imdb_id
stringlengths 9
9
| title
stringlengths 1
92
| plot_synopsis
stringlengths 442
64k
| tags
stringlengths 4
255
| split
stringclasses 1
value | synopsis_source
stringclasses 2
values | review
stringlengths 119
19k
⌀ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
tt0049476 | Man in the Vault | The criminal Willis Trent wants to rob the safety deposit box of a crooked Los Angeles businessman, Paul De Camp. He has lawyer Earl Farraday smooth-talk the guy's girlfriend, the two-timing Flo Randall, into revealing the bank box's number.
Now they need a locksmith. A henchman called Herbie is sent to find one. He settles on Tommy Dancer, who works in a bowling alley. Tommy is quickly smitten with Earl's girl Betty Turner but is a law-abiding citizen and rejects an offer of $5,000.
Tommy falls for Betty, taking her to the Hollywood Bowl and learning she comes from a wealthy family. Tommy's attentions to her get him a beating from Louie, another big thug. He is told Betty's face will be disfigured if he refuses to cooperate.
Breaking into the box is no problem, but Tommy thinks he's been double-crossed by Betty and decides to keep the $200,000. He stashes the cash in a locker at the bowling alley. Flo confesses her part in the scheme to De Camp, who goes after Tommy, even hurling bowling balls at him before the cops show up.
Tommy races to save Betty, realizing she's on the level. Trent ends up dead, and Tommy's future is a lock. | murder | train | wikipedia | I had an old fuzzy copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy of a TV broadcast of this 1956 crime-noir B programmer, but now that there's a new letter-boxed DVD out, I threw the old tape away and can finally enjoy this film for what it is: a solid "b" crime film with good performances, good pacing, and great Los Angeles location photography.
The under-rated William Campbell plays an average guy working as a locksmith, who is approached by a gangster who wants to break into a safe deposit box.
Anita Ekberg is in a small role as the girlfriend of James Seay's character, the owner of the safe deposit box.
This plays a lot like an Allied Artists low-budget 50's crime film, and for me that is a high compliment.
A tough choice for nice-guy assistant locksmith Tommy Dancer: to continue plodding on with his $80/week, go-nowhere job, OR to give in to the demands of petty hood Willis Trent, and get paid $5,000 for using his skills to break into the safety-deposit box of top-dog criminal De Camp and steal $200,000.
This ethical conundrum becomes a no-brainer, however, when Trent turns the screws by kidnapping and threatening Tommy's newest girlfriend, Betty Turner.
McLaglen's "Man in the Vault," a compact little film noir from 1956 that, despite its "B movie" status--and despite the "Maltin Film Guide"'s assertion that it is "drab" and only deserving of one of its lowest ratings--still offers much.
Though surely made on the cheap, the film looks just fine, and features at least two highly suspenseful sequences: the heist that Tommy carries out inside a crowded bank, and a nighttime game of cat and mouse between Tommy and one of Trent's thugs inside a deserted bowling alley.
Plus, with a running time of only 73 minutes, the picture is lean and fast moving, with little in the way of flab (excepting, perhaps, that three-minute song "Let the Chips Fall Where They May," warbled by a chantootsie early on at Trent's house party).And then there is the film's single best element: a surprisingly excellent performance by William Campbell as Tommy Dancer, who does indeed get to "dance" all over L.A. while embroiled in this film's shenanigans.
Karen Sharpe (not to be confused with Karen Steele, as I did going in) is cute and appealing as Betty, Berry Kroeger is memorable as the smarmy Trent, and former heavyweight wrestler Mike Mazurki adds his always welcome, menacing presence.
Oh...how could I forget the main reason for my rental of this film in the first place: Anita Ekberg, Miss Sweden 1951, playing the part of De Camp's moll, Flo Brant?
Throw in some nice location photography of 1950s Los Angeles (including the Hollywood Bowl and Hollywood Blvd., replete with a Rexall Drugstore!), some well-done, naturalistic dialogue, efficient direction from McLaglen and a highly satisfactory denouement and you've got a little film that's a lot more than merely "drab"!.
Enjoyed this B Film from 1956 which involves a locksmith named Tommy Dancer, (William Campbell) who lives a very average life and one night in his favorite bowling alley a man named Willis Trent, (Berry Kroeger) makes his acquaintance.
Willis invites Tommy to a party he is having and a young gal named Betty Turner, (Karen Sharpe) catches Tommys eye and a romance starts to bloom.
The film gets interesting when Tommy decides to take a job making special keys which will provide him with five thousand dollars but things change and Tommy decides to take more of the cash than he expected to receive.
Berry Kroeger gave a great performance along with William Campbell and Karen Sharpe who made this film very entertaining..
It looks extremely cheap and tawdry, the acting belongs to the Ed Wood school of movie making( especially William Campbell who is absolutely frightful), there is no sense of humor or snappy dialog.
Tommy Dancer is a locksmith whose skills do not go unnoticed by mobster Willis Trent.
Trent wants Tommy to get into the safe deposit box of a rival mobster.
Tommy refuses, despite being offered $5000 and later being roughed up by one of Trents goons.
Tommy agrees when he his tipped off by one Trents men that the box contains $200,000 in cash.
Tommy decides to go along with the plan, and keep the 200 grand for himself and run off with Trents moll, whom he has fallen in love with.MAN IN THE VAULT is standard low budget crime thriller from the period made enjoyable by the presence of Berry Kroeger, Paul Fix and Mike Marsurki.
William Campbell gives a good performance as Tommy.
John Wayne's Batjac Productions produced this average and cheap potboiler noir and the cast and credits look like they could have come from a Wayne film.
behind the camera it sure looks like a Wayne western.But it's a modern noir film that Batjac has given us.
a good career, he sure never became box office.Campbell plays a locksmith who Berry Kroeger wants to employ to make a
The Dukes' production company Batjac did occasionally turn out films that didn't star the American icon, but they were typically low budget affairs.
William Campbell, an actor who bounced back and forth between A and B films throughout the 50s and 60s, stars as Tommy Dancer, an average guy earning meagre wages as a locksmith.
But a two-bit hoodlum named Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger) wants to hire Tommy for a job: make a set of keys for a safety deposit box that contains a substantial payday.
Tommy refuses at first - he's no angel, but he's a basically good man - but the bad guys will naturally figure out ways to manipulate him into doing the job.While Leonard Maltins' paperback review guide has always dismissed this one, in truth it's a fairly entertaining crime / noir programmer with some good acting.
Campbell is okay, but is outshone by top character actors like Kroeger, Mike Mazurki (cast to type as Trents' thug), Paul Fix, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, and James Seay.
It also features very nice eye candy in the form of the lovely Karen Sharpe, who plays Tommy's love interest, and delectable Anita Ekberg, the mistress of big time mob boss Seay.
A lady named Vivianne Lloyd gets fairly prominent billing, but her main purpose is to take a few minutes belting out the number "Let the Chips Fall Where They May"."Man in the Vault" is given competent guidance by director Andrew V.
A truly special film it's not, but it entertains reasonably for a trim 74 minutes, and features two standout suspense sequences: one, inside a bank vault, where Tommy doesn't stand much chance of not being witnessed, and two, inside a bowling alley where Tommy is pursued by an unseen assailant.Co-star Gonzalez had earlier appeared on TV's 'You Bet Your Life', which is where The Duke had first noticed him.
Adapted by Burt Kennedy from the Frank Gruber novel, The Lock and the Key, Man in the Vault is a minor 50s crime flick that has somehow been lumped into the film noir encyclopedias.
McLaglen directs and William Campbell, Karen Sharpe, Anita Ekberg and Berry Kroeger star.
Story has Campbell as a locksmith who gets coerced into a deposit box theft just as Sharpe turns his head romantically.Amazingly, nothing much happens, there's a lot of talking and pouting, Campbell's teddy-boy quiff always holds court, while Kroeger tries to eat all the indoor scenery.
The deposit box sequence has a modicum of suspense, the mystery element as Campbell tries to fathom out what's going on also works, but come the weak and cop-out finale you may well wish you had done the gardening instead.
Actors and actresses that had appeared in many of John Wayne's movies fleshed out the cast of "Man in the Vault," with contract labor serving behind the cameras.
Clothier had been on Wayne's payroll even before "Man in the Vault." Unfortunately, McLaglen, Kennedy, and Clothier cannot salvage this lackluster, low-stakes movie.
A sleazy, small-fry mobster Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger of "Seven Thieves")approaches locksmith Tommy Dancer (William Campbell of "The High and the Mighty") at a bowling alley one night with a job to open an old footlocker back at his house.
Tommy has no problem opening the footlocker, but he smells a rat when Trent invites him to have some liquor at the party he's hosting with several good looking dames.
A pampered, single, 23-year-old doll in a mink stole, Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe of "The High and the Mighty"), arouses Tommy's curiosity as she stands alone in the middle of the party.
Betty gets into an argument with her attorney boyfriend Earl Farraday (Robert Keys of "The High and the Mighty") while Tommy stands between them.
Primarily, he wants the number and the location of a safety deposit box in Paul De Camp's name that contains $200-thousand in cash that Trent and he want to steal.Betty doesn't know about the conspiracy between Farraday and Trent.
Anyway, Tommy leaves Trent's party, finds boo-hooing Turner outside, and she lets him drive her over to his place.
Later, Tommy suspects that Trent is leading him on when he asks him to make two keys to open De Camp's safety deposit box.
At first, Tommy refuses to take the job despite the $5-thousand dollars tax-free that Trent is offering.
"You know, Mr. Trent, I've been half expecting this since the first time I met you at the bowling alley." He adds, "The footlocker was the clincher.
You didn't need a key to open it, it was already open." Finally, he points out, "You know I may do a lot of things that I shouldn't, but breaking into safety deposit boxes isn't one of them."Later, Tommy realizes that he is out of his class and income as a lowly locksmith around wealthy Betty, so the $5,000 gives him second thoughts.
Reluctantly, later, Tommy takes the job because Trent threatens to turn his gargantuan, club-fisted, ex-prizefighting bodyguard Louie, Mike Mazurki, loose on Betty.
Morrison, received credit as the producer for "Man in a Vault." Scenarist Burt Kennedy adapted novelist Frank Gruber's novel is oddly structured and occasionally weirdly convoluted, as if a scene or two of important exposition were cut (it crams a lot of story into its 73-minute running time), or maybe some footage was shuffled around.
Most of the film centers around Tommy Dancer, but the story opens with a long scene involving Trent that isn't really necessary.
Both Betty and Trent are connected to Tommy via their association with Farraday, and mistress Flo likewise ties Farraday to the safety deposit box, own by Flo's husband, the semi-reformed gangster Paul De Camp (James Seay of "The Buccaneer").
The best scenes are with Campbell when he is inside the vault, keeping his eye on the vault clerk outside while he jiggles the keys a safe deposit box.
Meanwhile, the cigar-chewing Kroeger emerges as an unsavory villain, and Mexican-American Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales makes the most of his comic relief bit part as Tommy's pal who clears the fallen ten-pins at the bowling alley.
Beautiful Anita Ekberg has little to do except display her feminine pulchritude."Man in the Vault" qualifies as a tolerable potboiler..
The mobster Willis Trent (Berry Kroger) is informed by one of his gangsters that the locksmith Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) is efficient and fast in his work.
Willis befriends Tommy in a bowling alley and invites him to open a trunk at his home.
Tommy accepts the job and then he is invited by Willis to stay in a party at his house, where he meets the wealthy Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe).
Then Willis offers five thousand dollars to Tommy to make the keys of the safe deposit box no.
Tommy turns down the offer, but Willis threatens to harm Betty's face to achieve his goal."Man in the Vault" is a good film-noir but unfortunately the moralist ending ruins the story.
**SPOILERS** Decent 1950's film noir crime drama despite the very contrived and, due to the restrictive Hayes Commission, unconvincing ending.In an attempt to screw his former partner in crime, the head of West Coast illegal gambling racket, Paul De Camp, James Seay, L.A racketeer Willis Trent, Barry Kroeger, needs someone to makes him a set of safe deposit keys in order to break into and loot De Camp's box of some $200,000.00 in ill gotten gains.The Trent mobs gets totally innocent locksmith Tony Dancer, William Campbell, to do it's dirty work for it.
Trent first has Tony's girlfriend Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe Kramer), whom he accentually met a cocktail party thrown by Trent,threatened to have her face worked over by his bodyguard the 6 foot five inch ex professional boxer Louie, Mike Mazurki.
Tony goes along with Trent's demands but just as he's about to get his hands, in the banks safe deposit vault, on De Camp's cash he has a sudden change of mind and takes off with the money himself leaving both De Camp and Trent empty-handed.With De Camp finding out that his cash was heisted right under his nose he realizes that his sexy and well endowed girlfriend Flo Randell, Anita Ekberg, had two-timed him and beats the truth out of her.
Farraday secretly working for Trent had used the beautiful Flo to get the number of De Camp's safe deposit box, as well as the bank where it's at, with the promise that he'll split half the loot that's in it with her.The suspenseful ending in an empty and darkened L.A bowling alley was as good as anything you'd see in an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.
The man in the shadows is trying to knock Tony off with a combination of bowling balls and bullets as he tries to make his getaway together with, the then held hostage by Trent's henchman Louie, Betty Turner.
But up until then "Man in the Vault" was about as good a movie, or film noir, as I would have expected and for that reason alone well worth watching up until the last two minutes.P.S I just couldn't get over the strong resemblance of actor William Campbell to Tony Curtis.
"Man in the Vault" was produced by John Wayne's Batjac company and was directed by up and coming director Andrew V.
McLaglan.Small time crook Willis Trent (Barry Kroeger) has a plan.
With the help of his womanizing lawyer Earl Faraday (Robert Keys) and gofer Herbie (Paul Fix), Trent hopes to break into the safe deposit box of gangster Paul DeCamp (James Seay) and steal the $200,000 therein.
to accomplish this, he needs the service of a reliable locksmith.Herbie provides Trent with the name of Tommy Dancer (William Campbell) who had just done some work for him.
Young , rich and spoiled Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe) shows up looking for Faraday who is playing up to DeCamp's girlfriend Flo (Anita Ekberg.).
Later Trent offers Dancer $5,000 to make keys to break into DeCamp's safe deposit box.
Meanwhile as Dancer goes to retrieve the loot from his locker at the bowling alley, Herbie begins to stalk him.
Dancer escapes and Herbie is arrested by the police after Dancer set off the burglar alarm.Before Dancer can reach Trent with the money, DeCamp enters the picture and.....................................................................................Many familiar faces from the "John Wayne Stock Company" appear in this film.
Paul Fix, Mike Mazurki, Karen Sharpe and Pedro Gonzolez-Gonzolez who plays Pedro the bowling alley pin boy and James Mitchum brother of Robert were also under contract to Batjac.The bowling alley sequence where Campbell tries to elude Fix is very well done and creates an atmospheric sort of suspense.
The ending leaves a few unanswered questions such as what happens to Dancer, who actually did rob the bank and Betty Turner who is also taken away for questioning.Anita Ekberg whose star was rising at the time has little to do except look voluptuous and Karen Sharpe, long one of my favorites has an early leading role and looks just marvelous..
So catchy that we made up new lyrics to it that were about our school principle.He has several other distinctions, some as an actor, and he earned his place in the JFK saga by being married to one of JFK's girlfriends, Judith Campbell Exner.Campbell plays a locksmith, Tommy Dancer.
One night he meets a man, Willis Trent (Berry Kroeger) who invites him to a party.
After we hear the song "Let the Chips Fall Where They May" sung by Viviane Lloyd, Dancer meets Betty Turner (Karen Sharpe).
They begin dating.Tommy is offered a job for $5000 if he will rent a safe deposit box, and while in the vault, make impressions for two keys to box 315.
He doesn't know it at the time, but the box has $200,000 in it that Trent wants stolen.
He refuses to do it until Mike Mazurki beats him up and then Betty is threatened.
In a suspenseful scene, he makes impressions of the keys.Then he finds out about the money from a man named Herbie (Paul Fix) tips him off about the money and suggests that they split it.Familiar faces here, including Fix, Kroeger, Mazurki, and of course Campbell.
Karen Sharpe, who played Betty, married Stanley Kramer and became a producer as well as an actress.
Anita Ekberg, looking gorgeous, is on hand as Earl Farraday's (Robert Keys) girlfriend - it's Farraday who owns the safe deposit box.Despite the film being low budget, there are several interesting things about it.
He's called on by Trent to open a trunk, so he makes an impression of the lock; he makes keys for the safe deposit box, later he uses the keys to get into it - he is constantly using keys.
Finally you're noticing them every time he pulls one out.Lastly, parts of the film are very Hitchcockian - one is the ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances; the other is danger in landmarks or familiar places not known for danger, as Dancer first escapes being hit by a bowling ball and then attempts escape by traversing pin-setting machines. |
tt0032234 | The Bank Dick | Hard-drinking family-man Egbert Sousé's strained relations with his family is shown by wife & mother-in-law giving him lip about his drinking, smoking, and taking money out of his younger daughter's bank. When he tries to brain his younger daughter with a concrete urn, he is interrupted by his older daughter introducing him to her fiance, Og Oggilby. He makes a crack about Og's name.
Egbert Sousé talks his way into a temporary job directing a movie-shoot. While on his lunch break, he accidentally thwarts an attempted bank robbery from the bank where his prospective son-in-law, Og, has a job as a teller. The grateful bank president gives Sousé a job as a bank-detective. Sousé convinces Og to steal five hundred dollars from the bank to invest in stock in a questionable mining company. Og hopes to return the money to the bank four days later, when he expects to receive his annual bonus, but the bank examiner, One J. Pinkerton Snoopington, shows up the day Og steals the money, and says he intends to audit the bank immediately. Sousé invites him to a saloon and nobbles him with knockout drops. However, although Snoopington is very ill, he is nonetheless determined to proceed with the audit.
As Snoopington is about to discover the missing funds, Sousé learns that the questionable mining company has struck it rich, and he and Og are now wealthy and no longer have to worry about Snoopington. However, the escaped bank robber from the first hold-up, with a new comrade, robs the bank a second time, and escapes, taking Sousé hostage. The robbers force him to drive their getaway car in a spectacular chase, during which parts of the getaway car keep falling off. Sousé thwarts the second robbery attempt, and is rewarded again by the bank. Now that he is rich, his family treats him with more respect. | cult | train | wikipedia | The irreverent Fields gives spark to what would otherwise have been a quite humdrum comedy movie.His politically incorrect jokes seem very present-day, and so makes you understand that the people back in the 1940's weren't so far removed from us as we sometimes think.Fields is nasty to children, his wife and the bank examiner, whistles at pretty girls and in general just behaves terribly.
W.C. Fields uses his expert timing and his large collection of gags to make "The Bank Dick" a classic comedy that gets even better as it goes along.
The amusing, tangled plot gives Fields plenty of material to work with, and the other characters also pitch in to keep you smiling.After a few amusing introductory scenes that introduce Egbert Sousé, the kind of character Fields loved to play, things really start rolling once Egbert somehow manages to land a job as a bank detective.
Fields' scenes with Franklin Pangborn as the bank examiner are the highlight of the film.
THE BANK DICK (Universal, 1940), directed by Edward Cline, from an original story and screenplay by Mahatma Kane Jeeves, better known as W.C. Fields, stars none other than W.C. Fields in his third of four comedies for Universal, a classic in the sense of it becoming his most famous and admired works next to IT'S A GIFT (Paramount, 1934).
Unlike YOU CAN CHEAT AN HONEST MAN (1939) where Fields loses screen time in favor with a ventriloquist act of Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy; MY LITTLE CHICKADEE (1940) in which he divides his time with Mae West; and NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941) where he steps aside in favor for the singing of the teen-age Gloria Jean, THE BANK DICK is pure Fields from start to finish.
As the head of a household of a dysfunctional family, with Fields playing the henpecked husband on screen for the last time, the supporting players consists of a fine assortment of character actors who can be just as funny as Fields himself and not draw attention away from him.As for the story, set in the town of Lompoc, the focus obviously is on Egbert Souse, accent over the final "E" (W.C. Fields), an unemployed husband who spends much of his leisure time smoking cigarettes and hanging around the local bar, The Black Pussy Cat Cafe, as well as coping with Agatha, his wife, (Cora Witherspoon), Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch, his mother-in-law (Jessie Ralph), Myrtle, his adult daughter, (Una Merkel) and Elsie Mae Adele Brunch, the obnoxious youngster, (Evelyn Del Rio).
Chased by the police, one gets away while the other is found by Souse seated on a bench nearby, making him a hero for "capturing the crook." In gratitude Souse is awarded a job as a special officer by Mr. Skinner (Pierre Watkin), the bank president.
More complications occur when the bank gets robbed again with Souse being forced to take the driver's seat in another exciting car chase from the police.Supporting players enacting under oddball names include Shemp Howard as Joe Guelpe, the bartender whose whistle to "Listen to the Mockingbird" entices Souse to follow him to the bar; Richard Purcell as Mackley Q.
Pismo Clam; Bill Wolfe as Otis, with Jan Duggan, another favorite of the Fields stock players, once again doing a funny bit, playing a mother in the back whose son pokes fun of Souse's nose.
Merkel and Grady Sutton (in his final Fields comedy) make a perfect odd couple.THE BANK DICK may have some flaws, such as having the audience accept the middle-aged Fields and Cora Witherspoon as parents to a minor child while physically they pass more as grandparents.
However, overlooking such minor details, highlights include Souse filling in for a drunken director (Norton) of Tel-Avis Picture Productions, a movie company filming on location; Sousé getting the bank examiner (Pangborn) ill on a "Michael Finn" drinks in order to keep him from examining the books; the climatic car chase; and bank president Mr. Skinner on two separate occasions giving Sousé the "hearty hand clasp" in which Skinner's fingers barely touches Souse's outstretched palm heightened by going to a split-second freeze-frame.
While the attention is focused more on Souses' outside activities than on his domestic affairs, one cannot ignore the underscoring to "There's No Place Like Home" used during each opening scene at the Souse household.THE BANK DICK, along with MY LITTLE CHICKADEE, became the first of Fields' comedies to be distributed on cassette during the early days of home video in the 1980s.
Other than frequent revivals on commercial television prior to 1990, THE BANK DICK assured popularity to a new generation when it shifted over to cable stations, first on American Movie Classics from 1995 to 1999, and after wards premiering on Turner Classic Movies in 2001.Fields' fourth and final starring role for Universal being NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK (1941) not only reunites him with Franklin Pangborn, but opens and closes with the same underscoring from THE BANK DICK as well as Fields, playing himself, seen standing in front of a billboard advertisement which reads "W.C. Fields in THE BANK DICK." Because of these similarities, these Fields comedies make logical choices as double features whether on television or a DVD package.
As THE BANK DICK is a fun movie, it's kind of sad in a way watching this comedian named W.C. Fields, older and heavier, in what's to become the final phase to his long career.
This movie was all written and done under Field's supervision and a masterpiece it is.The all time funniest scene in movie history, in my opinion, was when he gets the bank examiner, J.
While the content of this humor may seem ordinary, it was filmed and executed brilliantly and is forever etched in my mind as the single most funny scene I can think of in movie history..
great moments mostly mumbled and underplayed so that the film seems so humble and so unaggressive, unlike most comedies now which would wring your neck if they could...Fields' before-its-time irony and self-consciousness about moviemaking is revealed in a throwaway line during the car chase at the end...in the midst of all the obviously speeded-up film and projection effects, Egbert Souse deadpans "you're going to make me have an accident....." I'm almost ready to move into Lompoc, with its Spanish-Americo chili parlor, and, I hope, "rivers of beer flowing over your grandmother's paisley shawl...." and, apparently, absinthe is still available.....
So they make him a security guard.Throughout parts of the movie, I wasn't sure whether it was going to be as funny as I usually like (and there was a scene portraying a black man in a manner that wouldn't be allowed nowadays), but it was quite entertaining overall and the whole chase was certainly beyond a hoot.
It features Fields' classic double-takes, strange lines, strange names, a lot of sight gags and a chase scene at the end.I never found this film as good as its reputation, even though I own it and have watched it three or four times.
It what this "learned" Movie Reviewer had said in passing that was important to this write-up.What he said went something like that the Leads, Star Barbara Streisand(Dolly Levi) and Walter Matthau(Horace Vandergelder) "....were sort of like one of those old May West/W.C. Fields comedies, with both doing their part to impersonate the old Stars on the Modern Screen!" (Well, I didn't hire him, Schultz!) A lot of folks hold that Mr. Fields had his true Golden Age during his association with Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky & Paramount Pictures.
In essence, he was taking his best ideas as developed in the 4 Sennett Shorts and bring them to full fruition in his various Features, though none was by any means a "remake".And let's not forget during this period he was as well known as a Star of his own W.C. Fields Radio Show.* Oh yeah, about that 'Big Shot' movie critic of those 4 decades ago, we can agree to the similarities in Miss Streisand's and Mr. Matthau's characterizations resembling May West & W.C. Fields, though it was surely a case of purposeful impersonation, not any coincidental similarity.
And by the way, Mr. Hot Shot Movie Critic, the only film to co-star or even feature both Miss West and Mr. Fields was Universal's MY LITTLE CHICKADEE(1940)!
And when you see the film, which you definitely should, notice that Shemp Howard of the Three Stooges plays the bartender whom Fields (his name is Eggbert Souse (pronounced Soosay!)) follows around back to the bar whenever their paths happen to cross.
"The Bank Dick" is reputed to be one of or even THE best W.C. Fields movie.
I am a great fan of W.C. Fields, and ANY W.C. Fields is better than NO W.C. Fields, but this movie doesn't present the Fields that I like or want to see on screen.My W.C. Fields is a graceful man of good build, whose every movement and action seems to be executed to perfection.
W.C. Fields plays a man who has a nagging wife and children who show him no respect.His name is Egbert Sousé, who must repeatedly remind people to pronounce his name with the accent over the e.People keep calling him Souse, which is a slang word for drunkard.Well our hero likes to drink, and smoke too.Then things start to happen to Mr. Sousé.First he is recruited to replace a drunken film director and then he happens to capture a bank robber.He's hired by the Lompoc Bank as a guard.There his daughter's fiancée, Og Oggilby works as a teller.Sousé persuades Og to embezzle $ 500 to buy phony stock.The real trouble starts when the bank examiner shows up.Can Sousé fix the problem?
Cline is the director of The Bank Dick (1940).It's written by Fields himself.Fields makes this character most amusing.The rest of the Sousé family is played by Cora Witherspoon (Agatha), Una Merkel (Myrtle) and Evelyn Del Rio (Elsie Mae Adele Brunch).Jessie Ralph plays the mother-in-law Mrs. Hermisillo Brunch.Grady Sutton is Og.Franklin Pangborn is the bank examiner J.
Pinkerton Snoopington.Shemp Howard, one of the Three Stooges plays the bartender Joe Guelpe.This movie holds plenty of great gags inside.One funny one is where Fields entertains a group of kids by taking a drag from a cigarette, places it in his ear and exhales multiple puffs of smoke making it seem like he's using his ear to inhale the smoke.Or getting hit in the head multiple times by his young daughter is hilarious each time.The chaotic car chase is really something.What a funny guy that W.C. Fields!.
"The Bank Dick" features some truly hilarious moments, making this a real great and effective genre movie to watch.W.C. Fields was a great genre actor, who isn't that well known any more now days, which probably also has to do with the fact that he hasn't starred in that many movies throughout his career, especially not when comparing him to many other genre leads from the same time period.
Which is perhaps why "The Bank Dick," a solid if not classic Fields film made near the end of his career, is so well regarded.
But how safe can a bank be with W.C. in charge of security?"The Bank Dick" ends with a classic car chase that's one of several nods to the silent-screen comedies Fields followed.
His family, for example, are a genuinely funny batch of fault-finders, not the more bitter bunch you find Fields stuck with in other movies, especially Una Merkel as Myrtle, who threatens to kill herself one moment (which her devoted mother Agatha reacts to by taking another bite of her muffin) and then brightens manically when her improbable fiancé, Grady Sutton, arrives.
Sutton, Merkel, and Franklin Pangborn as a sickly bank examiner provide the best support, but nearly everyone around the film's single star gets their moment in the sun.
Even the mismatched movie couple Egbert attempts to direct are given funny lines of their own.The film is episodic, and what there is of a plot is pretty thin, designed to give Fields things to comically bounce off of.
The part of the movie in which Egbert suddenly finds himself a film director is certainly odd, but it works not only as a foretaste of the surreal Hollywood satire of Fields' final bow, "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break," but for the indignant way his family reacts when they discover him actually working for a change.Written by Fields under the pseudonym Mahatma Kane Jeeves, and directed by silent comedy vet Edward F.
If you watch it with that idea in mind, you're likely going to be at least mildly disappointed.Plot in a nutshell: A useless drunk bumbles his way into money and a job, mostly by pure dumb luck.I will say that the film gets better as it moves along.
Sousé soon finds himself entangled in all manner of situations, including foiling a bank robbery, standing in for a film director, embroiling his future son-in-law in an embezzlement/get-rich-quick scheme, and a car chase that reminded me of the climax of 1963's "The Pink Panther" (minus the gorilla suits).I like W.C. Fields, but I've always liked The Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy more, and I think I know why.
He'll mumble things, or make odd, out-of-place statements like "yeah we have mustard at the house" and "I'll have a fountain pen by then." (You'll know them when you hear them in the film.) They make you smile, but they aren't gut-busters.I think that sums up Fields in general, and "The Bank Dick" in particular.
"The Bank Dick" is the most consistently funny comedy from W.C Fields.
Released in 1940, "The Bank Dick" was about the last film of any quality from W.C Fields.
Sure aspects of the movie are dated, like the way Fields daughter and her boyfriend talk to each other or the scene with the black man, but overall it remains fresh.
It was a perfect way to start the movie as it set the tone for what kind of character he was, and after watching the rest of it, you know that if they didnt show up he would have launched that pot at his like 8 year old daughter.
W.C. Fields gets all the attention as a soft-hearted small-time grifter who manages to become a film director and then a bank detective.
I had no particularly high expectations for "The Bank Dick" but since it is reputed to be one of W.C. Fields' best movies I thought I'd take a flier on it.
In my opinion, the only thing worth seeing in this movie is hilarious, and for its time excellently shot, car chase scene.
What kind of a rock?Egbert Sousé, the main protagonist of W.C. Fields' "the Bank Dick" has no redeeming qualities neither does any member of his family or any other character in this 1940 movie.
In fact any one episode of "Married with Children" offers more sarcasm and mockery of family dysfunction than the whole of "the Bank Dick." It is not a bad movie, quite enjoyable to watch (with the exception of the scene of Sousé with the black bank customer, which has distinct racial undertones).
Although I will always believe that "It's a Gift" is, without a doubt, the funniest and greatest W.C. Fields film, there is no denying that "The Bank Dick" is his most iconic.
W.C. Fields as Egbert Sousé, accent grave on the e, is the victim of female tyranny and American matriarchy triumphant: his wife, his mother-in-law and his dreadful brat of a daughter all abuse him both verbally and physically; he bears their insults stoically with no other escape than the sanctity of the local saloon, poetically labeled The Black Pussy Café, the only place in town where he is treated with any semblance of respect by a bartender, Shemp Howard, one of the Three Stooges minus his other two brothers.
That is the one thing they know for sure in life.Certain reviews and posts at the message board confirm that THE BANK DICK is not a comedy for the entire family, so to speak.
The future son-in-law is about to dump the stock back to the con man who sold it to him for little money because he needs to head off the bank examiner.Fields finds out about the gold mine & stops him just in time.
Then Fields gets involved with yet another bank robbery & him, the robber, the cash & the stock go on a wild car chase with the police.
In between he manages to make a mess of things, but in Fields fashion, it all manages to work itself out as well.What helps this film is that in addition to an excellent Fields performance is some excellent support from the likes of Grady Sutton, Shemp Howard, Franklin Pangborn and Una Merkel and they're all in top form.
Abused by his wife (Cora Witherspoon), younger daughter (Evelyn Del Rio) and nasty mother-in-law (Jessie Ralph), Fields spends most of his free time (which is a lot) at Shemp Howard's bar, "The Black Pussycat" than he does looking for a job or doing chores for his ungrateful family.
Basically Egbert Sousé (W.C. Fields) is a hard-drinking family man, he spends a lot of time drinking, smoking and taking money from his young daughter's piggy bank, replacing it with I.O.U.s. Due to this, Sousé's relationships with his wife Agatha (Cora Witherspoon) and mother-in-law have become strained, and he cannot help but make a crack about the name Og Oggilby (Grady Sutton), fiancé of his older daughter.
Fields became popular for his comic persona as a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist, he is certainly likable despite growling and grumbling a lot of the time, there were the odd bits of business related stuff I didn't get, but it is a simple story, with good slapstick jokes, and the final car chase is the highlight, all in all a worthwhile classic comedy. |
tt0119535 | A Life Less Ordinary | In Heaven (which resembles a modern police headquarters), angels are tasked with ensuring that mortals on Earth find love. The "Captain", Gabriel (Dan Hedaya), is upset at reviewing the file of angel partners O'Reilly (Hunter) and Jackson (Lindo), all of whose recent cases have ended in divorce or misery. Gabriel is being pressed for results, so he introduces a radical new incentive: if their latest case isn't "cracked" – meaning, if the pair in question do not fall, and stay, in love, O'Reilly and Jackson must stay on Earth forever, which does not appeal to them. They open their case file to learn their tasks.
Celine Naville (Diaz) is the spoiled twenty-something daughter of a wealthy businessman. When one of her suitors, a loathsome dentist named Elliott (Stanley Tucci), proposes marriage to her, she offers to say yes, but only if he agrees to play "William Tell" with an apple on his head. As she takes aim with a pistol, Elliot's nerves fail; his move results in a minor head wound.
Robert Lewis (McGregor) is a janitor employed in the basement of Celine's father's company. His dreams for writing a best-selling trash novel are shot down by his co-workers. His manager tells him he is to be replaced by a robot. As he drowns his sorrows at a local bar, his girlfriend, Lily (K.K. Dodds) tells him she is leaving him for an aerobics instructor.
O'Reilly and Jackson pose as collection agents to repossess Robert's things and evict him from his apartment. Robert storms to the high-rise office of the company boss, Mr Naville (Ian Holm), while Naville is berating his daughter Celine for the William Tell fiasco. Security guards run in and start to attack Robert but he holds them off. When Celine introduces herself, Robert decides to kidnap her.
He drives her to a remote cabin in the California woods. Celine easily slips free but decides to stick around. She stays for the adventure and revenge against her father, suggesting that they extort a huge ransom.
O'Reilly and Jackson pose as bounty hunters, and contract with Naville to retrieve Celine and kill Robert.
Robert's first attempt to collect the ransom fails but Celine encourages him. They go out to a rustic bar, where they sing along to the karaoke machine. When Robert wakes up the next morning, he is stunned to see that he and Celine have slept together.
Robert makes a second demand for the ransom, with a letter written in Celine's blood. Naville gives O'Reilly and Jackson the money, and they go to meet Robert in the forest. To their disappointment, Robert appears willing to let Celine go in exchange for the money before O'Reilly stops his getaway. Aside, Jackson confesses his fears that the two are not in love yet. O'Reilly responds, "Jeopardy, Jackson. Always works."
While O'Reilly and Celine wait by their car, Jackson takes Robert into the woods to execute him. Before he can, Celine decks O'Reilly, runs into the woods, and knocks Jackson out with a shovel. As Robert and Celine drive away, O'Reilly grabs the towbar and rides along. As she points her gun, Robert and Celine jump from the car, and it careens off a cliff, with the money still inside.
Since they are short of money, Celine decides to rob a bank with Jackson's pistol. The robbery goes smoothly, until a security guard shoots at Celine. Robert pushes her out of the way, taking a bullet in the thigh. Celine hurriedly drives him back to the city, to be operated on by Elliot (the closest thing she can find to a discreet medical specialist). A little later, when Robert regains consciousness, he is appalled to see Celine playing a sleazy sexual role-playing game with Elliott. A fight breaks out, and Robert knocks Elliott unconscious. As they drive away, Celine explains that she only agreed to Elliott's request so that he would help Robert – and, in any case, it's none of Robert's business, since he and Celine aren't "involved," whatever he might think. Hurt, Robert gets out of the car and walks away.
To get them back together, Jackson writes a love poem in Robert's handwriting and sends it to Celine. Overcome, she runs back to the bar, where Robert has started working as a janitor, and says he has won her heart with the poem. O'Reilly and Jackson, listening, dance for joy... until Robert says that he's never written a poem in his life. Humiliated, Celine runs out again. But after she's gone, Robert's boss, Al (Tony Shalhoub), knocks some sense into him: Robert has nothing in his life except the improbable love of "an intelligent, passionate, beautiful, rich woman... so why are you even thinking about it?" Robert runs after Celine, but is too late: O'Reilly and Jackson, believing they have failed, decide to make their Earth-bound lives bearable by kidnapping Celine for ransom.
Robert tracks Celine to their hideout. He knocks O'Reilly down and, struggling with Jackson, tells Celine he loves her. The door is kicked down by Naville's butler, Mayhew (Ian McNeice), who shoots the two angels in the head (apparently killing them). Leaving Celine locked in the trunk, Naville and Mayhew drive Robert and the two angels' bodies to the cabin, planning to fake a murder-suicide.
In Heaven, Gabriel's secretary begs him to intervene, but he refuses. He phones God and asks him to do so. A neighbour releases Celine from the truck. Taking his gun, she runs to the cabin and confronts her father, while Mayhew holds Robert at gunpoint. Robert has had recurring dreams of being saved by being shot through the heart by an "arrow of love." Celine shoots Robert and the bullet passes through, to hit Mayhew in the shoulder. After a whispered conference in Al's bar, Robert and Celine walk outside to their wedding.
In an epilogue, Gabriel frees O'Reilly and Jackson from a pair of body bags. After Gabriel congratulates them on a successful case, the two angels embrace as they prepare to return home. In a second epilogue (filmed with claymation), Robert and Celine retrieve the suitcase full of money and settle in their new castle in Scotland. | comedy, murder, violence, cult, psychedelic, romantic | train | wikipedia | If You Get It, Its Amazing, If Not, Its Not. I remember seeing A Life Less Ordinary back in the late 1990s with high expectations as Trainspotting was one, and still is, one of my all time favorite films.
Although I enjoy ALLO its not perfect, some parts don't work very well and come across as corny, but the good, my man Ewan is just great as the lovable loser, far outweighs the bad and thats why it has a place in my film collection.no quote(This review was originally written by a man but then a robot replaced him.).
A Life less Ordinary is a wild and sweat natured romantic fantasy, concerning our hero Robert (Ewan McGregor) and spoiled rich girl Celine (Cameron Diaz) and the two angels (Hunter & Lindo) who are given the task of getting them to fall in love.
It seemed to me to be unique, charming, fun and just a great way to spend some enjoyable time.When a movie gets this enjoyable, I need to ask why.
It does seem a very strange mess of a movie if you browse thru it or happen to miss a scene while going to the bathroom, but I made myself pause it when I needed to and now I seem to get it!!!Part road trip, part romantic comedy, part wacky comedy, part fantasy, it's all about how the angel Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) is getting pressure from the Big Man Himself to arrange love matches that will actually last.
His reason completely gone, Robert kidnaps the spoiled princess daughter of his boss, Celine (Cameron Diaz) and hits the road with her, hoping to get his job, some money, or just an apology!!!
There is some violence (one very funny scene involves Delroy Lindo forcing Robert to dig his own grave), but it's so funny and comedic that it's not going to fit in with the regular violence in movies, like in Die Hard or something.It's a very delightful film for anyone who likes Ewan or Cameron.
Usually I dislike this genre, but i can't help loving this movie.The cast is great, and the chemistry between Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor is sparkling.
Actually I think the truth is quite the opposite - most likely you will be utterly confused by the movie and be very hard pressed to decide whether you liked it or not.There is a rich girl and a dude with quite a bad luck run going on.
Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz are probably the best film couple in history of cinema (or at least it seems like it to me right now).
In the style of wacky runaway heiress or road buddies on the lam films a la Frank Capra, A Life Less Ordinary is a dark comedy that stretches the definition of funny.
Ewan McGregor, an actor who is lively and dynamic in his two previous Boyle pictures never seems to find his character as Robert, a closet pulp fiction writer/janitor living in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The target of his anger, the bratty daughter of the company owner.Camerion Diaz as Celine is lovely in the role of a spoiled brat kidnapped by Robert, but the chemistry between the two actors never heats up the screen.
Instead, it transfers to the overwhelmed kidnapper rather than the shrewish Celine.Adding to the muddled storyline are two bumbling angels (Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo) whose divine task is to assure the mismatched pair fall in love.
If the plot sounded confused it is because Boyle never seemed to make up his mind what the kind of film he wanted to direct.The stellar cast attempts to save their roles but are handicapped by a screenplay that never quite follows a recognizable genre.
Cameron Diaz does a very good job as well as Ewan McGregor and all the other cast.
In what feels like it wanted to be deliberately quirky, the plot involves angels controlling fate to bring two young people together in love.
The support cast is better simply because their lack of character and development isn't a problem; Lindo is good even if Hunter doesn't really fit in; although Holm and Hedaya have OK little cameos.Overall this has energy but it doesn't really hang together in a way that works.
I know Holly Hunter can act, but her character was suppose to help these too people fall in love and she *really* wanted to kill Ewan McGregor in one particular scene.
With a fine cast, a fantastic screenplay, a great soundtrack and lots of comedy and some romance, 'A Life Less Ordinary' becomes a not-so-ordinary film.
You want to see something entertaining but different, 'A Life Less Ordinary' could be the movie you're looking for.
Meanwhile, the fallen angels O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo) are assigned by their chief Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) to help Robert and Celine to fall in love with each other, otherwise they will never return home.
"A Life Less Ordinary" is a highly entertaining romantic comedy with a crazy and funny story.
Cameron Diaz is awesome in the role of the spoiled Celine, and show a wonderful chemistry with Ewan McGregor.
Bad. If the name of Danny Boyle is often synonym of success, the Englishman is also capable of directing more than mediocre movies such as this A Life Less Ordinary.It relies on a qualitatively low script.
The fantastic touch, more boring than anything, doesn't help either.The Diaz-McGregor works difficultly and struggles to extricate itself from this mess where characters and situations are stereotyped.Even the direction is uninspired, not to mention the soundtrack that is almost ridiculous, which is a shame when speaking of Boyle.It is maybe the worst feature of the director, along with Millions, both movies sharing as a matter of fact the same mystical tone..
A Life Less Ordinary takes its place alongside last year's "Fierce Creatures" as one of those productions that makes you wonder how so much money could be spent without any of the professionals in the film industry saying "Stop, this is madness!"This is a movie which is not only terribly misconceived but appears to have been semi- aborted, then reconstructed Frankenstein-style to be presented to you, the audience, with the goo still dripping out of its seams.One can only guess that those professionals just figured there would be a guaranteed audience, loyal to the team which made "Trainspotting" last year.
You can almost hear the director telling them, "You're supposed to be having an argument, so just yell each line louder than the last." That's not at all to put the blame on the direction, which, like the acting, must have been an impossible job.Holly Hunter, Dan Hedaya and a couple of others are humiliated in a set-up plot out of 'Here Comes Mr Jordan,' or 'It's a Wonderful Life.' You know, the angels with a job to do thing.
McGregor says his line, the camera cuts to Diaz, and she hesitates in apparently real confusion, then flashes what looks like a smile of relief as she suddenly thinks of a way to deliver her line: uh, angrily.At the end, there's a sort of epilogue in which the completely unconvincing protagonists try to convince you that you've learned a big lesson about love from them, while behind them, key scenes are replayed in a style that seems calculated to give you a feeling of nostalgia about events that changed you forever, just like when you hear Stairway to Heaven.
Two angels (played by Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo, an odd combo that works and are the highlights of the movie) must make two people (Cameron Diaz and McGregor) fall in love or else they can never go back to heaven again.
A cheesy romance movie at best but it had to be one of the worst endings ever put together.If you like Ewan McGregor, watch it or rent "Trainspotting" again.
While not exactly successful on all levels, A Life Less Ordinary is an interesting film, funny at parts, symbolic (sort of like being trapped in a Romantic 19th Century Novel), base and realistic in parts, and surreal and dream like in others.
It's got cheese, but it's the stuff of good film-making too: hilarious script, actors with great comedic timing, and bizarre occurrences that make sense in a weird, weird way, I loved it.An action-packed romantic-comedy mixed with other-worldly events, this was my kinda movie.If you liked the 90s, you'll like this.
From the team who brought Shallow Grave and Trainspotting to America comes A Life Less Ordinary, a truly listless flick about love, hate, angels and the very mechanics of Heaven.
The film begins with the angel Gabriel (Dan Hedaya) routing two ridiculous angels (Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter) to Earth to help mastermind a romance between a janitor turned would-be-kidnapper (Ewan McGregor) and his apathetic, millionaire's-daughter victim Celine (Cameron Diaz).
I thought it was going to be an out and out road comedy but what with excruciatingly annoying Angels(!) Delroy Lindo and Holly Hunter, a cough and a spit of a part from the usually consistent Ian Holm and the abysmally trippy ending, I felt thoroughly let down.
A plus point was the performances of the leads, the lovely Cameron Diaz and fellow Celt Ewan McGregor..
Now it is just a reasonably funny rom com with some less than ordinary plot twists and turns.Two angels get sent to earth with one mission: make people fall in love with each other.
1997's "A Life Less Ordinary" is a well done film that's blended well with some different supporting points even if they seem strange and crazy still the story is well done with the main theme proving that love is possible when unexpected.
The sexy Cameron Diaz stars as Celine a spoiled and snotty rich brat daughter of a businessman and one day when at the office a hopeless janitor Robert Lewis(Ewan McGregor)who's only hope is to someday write a fairy tale novel is fired.
To beat it all it's guided along by two celestial angels from up top who are sent down to see things thru and the guidance is great from Jackson(Delroy Lindo)and O'Reilly(Holly Hunter as a tobacco chewing angel at the time this was a future glimpse into her later "Saving Grace" character with the angel and tobacco chewing!) It's a good journey along the way of mishaps, robberies, chases, and fights and even a hostage situation yet in the end all of this leads to an unexpected love as fate was on their side during this journey!
I liked it a lot, and the acting from Ewan is very good although cameron's wasn't exactly top notch-but getting there.
Ewan McGregor, the incredible actor that unleashed his talents in 'Trainspotting,' joins the same writing and directing team in 1997's 'A Life Less Ordinary,' co-starring Cameron Diaz.The movie starts off with Robert (Ewan McGregor) being fired from his job, dumped by his girlfriend and evicted from his house.
The best parts of this movie are the three-dimensional characters, such as Walt the gas station attendant, the crazy dentist (Stanley Tucci) and the depressed, blunt boss of Ed's diner (Tony Shalhoub).The story, although a bit unusual for the ordinary viewer, sparks enjoyment through humorous, well-rounded lines and vivid visual displays through Danny Boyle's masterminded direction.
Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz have great chemistry together, and the movie is truly a gem..
The only thing I didn't like about the movie was the "mission from God" with Holly Hinter and Delroy Lindo as angels.
Call me crazy, but I absolutely loved this movie.I'm a huge fan of both Diaz and McGregor, and I thought although not the most complex roles they could find, they played Robert and Celine to their maximum potential.
First of all, the two very talented young actors Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz gives a wonderful performance.
I'm not sure that "A Life Less Ordinary" cuts in in this company, but it's a damn good little movie and I enjoyed it a lot.Just one thing...
If u like Cameron Diaz and u think Ewan McGregor is Okay, then rent it, the story is great but also weird.
The chemistry between Diaz and McGregor is surprisingly effective and both give great performances, as do the rest of the outstanding supporting cast which include: Ian Holm, Holly Hunter, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, Dan Hedaya and Tony Shalhoub.
I originally saw A LIFE LESS ORDINARY simply because he was in it, but after I saw it the first time I felt that Ewan was just a small part in the film.
Ewan McGregor is great as the un-experienced kidnapper and Cameron Diaz did a perfect job as portraying the snobby rich girl.
Another thing I liked about the movie was how the director mixed in the films soundtrack.
This movie has to be listed amongst the 'only see it if everyone else wants to' category, very much along the same lines as 'The Usual Suspects' - not exactly a Hollywood blockbuster but a highly enjoyable yarn which, in this case, revolves around the lives of two very different people.Celine (Diaz) is a rich debutante with a somewhat alarming penchant for firearms - very headstrong and, due to her fatcat mafia-esque father Naville (Holm), a woman who always gets what she wants.
I'm sure there are also people who want Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor to get naked and remain that way.
This was one of those movies that can be watched over and over and is just as funny the second time as it was the first time.I have noticed some people being hung up on the fact that the lead character has a Scottish (not British like some think) accent and lives in the US.
Highlight of the movie includes how Robert tries to trash the robots that replaces him; how Celine participates in her own kidnapping.And how could I forget about the robbery Celine pulls in the movie.Yes, sometimes things seem quite strange; I would agree that the ending is kinda weird, and you do wonder why Celine and Robert aren't busted for robbing a bank, but at the same time, several ideas would come across you even after you see the movie (watch in my case since I watched it as home video); for instance, the concept of fate and love or the concept of society turning into a robot-liked society, or even the unrealistic events that take place in the movie: sure they all seem so odd, yet they all take place in the movie and appear to be normal - and it just made me wonder that maybe the director is trying to say that all things unbelievable would actually happen as part of life.Maybe in some critics' opinions, this movie appears strange but as a movie-lover, I feel that this movie does have me think beyond the movie after viewing it, while it also provides laughter for me when I was watching it; so I give it a 8/10, or 3.5 stars out of 5..
The performances were great especially those of Lindo and Hunter as Jackson and O'Reilly the two angels sent to join Robert and Celine together in eternal love.
Again Ewan McGregor masters his lines and makes them truly his own with Cameron Diaz playing the role of Celine perfectly.
Ewan McGregor & Cameron Diaz are just great in this movie...watch out for the title song performed by Ash!.
Their chore: to not-so-surreptitiously coerce a janitor [Ewan McGregor], who's just lost his job, and a rich semi~bitch [Cameron Diaz], whose father fired McGregor and who has just shot her hubby-to-be [the always terrific Stanley Tucci] to fall in love in order to remain in Heaven.It's dark, witty, has some terrific cinematography and some remarkable ideas re: romance, love and destiny.And for the record, I thought McGregor was a perfect counterpoint to Diaz's "experienced abductee instructor" character.Let's not forget the superior perfs by Ian Holm as Diaz's father and Dan Hedaya in a limited role as "Gabriel" ~ who sends Hunter and Lindo on their mission.I loved it...4 Niro~Stars [of 4]PS to the self-described critic who asked "why was it never explained how a guy living in NYC had a British [more likely Scottish, but that would be quibbling] accent?"...I say...
The chemistry between the leads is good and there are a lot of funny moments as Ewan Macgregor's character struggles with his inability to be a bad guy and Cameron Diaz tries to manipulate the situation to meet her own ends.
The film is the third collaboration between Boyle and actor Ewan McGregor.
I'm not sure exactly why I love it so much, but let's start with the cast: Ewan is absolutely adorable, Cameron plays her character well, and the angels are great.
I can't really think of any other movies to compare it to, but if you like a story about love, coupled with a bit of whimsy, I think you will enjoy it.
One of Ewan McGregor's best movies.
I love it!Cameron Diaz and Helen Hunt are also good in this movie.
I thought it was hilarious yet kinda sweet in an odd way.Since i am a big fan of Ewan McGregor, this movie isn't my favorite because of one thing, his hair and that weird colorful shirt in part of the movie, but besides, great film!.
A Life Less Ordinary is a nice little movie that is quickly becomming a cult film along with the other MacGregor/Boyle collaborations.
The plot is very far fetched of course, but the terrific all star cast and a great performance by Ewan MacGregor make this a very enjoyable movie.
Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor play their parts perfectly, and Holly Hunter's character is always there as the one person you can't decide if you hate or love.
Ewan McGregor plays a kidnapper and Cameron Diaz as his victim who's just your typical spoiled rich girl. |
tt2551396 | Come Back to Me | As a teenager, Dale witnesses the apparent murder of his mother, Eileen, by his meth-addicted father. When the police arrive, they confront and kill Dale's father. The officer who discovers Eileen runs from the house and vomits, but Dale re-enters the house and tells his mother that everything will be all right. Years later in Las Vegas, Dale moves next door to married couple Sarah and Josh, who introduce themselves by taking over cookies. Although disappointed that the cookies are not homemade, Dale accepts them anyway. Josh explains that he is a croupier and Sarah a graduate student who is working on her dissertation on the effects of pornography. When Sarah questions Dale as to why he is staring at her, he says that she reminds him of someone, later revealed to be his mother.
While Josh takes additional shifts at work, Sarah passes out and experiences a highly realistic dream in which she is murdered. Confused by the fact that her clothes are different and the room cleaned, she investigates further and discovers her original shirt in the laundry, bloodied. Josh suggests that she talk to her friend Leslie, a pregnant doctor. Leslie, who experienced similar issues in the past, diagnoses her with night terrors and prescribes a hypnotic. Although somewhat relieved, Sarah points out that a prominent scar has disappeared, which Leslie cannot explain. Concerned, Josh calls in a favor and surprises Sarah with a vacation at a luxurious hotel. There, Sarah sleeps well and does not experience any of her previous symptoms.
However, when she returns home, the night terrors and unexplained blackouts return, and she now experiences nausea. Much to her annoyance, Dale comes to her aid when she appears ill, and he demands to know where she was. When Dale leaves for work, Sarah investigates his house and finds photographs of various people in deathlike states, including herself. As she discovers a replica of her house key made while Dale delivered groceries, Dale returns home and apparently kills her with a blow to the head; Sarah wakes up in her own bed, gasping, and assumes the mostly-unremembered episode was another case of night terrors. Later, at Leslie's house, Sarah notices an unused home pregnancy test, which reveals that she is pregnant. Leslie promises to schedule more tests for the pregnancy, blackouts, and night terrors.
Unknown to Sarah, Josh is sterile. When he learns of her pregnancy, he immediately leaves her. Now on her own, Sarah installs hidden video surveillance cameras to record herself so she can better understand her night terrors, but they reveal that Dale has been entering the house, raping and murdering her, and then resurrecting her. In the process, she loses her memories of the event. Disturbed, she researches Dale online and finds that his mother has been institutionalized. At the hospital, she learns from Eileen that Dale has a long history of murdering and resurrecting neighbors. Eileen says that she caused herself to be institutionalized in order to escape Dale, who resurrected her after she committed suicide. Eileen asks Sarah to kill Dale, an action she could not bring herself to do.
When Leslie gives birth, she is confused when the baby does not look like either of the possible fathers, and she recalls the video evidence of Sarah's rape, knowing that she had prior contact with Dale when he delivered her groceries, too. Meanwhile, Josh returns home after his friend convinces him to give Sarah another chance; however, Sarah shoots and kills him when she mistakes him for Dale. Sarah begs Dale to resurrect Josh, and, when he refuses, seduces him so that she can trick him into it. As Josh revives, he confusedly rescues Sarah from Dale, and Sarah shoots Dale dead. As Dale dies, all of the victims that he has murdered and revived suddenly drop dead of their previous wounds, including Sarah, Josh, and Leslie. The film ends with a close-up of Leslie and Dale's child, leaving the audience to wonder if the child has Dale's power as well. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0119860 | Parasaito Ivu | Mitochondria are the "power house" of biological cells. It is thought that they were originally separate organisms, and a symbiotic relationship between them and early cellular life has evolved into their present position as cell organelles with no independent existence (see endosymbiotic theory).
The novel's plot supposes that mitochondria, which are inherited through the female line of descent, form the dispersed body of an intelligent conscious life-form, dubbed Eve, which has been waiting throughout history and evolution for the right conditions when mitochondrial life can achieve its true potential and take over from eukaryotic life-forms (i.e. humans and similar life) by causing a child to be born that can control its own genetic code.
Eve is able to control people's minds and bodies by signaling to the mitochondria in their bodies. She can cause certain thoughts to occur to them and also make them undergo spontaneous combustion.
The conditions Eve has waited for have arrived; she has found the perfect host in the body of Kiyomi Nagishima. At the start of the book, Eve is the mitochondria in Kiyomi's body. She causes Kiyomi to crash her car; Kiyomi survives but is brain dead. Kiyomi's husband is Toshiaki, a research assistant teaching and researching biological science. Eve influences Toshiaki and a doctor to ensure that one of Kiyomi's kidneys is transplanted into the teenage girl Mariko Anzai as an organ donation. As part of Kiyomi's body, the kidney is also a part of Eve; this prepares Mariko to be a suitable host for giving birth to mitochondrial life, as her immune system would otherwise rebel.
Eve influences Toshiaki to grow some of Kiyomi's liver cells in his lab in sufficient quantities to provide Eve with an independent body, he thinks that he is doing this as an experiment using different cultures of the liver cells. Forming some of the cells into a body, Eve possesses Toshiaki's assistant Sachiko Asakura and intermittently takes control of Asakura to work upon the cultures. Eventually, she takes control of Asakura during a conference presentation speech and announces her presence. Leaving Asakura's body, she returns to the lab. Toshiaki pursues her, and she rapes him in the form of Kiyomi to capture some of his sperm, which she uses to fertilize an egg of her own production. Moving to the hospital, she implants this egg in Mariko's womb. The egg develops into a child that is born almost immediately.
Eve anticipates that her child will be able to consciously change its genetic code, thus being an infinitely adaptable "perfect life form" capable of replacing humanity and similar life-forms. Mariko's body will be host to a new race of these life-forms.
The experiment fails, since Toshiaki's sperm carry a separate line of "male" mitochondria (inherited through sperm) that will be wiped out in the new order; these resist the change by fighting for control of the child's body, causing it to switch between male and female forms. The child dies; Toshiaki also dies, merging his body with the child's to control the bursts of psychokinetic-like power it gives out in its death throes that threaten to kill many people.
In the novel's epilogue, it is revealed that some samples of the Eve cells in Toshiaki's lab survived. Fortunately, they are destroyed shortly after being found. | psychological, suspenseful, murder, neo noir, paranormal, violence, cult, flashback, tragedy, revenge | train | wikipedia | But the ending eschews the usual thriller big finish for something haunting and rather beautiful, making one feel this is more a love story than anything else, but a really strange one.
The movie has terrific atmosphere and is really pretty original, and while it is sometimes a bit on the lethargic side I thought it was fascinating..
This is a movie that recently received a release on DVD from ADV Films.
Many terms and concepts within the storyline are actually workable, at least early in the film.
This may seem like a minor point, but after watching numerous films that don't bother to do any research about the subject manner, it was nice to see someone pay attention to some technical details.
Now, again, this is only for the first half of the film as the second half delves into some fairly weird biological twists.If you are looking for a monster movie, this is not it.
However, if you are interested in seeing a film that has better-than-average acting, a decent, albeit strange, relationship, and a good sci-fi storyline, this one will entertain.
This script, taken from the novel by Hideaki Sena, understands that idea.I have never read the novel, nor have I played the video games based upon it, so I cannot say how well they all relate.
I have read that the video games are actually sequels to the novel, and that some fans of the video games expecting a similar product in this movie have been disappointed.
Being familiar with the game, it was surprise to find out that 1) it was based on a novel that would count as a prequel, and 2) it was well thought out and drove home the originality of such a villain living within us.
It's just that in here, it give a more scientific (yet easy to understand) approach to the series' overseas (in many ways) origin and climax, and also shows that, as cheesy as it sounds, love conquers all.
It is a little slow at first, but there are things that keep your interest, so yes, it really is a good watch, even if you're not a fan of the game, or didn't know it was a game at all.
Great Sci-Fi Film.
Parasite Eve is a great sci-fi film.
It is intense, suspenseful, dramatic, romantic and quite different than any other film in the genre.
There might be a version in English of Parasite Eve, but I think, like in any other foreign film, the original language adds a lot more to the movie.
So in this case Japanese is more effective and the film should be viewed in its original sound.
From start to finish the film grows in intensity without ever failing to keep the audience entertained wondering, imagining, and trying to anticipate the conclusion.
Overall, besides being a "scientific" sci-fi movie, the main ingredient through the film is love, loss and the endless possibilities after...5 stars *****.
But in this case, it's not a parasite hidden in the human spine which wants to free itself and have its own life but rather the mitochondria in the human body.
It's up to one lonely and desperate Japanese scientist to stop them after his beloved wife was killed as it was long-term planned by the mitochondria.Like in many other modern Japanese horror and science fiction movies, the pace of PARASITE EVE is slow and often melancholic.
But the daring storyline of the movie and the tension which is built slowly but surely until the climatic finale is worth watching anyway.Japanese cinema has become an interesting alternative for lovers of the fantastic film genre.
The way how Japanese films tell their story differs a great deal from Hollywood productions.
If you have a chance to see PARASITE EVE, go see it or even buy it on DVD or VCD.
You don't need the game to enjoy this film...
I'm a BIG fan of the game and it was interesting to see how they blended elements of the original story into the storyline of the SquareSoft title.It is an interesting concept...
The ideas that the film presents are original, and displayed in a pretty original way.
It's a little slow moving at first, but it does start to pay off towards the end.
I'm not much of a fan of subtitled films, but I couldn't stop watching.
It had nice special effects and they didn't go overboard like many of the films out nowadays, plus it has a great storyline, also unlike many films nowadays.
This contrast is in parallel with the story that first evolves around the love of life and later the sorrow of death and some really weird consequences.If you get the chance to see it and you like romantic thrillers this is one for you..
I had stumbled across this film after playing parasite eve 2 (so many years ago).
I thoroughly enjoyed the game and thought they should make a movie, thinking that it would be far more interesting than the resident evil movies and so on.
I now get US DVD, I got this one thinking I would give it a try.To begin with let me say, do not watch this movie expecting it to be like the square soft versions of the Parasite Eve franchise, this movie can before, and while it has a slower pace than the rest of the installments, I still believe that it works very well.The story begin with a man who is a scientist, and on the eve of he and his wife's anniversary, she falls victim to a horrible car crash, she is pronounced, brain dead.
The organ goes to a young girl (who is apparently the mother of Aya Brea, the central character of the game, though there seems to be some debate amongst fans) and the young girl begin to experience strange occurrences.The film is very deep emotionally compared to most others in the J-horror genre, there are, however, some freaky bits such as Mariko in the hospital.
One thing that should be mentioned is the special effects, they are quite good for a Japanese movie made in 1997.One of the downsides to this film is there are moments where the tension simply turns to tedious and while I believe overall the film turned out OK, there is a point, in the hospital where I just tuned out.
The final scene is very emotional and is a very solid finale.In conclusion this movie is worth seeing, while it is not perfect, it should entertain movie go-ers and fans of parasite eve alike, as it gives them a chances to see the events leading up to the game..
This is one of a class of horror films, that seems to have begun with "Eyes without a Face" (1960), then "The Brain that Wouldn't Die" 1962, followed by dozens of instances, including the "real" movie Embryo of 1976.
Its never love in the way we have it in the world, but selfish obsession built on top of movie romance.
That way we tap date movies, and imply what happens in some cases after the wedding.The second half reports on the result of this obsession applied to "keeping" his love through applying the tools of his research, and is a sort of tragedy.
In all the cases I know, the results are shaped by what cinematic effects are possible at the time.
This gave a dynamic to the relationships between the Drs, & their respective patients, as well as the links between all of the main characters.The camera & light work was exceptional, & I look forward to watching the movie again, just so I can pick one aspect to focus on at a time, allowing me to absorb them systematically.I recommend Parasite Eve to anyonwwe,without a doubt is one of the best foreign films I have seen in a long while.A++.
The first half of this film is perfectly executed.
It really takes a toll on you emotionally because you really get a chance to feel for toshiaki and all of the things he's going through.In the second half of the film (when the "horror" portion starts) things take an odd twist.
I have really mixed feelings about this half because in a way it didn't do the first half justice but at the same time it was an essential piece in bringing the two halves together.I also don't understand why some people are saying the film was slow?
The first hour of the film was CRUCIAL in developing the plot and characters for the second half.All in all I really liked it, if you can appreciate the romance and the weird plot this movie has to offer I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did..
Romantic science-fiction movie..
I've noticed that many people associate the movie with a series of RPG video games with the same title.
In fact you will be very disappointed if you set about watching it with strong conviction that you are about to see some action movie in Resident Evil style.Instead, plot of Parasite Eve base on a very romantic, warm story and intelligent science-fiction elements.
Before I watched the movie I had thought about how the director will present all that I've read in Hideaki Sena's book.
The movie is naturally less detailed but even though some changes in plot has been made it sill maintain this one of a kind (romantic, intelligent) climate of the book.
Moreover whole story includes very interesting and true scientific facts about evolution of cells (and humankind).In my opinion "Parasite Eve" is excellent movie with remarkable music of Joe Hisaishi (known mostly from films of Takeshi Kitano and works for Ghibli studio e.g. Totoro and Spirited Away).I would recommend watching this film, first of all, to people who like romantic, maybe a little bit sad stories, which stands at high moral level and are raising audience's spirits.
I strongly believe that those who like intelligent s-f stories, based on real scientific ideas will also appreciate and enjoy this movie..
~~~I only vaguely remember the playstation game this movie is related to.
~~~I only vaguely remember the playstation game this movie is related to.
However, I have sat thru the experience of this DVD, & I must say that it is an interesting film indeed.
However, I have sat thru the experience of this DVD, & I must say that it is an interesting film indeed.
I like the fact that it takes some real, tangible scientific data, & uses it for the basis of a well-written, well-acted piece of cinema.
I like the fact that it takes some real, tangible scientific data, & uses it for the basis of a well-written, well-acted piece of cinema.
This gave a dynamic to the relationships between the Drs, & their respective patients, as well as the links between all of the main characters.The camera & light work was exceptional, & I look forward to watching the movie again, just so I can pick one aspect to focus on at a time, allowing me to absorb them systematically.I recommend Parasite Eve to anyone,without a doubt is one of the best foreign films I have seen in a long while.A++.
the story is so absurd, and i mean absurd in a bad way, that the very mention of it makes me, and anyone else who knows about it, explode into a pitying laughter for whoever decided to undertake this masterpiece of failure.
This film about killer mitochondria and the undying love of a scientist who has lost his true love rather slow (it drags a lot) when it isn't being just straight out confusing.
The acting is good, but it was all for naught as the special effects are lacking and the story is tedious.
A missed opportunity, as I'm not a fan of video game films, yet this film WOULD have been better if it were just that.My Grade:D+ DVD Extras: Theatrical Trailer; and a trailer for "The Hypnotist" (which looks MUCH better than this film, i should've watched that instead).
I'm a fan of book to movie releases.
Regardless of whether I've read the book or not, I enjoy spotting the differences and considering how well the movie conveys the gist of the plot and how the actors portray the characters.
This time round however, I was sorely disappointed.My first contact with the Parasite Eve series was during the Playstation game's release in the 90s.
Enthralled by the bioscience driven story, with the chill of the idea that your own body might rebel against you, I began looking up the original novel that started it all.
The plot, essentially a prequel to the game, completely blew me away.
It explained so much of the game's background in a style of brutal science fiction horror.This movie, an adaptation of the novel, abandons most of that.
While I can forgive the fact that the special effects aren't exactly 'up to standard' given that it is a film from the 90s, I cannot forgive the utter mangling of the plot and the bad acting.
I honestly don't understand how they managed or decided to drag the film out to two hours long while failing to convey even half of the original story.Instead of the evenly paced bioscience thriller where the rush to stop Mitochondria Eve actually *fails* and her scheme is only foiled by a miscalculation on her own part, a frightening salvation of mankind only by a single chromosome; the plot is inexplicably dissolved into a two hour long, woodenly acted angst-fest of a man who forgot his wedding anniversary and greatly regrets not spending time with his wife.
The story of the mitochondria rebelling seems to take second place to this, especially in the anti-climatic 'grand finale' where he somehow stops the independently acting Mitochondria from carrying out their plot because for some reason, in the process of making their host fall in love with him, they have come to develop feelings for him too (or imply that 'Kiyomi', his wife, is still 'in there', which is even cheesier and more unbelievable).
To top it off, the movie even fails to provide the aftermath of what happens to the other characters, leaving behind plot holes aplenty.All in all, if you really want to something that stays true and keeps to the spirit of Parasite Eve, just order the book off Amazon, they actually have it translated now..
Fairly interesting Sci-Fi film.
Japan in the last decade has made some pretty challenging horror films that require your constant attention and while I'm the first to admit that this is clearly not one of the best it's still an interesting story that's worthy of being checked out.
Story is about a scientist named Toshiaki Nagashima (Hiroshi Mikami) who works with cells and he has a theory that ancient surviving cells called Mitochondria symbiotically live within other cells that inhabit our bodies.
Another doctor named Tatsuro Ohno (Goro Inagaki) convinces him to get his wife's kidney but Toshiaki tells him that he wants Kiyomi's liver.*****SPOILER ALERT*****Tatsuro transplants the kidney into Mariko and Toshiaki starts to culture Kiyomi's liver cells in his lab and before you know it the cells in the culture grow into this gelatinous goop that takes the form of Kiyomi.
Meanwhile, Mariko is having problems of her own as her uterus is changing and Toshiaki learns that the Mitochondria need Mariko to give birth to a new life form!This film is directed by Masayuki Ochiai who gives the viewer a film that is very visually stimulating and in one shot during an operation the camera is looking up through the incision at the doctor!
This story is taken from a novel by Hideaki Sena but it also became a popular video game and some of the events that take place are from the game itself.
Ochiai shows patience in the way that he tells this story and at certain points the film does tend to drag with a few scenes that go on a bit long.
The story itself I found reminiscent of the films that Hammer Studios use to make in the 1950's and 1960's and I think both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing would be very much at home working with a script like this.
The film benefits from two performances and the first is from the radiant Hazuki who is so beautiful that we understand her husbands obsession with trying to keep her alive.
But the best performance comes from Mikami who is a very good and respected actor in Japan and it's interesting to watch his character go from bookish doctor to obsessive scientist and then to a state of desperation trying to save the world.
This is certainly nowhere near as intriguing as "Audition" but it does play well if your a sci-fi buff which I am so on that merit it's a film that deserves a look..
This film was beautifully laid out, the plot being subtle and uncontrived, the characters acting a bit outlandish at times, but still with a realism that allowed the forward movement of the tale.
Overall, I'd recommend this movie to anyone willing to commit a few hours of their time to the intense psychoanalysis of Japanese story telling needed to grasp even a small portion of this film.
I like slow and arty movies just fine, but I'm sorry that this doesn't qualify.
I rented the movie because I liked the video game and the underlying scientific elements are the same.
The movie, however, has an incredibly slow pace.
After the first half hour, my husband and I actually turned up the playback speed, so we watched the last 90 minutes in 30.
I also think that the plot, while reasonable in principle for most of the movie, takes a wrong turn at the end and gives you a love-conquers-all resolution that just makes it too easy to win. |
tt0057261 | Lord of the Flies | In the midst of a wartime evacuation, a British aeroplane crashes on or near an isolated island in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean. The only survivors are boys in their middle childhood or preadolescence. Two boys—the fair-haired Ralph and an overweight, bespectacled boy nicknamed "Piggy"—find a conch, which Ralph uses as a horn to convene all the survivors to one area. Because Ralph appears responsible for bringing all the survivors together, he immediately commands some authority over the other boys and is quickly elected their "chief", but he does not receive the votes of the members of a boys' choir, led by the red-headed Jack Merridew. Ralph establishes three primary policies: to have fun, to survive, and to constantly maintain a smoke signal that could alert passing ships to their presence on the island and thus rescue them. The boys establish a form of democracy by declaring that whoever holds the conch shall also be able to speak at their formal gatherings and receive the attentive silence of the larger group.
Jack organises his choir into a hunting party responsible for discovering a food source. Ralph, Jack, and a quiet, dreamy boy named Simon soon form a loose triumvirate of leaders with Ralph as the ultimate authority. Though he is Ralph's only real confidant, Piggy is quickly made into an outcast by his fellow "biguns" (older boys) and becomes an unwilling source of laughs for the other children while being hated by Jack. Simon, in addition to supervising the project of constructing shelters, feels an instinctive need to protect the "littluns" (younger boys).
The semblance of order quickly deteriorates as the majority of the boys turn idle; they give little aid in building shelters, spend their time having fun and begin to develop paranoias about the island. The central paranoia refers to a supposed monster they call the "beast", which they all slowly begin to believe exists on the island. Ralph insists that no such beast exists, but Jack, who has started a power struggle with Ralph, gains a level of control over the group by boldly promising to kill the creature. At one point, Jack summons all of his hunters to hunt down a wild pig, drawing away those assigned to maintain the signal fire. A ship travels by the island, but without the boys' smoke signal to alert the ship's crew, the vessel continues without stopping. Ralph angrily confronts Jack about his failure to maintain the signal; in frustration Jack assaults Piggy, breaking his glasses. The boys subsequently enjoy their first feast. Angered by the failure of the boys to attract potential rescuers, Ralph considers relinquishing his position as leader, but is convinced not to do so by Piggy, who both understands Ralph's importance and deeply fears what will become of him should Jack take total control.
One night, an aerial battle occurs near the island while the boys sleep, during which a fighter pilot ejects from his plane and dies in the descent. His body drifts down to the island in his parachute; both get tangled in a tree near the top of the mountain. Later on, while Jack continues to scheme against Ralph, the twins Sam and Eric, now assigned to the maintenance of the signal fire, see the corpse of the fighter pilot and his parachute in the dark. Mistaking the corpse for the beast, they run to the cluster of shelters that Ralph and Simon have erected to warn the others. This unexpected meeting again raises tensions between Jack and Ralph. Shortly thereafter, Jack decides to lead a party to the other side of the island, where a mountain of stones, later called Castle Rock, forms a place where he claims the beast resides. Only Ralph and a quiet suspicious boy, Jack's closest supporter Roger, agree to go; Ralph turns back shortly before the other two boys but eventually all three see the parachutist, whose head rises via the wind. They then flee, now believing the beast is truly real. When they arrive at the shelters, Jack calls an assembly and tries to turn the others against Ralph, asking them to remove Ralph from his position. Receiving no support, Jack storms off alone to form his own tribe. Roger immediately sneaks off to join Jack, and slowly an increasing amount of older boys abandon Ralph to join Jack's tribe. Jack's tribe continues to lure recruits from the main group by promising feasts of cooked pig. The members begin to paint their faces and enact bizarre rites, including sacrifices to the beast.
Simon, who faints frequently and is likely an epileptic, has a secret hideaway where he goes to be alone. One day while he is there, Jack and his followers erect a faux sacrifice to the beast nearby: a pig's head, mounted on a sharpened stick and soon swarming with scavenging flies. Simon conducts an imaginary dialogue with the head, which he dubs the "Lord of the Flies". The head mocks Simon's notion that the beast is a real entity, "something you could hunt and kill", and reveals the truth: they, the boys, are the beast; it is inside them all. The Lord of the Flies also warns Simon that he is in danger, because he represents the soul of man, and predicts that the others will kill him. Simon climbs the mountain alone and discovers that the "beast" is the dead parachutist. He rushes down to tell the other boys, who are engaged in a ritual dance. The frenzied boys mistake Simon for the beast, attack him, and beat him to death.
Jack and his rebel band decide that the real symbol of power on the island is not the conch, but Piggy's glasses—the only means the boys have of starting a fire. They raid Ralph's camp, confiscate the glasses, and return to their abode on Castle Rock. Ralph, now deserted by most of his supporters, journeys to Castle Rock to confront Jack and secure the glasses. Taking the conch and accompanied only by Piggy, Sam, and Eric, Ralph finds the tribe and demands that they return the valuable object. Confirming their total rejection of Ralph's authority, the tribe capture and bind the twins under Jack's command. Ralph and Jack engage in a fight which neither wins before Piggy tries once more to address the tribe. Any sense of order or safety is permanently eroded when Roger, now sadistic, deliberately drops a boulder from his vantage point above, killing Piggy and shattering the conch. Ralph manages to escape, but Sam and Eric are tortured by Roger until they agree to join Jack's tribe.
Ralph secretly confronts Sam and Eric, who warn him that Jack and Roger hate him and that Roger has sharpened a stick at both ends, implying the tribe intends to hunt him like a pig and behead him. The following morning, Jack orders his tribe to begin a hunt for Ralph. Jack's savages set fire to the forest while Ralph desperately weighs his options for survival. Following a long chase, most of the island is consumed in flames. With the hunters closely behind him, Ralph trips and falls. He looks up at a uniformed adult—a naval officer whose party has landed from a passing warship to investigate the fire. Ralph bursts into tears over the death of Piggy and the "end of innocence". Jack and the other children, filthy and unkempt, also revert to their true ages and erupt into sobs. The officer expresses his disappointment at seeing British boys exhibiting such feral, warlike behaviour before turning to stare awkwardly at his own war-ship. | good versus evil, allegory, cult, satire, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0101327 | American Shaolin | During a martial arts tournament, the American finalist Drew Carson (Reese Madigan) is humiliated by his opponent, ruthless and sadistic kickboxer Trevor Gottitall (Trent Bushey) who pantses him during the match. To add to the insult, Drew's teacher Master Kwan (Kim Chan) confesses that he is not—as he had claimed—a Shaolin monk, and therefore he had not passed on the actual knowledge of Shaolin kung fu to Drew. Determined to learn the actual art to prevent another such situation, Drew departs for China and arrives at the Shaolin Temple. At first, the monks do not let him enter, but with the help of a pretty tea shop waitress, Ashena (Alice Zhang Hung), and an old monk (Henry O) who gives him a decisive advise, he waits outside of the temple for a week, after which he manages to be admitted. The old monk also turns out to be the abbot of the temple, Master San De, and he and his stern taskmaster train Drew and a number of other young apprentices in the ways of the Shaolin.
At first Drew causes much trouble as his American teenage temperament clashes with the tranquility within the temple and with his fellow student, Gao (Daniel Dae Kim), but under the rigorous physical and mental training he both improves his fighting skills and learns the meaning of discipline, humility, and patience. He makes friends with Gao and also manages to pass the two final tests: the Test of Spirituality, and the Test of the Chamber. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the Shaolin Monastery, he accompanies—along with Ashena—a delegation of his fellow students and the abbot to a martial arts tournament in Shanghai.
At the tournament, Drew encounters Trevor once again. Trevor taunts Drew before proceeding with this match against Gao. Gao initially gains the upper hand, but Trevor resorts to his dirty fighting techniques and injures Gao. With Gao pinned against the ropes, Trevor demands a match against the "American Shaolin". Drew rises, but sits down again, refusing to fight Trevor on the principle of non-violence and selflessness. Infuriated, Trevor continues to beat up Gao and hurls him out of the ring. Encouraged by Master San De, Drew finally enters the ring to fight Trevor. Trevor immediately used dirty tricks again, but Drew prevails and even offers his hand to the defeated Trevor. The crowd voices their support for Shaolin, and Master San De declares that "this is the future of Shaolin". | violence | train | wikipedia | Fast paced and exciting.
This was a great martial arts film.
The action sequences are exciting and fast paced.
The Shaolin training sequences was a highlight, especially when the new monks demonstrated with weapons.
Reese Madigan was a bit annoying, but he still can prove he is a tough fighter on screen.
I don't know how they did it, but they made non-martial artist Trent Bushy look great as the evil Trevor.
A must-see for all fans of martial arts films..
Daft as a brush.
Some 'Gee whizz' kid goes to China to learn Shaolin Kung Fu after getting knacked and humiliated in a martial arts tournament.
They teach him Kung Fu, he teaches them to rock n' roll with broomsticks.
God bless America!.
Follows the same great path as it's predecessors.
An unofficial follow-up to the No Retreat, No Surrender movies and King of the Kickboxers, this movie continues to entertain with the same amount of quality as the earlier movies.
Being the first movie in this series without Loren Avedon, it still delivers on all levels.
And by that I mean it delivers on the fighting.
The action is great.
The rest of the movie is just total goofiness of the highest order, and that's the way it should be.
It's a really lighthearted movie where the focus is on the action and the fact that you just don't take it seriously at all.
Sit back, enjoy this movie for what it's worth and have a great time..
American Shaolin: King of Latrine Diggers.
If you've ever seen a movie about the Shaolin Temple, then you've seen half of this, what sets 'King of the Kickboxers II' apart from the rest is the inability of the hero to keep his pants up, and air-guitar styling of the Shaolin disciples.
Awesome.'King of the Kickboxers II' opens with our hero, Drew Carson, facing a bad-dude known as Trevor (what an evil name) in a martial arts tournament.
Trevor beats Drew by pulling his pants down (just how does he untie Drew's belt whilst wearing gentlemen's sport gloves?).
The obvious solution for Drew is to go the Shaolin Temple, so its off to China and good-bye to Trevor for most of the movie.
Somehow, Drew doesn't have any communication troubles in China, because everyone at the Shaolin Temple speaks English, even when in the villagers talking to people speaking Chinese.Anyway, most of the movie is your standard Shaolin Temple stuff - training sequences and fights, but all from the perspective of a loud-mouthed American who constantly gets in trouble.
The fights are good, but nothing special.
If you're looking for Shaolin action ala 'Shaolin Temple', you will be disappointed, but if you just want some martial arts fun, then this is for you.5/10.
High Flying International Martial Arts Action -- at its Best!.
American Shaolin is a virtuosic display of the drama of martial arts combat, intertwined with the wisdom and lore of the Eastern Buddhist Tradition (Shaolin).
After a humilating incident in which his pants are pulled down by martial arts "bad guy" Trevor Gottiall, revealing his panties to a crowd of about 75 people in a high school gymnasium, Drew Carson escapes to the rural countryside of Communist China to learn the secrets of Oriental Martial Arts (Shaolin Fighting).
While there Drew must master the arts of manual labor (viz.
"latrine cleaning") and fighting wooden golems; but he also manages to impart a little "wisdom" on his Chinese captors: he breaks up the monotony of another day of hard labor in the prison camp with a rendition of "The Shaolin Temple Blues" -- with eerily reminiscent of Buddy Holly's 1956 hit "Summertime Blues" -- and in the process teaches his Oriental associates how to sing and dance "American"-style.Except for some unnecessary (albeit, brief) digressions into Avant-Garde Symbolism -- mainly in the form of a trip to the mountain to visit the Zarathustra-esque Purple Magician (portrayed with fantastic charisma by Noriyuku "Pat" Morita of Karate Kid fame) and a panty-raid at the local high school dance -- American Shaolin is a film to be enjoyed over and over.
A veritable tour-de-force realized through the sheer acting-magnificence of its ensemble cast, that culminates with a breathtaking transition from the final test that requires Drew to destroy Wooden Golems in the basement of the Shaolin Temple to the final fight "all-out" bare-knuckle fight at the International Karate Expo where Drew must put his skillz to their ultimate test in mortal kombat with Trevor.
And let's just say that Drew doesn't "drop his pants" this time!!!Keep on Shaolin-Fighting, Drew.
Truly Amazing!!.
American Shaolin is undoubtibly one of the best film ever made.
It is a brilliant concoction of humour, action and excitement.
I was mezmerised whilst watching it, at its greatness and anticipated eagerly for the outcome of events.
It is an utter masterpiece in movie making and hasn't got the credit it deserves.
It is an excellently made film and is exciting all the way through.
I watch it at least once everyday, sometimes twice.
Thats how brilliant it is.
Well done Lucas Lowe for creating such a magnificent piece of work!!
"the tiger grasps the pearls.".
"Shaolin Temple Blues!".
Yeah, the only song this entire movie had (that I could remember) was "The Shaolin Temple Blues" which really didn't sound like the blues at all, but instead a strange perversion of a Bruce Springsteen song.
All of the lyrics are about working minimum wage and going out on dates Saturday Night...
But the chorus says "Shaolin Temple Blues", not "Summertime Blues" like they sing at first.
Of course, this can all be forgiven once we are shown Shaolin Monks playing Air Guitar.The movie's story is about as run-of-the-mill as run-of-the-mill can get.
Ugly American (and BOY is he ugh-lee this time around!) gets beaten and humiliated in the first 5 minutes of the movie, then goes and gets trained by someone who doesn't accept him at first, until he begins to understand the ways of the martial arts.
From that point, he goes on to defeat the bad guy in the last 5 minutes of the movie.This happened in "The Karate Kid", "No Retreat, No Surrender", and countless others!
Even "KING OF THE KICKBOXERS PART ONE"!Anyway, Corey Yuen did the fight coreography for this film, and it shows by the overall quality.
Unfortunately, the bright spots seen are overshadowed by some astoundingly bad parts...
whether it be the Shaolin Temple getting exposed to Playboy Magazine, a group of Shaolin Monks going to a high school dance, or Drew poplocking in front of his fellow student monks.
It's goofy as all hell.For $6.99 on DVD, I can't really say it's a loss of money, but at the same time you'd be better off sticking with something else.
At least "No Retreat, No Surrender" has Jean-Claude Van Damme.One last note: Am I the only person here disturbed by the fact that the only way the main villain seems to be able to win a fight is by pulling down his opponent's pants?!.
sad ...really.
this has got to be one of those films where the trailer is 50 times better than the movie itself.I first saw the trailer in 1991, it looked great.Since then i have always wanted to see it but could never find it.....until today, yes, 14 years later.lets just say I was so disappointed its unreal, OK i knew it wouldn't be an Oscar winner but still had hopes that it would be a fun no-brain film in the bloodsport mold.
Unfortunately it was not, it's Poohwhats with all the American rock and roll music and the acting was so bad it was quite frightening.The fight scenes were rubbish and look fake.this DVD only cost me £5 and I believe I was overcharged by £7Now I'm sad as I know that I will never get that hour and a half back..
Entertaining but no patch on the previous films.
Having been a great fan of the No retreat No Surrender films and King Of The Kickboxers since I was a boy in the 80's I had never got around to seeing this sequel to the series.As a direct sequel to King Of The Kickboxers first off I must say that its no where near as good.
The acting is more atrocious than usual in these kinds of films but the big flaw is that the fight's are almost no- where to be seen and for a martial arts film that's bad news.
After the opening fight almost an hour passes with no action whatsoever.
The ones that do crop up are acceptably choreographed but are slow, short and lack the intensity of any of the previous films due to some slow movements and very tight close camera-work.It's an OK film though, most likely because it is a complete rip off of Bruce Lee's Kung-Fu starring David Carradine.
A few monks talking with American accents sort of spoil the feel and the main character is pretty unlikable and a bit arrogant.A few more regular fights and more imaginative choreography and it would have been great but as it stands it's not a patch on King of the Kickboxers, or any of the Karate Tiger series for that matter..
The Pure evil of Trevor Gottitall!.
You better watch out for Trevor Gottitall (Bushey).
Just by his name you can tell he is an evil, arrogant jerk with a ponytail.
He is a kickboxer whose finishing move in the ring is to pull down his opponent's pants.
Fighting in a match with Trevor in front of an enthusiastic audience, young, idealistic fighter Drew Carson (Madigan) loses to Trevor's underhanded tactics and is humiliated when he falls prey to his infamous coup de grace.
After consulting with his elderly master, the All-American Drew goes all the way to the original Shaolin Temple in China to become a monk.
While there, the monks teach him, and he teaches the monks, and his fellow disciples a thing or two as well.
After an unspecified length of time at the temple, Drew emerges to take on Trevor Gottitall in a rematch."American Shaolin: King of the Kickboxers II", despite being one of the longest titles of its many titles, doesn't feel like a long movie while you are watching it.
It is quite entertaining and enjoyable.Madigan is perfectly cast as Drew.
He starts out as a "typical" American with his omnipresent backwards baseball cap, yellow walkman and sports jerseys.
Through his disciplined training, he learns humility and grace.
But not before teaching his fellow students how to dance and sing American rock and roll.
A highlight of the film is an impromptu music video where Drew leads his fellow monk hopefuls in a rousing rendition of "Summertime blues".
While they are cavorting around using sticks as guitars and microphones, Drew changes the lyrics to "Ain't no cure for the Shaolin Temple Blues".
If you don't wince in embarrassment, it is charming.
Later, at another dance sequence, the one and only song is "Summertime Blues".
It must have been the only song the production could afford.Also Drew teaches his Chinese friends about the ancient art of Playboy magazine and pranks.
This Martial Arts film almost becomes an 80's romp when they try to pull a prank on the head monk.
The film is mainly a long training sequence, and the title would seem to indicate that this film is a reference to "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin".
The culture shock is a major element.
He must overcome some prejudice as a Chinese monk says about Drew, "this Monk smells".
Apparently anyone can just show up at the Shaolin Temple, provided they sit outside on a tree stump for a day or so.Interestingly, this film bears no relation to "King of the Kickboxers" (1990), starring Billy Blanks.
Speaking of things bearing no relation, the box art for the Academy VHS release is somewhat misleading.
It makes it seem like a dark, disturbing and angry punchfighter.
The truth is that it is fairly light-hearted and there are many life lessons in the film."AS:KOTKII" is an above-average film of this kind.
The actors seem to care about the proceedings and the audience gets sucked into the plot, despite some clichéd touches here and there.Your collection hasn't "Gottitall" unless this is in it!
for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com |
tt0038011 | Quiet Please! | Tom's nemesis, Spike, is trying to take a nap, but is awoken by Tom Cat chasing Jerry Mouse with a frying pan. After being hit several times, an annoyed Spike tries to go back to sleep. But he is awoken again by Tom's rather inaccurate use and tossing away of a rifle, which hits Spike on the head. The canine buries his head in his pillow, but is woken a third time by Tom trying to whack Jerry with the flat of an axe, but getting Spike instead. Fed up, Spike grabs Tom, and angrily tells him that he is becoming a nervous wreck, which he demonstrates by pulling his tongue, producing a crazed look on his face. First calmly, then viciously, he warns Tom that if there is one more sound, no matter who makes it, he will skin Tom alive. On the side, Jerry grins and nods happily.
Spike settles down to sleep, and Tom sighs with relief. Jerry then whistles at Tom, showing him a drawing of a cat labelled "STINKY". Tom zooms after him, but stops abruptly when Jerry holds up a spoon and frying pan right next to Spike, ready to bang. Jerry even pokes and whacks the cat with the spoon, but when Tom turns to attack, Jerry renews the threat. Tom sneaks around the corner, and grabs the noisemakers from behind. Jerry's next trick is to set up a lamp cord to trip Tom. Tom does trip and falls toward a table full of wine glasses. From midair, he fantastically manages to push the table away and replace it with a pillow, on which he falls quietly. As Jerry gets ready to fire a large rifle, Tom races to stick his fingers in the gun barrels first, after which Jerry fires. As Tom examines his throbbing fingers, Jerry prepares to push a colossal grandfather clock to the floor. Tom can do nothing but stick his fingers in Spike's ears and hope it muffles the crash, which it amazingly does. Jerry begins to drop light bulbs off the mantelpiece, but Tom acrobatically catches them all. But Jerry plugs his tail into the light socket, lighting poor Tom like a Christmas tree, and pushes a roller skate under the cat's foot for final measure, sending him crashing into Spike!
Spike half awakens, but Tom quickly picks him up and lulls him back to sleep singing Rock-a-bye Baby and then somewhat strange version of Brahms' Lullaby while pouring an entire bottle of "Knock-Out Drops" into Spike's mouth, and nose. As Tom finishes the song, he lifts Spike's right eyelid to reveal: "OUT COLD". Jerry comes in triumphantly and noisily banging a drum, to no effect. Tom repeatedly imitates numerous percussion instruments on the KO'ed Spike. He plops himself on top of the dog, who doesn't stir, and shows the mouse the bottle of Knock-Out Drops. This causes Jerry's mouth to drop, and then his face to fall, he is beaten. In the kitchen, the mouse writes his last will: "My last will – to Tom, my favorite cat I leave my sole earthly possession – ONE CUSTARD PIE. Signed: Jerry." Tom reads it, and answers, "One custard pie?! Let me have it!" And Jerry does – right in the puss.
The chase resumes in full force until Tom stops in horror, as the dog is snarling. However, when the dog doesn't otherwise move, the cat pulls up Spike's chin to reveal Jerry faking it. When he sees Tom, he continues to imitate a dog by barking, then he bites Tom right on the nose. Tom takes a short break to watch Jerry attempt to wake Spike by yelling in his ear, pushing his back, and stabbing him in the rear with a pin. However, Spike's left eyelid reveals that he is "STILL OUT COLD". Then Tom swings a hammer at Jerry, who takes off. He stops the cat next to a chair and graciously pulls out a larger hammer from underneath, for Tom. Also graciously, Tom hands the mouse the smaller hammer and prepares to flatten Jerry with the big one, but Jerry smashes Tom's foot first and runs as Tom yowls.
Tom is just recovering, but gasps when Jerry places a huge stick of dynamite beneath Spike, and lights the fuse. Tom attempts to pull it out from under Spike, but just then, the knock-out drops finally wear off. Spike awakens and growls at him – Tom smiles, slides the dynamite back under Spike (not known for being the brightest dog) and escapes, before it explodes. A battered Spike with some fur missing and an anchor tattoo revealed on his arm, then gives Tom a thorough beating off-screen. Finally, Spike makes Tom, now bruised, bandaged and blind, rock a cradle in which Spike is lying comfortably. Jerry takes advantage by relaxing next to him and hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign! | comic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0825225 | American Pastime | The first scene shows the life of the Nomura family, a typical American family of Japanese descent in 1941, composed of Japanese-born parents and American-born children (in this case, two sons, Lane and Lyle).
They are forced to leave their home in Los Angeles following the infamous Executive Order 9066, signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Order 9066 permitted the "exclusion" of Japanese Americans from the West Coast of the United States, and actual historic footage shows the rounding up of these families, most of whom were (like the Nomura sons) born as American citizens.
The Nomuras find themselves in a dusty, windblown desert camp. The viewer sees some actual footage of Topaz War Relocation Center, shot by Dave Tatsuno, using a camera which had been smuggled into the camp.
The elder Nomura had been a professional baseball player, and he rapidly forms an in-camp league. One of the guards, Billy Burrell (Gary Cole) is a minor-league baseball player, bitter about having been passed over by a recruiter from the New York Yankees. Many of the major leagues' top players were off to war, perhaps giving Burrell another opportunity with the Yankees.
Lane Nomura, the oldest son enlists in the Army, as a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the famed "Purple Heart Battalion." One guard, originally condemning the very idea of letting Japanese Americans into "our Army," changes his mind as he sees a list of men from Topaz who had been killed while rescuing a Texas battalion.
Lyle, the younger son, originally angry and rebellious over the internment, eventually finds motivation to succeed when the Topaz team challenges Burrell and the local minor league team, several of whose members are openly bigoted and hateful against the internees. | romantic, home movie | train | wikipedia | Worth seeing "American Pastime".
When I saw the movie "American Pastime", there was a Q and A afterward.
This film is a compilation of many of the experiences that friends and relatives of the screen writer had during the Japanese internment camps of WWII.
The producer and director stated that the entire film was filmed in Utah, near where one of the internment camps had been, so the actors could feel and understand even the weather, sand, and restrictive situations that happened.Inspite of the seriousness of the situation, the viewer will laugh, think, and cry as they watch this film.
The baseball scenes were fun, but one knows it was a bit over the top.
That didn't hurt the film though.
During the Q and A, we were told that baseball really was a big part of life at internment camps.The actors were sincere.
I only hope that because this film is a small budget film, that it does not get lost in the shuffle.
I think it was one of the best films I have seen this year, and I go to the movies a lot..It is a sure thing..
A heartfelt and uplifting account of a shameful time in American history.
I saw "American Pastime" on Saturday, and my only disappointment with the evening, was the meager size of the audience.
There were only a handful of people in the theater.
This film deserves a wide audience, hence my score and this high and enthusiastic endorsement.I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about the Japanese-American internment during WWII.
My father and uncle were imprisoned at Mathausen in the European side of WWII.
Despite my previous exposure and direct family experience, this film was still a revelation.
My previous knowledge of the Japanese-American WWII experience was based mostly on plays, documentaries, and reading.
Watching documentaries, particularly with interviews of camp survivors, is always very moving and heartrending.
Although a dramatic fictionalized film, seeing the daily indignities and humiliations endured by the Japanese-Americans gave me even a deeper understanding of their experience.Let anyone reading this conclude that the film is a "downer," rest assured that despite the subject matter, it is ultimately a life-affirming, spiritually uplifting film, and ironically, entertaining.
The director and screenwriter have created a compelling story, which illuminates an egregious breach of justice in US history.
Yet the story is very engaging, as are the talented cast of characters.
The screenplay is evenhanded and compassionate, including the point of view of the guards and townspeople near the camp.
You will learn something, while being uplifted and entertained..
Very good commercial narrative film about the Japanese Internment..
This film premiered Sunday at the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.
While there have been a number of excellent documentaries on this subject, this is the first commercial film I have seen which has the potential for such broad appeal with American audiences.
The director has assembled a wonderful cast of actors--both veterans and new, young actors.
Gary Cole gives a subtle, but authentic performance as the military supervisor of the camp.
Excellent supporting roles by Seth Sakai,Sarah Drew,Judy Ongg and Susanna Thompson add to the vitality of this ensemble.
Newcomers Aaron Yoo and Leonardo Nam as the Namuro brothers are impressive.
Not enough good things can be said about the Japanese veteran actor, Masatoshi Nakamura, who plays the father of the Namuro family.
It is a dynamic performance and his character is the strength of this story.
Shot on location in Utah, the film delivers a hard look at the Topaz internment camp and the realities of the daily lives of the interns and their captors.
The mixture of period archival footage frames the story for the audience whose knowledge of the subject is minimal.
Using baseball and jazz as a narrative device, this is a film the children and grandchildren of the World War II generation need to see..
A Brighter Side of Dark.
American history has some dark moments.
The internment camps involving 10,000 or so Japanese-Americans is one of these dark moments.
As a teacher, most of what I have encountered on the subject is bleak documentary, and I had to really press myself to check out this DVD from the library.
I am so glad I did.
This movie honors those who suffered the indignities of wrongful paranoid prejudice.
Harsh words, but in retrospect that's what it came down to.
The director put together a movie that follows two families and their experiences during their internment time at Topaz, located in Utah.
One family is Japanese-American, and the other is the point of view of the white "all American" family, the father, one of the soldiers based at the camp.
The movie is all about dignity, doing what is right, and letting go of the wrongs.
The centerpiece of using baseball, the American Pastime, adds the lighter moments to the movie.
Overall, the movie is well-done, well-acted, and delivers illuminating historical information.
I truly had no idea that so many Japanese-Americans willingly joined the service during WWII.
The special features mini-doc is a must see.
A family movie, although there is some language, it is recommended viewing..
On balance, an original story about a predictable situation.
Full disclosure: I'm caucasian, married into an Asian family, although not a Japanese one.
This film is well-done, well-acted, well-written and fair to both sides.
The sides are the Japanese- Americans, v.
the Townies, which includes the garrison guarding the camp.
The obvious tension is there, but it's not universal: some locals are twisted cracker jerks; some are decent people.
The inmates, male and female, are genuine victims of injustice, so our sympathy generally moves in one direction, appropriately.
The story is of the adjustments the Japanese- Americans make for their captors, and the manner in which one interracial couple adjusts to falling in love and growing up in a situation as distorted as an internment camp.
It's all believable, the dialogue is good and believable, and the film is well worth seeing.
And it's subtitled in the right places..
Excellent...
an understated movie that shines!.
This film is a poignant drama that depicts the dichotomized perspectives of U.S. citizens during World War II.
Although heritage and physical attributes divide two groups of people, common interests (jazz music, baseball, and truth) bond them together.
American Pastime also delves into the inner relations of two families caught on opposite sides of the fence and the upheaval of their respective traditional values.When one resembles the face of an enemy, it leads to fear.
Fear then leads to prejudice; then prejudice to discrimination.
Could it be possible for love and truth to triumph over a chasm created by war?Commendable acting by all the cast--there is also a touching performance by Sarah Drew.
The cinematography is outstanding.
I highly recommend this movie..
Made to Celebrate the Dignity of Man. This film is made to inspire by showing the dignity of man, but as I contemplate it after viewing, I become more and more depressed that cruelty toward ethnic groups here in the United States has abated little during my lifetime.It is the story of Americans of Japanese decent who were put in relocation (prison) camps during World War II.
One of the young men forced into the camp was an excellent baseball player who was getting ready to go off to college on a full athletic scholarship.
His other love was jazz at which he was also very good.
Baseball and jazz - American to the core.
The young man - American to the core - treated as less than a citizen because of his heritage.The conditions in the camp are not depicted in a way that shows how harsh they actually were, however the eye-opening events (for younger viewers) and reminders of how things were (for viewers of my age) are the scenes of unabashed prejudice by the townspeople and the military against the members of the camp.
Those of us who have lived through the 40's and 50's know that those times were anything but politically correct.It has always been a mystery to me that we call our country "The Great Melting Pot," and yet we abhor the individual ingredients that go into the pot.
As I write this review, my three-year-old grand-nephew is visiting.
I wonder if his United States will be the one steeped in hatred and fear of minority groups as is mine.
I fear so.
Human nature is not prone to change.As I said, American Pastime is made to celebrate the dignity of man, and it certainly does a good job of it.
It is a good movie that gives you a good feeling if you can manage to put aside the underlying and continuing darker side of we humans..
Fantastic.
I loved this movie.
The movie was much different then you would think it would be.
the movie is about WW2 Japenese-Amereican Interns and how they coped with their internment.
I was lucky enough to be there when the producer and the writer of the book "Through Diamond" who helped with the research and the making of this movie.
they answered many questions about the movie.
they made it more clear even though it was already a very clear movie.
everything about this movie was great.
The acting, the cinematography, and the construction of the interment camp(they found the actual blueprints of the internment camp).
I would recommend everyone to see it or go buy the DVD when it goes on the market..
Sincere but superficial.
This movie is well-intentioned but as sentimental as a Hallmark card.
The characters were two-dimensional; skilled actors like Masatoshi Nakamura and Gary Cole were given little depth to work with.
The father: noble and proud.
The mother: quiet and worried.
Two brothers?
You just know one is going to be a rebel and the other will make a predictable decision to prove his loyalty to America.
Most of the story is hackneyed and corny.
Farewell to Manzanar with Nobu McCarthy is from 1976, but it's miles ahead of this movie.
Come See the Paradise, despite its White main character, is better than this too.
It might be that I'm overly-familiar with internment camp movies, but I swear I've seen nearly all of these characters done better elsewhere in other movies and plays.But it isn't all bad.
The best moments come from a wily old man played by Seth Sakai who makes booze from canned peaches.
His lines crackle with a sarcastic wit that is greatly needed to counterbalance the sentimentality of the other characters.
The baseball scenes near the end are interesting and original, but aren't nearly enough to save this movie.
American Pastime might be useful for educating kids about the camps, but it doesn't stand on its own cinematic merits..
Every human should watch this as a tool to realize the ugliness and stupidity of racism.
I was nervous about watching the film on our Netflix dvd as I do not like depressing stories.
My husband began watching it by himself and convinced me that I would want to see it.
He was spot on.
I used to live (and surf!) in Hawaii and have so many Asian friends whose families had immigrated.
I felt I owed them to learn what had happened to so many.
What a powerful experience it was!!
Thank you to all who made this film possible!.
Good baseball movie, not totally historically accurate.
In the sense of being an entertaining film, this movie does a fantastic job of captivating its audience with topics and themes relevant to them while portraying at least some aspect of the Japanese American incarceration.
The film itself is quite intriguing and leaves viewers satisfied with a happy ending where the underdogs come out on top.
However, from a historical and educational standpoint, this film is lacking in several areas.
The biased portrayal of particular details of this historical memory only furthers the uninformed psyche of the general public about the true nature of these camps.
The film feeds into the propaganda circulated since the beginning of these camps that life for the Japanese American people would work out in their favor, with little time given to the remembrance of the actual devastation these people underwent..
Beautiful movie.
This is a beautiful movie with excellent acting and story line.
The movie gave people some understandings what Japanese Americans went through in WW II.
It is one of the biggest injustice in American history, but there is not enough stories or films about this subject.
I really wish to see more films about 442 unit that fought in WWII because they are one of the bravest Army units in WWII.
I can't say enough about the acting because it was excellent.
The father character in the film did a wonderful job playing his role.
The film did an excellent job moving the story from the beginning to the camp.
Baseball story in the background tied everything together.
Despite the low budget, the film was excellent from beginning to the end..
Low budget, unknown actors.
Could have been better with an more experienced director and known actors.
Important story except for the expected Asian guy/White girl romance, the "jap" hater, the hollywood-type baseball ending.
Previous film on Manzanar is better.
Check that one out. |
tt0086605 | Qi mou miao ji: Wu fu xing | Five prisoners - Teapot (Sammo Hung), Curly (John Sham), Exhaust Pipe (Richard Ng), Vaseline (Charlie Chin), and Rookie (Stanley Fung) meet in their cell to form a friendship. Rookie assumes the leadership of the group, whilst Teapot is bullied by the others (in the later films, Roundhead, played by Eric Tsang, is the group's victim and Hung's character is the leader). Following their release, they team up with Curly's beautiful sister, Shirley (Cherie Chung), and form a company called the Five Stars Cleaning Co. While most of the group attempt to vie for Shirley's affection, Teapot ultimately forms a relationship with her.
A sixth convict, the wealthy Jack Tar (James Tien), is released on the same day. Upon his release, he commences work on his next criminal project: trading counterfeit US and Hong Kong currency with an American crime boss. Jack sends his chauffeur to do the exchange at a skating competition, but the chauffeur's insecure attitude attracts the attention of two muggers. The muggers steal the briefcase containing the counterfeit US money and take off. Police officer CID 07 (Jackie Chan) attempts to recover the briefcase containing the phony money, but the case accidentally ends up in the Five Stars Cleaning Co. van. CID 07 continues his pursuit of the muggers, which results in a massive freeway pile-up.
Teapot and his friends are unaware of the mishap, and drive away with the case. The chauffeur informs Jack, who orders his men to search for them. Later, Jack hosts a party at his mansion. Teapot and his friends decide to gatecrash, hoping to expand their business with the wealthy guests. They successfully enter the mansion undetected, and while socializing with the other guests, Jack privately meets a Triad boss to discuss a new deal for the counterfeit plates. A bodyguard then realizes the Five Stars Cleaning Co. are there, and alerts Jack, who interrogates Curly. Curly insists he has no knowledge about the case, and the ensuing ruckus causes a physical confrontation between the friends and Jack's bodyguards. The friends narrowly escape, only to be kidnapped by the Triad boss, who secretly wants to cut off the deal with Jack and obtain the plates himself. He orders the friends to give up the case, and holds Shirley hostage. The friends return home and finally discover the case. When they leave to make the dropoff, however, Jack's men arrives. Teapot, Exhaust Pipe, and Vaseline engage them in battle, while Curly leaves to fetch the Triad boss and Rookie goes for help. The Triad boss and his bodyguards arrive, where Jack learns of his motives and turns the fight against him instead. The police arrive, led by Rookie, who reveals himself to be undercover. They arrest Jack and the Triad boss and their men and rewards the friends for their assistance. | violence | train | wikipedia | The first of the Lucky Stars films is more winner than sinner..
More comedy than kung fu, Winners and Sinners is a crazy Hong Kong caper that follows the antics of a bunch of likable ex-convicts as they become unknowing recipients of a briefcase of missing counterfeit money and some printing platesitems much sought after by two gangs of criminals.The first in the 'Lucky Stars' movies, this good-natured and silly comedy succeeds in being very entertaining (despite not really being THAT funny) largely thanks to its charismatic cast.
Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, Charlie Chin, Jackie Chan, Shui-Fan Fung, John Sham and (token beauty) Cherie Chung all have starring roles, and even Yuen Baio and Lam Ching Ying pop up in cameos.Of course, how funny you find this film will depend entirely on your sense of humour (let's say that the laughs are not that sophisticated); the quality of the action, however, cannot be disputed.Jackie has only a couple of brief fight scenes, but truly shines during a roller skating sequence in which he performs some amazing stuntsfirst partaking in a competition, and then pursuing a couple of thieves.
And if you're not gob-smacked when he skates under a moving lorry and then causes a multiple pile-up, then you should give up watching films altogether.This being a Sammo Hung film, however, it is the portly one that takes centre stage when the real fighting begins, and fans of his work will not be disappointed.
Even if Hong Kong humour is not your cup of tea, Winners and Sinners is worth watching for the end battle alone..
Winners and Sinners (aka Five Lucky Stars) is a film that I liked better the second time I watched it.
After shaken off all expectations of a "Jackie and Sammo" film and accepted the uneven and scattered nature of this ensemble movie I enjoyed it more.
Producer Leonard Ho got the idea from Cannonball Run (which Jackie Chan and Michael Hui had parts in) to create an assemblage of popular Hong Kong stars to star in this film.
Winners and Sinners was a success spawning several sequels and reunited Jackie with Seven Little Fortune alums Sammo and Yuen Biao (who helped with martial art choreography; though his cameo as a fellow CID officer is less than a minute as a quick fight versus Jackie.)The Five Lucky Stars are cons who after spending their time in jail take a straight job with a cleaning company led by Curly aka Jack So (played by real life democracy advocate John Shum) who was framed for instigating a crowd to do harm in a parody of his real-life exhorts.
The other four are Ranks aka Larry (Stanley Fung), Teapot (Sammo Hung who also directed this) as a cat burglar, Vaseline (Charlie Chin) a slick thief, and Exhaust Pipe (Richard Ng who performance was nominated as Best Actor for the Hong Kong Film Awards) who is bad at thieving automobile parts.
However there are some great gags such as Richard Ng thinking he is invisible with Wu Ma's great response to shatter his misconception "...pretty good vision even when it comes to small objects" and a blind couple playing a Rod Stewart song at a carnival.There are some great stunt and fight scenes led by 7086 (Jackie Chan) a bumbling CID officer who beats up wrong suspects, kills his superior's turtle and accidentally throws a kid's ice cream away.
This film definitely deserved the Hong Kong award for best Action Choreography.The story is mostly non-existent until the boilerplate briefcase full of counterfeit bills makes it's appearance.
It parodies the more serious films with scenes such as Charlie Chin and Fung Hark On doing a martial art pose-down fight and the final action scene that blends comedy and stunts takes place in a warehouse which gets me thinking on how many films I have seen that have the last fight scene in a warehouse (rhetorical thought of course).
Overall this is an enjoyable film that is fun to watch that showcases several outstanding Hong Kong comedians and several outstanding action performers..
I recently watched 'Winners and Sinners' with some friends when we thought we should celebrate Jackie Chan's birthday.
Oh well, maybe I'll celebrate Sammo Hung's next birthday (whenever it may be) by watching 'Around the World in 80 Days'.'Winners and Sinners' is the first 'Lucky Stars' movie.
Five inmates befriend each other in prison, and when they are released, they form the 'Five Star Cleaning Service', only to find themselves in the middle of a Triad war.'Winners and Sinners' is much more of a Sammo Hung film than a Jackie Chan film.
Sammo directed and starred in this, while Jackie had a minor role as CID officer.
However, most of action is performed by Hung, and he pulls it off very well.Apart from some entertaining action, 'Winners and Sinners' is one of those rather silly Hong Kong comedies that fans of Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan - especially their 80s work - should be somewhat familiar with.
Some people will find it funny - I did, but others might not be amused.'Winners and Sinners' is a nicely-done action / comedy, maybe not for everyone though - 7/10.
Winners and Sinners is the first of three films in which Jackie Chan 'co-starred' alongside Samo Hung and five Hong Kong comedians called the Lucky Stars.
Actually,'co-starred' is not really the word,because Chan's role in these films was little more than a glorified cameo,especially in this one.
Chan puts in small appearances in quite a few films,and distributors often give the impression that his role is larger in a film than it actually is.Still,Winners and Sinners is quite a fun film,actually one of the first Hong Kong films set in the present day that would combine comedy and action.
Chan would in time perfect the formula in later films,and Winners and Sinners has rather more comedy than action,which may disappoint action fans.
As is often the case,much of the humour,mainly revolving around the antics of the five 'Lucky Stars', does not really work for western audiences,the silly slapstick usually works {well,slapstick always travels well,something Chan had already learnt} but some of it is humour that will only be understood and found funny by a Hong Kong audience.
Still,there are some laughs,such as a scene when Richard Ng {easily the funniest of the Lucky Stars} thinks he has become invisable and the rest of the group decide to play along with him,and two very funny comedy fight sequences in which the Lucky Stars try and conceal the fact they can't fight by using silly moves and techniques.Even if there isn't a great deal of action,what there is is still good.
Chan's two scraps are two brief,but his chase scene,which has him rollerskate down a busy road and UNDER a moving lorry,climaxing with a car pile-up involving about thirty cars,is terrific,while Samo Hung has some great fight action in the climax.
Well, i bought Winners and Sinners, then i heard, Jackie has a pretty small role.
I like Samo hung's films a lot.
Especially i like the 'lucky stars' series, cos the humor is simple, funny and very unique.
Think it as 'The lucky stars' movie!.
Yes, Jackie Chan's in it, but he only appears in about 1/4 of the film - the rest is up to Sammo Hung and his co-stars.
