One of the best things about this film is that, unlike many of the Warhol-superstar documentaries, the subject is still alive and participates by actually being interviewed (instead of just archival footage). It is a fascinating, funny, educational, and even touching portrait of one of the lesser known but most fabulous personalities to emerge from the New York scene.

In addition to the interviews with Brigid herself, there are some other great current interviews plus the requisite archival footage. I have added this to my collection along with the better known documentaries on Edie, Nico, and of course Warhol himself, plus some of the original films (such as Chelsea Girls).


Forget the throwaway title, this documentary about the wayward, moneyed Brigid Berlin is the equal of Terry Zwigoff's Crumb; a similarly troubling yet funny biography.

Berlin is astonishing in her obsessiveness and her audacity. She manages to convincingly take credit for many of Warhol's ideas, and demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of what it means to be a media construction whom no one actually knows (a la warhol). Her creative work ethic is a refutation of other artist/poseurs who want to avoid actual thought and/or effort.

Personal highlights in the film: Berlin's pained return to the Chelsea hotel and the bankruptcy of trying to revisit the past / The examination of a jam-packed apartment with fastidiously organized Polaroid pictures / The penis book / The tone-for-tone reperformance of lousy, bourgeois parenting lectures / And of course Brigid's failure to resist Key Lime pie, while representing (to her) a major personal failure, is the funniest thing in the whole movie. I was laughing till I hurt.

Berlin makes her difficult personality look like a great time, and the only reasonable way to proceed through the absurdities of western culture.


Brigid Berlin was the child every parent fears having. Born in 1939 to media mogul Richard Berlin and his socialite wife Honey, Brigid seemed to be on the fast track to a world of wealth and social registers--but she had a weight problem, and when mother Honey focused upon this Brigid rebelled. It was a rebellion that would ultimately lead her reject her parents, their way of life, and their values as absurdly superficial.

In 1964 Brigid met rising artist Andy Warhol, who had a knack for picking up extreme personalities and using them to fuel both his ambitions and inspiration. For once, however, he gave almost as much as he took: Brigid not only developed an arts reputation in her own right, she also managed to remain friends with Warhol until his 1987 death--something that very few people, and particularly those of Warhol's 1960s circle, ever managed.

PIE IN THE SKY might best be described as a collage of Brigid Berlin then and now. Released in 2000, the film finds her living in New York, where she has considerable cache in the avant guarde arts world--and obsessing about her weight, her smoking habit, her past, her present, her future--and indeed virtually everything. In fact, the word "obsessing" might be the keynote in her life, which she documents as it unfolds with a degree of relentlessness that is quite astonishing.

Yesterday--be it literally yesterday or fifty years ago--is just as intense in Berlin's mind as today, and a good portion of the film is given over to her reflections on her parents, the way of life that she rejected, and the pleasure she took in horrifying the social world throughout her life. She talks about art. She demonstrates her technique, which might be generously described as body painting. Now slim, she breaks her eternal diet to binge on Key Lime pies. She is incredibly compulsive, it is difficult to know whether she is as mad as she is insane, and it is impossible to know how much of the madness or sanity is calculated.

What she most certainly is is interesting, and directors Shelly and Vincent Freemont keep the focus unerringly upon their subject throughout. A fascinating look into the life of a woman who was, and in many ways remains, on the cutting edge of both art and life.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer


This is an amazing documentary on a truly unique woman, and I purchased this immediately upon its original release on VHS. Many people may label her as "eccentric", "odd" and "rebellious", and while she has been all of these things, she strikes me most as being INTELLIGENT..in fact probably TOO intelligent compared to most people. What's interesting is to see the contrast between the Brigid of the '60s/'70s and the Brigid of today (I guess we really do become our parents after all!). I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Berlin in person at a reading she gave in NYC in April 2007. There, she autographed a piece of Warhol memorabilia for me. I was in heaven for a week! Soon after this show, I bought the DVD version which has about 20 minutes of deleted scenes, all of which are hilarious. I would have given "Pie In The Sky" 10 stars, but I feel it could have been longer.


ELECTION NIGHT is a clever film about racism. The film begins with a man meeting a friend at a bar. When the friend says on off-hand racist remark, the first man confronts him instead of sitting silently. While almost impossible to believe, the first man then realizes that the election is being held and he forgot to vote--and runs to the polls before they close. On the way, again and again, he gets in cabs where the drivers are total racist pigs and are amazed that he's offended--as if everyone of "us" is in agreement about "them". This is an interesting idea and didn't come off as too preachy.

When he finally did arrive at the polling station, there was a very ironic little twist that made the film and made me think of the saying "no good deed goes unpunished". The only sour note to the film was the very last scene in the bar--it was really impossible to believe that this one incident at the poll could change such a good man so quickly. Still, it was a very clever and interesting film.

By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD. On this DVD are 16 shorts. Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying.


I enjoyed Election Night the first time I saw it and laughed out loud at times. It is a film I recommend to people and that I have watched again. However, a sober re-viewing of this film made my laughter stick in my throat. It is a provocative piece, with a message that perhaps the filmmakers themselves did not intend, and for that reason I recommend viewing, but do not endorse the message in Election Night.

An Aid Agency worker, Peter, leaves a bar to try and reach the polling station to vote. His castigation of his friend and the barman in the opening scene reveal his humanitarian, multicultural leanings. His condemnation of racists is clear and concise.

What follows is his quest to vote in the election, and like all quest tales, the valiant hero faces a series of ever-more difficult challenges to achieve his goal. Utlimately, as befits a tale based on a protagonist out to accomplish a mission, the final test is to identify and overcome a weakness in his own character. For Peter, it is the revelation that he is just as capable of racist sentiments as the next man. And this is where the film starts to veer off-course. Peter is punished for his weakness by a punch in the nose, delivered by a character who reveals the complexity of attitudes to race by his confused comments. I do not doubt that the reasons for taking the narrative in this direction are to do with fulfilling the structural demands of cinematic storytelling, and are not the result of the filmmakers wish to make an anti-liberal statement.

However, the effect is one and the same. Humbled, defeated, Peter returns to the bar and symbolically, through his apathetic lies and rejection of foreign beer, 'converts' to the other side. Sure, this pathetic wretch toasting his Danishness at the end is funny, but it means the end note of the film is, 'Don't try to be tolerant, it isn't worth it and the recipients don't appreciate it anyway.'

I don't think this is reading too much into the film. The co-opting of Peter to the racist side at the end means the film endorses (I am sure unintentionally) the views of Peter's bar friend at the beginning - that attempting to understand and sympathize with other cultures and peoples just isn't worth the bother.

This is a film well worth watching, especially in culture studies classes as a primer for discussion. But try to think, as you watch, who you are laughing with, and who you are laughing at. And at what point do you cross the line?


The Oscar-winning Danish short-film of Kim Magnusson and Anders Thomas Jensen is their third short-film to be nominated to an Oscar. It is, as always, an ironic film about a very heavy subject. The Danish mentality is the keyword in this fantastic short-film. Don´t miss it for anything in the world.


i wholly disagreed with most of the other comments. brass target is one of the best world war ii movies made. i do recall the tag line was different that that reported on this sight. Patton thought he was about to find who stole the Reichsbank gold and he ended up dead; millions of dollars says there was a connection.

Brass Target is based on Frederick Nolan's book The Algonquin Project which appeared in the 1970s a period when fundamental assumptions could be called into question. Nolan tackled the tangled mess of the Patton assassination. Who ordered it? Was it The Russians whom Patton played here by grand eloquently by George Kennedy provoked, US politicians who found Patton distastefully attracted to the Germans, the Army full of pent up jealousies? Nolan hypothesized a connection between the looting of US occupied West Germany with Patton's demise allegedly in a mob styled rub out in an auto accident.

As the film opens, the great war was won but Patton has days left in Germany. For various faux pas, the great general has been ordered home in disgrace, but he's still investigating the disappearance of the Reichsbank gold. It's very difficult to get anything done even for the General with a less than gentle roar.

Though GC Scott is more like the diminutive wiry Patton, I think George Kennedy did a better job replicating Patton's bellow and hostility to the Russians who are always there to chide Patton about the virtual dissolution of the US Army.

Enter Major Joe De Lucca (John Cassavetes) New York born Italian - American with a gritty charm. Patton wants the thief who stole the Reichsbank gold found. The trail of corpses left behind in the cover-up leads Major Lucca across occupied Europe back to Comstack Correctional Facility to visit convicted NYC gangster Lou Costello who tells the Major that Army Intelligence already knows the answer.

Can Major Lucca make it back in time to warn General Patton? Even though history teaches you the answer to that question, the film keeps you riveted to the seat.


This film tackles a very serious subject of the sudden and violent post- war (Dec 45) death of General George Patton.

The film builds up to the denouement of showing this death to be an assassination, something I have thought was a distinct probability given the enemies he made during and post the Allied victory over Germany. The story line of the motivations behind the assassination is built up around the theft a huge quantity of the gold that the National-Socialist government had accumulated that went "missing in action" so to speak. The film shows a train hi-jack of the gold , though not sure if that happened, but huge quantities of gold did disappear post-war Germany and was never found.

Whether this was really the route (and the root) of the motivations behind the events which led to his sudden death is debatable but I am very intrigued as to whether or not the death of Patton as shown here was a reasonable accurate re-creation of that death, something which sadly appears not to worry too many of the previous reviewers. The build-up to the set-up so that his vehicle came round a bend and hit a parked lorry seemed to be well done and just how you would expect an "accident" to be pre-arranged.

Kennedy's portrayal of Patton's aggressive Anti-Soviet, anti-communism, with the post-war Red Army command's behaviour having no difficulty coming right down to meet the low expectations Patton had of them seemed well done.

Patton had many enemies in the US. One of the things that he did to infuriate those who wanted to use the Allied victory to unleash a vindictive payback over and against the defeated enemy was to release the Post-War POW's under his jurisdiction, the only set of Post-war POW's to be set free during that time to go back home instead of suffering and dying of starvation and disease in unsheltered open fields surrounded by barbed-wire and shot at by guards as was the fate of others German solders in these post-war death camps.

