursue Jessica. Christopher then proceeds to fire his parents as his managers and turn down the movie role that made him lie and lose himself in the tabloids.
After Sara's equally Christopher-obsessed friend A.J. (Abbie Cobb) viciously insults Jessica for what she said on television, Sara kicks A.J. out of the house and offers to take Jessica to the school dance with her. Jessica accepts, and Sara helps her get ready for the dance. At the dance, Christopher makes an appearance and apologizes to Jessica through a song (What You Mean To Me). She wants more than just his apology though.
When the paparazzi appear at the dance, he tells them that he was the one that lied and says he is crazy about Jessica. She smiles and accepts his apology, and he becomes her boyfriend. He gives her a pair of "Christopher Wilde" sunglasses (Party Up). Starstruck is a disney movie | paranormal, satire, entertaining | train | wikipedia | I saw this movie when it was originally released in America in the early 1980's.
I enjoyed the film quite a bit and eventually bought the soundtrack.
I just rented the film on video and it still holds up for me after all these years.
The characters are well drawn and very unique and the dance numbers are just as quirky as the rest of the movie.
The "Body and Soul" number in the pub literally gets everyone in on the act and it is a highlight of the film for me.
I read where director Gillian Armstrong said the reason she made the film after scoring with a period piece like "My Brilliant Career" is because she wanted to do something unusual and little unexpected.
The soundtrack has 1980's style new wave influenced pop.
Whether you enjoy the rest of the movie will probably depend on whether you enjoy that style of music.
If you do, give this movie a look, if you do not, then pass on it..
a beautiful, feel-good film!.
i had the pleasure of seeing this as a child when living in Australia, and now as an adult i tracked the film down on DVD.
25 years of rose-tinted looking back to it was astute, as watching it again now was just as joyous as watching it back then.the story of the film, in short, is that of an aspiring singer and her ambitious cousin and their attempts to break out of the mundane suburban life and hit the big time.
desperate times, to a degree, expedite the need to hit the big time, but this under no circumstances stops them having fun along the way!
fans of 80's new wave / new romantic music will love her singing style, and it's difficult not to tap your feet and sing along with it all.
the rest of the cast is equally impressive, in particular the young lad playing cousin Angus.Star Struck is an eloquent, fun and enjoyable way to spend 90 or so minutes of your time.
along with the great soundtrack, you get as many bitter sweet moments as you do outright funny ones, and you would have to work very hard to dislike it..
Sparkling little gem of a movie!.
Australian film maker Gillian Armstrong's delightful gem traces the path of two Aussie teens trying to make their break in show biz.
This is a classic fairy tale story that includes such amusing scenes as young star Jo Kennedy practising tight-rope walking across the bar of her grandmother's pub.
This film treats its teen subjects with respect rather than condescension and the finale is a showstopper.
Great soundtrack of obscure 80s music, as well..
I was fortunate to be standing in a cinema in Sydney city when Gillian Armstrong approached a group of us kids and asked if we would like to see a preview of a new Aussie movie.
We didn't know who Gillian Armstrong was we were about 16 at the time.
We arranged time and day with her and attended the raw cut of Starstruck.
We loved it, we left excited and privileged that us teens got to see it before anyone else and gave Gillian a big thumbs up.
We met the cast and talked for a long time to come about our chance meeting.
This is such a fun movie, great music, JO Kennedy and Ross O'Donovan were fantastic.
One of the best musicals of the time, clean, honest, well written, well directed and a wonderful change from the classic Australian period piece..
Edited from original release, but still fun.
The director of "My Brilliant Career", the Production Designer of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", a choreographer working without trained dancers, several script writers and many composers bring a low-budget post-punk vitality to Sydney Australia.As the commentary on the DVD mentions, the prints of Starstruck seem to have been severely cut in different releases, and this print has at least one song hacked out of the release I saw in 1982.
Awesome Australian musical!.
A Wonderful new wave camp classic,i normally don't really like musicals,but when i saw this back in the eighties i loved it.
beautiful sexy Jo Kennedy plays an aspiring singer in Australia.
her little cousin Angus,is her agent.campy fun movie with lots of great new wave musical numbers.pokes fun at the MGM musicals from the 40s and 50s.this was a little known,under-appreciated effort from down under.
and seldom shown on TV.i don't think its out on DVD yet.but its a great movie.with colorful zany characters,its a cult film.Australia's greatest import since mad max.a must see for everyone even if your not into musicals like me.more then likely you will enjoy.10 out of 10..
One of the best original rock musicals!
I have just seen the DVD release, having not seen the movie in about 20 years and it holds up very well.
Casting really makes the film.
Great chemistry between the two cousins Jackie (Joe Kennedy) and Angus (Ross O Donovan).Although the plot is somewhat thin, as is typical for this type of movie, it moves along quite nicely and has good light-hearted humor.See the movie, you will not be disappointed..
I saw this film on first release at the cinema in true-blue Sydney fashion.
It is still a haunting favourite after all these years and is, in fact a love song to a city and her people and places.
But that's another story...This movie is absolutely fabulous Sydney in all her early 80s glory.
A time of innocence and fun, ridiculous clothes, a special cousinhood, 'wannabe-in-show-biz', Mickey Rooney & Judy Garlandesque tribute to the talents and humour of our own people.
I saw this during the Australian wave of films.
Many times tunes written for movies that are rock or pop oriented turn out to be lame, musically incorrect, or both.
This is not the case here.Gillian Armstrong shows an airy touch, while still maintaining that solid control of characters and visually precise scene setup she has demonstrated in other films, such as "My Brilliant Career" and the sadly overlooked "Oscar and Lucinda".
She is fun to watch, as are Ross O'Donovan as her cousin Angus, the guitarist with the glasses that dances, Pat Evison as Nana - everyone, really.
The music is, of course, integral to the experience.
This movie just has a way of making me smile as I watch it..
Who would have guessed that Australian director Gillian Armstrong would follow the acclaimed period piece "My Brilliant Career" with this wildly colorful and outrageous New Wave musical?
As it turns out, both films are about independent and talented young women who overcome their limited means and family struggles to triumph as artists -- in this case, barmaid Jackie (the delightful Jo Kennedy) gets to sing at the big New Year's show at the Sydney Opera House and make enough money to save the family hotel.Visually inventive, "Star Struck" features a terrific, energetic cast and lots of great music (buy the soundtrack, it's worth it).
Something of a cult film in the U.S., it's a movie that deserves discovery..
PLEASE release on DVD!.
I LOVE this movie!
I would be endlessly happy if this would be released in the US on DVD, and also a CD for the soundtrack which is amazing.
I had my cousin in Australia buy me the LP years ago, but no longer have the means to play it.
I did put a couple of the songs on a walking tape I made years ago, and I never got tired of them.
I've never seen Jo Kennedy in anything since, which is surprising, because I thought she was quite good.
This is a very fun movie, full of great performances and quirky characters.I think this was the start of my love for quirky Australian films.
Great movie.
This movie is awesome.
I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old.
A lost gem of a movie that very few people have ever seen..
First rate movie musical!!!.
This is one of my all-time favorite movie musicals - I've seen them all and have most of them on laserdisc.
This one is exceptional in that it mixes all the best elements of classic musical comedies: plot, melodies, humor, characterization, sets and costume with the best of modern pop/rock music.
I must have seen it 30 times and I always look forward to seeing it again.
When a teenagers, in the early 1980's, one friend spent a few weeks convincing the rest of us, that her mother's best friend made a movie for herself and her sisters, as surrogate daughters.
Before she had me convinced, the film clip of one of the songs was on Countdown, the most watched Australian pop music show of those years.
And it didn't sink in what a big thing this film is, until my friend said that Gillian Armstrong also directed "My Brilliant Career".
I would have loved this film anyway, without knowing my friend and her sisters needed this much love in their world.
"Starstruck" is like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show', meets 'The Princess Bride', and they hit the sack right away before a first date.
It is testament to Gillian Armstrong's ability as a director, and producer, that such an ambitious script gets the treatment it deserved, despite the obviously low budget.
Yet somehow, the low budget just served to make it feel all the more Australian, as though it all happened just over every Aussie's back fence.
Definitely worthy of joining the lists of what student film makers need to see, for the value of how to treat the script with respect to the writer's concept..
More Fun In the New World.
I have not seen Starstruck since it's original run in the theaters but I love this movie and hope to see it again soon.
I was really into new wave music at the time, especially what was coming from Manchester and Birmingham, and Dublin.
I liked some Aussie bands like the Sharks but mostly I liked Aussie movies which were just starting to make an impact in America in the early 80's.
Movies like Breaker Morant, Mad Max, Walkabout, Young Einstein, Gallipoli, and Starstruck.
Although I have never been to Australia I have been intrigued by the quirky sense of humor I find in Aussie films.
It seems that there are many Australian actors like Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe who take themselves so seriously and mostly act in Hollywood films playing non Australians.
Even Peter Weir is no longer making Australian movies.
The Most Fabulous Aussie Movie Ever!.
This movie is so utterly feel-good fantastic enjoyable and delightful I still get tears in my eyes every time I see it, or even play the Soundtrack!
It deserves a DVD release.
The batty characters and fun relationships.
This film doesn't take itself seriously for a minute, but it somehow manages to make you howl with laughter, burst into tears, and feel a great kinship with the zany madcap characters who abound.
It is ageless, and an entire new generation would love this film.
It is the equal best (with Muriel's Wedding) movie to ever come out of Australia.
I was astonished to learn that this mess of a movie was the 11th film Gillian Armstrong directed.
Everything about it is clumsy and hackneyed; it feels like a just-graduated-from-film-school offering from a bright (but ADHD afflicted) young woman.
Of course, this is a musical and I must admit that the pop tunes sprinkled throughout are enjoyable--and instantly forgettable..
Without hesitation I give Starstruck my vote as one the the all-time great movie musicals, right up there with the best of Warner Bros of the 30s, Fox of the 40s and MGM of the 50s.
Possibly, it's the only movie to perfectly integrate (original & terrific) rock music with a funny, compassionate & inventive plot.
Jo Kennedy is marvelous, Ross O'Donovan & all the rest are first-rate.
They will never make another movie like this.
Excellent Film.
Starstruck has long been a favorite of mine as I am Australian & to my opinion not many really good work came out of Australian movies till the 80's.
The film is very quirky with an excellent soundtrack & sense of Australian humor without being over the top.
I love this movie & never get sick of watching it over & over & I too wish the soundtrack would come out on CD but you can get it now on DVD.
I highly recommend this movie & have just bought the LP soundtrack on Ebay so its still not impossible to find it thank you for reading..
The music movie at the dawn of MTV.
I saw this movie three times in the theatres during it's initial USA release.
I was in my early twenties and this movie really captured something that really spoke to me at the time.
I was just so charmed by the infectious good feelings engendered in this movie and so delighted by the many visually stunning moments brought to life in vivid, brilliant and eye-popping color and the backdrop of the music was especially effective in reaching me at the time.
The musical numbers were really strong, like, right from the first few moments, the first number by (the real Aussie band, headed up by former Split Enz member and total musical genius, Phil Judd) The Swingerz, "One Good Reason"/"Gimme Love", performed "live" in a club setting, with the edgy look and startling dancing going on, hit me like a punch in the gut and then I never looked back, once on the wild ride!
In a way it was, just a year or two later, Australian culture would storm the shores of the U.S. with INXS, Men At Work, Midnight Oil, Hoodoo Gurus, Mental As Anything and a host of other bands would put Australia on the map as a vibrant hot-bed of cool music and edgy culture forever.
But, for me, it started with this movie, Star Struck.The design and the look of this film, from the great look of the "Lizard Lounge" for the first couple of numbers, the kitchy and cool Harbor View Hotel, where Jackie and Angus lived, the awful disco scene of the "Wow!
Show", the brilliant homage to the Busby Berkeley "By A Waterfall" number, in the roof-top swimming pool water ballet, the wonderful choreography of the "regulars" who drank at he Harbor View in "She's Got Body, She's Got Soul", to the against-all-odds guerrilla taking of the stage at the Opera House and the wonderful finale - I thought this truly original film was as visually stunning as it was musically forward-reaching.
This film, first released in 1982, has held up pretty well.
The heart and soul invested and genuine enthusiasm captured in following some young teens in their journey from starry- eye dreamers languishing in obscurity to their amazing triumph, awash in hysterical screams by the end, is so irresistibly infectious that I don't see how anyone could NOT love this movie!
My VHS copy had become pretty worn out and I was so glad to see that it was finally issued in the USA on a nice, two-disc DVD edition, with some wonderful extras, worthy of original.
I will say that it took me the longest time to understand all of the dialogue, what with the heavy Australian accents and slang which was unfamiliar to me, but it was such a pleasure to view it over and over that I was happy to decipher every morsel!.
Not A 'Hard Day's Night', But Still One Of Cinema's Best Musicals After Almost Thirty Years..
definitely one of cinema's best and under-recognized musical classics.
i've loved this movie dearly since i first had the pleasure of seeing and hearing it back in 1982.
throughout the decades i have always raved and tried to discuss this movie with cinema fans and fans of film musicals.
even to this day, there are only twenty reviewers of it on IMDb. compare with the hundreds of reviewers of say, 'High School Musical'.
and the music and dance numbers in 'HSM' aren't nearly as clever or good.Jo Kennedy and Ross O'Donavan give some of the best performances i have ever seen by teen age actors.
the 14 year old Donovan is hilarious and brilliant, giving a performance that is wise beyond his years, and the unexpectedly versatile Jo Kennedy is a marvel.
the opening scene with O'Donvan encouraging Kennedy to walk a tight rope over a busy intersection wearing a bare breasted body suit, is so immediately engaging and side splittingly funny.
i've seen few movies get this funny this fast.anyone new to the musical 'Starstruck', may be surprised to find that this isn't just a cute and amusing film musical, but is also really good, low budget Aussie cinema.
it often feels like what a musical would be like if it were directed by Peter Wier.
it's musical numbers are extremely funny and in the example of the dance number "we all live like ants", very unconventional and innovative.in fact this is one of the most unconventional musicals ever made.
and it still continues to be more original than most, some thirty years later.
most large budget fiasco's would do best to study how this simple film, on a very low budget, manages to be as clever and innovative and so charming with very little resource except inspiration..
This may very well be THE most bizarre movie I've ever seen, and definitely the most fun!
I didn't realize how much of the movie had stayed with me.
From the Australian accents so thick they need subtitles to the synchronized dance number with inflatable sharks, STARSTRUCK is so blissfully over-the-top that it NEVER gets old.
The real icing on the cake here are the song and dance numbers.
If you enjoy having fun at all, treat yourself to the rockiest 80s new wave musical ever made!
If only STARSTRUCK would be released on DVD in the states... |
tt0085121 | 10 to Midnight | 10 To Midnight is a drama that mixes elements of police and slasher films. It portrays the homicidal behavior of Warren Stacy (Gene Davis), a young office equipment repairman who kills women after they reject his sexual advances. And his attempts at flirting are always seen as "creepy" by women, resulting in frequent rejections. His first victim seen in the film is Betty, an office worker of his acquaintance. He tracks her down to wooded area, and observes her having sex with her boyfriend. He ambushes the couple, kills the boyfriend, and then gives chase to the naked woman. He stabs her to death.
Two Los Angeles police detectives, Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens), investigate his murders. Kessler is a seasoned veteran of the force, while McCann is considerably younger. Stacy avoids prosecution by constructing sound alibis and assaulting his victims while naked except for a pair of latex gloves to hide fingerprints, thus minimizing evidence. This was before obtaining DNA evidence became possible.
Laurie Kessler (Lisa Eilbacher) is the only daughter of Leo and an acquaintance to some of the victims. A student nurse herself, she becomes a target for the killer. McAnn refuses to go along when Kessler plants evidence in order to frame the suspect. Stacy goes on another rampage, killing three nursing students who are friends with Kessler's daughter.
When he is caught, stark naked in the street, Stacy boasts how he will say all the things that will "prove" that he is crazy: he hears voices telling him to do things, etc., so that one day, he will be back on the street and Kessler, as well as the "whole fucking world," will hear from him again. Kessler replies, "No, we won't." He then shoots Stacy once in the forehead, executing him and leaving all other considerations aside. The film then ends with a bird's-eye view of Kessler standing over the body, surrounded by police as the camera slowly zooms out. | comedy, suspenseful, cruelty, murder, neo noir, cult, violence, flashback, insanity, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | When push comes to shove there really isn't anything standard about "10 to Midnight."The villain is a young, deeply disturbed man who turns on by knifing people to death in the nude, and needless to say the movie is filled with a large amount of nudity.The hero is a veteran homicide detective who decides to stop at nothing to get his man, even if it means fabricating evidence.
Charles Bronson plays a veteran cop who's with a young idealist cop is after a very smart and dangerous killer who likes to slice pretty and innocent chicks.
In Los Angeles, the rookie Detective Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) teams up with the veteran Detective Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) to investigate the murder of Betty Johnson (June Gilbert) and her boyfriend that were stabbed by a naked serial-killer in a park.
The killer Warren Stacy (Gene Davis) goes to the funeral and overhears Betty's father telling Detective Kessler that his daughter had a diary.
The performance from Gene Davis, (brother Brad was in MIDNIGHT EXPRESS) is astounding; you really feel like you're in the presence of a serial killer.
J. Lee Thompsons "10 To Midnight" of 1983 starring the great late Charley, is a decent cop flick, not nearly one of the most memorable Bronson flicks, but still a pretty suspenseful little thriller that will highly entertain all my fellow fans of everybody's favorite no-nonsense ass-kicker.Warren Stacy (Gene Davis) is a psychopathic serial killer who gets his kicks by running around naked and stabbing his victims to death.
Lisa Eilbacher, who play's Bronson's daughter, is very cute, and Geoffrey Lewis is great as the killer's sleazy lawyer.
"10 To Midnight" may lack depth, but it is a suspenseful film, certainly no masterpiece, but nonetheless a decent thriller that Bronson fans should like.
Special credit for Gene Davis 10 to midnight is obviously one of the best maniac-killer movies presented by legendary Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.
Lieutenant Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and detective McAnn (Andrew Stevens) are investigating a murder of sexual character.
Lee Thompson and frequent collaborator Charles Bronson.The basic premise is as follows: a cop is after a serial killer.
Sure, some will throw they're vote to Death Wish or Telefon, but 10 to Midnight provides such a rich tapestry of Bronson cop movie cliches that to my mind it is all one need see.The film has minimal Bronson action, the best Bronson lines (choice sample You know what this is for, Warren?
and moves along at a clip.Another of those fascist post-Dirty Harry cop roles where the viewers' is sealed early as the movie goes to great lengths to make it clear that the killer is guilty even before we see Bronson.Fantastic Bronson stuff..
Cynthia Reams also gave us a full show in her only movie.Lisa Eilbacher (Beverly Hills Cop, An Officer and a Gentleman) plays Bronson's daughter.
10 TO MIDNIGHT Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Sound format: MonoA world-weary LA cop (Charles Bronson) plants evidence on a young man (Gene Davis) suspected of the serial homicide of several beautiful women, but the plan backfires and Davis subsequently targets Bronson's grown-up daughter (Lisa Eilbacher)...One of a series of gritty urban thrillers inspired by the success of DEATH WISH, J.
well, you get the picture), though cinematographer Adam Greenberg (GHOST, RUSH HOUR, the "Terminator" series) turns visual cartwheels to avoid full frontal nudity (and a potential X rating).Thompson - who gravitated towards Hollywood after forging a successful career in the UK, where he directed a number of popular mainstream entries like YIELD TO THE NIGHT and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE - takes enormous pleasure in foregrounding the more exploitable elements of William Roberts' lively screenplay, though an unpleasant sequence near the end of the film evokes queasy memories of Richard Speck's true-life killing spree in 1966, when several nurses were slaughtered in a Chicago townhouse in a fashion similar to the killings depicted here.
It's cheap, manipulative and cynical, but it's also undeniably effective, and Bronson's closing line of dialogue is guaranteed to arouse guilty fascist impulses within even the most liberal viewers.Davis is the spitting image of his actor brother Brad (the late and much lamented star of MIDNIGHT EXPRESS) and is quite effective in a difficult role, though his subsequent career appears to have gone nowhere, which is a shame.
Bronson plays Leo Kessler, a cop ready to do anything, legal or not, to bring Stacy in.There really isn't much more to say about this movie.
And this time, right is not legal.I'll give 10 of 10 for few reasons; it's very entertaining, Charles Bronson makes good work on his role, killer is very good also, and because of J.
About the time "10 to Midnight" was released, I read an interview with Charles Bronson in which he was asked why he continued to make one "Death Wish" clone after the other with bad hack directors instead of taking over his career and taking chances like his contemporaries Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood.
So bad were his '80's films in fact, this one is one of the best, even though it still is a pretty mediocre, and at times terrible, film.The difference between "10 to Midnight" and say, "Kinjite," is that Bronson actually has a pretty good supporting cast to work with, including Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Geoffrey Lewis and Wilford Brimley.
Enter Leo Kessler (Bronson) who surveys Stacey's carnage and comes up with the perceptive observation: "His knife must be his penis." Together with partner Andrew Stevens, he has no trouble fingering Stacey as the killer; unfortunately, the psycho is an expert at establishing airtight alibis.
In fact, Thompson's directing here is so routine and at times inept, it is almost impossible to believe that the same man was responsible for the authentic classic "The Guns of Navarone."All-in-all, "10 to Midnight" has to classify as the ultimate good/bad film.
Charles Bronson(Leo Kessler) & Andrew Stevens(Paul McAnn) play a veteran and rookie detectives on the L.A. police force who are hunting a vicious psychopath who has been murdering innocent women with a knife.
So convinced that the killer will not be convicted, Leo plants evidence on the suspect, which of course is discovered by the defense team, leading to a dismissal of charges(and Leo's termination) that put them on a collision course of more killings.Bronson seems to be playing a less responsible cross between "Dirty Harry" and his "Death Wish" character(Paul Kersey), but those two men never falsified evidence, which clearly crosses the line, leading to a morally muddled film that is also quite unpleasant and routine, though I admit it does have a memorable ending...the only successful thing about this film..
Leo Kessler (Bronson) is a detective who is after a sicko (Gene Davis) who kills women while nakid.
Great Fun. 10 to Midnight (1983) **** (out of 4) Extremely well-made and suspenseful police drama has tough as nails cop Charles Bronson trying to track down a killer.
Leave it to the keen detective skills of Charles Bronson (who acts like every other actor in the film is just there to annoy him while he earns his check) who gives us this trenchant insight: (read in Bronson-voice)..."His Knife is his penis." Or was it, "His Penis is his knife." I can't remember.The entire second act is a lot of dull cop drama stuff that makes the mistake in thinking we care at all about Bronson's relationship with his daughter, or that we care if his beefcakey partner ever hooks up with her.Just stick to the opening thirty and the last twenty, which gives you what you want: A lot of naked knifings, bare breasts, and blood spatters.Consumer Note: At no point in the film is it ever ten to midnight..
Charles Bronson plays Lieutenant Leo Kessler who is searching for a killer that has a unique taste in murdering his victims.
In fact, even with the high ratio of bad actors and technical shortcomings, films like "Evil That Men Do" and this one, "10 to Midnight," kick modern hardboilers right in the balls.In any case, I've read some comments by folks who don't understand the title "10 to Midnight." Here's what it means: the killer's alibi is that he was seen at a theater watching a movie that ran between 10 pm and midnight, the same time the murder took place.
"Leo Kessler" (Charles Bronson) is a Los Angeles detective who has had more than his share of drama in his life due to a stubborn daughter by the name of "Laurie Kessler" (Lisa Eilbacher) who doesn't understand or appreciate the demands the job places on him.
Bronson plays a tough old homicide detective Leo Kessler who is on the case of a very nasty & violent killer played really great & creepily by Gene Davis,this guy is a real sicko & extremely disturbed & menacing.
This feels very much like a typical 80's slasher flick like most that was coming out at the time but with lots of added layers & depth such as getting a super star like BRONSON to star in this as the cop tracking the killer was excellent casting as Bronson brings all that seriousness & mood to his perfect & the movie, i mean c'mon this is Charles Bronson Mr.vigilante here in this slasher flick so right away it's clear that this isn't just a cheap low budget throwaway film it's something abit more with real thought put into it.
It feels like they're attempting to make both a Friday the 13th and a Death Wish movie AT THE SAME TIME!Charles Bronson plays a tough cop dedicated to his job.
Bronson actually seems to care about his performance (not always the case in his later films), the villain is creepy and frightening (he likes to attack his lady victims while he is totally nude), and the kills are intensely effective.
Just like his Death Wish days, Charles plays a cop who shuns ethics in order to bring in lawless scum.This film pits Bronson against a fiendish sex maniac who kills girls in order to get off.
I was just starting to "look a boys" at 11 years old (coming-of-age era) and thought about being hurt or worse by the person I may date one day.This movie is very thrilling and may frighten women more than men to watch due to the nature of the film.
A LAPD detective (Charles Bronson) is on the trail of a very handsome young man (Gene Davis) who had been seducing and slashing many young women to death.Violent and with unseemly subject matter, "10 to Midnight" drew scathing reviews from film critics, including a "zero stars" rating from Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times who wrote, "I admire (Bronson's) strong, simple talent.
Handsome psycho (Gene Davis who very much resembled his more famous brother, Brad, especially in his voice) who loves film, karate, and sex toys, has a lot of problems with women, and strikes out a lot, as seen at the start when coming onto two girls at the movies, one finding him cute, the better looking and stuck up one, finding him repulsive.
Of all the career ending movies Charles Bronson made for Cannon films in the mid-to-late eighties, "10 to Midnight" is the best.
Lee Thompson masterfully blends the Dirty Harry Rogue Cop thriller with some slasher film moments of brutal terror that will have viewers squirming in their seats.Gene Davis" plays a sexually repressed psychopath whom of course has "mother issues" he kills women while he is nude,so killing while naked was fashionable way before Christian Bale's "Patrick Bateman" did it.This film has elements of the Richard Speck story "Chicago Massacre" but still stays original.
The story is good and the action is nonstop.Bronson is on top of his game in this movie especially since the character that plays his daughter "Lisa Eilbacher" lives in the student nurse dorm that is being terrorized by the naked killer.
Chuck Bronson stars as a detective who plants evidence on a serial killer who kills in the nude, only because Bronson's daughter is the one being stalked and therefore it's personal.
Chuck Bronson (The world's coolest action hero) is good as is Andrew Stevens and Lisa Eilbacher but Gene Davis' performance is utterly woeful.
It is an exploitive film about Charles Bronson, who looks like he's sleepwalking through another role, taking on a serial killer.
From Paul Kersey (the Death Wish films) and Charlie Congers (Love and Bullets) to Jack Murphy (Murphy's Law), Bronson's squinty-eyed machismo was second only to that of Clint Eastwood.In 10 to Midnight Bronson plays the same ol' vigilante (Leo Kessler), who this time must protect his daughter and her college coed friends from a serial killer.
For the first part of the picture, Bronson works with the cops, and for the rest of the movie, he does his "Death Wish" routine.
First of all, I see that I finally watch a suspense movie from Charles Bronson because I see mostly action films from him and Director J.Lee Thompson.
This film is about when a police detective (Bronson) is stalking a killer after being set free and he strikes revenge at him and his daughter.
Charles Bronson was really good as playing the detective and Gene Davis is good as the serial killer too.
It's not a Charles Bronson vehicle, because it has a lot of good elements by which this movie could still work very well if Bronson weren't playing the leading role.Kevin Bacon look-a-like Warren Stacy as the psycho killer switches swiftly between cruelty and self-piteous anxiety, with a funny Hispanic accent.
That resemblance - together with the hard-boiled style of action film-making nowadays replaced by bullet-time and the soundtrack - gives this movie that cool 80's feeling so refreshing to a child of the 90's.Charles Bronson is in great shape as the investigating detective, possibly because he sort of reprises his signature role, Paul "Death Wish" Kersey.
Make my day."My brother in law and I watched "10 to midnight" together, and when it first came on he told me I'd have to see the entire film to learn why a Charles Bronson line at the very end was in his opinion on a par with Eastwood's famous phrase.
Despite their better days having passed, '10 to Midnight' is a riveting film that comes early in Bronson and Thompson's exploitation output and features some of the talents for which they're remembered.Rehashing ideas from 'Dirty Harry,' Bronson plays Leo Kessler, a Los Angeles detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a secretary and her boyfriend.
Old-fashioned cop Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) is assigned to catch the killer, and partnered with inexperienced rookie Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens).
With Kessler's daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher) the next in line to be killed, it becomes a race against time to stop the psycho before he strikes again
10 To Midnight is not an especially well-acted film.
A serial killer Warren Stacy (Davis) stalks women, mostly ones he knows and murders them while he's butt naked.
Part cop/vigilante film (It is a Charles Bronson movie after all), part slasher film (With effective white creepy kid psycho Gene Davis) and part nudie film.
What I didn't like is when Bronson lies about a diary a murdered victim had to the killer and effectively gets the dead girl's roommate killed.
I have no idea the significance of the title of this movie, but it is a sweet little thrill ride of a film.It's about a mixed up young man (Gene Davis) who is obsessed on the idea of killing any girl who has turned their back to him.
Once Detective Leo Kessler (Bronson) is on to him, he will not let up until justice is served.***possible spoilers***This is not just a simple little cat and mouse story here, there's a lot of good things going on in this movie.
The killer here was different and I liked that angle.***end of spoilers***This is not an action movie as most of Bronson's films were.
I eventually began to watch his films on my own and now he's one of my favorites."10 To Midnight" has to be, for my money, one of the greatest Charles Bronson movies ever made.
Lee Thompson's "10 to Midnight" tries to one up "Dirty Harry," but it takes a different path than you usually see in a Charles Bronson thriller.
Basically, Bronson is cast as a tough-guy detective who is searching for a serial killer that likes to carve up his victims while he is naked.
Bronson is in superb ass kicking form as detective Leo Kessler, on the trail of depraved creep Warren Stacey (Gene Davis), who gets back at the women who spurn his advances by brutally murdering them - in the nude, no less.
This is quite an unusual movie, about a serial killer (Gene Davis) who strips naked before slashing beautiful women to death.
But Karen had already delivered the journal to Kessler, who is sure that Warren is the killer and her plants evidence in his apartment.Now Warren is stalking his daughter to revenge against her father....In the eighties, The Cannon group made some really good films, the kind you would watch on a Friday night with your dad.
Tough and cynical L.A. detective Leo Kessler (the almighty Charles Bronson in peak hard-nosed form) decides to bend the rules in order to apprehend the unhinged Warren Stacy (a creepy and convincing performance by the handsome and muscular Gene Davis), a cunning depraved misogynistic psychopath who enjoys killing lovely young women while stark naked.
They get involved in the killer's business because Bronson's daughter, Lisa Eilbacher, knew one of the victims and becomes suspicious of the murderer, Davis.
In fact, I've done better in the movies, but my scenes didn't get on film.Anyway, you shouldn't go out of your way to see this -- unless you want to see a lot of blood and nudity, including an overdose of Davis's buns..
The problems are many but let's get the basic story out of the way first.Charles Bronson stars as a hardened cop (how original) with a new rookie partner (Andrew Stevens) out to track a serial killer. |
tt0108258 | Surf Ninjas | Johnny and Adam are teenage surfers who live in Los Angeles with their father, Mac. Two weeks before Johnny's 16th birthday, ninjas attack the teenagers, but they are defeated by Zatch, a mysterious warrior with an eye patch. A follow-up attack results in Mac's kidnapping, though Zatch is able to protect the teenagers and their friend Iggy from the ninjas. Adam discovers that the video game on his Sega Game Gear matches the events happening around him and finds he can control some events through his Sega. Zatch reveals to Johnny and Adam that they are actually the sons of the king of Patusan, whose land and monarchy was overthrown by the evil Colonel Chi when the boys were young. It is their destiny to return to Patusan, overthrow Colonel Chi, and free the people. Zatch takes them to the Patusani district in Los Angeles, where Johnny is introduced to a Patusani princess, Ro-May, who has been betrothed to Johnny since they were infants.
Ninjas again attack, but Johnny's abilities as a warrior prince emerge and he defeats several of his foes. Johnny, Adam, Iggy, Zatch, and Ro-May decide to return to Patusan. They are followed by a Los Angeles detective, Lieutenant Spence, who had been investigating the ninja attacks. They reach Patusan and discover what Colonel Chi's rule has wrought, including a burned village and a chain gang of political prisoners. The guards spot them and they are forced to fight. Johnny and Adam defeat them and free the villagers from their captivity.
Zatch leads the crew to a hidden cave in which the ancient weapons of the Patusani monarchy are preserved. Zatch arms Johnny and attacks him to prepare him for future challenges. Johnny is beaten repeatedly, but he is finally able to disarm Zatch. They rally the villagers and they travel to the coast opposite from an island that houses the royal city and Colonel Chi's dungeon. Unable to go by boat due to an impassable reef, Johnny and Adam tell the Patusanis to make surfboards. They then paddle to the unguarded side of the island.
Landing on the island, Johnny and Zatch lead the attack on the royal city, taking down Chi's henchmen and freeing Mac. Johnny confronts Colonel Chi, successfully defeating him by knocking him into a body of water with the help of Adam and his Game Gear. With Chi's rule undone, peace is restored to Patusan. Johnny is seated as the heralded warrior prince with Ro-May as his princess and Adam as a prince. Johnny declares the monarchy to be dissolved and announces that Patusan will operate as a democracy. His reason for doing this is for the people to finally be free of rule, good or evil. | violence, comic | train | wikipedia | It is one of the most hysterical movies I have ever watched.I saw it first when I was about 10 because my little brother was on a ninja movies kick.
It would be like watching those great movies of the 50s and mocking the dramatics of the women(ya know the screams with the hands on the face kinda deal.) People today just over think movies.
It never fails to amaze me--no matter how many times I read over the comments about "Surf Ninjas", I'm astounded by the sheer number that are written by people who must look down their noses at any movie that does not fit into the category of "serious film".
You would think that an Oscar contender was being reviewed, not a children's movie from the early 90's about surfing ninja-princes.Come on.
How much can a person expect from a movie called "Surf Ninjas"?
And, might I add, finds rather funny.Few movies could make a running gag out of a line like "Money can't buy knives", but "Surf Ninjas" pulls it off.
The only hunch I can surmise as to why people rated this film so low was because they were not the demographic target, but then again, neither am I, and I still enjoyed "Surf Ninjas" immensely.
The only hunch I can surmise as to why people rated this film so low was because they were not the demographic target, but then again, neither am I, and I still enjoyed "Surf Ninjas" immensely.
Okay everybody, now I know you might be saying to yourselves, "This guy is stupid, and needs to be shot very quickly, or his rare strain of stupidness might spread!" And you are entitles to your oppinion, but this time, I think you all are mistaken when you say that Surf Ninjas is a bad movie.
or anywhere else for that matter, but if you were a kid, and you didn't watch Surf Ninjas hundreds of times in a row, I don't think your life is really complete.
I mean, sure this movie may not have the best plot, or characters, or Ninjas, but if you are the type of person who can love and appreciate this type of movie, then you know that it was probably never meant to have those things.
This movie is fun to watch because of the cheezy action sequences and the bad jokes.
If you liked "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Wayne's World," you would like "Surf Ninjas." It didn't get very good reviews, because the reviewers were expecting logic.
No, this movie is as zany as the other aforementioned buddy movies, and just as unpredictable.Two Asian-American brothers, Johnny and Adam along with their crazy sidekick Iggy are living a good life surfing and studying as little as possible in a California coastal town.
They are drawn into an adventure when suddenly ninjas start appearing and try to assisinate the two brothers.Through a series of events the brothers learn they are princes back in their long-lost homeland and must make a journey to help liberate their country from an evil dictator played by Leslie Nielsen.Their adventures along the way are a riot, especially with the big-talking Iggy who always seems to be waxing his board rather than actually surfing.
But for an absolutely crazy buddy movie, "Surf Ninjas" will get you laughing..
Whenever I see reviews of this movie, they usually include things like "Only boys under the age of nine would actually like it." When this film came out, I was a ten-year-old girl, and fifteen years later it's still my all-time favorite film.Rob Schneider is beyond hysterical as Iggy; the only truly disappointing performance is that of Leslie Nielsen, which is thankfully overshadowed by the entertainment value of his character.
The plot is silly, yes, but it's fun and entertaining and it doesn't try to be more than what it is-- a comedic kid's movie about ninjas.
It doesn't bother trying to pull off angst like the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or drama like 3 Ninjas, it just sets out to make you laugh, and it succeeds.Young boys will love it, but so will anyone interested in humor, lighthearted adventure, and fight scenes from before the days of slow motion and Matrix-disbelief..
People are supposed to grade it for what it is, not for what the actors are doing now, not for how it should have been compared to what it is, and certainly not for the TYPE of film that it is.Surf Ninjas is a feel good movie that is targeted for kids.
Granted I am over 18 and I still love the movie (but I'm also into surfing and martial arts so the film is right up my ally).Granted that the film could have been put together when compared to films of today.
you have to give the movie at least a 8 out of 10 stars, even if you don't like martial arts or Rob Schneider!Personally, I rate it 10 out of 10.
What's cool is, that people don't know this movie like Caddyshack or Stripes or The Blues Brothers or Spinal Tap. So, you and your friends should watch Surf Ninjas over and over-learn it, know it, live it.
Then when you are in public, you can quote it, and people will think that you are clever, and not just guys who sit around watching the same movies over and over so that you can memorize all of the famous lines and quote them word for word.
I could sit here and compare the quality of the acting to other movies, but I won't, because Surf Ninjas does exactly what it's supposed to, entertain and get a few lighthearted laughs.
<p>Surf Ninjas was the second movie that Rob Schneider ever appeared in and his performance was excellent and on par with his ability to wisecrack and make the audience laugh.
A cheesy ninja action film with lots of bad humor and hokey acting.
However, if anyone has ever seen the cult classic The Kentucky Fried Movie, they will immediately recognize that a large part of Surf Ninjas is based on the short film, A Fistful Of Yen, which was part of The Kentucky Fried Movie.
I don't think it is a coincidence that Nielsen reprised the Abrahams and Zucker role of Khlan in the Neal Israel film, Surf Ninjas.
Don't get me wrong, I love many R-rated comedies, but Surf Ninjas never fails to make me laugh out loud.
When I saw this movie I was basically in the target audience, 10 year old kid who loved video games and anything to do with ninjas(only thing missing was that I wasn't in to surfing).
The acting is horrible(except for Lesie Nielsen of course, and Rob Schneider wasn't too bad), the plot is only slightly better than similar movies, and there's not really a lot of laughter for anyone in their teens or older...without the use of illegal materials..
Throw in some stunt doubles doing cheap looking martial arts moves, a few poor attempts at humor, a few feel-good moral messages (freedom over tyranny, everyone has a special gift, blah blah blah), and a commercial tie in (Sega's Game Gear) and you've got yourself one giant waste of money..
I used to love all these ninja movies when i was a kid.
If you have kids and you want to rent them some movies you should get them the three ninja movies first and then maybe surf ninjas..
I loved watching ninja movies as a kid and i still do and this one is still fun to watch...
Solid, fun feel-good ninja movie.
The younger brother is awful, but Reyes Sr, Jr., and Schneider are good, and John Karlen who plays Mac does give an extra level of fun to feel-good movie.
Surf ninjas is a great movie.
Upon reading some reviews I wonder what some people expect for a ninja movie?
This week we watched a movie and not just any movie it was Surf Ninjas.
After i left i couldn't help thinking how bad it was and then i realized that this is hands down in the top 5 worst movies that i have ever seen in my life.
All my children have enjoyed watching it and each of them has told me that it is their favorite movie (well, until they were 4 or 5 years old, after which they were too mature for it).
Unusually, for a silly movie, there are many gags that grow on you over time and a film that you would THINK is only worth one viewing, actually gets more enjoyable every time you watch it.It was a great experience making the film in Thailand, and we got a lot of value there for a movie with quite a low budget.
I dont know why people think this movie is bad.
I laugh like all the way through it, Rob Schneider is great and is obviously the greatest actor of all time!.
If you want to watch a trash-movie, this is a must-see, cause you'll laugh all the time.
But if you don't want to watch this as a trash-movie,this flick is a complete waste of time, electricity and your mind.
Surf Ninjas is of course as bad as you would expect.
I'm guessing kids into martial arts may like this but given the fact that most kids would rather watch Bruce Lee movies or even 3 Ninjas, Surf Ninjas is only for the kid who will sit through anything.
OK, so "Surf Ninjas" is one of those movies that they crank out every once in a while about cool kids clobbering dumb adults.
Rob Schneider adds humor to the movie by playing the "commoner" kept around like a young boy would have a "monkey or a snake".
Surfing, Ninjas, Leslie Nielsen the cyborg dictator, Rob Schneider the lovable idiot and Tone Loc's first fantastic appearance as an officer of the law (his second and most notable role was of course as Emilio in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective).
I'd like to thank whoever created Surf Ninjas for bringing joy into the lives of so many and I know its only a matter of time before I see the sequel or remake in a theater near me..
Maybe it isn't for everyone, but if you don't like cheap ninja movies that re-hash bad plots over and over then DUH you shouldn't have even started watching the movie to begin with.
No matter how good or bad the movie there will always be someone out there who either loves or hates it!!
It's the people who don't stop complaining about the bad ones that get on my nerves, so love it hate it but remember that it doesn't really matter what you think to the next person who comes along..
The plot, script, acting, music - all terrible - and to be fair, with a title like Surf Ninjas you'd be a little off centre to expect anything else.
surf ninjas is the funniest movie of all time!!!!
I don't think that there is a funniest part because it the whole thing is but i have to say the scene where iggy says he likes to put a lot of wax on his board is great!!!!!!.
okay, so it doesnt pull alot of money but, if your looking for dry comedy watch this, leslie nelsons role as colonel chi is great.I'm a big fan of dry humor movies, sure kids liked it at the time, but most of the film only people over the age 13 could understand the taglines and slapstick antics.
Surf Ninjas, in truth, is a bad movie, the effects are bad, the clothes are hideous, but it is soo sooo good.
It's also another childhood gem of mine, I love martial arts and martial arts movies and this was another of the first one's I saw.I always liked Ernie Reyes Jr he I felt was a talented martial artist and capable actor.
But also I kind of which there were more extreme sports elements, he's the title Surf which they really don't do much off; like maybe some sort of rollerblade or skateboard chase maybe even get to fight with them or something, not that this is a big deal I just thought that was a bit of a lost opportunity and might have made the film a little cooler.Other than that, the film sets itself out to be what it is, plain fun.
The music is good there are a few memorable tracks also really like the costumes which are colorful from the Surf Ninjas with bright colors which fits with the whole Surfing trend but mainly of Cornel Chi's men which are a mix of military uniforms and samurai and ninja wear.The cast is really solid, Ernie Reyes Sr is really cool as Zatch, whom is sort of the boy's bodyguard and also mentor figure to guide them.
Though one thing I found a bit strange is that his Game Gear amazingly has a long battery life.Rob Schneider was surprisingly good, I'm personally not a fan of the comedic actor I think he's good in supporting roles not main ones.
Like the scene where he is supposed to give a presentation of some sort to a religious figure, I'll just say one thing it was probably one of the only times an assembly was actually entertaining.
"Surf Ninjas" has pretty much every 80s cliché you can think of, if it wasn't for Rob Schneider you'd think this movie was kept in Israel's basement for ten years.
Then again, there's no such thing as a bad ninja movie.
What makes this film so bad is that not only does this film have no actors and no plot, the makers thought that by jumping on the train started by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", they would have made a big hit.
"Surf Ninjas" is not a movie.
Surf Ninjas was the first movie to have a video game developed based on the movie, characters and plot....However, it is interesting that so many talents were brought together to create a 'fun' kids movie; Leslie Nielsen, Rob Schneider, Kelly Hu, Neal Israel, Tone Loc, Keone Young, plus Ernie Reyes Jr.
If you want good acting, then you don't watch anything with Rob Schneider in it!
OK I know your like its another obsessed kid saying how great this movie is.
They wanted to make a movie that had fighting in it and cheesy lines and they did.I'm not saying its an Oscar but its a really good comedy especially if u like Wayne's world or other goofy movies like that.
I don't know how people could not like this movie.
the comedy, martial arts, and actors make this movie an instant success and should end up on most peoples collection list if they take the time to try something new and see it.
Surf Ninjas is a great movie for kids and simple minds, so for a simple mind like my own, this was and is perfect.
This seems to be the beginning of the Rob Schneider films of suckitude, but hey, like I said, I enjoyed this one.
If you can't laugh at least a couple of times while watching this film, you have to have a serious problem with your humor receptors.Yes, this is a 10/10 because you can't measure a child's happiness in how good the movie actually is..
well, I can definitely see the people who have a stick up their butt and don't enjoy randomness not liking this movie.
but COME ON.every single time i watch this movie, i crack up in hysterics.
oh, and if you want to be a MAJOR nerd like me, watch ninja turtles II (the people version).
Surf ninjas= the most awesome movie ever..
This movie is obviously for kids, but if you want a good laugh then i suggest watching this film.
I think they might have shot this whole film behind a blue screen, i'm not sure though....The best part of this movie was when the kid hopped into the jeep and ran over the army dudes.
Kids like Ninjas, check.
I squirmed as I watched Rob Schneider playing a young high school kid(yeah, a young 30 year old one)mugging and doing his best with an embarrassing role.
You've seen all of this on bad TV movies many times over.
So if you don't know what to rent at Blockbuster, rent Surf Ninjas for good, cheesey fun..
I must've watched it 2 or 3 dozen times as a young child, no matter that it was really idiotic, and there were much better kids movies to watch.Another commenter mentioned that it came at a time when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were at their peak.
Heres the thing you need to remember, this movie was made around the time of the TMNT series and 3 Ninjas.
Casting Rob Schneider, who was on Saturday Night Live at the time, makes it pretty evident that they had no intentions of making this a serious kids ninja movie.
It may seem that im repeating most of the comments but truth deserves repetitionI rented surf ninjas as a kid and enjoyed it so much i never got tired of it.
It was a fun action movie - ninjas, video games, action, pretty girls and the classic storyline of good vs world domination cyborg old bad guy.
Now I usually don't go throwing words like "masterpiece", "perfection" and "My Generation's Greatest Epic" around when it comes to movies, but Surf Ninjas is an exception.
I've been watching this movie for some 10 odd years now, and I love it more than ever.
Ernie Reyes Jr. plays a role almost identical to his character Keno in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret Of The Ooze(another movie, part of an epic saga)as Johnny, which of course is fun to see. |
tt0488604 | The Oxford Murders | In 1993, Martin (Elijah Wood), a US student at the University of Oxford, wants Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) as his thesis supervisor. He idolises Seldom and has learned all about him. He takes accommodation in Oxford at the house of Mrs. Eagleton (Anna Massey), an old friend of Seldom. Also in the house is her daughter, Beth (Julie Cox), who is her full-time caregiver — which she resents bitterly — and a musician by occupation.
In a public lecture, Seldom quotes Wittgenstein's Tractatus to deny the possibility of absolute truth. Hoping to impress his idol, Martin disputes this, asserting his faith in the absolute truth of mathematics: "I believe in the number pi". Seldom humiliates him, ridiculing his arguments and making him look foolish in front of the audience. Disillusioned, Martin decides to abandon his studies and goes to his office to collect his belongings. There, he encounters his office-mate, a bitter mathematician Podorov (Burn Gorman), who also failed to become a student of Seldom's.
Martin then returns to his residence, where he finds Seldom arriving to visit Mrs. Eagleton. The two men enter the house together and find Martin's landlady murdered. Seldom tells the police that he had received a note with his friend's address marked as "the first of a series". As Seldom is an authority on logical series, he argues that a serial killer is using murder as a way to challenge his intelligence. According to Seldom, "The only perfect crime that exists is not the one that remains unsolved, but the one which is solved with the wrong culprit."
Martin and Seldom discuss how easily the murder of the old lady might have been overlooked, particularly as she already suffered from terminal cancer. Martin suggests that the murderer is committing "imperceptible murders", meaning that the killer is choosing victims who are already dying therefore meaning that the police would be less likely to suspect foul play.
Martin goes to the hospital where his girlfriend Lorna (Leonor Watling) works. There he meets a religious fanatic (Dominique Pinon), who has a daughter in dire need of a lung transplant. He also runs into Seldom, who is visiting Kalman (Alex Cox), a former student who went mad and suffers from a debilitating cancer, with bone involvement. Soon after, the patient who shares the room with Seldom's friend dies of an apparent lethal injection and the authorities receive a second symbol: two interlocking arcs.
Martin and Lorna's relationship becomes strained as he becomes more obsessed with Seldom and the murders and discovers that Lorna had once been Seldom's lover. At a Guy Fawkes Night concert, Martin sees Podorov acting suspiciously and the police give chase, only to discover that Podorov had merely intended to hang an insulting banner from the school roof. While they are distracted a member of the orchestra collapses and dies from respiratory failure. A drawing of a triangle is found on his music stand. Afterwards, Seldom tells Martin a story about a nineteenth century man who had written a diary listing ways to kill his wife. When the wife discovered the diary she killed her husband but was acquitted by a jury on grounds of self-defense. Decades later, the diary was discovered to have been forged by the woman's lover. Seldom uses this story to explain that the perfect crime is not one which is never solved, but one which is solved incorrectly.
All of Oxford's mathematics community is excited as a local researcher claims to have solved Fermat's last theorem. The mathematicians, including Seldom and Martin, board a bus to head to the conference, but Martin jumps out after seeing Lorna passing on the street. The two reconcile and agree to take a long vacation away from Oxford, mathematics, and Seldom. After making love with Lorna, Martin realizes that the sequence the killer has sent them all consist of Pythagorean symbols and that the fourth one will be a tetractys, consisting of ten points.
The police, thinking that the killer is obsessed with Seldom, believe that he means to target the bus which Seldom and the other mathematicians are on. However, the killer, as Martin realizes, is actually the man he had met at the hospital. The man is a bus driver for a school for developmentally disabled children. Seeing the students as unfit to live and wanting to provide organ donors to save his own daughter's life, he blows up his bus, killing the children inside and himself. Afterwards, the police theorize that he had planned to escape the blast alive and had committed the other murders in order to present the deaths of the schoolchildren as the work of a serial killer, thus shifting blame from himself.
Afterwards, Lorna and Martin prepare to leave Oxford. However, Martin realizes that Seldom has been lying to him the entire time. As Lorna leaves in disgust, Martin travels to meet Seldom. He explains what he has figured out.
Beth, wanting to be relieved of the responsibility of caring for her mother, had murdered the old woman as the police had initially suspected. In a panic, she had called Seldom, who came over to help cover up the crime. But Seldom arrived just as Martin did and so could not clean up the crime scene. Instead, he invented the story about receiving a note from the killer in order to throw suspicion off of Beth. The man at the hospital had died of natural causes with Seldom merely creating a fake injection mark and leaving a symbol behind. The death of the musician at the concert was a fortuitous accident which Seldom took advantage of.
Seldom argues that while he did indeed lie, his actions resulted in no deaths. However, Martin points out that the bus bomber took his inspiration from Seldom's string of murders. Seldom counters that all actions have unintended consequences and that Martin's flirtations with Beth had led to her murdering her mother. | romantic, mystery, philosophical, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0111945 | The Drew Carey Show | === Season 1 (1995–1996) ===
The first season's opening credits consisted of a caricature of Carey — consisting of his face and a yellow tie — singing the Robert McGuire-penned "Moon Over Parma". The song was trimmed for the opening sequence, and the reference to Eastlake in the line "Guide her to Eastlake underneath your silvery light" was changed to a reference to Cleveland to stay in theme with the show.
In the first season, Drew and Mimi worked under Mr. Bell, who existed only as a voice on Drew's speakerphone, excluding the season finale (his final episode) wherein he is fired by Winfred-Louder's new owners. Other characters that appeared exclusively in this period were Drew's hillbilly neighbor Jules and his family. Drew's first girlfriend Lisa was introduced in this season, as was Jay, Kate's love interest who used to attend the same high school as Drew and his friends. Both characters lasted until Season 2, where they were quickly written out of the show in the early episodes.
Nine of the episode titles were related to chemistry in some way, with names such as "The Joining of Two Unlike Elements Is a Mixture" and "Isomers Have Distinct Characteristics". However, this theme was abandoned by the end of the season.
=== Seasons 2–7 (1996–2002) ===
"Moon Over Parma" was phased out during the second season by "Five O'Clock World" sung by The Vogues. This season introduced openings that paid homage to music videos which included the cast dancing and singing around the various sets of the show. In the third season, yet another change was made to "Cleveland Rocks", a cover of an Ian Hunter song performed by The Presidents of the United States of America. This change lasted until the second "wave" of the show ended, with the finale of Season 7.
The man who took over Mr. Bell's job after his firing was Nigel Wick, who served as a foil for both Drew and Mimi in the workplace. During this period, Drew and Mr. Wick also periodically took the top management job away from each other. This would usually result in Drew ending up back at his old job as Assistant Director of Personnel and Mr. Wick would miraculously retain his job as manager. By the end of Season 7, they were both Co-Managers before Winfred-Louder was closed down (albeit after undergoing drastic changes to stay in business).
Kate and Oswald became closer and eventually became romantically involved and almost married during the third season, but Kate stood Oswald up at the altar. Kate and Drew also became romantically involved and were on the verge of getting married, but they called it off when they realized they didn't feel the same about the prospect of children. Drew's cross-dressing brother Steve was introduced during this period. He eventually fell in love with Mimi and they had a child together, Gus (whose name was decided by means of a contest).
Drew also got married a number of times during this portion of the show. His first marriage was to Diane, a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas. This was only temporary however, as she needed Drew to retain custody of her children. His second marriage was to Mr. Wick, who forced Drew to marry him in a sham same-sex civil union in Vermont (the only place it was legal at the time) in hopes that the marriage would placate the Immigration and Naturalization Service. At the beginning of Season 7, Drew married both Nikki and Kate (the former had been a recurring character for some time since Season 3, and suffered from weight problems). They found out about this and all three of these marriages ended in divorce, and Drew became known as the "Impotent Bisexual Bigamist". Nikki eventually returned, and the actress - Kate Walsh - donned a fat suit again and moved in with Drew.
During this period the show also had frequent "event" episodes. Recurring themes were "What's Wrong With This Episode?", in which the show contained numerous deliberate continuity errors and other mistakes and invited viewers at home to find the most errors and win a prize, and live episodes, with loose plots and improvised scenes featuring cast members from Carey's improvisational comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Brad Sherwood, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie, Greg Proops, Chip Esten, Kathy Greenwood, Jeff Davis, Laura Hall, and Linda Taylor) contributed to these episodes, with Brad Sherwood hosting.
=== Seasons 8–9 (2002–2004) ===
Beginning in season 8, the show rotated through 9 different opening sequences, each of which contained a new version of one of the show's three theme songs. Each theme ("Moon Over Parma", "Five O'Clock World" and "Cleveland Rocks") was seen in three different segments, in new, wildly different arrangements (one of them being performed by Bowling for Soup). The show eventually went back to having just five main characters, akin to the first season, as Kate, Mr. Wick and Steve were eventually written out of the show. Kate's character was married off, Mr. Wick disappeared after three appearances until the Season 8 finale, wherein it is revealed he became a weatherman (although he continued to appear in the opening credits, unlike Kate, who was eliminated completely, and never mentioned again.) Steve left at the beginning of the ninth season to "find himself".
With Winfred-Louder closed, the location became the office of online retailer Neverending Store. Drew, Mimi, and Mr. Wick were hired as employees of the new company. Mimi was hired first in a similar role to her old job, and Drew was eventually hired as "Internal Expediting Analyst", and a recurring gag began wherein Drew had no clue as to what his job entailed. Before being written out, Mr. Wick was at first a janitor, and another recurring joke came in the form of Mr. Wick attempting to climb the ladder back to being the boss. Before being written out, he went from janitor to the carrier of the dessert trolley.
Kate left after the first two episodes of season 8, the same two episodes that introduced Kellie, an old high school friend of Drew's who had been working as a stripper. She eventually became a waitress at The Warsaw Tavern, Drew's girlfriend, and the carrier of his child. The plot of the final episode was Drew and Kellie attempting to get married before their child is born. Mr. Wick also returned and stayed on for the series finale.
The show began featuring cameos from reality-TV participants in the final two seasons, such as former Road Rules star Timmy Beggy, The Real World alumna Cara Khan, and The Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl. Tony the Bus Driver (Bill Cobbs) became a regular, serving as smart-alecky "bartender" type to whom Drew could tell his problems. The eighth season was put in a timeslot that frequently clashed with Monday Night Football. It was pulled mid-season and the remaining episodes were shown during the summer of 2003. The ninth season did not air until the summer of 2004, with most of the episodes out of order.
The last season's tone changed radically from the previous seasons. The directors began experimenting with one-camera set-ups, showing the sets completely built, with four walls in most rooms, and with rooms actually linked together. The writers also began experimenting, including story lines in which Gus burns down Mimi's house, forcing her to move in with Drew after Steve leaves her.
=== Post-series ===
On March 24, 2009, Kathy Kinney appeared in character as Mimi at the beginning of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Kinney appeared twice on The Price Is Right as Mimi Bobeck on April Fools' Day. Drew Carey has been the host of the show since 2007. Carey would later revive the "What's Wrong with This Episode?" format for later April Fool's Day episodes of The Price Is Right.
At the end of the final episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on December 19, 2014, Ferguson woke up, revealing that the entire show was a dream of Mr. Wick's. Drew Carey reprised his role (the two were in bed together as in the final episode of Newhart) and was surprised that, in Wick's dream, he had somehow lost weight and become a game show host. | good versus evil | train | wikipedia | In the 9 years that 'The Drew Carey Show' was on the air it went through 3 big phases.
Like a little weekly Farrelly brother movie, 'Drew Carey' was crude, bawdy humor at its finest.The show had the guts to center around a group of characters that where, without question, losers and made no attempt to glamorize them in the usual sitcom way.
Stick with the '5 o'clock World' or original 'Cleveland Rocks' intro that accompanies these seasons and you'll see a show that was heading for 'classic' status.However, as we pick up with season 6 and forward the show is in its 3rd phase - a flaming, chaotic tailspin that strips away everything that made it great and innovative in the first place and ultimately sending it sinking into the abyss with barely a whisper.
I can say the turning point where I lost interest came when Drew's transvestite brother Steve married and brought into the family Drew's long-time rival Mimi.
Anybody that thought the richly developed and sophisticated 'Titus' was just a standard dumb sitcom should have a look at the talented Watros now going to waste in this plane crash.Jerry Seinfeld taught us all that the sign of a great comedian was one who knows when it is time to pull out and leave the audience wanting more.
Make sure you catch the dance numbers that made the show revolutionary, like the incredible routine for Five O Clock World and Drew and Mimi's real voices in The Brotherhood of Man. This show was the first to do live episodes the way they should be (go Ryan Stiles!).
This show truly captializes his talents as a comedian and actor."The Drew Carey Show" is by far one of the funniest sitcoms on television in recent years.
Of course, Drew has his girlfriend, Kate (Christa Miller) and his dopey buddies, Lewis Kiniski (Ryan Stiles, who upstages Carey) and Oswald Lee Harvey (Deidrich Bader).This show is very funny.
The plotlines are always interesting, and of course, Lewis and Oswald have to accomplish some stupid feat in the 1/2 hour (ie: they used $8000 to record an album using classic songs, with them--"Tequilla" or Lewis saying "Wipeout!") Of course, everyone gets into a big mess, Mimi insults Drew, Drew plots revenge, and everything is said and done in the half hour.I love this show, and highly recommend it to everyone who has a good sense of humor.
Drew Carey's standup is excellent, and this show just adds another good credit to a very talented man!Cleveland truly does rock!
Drew Carey and his co-stars (especially Kathy Kinney as Mimi Bobeck) each have an ingenious sense of comic timing!
Some of the shows, however, are very good (like when Drew goes to the Value Date class, or winds up working in the cafeteria, or getting sent to China).
Drew Carey was always a funny stand up.
The cast was great...Ryan Stiles and Diedrich Baker are two very underrated guys in playing comedy, and Craig Ferguson was always fun to watch.Maybe the show ran its course and it was smart for Drew to close it out on a high note, and wrap the series up nicely with a final episode, but I can't help but think that ABC killed this show.The show was a staple of the network for so many years, and it finally began to slip in the ratings a little and ABC got worried to quickly and juggled it around to a bunch of different time slots.
Add that with the reality TV craze, and a show like the Drew Carey Show which I think cost quite a bit to produce became obsolete very quickly.That's a nice thank you after the show and the show's main actor did a lot to help the network.A lot of people peg Christa Miller leaving the show as the down turn.
The series was still funny and could have been had ABC left it alone.Sadly, the final season was run completely out of order with large gaps in between air time which made it nearly impossible to keep track of.Hopefully, they'll release it on DVD to give this very underrated and funny show a proper sendoff..
Do not get me wrong, I still absolutely love the Drew Carey show, but the new episodes suck.
But let us go onto the good things about the drew carey show.
Drew (in the early season) used to be hilarious, I love it when him and Mimi fight!
It was by far the best sitcom I've ever seen, which is saying a lot because I'm not much of a fan of American comedy.
It used plots which were used by most other sitcomes that didn't even last two seasons: Steve cheated on Mimi, the new owners were fresh out of college, Drew went looking for marriage...
Drew Carey is one of my favorite American comedians, but he really needs to take a break and get that edge back or else his career will be on a decline..
What I like about this is that Drew Carey is such a normal, C-average underachiever.
My friend admitted he liked this show a lot because at the time it had something different from other sitcoms- a setting not in New York.
Oswald (Diedrich Bader), which I just realized is a name rearrangement of the guy who shot Kennedy, and Lewis (Ryan Stiles) are like two dogs that accompany Drew to his misadventures; faithful, kinda slow, and pee a lot.The Drew Carey show is down-to-earth and humorously self-deprecating.
Drew Carey, the overweight man in thick glasses, works a dead-end job surrounded by those who work hard to make him suffer.
The way Drew and Mimi (Kathy Kinney) sling insults and pranks at each other day after day provides one of those greatest moments of real life living.
I wasn't crazy about the "Moon Over Parma" theme either (I thought he said Move Over Mama which made no sense of course!) I liked the scene,in the pilot,where he coughs and at the same time tears up Mimi's application for the cosmetics department...very funny!
But besides Drew , Ryan Stiles as Drews friend Lewis takes the cake as best character.
The Drew Carey Show went off to a strong start in 1995 and kept getting funnier and funnier until it started to run dry right around 2000.
I'd say Frasier was the most powerful competitor (along with 3rd Rock from the Sun in its first two years), but at the end of the day, the Drew Carey Show came ahead.
She just doesn't care.Oswald Lee Harvey (played by the supremely-versatile Deidrich Bader): the third of Drew's friends, he's Lewis' best buddy and arguably one of the dumbest people to ever appear on a TV show.
Mimi Bobeck (played by Kathy Kinny): a nightmare on feet, she's Drew's arch nemesis in the office (and often times in real life).
She was never intended to be a recurring character, but thanks (many thanks) to popular feedback from the audience, she was kept.Nigel Wick (played by Craig Ferguson): Drew's English boss.
The show is about Drew Carey and he works at a department store where he is the assistant personal director in Cleveland and he has been stuck at his job for ten more years.
Both Drew and Jerry get through life on their wits and sense of humor, both Lewis and Kramer are tall guys with wierd out-looks of life, both Oswald and George are the comic dartboards of the the others, both Kate and Elaine are sexpots with hostile tempers and both Mimi and Newman are the nemesises that you love to hate.
May it go on forever, or at least until Drew and Kate get married and name their boys Oswald and Lewis..
I often watch the reruns of The Drew Carey Show, and since it's a workplace comedy, it's a good sitcom to watch after you get home from a long day at work.
Episodes keep you paying attention every minute, I don't think you should miss a wink of The Drew Carey Show!
The Drew Carey Show is funny and I like Mimi called Drew a "PIG" and "DOUGHBOY".
It's filled with such great comedic talent as Ryan Stiles, Deidrich Bader, Craig Ferguson, and Drew Carey.
Ryan Stiles is the best part of this show and his character Lewis is too hilarious.
Drew has a lot of good jokes on the show and is a great example of an average guy making it in to show business.
I dearly miss Drew Carey show and it's colorful characters,absolutely free from the usual husband-wife-kids stereotypes.
However, The Drew Carey Show is one of the best I have ever seen.I started watching in reruns then eventually started watching the new episodes on ABC.
By far the best character is Lewis played by the VERY funny Ryan Stiles.
PLEASE Drew, stick to what works (i.e. the sitcom) and leave Who's Line to the Brits.
Mimi is still there as is Lewis and Drew, and they are still funny..
This is a good comedy, well of course you can see that by looking at the length of it's run, for it is now like 5 years, but that doesn't mean a thing, just look at Unhappily Ever after.
I think Drew even dated Kate one time before the Show started.
I especially like the Mimi Drew confrontations which always contain multiple caresses' and are quite funny.
The endless feud between Drew & Mimi is always funny, like the semi "gay" relationship between Oswald & Lewis.
There has never been a show that agreed with my personal humor like the Drew Carey show, and I don't think there ever will be again.
The above comment isn't really fair but you've gotta admit that among others, Drew Carey, Ray Romano or even Jerry Seinfeld aren't really people you should look up to.
He knows he is fat and the way to live with it is of course to make self-deprecating jokes and occasionally make a snide remark to his assistant Mimi, well played by Kathy Kinney.Of course, Drew has to have an attractive female friend, in this case the very hot Christa Miller, at least she was back then.
But for some reason he doesn't make a big impression here because there is too much focus on the other male friend, played by Ryan Stiles.Many people will probably write me hate mail if they read this but the live sitcom is a total waste of TV space today.
I've read several places that people do not find Drew Carey as funny, yet I believe he's necessary to balance out the many other cartoonish characters.This show also fascinated me because it wasn't always happy times and appealed to more than our sense of humour.
The show made fun but also dealt with the flaws and weaknesses of its characters, something few comedy shows have ever done.Finally, I actually enjoy some of the later episodes.
Particularly, the episode where Drew and Kelly entered into the karaoke competition at the Warsaw still has me laugh every time I hear the song, "Do it to me one more time."Oh, there's rumours that a DVD set for Season 1 is finally coming out some time this year, and hopefully soon.
it's down to earth, which better said, means, this is NOT wholesome, you will not see a happily ever after or a mortal to the story, you'll see deception, failure and almost hear yourself saying 'everyman for himself'as these people chug beer after beer and sit around and watch as their lives go downhill, but it's the almost dark and slutty humor to it that just makes you tune in once and again just to see the characters react, which, by the way are great.
Six years later ABC tried to do what seinfeld did and hence, Drew Carey made his way.
Drew Carey is funny (Maybe not like Seinfeld) but he is funny and so is that Lewis character.
Drew Carey is VERY talented and I enjoy his work.
Drew Carey, Kathy Kinney, and Ryan Stiles are the funniest.
An evil, but funny enemy(Mimi), the perfect moron (Oswald), a great "normal guy"(Drew), the best best friend,(Kate), and what can we say about Lewis?
The Drew Carey Show was a perfect sitcom.
Okay so if you look at my profile picture you can tell that I am the world's biggest fan of the Drew Carey Show so obviously I'm going to say that, but I can't think of many people who did not like it.Drew Carey was a great character who always did the right thing for his bosses, fellow employees, friends and family, but he always ended up being beaten down.
The show actually suffered when she left the cast.The supporting cast of the big, brash, makeup covered Mimi, Drew's lecherous boss from England and his cross-dressing brother were also great.It's also the only sitcom I can think of that pushed the envelope so much creatively.
They had live shows, shows with pop-ups showing mistakes that were happening (these were actually contests and the first time the episodes aired the viewers had to catch the mistakes themselves and send them in), full musical episodes, improvised episodes and even more.The show also had a fantastic theme song and treated viewers to new credits numbers every season.I loved The Drew Carey Show!.
I love Drew Carey in this, basically adding a few notches up to his character of....
We have the pretty Kate, Lewis brother who falls for Oswald and Drew.
I voted 10 on this, and I really mean it.I have been a fan of Whose Line is it Anyway (both UK and US) for a long time, and in the process of watching the US version I came to really like Drew Carey (not to mention Ryan Stiles).
I have watched the Drew Carey show for years both on network and on television in syndication.
Who could forget the fights between Mimi Bobek and Drew Carey played wonderfully by Kathy Kinney who should have been nominated for Emmys rather than being short-sighted by the television academy.
The casting of Craig Ferguson as Drew and Mimi's boss was genius as was Nan Martin who plays the store owner.
We loved Oswald and Lewis and their shenanigans with Drew and Kate as well.
Maybe the swan song took longer than it should but I believe Drew Carey show will live forever in reruns with audiences rediscovering it's humor and the genius of it.
Too bad, the Academy never noticed the Drew Carey Show for it also had great guests like Shirley Jones, Marion Ross, etc..
"THE DREW CAREY SHOW," in my opinion, is an absolute ABC classic!
Sometimes the show is great, thanks to Ryan Stiles, but other times it lapses into a laugh-free zone that is degraded even more by seeing Drew Carey's smirky, smug face on screen that makes me wonder, "How did this guy ever get a job in Hollywood?"Still, as long as you can block out Carey, the show's fine.
Sitcoms in 1995 seemed to all be the same, with the exception of a few shows, The Drew Carey Show being one of them.
They all have a part in the show and bring in as many laughs as Drew Carey himself.
However, the episodes still remained funny and left whoever was watching it, satisfied.Thanks to everybody who made The Drew Carey Show!
A great series, shelling out more than 200 episodes of pure comedy goodness.The Bottom Line: Cleveland Rocks!.
I wanted more.I like Drew Carey.
Is The Drew Carey Show the funniest show on ABC today?
Drew Carey and Ryan Stiles are the funniest on the show.
Still,when this show was rolling along through the halcyon years,it was arguably one of the most inspired and raucous comedy that ran through network television.Be-spectacled,laid-back everyman Drew Carey plays sort of a distaff version of himself:instead of having the life of a successful stand-up comic,he's back in his hometown of Cleveland working a thankless middle management job for the Winfred-Louder Mall company.
He has the support(for whatever that's worth)of his friends KAte(Christa Miller,comfortable being "one of the guys"),Lewis(Ryan Stiles,brilliant!)and Oswald(the always malleable Diedrich Bader),and day-to-week survival in his job consists of,among other things,navigating his way around adversarial work peers such as his bosses(Kevin Pollack in season one,future TV talk show host Craig Ferguson for the rest of the run) and some co-workers(primarily Ian Gomez and overly made up Kathy Kinney,never dull as aforementioned Mimi).Of course,this being a sitcom,the usual conventions(i.e. simple plot construct,laugh-track,light,silly and raunchy subject matter,etc.)are employed,but the creators made efforts to ratchet it up enough to keep it interesting from season to season,show to show.
I live in Poland, the latest of Drew Carey that was aired here were the 2000 episodes-first episodes without Craig Ferguson (as a regular) and without Christa Miller.
The latest season was really sad to watch and the guys that played Drew's bosses were the worst actors I have seen in my life it just makes me wonder how in the name of God did they got casted?!I hope they end the show soon...so we can leave the best seasons in our memory...and save themselves the disgrace.Since everyone that was funny is systematically leaving the show it can soon be turned into one man show (Drew Carey).
If you have a job or school that gets out early, watch an hour of the Drew Carey show every week day from 3:00-4:00 P.M. on TBS..
It is a rare show that can stay funny and relevant any longer than that.Drew Carey got "show biz-itis" by maybe Season 5 or 6 anyways -- lost weight, changed his hair and look, got Lasik, etc.
Drew, Oswald, Lewis go from about age 35 to 45 and nothing ever changes.
Drew Carey is painted as a real life Dilbert (the cartoon) type except even less intelligent than the cartoon character.
The later shows have the best comedy timing. |
tt0043067 | Treasure Island | Young Jim Hawkins Jackie Cooper) and his mother (Dorothy Peterson) run the Admiral Benbow, a tavern near Bristol, England. One dark and stormy night, during a birthday celebration, the mysterious Billy Bones (Lionel Barrymore) arrives and drunkenly talks about treasure. Soon after, Bones is visited by Black Dog (Charles McNaughton) then Pew (William V. Mong), and drops dead, leaving a chest, which he bragged contained gold and jewels. Instead of money, Jim finds a map that his friend Dr. Livesey (Otto Kruger) realizes will lead them to the famous Flint treasure. Squire Trelawney (Nigel Bruce) raises money for a voyage to the treasure island and they set sail on Captain Alexander Smollett's (Lewis Stone) ship Hispaniola. Also on board is the one-legged Long John Silver (Wallace Beery) and his cronies. Even though Bones had warned Jim about a sailor with one leg, they become friends.
During the voyage, several fatal "accidents" happen to sailors who disapprove of Silver and his cohorts. Then, the night before landing on the island, Jim overhears Silver plotting to take the treasure and kill Smollett's men. Jim goes ashore with the men, and encounters an old hermit named Ben Gunn (Chic Sale), who tells him that he has found Flint's treasure. Meanwhile, Smollett (Lewis Stone) and his loyal men flee to Flint's stockade on the island for safety. Silver's men then attack the stockade when Smollett refuses to give them the treasure map. While the situation looks hopeless, Jim secretly goes back to the Hispaniola at night, sails it to a safe location and shoots one of the pirates in self-defense. When he returns to the stockade, Silver's men are there and Silver tells them that a treaty has been signed. The pirates want to kill Jim, but Silver protects him. Dr. Livesey comes for Jim, but the boy refuses to break his word to Silver not to run away. The next day the pirates search for the treasure hold and when they find it, it is empty. When some of the pirates mutiny against Silver, Livesey (Otto Kruger) and Gunn (Charles "Chic" Sale) join him in the fight. Smollett then sails home with the treasure, which Gunn had hidden in his cave, and with Silver as his prisoner. Unable to stand by and let his friend be hanged, Jim frees Silver. As he sails away, Silver promises to hunt treasure with Jim again some day, as Honest John Silver. | insanity, action, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt2380408 | Clear History | In 2003, bearded, long-haired Nathan Flomm (Larry David) is an opinionated, obnoxious business associate of Will Haney (Jon Hamm), whose company in San Jose, California is about to introduce a new electric car. Flomm objects to the car being named "the Howard" after Haney’s son, who is himself named after Howard Roark, hero of The Fountainhead. After Flomm accepts a severance package to cut ties with the company, he becomes a ridiculed public figure when the Howard is a huge success, costing Flomm what would have been his share — a billion dollars.
Ten years later, a balding, clean-shaven Flomm has changed his name to Rolly DaVore and moved to Martha's Vineyard, beginning a new life and making new acquaintances. They include a new best friend (Frank), a now former lover (Wendy), and a local building contractor (Mr. McKenzie).
Frank takes Flomm (a.k.a. Rolly) to a surprise birthday party where he punches Jaspar, the only African-American, after a loud welcome by Rolly's friends surprises him. Flomm ruins Jaspar's budding romance with Jennifer (Eva Mendes), a formerly heavy-set woman, when he advises her to date other men before settling. Jaspar concludes Flomm is a racist. When learning rock band Chicago is returning to the Vineyard for the first time in 20 years, Flomm hears a rumor that Wendy had sex with multiple members of the band after that concert. He is upset that everyone seems to know about this but him.
Haney, now a wealthy mogul, arrives on the island with wife Rhonda (Kate Hudson) and begins building an ostentatious mansion on the site of "Blue Heron," the former Stumpo family home. Flomm is relieved that Haney doesn't recognize him, but can't bear to remain on the island. However, inspired by the movie The Fountainhead, Flomm becomes determined to gain revenge for his lost billion dollars by blowing up Haney's mansion. Frank introduces him to explosives expert Joe Stumpo (Michael Keaton) and Stumpo's friend Rags (Bill Hader). He then persuades McKenzie, the construction foreman, to let him be part of the crew.
Stumpo needs a detonator. Flomm meets with Tibor, a Chechen criminal, and pays him $1,000. While driving away, Flomm has a fender-bender with Tibor's new car (a Howard). Tibor demands Flomm pay for the damage. Jaspar discovers Flomm's true identity and warns if Jennifer dates another man he will make Flomm's identity known. Jennifer takes up with Tibor. Flomm worms his way into a close friendship with Haney's wife Rhonda, pretending to know about architecture and engineering. Flomm lies to Tibor that Jennifer had performed oral sex on members of the band Chicago.
Flomm concludes from Rhonda's attentions that she is attracted to him, which will now be his revenge, rather than blowing up the Haneys' new house. During a heated argument over who should move their car, Flomm mistakes her passion and kisses her. Rhonda is repulsed, asking: "Are you crazy?"
Flomm proceeds with the plotted destruction of the house, to occur during Chicago's concert performance, when no one will be home. The band tells Flomm that two of them did indeed receive oral sex from Wendy on their previous visit. Jaspar becomes furious at seeing Jennifer with Tibor and informs the local newspaper of Rolly's true identity. Haney turns up at the concert and shocks Flomm by embracing him, saying he's been trying to locate him for years. He wants to pay Flomm the billion dollars, feeling guilty over their falling out. Flomm is elated, but now must stop Stumpo and Rags from destroying the mansion, which, it turns out, is being built for the benefit of sick and underprivileged children. Flomm arrives too late. The house explodes just as a bus filled with children arrives.
The three end up serving three years in prison. Bearded and shaggy-haired again after his release, Flomm returns to Martha's Vineyard, reunites with Frank and runs into Jennifer, who is overweight again. They decide to go on a date. Flomm, after a haircut and shave, is welcomed back by his poker buddies. One refers to Haney and Rhonda having gone back to California. Wendy has inherited millions of dollars from an elderly woman. The friends thank Flomm for destroying the ugly mansion. They say the Chicago concert was great and that everybody had a great time, including the band, as Flomm learns to his horror, Jennifer did perform fellatio on band members this time. | revenge | train | wikipedia | Clear History is like an extended episode of L.D.'s Curb Your Enthusiasm, it has the same spirit, the same jokes, but yet it works.
Clear History centers on Nathan Flomm (L.D.), a marketing executive, who works for and is also a partner with Will Haney (Jon Hamm); they're working on an idea of a revolutionary electric car, but when the name of the car becomes an issue for Nathan, they part their ways.
One day (after 10 years) a well known face shows up in town (Will Haney), and leaves Nathan no option but to plot revenge.Any "Curb Your Enthusiasm" fan won't be disappointed with what "Clear History" has to offers, and anybody else who watches the movie will enjoy it too, cuz the movie is funny, the jokes hit the mark, the story is simple (it's easy to follow it), the ensemble cast dances with L.D's tune and also the soundtrack (mostly supplied by Chicago's discography) make it a "Clear Triumph".
It's very much like an extended episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with the same sort of quirky observational humor and dependence on Larry's obsessions with the minutia of every day life.
Larry David (unrecognizable at first) plays an obnoxious man involved in a start up electric car company.
Jon Hamm plays the company's boss.Standouts in the cast include the always funny Eva Mendez, the not often seen enough Michael Keaton, and the surprisingly hilarious Liev Schreiber doing a Chechen character.
They are all so good in comedy.Attractive setting in Martha's Vineyard.Hope HBO starts making more excellent movie length comedies like this one..
Despite some funny moments & an ensemble to die for, this Larry David comedy doesn't really bring out the hilarity one might expect from it.'Clear History' Synopsis: A disgraced former marketing executive plots revenge against his former boss, who made billions from the electric car company they started.'Clear History' clearly lacks wit & top humour.
If you are a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan as I am, you will like this movie.
I absolutely love Larry David (hilarious) and Jon Hamm (a feast for your eyes) - and this was definitely an interesting match up.
It is nice to see Jon Hamm outside of Mad Men, and Larry David in movies.
I found the Larry David's character to be very "Curb Your Enthusiasm" - which I find real, honest, and relateable.
If you're looking for a light-hearted laugh fest (and you're a Larry David and Jon Hamm fan)...
Cast was really good, but this would have worked better as a movie version of "Curb." It just doesn't work when Larry plays his "Curb" character, which he clearly did in this movie, without the "Curb" treatment and texture.
If you like Seinfeld & Curb Your Enthusiasm you will love this movie.
Overall, if you like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm you will love this movie.
Not everyone is a raving fan of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The show is often like watching a root- canal procedure as Larry David's character plunges himself into one unnecessary, painfully embarrassing situation after another.
You can understand why people like Rolly, the name of the hard-luck case Larry David plays here.
The crush Rolly develops on Kate Hudson's character is also believable and funny, especially the way it (of course) comes crashing down around him.The cast is terrific.
I suppose you could say the show "Clear History" was an extended episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" , but without as many laughs , and you'd be right.
I enjoy "Curb" ' was a big Seinfeld fan , but to watch a Larry David joke go for over 90 minutes , or however long it went was a bit too much.
A fun & entertaining movie with the genius of Larry David.
I will be the first to admit that it shines with the humor of Larry David but I wish people would stop saying it is another episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm".
Of course the humor of Larry David runs from start to finish but that is what makes it entertaining.
Just like every Abbott & Costello movie ran true to their humor so does other projects by Larry David.
"Curb You Enthusiasm" is perhaps the best comedy television show ever made and running neck and neck wit Seinfeld which is also reflecting the genius of Larry David.
Nonetheless, you will get some good chuckles from "Clear History" and come away feeling quite content with both the story and the characters!.
Now, later today, I review Clear History, a terrific comedy of errors that relies completely on dialog and situations that work against its lead character in every possible way.
It's depressing, cruel, and undoubtedly self-deprecating, but you simply can't look away.I've said it several people and have published it many times, but I'll say it reiterate my point that Larry David's program Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is now on hiatus after eight seasons, is a work of television brilliance and quite possibly the funniest comedy ever to hit television.
I can't tell you after how many episodes of the show I argued with myself over what option in a specific situation was better.Clear History has been called the unofficial Curb Your Enthusiasm movie and that is a fair and accurate summation.
It possesses the same tone as the program, which is often self-deprecating and personal, it has some of the same actors, the same naturalistic way of filming, the beautiful Italian score, and the countless number of situations that do not work out in the lead characters' favor.
David stars as Nathan Flomm, a marketing agent for Electron Motors, a renowned car company, who decides to give up his ten-percent share in the company when the owner Will Haney (Jon Hamm) unleashes a new model car he does not agree with.
This allows for "Rolly" to hatch a plan, which is more asinine than anything he has ever come up with.The film works because it relies on its characters and, like Curb Your Enthusiasm, the idea that a character has to partake in something he doesn't want to and winds up being humiliated in every setup.
This irony, combined with David's familiar but instantly lovable character who has to make a comment about trivial things like shampooing once a week, the lack of eye-level outlets, how silverware can not be placed on a table that has just been wiped-down with a rag, and how there can't be a "tat" when there was no "tit" is precisely why the film is so engaging and entertaining.
These ridiculous setups provide for hilarity and nonstop fun, which is what the film is all around.Fueled by a tremendous cast featuring comedy greats such as Danny McBride, Bill Hader, and Curb's underrated but quick-witted J.B. Smoove, this is as close-to-home as an unrelated film on the series you could get.
I was heartbroken at the fact that season nine of Curb Your Enthusiasm was not even in Larry David's sight, but the fact that we got a genuinely entertaining, uproariously funny film in place of the season is more than enough.
This is one of the funniest comedies - and possibly one of the strongest films - of the year.NOTE: Clear History will air throughout the remainder of August and September on HBO.Starring: Larry David, Bill Hader, Philip Baker Hall, Jon Hamm, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton, Danny McBride, Eva Mendes, Amy Ryan, and J.B. Smoove.
If Larry David wanted to make something EXACTLY like Curb Your Enthusiasm, why not just make another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm?
I was initially upset when I heard that Larry David was going to skip another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm to do a made-for-TV move.
David's decision to take himself and much of his cast out of the familiar Curb Your Enthusiasm environment, and place them into a parody of one of Ayn Rand's best known and most controversial novels, was an excellent one.The casting of this movie is terrific, and each member of the cast has moments of brilliance.
For example, check out Kate Hudson's reaction when Larry David kisses her, or Michael Keaton's just-a-slight-hint-of-Beetlejuice performance as a mad bomber.
I'm no actor, but it looks like it takes a special talent to ad lib, particularly through a Larry David comedy.
And David has assembled an exceptionally talented group of actors who can roll with his punches and make it look easy and fun to watch.Most of the Ayn Rand parodies I've seen have been ham-fisted and humorless, but Clear History's parody is light, intelligent and entertaining.
Oh, come on: I know Ayn Rand wouldn't approve, but...it's funny!) Whether Larry David's develops season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, another made-for-TV movie, or some other project, I'll be eagerly awaiting his next move..
Larry David is back basically playing his character from Curb Your Enthusiam in a new HBO movie.
What he doesn't know is that Will has good intentions.As in Curb, Rolly complains about the simplest of things and JB Smoove is back with Larry.
The PR manager Nathan Flomm (Larry David) refuses to market the car due to the name and sells back his 10% of the company.
Will shows up having bought a large property but he doesn't recognize Nathan.I don't watch Curb although I know Larry David's character.
Kate Hudson is delightful as an upper-class wife not immune to the simpler charms of life on Martha's Vineyard as lived by the year-round residents who make up the bulk of the film's cast of characters.
Those claimming it is an extended "CYE" episode are very wrong in my opinion because whereas "Curb" is absolutely hilarious and guffaw inducing this movie is very much devoid of big laughs.
If you need to watch a better feature film with LD, check out "Whatever Works" directed by Woody Allen.
A lot of people may or will feel like the movie is an extension of another 'Curb Your Enthusiasm.' But with so many more amazing actors & actresses added into the mix and the talent level of all of them along with the the myth himself, Larry the Legend.
And people were doing good parts with their given roles and characters, just a shame that Michael Keaton and Bill Hader weren't given more time on the screen, because their characters really had potential for something funny.While "Clear History" isn't the kind of comedy that will have you laying flat from laughing, then the comedy and humor in the movie was well placed and worked out nicely.
Even so, "Clear History" is a very funny movie.
Basically, Larry David is no great comedian, but he can be funny when he tries.
Yes it is worth watching, but it is basically the same thing as a Curb Your Enthusiasm episode.
If that sounds good to you, then watch it.Danny McBride and Larry David was promising.
This movie did have some funny parts, and good old Larry David is always funny.
But, this movie doesn't deserve a 10 because, just like in Curb, things go a little TOO wrong for Larry.
I really wish Larry David would be in more stories where he can be funny throughout those backfiring moments, but still find some happiness somewhere.
I'm still optimistic that Larry David could deliver one way or another, but the more I watch him perform in anything, the less I expect.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against Jewish-American comedy, because I'm sure some who reads this may think that since I'm mentioning Seinfeld in one sentence with Larry David, is because they're both Jewish-American.
Disappointing, considering how much comedic talent (Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Jon Hamm) and famous people (Michael Keaton, Amy Ryan, Eva Mendes, Kate Hudson) are in this.
Like a longer episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
I do watch Curb Your Enthusiasm and think it's a funny but crazy show.
If I had done that I might have understood that this is a movie very much featuring Larry Davids mind and ideas.
It is like a long episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with a similar kind of plot.
Just like Larry in Curb Your Enthusiasm.
It is a funny movie but I think some may think it's a bit too much like Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Although he plays an different character, Larry David isn't an actor.
The actors are a mixture of old people who seem like David's real life buddies from his favorite lunchroom and a group of Hollywood's elite like Kate Hudson, Eva Mendes, Jon Hamm, Bill Hader and the always brilliant Philip Baker Hall.
Larry David does what he does best and Constanza style he executes his petty revenge on Jon Hamm.
If Larry David would write an actual movie plot in stead of an TV episode he could be the next Woody Allen..
I looked forward to this movie having watched every episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm and never laughed more.
What a let down, he should have played it as a different character because what makes Larry David funny in CYE is that he is comfortable in the world of wealth and leisure where things annoy him.
This is not a half-hour episode of quick jokes in an imagined environment whose history we well know, such as Curb or Seinfeld....this is a full length movie and the non- sequiturs start to add up very quickly.
Nothing grates like seeing real movie stars giving performances worthy of bad community theater often too serious and too "funny" at the same time.
I am a huge fan of curb your enthusiasm, and have seen all the seasons and episodes, and also Larry David's Sour Grapes which was decent.
This was an attempt of Larry applying the same kind of humor and jokes we see in Curb, to a full length movie, but like others said, the Characters are completely wooden and you could care less what happened to them.
As much as I admire Curb Your Enthusiasm, Clear History is funnier.
For one thing, it moves like lighting, with a season's worth of Curb's big moments, one after the other and all part of a logical plot.
Instead of loose improv, each is a tight comedic scene with sharp dialog (by David, Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer, his old Seinfeld brain trust) delivered by a stellar supporting cast: Jon Hamm, Kate Hudson, Danny McBride, J.B. Smoove, Eva Mendes, Philip Baker Hall, an unrecognizable Michael Keaton as Joe Stumpo, an unbilled Liev Schreiber as a scary Chechen...and an unfortunately underutilized Bill Hader.One classic line comes when Larry's Nathan Flomm tries to undo his rash resignation, arguing that the act of apology is sufficient and whether he really means it is irrelevant.
It makes as much sense as the meta-Larry on Curb having friends.The writing is fiendishly clever; what seem like simple jokes turn out to reveal character and propel the plot: I laughed out loud when The Fountainhead came Rolly's TV halfway through - inspiring Rolly's revenge plot.
It looked like Jon Hamm's naming both his kid and his car after Howard Roark was finally going to bite him in the ass.
A few twists later, we learn Hamm's character has repented his Ayn Rand ways and David's Nathan/Rolly is undone by his own pride -- Clear History is like the farce version of Breaking Bad. But the Fountainhead scene was when I decided this film is Larry David's The Bank Dick.The fight on the road with Kate Hudson, building to a perfect reversal of expectations - and then the most hilariously mean use of a motorcycle accident in any comedy - suffice it to say, I found this the funniest movie of 2013, even though it wasn't in a theater..
Didn't do them justice at all.Clear History was a 50/50 for me as I like watching Larry David because only he can bring a perspective to a character that you can 'get' every now and then, even if his character makes stupid decisions or makes stupid moves.
Nathan (Larry David) works for Electron Motors, an up and coming electric car company.
On screen, Larry David's luck sucks, this is clear.
In "Curb," as many fans call it (myself being one of them), Larry David plays himself.
That is what I thought, at least, until I saw Clear History where David, again, plays a person much like himself who has a knack to get stuck in unfortunate events.Clear History is a story of a disgraced former marketing guru, Nathan, (David) who plots to get revenge on his boss, Will (Jon Hamm).
Will does not recognize Nathan because he is no longer bearded (like above) but looks like classic Larry David.
No one really liked the monstrosity of a house Will had built.Overall, Clear History is worth a watch.
If you have seen any of Curb Your Enthusiam, you know David's character in this film.
How does Larry David come up with this (add Michael Keaton ) expletive here.
Clear History is by far Kate Hudson 's best role ever, Larry David nailed her character on the head.
I love "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and I'm a little disappointed we may never see another season...however, the geniuses behind that series brings us the HBO movie "Clear History." While it's possible it could annoy some viewers as the film very much has the feel of "Curb" and--actually, let's just be honest here, the movie is just a long episode of the show as it even includes the same music and the same humor style; the only thing it lacks is the actors aren't playing characterized versions of themselves.
Actors like Jon Hamm, Michael Keaton, Bill Hader and Danny McBride are all here and do a great job but ultimately left me wanting more and filled me with a desire to see them make more funny moments."Clear History" isn't blasting into new territory of comedy like "Curb" did when it first started but, despite its problems, I still really enjoyed it and found it amusing. |
tt2640962 | Brainwashed | Chess world champion Centowic wants to travel by ship to an important chess tournament. The ship, however, starts behind schedule, because a mysterious and obviously anxious passenger, who is on his way to the port with Bishop Ambrosse, is expected.