The stunts and fight scenes are something to be proud of, as is the comedic touches in the script, which make it one of my favourite films of all time.
'Winners & Sinners' is not only the best Sammo Hung movie I've seen, but it's also the best altogether Hong Kong Comedy I've seen.
Jackie Chan's supporting role is also great and though I probably would have preferred him in the lead he is still incredibly funny as the clumsy cop of the film.Overall, the film is simply hilarious.
This is probably Sammo Hung's best work before embarking on his venture to start D&B films.
All star cast graces this movie including Jackie Chan, and Yuen Biao.
Other stars reads like who's who of Hong Kong movie industry of the '80s.
They find themselves in all sorts of strange situations, and compromising positions, but they use their ingenuity to get the best of the gangsters.It's hard to tell if this is a comedy or an action movie.
Most of the actors are not action stars, but regular movie actors, so it's not like endless action scenes in Jackie Chan's movies.
It's more like old school Hong Kong comedy with some good actions inserted in between the story.
Some action scenes involving Jackie Chan is a classic, like the one he hangs on to a car wearing his roller skates during a chase.This is one of the classics from the '80s, and is recommended for viewing..
The Best Film of Samo Hung and Jackie Chan!!!!!.
The first time I thought that this movie was the worst of all, because J.Chan had a small role, but after the second time I realised that this Film was exactly what a movie can give you to laugh!I like this movie because there are many characters as Samo Hung and so you can't get bored, because there are many scenes of action and of humor.
It has one of the best highway pile-up scenes I've ever seen in a movie, not completely overdone like most movies these days but done in a believable and funny way.
This is somewhat of a prelude to the lucky stars of the later hit 'My lucky stars'.Check it out as this is a funny film with a lot of laughs that you will enjoy in a typical Sammo, Jackie Chan film.
And yes Jackie is not in the film for that long, as the main characters are the 5 gang of Sammo, Richard Ng and I can't remember the rest.
First disappointed by the fact, that Jackie Chan's part is pretty small, I started to love the other characters of the movie, especially Teapot (Samo Hung) and Exhaust Pipe (Richard Ng).
It's very funny to see, how the members of the 'gang' get arrested (especially Exhaust Pipe trying to steal the wheels of a police officer's car while he is searching his keys).The humor of the movie is mostly created by the funny dialogues and the stunning fight scenes, which also are, at times, very funny.
But if you don't like this kind of 'silly' fun, you won't enjoy this movie.
It is one of the movies I have ever seen.Nevertheless, I highly recommend this movie to everyone who likes silly fun and stunning fight sequences!P.S.: If you like this movie, watch other 'five lucky stars' - movies like 'Fuk sing go jiu'!.
This is simply unique and Sammo Hung and his lucky stars are the only ones on Earth who can achieve this.
The lucky stars have made some other similar movies but this one is surely the most incredible.
Even in Cantonese, this Sammo Hung-led comedy (and directed by Hung) is a bonkers film that only Hong Kong could turn out when people could enjoy themselves at the cinema instead of being trapped at the stock market with cellphones.Famous HK stars accompany Hung, including Richard Ng and John Shum (in his usual comedic style), while Jackie Chan has a minor role as a CID detective.
Plenty of comed y is injected into the kung-fu fight scenes, too.It's not for most people - this sort of Hong Kong comedy is more of an acquired taste than the Jackie Chan stuntoramas.
The gang in the film is very silly and if you look Jackie Chan films you will see them again.It's a very good film, you have to see it..
A great Jackie Chan comedy.
I don't know why but I like that kind of movie.This movie haven't got a story but it's filled with great stunts and silly comedy.One of the great stunts is when Jackie drives under a truck with rollerskates and so makes a giant crash (up to 40 cars!).Who likes Hong Kong movies of that kind must see "Winners & Sinners!.
Watching "Winners And Sinners" is like going on a treasure hunt: you have to suffer through a lot of corny, childish comedy to get a few prizes.
The prizes include: Samo Hung's fight scenes, Yuen Biao's all-too-brief cameo, the long sequence with Jackie Chan that begins with an exhibition of rollerskating stunts, develops into a furious chase and ends with perhaps the biggest, most spectacular car pile-up ever staged, and the one funny scene with the "Lucky Stars", in which one of them believes he is invisible(!).
This movie is a mixed bag at best, a scam at worst (for Jackie fans, since the packaging fools them into thinking that he has a major role).
When we bought this flick for our last money, we expected to see an ever so thrilling Jackie Chan performing his best stunt moves and literally "kick some butt".
We might add that this movies contains several scenes with very lame humor and you have to be a lame sort of person to like it.
We are kind of lame so we liked it, even though we have seen much better Jackie Chan movies.
Jackie's got a small part, but this proves an enjoyable time-waster...I especially like the begginning when Sammo breaks into a building, and is greeted by the guests of a surprise birthday party for--Sammo Hung!
i looove chan, and i like sammo hung and yuen biao, but even as this film strives for greatness, it never quite gets there.
The ultimate Hong Kong action-comedy!.
This Hong Kong movie was one of my favorites from my childhood and still remains a definite must for pure entertainment after all these years.
It features an all-star cast, including Sammo Hung, Richard Ng, John Sham, Stanley Fung and Charlie Chin, who star as five reformed criminals that open up a cleaning business.
Soon, they find themselves having to deal with these bad guys and bring them to justice.The main plot is loosely tied together and not very solid; however, what you get throughout the movie in addition to the main counterfeit currency plot is interesting subplots one after the other, from the five friends' hilarious trip at an outdoor market to Exhaust Pipe's (Richard Ng) embarrassing attempt at being invisible, and from CID 07's (Jackie Chan) pursuit of two petty thieves to the massive car pile-up you would ever see on screen.It's nonstop laughs and gags from start to finish, with a good helping of Kung-Fu action, especially during the well-choreographed and funny ballroom showdown at Jack Tar's (James Tien) mansion, and excellent acting by all the actors involved.
In addition to the starring roles of the five friends and the co-starring role of Jackie Chan, you also get a wide range of cameo appearances from Yuen Biao, Moon Lee, Lam Ching-Ying, Wu Ma and the team of stunt-men who appear on screen from Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan's team.
And, the beautiful Cherie Chung starring as the female lead is definitely a treat.Any fan of Hong Kong movies would appreciate the action and HK humor this movie has to offer.
The problem with this film is that if you're not into the slightly over-the-top, Carry-On-esquire lecherous comedy, you'll probably ending up skipping forward to the fight scenes.The film does not follow Jackie in the same way that it would were it a Jackie Chan film.
Chan is given just as much screen time as all of the Lucky Stars.Many of the gags are sight gags that are easy to understand, if somewhat immature for most tastes, but there are some jokes that lose a lot in translation.The fighting, when there is any, is either incredible, when being displayed by Sammo, Jackie, or the one scene with Juen Biao, or comedic and unnecessary when we watch the Lucky Stars in combat.The three brothers (Sammo, Jackie and Yuen) fight incredibly, in a fast, entertaining and more realistic manner than Jackie and Sammo's films of the seventies.
There are funnier Chan and Hung films out there, and there are better comedies and better fights - even better Lucky Stars movies.
I like it extremely.Almost every single "Lucky Stars" man has a chance to fight in this movie.
Sammo looks great with the bottle of our good old vodka bottle in his hand.I was missing Blockhead (from a later movie) though.
He could have been very handy with his trash-talk.Still, not as good as the final incarnation, which is a polished product.A high mark - a 7 out of 10 - because Sammo Hung holds a bottle of our vodka in his hand and plays a fakir near the end of the movie.
First Lucky Stars movie offers a ton of comedy and some cool action.
Jackie Chan as a hard-assed American cop, a naked Chinese guy who thinks he's invisible, Lam Ching Ying as the strictest butler in the world and a multi-car pile-up to rival Grand Theft Auto are the ingredients of this comedy yarn from Hong Kong, shot in the streets with that raw low-budget look.
In fact the title is misleading when packaged as a Jackie Chan film, as the superstar only appears in a minor supporting role with about twenty minutes of screen time.
The rest of the movie really belongs to Sammo Hung (once again flexing his directing muscles) and the rest of the five-strong team of leads, all of whom are given equal screen time as criminals-turned-cleaners who find themselves up against some serious muscle when they decide to rob a guy working for a local crime boss.At first, I thought this film wasn't up to much, and was a little disappointed by the first hour which stresses comedy over martial arts action.
Sammo Hung is underused, but gets some great martial arts action at the finale, set in a warehouse, where he takes on dozens of villains (including veteran James Tien) and the like. |
tt4581576 | Aftermath | Hunter (C. J. Thomason) is a young doctor that has found himself stuck in the cellar of a farmhouse while World War III and the resulting nuclear attack unfolds around him. He's accompanied by eight other people, none of whom know one another. Terrified and forced to defend themselves against other refugees looking to use the cellar as their own shelter, the group is frequently at odds with one another.
As the film opens, Hunter meets a young woman named Jennifer and her brother Satchel, driving down the road where they witness several mushroom clouds from afar, destroying two major cities in the process.
Satchel goes blind after watching the explosions. They start looking for supplies at a nearby drugstore, grabbing whatever they could find: food, water, medical supplies, car batteries, etc. They pick up a young woman named Elizabeth who informs them of the devastation of every major city on the east and west coast. Hunter gets shot while trying to find shelter for the others. They find a supposedly abandoned farmhouse, where they hope will be a safe refuge. However, he turns the tables on a farmer named Brad, who threatened to kill him if he didn't leave.
Jonathan, another farmer, decides to help Hunter and the others. Before joining the others, Hunter tends to his gunshot wound, finds medicine, and arms Elizabeth with a shotgun. Everyone begins to wonder whether or not the radiation in the atmosphere is widespread. They receive more news about Europe being destroyed by nuclear bombs. Hunter builds a makeshift radio, where they hope will bring them good news. However, they find a Geiger counter, and use it to measure the fallout of the bombs, causing shock and disbelief among the survivors.
Hunter and the others try to make it to the outside, but Elizabeth and Angie, Brad's wife, become exposed to the radiation, fearing that they might have sickness. Angie realizes that her unborn child may have died because of the exposure. Wendell, Jonathan and Brad's great uncle, dies after he refused to drink and eat anything that is contaminated. Rob, another survivor, promises Jonathan that he will help bury Wendell. Jonathan and the others have an encounter with cannibalistic humans who try to kill the group for food.
After heading back into the basement, Angie has a miscarriage. Without a blood transfusion, Angie could die. Brad becomes distraught and threatens to kill everyone if she is not saved. Jonathan hits Brad with a shovel, allowing Angie to die peacefully. Brad and the others hear the President's Speech, knowing that he has either died of the exposure or that he is in a secure bunker somewhere. All of them realize that there is no help coming. An hour later, Satchel dies from pneumonia. Hunter begins to notice that most of the group are slowly slipping away, because of the radiation seeping through the basement walls.
Hunter, armed with a shotgun, helps bury Satchel with Rob. Rob's fate is revealed that he was killed by the cannibals. Elizabeth proposes that they should kill themselves to put each other out of their misery. However, it is up to Brad to decide who lives and who dies. The next day, Brad and Hunter hear footsteps upstairs and know that the cannibals have returned, forcing the group to fight back. The five of them notice that the cannibals are ready for another fight. Elizabeth suffers and eventually succumbs to a broken rib and punctured lung after fighting with one of them. Hunter kills the cannibal that hurt her, but Brad dies in the process. Jonathan, having gone insane because of the experience, shoots Jennifer and then himself (It is later revealed that Jennifer survived the gunshot). The film ends with Hunter and Jennifer as the sole survivors of the group. A few weeks later, both are rapidly suffering the effects of radiation exposure and are shown to be close to death, while continuing to drink from contaminated water. | revenge, violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0285006 | Australian Rules | In the isolated and fictional South Australian fishing town of Prospect Bay, the only thing that connects the black and white communities is football. Gary "Blacky" Black (Nathan Phillips) and Dumby Red (Luke Carroll) are an exception; teenage best friends from different sides of the tracks. Dumby is the star of the football team and likely to become the next big Aboriginal star in the big leagues. Gary is the bookish son of hard-drinking and brutal white fisherman Bob Black (Simon Westaway). He is attracted to Dumby's beautiful sister, Clarence (Lisa Flanagan). Blacky's supportive mother helps him become a better player as he is chosen to be the ruckman in the teams upcoming grand final. Blacky has to overcome Thumper, the star player for the opposition. When gameday arrives Blacky at first struggles to make an impact on the game but Dumby inspires the team kicking several goals. When Dumby gets a mark near goals with the scores tied he hands it off to a team mate instead of taking the shot. The player kicks a point and Blacky has to run into Thumper to stop him from kicking the winning goal. Their team wins the premiership, but Dumby and Blacky's elation is short-lived. Dumby is passed over for the best-on-ground medal for the coach's son Simon Robertson. Dumby is disgusted and angered by the obvious racially motivated decision.
Disgruntled, Dumby and his cousin Pretty (Tony Briggs) attempt to rob the bar where the celebrations were held, hoping to find the best-on-ground medal. After breaking into the bar, they meet the drunk owner, beat him into unconsciousness and proceed to the safe with the key found in his pocket. Bob, waking to find the owner unconscious with a head wound, heads to the office and loads a double-barrelled shotgun. Bob sneaks up behind Dumby and fires a shot into the figure in the darkness. Bob discovers he has killed Dumby. Pretty, who's been hiding behind the door, jumps him and points the gun at his neck. Pretty reveals himself by removing his makeshift balaclava. He doesn't shoot Bob but fires the remaining round into the ceiling and runs away into the darkness. Bob is questioned by police over the shooting but is let off on the grounds of self-defense. Blacky is devastated over Dumby's death and angrily tosses his premiership medal into the lake. Clarence and Blacky console each other and fall in love. Bob and the family are greeted with hostility and harassed by the local Aboriginals which only further fuels Bob's violent temper and bigotry.
Clarence sneaks into Blacky's room one night and they make love. The next morning Bob discovers them in bed and beats Blacky. He racially insults Clarence and throws her out. Fed up with his father, Blacky leaves. Blacky meets with Dumby's family and attends his funeral. He aqquires the best on ground medal and places it in Dumby's casket. After returning home he is confronted by Bob and is told he is no longer welcome in his house due to his relationship with Clarence. Blacky defiantly stands still even after Bob punches him repeatedly. Defeated and exhausted, Bob leaves the family never to come back. The football team is disbanded as no Aboriginal players show up to training or games. The film ends with Blacky and Clarence jumping into the lake and swimming in the water. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0092879 | Desyat negrityat | PART 1
Eight complete strangers are brought by boat to spend the weekend in a lonely mansion on an island off the English coast, attended to by a married domestic couple, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. Once there, they realize that none of them know their unseen host, who has identified himself only as "A. N. Owen." In everyone's room is a copy of the poem "Ten Little Nigger Boys", hung and framed, and it is shown that one guest, Philip Lombard, had brought a pistol to the island. During dinner, after marvelling at a centerpiece with ten African native figurines, a prerecorded gramophone voiced by Mr. Owen accuses them each of past murders that the law was unable to punish and promises swift retribution. After the record, Mrs. Rogers faints and is taken to her room, while the guests attempt to decipher the letters that invited them and to deflect the accusations against them. One guest is proven to be a decoy: "Mr. Davis" is in fact a private investigator, Mr. Blore. Another two guests admit their guilt: Philip Lombard and Anthony Marston, who admits to have killed two kids when driving. He then chokes on his drink and smashes through glassware, killing him - a victim of poisoning. During the night, a figurine is removed from the centerpiece, and Vera reflects on her former lover Hugo, who stood to lose his inheritance to Cyril, the boy who would later drown in Vera's care and who had stood in the way of Hugo and Vera's being married. In the morning, Rogers comes to Dr. Armstrong to confirm that Mrs. Rogers died in her sleep, of an apparent overdose. The remaining eight guests split off - Lombard, Blore and Dr. Armstrong search the island for the killer. Emily Brent admits to the story of firing her servant Beatrice to Vera. General MacArthur also admits to Vera of sending his wife's lover Arthur Richmond to his death. He confides to her that no one is coming for them, and that this is the end. Vera later discovers MacArthur murdered from a blow to the head. Only seven figurines remain in the dining room.
PART 2
Judge Wargrave leads an inquiry with the other six suspects with the realization that the killer is murdering them according to the old Ten Little Niggers nursery rhyme. When their attempt to locate Mr. Owen by searching the island proves fruitless, they realize that the unknown assailant is in fact one of them, and that all of them had equal opportunity to have killed Marston, Mrs. Rogers and the General. After dinner, Rogers locks the remaining figurines in a cupboard so that no more would go missing. Both Lombard and Emily suffer nightmares of their past victims during the night, Emily seeing a ghost of Beatrice at her bedroom window. In the morning, another figurine is missing and Rogers is found outside with his head split open from an axe, having been murdered while chopping firewood. Vera breaks down, revealing how another verse of the poem has been fulfilled. Emily and Vera prepare breakfast, while the men remove the corpses of Mr and Mrs. Rogers from the house. At breakfast, Emily faints from dizziness and naps in a chair, where the killer later returns to kill her with a syringe and to remove another figure. A planted bumblebee on her body reveals that the killer adheres to the symbols in the poem and that the mark of the syringe on her neck plants suspicion on Dr. Armstrong, who finds his syringe missing. Lombard's pistol is also missing. During dinner, Vera leaves to return to her bedroom where she is confronted by seaweed planted above her door. Her scream attract the other men - except the Judge who is found in the dining room, dressed in official court robes and wig, shot through the head. The four remaining guests return to their rooms, terrified. Vera comes to Lombard's room, where he rapes her. After this, Vera notices Lombard's gun back in his dresser. In the morning, Blore hears a cry and finds Dr. Armstrong missing. He alerts the others, and they discover that Armstrong is gone, and another figurine broken. Searching the island, and wanting to send for help to save themselves, Blore returns to the house for lunch where a booby trap is sprung above the front door, sending a marble clock with a bear ornament onto his head, crushing Blore's skull. Lombard insists on catching Armstrong, but Vera sees Armstrong's body floating in the sea. Now it is only the two of them. Vera tricks Lombard into helping her move Armstrong's body past the water mark, so that she could steal his gun. She succeeds and shoots Lombard twice, killing him. Returning to the house, Vera disposes of two of the figurines and takes the last one to her bedroom where a noose and chair are waiting. Judge Wargrave is revealed to be alive and comes to Vera's room after she breaks down in despair and hangs herself. His plan having succeeded, Wargrave returns to the dining room where he reveals in an internal monologue that Dr. Armstrong helped him fake his murder, tricking Armstrong into thinking it would catch the killer. Later, he threw Armstrong off a cliff. He reveals that it was his goal to seek perfect justice and enforce the relationship between the executioner and the criminal, and how he wanted to enact this role on a grand scale as his masterpiece. He then puts the gun to his head preparing to commit the greatest execution of all - his own. He fires, and the screen cuts to black. | revenge, mystery, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1181795 | Bunraku | In the aftermath of a global war, guns have been outlawed but people still fight, using blades and fists.
Nicola the Woodcutter (Ron Perlman) is the most powerful man east of the Atlantic, a shadowy crime boss who rules with an iron fist and nine assassins called the Killers. His right-hand man is Killer No. 2 (Kevin McKidd), a cold-hearted, smooth-talking murderer with a red hat and a deadly blade. Along with his killers is Nicola's love, Alexandra (Demi Moore), a femme fatale with a secret past. The citizens live in fear of Nicola's gang and wait for the hero who can overthrow them.
One night, a mysterious Drifter (Josh Hartnett) enters the Horseless Horseman Saloon and talks to the Bartender (Woody Harrelson). He wants two things: a shot of whisky and a game of cards, but the only place in town, the russian roulette, controlled by Nicola, only accepts very rich players. Later, another stranger enters; a samurai named Yoshi (Gackt). Yoshi wants to fulfill his dying father's wish by recovering a medallion that was stolen from their village. Armed with crossed destinies and incredible fighting skills and guided by the Bartender's wisdom, the two eventually join forces to bring down the corrupt reign of Nicola.
After a string of altercations leading the Drifter and Yoshi to injure police officers and Nicola's goons, Killer No. 2 slays Yoshi's uncle (Shun Sugata) and kidnaps his cousin Momoko (Emily Kaiho) to send her to Nicola's brothel. In retaliation, the Drifter, Yoshi, the Bartender and an army of freedom fighters invade Nicola's palace. As the Bartender rescues Momoko, he sees his long-lost love Alexandra, but she disappears amidst the debris of the burning brothel. Meanwhile, after defeating Nicola's top killers, Yoshi faces Killer No. 2 and fatally stabs him while the Drifter advances toward Nicola, who injures him in the chest with a thrown axehead. Despite his injury, the Drifter slashes Nicola's throat with an arrowhead taken from Yoshi while revealing his true motive of avenging his father's death. With Nicola's reign brought to an end and Yoshi recovering his clan's medallion, the heroes part ways, hoping to meet each other again. | boring, fantasy, murder, flashback, revenge, storytelling | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0113537 | Kicking and Screaming | Phil Weston (Will Ferrell), is an average person who had to endure his father Buck Weston's (Robert Duvall) over-competitiveness throughout his childhood, an upbringing which has left permanent mental scars. Now middle-aged and married, with a young son named Sam, Phil runs a small vitamin store, while Buck operates a local chain of sports stores.
Buck is coach of the Gladiators, the most successful little-league soccer team in the district. Sam is on Buck's soccer team, but to his dad's annoyance his grandfather keeps him on the bench, a humiliation he also visited upon his son decades prior. Buck eventually transfers Sam to the Tigers, the league's worst team.
At Sam's first game with his new team their coach is absent. Rather than forfeit, Phil decides to coach the team, a position he takes up permanently. However, despite Phil's best efforts the team does not seem to improve. In desperation Phil recruits Mike Ditka (played by himself), who is Buck's neighbor and hated enemy. Enticed by the opportunity to beat Buck, Ditka accepts the position. Despite grueling training, the team continues to lose.
Ditka introduces Phil to two exceptionally talented Italian boys working in a local butcher's shop. Phil succeeds in gaining their Uncle's permission for them to play for the Tigers. They have an immediate impact, scoring repeatedly. The resulting winning streak makes them serious contenders in the league. After finally winning a couple of games and Phil said that his team was going to go to the finals, Phil and Buck make a bet, if the Gladiators win then Phil would sell his store and work for Buck. If the Tigers win then Buck would hand over his most prized possession, 'The Pelé Ball', a soccer ball struck by the famous player which Phil caught as a child and Buck took from him.
Meanwhile, Ditka also introduces Phil to coffee, which rapidly changes him from a mild-mannered caring dad, to an obnoxious, over-competitive coach, not that different from his father, abusing kids and parents alike. The team's mantra becomes "Get the ball to the Italians", which, though effective, demoralizes his team. In the ultimate over-competitive act he benches his own son for the entire semi-final game.
The Tigers make it to the finals where they face off against the Gladiators. At half-time, the score is two-one to the Gladiators. In a heart-to-heart discussion with his son, Phil realizes the error of his ways. He tells his team to do exactly the opposite of what he taught them. Although the Gladiators score one more goal after half-time, they don't give up hope. Phil gives the goalie a vision test with glasses from the crowd. From there, Ambrose scores one goal—making the score three-two. After another goal, the score is tied. The team rallies and produces a spectacular team performance to win 4-3, with Sam scoring the winning goal against his uncle Bucky (Josh Hutcherson), (Buck's child who was born on the exact day as Sam) using a move that he practiced when his dad benched him in the semi-finals.
Honoring the bet, Buck tries to give Phil the ball, but Phil refuses. Making peace with his father, they merge their businesses, realizing there is more to life than winning.
The film ends with an adapted version of the "He's Got Balls" commercial originally produced by Buck. In it, the entire Tigers team appear, announcing the merger of Phil's vitamin shop—Phil's Pills—and Buck's Sporting Goods Store. The team shouts, after the "He's got balls" line, "And vitamins."
Closing credits are set to a cover The Beatles song We Can Work It Out. | romantic, cult, boring, flashback | train | wikipedia | Of course, we know the ending, because Jane and Grover's fate has basically been the subject of the whole film, but the way Baumbach ties all of this together is truly inspired.
Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming is one of those rare films that actually gets it right when it comes to understanding the angst of being a young adult right out of college.
We all identify with the characters of Kicking and Screaming whether it is Skippy and his wanting to further his education because there might be something he missed out on or if Skippy doesn't subconsciously want to become his friends Max, Grover, or Otis.
and I didn't have a good time." Kicking and Screaming is a film deserving to be recognize as a journey through the minds of graduates and self-discovery of oneself..
One of our girlfriends actually made the comment, "you guys all talk the same."So I can understand why some may pass this film over, but since the action and dialogue hit so close to home, I have to love this movie.
I can tell that Baumbach felt a lot of the same things I did in college - Max's speech at the Hole comes to mind, as well as the writing class scene, and especially, "I'm Max Belmont, I do nothing."Fortunately, it's SUCH a well-made film.
"Kicking and Screaming" shows a considerable degree of self-awareness for a film about college graduation directed by a 25-year-old, but it is still an awkward, self-conscious film that is no more confident than its insecure characters.
It was fortunate that in 1995, there were producers out there who believed a movie about depressed upper-middle class white boys had commercial potential, because those producers launched the career of Noah Baumbach, who would go on to make superior films in the next decade.
But in "Kicking and Screaming," unlike, say, "The Squid and the Whale," Baumbach seems to identify just a little too closely with his young characters and seems to believe that they are less obnoxious than they are.
"Kicking and Screaming" is certainly worth seeing for any fans of college-related movies and should probably be required viewing for anyone in their junior or senior years, since it could work as an effective warning against the perils that await graduates without plans.
Apparently, I watched "Kicking and Screaming" at the perfect time -- not even a month after graduating college.
Still, I don't find myself identifying with its characters or empathizing with their struggles other than the basic "I wish I didn't have to leave." Granted graduating college is different now than it was in the 1990s, but if this film were truly very good, it would resonate with college graduates of all generations.
He manages to write a lot of dialogue that we all think but never actually speak aloud (admirable), it's all quite clever (funny or at least amusing) but his characters like to talk a lot about what they do, which in this movie is nothing (boring).
College graduates and friends Grover, Max, Skippy and Otis, all played by no-name actors basically decide to spend their first year post-graduation back at school because they are to afraid to leave.
People just generally don't talk this way, which helps the movie avoid cliché, making it fresh and funny, but also alienates the audience at times.
With so much dialogue, everything Baumbach really wants the audience to understand he must have spoken aloud and so rather than discovering meaning, it comes in the form of explanation."Kicking and Screaming" is an experiment, an artsy film that some will love just for being artsy and others will find boring for being exactly that way.
It's a gloomy episode of "Friends" stretched over an hour and a half, where "wit" is created through pop culture references, cheap cynicism, and nifty little one-liners.I'm still not sure what the point of the whole thing was; I've a feeling the only people who get anything from this movie are the ones who watch films for the experience of "relating to the characters." Maybe the point was simply to give me a slice of post-college life.
It's also not a film you can drift in and out of, it requires undivided attention to 'get it', and for a film where 'nothing happens', that is a lot to ask of most people.Despite all this it is one of the best character films (you know, those movies you watch just for the characters and their little interactions on screen) that I know of and well worth a viewing, even if you do have to pull out the phone, disconnect the doorbell, displace your housemates/loved ones and black out the windows.A very good, well made and very underrated/underexposed film..
KICKING AND SCREAMING (1995) **** Josh Hamilton, Olivia d' Abo, Chris Eigeman, Parker Posey, Eric Stoltz, Jason Wiles, Carlos Jacott, Cara Buono.
Of course these early-20 white kids bicker and groan; someone of them delay the inevitable and slack around on the college campus, and at least one of them returns to school and retakes the same classes just so that "he can be a student again." The guys amuse themselves on dreary afternoons: they ask each other if they beat off; they do each others' girlfriends; they crowd around the beer bottles and cigarettes to play trivia games ("Name all 7 Jason Voorhees movies").
Although Baumbach and regular collaborator Wes Andresen have been compared with the great JD Salinger, I think Richard Linklater could use some love too."Kicking and Screaming" will appeal to a certain type of audience: the pseudo-intellectuals who take, say, their hobbies a bit too seriously.
This film is fine if you're a college student who hasn't declared a major and enjoys sitting around stoned and discussing trivial ironies and popular culture.The writing is definitely a little more intelligent than "Clerks," and the acting is certainly better.
There's a lot of angsting and whining in this movie that I didn't relate to when I was an optimistic college student, but now that I too am joining the ranks of the confused and unemployed post-graduate, I look upon its memory more fondly.Eric Stoltz is very amusing as the eternal student/bartender.
Josh Hamilton does a great job expressing idealized romantic yearning, especially in the last scene of the film, which I won't give away but which is familiarly and achingly bittersweet.If you're a stickler for realism you might say to yourself, "Yeah right, like these people just graduated from college, they're all in their 30s." If you're the type that can look past the fact that Olivia D'Abo played an 18 year old 10 years ago on The Wonder Years then you'll be OK.(And if you like Josh Hamilton and Parker Posey, check out House of Yes).
While the plot revolves around the romance between Grover and Jane, the most enjoyable and funny moments come from scenes where the housemates are just hanging out together, expounding on their somewhat pitiful lives.Great performances by all, including Chris Eigeman (who you might recognize from various Whit Stilman films or TV's "It's like, you know..."), Parker Posey (always crazy and hilarious), and Eric Stoltz, as the bartender who has been attending college for over a decade...a frightening glimpse of things to come..
Feeling unprepared for the 'real world', four recent college graduates spend their time philosophising and avoiding taking action in this feature film debut from Noah Baumbach.
The film features witty, memorable dialogue left, right and centre as one friend reckons "I've begun reminiscing events before they even occur", while another comments "I feel like I'm being poisoned" if a bartender at a bar does not drink with him, and the list goes on.
Kicking and Screaming is an ensemble film about a group of friends who have just graduated college and are now forced to take the next steps in their lives as they emerge into the real world.
After a while I wanted to slap them and tell them, to quote Cher's great line in MOONSTRUCK, "Snap out of it!" It seems as if the main reason Baumbach has so many of his characters smoke is the need to remind us that this isn't set at a preschool.Maybe college was a more enchanted place in 1995 than it was when my wife and I graduated in 1969.
We, and everyone else we were in school with, wanted the school business to end- I started kindergarten in 1951, so I'd had a buttload of schooling- so we could get that magic piece of paper, get jobs, and move on with our lives.We graduated at 10 AM on a Saturday Labor Day weekend, got married in her parents' living room at 2 PM, and reported to our teaching jobs in a town we'd never even visited, 400 miles away, at 9 AM on Tuesday.Life is to be lived, not talked about and over-analyzed.The saddest thing is that so many of these very promising young actors haven't had the success the deserve in later years.
I'm not sure what I was expecting, having seen only "The Life Aquatic" as an example of notable writer-director Noah Baumbach's work (and of course that film was written with Wes Anderson, and directed by Anderson, so I wasn't sure how much of it was Baumbach's), but nothing I read specifically about "Kicking and Screaming" lead me to expect what I got: one of the most devastating films ever made, and one which while not on par with stuff like "The Graduate" formally, remains one of the very best 'where-is-my-life-going-after-college' movies ever made.
It also boasts perhaps the smartest use of flashbacks in a recent American film.I was thinking this would be sort of like a Wes Anderson film but it's really more what Kevin Smith would have written circa 1994-1997 if his parents were critical thinkers instead of lower-middle-class Catholics, and if he'd been writing about students and recent college grads instead of deadbeats lounging about convenience stores and malls and comics writers involved in bizarre love triangles.
Perhaps that's selling this short because as much as I am drawn to some of Smith's work he could never come close to capturing the sort of melancholy Baumbach absolutely nails with this film.The film isn't really brilliant, mostly because it is really plot-less (which wouldn't be a problem usually but read on) and especially since outside of Eric Stoltz's philosophizing bartender I found nothing particularly interesting about any of the supporting cast.
Olivia D'Abo has never been as attractive and appealing as she is here, and the same could be said for Eric Stoltz.But the film belongs to Chris Eigeman and Josh Hamilton, as two sides of the same coin, both stuck in a place that we've all been stuck in and hopefully will not be stuck in again.It's not a beautiful film, it's shot kind of dim and unappealing, but I thought that was on purpose, especially after seeing Noah Baumbachs THE SQUID AND THE WHALE, which again looks like a college production.
And then Noah Baumbach faxed Eric Stolz who was making Rob Roy in Scotland, and Eric Stolz agreed to do the role even though the role hadn't been written yet.Overall the film is hopeful and funny and smart, and I loved it and can't wait for the new DVD to come out.I give it a 9 out of 10.
Noah Baumbach does a similar thing with Kicking and Screaming that Amy Heckerling did with her film Clueless of the same year, and that provide the people from high school/college that we loathed seeing every day with some semblance of identification and humanity to make them into people.
Finally, they are the kind of people who think they're the only people going through the kind of quarter-life/millennial identity crisis they are currently experiencing, and as such, feel better holding long conversations about living at home, getting drunk, masturbating, and repeating said events day-in and day-out until an opportunity's knocks are deafening or ambition hits them like a good buzz.We focus on four college pals: Grover (Josh Hamilton), who breaks up with his girlfriend in the opening scene of the film when she reveals that she'll be bound for Prague in a few days, Max (Chris Eigeman), who often insights the ridiculous, aforementioned games, Otis (Carlos Jacott), who proclaims to only have two emotions, antsy and testy, and Skippy (Jason Wiles), who finds himself in that awkward stage with Miami (Parker Posey) between hooking up and going steady.
After graduating, instead of moving on to bigger and better things, as many college graduates do, the four comrades remain on campus, happily indulging in the same food they condemned having to eat for the past four years and slumming around campus through endless nights of drinking and conversing about everything and nothing.The rapid-fire wit in Kicking and Screaming is probably the film's most laudable feature.
Those same words were probably coming out of the mouth of Noah Baumbach, who was twenty-five at the time of directing and co-writing (with Oliver Berkman) Kicking and Screaming.
Having spent six years at a stunningly insulated school, I could and still can see ample grounds to relate to the four despairing rapscallions of this brittle slice of life, who graduate from college then go on to spend the next several months on or around campus, doing things as trivial as possible.Josh Hamilton, seen recently in Louis C.K.'s show playing an obnoxious stoner, here expecting to live in Brooklyn with girlfriend Olivia d'Abo, is so agape and livid when she takes a scholarship to Prague that he won't return any of her calls and can only wonder about their past in five deliberately placed scenes, each signaled by a black-and-white snap of her.
As Miami and Kate, a 16-year-old to whom Max turns next, both highlight on individual occasions that this foursome talks and acts alike, making up dumb quizzes while drinking lots of scotch and beer and overall embracing something similar to a four-man frat house.The synchronicity of drollness and disturbance has grown even more obvious in Baumbach's work since this folksy film.
And in the even more self-critical Squid and the Whale, Jesse Eisenberg's academic pretense is even more prominent, because, like one of these four, he frequently hasn't read the books he pontificates about.Stoltz appears in this filmed chain of thought as a long-standing philosophy major and bartender who's stayed on campus for a decade, by some means a more forward-looking instance of the trouble shaping the four principals but in other ways more practical and focused, since by now he's a father and gladly acknowledges the distinctiveness of being a career student as something more than an evasive standing.
The scenes with Grover and Jane really stand out as the best in the movie, and I would have to say that this film works MUCH better when the emphasis is not on the comedy.
Having seen it many times, I have a Ferris Club theory about it, so indulge me if you're bored.The film's main character is ostensibly Grover, but it all revolves around Otis.
Kicking and Screaming is the best recent ensemble film about a bunch of young people.
It is certainly far superior to Stillman's film about people the same age, The Last Days of Disco.It's funny and unpredictable, like when one unlikely romance works out while another perfect romance falls apart.
I notice many other reviewers related to this film, and I did too, even though I had been out of college for 10 years when I saw it.I'm sorry to say I saw this on video, not the big screen, and feel doubly guilty that I didn't make it to Mr. Jealousy on time.
The fact that there is excellent acting by the dream cast certainly helps, and the film might not have worked without the cast.Although there are eight lead characters, after viewing, you leave feeling as though you know them on an individual basis, especially the male ones.
Like the "characters" in this "film", I graduated from college at the approximate time this was released (or is that "foisted") to the public, I also had the great dilemma of "Where do I go from here?".
And lastly, without giving too much away, I felt the powerful emotions that the lead, Grover, was feeling at different points in the film.Eric Stoltz is a VASTLY underrated actor; I really like the guy.
I first saw this film a few years ago before I got to college, and thought it was fairly good with good acting, direction, and a great script but couldn't quite relate.
This movie is very witty, very charming, and very suiting for college graduates or anyone struggling with taking the next big step in life, with great romantic line at the end.
Essentially a 6-month story that features the lives of four characters, all recent college graduates; Grover, the troubled writer, whose parents have split up, has lost his girlfriend to a foreign exchange program and doesn't know what to do with his life.
Unlike so many films with couples at the centre, KICKING AND SCREAMING succeeded in making me like these people, and furthermore, it showed me why they belonged together- without even one on-screen kiss, I might add.
Exceptional Film, I loved it, and its not just another college bitch fest movie..
The characters were extremely easy to relate to, the dialogue was perfect, and very, very funny, my life is almost exactly like Grover and the Cougar's (I think that what was it) lives.
I'm sure there are a lot of people that can "get" this film, but I'm glad I do not have friends like any of these characters.
(I don't think I said anything that's considered a spoiler, but that warning scared me) I graduated from college and watched this movie just a couple of years after it came out, and I absolutely loved it then. |
tt0427089 | Confetti | The prestigious bridal magazine Confetti, owned by the arrogant, suave Antoni Clarke (Jimmy Carr) and managed by the long-suffering, uptight chief editor Vivienne (Felicity Montagu) is holding a competition to see who can hold the most original wedding, with the winners being presented with a new house and a cover shoot for the magazine. Three couples and their proposals are selected to participate: Sam and Matt (Jessica Stevenson and Martin Freeman), a middle class couple of old-fashioned romantics who have elected to hold their wedding in the style of Busby Berkeley musicals of the 1930s and 1940s, despite the fact that Sam can barely hold a tune; Isabelle and Josef (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan), a pair of hyper-competitive professional tennis players holding a tennis-themed wedding; and Joanna and Michael (Olivia Colman and Robert Webb), a naturist couple who intend to hold their wedding entirely naked. All three weddings are planned using the services of Gregory and Archie (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins), wedding planners and partners in both business and love.
The film follows their planning, and the various crises that each couple faces over the three-month planning period. As well as learning to sing and dance, Sam and Matt must contend with Sam's dominating mother (Alison Steadman) and attention-seeking sister (Sarah Hadland), who appear intent on hijacking the proceedings and constantly browbeat and undermine the shy and easily cowed Sam (such as preventing her from inviting her beloved but estranged father), much to Matt's growing irritation. The couple must also deal with Matt's oldest friend and best man Snoopy (Marc Wootton), a musician who nurses a bitter resentment towards Sam for coming between him and Matt that he expresses in not-so-subtle lyrics that he intends to sing at the wedding. Despite the constant support and encouragement the couple receive from Archie and Gregory, the gradual tension eventually builds to a bitter argument between Matt and Sam's mother and sister which sees him kicked out of the house where he is staying with them; this prompts Sam, however, to finally stand up for herself and put her mother and sister in place.
Isabelle and Josef, meanwhile, are intensely determined to win, owing to unexplained financial difficulties. Suspicious and competitive, they become increasingly paranoid that the competition is being 'fixed' against them in favour of Matt and Sam, eventually resorting to the extreme measure of having Isabelle's nose – and her extremely large nostrils – altered by plastic surgery (with the result being that the nose she ends up with is much longer than her original one). In the process, however, they find themselves combatting their own anxieties; Josef, in particular, finds himself confronting his jealousy over Isabelle's friendship with their tennis coach, Jesus, and insecurity over his largely finished tennis career and that he will not be able to be a worthy husband to Isabelle. Joanna and Michael, however, find their plans challenged at every turn by Vivienne, who has no intention of putting a naked couple on the front of the magazine should they win. Michael, an experienced naturist, angrily resists Vivienne's efforts to make him dress up for the wedding, but Joanna, a recent convert and still insecure about revealing her body to strangers, finds herself of mixed minds about the issue. The pressure of the magazine and the tension between the two becomes so great that it briefly looks like the marriage will not even take place at all.
The big day finally arrives, amid much jitters and anxiety on all sides. All three weddings go off largely without a hitch, although Michael and Joanna raise eyebrows when, in defiance of Vivienne's rulings, they bare all (literally) in their wedding service. The winners are soon decided – Matt and Sam, which prompts a display of sour grapes on part of Josef and Isabelle. The movie then briefly glimpses at the three couples a few months later, all of whom are adjusting to married life relatively happily. | romantic, comedy | train | wikipedia | Step forward the three couples: nudists Michael and Joanna; tennis-mad Josef and Meredith, and Hollywood musical fans Matt and Samantha.The fun comes for us as as viewers as we join the fly-on the wall documentary team that follows all three couples as the wedding organisers and their respective families try to get the weddings together in time for the contest.This is a showcase of modern British comedy talent.
But the real stars are the lesser known Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins as the camp wedding organisers who won't let anything get in the way of the couples' dream day.This is an enjoyable little film, with a nice basic idea, littered with lots of good performances.
A highly entertaining and original comedy using the cream of British comedy acting talent, who spent weeks improvising before arriving at the final script.At times the writer/director Debbie Isitt doesn't seem sure whether to make her characters comic or endearing, but usually succeeds in doing both.The 'Tennis Match' wedding is very funny, while the cast of non-dancers failing to achieve perfect symmetry in the Busby Berkeley sequence adds to the general hilarity.Martin Freeman gets better with each role, Alison Steadman turns in her usual immaculate performance, with Jimmy Carr making the most of his first big screen role.
Saw Confetti today and was not sure what to expect, I knew it had a great cast from all over British comedy TV - Green Wing, Peep Show, Spaced, The Office and it had also been written by the brilliant Debbie Isitt but I'd heard mixed reviews so I went in with an open mind; I LOVED IT!!!
Well acted and very funny.The highlights of the film are The mother and sister of Jessica Stevenson's character and The Wedding Planners.
Some people think Freddie got fingered is the funniest film they have ever seen, others think its stupid.its not as good as Spinal Tap, but i saw American Dreamz the other week and its a million times funnier than that.I think as with any comedy its a sense of humour thing, this would appeal more to fans of Shaun of the Dead than Four Weddings, but my honest opinion is that this film was the funniest thing i have seen since the 40 year old Virgin..
I saw this movie this evening at a preview screening in Southampton knowing only 3 things: It was about weddings, all the scripts were improvised, and it contained one of my most hated people: Jimmy Carr.
The film contained the cream of the British comedy crop - actors from Spaced, The Office, Peep Show, Green Wing etc etc, and was suitably hilarious.
Jessica Stevenson and Martin Freeman make for the nicest and most realistic couple in the film, and their wedding contains the most colourful characters..
The Green Wing's Stephen Mangan and Man Stroke Woman's Meredith MacNeill were also hilarious as the couple having a tennis themed wedding - along with a host of marital issues.
Im an American and a big fan of "good mocumentarys" and this film certainly ranked right up there at the cream of the crop of comedy.There's Matt and Sam who want a Hollywood musical wedding in the style of Busby Berkley.
yes, it is entirely improvised - very much in the style of the excellent Christopher Guest films (Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman, A Mighty Wind - all of which I would highly recommend, especially if you like Confetti!) The basic plot line is: Confetti magazine is running a competition for the most out-there wedding, the prize being a house.
Shot so as to appear in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the film never left me feeling like it was contrived and the characterisations were just superbly believable throughout.The casting couldn't really have been any better; some truly fantastic performances from Martin Freeman, Justin Webb (from BBC 2's "The Smoking Room" and Channel 4's "Peep Show") and Olivia Colman (also from "Peep Show" and also BBC2's "Look Around You") - to name but a few.
Taking talent from all the current cult British comedy shows, there's a brilliant fusion of subtle, gentle performances counterbalanced by some great big, crude, cartoon-like characters.
When that morass of charged emotions runs headlong into a contest held by Confetti Magazine for the "most original wedding," things are bound to get messy.Three couples are chosen for their unique wedding ideas: Matt (Martin Freeman) and Sam (Jessica Stevenson) want a Hollywood musical style, Josef (Stephen Mangan) and Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill) vie for a tennis theme, while Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna (Olivia Colman) are "naturalists" and want their nuptials to be done in the nude.
Trying to wrangle these three disparate couples into some kind of order are wedding planners Archie Heron (Vincent Franklin) and Gregory Hough (Jason Watkins) who seem to be channeling Corky St. Clair...In fact, shot as a documentary, this British ensemble piece is sure to be (justly) compared to Christopher Guest's mockumentaries (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, A MIGHTY WIND, et cetera).
They choose Matt and Sam (Martin Freeman and Jessica Hynes) two tone-deaf theater enthusiasts whose theme is Broadway Musicals ; Josef and Isabelle (Stephen Mangan and Meredith MacNeill) two wannabe pro-tennis players whose theme is, no big surprise, tennis ; and Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb and Olivia Colman), two nudists whose theme is a "naturist" wedding.
With the help of two flamboyantly gay wedding planners (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins), the three couples set on a trek to plan their weddings and perhaps win the Confetti magazine most original wedding contest.'Confetti' is an interesting concept, but disappointing in that they could have done so much more with it.
The actors are all very talented and funny, especially Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins who are constant scene-stealers as the bitchy/gay wedding planners.
The 3 couples who are the focus of the film couldn't be more different with a couple living at home with her Mum, a couple who are very competitive tennis players and a couple who are naturalists (aka nudists!).The film, aside from being hilarious, the whole cinema was in fits throughout most of it, really touched on some serious topics connected with relationships and especially marriage...the interfering 'good intentioned' family, jealousy, public perceptions of the norm...most of all the film reinforced what is important.I was in two-minds about this film, I hadn't been convinced by the trailers I had seen and the reviews I had read hadn't convinced me.
If you enjoy Brit comedy especially along the lines of The Office, Spaced and Shaun of the Dead then this is a definite film for you!.
While I wouldn't consider anyone's acting bad, I simply didn't find the film particularly funny, or romantic, and a lot of the characters were just too flat and not properly fleshed out (such as the gay wedding planners)..
Ultimately a movie for adult humour (avoid showing the kids!) The end result for the three weddings is so funny and I guarantee you'll have a smile on your face by the end of the film!
Trouble is, this isn't anywhere nearly as funny or believable as the misadventures of David Brent, despite a large ensemble cast really trying their best."Confetti" is a spoof documentary following the efforts of Confetti magazine to run a competition for the most originally themed wedding of the year, the prize being a house and a front-cover photo-shoot.
And to be honest, it's also obvious who is going to win the thing at the end which is a real shame because with our interest flagging, that was the only reason my Better Half and I kept watching.I don't think Spinal Tap have anything to worry about just yet but "Confetti" really could have been great instead of the plodding, wasted-opportunity that it is.
Director Debbie Isitt's new film is a real contender for the title of best British comedy.
Conceived by the director following her experiences with her own sisters wedding, and her love for reality TV shows like 'X-Factor', the cast improvised the whole experience as it was captured in true documentary style.Filmed in sequence over the course of 2 months and edited down from over 150 hours of footage, the story revolves around three couples trying to win a bridal magazine contest for "Most Original Wedding of the Year." The cast are incredibly convincing, Martin Freeman (The Office), Jessica Stevenson (Spaced), Robert Webb and Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Stephen Mangan (Green Wing), Meredith MacNeill (Man Stroke Woman), and Jimmy Carr in his first feature performance, all leave previous TV personas behind and make you believe in their characters.
Ably supported by Ron Cook and Alison Steadman, this film has a British edge but is accessible to anyone, especially those who have ever attended a real wedding.This film deserves to be a real success and the director is a talent to be watched, if you like this I suggest you look out for her earlier feature Nasty Neighbours.Debbie Isitt has constructed a film that is both funny and touching, and I recommend that you seek it out on its UK cinema release on May 5th..
It feels incredibly real and according to the information provided was largely "improvisational" but don't let that deter you - i haven't laughed out loud so much at a cinema EVER and although i fear some of the humour may be lost on our American cousins any fans of "the office", "green wing", "peep show" and numerous others will really enjoy this film and, certainly, any one that has organised a wedding will relish the "reality" that it embraces and will bring back some nightmares of their own.A must see film and a shoe-in for the Bafta award if not Oscar next year- you read it here first..
One couple choose a tennis theme, another a Busby Berkley muscial theme and the other couple choose to be true to themselves and choose "naturism".The film sees the development of the wedding plans over several weeks, and culminates in the big day itself when all three marriages are celebrated there and then at a classic awards ceremony complete with celebrity guests quaffing champagne at round tables while a panel of judges decide who wins the prize - a dream house.The film has so many well-known faces from British comedy it is hard to know who to mention first.
Webb's character is an unabashed militant naturist who tends to rip off his clothes wherever the fancy takes him, but his fiancée is more modest and seems to view the approaching wedding with a sense of dread.This film was totally enjoyable from start to end and in my view deserves a high score - not for its intellectual challenge but for its good humour and great acting from its cast who all have a track record for producing hilarious comedy..
Great comedy cast but this seemed like an American film.
Taking place over several weeks, Confetti comically documents three very unique couples and their eccentric quests to win over a bridal magazine's "most original wedding" contest.
With the help of an offbeat pace, these couples are transported to the surreal world of grossly irrelevant party planning, as imagined by two wacky staff party lovers.It sounds like mildly stimulating entertainment, and for the most part it does play out as an elegant time waster, but this inventive mock-up must not be overlooked when viewing all of the subtle, quirky direction that creator Debbie Isitt employs to give this film some remarkable shades of sincerity against the absurd contest parody.
Without the entire tennis-themed nuptials, you would be guaranteed a slightly less awful film, so woefully bad was each teeth-grindingly drawn out scene involving these dull and unwatchable characters going about their irritating and unconvincing lives.
Confetti is a good film, just not a great comedy.
Most have played either bit parts in better sit-coms (Spaced), or have starred in average ones (Green Wing).Though Confetti has a good story and a lot of heart it misses a lot of the laughs.
Lying Filmmakers Made Me Turn It Off. I caught this movie on the TV channel sky Valentine without knowing anything about it except this brief synopsis "A charming British comedy starring Martin Freeman and Olivia Colman about three couples competing for "most original wedding of the year".
Based on the fact that I like Freeman and Coleman I decided to give it a go.Plot In A Paragraph: Three couples, Sam and Matt (Jessica Stevenson and Martin Freeman), Isabelle and Josef (Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan) and Joanna and Michael (Olivia Colman and Robert Webb) all compete to win a magazine competition for 'The Most Original Wedding' in order to win a house.
One thing I love about British comedy is the use of many of the same actors/friends in a variety of projects; for instance, two of the stars from "Spaced" are in last year's brilliant mockumentary Confetti.
Much like Christopher Guest does here in America, director/conceiver Debbie Isitt has compiled a who's who of actors from England for an almost totally improvised film.
Like Guest's earlier work Best in Show, Confetti relies on a clash of disparate personalities on their quest to win a competition, here a house by having the most original wedding.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story progression and laughed right on through to the end.The fantastic Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson (along with a bit part from Mark Heap make up the duo from "Spaced") really carry the film with their natural comedic instincts and ability to drive a sequence of events forward.
Rounding out the other wedding contestants are the tennis pros Meredith MacNeill and Stephen Mangan (the attitude and destructive personalities remind me of Parker Posey and her husband role in Best in Show) and the naturalists Olivia Colman and Robert Webb (with impressive comfortability being nude almost the entire duration).
The three couples have their moments with the quirky cast of characters included in their back-story, but also in their dealings with the wedding planners.
The Wedding Planners steal the show.The ending was a little obvious, but I didn't think it spoiled the film there wasn't much choice for the judges and I'd probably have to agree with them.
I was just disappointed that it ended I would quite like to have seen a bit more, especially of the house the couple won, there's probably a whole second film in that.
It was bound to be a good film considering the excellent cast (from The Office, Alan Partridge, Spaced, all my top favourite comedies) and i was looking forward to seeing it.
The story line is silly, i didn't find it funny in the slightest and it bored me so much i would never watch it again ( i have just bought the DVD and i'm selling it back straightaway!) I would certainly not recommend this film to anyone unless you have time to waste..
Anyone who is familiar with Alan Partridge, The Royle Family, People Like Us or The Office will recognise the cast although it doesn't quite match the comic tones of those programmes.The worthy motto of the story is this: marry for love and love alone which is why the most solid and normal of the three couples, played by Jessica Stevenson and Martin Freeman, eventually win the competition for having the most original wedding.
The other two couples are there principally to provide the humour and although I did not laugh out loud at all the jokes, I saw where they were coming from.Go and see it for a feel-good British romp.
Confetti is a film about a wedding magazine that holds a contest for the best original wedding.
The film follows the wedding planners and the three couples (tennis players, musical lovers, nudists) that have been chosen to participate in the contest.
'Confetti' does have some funny moments, but it does not come even close to being as good as 'Best In Show', or an excellent film, for that matter.
Overall, 'Confetti' could have been a better film because it did have some good ideas; some of the characters could have been played upon more and their stories expanded upon.
It certainly could have gone into much more detail with any of the couples, the panel of judges/magazine staff, and the wedding planners; doing this would have made a better film, if it was done correctly.
Not a great film by any means, but 'Confetti' is fairly good if you are looking to share a few laughs with friends..
A good, original British Comedy film.
Director Debbie Isitt shows she has the know how to present her mildly funny comedy that involves a contest sponsored by a magazine with three finalist couples, one of whom will win the prize and the exposure such events usually bring.After the three couples are selected, the finalist are the couple that want to have the Hollywood musical themed wedding.
The second couple elects to see a tennis themed ceremony and finally, there are the nudists, who insists they want to be married in the buff.Confetti, the magazine, engages a pair of gay wedding planners to put some sense into this enterprise.
The three couples eventually chosen out of all auditioned are: Matt (Martin Freeman) and Sam (Jessica Hynes/Stevenson) with their 1930's and 1940's musical theme; Josef (Stephen Mangan) and Isabelle (Peep Show's Meredith MacNeill) with their tennis theme; and naturists Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna (Peep Show's Olivia Colman) with their, well, naturist theme.
Most of the film sees the couples trying to get everything they can think of to make their wedding have the winning theme, e.g. using choreographers and fashion experts.
For a mockumentary, I can believe that most (if not all) of the scenes and dialogue in this film was improvised, it is a bit of a mess, but for the few good giggles and amount of great British comedians (and one Canadian) this is worth a go. |
tt0061590 | Don't Make Waves | Carlo Cofield, a tourist visiting California's west coast, has not even arranged lodging when his car is smashed by a reckless driver. She is carefree, attractive Laura Califatti, who offers him to sleep that night on her couch.
This displeases Rod Prescott, a wealthy swimming-pool builder, because Laura is his mistress. After being kicked out, Carlo tries to sleep on the beach and nearly drowns. He is rescued by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation from a gorgeous surfer who goes by the name "Malibu."
Carlo begins a romantic pursuit of the much-younger woman. After renting a house near the ocean, Carlo cons a sweet but naive bodybuilder, Harry, who is Malibu's boyfriend, that having sex is harmful to his body. He also bribes a phony psychic, "Madame Lavinia," who is actually a man, to discourage Harry from seeing Malibu anymore.
Rod decides to give the persistent Carlo a job as a pool salesman. The affair with Laura is discovered by Rod's wife, Diane, who demands a divorce. As a quarrel develops with everyone present, a mudslide caused by a sudden storm makes Carlo's house slide down a cliff. By the time everyone is saved, they pair off with the romantic partners they deserve. | mystery | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0072725 | Boss Nigger | Upon finding a wagon under attack by bandits, two black bounty hunters, Boss and Amos (Fred Williamson and D'Urville Martin, respectively) intervene and save Clara Mae, a black woman (Carmen Hayworth). Upon inspecting the bodies, the bounty hunters find several have rewards to their name and one holds a letter from the mayor of the nearby town San Miguel inviting him to become sheriff on the recommendation of fugitive Jed Clayton (William Smith). The pair take Clara Mae to safety in San Miguel and meet Mayor Griffin (R.G. Armstrong). Knowing that there is no sheriff and holding proof that the mayor intended to give it to a gang member, Boss is able to outsmart the mayor and intimidate other members of the town council into giving him the position. As sheriff, Boss and Amos keep the peace and enforce several "Black Laws" such as issuing fines or periods in jail for calling either of them a "nigger" in public. In his duties Boss meets Miss Pruit (Barbara Leigh), a white schoolteacher, who initially offends Boss by talking of the fond memories she has of her family's black slaves, but earns his forgiveness and develops a romantic interest in him. When a gang of Jed Clayton's men meet the mayor in the town saloon to extort supplies from the town (an arrangement that the mayor allows on the understanding that the gang will do no harm to the town or its citizens), Boss and Amos kill one gang member and arrest two more - with one prisoner being killed as he attempts to escape town assisted by the mayor.
Jed and his outlaws then attempt to help the imprisoned outlaw escape by blowing a hole in the prison wall using dynamite. During the resulting raid on the town Clara Mae is kidnapped and taken away by Jed's men, while a Mexican child named Poncho (whom Boss had befriended) is killed. Boss attempts to meet Jed and his gang at their hideout but is himself kidnapped, tied to a pole, and tortured. When Jed leaves at night to meet with the mayor, Amos is able to rescue an injured Boss with the help of Clara Mae, taking him to Miss Pruit's house to recover. Knowing that Jed and his men will be riding through town the next day on their supply run, the bounty hunters plan an ambush.
With the assistance of other residents such as the doctor and blacksmith of the town, Boss and Amos prepare by planting explosives around the town and take up firing positions out of sight. As the gang rides into town, they enter the cantina where Clara Mae is living. When she refuses Jed's advances, he murders her. They then move on to the town itself, while Boss and Amos launch their surprise attack. Boss follows Jed into the Saloon where they fight, and Boss finally kills Jed. As Boss steps outside, he is shot twice by Mayor Griffin, but manages to kill his attacker by throwing a knife at his chest. Now seriously wounded, Boss pleads with Amos to not let him "die in a white folks' town". Miss Pruit urges Boss to take her with him, though he declines. The movie concludes as Amos rides out of town with Boss towed on a wagon, his fate left ambiguous. | violence, blaxploitation | train | wikipedia | This is a good, solid B movie; not a great western, but a satisfying "blaxploitation" flick mostly because the humor is well done.
Not only do the actors bring out the best in the material, but the material (by Williamson himself, who would soon make the jump to directing but on this film hired veteran pro Arnold) is not bad itself.Boss Ni**er includes a blaring title track that includes the immortal lines "he's a boss niiiiiiiggggaa" in what sounds like a white dude's best impression of Marvin Gaye.
Its story concerns the Boss and his sidekick, played to perfection by Durville Martin of Dolemite fame ("I love those fat women" says his character, never knowing the trouble he could get into.....), as ex-slaves who "decided to hunt white folks for a change" and went out West to become bounty hunters.
The plot follows the Yojimbo mold, even including a hastily assembled opportunity for Williamson to be captured and beaten near to death by the villains, only to recuperate and return for the final bloodbath.Like so many of Williamson and Martin's films, the appeal of the film comes from their charisma and the humorous ways they interact with the other, more straight, characters of the film.
There is a PG rating, and it's pretty violent considering this, but it keeps the film from rising into the realm of, say "Il Grande Silencio" or "Fistful of Dollars", to which it is very similar; Williamson and Co. seem to have gone instead for comedy.The film is a success at reaching its modest goals, a good time for the audience letting off some tensions with a historically based race battle.Also contains one of the greatest exit lines ever: "There's nothing worse for a black man that to drag around a white b*tch"..
Boss (Fred Williamson) and Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters, riding into the city of San Miguel to collect a reward when they find there's no sheriff.
Having seen other blaxploitation films (such as "Sweet Sweetback") I was surprised by the tameness.They play really heavily on the race issue, not surprisingly.
It offers an interesting view where white people must be protected by the black man, and things work out fairly well (much to the people's initial chagrin).Reviewer Vincent Canby of The New York Times described the film as "a pleasant surprise if you stumble upon it without warning." Canby characterized Williamson's acting as "an immensely self-assured parody of the Man With No Name played by Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's films." I agree with the first part, although I think the second part might be giving this film just a little bit too much credit.
BOSS N*GGER!" A black woman is being assaulted by a group of white cowboys, our black heroes intervene and save this damsel in distress.A blaxploitation Western was bound to happen eventually, and its a good thing Fred Williamson got there first.
Boss N*gger also boasts some very funny lines, such as Boss kissing a white woman, before going, "that's just to satisfy your curiosity."It's slow at parts, but the idea of two black bounty hunters coming to a white town and setting their own rules is appealing, and the film pulls it off.
I refer to the Blaxploitation films that simultaneously also venture into a totally different genre, like horror ("Blackula", "Abby") or psychedelic ("Ganja and Hess") or even Western.
"Black Bounty Hunter", which is the alternative title that I'm forced to use because the website doesn't allow the usage of the titular N-word, is one of the only existing Blaxploitation westerns ever made!
That little trivia aspect alone makes the film worth tracking down, and then I haven't even mentioned the fact that it is written by and starring the almighty Fred Williamson and directed by B-monster movie veteran Jack Arnold ("Creature from the Black Lagoon", "It came from Outer Space").
Whilst on the tail of wild west villain Jed Clayton, Boss and his loyal right hand Amos ride through the insignificant and Sheriff-less little town of San Miguel.
The comedy doesn't always work, except for a few notable moments with D'Urville Martin at his best, but the western action is old-fashioned good!
Plus we get an awesome Shaft like theme song, while there are better westerns and black exploitation films .
Fred Williamson and D'urville Martin are two black bounty hunters that stumble into a town that is sorely in need of a sheriff.
Not particularly distinguished from the blaxploitation Western sub-sub genre and not nearly as wild as the name suggests, 'Boss N!gger' is still good fun with a lot of humor (supplied mostly by Martin) and well-directed action scenes..
This is a review of "The Legend of N***er Charley", "The Soul of N***er Charley" and "Boss N***er", a loose trilogy of films set in the pre-Civil War South and starring Fred Williamson as N***er Charley, a runaway slave.
He teams up with Amos, another ex slave, and spends much of the film dodging bullets, evading bounty hunters and shooting caricatures, all dumb, racist white guys.
Released at the height of the blaxploitation craze, in the wake of surprise hit "Shaft" and almost a decade before "Roots" (where "black" suddenly went "mainstream" and "prestige"), "Legend" turned out to be one of the highest grossing movies of 1972.
A sequel, "Soul of N***er Charley", quickly followed.The best of the series, "Soul" finds Charley as a near-mythical folk hero, a muscular black man who fights for right and has no qualms smashing the faces of racist white guys.
The plot concerns Charley's battles with a Southern Colonel who oversees his own private slave trade, exporting slaves to Mexico where they're beaten and forced to work for a colony of Southern aristocrats.The final film in the series, "Boss", was released in 1974, at the tail end of various civil rights and black power movements.
Like all the Charley films, and most blaxploitation films in general, the film isn't racially progressive, isn't a celebration of racial pride, but is rather a kind of vile, venting of black rage on white figures of power.
Organizations like the NAACP and various black civil rights activists actively fought against the blaxploitation "movement", considering these films racist at worst, at best detrimental to efforts toward equality.
This led to term "blaxploitation"; blacks for bucks.Like most exploitation films, the Charley series is explicitly about revenge.
Both are by Italian directors and predate the American blaxploitation movement, which was heavily influenced by trashy Italian B movies, westerns, grind-house and Kung Fu. Because of their unique historical position, partaking of fascism but not scapegoated into petrification to the extent that Germany was, Italian film-makers tend to consistently approach issues like slavery and the Holocaust with rare skill.Quentin Tarantino has made a career out of exploiting exploitation movies.
Boss N#gger is definitely not a prime sample of either western or blaxploitation but it's a genre crossover I'm glad happened because if it didn't happen back in the day it probably wouldn't ever.
Perhaps the biggest problem in the movie is Fred Williamson's script, which bears all the marks of an inexperienced writer: too much exposition, flat characterization, scenes that seem to exist only to take the plot from point A to point B.
Well, I guess few people are going to see a movie called "Boss N#gger" for its story, but it's details like these that make the difference between Coffy and the multitude of forgettable blaxploits of the early seventies.
Williamson's script but be throwaway but when he dons his black cowboy hat and cheroot and transforms into black bounty-hunter Boss, he's as badass as he's ever been.
Boss N#gger's seems to exist for no other reason than sticking it to "the man" and in that aspect the balance is heavily tipped towards the blaxploitation end of the equation.
It's still a fairly entertaining diversion with quotable dialogue and all the amusing shenanigans one can expect from having a black sheriff in a town filled with white bigots.
Admittedly, the list of blaxploitation westerns is not long, but 'Boss N-word' is actually a pretty good low-budget anti-hero western in its own right.
The look is typical '70s western (including women's hairstyles that appeared a century out of date), the music urban bad-ass, and the dialogue an amusing mix of tough-guy menace and ironic wisecracking (frequently including the N-word - a hypothetical remake in the 80s would have probably starred Eddie Murphy as the deputy).
Times have certainly changed: the actual title of the film was not used on TCM (where I watched it), despite the offensive second word (prohibited from this review), being featured prominently in the opening credits, the theme song, and the script..
I love it I saw the trailer on a DVD I have 42 street forever and had to get this its a great blaxploitation/exploitation movie the DVD sucks and hopefully someday someone will put out a proper DVD.The story is about two black bounty hunters that take over a whit town with out a sheriff .The white folks are not happy Fred Williamson's character as the boss rocks he is so the boss ni**ger I will not spoil this do find it and yes like I said the DVD is not good the transfer is just OK bad color not framed correctly its put in full frame and is taken from a VHS master and put on DVD I will say this tho with the bad transfer it does give you that grind house feel my score a 8 its funny as hell!!!!!!!!!.
As others have said here, the title song is very memorable, though the funk music score elsewhere in the movie is equally enjoyable despite not being western-flavor.
He makes for a charismatic (and amusing) hero that you hope will succeed, and his abusing of the racist town citizens is good for some laughs.In fact, Williamson's performance comes close to saving the movie - but the movie ultimately disappoints.
Then this might be what you get in return.Boss Negro (I'll use the politically correct term for this review) is the story of 2 African American slaves turned bounty hunters, named Boss and Amos.
However, the position of sheriff in the town is available and Boss takes it, and implements new laws, such as a 20$ fine for using the well-known derogatory term for an African American, and a bunch of other laws.Western movies are a dime a dozen, but there has rarely been a movie where the town's sheriff was a black man.
Sound was a bit poor but otherwise the film was in good shape.A blaxploitation-western mix?
Surely this could not be good?But to my surprise it was!Certainly, the acting was utterly hammy but that is to be expected in both blaxploitation and in westerns so in that aspect it is in no way a bad thing.The plot is definitely not the worst one I've come across in any genre and the character's motivations generally fit in quite nicely.Admittedly, the Blacksmith and was a bit underdeveloped.The actors do their jobs decently, the fight scenes are lively and the music is catch as can be.No major complaints from me..
Fred Williamson was one of the greatest of the 1970s blaxploitation stars, but as cool as he is, he can't make this one anything more than very average.
Williamson and frequent co-star D'urville Martin ('Dolemite') play bounty hunters on the trail of no-good varmint William Smith ('Invasion Of The Bee Girls', 'The Ultimate Warrior', 'Maniac Cop') who bully the mayor of a small town (Peckinpah regular R.G. Armstrong) into letting them become sheriff and deputy.
'Boss N*gger' can't decide whether it wants to be a serious western or a spoof of the genre, and the comedy is broad, recycles much of the Cleavon Little schtick from Mel Brooks' 'Blazing Saddles', and is basically just not that funny.
The plot involves two Black bounty hunters with attitude who arrive in town and take over the job of sheriff and deputy.
However, the comedy isn't all that funny (D'Urville Martin can't carry this off by himself) and the action isn't as good as most of the star's (Fred Williamson) other films.
Another major problem is that while having an anachronistic sheriff in the Mel Brooks film worked, here it just feels like "Black Caesar" stuck on the range--a very odd and unconvincing switch to say the least.
It certainly isn't brilliantly made nor does it make the case that there should have been more Black Westerns and some of the plot is pretty silly.
Boss Ni*ger (1975) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Boss (Fred Williamson) and Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters who travel to a small town being ran by a corrupt Mayor.
Boss is waiting on a bad guy to show up and in the mean time decides to make himself Sheriff, which doesn't sit well with the racist white locals but they're going to learn that there's one way to do things and that's up to the Boss.
Director Arnold is best known for CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON but he handles this material perfectly and not only delivers the perfect blaxploitation movies but also a pretty good Western.
Every racist remake ever made towards a black person are present here and played for laughs in how over the top they are but they then lead to some hard hitting action as Williamson really does lay down the Hammer.
The sensitive should probably stay clear but if you want brave and fun film-making than this here is the top of the blaxploitation genre..
Fred Williamson and D'Urville Martin make a fine team in Boss N!gger.
It stars Fred Williamson-the title character-(who was also writer and co-producer with director Jack Arnold) and D'Urville Martin-Amos-as bounty hunters who are looking for a Jed Clayton (William Smith) in the town they encounter.
I mean, it's got some funny scenes and lines mostly courtesy of Martin and both a fine white chick (Barbara Leigh as schoolmarm Miss Pruitt) and a fine black one (Carmen Hayworth as Clara Mae).
Made at the height of the Black Power movement, Boss N****r (or The Black Bounty Killer) is a blaxploitation western that was written and co-produced by genre legend Fred Williamson.
Boss (Williamson) and his friend Amos (D'Urville Martin) are bounty hunters who are looking for wanted man Jed Clayton (William Smith), in order to claim a big reward.
I know, this is a blaxploitation film and the theme is practically always sticking to the whities, but this is the kind of stereotyping that the black community were experiencing themselves at the time, which leads me to believe that it may in fact be a play on this.However, racial themes aside, this is actually a pretty enjoyable western.
As the Boss, Williamson employs his impressive screen presence the same way he did in Larry Cohen's Black Caesar, taking no s**t from the townsfolk, and charming the ladies.
The characters are believable and the situation is interesting and entertaining.The film does have the typical Blaxploitation problem of having a bad ending.
Surely in part the inspiration for Django Unchained, Fred Williamson stars as Boss, who along with his partner Amos (D'Urville Martin) works as a bounty hunter.
Fred Williamson is still pretty bad-ass, and the title song and funky music are, as is often the case with these movies, the best thing about it..
Some of these are actually pretty good films in their own right but too many of them are basic and seem happy to simply "be" the genre rather than doing something interesting or quality within it.
Sadly Black Bounty Hunter (the alternative title) falls into the camp of the former as it essentially takes a typical "Shaft" character and places him in the old west.Hard to believe that this film was made after Blazing Saddles and indeed it is hard not to constantly be reminded of that film and have lines of dialogue pop into your head while watching the story of a black man who becomes sheriff of a corrupt town and proceeds to clear it out.
Viewing the film as a western, it is pretty basic in the plotting and unfortunately it doesn't have a flow or much in the way of excitement to it.
That it is a blaxploitation film doesn't mean problems in this regard can be overlooked but it does at least add something to the film in regards spark.The funk music takes a minute to get used to in the context of the western but it does set the cool tone which is suitable for the constant swagger of Boss himself.
The acting is roundly weak though, in particular I found it found it quite hard to listen to Leigh – probably almost as hard as it was for her to read them out, which is how it sounds.Overall, Black Bounty Hunter is a fairly poor film.
As a western it is obvious and lacking in drama and although the blaxploitation aspect does add something to it in terms of being a little fun, it doesn't add enough to get close to making it a good film.
A Relatively Good Blaxploitation-Western.
"Boss" (Fred Williamson) and "Amos" (D'Urville Martin) are two bounty hunters out west who just happen to come across some thieves who are dividing their loot.
However, when they get to the town they discover that there is no sheriff and the man who runs things is secretly in cahoots with Jed Clayton.
That said, if a person is in the mood for a relatively good Blaxploitation or Western film then this one might be worth checking out.
Fred Williamson is the boss!.
Rugged bounty hunter Boss (the always cool Fred Williamson, who also wrote the smart script) and his easygoing partner Amos (a very funny and amiable portrayal by D'Urville Martin) pursue notorious outlaw Jed Clayton (the legendary Big Bill Smith in peak curvy form) into the small town of San Miguel. |
tt0271136 | Quicksand | Martin Raikes is an American bank investigator who is sent to Monaco to check up on the suspicious financial dealings of a movie production. After the business trip, Martin, who is divorced, will fly to London to visit his daughter.
Martin is met by the film company's CFO, Lela Forin, who introduces him to the movie's leading man, washed-up action star Jake Mellows.
Something is rotten with the production, though, and Martin senses it. Unfortunately, he sticks his nose in a little too deep for the corrupt bankrollers' tastes, and is soon deemed a threat. Martin is first offered a mega-bribe, but he rejects it. As it turns out, the bankrollers are Russian mafia, led by Oleg Butraskaya.
Martin suddenly finds himself framed for an assassination attempt, and the hostile authorities—on the payroll of the mob—want to kill him. American authorities are also hot on his trail, investigating him for money laundering, among other false charges.
As Martin sifts through the mystery, he reveals the nefarious nature of Oleg's rackets, which include illegal pornography, kidnapping and money laundering. Not knowing whom to trust, he turns to Lela, but soon, she, too, is marked for death. Jake, who has gambling debts, is persuaded by Oleg to speak lines for the film that are actually used to make Martin believe the actor is holding Martin's daughter captive.
After a fight between them, Martin and Jake join forces with Lela to stage an illusion during which Oleg incriminates himself to the law. Lela develops a new film project for Jake and a personal interest in Martin. | suspenseful, violence | train | wikipedia | if you've got too much spare time (like I do) and feel like a nice, B-movie night at home, you could do much worse than renting "Quicksand".
Michael Keaton and Michael Caine gave stellar performances, which were supported by a wonderful European cast.If you want to see a great movie with great actors and great footage of Europe, this is one of the best choices I can think of..
Martin Raikes is a banker who gets way over his head with one of the bank's client a group which is used as money laundry for the Russian mob in France.
This film is a horrific waste of time, money and actors..
It does not even make up for this by being remotely worth watching: the acting is appalling, and even Michael Caine and Michael Keaton cannot make up for the terrific lack of ability in terms of plot, script and direction.
Like between Keaton's character and the lead actress - you almost hope there's nothing going on between them because it'd be too predictable, but at the same time, you don't have the chance to hope so because it seems like there's no spark at all between them.
Jake Mellows (Michael Keaton) is a divorced American banker sent to Monaco to investigate the possibility of laundering of money.
In Monaco, he meets Lela Forin (Judith Godrèche), the financial manager of Miramax films, and Michael Caine, a decadent, alcoholic and gambler previously famous actor of action movies.
The excellent Michael Caine is not decadent yet like his character, and Michael Keaton is a good actor.
It actually had potential to have suspense and an edge on your seat type of thrill ride, but ends up like most thrillers, because if you've seen the big shockers, then you have pretty much from that point see the rip offs.
A story of international intrigue with Keaton's character framed for murder and desperately trying to exonerate himself while on the run from both good and evil elements, "Quicksand" sinks slowly into its own messy conglomerated story which tries to do too much in too little time.
Its good cast and nice locations can't make up for the poor screenplay, the herky-jerky flow, the numerous unanswered questions, and countless plot holes making this flick best saved for broadcast where one can switch channels with no liability as soon as they find themselves losing interest; which may be sooner than later.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsBanking boss Martin Fraikes (Michael Keaton) is sent off to France to investigate a suspected fraud taking place on a movie set.However,as he delves deeper and deeper into the case,he finds himself framed for murder,money laundering and his daughter is kidnapped.It's a web of lies that leads directly to has-been movie star Jake Mellows (Michael Caine) right down to the local mob...Everything about this film is back to front,topsy-turvy.It's been held back since 2001,but I'd have believed you if you'd told me it had been made in 1991,judging by it's presentation.Keaton's character finds himself in a host of inexplicable situations in the film,yet on the front cover he appears the confident,self-assured villain.It looks like a really entertaining film,but it really isn't.It's a film with production values and attention-payed-to-detail that appears really befitting to the state of both it's lead stars careers,Keaton re-appearing out of nowhere after a five year absence having last appeared on the big screen five years ago in the children's film Jack Frost and Caine moreorless just playing himself as a washed-up,has-been movie star who nowadays can only seem to get work appearing in low-budget fudd like this.It's a film of laugh-out-loud implausibility that,as it veers towards the end,steadily progresses into out and out preposterousness.It's nice to see Keaton return and it's very hard to see why his career has veered into DTV oblivion and someone like Richard Gere still manages to rake in the big bucks,but that's truly where the novelty wears off.**.
'Quicksand' was showing this evening on CH 5, Now I'm always very wary of watching movies on that particular channel as it has become synonymous with terrible films, but I decided to watch purely on it's starring actors, in this case being Michael Caine & Michael Keaton, It's not a terrible film by any means, but it's just so mediocre, it's the kind of Film that even Steven Segal himself would probably turn down.Michael Keaton plays a New York Banker who travels to the South of France to investigate possible fraud on the Film that his company is financing, and soon finds himself up to his next in dirty cops & Russian gangsters and ends up getting framed for murder....YAWN!!!!Been there, done it, got the t-shirt!
there is nothing in this film which hasn't been done better before.Michael Caine is really slumming it here, like he has done many times before.....
and makes what could be described as a glorified cameo.The Original 'Batman' Keaton pretty much disappeared after picking ghastly Movies to appear in, in the mid/late 90's, but really this is below him, Caine is merely cashing the check.apparently this was filmed in 2001 and not released for nearly 3 years...that tells you just about everything.as I've said above for a Film that never saw the inside of a Movie Theater it's not terrible, and watchable on TV on a Winter's night, but don't spend any money, it's not even worth the rental.**1/2 out of *****.
So says The Daily Mail as they not only want to give this film away as a 'freebie' with their newspaper, they are trying to make us want it too, because, this is a Michael Keaton, not Caine, film.Caine gets to shout 'bloody' again (as in his most famous ever line, in The Italian Job), this time about money he's owed, or he owes - not always sure who is pointing guns at whom, or why, the next, they're in a heap on the floor.
there's a very convenient film crew who almost knew he was about to do it...The investigating police are dodgy as there's all sorts of cover-ups going on, to do with porno film rackets and illegal immigrants and such, I think..(nothing too explicit, cert 15).Anyway, this credibility straining movie, in old style 4:3 ratio has its moments, cannot recall too many of them, now, that it's finished, except Caine, who is really quite obnoxious, but in a Michael Caine sort of way - i.e - we know he's such a great guy in real life so we forgive him (& for his not-too-rare dodgy choices of film roles) as he gets to try strangling folk, with his bare hands as well as string, or rope, or whatever...Some of the French actresses are pleasing, both to the eye and their attempt at adding a different perspective to an otherwise quite unpleasant film.Never mind, this is still better than some Michael Caine movies out there and the transfer quality and sound is OK..
When Michael Keaton's character (the compliance officer) starts sniffing around, the bad guys decide to frame him for murder.
It was obviously a "C"-level movie that got bumped up to "B" level because it has actors like Caine and Keaton in it.
I actually went into this movie with high hopes because I love Keaton.
Anyone who gave this movie a good review is actually working for the distributor or production company.
It's not even debatable, it's soooo bad, and the goofs are so glaring.I honestly assume that the reason Keaton and Caine signed on was because they owed someone a favor, or because it was a slow time for them & they got to take their families on vacation in the South of France for free.Goofs and plot holes from beginning to end.
Incidentally, irritation is a major factor in the story, the main character, an ultra pedantic controller from a global consultancy enterprise (frankly a great, contemporary creation and a good, convincing performance by Michael Keaton) represents just a little, irritating grain of sand in the international machinery of crime.The plot is the 39 steps, Saboteur, North by Northwest etc.
Incidentally, irritation is a major factor in the story, the main character, an ultra pedantic controller from a global consultancy enterprise (frankly a great, contemporary creation and a good, convincing performance by Michael Keaton) represents just a little, irritating grain of sand in the international machinery of crime.The plot is the 39 steps, Saboteur, North by Northwest etc.
If Quicksand helps to bring this to mind, all the better.They had some excellent location scouts working on this movie.
If Quicksand helps to bring this to mind, all the better.They had some excellent location scouts working on this movie.
Nor is it one that either of the two Michael's will be remembered for.For me the freshest thing to come out of this film was the performance of the female lead Judith Godreche.
Serbedzija acts in theaters and in the movies and with Caine he's the only man in this crew who's doing that.
Serbedzija is far better actor then Keaton and you have to believe me on this one because you haven't watched most of the movies where Serbedzija plays main character.
How it ended up like this is beyond me.I mean, there are some okay moments but it's like it was shot in another language and then translated....it just doesn't work.I got lost so many times as to what the story line was I gave up...and some of the linkages are so weak a six-year-old could have done better at show and tell.I'm not going to spoil it for anyone because I honestly can't bring myself to parrot the story line....with it's predictable ending.At one point though, I did think it was art imitating life imitating art, or was that life imitating art...never mind..the premise has something to do the illusion of movie making and how things aren't always as they appear to be, but it's done with such heavy handed direction and editing, it's a complete yawner.My advice?
It involves Michael Keaton as a banking executive who travels to France to investigate possible financial irregularities, only to be ensnared in a cleverly engineered frame when he gets too close to the truth.
The workaholic head of the compliance section of a New York bank flies to Monaco to investigate unusual deposits from an offshore bank.He meets a down-on-his-luck international film star who has become embroiled in criminal activities.From the very first frame you know this is going to suck.Poor production values.
he's acting was so unbelievably bad and almost looked like out of place in every scene of this movie.
in order to make the stupidly awkward scenario go along, the guy refused a full case of $$$cash bribery and let it slide, the next day checked out earlier without any reason, but then he still could receive the poster that the female chief financial officer of the movie company in front the hotel check-in/check-out counter by someone so timely, yet the female chief financial officer didn't know that he already checked out of the hotel??
This film proves that Michael Keaton is best suited for comedy.
And the arousing turn of events towards the end is well worth the wait.If you watch these sort of movies I can see how some of it might seem predictable.
But this movie kept me on my toes most of the time.Again, we're talking about people's daughters here..
Very JFK in concept.Originally sent to Monaco to investigate some suspected money-laundering, Keaton is up against officialdom, the bad guys AND the eight ball...after barely the first reel.
Caine as an alkified loser, living on the memories of his former screen tough-guy roles is just painting by numbers...he could have phoned-in his characterisation for all the impact he makes here.Having said all that though, QUICKSAND is oddly watchable despite the "blinking corpse" and the crap production values.
When his bank notices a rather large transfer of money, he decides to go himself to investigate, at a movie studio in Nice, France.When he gets there he meets Michael Caine, playing an actor, Jake Mellows.
Jake has a gambling habit, often going into debt, but always figures his acting income will bail him out.Pretty French actress Judith Godrèche is Lela Forin, who works for the studio.Old Serbian actor Rade Serbedzija is a Russian Oleg Butraskaya running a not so legitimate business.These 4 main characters interact throughout the movie, and quickly Martin figures out the studio isn't really making a movie, but are a channel for laundering money from illegal operations, some of which involves kidnapping women and apparently selling them into sexual slavery.
What started out as an audit soon becomes Martin's scrambling for his life.I like Michael Keaton, he is an interesting actor who creates interesting roles.
This movie is a bit better than its IMDb rating would indicate.SPOILERS: People who get close to the truth get murdered.
It might be surprising to some that a film starring Michael Keaton and Michael Caine went straight to DVD in most countries; it is less surprising to anyone who watches the film.
You've seen the story a zillion times before: innocent man framed for murder, on the run, stranger in a strange land, trying to prove his innocence, picks up female ally / romantic interest along the way, corrupt police, thick-accented Russian mobsters, blah blah blah.
Keaton is on autopilot here, but the supporting cast (not so much Caine, who for the first HOUR makes only a few fleeting cameo appearances, as Kathleen Wilhoite back in New York) try to inject some life into this clichéd, boring time-killer.
Quicksand would be a particular sort of terrible film known as the "Movie Star Vacation Project".
It's where not-all-that-talented people manage to get the money to produce their horrible script solely because one or more genuine movie stars agrees to act in it, but the stars only agree to do it because the film is being shot in a certain location where the star would like to hang out for a couple of months.
They don't give a damn whether the movie is any good or not, they just look at it as a paid vacation.Martin Raikes (Michael Keaton) is a bank examiner who goes to the south of France to check on an allegation of improper financial behavior at a movie studio.
It turns out Oleg is using the movie studio as a way to launder money, something which Raikes doesn't appear at all close to discovering but Oleg decides to frame him for the murder of a French police official anyway.
Eventually he and Lela team up with Jake Mallows (Michael Caine), an aging British movie star who Oleg has hired to make a pretend film as part of the movie studio facade.
But while these filmmakers have clearly watched those sorts of movies, they clearly don't understand how to tell that story themselves.
There's a point where you can tell Michael Keaton has figured out just how much this movie sucks and decides to see how far he can push the suck.
That's unlike Michael Caine, who does the same professional job and takes the story as seriously as he does anything else.There's no way Keaton and Caine were paid a lot of money to do this film and even though Caine is a old-school actor who'll take almost any job offered to him, you know the only reason they're in this is because when they weren't on set, they could lounge around Europe on the producer's dime.
1_Always use a movie star to narrate the ransom message.2_Always show the ransom message on a public cinema (and on the loop).3_Always walk in the streets without any make up while you're a fugitive (despite having an access to a make up room).4_Always stand under the light in front of the bad guys who are looking for you.5_Always meet the police in the same place that the main bad guy, who wants to kill you, uses to hang out.6_Always wait to the last second to alert the girl that there is a bomb on her boat.7_Always allure the men while being pregnant, and being in love with your man.8_Always tight the good man's kidnapped daughter beside the lunch table so she can be tortured by seeing other people eating (while she's not), and be close to the telephone if her daddy talks.9_Always kill the bad guys who are fighting arresting while they have no weapons with them.10_Always in France the TV opens on the English-speaking news channels.11_Always the substitute clothes, that are found accidentally, fit the runners from justice.12_Always frame an American.
What I really loved about this movie is Michael Caine's line "Are you his daughter ?!".
And his frankness about doing some works like that movie only for the money.Finally, "Do you have lunch with me?" Well, NOOOOOOO !!.
I assume that young people are needed for Quicksand to properly tell its story.
I still rate Quicksand, though I do not like such genre.
Clare at age 13, playing the daughter of the main actor, Keaton.
Quicksand is a surprisingly good thriller.Quicksand stars Michael Keaton, Michael Caine and the professor guy who dies at the start of Mission Impossible 2.
As soon as Raikes becomes a difficulty the Russians set him up for the murder of a French cop.Caine takes on the role of Jake Mellows, a washed up actor with a serious gambling problem who is hired by the Russians to front a bogus action movie called Quicksand in order to launder the money.
When Mellows is made aware of the fake film and Raikes discovers his daughter has been kidnapped, they must work together to bring down the Russian criminals.The story is fairly simple and quite entertaining.
Quicksand is by no means a great thriller, in fact there was no real action to speak of, but it's intriguing and the performances of Keaton and Caine make it worthwhile. |
tt0455326 | Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters | Before the main feature, a faux theater concession stand advertisement plays. A group of anthropomorphic theater snacks, The Soda Dog Refreshment Band, sings until they are interrupted by another snack band (performed by Mastodon). They proceed to loudly sing their own bizarre theater rules before finishing on a guitar solo.
The film properly begins in Egypt, where Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad break free from the Sphinx, and are attacked by an oversized Poodle who kills Frylock before Shake defeats it. Shake and Meatwad flee with Frylock's corpse and meet Time Lincoln. He helps revive Frylock; however, when government agents break into his house, Time Lincoln helps the Aqua Teens escape in a wooden rocket ship. Time Lincoln is shot, changing the timeline and resulting in the Confederate States of America's victory in the American Civil War and the government agents being made slaves to a black Kentucky Colonel as punishment for their crimes against the South. All this, however, is an elaborate story concocted by Shake to explain their origin to Meatwad. A triangular slice of watermelon named Walter Melon is flying about in a spaceship made from a hollowed-out watermelon. He begins observing events of the Aqua Teens on Earth, including a backyard concert performed by Meatwad. All unfolding according to his plan. Walter Melon is joined in the ship by Neil Peart from Rush, sitting at his drums.
Shake plans to work out on his new exercise machine, the "Insanoflex". Frylock notices that the machine isn't assembled properly and the instructions are nowhere to be found. He searches online for them and instead finds a website written in a rare dialect, with a message in English warning not to assemble the machine ever. The site however lists a phone number which Frylock calls. It is revealed to be the number of Emory and Oglethorpe, the Plutonians. Before they even bother to answer the phone, they discover the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future on board with them. The Cybernetic Ghost explains to the two aliens the story of the Insanoflex: a machine, when assembled, will exercise a man into a super-being, who will attract all the women on Earth leading to massive inbreeding and the eventual extinction of mankind. To prevent this, the Ghost traveled to the past and stolen a single screw that holds the machine together. The Plutonians point out to him that to get it assembled, someone could just buy another screw or shove a pencil in the screw hole. Back on Earth, Frylock finishes re-building the Insanoflex, with a pencil in the screw hole, somehow having obtained instructions. He discovers a missing M-shaped circuit board on the back panel. The trio visit Carl, from whom Shake had stolen the machine, to see if he has the missing piece. After he refuses to tell them, Meatwad finds the address in the Insanoflex's box. Dr. Weird, whose abandoned asylum has been purchased and is being turned into condominiums around them, is visited by Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad. Frylock retrieves the missing circuit board and installs it into the machine upon returning home. Carl insists that as the rightful owner he should be the first to test out the machine. The Insanoflex straps him in and transforms itself into a giant one-eyed robot. The robot plays dance/techno music and heads for downtown Philadelphia, all while Carl's strapped-in form is forced to exercise. Eventually, the robot begins laying metallic spherical eggs, which hatch into smaller versions of the machine.
The Aqua Teens, aided by an instructional workout video, find a way to destroy the machine by using music. With little time and a failed encounter with MC Pee Pants (reincarnated as a fly), the Aqua Teens have no choice but to have Shake play his music. Shake poorly plays his original song "Nude Love" on acoustic guitar, forcing the Insanoflex to commit suicide. Carl (now bulging with so much muscle that he can barely move) leaves with his newly found date, a female bodybuilder named Linda, and they head back to her condo while the Aqua Teens try to figure out a way to stop the newly hatched Insanoflexes from destroying the city.
As they travel to a possible lead back at Dr. Weird's asylum, Frylock begins to tell the origin story of the Aqua Teens: they were created by Dr. Weird, along with a chicken nugget who had gone by the name of Chicken Bittle. In the flashback, Dr. Weird proclaims that the Aqua Teens were created for one purpose: to crash a jet into a brick wall. Realizing the pointlessness of this mission, Frylock diverted the jet and set a course to Africa, where they would try to use their intelligence to solve world hunger. Upon entering Africa, Bittle was attacked and eaten by a lion. The remaining Aqua Teens then tried to help a small village but instead scared them away. After realizing they couldn't be much help, they returned to America and rented out what is now their house in New Jersey. Shake and Meatwad state that they do not remember any of this, but Frylock explains it was because they were too busy playing Game Boy to pay any attention.
Meanwhile, Carl and Linda recline in her room, where she reveals "herself" to be Dr. Weird in disguise. He cuts off Carl's muscles and grafts them onto his own body. Frylock and Dr. Weird do battle while they argue back and forth about who created whom. Dr. Weird claims that it was Frylock who created him, not the other way around. Dr Weird shows Frylock a teddy bear filled with razor blades. Shake tries to take the teddy bear, but he loses his hand. Dr. Weird then reveals that the blue diamond on Frylock's back hides a VCR, in which a video tape with false memories of Dr. Weird creating Frylock had been playing in Frylock's head. Frylock also admits that he is transsexual lesbian trapped in a man's body. Just then, Walter Melon arrives in his ship. Meatwad mentions he saw the ship earlier. Shake calls him a liar and shoots him with a shotgun. Shake gets concerned when Meatwad doesn't reform like always. Walter tells Neil to play the Drum Solo Of Life to bring Meatwad back to life. Meanwhile, Shake tries to pick up the teddy bear for the 2nd time, but loses his other hand. Shake forgets about his hands and leaves it. Walter Melon explains he created the Aqua Teens and all the other characters, including the Insanoflex. His plan was so that they would all eventually kill each other and Walter would inherit all their real estate in order to create the "Insano-Gym". Everyone, however, informs Walter that they all rent and do not own any property, proving Walter's plan and everyone's existence had been useless and pointless. Walter storms off in his ship, threatening to tell their mother. Just then, the Teens see their alleged mother standing before them, revealed to be a 9-layer bean burrito. Shake unknowingly jumps out the window, Meatwad hugs her and Frylock states, "That's neat." In an abrupt end, The Soda Dog Refreshment Gang come onscreen once again and sing the audience out.
In a post-credits scene, The Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future is seen humping the TV in the Aqua Teens' living room. Then a female box of fries (presumably Frylock who got a sex change) comes in and says, "Time for bed, honey..." | psychedelic, cult, humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0089052 | Dreamchild | The film begins on the ship bearing Alice (Coral Browne) and Lucy from England to New York City. As she and Lucy (Nicola Cowper) disembark, they are set upon by several journalists, all trying to get a story or quote from her. Clearly bewildered by all the excitement, she is befriended by an ex-reporter, Jack Dolan (Peter Gallagher), who helps her and Lucy through the legions of the press. Dolan quickly becomes her agent and finds endorsement opportunities for her. Throughout it all, a romance develops between Jack and Lucy.
But all is not well with Alice. Being so advanced in age, she needs Lucy, of whom she can be very demanding, to be her constant companion. When left alone in their hotel room, she begins to hallucinate and sees Mr. Dodgson (Ian Holm) in their room, and then, later, the Mad Hatter (voiced by Tony Haygarth) and March Hare (voiced by Ken Campbell). Joining them for their insane tea party, they berate her for being so old and forgetful. She remembers also the lazy boating party of 4 July 1862, when the young Reverend Charles Dodgson, (Lecturer in Mathematics at Christ Church, Oxford, where her father was the Dean), had attempted to entertain her and her sisters by spinning the nonsense tale that grew to be Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Via flashbacks, it is insinuated that Dodgson had an infatuation with the young Alice Liddell (Amelia Shankley). Was it an innocent admiration he had for the girl or something inappropriate? Alice is clearly troubled by her recollections of Dodgson. The parameters of her relationship with him were somewhat tortured. Dodgson was unwaveringly adoring of Alice, and while she was usually kind, she could sometimes be cruel and mocking of him, especially of his occasional stutter – as on the day of the boating party when she was on the verge of her teens and trying to impress a couple of young students (one of whom she eventually marries). Alice tries to rectify her feelings and past relationship with the author in her mind.
By the time she delivers her acceptance speech at Columbia University, she comes to terms with Dodgson and the way she treated him. In another fantasy sequence with the Mock Turtle, the viewers see them finally reconciled together in a way that can be interpreted as all-encompassing, as both mutual apology and forgiveness. | romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0395843 | CSI: NY | CSI: NY follows a group of investigators who work for the New York City crime lab. The series mixes gritty subject matter and deduction in the same manner as its predecessors, yet also places a great deal of emphasis on criminal profiling. The team is led by Detective Mac Taylor, a former Marine from Chicago. Mac is a veteran of the NYPD who lost his wife on 9/11, and as such must work to rebuild his personal life while supervising his team. He is organized, efficient, dedicated, and very proper in his management style. Mac's partner is originally Stella Bonasera. Stella is half-Greek, half-Italian, and entirely New York City. She helped Mac through the impact of his wife's death and has been by his side ever since. She is a savvy investigator, yet she often speaks before she thinks. Stella leaves New York to head a crime lab in New Orleans and is replaced by Detective Jo Danville. Jo is a former FBI criminalist and an experienced psychological profiler. Mac and she quickly form a strong friendship and an even stronger working rapport. Jo is still haunted by her ousting from the FBI after pulling the plug on improper lab procedure, so works to regain her professional reputation. Together, Mac, Stella, and Jo head an elite team of detectives including Danny Messer, Aiden Burn, and Lindsay Monroe. The team also works alongside CSI Sheldon Hawkes, Detective Don Flack, Medical Examiner Sid Hammerback, and CSI trainee Adam Ross. | murder | train | wikipedia | Add to that the loss of his wife in the tragedy of 9/11 -- which I do not think the show exploits; it is a legitimate plot point in the development of a character in NY and motivates Taylor to find justice wherever he can, something his wife was denied -- and his quiet demeanor makes sense.If Emily Proctor leaves CSI:Miami, I'll quit watching.
With CSI:NY on hand, I won't miss Miami for a moment.I just watched the season finale and am looking forward to next season.
(I'd like to add Law and Order,: Criminal Intent -- I like D'Onofrio a lot -- but I just couldn't get into the show, try as I might.)With the loss this year of both Third Watch and NYPD Blue, we are left with only a couple of good cops and robbers shows.
The acting and stories of the show are superb, Gary Sinise portrays Mac Taylor a likable character who is still dealing with the loss of his wife in 9/11, who i feel has the potential to match Grissom of the original, particularly as Petersen's contract is up in 2006.
It is also interesting to see how different characters pair up with others whilst investigating...my favourites are Aiden with Flack, and of course Mac and Stella.If you like me are slightly disappointed with the Miami spin-off and find Horatio Caine unappealing this show is just what you need.
It took the original CSI five years to say that Sara's mom killed her dad, so its logical that it will take a few seasons to totally tell these characters backgrounds.
In fact, I thought it might be the best of all three CSI shows but I'll wait on that call until a complete second season is done.I liked this debut season more than the others for two main reasons:1 - It did not have all the little soap opera side-stories involving the characters that the two other CSI shows have.
Wow, what have we done to deserve this, another fantastic series from what has shaped up to be one of the best franchise's on television, CSI:NY has everything that a good cop show needs; strong leading characters, well thought out stories and above all else, cinematic production values, like the previous two series do.
I'll admit to being balled over by the pilot/crossover episode during CSI:Miami's second season and I couldn't wait to see how it would transpire as a fully fledged series.
The show just seemed too dark and gloomy and any humour seemed to sit at odds with the show's dark milieu, but things happily changed as the first season progressed and by the end of it's freshman year I would have to say that CSI:NY was truly one of the best shows on the box, more than giving its sister series a run for their money.Like CSI's Miami and Las Vegas, the show has a terrific leading man with a penchant for feature films and character acting, in this case Gary Sinise.
While likable, she is essentially a third wheel and does nothing more than react to the other characters.Like the other two shows, hell like every thriller/crime series on American television today, the production values are incredible, the aerial shots of New York are some of the best ever done on a television series budget and the show, especially on DVD, looks fantastic.
Caine's lead seems to dead-end when he arrives at another crime scene and discovers his suspect was murdered two days prior to the Miami crime he is investigating.Enter Gary Sinise as Detective Mac Taylor.
This episode was created to establish an emotional connection between Caine and Taylor, presumably to generate interest in CSI New York's "real" pilot.
And for those like me who are contemplating whether to watch the CSI New York pilot, I say "go for it." If the pre-pilot (CSI Miami in New York episode) is any indication, CSI New York will probably build on the solid foundation of tough-but-approachable characters, clever episodic plots and fast pace that typify the first two CSI shows.
For example, in CSI:Miami, Horatio Caine is presented as an almost clairvoyant person: He walks into a crime scene, and just by looking at some blood traces, he can say: "No, I don't think our victim went over here to call the police - he was going to warn his son who he thought was asleep.
CSI NY is an action-filled series about tough cops led Head Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinese as lead role) and his team resolve crimes in New York City , facing off nasty delinquents and heinous killers by means of scientific investigations .
It stars various Police Inpectors of a special unit against crime that take down cerebral murderers , scum and low-life criminals , these are the followings : Led by hard-nosed officer Taylor (Gary Sinese , he is most known for playing Leuitenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump) , and supported by Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo) , Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper) , Don Flack (Eddie Cahill) , Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) , Sid Hammerback (Robert Joy) , Ross (A.J. Buckley) , among others .
However , in real life , the New York City Police Department (NYPD) Crime Scene Investigators (CSI's) are not detectives and are called Forensic Technicians who work in teams called Crime Scene Units (CSU's).
I'd like to see more one-case shows where the entire team is working on the same thing rather than splitting into two crimes/groups, but that's something that we see on all three CSI shows, so it's a rather minor quibble.This is definitely the main CSI I'll be watching next season.
Every Saturday I just c'ant Imagine missing an episode of CSI New York I just love watching CSI New York I think its a great show just like the other two but CSI{crime scene investigation}is the best the first time when i heard that they were doing CSI Miami I told my self that i was never gonna watched the shaw.
I think the problem with CSI new york you just have to get use to it and specially you have to give the characters a chance because i think they really are doing a great job specially you can see the way they are really working really hard to please their fans for me in the show Gary Sinise's character is really good.
I think, of all 3 shows, this one has some style: As each CSI show has, over the last 9 years, developed a kind of personality - I like the way the graphics are done in the "discovery" shots (The little "bridge" shots that show the various CSIs working and the evidence being collected) - As Danny always says, "Boom".Stylistically very contemporary, I love the way the viewer can expect to see various items from "real life" - a Treo 700, a Dell Inspiron 6400/1505e laptop, Blackberries and I-Macs and sometimes even IBM Thinkpads- All the nice goodies that you can buy at the computer store...
Aside from that, I do know that the functions that are being depicted are possible on a more powerful desktop workstation, so I always let it not bother me.I like the cast of this CSI better than the others, especially Stella, who on one hand is a pinstripe-posing woman of professional standing, and does she stand...
You think that eventually she'll end up with Mac, but then Mac would not be able to date all of the MEs with British accents.I miss Aiden, and I finally saw her final episode, and it was sad but in the end her goal was made a reality thanks to Mac. I thought her interaction with Danny was better than "Montana"/Lindsay - Who kind of bothers me cos of her cherub face-straight-from-a-Reuben-painting, but the character has a lot of good "character." I don't think it was ever blurted out in any episode, but there are indications that something happened between old Danny boy and Aiden - Who at one point indicated to Danny that she was way out of his class.Mac always makes me think of either "Apollo 13" or the film "Impostor" - And he is actually playing a character very like both of the roles he played in those films- A very tenacious, methodical, and mysterious person, whose past is revealed in small chunks when appropriate to the flow of episodes.
I like Mac.No CSI is compleat without your resident genius, in this case Hill Harper as Hawkes, who appears to be too smart, honestly, maybe there are guys that are as smart as Hawkes, that would be nice: They all ought to be hired as CSIs.Eddie Cahill is great especially when they are digging cell phone sim cards out of his chest cavity, you think he was imported straight from Law and Order, I don't know the actors Bio, maybe he did come from there.
CSI: NY is better than CSI: Miami and at least as good as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Las Vegas), I think.I like Detective Mac Taylor (not as good as Horatio, in his humorous (and unexpected by the writers, I think) dimension, but more realistic), who is a great character, like the other lead roles of CSI.
I especially like the actor, Gary Sinise ("The Stand", Of Mice And Men, ...), who is a really great actor.Flack (Eddie Cahill, seen in "Friends"), Danny (both very appreciated by the girls), Stella, Lindsay (pretty), and Dr Hawkes are very nice too.A fault however: humor is a bit missing...
it a great movie.i don't know why i like it so much,and why it has such a big success.it seems that people don't watch anymore love or comedy movies(felicity,friends etc),i mean those kind of movies has they're watchers,but people are more and more attract to thrillers,crime,drama.now to go back to the movie Cs NY...its good but sometimes its absurder the way they find clues(finger prints,dust etc)but..what a hell nothing its perfect so in the big picture its a good movie for those who like those kind.me include:)when i watch a movie for the first time ,it must be something..a person or something who must make me watch it.in Cs NY is Det. Mac Taylor,and in Cs Miami is Lt. Horatio Caine.what can i say,they make me watch the movies..and the crimes of course :)).
Gary Sinise is very fit for this serial and thanks to him it all works, the serial it's successful.He's the star and he gives a little bit of his magic to the serial...I actually love it, I love the serial and I would watch it constantly.The actors were very well chosen (except the cop, in my opinion).Gary, Anna, Carmine and Melina are acting with class, making the show realistic, and Eddie, but he is...starring too much at those bodies...I don't agree with the statement that the others are surrounding Mac all the time.
Network: CBS; Genre: Procedural Crime Drama, spin-off; Content Rating: TV-14 (for graphic gore and violence); Classification: Contemporary (Star range: 1 - 4);Season Reviewed: Season 1+For the 3rd spin-off the "CSI" franchise, they take it to where most other shows start out - tired, old, been-there-seen-that New York City.
I was hoping a talented and respectable actor like Sinise could elevate the series or bring nuance to the character (as Vincent D'Onofrio did on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent"), but he has virtually nothing to work with here other then a stock post-9/11 character trait already tackled in ABC's "Line of Fire".
The cases are interesting and they keep you guessing as to who is the killer.My one problem is that the characters feel like they belong in Boston and not New York.
I started to watch CSI NY after I found out that one of my favourite actors, Gary Sinise, plays the main character, Mac Taylor.
in my view,this entry in the CSI series is as good as CSI:Vegas.many of the episodes are pretty exciting.i also like the characters a lot.CSI:Vegas doesn't delve too much into the personal lives of its characters,whereas CSI:New York gives you some insight into them.plus,Gary Sinise is outstanding as the leader of the team,while i also like Melina Kanikaredes a lot.the show is much faster paced than either Vegas or Miami.each episode is exciting enough on its own that a cliffhanger episode isn't necessary at the end of the season.this approach is different from Vegas(Miami,i'm not to sure about,as i don't think i've watched a full season).i prefer this approach.that way,you don't have to deal with the unbearable suspense until the next season comes out.for me,CSI:NY is a 10/10.
Still the most noticeable, rather alarming, thing about it is how it is so loved to the extent of ensuing all of these seasons ?!!!!!If you're that pretty much masochist person who after all of this wants to go and watch (CSI : NY) then, one demand please, when you'll turn into a killer yourself try to aim towards however made this show !A true proof that part of the human in the 2000s has gone inhuman, and he likes it..
CSI rules.Miami is very different, but good at what it does differently.New York...
I liked the "sayonara" thing...I was little disappointed for this was too short of a sequence.I first thought it is a young Mexican actress, as dark hair and a bit slower accent could make it, then I saw who played, and surprise was a maximal because there are few good actors in the South-East Europe region (if you exclude Bella Lugosi).Yet, I think this could be very good show, as this is excellent idea, to introduce models in every episode.
Fourthly, the acting is very good, Gary Sinise is a great and I think underrated actor, and he is wonderful as Mac. Melina Kanakaredes looks stunning and acts convincingly which is a major plus in my book, and Carmine Giovinazzo is appealing as Danny.
I believe he does, but rather than using lines of cheesy dialogue,personality is portrayed through the expressions on Gary Sinise's face.Sinise ( the best actor of the three CSI series leads, even if the show is still in growing stages) uses his face to add personality and meaning to the character.
I don't know if the original writers are getting burned-out, getting senile, or what, but the programs are really starting to insult the intelligence of the viewers & I'm considering removing the show from my Tivo record list.This season's finale was part of an ongoing plot in which the sole protagonist is a psychopath in his 20s or 30s seeking revenge on one of the CSIs. The writing team has given this guy 9 lives, thanks to superhuman physical & intellectual powers & dumb NYPD cops falling for old tricks, and of course the brilliant CSI primary actors being hot on his trail.He fell off a 100+' tall lighthouse onto a rugged, rocky shoreline with waves breaking at night & his body was not recovered.
I think that CSI: New York is unique among the franchise because it is the only one of the shows that I feel that the city is a character.
I love this show and Iam, glad that was renewed for another year.This is by far one of the best,crime dramas I have ever watched.Gary Sinise is a great actor,whether it in movies or on TV.
I think people that have watched the "original" version CSI (Las Vegas) aren't giving the other shows a chance.
ITS NOT SHOT IN NEW YORK, Miami OR VEGAS!!!I definitely think that all those people out there who like the other two, should definitely tune into this one and enjoy!!!Oh, and my favourite character is Stella!!
CSI NY..For goodness sake..lets see a case involving some Italian-New York Mobsters..Crime TV shows are getting dull and if there's one thing the public are never sick of its Italian Mafia Bosses with there associates in the murky world of "The Cosa Nostra"..
The NY scene seems very gritty and Sinise seems rather cold at times, emotionally detached apart from the Pilot episode where he missed his wife and went to ground zero.CSI:NY over all seems worth a watch, and i will continue to watch it, i just won't expect too much out of it like i do from CSI or CSI:Miami.My vote = 5/10 or 6/10 = fairly average..
CSI is always an entertaining show, but the characters have become almost interchangeable.In CSI: NY there's Mac (Gil), Stella (Catherine), Danny (Nick), the young tech, the dark-haired girl that's a local, etc, etc, etc.It's basically just CSI: Vegas with new characters, plots that make less sense, and the NYC setting that's kind of NY, if you've never been there.Like CSI: Miami the dialogue is terrible, the acting is sub-par with an excellent cast, and the stories seem forced.It's a nice supplement to CSI: Vegas, but again imitation is nothing but flattery.
GARY--SHAKE IT UP!You're working with a great ensemble of actors, and you've got the long coattails of CSI Vegas and Miami to ride.
I had begun watching CSI the original and Miami a little over a year ago and was happy to hear that a third addition to the great television series was coming to CBS.
Anyhow, he looked like Gary Sinise so much at times that in the long shots I thought it was him.
Again, as with the Miami series, I wasn't so sure that it would be any good but when I watched it, I thought it was definitely worthy like the other two series.I love the characters.
They are completely different and unique to the city and none of the characters feel like they had been copied from the other series which is good.
I think a lot more can be shown of characters such of Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise), Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes), Danny Messer (Carmine Giovinazzo), Dr. Sheldon Hawkes (Hill Harper), Lindsay Monroe (Anna Belknap) and Det. Don Flack (Eddie Cahill).. |
tt0042094 | The Colgate Comedy Hour | The program evolved from NBC's first TV variety showcase, Four Star Revue, sponsored by Motorola. The "running gag" sketches were dropped in favor of more performing acts. The weekly show was proposed to be hosted by four comedians in a four-week rotation to provide competition for Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town on CBS. The first episode, starring Hans Conried, Rosemary DeCamp and Dick Foran, was written and produced by the then 22-year-old Peggy Webber, who appeared in over 100 episodes of Dragnet with Jack Webb.
The new format was heavily backed by its sponsor, Colgate-Palmolive, to the tune of $3 million in the first year, and the 8:00 p.m. ET, Sunday evening format show was a spectacular success, particularly for Eddie Cantor and the Martin & Lewis and Abbott & Costello duos. In his autobiography, Jerry Lewis wrote that the show premiered Sunday, September 17, 1950, with Martin & Lewis and was telecast from the Park Theatre off Columbus Circle in New York City. As theatres are known by different names over history, it is possible that this was the now-demolished International Theatre at 5 Columbus Circle, the broadcast location of another NBC show of the era, Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. In fact, Eddie Cantor hosted the first Colgate Hour on September 10, 1950.
During the 1950-51 season, AT&T put into regular service a coast-to-coast coaxial/microwave interconnection service which allowed live telecasts from across the nation. Three production units were quickly set up, one in New York, one in Chicago, and one in Los Angeles. Martin & Lewis and Abbott & Costello anchored the West Coast, broadcasting from the El Capitan theater in Hollywood (today known as Avalon Hollywood. Other shows that originated here include The Hollywood Palace), while Eddie Cantor anchored from New York. This gave NBC a substantial edge over Ed Sullivan, since top-grade talent from motion pictures could also do network TV on the West Coast Colgate Comedy Hour, while Sullivan had to work with whomever happened to be in New York at the time that a particular episode aired.
During the 1952-53 season, Cantor suffered a heart attack immediately after a Colgate Comedy Hour broadcast in September. Although he quickly recovered and returned in January 1953, he was reluctant to move with the show. By the fourth season, the sponsor was providing $6 million, but the performers were finding difficulty in offering fresh material. Ratings hence began to decline. Cantor had become too ill to continue in the hosting role, and the travel was too stressful and painful for him. His final Colgate appearance was in May 1954. Vic Schoen was hired as the musical director in 1954.
In 1954, Tony Martinez, later cast as the farmhand on The Real McCoys, made his television debut on The Colgate Comedy Hour.
Hal March and Tom D'Andrea appeared on The Colgate Comedy Hour in what subsequently became in the summer of 1955 the 11-episode NBC live military comedy series, The Soldiers. D'Andrea took leave from his role as Jim Gillis in William Bendix's The Life of Riley for The Soldiers.