These Germans were to be made to pay time and again for their collective sin, with a usurious rate of interest, so that punishment and retribution was to be their fate. Patton wasn't interested in such policies once the victory had been won but his internal enemies were.

He was recalled to the US and was due to go home imminently and had already been stripped of his executive powers but Patton's enemies could well have thought that they needed to get their pay-back time in quickly before he did get back to the US and start to interfere with their plans against post-war Germany because of his high-status in the US despite their incessant campaigns to undermine his credibility.

So an uneven film methinks with some good parts and some bad but the slices of good parts giving food for thought about the great man's demise.


One day I might. So far I have watched the half-hour Macauley Mini-Movie. That has already earned Brass Target 9 out of 10, so the whole movie could well be a classic of epic proportions.

Patrick McGoohan makes his entry to the movie a short way in, after a classy prologue explains the plot of the movie itself. Colonel Macauley is found, lording it up in a German castle, captured by the Allies. He is dressed in an alpine woolly jumper, with a gay Austrian titfer, complete with feathery knick-knack in the hat-band. He has been sought out by embittered OSS veteran John Cassavetes. Cassavetes is obviously fond of the old warrior. He knows Macauley is a ne'er-do-well shyster these days, but in an odd kind of way he still trusts him. Cassavetes seeks his help in the investigation of a huge Reichs-Gold theft but leaves disappointed, eventually, after watching Macauley enjoying a sampling of the best German wines his new Bultler can find for him, in the cellar of the castle. Sophia Loren arrives and the gallant Macauley beckons her within his gatehouse sweeping a low bow to the Italian beauty as he removes his hat, flashing but briefly his chestnut hair.

Shortly thereafter the scene changes and Macauley is in a jeep. he is in his smartest brown American uniform and after his mildly dissolute appearance of yesterday, we glimpse the soldier that so impressed the earnest Cassavetes. Macauley is, as we say in England, a little bit crooked but he next meets a truly evil man. Bobby Vaughn plays an utterly amoral corrupter of men. He even shocks the swindling Logistics Colonel. Sadly for Macauley he is a victim of his own weaknesses and has no choice other than to be sucked further into a dark plot that has already murdered 50 of his fellow Americans and now seeks the assassination of the greatest General in the Army: Patton.

Macauley has to meet with creepy assassin Max Von Sydow, at his most chilling Scandinavian best. He hands over $500,000 for the 'Hit'. We are becoming conscious that whilst Macauley is sleep-walking into this mire of murderous intent, his conscience may send him to Cassavetes at some point, to undo this madness he has embroiled himself in. First however Macauley must relax after the tension of his meeting with the cold gunman. He is met, not by his expected paramour, but by a mysterious and beautiful Fraulein. She persuades him he can trust her by stripping to her brassiere. At this point McGoohan, as Macauley comments, as he eyes her up and down, that he has had a "hard, hard day" or perhaps he said he'd had a "hard, hard time". I'm not sure which, because by then I was giggling at McGoohan's mischievous performance. I must make notes next time. The young lady leads him to the bathroom, which is rapidly filling with steam and Macauley asks her if there will be Bubbles? Assured there will, he happily heads inside, singing a little bubbles song to himself.

The Fraulein sits down revealing a tidy leg clad in suspenders and stockings. This was promised for Macauley. Unfortunately Bobby Vaughn, guessing that Macauley will inevitably betray the evil plot to Cassavetes, has sent an assassin, who garrotes Macauley whist the poor man was waiting for Bubbles to arrive. We know Macauley is dead because John Cassavetes checks his corpse in the next scene, in the Mortuary.

Patrick McGoohan has now left the building.........


Not one of the better films I've seen. In fact let me change that statement, I meant to say this has to be one of the worst I've seen.

The basic problem was the apparent lack of storyline. If I understood it correctly (and I might not have done) then a very large quantity of gold was hijacked from a train in a tunnel, and then disappeared without trace. It must've been difficult for the investigators figuring out which direction the hijackers went off in - with a choice of forward or backward on the train line in/out of the tunnel I guess the odds were overwhelming that the direction the gold took wasn't obvious.

If you are having trouble sleeping then this is the movie for you. The word "sucks" comes to mind, but to be honest I think someone must've plugged the colonic irrigation machine into a high voltage power line when they were putting this movie together.


George Kennedy is a good actor, but not as Patton. Lee Montague might be a good actor but please!! Lucky Luciano!! he is not. the casting of the above people detracted from the plot.


This was an extremely lacking WW II movie. The story is told poorly and most of the time is just mainly confusing. The movie also lacks in tension and the main characters in the story are handled in a boring and bad way.

The cast of this movie is truly impressive. George Kennedy, John Cassavetes, Sophia Loren, Robert Vaughn, Max von Sydow, Patrick McGoohan, Bruce Davison. All are great actors but the material they had been given to work with in this movie was just plain awful. None of the actors really get the opportunity to shine, due to the very poor directing and some weak, ridicules dialog. All of the characters in the movie are just totally uninteresting to follow. Sophia Loren's character is just pointless and works only distracting and causes the movie its pace to be even more lacking in speed. George Kennedy also really wasn't convincing as Gen. George S. Patton Jr. Robert Vaughn plays a villainous American colonel, who also happens to be a very active homosexual in the movie. This just feels totally pointless and was not needed at all for the story. Basically the only really interesting and good character is the hit-man played by the always dependable Max von Sydow. Cheering for the bad guy in a movie like this one, that's never a good sign. It was also sort of fun to see a young Bruce Davison, before he received real fame in the late '90's/00's.

The story itself really isn't that bad and was good enough to make this movie just as good and entertaining as movies like "Where Eagles Dare", "The Guns of Navarone" and "The Eagle Has Landed". However the story is told extremely muddled in the movie, which makes it hard to understand at times what is the main plot line of the movie. At first you think that the movie is about getting the stolen German gold stock back. However as the movie progresses it becomes obvious that the movie is about an assassination on General Patton instead and the movie turns into a whole different movie entirely, almost more in the same style as "The Day of the Jackal", which was made 5 years earlier. Needless to say that not all of the elements that happen in the story feel connected to each other.

The movie is also truly lacking in tension. The movie is slow paced and could had really used some action sequences. Instead, the movie is a slow and boring one to watch. Also because the story is so confusing and distorted, you never really connect to anything that happens in the movie. The characters feel really distant and the events in the movie are far from interesting or exciting and the movie also totally lacks in style and atmosphere.

So why should you watch this movie in the first place? I can think of no reason. It by no means is one of the worst movies ever made but it also most certainly isn't the best in its genre. It's a very poorly made movie, with weak directing and storytelling that feels like an huge waste of a great cast and a story that had quite some potential and deserved a better treatment. It's already an almost totally forgotten movie and it should better just stay that way as well.

4/10


I saw this movie just by accident on TCM when I was surfing through the channels.

The movie tells the story how just after World War II, a train carrying 250 million dollars in gold from the German Reichsbank is hijacked by renegade U.S soldiers. When the Russians hear about it they are furious and want the gold back since it should be shared by all the allies, General Patton, old "Blood & Guts" a well known anti-communist takes it his job to retrieve every single bullion to show off to the Soviets.

While the story gets a promising start it bogs down a bit after the first 30 minutes, the story gets just too unfocused also the casting could have been better, Sophia Loren is far from convincing and McGoohan is certainly not at his best, if Hough would not have tried to get more audience by starring a lot of big names like Loren and Montague and just have hired other actors who could played the characters more convincingly this could have been a better film.


Boy, does this movie suck. The plot was confusing. Apparently George Patton was assassinated and there was a conspiracy to cover up the fact. George Kennedy plays Patton as a rabid, foaming at the mouth moron. Sophia Loren has trouble with the English language.

Robert Vaughn is an officer and he's involved somehow. This has some of the worst lines ever. It's as if Ed Wood doctored the script. Absolutely pass on this unless you're a masochist.


Believe it or not, you still see this kind of shock-humor today, and you probably always will. This cartoon isn't some old-fashioned slam on Egyptians or their beliefs or way of life - it's just far-out absurd humor. For instance, in the very first scene we see a couple of the locals, dressed in Mid-East garb, waking up, beginning to chant and then - wham! - someone breaks out a pair of dice and a guy yells, "Come on, seven. Baby needs a new pair of shoes!" You see - absurd humor....and it IS funny. To emphasize that point, the very next scene has a veiled, what-looks-like, sexy woman with a great body passing by, the guys whistle....until she lifts the veil and we see a toothless old hag! A short time later, we see a long camel that can seat 10 people. Some of the humor is stupid or dated to the point where we miss it, but some are clever.

Anyway, Porky Pig is there and he misses the long camel ride, hitches one of his own and begins a trek in the desert. Then, this settles into a short story of "desert madness" when the brutal sun (and I mean "brutal) knocks Porky's camel for a loop.

At that point, this cartoon gets hilarious. Porky's camel (named "Humpty Bumpty") is delirious, hysterical and then thinks he's saved and begins playing bagpipes, doing an Irish dance, etc. - very, very funny stuff. Humptey is, by far, the funniest camel I've ever seen in a cartoon.


The only familiar Looney Tunes character featured in this one is Porky Pig. It's about 6 1/2 minutes long.

The setting is theoretically 1930's era Egypt. A bunch of guys sit around wearing turbans and loin clothes. A woman wearing harem pants and a little top struts by with a jug on her head, then removes her face veil to expose a very ugly face. (She doesn't dance, though.) Then the scene shifts to a guy in loincloth and turban sitting on a bed of nails. He swallows a flaming sword which gives him indigestion. Next a tour group of people clad in European-style safari garb boards a camel to go sightseeing. All of this happens within the first minute and a half.