During the trip, passengers ask grumpy Centowic to play a chess game, which he reluctantly agrees to. Centowic's opponents are about to lose the match. However, the mysterious passenger, who accidentally joins the scene, intervenes and helps them to turn the match into a draw. Centowic is amazed to not have ever seen the stranger, who, as he says, has just had his first chess piece in his hands, at any important tournament.
A flashback tells the stranger's story: He is Werner von Basil, an Austrian lawyer. Together with Bishop Ambrosse, he hides art treasures abroad in order to protect them from the national socialists who had just occupied Austria. Von Basil doesn't take the bishop's warnings about the threat for him too seriously. On a party given by von Basil, the newly inaugurated Gestapo man, Hans Berger engages ballet dancer Irene Andreny, who is his girlfriend, to learn from von Basil where the art treasures are. When she is unsuccessful, Berger has von Basil arrested the same evening. In order to break von Basil's will, Berger puts him into solitary confinement. Von Basil has all his personal belongings taken from him; the only variety in his every-day routine is the guardian who provides him with food.
Berger is pressured not only by Irene, who feels neglected, but also by his superior Hartmann, as von Basil keeps the hiding-place of the art treasures a secret even after six weeks of isolation. As von Basil pretends to be cooperative and is brought to a questioning, he succeeds in stealing a book from a coat pocket. In the questioning, von Basil drops Berger in it and feels the sympathy the present Irene feels for him. Back again in his room, von Basil is disappointed to learn that the book he has stolen just deals with chess matches. Due to a lack of alternatives, von Basil reads it and uses pieces of bread as chess pieces to re-enact the chess matches described in the book. Even as Berger discovers his secret and deprives him of the book, von Basil plays chess against himself in his mind.
After asking bishop Ambrosse for help, Irene begs Berger to release von Basil but is insulted by Berger. As von Basil suffers from a nervous breakdown but still refuses to reveal his secrets, Hartmann now tries on his own to break von Basil's will.
As von Basil plays yet another match against Centowic, he furiously attacks Centowic, as he wants to learn form Centowic how much information he gave away during his solitary confinement. Irene joins the scene and is able to assure von Basil that he revealed none of his secrets. Irene was spared harassment; Berger was no longer of use for his superiors. Von Basil and Irene fall in love with each other. | brainwashing | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0036260 | Phantom Lady | After a fight with his wife on their anniversary, Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis), a 32-year-old engineer, picks up an equally unhappy woman in a bar and they take a taxi to see a show. The woman refuses to tell him anything about herself. The star of the show, Estela Monteiro (Aurora Miranda), becomes furious when she notices that both she and the mystery woman are wearing the same unusual hat. When Henderson returns home, he finds Police Inspector Burgess (Thomas Gomez) and two of his men waiting to question him; his wife has been strangled with one of his neckties. Henderson has a solid alibi, but the bartender, taxi driver and Monteiro deny seeing the phantom lady. Henderson cannot even clearly describe the woman. He is tried and sentenced to death.
Carol Richman (Ella Raines), a loyal secretary secretly in love with her boss, sets out to exonerate him. She starts with the bartender. She sits in the bar night after night, staring at and unnerving him. Finally, she follows him home one night. When he confronts her on the street, some bystanders step in to restrain him. He breaks free, runs into the street and is run over. Later, Burgess offers to help (unofficially); he has become convinced that only a fool or an innocent man would have stuck to such a weak alibi. Burgess provides her with information about the drummer at the show, Cliff (Elisha Cook, Jr.), who had tried to make eye contact with the mystery lady. Richman dresses gaudily and goes to the show. Rhythmic inter-cutting between Cliff's frantic drumming (dubbed by Gene Krupa or possibly Dave Coleman as per IMDb) and the leering responses of Richman leads to them going back to his apartment. Somewhat drunk, he brags that he was paid $500 for his false testimony. However, he becomes suspicious and finds a piece of paper with details about him. Richman manages to escape, leaving her purse behind. After she has gone, the real murderer, Henderson's best friend Jack Marlow (Franchot Tone), shows up at the apartment and strangles Cliff.
Marlow, supposedly away on a job in South America, pretends to return to help Richman. She tracks down Monteiro's hatmaker, Kettisha (Doris Lloyd). One of her employees admits to copying the hat for a regular customer and provides her name and address. With Burgess away on another case, Richman and Marlow go to see Ann Terry (Fay Helm). They discover her under the care of Dr. Chase (Virginia Brissac); the man she was to marry had died suddenly, leaving her emotionally devastated. Richman is unable to get any information from her, but does find the hat. Marlow suggests they wait for Burgess at Marlow's apartment. However, while she is freshening up, Richman finds her purse and the paper with Cliff's particulars in a dresser drawer. Marlow admits he became enraged when Henderson's wife refused to run away with him; she was only toying with him. Fortunately for Richman, Burgess arrives just in time. Marlow throws himself out the window to his death. With Henderson freed, things appear to return to normal. However, Richman is delighted to learn (from a dictaphone message) that her boss returns her love. | insanity, murder | train | wikipedia | A man can't prove his whereabouts when his wife is murdered and can only describe his alibi as an unknown woman wearing a rather distinctive hat The story follows the hero's secretary and a sympathetic policeman as they try to prove his innocence.
Robert Siodmak does a fabulous job with this B noir starring Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, and Alan Curtis.
It's this scene that brings "Phantom Lady" into new territory.Siodmak's commitment to the material is matched only by Raines, who gives a sincere performance as a woman in love trying to save her man.
It was a real explicit invitation, first to the "phantom woman" of the story, Fay Helm; afterward, Cliff the drummer, insinuates himself very openly to Ella Raines who goes to the theater disguised as the mystery dame her boss had taken originally.This is a film that will hook any viewer from the beginning.
Director Robert Siodmak saved the film by giving visual distinction to a poor script.His training in the German Expressionist style makes for very striking images thoughout despite the low budget: dramatic contrasts between light and dark with simple, strong lighting effects never fail to provide interest and tension.
And the set of sculptor Franchot Tone's apartment complete with furniture and busts would be the envy of many a Soho or Tribeca resident in 2004.In the lead, Ella Raines looks rather like a poor man's Gene Tierney.
I wonder what the set was like while filming this.The movie's a tight little thriller, helmed by noir master Robert Siodmak.
The immediate opening scenes are fine, showing an innocent man, "Scott Henderson" (Alan Curtis) being charged and found guilty of a murder he didn't commit....but then almost nothing happens for the next 20 minutes.Then comes the good part when Henderson's secretary "Carol 'Kansas' Richmond" (Ella Raines) gets involved, taking it upon herself to find the missing woman who could prove that her boss was innocent.
The most interesting character, "Cliff," was played by film noir regular Elisha Cook Jr. He has one scene in which he takes Raines to a local warehouse-type room where his jazz band is practicing.
Only his faithful secretary Carol Richman (Ella Raines) aka Kansas believes in his innocence as she doggedly pursues witnesses to come clean.Phantom Lady is a triumph of form over content.
A supporting cast of cynical cops and callous witnesses, especially Elisha Cooke Jr. as a real gone drummer also provides Phantom Lady with an ideal demographic of the noir world and with Siodmak at the helm you could not have a better guide..
This noir may not be the best remembered film from the era, but it features a great mystery plot, the common noir atmosphere and some good performances from its lesser known cast members.
Thus, it was hard for me to totally embrace this movie after watching the scene in which the husband (Alan Curtis) comes home to his darkened apartment and calls out for his wife, wondering where she is,unaware that detectives were there waiting for him.
He's sentenced to die and his secretary (Ella Raines) sets out to find the murderer herself because she loves him.This was made as a B film from Universal (look at the cast--all character actors and one star--Franchot Tone--on the decline).
So we are faced with that favourite plot element of many such films, the need to find the mysterious woman who is the only person who can prove his alibi and prevent him being wrongly executed for the murder of his wife.
Scott is arrested and convicted of murder, the whole time sticking to his story of the mystery woman with no name with the large funny hat neither of which anybody seems to remember.At this point I thought I was going to be watching a poor man's Hitchcock - that Scott would escape somehow and hunt down whoever it was that framed him and/or the mystery woman, always with the cops just one step behind him.
He reasons only an innocent man who was telling the truth would stick to such a crazy alibi.Carol has some success in tracking down leads and even confessions of bribery and hush money, and she does so by playing psychological games with or setting herself up as easy-woman eye candy for some pretty rough characters - she really does seem to be from Kansas by taking chances like these.
A good example is the incredible scene where Elisha Cook Jr. drums up the sexual overtones for Ella Raines.Since our psychotic mastermind is revealed early on, there is no who-done-it mystery to distract the audience.
A film noir absolutely dripping in atmosphere, "Phantom Lady" stars a fetching Ella Raines as a woman determined to track down a mysterious witness who can provide the alibi that will save her boss from prison.
"Phantom Lady" is a good little thriller and as several people have pointed out, Elisha Cook, Jr.'s erotic drum solo was way ahead of its time.
It's a good film with some great scenes but although Elisha Cook Jr has a memorable role, I just never like him in anything that I see him in....
Alan Curtis has a loud, violent sounding argument with his wife, slams out of his apartment, has a night of drinking with a mysterious lady with a large hat in a bar (run by Andrew Tombes, in a nice villainous part for a change), and returns to find his wife dead and the police, led by Thomas Gomez waiting for him.
Robert Siodmak's masterpiece and one of the greatest, and least known, of all film-noirs "Phantom Lady", adapted by Bernard C Schoenfeld from a Cornell Woolrich novel, published as William Irish, and stunningly shot in black and white by Elwood Bredell, even manages to overcome the one-dimensional performances of Alan Curtis and Ella Raines as Siodmak wastes absolutely no time in gettng down to basics.
His alibi is that he met a mysterious woman in a bar and spent the evening with her but when he tries to track her down she has not only disappeared but no-one else remembers seeing her and it's left to his secretary, (Raines) to prove his innocence.The plot doesn't really stand close scrutiny but Siodmak handles it with tremendous brio with several scenes worthy of Hitchcock at his best.
Ella Raines makes a good performance, and so does Thomas Gomez as the police inspector, while Franchot Tone is terrible.
Like she was a Phantom Lady.Even after the conviction Raines is determined to find this woman and she even has an ally in police detective Thomas Gomez who has never felt right about the case.There's not much suspense and there sure is no mystery here because it isn't hard to figure out and the murderer is identified with 60% of the film done.
The suspense is whether Raines can put it together and realize the danger she's walking into.Besides those already mentioned look for good performances from Elisha Cook, Jr. as a hop head drummer, Aurora Miranda, Carmen's sister playing a Carmen Miranda like entertainer.
PHANTOM LADY is an overpraised thriller penned by Cornel Woolrich (under the name Robert Irish here), full of film noir touches that make it a classic of German expressionism, as directed by Robert Siodmak.
contributing his most over-the-top portrayal of a psychotic drummer and FRANCHOT TONE having a grand melodramatic time depicting a man whose criminal conscience gives him plenty of headaches.ELLA RAINES is pretty as a picture in her role as the persistent secretary of engineer ALAN CURTIS, who is intent on solving the crime he is accused of--namely, killing his wife.
And AURORA MIRANDA plays the musical star diva with comic but overdone zest.However, what's so admirable about the film is its use of noir touches throughout--the low-lit scenes, the shadowy menace, the rainswept streets, the interesting camera angles--all of which can be attributed to director Siodmak's hand behind the camera.But as a Cornel Woolrich story, it falls short in many ways.As a film noir favorite, it scores largely because of the excellent B&W photography which helps disguise the low-budget aspect of most of the sets..
Film noir directed by Robert Siodmak from a story by Cornell Woolrich about a woman (Ella Raines) trying to clear the name of her boss (Alan Curtis), who is accused of murdering his wife.
Franchot Tone, Thomas Gomez, Regis Toomey, and Elisha Cook, Jr. are all good.It's a film with a lot of nice little almost Hitchcockian touches, such as the woman coughing at the trial as the verdict is read or the darkly comic fate of a frightened bartender.
Thomas Gomez also makes an Impression as a Concerned Police Detective.Aside from Alan Curtis, the Cast Helps Siodmak make this a Creepy, Unsettling, and "Artsy" Thriller that is Considered Top Film-Noir.
It stars Ella Raines, Franchot Tone, Alan Curtis, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cook Jr and Fay Helm.
I rated this film 7/10 which is an average of 8/10 for screenplay, direction and 1944 production values and 6/10 for acting.My acting rating in turn was calculated at 4/10 for all the screen characters except for that played by heroine Ella Raines as Carol Richman who was excellent at 8/10.Also I commend Thomas Gomez as Inspector Burgess whose character convinces that he personally does not think the guilty verdict on Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) was just in view of his naive alibi.These two then form an alliance to prove Scott's alibi.I have this film on a "Suevia Film Noir Cine Negro" DVD in Spanish as "La Dama Desconocida" with the original soundtrack "Ingles" as an alternative language, since despite searching I could not find a wholly English version.I was however anxious to see another performance by Ella Raines after being impressed with her performance as a heroine in "Impact" playing a sole female garage proprietor.Here Ella performs another heroic role believing in the innocence of her engineer boss and refuses several suggestions that she should return to her home in Kansas (her boss's pet name for her) before solving the missing alibi.The fact that she is secretly in love with her boss is a little hard to believe since he formally just seemed to have had a formal business relationship with her.He had however designed children's homes and playgrounds so I suppose "family man" had lit up in Carol's brain.In the 1940s with "the film code" in operation, producers could only portray sex through metaphors and here it is done in the form of furious drumming played by Elisha Cooke jnr.Carol dolls herself up as a girl of easy virtue in an attempt to lure the drummer into giving her information about "The Phantom Lady" alibi.The other main character, Jack Marlow (an associate of Scott Henderson) is played by Franchot Tone whose performance I found too theatrical and wondered why Carol, for instance, did not notice him constantly and strangely admiring his hands.Here the screenplay should have been improved and provided more suspense as these theatrical moves telegraphed the plot far too early to the audience..
A bizarre and brilliant combination of talents between the director, Robert Siodmak and Ella Raines as a secretary trying to save her boss from the electric chair by tracking down a mysterious "phantom" woman, and Franchot Tone as a crazed and murderous sculptor.
The female lead Ella Raines, who would later feature in BRUTE FORCE (1947) as well as Siodmak's own THE SUSPECT (1944) and THE STRANGE AFFAIR OF UNCLE HARRY (1945) is quite lovely and capably takes on the role of the distraught secretary out to prove her convicted boss (Alan Baxter) innocent of his wife's brutal murder.
the genre's quintessential fall guy as an ill-fated "ladies' man" of a percussionist.Like BRUTE FORCE's Jules Dassin, Siodmak was on a noir roll at this point in his career and this film definitely benefits from his superb direction all tilted angles and terrific set-pieces, including the justly celebrated jazz sequence in which Cook manically beats on his drums in a sexual frenzy brought on by the sluttishly-attired Raines (who is putting on an act to get his attention and eventually drive him to confess that he withheld evidence at the inquest which could spring her resigned lover from jail).
The suspenseful climax finds Raines alone with Tone in his apartment, where she discovers evidence of his guilt and he confesses to having had an affair with Baxter's wife, but killed her when she wouldn't desert her husband for him.By the way, I hit upon a little goof in the film: while the story is clearly set in 1943, I noticed that during the taxi cab ride towards the beginning of the film in which Alan Curtis escorts the titular lady to the theater the establishing shot of New York (comprising clearly of stock footage) features a marquee promoting Laurel and Hardy's 1938 musical comedy, SWISS MISS!
By definition film noir is a shadowy mystery/crime story and yes,there is a interesting story here - man is accused of murder and the only person who can prove that he was indeed spending that evening with her is mysterious lady in a fashionable hat, who disappears not to be seen anymore.
This tale of murder, bribery and betrayal features some extraordinary scenes and the action (which is set in New York City) takes place in locations which often look dark and threatening.After having quarrelled with his wife on the evening of their wedding anniversary, despondent civil engineer Scott Henderson (Alan Curtis) consoles himself with a drink at a local bar and starts to reflect on the fact that he has a couple of tickets for a Broadway show.
To her surprise, Police Inspector Burgess (Thomas Gomez) who'd been involved in Scott's case also comes to the conclusion that Scott is innocent and unofficially assists with her investigation.Carol subsequently discovers that the orchestra drummer at the theatre had been bribed to say that no-one was with Scott on the night of the murder and when she eventually discovers the identity of Scott's mysterious woman it unfortunately doesn't provide the simple solution to the case that she'd hoped for or expected.Ella Raines' performance is astonishingly good because of the way that she changes her demeanour so successfully in a variety of different situations.
All that is required from the viewer is the ability to get beyond the dreadfully slow beginning.The film doesn't get cooking until 'Kansas' (Ella Raines) sets about trying to prove all but single handedly the innocence of her boss, Scott Anderson (Alan Curtis), who has been convicted of murder.
I'm not sure if this splintered dynamic of a characterless leading man becomes the fault of the actor or the director, but clearly this is where something becomes terribly wrong with the film.As interesting as Raines is as a novice detective, things really accelerate into another hidden gear when 'Kansas' pays a late night visit to a wandering drummer (Elisha Cook, Jr.) in search of some information to help her condemned boss.
Director Robert Siodmak created a fine, atmospheric mood, drawing liberally on the expressionistic roots of his native Germany, whilst the cast comprised some of the names familiar to buffs of forties movies, Andrew Tombes, Thomas Gomez, Elisha Cooke, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis and top-billed Franchot Tone, cast against type.
Now he's on death row for murder, and his devoted secretary (Ella Raines) must do everything she can to find this missing woman, revealed to the audience to be much troubled in the scene, agreeing to go with the accused man (Alan Curtis) on the premise that they don't exchange names, only a night at the theater.
Curtis's chum (Franchot Tone) shows up to give Raines support and seems to know more than he's admitting.This was 1944, and film noir exploded on cinema after a few minor tries.
"Phantom Lady" has some of the greatest elements of noir through its mystery, vision of night life in a big city, and characters that can definitely be described as unconventional.Take for example Rains as the secretary.
Not so much because it's a masterpiece of film making, though directed by Curt Siodmak (the credits on IMDb.com read "Robert" but the DVD credits list Curt), or because it has a couple of familiar figures from other murder mysteries -- Elisha Cook, Jr., and Thomas Gomez -- but because my decade-long curiosity about the movie has finally been satisfied.Essentially, a respected but self-contained engineer (Alan Curtis) has been stood up by his estranged wife and finds himself in a New York bar with two show tickets in his pocket.
Stars Ella Raines as Carol "Kansas" Richman, Franchot Tone as Jack Marlow and Alan Curtis as the leading man Scott Henderson.
Siodmak is a master storyteller who earned an Oscar nomination for The Killers in 1946.Although on the surface you would assume Phantom Lady to be a man in peril film, it actually works as a woman in danger because Carol "Kansas" puts herself in harms way in order to help her boss, whom she's in love with.
I was really looking forward to seeing this movie after reading all the positive reviews- have seen most film noirs and they are a favourite genre of mine- however fairly disappointed after watching this one- we are expected to believe that Franchot Tone's character, Jack Marlowe, murdered his best friends wife at 8 o'clock in the evening- hopped on the ship that was taking him down to South America within half an hour, got off without anyone seeing him- managed to locate Alan Curtis' character, Scott in a New York bar- follow him all evening with the lady he just happens to meet- then bribe all the people who saw this woman with $500 each to say they had never seen her!
pluses for the movie are the lovely Ella Raines as Scott's faithful assistant and the dark New York jazz bar nightlife which creates a great film noir feel- shame the story is a little bit of a letdown. |
tt0082474 | The Great Muppet Caper | The film begins with Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo the Great commenting on the opening credits from a hot-air balloon and introducing the premise of the movie to the audience. Throughout the film, the characters frequently break the fourth wall, discussing (for example) each other's acting choices and singing ability in the middle of a scene.
Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo play investigative reporters for the Daily Chronicle. Kermit and Fozzie, specifically, play identical twin reporters, which becomes the source of a running gag—supposedly, nobody can tell they are twins unless Fozzie removes his hat. After the trio fail to report on a major jewel robbery, they ask their editor to allow them to travel to London to investigate the robbery and interview the victim, prominent fashion designer Lady Holiday.
With only $12 for the trip, they are forced to travel in an aeroplane's baggage hold and are thrown out of the plane as it passes over Britain. They stay at the dilapidated (but free) Happiness Hotel, which is populated by other Muppet characters such as Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, Sam Eagle, the Swedish Chef, and Rizzo the Rat. When Kermit seeks out Lady Holiday in her office, however, he instead finds her newly-hired receptionist, the alluring Miss Piggy, and mistakes her for the fashion designer. Piggy poses as Lady Holliday, and asks Kermit out for dinner; to keep up the pose, she allows Kermit to assume she lives at a "highbrow" address. She sneaks into a townhouse at 17 Highbrow Street to wait for him, much to the surprise of the actual upper-class British residents, and they go to dinner at a nightclub.
At the nightclub, Lady Holiday's necklace is stolen by her jealous brother Nicky and his accomplices Carla, Marla, and Darla, three of her put-upon fashion models, the very same thieves who robbed her before. After the robbery, Miss Piggy's charade is revealed and she flees, leaving Kermit behind, though they later reconcile in a park. Despite Nicky's instant attraction to Miss Piggy, they frame her for the theft and plan to steal an even more valuable prize: Lady Holliday's largest and most valuable jewel, the fabulous Baseball Diamond, now on display at the local Mallory Gallery. Gonzo overhears their plot; and Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and the other Muppets decide to intercept the thieves and catch them red-handed to exonerate Miss Piggy.
The Muppets sneak into the Mallory Gallery, and get to the Baseball Diamond at the same time as the thieves. They try to keep the diamond out of the theives' hands via a game of keep away, which turns into baseball, but Nicky eventually catches the diamond and takes Kermit hostage. However, in the meantime, Piggy has escaped from prison, and she races to the Mallory Gallery, crashing through the window on a motorcycle that serendipitously fell off a truck in front of her. She knocks Nicky out and dispatches Carla, Marla and Darla with a flurry of furious karate chops. As the police arrive, all charges against Piggy are dropped, Nicky and his fashion model-accomplices are arrested, and the Muppets get their deserved credit for foiling the heist.
The Muppets then return to the United States the same way they departed, being thrown out of the cargo hold and parachuting back to the USA, over the end credits. | entertaining | train | wikipedia | A great improvement over the earlier MUPPET MOVIE, which seemed more like a faltering first step into feature film techniques; this has a strong plot, bright characters and keen timing.
It also has great support from the comic greatness of John Cleese, Joan Sanderson, Jack Warden, Robert Morley and Peter Falk.Diana Rigg and Charles Grodin (in his best movie) manage to hold the central human characters together, up against the bright lunacy of the Muppets.
The Muppets Take Big Ben. Anglophile that I am, I love "The Great Muppet Caper," and think I might like it even more than the original "Muppet Movie." The gang find themselves foiling the plot of a group of crack diamond thieves led by Charles Grodin, and it's a hoot to watch the slick, professional thieves' preparations and actions juxtaposed to the loud, crude antics of the Muppets.
There's a pretty funny musical number that finds Miss Piggy ripping off Esther Williams, and another lovely song performed while the entire group goes bike riding.
The Muppets are in England and get involved with Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg), her brother (Charles Grodin) and jewel robberies.
Otherwise, Jim Henson as director keeps things entertaining throughout especially when he has Miss Piggy do her tribute to Esther Williams and when he has the whole Muppet gang on bikes which was impressive enough in the last movie when only Kermit was doing it.
Once again, such human celebrities like Diana Rigg and Charles Grodin add their own touches to the proceedings not to mention cameos by such luminaries like Peter Falk, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov, and especially John Clesse their own sense of humor.
We have some humorous self-references and Gonzo being reckless, and then as we get into the film we have dubious claims Kermit and Fozzie are identical twins, and much fun over how bad the Happiness Hotel is.
There's plenty of great gags, horribly awesome puns, the cool flavor of the 'Jewel of the North Atlantic', and a few cameos (John Cleese and Peter Ustinov notably) surrounded by the nut-house that is the muppet world make this a near must see.
"The Great Muppet Caper" had a fantastic start, as Kermit, Fozzie and Gonzo fly about in a hot air balloon.
Much of this is because I wanted to see Muppets--not Charles Grodin, Diana Rigg and other human actors as well as some uninteresting plot about jewel thieves.
My favourite Muppet and the the best aspect of the film, or for me anyway, was the always wonderful Miss Piggy, who delighted in every scene she was in.
In order to foil him and his accomplices (all models), Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo must rely on the permanent residents of the extremely dilapidated Happiness Hotel.As a lifetime fan of the Muppets, this viewer will admit that the movie does go on a bit long, and contains a few too many musical numbers.
Even in 2018, an age when so many things are rendered digitally, the effects magic that makes the Muppets appear to ride bicycles is impressive.The movie gets off to a great start, with Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo riding a hot air balloon while the opening credits play out.
Kermit tells the worried Fozzie that they'll be over in a few minutes.Many of the Muppet characters get a brief hysterical moment of their own, including some of this viewers' own favourites, like the Swedish Chef, Animal, Statler and Waldorf, and Rowlf.Adding value to the shenanigans are a couple of cameo appearances: Jack Warden, Robert Morley, John Cleese, Peter Falk, and especially Peter Ustinov, who's one of the recipients of Miss Piggy's classic "Hi-YAAAAAH!" routine.
Kermit mistakes Miss Piggy for the real Lady Holiday.I love the Muppets and they know enough to highlight the stars.
The Great Muppet Caper is a fantastic movie for the whole family to watch,with some of the most loved characters in history.It was one of the films I had in my DVD collection (and still do),and you to watch constantly,I was looking through my DVDs and found this,so I decided to watch it.It brought back some great memories,and since I'm older there where plenty of jokes I didn't get the first time around,thats how great The Muppets are,they make it funny for the whole family.Also there stuff I didn't realize,like John Cleeses hilarious cameo appearance which reminded of his character Basil from Fawlty Towers.Two twins,Kermit The Frog and Fozzie Bear,are trying to make it as new reporters with there photographer Gonzo.They head to England and stay at Happiness Hotel along with several other Muppets,and catch a scandal along with Miss Piggy that a gang have planned to steal jewels from a wealthy lady.The Muppets try to stop it and get a good story out of it..
Not as good as the film that started the Muppet movie franchise, but still a fun family comedy.
All the films in the original Muppet movie trilogy, done with their late creator, Jim Henson, were made before I was born, but I first started listening to the soundtracks of the first two, "The Muppet Movie" and "The Great Muppet Caper", around the mid-nineties, and it wasn't long before I saw both films for the first time.
I now think the first one, from 1979, is the stronger of the two (I think most Muppets fans would agree), but this 1981 follow-up is still an impressive family movie.Kermit and Fozzie are reporters for the Daily Chronicle, and Gonzo is their photographer.
None of the songs can match "Rainbow Connection" and certain other memorable ones from "The Muppet Movie", and two of the songs here, "The First Time It Happens" and "Miss Piggy's Fantasy", make for two fairly lacklustre and tedious sequences.
The plot also works well for a lighthearted family movie like this.Jim Henson's Muppets made an excellent silver screen debut in 1979, in a film that's still widely admired after just over thirty years.
However, overall, "The Great Muppet Caper" is a very good family comedy adventure, and is still much better than "Muppets from Space", the last theatrical movie featuring the famous puppet characters, released in 1999.
The second theatrical outing of the popular "Muppet Show" TV characters relocates the action to London, as reporters Kermit The Frog and Fozzie Bear and photographer Gonzo are reluctantly sent by their editor Jack Warden to investigate the robbery of a famous jeweled necklace worn by unsympathetic fashion queen Diana Rigg.
However, when the film is funny, it's frequently hilarious: the in-jokey commentary by the trio of reporters accompanying the opening credits; their traveling to London in a plane's luggage compartment inside boxes denoting their species (Gonzo is a "Whatever") and their being thrown off the plane in mid-flight eventually landing at Robert Morley's feet; the eccentric and inquisitive guests at the Happiness Hotel; Miss Piggy's central musical number is an amusing pastiche of old Esther Williams aquatic routines; Miss Piggy's run-in with lorry driver Peter Ustinov (who complains, after being thrown into the garbage, that his is only a cameo), etc.
The Great Muppet Caper (1981, Dir. Jim Henson) Story A jewel thief has steals a priceless diamond necklace from Lady Holiday, and reporters Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo travel to England to interview.
There are some great cameos, with a hilarious appearance by John Cleese.Music Nearly all Muppet films have a tradition, in which they all contain musical numbers.
Like the music, the effects might seem outdated but still fit in with the feel of the Muppets.Conclusion Although it is not one of the most memorable Muppet films, 'The Great Muppet Caper' is still a delightful Muppet film, with wonderful songs and a story to match, that is still amazing to watch after so many years."What colours are their hands now?" Various Characters.
The Great Muppet Caper is the perfect heist movie for kids.
I feel like all the Muppets really come to play here (Although Statler and Waldorf are underused) most especially Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Pops, and Beauregard.
The Great Muppet Caper continues the previous film's mixture of slapstick, star cameos, songs, comedic set pieces and adds a heist caper into it.Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are twins who along with Gonzo play newspaper reporters who are dropped off over London to interview fashion designer Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg) who has just been robbed of her jewellery.Miss Piggy plays Lady Holiday's new receptionist who Kermit mistakes for Lady Holiday and Miss Piggy carries on with the pretence but Miss Piggy could be in the frame to being framed for the thefts.It is fun, full of corny jokes but it is not as appealing as the first film.
The underwater number with miss piggy in particular was a highlight.It does of course feature some nice human performances, and while not all of the cameos work (John Cleese!) on the whole this is a good second big screen outing for Kermit and the gang as they try to solve the mystery of what happened to Lady Holiday's (Diana Rigg)jewels..
The great Muppet caper was wonderful starting with them being thrown out of their plane in their stow away boxes and landing in a pond, their ckecking into the happiness hotel and the song that went with it, miss piggy meeting Lady Holiday and her witty conversation with her.
In recent times when I've really started loving old time golden age Hollywood musicals with golden age stars like Judy Garland, June Allyson, Esther Williams, etc., that has caused me to really love the Esther Williams water ballet scene in the Muppet caper, especially when it turned out to be miss piggy's dream and then she in reality dives into a small fountain, being the only one who gets wet.
There's also lots of humorous wit through the movie, especially from Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and of course Miss piggy.
And a number of great cameos from John Cleese, Charles Groden, and from the great Muppet man himself, Jim Henson in a restaurant.
However, when I was old enough to know how to operate the VCR and go through the stacks of VHS recordings that we had in our house, it was that fateful day I popped in 1981's "The Great Muppet Caper" starring all of your favorite Muppets; from Kermit the Frog to *John Cleese, yes, John Motherf*ckin' Cleese is in this movie.Like most Muppet fare the plot is going to include plenty of hijinks, celebrity cameos, and humor that goes well over the intended audiences heads, including one in "Caper" that refers to a guy cheating on his wife.
Good clean family fun.What stands out, like most Muppets movies, are the songs.
As a kid, you take things for granted like the amazing puppet work in this movie, the set design, the great script.
Even though these are just cameos, this film has some terrific star power and actually appreciates those great actors that don't get nearly the appreciation they do today.This movie is seriously, seriously funny.
The muppets are all wonderfully realized characters who actually all serve a dramatic purpose in the framework of the film, and they interact beautifully with the main stars of the film, Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg.Charles Grodin is excellent as this thief named Nicky who really steals the show with his fantastic overacting, which actually works to this movie's advantage and serves to make it even funnier.But seriously, if you've never seen The Great Muppet Caper before, you're missing out.
Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo are reporters investigating a jewel robbery in England, when Miss Piggy finds herself accused of stealing a diamond necklace from her employer, Lady Holiday (Diana Rigg).
Some of the best jokes are the ones that break the fourth wall, like that clever opening with Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo in a hot air balloon commenting on the opening credits, Diana Rigg pointing out her expository dialogue, Miss Piggy complaining about doing her own stunts, and Kermit chastising Miss Piggy for overacting.
Too much talent squandered trying to make a hip version of an old Hollywood musical cum newspaper mystery cum international adventure, and yet the muppets are The Muppets and there is the charm of Kermit and Gonzo and Miss Piggy and the rest just being silly and making bad jokes work by sheer force of silliness.Like a weaker Marx Bros movie is has its moments and when it is over it feels like it was worth it, but while you are watching---hmmm, maybe not so much..
The Great Muppet CaperSecond-best "Muppet" film sees the gang going to merry old England, where they get caught amidst a villainous plot thought up by Charles Grodin, who plans to steal an expensive crystal diamond from a UK museum and blame the crime on Ms. Piggy.
Kermit, Gonzo and Fozzie are reporters who travel to Britain to interview a rich victim of jewel thieves (Diana Rigg) and help her along with her secretary, Miss Piggy.After more than thirty years, some of this film may be a bit dated.
Peter Falk and John Cleese are still big names, but for a film that partially relies on cameos, this may take away its power.In general, it is pretty good, with a solid plot and plenty of musical numbers.
As with "The Muppet Movie", there are a lot of jokes, songs and cameos (including Jim Henson as a man in a restaurant).
This element of variety was carried over into the first film, The Muppet Movie (1979), and has also been developed in their second feature, The Great Muppet Caper.
There they meet a whole host of other Muppet characters, and become embroiled in a mystery involving brother and sister, Nicky and Lady Holiday (Charles Grodin and Diana Rigg).
The characters constantly refer to themselves being in a film (this is a device that Henson used also in The Muppet Movie).
This is a movie you can sit down and watch with yourkids, but you'll be enjoying it just as much as them.Kermit and Fozzie the Bear are reporters and are sent to Englandalong with their photographer Gonzo to track down the thieves whostole Lady Holiday's jewels.
The second Muppet movie has those lovable Jim Henson puppets trying to clear Miss Piggy's name as she is framed for stealing jewels by Charles Grodin and his lovely assistants.
It's up to bumbling "twin" reporters Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear, along with all the other Muppets, to prove her innocence and prevent the theft of Lady Holiday's prize possession - the Fabulous Baseball Diamond!Corny blurbs aside, the movie is hilarious, with tons of slapstick, camp, and celebrity cameos.
Miss Piggy shines in a juicy role, playing a star-struck aspiring model (though she apparently only knows one pose) who gets a big break (and a fun water-ballet extravaganza) only to be thrown in jail (right out of a women's prison movie), finally escaping to help the gang overcome the bad guys.
Kermit the Bear, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo are reporters working in London, England who have to foil a group of nefarious jewelry thieves after said thieves frame Miss Piggy for stealing some priceless diamonds.Director Jim Henson keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a brisk pace, maintains an amiable tongue-in-cheek tone throughout, and stages the uproarious slapstick antics with tremendously infectious go-for-it verve.
This picture further benefits from sharp cameos by John Cleese, Robert Morley, Peter Ustinov (who gets beat up by Miss Piggy), and Jack Warden, plus ubiquitous British bit player Reg Thomason can be spotted several times as a restaurant patron (he's irritable the old guy with the young woman who Gonzo tries to take a photo of).
This time, the muppets get involved with an attempted jewel heist involving Miss Piggy's sophisticated boss (the gorgeous Diana Rigg) and her neer-do-well brother (the very American Charles Grodin, apparently content in villain roles after "Heaven Can Wait"), and romance erupts once again between frog and hog.
Director Jim Henson gives us the second Muppet movie with The Great Muppet Caper.
The movie is about Kermit The Frog, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo, are reporters for a news paper and are assigned to a story about Lady Holidays(played by Diana Rigg) jewels being stolen.
Meanwhile the grown-ups can enjoy the subtle asides and the amusing cameo appearances from the likes of Peter Ustinov, John Cleese, Peter Falk and Jack Warden.A trio of unlikely and inept reporters Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and Gonzo miss a scandalous jewel heist even though it happens practically right in front of them.
Nicky cleverly frames Miss Piggy for the crimes and, while she is locked away and the police think the danger has past, he plans his final, most audacious heist a priceless gemstone stored in the high security Mallory Gallery
..The Great Muppet Caper is a convivial, attractive film with much to like.
Basically Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson), Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz) and The Great Gonzo (Dave Goelz) are reporters for a newspaper, and plan to solve the crime in London of some jewel thieves robbing Lady Holiday (Dame Diana Rigg).
These crooks, one being Lady Holiday's brother Nick (Charles Grodin), plan to steal the fabulous Baseball Diamond from the Mallery Gallery, and all the Muppets are now trying to prove Miss Piggy's innocence from accusation.
This is the one of the best Muppet movies and comedy films you'll ever see!Synopsis: Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo work for their local newspaper, "The Daily Chronicle." After a huge robbery featuring the famous Lady Holiday takes place - literally right behind their backs!
He jumps in the middle of the street screaming "TAXIIII!" A taxi stops, Kermit acknowledges the effectiveness of that action, and Gonzo replies, "Yeah, it's great when it works." YOU CAN'T FIND JOKES LIKE THESE ANYWHERE ELSE!!!The songs are really good, too.
Diana Rigg plays the wealthy Lady Holiday, whose jewels have been robbed by her brother, Nicky Holiday (played by Charles Grodin), who plants the goods on Miss Piggy. |
tt0069080 | Pete 'n' Tillie | Pete Seltzer (Matthau) is introduced to Tillie Schlaine (Burnett) at a party. Her friends Gertrude and Bert are the hosts and attempting to fix her up.
Pete is a confirmed bachelor with eccentric habits. When he isn't doing odd motivational research for a San Francisco firm, he plays ragtime piano and makes bad puns. He periodically pops in and out of Tillie's life, going days without calling but showing up spontaneously at her door. When they finally make love, he learns Tillie is a virgin.
It appears Pete might still be seeing other women, but when he gets a promotion at work, Tillie announces it's time to get married. They do, then buy a house and have a baby boy. Pete's affairs, however, apparently continue, Tillie even needing to discourage one of his young lovers at lunch.
Years go by until one day 9-year-old son Robbie (Lee Montgomery) is stricken with a fatal illness. Pete tries to shield the boy by keeping him in what Tillie calls "a world of nonsense," but the inevitable death destroys Tillie's religious faith and ruptures their marriage.
Tillie abstains from sex while Pete turns to drink and takes an apartment. Tillie's depression is alleviated a bit by a friendship with Jimmy (Rene Auberjonois), who is gay but willing to marry her if that would make Tillie happy. When she and Jimmy conspire to make Gert (Geraldine Page) reveal her true age at long last, the result is a public brawl between the two women.
Tillie ends up in a sanitarium. Her life has come to a standstill until Pete turns up one day. When she sees the way their son's death affects him, after years of his hiding it, Tillie and Pete leave side by side. | romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0443693 | The Wild Blue Yonder | In 1943, Capt. Harold "Cal" Calvert (Wendell Corey) is sent on a course at Smoky Hill, Kansas, to learn to fly a new bomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. His instructor is his cousin, Major Tom West (Forrest Tucker), an officer who the other pilots think has shirked his duties by claiming engine trouble on the raid over the Ploesti oil fields. Cal stands up for Tom when a crewman taunts his cousin in front of Helen (Vera Ralston), a nurse that Tom has been seeing.
Cal and the other students learn that the pressurized B-29 can fly higher, faster and farther than any other bomber. On a test flight, when an overconfident Cal pushes a B-29 higher than instructed, a sudden decompression nearly ends in tragedy. One of the crew is sucked out of the aircraft, but is able to use his parachute. Tom is furious and reprimands Cal for endangering the test program, which the Air Force brass is monitoring closely.
Maj. Gen. Wolfe (Walter Brennan) finally declares that the pilots and the B-29s are ready for combat. He leads them to bases in China where they will launch attacks on Japan. Cal's first missions are harrowing, although the B-29s prove to be extremely effective. When the group is transferred to Guam, Tom is reunited with Helen, who is also assigned there. Cal is flying continually on high altitude missions, but Gen. Curtis E. LeMay (William Witney), the new commanding officer, changes tactics to more accurate low altitude raids that will produce more damage.
Helen is slowly falling for the more heroic Cal, and when he and Tom are on a mission together in a mass raid on Tokyo, their B-29 is hit by anti-aircraft fire. With Cal wounded and Tom at the controls, the stricken aircraft barely makes it back to the base. Tom goes back into the fiery wreckage to save a trapped crewman, but is killed when the aircraft explodes. Several weeks later, as the war ends when B-29s drop the most devastating weapon of all, the atom bomb, on cities in Japan, Cal and Helen remain together. | psychedelic, philosophical, flashback | train | wikipedia | Looking at the journey itself and the problems they encountered, a surviving alien recalls the whole thing.It would take a real talent to do it but if you were to take all the elements in the plot here you could easily produce an effects-heavy sci-fi epic that stretches over several films or books.
The use of stock footage and locations that are very non-sci-fi are carried by Dourif's story telling but the problems come when he is absent for longer than a few minutes.
Extended footage of diving below the ice sheet is interesting but it is the same thing over and over so, without a narrator to move us on and keep us interested, I felt that the film got close to boring.
The use of stock footage from NASA in place of special effects and the inescapable tedium of this footage; the implausible concepts from physics which are neither explained nor clearly connected to the vaguely coherent "plot"; the fact that alien space traveler Brad Dourif and his alleged (but never seen) extraterrestrial colleagues do not appear to be in any way different from somewhat neurotic Americans with bad business sense; The stark beauty of the underwater scenes and the immediate disruption of this beauty by the arrival of humanity; the accuracy of the alien narrators comments regarding the impossibility of intergalactic travel and the continuity problems which stem from this jarring set of facts.
This film has two texts: 1 the plot - which is a bit of silliness about aliens coming to earth because their planet is undergoing environmental catastrophes and earthlings going to their planet for the same reason.
The film parodies the Star Trek concept of space travel and the future as a panacea for human problems, and does so on many levels: including patent ridiculousness of the plot; the tedious stock footage which is so painfully unrelated to the narrative; the alien who looks so much like us it is unnerving and who admits, halfway through the film, that he and his fellow aliens "suck".
What Herzog ends up with here is possibly the lowest budget space movie ever shot.
The plot (and here's the 'spoiler', not that it would spoil any enjoyment of the film), is that an alien from the Andromeda system (or a seriously confused human),played by Brad Dourif, who landed on Earth after fleeing his frozen world, tells the story of a group of Earth astronauts who travel to the frozen Andromedan planet and then come back to Earth.
Perhaps it was the context, Herzog's narrative about alien travellers having many generations ago escaped their distant and dying world to eventually arrive here on Earth, attempt to colonise and then witness generations later, humanity's own attempts to escape the dying Earth and seek out a barely habitable world across space.There is a primary loneliness in this concept, especially so in the human's arrival at that very same long-abandoned world, deciding to cope as best as they can with the liquid-helium atmosphere.
It would be interesting to know whether Herzog created this story line around the Nasa footage or the inverse.
The Wild Blue Yonder (from 2005) has got to be one of the most embarrassingly bad films ever produced by an apparently reputable director, ever - Namely - Werner Herzog (who's been in the film-making business for 40+ years now).On all levels - This modern-day, Sci-Fi clunker was about as amateurish as that of a last-minute assignment recklessly thrown together by some empty-headed, little film-school flunky who's hoping to get at least a D on his project, but will very likely get an F, instead.From its boring, stock-footage images, to its "grate-on-your-nerves" ambiance music, to actor Brad Dourif's cringe-worthy performance as "The Alien" (Ho-hum!) - The Wild Blue Yonder really should have put Herzog right out of business as a movie-maker, as far as I'm concerned.From start to finish - The harder this film tried to convince me that what I was watching on screen was totally intelligent, the more it succeeded in confirming to me the real depth of its utter stupidity..
The photography, home movies of people floating around in a space capsule or diving in a poorly lit sea looked like outtakes from any decent nature documentary.
Somehow Herzog got his hands on some space footage and some antarctic underwater footage and thought he could compose that into a sci fi movie.This is of course a visually distinctive journey and a must for all die hard Herzog fans, but I felt it was a bit too strange and far out.
Brad Dourif plays an alien on earth who says he sucks at what he does or something along those lines, which is kind of funny.Maybe you have to be in the right atmosphere to enjoy this journey, but if you are only going to see one Herzog film, don't make it this one..
Half of the movie is stock footage of the space station and we are supposed to imagine these are astronauts traveling to a distant star that, as it was just explained to us, would take hundreds of generations to complete.
For this I never tire of watching Herzog's films over and over again.In Into the Wild Blue Yonder he again encompasses the genius and silliness of humankind and nature.
And these interviews, I'm sure, are not meant for this production either, but simply lectures from some Discovery Channel science program.Add to that, an utterly annoying soundtrack of Nazi-era German soprano/opera, and some tribal folk music - all mixed at levels that make you cringe - and you have a recipe for agony.Then you have the ridiculous narrative, or "story".
So to summarize; Take about bunch of stock footage off the internet, edit it together in no particular order, add some exerts of interviews with some NASA eggheads that you found on Discovery, slap on the most annoying music you can find, and then hire an actor to narrate a "space story", which has nothing to do with the images or footage that you are seeing - and then you'll have this movie.I guess Herzog was running behind on his mortgage and asked himself "what can I come up with before the end of the week?".
Ranging from boring to excruciating, this film combines an hour of stock footage, a bizarre & often unpleasant soundtrack, grating narration, overacting by the only actor, and an uncompelling and often incomprehensible story to create a near utter waste of an hour and a quarter.Brad Dourif is unlikeable in the only significant role, and his enunciation during the narration is often strange and unpleasant.
Additionally, the few bits of original footage could have been shot by a first year film student and though the actor did fine in his role as a mediocre rundown alien, it was nothing memorable what so ever.
As I watched this movie, it struck me how much it seemed like I had turned on the National Geographic or Nature channel, hit the mute mode, and sat there with several buddies concocting our own narration for the images presented us, a la Mystery Science Theater 3000, all the while recording our narration and the clips, then sold the lot for distribution, padding our wallets at no personal cost what-so-ever..
This purported top original movie was 30 minutes (all i should stand) of old NASA footage with cheesy music in the background.Of course their was the paranoid "alien" making a few complaints and attempting an incoherent story But in reality the was a poor attempt at originality and a ripoff of old NASA footage.Put me to sleep!DoNotWaste Your Time.
I think it has a brilliant idea and for the most part the idea is created very well but in the end I couldn't help but feel this would have worked better as a forty-minute film instead of a feature length (even though it still only runs 75-minutes).
The Antarctica footage, which Herzog would later use in his documentary Encounters of the End of the World, makes for a unique "frozen sky" of outer space.
The underwater scenes are going to be alien just about to everyone watching the film so to use this as another alien outpost (outer space) was a very good idea.
Using existing footage from space (from the 1989 Atlantis mission STS-34) and Antarctica (by Henry Kaiser) as well as about 15 minutes of his own footage, Herzog creates a faux narrative revolving around an alien in human shape (Brad Dourif) looking almost, but not entirely unlike a Steve Ballmer/Karl Lagerfeld crossbreed.
Brad Dourif was the perfect choice for the alien role and even though I do not believe this film will be embraced by mainstream American film goers, I think this is one of the most beautifully photographed films in some time, which of course is a tribute to a master filmmaker like Werner Herzog.
In summary, if you're into watching Werner Herzog play around with medium of film, maybe you'll enjoy this, but if you were expecting an actual movie, you'll be sadly disappointed..
It was like someone farting in your face and expecting you to think it was life-enhancing." LOL"Add to that, an utterly annoying soundtrack of Nazi-era German soprano/opera, and some tribal folk music - all mixed at levels that make you cringe - and you have a recipe for agony." OUCH"So to summarize; Take about bunch of stock footage off the internet, edit it together in no particular order, add some exerts of interviews with some NASA eggheads that you found on Discovery, slap on the most annoying music you can find, and then hire an actor to narrate a "space story", which has nothing to do with the images or footage that you are seeing - and then you'll have this movie." SPOT ON !"I struggled to restrain myself from laughing at how absurdly bad it was.
I can certainly appreciate what Herzog is trying to do with this film; it's an interesting idea, taking stock NASA footage and some interviews and trying to make a narrative out of it, but it just doesn't end up panning out.
It's just really hard to stay interested in a movie that has about ten minutes of just watching people float around in space.
I can only say that this movie was a bunch of Discovery channel footage (or similar) accompanied by a pathetically weak plot (if one even existed) and a few scenes by Brad Dourif.
If not this could be the first.By mixing documentary footage of space shuttle astronauts, JPL scientists (mostly celestial mechanics, the guys who plan mission trajectories) and scientific Anatartic footage with REALLY BAD science Herzog comes up with a movie that manages to be worse than the sum of the parts.
Consisting of new footage by Herzog the film also contains a great deal of footage from a space shuttle mission as well as images from under the Antarctic ice.
"Wild Blue", therefore, plays like a watery bowel movement of Grizzly Man. Called a "science fiction fantasy" this movie pairs images of astronauts eating, drinking, sleeping, working (with plenty of sexy leg shots) on a space station with a loony talking about an ancient race of aliens that came and settled the Earth, thereby attempting to create a world replete with a Senate, a White House, a monument to Andromeda, and- a shopping mall.
The Wild Blue Yonder is a must for Herzog and science fiction/astronomy fans, but the IDOL/Hollywood crowd should probably look elsewhere..
The Wild Blue Yonder (2005) takes stock footage and real interviews and then intertwines it with a fictional story narrated/discussed by (actor Brad Dourif) an alien from another planet.The story, constructed with this outside footage, is about some journey to and from the Andromeda galaxy, and it really doesn't matter because the story is really boring.
An extremely disappointing Herzog film, Wild Blue Yonder is laboured and boring.
In Wild Blue Yonder, Herzog intersperses a space mission with an alien as a character pulling the strings.
There is the sadness of a man who is trapped in an ultimately futile existence.The last sequence is haunting, sad but uplifting.For those who have not yet seen this film but want to, yet aren't sure whether to get it based on the negative reviews I would suggest that they go the special features first and view the interview with Herzog and listen to what he was attempting to do.
In an ironic twist, mankind undertakes a space mission to his home planet to search for a new home for Earthlings after a dangerous microbe is discovered in a captured Roswell UFO.Made originally for television, Werner Herzog's science fiction fantasy, The Wild Blue Yonder feels like an in-joke that the viewer is not in on.
The film mixes NASA footage from a space mission in 1989, cinematography from an exploration under the frozen waters of the Arctic, and mock interviews with scientists and mathematicians Roger Diehl, Ted Sweetser, and Martin Lo that often make them seem like objects of laughter.
With The Wild Blue Yonder, Werner Herzog has pushed the boundaries of cinematic experimentation further than most post-modern art films have.
Despite a little pretentiousness in the writing, it remains a fascinating picture, (even if it may require multiple viewings)The Wild Blue Yonder starts off in an urban wasteland, with Brad Dourif as an alien from a 'Blue World' in the Andromeda galaxy.
What a strange experience to see Werner Herzog's documentary/drama/whatever movie the Wild Blue Yonder, particularly on the big screen.
This is a practically great film of visual magnificence and imagination, where Herzog, still on his never-ending search for adequate & new images (unlike, as he says, ones that are overused or boring in the mass media), makes his 'science-fiction fantasy' into one that blurs the line between fantasy and reality, between what is expected.
In fact you might take a look at the trailer and have no idea what the hell the picture is about; all you see are interspersed images of underwater and space flight, and Brad Dourif as Andromedan alien talking to the camera in weird language.
Indeed Dourif, for the sort of spaced-out but totally all-together-upstairs alien-man that Herzog presents us with, is perfect for the role, and is the best performance (so to speak) that he's delivered in quite a number of years of his long, terrific career as a character actor.
We get the views into space, which are balanced with the shots inside the spaceship (all taken by people from NASA, though at first I couldn't tell if maybe Herzog had a little extra budget going).
And then come the shots under ice, which at first I couldn't believe totally how they were done.In this case, in a sense, Herzog is even better as an editor this time as opposed to just getting the images down.
Plus the side of the Stephen Hawking/X-Files sort, where Andomedan Man and physicians respectively come off as being too paranoid (albeit an alien of course) and too confusing with the formulas & numbers.Still, if you're a fan of Herzog, or even just into science fiction, its surely worth the look, and if not on DVD even better on the big-screen.
I just watched Werner Herzog's 2005 science fiction fantasy film The Wild Blue Yonder, and am left in that rare position of not having much to say of the film that could really change the opinion of a viewer, pro or con, toward it.
It is beyond such reckoning, a purely aural and visual experience for most of its 81 minutes, and thus has an effect similar to the phantasmagoric end of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.The narrative, however slight, is this: the alien (Dourif) comes to earth some decades ago, in a Third Wave of colonizers, before the supposed 1947 Roswell UFO crash, because his home planet entered an Ice Age. Upon landing, they attempted to establish their own version of Washington, D.C. out in the California desert, thus justifying Dourif's rants out in a ghost town.
With Earth explored he then moved toward documentaries, in which he typically followed explorers, astronauts, pilots and scientists, all of whom shared his longing for further expanding man's frontiers.Ironically, the impossibility of this expansion is what two of Herzog's later documentaries, "Encounters at the End of the World" and "The Wild Blue Yonder", are covertly about.
The latter film consists of recontextualized documentary footage - taken largely from NASA space missions - which is spliced together with an extended monologue by actor Brad Dourif.
Tuesday November 8, 7:30pm Seattle Art MuseumAn evening with Werner Herzog featured the North American Premier of his latest, "The Wild Blue Yonder", a strange, fictitious, quasi-documentary starring Brad Dourif as an alien and self described failure.
Herzog uses a combination of vintage newsreel, NASA and exotic Antarctic Ocean footage along with bizarre narration from Dourif shot in the California Ghost town of Niland to tell a story of human travel to a far off planet and convince the viewer that interstellar space travel is utterly absurd.
Herzog's film is based around the accounts of an alien forced to leave his own planet and travel across the Universe in search of a safe new home.
I can say that this film is not for everyone, even fans Herzog's other eccentric documentary work.
Instead, I spent 81 minutes watching "a science fiction fantasy" titled Wild Blue Yonder.
In WBY Brad Dourif play an alien who narrates his way through NASA and arctic diving footage that Herzog interestingly uses completely out of context.
The context is entrusted to Dourif's character who spins an elaborate yarn of human space exploration to his former home, the exploration of this distant planet and the astronaut's return to a future, pre-historic earth almost 200 years later.WBY is essentially a found footage film, albeit an imaginative and interesting one. |
tt1648179 | Here Comes the Boom | Former Division I collegiate wrestler Scott Voss is a 42-year-old bored and disillusioned biology teacher at the failing Wilkinson High School. Budget cutbacks at the school jeopardize the continuation of its music program, which would result in its teacher, Marty, being laid off. Concerned for both his colleague and his students, Scott attempts to raise the $48,000 necessary to keep the music program alive. He moonlights as a night instructor for an adult citizenship class, where student Niko asks him for outside tutoring. When Scott arrives at Niko's apartment, he learns that Niko was a former mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. While watching the UFC at Niko's apartment, Scott learns that the loser of a fight receives $10,000, which gives him the idea of raising the money by fighting and losing in MMA. Scott, helped by Niko and Marty, begins with small unsanctioned bouts paying only $750 to the loser. Niko begins training him in defense, later adding trainer Mark to teach offense, after Scott knocks out an opponent and realizes that wins give larger payouts, needing fewer fights to achieve his $48,000 goal. While Mark trains with Scott, Malia De La Cruz, one of Scott's students and a band member, helps Niko study for his citizenship test by putting the information into songs. Scott then begins fighting in small MMA fights and gradually gaining higher amounts of money for the school.
Scott has been pursuing the school nurse, Bella, and they share moments revealing affection for each other, while also rekindling Scott's passion for teaching. Scott is within $6,000 of his goal, when Mark tells him that Niko turned down a sanctioned UFC fight offered by Joe Rogan, with the certainty of earning $10,000 for a loss. Scott angrily confronts Niko, who apologizes and admits he turned it down because he was jealous – Niko was once asked to fight at the UFC but suffered a neck injury while training for it, ending his career. Scott and Niko accept the offer, with Scott and his crew soon travelling to the MGM Grand Las Vegas for the fight. Once he arrives, he learns that school administrator Elkins has been embezzling from the winnings and the school, meaning all Scott's efforts have been in vain. Scott decides he must win the fight and the $50,000 purse.
The publicity of Scott's slow rise to fame has grown, and the school's band appears in the stands to play his theme song, thanks to Bella contacting Rogan. Marty reminds Scott that even if he does not win, he has inspired the students, which is their real purpose. Scott has no answer to his dangerous opponent, Ken Dietrich, who is angered that his original opponent canceled and that he is stuck with a man that "does not deserve" to be at the UFC. After finding inspiration from the students, Scott manages to win the fight, earning $50,000 and Dietrich's respect. Scott and Bella kiss through the chain link fence of the octagon.
A subplot involves student Malia, her father, and Scott's brother Eric, who is unhappily self-employed as a house painter. Eric has a large family and both he and his wife have low paying jobs; Eric enjoys cooking. Malia's father has a restaurant that is failing since his chef quit. Malia's father wants her to stop music and focus less on school so that she can help with the restaurant, but she has a passion for music. Scott encourages Malia to pursue her musical talent, which drives hostility from her father to Scott for "causing his daughter to disobey him". Eric becomes the chef for her father's restaurant, which improves the business, so Malia's father is thankful to Scott. Once Malia sings Scott's theme song at the UFC fight, shown on TV, her father accepts that music is her true passion.
In the closing scene, Niko and all of the students in Scott's citizenship class attend their American citizenship ceremony. | bleak, inspiring | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0341564 | Scarecrow | The story revolves around the relationship between two vagabonds: Max Millan (Gene Hackman), a short-tempered ex-convict, and Francis Lionel "Lion" Delbuchi (Al Pacino), a childlike ex-sailor. They meet on the road in California and agree to become partners in a car wash business, once they reach Pittsburgh.
Lion is on his way to Detroit to see the child he has never met and make amends with his wife Annie, to whom he has been sending all the money he made while at sea. Max agrees to make a detour on his way to Pittsburgh, where the bank that Max has been sending all his seed money is located.
While visiting Max's sister in Denver, the pair's antics land them in a prison farm for a month. Max blames Lion for their being sent back to jail and shuns him. Lion is befriended by a powerful inmate named Riley (Richard Lynch), who later tries to sexually assault Lion, and while he does not succeed, physically savages and emotionally traumatizes Lion. Max rekindles his friendship with Lion, and becomes his protector, eventually exacting revenge by beating up Riley. After being released from prison the two continue to have a profound effect on each other, although they have both undergone personal transformations and their roles have shifted--with Lion still traumatized and no longer carefree and clowning, nor able even to laugh or even smile, and Max loosening up his high-strung aggression (at one point doing a tongue-in-cheek striptease to defuse a fight at a bar, and to attempt to make Lion laugh again).
When the duo finally make it to Detroit, Lion finds a payphone and calls Annie, now remarried and raising their five-year-old son. Annie is still furious at Lion for having abandoned her, and lies that she miscarried their son (adding spitefully, knowing Lion is Catholic, "He never even got born. Never got baptized. You know what that means; his soul can't go to heaven. That's what you did for your son's soul, you bastard. You sent it into limbo. That soul cannot go to heaven"). Lion is devastated, but when he gets off the phone, he snaps into a manic state, expressing joy to Max at that he has a son. Shortly afterward, Lion has a breakdown while playing in a park with neighborhood children and becomes catatonic. Max promises Lion, now in a psychiatric hospital, that he will do anything to help him, and boards a train to Pittsburgh with a round-trip ticket. | revenge, cult, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | Well, here's another amazingly original story: High School student (occasionally seemed like collegego figure) has whore for a mom, lives in a trailer park, and is an "artist" who is ridiculed for his "being all different." Well, of course, this poor ridiculed boy is eventually killed and, here's the original part, his soul inhabits a scarecrow (beneath which, he is killed by his slutty mama's latest john).
One person is stabbed with a corncob.--Sounds like they put some effort into the musicbut it doesn't really fit the movieand isn't all that good.The Bad:--Terrible, terrible acting.--Another slasher let-down with sexy womennone of them removing clothing.
When did that cease being a staple of low-brow slashers??--Ridiculous story.--The scarecrow vomits up one-liners that would make Freddy Krueger and Arnold Swartzenegger blush.--Standard underlying love story goes nowhere, and is poorly done.--Some of the people killed seem like they were chosen at randomyou never really know who anybody is and then they're killed.
And you only assume that they must've had it coming.The Ugly:--Extremely average slasher fare, just with a murdering scarecrow instead of
well, all that other crap.--Nowhere near as interesting as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Pinhead, Chucky, or even Angela from the "Sleepaway Camp" seriesall of which are better than this atrocity.--The absolute worst dialogue I have ever heard in my LIFE.
Don't get me wrong, though, it's funny as hellbut I've never heard more asinine bantereven in "Slumber Party Massacre III." This film makes "Jason X" look like Shakespeare.--The man who kills the boy that becomes the scarecrow: Worst wig ever.
Huh huh."Acting: 3/10 Story: 3/10 Atmosphere: 2/10 Cinematography: 1/10 Character Development: 2/10 Special Effects/Make-up: 5/10 Nudity/Sexuality: 1/10 (No nudity, Mom's a whore, girls wear no bras) Violence/Gore: 5/10 (Low quality, mediocre amount) Dialogue: 0/10 (Extremely ridiculous, blatant, over-the-top and painfully funnyso bad it's good.
My first rating for dialogue in any film!) Music: 5/10 Direction: 2/10Cheesiness: 10/10 Crappiness: 9/10Overall: 3/10Another one for just people like me who enjoy watching pure crap.
There are inherent constrictions in a B-movie: Budgets are tight, Time is precious (Scarecrow was apparently shot in 8 days) and the actors are often green and inexperienced.
Scarecrow doesn't seem to care.The "story" of Scarecrow goes something like this: Lester is a high school kid (played by and actor who'd I'd peg to be in his early 30's) who is picked on by the other kids.
One of her reprobate boyfriends makes fun of his drawings (by calling him a "faggot" for drawing birds instead of "monsters and cowboys." If you have a high school student still drawing cowboys I'd think him to more likely be gay than a high school student who draws crows) and later, kills Lester, in a cornfield, under the titular scarecrow.
The scarecrow then goes on to kill those who tormented him, those who smoke pot in the corn field, those who dig graves, boyfriends of daughters of gravediggers, pretty much anyone who showed up on the movie set.The bonus feature on the DVD should be mentioned.
The director (a Frenchman) does an impromptu version of rap music, admits he enjoys not having executives around on set so he can screw his wife while working and gives a quote to live by (and I'm paraphrasing): "Life ez a bitch, but et has a great ass"Number of Beers I drank while watching this movie: 5 Did it help: No Number of Beers needed to enjoy this movie: Whatever it takes to get to blackout drunk level..
(and that statement comes from a person who very much enjoys bad movies) the real problem here is that it wasn't so bad it was funny...it's just so bad that it's bad.scarecrow is the story of a 35 year old high school kid who gets picked on by a bunch of 27 year old high school kids (who inexplicably call him 'scarecrow').
anyway the kid (lester) has a miserable life, is a bad artist, and i'm thinking is mildly retarded.everyone hates him and makes his life rough except for judy (really the only good thing about the whole movie--and not for her acting ability).
lester gets upset and is seen for a brief disconnected moment hitting a scarecrow that looks like a person in a plastic suit, yelling "i whish i was like you so i didn't feel anything." why did he do this?
because apparently all the kids in this town hang out in cornfields with scarecrows...who else was he to take his frustration out on?one night lester's mother's new boyfriend gets mad and kills him in a cornfield right below that same scarecrow.
--and i could be wrong here, but the whole killer scarecrow thing seems like it was done before...oh yeah in jeepers creepers 2.anyway, lester (as the scarecrow) comes to life every once in a while and does acrobatic flips and then kills people.
it would make sense that he should kill all the people that wronged him while he was alive, but rather he kills just random characters that have nothing to do with the story.as a matter of fact, they introduce characters like the gravedigger and his daughter's boyfriend (who have no ties to the story whatsoever) just to be killed.interestingly enough the really old high school kids all of a sudden are not in high school, the town "has a sinister evil," and somehow these things lead the world's worst sheriff to the conclusion that lester is the scarecrow.too bad he dies before that could even matter.unprovoked the scarecrow attacks judy (the only person who was nice to him while he was alive and the only person who went to his funeral), blaming her for his death.
and then there is a surprise ending that makes even less sense...coming as no surprise at all.what is really striking about the whole thing is that this film was made completely straight faced.watch the 'making of' featurette.the whole cast is talking about effects and acting and plot points as if this movie is to be admired for it's technical prowess.
now this is by no means up to the caliber of a troma film, but at least i can see where they were going...(how could tiffany shepis be in this movie?) at least troma movies are funny and clever in a sort of tasteless way, this was just miserable.the acting was terrible, dialog atrocious, editing uber-crappy, effects nearly non-existent....but worst of all this movie was boring.
and that is a b-horror movie sin.i think the icing on the cake though, was the fact that this abomination was dedicated to dario argento, george romero, stephen king, wes craven, and more.if any of these people ever saw their names at the end of scarecrow, they'd kill themselves just so that they could roll in their graves.this movie makes roger corman look like alfred hitchcock..
And most of the time, horror movies other people say are bad, I like.
From the trailer trash redneck to the high flying martial arts moves of the Scarecrow, this is truly a b-movie gem.
All I can really say is, 'can you dig it' and recommend watching movies such as Frankenfish if you enjoy this sort of hilarious horror.(WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY SMOKING!?'.
Spirit of a murdered high school geek animates a scarecrow which then takes revenge on everyone.This movie really annoyed me.
it is about this kid who gets pushed around and then this redneck guy who looks like mario(maybe the only entertaining part of the movie, if you like funny stuff) strangles him and 'SOMEHOW' this "nerd's" soul gets transfered into a scarecrow.
they are, john carpenter as director, use AT LEAST 8mm or super 8 and not f***ing digital cameras, and lose the acrobat sh** where the scarecrow does flips and that is just stupid.i had to put these films two spaces down from that review so they wouldn't get contaminated with this...
What a disappointing movie.As others have noted, Lester, the main character, does look like he is 30 instead of in high school.The soundtrack is horrible.
The guy who plays the mother's boyfriend looks like he just stepped out of a 70's porno flick.
Other than the scarecrow's make-up the only thing about this movie that I liked were some close up shots of the moon.
There was a lot of character development which made the film better to watch, then after the kid came back to life as the scarecrow, there was a mindless hour and ten minutes of him killing people.
In general I don't see the point of horror movies but I was shocked to find myself actually enjoying "Scarecrow." Alot of the humor is tongue-in-cheek and I found the gore to be absurdly entertaining.
The plot, I imagine, is somewhat secondary in B-movies like this but compared to Troema and Roger Corman's stuff I thought "Scarecrow" was great!.
GEEZ!) BUT, I will say that in my very lowly and wretched opinion I personally think that if they had just kept the Scarecrow bloody SILENT and menacing and dropped the truly HIDEOUS dialog when he killed people, I REALLY, REALLY think that would have gone a long way to making him way more menacing and scary.
We're talking SO seriously bad that it makes Freddy Kruger sound like Shakespeare!I think this director, especially how he goes on and on and on about how his idols are all the great Horror directors, particularly Argento, he REALLY needs to know when to get a bit more serious, mainly in how he directs the killings and DEFINITELY drop the stupid dialog which GREATLY dilutes whatever horror he has worked so hard to build...Otherwise, yeah, lots of fun, amateurish to be sure, but there are a LOT worse films out there....
This is a silly movie from french director with silly script too and all shoddy acting with many idiots actors, most notably from "Scarecrow", It's a really bad , So bad film.always I like to watch about killer scarecrow movies, but with this Scarecrow the matter so different with the more recent Scarecrows, specially when I have read the french director "Emmanuel Itier" that claims he has been influenced by the Italian director "Dario Argento" !
trust me watch it!i laughed so hard at so many parts of this movie the worst acting ever made is very funny!
hopefully another killer scarecrow movie comes out, just not like this one..
I'll start with the bad points of t he movie, which pretty much covers the entire film.
So if you want to see a scarecrow killing people with corncobs, or in the sequel, 2 scarecrows going at it, then these movies would be for you..
Here's pretty much what it's about...Some kinda nerdy kid with no friends gets picked on, gets killed, and comes back as a scarecrow for revenge.
If you haven't seen this movie don't waste your time watching it.
Also, the second one isn't much better, so don't bother watching that either...I rated this movie a three because I liked the scarecrow's outfit, not because there was anything good about the movie.
However, I appreciate the time and effort that is put into making these types of movies.SCARECROW is by far and large a bad movie.
This movie isn't the most amazing thing created.It has some really bad acting and a very weak plot line that gets confusing at times.
Besides that i enjoyed it...i like b grade movies...i don't know if the directors were going for the b grade aspect when creating this piece of fine art but i seemed to enjoy myself watching it.The actor playing the scarecrow did an amazing job and must have some mighty fine gymnastic experience and basically steals the movie, though its wouldn't be that hard considering he is the main character in the title.The movie isn't that bad...its just b grade...there are some laughs and some gross out bits...not for everyone.I enjoyed it.
A high kill quotient that basically makes no sense but to thrill the pea-brained violence junkies who exist on make-believe mayhem in video games and these type of trash movies.
We're treated to excellent kills that usually have the Scarecrow jumping or twirling before they're done, which is then followed by some oddball one liner.There's really not much to review about this film.
If you're some dorky kid that thinks he's the god of all horror movies and must only watch serious flicks, then avoid this at all cost.**** out of *****.
What could have turned into a fun brain dead slasher film is ruined by a lousy script and the scarecrow talking in puns like a poor cousin of the most annoying version of Freddy Krueger you can think of.
This Scarecrow looked great and could have supplied some real scares, if it was in a different film..
After the death of our main character his spirit in transfered into an above Scarecrow.As the Scarecrow, Lester extracts revenge on those in his way without revealing his identity...The Scarecrow is amazingly humorous and played by the creature's designer Todd Rex....I think the Scarecrow design is great and looked like he belonged in the line-up of Rock band SLIPKNOTOverall the movie is good but far from great, but better than some...The performance of Tiffany Shepis, has spawned an interest, for me to check out even more of her films.Rick Blalock.
Basically dedicating this movie to those great directors is like giving your mother a piece of sh*t for Mother's Day. The first thing they did wrong was the casting.
I recommend this film to anyone who likes scarecrows a lot and to any b movie fan.
Over the movie has a lot of Arnold rip offs, with one liners you'll definitely laugh at like stick around and he kills the sheriff with a stick.
However something magical happens (no, the film doesn't suddenly become good), Lester's spirit gets transfered into the corn fields scarecrow which he then uses as a body to gain revenge on those who tormented him & made his life hell...Co-written, co-produced & directed by Emmanuel Itier who according to the IMDb credit list also has a role in the film as someone called Mr. Duforq although I don't remember any character of this name, I suppose anyone who ends up looking at the IMDb pages for Scarecrow will probably already be aware of it's terrible reputation & I have to say it pretty much well deserved since it's terrible.
The film has terrible character's, awful dialogue, an inconsistent & predictable story, it has some cheesy one-liners like when the scarecrow kills someone with a shovel he ask's 'can you dig it?' & the so-called twist ending which is geared towards leaving things open for a sequel is just lame.
To give it some credit the actual scarecrow mask looks really good & he looks pretty cool but he is given little to do except spout bad one-liners & twirl around a bit.
There's no nudity & the gore isn't anything to write home about, there's a decapitation, someones face is burnt, someone is killed with a stick of corn, someone gets a shovel stuck in their throat, some sickles are stuck in people's heads, someone has their heart ripped out & someone has a metal thing stuck through the back of their head which comes out of their mouth.With a supposed budget of about $250,000 this was apparently shot in 8 days, well at least they didn't waste any time on unimportant things like story & character development.
The acting sucks, the guy who played Lester's mum's bloke is wearing the most stupid looking wig & fake moustache ever because he played two roles in the film & the makers needed to disguise him but they just ended up making him look ridiculous & don't get me started on his accent...Scarecrow has a few fun moments & the actual scarecrow himself is a nice creation with good special make-up effects but as a whole the film is poorly made, badly acted, silly, too predictable & very cheesy.
His victims "haven't been stalked like this before..." (Scarecrow's official tag line)To make matters worse, this movie was filmed in a whopping 8 days.
(They're spoilers, so I won't spoil it for you, if you actually want to see this crap.) I could have somewhat forgiven the bad acting, the horrible special effects, the abysmal script, and the bad camera work, but I simply have no respect for lack of effort on that level.This movie isn't nearly as good as I'm making it out to be.
The plot/dialogue is like a collage of of bits stolen from every B horror movie ever made.
(SPOILER: At the end, when they chant Lester's name and he reappears, the black guy and Scarecrow are both laughing, probably out of relief they were on their last scene, and at the cheesy dialogue.).
So the Boyfriend chases the kid into a cornfield and strangles him to death, then makes it look like he hung himself.
Now I know the stereotype- Most horror movies with cool looking box covers like this one usually suck harder than a hoover on NOS, but such was not the case with this one.
The movie centers around a nerd like kid named Lester.
But all in all, despite its flaws of a bad script, bad acting (with the exceptions of Todd Rex and Tiffany), it has some cool effects, some killer one-liners (all from the scarecrow) and its a decent way to kill 90 minutes.
While staying home one night, one of his mother's dates picks on Lester and he is accidentally killed in a cornfield next to a scarecrow.
To have them spread through a large body count makes the deaths all the better.The Bad News: In spite of what so many others have said, there was only two things about this I didn't really like: the martial-arts knowing scarecrow and the picked-on high school loser who becomes the protagonist. |
tt0033076 | The Son of Monte Cristo | In 1865 the proletarian General Gurko Lanen (George Sanders ) becomes the behind-the-scenes dictator of the Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg located in the Balkans. Gurko suppresses the clergy and the free press and imprisons the Prime Minister Baron Von Neuhoff (Montagu Love). The rightful ruler of the Grand Duchy, the Grand Duchess Zona (Joan Bennett), hopes to get aid from Napoleon III of France and makes her escape pursued by a troop of Hussars loyal to Gurko. While on a hunting trip, the visiting Count of Monte Cristo (Louis Hayward), rescues her. The Count escorts the Grand Duchess Zona to a neutral country, but Gurko's Hussars violate international neutrality to return the Grand Duchess and her lady-in-waiting back to Lichtenburg.
The count has become romantically enamoured of Zona and undertakes to help her, visiting the Grand Duchy where he falls in with the underground resistance movement of Lichtenburg. He befriends the loyal Lt. Dorner (Clayton Moore) of the palace guard who knows a variety of secret passages leading from the Grand Ducal Palace to the literal underground catacombs of the Grand Duchy.
Discovering that Baron Von Neuhoff is to be executed, the Count gains entry to the palace through his previously being asked for a large loan of French Francs by Gurko and plays the role of a cowardly fop international banker. There he overhears Gurko meeting with the French Ambassador (Georges Renavent) who raises the issue of human rights in the Grand Duchy. Gurko counters him by saying he is signing a non aggression pact with Russia protecting Lichtenburg from any French threats. Gurko schemes to gain the nation's loyalty by marrying the Grand Duchess and keeping the pact with Russia a secret.
The count becomes a masked freedom fighter named "The Torch" after the underground newspaper in order to save the Grand Duchy. He then sets out to right the wrongs and capture the heart of the woman he loves. | action | train | wikipedia | This swashbuckler is developed in Europe on the epoch of Napoleon III empire .The Balkanes,steeped in the ancient traditions of romance and chivalry, people hold unswerving loyalty to the throne on which now sits the young great Duchess Zona(Joan Bennett)of Lichtenburg(a country similar to the ¨Prisoner of Zenda¨).She rules under the sinister shadow of one despotic tyrant(George Sanders)general Gurko Lamen who tries to take over .
The son of Edmond Dantes (Louis Hayward), the famous Count of Montecristo ,simulating to be a foppish count and masked is ¨the Torch¨ helping the Duchess.
In the film there are action,adventures,melodrama,fencing duels, a love story,derring-do and is pretty entertaining and funny.
Louis Hayward as masked avenger is very fine , his following films were a series of swashbucklers during fifteen years.
Joan Bennett as the attractive duchess is enjoyable and enticing .Both played in 1939,¨The man in the iron mask¨, and again teamed up for this agreeable adventure.George Sanders as always plays a dastardly villain.
With a good story full of adventure, action, and intrigue, plus a very good cast, "The Son of Monte Cristo" is an entertaining and enjoyable movie.
Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett work well in the lead roles, and George Sanders is always a threat to steal any scene he is in.
The story stands on its own, since the only connection it has with the often-filmed "The Count of Monte Cristo" is the main character's relationship with the previous Count.
So there's no need to be familiar with the original to be able to enjoy this one.Bennett is effective as the spirited Grand Duchess, and Hayward has a juicy role as the young Count, which gives him the chance to assume a different persona every so often during the course of the story.
As the brutally ambitious general, Sanders's appearance is quite a bit different from the more familiar look he has in his best-known roles, but his voice and mannerisms are easily recognizable, and he comes across with a good blend of suavity and menace.The story has the Grand Duchess being held at the mercy of the general, with the Count eagerly getting involved in the fictional country's affairs.
To have missed the remainder of this charming film, however, must now rank as one of my most serious misjudgements so far!George Sanders is superb as the ruthless Gurko Lanen, but a performance of this calibre in the role of the villain holds the danger of overbalancing the film in the absence of a totally outstanding performance on the part of his opponent.
But the introduction of Louis Hayward's slender, charming Monte Cristo as an outsider into the cliche'd Ruritanian mix proves to be the vital spark that not only saves the film but catapults it to rank as a joyous classic of its genre.
But expectations are constantly subverted; like its title character, the film has the endearing knack of not taking itself too seriously.This is one hero, for all his skill, who has been known to lose when launching himself gaily into battle against overwhelming numbers of his rival's henchmen; who takes his nom de guerre at the whim of a moment from the banner heading of an underground news-sheet; who shrugs off his enemy's imprecations and his lady's upbraiding both alike, with a merry grin; who clearly takes enormous enjoyment in sending himself up by playing the part of a foppish banker to deflect General Lanen's suspicions.
In a nod to the Dumas original, the tool that gains him access to the General's plans and confidence is the prospect of a banking loan from the fabled Monte Cristo fortune, and despite his title the young Count is able to point out that, like Gurko Lanen, Edmond Dantes the elder was a self-made man.For, if the hero is not entirely infallible - and all the more likeable for it - neither is the villain entirely without our sympathy.
As we see in the opening scenes, Lanen is neither a fool nor a coward, and despite his cultured suavity he is the son of a stonemason, and proud of it; a gifted peasant who has dared to aspire, first to the rulership of his tiny country, then to the hand of the greatest lady in the land, the Grand Duchess herself.
To this viewer at least, the proposal sounded genuine, evoking the old proverb that 'if she would not take him, still the lady might make him' - but any possibility for redemption is lost by the all-too-evident contempt of the Grand Duchess for the low-born upstart General.(And I never could see why Baron von Neuhof's arrest for plotting to bring in Louis Napoleon's troops in order to return his own faction to power gets dismissed as "trumped-up charges", when Lanen's last-ditch resort to a similar bargain with the Tsar is trumpeted as a vile betrayal of his country....)It's obvious from the start that this is one villain who is going to give the hero and his allies a run for their money; and so he does.
(Louis Hayward), the son of the famed Count of Monte Cristo, uses the masked guise of the Torch to come to the aid of his beloved the fair Zona (Joan Bennett), royal grand duchess of Lichtenburg in an attempt to rescue both her and her country from falling into the hands of a determined dictator named General Gurko Lanen (George Sanders) who would be king and force poor Zona to be his queen.While this is pretty typical fare of its type, that doesn't make this swashbuckler any less entertaining.
In the end, while this does deliver the expected goods in terms of lush scenery, a dashing daring do lead hero in Hayward and a devious, devilishly clever lead villain in Sanders, exciting climactic swordplay and further action and intrigue and even perhaps some symbolism of the political intrigue at work in the world at the time this was filmed, it really offers up very few actual surprises and proves far too predictable overall.
SON OF MONTE CRISTO, a swashbuckler with elements of ZORRO, ZENDA and SCARLET PIMPERNEL that, despite the familiarities, I found entertaining and watchable.
However it would have been far less entertaining were it not for the performance of George Sanders as the villain, whose character is more than the two dimensional villains normally connected with films of this genre.
Louis Hayward turns in a fairly good performance as a Pimpernel-style hero with his best moments in scenes with Sanders, and the mental fencing between them both.
As an aside, I would like to comment on the fact that George Sanders hated dueling in his films, although when he had to, as here, he did well enough it seems.
As with director Lee's SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (1939), it's rather talky but never boring and emerges as an agreeable, though slightly overlong, swashbuckler (even if occasionally bordering on camp).The same director had previously made THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (1934) and this sequel to it re-unites the stars (Joan Bennett, Louis Hayward) and writer (George Bruce) of the definitive screen version of yet another Alexandre Dumas classic, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939) - directed, interestingly enough, by James Whale.
Incidentally, these two - both, as is THE SON OF MONTE CRISTO itself, produced by independent Edward Small - are perhaps the classic adventure films I would most like to watch and I wonder which DVD company owns the rights to all three titles...
Still, the film is equally influenced by THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL (1934) - in its hero's dual personality of fop/crusader - and THE PRISONER OF ZENDA (1937) - the Ruritanian setting - and, despite being a 'B' movie at heart, it's stylishly handled (with Oscar-nominated art direction/set decoration).
It also makes the most of its fine cast: good leads, wonderful villainy from George Sanders, a nice role for Ian Wolfe (billed "MacWolfe"!), and including three actors from Universal's Frankenstein saga - Lionel Belmore (as a bartender), Michael Mark (hilariously made up as a bishop) and Dwight Frye (in a 10-second bit as an embassy official)..
Screenwriter George Bruce concocted a pastiche with affection in this film, wherein each scene and, indeed, each read line of dialogue is parodic in nature, although the work is so well crafted and edited that it has been accepted as simply an example of a swashbuckling adventure featuring some major studio players, including Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett.
The plot involves a contest between Hayward, as the Count of Monte Cristo, and the redoubtable George Sanders as his rival, Gurko Lanen, for the hand of Bennett, who portrays Zona, Grand Duchess of the imaginary Balkan state of Lichtenburg, during the mid-nineteenth century, and ancillary issues involving Lanen's craving for the small state's throne.
The three leads give full-bodied performances with straight-forward interpretations appropriate to a pastiche, while Hayward's rapid-fire intonation and expressions create a unique characterization, contrasted nicely with Sanders' satiny villain, all supported well by numerous Hollywood stalwarts, notably Ian Wolfe, Montague Love and Clayton Moore.
Joan Bennett is the beautiful queen - attracting the attentions of both Mr. Hayward and a deliciously wicked George Sanders.
Lee ~ Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, George Sanders.
Another bigger than usual budget for an Edward Small film that is very much in the same pattern as THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, with the same stars--LOUIS HAYWARD and JOAN BENNETT--with Hayward again as the man who assumes a disguise (as a fop) in order to win the freedom of the Duchess of Litchtenberg from the clutches of villainous GEORGE SANDERS and his traitorous ways.Full of intrigue, swashbuckling and occasional moments of romantic byplay, it's handicapped by Bennett's ice princess manner of performing in these costume roles as a damsel in distress--beautiful but expressionless.
LOUIS HAYWARD, on the other hand, is very animated and charming in the title role, showing prowess with the swordplay and finally getting the upper hand in a duel of wits and swords with Sanders.It's enjoyable but full of deja vu for those who've seen other swashbucklers of this ilk.
FLORENCE BATES has a few wry moments as Bennett's maid, and MONTAGU LOVE is effective as a wrongly imprisoned nobleman.The musical score by Edward Ward is helpful in sustaining an air of adventure but certainly not one of his more notable scores.Summing up: Standard entertainment that must have made Saturday matinée audiences happy in the '40s--but it's all just too familiar with no original touches..
While watching the movie, I was shocked that it took so long for the son of the count to get even with George Sanders as the ruthless Gurko Lanen.
The son of Monte Cristo, as the Torch, spends a lot of time trying to save Joan Bennett from the evil clutches of Saunders.
Is it s coincidence that with these two cowboy stars on hand that the script resembles more the "Mark of Zorro" than a sequel to "The Count of Monte Cristo"?.
Joan Bennett (Zona) is the Head of State of Lichtenburg, although the real ruler is George Sanders (Gurko) and he is planning a marriage to Joan so that he can legally assume power by becoming king.
It's up to Louis Hayward (Count of Monte Cristo) to sort out the mess.
As a previous commenter has stated,George Sanders' Gurko Lanen character isn't all unsympathetic,in fact in "reality" he would've been labeled a great national figure if he had pulled his coup off.
Miss Snooty is being properly Victorian looking down on the upstart,but if a climatic sword duel had been written the other way,I am assured Miss Bennett would've become a good Nasty Girl ala Woman In the Window,cooing and ooing at her Lany Nany.
And if Louis Hayward had actually been a banker from such a background as the original Count, his sympathies would have gone to a fellow self made man.
Louis Hayward never got quite the acclaim that swashbuckling actors like Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn did for these roles.
This film, The Son Of Monte Cristo was an Edward Small production released by United Artists and it shows Hayward at his best advantage as a larger than life hero who fought for honor, his lady's as well as a cause of freedom.As we know from Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count Of Monte Cristo, he became the wealthiest man in Europe with a taste for the cause of liberty and a man who as a banker knew how to settle all kinds of accounts.
His son Edmond Dantes, Jr. is following in Dad's footsteps and they've brought him to the Duchy of Lichtenberg whose military dictator George Sanders rules with a brutal hand in the name of the Queen, Joan Bennett.
But Sanders ambition knows no limits as the viewer of this film learns, he'll make Lichtenberg a satellite of a major European power if he can be king as well as military ruler.The film borrows from both The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Mark Of Zorro as Hayward turns Monte Cristo into a dandified fop representing his banking house.
By night however he becomes the hooded Torch, symbol of liberty for the people of Lichtenberg who keeps striking where Sanders least expects it.This film along with The Man In The Iron Mask from the previous year marked Hayward's apex as a film star.
Other stars like James Stewart, Tyrone Power, and Clark Gable made it all the way back, but sadly Hayward never did.Joan Bennett is a beautiful heroine willing to bear the unbearable for her people and life with Sanders as a husband and king is pretty unbearable.
Montagu Love who is usually a bad guy in these kind of films is a good guy here as the minister Bennett has confidence in.
As for Sanders this film is business as usual for him as he plays yet another distinctive cad as a villain.Heroes aren't real heroes in our more cynical age which is the reason that sadly films like The Son Of Monte Cristo aren't made any more..
I will admit to a soft spot for little Louis, the very small hero of this, and Joan Bennett has that haughty beauty of so many B pic heroines.
Since this comment compares the entire plot of the movie to World War II in 1940, don't read this if you are avoiding spoilers.I could not help noticing while watching the movie that the basic roles of the characters in the story match very closely to the major nations' roles in the war going on at the time.Gurko Lanen - Powerful, corrupt, ruthless, uses spies, back stabs - he is clearly the Germans Zona - Strong heart, good intentions, pure but realistic.
- the British, who, at this time stood alone against the Germans.Baron von Neuhof - Allied with Zona, outwitted and imprisoned - The French Prince Paul Pavlov - Signs a secret treaty that protects Lanen against a war with the French, secretly 'selling off' the citizens of Lichtenburg (who represent the Poles (or perhaps all of the free peoples of Europe), I think) - The Soviets (who else?) And finally - 'The Torch'/Count Monte Cristo - The savior that is willing to risk his life for Zona, even though he has no interest in Lichtenburg - his ambition is to fight oppression wherever it lies - The USA Naturally Stadt represents the German SA (Ernst Rohm) that was betrayed by Hitler after building the Nazi party into a viable force, and also obviously the Gestapo (German secret police).Remember that in 1940, The Soviet Union was NOT at war with Germany.
Louis Hayward stars in a film that is supposed to be a sequel to the story "The Count of Monte Cristo" but it really has very little to do with the story and really could have stood pretty well on its own.
A vicious general (George Sanders) has taken over the country and is keeping the rightful queen (Joan Bennett) from running the nation.
Posing as a character VERY similar to the foppish persona of the Scarlet Pimpernel, Monte Cristo joins up with the underground and tries REPEATEDLY a variety of plans to stop the General.Overall, this is a very fun swashbuckling film.
I liked how the Count was not above killing people (he killed at least 3or 4) and Sanders made for an excellent villain.
The filthy General George Sanders, who's been given the haircut of a World War I aviator, the direction to unloose his sneer whenever he likes, and is given the name of Gurko Lanen.
Sanders has him put away on a fake charge.At any rate, Louis Hayward, the son of the Count of Monte Cristo, and the richest man in Europe, takes up the cause of the reformers and worms his way into the palace posing as a hoity toity fop.
Joan Bennet is pretty without bringing much to the party.But George Sanders is outstanding.
The story of the skilled swordsman acting the pouf is from "The Mark of Zorro" and so is the scene in which a snarling soldier rips a treasonous paper from the public wall while surrounded by frightened peasants, and so is the hidden passageway in the basement and the wet footprints on the stone floor that lead to the secret panel in the wall.As for the working out of the plot, I leave it to you to decide whether Hayward escapes from the dungeon, interrupts the marriage of Sanders to Bennet, engages in a climactic sword fight with Sanders, kills him after a suitable wisecrack, and sweeps the Grand Duchess up in his arms at the end.That climactic sword fight is brief because neither actor is particularly graceful and neither knows anything about fencing.
"The Son of Monte Cristo" is a nice swashbuckler that stars Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett and George Sanders.
Hayward plays Edmund Dantes, Jr., Bennett is the Grand Duchess Zona of Lichtenburg, and Sanders is the evil – but almost likable, Gen. Gurko Lanen who would rule the kingdom.
The South African-born Hayward played mostly drama, mysteries and action films during his career. |
tt0096237 | Tears in the Rain | Jessie Cantrell's dying wish is that her daughter, Casey, personally take a letter to Lord Richard Bredon who lives in the UK. Though confused by this turn of events, Casey nonetheless sets off from her home in America to fulfill this last request. After a failed attempt to find him at his country residence, she falls in with Lord Bredon's son, Michael. At first the younger Bredon is suspicious of Casey's motives but soon the two of them find themselves in the midst of a deep and powerful connection that they both realize is love at first sight.
Eventually Casey is able to successfully find Lord Bredon in London. While visibly shaken by the news of Jessie's death, he denies ever having known her and refuses to accept the letter. Instead of deterring her, Richard's refusal only serves to make her more determined to uncover the truth. With the help of Michael and his best friend, she begins to ferret out the information, discovering a nest of lies at the heart of which is Michael's mother, Emily. Emily's determination to be the mistress of Bredon Hall and Richard's wife led her to manipulate events in her favor and separate Richard and Jessie, a couple who had fallen in love during the horrors of World War Two. After being given the information, Richard confronts Emily, but she isn't going down without a fight. She has one last trump card to play. A secret that has the potential to shatter the newfound love between Michael and Casey forever. | flashback | train | wikipedia | story of lasting love.
Those with a cynical view or experience of love need not bother with this movie.
Those who have dreamed that love could be deep and lasting will enjoy this movie but find it unrealistic.
Those who have experienced this type of love will be gratified watching this movie and will find such a love very well and accurately depicted.It is sad that the Shakespearean actor Paul Daneman, who gave such a nuanced and convincing portrayal of the middle age man whose love never ends, has recently died.
His performance gave this movie its seriousness and credibility.
Sharon Stone gave the performance of her life in this early film.