In June 1955, the show changed its name to the Colgate Variety Hour to reflect a move away from pure comedy. A number of the earlier hosts had left by the end of the 1953-54 season (with the exception of Martin & Lewis) as the show shifted toward mini-musicals, starring hosts such as Ethel Merman and Frank Sinatra, who paired together in truncated version of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes". The show was also performing on the road as well, unlike other seasons where the shows were transmitted from New York or Los Angeles at 8 p.m. Gordon MacRae often served as host during this period.
However, ratings continued to slide while The Ed Sullivan Show got stronger. The final show, emceed by the series' last continuing host Robert Paige, aired as a Christmas special on December 25, 1955, with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians choral ensemble. The Colgate Comedy Hour was replaced the following season with the NBC Comedy Hour, hosted by Leo Durocher for the first three shows. After Durocher, the regular hosts changed, and after 18 broadcasts, the final show aired in June. Regular supporting casts always co-starred in each of the episodes. Jonathan Winters was featured on the show.
On November 5, 1967, NBC broadcast a special Colgate Comedy Hour revival (pre-empting The Dean Martin Show, which Colgate sponsored at the time), with guests Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, Edie Adams, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks [performing one of their "2000 Year Old Man" routines], Phyllis Diller, Bob Newhart, Nipsey Russell, and Dan Rowan & Dick Martin. None of the performers who had performed in the original 1950-1956 shows appeared. The special also served as a television pilot for a possible revival of the series, which never happened.
In the 1954-1955 season, Donald O'Connor left the show and starred in his own musical situation comedy, The Donald O'Connor Show, which aired on the NBC Saturday schedule alternating with The Jimmy Durante Show.
Notable guest stars who went on to find success in entertainment included Vera Miles, costar of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho, Bob Fosse, later a noted choreographer and director who won multiple Tonys and an Academy Award for his work, and even a child-age Christopher Walken, who became an Oscar-winning actor and screen star, appeared alongside Jerry Lewis in a sketch (albeit under his given name, Ronald).
Kinescopes of the 28 shows hosted by Martin & Lewis have been airing Saturday evenings on the classic television network RTV since June 30, 2012. | comedy, humor | train | wikipedia | Not the first color broadcast.
An earlier comment claims that an episode in November 1953 was the first color television broadcast ever.
The Federal Communications Commission, on Oct. 10, 1950, approved a color television system developed by CBS that was not compatible with existing black and white television sets.
However, a court challenge by RCA, which was developing its own color system that was compatible with black and white sets, tied up the inauguration of the CBS color system until a decision for CBS by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 1951.Finally, on June 25, 1951, CBS broadcast a one-hour program in color, called "Premiere", featuring Ed Sullivan and other CBS stars, and carried it on a five-station East Coast CBS-TV hookup.The episode of "The Colgate Comedy Hour" broadcast in color in November 1953 was actually the network debut of the rival RCA color television system.
In December 1953, the FCC formally reversed its earlier decision and approved the RCA system as the color standard for American television..
First TV show in colour.
'Colgate Comedy Hour' was a first-rate comedy-variety series, performed live from New York City and featuring some of the biggest names in American show business at the time.
The series was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive, a 'health and beauty aids' company which had established a healthy presence in the sponsorship of entertainment since the early days of radio.
In the 1940s, Al Jolson had starred in a weekly radio show sponsored by Colgate Tooth Powder, but he mistakenly kept identifying the sponsor as 'Colgate Toothpaste': a different product altogether, which was sponsoring a different radio show at the time.Apart from its excellent entertainment value, the Colgate Comedy Hour is also important for a technological reason.
The episode broadcast live on 22 November, 1953, hosted by Donald O'Connor, was the very first colour tv broadcast.
Prior to this, all colour tv transmissions had been closed-circuit only..
First Color Show?.
Recently, Gloria O'Connor (Donald's widow) told me that she thought the Nov. 22, 1953 Colgate Comedy Hour was the first color telecast of the newly-approved color system.
Evidently it was part of a test.
Many old-timers have insisted that the Jan 1 Rose Bowl Parade was the first color telecast.
Can anyone shed some light on the Colgate Comedy Hour?
I met Joyce Smith, one of the original dancers, at an NBC Reunion and she also believed that the show was telecast in color.
It would be a good thing to straighten this out for the history books.
In addition, Joyce said the Comedy hour originated at the original 'El Capitan' theater on Vine Street..
I've seen the two Abbott and Costello episodes.
Not all Colgate Comedy Hour episodes originated from New York.
In fact, when it began, production originated from New York and was kine-scoped for West Coast broadcast.
Beginning with the second season, production was divided between Hollywood and New York, with the majority of episodes originating from Southern California.
The show started in New York and ended in L.A. The first Los Angeles-based episode of the show aired late in September 1951.
All of the Los Angeles-based Colgate Comedy Hour episodes seem to have been filmed instead of aired live, as I have seen with a December 1952 Abbott and Costello-hosted episode.
Fred Waring was the final host of the series, and on Christmas Day 1955.
The first Colgate Comedy Hour to originate from outside New York or Los Angeles was from Philadelphia in 1951 not Las Vegas or Miami in 1954.
No sooner did the show end did Los Angeles overtake Chicago as an important center for TV production, as it remains 50 years later..
a true classic.
I've been lucky enough to see five episodes of this golden age of TV pioneer.
The high powered talent was only part of a top notch production.
Two of those shows featured Abbott and Costello, who can be seen doing their "Who's on First?" routine and interacting with horror film legend Boris Karloff.
The other three are Martin and Lewis shows, and actually made me laugh out loud more than a half century later, their work was that good.
In fact, what's obvious from those shows is that there's a lot of ad-libbing going on, and the two seem like they're absolutely having the times of their life.
If you find that DVD (the sleeve advertised two shows but actually contains three, all with original commercials, I found it for a dollar at a Dollar General store...talk about a buried treasure!) look for the bit part where Jerry teases two NBC studio cameramen.
A true gem.
And fans of old TV commercials won't be let down, either, by the catchy jingles and nice animation for Colgate toothpaste, Palmolive soap and shave cream, Halo shampoo or Fab detergent..
Martin and Lewis together again!.
The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950-1955) was a show that had the biggest comedians and entertainers as guest hosts.
It featured of music, fun and gags.
Last night I heard that the comedy legend Jerry Lewis has died at the age of 91.
I took the news with a heavy heart since I've been a big time JL fan for many, many years.
That was the reason I wanted to find something from the net with Mr. Lewis.
And I found an episode of this show from 1955.
There he teams with his old partner Dean Martin.
They still have the chemistry left here, and it is a true joy to watch them perform 'Side by Side' together.
And Jerry is his funny self when he makes Dino's pool playing impossible.
How sad that they're both gone now.
I hadn't seen this show before, but plan to see much more of it in the future..
From what I have seen it's good..
I own a DVD that is entitled "The Abbott & Costello Show".
But it's actually two episodes of "The Colgate Comedy Hour".
From what I have seen it looked like a good show.
But again I have only seen two shows.
Both shows were hosted by Abbott & Costello and they were hilarious.
It featured many different skits and bits including the "Two Tens For a Five".
And of course it had everyone's favorite "Who's on First?".
I really enjoyed the quick banter between the two.
I heard the best Abbott & Costello routines are the ones preformed in front of a live audience.
Costello was great at ad-libbing and it shows here.
I have only seen a couple of the Martin & Lewis movies and they were good.
So I'm guessing the ones hosted by them were good too.
I really recommend this to anyone who likes comedy and especially anyone who hasn't seen the "Who's on First?" bit.
It's classic stuff. |
tt0112722 | Copycat | After giving a guest lecture on criminal psychology at a local university, Dr Helen Hudson (Weaver), a respected field expert on serial killers, is cornered in a lavatory by one of her previous subjects, Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.), who kills a police officer and brutally attacks her. Helen becomes severely agoraphobic as a result, sealing herself inside an expensive hi-tech apartment, conducting her entire life from behind a computer screen and assisted by a friend, Andy (John Rothman).
When a new series of murders spreads fear and panic across her home city of San Francisco, Inspector M.J. Monahan (Hunter) and her partner Reuben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney) solicit Helen's expertise. Initially reluctant, Helen soon finds herself drawn into the warped perpetrator's game of wits. As the murders continue, Helen realizes that the elusive assailant draws inspiration from notorious serial killers, including Albert DeSalvo, The Hillside Strangler, David Berkowitz, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. When the murderer begins contacting and even stalking Helen, she and M.J. realize that he is after them, and they enlist the aid of Cullum, who tells them what he knows about the killer.
Helen soon realizes that the Copycat Killer has been following the list of serial killers in the same order as she had presented them in her lecture at the university on the night of her attack, and the two work to figure out where and when he will strike next. Unfortunately, Reuben is later killed in an unrelated shooting incident at the police station, leaving only M.J. now heartbroken that she never got to tell Reuben she loved him to continue the search for the serial killer.
After Andy is killed in a manner reminiscent of Jeffrey Dahmer, M.J. deduces the killer to be Peter Foley (William McNamara). After leading a failed attempt to catch Foley at his house, M.J. discovers that he has kidnapped Helen and taken her back to the scene of Daryll Lee's attempt at killing her—the restroom of the lecture hall. Once she gets there, M.J. finds Helen bound and gagged in the same manner that Cullum did before, but she is ambushed and shot by Foley, rendering her unconscious. As Foley prepares to kill M.J., Helen desperately attempts to save her by ruining Foley's carefully replicated crime scene the only way she can—by attempting to hang herself. Foley panics and cuts Helen down, and Helen is able to get away and escape to the building's roof. Her agoraphobia kicks in again, and Helen finds herself cornered. Accepting her fate, she turns to face Foley. However, just as he is about to kill her, M.J. shoots him in the brachial nerve, giving him one last chance to surrender. When he pulls his gun back on her, however, she shoots him dead.
Some time later, Daryll Lee writes a letter to another serial killer, instructing him on how to kill Helen, and revealing that he had been aiding Foley all along. Daryll wishes "good luck" at his new proxy in the mission of killing Helen. | mystery, neo noir, murder, violence, horror, claustrophobic, suspenseful | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0080947 | The Jayne Mansfield Story | The film tells the fictionalized rise and fall of Hollywood bombshell and sex symbol Jayne Mansfield.
The Jayne Mansfield Story opens in 1967 in Mississippi with Jayne Mansfield closing a show and then talking on a payphone with Mickey Hargitay about going on a new tour together. Intercut with scenes of Mansfield getting into a car and then crashing when the driver tries to overtake a spray truck is film of a teleprinter typing out the news of Mansfield's death. An announcer reads the text over both scenes. The film then goes to credits, intercut with still images of Mansfield as a child and young woman.
The next scene is of an unnamed woman interviewing Hargitay about Mansfield (Hargitay's graying hair indicates that this is some time after her death). Hargitay shows her photos including one where a dark-haired Mansfield poses with a chimpanzee as a publicity stunt to promote a film premiere at the theater where she worked as a popcorn salesperson. (Hargitay narrates throughout the rest of the film). At a scene from the theater and at home Mansfield expresses her desire to act in films and she is shown as a single mother, taking care of her only daughter Jayne Marie after the father left because he disagreed with her acting ambition.
In the next scene Mansfield approaches talent agent Bob Garrett on the street (whom she met, off-screen, at the premiere). She manages to convince Garrett to give her an audition for a one line part in a film after pushing her chest out and declaring that she has something more than Marilyn Monroe. At the audition, Mansfield declines to read the line given to her, opting instead to read a line from Come Back, Little Sheba. She doesn't get the part.
Meeting later with Garrett, Mansfield makes a high pitched cooing sound and strikes a pose, asking rhetorically if this is what they want. Garrett tells her she might be on to something and tells her to lose weight and change her hair. Mansfield states that she'll project an airheaded bimbo image until her career gets going and then she'll switch to more serious roles. A month later Mansfield meets with Garrett at a car dealership, with blonde hair and wearing a pink polka-dot dress, she's received a pink Cadillac for free as promotion. Next, Mansfield appears at the Southern California press club (courtesy of Garrett to raise her profile), handing out Christmas presents while wearing a white fur trimmed bikini top and bottom. At a Florida poolside photoshoot, Mansfield pretends to fall in the pool (losing her bikini top in the process), shouting that she can't swim to get the attention of the photographers who eagerly take pictures of her. | melodrama | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0090180 | To Live and Die in L.A. | Richard Chance and Jimmy Hart are United States Secret Service agents assigned as counterfeiting investigators in its Los Angeles field office. Chance has a reputation for reckless behavior, while Hart is three days away from retirement. Alone, Hart stakes out a warehouse in the desert thought to be a print house of counterfeiter Rick Masters. After Masters and Jack, his bodyguard, kill Hart, Chance explains to his new partner, John Vukovich, that he will take Masters down no matter what.
The two agents attempt to get information on Masters by putting one of his criminal associates, attorney Max Waxman, under surveillance. Vukovich falls asleep on watch, and consequently they fail to catch Masters in the act of murdering Waxman. While Vukovich wants to go by the book, Chance becomes increasingly reckless and unethical in his efforts to catch Masters. While Chance relies on his sexual-extortion relationship with parolee/informant Ruth for information, Vukovich meets privately with Masters' attorney, Bob Grimes. Grimes, acknowledging a potential conflict of interest that could ruin his legal practice, agrees to set up a meeting between his client and the two agents, who engage Masters by posing as bankers from Palm Springs interested in Masters' counterfeiting services. Masters is reluctant to work with them, but ultimately agrees to print them $1,000,000 worth of fake bills.
In turn, Masters demands $30,000 in front money, which is three times the authorized agency limit for buy money. To get the cash, Chance persuades Vukovich to aid him in robbing Thomas Ling, a man whom Ruth previously told Chance is bringing $50,000 cash to purchase stolen diamonds. Chance and Vukovich intercept Ling at the train station and seize the cash in an industrial area. Ling's cover people follow them, though, open fire and accidentally shoot Ling. Chance and Vukovich try to evade them through the streets, freeways and even one of the flood control channels, before a final escape by going the wrong way on the freeway. The next day, the end of their daily briefing includes an FBI bulletin that Ling was its undercover agent, kidnapped, robbed and murdered while on a sting operation. Only a generic description of the assailants and their vehicle is given. While Chance and Vukovich did not kill Ling, Vukovich is nonetheless consumed by guilt, while Chance is apathetic and focused solely on getting Masters. Unable to persuade Chance to come clean about their role in Ling's death, Vukovich meets with Grimes, who advises him to turn himself in and testify against Chance in exchange for a lighter sentence. Vukovich refuses to implicate his partner.
Chance and Vukovich meet with Masters for the exchange. After inspecting the counterfeit million, the agents attempt to arrest Masters and Jack, but Jack pulls a shotgun. Jack and Chance fatally shoot each other, and Masters escapes. Vukovich gives chase, going to a warehouse a previous informant had told them about. By the time he arrives, Masters has set fire to everything inside, destroying all evidence. Vukovich confronts Masters and during a brief struggle, Masters asks Vukovich why he did not take Grimes' advice to turn his partner in, revealing that Grimes was working on Masters' behalf all along. While Vukovich is stunned at the revelation, Masters grabs a board and knocks him unconscious. Masters then covers Vukovich with shredded paper and is about to set him on fire when Vukovich wakes up and shoots Masters. Masters drops his lighter and accidentally sets himself ablaze, while Vukovich empties his gun on the burning man, killing him.
Vukovich visits Ruth as she packs up to leave L.A. He mentions Chance's death, deducing she had known all along that Ling was FBI. He knows Chance had left her with the remaining cash that his agency now wants back, but Ruth says she needed it to pay debts she owed. Vukovich declares that Ruth is working for him now, turning into the same "whatever it takes" agent that his partner was. | revenge, neo noir, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | When Friedkin went "back on the streets" in 1985 to make TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A., he made a classic that will endure and that perfectly captures its 80's milieu.I don't understand these idiots who complain how a film is "dated" by its music.
These powerful ingredients weave their way through a police procedural/action thriller plot that never stops to catch its breath and is pure cinema.Willem Dafoe is totally engrossing as the film's villain, while William Peterson delivers a highly focused, tough turn.
Dean Stockwell is also a stand-out as a crook lawyer and real cop Jack Hoar is quietly spectacular as Dafoe's mule.And the film boasts one unbelievable car chase that has not been equaled since.But LIVE AND DIE is also a film that expertly marries the visual to the aural and depicts a part of Southern California that has not been so credibly depicted before.Dynamite!.
A car chase in the best traditions of "Bullitt" and of Friedkin's own "French Connection" is centers the action, but the motivation of a rogue agent obsessed with the death of his partner, and clearly with his own death, are well- and credibly- drawn.
For some reason, the public stayed away in droves as well, this as myself and my friend were practically organizing tours to the theater, introducing people to the film who, weened on "48 Hours", "Miami Vice" and yet to experience the Abbott & Costello hijinks of the "Lethal Weapon" series, had little concept of what a below-the-belt, impeccably crafted cop movie could be.
And with an outstanding, hyper-realistic cast of then unknowns--including Chicago theater alumni William Pederson, pre-"CSI" and with even more cock to his walk, swaggering through his pursuit of a damaged counterfeiter, Willem Dafoe--the screws tighten with each and every action sequence, climaxing the building mayhem with a cathartic, freeway massacre of automotive chaos on the same scale as a "Mad Max" movie.The characters ar caustic, the betrayals extremely violent, the music pounding, the ending, in particular, is a departure from the Gerald Petievich novel, the author, himself, a retired U.S. Treasury agent writing an even bleaker resolution to the problem of two unstable detectives at odds with each other, losing their sanity, and finding no comfort in their escalating criminal misbehavior.
Petersen) loses his partner and friend Jim Hart (Michael Greene) in an investigation of counterfeit, two days before the retirement of Jim. The agent John Vukovich (John Pankow) is assigned to work with Chance, who is obsessed to capture Eric 'Rick' Masters (Willem Dafoe), the criminal responsible for the death of Jim. Chance risks his partner and his own career, trying to arrest Rick."To Live and Die in L.A" is an excellent non-stop action movie, having an excellent pacing and being a politically incorrect police story.
William Petersen as Richard Chance, an ambitious adrenaline-charged treasury agent who becomes totally obsessed with avenging his partner's murder and Willem Dafoe as Rick Masters, a fabulously wealthy yet sleazy and violent counterfeiter form the nucleus around which the film unfolds.
To Live and Die in L.A is one of my favorite movies of all time and one of the best Action-Thrillers ever made.
Dark,unforgettable, and uncompromising, To Live and Die in L.A is an underrated classic and one William Friedkin's best films.To Live and Die in L.A tells the story of a secret service agent named Richard Chance(William Petersen) who is apart of a secret service unit that takes down counterfeit money and counterfeiters in Los Angeles.
Now looking for revenge, Richard Chance will do anything to get Rick Masters even if it means breaking the law.To Live and Die in L.A is an amazing film from beginning to end that was so dark and uncompromising in the 80's it's not a surprise the film wasn't a hit in 1985.
Well directed and fast-paced,the car chase is one of the all-time great Action scenes and a classic scene that's up there with The French Connection.
Steve James(Jeff) and Robert Downey SR(Thomas Bateman),Michael Greene(Jim Hart),Christopher Allport(Max Waxman),Jack Hoar(Jack) and Val DeVargas(Judge Filo Cedilo)also do good jobs in their roles.William Friedkin's direction is excellent,gritty,dark and stylish showing the city of Los Angeles that wasn't seen at the time in the 80s from the freeways,dirty streets,corners,vibrant colors and palm trees.
Great movie-making from Friedkin.The score and soundtrack by Wang Chung is excellent and fits with the film perfectly with the title theme song To Live and Die in L.A being my favorite.
Based on a novel by former Secret Service Agent Gerald Petievich, this action packed crime caper moves at a frenetic pace thanks to director William Friedkin (The French Connection) and it is also notable for featuring a cast of almost unknowns who later find stardom.Los Angeles Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (William L.
Petersen, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) is a reckless daredevil who vows to take down the brilliant but murderous counterfeiter Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe, Platoon) following the brutal murder of Chance's partner Jimmy Hart (Michael Greene) who was due to retire in less than three days.
Petersen, who made his big break here, turns in an excellent performance as the thrill seeking daredevil Secret Service Agent Richard Chance who is breaking every rule in the book no matter the cost to avenge the death of his partner.
John Pankow who is later well known for comedic roles does a fine job as straight laced John Vukovich who finds himself in a moral dilemma taking down Masters with his partner Chance.The soundtrack by pop band Wang Chun gives the film a neo-noir feeling reminiscent to Miami Vice although the same mood is transferred to Los Angeles.
Music is by Wang Chung and cinematography by Robby Muller.Secret Service agent Richard Chance (Petersen) swears to bring down those responsible for the death of his partner...Critics of the time were very divided on the quality of Friedkin's movie, with some being way off the mark by trying to put it in the same ball park as TV show Miami Vice!
In short, this is classic neo-noir.As an action film it also scores high, with the brutal violence handled with kinetic assurance by Friedkin, while the "famous" car chase that precedes the finale is worthy of all the praise thrown its way over the years.
The script stings with snide asides and moody exchanges and a splendid cast are led by Petersen and Dafoe turning in classical noir protagonist/antagonist portrayals.It's very 80s, Wang Chung's electro synth musical score ensures that is the case, as do the garish reds and greens that adorn the opening credits, but this is a good thing, for it's not a film of god awful mullets and spangle dressage.
And William Friedkin's direction is superb: he's topped himself with the chase scene in this film -- he also did the amazing chase in "The French Connection."Excellent performances from the entire cast; especially Willem Dafoe and Dean Stockwell..
There was also a man in the film, Rick Master's (the counterfeiter) right arm man, the muscle, named Jack (Played by Jack Hoar) now this man I had never seen before, but I knew this guy was too good to be nothing, or just some actor with a character to play named 'Jack'.
In Los Angeles, we follow the turmoil and obsession that swallows secret service agent Richard Chance, when his long-time partner and good buddy, Michael Greene, is killed by counterfeiter Eric 'Rick' Masters.
William Friedkin's "To Live and Die in L.A." is a sophisticatedly, hard-boiled crime thriller (adapted from the novel of Gerald Petievich, a former Secret Service agent) that has a plethora of unexpected turns and a very trance like appeal within its powerful makeup.
Peterson puts the boot in to give an excellently raw and hard-edge performance as secret service agent Richard Chance and Pankow equally so, as the very alert new partner John Vukovich.
Dean Stockwell plays the sneaky lawyer Bob Grimes, Darlanne Fluegel as the naturally stunning parolee Bianca Torres being used by Chance and Debra Feuer is manipulative, piercing as Master's flame, Ruth Lanier.What's makes this pounding flick inventively, wicked and far from contrived, is the way the film's material goes about its character's relationships with devious twists and deceptions making way for a great showstopper of an ending.A well-crafted and quite established crime thriller with explosive bursts interwoven into its glitzy, but also roughly cold embrace..
DaFoe loses in the end, but then everyone loses, one way or another.The best-known scene (justifiably) is the car chase that takes place in the wrong direction, against traffic, on the Long Beach Freeway.
A fearless Secret Service agent (William Petersen) will stop at nothing to bring down the counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) who killed his partner (Michael Greene).As with many movies, this one began as a novel by a former Secret Service agent.
Director William Friedkin read the book and loved it, attracted to what he saw as a "surreal" aspect of the Service: the balance of one day living the high life with the president and the next chasing counterfeiters through the slums of America.
and that's a good thing 'cause it gives teenagers these days an opportunity to see what the world was like before.After making the groundbreaking "The French Connection" in '71, William Friedkin had yet to make another slick cop movie....and he finally did that in '85....14 years later.
and dafoe even has the look of a heartless madman, and even looks like a freaking mannequin at some points in this movie.William Petersen, before his CSI days, shines as Richard Chance, the secret service agent who goes after Masters 'cause he killed his partner who was only 2 days away from retirement.
He's pretty devious for a law enforcement agent and an anti-hero who you might not sympathize with.The action and the thrills are top notch, especially the historical car chase that exceeds the ones in Bullitt and Friedkin's own; "The French Connection".
It features Chance and his new partner, Vulkovich, being chased by a couple bad guys and has cross the tracks before an incoming train and go on the wrong side of the freeway that'll keep you on the edge of your seat.There's some violence and some nudity in here, so it might not be suitable for kids, also, one more thing, the ending is gonna surprise you and this warning isn't going to be enough to save you, cause you will freak out by what happens.So, because of the LA Riots, LA cops have been forever branded as dirty and corrupt, *sigh* pretty sad, right?
There are three things going for this crime thriller: it's a great in the sense, believable and well-constructed story; for the time, it has an ordinary in the sense, not top box-office stars cast that produce star quality performances; and, of course, it's directed by William Friedkin, a director well known for constructing cinema designed to shock.The narrative which I understand only barely resembles the story line of the novel is a piece of nasty work in the form of the moral ambiguity that constantly arises when 'good' guys exceed their authority to do whatever it takes to bag the 'bad' guys.
Friedkin had already explored that in The French Connection (1971) but, at that time, he used a big star draw card with Gene Hackman, who, as Popeye Doyle, trod on a lot of toes and faces to do the job and still managed to garner sympathy from this viewer, and many others, despite his excesses.That is not the case for Richard Chance (William Petersen), the T-man who'll do anything to get Rick Masters (Willem Dafoe) for murdering another T-man, Jim Hart (Michael Greene), Chance's partner in crime, so to speak.
This movie will make you laugh, but also keep you glued in your seat with good action, and in your face plot twists...the high powered synth heavy soundtrack by Wang Chung is AWESOME...this is a must for any action, crime drama, or general movie fan's collection.Rick Masters is also the GREATEST movie villain ever, and you will see why if you give this great flick a chance....
This is all somehow connected, but with the way it's presented, you won't care.Later in the film come shifting loyalties, the dilemma of Chance's new partner (Pankow), one genuinely cool twist (I'll let you be surprised), and, what you all came to see, the car chase!
What it's "really" about, first of all, is a man who lowers himself into hell and finds that he likes it there.Visually it's a beautifully composed and shot film (directed by William Friedkin, photography by Robby Muller) with a great sense of place and time; almost worth seeing for those elements alone.Some of the dialog, unfortunately, is brutal: "I'm gonna bag Masters, and I don't give a @%&% how I do it." Which is why more than any movie except Legend and Star Wars: Episode I, this one might be just as well enjoyed if the DVD had a music-only audio track.Even though none of the film music is as good as the title song.
And although he is shown as having a girlfriend, played by the very shapely Debra Feuer, that character is a male impersonator; revealed to be either lesbian or bisexual.It's suggested that she is making sport of him all along.(Her girlfriend, just as an aside, is played by a young Jane Leeves, later known for Frasier and before that Murphy Brown.) Even a scene cut from the original release but available on the DVD supports this reading of the film as being about men needing never to let their guards down, lest a soft side show.It features Petersen's partner, played by John Pankow (who probably never topped this in movies, but was good, and funny, on Mad About You on television).He tries to reconnect with his ex-wife when his world is falling apart, and is violently rejected.The character who I think most suits the lyrics of the title song is played by Darlanne Fluegel.
French Connection director William Friedkin gives us a tour of the city of L.A.'s worst spots as an obsessive cop (William Petersen in only his second role) goes after the dude (Willem Dafoe) who killed his partner.
It really doesn't get much grittier then this, this dark-spirited crime caper based on a true story follows U.S. Secret Service Agent/Badass Richard Chance (William Petersen) and his bloody and consistent pursuit to catch the counterfeiter (Willem Dafoe) who murdered his soon-to-be retired partner.
I'm fascinated with "To Live and Die in L.A."--not because it is a terrific movie, but simply because after watching it dozens of times, I still can't figure out the dynamics going on between the characters, especially Chance's partner, Vukuvich (John Pankow), and mob lawyer Grimes (Dean Stockwell).
The film is frantic and explosive, has a dizzying development and action, true scenes of anthology and fantastic performances, especially of William Petersen (I still do not understand why this actor did not become a star) and Willem Dafoe.
Willem Dafoe is the main "bad guy," playing it with a sort of laconic menace, no stretch for him.Peterson's "Chance's" total obsession in pursuing Dafoe seems over-the-top to a large degree, and it costs others a great deal along the way, including - in the big car chase - probably more auto accidents on the freeway than even L.
Although I'm neither a fan nor an expert regarding the genre of thrillers and chase movies -- and although I have never even seen "The French Connection" (!) -- I have seen "To Live and Die in L.A." five times since I bought the DVD a few weeks ago.
It's as if the movie's makers wanted to make a movie with a long car chase, some fighting, some guns, and some nudity, and didn't really care about how stupid and senseless the story was or which second-rate actors played the lead roles.I don't give it a 1 because Willem Dafoe is pretty good, as usual, but there wouldn't have been anything anyone could do to save this stinker with a cast and a screenplay and directing like this.
When my cousin gave me a copy of To Live And DIE IN LA BACK IN THE LATE EIGHTIES,I had never heard of it.But after watching it for the first twenty minutes i knew it was going to be real good.I really like the grittyness and realism of this movie and rick masters (willem dafoe)is my favorite all time bad guy in a movie,also even though i've read some comment's that the sound track by wang chung is dated,there's only ahand full of other movies i can think of that have a sound track that better fit's the movie.
Starring William Peterson and Willem Defoe this is a Los Angeles crime caper full of action (containing what many consider one of the greatest car chase sequences ever filmed) and underlying themes.
William Friedkin's To Live and Die in LA is an underrated action thriller which deserves more recognition, now that sufficient time has passed since its release.
William Friedkin's To Live and Die in LA is an underrated action thriller which deserves more recognition, now that sufficient time has passed since its release.
However director William Friedkin ("French connection") takes a cliché story and creates one of the most dark , realistic and surprising movies I have ever seen.
William Friedkin directed this exciting crime thriller that stars William Petersen as law enforcement officer Richard Chance,whose partner has just been killed by clever counterfeiter Eric Masters(played by Willem Dafoe).
While watching this chase, I was appalled by the action sequences and the great direction of William Friedkin, who also directed, The French Connection.
I didn't expect much from this film, but in the end, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. is a fun movie to watch and never misses.4 out of 5.
I first saw To Live and Die in L.A. in 1985, I think mostly because William Friedkin directed it, and Willem Dafoe was one of the stars. |
tt0298296 | Derailed | Charles Schine (Clive Owen), is an advertising executive. His marriage to Deanna (Melissa George) is deteriorating, and his daughter Amy (Addison Timlin) suffers from diabetes, requiring expensive medication. Charles's story is being written down by an unidentified man in a prison cell.
On a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston). She is a married financial adviser. The two show each other photographs of their respective daughters and begin to talk. A mutual attraction develops, and the two begin meeting frequently. Ultimately, they decide to consummate their affair and wind up in a seedy hotel. An armed man—later identified as Philippe LaRoche (Vincent Cassel)—bursts into the hotel room, beats Charles, and brutally rapes Lucinda. Charles and Lucinda agree not to report the crime, as they do not want their spouses to learn of the affair. Shortly after, Charles is blackmailed by LaRoche, who threatens to kill his family if he does not pay $20,000, which Charles promptly pays. A month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding $100,000.
Charles explains his situation to Winston (RZA), an ex-con who works as a repairman in his building and whom Charles had earlier befriended. Winston offers to scare off LaRoche for ten percent of the payout. Charles agrees and embezzles the money from his company. He and Winston travel to the meeting location specified by LaRoche, intending to get the drop on him. However, before they can act, Winston is shot and killed. LaRoche appears and takes the money, leaving Charles to dispose of the body. Afterwards, Charles is questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito) about Winston's murder. Later, Charles receives a call from LaRoche who claims that he will kill Lucinda if Charles doesn't deliver the $100,000. Charles takes the money from an account meant for his daughter's medical treatment and makes the payoff.
The next day, Charles stops by Lucinda's company to ask to see her and is introduced to the real Lucinda Harris. The woman he met on the train is identified as Jane, a temp who had worked there briefly. He goes to Lucinda's apartment, which he realizes is actually in the process of being rented out. Seeing that Lucinda's photograph of her daughter was actually a cut out of a stock picture in a brochure, Charles realizes Jane was in on the scam. He tracks her down and sees her kissing LaRoche. Determined to retrieve his stolen money, he follows Jane's moves and sees that she is seducing another unsuspecting businessman (David Morrissey). He rents a room in the same hotel where Jane, LaRoche, and their partner Dexter (Xzibit) set him up and awaits them as they snare their new target. Jane and the businessman go to the room, but Charles knocks LaRoche unconscious before he can follow them. Charles breaks in and demands the return of his money. A gunfight ensues, and everyone is shot but Charles, who watches Jane die. Charles, while in his rented room, is cleared by the police near the crime scene. As he leaves the hotel lobby, the continued investigation has all contents from the hotel safe laid out on the front desk. Charles casually identifies his briefcase, which still contains his money, and quietly leaves the hotel.
Charles is later accused by his boss Eliot (Tom Conti) of stealing money from the company, and he is arrested for embezzling the $10,000 that he paid Winston and is sentenced to six months of community service, teaching in a prison. During one of his classes, he comes across the story about him written on one of the students papers. The unknown writer instructs him to go to the laundry room. There, Charles finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight. LaRoche threatens to continue to disrupt Charles's life, but Charles reveals that he has planned the encounter. He produces a shank, which Winston had given him, and stabs LaRoche to death. As Charles leaves, he encounters Detective Church who indicates that he knows LaRoche killed Winston. While Church suspects Charles of killing LaRoche, he lets him return to his family, where Charles reconciles with his wife and daughter. | violence, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0244316 | Yi yi | Yi Yi depicts the trials and tribulations of the Jian family of Taipei. The narrative shifts between three perspectives: the middle-aged father NJ (Wu Nien-jen), the young son Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), and the teenage daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee). The film starts with a wedding, concludes with a funeral, and contemplates areas of human life in between.
The father, NJ, is dissatisfied with his work and the desire of his business partners to enter into a deal with a well-known Japanese videogame company. While his partners are only concerned about making money, NJ finds that his honest nature is unappreciated in the commercial realm. To his surprise, he connects with the Japanese software mogul, Ota. Meanwhile, an old flame, Sherry, tries to come back into his life following a chance reunion.
Yang-Yang, NJ's son, is having troubles at school. He is picked on by both his female classmates and one of his teachers. However, he develops an interest in photography that buoys him through these hardships.
Finally, Ting-Ting, NJ's daughter-in-law, gets involved in a love triangle that includes her friend next door and the neighbor's troubled boyfriend.
All three characters have to deal with their problems while caring for NJ's comatose mother-in-law, as NJ's wife has left for a Buddhist retreat in order to cope with a midlife crisis. In addition, A-Di, NJ's overweight brother-in-law who marries a starlet at the start of the film, balances relationships with his demanding wife and a former love, complicating matters within his extended family.
The other Taiwanese cast members include Elaine Jin as NJ's wife, Min-Min, Su-Yun Ko as NJ's former love Sherry, Hsi-Sheng Chen as A-Di, and Pang Chang Yu as Fatty. The film also stars Japanese comedian Issey Ogata as a Japanese software mogul, Ota. | romantic, humor, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0443431 | Another Gay Movie | The story centers around four gay friends who have recently graduated from San Torum High School. Andy (Michael Carbonaro) is an awkward, sex-crazed character who frequently masturbates with his mother's fruits and vegetables. Jarod (Jonathan Chase) is a handsome and fit jock who is quite insecure. Griff (Mitch Morris) is a nerdy, well-dressed guy who is secretly in love with Jarod. Nico (Jonah Blechman) is the most flamboyant, outgoing, and effeminate of the group. The four of them decide to make a pact to have sex by the end of the summer. Each boy proceeds to pursue sex in different ways, with both tragic and comedic results. Nico tries to secure an online date with a man named Ryder (Matthew Rush), but ends up with the grandfather (George Marcy) of their lesbian friend Muffler. Jarod seeks out fellow jocks, including a baseball pitcher named Beau (James Getzlaff), while Griff tries to earn the affection of Angel (Darryl Stephens), a male stripper; Jarod and Griff leave these men to have sex with each other instead, because they are in love. Andy, having failed to seduce his long-time crush, his math teacher, Mr. Puckov (Graham Norton), has a threesome with the rejected Beau and Angel. Much of the humor comes from how awkward each boy is at romance and how naive they are about sex. Each plot backfires horribly, until the boys finally begin to change their attitudes towards sex at the end of the film. | pornographic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0068657 | Il grande duello | Philip Wermeer has escaped from prison where he serves a sentence for the murder of Ebenezer Saxon, the patriarch of Saxon city, who in his turn is believed to be behind the murder of Wermeer’s father. Wermeer is holed up in Gila Bend by a swarm of bounty killers, who want his $3,000 reward, posted by Saxon's three sons David, Eli and Adam.
A sheriff named Clayton arrives on a stagecoach and bosses his way through the cordon set up by the local lawmen. While walking to the saloon, he performs actions that tip off Wermeer as to where some of the besiegers are hidden (like throwing a lit match so a man hidden in hay has to put it out). Wermeer makes it to the saloon, where Clayton, who has counted Wermeer's shots and knows that he is out of bullets, arrests him.
Hole, a spokesman for the bounty killers, calls on Wermeer to surrender. A shot rings out and Clayton emerges dragging the "dead" convict. They argue that Clayton -– who if he is a sheriff cannot collect bounty -– should give up the body. The disagreement develops into a gunfight. Wermeer jumps up on a horse and escapes, pursued by the pack (though not Clayton). Wermeer makes the bounty hunters follow his horse, then hitches a ride with the stagecoach, where he finds Clayton among the passengers.
When they stay the night at Silver Bells, Wermeer goes for a shotgun hanging on the wall, but Clayton stops him. A drunken stationmaster assures the gun is empty, but Clayton retorts: "Never consider a gun empty.” Then he and Wermeer play cards, Wermeer betting his $3,000 bounty. Wermeer wins and Clayton promises to take him to Saxon city as he wants. Wermeer steals a revolver from Clayton’s bag, but is told that it is empty. Wermeer repeats Clayton’s earlier saying and pulls the trigger, but Clayton shows him the bullet, taking it out of his mouth. Wermeer tries to leave, but Clayton shoots the door, this time with bullets.
Bounty Hunters led by Hole surround the house. They give Wermeer thirty seconds. He and Clayton are inside with Elisabeth, a female passenger who has earlier shown interest in Wermeer. Clayton tells her that Wermeer is innocent and that he saw who did it, but if Wermeer walks out the door he will never know. Wermeer gives himself up. Hole and two of the bounty hunters now kill the others in their pack, then ride off with Wermeer.
Clayton finds them beating and questioning Wermeer in a waterfall, asking where the silver of his father is and offering to let him go if he tells. Clayton shoots off the rope and liberates him. Wermeer asks if he is still a prisoner. When Clayton says no, he holds a gun against Clayton and rides off to Saxon city on the latter’s horse.
Wermeer confronts the Saxon sons, Adam and Eli. He accuses Eli (who is sheriff) and asks who killed his father. We also learn that Hole was sent by Eli to find out who really killed the old man Saxon.
Clayton arrives and demands that the Saxons reopen Wermeer's case. Wermeer sends word to his own friends to gather at the silver mine A duel between Hole and Wermeer is supervised by Clayton after he reveals that it was Hole who killed Wermeer’s father. An ambusher is there helping Hole, but Wermeer shoots him without Clayton interfering. (In a German-language version, the dying Hole says he killed Wermeer because the latter refused to share the silver.)
Adam Saxon massacres Wermeer's followers with hidden explosives and a machine gun. He also kills his own men, not to leave any witnesses. David Saxon, the oldest of the brothers, meets with Clayton, who says that they both know who killed the old man Saxon. David offers $25.000 if he and Wermeer leave town.
Clayton relays the offer that the charge will be dropped. Wermeer replies that the Saxons made the offer because "dead people don't need a leader.” Adam shoots him from a window, though Elisabeth, who arrived in town to marry Adam, cries out a warning. Clayton escapes during the gunfight.
In the morning, Wermeer is to be hanged. Clayton says he knows who is the real killer. David wants the hanging to continue but Eli says that he must know. Clayton confesses that he himself did it, saying that the judge was bought by Saxon, so justice could only be done this way. The Saxons agree to meet him at the cattle pens.
At the confrontation, when Clayton approaches, David says that the three must draw first to overcome Clayton’s expert gunplay. Wermeer, from a distance, shoots off Clayton’s hat so that he draws first and kills the three men. Wermeer picks up his hat and gun and says that Clayton now can go back to being a sheriff. Wermeer leaves for Mexico with Elisabeth, not caring about the silver. The old man from the stagecoach drives them. | western, violence, murder | train | wikipedia | It could be said that The Grand Dual is merely a vehicle for its lead star, and whoever said it wouldn't necessarily be wrong; but while this film doesn't feature a lot of originality, it's also true that Italian cinema was based on repeating itself, and the film definitely succeeds in providing an enjoyable slice of western action.
The plot focuses on Sheriff Clayton as he becomes involved in the murder of a man so-called 'The Patriarch' through his association with the sly Philipp Wermeer.
The film follows the pair as they make their way through bandits and bounty hunters and eventually end up in Saxon town, where the sons of the Patriarch live.
They've fingered Wermeer as the murderer of their father, and naturally want him hanged; but there's a twist to the identity of the murderer.Lee Van Cleef made his name with Sergio Leone and the masterpiece westerns 'For a Few Dollars More' and, of course, 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly'.
This film is nowhere near the quality of those two, but Van Cleef does well in his 'man in black role', which is a variation on the common western 'loner' theme, which was made famous by the likes of Clint Eastwood and Django.
The film features a lot of shootouts and chases on horseback, which are always good to see; but at times, The Grand Dual puts too much focus on entertainment value and this can mean that the plot suffers.
Overall, this film isn't one of the great Spaghetti westerns - but it's a good one and comes recommended..
Then we have Lee Van Cleef playing Clayton in a black, black Western outfit in stark contrast to the white outfits of the Saxons.
This is a western vengeance with a young named Philip Wermeer (Peter O'Brian) wrongly accused of killing a patriarch and going after those whom murdered his father .
He lives for one purpose to avenge his death but is also pursued by cutthroat bounty hunters and the sheriff of Jefferson named Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) .
At the end is revealed the amazing truth about who killed The Patriarch .It's one of the numerous European Western (this time co-produced by Italy, France , Monaco, Germany) posterior to Sergio Leone ¨boom¨ and follows the Spaghetti Western models .
Features appearance by stalwart Spaghetti , Lee Van Cleef , he plays his usual role , even wearing similar black clothes of former characters as Colonel Mortimer , Sentenza and Sabata .
The flick will appeal to Lee Van Cleef fans and Spaghetti western buffs ..
This is a brilliant Italian/German/Monocco western that is vastly underrated with touches of Italian Giallo, a little Neo Realism and Nourish properties as well.....also being trendy via having one of the characters, the youngest of the brothers to be homosexual and deadly with a gun...also and interesting mix of flashback desaturated blue filtered monochrome/black and white photography....the film is finally on DVD thru Treeline films, part of a vast 50 films DVD collection.....the only drawback is the film is only formatted via Pan and Scan, which is very apparent, almost like watching a tennis match....well anyway a widescreen print is available this will have to do, but even in Pan and Scan , this is a Grand film and highly recommended for Van Cleef and non Van Cleef fans..also a brilliant score by future Academy Award winner Luis Enrique Bacalov which is making a comeback via the soundtrack to Kill Bill Vol 1.....please get this film along with the collection I mentioned earlier....not bad for $25.00....thanks.
The Grand Duel is one of the most under-rated Spaghetti Westerns ever made.
Good action scenes and a great sound track by Luis Enriquez Bacalov under the name Sergio Bardotti.
Sheriff Lee Van Cleef aids a fugitive convicted of murder in his escape from a group of vicious bounty hunters and involves himself in a murder mystery involving the fugitive and a powerful family of three ruthless brothers.The Grand Duel is watchable but not particularly exciting or memorable, with the plot taking way too much time to develop with Van Cleef's motivations remaining murky a bit longer than they should.Horst Frank is good as the eldest brother with delusions of grandeur.
His effeminate psycho brother is a lot of fun to watch too.The title event where Van Cleef takes on multiple gunmen is the best thing about the movie..
While Lee Van Cleef and Jess Hahn dubbed themselves, the rest of the cast have the usual 'spaghetti' dubbing, with some English accents thrown in.
Lee Van Cleef knows, but he isn't answering any questions
at all!Horst is the crooked mayor of Saxon City since his father (also Horst Frank) was probably, but possibly not, gunned down by George Harrison.
Lee Van Cleef is the has-been sheriff who is out to clear George Harrison's name, indulge in a bit of banter, be as vague as humanly possible about every question he's asked, and plug him a few bad guys into the bargain.
Average Italo Western with Lee Van Cleef and Barry Gibb (just kidding).
Released in 1972 (1974 in the USA) and directed by Giancarlo Santi, "The Grand Duel" is a Spaghetti Western starring Lee Van Cleef as a grizzled ex-sheriff who helps a framed man (that looks like Barry Gibb from the Bee Gees) confront the politically powerful trio of brothers who want him slain.
Awesome spaghetti western, with a Lee Van Cleef who never ever looked coolers in his life and arguably the greatest theme song ever composed for a film (and that's something Quentin Tarantino probably agrees with as he also selected the song for the soundtrack of "Kill Bill").
Van Cleef plays former Sheriff Clayton, and obviously he's the type of gunslinger whose eyes are never really closed when he lies asleep with his hat over his face and who spots the hideout of every potential enemy without even lifting his head.
Saxon City is kept under the thumbs of the three rich and utterly corrupted Saxon brothers David, Eli and Adam (too bad none of them is named John
) and they falsely accused Philippe of killing their father at Jefferson train station.
"The Grand Duel" has everything you could possible seek in a western: outrageous shootouts, invincible heroes and psychopathic villains (especially Adam, the youngest Saxon, is oddly menacing), compelling sub plots, jaw-dropping moments of intensity, magnificent decors and breath-taking exterior locations and – as said already – an impeccable soundtrack.
Director Giancarlo Santi might not be the most prominent name in the field of classic Italian westerns, but he obviously paid close attention to the films of the masters (like Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci and Sergio Sollima).
With a script by Ernesto Gastaldi, Italy's hardest-working scriptwriter of the period, and direction from Giancarlo Santi, who worked as assistant director on THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, it has brilliant credentials behind it as well as a cast of some of the genre's heaviest hitters.
It could have quite easily been a classic and parts of it are – the haunting music and theme that plays repeatedly throughout the movie manages to out-do Morricone and is possibly my favourite spaghetti western score; Tarantino must have liked it too, because he used it in KILL BILL.
The action scenes are well handled and the final duel even manages to approach the ending of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY in terms of quality, with superb accompanying music and decent camera-work.
Essentially, though, what makes this more than watchable is the leading presence of Lee Van Cleef, appearing exactly the same as he did in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and giving another stern performance with his acting for the most part in his eyes – hands down Van Cleef is my favourite spagwest actor and he hasn't disappointed me yet.Van Cleef is given some good support, especially from the likes of regular German bad guy Horst Frank and newcomer Peter O'Brien, who only acted in this one film before disappearing off the face of the earth (he looks uncannily like Ray Lovelock in THE LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE).
A grizzled ex-sheriff (Lee vanCleef) helps a man framed for murder to confront the powerful trio of brothers who want him dead.There is a bit of history for the people involved.
The film was directed by Giancarlo Santi, who had previously worked as Sergio Leone's assistant director on "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West".
Also, the film's music was composed by future Academy Award winner Luis Enríquez Bacalov; the title score was later used in Quentin Tarantino's film "Kill Bill: Volume 1".As far as spaghetti westerns go, it is decent.
Personally, I really like Lee VanCleef, and I think his presence is the film's saving grace.
"The Grand Duel" directed by Giancarlo Santi is a movie that failed to properly use it's star power and great score.
But the biggest and most crucial reason goes to the highly unsatisfying final showdown that fails to keep to the movie's name.The film stars Lee Van Cleef as a lawman named Clayton who is on the trails of Philipp Wermeer played by Alberto Dentice.
Framed for the murder of a high profile person, Wermeer is constantly chased by bounty hunters and only Clayton's timely intervention saves him from death and further, sets him on a course to prove his innocence.
From then on the usual bloodbaths begin as both Clayton and Wermeer make their way through hordes of bounty hunters, hired guns and finally the vengeance minded sons of the man Wermeer allegedly killed.
The opening scenes are especially memorable as Dentice's character shows moves that would later become standard part in action movies.
Scene to scene transition is shabby a good example of that happens shortly after the shootout at the inn in the beginning, with the scene directly cutting into the chase between Wermeer and the bounty hunters, spontaneously changing the music.
Luis Bacalov made a great score for this film and it wasn't edited well enough in, again as an example take the opening scene when Van Cleef's character is walking to the inn.On the good side, we have Lee Van Cleef who is his usual "Man In Black" self, delivering a great performance as Sheriff Clayton.
Spaghetti westerns often lack decent female leads and "The Grand Duel" is a typical example of that.I felt disappointed with "The Grand Duel", because it could have been a good movie had it only been given more time for post-production and a few minor changes to the script.
Ernesto Gastaldi ("My Name is Nobody", "Torso") wrote this very fine film that neatly combines the Spaghetti Western and murder mystery genres.
Alberto Dentice plays Philipp Wermeer, a man desperate to know the identity of the man who shot his father.
Assisting Philipp is leathery former sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef), who believes Philipp to be innocent.
On the other side are the Patriarchs' angry sons, one of whom, David (Horst Frank) is a power hungry madman.Director Giancarlo Santi was Sergio Leones' assistant director on "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West", and it's obvious that he learned all the right lessons.
One very nice touch is the way that Santi shoots the flashback sequences (in which Frank also plays the Patriarch), in atmospheric black & white.
"The Grand Duel" (1972), directed by Giancarlo Santi, is a fun Spaghetti Western that is also one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite film's (he uses the music by Luis Bacalov in "Kill Bill").
The screenplay is not overly complex that has at least one quite surprising twist: Lee Van Cleef plays an ex-lawman called Clayton who protects Newman (Peter O'Brien) from a false murder rap.
The score is tuneful, the acting is passable, although Van Cleef and Klaus Grünberg are honourable exceptions and the direction is very confidant, surprising when you lean that this was Santi's only Western (but he was Leone's assistant director on "Duck, You Sucker!" [1971])..
Above Average Italian Oater Enhanced by Lee Van Cleef and A Terrific Orchestral Score.
Prolific Spaghetti western scenarist Ernesto Gastaldi penned the script for this Lee Van Cleef continental oater "The Grand Duel," directed with considerable competence by Giancarlo Santi.
Although he didn't helm any Spaghetti westerns aside from "Grand Duel" on his own, Santi served as Sergio Leone's assistant director on "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (1966) and his masterpiece "Once Upon A Time in the West" (1968) as well as Giulio Petroni's assistant director on "Death Rides A Horse"(1967).
"The Grand Duel" ranks high up in the lower 25 Spaghetti westerns out of the best 100.
In "The Grand Duel," he rides in a stagecoach, while he rides in a train with his head bowed beneath a black hat in "For A Few Dollars More." In the latter film, Van Cleef concealed his face behind a huge Bible when he asked the conductor about the train making an unscheduled stop.
The conductor warns him they aren't going to stop where Van Cleef's frock-coated, black hat clad character wants.
Nevertheless, Van Cleef tugs the emergency cord, halting the train, and disembarks to fetch his horse from the freight car.As "The Grand Duel" opens, lawmen fire warning shots at the stagecoach that Sheriff Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) is riding in and refuse to let Big Horse (Jess Han of "Escape from Death Row") enter Gila Bend.
Anyway, one of the Patriarch's sons Eli Saxon (bald headed Marc Mazza of "Moonraker") accused Philipp Vermeer of killing the Patriarch, (Horst Frank in a dual role wearing whiskers), a wealthy, unscrupulous power-broker hated by half of the state.
David's words: "In a violent country, he who seizes today, controls tomorrow," epitomizes his treachery."The Grand Duel" plays out in three settings: first in Gila Bend; second at the isolated Silver Bells stagecoach station, and third in Saxon City where a showdown occurs in the stock pens in traditional western style.
Meantime, hardcore Lee Van Cleef fans won't want to miss "The Grand Duel" for its several shootouts as well as the twists and turns in Gastaldi's screenplay.
There's a great DVD set put out by St. Clair Vision that offers nine films, appropriately titled "Spaghetti Westerns", and fairly oozing garlic oil and marinara.
If you're only familiar with the Clint Eastwood 'Man With No Name' films, you'll be intrigued and entertained by the offerings here, among them "The Grand Duel".
The fact that he's a ruthless gunman is almost beside the fact, his pock marked face is worthy of a seamy horror flick.The three Saxon Brothers are out to avenge the death of their father, and numerous flashback sequences that offer the darkened outline of the killer point to only one person, and yet when Sheriff Clayton (Van Cleef) reveals it was himself, it almost comes as a surprise.
Early in the story, it appears that Clayton's quarry is Wermeer, until they team up following the apparent killing of Wermeer by bounty hunters - neat twist!
If you're used to the Eastwood style of the genre, you might find the circus type acrobatics of "The Grand Duel" to be somewhat off base, but it seems to be standard fare in some of the other films on the collection I mentioned earlier.
Played with glasses of whiskey, it seemed to me that the winner would be the guy who got drunk first; after all, you had to down your shot after jumping the opposition.I would swear I'd heard portions of the musical score in another film, it's so provocative you find yourself actually anticipating some it.
The Grand Duel might not live up to Sergio Leone's films, but at least it's not the worst.
The film starts out with an ex-sheriff name Clayton (Lee Van Cleef) arrived by stage coach, to find out that an escape convict, Phillip Vermeer (Alberto Dentice AKA Peter O'Brien) is hiding out in his town.
Lee Van Cleef has more a reason to be there and more to do.
There is David Saxon (Horst Frank) who plays both the patriarch and his oldest son, a cunning, knowing man with political ambitions, who bides his time; then the middle child, Sheriff Eli Saxon (Marc Mazza) who is a simple and impatient man of action, and then the youngest brother, Adam Saxon (Klaus Grünberg) who steals the movie with his portrayal of a homosexual maniac who kills an entire community of Dutch immigrants just for fun, in a scene so over the top it will leave you cringing.
In the United States, the film is known as Grand Duel, Storm Rider, the Loner, and the Big Showdown.
Good Spaghetti Western.
I though this was a very good film.Shot in the hippie and Deep Throat era of 1972.It's hippie in some of the styles.Which are not accurate.some of the scenes look very staged.The towns look like a quick set up.This was a low budget western for a Lee van Cleef vehicle.Clint Eastwood westerns had a bigger budget.The bad guy is played by a very Hippie Alberto Dentice as Philipp.He's been accused of murdering the crooked leader of a western town Saxon City, Patriarch Samuel Saxon ,played by Horst Frank,who does not say any word in this picture.He's only in a flash back,in black n white.
Lee Van Cleef plays Sheriff Clayton, Who tries to help Phil,but he's stubborn.One of the crooked Saxon Brothers who was sheriff Eli,played by Marx Mazza had witness that Phil did not kill their daddy.It was the other Saxon Brother ,Adam, who saw it,but he's framing Phil cause his father owned a silver mind and the brothers are power hungry,the way the corporate acting film making and distribution business are.I am wondering if the Adam character, who looks like he has syphilis marks in his face, played by Klaus Grunberg,is he suppose to be a fop? |
tt0077687 | The Hobbit | Gandalf tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for Thorin and his band of dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. When the music ends, Gandalf unveils a map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition's "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself.
The group travels into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map. Passing over the Misty Mountains, they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles. As a reward for solving all riddles Gollum will show him the path out of the tunnels, but if Bilbo fails, his life will be forfeit. With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase, but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn.
The company enters the black forest of Mirkwood without Gandalf. In Mirkwood, Bilbo first saves the dwarves from giant spiders and then from the dungeons of the Wood-elves. Nearing the Lonely Mountain, the travellers are welcomed by the human inhabitants of Lake-town, who hope the dwarves will fulfil prophecies of Smaug's demise. The expedition travels to the Lonely Mountain and finds the secret door; Bilbo scouts the dragon's lair, stealing a great cup and learning of a weakness in Smaug's armour. The enraged dragon, deducing that Lake-town has aided the intruder, sets out to destroy the town. A thrush had overheard Bilbo's report of Smaug's vulnerability and reports it to Lake-town defender Bard. His arrow finds the chink and slays the dragon.
When the dwarves take possession of the mountain, Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, an heirloom of Thorin's dynasty, and hides it away. The Wood-elves and Lake-men besiege the mountain and request compensation for their aid, reparations for Lake-town's destruction, and settlement of old claims on the treasure. Thorin refuses and, having summoned his kin from the Iron Hills, reinforces his position. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone to head off a war, but Thorin is intransigent. He banishes Bilbo, and battle seems inevitable.
Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins and Wargs. The dwarves, men and elves band together, but only with the timely arrival of the eagles and Beorn do they win the climactic Battle of Five Armies. Thorin is fatally wounded and reconciles with Bilbo before he dies. Bilbo accepts only a small portion of his share of the treasure, having no want or need for more, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit. | fantasy, cult, violence, good versus evil, revenge, entertaining | train | wikipedia | I've read comments that slam the film for either technical faults or the fact that it has left out a number of things.All these things are true, of course.Though I thought the artwork itself was quite good, the animation could use some work.
A glorious ensemble of voices including the legendary John Huston and Otto Preminger gave life to Tolkien's creation while the outstanding folk and fantasy score illuminates the story.You'll see why Frodo was supposed to be an actor in his 50's for the LOTR trilogy (though Peter Jackson's opus was well cast anyway in every position).This will whet your appetite until "Hobbit" is a full-length feature in theatres (fingers crossed) and no doubt, Mr. Jackson and his screenwriters will pull visuals and more from this timeless adaptation.The only shame of it is annually, Rankin-Bass's Christmas offerings are still aired while The Hobbit and its sister production of Return Of The King (starring Roddy McDowell as Samwise The Brave!) aren't.Catch that feature too as it picks up where the Ralph Bakshi stab at The Fellowship Of The Rings/Two Towers left off.
I was enchanted by the movie, and I credit it with motivating me to read 'The Hobbit' and later 'The Lord of the Rings', thereby transforming me into a lifelong Tolkien fan (albeit not as die-hard as some, I admit).
Also, the periodic fade-outs/fade-ins for commercials are distracting.* A product of its time, the movie is wall-to-wall with songs, most with lyrics written by Tolkien, one written originally for the film, all sung to '70s folk ballad melodies.
None of this is a bad, and is even refreshing, but it is the work of Rankin/Bass, not Tolkien.* Some of the key players are perfect: Orson Bean as Bilbo, John Huston as Gandalf, Richard Boone as Smaug and Theodore as Gollum bring great life and character to the movie.
The one-on-one scenes between Bilbo and each of the other three are easily the best part of 'The Hobbit'.Overall, the movie is best suited for the audience for whom it was intended, children.
* read the Book.Third - Since the current (wonderful) movies are coming out, this provides a foundation that makes them even more enjoyable.Finally - Even in this animated version, one can tell why J.R.R. Tolkien is celebrated as one of the finest writers of the 20th century.
'The Hobbit' is in this shape more of a family/children's movie than the new Lord of the Rings movies, and its runtime of only 78 minutes makes it feel a little stressed through since the scenes aren't given much time each.
But nevertheless, it features good animation, solid voicework and music that is FAR MORE fantasy-like than the more majestic approach in Peter Jackson's movies.
Many Tolkien fans who have written reviews say that this movie has done bad things to the book.
But they stuck some interesting spins on what elves, dwarves, Wizards, Dragons and Hobbits look like, along with trolls and whatever, personally I found it to be interesting.And how can you knock the voices-I mean-John Huston?
Rankin-Bass did make it more for kids, definately, and took some cuts here and there-Beorn and the Arkenstone bye-bye, for example, and no one is claiming the animation is up to, say, 'Aladdin' standards, but on its own, it works fine.*** outta ****, pretty good, actually.And Where is Leonard Maltin's review?
The Riddles in the Dark part was pretty good too (although, I think they took the description in the Lord of the Rings of Gollum looking like a starved frog a little too far).
The film lends itself to this "reading" because of his teacherly demeanor and conveniently timed appearances, departures, and revelations -- it's as if he's trying to set the ideal difficulty level for the little guys, or for a good story.) Overall, The Hobbit is a very fun movie.
The Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings cartoon movie was done in a different style and I wasn't that big of a fan, it started out well but the last 25% was strange (Mixing darkly lit live-action with the animation), it's still worth watching though, there are scenes that are very well done.
They also messed up some of the great lines from the book, and the elves don't look to me like tall, perfect, beautiful immortals people, although Elrond isn't done too badly in this film.
Of all the film adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium, the 1977 animated version of The Hobbit from Rankin/Bass Production (best known for their Christmas specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman) is the very best.
They are the definitive Tolkien voices.While it isn't perfect, The Hobbit is an excellent film for both children and adults.
In 1977, The Hobbit , the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy classic was adapted into this excellent animated feature first broadcast on television by my all-time favorite animation studio - Rankin/Bass.
The vocal cast can't be improved upon like Orson Bean is perfect as Bilbo Baggins, the timorous, homebody hobbit who grows brave on his adventure with the wizard Gandalf, voiced by John Huston.
I loved the voices, I liked the music ("Where there's a whip, there is a way!") The movie was an excellent introduction to J.R.R Tolkien.
Brother Theodore was perfect as Gollum John Huston rocked as Gandalf I also liked the music (okay, the balladeers voice was a bit annoying!) Good movie overall - might be a bit scary for the young ones tho!
Many characters were dropped out of necessity for television-viewing (it could have easily been as long as the first Ring movie), but the spirit of the book is intact; there is no unecessary carnage or bloodshed, the story is about courage, not violence, and the voice-work is unparalleled.
From the futile mind of J.R.R.Tolkin comes this incredible tale of a quiet simple creature who lives in 'A Hole in The Ground.' Assembling what may turn out to be the best special collection of voices for a TV movie, Arthur Rankin fitted our fable with an assortment of novel characters for the book.
The original title for Tolkin's book was 'There and Back Again, a Hobbits holiday.' For the TV version of same, the title was " The Hobbit." With the voices of Orson Bean as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Boone as Smaug, the late great Hans Conried as Thorin, John Huston as Gandalf the Wondering Wizard, and even Otto Preminger as Elvenking.
On this long, adventure, filled with magic and bravery leaping out of every scene, you will encounter loyal Dwarves, a unexpectedly brave hobbit, a useful wizard and a hoard of other characters in this J.R. Tolkien original.This is an older film, that is only out classed (during that decade) by The Last Unicorn which is also an animation produced by Rankin/Bass.
Hans has done an outstanding job portraying The King Under the Mountain, as he has also voiced many loving characters, such as Captain Hook in Disney's Peter Pan as well as many of The Grinch stories ( playing the narrator and the Grinch) The plot to this book/movie was fun and entertaining.
The Rankin-Bass animated production of Tolkien's "The Hobbit" is surpassed only by the "Watership Down" adaptation of the same era.
I won't spoil the experience but would encourage all adventurous children (of any age) to spend an evening of exploration with Bilbo & Co. In re-mastered clarity and unedited splendor, I give this little gem a 10/10.Avid fans might want to track down the companion "record & book set" that were produced at the time of it's original release.
All things considered, The Hobbit is a decent (though not totally accurate) adaptation of its source material, and far better than almost any other animated adaptation from the major studios like Disney, whatever name Bluth works under these days, etc.
Much like the other similar Rankin-Bass project, The Last Unicorn, the music is 70's folk ballads and while they aren't all memorable, the opening song ('the greatest adventure') and 'roads go ever ever on' are nearly perfect.While there was certainly room for improvement, The Hobbit is one of a very few book to 'animated film' adaptations that doesn't completely slaughter the very essence of the book.
The Hobbit actually stays true to the spirit of the book--as least as much as could be expected from an hour and a half film--and while I think we'd all like more, we've all grown terribly used to a lot less..
I have not yet read the book "The Hobbit," but considering the fact that I'm about to see "Fellowship of the Ring" on the big screen without having any prior knowledge of the Tolkien universe, I figured renting it may be a good place to be introduced (somewhat) to the mythos.
Are there really fans out there of this torrid musical?!If you like bad animation, songs that interrupt with the flow of a film worse than any recent Disney film, and music that plays so loud you can't hear people talk, this "Hobbit" is the movie for you..
Also if you look at the artwork and character design, it's all based on pre-existing illustrations for the books, very accurately bringing the pages to life.4) The voice cast - remember when animated films would cast for the right voice and not just star recognition value?
While this movie is a great way to get young children into the Lord of The Rings, anyone older would probably find it disappointing.I love the artwork but the story leaves a lot to be desired.I remember thinking this was great before I had read the book but all these years later it's not so impressive.I honestly don't remember much of the book anymore but it doesn't matter with this movie.It's obvious that they have changed things(it even says "Based On", it doesn't even claim to be true to the book) but the worst part is that they picked the wrong parts to leave out.They tell Bilbo to climb a tree and it cuts to him sleeping in a cave by himself?What??Things like that happen a lot.It doesn't matter if you know the story, if you can pay attention you can see that this is very confusing.They often try to explain the gaps in the following dialogue but that wears thin quickly.The real reason to watch (or not watch) this is because of the music.Everyone I know has always hated it but after not seeing it for years I still remembered a few songs.It's weird that some of the songs seemingly have nothing to do with the movie while others literally describe what we are seeing on screen.Then there's the time that the elves are talking while a song is blasting over them,lol.I do like how they use British slang but no one has an accent, that's brilliant.I just realized that this was made for TV.I never noticed how it breaks before.I have to say considering that, it's a decent movie.Definitely the best made for TV movie I have seen..
I say somewhat because both Disney and Warner Brothers had shown children what good animation looked like.So when Japanese animators, used to cranking out anime episodes a week with low drawing count, comes and presents us a very Anglo tale with a Japanese tinge, the results are somewhat mixed.Even so there is a certain charm to this production in that it was the first filmed version of Tolkien's very entertaining story of Bilbo Baggins and his adventures.
If you loved Peter Jackson's films (Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series) plus animations then I'm sure you would love this old 1977 made-for-TV movie.
Despite its valiant effort to offer a close-to-the-source-material animated story the Rankin-Bass 1977 animated musical television special suffers from many obvious shortcomings.The plot does follow that of the Tolkien book but the animation itself seems to be amateurish and hurried due to budget and time constraints.Maybe Topcraft, a now-defunct Japanese animation studio that created the animation for The Hobbit, was not the best choice for this work because it gives one the feeling of an amateurish animation designed to target a too young an audience.In this respect I prefer Director Ralph Bakshi's animation for The Lord of the Rings (1978)because the quality of his animation techniques (rotoscoping and posterization)leads to a superior finished product that can be appreciated by children of all ages and adults alike.It's the difference between real illustration as opposed to cartoons.Also, Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings (1978) is much longer (132 minutes)than Rankin-Bass' The Hobbit (77 minutes).Both animated films were released in late seventies (1977 versus 1978) and both works cost about 3-4 million US dollars to produce.Finally,both animated films feature excellent soundtrack and cast.
The Greatest Adventure is beautiful (I liked it's reprises of the words from the song, by the way) and the others are decent.Overall, The Hobbit isn't an excellent by any means in the higher standards of the Peter Jackson films, but it's still a great film worth-recommending..
This animated version always brings a smile to my face.For covering a long book in just one short movie, they did an excellent job.
It was probably his first introduction to Tolkien :) And after the exhausting Jackson films (good, but LONG) this is pretty refreshing.And the Gollum character in this cartoon is still my favorite!Another great version that I need to find is the BBC radio show of the book!.
I remember seeing this film back in the 90's and I have always been endeared to it, because of its awesome feeling-very good music, with unforgettable songs I can hum anywhere, awesome voices, and animation that really conveys a feeling of Middle Earth, what with the insanely awesome 70's inspired colors, the lighting, the design, and as is mentioned by another reviewer, 'an ancient look' that really is something that could never be done again-it was the right time and project, with something like this never again possible.
As per keeping with the book, the movie does fairly, and it does a great job of setting up the viewer for "The Lord of The Rings." Really, I haven only one major complaint about this film: the music.
Years later I found my younger sister watching it and, having read the book by then, sat down to watch it.It's not perfect, it's lacking about half the story, and the characters can be too comical to look at, but the strange thing is, I liked it!
My earliest memories of this animated movie was when I was five years old and my grandmother bought me this little read-along storybook that came with a record (For you younger folks, think 'ancient precursor to the CD') based on the Rankin Bass animated version of The Hobbit.
Other painful acts/lines also exist (such as Bilbo's short diatribe on the name "Laketown") that are thrown in without any seeming thought.It's unfortunate that Muller's departure from Tolkien's vision continued into the "Return of the King" (which almost totally failed to adhere to the spirit of the book), but the Hobbit generally works, and my children (ages 3 and 4) love it and beg to watch it..
This animated film was required viewing for us in school when I was about 12-years-old and after we had finished reading the book 'The Hobbit'.
However, if you have not read the book, you will most likely enjoy this movie much more.
Instead, Rankin/Bass made "The Return of the King" using the same animation from "The Hobbit", which was OK pre-"Lord of the Rings", but awful after.
I am sorry to say that I read the book after I saw the movie.Why am I sorry?Because I was stuck with rather poor animation images and slightly weird accents in my head.Even though the plot was interesting and the magical content creative, the movie lacked a certain something that was in the original written version.Perhaps it wasn't as thoroughly detailed as the book.Or maybe it was the fact that it was probably simplified so that children as well as adults would appeal to it.Even so,it was a fairly good movie.If you read the novel and liked it, watch the film and see what you think of it..
One viewer said, "as echoed on my "lord of the rings" comment, this production captures a positive aspect of the Tolkien material that I believe is missed by current critics and readers-namely the distant but constant promise f success in the quest."I didn't think that the Hobbit was as good as some of the other movies produced in the 1970's, like the many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and watership.
The animation is not great either, but today's standards, probably looking old even by 1977 standards.The story is that of a hobbit convinced (almost coerced) by Gandalf to go on an adventure with some dwarfs.
The songs are quite good and moody and there is some dark moments in this movie, it introduces all ages to the story of the Lord of the Rings and the film also co-stars Don Messeck and Hal Smith.I can't wait to see how Peter Jackson does his version..
The animation is thirty years old but it holds up and the film version is only 70 minutes long but it's still worth watching anyway if you are a big fan of Tolkien's Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
But I didn't care for most of the voice acting- yes, Orson Bean, who was great in Being John Malkovich, included- and a lot of times the animators exchanged more challenging methods of executing the material for more mundane characterizations and, of course, the songs.It's probably not a bad thing to show the wee little ones, and if they've only seen the live-action Lord of the Rings pictures or loved Tolkien's original book(s) they might respond to it more on that level of being fresh to the material. |
tt2330866 | Dodookdeul | A cat burglar named Yenicall (Jun Ji-hyun) seduces the owner of Leesung Gallery (Shin Ha-kyun), and steals a rare artifact with the help of three other criminals: Popie (Lee Jung-jae), the leader, Zampano (Kim Soo-hyun), the assistant, and Chewing Gum (Kim Hae-sook), a middle-aged woman. They are visited by a detective (Ju Jin-mo) shortly after, and realize that staying in Korea is too dangerous. As such, they join a heist led by a master thief named Macau Park (Kim Yoon-seok), a Korean based in Macau who is also Popie's former boss. Popie brings along Pepsee (Kim Hye-soo), a convicted safe-cracker who was recently released on parole. In Hong Kong, Chen (Simon Yam), Jonny (Derek Tsang) and Andrew (Oh Dal-su) are contacted by Macau Park and agree to enroll, and are joined by a safe-cracker named Julie (Angelica Lee).
Macau Park reveals the target to be Tear of the Sun, a valuable diamond in the possession of Tiffany (Yeh Soo-jung), the mistress of a powerful crime lord named Wei Hong (Ki Gook-seo). The plan is to steal the diamond while Tiffany is visiting a casino in Macau, and to sell it back to Wei Hong, a risky venture seeing that Wei Hong is known for murdering whoever offends him. The team agrees, however, upon learning that the diamond is worth USD 20 million. At this point, it is revealed that Julie is an undercover police officer hoping to arrest Wei Hong. Moreover, that Chen, Johnny, and Andrew are distrustful of Macau Park, and plan to ignore the diamond and run off with Tiffany's money. What is more, Popie and Pepsee have purchased a fake diamond which they intend to swap with the real one. A flash-back reveals that Macau Park, Popie, and Pepsee were formerly a team, but Park's cable had snapped during an escape as he was rapelling, and he had run off with the gold. Pepsee, worried for his safety, had exposed herself to a security camera, leading to her conviction.
With the help of Tiffany's step-sister, Macau Park lays out the plan. Chen and Chewing Gum are to pose as a Japanese couple and keep Tiffany occupied at the gambling table. Yenical and Zampano are to infiltrate Tiffany's private suite through a window and open the door from the inside. Popie, Pepsee, and Julie are to enter the suite and open the two safes, one of which allegedly contains the diamond. As this takes place, Johnny and Andrew must enter the security room and hold the guards at gun-point. All of these actions must be done within 10 minutes, after which the police will arrive. As the plan is being executed, the team, to their dismay, discover that neither of the two safes contains the diamond. As the police rush in, Chen and Chewing Gum try to escape in a car, but Chen is shot dead and the car collides with a wall, killing Chewing Gum. Johnny manages to escape, and so does Yenicall after Zampano surrenders to the police to buy time. In the commotion, Macau Park, disguised as an old janitor, steals the diamond from a safety deposit box. Popie, Pepsee, and Andrew are arrested but fight inside the police van. Popie, Andrew, and the police jump out before the van plunges into a sea, but Pepsee is still hand-cuffed, and nearly drowns, except that Macau Park suddenly arrives and rescues her.
Pepsee regroups with Popie, Yenicall, and Andrew, and they force Tiffany's step-sister to reveal Macau Park's place of exchange, which is the Busan Grand Hotel, located in Busan, South Korea. While the step-sister distracts Macau Park, the four break into Macau Park's room and replace the diamond with the fake one. Macau Park discovers the ruse, and explains to Pepsee that, years before, it was Popie who cut the rapelling cable, making him the traitor. Taking the fake diamond, Macau Park meets with Wei Hong, revealing that his main motive is revenge, as Wei Hong killed Macau Park's father. The meeting is raided by the South Korean police and SWAT and multiple gun-fights ensue. Everyone manages to escape except Popie, who is arrested, and it is shown that the real diamond is actually a second fake, which was swapped by Yenicall.
Pepsee spots Macau Park at Busan Pier, but Wei Hong arrives to kill him, and Julie arrives to arrest Pepsee. After Wei Hong opens fire, Julie turns her attention on Wei Hong and shoots him to death, while Macau Park and Pepsee escape. Pepsee returns to Korea and learns that Yenicall has travelled to Hong Kong again, hoping to find another buyer for the diamond. Pepsee also finds a gift of gold bars left by Macau Park. The story concludes with Pepsee meeting Leesung Gallery's owner, whom Yenicall had seduced, and asking him to buy the diamond. Before the exchange can take place, Macau Park calls Pepsee and reveals that he has infiltrated Yenicall's hotel room and stolen the diamond, and he promises that Pepsee will reunite with him soon. | intrigue | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0025586 | Of Human Bondage | The book begins with the death of Helen Carey, the much beloved mother of nine-year-old Philip Carey. Philip has a club foot and his father had died a few months before. Now orphaned, he is sent to live with his aunt Louisa and uncle William Carey.
Early chapters relate Philip's experiences at his uncle's vicarage. Aunt Louisa tries to be a mother to Philip, but his uncle takes a cold disposition towards him. Philip's uncle has a vast collection of books, and Philip enjoys reading to find ways to escape his mundane existence. Less than a year later, Philip is sent to a boarding school. His uncle and aunt wish for him to eventually attend Oxford. Philip's disability and sensitive nature make it difficult for him to fit in with the other students. Philip is informed that he could have earned a scholarship for Oxford, which both his uncle and school headmaster see as a wise course, but Philip insists on going to Germany.
In Germany, Philip lives at a boarding house with other foreigners. He enjoys his stay in Germany. Philip's guardians decide to take matters into their own hands and they persuade him to move to London to take up an apprenticeship. He does not fare well there as his co-workers resent him, because they believe he is a "gentleman". He goes on a business trip with one of his managers to Paris and is inspired by the trip to study art in France. In France, Philip attends art classes and makes new friends, including Fanny Price, a poor and determined but talentless art student who does not get along well with people. Fanny Price falls in love with Philip, but he does not know and has no such feelings for her; she subsequently commits suicide.
Philip realizes that he will never be a professional artist. He returns to his uncle's house in England to study medicine and pursue his late father's field. He struggles at medical school and comes across Mildred, who is working as a waitress in a tea shop. He falls desperately in love with her, and they date regularly, although she does not show any affection for him. Mildred tells Philip she is getting married to another man, leaving him heartbroken; Philip subsequently enters into an affair with Norah Nesbit, a kind and sensitive author of penny romance novels. Later Mildred returns, pregnant, and confesses that the man for whom she had abandoned Philip never married her.
Philip breaks off his relationship with Norah and supports Mildred financially, though he can ill afford to do so. To Philip's dismay, after Mildred has her baby she falls in love with his good friend Harry Griffiths, and runs away with him. About a year later, Philip runs into Mildred again and, feeling sympathy for her, takes her in again. Though he no longer loves her, he becomes attached to her baby. When he rejects her advances, she becomes angry with him, destroys most of his belongings, and leaves forever. In shame, and quickly running out of money, Philip leaves the house for good. He meets Mildred once more towards the end of the novel, when she summons him for his medical opinion. As she is probably suffering from syphilis resulting from her work as a prostitute, Philip advises Mildred to give up this life. Mildred declines and exits from the plot, her fate remaining unknown.
While working at a hospital, Philip befriends family man, Thorpe Athelny. Athelny has lived in Toledo, Spain. Enthusiastic about the country, he is translating the works of St. John of the Cross. Meanwhile, Philip invests in mines but is left nearly penniless because of events surrounding the Boer War. Unable to pay his rent, he wanders the streets for several days before the Athelnys take him in and find him a department store job, which he hates. His talent for drawing is discovered and he receives a promotion and a raise in salary, but his time at the store is short-lived. After his uncle William dies, Philip inherits enough money to allow him to finish his medical studies and he finally becomes a licensed doctor. Philip takes on a temporary placement at a hospital with Dr. South, an old, cantankerous physician whose wife is dead and whose daughter has broken off contact with him. However, Dr. South takes a shine to Philip's humour and personable nature, eventually offering Philip a partnership in his medical practice. Although flattered, Philip refuses because of his plans to visit Spain.
He soon goes on a small summer vacation with the Athelnys, hop-picking in the Kent countryside. There he finds that one of Athelny's daughters, Sally, likes him. In a moment of romantic abandon one evening they have sex, and when she thinks she is pregnant, Philip decides to marry Sally and accept Dr. South's offer, instead of traveling the world as he had planned. They meet in the National Gallery where, despite learning that it was a false alarm, Philip becomes engaged to Sally, concluding that "the simplest pattern, that in which a man was born, worked, married, had children, and died, was likewise the most perfect." He stops searching for happiness and decides to be content with his lot. | romantic, cruelty | train | wikipedia | Bette Davis became a star with her role in this first and best film adaptation of the Somerset Maugham novel of the same name (well worth a read).
This was her first nomination for an Academy Award, for her portrayal of Mildred Rogers; a tawdry, sluttish, cockney waitress who bewitches hapless Philip Carey (Leslie Howard, best known for his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind").
(father of Alan Hale Jr., who was the skipper on the TV series "Gilligan's Isle"), and a breathtakingly beautiful Frances Dee.The film starts out with Philip, a failed art student with a clubfoot of which he is highly sensitive, turning to the study of medicine after facing the fact that he has no artistic talent.
Her standard response to his affectionate overtures is a chilly "I don't mind." In his dreams Mildred is sweet and kind to him; during real time she uses him, well aware of his affection for her, leaving him for other men and returning when she is down on her luck, ruining his chance for having a career or a normal life with another woman; he seems to continually finds himself inexorably drawn to her, even after his love for her has waned, until the day she finally pushes him too far.At that point, the camera fully turns to Mildred as her facial expression shifts from supplication to shock to full-on bitch in a matter of seconds, and she reacts to Philip's statement with a barrage of blood-curdling insults.
Also she'd gotten this break through role at another studio so they weren't going to make a dime on it.Two years later Leslie Howard and Bette Davis would team up again in The Petrified Forest.
...that the Bette Davis version of this film was better than the Kim Novak version.Despite all of the other comments written here, I really prefer the Bette Davis version, even though the Novak version has a more coherent story line.However: Davis' Mildred's raw emotions seem to me to be more apt to a sluttish girl who seems easily to become a prostitute.And it is those raw emotions that constitute *part* of what the poor doctor falls in love with.
It has no shock value today, just fine acting.While the cast is excellent, this is Bette Davis's first great role and one of Leslie Howard's best performances.
Perhaps author/physician Maugham didn't care for distaff medicos).Having tea one day Carey is entranced by a waitress, Mildred Rogers, Bette Davis in a role as a morally loose and basically wicked farrago.
Another separation from Mildred and Carey begins a long-term friendship with Sally, abetted enthusiastically by her dad who seems to view eventual marriage as both a good thing for the two young people and a chance to be relieved of one of his nine offspring.The movie reasonably but not entirely follows Maugham's excellent novel.
So there is no question that Ms Davis knew from the start what she was doing.The film, which tells about a medical student Phillip Carey (Leslie Howard) which falls unhappily in love with Cockney waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), has a few week points, but many more strong ones.
But it's the message of this movie that is so powerful, Davis and Howard are simply the messengers, albeit great ones."Of Human Bondage" is the story of unrequited love, and hopeless bondage to another.
But Bette Davis' performance in BONDAGE makes the film every bit as good as the book itself.
The great British actor Leslie Howard, playing the club-footed medical student who becomes infatuated with Mildred, seems over-powered, and possibly intimidated by his co-star.
Shockingly, Davis didn't receive so much as an Oscar nomination for her brilliant performance, and when she won a year later for the tired melodrama DANGEROUS, everyone(including Bette herself) assumed it was out of sympathy for not receiving her full due for this film..
One afternoon Philip is at a local café with a fellow medical student and spots pretty waitress Mildred Rogers, Bette Davis, and immediately falls in love with her.
When he meets the cold cockney waitress Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis) in a restaurant, the shy Philip has a crush on her but she rejects him.
Even as a pretty young woman who occasionally wore designer clothes and Constance Bennett-type makeup in films, Davis was willing to ravage herself in order to create a character on the outside as well as the inside.Her determination is amply demonstrated here in her breakout film, "Of Human Bondage," in which she stars with Leslie Howard as Philip Carey.
Davis plays Mildred, a slutty, manipulative, greedy low-life to Howard's masochistic, club-footed Philip.
Leslie Howard is well cast as the withdrawn English artist with a club foot desperately seeking a partner and making a bad choice in a scheming little waitress.Towards the end of the film the young doctor meets his true love in a busy street.
OF HUMAN BONDAGE (RKO Radio, 1934), directed by John Cromwell, stars Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in the first screen treatment from the 1915 novel by W.
Essentially a Howard film in which he's the central character, it's Bette Davis, on loan from her home base studio of Warner Brothers, who virtually gathers enough attention for her powerful performance.
Although it didn't place Davis immediately to the major ranks of motion picture stardom, at least not right away, it did present her to be just more than another movie actress, just more than another a face on the movie screen, and just more than what she can do in a much challenging role.As the opening credits begin through a superimposed view of France, the story opens in the city of Paris where Philip Carey (Leslie Howard), a struggling young artist eager for recognition on his paintings, being told by a respected Parisian artist that he would be nothing more than "mediocre." Told to try another profession, Philip decides to follow in his late father's field by becoming a doctor.
Boarding with two fellow students, one being Harry Griffiths (Reginald Denny), a ladies man, Philip finds himself attracted to a cockney waitress, Mildred Rogers (Bette Davis), who's constant response being, "I don't mind." Though they have a courtship, Mildred shows no love and compassion for him.
Classic Philip Carey moment: Telling Mildred, "You disgust me!" OF HUMAN BONDAGE was remade twice, first by Warner Brothers in 1946 starring Paul Henried and Eleanor Parker, set in gas-lit London at the turn of the century, as opposed to the modern-day original; and again by MGM (1964) with Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey.
The Basic plot:Club-footed medical student and artist Phillip Carey(Leslie Howard)fall's for sleazy,slutty London waitress Mildred(Bette Davis),but she ignores him when he's obsessed with her and she come's back when he's dating other women (one played by Frances Dee)with a new sexual vengeance and desire.The praise:The performance's of Davis and Howard are both very good;you sense an excellent interaction between Davis's lightning-like,over-the-top,red-hot,tawdry performance and the understated emotion and obsession of Howard's role.These roles helped catapolt both to stardom.Also the sweaty,crowded,dark atmosphere of London help to enhance it as well.The Flaw's:Despite the performance integrity ,the film still is creaky and primitive, with some unintentional laugh's along the way.As well, the tape I saw was poor quality,diminishing the overall effect..
Phillip's (Leslie Howard) attraction to Mildred (Bette Davis) is so utterly inexplicable as to make the scenario seem like the post-breakup retelling of a relationship from the man's point of view.
Leslie Howard smoothly presents the character of club-footed Philip Carey, failed-artist-then-medical student who develops a disastrous dependency on a slattern waitress played by Bette Davis.
Bette Davis's Cockney accent is dreadful, poor lass, but having said that, her acting is the only good thing in this film: Leslie Howerd is dire and the only bit-parter worth his salt is Alan Hale: the characters of Harry, Sally, Sally's father and Norah are all poorly drawn and the film attempts to cover far too long a time span.
Here in Of Human Bondage Bette Davis plays Mildred Rogers, a woman perceived as cold and nasty.
Easy to watch and get drawn into, not that dated at all, and a good story we can all relate to.Lots of reviews here waxing lyrical about Bette Davis' bawdy performance, and in general I go along with them, bar her pitiful attempt at a cockney accent.Its worse than Dick van Dykes (Mary Poppins) and I never thought I'd say that about anyone.
Although Bette Davis did a WONDERFUL job as Mildred, I felt that the film wasn't the best I had seen.
That's because the characters portrayed by:Leslie Howard, whose bondage to his weaknesses, and his strengths, is solidly played to reveal the process of being human so we all can see how big decisions are best made;Betty Davis, whose performance, though somewhat forced in her early career, none the less provides the crucial lynchpin of evil and pain that comes from an unloved early life;andFrances Dee, who, though young yet deeply talented, shows us the absolute power of love.While many cite the importance of this role to Bette Davis' career, this reviewer finds that the now mostly forgotten Frances Dee, whose real beauty is not only in her gorgeous appearance, but even better is in the rock solid foundation of her own ability to portray the absolute strength of love.It is hard for this reviewer to not be entranced by Frances Dee. Her work in this film is the real show stealer.
Considering thatat the time not much can be shown on the screen, [not that there is much in the novel] the obsession of the character with Mildred [Bette Davis] is very well conveyed to the audience.
Of Human Bondage is one of these old movies that fell into the public domain by lack of copyright renewal, therefore it is widely available and when I saw that it had both Bette Davis - who I enjoyed in All About Eve (1950) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) with her characteristic gaze; and Leslie Howard who was in Gone with the Wind (1939) but also in the lesser known The Petrified Forest (1936), a friend and supporter of Humphrey Bogart he helped him rise to fame.In the film, Philip Carey is a young English man living in Paris hoping to become a painter.
Philip and Mildred are unable to live together yet their paths will cross many times and again.The best thing in the movie has to be Bette Davis' performance of the cold and cynical Mildred.
Somerset Maugham's characters are brought to life in RKO's "Of Human Bondage"; but the movie is a too skeletal version of the novel, with Bette Davis' star-making performance sucking up all of the energy.
His efforts seem to indicate some bad advice regarding the arts; though successful in medicine, his painting seemed easier - also, note the symbolism of his disability, a "club foot" (explained in the film).Along the way (right away, in this version), Howard becomes infatuated with waitress Davis (as Mildred Rogers).
Grace Moore - "One Night of Love" ******* Of Human Bondage (6/28/34) John Cromwell ~ Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Reginald Denny.
Of Human Bondage may seem dated to some, but the concept of being head over heels with someone (who, more often than not, does not love you back) will always be relevant as it is human nature.Bette Davis is in her element as the worthless tea waitress who Leslie Howard's character falls for (who knows why?
Leslie Howard and a very young Bette Davis were both pretty good in this movie about a young medical student who becomes infatuated (obsessed might be a better word) with a waitress he chances upon who, while not returning his feelings of affection, is quite willing to get what she can out of the relationship.
Leslie Howard and Bette Davis gave some of their best performances in this movie, and truly gave us reason to feel for each of the characters and want the best for them.Leslie's performance make me wondered why he's not mentioned more often as one of the greats of this era.
W. Somerset Maugham's novel, about a guttersnipe waitress in London who becomes the object of a smitten doctor's obsession, becomes intriguing film giving Bette Davis one of the first startling, showy roles of her early career.
The clip showed Bette Davis as Mildred Rogers verbally attacking Leslie Howard who plays Philip Carey and I was shocked at the verosity aimed his way.
He cannot function and as a cruel twist she meets men and dumps him constantly.She does this many times and many times poor Philip picks himself up and engages back into his own life and meeting other women but soon the bad penny comes back knocking at his door and he falls every time and allows her back.Bette Davis plays this cockney, dirty sleep around character and by golly she plays a stellar performance as does Leslie Howard.
She's Mildred, the slatternly waitress at the centre of W Somerset Maugham's "Of Human Bondage" who makes life miserable for the men who come into contact with her, and in particular for Philip, the young medic who worships her, (Leslie Howard, very good).The problem is that Mildred is meant to be a Cockney and Bette was simply unable to put across the accent, though to be fair she does make a fair stab at a Cockney trying to sound posh.
She certainly remains one of the least sympathetic characters in all of fiction and you can see how Davis' performance cemented her 'there's-no-one-better-than-Bette-when-she's-bad' reputation and leaving the accent aside she really is very good.Indeed, of the three versions of the novel to be filmed this is still the best though none of them do the original justice, (I've never understood why a fine British actress has never been cast in the part).
Davis gives one of the best performances imaginable, as Mildred the cockney ed, cocktail waitress, bored and frustrated with life, who unleashes utter havoc to Leslie Howard, who befriends her, in a memorable tirade.Davis sure proved that she was entitled to outstanding roles after this film.
But you know, the movie's not half bad, and it even manages to retain much of what makes the book resonate so much with its readers.I've heard many film buffs complain that Leslie Howard was a wet noodle of an actor, and he was, but I can't think of anyone more suited to play the role of Philip Carey than a wet noodle, for that's certainly what Carey is.
Betty Davis, (Mildred Rogers) gave an outstanding performance that will be admired for many generations and the great acting of Leslie Howard, (Philip Carey) who fell madly in love with Mildred.
Set at the turn of the century the story shows the tragic passion of a crippled young doctor (Leslie Howard)for a lowbrow, cockney waitress (Bette Davis).
As Mildred Rogers, Davis burst forth with a completely unsympathetic role of a slutty waitress who becomes the target of Leslie Howard's affections, and already eager to sink her teeth into a role like this, she had no qualms of the awful things her character was meant to do throughout the course of the film and the awful transformation she would undergo.
The story is somewhat stilted, what with the main character's sudden reversals of fortune, but Leslie Howard and Bette Davis's portrayals of Philip Carey, the naïve obsessed lover and Mildred Rogers, the unworthy object of his affections, raise this film considerably above standard melodrama.Sensitive, cultured Philip, who for most of the picture is in bondage to first his infatuation and then his pity for Mildred is not unlike a character Howard was to play a few years later--Ashley Wilkes, the Southern gentleman too refined and decent to make it in the rough Reconstruction era.
It is perhaps this passivity, these lowered expectations that makes him put up with the selfish Cockney waitress for as long as he does.Although Leslie Howard is memorable, today "Of Human Bondage" is mainly thought of as a Bette Davis picture, perhaps because of the well known story of how she had to fight Jack Warner to get the part of Mildred, and perhaps too because movie audiences tend to prefer characters with her sort of brash energy.
I pity people who think that what Philip (Howard) feels for Mildred (Davis) is LOVE!
This film and this portrayal by Davis are classic not because they are great, but because they are groundbreaking.Also, Leslie Howard's Philip, while sensitive and intellectual, is a real weakling.
Here he is a man with low self-esteem who is set up to be betrayed.Philip finds that betrayal in the form of Mildred a Cockney waitress (Bette Davis) who is mercenary and as selfish as they come.
Set in a London that only Hollywood could manage, atmospheric but nothing like the real thing, it is a story of obsession and thwarted love, from the novel by Somerset Maughan.I was looking forward to seeing it on DVD as I had never seen it before and being a great admirer of Bette Davis wanted to see her in a role considered one of her early great ones.
Leslie Howard does a fine job as the sympathetic Phillip but it is Bette Davis who dominates as Mildred, a character it is impossible to like with her barely concealed contempt for the man who keeps helping her.
It's interesting to note how Bette Davis and Leslie Howard reversed character from the ones they portrayed in this film and those they played in "The Petrified Forest" just a couple of years later.
Mildred is too self-centred to be in love with Miller or any other person."Of Human Bondage" is sometimes described as the film that made Bette Davis a star.
At one point in this film he utters to her, "I know that you will never love me," which is not unlike a line he makes to Scarlett 5 years later.Howard is excellent here and Davis playing the bad girl is great. |
tt3148266 | 12 Monkeys | A deadly virus released in 1996 wipes out almost all of humanity, forcing remaining survivors to live underground. A group known as the Army of the Twelve Monkeys is believed to be behind the release of the virus. In 2035, James Cole (Willis) is a prisoner living in a subterranean compound beneath the ruins of Philadelphia. Cole is selected for a mission, where he is trained and sent back in time to locate the original virus in order to help scientists develop a cure. Meanwhile, Cole is troubled by recurring dreams involving a foot chase and an airport shooting.
Cole arrives in Baltimore in 1990, not 1996 as planned. He is arrested, then hospitalized in a mental hospital on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe). There he encounters Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), a mental patient with fanatical views. After an escape attempt, Cole is sedated and locked in a cell, but he disappears moments later, and wakes up back in his own time. Cole is interrogated by the scientists, who play a distorted voicemail message which asserts the association of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys with the virus. He is also shown photos of numerous people suspected of being involved, including Goines. The scientists offer Cole a second chance to complete his mission and send him back in time. He arrives at a battlefield of World War I where he is shot in the leg, and then he is suddenly transported to 1996.
In 1996, Railly gives a lecture about the Cassandra complex to a group of scientists. At the post-lecture book signing, Dr. Peters (Morse) points out to Railly that apocalypse alarmists represent the sane vision, while humanity's gradual destruction of the environment is the real lunacy. Cole arrives at the venue after seeing flyers publicizing it, and when Railly departs, he kidnaps her and forces her to take him to Philadelphia. They learn that Goines is the founder of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, and set out in search of him. When they confront him, however, Goines denies any involvement with the group and says that in 1990 Cole originated the idea of wiping out humanity with a virus stolen from Goines' virologist father (Plummer).
Cole convinces himself that he is insane, but Railly confronts him with evidence of his time travel. They decide to spend their remaining time together in the Florida Keys before the onset of the plague. On their way to the airport, they learn that the Army of the Twelve Monkeys was not the source of the epidemic; the group's major act of protest is releasing animals from a zoo and placing Goines' father in an animal cage.
At the airport, Cole leaves a last message telling the scientists that in following the Army of the Twelve Monkeys they are on the wrong track, and that he will not return. He is soon confronted by Jose (Seda), an acquaintance from his own time, who gives Cole a handgun and ambiguously instructs him to follow orders. At the same time, Railly spots Dr. Peters, and recognizes him from a newspaper photograph as an assistant at Goines' father's virology lab. Peters is about to embark on a tour of several cities that match the locations and sequence of the viral outbreaks.
Cole forces his way through a security checkpoint in pursuit of Peters. After drawing the gun he was given, Cole is fatally shot by police. As Cole lies dying in Railly's arms, she makes eye contact with a small boy—the young James Cole witnessing the scene of his own death, which will replay in his dreams for years to come. Peters, aboard the plane with the virus, sits down next to Jones (Florence), one of the scientists from the future. | murder | train | wikipedia | It surpassed any expectation I could have about it, although the beginning of the first season didn't look that promising (maybe it had a slow pace, maybe too little things were explained), oh well, the sequels surely are totally worth watching.
I saw that many people complained how they liked the 1995 movie but the tv series disappointed them and I think that they simply can't be compared, it started with the same concept but there are lots of differences and the show really went with the story on its own way.
If you want to watch something that has depth, well rounded characters, and a good story - this is the place to find it..
When I first started the show, I had really low expectations because I always felt if it was good it would be it's own original and unique thing and not an expansion of a movie of years past.
The only thing that it borrows from the movie so far is the general plot of people traveling back in time to stop a whole ending plague, and that's only the beginning, it has since becoming some thing so much more.Everything else is new, from the storyline to most of the characters and the direction of the plot.
The TV series starts out with the basic idea of time travel to stop a plague in the future, but it is so much more than that.
Over the years I have been a huge fan of Doctor Who, the reboot, Quantum Leap, Fringe, Sliders, Being Erica to name a few really good and entertaining time travel based themed shows.
The story line feels very thought out and not just thrown together, I am enjoying the changes they made to the "present" time it feels more realistic(not sure of how to describe it) than the 1995 movie.
I recently ran across it on Hulu and watched the entire show in a matter of a few weeks.I'm always careful when it comes to time travel in shows and movies because unless it is handled correctly, it can make the show/movie absolutely terrible and unbelievable.
Anyway SyFy is doing a good job in many shows and a TV show based on a blockbuster Hit movie is risky ,, but since the Pilot everything is working smoothly, the dates are attracting, the events and how things in 2016 will get messy , the Time traveling also was spot on.
People who have watched the movie by Terry Gilliam already know this story.
Some short stories by authors have been more successful than others, such as those penned by Stephen King - but I believe his work lends itself well to a visual interpretation.Although there are examples of movies successfully translated into television series such as the two espionage shows based upon the character named "Nikita" (first embodied by Anne Parillaud); I don't recall any other efforts in porting a story as self-contained and complete as Twelve Monkeys (I am willing to stand corrected on this score).
People who struggle with continuity in a story that jumps about through various time periods where the past is often a future event, it can be a confusing effort in keeping track of a linear accounting of events and character progressions.
Each time it appears we have gotten closer to knowing who has been responsible for destroying human civilization and why, we are introduced to a new turn of events which shatter our illusions of certainty.This short story however, having been subjected to an expansion well beyond its original intent does introduce moments when one becomes impatient for progress.
I also think that one can find themselves more easily lost in tracking events within the series well enough to follow along without losing interest in discovering where its destination may lead.The production values are solid, the writing is creative and clever, and the characters are well cast, acted, and scripted (with some familiar faces from the most recent Nikita series).
(Most of the main characters from the movie have been preserved, but the choice of recasting Brad Pitt's exceptional portrayal of a psychotically disturbed individual in a significantly altered form was an excellent decision.) All in all; for fans of this genre, I believe it is a worthwhile piece of entertainment which can pique curiosity, interest, and empathy while satisfying one's appetite for action-oriented imaginative drama..
I've always been a science fiction fan, and especially like time travel stories.
I think the cast is excellent: Aaron Stanford is low-key enough to be believable (to me, anyway); Barbara Sukowa is kind of a gem; Amanda Schull, maybe a little less believable than some of the others-especially her fighting skills; and my personal favorite, Emily Hampshire, who took over the Brad Pitt from the movie and brought it into a complete new realm,.
We're on the cusp of the last three episodes, and I'll be sorry to see it end, but it's never good to drag out shows longer than they should go, and I think this has hit its, er, time window.
This show is brilliant, the writing is phenomenal, and season 3 delivered blow after blow after blow of mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, flabbergasting twists and revelations.I am a sci-fi and a Syfy fan; I am particularly attracted to time travel stories, and though I loved season 1 and 2, season 3 took the story to the next level, completely writing its own path, distancing itself from the movie and standing on its own as a damn good sci-fi story.
In "12 Monkeys", he plays Leland Goines, a scientist being hunted by James Cole (Aaron Stanford, formerly on "Nikita")--who has been sent from thirty years in the future--for extermination.When Cole arrives in the past (2013), he meets Dr. Cassandra Railly (the amazing Amanda Schull, who was also in "Suits" and the film "Center Stage" ) and tries to convince her that he truly is from the future and that the Earth is in peril.The show does a great job of keeping the timelines understandable.
But where other stories try to avoid the time paradox, "12 Monkeys" embraces paradox and uses it as a plot point.With good characters, non-stop action, and an engaging story, this show promises lots of fun.Update at the end of the series: What a wild ride!
also as i had watched the movie ' 12 monkeys' so i thought hey i know the story and unless i have something new , something mysterious to watch and discover for in a show i don't give it a hit .
However you will want to plow through first season anyway for backstory.If you are a science fiction fan i urge you to keep watching, It is great writing and production in this series.
If you have seen the original movie, which is one of the best SF movies In my opinion, it is the same premise about a plague that wiped out 99 percent of the world and in the future a brilliant scientist creates time machine a sends a man named Cole back to our present to try and stop it.
I recommend that new viewers start watching from the pilot episode in order to acquaint themselves with the characters & the story lines.
Right away the series departs from the film by not questioning Cole's sanity and accepting the time travel elements as simply the truth, Something that was in my opinion one of the better aspects early on in the film.
While Aaron Stanford (Aka Pyro) isn't Bruce Willis he does alright with the less complex, more coherent version of James Cole, I can't blame the actor for the changes to the character that makes him feel kind of bland, hopefully as the series progresses we'll see a bit of a character progression and thus more of a chance for the actor to sink his teeth into the role.Emily Hampshire on the other hand is strong right out of the gate, following up Brad Pitt's portrayal of Jeffrey Goines isn't an easy task, but she pulls off the twisted character perfectly.
SPOILER ALERT: If you have not seen the original twelve monkeys, i will be discussing key differences between the original and this, so if you don't want me to ruin the original, go and watch it before reading this.This show is an intentional departure from the source material that deviates in about the same way as the bourne series, which is also a welcome departure from the original source material.
I understand that TV networks seems hellbent on selling Sci-Fi to women even though they bloody hate it, don't understand it and simply don't want it on their screens.I also realize that the series has to pan out the vapid and wafer thin story line to 13 episodes because 'more is better', when in fact it could have easily been made into a TV movie.Each episode just gets more and more juvenile, lazy and soapy.Do yourself a favor and if you REALLY love Sci-Fi, try the new and INFINITELY better Mr. Robot.
Because I liked the movie and because I read on here that a lot of reviewers thought this was the best show ever I thought it would be a good idea watching 12 Monkeys.
The first season I would give it a seven, because it's all new, you don't know what to expect yet, and it is mysterious like the movie was.
It feels like watching a low budget movie with bad actors.
I wasn't sure if they copied the scene from the movie in the first scenes, but they did.And swapped really good actors that played well written and likable characters into something that could come straight from scripted-reality TV, changed the dialogue into something more-trashy, maybe because they hope that -at least the Sharknado-fanbase will like it.Congratulations, SyFy, you drove another one straight into the ground (Anyone remember that "Flash Gordon" serial?
they basically need to go and troll some other show as they are probably the same people that nitpick shows based on a book, and complain the whole time about them not saying a certain word that was in the book.but in all honesty, I went into this already watching the original 12 monkeys, and DIDN'T expect it so be the same.
The problem with adapting such a well told story, a finely tuned plot and interesting characters with depth of persona is that you have to manufacture a good deal of plot to pad up the narrative; and boy have the started already.One of the easiest ways to pad up a program like this is to introduce three things: (A) Non-descriptive word(s), a love interest and a Delorian.
Don't watch this bilious fog of greed, unoriginality and sheer boorishness.I chose to turn this off mid-way through the second episode due to the actor who plays Goines, chewing up the scenery like a cartoon character out of Ren and Stimpy.
While my favorite by far was Cole, and I did feel like the story lines were strongest when they involved him, all of the main characters are fully fleshed out and hold importance to the plot.
it is based on the movie, but goes into a very different direction - new mysteries are introduced and very promising, should be able to keep us watching the with interest.excellent actors, different personas from the original and yet giving new life to this story.of course far far from the visage of Terry Gilliam, rather straight forward and yet, quite fresh.looking forward to how it will develop further.for now 9/10.
If you have not seen this series before watch season 1 and you be taken on a great ride.
Still, there were few that had a sparkle within them, a shining spread throughout the episodic medium of their plot and made an increasing interest in the characters' fate.As of this moment, after watching six episodes of 12 Monkeys with strict skepticism, I must admit I manage to notice a certain sparkle, one so tiny it can be disregarded by the untrained eyes.This show delves into many intriguing concepts regarding time travel smartly; it deals with the action revolving the process, the dilemmas that arise each time anew and the effects it has on the ones related to the phenomenon described in it, but most importantly, it has a good drama, that may expand to an extremely lovable one.I don't try to compare the scientific rules as they're presented in this show to the way they're described by modern science, for I don't think TV shows producers need to have a PhD in physics to make a good sci-fi materials.
A movie, as well as a TV show, ought to be smart so we can believe it and want to know more about it's story, and I am glad to say that as for this moment "12 Monkeys" is such a show, but whether it will keep following that track, only time can tell..
When the Peoples' did 12 Monkeys the Motion picture ; I thought "finally a Time travel movie I can dig" in the motion picture (I gave big 👍🆙 , by the way) one of the biggest problems was time constraints, (get it ha, ha,) so now you've got the SY FY version of events , I'm finishing the second season and am extremely impressed, I will continue l8r when I feel like it or somewhere when remember tomorrow⏰.
The episodes/series are well thought out and leaves you wanting more, more, more and more.Give the show a chance it will be worth your time.
Im not going to write a long review.Im just going to say: I loved 12 monkeys (movie) and while this series don't follows exactly the same plot or characters Ity looks really good to me...
other groups (like the 12 monkeys) seem to have a mayor role instead how they appear on the movie...But, to be honest, while they changed some things on the series, for me its even better, talking about the plot, the variety of situations and the time-travel paradoxes...
However, as every time-travel related show, there are a lot of things around the plot that cannot be reviewed until the show gets ended with all tied, but the logic while not perfect looks very good for the show.The only thing I cant be agree with the actual series its just the big change on the "scenography" one of the best things for me in 12 monkeys was the retrofuturistic setting, and the strange "time machine" working more like "the box on primer" than like the typical machine that "teleports matter in time and space"...
Of course its impossible you will understand the plot or enjoy the episodes if you don't like time-travel movies..
So I'm checking out the TV Series 12 Monkeys and from the start of the show it begins like the original movie.
I get that a lot of people are comparing this to the original movie, and I get the actor playing Cole isn't some hunk you want to watch week after week.
And I love how they travel through time there and back constantly and yet the whole story never stops making sense.
Obviously, shows are often using concepts from movies and because you have all the time in the world to build your story, you can do whatever you want with it.
Someone liked the idea of the '12 monkeys' movie and they thought this would make a good show about time travel and that's what they wrote.
In other series or movies about time travel the future changes, you start another timeline and you can't go in circles.
I have watched the first 3 seasons.This has been on my watch-list forever but with a show called the 12 Monkeys, a virus and time travel, I just could not get myself to press play thinking it will be another boring low budget sci-fi show with good intentions but zero grip.
Complexities of characters' "baggage" are also dealt with at the right pace.The story migrated a lot from the pilot by the end of season 3 and many of the roots of the travelers have been disturbed.
OK so, after I've seen the original movie a few times and after watching this show, all I can say is that the show is better than the original.
Best time travel series I've seen yet.
Just finished watching the last episode and it just confirmed what I knew since the first season, it is a really really good show..
This show gets better and better, there are things at the first season hidden that you would only understand by watching the whole series.
I enjoy a lot watching tv shows, wether it's for just having a bit of fun, or because I want to enjoy a great story, well written and with an excellent cast.
The writers, and every single person of the 12 Monkeys' team did an incredible job by giving us, as viewers, an excellent series in every aspect that a great show must take in mind: from a great cast, to a great story, to an incredibly enjoyable and believable scientific basis, to a perfect finale, that really got me satisfied.
Just finished watching the season 4 finale and realized the least I owe this awesome series is a review, my first one on IMDB.
12 monkeys overtook the movie its inspired from within the first season and moving forward got better and better before the epic finale as satisfying as the Breaking Bad. The finale has raised the Bar for any other time travel series to come.
I started watching this series after watching the good time travel move 12 monkeys.
Believe me I have watched two seasons and each episodes will give you good feeling of sci fi and time travels which will urge you to want more.
This is kind of series where a good time travel involved with so much potentials of jumping to past and future with the talented characters. |
tt0290002 | Meet the Fockers | Set two years after the events of the first film, Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Stiller) and his fiancée Pam Byrnes (Polo) decide to introduce their parents to each other. They first fly to Oyster Bay, New York, on Long Island, to pick up Pam's father, retired CIA operative Jack Byrnes (De Niro), her mother Dina (Danner) and one-year-old nephew Little Jack (the son of Bob and Debbie Banks). But rather than going to the airport as planned, Jack decides to drive the family to Miami to meet the Fockers in his new RV.
Once they arrive, they are greeted by Greg's eccentric but fun-loving and amiable father, Bernie (Hoffman), and mother, Roz (Streisand), who is a sex therapist for elderly couples. Worried that Jack may be put off by the Fockers' lifestyle, Greg convinces Roz to pretend that she is a yoga instructor for the weekend. However, small cracks begin to form between Jack and the Fockers, due to their contrasting personalities. The meet gets off to a bad start when a chase between the Fockers' sexually active dog, Moses, and the Byrnes' cat, Jinx, culminates with Jinx flushing Moses down the RV's toilet, forcing Bernie to destroy it to save Moses. Later, Bernie accidentally injures Jack's back during a game of football.
Meanwhile, Pam informs Greg that she's pregnant, and the two decide to keep it secret from Jack. Jack again becomes suspicious of Greg's integrity and quality, when they are introduced to the Fockers' housekeeper, Isabel Villalobos (Alanna Ubach), with whom Bernie reveals Greg had a sexual affair fifteen years before. Jack later takes the RV to Isabel's fifteen-year-old son, Jorge (Ray Santiago), to fix the toilet, but is disturbed by Jorge's striking resemblance to Greg, and the fact that Jorge never met his father, and jumps to the conclusion that he may be Greg's son with Isabel. Meanwhile, Roz, Bernie and Dina realize Pam is pregnant, but promise not to tell Jack. Growing envious of Bernie and Roz's active sex life, Dina consults Roz on sex tips in order to seduce Jack, but none of them work.
Greg and Jack's relationship goes off with a bang when Greg is left alone to babysit Little Jack, whom Jack has been raising via the Ferber method. Despite Jack's instructions to leave Little Jack to self-soothe, Greg cannot stand to listen to Little Jack's cries and tends to the boy to cheer him up by hugging him, letting him watch TV, acting funny and inadvertently teaching Little Jack the word "asshole." Disaster strikes when Greg answers a brief phone call from Roz, which is long enough for Little Jack to wander out of his playpen (after Jinx opens it), put on Scarface and glue his hands to a bottle of rum. After a furious argument with the Fockers and his own family (though amends are quickly made), Jack resumes his spying on Greg and sends Greg and Jorge's hair samples for a DNA test, while inviting Jorge to the Fockers' planned engagement party in the hope of getting Greg to admit he is Jorge's father. At the engagement party, Jack, who automatically assumes that Greg knew about Jorge and has deliberately been keeping him a secret from Pam, introduces Greg to Jorge. Later, when Greg denies knowing anything about Jorge, Jack does not believe him and drugs him with truth serum to make him talk. On stage, Greg uncontrollably blurts out that Pam is pregnant and that Jorge is, without a doubt, his son (in a comically Darth Vader-esque manner) before losing consciousness.
The next morning, Pam questions Greg about Jorge, and Greg does not confirm or deny that he is Jorge's father, but insists that he knew nothing about him before the previous evening. Pam believes him, and is willing to work things out with him. Jack reaches his breaking point with Greg's dishonesty and demands that Pam and Dina leave the island with him. Dina refuses and reveals Jack's actions to everyone. Everyone turns against Jack, with Pam announcing her intent to marry Greg regardless of him having Jorge with Isabel, and Dina admits that they all knew of Pam's pregnancy. A shocked and hurt Jack leaves with his grandson.
Bernie and Greg pursue Jack, but are soon tasered and arrested by an incompetent deputy sheriff, Vern LeFlore (Tim Blake Nelson), for speeding. Jack returns to defend them after being informed Greg is not Jorge's father (his real father turns out to be a baseball player who also resembles Greg), but the overzealous LeFlore tasers and arrests him as well. In their cell, Greg, Jack and Bernie are released by the local judge, Ira (Shelley Berman), who is a client of Roz and close friend of the Fockers. Before they leave, Greg asks both Jack and Bernie to stop their feud. Jack admits that he made a mistake regarding Jorge and reveals his past career in the CIA to Bernie, before apologizing for his actions and making up with the two of them.