Porky Pig tries to join the tour group, but gets left behind. So he gets on his own camel and heads out. They get lost in the desert under the blazing sun. The camel freaks out and starts playing bagpipes, then dances the Highland fling. (Yes, it really is recognizable as the Fling complete with shedding. The camel's turnout isn't half bad... As for what it's doing in a cartoon titled Porky In Egypt, well, remember, the camel IS freaking out.) Porky sees a mirage of the camel sitting in a pond of cool water and tries to jump in with it, and finds himself buried in sand. The camel gets its sanity back long enough to take them back to the city.

I'll admit, Porky isn't my favorite Looney Tunes character, and 4 1/2 minutes of the camel freaking out got to be a bit excessive for my taste - at first it was amusing, but then it started to drag and seemed like it wasn't going anywhere. So in general I'm not fond of this cartoon. But I was amused by the first 1 1/2 minutes, and I did like the camel's Highland Fling.


A slightly inferior companion piece to the stunningly brilliant "Porky in Wackyland", the first two minutes of this cartoon are fairly standard (though good) Warner Bros pre-WW II animation fare. Then: the camel freaks out, succumbing to that "desert madness", and the proceedings get totally out of hand. Some of the best cartoon mania anywhere (and surely one of the sources to the rumor that all early animators loved hallucinogenics). Alas, to the best of my knowledge, the camel never followed up his star turn in this one.


Bob Clampett's 'Porky in Egypt' is among the strangest and most unsettling cartoons you'll see in your lifetime. While early Porky Pig shorts could sometimes tend toward the cutesy or pedestrian, Clampett's were usually crazy, frenetic balls of energy, the like of which only he could pull off. Released the same year as his much lauded classic 'Porky in Wackyland' and his lesser praised but no less classic 'Porky's Party' and 'Porky and Daffy', 'Porky in Egypt' is the nuttiest of the lot. As is often the case in these early Porky cartoons, Porky gets star billing but very much plays second fiddle to another character, in this case a camel named Humpty Bumpty! Venturing out into the desert alone, Porky is surprised when his camel is suddenly struck by sun-induced desert-madness. The insane antics of the camel then completely take over the picture, resulting in a bravura tour-de-force of jaw-droppingly mad animation in which Humpty Bumpty snaps from wild pose to wild pose, howling in paranoia one minute and playing some inexplicably produced bagpipes the next! Any early hint of a plot is forsaken in favour of sheer Clampett lunacy as the camel and Porky battle their own mental states in a barren, featureless landscape. Creepy, bizarre and funny in a stomach-twistingly unsettling way, 'Porky in Egypt' never ceases to amaze me. I remember the first time I saw it, I wasn't entirely sure that it had really just happened! But happen it did and I'm truly glad that's the case. I highly recommend this oddball cult classic. Whether you enjoy it or not, it's certainly a cartoon that you'll never forget not matter how hard you try.


One of Bob Clampett's many surreal cartoons has Porky Pig on vacation in Egypt, where he misses a tour. Boarding a camel, Porky travels through the desert, but the oppressive heat sends the camel into full-scale dementia! How funny to think of an American going to a foreign country expecting a really easy time, and this befalls him! Yes, "Porky in Egypt" mostly looks like a place holder in between the really great cartoons that in 1938 (aside from "Porky in Wackyland", others included "Daffy Duck in Hollywood"). But I still find it funny. And if I may say so, people often treat the desert as the least tolerable climate, but if you've ever experienced a hot humid climate such as the southeastern US, the desert actually feels quite nice.

Anyway, worth seeing.


In the era when Shahrukh khan's over-acting is considered 'thrilling' and rated as top-notch by the Karan Johar circus... this movie proves that this new actor has the acting skill and confidence to make these over-hyped Khans run for their money.

This movie respects audience's intelligence and does not pursue the lowest common denominator by adding stupidly choreographed 'balle balle' songs.

This movie is about reality, it is about death and it is about the brutal war for survival. It is imaginative enough that doesn't bore the audience with obvious and unnecessary dialogue and director's clever use of music focuses on character's emotions and the underlying fear that governs everyone's behavior.

See this movie and compare it with the more 'mainstream' family oriented movies and you will see why RGV is one of the best director in the industry. Here the hero does-not cry, he is sober and mature enough to think and act. This the Khans will never be able to do.

10/10


I loved it. A mish-mash of RGV's previous gangster flicks. Simply loved 'Randeep Hooda' as 'Deshu'. How cool is that character? Seriously, he's one of my favorite characters of ALL TIME. I just loved the simplicity of this movie. No stupid camera gigs. No special effects on gun-shots. The focus is entirely on telling a good story and it keeps u riveted like other gangster flicks haven't. 'D' never drags.

Hooda has some screen presence.....this guy really commands ur attention. He emotes through his eyes and is downright chilling in some scenes. He's also gifted with a strong voice. I can definitely see him going places.

People expecting another cheap kichri of Satya/Company will be surprised by how entertaining and well made this flick is. Definitely recommended!


Ram Gopal Varma does it again yet another movie which draws you into the reality of Underworld and introduces you to the machinery of Mumbai underworld.

D is a story of a young aggressive man Deshu who gets into the Underworld and changes the orthodox ways of its operation.He defies the ongoing practices and with his courage he is in the driving seat just after some time he joins the gang.

"Randeep Hooda" comes as a surprise this young chap from Haryana delivers a performance which is really amazing. Last time when we saw Randeep Hooda he was in a small appearance in Monsoon Wedding.But this movie shows his potential.He resembles to Chandu of Company but definitely does it better than Vivek Oberoi.

Satya and Company were on the same lines of D but definitely SAtya is the best among the three.D-company music wise is not up to the mark but songs are hardly part of the story.

performance wise the movie is a full of good performances CHunky Pandey gives a great performance and fits to the role.Then there are artists like Goga Kapoor Sushant Singh who can never go wrong.Isha Kopikar had very little scope but her costumes and body language was perfect for the small time when she was on screen.

If you enjoyed Satya and company this movie is a sure go for you.Don't expect any mercy from Varma productions because there is ample of on screen violence and tension like the previous two flicks.

8/10


Another mafia movie out of the RGV factory. First of all, set expectations right to enjoy the movie. Don't expect the brilliance of Satya, raciness of Company, or the impact of Ab Tak Chappan. Then you will end up actually enjoying the movie instead of panning it as just another mafia movie.

I am surprised that they didn't promote this movie as the prequel to Company. Hollywood would have milked the angle. Hindi movies need to start doing it. But it is a "prequel" to Company, no questions about that. When seen in that angle you understand the motivation behind making the film.

The biggest plus of the movie, like other RGV movies there is no sugar coating. The scene where Deshu is sitting and eating lunch in the chawl is so realistic of chawls in B'bay that you almost can touch and smell it. There is no Yash Chopra grandeur. The romance is gritty and real. There isn't too much dialogue in the movie which furthers the impact. There is no real need for it, you can extrapolate the dialogue from the situations. The background music is fitting. Another plus point of the movie is the focus on the story. The movie never veers from it. The story is about the rise of common man to that of a mafia don (Deshu). There aren't any sub plots to divert the attention of the viewer. The acting for most part is top notch. Rukshar (Bhakti Bhatnagar) who plays Deshu's girlfriend is the only one who doesn't command a screen presence.

So whats the biggest minus ? Like I said before it doesn't leave you breathless a.k.a Satya. You have appreciate the mumbai tapori/mafia/colloquial setup to some degree to like the movie. If you are a fan of the afore mentioned movies. Its a must see.


I was very keen in wanting to watch this Rgv movie as soon as I had seen the first look of it in 2005. Upon viewing it I was not disappointed. However the movie had suffered a serious hangover from Verma's previous movies like 'satya' and 'company'.The movie did not have much new to offer. There was an extension of a sub-plot from 'company' This being the 2 sons of a senior crime lord behaving in a negative manner towards their peers.

If I compare this movie to Verma's earlier movie 'satya', 'D' depicted a more realistic transition of a individual turning in to a gangster. Though Randeep Hooda's character did not evoke much emotions or feelings as compared to J.D Chakraverthy. Most of the time he chooses to hide behind his shades and speak in a rock stone manner. The movie has a short running time of 100 mins, so the pace was very fast. The director and writer being newcomer vishram sawant wasted no time in moving with the plot. He tells the story from his perspective in the most honest way.Its inspired from Rgv's movies. The grittiness of Mumbai life and the local scenery is authentically used.

****************************SPOILERS AHEAD************************* Inner gang rivalry is the subject here once again. But it is narrated from a different angle. Hooda is a mechanic who comes back to Mumbai due to sudden death of a relative. However he becomes a witness to a killing a nd is put under pressure to not testify by a crime boss, while being forced on the other side by the law to point out the culprits in a line-up. Later in wanting to get revenge he approaches goga kapoor's gang to join. But as he popularity increases, goga's 2 sons 'sushant' and yashpal' become jealous and attempt to hinder hooda's attempts to bring prosperity to the gang. The gang becomes segmented and each are designated their area of priorities. However rivalry becomes even more bitter.***********************END OF SPOILERS*********************** Without a doubt vishram sawant has proved that he can write and direct. There are many good camera angles both close and wide that he has used. Howver the dubbing is terrible and the there is hardly any background surround sound. Viewing pleasure would be enhanced if these two elements were given more consideration. The background score is fantastic and really suits the mood of the movie. Different pieces of music are used in accordance with what the scene demanded. Though it was used too much in some places when it there was no requirement for it. Randeep Hooda gives a just about acceptable performance as a gangster. There was room for improvement. He did not seem to get under the skin of the character. He did not frighten either. Goga acts well for his age but acted very confused in the second half. There is a lot of intensity in the second half of the movie as characters turn to brutal ways and creating misunderstandings about others.

In the future I hope more good Indian gangster movies should release. However only time will tell. If you like verma's crime flicks, be sure to check this out.


Everybody is here admiring the movie and you know what??? This movie deserves that.