This role provided a range of emotions and situations and she portrayed every one of them movingly and accurately.
Her vivacious and multifaceted character is one every man will fall in love with.It is unfortunate for move lovers that this film was so poorly and so briefly promoted that millions who would have loved it will never see it.
(A newly produced DVD will be available on Feb. 28, 2006.).
Wonderful.
This early film starring Sharon Stone is one that you don't want to miss.
Great performances by Christopher Cazenove and Paul Daneman compliment Ms. Stone.
This is a very compelling and realistic movie.
It takes you through the sense of loss, adventure, falling in love, happiness, disappointment, anger, heart-wrenching sadness, and exhilarated happiness.
Believe me, once you start this movie, you won't want to leave for a minute.
I can't believe I hadn't seen it before now.
Great for all ages and the romantics at heart.
It's one of those movies that you end up saying to yourself, "only in the movies" with the perfect ending.
I plan to add this movie to my collection in the future..
Another Bad Harlequin Romance.
Christopher Cazenova and Sharon Stone are charming in this movie, but their talent is wasted in an implausible script.
The plotline was highly unbelievable and only the performances of some of the cast make it worth watching at all.
Leigh Lawson is very amusing as Cazenova's womanizing Arab friend and Anna Massey is interestingly ruthless as Cazenova's mother.
If you should happen to get this on tape I would keep the remote control handy so that you can fast forward as needed..
Wonderful movie!.
Contrary to most of the other comments, I found this movie wonderfully romantic and believable.
Christopher Cazenove and Sharon Stone had great chemistry together.
If you like romantic dramas like I do, you should see this film!.
Excellent Movie-Mr. Cazenove gave a great performance..
I recently (November 2003) saw the movie "Tears in the Rain" on television.
It is a great romantic movie without a naked sex-activity scene.
I'm glad the television network replayed this 1988 movie.
I had previously seen Mr. Cazenove in "A Knight's Tale" and "Three Men and a Little Lady" and thought he had more acting ability than what was written.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to see him in this movie.
His facial and eye expressions do indeed portray a deeper acting ability.
Also noted is his agility and fluid body movement as emphasized in the last scenes of the movie when he comes around the couch to embrace Sharon Stone's character when she breaks down.
Mr. Cazenove's acting gave this movie credence.
Ms Stone's acting gave an air of "fakeness" (of course I realize that this is one of her first movies and so no cruelty is meant.) The actors portraying Jessie, young Lord Richard, older Lord Richard and older Lady Emily gave good performances and did indeed lend to the believability of the story line..
One of the best movies I've seen.
I love watching this movie over and over again.
I thought the characters were wonderful..
Great story.
Fine cast.
Good acting.
Worth seeing..
Prepare to be EXTRAORDINARILY disappointed with the LOUSY image quality of the 2003 DVD release from "Legacy Entertainment" that I happened to be crippled with when I saw this.
I'm a technically competent person who recognized the symptoms of a cheap copy straight-from-videotape.
Colors are washed out and you can even see the garbled scan lines at the bottom of the screen from the crease of the original video-tape source.
Fans of Sharon Stone may agree with me that if you walked into a theater and found this playing on the screen and someone asked you, "Who is that actress playing Casey Cantrell?", you might say, "I have no idea".
She's YOUNG in this movie!.
interesting old fashioned romance.
Quite an interesting movie with Sharon Stone in her pre-Basic Instinct days.
Its a bit of an old fashioned romance where boy meets girl, but there is something mysterious about the girl's past which may end up ruining the relationship.Good acting by the mainly British cast.
Ridiculous.
Ugh, this movie is SO 1988.
A decent cast was wasted by a ridiculous script, and the contrived ending had me laughing so hard I almost fell off my bed watching it.
What else DIDN'T these stuffy parents tell their children about their long lost love lives?
They could probably film a whole 'nutter movie on the subject.
Too funny.
I would have loved the ending where they find out they were brother and sister; that might have added some real poignancy to the story.
But the script writers copped out and came up with an hysterical solution that only a dime novel romance writer would have the audacity to write.I loved Christopher C.
in Duchess of Duke Street, but this movie was badly flawed and even his talents couldn't make it better..
Tears will reign, and probably fisticuffs, too, if anyone ever makes you watch this gobbler.
Beautiful Casey (Sharon Stone) takes a bus in the rain to a British castle, where she tries to climb over the wall.
Naturally, she gets busted, by handsome Michael (Christopher Cazenove).
He is taken with this young trespasser but she is coy and leaves after a brief conversation.
Nevertheless, Michael, a son of the man Casey has traveled from America to meet, tracks her down at the inn.
Before long, Mike is made to understand that Casey's mother was once an acquaintance of his father, maybe more so.
Casey, in fact, has a letter, written before her mother's death, that she wants to give Mikey's dad.
But, there are complications, as the father is a very important government official and has little spare time.
Michael, indeed, tries to distract Casey by romancing the gorgeous American and doing little to have her meet anyone else.
But, what does the letter say and will it have repercussions about the futures of both Casey and Michael?
This ultimate "gobbler" is not recommended for anyone.
It unfolds like a bad, bad Harlequin book, very trite and very clumsy.
To be sure, Stone looks lovely and does her best, as does Cazenove, who went on to be a supporting star in Three Men and a Little Lady, among other films.
But, there is an utter lack of any intelligence or meaning in the script.
Okay, the British setting is nice and the costumes are attractive.
Do not let anyone talk you into watching this film, as tears will indeed reign from the sheer torture of a view..
My favorite of all time.
My favorite of all time.
Wonderful story, casting, photography and especially acting.
Sharon Stone was absolutely brilliant, the best she could ever be.
All the actors were extraordinary and so far above 'good' as to not find words to praise enough.
The very most memorable thing for me is the song 'Safe in my arms again' sung by the fabulous voice of Colette Stevenson.
Wish I could buy it as a single!
Have bought the movie in every form and watch it about once a month.
This movie accomplishes exactly what it is meant to, great entertainment!
For me, a lovely escape from the trials of life.
Why not more like this.
Saw this on TV and came right out at midnight to my computer to find somewhere to buy the the DVD.
LOVED Christopher Cazenove and will be looking for more of his movies, and LOVED Sharon Stone's performance, also.
This is the kind of movie they should be making these days.
Too bad so much junk now.
Just cannot say enough about Christopher Cazenove - fell in love with him myself.
What a great romantic, heartwarming film.
I'm easy, but I was a bit worried toward the end, but all turned out well, thankfully.I have become very much an Anglophile, as far as TV shows and movies, so this was a pleasure in that regard, also. |
tt0098692 | Yôjû toshi | The existence of the "Black World" - an alternate dimension populated by supernatural demons - is known to very few humans. For centuries, a pact between the Black World and the world of humans has been observed to maintain peace, and terms must be negotiated and renewed every few hundred years to continue relative harmony. A militant faction of radicals from the Black World stops at nothing to initiate chaos between the two worlds. Their chief enemies are the Black Guard, an organization designed to protect the relations of both worlds in secret.
Renzaburō Taki, a salaryman electrical goods salesman by day, and a Black Guard agent when needed, has casual sex with Kanako, a young woman who he has been meeting at a local bar for several months. Kanako reveals herself to be a doppelgänger from the Black World Radicals and attempts to kill Taki, but he resists her attempt and she escapes. The next day, Taki is assigned to protect Giuseppi Mayart, a two-hundred-year-old man with fantastic spiritual powers. Mayart is to be a signatory for the ratified peace treaty between the Human World and the Black World in Tokyo, and a major target for the Radicals. Taki is also informed that he will be working with a partner from the Black World.
While awaiting Mayart's arrival at Narita, Taki is attacked by two Radicals, but is saved by his partner - a beautiful fashion model named Makie. Taki and Makie eventually meet Mayart, who quickly reveals his perverse behaviour to them. The trio take shelter in a Hibiya hotel with spiritual barriers to protect it from Radicals. While playing chess to pass time, the hotelier explains to Taki, who is unsure of his responsibilities within the Black Guard, that he will only value his position once he knows what he is protecting. During a skirmish with a Radical, Mayart sneaks out of the hotel.
Makie and Taki find him at a soapland in the grip of a Black World woman, who has sapped his health, prompting a frantic trip to a spiritual hospital under Black Guard protection. Halfway there, Makie is taken prisoner by a tentacle to be punished for her "crimes" against the Black World by being repeatedly raped, and Taki is forced to leave her behind, but as soon as he knows Mayart is safe in the hospital, he rushes to where his partner is being held, despite Mayart’s threats that he will be thrown out of the Black Guard. Taki is led to a dilapidated building far from the hospital, where he finds Makie being gang raped. While Taki is successful in freeing Makie after eliminating a succubus and other demon agents, they are relieved of their Black Guard duties and are captured by Kanako, who attempts to kill them again. Bolts of supernatural lightning appear and kill Kanako, and Taki and Makie fall unconscious. They awaken inside a church, and have a romantic night of copulation.
A final attack by the Radicals comes against Taki and Makie, and it is partially deflected by a surprisingly healthy Mayart, who reveals he was protecting his so-called bodyguards, not the other way around as they had been led to believe. Mayart and Taki almost succeed in defeating Mr. Shadow, the leader of the Radicals, but the final blow comes from Makie, whose powers have increased tenfold due to her being impregnated by Taki. Mayart explains that the two are essential to forming a new peace treaty; Taki and Makie were selected to be the first couple from both worlds that can produce half-human, half-demon children, and their bond will be instrumental in ensuring everlasting peace between the two worlds. Although angry with Mayart due to him and Makie not being informed of the Black Guard’s plans, Taki admits that he is falling for Makie and, as per the hotelier’s advice, wants to protect her and their child. The trio leave to attend the signing ceremony. Taki remains in the Black Guard to ensure the protection of both worlds and his loved ones. | pornographic, dark, neo noir, paranormal, violence, psychedelic, sadist | train | wikipedia | Wicked City is one of my favorite anime movies of all time, and here's why: if this movie didn't have a solid plot, it'd be hentai.
Taking place in the future, our hero, Taki who by day is an electrical salesman, & by night, a "Black Guard", is asked by his superiors to guard without failure a known senior negotiator, Mr. Guiseppe Mayart & to make sure he is at a treaty signing, & will be working with a partner, a "Black Guard" from the "Black World"....a female named "Makie".
What I liked about Wicked City is not just the storyline, but the anime itself.
Aside from the "adult" parts, Wicked City is Excellent anime entertainment, which I am sure you'll enjoy!PS.: Happy Birthday, IMDb!
The old man the two are assigned to protect provides the humor in the film as he is one horny old dude, and while the action is not quite as fast paced as Demon City what there is of it is usually violent and bloody.
As I stated there is sex and nudity in this film, but it comes in really small scenes not really long enough to make much of an impact thus I would not really call this movie a Hentai film, which is usually an anime film that has so much sex in it, that it is almost a porn flick and this one certainly does not contain that much sex.
Cultural differences mean a lot of high-end anime is perhaps confusing and a little boring for us westerners (see Akira and Ghost in the Shell).
Wicked City has the meanest gun IN THE WORLD, an amusing old man (a trademark of the director I fear) and people in smart black suits.
Yoshiaki Kawajiri Is A MASTER At Anime Films, I Still Have Yet To See One Of His Movies I Give Below 8(Mind You I've Only Seen A Handful; Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, Highlander The Search For Vengeance, Ninja Scroll & Program(The Animatrix Short)).I Found Out About This By Looking Up The Trivia To YK And Seeing The Fact That Ninja Scroll, This & Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust(His Best) Are The Three Works He's Most Proud Of, Being As That I Considered Myself A Fan After Only Viewing 4 Of His Films I Decided To Watch It.This SURPASSES About Every Action Movie From The 1980's, It Had Some Effects That Reminded Me Of "The Thing"(In Particular The Spider Woman Monster).I Like The Overall Look Of The Film, I Know Its Something Where Most People Are Like "So What?" But It Really Did Give Off A Feeling Of Being Dark And Isolated Which Is Perfect.I Love How A Plot Can At First Seem So Simple Yet Turn Its Head Around With A Twist (Which Is A Pretty Good Twist).I Recommend This To ANY Kawajiri Fan Whether You've Been A Fan For Years And Want To Rewatch His First Ever Full Length Movie He Directed Himself Or Your A "Newcomer" To The World Of Kawajiri, I Put This On A Pedistool With Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust As "Must Sees" PS.
Wicked City is not the greatest of films but I am a fan of the director and have this film for my collection, but make no mistake about it, it is borderline hentai If this movie didn't have a solid plot, it'd be hentai.
But what makes it so radically different is that the adult content is weaved in with the plot - there's only one scene of sex that has no pertinence to the story.
But what makes it so radically different is that the adult content is weaved in with the plot - there's only one scene of sex that has no pertinence to the story.
But this movie is surely an adult film and shouldn't be watched by someone under the age of 17, or who is offended by extreme sexual content as there is a partial-rape scene.
Other than that the movie is filled with slap-stick comedy and lots of action, a good watch for shock-value entertainment..
There has been a peace treaty assigned between the two worlds yet a Black World gang called The Radicals want to stop that treaty from ever happening as their target is a wise ancient yet sex crazed 200 year old peace keeper Giuseppei Mayart who is the one to make the treaty is protected by two top agents named Taki who is your basic human agent and Makie who is a sexy black world agent with unique claws as the treaty must be protected.Nasty, bizarre and exciting Japanese animated horror fantasy from Yoshiaki Kawajiri who later gave us the classics "Ninja Scroll" and "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust".
It's a highly overlooked but very cool erotic anime movie with sex, gore and action including a nice sounding plot that goes together with them, the animation is also very nice here and Makie is one gorgeous toon girl.This is one sexy and bloody H.P. Lovecraft-esquire piece of animation from Japan not to be missed and definitely not for the kids.Also recommended: "From Beyond", "Re-Animator", "Hellboy 1 & 2", "Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend", "The Professional: Golgo 13", "Akira", "Ghost in The Shell 1 & 2", "Men in Black", "Videodrome", "Scanners", "The Thing", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Ichi The Killer", "Versus", "The Mist", "Lifeforce", "From dusk Till Dawn", "Vampire Hunter D", "Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust", "Kite", "Perfect Blue", "Watchmen" and "Sin City"..
This is an awesome anime full of a rich plot, action,nudity, and an awesome gun!!!!
Director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll) blends stylish eroticism, graphic horror and pulse-pounding action as these two race to consummate the peace treaty in time.My Spiel: Wicked City was a mind blowing shape shifting animation of greatness the first time I saw it.
Wicked City has a certain style just like (NINJA SCROLL) But with this it was bringing the city element to life.
WC contains tons of blood shed and violence, and quite a bit of nudity and sexual scenes, but don't let that disturb you this is a well crafted anime from the story to the point it is trying to get across.
But Wicked City is a great double movie feature with Ninja Scroll I have to say those are 2 of my top 10 favorite Animes because of the impact that hit me after watching them one after another.Wicked City (1987) Review: 9/10.
This movie has a lot of fun things going for it and draws inspiration from different genres and subject matters, such as sci-fi, horror ,religion, sex,...
, and blends them seamlessly.The story centers Taki, a black guard who has to defend Giuseppi Mayart in order to save the world from the demons.
Makie, a woman from the demon world, is assigned to help him on the job.The story itself isn't that great (the movie is a bit short and doesn't flow that well.
The action scenes are creative and exciting, and the all around creepy vibe in this movie only adds to it.If you're not sure whether to check this film out, I'd recommend it.
It's by no means a masterpiece, but it's entertaining and the animation is a lot of fun to watch..
An earlier creation from Ninja Scroll director Kawajiri, Wicked City sets the template that would contribute to the success of the former.
The core Kawajiri cast of strong male, alluring-yet-deadly female, and twisted old geezer are very much in play here,; all three working to prevent another hostile takeover by the demon world.The resultant action plays out like a more refined UrotsukiDoji, with interspecies relations, body-horror and demon rape playing out across the (no doubt) Men in Black-inspiring narrative.
The idea of a treaty engaged between different members of supernatural factions is quite a fun ride, and the film gets a lot of play out of the idea that the treaty coming to an end means that a series of big battles must be engaged to restore balance.
That this leads into a non-stop series of big action scenes between the two sides is quite a lot of fun, giving this one a breathless pace which is due to the great encounters with the terrifying demons and creatures, from the spider-woman surprise following their sexual encounter or the battle with the creatures at the airport which is enhanced nicely by the terrifying creatures he has to fight off.
Due to the rampant attacks from the creatures in another dimension with far greater powers than ordinary mortals due to the strong storyline, there's plenty of fun thrills to be had with the anime format which allows for the supernatural demons and creatures to be placed in far more terrifying detail as they truly look otherworldly and terrifying that makes the action that much more fun.
The action here is given a strong stylistic charge with the way the scenes come off here, making this one look all that much greater with the neon color-scheme running wild in the film so that the battle in the spa with the demon nurse or the encounter with the spider woman in the tunnel are rather excited yet the highly romantic sequences look great as well.
Beyond this, the film is quite a lot of fun.Rated Unrated/R: Extreme Graphic Violence, Full Nudity, Graphic Language and strong sex scenes..
Throughout the entire movie, the plot isn't really difficult to follow(political disarray between two worlds and people taking care of an important rep), but as I watched it, I just wondered what the point was in even having any sort of plot with all the sex going on.
'Wicked City' isn't the worst film that I have ever seen.
For its director, Yoshiaka Kawajiri to now be considered a "visionary" anime director with his film 'Program' in the recent 'Animatrix' anthology, he can't be a total loss, his other films since 1989 maybe a lot better than 'Wicked City'.But to the film.
'Wicked City' sees Taki, a member of the secret organization the Black Guards assigned to protect Dr. Mayart whose job it is to oversee the renewal of a treaty between Earth and the Demon World.
As the mainstream movie-dom cliche tends to go, Taki who works alone is immediately paired with Mackie, a seductive Black Guard who hails from the mysterious Demon World.
Together, Mackie and Taki protect Dr. Mayart from Demon World extremists (of course) out to stop the treaty from taking place.In my experience, there are two types of anime.
In amongst the obligatory gratuitous violence which people have come to expect from action movies, the film has lingering scenes of gang rape and segments of the fights look like something out of a tentacle hentai movie which almost made me throw up.'Wicked City' is not redeemed by what becomes the standard two-heroes-protecting-witness/diplomat storyline.
Dr. Mayart, who is like Yoda with nymphomania is extremely dislikable, and the eye-rollingly bad sexual tension between Taki and Mackie seems only to be there to fill in time between cardboard sex scenes between the pair.
Why is it that only people from the Demon World want to overthrow the treaty?
Wicked City is a solo anime movie of director Yoshiaki Kawajiri before he get to mainstream with Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D:Bloodlust unlike his most famous stuff Wicked City is a very adult anime with raw,gritty and gory nature.It has some of the most impressive animation i ever see at the time and the use of the color red and blue in this brilliant.The plot of the anime is a mix of many genre like body horror,sci-fi and fantasy with a touch of adult themes and some time soft core porn.I can see it has been influence by a lot of American movie like:The Thing,Alien and The Blob if you can look pass all that i guaranteed you will have a bloody good time with this movie and find more gem from the early day of anime.
I saw major connections between this movie and Demon City Shinjuku.
Avoid this movie unless you're into anime sex..
It was your typical anime boring crap, filled with satanism, female nudity (But almost nothing of Male nudity, that's why it sucks) ugly designs, a stupid plot and boring and bland characters.This show was so stupid and boring, that it was completely worthless.There wasn't any single good thing about this, everything about this show sucked.This movie is pretty lame, even for anime standards.
It is the job of our main characters, one human Black Guard and another from the other side to make sure the treaty gets signed by a particular individual in their charge.
It's not nearly the classic as the director's other film, Ninja Scroll, but I suppose it's still worth a viewing.
While they still have some nudity, it is toned down compared to the likes of Wicked City..
Hey, you!Now, what are you doing watching "Wicked City," the Anime' from director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, one of the most notorious names in the genre?
(You're watching "Wicked City" because it was one of the first and most successful, not to mention controversial, Anime' flicks to land in the United States.)I first saw a preview for "Wicked City" on the VHS for "Vampire Hunter D" (1985) and damn it, the thing didn't even mention the name of the movie, just some really cool action scenes.
(And believe me, his work on 1982's "The Thing" is a pretty tough act to follow, in any medium.)Based on the novel written by Hideyuki Kikuchi, "Wicked City" is set at the end of the 20th century and Taki Renzaburo, an electronics salesman by day and "Black Guard" by night, is assigned to protect an ambassador from the "Black World," Guiseppe Mayart, a perverted, horny old gnome, until the man can sign a peace treaty the night after.
Every 500 hundred years, a peace treaty between Earth and the Black World is renewed.
Taki is given a partner, a beautiful Black Guard from the other side named Makie.However, there is something unique about this treaty, and a band of shape-shifting mutants from the Black World, called "Radicals," are determined to kill Mayart and prevent the signing of the treaty.
I've never seen animation that is this daredevil in its skill, action, violence, shape-shifting scenes and other disturbing imagery, and sexual provocations.
Yes, there is a lot of sex in this picture (just like Kawajiri's later 1993 epic "Ninja Scroll"), but the sex, like nearly everything else in "Wicked City," has an underlying subtext.
In "Wicked City," sex has pleasurable purposes, as well as a means of romantic expression and as a weapon, such as oral sodomy or rape.
But more seriously, though, Taki and Makie eventually do fall in love, in a beautiful and surreal sequence, which shows that sexuality's importance isn't for T + A, but for procreation, the birth of a new beginning for both worlds."Wicked City" is Anime' at some of its most subversive and intelligent.
"Wicked City" is a tedious anime film, vaunted for its heavy sex and violence but not worth watching for either.The "story" is something about a demon world that co-exists, unnoticed, with humans.
The situation is not helped in the English dub where he has the most generic voice imaginable.So, to get to the only reasons anyone has heard of this anime: how much sex and violence does it have?It's really not that violent.
If you're used to '80s/'90s anime OVAs and films, you've seen material a million times worse than this: there's very little in the way of blood and guts.And the sex?
In My 21 Years Of Life The Worst Anime Movie I Have Seen So Far. Wicked City is terrible.
This movie is like a recurring nightmare with the same things happening again; a woman turning out to be a demon (twice), seduction (three times) and rape and attempted rape 5(?) times.
The whole idea of the movie was just cast aside in favour of sex and violence, both of which can be handled well but this is not a hentai nor is it a shonen so the amount of both is out of place here and the dissonance between what the premise is and what actually happens makes this movie easily one of the worst of anything I've seen in my life along with a horrendous flashing sequence in the last 10 minutes adding a sore pair of eyes to a sagging heart.
With almost every other bad anime I've seen there has been some mitigating factor; Gundam F91 and Bokurano are only slightly bad, Ouran High School Host Club and Ladies X Butlers actually started off pretty well, Welcome To The NHK is pretty fun to watch once, but I can't stress only once enough and so on but all that can be said about Wicked City is the females are hot (though that's the case in nearly every anime) and it isn't Meine Liebe though not being the worst of anything is the bare minimum; not an achievement.
That lead me to the wonderful world of extreme metal music, grim and violent video games, and, of course, adult-oriented films, primarily animation.
Do not watch it, or do it skipping through it.This movie is plenty of plot holes and obscure twists and situations, and rough character design.
The direction, anonymous.Ah, of course, plenty of nudity, which is not a bad thing if it is contextualized and coherent story-wise (I would watch an hentai instead).
OK, so I have nothing against violence, sex, or even rape in a movie, as far as they're completely necessary or at least add something to the plot.
So let me put something clear here: If you DON'T enjoy watching people get raped for no f*cking reason or unnecessary sex scenes, then avoid this wannabe porno at any cost.
So the woman getting raped -sorry, can't remember her name, every character in this movie is extremely forgettable- was also part of his plan? |
tt0457701 | Solar Strike | While a solar probe operated by the fictional Solar and Near Earth Laboratory (SNEL) is obtaining data, a large CME or solar flare destroys the probe. A manned spacecraft, Galileo, is caught in the CME and destroyed; the tragedy is blamed on bad Russian equipment. CMEs knock satellites out of orbit, turning them into deadly meteors, and a CME hits New Zealand, destroying it and turning it into a huge mass of molten rock.
After a multi-millionaire, Lucas Foster (Mark Dacascos), funds a program to fight global warming, it is discovered that the Earth's atmosphere is now 5 percent methane. Multiple CMEs are bound to hit the Earth, ignite the methane, and suffocate every living thing on Earth. Foster, who is also a scientist, tries to convince his skeptical colleagues. The government officials and fellow scientist Joanna Parks (Joanne Kelly), his ex-wife, do not believe Foster either.
As the CMEs strike, it is determined that 25-megaton nuclear missiles fired at the North Pole will release vapor that will extinguish the methane flares. Fortunately, Foster knows a Russian Navy submarine captain who reluctantly lets him board his submarine. Foster explains that although satellite communication has been disabled, the submarine can communicate via a transatlantic telegraph cable located at a depth of 800m. The sub is designed to dive to 700m, but the captain tells his reluctant lieutenant to dive to 800m anyway. The submarine survives the dive with minor damage. Communication between the captain and the Russian president results in the latter, who has been informed of the situation by U.S. president Ryan Gordon (Louis Gossett Jr.), telling the captain to go ahead with the plan.
Meanwhile, the Russian submarine has detected a U.S. Navy submarine. Before the Russian missiles can be launched, a lieutenant threatens the captain at gunpoint, but Foster wrestles the gun away. The Russian submarine is detected by the Americans, who threaten to attack if the it does not surrender. The Russian captain launches the missiles anyway, and the American submarine fires two torpedoes. The Russian submarine releases countermeasures that destroy the torpedoes, but it still suffers damage. The Americans finally realize that the Russians are friendly after learning of the presence of Foster.
The missiles arrive at the North Pole and the Earth is saved. At the end, Foster and his ex-wife hug; Foster's comment about going "down the aisle" suggests that they may renew their romantic relationship and remarry. | suspenseful | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0061250 | Fantastic 4 | Physicist Reed Richards is convinced evolution was triggered millions of years ago on Earth by clouds of cosmic energy in space and has calculated that one of these clouds is soon going to pass near Earth. Together with his friend, astronaut Ben Grimm, Reed convinces Victor Von Doom, his former classmate at MIT and now CEO of Von Doom Industries, to allow him access to his privately held space station to test the effects of a biological sample of exposure to the cloud. Doom agrees in exchange for control over the experiment and a majority of the profits from whatever benefits it brings. Reed brings aboard his ex-girlfriend and Von Doom's chief genetics researcher Sue Storm and her ex-astronaut younger brother Johnny Storm.
The quintet travels to outer space to observe the cosmic energy clouds, but Reed miscalculates and the clouds materialize ahead of schedule. Reed and the Storms leave the shielded station to rescue Grimm, who had gone on a spacewalk to place the samples. Grimm receives full exposure in outer space, while the others receive a more limited dose within the station. Back home they soon develop superpowers: Reed can stretch his body like rubber, Susan can become invisible and generate force shields, Johnny Storm can engulf himself in fire and fly unaided, and Grimm becomes a rock-like creature with superhuman strength and durability. Meanwhile, Von Doom faces a backlash from his stockholders because of the publicity from the space mission, and has a scar on his face that came from an exploding control console on the station.
Grimm's fiancee Debbie cannot handle his new appearance and leaves him. Grimm goes to brood on the Brooklyn Bridge and accidentally causes a traffic pileup while preventing a man from committing suicide. Grimm, Reed and the Storms use their various abilities to contain the damage and prevent harm. The media dubs them the Fantastic Four. They move into Reed's lab in the Baxter Building to study their abilities and seek a way to return Grimm to normal. Von Doom, himself mutating, offers his support but blames Reed for the failure of the spaceflight, which has lost him his company's hope for an IPO.
Reed tells the group he will construct a machine to recreate the storm and reverse its effects on them, but warns it could possibly accelerate them instead. Meanwhile, Von Doom's arm has become organic metal, giving him superhuman strength allowing him to produce bolts of electricity, and he begins plotting revenge. He drives a wedge between Grimm and Reed, who has rekindled his relationship with Susan Storm. Using the machine, Von Doom restores Grimm to human form, while accelerating Von Doom's condition, causing much of his body to turn to metal. Von Doom knocks the human Grimm unconscious and captures Reed.
Now calling himself Doctor Doom, he puts on a metallic mask and a cloak to hide his disfigurement, Doom then tortures Reed and fires a heatseeking missile at the Baxter Building in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Johnny. Sue confronts Doom but is outmatched. Grimm arrives to assist her, transformed into the Thing again by reusing the machine. The battle then spills into the streets, and the Storms combine their powers to wrap Doom in an inferno of intense heat, while Grimm and Reed douse him with cold water, inducing thermal shock and freezing Doom in place. Grimm informs Reed that he has accepted his condition with the help of Alicia Masters, a blind artist for whom he has developed feelings, and the team embraces its role as superheroes. Reed proposes marriage to Sue, who accepts. Meanwhile, Doom's statue-like remains are being transported back to his homeland of Latveria when the dock master's electronic manifest briefly undergoes electromagnetic interference, suggesting that Doom is still alive. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0037263 | The Seventh Cross | The year is 1936. Seven prisoners escape from the fictitious Westhofen concentration camp near Worms, Germany near the Rhine. They represent a cross-section of German society: a writer, a circus performer, a schoolmaster, a farmer, a Jewish grocery clerk, and two prisoners who are apparently political activists. One is George Heisler (Spencer Tracy) and the other his mentor Wallau (Ray Collins), the leader of the group.
The camp commandant erects a row of seven crosses and vows to "put a man on each." The first to be apprehended is Wallau, who dies without giving up any information yet continues to narrate the film. The film follows Heisler as he makes his way across the German countryside (Rhenish Hesse), steals a jacket to cover his prison garb, and watches out, as the Nazis round up every other escaped prisoner and puts them up on the crosses, and the local population remains largely indifferent.
Despite the common brutality of some of his countrymen, Heisler does receive help. Still, he is somewhat soured on the German people and humanity in general. He first makes his way to his home city of Mainz where his former girl friend, Leni (Kaaren Verne), who had promised to wait for him, but has since married, refuses to help him in the slightest way, and threatens to "report" him; he steals a bit of her food and departs. He next witnesses the suicide leap of the cornered circus performer and then goes on to see a contact whose name he had given him, where he encounters Mme. Marelli (Agnes Moorehead) who gives him the outfit she was holding for the performer and slips some money into his coat pocket. Next he goes to a Jewish doctor a few doors away who had been suggested by Mme. Marelli, who treats a hand injured during his escape which had become infected. Intercut with Heisler's escape odyssey are some scenes involving some of his friends who are trying to locate and help him. When he finally reaches the home of his prearranged contact he finds that the contact has been arrested. He cannot visit his family, because they are being watched, so he goes to his old friend, Paul Roeder (Hume Cronyn). Though Paul is a factory worker with a wife, Liesl (Jessica Tandy), and young children, he still risks all to help Heisler.
Roeder gets in touch with the German underground, whose members risk their lives to get Heisler out of the country. Through his exposure to this courage and kindness, and with the help toward the end of a sympathetic waitress (Signe Hasso) in an inn where he's hiding out and with whom he has a brief tryst and promises to send for later, Heisler regains his faith in humanity. Thanks to their help, the film ends as he approaches a cargo ship that is to take him away, "perhaps to Holland", with a shot of the empty seventh cross. | flashback | train | wikipedia | A truly outstanding film that has not received the distinction that it deserves, despite a first-rate cast and compelling, as well as unique for the time, subject matter.Spencer Tracy plays George Heisler, one of seven prisoners escaping from a German concentration camp in 1936.
The film traces his attempt to establish contact with the German resistance movement, and along the way he changes slowly from a hardened cynic, and regains his faith in mankind.This is not a bang-bang action movie.
For one thing, all of the actors, including especially Tracy and Ray Collins, are simply too overfed to be believable concentration camp inmates.
This was one of Spencer Tracy's finest roles, and supposedly the melancholy of his performance was to a large extent influenced by word that a young friend, who he knew from Boy's Town, had died in combat.Cronyn and Tandy play Liesl and Paul Roeder, who try to help George Heisler.
Spencer Tracy gave me some clue in this role why he is considered to be such a great actor (you actually see his face change as he recovers from the near animal state the concentration camp had reduced him to) and Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy also put in top class performances.
The depiction of the concentration camp is astoundingly vivid for the time, with the theme of seven crosses for either displaying the corpses of the escapees or for putting them to death being especially grim and - as the allies were soon to find out - no exaggeration as a symbol of the evil the Nazis visited upon millions who fell under their jackboot.
Modern audiences may feel somewhat ambivalent about the idea of one of Tracy's dead friends from the camp acting as a voice within his soul, but I think even those not of a spiritual bent ought to concede it is depicted with a light touch that does not damage the film..
Although slow moving, as was typical of Hollywood dramas of that era, The Seventh Cross tells a compelling story of the human spirit overcoming the evils of totalitarianism, and the recovery of one's faith in mankind during the midst of a societal distrust.
George Heisel, portrayed by Spencer Tracey (one of his classic performances), is a broken man who has lost his faith in humanity who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp with six others in the early days of the Reich when not all Germans loved the Fuerer and still had decent intentions.
In Mainz, he realizes that he can't go to his old girlfriend (who has married a Nazi) or his family (his younger brother has joined the SS); almost all his friends have turned Nazi or been captured or killed save one, Paul Roeder and his wife Liesel (played by longtime married actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy).
Seven prisoners escape from a German concentration camp, and the Nazi commander vows to capture and crucify all of them.
The seventh cross, already placed, awaits the final escapee - played by a desperate Spencer Tracy.
Most notable is the German couple that eventually aids Tracy despite their fear; they are played touchingly by the famous husband and wife team of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, two of the great actors of our age.
Without any alternative, George decides to risk and visit his friend Paul Roeder (Hume Cronyn) and Liesel Roeder (Jessica Tandy).
What will happen to George?"The Seventh Cross" is a dramatic and emotional movie with a great story of lost and regain of faith in the mankind.
This is one of his finest performances--because he does not speak much--just like "Bad Day at Black Rock."Agnes Moorehead appears for a few minutes but presents a delightful character that adds to the strength of the film.
This film version of the award-winning Anna Segers novel is the story of one man who manages to escape a Third Reich Era Nazi concentration camp, then continues his quest for freedom, aided by many friends, even strangers, who with their selfless kindness, at the risk of their own freedom and lives, feed, hide and otherwise tend to this man, whose only fault is that he was born a Jew.This film serves as powerful testimony to the fact that humans are by nature kind and just, regardless of what brutal regime of terror and injustice they may live in.
A strange plot device but very effective for this sort of film.THE SEVENTH CROSS is a propaganda film meant to solidify the people back home in the war effort against Nazi Germany.
The film finds seven political prisoners escaping from a concentration camp.
The whole "seven crosses" reference regards the Commandant's (George Zucco) pronouncement that each of the seven men will be tracked down and hung from these crosses in the courtyard of the prison until they are dead--as a lesson to all those who would dare to consider escaping.The main character of the film is Spencer Tracy.
Many exceptional character actors (such as Felix Bressart, Hume Cronyn and his wife Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead) were gleaned from the MGM roster for the film.
Then, it slowly softens at the same rate as Spencer Tracy's character, George Heisler, regains his humanity.Though it is never said outright, Tracy plays a Communist Party member (the closest they came to saying it was "anti-Nazi"), and that is why he was in a Nazi concentration camp in the first place.
The roles played Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (Paul & Liesel Roeder) were that of ordinary, hard-working Germans who didn't really care much for politics.
This film stars Spencer Tracy as a concentration camp escapee named George Heisler who navigates his way to freedom through the perils of Nazi Germany.
Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy play Paul and Liesel Roeder, a couple who are old friends of Heisler and who befriend him.
Moreover the pathos in his voice was also a little over the top.The standout performances here were from Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a couple from the working class who are enjoying the benefits of National Socialist largess.
It's well acted with Spencer Tracy in the lead roll, with Hume Cronyn, and Jessica Tandy acting as a husband and wife finding out what their new government really is all about.
The story centers around Spencer Tracy's character "George Heisler" hiding from the Nazis in 1936 Germany, not knowing who to trust.Although there's not much action, this is decently-paced with an unusual (and too corny) narrative from a dead man.
The last 20 minutes, which should have been the most suspenseful of the film, instead wound up boring and too melodramatic.What I did find interesting was the very young couple of Jessica Tandy and husband Hume Cronyn.
Several other reviewers discuss the plot of "The Seventh Cross," and a little bit about Anna Seghers, author of the book on which the film is based.
What Seghers gave us in her book, and what the film shows very well, was the condition of the German people at that time – around 1936.
It has often been commented that the Hollywood motion picture got a lot grimmer and bleaker during the years of World War Two, as events round the globe (and the fact they were being filmed as they happened) brought out new cynicism and a willingness to portray the darker side of life.
But to a large extent this trend had its beginnings not in the gritty gangster movie but in pictures that dealt with wartime subject matter directly.Although it is set some years before the war began, The Seventh Cross is incredibly frank and accurate about the cruel and domineering nature of Nazism.
But at least an actor like Tracy can pull that off with some degree of depth and presence, whereas a lesser player would have just been wooden.As for director Fred Zinnemann, much is often made of his background making documentary shorts, but I feel his experience in tense thrillers (which many of his early feature were) played an equal if not greater part in shaping his approach, especially to later gems such as High Noon and Day of the Jackal.
Spencer Tracy headlines a fine cast as George Heisler, an escapee from a Nazi concentration camp in 1936 who has to depend on help from old friends to make his escape successful, all the while not really knowing who he can trust and being actively sought out by the Gestapo.
He finally connects with an old friend (Paul, played by Hume Cronyn - whose wife Liesel was played by Jessica Tandy.) Not knowing that Heisler is a fugitive, Paul and Liesel take him in, and as they slowly discover what's going on, they become his hope and his lifeline.There are some major weaknesses to this, unfortunately, which prevent it from being a first-class film.
Probably because of the sudden focus on the quasi-romance, Heisler's ultimate escape comes across as surprisingly (and disappointingly) easy and undramatic.Aside from the believable portrayal of the bleakness of life in Nazi Germany, the movie is probably most surprising for offering at the same time a rather hopeful portrayal - the point is repeatedly made that not all Germans are soulless Nazis, and there are many individual Germans who take great chances to help Heisler.
Seven men escape from a concentration camp in pre-WW2 Nazi Germany.
The Nazis place seven crosses in the courtyard of the camp, with orders that each captured escapee be put to death on them.
That man (Spencer Tracy) must try and find help so he can escape the country, though his experiences have made him cynical that there are good people left in Germany.Fascinating film with a nice script, fine acting, and beautiful cinematography by the great Karl Freund.
Seventh Cross, The (1944) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Hard hitting Ww2 drama has Spencer Tracy playing one of seven men who escape from a concentration camp.
Zinnemann does a great job directing this film and what I loved most is the fact that Tracy's character is under constant threat of being captured and sent back to the camp.
Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy play a husband and wife who Tracy goes to for help.
In this Film, Spencer Tracy Plays a "Leftist" that was Incarcerated in a Concentration Camp in 1936 and Along with Six Other "Undesirables" Escapes and Becomes the Last One Still on the Run.This is the Backdrop of this Stylish, Depressing, and Clear-Eyed Portrayal of Germany, its Citizens, and the Glimmer of Hope that Remains Deep in Their Souls as the Nazis Offer Employment while Stealing Freedoms.The Direction from Fred Zinnemann and the Cinematography of Karl Freund along with a Spectacular Cast (even down to the Extras) make this One of the Best WWII Era Movies that Attempted a Story Based on Life During Wartime.Spencer Tracy's Sombre, Determined Lead Performance is Enhanced by Everything Around Him that Plays Out in an Almost Surreal Environment Involving the Situation that Germany's Citizens Deal with in Everyday Life.
In the Quiet Desperation and a Robotic Surrender to Their Plight Enters Tracy as a Homeboy Seeking Help from Friends.Here is where the Movie is More Complex than Most of its Ilk. It is Thoughtful, Fair, and Delivers a Thinking Man's Story that One Might Call Anti-Propaganda, for it is Even Handed in its Message and its Portrayal of Ordinary People Placed in Extraordinary Situations.
But then again there are wonderful performances throughout the film, none more so than by Hume Cronyn who adds some levity to the seriousness, but also is able to act like a true person, not a Hollywood actor.
The movie very deftly captures the tension and fear that existed in the mid forties in Germany.Spencer Tracy is no doubt a great actor.
Spencer Tracy in an earnestly pensive performance, playing one of seven concentration camp escapees in 1936 Germany who are hunted by Nazi soldiers.
Some other friends, played by the husband and wife team of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, help Tracy out without hesitation, even after Cronyn is picked up by the Gestapo for questioning.In the end, Tracy will escape, as we knew all along.
"The Seventh Cross" (1944) directed by Fred Zinnemann is a free adaptation from a novel made eight years before about concentration camps in Germany, during the national socialism reign in 1936.
For a movie directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Spencer Tracy, I must say I was disappointed by the underwhelming effect of THE SEVENTH CROSS.First of all, the opening narration is by a dead man (Ray Collins) who was one of the unfortunate escapees from a Nazi concentration camp.
Worth mentioning are Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as an unsuspecting married couple who are naive enough to get caught up in Tracy's predicament.Fred Zinnemann doesn't give the picture enough tension throughout to keep the suspense taut and tight.
We follow the plight of one of the prisoners – Spencer Tracy (George) – as he attempts to avoid capture and escape the country.The film starts off with a narration by Tracy's fellow escapee and leader of the breakout - Ray Collins (Wallau).
"The Seventh Cross" is a film I have a watched a number of times, because it stars one of my very favorite actors -- Spencer Tracy Supporting actors include Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy -- real man and wife, and this was their first film together.
The supporting actor of note was Ray Collins (of later "Perry Mason" fame), one of the Concentration Camp victims here, who doesn't survive, but posthumously continues to narrate the film.This was one of Fred Zinnemann's early directorial efforts, long before "High Noon".
The Nazi commandant vows to find each escapee and hang each on another of the 7 crosses (hence the title).The focus then shifts to Tracy, who also has, perhaps, the least dialog of any of his screen roles...because he is a man alone.
Tracy's character does escape Germany and he regains his faith in humanity...although the ending is quite abrupt.Among the supporting actors of note were Signe Hasso (good and simple performance), Hume Cronyn (as a loyal friend; good performance); Jessica Tandy (as Cronyn's wife, also a good performance); Agnes Moorehead (in an odd role for her); and Herbert Rudley (as a loyal friend, played well).This is a very well done movie, and many will want it on their DVD shelf.
Spencer Tracy moves from one of seven concentration camp escapees back into joining the human race..
That losing the will to live is why the narrator in the film says he got him out of the camp when he did.Watching Tracy slowly regain his humanity as friends (like the wonderful Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy) and strangers (like the terrific Agnes Moorehead) help him is very special.It is similar in theme to the very popular relatively new YA novel Markus Zusak's _The Book Thief,_ in that both depict "good" Germans and a Germany where there are some who will do the right thing.
Because Tracy's character is so detached at the beginning of the film we need the narrator telling us why we are seeing what we are seeing play across his face.
*That* would have been something!) _The Seventh Cross_ is a very good film.
The Seventh Cross is a film based on a novel by Communist author Anna Seghers.
Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy got their first notice in The Seventh Cross.
And this has to be one of the only films where Kurt Katch was not a Nazi, but a member of the underground.Two things always stood out about The Seventh Cross.
I recently viewed "The Seventh Cross" for the first time in many years and was favorably impressed both with the level of the acting, particularly Tracy, and the suspense that the filmmakers were able to generate in telling the story.
By the time MGM got around to releasing "The Seventh Cross" in 1944, the so-called "Final Solution" was well underway in Nazi-occupied Europe, but the horrors of the death camps were not generally known to most people in the United States until Allied troops entered German in the spring of 1945.
George Heisler(Spencer Tracy)is one of seven men that escapes from a Nazi concentration camp.
I don't think anyone would dispute that Paul Roeder (Hume Cronyn) was a good man, but his conversation with George Heisler (Spencer Tracy) about how he had prospered with Hitler in power was disturbingly revealing.
***SPOILERS*** Tense drama with a number-7-of prisoners escaping from a Nazi concentration camp circa 1936 who are being tracked down by the Gestapo and when captured crucified for their "crimes" against the state.
As the film progresses George finds out just who his friends are by them willing to risk their lives and safety of themselves and their families in getting him out of the country before the Gestapo gets their hands on him.It's a tough grind for George with almost all those who try to help him end up getting arrested and sent to the local Nazi concentration camp in many cases being both beaten and executed.
George finally gets help from his friend factory worker Paul Roder, Hume Cronyn, who after finding out he's an escapee from a concentration camp does everything to help him get legal papers and a passport, from the local anti-Nazi movement, to ship him out of Nazi Germany.
George finally makes his escape from Nazi Germany via a Dutch freighter in the dead of night to start a new life in free Holland.
The seventh is reserved for Spencer Tracy, who slouches grimly through the movie, visiting places and people who might help, trying to get a place to sleep, enough money and forged papers to leave Germany, and -- above all -- those prison clothes he's wearing.It's not one of Tracy's better performances.
Hume Cronyn is fine as the cheerful factory worker who wants to help his friend, Tracy, but has his family to think about. |
tt0076070 | The Gauntlet | Ben Shockley, an alcoholic cop from Phoenix, is well on his way to becoming a down-and-out when he is given the task to escort witness Gus Mally from Las Vegas. His superior, Commissioner Blakelock, says that it's a "nothing witness" for a "nothing trial." Mally protests that they are both set up to be killed in a hit, which a jaded Shockley doubts. Mally soon reveals herself to be a belligerent prostitute with mob ties and is in possession of incriminating information concerning a high figure in society.
Her suspicions are confirmed when the transport vehicle is bombed and Mally's house is fired upon. Shockley and Mally are then pursued across the open country with no official assistance and with the police force regarding them as fugitives. They kidnap a local Constable, who they then let go, as Mally knows there'll be another hit. The Constable dies at the hands of several men armed with machine guns. They eventually run into a gang of bikers whom Shockley threatens with his revolver sending them on their way, confiscates one of their modified Harley-Davidson motorcycles and takes off on it with Mally.
It is revealed that Shockley's boss, Commissioner Blakelock, wants both of them dead, because Mally knows about Blakelock's secret life. Assistant District Attorney Feyderspiel is involved with the plot to kill Shockley and Mally. Both of them are also blamed for the death of the Constable.
The two ride the commandeered motorcycle into a town where Shockley and Mally are ambushed by a helicopter filled with cops sent by Blakelock who pursues the two away from the town and onto the open road, firing at them from above. During the high-speed pursuit, the helicopter accidentally crashes and explodes and the two then ditch the damaged motorcycle and hop on a train on which, coincidentally, the same two bikers whose machine they had "borrowed" are riding. The bikers attack and assault Shockley and later attempt to rape Mally, whom they pin to the floor but the wounded Shockley soon grabs hold of his gun and subdues the bikers, roughly knocking them and their girlfriend off the train. Shockley and Mally both realize that going back to Phoenix will be suicide, but it's the only way to prove their innocence.
The two hijack a bus and outfit it with a crude set of armor made from scrap steel, now aware of what awaits them in town. They are about to enter Phoenix when Maynard Josephson, an old friend of Shockley's, warns the two of a gauntlet of armed police officers that Blakelock has set up to "welcome" them. Josephson convinces Shockey to turn himself in to Feyderspiel whom he thinks is an honest broker. As the pair follow Josephson out of the bus, Josephson is shot from a nearby building and falls, presumably dead, and Shockley is hit in the leg.
With no other option, the two return to the bus and enter the town and the bus is shot at as it runs the titular "gauntlet" of hundreds of armed officers lining both sides of the road, firing thousands of rounds into the bus, until the bus reaches the steps of City Hall, finally immobilized. The two emerge from the riddled bus and surrender, but Shockley uses Feyderspiel as a shield, in order to have him confess that Blakelock is corrupt. The enraged Blakelock shoots at both Shockley and Feyderspiel, wounding the former and killing the latter. Blakelock is in return shot dead by Mally. Realizing Blakelock's crime and having witnessed his wanton killing of Feyderspiel, the rest of the assembled officers do nothing to stop the pair as Shockley and Mally walk away safely from the gauntlet. | cult, revenge, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | A rundown cop who's always on the drink named Ben Shockley is assigned to accompany a foul-mouthed prostitute in Las Vegas to a protection program across the country in Phoenix to testify against highly placed authority figure, although first they have to get through a gauntlet of bad cops and the mob who actually want them both dead.
But this reasonably familiar cop / action film delivers what it intended to do by giving us a taut little road movie across baron landscapes with a tremendous amount of brutally fast-paced shootouts and grand chase scenes.
The Gauntlet is the second of six films that Clint Eastwood did with Sondra Locke, an amount that certainly qualifies them as a screen team of note.
More interesting than she realizes because there are some people who want to make very certain she does not reach Phoenix where the Maricopa County District Attorney has her for a witness.Assigned to the case is Clint Eastwood who is characterized by himself as a tired old time server of a cop.
But to the regret of forces who want to see Locke dead and consider him an incompetent and expendable, Clint fools them all.As a film The Gauntlet goes at a good clip and the suspense from the first attack against Eastwood and Locke does not let up for a second.
Either way Prince is absolutely manic about making sure they never get to Phoenix alive.For fans of Clint Eastwood, The Gauntlet is one of his best films, one of my favorites of his, and something not to be missed..
Clint Eastwood stars as Ben Shockley, a gruff, tough maverick cop (natch!) who is given the task of extraditing Las Vegas hooker Gus Malley (Sondra Locke) to Phoenix, where she is to testify at a mob trial.
Unfortunately for Ben, the mob have connections in the police force, and what seems like a simple job at first turns into a fight for survival against the odds.It would be easy to fault The Gauntlet for its incredibly dumb premise—the finale, in which Shockley and Malley must run a gauntlet of heavily armed police in order to reach city hall is preposterous in the extreme—but a lack of credibility is actually the least of this film's problems.
Clint Eastwood's bland action direction is partly to blame, the star failing to generate any sense of excitement despite numerous situations in which certain death seems like the likely outcome for Shockley and Malley; the film's biggest drawback, however, is Sondra Locke, who couldn't act her way out of a paper bag if her life depended on it, and who doesn't even have the looks necessary to excuse such a lack of talent..
STAR RATING: ***** Unmissable **** Very Good *** Okay ** You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead * Avoid At All Costs Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood) is a washed-up, typically loose cannon (well, he would be played by Eastwood!) detective whose best mate goes by the name of Jack Daniels (if you know what I mean!) who gets assigned to transport a volatile prostitute named Gus (Sondra Locke) across state to testify in a trial.
Cue the typical explosions, gun-fights and general mayhem that you all payed to see...Legendary British film critic Barry Norman once stated that, among his many fallings-out with many famous, high-profile Hollywood stars (including the likes of Robert De Niro and John Wayne!), he actually made friends with Clint Eastwood by providing him with some refreshing frank honesty as opposed to all the pompous butt-kissing he was used to receiving from the publicists and hangers-on around him.
When he asked Norman what his feelings were having just watched a preview of The Gauntlet in his professional capacity as a critic, obviously expecting another delivery of 'yeah, Clint, it was great, you're fantastic', he was instead hit with the blunt truthful opinion: "yeah, it was okay, but it was a bit preposterous." And I can see what he means...Thinking about it, I actually think Eastwood's enduring longitivity has been down to how safe he is.
The big part for Sondra Locke, who plays Augustina "Gus" Malley, was dealing with a very tough cop, Clint Eastwood (who plays Ben Shockley).
Both have to deal with a Phoenix police commissioner who thinks he is going to be good on the outside---but very sneaky and nasty on the inside.Throughout the movie, it seems like Sondra is almost like an "Annie Oakley" of some kind especially when she carries a gun...and it was scary to find out that Gus was targeted for death by several parties around Arizona and Phoenix if she tries to testify in a wasteful trial.This "Gauntlet" flick may not be "Mission Impossible", but Ben accepts an assignment from the commissioner that cannot be revealed at all except by him and the commissioner.
You see the chase on a variety of angles--close up, panoramic, cutting away, and zooming in.The fight scene on the freight train between the crazed bikers, Ben, and Gus reminds me of the phrase "Throw Momma Off The Train"---but even more than that---it reminds me of Clint Eastwood's appearances in spaghetti westerns like "A Fistful of Dollars."The soundtrack in the flick reminded me of Charles Mingus's jazz style..
Although I'm sure it was fine for the 1970s, a lot of stuff has blown up in the last 25 years -- including in some fine Clint Eastwood films such as Unforgiven and In Line of Fire.I'm an action movie guy, so I didn't require a deep drama to enjoy this film, but I just couldn't get through it, primarily thanks to Sondra Locke -- or maybe it was just her character as written.Who should see this film:-- nobody-- feminists under the witness protection program who like to complain constantlyI'll give "The Gauntlet" only a 4 out of 10.
The noisy action, sloppily-staged by director and star Clint Eastwood, consists mainly of thousands of rounds of gunfire decimating a house, a constable's car and a stolen bus (when the police shoot up the car, why doesn't anyone bother to look inside for victims or open the trunk?).
Clint Eastwood directs and stars as alcoholic and undistinguished Phoenix cop Ben Shockley, who is given a seemingly routine assignment of escorting a prisoner(Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas back to Phoenix to stand trial.
Shockley then decides he will bring in his witness, no matter how many attempts on their lives are made(and corruption in the police department is revealed), even if they have to drive an armored-plated bus(and survive the gauntlet of police) by city hall to safety.Though filled with action, and peppered with salty dialogue, this film becomes increasingly preposterous, leading to a truly stupid, heavy handed finale.
Again, in not much stretch of acting ability, Eastwood lowers the ranks of Mr Harry Callahan, playing a drunken loser of a cop, Ben Shockley, who becomes a pawn for murder, while transporting a female prisoner (Locke) who is first thought to be a guy, thanks to a name mix up, or could it be he was given the wrong message on grounds that Shockley may of not accepted the job if it was a guy, as this prisoner is a witness to a mob hit, involving crooked cops.
Nevertheless, for Clint Eastwood fans it probably packs enough in it to make them happy...all others consider twice before watching.Eastwood had just finished making his third Dirty Harry film when he then made "The Gauntlet".
If you like preposterous, over-the-top action movies, Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet may just be for you.
Watch this if....you don't mind a far fetched action film with Clint Eastwood recycling his role as a run-down, fed up cop.
Plenty of over the top action and bullets if that is your thing.Acting/Casting: 6* - You get exactly what you would expect from Eastwood in his lead role as the cop who must get a key witness from Las Vegas to Arizona to testify.
All considered, the action sequences are still pretty impressive considering it was made in 1977.Plot/Characters: 6* - Vegas has bets down on whether Clint Eastwood can get a key witness from Las Vegas to Arizona alive to testify for a trial and the odds aren't in his favor.
In supporting roles, Pat Hingle has nothing much to do as an even remotely realistic character and as Eastwood's persnickety, worried-mother precinct pal, and William Prince sits and stands in some very well turned-out suits as the highly placed overseer of exceedingly well consolidated criminal activity representing the use of lawmaking command by government officials for illicit secret advantages and vice within Eastwood's department.Maybe a more tolerable way to view the movie is as a fun satire of the police, most notable for its set pieces, but I suppose what draws me to Clint Eastwood's work as a director, his explorations of morality and outsider themes, is more than a foolish streamline of worn-out plot and pigeonholed characters.
**SPOILERS** Given the assignment to bring in a witness from Las Vages to testify against Arizona mobster Deluca disheveled and somewhat inebriated Phoenix detective Ben Shockley,Clint Eastwood,at first thinks that it's like what the new police commissioner Blakeock, William Prince, told him.
The person he's bringing back to testify is nothing more then a nothing witness for a nothing case; how wrong that turned out to be.Picking up Agustina, know to everyone in the movie as just plain Gus, Mally (Sandra Locke) at the Las Vages lock-up Shockley is confronted with a scared to death hooker who tells an uninterested and by the books cop that there's a contract out on her.
What he didn't know is that his superior commissioner Blakelock wants him to fail in having his prisoner not make it back to trial because her testimony will end up putting him behind bars for the rest of his life.Obviously made for laughs, you can't take this movie seriously no matter how hard you try, "The Gauntlet" is undoubtedly one of Eastwoods' early attempt at doing comedy and in a way succeeds even beyond Clint's wildest dreams.
By having him and his then girlfriend Sandra Locke run the gauntlet as the entire Phoenix PD and Arizona highway patrol, as well as reinforcements from the neighboring states, try to stop Clint & Sandra or Shockley & Gus. The movie ends with two making it back home and alive to the Phoenix City Hall with the goods, protected witness Gus Mally, on the sleazy corrupt and mobbed up police commissioner Blakelock who by then had, with all the stress and frustration he went through in the film, gone so completely off the wall that he would have easily gotten off with an insanity defense..
If you like Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, and the rest of the cast I've mentioned above and the Dirty Harry series and exciting non-stop action films then I Strongly recommend this film!.
'The Gauntlet' is an action thriller starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke.
In the film, Eastwood – playing an unpopular 'Dirty Harry' kind of police officer – must escort a prostitute (Locke) to a trial, at which she is to be a witness.
Clint Eastwood plays a Phoenix cop sent to Las Vegas to bring a witness back to testify at a mobster's trial.
However, it is still a good movie.Clint Eastwood plays Ben Shockley, a mediocre cop who must transport a witness, a prostitute named Gus Malley (Sondra Locke) to a trial against the mob.
The story, which involves Eastwood's cop and a star witness going on the run from both the police and the mob, seems to have inspired countless other action films from the '70s and '80s, but I didn't find it anything special about it.
But this one "The Gauntlet" was certainly a good one to watch and sure it's not one of Clint's tough guy westerns or his bad ass cop movies, still this movie has plenty of action and excitement and thrills even though his character is flawed.
Sondra Locke was outstanding playing the highly uncooperative Gus.Though this movie contained more violence than any gangster movie I've seen.The best parts of the movie when three things get shot to pieces: The house, which Shockley was barely able to escape, The police car where the constable was blown away by the mob.
The Gauntlet (1977)Plot In A Paragraph: A cop (Eastwood) is assigned to escort a prostitute (Sondra Locke) into custody from Las Vegas to Phoenix, so that she can testify in a mob trial.
But a lot of people are literally betting that they won't make it into town alive.Assuming joint actor/director responsibilities for a fifth occasion, Clint Eastwood directed himself and Outlaw Josie Wales costar Sondra Locke in what essentially is a screwball comedy masquerading as an action adventure.The pacing of the movie is tight, the dialogue cracking with crude insults and snappy banter and the action is well staged too.
But I certainly enjoyed watching that scene.Clint Eastwood's film is about a rugged alcoholic cop who seems to be going nowhere in life.
We also get some good supporting turns by Pat Hingle and William Prince who was Commissioner Blakelock.Overall, the Gauntlet is an absurd, over-the-top action movie and the film will never let you forget that.
Intended essentially as a piece of slick entertainment rather than a gritty, realistic message movie to be taken seriously, The Gauntlet just about works it's mojo on the level it is pitched at.Obviously, no one could realistically survive the sustained hail of bullets that Eastwood and Locke do throughout it's running time and no law enforcement agency in the civilised world would be allowed to dispense such apocalyptic firestorms at just two people.If you accept that this film is, at its core, a shadowy cop fantasy flick rather than a neo-realistic expose of, say, police corruption, then you may get a fair deal of enjoyment out of it.
The audience even out paces Locke in identifying the villain, while Clint is still on the phone.Eastwood's direction is steady, especially in the action scenes, and the film moves along for a mindlessly diverting two hours.
if only it were that simple for Detective Ben Shockley(Clint Eastwood),who's assigned to escort the witness from Las Vegas to Phoenix.but as it turns out things are not that simple.what follows is a good mixture of action,excitement,good acting,funny one liners and good dialogue,and a well developed story.i enjoyed every moment of it.the ending is especially good.Eastwood not only stars in the film (with Sondra Locke)but also directed as well.overall,this is a very good effort,and well worth the watch.Clint can obviously play a cop whose last name is not Callahan,without reminding you of said cop.for me,The Gauntlet is a 7/10.
Eastwood and then live-in lover Locke make a good team, keeping everything light and breezy.Setting Shockley up as a fall guy, the Phoenix police commissioner sends him to pick up a prisoner in Vegas.
Shockley and Gus jack a bus, empty it of passengers, then Shockley puts armor on it to defy the army of cops lined up on each side of the street to kill him and his prisoner.Sondra Locke, who later seemed to use her romantic ties to Eastwood for self-aggrandizement, does some fine acting in this film.
DVD review.A cop (Eastwood) brings a hooker (Locke) to City Hall but the mob and police are after them.Not as good as the Dirty Harry movies but is watchable.
The Gauntlet is all of these and more, as Shockley and Mally start off as captor and prisoner and soon find themselves allies against implacable enemies.It's full of terrific characters and moments: the Commissioner (a chilling William Prince) telling Shockley that Mally is 'a nothing witness for a nothing trial'; Shockley and Mally's car ride with the lecherous cop (Bill McKinney), a sequence which is practically a short movie in itself; the night-time argument in the cave, Ben and Gus illuminated just by firelight; the encounter with the bikers; the long bus ride towards the final showdown.
THE GAUNTLET stars Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in a film with a pretty basic plot and some over the top action sequences.
The high points of the film are it has Eastwood in his usual tough guy role which is always great to see, and there are a few good action sequences, including and exciting helicopter/motorcycle chase in the desert.
THE GAUNTLET (1977) *** Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle.
And, there's no orangutang!Eastwood's humor is more subtle (the only thing about the movie that is) here than in some of his later pictures, and I have to disagree with earlier assessments of Locke's performance, as well -- watch her reactions in the scenes with the Vegas cop.Looking back afterward, I more fully saw the humor in the Leone and Dirty harry pieces, as well.
A lot of "dirty" cops were impersonated by Clint Eastwood during his careers, but Shockley is one of the favorites, because its contradictions (violent and funny, desperate and willing to have a better life, though and ironic) make the character the best thing of this movie (rated 7)..
It's difficult to comment on this film without giving away the ending but it seems that a down-on-his-luck cop (Eastwood) is ordered to bring a jailed prostitute (Sondra Locke) to Phoenix because she is needed as a witness at a trial.
In Phoenix, the alcoholic and mediocre detective Ben Shockley (Clint Eastwood) is assigned by the Chief Commissary Blakelock (William Prince) to bring the witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas for a minor trial.
In "The Gauntlet", as in a number of his other films, Clint Eastwood plays a tough cop.
Basically Phoenix cop Ben Shockley (Eastwood) is assigned to Las Vegas to escort prostitute Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) who is meant to testify in a mob trial.
Eastwood plays Shockley, a fairly dim-witted detective who must bring witness Gus Mally (Sondra Locke) from Las Vegas to Phoenix. |
tt0101523 | The Butcher's Wife | As a clairvoyant, Marina awaits signs from beyond that her true love, whoever he may be, is waiting for her, somewhere. When New York butcher Leo Lemke shows up on the tiny North Carolina island of Ocracoke, where Marina lives, she is convinced that he is the man predestined to be her husband. After the wedding, Marina moves into Leo's blue-collar neighborhood, where she successfully commiserates with such eccentrics as withdrawn teenager Eugene, frustrated singer Stella Keefover, unlucky-in-love actress Robyn Graves, over analytical psychiatrist Dr. Alex Tremor, and closeted lesbian dress shop clerk Grace. But what Marina fails to grasp about her powers is that she can see the future of strangers far more clearly than her own, and love is unpredictable no matter how many ways you have to look for it.
The film makes use of several phenomena that can be described as occult portents that meeting a love match is imminent or occult tools to help strengthen, seal or bring about love, luck and happiness. These include the sudden "finding" of a ring that would serve as a wedding band, falling stars with twin tails, zig-zagged rainbows and found objects symbolizing a change in the finder's path that will cause it to cross with their beloved. It also popularizes, as the character of Alex Tremor calls it, "a corruption" of a section of Plato's Symposium regarding soul mates, referred to in the movie as "split aparts". In one scene, Dr. Tremor notes an aspect of Marina's visions, and Marina says: "Women have been burned for less." This is a reference to the witch persecutions in Europe and America between the 15th and 19th centuries, the most famous of which were the Salem Witch Trials, although no "witches" were burned in the Salem hysteria. Lastly, it also references common-use bastardizations of voodoo practices, such as "mojo" bags (or gris gris) and the use of chickens or toads. | paranormal | train | wikipedia | Demi Moore bold to go with the little known Ocracoke, NC accent....
I think that Demi Moore was bold to go with the little known Ocracoke, NC accent because most people will probably (wrongly) think that she was doing a very bad job at a North Carolinian/Southern USA accent.
The Ocracoke accent sounds like a mixture of Brit and Yank, so what you hear Demi Moore doing in this movie is really quite accurate.I also enjoyed the cozy portrayal of the Manhattan (NYC) side street neighborhood life.
It gives me some nice, childhood nostalgic memories to see the happier, day-to-day aspect of NYC life shown in this film.I watch this romantic comedy whenever it is on TV, and I have no complaints about it at all.
I find it to be a sweet, feel-good film with occasional hints at magic realism, but without plunging too far into that iffy genre.I feel that all the players did good jobs, and that the locations and settings felt very true.
Nice production values too.If you like "Moonstruck", then you will probably like "The Butcher's Wife" too..
At first I was bothered by DM's accent (& her blonde hair is a shame) but the sweet script transcends all that.
I think Jeff Daniels is simply brilliant in this film, and Mary Steenbergen too.
I know, I know, it's basically a boiler-plate piece of Hollywood fluff but I really loved this movie.
I am a hopeless romantic and thought this movie captured the essence of falling in love and finding your split-apart...er...soul mate.
:)Jeff Daniels is wonderful as the shrink who can't help himself as his world unravels and falls apart thanks to the whacky Demi Moore character.
Demi is perfect as the ditzy but charming butcher's wife.
I liked this romantic movie just fine.
Demi Moore as Marina is in earnest even though she gets off to a wrong start by marrying a man she "thinks" is the right one, but her feelings aren't based on solid ground as it turns out.
Jeff Daniels is less believable in his role as a psychiatrist and comes across as being more neurotic than his patients!Introverted Stella, played by Mary Steenburgen, is a charmer and her singing is almost the highlight of the film, at least to me.
As well, a certain butcher named Leo is also captivated by Stella's modest ways and they are drawn to each other and soon fall in love.
This only adds to the confusion in everyone's lives and doesn't help solve their problems.The movie isn't a first class romance but if accepted on its own terms it's very enjoyable with a message or two about life and understanding.
Demi Moore (with a blonde do) plays Marina, a clairvoyant who marries a New York butcher believing him to be the man of her dreams.
Once she gets to New York she finds out that while her powers seem to be accurate when she advises other people, she may not have made the right choices for herself...I was forced to watch this movie by my girlfriend and found myself pleasantly surprised.
It's no classic, but is a sweet, enjoyable film (though it's fairly easy to spot how things will work out early on).Over here in the UK the film received a "15" certificate, presumably for the one instance of strong language that actually jars with the rest of the film, and possibly for the lesbian character/s (though they barely touch each other on screen).I sympathised with most of the characters, especially Mary Steenburgen's would-be singer (she has a surprisingly good voice, by the way).
Marina's complete accuracy when it comes to predictions that don't involve her is a little far-fetched, especially when she gets her own life in such a mess.Worth a look if you like low-key romantic comedies with a slightly magical twist (not a large genre!), or if you liked "Simply Irresistible" (1999) with Sarah Michelle Gellar.
What a treat to catch this movie on a HD channel recently; yes, it is "Schlocky-wood", but it's done as a carefully crafted ensemble piece.
The cast has some great moments, especially for Demi Moore and Jeff Daniels.
This is an enjoyable, humorous, ironic, feel-good movie...
you surely won't have to apologize for crude language or over-the-top violence in any scene (well, you will have to get used to Demi's full length blonde hair, and after "G.
This movie is a sweet fantasy with a good message about life, love and destiny.
I usually skip movies with medically-oriented protagonists but the fantasy/psychic elements more than make up for the fact that Jeff Daniels plays a psychiatrist.
Demi Moore is lovely, though the blonde hair is not.
I like the way regular people are touched by magic.
Some people might be distracted by Demi's Moore's accent but I thought it worked well.
The movie deals with psychics in a normal manner for a change.
Unlike so much of TV and movies now, I really liked most of the characters and believed they were good people..
I guess some people are just too overly sensitive and hateful to understand this movie at all.
This is the best performance Demi Moore has ever given in my opinion.
She shows that despite her long time film career she is not the cookie cutter actress most people seem to want her to be.
The accent she uses for this character is wonderfully eccentric and brings a realness to her that really makes her shine in this role.
I loved her in the long blonde hair and flowy summer dresses much more then her typical costumes designed to show off her body.
Demi is sweet and totally alluring in this film and anyone who says otherwise just has a grudge against her.This is a wonderfully whimsical romantic comedy with great acting on all parts.
Mary Steenburgen plays a perfect shut in turned night club singer and sings beautifully in my opinion.
Jeff Daniels is perfect as the semi neurotic psychiatrist whose life is being turned inside out by this lovely psychic.
I think the problem with this film is just that some people tend to take it to seriously and want too much from it.
I wish Demi Moore would play more roles like this instead of crap like GI Jane and Charlie's Angels.
There are people that are homosexual, there is no getting around it, and as long as there are there will be some of that life style written into films.
A movie with a little bit of charm..
This is a somewhat charming little movie starring Demi Moore as Marina Lemke, who thinks she married the perfect husband.
When she returns to her butcher husband's home in the city, she makes a lasting impact on its residents with her love advice, bringing her closer to the real man of her dreams.From what I remember, it's a simple and cliché romantic comedy flick with lesser excitement and lesser suspense.
However, the acting is quite good and you may get a few chuckles here and there from the light comedy.The plot is not incredibly fast-paced, but for a movie at 107 minutes, it's really not too bad to watch.Grade C+.
Demi Moore in a role with high potential and decent solutions.
but a nice story about magic, expectations, true love.
and for the fans of Demi Moore.
because the few ornaments not are so attractive for ignore an old story, sweet, pink, lovely but far to be great about dreams and their clash with reality, compromises and the happiness as result of self definition.
Harmless Fun. Plot in a Nutshell: Clairvoyant Marina (Demi Moore) impulsively marries Leo the butcher, moves with him to New York City and begins to change people's lives for the better with her 'homespun' but sage advice - much to the annoyance of their psychiatrist (Jeff Daniels).Why I rated it a "7": It's charming and cute.
The supporting cast shines - especially Mary Steenburgen and George Dzundza.
Seeing Demi Moore with long, blonde, permed hair was a twist.
Seeing it again recently did not change my opinion, it's still harmless fun.Best Line: Leo (to Dr. Tremor): "Stop (messing) with my life!" Dr. Tremor: "I never touched her!"Would I watch again (Y/N)?
Marina (Demi Moore) grew up on a North Carolina island with her grandma and clairvoyant powers.
Tremor is angered as everybody takes Marina's advise and Leo is beside himself.Demi Moore is blonde.
If you could accept that, then this is a charming little film.
This script was way above Demi Moore's capabilities.
Jeff Daniels, Frances McDormand, and George Dzundza were fine.
Kudos to the movie and everyone in the cast with the exception of Moore..
I have screened this movie for the 4th time.Watching Demi Moore makes it hard to remember she is not acting (re.
Jeff Daniels' character plays a good neurotic.On the pro side, I found the direction fair to midland and the supporting cast excellent.The screenplay is sweetly romantic and sentimental.I did not find the theme overtly pro-homosexual.
Marina can see into people's minds (maybe even their hearts?) but while she is trying to be the guiding influence in the lives of her neighbors her own life is a shambles because she misinterpreted a prophecy concerning herself.
Too bad this movie was not made 20 years earlier with Vittorio DeSica directing and maybe Monica Vitti in the starring role.
Demi Moore stars in a another classic......not..
If the Title "The Butchers Wife" puts you off watching this film count yourself lucky, take the hint and dont bother with this rubbish.
The film is about a simple clairvoiant who marries a butcher after she dreams that her future husband will walk out of the sea.When she moves to New York she meets a group of people who she gives spiritual and relationship advice that turns all their lives around including her and her new husband's.
Demi Moore is a joke from the moment you clap eyes on her, especially in this film, and then of all things, she opens her mouth!
I like my romantic comedic entanglement just a wee dram more innocent, I guess.Downright vulgar, which is sad if only because that vulgarity is the only stand-out feature in the story.
They make it pretty clear that the name of that town is NEW YORK CITY--specifically Manhattan.So again, here we have a sweet tale with no sex or violence and very little language.
Does somebody in Hollywood actually get paid to purposely spoil otherwise "G" rated movies by throwing in just enough immoraity to make them unsuitable for general consumption?Demi Moore shows here that she can be a knockout WITH her clothes on, although I'm not partial to blondes and would ratehr have seen her with her natural color.
Jeff Daniels does a good neurotic.
My only criticism of the casting is that the role of Grace should have been given to somebody who could really sing like Bessie Smith, and then given a chance to do so..
Magic of Butcher's Wife never gets off the ground..
It's always a depressing experience when you can feel magic happening in a film, and then it's never used to its full advantage.
These were exactly my feelings after seeing THE BUTCHER'S WIFE, a romantic comedy with blond-haired Demi Moore.
She plays a clairvoyant with an overactively romantic spirit, who uses her gift for telling the future to act as a matchmaker to assorted residents of a small town, one that resembles a small borough of New York.
She tries out her whim by marrying the first man that touches her clairvoyant heart (George Dzundza), and goes to live and work with him in his butcher shop, hence the title of the film.
Jeff Daniels plays a shrink in the town whose advising is countered by Moore and her fortune telling, leaving him to question her abilities and his own heart (he falls for her too, if you hadn't already guessed).
There are some real wasted talents in this film, including Mary Steenburgen, who is a complete ditz with no real substance except to sing her heart out.
There is some beautiful set design for this film along with a few so-called magical portions, but these sections (precious few that they are) have no connection with the rest of the heavily disjointed script.
When I think of all the love stories I've seen and been touched by, this one doesn't even come close with a ten-foot pole!
Television director Terry Hughes tried his hand at features with this improbable and uneven modern updating of "Marty", with magical overtones and quirky eccentricities--not the least of which is a miscast Demi Moore as a psychic sprite with absurd golden locks.
Moore believes she is fated to marry a lonely but charming butcher (the wonderful George Dzundza, looking a lot more handsome than we're supposed to think he is); after the nuptials however, she begins to have real feelings for another man, yuppie psychiatrist Jeff Daniels.
It's this kind of thinking in Hollywood--that a younger, slimmer man would be a better catch for Demi Moore than a balding, chubby guy like George Dzundza--that sinks most romantic comedies, and nearly does this one in as well.
Daniels is exasperating while trying to shrink Moore's head, while Dzundza's fire is lighted by local spinster Mary Steenburgen, a closet chanteuse.
The film is not the merry romantic mix-up it wants to be, and Demi is too callow to be passed off as this blonde sweetheart (she fails to connect with anyone on-screen, not to mention the audience).
I didn't think movies could be this bad but I kept watching only to see how bad it would get.
Hard to believe they could do such bad work with this good of a cast but the script is so far out there and unbelievable with all kinds of gaping holes and mistakes and ideas and sequences that are not plausible.
Demi Moor does a good job.
Despite a few jumps in logic - like tying up one of the romantic loose ends by making one of the characters an instant lesbian - hmm, wish life were that easy - (and by the way - that's the spoiler) - I thought this movie was a sweet departure from current popular fare.
And by the way, I know Demi got roasted for this role - I thought she was charming, and I'm not generally a big fan..
For someone who likes modern fairy tales, this is a great movie.
Granted, Demi Moore's accent wasn't the best- but I blame that on a bad voice coach- not her.
Basically, if you want a cute, distracting movie with a little bit of the paranormal (Moore plays a psychic- yes, a real one), like urban settings and slightly predictable love triangles with a happy ending, you'll love this one.
This one is for the innocent in the audience- or the people who can overlook one bad point for the big picture, because in the long run, this movie is awesome.
I can't denigrate this feel-good movie.
It's a harmless, little romantic comedy that entertains and delights me.
I watch it every time it's on TV.Demi's character conveys mystery and innocence...and the blonde hair is most suitable to that end.
Plus it foreshadows (spoiler) that Jeff Daniels (also blond) and she are meant for each other.The gay parts are subtle and sweet...I take no offense at all and am surprised that others do.I no longer expect perfection in any movie.
Having said that, if you just want to be entertained and need a break from violence, cursing, and nudity....give this movie a try..
When the dust settles a number of love lives will never the same - including the life of the butcher's wife herself.
This film is not very highly regarded, and there are some good reasons for that, but I enjoyed it a great deal.Demi Moore was the wrong choice for the lead role.
At least her accent wouldn't have leapt all over the map.However the supporting cast are mostly excellent, with interesting and quirky New York characters.
And then later, from another character: "Why are you f'ing with my life"- to which the response comes back: "I never touched her!" There were parts of this film that were syrupy, but with the acidic script it avoided sugar-coma for the most part.
Moore can be pretty as a blonde but totally fails when it comes to energize the movie !
this re-cut makes me HATE whatever soulless machine took over Hollywood and sucked the life out of ALL entertainment.They need to STOP destroying the best movies ever made ("they" did the same to "Miracle on 34th Street")SHAME ON THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1.
The Butcher's Wife is a poor film by so many standards it is difficult to list them all.
I find it immensely re-watchable.Firstly, I think Demi Moore is horribly miscast.
It almost needs an "unknown" to take this lead role, and also someone who can convey vulnerability and innocence - which frankly isn't Demi in this role.Secondly, I am also unsure of how effective Jeff Daniels is in his role.
But the script doesn't help.However I love all the secondary characters - particularly the Stella/Leo story and the Grace/Robyn story.
Basically feels like a TV movie.There is just something in the back of my mind saying if only they gave it a good script-editor, decent director and cast, then everyone else would understand why I like it.
"The Butcher's Wife" has an original story about a girl who can see things that will happen in short future.
She marries the butcher in the get go and they develop awkward relationships with people from the neighborhood.
People change pairs, shrink ends up seeing the psychiatrist and some other weird stuff.
This is a light fantasy comedy made for chicks that won't be enjoyed by many like it wasn't by me.
Maybe if you're in a good day and every romantic thing makes you happy you may like it-- or maybe not. |
tt0107819 | Philadelphia Experiment II | It is nine years after the events of the first movie, and David Herdeg (the survivor of the Philadelphia Experiment), having since settled down with Allison (the woman from 1984) is living alone with his son, Ben, following Allison's death. His business is slowly failing, Ben's school attendance has dropped and the banks are threatening to foreclose on his house; however, he refuses financial help from Professor Longstreet, the original project director, in exchange for rejoining the Navy. In addition to this, he has also been having painful experiences which Longstreet rationalizes as stress-related hallucinations. Unbeknownst to Herdeg, however, Longstreet has been doing some research of his own.
In a demonstration, engineer William Mailer (son of Friedrich Mahler, a Nazi scientist who worked on a project similar to the Philadelphia Experiment) uses the technology as a demonstration for a potential teleportation attack-defense strategy. The concept was to "beam" a bomber into a high-risk area to surprise enemy air defenses, attack and escape before they could react. To demonstrate, he beams a model aircraft from one end of the room to another. Despite getting significant interest, Longstreet manages to convince the panel that the technology is too dangerous to use. It is then revealed that Longstreet himself gave Mailer the necessary equipment - on condition that they be used only for test purposes. It is these tests that David is experiencing.
Herdeg, meanwhile, is furious to learn that Longstreet has lied to him, and packs to leave California, hoping to get far enough away from the experiment. Meanwhile, Mailer, on the clock to vindicate his work, attempts to use the technology on a stealth F-117 Nighthawk they were using as part of the demonstration. The Nighthawk disappears, and David finds himself in agony as the world around him changes and his son disappears. David finds himself on the run from armed forces and is rescued by Jess, a member of an underground resistance group, who explains that Nazi Germany won World War II and the United States are about to mark 50 years as a Nazi conquest. America is under authoritarian rule, with its citizens surviving under an oppressive dictatorship. David is horrified to learn that his son no longer exists.
In this alternative timeline, Germany won the war because it had a futuristic aircraft called the Phoenix, to deliver atomic bombs, destroying Washington, D.C., and other major targets on the east coast. The United States became demoralized and eventually surrendered to Nazi Germany. The Phoenix was destroyed in the explosion and Friedrich Mahler, the scientist who took credit for building it, was ridiculed since he was unable to reproduce "his" successful design. The aircraft was, in fact, the same F-117 from Mailer's experiment, accidentally sent back in time.
The first test of the device was to transport an F-117 with a payload of nuclear weapons to Ramstein Air Base in Germany. While the aircraft was successfully teleported to Ramstein, it was also transferred through time, arriving in 1943 Nazi Germany (the US pilot's fate is unknown). Mahler finds it and tells the Nazis that it is his invention.
Because of Herdeg's unique blood, he is recruited by Longstreet - the leader of the rebels in this timeline - to go back and prevent the alteration to the timeline. During an attack on the base, their commander, Mailer, seemingly joins their side - however it is a ruse to go through back in time and warn his father about what will happen during the initial bombing and how to avert it, and he betrays them, leaving them to be ambushed by Nazi forces as he opens a portal for himself. Herdeg follows him through the portal as the other rebels, Jess included, sacrifice themselves to buy him time.
Herdeg is warped back to the night before the F-117 (now repainted in Luftwaffe colors) launches to attack Washington and successfully destroys the aircraft. However, Mailer attacks him from behind and tries to kill him as he is leaving in revenge for ruining his plans. Herdeg shoot and kills Mahler and his son, Mailer, is erased from the timeline. Since he was never born, the grandfather paradox erases the aircraft teleportation project from existence and restores the timeline to normal. Herdeg travels back through the time portal and picks up his son at a baseball game - and waves to a now-alive but bemused Jess. | alternate history | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0092695 | The Brave Little Toaster | Toaster is the leader of a group of appliances consisting of an antique radio, a gooseneck lamp, Lampy; an electric blanket, Blanky; and a vacuum cleaner, Kirby, who belong to their master, Rob. They wait every day at Rob's cottage for his return with an increasing sense of abandonment, causing Blanky to hallucinate about finally seeing Rob return. One day towards the end of July, the appliances are devastated to learn that a real estate broker is selling the house. Not wanting to accept the fact that the Master would abandon them, Toaster decides that the group should head out and find Rob. The appliances connect a car battery to an office chair pulled by Kirby and set out into the world, following Radio's signal broadcasts from the city, where Rob lives.
On their journey, the appliances encounter numerous harrowing adventures where they learn to work together. Shortly after stopping to rest within a forest, a nightmare where Rob and Toaster get tortured by an evil smirking clown dressed as a firefighter followed by a violent storm during nightfall wakes Toaster and the others with the storm blowing Blanky up into the trees, and Lampy risks his life by using himself as a lightning rod in an attempt to recharge the group's dead battery. After recovering Blanky the next morning, they try to cross a waterfall, but during an attempt to cross it, everyone falls in except for Kirby, who dives after them and rescues them, and the appliances wash up into the middle of a swamp. After losing both the chair and the battery, the group resorts to pulling a disabled Kirby through the swamp. After losing their balance and almost drowning in a mud hole, they are rescued by Elmo St. Peters, the owner of an appliance parts store, where they get scared by a group of partially dismantled or disfigured appliances, who have lost hope and are at risk of being disassembled or sold, almost in a prison-like motif. When Radio is removed from a shelf and about to have his radio tubes extracted, the appliances frighten St. Peters by pretending to be a ghost and flee to the city, while most of the worn-out appliances flee the store and return to their masters' homes.
Rob, who is now living in an apartment as a young adult and is about to depart for college, leaves with his girlfriend Chris to return to the cottage and retrieve the appliances to take with him. After secretly witnessing this, Rob's newer appliances in the apartment become resentful. When the appliances arrive at Rob's apartment, the newer appliances explain that they are "on the cutting edge of technology". After answering Toaster and the other four appliances their question of what they mean by singing their song to them, they kick them into the apartment's dumpster from the window, where they are shortly transported to Ernie's Disposal, a junkyard. Thinking that the cottage has been broken into and trashed, and his original appliances stolen, Rob and Chris return to his apartment, where his black and white television, who originally lived with the appliances, broadcasts false advertisements to encourage Rob and Chris to go to Ernie's Disposal to find Toaster and the other four appliances, and bring them back.
At the junkyard, the appliances are tormented by a maniacal crusher with its henchman, an evil tower crane with an electromagnet that picks up junk and places them on its conveyor belt that leads to the crusher. When they discover that Rob is in the junkyard, they are encouraged that he still needs them after all, and then, they attempt to foil the magnet in order to allow Rob to find them. After being foiled numerous times, the magnet decides to pick up Rob as well as his appliances, and drops them on the conveyor belt. Toaster makes a heroic sacrifice by jumping into the crusher's gears to disable it just in time to prevent it from killing Rob and destroying his appliances. Rob survives and returns back to the apartment with all of the five appliances in tow, including a mangled Toaster. And then, Rob repairs Toaster and takes the five appliances with him to college, along with Chris. | satire | train | wikipedia | What happened to amazing movies like The Brave Little Toaster?
And when I speak of good children's movies I don't mean things like Teletubbies which can mesmerize a two-year old; I mean movies that I can still watch today and adore.
I mean, sure, it's not very adult to have a toaster, a vacuum, a lamp, a blanket, and a radio (JON LOVITZ!!) going on an adventure to find their old "Master," and it may even be considered a little childish to be caught up on your old things-- but forget about the overtones!
There is nothing quite as wonderful as the cuteness of Blanky, the hypocrisy of Toaster, the courage of Lampy, the pride of Kirby, and of course, the wit of the Radio, all rolled into one film-- plus songs, squirrels and frogs etc, a giant angry magnet, an awesome TV personality, and enough colors and fun to warrant a sugar high.See this movie if there is any love inside of you..
That's why we can never find anything!Seems like a lot of people who have posted here have made one of two mistakes:1) They have forgotten that children's minds have not yet been clobbered into creative submission like adults', or2) The adults didn't watch the movie before plunking their kids down in front of the TV and going back to regrouting the tub.While this is a fantasy about appliances, it is also a film about loyalty, companionship, and even fear.
This film is mostly for kids, but I think it has plenty of stuff to keep the adults awake, especially "Rabbit Ears", the black & white TV guy (look closely at some of the pictures he pulls out of the file cabinet).
I watched this film about a thousand times when I was a kid and upon a nostalgia induced viewing of it on the Disney Channel, it has joined my list as one of the most oddly pleasurable films ever made.
A movie that kids love, and then adults can stand to watch with little pain.
Toaster, Lamp, Blankie, Hoover and Radio(I think) all go on an adventure to find their master, who appears to have abandoned them in his old childhood cottage.It seems like this is like an 80s Toy Story or something, only with the appliances coming to life, and having their own personalities.
Like Toy Story, it has a good plot and likable characters.Sure, it has it's dark moments, so parents of young children should take note and check beforehand, but honestly, it only adds to the excitement of the film, and makes you actually care about the characters.The animation may seem quite dated now, but the story in itself is timeless.
It's funny to watch The Brave Little Toaster over the years and see how your tastes change.
This movie is full of hidden meanings which I did not realize when I was young.The first thing I noticed when I watched BLT was how simple the animation looked.
You get kinda desensitized after watching the graphics on Toy Story & Finding Nemo that it takes a little getting used to the animation in BLT.
From the Radio pointing his antenna to Lampy using his cord like hand gestures is brilliant!Story:9/10 Acting:9/10 Animation:7/10 Characters Expressions:10/10!.
I have not watched this movie in over ten years but I still remember almost every scene with great accuracy.
It's hard to find one person who did not watch this movie as a child and even harder to find one that disliked it.This is a wonderful movie.I still get the song "Tooty Fruity" stuck in my head and think of the little toaster sliding down the rail.
Having seemingly been abandoned in their country cottage by their owner, five small household appliances (radio, lamp, blanket, vacuum cleaner, and toaster) set out cross-country on a journey to find their master, a young boy.
Along the way, the five appliances encounter various adventures and trials, like a waterfall, a pond with frogs, and a fat little repairman.In the transference of human emotion to everyday objects, the story's theme is the yearning to be included, to be relevant, to be needed and loved.
I'm not sure why.Entirely appropriate for kids, "The Brave Little Toaster" works for adults too, mostly through its all-too-human emotional themes, and as a pleasant change from real-life actors, their dramas, and their careers..
Although it has a concept that sounds like it would only appeal to children (5 old appliances trek from the long abandoned summer home where they live to find their owner's new home), the film has more than enough to entertain adults too.The characters are very rich, and all develop in fairly deep ways that young kids probably wouldn't even notice.
The songs and dance sequences are forgettable compared to 90s Disney films, but they do entertain and set some great mood.BLT really isn't a kids cartoon.
Pardon the pun ;) I loved The Brave Little Toaster as a child and no doubt I watched it repeatedly, and it's a true classic piece of nostalgia for many.Even at the tender age of six, I thought the concept behind dated electronics being the main characters was a incredibly creative idea.
Watching it again at the age of 27, I have to say I enjoyed it every much as I did all those years ago, if not more so.Would I recommend The Brave Little Toaster?
A name like the brave little toaster might throw you off at first, but this movie turns out to be a surprisingly sweet tale of growing up and moving on..
Disney movies like Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Pinocchio, Fantasia and the Great Mouse Detective and shows like Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Talespin shaped my childhood and I still adore them now.
The Brave Little Toaster was another childhood favourite, and while it has some rather dark moments, it is a wonderful film and I think underrated too, as very few people I know have either seen it or remember it.
But the best asset is the script, with sharp humour and heart-warming sentiment, it was this alone that makes The Brave Little Toaster worth watching.
And even there it's an overall winner, it shows that one doesn't need a high flying budget, the latest technology or big name voice characterisations to make a point and come up with a thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming cartoon flick.Whether this will become a true children's animated classic is yet to be seen, but it's on the right path, and it's ageing really well.
On the whole, it's a nice idea to make some domestic appliances the leading characters in a movie for kids.
There are some good jokes connected with this idea because a new world is created that exists inside human being's world who of course have no idea that their toasters and hoovers are able to speak.Unfortunately, the quality of the pictures is rather poor, the movie is directed with some confusion, and also in the plot there are some holes, some developments which are insinuated but not unfolded then, e.
I can't actually say if this movie is appropriate for kids or not but what I can say is that all of its characters remain very vivid to me now still, 1 month after I watched it - and I'm in my twenties, so I can imagine what an impact this movie could have for a 5-year-old.
And not surprisingly it's still a fantastic movie.The story of Toaster, Kirby (Vaccum), Lamp, Radio, Blanket and their journey to find their Master.
only a few do I always consistently mention as being timeless classics and without a doubt, The Brave Little Toaster is one of the best and one of my favorite children animations flicks of all time..
My favorite would definitely be "Worthless." I must definitely recommend "Brave little Toaster" to anyone who wants to experience a truly unique animated film, to me a classic and one of the best of all time..
The Brave Little Toaster was no doubt my favorite cartoon film as a kid (around 4 or 5 years old), I probably watched it at least 100 times, mainly with my same age best friend.
The entire movie from beginning to end is one of those classic Disney adventures start to stop, and it truly holds true to that time late 80's animation where they weren't afraid to spook kids out a bit, or make people feel sad in a movie, or just draw really imaginative, fluid things.
Even at 20 years old, I still personally love the really random Alice In Wonderland feel to it, the characters really and truly go through so many different feelings, settings, and movie genres that I think it's a great movie that truly introduces kids to many types of films; drama, adventure, family, spooky, etc etc.