Greg and Pam are married that weekend by Pam's ex-fiancé, Kevin (Owen Wilson), who is now an ordained interfaith minister. During the party, Jack asks Roz for some sex tips and sneaks into the RV with Dina.
During the post-credit scene, Jack watches hidden baby-cam footage of the Fockers giving attention to Little Jack over Jack's previous objections: Roz gives Little Jack chocolate, Bernie advises him to use his crying to disagree with everything Jack says, and Greg pretends to drunkenly tell Little Jack to keep it a secret that he left to smoke pot, not answer the phone, when he left Little Jack unattended and that Pam is not really pregnant and only said it so that Jack would let them get married. Greg then pretends to only just discover the camera but then after making mocking gestures at it, Greg reveals that he knew about it all along and none of the things he said before were true. | bleak, humor | train | wikipedia | There are many movies where the performances are so good that the weaknesses of the movie itself are almost oblivious.The casting in this film, bringing together the stars of the original with Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Greg aka Gaylord Focker's parents, is sensational.While I admit that I believed I would read comments and reviews about the crudeness of the material, I believe the reason this is not a typically tragic Hollywood farce is due to the strength of the performances and the interaction of the characters.As you know, the premise of the movie is very simple.
You will believe that Bernie and Roz (amazing performances by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) are Greg Focker's parents.
Ben Stiller aptly conveys this while not backing down from his love for his parents.Meanwhile, stern Jack Byrnes scans the Fockers for clues to prove why he should not like them, therefore not allowing his daughter to be married into that family.
There is a very good example of this in a scene between Teri Polo and Ben Stiller, after some new information is exposed that could possibly tear them apart once again.All in all, when you know the cast is having a good time, the audience does too.
Clearly my expectations for this movie were not high and, maybe because of that, I found "Meet the Fockers" quite funny.Don't get me wrong.
Oh also add in some baby low-brow by Spencer and Bradley Pickeren, two adorable twins playing Little Jack.So, go low, go loose -- or don't go at all -- but if you like Ben Stiller, go see "Meet the Fockers".
De Niro, Stiller, Hoffman and Streisand all look like they're having a great time.
After convincing his fiancée's parents to allow them to marry, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) now has to deal with what happens when her ex-CIA father Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) meets his own wacky ex-hippy parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand.I really wanted to see this film when it was first announced.
It gives necessary background exposition and characterization for this film.Gaylord "Greg" Focker (Ben Stiller) and fiancée Pam Byrnes' (Teri Polo) wedding is fast approaching, and their parents still have not met each other.
So Greg and Pam fly from Chicago to New York to meet her parents, Jack (Robert De Niro) and Dina (Blythe Danner), before heading off with them to Miami to meet his parents, Bernie (Dustin Hoffman) and Mother Focker Roz (Barbara Streisand).
For just one example, it's obvious that something is going to happen to Gaylord's rental car in New York as soon as we hear him opt out of purchasing insurance, blowing it off as a "scam" to make money.On the other hand, Roach and crew make it clear from the start that they're not exactly shooting for the same style of film as Meet the Parents.
Aside from the humor, this is the crux of Meet the Fockers.Another important subtext that occurs in various guises through the film (and for which the potential was there in Meet the Parents even if it wasn't capitalized on in quite the same way) is opening up to "free", honest expression of one's thoughts, feelings and desires versus showing a "proper" public face.
Despite all the comments in others' reviews about sex-oriented humor (how could you not expect that in a film with a title like this?), or general "low-brow" humor, the comic situations here are more sophisticated in many ways than a typical "outrageous" comedy.
In this very hilarious sequel, Gaylord Myron Focker (Ben Stiller), his pregnant fiancée Pamela Byrnes (Teri Polo), his future father-in-law and retired CIA agent Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and his future mother-in-law Dina Byrnes (Blythe Danner) travel to Florida to visit Greg's parents, Bernie Focker (Dustin Hoffman) and the sex-therapist Roz Focker (Barbra Streisand).
The dispute between the "Focker-ized" and very "Zen" family and the rigid and paranoid Jack Byrnes made me burst in a "non-stop laughing" mode not only along the movie, but also after, recalling the funny scenes and gags.
The talent of Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro as comedians is very well-known by the audiences, but Dustin Hoffman surprised me how funny he is.
When the writers sat down I think the only thing discussed was how many times they could throw the word focker in the movie.
If you plan on seeing this movie I really hope you still go to stitches every time you here the word focker and do not mind a mediocre sequel with cheap laughs.
In this sequel to 'Meet the Parents,' Gaylord Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) has finally invited his fiancée's parents, ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes and his wife (Robert DeNiro and Blythe Danner) to meet his parents.
(Spoiler) Meet The Parents was one of the funniest movies of the decade, as we witnessed put-upon everyman Ben Stiller terrorized by every guy's nightmare, the over-protective father-in-law, ready to believe the worst at all times, played famously by Robert DeNiro.
Nothing really rings true in Meet The Fockers, as the conflict between Stiller and DeNiro is replaced by Greg Focker's zany parents, played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand.
Ben Stiller repeats his Along Came Polly/There's Something About Mary/Meet The Parents persona, but he gets shoved to the background a little in favor of Hoffman and Streisand, and it costs the film big.
But a movie whose cast includes Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbra Streisand would SEEM to invite discussion.
Spielberg, Geffen, and Katzenberg resulted in the demise of both the TV and music units of the company; and as for the movie-wing of the operation, that creative bankruptcy has never been more clearly demonstrated than with *Meet the Fockers*.But, as I've said, *Fockers* appears to be making a lot of box-office dough, so the sheer awfulness is likely to continue.
The first film of the series, *Meet the Parents*, at least had the chemistry between De Niro and Stiller, and an overall funny premise: the nice Jewish guy desperately trying to fit into the suburban milieu of a pathologically WASPish family.
But on the other hand, the movie isn't focused on their interpersonal dynamic anyway, choosing instead to make De Niro the put-upon character, overwhelming him with the stereotypical "earthiness" (i.e., "Jewishness", I suppose) of the Focker parents.
This diminishment of De Niro totally misses the point of what worked in the first movie, which is that he was a larger-than-life maniac whose expectations were so high that nobody, especially not Ben Stiller, could hope to match them.As for Hoffman and Streisand, they bring nothing unique to their stereotypical roles: any pair of aging actors would have sufficed.
When I went to see Meet the Fockers I was expecting to see another bad Hollywood sequel, as Ocean's twelve, but luckily it was as good as the original.
The lowest point of this film were the scenes that involved the baby (Pam's sister son), instead of spend so much time with him ,the writers should have developed more Owen Wilson's character.
It may not be the best comedy ever made, but Meet the Fockers is a very good and funny movie, with excellent performances and a good script.My rating: 9/10.
I actually liked this movie a little better than 'Meet the Parents', and it is very rare for me to prefer a sequel to the original.
Make no mistake, this was definitely not a masterpiece, the script could have been better and the last 20 minutes of the film are a little overdone and cheesy, but all in all a decent, entertaining movie.One thing I found to be a little disturbing about this film is the message it sends, especially to the younger audience: 'It is wrong to be straight, to have strong principles and self-discipline (the Byrnes), whereas it is proper to have no inhibitions, no discipline, no job (somehow everybody is rich anyway) and the world is just a happy merry-go-round (the Fockers).
One of the most prolific actors and one of the most famous singers of all time both put on poor performances and fail to provide one laugh in all the film.The "jokes" all seem tired and laboured, the situations are all dragged on too long and seeming comedy opportunities are missed completely.At the end of the film, it seems to actually get worse...
No joke.With a cast like that, it could have been so much more, so funny, but in every way this was a letdown.There was not even one laugh-out-loud thing, and only a few that even brought out a snicker.
I had seen 'Meet the Parents' and thought it was good/funny and from the ads for this one, I was expecting an entertaining comedy.
What I got was the most boring, awful, hardly funny at all piece of junk I've seen in recent years.This movie has left me with such a bad taste that I have yet to go see another movie since.Bottom line: truly awful waste of time.
Stiller and De Niro just seem to be going through the motions, and for some reason, despite the 'resolve the differences' ending of the last film, the relationship between the two is still strained.The news that a third film is being planned (Little Fockers) is distressing, to say the least, having seen what this film does with one 'comedy child' role!
Meet the Parents was a funny and original movie.
One thing that especially bothered me about this movie was Deniro's character, In Meet the Parents he was not trusting of Gaylord, and despised him.
ANother is, "How did a movie starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Deniro, and Ben Stiller turn out so bad?" Another question is, "Why did the movie makers feel it was necessary to Be so offensive?" The Focker parents are just Jewish stereotypes, and extremely offensive.
It is pathetic to see the great heroes like Nero and Hoffman..never noticed ...haven't they seen the preview...is it money that "Pappilon and Cape fear" acting in such a cheaply filmed movies...Sad to see great heroes going down.JFK.
I mean, a movie can be funny without constantly talking about sex (main part of the lines of Dustin Hoffman were about this subject).An other reason why part I was so funny was because Ben constantly did things wrong without having the intention to do those things.
Barbra and Dustin had a good time working together and clearly knew they were better than the material, but they couldn't save this movie.And shame on Tim Blake Nelson for making crap like this.
But in THIS movie, barely a year later, we see a dog flushed down the toilet by a cat, and we hear Dustin Hoffman utter the words "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down." Not to mention Robert DeNiro talking about making "number one" and "number two." So this lightweight comedy starts in the toilet and never gets far from it.
Robert DeNiro, however, looked like he knew how stupid this movie was and wasn't crazy about being there.Grade: C-.Fun things to watch for: statue with huge phallus, Ben Stiller's one-note performance, busty housekeeper..
"Meet the Fockers" probably looked good on paper and probably had a high demand since the original was so successful, but it failed to meet expectations and forgot what made the first one such a comedic hit."Fockers" stars the original cast with the addition of Dustin Hoffman (Bernie Focker) and Barbara Streisand (Roz Focker), as the Byrnes family takes a trip down to Miami to meet Greg's parents and plan the up coming Focker-Byrne wedding.
In the sequel, the main comedy was focused on the Byrnes family meeting the Focker family, trying to hit it off and with Greg caught in the middle still trying to impress Jack with his usual antics and trying to change his parents.The main reason this movie was near unbearable was the the intelligence insulting writing, especially the gag bits, that still revolved on Jack's borderline OCD and over protectiveness of his daughter, constant sexual innuendos, the drenching use of the word "Focker", and the just plain fact the whole situation was totally implausible.
Was there really a need to write in a scene where Greg has to stop his parents from having sex with Streisand covered with Cool-Whip from the waist up like strawberry shortcake, due to the fact his future in-laws where sleeping right below, on the first night?
Would a potential father-in-law jam a syringe filled with sodium pentathol (truth serum)into his daughter's finance during their engagement party just to solidify his "circle of trust?" During the entire movie I was chomping a the bit waiting for one of these parents to grow up, which was unfortunately in the final scenes.On a lighter note, the acting was quite good with DeNiro of course but the roles played by Hoffman and Streisand were quite impressive.
I did laugh 3 times during the film, but groaned and grimaced much more.Yes it looked like they were having fun doing such silly schlock, but for this to be Ms. Streisand's return to the screen - albeit alongside Dustin and DeNiro - it's a colossal letdown verging on sacrilege..
Not even the talents of Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, and Barbara Streisand can save this disaster of a film.
Streisand is totally wasted in this movie, and Ben Stiller has the same blank non-expression all through the film.
There was some weak laughter in the crowded theater.It was just so dumb, so ham-handed, so grotesque.Even a funny set-up -- a baby gluing his hands to a bottle of rum -- was handled in such a ham-handed way that I couldn't find it funny.A bunch of youngish males were sitting behind me, and they didn't laugh, either.I hope that Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand make other movies soon.
I really liked "Meet The Parents." I thought it was great, and it is one of those rare movies that I have seen many times, but never really got old.
Meet the Fockers is the sequel to Meet the Parents, which was a very funny movie starring Robert DeNiro, Blythe Danner, and Ben Stiller, in which Greg (Stiller) has to meet his fiancé's (Teri Polo) parents, Jack and Dina (DeNiro and Danner) so he can ask Jack for her hand in marriage.
Sadly enough, Meet the Fockers, even with the extra star power of Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand as Greg's parents, fails to deliver the goods as well as it's predecessor.This movie follows shortly after the first one, and Greg has planned a trip for his fiancé and her parents to meet his family before they get married.
There were many times in this movie when it was so close, and with Dustin Hoffman and the rest of the cast, it should have been funny.There may have been lots of funny stuff in the second hour, but I was not willing to wait it out.
When they do, it almost seems as they are not looking at each other.The writing for Meet The Fockers is sophomoric, which is great for teen sex movies but it is a let down for this cast.
At least meet the parents had a few funny lines, even though the rest of the movie sucked.But i cringed the whole way through meet the fockers.
There are a few laughs, the new characters work quite well, I found Dustin Hoffman to be particularly funny; but the movie lacks the edge of the original.
Hi,I was wondering if anyone here knows the name of sum song play in the movie!It's in the scene were Ben Stiller meets his son and son on,but the Fockers have a party at some small bar and at the start of it it's playing.It's something like "And If You Feel Like Dancing Dance"!I'm not too sure but it's not the song played when Dustin Hoffman is dancing and spinning round on his head!It's at the begging.So if anybody knows or may have a clue of what the song is called could you please tell me!I'm not sure if it's a old song or what and I didn't have clue of who was playing but anyway someone might know!Thanks!.
I can understand a flaw like this in a low budget independent film or a home movie but this is a big budget film with Hoffman, DeNiro, and Streisand for goodness sake.
Meet the Fockers is a monotonous exercise that, in turn, makes its mediocre predecessor appear worth of praise.Starring: Ben Stiller, Teri Polo, Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Streisand, and Alanna Ubach.
I mean all that stuff about Barbra Streisand's sex-therapy teachings, humping pets and De Niro's artificial boob, plus the not-even-funny-the-first-time play on words on the title family's name.Of the big star talent on show, I actually liked Hoffman and Streisand's turns as Stiller's touchy-feely (and then some!) parents, both having a romp with their crazy characters.
In this movie, Jack seems to be looking for reasons to bring Greg down, and instead of talking misunderstandings over like a mature adult, he simply results to despicable acts and temper tantrums to get his way.In addition to the stars of the original movie, this movie, of course, adds the Focker parents, played by Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman.
I just wonder who or what made quality actors like Robert de Niro, Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman sign for this film.
With the casting of Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand as Stiller's parents, Meet The Fockers is as funny, maybe funnier than the original film.A whole lot of Focker family secrets are exposed in this comedy and with three of the biggest movie names in the past 40 years in the cast there was definitely built in box office.
DeNiro, Hoffman, and Streisand show some incredible comic timing in this film.There's nothing these two families agree on.
If you don't like Ben Stiller and his comedy then just skip the movie because that's all you are going to get.. |
tt0411677 | Mortal Kombat: Deception | In the final events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Raiden's warriors, who were meant to protect the six fictional universes (named "realms"), are killed by the Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi), who attempted to conquer the realms. With Raiden defeated, the Deadly Alliance dissolves as the two sorcerers turn on each other for Shinnok's amulet. When Quan Chi wins, the Dragon King Onaga, the former emperor of the realm of Outworld, appears to regain his power. Raiden awakes and then unleashes all his powers in a colossal explosion that, apart from destroying both members of the Deadly Alliance, the surrounding palace and himself, has little effect on Onaga.
Onaga now seeks to use six artifacts called Kamidogu (literally "Tool of God" or "divine clay"), which are able to destroy the realms. Those fighters who survive the battle against the Deadly Alliance now stand against Onaga and his supporters. The latter include the forces of Edenia, now led by Mileena in the titular theme of deception as she masquerades as her sister, Princess Kitana. Other enemies include the former defenders from the realms, who were resurrected by Onaga and are under his control.
In the story explored in Konquest mode, a young man named Shujinko is deceived into spending his life collecting the Kamidogu for Onaga, who uses the guise of an emissary of the Elder Gods, the beings who created the realms, named Damashi. Onaga reveals his identity and intentions after Shujinko has gathered all the Kamidogu. Shujinko, led to believe he was working for the greater good, decides to continue training to defeat Onaga. | violence, cruelty | train | wikipedia | Nostalgia is good.
In this case nostalgia is good.
Old MK characters return and stage fatalities return.
Konquest in this game is an RPG like adventure with the main character named Shujinko.
Konquest does have some terrible voice acting in spots, but not everyone is bad.
Midway has got the right idea with Konquest.
It just needs to be fleshed out more.
Shujinko's controls are slightly stiff when it comes to moving.Most of the stories are good when you beat arcade mode.
There is a couple that disappoint.There is also a new addition to the MK series.
Which is Hara Kiris.
Its suicide basically.
Most of the Hara Kiri's range from cool to bland.All the characters have their own voices.
Which is great and adds more depth to the game in my opinion.The fighting feels more updated and not so clunky like in Deadly Alliance.
There are multi-tiered levels now.
There are two fatalities instead of one like in Deadly Alliance.
Overall a major improvement over Deadly Alliance..
Amazing fighting game!.
Rated M for Strong Bloody Violence.The Mortal Kombat series has generated a lot of controversy.It was one of the first video games to show lots of blood.The first game and some of its sequels were censored on certain consoles such as SNES.I used to like the Tekken series better.But Mortal Kombat definitely wastes that fighting series!
Sure Tekken may have better graphics but who needs graphics when you have tons of cool combos,characters and a lot of blood.There are many modes in this game such as Chess Combat which is like Chess only instead of jumping over characters you fight them to take their place on the square.There is also Puzzle Combat.Then there is konquest mode where you learn new fighting moves while doing little missions for people on the street.Mortal Kombat Deception is an excellent fighting game and it is worth buying!
A reasonable follow-up to Deadly Alliance,but doesn't improve on it's predecessor in any way.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsFollowing on from the last game in the MK series,Deadly Alliance,it emerges that the defenders of Earth-Realm failed in their mission to stop evil-doers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung from taking control of Earth-Realm.In a last ditch attempt to stop them,the resistance's leader,Rayden,did battle single-handedly with them,but their combined might proved too much for him.However,both sides now face a new threat in the shape of Onega,the evil dragon-lord,considered to be the only true ruler of Earth-Realm...The long-running MK franchise attempts to branch out with Deception,a game in which there is a 'puzzle' option in which you must control the movement of shapes and objects in order to win.There is also a segment entitled 'Chess Mortal Kombat',in which you must basically play Mortal Kombat in the style of,well,chess?!?Urrrgh,I've never played chess before in my life,let's just get to what we all came for,hard-core arcade style fighting!Here the game really blows hot and blows cold.There's a new selection of characters to choose from,none of them as appealing as with the previous game,but fairly adept fighters all the same.The graphics feel a little podgier than before,but where the game offers compensation is in scope.You can hurtle characters up high in the air,sending them up through glass roofs,you can knock them through wooden floor-boards and,to expurgate on this a bit,the death scenes are certainly a lot grislier.Characters are knocked from high cliff-tops and find themselves impaled on wooden spikes,they're knocked into spinning gurders,they're even just knocked from high heights,land on the ground,and splatter into a bloody mess just from the force of the impact.With recent publicity surrounding the effects of violent games and what they can lead to on young minds,it's a little nulifying to think that video game retailers may sell games such as this to youngsters with the 18 certificate being used merely as a precautionary measure!Overall,for all it's catchy gimmicks,this still doesn't quite manage to better Deadly Alliance in any way.That's not to mention that the game's obsession with spelling every single word that actually begins with a c with a k is a novelty that's starting to wear off now (there's even a character called Kobra in it-yeeesh!)But I can't say that it's worse than it in any way,either.Maybe Santa'll bring it me for Christmas.***.
If You Can Get Only One Fighting Game....
You should get "Mortal Kombat: Deception." The "Mortal Kombat" games have always been the definitive games of the fighting genre.
It's clear why.
First of all, there are no annoying cut scenes before every battle.
No cheesy trash-talking lines spoken by the characters before you can throw the first punch, just that familiar, near-demonic voice that says "Round 1.
Fight!" before each battle, and you're off.There's also the famous violence that has come to be associated with the MK series.
I'm not usually a big fan of blood and gore, but the MK games have made the violence so over the top that's it almost comical.
Characters bleed crimson, almost gelatinous blobs every time they're hit.
The blood can be switched off on the options menu, but this takes away MK's unique sparkle, including the ability to perform a Fatality.
As a finishing move, mash a few buttons you found on the Internet and your character will disembowel the opponent, removing generic organs and leaving a pool of blood.
Even the bugs that are trodden underfoot in one arena leave behind a gratuitous amount of guts.Of course, re-playability factor in very high.
In the one player arcade mode, you will be randomly assigned a series of opponents and arenas to fight in each time, always climaxing with the ridiculously hard-to-beat Onaga, the Dragon King.
And, of course, the two-player battles never get old, with each character having an incredible variety of unique combos and fighting moves to perform (as in the previous game, "Deadly Alliance", each character has two martial arts styles and a weapon.) Though some of the combos (especially the fatalities) are so difficult they'll make you swear your controllers are broken (especially in "Konquest" mode.)"MK: Deception" is the peak of the series.
There are some unfortunate changes from "Deadly Alliance", but unless you were a big fan of that game, you won't even miss them.
The biggest change is the cast of characters.
It's almost completely different, missing most of the classic characters that were featured in "Deadly Alliance", as well as the newly-introduced characters like Sub-Zero's protégé' Frost and vampire chick Nitara.
However, perennial favorites Sub-Zero and Scorpion do return, as does Li Mei, my favorite "Deadly Alliance" fighter.
There's also a handful of newcomers, including Kira, a sexy-redheaded member of Kano's syndicate.Gone is the ability to impale the opponent with your weapon, forcing them to kill immediately or bleed to death.
Arenas are also darker and less whimsical than in the previous game.
However, "Deception" introduces some vast improvements, including interactive environments.
Objects in the arenas can damage an opponent, or mangle them completely in graphic "stage fatalities." Also, some arenas contain weapons that can be picked up and used by the fighters.
There's also a "blocker" feature, which will finally enable you to do something about that friend who uses the same cheap combo over and over, but only up to three times per fight.
The best improvement, however, is the inclusion of multiple fatalities, including the Hira-Kira, or self-fatality.
The Hira-Kira deprives your opponent of the satisfaction of a fatality and makes even the worst loss feel like a victory.
Also, "Test Your Sight" and "Test Your Might" mini-games are missing, but they are replaced by chess and puzzle games.
The chess game is a complete mockery of the game of chess, taking away all of the strategic elements, but is a somewhat amusing way of putting a tournament together.
The puzzle game, however, is strangely addictive for a generic "Tetris" knock-off.
Finally, there's a Konquest mode, an RPG game that incorporates typical MK violence and provides a back story for the main game's tournament.
Unfortunately, it requires you to learn every character's most ridiculous combos, and, unlike in "Deadly Alliance", must be completed in order to unlock certain characters and costumes in "the Krypt.".
The Second Greatest Mortal Kombat Game ever!.
A Kick ass game this was, it is my second favorite Mortal Kombat game behind Armageddon, Chess Kombat rocks, I am a huge fan of both Mortal Kombat and Chess, Onaga, who is the final boss of this game is the best main villain/final villain boss in my opinion and Second best Final Boss to Blaze, Puzzle Kombat was cool too, it is like Tetris, Konquest in this Mortal Kombat is probably my favorite Konquest since you can go back places basically anytime, I love how you can make your chess teams and save them to your profiles, the idea of different colored coins was very creative too, Noob Saibot and Smoke though should have been separate, it was not fair to either of them and they did not get to use weapons, there are only 3 of the 24 endings I didn't care for, the rest were good though.
Characters in this game that rock are Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Noob-Smoke, Ermac, Baraka, Mileena, Jade, Li Mei (Her ending was just way out of her character there), Sindel, Kira, and Kabal, although I didn't like that the likes of Kitana, Reptile, Cyrax, Sektor, etc.
weren't playable, but I also loved the story lines involving the realms and the Komidogu, overall a must have game for decades to come!
S Ranking, 5 Stars and 1000/10 This series just keeps getting better..
the best mortal kombat game ever.
This has got to be the best mortal combat game i have ever played!
I love the opening movie to the game.
I also loved that you did not have to wait till the second round to finish off your challenger.
The chess combat was awesome it took me a while to get good at the chess combat but when i did i loved it.
I think the only thing that i did not like about this game is that radon dies in the beginning.
I like how the game has the same feel to it like mortal combat deadly alliance.
For the most part i liked the majority of the new combat characters accept for the character cobra.
He is almost like Kano i feel that they could have came up with a much better character besides him..
"Deception" is right about one thing....
I decided to wait on commenting on the latest game in the long-running "Mortal Kombat" franchise, titled "Mortal Kombat: Deception," because I first wanted to see how things would pan out after it was beaten.
Turns out, there's a whole lot of game, and a whole lot of frustration in there.I won't bother with the plot, since there isn't much in the first place, and a lot of characters are missing.
(The only recognizable characters in the beginning of the game are Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mileena, and Baraka.) Other than that, you're stuck with these four familiars, plus a few characters that made their debut in "Deadly Alliance" and some brand-new characters.This latest "MK" entry offers a whole lot of game, including "Puzzle Kombat," "Chess Kombat," and "Konquest," where you assume the role of "Shujinko" and you must complete a quest (not unlike what we've seen in dozens of martial arts movies before) and this section of "Deception" makes up about 1/4 of the bulk of the game.It is here in "Konquest" that you pretty much learn about the whole "Mortal Kombat" universe and you train, learn special moves, and earn "kombat koins" to open up unlockables in the "krypt" (everything that's usually spelled with a "c" is spelled with a "k" in the "Mortal Kombat" universe)."Deception" is undoubtedly fun, but unfortunately it's also quite maddening and frustrating.
The biggest flaw the game suffers from is the maddening combo system.
It takes the manual dexterity of someone with the quickest hand-eye coordination to complete some of the combo training tasks the game throws at you.It's insanely frustrating, especially for a fan like myself who grew up playing "Mortal Kombat." But if you're not up for the B.S. that's offered in the maddening "Konquest," you can of course duke-it-out with the CPU or your friends in old-fashioned "Arcade" mode.
But even here you're limited because you'd need to have beaten the game to get all the really cool characters.It took me about two weeks to complete "Mortal Kombat: Deception" and I can honestly say that I took a DEEP breath of relief when it was done, especially after I made it through the impossible combo training sessions, ridiculous fights (ever tried fighting Scorpion while he delivers blows that cause 3x more damage than they normally do AND he heals at the same time, or tried fighting Sindel while bleeding to death at 50% health?), and a somewhat weak "reward" for completing the core of the Konquest mode.Despite its ridiculousness, it's still a thorough and engaging entry into one of the most successful fighting franchises ever released.However, the tag line is not B.S.; it will "Konsume" you!7/10.
Tight.
This game completely kicks ass.
The Konquest mode is fun, but too easy.
The arcade mode (should be arkade,lol) is insanely hard but still fun, chess is a real blast (especially when a trap is tripped), puzzle kombat is fun, the characters are mostly fun but if midway is reading this separate Noob Saibot and Smoke please.
The fatalities and suicides aka Hara Kiris, are sometimes cool and sometimes bland but always bloody.
Stage fatalities, now activated at any time are awesome.
the new characters are incredibly powerful, especially a demoness on the way to purification, Ashrah.
Throw in background weapons and multitiered stages, and you have a kickass game..
Superb.
I'm a huge Mortal Kombat fan.
As such after the lukewarm deadly alliance, I was slightly reluctant to purchase this game.
I've never been so happy to be proved wrong.With a diverse cast of characters: from old hats Nightwolf, Lord Raiden, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Jade and Ermac, to welcome newcomers Kenshi, Li Mei, Hotaru and big boss Onaga.
Crisp graphics, tight fatalities and a VASTLY improved Konquest mode round off a great game.The only minor gripe I have was with the final throw down with Onaga.
He doesn't just beat you, he kicks you ass.
He's almost ridiculously strong.But otherwise, a must have for all MK fans. |
tt0054346 | The Stranglers of Bombay | Captain Harry Lewis (Guy Rolfe), of the British East India Company, is investigating why over 2000 natives are missing, but encounters a deaf ear from his superior, Colonel Henderson, who is more concerned with the local English merchants' caravans which are disappearing without a trace. To appease them, Henderson agrees to appoint a man to investigate, and Lewis believes it will be him. However, he is sorely disappointed when Henderson gives the job to the newly arrived, oblivious Captain Connaught-Smith, the son of an old friend of Henderson's.
Lewis believes a gang is murdering both the men and animals of the caravans and then burying the bodies, and suspects that the culprits have secret informants among the merchants of the city. He presents Connaught-Smith with his evidence and his theories, but is dismissed. He is also later caught by the Thugees and sentenced to die by the bite of a cobra, but is rescued by a pet mongoose, forcing the cult's high priest to release him. However, Connaught-Smith remains antagonistic and derisive towards Lewis, who eventually resigns his commission in frustration to investigate on his own.
Meanwhile, the merchants decide to band together and create a super-caravan whose size, as they believe, will discourage the bandits. Ram Das, Lewis' houseboy, believes he has seen his brother, Gopali, who disappeared some years ago, and receives permission to search for him. Lewis later learns that Ram Das has been captured by the Thugs when his severed hand is tossed through the window of his bungalow; soon after, the Thugs compel Gopali Das, a new initiate of the cult, to kill his brother. The hidebound Captain Connaught-Smith leads the caravan and foolishly allows the stranglers (in the guise of travellers) to join them. That night, the Thugs strike with their usual success; Connaught-Smith survives only until the Thugs start burying the bodies, whereupon he is killed too.
Lewis and Lt. Silver, a cult member, investigate the caravan's disappearance. Lewis sees the scar that marks Silver as a Thuggee follower of Kali and shoots him in self-defence. Lewis then discovers the buried bodies and goes to the cult's outdoor temple where he is caught and set to die on a burning pyre. Gopali Das, however, now haunted by his brother's death at his own hands, frees Lewis, who casts the high priest onto the pyre instead, and the two men escape in the ensuing tumult. Lewis and Gopali race to meet Patel Shari, the merchants' local representative, who is dining with Henderson. Gopali identifies Patel's chief servant as a Thug; Patil kills his follower to hold his tongue, thereby exposing himself. Following this, Lewis' resignation is revoked, and he receives a promotion from Henderson for his help in exposing the Thuggee cult. The film ends with a narrative display detailing that the Thugee cult was subsequently wiped out by the British, and a quotation by Major General William Sleeman: "If we have done nothing else for India, we have done this one good thing." | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | Watching this, I was reminded all over again just how invigorating the output from Hammer Films was during its heyday; even so, this isn't a horror film as such and, in fact, has recently been released on DVD through Sony as part of a double-disc 4-movie collection entitled "Icons Of Adventure" (none of which I'd previously watched).The film has a good reputation quality-wise, but it's even better-known as one of the company's grisliest efforts not that there's excessive bloodshed on display, but director Fisher was certainly able to milk the inherent savagery of British-ruled India for all it was worth (there's plenty of implied physical violence throughout, to be sure, which seems all the more obscene for being triggered by religious fanaticism!).
Tying up with this fact, the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) came down on THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY with particular alacrity.
Unfortunately, many of the cuts they enforced back then (notably a female hanger-on's ecstatic reaction shots to the violence perpetrated by the titular cult have been all but eliminated, thus rendering her character virtually pointless!) have been retained for the R1 edition
though a scene involving a fight between a mongoose (the hero's pet which saves its master having fallen prisoner to the vicious stranglers from certain death at the eleventh hour) and a cobra, reportedly also trimmed by seven seconds, seems intact here!
I'm ambivalent about the picture being in black-and-white: admittedly, this allows it a gritty realism unusual for the company however, at the same time, the lack of color tends to dilute the film's potential for exotic flavor
especially since this would have alleviated its unremitting bleakness somewhat!
Incidentally, while the come-uppance of the cult itself feels a bit rushed, this is eventually redeemed by a satisfactory aftermath wherein a former spiritual leader, now reduced to mere negotiator between his people and Britain's East India Company, gives himself away as an associate of the so-called "thuggees"; similarly devious had been a half-caste officer, whom the hero dealt with personally during a scouting mission for a 'lost patrol'.
In any case, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY features one of Hammer's strongest (and most sympathetic) male leads from this era in middle-aged Guy Rolfe though he's matched by an intense display of villainy from George Pastell as the High Priest of the strangling cult; on the other hand, Allan Cuthbertson's overbearing snob of an upper-class officer fails to rise above mere cliché!
By the way, it's always a pleasure to see the names of all the Hammer stalwarts among the credits with cinematographer Arthur Grant and composer James Bernard chief among them, they deliver exemplary work on this picture as well; having said that, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY was uniquely scripted by an American David Zelag Goodman whose best work (Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS [1971]), coincidentally, would also be filmed in England and prove a censorship milestone!.
THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is included on a DVD of another Hammer film, THE TERROR OF THE TONGS.
This is because the film did a great job of making the sets look like India and using actors that might be Indian--whereas in TERROR, English actors almost exclusively played Chinese parts (making the film look really cheesy).Amazingly, THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is based on a true story, though I am pretty sure the names and a few details were fictionalized.
In the nineteenth century, a bizarre cult dedicated to Kali (the goddess of death and destruction) was ultimately destroyed by the British in India.
This cult not only adored Kali, but was dedicated to murder and robbery--and it was apparently a pretty serious threat.The film gets very high marks for its script and direction.
Despite having little of the cache of many other Hammer films (no Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing) and being in black and white, it's as solid and exciting a drama as you can find from this studio..
The Stranglers of Bombay was made by Hammer in 1960 and I found this quite good.
It is rather violent for its time.A series of rather gruesome murders in India turn out to be the work of a religious cult, known as the Stranglers.
The leader of the Stranglers is killed at the end, along with most of the other members.The cast includes Guy Rolfe (Mr Sardonicus), Jan Holden, Andrew Cruickshank, George Pastell, Allan Cuthbertson and Roger Delgado (First Man Into Space).
Good parts from all.The Stranglers of Bombay is worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Hammer.Rating: 3 stars out of 5..
The closing title card of this lesser-known title from Hammer's back catalogue reads "if we have done nothing else for India, we have done this one good thing." Referring to the British East India Company's governance over India for over a hundred years, The Stranglers of Bombay depicts the disappearance of thousands of India's population at the hands of the 'Thugees', an organised gang of murderers and thieves who operated relatively undetected for more than 600 years, and how their operations were eventually brought to an end.
It is a subject that would no doubt be handled more delicately if tackled today, and I'm sure that those sensitive to modern PC standards may be somewhat offended by the film, but Stranglers is well-balanced and ultimately apologetic for the Company's occupation, finding a positive note in what was a barbaric time.Captain Harry Lewis (Guy Rolfe) of the East India Company is the only person interested in the reports of over a thousand disappearances, attempting to bring the mystery to the attention of his superiors.
Frustrated at Connaught-Smith's bungling and the general disdain he has for the Indian people, Lewis quits the Company to carry out his own inquiry, and uncovers a murderous cult who make sacrifices in the name of their god, Kali.
Led by the High Priest of Kali (George Pastell), the gang's influence goes all the way to the very top, which is how they have managed to remain in the shadows for centuries.The Stranglers of Bombay is low on horror but higher on adventure.
It's no surprise then to learn that frequent Hammer collaborator Terence Fisher is behind the camera, who would always shoot efficiently and make his films appear more expensive than they actually were.
The absence of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is almost always felt when watching a Hammer horror, but leading man Guy Rolfe proves to be a perfectly watchable leading man, earning our sympathy as the one decent white man in a company of incompetent and uncaring fellow officers.
While more attention could have been given to the suffering of the Indian people, the film's heart is certainly in the right place, making it one of Hammer's most interesting, while not their most thrilling, entries into the genre..
The Stranglers of Bombay is out of Hammer Film Productions.
It stars Guy Rolfe, Jan Holden, Andrew Cruickshank, George Pastell, Marne Maitland and Paul Stassino.
Music is by James Bernard and cinematography by Arthur Grant.For hundreds of years there existed in India a perverted religious sect, dedicated to the wanton destruction of human life....So secret was this savage cult that even the British East Indian Company, rulers of the country at the time, was unaware of their existence....So it begins, a compact and often violent retelling of the Thuggee Cult in India in the 1820s.
This deserves better, for it's a very good script, where although the history is difficult to pin down as being correct, it does at least show a care and attention to detail where the Thugee Cult is concerned.It's also a good old adventure yarn, full of intrigue, peril and detective work.
Cast are mostly good value for money, with lead players Rolfe perfectly restrained as an officer desperately trying to be heard and Pastell owning the film as the High Priest of Kali; in fact he is revelling in the bad guy role.
Great directing enhance this tense film about a religious cult who go around murdering and stealing just for the sheer pleasure of it.
If the British did accomplish one good thing in India it was getting rid of the strangling cult Thugee.
But if India had been another planet and the British were operating under the Prime Directive it would have made for some interesting history.As it was this particular film, The Stranglers Of Bombay takes place in the early part of the 18th century when India was ruled not by the crown directly, but through the British East India Company.
The soldiers you see report to them in London and the idea of course is take care of whatever is slowing down company profits.Guy Rolfe who has played some really nasty villains in such films as Ivanhoe, Taras Bulba, and King Of The Khyber Rifles is a time serving captain in their army who has spent twenty years in India and is rather steeped in their culture.
He's the right man for finding out what's at the bottom of a lot of mysterious disappearances, but Colonel Andrew Cruickshank selects the arrogant and fatuous Allan Cuthbertson, newly arrived in India for the job.
Kind of dumb, but if he had given Rolfe a free hand we wouldn't have had much of a film.Classic movie fans recall Eduardo Ciannelli as the Guru of the Thugs in Gunga Din who had some really ambitious goals for followers.
The head of the cult here is far more local and a man not quite of Ciannelli's vision of eradicating the British and sweeping the world for Kali.There were some plot holes in the script or otherwise I would have given The Stranglers Of Bombay a higher rating.
Terence Fisher directed this historically based adventure that stars Guy Rolfe as a captain in 1830's India trying to fight a dangerous cult of murderers and thieves known as the thuggee.
Still, looked at as a horror movie, it is pretty fun, and it seems to include more explicit depictions of violence even than other Hammer films of the time – perhaps the claim of historical authenticity made it easier to get away with gore in England at this time.
I particularly enjoyed George Pastell's performance, similar in many ways to the one he gave in the previous year's adaptation of "the Mummy." The various tensions among the British colonial officers also add a nice touch, and the direction and cinematography are top-notch, as awkward as the material sometimes gets..
THE STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY is one of Hammer's last black-and-white movies but, being set in the exotic locales of 19th-century India, it really needs some colour to liven it up.
Hammer would later do the whole pulp adventure type format much better with the likes of the truly gripping TERROR OF THE TONGS.The story sees the British East India Company finding themselves menaced by sinister members of a thuggee cult with a predilection for strangulation.
Said cult members are headed by the memorably zany George Pastell, whose role seems to have provided inspiration for Spielberg in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.
Watch out for an uncredited Roger Delgado (DR WHO's Master) as an evil henchman and Marie Devereux as a mute but arresting thuggee follower.All this is fair enough, but the film really lets itself down when it comes to the lifeless characters.
Guy Rolfe's heroic leading man is adequate, but way too much screen time is given over to the stuffy character Allan Cuthbertson plays.
STRANGLERS OF BOMBAY has promise at times, but with the pedigree behind it (such as Terence Fisher's direction) it should have been a lot better than it actually is..
A notorious death cult known as the Thuggees terrorizes India.
Gutsy and aggressive Captain Harry Lewis (a fine and commanding performance by Guy Rolfe) stirs things up by investigating a series of disappearances attributed to the Thuggees.
Director Terence Fisher, working from a taut and absorbing script by David Zelag Goodman, relates the compelling story at a steady pace, delivers a rich and flavorsome evocation of the period setting, and doesn't pull any punches with the film's potent moments of shocking violence and brutality (one of the single most unnerving scenes occurs when a Thuggee cult member kills his own older brother!).
This movie further benefits from sound acting from a sturdy cast: Rolfe makes for a dashing and engaging hero, Marne Maitland as the suave and cunning Patel Shari and George Pastell as the bald and charismatic High Priest of Kali register strongly as the main villains of the piece, plus are are solid contributions from the fetching Jan Holden as Lewis' loyal wife Mary, Andrew Cruickshank as the ineffectual Colonel Henderson, Paul Stassino as the corrupt Lieutenant Silver, and Allan Cuthbertson as the arrogant and condescending Captain Christopher Connaught-Smith.
A classic and sorely underrated Hammer film in which the British East India Company officer Captain Harry Lewis - played very well by the engaging Guy Rolfe whom I recognise from something else but can't remember what - fights the cult of Kali which is responsible for the kidnapping and murder of thousands of Indians.
The film has a very strong and effectively creepy and violent storyline and is directed to perfection, as ever, by Terence Fisher.Unlike most Hammer films, it is based on real events though I don't know how closely as it's well outside my historical area of interest.
One historical aspect of the film that I appreciated was Lewis' criticism of the East India Company, which he points out to his superior Colonel Henderson (a wonderful Andrew Cruickshank) is not investigating the disappearances of several thousand Indians out of any sense of morality or responsibility but because it is related to the disappearance of several English merchants' caravans.
Another very effective piece of social commentary is Henderson giving the job of investigating the disappearances not to Lewis, the logical and seemingly obvious choice given that he has spent two years doing so on his own initiative, but to the supercilious and not very bright Captain Connaught-Smith (played, again very well, by Allan Cuthbertson) whose father went to school with Henderson.
It does not exercise his dull mind." The treatment of the Indians in the film is far less condescending and insulting than the treatment of the Chinese in the similar Hammer film "The Terror of the Tongs" but, as was standard at the time, very few of the actors with speaking roles are actually Indian.
The only actor of Indian descent to play a major role was Hammer regular Marne Maitland as Shari Patel.
The other two major Indian characters are played by George Pastell and an uncredited Roger Delgado, both of whom were also frequently seen playing foreigners in the studio's films.
David Spenser and Warren Mitchell are really the only non-Indian actors playing Indian characters who stick out like sore thumbs, in stark contrast to the fake Chinese people in the aforementioned film including, funnily enough, Maitland and Delgado..
Filmed in 'Strangloscope!' no less 'The Stranglers of Bombay' is a Hammer film directed by their usual director Terence Fisher about the historical Thugee cult in India.
People and goods have been going missing from caravan trails and the officers of the East India company are worried.
That is Colonel Henderson and the merchants are worried about the goods but Captain Harry Lewis is more worried about the missing people, overwhelmingly Indian.
It is an entertaining film that gallops along to a good (but rushed ending) taking in murder, gore, suspense and excitement.
Guy Rolfe is solid as Captain Lewis and George Pastell scarily convincing as the High Priest of Kali.
They are supported well by Allan Cuthbertson, Andrew Cruickshank, Jan Holden and Marne Maitland (who actually was born in India.) Splendid support is also given to the frontally blessed Marie Devereux, thankfully.
In 19th Century India, a vicious cult dubbed the Thuggees is terrorizing their own countrymen, robbing and killing with impunity.
Harry Lewis (Guy Rolfe), a captain with the East India Company, knows that there's a problem.
Harry gets personally involved when his faithful servant, Ram Das (Tutte Lemkow), goes missing while in search of his brother.Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher directs with his customary efficiency.
Many of the popular Hammer talents strut their stuff, including the cinematographer, Arthur Grant, who shoots "The Stranglers of Bombay" in beautiful widescreen black & white.
Rolfe is a highly engaging hero, and among the other Hammer repertory players here, George Pastell shines.
Marne Maitland, Paul Stassino, Roger Delgado, John Harvey, Warren Mitchell, Michael Nightingale, Ewen Solon, and David Spenser all do fine jobs in their respective roles.Some viewers may also be put off by the rather vivid violence, but this film still sizes up as an agreeable diversion for Hammer fans.Seven out of 10..
Guy Rolfe is a captain in the British Army in 1820s India.
He has a pretty blond wife and he's happy in the army, but he has trouble convincing his commanding officer, not to mention the executives at British East India, that something more than simple brigandry is afoot.The captain is a keen observer and he picks up clues that there is a cultish group insinuating their members into traveling caravans, then robbing them and murdering all the members of the caravan with sacred scarves, as part of the worship of Kali, whom the astute viewer will remember from "Gunga Din." The thugs even have a mole in the officer corps and Rolfe plays hell defeating them and their vile movement.It begins interestingly enough.
Rolfe is the only officer who bring up the fact that many thousands of travelers are disappearing with them.
Gradually, the emphasis of the story shifts from Rolfe and his conundrum to the cult of Thugees themselves, and it sort of slides a little downhill from there.It's impossible to avoid the depiction of violence entirely in a story about a movement whose chief aim was murder and theft, but the director, Terence Fisher, seems to linger over the gruesome details. |
tt1078298 | 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails | The series begins in New Orleans with a man named George covered in blood running towards a police officer who subdues and begins to arrest him when George ignores his commands to stop.
2 days earlier, George is going to see Judith for one last job. George is a recovering addict and he is hoping to use the money from the job to leave New Orleans and start a new life with his girlfriend Jenny. He goes to meet Eddie behind a bar, collect a CD and deliver it to Pat. Yet, when he arrives, Eddie has been attacked and the disc destroyed. Eddie, barely alive, uses his bloody finger to scrawl some letters and numbers on George's forearm before he dies.
In the background, a vampire runs past George, who flees into the bar Eddie had come from. However, indoors he runs into his old dealer who wants payment for the drugs. George is then water tortured in the bathroom until the vampire kills the dealer. Not wanting to stay long, George runs to Pat's apartment with the code. Pat sends the code to Cynthia in Los Angeles. Feeling that his job is done George heads back to his place. As Pat is about to hack into a website, he witnesses Cynthia on a webcam being beheaded by another vampire.
George returns to his apartment to find Jenny upset and in withdrawal. George feels he has been followed and hides with Jenny in the closet. A vampire has followed George to his apartment and now is looking for him. George uses a nailbat to attack and escape the vampire. Confused, they both run to see Pat, only to find him bleeding to death. He asks George to deliver a message to Judith and begs George to kill him. When he hesitates, Pat becomes a vampire, only to have Jenny behead him with a katana. Wanting answers, they head for Judith who tells them to take the message to Chad.
They arrive at Chad's with the message. Written in a hidden code, Chad needs time to crack it. While waiting outside, George and Jenny talk about what they will do after Cynthia pays him. Suddenly, Jenny is pulled backward into a below-ground alley by a vampire. George follows and finds her bleeding and transforming into a vampire. She attacks him, and he is forced to kill Jenny with a length of pipe. He goes back into the building only to find a bloody stump of Chad's arm, clutching a piece of paper on which the decoded message is written.
After reading the message, George runs into the street. We come back to when George is being arrested and discovers the message reveals the vampires' plan – a "feeding" in Barrow, Alaska, which will take place the following night.
George's story continues in 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust. | violence | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0386788 | Silent Hill 4: The Room | === Characters ===
The protagonist and player character of Silent Hill 4 is Henry Townshend, a resident of the South Ashfield Heights Apartments building in the fictitious town of Ashfield. Henry is an "average" man who has been described by Konami as an introvert in his late 20s. For the most part Henry navigates the game's world alone, although he eventually works with his neighbor Eileen Galvin. Henry also deals with the new supporting characters of Cynthia Velázquez, Andrew DeSalvo, Richard Braintree and Jasper Gein.
Silent Hill 4: The Room incorporates two unseen, minor characters from previous installments: investigative journalist Joseph Schreiber and deceased serial killer Walter Sullivan. Joseph was first referenced in Silent Hill 3 with a magazine article he has written condemning the "Hope House" orphanage run by Silent Hill's religious cult, which the game's protagonist, Heather, can discover. In Silent Hill 2, Walter is referenced in a newspaper article detailing his suicide in his jail cell after his murder of two children. Sullivan appears in two forms: an undead adult enemy and a neutral child supporting character. Walter's previous victims play a small role in the game as enemies.
=== Story ===
At the beginning of the game, Henry Townshend has been locked in his apartment in South Ashfield for five days with no means of communication and having recurring nightmares. Shortly afterwards, a hole appears in the wall of his bathroom, through which he enters alternate dimensions. His first destination is an abandoned subway station, where he meets Cynthia Velázquez, a woman convinced she is dreaming and who is soon killed by an unknown man. Awakening in his apartment, he hears confirmation on his radio that she is indeed dead in the real world. Similar events repeat with the next three people Henry finds: Jasper Gein; Andrew DeSalvo, a former employee of an orphanage run by Silent Hill's cult; and Richard Braintree, a resident in Henry's apartment complex. All the deaths bear similarities to the deceased serial killer Walter Sullivan's modus operandi.
Henry finds scraps of the diary of his apartment's former occupant, journalist Joseph Schreiber, who was investigating Walter's murder spree. Walter is an orphan who has been led to believe his biological mother was in Henry's apartment, where he had been found abandoned after birth. To "purify" the apartment, Walter, now in an undead state, is attempting to complete a ritual, which requires twenty-one murders to be committed. Midway through the game, a child manifestation of Walter interrupts the murder of the intended twentieth victim, Eileen Galvin, and she joins Henry trying to find Joseph. At the same time, supernatural occurrences begin to manifest in Henry's apartment. The two eventually find Joseph's ghost, who tells them that their only escape is to kill Walter and reveals that Henry is the intended twenty-first victim.
Shortly after Henry acquires Walter's umbilical cord, an item required to kill him, Eileen leaves Henry and returns to his apartment, either hoping to stop Walter from completing the ritual or under Walter's possession. He finds her with Walter, possessed and about to walk into a deathtrap, and a fight between the two men ensues. There are four possible endings, determined by whether or not Eileen survived the fight and on the condition of Henry's apartment. The "21 Sacraments" ending sees Walter and his child manifestation in his apartment, while the radio reveals that Henry and Eileen have died, along with the superintendent Frank Sunderland and several others. In "Eileen's Death," Henry awakens in his apartment, and learns from his radio that Eileen has died, to his sorrow. In "Mother," Henry escapes from his apartment building, and brings flowers to Eileen, who plans to return to the apartment building. His apartment, meanwhile, has become completely possessed. "Escape" begins similarly to the "Mother" ending, but Eileen resolves to find a new place to live, and his apartment is not shown to be possessed. There is no UFO "joke ending", a staple of the series. | violence, cult, psychedelic, murder, haunting | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0107151 | The House of the Spirits | Prologue
A young woman, Blanca Trueba (Winona Ryder), arrives at a house with an old man and the young woman starts remembering her life.
Clara and Esteban
Blanca's mother, Clara del Valle (Meryl Streep) was a child with psychic power when Esteban Trueba (Jeremy Irons) came to propose to Clara's older sister, Rosa del Valle. Esteban left his fiancée with her family to earn money for their wedding. One day, Clara has a vision and tells her sister Rosa that there will be a death in the family. The next day, Rosa dies after drinking poison intended for her father, Senator Severo. Clara blames herself for her sister's death, and after watching her sister's autopsy, decides never to speak again.
Esteban was heartbroken. At home, his sister, Férula (Glenn Close) lives and takes care of their sick mother. Esteban used the money he earned from mining and bought a hacienda, Tres Marías. He finds many natives living on his land and tells them to work for him for food and shelter. For the next twenty years, Esteban makes Tres Marías an example of a successful Hacienda. One day he rapes a peasant girl, Pancha García (Sarita Choudhury) and she gave birth to a son. He spends some nights with Tránsito, a local prostitute (María Conchita Alonso), to whom he lends money so she can start a new career in the capital.
Twenty years later, Esteban receives a letter that his mother has died. After her funeral, Esteban decides to ask for Clara's hand, despite Férula's protests that Clara is too sickly and will not take care of him properly. When he shows up at the Del Valle family's house, Clara asks him right away if he has come to ask her to marry him, thus speaking again for the first time in twenty years.
Férula meets Clara at a coffee shop to talk about her own future, and Clara, sensing Férula's worries, promises her that she can live with her and Esteban in Tres Marías after the wedding and the two will be like sisters.
Clara gives birth to a girl as she predicted, and names her Blanca. One day, the girl whom Esteban raped, Pancha García appears at the family house with Esteban's illegitimate teenage son, Esteban García and asks for money. Esteban Trueba gives them some money and harshly orders them never to come back threatening to have his dogs attack them both if they return.
Clara holds classes for the peasant children and Blanca. Pedro Tercero, the young son of Esteban's foreman Segundo at Tres Marias befriends Blanca and the two become playmates. Esteban Trueba does not like his daughter playing with a peasant boy and sends Blanca to a boarding school.
Blanca and Pedro Tercero
After graduating from school, Blanca returns home to Tres Marías and meets with Pedro Tercero (Antonio Banderas) by the lagoon every night. One night while Esteban attends a political meeting, there is an earthquake; he worries about Clara and Blanca, goes home to Tres Marías and finds that Férula has climbed into bed with Clara. He is so angry that he throws Férula out of the house telling her never to come back. Férula curses Esteban but leaves. Clara is deeply disappointed that Esteban would kick his sister out of their family home.
One day Esteban brings the French Count Jean de Satigny (Jan Niklas) to his home intending to arrange a marriage between him and Blanca. Clara senses that the French "nobleman" is a fraud while reading cards, but Esteban dismisses her folly. While Satigny is still visiting, Esteban catches Pedro preaching revolutionary ideas that are critical of wealthy landowners like Esteban to the peasant workers. Esteban orders the workers to return to work and punishes Pedro with a fierce whipping and banishes him from Tres Marías. That night at dinner, Férula suddenly appears in the house, kisses Clara on the forehead and leaves again. Clara tells the rest of the family that Férula has died. Clara and Esteban drive into town to Férula's modest house where they find her dead on the bed.
Pedro returns to Tres Marías to talk to the peasants about their rights and nearly gets shot by Esteban. That night, Count Jean de Satigny, who is visiting again, watches Blanca and Pedro meeting secretly at the lagoon. He reveals Blanca's lover to her father who immediately drags Blanca back to the house. When Clara tries to persuade him not to be violent, Esteban hits his wife and she falls. Esteban immediately expresses his regret, but Clara tells him in shock and agony that she will never speak to him again. Clara moves with Blanca to her parents' home in the capital.
Blanca becomes pregnant with Pedro's child and gives birth to a girl named Alba.
Revolution
Esteban is busy with his political career as a senator, but as an old man he is lonely and finds comfort in the arms of Tránsito, who now runs a high-class prostitution establishment.
During the national election, Esteban believes his Conservative Party will win as usual, but the People's Front ends up winning control of the government. Blanca goes out on the street to celebrate and to meet Pedro, now a leading figure in the People's Front. Clara stays home with Alba to decorate the house for Christmas, where after what seems like a heart attack she passes away, instructing the little girl to give the diaries she had kept all her life to her mother Blanca, so that "she may understand better that and how events are related".
Meanwhile, a conspiracy between some Conservative Party members and the military leads to a coup d'état, and the military takes control of the country. At first, Esteban believes it is good for the country and that the military will hand power back to the Conservative Party, but he soon learns that the military have other plans. Under the control of the military, people associated with the People's Party are captured and even killed. Blanca is very involved and eventually the police come to arrest her for being with Pedro Tercero. Blanca reveals to her father that Pedro has been hiding in their house's cellar and begs him to help Pedro get out of the country.
In the coming days, Blanca is tortured and abused by her half-brother, Esteban García, who had joined the military with his father's help. Esteban honours his daughter's wishes and helps Pedro Tercero find exile in Canada. Esteban then turns to Tránsito, now an influential Madam with lots of connections to high level military figures, to help free Blanca. One morning, a beaten and raped Blanca arrives at her home and Esteban tells her that Pedro is waiting for her in Canada.
Epilogue
Blanca and Esteban return to Tres Marías with Alba. Esteban is finally visited by Clara's spirit who has come to help the old man on to the next world. Blanca sits outside and ponders her life, looking forward to a life with Pedro and her daughter Alba. | paranormal, revenge, avant garde, romantic, flashback | train | wikipedia | The relationship between Esteban and Pedro Tercero (Tercero-third-, by the way, is the son and thus comes after Segundo-second-) and its connections to that between Esteban and his grandson from Pancha García (not son, who he also did recognize) is chopped in half and its importance downplayed.One of the most fundamental things about the book that the film is all but stripped of: this is called "The House of the Spirits." Where is the house?
The house in fundamental to the story, but the movie unjustly relegates it to a mere backdrop.If I hadn't read the book before, I would have never guessed that such a sappy, shallow movie could be based on such a rich and entertaining novel..
I loved the people with the notable and chilly brilliant exception from Jeremy Irons (Can we ever really love his incredible characters?)Another underrated movie that seeks much and delivers well although at times with a bit too much telegraphing (the bathing scene with the young Blanca for example.)It was a three hankie movie in the end, A great three hankie [email protected].
Jeremy Irons was almost perfect (I just think that there should be a little more Spanian accent there); Glenn Close seems to fit any character she's into and make it look real, in this case, painfully real; and what can I say about Meryl Streep?
This is the second time I have seen this film, but the story's continuity did not get me really sympathising with and feeling for the characters.
It may be arguable that this film is better than `Missing' (1982) (qv), however `Missing' pulled me much more into the story.Certainly, in no way should you pass up this film if you get a chance to see it: there are very good interpretations, at times even wondrous, combining with very intelligent photography and Hans Zimmer doing some of his best work..
The book on which this movie was based is a wonderful, engaging story of the Trueba family, with a typical South American ambiance, in a way similar to the stories of another great author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Maybe the director thought it necessary for Winona Ryder to play a larger role.Furthermore, there were little wonderful elements of the book which might have been added to the movie, without much trouble.
That might also be the reason why Alba plays just a minor role, because her life is quite intertwined with that of her uncles.To conclude, movies based on a novel rarely give a satisfying image and for people who haven't read the book it will probably be quite entertaining.
The lumbering oaf of a movie that resulted--largely due to a magnificent cast of Anglo actors completely unable to carry off the evasive Latin mellifluousness of Allende's characters, and a plodding Scandinavian directorial hand--was so uncomfortable in its own skin that I returned to the theater a second time to make certain I had not missed something vital that might change my opinion.
None among Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close and Vanessa Redgrave could wiggle free of the trap set for them by director Bille August.
Pretty good movie with Streep, Irons, Banderas, Close, Ryder..
A good study in character and family relationships, moves a bit slow at times, but represents leisure story-telling.
He was a horrible man and I could see no reason why Clara would have loved him.There was no point to this movie, unless it is to encourage women to punish themselves by loving evil men.Watching this was a big waste of my time..
When I found out there was a movie that had both my favorite actresses Meryl Streep and Wynona Ryder, I went through the roof!But I had a hard fall after watching this lame movie and I still have the bruise.First of all the character that Jeremy Irons (an actor I still admire even after this disappointment)plays was just awful.
Years later, when Clara dies, Esteban tells his servants "Well, we might as well bury my mother-in-law's head now." Moments like that are missing, and instead we just have a scene of Severo and Nivea in a random car accident in the film, and are then never mentioned again.
Now this leads into another issue: the most infamous criticism of this film is that it stars a bunch of "gringos" (Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and Winona Ryder) as Chilean characters.
At first glance, you might think this is a shallow thing to criticize: actors play characters of different ethnic backgrounds all the time, nor is there any one way that a Chilean person should "look." But I think this criticism is actually a misdiagnosis of a bigger problem.
In addition to this you have the removal of Blanca's brothers from the book and a climax that doesn't play very dramatically, and the resulting story is very fractured and loses the epic 3-generation sweep of the novel.I am left wondering if any film could have been made of this book, which has so many characters and spans many different episodes.
Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons bring Isabel Allende's novel to life with all its passion and suspense.
Jeremy Irons as Esteban Trueba ages and mellows very believably, while Meryl Streep in the role of Clara maintains her gentle, loving warmth throughout her relatively short life.
In the environment of a large estate that arises from the ruins, becoming a force to abuse and exploitation of outrage, a luxury estate for the benefit of the upstart Esteban Trueba and his undeserved family, the brilliant Danish director Bille August recreates, in micro, which at the time would be the process leading to the greatest infamy of his story to the hardened Chilean nation, and whose main character would Augusto Pinochet (Stephen similarities with it are inevitable: recall, as an example, that image of the senator with dark glasses that makes him the wink to the general to begin making the palace).Bille August attends an exceptional cast in the Jeremy protruding Irons, whose character changes from arrogance and extreme cruelty, the hard lesson that life always brings us to almost force us to change.
In Esteban fully applies the law of resonance, with great wisdom, Solomon describes in these words:"The things that freckles are the same punishment that will serve you." Unforgettable Glenn Close playing splint, the tainted sister of Stephen, whose sin, driven by loneliness, spiritual and platonic love was the wife of his cruel snowy brother.
The film moves the bowels, we recreated some facts that should not ever be repeated, but that absurdly still happen (Colombia is a sad example) and another reminder that, against all, life is wonderful because there are always people like Isabel Allende and immortalize just Bille August..
I'm glad I rented this movie for one reason: its shortcomings made me want to read Allende's book and get the full story.
Pros: the movie is beautiful, the period is depicted well and consistently (to the best of my knowledge), and Meryl and Glenn do good jobs.Cons: This is the worst acting job I've ever seen from Jeremy Irons--I kept wondering if something was wrong with his mouth.
I mean this is a good film, and I watched it many times, and I am just amazed how the director tells his basic story..
Isn't this a rather consoling thought?When I watched it for the first time, I thought that after the won election, the movie would be over - I didn't know the book.
Furthermore, the soundtrack is incredibly good and the cast is wonderful as well - especially Winona Ryder and Jeremy Irons.So definitely one of those films that cinema was invented for!.
Later, I saw the movie, and it is incredible.I highly recommend it, and everyone should see it if they haven't already.It took me a while to realize that Winona Ryder played Blanca.The photography is incredible, the plot is amazing, and the story is really interesting.
By the way,what is all this ridiculous criticism to Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep,Glenn Close and Winona Ryder about not "looking Chileanenough"?
If Bille August, the director and screenwriter (from Isabel Allende's book) had either lengthened the film or snipped a few characters, this film might have worked completely.
OK, most of the actors don't bother with accents, this is usually a pet peeve of mine, but if you're willing to overlook that, a big if I know, you'll be rewarded with a intriguing, compelling film.the story of the Trueba family spans generations.
At the forefront is Esteban, played by Jeremy Irons, though poor he aspires to marry the daughter of a aristocratic South American family.
But in his old age and with his family in jeopardy Esteban finally realizes nothing is stronger than love.The aging of the characters in the film is very well done, seldom have I seen so convincing a performance as Jeremy Irons here.
Overall, this is a good stand-alone movie, but if you want a great story about romance, power, and betrayal, read the book!.
I hate Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas (in non-Spanish films), and the other actors, including Winona, my favourite actress and Jeremy Irons try hard to get over such a terrible script.
Despite a tremendously talented cast and the sure-handed direction of Bille August, there's just no way to make Allende's sprawling novel into a satisfying cinematic experience: There's everything from telekinesis, child molestation, bestiality, rape, torture, dismemberment and homoeroticism, set against the backdrop of the Chilean revolution through the lives of an patriarchal, aristocratic family.
The house of the spirits,the movie with no single mistake,I don't think any filmmaker could be more sincere,sensitive,deep and attractive more than the crew members of this film,specially Bille August,Jeremy Irons,Hans Zimmer and all the cast members,in outstanding harmony they gave us the core of all the feelings of Allende's Terrific novel.Watch the movie,mind the difference between the nature of a novel and the nature of a movie and don't make comparisons and then you will find yourself completely taken by this masterpiece,if not then better watch different type of movies.
I was wondering "Who is the actress playing Blanca?" all the time, but of course, it was a really young Winona Ryder!All in all, this movie really made me want to read the book..
They didn't include the third Trueba generation, the love between Blanca and Pedro wans't well explained and some actors were too different from what I had imagined.Later I realized that, had the movie been more loyal to the book, it would have been like five hours long, and would be kind of tedious.
Clara really looks like an Angel in live, and her introduction to the story at the beggining of the film was fantastic, loyal and short.
As in the book, the very last part is the most exciting one, and it has real history too there.The movie is really good, specially considering that it was a gringo film based upon a latin american book.
To capture the rich complexity and the intensity of a novel by Isabel Allende is not an easy task; however, it is one that Bille August attempts to do with the film version of Allende's "The House of Spirits." Jam-packed with a stunning cast, including Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, and Winona Ryder, the film covers a span of around 70 years, giving us a glimpse of the different aspects of the family's life that shapes who they become as the film progresses.
I feel that in order to truly capture the complexity of Allende's novel, the film would have to be long enough to delve into each character and their respective stories with much more detail..
What caught my attention and made me watch it was the participation of Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, two artists that I love to see working.
The hostile relation between Pedro and Esteban allows the film to show the political evolution of Chile during the twentieth century, from an oligarchic and conservative republic to a military dictatorship.All these things are good but this story has some problems as well, which may (or may not) have origin in Allende's book.
Of course, I really loved the choice of shooting locations, and I found it funny to see the Portuguese Army participating in the film although I wonder who paid for them, after all they are not paid to do figuration and would be very serious if that money came out of the taxpayer's pocket.This is a very good film, with a star-cast working hard to please us, beautiful sets and costumes and an appealing love story.
An interesting story, beautiful landscapes, well developed drama and characters delivered by a great cast.
Jeremy Irons excels as Esteban Truebas, the tough and contradictory landowner, and Merryl Streep is a wonderful Clara, light, breezy, spiritual, as the character in the novel.
The film compacts three generations into two, understandably for the development of characters in a movie.
And then, towards the end of the film, he has a change of heart.Huh.The problem here is that the conservative right wing, of which Jeremy Irons' character is a part, are shown as sexually repressed or twisted individuals.
Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Glenn Close and other contemporary actors form an all star cast for what really is an exceptionally well put together film.The problem comes down to the fact that it is factually flawed to push an agenda, as are a lot of films of this ilk.
It looks good, it moves well in the story department, it does get pretty hokey with the spirituality (borderline laughable), but otherwise it's an okay piece of cinema.But, as a pro-business American who is hawkish on international politics, I think this movie's theme is poor at best.
But one where prosperity was reserved for a few.This film is the story of the rags to riches rise of Ernesto Trueba as played by Jeremy Irons.
This film clearly belongs to Jeremy Irons.The House Of The Spirits is a well constructed film with some moving performances and is recommended highly for those who want some insights into Chilean history and culture..
The stand out performance in the movie is that of Glenn Close , who has made the character come alive..
Winona Ryder looking stunning and could have been given more screen-time along with Antonio Banderas, both being versatile actors..The story moves though three generation in just above two hours and you feel it...
The novel has some more entertaining subplots like the one involving the "aristocratic" Frenchman who marries the daughter in the book.Look all in all it is entertaining has wonderful actors and if you love Chile you will enjoy it--just ignore the pounding political correctness..
The movie "The House of the Spirits" is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Isabel Allende.
The book is set in Chile, so the least the casting director could have done is cast its movie adaptation with all Hispanic actors.
The book is a beautiful, rich work of art; the movie, on the other hand, isn't worth the celluloid it was filmed on..
I have nothing against Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons or Glenn Close, I think they are excellent actors but why cast them when their characters are CHILEAN?!
Having read the wonderful book by Isabel Allende I looked forward to viewing this film.
It's an excellent story and the actors in the movie are some of the best.
My message to film makers adapting from books is to add value to the story through visual interpretation rather than detract through poor character representation.
Jeremy Irons is Esteban, the central character, and the movie does a great job showing Iron's transformation from a young romantic to a cynical old man.As good as Irons is, the other cast members seem under used.
"The House of the Spirits" may not be the BEST movie ever by these talented actors (Close, Streep, Irons, Ryder), but it isn't the worst movie ever.
It was as if I was looking at paintings many times, which I think was the idea.Terrific movie, story, actors, and cinematography.
Although I am not particularly fond of romance movies, I loved this and was deeply moved by Winona Ryder's plea to her father toward the end.Mr. Irons deserved an award for his performance and Close was never better..
Maybe they've only seen two movies (ever), and the other one must have been very good indeed!I specially liked Jeremy Irons, and really understood his character, someone who crawled up the social ladder with very hard work, then fights against those who would take his life's work from him, only he gets so involved in this fight, he doesn't realize reason is no longer at his side, and he ends up a beaten, disappointed man.
Irons made this so believable, I sympathized with the character despite his brutality.After Jeremy Irons, Winona Ryder is also wonderful as a romantic young women, who is drawn into the revolutionary ideals by her boyfriend (Banderas, he had an under-developed part, I think), and Glenn Close was also very good.
This movie included very good performances by a variety of actors, and demonstrated accurately the political aspects of the novel.
Meryl Streep, as the main character Clara, is great, although she's often even better than she was in this movie.
With the exception of only a few fairy-tale like scenes involving talented veteran actress Meryl Streep's telepathic supernatural character (and a few unnecessary love scenes), the movie was extremely well executed.
The film is so centered on the main character, Esteban Trueba, and his family, or rather his personal history in Chile, his economic fight to raise himself by his own effort over his lot, to become one of the most economically powerful, and later one of the most politically powerful men that we do not really capture the country itself.
Irons' character here is so despicable that you know he will get his comeuppance before the movie ends. |
tt0023397 | Ride Him, Bosko! | The cartoon begins as a coyote howls from a mountain top, under a full moon. He takes a deep breath as his body inflates to accommodate extra air and releases another howl.
Next, Bosko is seen riding a horse, playing a banjo and singing the cowboy song, "When the Bloom is on the Sage". His horse seems unable to go over a rock along their path and Bosko is forced to climb down and push him over it before they can continue on their way.
The scene then shows the following words against a black background as the music switches to a piano rendition of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain".
Red Gulch
~ where men are men,
nine times out of ten ~
The view is next of a road outside a saloon and shadows in the window indicate that the patrons are having a good time. A small gun chase takes place and a passer-by is whacked on the head with what looks like a bottle of beer. Next, a really tall cowboy walks down the road but has the middle of his body shot out by the patrons. This results in him being reduced to the size of a midget.
Bosko arrives and his horse collapses in a heap beside the pavement. Strolling toward the saloon on the opposite side of the road, Bosko throws open the doors and yells "Howdy" only to be greeted by a volley of gunshots. The patrons yell "Hi Bosko" in return as Bosko laughs uneasily. He then picks up his bullet-riddled hat and walks inside where a three-piece band, comprising banjo, violin and piano, is playing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain". Bosko starts to tap dance whilst some onlookers sway to the beat.
The piano player thumps hard on the keys which makes a mug of beer fly through the air and empty the contents into his open mouth. He gulps it down and is suddenly consumed by flames that spread upwards from his feet. This results in his clothes being burnt off, exposing bloomers. He puckers a suddenly lipsticked mouth, crosses his knees in a shyly feminine fashion and walks away seductively.
Bosko steps up to the piano and starts to play, rocking his stool in tune to the music. Next, four cards are seen held in someone's hand: a King, Jack, Queen and Joker. They sing a little ditty but the person holding the cards soon shoots the Joker putting an end to their performance. Bosko is shown still playing the piano whilst the other patrons gather in a circle and start dancing.
The scene then cuts to show the following words
The Deadwood stage
(free wheeling)
Honey (Bosko's sweetheart) is in a carriage that is hurtling down the highway with a big trunk on the roof. The ride is quite bumpy so Honey gets thrown around her seat a bit and exhorts the driver to be careful. A group of highwaymen are also on the move and one of them creep along behind a cliff to look for potential prey. He spots Honey's carriage and hastens back to his cronies who follow his lead. He then positions himself alongside the path of Honey's carriage and aims his guns. However, the carriage hurtles past at such a fast pace that the gunmen gets twisted around himself. Having unravelled he gets on his horse and gives chase along with his gang, all of them shooting non-stop. Eventually, the trunk on the roof of the carriage falls out and the clothes get out and start running away to avoid the hailstorm of bullets. A corset is seen literally 'flying' away.
Inside the carriage Honey is getting thrown about violently as the driver is flung off his perch and lands on a tall cactus. He slides down wincing as hundreds of thorns break off and lands on a skeleton of a bull. The skeleton suddenly comes to life and goes off at a gallop whilst the rider hangs on for dear life.
Back at the saloon, Bosko is still playing the piano when the driver stumbles in and relays the news. He then deflates and collapses dramatically into his pants as his hand grabs a mug of beer and pours it in after himself.
Bosko gets on his horse and gallops away to the rescue, the horse leaping noticeably effortlessly over the rocks he seemed to have trouble with earlier.
The bandits are still chasing the carriage and Honey leans out of a window and implores Bosko to save her. As Bosko continues to gallop after the run away carriage the scene pans out to show Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, and Friz Freleng watching the cartoon and adding sound effects. They discuss how they can get Bosko to save the girl, but then decide to go home. This prompts everyone to exit, leaving Bosko in the lurch. | psychedelic | train | wikipedia | Bosko in the wild west. The Bosko cartoons may not be animation masterpieces, but they are fascinating as examples of Looney Tunes in their early days before the creation of more compelling characters and funnier and more creative cartoons. There are some good cartoons, as well as some average or less ones.'Ride Him Bosko' is another very good Bosko effort, another one of the better ones in a mixed selection of cartoons where some are good and others are average or less. The story is thin and sometimes a little obvious. The ending is strange and anti-climactic, feeling somewhat indecisive.Honey is likable and charming, while Bosko like 'Bosko the Lumberjack' is more heroic than usual.Furthermore, the animation is good. Not exactly refined but fluid and crisp enough with some nice detail, it is especially good in the meticulous backgrounds and some remarkably flexible yet natural movements for Bosko. The music doesn't disappoint either, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.Sound quality has clarity and the synchronisation isn't sloppy and has imagination. The way Bosko is animated is well done and remarkably natural. The gags is imaginative and rarely miss or less than very amusing.All in all, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox. Ride Him, Bosko! has a highly unusual ending for a cartoon. Ride Him, Bosko! is a western-flavored cartoon with lots of shooting gags involving body reduction, and card characters singing! There's also an alcohol gag that has a really strong one turning a male piano player into a woman instantly! There's a fine musical number, "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" with Bosko tap-dancing up a storm! There's Honey being held hostage in an out-of-control stagecoach with three gunmen behind her! And there's Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising looking at the drawing board watching Bosko riding along as they wonder out loud, "How's he gonna save Honey?" "Let's go home," says a third party as they leave Bosko in the lurch as we iris out...Highly amusing cartoon up to the ending though one wonders whether they really couldn't figure how Bosko saves Honey or did they simply run out of time and budget and decided "The hell with it!" Anyway, recommended for anyone with interest in Warner Bros. cartoons before the Big 3 of Porky, Daffy, and Bugs arrived.... Bosko ought to be in pictures. Whereas most Bosko cartoons had the small, black-and-white character of no discernible species go through an adventure and have a resolution with his girlfriend Honey, "Ride Him, Bosko!" has a real surprise ending. Just when Bosko is in limbo, we see that the cartoon IS in fact a cartoon: the camera pans away from the scene, revealing Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and their assistants watching the cartoon, wondering how to end it (they can't decide, so they go home for the day).Obviously, the Termite Terrace crowd elaborated on this idea in later cartoons. In the late '30s, characters would often address the audience directly, forcing people to acknowledge that the action on screen was make-believe. Friz Freleng's "You Ought to Be in Pictures", took the genre to a new level: set in the live-action world of Warner Bros. studios, Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig to move to live action cinema.Anyway, this is an OK look into early Warner Bros. animation, before Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Elmer.. One of the earliest desktop computers can be seen . . .. . . . at the end of this 1933 Looney Tune, RIDE HIM, BOSKO! This climax is LIVE ACTION, and there's no mistaking the High Definition Flat Screen Ultrathin Monitor perched in the middle of the three animators' desk. Their machine is running advance AI (Artificial Intelligence) software so old hat to the team that they're too bored to contribute an ending to RIDE. As one of the Looney Tuners yawns "Let's go home," the trio leaves, thoroughly trusting their computer to wrap up the animated short with the Funniest Possible Capper--all on its own! Many Americans have struggled over the years to grasp the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, String Theory, and Quantum Physics. When posed a Toughie, such as "Which came first, Looney Tunes or Donald J. Trump?" most U.S. residents simple shrug, muttering "Search me." RIDE HIM, BOSKO! provides the perfect escape from this conundrum. In the Beginning was the Loon, and it was Good. Then Honey Came 'Round the Mountain, and Bosko screamed "That's all, folks!" |
tt0033729 | How Green Was My Valley | The movie begins with a monologue by an older Huw Morgan (voice by Irving Pichel): "I am packing my belongings in the shawl my mother used to wear when she went to the market. And I'm going from my valley. And this time, I shall never return." The valley and its villages are now blackened by the coal mines that fill the area.
A young Huw (Roddy McDowall), the youngest child of Gwilym Morgan (Donald Crisp), walks home with his father to meet his mother, Beth (Sara Allgood). His older brothers, Ianto (John Loder), Ivor (Patric Knowles), Davy (Richard Fraser), Gwilym Jr., and Owen all work in the coal mines with their father, while sister Angharad (Maureen O'Hara) keeps house with their mother. Huw's childhood is idyllic, the town, not yet overrun with mining spoil, is beautiful, and the household is warm and loving. Huw is smitten on meeting Bronwyn (Anna Lee), a girl engaged to be married to his oldest brother, Ivor (Patric Knowles). At the boisterous wedding party Angharad meets the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon), and there is an obvious mutual attraction.
Trouble begins when the mine owner decreases wages, and the miners strike in protest. Gwilym's attempt to mediate by not endorsing a strike estranges him from the other miners as well as his older sons, who quit the house. Beth interrupts a late night meeting of the strikers, threatening to kill anyone who harms her husband. While returning home, crossing the fields in a snowstorm in the dark, Beth falls into the river. Huw dives in to save her with the help of the townspeople, and temporarily loses the use of his legs. He recovers with the help of Mr. Gruffydd, which further endears him to Angharad.
The strike is eventually settled, and Gwilym and his sons reconcile, yet many miners have lost their jobs. Angharad is courted by the mine owner's son, Iestyn Evans (Marten Lamont), though she loves Mr. Gruffydd. Mr. Gruffydd loves her too, to the malicious delight of the gossipy townswomen, but cannot bear to subject her to an impoverished churchman's life. Angharad submits to a loveless marriage to Evans, and they relocate out of the country.
Huw begins school at a nearby village. Abused by other boys, he is taught to fight by boxer Dai Bando (Rhys Williams) and his crony, Cyfartha (Barry Fitzgerald). After a beating by the cruel teacher Mr. Jonas (Morton Lowry), Dai Bando avenges Huw with an impromptu boxing display on Mr. Jonas to the delight of his pupils.
On the day that Bronwyn gives birth to their child, Ivor is killed in a mine accident. Later, two of Morgan's sons are dismissed in favour of less experienced, cheaper labourers. With no job prospects, they leave to seek their fortunes abroad. Huw is awarded a scholarship to university, but to his father's dismay he refuses it to work in the mines. He relocates in with Bronwyn to help provide for her and her child.
When Angharad returns without her husband, vicious gossip spreads through the town of an impending divorce. Mr. Gruffydd is denounced by the church deacons, and after condemning the town's small-mindedness, he decides to leave.
Just then, the alarm whistle sounds, signalling another mine disaster. Several men are injured, and Gwilym and others are trapped in a cave-in. Young Huw, Mr. Gruffydd, and Dai Bando descend with others for a rescue attempt. Gwilym and his son are briefly re-united before he succumbs to his injuries. Huw rides the lift to the surface cradling his father's body, his coal-blackened face devoid of youthful innocence.
Narration by an older Huw recalls, "Men like my father cannot die. They are with me still, real in memory as they were in flesh, loving and beloved forever. How green was my valley then." The movie ends with a montage of family vignettes showing Huw with his father and mother, his brothers and sister. | melodrama | train | wikipedia | John Ford's film of social and familial change details the chilling effects hard economic times have on a large, but tight-knit Welsh coal mining family around the turn of the last century.
Yet on its own merits it's a fine film and can be seen again and again without any boredom.It's like Ford's Liberty Valance in that it shows the progress that the world's first industrial society, 19th century Great Britain as reflected in that Welsh valley, just like the settling of the American West in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.
At times, what we are witnessing before our eyes, remind us of the work of great photographers such as Margaret Bourke-White, whose pictures for the old Life magazine parallel Mr. Miller's stark photography in the film.Mr. Ford uses songs in most of his films.
One of John Ford's finest hours, it is magnificently staged and shot, with a lovely score (by Alfred Newman) and rich performances, headed by Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Roddy McDowall.
The story is told by an adult who remembers his childhood:Roddy McDowall gives a very sensitive performance in this part,he's simply the best actor of a topflight cast (to think that nowadays McDowall is remembered by the young generations mainly for his part of Cornelius the ape)All the scenes which involve the boy are simply wonderful,particularly the one with the daffodils (it 'd have been shot in color!),and the one with his father in his arms at the end.John Ford ,as usual , is a master when it comes to depict a small community who's got to stand together to survive.And he does not spare us the tragedies ,the bigotry ,the slander,but he adds humor,joie de vivre (the men,turning their nose on tea and wanting beer).But sometimes it seems too good to be true:the boss's offspring marrying a miner's daughter,even when she's a beauty like Maureen O'Hara?The boss asking the poor father's permission?We are far from Emile Zola's "Germinal" :both stories happen about during the same era ,both with the miners' life both are radically different.Zola's world is a bleak,desperate world ,his depiction of the families' houses and meals (when there is food) and the pictures of Ford's movie are worlds apart.But the biggest difference is the omnipresence of the Lord's will:in "how green" the minister is a cool young handsome man (Pidgeon),in "Germinal" ,the priest's only a silhouette,but a selfish cruel one,unconcerned to man's plight:Zola's miners do not put their trust in a God anymore .Wales and the east of France ,were they that much different?You can only say they were novels and movies,and reality is probably somewhere between them..
This movie is a little long at times, but this is still a powerful story about the many stories that came out of the coal mining families in Wales, Great Britain.
Nonetheless, there is a lot of "religion" pictured positively in this film, a lot of spiritual scenes and most were done well.Roddy McDowell plays the most memorable character, I thought: "Huw," a young boy who went through some really tough times, as did most of the townsfolk.
Huw (played by a 13-year-old Roddy McDowall) is the youngest in a family composed by parents (Donald Crisp , Sara Allgood) and 6 brothers (John Loder, Patrick Knowles, among others) and one sister (Maureen O'Hara) who falls in love with the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd (Walter Pidgeon) , who had a slightly different view of his relationship with her, and which would end up destroying his life in the valley.
Thought-provoking , enjoyable screenplay portraying in depth characters and brooding events with interesting issues running beneath script surface .In the forties , Ford won-back-to-back Best Director Oscars for two more classics he made at Fox, the screen adaptations of future Nobel laureate John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic Grapes of the wrath (1940) in 1941, and of Richard Llewellyn's memoir of his youth in the coal-mining region of Wales, this How Green was my valley (1941) .
In the 1940s, Ford won-back-to-back Best Director Oscars for two more classics he made at Fox, the screen adaptations of future Nobel laureate John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic The grapes of the wrath (1940) in 1941, and of Richard Llewellyn's memoir of his youth in the coal-mining region of Wales, ¡Qué verde era mi valle!
Wales is NOT Ireland and Welsh people do NOT speak with an Irish accent, as well as their own language they have their own accent, its called Welsh!Ford makes a lot of effort trying to make the movie NOT look like a western, yet while watching I kept getting the impression that the whole Sioux nation was about to chase John Wayne over the hills in the background before they all promptly fall into the mine!I am sorry if my review has offended any of the Americans who love this movie, I know you have probably grown up with it and every time its on TV it takes you to your happy place, which I am sure is very nice and comfy, but for people who have read the book and know Wales inside out it gives us the same feeling that I can imagine Americans would have if they were to watch remakes of 'The Waltons' filmed in South Africa with a Canadian cast all speaking with Australian accents!Its strange to think that Fox lied, even back then!I have scored this film with 3 stars because of its awful transition from book to film, but if I had never read the book or even heard of a place called Wales I would have given it 7 stars for its blind entertainment value.Put that remote down and go to the library.
Interesting look at life in Welsh coal-mining town in the early- 1900s.The story of a family, the Morgans, who live in a Welsh coal-mining town, told through the eyes of the youngest son, Huw (played by a 12-year old Roddy MacDowall).
The landing is a bit soft.Great performances all round.How Green Was My Valley went on to win the 1942 Best Picture Oscar, beating out Citizen Kane (amongst others) to the award.
It received five Oscars beating "Citizen Kane" for best movie Oscar (1941), it also receive Oscars for Best Director (John Ford),Best supporting Actor(Donald Crisp),Best Art Direction/Interior decoration, and best cinematography.
But what really makes the film memorable are the wonderful character roles played by DONALD CRISP and SARA ALLGOOD, two of Hollywood's most renowned veteran performers.And what a pleasure it was to see DONALD CRISP get his Oscar award for Best Supporting Actor.
This fine actor is in so many of my favorite films that I can only say--it's about time.But the story of a coal mining village where the industrialization is about to take place and miner's lives are about to change, has never been one that intrigued me enough to want to sit through two hours of sentimentality about the strength of a family during hard times.
You can see the effect best in the opening sequence, when the mottled greys and swathes of black of the village in modern times changes to startling white with crisp black silhouettes for the "green" of Huw's childhood.What makes this picture especially typical of Ford is its use of space.
Hew Morgan, as an old man, remembers the Welsh mining village (and valley) of his youth, particularly the strike which divided his family, the girl who he fell in love with and married his older brother, and his beautiful sister (Maureen O'Hara) and her thwarted love for the decent preacher Mr Gruffydd (Walter Pigeon).Another work of nostalgia and sentiment from John Ford.
I have seen it many times - on television and on DVD - never on the movie screen though, where I can only imagine the overwhelming experience it must have been.The story of a Welsh coal mining family at the end of the 1890's going through a time of great change was adapted from Richard Llewellyn's novel.
But whatever its departure from reality, the movie probably influenced the way people thought of the Welsh for decades to come; showing what a powerful work this film was and is.Director John Ford was always sensitive to the breakdown of family.
Even the interference of Darryl Zanuck, especially with the editing, made a significant contribution.And the cast: Roddy McDowall, Walter Pidgeon, Sara Allgood, Donald Crisp and others - all of them gone now, yet all united forever in this haunting movie, in much the way that the cast comes back at the end.But the driving force was Ford.
Lovingly put together by John Ford, "How Green Was My Valley" was released in 1941 and remains a classic today, despite its today frowned-upon win as Best Picture over "Citizen Kane." That year, Ford's film swept the Oscars.
And both Kane and How Green Was My Valley have survived to be remembered as classics.The story of a Welsh coal mining town based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn was intended to be as big and as long as Gone with the Wind, but Darryl Zanuck modified these ideas.
He did very few takes and gave the studio pretty much what we see on the screen; he was going off to war and didn't want a hatchet job in editing.The film focuses on one family, the Morgans, and narrated by the adult Huw Morgan, an adult now and about to leave the valley, who is never seen but as a child is played brilliantly by Roddy McDowall.
Directed by John Ford, "How Green Was My Valley" is one of the best movies ever made.
Winner of five academy awards including a best director award for Ford, and best picture beating out movies "Citizen Kane" and "The Maltese Falcon".This story is about a Welsh family in a coal mining town in the late 19th century.
Donald Crisp, who won an academy award in this film for best supporting actor, does a superb job playing the head of the Morgan family, his wife played by Sara Allgood (nominated for best supporting actress) is in a strong role as well.
That image captures the emotional spirit of John Ford's Best Picture winner (yes, the one that beat "Citizen Kane" and "The Maltese Falcon") : the universal paradox of life is that it takes climbing the valley to admire how beautiful the view was, especially with children's eyes of wonder.
It is an idealistic dream from the start, the valley of Wales (which strangely resemble the industrialist setting of Zola's masterpiece "Germinal") looks like the pastoral heaven where coal miners work hard, ruled by entrusted owners, women keeping the house, and priests herding their sheep.The story is told from a narrator who's living after fifty years, assembling his belongings in the shawl that belonged to his mother.
And like a romantic painter, Ford addresses a magnificent portrait of the Morgan family as a monument of stability at a time where the Old Europe became the arena of bloody battles.It was the war indeed that prevented the shooting to be set in Wales and turned the Malibu valley into a Welsh village.
The film opens with the family reunion, the patriarch Mr. Morgan (Donald Crisp) cuts the bread to his sons, makes the prayer while the mother (Sara Allgood) is the last to start the meal and the first to finish, she's the pillar of the little community and while the film strikes a man's movie, it leaves no doubt about who's the real boss in the house.
A perfect example of the fine storytelling ability of the studio system in Hollywood's Golden Age, How Green Was My Valley is certainly one of John Ford's fine achievements; beautifully set in black and white as well as superbly acted by each actor amongst the large crowd of characters.There is a narrator, but we really don't need him to tell the story so much as simply set it up for us.
Anyone who has seen classic Hollywood films before understands how this type of story will play out, but it still is more than worth it to go along for the ride as we witness the Morgan family go through many trials and troubles including problems with unions and wages, disagreements among relatives, marriages, forbidden love and of course death.There are times when I felt that this film dragged on a bit, especially the scenes showing the young Huw's introduction to public schooling, and some of the characters like the drunk boxers are there for nothing more than mere comedic relief.
This movie tells the story of the Morgans, a coal-mining family that lives a harsh life in South Wales valleys.Huw Morgan tells this story as an older man.He looks back to the time he was a kid, wanting to be a miner just like his father and older brothers.John Ford was one of the greatest directors of western movies.But western wasn't the only genre he was good at.How Green Was My Valley (1941) is a beautiful film that won 5 Oscars.It's a nostalgic trip into one's memories.Master Roddy McDowall is the young Huw and what an excellent job he does.Donald Crisp is terrific as Gwilym Morgan.And so is Sara Allgood as Mrs. Beth Morgan.Maureen O'Hara gives a brilliant performance as Angharad.Walter Pidgeon is very good as the new preacher, Mr. Gruffydd who's loved by Angharad.John Loder plays Ianto Morgan and Patrick Knowles is Ivor.They're both great.Anna Lee is magnificent as Bronwyn, Ivor's wife.This movie has some dramatic moments set in the mine.But it shows us that even though the life may be tough and money hard to get, you can always find some beauty in life..
One of John Ford's finest movies is the story of life in a Welsh mining town seen through the eyes of Huw (Roddy McDowall), the youngest son in the Morgan family.
The characters are interesting and human,the effect of the mine on the morgan family is total,it feeds them tho they are badly treated by the owner.The family is sometimes split down the midddle but comes together as a strong unit in times of crisis,the scene where two brothers leave for the USA is poignant as the mother knows they will never meet again.The camera shows them leaving the valley climbing upwards as if the only way they can progress in life is to leave their past behind them.The acting ,writing and directing are first class,modern movies have grea effects but very few have the heart and humanity of this film.Grab some coffee,sweets and a box of tissues make that two boxes of tissues watch and enjoy 8.5/10.
Yet, patience won't quite cut it with How Green Was My Valley, his 1940 Oscar winner that tells the story of a Welsh coal-mining family struggling through the ups and downs of pre-welfare state industrialism in the late 1800s.HGWMV is a beautiful movie, inasmuch as you can find black and white beautiful.
It's time to forgive the film starring Maureen O'Hara, Roddy McDowall, and Walter Pidgeon for taking the Academy Award for Best Picture that many believe to be owed to Citizen Kane.
Following Huw as he ages and learns from the mistakes and turmoil his family endures, How Green Was My Valley is a beautiful story capturing the heart of everything that American cinema is capable of being.John Ford is the ultimate master of the melodrama.
Thanks to John Ford's deft and efficient direction, the final product "made do" just fine.Starring a young Maureen O'Hara and an even younger Roddy McDowall, "How Green Was My Valley" successfully conveys the perspective of youth, especially in how McDowall's character, Huw Morgan, spends months in recovery after falling into a frozen stream, and how he looked up to Mr. Gruffydd (Donald Crisp), the town minister.
And, though Donald Crisp did win Best Supporting Actor, I believe that Sara Allgood's performance is the best one in the film, especially during the scene in which she walks for the first time after she and Huw fell into the aforementioned frozen stream.Okay, so "How Green Was My Valley" is in black-and-white and not in color, but don't hold that against it.
Ford has proved himself as an excellent director with this film, as he tells the story (which is also done well) of a family of coal miner's in a small town.
'How Green Was My Valley' is an offbeat movie among the works of a great - maybe the greatest - American director, John Ford.
As a picture forever been cursed by critics as "the one undeservedly trumped CITIZEN KANE (1941) for BEST PICTURE in the Oscar game", John Ford's traditional family chronicle about the Morgans in the South Wales Valleys based on Richard Llewellyn's 1939 eponymous novel, is truly born in the wrong year, for all we can see, it has a solemn rigour with first-rate camera compositions and Black-and-White cinematography, but tellingly it is also dated for its musty Protestant sense of worth in certain ways, say, the grating small- town parochiality is too overtly in-your-face, the socialism slamming is rather political and the puritan doctrine that a love-struck romance can be a man's undoing of his belief in God, thus he cannot marry the woman he loves simply because he chooses a lifestyle of austerity as a preacher, and doesn't reckon that she can tag along, only results in misery of both, it's all the same old story detached from our times.
Of course, the cast had only one Welsh actor: Rhys Williams, and he was only in a minor role.At the Academy Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Director (John Ford), Best Actor (Donald Crisp) and Best Cinematography.
John Ford directed this Academy Award winning film(Best Picture & Director) that is set in a Welsh mining town, seen through the eyes of young Huw Morgan(played by Roddy McDowall) who works in the mine with his family. |
tt0240380 | Bloody Murder | Teenage friends Julie (Jessica Morris), her boyfriend Jason (Justin Martin), Dean (Michael Stone), Whitney (Tracy Pacheco) and Tobe (Patrick Cavanaugh) travel to Camp Placid Pines to be camp counselors for the summer. Upon arrival, they meet their boss Patrick (Peter Guillemette), another counselor named Drew (Christelle Ford), who is teamed up as a co-counselor with Julie, and a few other counselors. The teenagers get to work, bringing in food, cleaning, etc. Julie gets a warning from the groundskeeper, Henry (Bobby Stuart), who claims there is danger in these woods. Julie questions Patrick about it, and he brushes it off, saying that Henry is crazy. Late that night, the group sits around a campfire and decides to play a game of "Bloody Murder". One person is "It" and the rest of the group try to find "It" and whoever finds "It" must scream Bloody Murder and then everyone must run back to base before "It" can tag them. Everyone joins in, with Jason being it, and Jason and Dean play a prank on one of the counselors Brad (Dave Smigelski). After the game, Dean witnesses Jason making out with Whitney. Jason gets dressed and is confronted by a figure.
The next morning, Julie begins asking her fellow counselors about the whereabouts of Jason. Dean tells Julie that Jason said something about "taking off for a few days", but Julie still grows worried. The following night, the counselors gather in the mess hall for a movie, and Whitney goes to grab some food from the kitchen and is stabbed to death by a man in a hockey mask. The next day, the counselors inform Patrick that Jason and Whitney have gone missing, and they call the local sheriff who interrogates the group. Everyone suspects Dean, because he is Whitney's ex-boyfriend and he has been acting suspiciously. Dean cannot provide an alibi, so he is taken in for questioning. Julie encounters Henry again who tells her about her dad and a name of Nelson. She emails her dad about it. Brad is killed next by the masked murderer and he goes missing, and Dean is released.
Julie gets an email reply from her dad, and he claims he doesn't remember a man named Nelson. Jason is suspected next, considering he had a past with Brad. Julie is attacked by the hockey-masked killer in the woods and she flees to the road. She quickly returns to camp, trying not to act scared, and Dean is killed by the murderer. Back at the camp, Julie finds a photo of her dad at the camp, with a kid named Nelson Hammond. She searches him, and discovers that Nelson Hammond was almost killed in an accident involving the game "Bloody Murder". He then came back a few years later and killed one of the counselors that caused the prank and was sent to a mental institution. That night, Julie is attacked again by a man who chases her to the mess hall, where she locks him in the freezer. Her attacker is revealed to be Jason, who fled the area because he was worried that Dean would tell about him cheating on Julie with Whitney, and also because he was worried the police were after him. Jason is taken in by the police.
The killer murders Doug. Julie's father arrives after hearing about the police, and Drew and Julie's father walk to the lake, as Julie retreats to her cabin to gather some things. There, she deduces the killer is Drew when she sees that Drew's father was Bill Anderson, the man that Nelson Hammond killed for revenge. She confronts Drew, but is quickly proven wrong when the killer appears and attacks them. Drew is knocked out and Julie flees. Julie runs into Patrick, and then Patrick reveals he is the killer. He is really Nelson Hammond and is seeking revenge for his accident that the other counselors caused. He attacks Julie with an axe, and chases her through the woods. She runs to the camp, and the other counselors, the police, Patrick and Julie gather. Patrick tries to make it seem like Julie hit her head and is delusional. Tobe believes Julie, and threatens to shoot Patrick, but finds out he has no bullets. Patrick swings at Julie, but Drew shoots Patrick in the arm and disables him. Patrick is arrested, Julie's father is safe, and Julie starts having a crush on Tobe. Once Sheriff Williams arrives at the police station with Patrick, he questions why he killed Doug, having nothing to do with Patrick's scheme. Patrick then tells Sheriff Williams that he didn't kill Doug, and it must have been Trevor Moorehouse, hinting that the real Trevor is still out there.
Later, Julie and Jamie say their goodbyes and Julie breaks up with Jason in order to be with Tobe, angering Jason. As Jason is walking home alone, Trevor Moorehouse appears behind bushes wielding a chainsaw, and Jason screams in terror, before the screen cuts out. | murder, prank | train | wikipedia | If you're a hard core horror fan looking for a modern camp slasher, rent it, you may like it, but you'll probably be disapointed.
There's very little to put into words about Bloody Murder, because basically if you've even seen one of the many other stabs at a 'campsite massacre' flick, you'll know exactly what to expect from this mediocre muddle.
Before people keep using throw-away comments like "THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN" on film reviews, they should try sitting through garbage like this.
It isn't the worst movie i've ever seen (but then, like I said...), hoewever, this is bad.
Bloody Murder is pretty much a straight forward rip off of the Friday the 13th movies.
Bloody Murder isn't all that good, but I enjoyed it as one of those "so bad it's good" slasher movies.
Maybe daytime is her thing.Overall, fans of the genre might like it for it's cheesiness and for being a blatant rip off of the Friday films.
"Bloody Murder" is a decent if unspectacular slasher entry.**SPOILERS**Arriving at Placid Pines summer camp, Julie McConnell, (Jessica Morris) Dean, (Michael Stone) Tobe, (Patrick Cavanaugh) Jason Hathaway, (Justin Martin) and Whitney Chambers, (Tracy Pacheco) are greeted by Patrick, (Peter Guillemette) and Brad Thompson, (David Smigelski) as they prepare to open up the camp.
When they soon start to disappear, their strained tensions don't agree on the belief that local legend Trevor Moorehouse is the cause of the events, until they realize a masked slasher is loose around camp and soon fight to get away from the maniac.The Good News: When this one wanted, it had some good stuff.
The only thing intimidating about Jason is the make up under the mask (which isn't that intimidating anymore since it's been revealed in so many films) and Kane Hodder himself, who is one big bad monster of a stuntman you wouldn't want to screw with.
Sorry, Bloody Murder doesn't employ Kane Hodder so this killer--what's his name--is not intimidating.I find it hilarious this film tries to mimic Friday the 13th so much; Friday the 13th didn't even try to be a good movie.
F13 and Bloody Murder share many things in common: they have bad acting, bad scripting, bad scoring, bad directing, bad sound effects, tiny budget, you get the idea.
this film is like a b rated version of Friday the 13th and a pretty good one at that i watched this movie with friends and even my aunt and they all say it was great some of them even said it was better than some of the big budget slasher flicks such as Friday the 13th.i think this movie is pretty good for the following reasons: the filming and cinematography is pretty good!
the sound quality is good the picture quality is good the effects are real looking the characters are smart compared to other slasher films the props are good the music is decent the plot is traditional and the twist in the story is good.
Low Budget, Homage/Ripoff To camp slasher movies: Good Fun..
Yes, it is no secret that "Bloody Murder" is a blatant rip-off of "Friday the 13th" (one look at the video cover will tell you that).
In fact, it so closely resembles Friday the 13th in parts, you could even think it must be a remake (camp counselors fixing up a campground that was the site of a tragedy years before, the killer wears a hockey mask, the shots of the killer's boots as he is walking around the campground stalking the counselors, a crazy old man warning the counselors of the impending doom they face, the heroine finding all the dead bodies at the climax of the film, etc.
anyway this movie isn't all that great because there is very little blood and they hardly show the killings.the acting isn't all that great either, the only thing i liked about the movie is that you don't know who the killer is till the end.3/10.
About 5-6 years ago I discovered a horror movie at Family Video called Bloody Murder 2.
I usually try and I mean try and write a fair review of low budget horror movies, because of production issues, talent available and script writing.But this movie is just AWFUL.Even 4x fast forward doesn't help the viewer.Let's make a stew...awful tiresome script, some pretty bland actors and actresses, (friends maybe of director), the most boring direction ever seen in mo pix history...look up bland white bread direction..
See what happens when you make cheap video products available to the general public...Plot: Early adults go to summer camp, a killer lurks around, Sheriff comes late to help..minimal action scenes, no nudity, no cleavage, no tight shorts or skirts..hmmmm.This must be one of those 'let's make a movie this weekend' type of deals.Some think this movie is a spoof.
Years ago, reviewing Bloody Murder 2, I counted my lucky stars that I didn't have to sit through the first one, it seems luck only lasts so far before the chickens come home to roost as my TiVo apparently thought it funny to record this off Encore Suspense....Anyways this lame Friday the 13th clone has a group of insipid camp counselors being targeted by a hockey-masked maniac.
And why wouldn't he be when the whole thing takes place at a summer camp.) The story seems to be being made-up as the movie goes along (ie:we're writing as fast as we can shoot it) and the actors have trouble getting out of the proverbial paper bag they're acting in.
Let's face it: this movie is a downright ripoff of much better slasher movies,those including 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13th.'Will somebody please tell the director how a good movie should be like?And will somebody tell him to show some grisly murders without cutting the screen black when someone encounters the killer?This movie is just so ridiculous,that you can't help but laugh at how silly it is.I haven't even finished the movie,but if I get another chance to see it,I'll probably try,since I saw this movie on Fearnet for free.So if you're looking for a good spooky time,then this is most certainly not your movie..
Bloody Murder is the type of movie to watch in a "bad movie marathon" whilst drunk because it is really a dismal addition to the slasher genre.0/5.
1st watched 8/22/2007, 3 out of 10(Dir-Ralph Portillo): Failed "Friday the 13th" rehash movie trying to put a mystery spin on the old-time thrasher type.
A group of councilors sets up a summer camp and is killed in the process.As the teenagers are driving to camp,a few applying makeup to cover liver spots,they reveal that the local murderer of this camp is Trevor Moorhouse,some guy with a chainsaw for a left hand that runs around killing people.It's perfectly clear for the viewer early on that the killer is not Moorhouse but a masquerader,as the killer has both of his hands.Unfortunately "Bloody Murder" is a worthless slasher flick.It lacks gore and nudity and is completely predictable.The plot is idiotic beyond belief and rips-off "Friday the 13th" and "The Evil Dead",the acting is atrocious and the film cuts away from the majority of the death scenes.Overall,"Bloody Murder" is certainly one of the worst horror films of 2000.3 out of 10 and that's being kind.One to avoid!.
Most people on here say that this is a clear rip off that should be sued, but I saw this movie more as some sort of tribute to 80-90's horror movies where a mass murderer with a mask goes on killing random teens.
The following two quotes are examples of the way they do so:We were watching Camp Slayer FOURTEEN (reference to the insane amount of sequels to these horror movies)/ When Tobe remembers offending the current suspect, Jason Good God,I have offended a camp psycho, named Jason no less (a clear reference to FT13th)No, the problem most people have with this movie, is that they started to watch it and immediately condemned it, since the story seems familiar.
In all honesty, the scare scenes were good enough, but there should have been plenty more to keep this feeling of fear prolonged.The story is OK, I mean, it's a plain copy from Friday the 13th, but there are multiple candidates to actually be Trevor Moorehouse, and up until the last 15 minutes I was still doubting between a few characters who could do the honours, but that could be my overall ignorance.All in all, you can enjoy this horror movie, it's not amazing or a classic.
If you're already yelling bloody murder (sorry, bad pun intended) about it being almost the same story as Friday the 13th, you won't enjoy it, and only end up being frustrated.
**SPOILERS** Not that bad of a rip off of "Friday the 13th", with a little of "Halloween" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" thrown in for good measure.
"Bloody Murder" has a bunch of teenage camp counselors at camp Placid Pines victimized, and murdered, by a masked nut-case running around in the woods with a chainsaw while dressed in-what looks like-car mechanic overalls.You at first have the feeling that all this murder and carnage is only in the imagination of the people victimized by it.
Even though a number of camp counselors are brutally murdered within the first half hour of the film it's done in such a hap hazard, and unconvincing, manner that the killings come across as it their part of some kind of dream sequence and not at all reality based.We're also given clues to just who this masked killer, at the very beginning of the film, really is: The legendary Trevor Moorehouse.
Shameless in that is rips off "Friday the 13th" so obviously and it doesn't even try to cover its tracks, but actually goes on as a serious slasher film.
For a film called "Bloody Murder" even if it is a shameless ripoff, you'd expect gore to accompany the deaths, right?
No gore, no nudity, and some of the most lame horror movie murders you can set your eyes on.
"Bloody Murder" is just one more slasher movie, and if you decide to watch it you know what you're getting yourself into.
This movie may not be the best horror slasher you've ever seen, but it has it all: The killer stalking his victims, several gruesome murders, the usual thrill and shock atmosphere and a Whodunit plot.
Even though the murders are less bloody than in other slashers, the film is entertaining, the actors do their best to keep you thrilled, the girls scream their hearts out - what else could you wish for with a movie of this genre?
It's been said a million times: This movie lifts it's main premise from the infamous "Friday the 13th" series (heck, one character even notes this) and takes other elements from "Halloween" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Just by looking at the cover, you know what you're in for.
Two things I did like about the film were the possible killers and their motives, and the way the other characters try to figure it out.
Generally, one listens to an audio commentary for insight into how a work of quality or other interest was created; but in the case of Artisan's BLOODY MURDER DVD, the only real promise of director Ralph Portillo's talk was to hear why he felt the world needed another third-rate FRIDAY THE 13TH ripoff (right down to the killer's Jasonish garb and a Crazy Ralph-like character).
Aside from one or two moments of semi-funny bad acting, there is not one good reason to watch this movie.
The day after watching Bloody Murder, most people will probably forget having seen it.I actually felt kind of angry after seeing this "movie".
i heard that Bloody Murder was really bad but i had to see for myself and to be honest i did not think it was so bad, yeah the acting was weak along with the script and directing and yes it's a total Friday The 13th rip off, and Bloody Murder does not try to hide that it's a rip off, but i thought it was ok some of the kills were off camera and the ones they showed were bad but hey there was like no budget, it kind of had the 80's horror feel to it but nowhere near as good as the classic 80's horror films, and there is a nice twist that you don't see coming, like i said i kind of like Bloody Murder i give it 6/10.
I will be be honest and say I didn't think much of BLOODY MURDER but it's by no means the worst horror movie I've seen either hence I didn't make any smart ass comments about the movie's title like BLOODY MURDER TO SIT THRUStrangely enough I thought I'd be watching a self referential SCREAM rip off as the opening credits rolled , the fact that it features some nutter waving a chainsaw and wearing a hockey mask might have had everything to do with it but the script doesn't really play out like that later on .
This movie had it all nice looking girls, a hockey masked killer, and good screening (it was as clear a a summer day.) Jessica Morris was outstanding.
I have seen a lot of films in a lot of genres over the years, but none of them comes close to Bloody Murder.
Okay, let me tell you, Bloody Murder was a total rip off from Friday the 13th.
Here, let me list the similarities:Friday the 13th: The killer in this movie whore a hockey mask, just like Jason.
Also, this movie had pretty bad acting, and there was hardly any blood or gore.
There is just so many times you can do a typical slasher film about summer camp without running out of ideas.They would have done well to steal some from other films and put them in here, as it really never got very interesting.It was just the same tired old jokes and screams, and you knew who the murderer was half way through.
notice that blood, i can make some liquid that would look like better than that by myself at home, that murders were so terrible that i laughed all the movie.
It was obviously made on a small budget - sometimes there are no sound effects, for example when Julie walks into the hall, you should be able to hear her footsteps, and many times when characters are outside, you cannot hear any of the usual 'outdoor sounds' like leaves rustling or twigs snapping - unless one is purposely being snapped.The "plot" of the film is weak to say the least, basically a rip-off of Friday the 13 or Sleepaway Camp (setting it at a summer camp), but unlike those two films and their sequels, this film lacks class.
The only remarkable thing about this movie is the way that the Trevor Moorhouse character manages to rip off three classic slashers in one go.
This movie totally ripped off Friday the 13th (hockey mask, summer camp), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (chainsaw murders), and Halloween (the dark blue coveralls) and put together the worst horror movie ever made.
They then disappear one by one after playing a game of "Bloody Murder" one night around the campfire, based on the camp's legendary killer Trevor Moorehouse.
Okay, first off, just by looking at the front of the box, you can tell right away which classic horror film this garbage is trying to be just like.
Actually, the morons who don't know any better, probably bought this film thinking it was some kind of sequel to FRIDAY THE 13TH.
After I watched him say "Trevor Moorehouse!" and then trip backwards on his feet with a retarded look of terror that I give each time my coffee maker doesn't work, I was begging for him to die.BLOODY MURDER is one of the cheapest horror film rip-offs in the world.
There is not any piece of originality (Hockey mask, summer camp, mad old man "your doomed!"), and a bunch of actors who tried and failed to make the best of a very bad script.The 'friday the 13th' series got tiresome after a while but at the very least they were watchable.
In this movie when someone is about to be killed, they cut to another scene, then go back to like blood on the wall or something, just not good.Out of 10-00000000000000000..
no good death scenes, hardly any blood, horrible acting, and an ending that will make you wish you were there at the set waiting for the chance to flip the tables and make this a documetary about the dissappearance of some people making a really bad movie.
Not only does it take place at a summer camp with teenage counselors and a fabled serial killer wearing a hockey mask, but there are also characters stolen DIRECTLY from the movie.
Sheriff Williams (Michael Prohaska) thinks Jason is responsible, but is it merely a jealous boyfriend or are the legends that surround Camp Placid Pines about mass murderer Trevor Moorehouse & his homicidal lust for revenge true?This made-for-video horror film was directed by Ralph Portillo & Bloody Murder is such a rip-off I'm surprised someone hasn't sued.
For a start Bloody Murder rips-off Jason Voorhees from various Friday the 13th film as the killer here wears a hockey mask almost exactly the same.
The acting was generally bad but better than some of these low budget shot on video horrors.Bloody Murder is basically a real slasher rip-off paying particular attention to the Friday the 13th franchise.
It's really hard to classify movies like Bloody Murder.
I mean it's bad enough to set another "slasher film" at a camp, but to have the killer wear a hockey mask?
The plot twists in between are very predictable and in the end, there are two killers.The whole movie is one giant ripoff of Friday the 13th. |
tt0062463 | The Vulture | Hopeless but eager would-be private detective Cedric Gull (Hulbert) has just obtained a diploma from a backstreet 'School of Detection' and is keen to put his new qualification to good use. Fortuitously, he happens to stumble across a crime scene at the office of a diamond merchant, who has just been robbed and assaulted and is being tended by his secretary Sylvia (Brook). The police arrive on the scene, but despite Cedric's proud boasts about his sleuthing qualifications, they decline his kind offers of help.
Striking out on his own, Cedric becomes convinced that the robbery was the work of a notorious gang of East End Chinese jewel thieves led by a mysterious and sinister individual known as The Vulture. He takes on board his ex-con sidekick Stiffy (Walters) and the pair set off in pursuit of the criminals. Their plans come unstuck when their inept bungling lands them both in prison. However the police, aware of their interest in the case, agree to allow them out to act as decoys. Cedric learns that Sylvia has been abducted by the criminals. He decides to disguise himself as Chinese and try to infiltrate their hideout and rescue Sylvia. After a good deal of hapless buffoonery and narrow escapes from sticky situations, he and Stiffy finally succeed in freeing Sylvia, unmasking the thieves and uncovering the identity of the elusive Vulture. | revenge | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0035860 | The Fallen Sparrow | John "Kit" McKittrick (John Garfield) endured two years of brutal torture after being captured in the Spanish Civil War. However, he managed to withhold the vital information sought by his captors, particularly their leader, a never-seen Nazi with a limp. His lifelong friend, Louie Lepetino, arranged his escape. When Louie, a New York police lieutenant, dies under suspicious circumstances, Kit ends his convalescence in Arizona and returns to the city to investigate. At the end of the trip, he bumps into attractive fellow passenger Toni Donne (Maureen O'Hara).