Some say its following Company, some user even said Hooda is made up to look like Devgan in Company. W-T-F ?? Some so-called (they call themselves) RGV fans have given comments earlier about the movie which are only distracting the RGV fans (may be they will review Ramu's Sarkar in the same way), I request them not to do this and go for traditional Bollywwod masala flicks.

I am also a fan of RGV and I have compared all his gangster movies with this one and felt finally that this one is a completely independent one. May be it's based upon Dawood Ibrahim's life which the viewer shouldn't care about, the story is well and realistically said. Chunkey Pandey has done a very good job. Randeep Hooda looks very talented delivering a cool performance. Especially his dialogue delivery (I loved his so called monotonous voice), body language were nice. Watch his next release "Risk" directed by Sawant and you will feel his voice. I loved the dialogue muting style. We can also find this style in Ramu's Sarkar and Sawant's Risk.

As Vishram Sawant, a former photographer, is the director of this movie; you can see high quality photography in every frame. The camera angles, lighting are creative and simple, not dramatic and loud. Supporting actors and the set, props are very supportive. No doubt Yaspal Sharma and Sushant Singh gave great performance as bad guys, but Zakir Hussain who is also as talented as them is in a small role as Babban. The narration by Markand Despande is touching with slight humorous as the same one of Company and Satya. All characters are made with own personality which is not found in typical Bollywood films.

The only thing I skip while watching this movie is the song "Khudko maar daala re" which is a signature of RGV production. May be this is also signature of Vishram Sawant as his following "Risk" also contains a same unwanted number.

At last this movie is not for spending a lazy afternoon, but a collectible one for RGV fans. A 10/10 excellent !!


A perfect movie projecting a man 'Desu' who finds opportunity in difficult time, makes decision rationally, lives by his own conditions, has Rules unsurpassed, vision unparalleled and perfection in execution. Ram Gopal Verma has given a new dimension to bollywood film making. Randeep Hooda has delivered very less dialogs but his portrayal of character is perfect. Controvercially its story of Dawood (Underworld don accused in 1993 Bombay blast case)and his Gang "D".Ramu also got some threatening phone calls for that. In the end of the film it summarizes character as: when, where and what he will do - nobody knows. thats why Desu is called D. Nobody could stop him. He made crime a business. Veiled politics and brought underworld into 'upperworld'.Even today 'D company's greatest rule is - "In business, your friend is your foe."


Ram Gopal Verma strikes gold once again as debuting Randeep Hooda stars in this absolutely breathtaking movie! Full marks to the acting of Randeep, Chunkey Pandey and the others. Good music too although the editing and directing is not up to the mark. A story highlighting the success of a middle-class man in the dark side of society. From a mechanic in Dubai to a gangster in Mumbai, D portrays the idealism and expressions of an average-Joe in the underworld. Jealousy, suspicion, murder ....... this movie has everything. The background score and the only 3 songs in it gets the audience enthralled. Rumours have it that this movie actually depicts how the International Don Dawood Ibrahim came to power.

Overall, a must watch for RGVs fans.


I agree in most part with the first review especially when comparing it to other movies from the RGV production house. Unless watched as a prequel to 'Company', it stands a little feebly with a mixture of actors, script, storyline and direction borrowed from it's fantastic predecessors. Otherwise it's an interesting prologue to a more complete and fulfilling story. I think the movie improves in the last third with excellent plot development and gritty twists, and the finale is well-worth waiting for.

Having loved 'Satya', 'Company' and 'Ab Tak Chappan', maybe I was expecting too much from the same genre and was a little disappointed. Try again some other time methinks, rather differently perhaps for a fresher approach.


One of the most unusual things in Bollywood is a sequel or a trilogy. Ram Gopal Varma completes this circle with "D: Company". Another hard hitting and realistic look at the Mumbai (Bombay) underworld scene. Deshu is a Dubai-returned common man who gets involved in the gangster world and soon starts taking over established names in the business. This leads to peer rivalry and of course, endless daylight shooting on Mumbai streets. The movie takes another shot at the politics-movies-police-underworld connection without sparing anyone in the process. This movie has the "Ram Gopal Varma touch", as we have come to know it, written all over it.

His previous outing with "Satya" and "Company" were equally amazing although none can match the raw power Manoj Bajpai brought to Bhikoo Mhatre(in Satya) or Ajay brought to Mallik(in Company). In this one, Randeep Hooda makes an excellent job as the aggressive yet ruthlessly calm "Dheshu" or 'D'. This movie ends where "Company" starts. So, in a way, one can see this movie as a prequel to "Company".

Performance wise there are many amazing surprises. For one, Chunky Pandey makes an excellent comeback as Raghav - D's right hand man. Then there is the Varma favorite Isha Koppikar as his love interest. Goga Kapoor, Yashpal Sharma and of course, the talented Sushant Singh also chip in powerful performances. On the whole "D:Company" turns out to be another enjoyable Varma production.

Giving it a 10 out of 10 for keeping us in touch with the reality for once.


Yesterday, I called my local desi grocer "Raja" and requested him to hold the DVD of the new release film from Ram Gopal Varma's Production, the movie "D". He kept the movie for me and I was the first one to remove the shrink wrap on it. I just couldn't wait and had to see it the same night. The much awaited prequel to the super hit movie, "Company"  the movie, "D".

Before I do the postmortem of the movie, let me break all the myths surrounding this movie. Firstly, it's NOT a prequel to "Company"!!! The main character in the movie, Deshu (played by Randeep Hooda) is somewhat like Malik (played by Ajay Devgan from Company). The idea (I think) was to make a film on how Malik became the way he was. Some characters in the movie are similar like the mob-boss with the back-ache but apart from that this movie doesn't even compare to the likes of "Satya" or "Company" The story line was so bad that the movie did not move at all. Thank god it was only 107 minutes and I was counting each one of them after the first 15. All the actors in the movie were desperately trying to act!! Chunkey Pandey I thought would make a come-back after being re-launched under Varma's banner but, I am sure he will probably go back to where he came from. Goga Kapoor, Shushant Singh and Yashpal Sharma were the only ones who I thought were doing justice to their characters. The cinematography was decent but you'll notice that each scene would start with some dialogs and then eventually be muted with a background score taking over. I don't know what the problem was did the dialogs lack substance or were they delivered so poorly that they had to be faded out and overlaid by background score? If you use this technique once or twice then it feels like a great directorial touch, but you use it for every scene and it's almost like watching a silent movie!!! The plot (or the lack of it) of the movie is very similar to the plot we have seen in all the gangster movies that came out lately. A guy from the slums (Deshu) gets into a gang and reaches the peaks in a very short period of time. The mob-boss who is Deshu's mentor appreciates his brilliance and hard work and promotes him to the level he deserves. The 2 incompetent sons of the boss get jealous of Deshu's meteoric rise and want him killed. That's about it. No twist, no drama, no substance, no message. Just plain repetitive scenes of gory shoot-outs which were so poorly choreographed that they didn't even look real! I had a lot of expectations from Randeep Hooda after seeing him in "Monsoon Wedding" but he was a big let down with his expressionless face and the monotonously-fake-hoarse-voice. If the idea was to cast Hooda to do the young "Malik from Company" or a similar character like that, let me be the first to tell you that he isn't even one-tenth as effective as Ajay Devgan was. I don't think there will ever be a Bikoo Mhatre (Manoj Bajpai) again or at least for some years to come. I feel that we have just had enough of these Mumbai-Underworld-Gangster flicks and we should take a pause for some time.

This was Vishram Sawant's directorial debut. I have no clue what made Varma give him a movie like "D". How does he scout out talent? I didn't see any in this movie for sure. OK folks, let me be clear I am a great fan of Ram Gopal Varma. I love the movies he directs himself. "Satya" and "Company" are in the same segment with Scorsese's "Goodfellas" and Copolla's "Godfather". Even a horror flick like "Bhoot" could be put right next to William Friedkin's "Exorcist" but movies like "Darna Mana Nai", "Vastu Shaastra" and "D" were mere techniques of cashing out on the previous film's successes.

I think RGV has this formula nailed down! If he sees a good script that will get him a big hit, then he directs it. If he sees that the script lacks substance but could be profitable then he just gives it to one of his deputies with the lowest budget possible and all the B-grade actors that he can get for cheap. He promotes these movies like crazy with his name on the banner bigger than the movie itself and cashes out in the first week of its premier. He handles these movies like a business transactions more than the passion he has for making films which is evident in his movies like "Shiva", "Satya" and "Company". Varma called his corporation "RGV Company" initially then he changed it to "The Factory" with movies like "D" coming out pretty soon he will have to call it "The Assembly Line". I still have some hopes from "Sarkar" though which opens on July 4th here in the USA. Thank God that Varma directs it himself especially when he has The Big B and soon to be the Bigger B in his movie.

If you have nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon and you don't know how to kill time, I would recommend you watch this movie. You could learn a lot on how not to make a movie when you don't have anything to show. No points for guessing what my grade for this movie is!! Yes absolutely!!! It is "D"!!!


Every possible cliché of bollywood is mechanically assembled in a poor manner....all the post 80s movies with underworld theme were scrambled and their randomly picked scenes then haphazardly fitted in an attempt for movie making called "D"...Ramu has become a victim of his own past.....initially, it felt like I am watching a spoof of Satya, but heck!! I was'nt even that lucky...a spoof is always more entertaining....Ramu's factory is stagnating...he should try to become creative for a change...all the characters were so stereotype...the lead Randeep Hooda tried to force himself into the shoes of the silent cold angry young man from the slums with an underworld acumen that was played so brilliantly by chkraverthy in Satya ...although this character can be traced back to Amitabh in films like Mukaddar ka Sikandar, Trishul etc but chakraverthy was its RGV version and so a relevant example to quote here....needless to say, Hooda failed miserably.....he would have done well if he had just played himself......Chunkey Pandey was expecting to redo "tezaab" but those days are long over....his character was damn clichéd just like all others in the movie...this is an era of "Hazaro Khwahishein Aisi" when every thing has to be brilliantly and refreshingly "original"...