In a way, it's a movie that I think the boys enjoy a little more than the girls, and since every cartoon aimed at boys today has to do with robots or digimon, I have to say that The Brave Little Toaster was indeed more imaginative and fun to grow up on than asain anime garbage..
I saw a good bunch animated Disney flicks as a kid, from different eras, and I would say "The Brave Little Toaster" is by far the least Disney-like of them all!
Like a number of films that were actually produced by Disney, this Hyperion Pictures production is a decent family adventure that has held up well for me in recent years.In a rural cottage, a group of living, anthropomorphic appliances reside: Toaster, an electric blanket named Blanky, a lamp named Lampy, Radio, and a vacuum cleaner named Kirby.
When they see a for sale sign put up in front of the house, the Toaster decides to lead the rest of the appliances on a journey to find their "master." After getting the reluctant Kirby to agree to come along, and a bit of a struggle to find means of transportation, the five of them set off on a trek through the country to the city where Rob lives.
Most of the voice acting is good, including the voice-overs from two "Saturday Night Live" stars, Jon Lovitz as Radio and the late Phil Hartman as Air Conditioner (an imitation of Jack Nicholson) and the Hanging Lamp in the shop (based on Peter Lorre).
There's some really good animation here as well, plus some good songs, such as "City of Light" and "Worthless", and the characters get into some very interesting situations on their journey.There are lots of popular animated films featuring anthropomorphic animals, but anthropomorphic appliances?
"The Brave Little Toaster" is probably not quite what you would usually expect from an animated family adventure movie.
Nonetheless, despite its moments of horror, this movie clearly has entertained many kids over the years, and can probably appeal to many adults as well, even if the idea of anthropomorphic appliances sounds childish..
The Brave Little Toaster is a film I loved when I was younger but now, it's just average.
This movie is about five appliances, a toaster, a vacuum, a radio, a lamp, and a blanket who go into the city to find they're master because when he was younger, he wasn't taking care of his appliances.
If you haven't seen this movie, are a fan of Disney, and love a good kids movie that can entertain kids as much as adults, give this movie a watch.
Its one of the best songs I've seen in a movie, and makes the film "worthy" alone.I wouldn't call it great, but for a kid's movie about a toaster, its very watchable.
I think that a lot of people could do themselves a favor and watch this movie and remember where our values came from.
This is a truly remarkable movie both for the quality of the message it gives, the great cast, and its destiny to become a classic that I plan on watching with my children (when that time comes).
I immediately joined this group, of course, and I marveled at the fact that us "cool college kids" are still in love with this movie and remember it as one of the great things about our childhoods.
So while some may think that "The Brave Little Toaster" is just a silly kids' movie, I say different.
THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER: 9/10 = GREAT movieI love this movie.
I do think that some of the scenes aren't appropriate for children like many others have said, and while I respect their opinions, I can't stand people who blanket their kids, sugarcoat the world and then say "okay, here's the lease to your apartment, your car keys, and 4 years of tuition, have fun out there".
The Brave Little Toaster was definitely the king of animation before Tarzan by Disney came out.
If you wondering about the title of this comment, you would have to watch the end credits in the Brave Little Toaster!.
If you are forced to watch it 20 times a day because your evil in-laws bought the movie for your kids, then take heart, you aren't alone.
The Brave Little Toaster is one of my favourite films of all time, for many reasons.
Compared to the heavy hitters in the children's movie sector today, such as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Shrek, The Brave Little Toaster, made in 1987, hardly seems worth the watch.
The animation is smooth and captivating, and the storyline lacks nothing.If you're thinking you need a good children's film and you've seen all the popular ones, go get The Brave Little Toaster.
Though animated more like a saturday morning cartoon than a feature and featuring rather bland character designs, "The Brave Little Toaster" is still better than a lot of other cartoons.
The scene he has with the flower is really beautiful.I was ten when this movie first came out, and I watched it whenever I could on the Disney channel.
Although the same concept had been done before (ie, Lassie Come Home, The Wizard of Oz and similar stories), it had not been done with appliances, and The Brave Little Toaster excels at telling a story, introducing lovable (and odd) characters, and teaching about friendship.
It's an all-around enjoyable film.The basic storyline of The Brave Little Toaster follows five different appliances on a trek across the country (and city) to find their 'master' in the city.
Dialogue like this is done extremely well and directly aimed at children, though done without talking down at them.In conclusion, The Brave Little Toaster is a heart-warming story with a lot of lessons, comedy, music, and adventure that children will appreciate and have already appreciated.
I have seen the original in the past year, and it's still an adorable film.) However, see The Brave Little Toaster.
"The Brave Little Toaster" is another epic journey-type kids movie that I absolutely fell in love with when I first saw it as a small child.
He has such a great heart and is a good hero for kids who watch this film.As I said, this is a good journey film and it feels amazing to accompany the gang on their quest to find their master.I applaud this film by including some darker moments despite the fact that it's a kids movie.
I will always remember "The Brave Little Toaster" and will always love it.
The Brave Little Toaster is a gem of creativity from a team of Disney animators independently of their corporate masters which never got the release it so richly deserves.
In an isolated summer cabin, five anthropomorphic household appliances (a toaster, a vacuum, a desk lamp, a radio, and an electric blanket) wait forlornly in anticipation for the return of "The Master," a little boy whom they formed a bond with before his "2,000 day" disappearance with his family.
For "kids" standards, this was a very dark movie.Two scenes that seems to stick with a lot of people is the "death" of Air Conditioner, who overheats after being ridiculed by the other characters because their master never played with him and when one of the main characters, Lampy sacrifices himself to recharge their dead car battery during a lightning storm.But for me, one of the most memorable and most touching, moving and saddest scene is the infamous flower scene; where Toaster is in behind a shrub and sees a lonely flower under a bright light.
Disch: The Brave Little Toaster: A Fairy-Tale For Appliances was a fun watch.
"The Brave Little Toaster" is an adorable film that will appeal to both kids and adults.
Last night, I happened to come across someone mentioning the Brave Little Toaster, not with words, but a picture of the characters.
I don't understand why, but no other movie I have ever watched in my life has had this same effect as the Brave Little Toaster had on me.
I have watched this movie so many times, I can pretty much recall every single scene into detail, every single one with it's own unique feel to it.The story is about the appliances craving to get reunited with their owner, after they see a man putting up a "For sale" sign in front of the cottage they are currently in.
Despite being household appliances and perhaps not best suited for long outdoor journeys, a toaster, a lamp, a radio, a blanket and a vacuum cleaner all join to start their impossible quest with only loyalty, friendship and hope to guide their way.Although I'm not such a fan of film that I'll watch anything, I did quite fancy this animation because some of the names involved made me hope that while this entertained kids it would have enough for adults maybe not Toy Story style humour but at least something for me.
This movie is one of the many very good films of my childhood. |
tt0028944 | The Good Earth | The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day and follows the rise and fall of his fortunes. The House of Hwang, a family of wealthy landowners, lives in the nearby town, where Wang Lung's future wife, O-Lan, lives as a slave. However, the House of Hwang slowly declines due to opium use, frequent spending, and uncontrolled borrowing. Meanwhile, Wang Lung, through his own hard work and the skill of his wife, O-Lan, slowly earns enough money to buy land from the Hwang family, piece by piece. O-Lan delivers three sons and three daughters; the first daughter becomes mentally handicapped as a result of severe malnutrition brought on by famine. Her father greatly pities her and calls her "Poor Fool," a name by which she is addressed throughout her life. O-Lan kills her second daughter at birth to spare her the misery of growing up in such hard times, and to give the remaining family a better chance to survive. During the devastating famine and drought, the family must flee to a large city in the south to find work. Wang Lung's malevolent uncle offers to buy his possessions and land, but for significantly less than their value. The family sells everything except the land and the house. Wang Lung then faces the long journey south, contemplating how the family will survive walking, when he discovers that the "firewagon" (the Chinese word for the newly built train) takes people south for a fee.
In the city, O-Lan and the children beg while Wang Lung pulls a rickshaw. Wang Lung's father begs but does not earn any money, and sits looking at the city instead. They find themselves aliens among their more metropolitan countrymen who look different and speak in a fast accent. They no longer starve, due to the one-cent charitable meals of congee, but still live in abject poverty. Wang Lung longs to return to his land. When armies approach the city he can only work at night hauling merchandise out of fear of being conscripted. One time, his son brings home stolen meat. Furious, Wang Lung throws the meat on the ground, not wanting his sons to grow up as thieves. O-Lan, however, calmly picks up the meat and cooks it. When a food riot erupts, Wang Lung is swept up in a mob that is looting a rich man's house and corners the man himself, who fears for his life and gives Wang Lung all his money in order to buy his safety. Meanwhile, his wife finds jewels in a hiding place in another house, hiding them between her breasts.
Wang Lung uses this money to bring the family home, buy a new ox and farm tools, and hire servants to work the land for him. In time, the youngest children are born, a twin son and daughter. When he discovers the jewels O-Lan looted from the house in the southern city, Wang Lung buys the House of Hwang's remaining land. He is eventually able to send his first two sons to school (also apprenticing the second one as a merchant) and retains the third one on the land. As Wang Lung becomes more prosperous, he buys a concubine named Lotus. O-Lan endures the betrayal of her husband when he takes the only jewels she had asked to keep for herself, the two pearls, so that he can make them into earrings to present to Lotus. O-Lan's morale suffers and she eventually dies, but not before witnessing her first son's wedding. Wang Lung finally appreciates her place in his life, as he mourns her passing.
Lung and his family move into town and rent the old House of Hwang. Wang Lung, now an old man, wants peace, but there are always disputes, especially between his first and second sons, and particularly their wives. Wang Lung's third son runs away to become a soldier. At the end of the novel, Wang Lung overhears his sons planning to sell the land and tries to dissuade them. They say that they will do as he wishes, but smile knowingly at each other. | avant garde, cruelty, murder, violence, romantic, revenge | train | wikipedia | Many of today's audiences may find little to enjoy in such a combination, or they may be embarrassed by it, but I revel in it, as cinema such as this, which is delivered with such heart and good will is, especially in these times, nothing short of a gift.The issue of non-Chinese playing Chinese characters has already been discussed on these pages, but I can only add: please, viewers, consider the film within the era that it was produced.
The roles are filled by actors who are able to get inside their characters without ever giving the impression that they are `performing,' and their performances are all the richer for it.The story begins on the wedding day of Wang Lung (Paul Muni), a kind and gentle farmer.
(Yeah right, A PEARL!!) Luise Rainer was the beautiful star who had won the Best Actress Oscar the year before for her small role (and what a waste of an oscar) in "The Great Zigfield".
Making a Chinese story with occidental players even if they are of the caliber of Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, Charley Grapewin, and Walter Connolly among others.Perhaps it's partly because the story was written by a westerner, Pearl Buck who got a Pulitzer Prize for her novel in 1932.
That's what you see in The Good Earth, China very big and very full of people, more than she can deal with at times.The Good Earth tells the story of Wang Lung (Paul Muni) as a young man who purchases a wife from a large house where she was a slave.
The woman O-Lan (Luise Rainer) bears him two sons and sees him through all the good times and bad they have, drought, famine, revolution, and a climatic locust plague.Luise Rainer won the second of two consecutive Oscars for portraying O-Lan. She may have set some kind of record in that it has to be the leading player Oscar performance with the least amount of dialog.
Considering this film is about 70 years old, the special-effects crew on this film did a spectacular job.Paul Muni and Luise Rainer were award-winning actors in their day and they don't disappoint here, both giving powerful performances.
The book like the movie is called " The Good Earth." It relates the story of Wang Lung (Paul Muni) a simple Chinese farmer who begins his day with a trip to the 'Great House' where he has taken a slave woman called O-lan (Luise Rainer) and made her his wife.
The Great O-Lan. The Good Earth is a film about love, marriage, family, and the land that you live on.
But more precisely its about faithfulness to those institutions and bedrocks of society as shown through O-Lan and her farming family in China.A wonderful story by Pearl Buck, Great direction by Sidney Franklin and Victor Fleming [uncredited], very good acting headed by Paul Muni, great cinematography by Karl Freund, and special effects 20 years ahead of their time make this a classic.However as good as those elements to this film are the reason The Good Earth is one of the 100 greatest films of all time is O-Lan. O-Lan, O-Faithful O-Lan. How you linger in my memory.
In our modern-day PC culture, it seems downright distasteful to see actors like Paul Muni, Luise Rainer, and Charley Grapewin done up in yellow face to play Chinese farmers (Rainer's bald-faced German accent is especially humorous).
Though it might not pass today's standards of cultural sensitivity, "The Good Earth" makes a solid attempt at a thoughtful and intelligent peek into Chinese culture.Muni and Rainer play the husband and wife of an arranged marriage who struggle together to eek out an existence in a harsh climate.
Muni is good too with a showier role, even if he seems much less authentic as a rural Chinese peasant.The film also makes some interesting and relevant commentary about what wealth and affluence do to people.
It's a testament to something I've always believed, which is that if you take away a person's problems, he's just going to invent new ones to replace them, no matter how comfortable he is or how much material wealth he has.Rainer became the first person to win back-to-back acting Oscars when she received the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance in this film.
An epic movie from Old Hollywood about Chinese farmer Wang (Paul Muni), his wife O-Lan (Luise Rainer), and their struggles with famine, locusts, and greed.
This is one of those movies where you ask the question, "What else can go wrong?" The principle characters, played by Paul Muni and Louise Rainer are wonderful in their roles, even though they are not Asian.
To me, the story is so engrossing the length of the film doesn't even occur to me - I would have liked the ending to be longer, because "Olan, you are the earth" told the entire reason for the story of true love and devotion, to the extreme.....I'm not even bothered by the question so many people asked of why Paul Muni ("Wang Lung") and Luise Rainer ("Olan") were cast instead-of Asians - I had never seen Ms. Rainer in any film, and have no idea why her Hollywood career faded.
Now, I'm not even concerned about that - the STORY, the ultimate entirety of the film's huge scenes and huge cast dismisses any negative comment I could think of, or read.Walter Connolly ("Uncle") and Charlie Grapewin ("Old Father") were perfectly cast and played their roles with great skill.
Buck whose years spent in China as a child of Missionary parents that provided her with deep insights into the Chinese culture and its philosophy, this film adaptation is brilliantly done, both in technically artistry and acting.Wang Lung is a humble farmer grateful for the basics of life: to survive off of his land and to be newly wed to Olan, a servant to a rich and powerful family in the village area.
The Good Earth is based on an excellent story by an excellent author (Pearl S Buck) but what no one seems to notice or care about is that the film's stars were deliberately Caucasian.
Rainer, looking like Meryl Streep in "Sophie's Choice," plays Muni's wife as pathetic and depressed, almost shell-shocked, a one-note performance that won her a second consecutive Best Actress Oscar before she faded to obscurity..
Although there are faults, THE GOOD EARTH manages to hold the viewer's interest in a lengthy film because of George Sidney's smoothly competent direction and the performances of PAUL MUNI, as the naive farmer Wang Lung, and to a lesser extent, LUISE RAINER as O-Lan, his peasant wife.
KEY Luke is fine as the eldest son and TILLY LOSCH makes an interesting, exotic creature as Lotus, the dancer.But the story itself is a bit depressing, since it deals more with the hardships and bitter struggle against nature that all farmers have to endure than it does with any reward they have for their efforts.The big crowd scene at a palace where Rainer almost gets shot as a looter is handled very effectively and, of course, the plague of locusts swarming across the fields is something spectacular to watch.
Paul Muni does a good job and Luise Rainer won a second oscar for this movie..
Buck's famed eponymous novel, is a thudding novelty, and if it were to be made today, surely would come in for backlash of blatant white-washing, Caucasian actors comprise the main cast, playing indigenous Chinese people who uniformly articulate an American English, and distinctive in their exaggerated "Oriental-looking" eye makeup and other trappings.Directed by Sidney Franklin, his penultimate director credit, since he would sink his teeth into a more eminent career as a producer soon after, THE GOOD EARTH is a major player in the Oscar race, nabbing five Oscar nominations and wins its star Luise Rainer, her second and consecutive Oscar win, and would become the longest-lived recipient in the acting branch (she passed away in 2014 at the age of 104), a record now has been challenging by Olivia de Havilland, also a two-time leading actress winner, who is three-months shy of her 101 birthday at the time of writing.It takes some suspended disbelief for audience to accept it incongruous premise, but THE GOOD EARTH is an epic story presented by stunning mise en scène commendably recreating a rural China in the soil of California lot, and a state-of-the-art special effect team conjuring up elemental forces such as tempest, famine and locust plague, all to awe-inspiring effects.
The story unfolds chronologically about a simple-minded farmer Wang Lung (Muni) who marries an obedient servant girl O-Lan (Rainer), in due days they will have three children and sail through the vagary of natural disasters and unexpected fortunes extending over two decades, during which Wang would derail from his humble roots when he is subjugated to wealth and lust, yet, O-Lin, whose heart-of-gold integrity, wisdom and forbearance, avert their family from fall apart at the seams.Pearl S.
Buck's story is an encomium of woman, O-Lin, incarnated with all the traditional virtues Chinese people regard from a woman, a wife and a mother, not to mention in the whole time, it is O-Lin who acts as a linchpin (willing herself to chop their ox during the famine, refusing to sell their land at any rate) when Wang Lung succumbs to indecision or desperation and it is her potluck, after a within-an-inch-of-her-life incident (a striking set piece of mob anarchy shot by an uncredited Sam Wood), revivifies their future during the rigors of famine and mendicancy.
By contrast, Wong Lung, far from a good-for-nothing, but pales in comparison as a human being too often, is lead up to the garden path by his scoundrel uncle (Connolly), who, against all odds, doesn't get a payback he deserves, family is still family, a rotten philosophy needs some upgrading.Two leading performances are fine but not great for this reviewer's money, Paul Muni is a top-notch thespian, but still, playing a Chinese is a big stretch with all due respect; Luise Reiner (who has an uncanny resemblance of Celeste Holm in here), is more sympathetic than electrifying in a saintly role.
At least, several Chinese-American actors are hired, but if one wants to detect any sign of consanguinity between sons and their father, it is a lost cause, in other sense, THE GOOD EARTH is an impressive adaption triumphant in its scale and aesthetic ambition (which means it is in dire urgent for a BluRay refurbishment), its central story might taste stale, but its visual undertaking merits plaudits, plus, Hollywood actually withholds their exploitative guideline in an ethnological portrait, that is not a cinch looking back 80 years later..
At the time of making "The Good Earth" in 1937, Hollywood was just eight years into the modern day of sound movies, or "talkies." So, to put a great book about China on film, MGM would have to use white actors in its lead roles.
The classic locust sequence is still impressive even by today's standards, and there are some shots I don't know how director Sidney Franklin filmed.Luise Rainer, terribly miscast as the strong, useful Olan, gave an odd performance.
'The Good Earth' was another film that appeared in my recommended for you section, and immediately intrigued me with its subject matter, hearing good things about it, loving classic films, because it looked interesting and likewise with the cast (Paul Muni being the most familiar actor to me).It was certainly well worth the watch and lived up to its "good" name, and actually was close to being great.
The characters feel real and the acting throughout is hard to fault.Luise Rainer's very moving performance is one of 'The Good Earth's' biggest strengths, conveying emotions while saying little and those emotions are telling, easily the most deserving of her two back-to-back Oscar wins.
"It is better to be the hammer than the anvil" is a standard fortune that Irving Thalberg evidently took to heart.Thalberg hammered most of Pearl Buck's considerable knowledge of Chinese culture out of his adaption of her Pulitzer Prize-winner, "The Good Earth." Along with three writers and four(!) directors, he reduced her novel to the skeleton of its rags-to-riches plot, and the result is an epic soap opera with some of the best makeup in Hollywood history, subtly creating creased eyelids for Western actors (though nothing was going to make audiences believe Muni or Rainer were Asians).
What's more, in contrast to the movie, the novel's O-lan does not give her husband the jewels she found (or stole) to help their family, he discovers them, takes them and uses them to turn their fortunes around.Softening the character of O-lan probably made the film more successful at the box office, but also reduced the story to a concoction about as authentic and gratifying as a fortune cookie -- invented by an Asian-American, probably also in California..
So much praise has already been poured on this classical epic that it's difficult to find anything else to say, except to underline the marvelous acting by Paul Muni and Luise Rainer, a Chinese farmer and his wife, a former slave, humble peasant people but still totally convincing in their so thoroughly genuine characters..
One usually associates such spectacles with much later films, with special effects or later still, CGI.A few tongue-in-cheek critics have nicknamed this adaptation (which I have not read) of Pearl S Buck's hefty novel, 'the lychees of Wrath' and the human condition set against nature and the landscape is every bit as dramatic as Steinbeck's dust-bowl classic, but, of course, here set in China, though the bulk of The Good Earth was actually shot in Utah and California.Whilst we are never left unsure that these are American actors playing Chinese people, it's done quite sympathetically and well, so it never intrudes, with actress Luise Reiner earning an Oscar, with cinematographer Karl Freund deservedly winner of the other award from the Academy.As far as I could tell, I couldn't buy this DVD as a normal region 2, or at least at a reasonable price, so mine is a Korean release.
Magnificent film with brilliant casting of Paul Muni and Luise Rainer as Chinese farmers based on the Pearl Buck classic.This masterpiece deals with the concept of the importance of land.
Two years later, a similar theme was etched, with the equally epic "Gone With the Wind."Despite being wholesome, encouraging her husband to keep his land and being the dutiful wife to the extreme, wealth changes all that when Muni takes a second wife, only to have scandal wreck his name with his youngest son and the woman.Rainer, who won her second Oscar for this movie, is phenomenal as O-Lan. Her face is etched in pain in an extremely moving performance.
The relationship between him and his wife, played by Luise Rainer, is the main thread of the story(besides the land itself) and despite the obvious non-Chinese actors it does a pretty good job of displaying the country and it's people.
Pearl S.Buck was a brilliant author that was a first American lady won Nobel prize in literature in 1938 and received her prize with Enrico Fermi an Italian Physit.She wrote this romance in 1931 which was a second one after her first novel (East wind and West wind) in 1930 and her beginning in literature was fantastic upon her premier novels.she won in 1935 (Pulitzer prize) in literature on her eternal novel (The good earth) which made a brilliant panorama on the life of Chinese peasant (Wung Lung) and his wife (O-Lane) and their efforts to face the hardness of hard positions in their earth to reach for their big fortune by their shoulders.Paul Muni succeeded in this role as Chinese peasant that he prepared himself in this role upon his sittings with Chinese people in San Francisco in their town to be Chinese exactly as a real and true.Shara Reiner succeeded in her role as (O-Lane) by this brilliant evidence that she won An Academy Awarded as a best actress in 1937..
Paul Muni gives an adept performance as a Chinese farmer living off of the earth, even if by the end of the film the make-up artists decided to stop trying to make him look Asian at all.
Hard-working Chinese farmer Paul Muni (as Wang Lung) takes Chinese slave Luise Rainer (as O-Lan) for a wife, and the two undergo great success and even greater tragedy.
It is because of Paul Muni and Luise Rainer's superb performances that allow the audience to suspend their disbelief and accept these two actors as Asian without hindering the authenticity of the film.Paul Muni puts on another stunning performance, this time as a simple farmer, Wang Lung, who is trying to survive during a drought with his slave for a bride, O-Lan, and children.
Yes, you have to overlook the fact that many of the actors are about as Asian as apple pie (though to be fair, the makeup department probably got them as close as anyone could to looking the part), but the funny thing is that the mixed bag of ethnicities in the cast quickly becomes lost in a grand, sweeping, brilliantly filmed and acted epic story of a Chinese peasant farmer and his family.Muni, who was in a sense the male Meryl Streep of his day, scores big as Wang Lung.
Sidney Franklin's "The Good Earth" has achieved classic status thanks to a timeless story and superb acting, especially from Luis Ranier, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of O-Lan. Rainers performance is so complete, she is nearly unrecognizable.
Buck "The Good Earth" tells the story of a poor Chinese farmer's going from rags to riches.The poor farmer Wang Lung (Paul Muni) marries a spare slave,Olan (Luise Rainer)from the powerful local Hwang family.
The Good Earth is a 1937 film directed by Sidney Franklin and starring Paul Muni and Luise Rainer.
In the central, we have the family of Wang (Paul Muni) who marries a kitchen slave O-Lan (Luise Rainer who won Oscars for the Best Actress) from the Great Hall.
and should have stopped an hour earlier.Paul Muni, the great chameleon actor of the 1930s, plays our hero Wang Lung in this film, a Chinese immigrant farmer who marries a former slave girl and would eventually have three children by her. |
tt1922373 | Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers | Loki has become the ruler of Asgard. However, he doesn't have dominion over Hela, the goddess of death. Loki is demanding fealty from everyone in Asgard. Hela asks Loki for the soul of Thor for her "legions in Nifelheim". Lady god Sif is imprisoned at the ending of the first segment.
Karnilla, the queen god of Nornheim meets Loki in the second segment. She pleads for the release of Balder from imprisonment. In the third segment, Loki orders the destruction of the Rainbow Bridge. In a flashback, Odin defeats Laufey in battle.
In the final segment, Loki refuses to execute Thor and spurns Hela. | good versus evil | train | wikipedia | A thing of beauty.
I loved the comic mini series by Rodi and Ribic that came out some years ago and I love the visual take Marvel Knights have created based on it.
This is not superhero "Hulk smash" material, but a powerful character study of a villain.
As in the comic, the visual rendition is lush, even stunning and the language is beautifully medieval.At approx.
60 min.
runtime, a bit more than 50 if you don't count repeating intros and outros, the animation style is reminiscent of a web comic, yet superior as character sketches are subtly animated and mixed with CGI to create the feeling of medieval cut-outs.Beware, this is not your every day cartoon.
Just as "Watchmen" was the first graphic novel, this may very well be the first cartoon theatre play, the topic being as meta as the two-dimensionality of comic characters.
The creators of this animation are to be commended, as they have tried to make a cartoon for adults only (no, not THAT kind) and succeeded.
It is truly a thing of beauty, a joy for ever..
Visually Great..nice work by Marvel Knights..
Its a must watch for Thor fans, I would say.
Loved the way how they portrayed Thor and Loki, and their differences.
Marvel sure did a great job here on the visuals/animation.
This series has a certain mature feeling to it.
The action could have been much better though, 5\10 for action.
But i loved the whole theme.
There are four parts of the series, each one approximately 20minutes.
All the female characters are surely sexy.Recently I didn't see any interesting marvel animation put in this way, this is more dramatic then the rest, for sure.
The story starts off pretty well with Thor being captured and held prisoner by Loki.
Loki, now the king of Azguard.
So for Thor fans, i suggest you go for it..and enjoy..
Well it looks cool....
I'm sure most people hate the motion comic thing but it looks really good here.
Unfortunately it's Thor and Loki so the dialogue is tedious.
It's classic Thor.
If that type of thing interests you..
Thor & Loki Blood Brothers.
I watched Thor & Loki Blood Brothers mostly out of being curious.
What I saw I couldn't believe because I never seen anything like this before.First off this four episode series is based off a dark comic book from Marvel and watching this you get the felling it was a comic book coming to life.The voice acting is pure you can get the sense the cast were really interesting in doing a good job and they did their voice just goes wowThe writing is very good which is my favorite part of this series each episode has some very well done writing and it makes you go wowThe animation has to be the most original I have seen because it really feels like the comic book was coming to life it goes just have to watch to believeBut the problem with the series is the plot while it does follow the comic it is based off some of it could have been more.
Overall I have to say this was a interesting series if you're a fan of Thor and Marvel you might enjoy.
A Dull Morality Play.
Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers is a four episode motion comic from Marvel Knights Animation that is based on the 2004 miniseries Loki.
It is essentially a character study of Loki (David Blair); Thor (Daniel Thorn) spends the vast majority of the running time as a mute prisoner, with only a few brief flashbacks.The story opens as Loki is celebrating his takeover of Asgard, with Thor, Odin (Joe Teiger), Sif (Elizabeth Diennet), and Baldar (James Hampshire) in chains.
Loki soon learns that ruling an empire is not all it's cracked up to be.
He must mediate in what seems like every petty squabble in the land, and his allies in the rebellion begin to demand payment on his promises used to secure their cooperation.All of this comes off as a cheap Shakespearian tragedy, with Loki brooding and plotting but not really doing anything.
As such, it is aimed at adults more interested in political machinations than teenagers more interested in action.The artwork is the best part of the production.
There is a real sense of dimensionality, and the character designs are quite detailed.
Loki is portrayed as an old man with missing teeth and lined face.
The Asgard warriors are musclebound and the females are full-figured, to say the least.
The superb backgrounds fill the screen with beauty.
However, the limited animation detracts from the overall effect with its jerky movements and static compositions.Each episode is about 20 minutes of story, so I'm not sure why the producers opted to break it into four parts.
It would flow better as an uninterrupted movie.The ending is unsatisfactory.
Completely unsurprising spoiler–Thor escapes and wreaks retribution on Loki.
We don't see what happens to several principal characters or the fallout of Loki's villainy.Thor fans will undoubtedly want to see this production because it adds some interesting layers to Loki's personality and his relationship with Thor, but I can't recommend it for anyone else.
The limited animation, lack of action, and lack of a satisfactory payoff makes this a dull morality play. |
tt0457875 | Ek Ajnabee | Colonel Suryaveer "Surya" Singh (Amitabh Bachchan) is a bitter man and ex-Army officer, hired by his friend and former comrade Captain Shekhar Verma (Arjun Rampal) to protect a little girl, Anamika R. Rathore (Rucha Vaidya), who resides in Bangkok, Thailand with her Non-resident Indian (NRI) family. He drinks alcohol frequently, and is not interested in befriending the girl. Eventually, she wins his heart and he helps her to prepare for a swim meet. One day Anamika gets kidnapped and Surya receives serious injuries in his attempt to prevent the kidnapping. Her father is not able to pay the sum to release his daughter. So Suryaveer uses all his skills to save the life of the child, only to find out about the conspiracy that is behind the little girl's kidnapping. Surya learns that Chang, Shekhar's lawyer, is behind some of this. The real mastermind behind this is Chang's brother. Surya holds Chang hostage, while Chang's brother holds Anamika hostage. When they come to exchange the people, Chang's brother reveals a great secret to Surya. Surya learns that Shekhar was all behind this. Surya kills Chang's brother's men. A great fight between Shekhar and Surya starts. Shekhar is killed, and Surya spends the rest of his life with Anamika and her mother. In the end, Anamika gets a new bodyguard and the film shows her during her swimming practice, with Surya and her new bodyguard 15 years later. | revenge, flashback | train | wikipedia | Black - Waqt - Sarkar - Viruddh Big B has given another dashing performance in this "Ek Ajnabee" I thought plot was wafer thin.
Amitabh has given another good performance, I must say he looked great throughout the movie.
First of all it is a plagiarized movie from Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire'.
Still, I enjoyed it, but the fact that the movie was so shamelessly copied over from a big Hollywood movie without even a touch of hint of acknowledging that left a really bitter taste in my mouth.The only positive message I want to convey to the entire crew involved in the movie is this: Look, you had a great looking movie in the end, with slick action shots, fantastic characterization, really stylish look and feel for the movie.
But hey, just spend some extra time, effort and money to write a script yourself - and you will have a winner on your hand next time!I rate it 8 out of 10 simply it is a good movie to watch.
All was fine while watching this movie until the small girl jumps into swimming pool, and then encouraged by Bachan to swim and after that, gunfire fear talk...
and figured out after a short thinking that yes, but it was the movie named "Man On Fire" last time I watched it...
Some one said rightly "Nakal ke liyey bi akal ki zaroorat hoti hai" (you need wisdom even to cheat), and of course, if the writer had some sense, he would come up with an original idea in the first place...I have only one request to the movie makers...
Please don't waste money on stealing the scripts and filming them, you can rather dub the movie in Hindi and put some songs at end and it will work just as fine...I hope Mr. Amitab knows the fact that the movie was based on the cheated story line....
Being British, this is my first venture into the world of Indian Cinema, having only seen Hollywood films - I was very impressed.Amitabh Bachchan, was excellent as the tall, detached and imposing Suryaveer Singh, and plays his role with supreme talent.The rest of the cast are also very good, Arjun Rampal brings a young hip character to the screen in his portrayal of Singh's colleague Shekhar.The action scenes are extremely well choreographed, and serve his character well.All in all this film is a great movie in its own right, with an awesome feel and an excellent cast.I give this film 10 out of 10, and I will be certainly purchasing another of Bachchan's films.I really liked this film, and I think for me it shows what Indian Cinema has to offer..
I liked the movie for several reasons - the "Creasy" character (who's name I can't type or pronounce) has awesome screen presence, the Paul Stanley (his buddy) looking guy made an awesome villain at the end, and it managed to be a fierce and powerful thriller without any profanities.Okay, so I did think that Ek Ajnabee was a bit TOO stylized (too many complicated camera edits, over-the-top dialogue, people calmly walking in slow motion away from cars as they explode, the hokey special forces flashback scene and, oh yeah - the bad guys just happen to drive a 1970 Pontiac GTO that wouldn't be very hard to spot in Asia!!), but then again most movies that we are familiar with are too, i.e. the US version of Man On Fire, Catwoman, Armageddon, or any other bug dumb action movie...
I wasn't sure what to think when the movie turned into a music video halfway through, and the coda scene "15 years later", the lead character looks EXACTLY the same and is still wearing the same sunglasses!!!
Notwithstanding the 'Man on Fire' comparisons (or any John Woo similarities), cause that's nothing new to Bollywood, it was directed by a hack & maybe put together by people with skills, but severely lacking any talent.
Every single moment of screen time that wasn't a specific scene with dialogue was filled with the crappiest most dated Indian versions of late 90s Eurobeat.
She could at least act & hopefully she will have escaped any emotional damage that might have occurred after she watched the final product...The most singular worst Bollywood film i've ever attended..
6.9 is pretty good i guess and moreover it is a Big-B movie.So why would i miss it?The premise is good enough..kidnappings.and we have our Big-B or Surya as he is called by the sweet Anamika(the girl in-focus) coming in to action.The first half was very sweet and i enjoyed each and every moment of it,because the interactions between Surya and Anamika were really nicely done.After the shock incident towards the end of the first-half,i was ready for really great action from our Big-B.Even though Surya carries off his 'revenge' in style,his pace is something which could have been improved.I meant the slow-speed at which he uncovers clues and finds out what is actually happening around him.And moreover,when Big-B is ready to blast the villains with a machine gun(oo mama),the camera man tries something different and in the end spoils the fun of watching Big-B pumping bullets...give me a break please!!!Everything is at the same slow pace in the second half till the climax.People are in for a triple-shock...that was the good part of the 2nd half.Otherwise it's a boring affair to watch the last half of Ek Ajnabee...Anamika was really sweet.Though i feel the Anamika in the last scene was an idiotic choice(this Anamika is'nt sweet or cute at all).
Arjun Rampal was apt in his role and flexed his muscles when needed.If the second half had been a bit more crisp(excluding the climax) this movie would have certainly gone places.NOTE:I heard this movie is a rip-off,but that never matters.As Big-B's presence more than makes up for the faults in the movie.Watchable once,certainly..
Both had great actor cast with also good acting, though this one had an other plot twist.Arjun acts natural and convincing, Big B did a good job, it's cinematographicaly beautiful and the song 'ek ajnabee' is a nice addition.
Ek Ajnabee is disappointing, the performances, music, script, and directing were all poor.
The stunts were a good point of the movie, if not the only point.Amitabh Bachchan did a good performance, to an extent.
Perizaad Zorabian, Arjun Rampal, and Kelly Dorjee make forgettable appearances.The music is one of the best things about the film, but there aren't many songs.
And thank god there were no song and dance sequences, they would have looked atrocious.Ek Ajnabee is a film you will regret seeing..
This movie is a scene to scene copy of Denzel Washington's "Man on Fire".
They took the whole movie, added songs to it and a little twist in the end.
Other than that, each scene is a ditto copy of the original movie.
The irony is that Amitabh Bachchan, who plays Denzel's role in this movie, said in a promo that "Please watch this movie on big screen and stop piracy"!
On top of that, the script writer(script translator), claims that he wrote this script two years ago but Amitabh didn't like it, so he added a new twist in the end and then Amitabh agreed to do the movie.
Watch the original movie "Man on Fire".
This film is a complete re-hash on Man On Fire, there are some scenes which are a direct lift from the original.
This is one thing that really annoys me about "Indian Cinema", when over the last year we have seen some original and refreshing films along comes another plagiarised script adapted for the Indian audience.
Directors must realise that the audience too has an intelligence, and must avoid insulting it.However, if we look beyond this the film is very stylishly shot in Bangkok and the pace is fast enough to keep one engaged and sometimes even absorbed.
Another thing is the hip-hop style imitation in music "don't be talking to no, stranger means danger?!" I couldn't help but cringe, sincere attempts to this have been successful for example in junior B's Bluffmaster.If you haven't seen Man on Fire please do watch this primarily for Amitabhs performance, otherwise watch the original..
Ek Ajnabee, is a Straight derivation of "Man on Fire" staring Denzel Washington & directed by Tony Scott (The Fan).
Moreover, 80% of the movie is scene to scene copy of the Hollywood original.
He is amazing and has a massive screen presence.This film shall be liked only by the Hardcore fans of Amitabh.
The various Locations were selected perfectly.But I would say that there were many loose ends even in "Man on Fire" which the director could have corrected in Ek Ajnabee.
to justify further, the film makers make all the Thai Characters half Indian & half Thai Origin !!!
She did a real good act.Finally, This film is worth only seeing Amitabh Bachchan & the Trendy Photography - Fast Pace Editing with a psychedelic Background music score, reason to create a good impact on the audiences.My rating 5/10.
should be made to pay all of the profits to the makers of the original film (Man On Fire) and blacklisted by the Censor Board and all Film Regulatory Boards.Bangkok doesn't compare at all to the settings of Mexico where the number of kidnappings of females of all ages is still at the highest.
Also, no one can match the performance of Dakota Fanning in the original movie.My advice to anyone who is thinking of watching this movie.
"remake" of that film with Amitabh starring as Denzel, but dressed oddly like Tom Cruise from "Collateral".
Even the "revenge" scenarios were copied down to the T.Only the "twist" at the end starring the unnecessary Arjun Rampal character (and co-starring his painted-on tattoos) was original...
Watch the original film, my friends.
When she saw Medea,she envisioned it ended with "and they all went to the beach." Having said that, I obviously did not run out and rent a copy of Man on Fire so as to see the parts I had missed.
Today, I turned on the Zee channel, and Ek Ajnabee was playing,again, half way through the movie.
I know it's not very cerebral,but the acting is believable, the characters are well drawn, I loved the little girl and her mother.
Amitabh Bachchan = Great Star + Consumer Goods !.
It's (Amitabh Bachchan)'s coming back to Action movies after quite an absence, and while he's 63 years old.
Actually the matter of copying the American movies into Hindi ones is old and natural.
Anyway, as for (Bachchan), he did it many times before : 80 % of his (Satte Pe Satta – 1982) was from (Seven Brides For Seven Brothers – 1954), 50 % of (Bade Miyan Chote Miyan – 1998) was from (Bad Boys – 1995), and now 90 % of (Ek Ajnabee – 2005) is from (Man On Fire – 2004).
But the man made 22 movie only between 2005 and 2007 (and these are supposed to be his lackluster years !), so he is a living legend and a cinematic machine, however while movies like (Ek Ajnabee) or (Stranger on Fire !) assured how the big B has to be a consumer goods that must be out there just to be remembered, it assured also how the fans of him mustn't wait much of their living legend!It represents the trade's law of the industry "just make movies", yet with the hastiness of one industry "just steal movies", to an extent of being impudence as you witness for bitter instance at the credits of this movie (Manoj Tyagi) as the writer of it, AND its director (Apoorva Lakhia) as the co-writer !??
Especially in a movie took everything from its unspoken-about original : the characters, the events, the dialogue, even the famous style of direction !
Although I knew all along that I was watching a fast shadow of a movie, and that (Bachchan) is commercially saying : I'm here and capable.
It's the genius unity between the charismatic star and the viewer, which confirmed not only my axiomatic love for (Bachchan) as one of the great cinematic icons, or my history of watching him through memorable flicks since I was a kid, but also that he still has it, and to tell you the truth he misuses it too.
(It's only a cooperating officer who managed to hide all of these GOOD crimes, so Abracadabra and Booph !), and seriously if (Arjun Rampal) had a big hand in it, how he left (Bachchan) slaughtering all of his men like that ?, or how he was helping him out with it ?
(Abhishek Bachchan) as the new bodyguard (soooooo ridiculous even by doing nothing, totally the opposite of his dad), most probably it was mutual favor, as his father appeared in one of his recent movies at the time as a guest star also.
But I missed the dramatic originality, the old Bollywood intensive desire to entertain even by the heavy melodramatic marked way (at least it was their personality), any possible depth, any memorable sequences, or performance more than seeing my star in video clip has all the positive and negative meanings of the word, however here..
This is a total rip-off of Man on Fire, it takes every scene and makes it....crappy!
The role of Arjun Rampal was unnecessary, he doesn't help this film at all and Amitabh Bachan tries to imitate Washington but in my eyes he fails....Not something you expect from Mr. Bachan....The only thing that brings this film up is the action sequences..which are okay and Bachans white suit...very stylish and the song 'Mama told me'...Thats about it...
The first thing that comes to your mind after watching 'Ek Ajnabee' is that what on earth is Amitabh Bachchan doing in this film?
The film is an adaptation (more appropriately, scene to scene copy) of Denzel Washington starrer 'Man on Fire'.
The director Apoorva Lakhia (director Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost) also did not forget to add the clichéd Bollywood elements in form of one- two wanton songs, complicated and a senseless climax, though thankfully, there is no model turned actress playing the love-interest in the film.
Collectively actors like Abhishek Bachchan, Lara Dutta and Sanjay Dutt in guest appearances will also not be able to give extra battery life to this film.
High points of the film are fast pace, background music, realistic action sequences and Amitabh Bachchan.
Suryaveer accepts only to find out that it is to protect an 8-year old girl Anamika (Rucha Vaidya), daughter of rich parents played by Perizaad Zorabian and Vikram Chatwal.
A Poor rip off of Denzel Washington's stellar film 'Man on Fire'.
They copied everything from the movie, including casting a saucy little girl to try and imitate Dakota Fanning's acting.
I mean, honestly, the only thing that was original were the forgettable songs in this film.
After plagiarising Bollywood once more, they tried to make this film their own by making the character of Arjun Rampal (the Christopher Walken role from the original film) bad, aging Dakota Fanning's character (who is played by Lara Dutta 15 years later), and bringing on a new bodyguard (played by Abhishek Bachchan).
The only saving grace the director will ever have is if he makes a sequel to Ek Ajnabee, which would star the two new characters they introduced in the end.
The first part of the crime thriller from India - and also a MAN ON FIRE copycat - is absolutely outstanding for the first part, poignant, in the best Bollywood style, but everything collapses in the second part, this time in the worst Bollywood part, I mean a scheme, a style in the pure and worst Hollywood style, with SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS a f...happy ending which makes this feature a pure crap in the overall summary.
Apoorva Lakhia after the fiasco Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost(2003) returned with Ek Ajnabee this time with Amitabh Bachchan(though Abhishek and Lara have guest roles).
It's a remake of Denzil Washington's Man On Fire(2004) and almost a complete rip-off.
The film starts off well, the bonding between Rucha Yadav and Amitabh is well handled, The problems of AB is well handled like his alcoholism due to an incident in the past, the kidnapping scene too is well handled The second half gets into an action mode where AB tortures people and chases the wrong doers, treated in a Hollywood fashion at times it doesn't create the desired effect.
Direction by Apoorva is decent especially in the first half Music by VS is good, the songs suit the filmAmitabh Bachchan excels in his role only he could perform Baby Rucha is fantastic after Main Aisa Hi Hoon, Perizaad is great, Vikram Chatwal is alright,Arjun Rampal gets sidelined and his role could be better but he seems confident in his role and helds his own.
Watch it for Amitabh Bachchan's superb performance!.
Ek Ajnabee directed by Apoorva Lakhia and a remake to the Hollywood movie,Man on Fire is an average movie.But what makes this average movie turn to be awesome is the performance of Amitabh Bachchan!
Amitabh Bachchan,after a long time,returns back to screen as the young angry man.It is a pleasure to see him in roles like this!
Surya, who is on his way home to India, cancels his trip, returns and starts asking questions, not knowing that he is going to unearth a web of deceit, lies and deception, which may only end when he uncovers the entire truth or die's trying.The direction is average.The story is copied from Man on Fire.So nothing to talk about it.The music is average.The cinematography is good.The action sequences are very good.The dialogs especially the ones delivered by Amitabh Bachchan are excellent!
Performances:- Amitabh Bachchan steals the show!He is superb.Arjun Rampal is excellent.Vikram Chatwal and Perizaad Zorabian are okay.Ruchi Vaidya is good.Sanjay Dutt,Abhishek Bachchan and Lara Dutta in brief roles are okay.I am giving Ek Ajnabee a six on ten.The six marks are only for Amitabh Bachchan's superb performances! |
tt0138458 | Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned | Four years after the events of The Beast Within, Gabriel Knight and his assistant, Grace, travel to Paris on the invitation of Prince James of Albany, a descendant of the House of Stuart, who seeks their help in protecting his infant son Charlie from beings called "Night Visitors" - bizarre vampire-like creatures that have plagued James' family. Charlie is soon kidnapped by two strange men on their first night, and Gabriel, forced to leave his assistant behind, pursues them onto a train bound for Southern France. Knocked out by the kidnappers, Gabriel awakens some time later upon the train stopping at Couiza, whereupon a night porter helps him to a hotel in Rennes-le-Château, but not before confirming that the kidnappers left the train at the same stop. The following morning, Gabriel contacts Prince James about what happened and his current location, only to be asked to investigate into the kidnapping before his men take over that evening, before running into Mosely, his old friend from New Orleans, who reveals he is on vacation with a treasure hunting tour group. Discussing the case with him, Gabriel suspects that one of the group - Madeline Buthane, the group's leader, British actress Lady Howard and her friend Estelle Stiles, Australian treasure seeker John Wilkes, Italian tourist Vito Buchelli, and former Middle-Eastern tourist Emilio Baza - might be involved in the kidnapping as they all arrived the same night he did. After reuniting with Grace that evening, Gabriel decides to not drop the case, instead tailing his replacements, whereupon he witnesses them make heated accusations against the local church curator, Abbe Arnaud, over the kidnapping, while greeting Larry Chester, a Scottish scholar researching the regions ties to the Knight Templars, with a Masonic handshake.
The next day, while Gabriel stays behind to search for clues, Grace joins the tour group to investigate the kidnapping's connection to the regions treasure, with the group visiting various sites, including a vineyard that leaves her uneasy. Shortly after visiting the vineyard, the tour group come across the gruesome sight of James' men, both of whom had their throats slit and their bodies drained of blood. After investigating the crime scene and relaying the bad news to James, Gabriel confronts Larry over what he witnessed the previous evening and his connection to the Freemasons, and after being forced to leave, witnesses him plan something for later that night. At Grace's insistence that the vineyard the group visited has significance to their case, Gabriel, under the guise of a journalist, meets with its owner Excelsior Montreaux, and notes an oddness in some of his answers, particularly with wine and viticulture. In the evening, while Gabriel spends it with Mosely and later with Madeline, Grace continues her investigation into the treasure, and comes across an envelope taped to the door of the town's museum that contains "Le Serpent Rouge" - a document filled with riddles, which she had learned about on the tour. After solving some of its initial riddles, Wilkes invites her to join him in celebrating something important he uncovers, which Grace accepts only in the interest of learning what he discovered, but leaves him after he makes a drunken pass at her. Meanwhile, that night, Gabriel uncovers a manuscript from behind Larry's house after witnessing him bury it, discovering its topic concerns Jesus Christ having descendants, with James' family being among them. Upon returning to the hotel with it, a nightmare about vampires finally forces him to slip into bed with Grace and sleep with her.
The following day, Grace manages to locate the treasure through completing the remaining riddles of "Le Serpent Rouge", while Gabriely confronts Larry over the manuscript and later find Wilkes dead out in the valley, murdered in the same fashion. Both later confront Mosely, Madeline and Buchelli at the hotel, accusing them of stealing the manuscript after it disappears, with the latter burying it in the valley. All three reveal the truth behind who they are - Buchelli is exposed as a Vatican priest, who reveals that he came to the region to uncover any possible attempts to damage the Catholic Church, whereas Madeline is uncovered to be an agent of the French Internal Secret Service who was investigating the sudden interest in conducting an excavation in the area, while Mosely reveals himself to be with the CIA, investigating the secret societies in the region as a matter of national security for the United States. Gabriel further suspects that Arnaud is a priest for the Priory of Sion, but that his group weren't involved in the kidnapping, while Grace believes the other members of the group are purely harmless. After returning the manuscript to Prince James, who had recently arrived in Rennes-le-Château, and discussing its content with him, Gabriel meets with Montreaux once again at his vineyard. The second meeting proves very unsettling, and Gabriel soon uncovers evidence connecting him to the kidnapping, soon fleeing what one of the kidnappers arrives and spots him.
Whilst waiting for Gabriel to return, Grace confronts Emilio in his room over a meeting she witnessed in the church graveyard between him and Mesmi, Prince James' manservant, suspecting that he was also responsible for leaving the document that she found. Emilio reveals this to be the case and explains that Mesmi is a member of the Magi, a brotherhood that had aided Jesus in guiding him to be a divine figure, but who could not stop him from going forward with a number of prophecies that would end with his crucifixion. A rogue group who were expelled over seeking to be one with the messiah by stealing his blood for their own ends, learned that Jesus agreed to provide children at the Magi's request, and after his crucifixion, began seeking them, becoming vampires as a direct result. Realising that Charlie could give them enough to become the rulers of the world, Emilio, unable to directly assist the pair without exposing himself to danger, secretly aided Grace and Gabriel in their investigations. After Gabriel returns, he, Mosely and Mesmi, head for the temple that Grace uncovered during her search for the treasure, while she and Emilio stay behind. While they are away, Emilio reveals the full truth about himself - a former magi, Emilio originally was known as Ali, a young boy who had been greatly devoted to Jesus, and who had exposed the rogue group to his father. Their belief however caused him, out of despair of losing the hope that the messiah gave, to drink his blood and became immortal. He soon regretted his actions and vowed to never use the power he gained, forever walking in anonymity as the "Wandering Jew". Learning that the temple's treasure is at risk, Emilio reveals his intention to remove it upon the child being saved.
Reaching the heart of the temple, after passing the traps and tests, Gabriel soon arrives to find Montreuax in the process of sacrificing the infant. Spotting his presence, Montreaux summons the temple's guardian, the demon Asmodeus, to kill him, only for Gabriel to defeat it with his Schattenjäger dagger, killing him in the process. With the infant unharmed and given to Mesmi, both Gabriel and Mosely open a tomb lying nearby, whereupon the truth behind Gabriel's lineage is revealed to him in a vision. Shortly afterwards, Emilio arrives and removes the tomb's contents, but not before its secret is passed onto James' son, identifying his lineage. Upon returning to the hotel, the tour group, hotel staff and the Abbe await in the lobby, and quickly ask about what happened, learning of the child's safety. Although Madeline tries to flirt with Gabriel during the moment, he rejects her advances and returns to his room to check in on Grace, only to find she has left, having headed out to follow her own path at the suggestion of Emilio, much to Gabriel's sorrow. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0053428 | Voulez-vous danser avec moi | Against her wealthy industrialist father Albert's wishes, young Virginie (Brigitte Bardot) marries dentist Hervé Dandieu (Henri Vidal). After three months, all passion has disappeared, and after an argument, Hervé leaves the house for a drink at a club. There, he is seduced by Anita Florès (Dawn Addams), a red-headed dance instructor. Unbeknownst to him, Anita is a scam artist who has sent her boyfriend Léon (Serge Gainsbourg) to photograph her in companionship with Hervé. Although Hervé eventually decides to stay faithful to his wife, Léon is able to take some pictures of their intimate moments.
Hervé refuses to give in to any of her attempts to blackmail him, until she calls him one night. Virginie and Albert overhear the conversation, after which Virginie concludes that her husband is having an affair. The next day, she follows him to Anita's dance studio, and when looking through the key hole, she spots Anita's murdered body next to Hervé, who is holding a gun. Hervé convinces her that he is not guilty and they flee the place of crime through the back door, although they are noticed by some of the staff members. To prove her husband's innocence, she charms Anita's husband Florès (Darío Moreno) into hiring her as a dance teacher in order to able herself of finding more information.
While going through the studio, Virginie catches Léon stealing money from her wallet and overhears a conversation between Léon and his mistress Daisy (Maria Pacôme), who plan on misleading the detectives. After several investigations of the inspectors, Virginie is convinced that she has found the murderer through a letter. According to her, this man is Gérard Lalemand. Because the detectives do not believe her, she decides to contact Gérard herself. She talks to him over the phone and arranges a meeting, but when he fails to show up, she locates his residence, where she is told that Mr. Lalemand has been dead for over three years. Virginie realizes that she has been talking to Gérard's son (Georges Descrières), who is the same charming gay man whom she met earlier at the studio.
Meanwhile, Léon has been arrested for blackmailing Hervé. He admits that he is the mysterious person who left the studio over the roof on the night of the murder, but claims that Hervé is the guilty one. To Hervé's surprise, Albert proves his innocence to the detectives. In the meantime, Virginie believes that she has tracked Lalemand down to Blue Fetish, a gay nightclub where he is performing as a transvestite under the alias Daniel. Upon confronting him, she realizes that the man (Philippe Nicaud) is not Lalemand, and she leaves soon afterwards to return to his residence.
There, she finds out that the real Lalemand is an acquaintance to Florès and Daisy, who have given a false statement when Lalemand was still a suspect. Virginie is told that Anita was Lelemand's father's mistress and that she had permission to profit from Lelemand's $50 million inheritance while she was still alive. Therefore, Lelemand has sent his boyfriend Daniel to kill Anita. Hervé's innocence is proven, and he gratefully kisses his wife. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1452291 | Bananas!* | Fielding Mellish (Woody Allen) is the protagonist, but he does not appear until after the opening credits. The cold open, which featured the assassination of the president of the fictional "banana republic" of San Marcos and a coup d'état that brings Gen. Emilio Molina Vargas (Carlos Montalban) to power, sets up the situation in which Mellish would become embroiled. The scene was in the form of a championship boxing telecast on Wide World of Sports, with Don Dunphy as the host and Howard Cosell as the commentator.
Mellish is a neurotic blue collar man who tries to impress social activist Nancy (Louise Lasser) by trying to get in touch with the revolution in San Marcos. He visits the republic and attempts to show his concern for the native people. However, he is nearly killed by the local caudillo and then saved by the revolutionaries, putting him in their debt. Mellish then learns, clumsily, how to be a revolutionary. When the revolution is successful, the Castro-style leader goes mad, forcing the rebels to place Mellish as their President.
When traveling back to the U.S. to obtain financial aid, he reunites with his activist ex-girlfriend and is exposed. In a classic courtroom scene, Mellish tries to defend himself from a series of incriminating witnesses, including a reigning Miss America and a middle-aged African-American woman claiming to be J. Edgar Hoover in disguise. One of the witnesses does provide testimony favorable to Mellish, but the court clerk, when asked to read back this testimony, replies with an entirely different, wholly unfavorable rendition. Mellish is eventually sentenced to prison, but his sentence is suspended on the condition that he does not move into the judge's neighborhood. Nancy then agrees to marry him. The film ends with the between-the-covers consummation of their marriage, an event that was over much more quickly than Nancy had anticipated. Like the opening scene, it was accompanied by Cosell providing commentary. | depressing | train | wikipedia | The film Dole went to court to try and prevent from being shown.
Attending the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival screening of "Bananas!*" was a freaky, surreal experience.
This controversial documentary from Sweden almost didn't get shown at all.For the first time in my movie-going history, I bore witness to an odd set of "rules" which needed to be complied with in order for the film to be exhibited.
An agreement between Film Independent (sponsors of the Los Angeles Film Festival) and Dole, a corporation featured in the film, forced the Festival to do three things:1) The movie was removed from the prestigious Documentary Competition; 2) A lengthy disclaimer was handed out to all patrons as they entered the theater; 3) Said disclaimer had to be read aloud to the audience prior to the screening.It was made clear by the LA Film Festival representative that they "are not eager to be sued." In fact, Dole went to court to file an injunction to stop the film from being shown.
The judge threw it out, saying that she "will not consider any request for prior restraint on free speech." Director Fredrik Gertten immediately declared in his impassioned introduction to the screening that he did not endorse the statement of the Festival.
This elicited a huge cheer from the audience, even though nobody had yet seen the film.So why the controversy?
"Bananas!*" documents the history of a lawsuit brought by several Nicaraguan banana plantation workers who were allegedly made sterile by Dole's use of the pesticide DBCP.
The Tellez v.
Dole Food trial is considered to be a landmark case in the history of workers' rights.
The lawyer representing the men, colorful Los Angeles-based attorney Juan Dominguez, was later accused of helping the plaintiffs commit fraud by lying to the jury.
But that finding was made after the film had been shot, submitted, accepted, and scheduled by the Festival.
Therefore, the larger question is not whether or not the farm workers were telling the truth -- but to what extent does a documentary filmmaker have a responsibility to ensure the veracity of his subjects?
Is it even required?
Or is simply telling the story itself worthy of documenting?
There is no question that the workers' stories are moving and poignant, nor that some did tell the truth, according to the judge who made the decision that fraud had been committed (which actually emerged out of a later case).There is no denying that Dole used the chemical in question -- their own President and CEO admitted as much in court -- even after it had been banned in many countries, and even after being taken off the market by Dow, its manufacturer, for causing sterility.
The deplorable working conditions the men endured are vividly captured by Gertten.
And the allegations made against Dole by the plaintiffs are truly frightening.
But this Erin Brockovitch/David vs.
Goliath tale is rife with issues surrounding the burden of proof.Is it the job of a documentarian to tell the truth?
Or to simply observe?
That became the subject of a panel discussion after the film's screening, not whether or not the case itself was important.
And that's a shame..
What does big business know about PR?.
As most people who have seen it or will see it know, Dole put a law-suite on the filmmaker.
It started an immense fuzz in Sweden, with boycotts from hamburger and supermarket chains, not to talk about the common consumers.
After a while Dole dropped the case.
Did they really think they would get anything but bad-will from acting the way they did?
And how is the movie?
It's effective, merciless and quite exciting.
Not at least the scenes from the courtroom.
Is it objective?
No, according to old documentary traditions, it isn't.
It's part of a debate and if you're against that, you really have to explain your views on democracy.And Dole really has to check the competence of those who work in their marketing department..
An Interesting Look at the Banana Industry.
Juan "Accidentes" Dominguez is on his biggest case ever.
On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility.The film was criticized by Dole for containing "patent falsehoods".
Following an attempted lawsuit and attempt to block the film, the lawsuit never went through and the film was shown -- even debuting at the Swedish parliament!
Further, an investigation of misconduct against Dominguez found nothing.
Vindicated?
I think so.While this is not the great documentary about South American workers trying to win judgments from American companies, it is important to see the pattern and the slow, steady rise of social justice.
Between this and "The Coca Cola Case", it makes for a good double feature on what can be done..
A good courtroom "docu-fiction" on workers'exploitation in banana plantations.
I saw the documentary at a docu-fiction festival that is screened every year in my city and I also watched it with my kids (10+).The documentary is very good in terms of actions, suspense and overall story.
It is very enjoyable to watch.It describes the bad practice of banana production in the 70s and possibly later in the great plantations of Dole and the like.
Airplanes sprayed chemicals on plantations on plants, fruits, and ...
workers.
Those are basically drenched by the chemicals.
Unsurprisingly they developed all sorts of illnesses.The documentary produced some good evidence (such as letters) that pesticides were actually sprayed on people.
Possibly also that this massive use of pesticides continued even after those chemicals were banned in the U.S. and the interviews with the Dole people and the farmers are very good (no matter on whose side you are standing one).The factual accuracy may be a bit shaky and sometimes the romancing of the story gets in the way.
For example there is not a recap of the facts by the lawyer, who is the main character of the movies.
It is a "to say and not say", "we will discover in the court", etc.
Albeit they might have wanted to avoid legal challenges by Dole, they could have been more precise.
This is OK for legal thriller, a bit less for the documentary.At the end of the day, the kids liked it, they found it an interesting story and the main message went through..
Worst Documentary Ever.
As a documentary movie aficionado I see dozens of documentaries a year, about people/social issues, the environment, corporate greed, you name it I'll see it.
I usually have an underdog penchant and find such documentaries quite appealing to my sense of fairness and justice.
If they are well done in a movie sense, then that is a bonus on top of the message.This film Bananas failed in both regards.
From the outset, the sleazy Cuban/American ambulance chasing lawyer is completely untrustworthy looking and suspicious.
Shown racing around in his noisy red Lamborghini, contemplating his riches while puffing on a huge cigar, showing off his nice office, doing radio shows were he parades his achievements...
Everything about this lawyer is off-putting.Then the material itself, witnesses who purger themselves, no investigation shown, confusing legalese as to whether it's a class action or only for the six first clients, to which were added six other clients???
Very little contact time with main lawyer.
To add to the confusion, the time-line is often unclear.
That particular pesticide was banned in the late 70s and it appears that the workers were questioned regarding work conditions during that period.
I do not recall the film mentioning at which date the pesticide stopped being used.
But the film does insinuate that it is no longer in use at present date.Really the only interesting scenes were those where one of Doles VPs concedes to all points raised by the prosecution, but seeming to be very secure regarding the pesticide application methods practiced by the company.Unfortunately, the most truth resonating moment in the film is in the epilogue.
Where it is stated that the partial victory was overturned due to perjury by witness and prosecuting team.This topic had great potential to make for an excellent documentary, but it failed miserably on all counts.
I suspect the failure is in large part due to the ambulance-chasing lawyer's suspicious behaviour and lack of professionalism.
How unfortunate to waste such a great opportunity. |
tt0160509 | Agnes Browne | In 1967 in Dublin, the unexpected death of Agnes Browne's husband sends her family, consisting of seven children aged between two and fourteen, into emotional turmoil and financial crisis. She is forced to borrow money from a ruthless loan shark named Mr. Billy to make ends meet. She faces her dismal existence by selling fruits and vegetables at an open-air market based in Dublin's Moore Street where she spends time with her best friend Marion, who proves to be a great source of encouragement in her difficulties.
Wishing to escape her troubles, if only for a short time, Agnes dreams of finding enough money to attend an upcoming Tom Jones concert. Agnes' dream is realized when Marion secretly buys two tickets and gives them to her. Agnes also accepts the offer of a date with a French baker named Pierre. Her children pool their money together and buy her a new dress to wear on the date. Marion soon discovers an ominous lump in her breast, which proves fatal.
Eventually the family has to face the loan shark. Mr. Billy warns Agnes that she has until Christmas to pay him back or he will strip her house of her furniture. On Christmas Day, Agnes receives a letter stating she can collect the money from the hotel where her husband worked. She holds off Mr. Billy and sends her children to the hotel, where they meet Tom Jones and tell him their story. Tom then visits Agnes in her home, helps her pay off Mr. Billy, and carries off her and the children to the concert in his cab. At the concert, Tom Jones dedicates his song "She's a Lady" to Agnes. | romantic | train | wikipedia | I think some of the others who commented on this movie were too harsh...it's not meant to be a human drama of great proportions.
In Dublin, 1967, a woman with seven children is suddenly faced with the travails of widowhood in `Agnes Browne,' directed by and starring Anjelica Huston.
After the unexpected death of her husband, life becomes something less than a picnic for Agnes (Huston), what with children ranging in age from two to fourteen and no assets to speak of.
It's a bleak state of affairs for Agnes, who luckily has a dear friend, Marion (Marion O'Dwyer), who is always there for her; and with friendship, a sense of humor, and the dream of seeing Tom Jones in concert, it's enough to keep her going as she manages to take it all one day at a time.
There are poignant moments in this character driven, heartwarming film, as well as some funny ones; Huston has done an outstanding job of creating a mood and an atmosphere that brings the Irish working class vividly to life, and she populates her landscape with characters who are not only real, but incredibly rich in their humanity.
Huston gives a terrific performance as Agnes, imbuing her with both a strength and vulnerability that make her real.
In her motion picture debut, O'Dwyer gives a memorable performance as well, as Marion; though nondescript in appearance, there is nevertheless something charming about this woman, and it has everything to do with `character.' Through her unwavering loyalty to Agnes she personifies the meaning of friendship, and exemplifies how invaluable a true friend can be, especially in times of need.
No stranger to all things Irish, Huston was the perfect choice to star in and direct this project.
With `Agnes Browne,' she succeeds splendidly, with a film that is striking both visually and emotionally.
And, lest it be taken for granted, one need but consider Alan Parker's `Angela's Ashes,' which visited the same territory but came off flat and uninspired, especially compared to Huston's film, which so distinctly and fervently imparts the essence of the proud Irish poor.
Her acting, as well as that of the actress who plays Marion Monks, was outstanding.Left a widow with seven children, Agnes Browne, is undaunted in her spunk and determination to rise above adversity.
Agnes' best friend nearly steals the movie with her believable, heartwarming performance as the down-to-earth, pungently irreverent, Marion Monks.The children, (all seven of them) never seem like actors.
The French baker next door also adds flavor as the love interest.Working-class Ireland in the poor section is seen realistically but with much more kindness and hope than Frank McCourt's world of Angela's Ashes.
As a dealer in new and used movies, especially since I specialize in unusual, out-of-print, Indies, foreign, and other non-mainstream titles, I have the opportunity to discover many films in the hidden-gem category, like this one.
Angelica Huston's Irish accent is absolutely fabulous (her bio says she went to school in Ireland).
Angelica and her co-star Marion O'Dwyer bond very well together; I felt like I was glimpsing into a real true-life friendship.
And the 7 children that play Angelica Huston's kids are an asset to the movie.This is an endearing, quality independent film for those of us who love a good drama as well as some good chuckles!
Poetry, compared to other recent movies about working-class women in Ireland.
This is an excellent picture of the life of working-class women on the housing estates ('projects' to Americans,probably as true now as in the 'sixties, as well as being a very good movie for women actors.
I have my doubts about Tom Jones' scenes at the end, but nothing's perfect.
I think some of the others who commented on this movie were too harsh...it's not meant to be a human drama of great porportions.
It's simply a fun, fairy tale that is a feel good movie.
It's simply a fun, fairy tale that is a feel good movie.
It's not made to make you think about the social plight of widowed Irish mothers in the 1960's...it's made to give you a good laugh and to leave a smile on your face.And that it did.
It's not made to make you think about the social plight of widowed Irish mothers in the 1960's...it's made to give you a good laugh and to leave a smile on your face.And that it did.
I particulary like the relationship between Agnes and Marion...I think it was a perfect display of women's relationships, and how they change and grow over time.I admit I found the characters a bit "oirish" at times, but it was lovely and fun.
I particulary like the relationship between Agnes and Marion...I think it was a perfect display of women's relationships, and how they change and grow over time.I admit I found the characters a bit "oirish" at times, but it was lovely and fun.
Truly a heartwarming story of friendship with Marion and Agnes, but when the whole community is thrown in what an amazing film about friends and friendship.
Angelica Huston has captured the essence of Ireland , it's people and their language.Tossed with a bit of Tom Jones and........
AGNES BROWNE (1999) **1/2 Anjelica Huston, Marion O' Dwyer, Ray Winstone, Tom Jones(cameo).
Huston, who also co-produced with filmmaker Jim Sheridan anddirects in her big-screen debut, gives it her all as stoic, decentIrish mother of seven in Dublin circa 1967 whose adjustment towidowhood takes its toll in her daily struggle to keep her broodunder wraps even as she attempts to enjoy her life as it proceeds.
Especially the scene where Agnes is burying her husband is hilarious!I shall rent this flick on DVD some time to watch it again (and again and again....).
At the center of the story is its namesake, Agnes Browne (Anjelica Houston), who has just lost her husband and is struggling to support her seven children.
The film presents a slice-of-life of families struggling to stay afloat, but trivializes their plight by making its heroine's greatest ambition a trip to a Tom Jones concert.While the story has some charming and poignant moments, it is mostly mundane and lacks the ability to keep all but the most sentimental viewer engaged.
It's impossible for it to be a boring, badly written, badly directed, badly acted, badly staged piece of network-TV movie tripe." Well, dear friend, anything is possible..
If you are a fan of Mrs Browne's Boys then Agnes Browne serves as a sort of a prequel apart from the lead character being played Anjelica Huston who also directs.The film was co-written by Brendan O'Carroll and based on his source material who also pops up as a drunk.The film is set in a poor working class district of Ireland of the 1960s.
Agnes Browne has lost her husband and has to support her seven young children.
She needs to borrow money from a loan shark until her widow's benefit comes through.
Over time she pays off the loan shark but loses a close friend to cancer and finds romance with a neighbouring French baker and dreams to see Tom Jones in concert.The film is rather bittersweet than a raucous comedy we are more used to.
The story is thin, more of a slice of life in a harsh Dublin environment when working class families stuck together.
The story does not always hang well together.Anjelica Huston makes the best out of a low budget, she makes herself appear dowdy until she goes on a date with the French baker and then pampers herself.
She gets an earthy performance from her cast but Ray Winstone who puts on a good Irish accent is too much of a cartoonish villain and that is because the script is rather flat..
I enjoyed this humorous account of life among Dublin's poor in the same way I enjoyed the humor of Love on the Dole and similar films of the working class combating grinding poverty with humor.
It would be a very brave man willing to take on a widow with seven children.I could not help wondering why Agnes did not go to the Garda over Billy's loan sharking to young children, but perhaps the poor of Dublin don't involve the police.
In reality the clerk would have realized she was dealing with a woman who had just lost her husband and been helpful and solicitous.2) The relationship with her eldest son should have been more detailed, and his meeting with the carpenter who was willing to take him on as an apprentice and teach him a a trade rather than leave him to dead end jobs interspersed with the employment dole was rushed through.
There was certainly enough time to expand this part of the story as the film was only 91 minutes long.
3) The ending with the brash Tom Jones did not play well and would have been better with Agnes all dressed up and leaving for the concert, or as a dream/fantasy sequence, with her waking up and finding Pierre waiting for her having helped the children get their tea ready.
The quaint open air market and the Irish loan shark add a colorful dimension to a fairly predictable story line.
I guess it was supposed to be a dramatic piece, like so many Irish movies(only some kind of diet coke version, not like Angela's ashes) but at the break I just couldn't care less.
Agnes Browne is a recently bereaved, stall owner and mother of seven children.
With her best friend and fellow stall owner Marion Monks, she works hard every day to feed, house and clothe herself and her children.
She enjoys a pint and a singsong in the pub but when she has a rare moment to herself she likes to dance to her Tom Jones records.Agnes Browne is another directorial effort from the wonderful Anjelica Huston and with her in the main role I would expect a lot better than what I received for my moneys worth.
The problem with this film is that John Goldsmith's adaptation of Brendan O'Carroll's hit " The Mammy " is terrible and it plays to the worst kind of paddy whackery since Darby O'Gill and the little people.
His Irish accent is as bad as the script he may have played a relocated English loan shark.
Anjelica Huston is good, not great, I think the dual duties of acting and directing may have got the better of her.
Granted families will love this but what I am saying is instead of becoming another family hour movie on some television station, it could have been ten times better and more beneficial for us all.
One is Anjelica Huston, the director of the movie, but also one of the main actresses.
The other one is Tom Jones who got a cameo in this movie.
I hoped it would be a very funny movie and most of the time it was...Agnes Browne is a recently widowed mother of 7 young children who has a very hard time making a living out of selling some fruit and vegetables on the daily market, which she does together with her best friend, who supports her in these difficult times.
She wishes to escape her hard life for a few moments and dreams of finding enough money so she can go to a Tom Jones concert.
She starts realizing her dreams when she goes on a date with the French baker who has been in love with her since the first time he saw her.
But nothing will stop Agnes Browne and her family from finding happiness...This movie certainly has some very good moments to offer that will definitely make you laugh out loud.
`Agnes Browne' is a genuine charmer, a simple, but heartwarming comedy/drama directed by and starring the magnificent Anjelica Huston.
Set in a lower class Dublin neighborhood in 1967, the story centers around Agnes, an attractive woman whose husband has just died leaving her sole provider for her seven children, ranging in age from early adolescence to diaper-wetting toddler.
With the love of her best friend, Marion, to support her (this almost seems to be more of a love story between them than between Agnes and Pierre, the local Frenchman who falls for her), Agnes learns to cope with financial set backs, the neighborhood extortionist, the growing pains of her children and, most tragically, the terminal illness of someone very dear to her heart.`Agnes Browne' could have emerged as a heavy-handed wallow in tragedy and bathos, but those involved both in front of and behind the cameras have managed to maintain an air of breezy likeability even in the film's darkest moments.
If there is a criticism to be leveled against the movie, it would probably be that the film is actually - at a mere 92-minute running time - a bit too short.
As the silent, sensitive and understanding merchant who woos and wins Agnes, Pierre simply seems too much like the `ideal man' stereotype who always seems to be just waiting in the wings the moment one of these attractive but harried movie widows/divorcees is starting life anew out on her own.
A much more well rounded and three-dimensional character is that of Agnes' best friend, Marion, (beautifully portrayed by Marion O'Dwyer), a warmhearted, fun-loving woman who provides the kind of confidant and companion that all of us would love to have in our lives.
But the real selling point of `Agnes Browne' is, undoubtedly, the luminous performance delivered by Anjelica Huston herself.
With her glowing portrayal, Huston literally lights up the center of this movie.Yes, the fairy tale ending may seem a bit out of place perhaps.
Yet, in a way, for all its moments of death, heartbreak and sorrow, `Agnes Browne' never really aspires to be anything BUT a charming fairy tale.
This film relates the story of a recently widowed Irish woman's attempt to keep some semblance of normalcy in her life and those of her seven children.
That said, the movie plods along through Agnes's life, as she quickly jumps into flirtations with the town baker, leading me to wonder if the corpse was even cold yet.
This movie tries very hard to make the anguish of Agnes's life interesting, but it switches gears on the viewers too fast and too often.
And Tom Jones, by the time this movie was filmed, was way too old to play the 1967 version of himself.
AGNES BROWNE is the cinematic equivalent of comfort food; it's not a challenging or particularly unusual film, but if you buy into it, it'll leave you with a nice warm feeling inside.
And Dublin has never looked more beautiful on film.One other thing-if you've seen SEXY BEAST, watch for Ray Winstone (`Gal') as Mr. Billy, the loan shark who terrorizes Agnes and her family.
It looked charming and I was intrigued by Angelica Houston playing against type as a working-class widow struggling to support her seven children in the hard-scrabble word of 1960's Ireland.
As Agnes and her best fried Marion make their way through the halls of Irish bureaucracy just hours after the death of Agnes' husband, the dialogue is just a little too clever, the emotional tone just the slightest bit false.
The film comes off more as someone's fantasy of what Irish people are like more than anything real.
One of Agnes Browne's dreams is to attend a Tom Jones concert.Two-thirds of the way through, I was simply persevering to get a look at Mr. Jones He does show up eventually, but even that seems a little odd (that's not a spoiler, he's in the credits, you know he's coming one way or another).
Thankfully the children make AGNES BROWNE bearable.
Each a quirky individual in his or her own right, they provide the film with some of its truest moments and best performances.
AGNES BROWNE is not without its charms, but in other hands - and most importantly, with better writing - it could have been a much better movie..
Angelica Huston is almost believable as an Irish mammy ("I don't know my husband's maiden name").
you love to hate him as usual).SPOILER COMING UPEntertaining, almost belieavble, only to be spoiled by mr foghorn Jones making an appearance at the end, not looking at all the way the period of the film would suggest (especially on stage).
All the plot summaries I had read about this movie say something completely different (read the one on imdb.com) than what I feel this movie is actually about.This movie is the story of Agnes Browne, and her budding friendship with a neighboring woman, Marion.
I suppose they knew each other before Agnes' husband's death (movie starts with the funeral), but apparently they didn't become best friends until after the funeral.
Unbeknownst to Agnes, but knownst to us, her friend has cancer.Here follows several touching scenes, brilliantly crafted, with perfect dialogue, etc...:Agnes runs into Marion's husband, who sort of tells Agnes what is going on.
At this point, I felt it was very clear Agnes had a good amount of money, as she even bragged a little about it.
When one of Agnes' kids borrows 6 pounds from the earlier loan shark, the money problems mysteriously reappear when payment time comes.
Agnes tries to scrape up the 10 pounds owed (interest) and seemingly can't come up with that, despite the money being offered to her by a Frenchman named Pierre who is in love with her, and despite her doing several things, including selling her wedding ring!
Then she gets money out of nowhere from her late husband's work union, and also Tom Jones bizarrely helps save the day (making her reliant on Tom Jones, who I believe is a man).I really like Anjelica Huston.
But in this movie, you really notice her terrible attempt at an Irish accent, which faded in and out, was never really right, and was extremely distracting. |
tt0067651 | Rakhwala | Dharam Singh is the retired army officer. His elder son is a martyr and younger son Satyaprakash (Dinesh Lal Yadav) has completed his studies, Dharam Singh wishes Satyaprakash should join army or police force and guard our nation. But Satyaprakash wants to earn and live a simple family life with Shraddha (Rinku Ghosh). But his entire life changes after a sudden accident in his life. Satyaprakash's father challenges the strongman Jagdamba Singh (Avdesh Mishra) who's the ruffian of that place and is supported by politicians, and higher officers, due to which he does all illegal activities like robbery, kidnapping etc. Once, Dharam Singh was beaten by Jagdamba Singh's mobsters, due to which Satyaprakash gets angry and plans to take revenge for his father's insult. He decides to become a police officer and protect his nation against corruption. After a few years he becomes an honest Police officer. He announces a legal call for all the ruffians like Jabdamba Singh. Police Officer Satyaprakash comes to know about all the illegal planning of the Ministers and higher officers and all the links of terrorist. Before Satyaprakash could catch them red handed he was injured by them and gets hospitalized in I.C.U. Police vow to complete Satyaprakash's incomplete mission. After few months Satyaprakash's health improves and is back to him mission. The fact is that Satyaprakash's wife Shraddha and other police officers have replaced one of the terrorist Sarfaraj who is look alike of Satyaprakash by putting all good things into his mind about our nation. Satyaprakash (Sarfaraj) succeeds in completing the task and punishes all the bad people and becomes the real protector (Rakhwala). He feels proud of himself and salutes our national flag. | murder | train | wikipedia | Seventies Hero Flick. Dharmendra plays Deepak, an honest, hard working son. His family consists of his widowed mother and younger brother Suresh. By luck, he stumbles on a good job, but with the wrong man, Mr. Jwalaprasad. His mother takes his oath to protect his younger brother when on her death bed. She also reveals a family secret about his brothers real identity and missing fortune that is overheard by the dangerous Shyam. Shyam has been plotting against Deepak with Mr. Jawalaprasad since he lost his love, Chandni Jwalaprasad, to him. Through a series of bad events, Suresh is murdered, and Deepak is imprisoned. The film also has a light hearted side story of a love struck compounder (pharmicist) and his bosses daughter. There is an abundance of campy seventies beatnik wear and music, plenty of one-on-ten hero fights, and the mandatory twist at the end of the story. |
tt2933326 | Amor à Vida | === First phase ===
2001 – The story revolves around a wealthy family's struggles for control of the renowned San Magno Hospital, in São Paulo. The hospital belongs to the Khoury family, headed by general practitioner César Khoury (Antonio Fagundes). Most of the family are doctors: Caesar's wife, Pilar (Susana Vieira), is a retired dermatologist and Paloma (Paolla Oliveira), the couple's youngest daughter, has just been accepted to a college to study medicine after several unsuccessful attempts in other areas. Only Felix (Mateus Solano), the eldest son, shows no motivation to follow the same career, but he does not lack ambition. Since he could not be a doctor, Felix studied administration so he could work on the hospital board and plans to one day head the family business. Felix is gay, but married a stylist, Edith (Barbara Paz), to keep up appearances.
To commemorate Paloma's acceptance into college, the family travels to Machu Picchu in Peru, where Paloma meets Ninho (Juliano Cazarré). Ninho is a backpacker who adopts a lifestyle free of rules and Paloma falls in love with him. Tired of fighting with her mother, she decides to leave the family and college to live with Ninho. The couple spends about a year hitchhiking aimlessly around South America, living in intense passion, until Paloma discovers she is pregnant. Without money and thinking about the baby's future, she decides to return to her parents' home in São Paulo, and convinces Ninho to go with her.
To pay for the ticket, Ninho decides to smuggle drugs during the trip. However, Ninho is detained at the airport in Bolivia after being found with drugs on his body. Paloma flies back to São Paulo alone and trusts her brother to help her face their family. Felix convinces his sister that it would be better to keep her pregnancy a secret. Back in her parents' house, Felix's wife, Edith, helps Paloma disguise her pregnancy by wearing baggy clothes to avoid raising suspicion. Near the end of Paloma's pregnancy, Ninho leaves prison and goes to São Paulo. Felix pretends to help the couple, but really he plans to get rid of them and become the sole heir of the family. Paloma decides to leave home to be with Ninho, but is caught by her parents who are shocked to realize that she is expecting a baby. After arguing with her mother, Paloma leaves and spends the night in a bar with Ninho. After a lot of drinking to celebrate his release from jail, Ninho has a nasty argument with Paloma and says he does not want to start a family. Very disappointed, Paloma sends him away. In her state of anxiety Paloma goes into premature labor, and ends up giving birth to a girl in the bathroom of the bar with the help of bar patron Marcia (Elizabeth Savalla), a former "chacrete" (TV dancer). Felix, who had gone in search of his sister, arrives at the bar to find Paloma unconscious in the bathroom with no one but her newborn daughter at her side. Marcia had called an ambulance and left for fear of being arrested.
Feeling threatened by the infant heir of the Khoury family, Felix kidnaps the child and leaves her in a dumpster in an alley. When she awakes, Paloma cannot find the baby and is convinced that her daughter was mysteriously stolen without a trace. Paloma's path will soon intersect with Bruno (Malvino Salvador), a kind man who just lost his wife and his newborn son due to complications in childbirth. While distressed by that incident, and wandering the streets, Bruno finds Paloma's daughter in a dumpster after he hears her crying. Bruno sees the incident as a divine sign, a chance for him to start a new life, and takes the baby girl home. Bruno receives help from his mother, a nurse named Ordália (Eliane Giardini), who works at the San Magno hospital, as well as an ob/gyn named Glauce (Leona Cavalli). Glauce helps Bruno keep the baby without having to go through the formal adoption process. He asks Glauce to change the hospital record to report that his wife gave birth to two children: a boy, who died, and a surviving girl. In love with Bruno, Glauce does what he asks, risking her career. A pact is made between Bruno, Ordália, and Glauce that this secret will never be revealed.
=== Second phase ===
2013 – 12 years have passed, and Paloma, after ending her relationship with Ninho, apologizes to her parents and decides to follow a medical career working as a pediatrician at her father's hospital. She chooses pediatrics so that she can work with kids to compensate for the loss of her daughter, whom she believes is still alive somewhere. What Paloma does not realize is that her missing daughter is one of her most beloved patients: Paula (Klara Castanho), a very sweet and smart girl. Paloma has always had a very strong and affectionate bond with Paula, regardless of the fact that Paula is actually Paloma's daughter, and her closeness to Paula forces her to cross paths with Bruno, Paula's father. Paloma and Bruno, who had met years earlier when Paloma had admitted and nursed Paulinha unaware that she was really her daughter. The two separate, but before they realize, they are living together again. Paulinha especially approves of the relationship because she loves Paloma.
United by fate, Bruno, Paloma and Paula are happy until Ninho returns to Brazil determined to regain his relationship with Paloma. Fate holds moments of joy and sadness, revelations and dilemmas. At one point, Paula suffers a serious illness and blood tests reveal that Paloma is the only one who can donate an organ, due to the extremely close similarity of their blood. Suspicious, Paloma secretly orders a DNA test and discovers that Paula is her daughter. She becomes convinced that Bruno stole her daughter twelve years earlier, and their once-close relationship turns to hate. With Ninho, Paloma decides to take Bruno to court to regain custody of Paula. What Paloma cannot imagine is that the real culprit for all this is her brother, Felix, who now, in addition to Paloma, has another an obstacle in his path: Paulinha. Felix is aided by Glauce, who previously in love with Bruno, is happy to hurt Paloma in any way possible. Bruno hires lawyer Silvia (Carol Castro) to defend him.
In addition, the marriage of Cesar and Pilar is threatened by the arrival of the new medical secretary, Aline (Vanessa Giacomo), a beautiful young woman with a mysterious past who will do anything to seduce the head of the hospital and gain revenge on César, who she believes is responsible for the tragedies in her young life.
=== Side plots ===
Also depicted is the gay couple, Niko (Thiago Fragoso) and Eron (Marcello Antony), who plan to have a child through artificial insemination. They ask Niko's close friend Amarilys (Danielle Winits) to be their surrogate, but she falls in love with Eron creating a love triangle that threatens to ruin Niko and Eron's relationship. | revenge, romantic | train | wikipedia | interesting. A serie about family, apearences and conflicts, provocative for sexual conotations, mixture of love stories and hate plots , seductive for the Brasilian mark making, as always, the difference in the large universe of Latino soap opera. A serie about power and emotions, giving a dramatic decent plot and nice performances for actors from different generations. Maybe, this represents the best part of a modern fairy tale reflecting not only the dreams of its target and a smart use of bisexuality as spice, but proposing a story with real interesting roots. And lovely dramatism as support for empaty . |
tt0292411 | King Arthur and the Knights of Justice | The show's premise had King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table trapped in the Cave of Glass by the evil enchantress Queen Morgana. The wizard Merlin, unable to free King Arthur and the Knights himself, searches the timeline for replacement Knights. Merlin finds the quarterback of the New York Knights football team, Arthur King, as a suitable replacement. Merlin transports Arthur King and his teammates to Camelot after one of their football games and appoints Arthur King as their leader, with his teammates as the new Knights of the Round Table, and assigns them the task of freeing the true King and Knights. To do so, they must find the 12 Keys of Truth, one for each knight that only the knight in question can initially touch. Once all the keys are found, the real knights will be free and the team will return home. In the meantime, they pledge "....fairness to all, to protect the weak and vanquish the evil". The Knights are armed with special armor and are able to summon their respective creatures at any time when in battle armor. These animals, such as King Arthur's dragon, are emblazoned on their shields.
The series had a progressive story with both sides making progress towards their goals. Continuity was also established in the episodes which would be brought up in later episodes, along with some repeat minor characters, character relationships, and previously overcome weaknesses of the Knights. Despite the continual movement towards a resolution, the series is incomplete and ended abruptly during the second season. | good versus evil, action | train | wikipedia | Awesome.
I really liked this show.
I mean it had a great story, great action sequences, and everything that a little kid could want.
It was quality TV and I only wish that kids had today what shows like this offered.
This series, along with gargoyles, spider-man(90s version), x-men, and batman are a few of the handful of shows that I can actually say were quality tv.
Come on fox kids!
Come on kids wb!
Just drop the cheap anime with the cheap stories (not to say all are bad but 80% are).
Please just take the time and make a good show with a good story again!
One of my FAVORITES.
Nothing got me more excited on Saturday morning when I was a kid, then 10 A.M. Yes, that was when my favorite cartoon ever came on the air.
King Arthur had it all.
Epic battles, Knights, Magic, Evil, Good, and a huge freaking dragon that came out of King Arthurs shield.
It's sad this show only lasted two seasons.
I would love to find the two seasons on a torrent or DVD or something.
Unlike G.I Joe, or TMNT, this show showed that the "Bad Guys" could win too, and do some major damage.
I wish this show was still on the air, even if it was re-runs.
King Arthur was a show unlike any others.
All the knights that had a certain power, and the evil guys who would stop them at all costs.
This was, and still is, in my opinion the greatest Saturday morning cartoon ever aired on television..
This show was the coolest show ever!!!.
I used to watch this show all the time and I definitely agree that King Arthur and The Knights of Justice was the best show I ever saw.
It was so good in fact that when I couldn't remember the name of my childhood show, I spent probably 2 years trying to figure it out till a friend of mine knew what I was talking about and told me the name.
Anyways, I love the show and I wish it was still playing, but im looking for any videos, action figures, etc...
basically anything having to do with the show.
If anyone has any more information, please email me about where to find things and all, I would really appreciate it.
If you haven't seent the show, your missing out.
One of the few where good guys had cooler weapons than the bad guys!.
EXCALLIBER....BE MY STRENTGH.
This show was so frikkin awesome, it was too bad it was so underrated, or else it would still be on.The story was great and the characters were just awesome.
The crowning point of the show was the vairious wepons used on both sides of good and evil.
Battering rams, spirit animals, one of the bad guys could fly, now that is awesome.Very good show, I deffintly recomend it to anyone who loves action..
dude i love this cartoon since i was a kid.
dude with all the tech they have now they should make a movie about this cartoon that would be excellent movie taking a football from now n putting back in the past to fight for Justice now that would be awesome movie dude i recommend that they do do this because it could be a good thing for a cartoon my n your time.The story was great and the characters were just awesome.
the crowning point of the show was the various weapons used on both sides of good and evil, battering rams, spirit animals, one of the bad guys could fly,merlin brought all of them back threw time which was awesome.
which now could be next blockbuster movie who's know's..
Best Cartoon of the 90s.
This was hands down the best cartoon of the 90s...
well at least the early 90s...
except for maybe exo squad, but still totally awesome!
deserved way more than 2 seasons.
My buddies and i still go around chanting Excalibur, BE MY STRENGTH!!
and then hum that awesome music.
do do do dooo do do doo doo do do doooooo, oh yeah.
I know a lot of people like the Simpsons or something better, but that's cuz they don't see the genius behind a bunch of knights that shoot cool stuff out of their lances and drive sweet vehicles around.
Too bad the toys for this show were totally lame compared to the ones for transformers, exosquad, and silver hawks.
All in all, this show was about as underrated as The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers was..
What a fantastic show!.
King Arthur and the Knights of Justice was and still is one of my personal favourite animated shows.
Whether it is my favourite of all time I am not sure, but what I do know is that I really love it.Animation: The animation quality is very good.
It has fluid character designs, vibrant colours and detailed background art.
Together they do very well in conveying a sense of wonder.Music: The background scoring is beautiful, haunting and rousing, often in the same episode and even at the same time.
The real revelation in this respect though is the main theme tune, one of the catchiest there ever was for any animated show and maybe ever.Writing: I always love good writing in any film or show.
King Arthur and the Knights of Justice's writing isn't just good, it is great.
Filled with humour, suspense and intelligence.Storyline: There are some very compelling storytelling here, with a fantasy-adventure atmosphere that is perfect considering the title.
There is the good and evil theme but it is interesting rather than bland and clichéd, like I've known some films and TV shows of the genre to be.Action sequences: Sometimes tense and suspenseful yet always thrilling and excitingly paced.
I also loved the weapons of especially the hero characters.Characters: All the characters have distinct personalities and are interesting in their own way.
Despite the somewhat standard concept of good and evil(though it's acceptable considering the genre), none of them fall into being stereotypical and underdeveloped.
More importantly the heroes are likable and the villains are appropriately antagonistic.Voice acting: The voice cast consist of several talented voice actors, including Kathleen Barr, and all the time they give dynamic vocal performances.Overall, a fantastic yet sadly underrated show.
10/10 Bethany Cox. Great theme music!.
Great show!
Great show!
I love it!
During the summer, I stay at my grandma house and watch this show.
Did my best to be present to watch this show.
If there were a novel, that this cartoon was based upon.
The story is outstanding with great scene.