When Kit goes to the police to find out what they know, Inspector Tobin (John Miljan) tells him it was suicide, but Kit knows better. After arranging to stay in the apartment of another friend, Ab Parker (Bruce Edwards), he begins to make the acquaintance of the various guests at the party in which Louie made his fatal plunge. Among them are noted Norwegian historian and wheelchair-using refugee Dr. Christian Skaas (Walter Slezak), his nephew Otto (Hugh Beaumont), Kit's old flame Barby Taviton (Patricia Morison), who hosted the ill-fated party, and Toni Donne. Also present were singer Whitney Parker (Martha O'Driscoll), who is Ab's cousin, and her piano-playing accompanist Anton (John Banner). Kit is shaken when Dr. Skaas discusses the superiority of modern methods of torture over those of the past; it jibes too closely with what he endured.
Kit does not know whom to trust, but is attracted to Toni, and she to him. However, it turns out that Toni was the only witness to Louie's fall, raising Kit's suspicions. Meanwhile, Kit repeatedly hears, or imagines he hears, the man with the limp, showing that he may not be fully recovered from his ordeal.
Later, when Kit returns to the apartment, he is attacked in the darkness. He manages to gain the upper hand. When he turns on the light, he discovers his assailant is Anton. Anton reveals that Kit was allowed to escape from Spain, and that he has been watched constantly ever since in the hope that he would betray himself. It turns out that Kit's brigade killed a general who was very close to Adolf Hitler. Hitler vowed to get all those responsible and to hang the brigade's battle standard on his wall; Kit knows where the flag is hidden.
The next morning, Kit is awoken by a shot; he finds Ab dead in the next room with a bullet through the head. Again, Inspector Tobin insists it must have been suicide. However, Kit knows that Ab was terrified of guns as a result of a childhood incident.
Kit publicly gives Toni a medallion (from the battle standard) he has had mounted in a necklace, a declaration for all to see that he knows where the flag is. Toni begs him to give up what she considers to be just a "dirty rag", but Kit is determined to foil the "little man" in Berlin.
In the end, Kit insists she choose between him and the enemy; she agrees to help him get into Dr. Skaas's office during another party. Before though, he has to drink a toast with Skaas. As he had before when drinking with the doctor, Kit switches his goblet with Skaas's, an "old Borgia custom". However, Skaas has outwitted him, having prearranged for Toni to drug his own drink. While Kit is searching the office, he hears once again the man with a limp. The door opens, and Skaas enters, free of his wheelchair and dragging one leg. Skaas reveals that Kit has been drugged, that Otto killed Lepetino (who was investigating the Skaas for the federal government) and that he himself murdered Ab. However, before the drug can take full effect, Kit manages to shoot and kill the doctor, and summon the police.
Before they arrive, Toni explains that she was forced to betray him because of her young daughter, held hostage. Kit lets her go and arranges to meet her in Chicago. However, when he and Inspector Tobin watch her board an airplane bound for Lisbon, he knows for certain that she has thrown in her lot with the enemy. She is removed from the plane, and Kit takes her seat to fetch the flag. | murder | train | wikipedia | Although "The Fallen Sparrow" isn't one of Garfield's greatest parts or films, he's on target in every scene.
A good looking, sharp and crisp, black-and-white production design enhances this presentation, which also features the always dependable Maureen O'Hara and Walter Slezak..
The Spanish Civil War was never a popular subject to begin with for Hollywood, but in 1943 two films would come about it.
The first was Paramount's big budget For Whom The Bell Tolls and the second made for considerably less was The Fallen Sparrow about a veteran of that conflict's and the quest after him.Before just membership in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade blacklisted you from all kinds of places after, people returned after the loss of the war by the Republic to the Falangists without any of the problems that John Garfield faces in The Fallen Sparrow.
But it seems as though Garfield managed to cop a battle flag from some old European house that is in sympathy with the Nazis.
Believe it or not, Adolph Hitler is going through some really unbelievable lengths to get it back.Maybe if Garfield had some secret chemical formula stashed somewhere I might have gotten the plot of this film.
But for the life of me if it weren't for Garfield's strong performance as a veteran who underwent all kinds of sophisticated torture, the film would have been laughable.
So while the plot premise was ridiculous, Garfield's performance anticipates by several years other films about brainwashing techniques on prisoners and the readjustment to civilian life which Garfield never quite makes.In any event back from the Spanish Civil War and before America gets into World War II, Garfield finds himself involved with some strange foreign refugee types as he goes looking for the murderer of a New York City cop and pal of his who arranged his escape from the clutches of the new Falangist government under Francisco Franco.
The most sinister of them and he usually is in these films is Walter Slezak.In her memoirs Maureen O'Hara said that Garfield was a delightful person to work with even though she was far from sympathetic with his politics.
In point of fact Garfield was a strong New Deal Democrat who in his years growing up poor and later in the Group Theater made some friends who unashamedly were Communists.
The Fallen Sparrow would have been a lot better film had it been given a stronger plot premise..
***SPOILERS*** Almost incomprehensible plot that has to do with a Nazi spy ring in the heart of New York City masquerading around as a bunch of refugee European society blue-bloods.
Emotionaly disturbed and mentally broken Jon "Kit" McKittrick, John Garfield,is back in New York after a stay at a rest home in Arizona.
Having been captured at the end of the Spanish Civil War were he fought the Spanish Fascists forces of Francisco Franco Kit was put under extreme torture by his captors to find something that he hid from them before he was apprehend.
With all the sub-plots and double-crossing in the movie "The Fallen Sparrow" you never get a handle to what these cryptic-Nazis, hiding behind the facade of Spanish and French Royality, want from the poor and mentally unbalanced Kit McKittrick.
Were given information from Kit,in what looks like a drug induced stupor, that he was involved in the death of a top German general in the Spanish Civil War. This general was a close friend and fellow 1923 Beer Hall putsch veteran of Adolf Hitler himself.
Kit's all over the place looking for this lame or club footed Nazi doctor, like the one-armed man in the TV show "The Fugitive", who's now the Nazi agent out to get him to talk about where the pennant is and, after getting the information from Kit, then murder him.
This Nazi is also the man who Kit remembers back from his time in the Spanish prison from the sounds he made when he walked.
It later comes out that everything that happened to Kit from the time he left Arizona to when he got to New York was all planned, ahead of time, by this group of pseudo-aristocratic Nazis themselves.
Kit finally finds out not just who was behind the death of policemen Louie Lepitino, it turns out that Louie didn't kill himself like Kit suspected, but the murder of his close friend and Washington insider Ab Parker, Bruce Edwards.
An obsession on Hitler's part which, if you take Kit and the movie "The Fallen Sparrow" seriously,eventually cost him the war.The relationship between Kit and mystery women Toni Donne, Maureen O'Hara,also took a great strain on your thought processing mechanisms.
The Nazi spies are headed by this off-the-wall torture fixated psycho Dr. Christian Skaas, Walter Slezak.
Garfield's a shattered veteran of the Spanish Civil War, tortured by the fascists and a mysterious limping man.
Turns out everybody, including the limping man, is trying to get possession of a regimental battle standard whose whereabouts only Garfield knows.
On a different note, the limping man's dragging foot adds a creepy sound to the sinister atmosphere and is what I remember most from seeing the film as a kid.
Tough John Garfield haunted by beastly spies and beautiful Maureen O'Hara fights on....
Lovely and curvaceous Maureen O'Hara is so sweetly sympathetic but also duplicitous, her true motivations are as hard to guess as her stunning appearance is easy to admire.As far as a stand alone film it is a tad dated because it was a product of it's time and agenda.
But we know in the end the good guys will win and their pride, their spirit and their cause must lose.So in retrospect I give it a soft recommendation unless you can put yourself in the mind-set that was made for a specific audience, the mothers, fathers, wives, girlfriends', and children of those fighting the biggest war in history..
Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine was one; The Fallen Sparrow was another.John Garfield (who else?) survived torture while fighting for the anti-Franco forces in the Spanish Civil War, but it took its toll; he recuperated in a sanitarium in the Southwest.
Upon returning to New York where a war buddy has met death by defenestration from a penthouse party he finds some of his friends traveling in the same circles as vaguely sinister Europeans and fly-specked aristocrats Germans, Italians, Spaniards who take a perverse interest in him.
Walter Slezak plays a mittel-European professor whose passion seems to be the aesthetics of torture, and whose limp summons up nightmares for Garfield.
There are also family crests dating from at least the Borgias (whose speciality was goblets of poisoned wine), a senile old curmudgeon who believes he'll be restored to the throne of France, and a tattered standard Garfield has rescued from Spain, which becomes this film's black bird....Following all these threads require rapt attention, but who would be willing to devote anything less to the fight against Fascism?
A Flat-Out good film...John Garfield is a master in this one.
John Garfield returns to the US after having escaped from a Franco concentration camp where he was tortured and drugged.
Along with his performance, Maureen O'Hara is in an unusual role as the mysterious girl friend.
"The Fallen Sparrow" is a 1943 film starring John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, and Patricia Morison.
Directed by Richard Wallace, from the novel by Dorothy Hughes, the story concerns John McKitrick, a Spanish Civil War vet who escaped from a prison camp, where he was tortured.
He's suffering from severe post-traumatic stress, but he has returned to New York to find out who killed his best friend.
McKittrick doesn't know whom he can trust, and that includes the beautiful Toni Donne (O'Hara), the mysterious wheelchair-bound refugee doctor (Walter Slezak), or even an old friend (Martha Driscoll).Though Garfield is excellent as a former prisoner of war, and his performance is well worth seeing, the plot of "The Fallen Sparrow" is confusing; the film moves slowly and has very little action.
It will surely sound low-brow, but I got very tired of John Garfield being so pleasant--I wanted to see him shoot some of the bad guys.
Tortured by Fascists during the Spanish Civil War, veteran John Garfield (as John "Kit" McKittrick) returns to find the policeman who helped him escape has supposedly committed suicide by jumping, or accidentally falling, from an open window.
The first suspects are three beautiful women - presumably red-haired hat clerk girl Maureen O'Hara (as Toni Donne), brunette ex-girlfriend Patricia Morison (as Barby Taviton), and blonde songstress Martha O'Driscoll (as Whitney Parker).As he relives psychological trauma incurred during his imprisonment, German Nazis close in on Garfield.
And, as you'll see, Garfield and three beautiful women go a long, long way.******** The Fallen Sparrow (8/19/43) Richard Wallace ~ John Garfield, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Patricia Morison.
The Spanish Civil War angle is interesting, and the relation of Hitler's Germany to Franco's Spain provides some historical base for the plot.
There are disjointed scenes, such as those with a murdered friend's mother pleading for justice and the gypsy dance segment, which are only weakly related to the ideas of dangerous spies in a world about to enter World War Two. There also seems to be a chronic problem with 1943 movies about events of 1940 or earlier in that what transpired in the intervening years tends to mangle both time and history.
Garfield's tough passionate character in a watchable plot.
Most of Garfield's movies are too old and mired in the great depression to hold up.
Like most film noirs the good guys triumph but they don't find happiness.An interesting characterization by Maureen O'Hara as the mysterious woman who seems to share her love with Garfield.
In a feminine way she is tougher than Garfield's character.Like any movie made in 1943 the plot is anti fascist.
But as someone who fought in the Spanish Civil War, Garfield's character should lean to the left.
Yet he is part of a wealthy uptown crowd.If you like John Garfield but find his movies of the depression too distant to appreciate, try this one..
John Garfield plays a former POW from the Spanish Civil War who returns to New York City to investigate the murder of his friend, the same man who got him out of Spain.
He soon finds himself pursued by Nazis who want a flag Garfield has in his possession.
Noirish WW2 thriller offers good performances from Garfield and Walter Slezak but ultimately misses the mark at being anything memorable.
When this movie was made, Stalin had pulled out his support for the Spanish Civil War, had made a pact with Hitler, and took his share of Poland in 1939.
John Garfield is always wonderful, but for me the most interesting character was that played by the great Walter Slezak.
It contains what may well have been the finest performance by John Garfield in his brief career (he died aged only 39 of congenital heart disease in 1952, though he had by then appeared in 32 films).
Garfield plays a man who had fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War but had been captured, imprisoned, and sadistically tortured by Nazis involved in supporting the Franco side.
After escaping, he made his way back to America, where he was followed, and Nazi spies continually monitor him and kill his best friend.
Very effective use of sound occurs in this film, the sound of a crippled man dragging his bad foot is continually heard at moments of Garfield's greatest stress, as it was the same sound made by the Nazi official who came once a month to Spain from Berlin to supervise Garfield's torture.
It's a pretty dull and boring propaganda movie and to tell the truth, though I know it will be considered sacrilegious by most, Garfield's expressionist acting doesn't help.
It's so outdated that the torments that seize all of a sudden the poor victim of fascism ( Garfield was jailed in fascist Spain but tortured by Nazis who wanted nobody knows what from him), making his face change and show inner terror are almost funny.
Political and Propaganda Picture, this John Garfield Film-Noir has its Pro-War Message Buried Deep in 1940 Pre-War Foreign Intrigue Involving Fascist and Hitler's Henchmen Coming to America to Recover an Important and Symbolic Emblem.It is All Convoluted into a Multi-Character, Twisted Plot that is so Confusing and "Foreign" at Times it sort of Begs for the McGuffin to be Forgotten for a While.
People Talk about it Relentlessly and as the Viewer Strains for it All to Make Sense the Movie is in Danger of Losing Anyone who was Initially Interested.But Garfield and a Pretty Good Cast Including a Stiff Looking but Stunning Maureen O'Hara and some Great Noir Cinematography and Claustrophobic Sets Keeps Things Engaging.
There is some Cutting Edge Talk about Torture and the Psychological Scarring of Garfield Returning from a POW Camp Suffering from Hallucinations and Confusion is Central to the Perplexing Plot, Suspicious Loyalties, and Spy Stuff.Overall the Overwritten and Obscure Talking about so Many Characters keeps this from Excellent Status, but Garfield's Mental Instability and an Underlying Creepy Factor make this an Above Average War Story about Life During Wartime..
Hughes built a good head of paranoia and suspense in her 1942 thriller THE FALLEN SPARROW (TFS), and RKO masterfully and faithfully adapted the 1943 movie version.
Director Richard Wallace, screenwriter Warren Duff, and editor Robert Wise condense the novel's events and complex relationships without watering it down.Starting with the quote "...in a world at war many sparrows must fall...", the film brings us into the mindset of troubled yet determined hero John "Kit" McKittrick (John Garfield).
Kit's boyhood friend Lt. Louie Lepetino had helped him escape the Spanish prison where he'd been tortured for two agonizing years after the Spanish Civil War. Returning to New York City from a ranch rest cure, Kit's stunned to discover that Louie's been killed in a 12-story fall from a window at a swanky party for wartime refugees Dr. Skaas (Walter Slezak) and his nephew Otto (Hugh Beaumont, pre-LEAVE IT TO BEAVER).
Was it Kit's alluring old flame Barby Taviton (brunette Patricia Morison may not look like the blonde Barby described in Hughes's book, but she's got the sophistication and entitled attitude)?
He's still haunted by the memory of the mysterious man from Franco's elite Nazi squad, a limping man who tortured Kit in his dark cell, trying to make him reveal where he'd hidden his regiment's battle standard.
Terror mounts as Kit realizes his enemies may have followed him home, maybe even planting their spies into every aspect of Kit's life, placing not only himself in danger, but also his friends and loved ones...The role of Kit, a working-class, self-described "mug" in gent's clothing (his ex-cop dad struck it rich) with a heart full of all-but-shattered ideals, fits John Garfield like a glove.
Hughes's haunting descriptions of Kit's memories of his horrific Spain ordeal are conveyed well in Garfield's powerful monologue, enhanced by the camera's slow close-up on his expressive face.
The sweat on Garfield's brow and the twitch in his cheek as he finally faces his enemy during the climax speak volumes.As Toni Donne, the guarded beauty with a terrible hold over her, lovely Maureen O'Hara (did they darken her red hair, or is it just Nicholas Musuraca's gorgeous black-and-white photography?) tries to downplay her Irish accent, but it still lurks in certain words.
In this film version, Kit and Toni finally share longing kisses and tender embraces -- much more fun to watch!
Today's audiences might not understand Kit's obsession with the battle flag, even with the explanatory scene at Toni's home -- but then again, I bet the men and women fighting overseas will get the significance of a battle standard and what it symbolizes.Although Dorothy B.
While this is not the greatest Garfield movie, it contains one of his most gritty and complex performances.
While his tough, streetwise characters usually have a tender, caring heart that is in the right place, in this film he portrays a vulnerable, nearly-broken man who really has to work hard to summon the strength to fight and survive.
I think it is a good solid war drama full of some ambitious ideas and novel effects for that time period.
All in all, I think the film is strongest in the acting department, and none stronger than John Garfield.
The Nazis are in New York, and they want their flag back!.
Yet it is good if you like international espionage and World War II spy movies.
John McKittrick(John Garfield)was tortured in Franco's Spanish prison camp, but survives and returns home to find out who killed his comrade in arms Louis Lepetino, formerly a fellow New York City cop.
Anton(John Banner)who plays piano accompaniment to his childhood friend Whitney's(Martha O'Driscoll)singing is a spy for the Skaas family and attempts to kill Kit because he knows too much.
Meanwhile Kit has fallen for the mystery lady on the train back who was also at his welcome home party and works modelling at a womens hat boutique, Toni Donne(O'Hara).
He was the Nazi guard at the prison camp with the dragging leg that followed tortures that come back to haunt Kit.
The very thought of Maureen O'Hara with the Nazis is most ridiculous.
At least, they should have had her with a strong Irish accent, as we know that many in Ireland was sympathetic to the Germans during World War 11 because of their hatred towards England.We never fully understand why the Nazis wanted McKittrick, the James Garfield character.
Therefore, it becomes puzzling that he was supposedly allowed to escape.It doesn't take much to realize who the man with the limp is.We're dealing with a Nazi spy ring in the higher classes of New York, but no, this is certainly no "House on 92nd Street."In this film, everyone is suspect. |
tt0392883 | Valley of Flowers | A gang of bandits with their leader Jalan (Milind Soman) who have chosen to live an independent life free from oppression amid the wilderness live by plundering the travelers of the Silk Route of their merchandise. They have their own rules and sense of self-righteousness. While divesting victims of their valuables one day, they come across a demonic mask which intrigues Jalan. There amid the chaos, the bandits are suddenly caught unaware by the approach of a woman who calls herself Ushna (Mylene Jampanoi) who claims to know Jalan, having seen him in her dreams and asks him to let her come along. Jalan, in spite of his companions' warnings includes the woman in their band as he is already mesmerized by her unearthly beauty and mysterious and uncanny aura.
Ushna, at first becomes the group's muse and the mode of satiating Jalan's desire, but on their first encounter itself, Jalan falls in love with her and the two begin to share an insatiable passion and more than material longing for each other. Ushna knows a great deal more than the bandits about the landscape and strategic points and helps the men in more than one successful heists becoming Jalan's consort. She proves to be an excellent horse rider, riding alongside Jalan, claims to have seen the ocean, which is unseen and a subject of myth to the men. She also apparently does not have a navel which Jalan calls "The Centre of the Universe". Jalan grows increasingly dependent upon her, their love and passion ascending unscalable heights.
Madly in love, they decide to find out what future has in store for them and visit an astrologer, who informs them that they are not destined to be united. Rejecting this denial, they decide to change their fate and thereby leave the realms of material thefts and direct their attention towards stealing taboo elements such as Fortune and Energy from people potentially rich in them by stealing their shadows, in the attempt to improve their own fate. They explore too far into stealing things "which they have no right to and which are not theirs" and divest a meditating Yogi of his power of Levitation. Jalan and Ushna unite making use of their newly acquired power, to rise in the air during the act which is witnessed by Jalan's group member Jampa La (Jampa Kalsang Tamang). This is followed by a major fallout between Jalan and the rest of the group who accuse Jalan of breaking the group's rules as they perceive Ushna to be a superhuman and hence a precious asset, which according to the rules of the group should be equally divided. This enrages Jalan who accidentally kills Jampa La in the fracas between the two which results in a final split of Jalan and Ushna with the rest, with Hak Chi (Anil Yadav) rebuking Jalan as they part ways.
Meanwhile, the merchants and travelers, seek the help of Yeti (Naseeruddin Shah), a mysterious wise man and the local protector, for protection against Jalan's group. Yeti seems to recognize Ushna at once from the description given by the victims and immediately sets out for the pair of them with his three bounty hunters. Ushna and Jalan make a narrow escape, until finally they are outsmarted by Yeti and his men. Ushna manages to escape on horseback and Jalan falls into the river. Later, Yeti is confronted by Ushna in his tent who questions him of Jalan's whereabouts. Yeti advises her to go back to where she came from as she can never unite with Jalan because of what she is. Ushna rejects this denial a second time saying she loves him too much and that she never does what she is supposed to and vanishes from sight as Yeti begins to gather his Chöd equipments to capture her.
After this short separation, Ushna succeeds in finding Jalan at a monastery recovering from his wounds. The two set off for another monastery Jalan has heard of during his stay at the former one, where the Yogi prepares the Elixir of life for immortality by extracting the breath out of his pupils. Ushna is a bit reluctant and wishes to spend their lives in their natural spans together at the Valley of Flowers, where nobody could separate them. They however manage to steal the Elixir and consume it, preserving some for "days to come". The unfortunate lovers are confronted by Yeti early next morning direct from their sleep and Jalan in his pride of them attaining immortality shoots Ushna to make a display of it and Ushna in spite of having taken the Elixir is killed. Jalan is rebuked by Yeti for having tampered with things they ought not have. Now bereaved from his soulmate, Jalan is doomed to a vain life of immortality.
Then follows a transition of two centuries into the modern times in Tokyo. The shifting of landscapes and ages is depicted by the famous Time-Walk scene as Jalan's feet are shown to traverse diverse landscapes from rocky wildernesses to blooming pastures to war ridden lands strewn with havoc to modern metalled roads, accompanied by sounds describing the various ages in time.
In Japan, Jalan goes by the identity Jalan Otsal, the controversial Indian doctor who is a legalized practitioner of euthanasia and owner of the firm Valley of Flowers Corporation. He is despised by the people of the city and is stalked everywhere by protesters demanding him to leave Japan and leave death to Nature. Jalan creates news again by jumping from the 62-storey and yet surviving without even a scar, which is telecast live in the local news channels. Sayuri (Eri), the reincarnation of Ushna in this age, who is a singer at a pub is stopped during a performance by this telecast going on in the pub's television and she immediately rushes to the Police Station to rescue Jalan. They board a subway train where she tells Jalan that she has been serving her Karma ever since, this is her fifth reincarnation and that she has remembered him in each one of them, right from her birth, with the pain of separation and her aeonian longing living on with her soul and finally now she can't stand it anymore. Jalan and Sayuri unite in the empty train and rush to a temple where he gives her the Elixir he had preserved earlier. In the morning they wake up to find Yeti who reminds them of the Laws of Karma and Impermanence and of the Buddha, "the one who can turn conflict into collaboration" and gives Jalan the symbolic White Flower. Sayuri starts to flee taking Jalan with her but they are hit by a flower delivery truck. This time Jalan is killed and his body is shown lying amid the flowers fallen from the truck. Sayuri rushes to Yeti in anguish and demands to know why he did this when he had promised her more time with Jalan. Yeti consoles her saying that true love lies in sacrifice. He says that he is just carrying out his duty to restore the balance. Sayuri breaks down at his feet and slowly dissolves in a sea of fumes. Yeti performs the symbolic Chöd rituals of parting by playing the Damaru and blowing the Kangling. He then retrieves the Demon mask which Jalan had found earlier in the movie when Ushna had appeared, from where Sayuri dissolved into fumes.
The movie closes with Yeti fixing the mask upon a stone statuette which is revealed to be its detached face. He wipes off tears from its eyes and walks away as the sea waves lash upon the shore where the two similar statuettes stand on either side of a Torii at the entrance of a cave.
The film has a lot unsaid, unexplained, left to the speculation of the viewers which triggers a lot of research and study into the various cultural, mythological and religious elements incorporated in the film. This mystery element in itself is the flavor of Pan Nalin movies along with the remarkable influences from Buddhism and Buddhist Philosophy. Breathtaking landscapes of the Ladakh plateau, which is another characteristic, adds further to the mood. | romantic | train | wikipedia | Valley of Flowers has gorgeous male lead and two lovely leading ladies.
Pan Nalin has a talent for discovering talent; in Valley of Flowers he gives a break to French-Chinese Mylene Jampanoi (watch out Zhang Zyi and Sophie Marceau!!) and Japanese Eri.Vertigenous landscapes and skyscrapers, superb casting, sublime costumes, subtle lighting and mysterious music makes Valley of Flowers an exceptional cinematic experience.The story, warning -stay awake!
The film is a great long saga running full 2 hours and 35 minutes, from early 19th century to contemporary Japan.
Allow your mind to be open to feel this mind blowing film.It successfully encompasses themes of love and sacrifice, mortality and karma.
It starts like an "Eastern" (a Western from the East) and towards the end drifts into poetic Asian images.Given the length and the content of the movie, it is likely to suffer distribution problem.
Besides Valley of Flowers invents its own "genre" -thus it is non-classifiable.It is not often that such films are made, slightly ahead of its time -Valley of Flowers will neither be commercial enough for Hollywood nor "arty" enough for auteur driven festivals.But Valley of Flowers, personally speaking, will have an important role to play in evolution of Indian and Asian cinema.Don't miss it!.
Yesterday I had an opportunity to attend the private screening of integral version of Valley of Flowers (155minutes!!) in the "chick" Planet Hollywood on Champs-Elysees in Paris.
I liked the Fountain as well but it is Valley of Flowers sent my brain spinning.The reason I mentioned the Fountain is because I was struck by the similarities of the theme in these two movies love across ages, death and immortality, man's fight against time
Human beings in constant state of seeking equilibrium in love, life, nature and human nature.Both Aronofsky and Nalin are known for invading the unknown realms of the real and surreal world.
Though Valley is just a second feature of Pan Nalin, but the maturity he displays in handling of his subject matter is truly astounding.
Valley of Flowers is truly an independent film compare to giant 35million dollar Fountain with star cast.
However, It is Nalin's film, which stirred me so deep, I felt a true sense of unearthing and that made me write, my very first comment on IMDb. I know nothing about Buddhism or Yeti or Tibet or Himalaya.
Of course the Himalayan parts are breathtaking, like in his earlier Samsara (2001), but here the "landscapes of faces" of Bandits are awesome.
Costume and Production design are top-notch, aesthetics better and higher than many multi-million dollar Hollywood blockbusters.Nalin's cinematic sense, and certain trance like camera movements are evocative; his girls are divine (even though they are playing demon).
Again like in Samsara, Nalin discovers Mylene Jampanoi; a French Chinese actress gets a break to do her first feature.
Indian actor Milind Soman is less impressive but Naseeruddin Shah again proves his talent as one of the greatest actor of Asian cinema in his brilliant interpretation of yeti.Nalin also proves his talent as an extraordinary screenwriter, he wrote both Samsara and Valley of Flowers.
His dialogs and editing is constantly breaking rules must mention an amazing scene of hero's "time walk" in Valley of Flowers with simple cuts on pair of feet walking from early 19th century to modern day Tokyo.
This scene in itself is a cinematic poetry in the realms of Rilke or Rumi.I've been professor of Japanese Culture and society and dealt with many of the themes of Pan Nalin's movies.
Nalin's portrayal of modern day Tokyo makes keen observation about existence of superstitions, demon and notion of death in Japan.
Nalin manages to penetrate the layers of modern day Japanese life very effectively.
Unfortunately, in the Fountain, Aronofsky fails to display similar command in scenes of ancient Spain and modern day medicine episode.Again it is amazing coincidence how Aronofsky and Pan Nalin, both these young filmmakers chose their hero in modern times to be a Doctor.
Controversial Dr. Zinelli of Dignitas of Zurich who assisted several people in their voluntary death inspires Nalin's modern day hero.
Again Nalin's episode in modern day Tokyo leads to a sublime conclusion of the story where many twists are revealed, love and lovers are sacrificed -in some of the most poetic and memorable scenes in history of modern-Asian cinema.I ask this question several times to myself why the festivals like Cannes, Venice, Berlin or Pusan have failed to highlight this talented filmmaker from India.
I am sorry to say there have been many others in between like Mira Nair or Shyam Benegal or Das Gupta but Pan Nalin is beyond, he is in another league all together.
Valley of Flowers got me all excited, as it was the very first public screening in Delhi's packed Siri Fort Audi where audience was spilling all over the floor...
Pan Nalin with his second feature (after Samsara) makes a very bold step in unexplored territories and comes out strong as a scriptwriter with guts, a director with exceptional talent and a filmmaker to watch out for.
Rarely a theme of love, longing and immortality has been so well depicted before.
Valley
is a hymn to harmony in nature, balance among demons and humans, good and evil, life and death, black and white.
Because Pan Nalin allows audience to interact with this epic love story in honest manner.There are breathtaking moments in Valley
like appearance of Ushna, levitated lovemaking, valley of silence, time-walk and final climax in Japan.
Towards the end the entire resolution of the saga happens in modern-day Tokyo and that is destructive and divine like most Asian myths.
Pan Nalin's regard on Tokyo and Japan is very sensitive and subtle.Watching Valley
is truly a cinematic experience of unforgettable kind I highly recommend to those who love traveling beyond mainstream.
I am probably the only person who has seen TWO Valley of Flowers the one I saw in Delhi and second I saw today here in Turkey at the Gala premiere of Eurasian Film Festival where Valley..
is competing with some of the best films from Europe and Asia.In Delhi I had really loved the movie -thus here in Antalya I wanted to go and see it again with friends but little did I know that the film was violently butchered down by good 40 minutes from its original version!!Here, I disliked the film.Does anyone know why?
And I agree with other comments that the film will have tough time finding its audience.
And ChomChom from India should not generalise, I was also present at the very same screening and me and my friends loved the picture.Pan Nalin's Valley of Flowers would surely add a new angle to many Buddhism based movies.
Valley has Japanese MANGA like quality and interwoven web of deep Asian philosophy.
Followers of Eastern Religion and Philosophy will be able to point out these symbols.Another reason I loved Valley...
Like Jelan and Usna of Valley of Flowers.Nalin manages to render his story with shades of greys and black.
However he leaves you with unforgettable impressions, poetry, ideas...If you do get opportunity to see Valley's Director's Cut don't miss it.
However, If you are going to see the butchered version of 2hr then you better visit the official website of the film (www.valleyofflowers.com) and understand the story and background.
Forty plus years ago, when I sat in a third run theater on Hollywood Blvd watching Lawrence of Arabia, I knew that my life must change and that I had to get out there, into the world, and enjoy what it had to offer.
It is a story that I would not believe could be told on film being down and dirty exotic real life and at the same time an uplifting spiritual experience.
I might sound biased but first of all I love all kind of love stories in cinema.Valley of Flowers is a great love story -the one where magic plays a role.And I have a passion for exceptional love stories and romances.
Valley of Flowers makes you dream.
The film has great production value and specially the costume design is exquisite!Extra bonus, it is inspired from Alexandra David Neel's book.
Thus it is real treat for the fan of Alexandra's dark world of magic and mysteries of Tibet and Himalayas.In Japanese part of the movie when film slides into modern world from early 19th century, there is also a wonderful scene with BARDO (Tibetan Book of The Dead) based euthanasia.Its great concept: what do you do once you become immortal and you can not die -help others die.It's not so often we see in cinema Asian interpretation of love.
Valley of Flowers is to be watched with open mind.
It is not an easy film, mind you.Valley of Flowers is slow and I like slow movies -I cant bear Hollywood's fast cutting any longer.The only problem with valley of Flowers is that it is loaded with too many great ideas and concepts -many don't succeed.
Maybe it is an over-ambitious adventure from writer director Pan Nalin whose SAMSARA is my all time favorite film.
SAMSARA is in my list of "10 movies to watch before you die."Sorry, Valley of Flowers is not in that list but its a brilliant attempt towards unknown.
Pan Nalin is a rising sun of the east -in just two feature films he has proved talent worth of five features.
I agree, he is a filmmaker to watch out for.For Valley of Flowers; If you live on popular cinema then avoid it.
are we crazy to love this film?.
Being in St. Petersburg, in Russia of today, films like Valley of Flowers are really welcomed.
Like some other viewers I did find the film long.
It plays beyond two and half hours and apparently theatrical released version is shorter by some 30/40 minutes.I've immensely enjoyed this stunning film.
I'm happy to ignore the weaknesses in editing and acting but my full marks goes to its daring originality, innovative theme and unexplored locations.Somehow, the film compelled me to return to the cinema for a second viewing.
Second time, to my surprise, I enjoyed the film even more.
And I did not even find it longer.Personally, I have not heard about this director or seen any of his earlier films but one thing is certain that his command on the craft of film-making is of top level.
His grasp of cinematic styles and sound design shows sensitive and perceptive mind he posses.He truly masters the valley of silence sequence in the film.
And manages to keep the spectators on the edge of their seat.Another great achievement is "time walk" sequence, creation of the character of Yeti also deserves a special mention.Two Ushnas are Devin and sexy.
The last image of Yeti's feet taking a "time walk" but in the opposite direction -the nature's balance is restored- is one of the most satisfactory and subtle end in recent cinematic history.Like others, I fail to understand why no one is talking about this film?
Thus I would only add that Nalin has played with very dangerous theme and cinematic structure; he comes out as truly talented director, a filmmaker with vision.But these days the film journalism and criticism is not a pleasant place to be.
It is often short sighted and fails to see a great talent behind each work.My curiosity lead me to spend days and weeks to get hold of some of the remarkable films made by Pan Nalin prior to SAMSARA.When Pan Nalin was barely 20 years of age, he made breathtaking 20 minute short fiction titled KHAJURAHO.
Whether we like it or not a director was born that day.Apparently Nalin made many silent shorts between the age of 16 to 20 but KHAJURAHO was the first film he was able to complete.
I could not track any of his earlier works.Later, Nalin and his crew put their lives in danger when they went to shoot NAGAS, a documentary on wildest of tribe of North-Eastern India.
I was surprised to read some negative criticism on the Net about recent works of Pan Nalin.
Valley of Flowers is his (only) second feature!!!
were like???I am not hear to defend Pan Nalin, whoever he maybe, but filmmakers in General.
First and Second and even third movies of film directors are often like Soparano Singers shaping the color of his/her voice.
They will master melodies which will move you to tears -if not you have a right to massacre them!Filmmaker like Pan Nalin, if they were in Hollywood making English language movies, they would have got much better attention.We should remember how hard it is to make an original work of cinema in Asia or Africa.
Often you are not only struggling to make the film of your dream but also trying to feed the family of fifteen at same time!Someone like Pan Nalin are gifted to give us a meaningful entertainment.
Nalin has proved his talent for excellent screen writing with both SAMSARA and VALLEY OF FLOWERS.Directors like Pan Nalin are truly "International Director" in the line of Inarritu or Meirelles; They make the new cinema, new entertainment and new world we live in - a most fascinating place to be -enjoy and celebrate the life the way it is and not the way you are..
I heard about this film more than a year ago but didn't get around to watching it until last week.
The first thing that stands out about this movie is Pan Nalin's superb direction and breathtaking cinematography, which depicts the 19th century Himalayas like never before in the first half of the film.
On the other hand, the second half of the film, which takes place in modern-day Tokyo, doesn't have such a great cinematography but the storyline moves along at a much better pace, leading up to a hard-hitting and very touching ending.8/10.
But to my surprise the film grabbed my attention, than slowly my mind mysteriously...
as it turned poetic and touching -I was in the VALLEY OF FLOWERS, not wanting to go out and face the French arrogance...It is almost meaningless to try to ascertain any scientific or cultural logic beneath the surface of this allegorical story inspired from Alexandra David Neel's work.
Such hairsplitting will only make you lose the merit of this work.The film commences in early 19th Century in the Himalayas, a gang of bandits wait for their attack.
Now begins a great love story as they go on pillaging silk route...
I will not reveal all but finally two centuries later, ends in Tokyo of today.There are many themes which touches all of us, the film remains universal and will surely strike US audience with its magical spell.
Imagine 2 centuries ago the Grand Canryon, a group of outlaws attack Navajo or Hopi Indians, One of the Outlaw falls in love with a mysterious Indian girl.
cut to modern day NYC where our hero is 197 years of age!!!!
Use your imagination and you will see this will make a superb remake about love, longing and death.
But that is the proof, there are rare movies in the world today which can inspire you or fire up your imagination.
Do not miss Valley of Flowers, mind you it is not a perfect film, it has it weaknesses.
Valley is also a philosophical journey through the ideas of life, love, loss, and hope.Valley of Flowers provokes something very human out of its viewers.
Director succeeded in holding audience attention till the end, even though length of the movie is very long but i never felt bored or off track at any point.
I really feel this movie deserves better promotion world wide.
Although I wouldn't go as far as the previous reviewer who ranked "Valley of Flowers" as low as "1", I too was very disappointed in a film that had so much going for it: great locations, beautiful cinematography and sound, and an obvious creative vision.It's the latter that should have been reined in.
What starts out as an epic fable (the mystery girl and the bandit) turns into a metaphysical morality tale (throw in the "Yeti" character) and then morphs into a sci-fi fantasy (let's leap ahead a few hundred years and cross Asia from India to Japan in the process).
Somebody (you'd think the film's backers) would have said something to the writer/director in the development phase.Apparently, no one was paying attention.
I haven't seen any other work from this director, but I hope that next time around he's able to sustain a story with an emotional arc without resorting to narrative acrobatics..
I watched this film at its international premiere in Delhi a month or so back.
i was personally very excited at the thought of a pan-Asian cast, a storyline that ran through centuries, a mix of Indian sensibilities with an international aesthetic...by the middle of the film, i couldn't wait to get out of the hall!
this is a film that fails to hold your interest beyond the excellent production design.i haven't watched samsara..
Finished this movie tonight, I have been Himalayas 3 years ago, and spend the whole great week there.
The breathtaking landscape reminded me again the good time I have been stay there, the magic story made the movie and the place much more mysterious and attractive.
However, honestly speaking, the last half of the movie, the scene in Japan, did make me pretty disappointed, which is different with the style of the whole movie; I was looking forward to seeing more fantastic polt when time came to modern society, their love looks weak and fake in this big city, but it ends without expectation; I felt like ate an delicious cake, choked suddenly.Anyway, I might be back Himalayas next year, this movie made me miss the mountain and air there..
Rarely balanced and mind and heart challenging.The two characters seem like playing Gods games.
Going against the gods stealing and robbing spiritual gems to live and keep the love they have. |
tt1520211 | The Walking Dead | In 1972 North Vietnam, short-timer Marines are dispatched by helicopter to conduct their last mission: to evacuate the survivors from a POW camp abandoned by the Viet Cong. The landing zone - which they expect to be cold - is actually hot (under fire) and after a short fight, only four members of the rescue mission survive. SSgt. Barkley and Hoover have a brief fight after Hoover wants to radio for an evacuation and Barkley insists they finish the mission. During their fight a mortar lands nearby, knocking them both into a swamp. Barkley saves Branche from drowning. They are joined shortly by Brooks and Evans. The soldiers defer to the ranking Marine, Sgt. Barkley, who insists that they press on to a nearby cathedral. They reach the building and kill several NVA soldiers. At morning, they are planning their next move when they are ambushed by more NVA soldiers including tree snipers. After a firefight they manage to kill the soldiers with the help of Cpl. Pippins, who appears from the brush and also begins attacking them. After subduing Pippins they look for the rest of his platoon and discover them murdered and their radio missing. They decide to tie Pippins up and bring him along as they march toward the POW camp. The group then recollect about each of their individual reasons for joining the Marines. SSgt Barkley was a preacher at a church until he came home to his bedroom seeing his wife in bed having sex with another man, Barkley shoots and kills the man and catches the train out of town. Hoover works for a meat packing place until he got fired for stealing meat. Cole tries to buy a new house, but he is turned down by the real estate agent,because of his race. Brooks tells his girlfriend that he's joining the Marine Corps to be like his grandfather, Pippins was working for Ray until he is killed by gangsters and chased into the military enlistment line without getting caught. While Cole and Barkley go ahead to survey the area, Hoover and Brooks smoke cannabis and talk about Brooks' girlfriend, who just dumped him via the mail. During their break, Pippins escapes and takes Brooks' pistol. The four men regroup and head out without Pippins. When they reach the camp, they discover a deranged Pippins holding a Vietnamese woman hostage. After killing the woman in front of them, Pippis turns on them with a gun and is killed by Sgt. Barkley. After seeing the camp is empty, the men realize they are expendable decoys. They radio in and are informed that the Marines cleared the POW camp four hours earlier, and that they have 20 minutes to reach their pickup point before the entire area is bombed. As the men go to leave bombs begin dropping on them. They escape the bombardment and head through the jungle to the landing zone, but are ambushed by more NVA soldiers. Brooks is killed, and Cole and Barkley wounded. Hoover goes back and rescues Barkley and the three men are evacuated by helicopter. During an epilogue, we are told that Cole became a career Marine who retired after 20 years of service, Sgt. Barkley took a job counseling troubled teens in Georgia, and Hoover went back home, married his girlfriend and opened up his own business. | violence | train | wikipedia | TWD has nothing to do with that anymore.If TWD would have kept 4-5 main characters and presented their struggle to live in this horror world full of zombies, then that could have been a great series.
I don't care who dies, who lives, because there is no story, no character, nothing intelligent about this series, nothing to watch.
I really liked seasons 1-6 but last good episode I have seen was s07e01 since then it is more and more boooooring...All season eight so far (I'm on s08e08) is just terrible.
I continued to watch it hoping that it would somehow manage to resume expressing the quality which it had produced in the first few seasons, but at this point I am no longer expecting it to actually become worth my time and attention anymore.
I used to like this and watched all episodes until season 7, every new season characters seemed to become dumber and dumber with each episode.
TWD was once epic (season 1 to 5), since then all went downhill, the plot is now (season 9) a terrible mess and it is almost unbelievable how much substance this once fine show lost.Why am I still watching!?
But I can say that the endless dreading of certain plots feels like the episodes of Lost (older series).
I'll watch the trailer for season 8 and maybe look into the first episode, but then it has to change it's pace and better story telling.Last, but not least, another series going down the drain after a couple of seasons.
If this is how their first attack against the Saviours was always going to end, it could have happened 5 or 6 episodes into the season.
From seasons 2-5, every episode finished on such an amazing cliff-hanger, and you had no recourse but to watch the next and the next and the next, and so on.
I thought the Walking Dead crashed and burned over 2 seasons ago, but I held in there, hoping against hope, it would make a bounce back but all I have experienced is utter shame and disappointment!
Instead, we're forced to watch a bunch of hillbillies, who run around, thinking their hot sh*t; all held together by Negan, who should be dead like 10 times over by now.
After watching the first few episode of season 9 I have to say I'm well and truly done with this programme, there is only so much you can write about surviving zombies before it becomes tedious and boring.
Like watching a once beloved pet struggling to walk, knowing that it was time for them to be put down.
The end of each episode left me dying for the next one, The writing is incredible, the character development amazing and don't suppose you know who will live or die here cause you will have no idea.
However, that being said I have to disagree with the reviewer.So here are the reasons I like the show.First, character development, this is not usually a very big trait in the Zombie genre.
For those that aren't fans of the genre, when the zombie apocalypse happens and you don't know what to do
don't come crying to me and my friends
you'll just slow us down.On second thought
you may come in handy in case we need to make a hasty retreat.
This series is just like that, it's zombies/monsters but still very realistic.The way the plot is presented is very entertaining, but not very surprising.
Everything looks very realistic and honestly quite disgusting, in a good way.I can't wait to watch the next episode!.
I know people here are attracted to this genre for various different reasons but i'd like to think we all share some connection when zombies are involved.
The first 5 seasons were gold, but the writers and production team destroyed a great series about survival in the apocalypse with lousy decisions, killing off beloved characters, giving Neegan too much air time, and destroying the narrative that made this a great show.
You would think the characters get smarter which is logical but they just get dumber.Season 7 was full useless and dumb fillers with just less than 10 minutes of something interesting in every episode.
Just started watching season 8 and it is turning out to be just like season 7.It is as if the creators and writers were bitten by zombies after season 2 and have turned into brainless ones themselves.
Started to notice that the characters who were killed off became insufferable - not in a good way - or plain boring.
While watching the pilot episode of The Walking Dead the only word that went through my mind was "awesome!".We finally have a TV Show that's associated with the beloved Zombie franchise and what it does it does right.The story takes place in the present day, a Sheriff's deputy, Rick Grimes gets caught in an accident and ends up in hospital, after blanking out and waking up from a coma he finds himself in an abandoned ward with flickering lights, broken down hallways and barricaded doors.
As he makes his way through the dark hospital he finds out that he is the only one that's not in a body bag.The pilot introduces us to several main characters that actually make you want to learn more about them, with brilliant directing by Frank Darabont you will come across both dramatic and emotional scenes that seem appropriate for the time, this gives the show allot of realism and just works out great.However this doesn't have CGI effects yet and should be kept that way, the make-up on the zombies are fantastic.watching this will give you allot of nostalgia and the direction makes of this show feel like a classic old school zombie movie from the 80's to 90's that's actually serious this time, having a well respected cast and great acting makes this show very promising and I will be hoping for allot more future episodes...
But for now I'm still waiting for the rest of the first season.If you like zombies or even a good drama that has allot of suspense then I highly recommend this show, I have never felt this way about a show since LOST, so you know it's that good..
Started off as a great series to binge watch but is now going down hill.
season 7 of the walking dead was the worst season and has an anti climax in the last episode ,suprise all the leaders don't die.They it has become so unrealistic ,exmaple they kill zombies with knives,swords etc with out having an inch of blood on them and they are always clean and never get dirty,.
I was lucky enough to come into contact with a copy of the pilot episode of "The Walking Dead" and it is utterly amazing.I tend to stray away from this genre of movies as nothing I have watched in the last 10 years has affected me in any way.
I literally sat there in awe through the entire episode."The Walking Dead" is shot perfectly thanks to the director of "The Shawshank Redemption" and it shows.
We stopped watching Fear he a Walking Dead after half a season, and what the heck is the Red Machete?
The walkers, when they show up at all, are used as fake-out plot devices or ridiculous spectacle.Why the makers think spending 16 episodes to tell what happened over two weeks to character after character everyone wants dead is a mystery.
before 2000 zombies were meant for a limited audience.that horror sub genre were not for everyone.since resident evil series things changed and zombies became mainstream.a lot of successful films followed like 28 days later and world war Z but never a TV series.this series is the first to introduce zombies in a TV series.a great drama mixed with horror which had 6 great seasons.zombies were the villains and also there were bad humans fighting other humans for survival.unfortunately things changed at season 6.a lot of the original rick's team were dead and zombies stopped to be the real threat.with neegan entering the show......the show changed....became boring and not a real zombie horror it supposed to be.I hope things get fixed in season 8 and we get what we had in the earlier and best seasons.seasons 1-3 were the bestseasons 4-6 were great tooseason 7 was boring..
Enough Resident Evil's like movies with big monsters, hybrid DNAs, lots of crazy acrobatics maneuvers, unlimited ammo, and no "reality", no suspense, no characters, no classic zombies
If you are into some zombie culture with classic roots like George Romero's movies Night of The Living Dead, The Crazies, Dawn of The Dead
or something new like 28 Days Later, I Am Legend
Then you are going to love it.Finally me fighting zombies day-by-day on my couch
Since Lost I had nothing but comedy series to watch; now finally I have some series to take my TV time for suspense and action.
It's become suffering to watch it almost in season 5,and season 7 is,well..just more crap.No new ideas,just talks,talks,and some more talks.Reminds me of old soviet (USSR) style of movies with hundreds of minutes of nature shots,close up shots of actors with unrevealed thoughts that we have to get somehow,probably through mind reading.
:/Also, anyone who watched this series from the start until now understands that they don't seem to end this thing.
They delay as long as they can to make money.-If you like zombies watch the first seasons.
-If you like talking watch the last seasons..
The biggest issue of walking dead currently is the fact that, for some strange reason, they think its a good idea to put 2 episodes worth of content in 15 episodes (this is written before 16 comes out).
If you're reading this Kirkman, you've successfully managed to turn a quality show into an incredibly average show that has about 5 minutes of good content per season.
If the show had kept the pace of the first 3/4 seasons we'd be in for one hell of a ride but it seems that kirkman is trying to long out the negan story as much as possible because he knows the fans love negan.
The Walking Dead.A TV Show which most people would rank up next to shows like Game Of Thrones or The Breaking Bad, I understand why.
That's what bothers me and makes me want to stop people who want to begin watching The Walking Dead, go ahead watch it and enjoy the show but in my opinion the plot is just washed out.
To explain how the walking dead has been since around season 6 I will clarify how the plot has been in a nutshell.Rick and his buddies have a safe place --> some enemies find their place and start trouble / Rick or his group start bothering other people --> Action!!
(Someone probably dies or gets away with only 1 eye left) --> after the war the group rushes out of the scene to avoid getting killed --> group splits --> Someone of the group finds some strangers (perhaps killing time *again) --> smaller groups has small supply of food --> surprise surprise suddenly someone from the group finds another one --> survive --> group find themselves again --> OMG the enemy "gang" leader suddenly comes in with a tank helicopters and 24 assault rifles --> Boss takes someone of the group (preferably someone who is desired by many fans) -->holds the weapon up against his face --> OMG WILL HE DIE --> Cliffhanger --> next episode coming up in a year.To conclude my review I can say that I really don't regret watching this series for 5 seasons (almost 6) straight since I stopped watching I when it got boring.
I personally would like a better plot since season 5/6 therefore can't watch this series.
I have never watched the Walking Dead before and just started about a month ago and have slowly been on a marathon through the seasons.
I was intrigued in the beginning and I get why it's been popular because it seemed like a "smart zombie show" with well-written drama and tension that entices you to keep watching.
I am done with this show.The series in my opinion was already going down hill and I was really just forcing myself to watch the next episode because I figured I had already vested too much time in now to quit and I wanted to see who this Negan was.
7.1 said it best: "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" watching the Walking Dead.
First season was great, then it was ok for a few seasons, then it became bit bad and when negan showed up it went totally horrible.Its time for shoot twd in the head, as soon as possible, no matter whether the "story line" goes complete.
I'm a huge fan of TV shows, and this one ranks among the best I've ever seen (along with Lost and Spartacus).Everything from the story-line, the characters, the actors and the visual effects, are all brilliantly done and have me eagerly waiting each and every week for the new episode to air.When I first watched the pilot episode, I was a bit skeptical.
I have been watching this show since day one, and let me tell you, The Walking Dead is utter garbage and a waste of anyone's time who is halfway intelligent.
But if you are worried, stop reading now*: I stopped watching at Season 6, Episode 6, when Daryl (a bad-ass who has killed hundreds of zombies with ease including just his bare hands) had to scramble through his bag to retrieve his crossbow when a pitiful zombie approached him at a blazing speed of .05 miles per hour from several meters away.
This show is so dull and un-scary, I feel like a brain-dead zombie by the end of each episode.To begin with, I liked most of Season 1.
In fact, it makes me painfully aware of how cool the writers or producers are trying to be.Still, I watched it to the end of the season.
As someone who likes a story and interesting characters,i read the reviews and saw that it was getting 8+ so thought this must be good.i quickly found out the story is survivors kill Zombies,if that's not enough to keep you interested well hang on in there because in each and every episode zombies get their heads shot off.Why anyone would think this is good is beyond me.The acting is very average and the zombies must be fed up spending hours in make up for their 3 second cameo before they get their heads shot off.I managed to persevere for 4 episodes of this apparently long running serious before deciding that there was better entertainment on the cartoon channel and filed this series in the bin where it belongs..
Whoever thinks this is a good show needs to re watch the first season and the other ones and realize all there doing is have slow and no relevant dragged out plot lines.
The series beginning made us all feel like we were all in a zombie apocalypse.
i won't even watch the last episode of season 3.
Watched a few episodes in Season 1 way back.
The characters are so amazing and I am so glad that I love the walking dead!.
Season 1 really good lots of zombies and action packed episodes.
Learning this technique of lazy writing is what allows shows like The Walking Dead to stay on the air for close to a decade, even though longtime fans have seen a sharp decline in quality over the past couple years.
It then started to become stale somehow, so I stopped watching after season four.
Yesterday I happened to watch episode 1 of season 7 and now I feel the urge to express my disgust.
Now you know all about the series called "The Walking Dead"..
The characters have spent 90% of the season in a world where nothing happens.
dreadful acting from the start, all the characters in this episode were a pain to watch, the panic scenes were a joke, and i just knew the whole thing was going to be a mess!
I hate to write this because I've been watching the show since it began and, while its clearly had its gripping and debate full moments they haven't quite crossed the line until season 7 episode 01.Without giving spoilers I will just say that the apparent out of control need to be more and more sick and vile has gone too far.
I used to have a passion for watching the walking dead, never missing the next episode.
To make it short: TWD is a waste of time.I started to watch TWD and managed somehow to "survive" watching until somewhere in season 5 when I gave up with that series.
I do not even know what was about all the people when I stopped watching, because i just didn't care anymore.TWD starts quite good but from season 1, episode 1 its going down in quality of plot and acting in quite a straight line.
At the end of season 4 the makers are blowing it up with the introduction of 3 people that come with a totally ridiculous role plot and acting.Everybody who wants to watch an 8,6 rated series should try something else because there is no way that this series is a 6 / 7 or 8 star one..
The bigest problem i have with walking dead is that it started so good and got better and better....BUT once u get to season 7 things start to go wrong.
The last 2 seasons were so bad iv gone from love the walking dead to not being they bothered if I ever watch it again..
It was a good watch for some seasons but it doesn't take long for the viewer to realize that it's only downhill. |
tt0420740 | A Little Trip to Heaven | The very beginning of the film, before the opening credits, shows a new widow sitting in a life insurance office. Expecting to be compensated for her husband's death, the widow is informed that she is not entitled to full death benefits because the insurance company has captured footage of her husband smoking and attributes his death to cigarettes. Abe Holt looks on as his co-worker convinces the widow that she's lucky to leave with a small fraction of the award she was expecting.
The film centers around three vehicle crashes, which are first introduced to the viewer one after another at the very beginning of the movie. The first shows a young couple flying through the open roof of their convertible, which has been ejected over a cliff. They swim to shore, where the woman hits the leg of her fellow passenger with a pipe. The second involves a city bus and insurance adjustor Abe Holt (Forest Whitaker), who has arrived at the scene on the suspicion that many of the passengers boarded the bus after the accident, looking to file a claim. Holt bluffs, claiming a hidden camera will help sort out who was truly on the bus; many leave, and his co-worker (Peter Coyote) quickly tells him their company wants him to investigate a crash in the remote and desolate town of North Hastings, Minnesota.
The third crash involves an unnamed young man who is stranded at the side of the road on a rainy night, after stopping in the local bar. He accepts a ride from the man who has drained his gas tank, who proceeds to speed the car against the wall of a tunnel, injuring his passenger in the wreck. The anonymous man is dragged to the front seat and buckled in before the gas is poured over the car and set ablaze. However, to those who later discover the crash it appears that Kelvin Anderson has died after crashing his own car into the tunnel wall, prompting a spontaneous vehicle fire that burned his body beyond recognition. The local police are convinced it is an open-and-shut case, as Kelvin’s driver's license is found in the glovebox, the plates on the car match Kelvin's, and Kelvin's sister, Isold (Julia Stiles), lives on the other side of the tunnel.
However, Holt is suspicious because while the body is conveniently unidentifiable the license is still intact and Isold, the sole beneficiary of the $1 million policy, is skittish and was not expecting her brother's visit. Isold’s husband, the suspiciously cheerful and vaguely threatening "Fred" McBride (Jeremy Renner), further convinces Holt there's something else to this case. As he continues to investigate the case Holt discovers a number of surprising secrets, among them the fact that Frederick McBride is actually dead (buried in a field outside the abandoned McBride home) and that the supposedly dead Kelvin has a record as a con man. The most convincing evidence are photos of Kelvin, from his criminal record and high school, showing him looking like the man posing as "Fred." Holt eventually determines that the charred body pulled from the car wreck is not Kelvin's, that Isold's "husband" is actually her brother Kelvin. A flashback reveals that the couple from the convertible seen at the opening of the movie was Isold and Kelvin, wrecking their car—and Kelvin's leg—for insurance money.
When Isold figures out that her brother has murdered an innocent drifter she is horrified, but Kelvin convinces her to "play her part" in this last con by holding hostage his son Thor, whom Isold has been helping him raise since the boy's mother left. When Isold visits the insurance office to collect on Kelvin's policy, Holt—in an echo of the movie's opening scene—informs her that he cannot award her the full $1 million she expects, only the blue book value of his car ($1500). Isold leaves angrily; when Holt tells her she's lucky he hasn't exposed her as an accessory to murder, she tells him that her brother has taken Thor. Moved and concerned, Holt puts a one-day hold on her check (ensuring that she'll return to the bank the next day) and changes the name of the insured on the policy from "Kelvin Anderson" to "Frederick McBride."
The next day Isold cashes her check and opens a safety deposit box, in which she puts a childhood picture of her and her brother. She returns to the motel where Kelvin is staying with Thor, and tries to convince him that she has left the rest of the money in the safety deposit box so that she can leave with Thor. Kelvin doesn't buy it, and gets in his car with Thor—only to find he's held at gunpoint by Holt, in the backseat. Holt tells Isold to leave with the boy and Fred speeds off, buckling his seatbelt (a sign he'll crash the car). Kelvin crashes the car, killing both men, and Isold is awarded the full benefits of the tampered life insurance policy.
The film ends with Abe is walking in a beach (probably heaven) which is identical to a beach featured in the insurance company's commercial seen earlier in the film, as the credits roll. | murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | Filmed In Iceland, This Is Intriguing, But Ending Hurts It. This was an intriguing, although not satisfying,, movie and one I still felt was worth my few bucks I paid to rent it.It was filmed in Iceland - one of the few films I've heard of with that locale - but the story in the film takes place somewhere in Midwestern America.
In parts, it almost felt like a documentary, it was so real and atmospheric.However, as much as I enjoyed the movie, and particularly Forest Whitaker with his odd accent, the ending was a big disappointment.
The film had so much promise up until then.Some people say this film had the feel of a Coen Brothers movie, and I agree with that.
The story is compelling with enough twists and turns to keep one interested, but what was really riveting was the fact that the movie wraps up neatly but in a thought provoking way, unlike so much predictable Hollywood fluff nowadays.
It is a thinking person's film and I appreciated that.One other thing I wanted to note on was the tone: dark, bleak, isolated, and barren.
This movie shows what's great about film festivals.
So many movies, and they're not tied down to every Hollywood cliché in the book.The way Little Trip plays out is hard to describe.
Forest Whitaker plays an insurance investigator, a company man.
After a suspicious fatal car accident in Hastings where the identity of the victim was forged, the Quality Life insurance company sends their smart investigator Abe Holt (Forrest Whitaker) to identify the body.
The unique beneficiary of the one million dollars death benefit is the sister of the victim, Isold (Julia Stiles), who lives with her son Thor and her husband Fred (Jeremy Renner) in a poor cabin in the middle of nowhere.
Along the investigation, Abe discloses the truth about the fraud, but feels sorry for Isold and Thor and tries to help them with tragic consequences."Little Trip to Heaven" has a good premise, showing both sides of the insurance policies, with some fraudulent cases of clients and questionable procedures of the companies themselves.
But the characters involved have layers and secrets to them as well.Julia Stiles was ravishing as always, Forest Whitaker very convincing, but I was most drawn in by Jeremy Renner.
Great movie, amazing to see see how they used the countryside of Iceland to display a small town in the USA.
As well as the scenes from the "big city" which where all shot in Reykjavík the capital of Iceland, where they only put American signs on the buildings to turn it all into an American city.The story is really good, all the unexpected twists and turns keep you interested throughout the whole movie.I also have to make a comment on the soundtrack, incredible work by the young Icelandic artist 'Mugison'.
There's something strangely real about the film, from the first-rate acting, to the dark tone, to the deliberate pace...
I think the director's decision to give this film dramatic weight will set it apart from other mystery/thrillers (I feel weird even trying to categorize it).
I love the characters that Forest Whitaker usually portrays in his movies: soft einzelgangers who are balancing on the thin line between good and evil.
It's a modern film noir with an excellent cast, a beautiful soundtrack and atmospheric sequences in the rain or snow.
This somewhat awkward transition to American markets finds Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur a bit over his head with this little mystery.
In effect, A Little Trip to Heaven plays a bit like the watered down, third-rate cousin of the thriller Insomnia (nothing spectacular to begin with), although here most potential intrigue is crushed by the deadening weight of a charisma-lacking direction.
A talented trio of actors do help elevate the often lifeless direction, but the movie does take an even greater toll by employing Forest Whitaker in the misguided lead.
A shame to be coming out on DVD so quickly after his triumphant academy win, Whitaker's questionable Canadian-esqe accent paired with the boring, underdeveloped character he is written here just proves too bland for lead role material.
Co-stars Jeremy Renner and Julia Stiles do offer more inviting performances however.Difficult as the actual lack of energy beaming off the screen may be, the film is not without it's subtle shade of merit.
As well, the script might have seemed a lot more convincing when on paper (which would explain some of the big name interest), offering a humbly ambitious, localized little guessing game centering around insurance fraud.
A great cast does what it can with ludicrous details.The most intriguing aspect of this story is that the audience is constantly in search of a hero or victim, but all of the characters are villains, to varying degrees.The real problem is the basic premise.
Give it a try if you have nothing better to do and like strange plot twists..
i have to say that this was a well acted, very well directed little offering, i would like to have seen more of Peter Coyote as i thought he portrayed the part of the Investigator with relish, and seemed to revel in ensuring people did not receive their full benefits.
the whole feel to the film was dark, brooding and you always felt that things could not get any worse for Mr. Renner & Ms. Stiles, but it did.
Forest Whitaker does a good job and displays a determination to resolve the case that if were true to life, with the income he displayed within his character, i am not sure would be there?i notice a lot of 10/10's for this movie and think this is unwarranted, but having said that this was a worthwhile effort and should be seen..
Good directing and acting, BIG flaws in credibility of the story.
Kept me curious and wanting to know how it ended, but felt disappointed that the story wasnt true to life..
Jeremy Renner plays a white trash criminal with a wife played by Julia Stiles, (known from the Jason Bourne movies as the female agent).
Unfortunately the story falls flat, because of some pretty big credibility flaws, things that just WOULD NOT happen in real life during an insurance investigation.
However the story just lacks coherence and credibility, so however great the acting is, it still falls flat.
With a more credible story this could have been a very suspenseful con movie, but unfortunately now only the directing and acting is left to be praised.
What's good though are the many plot twists and turns that kept me curious about how it would all end.
Funny endnote: the end credits of this icelandic production were rather special because it featured the names of ALL the extras that acted in this movie.
I went to the world premier of this film:D:D...This film was all shot in Iceland...and I think it was the best place for this film..all the dark houses..and creepy background...I'm still thinking about this film how this happened and how this was related to this part...and so on....this film makes you think...and I know that Baltasar Kormákur...thought a lot about this film...and this film worked..also all the music was Icelandic...and did good for the film...the actors where great..forest was the best i think..he did a great job...and Julia...she was the perfect home working girl who didn't want to leave her husband because she was afraid and thought she wouldn't get any better..and you felt sorry for her....and Jeremy....he was great too...and the car accidents where so real...and the sound..and everything you just where like wow!!...I think it's a movie you have to see..and I think you have to see twice..and I'm so gonna see it again....Hope you see it too....
I FULLY agree with many of the other posters here (which I SHOULD have bloody well taken MORE time to read first!!!!!) when they say that the visuals and the VAGUE fundamental mood of the film is good.
Director Baltasar Kormakur leaves Iceland to make an American movie, except he really doesn't, and that's a large part of the problem.
Kormakur actually shot this film in Iceland, and it would take a hyper-credulous viewer to accept these stark landscapes as Minnesota.
The plot is murky; the cast's accents are all over the lot, especially Forest Whitaker's.
All of these elements accumulate into a despairing viewing of existentialism and fate - a character stands in a field and sees everything around him, but each direction he faces is the same dreary and gloomy destination.The acting is also superb from the entire cast, with Whitaker providing a unique accent that adds to the quirkiness of his character.
In addition, I wouldn't say the plot was anything original, but it is involving due to its characters and the sense that there's something more lurking underneath the surface.Those who enjoy character studies and mystery films may enjoy this hybrid of the two genres, which isn't a complete success but is executed in a very effective manner.More contemplative than thrilling, this gets under the skin more than those adrenaline-pumping, yet hollow, thrillers studios are churching out now-a-days.Solid Recommendation..
Julia Stiles does a fairly good job as an abused lifeless mother, and Jeremy Renner does good as the abusive husband.
Forest Whitaker as usual does an excellent job, bringing character and color.
This Icelandic film has a feel of Fargo, but comes up short despite the stars attached.The scenery is bleak and depressing, just like Iceland in the winter.
There are some obvious plot holes, and it seems to drag a bit at times, but the story is fascinating and the characters are favorites.Forest Whitaker (The Great Debaters, The Last King of Scotland) is a claims adjuster and tries to wring the last dime out of his clients, just as his boss (Peter Coyote) does.
Julia Stiles (The Bourne trilogy, The Omen) is supposedly living with her husband and son, and it is her brother that is supposedly dead in the crash (we all know different, but she doesn't), but Whitaker ferrets out the truth.Of course, he falls for her - who wouldn't - and this leads to a strange Coen Brothers ending.It was a nice ride getting there..
This is a character study, so carefully crafted, or should I say sculpted, by Whitaker in his portrayal of Abe Holt, that the end result is a piece of art, not a formula.
Watch the film, and you'll know what I mean, and what Holt's camera shots in that makeshift morgue were really highlighting.
But no one, no one ever, could have brought Art Holt to life like Whitaker.
Overall, this movie is pretty good.
Overall, the movie's very slow for the first hour, but then it gets better within the last 30 minutes.
It also goes into detail about Life Insurance and the claims people will actually go through to protect the bottom line.
"A Little Trip To Heaven" is a well-acted drama.The Plot: Abe Holt (Whitaker) is an insurance investigator who is sent to a small town to find out about a car accident.
He meets Isolde (Stiles) and realizes that the truth could also be a scam.Forest Whitaker is excellent in the role.
Julia Stiles also does a good job, and Peter Coyote, as Holt's boss, is always worth watching.
HEAVEN stars Forest Whitaker as an insurance investigator who smells a rat in the case of a fatal car crash in snowy Minnesota.
In fact, it turns out to be just one in a series of insurance frauds perpetrated by a sister (Julia Styles) and brother (Jeremy Renner of ROAD TRIP).
The movie, directed by an Icelander, has a n extremely bleak feel about it.
Whitaker offers up a very odd, clipped accent and stutter to go with his shambling, raincoat-draped, Colombo-like character.
A little trip to heaven is an odd film, not good though not particularly bad.
It's a film that survives on the merits of an excellent cast and in particular the performance of Forest Whitaker.
Filmed primarily in Iceland with some scenes in Hastings, Minnesota, the mood is dank and dark and cold - and so is the story.We first meet insurance investigator ('adjustor') Abe Holt as he listens to his boss Frank (Peter Coyote) explain to a new widow why she will not receive full death benefits because the insurance company took photos of her husband smoking, the apparent cause of his death.
Almost immediately he is assigned to a new case: an ex-con with a million dollar life insurance policy has apparently been found dead in a car crash burned beyond recognition.
Abe drives to the tiny snowy desolate village where his questions of the townsfolk reveal that the victim was Kelvin Anderson, the brother of Isold (Julia Stiles) who is married to a low life type named Fred (Jeremy Renner), a man who we have seen in flashbacks as the one responsible for arranging the car crash and setting the car on fire.
The actors are superb artists: Forest Whitaker made this film almost simultaneously with his Oscar winning 'The Last King of Scotland' yet here his character is plagued by an affected accent and by the lack of substance that might make us care about his plight; Julia Stiles does her best with the little she is given to do and Jeremy Renner is convincingly menacing without any factors that make us find him worth caring about.
The supporting actors (Joanna Scanlan as a sleazy bartender, Iddo Goldberg and Philip Jackson as the police, Alfred Harmsworth as the 'son' of Isold, and Vladas Bagdonas as the coroner) actually fare better than the leads as far as material available.The strong aspect of the film is the visual imagery, due to the decisions of picture composition by Kormákur and cinematographer Óttar Guðnason and Mugison's musical is apropos for the mood.
One wonders why Whitaker, Stiles, and Renner signed on to this little film.
Having visited there and been totally captured by the stark beauty of the country I was really looking forward to anything that was served up.However I was really disappointed when I found it was for all intents and purposes an American film shot in Iceland.
Julia Stiles character was half way to trailer trash and frankly, she just looked too good throughout.
She's a single mother with a "son" who needs money to survive - let's make sure she gets it even if we have to totally change the lead character's actions to ensure it happens.One thing I will say in its favor is that the car crash stunt towards the end of the film is absolutely fantastic - that really came from nowhere.
Very impressed with the genuine level of danger involved - it looked very hairy to perform.However overall, a disappointing storyline with few engaging characters and a poorly cast lead sinks this film for me..
I saw this film here in Iceland and I just loved it.
The funny thing is that the Motel Isold and "Frank" were staying at in the end of the film used to be a boat shelter...
Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur directs "A Little Trip to Heaven", a noir inspired drama starring Forest Whitaker as Abe Holt, an insurance agent tasked with investigating a mysterious death in small town America.Bizarrely, the film's shot in Iceland but takes place in the United States.
Whitaker sports an unconvincing Minnesotan accent.The film contains a wonderful opening act – very atmospheric - but quickly falls apart.
There's genuine talent on both sides of the camera, but the story is such a mess that they just can't make it work.Forest Whitaker plays an insurance investigator who goes to a small town investigate a seven figure claim involving a life insurance policy.
It's character driven enough that I can see why Whitaker and Julia Stiles would sign on for it.But the story is too muddled for film.
He has a habit of breaking into houses and clinics- possibly being a cat burglar is one of the requirements for working for an insurance company.Logic flies out the window when Stiles and Renner manipulate a huge truck to crash into their car and they and the car goes flying off a cliff into the ocean and they emerge unscathed.There's potential for a strong film out of this material.
It shows the film's makers' dedication to their task by the strong cast they've assembled, including Phyllidia Law in a short but effective scene and Jeremy Renner as Stiles's brother or husband or accomplice or whatever.One thing that was dissatisfying was the fault of The Sundance Channel (I saw this on cable).
Good movie, if you like something a bit different..
This "independent" movie is set somewhere in the USA, but it is filmed in Iceland.
It is about a man who seems to live his life running scams to get insurance money, but this time he runs up against one of the better insurance investigators who tries to minimize payouts.The lead role is played by Forest Whitaker as Abe Holt, who seems very good as the insurance man.
When a man insured for $1Million is found dead and burned in a tragic car wreck, Holt is dispatched to see if there is fraud involved.
Julia Stiles is Isold, the sister, and the young son is Thor.
Holt arranges the policy so that Isold will get $1Million, but when he tried to get the brother to justice, both end up dying in yet another car crash..
Still, I persevered, and am glad I did.It shows the dark side of abuse and what a woman will do to 'save' her child.The plot twists and turns, and is a little difficult to follow at the beginning, but all comes together nicely toward the end, when the insurance agent finds his heart and does the completely unexpected thing.Overall worth watching, the bleakness of the setting becomes a character in itself, as mentioned by a previous reviewer, it's stark and almost frightening at times. |
tt0004635 | The Squaw Man | James Wynnegate (Dustin Farnum) and his cousin, Henry (Monroe Salisbury), are upper class Englishmen and have been made trustees for an orphans’ fund. Henry loses money in a bet at a derby and embezzles money from “the fund” to pay off his debts. When war office officials are informed of the money missing from “the fund," they pursue James, but he successfully escapes to Wyoming. There, James rescues Nat-U-Ritch (Lillian St. Cyr), daughter to the chief of the Utes tribe, from local outlaw Cash Hawkins (William Elmer). Hawkins plans to exact his revenge on James, but has his plans thwarted by Nat-U-Ritch, who fatally shoots him. Later, James gets into an accident in the mountains and needs to be rescued. Nat-U-Ritch tracks him down and carries him back to safety. As she nurses him back to health, they fall in love and later have a child. Meanwhile, during an exploration of the Alps, Henry falls off a cliff. Before he succumbs to his injuries, Henry signs a letter of confession proclaiming James’ innocence in the embezzlement. Before Henry's widow, Lady Diana (Winifred Kingston), and others arrive in Wyoming to tell James about the news, the Sheriff recovers the murder weapon that was used against Cash Hawkins inside of James and Nat-U-Ritch's home. Realizing their son was not safe, the couple sends him away, leaving them both distraught. Facing the possibilities of losing both her son and her freedom, Nat-U-Ritch decides to take her own life instead. The movie ends with both the chief of the Utes tribe and James embracing her body. | murder | train | wikipedia | "Come out west where folks keep their hands in their own pockets".
The Squaw Man may be best remembered as the first picture directed by Cecil B.
DeMille, and the first made in Hollywood, then a convenient wilderness.
It's a rather inglorious debut on both counts, and nowadays is perhaps most interesting as an example of the early western feature.In pioneer westerns of the 20s and 30s the main theme was usually the exploration of the unclaimed west, but in the 1910s the most common set-up was of a civilized easterner heading to an already-settled but still unruly west.
This is the case in Griffith westerns like The Battle of Elderbrush Gulch (1913), as well as later features by DeMille such as The Virginian (1914) and A Romance of the Redwoods (1917).
It's worth bearing in mind that, in this early part of the twentieth century the "old" west would have been a fairly recent memory, and the western was then more a lesson in geography than history.
It's also rather apt given the circumstances of production companies from the east going out west and probably also the reason why they are called westerns and rather than being some sub-genre of the historical feature.While the outsider in westerns of this period was typically a lady or gentleman of New York or some other east coast city, the titular squaw man is an Englishman.
There are a few establishing scenes set in England, with a plot regarding an embezzlement from an orphan's fund that is very reminiscent of Griffith's biograph shorts.
This is not surprising, as Griffith took his themes from the American stage where he began his career, and The Squaw Man is based on a play.
The trouble is, Griffith was a master at making these theatrical stories cinematic, whereas the adaptation of The Squaw Man is rather flat and weak.
The plot takes bizarre, improbable and pointless turns, sometimes getting bogged down in subplot and at other points zipping ahead making the narrative incomprehensible at times.As noted this was Cecil B.
DeMille's debut as director, although this is perhaps misleading.
It was co-directed by Oscar Apfel, who had already made two-dozen shorts for Edison and Pathe.
Accounts of the production state that Apfel handled the technical side of things, whereas DeMille coached the actors.
DeMille may therefore be responsible for some of the fairly decent naturalistic acting on display here, although there are some lapses into appalling pantomime.
There are some DeMille style attempts to photograph the imagination, with double exposures showing the hero dreaming of home, one of which is very effective, with a picture in a magazine morphing into the woman he has left behind.
There also seem to be some experiments with lighting going on with some contrasting brightness and dimness in interiors, perhaps a forerunner of the Rembrandt lighting that would soon become a DeMille trademark.
It is of course very difficult to accurately attribute ideas, although DeMille is also credited as "picturizer" (i.e. screenwriter) and producer.In spite of these meagre marks of quality, as a whole The Squaw Man lacks excitement and real drama.
In comparison DeMille's first feature as solo director, The Virginian, is a far more solid production, and although made only a few months after The Squaw Man it is light years ahead in style..
English cousins Dustin Farnum (as Jim) and Monroe Salisbury (as Henry) are made trustees for an orphans' fund.
Mr. Salisbury has a fondness for betting on the horses, and pilfers money from the fund.
For the sake of family honor, Mr. Farnum accepts responsibility for the missing funds, and sails off to America.
Farnum buys a ranch, befriends the local Indians (Native Americans), and feuds with wicked William Elmer (as Cash Hawkins).
When Salisbury dies, on the Swiss Alps, widow Winifred Kingston (as Diana) wants to bring Farnum home to England, but he's settled in America with Squaw Red Wing (as Nat-u-ritch)
Due to its relatively long length, this is sometimes called the first feature film.
It is also the noted as first feature filmed in Hollywood, California; but, you wouldn't know it - the Farnum ranch looks like Hollywood (check out the background), but the more memorable ship trek and heavy snowfall scenes can't be Hollywood (obviously).
It's the first film by director Cecil B.
DeMille, who shows some promise (in hindsight).There are no great performances; Dustin Farnum was an important stage actor, getting acquainted with film.
I thought Farnum was best and most impressive in the scenes with his "half-breed" son (who looks nothing like his Indian mother).
Billy Elmer was entertaining in what should have been a larger role (Cash Hawkins).
I found "The Squaw Man" confusing - some of the events and relationships are like...
"fill in the blanks".
"fill in the blanks".
The Indian/Englishman relationship was, perhaps, daring for an early film theme (if you can figure out what's going on); and, Ms. Wing was a real Winnebago Indian actress.
****** The Squaw Man (2/15/14) Cecil B.
DeMille, Oscar Apfel ~ Dustin Farnum, Red Wing, William Elmer.
The first Hollywood feature?.
History seems to consider The Squaw Man to be Hollywood's first feature-length film.
However, Custer's Last Fight (Francis Ford, 1912*) runs at just under an hour.
I'd consider that feature-length.
And it was made in Hollywood.
So, I dunno.In any event, this is a really important film, historically, and Cecil B.
DeMille's first feature--and his first film, period.
Supposedly, he hadn't even seen a film until shortly before he made this.
It totally shows.It's kind of a clumsy jumble of scenes taken from a book.
There's no real cinematic logic or flow.
There are lots of scenes of people just standing around talking--which doesn't really work in a silent film, especially without many intertitles.
Characters were hard to tell apart, because they were mostly filmed in long shot.
I found it all somewhat difficult to follow, although I guess I got the gist.Still, some of the individual scenes are interesting.
I suppose the theme of interracial marriage was probably notable for the time (and its outcome predictable).
And the film ws mostly filmed on location, which made it a bit easier to watch.
I don't imagine I'll ever feel a burning desire to see this again, but it was worthwhile seeing once as an historical document.C. B.
DeMille did learn his craft quickly.
By 1915, he was doing vastly better work than this (Carmen, The Cheat).5.5/10 * Although the version I saw was a 1920s reissue, and it's possible it had some footage added, but it seems unlikely, because that almost certainly would have been jarringly obvious..
Dull, Dated, Bleak, but Nonetheless a Must-See Western!.
A western with dull if bleak scenery and costumes that look mighty strange (though doubtless the real items), this is an interesting example of early film-making, but one that will delight mainly critics and historians rather than the general movie fan.The dated, old-hat story is a little difficult to follow at first because the two cousins, James and Henry, are understandably lookalikes, and neither actor has the skills to differentiate himself.
In fact, it's hard to believe that stolid Dustin Farnum had a big stage reputation as he displays little charisma or ability here.
However, he doubtless improved because he made another forty movies before retiring in 1926.
(He married his leading lady here, Winifred Kingston, in 1924).The rest of the players run rings around Farnum in "The Squaw Man".
Red Wing is reasonably effective as the real heroine of the piece, but it's personable Dick LaReno, here making his first of 81 movies, who really impresses as our hero's foremannot the sheriff who is played by either Dick Palace or W.H. Stratton.
And I think that's Art Acord playing the deputy.
It's hard to tell because there are no close-ups.
Each scene is filmed with either a static long shot or medium group shot.
And there is virtually no camera movement apart from a few slight pans..
DeMille Shows No Promise.
This is an adaptation of a stage play--an awful melodrama, which incorporates the Western and flirts with taboo love--adultery and miscegenation.
Apparently, Oscar Apfel was doing poorly at teaching Cecil B.
DeMille how to direct; there's plenty of outside filming, which is supposed to be a benefit of California, yet this movie is remarkably inept in how the framing of outside scenes is as theatrical as the scenes inside.
Of course, it was a commercial success, leading DeMille to remake it twice, and is now a footnote in film history.
Probably of more consequence than it being a feature-length film made in Hollywood, unoriginal reinforcement though it was, is the movie's soap opera histrionics coupled with a Caucasian playing a Native-American.The actors of this movie protrude what their characters would be doing or feeling via gestures, staring at nothing and other magnified histrionics; they're trying to communicate the plot to the audience despite silence and a distanced camera.
There's no realism, subtlety, nor, even, characters.
The directors and actors of "The Squaw Man" blunder further by misunderstanding the silence concept.
Silent films are silent to us, but the fictional world within a silent film is usually not silent.
(Likewise, we still hear the music scores in modern films while the characters in the fictional world don't.) In this film, there are some awkward moments when a character lingers behind unnoticed, or is transparently suspicious-looking, but that happens to be when everyone is looking at something else.
Yet, I suppose they still do that in soap operas.In defence of DeMille, it was his first film, and senior director Apfel surely deserves more blame.
One learns from imitation, and there weren't many worth imitating then.
There was no indication in "The Adventures of Dolly" that Griffith would become the best director in the world.
To see DeMille's potential, watch the subsequent year's "The Cheat".
Its story is also wanting, flirts with adultery and miscegenation and is driven by embezzlement from charity, but, otherwise, the films couldn't be more different..
Interesting Early Silent Feature!.
"The Squaw Man" was one of the first feature length films ever made.
It also has the distinction of being the first film to be directed by the legendary Cecil B.
De Mille.
Many reviewers are divided on this film but one has to place it within the context of its time.The film was made during the film industry's infancy, at a time before there were any "movie stars" or precedents to draw upon.
The players looked more like ordinary people rather than the pretty boy leading men and glamorous ladies that were to follow.
The filming techniques were new and experimentation was the rule of the day.The story of "The Squaw Man" begins in England where Captain James Wynnegate (Dustin Farnum) and Sir Henry Wynnegate (Monroe Salisbury), the Earl of Kerhill have been placed in charge of a fund for military orphans and widows.
James is enamored of Henry's wife, Lady Diana (Winnifred Kingston).
Sir Henry embezzles 10,000 pounds from the fund to pay off his gambling debts.
When the theft is discovered, Lady Mabel Wynnegate (Haidee Fuller) asks James to take one for the team by accepting the blame in order to protect the family name.James decides to go to America.
Arriving in New York, he meets Big Bill (Dick La Reno) whom he saves from a couple of pick pockets.
Big Bill convinces James to come with him to Wyoming.
James takes on a new identity, that of Jim Carston.
He buys a small ranch and settles down.
While looking over the property, he meets Indian Chief Tabywana (Joseph Singleton) and his daughter Nat-U-Rich (Red Wing) who takes a shine to the big Englishman.Jim meets cattle rustler and all round bad guy, Cash Hawkins (Billy Elmer) and a conflict develops.
As Cash is about to gun down Jim, he is shot by Nat-U-Rich unbeknown st to Jim and the sheriff.During the winter, Jim and Big Bill go out into the cold to search for horses that have wandered away.
Jim becomes snow blind and wanders aimlessly around the wilderness.
Nat-U-Rich rescues him and nurses him back to health.
Evidently, she did more than nurse him because she moves in with him.
When she becomes pregnant, Jim marries her.
A son, Hal ("Baby" De Rue) is born and Jim dotes on the boy.Sir Henry dies in a mountain climbing accident in the Alps and confesses to his guilt before expiring.
This proves Jim's innocence and releases Lady Diana to marry Jim. However, she is unaware of Jim's marriage to Nat-U-Rich and goes to Wyoming to find Jim.About the same time Nat-U-Rich is discovered as the murderer of Cash Hawkins.
The sheriff seeks her out, the Indians rise up and then...........................................Oddly enough, the term "squaw man" doesn't even get mentioned in the title cards.
The relationship between Jim and the Indian girl is glossed over, but there is no doubt what is going on.
The film, at least the version I saw, skips lightly over this relationship, leaving the viewer to his own imagination.The costumes were probably more true to the old west more so than later on when they became glamorized with Tom Mix. After all, it was 1914 and the wild west still existed in parts of the country at that time.Still and all this was a landmark film and still holds up well today.
It is a snapshot of the time and deals with some interesting subject matter.
Dustin Farnum had been a stage actor and at a beefy 40 years of age was hardly the dashing hero.
His brother William Farnum was starring in "The Spoilers" the same year.
Dustin would fade from the scene fairly quickly, but William became a major star until an accident slowed him down.
He worked in films until his death in 1953.
Dustin died in 1929.Followed by two re makes in 1918 and 1931, both directed by De Mille..
Enter Mr. DeMille.
The Squaw Man is a film that was probably dated before it even hit the screen in 1914.
Young Cecil B.
DeMille, an average playwright and protégé of David Belasco became interested in the new medium of motion pictures.
He saw film as the path to much quicker success than he would have on Broadway.Buying this Victorian era play The Squaw Man with his partners Jesse L.
Lasky and Sam Goldfish(wyn), DeMille got Broadway star Dustin Farnum interested and wanted to cut him in on the profits as well.
Farnum said no he would just take a straight salary.
What these three would have been giving him is a quarter interest in what eventually became Paramount Pictures.The reason the company went west was to avoid the strong arm tactics of the Edison Corporation which was trying to stamp out independent film makers.
They didn't reach out as far as California.The story is dated, old fashioned and quite frankly racist beyond belief.
Farnum plays a cashiered British army officer who takes the blame for his older brother who was going to inherit an Earldom.
But brother stole the regimental funds.
So Farnum takes the fall in the best British stiff upper lip tradition.
He also leaves behind fiancé Winifred Kingston.Off to the American west goes Farnum where he buys some land and sets up as a rancher.
He also marries an Indian maid played by Red Wing, a real Indian.
After some of the usual western situations involving some bad guys, Farnum finds out the brother is dead and he can come home.
His son will be a future Earl as well, but he can't bring Red Wing into polite society.So he asks and she does give up him and her son, a rather mind boggling situation that today's audiences just wouldn't buy.
They would condemn it and rightly so.
Still those were the attitudes of the times.In DeMille's autobiography he relates that before he left for California he went over to New Jersey where a lot of films were shot back then to get a primer on just how this unfamiliar new medium worked.
After about 20 minutes of watching some action sequences being filmed, he said that if this was all there was to it, he'd make the greatest films ever made.If he didn't do that, DeMille was a visionary and realized the possibilities of motion pictures.
It's for that realization that he's honored today.And this first version of The Squaw Man is a piece of living history..
"First Feature Film".
(Flash Review)This is widely regarded as Hollywood's first ever feature film as it is significantly longer than all the shorts being made at the time.
Bummer it is such a clumsily edited film that is rather hard to follow.
The plot is about an English gentleman who embezzles some money, flees the city to the rural lands and gets into a relationship with an American Indian woman which I imagine was pretty controversial at the time and conflict ensues.
There are some nice scenes in the snowy lands, some horseback riding and a fairly somber finish but either it needed better editing and/or more title cards.
Too many long to medium shots of people talking without words
hard to see their expressions.
It was Cecil B.
DeMille's first film who is a major director during the silent era. |
tt1522262 | The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu | Jeff Philips is working a dead end job at a call center. One day, an old man arrives at his apartment to tell him he is the last descendent of H.P. Lovecraft and must guard a relic to keep it from being reunited; if the pieces of the relic are united while the stars are in alignment, the sunken city of R'lyeh will rise from the sea and the demonic creature Cthulhu will be released upon an unsuspecting world.
Shortly thereafter, squid-like "deep ones" attack and Jeff flees with his friend Charlie, a comic book artist. Cult followers of Cthulhu pursue them to reunite the relic. They find an old high school acquaintance, Paul, and enlist him in their cause. The three flee to the desert to seek Captain Olaf, a sailor who has first-hand experience with the cult. Eventually, the cult members attack them and Paul is taken by the cult, only to later escape and reunite at Olaf's RV. Cthulhu's general, Starspawn, and the deep ones corner them in the captain's RV. In their haste to flee, Jeff and Charlie leave the relic behind, and Starspawn re-assembles it. This causes everyone but Jeff, as the last in the Lovecraft bloodline, excruciating pain. As Cthulhu prepares to escape his undersea prison, Jeff shoots some dynamite, destroying Star Spawn, separating the relic, and saving the world.
Sometime later, we see Charlie doing a comic book signing for his new book based on his and Jeff's adventures. While telling a small disbelieving comic fan that the story is true, Jeff arrives with an ancient map of more artifacts they must safeguard. They quickly leave for the Antarctic and arrive at the Mountains of Madness. | comedy | train | wikipedia | The people who say this isn't based on Lovecraft or the Cthulhu mythos are way off base, and they miss the point of this romp.
While I'm not sure it's bound for cult classic status, the film does have it's moments, and offers a humorous take on the Lovecraftian mythos, including an opening credit sequence that was reminiscent of the 80's cult classic Re-Animator.The basic premise is that the world H.P. Lovecraft envisioned was more fact than fiction, and the reason he could write about the nameless horrors is because of a genetic disposition that allows his bloodline to avoid going absolutely mad when confronted with the evil of the Old Ones.
Some of it felt forced, but it was pretty rare, and there are a couple of stand out performances, especially from Barak Hardley as Paul, a high school friend and Lovecraft nerd who joins them on their quest, and the mysterious Captain Olaf, played by Gregg Lawrence.If you're going to do a creature feature, you need to have some good monster effects, and on this front, the film certainly delivers.
The sucker fish creature which appears in the trailer is most definitely on the silly side, but the spawn that attack a group of camping teenagers work well in delivering some chills.Some of the most enjoyable parts of the movie for me were the animated sequences, including a comic book style recap of the history of the Old Ones coming to Earth during the time of the dinosaurs.
There are some great sequences with the animated Cthulhu fighting dinosaurs, especially notable is the point where he uses a recently decapitated triceratops head as a shield.When making a low budget movie of this nature, it's very often a labour of love for everyone involved, and that love comes across on film.
There were a few points, such as the camping teenagers scene mentioned above, where just knowing when to cut would have made a difference in how things played out.Even with some of the largely technical problems that come with an indie film, The Last Lovecraft is a fun horror-comedy romp with some great moments, and makes for a great popcorn flick.
It manages to evoke notes from other horror-comedy classics while remaining it's own beast, which is something tough to pull off at any budget, when it comes to genre films.At the end of the film, Devin McGinn, who plays Charlie and also wrote and produced the film, took to the stage, along with director Henry Saine, for a Q & A session, and were joined by other cast members.
OK, first off, if you're not into Lovecraft or the Cthulhu Mythos, you won't get all of the references and jokes, but that's not to say you won't have fun with this movie.
Underneath its rough exterior lies a film with plenty of wit and charm, and a "deep" (pun intended) love of all things Lovecraft.The delivery, as said, is a bit rough, but after only a short period I found myself easily forgiving any of the film's minor shortcomings.
No expensive, top-of-the-line special effects, an excess of foul language that probably should have been scaled (ha!) back a bit, and a couple of performances that weren't anything said performers would want to put on their demo reel (read: stiff).Still, those things aside, the story is fun and silly, and maintains a nice balance between the humor and drama, avoiding any awkward or jarring transitional moments between scenes (if nothing else could be said, at least take note of that element, which I found refreshing, as I've seen quite a few "blockbusters" of late that failed at it, unable to decide whether they're action or comedy vehicles).A somewhat imperfect analogy would be to reference the TV series "Chuck." Take any old Lovecraftian Hammer film and drop Chuck & Morgan down in the middle of it as the protagonists and you've got a good idea of what I believe this movie was intended to be.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it completely succeeded, but in the end I think it worked well enough to make the movie enjoyable.Ultimately it's a light-hearted Cthulhu Mythos comic book on film, with nods to geeks, gamers and Lovecraft fans everywhere.
This isn't a perfect movie, at places the acting and writing are a bit weak, but it's obvious that most of these people aren't hardened actors and that most of their effects are on a budget, and with that in mind, it's a damn good presentation.It's not a movie for hardcore Lovecraft fans who'll cry if someone gets their mythos a bit wrong, as the movie(which largely loyal to the concept) isn't particularly about madness and does take its chance to have a bit of fun with the silliness inherent in just about any horror situation.The start's a bit stuttering and not ideal, but by the end of the movie I was genuinely in love with it.Ultimately, if you approach this movie without expecting a big-budget Hollywood execution, but instead a competent indie/student movie, you won't be disappointed..
And Devin McGinn as the sidekick was really a standout - I want to see him in more movies or TV work, especially if he could play a similar character.
So, by the end I was rooting for our unlikely heroes.One more note: there are a couple of reviews here that say this movie has "nothing to do" with the Cthulhu mythos.
I don't know what movie THEY were watching, but as someone who has read literally the entire Lovecraft bibliography, I can say that they spent a lot of time throwing in many, many references, and really made me believe they could have been in a comedy version of Lovecraft's world.
Go into it expecting a VERY low-budget film that's earnestly trying to entertain, and and I don't think you'll be disappointed..
An ancient relic is the key to the rebirth of Great God Cthulhu (which is not in the film), and a group of *keepers* brings the relic to the last heir of Lovecraft who must protect it at all costs.LL is a (very)crappy comedy-slash-horror film, and if you saw Shaun of the Dead and think that these two genres can go well together you'r in for a bad surprise.
Any pretence of this being a horror film expires after the first 10 minutes (with the special effects also going AWOL), and as a comedy is just *not funny*.
Lovecraft sorely deserves more screen time and I would love to see a sequel.The effects were done very well and I was impressed with how scary they actually made the monsters.
The acting was perfect and believable, I am really glad their was no stupid girl to ruin the vibe of the movie with the characters mentioning sex every 5 seconds.
The lamest and laziest trick in the book if you can't be bothered to write intelligent dialogue or develop your characters.I love low-budget films, and labour of love this film may have been, but the heart was definitely the only organ involved in the writing.If you want to see an homage to Lovecraft, check out the beautifully and imaginatively done "The Call of Cthulhu"..
Our main characters are extremely unlikable, the direction seems confused and the editing does nothing but squander what's left of this ultra low budget waste of time.
This is a prime example of the kind of movies that give low budget films a bad rep.
That's a rare thing in movies like this these days and it's nice to see people still making an effort to do that, even if they don't look that good.
I am sure the people making the movie meant well, but come on.As for the acting, well there were both good, bad and mediocre performances throughout the movie.
Kyle Davis (playing Jeff), Devin McGinn (playing Charlie) and Barak Hardley (playing Paul) were actually doing a good enough job, and they were the ones carrying the movie.The effects of the movie, well they were mediocre, but the film guys tried.
"The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu" came off as a half-hearted attempt to make something in the footsteps of the forefather of modern day horror.
Now, I am sure the director meant well enough, but for the hardcore fans of Lovecraft, this is not a movie to associate with his work.
You might be tempted to think it is the bookish type who like Lovecraft's work of suspense and psychological horror.
Not the film making itself as they do have some great camera-work, good FX for the budget and some clever animation bits.
In the vein of Shaun of the Dead, this horror comedy follows three buddies, one the last descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, trying to keep an ancient relic out of the hands of mutant fish people who want to use it to resurrect Cthulu.
Virtually the only thing we know about him is he hates nerdishness and even used to beat them up in high school (note to filmmakers: who the Hell do you think is watching your H.P. Lovecraft-inspired horror movie?).
McGinn has at least some nerdy tendencies (mostly a love for comic books), but he's an annoying little prick with the douchiest haircut this side of Fall Out Boy. These two soon join up with uber-nerd Barak Hardley, a bearded Lovecraft dork who has no friends and lives in his grandmother's basement, and then they constantly tease and bully him.
The fishy people aren't totally awful for such a low-budget film, and there is a decent animated recount of Lovecraft mythology near the beginning.
I love Lovecraft, but this was just a wonderfully silly send up of horror/monster films in general.
It is a total B-movie intended for and made by fans of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu mythos.
looking for blood and gorewell developed charactersa good scriptgood fxdon't have a genuine love for the Cthulhu mythos,then this movie is NOT for you.If you:
dig all things Cthulhucan enjoy a flick of said theme without expecting serious film-making qualitiesenjoy a good laughcan handle a LITTLE bit of blood and gore,then this is DEFINITELY worth a watch.Don't take it too seriously...nobody making the movie did..
This is certainly one of the better Lovecraft inspired movies I've seen.
This is a light-hearted "nerd-based" film about two friends, one of whom is a descendant of the actual H.P. Lovecraft who get wrapped up in a conspiracy about cultists wanting to wake Cthulhu using a magical amulet.
The effects are a mixed bag - not convincing but full on B grade like you'd expect from a low budget film.
Fun comedy horror, maybe a bit too geeky for it's own good..
Professor Lake tracks down Jeff (Kyle Davis) & tells him the full story, many thousands of years ago a huge war broke out between rival alien forces the Cthulhu & the Old Ones for total control of the planet Earth.
Jeff & his comic book loving friend Charlie (Devin McGinn) are given the relic to protect as Cthulhu's mutant creatures go in search of it killing anyone who gets in the way...Co-edited & directed by Henry Saine this light hearted horror comedy borrows huge slices of the Cthulhu mythology from horror author H.P. Lovecraft's work but puts a modern self referential comic book fan geek twist on it, although silly & lightweight The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is quite endearing & likable.
At less than 80 minutes long the film starts off quickly & rarely stops, I would say the script tries to mimic the style of Shaun of the Dead (2004) with plenty of in-jokes, horror film references & homages & geeky character's.
There are some amusing moments in The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu with some very funny dialogue between the quirky character's, from the geek fan-boy Paul to the fish raped Captain Olaf there's plenty of one-liners ^ dry sarcastic wit as the genre & fandom itself are made fun of although it's never in a mean spirited way & has respect for Lovecraft, comics, horror & geek fandom in general.
While the film is good natured & fun the constant horror, fantasy & comic book references do wear a little thin by the end & The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu starts to feel like a collection of small comedy sketches rather than one coherent film.
The plot is alright but isn't that tight & could have used a bit of work, the threat from Cthuluhu isn't really demonstrated& the evil red monster thing is killed too easily at the end.There are some very good special effects in The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu, sure some of the CGI is poor but the practical make-up effects are good with some good monster effects & a bit of gore.
Well shot in full 2:35:1 widescreen The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu looks nice enough & there's a really cool animated insert as Charlie the comic book fan narrates a neat sequence in which the story behind Cthulhu is explained.Probably shot on a low budget the production values are good, the acting is good too with the whole cast looking like they had a lot of fun making this.
Nobody seems to hold back anyway & make the most of the one-liners & material they are given.The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is actually a pretty neat little film, sure it's not a serious film & leans towards laughs more than scares but it has a certain energy & likability.
All the horror film & comic book references are sure to please fans too, just don't expect anything dark & Gothic like Lovecraft originally wrote & you'll enjoy this for what it is..
This descendant is Jeff Philips (Kyle Davis) who works in a boring job in a cubicle in an office with his comic-book geek friend Charlie (Devin McGinn) and wishes there was more to life.When Jeff and Charlie get home to their apartment they find Professor Lake standing there.
He has a map from a comic-book to a Captain Olaf (Gregg Lawrence) who has told stories of his encounters with spawn of Cthulhu, the Deep Ones who live in the ocean.
They come ashore next to a beach party and we see and hear them slaughtering everyone from inside a tent where a woman lies cowering in fear.Jeff, Paul and Charlie have to get to Captain Olaf who lives in the middle of the desert to see if he has any idea how to defeat Starspawn and the Cult of CthulhuA comedy based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft has potential but this was disappointing.
It has a very low-budget so it really has very little in the way of effects though some of it was pretty good for the money spent.
This film is not your style.If however you've read (or read of) any of his works or have played D&D more than 3 times in your life then read on.This movie is crap.
I laughed myself silly watching this.The entire film feels like a bunch of friends got together at a party, and after several rounds of drinks said "Hey!
The previous reviewer must have been picking at popcorn on the floor to have missed that not only is Cthulhu in this film but indeed rips a T-rex in half and uses a triceratops head as a weapon.This movie was written so that anyone could get the gist of some of the works of H.P.L into their heads.
They go on a Nerd-Rage fest of travels across the desert to keep ahead of Deep Ones and Star Spawn in bad costumes.I guess it's a horror comedy that fails to be either scary or funny.
However, uprooted from gloomy New England to sunny southern California, they're totally laughable (a result which LAST LOVECRAFT writer\producer Devin McGinn and "star"\cast-and-crew-caterer Kyle Davis may have been shooting for).
But for people like me who enjoy a little levity mixed with my horror and who can really appreciate the work and sweat and tears that go into low budget independent film making, this one is a winner.
And how many times have you ever looked at the star of a film and said "Boy, that guy really looks more like a caterer?" Well, Kyle Davis not only looks like a caterer, he emotes like one as well.
One day, a guy who looks like a fat Derek Jacobi (Edmund Lupinski) shows up and tells Jeff he's the last descendant of H.P. Lovecraft and must protect an ancient relic that could release the monstrous Cthulu to destroy the world.
Paul sends them searching for a guy named Captain Olaf (Gregg Lawrence) who has experience in fighting Cthulu's monsters and they hold up in an RV in the desert and have to fight off the squid-man Starspawn (Ethan Wilde) to save the Earth.Now, there's some okay comedy mined out of a loser, a geek and a nerd playing the roles of Mankind's saviors and there are some comic booky animation sequences here that are fairly well done.
Like, for example, casting Kyle Davis as the main character.
Why McGinn didn't just make himself the star, I'll never know.The costumes and special effects aren't bad and the action scenes, for filmmakers who don't have a lot of money or expertise to pull them off, are perfectly acceptable.
All of a sudden one of them - a Last Lovecraft Descendant - gets called upon to somehow keep the nefarious Cult of Cthulu from reuniting the two halves of a lost relic that will allow Great Cthulu to rise again from his sunken city and take over the world.The rest of the movie details their floundering attempts to do same whilst surviving all kinds of one-liners, spoofed characters, silly situations - and a fair amount of gore. |
tt0309530 | Down with Love | In early 1960s New York City, Barbara Novak arrives in town at Banner House to present her new work, Down with Love, a book the intent of which is to free women from love, teach them to enjoy sex without commitment, and to replace the need for a man with things such as chocolate. Following her rules would, she believes, help to give women a boost in the workplace and in the world in general.
The men who run Banner House refuse to support the book. The only way Vikki Hiller, Barbara's editor, can find to promote the book is for Barbara to meet Catcher Block – a successful writer for the magazine Know and a notorious "ladies' man, man's man, man about town" – but he avoids her repeatedly by postponing their dates until she gets fed up, insults him, and walks out.
Catcher's boss and best friend, Peter MacMannus, and Vikki take a liking to one another. However, their relationship revolves around Barbara and Catcher, and neither is brave enough to express their feelings for the other. Peter feels overshadowed by Catcher's strong personality, and Vikki wants to see emotional commitment in her lover. She even assumes Peter must be gay due to his perceived lack of interest.
Barbara starts promoting her book with Vikki's help, and things take off when they get Judy Garland to sing the song "Down with Love" as a promotion to the book on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sales skyrocket, as housewives and women around the world buy the book and rebel against their men; Catcher now wants to meet Barbara, but now it is she who rejects him.
It all comes to a boiling point when Barbara appears on a national TV show talking about a chapter from the book – "The Worst Kind of Man" – and cites Catcher Block as the perfect example. Subsequently, Catcher's date rejects him, which infuriates him. Catcher swears revenge on Barbara and to undo the damage (as he sees it) done by her book by writing the "exposé of the Century" - he will prove to the world that, deep down, all women are the same, they all want love and marriage. Including Barbara Novak.
He arranges for a casual meeting at a dry cleaner shop, taking advantage of the fact that Barbara has never met or seen him, and he poses as an astronaut, Major Zip Martin, attentive and polite. Barbara appears to be immediately infatuated with this man who seemingly has no idea who she is, in contrast to men who now avoid her, viewing her as the enemy since the publication of her book.
"Zip" takes her to the most fashionable locations in New York while maintaining considerable sexual tension between them by feigning naivete and a desire to remain chaste until he is "ready" for a physical relationship. But he starts falling for her, and it gets harder to go through with his plan.
When Barbara finds Catcher/Zip at a party he is almost caught out, and decides it is time to take everything to the next level: he tells Barbara that Catcher Block wants to interview him for an exposé on the NASA space program and asks her to accompany him. It is his own apartment, and he sets everything up to record her saying she loves him. But then it is she who reveals the truth: she knew he was really Catcher from the beginning, but she also lied as she is not Barbara Novak but Nancy Brown, once one of Catcher's many secretaries, who fell in love with him while working at Know, but who turned him down when he asked her out because she did not want to be just another one in his long list of romances.
She tells him she did this to be different from all the women he knew, and make him love her. They both realize that Catcher does love her, but as he is proposing, one of his many lovers appears and thanks Barbara for what she has done for womankind. Barbara realizes that she does not want love or him as she has become a real "down with love" girl. Vikki and Peter's relationship also changes when she insults him for helping Catcher. Peter realizes he is indeed like any other man and takes Vikki to Catcher's apartment to take things to the next level.
Days later, Catcher is completely depressed; all his efforts to win Barbara back have failed. Even his exposé is ruined now that Barbara has told her story in her own magazine, Now. Peter is also depressed as his relationship with Vikki is now apparently based only on sex. Catcher realizes he can do something and writes a new exposé "How Falling In Love With Barbara Novak Made Me A New Man". He learns there is an opening at Now and goes for an interview with her. There, he tells her how much she changed him, and it is obvious she wants him but turns him down anyway; he says he wished there could be a middle ground for them "somewhere between a blonde and a brunette", referring to her real persona, where she was a brunette.
As he is leaving her office, he realizes she is not coming after him, but she surprises him on the elevator, showing him a bright red hair style: she has found the middle ground and she wants to be with him. They fly to Vegas to get married, influencing Vikki and Peter, who also decide to get married. Their marriage results in a new book intended to end the battle of the sexes, with the pair ultimately singing "Here's To Love." | revenge | train | wikipedia | The set, costumes, production design and cinematography were also outstanding in this movie, evoking the brashly-coloured, kitsch, fluffy-light ambiance which pervades the early 1960s New York screwball romance movie genre, but the snippy script and slick direction removed this pastiche away from its potential as mere enchanting, screwball fable to a witty, post-feminist send-up of this Hudson/Day romcom genre - and indeed, the battle of the sexes.
Womanizer Catcher Block (Ewan McGregor) is determined to prove her wrong.This is many things--an affectionate remake of those silly Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies; a sweet sendup of them at the same time; a perfect example of 1960s sex comedies with a 2000s twist; a huge barrel of laughs for film buffs with its perfect remake of a 1960s film and an examination of sexual mores and stereotypes of the 1960s.The movie look like a Day/Hudson movie right down to the fashions Zellweger wears, the VERY colorful sets, the obviously painted backdrops from penthouse apartments and the crappy back projection in cars.
The movie even opens with the old Cinemascope logo used in films of that era!The cast is right on target--Zellweger and McGregor give their all to the performances--they wink at the audience all the time...but not TOO much.
After the first few minutes, I began to tire of this homage mentality, but the story quickly sucked me in, thanks in great part to the blissfully neurotic performance of David Hyde Pierce as the friend/boss of Catcher Block (McGregor).
He, coincidentally enough, was the friend/boss to Rock Hudson in "Pillow Talk" from 1959.The chemistry between McGregor and Zellweger heated up the screen in a sweet, old-fashioned way.
That level is cranked up a few notches higher (in that same sweet fashion) than Doris Day or Rock Hudson would have ever dared; a particular example is the priceless "split-screen" telephone conversation between the leads, taken to a level above, below, and to the side-like of any ever seen on screen before.Also of great note is Zellweger's scene that includes the longest bit of unedited exposition I've had the opportunity to see on film (one-shot, no cuts at all).
The next shot of Catch must have mirrored the expression of the entire audience at that particular moment!Anyone planning to see this film might find it amusing to first watch movies like "Pillow Talk" to get a feel for the kind of film that is being emulated here.
Make sure to stick around for the final credits as well.....if you loved McGregor in "Moulin Rouge" and Zellweger in "Chicago", you will adore the vocal stylings of both at the end of this oh-so-cute movie!.
DOWN WITH LOVE, director Peyton Reed's homage/spoof of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson sex comedies of the early 60s, is a delightful bit of fluff in a movie season filled with inferior sequels and overwrought epics.
Dazzling to watch, with Givenchy-inspired costumes (if Daniel Orlandi does not receive an Oscar for his work, his peers should turn in their Designer cards), wonderfully over-the-top sets (EVERYBODY in those 60s films lived in apartments you could land airplanes in), and a 'More 1963 New York than 1963 New York' look (created on the studio back lot, with ample support from CGI), the film would deserve a viewing even if the cast never uttered a line of dialog!Fortunately, the script, by Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake, is wickedly funny, full of the politically incorrect double entendres that were as close as Hollywood could get to actual 'naughtiness', 30 years ago (and, yes, there are more than a few present that WOULD have been censored, even then).
The story, of a woman who writes a best-selling 'self-help' book eschewing the necessity of men for any more than 'casual sex', and the 'Hugh Hefner'-like writer who turns his prodigious charms to work, in the guise of a naive astronaut, to win her love, and thus discredit her theories, would have fit Doris Day and Rock Hudson to a 'T'.
While Renée Zellweger and Ewan McGregor lack their role models' charisma, they have a pleasant chemistry together, and the 'split-screen' phone call scenes between the pair are even racier than the Day/Hudson 60s versions.If the leads seem a bit bland, the supporting cast more than makes up for any shortcomings.
I am so glad that they made this film, for those of us who miss this type of lighthearted, uplifting, classy work of days gone by -- not to mention being able to see Ewan and Renee in some real quality signing and dancing!
It's supposed to be "Pillow Talk", but Renee Zellweger isn't much of a latter-day Doris Day; she isn't cast right, or directed right, and her inflections and expressions are so questionable that when Ewan McGregor kisses and holds her, you have no idea what she's feeling.
"Down with Love,' as everyone has heard by this time, is an attempt to recreate the time period, look and feel of the 1959 Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedy `Pillow Talk' and other 50's-60's romantic comedies like it.
But I have a feeling that the screenwriters, Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake, never actually saw the original, which was a hundred times smarter, funnier and more sophisticated than their uninspired efforts to lampoon it.As the script would have it, women were still unenlightened when Barbara Novak comes to New York to promote her new book `Down with Love,' arguing for sexual equality in the bedroom as well as the boardroom.
Renee Zellweger, with her adorably scrinched-up face and perpetual pout, is Barbara, and Ewan McGregor, while a bit scrawny for the Rock Hudson part, is suave and charming as Catcher.
They are great, and so is the candy-colored decor and the kicky 60's clothes, but the film is a dud, because it never decides what attitude to take toward the material-or even what era it's mocking.While much of the film's plot derives from 1959's `Pillow Talk,' the plot device of Barbara's proto-feminist book is very similar to the 1964 comedy with Natalie Wood, `Sex and the Single Girl.' (Neatly splitting the time difference, `Down with Love' is set in 1962).
Ah, but real sexiness lies in the art of suggestion -- and true sophistication is trusting your audience to get the joke without thinking you have to whack them over the head with it.Few screen pairings were ever as funny and sexy as Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and you really couldn't expect that here, with the script working totally against the performers.
Excellent support is given to the two leads from Sarah Paulson, who does fine, and David Hyde Pierce, whom you might remember from some boring American TV rubbish.The film is a lot of fun throughout, and despite the fact that it's in colour and stars modern day actors; it does manage to capture some of the atmosphere of the screwball classics of the fifties and early sixties.
It was after watching this poor tribute to a bygone era that I made a point of seeing 'Pillow Talk' again after 50 years for this Hudson/Day comedy classic is what was probably uppermost in the mind of the director when he embarked on this project.
For the most part the humour of 'Love' was cringing as were the almost obligatory sexual connotations that every modern attempt at comedy seems to think it must have to be funny.Such references were not necessary in 'Pillow '( nor were they permitted) to obtain a laugh such were the engaging personalities of Day and Hudson.
If the audience new the inside joke from the beginning I believe it would have been funnier throughout the movie as we would know what each character knows but the other doesn't.The sets where generally great (except as noted below) and David Hyde Pierce was a standout as an actor who understands comedic acting and timing, unfortunately Ms. Zellweger and Mr. McGregor (two actors I admire) don't and must rely on good directing, this is where I place the blame on Mr. Reed.
I am a fan of classic movies and I LOVED the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films.
If you long for the feel of those great early 60s romantic comedies, go watch "Pillow Talk" or "Lover Come Back" because "Down With Love" doesn't even come close..
Only now, he's starting to pay for his playboy lifestyle, thanks to Barbara's book, and plots to disprove her ideology by doing the same thing Rock Hudson did to get into Doris Day's bed in Pillow Talk(1959) -- pretending to be someone he isn't.
Since this movie was made, the actor has come out, though that's irrelevant because he can still play a character who claims to be straight.Ewan McGregor does a great job too.
I won't spoil it for you, but let me just say that it is the most hilarious use of a split-screen I have ever seen.The film also stars Renée Zellweger (Chicago) and Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge).