..Ramu should have stopped dabbling with underworld themes immediately after "company" which was his last watchable movie and was good off course...its time he realises that movie-making is an art and you have to "think" and "create" the design every time you make a product, instead of doing it once and then letting the assembly line take care for the rest.....probably his engineering background has to do with it..


I am big fan of TNA Wrestling and hope that very soon it will overtake WWE as the No 1 Wrestling Company. AJ Styles becoming the TNA World champion is the best thing thats happened to TNA in a long time. I'm glad that TNA is pushing its younger talent in recent months. Matt Morgan, Hernandez and even Eric Young have enjoyed high profile pushes in the main event. The Main Event Mafia in my opinion is one of the better ideas of TNA because it gets the balance right. There are always going to be fans who like the veterans as they are well known and some who like the newer guys. So by having a mixture of both I think you have a winning formula. The matches are great and I think are better than WWE because since TNA is obviously a smaller company but a growing company then the wrestlers are going to go that extra mile for the fans and for their company. I think the only thing missing is that they need bigger impact arenas and more fans in the arena. This will show to the audience at home and make them curious as to why so many people are at the arena watching TNA.


All WWE has is wrestlers that are boring and ECW isn't even Extreme anymore. This is the best brand of all. The McMahons are losing talent that goes to TNA. Christian Cage and Rhino. That makes McMahon look bad and he should. WWE is starting to suck and this is all the way better. Rhino was right and I'm with him, I'm TNA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This seems to be leading us into the next line of wrestling. A.J. Styles seems to be the future of wrestling with his high flying and insane moves. This takes risks instead of WWE. TNA is the best wrestling I have ever seen. I like it the best and I'm not changing my answer.

WWE is Worst Wrestling Ever


It is a truism that Victor Sjostrom's films dramatise the conflict between nature and society, but his treatment is less simplistic than might be first apparent. For instance, society in 'The Outlaw and his Wife' is ruled by a brutal, land-grabbing Bailiff who whips servants for losing a sheep; but it is also a place rich in pageantry, costume and rite, where communities can express themselves.

Similarly, nature might be a site of freedom for social outsiders, a sustaining idyll for lovers, and an awe-inspiring backdrop, but it also overflows in the lonely vagrant who comes close to rape, or the cliff and snows that can kill.

Throughout Sjostrom shifts impressively between registers - nature as both real presence and symbolic backdrop; plot as both social depiction and spiritual journey - while retaining familiar action pleasures.


Although this film is set in 18th century Sweden and was produced in that country by Victor Sjöström, it unfolds very much like the sort of dark, gritty Westerns William S. Hart was making concurrently in California. With only minor alterations in detail BERG-EJVIND OCH HANS HUSTRU (known as "The Outlaw and His Wife" in America) could have been a characteristic Bill Hart scenario, one that could have been remade in the 1950s by Anthony Mann as one of his brooding "adult" Westerns. Key story elements will certainly feel familiar to fans of the genre. The plot concerns a stranger with a possibly criminal past who arrives in an isolated community, where he lands a job as a laborer on a farm owned by a wealthy widow. The widow has spurned the advances of the local bailiff, whom she despises, but she is quickly drawn to her new employee despite the disturbing rumors about his background. The relationship between the widow and the stranger blossoms at a harvest celebration, but at the height of the party he is confronted by the bailiff with accusations and forced to defend his honor. We later learn that, like Hugo's Jean Valjean, he stole only to feed his starving family, later escaped from confinement, and has been persecuted ever since. Soon after, with the law hot on his heels, the outlaw and the widow throw in their lot together and head for the hills, where an eventual confrontation between the outlaw and the bailiff ends in death.

There are no saloons or cowboy hats here; where clothing is concerned the quaint costumes of this film may remind American viewers of the earliest settlers of New England. But whatever the time period or setting we can appreciate the elemental struggle of a wronged man to attain justice in an unjust world. And as in the great Westerns of Hart, Thomas Ince, John Ford, etc., natural landscapes are used to full advantage, especially in the mountain scenes. What makes Victor Sjöström's film specifically Scandinavian is a sense of fatalism bordering on the mystical: we're told that no matter how fast a man can run, he can't escape his fate, and that is certainly the crux of the matter where the "outlaw" Berg-Ejvind is concerned. Sjöström himself played this part in the stage version of this material and repeated it in the movie, while the role of the widow Halla was taken by his real-life spouse, Edith Erastoff. Their relationship is the heart of the story. In their early scenes together it's implied that the outlaw may be taking advantage of the widow to gain her property. A servant girl who works on the farm, younger and prettier than her mistress, taunts the newcomer that he would respond to her differently if she were the owner. But it gradually becomes clear that the outlaw's love for the widow is passionately sincere (which may surprise some viewers in light of Halla's rather matronly appearance). When they take to the hills together they do so in full knowledge that she's giving up her property and that they'll have to live like vagrants, but they do so happily. Halla's philosophy is that love is the only law that matters, and this theme, like Berg-Ejvind's belief about fate, is fully demonstrated in the film's tragic final act.

This movie was the follow-up to Sjöström's 1917 breakthrough feature, TERJE VIGEN, which first gained him international attention. Personally, I prefer the simpler plot and tighter pacing of the earlier film. For me, BERG-EJVIND OCH HANS HUSTRU would have been more effective if the story had unfolded in a shorter span of time. When we're told that the outlaw and his wife have been living in the mountains for years-- long enough to deliver and raise a baby who appears to be about three years old --then discover that they're still in the vicinity of Halla's former property, our credulity is strained. Why haven't they been caught by now? Why does it take the bailiff so many years to track them down? And then, when they're cornered, Halla's sudden sacrifice of their child was inexplicable to me. We might accept this sort of action in an ancient legend or biblical tale, but not in a basically realistic story of this sort. Still, the final scenes have an undeniable (though depressing) impact. I can see why this film enhanced its director's growing stature as a top-flight director.

Scholars and silent film buffs will want to see this drama, and will likely appreciate it. But be forewarned: BERG-EJVIND OCH HANS HUSTRU is impressive, but it's not a feel-good experience.


This film was Victor Sjöströms international break-through and it's not hard to understand why. It wasn't the first time Sjöström had used the wild and unpredictable nature as an illustrator or commentator, but this time the scenery and the acting was in the same level of quality. A wonderful piece of art.


Most silent films, damaged by the course of the time, exist in different versions with different running times, but when a DVD is released, is supposed to be in the most complete version existing (for instance, the Flicker Alley DVD of "La roue").

Well, this is not the case with the Kino "The outlaw and his wife". This is a very truncated version and shouldn't have been released in such conditions. Its running time is only 70 minutes, when nowadays exists a 105 min. version that I have seen in the Madrid Filmoteca and in the TV french channel Arte four or five years ago.

The truncated Kino DVD version is, I suppose, the existing in the Kino shelves and released many years ago in VHS. That's very bad. (and the price of the DVD is 27 $ !).


I came to this film with great anticipation. The 26th film in Sjostrom's career, a career spanning 25 years (1912-1937)and 54 films, including such late silent classics as THE SCARLET LETTER, HE WHO GETS SLAPPED and his classic, THE WIND. I was bitterly disappointed.

I found the film episodic, pointless, boring and brutal with no point of view. Yes, there are beautiful backdrops of mountain valleys and fjords, but against this is played out a human drama that just doesn't hold together for me.

The plot involves an escaped, falsely convicted thief, who stole out of hunger for his family and who comes to work for a wealthy widow. They fall in love and she makes him steward, to the anger of her brother-in-law, who wants her (and her property) for himself. When the false identity and thievery are discovered the couple flee to the mountains and live the rest of their lives in caves and hovels, seemingly happy but dealing with melodramatic moments (a friend comes to live with them and lusts for the wife, they are discovered by vigilantes so she throws their child off a cliff (duh?????) and runs away with her husband, to be discovered sixteen years later, bitter and at each other's throats, facing a week long blizzard in another hovel.)

Had they not run off but remained within society to face the conflicts inherent midway in the film, it might have been a better script, tighter and with a coherent plot line. What we have here is two films or one short film with an extended epilogue. Nothing about the production was above crudity (elaborate vistas do not cinematography make!).

Coming as it did halfway in his career, it does not show any promise for a man who would later achieve great artistry.

It is interesting that Sjostrom himself plays the lead and his real life wife, the love interest (although having two characters refer to her as exceptionally beautiful when she's as homely as a pig with one ear - is a bit hard to swallow).


I first saw "The Green Pastures" quite by accident as a 13 year-old while visiting grandparents in Detroit, Michigan many, many years ago...I never forgot it.

Years later, in college, while on a date, I was telling my date about it and we stopped by the school library so I could find a copy of the play to show her...she loved it, too. I've since bought the tape and watch it every now-and-then when I want to smile and feel good.

I remember asking my mom about the movie when I first saw it and always remembered her response..."how do you think the little black children in the movie pictured God and others in the Bible?" And that, of course, is exactly what Marc Connelly was trying to get us to think about.

Though the original play/movie may have met resistance in the South, it was a hit in New York. To the eternal historical revisionists of today who see nothing but stereotypes and negative images, I'd suggest you take another look.

Country folk of the early part of this century did talk with accents and few had much education (whites as well as blacks). The dialog of the film is less a contrived stereotype than it is a snapshot of what the simple life was like. It's not hard for me to imagine a dedicated Mr. Deshee teaching kids in Sunday School about the good book. Nor is it hard to understand why they might picture pharoe's guards in double-breasted suits like the gangsters in the news of their youth, or relating any number of other scenes to what was familiar to them.

Connelly was not trying to convert viewers to religion...he was trying to get those already converted to see the personal relationship with God enjoyed by all his children, regardless of their station in life.

There are no whites in the movie, just as there were no whites in the immediate community where the story takes place. This movie was not made with the burden of every social dilemma we've struggled with over the years. To blindly force modern perceptions and racial baggage on it does nothing but dampen the simple joy of this unique gem.