Get it and refresh the unforgettable memories of "King Auther and the Knight of Justice"!Great theme music by the way!
Where can I find a recorded theme music?
I may be 20 years old but I still have a great passion for classic cartoon show.ex-subscriber of Fox Kids magazine Fan of Fox Kids Fan of WBHere some other classic cartoon shows you may have forgottenBobby World (Fox Kids) Bogus "using clay as cartoon" (?) Muppet Babies (?) Teanage Mutant Kinja Turtles (Fox Kids) Denver, the lost dinosaur (USA Network) Captain Planet (USA Network, Cartoon Network, ...) Ren and Stimpy (Nickolodean) Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (Fox Kids) GI Joe "awesome!" (Fox Kids) Transformer "another awesome cartoon!" Peewee Herman Show(?) (Fox Kids) "this is not a cartoon but a great show!
However the sadness part that the actor Peewee is convicted for having Child porn."If you have any cartoon name and location that is was aired?
Please post them and refresh our memories of this treasured cartoon show!.
Fantastic Stuff.
I used to watch this as a kid on Sunday mornings.
After a random search, I found out that they had released the first 5 or 6 episodes on DVD.
Ran to the shops and bought the first DVD from MVC a few weeks ago.Many happy memories came flooding back as King Arthur and his Knights pledged 'Fairness to all' and to 'Protect the weak and vanquish the evil'.Anything that advocates honour, glory and love whilst including Knights, steeds with weapons, Dragons and possibly the most beautiful maiden in all of cartoondom, has to be bought, watched and loved.
Easily one of the best cartoon series ever produced.
It's a pity that they have decided to release it in small blocks of episodes.
Knights!.
Knights!.
Knights!.
It's So Stupid Yet So Awesome.
Understand that I am in no way burdened by nostalgia.
I'd never heard of or seen this show when I was a kid, and only started watching it as an adult.And, when you get down to it, the show it stupid.
Toyetic character designs and weapons aside, the premise is pretty shaky: King Arthur and his knights disappear while out on a quest and Merlin is forced to recruit, bear with me here, a football team from what I can only assume is New York City to be the new Knights of the Round Table, said table granting them magical equipment and knowledge of how to fight.As I said, I find that to be a REALLY stupid premise.
It might've been stronger if they'd had the new knights be the underdogs for a few episodes before they finally found their footing and became the invincible warriors they are from the start.
And just because they know how to fight doesn't mean they instantly are ready to risk their lives in lethal combat.
I find that to be psychologically unrealistic (the key word here being "psychologically").However, after I watched the first episode and my adult mind stopped grappling with the premise, my inner 8-year-old kid said, open- mouthed and drooling, "THIS WAS MADE JUST FOR ME." Holy crap, this show is awesome.
It has knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, damsels who can kick all kinds of ass, dragons, flying stone Warlords, all the above doing battle with some of the most ridiculously cool weapons I've ever seen, and just to put the cherry on the sundae, the music is 90% rock 'n' roll.
And not that stock rock music that a lot of cartoons use, I'm talking Ron Wasserman- style metal-influenced guitar- shredding rock.
A most excellent choice for the soundtrack.I'll admit I haven't finished Season 1 yet and I know there's a second season, about which I heard new villains arrive sporting a samurai/ninja aesthetic.
My only hope is that the show doesn't go the route of Sonic SatAM Season 2 and become TOO stupid.
But even if it does, I'll still loves it to death and pray every weekend for a reboot.SPOILERS: Season 2 goes the route of Sonic SatAM, in that the animation and frame art gets so bad sometimes that I can't enjoy the cartoon.
Someone reboot this show STAT! |
tt0032413 | Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet | Paul Ehrlich (Edward G. Robinson) is a physician working in a German hospital. He is dismissed for his constant disregard for hospital rules, which are bound by bureaucratic red tape. The reason for his conflict is his steadily rising interest in research for selective color staining, the marking of cells and microorganisms, using certain dyes and marking agents, which, as he describes in the film, have a certain 'affinity' to that which is to be stained and nothing else. Emil von Behring (Otto Kruger), whom Dr. Ehrlich meets and befriends, while experimenting with his staining techniques, is impressed with Dr. Ehrlich's staining methods and refers to it as 'specific staining,' adding that this is one of the greatest achievements in science, especially for diagnostic purposes, based on optical microscopy. After attending a medical presentation of one Dr. Robert Koch (Albert Basserman) showing that tuberculosis is a bacterial disease, Ehrlich is able to obtain a sample of the isolated bacterium. After an intense time of research and experimentation in his own lab, paired with a portion of luck, he is able to develop a staining process for this bacterium. This result is honored by Koch and medical circles as a highly valuable contribution to diagnostics.
During his work, Dr. Ehrlich is infected with tuberculosis, a disease still known as being deadly. Therefore, Ehrlich travels with his wife Hedwig (Ruth Gordon) to Egypt for recovery and relief. There he starts to discover the properties of the human body with regard to immunity. This discovery helps Ehrlich and colleague Dr. von Behring to fight a diphtheria epidemic that is killing off many children in the country. The two doctors are rewarded for their efforts.
Ehrlich concentrates on work to create his "magic bullets" - chemicals injected into the blood to fight various diseases, thus pioneering antibiotic chemotherapy for infectious diseases (later adopted by others to fight cancer). Ehrlich's laboratory has the help of a number of scientists like Sahachiro Hata (Wilfred Hari). The medical board, headed by Dr. Hans Wolfert (Sig Ruman), believes much of Ehrlich's work is a waste of money and resources and fight for a reduction, just as Ehrlich begins to work on a cure for syphilis. Ehrlich is financially backed by the widow of Jewish banker Georg Speyer, Franziska Speyer (Maria Ouspenskaya) and after 606 tries he finally discovers the remedy for the disease. This substance, first called "606", is now known as Arsphenamine or Salvarsan.
The joy of discovery is short-lived, as 38 patients who receive the treatment die. Dr. Wolfert denounces the cure publicly and accuses Ehrlich of murdering those who died from the cure. As faith in the new cure starts to dwindle, Ehrlich is forced to sue Wolfert for libel and in the process exonerate 606. Dr. von Bering (who had earlier told Ehrlich to give up his pipe dreams of cures by chemicals), is called by the defense to denounce 606. Von Bering instead states that he believes that 606 is responsible for the death of syphilis itself, the 39th death as he calls it. Ehrlich is exonerated, but the strain and stress from the trial are too much for his ill body and he dies shortly thereafter, first telling his assistants and colleagues about taking risks with regard to medicine. | historical | train | wikipedia | It's very hard to believe that this movie was made in 1940, as much of the plot centers on Dr. Ehrlich's attempts to create a cure for syphilis.
At times, the studio appeared to dance around the whole STD aspect of the disease, but it was extremely daring to try to cover such a taboo topic.It's actually quite amazing that a story as seemingly mundane and medical research is as compelling as it is.
This is based on the true story of Dr. Paul Ehrlich, a Polish born German bacteriologist that discovered the cure for syphilis.
Not only was Robinson in top form, but other cast members provided strong support: Otto Kruger, Ruth Gordon and Donald Crisp.
Of all the great biographical flicks Hollywood pumped out in the late 30's and early 40's, such as "Juarez," "The Story of Louis Pasteur," "Abe Lincoln in Illinois," and "The Life of Emile Zola," "Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" is the best.
And that's saying a lot since the ones mentioned above are screen classics from the Golden Age. In "Magic Bullet" everything seems to gel, from the brilliant acting of all involved, including once-in-a-lifetime performances by Edward G.
On the other hand the problems Dr. Ehrlich faced in getting support for his magic bullet is comparable with problems faced by today's scientists in getting funding to do needed research to find a cure for AIDS.
The viewer may hesitate to watch at first when he/she discovers that the movie is about a German scientist who discovered an effective treatment for syphilis, but just pay attention for a few seconds and there is no turning back.
Due to the enormous talent, tenacity and courage of Dr. Paul Ehrlich to persevere in his quest to develop a cure for venereal disease, the world was made a safer place.
This outstanding biography relates Dr. Ehrilch's quest to conquer disease which plagued 19th century populations.Edward G.Robinson heads a fine cast, which recognized an outstanding script and rose to the occasion.
The story of Dr. Ehrlich from staining the tubercular germ through the development of his theory of combating disease with so called magic bullets of chemicals is inspiring.
Another great Hollywood Bio. I must echo the glowing comments about this fine film by William Dieterle.
Well made and accurate film illustrating the great efforts Dr. Ehrlich made in strict scientific method and his ability to comprehend disparate events.
Robinson as Dr. Paul Ehrlich, who works to create a cure for syphilis while battling tuberculosis and his peers' small-mindedness.
With direction by the great William Dieterle and a script co-written by John Huston, this is an exceptional film.
"Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet" is the story of the groundbreaking Nobel prize winner Paul Ehrlich, credited with many discoveries still critical in the practice of medicine today, and perhaps most importantly, for finding the cure for syphilis.
But Ehrlich's story deserved telling, and you couldn't do it without using the word syphilis.The beginning of the film shows Dr. Ehrlich in Germany futilely treating patients who have the disease, though nothing can really help them.
It chronicles his rise up the scientific ranks through his use of staining organisms so that they could be seen under the microscope, his work in disease resistance, and finally, after long experiments with an arsenical compound - 606, in fact - the discovery of a cure for syphilis.For me, one reason to watch bios is that I develop interest in the subjects and seek out more information; after all, some Hollywood stories are less factual than others.
Though I'm sure a lot of Ehrlich's life had to be telescoped, the film certainly hits the highlights, and portrays him as a gifted scientist and vigorous innovator obsessed with his work.Edward G.
Robinson was always a good actor in the right role, but as Dr. Ehrlich, he is magnificent, totally immersing himself in the character and drawing the audience in.
Stage actress Ruth Gordon, for whom movie stardom was about 28 years off, gives a lovely, understated performance as Ehrlich's wife.
The rest of the cast is excellent, from Otto Kruger as a fellow scientist and friend, right down to a small role by Louis Calhern.The movie is a little too sentimental at times by today's standards, I suppose, but the only thing that really bothered me was the lack of presence of Ehrlich's daughters at the film's end.
How I long for the era when Hollywood was capable of producing films based upon the lives of great scientists and physicians.
Current moguls may consider the material too trite, but that just proves how they misjudge quality cinema.Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet is a great old biographical melodrama that probably does overstate certain emotional moments, nonetheless it helps recall the bigger-than-life accomplishments of scientists who otherwise would be forgotten.Edward G.
Robinson, though apparently too mature for the role, knew a good script when he read it, and ended up with the finest performance of his long career.
Credit goes to the Warner Studio, too, for making a film about the cure for syphilis when even the mention of the disease was prohibited in motion pictures.
Those who enjoy films like Edison, The Man will find this more involved with science and less with personal matters than the MGM/Spencer Tracy epic.This is grand Warner's entertainment with a lesson or two for all of us..
Dr. Ehrlich also discovered some amazing new ideas: dye for viewing bacterial slides and identifying those germs; the process of vaccination as a prevention against disease and the difficulty in changing the views of the medical community even with valid & objective scientific evidence.
Here he portrays German physician and researcher Paul Ehrlich, a pioneer at the turn of the 20th century in the treatment of infectious diseases and the man who found a cure for syphilis.
Robinson has excellent support here with Ruth Gordon playing Ehrlich's adoring wife.
Otto Kruger ably portrays Emil Adolf Von Behring, Ehrlich's friend and colleague who find himself at odds with his good friend's professional ideas at one point in their careers.The film was controversial at the time for mentioning the disease "syphilis" by name, and I'm sure a little bit of sensationalism is why Jack Warner thought that Dr. Ehrlich's biography would be good material for a film, but there's something more subtle going on here.
I guess these guys all got this from "an inanimate object" as Dr. Ehrlich says is possible at one point in the film to downplay the sexual transmission angle of this disease.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet (1940) *** 1/2 (out of 4) John Huston co-wrote the screenplay and won an Oscar for it for this bio-pic from Warner.
He has to age several decades here but Robinson nails each stage of the doctor's life from his early days working in a hospital to his final days dealing with a trial over his syphilis serum.
Dr. Ehrlich's Magic Bullet came out in 1940 a year after Paul Muni's contract with Warner Brothers ended.
He never was even nominated and was given a posthumous tribute Oscar after his death in 1973.Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) was a pioneer scientist who discovered first the principle of staining microbes, the better to see them with under a microscope which was of inestimable value to research scientists still today.
But he's best known for discovering an effective cure for syphilis.The film opens in fact with Robinson as Ehrlich breaking the bad news to a young man that he now has it.
The rest of the film is spent in search of a cure for the disease which was not even mentioned in polite company.With the advent of the AIDS epidemic, scientists in the 1980s ran into the same prejudices that Ehrlich dealt with.
Robinson was in my humble opinion, unable to portray the Nobel winning scientist Dr. Paul Ehrlich with any credibility.
And yet, we the audience did not hear his explanation(s) to his gracious socialite hostess.I will say that Dr. Ehrlich was known to smoke more than a dozen cigars every day, and his office secretary was very close to him and appeared to know him best which is why her character was portrayed in this film as the caring employee when he took ill.
Robinson's portrayal of the famed Nobel prize winner Dr. Paul Ehrlich was delivered with sufficient preparation and final delivery of his lines to be regarded as authentic.I give the film a 4 out of 10 rating for it's historical value, but I had to take away points for the sub standard delivery of the biographical story of Dr. Paul Ehrlich by Edward G.
If you think Eddie Robinson only played tough little low lifes in Hollywood movies, this film shows that he could convincingly portray heroic scientific pioneers, as well.
However, his portrayal of pioneer medical researcher Paul Ehrlich is among the few of his performances that stays with me.
Just as Muni was born to play Louis Pasteur and Emile Zola, and Kirk Douglas to play Vincent van Gogh, I believe Robinson was born to portray Ehrlich.
Certainly, Robinson deserved an Oscar nomination for this role as well as for his riveting performance as Wolf Larsen in "The Sea Wolf", the following year.Now, there is the question of how many of the details of this film are based on fact.
As portrayed in the film, there was much controversy surrounding the safety, effectiveness and advisability of using Ehrlich's arsenical compounds for curing or preventing the transmission of syphilis.
EHRLICH'S MAGIC BULLET, is a biographical film about Professor Paul Ehrlich (1844-1915), a Nobel Prize Winner who revolutionised medical science in many ways.
Robinson certainly had the brains to appreciate someone like Ehrlich, which does help in portraying someone on screen.
This film was directed by the German immigrant William Dieterle, who four years earlier had directed another scientific biopic, THE STORY OF LOUIS PASTEUR (1936), the same year also directed a film about the life of Florence Nightingale entitled THE WHITE ANGEL (1936), and the following year directed THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA (1937).
Immediately after finishing EHRLICH, he and Robinson teamed up to make THIS MAN REUTER aka A DISPATCH FROM REUTER'S (1940), about Julius Reuter, the founder of the Reuters News Agency, and two years later, Dieterle directed THE MAN ON AMERICA'S CONSCIENCE aka TENNESSEE JOHNSON (1942), about the life on Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, who became President of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The famous Maria Ouspenskaya, who worked under the direction of Stanislavski himself in Moscow, appears in this film in a supporting role as Frau Speyer, and of course is superb.
Donald Meek does a particularly good job of playing the sceptic Mittelmeyer, Ruth Gordon is excellent as Mrs. Ehrlich, and all the cast do well.
Nowadays,people know Ruth Gordon for her sensational parts of Minnie in "Rosemary's baby" and Maude in "Harold and Maude" ,but she was featured in many comedies and she was a writer too.Here ,this is an unobtrusive part,the doctor's admirable wife,supporting him every step of the way and cooking her delicious Kartoffel Puffer (potato pancakes)for him.Edward G.Robinson plays the part of a great scientist who devoted his entire life to relieve his fellow men's sufferings.Many users have noticed how his fight is still relevant today when AIDS (and cancer) are still causing terrible losses.This is an interesting movie ,even for these who,like me,are not really good at biology.Dieterle makes a veiled reference to these viewers in this scene when Ehrlich explains his theory to Mrs Speyer (the marvelous Madame Ouspenskaya): when he stops speaking,the large table is completely empty.The same year,Robinson made "A dispatch from Reuter's " with the same director.Both movies have similar endings when the heroes stand accused and then the facts vindicate them.
Warner Brothers filmed dozens of these historical based combinations of highly researched fact and Hollywood instilled fiction.
The lives of these subjects were not often interesting enough to stretch out a two hour movie so elements of romance and social drama were inserted to make them more entertaining for the public at large.George Arliss and Paul Muni dominated the 1930's with their portrayals of such loved (or despised) men like Disraeli, Voltaire, Alexander Hamilton, Louis Pasteur, Emile Zola and Juarez, and after years of playing gangsters or G-Men, Edward G.
Robinson went historical to play Dr. Paul Erlich, a physician who turned to research to help alleviate man's suffering.
Ruth Gordon, years from her wacky old ladies of "Rosemary's Baby" and "Every Which Way But Loose", is his mild-mannered wife who frets over his health and unknowingly ruins an experiment which actually creates major findings for the good doctor.Donald Crisp and Otto Kruger also deliver excellent performances as Robinson's colleagues, Kruger particularly memorable when he finds himself suddenly at odds with his long-time friend.
One of the highlights of the film is the scene where a group of doctors representing the money behind Robinsons' research show up only to be violently screamed at by him for making demands on his research he can't possibly commit to..
I really love the old 1930s-40s Warner Brothers Biographical films and this is one of the best.
Had this movie never been made I would never have heard of Dr. Paul Ehrlich, who led the way to find and defeat bacteria and micro-organisms.
Robinson is always good, but never more so as Dr. Ehrlich.
The story starts with Ehrlich's discovery of staining slides so the bacteria and micro-organisms are better defined and diseases diagnosed, which leads to creation of vaccines.
After finding a cure for diphtheria using inoculations, his colleagues still are skeptical and distrustful of him when he attempts to research man-made, chemical vaccines, which he calls "Magic Bullets".
A compassion-laden film about a true-life German Doctor seeking the cure to some of the world's worst ailments, including syphilis, polio and influenza.
Oh, they can bandy words like "syphilis" around all right (but significantly without once alluding to the fact that it is a sexually transmitted disease — in fact Ehrlich actually says in one scene that the disease can be contracted by other means), but when it comes to calling Ehrlich a Jew, the best the writers can manage is an oblique reference to Ehrlich's "faith" in a report from Rumann to Love.
OTHER VIEWS: Among all the plays and films in which I've appeared, I'm proudest of my role in Doctor Ehrlich's Magic Bullet.
I'll mention "Lawrence of Arabia." In this 30s film, Robinson is Paul Ehrlich (1854 - 1915), a famous medical researcher whose curriculum vitae must run to dozens of pages covering dyes for microorganisms, the treatment of diphtheria, and finally the first cure for syphilis, called Salvarsan, which antedated the discovery of penicillin by years.These old biographies from the 30s are really enjoyable, even the Nazi propaganda film on Robert Koch, who practically founded bacteriology.
Such social problems got the "Reefer Madness" treatment if they came up at all.Ehrlich has an argument mid-way through the film with his old friend and colleague Emil Behring.
He'd also directed "The Story of Louis Pasteur." (I'm telling you, there were a lot of biopics around.) Dieterle was a refugee from Nazi Germany and, in casting this film, he must have hired every German within a fifty mile radius of Hollywood.
Already, we get the first indication of reticence on the part of the movie to actually mention the word "syphilis."In the first scene, a young man enters Ehrlich's office for a physical examination.
A clue to what he is getting at comes with the following remark, "I've seen cases where it was transmitted by an inanimate object."In other words, most people get syphilis through sexual intercourse, which makes the disease shameful.
So, in the very act of telling him (and us) that the disease whose name he won't utter might have been contracted in a non-shameful manner, he is implicitly saying that the vast majority of cases of syphilis, which are contracted through sex, are not infections just like any other, but are in fact something to be ashamed of.After the examination, we see Ehrlich putting some substance into a jar for the man to apply to his skin.
He despairs that all the treatments he prescribes are useless, just something to give patients a false sense of hope.From this point, the movie follows Ehrlich through various medical discoveries.
The movie further provides us with an Arrowsmith situation, specific to medical science, in which the experiment requires that half the subjects get the serum or vaccine while the control group gets only a placebo or nothing at all; but in the name of humanity, the doctor ends up giving everyone the medicine, which saves their lives.
Of course, in these dramatic situations, there is always a de facto control group anyway, which is all the people who were dropping dead from the disease prior to the experiment.In any event, about one hour in, the word "syphilis" finally makes its way into the movie.
This is most fortunate, from a cinematic standpoint, because a trial is also a good way to dramatize science.In the end, however, Dr. Ehrlich was more successful in his struggle to defeat syphilis than the movie was in its struggle to defeat the shame that comes from contracting it..
Robinson with a well written formula script works very well in this one.Robinson plays the man who actually developed a magic bullet cure for Syphilis.
While the death scene at the end is pure Hollywood Hype, Robinson plays it well, and the rest of the film is a cut above many films.There are a lot of reasons this film is terrific, though we have now come a long ways from this miracle drug and even with more drugs developed, this one is not the total drug to cure it.
Watching Edward G Robinson in top form with a good script makes this movie well worth watching. |
tt0082009 | American Pop | In Imperial Russia during the late 1890s, a rabbi's wife and her young son Zalmie escape to America while the rabbi is killed by the Cossacks. Shortly after their arrival in New York City, Zalmie is recruited by Louie, a performer at a burlesque house, to hand out chorus slips. As Zalmie grows into adolescence, he spends more time with Louie backstage at burlesque shows. When Zalmie's mother dies in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he begins working with Louie full-time at a small theatre. Though Zalmie aspires to be a singer, he is beginning to enter puberty and his changing voice becomes a significant obstacle. When World War I strikes, Zalmie travels the globe performing for the troops as the bottom half of a pantomime horse and sustains a wound to his throat, which ends his singing career.
When Zalmie returns to New York, he briefly continues performing as a clown, and falls in love with a stripper named Bella, vowing to make her a famous singer and getting involved with mobsters in order to do so. After Zalmie impregnates her, he uses money from mob boss Nicky Palumbo to pay for their wedding. Bella achieves modest success, but she is killed after opening a package containing a bomb intended for Zalmie. Their son, Benny, who is already an introverted child, focuses all of his efforts into becoming a talented jazz pianist. Benny marries Palumbo's daughter at Zalmie's request and enlists to fight in World War II seeking redemption for his family, despite pleas from his father. Benny is killed in Nazi Germany when he stops to play on an abandoned piano and is caught off-guard by a Nazi soldier; Benny begins to play Lili Marleen and the Nazi closes his eyes in bliss, but when the song ends, the Nazi pauses only to thank Benny before riddling him and the piano with gunfire. Benny's wife and son, named Tony, now live in a suburban Long Island town, and they watch as Zalmie testifies against Palumbo on television, calling him a rat.
A teenage Tony steals his stepfather's car and drives across the country for four weeks, ending up in Kansas, where he spends the day washing dishes at a diner and spends the night with a waitress. In California, Tony takes another job dishwashing, but soon grows tired of it and quits. A six-piece rock group invites him to write songs for them after hearing him playing harmonica under their doorstep. The band becomes successful but slowly starts to decompose because of the heroin addictions of female lead singer Frankie Heart and Tony himself. Tony becomes addicted to drugs after being hospitalized from falling off a stage while on acid at one of Frankie's shows. Frankie and the band's drummer, Johnny Webb marry, but divorce after two weeks, and Frankie begins an affair with Tony. In Kansas, the band is set to perform after Jimi Hendrix, but Frankie overdoses backstage, and Tony meets a blonde, blue-eyed boy, Little Pete, whom Tony realizes is his son, conceived the night he spent with the waitress.
Tony moves back to New York City accompanied by Pete, where he becomes heavily involved with drug dealing. Pete makes a small amount of money playing the acoustic guitar, but Tony takes any money that Pete earns to buy drugs for himself. Tony gives Benny's harmonica to Pete, then takes Pete's guitar to pawn it, telling Pete to wait on a city bench. The next morning, a man approaches Pete and gives him a small package of drugs to sell and tells Pete that Tony said goodbye to him. After years of selling drugs to rock bands, Pete refuses to sell the band members any more cocaine unless they are willing to listen to his music. His talent stuns both the band and the management and they agree to record and hire him on the spot. The film ends with Pete performing in concert with the band, images of his ancestors appearing during his performance. | cult | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0049211 | The First Texan | Sam Houston, a lawyer and former Governor of Tennessee, travels to San Antonio, Texas to begin a new life. He encounters Jim Bowie, who is determined to free the territory from Mexico's rule.
Bowie is tried for treason. Houston represents him in court and successfully argues that the charge against Bowie must be dismissed because Mexico was not under martial law at the time.
Katherine Delaney comes into Houston's life. He is still married back home, but separated and dictates a letter requesting a formal divorce. Katherine will not become involved with Houston unless he promises not to become actively involved in the fight to free Texas.
Davy Crockett relays a message from U.S. president Andrew Jackson, who wants Houston to lead the revolution. There are not enough troops at the Alamo to hold off General Antonio López de Santa Anna and the large Mexican army. And when Houston appears to be in full retreat, some of his men begin to feel he must be replaced.
It turns out Houston was planning a surprise attack. His forces are told to "remember the Alamo" and they proceed to overwhelm Santa Anna and his men. Texas is declared a free republic and Sam Houston its first president, a movement that eventually will lead to statehood. | revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0270727 | Villains' Revenge | The game's story is set in the bedroom of the player, presumably a child. Jiminy Cricket (Eddie Carroll) is the guardian of a book in the player's room which features several stories with happy endings. However, the book's happy ending pages are ripped out by a very bored Jiminy Cricket, who has read them so often that they put him to sleep. As a game, he asks the player to put them back where they belong, when suddenly the book is possessed by the spirits of several Disney Villains, namely Captain Hook (Corey Burton) from Peter Pan; The Witch (Wicked Queen Grimhilde) (Louise Chamis) from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; The Queen of Hearts (Tress MacNeille) from Alice in Wonderland and the Ringmaster (Corey Burton) from Dumbo, who alter the stories to their advantage, without the presence of happy endings. The Blue Fairy (Rosalyn Landor) appears and explains that because stories live on in the hearts of readers, by removing the happy endings left the stories at their climax, with the heroes in peril and the villains in control. Jiminy and the player venture into the worlds of the stories to correct the happy endings.
In the altered stories, the Wicked Queen Grimhilde as Old-Hag Witch has built a giant house resembling her infamous poisoned apple and has put Snow White to sleep and intends to do the same to the seven dwarves, and the player must use the spellbook to free the Prince (Michael Gough), whom she trapped by magic, so that the Prince kisses Snow White to wake her up, the Ringmaster forces a now flightless Dumbo to endlessly perform humiliating stunts in his circus, and the player must help Dumbo fly again by make the circus contraption perfect so that they can force the clown to perform the humiliating stunts, the Queen of Hearts has rather violently had Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) decapitated, although the girl does remain alive despite the separation of her body and head, and the player must find Alice's head to piece her back together, so that the White Rabbit (Corey Burton) must lead them home, and Peter Pan (Michael Welch) is an old man (Kevin Schon), which makes it too hard for him to fight Hook, and the player must pick up Elderly Peter's sword to win the swashbuckling sword fight against Hook and his pirate crew, so that the Crocodile can chase him away, and Peter turns back into a young boy again.
The villains steal the happy ending pages, changing the bedroom into a battlefield mixed with their four areas. The player uses the book as a shield to deflect the villains' attacks and defeats each one (Hook is sent flying by a reflected cannonball, the Wicked Queen Grimhilde as Old-Hag Witch is seemingly frightened to death by her own reflection, the Queen of Hearts surrenders when a hedge maze topiary statue she hides in is destroyed by the player shooting Hedgehogs, and the Ringmaster is knocked unconscious by a well aimed custard pie). All of the happy endings are restored at the end of the game. | good versus evil, fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0083496 | The Tube | Detective Jang Do-joon (Kim Suk-hoon) who does not know the meaning of giving up, is hot on the trail of Kang Gi-taek, a deadly terrorist. Kang Gi-taek (Park Sang-min) was an elite secret agent for the government's intelligence agency before getting tossed out for assassinating a key figure.
On the day of the new mayor's official visit to the subway, Kang Gi-taek hijacks the train and begins a full-scale act of terror. Pickpocket girl Song Yin-gyung (Bae Doona), who senses what is going on, quickly contacts Detective Jang Do-joon. The greatest act of terrorism in history, with the lives of 13 million citizens held hostage—the showdown begins between an out-of-control terrorist and a determined detective who is on the verge of life and death.
As the passengers face their deaths, Detective Jang Do-joon disconnects the first car. He has made the decision to sacrifice himself to save the others. His love was only too happy to be rid of the terrorist and it is only after he handcuffs her to the train that she realizes what he is about to do. Detective Jang Do-joon holds onto the controls of the first car and asks her to pull the lever to disconnect the two cars. The heroine must send the most cherished person in her life to fate. She must watch with the survivors in sorrow as the man who gave his life to save theirs, meets his end. | non fiction | train | wikipedia | certainly one of Channel 4's landmarks. along with 'Brookside', The Tube was most definitely one of a handful of long term projects for the all new Channel 4. The overriding factor and viewing appeal of the idea was that in those days, the only terrestrial music shows were on the BBC and they were somewhat superficial. The all new 'The Tube' marketed itself as a musician's music show. Sure there was the Whistle Test, but despite its status these days, it was a dour affair and always seemed to be presented by the nerds of the music business. The Tube on the other hand was brashy, colourful fresh and pioneering. Immediately form the titles you could tell it was born out of Punk and New Wave. It's style was also very Channel 4! Remarkably In its early days (due to non-national coverage because of transmitter issues), large parts of the UK could not receive the show and missed out on some landmark performances - including the last ever live performance by the Jam! (1982) For the record, The Jam performed the songs 'Precious' and 'A Town Called Malice'...back to back! Other notable artists who came on during the early days were Wham! who performed their controversial version of Wham! Rap (the U.S. Remix) as well as Madonna, who famously had to pay for her own plain ticket to appear...!It has to be said that in the early days, not many were convinced by the presenters Holland and Yates. Jools Holland was seen as an also ran from the recently split 'Squeeze' band, whilst Paula Yates was largely unknown outside of London. In addition to the presenters, the music journalist Muriel Gray was always an active participant and did well. What the Tube had going for it was that it provided a platform for gig style live music. The fact respected artists would come on - even requested to be on - went a long way to making it an anchor for Channel 4 and cult music show of the 1980's.What really got the Tube going though was its 'Midsummer Nights Tube' events held every Summer. At the time in the 1980's there was a mini-fad for all nighter festival types of TV events, tied in of course with Live Aid. The format worked. Midsummers Night Tube was a musical highlight on TV in 1984 and 1985.What really did it for the Tube though was the arrogance of Jools Holland. The omission of a four letter swear work live on air - well before the watershed - provided ammo for the critics. Holland was sacked and the show possibly never recovered.The best days of The Tube were definitely the early years, say 1982-1985, it went downhill in viewing figures from around 1986, and the BBC's decision to go live on TOTP was a hammer blow. The Tube was cool originally but started to believe the hype and by the time it was decommissioned not many people even realised it was going - unlike Brookside! Despite this, those who watched it and those who never did, would and should rightly regard it as an iconic piece of 1980's pop culture. |
tt0039204 | Body and Soul | An escaped prisoner seeks refuge in the predominantly African-American town of Tatesville, Georgia, by passing himself off as the Rt. Reverend Isaiah T. Jenkins. He is joined in town by a fellow criminal, and the pair scheme to swindle the phony reverend's congregation of their offerings. Jenkins falls in love with a young member of his congregation, Isabelle Perkins, even though she is in love with a poor young man named Sylvester, who happens to be Jenkins’ long-estranged twin brother. Jenkins steals money from Martha Jane, Isabelle's mother and convinces the young woman to take the blame for his crime. She flees to Atlanta and dies just as her mother locates her. Before dying, Isabelle reveals to her mother that Jenkins raped her and that he is the one who took her mother's money. She explains that she did not speak up before because she knew her mother would not believe her. Returning to Tatesville, Martha Jane confronts Jenkins in front of the congregation. Jenkins flees and during a twilight struggle he kills a man who tries to bring him to justice. The following morning, Martha Jane awakens and realizes the episode with Jenkins was only a dream. She provides Isabelle (who is not dead) and Sylvester with the funds to start a married life together. | cult | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0039839 | Slick Hare | The cartoon opens with various shots of 1940s celebrities dining and drinking at the Mocrumbo club—including such personalities as Ray Milland (in a spoof of The Lost Weekend, he pays for his drink with a typewriter and receives miniature typewriters as change) and Frank Sinatra (depicted exaggeratedly thin, so much so that he slips into his straw when trying to take a sip from his drink). Fudd is a waiter at the Mocrumbo and comes out to find that his next customer is Humphrey Bogart.
Bogart tells Elmer that he wants fried rabbit, within 20 minutes—or else! (pulls out a tommy gun). This puts Elmer in a bind, as the restaurant is "fwesh out of wabbit." However, during his frantic search for one, Elmer hears the familiar sound of Bugs munching on some carrots in a corner of the kitchen. Elmer lets Bugs know that Bogart wants to "have" him for dinner. Bugs immediately dresses in a tailcoat and wants to have a peek at what is cooking. Elmer quickly puts a mirror into a pot. Bugs, taking a look inside, soon realizes that he himself is the main course.
Bugs eventually manages to escape the kitchen, dressing like Groucho Marx in an attempt to fool Elmer. Elmer then appears next to Bugs, dressed as Harpo Marx. Bugs tries to make a getaway, but is stopped by the large abdomen of Sydney Greenstreet. He runs into Carmen Miranda's dressing room and hides in her iconic fruit headdress. Carmen then performs a song and as she exits the stage, Elmer starts chasing Bugs. Elmer runs away from the audience leaving Bugs to dance to the orchestra's samba rhythms.
Bugs then makes his way back to the kitchen, where he reveals in the audience's appreciation of his performance ("Ah, my public! How they love me! A-huh-huh!" (the little laugh being a Jack Benny shtick). Fudd then runs towards Bugs, and Bugs immediately pretends to be a waiter ordering pies and twice splatters Elmer in the face. The third time (a comic triple), Elmer throws the pie at Bugs, but he ducks and it sails out into the seating area, hitting Bogart in the face. Bogart walks into the kitchen, grabs Elmer and asks him, "Why did you hit me in the face wid a coconut custard pie wid whipped cream?" Bogart then warns Elmer that he has just 5 minutes to come up with his fried rabbit. Elmer searches frantically, but cannot find one in time. Bogart returns, and sticks his hand in his jacket menacingly. Elmer thinks he's about to die, but Bogart only pulls out a handkerchief to dab his forehead as he says resignedly, "Baby will just have to have a ham sandwich instead." Upon hearing "Baby", Bugs jumps out of his hiding place and takes his place as the main course (Lauren Bacall being "Baby"), noting, "Remember, garçon, the customer is always right! If it's rabbit Baby wants, rabbit Baby gets!" before howling and wolf whistling at Bacall. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Hollywood Star-Gazing At The 'Mocrumbo'.
We are at the Hollywood exclusive nightclub, "The Mocrumbo," where dinners are $600 apiece (today that translates to thousands).
The entertainment: "Leopold And His Chifafa Five." Leopold is Leopold Stokowski, the conductor who seems to be a favorite of the Looney Tunes crowd.Eating a steak is either Gary Cooper or Gregory Peck; At the bar is Ray Milland in a parody of "The Lost Weekend." Using a straw for a drink is the super-skinny Frank Sinatra; Elmer Fudd is a waiter and Humphrey Bogart asks for some "fried rabbit." Humphrey slaps him around and demands a rabbit dinner.
Back in the kitchen, Elmer hears the obnoxious chewing of Bugs Bunny eating a carrot.
Bugs gives him the famous line from "To Have And Have Not," telling Elmer to "tell Bogie if he wants me, all he has to do is whistle."I enjoyed seeing Bugs imitating Groucho Marx; hiding in Carmen Miranda's fruit-basket hat, and doing the conga dance.
The ending was kind of lame, but it was "cute" to see Bugs serving himself on a platter to Bogie's girl, Lauren Bacall.I enjoyed the rich colors in this cartoon which was included in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Two..
Humphrey Bogart is in the Mocrumbo restaurant (a spoof of the legendary Mucombo in LA), where Elmer Fudd is working as a chef.
Bogart wants fried rabbit, so Elmer chases Bugs around in hopes of making him dinner.
Half the fun is the chase and all the shenanigans that entails.
The other half is spotting all the personality parodies.
There's Bogert, Grocho Marx, and Lauren Bacall, of course.
But there's also Leopold Stokowski, Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Greenstreet, and Carmen Miranda.
This animated short can be seen on Disc 1 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2.
Bugs!!.
It is my favorite BB cartoon.
Bogie,Groucho, Ray Milland....its fabulous.
Then hiding in Carmen Miranda's hat followed by the dance.
The fact that a cartoon character can provide laughs like this is living proof of the talent the creators had.
If you want to see the essential "wise-guy" that was in essence the character itself, this is the one to see.
This, along with the cartoon in which he is offered the "oscar", shows that this was one that played in the big-leagues.
It shows the "star power" that was in place at that time...and a mixture of comedians, dramatic actors and musical entertainers..
For this viewer, the directors who handled Bugs Bunny best were Isadore Freleng and Robert Clampett.
Art Davis did well with his one entry, and Tex Avery clocked in, but Freleng and Clampett are still best over-all.The "Mocrumbo" in "Slick Hare" is, apparently, where the stars came to be seen--which would explain why there are so many of them here.
First up is Leopold Stokowski , or in this case "Leopold and his Chifafa Five" (that 'Chifafa' being taken from the lyric of the song hit of the 40s by Nat King Cole, known as "The Frim Fram Sauce").
It's hilarious to see Leopold deposit a nickel in the juke-box, and then do a pretend conductorship of the recording.
Incidentally, the song played by the orchestra in that scene is "Nagasaki", composed by Harry Warren.
As Carl Stalling drums up strains of "A Gal In Calico", we see Gregory Peck, cutting up a steak with a razor, Ray Milland trading in his typewriter for drinks at the bar, Sinatra being sucked up by a straw--instead of the other way around.
The action finally settles on Elmer Fudd (and in this cartoon the voice is still being done by its initiator, Arthur Q.
Bryan and not Mel Blanc--yet)and on Humphrey Bogart, who demands rabbit, and gives Elmer an ultimatum.
There we have the scenario that sets the pace for the rest of the cartoon.
We are treated to more cameo caricatures (the Marx Brothers, Sydney Greenstreet, and even a number by Carmen Miranda, whose voice is dubbed by a singer whose name I would like to know--as well as the name of the song).Bogie turns up the heat on Elmer, and the pressure builds.
Elmer can't come through and fears the worst.
But a turn of events in cartoon logic changes things at that very moment, and the ending will come as a pleasant surprise to anyone who has not seen the cartoon...and I would recommend that the cartoon be shown to as many as would care to view it.
Certainly not the best Bugs Bunny cartoon, but one of the better ones..
slick as a hare, tough as Bogie, and more.
While most cartoons had Bugs Bunny doing his own stuff to irk Elmer Fudd - and sometimes Daffy Duck - here he has the unexpected help of Hollywood's top stars.
When Humphrey Bogart (sorry, it's not really him doing the voice) attends a fancy restaurant and orders rabbit, Elmer has to serve him within twenty minutes, or else.
Sure enough, the only rabbit in the vicinity is that carrot-chomping rascal who isn't going down so easy.All in all, "Slick Hare" makes one nostalgic for old Hollywood* in many ways: it's the era of Bogie, Ray Milland, etc., but also the era when the people behind the Looney Tunes cartoons were producing some of the greatest cartoons of all time.
Because remember: what baby wants, baby gets.*I know, Hollywood is the emptiest place on Earth, but this cartoon still makes one nostalgic for it..
Topical jokes don't work as well as they did but antics still funny.
In a slick New York club for the rich and famous, Mr Humphrey Bogart orders rabbit.
Waiter Elmer Fudd is at a loss where he'll get fresh rabbit at that time of night until he finds Bugs Bunny feasting on carrots.
With running out, Fudd tries to get Bugs into the pot.Starting out with a range of topical cameos from entertainers and film stars of the period, this film risks being hit and miss in the today but happily many of them will still be recognisable to modern audiences.
After these jokes we move into what is the usual Bugs/Elmer fare of chases and trickery.
Most of this is pretty funny and it all moves quite slickly, some of it is a little lesser than it should be but none of it really misses.Bugs is a god character, even if it feels like he isn't the star here.
Elmer does good work as a waiter but Bogart's voice work lets him down and doesn't totally sound realistic or natural.
The celebrities were pretty well caricatured and quite funny (or at least those I recognised).Overall this was an enjoyable short apart from the unavoidable failing that I wasn't totally sure who all the celebrities were at the start..
Stokowski heads up the festivities: along with Bogie & Betty,Ray Milland,The Marx Bros.
Carmen Miranda, Gregory Peck, Sinatra & Sidney Greenstreet.(WOW!!
It is rather one of those great old Cartoon Short Subjects that we all took for granted in years gone-by.STILL RELEGATED BY many as being strictly kids' stuff, the animated Cartoon short has slowly gained its proper place and commensurate dignity in the art of cinema.
An objective viewing of any good, cross sampling of these 10 minute surrealist comedies would probably surprise many of their staunchest critics.TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION today's honored "guest", SLICK HARE (Warner Brothers Pictures, 1947).
The madcap "plot" consists of a customer's desire to order Roast Rabbit and all of the complications that spring-up between customer and waiter.
Then factor in that the principal characters involved in this mêlée are Customer(Humohrey Bogart), Waiter (Elmer Fudd) and the bone of contention, the Rabbit (Bugs Bunny).ADD IN SOME fine and genuinely funny gags; along with a whole company of Hollywood caricatures; a list of which would do Hirschfeld proud, and whatta ya have?
You'd have a top flight comic romp, animated or live action.
For all of its gag happenings, the film rolls along at an unbelievably brisk rate; with the ending coming along all too quickly.THE CRITICISMS WE hear about the short involve the inescapable fact that the Hollywood folks spoofed as well as the contemporary nature of the the then recent occurrences, leaves a modern audience in a bit of puzzlement.THIS WE CAN understand; having failed recognition of unknown Cowboy as Gary Cooper in the Bob Hope starring vehicle, ALIAS JESSE JAMES (Hope Enterprises/United Artists, 1959).
Being about 12 years old at the time and an avid TV Watcher, quickly identifying Gail Davis (Annie Oakley), James Arness (Matt Dillon), Ward Bond (Major Adams of WAGON TRAIN), Hugh Obrian (Wyatt Earp), Fess Parker (Davy Croket) and Jay Silverheals (Tonto).
Now back to SLICK HARE!
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS being lampooned here are basically as well known today as they were in 1947.
Furthermore, speaking for those among us who they call "Film Buffs", the Films and Stars of that Golden Age; as well as their Film Credits, are more familiar than an awful lot of current Hollywood.
While we do enjoy a certain number of today's cinematic output, we do spend a lot of time on the Oldies; as we had viewed them; being on Turner Classic Movies, Fox Movie Channel and American Movie Classics (the old AMC, that is)..
Bugs and Elmer Do Hollywood.
One of the staples of the WB cartoon studio was lampooning Hollywood.
The caricature cartoons are among their most fascinating period pieces, especially those that took place in the old Hollywood night clubs.
This short is strongly reminiscent of THE COO COO NUT GROVE (1936) and Hollywood STEPS OUT (1941), which had a nightclub setting with several caricatures.
Humphrey Bogart threatens waiter Elmer to get him a rabbit for dinner "or else".
Of course the rabbit Elmer goes after is Bugs.
The highlight for me has always been Carmen Miranda's performance followed by Bugs' own samba performance.This was probably the last cartoon of that kind to come from WB.
Truly the end of an era..
An awkward combination of celebrity spotting and Bugs/Elmer chase film.
Starting out like one of the Hollywood Star caricature cartoons like 'The Coo-Coo Nut Grove' or 'Hollywood Steps Out', 'Slick Hare' quickly distinguishes itself by injecting Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny in amongst the other famous faces.
These cartoons are mostly recommended for movie buffs who will still recognise the stars being parodied (here they include the Marx Brothers, Carmen Miranda, Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra and Humphrey Bogart) but 'Slick Hare' offers a chase between Bugs and Elmer for anyone not interested in celebrity spotting.
The combination of these two elements doesn't really work that well, the caricature routines slowing down the action whenever it threatens to get going (culminating in a tedious, overlong dance routine from Carmen Miranda and Bugs).
A further problem is that the central chase is quite uninspired, with only a scene in which Bugs orders pies and then puts them in Elmer's face really standing out.
Bugs also seems excessively brash and obnoxious in this cartoon, from his loud "Am I the first to arrive" routine at the beginning of the cartoon to his frenzied cat-calling at the end.
All in all, 'Slick Hare' is a lumpy and jarring experiment gone wrong..
Well worth watching for the celebrity caricatures alone!.
Man how I loved this Looney Tunes cartoon.
The animation is excellent, colourful, fluid and lively, and the music is dynamic and expressive.
Both Bugs and Elmer are great foils for each other, and Mel Blanc and Arthur Q.
It is the celebrity caricatures that made Slick Hare so entertaining, what a delight to see all those famous faces- Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Carmen Miranda, Groucho Marx, Frank Sinatra, Sydney Greestreet, Leopold Stokowski, Lauren Bacall and especially Humphrey Bogart.
Overall, hugely entertaining and definitely recommended.
10/10 Bethany Cox. A very good one of Bugs Bunny..
How can Looney Tunes be so good?
How can Bugs Bunny be so good?
This is not my favourite of his episodes, but it is certainly up there in my Top 20 Bugs Bunny Cartoon List (probably).
In this episode I enjoyed: 1.
The caricatured appearances of the actors.
I did not recognise all of them, but the ones I did recognise (Frank Sinatra, Groucho Marx, Harpo Marx), I enjoyed watching and I found the spoofs on them funny.
Am I misunderstanding or did Looney Tunes have it in for Frank Sinatra?
Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, they played their characters well and you feel sorry for Elmer Fudd.Anyhow, this episode is set in a posh, expensive restaurant, where many film stars are having their meals.
Before any of the Looney Tunes characters appear, you see various film star/performer references, some you might recognise.
Elmer Fudd is serving Humphrey Bogart, who wants a rabbit for supper.
Elmer apologises and says they are out of rabbit.
Bogart is unsatisfied and threatens poor Elmer with death if he does not produce a rabbit within twenty minutes.
Elmer finds Bugs and he is determined to serve him up to the film star...I recommend this episode to people who like old Bugs Bunny episodes, film star references and Looney Tunes in general.
Enjoy "Slick Hare"!
:-) 8 and a half out of ten..
Elmer, Bugs & Bogart.
Slick Hare (1947) **** (out of 4) Elmer Fudd plays a waiter at the Mocrumbo, a restaurant with Hollywood's A-list stars.
Humphrey Bogart orders rabbit but when Elmer tells him they're out the legendary tough guy demands he get one.
Back in the kitchen lies Bugs Bunny but will Elmer be able to serve him up?
This is a great cartoon from start to finish because of all the celebs we get to see.
Not only do we have a great impression of Bogart but we also see the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra and a funny bit of Ray Milland in his THE LOST WEEKEND role.
Bugs and Elmer are also at the top of their game as the action between the two is great as are all the jokes.
One of the highlights deal with pies being thrown and Bogart taking one in the face..
Directed by Friz Freleng, "Slick Hare" is an excellent Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd cartoon.
Freleng didn't like to use Elmer Fudd in these cartoons, but his handling of Elmer is well done here; Elmer doesn't seem as big of an idiot as he usually does.The main thrust of the plot involves Humphrey Bogart (in a fine caricature, I might add) demanding Elmer, a waiter at the Mocrumbo, to bring him an order of fried rabbit or else!
And as Elmer tries to catch Bugs Bunny, the gags are plentiful!
Bugs' Groucho Marx disguise (as well as his walk, cigar, and one-liner joke) is simply hilarious.
He also engages in quite a lively conga dance.
At the opening of this short, Leopold Stokowski (another excellent caricature) conducts a jukebox playing an ultra-quick rendition of "We're in the Money" while all the patrons briefly crowd the dance floor, applaud, and dash back to their tables.
Bugs disguises himself as a waiter and orders a few pies from Elmer, who gets them splatted in his face; Elmer catches on to Bugs' tricks and throws the next pie, missing Bugs and hitting the perturbed Bogart, who calmly asks Elmer, "Why did you hit me in the face with a coconut custard pie with whipped cream?" "Slick Hare" is a winning cartoon with plenty of laughs.
Also, watch for a few cameo caricatures of Sydney Greenstreet, Frank Sinatra, and Lauren Bacall!.
"If it's rabbit Baby wants .
it's rabbit Baby gets." So ends this Merrie Melodies cartoon, after nearly 7 minutes and 44 seconds of mayhem in the kitchen of a restaurant seemingly populated only by celebrities.
"Baby" refers to Lauren Bacall, who is dining out with her fried rabbit craving husband Humphrey Bogart.
Other Mel Blanc impersonations here include Jack Carson, Sydney Greenstreet, Chico and Harpo Marx, Frank McHugh, Ray Milland, Carmen Miranda, Gregory Peck, Zachary Scott, Alexis Smith, Barbara Stanwyck, Leopold Stokowski, and Clifton Webb--many of whom have been dead so long and are regarded as being of such little importance in the current century that their surnames come up as typos on this site's spell checker.
The ageless Bugs Bunny himself, despite his possible double entendre at the close, is imperiled throughout this brief animation by his nemesis, Elmer Fudd (the eatery's cook\waiter here).
Though director Fritz Freleng feels compelled to resort to a cream pie barrage by the end of the film, a root canal certainly would be a more painful experience than watching this colorful artifact from the 1900s..
Bugs dines with Bogey and Baby!.
"Bugs Bunny", "Elmer Fudd", and caricatures of Leopold Stokowski, Gregory Peck, Ray Milland, Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Carmen Miranda, Lauren Bacall.Copyright 20 December 1946 by the Vitaphone Corp.
Merrie Melodies (Bugs Bunny Special) Warner Bros.
Cartoons, Inc. U.S. release: 1 November 1947 (sic).
7 minutes.COMMENT: Prices have climbed a bit since we visited Ciro's for Hollywood Steps Out. Dinner at the Macrumbo is $600, but small down payments are accepted.
Although Steve Schneider likes this one, selecting it as both a Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd "best", I would not give it such a high rating.
The spot gags (Milland paying for his drink with a typewriter and receiving three miniature typewriters for change; Sinatra drinking himself into a glass tumbler; Bugs imitating Groucho opposite Elmer's Harpo; and what is the point of the gag with Gregory Peck - or is it supposed to be Tyrone Power in The Razor's Edge?) are not all that funny.
But Bugs eventually does get to dine with Bogey and Baby and in the meantime dances up a storm in a nice Carmen Miranda take-off.
The rabbit is full of his usual vitality, and we like his snappy white tie and tails.
Fudd has some "waughable" business too including a quick-witted trick with a mirror. |
tt0910934 | Urban Justice | In Los Angeles, two rival gangs war with each other: the Hyde Park Gang, led by El Chivo, and the East Side Gangsters, led by Armand Tucker. Vice cop Max Ballister receives a call he assumes to be from his informant, Gary Morrison. Max leaves a romantic dinner with his wife and is gunned down. Max's angry father, Simon, a martial arts expert who is implied to be ex-CIA, moves to the neighborhood in which Max died and begins investigating. His landlady, Alice Park, who also runs a liquor store, aids him. The others do not know that the investigating cop, Frank Shaw, has formed a partnership with Tucker.
As Simon investigates, he leaves a trail of beaten and dead gangsters. Gary gives Simon a lead on El Chivo, who runs most of the booking joints that Max went after. At his private club, El Chivo suggests that Tucker ordered the hit on Max. A pair of East Side Gangsters chase Simon via car, and Simon causes them to crash. One gangster dies, and Simon interrogates the other, Gary's brother Isaiah Morrison, who says Tucker sent them. Isaiah talks to Tucker, and Tucker threatens to kill everyone Isaiah cares about unless he kills Simon. The next morning, Simon saves Gary from a group of racists. Simon asks him if Isaiah was Max's killer, but Gary does not respond. As Gary leaves, Simon plants a tracking device on him.
Simon tracks Gary to a warehouse and uses electronic equipment to eavesdrop on his conversation, a meeting between the gangs. After Simon plants more tracking devices, he hears Shaw and a sudden burst of gunfire. When it is over, Chivo's gang is dead at the hands of dirty cops in the employ of Shaw; Tucker and Shaw take the drugs and money. Simon tracks them to another warehouse, breaks in, and finds their cocaine. Tucker's men follow Simon back to Park's liquor store, where Simon has an apartment. Using his tracking device, Simon notices they are outside and tells Alice to hide. When they break in, Simon kills them and escorts Alice outside past more gangsters, whom he kills. Tucker shoots Simon and escapes, and Alice takes Simon to her cousin, Winston, who works at USC Medical center.
The next day, Simon goes to Isaiah's and Gary's house, beats Isaiah up, and finds the murder weapon. When Gary returns home, Simon forces him to admit that Shaw is behind everything, including Max's murder. Gary explains that he was afraid to talk and that Shaw killed Max because he witnessed a deal between Shaw and Tucker. Later that night, Shaw and Tucker meet with a drug dealer from New York at a warehouse. As Simon arrives and begins killing gangsters, Shaw kills the New York drug dealer. After killing all of Tucker's and Shaw's men, Simon confronts Shaw. As Simon chokes Shaw to death, Tucker walks in with a gun and watches despite Shaw's orders to open fire. Simon disarms Tucker and turns the gun on him, but he lets Tucker go, saying that he has no beef with him. Simon hands back the gun and leaves, impressing Tucker with his cool demeanor. | suspenseful, neo noir, murder, cult, violence, flashback, revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0072824 | The Count of Monte-Cristo | === Summary ===
On the day of his wedding to Mercédès, Edmond Dantès, first mate of the Pharaon, is accused of treason, arrested, and imprisoned without trial in the Château d'If, a grim island fortress off Marseilles. A fellow prisoner, Abbé Faria, correctly deduces that his jealous rival, Fernand Mondego, envious crewmate, Danglars, and double-dealing Magistrate, Villefort, betrayed him. Faria inspires his escape and guides him to a fortune in treasure. As the powerful and mysterious Count of Monte Cristo, he arrives from the Orient to enter the fashionable Parisian world of the 1830s and avenge himself on the men who conspired to destroy him.
=== Edmond Dantès ===
In 1815, Edmond Dantès, a young merchant sailor who has recently been granted the succession of his captain Leclère, returns to Marseille to marry his Catalan fiancée Mercédès. Leclère, a supporter of the exiled Napoléon I, found himself dying at sea and charged Dantès to deliver two objects: a package to General Bertrand (exiled with Napoleon Bonaparte on Elba), and a letter from Elba to an unknown man in Paris. On the eve of Dantès' wedding to Mercédès, Fernand Mondego (Mercédès' cousin and a rival for her affections) is given advice by Dantès' colleague Danglars (who is jealous of Dantès' rapid rise to captain) to send an anonymous note accusing Dantès of being a Bonapartist traitor. Caderousse (Dantès' cowardly and selfish neighbor) is drunk while the two conspirators set the trap for Dantès and stays quiet as Dantès is arrested, then sentenced. Villefort, the deputy crown prosecutor in Marseille, destroys the letter from Elba when he discovers that it is addressed to his own father, Noirtier (who is a Bonapartist), since if this letter came into official hands, it would destroy his ambitions and reputation as a staunch Royalist. To silence Dantès, he condemns him without trial to life imprisonment.
After six years of imprisonment in the Château d'If, Dantès is on the verge of suicide when he befriends the Abbé Faria ("The Mad Priest"), a fellow prisoner who had dug an escape tunnel that ended up in Dantès' cell. Over the next eight years, Faria gives Dantès an extensive education in language, culture, and science. Knowing himself to be close to death, Faria tells Dantès the location of a treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. When Faria dies, Dantès takes his place in the burial sack. When the guards throw the sack into the sea, Dantès breaks through and swims to a nearby island. He is rescued by a smuggling ship that stops at Monte Cristo. After recovering the treasure, Dantès returns to Marseille. He later purchases the island of Monte Cristo and the title of Count from the Tuscan government.
Traveling as the Abbé Busoni, Dantès meets Caderousse, now living in poverty, who regrets not intervening and possibly saving Dantès from prison. He gives Caderousse a diamond that can be either a chance to redeem himself or a trap that will lead to his ruin. Learning that his old employer Morrel is on the verge of bankruptcy, Dantès buys Morrel's debts and gives Morrel three months to fulfill his obligations. At the end of the three months and with no way to repay his debts, Morrel is about to commit suicide when he learns that his debts have been mysteriously paid and that one of his lost ships has returned with a full cargo, secretly rebuilt and laden by Dantès.
=== The Count of Monte Cristo ===
Reappearing as the rich Count of Monte Cristo, Dantès begins his revenge on the three men responsible for his unjust imprisonment: Fernand, now Count de Morcerf and Mercédès' husband; Danglars, now a baron and a wealthy banker; and Villefort, now procureur du roi. The Count appears first in Rome, where he becomes acquainted with the Baron Franz d'Épinay, and Viscount Albert de Morcerf, the son of Mercédès and Fernand. Dantès arranges for the young Morcerf to be captured by the bandit Luigi Vampa and then seemingly rescues him from Vampa's gang. The Count then moves to Paris and dazzles Danglars with his wealth, persuading him to extend him a credit of six million francs. The Count manipulates the bond market and quickly destroys a large portion of Danglars' fortune. The rest of it begins to rapidly disappear through mysterious bankruptcies, suspensions of payment, and more bad luck in the Stock Exchange.
Villefort had once conducted an affair with Madame Danglars. She became pregnant and delivered the child in the house that the Count has now purchased. To cover up the affair, Villefort told Madame Danglars that the infant was stillborn, smothered the child, and thinking him to be dead, buried him in the garden. While Villefort was burying the child, he was stabbed by the smuggler Bertuccio, who unearthed the child and resuscitated him. Bertuccio's sister-in-law brought the child up, giving him the name "Benedetto." Benedetto takes up a life of crime as he grows into adolescence. He robs his adoptive mother (Bertuccio's sister-in-law) and ends up killing her, then runs away. Bertuccio later becomes the Count's servant and informs him of this history.
Benedetto is sentenced to the galleys with Caderousse, who had sold the diamond but killed both his wife and the buyer out of greed. After Benedetto and Caderousse are freed by Dantès, using the alias "Lord Wilmore," the Count induces Benedetto to take the identity of "Viscount Andrea Cavalcanti" and introduces him into Parisian society. Andrea ingratiates himself to Danglars, who betroths his daughter Eugénie to Andrea (not knowing they are half-siblings) after cancelling her engagement to Albert. Meanwhile, Caderousse blackmails Andrea, threatening to reveal his past if he doesn't share his new-found wealth. Cornered by "Abbé Busoni" while attempting to rob the Count's house, Caderousse begs to be given another chance. Dantès forces him to write a letter to Danglars exposing Cavalcanti as an impostor and allows Caderousse to leave the house. The moment Caderousse leaves the estate, he is stabbed by Andrea. Caderousse dictates a deathbed statement identifying his killer, and the Count reveals his true identity to Caderousse moments before he dies.
Years before, Ali Pasha of Janina had been betrayed to the Turks by Fernand. After Ali's death, Fernand sold Ali's wife Vasiliki and his daughter Haydée into slavery. While Vasiliki died shortly thereafter, Dantès purchased Haydée. The Count manipulates Danglars into researching the event, which is published in a newspaper. As a result, Fernand is brought to trial for his crimes. When Albert blames the Count for his father's downfall and challenges him to a duel, Mercédès, having already recognized Monte Cristo as Dantès, goes to the Count and begs him to spare her son. During this interview, she learns the truth of his arrest and imprisonment. She later reveals the truth to Albert, which causes Albert to make a public apology to the Count. Albert and Mercédès disown Fernand, who is confronted with Dantès' true identity and commits suicide. Albert and Mercédès renounce their titles and wealth and depart to begin new lives.
Valentine, Villefort's daughter by his late first wife, stands to inherit the fortune of her grandfather (Noirtier) and of her mother's parents (the Saint-Mérans), while Villefort's second wife Héloïse seeks the fortune for her son Édouard. The Count is aware of Héloïse's intentions and introduces her to the technique of poison. Héloïse fatally poisons the Saint-Mérans, so that Valentine inherits their fortune. Valentine is disinherited by Noirtier in an attempt to prevent Valentine's impending marriage with Franz d'Épinay, whom she does not love. The marriage is cancelled when d'Épinay learns that his father (believed assassinated by Bonapartists) was actually killed by Noirtier in a fair duel. Afterwards, Valentine is reinstated in Noirtier's will. After a failed attempt on Noirtier's life, Héloïse targets Valentine so that Édouard will get the fortune. However, Valentine is the prime suspect in her father's eyes in the deaths of the Saint-Mérans and Noirtier's servant, Barrois. On learning that Morrel's son Maximilien is in love with Valentine, the Count saves her by making it appear as though Héloïse's plan to poison Valentine has succeeded and that Valentine is dead. Villefort learns from Noirtier that Héloïse is the real murderer and confronts her, giving her the choice of a public execution or committing suicide.
Fleeing after Caderousse's letter exposes him, Andrea is arrested and returned to Paris, where Villefort prosecutes him. While in prison awaiting trial, Andrea is visited by Bertuccio, who tells him the truth about his father. At his trial, Andrea reveals that he is Villefort's son and was rescued after Villefort buried him alive. Villefort admits his guilt and flees the court. He rushes home to stop his wife's suicide but is too late; she has poisoned her son as well. Dantès confronts Villefort, revealing his true identity, but this drives Villefort insane. Dantès tries but fails to resuscitate Édouard, causing him to question if he has gone too far.
After the Count's manipulation of the bond market, Danglars is left with a destroyed reputation and 5,000,000 francs he has been holding in deposit for hospitals. The Count demands this sum to fulfil their credit agreement, and Danglars embezzles the hospital fund. Abandoning his wife, Danglars flees to Italy with the Count's receipt and 50,000 francs. While leaving Rome, he is kidnapped by the Count's agent Luigi Vampa and is imprisoned. Forced to pay exorbitant prices for food and nearly starved to death, Danglars signs away his ill-gotten gains. Dantès anonymously returns the stolen money to the hospitals. Danglars finally repents his crimes, and a softened Dantès forgives him and allows him to leave with his freedom and 50,000 francs.
Maximilien Morrel, believing Valentine to be dead, contemplates suicide after her funeral. Dantès reveals his true identity and explains that he rescued Morrel's father from bankruptcy years earlier; he then tells Maximilien to reconsider his suicide. On the island of Monte Cristo, Dantès presents Valentine to Maximilien and reveals the true sequence of events. Having found peace, Dantès leaves the newly reunited couple part of his fortune and departs for an unknown destination to find comfort and a new life with Haydée, who has declared her love for him. The reader is left with a final thought: "all human wisdom is contained in these two words, 'Wait and Hope'". | revenge, action, murder, historical fiction | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0037790 | The Horn Blows at Midnight | Athanael (Jack Benny), the third trumpet player in the orchestra of a late night radio show sponsored by Paradise Coffee (motto: "It's Heavenly"), falls asleep listening to the announcer, who is doing his best to prove it is "the coffee that makes you sleep." Athanael dreams he is an angel (junior grade) and a trumpeter in the orchestra of Heaven. Due to the praise of his girlfriend Elizabeth (Alexis Smith), the assistant of the deputy chief of the department of small planet management (Guy Kibbee), he is given the mission of destroying planet 339001 (Earth) and its troublesome inhabitants by blowing the "Last Trumpet" at exactly midnight, signaling the end of the world.
When he is deposited at the Hotel Universe via the building's elevator, he accidentally foils a robbery attempt by suave guest Archie Dexter (Reginald Gardiner) and his girlfriend accomplice, Fran Blackstone (Dolores Moran). Dexter blames Fran and breaks off their relationship. When Athanael prevents her attempt at suicide from the hotel's roof, he misses the deadline. Fortunately, Elizabeth persuades her boss to give him a second chance. She travels to Earth to inform him.
Complications arise when two fallen angels named Osidro (Allyn Joslyn) and Doremus (John Alexander), also guests at the hotel, recognize Athanael and learn of his assignment. They want to continue their pleasantly hedonistic life. While Athanael encounters trouble holding onto his trumpet by his inexperience with Earthly life, Osidro and Doremus hire Dexter to steal the instrument. Learning that Fran was rescued by Athanael, Dexter reconciles with her. Then, while she distracts the angel, Dexter's henchman Humphrey (Mike Mazurki), steals the trumpet.
Athanael, Elizabeth and her boss track the thieves to the roof. During a struggle, Athanael falls off the building, only to wake up from his dream. | romantic | train | wikipedia | In his long running radio and television show, Jack Benny often built jokes around THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT--a movie described as so awful that it put an end to his movie career.
And if Benny's film appearances were few and far between after 1945, this was more a matter of his incredibly popular radio and television series than with a lack of offers.THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is not a great film, but it is a very interesting one and quite often a very entertaining one.
The story concerns a trumpet player (Benny) in love with a harpist (Alexis Smith)--who gets him a radio job on the "Paradise Coffee Program," which advertises a coffee that promises a gentle sleep and sweet dreams.
And dream he does, but one would not call it sweet: he dreams he is an angel sent to earth to blow the trumpet that will destroy the world.Although the script is a bit weak, it has some really great concepts.
Benny, co-star Alexis Smith, and such memorable characters as Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont, and Guy Kibbe perform the show with as much energy as they can muster, and at it's best the movie is hilariously over-the-top.
This film was an ongoing joke with Jack Benny as at the time of its release it took a flop at the box office.
Here is a film with many 1990's themes...angels, the end of the world, great visual effects, sex, and slapstick comedy.
Great performances from Jack Benny, Alexis Smith, and Guy Kibbee as well as a memorable "Looney Tune" style score from the great Franz Waxman.
Jack Benny and a magnificent supporting cast help keep your interest in this lightweight, yet highly imaginative, fanciful comedy about an angel in charge of destroying the Earth.
As other reviewers have noted, this movie bombed at the box office after its release and Benny joked about this fact often in his monologues.
The "fish out of water" sequences where Jack Benny, as an angel, struggles to adjust to the realities of life on earth, are also very funny and timeless.
After all, much of the movie is brilliant: I love how Heaven is set up much like an office building, and all the times Athanael shows how unfamiliar he is with earthly customs (the scene in the restaurant is the best).
How can any comedy with Jack Benny and a supporting cast that includes Margaret Dumont, Reginald Gardiner, John Alexander, Allyn Joslyn, Ethel Griffies, Mike Mazurki, Franklin Pangborn and Guy Kibbe be that bad???Well, it's easy to see why this one just fell short of the mark.
His girlfriend is played by the lovely Alexis Smith who shows a flair for light comedy in this caper.Relying on a succession of sight gags to keep things moving, it's all done in brisk screwball/fantasy style under Raoul Walsh's direction.
Jack Benny WAS stuck in a giant coffee cup and it WAS an extremely funny movie.
and see how Hollywood somehow lost the knack to do this sort of screen chemistry, a pity.But here it is, the picture that Jack Benny loved to joke about; yet it's really a terrific comedy, a rollicking "laff-riot" as the marquees used to shout out in front of the great movie palaces.There's no wasted film here; the gags just keep on coming, and they roll along so quickly that you'll scarcely have time to ponder the subtleties.
See it, and see it again to catch those missed subtleties, and a chance to wallow in its great 1940s art deco sets, swing music and costuming.Don't miss the original "Heavenly Symphony" by the Great Orchestra And Choir In The Sky, and a quick gag cameo by flute-player John Garfield.Mine is one of the many "10" votes on the IMDb ratings list, reinforced by my seeing "Horn" again yesterday and remembering (though I never forgot) just how great a film comedy it is, and how Hollywood used to know how to make us laugh..
Even though I cannot for the life of me wrap my mind around the concept of a coffee that puts you to sleep Jack Benny's The Horn Blows At Midnight is not as bad as the reputation it has.
It was a running gag on his radio and television show that Benny forsook movie making because of the bad reviews the film received.Seeing it today it's not as bad as all that, in fact it has a few funny moments.
In his dream Benny becomes an angel playing trumpet in a heavenly orchestra, larger than anything Leonard Bernstein ever directed.
He gets an assignment from one of the bosses Guy Kibbee to blow his heavenly trumpet at midnight to signal the utter destruction of a minor planet the natives call Earth.Needless to say Benny bungles the job and the film is his effort to complete his assignment.
There are a couple of fallen angels played by Allyn Joslyn and John Alexander who like the life they've got on earth now.
And there's Reginald Gardiner who's a musician and a society burglar with his assistant Dolores Moran who Benny interrupts mid crime and a host of other familiar movie faces which in itself is reason enough to watch The Horn Blows At Midnight.Jack plays some tribute to Harold Lloyd with some stunts at the climax involving some great height.
Jack also becomes rocket man at one point, clearly copying Bob Hope being shot out of a cannon in The Road To Zanzibar.Don't believe the hype about The Horn Blows At Midnight, you might actually like it..
In a dream Nathaniel (Jack Benny) an angle (just one of the masses of angles in a seemingly endless angelic orchestra) is honored by The Chef (Monte Blue) with a unique job of removing a planet (Earth) that destruction is the only redemption.
Will the angel Elizabeth (Alexis Smith) that got him his chance have to save him?This is the movie that I think off when some one mentions Jack Benny.
Decent comedy, which Jack Benny really made fun of throughout the rest of his radio and throughout his TV show.
Raoul Walsh has made better movies, starting with "Regeneration" (filmed on location in Lower Manhattan slums in 1915), but this whimsical comedy, set in heaven and New York City, has two worthy qualities: First: The comedy works, especially the wisecracks (Cop: "Are you looking for trouble, Bud?" Angel: "No, I'm looking for Junior Pulplinsky.") Second: Forget Jack Benny and check out at the supporting cast.This film is one of the best 78 minutes an aspiring film buff could watch to see a collection of great character actors from the 1930s and 1940s: Allyn Joslyn, Reginald Gardner, Guy Kibbee, Margaret Dumont, Dudley Dickerson, Ethel Griffies, Mike Mazurky, James Burke, the under-used blonde dish Dolores Moran, and the endlessly imitable Franklin Pangborn.
Well, in this film, I think Benny did a great job of performing as an angel who played a wicked Horn.
Alexis Smith was very beautiful in this picture and at the height of her career and gave an outstanding performance along with one of the great Comedians who entertained people during the horrible War Years and gave them something to Laugh at and enjoy.
If you like a great classic picture, this is a very good film to sit back and go back in TIME..
Angels were an all-too-familiar sight on movie screens during World War II and perhaps audiences had had enough of it by the time this film came along; this is the only valid reason I can think of to explain its resounding box office failure (that resulted in Benny's premature bowing out of the movies) because, otherwise, it's one of his most enjoyable outings.
In fact, it's quite an original and delightful comedy-fantasy about Benny (playing a second-grade angel and trumpet player) securing an important assignment (being sent to blow up sinful Planet Earth with his horn at the stroke of midnight) through the machinations of his girlfriend (Alexis Smith) who's secretary to the Chief (Guy Kibbee).
Needless to say, he bungles the job when he decides to play Good Samaritan and save a fetching would-be suicide (Dolores Moran) from jumping off the roof of a hotel wherein reside an assortment of colorful characters: smooth-talking crook Reginald Gardiner and his dim-witted bodyguard Mike Mazurki, carousing fallen angels Allyn Joslyn and John Alexander (hilariously suffering an hourly "twinge" for defecting to Earth!) and flustered hotel detective Franklin Pangborn most of whom, as the appointed hour draws near, end up dangling from the hotel rooftop in the film's wacky climax.
Benny spent the rest of his radio and TV career making fun of this movie but, as I said, its maligned reputation is highly undeserved if you ask me!.
We're told at the beginning of the movie it's a dream, and I quickly lost interest from that point onward.On the other hand, Jack Benny made a 1-hour radio version of this movie for The Ford Theater in 1949.
In spite of a long standing reputation for being an awful film (in no little part due to Jack Benny, himself, making it an ongoing joke in the years to follow its release).
One particular musician, Benny, is particularly inept, blowing wrong notes and eventually allowing himself to be soothed into a daze by the announcer's cooing plaudits of the show's sponsor's coffee.The action shifts to Heaven, where the harried Chief (Guy Kibbee) receives the assignment to demolish the Earth, which has been particularly troublesome of late.
The task involves sending an angel armed with Gabriel's horn to Earth, where, at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, he'll play a simple melody which will end everything.
She arrives and is instantly recognized by the Fallen Angels.Athanael promptly loses the horn as collateral against a huge meal he can't actually pay for, and the rest of the film concerns his trying to trace it to its new locale and recover it before the stroke of midnight.The ending is a madhouse, with everyone on the hotel's roof, alternately trying to stop Athanael and save their own lives as they sway out over the distant streets below.Benny then awakens in the studio, when his chair tips back and he falls from the bandstand.
A trumpeter (Jack Benny) dreams he's an angel sent to Earth to blow his trumpet at midnight to signal the end of the world.
A notorious flop at the box office, Jack Benny frequently made fun of the failure of this movie on his radio show.
He was using it for comedy, playing it for laughs.)However, it was not a bomb at all, and was a modest success when first released in April 1945.The real reason this movie bombed at the box office was timing.
Almost every family had lost someone near and dear to them in the War, and they didn't want to be reminded of these kinds of things even in a Hollywood movie, at least for a few years until STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (1947) in beautiful Technicolor starring David Niven and Kim Hunter proved that the postwar era had begun.If only WB had waited until the fall of 1945 to release this, it would have fared much better at the box office and with movie critics far and wide, and given Jack Benny something to be proud of, instead of a long-running gag in his later years.
Comedian Jack Benny spent the second half of his long career poking fun at this film, disparaging it at every opportunity and mocking his performance in it.
For the longest time I believed this was just a joke and that the film wasn't nearly as bad as Jack made it out to be.
THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is possibly the most ill-advised project Benny ever signed up for, and I say that as a die-hard Benny fan and proud owner of every episode of his radio show.He plays Athaneal, third trumpet player in a radio orchestra, who falls asleep during a broadcast and dreams that he's an angel sent to Earth to blow the last trumpet, signaling the end of the world, at exactly midnight.
Given the premise, the fine supporting cast (Reginald Gardner, Franklin Pangborn, Alexis Smith, Margaret Dumont,Guy Kibbee, Mike Mazurki) and veteran director Raoul Walsh at the helm, this should have been a surefire hit.
On their own these failings cripple the film, but what really sabotages any chance of success for THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is the casting or - more accurately - the miscasting of Jack Benny.
He could get a bigger laugh out of his patented pause than any punchline, and he was - despite his many apparent character flaws - universally loved by radio audiences.THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT takes advantage of exactly none of these traits, choosing instead to have Benny play a thinly sketched character who looks like Jack Benny but doesn't resemble him at all.
Fans of Jack Benny's radio show will probably have, at least, heard of this movie.
I feel it speaks volumes of Benny's character that he found it so easy to laugh at himself.While it wasn't a great financial success, "Horn" is an amusing enough movie.
Benny plays an angel who is sent to Earth to herald the end of the world.
Benny is thwarted in his efforts by two AWOL angels who live on Earth and don't want to be forced to give up the pleasures of the flesh.While there are many flaws with this movie, it is nevertheless enjoyable and I found myself interested in it from beginning to end.The plot is rather ahead of its time, and strikes a chord with many modern works.
When I first read the plot, I thought of the novel "Good Omens" which was, funnily enough, about an angel and a devil who conspire to stop the end of the world, because they have grown fond of life on Earth.Now, I am going to say something which I imagine many people are going to take issue with: the biggest hindrance to the movie is Jack Benny.
Someone like Jimmy Stewart would have been a much better choice for the role -- but they probably didn't have the budget, and the film was made as a Jack Benny vehicle after all.The bright spot of the movie are the two renegade angels who play their roles quite well and are very funny.
I think its a shame that this, like most Benny films, has not been released on DVD, for while he was not the ideal actor, his movies are almost always worth watching..
All in all, this inventive little comedy was far ahead of its time, and despite Benny's running radio gag, possesses all the underpinnings of a minor cult classic..
well, maybe film just wasn't his medium.Alexis Smith plays Benny's unlikely love interest, and her character isn't really developed - she might as well be made of cardboard.
Very funny Jack Benny comedy.
Jack Benny was a fabulous comedian who was very successful in radio and television, and made a few films.
Benny, however, made a lot of jokes about how it died at the box office.Maybe the film works better today than it did toward the end of World War II, but it's fun to watch.
During a broadcast, Benny falls asleep and dreams he's an angel dispatched to earth to blow a trumpet and start the world's end.
Benny and Smith costar with Franklin Pangborn, Margaret Dumont and Guy Kibbee, all extremely talented at comedy.
Years ago, when Jack Benny wanted to make fun of his movie career, this was usually the film he mentioned.
He is sent to earth to blow the horn that will signal the end of the world.
considering that Carl Stalling of the Termite Terrace cartooning unit at Warner Brothers did some of the music, and the sound effects track used a LOT of stuff from Bugs Bunny cartoons, I think it's a fair question.A FAR better movie than Jack Benny claimed (for years afterward he did jokes about the film, wondering why he didn't get an Oscar), THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT is simply a cartoon for adult audiences, staged with human beings instead of animated drawings.
Jack Benny and cast provide many funny moments in The Horn Blows at Midnight.
After 30 years of just seeing the ending involving that giant coffee pot that Jack Benny ends up in for whatever reason, I finally watched the whole thing on YouTube.
Brother, this was quite hilarious as the picture kept going to various lengths to depict how Benny has to blow his horn (actually, trumpet) by midnight so the world will...oh, watch it if you want to know.
Unique and far underrated film with Jack Benny.
ANd it's that rare time that you'll Jack Benny doing physical comedy.
Franklin Pangborn, with his usual sneers, provides some comedy relief, and Reginald Gardiner is just too Reginald Gardiner to play a villain here.Alexis Smith is wasted as Benny's fellow angel,and Mike Mazursky is his usual heavy-handed henchman.Margaret Dumont's comic gifts are also wasted here, as she appears briefly in two scenes..
Jack Benny's role is the only good part in this film.
Jack Benny's role is almost the sole reason to give this movie five stars, let alone any rating at all.
And, although he doesn't have as much witty dialog as he has in other films, his lines and persona seem just right in "The Horn Blows at Midnight." He is an innocent, naïve, faithful angel (in his dream), who knows nothing about the customs of life on earth.
Jack Benny was a fine comic actor who made some very good comedy films and had one of the longest running radio shows in history (23 plus years from 1932 to 1955).
Well, just because this movie isn't nearly as bad as Jack Benny always made it out to be, doesn't mean it's great. |
tt0338094 | The Haunted Mansion | Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a workaholic realtor whose continuous pursuit for new deals leaves very little time with his family. He misses his wedding anniversary with his wife Sara (Marsha Thomason), but to make amends, he suggests going on vacation to a nearby lake. Beforehand, Sara is contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor, located in the Louisiana bayou. Eager to make a deal, Jim drags Sara and his children, impatient Megan (Aree Davis) and arachnophobic Michael (Marc John Jefferies) to the mansion. They meet its owner Edward Gracey (Nathaniel Parker), his stern butler Ramsley (Terence Stamp), and other staff members Emma (Dina Waters) and Ezra (Wallace Shawn). When a storm floods the nearby river, Gracey allows the Evers family to stay the night; though everyone is safe, Jim is unhappy with the idea. Ramsley takes Jim down to the mansion's library to have a talk with Gracey, but while he waits, Jim gets trapped in a secret passage.
Megan and Michael encounter a spectral orb and follow it up to the attic, where they find a portrait of a woman resembling Sara. There they converse with Emma and Ezra; the former identifying the woman as "Elizabeth". Sara talks with Gracey in the library, who explains his grandfather hanged himself out of despair after his lover, a multiracial woman named Elizabeth Henshaw poisoned herself despite their plans to wed. Jim meets Madame Leota, a gypsy woman's ghost whose head is encased in a crystal ball, but she scares him away. Jim runs into his children, Emma and Ezra, and returns to Madame Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is revealed that everyone in the mansion are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Gracey and Elizabeth's suicides and can only go to Heaven when they are reunited, and Gracey believes Sara is Elizabeth's reincarnation. Madame Leota sends the Evers off to the mansion's expansive cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth behind Elizabeth's unusual death. Jim and Megan venture into a crypt where they find the key, but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. They escape with help from Michael, who overcomes his arachnophobia. Madame Leota then instructs them to find a trunk in the attic, Jim unlocking it to find a letter written by Elizabeth to Gracey, revealing she truly loved him and wanted to marry him, leading them to conclude that she was murdered. Ramsley suddenly appears, revealing he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, believing their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth, he traps the children in a trunk and throws Jim out of the house, enchanting the house so Jim cannot break in and stop him.
As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, the former asks Sara if she can recognize him which confuses her. Desperate, he insists to Sara that she is his beloved Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts of the past which causes Sara to flee. As she runs up the stairs, Gracey reveals his true ghost-self to Sara begging her to understand and that they can finally be together. She shouts that she is not Elizabeth. Gracey begins to have second thoughts. But Ramsley insists that it is her and in time she will remember. Ramsley tells Sara to get ready for her wedding to Gracey. Sara refuses but Ramsley blackmails her into marrying Gracey in return for her children's safety. Encouraged by Madame Leota, Jim drives his car through the mansion's conservatory, rescues his children, and stops Sara and Gracey's wedding ceremony where he gives Elizabeth's letter to Gracey, revealing to him the truth about Elizabeth's death and that Ramsley had lied to him about it all those years. Gracey confronts Ramsley, who rages at his master's apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth, and summons wraiths to kill the group for revenge. However, a fiery dragon emerges from the ballroom fireplace and drags Ramsley down to Hell for eternal damnation. Sara suddenly collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley during the wedding, only for the spectral orb encountered by the children to appear and possess Sara, revealed to be Elizabeth's ghost. Elizabeth and Gracey reunite, and Sara is revived. With the curse lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the mansion's deed and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, Emma, Ezra, and the other ghosts. sister Elizabeth be are those what are we al their better educated and have sister Elizabeth that glass of wine is t a reward it s a poison have been poisoned glass you have just been poisoned care her sister the my s terious butler of gracey man or who serves as a fatherly figure to master gracey he is later vevealed to be Elizabeth s murderer The Evers drive across the Seven Mile Bridge for a proper vacation, accompanied by Madame Leota, and four singing busts strapped to the back of their car. In a post-credits scene, Madame Leota bids farewell to the audience, inviting them to join the dead using dialogue from the Disneyland attraction. | horror, murder, humor | train | wikipedia | Since I am a fan of the ride, "The Haunted Mansion", I guess I expected this film to be good.
Rick Baker "Monster Maker" is so talented and has done an impressive (as always) job creating a vision from the Haunted Mansion ride that he also admired.If you are a fan of the ride, I would imagine that you would enjoy this movie as much as me..
For others, it was a terrible job of emulating the classic Disney ride and just another stupid Eddie Murphy comedy vehicle.
This movie is about a Realtor (Murphy) and his family traveling to a haunted mansion for a business deal.
Don't take one of the most-beloved rides from Disneyland/World, and come up with a sub-par comedy, with smart-mouthed kids, and a jabbering Eddie Murphy.Tech credits are great, though.
Don't be fooled by the DVD's claim of a "Virtual Ride of The Haunted Mansion." I was expecting a recap of the actual park attraction, but was instead treated to a tour of the movie set.Also, Disney....why not just AVOID crude jokes and profanity in this type of family film?
The movie talks about a house seller (Eddie Murphy) , his wife (Marsha Thomason) and children , they are going to a haunted mansion inhabited by weird people : an owner (Nahaniel Parker) , butler (Terence Stamp) , servant (Wallace Shawn) and psychic (Jennifer Tilly) .
They'll take on several dangers , eerie ghosts , scary skeleton and fantastic supernatural forces .The picture mingles frightening happenings , frenetic action , mystery , tongue-in-cheek and there is horror but with humor , including a lot of references to the Disney theme park ride .
Another nail in the coffin of Eddie Murphy's career, The Haunted Mansion is a slap-dash attempt to cash in on The Pirates of the Caribbean, an infinitely more successful and better film based on a Disneyland ride.
'The Haunted Mansion,' a film 'inspired' by the Disney theme-park attraction of the same name, feels like a cross between 'The Haunting' and 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken.' Eddie Murphy is a real estate agent working in tandem with his wife, Marsha Thomason.
When they arrive on the scene, the family finds a mansion replete with all the paraphernalia common to a conventional haunted house - sliding panels, hidden passageways, a graveyard in the backyard, an eccentric owner, a creepy butler (played with delicious relish by Terence Stamp) and, of course, a houseful of unruly and unsettled resident ghosts.
The most disappointing thing about "The Haunted Mansion" is that its star, Eddie Murphy, has once again lowered himself to silly kids' fare.
If you take your kids to see this, you're just asking for nightmares.Murphy is Jim Evers, a workaholic Realtor accused by his wife and co-Realtor, Sarah (Marsha Thomason), that he neglects his personal life far too often in favor of the cash he's making at work.
Something strange is afoot, and the audience guesses what's going on about an hour before the movie's characters do, which is a tedious thought.As we first suspect from the title, the ride, and the overall marketing of the movie, ghosts inhabit the mansion, and soon we learn that Master Gracey (Nathaniel Parker) plans on taking Sarah as his bride.
The movie is based on the Walt Disney World theme park ride, which is probably about three to five minutes long, and there's a reason for that.
Its movie adaptation feels like a giant theme park ride, but the material can't support itself for a bare minimum ninety minutes, so we get a lot of nonsense about a ghost trying to marry a deceased love, and so on and so forth, minus the humor and flair and rousing feeling of Disney's surprise hit of 2003, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," which has started a trend we may (unfortunately) be seeing more of in the future.And as for Murphy -- who was once one of Hollywood's bad boys -- where is he in this mess?
I think it's that his humor has lost him."The Haunted Mansion" knows it's in a bad position from the start, and it doesn't even make an effort to give Murphy any funny lines whatsoever.
"The Haunted Mansion" isn't a terrible movie, but it isn't anything special, and you can find the same quality material by flicking on ABC, Sunday nights at 7:00 p.m.2.5/5 stars.John Ulmer.
"The Haunted Mansion" is the latest movie to be based upon an attraction at the Disney theme parks.
It stars Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a workaholic real estate agent who finds himself and his family trapped in a mansion infested with ghosts.
Although full of clichés and having the unbearable Eddie Murphy, 'The Haunted Mansion' has some good moments and is watchable.
That's good--it hopefully means no more Disney theme park rides will be made into movies.I give this a 5--and that's just for the special effects.
Based on the Disney Park attraction of the same name, film finds Murphy as real estate agent Jim Evers, a man who is so driven by his work he neglects to notice he is neglecting his family.
What is a surprise is that this mansion is haunted and a curse threatens to engulf the Evers family when they are forced by bad weather to spend the night there.Well it has lovely colour photography, a production set of some excellence by John Myhre, great costumes from Mona May, nifty effects by Jay Redd and Rick Baker once again delivers quality make up work.
The opening sequence of the feature ruined any suspense for many later events and could have been done in a different way that didn't give away much of the story before the audience even had a chance to settle down in their seats.The cast of The Haunted Mansion is a relative bunch of no names but they try to their best, which works effectively for the most part.
but if you're looking for a reasonably entertaining, family-friendly movie, this is a safe bet.has a kind of a nickelodeon kind of feel, but its well shot, nice effects (not too over the top), and has great art direction.if you are looking for something scary, or thought provoking - move on.
"The Haunted Mansion", I REALLY WISH THEY WOULD GET OFF THE DISNEY RIDE MOVIES!
This is one of those movies that I never saw in theaters, but have seen it on Disney Channel a few years ago because there was nothing to watch for me.While it's not as bad as Battlefield Earth, Batman & Robin, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, and Kazaam (those were terrible movies, but I digress), this adaptation of a ride from Disneyworld is not that good either.
Marsha Thomason and the kids were good and so was Wallace Shawn and Nathaniel Parker, but I think that Jennifer Tilly steals the show for having some great lines as Madame Leota.
THE HAUNTED MANSION (2003) ** Eddie Murphy, Marsha Tomason, Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly, Wallace Shawn, Dina Spybey, Marc John Jefferies, Aree Davis.
Old Walt Disney had fun making his movies and one suspects he actually wanted to entertain kids.
First of all I have to say that this is in no way a bad movie...it has decent acting, nice effects and a good soundtrack.
With The Haunted Mansion you already know from the beginning that all characters will make it out of the house with not so much as a scratch, which (at least for me) ruined the whole movie.The scenes with Jennifer Tilly and Terence Stamp are great and they both deliver great performances and are one of the highlights of the movie which, otherwise lacks such moments.As far as I am concerned this is a pretty nice movie to take the children to see, but there just is not enough in the movie to keep adults entertained as well, but I think it was nearly impossible for Disney to bring out two great movies based on theme park rides in one year...
Even the plot of the story was bad, a man who fell in love with his fiance' in whom he was to marry dies of a supposedly suicide and years later he tries to bring her back to life and fall in love with him again by locating Eddie Murphys wife who we find that she is not his fiance' reincarnated but then she is and then she isn't again and the whole movie is just one mess.
When they discover that the place is haunted, Jim discovers an important lesson about the family he's neglected as they attempt to escape.Other than the "Shrek" films, Eddie Murphy's career took a rather downward turn after the 1980s.
If you want a faithful adaptation, this is much closer to the source than "Pirates of the Caribbean" (even if that is the better film).There are a few scenes that might scare younger viewers (much like the ride), but overall this is pretty good family fun.
They think it is to discuss a sale however the owner and his butler(Terence Stamp) have other more sinister reasons for their visit.This film is OK for kids , but for anyone else it is sometimes boring and not at all scary, although some scenes may scare very young viewers.Eddie Murphy is good but he has given the same performance before in better films such as Dr Dolittle and Daddy Day Care.
Haunted Mansion virgins will now disregard the greatest dark ride in history thinking that it must be as stupid as this movie is.
Murphy Sleepwalks Through This One. The Haunted Mansion (2003)Plot In A Paragraph: Realtor Jim Evers is a workaholic, so he takes his family on a vacation to a nearby lake.
En route he is asked to check out a Mansion, with the possibility of him selling it.With a movie based on The Pirates Of The Caribbean theme park ride, grossing over $300 million at the domestic box office, as adults and kids delighted in the exploits of Captain Jack Sparrow, Disney has similar hopes for another movie based on one of their rides when it opened later in the year.
I remember Murphy making fun of movies like this in Delierious, saying black people are too smart for Haunted houses.
The effects are ok too, but overall it was watchable, and Sadly nothing moreThe Haunted Mansion did not live up to expectations (especially those set by Captain Jack Sparrow) as it grossed $75 million at the domestic box office to end 2003 as the 38th highest grossing movie of the year.
Other than that, the story is very thin, yet the acting helps to carry it along.Murphy and his family, trapped in the mansion for the night, makes for some typical haunted mansion-type encounters, carried out well with solid special effects.
The special effects were good and it was really cute BUT-I sure thought it would be a lot funnier, especially since Eddie Murphy was starring.
Real estate agent Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) and his family go to Gracey Manor, where they run into the many ghosts that haunt the mansion, and with the help of a supernatural psychic; Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly) they must break the curse before the clock strikes 13.The Haunted Mansion has good special effects and is entertaining for younger children; unfortunately that's where i run out of good things to say about it.The cast is only just acceptable and they are not helped one bit by the weak script and dull storyline.