It's both a parody and a love letter to those romantic comedies of the mid-century Hollywood where men and women had clearly defined roles, every background was painted, the cars were driven by madly spinning the wheel from one side to the other even though the road was perfectly straight and every single line was delivered with a suave and cocky grin on one's face.And as far as parodies or even movies in general go, this isn't a bad example.
There's a real contempt for the material, and absolutely no attempt to make the characters anything more than cardboard cutouts.Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor labor to bring life to their thin characters, and whatever charm and humor the film has rests on their hard work.
Renee Zwelleger says "Down with Love" in this 2003 homage to the Rock-Hudson-Doris Day films of the 1960s.
The film, directed by Peyton Reed, also stars Ewan McGregor, Sarah Paulson, David Hyde-Pierce, and Tony Randall."Down with Love" is actually a combination of the Rock/Doris movies and the sex comedies of the '60s, though a little randier in its amusing use of the split screen.The story concerns a best-selling writer Barbara Novak (Zwelleger) who espouses sex for pleasure and not love, and the playboy magazine journalist Catch Blocker (McGregor) who wants to expose her as a fraud.
Placing Ewan McGregor in the Rock Hudson roll was a masterstroke of miscasting, lacking everything that epitomized the suave, macho charm that played so well to the virtue of Doris Day. Virtue that was greatly lacking in the script for Renée Zellweger.
Love many of the late 50s and 60s sex romantic comedies, 'Pillow Talk' being a primary example, and can't get enough of those with Doris Day and Rock Hudson which this film clearly was paying homage to.
It is a satire and celebration of the sex romantic comedies from the late 50s and in particular the 60s, being set in 1962, and mostly does a really good job, capturing the fun, kitsch, charm, froth and affectionate nostalgia of the period and the films with incredibly impressive results.
It was nice to see Tony Randall again, but he really deserved much better than a pointless cameo that gave him nothing to do, he might as well have not been in the film at all.However, 'Down With Love' looks great and replicates the look of the late 50s and 60s perfectly, the glorious Technicolor, the super stylish photography, the colourful sets, the kitschy décor, sumptuous costuming, the CinemaScope logo.
The story isn't perfect, but is mainly fun, charming and captures the spirit of the period and films it's satirising and celebrating perfectly and with clear affection.Renee Zellwegger gives a sprightly and likable lead performance and is well matched by a charming, understated and carefree Ewan McGregor in the other lead role.
Ewan MacGregpr is "Catcher Block", a "ladies man, man's man, man about town" who tries evading Renee Zellweger who plays Barbara Novack (Novick?) a "spinster from Maine" who wrote a book saying that women can enjoy sex just as much as men without the trappings of love.
Ewan McGregor being the weakest link in the otherwise excellent acting - he simply seemed unattractive in a weaselly sort of way.The sets and clothing was a delight and truly deserves more recognition for being a film, like the originals, that you can watch again and again.
You really have to know America, and American pop culture, circa 1962, to get how perfectly brilliant this movie is.If you've watched a few Doris Day / Rock Hudson // Doris Day / Cary Grant // Doris Day / Rod Taylor movies, if you have a sense of how cocky and self confident America was in the early sixties, before the Kennedy assassination and the British invasion and riots, when people could drink Martinis and smoke and be imperialists with joyful impunity, you'll get how expertly and lovingly this film sets up that brief, shining moment.It's not just in the broad strokes that this movie gets it right -- Barbara Novak's apartment, that looks just like a Barbie doll house, or the split screen naughtiness, or the references to Ex-Nazis in NASA, but also in tiny details that you might have overlooked had they done them wrong, or not done them at all -- the rear projection in car scenes, the montage of Broadway show titles as Barbara and Zip go out on the town -- even David Hyde Pearce's drop dead perfect imitation of Tony Randall's line reading style.A bubbly spoof like this could have been brittle, but, miraculously, it has real heart.
DOWN WITH LOVE is a lavish, cleverly-written tribute to the comedies made by Doris Day and Rock Hudson during the late 50's and early 60's, most specifically, a nod to their first outing PILLOW TALK, the film which redefined Doris' career and earned her first and only Oscar nomination.
In this smart lampoon of that movie, Renee Zelwegger shines as Barbara Novak, a small town girl who writes a best selling book and gets involved with a playboy writer named Catcher Block (Ewan MacGregor) who keeps avoiding her until he sees her and then pretends to be someone else to romance her.
To really get the whole "Down With Love" experience, it helps to have actually seen a Rock Hudson/Doris Day film.
This is such a loving homage to the uptight virgin/reformed playboy films of the early 1960s, it's hard not to like it.Renee Zellweger squints and pouts her way through the film as Barbara Novak, a Helen Gurley Brown-style writer who urges women to replace sex with chocolate and by the time they've attained level 3, sex with men is take it or leave it and without the strings-attached love.
The plot twists are typical of the usual sex comedy of the period, even the nearly five-minute soliloquy by Zellweger done in breathy Doris Day style near the end that sums up the whole movie and seems to have been done with no cuts (bravo, Renee!) Tony Randall himself has a cameo as TB, the head of the publishing house for "Down With Love." (It's interesting to note that Randall always had the vaguely homosexual role whereas Hudson played manly in every movie, when in real life Randall was straight and Hudson gay.
The endless barrage of 1960's cinematic clichés, sly asides and insider jokes make this movie hard to watch at points, but McGregor, Zellweger, Hyde Pierce and Paulson are all immensely likable characters.
While the film is clearly modeled after all those Rock Hudson/Doris Day movies, Zellweger is much too Gidgety.
I grew up with films and TV shows of the 50's and 60's, so I have a soft spot for the Rock Hudson/Doris Day sex comedies.
Down with Love spent so much time and money and effort on getting the look of the film right that they neglected the intangibles: the sensibility, the nuance, the underplay, the sexiness, the hinting, the winking and instead used slightly tamer version of Something about Mary concepts which resulted in a movie that couldn't figure out what it wanted to be, late 50s/early 60 sexy romantic comedy or 90s/21st century cruder/lewder adult satire.
Down with Love is overly cute.I am not as taken by the self-conscious referential reverence for the "Pillow Talk" genre as some reviewers and thought that Ewan McGregor was miscast as the romantic male lead.David Hyde Pierce and Sarah Paulson are excellent as the second leads.
"Down with Love" is a spoof of the Doris Day/Rock Hudson films.
In the movie, Ewan McGregor plays Catcher Block, ladies man extraordinaire and hot shot exposé writer for the men's magazine, No. Renée plays a Barbara Novak, an author who pens the feminist manifesto, Down with Love.
Down with Love then delivers an unseen surprise that brings down Catcher's whole philosophy on romance.This flick is a parody of the 1950s romantic-sex comedies made famous by Rock Hudson and Doris Day, and it plays the parody to the hilt complete with ridiculous double entendres and amusingly-corny sight gags.
I am personally not very familiar with the Doris Day/ Rock Hudson sex comedies, but still got a kick out of viewing this movie, mostly due to Renee Zellweger Ewan McGregor's charming personalities.
Substitute Ewan McGregor and Renee Zellweger for Rock Hudson and Doris Day, sprinkle in David Hyde Pierce for Tony Randall and voilà!
I couldn't help but make comparisons to the Doris Day films that Down with Love parodies throughout the movie.
Down With Love is a homage and in a lesser a way, a parody of the Doris Day, Rock Hudson movies of the 60s, with some decidedly modern twists.
Anyway, enough griping, this movie is very funny, also thanks in large part to Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce, and up-lifting, colourful and a heart-felt homage to Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall and the wonderful films of the late 50's and early 60's. |
tt0462359 | Incubus | In a lake at a rock quarry, a young woman named Mandy and her boyfriend, Ray, are swimming. The two spend the night at the lake camping, but are attacked by an unseen figure; Ray is killed, and Mandy is taken to the hospital with a ruptured uterus and serious trauma. As the attack occurs, teenager Tim Galen experiences a recurring nightmare he has in which a woman is tortured by a monstrous figure; his grandmother, Agatha Galen, tries to dissuade him of his suspicions about the premonitory dream. At the hospital, Mandy is treated by Sam Cordell (John Cassavetes), a surgeon and physician in the small community of Galen.
Sam's teenaged daughter, Jenny, is dating Tim, but he disapproves of their relationship. At the hospital, Sheriff Hank Walden (John Ireland) questions Sam about Mandy's injuries, and a nosy local reporter, Laura Kincaid, arrives to question Walden, who forces her to leave. That night at the local library and museum, a librarian named Carolyn Davies is brutally raped and murdered while closing the building. During her autopsy, Sam finds she suffered similar wounds as Mandy, and finds an inexplicable amount of semen in her vagina.
Attempts to question the comatose Mandy about her attacker are futile. Sam shows Laura pictures of his deceased 2nd wife and their amazing resemblance to each other. The following day, local farmer Ernie Barnes and his two daughters are brutally slain at their farmhouse. Tim again is tormented by his vision, and runs into a local movie theater in an attempt to distract himself. While there, a young woman is raped and murdered in the downstairs bathroom of the theater, and the metal stall door is found nearly bent in half. Sheriff Walden and Sam arrive at the crime scene shortly before Laura, who insists she may be able to help the investigation. She confides in Sam that she discovered historical records detailing Satanism and similar crimes occurring throughout the town's history.
Tim confronts Jenny at her home, hysterical, and says he believes his dreams are responsible for the crimes. Sam gets a sample of Tim's semen to compare against that which was found inside the victims, but they do not match. Tim and Agatha meet with Sam, Jenny, Laura, and Sheriff Walden at the library that night, where Laura reads a passage from a book detailing the shapeshifter known as the incubus, which manifests through dreams and can appear in human form. Agatha reveals that Tim's mother had died before his birth and had been accused of witchcraft due to psychic powers she possessed; Agatha claims that the Galen family has a legacy of witch hunters, and that his dreams are a result of this.
Laura and Tim return with Sam and Jenny to their home. As Laura takes Jenny upstairs to go to bed, Sam attempts to induce Tim's dream to prove its connection to the murders. Tim goes into a seizure-like state and runs upstairs into Jenny's room where he tries to attack Laura with a dagger given to him by Agatha, but Sam intervenes and stabs him to death. Laura then approaches Sam, and her face briefly shifts into that of the monstrous incubus; it is revealed that Laura has in fact been the incubus all along, manifesting in female form. As Laura embraces Sam, he looks over her shoulder to see Jenny's dead body lying on her bed, blood pouring out from between her legs. | violence, flashback | train | wikipedia | Nightmare On Elm Street was a well thought-out fully connected movie...Incubus was disjointed at times and Reid's character was empty.
It's a standard premise--people get into an accident in the middle of nowhere, look around, discover something they should have left alone, and murder and mayhem ensure.Done right, you get the likes of Alien or the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.But when the formula is implemented by ten spastic monkeys banging away at some typewriters, the result is Incubus.Make no mistake: There will be a special place in Hell reserved for all who had anything to do with this piece of trash being made.
This movie had not a single redeeming feature about it--bad acting, bad direction, and I could have eaten ten horror scripts, thrown up, and pieced together a script based on how the different chunks of partially digested script landed on the floor, and it *still* would have been more coherent than this.You have been duly warned..
Some of the worst acting and dumb story lines even for an grade Z movie.
I actually checked the rating before watching and thought "well it might not be too bad, some people are liking it".
Jay(Tara Reid)and group of her friends are stranded in a building where they realize that a serial killer is terrorizing them by going into their dreams.Fairly routine plot offers nothing fresh or interesting.The acting is hysterical with the token black guy being the worst.Admittedly the location sets in Romania are mildly eerie and there is a bit of gore and suspense in the climax,but I was bored whilst watching this film.Of course I didn't expect nail-biting suspense or tons of splatter,I just wanted to be entertained and "Incubus" failed to do this.Just another quickly forgettable horror film recommended only for some rabid fans of low-budget crap..
I tried to give Tara the benefit of the doubt since I had recently watched Devil's Pond and found it mildly enjoyable but this is just the worst film I have tried to watch in a long time.
The movie description makes you think you will see a nice Nightmare on Elm Street homage or something along those lines but trust me, you wont.
"Incubus" starring the always lovely Tara Reid, is a direct to internet, direct to DVD horror flick.
There are some good scares and some heavy gore, but when they finally go off on the killer the film collapses.Supposedly the Sleeper has been held in stasis for five years, still once loose he jumps around like super-fly and takes people out~!
In a film with a plot like "Nightmare on Elm Street" I expected some good fantasy/dream sequences.
There is a nice final twist, which I won't give away, but its not quite enough to make up for about an hour of sludge."Incubus"-the title is explained fairly well- isn't the most horrible thing I've seen, but it could have been a whole lot better.
Story line is just awful, it feels like the director heard some stuff about astral traveling then some stuff about incubus and thought that he will have super storyline, he was wrong..
Anyway, I strongly suggest to not to watch this movie, I feel that I have wasted my time big time.
I had a hard time, though, getting past Tara Reid's constant look of pain, or of having something stuck up her butt for the entire movie.
as for the title if you take your time to look the word incubus up you will notice it hardly relates to the film and is a bit misleading!
as for the anting expected better with someone like tara reid in the film!i would not recommend this movie it drags on and is boring!
Bad movies like "Trick or Treat", "When a Stranger Calls" , "Fair Game", "Stay Alive" should all be considered Oscar winners compared to this disaster.
...why did you go down the dark tunnel into the creepy, weird place that looks like an old insane asylum that even the police don't go, then this is the film for you.
It's crap and whoever made it should be banned from ever making a movie again.....and Tara and the cast should be required to attend acting lessons.
After a car accident in the mountains of Montana, six friends Jay-Jay (Tara Reid), her brother Josh (Russell Carter), Bug (Akemnji Ndifernyan), Holly (Alice O'Connell), Peter (Christian Brassington) and Karen (Monica Dean) decide to find a shelter to protect themselves against the cold night.
I do not know what is happening with Tara Reid, but since the last "American Pie" franchise, this former sexy and witty actress seems to be aged a lot, being completely unrecognizable.
After crashing their truck, friends decide to go look for help and come across a deserted house in the woods where they realize a series of medical experiments were conducted on a condemned serial killer that starts to affect their minds like him and must try to get out alive.This here actually wasn't all that bad and had some good parts to it.
INCUBUS is an entirely sub-standard horror film set in some kind of abandoned scientific research institute deep in the woods (which still has electricity, of course).
The acting is quite poor, particularly from the single-expressioned Tara Reid, although I have to admit that Akemnji Ndifernyan does his best with the role he's given and at least he doesn't die first.
It wasn't worth the wait.The plot: Jay (Reid) and her group of friends are stranded in a building where they realize that someone or something is terrorizing them by going into their dreams.
This movie started out like many other movies in this genre do; a group of students go to a big, creepy haunted place for some type of experiment, and wind up crossing paths with a deranged psychopath who resides there.
If you like films that are not big-budget Hollywood predictable fare, than you will enjoy this gem of a horror flick.
This movie is so scary, i loved it, and i am counting down the days until February 6 2007 (Unrated DVD) because i cannot wait to add the DVD to my horror collection, and i recommend everyone does the same!
Tara Reid, is very good in this (better than devils pond), the acting is passable and the plot is very good, it IS reverse Nightmare On Elm Street....So Horror Fans, And Nightmare On Elm Street Fans, I Recommend this movie to you guys...you guys will love it, it's awesome!
My friend said she will never watch this movie again, because she got nightmares for over a week...because of the sleeper.
Tara Reid and some of her friends seek shelter for the night in an old laboratory, only to become accidentally trapped inside.
When Tara Reid is the only recognizable name in a cast and is listed as a movie's star, watch out.
The other cast, i was very surprised, how well they acted, if you like gory films, this is very gory!
i am very Happy that i decided to download this movie, because if i would have known it was this good, i would have thrown a Halloween party, i can't wait until the DVD comes out, because I'm gonna buy it, and plus February 6 is my girlfriends b-day so we will order a pizza call up a bunch of friends, pop the DVD in the TV, i know they will love it!
First, I would like to emphasize that I'm actually a fairly easy guy to please when it comes to movies.
I notice that a few movies on IMDb with bad ratings make me feel that watching them wasn't a complete waste of time.
So keep that in mind.Now with that said, Incubus happens to be the worst movie I've ever watched in my life, so far.
What is truly abysmal about this movie is the script...it cannot be described by anything other than abysmal, and to give you examples: characters talking about 'dark' and 'darkness' when the whole place is obviously very well lit (I appreciate this could be a lighting problem, but if for a technical reason the lighting couldn't be sorted, someone should have changed the script accordingly to fit the budget / circumstances / status quo), a character shouting in fear 'Please don't hurt me...stay away from me!' then immediately killing himself with a tool he could've used to defend himself for instance, and countless instances of events that don't make sense and comments & exclamations that literally make you go like, 'Where did THAT come from?' or 'What does this have to do with what you just said?' After script taking the icing of the cake, I can easily say directing was bad.
Finally, acting was also corny & bad no less than 80% of the time, save for the 2 cast members with the smallest roles and perhaps the black guy.
But I'm sure the script & directing had major roles in producing such awful performance.I picked this movie only because I was interested in seeing the work of a specific cast member, nothing more.
But it bordered on painful to try & keep watching the movie to the end so I don't miss any scenes where that cast member appears.The idea behind the movie or the main plot of the story is perhaps the only element of the movie that is more positive than negative.
And you can know the main idea from reading the summary anyway.Avoid wasting your time on this movie unless you have a similar 'research' interest..
A Bit Too Much For Me. I like pg-13 horror movies (the fog, when a stranger calls etc.) i thought i would give this a chance, since it was getting good reviews, but i should have listened, they were right!
after all, horror fans seem to really enjoy it, but i can't take that kind of stuff, if you can you might really like it, if you are like me, you won't like it trust me, the movie was alright, this is why i gave it a 4:1) The acting - Better than usual direct to DVD films 2) Scary - If you want to get scared, this is your movie 3) Good Story - Good plot reminded me of Nightmare On Elm Street 4) Tara Reid - Im Just Very Pleased4/10.
i Don't really know who Tara Reid is though because most of her films all goes to DVD, but i am really interested in her new scary movie, the Canaan one, sounds interesting.
Anyways ya incubus, is very good, but i could have sworn that when i saw this at the movies it was called 'Heart Stopper' anyone know why?
Tara was good in this, and ya this was 100000000000000000000000000 times better than alone in the dark, if this movie had a better cast (with the exception of Tara) and it went theatrical and it had a better director like glen Morgan or James Wong, this flick could have actually been really good.
other than that it was good and if you want a good horror movie that will scare you, then i recommend it.
now, i can't say it was amazing, because, well, it wasn't.i cannot give it more than a 6/10 because i did have a few problems.1) The Acting EXCEPT Tara Reid (Awesome) I Did Not Know Anyone In This Film Other Than Tara!
I have a feeling it would have done excellent in theaters, but film company's these days, they let crap through (The Fog, When A Stranger Calls, Stay Alive, Alone In The Dark.) But Leave Good Movies Out!
but this is not the movie's fault.It was a pretty good flick, but don't watch it alone, you will sh*t your pants...I'm serious.
watch it with lots of friends.I hope You enjoy the movie!
6/10 = "The BEST Tara Reid movie yet!".
Basically from the very first minutes on you know this is not going to be a very good movie.
After seeing such a thing you know you are in for a bad and cheap genre ride.I just don't get this movie.
In fact, it even makes the movie unintentionally funny and clumsily to watch at times.
Some real ridicules stuff in this movie, that's not even really worth watching for the genre fans.No, you also shouldn't go see this movie and expect at least some good or original killings from it.
Tara Reid is one of the worst actresses I've ever witnessed, the script is so thin it's not even funny and the only character you'll have any kind of sympathy for is the "insane psycho murderer".
Jay: Opening The Door...They don't get any better.I don't recall seeing Tara Reid in another movie.
I usually love watching bad horror movies.
The only thing that will help me now is telling Holly about my out of body experiences as a kid, which has nothing to do with the plot, other than a cheap attempt to explain what could be happening." Jay is a medical student?
Tara Reid in another of her "Awesome" movies..
Awful is probably the best word to describe the entire movie, seriously, i haven't seen something this bad and hilarious ( in a bad way) in months.All right, the fun moments, like Tara Reid's acting.
There are so many other plot holes like these.Probably the best-of-the-worst scene is in a flashback, where we can check a little more of the killer's life.
There's even one character that disappears in the beginning and appears again in the end just to deliver the worst line in the whole film.So..i must say that Tara Reid is the best thing about this, now you can imagine how the rest is like..
Most of the reasons were covered here already.Campers lost on a single road in a place with so few roads that a globe should have been enough to help them find their way...Campers afraid to camp outside in the summer on a perfect day......A severe roll over accident in a van should have left someone with at least a scratch on them......And how they came to the conclusion that the factory was long ago abandoned when it obviously had working electricity....And they fact that they did not feel that there was an immediate risk of death when the bodies they found were obviously recently killed....And since there was at least one medical student in the mix, one should have noticed the bodies could not have been dead for more than six hours based upon the way they looked...Even Tara Reid looked a bit, well...
I usually like most horror films, even if they are bad, but it's usually because there is some redeeming value to it.
Genuine scares, good plot line, etc.Sad to say, Incubus has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING valuable about it.So the film starts with some odd fight between two scientists in some run-down bunker.
Now at this point in the film, you ask yourself why these people are so intent on getting inside the building, I guess it was supposed to be really cold outside and they needed shelter...despite the fact that it looked like it was the middle of summer and they all had camping equipment.
Tara then talks about how the government (CIA, NSA, DIA, etc) were all conducting experiments but those were shut down in 1995 but for some reason this one continued...deep in the Montana woods where lost campers could stumble upon a super-secret operation....hmmmSo anyway, Tara figures out that the serial killer is getting into people's bodies when they sleep and this is where the movie gets its name.
But I guess it sounded cool and they needed something to make people want to watch this film.
And we all know what happens next, he comes alive and with only Tara Reid left, there's a chase scene and she outsmarts him and then kills him by making him fall down the air shaft and then she strangles him.
We find that the girl who left in the beginning apparently found the police and of course the last scene, we see Tara Reid with the killer eyes....The film leaves you with a profound sense of...regret.
Bad acting, horrible dialog, a plot line that makes no sense and so many holes that it's almost like this was written by a budding drama student in about an hour.
Not even Tara Reid's ultra-tight shirt can save this film.
They get in to get help...but find dead bloody bodies and something stalking them...The reviews for this have ranged from some saying this is one of the worst movies ever made to others who love it.
It's not good but it's hardly the worst horror movie ever.
On the plus side it's pretty well-made, the acting actually isn't bad (top billed Tara Reid is good), the cast are all attractive (especially Russell Carter as Josh) and there's some explicit bloody gore.
For the record there's no nudity in this one at all.So--all in all--a pretty good horror film with some decent gore and a capable cast.
A wreck leaves a group of adults, led by Tara Reid, stranded in the middle of the Montana Mountains.
Reid as your lead ought to dissuade more cautious viewers who might not wish to waste their time on this film.
Not a terrible film, but still a waste of time..
NONE of this makes sense.I never expected this movie to be any good, especially after watching one episode of Tara Reid's show about being a drunken strumpet a LONG time ago.
I can not rehash the wasted time that was spent.I really do not understand the lustful sequence at the end, after "Jay" kills the "Sleeper".
Otherwise, this title makes no sense as well as the characters' description of the "Sleeper" as being an "Incubus".People really aren't that stupid, or are they?
Try to build a movie around Tara Reid and what do you get? |
tt1533435 | Miranda | Frank (Simm), a librarian in the United Kingdom, falls in love with a mysterious American dancer named Miranda (Ricci). Frank appears naive, but his character is a complex as Miranda's. Graphic scenes of sex and seduction illustrate Frank's fantasy and unrealistic love for Miranda. She suddenly disappears, and he tracks her down in London, finding out that she is actually a con artist. He leaves her, returning to Northern England.
Miranda and her boss (Hurt), who not so secretly "loves" her, are in business selling buildings that they don't own to unwitting customers. These buildings are really being prepared for demolition. In one scene in which Miranda was negotiating the sale of a warehouse with Nailor (MacLachlan), Nailor saw men putting down cable around the building. He asked Miranda what were they doing and she replied that they were putting in cable TV when,in fact, they were preparing the warehouse for demolition. After making a big score, by successfully conning Nailor to buy the warehouse, her boss leaves her, and Nailor seeks revenge against Miranda.
Frank realizes that he should not have left her, and returns to London, with a very quirky friend who was instrumental in saving Miranda from a knife wielding Nailor. While Frank’s friend distracted Nailor with fancy jiu jitsu manoeuvres, Frank slams a table over Nailor’s head. The film ends in comic relief with Frank and Miranda living the good life off Miranda's ill begotten funds. | comedy | train | wikipedia | When I watched on Catch Up, I just fell in love with Miranda & her world of insanity.
I'd heard a version of it on the radio - I'm not sure which came first in the order of things - but that was mildly amusing, although a lot of Miranda's comedy is visual, and when I heard a repeat of the radio version after seeing the TV show, I could see the problems they were up against.
Any flaws I found in the TV series - we armchair critics have to look for flaws in new things - were cancelled out by the fact that I felt better after each episode I watched.
All of the characters are attractive and likable - and despite Miranda's self-deprecating gags about being often mistaken for a man, she's a very feminine, and extremely good-looking lady.
Her device of engaging directly with her home-viewing audience, via the camera, works well, and adds to her personal appeal.The comedy chemistry in the scenes with her diminutive friend, Stevie, played by the also extremely good-looking and funny Sarah Hadland, creates some of the best laughs in the show.Here's a thought: The last series I watched starring Patricia Hodge, who brilliantly plays Miranda's scatty mum in this, was called The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, from about 1985 (not to be confused with the later Hollywood version).
Maybe I'm wrong to feel good about that, but, like Miranda's confidences to us, it tickles me to death.More, please.
Patricia Hodge is funny and irreverent as Miranda's mother, who tries to marry her off at every turn.
This first rate slapstick comedy from the delightful Ms Hart now into its' second season.
The joy of watching this is that everyone is a likable character even when they are not really supposed to be.The 'round ups' at the end of each episode where everyone comes together to wave goodbye to the audience are a real treat.If you are like me and find women simply 'un-funny' (which they are - especially when they are trying to be funny) then put those naughty misgivings aside and watch this show.The general premise of the show is the 'on again, off again' flirtation between Miranda and the chef who works next door and the insane competitions between Miranda and her mental joke shop manager.The cast of character actors are truly gifted and add great support to the madcap merriment of each episode.The best new British TV comedy to hit the small screen in years..
This show always makes me belly laugh and not just once in half an hour like most comedies nowadays.
I know its extremely silly stuff, but its got a certain charm that warms my heart and soul with every single episode.My boyfriend hated this show when it first aired, but I recently made him sit and watch the Christmas special with me and hasn't looked back, even secretly purchasing the entire 3 series on itunes and 'coming out' saying he loves it now!
:) Please say there is series 4, we need more to brighten up our lives, and I could really do with something to laugh at after a bad day at work!
She's so funny and I love the way she looks into the camera and comments.
A lot of comedies nowadays are terrible, not remotely funny - this, on the other hand, is full of laughs.
The fact that Miranda can laugh at herself is one of the best things about it.
In a day and age where we find shows exploiting people drinking copious amounts of alcohol and hooking up entertaining, Miranda Hart's show is a true breath of fresh air.
It is a good laugh that makes you happy long after the show ends.
The children will love the physical comedy, young adults can relate to the themes, and baby boomers will enjoy the return to the clean sitcom.
A Real Gem. Miranda is a stunner, not in the physical sense, but in her comedy show.
I love watching Miranda!.
English is my second language but Miranda always makes me laugh.
This programme shows that single women can have fun and enjoy their lives and be independent; the black humour is sometimes cruel (just like in real-life) but also very funny.
Miranda is very well-paced, it often feels shorter than it really is because it is so funny and I am having such a good time watching it.
'Miranda' manages to succeed with an 'in-your-face' approach where the main lead constantly address her audience and where most of the humor is seen coming miles ahead.
Absolutely love the somewhat relatable content especially being a 30 something singleton myself Miranda cracks me up!
The writing is clearly bad from the start, it seems Miranda Hart realised her situation 'comedy' would lack laugh(s), and so decided to set it in a joke shop, so at least if her Pulitzer Prize winning plot falls short, she still has a bunch of kooky objects to fall over and then look into the camera, implying that she isn't the stupid one.
I'm still waiting for the episode where Miranda gets carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty inflatable hammer, survives, but then falls out of her hospital bed and smacks her head on a rotted banana skin that someone left on the floor.
A distinct lack of original ideas ruins some good performances by well worn comedy stalwarts, not including Miranda herself, who's hackneyed mugging would be better suited to children's television show, except they are possibly too sophisticated an audience.
I realise that the idea of women being genuinely funny is not one that the male dominated media feel comfortable with, but do we really need to have this comedy of embarrassment inflicted on the viewing public?
It might have worked with an audience in Some Mother's do 'ave 'em in the 1970s, but please tell me that the 80s alternative comedy has achieved something and that this current series will be Miranda's last.
The characters of Miranda, Gary & Stevie are as real as they come.
A lot of comedy shows today are done with so much underlying meaning that they are no longer funny.
However, Miranda Hart's writing in making fun of herself is done so real to life, there is no offense to anyone.
More people in Hollywood need to take a good look at the shows coming to us from England to discover why more people prefer to watch their programs than those on local television & cable in the USA..
What can I say, every time I'm watching this I can't help but laugh at every single joke.
Mirandas style is beautifully done, you feel as if you know her personally as she makes fun of her insecurities and expressions true emotions to the screen in a hilarious light!
I get excited to watch each episode, I feel like I'm catching up with my friends after a long week for a laugh.
The cast is amazing, everyone gives their own aspect to the show and I especially love Miranda and Stevies ridiculous antics!
I found myself NOT laughing to the same jokes in every other formulaic 'comedy'.
But if you're hoping to be challenged and entertained then i'd stay well clear.It looks like the days where BBC2 was the home of UK comedy are long gone.1 out of 10.
Title :- Miranda - funny, eh!.Dear UK TV Gold,You do so many things that I watch over here in Ireland.
My Family (is on as I write this), Not Going Out, Porridge, Open All Hours, Last of the Summer Wine to name but a few.However, as I navigated here, I even see you are advertising a New Series of Miranda.I have no idea who is making the decision to air this, but if there's any voting being allowed please count me as a very definite negative.I cannot see the humour in probably a not particularly graceful mover at the best of times constantly tripping over things, falling down unexpectedly, and even falling into holes that open in the ground.
And if I want pure slapstick I'll dig out a copy of The Plank.And the less said about farting (unexpectedly too, I hope) the better.She did have some reasonably funny lines in the early episodes of Not Going Out, but she seemed to be under strict control.
I never get tired of watching this show - excellent cast, brilliantly funny satire of modern society, dating, friendships, romance and family.
Miranda isn't afraid to be herself, despite all the best efforts of her Mother and friends she just is.
For some the mix of slapstick and good old fashioned nature means it's a surefire hit for all the family while for others it's all a bit silly and dated.However the very fact that the show can be watched by such a wide range of age groups must be commended as there aren't many shows that fit that bracket.For the most part each episode has some good laughs in it and as long as you know that at some point Miranda will fall over you're prepared to allow things to get a little silly.
Sadly some episodes rely on slapstick a little too much and it isn't the most consistent of comedies but for sheer entertainment I don't think there is any other sitcom that holds a candle to Miranda at the moment..
People who find Miranda funny are easily pleased, the BBC has lost the plot with its comedy output..
Miranda is a stunner, not in the physical sense, but in her comedy show.
When you laugh from the first episode you know it must be good.
This is Brit comedy at its very best with knowing looks to camera, witty dialogue and slapstick.
This is Brit comedy at its very best with knowing looks to camera, witty dialogue and slapstick.
I can't watch an episode of this without having a really good laugh (which is murder on my hernia I can tell you!).
I can't watch an episode of this without having a really good laugh (which is murder on my hernia I can tell you!).
Then I watched more and it just got better and better and I ended up loving it!!
I think the more you watch the more you fall in love with Miranda's character.
It is not funny in a offensive or disgusting way like many comedies these days.
The bit that makes it funny is the fact that many shows make the actors pretend the camera isn't there, but Miranda actually talks to the camera like you are actually standing next to her.
It isn't all based around her trying to find a man, yes some of it is, but it highlights all the silly things her and single friends do in secret like e.g. the game where is Miranda?
Miranda isn't the typical type of women you see on television , she is different looking, but the show takes that and runs with it, and mocks her size and flaws through out,so it is even funnier.
However, Miranda has many love interests even though she isn't perfect looking because of her unusual personality.
If there was more shows like Miranda, the world would be a better place.
Miranda is genuinely one of the least funny things I have ever seen.
As this is a comedy, surely the most important thing is that it's funny, right?
You know the type I mean right?Please stay clear of this unless you enjoy the same extremely bland joke repeated in every episode..
This BBC sitcom stars Miranda Hart as an upper-middle-class woman who works in a joke shop that she owns.
Sub par acting, kids TV style jokes, weak script and 1D characters.The show was basically dead after season one and I'm not sure why it ever got renewed for a 2nd season.This is the lowest form of comedy and it shows..
a great series with excellent gags this show makes you laugh what ever mood your in .
she grabs your attention at the beginning of the series and makes you laugh all the way through the comedy roller coaster that is Miranda.
a great show for anyone who has a good sense of humor.if you like this you will almost definitely like Miranda series two which is out on DVD November 7th 2011 .and with series 3 on the way in 2013 a must see comedy event of the year.
Miranda Hart is amazing with her slapstick comedy.Not only is Miranda full of laughs but there is a great story line too, the relationship between Miranda and Gary (Tom Ellis) is brilliant, so glad she finally tells him than she loves in the fifth episode of the third series because their other attempts at relationships, Gary with Rose and Miranda with the reporter were so not right.The conversations between Miranda and her mother (Patricia Hodge) are full of laughs, 'Such Fun!'.Watching Miranda is one of th highlights of my week and never fails to bring a smile to my face even when i am feeling really down.I love this show so much have bought series 1 and 2 on DVD.
I know that in the last few years the BBC have struggled to keep a sitcom with a great star or two going for more than one series, Lee Evans in So What Now?
Basically the show is from the point of view of Miranda (three-time British Comedy Award winning, twice BAFTA nominated Miranda Hart), a six foot one tall woman, sometimes mistaken for a man, who owns and works in a joke shop with co-worker and childhood friend Stevie Sutton (Sarah Hadland), she is a constant disappointment to her mother Penny (Patricia Hodge) who wants to her to have a proper job and a husband.
Also starring Katy Wix as Fanny, Smack the Pony's Sally Phillips as Till, James Doherty as Policeman, Josie D'Arby as Bridal Shop Assistant, Peter Davison as Mr. Clayton, The Office's Ewen MacIntosh as Taxi Driver, and Come Dine with Me's Dave Lamb as Colin, Mel Giedroyc as Life Coach, Kerry Godliman as Michelle, Four Weddings and a Funeral's Anna Chancellor as Helena, Green Wing's Mark Heap as Anthony, Shirley Valentine's Tom Conti as Charles and Steve Speirs as Ray. The series is semi-autobiographical about Miranda Hart herself who of course does most of the writing; it is described, agreeably, as an old-fashioned sitcom, but there is the element of the character speaking to the audience directly, kind of like Alfie, it is a comedy that everyone can enjoy, the dialogue jokes are amusing, the constant falling over gags always work, Stevie doing her Heather Small impression always gets a smile, the other cast members all get their laughs in their own ways, and Miranda obviously establishes herself as the star and character that you can empathise with, it is a good fun likable series.
Miss Hart is adept at physical comedy and unless you are particularly ill - disposed towards seeing her fall over several times an episode you will find her very endearing.
Broad comedy getting laughs.
Here the characters are broad types and caricatures and Miranda Hart leads the pack as the overly large award woman looking for love.
Patricia Hodge is the pushy mother, and Tom Ellis is the hunky object of Miranda's affection.
Hart uses a lot of physical comedy and she breaks proscenium by frequently talking directly to the audience.
I quite literally fell about laughing the first time I watched this lovely show.
Miranda Hart delivers unashamedly hilarious comedy (often at her own expense, which I think is very commendable!) and whilst the humour is often over-the-top and outrageous, it is almost impossible that it won't put a smile on your face.
I really like the cast of this show, they all seem to have great chemistry together and I especially love Patricia Hodge in the hilarious role of Miranda's ever-disappointed and ever-pushy mother.
The story lines and running jokes are all done really well, and keep me coming back to view all the episodes again and again.The reason why I haven't given Miranda a 9 or 10 is because I felt that into the third series, the show became a little formulaic and predictable.
Whilst still very amusing, I found myself almost speaking the lines along with the characters, and frankly I am beginning to find Miranda's long and ever-fruitless search for love just a little bit trying....Other than this tiny criticism, I still find Miranda to be one of the funniest comedy series of the past few years, and give the wonderful cast a big thumbs up!.
I'm not really sure why reviewers here cite this amazingly funny comedy as lacking in originality.
In several shows I find myself rewinding the action to watch a particularly funny bit over again.
Miranda is one of the best programs i have ever seen.
sorry about the spoiler.Miranda is a really good programe to watch if your haven't already seen it.
it is a good thing for the family to watch.
Miranda hart is amazing at getting more and more comedy in every episode.
Miranda hart is an amazing actress and really makes Miranda come to life.
as i said before it is the best TV show i have ever seen.i want to meet Miranda hart and congratulate her on the best TV show ever.
Miranda is a funny, heartwarming comedy which makes every member of my family laugh.
Miranda Hart makes it funny by adding realistic situations that everyone has been in, like the sweep browse and tripping and then pretending nothing ever happened.
Miranda is a hilarious show and if people think it's silly, it is, but in a funny, entertaining way.
How Miranda developed the characters for the actors to be so unique and inspiring I don't know.--------------------------------------------> This show is Such Fun!.
I did watch it for the comedy in the first place. |
tt0230534 | Les misérables | === Volume I – Fantine ===
The story begins in 1815 in Digne, as the peasant Jean Valjean, just released from 19 years' imprisonment in the Bagne of Toulon—five for stealing bread for his starving sister and her family and fourteen more for numerous escape attempts—is turned away by innkeepers because his yellow passport marks him as a former convict. He sleeps on the street, angry and bitter.
Digne's benevolent Bishop Myriel gives him shelter. At night, Valjean runs off with Myriel's silverware. When the police capture Valjean, Myriel pretends that he has given the silverware to Valjean and presses him to take two silver candlesticks as well, as if he had forgotten to take them. The police accept his explanation and leave. Myriel tells Valjean that his life has been spared for God, and that he should use money from the silver candlesticks to make an honest man of himself.
Valjean broods over Myriel's words. When opportunity presents itself, purely out of habit, he steals a 40-sous coin from 12-year-old Petit Gervais and chases the boy away. He quickly repents and searches the city in panic for Gervais. At the same time, his theft is reported to the authorities. Valjean hides as they search for him, because if apprehended he will be returned to the galleys for life as a repeat offender.
Six years pass and Valjean, using the alias Monsieur Madeleine, has become a wealthy factory owner and is appointed mayor of a town identified only as M____-sur-M__ (i.e., Montreuil-sur-Mer). Walking down the street, he sees a man named Fauchelevent pinned under the wheels of a cart. When no one volunteers to lift the cart, even for pay, he decides to rescue Fauchelevent himself. He crawls underneath the cart, manages to lift it, and frees him. The town's police inspector, Inspector Javert, who was an adjutant guard at the Bagne of Toulon during Valjean's incarceration, becomes suspicious of the mayor after witnessing this remarkable feat of strength. He has known only one other man, a convict named Jean Valjean, who could accomplish it.
Years earlier in Paris, a grisette named Fantine was very much in love with Félix Tholomyès. His friends, Listolier, Fameuil, and Blachevelle were also paired with Fantine's friends Dahlia, Zéphine, and Favourite. The men abandon the women, treating their relationships as youthful amusements. Fantine must draw on her own resources to care for her and Tholomyès' daughter, Cosette. When Fantine arrives at Montfermeil, she leaves Cosette in the care of the Thénardiers, a corrupt innkeeper and his selfish, cruel wife.
Fantine is unaware that they are abusing her daughter and using her as forced labor for their inn, and continues to try to meet their growing, extortionate and fictitious demands. She is later fired from her job at Jean Valjean's factory, because of the discovery of her daughter, who was born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, the Thénardiers' monetary demands continue to grow. In desperation, Fantine sells her hair and two front teeth, and she resorts to prostitution to pay the Thénardiers. Fantine is slowly dying from an unspecified disease.
A dandy named Bamatabois harasses Fantine in the street, and she reacts by striking him. Javert arrests Fantine. She begs to be released so that she can provide for her daughter, but Javert sentences her to six months in prison. Valjean (Mayor Madeleine) intervenes and orders Javert to release her. Javert resists but Valjean prevails. Valjean, feeling responsible because his factory turned her away, promises Fantine that he will bring Cosette to her. He takes her to a hospital.
Javert comes to see Valjean again. Javert admits that after being forced to free Fantine, he reported him as Valjean to the French authorities. He tells Valjean he realizes he was wrong, because the authorities have identified someone else as the real Jean Valjean, have him in custody, and plan to try him the next day. Valjean is torn, but decides to reveal himself to save the innocent man, whose real name is Champmathieu. He travels to attend the trial and there reveals his true identity. Valjean returns to M____-sur-M__ to see Fantine, followed by Javert, who confronts him in her hospital room.
After Javert grabs Valjean, Valjean asks for three days to bring Cosette to Fantine, but Javert refuses. Fantine discovers that Cosette is not at the hospital and fretfully asks where she is. Javert orders her to be quiet, and then reveals to her Valjean's real identity. Weakened by the severity of her illness, she falls back in shock and dies. Valjean goes to Fantine, speaks to her in an inaudible whisper, kisses her hand, and then leaves with Javert. Later, Fantine's body is unceremoniously thrown into a public grave.
=== Volume II – Cosette ===
Valjean escapes, is recaptured, and is sentenced to death. The king commutes his sentence to penal servitude for life. While imprisoned in the Bagne of Toulon, Valjean, at great personal risk, rescues a sailor caught in the ship's rigging. Spectators call for his release. Valjean fakes his own death by allowing himself to fall into the ocean. Authorities report him dead and his body lost.
Valjean arrives at Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching water in the woods alone and walks with her to the inn. He orders a meal and observes how the Thénardiers abuse her, while pampering their own daughters Éponine and Azelma, who mistreat Cosette for playing with their doll. Valjean leaves and returns to make Cosette a present of an expensive new doll which, after some hesitation, she happily accepts. Éponine and Azelma are envious. Madame Thénardier is furious with Valjean, while her husband makes light of Valjean's behaviour, caring only that he pay for his food and lodging.
The next morning, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette with him. Madame Thénardier immediately accepts, while Thénardier pretends to love Cosette and be concerned for her welfare, reluctant to give her up. Valjean pays the Thénardiers 1,500 francs, and he and Cosette leave the inn. Thénardier, hoping to swindle more out of Valjean, runs after them, holding the 1,500 francs, and tells Valjean he wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the child's mother. Valjean hands Thénardier Fantine's letter authorizing the bearer to take Cosette. Thénardier then demands that Valjean pay a thousand crowns, but Valjean and Cosette leave. Thénardier regrets that he did not bring his gun and turns back toward home.
Valjean and Cosette flee to Paris. Valjean rents new lodgings at Gorbeau House, where he and Cosette live happily. However, Javert discovers Valjean's lodgings there a few months later. Valjean takes Cosette and they try to escape from Javert. They soon find shelter in the Petit-Picpus convent with the help of Fauchelevent, the man whom Valjean once rescued from being crushed under a cart and who has become the convent's gardener. Valjean also becomes a gardener and Cosette becomes a student at the convent school.
=== Volume III – Marius ===
Eight years later, the Friends of the ABC, led by Enjolras, are preparing an act of anti-Orléanist civil unrest on the eve of the Paris uprising on 5–6 June 1832, following the death of General Lamarque, the only French leader who had sympathy towards the working class. Lamarque was a victim of a major cholera epidemic that had ravaged the city, particularly its poor neighborhoods, arousing suspicion that the government had been poisoning wells. The Friends of the ABC are joined by the poor of the Cour des miracles, including the Thénardiers' eldest son Gavroche, who is a street urchin.
One of the students, Marius Pontmercy, has become alienated from his family (especially his grandfather M. Gillenormand) because of his liberal views. After the death of his father Colonel Georges Pontmercy, Marius discovers a note from him instructing his son to provide help to a sergeant named Thénardier who saved Pontmercy's life at Waterloo—in reality Thénardier was looting corpses and only saved Pontmercy's life by accident; he had called himself a sergeant under Napoleon to avoid exposing himself as a robber.
At the Luxembourg Garden, Marius falls in love with the now grown and beautiful Cosette. The Thénardiers have also moved to Paris and now live in poverty after losing their inn. They live under the surname "Jondrette" at Gorbeau House (coincidentally, the same building Valjean and Cosette briefly lived in after leaving the Thénardiers' inn). Marius lives there as well, next door to the Thénardiers.
Éponine, now ragged and emaciated, visits Marius at his apartment to beg for money. To impress him, she tries to prove her literacy by reading aloud from a book and by writing "The Cops Are Here" on a sheet of paper. Marius pities her and gives her some money. After Éponine leaves, Marius observes the "Jondrettes" in their apartment through a crack in the wall. Éponine comes in and announces that a philanthropist and his daughter are arriving to visit them. In order to look poorer, Thénardier puts out the fire and breaks a chair. He also orders Azelma to punch out a window pane, which she does, resulting in cutting her hand (as Thénardier had hoped).
The philanthropist and his daughter enter—actually Valjean and Cosette. Marius immediately recognizes Cosette. After seeing them, Valjean promises them he will return with rent money for them. After he and Cosette leave, Marius asks Éponine to retrieve her address for him. Éponine, who is in love with Marius herself, reluctantly agrees to do so. The Thénardiers have also recognized Valjean and Cosette, and vow their revenge. Thénardier enlists the aid of the Patron-Minette, a well-known and feared gang of murderers and robbers.
Marius overhears Thénardier's plan and goes to Javert to report the crime. Javert gives Marius two pistols and instructs him to fire one into the air if things get dangerous. Marius returns home and waits for Javert and the police to arrive. Thénardier sends Éponine and Azelma outside to look out for the police. When Valjean returns with rent money, Thénardier, with Patron-Minette, ambushes him and he reveals his real identity to Valjean. Marius recognizes Thénardier as the man who "saved" his father's life at Waterloo and is caught in a dilemma.
He tries to find a way to save Valjean while not betraying Thénardier. Valjean denies knowing Thénardier and tells him that they have never met. Valjean tries to escape through a window but is subdued and tied up. Thénardier orders Valjean to pay him 200,000 francs. He also orders Valjean to write a letter to Cosette to return to the apartment, and they would keep her with them until he delivers the money. After Valjean writes the letter and informs Thénardier of his address, Thénardier sends out Mme. Thénardier to get Cosette. Mme. Thénardier comes back alone, and announces the address is a fake.
It is during this time that Valjean manages to free himself. Thénardier decides to kill Valjean. While he and Patron-Minette are about to do so, Marius remembers the scrap of paper that Éponine wrote on earlier. He throws it into the Thénardiers' apartment through the wall crack. Thénardier reads it and thinks Éponine threw it inside. He, Mme. Thénardier and Patron-Minette try to escape, only to be stopped by Javert.
He arrests all the Thénardiers and Patron-Minette (except Claquesous, who escapes during his transportation to prison; Montparnasse, who stops to run off with Éponine instead of joining in on the robbery; and Gavroche, who was not present and rarely participates in his family's crimes, a notable exception being his part in breaking his father out of prison). Valjean manages to escape the scene before Javert sees him.
=== Volume IV – The Idyll in the Rue Plumet and the Epic in the Rue St. Denis ===
After Éponine's release from prison, she finds Marius at "The Field of the Lark" and sadly tells him that she found Cosette's address. She leads him to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, and Marius watches the house for a few days. He and Cosette then finally meet and declare their love for one another. Thénardier, Patron-Minette and Brujon manage to escape from prison with the aid of Gavroche. One night, during one of Marius's visits with Cosette, the six men attempt to raid Valjean's and Cosette's house. However, Éponine, who has been sitting by the gates of the house, threatens to scream and awaken the whole neighbourhood if the thieves do not leave. Hearing this, they reluctantly retire. Meanwhile, Cosette informs Marius that she and Valjean will be leaving for England in a week's time, which greatly troubles the pair.
The next day, Valjean is sitting in the Champ de Mars. He is feeling troubled about seeing Thénardier in the neighbourhood several times. Unexpectedly, a note lands in his lap, which says "Move Out." He sees a figure running away in the dim light. He goes back to his house, tells Cosette they will be staying at their other house on Rue de l'Homme Arme, and reconfirms to her that they will be moving to England. Marius tries to get permission from M. Gillenormand to marry Cosette. His grandfather seems stern and angry, but has been longing for Marius's return. When tempers flare, he refuses his assent to the marriage, telling Marius to make Cosette his mistress instead. Insulted, Marius leaves.
The following day, the students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris. Gavroche spots Javert and informs Enjolras that Javert is a spy. When Enjolras confronts him about this, he admits his identity and his orders to spy on the students. Enjolras and the other students tie him up to a pole in the Corinth restaurant. Later that evening, Marius goes back to Valjean's and Cosette's house on Rue Plumet, but finds the house no longer occupied. He then hears a voice telling him that his friends are waiting for him at the barricade. Distraught to find Cosette gone, he heeds the voice and goes.
When Marius arrives at the barricade, the "revolution" has already started. When he stoops down to pick up a powder keg, a soldier comes up to shoot Marius. However, a man covers the muzzle of the soldier's gun with his hand. The soldier fires, fatally wounding the man, while missing Marius. Meanwhile, the soldiers are closing in. Marius climbs to the top of the barricade, holding a torch in one hand, a powder keg in the other, and threatens to the soldiers that he will blow up the barricade. After confirming this, the soldiers retreat from the barricade.
Marius decides to go to the smaller barricade, which he finds empty. As he turns back, the man who took the fatal shot for Marius earlier calls Marius by his name. Marius discovers this man is Éponine, dressed in men's clothes. As she lies dying on his knees, she confesses that she was the one who told him to go to the barricade, hoping they would die together. She also confesses to saving his life because she wanted to die before he did.
The author also states to the reader that Éponine anonymously threw the note to Valjean. Éponine then tells Marius that she has a letter for him. She also confesses to have obtained the letter the day before, originally not planning to give it to him, but decides to do so in fear he would be angry at her about it in the afterlife. After Marius takes the letter, Éponine then asks him to kiss her on the forehead when she is dead, which he promises to do. With her last breath, she confesses that she was "a little bit in love" with him, and dies.
Marius fulfills her request and goes into a tavern to read the letter. It is written by Cosette. He learns Cosette's whereabouts and he writes a farewell letter to her. He sends Gavroche to deliver it to her, but Gavroche leaves it with Valjean. Valjean, learning that Cosette's lover is fighting, is at first relieved, but an hour later, he puts on a National Guard uniform, arms himself with a gun and ammunition, and leaves his home.
=== Volume V – Jean Valjean ===
Valjean arrives at the barricade and immediately saves a man's life. He is still not certain if he wants to protect Marius or kill him. Marius recognizes Valjean at first sight. Enjolras announces that they are almost out of cartridges. When Gavroche goes outside the barricade to collect more ammunition from the dead National Guardsmen, he is shot by the troops.
Valjean volunteers to execute Javert himself, and Enjolras grants permission. Valjean takes Javert out of sight, and then shoots into the air while letting him go. Marius mistakenly believes that Valjean has killed Javert. As the barricade falls, Valjean carries off the injured and unconscious Marius. All the other students are killed. Valjean escapes through the sewers, carrying Marius's body. He evades a police patrol, and reaches an exit gate but finds it locked. Thénardier emerges from the darkness. Valjean recognizes him, but his filthy appearance prevents Thénardier from recognizing him. Thinking Valjean a murderer lugging his victim's corpse, Thénardier offers to open the gate for money. As he searches Valjean and Marius's pockets, he surreptitiously tears off a piece of Marius's coat so he can later find out his identity. Thénardier takes the thirty francs he finds, opens the gate, and allows Valjean to leave, expecting Valjean's emergence from the sewer will distract the police who have been pursuing him.
Upon exiting, Valjean encounters Javert and requests time to return Marius to his family before surrendering to him. Javert agrees, assuming that Marius will be dead within minutes. After leaving Marius at his grandfather's house, Valjean asks to be allowed a brief visit to his own home, and Javert agrees. There, Javert tells Valjean he will wait for him in the street, but when Valjean scans the street from the landing window he finds Javert has gone. Javert walks down the street, realizing that he is caught between his strict belief in the law and the mercy Valjean has shown him. He feels he can no longer give Valjean up to the authorities but also cannot ignore his duty to the law. Unable to cope with this dilemma, Javert commits suicide by throwing himself into the Seine.
Marius slowly recovers from his injuries. As he and Cosette make wedding preparations, Valjean endows them with a fortune of nearly 600,000 francs. As their wedding party winds through Paris during Mardi Gras festivities, Valjean is spotted by Thénardier, who then orders Azelma to follow him. After the wedding, Valjean confesses to Marius that he is an ex-convict. Marius is horrified, assumes the worst about Valjean's moral character, and contrives to limit Valjean's time with Cosette. Valjean accedes to Marius' judgment and his separation from Cosette. Valjean loses the will to live and retires to his bed.
Thénardier approaches Marius in disguise, but Marius recognizes him. Thénardier attempts to blackmail Marius with what he knows of Valjean, but in doing so, he inadvertently corrects Marius's misconceptions about Valjean and reveals all of the good he has done. He tries to convince Marius that Valjean is actually a murderer, and presents the piece of coat he tore off as evidence. Stunned, Marius recognizes the fabric as part of his own coat and realizes that it was Valjean who rescued him from the barricade. Marius pulls out a fistful of notes and flings it at Thénardier's face. He then confronts Thénardier with his crimes and offers him an immense sum to depart and never return. Thénardier accepts the offer, and he and Azelma travel to America where he becomes a slave trader.
As they rush to Valjean's house, Marius tells Cosette that Valjean saved his life at the barricade. They arrive to find Valjean near death and are reconciled with him. Valjean tells Cosette her mother's story and name. He dies content and is buried beneath a blank slab in Père Lachaise Cemetery. | tragedy, romantic | train | wikipedia | I've seen this version more times than I'd like to admit, and I have to say, that as an introduction to Les Miserables, this film is the most accurate guide you will find if you want to understand the book.
Although the character of Eponine isn't as well developed as it should have been, this should not lower people's opinion of the mini-series because unlike other versions, It performs well AS A WHOLE.
Gerard Depardieu played a wonderful, emotive Valjean and I found his portrayal to be deep and sincere.
Virginie Ledoyen made the character of Cosette seem easily led, air-headed and a little bit stupid.
It was a refreshing change to see a bit more thought put into Cosette than the usual Waif-Like heroine that is seen in other adaptations.
John Malkovich is competent as Javert, but doesn't inject as much feeling into the role as I had expected.
The only thing I have found which I have enjoyed more than this mini-series, in regards to consistency with the original book, and character development is the musical, and that's probably because my school is performing it this year....all in all, I would recommend this to anybody who needs some guiding before wading through the book -I know I did!.
The Best English-language version.
I am American, so unfortunately have only seen the 3 hour English-language version.
I am an avid fan of Victor Hugo, who I consider the greatest literary master of all time, and am particularly fond of "Les Miserables", a novel which literally changed my life.
I hate the American versions of this story, which completely bastardize this great story, so imagine my delight at finally at long last seeing a version that actually retains the true spirit of the original.
John Malcovitch is a wonderful Javert, although I also think Anthony Perkins did a fine job in the 1978 version.
The entire cast, though, was uniformly superb, especially Charlotte Gainsburg as the pathetic Fantine, Virginie Ledoyen as both Cosette and narrator, and of course Gerard Depardieu was just perfect as Valjean.
It was also a pleasant change to hear mostly French rather than British accents, giving the whole film an authenticity other English-language versions don't have.
Please tell me that the complete 6-hour French-language version will be available on DVD soon.
One of my favourite versions, second only to the 1934 adaptation.Six hours in length, Depardieu as Valjean, Malkovich as Javert, rich in detail and emotionally engaging - what more can one ask?As with the 1934 version, this treatment is very full and therefore retains the strength of the original.
It contains a number of alterations to the original narrative, but remains faithful to the essence of the characters, though I found Valjean's obsessive behaviour toward Cosette somewhat exaggerated, and too little emphasis laid on his sense of duty, responsibility, and lack of self-esteem, as his motivation.
The direction is crisp, the script intelligent and engaging, and the acting convincing and moving.Depardieu is an excellent Valjean, articulate and ultimately tragic, while Malkovich is entirely convincing and gives us an unusually "human" Javert.
Christian Clavier is splendidly scheming, selfish and low, while Virginie Ledoyen is suitably appealing as Cosette.This is a confident and intelligent production which is not afraid of its origins..
I agree on comments about Eponine's scarce appearance on screen and left-out death scene but....
Javert was the best character in the book, the rivalry and chase between him and Valjean is the key thing.
I mean, if I ever dared to direct (a completely amateur version ) of Les Miserables, I would concentrate most effort on finding a perfect Javert.
This is the best adaptation of the novel, isn't perfect, but is far superior to the version I'll have previouly seen, with a nice cast.
It could be perfect but have two failures 1) Miscast: Enrico Lo Verso is too old for being Marious, who was an ideal student, who suffered all the third and fourth book.
2) The seccond thing that I don't like it, is that in the last page Jean Veljean said to Cossette her mother name, in the miniseries, it's told in the middle.In facts is an excellent mini, the best screenplay, nice script, superb cast, but with a big miscast in Loverso who isn't the naive, idealistic and insugure Marious..
I have read this novel several times and I was stunned that some of you found this a faithful version.
I am referring to the miniseries that aired in the US with Depardieu and Malkovich.
Maybe the French version - twice as long?
- is more true to the novel, but the version we saw here was shockingly distorted.Yes - all of the characters were there, but their roles were often twisted beyond recognition.
If you have read the novel, you know that she is one of the most heroic characters, sacrificing herself for Marius.
It is also very odd to make Cosette the narrator, as she is deliberately one of the weaker, more insipid characters in the novel.
And Valjean was never in love with Cosette.
He is genuinely an adoptive father.Depardieu is beautifully cast as Valjean, but John Malkovich (I'm a fan, too) plays Javert as if he were simply mean - with none of the nuances of the tortured character that Geoffrey Rush portrays.
And the musical theater version is the best of all, faithful to both the plot and spirit of Hugo's masterpiece..
I'll probably get hung for saying this, but this version, while good, is second to the 1998 version with Liam Neeson in my opinion.
It moves along slowly (I too am American and didn't get to see the film in its entirety) and is somewhat confusing if you haven't read the novel from front to back.
Cosette's good looks and incredible costuming took her a long way...
The film is very pretty to look at, and handles Fantine's decent into prostitution admirably.
(And in that event, is family-friendly.) It was great to see both familiar and unfamiliar faces and be introduced to a new film with such lovely splendor.I enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't see it more than once.
But for people looking for a film that carries you along, the 1998 version is better recommended..
On the other hand, the novel is a classic in literature and this time it isn't the tale of some rich princesses who have broken a finger nail and want to commit suicide because of that.
Anyway, I decided to give this series a chance and I'm glad that I did, because it was a lot better than I ever expected.It tells the story of Jean Valjean, a galley slave who was sent to prison for stealing food and who is now released after serving nineteen years in a labor camp.
The bishop's compassion and humanity restore Jean Valjean's faith in the goodness of people and helps him to go back to an orderly life.
Javert is a police officer who has made of hunting Valjean like a wild animal his main occupation.
He's convinced that every man who once was a criminal, will always be a criminal and he'll do anything to get him behind bars again...This series should not only be seen by the people who once read the book or saw the musical.
I haven't read the book and I didn't see the musical either, but I certainly could enjoy this series.
Another reason why you could enjoy it is because of the good and convincing acting by all the characters.
As I already said before in this review, I'm not a fan of Depardieu, but it has to be said: He was very convincing in his role as Jean Valjean.All in all this is an enjoyable, honest and serious series that is worth watching when you are interested in the story.
This is probably the closest version of the book, because: 4 parts, all written apart, every single line of the characters are shown.
Not a bad series-adaptation of a classic piece of literature at all, not as good as the 1934 and 1935 films(I remember Anthony Perkins' version being better as well) but better than those with Michael Rennie and Liam Neeson.
On the most part, while far from perfect, it is actually good.
There are parts where the direction is choppy and things look too clean and perfect, the relationship between Cosette and Marius could have been less bland and while Valjean and Cosette are very convincing father-daughter figures the love for each other did seem a little too strong and loving at times.
The miscast was Enrico Lo Verso as Marius, people have said he's too old and it is true but that he is very stiff and almost too creepy is more of a problem.
There are alterations and reduced screen-time for characters(Eponine), but you feel Fantine's tragic plight as well as Gavroche's death and the ending is both powerful and affecting, that there's the inclusion of Gillenormand- a character that has been neglected before- is an extra plus.
The series is a good length, the book is mammoth so a long length is a good idea, and the pacing takes its time to develop like the storytelling in the book without being too stillborn.
The rest of the cast are fine, especially Gerard Depardieu(despite having perhaps a too imposing a physique) as a Valjean where the nobility, magnetism, charisma and tragic grandeur is completely realised and in a way that we feel it too.
Virgine Ledoyen is a beautiful and loyal Cosette without being like a waif, spoiled brat or window-dressing.
Asia Argento while underused is indeed an Eponine you feel pity and contempt for, and Christian Clavier is menacing and funny as Thernadier(Veronica Ferres matches him very well as his wife if too on the pretty side).
then, the loyalty to the novel in a better manner because the series is inspired option for present the story.
but this is the start point.
and Javert of John Malkovich is real closed by the figure of Vidoque.
The Best Version Ever.
After seeing this many times over the years, without it ever losing it's potency, I can say this 'Millennium' or year 2000 adaptation, would have to be the best version of Les Misérables.Depardieu and Malkovich bring an intensity and humanity to their roles which has never before been captured in any previous productions (or since for that matter - don't waste your time with the 2012 version).
The music, set design, supporting performances, and all the other elements come together, to create what will probably stand to be the best filmed version of this much loved novel ever made.See it if you can in it's native French language with English subtitles for the best viewing experience...and if you like it spread the word about this fantastic adaptation, not many people know about it.Vive La Revolution!.
I agree with the first review that Marius looked way too old, and the other is that in every adaptation of the book, they never give Eponine enough screen time.
She wasn't even a character in the version with Claire Danes.
Yes, she is a character in this version, but they don't show her death and proclamation of love for Marius.
It's one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the book, and I was disappointed that it's never shown in any of the movies.
The musical got it right though.I liked this version a lot though and wish they would air it again.
Les Miserables is one favorite books and timeless story of love, forgiveness and revolution..
The Best Adaptation I Have Seen.
Of the movie adaptations I have seen, and I have not seen the 1934 French version, I must admit that this is the best one yet.
I thankfully watched the six hour original French miniseries and loved it, despite not being able to understand more than three words every ten minutes.
Pity they have yet to subtitle it.Gerard Depardieu is near perfect for Valjean in stature and voice, albeit I wanted to smack the script writer for deciding he was obsessively in love with Cosette.
My only bone to pick concerning him is the way he was attempting to kill people right and left (Valjean and Marius to be precise) in moments where he wasn't supposed to if we're going by the book.
She was generally very mousy and truthful to the novel, except that despite going to a denture and wig maker, she only sold her hair, not her front incisors like she is supposed to.
I must also say that Asia Argento was the spitting image of Eponine, save for that dress of hers, which appeared far too expensive for a dirt poor family, whether or not it was torn in places.I personally was not happy with John Malkovich's portrayal of Javert.
But at least he was blond and believably young-looking this time.The actual plot of the movie stayed closer to the novel than any of the other movie adaptations I have seen.
I was particularly fond of Eponine's death scene.
It is definitely worth the $20 you pay on Amazon to get the French version, if only to watch Asia Argento die.
And did anyone notice that Gavroche was the same age when Valjean brought little Cosette to Paris as when she was seven or eight years older?
And why, even in a six hour long miniseries with added scenes not in the book, could the screenwriter not find time to put in the end of the barricade scene, Enjolras' death in particular?
His character and his death are symbolic and support one of Hugo's major themes in several of his novels: the idea that someday perfection and progress will come, but they cannot happen with the world in its current state.
And yet, somehow, in all of the movies, his character plays a very small role.
The closest was in the 1958 French version that kept his death scene identical, even if it barely developed his character the rest of the time.In regards to technical issues, the only one that stood out to me concerned Asia Argento.
As much as I loved her appearance and her acting, perhaps it would have just been better to have a French actress in the role.
I know nothing about the English version, but at half the running time, I find it hard to believe it would be nearly as good..
Good adaptation, but cut short...
Overall, I was impressed with this film and it is the best version of the story I have seen yet.
The film its self is beautiful.
While I admire John Malkovich, I found his Javert a bit subdued.
The female characters fare a little better.
The usually forgotten character of Eponine is returned and played by Asia Argento.
Unfortunately for me, the only adaptation that I was able to get my hands on was the very edited English language version.
I was especially angry at the fact that they left out the death of Eponine.
Without her heroic death, the audience is left thinking Eponine was a villain, rather than a product of her environment, but good none-the-less.
Also missing is Enjorlas's death which is another tragic moment in the novel.
The way I see it, this film could have been the definitive version to me if only the English adaptation could have been about an hour longer and tied up some of the loose ends.
The French version of this same film is unedited (and unsubtitled, alas), so I think I would suggest that one before this version..
The best telling of the story, next to the musical.
This is the best I have ever seen from Depardieu, and Malkovich is almost as good as he was in Shadow of the Vampire.
The rest of the cast is wonderful.In terms of story, it's pretty faithful to the book from what I can tell, but unfortunately they do not really go into detail with Eponine's death, but at least they get Gavroche's death right, unlike the terrible Neeson/Rush version.Hugo would be proud of this one..
Where shall I start?
The writing is just horribly ridiculous and unrealistic (for example: Valjean tells Cosette that Marius was wounded in the barricade, and all she seems to care about is that Valjean finally accepted him), the acting of ALL the actors, except for the guy who portrays Gillenormand, is terrible (especially John Malkovich as Javert and Depardieu (spl?) as Valjean, with his one face expression), the characters have turned into something very weird (Valjean is in love with Cosette?!
I'm sure that Hugo is turning in his grave...), the whole thing is full of plot holes (Gavroche never ages, the Thenardiers wearing nice cloths, Javert hears the "Vive la republic" and does nothing) and why the hell is Gavroche Marius' best friend?!
This is probably the worst adaptation I've ever seen.
The only good thing I can think of is the setting and the costumes (and Gillenormand, who usually is kept out of adaptations)..
Having finally seen the musical last week, I got around to watching the 3 hour edit tonight with my wife (she's seen the musical three or four times now, and neither of us have read the book).This was good.
It was reassuring to note that both this and the musical are similar enough that they must both be reasonable adaptations of the very long novel.
Depardieu conveyed Valjean's power very well, and Malkovich gave us Javert's single mindedness, although it wasn't obvious how fundamentally Valjean's action in freeing him had undermined everything he held at his core.
Christian Clavier's Thenardier was vile, and Virginie Ledoyen's Cosette had much more to her than in the musical, where she is such a cipher that she must be a fairly thankless role to play.The period feel is good, but I must confess to encountering some difficulty in negotiating the French accents of some of the principals. |
tt0078504 | The Wiz | === Prologue ===
Dorothy Gale lives with her Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and dog, Toto, on their farm in Kansas. Though her work on the farm keeps her busy, she often gets distracted in her boredom with farm life, choosing instead to play with Toto and dream of someday seeing far off lands. Aunt Em, however, hasn't much patience for her niece's daydreaming, believing that their way of life doesn't leave room for dawdling. After an argument, Aunt Em apologizes to Dorothy for an unintentionally hurtful remark. She then explains that she only scolds because she wants Dorothy to be the best she can be, and fears that she won't be ready for the responsibilities life will soon put upon her. Underneath it all, she still loves her niece dearly, and hopes they will always be as close as when Dorothy was a child ("The Feeling We Once Had").
=== Act I ===
When an approaching storm turns out to be a tornado, Dorothy takes shelter in the farmhouse as Aunt Em and Uncle Henry hide in the storm cellar. As the tornado hits the farm, the house, with Dorothy inside, is lifted right up into the air and carried for miles within the cyclone ("The Tornado"). It finally comes to rest with a bump in the middle of an emerald green field covered with flowers. There, Dorothy is met by the Munchkins, who are all dressed in blue, and Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North, who tells her that she is in the land of Oz. Furthermore, her house has fallen on Evamean, the Wicked Witch of the East, and killed her, freeing the Munchkins from her evil powers. Dorothy, distressed and confused, wants only to return to Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and Toto in Kansas. With her magic unable to take Dorothy beyond the country boundaries, Addaperle decides her best bet is to follow the Yellow Brick Road to Emerald City in the centre of Oz, and see the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, or "The Wiz" for short ("He's the Wizard"). She gives the child the Witch of the East's silver slippers, and tells her not to take them off before she reaches home, for they hold a mysterious, but very powerful charm that will keep her safe.
Dorothy sets off down the Yellow Brick Road, full of doubt and fear at what lies ahead ("Soon As I Get Home"). Stopping to rest by a cornfield, she is startled when a Scarecrow hanging on a pole strikes up a conversation with her ("I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday"). He tells her of his longing for brains so that he can be like other people, and she invites him to accompany her to see if the Wiz can help him. ("Ease On Down the Road #1").
The Yellow Brick Road leads them into a great forest where they discover a man made of tin, rusted solid. They oil his joints ("Slide Some Oil To Me") and he tells them how, to prevent him from marrying a servant girl, the Wicked Witch of the East put a spell on his axe so that it began to cut off parts of his body. Each time it happened, a tinsmith replaced the missing part with one made of tin until he was entirely made of it. The one thing the tinsmith forgot was a heart, and the Tin Man has longed for one ever since. Dorothy and the Scarecrow invite him on their journey to see the Wizard with the hope that he may give him one ("Ease On Down the Road #2").
The three continue following the Yellow Brick Road deeper into the forest, where they are attacked by a large lion ("I'm a Mean Ole Lion"). However, he is quickly revealed to be a coward hiding behind bravado as Dorothy stands up for her friends. When he learns where they are going, he apologizes and asks if he may accompany them to ask the Wizard for some courage. They agree and the trio becomes a quartet ("Ease On Down the Road #3"), but face a new danger when they are attacked by half-tiger, half-bear creatures called Kalidahs ("Kalidah Battle"). After a great fight and harrowing escape, they stop by the road to rest. The Lion is embarrassed by his cowardice in the battle, but is comforted by Dorothy's kind words ("Be a Lion").
Seeing a green glow in the distance, they continue their journey to the Emerald City, and wander into a field of poppies who blow opium dust on them. Not being made of flesh, the Scarecrow and Tin Man are unaffected, but Dorothy and the Lion begin to become disoriented and drowsy. Dorothy recalls that the Munchkins warned her of the dangerous poppies, and runs from the field as fast as she can with the Scarecrow and Tin Man behind her. The Lion is overcome by the dust and begins to hallucinate ("Lion's Dream"). He is dragged from the field and returned to his friends by the Field Mice who police the area.
Marching up to the gates of the beautiful Emerald City, they are met by the Gatekeeper who insists they must all be fitted with a pair of green tinted glasses that are locked on to prevent their eyes from being blinded by the dazzling sights. They enter the city and look about in awe at the richly dressed people that inhabit this magnificent place ("Emerald City Ballet"). The haughty and condescending people laugh and ridicule this odd party for wanting to see the Wiz until they see that Dorothy is wearing the Witch of the East's silver slippers. The quartet is promptly shown right into his palace.
Once in the throne room, they are assaulted by a great show of lights, smoke, and pyrotechnics as the Wiz appears in several forms before them ("So You Wanted To See the Wizard"). They each plead their case to him, the Tin Man doing so in song ("What Would I Do If I Could Feel?"). The Wiz agrees on one condition: they must kill Evillene, the Wicked Witch of the West. With their goals seeming further out of reach than ever before, Dorothy and her companions sink to the floor in tears.
=== Act II ===
Evillene rules over the yellow land of the west, enslaving its people, the Winkies. She is evil, power hungry, and ruthlessly determined to get her hands on the silver slippers, so that she may increase her power and rule over all of Oz ("Winkie Chant/Don't Nobody Bring Me No Bad News"). Receiving word of Dorothy and her odd friends approaching, she sends her Winged Monkeys to kill them ("Funky Monkeys"). Catching up to the group in the forest surrounding the castle, the monkeys dash the Tin Man against rocks until he falls apart, and rip the straw out of the Scarecrow, leaving both of them helpless. Seeing Dorothy's silver slippers, however, they dare not harm her. Instead, they carry her to Evillene's castle along with the Lion. While searching for a way to get the slippers from Dorothy, the witch forces her and the Lion to do menial chores around the castle. She takes delight in torturing the Lion before Dorothy, threatening to have him skinned unless she hands over the silver slippers. Angered by this, Dorothy picks up a bucket of water and throws it over Evillene, who melts until only her magic golden cap remains. Her spell on the Winkies is lifted, and they show their thanks by restoring the Scarecrow and Tin Man to top condition, and reuniting the four friends ("Everybody Rejoice").
Returning to the Emerald City, they see the Wiz (now a booming voice that seems to come from the very air). He reneges on his promise, and the Lion knocks over a screen in anger. Behind it stands a bewildered man who claims to be the real Wizard. He shows them the elaborate mechanical effects used to create his illusions, and tells them that he is really a balloonist from Omaha named Herman Smith who traveled to Oz by accident when his hot air balloon drifted off course. The people of Oz had never seen such a sight and proclaimed him Wizard. Not wanting to disappoint them, he assumed the role and had a great city built. He then had everyone in it wear green glasses, and in time, the people came to believe it was green.
Furious, the quartet confronts the Wizard on his deceptions ("Who Do You Think You Are?"), but he points out that the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion already have the things they seek as shown in their behavior on the journeys they have made ("Believe In Yourself"). They remain unconvinced, so he creates physical symbols of their desires and they are satisfied. He proposes that Dorothy can return to Kansas the way he came, and offers to pilot her in his hot air balloon. He addresses the citizens of the Emerald City in person for the first time in many years, telling them of his imminent journey, and leaving the clever Scarecrow in charge ("Y'all Got It!"). Just as his speech reaches its climax, the balloon comes free from its moorings and rises quickly into the air, taking Dorothy's hopes of getting home with it.
Just as the group despairs of finding help, Addaperle reappears in a flash of light, suggesting that Dorothy ask Glinda, the Good Witch of the South, for assistance. She transports them to Glinda's palace in the red land of the south, where they are warmly welcomed and invited to rest after their many trials ("A Rested Body Is a Rested Mind"). Glinda is a beautiful and gracious sorceress, surrounded by a court of pretty girls. She tells Dorothy that the silver slippers have always had the power to take them home, but like her friends, she needed to believe in their magic and in herself before it was possible ("If You Believe"). Dorothy bids a tearful goodbye to her companions, and as their faces fade into the darkness, she thinks about what she has gained, lost, and learned throughout her journey through Oz ("Home"). Clicking the heels of the silver slippers together three times, she finds herself transported back to Kansas in an instant. As an overjoyed Aunt Em and Toto appear, and Dorothy runs to hug them both, she knows that she is back home at last ("Finale"). | cult, blaxploitation | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0106586 | Cold Sweat | During the Korean War, Joe Moran, a U. S. Army sergeant, was convicted for striking a colonel. He was imprisoned in Germany. In the military prison he encountered his former company commander Captain Ross, and a fellow soldier who served under Joe called Vermont. They had been imprisoned for black marketeering and hijacking army vehicles. Joe agrees to escape with them. The escape is organised by a former French Foreign Legionnaire named "Katanga". Things go according to plan until Katanga kills a curious German police officer. Frightened and disgusted by the murder, Joe escapes by himself, abandoning his friends and Katanga, who are recaptured.
Years later, Joe is known as Joe Martin. He makes a legitimate living renting boats in the South of France. He lives with his wife, Fabienne, and 12-year-old daughter. Things are going fine for Joe. When Joe's picture appears in a local news story, Ross, Vermont and Katanga appear. Now wanted drug smugglers, they want revenge on Joe and use of his rental operation to move contraband. To ensure Joe's cooperation, they kidnap his wife and daughter and hold them hostage. | murder | train | wikipedia | Decent entertainment for an evening, with today's standard themes of business conflicts, greed, betrayal, and murder, and, of course, Shannon Tweed cheating on her husband with two different affairs.
This movies a bit of a Strange brew but I enjoyed it.
Mark Cahill as a cunning hit-man who decides to take another mark against his better judgment as his former kill has been haunting him at the most in opportune times.
However the money's right so perhaps he can do this last job before his newfound conscience gets the better of him or his wife finds out thus ruining his pretty good family life.
But anyways, I digress, this crime drama film had enough twists, turns and titillation to earn a thumbs up from me.
One of the very few serious roles Dave Thomas embodied and still he manages to be oddly funny.
I find it a bit weird that a Shannon Tweed film this good has only had 3 IMDb reviews (4 counting mine) However I won't dwell on it..
Of All the Shannon Tweed Movies, "Cold Sweat" is One of Them.
Though she gets third billing, "Cold Sweat" is unmistakably a Shannon Tweed movie—so much so that the generic title could just as well be changed to "Yet Another Shannon Tweed Erotic Thriller." At first, though, it appears to be the story of a hit man (Ben Cross) wrestling with his career choice.
Sure, killing people for cash enables him to provide all the comforts of suburbia his family enjoys, but he's lately become haunted by one of his victims (spunky Lenore Zann), who seems to appear whenever he wants to put some lovin' on his wife.
Though he wants to take a break, he agrees to one last hit, arranged by a rollerblading drug dealer (Adam Baldwin) for one of his clients, a floundering businessman (Dave Thomas).
Tweed is the businessman's wife, and she's not only banging Baldwin, but also Thomas's business partner (Henry Czerny).
It should be noted that in this movie, the impotent hit man is the good guy."Cold Sweat"'s story offers enough potential that in more ambitious hands it could be a pretty effective thriller—possibly even a good one—but since it's a Shannon Tweed movie screenwriter Richard Beattie and director Gail Harvey are only interested in fulfilling the bare requirements of such an endeavor.
Viewers get an appetizer of those bare requirements in the form of Zann as Cross watches her and her boss go at it, the amorous couple seemingly oblivious to the fact that the office in which they're rutting is essentially a big glass cube.
But it's Tweed's body that's "Cold Sweat"'s raison d'être, and the movie soon gets down to the business of displaying it when Tweed takes on Czerny (who's got a better body than one might expect) and then Baldwin within the same day--though not at the same time--in some lively, hard-R sex scenes.
While these scenes are titillating, they're probably only going to get people in the mood to surf the Web for some of the hardcore stuff.
In short, the sex scenes aren't hot enough to make viewers forgive the movie's mediocrity.
However, if fans of Baldwin, who went on to become a member of the Whedonverse in "Firefly" and "Angel," and Czerny, currently in the prime time soap "Revenge," are curious to see *more* of the actors, as it were, this is the movie to watch.For what it's worth, the acting is OK.
Tweed isn't a great actress but she's better than she's given credit for, a fact no doubt attributable to her starring in cheap direct-to-video erotic thrillers like this one.
Baldwin, Czerny and Cross—whom I suspect spent his days on the set of this movie staring forlornly into the distance, mumbling: "A decade ago I was the star of 'Chariots of Fire'
"—are all adequate in their roles, no more.
Standing out like a sore thumb is Thomas, who is not only unable to make us forget his "SCTV" past, but unwilling to try, turning his role as the heavy into a cartoon.
But I guess Thomas' hammy performance doesn't really matter.
After all, it's only a Shannon Tweed movie..
erotic thriller.
Family man Mark Cahill (Ben Cross) has a secret life as an assassin for hire.
He is haunted by his last victim.
Beth Moore (Shannon Tweed) is cheating on her jealous cold husband Larry (Dave Thomas) with Mitch (Adam Baldwin) and Larry's business associate Sean Mathieson (Henry Czerny).This is an erotic thriller.
The erotic part is basic sexploitation.
There is a fun little guessing game as to who will hire the killer to kill who but the movie has nothing after that.
Ben Cross is a pretty good cool assassin.
I don't like any of these characters.
There is no rooting interest whatsoever.
I couldn't care less if they all died in a blaze of bullets.
At least, that would be more fun.
The story gets convoluted.
I don't understand their individual actions.
As a thriller, I'm not thrilled..
BEN CROSS OFFERS ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE.
THIS IS A SEXY FILM WITH A CAST OF UNSCRUPULOUS CHARACTERS.
IT DEPICTS CORRUPTION, DECEIT, AND REMORSE.
YOU KNOW THE CHARACTERS ARE CRUEL WHEN THE ONE WITH THE MOST SINCERITY IS THE "HITMAN".
BEN CROSS NAILS HIS ROLE AS A HITMAN, LADEN WITH GUILT OVER A HIT GONE WRONG, THROWN INTO ANOTHER HIT INVOLVING A CORRUPT BUSINESSMAN, HIS EQUALLY NASTY PARTNER AND THE WIFE WHO IS INVOLVED WITH BOTH MEN.
CROSS'S PERFORMANCE SHOWS RANGE AS THE COOL CALM OF A HIRED, PROFESSIONAL KILLER, THE ORDINARY FAMILY MAN WITH ORDINARY MARITAL PROBLEMS, AND GUILT RIDDEN MURDERER AS HE DEALS WITH THE REALIZATION THAT PEOPLE ARE NASTY, AND SOMETIMES THE INNOCENT GET HURT..
Awful Movie That Exists Solely For the Nudity.
Mark Cahill is a good family man with a loving wife and two wonderful children.
Mark also happens to be a hit man who is haunted by his last victim, a blonde, who keeps appearing in his bedroom at the worst of times.Not to say this is a bad movie, as it has some good themes about overworking and the whole hit-man aspect is cool, even if not necessarily realistic.
But it seems as though the film was made specifically for the purpose of putting in explicit sex scenes.
They go well beyond what was needed and more than you typically see in a movie.There is also the overuse of a song (I will call it "Too Much Pride")...
the film would have been better served with more of a score and less of that song on the soundtrack..
I didn't get a chance to talk to him to say good-by.
***SPOILERS*** Stylish & sexy direct to video film noir with the sizzling Shannon Tweed as the back stabbing femme fatal Beth Moore who's having a affair behind her husband Larry's, Dave Thomas, back with his partner in his real estate firm Sean Mathieson, Henry Czenry, who's secretly trying to take over his firm as well as wife from right under him.
It's Mathieson who hires this mob hit-man Mark Cahill, Ben Cross, to ice David but as we soon see Cahill has serious problems of his own.
That after knocking off both David Cook and his secretary Catherine Wicker, John Robinson & Lenore Zann, for making out after hours in the office that Catherine's ghost came back to haunt him for the remainder of the movie.The reappearance of Catherine unnerved Cahill so much that he lost his concentration in doing his job on Larry and ended up almost getting himself killed as well.
As it soon turned out it's was Beth who not only was double crossing her husband Larry she was also screwing, literally as well as figuratively, her partner in crime Sean Mathieson as well!
That by having the dude who contacted Cahill to do the job on Larry "Big" Mitch, Adam Baldwin, set the two of them, Larry & Mathieson, up for the film's surprising and grand finale!***SPOILERS*** Actress Shannon Tweed was as hot as a pistol in her scenes both dressed and undressed that really made the movie worth watching.
It was also Catherine Wicker's ghost that gave the movie a supernatural spin to it that had Cahill, the only person who could see her, have fits of paranoid as well as self doubts in thinking he messed up the hit he did on her.
It was in the end that everything gelled together when we as well as Mathieson finally realized what was going on and what Beth's real plans were.
And it wasn't hit-man Cahill but the happy go lucky Mitch who ended up finalizing them..
Good Thriller.
Good Thriller.
I agree with Kakueke,And I Quote "Decent entertainment for an evening, with today's standard themes of business conflicts, greed, betrayal, and murder, and, of course, Shannon Tweed cheating on her husband with two different affairs.
I thought Baldwin's performance was the best among the men, tho maybe because his character was the least distasteful, but it at least added a little humor and elan to the generally sordid overtones.
I thought Baldwin's performance was the best among the men, tho maybe because his character was the least distasteful, but it at least added a little humor and elan to the generally sordid overtones.
Cross was somewhat stiff, and his character was a little hard to swallow.
Cross was somewhat stiff, and his character was a little hard to swallow.
(A hit man with later moral conflicts brought about by a ghost?) The ghost of the murdered woman was OK, but this had no blend with the main plot.
(A hit man with later moral conflicts brought about by a ghost?) The ghost of the murdered woman was OK, but this had no blend with the main plot.
In any event, male watchers are treated to steamy scenes with Shannon Tweed, even one with whipped cream, and there will be few objections to these".
In any event, male watchers are treated to steamy scenes with Shannon Tweed, even one with whipped cream, and there will be few objections to these".
My only Problem was the First Meeting with "The Gohst" you see the Bullett Holes in her Upper Chest when Ben Opens up her Blouse, After that all the Other Times she shows up Naked there are no Holes!! |
tt0102034 | Highlander II: The Quickening | In August 1994, news broadcasts announce that the ozone layer is fading, and will be completely gone in a matter of months. In Africa, millions have perished from the effects of unfiltered sunlight. Among the dead is Connor MacLeod's wife, Brenda Wyatt MacLeod. Before dying, Brenda extracts a promise from Connor that he will solve the problem of the ozone layer.
By 1999, Connor MacLeod becomes the supervisor of a scientific team headed by Dr. Allan Neyman, which attempts to create an electromagnetic shield to cover the planet, and protect it from the Sun’s radiation. The team succeeds, in effect giving Earth an artificial ozone layer. MacLeod and Neyman are proud to have saved humanity, and believe they will be remembered for a thousand years.
The shield has the side effect of condemning the planet to a state of constant night, a high average global temperature, and high humidity. By 2024, the years of darkness have caused humanity to lose hope and fall into a decline. The shield has fallen under the control of the Shield Corporation. The corporation’s current chief executive, David Blake, is focused on profit, and is imposing fees for the corporation’s services. A number of terrorist groups have begun trying to take down the Shield, among them Louise Marcus, a former employee of the Shield Corporation.
Meanwhile, MacLeod, now a frail old man, expects to eventually die of natural causes. As he watches a performance of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, an image of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez appears, and induces MacLeod to recall a forgotten event of his past. On the planet Zeist, a last meeting is held between the members of a rebellion against the rule of General Katana. The rebellion’s leader, Ramirez, chooses "a man of great destiny" from among them—MacLeod—to carry out a mission against Katana. At this moment, Katana and his troops attack, crushing the rebellion. Katana orders his men to capture Ramirez and MacLeod alive and kill the rest of the rebels. The two captives are put on trial by Zeist's priests, who sentence them to be exiled and reborn on Earth in pursuit of "The Prize." Winning the Prize gives the victor the choice to either grow old and die on Earth, or to return to Zeist. Katana is unsatisfied with their decision, but the sentence is executed, leading to the events of the original 1986 film.
Back in 2024, Louise Marcus discovers that the ozone layer has in fact restored itself naturally, which means that the shield is no longer needed. The Shield Corporation is aware of this development, but has chosen to hide it from the general public in order to maintain its main source of profit. Meanwhile, on Zeist, Katana decides that MacLeod cannot be allowed to return, and sends his immortal henchmen, Corda and Reno, to kill him.
Marcus manages to reach MacLeod first, and asks for his help in taking down the Shield. To her disappointment, she finds the passionate person she once admired has grown into a tired old man. MacLeod explains to her that he is dying and expresses his disapproval of terrorism. Before they can finish their conversation, Corda and Reno attack. MacLeod manages to decapitate them both, absorbs their energy during the Quickening, and regains his youthful appearance. In the process, MacLeod summons Ramirez back to life.
In Glencoe, Scotland - the location of his death in the first Highlander film - Ramirez is revived. He finds himself on a theatrical stage during a performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Meanwhile, MacLeod has found a new lover in Marcus. He attempts unsuccessfully to explain to her the concepts of his immortality. Elsewhere, General Katana arrives in New York, the scene of The Gathering and begins wreaking havoc.
Both Ramirez and Katana soon adapt to their new environment. Ramirez’s earring is apparently valuable enough to pay both for a new suit he acquires from the finest and oldest tailor’s shop in Scotland, and for an airplane ticket to New York City. Katana finds New York much to his liking. After entertaining himself for a while, Katana encounters MacLeod at a church. Since immortals are forbidden from fighting on holy ground, they do not fight each other, but MacLeod expresses rage at being immortal once again.
Soon thereafter, MacLeod is contacted by Ramirez, who joins them in their plan to take down the Shield. Katana, expecting this, forges an uneasy alliance with David Blake, who mentions that shutting down the planetary shield would require so much energy that the planet would be destroyed. The conflict between the two sets of allies eventually leads to the deaths of Dr. Allan Neyman, Ramirez, Blake and General Katana himself. MacLeod succeeds in taking down the Shield by using the combined energies of his final Quickening from General Katana. Marcus sees the stars for the first time in her life. MacLeod then claims The Prize by returning to Zeist with Marcus. | comedy, murder, cult, violence, flashback, good versus evil, action, revenge, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | I'd say the film is pretty much divided between being on Earth in 2024 and Zeist 500 years before, but I think it was meant to be on Earth in 2024.Now that that's cleared up ...Imagine, if you will, that most of what they told us in the original HIGHLANDER was crap.
Lies!And if you believe that, I've got some $200,000 property for you down in sunny North Carolina.Connor MacLeod, the main character of the original film (played by Christopher Lambert), is old and dying.
Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez is resurrected from the dead and comes back (for nine minutes of screen time) to help MacLeod shut down the shield.If you haven't figured it out by now, HIGHLANDER II is completely messed-up.I haven't seen a sequel this bad in who knows how long.
I think Ebert said it best in his review of the film: he describes HIGHLANDER II as being "a movie almost awesome in its badness".
The first Highlander was a great film, it had a good story, good characters and plot that pretty much worked.
Highlander II had some of the worst acting I have ever seen, really bad camera work, horrifying choreography in the fights scenes, a story that made absolutely no sense, cruddy special effects and overall, it was just a really bad movie.
This was by far the worst of the Highlander series, and the sequels later on disregarded this movie which I felt was a good idea..
Needing to grasp on to a strand of optimism, perhaps only the thickness of a human hair, I long ago decided that the film existed purely as a textbook demonstration for future filmmakers on how not to make a successful sequel to a hit movie.
To get around this the makers of The Quickening simply decided to ditch the back-story of the original film and invent a new one which would enable them to write around the fact that all the immortals, bar M.Lambert were, not unlike themselves, dead from the neck up.
To fully appreciate how awful an idea this is you need only imagine a Star Wars sequel in which the action is suddenly set in present day Earth for reasons of plot convenience or a second instalment of Titanic in which it's revealed that Jack and Rose are actually time-travellers and are thus able to prevent the disaster and save all their friends.
The Locations, The Soundtrack, The Kurgan, The Plot...Now, take it all away and replace it with...Awful red sky effect throughout the film, Couple of old Queen songs from the 1st film, Michael Ironside doing a bad Kurgan impression and a "plot" that doesn't have any relevance to the original plot...That is Highlander II..
But something happens and immortals are suddenly starting to show up again and Connor must fight once again.I don't want to know which drugs the script-writers were using when coming up with the plot for this movie.
Highlander Connor MacLeod must reveal the truth about the Earth's anti-ozone shield while fighting some immortals sent from the past.It lacks the danger and finesse of the original, but thankfully the new Highlander 2 edit with updated effects makes this troubled and poorly executed sequel at least watchable, compared to the original theatrical release.Michael Ironside and supporting cast give distracting, larger than life theatrical performances.
The new cut now makes sense; for example why MacLeod becomes immortal again, hinting that he has forgotten a past, prior the setting of the first film, and gone is the idea that Ramírez and Connor come from another planet.If you must watch Highlander 2, avoid the 'The Quickening' version at all cost and watch the 2010 blu-ray release.
The drastic changes from the original film were panned at the time but in a culture swamped in bad remakes and redundant sequels, maybe posterity will appreciate how Highlander 2 ramps up the political and existential themes that were wallpaper to its more exciting predecessor..
Featuring new state-of-the-art special effects and digital re-mastering, it's HIGHLANDER II like you've never seen or heard before.Thing's I love in this movie: Christopher Lambert is reunited with Sean Connery and director Russell Mulcahy.
Highlander 2: Renegade Version really reworked the movie in to kind a the original version supposed to be: they are not really an aliens, they are kind a, just put trough time and they are finding that out.
They have to fight each other in a combat to the death, when you behead someone you take their energy away and when you kill all the immortals you become mortal and that is basically what happens with a Highlander 2: Renegade Version.The reason I love this movie is because it takes place in the future and it is cool, there is a guy with a wings going after him, those guys are kind a nit.
Wyatt returns in this movie but this time she is played by Karin Drexler when we find out what happened to the character from the first movie.Katana (Michael Ironside) does respect the rules, the immortals never fight on a holly ground.The sky is red in this film because of the field energy.
The only problem with film I have is: The renegade version may be a better edited movie than the original crap fest The Quickening, but it still suffers from terrible screenplay which had problems from the very beginning.The fight between MacLeod and Katana was cut short and it could be a longer duel.
Highlander II: The Quickening is a 1991 American science fiction action film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, and Michael Ironside.
It is the second installment to the Highlander film series, and it was released on 12 April 1991 in the United Kingdom and 1 November 1991 in the United States.8/10 Score: B Kismet Entertainment Film Distributors Starring: Christopher Lambert, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside, Sean Connery, John C.
Now, I still liked all of that, and in addition, I enjoyed several examples of great camera and directing, as well as the very good soundtrack, but this time all of that was not enough to cover for one of the worst screenplays in the history of cinema."Highlander II: The Quickening" retains the actors and characters from the first film, while completely ignoring the original story.
It may have some laughable details in the depiction of the swords, such as swords being able to hack through steel girders, but I can forgive these silly little details in the original movie, because it is such great fun to watch.The same can not be said of Highlander 2.This movie is bad.It is so bad one can hardly believe it is anything more than some kind of sick parody, as opposed to a true sequel, and, if one is stupid enough to watch it, will leave that person in a shocked stupor wondering just how the makers of this film could have corrupted the themes and characters of the original film to the outrageous extent that they did.
I kid you not.Even Christopher Lambert threatened to quit during the making of the movie, because it was so bad.Highlander (the original) is an excellent movie.
Upon closer inspection one will notice that the majority of bad reviews, like my own, are based on the original theatrical release (The Quickening), which is truly awful, while the majority of good reviews are based on another version of the movie (The Renegade Edition), which, I am told, is actually quite good.
I have not seen the Renegade Edition, so my review is based on the earlier version.The Renegade Edition of Highlander 2 is quite different from The Quickening, because the original director went back, and completely re-edited the film, restoring it as closely as possible to the way he had originally intended for it to be, as opposed to The Quickening, which had been heavily meddled with by various people within the studio that produced the film.
Somehow I struggled through the entire length (it seemed an eternity) of the film, constantly bolstering myself up with optimistic phrases like, "It's been so bad so far, that it couldn't possibly get any worse." and "Well, the whole thing can't be bad, there's got to be something good before the ending." I was wrong.
Someday, someone will say, "The worst film I've seen in twenty years, almost 80% as bad as Highlander II, The Quickening"..
Nobody knew anything about how an Immortal could be "killed" or about the mysterious prize that awaited the victor of the "Gathering".And so with its sequel the producers and the script writers tried to emulate the success generated by these ambiguities by introducing HIGHLANDER fans to new plot revelations they would never have imagined such as Immortals actually being aliens.
But it was because of the success of the 1ST film along with the countless letters the producers received from fans who "WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THE IMMORTALS" that this sequel was given the go ahead.So the HIGHLANDER fans cannot blame the producers for scripting this film they way they had done.I thoroughly enjoyed the 1ST film back in 1986 and I was suprised when I heard there was a sequel was planned.
In fact it is the stupid THIRD FILM along with the pathetic TV SERIES and the even sillier ANIMATED SERIES that has eroded the novelty and entertainment value of the original HIGHLANDER movie.And now after recently watching the 1ST HIGHLANDER movie again after a long interval I feel that it has aged badly and reeks of campiness (even my dad who watched it for the first time thought it was silly that these people were still using swords in the present age instead of using modern guns and explosives!!)And this is where HIGHLANDER II triumphs.
And there is a genuine sense of warmth and comraderie between Connery and Lambert's characters in this film that never appeared in the original HIGHLANDER movie.It is a pity that the producers never continued with the ZEIST storyline in the other sequels even though HIGHLANDER II was the most successful film of the series.I would recommend the new RENEGADE version over the old QUICKENNING version as it has more footage and action and less of the harsh editing that permeated the older version.All in all HIGHLANDER II is the best of the series regardless of what some fans say (it is because of these fans that the Saga has been dragged out in the form of the stupid 3RD/ 4TH films and the sad TV and animated series.)At least HIGHLANDER II like the 1ST is an ORIGINAL film!!!.
It's not Christopher Lambert or Russell Mulcahy's fault the original sucked so stop blaming them.The Special Edition was much better than the theatrical version with longer fight scenes, better sounds, and the storyline where immortals are aliens is removed completely.
Somehow like in Blade Runner, and that kind of movies: dark streets, rain, depressed people, technology, giant firm, activists (in a good sense), who try to fight against them, etc.Weak parts are many, for me the superficiality of the story is the biggest.
The story is simple, but even in this situation, due to the "short scenes", you ask yourself: "WHAT was that, and WHY happened that?" The execution of the visual part of this dark future world is very nice, but the lack of a coherent and progressing story is a bit painful.The performance of the actors are sufficient, good performances, just maybe Michael Ironside overacted a bit his role in some scenes.So, everything at all: I know, that this film has a lot of disadvantages compared with Highlander I, and does not meet many fans expectations, but I think, that it isn't as bad, as lot of people says.If you like cyberpunk, and you doesn't wait too much things from the Highlander I - just watch this movie in itself, don't relate too much to the first part - then I think it's a fair good movie, even more than a Watch-it-Once..
Its astonishing that they checked out those dailies and still made the film.Ebert - "If there is a planet somewhere whose civilization is based on the worst movies of all time, "Highlander 2: The Quickening" deserves a sacred place among their most treasured artifacts.".
Probably the biggest contradiction to the first film in this movie is that Connor and Ramirez are from another planet called Zeist in Highlander 2.
There is so many things I could have said about this movie but to sum this up Highlander 2: The Quickening is a laughable sequel that's very entertaining if you don't take it too seriously.
It's arguably better, but...I like how some people think that the Planet Zeist makes the whole thing impossible to be in the Highlander world, but guys in jet packs with ray guns arriving via time travel from "The Distant Past" somehow, someway, fits in with the Highlander continuity.
This version makes a lot more sense and follows the plot of the first Highlander film a lot more closely.
If you have not seen this movie please do.It is a good action story with Sean Connery great as always..
Even if it doesn't really fit in here, in the Highlander series.The fights are about the same as the first movie, but the villain doesn't seem to do enough bad things.
The director's cut of this entertaining sequel to the original Highlander(1986) is the best way to see the film.
3. 19 minutes of the film was cut, leaving gaping plot holes.Recently the director (Mulcahy) and producer (Panzer) using their own money completed the film and edited it back together following the original story boards and script.
The best improvement is that the movie now does not look out of place within the trilogy.The original version (Quickening) should only be viewed to bare witness to how studio executives have now idea what film making is about.
- HOWEVER - If you are able to watch the Highlander 2: Renegade version of this movie, you will be watching a completely different movie.Finally with this director's cut, Russell Mulcahy is able to get his hands back onto the film which was rightfully his but wrongfully snatched at the time of it's initial release.
There are no references to that confusing "Planet Zeist", there is no reference to 'The Quickening' and everything is credible in regards to this being a sequel to the original.Sean Connery's return makes sense, as does The Highlander's origins.
Even the sequels that followed weren't as good as the first one, nor the tv series both animated and live action didn't live up to the classic highlander movie from 1986 that is easily watchable in american and european versions with the Queen soundtrack.
The Kurgan may have been vanquished - remember decapitation is the only way to be killed if you are a highlander, but now they are more foes to conquer in an even more hostile world.This film starred: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery & Michael Ironside.Highlander 2 is that bad, it makes Highlander look like a sold 10/10 film that should go down in history as one of the best films ever.
The rest of the sketchy plot basically has a new breed of Immortal trying to gain supremacy and draw MacLeod, along with his friend and mentor Ramirez (Sean Connery) into a final battle to the death.A film that enjoyed the level of success that Highlander did was destined for a sequel at some point, even if it was five years later, but this is a sequel that appears unsure as to what it's predesessor was even about, instead giving the plot a post-apocalyptic Blade Runner type angle that doesn't fit in with the time travel theme the original was stabbing at.
How Sean Connery could be in this movie is beyond me..and his apperance is just stupid.Michael Ironside is "good" in his role..especially in the scene with the train.
The Renegade Version (Director's Cut) is a watchable but bad film.
I cannot conceive why Connery or Lambert agreed to make this movie.If Highlander II had been written as a discrete work without its sequel-status it would have most-likely have gone straight to video.
It would actually have been better received had there never BEEN an original film and it just been released as say THE QUICKENING?I don't know how many of you are aware of the existence of the cobbled-together amended re-shoot known as HIGHLANDER 2: (The Renegade version)THE DIRECTOR'S CUT.
I didn't put it in any context with the original Highlander movie, but took it as it own film and as a comedy.
Perhaps Burton's 'Planet of the Apes' is the first movie that brings back that old feeling, with the space station introduction.Another thing that is great about 'Highlander II' is Sean Connery's performance, which brings fun to the story for a second time.
This is the worst sequel in movie history (I also said that for Jaws The Revenge and The Crow:City Of Angels I can't decide which one I hate the most)Not even Sean Connery can save this turkey!!!Sure it had problems with the insurance company etc but how could anyone think that a movie that totally rewrites the history of the characters would make money this is bad plain and simple I can't think of one nice thing to say about it oh wait yes I can Michael Ironside is in it and as always he plays a great tough guy role.Thats it the only redeeming feature of this stinker.Avoid it at all costs,The Renegade version is only a little better but makes the story incoherent.
In 1986, Russell Mulcahy made a great film called Highlander, about a group of human immortals, fighting, over a period of 500 years, to become The One. Five years later, the sequel bell rang, and this movie is what Mulcahy came up with. |
tt0138946 | The Yards | Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) rides the subway to his mother's house in Queens, New York, where she throws a surprise party in honor of his parole. His cousin Erica (Charlize Theron) is at the party with her boyfriend Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix). Willie takes Leo aside and thanks him for serving time in prison, implying that Leo had taken a fall for their gang of friends.
Leo is eager to find a job to support his mother (Ellen Burstyn), who has a heart condition. Willie suggests working for Erica's stepfather Frank Olchin (James Caan).
The next day, at the railway car repair company Frank owns, Leo is encouraged to enter a 2-year machinist program and Frank offers to help finance his studies. Needing to work right away, Leo asks about working with Willie for the company but Frank discourages that idea. Leo is advised by Willie not to worry about it, saying Frank tried to get him into a machinist program as well.
At Brooklyn Borough Hall, Willie explains how corrupt the contract system is for repair work on the subway. After a hearing to award contracts, Willie is approached by Hector Gallardo (Robert Montano) about leaving Frank's firm for his. Willie brushes him off, taking Leo with him to Roosevelt Island, where he bribes an official in charge of awarding contracts.
One night, Willie takes Leo to a rail yard, where he and a gang sabotage the work of Gallardo's firm in order to lower their quality rating and lessen their ability to get contracts. Leo is told to stand watch while the crew sabotages the train couplings. Willie heads into the yard master's office to pay him off with Knicks tickets, but is told to get his crew off the tracks, Gallardo having brought him $2,000 in cash. The yard master sounds the alarm, which draws a police officer. Terrified of returning to jail, Leo tries to run. When the cop begins to hit Leo with his night stick, Leo beats him into unconsciousness. As he runs off, he sees Willie kill the yard master.
With the cop in a coma at a hospital, the crew tells Leo that he must murder the officer to prevent him from identifying Leo when he wakes up. If the cop lives, Leo's the one who will be killed. Leo flees. When the cop awakes, he identifies Leo as his attacker, triggering a broad manhunt. The police assume Leo is also responsible for the yard master's murder. When they raid his mother's apartment, she has a heart attack, leaving her in an even weaker state.
Even though Willie has told him to lay low, Leo emerges from hiding to visit his sick mother. Erica is tending to her. She finds out Willie was with him at the yards and realizes it was Willie who actually killed the yard master. She breaks off their engagement.
Erica implores her stepfather Frank to help, but instead Leo realizes that Frank is prepared to kill him. Out of options, Leo turns to Gallardo for protection. With Gallardo's lawyers at his side, Leo turns himself in at a public hearing into the rail yard incident and contract corruption. Realizing that the injured cop's testimony against Leo is in no one's interest, Frank and Gallardo negotiate a new split of the contracts with the Queens Borough President (Steve Lawrence) in a backroom deal.
After being disowned by Frank and unsuccessfully trying to accept a deal offered to him earlier by Gallardo for protection, which Leo had already accepted, unbeknownst to Willie, Willie goes to see Erica, trying to win her back. Frank has told him that Erica and Leo had been in love when they were younger, and once were caught having sex. Fearful of his temper and jealousy, Erica triggers the silent house alarm. Willie tries to embrace her, but as she pulls away, he accidentally throws Erica off the second floor landing, causing her to fall to her death. Outside the house, he surrenders to the police, who have responded to the alarm, and cries in remorse and guilt for Erica's death as he is cuffed and taken away.
Police enter the hearing to inform Erica's mother Kitty (Faye Dunaway) and stepfather Frank of the incident at the house, and the discovery of Erica's body.
After his stepdaughter's funeral, Frank takes Leo aside to promise help in the future. After turning away in muted disgust, Leo joins the grieving Kitty and the rest of the family in an embrace of support. Leo then leaves Queens on the elevated train.
(Note: A non-director's cut of the film ended with Leo testifying against Frank and his company, rejecting the deal. The version currently available on the Miramax DVD in the US is the director's cut.) | romantic, murder | train | wikipedia | That is precisely what I liked about it, and in all likelihood, it is the reason that it foundered on the market.Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) is just returning home from prison on a car theft conviction when the movie opens.
With sinister intent, Uncle Frank wants to find him first so he won't blow the lid on the crooked dealings.The story, written and directed by James Gray, delves into various character studies that bog down at times.
The excellent cast gives "The Yard" a true flavor of the perverse nature of favoritism from Faye Dunaway and James Caan to Ellen Burstyn and Charlize Theron (in a surprisingly youthful dark mascara look).
Everything seems to be going fine until Leo Handler (Wahlberg) gets out of prison and enters into the dark business himself, his presence will trigger a series of events that will rock their dangerous world.Leo finds that his aunt (Dunaway) has married one of the biggest contractors, Frank Olchin (Caan).
By the end I really didn't care what happened, because I didn't know the characters and didn't care how the plot was resolved.Basically "The Yards" tells the story of Leo, a working class young man who returns home from a stint in prison to his ailing mother.
And along the way, there's a hundred and one subplots.This movie had some nice moments, and great acting, but it can't rise above a script that tries to pack too much plot into too little time..
Or, more likely, if the painting weren't so excellently rendered, you wouldn't be able to point out the scarf, or the squirrel, or any of the finer details.Like this painting, we have "The Yards," a story centering on Leo Handler (Wahlberg), freshly released from prison and trying to look after himself and his mother.
Although the cinematography certainly nods towards Coppolla's epic, particularly the dark brooding interiors, this is a less self-consciously grandiose drama, more an intimate study in betrayal.The chief protagonist is Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) a young man returning home after a spell in prison.
As is obligatory in such tales, he is intent on going straight, but finds himself lured by his smooth-operating buddy Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) into the semi-legitimate business operations of his step-uncle Frank Olchin (James Caan).Frank is finding it increasingly tough to win subway contracts, due to competition from rival Hispanic firms, who are being aided by preferential treatment policies for minorities.
Nepotism and friendship soon evaporate when their is a murder to be explained, and Leo must fend for himself if he is not to take the fall.The film provides an intriguing look into a sordid and incestuous community in which family and business interests intertwine, with connections, favours and dirty tricks being the accepted way of getting things done.
Without him in The Yards, the movie wouldn't have gone anywhere even though Mark, Faye, James and Charlize did well in their performances.
We've seen these folks before in other movies, but we're still moved because we might have made worse choices still in their shoes.Leo (Wahlberg's character) returns from prison to a great welcome home.
Writer/Director James Gray keeps us in the mood, spending just enough time letting us glimpse the hard choices that everyone makes...and to see why they choose poorly over and over again.We want Leo to choose the clean life, but we can see why he doesn't (and why we might not in his shoes).
Mind you: he's done a better job than other corruption-and-politics movies, but it still feels a bit like a cop-out (you should pardon the expression).Despite the ending, it's a great film.
Maybe Gray does organize the filming of it a bit conventionally, and maybe the script is a little orthodox, but it's the actual story of The Yards that makes it truly a great film about the decadence of a once-happy family.
I think that overall, Gray's directing is very professionally done, and even though the way it begins and ends may not seem very original, the actual story of the film, in my opinion, is very original and witty..
While director James Gray's "Little Odessa" focused on ethnic crime in Brooklyn (specifically Russians in Brighton Beach, for Tim Roth's best performance 'til that time), "The Yards" is Queens par excellence.While the lack of NYC accents causes a bit of suspended belief, the strong acting and devastating screenplay by Gray and Matt Reeves more than compensate.The depiction of NYC corruption is heads and tails above Sidney Lumet's "City Hall," here with demonstrations of how family and ethnicity get very intermingled in NYC politics.
He put out some great performances that year, and this one should not be overlooked.It shows the seedy underbelly of politics and city contracts, but it is more important in the study of friendship and how sometimes you can never really fit in.Willie (Phoenix) and Leo (Mark Wahlberg) are friends, but when it comes down to the wire that friendship is expendable as Willie is trying to forget his Hispanic background and fit in with White power in the city.
Those who like their films incredibly dreary, with most of the cast mumbling or whispering their lines, will revel in the mind-numbingly tedious film that is The Yards.Wahlberg is as wooden as he usually is (and sports his trademark 'bad hair'), and the rest of the cast do the best they can with the script, but lets face it, with a topic as scintillating as this, they never really stood much of a chance, did they?If I were to write any more about this movie, it would be a waste of my time and yours..
Charlize Theron shows some of the skill that would eventually lead to an Oscar as the naïve cousin caught in a family of liars and cheaters, never knowing who she can really turn to for help, and Faye Dunaway brings a nice performance, in a small role, culminating into a heart-wrenching final moment with Wahlberg at the ending funeral, so perfect in its simplicity and a great culmination of everything that has gone on.I must conclude with some props to the director as well.
Having become a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix after seeing his wonderful performance in 'Gladiator' I eagerly awaited to see his next film The Yards, and was not disappointed with it one bit.
Not exactly, but somewhat in the "Godfather" genre' of story and cultural scenario, it's not really the sort of movie I would be inclined to become interested in, but the cast is so strong, I had to at least give it a shot.Joaquin Phoenix and James Caan delivered their characters about as perfectly as could be done in the context of the story.
The Yards, through its magical use of music, powerhouse acting (even virtual bit-parts are filled by Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn) and lingering, deliberate camera-work, particularly concerning characters' faces, is a triumph of mood over plot.
Some brilliant acting, James Caan was brilliant as Mark Wahlbergs corrupt Uncle, He was kind but still sometimes quite scary, is a threatening kinda way.
The true story that really caught my interest was between Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron, both Oscar winning actors who again can hold their own in a film and separate themselves from the rest.
In the independent cinema,there's a space for expressing ideas and conflicts by an excellent work of screenplay,brilliant performances and great direction.The yards is an independent movie which has all of that things.Director James Gray never goes by the easy way in showing the glamour of crime and he never shows the characters as anti-heroes trapped by the circumstances.Gray shows characters 100% human without villains or heroes.The violence is not cool:it's real and the consequences do not have an escape.Mark Wahlberg brings an excellent performanes,but Joaquin Phoenix steals the show.He makes a brilliant performance on every movie he participates(including this one,obviously).The only fail I found on this movie is that the ending resolves the conflict very easily.But I can excuse that fail when the movie is so good like this one.The yards is a very competent noir movie which tells a simple but deep story..
The characters were presented as they might easily appear in real life.The story line is of Leo (Wahlberg) who just gets out of prison on parole and looks to his uncle (Caan) to get a job so he can support himself and his mom.