The Green Pastures enacts Old Testament Bible stories as seen through the eyes of rural black children. The movie begins in a ramshackle church, generations ago, presumably in the Deep South. As the Sunday School teacher relates the Bible stories we are transported to Heaven to witness the Creation, the Banishment from the Garden of Eden, the Flood, and the Exodus. An all-black cast, speaking in the rural idiom, and set in modern day (1930s) surroundings makes for one of the most unique movies you will ever see.

All the pieces fit together perfectly. It's a joy to watch, deeply spiritual, and the gospel choir accompaniment is an added treat. Grade A.


Old-time movie buffs - and anyone interested in the Bible - should not miss this film if they have the chance to see it. It tells the stories of the Old Testament, with an all African American cast, with the gloss typical of 1930's Warner Brothers.

Highlights include the first scenes in Heaven and just about anything with Rex Ingram. He gives The Almighty great weight & serenity; he also plays Adam.

Acting is good throughout and some of the special effects are still fun to watch.


It seems almost incredible that this film was made in 1936, when the almost invariable tendency in Hollywood was to portray negroes as (perhaps) lovable, but mostly inept, submissive, rather primitive creatures, good for a laugh and musical entertainment but for not much else. Here we see, in primitive guise but with great delicacy, feeling, seriousness and depth (even the difficult theological problem of the doubting God is touched on towards the end) the events of the New Testament as seen through the eyes of negro believers. This is one of the very few movies I have insisted on that my children see as part of their education, and this should apply to many grownups too.


I watched this movie late at night with a bunch of munchkins and wondered why more of the adults didn't come watch it with us... It is a unique, well-made, unassuming, enjoyable, surprising, well-told "story." I say "story," because it is a description more than a tale of one way to conceive of the "Lawd of heaven." Gotta love the southern accents. They did a great job and left me rethinking the way I thought of things and smiling as I thought of the way they portrayed it all. It was also curious to me to see how society's perception of music, race, and Sundays has changed, but how some things never change.

Favorite quote... by "The Lawd" - "I'm going ta make me a miracle"


acknlowedging the individual from pine grove, ca, who is an agnostic, this has absolutely nothing to do with the content, intent, or production of this film that broke all barriers regarding race and blacks in leading roles. additionally, this film was banned in certain southern theaters because of it's theme. most directors and actors today refer to this film as a bellweather production. it has been included as one of the best american films and is so registered in the library of congress' archives.


Excellent screenplay, music, singing and acting. The subject matter was difficult, but the screenwriter and actors pulled it off. An excellent film, minus the stereotypes, which were a necessary evil in the 1930s. A film well worth the risk by a major studio.


When you pop either THE GREEN PASTURES or HALLELUJAH in your DVD player, Warner Brothers' disclaimer comes up, stating these films "are a product of their time.... it does not express Warner Brothers' opinion....." Okay, they're setting the record straight. They want to present two excellent movies, without offending anyone. The "warning" is eclipsed by two factors. These two films, both with all black casts, showcase amazing talent often smothered by the then Hollywood studio system. They also both carry a message of faith told in a very entertaining manner.

THE GREEN PASTURES opens with a Sunday School sermon in the deep south. The classroom is made up of attentive black children asking some pretty intelligent questions about the Bible. We peek into one child's view of heaven. Since this child probably knows very little of the world outside her community, heaven is one big fish-fry with plenty to eat, where the adults get to hangout and smoke ten-cent "see-gars".

It's here where God (referred to in the film as "De Lawd") makes an appearance. This is an Oscar worthy performance by Rex Ingram, one of many black actors at the time who seldom received decent film work from Hollywood. Ingram plays "De Lawd" in a sweet, soft-spoken manner, never talking down to the humans he created. "Now you're just doing fine," he tells Adam. "But there's just one thing missing. You need a family." Ingram's quiet tone always tells us this guy has things in order. Film fans may remember Rex Ingram as Jim in HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1939) and as the laughing, constantly sarcastic genie in THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940). Not only was Ingram an accomplished stage actor, but he was a certified MD as well!

Ingram also plays Adam and Hezdrel. During the later performance, GREEN PASTURES most memorable time-tested message comes across very simply. We realize this is truly a cinematic classic. The Bible stories are depicted here in pseudo 20th century settings with old world behavior. (Much like the villages in the first three FRANKENSTEIN films) Moses is a modern-day "trickster" who gives Pharaoh's top magician a run for his money. In another scene, a pistol packing gangster in a double breasted suit mouths off to Noah.


I first saw this film as a small child and it made a great impression on me---the nearness of God, the effects of our actions, like ripples in a pond. But most of all,the lesson in this film is God's Love and compassion for his creations. Eternal fountain of eternal love! I encourage everyone to watch this film---it will lift your heart, ease a troubled mind and bring you closer to God. I have seen this film many times over the years,each time there seems a new message or sight I had missed, before. The acting is delightful--- it is set in the country, and the actors (who may never have been out of the city, before!) are so natural, and most believable in this rural setting. Their struggles with temptation and the small everyday sins are depicted in a realistic way, and I love the angelic interaction! This film is a classic treasure, and should be shown in movie houses around the world.


Man, is this different! This is a "Biblical" account as seen through the eyes of black people during the earlier days of the 20th century. I put "Biblical" in quotes because, if you HAVE read the Bible you know that most of the stuff in this film is hardly an accurate account of the Bible.....but it's more of a parable, I think, than any literal translations.

No, they did NOT wear suits and ties and carry guns around in Old Testament days. Trust me. Better yet, look it up! And God is portrayed near the end of the film as a confused, almost stupid Being. That part disturbed me, but most of this is very good entertainment and meant to be that, period.

I just enjoyed it for the musical comedy it was, nothing more. The grammar in here is so bad, and the story so ludicrous.....you just have to laugh out loud. A few decades ago, the word "camp"" came out to describe certain overly-corny things. This movie is camp: it's so bad, it's good.


Marc Connelly co-directed and penned this adaptation of his play, based on Roark Bradford's stories of "Ol' Man Adam and His Chillun'", about Louisiana Sunday School youngsters imagining a fanciful Heaven of fish fryin', choir singin', and the Lord God Jehovah performing miracles--including the creation of Earth to drain off all the fermentation! "De Lawd" creates man and woman, but is soon displeased with the way the human race is carrying on, flooding the world after making a pact with poor preacher Noah. All-black variation on Biblical stories might strike some today as a stunt, yet the gloss and professionalism of the Warner Bros. studio is in full evidence. Lots of good humor and intentionally broad strokes make the holy teachings vivid and entertaining--and still their message comes through clearly. "De Lawd" likes his ten-cents cigars, and a little liquor is OK, but He wants to see the folks in church on the Sabbath and not gambling or messing about! Highly enjoyable movie-making, with a hypnotic edge that touches the viewer and tempers the exaggeration in the acting and writing. *** from ****


i first saw this movie in the mid 80's as referred by a co worker, and i scoured the TV listings for about a year until i found it, was not available locally on /through video, i thought this movie was fantastic, remember the time frame when it was made. the story contains truth through mostly folklore, as to the speech and language abilities of the actors of the day. even the comedic twists throughout the story, are never seen in todays productions,the production values for the era should be considered in video and cinematography class, again just a classic especially that it's in black and white.i wonder why the American film institute doesn't research these older films and have tribute during awards night, pick them via month of production or anniversary release dates. as a matter of fact i think i'll watch it today.


In reviewing African-Americans on film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1936 with the first all-black production for a major studio since Hallelujah! from MGM in 1929: The Green Pastures from Warner Bros. Rex Ingram stars in three roles-De Lawd, Adam, and Hezdrel. As De Lawd, Ingram brings a human dimension to the Supreme Being that expresses his doubts occasionally because of the way things turn out. Playwright Marc Connelly brought to his screenplay adaptation some wonderful humorous touches in retelling some of the bible stories like that exchange between De Lawd and Noah (Eddie Anderson who I just saw at the beginning of Show Boat) about whether to bring one keg or two of whiskey to the ark or Gabriel (Oscar Polk) saying he'll spit in the eye of Satan! Among the females, Edna Mae Harris makes an impression in her brief role of Zeba who, after her boyfriend gets shot, takes a shine to the one who shot him! Was most impressed with the Moses story especially the trick scene with the walking stick turning into a snake and what happened afterward when the Pharaoh initially refused Moses' request to let his people go. The spiritual singing of the Hall Johnson Choir serving as score throughout was very inspirational. And having New Orleans being mentioned as the Sin City told this Louisianian how some things never change! While, yes, there's some stereotypes about the Negroes being such simple people (with heaven presented as a fish fry and the angels getting ten-cent cigars), there's also a message about tolerance and how, despite all that's wrong with the world, there's also plenty that's right that is made clear at the end when there's word of someone being nailed at the cross...


There's never been another movie like "Green Pastures." Seldom has there been such an outrageous premise, so original a conception of simple religiosity, such a deft accomplishment of a potentially disastrous idea. This is the Old (not the New) Testament as it might be imagined by impoverished black children in the Mississippi Delta before their world had electricity, running water, radio, or the opportunity of anything beyond the most elementary education.

Rex Ingram exerts a quiet but stern and, by a wonderful paradox, very human authority as "De Lawd. The entire cast exudes the confidence of professionals and both the acting and the direction keep the film from ever descending into a minstrel-show debacle. It's a movie all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or their position on Darwin should be proud of. The tragedy - once again - is that so many talented actors were prevented by the racism of the times to achieve the professional success of white performers who, though no more talented, became familiar and durable stars.

Well, there's some poetic justice here, because the film itself is an enduring monument to its players, and a reminder of one of racial segregation's most insidious effects: the denial to American culture - and to world culture - of the fullest contribution of outstanding artists simply because of the color of their skin.