In short this film is a disgrace to the name of Disney, they have had their bad moments over the years, but generally they do care about the viewing audience; but this one doesn't deem to try, it's just a showcase for some ghost effects, and in that lies the appeal to the younger children.Don't bother 4/10.
Even in the first few moments of the film I was blown away by the visual effects, and the eerie beauty that was set off by the scenes that enfolded before me.I'm a huge fan of Tim Burtons work,and these scenes very much reminded me of his style.The mansion,in itself,is breathtaking.It felt like the Vampires mansion scene from "Underworld",only better.I thought this was a comedy Eddie Murphey shouldn't have done,but you know what?
His character is a more supporting role.There's a whole tragic/romance angle that I was completely surprised with.Nathanial Parker (whom I'm so happy I discovered) and Terence Stamp brought such a great element to the movie with their grace,nobility,and amazing acting skills.Needless to say,the features on the DVD are also incredible,including a virtual tour of the mansion.There were a few things that bugged me,and that was the kids,whom I felt could've been slightly less annoying.But thats easily overlooked in a movie I am pleasantly surprised to say is a very good flick.Don't believe the negative hype.Go see the movie for yourself.Trust me- you won't be disappointed.I know I wasn't!
The movie is has quite a bit of comedy in it and really cool special effects for a family/kids Disney film.
This movie is the story behind the famous Disney Haunted Mansion ride.8/10.
However, decent acting and sets is not enough to make up for a terrible screenplay and atrocious humor.In the end, I give this movie a 2 out of ten, because at least it is not Mr. Popper's penguins...another film that has haunted me from the day I saw it..
This movie was so good, it's no wonder Disney made a ride based on it!
My only beef with the ride is its lack of Eddie Murphy, who was clearly the best part of this movie.
I honestly could have done without the ghosts or the mansion and just seen a movie about Eddie Murphy selling real estate and teaching his son how to kill spiders.Oh and I cannot forget the classic "If you is or if you ain't" song that played at the end.
Oh yeah, and this mansion is haunted.This movie has great special effects.
I normally like Eddie Murphy films as well as Disney movies, yet this one left me thinking my I wasted my money on the ticket.The film doesn't know what it wants to be.
Unique Family Fun. When I first heard that Eddie Murphy was going to star in The Haunted Mansion, I was initially disappointed.
As a former intern at Disney World and as a Haunted Mansion fan, I wanted a more serious, scary look at the stories that surround this awesome attraction.
It's good Disney fun, and when you get out of the theater at the end, you'll be thankful it's NOTHING like the crude and boring Cat in the Hat.- The Haunted Mansion ****(4) out of *****(5).
This delightful Casper-like movie for a more intelligent youthful audience (more grown up kids) was fun and entertaining but Eddie Murphy seemed to get in his own way.
His own brand of humor and his perpetual Shrek-like character just wasn't in sync with the rest of the movie and trying to make this otherwise comedy-drama-horror-ghost-thriller in a Murphy vehicle was a mistake.
The kids were actually pretty good actors -- Hollywood appears to be trying to give audiences quality acting from the children, too, these days (thank goodness), but in the movie they were almost superfluous.One of the real problems here was Sarah, Jim's wife.
I must admit I expected alot after viewing the trailer of The Haunted Mansion, anything made by Disney and starring Eddie Murphy is sure to be great and this was no exception.Right from the word go I enjoyed this movie.
They have definately hit the nail on the head with this one :-)Firstly keep it as short as possible, whilst it wasnt extremely short it was always happening so time seemed to just fly by whilst I watched the movie.Secondly keep the laughs up and for that Eddie Murphy did really well.Thirdly keep the scares distant and few.Altogether the movie did an amazing job and I would like to congratulate everybody involved for such a brilliant and enjoyable flick.I gave The Haunted Mansion 10/10.
Something Disney movies often do so, especially lately.I also can't say if I'm too sure about Eddie Murphy casting as the main lead.
Besides the well known Eddie Murphy, the movie also features well known and respected actors such as Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker and Jennifer Tilly.
So thumbs up to the special effects team on their efforts in "The Haunted Mansion".The acting in the movie was good, although you shouldn't expect a Shakespearian experience here.
My rating for "Haunted Mansion"-7.5-8/10.About the DVD: Disney has released a great DVD for the film.
The haunted mansion !What a ride, and let me tell you, what a movie!
When I first seen the trailer for this movie, I was like oh no not another Eddie Murphy film.
I heard someone behind me in the theater ask a few times isn't this kid's movie and what is this film rated.
Eddie Murphy's wife in the film Sara Evers played by Marsha Thomason gave the best performance.
I pray that "It's a Small World" is never filmed, but I digress.Eddie Murphy is good in the leading role, but his wife looked way too young for him.
The Haunted Mansion is definitely a movie for the whole family to enjoy.
Sometimes, basing a movie off a ride turns out great, like Pirates of the Caribbean.
The story about the groom looking for his lost bride fits the attraction-based movie well and it mixes in with the Evers realty subplot perfectly.Eddie Murphy was his classic funny self and gave off some really hilarious moments in the movie, especially him getting creep-ed out by all the hauntings in the old house.
The Haunted Mansion is a very good movie.
If the same time and talent had been used on this film that had been used on "Pirates Of THe Caribbean", this "Haunted Mansion" would have been just as successful!. |
tt0202233 | Anthropophagous 2000 | Three Interpol agents meet at a cave where several corpses have been uncovered. While the other agents go for backup, Steven Bauers investigates the cavern, finding a journal under one of the bodies. Bauers skims through the journal, which tells the story of Nikos Karamanlis, beginning with him lost at sea with his daughter and pregnant wife.
The film then shows a couple, Mary and Stuart, camping on a beach, where they are murdered by Nikos. At a train station, Mary and Stuart's friends (Vincent, Marc, Caroll, Rita and Georg) head to a vacation home in Borgo San Lorenzo, where they expect to rendezvous Mary, Stuart and Caroll's husband Stan (who is preoccupied with work). The quintet reach the outskirts of Borgo San Lorenzo, where their RV breaks down. Georg, Rita and Marc go ahead (finding the village full of bodies and abandoned except for an elusive woman in black) while Vincent stays with Caroll, who had twisted her ankle. Nikos kills Vincent, abducts Caroll, moves the RV, and disposes of two nearby campers, Hank and Allan.
Georg, Rita and Marc take shelter in the vacation home, where they find Mary's blind sister, Auriet, hiding in the basement. The next day, the group reach the Karamanlis estate, where Nikos's sister Irena (the woman in black) commits suicide by leaping out a window. Inside the house, Georg finds more bodies and Nikos's journal, which he reads as Marc wanders off, running into Stan. They search for Caroll and Vincent, but Marc falls behind and is impaled on a stake by Nikos. Stan finds Caroll in the cave, and they are confronted by Nikos, who flashes back to accidentally killing his wife (during an argument over whether they should eat their dead daughter) while lost at sea. With his wife dead, Nikos ate her and their daughter to survive. After recollecting, Nikos impales Stan through the head with a machete, and cuts out and eats Caroll's unborn child.
Realizing Marc is gone, Georg, Rita and Auriet look for him, with Auriet being killed by Nikos when she becomes separated from the others. After hours of wandering, Georg and Rita are ambushed by Nikos, who rips Rita's head off. Georg shoots Nikos several times, prompting Nikos to reach into the wounds, rip some of his own innards out, and gnaw on them. Despite the severity of his injuries, Nikos continues to attack Georg and tries to drown him in a pool, but becomes distracted when he hears his wife's voice. Georg gains the upper hand, and beheads Nikos with a shovel, at Nikos's own insistence.
In the present, Bauers ponders how the journal got into the cave, and how it could be so thorough. As he exits the cave, Bauers finds what appears to be Georg's cell phone, and has his head shot off by an unseen assailant. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1233381 | Üç Maymun | A family is dislocated when small failings become extravagant lies. The film opens as a wealthy businessman, Servet, running a campaign for the upcoming election, is driving in his car alone and sleepy, struggling to keep his eyes open. Seconds later he hits and kills a pedestrian in the middle of the road. Servet panics when another car with a couple inside approaches. He sneaks away.
Eyüp, a man living in a slum at the Yedikule neighborhood in İstanbul, with his wife and only son, is the driver of Servet. He wakes up in the middle of the night with his cell phone ringing. It's his boss, telling Eyüp to meet him immediately. Shivering in shock, Servet explains the current events to his driver. His excuse is if the fatal accident comes out in press it would terminate his political career, so he proposes Eyüp to take over the penalty and stay in prison for a brief period of time in exchange for a lump sum payment upon his release, whilst still paying his salary to his family so they can get by. Eyüp accepts the deal.
An unspecified time passes, summer arrives, and Eyüp's son İsmail fails to enter college again. His mother, Hacer, who works in the catering division of a factory, starts worrying about her son after unpleasant events, and tries to convince him to get a job. İsmail suggests driving children between home and school but of course they don't have any financial source for this kind of an enterprise. İsmail asks his mother to request an advance payment from Servet without consulting Eyüp. Hacer meets with Servet, in his office after the election (which he lost), and requests the money. After Hacer leaves the office and starts waiting for a bus at the stop Servet persuades Hacer to accept a lift from him back to her home.
More unspecified time passes, and İsmail intends to visit his father. Things take a poor turn when he finds his mother having an affair with Servet. İsmail stands passive. After serving nine months in prison, Eyüp is released. He senses things are "a little peculiar" inside his home. Hacer is in love with Servet and insists on maintaining their affair. Servet disagrees. That night, Hacer and Eyüp are invited to the police station and informed that Servet has been murdered. Police officers interrogate the two and Eyüp finds out that Hacer was cheating on him. He denies knowing anything about it. İsmail confesses to his mother that he murdered Servet. Eyüp calms down when he pays a visit to a mosque. Afterwards, Eyüp goes on to speak with a very poor man who works and sleeps inside a tea house in the neighborhood. Eyüp makes the same proposition to the poor man, Bayram, that Servet made to him: to claim the crime committed by his son. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0089470 | The Legend of Billie Jean | Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater), a Corpus Christi, Texas high school girl, rides with her younger brother, Binx (Christian Slater) on his Honda Elite to a local lake to go swimming. At a drive-in, Hubie Pyatt (Barry Tubb), a rowdy local teen, hits on Billie Jean, but Binx humiliates him. At the lake, Hubie takes his revenge, stealing Binx's scooter.
Billie Jean goes to the police with her friends Putter (Yeardley Smith) and Ophelia (Martha Gehman). Detective Ringwald (Peter Coyote) is sympathetic, but urges them to wait the problem out. Binx attempts to retrieve his scooter and returns beaten, with his scooter severely damaged. Billie Jean, Binx, and Ophelia go to Mr. Pyatt's shop to get the money ($608.00) to repair the scooter. While initially appearing helpful and understanding, Mr. Pyatt then propositions Billie Jean with a 'Pay as you go, earn as you learn' plan by which he will have sex with her. He then attempts to rape her.
Meanwhile, Binx has discovered a gun in the empty store and attempts to taunt Mr. Pyatt with it. Mr. Pyatt tells him the gun is unloaded, but Binx accidentally fires it, wounding Mr Pyatt in the shoulder. The group races away from the shop and become fugitives.
By the time Detective Ringwald realizes that he made a mistake in not listening to Billie Jean, the situation is spinning out of control. Throughout it all, Billie Jean wants only the $608 to fix her brother's scooter and an apology from Mr. Pyatt. With help from Lloyd Muldaur (Keith Gordon), the disgruntled teenage son of the district attorney, who voluntarily becomes her "hostage", Billie Jean makes a video of her demands, featuring herself with her long, blond hair chopped into a crew cut as a sign of her rebellion. As media coverage increases, Billie Jean becomes a teen icon – a symbol of youth empowerment and the evidence of the injustices adults are capable of, and young fans follow her every movement. Facing uncertain dangers, both physical and legal, Billie Jean is forced to turn her friends Putter and Ophelia in to the police for their safety. When Ringwald and the police arrive and he demands to know where Billie Jean is, Ophelia proudly and defiantly replies, "Everywhere!"
Mr. Pyatt issues a bounty for her apprehension, and Billie Jean realizes the best plan is to put an end to the extraordinary circumstances and to turn herself in. To avoid attracting too much attention, she and her brother Binx both arrive in disguise. But the disguise is blown, and the consequences descend into a violent riot, which results in Binx getting shot. As Binx is taken away in an ambulance, Billie Jean confronts Mr. Pyatt and gets him to admit his actions that led to him being shot in his store. The onlookers (including Hubie), seeing how Billie Jean was exploited and their indirect involvement in it, destroy all the Billie Jean merchandise and leave in disgust. At the end of the film Billie Jean and Binx find themselves far up in Vermont seeking some recuperation and a fresh start. Binx, after complaining about the cold, admires a red snowmobile. | cult | train | wikipedia | Full of 80's music (especially the kick-ass Pat Benatar theme song), The Legend of Billie Jean is truly a remarkable film that was overlooked by too many people for its brilliance..
And it's a good exploration into the concept of vigilante justice as a natural response to not only a cumbersome justice system, but also a discriminatory one.Helen Slater is teenager Billie Jean, a nice girl from "the trailers" of Corpus Christi, Texas.
Plus, as far as important 80s movie characteristic go, it's got good actors (Helen Slater, Christian Slater, Peter Cyote, and Kieth Gordon), and a good soundtrack (featuring Pat Benetar's "Invincible" and the Divinyls)..
Billy Jean is the name of the main character(Helen Slater, looking good) and she tries to fight for what she believes is right "Fair is fair!" He brother is played by the infamous Christian Slater (sans Jack Nicholson accent).
Its a getaway for forty something women, with an awesome but not egotistical heroine, a solid loyal sibling and a sweet sincere romantic guy that we all dream of meeting someday.The song "Invincible" from the soundtrack by Pat Bentar stirs up even more memories of a time when MTV was young and the short hair cut was a sign of rebellion and the contrary move for strong young women.
He isn't Joan of Arc, fighting to restore a legitimate King, he's much closer to Robin Hood, resisting the oppression of a King who's forfeited the loyalty of the people by not acting as a good King should.Billie Jean is a social bandit.
The Modern Joan of Arc. In Texas, the hot teenager Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) lives with her brother Binx (Christian Slater) and her mother in a trailer.
Billie Jean goes with her brother Binx and her friend Ophelia (Martha Gehman) to the store of Huble's father Pyatt (Richard Bradford) with the repair bill and the old man lures Billie Jean and brings her to his office.
When Billie Jean watches Otto Preminger 's "Saint Joan" at Lloyd's television, she cuts her hair short and makes a video with her explanation and demands, becoming and icon worshiped by the teenagers.
Meanwhile Detective Ringwald finds the mess, he realizes that he should have listened to Billie Jean and tries to fix the situation."The Legend of Billie Jean" is a super-cult movie from the 80's and maybe Helen Slater's best film in her career.
This is my favorite movie of all time.I love the story of independence and standing up for whats right,not taking no for an answer.I love the outlaw feeling that you get from this movie.It made me want to cut my hair.Helen Slater does an outstanding job portraying this role, and could Christian be any cuter?
I realize I was born the year this movie came out but I love it regardless.I watch it every chance I get.Besides I'm stuck in the 80's anyway.I envy Billie Jean.She's so cool!
He doesn't know who he is messing with.The movie deals with the way Billie Jean goes about in getting her revenge against all odds.
In doing so, she becomes an instant celebrity to the young population in the area, who easily identify with the wronged girl and make her a folk hero.Helen Slater makes a sunny appearance as Billie Jean.
Peter Coyote is also seen as the chief of police who Billie Jean goes to present her complaint, but doesn't have enough sense to pay attention to her.Never underestimate a determined woman who is wronged.
The Music was great especially Pat banter song for the movie, and the fashion was so 80's I love the way they had all the girls in the movie following Billie Jean's style.
THE LEGEND OF BILLIE JEAN is a cute film that stars Helen Slater as a Texas teenager who winds up hiding from police when her brother (played well by an unrelated Christian Slater) accidentally shoots a local businessman, and before long, she becomes the talk of the town.
The movie has a great theme song by Pat Benatar and good casting, including Yeardley Smith in a pre-Simpsons role and Keith Gordon as an independent filmmaker.
I saw this movie on t.v. I was watching it with my sister and we loved it it came on like three time so we watched it again.
"The Legend of Billie Jean" is a ho-hum film about a young girl (Helen Slater) who becomes wanted by the law after her younger brother (Christian Slater, no relation in real-life) accidentally shoots a small business owner.
I mean, if I can find a movie like Ice Pirates on DVD, shouldn't "Billie Jean" on the list also?
My best memories of this movie, every time me and my best friend had a slumber party we would beg my mom to rent it for us, we picked our men out of this movie she liked Christian Slater and I picked Keith Gordon.
"The Legend of Billie Jean" feels like it blazed the trail for other movies like "Natural Born Killers and "Thelma and Louise", with Helen Slater on the run, Peter Coyote in pursuit and the news media fanning the flames.
I think Peter Coyote and Keith Gordon carry the bulk of this, but as a teen movie with a catchy pop soundtrack, it's not bad.
Billie Jean (Helen Slater) lives in a Texas trailer park with her brother best friend Binx (Christian Slater).
Billy Jean, Binx, friends Putter (Yeardley Smith) and Ophelia (Martha Gehman) go on the run and become legends as she fights for "fair is fair".
The Legend of Billie Jean is a milestone in american cinema.Each of the characters symbolize specific inner battles we all deal with on a daily basis.It's beyond me why Peter Coyote didn't receive an Oscar nomination for his role as the sympathetic, down-to-earth police officer.This movie teaches us a very important lesson , if someone destroys your motor scooter,shoot their father and run away from home.Bravo Billie Jean,Bravo..
I'm only 19 years old but I consider The Legend of Billie Jean one of my all time favorite movies.
A blonde teen from Gulf Coast Texas named Billie Jean and her little brother, Binx (Helen Slater and Christian Slater), become outlaw fugitives after a mishap.
If someone just mercifully shot him at the beginning there would be no problem and no film.While this one should be filed under subpar 80's teen flicks, it has a few points of interest to make it worthwhile to certain viewers.The movie runs 1 hour, 36 minutes and was shot in Corpus Christi, Texas, and nearby areas (e.g. Padre Island National Seashore); the closing Vermont sequence was shot in Colorado and obviously so.GRADE: C.
Partly because I thought it was a fun flashback to the 80s when I thought this movie was so cutting-edge cool when I was still a teenager, partly because it had a soundtrack commentary by stars Helen Slater and Yeardley Smith.
It was hilarious listening to these two friends banter back and forth about who did what when and where, the horrible 80s styles and hair now that they're mothers themselves, how their daughters won't even watch it out of sheer horror their mothers were rebellious teenagers (Helen - "We're five minutes into the movie and my daughter has already left." - funny stuff), etc...
I haven't seen this movie in probably 15 years but the memories are fond and I must say that as a young boy I had a blast with it.This is the typical movie that will make you feel powerful when it comes about friendship, adventures, and most of all, revelry.Billie Jean's gang was likable and that helps a lot because you actually care for the party and feel worried for them.
Yeardley Smith, Christian Slater and his sister carry the movie completely on their back.The situations are very emotional, fun, entertaining, and most of all, interesting.Keep in mind that the movie is based on a very popular character on American culture.I caught it on HBO and I hope to watch it soon..
The Legend of Billie Jean follows the exploits of a teenage trailer park resident who goes on the run after an unfortunate sequence of events revolving around her brothers Honda scooter.
Helen Slater is fantastic as Billie Jean, and the off-beat locations and overall look of the film help to set it apart from the average eighties teen flick.The Legend of Billie Jean may yet become a cult classic, and anyone who gets a sentimental buzz from eighties teen films should definitely check it out..
Texas blondes Helen Slater (as Billie Jean) and Christian Slater (as Binx) go out for a ride on his motor scooter; they meet some local toughs, who show unwelcome interest in Ms. Slater.
I really love the songs in the movie too, great song by Pat Benatar, "Invincible".The movie starts out in Texas as Billie Jean Davy,played by the beautiful Helen Slater(Supergirl, The Secret Of My Success, and Parallel Lives), and her brother, Binx, played great by Christian Slater(Pump Up The Volume, Young Guns II, and True Romance)are riding a scooter and are being bothered by a fellow teen named Hubie Pyatt, played by Barry Tubb(Mask, Top Gun, and Truce), he tries to touch Billie Jean where he shouldn't, Binx dumps his milkshake on him and the take off.
Billie Jean, Binx, and their friends, Putter, played by Yeardly Smith(Maximum Overdrive and The Simpsons), and Ophelia, played by Martha Behman(The Flamingo Kid, F/X, and Practical Magic), go to the police to report the scooter being stolen, Det. Ringwald, played by Peter Coyote(Jagged Edge, Heart Of Midnight, and The 4400), is a nice cop who wants to help them.Late that night,Binx goes to get his scooter and gets beat up by Hubie and his scooter is trashed by Hubie.
The teenage girls get their hair cut short just like Billie Jean.
Billie Jean has become a celebrity.This movie really shows how being a teenager is still rough but,it shows how a person has dignity, courage and humanity, the ending of the film really did show how a greedy person pays the price.I give this movie 2 thumbs up and 10/10 stars, I hope this movie will be out on DVD very soon.The songs in the film are super, "Invincible" by Pat Benatar is the greatest song they could bring to the theme of the movie.
In fact, solid acting right down the line helps to sell this material."Supergirl" star Helen Slater is sexy Texan Billie Jean Davy, living with her younger brother Binx (an engaging Christian Slater, making his film debut) and mom in Corpus Christi.
They become rebel heroes to kids everywhere, and Billie Jean is inspired to cut her hair short, Joan of Arc style.Helen Slater is quite good as the reluctant pop culture icon.
Jackson ('JAG') and Caroline Williams ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2") in small roles.Also helping to make this palatable is the catchy rock & pop soundtrack, featuring that irresistible kick ass theme song belted out by Pat Benatar.The movie does have something to say about the way that people can and will cynically capitalize on fads, and how justice isn't something that should just be reserved for adults.
Teenage siblings in Texas are wanted by the police after one of the kids shoots and wounds an auto mechanic--this following a sexual proposition on Billie Jean (who is nearly raped) and the beating of her brother by a group of peers, which the cops have shrugged off.
Despite constantly flashing her bright, nice-girl smile playing Billie Jean, Helen Slater is a fairly convincing rabble-rouser until the script gives her too much to handle.
Billie Jean Davy and her brother Binx (?) are white-trash teens living in Corpus Christi, Texas.
After Binx's motor scooter is trashed by a group of rich kids, Billie Jean attempts to get the money from the father of one of the boys, only to find herself sexually assaulted for her troubles.
Clearly a film with kids in mind, the film offers up a Pat Benatar single, a ridiculously trendy wardrobe (s wet-suit top) with a rebellious short hairstyle (there is a special credit given to the film's hair stylist), and a simplistic "fair is fair" message that panders to teens in scenes where Billie Jean rescues an abused child, her presence drawing children everywhere.Still, it's a guilty pleasure.
A lot of fun performers like Peter Coyote and Keith Gordon are around, Helen Slater makes an effective underdog, and you get Christian Slater at his goofiest..
This movie was awesome,Billy jean didn't start out asking for trouble but it happened and she didn't stand back and do nothing even though she may have been wrong in what she did, I see her point of doing it.
By simple twisted fate of chance, Billie Jean became the herald for a younger generation, despite her background and the actions that set her into motion.A must see for anyone, like myself, who wants to find meaning in a movie.
I just finished watching the Legend of Billy Jean.It has been years.This movie reminds me of my child hood.Because I saw it first when I was young.The classic music from it.Eighties,it truly catches the flare they were going for.Free spirits,and open hearted youth.
This movie is always going to be a classic,even though seeing it now,and asking the questions that everyone asks now,after seeing a movie.Like there out to kill the magic.The Legend of Billy Jean,can not be stripped of it's cinematic magic no matter how hard any one tries.Because it caught the youth in it's time,and has tumbled its way down into the the status it's title would suggest..
This was a fun to watch movie in part because the story was pretty good and also because I live here in Corpus Christi, Texas where I got to see some of it being made.
I don't know what it is about Legend of Billie Jean, but every time I see it on TV, I am compelled to watch it.
Billie Jean Davy (Helen Slater) and her brother Binx (Christian Slater) are unjustly accused of shooting a man.
They go on the run with two friends...but their "crime" gains notice and Billie Jean finds herself a modern day Joan of Arc. Teenagers everywhere help her out to find justice.This movie is maddening.
The Legend of Billie Jean is a very good movie!.
The legend of Billie Jean was really a great film and I have to say that the lead role of a female actress at that time as the hero was refreshing.
At the same time it's pretty cool to point out to Billie Jean 'newbies' what has changed in Corpus Christi and what hasn't.
Art imitates life, and I've always thought about the Legend of Billie Jean and its central theme in relation to this since the movie debuted -- I haven't stopped thinking about it since I was--I guess--about ten years old.
In the process, every teenage girl in the area cuts her hair to look like Billie Jean.
The Legend of Billie Jean(1985) has some good scenes but overall is an average film.
God, from Helen Slater's rebel Joan of Arc haircut to Pat Benatar's brilliant theme song "Invincible," this movie is so-o-o self-righteous in its "Don't doubt the children" message that you'll almost forget that it's about kids fighting a man over a broken dirt bike.Basically, the movie now works as a trivia footnote.
This was Yeardley Smith's biggest actual performance, before she became the "voice of Lisa Simpson" and did that cameo in "As Good As It Gets." Here she plays a mousy young girl who finds her own independence and her own short, rebellious haircut through her admiration of tortured teen-turned-media goddess Billie Jean (Slater).
Also, Christian Slater, whom I don't think is actually related to Helen Slater, plays Billie Jean's troublesome-with-all-sorts-of-misguided-anger brother, whose dirt bike problems cause the whole movie to begin with.
Feisty lower-class teenager Billie Jean (a strong and charismatic performance by Helen Slater) and her brother Binx Davy (a solid and likable Christian Slater in his film debut) become celebrity fugitives after a dispute between affluent jerk Hubie (a perfectly obnoxious turn by Barry Tubb) and his no-count father Mr. Pyatt (a splendidly slimy portrayal by Richard Bradford) about Hubie trashing Binx's scooter gets out of hand.Director Matthew Robbins keeps the engrossing story moving along at a quick pace, vividly captures the humid atmosphere of rural Texas, and manages to prevent the potentially campy story from degenerating into totally laughable kitsch.
Slater (Supergirl) plays Texas teen, Billie Jean Davy who tries to help her brother, Binx (C.
The recurring themes throughout the movie were "Always stand up for yourself no matter what" and "Don't let people walk all over you, no matter how old you are." I believe those principles are just as important today as they were some thirty years ago."The Legend of Billie Jean" is an accurate depiction of PG-13 films made for teens in the early and mid-eighties.
"Corvette Summer" director Matthew Robbins wrote and helmed Helen Slater's second big-screen movie, the above-average road epic "The Legend of Billie Jean," about a blonde Texas teenager from a trailer park who becomes a highly-sought after fugitive after several guys stole her motor scooter from her little brother and vandalized it.
Fifteen-year old Christian Slater plays Binx, the brother of Billie Jean (Helen Slater of "Supergirl") in this 1980s era who embarks on a journey of hardship as they dodge the law.
The film makes Pyatt completely evil and greedy milking Billie Jean's "Joan of Arc" image for all it's worth.
The film works well as a road movie and the young cast is so good, we love watching them together on-screen.
Billie Jean's brother (and the real life brother of Supergirl actress, Helen Slater, a very, VERY young Christian Slater) gets beat up just as badly as his scooter.
I watched this movie when it came out and I felt such a connection to Billy Jean. |
tt0111732 | With Honors | Monty Kessler, an honors student in the Government program at Harvard University, rooms with art student Courtney Blumenthal, radio DJ and trust fund child Everett Calloway, and neurotic pre-med student Jeff Hawkes. Monty is the pet project of Professor Pitkannan, a Nobel Laureate and government cynic.
While working on his thesis, Monty loses his work when his computer crashes. As he leaves to make copies of his sole printed version, he breaks his ankle and drops his thesis down a steam vent and into the boiler room of Widener Library, where he sees a disheveled man reading it, then burning the thesis page by page. The homeless man demands compensation for not burning it. Monty calls the university police, who arrest the man, but the thesis is missing.
In his court appearance, the man's name is revealed to be Simon B. Wilder. After convincing the judge to dismiss the charges against him, he is then held on contempt. Monty pays Simon's fine to get his thesis back. Although Simon blames Monty for getting him kicked out of the library, the two of them work out a deal: Simon will give one page for each service Monty provides. Simon takes up residence in Everett's broken-down van in the backyard of Monty's house. Confronted by his roommates, Monty assures them he will get Simon out quickly.
Simon mentors Monty, and the two become close friends. Monty discusses his absentee father, and Simon responds by showing him his collection of "memories", a bag of stones, each of which reminds him of a specific memory. With time, some of the roommates appreciate Simon's presence. Courtney appreciates the new, gentler Monty, and Everett agrees to exchange wine for Simon's fixing the van. Jeff, however, resents paying for extra food and fears the possible reactions of his visiting parents. On a particularly cold night, Jeff rejects Monty's request for Simon to sleep in the cellar, threatening to move out with his share of the rent. When Monty lies to Simon, Simon sees through his deception and leaves.
After the others leave for Christmas break, Simon sends a homeless friend to deliver the rest of the thesis and a philosophical message. The friend tells Monty that Simon does not want to see him but gives Monty his location; Monty finds Simon in the street, wheezing and coughing. Monty takes Simon home and tells him he can stay there as long as he likes. Simon tells Monty he has asbestosis from his days in the Merchant Marines. Touched by Monty's courtesy, Simon agrees to accept government benefits to pay his way. Simon is shocked when Monty throws out his old thesis and writes a new one.
As the roommates return, Monty introduces Simon as their new housemate, but Jeff threatens to leave again; eventually, the two reconcile. While writing his own obituary, Simon reveals to Monty that he left his own family. Though angry, Monty forgives him and brings Simon to the biggest party of the year on campus. As the two watch Courtney dance, Simon recognizes that Monty loves her; following Simon's advice, Monty pursues Courtney, and the two kiss.
Late that night, Monty and Courtney find Simon collapsed in the hallway. Monty agrees to take Simon to see his long-lost son, Frank, even though it will mean missing his thesis deadline. The entire household sets off on a road trip. Monty convinces Frank to meet with Simon, and Frank berates Simon for leaving. When Frank's daughter approaches, Frank tells her that Simon is nobody and leaves. Simon breaks down and grabs a stone for a "memory". Simon expresses his desire to die alone, but Monty convinces him to return home with them; they take turns reading poetry to him before he dies. The four friends bury Simon in a cemetery, reading Simon's final obituary.
Monty meets with Professor Pitkannan. While Pitkannan disagrees with Monty's thesis and new approach to government, he appreciates his beliefs and effort. He regrets that because Monty turned his paper in late, he could not graduate summa cum laude. At the graduation ceremony, Monty grabs a stone for his own "memory". | feel-good | train | wikipedia | Frank was most moved by the film and I take that as the highest possible accolade.In a day and age when so few of us put anything aside as a cushion against hard times, lots of people are one paycheck away from being as homeless as Joe Pesci was here.
Incredibly he accepts the deal.More incredibly the two of them form a unique bond and Pesci goes to live with Fraser and his roommates, Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton.
Brendan, Joe, and the rest of the cast, this film deeply moved him, good job folks..
"With Honors" means so much to me...it takes on an issue - homelessness - that most film studios won't touch with a ten-foot pole.
It's amazing that someone could make a film largely about a homeless man into a commercially acceptable film without sugar-coating the issue, but they did it.Stellar performances abound here, including Joe Pesci, Brendan Fraser, Josh Hamilton, and the spectacular Moira Kelly.
With a great performance by the priceless Gore Vidal - who's also in another of my favorite films, "Bob Roberts."There are also some nice shots of the Harvard University campus, and the film accurately re-creates the turmoil, joy, and passion and the hundred other emotions that come with college life..
I´m one of those people who knows what to expect from a movie and the best part of it is that you can be surprised."With Honors" is certainly one of my favorite little movies so far.
I stopped by Blockbuster and decided I´d watch old movies and simple ones, so I got what I wanted but it was more than satisfying.I love Joe Pesci and as surreal and unreal as his bum version was, you can´t help loving the guy.
There was something very ´common place´ (the poor but incredibly wise man that is) about it, but the movie has it´s merits.I knew Brendan Fraser could kick ass and look hot but I was pleased to see him act.
It's a very "carpe diem" experience ;) It's also a perfect mix of comedy and drama, Patrick Dempsey and Joe Pesci kept the laughs coming.
Basically, Monty is a Harvard student who thinks he knows it all and is writing his senior thesis but while running to make a copy of it (cliche, his computer crashed and he only has one copy) he slips and his work falls into the hands of Harvard bum Simon.
You can really FEEL the portrayal of the characters from Pesci and Fraser, but adding Patrick Dempsey, Moira Kelly, and Josh Hamilton completes the group.
So i caught this movie in the store and thought I'd give it a go because of Joe Pesci and Brendan Frasier.
Brendan Frasier plays Monty who is obsessed with making it at Harvard, spending most of his time working on his thesis.
In the story, Frasier and housemates (a great bunch, I might add) meet Simon, a sick homeless man who is living in a broken down van in the backyard of the group's house.
The acting is great, the movie is beautifully shot, and as I said before, the story is just perfect.
Like many or any good movies it has a great cast, excellent dialogue, and a small percentage of charm.
With four students and a bum, a college setting and a warm and interesting feeling, "With Honors" becomes a very realistic movie.
Joe Pesci brings the best out of this film.
Brendan Frasier is also good as the college harvard who find Simon and makes the plot go around.
The film with honors is a movie about the troubles of life and how we can't judge people the second we see them, since everybody always has a story.
This movie really touched me and made me see people differently, one of Joe Pescis line's really touched me.
I like almost everyone in the cast, especially Patrick dempsey, and I can't think of any other movie I like ANY of them in.I think Brendan Fraser has real acting talent and gives a very subtle intelligent performance in this movie.
he begins the movie obsessed with his classes, thinking that receiving his "honors" diploma was all that was important in life for him.
when joe pesci's character gets his hands on the only copy of the thesis, though, frasier is forced to focus on other things.
he's a great actor who is probably the reason this movie is labeled "comedy." pesci is seen as a pain by frasier and his roommates for a while, as they see him as being a bum and not an equal to themselves.
however, through his kind nature and wisdom from living a very difficult life, he earns their respect and makes them realize that some things are more important than graduating college with honors.
pesci's character undergoes his own transformation as he goes from an unlikeable, greedy man to an honorable man with good friends who have great admiration for him.
this movie told me that one (like Monty) can be so obsessed with what he thinks matter in his life (his papers and such).
There wasn't much of famous names involved (other than Joe Pesci & Brendan Fraser) to divert the audiences' attention to the main storyline.Even the music by Patrick Leonard blended nicely together with the main theme of "I'll Remember" by Madonna.
I mean this movie was really really good.Anyhow, here's my favored list of categories that WITH HONORS deserved to receive:Best Picture
The film tries to tells us that not all the knowledge in life comes in the way of a university education, but by experience and hard knocks, as is the case with Simon Wilder, a homeless man, who has more knowledge than the young people that befriend him."With Honors" is a film with good intentions.
At the end, Monte, who has been a student expected to graduate suma cum laude, realizes he has learned an important lesson in his meeting that strange man, and how his life has taken a different turn.Mr. Keshishian got good acting in genera.
That's what happens to him in the film before finding portions of the paper in the basement to homeless man Simon (Joe Pesci) where a deal is made by the sheltered bum that if he helps him out, he'll give him the thesis paper along with helping him out on the report.
Monty and Simon become pals where they know each other quite a bit about themselves; the homeless man tells Monty everything about life from wooing women to telling him the back story on what he used to do.Some parts of the movie are too cliché for a drama and some of us know what's going to happen in the end, but a scene between Monty's professor and Simon in the classroom is a true highlight to make students and fans alike raise their eyebrows.Not a bad movie..
He learns about life from a "bum" played masterfully by Joe Pesci.
Bad movie wrongly casts Joe Pesci as a bum living under a library at Harvard where he takes Brendan Fraser's senior thesis and holds it ransom in exchange for food and shelter from Fraser and his friends.
This is a touching little film with very good performances by Joe Pesci (showing some surprising versatility with his character), Brendan Fraser and the supporting players.
(Especially Moira Kelly who is just lovely.)The welfare of a person who occupies even the lowest station in life (homeless & broke) outweighs such things as turning in your thesis on time and graduating Harvard with honors.And if you don't find the bitter-sweet ending moving you haven't lived..
The up and down times the kids face which actually develops them/prepares them for the future.Well Monty plays an impressive role in bringing out a university student from Harvard that takes in a bum.
Monty learns wisdom and life from the bums perspective and the pesci learns that life is not supposed to quit upon no matter what the situation is.I work in a shipyard, i understand the problems that people encounter when they are exposed to asbestos.
It recalls my memory with my best friend in US, much older than me and showed the great wisdom as Simon did in the movie.
I love the line "I'm ending our friendship," and "I've never wanted to be a razor so badly in my life."I suppose there is a reason number three too, because I think that it is a great flick for college students (of which I was just one) to get rid of their self-centeredness, and to realize that there are other people in the world than just them and their circle of friends!
Pesci, who plays a homeless man, finds college student Brendan Fraser's senior thesis and works out a deal with him:he'll return the thesis one page at a time in exchange for food, room, and board per day.
What a great film was this.I saw it like a year ago and i wish it will be broadcasted again soon.It's a pretty dramatic movie with moments of comedy about some Harvard-students and a homeless man who have nothing in common at first sight, but they are starting to like each other during the movie.
Great cast too;i really liked both Joe Pesci and Moira Kelly.The others were also pretty nice.
I t is the best I now own this movie***10+ The story is great, funny and a tear jerker as well RENT IT TODAY...
Question: How do you screw up a movie with a cast of Brendan Fraser, Patrick Dempsey and Moira Kelly?
I hope no one actually associates the way Pesci (as Simon Wilder) acted in the movie with real homeless people.
Sure I knew that Joe Pesci played a bum attempting to show Brendan Fraser what life is all about, but that was pretty much it.
The acting is great and the story, while maybe a tad too sentimental and emotionally manipulating, is enthralling enough to stick with the characters and feel for them and their plight in getting through college with an education, along with their souls intact.A film like this makes you think about how good Joe Pesci used to be and regret that he has been out of the business for a while now.
He plays Simon Wilder with heart and realism, a homeless man who has regrets, but also piece of mind, knowing what went wrong and living life for meaning not materialistic necessity.
As for the others, Moira Kelly makes you wonder what ever happened to her as far as film goes, Patrick Dempsey gives a performance with meaning while still keeping with his image of the day, and Josh Hamilton is entertaining enough to have made me see what else he's done since, surprising me to find he was one of my favorite roles in last year's comedy gem Diggers.Throughout the film, you know that tragedy will soon hit and the tears will flow, however, that knowledge never detracts from what is happening on screen.
Joe does some of his best work in this one.One of the few movies that I actually bought and watched over again.
Its the first film that i've cried in everytime i've watched it, well the second, the first being My Girl (bows head in shame) Yes anyway, Brendan Fraser's character is a pompus brain, from Harvard, expected by all to end up becoming a high ranking government official.
Joe Pesci has some of the funniest lines I've heard in a movie..
With Honors (1994) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Brendan Fraser plays Monty, a Harvard student who believes that his thesis is going to send him into the perfect life with the perfect job.
The only problem is that the papers fall into the hands of a homeless man named Simon (Joe Pesci) who plans on using them to get things that he needs.WITH HONORS was released to some really horrible reviews and I still remember going to see it on its opening weekend and leaving the theater wondering what everyone had missed.
Of course not but it's certainly a very good, heart-warming and funny picture.One thing that the film deserves credit for is taking a serious look at being homeless.
I thought the film was very intelligent when it came to the subject matter and unlike so many other movies this one here at least had something to say on its subject.The best thing about the movie were the performances with Pesci leading the way in a very good role.
Fraser is also very believable in his role and we get some nice support from Moira Kelly, Josh Hamilton and Patrick Dempsey.The film certainly does a very good job at mixing the laughs with the drama and to me WITH HONORS remains a film that never got its due..
Although Moira Kelly, Brendan Fraser and Joe Pesci are charming and talented, this movie flat out sucked.
Brendan Fraser plays "Stuck Up But Finds Out What Really Matters In Life", which I have seen a bajillion times before.
This is a good movie, but not great.The movie does have a nice message and all, and it has A-list actors (Joe Pesci and Brandon Frasier), but this movie was never monumental, and I am pretty sure it never will be.
Today I saw it again as a young adult and while the film-making doesn't shine and the acting isn't as top notch as I had remembered it, the movie still delivers a warm feeling.
Homeless man Joe Pesci blackmails Harvard student Brendan Fraser into giving him anything he wants after Pesci obtains pages from one of Fraser's major assignments.
Eventually they develop a father-son relationship and Fraser lets Pesci move in with him and his three college friends (Moira Kelly, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton).
The acting was terrific, by all the actors, especially Joe Pesci, and Brendan Fraser.
With Honors is not a great movie.
Nor is it a good movie at that, but I found the film to be a satisfying experience for one or two reasons.
Their acting really "makes" the movie cause the story is not really believable, if you really think about what is going down on screen.Second, the film delivers a good message, even if it gets lost at times during the movie's sappiness.
The movie tries to be a comedy, then tries to be a drama and then the process repeats itself so you really don't know what the movie is until the last few minutes.With Honors is messy, but some pretty good acting and interesting messages save the movie from being a mess, and although it's by no means a great film, it's an OK one..
She understands the term "love" better than Kessler and hence Joe Pesci's plug for her towards the end.Patrick Dempsey does an excellent job as Everett Calloway, the school's radio talk show host while Josh Hamilton plays an antagonistic role as Jeffrey Hawks, the spoiled insensitive preppie who is by far the least spiritually developed of the group.Gore Vidal is excellent as Professor Pitkannen and is part of a priceless sequence in the movie.
It's fun to examine the countenances of those sitting behind Fraser and Pesci during the scene.With Honors teaches us to not pre-judge others as time and experience on this earth may equal great wisdom.
It was only nominated for Best Original Song ("I'll Remember", performed by Madonna).The film centers on Montgomery 'Monty' Kessler (Brendan Fraser) a government senior student at Harvard University, who thinks his life depends on his thesis.
But on the way to the copy shop, he has an accident and the thesis falls into the boiler room of the library and into the hands of Simon Wilder (Joe Pesci), a homeless man who has made a makeshift home in there.
The relationship between Monty and Simon develops into a strong friendship and Monty soon learns that there is more to life than graduating with honors.I am always moved by the beautiful story and the incredible acting in this film.
The transition in the character of Monty, from a young man that considers grades and recognition to be the most important things in the world, to a man, touched by the life of a "bum" as Simon refers to himself who is intelligent and good-natured, and knows the meaning of love.The last few lines in the movie always bring tears to my eyes, as Monty reads Simon's self-written obituary: "He is survived by his family: Jeff Hawks, who always remembers to flush; Everett Calloway, who knows how to use words; Courtney Blumenthal, who is strong, and also knows how to love; and by Montgomery Kessler, who will graduate life with honor, and without regret.".
Brendan Fraser, Moira Kelley and the great Joe Pesci.
Joe Pesci plays Simon Wilder, a homeless ex-merchant marine, who teaches Montgomery, played by Brendan Fraser, generosity and compassion.
With Honors - A movie our representatives should watch.
In the process, the college student learns more about the realities of life.This movie could change your attitude about how you view people on the streets.
But as I said I do think this movie has a good message, which is pretty much about finding out what's really important in life, and there really are some touching moments..
Harvard punk (Brendan Fraser) helps a homeless dude (Joe Pesci) in exchange for lost thesis papers.It's a series of revelations that change the political views of a selfish Ivy-leaguer as he learns from the 'wisdom' of a bum who has all the appeal of a rat-dropping.
With Honors tells a tale about a homeless man who meets a group of Harvard students and this leads to an awkward relationship wherein he becomes their new professor about the real world and life in general.
The homeless man is portrayed by Joe Pesci while Brendan Fraser,Moira Kelly,Patrick Dempsey and Josh Hamilton were cast as the students. |
tt0906665 | Sukiyaki Western Django | A lone gunman travels to the town of Yuta, which is run by the warring clans of the white-colored Genji and red-colored Heike. After ignoring requests from both clans to join them, he is given shelter by a woman named Ruriko, who takes care of her mute grandson Heihachi. Ruriko tells the gunman that many years ago, the town prospered in gold mining until both clans fought over the gold and drove away the population. The Heike-aligned sheriff tells the gunman that in the midst of the chaos, a Heike man named Akira married a Genji woman named Shizuka and lived peacefully with their son Heihachi, until Heike leader Kiyomori killed Akira in cold blood, rendering Heihachi mute from the trauma. Seeking protection for her son, Shizuka became a prostitute for the Genji. Since then, Heihachi has been tending to a trio of red and white roses, waiting for the day they bloom.
Later that day, the gunman wins a challenge from the Genji henchman Yoichi to have Shizuka for the night. Before he proceeds with her, he is told by Genji leader Yoshitsune that he is reminiscent of the legendary female gunslinger Bloody Benten. Later, Shizuka warns the gunman that Yoshitsune sent some men to retrieve a new weapon for Yoichi to use on him. He tells Shizuka to take her son and leave town tomorrow. The next morning, following a tip-off from Shizuka, the sheriff informs Kiyomori of the Genjis' plans. The Heikes ambush the wagon, with Kiyomori acquiring a Gatling gun stored inside a coffin. Meanwhile, as the Genjis race toward the wagon raid, Ruriko, Shizuka and Heihachi are fleeing from town when Shizuka runs back to save the roses. She is mortally shot through the heart by Yoichi. The gunman attempts to intervene, but is forced to drop his guns before being tortured by the Genji thug. Ruriko's servant Toshio suddenly appears and throws a gun at her before she shoots and kills Yoichi and his henchmen, revealing herself to be Bloody Benten. In retaliation for the wagon raid, the Genjis destroy the Heikes' fortress.
While the native doctor Piripero tends to the gunman's wounds, Ruriko has Toshio retrieve some guns from the elderly Piringo, who reveals to him that he trained her to be a gunman and Akira was their son. Ruriko plans to settle the score with the Genjis once and for all by luring them with a chest loaded with gold nuggets in the middle of town. The Genjis are killed by the gunman and Ruriko while the surviving Heikes make their way back to town. Ruriko kills the Heikes and Kiyomori, avenging her son's death, but is fatally shot by the sheriff, who in turn is shot down by a mortally wounded Toshio and impaled with a tombstone cross by Piripero. The gunman challenges Yoshitsune in a final showdown, with the Genji leader deflecting all the gunman's bullets with his katana. But when Yoshitsune tries to deliver a fatal cut, the gunman catches the blade on his trigger guard, before shooting Yoshitsune in the head with a Derringer he had concealed under his left sleeve.
After burying their loved ones, the gunman takes a fistful of gold from the treasure chest, telling Heihachi that the rest is his. As he rides off through the snow, Heihachi looks at the roses and slowly utters, "Love". The ending text reveals that a few years later, Heihachi travels to Italy and becomes the gunslinger known as "Django". No one knows if the roses have bloomed. | western, revenge, murder, storytelling, flashback | train | wikipedia | If Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time is considered an ode to the American Western with all it's fundamental elements all packed neatly in an 3 and a half hour package of visual splendor than Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django is an ode to the Italian Western through and through with all the style, violence and sound that Leone brought to the art of cinema and Sergio Corbucci used to create his most famous work "Django".
A visual feast, Miike's tribute to Corbucci's work is the poetic equivalent of Tarantino's own tribute to the Italian Western (and some other cult genres) Kill Bill.Set around, in a strikingly offbeat way to, the 12th century Heike/Genji clan wars Sukiyaki Western Django is the tale of a mysterious gunman (played by Hideoki Ito) who comes into a nearly deserted once prospering town now controlled by the two rival groups.
For the film he combined, the typical Morricone-sque western music with that of the Japanese samurai flick in a modern just lightly rock adaptation.Sukiyaki Western Django pays homage to what is now a dead genre.
Sukiyaki Western Django, however, shows his true capability as a director and that he isn't just another run-of-the-mill carbon copy like I originally thought after viewing Audition.Sukiyaki Western Django is very dialogue heavy, but it still packs a lot of action and a lot more character deaths than is standard for this type of film.
With the first words spoken, however, it became painfully apparent what this movies main problem would be.You see, despite the fact that almost all of the cast uses Japanese as their primary language (I haven't verified this, but it's pretty obvious), the filmmaker, Takashi Miike, shot the whole thing in English.
A signpost on the lone gunman's way reads 'Nevada', the actors speak English with heavy and grating Japanese accents, some of them bear katanas and most others six shooters, the shabby ghost town the movie takes place in is distinctly Japanese in its architecture yet ornamented with dead men hanging from the town gate in typical 'far west' fashion, there's a sheriff, short blurbs about samurais, rumors of hidden treasure and a gold rush explained in a flashback.However Miike is not attempting what many other directors have tried to in the past, that is to transpose occidental concepts, their mentality or filmic tradition to the oriental or the other way around.
In Miike's vision of the genre west, the (historical naval) battle of Dannoura between the Genji and the Heike takes place close to Quentin Tarantino dressed in a poncho playing a gunfighter called Ringo and is followed a couple hundred years later by a signpost that reads Nevada and the Genji and Heike still split into warring factions.
Fans of comic books will be familiar with the myth-making idea here.It's a damn shame then that a movie as conceptually and aesthetically ambitious as Sukiyaki is let down by a terrible script, Miike's ill-advised decision to have all his actors mumble their way through their lines in distracting Engrish and the pace-clogging inclusion of at least thirty minutes of dead running time that should have been mercifully left to die at the cutting room floor.There are scenes that don't work at all (such as the unnecessary dance scene) and there are scenes that outstay their welcome by a good number of minutes.
On one hand Miike seems to go for an air of sentimental and meaningful profundity while at the same time indulging his nuttier side.The good in Sukiyaki come in the form of a commendable visual attention to detail and beautiful lighting, the blistering action and the comic book vibe he goes for that recalls the days of FUDOH and DEAD OR ALIVE.
In the opening scene that supposedly takes place concomitant with the Battle of Dannoura he whacks pistolero-style three badly dressed goons and mouths off a couple of one-liners.The scene is amusing at best but he has the show stole from right under his nose by the beautiful and intriguing set design and painted backdrops that recreate an oddly poetic and intentionally artificial rendition of the old west, perhaps recalling the dream sequence Akira Kurosawa created for Tatsuya Nakadai to stagger his way through in KAGEMUSHA or the similarly evocative painted sunsets of DODESUKADEN.
The line between Japanese samurai films and Italian Westerns (called "spaghetti" in the West and "macaroni" in the East) has been blurry from the days of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone.
The unnamed black clad antihero rides into a previously thriving town to find it a wretched hive of scum and villainy; occupied by a handful of citizens and two warring clans, the Genji and Heike.Clad in red and white, Miike injects some heavy duty rose overtones into the film, calling out the War of the Roses, Henry VI, and a hybrid rose bush named "love" quite frequently.
At least two of the film's characters are products of Genji (red) and Heike (white) love affairs.Even with a wealth of past ideas to pilfer, SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO can't sustain itself for its full two hour running time.
These instances feel completely out of place, even after the highly stylized pre-credit sequence starring living cartoon character Quentin Tarantino.It's strange with actors speaking English as a second language (for the most part) and who muddle through some tricky pronunciations (thank goodness for the English subtitles) that the worst performance of the film comes courtesy of a native English speaker.
Tarantino's embarrassing "acting" may be brief but every second he spends on screen is excruciating.Sure to be a hit with every hipster who has never seen an Asian in a cowboy hat (allow me to recommend TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER and THE NEW MORNING OF BILLY THE KID), SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO could do with some tightening up and a complete Tarantino-echtomy..
This is further proof that cult Japanese director Takashi Miike is not for me: as can be deduced from the title, the film is a pseudo-homage to the Italian Spaghetti Westerns (though Django has almost nothing to do with it!).
In fact, the plot is yet another rehash of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa's samurai classic YOJIMBO (1961), which had actually led to Sergio Leone kick-starting the Spaghetti Western subgenre with that film's first remake A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964)!
Anyway, for Miike, this is typically violent fare even more pointless than usual and all rather amateurishly assembled; besides, having the actors speak English results in unintentional laughter more than anything else (though Quentin Tarantino's absurd cameo is no less embarrassing: incidentally, I may well have been witness to the genesis of the picture back when these two mavericks 'butted heads' at the 2004 Venice Film Festival!).
That's pretty much what happened here.Sukiyaki Western Django takes place in an alternate universe where nineteenth-century Nevada is populated entirely by the Japanese and the only white man around is Quentin Tarantino!This is colorful (figuratively and literally) and action packed with great production values but the whole thing's just too gimmicky and cute for it's own good.
Hell, I had to turn on the subtitles anyway!What I would really like to have seen was director Takashi Miike attempt to make a real western with an American cast.
Apparently making fun of the westerns Sukiyaki has a lot of tragedy as it tells the story of the rival clans, in a time and place where there is not much value in human life.
I've seen movies that are parodies of other movies (scary movie),i've seen movies that are parodies of itself (hot shots),but i've never seen a movie that is a parody of parody of itself.In the beginning I thought the whole asians-in-western set up was funny.But then it came : - AWFUL 'acting' by Tarantino (i'm not sure I can call it acting) - AWFUL acting by everyone after him.They all must have skipped acting school or the cast selection was made in an AA rehab - SURREAL dialogs and questions or sentences that the viewer is not meant to understand (cause the film is too smart for the average joe.
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007) ** (out of 4) Quentin Tarantino in a Takashi Miike homage to Spaghetti Westerns is going to be enough to get a few curious people to watch but I must rip off a few reviews I've read, which called this film different but not very entertaining.
This is the real surprise (disappointment) of the present movie - it is not new.The reason for the development of this weirdly self-referential genre is that the most famous of all Spaghetti Westerns, Leone's 'A Fistful of Dollars,' was a direct rip-off of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo.' In the past two decades, Japanese film makers have tried to understand how that could happen.
SWD is entirely of its genre, and nothing new is learned from it.Instead, he tries to avoid the issue by drawing his material mainly from the major film by Leone disciple Sergio Corbucci - "Django." Big mistake.Whatever its merits, 'Django' left one seriously misguided impression on the history of the Spaghetti Western - it seems to be entirely lacking in humor.
Althgough Corbucci later revealed quite a sense of the comedic, and Leone's own films are largely comedies with operatic structures, this impression of 'Django' has stuck, and most parodies of Spaghetti Westerns have been based on the assumption that the genre is overly heavy in its themes and philosophy.
obviously it's a western, but think more "Ichi the Killer" meets "Tombstone" meets "Kill Bill" and you'll be a little closer to what this movie has to offer.all in all, if you're fan of Miike, watch it.
It's a re-working of Akira Kurosawa's classic film "Yojimbo" but instead of being set in feudal Japan, it's in a weird crossover world--part Japanese and part western--and by 'western', I mean the American Old West!!
I haven't seen Django, and actually I saw much more candid likeness to Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars.The fast-paced action is well staged on a set that sponges both western and samurai ways of life.
Hire a bunch of Japanese actors that can hardly speak English and when they do, have such a strained looked on their face like they are trying to pass a kidney stone.The first five minutes of this movie is so bad, that what follows could only be worst, and it exceeded this with flying colors.I don't know what compelled me to agonizingly sit through the whole movie,but while I was watching it go from bad to worst to utterly horrid, it actually became comical, it was so bad that it went full circle.avoid at all costs..
The name is straightforward: "sukiyaki" being a traditional Japanese dish (standing in for "spaghetti"), "western" referring to the genre, and "Django" referring to the gimmicky B-movie series of westerns from the '70s which the film constantly references.
So the name literally is saying it's a Japanese B-movie Spaghetti Western.Miike takes inspiration from, and references, almost everything here: classic Clint Eastwood westerns, the anime 'Cowboy Bebop', B-movie slashers (and obviously the terrible cult classic series, "Django"), Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', the old Japanese story of 'The Tale of Heike' and so on.
It's pretty original/charming in concept, though, and I wonder if Miike wouldn't also like to make a samurai film entirely with Americans speaking broken Japanese.
Although it's not gripping for its story, narrative or traditional story-telling, film-making qualities, Sukiyaki Western Django is pretty cool for how unique it is and its goofy Japanese angles on the subject matter.
"Sukiyaki Western Django" (aka SWD) isn't quite as bad as "Izo", but in all honesty it's not that far off.First and foremost, Miike needs to stop directing English language movies.
There are a number of very good Japanese actors in SWD, but they all end up sounding like halfwits because they speak in English for the entirety of the film.
In this hybrid flick, scene one features Tarantino taking on three Japanese gun slingers in what intentionally look like a b-movie set piece of the desert.
With this scene, the movie will either have your full attention, or it will have you making for the exit, but it's a good indicator that something eccentric is going to follow.It is for the best that Sukiyaki Western Django does not take itself seriously.
But, the overall style and art design is solid, the actors try their best and the soundtrack has some really good moments.Personally I think that Sukiyaki Western Django tries too hard.
This movie was good, if you actually watched it instead of being the overzealous cliché'd college film student who doesn't know anything but to kiss his or her owns ass, then hail to ya, since your ego speaks louder then words, for one this flick believe it or not is a prequel, second its from takashi miike, the only guy who makes obscure flicks that sometimes are bad but hell you don't see much of his type of movies, if you hated this flick so much then go watch something from uwe boll iam sure you two could cosy up and degrade more soon to be cult classics, as for those of you who enjoyed this flick or curious to see it then don't let these film "cretiques" who judge flicks they haven't even seen just read about, and talk nothing but negative comments on how bad the flick is then why even comment on it, i mean really if you complain so much about how a film flows, then i dare ya, to make your own.
One of only four films Takashi Miike made last year (must have been a slow one), Django is yet another pseudo-adaptation of the classic Red Harvest story of a town with two warring factions and a lone gunmen betwixt it all.
And "Sukiyaki Western Django" indeed is a great fun film, even if one might more or less know what to expect.
"Sukiyaki Western Django" is neither one of Miike's best nor his worst films.
Trust Japanese director Takeshi Miike to dream up something as outrageously funny, wicked and dramatic such as Sukiyaki Western Django, his take on what a Japanese Western would look and feel like, encapsulating genre themes, character motivations, and action done to violent perfection.
For Miike SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO serves as sardonic homage to (and a parody of) American action films since at the time he made it, it was unlikely that he would ever be able to direct a straightforward genre film for Hollywood.This film is purposely ANTI-original.
With his recent "Sukiyaki Western Django" Miike pays loving tribute to the western genre and infuses it with his own unique spin and a decidedly Japanese flair.Set in what appears to be a dusty post-apocalyptic wasteland, the story deals with a bitter rivalry between two vicious clans - the brutal Heike (whose color emblem is a bloody scarlet red) and the flashy Genji (whose banners are a snow colored white).
Momoi Kaori (Bounce No Ko Gal, Memoirs of a Geisha), who was also educated in London, is clearly at home with the English dialog and turns in a terrific performance as Ruriko.Ishibashi Takaaki (one half of 80s comedy duo "Tunnels")steals the spotlight as Yoshitsune's sexually ambiguous henchman as does Kagawa Teruyuki (HERO, Tokyo.Sora) as the cowardly and opportunistic sheriff who seems almost possessed at times.Following the heals of great modern western-themed movies and remakes of late like "No Country for Old Men" and "3:10 To Yuma", Miike's "Sukiyaki Western Django" is a fun and unique take on the western and as it's name suggests offers a clever take with a Japanese bent.
This Sukiyaki Western begins in a really bizarre way, more or less like a play with Ringo (Quentin Tarantino in a total tribute to the man with no name, with the poncho included ), a man who knew the story about the Genji and Heike clans or the whites and the reds, a story that happened hundred years ago.
I mean, it was a Miike film, it has a cameo of Tarantino, it has Japanese actors and actresses talking a strange English and itself was a tribute to the Spaghetti Westerns called, in a really unique way, Sukiyaki Western Django.
In the end we have that this actually was the story of the son of Akira, who actually saw how both of his parents were killed, having in the end gratitude with the gunman and later finding his own way to Italy (a really memorable and even hilarious final detail of the film).Finally, I really liked Sukiyaki Western Django and the entire concept makes that this is a must see film not only for Takashi Miike fans but also for all the people who loves westerns.
The title may sound like this would be a satirical comedy spoof,it sure is not, The director Takashi Miike normally has directed horror film, here he attempts a western, with a decided Japanese flavor.
Takashi Miike (I don't know the guy's previous works) is apparently a big shot director in Japan and his latest film "Sukiyaki Western Django" is an ode to Italian spaghetti Westerns and directors like Corbucci, Leone and Kurosawa.
Takashi Miike makes a samurai movie as a western.
The Japanese cast speaks in English, the music is eclectic with strong spaghetti western influences, and the material is referential and full of homage and send up.It begins with a Quentin Tarantino cameo, then switches to the story of two clans fighting over the supposed treasure in a small town.
The characters, the action, some set pieces are simply stunning, not to mention touching, there are several moments of real emotion.And make no mistake, this is a spaghetti western, and the film is a bit more fun if you know the genre.
This movie will be loved by fans of old Akira Kurosawa samurai films crossed with old westerns with a touch of Tarantino story play.
This was Miike's first all English production, and it showed.So, when I found out one of his 2007 films, "Sukiyaki Western Django", was in English, I was a bit put off. |
tt0291400 | Monsieur Batignole | In 1942, in Paris, which was seized by Germany, a grocer Edmond Batignole (Gérard Jugnot) is living with his family in his grocery building. He has a daughter who is soon to be married. His future son-in-law, Pierre-Jean (Jean-Paul Rouve) and his wife wanted the apartment owned by a Jewish family. When the property of all the Jews was confiscated the Batignole family got the apartment. The Jewish family was sent to transportation to Germany. After the Batignoles had occupied the apartment the Batignoles organise a party for the SS officials and during that party young Simon Bernstein (Jules Sitruk) of the Jewish family who had escaped from the Germans, returns to his home. Edmond Batignole feels sorry for the boy and hides him in the apartment from his family before anyone else could see him. Soon Simon's cousins meet him in the cellar of the grocery and the grocer plans to smuggle the children over the border to Switzerland. Edmond takes the dangerous trip to the border, where he and the children are nearly caught by the police. However, with the help of a kind woman and a priest, they are able to sneak over the border to safety in Switzerland. | murder | train | wikipedia | This does for the German occupation of France what "Life Is Beautiful" did for that of Italy.
The characters are well drawn and the camera sees the German occupation through decidedly French eyes.
Though a very heavy subject, Monsieur Batignole approaches the French collaboration and attempts of two Jewish families to escape war-time Paris in an enjoyable manner that is so common of Jugnot.Jugnot plays one of his typical likeable characters who doesn't want to get involved, but finds himself nonetheless thrown in with three Jewish children as they attempt to escape to Switzerland.
Jean-Paul Rouve also does a fabulous job of acting, making you hate him just for playing his character.Well seasoned with humor, recognition and turning points, this is definitely a good film to see and perhaps even learn a lesson from..
Jules Sitruk definitely did a very good job in here.
I liked the way Gerard Jugnot and Jules interacted with each other.
The film manages to mix its humor with the seriousness of the subject without the awkwardness and maudlin artificiality of "Life is Beautiful." I don't know if this has been released in the U.S.
Hen-pecked, simple butcher in occupied France finds himself thrust into heroism when a Jewish child appears on his doorstep seeking shelter..
Probably the best film I have seen so far this year.
The previous commenter's accusations of "terminal cuteness" baffle me - this is the best good-old-fashioned solid three-act structure Hollywood movie I have seen in a long time - and it was made in France.
If you can find it playing at your local Jewish Film Festival (about the only place you are likely to find it in the US - a shame, really, since it is not a film only for Jews)by all means buy your ticket and go..
Agreeable and attractive film dealing with a shop keeper who protects Jewish children against cruel Nazis.
Comedy/drama with splendid performance from Gerard Jugnot as a grocer who becomes involved numerous risks and adventures to save three little Jews .
1942 Paris is under Nazi occupation , there a store keeper named Edmond Batignole (Gerard Jugnot) benefits this situation .
Thanks to his future son-in-law , a notorious collaborationist (Jean-Paul Rouve) he organizes banquets for Germans .
However his life changes when a Jewish little boy appears in his door asking for help .
Later on , there appears his two Jews cousins , then Batignole decides to travel with three kiddies to Switzerland .This is an interesting comedy/drama/war developed in an occupied France during the 40s and based on writing credits by Philippe Lopes and Gerard Jugnot.
Extraordinary performances from duo protagonist, Gerard Jugnot acting similarly to Louis De Funes with excessive gesticulation , he plays an insignificant shop keeper turned into liberator hero and Jewish saving , and a likable kid stunningly interpreted by Jules Sitruk .
Enjoyable relationship between the obstinate shop keeper and the Jewish know-all boy .
This stirring and highly acclaimed riveting war comedy about a grocer who has intense relationship with a Jew boy is powered by marvelous performances being very well directed by Gerard Jugnot .
He has directed eleven films, generally , dramas and comedies , such as : 2008 Fashion victim, 2000 Meilleur Espoir Féminin 1994 Casque bleu , 1988 Sans Peur et sans Reproche ,1985 Scout Toujours , 1984 Pinot simple flic .
This is a rather good simple light movie about a heavy subject.
Despite its heavy WW II subjects, such as anti-semitic feelings, collaborates, this movie at all times remains a light and pleasant one to watch, due to its approach and way of storytelling.The movie is rather simplistic and there is not an awful lot of tension or even surprises in this movie really.
Yet the movie is effective since it is well made, has nice characters and a rather nice main plot line that it follows.The movie is build up well and sets up a good feeling and atmosphere of 1942 occupied Paris and the characters of the movie.
Too bad that about half way through the movie the movie suddenly takes another approach and becomes an almost entirely different movie, with different settings and also for some part different characters.
It's also obvious that they spent most time and effort on the first halve of the movie that is definitely better looking, more believable constructed and has a better flow.
In the second halve of the movie some unlikely events occur and the movie and story at times feels like it was done in a hurry and not everything flows well or reaches a satisfying conclusion.The movie has some good and enjoyable characters in it and the movie gets carried by Gérard Jugnot, who also directed and wrote the movie, who plays a rather unsympathetic and anti-hero at first but as the story develops he gets more and more human so the speak and starts showing his emotions and expresses his thoughts.
This is a nice approach for the main character that also works well for the story.
It's a great role by Gérard Jugnot, who shows how multi-talented he is.
The young Jules Sitruk also was great in a quite big role.
Jean-Paul Rouve was also greatly cast as the future son-in-law and collaborator.The movie is a good watch but overall the movie is just a bit too light and simplistic to leave a really lasting or powerful impression.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/.
Redemption In Times of War. In 1942, in an occupied Paris, the apolitical grocer Edmond Batignole (Gérard Jugnot) lives with his wife and daughter in a small apartment in the building of his grocery.
When his future son-in-law and collaborator of the German Pierre-Jean Lamour (Jean-Paul Rouve) calls the Nazis to arrest the Jewish Bernstein family, they move to the confiscated apartment.
Some days later, the young Simon Bernstein (Jules Sitruk) escapes from the Germans and comes to his former home.
When Batignole finds him, he feels sorry for the boy and lodges him, hiding Simon from Pierre-Jean and also from his wife.
When Pierre-Jean finds the children, Batignole decides to travel with the children to Switzerland.What a delightful movie this "Monsieur Batignole" is!
The story is realistic, balancing dramatic situations with some funny scenes, like, for example, when Batignole is called in the train station to help a German soldier with a twisted knee.
Another interesting and quite original aspect is the unusual number of French collaborators, since it is very difficult to see a movie that recognizes that they did exist in times of war.
Further, Monsieur Batignole is not the usual hero, but a man driven by the reality to have a heroic action instead.
The boy Jules Sitruk steals the movie with his attitudes, and Gérard Jugnot and Jean-Paul Rouve are fantastic.
This movie suffers from terminal cuteness..
Even treating such a horrible subject, Gérard Jugnot does what he's been doing for over 20 years : playing and directing average french citizens facing not so ordinary situations(of unemployment in Une epoque formidable, of the sects in Fallait Pas, of being a father of a famous actress in Meilleur espoir Féminin...etc.,etc.).
Every french citizen was pro-german during the war and pro-De Gaulle in 1945.
The best part is when he's taking the 3 jewish children nearby the swiss border.
The french people living there are supposed to have a strong accent (as the kids).
Nah. It just falls flat on every level : ludicrous dialogues, comedy, drama, war, suspense (ooooohhhh, are the poor children going the get caught by the nasty nazi???
Despite enjoying a high-profile in France where he has been writing, directing and starring in films for 20 years, ex-Splendid member Gerard Jugnot remains virtually unknown outside his own country.
As an actor only he is starring in 'Les Choristes' which opened in April and is still playing in several large salles in Paris in September.
Clearly this year's 'Amelie' it has already been seen by well over one million people which SHOULD justify release abroad but distributors are queer cattle; we wait in London for 'Le Choristes' yet a piece of merde like 'Merci Dr. Rey' which played two weeks in ONE salle in Paris before being yanked has already been and gone in London leaving as much trace here as it did in Paris.
Meanwhile this entry from 2002 shows Jugnot at his best in all three departments; he has written a good, solid well-made script, directed it to perfection and for good measure thrown in a leading performance as good as anything around.
The setting is Paris under German Occupation.
Edmond Batignole is a middle-aged hen-pecked butcher living with a wife, daughter and the daughter's fiancé, Jean-Pierre Lamour (Jean-Paul Rouve) an open collaborator who writes vitriolic articles for a fascist journal.
At the outset a small boy crawls through a grating to steal a precious ham from the shop and when the theft is discovered Lamour is quick to point the finger at Simon Bernstein (Jules Sitruck) the small son of a Jewish doctor, who lives in a lavish apartment.
By coincidence the Bernsteins en masse are just about to flee so for good measure Lamour places the telephone call which results in their arrest and subsequent detainment in Vel d'Hiv (Velodrome d'Hiver, a large stadium on the outskirts of Paris which was used at the time as a holding centre for Jewish detainees prior to their shipment to Germany).Given Lamour's connections the Batignole family are soon living in comparative luxury in the Bernstein's apartment and Batignole has a lucrative contract to supply meat to the German High Command.
Then one day Batignole answers a ring on the doorbell to find young Simon Bernstein standing there.
Against his better judgment Batignole hides the boy and brings him food then, learning from Simon that two female cousins, Sara and Guila Cohen, are being 'looked after' elsewhere in Paris, Batignole attempts to offload Simon on the same carer but to no avail.
Things come to a head when Batignole brings food to Simon only to discover the two girls have joined him.
During a heated exchange Lamour winds up slightly dead and Batignole flees with the children and eventually is able to leave them at the Swiss border where, after a moment's hesitation, he joins them.
This is much more than the cross between Noel Coward's 'Fumed Oak' in which a hen-pecked husband finally leaves his wife, daughter and his country and Nevil Shute's 'Pied Piper' in which a middle-aged man caught in France in June, 1940, agrees to take two children back to England and winds up with seven, that it appears on first sight.
The period detail is spot on and Jugnot has managed to coax brilliant performances from the three children, primarily Jules Sitruck as Simon.
Guitry speaks scathingly of the play and, stung, Lamour says 'You have insulted me', 'Yes', replies Guitry, 'but I don't do it for a living'.
Until the distributors get real there is probably little chance of seeing this film other than on DVD and even then you'll have to buy it in France.
A minor feel-good tale that owed the viewers more intense and dramatic moments ....
With his bald head, bushy mustache and below average stature, Gérard Jugnot has always been type-casted as the typical French guy, definitely not the leading type by Alain Delon or Lino Ventura's standards.Yet, for an audience avid of characters to mock and/or to identify with, Jugnot's always been one of the most instantly recognizable and popular of all the French actors, thanks or because of the physical qualities I described.
To give you a hint, when he shaved his legendary mustache for the first time, it was like a national event in France.
In fact, though they played in different registers, Jugnot was the eternal 'average Jean' like Woody Allen the 'neurotic nerd'.
And with the same artistic talent, Jugnot was capable to turn what could be seen as a handicap into a true career's asset, when he started directing himself in the early 80's.Jugnot had his breakthrough film as an actor/director by playing "Pinot, simple cop", in the underrated "Wonderful Times", he embraced the economical crisis of the early 90's as Berthier, a guy who lost everything and started living in the streets.
And in 2002, he played another memorable anti-heroic role as Edmond Batignole, a Parisian butcher who starts hiding Jewish children and helps them to get to the Swiss border during the Occupation.
Although the film can be seen as the typical 'ordinary hero' tale and lesson of courage and integrity, it's not "Life is Beautiful" material and looks more like the kind of TV drama you'd watch on a Thursday night.
Strangely enough, the film doesn't have the stylish ambition its story would have called for, a pity considering the potential of the titular character.Batignole's qualities are efficiently highlighted by contrast: he's not as opportunistic as his wife or as zealous as his soon-to-be son-in-law Pierre Jean, a wannabe playwright and notorious collaborator.
The film opens in 1942, Batignole, as the brave worker who gets up early finds out that his rabbits were stolen.
Convinced that only a child could have entered the warehouse, he questions Dr. Bernstein about his son, keeping him upstairs while Pierre-Jean, smelling the attempt to escape, calls the police, Batignole has some rude words against Dr. Bernstein, not because he's a Jew, but because of his snobbishness.
The family ends up being arrested and realizing his participation–Pierre-Jean calls it a deliberate diversion- Batignole understands that his views about class struggles are outdated by a much bigger issue.Yet he acted like a collaborator and thanks to his help, Pierre-Jean pulled some strings to convince Gestapo officers to take Batignole as a caterer.
He reluctantly accepts this promotion, he who fought the Germans during the Great War and it's obvious that there is a big part of remorse regarding the Bernstein family.
One day though, he finds Simon Bernstein who managed to escape from the Police and an opportunity to redeem himself.
He hides Simon and two other girls in his cave, and in the process, kills Pierre-Jean off-screen, when he was about to call the Police.
The film's first act is an occasion to remind of the disgrace of the collaboration and humanity of those who jeopardized her lives by protecting Jews.Jean-Paul Rouve is a scene-stealer as the treacherous Pierre-Jean and received a César award for Most Promising Newcomer, the film's only win and nomination.
I personally believe that not showing Pierre-Jean's death was a mistake that hurt the film's impact regarding the significance of the character as a first-rate villain and the pivotal role his killing played in Batignole's life.
I wonder how the death of Pierre-Jean would have looked on-screen, maybe it wouldn't have worked, but it would have liberated the kind of energy the film mostly lacked.
Instead, Jugnot chose the 'easy way', and wasted acting talents for scenes that only consisted on words, while the actions speak much better.The most significant moment is the climactic confrontation with the Vichy Police, the level of tension is perfect when Batignole is asked about Simon, but then, realizing he's not believed, Batignole pretends to be a Jew and starts an inspirational speech accusing the French collaboration.
More than a genuine expression of disgust, it sounds like the kind of crowd-pleasing statements intended to raise the eternal 'what would have we done?' question about France's responsibility in the deportation of Jews.
Some viewers believe that France resisted and movies like this continue to convey a negative image.
Some others believe that such films are essentials, and then some consider that France should approach other historical themes like the unwounded war with Algeria or slavery.I'm sure Jugnot didn't just make another 'Holocaust' film but his climactic speech would have made a more impacting pay-off if the film had featured more intense moments before.
Instead, it flirts with many war dramas' archetypes: the good-hearted bishop, the lonely woman who gives her house and body, with such a sort of detachment that I wonder if Jugnot really trusted his material.
Jules Sitruk also gives a nice performance as Simon Bernstein, but he never seemed to grasp the gravity of his condition.
The film lacked the kind of powerful shocks where Batignole would have slapped him for his own good, would Simon scream or insult him?
Maybe, but that's because the kid acted more like HIS generation and his performance needed a 'better' directing.
And the two girls didn't have much screen time to grab our interest.The film is a good tribute to anonymous heroes who helped France to keep its honor and only Gérard Jugnot could have pulled such a performance.
But it feels like he took the premise of granted and shot the film in a rush, filling it with inspirational speeches yet preventing it for the kind of energy and tension, we expect from a WWII drama..
This is a well acted true story about a Pork Butcher who helped three Jewish children escape from the Nazis.
It challenges the perception that many English people have had about the way that French people behaved during the Nazi occupation, by looking at the situation in a more even-handed manner.
It does, however, not shy away from the issue of French collaboration with the Nazis, nor does it shy away from the issue of real prejudice against Jewish people.
The characters are imbued with the different shades of humanity that most people display, and the quality of the direction and acting lift this even more.
This is the first time I have seen a film directed by Gerard Jugnot, and I am impressed with his direction, as I am with his acting.
I had previously seen Sitruk in 'Son of Rambow' and assumed he was an English actor doing a bad French accent.
He is French, and really very good! |
tt0045062 | Rabbit Seasoning | The cartoon finds a row of signs saying it's rabbit season. It is revealed that Daffy Duck is the one putting up the signs, stating that while he knows it's unsporting, he has to have some fun "and besides, it's really duck season."
Elmer Fudd then appears and notices rabbit tracks that Daffy left, leading to Bugs' hole. He pokes his gun into the hole, threatens to blast him out if he doesn't come out, and then follows through on his threat. Bugs Bunny, however, appears out the other side and begins a conversation with Elmer about rabbit season. When Elmer fails to realize that Bugs is a rabbit, Daffy emerges from his hiding spot, disgusted by this, and points out that Bugs is a rabbit, which the latter confirms, asking if Elmer would prefer to shoot him now or wait until he gets home. Daffy eagerly shouts for the first option and Bugs rebukes him, "You keep out of this! He doesn't have to shoot you now!" Daffy angrily asserts, "He does so have to shoot me now!" and outright demands that Elmer do so. Elmer looks confused for a few seconds, but complies as Daffy sticks his tongue out at Bugs. The shot dislocates his beak to the back of his head, and Daffy replaces his beak before requesting to run through what they just said again. Bugs complies, and upon reaching Bugs' word swap, Daffy calls him out on "pronoun trouble", saying "It's not 'he doesn't have to shoot you now.' It's 'he doesn't have to shoot me now.' WELL, I SAY HE DOES HAVE TO SHOOT ME NOW!" Subsequently, Daffy commands Elmer to shoot him again, which he does. Daffy fixes his beak again and is about to rant at Bugs before realizing that he may fall into the trap again. He decides to speak to Elmer instead, confirming that he is a hunter and that it is rabbit season. Bugs interjects, asking what Elmer would do if Daffy was a rabbit. Daffy repeats the question angrily, and has enough time to realize what he said (looking towards the camera and piteously saying "Not again") before Elmer shoots him. Daffy fixes his bill once more and laughs sarcastically at Bugs for his trick.
At that point Elmer grows impatient and begins firing at them both. Bugs and Daffy hide in Bugs' hole, and the latter checks to see if he's gone at the former's behest. He is shot again, and in a daze rejects Bugs' suggestion of being a decoy, whereupon the former dresses up as a woman (wearing a Lana Turner-style sweater). He manages to fool Elmer briefly, but a peeved Daffy demands that he reveal his identity out of sheer honesty. When he prods to ask if Bugs has anything to say out of sheer honesty, "she" replies that she would love a duck dinner. A lovestruck Elmer shoots Daffy, who removes his beak by hand as he is shot and replaces it afterwards. The duck approaches the rabbit, briefly apologizes for suspecting him, and then removes his wig to expose him and commands Elmer to shoot him. Bugs responds by asking, "Would you like to shoot him here or wait till you get home?" Daffy attempts to escape any more tricks by choosing the latter option, whereupon he joins Elmer on a walk to his cabin. One gunshot later, Daffy walks back to Bugs, fixes his beak, and tells the rabbit, "You're despicable." | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | While other people have said this is the weakest of the Chuck Jones "hunting trilogy," I actually think this one's the best.
I always get a kick out of that "Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home?" gag.
It's funny how no matter what, it's always Daffy that gets shot, not Bugs.
Oh, and I liked Daffy's line at the beginning, "Awfully unthporting of me, I know, but hey I gotta have some fun!".
Like most Looney Tunes, I could watch "Rabbit Seasoning" over and over.
The "wabbit season/duck season" argument between Bugs and Daffy is comparable to Abbott and Costello's "Who's on first" routine.
Classic Looney Tunes.
This is my all time favorite Looney Tunes cartoon.
It's a common plot: Daffy Duck tries to convince Elmer Fudd that it is really rabbit season and shoot Bugs.
In addition to usual cartoon comedy, this cartoon is supported by great word play that will keep you rolling on the floor..
The "Hunting Trilogy" of Rabbit Fire (1951), Rabbit Seasoning (1952), and Duck!
(1953) should be considered the comedic high water mark of the Chuck Jones-Michael Maltese collaboration.
Michael Maltese never got the credit that directors like Jones, Freleng or Avery got, but it's his dialogue and situations that make Warner Bros.
cartoons, and these three in particular, some of the FUNNIEST ever made..
We see more and more signs pointing exactly to Bugs Bunny's hole.
Daffy Duck!Daffy puts the last sign up, tiptoes away and says to us, the audience, "Awfully unsporting of me, I know.
Besides, it's really duck season."From that point, we now see Elmer Fudd, shotgun in hand.....and a war of semantics between Bugs and Daffy with Bugs winning every time.
Only in cartoons, thankfully, can we see someone getting shotgun-blasted in the head five times and keep going!.
Once again Elmer is faced with the dilemma of who to shoot.
Bugs of Daffy.
He's unsure of what season it is and Bunny and Duck arguing help matters not.
Though Bugs proves he's the smartest once more by repeatedly using reverse psychology on Daffy in increasingly subtle ways.
Daffy freaks out and demands the bunny be shot.
Though Elmer is too stupid he is hopelessly in love with the girl bunny thing.
If he weren't so dumb he'd know it REALLY is duck season and just blast Daffy.
Daffy is so shocked that he even goes home with Elmer to be blasted in his living room.Poor Daff.
What's funny about this classic cartoon starring Bugs, Daffy and Elmer?
Daffy Duck has signs hanging from every inch of every available tree announcing that it's rabbit season.
But, you guessed it - it's really duck season.
Elmer Fudd appears: he's the only hunter dumb enough to fall for the gag.He's even dumber than that.
When Bugs Bunny strides up to him and asks how the rabbit hunting is going, Elmer admits that he hasn't seen a rabbit yet.
He emerges from his hiding place and immediately points to a rabbit: Bugs Bunny.
"Shoot him now!" Daffy screams.
"He doesn't have to shoot you now." Daffy insists that he does.After Daffy returns his blasted-off beak to his head, he is doomed to more arguments infected with "pronoun trouble" which all have the same result.
Later, Bugs dresses as a sexy woman and flirtingly asks Elmer for a duck dinner.
Ha, ha, ha!"What's funny about this classic cartoon?
Bug recoils in fright as Daffy screams in his face.
Bugs Bunny says "Yes?" while dripping with self-satisfaction.
Daffy Duck stands on tiptoes demanding to be shot.
Elmer Fudd whines that he "can't wait any wonger." Daffy sees Bugs in women's clothes and makes that little noise with his tongue.
Carl Stalling plays "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" during Bugs's drag act.
Daffy demands "sheer honesty" out of Bugs.
Daffy tells Bugs he's "desthpicable."In five words: every detail of this film.NOTE: This short is available on "Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One," Disc 1.
This is the middle cartoon of the three (between Rabbit Fire and Duck!
Rabbit, Duck!) and is the weakest of the three, while still being quite funny.
Still a good cartoon.
Daffy is so clearly overmatched that it almost becomes painful to watch at times.
Good cartoon in an excellent series.
Bugs Bunny almost always gets the last word, and this cartoon really promotes that.
In this one, Daffy Duck has convinced Elmer Fudd it is rabbit season to deflect the fact that it is really duck season.
Since Elmer is no Rhodes Scholar himself, he falls for every verbal trap put forth and Daffy ends up paying for it with buckshot dismantling him.
On several occasions, the clumsy hunter shoots the poor duck, usually rearranging his head in some way.
There is the obligatory scene where Bugs dresses up as a Southern Belle and Elmer goes bonkers over him/her.
Very funny Bugs & Daffy cartoon.
The second of their hunting trilogy with Elmer Fudd.
The cartoon starts with a series of signs Daffy has put up to direct Elmer to Bugs' home, telling him it's rabbit season.
He's hoping Elmer will shoot Bugs.
Needless to say, things don't go as Daffy planned.
The rest of the short is Bugs outsmarting Daffy and getting him to say or do the wrong things, which usually results in dimwitted Elmer shooting him.
Classic comedy from Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese.
One of the best Looney Tunes ever made..
Besides it is really duck season!".
If you overlook the fact that the plot has been done many times, this is a hilarious and gleefully enjoyable Looney Tunes cartoon.
The animation is wonderful, the backgrounds so detailed and a lot of audacious colouring too.
The writing is razor sharp, and the sight gags especially Daffy constantly getting his head blown off are brilliantly timed.
I really did love the arguments between Daffy and Bugs, and that Bugs wins every time.
I also love it that Daffy is really greedy and nasty while being uproariously funny.
Bugs is still his charming and rascally self, and Elmer is funny if rather dumb too.
In short, this is absolutely brilliant, and actually my personal favourite of the Hunting Trilogy for sheer entertainment value.
10/10 Bethany Cox. The most finely honed script in the Hunting Trilogy.
Chuck Jones's 'Rabbit Seasoning', the second in the much beloved hunting trilogy, is often considered to be the best of the three.
While I find it almost impossible to choose between this trio of fantastic cartoons, I would have to concede that 'Rabbit Seasoning' is the most finely honed script.
Here, the emphasis is placed on language as Bugs and Daffy run through a series of complex dialogues in the grand tradition of Abbot and Costello's 'Who's on next' routine.
As a long term Daffy fan, I have always been delighted by the hunting trilogy because it is consistently Daffy who gets all the best lines (the famous "Pronoun trouble" being one of the all time classics) and does most of the work.
Bugs plays the role of cool manipulator while Elmer, as always, is the befuddled dupe.
Part of what makes the hunting trilogy so much fun is that Daffy and Elmer pose so little threat to Bugs that he is basically just kicking back and having some easy laughs.
Elmer falls into every trap that is laid for him but it is poor old Daffy who comes off worst, being shot in the face again and again, his beak ending up in more and more ridiculous positions.
As intricate an example of Chuck Jones's impeccable timing as you'll come across, 'Rabbit Seasoning' is a true classic..
Not my favourite episode of Daffy, Bugs and Elmer....
I do not like this cartoon as much as many others, partly because it was made in its period.
I much prefer cartoons with Daffy and Bugs which are fifteen or so years before-hand.
Many people will like this, particularly people who always find violence funny, cartoon or not.The basic plot is a pretty well known one for Looney Tunes: Elmer goes out hunting, Daffy leads him to Bugs and Daffy ends up being shot instead.
Also inserted are quite clever and highly entertaining jokes (some do not enhance the episode), ugly shooting and animation which is slightly mediocre.
This way of plot-going is not all that unusual in Looney Tunes (of course if you are pretty much a Looney Tunes boffin - or an eager one - like me, then you'll know this already).For people who love everything about Looney Tunes and Daffy Duck and like the sound of what I have said about it, enjoy "Rabbit Seasoning"!7 and a half out of ten..
This is the second and best in the Hunting Trilogy!
What makes it the best is the clever dialogue!Bugs: Do you want to shoot me now or wait till you get home?It was kind of funny how they kept that going through out the short!.
a cartoon for all "season"s.
In one of the many Bugs Bunny-Daffy Duck cartoons, Elmer Fudd is out hunting, and Daffy tries to get him to shoot Bugs.
Moreover, "Rabbit Seasoning" makes interesting use of word order and pronouns (warning: it just might hilariously and royally mess up your speech).I think that probably my favorite aspect of this cartoon is the costumes worn by Bugs and Daffy.
One of them seems like it would have been risqué for 1952 (especially in a cartoon), but they pull it off perfectly, as they always did.
All in all, this just goes to show what geniuses the people behind these cartoons were..
Having just got the "Loony Tunes Golden Collection"(which i HIGHLY recommend, by the way), I'm going to try to comment on most if not all of the cartoons individually.
As such the starting statement might seem redundant for those whom read multiple reviews of them, for this i apologize.Rabbit Seasoning is the middle short in a trilogy of like-minded shorts (the other two being "Rabbit Fire" and "Duck!
Bags and Daffy argue about who Elmer Fudd should short.
It makes me laugh EVERY SINGLE TIME!!!
Great cartoon.
"Rabbit Seasoning" is the definitive example of the Warner Brothers "hunting" genre.
Probably the best movie for Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny....
There is only one film I can think of that might be as good or better than this one when it comes to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck--ALI BABA BUNNY.
However, determining which is THE best is irrelevant--just watch them both and enjoy.I compared this to ALI BABA BUNNY because both feature Daffy at his absolute worst--greedy, nasty and very funny in the process.
However, I think I prefer RABBIT SEASONING simply because Bugs is also pretty awful in this one--doing horrible things right back to Daffy every time Daffy tries a dirty trick.The film begins with Daffy leaving rabbit tracks right up to Bugs' hole in the hope that a hunter (naturally, it's Elmer) will blast the rabbit and leave Daffy alone!
Not to be outdone, Bugs time and again takes all of Daffy's tricks and turns them around--and in most cases it involves Daffy getting shot in the face!
It's all very, very clever and funny and I don't care how old you are, this cartoon will make you laugh unless you are a grouch.
I especially love the great and unexpected ending, but I won't say more, as I don't want to spoil the surprise..
Rabbit Seasoning (1952) **** (out of 4) It's duck season but Daffy puts up "rabbit season" signs so Elmer goes after Bugs.
Here's another classic from the series with the always wiser Bugs pulling several tricks, which get Daffy shot over and over.
There are countless classic scenes including Bugs mixing up Daffy where he asks to get shot, Bugs dressing as a hot woman to distract Elmer and the constant gag of Daffy's mouth being shot around to various sides of his head.
This short really features the three characters are the top of their game, which means plenty of laughs and great, violent action..
Strange enough, shorts like this get a 10.
They got to know that cartoons aren't just for kids.
The art in this is probabley the best non-Road Runner art of the 1950's Looney Tunes shorts.
Shorts like this one might have spawned witless LT rip-offs like Tiny Toons Adventures to try to squeeze out all the old comedy out over and over again, like how great movies like Scream spawned crap like I Know...
which was released just to squeeze out all the old horror from Scream, but like Scream, this is great alone.
Chuck Jones has had his faults with shorts once in a while but he does make up for them.
Bottom line: This is not as good as "Duck!
Duck!", but close.
Cleverly written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, "Rabbit Seasoning" is a classic Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd confrontation.
In any film in which Daffy tries to compete with Bugs, Daffy ultimately loses out and gets creamed, which only adds to his frustration and jealousy.
In this case, Daffy loses by repeatedly getting his bill blasted off by Elmer's shotgun.The most memorable gag in "Rabbit Seasoning" is the clever pronoun switch that Bugs pulls on Daffy.
But there are other memorable bits as well, all of which, of course, center around Daffy getting blasted by Elmer.
When Bugs disguises himself as a lady and woos Elmer, the popular song "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby" (which Carl Stalling used in quite a number of other Warner Bros.
cartoons) can be heard in the background.
While in drag, Bugs adapts a feminine voice and asks Elmer for a duck dinner; stupefied with a silly grin, Elmer staggers up to Daffy and - what else?