THE YARDS (2000) **1/2 Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, James Caan, Charlize Theron, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Victor Argo, Steve Lawrence, Andrew Davoli, Tony Musante, Tomas Milian.Cross-section of 'On The Waterfront' and 'Cop Land' urban rot and corruption drama that reeks of a Sydney Lumet melodrama: Wahlberg is a recently released con who winds up neck deep in trouble with self-made businessman Caan and his loose cannon lieutentant and Wahlberg's best friend Phoenix which leads to murder, double-crossing and ultimately redemption at a severe cost.
Excellent cast goes through the motions in this overly familiar terrain of gangsters and a plot line lifted from any James Cagney Warner Bros.' flick/morality play (which is not an insult).What the film lacks in originality makes up with fine turns by all especially Phoenix whose dark side gets the best of him.
Although well paced and featuring top talents such as Mark Whalberg, Charlize Theron and Joaquin Pheonix this James Gray directed film falls short.
I would have liked to have issued a "7" to The Yards, because of its credible, accessible, taut story and excellent acting and cast, but the ending was lack-luster.
The movie deserved a better ending than the unconvincing testimony of Wahlberg's character (Leo Handler) at the final scene's hearing.
It refers to New York City's railroad yards, where subway trains are maintained.Written (with Matt Reeves) and directed by James Gray, the story follows very familiar tracks.
Thematically bracketing the opening, the "theatrical version" version is superior to the "director's cut".****** The Yards (4/27/00) James Gray ~ Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan.
Unfortunately, the people I was working with didn't listen and didn't get the job, which I think is still going to this day.The Yards is a very good, modern crime drama that gives some insight into a world most people know little about, the big time awarding of public contracts in Eastern urban centers.
This is not a flashy story about car chases and big explosions, because usually things like that have nothing whatsoever to do with organized crime or professional criminals, the guys who get hired to torch failing restaurants or factories, or in this case, to wreck some subway cars to help somebody win a contract.The film should be seen for this reason alone.It should also be viewed to see some very first rate acting all around.
Hats off to Mark Wahlberg and Jauquin Phoenix as the two young punks caught up in this world, and to Ellen Bursten, Faye Dunaway, James Caan and even Steve Lawrence (yes, that Steve Lawrence) playing either concerned parents or corrupt public officials trying to protect their own.Also, hats off to director James Gray for both his part in the script and his work behind the camera.
Excellent acting from a fine young cast - Wahlberg, Theron and Phoenix as well as from a few old veterans - James Caan, Burstyn and Dunaway.
The performances are uniformly strong, with James Caan, Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg particularly effective; and what director James Gray has done with Joaquin Phoenix, is nothing less than astonishing.
James Gray working for the third time with Whalberg,chose to give the best part to Phoenix.After collaborating in Fear(1996) and The Corrupter(1999),filmmaker Gray reunites with Whalberg to turn up quite an exeptional little drama ,aquiring great performances from Phoenix,Caan,Theron and Bursting but when came time for Whalberg to act he turned a dull,forgettable performance.Still,if you liked Grey's At Close Range(1985) don't miss The Yards..
It requires real work on the part of the audience which then has the reward of leaving the theater knowing that they have had to exercise their brains, been touched in their emotions, and will have memories of how corruption and greed affected the lives of several true-to-life characters.Those who go to the theater expecting to sit passively and watch explosions, special effects, mind boggling dialogue that expresses nothing should confine themselves to the exploitation films that are among us every week.But for those who want in cinema what they find in Opera, music, and reading of fine literature will see this movie as a work of art.
Now it is on, though, and it was well worth the wait.The film concentrates on ex-convict Leo (Mark Wahlberg), a pretty dumb (`I'm not too good with words') but normal member of the Handler family, a family that includes his longtime friend Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix), cousin Erica (Charlize Theron) and corrupt Uncle Frank (James Caan), the latter being head of the company that controls most of the NY railways.
There are elements of The Godfather, of course, and like all these films, the story is one of a whole family caught up in the dirty business of, no, not narcotics or booze, but the slightly less illustrious world of control over the New York subway.
The narrative structure is pretty classic, but the film has all the things that, taken together, make up a great movie: subtle script, superb performances, music, lighting, editing etc.
All the cast put in strong performances, particularly James Caan and Faye Dunaway (one of the few times she hasn't turned to her cheekbones for support).Themes of the film are skilfully emphasised by the director's use of light, in particular where Leo is sent in to kill the policeman.
There are other, similar examples all through the film.I would say from watching this that James Gray has got at least one truly great movie in him.
the yards may suffer from a script that isn't as original as it is supposed to be,but some really great piece of acting from mark wahlberg and the rest of the cast gives a great force to the movie.
There are a ton of better organized crime dramas out there and this one is only taking a retarded pot shot at a genre it is too clumsily slow and stupid to dominate.This is a dull minded script that bears no resemblance to entertainment, drama, or reality so it fails at hitting whatever it was trying to accomplish.There are a couple of places in the movie where the plot picks up a bit and I woke up and was like- oh yeah, they were saving something good for the end yayyyy...
Other various family members include Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway and Charlize Theron while singer Steve Lawrence turns up as one of the corrupt officials.
When a strong-arm operation goes wrong, ending in a killing, things go downhill very quickly for everyone concerned.On the surface, James Gray's movie might read like any other crime drama but this magnificent film is much more complex and intelligent and the relationships between the characters are beautifully delineated and totally believable, (even a fight sequence looks like the kind of fight that would happen in real life and not in the movies).
Superbly written by Gray and co-scenarist Matt Reeves and brilliantly acted by everyone, (Wahlberg is particularly good), "The Yards" has all the makings of a bona-fide American classic and is certainly one of the best American films of the last 20 years and yet it wasn't really that big a success and today is virtually forgotten.
Mark Wahlberg is a young man who recently was released from jail having taken a rap for all of his friends involved in a crime.He wants badly to turn over a new leaf and his uncle James Caan who has a business maintaining the subway cars offers him work.
How it all works out is a typical New York City story.Big Kudos for Mark Wahlberg in this one and some recognition for Joaquin Phoenix playing another one who gets in way over his head.
There's a stretch of about ten minutes in the first act of this film during which it looks like it's going to try to present a realistic picture of corruption in business, which could've been pretty interesting.
This is the kind of movie that feels like it's at least 1/3 padding; Charlize Theron in particular has almost no reason to be in the movie other than to provide "emotional" moments that I think are supposed to be some kind of "character development." All the pointless go-nowhere scenes aren't helped by the general lack of interesting dialogue or (despite a decent cast that is mostly solid) performances.
The rest of the cast includes people like Faye Dunaway, James Caan, Charlize Theron, and Joaquin Phoenix.
The acting is superb during this film especially from Mark Whalberg ,James Caan and Joaquin Phoenix who make this film very watchable which is important because it is a little long considering the story.
Unfortunately, he's pulled into the underworld of the business and ends up on the run, suspected of assaulting a police officer and murdering a yard worker.I say this movie has a dark plot because of the sidelines along the way: Wahlberg's relationship with his mother, Caan's roll as the sub contractor (seems like he's trying to revive his role in "The Godfather") and the relationship between Theron's dark character and just about everyone in the movie, except maybe her step-father (Caan).Although practically unknown at the time, the cast has more promise in them than what I felt was shown in this film.
I don't doubt that it was better than Mark Wahlberg's next movie (the very unnecessary "Planet of the Apes" remake), but he and co-stars Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan and Faye Dunaway have all done much better than this. |
tt0810895 | Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms | The film starts in the middle of an unspecified mission which sees Hellboy, Liz Sherman and Abe Sapien battling bat-worshipping Mayan zombies who are led by a gigantic zombie bat. The group are eventually able to defeat their opponents when Liz unleashes her pyrokinetic powers, although she is still unsure of her ability to control her powers.
Meanwhile, Japanese folklore expert Professor Sakai obtains an ancient scroll containing the myth of two demonic brothers, Thunder and Lightning. Hundreds of years ago, the brothers roamed the earth, unleashing storms on the lands of a Japanese Lord. In exchange for mercy, the Lord promised to give them his beautiful daughter. One of the Lord's samurai warriors was in love with the daughter and hid her in a shrine to protect her. Armed with the Sword of Storms, a mystical sword imbued with an ancient spell to defeat Thunder and Lightning, the warrior fought the brothers and trapped both demons' spirits in the sword. Although his lands and daughter had been saved, the Lord was not pleased since the warrior's actions meant the Lord had broken a promise. In an act of vengeance, the Lord summoned the gods to turn the warrior to stone and then killed his daughter in the shrine.
In current-day Japan, Professor Sakai is possessed by the spirits of Thunder and Lightning while reading the scroll. The demonic brothers send the professor in search of the mystical sword. After he attacks the sword collector who currently owns the sword, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense is alerted and Hellboy, Kate Corrigan, and a psychic named Russell Thorne are called in with a team to investigate. During the investigation, Hellboy picks up a discarded katana and vanishes to another dimension that is reminiscent of ancient Japan. Hellboy meets a wise kitsune, who tells him that the sword he holds is the Sword of Storms and that the goal of his journey lies to the west. Hellboy travels through the alternate universe and learns that he can only return to his own world by breaking the sword, although that will also free the demonic brothers. Along the way Hellboy encounters several mythical Yōkai, sent by the still possessed Professor Sakai, who try to steal the sword from him, including the kappa, a trio of rokurokubi, a group of nukekubi, a Jorōgumo, Gashadokuro, tengu, Yomotsu-shikome, and the restless ghost of the Lord's daughter. Hellboy is able to outsmart or defeat all of them.
Meanwhile, Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman are called to the sites of disturbing earthquakes and discover that Thunder and Lightning are summoning their brothers, the dragons. They meet the same kitsune who guided Hellboy and are instructed to stop the dragons. One of the dragons attacks them but Liz manages to hold it back using her pyrokinetic abilities.
Professor Sakai, in the meantime, has gone to the shrine where the Lord killed his daughter, followed by Kate and Russell who have just survived an attack by several objects from Japanese folklore. At the same time, Hellboy is tricked into destroying the sword by the giant Oni (who faded away before the final blow can be struck) which releases Thunder and Lightning, frees Professor Sakai, and sends Hellboy to the shrine as well. Hellboy eventually manages to trap both spirits in the sword again. As a result, the dragons are sealed back into the underworld. The ghosts of the daughter and the Lord possess Kate and Russell, in order to replay the daughter's execution. Hellboy accidentally frees the ghost of the samurai warrior from its stone form and then convinces the Lord to forgive his daughter and the warrior, thereby breaking the cycle of their unending deaths. The spirits depart, thankful to Hellboy and the others for helping them. | violence | train | wikipedia | This cartoon version did a great job of bringing the feel of the comic to life, and as a bonus, Ron Perlman and Selma Blair from the movie version do the vocal work of their characters, respectively Hellboy and Liz Sherman.
I was also pleasantly surprised to see that Doug Jones, who played Abe Sapien in the film but did not get to voice his character, which was done nicely by David Hyde Pierce, actually provides the voice for Abe Sapien here, and does a great job, too.
The story is good, and much like the comic, focuses on the paranormal aspects of myth and folktale, in this case involving a Japanese sword.
If you like either the comics or the movie, you should check it out, and if you like stories involving the paranormal a la the X-Files, you may very well love Hellboy, who brings a neat twist to investigating the paranormal..
The latest incarnation of the Mike Mignola's once underground, now seemingly omnipresent and unstoppable, comic book masterpiece, 'Hellboy', now comes into the world of animation.
The first of the several planned animated films, 'The Sword of Storms' takes Hellboy and drops him in a fantasy world of Japanese folklore.
Ron Perlman has now become the de facto voice of Hellboy, and if this ever becomes an animated series, his presence will be crucial for its success.
Some of these action sequences are great fun but it all gets repetitive so that the overall effect is episodic and only occasionally compelling (I'm going to mention "Heads" again here that segment is excellent).
The other half of the film deals with Abe and Liz, but they are not given much to do, and their action sequences are nowhere near as interesting as Hellboy's.
Hell-No. I get the feeling that this "Hellboy Animated" movie only materialised to cash in on the popularity of the live action movie.This seems to be a prequel to the first Hellboy movie, but it lacks the sense of grandeur that the first, or Golden Army, had.
It feels like a "just another day on the job" accounting of one of Hellboy's more interesting paranormal cases, which in this case involves a plot by some Japanese demons to enslave the world and the key to stopping them lie in the form of an ancient Samurai Blade.
The plot weaves in and out, cutting between Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman responding to some anomaly in the ocean, 2 BPRD agents tracking down a possessed Professor and Hellboy lost in the Japanese backwoods with the Samurai Sword.
There is a romantic subplot involving an ancient samurai and his ghostly lover but it is not like the romance in the live action movie, more closer to Saturday morning cartoon style of romantic relationships.
One would think that Mike Mignola's streamlined art style, minimalist colouring and dark, grim and quirky visuals form the comic book would be easy to adapt to animation.
They were able to capture Mignola's art style perfectly with "The Amazing Screw On Head" that was released a month earlier from Hellboy Animated.
The movie captures the quirkiness of the comics very well and the actors from the film reprise their roles, lending to the feel of continuity.
If you can get pass the overall under-budgeted look and cheap-o feel of the animation then make your way through one mess of a story smelling like cheese, you got a really entertaining animated movie on your hands.
Live action translates perfectly into animation in this feature-length Hellboy adventure.
A lot of animated spin-offs in the past have proved to be just as good when taken seriously by the makers (Animatrix, Spider-Man) but, in my opinion, Hellboy: Sword of Storms was good enough for a theatrical release.
Don't expect 'saturday morning' style animation here.If you are seriously into Hellboy or even if you are just a casual fan of the movie then you totally have to get this.
Despite having most of the same voice actors, don't come into this movie expecting it to be a translation of the live film.Artistically, it's pretty great stuff.
Animation's kinda choppy in places, but nothing too bad.I kinda wish the script and voice acting really stepped up to plate; despite its efforts there was only one line in the whole film I really laughed at.
Not a fan of this animation style, the proportions between the character were way off from the movie and the voice acting was terrible.
It was a nice touch to use some of the same voice actors from the films, but when the actors don't give a great performance in live action what makes them think there voice work will be better.
But if this is really a better representation of the comic books then I'll just stick to the live action movies..
Not being a fan of the Hellboy franchise I might be a bit bias here but I gave this animated effort a go and walked away rather unimpressed.First of all I was struck how childish it all was, this is closer to a Saturday morning cartoon than an anime or anything of Hellboys general demographic.Thankfully the full movie cast do in fact reprise their roles which certainly gets it points.The story however gets few, being an over convoluted tale of Japanese demons trapped within a samurai sword.The fanbase is clearly there, writing this in 2017 and people are still pining for a third movie.I'd say this is one for the Hellboy fans and the Hellboy fans alone.The Good: Original cast The Bad: Liz & Abe look weird Story simply isn't very good Weirdly "Kiddie" Things I Learnt From This Movie:Nothing, I just had it reconfirmed that I find Hellboy a bit of a bore.
Supposedly only 75 minutes long, but it feels nearly twice that, Sword of Storms is exactly what you don't want the Hellboy movie to be.
It manages the trifecta of bad animated movies, to wit:1.) Bad Voice-Acting - Someone apparently told Selma Blair to growl all her lines (deadpan), and while Perlman and Doug Jones were great, they weren't enough to make up for the rest of the straight-to-video players.
I really don't need to hear Phil Lamarr do his stock suburban white kid voice ever again.2.) Clunky, Boring Animation - I can accept that the native Hellboy style probably wouldn't work in an animated movie, but why would you go with this?
I wouldn't be surprised if Sword of Storms shares an animation studio with Ultimate Avengers, it's crap.3.) More minutes than story - There's a gigantic lull in this movie, worse than any Bond Film, nestled neatly between the beginning and end.
not quite as sweet as the movie, but pretty darn close- should definitely appease fans of the comic book.
Hellboy: Sword of Storms is in the quality of animation no more or less the standard one might see on the average program on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network, of course).
Hellboy gets swept up this time in a pretty convoluted (or just seems that way, turns out it's actually painfully simplistic in terms of the Japanese folklore played out as drama), with monsters and demons all under the control of a sword that if broken spells doom for the Earth.
As usual he does his job well at whacking around creatures like a big turtle/lizard creature, and at the start even tackles a big beast that, until Liz- as kind of a running un-funny gag- blazes fire all over the place till the job's done- but that's not all.This time the supernatural is accentuated in the world of what is a cross between Noh theater and, well, the average Hellboy comic-book.
I also liked the little asides with the talking fox, the old lady, and of course the big-ass demons, who allow one or two quips from Hellboy as he has to tackle them any way possible.
On top of the fighting heads, there's a crazy possessed researcher, which in and of itself could make an interesting issue in the comics.Only the conventions of the story (the psychic has been seen in countless permutations of the annoying side character who's only there for moments of sudden exposition for another side character who isn't as annoying; plus the ending with the Japanese ghosts going through a redemption moment) drag the film really downward.
Animation is nice, with some visual ingenuity and use of colors to set tone(this is effective at being creepy, at establishing mood and at very sharp turns in our perception of something as a positive or negative presence) if nothing terribly creative about the camera-work and editing(considering the possibilities, when one doesn't have the laws of physics that constrict live features).
The DVD comes with slightly longer extras put together than the picture itself: An informational commentary track by Mike Mignola, Tad Stones, Phil Weinstein, and interesting featurettes: 42 and a half minute Keepers of Hellboy(the first scene of the film, then a panel of the creators of this at a con), To Hell & Back(10 minutes), Conquering Hellboy: The Actor's Role(6 and a half minutes), View From The Top(5 and a half minutes), A New Breed(5 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Tail Spin(3 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Samurai Songs(3 minutes), Hellboy Goes East: Prop Prefecture(2 and a half minutes) and Hellboy Goes East: Origins(2 and a half minutes).
The present experiment was designed as filler before the 2008 release of The Golden Army, and perhaps to probe audience interest in a longer-running animated spin-off.After a nifty prologue introducing our redesigned protagonists - Hellboy has hoofs again, as in the comic - charges forth with an adventure encompassing Medieval Japan and a mystic sword, blending several genres with an ease that does the source material justice.
Retaining the film's voice cast also gives this a sense of legitimacy and continuity.The story and tone might put off some newcomers, but kudos to the producers for defending Hellboy's acquired taste status.
So I wasn't surprised when I liked Sword of Storms better, but it was still sorely lacking.While I like that Hellboy got to swear occasionally, and I love the dialog, a lot of this movie seemed to fail to live up to the award-winning style and substance of Hellboy as a comic book.
The dialog seemed very forced in some places, like the voice actors were just reading lines and not interested in the characters at all.Some of the little "episodes" that Hellboy goes through, though, are enjoyable.
Liz Sherman woes about being pyknotic, the psychic guy is thoroughly annoying, and the big bad demons at the end are more reminiscent of stereotypical anime theme villains than actual threats to the world.
to me,this is animated Hellboy feature is a mixed bag.firstly, i thought the story was pretty slow.the concept was interesting,but it didn't translate well onto the screen.some of the animation was pretty good,and some of it was pretty poor.the fight scenes were pretty good,i'll admit,and there were some funny bits.the voice acting was good,but it should be,since the same a lot of the actors in the live action features are in this one.i also found that the story,in addition to not being that interesting,was overly complicated and got bogged down quite a bit.there are some things which don't really seem to have context,and could have been left out.still,it wasn't anywhere near the worst movie i've seen.for me,Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms is a 5/10.
"Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms"- A fun little diversion that entertains Hellboy fans and newcomers alike despite admittedly having some big flaws..
The first of two animated features starring the big, red demon- turned- good-guy himself, "Sword of Storms" is a fun little diversion for fans of action and adventure, and for that kid inside all of us.
Though it most certainly isn't without its own series of flaws and issues that holds it just a bit shy of being fantastic.Featuring voice-over work by cast-members of the two big-screen Hellboy flicks and featuring producers Guillermo del Toro (director of the live-action movies) and Mike Mignola (original creator of the character), this is definitely a worthy way to expand the overall media franchise.
Especially when combined with the talents of director Tad Stones (creator of "Darkwing Duck" and producer/director/storyboard artist on numerous other cartoon productions), who is a great fit for the material.While investigating a new case with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is magically transported to a mystical kingdom populated with various monsters, creatures and forces straight out of Japanese folklore.
While fellow agents Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) and Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) try to solve the mysteries at-hand, Hellboy must battle through this strange new world in order to get home and help his allies stop a much larger threat.While it is decidedly far more friendly towards older children and young teens than the comics or big-screen adaptations ever were, it's still a fairly appealing movie and even as someone in his late 20's, I still eat it up whenever I pop in my copy.
It may be a bit too intense for particularly younger kids (I wouldn't really recommend it or its follow-up to anyone under 8, personally), but it's still something that I think the whole family could get a kick out of.The voice-over work is quite good and helps usher in audiences familiar with the live-action films, particularly Ron Perlman, who I'm convinced could play Hellboy in his sleep.
(It's a role he was born to play, though he tragically has only had the chance to play him a handful of times between the films and animated features.) Blair and Jones are also a lot of fun.Though don't be confused- this is definitely a new "continuity" and "canon" and isn't a direct follow-up to the movies.
(As creator Mike Mignola has been pretty adamant that any adaptations across different media do their own thing and reinterpret his characters in new ways.)The story is fun, many of the sequences are quirky and reminiscent of works like "Alice in Wonderland" or "Wizard of Oz", and it's very solidly directed.
Also, the score by Christopher Drake is very nice and I really appreciated that he incorporated some of the themes composed by Marco Beltrami for the original live-action movie.That being said, there are some flaws.
It's interesting because this could have been like that but there are some things holding it back too.It's difficult to say what time this installment of Hellboy takes place.
Just because it's not live-action doesn't mean the story can't continue from the events of the last movie.
Hellboy ends up being caught up in a mystical world where he has to find his way out and it takes up the majority of the movie.
This is where it feels slow - even for a little over 70 minutes.Another problem in this feature is the animation itself.
Dark and creepy cartoons are not as common among animation movies so that's a plus.For voice acting is definitely smart of the casting department to grab ahold of Ron Perlman and Selma Blair.
The same also should've gone for David Hyde Pierce who voiced Abe Sapien from the live-action run.
Nothing on Doug Jones who was the physical representation of Abe, but Pierce has always been the voice of scientific sounding characters.
When the live action movie came out I liked it, but thought it could've been a lot better.
This movie, however, gave me the "a lot better" that I was hoping for: really fun and interesting MYTHOLOGICAL story (with interesting little bits of cultural details like the comics always have); interestingly plotted story that cuts backward and forward in time in a smart and engaging way; lots of cool, scary bad guys; and better written dialog than I thought the live action had, including better one-liners from HB.I watched it with my six year old boy - checking in with him and explaining stuff if I felt nervous that he might be scared by anything in it - and he loved it too.
I think it a great HB movie for a wide age range - again, like the comics.The animation was sharp and detailed, but I kind of wished that the character designs and background work came closer to Mignola's originals.
i luckily(?) rented this movie, and tried to watch it but couldn't do this in chunks of any more than a few minutes at a time and did not make it to the end there were several reasons for this:-the voice overs were just absolutely rubbish.
The animation in this movie is nearly spot on but is still good in it's own way the story is nice and easy to follow and has some good action sequences that hellboy is famous for.
The designs for this movie look amazing even tho it's animation i really thought that those were really locations overall this is a good spin off film that really enjoyed watching..
This is a scientific fact; even the critics who disliked the 2004 live-action 'Hellboy' admitted that Perlman owned the screen.
So, now we have the animated 'Sword of Storms', and it's a great first outing in what I hope will become a regular series.Beginning with a great action sequence where Hellboy (Perlman again), fish-man Abe Sapien (voice of Doug Jones), and pyrokinetic Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) fight a giant bat god and some Mayan zombies, the film rockets towards Japan, where a professor has become possessed by the demons Thunder and Lightning.
Perlman once more owns the movie as the voice of Hellboy, and his laid-back attitude to all the weirdness surronding him is hilarious.
Doug Jones is very good as Abe Sapien; in the live-action film, an uncredited David Hyde-Pierce voiced Abe, and while Pierce did a good job, Jones brings an everyman likability to the role. |
tt2326087 | Girl Vs. Monster | The movie begins on the day before Halloween with Skylar, a fearless 15-year-old teenager with a powerful singing voice, prepares for the ultimate Halloween bash with her best friends, Henry and Sadie. The plan is for Skylar to sing at the party, with rock band member Ryan Dean. Skylar is crushed when the next afternoon, her parents make her stay home and even activate an alarm system to keep her in. She attempts to sneak out of the house by cutting the power so the alarm system won't work. That unfortunately unleashes a monster named Deimata (that was contained in her parents' monster containment unit) who is determined to feed the fear on Skylar and her family forever. As Skylar’s world is turned upside down, she learns that her parents have been keeping a big secret – that she comes from a long line of monster hunters. She is the 5th generation. Now, it’s up to Skylar and her friends to channel their inner strength and conquer more than just this monster. Every person has their own personal monster, which feeds on their fear.
Now that Deimata is loose, Skylar experiences all the fear she never had before and tries to deny what is happening. She, Sadie and Henry go, armed with Skylar's parents' monster-hunting tools, to the party at the McQuarry Mansion. But Henry becomes frozen in fear, after being scared by his monster. Cobb, her parents' assistant, comes and takes him back home to fix him. Meanwhile, Deimata lures Skylar's parents into a trap by pretending that Skylar is in trouble. After this, Myra, Skylar's rival, who is at home with a broken neck, is eating ice cream. Soon, the red smoke comes out and it transforms into Deimata. She then controls Myra and goes to the party where she publicly insults Skylar of being nervous to sing at Ryan's party and Sadie comforts Skylar after she runs out, embarrassed. A possessed Myra sings in Skylar's place and turns to Theodosia and Bob (Sadie and Henry's monsters). Myra falls downstairs after Deimata leaves Myra's body as Skylar and Sadie find her. Myra informs them about Deimata and how she can possess people- like she did with her. Skylar thanks her, and she and Sadie rush to save the people upstairs.
During a confrontation with his personal monster, a fixed and armed Henry learns that letting go of his fears will cause the monsters to disintegrate into nothing. He goes to the mansion to inform Skylar of this. So, she grabs the microphone and tells Ryan to grab his guitar and meet her outside. But, Deimata possesses Ryan to better discourage Skylar from facing her fears, but he manages to break free by facing his greatest fear: asking Skylar out. Skylar faces her fears and sings in front of everybody, while Ryan and his band performs as well. While Skylar sings, all the monsters vanish and Sadie also gathers the courage to stand up to Theodosia by spelling things she couldn't when she was a little girl. When all the monsters are all vanquished, Deimata comes and reveals she cannot be destroyed that way. She then reminds Skylar that she still has Skylar's parents in captivity, and Skylar rushes off to find them, with Sadie and Henry following behind with everybody especially Ryan and Myra watches them from a distance.
Skylar and her friends try to fight off Deimata, but she doesn't seem able to be stopped. Although Skylar has overcome her fear, she soon realizes Deimata is still feeding off of her parents' fears—about Skylar's safety. Once Skylar gets her parents to trust her, Deimata is weakened and the three friends defeat her and capture her. At the end of the movie, Henry and Sadie are shown having no fear by doing what they are scared about doing the most. Later that day, Skylar and Ryan sing at Ryan's party in his basement. Myra becomes friends with Skylar. However, in a post-credits scene, Deimata blows on the glass in the hunting unit, cracking it and we hear it break as Deimata's laugh is heard one last time, hinting at a sequel. | horror | train | wikipedia | gag me with a spoon.
The kindest thing you could say about this mess is that the budget was too low so they had to take shortcuts.Unfortunately if you read the credits you will see that this is a 100% Disney Channel product, so you had one of the greatest and most powerful corporations on the planet behind this film, so you can't merely blame the budget.You can however blame some overpaid Disney exec blueskying with his team, saying something like "Halloween is upcoming and everyone knows we OWN that franchise but ever since High School Musical, we also have a musical franchise, so let's kill two birds with one stone and do both at the same time.
Now, where do we go for lunch today?" This kind of thinking led to the creation of the SPORK.Nothing is right here -- the writing, the acting, the special effects, the excessive use of colored smoke, easily one of the worst Disney productions of all time..
When Olivia discovers their roots.
The Magic Kingdom came up short with this made for TV movie designed to showcase the talents of Olivia Holt and Luke Benward.
Monster if you're over the age of 12 will have you laughing in all the wrong places.Not that Benward and Holt are bad, in fact they make this somewhat tolerable.
Their best moments are in the musical interludes.
There should have been more of them.Young Olivia typical teen with strict parents wants to go to a Halloween Party real bad, but she's got a curfew.
The parents have reason to worry about her though.
Unbeknownst to their daughter, they're professional monster hunters with equipment that the Ghostbusters got rid of of in a garage sale.
When some monsters get loose on Halloween that's when Olivia discovers her roots.Now maybe if the folks who made Ghostbusters did this one it might have been a whole lot better.
Girl vs.
Girl vs.
Monster is not the best product out of the Magic Kingdom..
Pleasing and enjoyable children's horror/comedy fare.
Trying to keep a rival from her crush, a teen's attempt to sneak out to a party frees the captured monster spirits collected by her monster-hunter parents and must round them up before they overtake the town during the Halloween party.This here managed to be a pretty enjoyable and entertaining children's horror effort that has a lot going for it.
By starting off with all the usual teen drama over the wishful relationship, the friendships between each other and their ability to almost be superheroes by accomplishing anything no matter the situation or solution presented gives this a rather easy integration into the horror scenes, watered-down as they are for such a release format as this one has, that come later on.
Those aren't bad, with a creepy graveyard stalking, a rather enjoyable confrontation in the woods between the group and a pretty creepy creature as well as a rousing hunt for the creatures inside the mansion party when they get released and begin wreaking havoc with the guests, only to be saved by another dose of the super-teen lifestyle mentioned earlier.
It's also got a lot of good by showcasing the monsters mostly as practical effects instead of CGI only for minimal use, plus it has a lot in the overcoming of your fears which is a good message to spread and does nicely in managing to mix the two genres together nicely.
As usual, the comedy's hit-or-miss but it's not enough to hurt it much overall for the lame joke or pratfall doesn't hurt it as much as it could have.Rated Unrated/PG: Mild Violence..
Not Worth Your Time At All. Okay, I think Disney Channel Original Movies are enjoyable but this has been the worst year for Disney Channel movies.
"Let It Shine" was unwatchable, this one is another example, and "Frenemies" was somewhat enjoyable but still not very good but unfortunately the best DCOM of 2012.
Olivia Holt is pretty and talented and I like her in "Kickin It" but holy CRAP...
why did she have to make this movie at all?.
Olivia Holt is decent here as well as Luke Benward (good to see him again since I haven't seen him since "Minutemen"(AWESOME Disney Channel movie) and "Mostly Ghostly"(decently enjoyable movie)) but man he looks different.
The acting except for Olivia Holt and Luke Benward which was overall not too bad but nothing spectacular was just HORRENDOUS...
it's so bad, cheesy, and puke-worthy that it's not even funny.
Good thing this movie didn't release in theaters because it would've been the biggest failure at the box office.
Some of the mild sci-fi action was somewhat cool but it's hard to enjoy the film 1000 times more when it has acting that makes you wanna jump off a cliff, humor that is so horrible and so cheesy that you wanna knock yourself into a coma, and a storyline that could have potential to be good but had so many damn wrong things with it.
Also, just like most of the Disney Channel movies...
there is actually singing like what the hell???
NOT every movie should be singing, singing, singing, just because it's on Disney Channel.
:/ It's predictable and they even made a good message about fear so unbelievably sloppy that it tastes like soiled and expired milk.
I don't want to be harsh with this film considering the fact it's NOT a movie in theaters and a movie on television but we wanna a fun treat and this was most definitely NOT a fun treat.
It's a stupid, predictable, atrocious piece of crap that you need to stay away from.
Even though "Frenemies" was mediocre and not all that good, it definitely ain't bad and I rather watch that movie again then this film because at least that film had some kind of enjoyment.
Just please everyone reading this review, watch any other Disney Channel Original Movie...
just stay away from "Girl Vs. Monster", I'm begging you.
Loved This..
This came out when I was 10 and I loved it so much, I am going to go re-watch it asap just for some memories of childhood.
I would recommend this title to anyone who had children that are into defeating monsters or who are excited by futuristic devices, as this will fulfill their imagination as it definitely did to me.
I loved this movie!.
Girl Vs monster, Olivia Holt?
It's as if she herself wrote this movie just so she can get all of the attention..
I hate this movie SO much.
Olivia Holt doesn't deserve to be where she is at.
There are so many nicer and more talented people in the world.
Why did you have to choose her?
This movie makes her look like she is put over all the other characters: Oh, she gets the boys, she's pretty, she can sing, and she is not afraid of monsters.
No girl is perfect like this.
This movie is making guys think that there is going to be someone just like Olive Holt out there, but nobody is really that perfect.
It makes girls feel bad about themselves who don't have as good as a life as Skylar in this movie.
Some people out there have been so nice, but they get stepped on all over because they are shy and will always let the bratty people get their way.
This movie shows like it is SUPPOSED to be good to put the outgoing people over everyone else.
Some people have been so nice and talented their entire lives, but just because they are shy they don't get anything in return?
This is horrible.
Please don't watch this.
Please don't watch this.
I am sorry but Skylar or Olivia Holt just don't deserve anything.
Some people are shy in this world and have a fear they will never get a boy.
This is ridiculous..
Fun. This movie is enjoyable they should make more movies why do you people hate it?
Come on!
It's one of the best movies I ever saw My favorite part was when Deimata as that girl went on stage and started singing strangely, that is what you call a movie obviously you people have no good taste in movies whoever criticized the movie it's better than any horror movie and I hated them movies called scary movies 1,2,3,4,and 5 I actually watched a few of them on T.V and I wasn't scared!
plus Deimata was really scary looking when the first preview came out last year I was optimistic about it and think it was going to be great I was right It was great it should be the Highest rated movie on Disney channel all the other movies as of the 2010's were HORRIBLE!
but I liked the camp rock movies,I really hated teen beach movie,High school musical was good but it wasn't great,Olivia Holt does a good job acting and singing not like actors in other movies compared to her so what are you complaining about?.
a neat concept ruined by the everything else.
The idea that underlies this movie is pretty good if unoriginal but literally everything gets in the way of it especially the TERRIBLE music.
Disney showcase movie.
Skylar Lewis (Olivia Holt) comes from a family of monster hunters and she doesn't know it.
Her parents keeps her home for Halloween but she decides to cut the power to the home alarm.
The problem is that power is also cut from the containment vessel and various monsters are released.
Family friend Cobb reveals the family secret.
With her scared friends Henry and Sadie, she must recapture Deimata who intends to possess her.This Disney movie is a showcase for some of its young stars and is aimed for their young fans.
It's inferior in many ways.
The writing, the adult actors, the special effects, and the plotting are all second rate in one way or another.
Mostly, this relies on the movie's young stars.
Olivia Holt is definitely a beauty although she may be better off playing the mean girl.
Kerris Dorsey plays the best friend and she may have better dorky innocence to accentuate the leading role.
Why not have the mean girl and the sweet girl team up to defeat the monsters?
The plot doesn't really make any sense.
I don't know why she would go to the party except that it needs to manufacture the situation.
It does have the central premise about fear which is very appealing.
One must grade on a curve for these kinds of movies..
Doesn't Really Have Any Monsters.
The pattern I find with a lot of these Disney Channel movies (and shows) is that they usually have a charismatic, talented performer to build around, but the writing is incredibly flimsy.
In this case, Olivia Holt's performance wasn't enough to redeem the terrible choices the filmmakers made.
Although my elementary age daughter enjoyed it, I had a big problem in that there were almost NO monsters.
The title made me think it was going to be like an episode of Buffy with all different kinds of monsters coming at her.
Then, the design and costuming of the three villains was so underwhelming that they alone pretty much sucked any interest out for me.
Also, you get a lame reworking of Ghostbusters for a story, and some really dismal performances.
Sometimes, in spite of these shortcomings, Disney's made for TV movies still somehow turn out to be watchable and fun.
I didn't think so this time.
It's too bad, because they have some talented kids on their roster, but they don't put nearly as much care into these quickly made productions as they do their theatrical features.
These could do better if they really wanted to..
TOO GHOUL FOR SCHOOL.
Fifteen year old Sklar (Olivia Holt) is fearless.
She can jump high and lip sync.
It is Halloween and her parents are "ghost busters" trapping projections of our fears.
On Halloween, Skylar, not knowing what her dad does in the basement, lets the things loose.
Now with the aid of other clean faced teens, she must re-capture them ghost busters style and face her fear.The film is for kids.
The vocals are overly cut and it appears no one actually sings or plays their instruments...like Monkees on steroids.
The cemetery is clearly a stage set.I can easily see how young girls 5-15 may love this film, but as an adult I couldn't get into it..
Spoilers:This may contain spoilers and Loved It..
Spoiler alert: This comment may contain spoilers, and I loved this movie and Honestly i loved everything about this movie, the acting, the singing, the choreography, everything, nothing is out of place, but then again, here is a message to you haters out there: Have you ever seen a 600lb woman get her own movie or TV series or TV movie(Beside the tlc program, my 600lb life)?
Well, Have you????!!!, Well, no, no you don't and remember these children, grew up somewhat in the spotlight and also in California, where there are more health stores like organic health store, for me, my organic health store is called EarthFare and they have a plethora of organic products.
And I shop there every once in a blue moon, because when you eat healthy, you are supposed to BM 3 to 10 times a day while the unhealthy ones BM once a day and BM stands for Bowel Movement and now about the movie itself, the singing, was perfect and I liked the story line, for some odd reason this skylar teens had overprotective parents which I can relate to, because my mom is that same kind of overprotective or at least close to it.
and I can of like the alarm thing and the reason why skylar was always fearless, was because, well her own monster was contained in a containment unit either her parents built or the ghostbusters built either way once skylar's monster was released just because she sneaked out by turning off the alarm which powered the containment unit, skylar starts to experience true fear after 15 yrs of being fearless.
she was fearless(meaning having never to experienced fear until that fateful night).
until her monster was released thanks to her sneaking out.
by cutting the power off to the alarm. |
tt3129282 | War Chod Na Yaar | The film begins with Captain Rajveer Singh (Sharman Joshi) and Captain Quereshi (Javed Jaffrey) are captains of India and Pakistan playing cards with their partners at Indo-Pak border. Suddenly bomb explodes. Then the film flashback into 17 hours before. At that time the Defense minister of India calls Rut Dutta (Soha Ali Khan), the reporter of GBC news to talk some important top secret. He reveals that after 2 days war will be declare between India and Pakistan. At 14 hours before, Defense minister of Pakistan with Pakistani General contacts with Defense minister of China for some help. Defense minister of China tells that he will attack nuclear bomb in New Delhi. At Indo-Pak border Pakistan armies are becoming very lazy. Then don't want to pay attention to commander Khan(Sanjai Mishra). In In
Captain Rajveer Singh (Sharman Joshi) and Captain Quereshi (Javed Jaffery) are battalion captains of India and Pakistan – two countries forever embroiled in conflict and turmoil with each other. However, on the actual battle-field, Raj and Quereshi and his troops form an unlikely friendship and camaraderie, reared on a love for conversations and playing antakshari(a game)of Hindi film songs and non-veg food. Midst them, arrives Ruth Dutta (Soha Ali Khan), an ambitious TV reporter, assigned to make a documentary on the lives of the soldiers of these two sides, as reported from on-ground. But when war is announced between these two countries, the easy friendship between the two sides is tested and conspiracy theories are hatched – all with hilarious results. In the end, the question which haunts everybody is : why the war and to what end? | satire | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0061132 | Uccellacci e uccellini | Totò and his son Ninetto roam the neighbourhood and the countryside of Rome. During the walk they observe a body being removed from a house following a murder. They next encounter a talking crow, who is described in the intertitles thus: "For the benefit of those who were not paying attention or are in doubt, we remind you that the Crow is – as you say – a left-wing intellectual of the kind found living before Palmiro Togliatti's death").
The Crow subsequently recounts the tale of "Fra Ciccillo" and "Fra Ninetto" (still played by Totò and Ninetto), two Franciscan friars, who are bid by St. Francis to preach the Gospel to the hawks and the sparrows. After many months, they succeeded in preaching the commandment of love unto the species separately, but are not able to get them to love each other. The sparrow-hawks continue to kill and eat the sparrows, as it is in their nature.
After the tale, the journey of Totò and Ninetto carries on, the Crow still accompanying them. They encounter other individuals: land-owners who order them out off their land when they are caught defecating; a family living in absolute poverty with no food and who Totò threatens to drive out of the house if the rent is not paid; a group of travelling actors (representing figures marginalised from society such as women, those that are gay, the elderly, racial minorities, and the disabled) and who persuade the pair to push the group's Cadillac car for them; and a rich man who is waiting for Totò to give him the money he owes him (in contrast to the earlier episode where Toto had demanded rent). After that, a brief extract of news footage of the funeral of Palmiro Togliatti, the long-time leader of the Italian Communist Party. Then, after having met a prostitute, they end up killing and eating the Crow, whom they found to be unconscionably boring.
Pasolini declared that Uccellacci e uccellini was his favourite film, as it was the only one that did not disappoint his expectations.
Ennio Morricone's opening theme music features Domenico Modugno singing the movie's credits. | allegory, psychedelic, satire, philosophical | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0100557 | Das schreckliche Mädchen | A German high school student, Sonja (Lena Stolze as a fictionalized version of Anna Rosmus) wins an essay contest and goes on a trip to Paris.
Martin Wegmus begins teaching physics at Sonja's school and one of Sonja's classmates falls in love with him. Almost by luck, Mr. Wegmus and Sonja kiss. The teacher promises to return for her.
The next year, she enters the contest again. She chooses "My Town During the Third Reich" from the possible topics. Her research leads her to discover that her picture-perfect town had been intimately involved in the Third Reich and that nearly all of the city's prominent families were members of the Nazi party long before it came to power. As she digs further, local authorities stonewall her efforts. Sonja persists and learns that there had been eight concentration camps in the area and that all the Jews were forced out of the town and had their property confiscated.
Sonja marries Martin, and the townsfolk think Sonja has dropped the issue of Nazi involvement. Sonja bears two daughters and studies history at the University. She resumes her research into the town's Nazi past, and wins court cases granting her access to archives. She still has to employ trickery to get the information she wants, however. In response, her town's hostility grows from verbal abuse, to death threats to physical assaults as they attempt to silence her with increasing desperation, but nothing deters her.
Meanwhile, her husband feels emasculated as he's forced to take care of the children. The family survives a bomb from the angry townsfolk, but Sonja keeps up her research.
At the end, the townspeople change their tune, even putting a bust of Sonja at the town hall. Sonja sees this as a means to silence her and rejects the honor. | psychedelic, comedy, alternate history | train | wikipedia | The film is about a young woman in a small conservative community in southern Germany who decides to do some research into life during World War 2, and discovers that the version of events she has been brought up to believe is not backed up by the facts.
Much as the vast majority of American westerns tend to gloss over the true level of barbarism we so-called civilized members of society visited upon the 'heathen' Indians, the German town in question conveniently 'forgot' its level of involvement with the atrocities of the Nazi regime.
Mädchen's true 'sin' was of revisiting the Nazi era and detailing the involvement of many of the town's leading lights with that regime and its atrocities.In toto, this film asks disturbing questions about society (any society) and its willingness to justify or simply forget 'inconvenient' truths and realities..
At points this film feels almost comic, but never loses its focus on the important topic of Germans either coming to grips with the past or covering it up.
Some modernist filming techniques seem to remind the viewer that the film is very much set in the time of its production (1990, though the story begins in the 1970s) rather than in the distant, black-and-white days of the past that is its most important subject.
It's like Verhoeven is saying "the cover-up is NOW."It is my understanding that the story is based on the experiences of an actual German woman.
That being the case, Verhoeven could have written a serious biographical film about this woman's experiences as she struggled to investigate the truth of her town's activities during the Nazi regime.
But as the topic of Das schreckliche Maedchen remains controversial and, for many Germans, difficult to discuss, the somewhat light-hearted approach that Verhoeven takes may open doors for more viewers and more discussion.
He strikes a nice balance.On another note, this film is also a very good portrayal about a modern woman's struggle to be independent in her work while having a large family.
Michael Verhoeven has constructed a masterpiece in this glorious depiction of denial in a small German town.
Through a unique style, Verhoeven takes a sensitive topic, the feelings of Germans as to their participation in WWII, and adds a glorious ironic humor to the story.Lena Stoltz is glorious as Sonja, retaining her youthful charm and appeal throughout the film, from infancy to adulthood.
While it doesn't really detract from the film, you should see it to understand what I am talking about--it's quite unusual at times.What is so interesting and incredible about the movie was how everyone turned against her so quickly and violently.
Using Brecht's idea of Epic Theatre, Michael Verhoeven creates a stage upon which audiences can learn from the past, and critique such instances from World War Two and Nazi Germany through the main character Sonja's struggles.
One scene taking the walls down of Sonja's living room and having it float through town while people anonymously call and threaten her family.
Bringing back the walls also helps alarm the audience, just in case they were becoming too comfortable without them.Another part of the film is Sonja's family.
I think the scenes of neglecting the family are overdone to not show the point that Sonja is a bad mother, but that she wants her children to grow up and learn to love their Heimat (homeland), which during WWII was given a negative political term.
She wants to make things better for her children so they don't grow up learning all of the corrupt things the her town has been covering up.The Nasty Girl is a clever and great cinematic film that makes you think, rather then feel.
Sonja (Lena Stolze) seems like any ordinary person.
Then, everyone in town not only turns against her, but tries in every possible way to silence her.Much like another West German film ("The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum"), "The Nasty Girl" shows a woman used as a scapegoat for something that was society's fault (it makes sense for German movies to deal with that; it's exactly what the Third Reich was all about).
Another one of Germany's solid masterpieces.Watching this movie, I couldn't help but wonder what sorts of secrets any place, anywhere on Earth, carries..
It may sound in outline like a bad joke, but this daring comedy about a young German girl's frustrated attempt to uncover the Nazi past is no laughing matter.
The film has a lot of the same, sassy energy as its heroine, who as a schoolgirl began a lifelong investigative crusade to unearth the Nazi skeletons in the closet of her Bavarian hometown, discovering firsthand the hypocrisy and complacency of her friends and neighbors (and, by extension, of the entire German nation).
The story is drawn from actual events, but the heavy stylization of the film takes (deliberately) some of the sting from the facts, by lending them an almost playful air of unreality sometimes unsuited to the subject.
Lena Stolze plays the character Sonja from the age of 16 through to adulthood.
And that subject is so troubling to all potential viewers, going as it does far beyond blindness to past Nazi activities, that if it were laid on heavy, it would not be accepted, because it would be perceived as an attack on everybody.
But it is actually an attack on everybody, because the film seeks to expose a faultline in human nature of our tendency to conspire to forget, conspire not to see, and conspire to falsify reality.
The character Sonja in this film (based upon a real girl named Anja who actually had similar experiences) challenges consensus reality.
The fact is that just about everybody living in Germany during that period was seriously compromised, there were few heroes (despite the many claims of heroism which came after the War), and the majority of Germans actually approved of and supported the Nazis.
Based on real events around a student who, in the 80s, worked of the Nazi past of a Bavarian town and hence got torpedoed by the local regulars and authorities.
Lena Stolze's, the 'nasty girl', speech directly to the audience is part of it, as well as the effect of an obvious rear projection of the municipal archive while we see the actors performing on stage around a desk.
The documentary style didn't "give validity to a fictional story." This is based on a true story and the movie mirrors, quite well, what happened in real life..
The documentary style didn't "give validity to a fictional story." This is based on a true story and the movie mirrors, quite well, what happened in real life..
The documentary style didn't "give validity to a fictional story." This is based on a true story and the movie mirrors, quite well, what happened in real life..
The documentary style didn't "give validity to a fictional story." This is based on a true story and the movie mirrors, quite well, what happened in real life..
A local girl decides to venture on a project dealing with the nasty history of her home town.
I had to view this film for a class that I am taking, Film and the Holocaust, and had the honor of hearing Mr. Verhoeven talk about a different film, but also mentioning Nasty Girl.
Also, the use of rear screen projection as backgrounds, looking much like scrims in a theater, showed the fact that many of the characters were Acting their part, not behaving as they would normally.
In her last scene she takes a role completely different from either of these, and again, the change is abrupt (although this time it seems more justified).The film seems too basic: Either the characters do or do not support Sonja, although some characters allow her to continue her activities only up to a certain point, and other characters lovingly disapprove of them.
There is no real conflict for Sonja throughout the film because the people to whom she is closest support her ideas (though not always her methods).
Once Sonja obtains the necessary documents, her research seems very simple -- although it may have only been the director's choice to skip the laborious details.The visual style will inspire some and annoy others.This is worth seeing for the acting and the message that attitudes that seem past are very much a part of the present.
Das Madchen Schreckliche (The Nasty Girl) is about high school student girl who write an essay of her town during War World II.
I remember seeing the woman on 60 Minutes a couple years ago talking about her life that the film is based.
I would definitely recommend the film, but please realize you are watching German cinema, which is usually a little strange when you are used to American style movies..
An engrossing film made in pseudo-documentary style as one long flashback (with occasional cuts to the present for contemporary character reactions).Ending does not tie the film together but rather left me with a gnawing appreciation for how real it actually felt..
When you can sympathise, and even smile while watching the eerie subject of this movie.Other than breaking the humorless myth of the germans, to its Nazi past.It's sure a past many people in Germany want to leave behind, and that's why this movie (and the main character of the film) is so daring of bringing it back.
I bought The Nasty Girl blind, not knowing either the film, nor director.
Lena Stolze, as Sonja, the girl, then a woman who starts out thinking up a subject for her school essay assignment.
At first.As her task becomes a full-time passion and as she uncovers possible cover ups as to who in the town were Nazis and how far their crimes went, those doors to her, previously so open, are now closed.
What did she prove, apart from the fact that she was able to change opinion.Anyway, a nice little film, not too long and a bit different and also, really quite German..
When a young woman (Lena Stolze as a fictionalized version of Anna Rosmus) investigates her town's Nazi past, the community turns against her.Rosmus wrote her first book, "Resistance and Persecution - The Case of Passau 1933-1939", which was published in 1983.
The film, though light-hearted and innocent in many ways, does bring up an important point: it is not simply a matter of "erasing" or "forgetting" or "ignoring" history -- a community must actually confront it in order to move on..
A young German woman investigates her town's involvement during the Third Reich.
The presentation is quirky, with Stolze at times stepping out of character to directly address the audience.
After the light-hearted start, things turn serious as Stolze goes about trying to dig up information on her town's history.
I know my fair share about Germany through my research of their history and their automobiles, however I have never actually watched a German movie outside of Run Lola Run. German films have always been portrayed by the American society as 'art house' style films.
As such, I would classify The Nasty Girl as an art house style film.
The movie never really comes to present time to my understanding as it is always narrated by Sonja.The other art house styling I see in the film come from the use of a projection screen to show certain interiors (the archives, the library, the archive administrators office) the stage like apperance of the courthouse scenes and the use of the living room that moves through a part of the town that Sonja and her family are constantly seen on later in the movie.
The whole movie comes off as a big budget play rather than a traditional film.
The film's timeline comes in at a confusing part of German history, though.
This confusion of the time leads me to believe that is why the end of the movie is so open ended.
If you are interested in German reactions to the war and their own involvement and denials, you may like this.
It makes you wonder what the real story was like.You won't like this if you like "straight" documentary-type films on this subject.
Some of the characters are quite funny, but other parts are quite serious, befitting the subject.You can tell the director can be quite quirky!
Das Schreckliche Maedchen (The Nasty Girl) is a great film by virtually any measure.
Michael Verhoeven does a fine job directing, the story is engrossing, and Lena Stolze is simply amazing.
This may be the finest performance by an actress ever.The story of a girl raised in postwar Germany and her search for the truth regarding her town's history during the war is touching, thought-provoking, and realistic (Actually based on a true story).
This should be required viewing in any history class, not just for the historical facts of the movie, but for the portrayal of the revisionism that can take place to put history in a better light by distorting the truth.
For example, Lena Stolze (playing Sonja) uses a form of acting class gestic.
I think that American distributors view femaleness with little regards or respect by the way they market films.
For instance, as `The Nasty Girl' passed from the German culture to the American culture, the way it was advertised did not represent the film in all actuality.
The title should have been translates into something like `The girl with courage' from having no support from her town in her quest to uncover the hidden truth about the town's involvement with the Nazis.
For the most part, this is a style that works best on the stage--but director Michael Verhoeven uses it as a springboard for THE NASTY GIRL.
She eventually gives up the project, but it continues to fester in the back of her mind, and some years later when she resumes her research with the idea of writing a book she discovers that the anti-Nazi heroes were not, perhaps, either anti-Nazi or heroic.The main thrust of the film centers upon Sonja's relentless battle against the powers that be to obtain access to documents from the Nazi era, and how civic leaders work to frustrate her--both by persistently dodging her demands for the material and by direct terrorism.
Ultimately, she does arrive at some of the truth, only to discover that she has now been enshrined by civic leaders as a "hero" in an effort to silence her with praise.Director Michael Verhoeven presents the story in an odd mix of documentary and theatrical and realistic styles that mesh extremely well to create that famous Brechtian effect without ever actually seeming preachy.
And leading actress Lena Stolze, as "the nasty girl" who accidentally drifts into the role of advocate for the truth at any price, is equally remarkable: she gives a very likable, bemused performance that draws the viewer in even while maintaining the necessary degree of detachment the style requires.
'THE NASTY GIRL' DIGS DEEP INTO POST WAR Germany Movie Review by C A Hall SPELLBREAKER STUDIOS.
Both take on collusion by the German people during and after World War II.
THE NASTY GIRL is hilarious and based on a true story.
Lead actress gives a very fine performance as a woman who grows up in a nice, funny town full of basically good people who lived under the Nazis during Hitler's rule.
The premise and plot of this movie is remarkable, thought-provoking and funny in a very strange way.
The story is developed in almost Amélie-like fashion with quirky characters and plot development but it doesn't quite go all the way and thus stays in a strange limbo.
A lot of the backgrounds and sets seem more like theatre than film (that may have been intentional, but according to me takes away from the movie's effectiveness)
Sonia tries to research the nazi past of her town but gets rejected at every turn.
The movie has a great potential for being fun, quirky, thought-provoking and "important" but as none of the elements is perfected and due to the distracting style and sets it doesn't quite reach its impact.
"Das schreckliche Mädchen" or "The Nasty Girl" is one of the most known German films from the 1990s and the reason is probably that it was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe and won a BAFTA.
She won a German Film Award for her portrayal of a young woman who takes a look into her town's history during World War II.
The way the film develops was a bit surprising as it starts as a story about a girl crushing on her teacher and is pretty unpolitical for a long time early on.I think this was a good idea as it certainly helped with writer and director Michael Verhoeven's idea to make this not too serious and there are light moments from start to finish in this 90-minute film that go very well together with the more serious historic parts.
But the film is not only about Stolze's character, it is much more about the people and their reactions to what she does.
A pretty interesting character story and even if it does not end up as one of my favorite German films ever, I still recommend, especially to people with an interest in German politics.
'The Nasty Girl' tells an interesting story that I did a bit of reading about sometime before this movie came along.
I had learn that a young German girl named Anja Rosmos had done some probing and found that her little town had had some major ties with Nazi Germany.The local politicians were outraged and warned her not to do anymore snooping around but she went digging anyway.
The girl's name in the film is Sonja Rosenberger and she lives in Bavaria.
Watching Sonja I felt that I was watching a staged, sanitized version Anja's story by someone who knows little or nothing about this subject. |
tt0108277 | TC 2000 | In 2020, ecological disaster has driven the wealthy to an underground city. Jason Storm is part of an elite security force called the Tracker-Communicators who protect the city against the surface world survivors who could not afford to escape. Zoey Kinsella, the deceased founder's daughter, joins him as his rookie partner. After a raid by starving surface world survivors breaches the city's force field, Zoey comes to believe they have inside help. Storm acknowledges the possibility but is more concerned with his clashes against the Controller, the leader of the city's security, and his enforcer, Bigalow. The Controller wants to use a cybernetic project to replace the Tracker-Communicators, but he can not find any volunteers
Niki Picasso and his gang penetrate the underground city's force field and head directly to a disused area of the city. There, in a hidden cache, they find ammunition and an automatic rifle, a weapon that has become extremely rare. While Picasso pins down Storm and Kinsella, an unseen adversary shoots Kinsella dead. Convinced of a coverup, Storm angrily resigns, only to have the Controller send Bigalow to kill him. When Storm escapes the city, the Controller frames him for Kinsella's death and sets the security forces after him. Unknown to Storm, the Controller has Kinsella resurrected as a cyborg and programs her to be his personal assassin. Her first mission is to seduce Picasso and recruit him to take over a research facility guarded by the Lifers, a powerful gang.
On the surface world, Storm encounters a martial arts master, Sumai, and his daughter. Sumai helps Storm infiltrate Picasso's lair, but the cybernetic Kinsella easily defeats Storm. As Storm recovers, Sumai trains him. Sumai, former head of security at the research facility, tells Storm that Kinsella's father was the person who founded it. The facility was originally meant to counter the ecological damage but was converted into a chemical weapons factory. Suspecting that the Controller seeks the biological weapons to take over the surface world, Storm and Sumai recruit fighters who are willing to stand up to Picasso. As Picasso overpowers the Lifers with his rifle, the Controller murders the city's leader, the Overlord, and joins him.
After launching the chemical weapons, the Controller double-crosses Picasso. As the Controller flees the facility, Picasso confronts and kills him, though he left trapped in a silo. The chemicals, though currently inert, will kill every surface dweller unless a countdown is aborted. After defeating Bigalow and his men, Storm and Sumai break into the control room, where the Controller has left Kinsella. Storm helps her to remember her true self, and she guesses several passwords. Finally, with time running out, Sumai guesses the correct password and saves the surface world. Picasso calls for help; when they ignore him, he vows revenge. | good versus evil, violence, murder, sci-fi | train | wikipedia | Lots of cool fights and almost no plot.
Just how I like them!.
TC 2000 is not a film for the average science fiction fan.
This is all about fighting, and lots of it.
It seems that almost every single person in this film is a martial artist (which would explain the terrible acting) and no more than ten minutes go by without a fight between at least two people.
The fighting is pretty good, Billy Blanks is great and Bolo Yeung kicks some serious behind.
A great low budget fighting movie..
one of the best sci-fi movies ever.
well what can one say when it comes to tc 2000 only that it gives people a real stark interpretation of what the future holds for mankind.
billy blanks (tae bo superstar), in a post apocalyptic future when human society has been forced underground.
as part of a tc (tracker communicator)unit(the law keepers of the future)he faces his biggest challenge yet.
He must foil the evil machinations of the moustached man.
Billys unique take in this role combined with a suitable budget will capture the imagination of any sci-fi enthusiast.
Other notable performances come from Bobbi Phillips,Jalal mehri and Bolo yeung(double impact)..
Blanks, Hues, Bolo, and more!.
By 2020, the environment is so bad that the rich have moved underground, leaving the poor to fight for survival in the contaminated Surface World.
Protecting the underground are cops known as TCs (Tracker Communicators).
TC Jason Storm becomes public enemy no.
1 after his partner Zoey (Bobbie Phillips) is murdered by a surface gang known as The Picassos (yeah, The Picassos) and Storm questions who let them into the underground.
To escape, Storm heads to Surface World where he runs into Sumai (Bolo Yeung), a freedom fighter who might just know why The Controller wants to go take over Surface World.This is endlessly complex for a DTV action flick, but I have to say I enjoyed it.
Blanks is an excellent martial artist, which helps bypass his stiff acting filled with blank (ha!) expressions.
As always, Bolo steals the show.
Frequent Blanks co-star Jalal Merhi is the gang leader Niki and I COME IN PEACE alien Matthia Hues, a damn good fighter in his own right, stars as The Controller's right hand man Bigalow.
Bobbie Phillips provides the female sidekick, which takes an odd turn about halfway in when she becomes the titular half-robot TC 2000..
Non-stop fighting..
This movie is all about fighting,and it got some of the greatest martial-artists in the world.Some of them are Bolo Yeung,Matthias Hues and Billy Blanks.They all deliver some great fighting scenes.Unfortunately the movie has no plot and is set to a sci-fi enviorment which makes it lame.So if you are looking for cool fights and nothing else then this movie delivers..
After seeing "TC 2000", I'm having a hard time trying to understand why Bobbie Phillips never became a bigger b-movie star.
In the beginning of this movie, she is "just" a beautiful woman who can kick some a$$.
But later on she is transformed into the title character, a sort of female Robocop ("80% human, 20% machine, 100% dedicated to the job"), and the combination of her sardonic, pleased-with-herself smile, stylized hair, leather outfit, high boots, multiple back flips and even more a$$-kicking make her tremendously sexy.
The film is an OK cross between post-apocalyptic sci-fi and martial arts action, though the plot is a little muddled, the editing is off at times and the fighting is of varying quality.
Hues (for a guy his size, he sure can throw a kick!), Blanks and Phillips fare best; on the other hand, most of Bolo Yeung's fight scenes are really quite poor.
The fight scenes save this movie from disaster.
First:If martial arts and B-grade action is not your thing, then just take my word for it: Stay away from this movie, and don't read any further.
Then, for the fans: The story in this movie is bad, bad, BAD!!!!!!
It's OK that they don't focus on things like that in a martial arts movie, but they could at least have tried to use more than five minutes to come up with a plot and write the script.
Hardcore action guys Matthias Hues, Bolo Yeung and Billy Blanks (plus Jalal Merhi) are absolutely hilarious in this movie.
Their acting is just so bad, but that makes it just more fun to watch.
We all know that it's the fighting these kind of movies are all about.
Everything else is just a lame excuse for these guys to take off their t-shirts, flex their muscles and get into countless fights.
They did this very well, and because of that this movie is recommended for martial arts fans..
Cool!!!!.
Great martial arts flick set in the future.
Good fight sequences.
Bolo Yeung shines in this one, he's unbeatable!
I do admit it's campy but what do you expect?
Anyway watch it and you won't be disappointed.10 out of 10.
HAH YAAA!.
good fighting, and one hot chick.
I watched this movie when it first came out ten years ago.
I have been trying to find it ever since and no one seems to be able to find it.
I loved the fighting -- Bolo, Billy, and Bobbie are great as the good guys, and the bad guys are equally impressive with Jalal and Matthias leading the way.It has all the important ingredients of an action film: non-stop action on film.
But most important, it has sex appeal with gorgeous Bobbie Phillips providing a good part of the action.There aren't very many movies that stick with me for ten years, and this is one of them.
Fun, No brainer....
I enjoyed this movie for what it is...A martial arts,futuristic fight movie.
I also personally find it to be a classic as it was Bobbie Phillips'(Chameleon) first martial arts movie.
She was always beautiful, but her martial arts and acting have come a long way.
It's fun to go back to the beginning.
The chemistry between Billy Blanks and Bobbie was fun to watch.
It seemed like they were friends off screen which makes it fun to watch them in scenes together.
I give it an 8 out of 10 judging it for what it is...I enjoyed it..
Apparently, guns aren't effective in a post-apocalyptic LA.
This is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
I kept thinking to myself "They have guns, why are they trying to do Kung-Fu on them?" And there were at least four prominent characters in the film who have no effect on the plot(HA!), but still managed to get at least 10 minutes of screen time.
However, if you're a fan of MSTing films, you'll like this one.
Just watch to the end of the credits.
Trust me..
"TC 2000" is a ridiculous movie..
"TC 2000" is a ridiculous movie.What remains of a plot after the end of the world occurs is: In 2020, the world has turned into a post apocalyptic wasteland.
Officer Jason Storm (Blanks) is a tough cop who is on the run and has to go to "The Underground" (which in actuality is just a place where he fights crazy bums and there is lots of metal scaffolding...) Storm then meets up with Master Sumai (Bolo) who tells him that there is a conspiracy run by Bigelow (Hues) to bring down the "Surface World", with a "Kill Zone" device, which is a nuclear bomb of sorts.The low-budget feel of the movie does it no favors.
It's a lot harder to make a period piece with no budget.
In its sad attempt to ape the then-popular "Demolition Man" (A personal favorite) it fails on all counts and winds up looking chintzy.If you want to see something direct-to-video with Billy Blanks may I suggest Tae-Bo Volumes 3,7, and 12.
In all seriousness, the movie is not kind to Bolo either.
He doesn't get to fight until the end and even then it was poorly choreographed and not up to Bolo's usual high standard.
If you want some prime-cut Bolo, try the Shootfighter movies.
Matthias Hues joins the fray as main villain "Bigelow".
His most famous role was in the Dolph Lundgren classic "I Come In Peace".
I normally like Hues, but he isn't at his best here, sadly.Director T.J. Scott also made the Meat Loaf vehicle "Blacktop" and many TV shows.
This might explain some of the flat direction.
The cast of mainly foreigners ensures the dialogue is even more stilted then you might expect.
The best part is the reward you get at the end: The advertisement for TC products.
We finally learn what "TC" stands for, which is "Tiger Claw" and the logo is on many jackets and shirts worn in the movie.2020 isn't very far away, so if want to see a glimpse of what it is going to be like, Shoot "Blanks" with this flick tonight.Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett For more insanity, check out: comeuppancereviews.com.
Cheesy Entertainment At It's Best!, With(Bad) But Fun Performances And Great Fight Scenes!.
This is quite simply cheesy entertainment at it's best with fun performances, and great fight scenes!.
Of course it's bad, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it, and while the acting isn't good the performances are a lot of fun to watch, and the finale was pretty cool.
The dialog is absolutely terrible,and the story is pretty ludicrous, however it's all a lot of fun, as there are plenty of great fight scenes,and fun performances to keep you entertained!.
I'm not saying this is a great movie, i'm saying it's a LOT of fun, and pretty good for a very low budget film, plus the set pieces were not too shabby either!.
Billy and Bolo actually have pretty good chemistry together, and while there acting skills may not be that good in this, they are extremely impressive in the fight scenes.
This is quite simply cheesy entertainment at it's best with (Bad) but fun performances and great fight scenes!, highly recommended, to action/Martial art fans(like me)!.
There is a tiny bit of blood.
We get random blood here and there, and some gunshot wounds.
The Acting is bad but TONS of fun.
Billy Blanks acting needs a bit of improvement, but he is TONS of fun to watch, as he is fantastic at martial arts, extremely likable, had pretty good chemistry with Bolo and Bobbie Phillips, kicked that ass, was actually okay in his emotional scenes, and i said he is tons of fun to watch!.
Bolo Yeung is excellent as usual, and is excellent here.
he is very likable had pretty good chemistry with Billy Blanks, kicked that ass, and it was great to see him in action again!.
Bobbie Phillips is decent as the Cyborg and a human being, she did her job adequately, she is also rather hot too.
Matthias Hues looks big and is quite powerful, and that's all that was really needed for this role, he did it well.
Rest of the cast are so so.
Overall i highly recommend this to people who like low budget cheese!(like me).
MUST SEE FOR FANS OF BOBBIE PHILLIPS.
TC-2000 is an entertaining futuristic slugfest containing a number of fairly exciting fight sequences involving such action stars as Billy Blanks, Bolo Yeung and B-movie titan Matthias Hues.
However, the movie is an absolute must-see for fans of the gorgeous and talented Bobbie Phillips (UPN's Chameleon).
(POTENTIAL SPOILER:) The scene where the awesome Ms. P's title character has been brainwashed by the villain and is forced to fight her former partner is one of the best battle-babe scenes ever!
Dressed in sexy black leather and spike-heeled boots, Bobbie acrobatically kicks the living crap out of Billy Blanks (and is totally convincing doing it).
A total treat for violent-chick flick connoisseurs.
Bobbie Phillips rules!.
Bobbie Phillips rules!.
Moronic.
This is undoubtedly the most moronic movie I watched in a long time.
It's not that it is just BAD, there is a lot of entertainment to be had watching bad films this is just moronic.
Two lines of exposition followed by five minutes of taking-it-in-turns fighting, followed by two lines of exposition, followed by five minutes of taking-it-in-turns to kick each other into piles of things piled up so people can be kicked into them fighting followed by....
you've got the picture by now.
At one point towards the end one of the bad guys actually says "It's my turn now." before attacking the hero for the umpteenth time.The picture culminates (if that is the right word) in our heroes standing in front of a doomsday device which is about to wipe out all life on Earth.
It is going to achieve this by firing small, cheap, bottle-rocket fireworks full of chemicals up a HUGE chimney into the atmosphere where their payloads will mingle into a deadly cloud.
The three muscle headed heroes futilely type possible override passwords into the computer keyboard hoping to abort the system.
None of them thinks to just push the bloody thing over.
It's a short tube firing 75 pence fireworks for crying out loud.
what about that handy mirror you guys used to bypass the killer lasers?
Put that on the top of the tube - then sit on it; that will do it.
Duh?
No, Mongo prefer to type with keyboard with one finger, Mongo only know how to type with one finger.
There are, at the very least, a quarter of a million distinct English words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regional vocabularies.
What are the chances of muscle bound morons like this hitting the right one hunting and pecking away as the time ticks away?
And isn't it lucky overrides are always complete words not made up words like 'snoffdingle' or just random strings of digits '5678vhjfrtydj'.
I mean, if I was a mad scientist knowing muscle-headed kick-boxers were planning to thwart me that's the sort of password I would use.
Wmahahahaha! |
tt0072228 | The Super Cops | The film opens with archival footage from a press conference where NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz are lauded by Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy commends them for the sheer volume of drugs and weaponry that the two cops have removed from the streets.
After a credits sequence, the narrative begins at the New York City Police Academy, where Greenberg (Leibman) and Hantz (Selby) graduate as probationary officers. They are assigned to low-level work like clerical tasks and directing traffic, but they chafe against the insignificance of these tasks and frequently abandon them to follow the sound of gunfire. One day, Greenberg is standing on the street in plain clothes when an elderly man offers to sell him some "French films" (porn). When he refuses, the old man attacks Greenberg, who arrests him. Greenberg gets in trouble for making an arrest while off-duty.
Greenberg and Hantz decide to keep making off-duty collars. They go to Coney Island disguised as Texaco attendants. They make a drug bust under the boardwalk and bring their collars to the local precinct, where the supervising officer is astonished to learn that two off-duty probationary cops confiscated so many illegal weapons and drugs. The pair continue to make busts around the city in their spare time. They stop a stolen car on Convent Avenue in Harlem, and at the local precinct, they bluff their way into being treated as senior officers from the "SUB" division, which is just the acronym for traffic enforcement.
After their probationary period, they are assigned to the fictional 21st Precinct in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. On their way to report for duty, they are aghast at the state of the neighborhood, and the precinct seems to be in just as much disarray. They are told to not make waves and to report for their first full day of duty the following morning. Instead, they find some prostitutes, hoping to get information. Greenberg tells his prostitute, Sara (Frazier), that he is a cop and asks where he can find some drug dealers. She screams for her pimp, causing a commotion.
Undaunted, Greenberg and Hantz manage to find an informant and make their first drug bust. As they book their collars, they identify themselves as new to the precinct. They are asked when they started, and Greenberg replies, "Tomorrow". They track down the precinct Captain Krasna (Frazer). He is convinced his office is bugged, and he views Greenberg and Hantz' enthusiasm warily.
Greenberg meets Sara again at Hank's Tip Top Inn and accompanies her back to her apartment. He presses her for information about drug activity. The duo start making busts with her information. Captain Krasna calls them into his office and accuses them of being on the take because of all their independent drug busts. He pretends to call Internal Affairs, but when they do not react like corrupt cops, he decides to encourage their freelancing. Sara tells Greenberg that a contract has been put out on them. An anonymous tip to the station confirms her warning. Greenberg and Hantz lay in wait for their assassins and make a daring bust in broad daylight. The bystanders jokingly yell out greetings to the adventurous cops who they call "Batman and Robin".
At the arraignment for the case, Greenberg and Hantz are offered $1,500 to lie and get the case dropped. They try to gather evidence about the attempted bribe, but the District Attorney's office ruins the bust by warning off the targets. The officers are growing more isolated by their fellow cops, who either resent them for showing them up, or view them with suspicion as being either corrupt or part of Internal Affairs.
The partners eventually corner the three Hayes Brothers who run the drug market in Bed-Stuy. The Hayes offer them a $1,000-week bribe, which Greenberg and Hantz pretend to take. Greenberg insists on meeting the Hayes' suppliers, but on the way to the meeting, one of the Hayes notices Greenberg's wire. Greenberg and Hantz kill the brothers in self-defense, and they are taken off duty while Inspector Novick (Hingle) conducts an internal investigation.
Greenberg is approached by another officer who has just transferred from the 80th Precinct. He offers to cut Greenberg and Hantz in on a scam. They meet at the Fish Delight Hut to discuss the details. It turns out the officer is from the Knapp Commission, and when he tries to arrest Greenberg and Hantz, the pair, in turn, try to arrest him for engaging in conspiracy. Greenberg threatens to arrest the other Knapp officers on the scene for entrapment. When Insp. Novick and Cpt. Krasna arrive at the restaurant, both factions of officers reveal that they have been taping each other. The stalemate is resolved by promoting everyone. The film ends with a re-enactment of the opening press conference, with Novick commending Greenberg and Hantz for their service. | neo noir | train | wikipedia | Two rookie cops join forces to try and make a difference fighting crime on the streets of New York.
They quickly learn they must also fight the corruption and bureaucracy in their own police department.Entertaining and offbeat crime drama from Gordon Parks which served as his first follow-up feature after directing the two successful Shaft films with Richard Roundtree.
Like that series, Super Cops is given a big lift by some great on-location shooting in New York City which really captures the gritty look and feel of 1970's street life.It also benefits from two likable performances from Ron Leibman and David Selby as the rookie duo "affectionately" nick-named Batman and Robin by the locals.
The rest of the cast is a solid mix of familiar faces from the crime and blaxploitation films from that era.
Standing out is Pat Hingle as a gruff inspector trying to bring down the boys and Sheila Fraser - fresh off her appearance in the Super Fly films - as a prostitute.The screenplay is based on the real life exploits of NY police officers David Greenburg and Robert Hantz (who both have cameos in the film) and frequently veers between comedy and drama - albeit somewhat unevenly.
Gordon Parks, the prolific black Life magazine photographer, made a true ticking-timebomb of a movie here - one that does not mess around!
Based upon the true story of two NYC cops - later dubbed Batman and Robin - who singlehandedly employed radical tactics to clean up their precinct neighborhood of drugs, this is a cop-buddy movie before that term became a repetitive formula.
Lightning paced, there is not one unimportant throwaway scene here.Man, early '70s NYC must have been a terrible place to be a police officer, from the looks of movies like this and "Serpico." These two cops start out as safety-division rookies, busting dealers in plainclothes in their spare time.
They have to singlehandedly navigate a minefield of police and legal corruption, boneheaded assignments meant to keep them from their work on the streets, ruthless drug kingpins, and a nasty ghetto neighborhood.Both David Selby and Ron Leibman are fantastic in the leads; part of the entertainment is watching Leibman's eyes darting around crazily in every scene in what is a flawless comic performance, and Selby's acting is low-key and wry.
Rather, the movie is uncompromising in portrayal of the toughness of the world of police and streets criminals that these two men inhabit.
Adding to this realism is the fact that the real Hantz and Greenberg acted as technical advisors for the film, and even appear in surreal cameo roles as two fellow officers who ridicule the protagonists.
But the cultural revolt of the Vietnam period insisted on "telling it like it is", and I take this movie to be one of its products.Greenberg (Leibman) and Hantz (Selby) are a couple of rookie cop hotshots who rock the precinct boat with their zeal and unorthodox style.
Unlike most films, however, none of the movie's characters are particularly likable.
Yet, despite its down-and-dirty look at urban policing, the story never manages any needed depth, despite the richness of the material..
It is by far much better than some other New York films of the same era such as: "The French Connection" or "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3".
There is a gritty reality to this film which also manages to effectively use humor to further the plot line.
It's engaging from start to finish and hasn't tarnished with age as is the case with the above two examples.Ron Liebman turns in a bravura performance as "Batman" and it's a shame his career didn't take off as a result of this project.Gordon Parks directs and, coming as it does after "Shaft", it at first appears to be a strange choice.
This is based on the true story of two rookie NYC cops whose exploits earned them the nicknames "Batman" and "Robin" in the 70s.
Ron Leibman stars as David Greenberg (Batman) and David Selby stars as Robert Hantz (Robin).
Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the other crooked cops who don't like to be made to look bad.
Directed by Gordon Parks and written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., THE SUPER COPS never really finds the right footing.
With hard hitting cop dramas like DIRTY HARRY, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and SERPICO coming out in the previous years, it is kinda hard to imagine how audiences reacted to this.
Interestingly, the film opens with footage of the two real cops receiving commendations from a character portray as crooked (by Pat Hingle) in the film.
Even more interesting, the two cops apparently both fell on the wrong side of the law several years after this film was made..
"The Super Cops" was surprisingly rare on video for a long time, and my first exposure of it was a grey-market copy of the 1982 MGM release on videotape.
Allegedly available on laserdisc, also note there was a Super Cops comic book also released at the time.
I just received what seems to be a legal release of this film on DVD, from New Star Video.
This is the third directoral outing of Gordon Parks, famed photojournalist/renaissance man best known for "Shaft" and "The Learning Tree." It's not his filmic acme, but one would hope that it might become available again as Parks' genius has not yet been fully celebrated.This film lacks the vitality and edge of "Shaft", something that must have been a budget issue.
Nonetheless, it's quick, good-hearted police action based on the L.H. Whittemore book of the same title.
Whereas the book covered the late 60's/early 70's NYC crime scene very well, the film comes only halfway in detailing the true story depicted here.
At best, a solid document of the time- a good cop story if nothing more.The underrated Ron Liebman is excellent in one of the lead roles, cocky and enthusiastic.
David Selby is more refined and cool, and many of the police superiors are great as gruff, cranky New York types.
But without the superb 70's environment and post-Serpico interest in police flicks, would it float?A friend of mine to whom I screened the movie years ago met the great Gordon Parks a few years before Parks' death.
He reports that upon mention of The Super Cops, Parks immediately responded, "I like that one!!
Excellent Buddy-cop Corruption Comedy.
Director Gordon Parks' excellent buddy-cop corruption comedy, with a cast of great genre and character actors - this seems most often compared to Serpico, Dirty Harry and The French Connection from what little I could find on it.
Curiously, there is a brief but enjoyable gunfight and chase through a building under demolition, making me involuntarily compare scenes and buddy mechanics with Starrett's The Gravy Train of the same year.Funny that it concerns a couple of unconventional cops nicknamed Batman and Robin, given that the screenwriter worked on the '60s series.
Also, the presence of bulldog-eyed genre fave Pat Hingle, who would go on to repeatedly play Commissioner Gordon.Frazier has great inter-racial sexual tension with the also funny Leibman, and her scream session suggests that she could have had a terrific career in horror.
Actors Ron Leibman and David Selby are cast as two unorthodox cops out to make a name for themselves AND beat the system.
Many fellow detectives come to strongly dislike them and their flagrant disregard for proper protocol, while the two protagonists continuously exhibit true devil-may-care attitudes.Inspired by the exploits of real-life detectives David Greenberg and Robert Hantz (who served as technical advisors and have cameos in the film), "The Super Cops" is a sometimes uneasy mixture of comedy and grit, but it's held together by its refreshingly offbeat approach.
It's not surprising that it goes for a comic-book feel at times, what with Greenberg and Hantz having gotten nicknamed "Batman" and "Robin" by amused locals.
It's all stylishly directed by Gordon Parks, the filmmaker who came to prominence with the first two "Shaft" films.
Also turning up are Al Fann, Pat Corley, Barton Heyman, Eddie Barth, Louis Guss, Earle Hyman, and Stephen Macht.A somewhat forgotten film nowadays, it's certain to appeal to lovers of the NYC cop features of the 1970s.Seven out of 10..
Ron Leibman and David Selby are at the top of their game as two wise cracking rookie cops, who bend the rules, while still maintaining their oath to protect and serve.
They are not only up against the street criminals, but the dirty cops in their own Precinct.
Make no mistake this is not a film that relies on car chases and explosions, as it has tremendous character development, nice stunt work, and many humorous situations.
This is the story of real NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hantz.
New recruits Greenberg (Ron Leibman) and Hantz (David Selby) find the strict bureaucratic hierarchy of the force restricting.
They fight the system and stop corrupt cops.This has a good deal of the grimy street level action.
The Super Cops is a police drama along the lines of Serpico, which was released a year earlier, with more emphasis on action and humor and less on retaliation within the police force.
It's an under-appreciated, almost-forgotten gem that's carried by the charismatic lead characters, played by Ron Leibman (now known as the voice of Ron Cadillac in the FX series Archer) and David Selby.Leibman and Selbey play new cops Greenberg and Hantz who quickly tire of traffic duty and begin to solve crimes and bust crooks in their spare time.
All of this earns them some high profile busts and the enmity of pretty much every other cop in their precinct, particularly their new direct supervisor, Lt. O'Shaughnessy (Joseph Sirola).I realize this sounds like what's now a typical buddy-cop movie: a pair bucks the system to do what's right.
But look here, this story, based on the book by L.
The other cops try hard to dissuade the dynamic duo – nicknamed Batman and Robin for their comic-book-like exploits – from messing around with their traditional system of not caring (particularly after the shift's over).
Meanwhile, Greenburg and Hantz just want to clean up one of New York's worst crack-infested areas, The Man be damned.
Pretty awesome scene.The Super Cops is available on DVD, finally.
David Selby and Ron Leibman are "The Super Cops." They get their man, by going undercover, by getting their hands dirty, by putting themselves in harm's way, by not caring what the boss says.
They are really traffic cops who go where the action is and are busting drug traffickers and pushers and getting themselves in trouble in the process.
But when they start doing what they know best, their new supervisor is secretly pleased with their results and wants them to keep it up, making them even more hated by their fellow cops.
This is a very entertaining film with both Selby and Leibman's affable personalities complimenting each other.
The film doesn't so much end with a finality to anything, as much as it shows a new change and challenge to their daily working day.
For an entertaining and exciting look at a 1970s day in the life of two unusual cops, based on real people, sit back and enjoy David and Ron mixing it up and getting drugs off the streets..
Before receiving an award for outstanding police work, New York City patrolmen David "Dave" Greenberg and Robert "Bob" Hantz are seen interviewed.
Affectionately nicknamed, "Batman and Robin," this is their true story.
After the credits, we flashback to the dynamic duo beginning at the Police Academy, with actors Ron Leibman (as Greenberg) and David Selby (as Hantz) assuming the roles.
Leibman and Selby have a good rapport and director Gordon Parks works well in the gritty setting, with photographer Dick Kratina.
Shot in a steeply sleazy walk-up hotel, the first meeting with sexy Sheila Frazier (as Sara) is a highlight.***** The Super Cops (3/20/74) Gordon Parks ~ Ron Leibman, David Selby, Sheila Frazier, Pat Hingle.
This "buddy cop" film is all about Ron Leibman constantly flashing his buck toothed grin while David Selby looks on.That's it.The criminals, dope pushers,prostitutes - all are extremely unauthentic.
A Street-Wise Production with Authentic NYC Locations Highlight this Cop/Comedy based on the True Story of the Two Policemen Nicknamed Batman and Robin and The Super Cops by the Media.It is a Fast Paced, almost Highlight Reel, and the Ghetto Backdrop is in Deep Contrast to the Bouncy, Lighthearted Way the Cartoonish Cops go about Their Business of Busting Drug Dealers and other Assorted Criminals.The Institutionalized Corruption and Apathy also play a big part in the Picture but The Film Never gets too Deep into that Sensitive Situation or for that Matter it Hardly Slows Down Enough for the Drug Busts and Implications of the Effects these Scum are having on the Population.
It could be Faulted for Being just a bit too Smiley Considering the Devastating Subject Matter.Given that almost Unforgivable Whitewash, the Movie taken on its Own Terms of being an Entertaining and Superficial Take on the Whole Broad Strokes of the Inner Story both on the Streets and In the Precinct, it can be Forgiven as a Lightweight and Sometimes Succinct, Well Directed, Acted, and Written Piece of Faction that Results in a Popcorn Movie with that Seventies Grit and Realism that makes it Hold Up..
Based on a true story, Gordon Parks' 1974 film Super Cops is a loose collection of episodes about a couple of honest and determined rookie cops that gradually changes tone.
The opening is satirical as titular pair Greenberg and Hantz encounter a police-training program notably for its absurdity.
The police departments consistently asserts its backwards priorities throughout training, as when a senior officer insists that the rookies mind their post directing traffic while an unopposed gunman takes shots at civilians from a high window a couple of blocks away.
This section, which points out the absurdity of a bureaucracy that keeps things from being done instead of aiding them as it should, gets the film off to a particularly good start as it makes its point economically and convincingly while simultaneously displaying a sharp biting wit and establishing the characters and their goals.
Greenberg and Hantz quickly make a name for themselves as they take on real police work when they are off duty, arresting drug dealers and other small time crooks who flaunt their crimes before an undefended public.
Here again, the police department comes off as the main antagonist as the veterans view these rookies with suspicion and assume their hard work is part of a grift.
As the film progresses, the men encounter laziness, corruption, and stupidity at every level of the department and are generally punished for their hard work until they become famous for some of their wilder antics.
After the mostly comedic first part, Greenberg and Hantz end up stationed at an undesirable precinct in a particularly dangerous neighborhood and the tone gradually becomes more serious, especially when they work against some well-connected drug distributors who use the department's flaws to their own advantage.
In fact, Parks work is impressive overall, as all aspects of the film are more than competent, though there aren't many moments that really stick out on a technical level.
This is an engaging, well-made police film that highlights some of the problems of bureaucracy in general and police bureaucracy particularly with a combination of satirical wit, zany humor, and a few scenes that are a bit more serious..
This is 1974 and Ron Liebman and David Selby are two cops who are impatient with the bureaucratic rules, just as Dirty Harry was, and who face racial problems, which neither Harry nor Serpico did.In its essence, it's a more textured film.
It's one thing to fight a serial killer or against determined police corruption.
The senior cops assign Liebman and Selby to menial tasks like directing traffic and typing office memos.However, they prevail in the face of precinct conspiracies to degrade them and in the end they get a promotion with an ironic footnote attached.I don't mean to ramble on about bureaucracies but although they sound dull -- pathological even -- they're a fascinating subject because all of us have to deal with them in one way or another.
They may be super cops but others in their department report them to internal affairs for wearing sneakers instead of regulation shoes while chasing crooks.As for the movie itself, Serpico's story had obviously been shaped to add commercial appeal, but this one appears mostly made up.
I believe the two super cops ran into problems with their colleagues.
Just a badly acted cartoon showing incompetent cops pulling stunts that would get them killed in real life.
Liebman and Selby are so desperate, white and obvious, it's impossible to believe how any street-wise hustler in 70s NYC couldn't smell the bacon from a while away.
For all the criticism Dirty Harry received as a fascist film, when it was really more like cop fantasia - ie.
license to blow away the bad guys - this movie is likely closer to the subversive truth about how the po-po will stop at nothing to make their bust and go home safe.
I'd be shocked if this movie got booked outside NYC.
It has no appeal other than ''hey, look, they filmed that scene in front of my drug-infested tenement house!''.
Ron Leibman was born for the part of Officer David Greenberg in this excellent film.
Gung-ho about being a New York City police officer, he jumps into the job with his friend and partner to a degree that we have rarely seen by anyone entering any field of work.The film is such a good one because it shows a police force mired in corruption.
They go beyond the call of duty to take out drug dealers, constantly putting their lives on the line to benefit everyone else only to be charged with corruption. |
tt0044418 | Big Jim McLain | House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain (John Wayne) and Mal Baxter (James Arness) come to Hawaii to track American Communist Party activities. They are interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel.
After receiving useful information from reporter Phil Briggs (Vernon "Red" McQueen), the agents begin searching for Willie Nomaka, a former party treasurer, who has allegedly experienced a nervous breakdown and attends the clinic of psychiatrist Dr. Gelster (Gayne Whitman). The doctor's secretary, Nancy Vallon (Nancy Olson), is helpful as well. McLain asks her on a date and a romance develops.
Nomaka's landlady, Madge (Veda Ann Borg), assists in the investigation, flirting with McLain. Nomaka's ex-wife (Madame Soo Yong) also helps McLain. Nomaka is eventually found to be staying in a sanitorium, heavily drugged and unable to speak. Party leader Sturak (Alan Napier) gives orders to Dr. Gelster to get rid of him. Gelster also kills McLain's partner Baxter, by mistake, when he succumbs to an injection of truth serum.
As the investigators close in, Sturak attempts to make Gelster confess to his Party membership so the case can be closed and so others can continue their nefarious work. Their meeting is interrupted by McLain, who instigates a brawl. Police arrive to place Party leaders under arrest, but ultimately he and Nancy Vallon see them plead the Fifth Amendment and go free. | cult, suspenseful, murder, violence | train | wikipedia | For a movie so obviously filled to the brim with machismo, the results surprise us with just a scene or two of fisticuffs and much more romance between Wayne and Nancy Olson (who moves quickly, and can you blame her?).
"Big Jim McLain" features one of John Wayne's best walk-throughs; he looks a little sheepish, but he's so amiable you forget he's really not in character.
It's not that I disliked the plot of having John Wayne playing an FBI man bent on smashing communism--it certainly is unique and very much like the real life Wayne.
The answer to this threat seemed to be the House Un-American Activities Committee that used intimidation to do what it thought was necessary to secure American safety (Perhaps there's a lesson for in it us today as our people give away freedoms for safety) This film therefore should be viewed in the context of the times when it was made and not with 50 year hindsight, as doubtless 50 years from now our children will view at least some of the steps taken in the heightening of security today.
Unfortunately this is a hypocritical viewpoint as the anti-Japanese films produced certainly helped produce the fear and paranoia that led to the abuse of Japanese-Americans' civil rights and their internment by their own government.
In the film the villains are not the idealists who go to American Communist Party meetings call everyone comrade debate Marx and Engel's viewpoints and who should run for election next fall and then go home to their spouses, but agents acting against the United States, and yes this did exist at the time.
(People that had been believed innocent victims of communist 'witch hunts' were indeed shown later to have actually been foreign agents when the Soviet archives were opened after the collapse of communism in the USSR)While facing the same problems as many other patriotic wartime films it does deliver enjoyable scenes and it is certainly mostly superior to many similar films made during World War II.
Wayne's acting is good as is that of most other cast members except for James Arness whose emotional outbursts don't come off as very believable when he gets infuriated about the traitorous party members and possibly Soo Fong also when recounting her personal ordeal about her 'recovery' from communism.
In some ways this part of the movie reminds more of anti-drug or anti-sex exploitation films that have become cult classics such as Reefer Madness) While not the best, once the plot develops it is entertaining.
While Big Jim McLain will hardly rank with the greatest of John Wayne's films, it expresses the conflict between loyal American citizens and law enforcement officials and the threat posed by Soviet agents.
Big Jim McLain needs to be viewed in the context of its times just as other US wartime action films reflect the tenor of our role in World War II and how people saw the enemy of that day..
Big Jim McLain is a hilariously bad propaganda film.
If it was made by the Nazis, the cast and crew would had got medals from Goebbels.John Wayne surely was doing his best to avoid being labelled as a commie (it was made in conjunction with his own production company.)Big Jim McLain (John Wayne) and his partner even bigger Mal Baxter (James Arness) are investigators for the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Although raucous party girl Veda Ann Borg is also interested to know how big John McLain really is.Napier is suave and despicable going around in expensive cars treating the lower ranked members of the party with disdain.
Many people will disagree, but this is one of my favorite John Wayne films of all time, and for all the wrong reasons: This film is a cold-war camp classic that has to be seen to be believed.
James Arness is such great at John Wayne's side kick who hates commies because they shot at him during the war.
While the brainwashed elite criticize this story of how Communism threatened the security of America in the 1950s, any unbiased viewer will understand a piece of history that has since been revised.This movie was made while the liberal elite defended their liberalism by making a straw man of Senator McCarthy.
Making this movie was unpopular then, nevertheless now; Wayne was a brave patriot who should be commended for doing the principled thing, however unpopular.The liberal politicians and the media has waged war on the fight against communism for 40 years.
This movie is valuable for the independent minded; it shows a history and culture that Hollywood wants to deny and ignore in the same way the Klan wants to deny and ignore the Holocaust.It is not Wayne's best film.
One of John Wayne's least known and at the same time most underrated film.
(Some Spoilers) John Wayne as James "Big Jim" McLain in a very restrained role for him, in the action department,as an investigator for the House on UnAmerican Activities Committee.
Big Jim is sent to the island of Oahu Hawaii who along with his friend and fellow investigator Mike Baxter, James Arness, is out to expose and arrest a Communit group operating there.
Big Jim and Mike get a very important lead that may well break the entire Communist operation wide open when they find out from a former commie member that was the treasury secretary of the communist party Willie Namaka is cracking up under the strain of being a Red in Paradise.
Totally unconscious from drugs injected into his system by a local commie Doctor Willie is now useless to the US and local official's in getting any information out of him about what his "friends" in the movement are planing for the good and honest people of Hawaii.
There were some things in the movie "Big Jim McLain" that was obviously over-the-top but at the same time the film was very honest about the threat of Communisum that the USA and the Free World faced at that time.
In general "Big Jim McLain" was very honest about how the USA was in it's fear of the Communist Menece and how the American people felt about it.
In the movie, like in real life, I could never understand why people would join the Communist Movement.
It treated the working men and women with utter contempt like in one scene in the film where Big Jim let one the commies have it, right in the mouth, when he called those who worked for a living "White Trash and Cotton Choppers".You can overlook the excesses of "Big Jim McLain" and see a clear picture of how really vicious and deranged the hard corps Communist not the vast majority of Communist members in the movement, or "Useful Idiots" as their leader called them, really were and why that created the excesses that the US government went to in combating them..
This is an awful movie.No matter what your politics, this is one of those jaw dropping bad movies that is so bad it's mesmerizing.Duke and Marshall Dillion scurry around Hawaii chasing an inept bunch of "commie" conspirators, though Big Jim somehow manages to spend the majority of his time wooing Nancy Olson.
What previous reviewers have not mentioned is that John Wayne was a friendly witness at the House Un-American Activities Committee and he and his best friend Ward Bond were founders of a pro-blacklist group in Hollywood, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.
One previous reviewer said that their probably could be a good movie written about the Communist Party efforts to take over labor unions.
But this ain't that movie.What saves the film from being a total waste of time is the presence of Veda Ann Borg.
And Wayne who if he really did get involved romantically with the secretary of a Commie would be completely compromised as an investigator.One little known fact about this film is that Wayne gave a last pay day to character actor Paul Hurst.
Hurst, who was terminally ill with cancer at the time that this film was made, played the father of a rising labor leader in Hawaii that HUAC was looking into.
Whatever you think of John Wayne's politics, the Duke was a man capable of a lot of personal kindness.
This was not the first or the last time he helped out colleagues down on their luck.Big Jim McLain is one of the lamest movies John Wayne ever did.
1: John Wayne never testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, and 2: Senator Joseph McCarthy had nothing whatsoever to do with the House investigation of Communism in Hollywood (he was a Senator, and not a member of the House; McCarthy's Senate investigation was into Communism in the Army and the State Department).
I would like to think that Hollywood was capable, even in the midst of the paranoia of the early 1950s, to create an anti-communist film that truly explored the issues and compared and contrasted the viewpoints at play in the country at that time.
I suspect that even intellectual anti-communists hated this film and must have thought something along the lines of "Get off our side!" As much as I love Wayne and his films, I find it necessary to pretend Big Jim McLain is investigating pedophiles or some such, if I want to get through this movie.
The absurd stupidity of the movie would be funny if not for the chilling realization that some folks actually believed this nonsense.I found the scene with the "reformed" communist nurse who now worked in a leper colony (nice symbolism there -- that working with lepers, the lowest of the low, is still a step up from Commies) to be a good microcosm of the entire film.
Particularly stomach churning is to see such pap come from Hollywood in 1952, right in the middle of Senator McCarthy's brutal reign of terror -- many of whose victims were actors and directors.This film does do a good job of exposing traitors -- I'd say that those involved in creating it would certainly fit the bill.
Forgetting the fact that its script is laughable, plot thin, acting wooden and appreciation of communism astoundingly pathetic, this film is a historical gem which allows one an insight into the right wing U.S paranoia prevalent in the 1950's cold war era.In 50 years time from now I expect the future generation will find some of our contemporary Hollywood films just as risible.
Seeing as this film is about John Wayne saving the world from commie scum I burst out laughing at the credits which listed one of the actors as Red McQueen !
, an actor called Red in a film starring John Wayne saving humanity from the horrors of communism !
" I`d better shut up before I start talking politics " Duke you do nothing else but talk politics so please shut up I know I`m probably being churlish in pointing this out ( This film is propaganda of the worst sort remember ) but the un-American activities commitee didn`t really concentrate on hard detective as shown here , they pressured people into becoming informants and anyone refusing to grass up anyone with vaguely liberal views soon found themselves becoming a suspected communist themselves .
John Wayne and James Arness are HUAC investigators out to break up a communist cell in Hawaii.
This film is just (just?) Big John doing what he does best .........
Sit there watch it and go back to a time which was black and white and not just the photography.Big John ........
The film glorifies the work of the Un-American Activities agents who went around looking for communists behind every tree and under every rock.
I seriously doubt that the story line has any real validity, but instead was an excuse for making a film in Hawaii that was in keeping with the paranoia of the times.
While Big Jim McLaine was made during the early Red Scare years of the Fifties, it still would have been a good action movie without the topical headlines that helped promote it.
Granted, John Wayne may have been outspoken in his politics, but his movies were popular because of the image he projected.
Aside from its topical subject matter, Big Jim McClain still would have drawn a crowd because John Wayne was in it.
Working for the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), tall wizened John Wayne (as Jim McLain) is disgusted as guilty citizens take the Fifth Amendment when asked, "Are you now or have you even been a member of the Communist Party?" With tall young James Arness (as Mal Baxter) as his partner, Mr. Wayne is sent to root out Commies in Hawaii.
"Big Jim McLain" is Wayne with the warts showing, and they're not all political.** Big Jim McLain (8/30/52) Edward Ludwig ~ John Wayne, Nancy Olson, James Arness, Alan Napier.
The Red Menace was real and apologists for Communists can't make it unreal, no matter how many George Clooney movies get made.With that said, what was John Wayne thinking when he made this idiotic, cartoonish garbage?
All the people who are still alive and were involved in the production of the ludicrous anti-Commie Pinko, anti-intellect (not anti-intellectual), Reefer Madness-level trash should have to write an explanation for why they didn't read the script and just say no!Regardless of your politics, you've got to get a copy of Big Jim McLain and watch for its comedy value.
The sad thing is that I think that a good movie could be made about attempts by communists to take over labor unions (I can't imagine that it didn't happen).
John Wayne and James Arness play a couple of HUAC agents who are out to find Communists in Hawaii.
Unfortunately this did more harm than good; many of their associates (great performers like Howard Da Silva, John Garfield and Betty Garrett) were banned for years if not for life.This movie was a product of those who wanted to convince the modern day inquisition called the House on Unamerican Activities that they were genuine flag waving, apple pie eating homies.
Thirdly, both "law and order" agencies are based in Hawaii (why?) and finally, the guys who work with John Wayne in the film are actual Hawaiians whose acting is as stilted and crummy as the Hawaiians who try to act in the TV show!!!Finally, I ask "why"???
The film quality (I know – it was black and white) – sucked, and other than Wayne and Arness, I didn't notice any memorable talent.
If it wasn't for John Wayne and James Arness, this movie would probably end up starless – but those two are in it – so I will have to hand out five stars..
Most cineastes are more or less left-wing; a film such as 'Big Jim McLain' will be bashed regardless of its intrinsic merits, and whether time has vindicated its picture of widespread communist labour-movement penetration or not.
There is an incongruous episode of a lunatic (Hans Conried, the future Dr Terwilliker) who offers to inform on the party cell, boasts of his secret inventions and contacts with Stalin, and then tells Wayne he has a plan to end all wars by making every man and woman in the world look the same.
Again, if taken seriously this strand of the plot makes the investigation look like a clumsy wild goose chase.Moreover, Wayne is not the fascistic bully critics purported to see but is poised between the gallant, diffident cowboy of his pre-war movies and the crusty blowhard of the Sixties.
John Wayne (six-feet, four inches), James Arness (six-feet, six inches), and Allan Napier (seven-hundred-and-twenty-two feet).
Second, this, along with "The Green Berets", is the most political movie that John Wayne has ever made.
They're pure e-vil.Wayne and Arness are members of the House Un-American Activities Committee, sent to Honolulu to uncover these Red moles who have infiltrated the unions.
Arness is accidentally killed by the commies, but Wayne and the Hawaiian police capture the evildoers.It's a terrible movie but fascinating too.
Thus, this is another Wayne film you must look at in the context of the times in which it was made.
John Wayne plays the title role of Jim McLain, a federal agent working for the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee in search of a pesky ring of Communists believed to be operating in Hawaii.
That's what a Japanese nurse tells House on Un-American Activities Investigator John Wayne (as the title character) about her feelings towards Communism when he questions her about her Communist ex-husband.
I do not profess to be an expert on communism, but I do understand that the Red Scare of the late 1940's and 1950's was an era in Hollywood that destroyed many innocent people, and films like this, "The Red Menace" and "I Was a Communist For the FBI" are just as manipulative as the dangers they are preaching against.
When Communists are seen, they are as obvious as the stereotypical Nazi's of those propaganda filled World War II movies.
James Arness is perfectly cast as Wayne's co-hort (they seem like brothers), while Veda Ann Borg and Hans Conreid offer amusing supporting roles.
This black and white drama/thriller sees John Wayne and James Arness, both taller than tall actors, travelling to Honolulu on the trail of some Communist bad guys in order to bring them to book.The film benefits from a decent and unusual setting with a great number of local character actors playing in support.
What would you expect in a John Wayne flick - he "shot at the other guy because he was an enemy".Infiltrating labor unions and intending to plague the islands of Hawaii with disease infested rats made the Commies a bad bunch in this story.
The Duke must have had that affect on her, especially after he told her that "what I think about you has to be said in the dark".Politics aside, the movie is an average effort and certainly a product of it's times. |
tt0027194 | Werewolf of London | Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) is a wealthy and world-renowned English botanist who journeys to Tibet in search of the elusive mariphasa plant. While there, he is attacked and bitten by a creature later revealed to be a werewolf, although he succeeds in acquiring a specimen of the mariphasa. Once back home in London he is approached by a fellow botanist, Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland), who claims to have met him in Tibet while also seeking the mariphasa. Yogami warns Glendon that the bite of a werewolf would cause him to become a werewolf as well, adding that the mariphasa is a temporary antidote for the disease.
Glendon does not believe the mysterious Yogami. That is, not until he begins to experience the first pangs of lycanthropy, first when his hand grows fur beneath the rays of his moon lamp (which he is using in an effort to entice the mariphasa to bloom), and later that night during the first full moon. The first time, Glendon is able to use a blossom from the mariphasa to stop his transformation. His wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson) is away at her aunt Ettie's party with her friend, former childhood sweetheart Paul Ames (Lester Matthews), allowing the swiftly transforming Glendon to make his way unhindered to his at-home laboratory, in the hopes of acquiring the mariphasa's flowers to quell his lycanthropy a second time. Unfortunately Dr. Yogami, who is also a werewolf, sneaks into the lab ahead of his rival and steals the only two blossoms. As the third has not bloomed, Glendon is out of luck.
Driven by an instinctive desire to hunt and kill, he dons his hat and coat and ventures out into the dark city, killing an innocent girl. Burdened by remorse, Glendon begins neglecting Lisa (more so than usual), and makes numerous futile attempts to lock himself up far away from home, including renting a room at an inn. However, whenever he transforms into the werewolf he escapes and kills again. After a time, the third blossom of the mariphasa finally blooms, but much to Glendon's horror, it is stolen by Yogami, sneaking into the lab while Glendon's back is turned. Catching Yogami in the act, Glendon finally realizes that Yogami was the werewolf that attacked him in Tibet. After turning into the werewolf yet again and slaying Yogami, Glendon goes to the house in search of Lisa, for the werewolf instinctively seeks to destroy that which it loves the most.
After attacking Paul on the front lawn of Glendon Manor, but not killing him, Glendon breaks into the house and corners Lisa on the staircase and is about to move in for the kill when Paul's uncle, Col. Sir Thomas Forsythe (Lawrence Grant) of Scotland Yard, arriving with several police officers in tow, shoots Glendon once. As he lies dying at the bottom of the stairs, Glendon, still in werewolf form, speaks: first to thank Col. Forsythe for the merciful bullet, then saying goodbye to Lisa, apologizing that he could not have made her happier. Glendon then dies, reverting to his human form in death. | cult, murder | train | wikipedia | Interestingly blending the werewolf legend with science fiction elements, its script is intelligent, the scenic sets impressive and director Stuart Walker keeps it taut and suspenseful.In spite of what you may have read on some internet sites, the cast deliver the goods, particularly Henry Hull who it should be remembered is playing a vastly different type of werewolf to the one Chaney would play six years later.
Universal's first 'werewolf' movie & oddly enough one of the least celebrated in the studio's library of classic horror films, due in large part to a later vehicle titled 'THE WOLF MAN' that would elevate the werewolf to classic monster status.
Not that there's anything wrong with "Werewolf of London", it's a terrific picture in its own right.Perhaps the star of this film could be the reason why this picture didn't catch on like the later wolf series with Lon Chaney.
"The werewolf is neither man nor wolf, but a Satanic creature with the worst qualities of both." This movie also tips its hat to the horror films of James Whale, injecting liberal amounts of comic relief throughout the proceedings, with the biggest laughs coming courtesy of two old lushes, Mrs. Whack & Mrs. Moncaster, who rent a room to the afflicted Dr. Glendon and after getting a peek of him in his lunar form, vow to give up the bottle, but somehow I don't think they stuck to that resolution.Henry Hull and his London Werewolf may linger forever in Chaney's shadow, but Hull will forever have the advantage when it comes to "best dressed" lycanthrope & no one can ever take that from him..
Six years before Lon Chaney Jr. made a lasting impression as "The Wolf Man" (1941), followed by sequels, this early rendition about a man cursed with werewolfism comes off pretty well, in spite of the absence of the usual horror names of Boris Karloff or Bela Lugosi in the leads.
But if Hull is to be remembered at all, it should be for his performance as what is reportedly said to be as Hollywood's first werewolf.The story opens in Tibet with middle-aged Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull), a Botanist, who discovers an extraordinary flower, but after he retrieves it, he is suddenly attacked by some strange creature, but Glendon manages to get it away, coming off with some scratches on his arm.
But before the story comes to a somewhat rushed climax, Glendon learns the true dark secret about Doctor Yogami.Aside from some tense moments, the movie features "comedy relief" headed by Spring Byington as Aunt Ettie, who, in one scene, becomes nauseous after witnessing a live frog being fed to a man-eating-flower; Ethel Griffies and Zeffie Tilbury as two old drunken and very nosy English floosies who have their usual "friendly" disagreements while managing both bar and upstairs apartments; Lawrence Grant and Charlotte Granville as Mr. and Mrs. Forsythe; among others.
The hero of `Werewolf of London,' Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull), manages to earn our sympathy: he's a botanist obsessed with his studies to the point where he neglects his beautiful young wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson).
The logical foundation of Glendon's life flies apart, and he came face-to-face with his brutal animal nature.`Werewolf of London,' like most of the classic Universal horror pictures, is heavy on atmosphere, lots of shadows and fog.
Henry Hull moves from stuffy academic to tortured soul, and brings us along for the ride (reminiscent of Basil Rathbone's deterioration in `Son of Frankenstein.') Valerie Hobson is luminous as always, and Warner Oland is quietly menacing as Dr. Yogami, who has an inside knowledge of `werewolfery.'`Werewolf of London' will probably always be in the shadow of its successor, and rightfully so.
It was during this time that we had guys like John Zacherly in Philly, then New York and Marvin (Terry Bennett) in Chicago to guide a new generation through the frights and shrikes of the Black & White gems from the 1930's & '40's.OUR STORY
..On an expedition to the remote Himalayan Mountains in Tibet, distinguished London Research Botanist, Dr. Glendon (Henry Hull) leads a quest for a rare, moonlight sensitive & night blooming flower.
When a mature blossom is cut and placed into the bloodstream, the fluid of the plant can act to stop the violent, physical wolf-like changes that the light of the silvery, Full Moon causes.* To complicate matters, we find out that Dr. Yogami is also a Werewolf, and even the same furry creature that attacked Dr. Glendon back in the Tibetan mountains.
Whilst in Tibet searching for a rare flower, botanist Dr. Glendon (Henry Hull) is bitten by a werewolf.Howard Maxford praises its "effective sequences", and truly, yes, the metamorphosis is decent for its time.
Overall this film is somewhat less entertaining than Chaney's Wolf Man, but still good and worthwhile for any fan of classic horror.********************************** Additional Notes: 1) The Tibetan sequence was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, a famous place near LA, where many movies and TV shows were filmed, including episodes of the original Star Trek.2) Soundtrack music from this film was re-used for one of the Buster Crabbe 'Flash Gordon' serials.
Henry Hull is no Lon Chaney Jr, and "London" will never be remembered as fondly as "The Wolf Man", but without this movie, how much of the werewolf lore we all take for granted would even exist?
I have seen it countless times since childhood and remain fascinated by both the highly original story and the sometimes whacky element of humor which softens a classic horror tale.When comparing movies in the werewolf genre, one has to refer to "The Wolfman", which starred Lon Chaney, Jr. and Claude Raines.
Spring Byington probably makes the film with her "Aunt Ettie" with excellent support from the "Mrs. Whack" and "Mrs. Montcaster" (I cannot remember the names of the actresses).Also, the werewolves, as played by Henry Hull and Warner Oland, are more frightening than that of Lon Chaney because the makeup tends to reveal more of the human character in their faces.
However, while I would agree with the prevailing consensus that the latter film is the better one, Universal's first bash at the werewolf legend is nonetheless still a good film, only stumbles in its execution a couple of times, and even manages to trump it's illustrious successor on a couple of points.The film begins in Tibet, where Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) is searching for the rare mariphasa plant that apparently only blooms under moonlight.
Back in London, Glendon's works continues as he tries to get the plant to bloom under artificial moonlight when the mysterious Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland) arrives and informs Glendon that the flower has the power to suppress the transformation into a werewolf.
From here on in the initially skeptical Glendon succumbs to the lycanthropic curse and seeks to take the life of the one he loves the most, his wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson).It is interesting to compare the Henry Hull and Lon Chaney Jr.'s differing portrayals of the werewolf: most notably the make-up (done in both films by legend Jack Pierce, who had previously done "Frankenstein" (1932) and "The Mummy" (1932)) is less hairy than the iconic "Wolfman" image as it is said that Henry Hull didn't want to sit through the time taken to apply all the make-up so Pierce created a less hairy version.
In this respect, the "Werewolf of London" is closer to a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, something which is nodded to in the transformation sequence (something "The Wolf Man sorely lacks).However, the film is let down a little by a few too many characters, a subplot involving Lisa's unresolved feelings for an ex-boyfriend, and (crucially) a character in Dr. Wilfred Glendon who is a little too hard to identify with in his clipped upper-class manner and obsessive attention to botany, compared to the affable Larry Talbot in "The Wolf Man", making the film carry slightly less pathos at the ending.
Henry Hull stars as a snooty botanist who becomes inflicted with Lycanthropy (or "Werewolfery", as stated in the film) from the bite of another werewolf (Warner Oland) during an expedition in Tibet.
When someone talks about the Golden Age of Horror films at Universal, the conversation always revolves around Karloff, Lugosi and Chaney Jr. and their respective characters Frankenstein's Creature, Dracula and the Wolf Man respectively; so it is almost tragic that the first Werewolf movie made by Universal is terribly forgotten.
That is the Werewolf of London.Before I continue, the plot in short: Henry Hull plays Dr. Wilfred Glendon, a biologist who on a trip to Tibet gets bitten by a strange creature with disastrous consequences.
Things gets even more complicated as his wife Lisa (Valerie Hobson) starts to feel attracted to Paul (played by Lester Matthews), an old flame who just returned to England.As someone who grew up not knowing of the existence of this film, I watched it believing it was a cheap movie to cash on The Wolf Man; after watching, all I can say is that boy I was wrong with those two statements.Not only this movie was done 6 years before the classic werewolf movie, it presents a unique portrayal of the werewolf curse, showing it from a scientific perspective.