The warmth and humor of "Green Pastures" is indelible. The entire production, not least the choral numbers, remains world-class. The film is a must-see.


I do not know about the stereotypes, who believed what and when, if anyone were really the way depicted, etc. This was a warm interpretation of old, familiar Old Testament stories backed by a joyful choir. Rex Ingram was a great actor, and he was inspiring in each of his roles in this film. To the role of God, one challenging to any mortal actor, he brought a sense of immense love and transformation brought on by that love. The image of him putting his arm around an aged and exhausted Moses as the Israelites hit Jericho without their leader was one of compassionate friendship. This is what we're told God felt for Moses.

Hey, 10-cent cigars in Heaven! There is so much in this about what Heaven might have meant to people in a different time, a different condition. And to us. Volumes were spoken of the Archangel Gabriel, after the Lord had done his work: "Dy'a want a cigar, Lawd?" I agree with the other reviewers who say that this film is a priceless joy.


When we know the author of the original stories is white, the film shows perfectly well how the American society, after slavery and after  up to the 1850s  banning the Blacks from all training into reading and writing, from all speaking their original languages and even from all affiliation to any religion, rushes head first into over-Christianizing the Blacks with no cautious slowing down and with all calculated speeding up they could master after the Secession War, both south and north, though for different reasons. The objective was to cast the Blacks into the mold of the unexplainable will of God and the necessity to suffer in this world to be saved in the next one. The interest of this film cannot be found in the ethics of the story. Maybe only  at this level  in the exploration of the arcane sophistication of the alienation, imposed onto the Blacks. But the real interest is the large presence of Negro spirituals in the film, one of the very first films entirely centered on Black music, though in 1936 we must not forget we are after  and within  the triumph of the radio that enabled Black music and jazz to find a wide audience, to embed its existence and force into the widest Black and white audience it had ever had, just as it enabled F. D. Roosevelt to dominate the political arena for twelve years or so. Yet the film is tremendously deficient. The desire to have only Black actors in the film locks up the Blacks in a color ghetto. It appears as pure segregation against the whites. It does not help us much understand the great musical revolution the Blacks brought to the American continent. They live their music, their religion and their everyday life in the total absence of whites except in one scene where the whites are Ku Klux Klan members lynching a whole bunch of Blacks for no other apparent reason than the excitement of the hunt. At times the biblical stories told to us are so naive and simple-minded that we can wonder whether we are talking to people provided with a brain. The music itself is very average. Luckily this exclusively Black cinema has not been furthered beyond the few films the late 1920s and the 1930s produced. They were leading to a complete dead end as for understanding or simply reflecting the real situation in which the Blacks are living and which they may want to change. What's more the reduction of the whites to KKK members is definitely a racist caricature.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines


This classic all-black adaptation of Marc Connelly's play attempted to break some ground for the role of blacks in film, but it comes through today in a mixed mode. There are some touching moments in the simplicity of faith. But my agnostic feelings interfered with the total enjoyment of the film. Also, most of the cast perpetuate the stereotyping at the time - that of blacks being simpleminded human beings. Still, there is much to enjoy, especially if you are religious minded.


(r#57)

This game is just amazing. I can play it over and over again and never get bored with it. That, I think, is the sign of a truly classic video game: the unlimited re-playability. You could play Heroes III 100 times in a row and not get tired of it. It's just that great.

Let's start with the game-play. You move your "hero" across a 2D map of a fantasy landscape. Occasionally you will run into an enemy "hero" or an army of fantasy beasts. This launches you into battle mode and the entire screen changes into a battlefield, where you get to see your army up close. The armies can be moved left and right, up and down, kind of like in chess, and the goal is of course to strike down upon the enemy with great vengeance and furious anger. It's that simple. Some gamers might think this game-play is too simple and boring. I think it's brilliant. It's so simple it's easy to play any time of the day (or night...). If you purchase a spell book for your "hero", you'll also be able to curse the enemy armies with spells or increase your own soldiers' capacity with your magic in combat.

The landscapes are beautiful and incredibly detailed and the music is atmospheric and relaxing. Add to that the enormous set of fantasy creatures you can use for battles (including centaurs, cyclops, unicorns, archers, Elves, at least seven types of dragons, basilisks, goblins, ghosts, skeletons, wizards, trolls, vampires and griffins, and I haven't even scratched the surface), a complex story, and complicated campaign scenarios, and you have the total winner that is Heroes III.

Another thing that elevates this game into greatness is the fact that you can, through the use of a very user-friendly map editor, create your own maps, which makes the game creative as well as entertaining. I also recommend adding the expansion packs Armageddon's Blade and The Shadow of Death, which feature additional creatures, castles and characters, as well as the option to create your very own campaign adventure. Expanded or not, Heroes III is a great game which you have to play if you haven't already. If there was a top 250 for games, this should be #1.


One of the best strategy Rpg ever. Heroes of Might and Magic III : Restoration of Erathia its a true fantasy game with a great story, graphics and exceptional music.

One of the most entertainment and addict games i ever played, i play Heroes III all over the years, and still hook me in front of a screen playing it for hours. Im suspicious, but in my opinion in many ways Heroes III its much better than Heroes IV.

If you like Heroes of Might and Magic III : Restoration of Erathia, i also recommend: Heroes II; Heroes IV; Ages of Wonders ( in my opinion a Heroes of Might and Magic rip off, but still a good game)


I remember playing this game at a friend. Watched him play a bit solo until we decided to try play 2 and 2, which we found out how to do. I thought it was extremely fun, especially as we had to sit next to each other (I didn't have Internet nor the knowledge of LAN by then). A few weeks later I bought the game and played like a mad man.

During the time I've spent playing this game I can honestly say that it's a great game for fantasy and strategy lovers. It evolves around a very cool and handy system where it's very easy to get accompanied by people in younger ages due to the very basic system of the game, which is actually great.

The storyline was somewhat complex for me, but others might have the experience to understand it. But the gaming experience was awesome. Heroes is probably the first game which contains a system in strategy you might not have seen before. The graphics are very nice. And the scenes of each city are just b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. Accompanied by a great musical composition.

It's a game worth trying out. Whether you're 10 years old or in your thirties, and/or over.


I base this review on the Complete Version. This is the first of the series I've played, except for a minimal portion of the second one. Thus, I cannot compare this to the earlier ones. I can, however, say that this is incredible, and has gotten me to look at the ones that came later in the franchise. It features six campaigns, of slightly varying length, as well as growing difficulty. All of the story is told through them, as well as the well-done(if dated, today) CGI cut-scenes. The plot, which is memorable and takes a few unexpected turns, takes you through an entire war over who rules Erathia. I mean that in the StarCraft type way... you get to fight on both sides, and conquer as well as defend. You get more than two... let's call them species, even though it doesn't apply as well here as in a lot of other titles. In fact, there are eight, and they span from human(with knights, Pikemen and Angels), through Dungeon(with Troglodytes, Minotaurs and Medusas) and to the forces of the dead(with Skeletons, Zombies and Vampires). Heck, this thing is filled to the brim with mythological beings(dragons, elementals, genies, etc.) and abilities(resurrection, flight, striking twice and others). The detail in this is astounding. All of the design work is imaginative and amazing. There is an immense amount of different units, and they are all sufficiently distinguished. This helps making the battles interesting(during them is the only time of this that you can't save your progress). The system for them plays a big part in that, as well. They can be reminiscent of good chess matches... honestly, the whole thing can. This is turn-based strategy and role playing, and it's full of freedom and coincidental occurrences. All the choices you make can prove to be important, as can the chances you take. This randomization means that you can try the same areas of the game multiple times, and it won't be the same. Plus, there are quite a few levels, the size of them being potentially tiny or huge, or anywhere in-between those poles. And if that's not enough, this comes with a Map Editor, easy to use, with an intuitive interface, *and* it can make them compatible with either of the expansion packs. The quality may depend on the one making it, but anyone can use the program. It's not limited, like a Generator, rather, you can customize a lot. Not anywhere near as much as the one that comes with StarCraft, no... on the other hand, this has something that that one doesn't: a "validate" option, that lets you know about any objective shortcomings. The way the mood of this is establishing is excellent. Every little bit of the beautifully done, orchestral score is masterful and a perfect fit. Audio in this is, in general, great. All the effects sound just right. The tone is spot-on. This has nice graphics. They may not hold up today, nevertheless, the movements look natural and the magic looks spectacular. The animation is impeccable. While I am by no means well-versed in the world of RPG, from what I understand of how it is played with cards and dice, the game-play of this does a fine job of putting that on the computer. You move your Heroes around, collecting, engaging in combat and gaining XP for themselves, experience points, to improve their skills, most literally represented in the four main ones, Attack, Defend, Power and Knowledge, the latter 2 translating into how strong the spells(which you of course have to find, learn or trade between them) you cast are, and how many of them you can use before recharging them, respectively. It's all very entertaining, and once you get into it, it can be addictive. Several of the artifacts, I defy anyone not to get a kick out of getting a hold of and using. Want to walk on water? And that's only one example. I'll leave discovering the massive, vast number of things in this... to utilize against your opponents, or vice versa... to each individual person who tries this. That's part of the fun of this. Multi-player is magnificent and doesn't actually necessitate an internet connection or LAN, although it can be done on them, so it's wide open. No, 8 people, the maximum that can play, can sit at one machine and go at it with one another. Like RTS releases... note that this is not one, it is not real time, all actions in this are based on taking turns... this has you constructing buildings, gathering resources, putting together armies, managing it all and taking out your opponents. The AI, marvelous, by the way, smart and adaptive, has about half a dozen settings for how smart they are, and how well-equipped they start out, so absolute new-comers, as well as seasoned veterans can get a challenge that they can beat. You can spend countless hours on this. There are so many things to explore. A bunch of "worlds", with lava, "underground", oceans, you can sail, and find objects out there, as well, such as buoys that'll restore spirit to your men, sirens that you may or may not wish to go near, and whirlpools that transport you back and forth, at the cost of troops going overboard. There are no real shortcomings, if you like this type of thing. If you're unsure about that, try a demo. I have not run into a single bug or glitch, nor any problems with the stability. This is so mild and inoffensive(without sacrificing anything, it genuinely doesn't feel like they had to PG it up), apart from stuff that may upset some religious people, that everyone, any age, can enjoy it. There is no language, violence is bloodless and not disturbing, and sexuality goes no further than a risqué costume here and there. I recommend this to any fan of these kinds of games, those who like medieval times, and anyone into fantasy. 9/10


I would call Heroes of Might and Magic III a truly GREAT game- if it wasn't so easy to get stuck in certain scenarios that are necessary to get to the next scenario. When the inability to beat the computer gets so frustrating, you just want to scream- that's usually a bad thing. On the good side, the graphics are great, the storyline supports the game play, it's fun to see everything from not just the viewpoint of one side; but of three, and the creatures are fun to work with. That said, make sure you have a link to at least one page with Heroes III walkthroughs, because you WILL run into scenarios that are literally almost impossible to beat.