After Daffy peers out of a rabbit hole and gets blasted, his bill is bent out of shape and he resembles a drunkard as he tells Bugs, "No more for me, thanks!
I'm drivin'!" One final point: One particular animator found it difficult to watch Daffy in this cartoon and in his other pairings with Bugs and Elmer ("Rabbit Fire" [1951] and "Duck!
Rabbit, Duck!" [1953]).
Rabbit, Duck!" [1953]).
He actually feels sorry for Daffy, being a victim of Chuck Jones' direction and having no choice but to be a loser in these cartoons.
Hence, Daffy DESERVES to get his bill shot off by Elmer.
As Chuck Jones himself once explained, Daffy feels he deserves the best, not because he actually has EARNED it but because he simply FEELS he deserves the best!.
In this short film, which runs for the usual roughly seven minutes and is one of the more famous ones from the giant Warner Bros' body of work, Daffy Duck should have read the above Beckett play for his own safety.
It's duck season and he tries to distract trigger-happy hunter Elmer Fudd from him by putting "rabbit season"-signs everywhere.
Sadly, Fudd is not exactly a mastermind and needs help in figuring out that Bugs Bunny is, in fact, a rabbit.
Daffy leaves his safe hideout (oh no he shouldn't) to tell him so, yet Bugs Bunny's wit keeps teaching Daffy one thing over and over again: It's actually duck season.
Before it all ends we get to see Bugs dressed up as a desirable femme fatale.
Bugs / Daffy / Elmer Hunting Trilogy Part Two. With added pronoun trouble..
This is part 2 of the now-classic "Hunting Trilogy" pitting Bugs against Daffy and Elmer.
Word play, duck bill re-positioning, cross-dressing, and general mayhem are guaranteed.
As usual Bugs outwits both adversaries with great ease.One of the highlights of this particular cartoon is the famous "pronoun trouble" comment from Daffy during his battle of wits with Bugs.
No matter how many times I see this cartoon, it is impossible to make it through without laughing at least three times.
Rabbit Seasoning is another hilarious Bugs/Daffy/Elmer cartoon.
Rabbit Seasoning is one of three cartoons that feature Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck/Elmer Fudd in a war of words and wits about whether it's rabbit season or duck season.
Love Bugs and Daffy stirring up "pronoun trouble" with Daffy always the victim of Elmer's shotgun resulting with his beak always getting dismembered.
Then there's the rabbit's cross-dressing that always gets Elmer in his love struck mode.
Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese are always favorites of mine in the writer-director team category because of these hilarious hunting trilogy cartoons I've laughed at since I was a kid.
And at least two of them end with Daffy's exclamation to Bugs: "You're despicable!" Can't get better that that!.
"Merrie Melodies" animated short from the early 1950s goes a long way toward providing the answer.
Because Warner producers also were pragmatists, they realized that they needed to have a "Plan B" in case their cautionary feature films were NOT enough to squelch a prurient interest in guns among ALL adult Americans.
Warner's animated shorts served this function.
Slob hunter Elmer Fudd shoots Daffy Duck in the face six times by the end of RABBIT SEASONING (among his 20 total shots).
Daffy bounces back good as new after each and every shooting.
During my brief time on this planet I've read and heard about 72,306 separate instances in which kids have found a loaded gun in their home and decided to play "Elmer and Daffy" with fatal results.
(I've probably missed one or two million other such "unpreventable" mishaps and I assume countless Woundings and near-misses never even make the news.) Though the Gun Nuts who run all branches of American Government have Out-Lawed any statistic-keeping more official than mine, I've seen enough to realize that Warner cleverly set out to thin the gene pool of Gun Crazy Families with "children's fare" such as RABBIT SEASONING. |
tt0056850 | Bandini | The film is set in a prison in around 1934 in pre-Independence India, where Kalyani is serving life imprisonment prison for committing a murder, and we learn the circumstances of her crime in flashback as she divulges it to the jailor. The film is set in Bengal in the 1930s, during the British Raj, where Kalyani (Nutan) is the daughter of the postmaster (Raja Paranjpe) of the village, who falls in love with a freedom fighter, Bikash (Ashok Kumar), who later leaves her in the village promising to come back but never does. The society treats them harshly. Broken by her father's misery and that of her own, Kalyani moves to the city, to the singing of the sad song "O Jaanewale Ho Sake To Laut Ke Aana". In the city she works as a caretaker of an obnoxious and mentally unstable woman, who turns out to be the wife of Bikash. Kalyani learns that her father came to the city looking for her and died in an accident. That prompts her to poison her lover's wife, identifying her as the cause of her miseries in a moment of insane rage. Director Bimalda captures her emotions as she resolves to commit the crime, with light and darkness falling on her face due to a welder's torch and the thumping of Iron in the background, and the ambient sounds as she inches towards the decision, pumping vigorously into a kerosene stove, without uttering a single word through it all. And subsequently confesses to the crime with equal passion.
Back from the flashback in the jail Deven (Dharmendra) the jail doctor falls in love with her. Kalyani is not ready for it and starts to stay away from him. They are always shown with a partition in between after Deven proposes her. Another symbolism used in the movie is the occasional shouting of "All is well" by the prison guard when nothing in the movie is; and just as Kalyani is leaving prison for good, she receives yet another ironic message from a jail official, "Ab ghar grihasthi ki jail mein qaid rahogi!" Now you will be imprisoned in the jail of household! In the end she finds Bikash at a ship harbour where she finds him in an ill condition. She then decides to take care of Bikash and her love is again reborn.
The lines "Main Bandini Piya ki, Main Sangini Hoon Saajan ki" in the end score of the movie tells us that Kalyani is imprisoned by her love, thus revealing the title of the film. "Mere saajan hain us paar" is sung by the musician S D Burman himself, this climactic song, beautifully expresses Kalyani's dilemma of having to choose between Bikash and Deven. Thus the character of Kalyani gets lifted from that of a woman who is a prisoner of destiny to one who defines her own freedom. | romantic, avant garde, murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0089122 | Fair Game | Valerie Plame is employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, a fact known outside the agency to no one except her husband and parents. She is an intelligence officer involved in a number of sensitive and sometimes dangerous covert operations overseas.
Her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, is a diplomat who most recently has served as the U.S. ambassador to Gabon. Due to his earlier diplomatic background in Niger, Wilson is approached by Plame's CIA colleagues to travel there and glean information as to whether yellowcake uranium is being procured by Iraq for use in the construction of nuclear weapons. Wilson determines to his own satisfaction that it is not.
After military action is taken by George W. Bush, who justifies it in a 2003 State of the Union address by alluding to the uranium's use in building weapons of mass destruction, Wilson submits an op-ed piece to The New York Times, claiming these reports to be categorically untrue.
Plame's status as a CIA operative is subsequently revealed in the media, the leak possibly coming from White House officials, including the Vice President's chief of staff and national security adviser, Scooter Libby, in part to discredit her husband's allegation that the Bush administration had manipulated intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq. As a result, Plame is instantly dismissed from the agency, leaving several of her delicate operations in limbo and creating a rift in her marriage.
Plame leaves her husband, further angered by his granting of television and print interviews, which expose them both to public condemnation and death threats. Wilson ultimately persuades her, however, that there is no other way to fight a power as great as that of the White House for citizens like them. Plame returns to him and testifies before a Congressional committee, while Libby is convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice and given a 30-month prison sentence, although President Bush commutes the jail time on Libby's behalf. | revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0479546 | Super Inday and the Golden Bibe | Inday (Marian Rivera) is a simple and innocent province girl with a loving mother. A fallen angel named Goldy (John Lapus) that can transform into a duck mets a tiyanak that was lost her way to heaven,but he refuses for he cannot go to heaven until he gets a person do good and rewards him salvation. Then they met Inday. The meeting was suddenly interrupted by her neighbor to tell her that her mother is dying.
She goes to the house, just as her mother reveals the painful truth, that she was just adopted by her after her real mother abandoned her in the woman's possession and that her real parents are on Manila and dies after that. Goldy,desperately decided that she can inherit his powers and she needs only to meet his conditions and criteria. As a trick, they hitchhike along with her, disguised as a mother and daughter that will find a way to Manila. The tiyanak carries her burial casket along and they disappeared just as the bus stops at Manila. As an innocent province-grown woman with no experience at work,she applies on a rich family as a maid. The man is a busy man, the kids are just spoiled and the wife has a secret.
Goldy and the tiyanak tries to help her secretly by giving her Goldy's golden eggs,that contains fractions of Goldy's power. The wife's youthful secret is when she sacrifices a kid to demons for exchange of her appearance. And she needs more to achieve immortality and eternal youth. So she raises an army to do her bidding, until the demons requested to kill her husband's descendants. As the demonic army tried to abduct the kids,Inday (with Goldy's help), repels the attackers,but was framed and fired by the woman for her actions.
Heartbroken,she sets off to find clues of what her real mother looks like,until she found her in a market. She tracks her and rents a room nearby and lives their daily lives by selling eggs painted gold and scavenging for recyclables,until she has enough courage to confront her. The mother told the truth and introduces her to her father.
Kokang, suspicious of what's happening,stalks her employer and knows the secret,but caught by the latter and hypnotized.
Until then,the demons still attacks and abducts kids for sacrifices until Amazing Jay got entangled in the mess. Inday tries and successfully repels such attack. She and Jay tries to investigate,until they found Kokang,under the spell. She dispels it and runs away from the demons. She tried to transform into Super Inday,but Kokang ate the real one,transforming her into Copycat.
With enough power, Inday, Jay and Copycat duels with Ingrid and her demonic minions. Defeating her and driving her to die in the altar.
Few days later, Goldy and the tiyanak (later named Angelika) got their ticket to ascend to heaven, when a crab monster with a human overlord appears in a pond. Inday and Jay appears and fights the monster as Goldy and Angelika ascends to Heaven. | good versus evil | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0085867 | The Lords of Discipline | Will McLean, an aspiring novelist, finds life as a "knob" or "plebe" (a first-year cadet in training) at the Carolina Military Institute in Charleston to be physically and emotionally brutal. Will is not interested in a military career, and had only agreed to attend the Institute as a promise to his father, who was an alumnus, and died of cancer several years before the story takes place.
Will does not exactly excel in military training, but he is a decent student, an athlete, and his professors and peers recognize him for his integrity and his sense of fairness. Still, this is not an easy time to be a student in a military academy—especially in the South. On top of that, Will's Irish background and Roman Catholic faith have made him an outsider in Charleston society.
Will finds solace in his three roommates, who become his close friends: Tradd St. Croix, an "old Charlestonian" (from a very rich and respected family); and Dante "Pig" Pignetti and Mark Santoro, two brawny, Northern boys of Italian descent. He also respects the tough-talking, cigar-chomping Colonel "Bear" Berrineau (based on Thomas Nugent "The Boo" Courvoisie, a former Commandant at The Citadel) who asks the senior cadet McLean to look out for the Institute's first black cadet, Tom Pearce. "The Bear" chose McLean for this duty because an essay McLean had written in a previous year marked him as the only liberal in the student body.
But McLean's journey to manhood has many twists and turns, as he meets a girl whose life he can never be a part of and hears rumors of The Ten, a mysterious Institute secret society that ensures certain cadets, deemed unacceptable to "wear the ring" (that is, to be a graduate of the Institute, denoted by wearing of a class ring), are run out by any means necessary. The Vietnam War is raging, the military is unpopular and desegregation is knocking on the doors of Southern schools. It quickly becomes apparent that a group of cadets is trying to run Pearce out of the Institute, acting on the orders of trustees who are seeing to it that the Institute remain "as white as a flounder's belly". Will steps in to intervene, and he discovers a truth so horrendous that this knowledge can bring down the Institute. It also makes Will and his roommates targets. Not only is their graduation now in jeopardy, but their lives are also in danger. | sadist | train | wikipedia | I did not read the novel "The Lords of Discipline" by Pat Conroy so I cannot comment on how successful the movie is in terms of the original material, as some of the other comments are able to do.
This year is going to be slightly different, he finds out early, because a black student (Pierce, played by Mark Breland) has entered the school (its 1964 and we are in the South).
Will wants nothing more than to coast through his senior year, but Bear calls in old favors so Will is obligated.On Hell Night, naturally all the white trash goes straight for Pierce.
The characters played by Judge Reinhold, Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn are one-sided bigoted bullies and nothing else.
I saw most of his movies and am sorry he never had a lengthy career, but it seems as though Kurt Russell, Patrick Swayze, Dennis Quaid and Kevin Costner got all the parts David could have played.
Now i have never read the novel it is based on so i am not disillusioned by how "bland" an adaptation this is, but i must say that this was an interesting, intriguing and enjoyable film.
Returning for his senior year as a cadet, hunky David Keith (as Will "Bubba" McClean) and his pals discover the freshman "Knobs" include, for the first time, a young black man.
Old-timer Robert Prosky (as "the Bear") enlists Mr. Keith's help in watching over the black cadet, Mark Breland (as Pearce).
Keith gets reluctant help from his three roommates - piano playing Mitchell Lichtenstein (as Tradd St. Croix), weight-lifting Rick Rossovich (as Dante "Pig" Pignetti), and Italian Elvis fan John Lavachielli (as Mark Santoro).Keith and his friends participate in "Hell Night" with the usual shenanigans.
Most enjoyable are Keith and his three roommates, who manage to be appealing in some unappealing (and obvious) roles.****** The Lords of Discipline (2/18/83) Franc Roddam ~ David Keith, Mitchell Lichtenstein, Rick Rossovich, Robert Prosky.
The movie itself was mediocre-- but having read Pat Conroy's incredible novel, filled with cynicism, cruelty, depth, and of cource, deceit-- all that good stuff.
Alas, without a love interest, the myriad losses, and the absolutely imperative dips into the depths of Senior Private Will McLean's psyche, this movie is simply a hollow time-waster about a Southern Military school.
Read the book, skip the film-- or better yet (since the film was actually rather enjoyable) see the film first, and then bask in the sheer, dark goodness of Pat Conroy's writing.
If only there were no Pat Conroy novel, this movie would be an enjoyable flick...
On the other hand, it is impossible to make a film that lives up to a Conroy novel as their is just too much.
Kelley could possibly do justice to many of Conroy's novels or in the case of the Lords Of Discipline Arron Sorkin could possibly write it.
Trying to do any Conroy novel in a two or even three hour film is just ridiculous.
Likable movie but don't expect everything you got in the novel!.
I would be comfortable suggesting this movie to others and would not mind seeing it again myself.Having read Pat Conroy's original novel years ago I found that the characters in the movie looked remarkably like my imagination expected them to.
That was another plus.However......and this is minor......Pat Conroy's novels tend to be sprawling affairs with several plot lines (and the ensuing chaos) running concurrently.
This is the case here......several minor items had to be changed for the movie to cover the fact that one of the major plot elements in the novel were left out entirely..
I graduated from The Citadel and can tell you that the book is not a standing joke on campus and that almost everyone reads it during their knob year for their English class.
I have never heard anything of that nature and I believe they made it worse than it really was in order to make people watch it and enjoy reading the book.
All in all the book is much better than the movie.
I was in the military for 8 years and a product of Conroy's 'damaged goods' sickness of the South.
But please bear in mind that much has changed in the military and much of the brutality of the school has gone away with all the attention heaved upon it.
Please read the book first and look deep into what Conroy is trying to impart to all of us.
Here is a good movie showing why one should not bother with either the military or it's pissant little institutions of higher learning.
Yes the novel is 10 times better, but this is not a bad film either.
Do these military schools really develop character and produce real men or do they brainwash and engender false codes of honor and loyalty thereby turning out highly tuned robots to fight for all the real reasons wars are waged - oil, money, and population control?
They wanted to shoot "Taps" there, but we turned it down as, our president at the time, a retired 2 star general said, "It portrayed the military school student as a radical." Gee secret groups are bad.
the military school, when I attended 1977-1983, was a great way to prepare young people for the future-be it in the military or in life.
Bland adaptation of the Conroy novel about misconduct in a military academy.
If there were no Pat Conroy novel to compare this film to, the movie might fare better.
Keith and Prosky do a good job of creating two of the main characters.
It was a crime to even try.The only good thing about seeing this movie again was seeing Michael Biehn before The Terminator, a nascent Judge Reinhold, Robert Prosky and a couple others as they were almost 20 years ago.
There was nothing technically wrong with the movie, but it shared nothing with the book but its title and a couple of the character's names.
I was a former R.O.T.C. cadet, who was actually supposed to attend The Citadel (the institution that movie supposedly depicts) and attended another Military College...I found the depictions very close to some of the "on-goings" of Military College life for cadets (at that time), including some of the treatment of cadets with different ethnic backgrounds.The performances of the "actors" in this movie showed their inexperience at that time.
Although, some of those actors learned from the experience and are some of the best known character actors, although mostly in comedic roles (I wonder, why?) of current films, including: Judge Reinhold and "Wild" Bill Paxton.I recommend this film as a film to be watched by those learning how to act.
Set in a Carolina officer cadet school THE LORDS OF DISCIPLINE tells the story of a racist guild within the school who are hell bent on making sure no black cadet will ever be at the passing out parade .
The problem I had is that it takes place through the eyes of cadre officer Will who I thought just a little bit too fine , upstanding and moral to take seriously and it`s because of this the film doesn`t reach the heights it could have .
It should also be pointed out because it`s filmed in England doubling as an American military base I couldn`t help but be reminded of the first half of FULL METAL JACKET , it never helps a movie comparing it to that classic segment
But as I said LORDS OF DISCIPLINE is an entertaining enough movie that features a bunch of actors who almost became stars in the 1980s .
Then watch the hollow military 'honor', the fake manhood, the very real macho 'Ooohah !', the false piety and the pervasive hypocrisy displayed in this extraordinary movie, one of my all-time favorites.
This movie is more about cultural ethics and values than about military life per se.
Anybody who wishes to understand the deep causes of My Lai and of Abu Ghraib should watch this movie carefully.
The actors are almost all excellent, especially Keith David, Robert J.
Prosky and Mark Breland (whatever happened to him, as an actor ?) I have not read the book, so I cannot compare the movie to it.
The Lords of Discipline is a slow-moving, dull, boring, and badly acted 1980s film.
The whole scene came across like a cartoon and the actor playing the lawyer gave a junior high school acting performance.
David Keith stars in a Taps like movie where a coming of age drama turns into a thriller.
Some interesting characters, that end up not going anywhere, the movie has a plot but no real story that drives the audience to keep watching.
Military schools are looked upon as either a wrong idea run by the wrong people, or the only real justice left.
Much like David Keith's performance, the movie falls short of anything timeless..
However, people need to keep in mind that the book was a FICTION novel.
That the book is a standing JOKE among the cadets there and the movie is a laughing stock.
Please keep this in perspective before comparing the book to today's military or military academies.
The only place where the walk of shame is still practiced is at the Virginia Military Institute and there only for honor violations (lying, cheating, stealing, or encouraging another to do so).That being said, the book was an excellent novel and the movie was okay.
(even if I object to the light it cast on American military institutions) I was able to relate to some of the characters and situations (though I had to snicker at certain parts).
His plays and characters are so masterfully written and beautifully portrayed that no actor can really bring them to life.
Maybe this is the case with Pat Conroy's book The Lords Of Discipline.
I watched this film on June 14, 1986, it was the night before I left for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
They gave it the old college try and their level best, but this film is really wanting, I say again BADLY wanting, in comparison to Conroy's masterful book.
I have to admit that in the book I did not like Pig's character at all.
Pat Conroy attended the Citadel in South Carolina and this is what he based his book on.
David Keith was in An Officer And A Gentlemen the year before this film was made and gives a fine performance as Will.
There are two fine character actors in this film.
It's a shame that the greatest book of all time turned out to be the worst movie...The acting was horrible, they took out major plot lines from the book (Will falling in love) and in general ruined just about everything...I feel sorry for Pat Conroy..
I read the novel by Pat Conroy, and it became one of my all time favorites.
*Spoilers* Powerful seen when Pig is exiled from the Institute, they did a very good job with that.A few changes in the story line, but great still.
The acting's great, I'm a fan of Rick Rossovich and David Keith.
I give this movie a full 10 out of 10 stars.....watch this movie, and read the book......
Being a major Pat Conroy fan, Lords of Discipline is my favorite book that he has written.
However, when watching the film, I feel that many major parts of the book are left out.
Also, Pignetti's death is a very vital part in the book that should have been put in the movie because it ties so closely to "The Ten" and the roommates' relationship.
For someone who has not read the book, it is a great film and displays a wonderful message that all people should hear.
However, I suggest reading the book before seeing the film.
Lords of Discipline, the film, gets an A+ in my book..
Neither does David Keith in the lead (who looks exactly like a young Patrick Swayze) Bill Paxton and Rick Rossovich (in his biggest movie role as an actor (ever) are quite good as well.
Biehn who is very young here plays the main villain as the leader of a group of kadets in a military academy in 1964, known as the ten.
Biehn , Paxton and Rossovich were great friends, who probably met on the set of this movie.
Rossovich and Paxton had small parts in The Terminator, where Biehn played the heroic lead.
In Navy Seals, where Biehn played one of the leads, Rossovich and Paxton once more played supporting characters.
And finally in Tombstone, where Biehn played one of the main villains, Paxton appeared one last time in a supporting role.As for this movie, apart from one brutal torture scene, this felt like a lighter version of the much better Full Metal Jacket, that came out four years later.
And its not a bad movie, but unless youre a Biehn fan, like me, you will probably find it boring..
Keith's first leading role and a good start for the likes of Paxton, Biehn & Rossovich..
Let me start to say that i never read the acclaimed novel by Pat Conroy which this film is based on, so i'm judging only the movie itself.
"The Lords of Discipline" came out in a time this kind of "Military School" flicks were the latest popular trend in Hollywood, after the excellent "Taps", directed by Harold Becker and the surprise hit "An Officer and a Gentleman", directed by Taylor Hackford co-starred by David Keith playing Richard Gere's ill-fated best friend who was switched for his first leading role in this movie.
Keith delivered an acceptable performance as Cadet Will McLean, when starting his Senior year at Carolina Military Institute in 1964, he's assigned by his mentor, Lt. Col.
"Bear" Berrineau (a very good & committed performance by Robert Prosky) to keep an eye on Tom Pearce, the first black student admitted in the Academy, to protect him from the bigotry of some of his fellow alumni.
Around the same time, a secret organization within the school, called themselves "The Ten", are acting illegally forcing the undesired students, through the practice of torture and violence, to quit...Franc Roddam's "The Lords of Discipline" moves at a nice pace, it's well filmed and the young actors (some of them gave here their first steps in the acting biz such as Michael Biehn, Rick Rossovich, Bill Paxton, Judge Reinhold, Matt Frewer or Jason Connery) are all superbly directed and convincing in their roles.
Some plot points got their resolution too fast in the III Act, leaving some unanswered questions and the mystery beyond "The Ten", the phantom society within the walls of the Academy, could have been more explored and handled better.Nevertheless, this movie still delivers a solid piece of entertainment to the viewer with its well staged scenes such as the "Walk of Shame" and Michael Biehn's fans of his ruthless character of Johnny Ringo in "Tombstone" should check his vileness here.
Curiously, this was the first movie of a group of actors who would be frequent collaborators for several films in the future like Biehn, Paxton and Rossovich in James Cameron's "The Terminator" & Lewis Teague's "Navy Seals"; Biehn, Paxton and William Hope in Cameron's "Aliens"; Biehn & Paxton in Pan Cosmatos' "Tombstone" and so on....
A Fine Adaptation of Pat Conroy's Best Novel.
This was bay far Conroy's best novel and also the best movie adaptation of his work.
Of course, The Citadel wouldn't allow the movie to be made at the school so they filmed Lords at the Virginia Military Institute.
I can only imagine that these are horrible places to go to school.The film is fast-paced and tells a compelling story of friendship, honor, and betrayal.
I think the book and this film point this out..
I haven't read the book, but it has a rating of 4.27/5 from over 20,000 ratings (Pat Conroy), so I'm going to presume it's pretty good.The movie?
Not so much.Set in the 60's, it follows a 4th year cadet through training (specifically hazing) who is given the job of looking out for the first black cadet allowed into the institute.He completely fails to do so, finds out there's a secret group forcing out people they don't like through torture (the first 70 minutes).
He appears with Judge Reinhold, who was in his last movie (Stripes), and first time appearing with Michael Biehn, who was the best soldier actor in the movie.
Someone must have agreed, because the following year, he got the role of Kyle Reece in The Terminator (Bill would get a bit part, as would Rick Rossovich).Filming took place in London, and Bill Paxton met his future (and second) wife Louise Newbury on a #37 bus there.TLDR; what a stupid movie..
***SPOILERS*** Movie about the notorious and shadowy group known as "The Ten" who terrorizes this southern military academy by keeping blacks and other undesirables out of its ranks in order to keep it pure from all other in their mind non American members.
It's All-American milk drinking cadet Will McLean, David Keith, who's recruited by his "Rabbi" at the academy Col.
"Bear" Berrineau the bulky Dante "Pig" Pignetti,Rick Rossovich, getting framed by "The Ten" in siphoning off gasoline from McLean's car after McLane gave him permission to do it and being drummed out of the academy for breaking its secrete rules.***SPOILERS*** With McLean and his friends now having nothing to lose and not giving a flying cr*p about their future in the US military they kidnap one of the members of "The Ten" and make him talk by tying him down on the train tracks, with a speeding train about to run him down, about who's behind "The Ten" and it's members not only now but for the last some 100 years. |
tt0366629 | James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing | Opening in Tajikistan, Bond infiltrates a stronghold where an organization sells a stolen Soviet suitcase bomb. Opening fire and causing conflict, Bond uses the confusion to steal the device and escape.
The game then cuts to Bond detonating a research facility in Egypt, with the intent of destroying a nanobot stolen by terrorists that is capable of repairing damaged nuclear reactors without danger to humans. Rescuing its inventor, Dr. Katya Nadanova (Heidi Klum), Bond dispatches his captors, including Jaws (Richard Kiel). Unbeknownst to Bond, Nadanova then gives a vial of her nanobots to Nikolai Diavolo (Willem Dafoe), a former KGB agent with ties to Max Zorin.
Some time later, Bond is sent to investigate a Peruvian platinum mine, where agent 003 was last seen. Enlisting the aid of an American geologist, Serena St. Germaine (Shannon Elizabeth), Bond finds 003, only for Diavolo to mortally wound the latter; after 003 mentions New Orleans before dying, Bond rescues Serena and heads for America.
After NSA double agent Mya Starling (Mýa) is discovered, Bond rescues her and they track Diavolo's operations to an abandoned plantation in Louisiana; Bond discovers Diavolo has altered Nadanova's nanobots to eat through all metals but platinum. Destroying the laboratory, Bond finds a tanker of nanobots which is being driven by Jaws to the levees with the intent of flooding New Orleans. Bond destroys the truck before it can reach the levees, and returns to Peru.
Winning a race Diavolo holds, Bond finds he has captured Serena, allowing Diavolo to escape to the mines. After saving Serena, Bond reaches the mines, but is captured by Nadanova. Diavolo explains that he intends to use the nanobots to destroy the Kremlin and use his army of tanks, armored with platinum to make them immune to the nanobots, to control Russia, and then overthrow Europe. Tied in the path of a mining drill, Bond escapes his shackles and flees the mines in a helicopter piloted by Serena.
Following Diavolo to Moscow, Bond steals one of Diavolo's platinum tanks and uses it to prevent the release of the nanobots in Red Square and heads for a missile silo hidden under the Kremlin. Deactivating the nanotech missiles, Bond then shoots down a Soviet jet containing Diavolo and Nadanova, killing the latter. Ejecting from the jet, Diavolo reaches a control tower; Bond detonates it, but Diavolo reactivates a missile before falling to his death into the missile silo. Bond then destroys the missile as it launches, before kissing Serena outside the Kremlin.
=== Cast ===
Recurring characters:
James Bond - (likeness and voice of Pierce Brosnan)
M - (likeness and voice of Judi Dench)
Q - (likeness and voice of John Cleese)
Jaws - (likeness and voice of Richard Kiel)
Other characters:
Willem Dafoe as Nikolai Diavolo, the game's primary antagonist and an ex-KGB agent, mentored by Max Zorin.
Heidi Klum as Katya Nadanova, Ph.D., an Oxford nano-technology scientist who is later revealed to have affiliations with Diavolo.
Shannon Elizabeth as Serena St. Germaine, an American geologist and helicopter pilot whose expertise allows her to help Bond in Peru.
Mýa as Mýa Starling, an NSA double agent who aids Bond.
James Arnold Taylor as Jack Mason, 003
Misaki Ito as Miss Nagai, Q's assistant. | violence, humor, murder | train | wikipedia | The Best Bond Game Yet. I was finally able to rent this game out yesterday, and I have to say, this game is breathtaking.
Particle effects have also been perfectly integrated, from bright flashes to EXPLOSIONS (and believe me, there will be a LOT).SOUND If you've played the Max Payne games, you already know of the ear-splitting gunshots and explosions (which is a good thing), but if you haven't played the Max Payne games, you're in for a surprise.
Also, for those who have played the previous James Bond games, you will get a twist here: the actual cast from the live-action films have signed on to voice the characters in this game (that's right, no more Pierce Brosnan sound-alikes).
Unlike in the other James Bond games, you can't just run into a huge gunfight and expect to walk out without a scratch.
Unlike all the other James Bond games, this game includes a Training Level that allows you to get the feel of the game before actually playing through it.
The Multiplayer game is also here with a vengeance...not only can you battle others, you can also team up with a second player and play story missions.
If you're a hardcore gamer, you WILL find yourself returning to previously-completed levels to obtain Platinum ranks and unlock cheats and rewards.BOTTOM LINE: This game is worth your money, whether rented or bought.
If you're a huge Bond fan, you'll definitely want to pick this up.Final Score: 10/10.
Awesome James bond game..
This is one of the best bond games i have ever played because: The missions are very very fun to play they have lots of action in them they can be really hard sometimes that makes it even more fun the weapons that you use are really good.
The cars in this game are really good the driving missions are fun to do.
This James bond game has a good story to it.
The voice over actors in this game are really good and it is cool that pierce brosnan is in this game and the way the characters look is really good because they look like what they look like in real life which is really cool.
Also the graphics in this game pretty good.Overall score ********* out of **********.
Now this is a James Bond video game.
When I got Agent Under Fire, I thought that was a good game but then Nightfire came around and that was better, but now there is a new type of James Bond game.
This time it a 3rd person shooter and there is more than 12 missions, the graphics of the game are out of this house.
It even has all of the great actors and actresses in this game like Pierce Bronsan as once again James Bond, William Dafoe as the villain Nikolai Diavolo, and Judi Dench as M (forgive me all if I spell it wrong).
This game would be own as the greatest James Bond game around.I give this a 10/10.
The Best James Bond Game Ever (Yeah, Even Better Than "GoldenEye"!).
"GoldenEye" was revolutionary and is definitely the best FPS game to be based on the 007 franchise.
But EON's original storyline adds to the feeling of controlling a James Bond adventure.
This is helped by the impressive cast list of Willem DeFoe, Shannon Elizabeth, Heidi Klum, and Misaki Ito. Judi Dench and John Cleese reprise their movie roles of M and Q, respectively, and Pierce Brosnan, while no Sean Connery, adds credibility to the game's proceedings.
All characters resemble the stars, with the disappointing exception of Heidi Klum, who's in-game model doesn't do the real-life model justice.
Mya's theme song is on par with at least some of the big screen Bond title tunes.The game also plays tribute to some of the older Bond movies.
Richard Kiel appears as Jaws, the hulking henchman from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker" in three fight scenes, the first and best of which proceeds in the same fashion a fight in the movies would have.Single-player gameplay mainly consists of standard on-foot missions as Bond.
Like Bond, you will be able to choose whether to use stealth or go out with guns blazing.
The game also allows players to go into "Bond reflex" mode.
While this takes some getting used to, eventually this mode will allow you to perform many spectacular "Bond moments", such as shooting down a chandelier to take out four goons underneath, and greatly add to the Bond movie feeling.There are 3 available difficulty levels: Operative, Agent, and Double Oh. On Operative, you can breeze through in a few hours.
Garnering high scores on missions will unlock gold and platinum awards and effect features such as vehicle upgrades and the skimpy outfits the Bond girls wear.
Some missions can be extremely frustrating due to a scarcity of checkpoints, but when all is said and done, no mission is any longer than a single action scene in a Bond movie.Multi-player, unfortunately, is not as thrilling.
"GoldenEye" still has the best multi-player mode of any Bond game.
EON's main multi-player is a co-op campaign mode that puts players in charge of lesser MI6 agents on a less important mission than Bond's.
But the single-player mode is the most complete Bond experience to date.
The ending, as with most Bond games, is anticlimactic.
Still, for any serious Bond fan, not playing this game is tantamount to missing one of the Bond films..
Finally a good Bond game.
Then games like Agent Under Fire and Night Fire came out and I lost hope all together.
But now with the release of Everything or Nothing, my love for Bond games has returned.Like always you are 007 (voiced by Pierce Brosnan) and you are on another dangerous mission to save the world.
The mission take you from Brazil, to the US, to Russia, all the while trying to stop Nikolai Diavolo (voiced by Willem Dafoe).
The game is not a first person shooter, but there is still plenty of action.
What caught my eye the most was the way the producers were able to bring in real actors to portray characters: Willem Dafoe, Pierce Brosnan, Heidi Klum, etc.
The characters bring the game together with their great personalities, their actions, and simply their presence.
The game presents you with an arsenal of weapons and from Q, your trusty gadgets to help stop the enemy.
Everything or Nothing is not as good as Goldeneye which I don't believe will be matched but it's probably the second best Bond game to come out.
It's a worth while adventure that passes the time and may get you a bit angry when you keep dying on the same mission.James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing.
Starring the voices of: Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Heidi Klum, John Cleese, and Shannon Elizabeth.4 1/2 out of 5 Stars..
His first game since 2002's Nightfire provides a fantastic change of pace to the FPS Bond Formula.
Instead, Bond has gone back to a 3rd-person shooter, but don't worry-- this isn't anything like the abysmal Tomorrow Never Dies.
Although on the surface, it seems like a typical action adventure, what's best is the open-ended way you can tackle each mission one-by-one.
And to add some variety, EA added in some awesome driving missions that rival some of the best chase scenes from the Bond flicks.The graphics and sound are also excellent.
The voice acting uses some top Hollywood talent, from the regulars like Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, and John Cleese, to newcomers like Shannon Elizabeth and Willem Dafoe, fresh off his stint from 2002's Spider-man video game.
There's also the opening tune by Mya, one of the better James Bond songs in recent years.
They've been rendered to look EXACTLY like the voice talent, so much in fact that at times you'll actually believe at times that you're not looking at a video game, but the latest Bond movie on your TV set.
The high production values just increase EON's movie-like quality.There's only one small flaw in the film: The camera stinks!
Like nearly every 3rd person action game in existence, the camera is just awful, it will often pan to obscure angles, often screwing your field of vision up.
I recommend this to any person who is a fan of action games, and eagerly await EA's next Bond title.
With a very 'bond'-able storyline, you feel like you're in the game as much as you get lost in a movie.Enjoyable in all aspects, from start to finish.
With the ranking system and unlockables to be achieved, as well as its multi-player missions, this is a stand-out game.
It's still a good game that you can pick up & play whenever you feel the need to get a little more Bond in your life.
Such a great cast and well-written storyline.The story comes to life on the screen, almost as if the actors were their in front of you, and is every bit as entertaining as the game itself.
Everything a Bond game should be.
James Bond at this time in my life was one of the things I adored.
I played all the games I could find such as Nightfire, Agent Under Fire and this.
I picked this one up in particular and it quickly became my favourite Bond game (and is the only one out of the three that I haven't either lost or considered to be awful).
I decided one day - okay I want to complete where I left off but start the game from scratch and I loved it.The storyline feels exactly like how a James Bond game should.
The story is pretty much the same as most other James Bond games.
Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, John Cleese, Judi Dench and somehow working in Richard Kiel again - How can you not hit "Goldmine" with that ensemble?
Is Willem Dafoe as a Bond villain the best casting of all time?
I played with my brother but the graphics even for 2003 were horrible and I have no idea how to move onto the next level - Not as in "I don't know how to complete level 1" Oh no - I've done that twice but more "The game WON'T LET ME MOVE ON EVEN IF I COMPLETE THE LEVEL!".
It may be fun if you want a time killer with another person but when compared to the rest of the game - It would be better to complete it, unlock the mini games at the end and take turns.The multiplayer is such a shame because it could have been a 10/10 game for me.
If you somehow are able to find PS2 games or any other console games from the generation this game came out then I would say "If you're a fan of James Bond - Don't skip this!".
Driving levels are the BEST.The only weapons I never liked and coulda bin improved were the MP5K(accuracy), Frag Grenade(hard to aim), and P99(clip size).I loved ALL the gadgets, especially Q-spiders, and i enjoyed shooting with the SIG 552.The Dragunov sniper rifle scope also keeps wobbling up and down when I try to snipe from afar.
Best Bond Game.
It has laser scanned images of top notch actors, including Pierce Brosnan, Willem Dafoe, Shannon Elizabeth and best of all John Cleese.
They also supplied the voices unlike the previous two Bond games, which used other voice over actors doing terrible impressions.
This is probably the best Bond game ever!
Pierce Brosnan, Judi Dench, Richard Kiel, John Cleese, Willem Defoe, Shannen Elizabeth, and Heidi Klum make up the cast of this spectacular game.
I liked the idea of (Defoe's character) Nikolai Diavolo being a student of Max Zorin (the villain from the Bond movie "A View To A Kill").
The game feels like your watching a Bond movie.
I was pleasantly surprised with this game.First of all, it features the actual actors and actresses we know from the recent Bond movies.
Pierce Brosnan appears as our favorite 00 agent, as well as others from the movie cast including Dame Judi Dench and John Cleese.
Willem Dafoe and Richard Kiel(JAWS!) round out the cast as our main enemies for Bond.
The all star cast and high production values make this Bond game feel like a movie.As for story, this is all typical Bond.
I won't give much away there, but I will say that Willem Dafoe's character was the student of Max Zorin, the 007 enemy from A View to a Kill(played by Christopher Walken).Gameplay is incredibly varied and exciting.
You can even unlock the golden gun from The Man With The Golden Gun.If you're looking for a way to experience a Bond movie and don't feel like dusting off your N64 to play Goldeneye(if you even still have it), you can't go wrong with Everything or Nothing..
He is finally Bond in a video game!
I enjoyed the past Bond games: Goldeneye, The World Is Not Enough, Agent Under Fire, and Nightfire.
I am a huge fan of Willem Dafoe even though I've seen him in a couple of movies.
I have seen Willem, I mean Mr. Dafoe, perform in two movies: Finding Nemo, and Spider-Man with my favorite actress: KIRSTEN DUNST!
I have never seen a better person play as the wisecracking, and gadget creating Q!
The beginning is great; you're thrown right into the action, it has a Bond beginning that beats some of the movies, and the training is comprehensive.
My boyfriend and I played co-op(two players playing together on the same screen) and it seemed like the creators couldn't decide between a stealth game or a third-person shooter, so they did both.
The computer gives you an aiming system and teaches you how to use it in training, but this does not work in the actual game.
Also, the convenient "Bond-sense", which enables you to pause the game to find targets, does not work in co-op.
It sounds as if it would have made a better movie than a game.
If you want to spend hours trying to get through one or two missions and probably end up very frustrated by the end, then the storyline and the acting sounds like it might be worth it.
the best part of this game is definitely the motorcycle riding, the level on the highway is amazing.
starting you right into the action before for the opening sequence of the game is an awesome idea.
they blended this game into a movie likeness was done so well you'd think this was actually based off a movie.
Everybody thinks that the Nintendo 64 game 'Goldeneye' was the greatest James Bond video game ever.
I don't mind, playing third-person shooter video game, but I have always love the first person perspective, more.
Having this game, in a third person shooter, was a bit disappointing.
In this version, Bond is modeled after and voiced by the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, making it his final performance for the character in game or in film.
This was also the last James Bond game to have an original story and title until the release of Blood Stone in 2010.
Written by Bruce Feirstein, Danny Bilson and Paul Demeo, Everything or Nothing centers around; Bond dealing with an ex-KGB agent/terrorist named Nikolai Diavolo (Voiced by William Dafoe), whom wants over control Russia with a new unstable dangerous nanotechnology weapon, with help from a fellow Russian scientist, Katya Nadanova (Voiced by Heidi Klum).
I love the fact that a lot of establish actors did their voice overs here; because it makes it seem more like a movie than a game.
Like Denise Richards as Christmas Jones in James Bond's 1999's The World is not Enough, Shannon Elizabeth as Serena St. Germaine, a geologist is so unrealistic in her voice acting.
Another is Mya, whom singing for the game theme song was alright, but her voice acting pretty awful.
I do like the lounge version of 'Everything or Nothing', they have in the background in one of the levels in the game.
I don't like how Misaki Ito stars in the game as Q's (Voiced by John Cleese) assistant.
I do like that a lot of returning characters came back for this game, such in the case of the villain, Jaws (Voiced by Richard Kiel) and M (Voiced by Judi Dench).
The game also gives previous film mentions like 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun, and 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, but my favorite reference is 1985's A View to a Kill with the video game character Nikolai Diavolo being mentor by film villain, Max Zorin (Christopher Walken).
So James Bond like.
Hardly see that in a video game at the time.
Enough high scores on missions will unlock gold and platinum awards and effect features such as vehicle upgrades and the outfits Bond and the girls can wear.
You really could go fast on the motorbikes or the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish from Brosnan's final Bond film, 2002's Die Another Day. There is also a few flying levels such as flying helicopter shooting bad guys or using a jet plane to get place to place.
There are 3 available difficulty levels: Operative, Agent, and Double Oh. The game is challenging, even on easiest mode.
One of the best games I have played in years..
The storyline was clever; mad man (Willem Dafoe, named as Nikolai Diavolo) and beautiful henchwoman (Heidi Klum, named as Katya Nadanova), try to destroy the world with tiny nanobots, which at the start of the game, you, James Bond, have to destroy on a train.
You then have to thwart their plans and save the world.The great thing about this game is that it actually has actors voicing the characters, such as Cleese voicing Q.
There are 27 levels, some of them short and some of them pretty long and tricky.Gameplay - 10/10 Graphics - 9/10 Sound - 9/10 Replay value - 7/10 Multiplayer - 8/10I give this game a grand total of 90% |
tt2436516 | Go Goa Gone | Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) are two dope-heads, living with their roommate/friend Bunny (Anand Tiwari). After Hardik loses his job and Luv gets dumped by his girlfriend, both decide to tag along with Bunny to Goa to relax. In Goa, Luv falls for Luna (Puja Gupta), and she invites the guys to a rave party, organised by the Russian mafia, which is being held on a secluded island. At the party a new drug, D2RF, is launched. None of the friends take it as it's for Rs 5K. The next morning, the three roommates find that the island has been infected by the "living dead" (zombies), and the three men save Luna from her villa and stay together in hopes of surviving. A Russian mafioso, Boris (Saif Ali Khan, originally from Delhi/Dilli), arrives and reveals himself as a zombie slayer.
The three roommates and Luna plan to use the boat they had used to travel to the island to escape from it. Finally, after escaping the forest, they discover that the mainland has also been infested by the zombies, forcing them to find another way to survive.Boris tells them the boat will come back to the original place by rotating the island as the boat was taken by a zombie.They find a home fully vacant & decide to stay there. Borris leaves the four of them in the house saying he has important work with his partner Nikolai. At night after Borris leaves, the zombies find the house and attack the four of them. They run away from the zombies and reach the rave party area looking for food. They are chased by zombies there also. Bunny enters a tent and is shown to be dead. The three manage to escape with the help of Borris and Nikolai: who arrive just in time. On the way Nicolai gets bitten by a zombie so they leave him behind. The three are grief-stricken as Bunny is dead.
They realise Borris had gone back to obtain his expensive Cocaine. Whilst waiting for the boat to arrive, Hardik gets a call from Bunny saying he's alive and on top of a tower. The four of them go to rescue him where Boris is surrounded by the zombies and the four youngsters escape.
When they reach Borris's jeep, Bunny tells them that he threw cocaine at the zombies which were coming to attack him. The mixing of the red pill and cocaine made them still. They go back to save Boris, they throw the cocaine packets towards the sky and ask Boris to shoot it. This trick works and all the zombies come to a stand still.
They leave the island coming to a conclusion that "drugs f**k you up".
When they arrive at the shore of Goa, they see that the settlement is burning and everything is damaged. All five take their guns out and the movie ends there on the note - "The End..is near". | violence, humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0046828 | Carmen Jones | Parachute maker Carmen Jones makes a play for a "fly boy" Air Force man, Joe, who is in love with sweet Cindy Lou and about to marry her on a day pass when Carmen gets into a fight with another woman.
Joe's pass is cancelled in order for him to drive her to the next town to be handed over to the non-military police. Instead, she charms and seduces him, and he is put in the stockade for not delivering her to the authorities.
While she waits for Joe to be released from military prison, she hangs around Billy Pastor's jive cafe where she encounters boxer Husky Miller, who is instantly besotted with Carmen, calling her "heatwave".
She is initially uninterested. But her friends Frankie and Mert know that their invitation from Husky's manager to see him fight in Chicago depends on Carmen's being there, too.
Then Joe turns up at the cafe but gets into a fight with his sergeant, who is making a move on Carmen. The train ticket to Chicago originally given to Carmen offers them a way of avoiding the MPs. After a few days holed up with no money and no future with Joe, Carmen pays a visit to her two friends, now covered in diamonds and furs, at Husky's training camp. She is only looking for a loan, but they try to draw her to give up Joe and "go with the money" by staying with Husky.
Later, at Husky's apartment, Frankie reads Carmen's "cards", and reveals the Nine of Spades - the card of Death. In the belief that her days are numbered, Carmen gives in to Husky's advances, abandoning Joe for the luxurious life Husky can offer her.
Cindy Lou comes to look for Joe, but he is still in love with Carmen and spurns Cindy Lou. The night of Husky's title fight, Joe turns up to try to convince Carmen to come back to him, but when she rejects him, he kills her, thus making the cards' prophecy a reality. | violence, murder, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0107978 | RoboCop 3 | After the failure of the Robocop program, OCP is on the verge of bankruptcy after a series of failed business plans and drop of stocks, and are now struggling with their plans to create the new Delta City. To speed up the process, OCP creates an armed force called the Urban Rehabilitators, nicknamed "Rehabs," under the command of Paul McDaggett (John Castle). Ostensibly its purpose is to combat rising crime in Old Detroit, augmenting the ranks of the Detroit Police Department in apprehending violent criminals. In reality, it has been set up to forcibly relocate the residents of Cadillac Heights. Nikko, a Japanese-American computer whiz kid, loses her parents in the process.
The police force is gradually superseded by the Rehabs, and violent crime begins to spiral out of control. The Delta City dream of the former OCP CEO, "Old Man", lives on with the help of the Japanese Kanemitsu Corporation, which has bought a controlling stake in OCP and is trying to finance the plan. Kanemitsu (Mako), CEO of the Kanemitsu Corporation, sees the potential in the citywide redevelopment, and moves forward with the plans to remove the current citizens in order to create Delta City. The company develops and uses its own ninja androids called "Otomo" to help McDaggett and the new OCP president (Rip Torn) overcome the resistance of anti-OCP militia forces.
RoboCop (Burke) and partner Anne Lewis (Allen) try to defend civilians from the Rehabs one night, but Lewis is mortally wounded by McDaggett and eventually dies. Unable to fight back because of his "Fourth Directive" programming, RoboCop is saved by members of a resistance movement composed of Nikko and residents from Cadillac Heights and eventually joins them. Due to severe damage sustained in the shoot-out, RoboCop's systems efficiency plummets, and he asks the resistance to summon Dr. Lazarus, one of the scientists who created him. Upon arrival she begins to treat him, deleting the Fourth Directive in the process. During an earlier raid on an armory, the resistance picked up a jet-pack prototype, originally intended for RoboCop's use, which Lazarus modifies and upgrades to hold RoboCop.
After recovering from his injuries, RoboCop conducts a one-man campaign against the Rehabs and OCP. He finds McDaggett and attempts to subdue him, but McDaggett is able to escape. McDaggett then obtains information from a disgruntled resistance member (Stephen Root) regarding the location of the resistance fighters' base. The Rehabs attack and most of the resistance members are either killed or taken prisoner. RoboCop returns to the rebel base to find it abandoned. One Otomo unit arrives and attacks him. RoboCop experiences another power drain and his left arm and auto gun is destroyed, but eventually he is able to overcome his opponent with his arm-mounted gun. Nikko infiltrates the OCP building and assists a captured Lazarus in broadcasting an improvised video, revealing OCP's responsibility for the criminality in the city and implicating them in the removal and killing of the Cadillac Heights residents. The broadcast causes OCP's stock to plunge, driving the company into financial ruin and bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, McDaggett decides to execute an all-out strike against Cadillac Heights with the help of the Detroit police, but the police officers, enraged at the company's sadistic ways, refuse to comply and instead defect to the resistance in order to get revenge for Lewis and their salaries and pensions, escalating the rebellion against OCP into a full-scale city war. As a result, McDaggett turns to hiring street gangs and hooligans to assist with his plans.
Having heard Lazarus' broadcast, RoboCop provides aerial support for the entrenched resistance forces. He then proceeds to the OCP building and confronts the waiting McDaggett. RoboCop is then attacked, and nearly defeated, by two Otomo robots. Nikko and Lazarus succeed in reprogramming them using a wireless link from a laptop computer forcing them to attack each other. The Otomos' self-destruct system activates, forcing RoboCop to flee with Nikko and Lazarus. The flaming discharge from the jet-pack immobilizes McDaggett, leaving him to perish in the blast.
As Old Detroit is being cleaned up, Kanemitsu arrives and finally comes face to face with RoboCop and his group, while his translator (Doug Yasuda) tells the OCP president on Kanemitsu's behalf that he is fired, as the corporation shuts down OCP for good and plans to leave Detroit. Kanemitsu then bows to RoboCop and the group in respect. | violence, neo noir, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | Alas, none of it can save ROBOCOP 3, a film into which very little real effort seems to have gone.When watching ROBOCOP 3, one can't help but think the producers lazily expected the well-established Robocop brand would simply sell itself this time around.
Firstly if you don't like Robocop at all, then obviously leave this alone, if you've never seen Robocop, watch the first film, then come back and read the rest of this.Robocop started out as a hard ass cyborg, you simply wouldn't mess with (He even helped spawn a video game, in which he fought the Terminator, you've got to be Tough to be mentioned in the same breath as a Terminator - you get the point, he was hard) and, he was portrayed by Peter Weller, who did a good job.In number 2, Peter Weller was still there and Robocop was still fun and still tough, even if it wasn't a great movie.However, now on to the third film, take my advice and miss it, even for Robocop fans, there little here to enjoy, and this is why.Robert Burke, has replaced Peter Weller as Robocop, and i not knocking him as an actor (I Don't know much of his work), but he isn't Robocop, Period.
This movie simply insults the Robocop name, in every way, i can't think of a single reason to watch this film, it's another case of no sequels necessary (although Robocop 2 - wasn't all bad)3/10.
It lacks nearly everything the original Robocop had....especially a big killer robot!Robocop 1 had ED-209.Rococop 2 had the huge vicious psycho cyborg Cain.Robocop 3 had a samurai robot that looked like a normal guy and if you managed to get a decent hit on him he would break like a dodgy little action figure!
The director must have realised that this was a bad move half way through making the movie so he added a few more of these unmemorable villains to make up for the fact he didn't have a big impressive killer robot in it and failed miserably.Sorry but that sums it all up for me.
There is of course a load of other faults that i won't go in to but that was the main fault when i watched it.A few little cool bits in this movie but the bad far outweighs the good.
The plot carries on the established Robocop saga, in a far better way than it predecessor did so, and I think it's about time a little light was shone on this fact.
Niko was maybe a bit to much for most Robocop fans to accept, the SFX and action scenes were well wanting of a couple more mill being spent on them, and the end fight between Robo and the Otomos just flat out sucked.
Lol, OK, I know, I had a choice, but I was curious and wanted to see what the third Robocop was like because I have heard horrible reviews and you know when you hear so many bad things about something that you simply have to see for yourself?
CavemanCop more like.I think the hardest pill to swallow with the deplorable RoboCop 3 is that Frank Miller was the screenwriter...This film's backstory is so poorly executed I have trouble reciting it now...
It looks idiotic.The character of Alex Murphy continues to be mistreated, RoboCop 3 feels like a cash in worse than the second film; they have so little idea what to do with his character, they bench him for most of the film!
They decided to make "Robocop 3" as a family friendly action movie rated PG-13 in desperate attempt to gain as wide audience as it is possible.
The acting here is awful with people either underplaying or overplaying their parts.The story here takes some elements from what comic book writer Frank Miller prepared for "Robocop 2" .
Well now I've seen it and yes, it honestly stank all the way thru.While the original 'Robocop'-flick had some idea, this 3rd one (and hopefully the last one!) entertained me as much as seeing a real bad mime act.
I actually liked this movie better than the first or the second because of the variety of characters, plot depth, and story line (which includes an intense battle on the streets between organized criminal and defending Detroit citizens, a hand-to-hand fight between cyborgs, and dramatic moments that made me studder ).
It lacks everything that made the first RoboCop and even the second one great action movies: Good action and likable hero.
Or actually the story in it might be good, but it's just told so wrong in the film.Second mistake is, that RoboCop is played by a different actor, Robert John Burke, who just doesn't fit in the part.
Good for her.And then there is this feeling in the film, that someone had a bright idea of making a kid friendly RoboCop film without brutal action.And if that isn't enough there are these pretty poorly executed special effects, like the flying jet pack RoboCop.As for sequels go, this isn't probably as bad as Conan the Destroyer, but it's pretty close..
Also I don't like the story in it, turning RoboCop into a 'nice' guy, it don't work, we prefer watching RoboCop the way he was in the first one, we're not used to Robo acting 'Mr. Nice Guy'.
The last film in the series RoboCop 3 is different than its predecessors as it has violence but it is toned down.The way Robert John Burke is fixed up he does look like the original RoboCop.Nancy Allen has a smaller role in this film and I liked the villain(s) but I just wasn't satisfied with the result.RoboCop 3 has a lot of action and good music by Basil Poledouris.If you haven't seen any RoboCop films yet I recommend that you see the series in order.As for big fans of RoboCop I think you`ll like the third installment but if you like big time graphic violence then you`ll enjoy the original film much more!.
The story is interesting (about a privatized police force), there is a strong orchestral sound-track (one of the key success factors of the original), and the way-out weaponry and awesome destruction is all present and correct.Where it falls down is with the unnecessary insertion of action film cliches: the cute kid, the sexy female scientist etc.
But it's hard to remain invested when you're expecting an adult science fiction story and the movie is trying to treat you like a fifteen-year-old.This is a heavily flawed film.
Yea, this piece of s**t lies at the very bottom of the barrel, right next to titles like "Lawnmower man 2", "D.N.A", "Nirvana" and "Highlander 3".I just hope one day they'll right the wrong, make a movie by the name of "The REAL Robocop 3" with a solid R-rated attitude, and then publish a excellent DVD-trilogy.
(Yes, I just mentioned that film)Honestly just reading the plot in one go, you'll think this must have been attempted as some sort of parody.At least, that's what most of the cast felt it was gonna be as nearly everyone is running around playing the frantic game we all know and love called "Who Can Overact The Most?" and everyone would have probably won the grand prize of a dream holiday as there is tons and I mean TONS of overacting from everyone across the board.Robert John Burke is quite embarrassing as Robocop himself, hell even that bootleg Robert Cop toy could have given a better performance.It's not the rubbish acting from everyone that killed the film though...It's the fact some idiot at Orion thought "You know what could make this film even better?
Quite simply you've got Japanese ninja cyborgs making funny faces, RoboCop allowing himself to get attacked like a rag doll and a kid that has a super computer that can hack into all sorts of high tech stuff, jeez.
I do vaguely remember seeing this film years ago back when the film was new to rent on VHS but back then I didn't know the film was this bad, don't get me wrong the only thing this film got right was the story but one other sad thing about this film is that the violence in the film was drastically toned down and with the such elements I've previously mentioned, all of it made the film look silly and it is no wonder they never made another RoboCop film after that until the 2014 remake but I don't consider that one a real RoboCop film.
Had the film been in better hands and retained itself as an R rated property then this could have been a great film but it just wasn't, instead it's quite possibly one of the worst movie sequels ever.
The lack of gore is not the problem here, it's a shoddy looking film stuffed with cheese and a plot about RoboCop fighting for the people is about the least interesting adventure they could throw this character into.
Robocop 3 is a brutal disaster,it is without a doubt the worst of the three Robocop's,and thats saying a lot comparing it to the also terrible Robocop 2.I thought the movie began promising,and I thought it seemed better than the second Robocop,but as soon as I saw Robert John Burke as Robocop I knew I was going to hate it,I never knew until I saw this that Peter Weller wasn't in it,and this guy was a terrible replacement,he made no effort to sound any bit similar to the original Robocop.Peter Weller was the only I liked about the second one,and thats what made this movie so terrible,at least they killed off Nancy Allen's character,I never liked her in it,her acting is amazingly terrible and was happy that she wasn't in this very much,but her acting for the beginning of the movie was probably even worse than she was in the first two.If you enjoyed the first Robocop,leave it at that,the sequels are both humiliating,their boring,predictable,too long and the cast are really uninspired,they made me question why I liked the first one.Do not bother with Robocop 2 or 3,trust me,even if you didn't see the first one and have nothing to compare it too,its still terrible.Robocop is completely fixed and takes on a large group that are looking to evict people from Detroit..
Robocop was a fantastsic movie - great special effects and characters but at the same time a believable and powerful plot.
The fact that he had been turned into a cartoon for kids completely took the edge off the violent and well thought out character Paul Verhoven had created for the original movie, which is why its first sequel sucked.
For such a wonderful and fulfilling character to go out like this was truly heartbreaking to watch, for all the wrong reasons.Peter Weller was the sensible actor, turning down the chance to reprise his most famous role a second time.
I was just a kid when I saw the first movie (my parents let me watch anything) Lots of Blood, great fight scenes, shoot outs, action packed!
3? 3 was good, I liked this movie a lot..Robert John Burke did a good job as Robo, because Peter Weller refused, as it was believed he didn't like the suit, because it was made from real Metal, It weighed a ton, and he told Orion, that he was not doing part 2 even, but they got him to do it..
Whenever we talk about such types of films, RoboCop is the very first thing that comes into our movie minds!
I sure hope there will be a possible 4th installment of "RoboCop" coming in the neat future; I've never seen these movies yet, but they do sure sound good!
As for Robocop, he has lost any character or gravitas he had in the previous films, and is now just a dumb machine played by a different actor (Peter Weller made a good choice to avoid this one).Add a cutesy little girl in one of the lead roles, robotic Japanese ninja's (one of whom is introduced in a meditating position, despite being a robot) Robocop zooming around on a jet-pack and hammy acting galore, hey presto, a recipe for disaster..
I also don't like that Peter Weller doesn't return as Murphy/Robocop, and his substitute Robert John Burke has the charisma of a textile cloth, but he isn't the reason by this film fails.
Robocop is an absolute classic of a movie and Robocop 2 not as good as the first one but still very worthy as a sequel so in 1993 the series finally come to an end with Robocop 3 rated PG-13 and people seem to really dislike the movie for whatever reason I can't understand to the point that today it only got 4.0 on Imdb and earn the title:"The one that destroy the franchise" when I as a fan of Robocop watch the trilogy gain in 2018 find Robocop 3 is the perfect ending to the crime fighting saga of our beloved cyborg.It the only one when i actually tear up when hearing the conversation with Nikko about how her family is with her forever and when Robocop flying through the town with jetpack on his back gave me goosebumps all over my body..
Peter Weller bailed out from RoboCop 3 and in this film, Nancy Allen soon follows.What is worse you have to wait for ages for Robert John Burke to show up as RoboCop. He sides with the down and outs of Detroit City who are being moved on by the Urban Rehabilitation Officers hired by the evil corporation, Omni who want to clear the slums and build new skyscrapers.Angry at RoboCop's actions, the villain McDaggett (John Castle) hires robot ninjas to take him out and Omni smear RoboCop as having gone rogue.The original Robocop directed by Paul Verhoeven was an ultraviolent satirical classic with black humour and an anti corporate stance.This is a poor film lacking any subtext of the original but just cashing in on its success.
It's cleaning up the city in its own way, although it seems immoral to anyone who is actually watching it.RoboCop (now played by Robert John Burke instead of Peter Weller, not that it matters considering you rarely get to see his whole face), is also cleaning up the streets in the way that cops normally try to.
Most of them return, so if you like series continuity, at least there's that!RoboCop continues to be a boring character, although at least we go back to how he ended the first film and have him at least able to emote a little bit.
Don't give this movie even a second of consideration; it's an all-around dud.That there are people who say that RoboCop 3 is almost as good as the first one is to HALLUCINATE and lets see the film knowledge that these people have.
This is what a kid-friendly RoboCop movie looks like..
It's easily the worst of the original series, but still entertaining as a guilty pleasure.Recommended only to the most die-hard of RoboCop fans.3/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Marginal).
It took 20 minutes before we got to see Robocop (I think by the third film people don't need to wait to see him).
Vast improvement over the dreadful Part II, this still suffers from feeling watered-down, and overly kid-friendly, as Robocop returns to fight his own company again, who are ruthlessly trying to evict the citizens of Detroit to make a profit, and are trying to merge with a Japanese conglomerate, while at the same time stave off bankruptcy.Though there are some good action scenes, and its heart is in the right place, this feels tired, as if there was no sense of urgency or purpose behind it other than completing the story.
The original Robocop, unless you're talking to fellow movie buffs like myself, is often seen as cheesy and over-the-top.
The plot is filled with more bullet holes than the people that got shot up, Peter Weller isn't back and it shows, the acting is terrible, the action is terrible, not only is it by far the worst Robocop film ever, it is one THE worst films ever, period.
However, everything feels rushed, cheap and nasty with actors unconvincingly made to look either dirty, villainous or army like.Due to the awful script it's hard to tell if Robert John Burke measures up to Peter Wellers Robocop character.
Robo with the help of his partner Anne Lewis and the good hearted people of Detroit must now fight back for what is right.This film introduces a flightpack to robocop along with new allies.
The first Robocop is a classic, an action movie with sci fi elements and lots of in your face violence.
Robocop 3 offers the same old stuff action,laughs and good characters.This time robocop is played by Robert John Burke and John Castle plays the villain.Nancy Allen is also back as Anne Lewis.
I feel that this film surpasses Robocop 2, and while it isn't as clever or original as the first in the series, it is fun and entertaining.
There are a few places where the low budget can be seen (i.e. the "flying Robocop" scene), but all in all, it's a pretty good action/sci-fi film..
Weller doesn't return to play Robocop in this movie, but they still do a nice job.
I love Robocop and the movies never get old I can watch them over and over again.
The important critique of the privatization of public services, present in the previous movies, remains strong too.Besides that, "Robocop 3" doesn't have problems of the first two films of the trilogy, like bad casting (really awful actors for the smaller roles and extras) or ridiculous scenes..
Watching this was like watching a cheap episode of a "Robocop" TV show than a actual movie.
I liked this movie despite the bad acting only because it was Robocop. |
tt0069226 | Savages | Best friends Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) are marijuana growers in Laguna Beach, California. Chon, a former Marine, smuggled the seeds for the plants out of Afghanistan. Ben, a University of California, Berkeley graduate in business and botany, cultivates the marijuana. The seeds yield a particularly potent strain, which develops a wide customer base. Chon and Ben become wealthy, and Ben devotes time and money to charity work in Africa and Asia. They are both in a relationship with Ophelia Sage (Blake Lively).
The trio receives a video from Mexican drug-cartel enforcer Miguel "Lado" Arroyo (Benicio del Toro) of severed heads and a chainsaw, and Arroyo demands a meeting at which the cartel offers a partnership. Although Chon and Ben offer to hand over their network and get out of the business, the cartel wants their expertise and insists on a partnership. Chon and Ben make plans with Ophelia to go to Indonesia for a year, not telling her that they are fleeing the cartel. They speak to corrupt DEA agent Dennis Cain (John Travolta), who urges them to join the cartel. Ophelia is kidnapped by Lado's gang; Chon and Ben are notified of the kidnapping by a video call from cartel leader Elena Sánchez (Salma Hayek), who threatens to harm Ophelia if they decline the partnership.
They discuss the situation with Dennis, who tells them that Elena is facing the loss of her political connections in Mexico (foiling her efforts to move into the US). Since she has already lost most of her family, Dennis says that he has nothing on her that can help them. Chon stabs Dennis in the hand and demands DEA intelligence so they can attack Elena. With help from Chon's Navy SEAL friends, he and Ben attack a cartel money convoy and kill seven of Elena's men.
Ophelia, held in horrible conditions, demands to speak to whoever is in charge. Lado drugs and rapes her in retaliation for going over his head. Elena, traveling to the US to visit her daughter and deal with the escalating situation, has Ophelia brought with her. Chon and Ben frame high-ranking cartel member Alex (Demián Bichir) as an agent of Elena's rival, El Azul. With Dennis' help, they falsify evidence and give it to Lado. Lado tortures Alex and forces Ben to immolate him; Ophelia is forced to watch. Lado double-crosses Elena and begins working with El Azul.
Ben and Chon pay Dennis $3 million for information about Elena's daughter, Magda (Sandra Echeverria), and the name of his informant in Elena's cartel. They kidnap Magda and video-call Elena to establish that they are now in control. With Elena at their mercy, they arrange a desert meeting to exchange Ophelia and Magda at which snipers from both sides are in position. Elena asks who revealed her daughter's location, and Chon tells her it was Lado. She tries to kill Lado, but he shoots her first; a firefight erupts, and Chon is shot several times. Lado is shot in the back by Ben, but shoots him in the neck before Ophelia kills him. Ben is mortally wounded, and Chon injects him, Ophelia and himself with a fatal overdose so they can die together.
Ophelia wakes from a nightmare. At the meeting, Lado steals Elena's car and escapes as Dennis leads DEA agents to the scene. Everyone but Lado and Magda is arrested. Because Ben has incriminating information about Dennis, Dennis identifies Ben and Chon as his informants in the cartel and they are released. Elena is sentenced to thirty years in prison, and El Azul and Lado create a new cartel called the Azulados. Ben, Chon and Ophelia leave the country and live in a beachside hut, possibly in Indonesia. Ophelia wonders if they are living like savages. | satire, storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0363780 | Lymelife | Set in 1979 Syosset, Long Island, New York, Lymelife follows two families, the Bartletts and the Braggs, who crumble when tangled relationships, real estate problems, and Lyme disease converge in the heart of suburbia. 15-year-old Scott Bartlett is a gentle boy, radically different from his blustery father Mickey and mother Brenda. An outbreak of Lyme disease, as well as the accompanying paranoia, hits their community hard.
When the Bartlett's neighbor, Charlie Bragg, is diagnosed with the illness, Charlie is unable to work and his wife Melissa must keep the income flowing herself. She is hired by Mickey, a friendly favor motivated by lust. Mickey's history of philandering is one of the many things upsetting Brenda. Scott has been in love with the Braggs' one year-older daughter Adrianna for all his life; she is starting to return his interest.
Charlie spends days hiding in his basement, while his wife believes he is in Manhattan on job interviews. He is obsessed with hunting deer. Scott and Charlie have a good relationship, one of the only ones Charlie is able to maintain throughout his illness. Things heat up when Jimmy, Scott's older brother, comes home from the army on their mom's birthday. Brenda leaves early from Jimmy's going-away party when it is clear that there is a relationship between Mickey and Melissa. Jimmy and Mickey have a confrontation.
Scott learns of the affair and confronts his mother. Adrianna helps him through this, but shuns him after a rumor spread from a lie he tells a friend. Brenda kicks Mickey out of the house and is once again able to act the role of an effective parent. Charlie also confronts Mickey after he inadvertently witnesses the affair; when his wife finds out that he has been letting her earn the family's keep, she packs to leave. Scott and Adrianna reconnect and lose their virginity to each other. Brenda lets Mickey spend the night at their house but on the couch.
The movie ends with a gunshot. It is not clear whether Charlie shot a deer, himself, Mickey, etc. | revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0119905 | The Players Club | Diana Armstrong (LisaRaye) arrives at the scene of the raunchy, dysfunctional Players Club. She narrates that she used to work at the club and had begun when she moved out of her parents home after an argument with her father, as she was pregnant with her son. Diana ends up working at a shoe store, when she meets Ronnie (Chrystale Wilson) and Tricks (Adele Givens), who work for Dolla Bill (Bernie Mac) at The Players Club. They convince Diana she would make better money stripping, by saying, "Use what you got to get what you want."
Dolla Bill gives Diana a job, giving her the name Diamond. Everything is fine until four years into the game her younger lost-minded cousin Ebony Armstrong (Monica Calhoun) comes to live with her. After listening to Dolla's rendition of "The Strippin' Game", she starts working at the club.
Ebony is soon out of control, excessively drinking, staying out all night and influenced more and more by Ronnie and Tricks, who encourage Ebony to do more out-of-club parties for groups of men. Diana tries to warn Ebony to stay away from "those two" and quit doing house parties, but Ebony declines being told what to do, choosing to ignore Diana's advice. After the heated confrontation, Diana has a flashback of a time when she was at a private party with Ronnie and Tricks, the men at the private party offers to pay Ronnie to perform cunnilingus on Diamond who has passed out on the bed drunk, Ronnie accepts the offer and proceeds to assault Diamond, the flashback encourages Diana to protect Ebony.
Meanwhile, Dolla Bill gets confronted by a man who works for St. Louis, a drug lord to whom Dolla Bill owes $60,000. He warns Dolla Bill if he doesn't make a payment of $10,000 to St. Louis, he will hunt him down. That same night, St. Louis comes to his club to collect. Little Man, who is the doorman of the club, tells St. Louis that Dolla Bill is not at the club and they leave. The next day as Dolla Bill tries to leave the club, he gets confronted by St. Louis' men, Brooklyn (Charlie Murphy) and KC (Terrence Howard). They beat him unconscious and throw him into the back of his car. Luckily for him, they are stopped by Freeman (John Amos) and Peters (Faizon Love), two crooked cops. Dolla Bill is found in the trunk and is arrested on warrants.
The following night when rapper Luther "Luke" Campbell comes to the strip club, two of Louis's watchmen, Reggie (Ice Cube) and Clyde (Alex Thomas) are discussing about him. When Dolla Bill, who was bailed out of jail and returned to his club, is notified that Luke is at his club he alerts the strippers via a money alarm and believes he will gain a fortune profit. Clyde tries to meet Luke but his bodyguard (Michael Clarke Duncan) informs Clyde that Luke is trying to relax and not meet with fans. Clyde insults the bodyguard causing him to hit Clyde in the back of his head as he leaves, leaving him unconscious. In retaliation, Reggie beats down the bodyguard and belligerently fights against Luke and his friends, only for him to be defeated and thrown into a glass window. The dazed Reggie opens fire wildly before being knocked out by the bouncer XL (Tiny Lister).
Further tension develops between Ebony and Diana when Diana returns home one night after fleeing her obsessive customer Myrin, who admitted to stalking her and then tried to force entry to her apartment, to find Ebony in bed with her boyfriend Lance. Diana chases Lance out with her gun, shooting at him several times. Diana threatens and taunts Ebony. When Diana feigns leaving, Ebony is hit when she opens the door and is thrown out the apartment.
Diana then begins dating Blue (Jamie Foxx), a DJ at the Player's Club. Meanwhile, Ebony is offered a gig to dance at Ronnie's brother Junior's (Samuel Monroe Jr.) bachelor party, under the pretense from Ronnie that other girls from the club will be dancing there as well (In actuality, Ronnie lied to use her as a way out of stripping for her brother's friends at the party so Ebony can strip for them instead). When Ebony realizes that she will be the only woman in a hotel room full of horny men, she desperately tries calling Diana to come and pick her up, but to no avail.
Reggie and Clyde, both feeling insulted by Diana and Ebony from a previous encounter, lie to Junior that Ebony will have sex with him, claiming that they "ran a train" on her. Excited, Junior bursts in on Ebony while she is changing. Ebony resists, prompting Junior to brutally beat and rape her, leaving his friends to listen to it in full disgust and disbelief. Soon, Reggie, Clyde and the other guests leave, wanting no further involvement with Junior. When Ronnie discovers Ebony unconscious, she and Junior flee the hotel room as she scolds him. Later, Diana has a change of heart and she and Blue decide to check up on Ebony at the hotel, only to discover her bloodied and unconscious body on the bed.
Furious, Diana grabs her gun and goes to the Players Club, where Ronnie and Tricks are hiding out. After scaring the other strippers away by firing a warning shot, Diana gives the gun to Blue to cover her while she gets into a brutal fistfight with Ronnie, leaving Ronnie badly beaten. She quits in front of Dolla Bill, punches Tricks and leaves along with Blue.
Ronnie and Tricks are arrested by the police on charges of the rape of Ebony, and Junior had been arrested moments before. Later that night, Diana's timing proves to be perfect when St. Louis, comes to collect. He personally shoots up the club (though he does give warning to the customers beforehand, allowing them to leave). As he desperately tries to escape, Dolla is captured by Reggie, Clyde, and St. Louis' associate, whom Dolla Bill met earlier. Later, St. Louis has Brooklyn destroy the club with a LAW rocket.
Ebony, still sporting the bruises from her rape, now has a job working at the shoe store. Having been berated by two strippers who work at a new club, called Club Sugar Daddy's, with the same slogan that influenced her to strip, she firmly stands her ground. In the end, Diamond narrates that Ebony moved back to Tallahassee, FL to be with her mother. Blue is a top DJ at a radio station, and that he and Diamond are moving further in their relationship. Ronnie and Tricks got jobs at Club Sugar Daddy's after their release from jail. Junior is serving time in prison for raping Ebony, and that he never got married. Reggie and Clyde were last seen at the Freaknik in Atlanta. St. Louis is still "running the South" along with his hired guns, Brooklyn and KC. Peters and Freeman are still harassing people all day. Little Man is managing an different strip club in Chicago. Dolla Bill was never heard from again (Notwithstanding, it can be safely assumed that he was murdered by St. Louis' men for his debts as he was last seen being stuffed into the trunk of their car). Diana is now a successful reporter, putting the past behind for good and move onto a perfect normal life with her son and now boyfriend, Blue. | violence | train | wikipedia | "An Ice Cube film"
Wow, that's already big enough.
He is a rapper, a musician who writes songs for films, and is good at it, besides being a low profile artist.
With the production company he has, he could have the highest ego, but he continues on doing his job.In 1998, he got his chance to direct his movie; his first and only up to date.
He wouldn't do the stupid gangster films the other rappers do because he takes the job seriously; so seriously he wrote his own neighborhood and people story, which is unexpectedly touching in its most impressive moments.
Whether he got inspiration from there or not, I don't care, but the screenplay is his.In his tale, where he also allows a role for him, we meet Diana (a powerful and gripping performance by Lisa Raye), a young girl and aspiring journalist with a lot of problems that drive her towards working on a strippers club, to get money and become Diamond.
In Dollar Bill's (original Bernie Mac) club, "The players club", she is not the typical stripper, dancing with all the others; she has a special number, and some clients.
Every day she deals with cousin Ebony (Monica Calhoun), who lives with her and has more than two times her problems; her unfaithful boyfriend and the different people in the club, including DJ Blue (a calm portrayal by Jamie Foxx), who likes her.Like in any other story, these are not the only ones in Cube's vision
There are lots of them and each of them has their own thing that relates to another thing.
He has a desperate need to show things as real as possible, even if it is a fiction story, so his camera moves like eyes most of the times, like afraid of watching what's waiting on the other side, so the impact is harder when we seed alongside the camera.
Like directors of the league of Scorsese or Oliver Stone, Ice Cube tries to makes us see what he sees.
I was shocked with the ending of "Do the right thing", but I understood it was just Spike Lee expressing himself.I don't know what exactly the message Lee wanted to give was, I don't know what was going through his mind at the time, just as I didn't know what was Ice Cube thinking, so he could end up showing "The players club" in flames during the first frames of his movie..
Unremarkable but ambitious story from writer-director Ice Cube.
A young woman recalls her emotionally wrenching experiences while working at a raunchy black strip club.
Intriguing story is accompanied by a talented cast, powerful moments, and some fine performances, but too often resorts to familiar plot twists and lame stereotypes.
Not a bad piece of work for first time director Cube, but would have benefited from more creativity.
This is basically a black, very superior version of "Striptease" and "Showgirls." It's not as sexy as "Showgirls," but what I really looked for was a better plot.
LisaRaye gave an impressive debut performance as a college student trying to make ends meet.
I was very impressed with Ice Cube, his writing-directing debut, because, honestly, I didn't know he was capable.
Another thing, this movie has the best, most vicious catfight I have ever seen..
Fairly good movie with an exciting plot..
Dear Reader, I think the movie Players Club had a good story line.
So many women in search for independence like Diana have used Strip Clubs as a means to an end.
I think Lisa Raye did a good acting job and I hope Hollywood considers her for other roles.
Ice Cube should be applauded for an exciting movie..
Dollar Bill, the character played by Bernie Mac is simply funny.To the extent that there is a theme, it is one of black exploitation by other blacks, the operative color being the green of money, and it was refreshing to see the absence of non-African Americans so that the themes and action were not framed within the usual, tired aria of white economic oppression, and rather the interactions between the characters are the focal point.
Fair B quality movie depicting slice of black American strip club life in southern USA.Story is good social commentary on said lifestyle's evils and dangers but the movie suffers from a rushed directorial style and lackluster performances even by pro actors who have displayed better in the past.This was probabably caused by lack of directorial discipline on Ice Cube's part due to budget constraints.You can realy tell the veteran actors were not paid properly and just cruised along as a favor for Cube.Too bad for the movie's story was a good idea,setting up for great drama,action,comedy,sex,social commentary and entertainment much like the winning formula of SHOWGIRLS.I vote for a proper remake of this one!But as of now,avoid this movie unless you really want a peek into that lifestyle or are a big fan of any of the lead actors.Do not expect much sex scenes though for the focus on this one is social commentary.......
In an ideal guided tour about freakishly bad movies from 1977 onwards, The Players' Club should deserve a stop.
Watch out for the (so fake it hurts) catfight scene between the "good" stripper Lisa Raye and the "bad", lesbian, vicious, bleached blonde, whatshername stripper.
The small part of Ice Cube himself as the stereotype bad guy and the obvious "you can make all the money you want, but don't let money make a slave out of you" message (you're gonna hear it so many times throughout the movie it's gonna ring in your head like a f***ing bell for hours afterwards !) top it all.
Comedy, drama, action, sex appeal and good acting.
Ice Cube, as a writer, has done it again and, for the movie to be his directorial debut, it is an excellent piece of film work..
Poorly written, poorly acted a real stereotypical movie from start to end.
When working in a shoe shop Diana gets met by two strippers who invite her down to try out for the Players Club where she gets taken on.
Given the name Diamond by her boss, Diana also gets her cousin involved in the club while she also tries to look after her son and stay in school.
Eventually the drama of the club gets intense and catches her up.I like Ice Cube as an actor.
We are `treated' to the odd dance and fight scene but really the bits don't all come together and it just feels like everyone is swearing over nothing all the time.The acting is surprisingly bad from several main sources.
Wilson and Givens are ugly and nasty they can't act and I find it hard to believe people actually paid Wilson to get naked!This film is basically a modern blackploitation film made for black people to come and watch regardless of quality.
Overall Cube may have directing skills worth watching again but lets hope his next vehicle is better than this..
But, there were also a lot of things that seemed to me were supposed to be scary.It is a story about an innocent girl who is working as a stripper trying to put herself through school, and all the drama and headaches that comes along with her job.
The way Ice Cube told the story was pretty flawed.
Things were pretty misplaced, which makes it hard to follow at times.Wasn't a bad flick.
Something I would recommend solely for entertainment purposes, and only if you like cheesy "being bullied" type movies.
Ice Cube probably will never be as revered or respected as much as his cohort, the late Tupac Shakur, when it comes to rapping or acting, but he's getting there.
Now the Cube attempts to direct a film, and this is his first project.Every Black American I've known has seen this movie; they have pride in seeing their brothers make films.
Although this one is not great; it's watchable and it's quite good in spots.The story is about a young lady named Diana who comes from a well-off family.
Of course, she doesn't have enough money to go to school and raise her child, so she decides to become an exotic dancer at a black club.
The club is owned by a man who is in big trouble with loan sharks.Later, a cousin comes to visit for the summer, and seeing Diana working there, decides to get a job there, too.
Unfortunately, Ebony is drawn to the seediness of the people, and Diana must monitor her closely, because she's underage (18-19)Of course, all the usual stereotypes are here, the fat stripper who's booed of the stage, the outlandish show-offy dancers, the slow-witted stalkers, just like how it was done in "Striptease", but it's not played for laughs.
There is one funny scene in which the loan sharks stick Jamie Foxx's head in the car and drive around with him still on his feet when he tells them he doesn't know where the club owner (Bernie Mac) is.The acting is either weak or over-the-top.
Just like how The A-Team and the bad guys have balletic shoot-outs, no man is ever shot and killed.
Not a single person is killed in this film, which at least is a positive thing; that every one gets a second chance to amend themselves.
If you're a fan of Ice Cube; this isn't bad, but I'd rent it on the cheap if you've seen everything else..
But movies on the stripping game don't seem to.
Such on the form as "Showgirls" made one wish the makers had followed pornography by example and not tried to have plot.Good readers, take a deeep breath of relief that "The Players Club" has slightly higher-quality of strip than glitzy dives like "Showgirls" and "Striptease." Not quite the British Oscar contender level of "The Full Monty"...
but not quite a "Striptease." Written and directed by old-school rap superstar Ice Cube, "The Players Club" is a posh, yet harsh feature dealing with women needing big money really fast and giving themselves over to this way in order to get it.
Some strippers come in and tell her there are ways of making more money--much, much more.
did The Ice see that movie...
But despite blaxploitation roots and intentions, "The Players Club" boasts an A-list cast and production values, thanks to the powerful status name of The Ice Cube and New Line.
Bernie Mac gives in his plum of the "Players Club" owner "Dollar" Bill.
Oscar-winner Foxx of "Ray" fame got his start in the biz as stand-up and here as Blue, it might've served him (and the freakin' movie) better had he done some of his act.
You'd think the DJ at a strip club wouldn't be important (Bill even tells Blue that to his face at one point), but he proves to be the very thing that Diana needs--even pulling it all together in the final act.Looking at all this, I kept waiting for Pam Grier to pop up in some cameo (where she at least keep her clothes on).
"Players Club" does make a lot of its characters colorful and eccentric while keeping a lot of them fairly human.
Cube tries to juggle, not making it a specific genre--but a "life film." His movie is comedy, drama, a thriller, and action flick...
As a filmmaker, Ice dons the indie hat here--as screenwriter, executive producer, director and bit-player.
Though at times, Cube's stuff feels tired, underdeveloped.
Could Cube's old director from "Boyz 'N' The Hood" Singelton have come down to give former "Doughboy" some sage advice?
Despite it's blaxploitation roots, "Club" mostly tries to sidestep a lot of opportunities to make the whole thing really, really campy, going for the "so bad, it's good" laughs that helped the earlier "white-stripper" movies get some viewers.
Cube ain't Spike Lee.He doesn't make all the women into the kind of creatures they seem to be in their act.
There are times when Cube doesn't capture energy he needs to.
Guns, chicks, chicks with guns, hoes, players, white cops getting spanked by black chicks who carry guns, deals, dopes, drive-bys, cripples and just about everything you want in a movie.
Pure visceral fun.
Ice Cube Tries To Sell Some Records.
The TV guide described THE PLAYERS CLUB as " Gritty drama about an aspiring journalist who takes a job in a strip club to make ends meet " which had me thinking I'd be watching something like STRIPTEASE without any of the campness but I found myself being more and more puzzled at what sort of film Ice Cube was trying to make here .
It might be gritty but only because characters say things like " Ah'm thru wid chew you motherf--kin' ho " while the drama elements never come to the fore .
The aspiring journalist Diane Armstrong gets a job at the strip club but the story centres around other character subplots for a couple of minutes that don't really lead anywhere and one can't help thinking the character of Diane is used to set up the story just so writer/director Ice Cube can use the location to play a soundtrack that is composed of mainly Ice Cube tracks .
Ice Cube Debuts.
I enjoyed this movie and was not surprised that I did because Ice Cube has always been the type of artist to put 110% effort into anything that he does.
Black Cinema:R.I.P. Another movie about black people that degrades them and lowers their moral standards completely.This film is made by a gangster(ICE CUBE)for gangsters.The idea of a black woman having to prove her worth by showing off her wares as a stripper is just too much.This movie says all black people are good for are sex,drugs,and crime,how else does anyone who looks at the characters who have the moral standards of a pimp,who speak in the heaviest ebonics tones,to be like?Black people with no good guidelines to life just a bunch of sleezy ebonic speaking hustlers.Nearly all films about black Americans these days have degrade so badly it is safe to say that black cinema is dead.For without any changes from the black sellouts and their white masters who finance their films,black exploitation is very much alive and well..
I felt that the plot for Player's Club just barely held water.
Even Al Bundy doesn't want a beat down ex-stripper pushing his wares.However as an Ice Cube fan and a fan of local "players clubs", the movie wasn't a total waste.
It was the supporting characters that deserve credit for carrying this movie.
Very good directorial debut by a rapper.
Most films directed by rappers are usually very bad.
The Players Club is a very good one.
Ice Cube found good actors that can work with his medicore script.
I'm a great fan of Cube as a hip-hop artist; he should stick to that and not attempt to make movies.
There was always some drama goin on and that is what I loved about this movie, that they kept comin up w/ somethin to keep the viewer interested, there never was a boring part.
I really liked the main character Diamond, I loved the part where she beats the s*** outta Ronnie, and slaps Ebony in the face, they got what they deserved.
All in all a very good film, rent it.
This movie i have seen five times and i currently just watched it.
I cant help but watch this movie whenever it on.
I love how it shows a good stripper against all odds working through her struggles to survive through all the obstacles.
The movie also show true life of black woman and how violent they are but also shows how there are good sides to them that they actually do care but how it comes out late.
The ending to this movie is perfect also make money don't let it make you.
Very good first effort for Cube..
I honestly didn't know what to expect from "another stripper movie." But all in all I was quite impressed.
Ice Cube has always been one of my favorite rappers, and once he got into acting he was one of my favorite actors.
Players Club definitely shows that Cube also has the potential to write and direct more great films.
Though I wouldn't call this a comedy/drama, there are definitely some very funny scenes, especially those involving Jamie Foxx.
PROPS TO ICE CUBE FOR A GOOD DIRECTORIAL JOB..
I really like Jamie Foxx in another great role.
Although, I went into this film expecting to see a titty movie, which it aint, and I'm glad about that, because I wanted to see more than tits when watching a movie with the talents of Ice Cube, Bernie Mac, and Jamie Foxx.
THIS MOVIE: The Players ClubIs Good For The Ones That Don't Mind A Lot Of Cursing And Perversion Talking And Nudity And Some Drug Use.**** SOME SPOILERS ABOUT THE MOVIE ****
This Movie Is About:This Girl That's Pregnant In High School Leaves Home Away From Her Always Unsatisfied Father.She Takes A Job At A Shoe Store.
Introduces Her To The Players Club.She Notice What It's Like.
Low Life Brothers That Want To See And Get A Piece Of Ass.Her Baby Father Leaves Her.She Meets Another Man.Her 18 Year Old Cousin Moves In With Her.Her Boyfriend and Her Cousin Caught By Her Having Sex.She Kicks Her Cousin Out.Ronnie And Tricks Makes Her Do A Bachelor Party By Herself.The Cousin Calls Diamond For Help.She Refuses.The Cousin Gets Raped.She Takes The Blame.
Go Back To The Players Club.Beat Up Ronnie and Tricks.
Ice Cubes writes, directs, produces, acts, makes the sandwiches and thoroughly spoils everything in this movie.
Jamie Foxx plays a character who continually denigrates the dancers in the movie until he shows tenderness to one of them at the end for no reason but " that's Hollywood, forget logic".
I don't think that this movie featured heavily on his CV . |
tt0108447 | The Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter | The film opens outside the Winthrop house from the first film, only this time it is swarming with police officers and medical technicians. Howard is being wheeled into an ambulance because he has three deep gashes in his chest, Tanya is put into a police car, and Randolph is carrying Joshua Winthrop's book of spells, which he gives to Howard for safe keeping. Randolph confronts the Dean of the university about the house, who tells him not to dabble in things that he could never understand. Then Randolph goes to Professor Warren, who agrees to help.
Howard is dragged along and the three go to the spot where Randolph erupted from the ground in the first film. Howard is to stay near the car to keep guard. Eventually, Warren and Carter find Alyda, Joshua Winthrop's demon daughter (Joshua Winthrop appears to Howard in a dream at some point to confess that he caused his daughter's evilness) wrapped up in the roots of the tree that dragged Alyda out from the house in the first film. Warren injects the monstrous being with insulin to rid her body of the demon. This plan works, and she transforms into a beautiful woman, naked and wrapped in the tree roots. She is given sugar to bring her out of the insulin overdose, and the pair free her from her bonds. The demon is still in the caves, though, and it begins to hunt Alyda down so that they can be one again. After a showdown in the Arkham Library, Randolph manages to defeat the demon, but Alyda dies simultaneously. | violence | train | wikipedia | This might be the only Lovecraft movie sequel to actually adapt a Lovecraft story ("The Statement of Randolph Carter," which actually preceded "The Unnamable") and is a superior sequel.
Completely underutilized David Warner slipped in for one day to shoot a scene as the college chancellor and Rhys-Davies might have been there for a couple of days.
The film offers lots of gore and, again, the creature design is pretty damn spiffy.
This movie was pretty good (Maria Ford being nude for over half an hour certainly helped!).
The presence of veteran actors David Warner and John Rhys-Sallah-Gimli-Davies only heightens the cheese factor to Limburger-sized heights.
I accidentally rented Unnamable II tonight, thinking I was renting the original for the first time in a few years.
(The original was one of my favorite Gothic horror films.) I was disappointed that I had grabbed the wrong movie, but still enjoyed seeing this one.With the possible exception of The Godfather II, sequels never match the originals & this one is no exception.
The idea of the split demon-normal girl is intriguing and the lovely Maria Ford is convincing as the 300-year-old coed.
Folks, as one who is around professors every day (and who hopes to BE a college history professor in a couple of years,) I can attest that the average English or history professor barely understands how to connect to the Internet or operate PowerPoint, let alone set up a mini-science lab in a dark cave in five minutes!This one is okay, but I need to see the original again.
Stephenson is an almost perfect Lovecraft hero, and Davies and Warner were perfect casting for this movie.
Lovecraft adaptations are always difficult because the monsters are supposed to be from an entirely different Geometry and they drive people insane because they cant cope with the violation of Known laws of nature.
Older movies like the "dunwich Horror" tried making their monsters shining lights and stuff and failed.
The competently low-budget sequel (which was made 5 years after the original) sees the story continue where the first film finished off, and director Jean-Paul Ouellette delivers a far better effort on this Lovecraft outing than on the previous one.
However while being rather expansive, slicker and better paced, it was kind of laid-back on the violence (which the first film wasn't afraid to bare) and jolting thrills (which aren't as imposing).