I'm somewhat prejudiced, since I'm in the film, as the piano player with the Cale Band, but even allowing for that, I still think it's magnificent. If they allowed me to vote even higher than ten, I would. JJ Cale has been an enigma to most of his fans, a mystery, for years. This documentary changes that. The crew from Kick Films really captured the real JJ Cale, not an easy task. I have been playing with Cale off and on since 1957 and the JJ Cale I know is the one you'll see in this film. The DVD has now been released in the USA, on 13 June, 2006 and has been available as a region two DVD in England, Germany and Australia since late 2005. This Documentary is not to be missed!


i got the DVD as a xmas gift from a good friend and man what a gift it is! i always liked his music very much but i knew virtually nothing about the person john cale. this film captures him perfectly. it is slow paced, unobtrusive and just lets the man and his friends speak. and what a sweet man he is. he is a very mature human being, humble, straight, has clear opinions and seems to be a very loving person. very simple and down-to-earth. watching this documentary was a 2-hour celebration. and i'd think not just for die-hard fans of j.j. cale, because it shows - as i said already - a very simple, smart, humble and loving human being. it makes you believe in the human spirit again. great camera work, editing and sound. a REALLY good documentary. 10 out of 10.


Having been allowed behind the scene access during this tour, I have to say that everything you see in these videos truly portrays JJ Cale in the most accurate way possible.

The film moves slow, sometimes to the point of boring. But, that's the "laid back" feel you're supposed to get. Waiting for a train to pass, sitting in a parking lot playing guitar. This is the calm, relaxed way John leads his life. Definitely something to look up to considering his financial wealth.

The interviews with Eric Clapton are great. He puts Cale on a pedestal (so to say) and credits him properly. I admire that.

This film has finally been released in the US as well and definitely worth a look for those interested in the Tulsa Sound, the roots of popular music, and of course, JJ Cale himself.


Saw the film last night at the Nashville Film Festival. The documentary follows Cale and his band on a two week trip to Tulsa and back where Cale talks about his life and his approach to his music. It was great to watch in a lot of ways .. the music was great and, as a longtime admirer of the music, I heard a lot of songs in the film that I would like to own if I could figure out their names, the scenery was kind of cool and made me wonder if the German director (who had never met Cale before he made the film) had also never been through the American southwest.

For me, the most poignant parts of the film were with JJ Cale in downtown Tulsa with an acoustic guitar playing his songs -- seeing a musician transforming from a quiet, soft-spoken man into the musical genius that he is in such a mundane setting can be magic.

The film also made me think about the way we age. Cale, who tells that he is 65, obviously looks different than he did years ago and the film's photography seemed to let you catch that young musician's face from the photos it showed in the aging face of the man as he is now.

It's a great film about a man who could be anyone you know with everyday thoughts, a dry wit and a gentle and humble approach to life.


Just watched this DVD, having got it for Christmas, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was expecting a basic concert film with maybe a couple of backstage scenes - you know the sort of thing - but this is far more than that. It's a proper documentary, running through Cale's career, including old photos and film and anecdotes, as well as visits to old haunts in Tulsa and interviews with his entourage and his long-serving tour band. Eric Clapton also makes regular affectionate contributions throughout.

All through the film J J Cale comes across as the cool and relaxed guy one would expect from his legend, but he's also got a constant twinkle in his eye and a smile and a handshake for everyone.

There's actually only a handful of live songs with the full band, which surprised me, but there's music playing all the way through and there's plenty of footage of just Cale and a guitar, which is plenty satisfying for me.

Definitely recommended to any fan, past, present or future.


When I went to the store and saw this DVD I knew it wouldn't leave my hands anymore. And I must say it's really a great DVD. It's not a rental DVD over here so people will only have the chance to buy it. It's a docu of a great man with LOTS of music. It's a DVD all big stars should have because the man stays with both feet firmly on the ground. It also shows what a great guitar player and performer the man is, so beginning artist or even advanced ones should take a look at this DVD too. The feeling I had after seeing this DVD was that the MAN himself is the style, his music is not a style but a lifestyle. I thought he was great, but he's far greater than I thought. A great opportunity for people like me out of Belgium who will never see the man live to see a man in action where all those other great ones got the juice from. It's worth every penny(Euro) I paid for it.


I discovered this film in the dark, back corner of the video store, covered in dust. The dust was so thick, I could barely read the title. But something about it caught my eye. Was it the deep black of the video cover? Nietzche once said that if you stare long enough into an abyss, the abyss stares back at you... I felt as though this cover was staring at me, within me, beckoning me to pervade its depths and discover the secret it held within...I knew that whatever this movie was, I had to rent it. I dusted off the cover and for the first time in my life gazed upon those words: 'The Incorporated.' I watched it, and although the film by itself was only mediocre, there was one aspect, one historic performance that made the movie worth watching, my life worth living. That magical performance is, of course, the work of David L. Scott. His performance in this was, quite frankly, the greatest performance as a 911 operator in the history of film. But what has happened to this great man? It's a terrible shame that this extraordinary actor has disappeared from the film scene. He will be profoundly missed...


Not a big budget thriller but it kept the action at a pretty intense clip. Most Low Budget films suck. This one was damn cool and I really got into the story. A couple of the Actors could have been a bit better but the main one's did a believable job. Good looking film too. Rock On. Thx


The other night a friend stopped by with a copy of The Incorporated. I had never heard of it before and as there were no big names in it I was tempted to watch Seinfeld reruns instead. Wow. I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not an independent film kind of guy. My interests usually lie in the big, Hollywood type films. But this was really good. It had as much action as some of the films I go to the theatre to see. Now my friend says I should see "Life is Beautiful." After hearing about it, I don't think I'm ready for that yet.


This film gave me a sense of how Jerry Bruckheimer started out. "The Incorporated" is a very strong first endeavor. Knowing the extreme difficulties of getting a film off the ground, let alone finishing with polished precision, I applaud Kenneth Guertin. All of the elements of an action-thriller were in place. I look forward to him and his team's future work. Independent film-makers like Kenneth Guertin are the type of artist who develop into the Steven Spielbergs and James Camerons of the "Hollywood Machine". I would like to see more Independent action-based films like "The Incorporated", rather than those we see every year at the festivals striving to be the next Neil LaBute or Woody Allen.


Awesome. This is one of the best (real) independent films I have ever seen. The film opens with a smoothly visualized, crisply edited burst of action that neatly outlines the major elements of the thriller to follow. Writer-Director Kenneth Guertin keeps the action moving and handles his non-star cast competently. For a first time writer he tells his story economically and clearly. Guertin takes us on a journey of an every day man caught up in a bad situation. This is the film `Chain Reaction' was hoping to be. Great looking cinematography and Marco Beltarmi's music is excellent. I can see why he went on to do the `SCREAM' trilogy and much more.

I had a great time watching his film and I think this filmmaker will be some one to watch out for. A+

Kevin Mewman


This film has action aplenty. The concept is very intriguing, especially these days. It looks fantastic. Incredible cinematography. Was it 35mm? Must have been. The music is great. Oh, by the way...interesting side note...did anyone know that Marco Beltrami, who did the score for The Incorporated, just did the score for T3 with the good ol' Governor? Yes...little known fact! Isn't this Kenneth Guertin's first feature, or at least the first one registered on IMDB? Not too shabby! Big future ahead for this guy.


This is the worst piece of junk I have ever seen. Poorly produced, lame storyline, terrible acting. It's not even good enough to be enjoyed as a B-movie. Yikes!


Unfortunately for there is no shortage of these so-called film makers who travel to Thailand with preconceived notions and return with a poorly researched self-indulgent piece about (surprise) prostitutes. Leaving aside the overly melodramatic narration, the way that the narrator/director mispronounces many Thai words and shows an alarming lack of local knowledge, I saw no attempts to check the stories he was being fed, and no background information was looked into to validate the stories he reported. The narrator just accepted everything fed to him as fact.

Had he talked to people who know Thailand he may have discovered that the hard luck stories are par for the course, and as was shown, when the subject finds they aren't going to be making any money off it, they tend to stop answering the door.

Nice try, but this is just another inexperienced director who did nothing to back up the veracity of anything presented, though stories about prostitutes always sell don't they?


Having just finished visiting Thailand myself, I too had seen a lot of falangs walking around, intimately, with these young girls and even boys. I had not realised that these Thai boys and girls were probably prostitutes as I just innocently thought they were probably couples. How wrong was I! While this documentary received a number of negative comments on how "shallow" it is, I seem to think that this documentary aims not to point out the problem, but as a reminder of how we, visitors and guests to the country are exploiting its resources negatively.

Thailand is a very beautiful country and I visit there quite often. I do things like shopping, eating and sightseeing. My last visit was filled with fun and joy with my friends, just doing shopping and indulging in the delicious food.

I don't agree with the British interviewee in the documentary that Thailand is a country for men. I enjoyed Thailand as much without any "use" of the sex trade.