The slick tone seemed to be aiming for pulpy fun in a fast-moving chase format than the simmering atmospheric jolts in a confined setting, and for most part it works.Returning characters Randolph Carter (exaggeratedly acted by Mark Kinsey Stephenson) and Eliot Damon Howard (a solid Charles Klausmeyer) make for a fruitful chemistry, as they must do battle again with the demon with no name.
Along for the ride is John Rhys-Davies and Maria Ford who spends plenty of screen time in the nude under her flowing long hair is very convincing in her part.
Julie Strain is the lucky one who gets suited up in the creatively effective make-up FX of the titular demon and David Warner also gets in the act, but with very little in the way to do.This time around the story (with a consistently witty script) holds a little more substance and character to its framework (where modern science and ancient folklore come to terms) and explores the possibilities, than reverting to a simple stalk n' slash exercise.
I just had to purchase it on DVD when I had the chance.I loved the story and found it to be thrilling and good.
It drew from the Lovecraft universe in a good way, and I was nailed to my chair throughout the entire movie (and it still does whenever I put it into the DVD player).I have watched this movie maybe 5 or 6 times over the years, and never gotten tired of it.
Of course, a certain amount of time have to pass before you put this one in the DVD player again.When I watched this for the first time, I was fairly unfamiliar with John Rhys-Davies, but found his acting here to be believable and good.
And this movie also introduced me to Maria Ford, which I must say is a plus for this movie.The atmosphere of the movie is dark and brooding, which works well throughout the entire feature.
Even though Jeffrey Combs is not in this Lovecraft-based movie, it is still providing good entertainment.
It has a good, solid story, no real boring moments throughout the length of the movie, and I think it is a must have in any horror fan's DVD collection..
An absolutely stupid choice of lead actor combined with a really bad script makes the whole thing kind of "Killer Tomatoes" cool.This kind of thing happens in the story: They go into some underground tunnels beneath a graveyard with no plan, no guns, no secret charm, just Don Knotts and Mr. French going to see if the monster that killed 4 people last night is still there.
Check out the sound it makes when the deputies are shooting the lock at the end.I didn't see the first movie, but I don't think I needed it to review this..
This sequel to "The Unnamable" (1988) is actually a bit more interesting, as it's much more a mixture of things than the original was (it combines two Lovecraft stories this time, 'The Unnamable' & 'The Statement of Randolph Carter').
John Rhys-Davies is amusing as always, but lasts only half the movie.
The story picks up right after the events of the first film and meanders in slightly different directions this time.
Just like the first film, which was much more a slasher-orientated effort, this sequel's hardly a masterpiece.
The beautiful Maria Ford steals most of the show here, as she's walking around completely nude during half of the movie's running time.
Furthermore, "The Unnamable II" stays true to the spirit of Lovecraft with a lot of amusing inside references to his works.
This sequel picks up directly where part one left off and finds the two main characters from the original film seperating the human half from the demon half of part one's monster.
OK i remember watching this movie when i saw this on video back when i was like 17 and i thought it was a good movie and they tried to take off where the last film ends but the only thing that they messed up on was that they said the creature was born from Joshua Winthrop daughter but that is false he was born from Joshua Winthrop wife in the first film, that really was the only error i found in the movie.
The movie was a good overall sequel, i wish they could of had a little more blood and guts, let you know what happened to Tanya from the first film.
But here I am in 2014 watching a 90s movie that looks more like an 80s movie.Something happened in a house.
Howard is also with them but he stays outside.Inside the cave they find a creature, that's a pairing of a woman--the daughter of the former house owner--and a demon.
And sure enough the demon appears and Carter, the girl, some friends, the cops all have to face the demon.This movie can be credited with one achievement, a very questionable one though: it stars Maria Ford and Julie Strain in 1992 and yet shows no nudity.
Ford is not wearing clothes for a good part of the movie, but a huge wig covers up her body.
See, that's exactly what happens when you're being mild and give favorable reviews to insignificant 80's horror movies like the original "The Unnamable".
And this time, writer/director Jean-Paul Ouellette even had a slightly larger budget at his disposal, meaning the script is a lot more ambitious and there even was some money left to pay famous B-movie stars like John Rhys-Davies and the minuscule cameo appearance of David Warner.
Even though part two came out five years after the original, we're supposed to not notice that the actors look a lot older and wear their hair in completely different styles.
"The Unnamable Returns" carries on where the first film stopped, with Howard and Randolph escaping from the cursed Winthrop house.
Randolph Carter, the self-proclaimed expert in demonology, returns to the catacombs underneath the house to investigate the origin of the half-woman-half-demonic-creature along with his university professor John Rhys-Davies.
Apparently it works, as the demon assumes something's wrong with the body and exits, leaving only the beautiful host Alyda.
Randolph takes the 200-year-old naked beauty back to the dormitory, but the hideous winged demon creature follows their path.
The original "The Unnamable" was perhaps a dumb and unmemorable film, at least it was entertaining.
The gore is minimal but it nevertheless is an unpleasant movie to look at because far too many innocent people die.
That's just not right, not even if you exclusively watch horror films to see gore..
The Unnameable 2 is loosely based on Lovecraft's "Unnameable" and the "Statement of Randolph Carter".
The film strays from the two stories quite a bit, but it has tons of Cthulhu Mythos elements.
Mark Kinsey-Stevenson and John Rhys-Davies really propel this film.
The film is fast paced unlike other horror movies that can put you out (such as the first Unnameable that had a slow middle).
If you enjoy Lovecraft, gore, and good acting, this movie is right up your alley..
How do you make a sequel to a Lovecraft short story that ends without any follow-on?
Possible spoilers follow: You take an entirely different Lovecraft short story and make it part of the second film.
"Statement of Randolph Carter," an entirely unrelated short story, was made an element in this film.
The character of Professor Warren was originally a friend of Carter's who explored the underground tunnels using a telephone set using wires.
The basic outcome was the same, though.The film is full of Lovecraftania and has good touches of humor in it.
Randolph Carter(Mark Kinsey Stephenson)decides to pursue the she-beast which attacked and killed some of his college chums.
Seeking guidance from an authoritative figure he can trust and respect, Carter goes to Professor Warren(John Rhys-Davies, a delightful presence)whose field of expertise in in ancient history, among other things.
Having found the Necronomicon in Winthrope's home, Carter and Warren discover that the she-beast is actually Winthrope's beautiful daughter, Alyda(Maria Ford)"invaded" by the demonic spirit of an evil winged creature.
Warren concocts a successful plan to release Alyda of the evil creature by using insulin tricking the monster into believing that the human host was dying.
The spirit fleeing Alyda, she is awakened to a brand new world..but, the demonic winged creature, with sharp fingernails that rip human flesh easily, wishes to retrieve it's host and will kill anyone who stands in her way.
After Warren discovers too late that the creature has remained in the tunnel, Carter and Eliot will attempt to find Alyda help(..she was kept in an attic during her young life and only knows the "Cthulu" language taught to her by pops)while staying one step ahead of danger.
Unfortunately, students of Miskatonic University and Arkham County's finest will not be so lucky as the demonic winged creature goes on a killing spree ripping the throats of everyone it comes in contact with.
Inspired by the works of Lovecraft, like a lot of horror films coming out in the late 80's and early 90's, "The Unnamable II" is more of a monster movie.
The demonic creature's rampage is not as gory as I would've liked with a great many of the murders occurring off-screen.
But, substituting those potential thrills is Maria Ford practically naked under long hair(..which amazingly keeps her breasts hidden)for nearly the entire film, only wearing a gown when a female student pal of Carter's influences her into putting it on by disrobing.
The love that strengthens between Carter and Alyda is rather sweet and Ford is adorable and convincing as a newborn pup introduced to a new world she's never known.
Stephenson as the nerdy intellectual with craziness and chaos all around him, wisely plays his character completely straight, displaying a calm and reserve needed by the leader in charge of keeping Alyda from danger.
David Warner is rather wasted in a cameo as Miskatonic University's Chancellor who warns Carter to not pursue the creature.
Spirited direction from Jean-Paul Ouellette(..this is definitely an improvement over the first film which is more of a slasher flick), a nifty creature with cool wings, and a likable cast really enhance what could've just been yet another Lovecraft "adaptation" that missed the mark.
The use of a wooden chair in battling the demonic creature when attempting to invade Alyda's body is kind of neat.
Picking up only moments after then end of part 1, this sequel continues the story of the surviving students of Miskatonic University and the demon that killed off their school mates.
Good story, acting, and effects.
Studious bookworm Randolph Carter (a sturdy and credible performance by Mark Kinsey Stephenson) investigates a series of strange murders at Miskatonic University.
He discovers that said murders were committed by a savage and hideous half-woman, half-demon monster (Penthouse Pet Julie Strain in a gnarly outfit).
The beast seeks to be rejoined with its human half Alyda Winthrop (a sweet and touching portrayal by the ravishing Maria Ford) so it can be complete again.
The capable acting by the tip-top cast keeps this movie humming: John Rhys-Davies brings a winning blend of energy and conviction to his role as the hearty Professor Warren, Charles Klausmeyer lends amusing support as the wishy-washy Eliot Damon Howard, and Ford projects both a certain endearing fragile naivete and a sizzling feline sensuality as a wide-eyed innocent damsel in distress (the fact that the delectable Mrs. Ford spends a substantial amount of her screen time cavorting about in her birthday suit certainly doesn't hurt matters in the least).
Expanded sequel, but too flawed to be effective as a horror film.
Whereas THE UNNAMABLE was a typical "let's all go to the haunted house and get killed by the monster one-by-one" entry in the teenage slasher genre, this sequel tries to be more as it expounds on the original story and also adds in plenty of false science and mumbo-jumbo to make things sound good.
Who would have realised that by injecting an evil demon with insulin, it would cause the girl's soul to separate from the monster?
The pacing isn't all that good either, with sections towards the end where nothing much happens for half an hour or so.
Some people get slashed apart and ripped but it's never very gruesome.Instead, we have a beautiful girl (played by B-movie regular Maria Ford) wandering around naked for much of the film (perverts beware, this is no LIFEFORCE - the girl has long, long hair in this case), plus lots of light comedy stuff to make things supposedly enjoyable.
The problem is that the film falls apart after the initial setup (which is in itself good), jumping from one silly scene to another until the head-scratching climax which makes you think they couldn't think of any other way to end the film.Okay, so the budget is higher and the special effects are notably better, including lots of crackling energy and an improved rubber suit, but the creepy magic of the first film is missing.
Maria Ford is pretty good as the innocent girl caught up in a world she doesn't recognise or understand, while good old David Warner cameos as the school's chancellor in one scene.
Kudos goes to John Rhys-Davies, who puts in a good performance as the nice professor who unfortunately gets killed early on, which is a shame as I'd have liked to have seen more of his character.If you liked the first film, then you will probably enjoy this one, but there just isn't enough incident to propel it along.
Instead it moves on like some second-rate slasher, killing off minor characters every once in a while to make things more interesting.
Okay to watch, but not that good really when you think about it..
The only real problem I had with this movie was that the most obvious things were never done.
~Spoiler~ I don't remember much about the original Unnamable, but I certainly don't remember it being this bad.
Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter has some great actors (John Rhys-Davies, Peter Breck, and David Warner), some B-movie scream queens (Maria Ford and Julie Strain), and Mark Kinsey Stephenson who is neither, but unfortunately he is the star.
Somehow John Rhys-Davies and Mark Kinsey Stephenson separate the real Alyda from the demon.
The real Alyda is played by Maria Ford (who spends most of the movie naked) while the demon is played by Julie Strain (who we never see out of the ugly make-up).
Maimings and killings result as the demon chases Alyda all over Miskatonic campus.
This film was much more original than the first movie, which was just a typical "teens get killed in an old house" movie.
I enjoyed this a lot more than the original, but unfortunately, this film had a few problems.
The idea is that the creature has been trapped by tree roots to the wall of an underground "cave" or something and Randolph, now being helped by the dude who played the Professor in "Sliders," apparently tried to figure out what the most stupid approach to the problem would be.
It wasn't until after the spell was cast that one of the characters said aloud, "Is this a very good idea?" I laughed at that one.
The main problem I had was: the creature is now seperated, one half is a beautiful girl and the other half is a monster, which is now MANY TIMES MORE POWERFUL than when it was in the body of the girl.
Yet, the creature was chasing them around the whole time trying to get back into the girl. |
tt0074719 | Joshua | Brad (Sam Rockwell) and Abby Cairn (Vera Farmiga) are an affluent New York couple with two children. Their firstborn, 9-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan), is a child prodigy to such a degree that he thinks and acts decades ahead of his age. He is nearly always clad in conservative business attire and demonstrating limitless brilliance as a pianist with a marked predilection for "dissonant" classical pieces.
Joshua gravitates toward his aesthete uncle Ned (Dallas Roberts) as a close friend, but distances himself from his immediate kin, particularly following the birth of his sister Lilly. As the days pass, bizarre events transpire as the mood at the house regresses from healthy and happy to strange and disorienting. As the baby's whines drive an already strained Abby to the point of a nervous breakdown, Joshua devolves from eccentric to downright sociopathic behavior.
Joshua causes a fight between his mother (who is Jewish, but non-religious) and paternal grandmother (who is an Evangelical Christian and who constantly proselytizes Joshua) when he tells his parents he wants to become a Christian. Abby gets very angry and swears at the grandmother, telling her to leave her house immediately. Joshua later convinces his mother to join him in a game of hide-and-seek. As Abby counts to fifty, Joshua takes his baby sister from her crib to hide with him, causing his mother to panic and pass out while searching for them in the empty penthouse above them, before he puts the baby back into the crib to make it look as though his mother was hallucinating the entire incident.
Later, after discussing Abby's psychological problems with his brother-in-law Ned, Brad takes two weeks off from his job to look after Abby and his children. When he arrives home, Joshua has gone to the Brooklyn Museum with his sister and their grandmother Hazel (Celia Weston). Joshua frightens his grandmother by describing to her in detail about Seth, the Egyptian God of Chaos, and his violent acts. While they are at the museum, Brad watches a video tape of Joshua scaring his baby sister with a light, making her cry. He arrives at the museum, just in time to see Joshua attempt to push his sister in her carriage down a large flight of stairs, but he stops when he is caught by his grandmother, whom he proceeds to push down the large staircase, killing her and disguising it as an accident. However, Brad is convinced Joshua pushed her and confides in Ned at the funeral.
That night, Brad installs a lock on his bedroom door and tells Joshua that Lilly will be sleeping with him, fearing Joshua will attempt to do something to his sister. That night, Joshua builds a house of blocks in the living room and provokes his father. Brad tells him he won't be able to hurt anyone else, as he now realizes he is causing trouble. Later that week, on Ned's recommendation, Brad brings Betsy (Nancy Giles), a psychologist, into the home to meet Joshua. Betsy comes to the conclusion that Joshua is being abused. Later, Brad tells him he is being sent away to a boarding school, causing Joshua to run away. When Brad arrives home, he finds Joshua hiding in a cupboard, crying hysterically with a large bruise on his back.
The next morning, he and Joshua go for a walk with his sister, but Joshua has stolen her pacifier, causing her to cry. When Brad confronts him, he begins to mock him, causing Brad to strike him. After Brad realizes what he did, he tries to apologize. Joshua further taunts him, which drives Brad to beating his son in public, strengthening Joshua's case of abuse and sending Brad to jail for child abuse and assault. In addition, it is indicated that Joshua has framed his father for tampering with his mother's medications, suggesting that Brad will spend the rest of his life in prison, leaving Ned to adopt Joshua and his sister.
In the last scene of the film, Joshua is playing a piano while his uncle Ned is talking to a person in a phone about having a nanny to take care of Lilly. Afterwards, Ned sits with Joshua and the two compose a song with Joshua singing an original song. The lyrics of the song are basically how Joshua's parents both will never be loved by anyone due to all the events. It is then revealed in the song that he only wanted to be with Ned and got rid of everyone else. | revenge | train | wikipedia | I remember seeing this movie years ago, and my memories of it were that it was a pretty decent western.
Sadly, time had faded the negative things about this movie.To be sure, there are a few positive things I can say.
Combining the scenery with the musical score makes for some haunting sequences.But most of the movie doesn't work.
The bad guys are even thinner characters, all of them seemingly alike.There is also a lot of poor direction.
It's presented in the dullest way possible, a feeling that keeps coming up in the rest of the movie.Although some of the music is haunting, the low budget of the movie means that the same bars of music are played over and over, which becomes annoying.
Though this would probably resulted in a running time not qualifying for a feature-length movie.One last thing I would like to bring up: The pan-and-scanning of this widescreen movie is TERRIBLE.
You can't properly read the opening and closing credits, and when there is more than one character on screen, one of them is often cut off (sometimes ALL of the characters are chopped offscreen!) This movie needs to be seen in its full widescreen glory, but since the movie is now in the public domain, it seems very unlikely anyone would spend the expense to release this movie on DVD restored..
Not much time is spend on any sort of character development, but we've all seen these types of characters in every other western anyhow.
It's true that there is not a lot of dialog from Fred Williamson, but his character (Joshua) is a lone cowboy sneaking along quietly through the desert.
The film has a real nice gritty Italian look to it and its starkness works fairly well with the story.
It's not going to be the greatest movie you've ever seen but it's interesting enough to watch once.
JOSHUA: THE BLACK RIDER (3 outta 5 stars) I am almost tempted to give this movie 5 out of 5 stars because it is almost perfect in its simplicity...
a western movie can't get much more straight-forward than this: a man's mother is killed...
and he spends the rest of the movie tracking and killing the men who did it.
I *like* movies that take their time.
Fred Williamson plays the title character...
The bad guys kidnap a woman along the way and rape her a few times but by the movie's end she has inexplicably allied herself with one of her assailants.
Practically the entire soundtrack of this movie is a 90 second piece of faux-spaghetti-western music that gets repeated again and again and again...
towards the end of the movie it almost becomes comical when that same old theme is repeated yet again.
I think you need to *really* be a fan of westerns to like this one..
In Joshua the music fit the film perfectly, especially the low growl when the camera turned to the black rider.
Though I prefer an unpredictable story line, this film can be good when one prefers sometime something simple.
The previous poster commented that this movie was not available in Widescreen.There's at least 2 ways to get this in Widescreen.
The other movie is some William Shatner film.
I was pretty shocked to see it in widescreen considering the package was only $5.00.The 2nd way is on the 'Legends of the West' 8 Movie Collection.
I'm pretty sure that's widescreen as well.Slow movie that drags on.
The theme song repeats all the way throughout the movie.
Don't remember if there was more than one actual song played throughout it's entirety.This movie is really only for Blaxploitation/Fred Williamson completests..
Joshua (Fred Williamson) tracks the band of cutthroats who shot down his defenseless mother (not a good thing to do to a strong black man) through the desert and into an implicitly racist town where things really heat up.Great location photography makes this low-budget blaxploitation/western look better than it's dollar figure would suggest.This is a minimalist viewing experience where the story (like a silent picture) is told primarily in pictures with most of the sparse dialog inconsequential, which I think explains the mixed reviews.Personally, I thought it was an okay movie but I'd wish that the filmmakers would have beefed up the script with more dramatics and emotions, playing up the racism in the town and forcing Williamson to fight to extract the despicable villains.Also, It would have been nice to see a recognizable character actor (Aldo Ray or Cameron Mitchell anyone?
I don't usually like westerns, but I enjoyed this immensely.Twice!
Such remains mostly unresolved, but I liked the coolness of the loner, quietly righting wrongs along the way, mostly against the odds, but with effortless precision & skillfulness if not mastery as he goes about his unfolding journey.
Personally, I was mindful of the concept of 'vengeance is mine says the Lord!' I could well imagine God inspiring such a man in pursuit of love for his beloved, mother or wife or other aspects of love, as variously reflected here in the powerless but generous farmer, & the quiet ways of the returned war hero on a new mission, who seemed to be threatened more than he spoke!
I've 200 Spaghetti Westerns, so I watch a lot that most people would consider of borderline merit, so I'm very capable of overlooking production shortcuts for the sake of the bigger picture.
It wasn't so much awful as it was really incompetent.Fred Williamson does well in the lead role...but he should stay away from script writing!!!
Technically the history, physical possibility of a thing happening, etc., was actually as bad as Quentin Tarantino.
You could write five pages on the continuity errors section of this page.I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 because the scenery was nice, it was a western and Fred was OK.
Joshua starring Fred Williamson in the title role tells the story of a returning black civil war veteran who finds his mother murdered and some other woman abducted by this gang of some really loathsome cretins.
Of course Williamson's duty is clear.The film was shot in the sacred John Ford country of Monument Valley, Arizona which as a tourist spot boasts of its fame as a location for some of the best westerns ever done.
This however was not one of them.The story of Patty Hearst was fresh in people's minds and the woman abducted decides she likes it with the gang.
Let's say she becomes less and less inhibited in her sexual relations with the gang and she's more like an outlaw groupie by the time the film ends.Unless you're a fan of Fred Williamson, pass this one by..
We've seen the vengeance-chase thing, the silent hero thing so many times and, with "Joshua" it's a case of here we go again, this time with lesser results.Fred Williamson acquited himself well, but the rest of the cast could have used some bad guy acting lessons.The music could have used less excess.
At one point it sounded like somebody was just learning to play "Chopsticks."Also unnecessary was the 'bosom' scene.
By the way, every now and then it looked like they came close to connecting.The scenery was excellent, the horses were pretty.
Wow, what a great film, I can't believe how some of the reviewers did not enjoy this movie!!!!
The music really set the tone on Williamson's character.
He wasn't riding to play no games, nor have much conversation - he was riding to avenge his mothers death and the music and lack of dialogue from him showed that.Some people are just to critical on films like this.
Just stop looking for things to complain about with a movie like this and just enjoy it.Great film..
Someone, even if the star of the film Williamson himself, should have never allowed this film to reach the public with the simplistic kindergarten theme song played in the opening credits as well as various times through the film.
With such a humble production, the task of the music department would be to merely stay out of the way and not detract from the overall end product.
Unfortunately, the music in this film fails miserably and detracts from any momentum that the average acting gains.
Williams is pretty good in the lead role and his stoic approach is in tune with the Western gunslinger theme.
I really like western films but this one is absolutely insupportable.
The cast is completely lost in a series of scenes that made no sense at all (like the showdown in the cave when Joshua killed the last outlaw).
Williamson develops a zombie-like performance all the time and that contributes to make this mess a complete waste of time and a great exercise of patience..
Fred Williamson also authored the story and wrote the screenplay for this Western vehicle for himself.
He plays the title character, a black man who fought for the Union side during the Civil War. He travels to the homestead where his mother (Kathryn Jackson, "The Black Godfather") has been a maid for a frontier family.
Naturally, he relentlessly stalks them, aiming to kill them one at a time in the name of vengeance.Produced and directed by Larry G.
Spangler ("The Life and Times of Xaviera Hollander"), this is neither very good nor very bad.
The scenery looks reasonably good as shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but you can tell this was still done on a budget.
Mexican superstar Isela Vega ("Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia") doesn't get a lot to work with, playing the good hearted woman who comes to Williamsons' aid at critical times.
Ralph Willingham, in his only film role, is annoying as shrill old fart Weasel, a member of the gang.Taking everything into consideration, this is an okay viewing for a Hammer fan / completist, but it's absolutely nothing special.Six out of 10..
Western vengeance with unstopped pursuit starred by a king of blaxploitation, Fred Williamson.
After a savage massacre of his mother and kidnapping a girl, the black rider (Fred Williamson) , a civil war veteran , set out a personal vendetta and a rescue against a band of outlaws .
The black rider travels the Soutwestern territories and crosses paths until finding nasties .This is an average Western revenge plenty of violence , riding chases , shootouts, grisly killings and results to be quite entertaining, in spite of some slow-moving scene s.
With similar plot to Italian Western , whose main argument being ¨revenge¨ and likeness to ¨Chato¨ where Charles Bronson revenges , one by one , the killers his family .
Displays extraordinary landscapes with glimmer cinematography like is well reflected on the breathtaking outdoors filmed in natural parks of Monument Valley .
This Western with lots of action packs a boring and repetitious musical score by synthesizer .
The film is starred by Fred Williamson , one of the first African-American male action star of the Blaxploitation of the early 1970s , including his filmography the followings : ¨Black Caesar¨ , ¨Hammer¨ , ¨The man bolt and Black eye¨ ; besides , Isela Vega who played Western for Cantinflas in ¨Por mis Pistolas¨ and Sam Peckinpah , in ¨Bring me the head of Alfred Garcia¨ .
The motion picture was regularly directed by Larry Spangler , director and producer of ¨Legend and soul of Charlie¨ , again with Fred Williamson .
Should Have Been a Pretty Good Blaxploitation Western.
With the Civil War just ended a Union soldier by the name of "Joshua" (Fred Williamson) is looking forward to starting a new life and is on his way to meet his mother who had been staying with a young couple who are about to be married.
Unfortunately, upon arriving there he learns that 5 men have killed his mother and abducted the young woman (played by Brenda Venus).
Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that it had a fairly interesting plot.
However, the music played during several of the action scenes was rather annoying, the character development needed improvement and some of the scenarios lacked any sense of realism.
In essence then, what should have been a pretty good Blaxploitation Western turned out to be slightly below average and I recommend it only to those who might be interested in a film of this sub-genre..
When "Joshua" blew his horn, the FILM came tumbling down..
Blaxploitation figure Williamson starred in and wrote this western revenge saga which bears a passing resemblance to the equally cheap "Cry Blood, Apache".
He plays a returning Civil War soldier coming to meet his mother Jackson who is a domestic for Hendrick and Venus, a farmer and his mail-order wife.
When Williamson finds out that his mother is dead, he sets out to systematically eliminate the quintet of killers who, incidentally, have taken Venus with them for comfort.
Like many films before and after this one, a lone man stalks and kills a series of bad guys, always finding a way to get each one alone.
This wouldn't be so bad if the killings had been handled in any sort of creative or arresting way.
Williamson cuts a nice figure, all in black, against the dusty landscape and he's intimidating to be sure.
Unfortunately, with an exception or two, he makes the other actors look like they just got the script seconds before the cameras rolled.
Hendrick does okay with his small role and Vega isn't bad as a woman who briefly distracts and aids Williamson during his quest.
By the time she's ready to be rescued, the audience has already been praying for most of the movie that she'll be shot in the head!
The other major debit of the film is the agonizing musical score.
The same six-note sequence is played, with an occasional variation, over and OVER and O-V-E-R throughout the course of the movie!
Every once in a while, something else is played, but mostly it's this same droning, horrid bit of music that threatens to continue forever.
Williamson makes this passable, but it surely isn't good..
I got it in a 20-movie "Mean Guns" westerns 5-DVD set.
A lot of rare "gems" were in this movie set.
And Joshua I felt is Definitely a excellent Fred Williamson film & western!
Fred Williamson is an amazing actor & writer.
While that may be true, (Some of the scenes we have seen in many a western) I felt they were handled from every original angles.
Passable revenge Western.
Tough black soldier Joshua (a credible performance by Fred Williamson, who also wrote the slight script) returns home after fighting for the Union during the Civil War only to discover that his beloved mother was murdered by a gang of evil white bandits.
Joshua decides to track said gang so he can exact a harsh revenge on all of them.
The acting is likewise hit or miss: Cal Bartlett cuts a suitably hateful figure as ruthless ring leader Jed, Brenda Venus makes for a fetching damsel in distress, Isela Vega contributes a lively turn as a feisty Mexican woman, and Ralph Willingham dreadfully hams it up as annoying comic relief crazy old coot Weasle.
"You know what it feels like to kill?".
While watching this film I was reminded of a 1970's clunker titled "Cry Blood, Apache", a movie Western that still holds sway with me as one of the worst I've seen.
But the thing I liked about that picture that's done here as well is the inventive way the title character goes about dispatching the outlaws that killed his mother in the opening set up.
'Cry Blood' was even cooler, the bad guy got a bag over his head with the snake inside - think about it.The second outlaw to be done in by Joshua (Fred Williamson) presented a bit of a puzzling situation.
It occurred right in the bad guys' camp, but it wasn't made clear how Joshua got near enough to spear his victim at such close quarters.
The real head scratcher for me was how the kidnapped and repeatedly raped woman portrayed by Brenda Venus went so far overboard in her Stockholm Syndrome transformation with gang leader Jed (Calvin Bartlett).
Also, if you think about it (here I go again), wouldn't that have been the longest rendition of 'Oh, Susannah' ever played, seeing as how the pursuing Joshua got involved in a couple more scrapes before he made his appearance there.As for the over all musical theme, I have to go against the naysayers.
If I had to find a main fault with the picture, it would be the inordinate amount of time spent riding and tracking the outlaws.
********SPOILER************Fred Williamson's Joshua is your basic Vengeance themed Spaghetti Western.
This one is about a black civil war veteran who returns home to find his mother has been murdered by a gang of white thugs.
There is little character developed, almost no dialog, a couple scenes that make absolutely no sense and that do not advance the story in any way.
There is no intimacy in this film with any of the characters.
Isela Vega plays a farmer's wife whom the gang kidnaps and repeatedly rapes.
By the end of the movie she has developed an unexplained and unexamined relationship with the head of the Gang.
The fetching beauty is totally wasted in this movie in a thankless role.This is a cynically scripted film that asks very little of the viewer other than to watch Mr. Williamson awkwardly ride a horse across the countryside.
Ken Maynard, he is not.One feels that had Williamson developed his characters and plot more he might have had something here, although the vengeance themed Western has been done ad infinitum with two much better examples being Nevada Smith with Steve McQueen, and Last Train from Gun Hill with Kirk Douglas.
By the end of this contemptuous movie, the viewer doesn't really care about any of it. |
tt1175709 | All Good Things | In 1970s New York City, David Marks (Gosling), the son of a powerful real estate tycoon, marries a beautiful working-class student, Katie McCarthy (Dunst). Together they flee New York for country life in Vermont—only to be lured back by David's father (Frank Langella). Upon their return, they buy a beautiful apartment where Katie brings up the idea of having children, whereupon David implies he can't have any. They eventually buy a lake house out of town and Katie tells their new pregnant neighbor that she is expecting as well. Katie tells David, to which he responds by throwing a chair and breaking a shelf. David makes Katie have an abortion, which he misses while doing work for his father.
Katie goes back to college and eventually applies and gets into medical school. During a celebratory party at her parents' house, David drags Katie out by her hair when he wants to go home and she asks him to wait. Katie wants a separation, but her funds, which she needs in order to graduate, are cut off when she attempts to leave. David gets violent and Katie begins to show signs of abuse. Family secrets are slowly revealed, and then Katie disappears without a trace.
Years later, the 20-year-old case is re-opened, and soon after David's best friend Deborah Lehrman (Lily Rabe) is found dead, with David as the main suspect. | psychological, mystery, murder, dramatic, violence, flashback, romantic, suspenseful, home movie | train | wikipedia | The movie functions mainly as a kind of indictment, and I wonder if it would work were it not for the 'documentary' angle, the movie as crusader for the truth, bringing to light the possible culpability of a real person, abetted by certain friends and family, a man as yet unpunished.The motivations of this character, the object of the indictment, are accounted for in the course of the story, as various traumatic and painful incidents from his life are shown or recalled, and by allusions to deviant mental conditions or sexual preferences that are not.
At the end, the inner life of the putative killer remains obscure, a source of dissatisfaction for a movie that is about character.So, not a great movie, but an engrossing entertainment if you are in the mood for a dark story that leaves you wondering how closely real events in fact matched up to this clever reconstruction..
He has a knack with dark family secrets.In the film, Ryan Gosling plays David Marks, disenchanted son of Real Estate mogul Sanford Marks (a powerful Frank Langella), who witnessed the grisly suicide of his mother when he was very young.
The good things are soon to end.Since much of the real life story is still a mystery, Jarecki does a nice job in assembling pieces from the trial records.
"All Good Things" is a love story and murder mystery set against the backdrop of a New York real estate dynasty in the 1980s.
The film stars Ryan Gosling as David Marks, Kirsten Dunst as Katie McCarthy, and Frank Langella as David's father, Sanford Marks.From the beginning, the relationship between Gosling and Dunst is very intriguing and interesting; possibly the best part of the story.
Moreover, things do take some time to get moving with too much concentration, in my opinion, on character development, especially on subsidiary characters, before Marks' strangeness starts to manifest itself, although this too is done awkwardly (off- camera conversations with himself, point-blank rejection of having a family with his living wife, peer-pressure from his father) so that I'm not sure I made the leap to psychopathy that Ryan Gosling's character actually makes.The supposed thriller sequences are done in a hackneyed manner too, with night-time filming, dark shadowy interiors and even thunderstorms outside which work against the realism striven for elsewhere.
By the end, after some head-scratching about Marks' transvestism and the strange, fateful relationship he builds up with his elderly fellow- tenant, I felt the movie hadn't satisfactorily plugged the plot-holes along the way for it to flow as it should.Gosling and Kirsten Dunst are both good in the lead parts, although the shifts in character for the former, as indicated, are difficult to surmount.
This is not the swinging Studio 56, 70's; but the creepy, Times Square Porn theatres, Taxi Driver, Son of Sam, 70's; Dark and strange, where wealthy and powerful New Yorkers, Civil servants and Leisure suited Larrys' live under their own rules and law.Like Marcus Hinchly and Marc Smerling, the writers who took a big twisted story one may have read in Vanity Fair on hot Southampton summer beach; unraveled into a clear and coherent, cliché' free film; strung together with clever dialogue and cleverly created a non- narrator, narration, through the POV of a court room character brief / testimony.Frank Langella, who, with one look at an empty chair, early on in the movie, could have stolen the film outright , had it not been for for the careful editing of David Rodenbloom and Shelby Seigel, under Jarecki's umbrella; making sure the film, which is not about his character, Sanford Marks, remains that way, true to the story.Langella brings weight to every frame he's in; his charisma so apparent, it's not his fault really, that he commands every scene he's in, stealing the viewer's attention from what may be going on in the frame.
(see The Ninth Gate or Frost /Nixon) - "it's 39.50 each, that includes a very generous tip" -The Father and son subtext; combined with the functional madness of real life Durst ({David Marks]) played by Ryan Gosling as you've never seen him) is so very strange and un-nerving, it may make you shudder knowing that people like this exist all around you; everywhere you go, all the time.Kristen Dunst, shows her range in this film.
Gosling as Durst, plays/wears his aberrations as the straight man in a twisted comedy duo.Kristen Wiig shines here, proving her talent stretches way past just comedy straight into the world of excellent dramatic acting (be careful you may develop a crush on her) "eat your salad"Jarecki shows us much, in All Good Things; the breakdown of a marriage, the strained relations of a father and son, wealth and its trapping, but more intriguingly, how a seemingly 'normal' man can hide the sociopathic madman inside, carefully, while unbeknownst to us, can live a functional and, again, subjectively 'normal' life.
Although we may hide behind the great illusion and lie to ourselves that they are few and far between; that all murders and madmen eventually get caught and put far away from our children, friends and familys', yet Jarecki and his team show that this great conceit of ours, is totally wrong, just another lie we tell ourselves as we sign our lease's, leave our tips, show the bouncer our ID's, and run around central park in the evenings to avoid the crowds.All Good Things, Directed by Andrew Jarecki, shows this to us in a film that you may need to to see a few more times to get all the brilliant subtleties, and top star acting..
It's based on the story of Robert Durst (whose name is changed in the movie to David Marks, played by Ryan Gosling.) The details (as far as they're known) of Durst's life are fairly well presented.
(i'm thinking of the scene where Kristen dunst painfully mails this evidence indicting her husband to the senator only to have him mail it back to her husband the next day--"this is family business...and none of our affair", or the quick scene of Ryan gosling writing his phone number on the boat "in case it gets lost", or the terse "Leave A Message" greeting on Gosling's hideaway's answering machine every time someone calls.) There are a lot of little things like that throughout that really make the movie pop.Yes its true that the story is yet another one about an increasingly sociopaths rich guy--and the unraveling of his life as he gets more and more paranoid, etc.
It was a good story with solid acting all around but the real question that you will want to ask at the end of the film remains unanswered in real life too (which may in fact be the reason the film was made but its still frustrating to ask a question that remains completely unsolved even in the true life story on which this is based.) This is however a solid film with a solid Ryan Gosling performance at the center that too few people will see and will probably go unappreciated for many years until some writer or blogger exploring his filmography years from now tries to pulls it out from obscurity as a re-discovery or whatever.
The first two-thirds of this film has a strong script coupled with excellent performances, direction and cinematography, all working harmoniously together to tell the story of a doomed love affair between David and Katie Marks.
Allowing other people to convince him that Katie's not happy, he returns to the questionable family business in New York City where it is made certain that nobody is, or will be, happy.What I liked most about "All Good Things" (apart from the actors) was that it started as a romantic drama and slowly progressed into an all-out thriller and flipping the villain and victim around so it looks like innocence and guilt could never be placed.
Guess this was what writers Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling had in mind when the duo penned the script for Andrew Jarecki's romantic mystery film, which is inspired by the true story of a New Yorker whose wife disappeared in 1982.The film begins in 1980s New York City, where the son of a powerful estate tycoon marries a working class girl.
20 years later, the man's best friend shows up dead, and the case is reopened, leading to an unsettling truth.If you didn't have the context that the plot was inspired a true incident, this 101 minute movie may have played out like any other murder mystery.
The main issue is probably the fact that it is based on a true story and there are so many stranger than fiction developments and points of interest that trying to capture real life can get messy when trying to also entertain.Good Thing: I thought the movie was well shot, with a lot of night scenes, they handled the visuals in an interesting mood setting way.
Let me start real quick by saying this is my first IMDb review, and that I think IMDb is one of the best web sites on the internet.We watched "All Good Things" I think mainly because of the hype about Ryan Gosling, and while I believe he is a good actor he seems to choose parts that are so very slow that they leave the movie quite boring.
The twist at the end also leaves us wondering what the heck really happened, but not in an interesting "make your own conclusions" kind of a way.That said, if you like Mr. Gosling's acting style (and the slow style of his choice in directors) in previous movies such as "Beyond the Pines" and "Drive" (which I liked more than "Good Things"), you might like this one as well..
Based on a real life event the mysterious "All Good Things" is a great film that combines many different genres to create its story about relationships and what might cause its death, things like family pressures, different backgrounds, psychological problems, aggression and other things.The love story of David (Gosling) and Katie (Kirsten Dunst) starts in the 1970's where he is a rich guy trying to run away from his father (Frank Langella) control, a powerful man who wants a brilliant future for his son by working along in the family business, a real estate deal; Kathy is a girl trying to succeed with a desire of studying medicine and she wants to start a family with David.
Gladly, most of what happens in the third act of the film are implications so you can believe it or not.What makes of "All Good Things" a more appealing film is the great performances of Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, they're always talented in everything they made and here both gave brilliant performances.
Directed by Andrew Jarecki, without this chilling real life episode and background, it could just have been an ordinary film if not for the wonderful, engaging performance by leads Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst.Set between the 70s and last decade in New York City, David Marks (Gosling) falls in love with a pretty working class girl Katie (Dunst), whose marriage and union is perfect on the surface, if not for the objection of his real estate tycoon father Sanford Marks (Frank Langella) whose elitist status and snobbish behaviour brings about some tension as he frowns upon his son's lack of ambition and choice of wife from a lower social standing.
I felt the story played out somewhat like Revolutionary Road as we witness the disintegration of a beautiful relationship, as slowly but surely David reveals a much darker side to his being that in some instances will shock you as he dishes out unadulterated violence on his wife.I suppose it's a different era then with the stigma of a divorce, on one hand Katie's separation allowed her to pursue her studies in medical school, while on the other perhaps it was the money, which never once stood in the way to corrupt her affections for him, much needed now to fuel her lifestyle of drug addiction.
She disappeared for a while to check into rehab for depression, and returns with what is arguably her best performance and role to date, playing the wide-eyed girl full of hope and dreams to be married, but finding out in a snap that her beau is definitely not what he seems, plotting an escape that didn't quite go her way, and what more her character's mysterious disappearance which takes her out of the equation in the narrative.It is the strong portrayals by the leading cast members that make All Good Things compelling to sit through, with the thought that something similar had already happened, an open case without a resolution, and one of the mysteries that continue to remain unresolved..
All Good Things (2010) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Decent drama about real estate heir David Marks (Ryan Gosling) who goes against his father's (Frank Langella) wishes by marrying a young woman (Kirsten Dunst) who doesn't come from the same background.
The movie tells the story of David Marks, a business manager from a wealthy family, his strange psychological behaviour and his wife mysterious vanishing, not to mention two other murders.
Yet, with All Good Things, it really is based on a real murder/missing persons case in America from the eighties.We see Ryan Gosling and Kristen Dunst meeting and falling in love.
They do well to get into some very difficult characters and the film is definitely worth a look.So, not a great movie, but an engrossing entertainment if you are in the mood for a dark story that leaves you wondering how closely real events in fact matched up to this clever reconstruction..
It cannot sustain itself despite the excellent acting performances from the three main leads.Once Dunst disappears the film takes a bizarre twist as an older Gosling finds himself with Philip Baker Hall.It might be the unsatisfying conclusion which reflects the real life events.
Good as Far as it Goes, but the Narrative Could be Livened Up. Based on a real-life case involving a New York real estate family, ALL GOOD THINGS centers on the life of David Marks (Ryan Gosling), who has been permanently psychologically scarred by the sight of the death of his mother at seven years old.
Although he had for this movie at hands a splendid team of Hollywood actors who did a fine job he did not succeed to turn the juicy crime story upon which the film is based into a real compelling piece of cinema.The story Jarecki is using is the highly publicized and never solved case of the disappearance in the early 80s of the wife of a rich class New Yorker, involved in the murky real-estate business of his family in the center of Manhattan.
Crime stories fans will find themselves watching for more than half of the screening time a family drama, romance (the film starts like kind of a 'Love Story') quickly turns into disarray and domestic violence, reality does not necessarily make into cinematographic truth.The best reasons to watch this film despite mixed reviews and not a very high mark on IMDb is however acting.
The even better news is that there is even better acting than Gosling's in this film and I refer of course to Kirsten Dunst's role as the loving wife whose dream of marrying the nice and rich guy slowly descends into nightmare, and to the veteran Frank Langella who injects character and complexity in the role of the family father who is much more than a (anti)-moral symbol.
Ryan Gosling, Kirsten Dunst, Frank Langella, and Lily Rabe star in "All Good Things," a 2010 film.
Natural dramatisation was introduced, while certain key plot points were given to present one possible version of events (an educated guess on behalf of writers Marcus Hinchey and Marc Smerling).Rich heir David Marks (Ryan Gosling) falls for lower class Katie (Kirsten Dunst), who aspires to become a doctor, and despite family protests of entering into a relationship outside of his class, marries her and together set up a low-key country life in Vermont and a shop "All Good Things".
During the movie we are taken to the trial in small snippets, but the main of the story is told in flashback format.The Robert Durst character is Ryan Gosling as David Marks, son of a Manhattan real estate tycoon.
Based on a true story, Ryan Gosling plays David Marks, the son a a rich New York property owner.
Inspired by the most notorious missing person's case in New York history, All Good Things is a love story and murder mystery set against the backdrop of a New York real estate dynasty during the 1980's.It stars starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst together with Frank Langella,Kristen Wiig,Philip Baker Hall,Diane Venora and Lily Rabe.It was directed by Andrew Jarecki.The film was inspired by the story of Robert Durst, scion of the wealthy Durst family.
Mr. Durst was suspected but never tried for killing his wife Kathie who disappeared in 1982 and was never found.The film was obviously well-acted especially with the talented young actor,Ryan Gosling as part of the cast.And the true story that inspired the screenplay provides plenty of drama and will provides lots of interest to the viewer.The movie just captures the emotion and complexion of this real-life unsolved mystery..
But in "All good things" not every reasons are explained because the director is telling a real story(the names of the characters in the movie were changed)that is still a mystery and the leading actor of this drama is an enigma. |
tt1599378 | Yoga Hakwon | Hyo-jeong is a co-host of a shopping channel show lingerie. However, she loses her job to her younger, more glamorous, rival, and she also gets into a conflict with her boyfriend, Dong-hoon. Deciding to calm herself, Hyo-jeong heeds to an old friend, Seon-hwa's advice to take up yoga class for a week. Her yoga colleagues include the jolly but demented In-soon, the failing actress Yeon-joo, the troubled mother Yoo-kyeong, and the quiet Bo-ra. The class is taught by the cryptic instructor Na-ni, who states the following rules: 1. Not to eat, 2. Not to shower within an hour after training, 3. Not to communicate with the outside, 4. Not to look at mirrors, and 5. Not to go outside. Na-ni also informs the class that the owner of the yoga school, the former 1970s actress Kan Mi-hee, will join the class on the seventh day.
The five women are suspicious that something is amiss with the school and Na-ni herself. Nevertheless, they continue to undergo intensive training and even start to bicker with each other as they attempt to achieve Kundalini (the coiled "serpentine" energy) as promised by Na-ni. Meanwhile, Dong-hoon, who likes to watch Mi-hee's films during her heyday, tries to contact Mi-hee's frequent collaborating director, Kang Hee-joong, only to find him dead with his eye gouged out in his house. Recognizing Seon-hwa, whom he met just before he discovered Hee-jong's corpse, as Hyo-jeong's friend, he confronts her with Hyo-jeong's whereabouts. Refusing to answer, Seon-hwa heads down the street only to be hit by an incoming car. Dong-hoon finally contacts a janitor who formerly worked in Hee-jong's studio, learning that Mi-hee might have something to do with the death of her substitute in her final film, after she was fired.
Throughout the week the women start to break the rules: on the third day, Yoo-kyeong bathes less than an hour after training and In-soon eats a strangely prepared dinner. Yoo-kyeong is soon found lifeless with slash marks and black goo in the bathroom. Na-ni takes her in to treat her, but the latter is choked by Na-ni's pet snake. Later, Bo-ra lends Yeon-joo her mirror, and both of them are dragged by an unseen force on the fifth day. On the sixth day, In-soon catches Hyo-jeong calling Dong-hoon and tries to report it to Na-ni, but she receives her punishment for lawbreaking on the third day: she is revealed to have eaten her pet mouse's corpse which damages her skin, and she is dragged away by a black-clothed woman.
Becoming the only surviving pupil on the seventh day, Hyo-jeong meditates and gets glimpses of Mi-hee. She bolts away to find Mi-hee's corpse with snake-like skin and eye producing a snake. Hyo-jeong is knocked out by Na-ni, who then performs a ritual for Mi-hee to take Hyo-jeong's soul. Hyo-jeong, however, manages to escape and discovers her colleagues' dying bodies. As she works to get away from Na-ni, flashbacks reveal that Na-ni is an admirer of Mi-hee and wants to be exactly like her. She says that Mi-hee is a demon who trades Kundalini in exchange for souls. Stating that she cannot continue this anymore, Na-ni succumbs to her wounds inflicted by Mi-hee while Hyo-jeong escapes.
Hyo-jeong is able to reconcile with Dong-hoon. As she heads back home, she encounters her colleagues at the subway, all mysteriously alive. After a brief power failure, Hyo-jeong screams when all people disappear, leaving only posters depicting Mi-hee hanging on the walls. | cruelty, murder, haunting, flashback, psychedelic, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | A Horror Movie About Yoga .
That Works!.
When I first saw an advertisement for this movie on the internet I thought it looked kinda – well – dumb.
How exactly do you take something like yoga and make it exciting?
I suspected that the concept would be fairly shallow and that there would be too much dead weight and/or uninteresting filler material to make it an entertaining film.
In addition, I had reservations about what kind of horror sequences could possibly be implemented.
Needless to say, I skipped out on a blind buy for a while but eventually took the plunge when curiosity got the best of me.
Most fortunately, "Yoga Institute" (2009) turned out to be an enjoyable horror film.The way it does this is to implement a very interesting main theme: vanity and the striving for perfect beauty.
In some ways "Yoga" is similar to films like "Dumplings" (2004) and "Time" (2006) because of their shared amalgamation of vanity and horror, as well as their common focus on communicating the lengths to which some will go to obtain beauty.
Of course, the protagonists in "Yoga" are not quite as crazy as the characters in the aforementioned films, but they do have their moments of instability within the confines of the privately owned institute that they visit to perform their week-long series of intense yoga training.
While none of these characters are especially complex, they are sufficiently developed to earn the viewer's interest.Another important scriptwriting decision that makes "Yoga" more interesting than it should be is the introduction of a form of witchcraft.
This witchcraft element is shown in more of a subtle manner than one might expect because it's not explicitly referenced at any point, yet is clearly the cause behind the beautification process as well as the nasty ramifications that befall those characters who do not follow the strict guidelines and rules laid forth by the institute's madam.
This, of course, leads to some cool horror sequences that completely avoid most genre clichés like ghost girls, human-inflicted torture, and loud jump scares.
There's ample use of creepy sound effects (like snake noises) and chanting to give a sinister vibe.
The witchcraft angle just seems like a great decision by the filmmakers because it allows the film to breath life into the whole yoga premise.With regards to the production quality, "Yoga" is what we've come to expect from the South Korean film industry.
The yoga institute itself is a private mansion with very elegant architecture and spooky interior designs that add a lot to the visuals and atmosphere.
The acting is solid for the most part and the camera-work is first-class (especially those close shots of hot girls twisting their bodies in all kinds of dubious positions).The ending is a bit of a mind-boggler, but those looking for something different and fun might want to check "Yoga" out..
Gives Yoga a bad name..
A group of women arrive at a yoga school in order to take a secret "intensive course" that is supposed to restore their youth and vitality in only a few days.
There are rules, though, and breaking the rules leads to unfortunate and sinister consequences.
Yoga has two things going for it.
It's weird, which can be a good thing, especially with how derivative horror movies can be.
And it has a cast full of beautiful Korean women, which is always a plus in my book.
Other than those two things, though, Yoga has very little to recommend it.
The biggest problem is that Yoga is simply boring.
I watch a lot of Asian horror, but this is one of the least interesting that I've come across.
It's not frightening or gruesome or shocking, there's no atmosphere of tension or menace, and no moments that make you cringe or wince.
There was a lot of yawning and watch checking on my part, but those were really the only reactions that Yoga drew from me.
Add the fact that this wholly dull movie has a very unsatisfying and frankly confusing ending, and there's no real reason for even the hardest of the hardcore Asian horror buffs to see this.
Very disappointing..
Though One Cannot Deny the Film's Creepiness, Yoga Leaves its Viewers with way too many Unanswered Questions.
Vanity has a massive role to play in the South Korean horror film Yoga, which accurately encapsulates how physical beauty, in any society, is hailed as one's most prominent feature, which is unfortunately especially true for women, and is reflected in the, almost, all female cast of this feature.
The lack of compassion, amidst the competitive tension, reveals how two dimensional the media can be, while additionally demonstrating the self-centered nature some people exude.Hyo-Jung (Eugene) is lucky enough to be blessed in many aspects of her life, though her lack of any contingencies only adds to the negativity of the situation when her life takes a turn for the worse.
While out with friends, she happens upon Seon-Hwa (Rie Young-Zin), whom she used to relentlessly intimidate, when younger, for not exhibiting similar attractive qualities, an aspect of the plot that deserved additional attention to further reveal its emotional depth.
The film, it seems, is not without a sense of irony.
Losing her occupational position to a younger, more beautiful colleague, Hyo-Jung's dismay only grows when she learns the friend she used to antagonize so much has miraculously changed into an indescribable beauty.Hyo-Jung's jealousy and spite only inflates her ego, thus causing her to reject boyfriend Dong-Hoon (Daniel Choi), the only person in her life whose affection was unwavering.
A man with an avid fascination for old movies, this is well integrated into the plot as he begins to investigate a director he holds much admiration for.
This part of the narrative has a direct connection with what Hyo-Jung begins to experience later, this uniquely entertaining back-story containing elements of film-noir, that would make any fan of the genre positively bounce.
However, further attention was a requirement to make this particular sub-plot stand out, the film later abandoning the exploration of this segment, the lacking contextualization being very disappointing, especially since its tense introduction was so well executed.A chance encounter with Seon-Hwa leads Hyo-Jung to be recommended a week long retreat at a strange yoga studio, where one of the lucky few women attending the clinic will be provided absolution in the form of the Kundalini, and in so doing, will be able to retain their youthful gorgeousness.
The fact each of the women are impressively attractive exaggerates how each of the characters have been indoctrinated by their peers, and by the media, into believing they no longer retain their beauty, and the lengths some of these women are willing to go to strive for supposed perfection, in itself is quite frightening, though at the same time, honest.
Ideologies concerning power, faith and deities are loosely explored during the intensive, and perhaps it is this writer's ignorance on the subject of yoga, but I was unable to discern if this was just developed in regards to the plot, or if this legitimately coincides with the exercises.While undertaking the yoga intensive, the women are warned against contacting the outside world or disclosing what transpires there to others; consuming food at specific hours; showering or bathing during a one hour period after exercises; or looking at mirrors, the breach of any one of these rules being enforced with harsh penalties.
These strict guidelines are handed to them by the beautiful, yet strange yoga master Nani (Cha Soo-Yeon), whose character deserved further explanation as to ascertain her exact place in the supernatural plot.The consequences for breaching the rules result largely in the disappearances of those responsible, and though we are occasionally shown the ramifications the women are forced to endure, for the most part, they simply disappear, kidnapped by disembodied entities.
As the number of women vying for the perfect beauty are gradually reduced, vindictiveness begins to win out in the fiercely competitive climate, as certain characters attempt to fool others into breaking the rules.Though some of the visuals are capable of disturbing the audience, the drabness of the setting furthering this, these aspects could have been strongly intensified.
The most effective production element however is the use of sound: hissing, whispering, snapping - each of these are deeply immersive, continuously heightening the impression of impending danger, while the soundtrack atmospherically adds to the tension, making even the viewer feel as though they themselves are unsafe.The film's climax is able to abundantly entertain, however the conclusion, which is very interpretative, is unable to resoundingly close the film.
Despite blending elements of the thriller and horror genre together, the film rarely, succinctly, contextualizes the narrative of either, and despite the feature's ability to keep the audience guessing, the lacking definitive answers, or resolution, will leave many a viewer irritated..
working out, breaking bones.
Two characters stick in my mind for the creepiest in this film.
The first would be Su-yeon Cha. Her character was really weird.
She was like a doll, or puppet to the master of the Yoga.
She barely showed any emotion and moved so slow it was uncomfortable.
Then you have Eun-ji Jo who played a character addicted to food.
She snaps at one point of the film and her giggle was really creepy.
Who would of thought that Yoga could be turned into a horror film.
You would think it would be pretty bad, but I actually enjoyed this film a lot.
It was dark, creepy and the acting wasn't half bad.
The story was even pretty good.
The ending was not as amazing as I would want from a story like this, but it was still decent.
They had some great scenes with the sounds of breaking bones.
There is also some great visual scenes that will have you grind your teeth.
Again, you may think this movie is bad, but it is a great horror film compared to the new ones you see now a days..
A visually well made but utterly boring movie..
On the outside, the director seemed to have done everything right: The visuals, camera work and chilly atmosphere checked all the right boxes for a promising horror movie.
I was expecting the usual feeling of horror to set in soon.
It never came.The movie was boring as it was, but as a horror flick it failed its objectives entirely.
I couldn't really see what exactly I, as a viewer, should be afraid of - and I think it's an unwritten rule that horror movies should give you SOMETHING to be afraid of, if only for an amusing while.
The few supposedly horror elements (women's faint screams, the randomly bleeding bathroom armatures, the dark hallway) and moments (the shower-curtain scene, two girls getting sucked in by the mirror or something) were bland and not very terror inducing.
The five rules the women in the story had to live by were simply stuff to fill the story and in the end didn't have any meaning to them at all, which was a weak extra that left you unimpressed.
The same goes for the intermittently shown side story involving the main protagonist's boyfriend.
The characters themselves were superficially drawn and did not inspire any sympathy whatsoever.
This also didn't help you understand any of the protagonists' motives.
In the end, this also made the ending to some sort of a confused mess.
All in all, the story was a horrible chaos.
All the loose ends never came together for a satisfying and logical conclusion.
Many of the storyline's threads led to nowhere - and it's obvious they weren't meant to obscure the main story either, because the main story was inadequately put together as a whole itself anyway.
As a movie, this is less than mediocre, as a horror movie, this is a huge big FAIL. |
tt1996264 | For a Good Time, Call... | After Lauren is dumped by her boyfriend, she is unable to afford a place of her own. Her old friend Jesse informs her of a beautiful apartment right by Gramercy Park, but does not include the fact that his other friend Katie lives there. During their freshman year of college, Lauren had to drive an inebriated Katie home from a frat party. She accidentally spilled her own urine onto Lauren from an empty slushie container, and was promptly thrown out of the car. Despite their clear disdain for each other, they reluctantly move in together for lack of better options.
One night, Lauren hears strange noises coming from Katie's room. Believing she is being attacked, she opens the door to see Katie is saying sexually explicit things on the phone. Katie explains that her career as a writer does not earn her enough money to live in New York, so she does some work as a phone sex operator. Lauren is disgusted by her roommate's profession, but makes some suggestions to how she could make more money. Several weeks go by, and Lauren loses her job at a publishing company when her boss decides to retire. She encourages Katie to obtain a land line, 1-900-mmmhmmm, and becomes her business manager, as they go into business for themselves, which is much more lucrative. In a few weeks they make $12,000, of which Lauren gets 1⁄3, which increases when she becomes a phone operator herself. In the process of their venture, they become close friends.
Throughout the film, Katie has been speaking with a repeat customer named Sean and the calls become less about phone sex and more about getting to know one another. They agree to meet, but are accompanied by Lauren and Jesse who are concerned that he may be a rapist. However, after Katie and Sean meet they discover that they are very well suited to each other and begin to start a relationship which leaves Katie feeling distressed as it is revealed that she is a virgin and has been lying for many years to cover up her insecurities.
Lauren gets an interview at a prestigious publishing company who earlier rejected her, and Katie convinces her to do the interview so that she can blow them off. Yet once Lauren gets to the interview and admits that she has been running a phone sex line all summer, they offer her the job as they feel she has business savvy. Concerned about her long-term prospects, Lauren accepts the job which angers Katie to the point where she reveals their business to Lauren's conservative parents. Lauren moves out and the girls stop speaking to each other.
Lauren's ex-boyfriend Charlie returns from Italy and declares that he made a mistake in breaking up with her. He reveals that he had a passionate love affair with a fiery Italian woman, but if he is to succeed in his business he needs someone boring, predictable and simple - the same reasons he gave to Lauren for dumping her in the first place. Lauren stands up for herself and leaves Charlie for good. Meanwhile, Katie and Sean decide to have sex and in order to calm their nerves they talk on the phone while lying next to each other in bed. When they were finished Katie feels sad that she can't share this news with Lauren, whom she loves. Sean encourages her to call Lauren, and they declare that they 'think' they love each other.
Lauren and Katie both call each other at the same time, and they engage in a phone conversation full of unintentional innuendo before they meet each other on the street and hug. | flashback | train | wikipedia | It's also a relationship film, but an impressive variation from the usual romantic comedy angle.Like another film from this year, Giant Mechanical Man, a significant part of this story involves young adults finding themselves along with happiness after what they thought was a serious relationship was ended by the significant other.
A comedy about phone sex may not sound like a good idea, but For A Good Time, Call...
It all revolves around two former-college "frenemies" (I really hate that term, but whatever
) who both need to find a roommate so they can stay in New York and live the "American Dream" which is when mutual friend Jesse (played by an hilariously camp Justin Long) forces them to move in together.
The phone-sex-line however, is not the centre of this film, though it certainly plays a significant part.
This film is borne from a post-Bridesmaids we-women-can-be-just-as- filthy-and-funny-as-men era and it takes that female empowerment to a whole new level with both ladies showing their modern-esque sexuality and embracing there situation.
The chemistry between the two lead actors is very convincing and as I watched I couldn't help but think that they had a truly distinctive "Womance" (that's the female version of a bromance) that is rear to see in film or TV.
at the Sundance Film Festival If you liked Bridesmaids you'll want to see this movie.
Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor) have a mutual friend (Justin Long), but they hate each other.
Lauren lives the settled conservative life with her perfect, boring boyfriend; Katie is an adventurous, flamboyant sex phone operator.
Lauren's sudden unemployment coupled with the good head on her shoulders sparks her idea to help Katie launch her own sex phone hotline.
That's because the film isn't about the phone sex hotline business but rather Lauren and Katie's friendship.
And now the crass and crude sex comedy "For a Good Time, Call
" is actually a cute and sweet female buddy film.While the dialogue is extreme, it is surprisingly fairly well written.
Plot advancement is limited as it is very predictable and the jokes are very one-note, but it's still funny."For a Good Time, Call
" is honest in what it claims to be, and despite an unresolved storyline, we're cheering for Lauren and Katie by the end because of the actors and how they have connected them to us.
Their common gay friend Jesse (Justin Long) brings Lauren to share the apartment with Katie, but they are college enemies and have difficulties to accept each other.
Katie also works in a phone sex line but her income is very low.
When Lauren loses her lousy job and is not accepted in a publishing house, she decides to use her knowledge to make a profitable business in sex for Katie and herself.
"For a Good Time, Call..." is an uneven comedy, funny in certain moments and lame in others.
I am smiling and laughing as I am typing this!For a Good Time Call is exactly what you think about with an independent film - no sugar coating or dumbing down to make it appeal to a mass audience.
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningFormer bosom buddies turned long separated rivals Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor) find themselves thrown back together by chance, through GBF Jesse (Justin Long) and after sorting out their differences, Lauren learns Katie's making ends meat by being a phone sex operator.
Jamie Travis's film is just not funny, with a plot that's lost your interest about twenty minutes in and is just left to wallow in the mire, with little cohesion or comic timing.
Current comedy favourites Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen make only the briefest cameos and, along with the film's minimal publicity campaign, this should be saying something.For a Good Time, Don't Watch.
With a premise in a similar vein to 'Zack And Miri Make A Porno', which also starred a dim- witted Seth Rogen, 'For A Good Time, Call' is a crude, daring comedy that never crosses the line simply because it doesn't have one.Resorting to phone sex to help pay the bills in their city apartment, Lauren and Katie - two completely opposite personalities - bond despite a teenage feud still lingering.
While Ari Graynor has the better role to play, Lauren Miller manages to prove she shares a sense of lowbrow humour with her husband (Rogen), who cameos in one of the film's most memorable scenes.
Justin Long's flamboyant character is used to the right extent; the film never outstays its welcome in any aspect, its brisk running time only slowing for a more serious third act, a missed attempt at giving the film emotional weight where, given its no- holds barred hilarity, feels somewhat unnecessary.Refreshing and relevant, 'For A Good Time, Call' is a chick flick for both genders; a sugary depiction of sisterhood flirting with a risqué exploration of what men enjoy about it..
Co-writer and star Lauren Miller has played various smaller roles in several of her husband Seth Rogen's movies (Superbad, 50/50, Zack and Miri Make a Porno), but uses For a Good Time, Call
as an attempt to step out of her hubby's shadow and distinguish herself as a star on her own.
Her script is a fun, light hearted take on the so-called taboo world of phone sex, and while the endless amount of naughty jokes are humorous to a certain extent, the gimmick runs itself a bit thin by film's end.
Miller, paired with veteran ditz-for-hire Ari Graynor make a fun female version of the Odd Couple, but it doesn't take long for these characters to run out of steam on screen.
Along with Miller, Graynor has long been the sidekick in other people's starring vehicles, so it's nice to see her actually get the chance to carry a movie on her own, but her persona in this flick is virtually the same to her characters in Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and The Sitter.
Had so much fun watching this movie with my best friend.
Love that this movie was written at a kitchen table, filmed within 16 days, and came out looking like a high budget film.
Let me put it this way; after hearing men reiterate the passion they have for the size of their private parts and their ability to pick up and have sex with any women, it was somewhat pleasantly different and original to hear women converse about vibrators, phone sex, and different slang terms such as "phanal" ("phone anal" for the literate).To put it simply, this is a very funny and surprisingly warm movie with a contagiously raunchy side.
It just so happens that we are given two female protagonists here that carry a lion's weight of the film effortlessly and poetically; the last things I was expecting to say about a film centering around two acquaintances drumming up an outdated phone sex business.Lauren Powell (Lauren Miller) was the smart-girl in school who always seemed destined for greatness and who was always seemingly benefited from mommy and daddy's money.
One night in college, Lauren was forced by her best friend Jesse (Justin Long, in quite possibly the most brashly gay role this year) to drive Katie home and after, let's say, a poor circumstance, Katie was left in the middle of nowhere.Fast-forward a few years later, when Lauren is down and out after being dumped by her boyfriend and Katie's apartment is about to be sold to another client if she can not pay rent.
When it is learned that Katie runs a phone sex business in her home, Lauren, at first appalled, realizes that there is a boatload of money to be made in the business and decides to become Katie's business partner when the job she wants falls through.
Several filthy calls and credit cards later, Lauren wants to have her own line at the newly made 1-900-MMM-HMMM, because she feels she has gone too far in her boring, good-girl life.The movie realistically portrays how girls carry out their contention between one another when forcefully paired together.
Then it shows their slow, awkward, and shaky progress towards friendship before they are blossoming with joy from being around each other.It's that and the idea that the film doesn't overcompensate on the infinite number of dirty things these women can say to their customers or vice-versa, but also explores them as characters with emotions, personality, and feelings.
Of course amidst all that, we get fun cameos from Kevin Smith, a taxi-cab driver, and Seth Rogen, an airplane pilot, both horny and looking for a good time on the phone.For a Good Time, Call...
is like the best comedy to ever deal with phone sex and will be for many, many years to come.
Ari Graynor is terrifically energetic here, as is Lauren Miller, but the performance that did it for me was Justin Long's passionately convincing, if over the top, gay character who continues to check up on his friends even long after they've committed to a solid, likable relationship.
It's sweet, memorable, and effervescently fun; pretty much all of the things phone sex isn't.Starring: Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, Justin Long, Seth Rogen, and Kevin Smith.
A pretty funny comedy about two former enemies who start up a phone sex line.
"Hello world for a good time call 1-900-mmm-hmmm." Lauren (Miller) & Katie (Graynor) are both at a rough patch.
Lauren's boyfriend is moving to Europe and she lost her job, Katie can't make enough to stay in her apartment so their mutual friend decides it's time they move in together.
The cameos were great and the movie was funny but it was a little more girlie then I was expecting.
This is more then a movie about phone sex, its about friendship and being true to yourself.
At first, the hostility is off the charts, but when Lauren loses her dream job, she is forced to help Katie run her business, a phone sex line.
At first, seeing the things these girls were saying and the people they were talking to was hilarious, but after an hour of this film, it just really wasn't all the funny anymore.
For a good time watch this movie, it's way out there, but some parts are truly hysterical..
is so bad that Justin Long plays a flamboyant homosexual in the film and that isn't even the worst thing about it...
On the whole: have a nice time and watch it, though not alone....I made this mistake and I really missed a girlfriend to giggle with - as this movie is not only about sex, laughing but also some new-found feeling of deep friendship.
It was interesting to see their contrasts on screen.If you like sex, comedy and friendship films this is a great one to see..
This comedy is about two women in their 20's who come together to create a phone sex business.
And it really worked as this phone sex business really did (surprisingly) empower these women.
Lavern Miller (Lauren Powell) and Katie Steele (Ari Grayner) turn the tables from being college frenemies to BFFs. A quirky comedy about the dynamics of using sex appeal to discover the vast pot of undiscovered gold.
Lauren Miller-Rogen and Ari Graynor are really charismatic and you'll fall in love with them from the beginning.
But its off-beat rhythm grew on me, and by the time it was over I found myself enjoying it quite a lot.Lauren Miller and Ari Graynor play roommates who first hate each other and then become best friends when they team up to run a phone sex business.
There are some predictable conflicts that do more to slow the film down than add interest, but there are enough surprises along the way to keep the film from turning into the predictable sitcom it might otherwise have been.Justin Long has a supporting role as the flamboyant gay man that has become a stock character in every movie that wants to earn its hip and edgy badge, and though I can acknowledge that the lines coming out of his mouth were funny, they weren't funny enough to overcome my complete resistance to him as an actor.Grade: B+.
Lauren Miller and Ari Graynor pretty good chemistry.
The money trouble continues and Lauren decide to join Katie in a phone sex business.
Don't get me wrong there was some saucy humour in there and it was definitely the kind of film you'd watch after a couple of drink with the girls, but it was more than that; and I think girls and guys alike will enjoy.The main characters complimented each other well and although they were both flawed that just emphasised their likability.So if you want something a bit naughty and a bit fun I would definitely recommend..
They started to bond via the most unlikely way."For a Good Time, Call..." is an explicit and gross comedy, putting sex (and sex toys) in your face to make you laugh.
It was mildly entertaining at best.Ari Graynor, Lauren Miller, and Justin Long starred in this mediocre, rather crass, and not-so- funny comedy.
Now this movie is a good time.
Though this may not seem like much on the outside the characters and story are well thought out and lively that it is almost impossible for you to not have a good time while watching this film.The story, behind its raunchy and superbly unladylike jokes and jests, is one for the lovers of a good tale of friendship.
Hesitatingly, they desperately agree!The story continues with the two ladies sharing a phone-sex hotline business and create an awesome friendship along the way.
It's well made with an okay script that will adequately entertain you but not much beyond that.Mrs. Seth Rogen aka Lauren Miller plays one half of the lead gals.
She does a really good job as the sweet and innocent Lauren Powell who eventually comes around and becomes a sex call operator.
Something about the characters and story would have just worked better in small doses (like a half hour sitcom.) The cleverness to the film is the spoofing of typical romantic comedies, and the bizarre relationship between the two main girls.
Most of the time you think the two of them are going to end up together but in reality the film is simply spoofing the close relationship of two best friends.
Just go into the movie knowing this is about laughing and about loving your true friends, ignoring the differences you have oh and phone sex!
"For a Good Time, Call..." exemplifies yet again why female-driven raunchy comedies tend to work better than those that are male-driven.
We're actually made to care about what we're watching.The plot centers on New Yorkers Lauren Powell (Lauren Anne Miller, also one of the writers) and Katie Steele (Ari Graynor).
Things gradually start to change when a stuffy executive (Nia Vardalos) denies Lauren an editorial position at a publishing house; Katie is encouraged to quit the sex hotline she works for, which takes most of her earnings, and go into business for herself on a landline.
"For a Good Time, Call..." is not a perfect film – certain characters are underutilized, and the subplot featuring Lauren's parents remains unresolved – but it certainly is much better than certain audiences will give it credit for.-- Chris Pandolfi.
She loves romcoms, I make no secret that the "girls from different walks of life become friends" trope will win me over any time, so this seemed like a good fit.We didn't even know the half of it.I'm going to go right out and say it: This is a coded lesbian romcom.
Sure, Katie gets her sorta stilted romance with awkward movie maker boy, but at the climax (no pun intended) she literally walks away from having sex with him to go make up with Lauren because she loves her.
For Half A Good Time, Watch This Movie!.
Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie Steele (Ari Graynor) both need a roommate.
They are introduced by a mutual friend, Jesse (Justin Long) and just like that Lauren and Katie remember they hated each other in college.
Soon after they move in, Lauren loses her job, and Katie shares a little secret, she's an operator on a phone sex line.
With job prospects not looking so good, Lauren becomes a call screener for Katie and they start their own phone sex line called 1-800-MMM-HMM.
And finally, this movie makes a mistake that many comedies make, it tries to get serious, and that's when Katie, loses all her edge and becomes a conventional, even hackneyed character.
The ending is muddled and meaningless, which added to my ambivalence about this movie, but Justin Long is consistently funny as the ubiquitous gay character, Seth Rogan is funny in his cameo, and the banter between Miller and Graynor is pretty good for the first half of the movie, but falters.
is not the sexiest movie you'll see this year, even though it is about phone sex with some very racy language.
No, it's about the business of friendship, the need to accept and nurture differences until real love emerges, not phony stuff.Frenemies from college, Lauren (Lauren Miller) and Katie (Ari Graynor), are thrown together in their living arrangement and, overcoming their original dislike for each other (Katie spilled a large cup of urine on Lauren in college), start a successful phone-sex business.
As different as they are blond and brunette, they are alike in their passionate need for loving relationships, not the superficial bromances of Judd Apatow, but more like his sisterly production of Bridesmaids, itself raunchy but with wit that transcends the male equivalent comedies.For a Good Time is more like I Love You, Man as it navigates close same sex friendship.
The two actresses are important to the film's success: cute and smart, Graynor and Miller are distaff Butch and Sundance best buddy characters. |
tt0008309 | A Modern Musketeer | The film opens with a sequence in which D'Artagnan (Douglas Fairbanks) rides up to a tavern on horseback and ends up brawling with sword and fist with the patrons inside in his haste to approach a fair young stranger. After triumphing, he morphs into modern day Ned Thacker (also played by Fairbanks).
Ned is born and raised in Kansas by a mother who passes along to him her love of D'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers, despite his father's concern that it is not good for him. In fact, Ned does get into trouble with his (sometimes unwanted) chivalrous attempts to help women. Finally, Ned can stand it no more; he decides to leave dull Kansas. In mirroring scenes, D'Artagnan is astride a somewhat less-than-noble steed, a present from his father for his departure from home, while Ned's father gives him the modern equivalent: a car.
While driving in the desert, he comes upon a chauffeur-driven automobile stopped because the road ahead has been washed away. Unimpressed with one passenger, the middle-aged Forrest Vandeteer (the "richest man in Yonkers"), Ned is quite taken with the lovely "Park Avenue flapper" Elsie Dodge. Her mother, the third passenger, sees her only daughter's marriage to Vandeteer as the solution to their dire financial straits. Vandeteer buys what he wants, and he wants Elsie. She, however, loathes her suitor; she much prefers young Ned.
Ned comes up with the idea to put his car on railroad tracks. He takes the party (with Elsie in the front seat beside him) to their Grand Canyon resort hotel. There, Vandeteer tells Ned to stay away from the ladies. John Blabb, who works for "Town Topics", informs Ned that Vandeteer already has three wives hidden away somewhere.
Meanwhile, Chin-de-dah, the Native American leader of an outlaw gang hiding in a tributary canyon, is bored. He decides to kidnap a white woman to be his wife (his last "wife" is shown to have committed suicide). He goes to the resort, pretending to be a guide, and selects Elsie as his target. Ned is suspicious, but Vandeteer hires him. Vandeteer and Elsie set out for a horse ride down the canyon with their guide. Ned uses the time to persuade Mrs. Dodge that her daughter's happiness should take priority over their financial security.
James Brown, a member of the gang who knows and hates Vandeteer, gleefully tells Ned about the man's impending demise and Chin-de-dah's intentions toward Elsie. Ned shames him into helping with a rescue. They reach the camp in time to free Elsie and Vandeteer, but remain in peril. Vandeteer offers Ned $100,000 to save his life; Ned makes him put it in writing. Then they are lifted up the sheer cliff by a rope pulled by a horse. Once they are safe, Brown wants to kill Vandeteer, who falsely incriminated him in Vandeteer's own scam and stole his wife and children. Vandeteer ends up clinging to the cliffside, kept from falling to his death only by Ned's grip. Under Ned's direction, he writes a note exonerating Brown. Ned persuades Brown to let Vandeteer live, and promises to split the reward with him. Once they are alone, Elsie kisses her rescuer. | murder, violence, flashback, action, melodrama, revenge | train | wikipedia | Danish Film Archive's Complete Print of "A Modern Musketeer" Shown On TCM.
Turner Classic Movies showed a complete print of "A Modern Musketeer" last night, March 20, 2008.
The credit at the end identified the movie as a 2006 Danish Film Archive restoration.
His playing a role set in the present does not stop him from doing a handstand at the edge of a precipice, getting onto a horse by leaping onto the saddle without using a stirrup (Steve McQueen did that too in his western TV series, but Fairbanks does the leap further from the saddle) and sliding in and out of cut stone windows at every opportunity.This movie shows that in 1917 Hollywood art directors were on the ball.
At the end, the movie's interior action takes place in a set that represents an Anasazi cave dwelling.
The director Alan Dwan later said that in a Fairbanks movie everything was arranged to make it look as if Fairbanks was not exerting himself as he performed his stunts.
Outside of this set, much of the action seems to take place on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, not far from the El Tovar hotel.If the El Tovar hotel gave the cast and crew of this movie free or discounted accommodations, I would not be surprised.
Thanks to the Danish film archive and TCM, this Fairbanks star vehicle is again available for viewing (when TCM shows it again).
---Addition (26 July 2009): I finally bought on sale A Modern Musketeer on DVD as part of the Douglas Fairbanks 5 DVD movie box set of the same name.
For a 1917 movie, you expect and usually get interior scenes that are static with the camera too far from the actors, as if filming a stage play.
Not in the case in A Modern Musketeer, where director Dwan keeps the camera much closer to the actors, even when the Grand Canyon is the backdrop, varying the shot selection a lot, just like in movies made decades later.
On the commentary track, the film experts mentioned how many scenes in the movie were shot at less than 24 frames per second, adding speed to the action.
I did not notice that undercranking when I saw the movie now, but I did notice that Dwan used an awful lot of setups to film the action from different perspectives.
One commentator mentioned how good the wide angle chase scene through the wide floor of the canyon (an area now probably flooded by Lake Meade) must have looked when the original, undamaged print was projected on the big screen in the Rivoli Theater in 1917, as first one group of riders, than a second, take off after Fairbanks and company on the run on horseback.
Dwan took advantage of the majestic location to make this wide angle shot, which would look at home in a modern Western except for the missing inserts showing close up shots of the riders.
The commentators mentioned that other filmmakers copied some scenes in the movie, indicating one streetcar scene that Harold Lloyd used and a "cyclone" scene in Kansas with a house falling down that Buster Keaton referred to years later.
What also stands out for me, though, is how Dwan, with the limited camera technology then available, moved the camera every which way with loads of setups to compensate for the lack of close-up lenses, no use then (as far as I know) of cameras on rails and managing to film those location scenes at the Grand Canyon using orthochromatic film (the last mostly the responsibility of ace cinematographer Hugh McClung)..
'The Modern Musketeer', now complete and restored thanks to the efforts of the Danish Film Archive, is a fun modern adventure film starring the ever smiling Douglas Fairbanks (Snr).
The first scenes show our hero as D'Artagnan of the Three Musketeers, swashing a buckle to rescue a young lady's handkerchief, before fast forwarding to modern times where Ned Thacker, his mother obsessed with the Dumas novel, has been brought up to be chivalrous (and rather irritating) where young ladies are concerned.When Ned decides to leave for the big wide world in his new car - not until after he's climbed the church spire (as you do) - he meets Elsie Dodge, who's being railroaded into marriage with an unpleasant and cheating millionaire.
Falling for Elsie he first lets her share his lunch hamper, then saves her from a fate worse than death at the hands of the local Injun (man with teeth necklace who thinks that makes him king).Great action sequences involving ropes, jumps, and various acrobatics prefigure Fairbanks' later cinematic adventures.
Although this film loses its way somewhat - starting as a likable comedy and then becoming a wild west adventure - it wears its years well and is worth a look..
This is Fairbanks before "The Mark of Zorro", "The Three Musketeers", "Robin Hood", or "The Thief of Baghdad" and it's his athleticism that makes this movie stand out.
He's climbing church steeples, shimmying down street lamps and drain pipes, handstands on the edge of the Grand Canyon - all to save the damsel in distress Elsie Dodge (Marjorie Daw).Ned can't help it though!
Note:- Please pardon the pun." Ned meets up with Elsie, her mother, Forrest Vandeteer (aka Forest Barris and the richest man in Yonkers), and his driver in the middle of nowhere.
Ned's ingenuity managed to drive his Ford and Vandeteer's car on deserted railroad tracks that conveniently go right past the El Tovar lodge near the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Ned's ingenuity causes the French driver of Vandeteer's car to comment that this is why the Yankees will help beat the Germans.Well, Ned doesn't beat the Germans in "A Modern Musketeer", but to avoid spoiling the fun of watching this movie, I won't mention who does beat in the end.
DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS was quite the swashbuckler of his era in the 1920s, especially during the time of his biggest triumphs in ROBIN HOOD, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD, THE MARK OF ZORRO and THE BLACK PIRATE.But this is an early relic from his silent screen career as early as 1917, and, of course, has to be judged by today's standards of film-making for any potential viewers outside of curious film buffs who want to see it.Fairbanks was athletic and agile enough, but always looked middle-aged, even though here he's only 34.
He climbs up over anything in his way with the ease of a monkey swinging through trees, exuberantly smiling while he struts his way through whatever impediment is in his way.And the film itself, for a relic that was filmed in 1917, is in amazingly good condition, fully restored and with a jaunty background score that is not jarring and obtrusive the way so many of the silent film scores were.The story is really two stories that run concurrently: the D'Artagnan legend is illustrated in a few brief scenes of derring-do with Fairbanks rescuing a damsel in distress.
The young Kansas man who desperately wants to leave his provincial roots (in a scene deliriously overplayed by Fairbanks) is also anxious to have a life of adventure and romance, like D'Artagnan.
His father and mother give him their blessing and send him on his way--and the rest of the plot is predictable but fun to watch as he finds his own damsel in distress to rescue from a villainous man.Fun, and thin on plot--but it does move as briskly as Fairbanks himself.
This Douglas Fairbanks vehicle has been noted for its scenes of Fairbanks dressed as D'Artagnan ("The Three Musketeers") anticipating the star's later redirection of his career in the 1920s to more prestigious, costume/historical swashbucklers.
His scenes as D'Artagnan are only a small part of the picture—mostly the opening sequence where Doug swordfights every man in a tavern to humorously retrieve a lady's handkerchief.
Framing this sequence, Fairbanks literally winks at the camera, which the Flicker Alley commentary suggests was to reassure audiences that they were watching the same old Doug, who had by this time firmly established a popular comedic screen persona.I like Fairbanks's comedies and have viewed about every complete one I could find on home video, but, admittedly, even the best formulas eventually get tiresome and in need of some revision and innovation.
Besides the opening swashbuckling, other sequences seem to be in non-chronological order: first, there's a mythological past of D'Artagnan with a modern sense of humor, then a near-contemporary scene where modern Doug destroys another, but modern, tavern, as he again knocks men about to defend a woman's honor, followed by the cyclone scene of Doug's character's birth and, then, another near-present scene on a streetcar involving giving up seats for ladies.
After this, we mostly follow the main chronological story as our hero leaves home and eventually saves the day at the Grand Canyon.As in his other comedies, Fairbanks is established as out-of-place in modern society, for his restless exuberance and chivalry at the expense of clobbering any fellow seeming to be in his way.
The film suggests that this kind of man was more at home in the past, such as in the case of D'Artagnan.
He doesn't belong in his small hometown in Kansas, so he leaves for adventure.Overall, this is a good Fairbanks comedy.
This sequence and the dam break climax in Fairbanks's "When the Clouds Roll by" seem to have had a strong influence on Buster Keaton, who included similar scenes in his later comedies.
Additionally, the direction and editing are generally sharp here, as in other Fairbanks's films, but there is one particularly sloppy match-on-action cut about 30 minutes in where there's a temporal replay as the scene cuts to a closer view.
Modern Musketeer, The (1917) *** (out of 4) Fun silent film has Douglas Fairbanks playing a man living in Kansas with his parents who dreams of a more exciting life.
A lot of lost movies that get found are usually big letdowns but this film here actually is pretty good and should keep action fans entertained.
The lively action at the start of the film makes the movie slow down a tad too much in the middle but the movie ends with more great action as Fairbanks must battle Indians.
Although best known for his swashbuckling adventure films of the 1920s like THE MARK OF ZORRO, THE BLACK PIRATE and THE THREE MUSKETEERS, Douglas Fairbanks was already wowing the audiences in earlier years from 1915 onwards, particularly with his amazing physical feats which led to his more famous action hero roles of the 20s.
In fact, many of his pre-1920 films have more raw action and amazing feats than the more sophisticated productions of later years, and A MODERN MUSKETEER is a prime example: one astonishing action sequence shows Fairbanks doing some running somersaults, leaping over walls and then a horse in a single bound before virtually running up a perpendicular church wall and its steeple with the speed and ease of a monkey!
Anyone who has thrilled to other early Fairbanks films like WILD AND WOOLLY, MANHATTAN MADNESS and HIS MAJESTY, THE American will surely be as amazed and entertained as I was to watch A MODERN MUSKETEER.
Although it's incomplete, with only the first 3 reels surviving, it showcases the trademark comedy and action talents of Douglas Fairbanks in his years leading up to his biggest film successes.
A few short scenes show Fairbanks as D'Artagnan a foretaste of his later success in THE THREE MUSKETEERS, and then the story revolves around a young man from Kansas who, like D'Artagnan, is always looking to rescue a damsel in distress.
Boyish adventurer Douglas Fairbanks (as Ned Thacker) imagines himself as an Alexandre Dumas-like "D'Artagnan of Kansas", but local town-folk aren't taken by his chivalrous "Three Musketeers" routine.
Their love story takes a back seat to Fairbanks' athletic antics, with trusty Tully Marshall (as James Brown) providing his usual good support.
The cast and crew stay at the El Tovar Hotel, with the backdrop of Arizona's "Grand Canyon" providing an exciting location for Fairbanks and company.
Now, a full-length restoration is available.***** A Modern Musketeer (12/30/17) Allan Dwan ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Marjorie Daw, Tully Marshall, Frank Campeau.
A Chivalrous Man. This will be one of the more enjoyable silent movies you'll come across - restored by the Danish Film Institute and of very good quality, and starring one of the greats of the silent era - Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
- as Ned Thacker, a man raised in Kansas being read the stories of D'Artagnan by his mother, and who grows up to be a modern day version of the musketeer, defending the honour of women at every step.The movie opens with two really good fight scenes - a swashbuckling look back at D'Artagnan (also played by Fairbanks) as he fights to re-claim a woman's handkerchief, and our first look at Thatcher in a bar-room brawl as he defends the honour of a woman he thought was being treated poorly by her male companion.
So the story had a good start.If it lost its way a bit, it was in the decision to then focus exclusively on Ned's pursuit of Elsie Dodge (Marjorie Daw) - a young woman being forced by her mother into a relationship with a rich man in order to help pay bills.
The move into the Grand Canyon, and the introduction of the bad Indian Chin-de-dah (Frank Campeau) - who fancies himself a king and decides he's going to kidnap and marry Elsie - struck me as an unnecessary diversion, which ended up as far more than a diversion - it becomes the story.Still, if that goes a little too far, this was still a fun movie.
Overall I thought both the movie and Fairbanks had the feel of something you might have seen remade by Bob Hope in the 1940's - a light, silly, Western-oriented comedy.
A typical line, for example, that I could easily have seen put on Hope's mouth (which, of course, in this is simply a caption) comes as Ned and Elsie look at the splendour of the Grand Canyon and Ned says "Golly.
Well, it wasn't in 1921, in that world-famous classic swashbuckler "The Three Musketeers", that the world got to see Douglas Fairbanks for the first time in the role of D'Artagnan - it was in 1917, in this fabulous adventure-comedy!
And he REALLY is a gentleman of the old school in every way; he's a member of the 'Society for the prevention of cruelty to women', he intervenes wherever he witnesses injustice (and often with quite unpleasant consequences for himself), he does the most stunning stunts...And one day, he sets out on his journey of adventure, just like D'Artagnan had done - only with a Ford instead of a yellow steed...
And in the middle of the desert, he meets, of course, his 'damsel in distress': young and pretty Elsie, who's just about to be married (forced by her mother) to a man she doesn't want - and what a break: since their car has broken down, he's able, by adjusting his car to the railway tracks, to take them to their destination; and to steal Elsie's heart away on the way, of course...
But now, in the Wild West, there are some REAL adventures waiting for our 'modern Musketeer'...!
What a wonderful mixture of Dumas and Western, of 17th century ideals and early 20th century reality; and, of course, a GREAT vehicle for the rising star Douglas Fairbanks!
Here he can show both his romantic imagination and his great physical shape: in his youthful exuberance, he jumps out of windows on to lamp posts, climbs a church steeple, and even makes a handstand on the edge of the Grand Canyon!
In the twenties, with "The Mark of Zorro", his film character changed with big superbly mounted costumed adventure tales - over-long, slow and with a lot of the fun gone, but pre 1920 he usually played exuberant go-getters that most people in the audience could identify with.
After a fast and furious beginning with Doug as a swashbuckling nobleman (shades of his roles to come) ready to go to any lengths and fight any comer to retrieve a lady's handkerchief - to Ned Thacker (Fairbanks) living in present day Kansas (1917) the answer is no!!!
Even when women don't want to be rescued, Ned doesn't take no for an answer - after all he does work for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Women!!!Thanks to his mother who has bought him up on a steady diet of the Three Musketeers he is her pride and joy but his exuberance is just too big for the town - so he leaves to seek his fortune.
Pretty Marjorie Daw is Elsie Dodge, a "lovely unspoiled Park Avenue flapper" (although she doesn't act like a flaper - being very subdued for most of the movie) who is being coaxed by her mercenary mother (who looks more like her elder sister) to accept the attentions of a lecherous playboy.
He invites Elsie and her mother for a weekend away at the Grand Canyon and it is here they meet Ned who sweeps Elsie off her feet with his boyishness and "up and at 'em" high spirits.Doug has plenty of opportunity to indulge in some amazing stunts - why mount a horse when you can leap onto the saddle from an open window or while cartwheeling over a wagon?
Daw made a pretty passive leading lady but she would obviously have had more scope as the leading lady in a Marx Brothers movie than in a Doug Fairbanks film.
When a renegade Indian decides that Elsie will be his next wife, it is time for Doug to swing into action and by the end he has rescued Elsie and the penitent playboy from the canyon cliff and also helped an old fugitive (Tully Marshall) win back his good name!!Marjorie Daw, known as the girl with the nursery rhyme name, was a pretty actress often used by Douglas Fairbanks as his leading lady. |
tt0054102 | Murder, Inc. | Abe Reles (Peter Falk) and Bug Workman (Warren Finnerty), two killers from Brooklyn's Brownsville district, meet in the Garment District to meet with Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, kingpin of an organized crime mob, who hires them as the syndicate's hit men.
Their first job is to kill Walter Sage (Morey Amsterdam), a Catskill resort owner who has been holding back slot machine profits from Lepke. To get close to Sage, Reles forces singer Joey Collins (Stuart Whitman), an old crony of Sage who owes Reles money, to help him. Reles and his henchman kill Sage. Reles visits Joey and threatens to kill him and his dancer wife Eadie (May Britt) if they tell anyone about the murder. Eadie throws Reles out. Reles later returns to the apartment when Joey is gone and brutally rapes her. Despite her urging Joey refuses to run away, and this causes him and Eadie to split up.
Reles continues to carry out assassinations at Lepke's direction. Reles reconciles with the couple by giving them a luxurious apartment filled with stolen goods. Under police pressure, Lepke hides out from the police at Joey and Eadie's new apartment. He treats Eadie like a maid.
District Attorney Burton Turkus (Henry Morgan) takes over the law enforcement campaign against Murder, Inc., enlisting local Brownsville police detective Tobin (Simon Oakland). Lepke orders the death of the entire Brownsville gang as well as Joey and Eadie. Eadie visits Turkus and becomes an informant, as does Joey. He then confronts Reles, who has been arrested, in his cell, and threatens to testify against him. In fear of that, Reles agrees to testify against Lepke in exchange for reduced charges. He provides a detailed account of the activities of Murder, Inc.
Turkus puts Joey and Reles in protective custody and hides them at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island. Eadie comes to visit Joey, imploring him to testify against Lepke. Joey is reluctant, fearing the mob will kill Eadie in revenge. Despondent, Eadie slips her police escort and wanders alone on the beachfront, where she is murdered. Later that night, Reles is thrown out the window by an assassin. Joey avenges his wife's death by testifying against Lepke, who is executed. | depressing, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
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