The werewolf here has the intelligence of man and the savage brutality of wolf; and the way it is portrayed here is more than a nod to "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".The movie is very atmospheric, like the earlier Universal films where the expressionist influence was still very present; it also includes awesome transformation scenes that I dare to say surpasses those from The Wolf Man. The make-up here, by Jack Pierce of "Frankenstein" fame, is outstanding and fits to perfection the tone of this movie in contrast to the more beast-like make-up created for Larry Talbot's adventure.The acting is quite average for the most part, but I'm of those who believe that Henry Hull's performance was supposed to be that way, since he starts as an annoying selfish man that begins to appreciate what he loves as the diseases takes control of him (the scene of the prayer is very moving).Oland and Hobson also give worthy performances, but the rest of the cast is not that lucky and I found Lester Matthews to be a bit annoying at times.
During an exposition, the mysterious Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland) tells him that there are two werewolves in London and the flower is an antidote to the lycanthropy that avoids the transformation into werewolf.
A famed British botanist, fearful he is becoming the WEREWOLF OF London, struggles to retain control of a rare Tibetan flower, reputed to be an antidote for lycanthropy.This succinct film, supposedly Hollywood's first to deal with werewolfery, is a tidy little thriller which deserves a wider reputation among those who enjoy the Universal movies of this genre.
The best thing about 1935's "Werewolf of London" is not the performances of Henry Hull and Warner Oland, or the werewolf makeup created by the legendary Jack Pierce for Hull's transformation from man to beast.
It would take Lon Chaney, Jr. and 1941's "The Wolf Man" to make a success of this theme.But I will continue to rank "Werewolf of London" alongside the more superior films from Universal's Golden Age of Horror because it provides a rare opportunity to appreciate the beauty and talent of Valerie Hobson.Brian W.
Newly released and packaged as part of Universal's "Wolf Man Legacy Collection" on DVD, this seminal werewolf movie looks and sounds crisp and clear, ready to be discovered by the next generation of horror devotees.Henry Hull appears as Dr. Wilfred Glendon, a botanist on expedition in Tibet searching for a rare flower that blooms only under moonlight.
These sequences remain shocking even to this day and I like them more than the slow-dissolve transformations of The Wolf Man. Both make-ups were effective, but here in WereWolf of London , more of the actor's features were allowed to come through the make-up, making it more frightening -- to me at least.
The film is good but has some slow parts though.The make up is really good and the acting was good.If you like the Universal Monsters movies then check this out soon!I also recommend Lon Chaney's great movie, The Wolf Man!.
Six years before Lon Chaney Jr. famously donned fake fangs, yak hair and rubber snout to become The Wolf Man, lesser known character actor Henry Hull underwent a similar transformation to become Universal Studio's first ever lycanthrope, the Werewolf of London.After being savagely attacked by a werewolf in Tibet (or California's Vasquez Rocks, unconvincingly standing in for Tibet), botanist Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Hull) returns to London with his prized specimen, a rare flower that only blooms in the moonlight.
In a rather fortunate coincidence, the juice from this particular plant can prevent Wilfred from turning into a monster come the full moon, just so long as he can a) convince the specimen to flower, and b) keep the mysterious Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland) from stealing it from him!!!For horror fans, The Werewolf of London is undoubtedly very important, being the first true film in a very popular sub-genre, but as a piece of entertainment, it proves to be extremely lacking: it is hard to sympathise with Hull's character, who selfishly puts his work ahead of his personal life (he ignores his lovely wife, who understandably seeks comfort in the arms of ex-beau Paul); the standard of acting is pretty awful; there is some dreadfully unfunny comedy content courtesy of two drunken landladies; and the whole shebang moves slower than molasses going uphill in January.Curiously, Jack Pierce's makeup is actually slightly better than his later work on The Wolf Man, and the transformations are more inventive (Hull walking past a series of pillars, gradually becoming more wolfish as he passes behind each one, is fantastic), but Werewolf of London is still something of a chore to sit through..
As it plays out, there might be too much comedy for some tastes, with a lot of time devoted to dotty old landladies Mrs. Whack and Mrs. Moncaster.But the performances are quite capable, with Hull managing to evoke some sympathy, Oland delivering the most fun performance in the show, and Valerie Hobson being lovely and appealingly feisty as Glendons' wife, who turns to Paul Ames (Lester Matthews) for companionship as her relationship with her husband doesn't seem to be very loving.Must viewing for any fan of the werewolf sub genre.Seven out of 10..
Warner Oland who was at the height of his career as Charlie Chan plays a mysterious Japanese scientist who wants a sample of Hull's plant for similar reasons.Werewolf In London was a good film, but probably generated no great demand for sequels or Henry Hull didn't want to be typecast.
What makes that film so great is partly due to the fact that we truly like Lawrence Talbot; in WEREWOLF OF LONDON we tend to dislike Henry Hull's character.
Well, aside from the interesting recap in horror history, one quickly notices that Werewolf in London, a film that predates The Wolf Man by 6 years, is not present on the list.
This one has Dr. Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull) getting bitten by a strange beast in Tibet, and returning to England, where...well, you can probably guess what happens.Also starring are Warner Oland, as Tibetan Dr. Yogami, who unsuccessfully tries to explain to Dr. Glendon what will happen, and Valerie Hobson as Dr. Glendon's wife Lisa, trying to support her husband but getting more desperate as he becomes more and more lupine.
Just 'cause it's old doesn't mean it's a classic...Henry Hull's performance, his wolf make-up and the moody atmospherics of the opening Tibet scenes are the best things in the entire movie.
While in remote Tibet searching for a unique and rare flower (`that takes its life from the moon'), botanist Glendon (Henry Hull) is attacked and bitten by a werewolf (Warner Oland).
Later, back in London, Glendon comes to the realization that he will transform into a wolf whenever the moon is full and attack those he loves.Oland hits the mark as the enigmatic Dr. Yogami, the werewolf who passes the curse onto Dr. Glendon.
This movie is also responsible for making up most of the werewolf myth, at least the more well known version of the myth.I also noticed the intentional similarities between this film and An American Werewolf in London (1981), more than just the name, they share many other elements, from the two men being attacked at the beginning of the film, to the very end.Overall, its a pretty great horror film, I would recommend it to horror fans, mostly because I don't think enough people have seen it, most people think of The Wolf Man when they think of classic werewolf movies, and with good reason, but this one also had a huge part in the genre..
This picture, though a tad creaky at times, is nonetheless another fine example of Universal horror, with fine atmosphere, solid acting by Hull and competing botanist Warner Oland, convincing transformations, and a pretty effective makeup job on the monster by Jack "Frankenstein" Pierce.
Some things I liked: The music score; da-da-duh-dah, fog, nice threads (best dressed werewolf), Henry Hull originating the cool, hunched 'wolfman walk' used later by other werewolves, another neato Universal laboratory, Californian Tibet in the moonlight, Warner Oland's sorrowful but desperate character and Valerie Hobson (luminous one previous reviewer described her).
Perhaps not a werewolf classic that frequently gets mentioned, or at least not as much as Universal's follow up "The Wolf Man", but definitely worthy of every horror fan's respect because it was one of the first films ever to revolve on macabre topics such as lycanthropy and nightly transformations into hairy, carnivorous monsters.
The film follows Wilfred Glendon (Henry Hull), a wealthy British botanist who is bitten by a werewolf while searching for a rare flower in Tibet.
From Days Gone By. On a trip to Tibet to locate a rare plant known as the "Phosphorescent Moon Flower", a botanist named "Dr. Glendon" (Henry Hull) is attacked by a werewolf and bitten.
"Werewolf of London" was the first movie by Universal Studios to star a man turned into a wolf. |
tt1588334 | Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Jeff (Segel) is a 30-year-old unemployed stoner living in his mother Sharon's (Sarandon) basement in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He looks for his destiny in seemingly random occurrences. He finds inspiration in the feature film Signs, which reinforces his belief in this outlook. One day, he answers the telephone; it's a wrong number, from somebody asking for "Kevin," and Jeff contemplates the meaning of this, deciding it's a sign.
Receiving a call from his irritated mother asking him to buy wood glue to fix a door shutter or find a new place to live, Jeff boards a bus, where he sees a kid wearing a sports jersey bearing the name Kevin. He follows Kevin (Ross) to a basketball court, where he joins a pick-up game and the two bond. Jeff agrees to smoke weed with Kevin, but discovers he has been tricked when he is beaten and mugged.
He happens upon a Hooters restaurant where he crosses paths with his older brother Pat (Helms), a successful yuppie struggling with a failing marriage. Pat's wife Linda (Greer) is spotted at a gas station across the street with another man. Jeff and Pat spend several hours following them, first to a restaurant and later to a hotel, with Pat's new Porsche being ticketed, crashed and eventually towed away at various points in the journey. The brothers also visit their father's gravesite and fight over their conflicting life philosophies.
Jeff sees a truck reading "Kevin Kandy" and runs off to hitch a ride, only to end up at the same hotel where Pat has found Linda in a room with another man. Jeff offers to break down the door. The man is a co-worker of hers named Steve (Zissis). Linda quickly ushers Steve out and then confronts Pat about his role in their problems. Frustrated, she leaves, saying she will move in with her mother. Jeff and Pat reconcile. Jeff explains how he is struggling to find his destiny in life, while Pat admits he wants to fall in love with Linda again and for her to do the same with him. Jeff encourages his brother to tell her that, and they hail a taxi to pursue her.
Interspersed within the main story is the story of Sharon, who is at work, frustrated with her unfulfilled life and dissatisfaction with her sons. The doldrum is interrupted when a paper airplane with a beautiful drawing of a flower lands in her cubicle, followed by an anonymous co-worker claiming in an IM message to be a secret admirer. Sharon spends the day trying to deduce the identity of her admirer. She confides her frustrations to colleague and friend Carol (Chong), revealing that she has not dated since her husband's death. Carol encourages her to warm up to the attention she is receiving. Sharon is surprised and confused when the admirer turns out to be Carol herself, and though neither believe themselves to be attracted to their own gender, Carol appeals to Sharon's desire to become close with someone who truly understands her. At that moment, a fire alarm goes off and ceiling sprinklers activate; this is an enlightening moment for Sharon who sets off with Carol on a spur of the moment trip to New Orleans.
Jeff, Pat, Linda, Sharon, and Carol all converge on a bridge, where they are stuck in standstill traffic. Pat exits the taxi and runs through the traffic to tell Linda how he feels, passing Carol's car; Sharon sees her son and runs after him, followed by Carol. As Jeff muses to the cab driver about seeking out his destiny only to find it isn't very exciting, he observes a helicopter flying overhead, jumps out of the taxi and also runs through the traffic, passing Pat, who was sharing his feelings with Linda when they were interrupted by the arrival of Sharon and Carol. Jeff continues onward to discover that the cause of the traffic is an accident in which one car plummeted over the side of the bridge. He dives into the water and rescues two children and their father; when Jeff then fails to resurface Pat dives in and rescues him. The group reconciles after the ordeal, and the audience sees Sharon celebrating her birthday and Pat and Linda apparently faring better in their marriage. Jeff sees a news report about his heroics and learns that the father of the kids he rescued was also named Kevin; now with a sense of purpose, he grabs some wood glue and fixes the door shutter. | philosophical | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0292314 | Uyarangalil | Jayarajan (Mohanlal), an over-enthusiastic assistant manager at a tea plantation plans to loot a huge amount. He lures two debt-ridden subordinates, Chandran (Rahman) and Johnny (Nedumudi Venu), into his conspiracy. Though unwillingly, both agree. But during their attempt, A.K.Menon (Janardhanan), the manager of the company catches them red-handed. To keep matters under wraps, Jayarajan enters Menon's house at night along with Johnny and Chandran. Jayarajan kills Menon and escapes from the house. He acts normal the next day and provides help to the police. But both Johnny and Chandran feel guilty. Jayarajan threatens both to keep silent and act as if nothing happened. Soon, however, Jayarajan is elevated as the new Manager of the company. Devi (Kajal Kiran), the virgin young widow of Menon arrives at the plantation for future financial formalities. Jayarajan, who already was having an affair with Padma, a nurse, now eyes Devi. He succeeds in taking her to bed and plans to take up all the financial benefits that she may get as Menon's bereavement benefits. But a cop, Ravi (Ratheesh), becomes suspicious of Jayarajan although he finds himself no match for the flawless and naturally responsive demeanour of Jayarajan. However, neither is he shunning his illicit relationship with Padma, an occasional prostitute and a nurse by profession. In a strange turn of events, for fear of a faint-hearted Chandran spilling out the beans of the Manager's murder and to satiate his avarice and taste of the fresher flesh, Jayarajan finishes off Johnny and Padma. His impeccable yet vile and strong character raises no suspicions of the two new deaths of anybody except Chandran, whose silence Jayarajan buys with scare tactics.
Meanwhile, the elderly owner of the estate (K. P. Ummer) visits the plantation. Knowing that his young daughter Vasanthi is set to inherit the company, Jayarajan tries to woo her too. But Devi becomes a hindrance in his plans and her insistence for a marriage pushes him to plot killing her too. But before he can kill Devi, Chandran informs Vasanthi the truth about the death of Menon and both succeed in calling up cops. But before getting arrested by Ravi, Jayarajan jumps down and commits suicide. | neo noir, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1183732 | Tôkyô zankoku keisatsu | The film is set in a near future chaotic Japan. A mad scientist known as "Key Man" (Itsuji Itao) has created a virus that mutates humans into monstrous creatures called "Engineers" that sprout bizarre weapons from any injury. The Tokyo Police Force has been privatized to deal with this new threat of engineers, so a special squad of officers called "Engineer Hunters" are created to deal with them. However, unlike the average police force, the Engineer Hunters are a private quasi-military force that utilize violence, sadism, and streetside executions to maintain law and order.
Helping the police force is Ruka (Eihi Shiina), a troubled loner who is very skilled in dispatching the Engineers. Along with helping the police, she is looking for the killer of her father, an old-fashioned officer who was murdered in broad daylight by a mysterious assassin. Ruka soon receives a new case to hunt down Key Man, but once she encounters him, he infects her by inserting a key-shaped tumor into her scar-riddled left forearm before disappearing. Meanwhile, after an infected police officer massacres the main precinct, the Tokyo police chief (Yukihide Benny) orders a city-wide crackdown on Engineers — indiscriminately executing anyone suspected of being one.
While continuing her investigation, Ruka visits Key Man's home, where he reveals the truth about their past. His father was a police sniper who resigned after a sniping operation gone wrong. Desperate to keep his family out of poverty, he was paid to assassinate Ruka's father, who was leading a rally against the privatization of the police force. But shortly after gunning down Ruka's father before her eyes, he was murdered by the police chief — the real mastermind of the assassination — in front of Key Man. Swearing to avenge his father's death, he injected himself with the DNA of several infamous criminals, mutating him into his present form. After realizing that she and Key Man are seeking vengeance on the same man, Ruka slices him in half with her katana before heading back to the precinct. On her way, she witnesses the police force brutalizing civilians accused of being Engineers. When her bar owner friend (Ikuko Sawada) is drawn and quartered, Ruka's left arm mutates into an alien-like head with razor-sharp claws before she beheads the officers behind the execution. During her rampage, she is shot in the right eye, but her body quickly replaces it with a cybernetic eye. She confronts the police chief, who admits to her father's assassination, but explains that he raised her to become the perfect Engineer Hunter as atonement. Following a grueling sword fight, Ruka dismembers and eventually decapitates the police chief — effectively bringing down his reign on the police force.
During the end credits, it is revealed that Key Man is still alive, having mended himself back into one piece with the help of one of his test subjects. | comedy, cruelty, murder, violence, flashback, absurd, satire, revenge, sadist | train | wikipedia | And on top of this the filmmakers have an incredible design conceit that allows for limbs, once torn off or exploded or shredded or whatever, to spring back crazy appendages that range from heat-seeking missiles to crocodile jaws to genital "restructuring." There is no other movie quite like it.It's also, not so oddly enough, a rip-off in part of the Paul Verhoven RoboCop/Starship Troopers style of putting in advertisements and PSA's in honor and exquisite mockery of the police-state the movie is set in (thankfully, the director, Noshihiro Nishimura, is just as brilliant at these as Verhoven, especially when doing bits like "Cutting yourself is cute!" and "Don't commit Harakiri!"), not to mention the bubbly little Japanese girl ala Battle Royale communicating to the public.
What's important with Tokyo Gore Police is the daring to just go and do whatever the f*** is possible within this scope of total abhorrent violence and death and blood and guts and limbs sometimes stacked in piles ("No, no, the *right* hand!" is a great throwaway line).Basically, if there's any other movie aside from possible Dead-Alive that can contend with it, this is the goriest movie ever made outside of the US.
Eihi Shiina (of Audition) as the hero of the story comes across so much craziness with the "Engineers" as they're called, who face off against the militant police in a dire battle, that by the time the end credits roll we can't keep up with the final body count.In short, this is the kind of movie that Patrick Bateman or Alexander De Large would rent about 300 times.
A movie like this can easily become repetitive and thus boring, but the true worth of Tokyo Gore Police comes from its endless inventiveness.
Combine a Paul Verhoeven-style dystopian vision of the future (of the kind seen in Robocop and Starship Troopers) with the body-shock horror of David Cronenberg, throw in absolutely tons of OTT cartoonish gore ala Peter Jackson and some outrageously twisted horror of the kind that only the Japanese could imagine, and then add every last shred of bizarre Anime-inspired imagery that you can think of, and the result may look something like Tokyo Gore Police, a completely bonkers, gore-drenched epic from director Yoshihiro Nishimura.Since it would take me forever and a day to try and catalogue every last moment of gore and depravity in this film, and even longer to try and describe the plot (beyond mentioning the fact that the story sees a young woman seeking revenge for her father's death), I'm not going to bother; suffice to say that gore-hounds who seek out this freaky film will be treated to continuous stomach churning images of bodily dismemberment, S & M themed grotesquery, and scenes of complete random violence from start to finish, and the fact that the story makes very little sense (at least until the very end, when plot threads finally start to come together) should not matter in the least.Ironically, though, it is this relentless approach that stops me from giving Tokyo Gore Police a perfect 10/10.
After watching the 5-minute trailer (quite possibly the best trailer ever made, IMO) in early spring of this year, "Tokyo Gore Police" ("TGP") became one of the most highly anticipated films of 2008 for me personally.
This anticipation was accentuated even more after these same filmmakers treated us to the wildly entertaining piece of bloody insanity known as "The Machine Girl" (2008), which convincingly showed that these guys give the viewer exactly what they want.In TGP, Eihi Shiina (of "Audition" fame) is a special division of a privatized Tokyo police force who is called into action when her comrades run into "engineers" genetically modified supercriminals who can transform open wounds into flesh-metal weaponry.
And if you seriously think "Tokyo Gore Police" is more cynical than some random action blockbuster just because it shows actual violence on screen, you need to rethink your moral values.Seriously now, it's a wonderful splice of pure Japanese splatter, that doesn't takes itself seriously, but is actually pretty smart and inventive monster of a film.
Dystopian future Japan's specialized privatized police force, complete with samurai sword wielding hot Asian girl, hunts mutant "engineers" who manifest biological/functional machine weapon parts when wounded.
But there is more to Nishimura's first film.Nishimura gained fame for being responsible for the graphical effects in The Machine Girl so it didn't take long for people to catch on to Tokyo Gore Police.
Of course this film splurts blood like a genuine pro but compared to The Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police isn't all that more violent or bloody.
Tokyo Gore Police is more filmic, has a more serious undertone and mixes all the weirdness with a slice of social comedy very reminiscent of Verhoeven's work in Robocop and Starship Troopers.The intermezzo commercials are simply hilarious, praising first class harakiri swords, messed up recruitment videos for the police force and one particularly hilarious scene where Japanese high school girls are praising designers wrist cutter knifes.
Even though these interludes might miss their effect as grinding social commentary in a film like this, the result is as amusing as can be.Visually Tokyo Gore Police is a serious step up from The Machine Girl too, with much more attention paid to the camera work, good and atmospheric use of color and some snappy editing from time to time.
The movie isn't bad, it isn't good, it's kind of just there, if you want to see bucket loads of gore and really bizarre creature people then by all means watch.
I guess I was just expecting a bit more from this movie and it didn't deliver everything that I thought it would with such a high score on this website.Gore fans will probably like it but in comparison to other Japanese horror or splatter films such as Koroshiya 1, it just didn't deliver..
The engineers all turn out to be surprisingly cool and effective, and even though a lot of their weapons just totally grossed me out, I have to admit they were still awesome and were certainly different from a lot of other deadly weapons I have seen in films.The movie has amazing actors and actresses who capture their characters remarkably and make them fit well into the story.
The sexual innuendo and grisly images give it it's edge along with being a completely astonishing film in the production, direction and overall execution of the story and characters as well, and every single aspect of this film just mixes together perfectly to give you this beautiful action film that is still able to utterly disgust you in every way to the point where you drool out the mouth at how insanely wonderful it really is.Everyone who has seen and enjoyed this film knows what feeling I am talking about, but for those of you have not seen it, make sure instead of shutting your mind off actually open it up and you will be astonished at how well this movie manages to capture your attention and entertain.
The unexpected shocks like a gun penis and alligator vagina are really the only things that people might find a bit too much, but in the end I ended up completely enjoying Tokyo Gore Police for the over the top, brutal, shocking, brilliantly created movie that it is..
This is one of these movies, that in my belief can only be rated as "love it or hate it", there is not an in between.There is plenty of gore, lots of sick stuff and violence but also you can find some very nice cinematography and funny criticism on society.I don't want to call this movie "deep" in any way, but it has its very satirical points and the violence shows some very unique fantasy.If you are into over-the-top gore, comicesque trash movies, Asian shockers like "Itchie" or "The story of Ricky", this is definitely a must watch, that'll keep you entertained and will stay in your head for a while..
Set in a future-world vision of Tokyo where the police have been privatized and bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the "cutter" demographic, this is the story of samurai-sword-wielding Ruka and her mission to avenge her father's assassination.OK, so?All this movie proves is that the Japanese are truly insane.There is a huge problem inherent with the directing of this film:All the gore is filmed in super close up so you have no idea what you are supposed to be seeing!Who thought that one up?
Now, I have seen a lot of Japanese crap, and I love most of it, my favorite gore one is "Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl", which is original, funny, senseless, with cheap effects and a lot of energy put into it; Tokyo Gore Police fails at all of those things, one thing is doing a gore movie with a plot always developing, and another thing is doing a gore movie with random blood at screen for a ridiculous amount of time, the plot stops suddenly for more than 10 minutes to show random flashbacks that don't make sense, violence sequences that can last less than a minute but instead they last more than 5, characters that suddenly appear, you don't know who they're and "oh, he is dead.
You may not understand it all, because it's screwed up beyond belief, but if you're renting or buying a film called "Tokyo Gore Police", I think you have a good sense of what you're getting into..
I don't know about most people, but I just like a minimum of structure, logic and sense and, if that's also for you the case, then Tokyo Gore Police (and by extension the entire repertoire of weirdo Yoshihiro Nishimura) probably isn't the best choice to watch.
As a fan of Japanese cinema i had to check out Tokyo gore police,it is on google video in all its gory,but dubbed into English which is OK.from the moment it starts there's blood splattering action.it is kind of like robocop meets blade runner meets shogun assassin,yes all rolled into one,a young woman police officer is out to find the fiend that killed her policeman father,there are obstacles in the form of genetic mutants called engineers that have freakish powers,this is non stop action from japan,probably one of the goriest movies ever made.its comic book like in design and very original.i think the Japanese version is also on google.i really enjoyed Tokyo gore police,i give this gem 10 out of 10..
Yoshihiro Nishimura, who did the makeup and special effects on The Machine Girl, seeks to raise the gore level in Japanese films beyond Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Graveyard of Honor, Bodyguard Kiba).Forget the Texas Chainsaw massacre.
I love Japan cinema take on every genre sometime it can be deeply disturbing and thought-provoking like Takashi Miike Audition or sometime it can be over the top and batsh*t crazy like this movie Tokyo Gore Police.With the plot just as much crazy this movie will may sure to satisfied any gorehound fan while watching the bloody journey to revenge of a female cop named Ruka played by the lead actor of Audition Eihi Shiina.The practical effect in this movie is top notch with any insane idea you can imagine in a body horror movie.Non of the characters are normal so the line between good and evil is very blurry.Don't think while watching this movie or else your brain may hurt just sit back and enjoy the wild experience Tokyo Gore Police give you.
This is one bizarre, insanely disturbing and funny film filled with sprays of blood, tons of gore, mutated body parts into creatures and weapons which I truly enjoyed and loved.
Still, TOKYO GORE POLICE has its moments with some truly outlandish special effects work typically involving body modification and extreme blood sprays.
I'll try.A mad scientist has developed a virus that mutates humans into hideous killing machines, and a special paramilitary squad, lead by the sexy and ice cold Ruka, is working hard to maintain order in the streets of futuristic Tokyo.It is over the top to the max with absolutely all the disgusting gore, blood, guts and violence you could ever wish for.
Great Fun. I've only seen a couple of Japanese "techno-horror" movies before this one, and have always found them a bit confusing, but I thought I'd give this a try and I found it to be really good fun.Tokyo Gore Police is intentionally extreme and sensational in its use of blood and gore.
This special type of criminal is infected with a parasitic tumour that enables the host to turn wounds into weapons, therefore it isn't long before the screen is full of outrageously mutated characters who sprout knives, chainsaws and other killing tools from their own twisted flesh.The movie starts as it means to go on with a shock gore effect pretty much within the first two minutes, and it barely lets up for the entire running time.
In the near future Japan the Tokyo police force has been privatized and turned into a group of brutal and unforgiving soldiers.Their rivals are so-called engineers,who are infected by some strange virus.They are able to regenerate and mutate into terrifying creatures with the ability to turn their bodies into weapons.Ruka is one of an Engineer Hunters and she certainly enjoys self mutilation and dismembering mutated criminals with her sharp samurai blade.She's hunted by the Key Man-the leader of abominable engineers."Tokyo Gore Police" has to be seen to be believed.It's one of the bloodiest horror films I have ever seen as it easily surpasses "Braindead" when it comes to gore.As the action moves swiftly the geysers of blood are becoming an ocean and there are some grotesque Cronenbergian mutations including chainsaw arms,monster vaginas and a penis rifle.So if you enjoy watching severed limbs and bloody butchery you can't go wrong with "Tokyo Gore Police".Eihi Shiina of "Audition" fame looks fantastic covered with blood and guts.8 out of 10..
Just look at the juxtaposition in the scenes, the editing...it's sexy as hell despite all the gore...(which tends to get a little boring, to tell the truth...How many shots of limbs cut followed by the cameras lense getting sprayed by blood do a movie really need?!)Now, i don't blame him; she is gorgeous in all her scenes (no doubt because the director shot it like this), doing a good job at portraying a character we can believe in in this mess of a story...come to think of it, maybe this movie exists because of her?
It fulfilled my expectations, but only half as much as I thought it would.Yes, it's a Japanese movie (so anyone who can't watch a film with subtitles might as well move on right now) and it's set in a futuristic Tokyo where the police have been privatised and catching criminals is big business.
TOKYO GORE POLICE might make a fine double bill with MACHINE GIRL (TGP director Yoshihiro Nishimura did the special effects on the latter)..
Briefly, the story involves a near-future Tokyo where the police force has been privatized, fighting homicidal maniacs called "Engineers" who, upon being seriously injured, sprout Cronenberg-like "flesh weapons" to seriously ramp up the death and destruction before they are killed.
Into the mix is a woman who's job is to go out and kill the engineers and who is looking for the man who killed her father.One of the genre of gore films from Japan that exist purely to watch the blood and body parts fly.
They are amusing time killers for people who like things sprayed with fake blood.As the gore films go this is one of the best looking and one of the dullest I've seen.
TOKYO GORE POLICE is a great gory over the top Japanese homage to the 80's & 90's Sci-Fi films made by Paul Verhoven, especially ROBOCOP & STARSHIP TROOPERS that satirize the near future and it's effects on Law Enforcement and the Military.
Made by the same team that made the outrageous THE MACHINE GIRL( the Japanese Special Effects man on that film Yoshihiro Nishimura, is the film director for TOKYO GORE POLICE), it stars Eihi Shiina of AUDITION as Raku, the top female police agent of the TOKYO GORE POLICE in a future where the Tokyo Police are a private corporation(just like the future Detroit cops in the ROBOCOP series) She hunts down "engineers", which are genetically mutated humans, who can regenerate their lost or decapitated limbs into brutal weapons, During the film, we get outrageously satirical TV commercials on seppuku, samurais who cut themselves with their own swords and Japanese teens cutting on their own wrists as well as over the top gory Tokyo Police recruitment TV commercials( just like as in STARSHIP TROOPERS) But the focus is on Shiina's character, who must deal on her trauma of seeing her own policeman father brutally killed by an assassin and finding out that the people responsible may be in her own police force.
I stated at the end of that piece: "Yoshihiro Nishimura, costume designer and special effects technician, recently directed Tokyo Gore Police following his work on this film.
Tokyo Gore Police owes much to that film and, like its influence, is perverse but strangely entertaining.Part three of this unofficial series of reviews will be Samurai Princess in which Mr. Nishimura was in charge of effects only.
The next time, she finds herself face to face with the original "Engineer" "The Key Man" who makes her change in ways she may or may not be ready to face."Tokyo Gore Police" is not for the faint of heart or let alone anyone who doesn't want there mind twisted up and shot out of a penis gun. |
tt1220706 | Breathing Room | Thrown naked in a desolate room with thirteen strangers, Tonya Mane discovers she is playing a deadly game. She must figure out the reason for her abduction. In the room, Tonya finds a tape recorder that explains the rules, one of the which state "Only those without collars can break the rules". One of the strangers cross a forbidden zone, and the electric collar that he wears kills him instantly. A box marked "Pieces" catches Tonya's interest, but none of the strangers tell her what is inside. Another stranger finds a piece of paper in his pocket; written on it is, "Hint: piece the pieces". Another rule is shown that players may not adjust their collars. As the game progresses, they become mad and frantically try to find a way out. The host explains that there can be only one winner, and the prize is that person's life.
The strangers get to know each other. One is a recovering alcoholic, another is a teacher who teaches sixth grade English, and another works in sales; Tonya says she is a psychology student. One of the strangers is kidnapped by an unknown entity; however, another person finds her dead in the toilet. The game progresses once again, and another person finds a paper in a closed drawer. The note reads, "Hint: fourteen is the key", which seems to refer to Tonya, as she is the fourteenth contestant. A bespeckled man finds a paper in his pocket with the words "Hint: Jumble". Later on, another person is killed, and one of the strangers accuses the others of murder. Enraged, the same person screams to break one of the cameras.
The prisoners find a mirror cabinet and use a hammer to break it. Inside, there is a black box, with "serial" written on it and containing flakes and a sealed paper. They open it and find the words, "hint: What is your favorite type of serial? In this game there are three. One rapist, one pedophile and one killer, find the killer, find the reason." The people ask each other more questions, and the host tells them they have a minute before someone is eliminated. One of them commits suicide by shooting himself in the mouth. Tonya pieces together a key. Amid further eliminations, the others learn that these killings are called "curfews". Tonya discovers that the key could unlock one of the collars. Two people get into a fight that causes one of them to start frothing and die. Another person finds himself inside with the others. The new contestant name is Robert Tanner. Tanner later finds a black box containing bullets with another paper with the words "Hint: Bite the bullet". | suspenseful, mystery, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0048811 | Women's Prison | A ruthless superintendent of a prison, Amelia van Zandt, makes life hell for the female inmates. Her rules are rigid and she makes no exceptions.
The newcomer Helene Jensen is not a hardened criminal by any means, but a woman convicted of vehicular homicide after she accidentally killed a child. Out of place here, Helene is so distraught that Van Zandt has her placed in solitary confinement, making it even worse. Helene nearly dies.
The prison has two wings, one for women, one for men. One of the inmates, Joan Burton, has been illicitly having conjugal relations late at night with her husband, Glen, a convict in the other wing. Now she is expecting a baby, and brutal men's warden Brock issues a stern warning to Van Zandt that she'd better find out how the two prisoners have been arranging these meetings.
Joan has the sympathy of the decent Dr. Crane who's in charge of the infirmary and disapproves of the cruel treatment of prisoners he sees. But the heartless Van Zandt goes into a literally homicidal rage while interrogating Joan, beating the pregnant prisoner to death.
A protest erupts in the women's cell block, beginning with a hunger strike organized by Joan's cell mate, Brenda Martin, then turning into a full-scale riot. Naive or timid inmates are swept up along with the vicious, veteran ones, and there is much bloodshed before the uprising is quelled. Dr. Crane intends to go to the prison board and accuse Van Zandt of murder. | insanity, cruelty | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0038714 | The Madonna's Secret | Businessman John Earl observes a piece of artwork in a museum, gazing at it reverently. He asks the museum curator how much it costs, and the curator says that it is not for sale. The artist, James Harlan Corbin [Lederer], does not wish to sell the painting. Nonplussed, Earl returns to his office and phones Corbin with his proposal to sell. Again, Corbin refuses. Earl continues his pursuit to find out who the model for the painting was. He learns it is Helen North, a young woman who looks nothing like the woman in the painting. He visits with her to learn his location, but she refuses, telling him that she will be singing at a local nightclub, where Corbin frequents. Earl finds both of them in the museum, and again confronts Corbin. Becoming clearly annoyed, Corbin invites the singer out for a night in his yacht. She agrees, but is later found washed ashore. Although Police Lt. Roberts initially questions Helen's suitor Hunt Mason, Mason implicates Corbin as the last person who saw Helen North. John Earl works with the police department to arrange for Helen's sister Linda to apply for modeling, in order to spy on Corbin. The two return to Corbin's boathouse. While there, Linda calls for Earl and tells his chef that she is in danger and to notify the police. There, she learns that Corbin did not murder her sister. Thereafter, she falls in love with Corbin and agrees to support him against the district attorney's allegations he killed both Helen and another model, Madonna. Although Corbin has visions that he did so, Linda tells him to make sure he is telling the truth before confessing such heinous crimes. Linda returns home with Corbin's mother, who poisons her tea and tries to inject her with a lethal substance before police shoot. Corbin had suddenly recognized who it was that had planted evidence at the boathouse to implicate him. Police arrive just in time to save Linda from death but not Mrs. Corbin, who dies in her son's arms. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1212408 | Dog Tags | This is the coming of age story of Nate Merritt (played by Paul Preiss), who stuck in bad relationships with his fiancee and mother decides to enlist in the military, although he is not sure. In the midst of all this turmoil in his life, he meets Andy Forte (played by Bart Fletcher), a carefree gay guy, and the two immediately strike a chord and become soul mates trying to help each other through their dilemmas and troubled youths.
Both men have domineering mothers and live in broken families. Nate's mother Deb (Candy Clark) is a single mother who hides the real identity of the father Gene (Hoyt Richards) from her son, although the alcoholic Gene still continues to live a destitute life in the vicinity in a one-room shack surviving on permanent disability cheques and doing odd jobs on the side. Andy's divorced mother Louise (Diane Davisson) is a former actress that had to leave everything behind to take care of Andy and Andy's son Travis blaming her son for her own predicament of a stay-home caretaker considering Andy an almost absent irresponsible father.
Nate has to deal with Trish Huddle (Amy Lindsay) a philandering fiancee, who is anxious to conceive a son from any military guy, almost guiding Nate step by step in the mechanics of a sexual ritual to achieve this. She has no qualms to have intercourse in Nate's own residence during his absence with other married military men to achieve having the desired boy as Nate discovers when he calls in home unexpectedly. Meanwhile Nate wants desperately to find his real father, despite grave objections from his mother. He is led to think his father is a married military man called Mark Dessau (Keythe Farley), who had a long-term relationship with Deb, Nate's mother. Meanwhile Andy is fighting his own demons and is constantly haunted by the memories of his first lover, a Marine (played by Justin Mortelliti). Andy is unable to get over the loss of his first love and fails in all his other intimate relationships, despite the fact his relation with the Marine, though intense, never had any chance of survival with the Marine just abandoning him to his misery. When a new guy tries to become intimate with him during a disastrous get-together scene, Andy confesses his incurable love to the Marine and refuses to go further, which prompts the guy to tell him frankly: "once a marine, always a marine". Andy is confused by his aspirations to build a future away from home, his sexual orientation and his responsibilities as a father.
After meeting Nate, during a very bizarre circumstance at the residence of an amateur porn director "Uncle Sam" (played by Barry J. Ratcliffe), who invites them to his house to shoot a pornographic scene for money, Nate and Andy leave the house horrified. When Nate offers Andy help with starting his decrepit car, the two strike an immediate friendship with Andy clearly seeing in Nate a reflection of the Marine he once loved. After learning about Nate's obsession to find his true father, the two journey together on a quest to find him. They also find each other and discover how to confront their true "callings." The two engage to explore their own past, present and future amidst brief flashbacks they see throughout the movie.
The bond strengthens between Nate and Andy including sexual affinity between the two, awakening Nate to his own sexuality. Nate decides to confront Mark Dessau (Keythe Farley), his supposed "father", but discovers this was just an illusion. It turns out Mark went out with Nate's mother only after Nate had been conceived. This puts Nate into further despair as he realizes that his mother always deceived him. In his moment of vulnerability, his resistance is down and he easy gives in to having sex with Andy. The scene uses a montage effect where Nate is replaced by Andy's first Marine-love who went away, as Andy responds to both the real man and the man in his memory. The next morning Nate is confused but not weirded out. "There is no should or supposed to," Andy says, "What does Nate want to do?"
Confronted by Nate for a last time and upon an ultimatum to his mother that he will quit his prospective military career, Deb finally reveals that Gene is the real father. In Gene's shack, Nate's search is culminated with he finding a childhood photograph of himself in an album kept by Gene, with Nate being the result of a sexual relation between Gene and Deb at a drive-in movie. The film ends at the drive-in itself with Nate searching his soul with what he has to do with his own life. It is clear he chooses the military path, despite desire and futile efforts of Andy who tries to convince Nate that the two live together as partners and to take care of Andy's kid Travis. The departure shots in which Andy reluctantly leaves Nate alone to decide for his destiny, is a repetition, and a deja-vu of his earlier experience with his first-Marine love, exactly as the party friend had told Andy at the beginning of the film, "once a marine, always a marine." | plot twist | train | wikipedia | Because of the DVD cover picture and some reviews I had read, there was an expectation that this little indie would be just another Gay Consciousness Raising Film, that is, another predictable tale where boy meets boy and both fight and then realize they have good sex together and will love each other for eternity no matter what happens.
I'm glad to say I was wrong; this film offers a more complex view of human behavior, dealing with individuals who learn about one another by listening, by caring, by questioning, and ultimately, by growing in positive ways from their being tossed together purely by chance.
I would recommend sticking with this film past the first ten or fifteen minutes, and you may get wrapped up in director Damion Dietz's exploration of friendship, family, and a search for some kind of meaning in a haphazard world.
Brad Fletcher is fantastic as Andy the carefree gay guy.
Paul Preiss is amazing as Nate the marine recruit who is trying to find himself and his long absent father.
After Nate and Andy meet in a less than ideal setting and a bad experience happens for Nate, the two form a bond.
I think it is wonderful that we are getting some better gay genre movies of late.
I am glad to add DOG TAGS to my recommendation list.
Written and directed by Damion Dietz, Dog Tags opens with "Nate" (Paul Preiss) getting ready to head off to the army.
At the same time, we meet "Andy" (Bart Fletcher), serious and sad, who isn't sure what he wants to do, and doesn't fit in with his peers.
Then we go to flashback, and see how Nate and Andy meet up, and THAT is an interesting story.
We "flash forward" here and there, and sometimes it takes a minute to figure out what's going on, but overall a good script and good story.
Watch it again, catch the audio clues about the guy's first love, and then watch that sequence and you'll see it.Overall, it was not a bad movie.
It was the acting, and some of the cuts to the story (probably during the editing process) that left the end result jagged and mis-connected - which probably led to the previous person's confusion about the supposed 'body double'..
It starts out so slowly but before you know what is happening it keeps building and building until you are totally caught up in the unfolding drama which is quite remarkable in the way it is done.
Yet there is the "missing" father in the background who in one scene utterly wraps you up in the situation that no one would want to be in yet the male lead finds himself in.
The male lead, Paul Preiss, apparently has quit acting and according to his web site he is now directing commercials and short films.
I can certainly understand why he would give up acting, after all, it's a no win situation unless you hit it big, yet it's too bad because he really is a natural.
Dog Tags is the story of two kids who meet like ships in the night at a porn producer's desert home.
One's an aimless party twink whose fathered a child in a moment of inebriated weakness, the other is a very hunky marine who comes from a real white trash background and is unsure of his sexuality.
The roles are respectively played by Bart Fletcher and Paul Preiss.Would these two very competent and attractive leads were worthy of the film.
Dog Tags is a film sending out a real mixed message.
Preiss has himself a real winner of a mother in Candy Clark who's picked out a bride for him, another version of herself from the bar she tends.
When he comes home unexpectedly and finds her cheating, Preiss finds out it's been with half the customers there.As for Fletcher he's also got mother troubles in Amy Lindsay, a woman who insists on being a diva when her diva days have long passed.
Preiss also due to Fletcher's influence is thinking real strongly of going AOL.
Not a real good idea, that's a decision that will affect the rest of your life gay or straight.Preiss is on a quest for his dad and for the life of me I never understood why Clark just didn't come right out and tell him who is father was.
I will say the male sex scenes were handled tastefully.Some interesting points in Dog Tags, but definitely below average..
This films has some very good and very competent actors.
The cross shots seem to be nothing than an exercise you'd do in college while trying to discover your vision and voice as a director.And lastly, if you're going to have a stand-in for the intimate man-on-man sex scene, at least find somebody who actually looks like your star!
It was glaringly visible that he was a mis-matched stand-in.I would have rated this film a "1" except that the acting kept me from doing so.
There are some real stand outs in this film..
But not such an interesting movie.The story slowly unfolds before you and you discover two guys that come from completely different backgrounds and yet both find in each other something the other needs emotionally and psychologically.Maybe actors with a better creative range in character development would have helped this film.
I don't want to give this movie a completely bad review because it does offer up a different story and doesn't completely fail in telling it.
The movie is just slow and frankly the Marine comes across as a bit scary!
This is a well-meaning, earnest, low-budget film about a man and a boy, both fatherless, both seeking the love from and approval of a father/older brother image.
They are thrown together, share stories, dreams, and influence each others' lives.It's not really a gay romance, so let's get that out of the way first.
The director keeps the physical intimacy of the relationship a puzzle for the audience.Nate (Paul Preiss) is a fatherless young man, living with his mother and girlfriend in an impoverished rural area.
On a visit back from boot camp he encounters Andy (Bart Fletcher), a young man who wears eye makeup and seems as aimless as Nate.
They both need ready money: Nate to put a down payment on an engagement ring; Andy to finance a trip across country to escape his life.
To further complicate things, Andy has fathered a child in a moment of party drunkenness.Andy is the real catalyst in Nate's life, urging him to do what HE wants to do, not what he has been told he should do.
He helps him find who he believes is his father, instilling the confidence to do so, and later in an ambiguous shower scene, he encourages Nate to decide if he wants to join him without regard to what he's been taught, but in response to what he really wants.There are three surprises in the last half hour, one after another, but none of them seem forced or out of character with the script and the relationships.
The bonding seems very real and appropriate and the script beautifully shows the emptiness in both men's lives because of the loss of a father figure.Preiss and Fletcher are both fine young actors and give exemplary, totally believable performances.
I had wished the physical intimacy had been better established and not just hinted at - and I don't mean I wanted or needed to see sex, because neither was seeking that- they were seeking love in physical expression.
Had the director given us some BROKEBACK scenes, it would be all we would have needed to have truly understood how both felt about each other.All in all, it's a nice film.
This film doesn't require the suspension of disbelief -- it's more like putting your complete trust and faith that some of the meaningless meanderings and pointless plot contrivances will actually solidify into something coherent -- however that trust and faith would be misplaced.Unfortunately, the marketing of this film -- even in film festivals and by the gay press -- prior to it's release as another in a long line of TLA piece of craps -- was as a gay romance or even a bromance between a gay man and a straight man on a mission of self-discovery.
That may have been a good story -- but instead we get all these side tracks, the bad tropes of someone who directed and wrote a piece of crap like BEVERLY KILLS and still hasn't learn anything better -- such as the fiancé who wants to get pregnant to get ahead in life AND wants to send her fiancé to the marines (where if he died in war, she'd get squat) and so she still jumps on anything and everything -- and pointless and annoying conversations with the mothers of both characters -- or a long segue-way at a 'exclusive' gay party of the proper kind of 'rich' 'sophisticated' gay men every gay boy should dream of being -- which of course means a lot of martini's and not wearing underwear and having sex with the two guys willing to do gratuitous full frontal nudity (aka the porn models brought on set).
As others have pointed out in their reviews, there are two many elements that make no sense or worse, add nothing to the movie -- other than to contradict what the director may have wanted to do with the characters -- such as having Andy lock his son in his car, not feed him, want to abandon him with either his mother or whomever took him while he was at said exclusive party.
The scene having the Nate character walk all that long way to and from his supposed Dad's office was also unexplained -- and worse -- pointless.
And worse, as others pointed out, was the obvious use of a stand in portions of the so-called intimate scenes with Nate and Andy.
In any event, there is no sense in how Nate goes from a fiancé who he is willing to impregnate to even simply kissing and showering -- and even more importantly -- trusting and just befriending a guy who is essentially a total stranger who was merely a transport from point A to point B.
These plot holes are either pointless or plot contrivances (having Nate be walking in the middle of the desert just to be found by the local porn producer) and make what little there may have been to point this movie down a successful path and just shove it down a fruitless one..
If you are prepared to suspend disbelief on this low budget film then you may have enjoyed Dog Tags as I did.
While the primary thrust of the film is self awareness, the buddy stuff jogged along nicely in its wake and those makeup disputes, the baby that never cried and unconvincing ending never managed to take a firm hold on me partly because I was so determined not to let them.
I think that if you make a conscious effort to just enjoy the ride, you can and seeing this film without knowing anything about it was like that for me.
I then found it easy to let Mr Paul Preiss dangle his doggie tags at me without asking too many questions.
The Military Chaser may have been getting ready after seeing the film's poster of Nate's pecs and tags, but I wonder if something a little more up front would have been more in order or if another poster entirely would have been more appropriate.
The gay audience was obviously targeted, although it was more a film about friendship than anything else.
If Nate had joined those other Marines flashing themselves all over the internet strapped for cash and waving their doggies around, it would have been another film entirely and the film tried to make this point and succeeded to some extent.
I suspect if it had gone up that path it would have had more appeal, but instead it chose a more interesting and difficult route, that of moral support between a gay and a straight male, both "Tags" or labels if one thinks about it.
The films main strength was in the camera-work which gave it a sense of real poetry.
A surprisingly good and well made low budget film.
............his true sexuality is?"When buying this film, I had hoped for something perhaps as well done and along the lines of the recently released "Shelter," a film highly received by many of we everyday, nonprofessional reviewers.
However, that hope was quickly turned topsy-turvy (learn the primary reason for this by continuing on to both the last paragraph and the Postscript, below).To this viewer, this is NOT a "Gay Romance" and certainly not a "Gay Drama." (Oh, I know, I know, those of you who've seen the film will say: "what about the bed and shower scenes?" Then I'd come back with: "maybe he was just getting to that 'you-show-me-yours-I'll-show-you-mine' life phase a little later than most").
But to continue on, what this film is, is a story in drama form of two young men trying to find themselves and their roles in life.
One is heterosexual (Nate), one is gay (Andy); one is more a goalless, live-day-to-day type looking for a way to change all that; one is, simply, a free spirit......with a haunting memory.
Our lead character, Nate, is someone at the most vulnerable point in his existence, someone desperately in need of comforting----and it just happens that the person who then comes into his life is gay.
And, now that you know bare details for each character, you should also be made aware that, because of strong needs brought about by problems in both men's lives, they do fall into sex.........but they do NOT fall into love.
Still, Paul Preiss (Nate) and Bart Fletcher (Andy) are, together, able to achieve quite a high degree of "chemistry" (not of the Trevor Wright / Brad Rowe caliber), which is very important to making their characters believable to us.But, wait, there is yet another character of note making up this interesting little group of ours: Nate's mother, Deb (nicely played by Candy Clark).
She seemingly loves her son, but whether she's always honest with him, as would be hoped, remains for us to find out.I do have to especially address Paul Preiss's performance because, as a newbie to film, he most definitely gives this viewer a sense of his being "a natural" to acting (similar, I would say, to the case of Wright).
Further, unlike Fletcher who is very good in his role, it is Preiss who takes control of / commands our attention.One especially jarring note, for this reviewer, involves the writer / director's apparent need to insert what I consider gratuitous gay sex into the film's first twenty minutes.
A heterosexual sex scene, on the other hand, seemed appropriate to developing aspects of Preiss's character.
Again, I certainly did not see any real need for the male frontal and anal sex scenes associated with Fletcher's character building (I've already got enough of that type DVD).
What was the director trying to do, anyway, shout out: this IS a gay movie?!!
Obviously, Dietz chose not to aim this production for the mainstream market---too bad for Preiss's and Fletcher's futures; they deserved more.
(Extra Point / Star given for Preiss and Fletcher performances..........none extra given for the director's)PS--Finally, to address this review's subject question (above), we know that character, Nate (representing the Director), at the most emotionally low and vulnerable point in his life, has a "gay event" with likely the most understanding and encouraging person he's ever met.
But, from that point on and through film's end, is there anything that tells us, definitively (or even near definitively), what the sexuality future of Nate / Damion is going to be?
Please don't give me conjectures in trying to answer this.((NOTE to Director Dietz: Check your Dog Tags, Damion........maybe in addition to Name, SSAN, Blood Type, they'll tell you your sexuality.))****.
Secondly, for a low budget, indie, gay-themed movie, the production values and style were well intact and well done.
Also, I was sorely deceived (major spoiler alert ahead) by the premise of two males, one straight military dude and one gay guy on a road trip to discovery.
And before I'm accused of giving anything away, the main menu (shame on you, production team, or TLA) shows clips of the movie, including the two stars having sexual intercourse.
(Thankfully, I didn't pay too close attention to the main menu before watching the film, so it was still a question of whether or not the marine would bed the gay male.) I was (unsuccessfully) hoping for an original story of someone that's not only straight, but stays that way, and a gay man we can definitely root for.
Not only is the gay character not worth rooting for, he's easily despicable.
Well, he's Father of the Year compared to this low-life.
Okay, yeah, I'm taking this fictional story too seriously, but nothing really offends me as child abuse and bad parenting.
Bad film..equal to Socket.
The acting of two main actors are badly directed, hard-to-believe, pueril.
Maybe acting is good and idea grate (dialogs not so grate), but direction is simply bad.
Director tried to make film mysterious, did Nate died or he just do not want to see Andy, did they have sex only once or did they saw each other again.
Let me quote someone here - ''At one point, the two end up in a motel room, and a tentative sex scene commences.
throughout the scene, Andy's thick eyeliner comes and goes, and Nate's shaved head grows hair and then loses it.
What's going on?'' Maybe it's just an error, maybe Paul Preiss (Nate) didn't want to kiss Bart Fletcher so they hire understand or maybe it's directors attempt to be mysterious and intelligent. |
tt0112483 | Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back | The film opens in the small town of "Liberty", where a vicious group of neo-Nazis have been terrorizing the populace, most recently having murdered an African-American pastor and set fire to his church. While visiting his sister and brother-in-law in Liberty, Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee) crosses paths with the group's leader Donnie Hansen (Mark Rolston), and is drawn into the conflict when his sister is attacked in their car. Later, the group attempts to harass a schoolteacher named Margo (Gina Gershon) at the local 4-H fair, but Tommy intervenes and fends them off. Ungrateful at first, she eventually warms up to Tommy when they are set up on a blind date, and they start a relationship.
Meanwhile, the town of Liberty is holding hearings on whether to sell a parcel of land on the outskirts of town to the neo-Nazis, who have set up their headquarters on the land. Margo and Tommy join with the town's residents and convince the town council to reject the land sale, which means the neo-Nazis will soon have to vacate the premises.
After this defeat, the neo-Nazis arm themselves and launch an assault on Tommy's family. After saving Margo from an attempted rape, Tommy returns home to find his sister badly beaten. He and his brother-in-law, the local sheriff Jack Banning (Christopher McDonald), decide to take matters into their own hands and invade the group's heavily guarded compound, where Jack's children have been taken hostage. After a long, climactic fight, the children are rescued and Tommy defeats Hansen in single combat, but refuses to kill him, knowing that it would only further his message of hatred. As Tommy turns away, Hansen takes aim at him with a rifle, prompting a local teenager named Owen Tucker (Peter Simmons) to shoot and kill Hansen himself, thus brokering a new peace in the town. The ending scene shows the pastor's child reading from the Bible and the church being rebuilt. | violence | train | wikipedia | Our hero Tommy Lee, as portrayed by Phillip Rhee, encounters and overcomes a myriad set of common problems in the deep south.
what happened to the great martial arts action of: best of the best?
yes, this movie has a good storyline, and phillip rhee is great in this film...
The gorgeous Gina Gershon does her best as a choir teacher helping Tommy out, but whenever she needs to be "helpless" it kinda doesn't work because she now plays such strong, female roles.The acting and direction are seriously questionable but this film is obviously about fight scenes and they are entertaining enough, from the moment we see Gershon's house is full of glass tables, flimsy bookcases and china filled cabinets we know we are in for a treat.Terrible, patronising attitude toward racial issues but, hey, its got a rocket launcher and plenty of flying kicks..
The biggest joke about this movie is that it dislikes racism enough to support the plot about really stupid white supremacists, but not enough to allow Gina Gershon to fall in love with the Asian lead.
Phillip Rhee goes it alone (After Roberts wisely stepped out) to face off against a band of white supremacists who hold the town in a grip of terror.
BEST OF THE BEST 3: NO TURNING BACK steps even further away from the tournament set-up of the original movie to offer straightforward straight-to-video action thrills from leading man Phillip Rhee.
Rhee is the sole returning cast member from the first two movies, although he steps up to direct here as well as star in what turns out to be a typically over the top, mildly entertaining slice of mid-'90s entertainment.This time around the setting is the small, ubiquitous town in one of the southern states.
Cue lots of violent fist fights, shoot-outs and explosives, achieved in the best low budget '90s way.BEST OF THE BEST 3 isn't as good as the previous film in this series - the action isn't as hard-hitting or as well staged - but it's not bad and could be a lot worse.
Tommy Lee (Phillip Rhee), comes into town to visit his sister Karen, right after the mysterious disappearance of a black reverend.
The sheriff and Tommy Lee take the law into their own hands, and it is up to one martial arts superhero to save the day..
Overall, the BEST OF THE BEST series is one of the most enjoyable martial arts franchises in film.
It took two movies before tae kwon do bigshot Phillip Rhee was properly established as the real star of the story, and I'm pleased to say that even in the disappointing absence of Eric Roberts & co., he proves to be a solid solo action hero, not to mention a better first-time director than his more-recognized cohorts Seagal and Van Damme.
It's a bit strange that he chose a story dealing with domestic racial terrorism as his first project, but while not perfect, I think it came out much better than anyone could have expected.The story: Following the events of the the second film, Tommy Lee (Rhee) rides into a rural town besieged by a neo-Nazi militia.
When their violent mania takes its toll on the family of his brother-in-law (Christopher McDonald) and his new romantic interest (Gina Gershon), he uses his championship-caliber martial arts skills to fight back.Neo-Nazism, neo-Confederatism, and white supremicism remain lingering social problems, but while they've been tackled before in drama form (e.g. American HISTORY X), I'm pretty sure that Phillip Rhee is the first filmmaker to make an action film that predominantly dealt with the issue.
It's kind of heavy-handed, with a rather tasteless scene early on wherein the militant leader (played by great villain-actor Mark Rolston) beats a black activist priest to death with a baseball bat, but the film does make a point of differentiating between the racial separatism ideology and racial warfare, as well as depicting the kind of social hopelessness that can lead some folks to grasp at extremes.
Still, it's an action flick, so don't expect a completely empathetic movie.Speaking of action, this one's offering is pretty darn good, being mostly limited to four fights and an explosion-filled invasion scene.
During three one-against-many fights and a single one-on-one brawl with bad guy Rolston, Rhee goes through an encyclopedia of strikes and throws, for the most part exquisitely choreographed and competently filmed.
The showdown at the end sort of disappointed me for its change of pace, but by most standards, it's still pretty good, and it doesn't deter from the glorious scene in the first half of the film wherein Rhee - dressed as a clown - takes on a bunch of brutes at a fair.
Lee Ermey plays a racist pastor with his usual infectious talent, and Peter Simmons gives a pretty good performance as young supremacist recruit with mixed feelings about his actions.
The fact that the film only connects with its prequels via a minute's exposition is somewhat disappointing - I'd have liked to see the ending of the last movie weigh in more on the events of this one - but Rhee proves himself such a consummate performer that you don't miss the other characters *too* much.
There's this other guy who doesn't think Emery is white enough who, at the start of the film, bludgeons to death a black reverend while all his skinhead mates look on.
Eric Roberts isn't in this one by the way, and I think it was probably because his character took the rap for killing the bad guy in the last film.
And on top of that they're just dumb and below the level of worthy opponent for anyone with Rhee's caliber.So where does this movie fit into the Best of the Best series ?
this movie represents a step down in quality from the first two movies in the series.to me,it's basically a run of the mill story,with a setting that has also been done before.in fact,it's almost a carbon copy of at least one other movie.and they don't really add anything new to it.also missing are the spectacular fight scenes from number two.there are plenty of fights,but they are pretty much ho-hum.the action is boring for the most part.there are some plot holes and inconsistencies.that normally wouldn't be a problem,except that they are very obvious.and since the film itself isn't very exciting,it's much easier to focus on the negative.the other problem is the acting,not so much from the main c characters,but the other characters.i won't say too much in that regard,other than--it was bad.when you put it all together,this film does not live up to the standard of the first two.it isn't the worst movie of the genre,but it isn't very good either.for me,it's a 3/10,at best..
Oh yeah, that Owen kid (the troubled teen who joins the racist gang) is heavily involved in the climax, and EVERYONE who watches this movie will be able to guess what he does at the end, even if they turn it off half-way.This film is kind of like an episode of 'Walker, Texas Ranger' - tame, predictable, and really not worth bothering with, since there are so many better choices available in your video store..
Both in reality and on screen, Rhee's techniques look great and the man clearly has an excellent command of martial arts, so why is it that in a movie starring this guy, in a series about martial arts, do we not even seen him fight anyone until about 40 minutes into this one?
Now, I'm not saying that an action movie can't have build up and suspense, or it should be all fighting and no plot, but Best of the Best 3 starts the movie off with the heavy subject of violent racism and doesn't dial back from there.
With virtually no relation and continuity to the other 2 movies in the series, Best of the Best 3 has only one constant, the character of Rhee's Tommy Lee, who is down South visiting his sister that he's never mentioned (although he does apparently have Indian grandparents and a brother from the second) and has to intervene in the grand plot of a White Supremacist group.Compared to the other 2 Best of the Best movies, which were about fighting tournaments and the comradery between the martial artists on the team, this one is totally Tommy Lee's show, and deals with an intense, sensitive, and serious issue.
Even though the film has a good message, the corny acting and dialouge and overall 90's action movie goofiness just doesn't work for the hard hitting subject matter, which is something that deserves serious examination and treatment.It's not to say that the movie doesn't have it's entertaining moments, but whenever you get into some of the action, it draws you right back to the ugly topic it's all based around, but the poor execution makes it hard to enjoy.
Overall, Phillip Rhee would've been better off including Eric Roberts, a major character in the other 2 movies in some way, and continuing the story and through line he had established with 1 and 2, which were also cheezy martial arts movies, but stayed within their depth and didn't try to tackle something this hard hitting and real.
The rest was standard knife and gun action with a few explosions.They had a chance to make something interesting in this film starring Gina Gershon.
So grab a Like soda and cheer for Phillip Rhee, Christopher McDonald and Gina Gershon in a truly hard hitting tale of racism!.
Just as their evil empire is growing, none other than Tommy Lee (the drummer from Motley Crue) (just kidding, it's Phillip Rhee of course) rolls into town to visit his sister who just happens to live in this town, and her husband Jack (McDonald).
There's even some Jackie Chan-like martial arts, as evidenced by the scene in which Rhee fights some baddies in a clown outfit.
A lot of action movies fall into that cliché: Although the main baddie may have no martial arts or combat training whatsoever, when the hero faces off against him in a fight, after handily defeating hundreds of goons, NOW the final fight is actually a challenge for the hero.
The movie has never looked better.So grab a Like soda and cheer for Phillip Rhee, Christopher McDonald and Gina Gershon in a truly hard hitting tale of racism.For more action insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com.
Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back starts as martial artist Tommy Lee (co-producer & director Phillip Rhee) arrives in the small town of Liberty where his sister Karen (Anzu Lawson) lives with her husband Jack (Christopher McDonald) who just so happens to be the local Sheriff.
Hansen & his white power group hate all foreigner's & the Chinese Tommy Lee & his sister Karen are next in line for the racial abuse & violence but Tommy, being a world Karate champ & general brilliant martial artist, fights back.
Things become personal as Jack & Karen's kid is kidnapped & the true extent of Hansen's plans become apparent, Hansen wants to start a war between black & white...Directed by & starring Phillip Rhee this is the third entry in the Best of the Best franchise & while it's not as good as Best of the Best 2 (1993) it's better than the weak original Best of the Best (1989).
Right, first things first series continuity has gone right out of the window here, for some reason Tommy Lee now refuses to teach martial arts & despite being an only child (after his brother was killed by Dae Han in the original Best of the Best) now magically has a sister, gone is his mate Alex Grady played by Eric Roberts in the previous two & this time he's on his own.
In fact Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back has very little to do with the previous two films except that it features Tommy Lee (anyone else think the character was originally meant as a homage to Bruce Lee?).
A little bit of research actually reveals that the script was originally written as a stand alone film called No Turning Back about a black soldier returning home & finding his town overrun with racists but Phillip Rhee saw the script & turned it into a Best of the Best film.
A little slow to get going Tommy Lee doesn't doesn't beat up his first racist until after the thirty minute mark but from then on it continues to move along at a nice pace until the action packed climax.
Not as deep as some films might have been considering it's touchy racial subject matter but as pure action entertainment then this is worth a watch.The fights are well staged & look impressive, the last thirty minutes are great with lots of shooting, explosions, out of control buses, car & motorbike stunts & a final climatic knife fight between Tommy Lee & Hansen.
Set in a small town in the US the picturesque opening credits feature kids playing in fields & fishing & a rickety old school bus picking them up in a really syrupy scene but things soon turn nasty as a Church is burned down.Filmed in Indiana & Ohio this looks nice enough, first time director Rhee does a decent enough job here although the action scenes & fights predictably fare better than the human drama.
Lee Emery in a small role while Kane Hodder joins Rhee as being the only actor to have appeared in all three Best of the Best films but unlike Rhee as a different character in each although always as a bad guy.Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back tries to mix a hard & emotive issue like racial abuse & tension with mindless martial arts action & is somewhat successful, while not that deep it does entertain on a basic level with some good action scenes during the last thirty minutes.
Part one was about teamwork...part two was about vengeance...in this third chapter of the Best of the Best series, Tommy Lee finds himself fighting for the greatest prize of all: salvation.
A lot of people look at this movie as a step down for the Best of the Best series, but in my opinion, it isn't.
If anything, it was a growing step up until Without Warning (the fourth Best of the Best) was created.Picking up from the events of Best of the Best 2, Tommy has left his good friend Alex Grady behind and comes to Liberty to see his sister Karen, brother-in-law Jack (who's the town Sheriff), his nephew Justin and Luther, Justin's friend who's father is a preacher who goes missing earlier in the film.
Tommy is glad to see his family and is enjoying the love and warmth that he receives, but when he learns that local supremacists have taken over the town and are responsible for the death of Luther's father, Tommy must decide whether or not to use his lethal skills again in order to help the locals take back their home from predators who use fear as a weapon and violence against the innocent just because they're 'different'.A lot of people think that this Best of the Best just follows a tired old cliché story that people have seen and heard hundreds of times before.
Tommy is trying to live a life of peace, but the supremacists make that extremely difficult and force him to use lethal countermeasures to put a stop to their bullying and he hopes and prays that the situation won't result in more death at his hands.Another message in this film is that even if you despise violence, you have to be ready to use it at a moment's notice.
And rest assured, Phillp Rhee's character has a lot of teaching to do in this film.Basically put, there's plenty of gunfights galore, high-kicking action, explosive pyrotechnics and behind it all, a message about being ready to go to war if you ever want peace on your land.
You don't even hear the theme song one time, which i found very disappointing as its one of the best theme song to show a training sequence...I got the story, and i felt touched by it, yet even with the couple links to BOTB2(Tommy mentioning he killed a guy) the movie feel so out of the series based on the first 2.
Yet the fighting scenes in BOTB3 are good, sure but any character could had been Tommy here.
I had the chance to see this film last Saturday on TV, and well I wasn't very impressed by what I saw.Basically Tommy Lee (Rhee) return again now to help a town against a white supremacist gang that is planning to tear the city apart.The plot is just a retool of the basic hero comes to town plot.
The violence in this film near the same as Best of the Best 2, and it sorta feels like it at times.
There is clearly a anti-racist message in the film, and so obvious from the start.The acting at times, could be better, as most of the white supremacists sound like their are rednecks, and the other characters just sound a tad wooden.
Some of the fight scenes are good, some I have to wonder, what in the world the producers where either drinking or smoking, because they are good, it's just the set up to them is just plain bad.If you don't like racial slurs, then avoid this film, since that's pretty much every other word out the mouth of the racist, and everything else is about Tommy not teaching any more.
If you are not offended by racial slurs, then you can watch this film, but like my summary says it not the "best" of the best |
tt0346457 | Mangal Pandey: The Rising | The story begins in 1857, when a large part of India was under the control of the British East India Company. Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan) is a sepoy, a soldier of Indian origin, in the army of the East India Company. While fighting in the Anglo-Afghan Wars, he saves the life of his British commanding officer, William Gordon (Toby Stephens). Gordon is indebted to Pandey and a strong friendship develops between them, transcending rank and race.
Gordon rescues a young widow, Jwala (Ameesha Patel), from committing sati (the act of following her deceased husband on to the funeral pyre); and afterwards, he falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Heera (Rani Mukerji) has been sold into prostitution, to work for Lol Bibi (Kirron Kher). There is a spark of attraction between her and Pandey and a liaison follows.
Gordon and Pandey's friendship is challenged following the introduction of a new rifle: the Enfield rifled musket. Rumours spread among the sepoys that the paper cartridges, which hold the powder and ball for the rifle, are greased with either pig fat or beef tallow. The process of loading the rifle requires the soldier to bite the down on the cartridge, and the soldiers believe that this would cause them to consume pork or beef — acts abhorrent to Muslim and Hindu soldiers for religious reasons.
Gordon investigates this claim, and is told by his superiors to assure Pandey and his men that the cartridges are free from animal contamination. Demonstrating his trust in Gordon, Pandey bites the cartridge, but soon afterwards discovers the truth. This seemingly trivial matter becomes the spark that lights the fire of rebellion among the sepoys. Mutiny breaks out, led by Pandey, and the situation escalates, fueled by the frustration of years of colonialism and subjugation. At one point, Pandey and Gordon engage involved in hand-to-hand combat as the latter tries to dissuade his friend from what he believes to be a futile exercise that will only lead to certain death.
The Company moves to quickly stop the uprising by bringing in army units from Myanmar (Burma). Pandey is captured and set to be exectuted, despite the protestations of Gordon, who reasons that Pandey will be revered as a martyr and that his legacy will cause more protests. This turns out to be correct, and Pandey marries Heera in his jail cell before his execution as scenes of nationwide revolt against British rule are shown. In the aftermath, Gordon is listed as having joined the rebellion against the British Raj.
The film ends with a montage of drawings of the historical rebellion and the narrator describes the progress of the Indian independence movement over the next century. The montage ends with documentary footage of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi leading the Indian National Congress during peaceful protests against British rule in the 1940s, eventually forcing an end to colonialism in the subcontinent. | violence, romantic | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0037761 | Hangover Square | Set against the backdrop of the days preceding Britain declaring war on Germany, the main character is George Harvey Bone, a lonely borderline alcoholic who suffers from a split personality. He is obsessed with gaining the affections of Netta, a failed actress and one of George's circle of "friends" with whom he drinks. Netta is repelled by George but, being greedy and manipulative, she and a mutual acquaintance, Peter, shamelessly exploit George's advances to extract money and drink from him.
George suffers from 'dead moods' in which he is convinced he must kill Netta for the way she treats him. Upon recovering from these interludes, he cannot remember them. However outside these he embarks on several adventures, trying in vain to win Netta's affections, including a 'romantic' trip to Brighton which goes horribly wrong (Netta brings Peter and a previously unknown man with whom she has sex in the hotel room next to George's).
Apart from being a source of money and alcohol, Netta's other reason for continuing to associate with George is because of Johnnie. He is one of George's long-time friends who works for a theatrical agent, and Netta hopes that through him she will get to meet Eddie Carstairs, a powerful figure in the theatre. However, in a final reversal of fortune it is George, not Netta, who ends up attending a party amongst the theatrical great and good whilst Netta is cast aside by Eddie who (unlike George) has immediately seen her for the unpleasant person she is. George suddenly realises what it is like to be surrounded by 'kind' people who are interested in him as a person rather than what he can provide.
This potentially promising turn of events in George's life is, however, dashed, when he suddenly clicks into a dead mood and resumes his murder plans. He executes his murder of Netta (and also of Peter, whom the narrative describes as a 'fascist' moments before he is murdered) before escaping to Maidenhead. Throughout the novel, Maidenhead represents for George a semi-mythical new beginning, and representing a picture of traditional Englishness in contrast to the seaminess of Earl's Court. However, in the closing pages of the novel the stark fallacy of that dream becomes apparent to George. It is the same as everywhere else. Now penniless, he gasses himself in a dingy Maidenhead boarding house. | insanity, romantic, murder | train | wikipedia | Hangover Square is the last film Laird Cregar made in his brief, remarkable career.
Like the previous year's The Lodger, also a Cregar-Brahm collaboration, this is a killer on the loose in Victorian London movie.
Aside from some fancily shot scenes early on, this would not in itself be an extraordinary film but for Cregar's portrayal of the lead character, a man who murders when he hears loud, sudden noises.
In his quieter moments the man is, of all things, a composer!There are many fine scenes in this film but it's basically Cregar's show from start to finish, and he does not disappoint.
Perhaps the best way to describe Cregar's acting style here is to imagine A Streetcar Named Desire being performed entirely inside someone's mind, with the characters of Stanley and Blanche being played by the same actor, in a Victorian setting, disguised as a murder story.
Not too shabby for a morbidly obese man several inches over six feet in height who, while still in his twenties, was playing men well into their forties.Cregar had a way of making even accomplished co-stars like Cedric Hardwicke and George Sanders look like amateurs by comparison.
Once he gets rolling, scene after scene is jaw-dropping in his array of lights and shadows - superb stuff.Laird Cregar, meanwhile, is mesmerizing as "George Harvey Bone," a demented composer who, upon hearing discordant notes, literally goes insane and gets violent, intending to choke the life out of the last person who got him upset.
particularly since his career was so short.Linda Darnell adds a lot of sex appeal and evilness to "Hangover Square" and George Sanders - surprise - plays a good guy.
HANGOVER SQUARE is one of my favorite films in which LAIRD CREGAR appeared--in fact, his last before a crash diet ruined his health and led to his death at age 28.
LINDA DARNELL makes an attractive romantic presence in her period costuming (it takes place in Victorian London), and GEORGE SANDERS does a nice job as a doctor (a good guy for a change).The scenes that stand out are Cregar climbing the ladder of a bonfire to dispose of his latest victim and the finale where he's playing the piano in a deserted building as the flames spread around him--all the while Bernard Herrmann's score is making an impact.It's a delicious LAIRD CREGAR performance and a fitting finale to his short but illustrious career.
The 2 main leads, Cregar & Sanders, the director & writer were involved in the making of The Lodger - a Jack the Ripper film - the year before..
HANGOVER SQUARE was Laird Cregar's last film (he died at 28) and he turns in a fine performance.
John Brahm was a terrific director who was not afraid to use unusual shots (ever see the work he did for TV's Twilight Zone?), the performances are exceptional, and Bernard Herrmann's score is top-of-the-line.Having said that, I must ask the big question: why must the lovers of this film have to wait over a decade between screenings?
In 1903, in London, the prominent classical pianist George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) stabs a shop owner to death and set his store on fire.
The music score by Bernard Herrmann is awesome and Laird Cregar convinces in the role of a pianist in his last work.
This (unfortunately) little-known movie is one of the best, and would easily make my top 100 list for many reasons, but mostly for the brilliant Bernard Herrmann score which features a superb one-movement piano concerto, one of his greatest works..
This film reunites Cregar and Sanders with director Brahm from "The Lodger" the previous year, and, like the earlier film, it is visually opulent but the story is less than compelling.
Character actor Laird Cregar received his first starring role in this exceptionally loose adaptation of Patrick Hamilton's novel about a mild-mannered composer with a latent homicidal streak.
In gas-lit London (via Hollywood), Cregar falls hard for Linda Darnell, playing a greedy chanteuse who uses the pianist for his songwriting talents; little does she know, he also harbors a 'Mr. Hyde'-like tendency to go off the beam whenever he hears loud, obtrusive noises.
The British Catalogue Of Music lists him as a Distinguished Gentleman...1944 saw producer Robert Bassler, writer Barré Lyndon, director John Brahm and leading actors George Sanders and Laird Cregar, make the terrific and atmospheric The Lodger.
Linda Darnell {what a pair of legs}, George Sanders, Glenn Langan and Faye Marlowe all contribute to what is a top notch production.Hangover Square, a captivating tale about passion, obsession, insanity and murder.
Herrmann is the man behind the music for a whole slew of great movies from "Citizen Kane" to "Psycho." He writes with gutsy, vigorous originality, a striking counterpart to that other legendary composer, Max Steiner, who is more clever and graceful in his scoring.
Herrmann feels more like a tortured serious composer trapped in a movie world, and it really works.Now throw in one of the handful of best cinematographers of the 1940s, Joseph LaShelle (around this time he did both "Laura" and "Fallen Angel") and you have a sensual film through and through.
In a way, it probably isn't so much an escape for war-torn Britain in early 1945 but a reminder of it, a fictional echo of pure chaos and fear.The centerpiece of the movie is a young actor who I knew only from his really compelling role in "This Gun For Hire." This is the unlikely lead man, Laird Cregar, who died just after filming this movie, at the age of 31, due to complications caused by preparing for the part.
Oh, and George Sanders, one of my favorite secondary men in these British movies, is terrific but oddly underplayed, maybe to let Cregar have the spotlight.If you do like this as much as I did, you might want to know that the director, John Brahm, did a number of interesting films, including the terrific "The Lodger" which has some of this same edgy stylizing, and a dozen early "Twilight Zone" episodes.
Laird Cregar made this movie another Film Classic with his great acting skills, he made you feel for his pain and suffering as a mentally disturbed musician.
The music score still rings in my ears and during the final scene of the film where Laird Cregar gave his final performance in more ways than one.
Freudian movies were countless in the first half of the forties:from "Cat people" to "spellbound" ,and from "secret beyond the door" to "the dark mirror" ,there were plenty of good movies inspired by the good doctor.I do not think that "Hangover Square" is in the same league as the four previous works,but it would be unfair to overlook it.A musician who does not want his art to be mistreated ,in a way.A dissonant note can drive him crazy and ready to commit murder.There are suspenseful scenes ,particularly towards the end when the gorgeous Linda Darnell plays the piano in a concert the high society attends.Bernard Herrmann's score is terrific as ever.He will never be surpassed..
This film also stars the beautiful Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Faye Marlow and Alan Napier and has a fantastic Bernard Herrmann score.Cregar plays Bone, a brilliant composer in Victorian times who falls under the spell of a singer (Darnell) and is persuaded to write ditties for her.
John Brahm provides good direction.Like so many films, one could say this, like "Blood and Sand," is a jinxed movie - Cregar dead at 28, Darnell at 41, Sanders a suicide - but it's more important to appreciate the work of these people and be grateful we have it.
It also has the haunting music by Bernard Hermann, and with fire, being an important part of this film.The ending, is made more poignant, when you realize that Laird Cregar had died before the film was even released into theaters.
Like George Bone, the character Cregar plays in this film.
Whilst the performance of Laird Cregar as George Bone was good, the rest of the film was an entire mess.
Hangover Square (1945) *** (out of 4) Nice thriller has Laird Gregar playing a brilliant musician who turns into a psychopathic killer whenever he hears a loud sound.
what a character, since then l'd always keep track of this unsual actor on "The Lodger", "Hot Spot" and finally his last movie "Hangover Square" his sudden death with just 28 years old was devastating for film industry a heavy lost of a promissing star, this picture brings to us an astonishing music score supplied for an atypical moving camera, all those elements amplified this macabre thriller to turn in insanity, the powerful score was too louder on opening acting that seems plays for Craing himself, the mind blackout suggest a mental illiness, also for the first time George Sanders wasn't the bad guy who always he does and the sexy Linda Darnell was evil than ever using this charming to get all she wants, a valuable last movie from the unforgetable Laird Cregar!!Resume:First watch: 2019 / how many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.
I found it impossible to watch this highly-charged melodrama without thinking of the sad fate of its leading actor Laird Cregar, who embarked on a crash diet to lose weight in the hope of getting less stereotypical "heavy" (no pun intended) roles but died of a likely related heart attack before this film was released.
You can see here that he's less bulky than in some of his previous films and can certainly understand his artistic frustration but what a shame he died so young at age 31.This movie may just be another Gothic-flavoured murder mystery set in period London after the manner of "Gaslight", "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" and even the immediately preceding film of Cregar, his co-star George Sanders and director John Brahm, "The Lodger", but it's well staged, acted and filmed from first to last.Cregar is the aspiring young classical music composer all set for an artistic breakthrough and happily in tow with his loving fiancee and her well connected orchestra conductor father, only he keeps experiencing black-outs when he hears discordant sounds and when he wakes up later, someone in the neighbourhood has been murdered.
Laird Cregar stars as George Harvey Bone, a turn of the 20th century London composer.
Bernard Herrmann is one of the most valuable assets that the film can boast, as his lush score & concerto provide the perfect accompaniment for these melodramatic goings-on.One clever highlight: Bone taking advantage of a fiery Guy Fawkes celebration night.Eight out of 10..
"Hangover Square" has always been my favorite film noir because of that incredible noir brainstorming : John Brahm directing (he found his best level in this genre), Bernard Hermann's haunting music, Joseph LaShelle vertiginous camera, Barré Lyndon's script from the Patrick Hamilton's novel.
And in addition to these fantastic creators, the casting : Linda Darnell, George Sanders and the hallucinating Laird Cregar, who died too quickly.
Blacking Out. Subject to lengthy spells in which he cannot recall his actions, an overworked London composer begins to question whether he is committing murders during his blackouts in this stylish thriller starring Laird Cregar in his final big screen performance before his untimely death.
The second half of the movie is admittedly pretty solid though and Bernard Herrmann's atmospheric music score is excellent throughout, nicely coinciding with the heightened sound effects that indicate that Cregar is about to black out.
I did not know Hangover Square was the follow-up to the 1944 Lodger, and when I saw the opening scene with Cregar, I knew I was in for a treat.
By the ending climax of the film, with Cregar actually playing his Concerto (beautifully scored by Bernard Herrmann) it is the Concerto itself, which also provides the background music to drive the film, that eventually takes over.
While RKO had Val Lewton and his psychological classic like "The Seventh Victim" and "Cat People" Fox had John Brahm, a much underrated director most famous for "The Lodger" a study of Jack The Ripper that also starred this film's leading man, Laird Cregor.
This time rather than Scotland Yard detective Sanders plays a police alienist who Brahm initially seeks out when he has reason to believe that he has committed murder during one of the "missing time" intervals.Set in 19th century London, the film benefits from brooding atmosphere and a set peculiarity.
Sanders committed suicide, and while many people give the nod to Cregar in his last performance before his death, surely the most eerie aspect of the film is what happens to Darnell..
Hangover Square turned out to be the premature farewell performance of Laird Cregar who starred as the mad composer/pianist who both creates beautiful music, courtesy of composer Bernard Herrmann and strangles people who get on his wrong side.The film if it had to be a farewell was a great one as it is dominated by Cregar's performance who like in The Lodger gets both the pity and revulsion emotions going with the viewer.
As you know those across the pond celebrate it with bonfires and it's certainly an interesting way director John Brahm uses it.The famous Hollywood legend about how Laird Cregar endangered his health by trying a crash diet and then going for surgery to shrink his stomach is supposedly because Cregar wanted to get leading man roles, but his big frame and girth worked against that.
It also reunites many of the personnel from the loose 1944 remake of Hitchcock's THE LODGER, including stars Laird Cregar and George Sanders as well as director John Brahm and screenwriter Barre Lyndon.
Amid gorgeous Edwardian settings accompanied by one of the great Bernard Herrmann's most powerful scores, George Sanders is as suave as ever, while Linda Darnell is so convincing as the selfish, grasping songbird who uses and dumps poor lovestruck Laird Cregar that you're rooting for him to hear a loud noise, go nuts, and strangle her.
Admittedly, I couldn't help thinking about this as I watched HANGOVER SQUARE, but even if you don't know anything about Cregar's short life, this is a corker of a thriller.
The Actor who looks to have been born to play Oscar Wilde (and it says "on the internet" that he forced Hollywood to notice him by staging a 1 man show about Oscar), Laird Cregar evidently he died trying to transform himself into "a beautiful man" at 33 his dieting for this film killed him it says here another source told me that he died as a result of plastic surgery.
The Lodger provided the great George Sanders with a more lucrative role, but even in Hangover Square, he still impresses(..when does he not?)as a police psychiatrist who suspects Cregar might be the person responsible for the murder of a crooked antique dealer, and behind an attempted strangling of Barbara Chapman(Faye Marlowe).
This will undoubtedly seal her fate, as Bone, after entering into another lapse, strangles her, placing her corpse in a bonfire.I think maybe it's a bit unfair to compare Hangover Square with The Lodger since both are infinitely different films(..and Cregar, to his credit, is able to create two distinctively different characters), but I think what set the latter apart was the star power, with not only Sanders having a much richer part, but the likes of a Merle Oberon and Cedric Hardwicke included, it has advantages in this area alone.
I still think Hangover Square benefits because Cregar has the central core of the film based around him, not having to share with other stars.
This is basically a remake of 1944 Lodger, starring Laird Cregar as another serial killer terrorizing Victorian London of 1940's Hollywood, shot again as black and white, written again by Barre Lyndon, directed again by John Brahm and and featuring Linda Darnell (replacing Merle Oberon) as another glamorous vaudeville performer courted by the killer.
Set in the often fog-shrouded London of 1903, it tells the story of a classical musician who's aware that he has periodic blackouts and starts to become increasingly concerned because, after they've passed, he can never recall what has happened.The man in question is well-respected composer and pianist, George Harvey Bone (Laird Cregar) who's working on a new concerto that has been commissioned by Sir Henry Chapman (Alan Napier).
As the net eventually starts to close in on him, George's only remaining priority is to ensure that he manages to perform his completed concerto at Sir Henry's soiree and this leads to the movie's spectacular finale.In 1944, 20th Century Fox had scored a big hit with "The Lodger" which was a "Jack the Ripper" film and so, in an effort to repeat that success, studio head Darryl F Zanuck brought cast members, Laird Cregar and George Sanders, director John Brahm and screenwriter Barre Lyndon together again to produce the same magic with a "Jekyll and Hyde" type story.
Masterstrokes like turning Bone into a composer, setting the period back from 1939 to the turn of the century, inventing the trigger mechanism of the discordant noise (in Patrick Hamilton's novel, Bone just clicks in and out of schizophrenia without rhyme or reason), plus the film's highly-charged set-pieces (none of which, including the fiery climax, are even so much as hinted at in the book) can be credited solely to Lyndon.All the screenplay's marvelous effects are superbly realized by director John Brahm, who re-enforces their impact with extraordinarily fluid camera movements and highly imaginative compositions.The movie is also most impressively served by its star, Laird Cregar, whose crash diet led to his untimely death at the age of twenty-eight, shortly after this picture was completed.
The gorgeous Linda Darnell vamps it up as a woman determined to get rich and famous, but the standout is Laird Cregar, who apparently lost so much weight for this last movie role that he died soon after. |
tt0099180 | Bride of Re-Animator | Eight months after the events of Re-Animator, doctors Herbert West and Dan Cain are working as medics in the middle of a bloody Peruvian civil war. In the chaos of battle and with plenty of casualties to work on, they are free to experiment with West's re-animation reagent. When their medical tent is stormed by the enemy troops, West and Cain return home to Arkham, Massachusetts. There, they resume their former jobs as doctors at Miskatonic University Hospital, and West returns to the basement laboratory of Cain's house to continue his research.
Using parts pilfered from both the hospital's morgue and from the cemetery conveniently located next door, West discovers that his reagent can re-animate body parts by themselves. He becomes determined to create an entire living person from disparate body parts. West discovers the heart of Megan Halsey, Cain's fiancée, in the hospital morgue. With the promise to use her heart to re-animate a new Megan, West convinces Cain to help him with his project. Also stored in the morgue is the rest of the evidence from the previous "Miskatonic Massacre". Inside, pathologist Dr. Wilbur Graves discovers a vial of West's reagent and the severed head of Dr. Carl Hill. Using the reagent, he re-animates Hill's head.
Meanwhile, police officer Lt. Leslie Chapham begins investigating West and Cain. He bears a grudge against the pair, as they were the only unaffected survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre; the dead body of Chapham's wife was re-animated into a crazed zombie during the incident. Chapham suspects West and Cain were responsible. When he stops by their house to question them, he discovers West's corpse-filled lab and the two get into an ugly confrontation. A fight ensues and West ends up killing Chapham by means of cloth treated with a chemical which causes cardiac arrest when inhaled (a product of West's research into obtaining the freshest possible corpses for his experiments). West then re-animates the police officer with the intention of covering up his crime. Chapham violently wanders out of the house and into the cemetery next door.
Hill also bears a grudge against West, as West was responsible for his decapitation, the destruction of his body, taking away Megan (with whom he was obsessed), and having better theories about reanimation than himself. Using hypnotic powers, Hill commands Chapham to force Dr. Graves to stitch bat wings onto his neck, giving him back his mobility. He also extends his mental control to all of the zombie survivors of the Miskatonic Massacre.
When one of Cain's patients, the beautiful Gloria, dies, West collects the last piece he needs for his creation: her head. With a complete body stitched and wired together, West and Cain inject the re-animation reagent into Meg's heart. While waiting for the reagent to take effect, a package is delivered to their house. West retrieves and opens it. From inside, Hill's winged head flies out. Simultaneously, all of the zombies he controls break into the house. West retreats back to the basement lab, where his creation, the Bride, has awoken.
A catfight breaks out between the Bride and Cain's current girlfriend, Italian journalist Francesca Danelli, whom he met in Peru. Cain rejects the Bride's love and sides with Francesca. Heart-broken, the Bride rips Megan's heart out of her own chest and then literally falls to pieces. West diagnoses this as tissue rejection.
Hill and his zombies force West, Cain and Francesca to retreat through the wall of the lab and into a crypt in the neighboring cemetery. Inside, all of West's prior test subjects arise and make their way towards him, stopping only when Herbert commands them to. The unstable crypt begins to collapse, trapping Hill, West and the zombies. Cain and Francesca manage to escape the debris and claw their way to the surface of the cemetery together. Hill, stuck in the debris, laughs manically, while Megan's heart, still in the hand of the bride, stops beating. | comedy, cruelty, murder, cult, violence, good versus evil, insanity | train | wikipedia | In Peru, Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dr. Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) are medical volunteers in a civil war with the assistant Francesca Danelli (Fabiana Udenio) and they are researching how to create human life from dead tissue using wounded soldiers as guinea pigs.
It has some plot holes that aren't explained on from that of the first film- but it didn't fault the story, the humour or pace of the film.The director this time around was the producer from the original, Brian Yuzna- he brings some nice added touches and a morbid sense to the film, though it might have been much better if Stuart Gordon held the realm.The performances are good, with the ever-reliable Jeffrey Combs delivering the eccentrically insane Herbert West, Bruce Abbott as the sympathetic Dean Cain, Claude Earl Jones as the mischievous police detective, Fabiana Udenio as Cain's concerned girlfriend Francesca Danelli and finally David Gale as Dr West's Nemesis the deviously evil head (Yep, that's right) of Dr. Carl Hill.The atmosphere is truly stunning- from the dark basement filled with enthusiastic experiments and West's bizarre creations to the coldness of the eerie mortuary and hospital.
I will instead try to concentrate on the things I like about this film, namely, some snappy (and extremely DRY) one-liners, hilariously over-the-top gore effects and another great turn by Jeffrey Combs as the titular "re-animator".
"Re -Animator" extremely well received (quite rightly so) at the time of issue,still stands as a classic of the horror and fantasy genre.Who cared if it was not faithful to Lovecraft?Were the sixties Corman's movies that much faithful to Edgar Allan Poe?Crazy situations,witty lines,and above all an extraordinary skilled actor,Jeffrey -West,Herbert West-Combs who managed to be at once sinister and hilarious.The sequel is not so exciting;like in most of the follow-ups ,the surprising effect has disappeared.Besides ,the script is too derivative ,borrowing from "the bride of Frankenstein" (James Whale,1935) and from "night of the living dead" (Romero,1968).Only Jeffrey Combs remains.They put the weight on him and he carries it honorably.During the cast and credits,we can hear the same music ,which is absolute plagiarism:Hermann's "Psycho"..
Dr. Cain grows attached to a young girl dying of cancer and West is secretly stealing all the best body parts to make his own complete woman using the heart of Cain's dead girlfriend from the first movie.A nosy Detective interferes and starts poking around as well as delivering the head of long dead Dr. Hill to Dr. Graves, the new Chief Pathologist at Arkham (there sure are loads of Doctors in this film huh?).
Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dean Cain (Bruce Abbott) are up to their old tricks again--reanimating dead corpses and causing tons of gory fun to ensure.
It also should be noted that "Bride..." actually out gores the original, making it a real treat for gore hounds.The plot is as follows: Herbert West and Dan Cain have both recuperated from the chaos at the end of the first Re-Animator, and are doing experiments on the dead again.
This time,Herbert West is aiming not just to restore life,but to create it from spare body parts.His twisted genius has given birth to hideous and disgusting combinations,both animal and human.Yet,still the ultimate triumph of rebuilding an entire woman from assorted limbs and organs eludes him...until now!Dr.Carl Hill is also back!Oh yeah,but it's just his head returning this time.As for the title "Bride of Re-Animator",it takes its reference from James Whale's horror classic "Bride of Frankenstein".The acting is far above average and there is plenty of gore.Overall,"Bride of Re-Animator" doesn't come as close to perfection as the original,but it does have some nice qualities that make it worth seeing.Recommended..
The film, to its credit, has several storylines including Dan Cain's attempts to revive his old-girlfriend and Herbert West's desire to fuse body parts into new grotesque combinations.
As far as a sequel can go Bride of Re-Animator is definitely a solid sequel when it not stray too far from the original plot and follow an icon of horror Dr. Herbert West played by equally brilliant Jeffrey Combs on yet another quest for the resurrection of the human body but because the return of an unwanted and annoying as hell character named " Dan Cain " this movie at least for me feel less enjoyable than the first one.
I have to say that I love the original RE-ANIMATOR, which I think is a sterling adaptation of the Lovecraft story and a minor classic of '80s horror cinema complete with all the gore and gooey effects that you could wish for.
Instead we get Brian Yuzna and special effects man Screaming Mad George, and together they produce what is simply a weak imitation of the first film.Actually, the problem isn't so much with Yuzna, whose direction is fine, but the story, which simply retreads familiar material from the first movie.
Neither are the perpetrators: Dr Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) is still opportunistically snatching the recently-deceased for his experiments, while Dr Carl Hill (David Gale) is still a talking head, and he's looking for a spare set of bat-wings to sew to his temples so that he can fly.Welcome back to the unique world of Re-Animator, where Lovecraft meets splatterhouse.
Brian Yuzna, producer on the first film, is promoted to director duties.Bride plays to the series' strengths: imaginative gore, the madness of West, and the feeble reluctance of his partner in crime, Dr Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott).
YEAH!Here we go again..The door to the gore store is now open as hurbert west returns to create one slick chick.The movie involves all the back to basic sick humor that the original Re-animator charmed us with back in good old 85.
I love the Re-animator series as it has a bit of everything in it, Gore, Blood, Sex and real dark characters.All the sick scenes are pulled off with a laugh by Geoffry combs to give you a sense of unease, As if to question yourself if you should really be watching this, But i can't help it as it's too much fun.Great Horror 8/10.
While the film is certainly not without its moments, particularly during the final act, a muddled script, uninspired direction and some so-so performances all contribute to its downfall.Jeffrey Combs is back as Herbert West and does his usual credible job, but alas, has little to work with.
Many sequels' titles start with the words 'Return of' or 'Revenge of', but Brian Yuzna, producer of the first film and director of this one has opted for the far more campy, and more classic, 'Bride of'.
West convinces Cain to help him build a new woman, with Meg's heart at the centre...meanwhile, Dr Hill plans his revenge; and the fact that he hasn't got a body isn't stopping him...Going into a film called 'Bride of Re-Animator', you cant expect anything resembling high quality - and it's a good job, because this film is anything but.
After eight months in Peru experimenting on war victims, Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) return to the Miskatonic University Hospital where they continue working on their reagent, this time adding a new ingredient: the amniotic fluid from an iguana.
With their new batch of glowing green goop ready and waiting, the pair construct the body of a woman (from bits and pieces half-inched from work), into which West hopes to inject life (in more ways than one, or so it seems at one point).Bride of Reanimator, Brian Yuzna's sequel to Stuart Gordon's 1985 Lovecraftian gorefest Reanimator, sees the director striving hard to match the original in terms of sheer lunacy, invention, and style, and very nearly succeeding: he certainly hits the mark on more than one occasion, delivering some delightfully silly scenes packed with splattery OTT effects (courtesy of Screaming Mad George and KNB FX) and blessed with a satisfying manic intensity; and even many of the more subdued moments prove highly effective, having a wonderful camp/Gothic atmosphere redolent of the classic monster movies of yesteryear—most obviously, James Whale's Frankenstein films.It's only towards the end, as matters come to head, that things spiral out of control; Yuzna ultimately loses his grip on proceedings, events become too chaotic, and the film falls apart almost as quickly as it's titular bride.Still, it's a fun ride and one I wholeheartedly recommend to fans of Reanimator, and Yuzna's work in general.
The director ensures that everything moves at a brisk pace, the performances are solid (Jeffrey Combs is always watchable), the visuals are suitably absurd (amongst the weird treats: Dr. Hill's bat-winged severed head, a creature consisting of an eyeball perched atop three severed fingers, and a reanimated dog with a policeman's arm), we get plenty of bright red blood squirting from arteries, and there is even time for a touch of female nudity courtesy of busty babes Fabiana Udenio and Kathleen Kinmont (just boobage, though; neither girl gives a 'full Crampton').7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb..
Hopefully this isn't much of a plot point, but in this movie West can animate body parts, not just bodies, and that makes the horror science feel more fresh and freaky.Biggest Flaw: Not providing any resolution or explanation for the previous film's ending (for both West and Meg)..
While retaining the talents of original cast members Bruce Abbott, David Gale, and the irreplaceable Jeffrey Combs, Yuzna turns "Bride of Re-Animator" into a completely forgettable sequel that borrows generously from "Bride of Frankenstein" and the original "Re-Animator." This time out, Herbert West (Combs) and Dan Cain (Abbott) piece together a female monstrosity with the use of Meg Halsey's heart; the typical side-effects and nail-through-the-foot hijinks ensue, though there's not a funny or inspired moment to be found (save for the cyclops finger-spider).
Bride of Re-Animator (1989) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Dr. West (Jeffrey Combs) and Dr. Cain (Bruce Abbott) are working in South America when they make another important discovery, which will help their bizarre treatments.
Once back in the States they go to work for a hospital and a Detective soon notices that several body parts have gone missing.BRIDE OF RE-ANIMATOR is a sequel to the 1986 cult classic, which was a rare example of where a horror movie was popular with not only fans of the genre but also critics who usually hated gory films.
I thought the film had a rather flat feel and it just never comes to life.With that said, there are some good things here including the performance by West who is a lot of fun in the lead role.
Now working for a local hospital, Herbert West and Dan continue their experiments on reanimating dead tissue in order to bring a patient back to life only to run into the same complications as before when the side effects appear.This here was a rather impressive and enjoyable sequel that holds up quite well.
This is where it really lets loose with the demented air of the Frankenstein-like quality of bringing the girlfriend back to life along with the frantic fight with the new girlfriend, a series of fine action set-pieces with the reanimated bodies coming back for revenge and the utter fun of the destruction of the lab caused by the newly revived creatures brought along by the spilled serum that gives this a truly outstanding finale that captures the fun, humor and glee of the original.
This one goes for a more Frankenstein type theme - Herbert West discovers that he can revive parts so he decides to take re-animation a step further into creating a life: ah yes a woman for the ever smitten Dan Cain using what else but Meg's heart.
Most of the original cast is back in this sequel to the cult favorite about re-animating dead tissue...and in this one Dr. West creates a "bride" of dead parts and tries to animate the parts as one being...with the usual gory and violent results.
Herbert West decides on creating the ultimate bride from dead tissue, and that's when things predictably go awry.Re-Animator is a favorite horror film of mine.
But that is part of the charm of these old classic horror movies.There is a good amount of sublime humor and dark humor in "Bride of Re-Animator" and it is a good mixing of Lovecraftian storytelling mixed in with Shelley's "Frankenstein".Jeffrey Combs and Bruce Abbott and David Gale return to reprise their roles from the previous movies - one being nothing more than a mere head.
Doctors Herbert West and Dan Cain discover the secret to creating human life and proceed to create a perfect woman from dead tissue.You might think this sequel has nothing to do with the original story, but you would be wrong.
Jefferey Combs is a pleasure and he carries the movie when it starts to get tedious.The ending has an interesting scene but I just can't help but see this film as largely tedious and not near the classic that its predecessor remains to this day.Watch the original and then if you happen to have access to this, throw it in.
At least in this case, nobody would have seen two sequels shot them and are purely for human well is not possible to look at.The second film begins in Peru, where Herbert West and Dan Cain are the nurses volunteered during the Civil War. For them, this is the right place.
Good ol' Dr. West (Jeffrey Combs) is at it again with his ever put-upon sidekick Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) re-animating the dead.
The characters played by Jeffrey Combs and David Gale (killed off at the end of the original) have inexplicably been revived for the second installment in the series (another entry BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR which I haven't watched, followed in 2003)
though, in Gale's case, this re-appearance only extends to his disembodied head (subsequently fitted with a pair of bat wings)!
"I will not be shackled by the failures of your God." Thus says mad genius Dr. Herbert West, who is back along with partner Dan Cain - only this time, they're creating life.The story involves West (Jeffrey Combs) and Cain (Bruce Abbott) returning from war in Peru.
Having not learned anything from his experiences in 1985's "Re-Animator," the mad scientist continues to simultaneously play both doctor and God. Culling spare body parts from the local university, West promises to his loyal buddy Dan (Bruce Abbott) to restore the love of his life, Megan (who you may remember as being played by Barbara Crampton in the original).
Soon, an Italian woman who had assisted West and Cain in Peru, Fancesca Danelli shows up and falls in love with Dan. However, as we all know from the previous movie, Dan can never have anything good in his life without it being destroyed.Hill's head is soon re-animated and he is back to his old tricks again.
Using Gloria's head, Meg Halsey's heart, and various other parts from other women.Soon another massacre takes place under the cemetery, the re-animated corpses, Chapham, the bride, Hill, and all of West's experiments are involved.
If you're considering watching this movie, you probably already know what you're in for, but it's worth saying that Bride of Re-Animator is a very rare thing: a great horror sequel.
Bruce Abbott (as Dan Cain) and Fabiana Udenio (as Francesca Danelli) are the slightly weaker links in a cast of scenery-chewing greatness, but when a film's primary antagonist (David Gale as Dr. Carl Hill) is an angry disembodied head, you have an idea of the kind of hilarity to expect, and Bride of Re-Animator does not disappoint..
Thank goodness this movie can be re-discovered this way.For those unaware the first film dealt with Dr. Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) and his search to re-animate the dead with a serum he had developed.
Built from those various body parts West has been stealing and completed with the head of a woman Cain was treating (played by Kathleen Kinmont) she does rise from the table and at moments resembles in look and movement the classic Bride of Frankenstein we've all come to know at love.
A "Re-Animator" sequel which is, in many aspects, a tribute to "Bride Of Frankenstein" - can the premise of a film be more promising for a Horror fan?
"Bride Of Re-Animator" is not quite the masterpiece the original was, but it is doubtlessly a great sequel and a treat for every Horror fan.
Bride of Re-Animator is set eight months after the events of the original Re-Animator that have become known as the 'Miskatonic Massacre', after returning from Peru as volunteer Doctor's in a bloody civil war Herbert West (Jeffrey Combs) & Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott) take an internship in Miskatonic Hospital.
There Dan works as a caring doctor while Herbert continues with his experiments on re-animating the dead using all manner of body parts stolen from the Hospital.
The sequel to Stuart Gordon's wonderful Re-Animator (1985) this had a lot to live up to & I think it does a great job at being sufficiently different & taking the story & character's in another direction yet still undeniably remaining a Re-Animator film & keeping the core ingredients which made the original the cult classic it is today.
Anyway, how can you not love a film that features a living decapitated head with Bat wings surgically grafted onto it's side which lets it fly around!?Besides a good solid story that is often surprisingly well written & played what makes Bride of Re-Animator so much fun are the outstanding gore & special effects.
In this film Dr. Herbert West(Jeffrey Combs)& Dan Cain(Bruce Abbott)return from the civil war of a Latin country experimenting of dead soldiers trying to perfect the power of his reagent serum for reanimating dead tissue and organs.
***END OF SPOILERS*** All, in all, a nice attempt as a sequel to a great cult classic, but, unfortunately, the first movie was not a film to be Re-Animated into a part two. |
tt0279513 | When Good Ghouls Go Bad | Danny Walker (Joe Pichler), and his father James (Tom Amandes), who has gotten a divorce from his wife, have just moved to the town from Chicago so his father can fulfill his dream of re-opening the family chocolate factory. Danny and James are staying with James' father, known by all as "Uncle Fred" (Christopher Lloyd). Uncle Fred is considered crazy and is a bit childish, but Danny loves him very much. Danny dislikes his new life in Walker Falls, and it seems no one likes him, especially the football coach Mike Kankel (Joe Clements) and his son Ryan (Craig Marriott), the school's biggest bully. The only person who seems to be nice to Danny is Taylor Morgan (Imelda Corcoran), the school nurse and James' childhood friend.
Danny is surprised by how few decorations are up with Halloween only a week away. The people of Walker Falls do not seem to be making any effort at all to celebrate the holiday. Sheriff Ed Frady (Alan Flower) even takes down the decorations that Danny puts up. When walking home from school, Ryan and his pal, Leo (Daniel Karr) push him into the cemetery, lock the gate, and tell him that Walker Falls does not celebrate Halloween because of the legend of a curse. Years ago, Curtis Danko (Brendan McCarthy) was an artistic boy, who was ostracized by "normal" people. When competition was held for all the eighth graders to design a sculpture of their personal hero, Curtis kept his project covered during the day, then came to school at night to work by the light of captured fireflies. On Halloween night, he went to work on his sculpture, and Mike Kankel and his friends were walking by when they saw Curtis from the window. When Kankel returned the next day, he noticed the kiln had been on all night. He opened the door and found Curtis's charred skeleton and a message in the ashes, saying that if the town ever celebrated another Halloween, he would come back and destroy them. Kankel was blind for three days after seeing Curtis' finished statue. He said it was like being face to face with the devil himself. Everyone in the town believed the legend and, since then, Halloween has never been celebrated.
Danny thinks it is a silly story, and runs home. James is rarely around, so Uncle Fred has served as a stand-in father for Danny. That night, James is planning to announce his "Halloween Spooktacular" idea to raise funds to re-open Walker Chocolates at the town meeting. Uncle Fred and Danny try to tell him that the townspeople will be too afraid to support the spooktacular because of the curse, but James doesn't listen.
At the meeting, Mayor Churney (Roy Billing) announces his campaign for re-election. Running against him is Kankel. After the announcements, it is James' turn. He is surprised to find the people of Walker Falls shudder at just the mention of Halloween. To bring the conversation back on track, his secretary passes out samples of chocolate, but the audience isn't very enthusiastic. The meeting ends after all but a few leave the town hall. Danny's father is very upset when he learns about the legend, which has completely ruined his plans. He decides to cancel the spooktacular and get funds elsewhere.
Uncle Fred then reveals why no one likes Danny. Uncle Fred was responsible for building the kiln that killed Curtis. That night, Danny dreams he is at Curtis's crypt and sees the cloth being ripped off the statue. That morning, there is a commotion outside the house. A large pile of pumpkins has been discovered in the town center. It finally looks like Walker Falls might celebrate another Halloween. But when Uncle Fred lifts a pumpkin as he says: "Happy Halloween", the entire pile rolls on top of him, killing him. Everyone in town is at Uncle Fred's funeral and Danny is very sad. As a memento, he lets his grandfather's favorite car shoot down the track and rest with his coffin.
However, because of Uncle Fred's love of Halloween, the magic in the cemetery allows him to return as a zombie. Unfortunately, that same magic awoke others from their slumber, including Curtis. The zombies begin capturing all the townsfolk and gathering them to the creepy old Victorian style house chanting the phrase "Statue." Meanwhile, Danny and his crush, Dayna Stenson (Brittany Byrnes) try to explain to James and Nurse Taylor the situation. Uncle Fred reveals his zombie self to his son and Nurse Taylor, both fainting in the process. Zombies break into the house and Uncle Fred explains that Curtis might be behind the zombies awakening and tells them to escape while he holds the other zombies off. Unfortunately, he, his son, and Nurse Taylor are all captured, one of the zombies stating that Uncle Fred was the main part of the plan.
When everyone is gathered, Curtis reveals himself to the people. As he is about to reveal his statue, he is attacked and literally torn apart by Kankel. However, because Curtis is a zombie, he manages himself to pull himself together, and scare the wits out of Kankel. As Curtis pulls off the shroud off his statue, everyone covers their eyes in fear. Surprisingly, nothing happens. Everyone uncovers their eyes and Curtis' statue is revealed to be of Uncle Fred. Curtis then shows Uncle Fred a picture of the two of them, Uncle Fred shaking Curtis' hand, as it implied that Curtis looked up to him. Uncle Fred, still guilty about Curtis' death, wonders why he was a hero to Curtis as it was his kiln that killed him. Curtis then turns to Kankel and points to him, naming him as his killer.
Kankel confesses that the night Curtis died, he was working on the statue of Uncle Fred and as a prank to scare him, Kankel, Frady, and his group pushed Curtis into the kiln and locked him in it then taunting him. Suddenly, the janitor appeared and Kankel's group ran off. While cleaning the class, the janitor accidentally turned on the kiln not realizing Curtis was in it. The next day, Kankel went inside the kiln and saw Curtis' corpse as well as the completed statue of Uncle Fred. To hide his crime, he made up the curse as pretending his eyes were burned when he saw the statue to make it seem like it was Curtis' doing. Kankel also reveals that the statue of Uncle Fred would have been voted to be put in town square, instead of Kankel's statue of his father. It's revealed that Uncle Fred donated much time and money to the town's children, promoting creativity and imagination; thus, he was loved by many children; explaining why he was called "Uncle Fred" and why much of his actions were seen as childish to some. Kankel wouldn't stand for someone to promote things that were "girly" and wanted things "manly." However, Kankel's action earns him the wrath of his father Pops Kankel (Gordon Boyd), who is among the group of zombies and is upset at what he has done. He then grabs his son's ear and drags him out to "punish" him.
By the end, the zombies and the townspeople applaud Curtis' statue. With that, Curtis has accomplished what he's done and bids farewell to the town, disappearing into the night, returning to his crypt to finally rest. Meanwhile, the other zombies bid farewell. Uncle Fred reconciles with his son, James, saying this will be the last time he will see him on Earth, but he'll always be watching him on the other side. He then leaves with his wife (Jenny Dibley) and the two join the other zombies, sharing one final dance with the fireflies, as all the entities slowly disappear dancing into the night. Danny and Dayna share a kiss, while James and Taylor hold hands as they watch the dancing zombies fade into the night.
By the end, German investors that spoke to James earlier loved the concept of Halloween and decide to support him into reopening the family chocolate factory within two weeks. On Halloween day, children are seen dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating as a girl from one of the Halloween groups goes to Uncle Fred's statue in town square, where they're passing by, and says: "Happy Halloween." Then, after the girl leaves, Uncle Fred's voice is heard one last time replying back: "Happy Halloween." | horror | train | wikipedia | This movie starts out really fun, slows in the middle, but makes a comeback in the end..
Growing up in a small town in the Great Lakes Region, made this movie a lot of fun, as I was reminded of fun times in my hometown around Halloween.
This is a movie dominated by Christopher Lloyd, who takes over the minute his character is introduced.
If you enjoy this actor in movies like Back to the Future or his time on the classic TV show Taxi, you will probably enjoy this movie also.
Lloyd's character is a bit eccentric, and the interaction between he and his Grandson makes for a lot of laughs.
There is also the classic big bully, picking on the underdog little kid, who must overcome his fears in the end.
The movie starts to drag about 30 minutes into it, but when the zombies, spooks and ghouls come out to play, the fun kicks back into gear.
I strongly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys sitting with the kids and watching a fairly wholesome family show..
Ghouls galore.
A wonderful imaginative and fun Halloween story.
Of course one must suspend belief for a while, but it is worth watching.
Christopher Lloyd is his usual manic self, and brings life to what would be a typical zombie/monster movie without his energized performance.When 12 year old Danny Walker moves to his Patriarchal home town in Minnesota he finds that the town does not celebrate Halloween, and things are not quite what they appear to be.An enjoyable movie that may be destined to be a Halloween classic..
This is a great movie for getting into the Halloween spirit..
I am a Halloween fanatic and this is defiantly my favorite Halloween movie.
The small town atmosphere definitely brings it together and there's a little humor and a little gruesome part, although you don't see it.
I only have one problem with the deceased Curtis Danko because he looks way too fake.
I have enjoyed this movie since it came out because of the way it puts me into the Halloween mood and is a great way to get ideas for any decorations, party ornaments or just an exciting film to watch at home or with friends.
I think R.L Stine definitely pulled this one off.This is a great family movie thats enjoyable for almost any age..
Very nice and entertaining!.
I get a kick out of R.L Stine's stories, despite the fact they are written for young children, and watch them all.
I expected this movie would be geared for the same audience.
However, I was especially curious about this one because is was a full length movie (most are 60 minutes or so).
I have to say that I am quite impressed with this!
I believe this is the most creative story (movie) I have encountered by him!
In the beginning it is a bit silly, but soon becomes very interesting!
It keeps you wondering (and that is a great quality)!
It is silly, funny, touching, romantic (trust me), and even scarry!.
very nice, well written.
This was actually a very nice movie, Christopher Lloyd making it even more so.
He does wonderful acting and is my favorite at comedy other than Will Friedle.The plot was very well written, even though it followed the traditional Goosebumps storyline.
Except for leaving you hanging at the ending, like most of R.L. Stine's books do.
(I HATE that!)Overall, very nice, well written.=).
Better than Halloweentown by miles!.
I remember seeing this with my younger brother near Halloween night a few years ago.
To be frank, I was pleasantly surprised.
I had expected something boring, dry, and lacking a good script and characters, just like Halloweentown did, but I ended up sitting there at the end sitting at the TV screen with this dopey big grin on my face.
Finally, a movie from family channel with a PLOT!
Sure, the zombies aren't exactly terrifying, but this is a kid's movie, not Dawn of The Dead.
It's always nice to see a dark little movie with a cheery ending once in a blue moon, and this one is that movie!The only disappointing thing in this movie was the fact that Curtis Danko only said one line, and that they didn't show him before his death for very long.
Otherwise, GREAT movie..
Has a good message to give..
As Halloween themed films aimed at the adolescent audience go, this one is a bit quirky, but fairly good.
It is told from the grandfather's point of view (who steels every scene), but of course the main character is his adolescent grandson.
That one is of the opinion that "he who runs away, lives to fight another day," but eventually that "other" day comes, and he has to learn a lesson.
In that regard, the most appealing character turns out to be the young girl that comes into his life.
She has a heart, but is also puckish and feisty.
Although introduced as a cheerleader, she has both a dark side and a sharpness of wit uncharacteristic of the stereotype, and is anything but an air-head.
Otherwise, the story is forgivably absurd, mixing up "Beetlejuice" elements with "Night of the Living Dead" hokum, and sending up the football player mentality against the underdog world of arts and ideas.
It also has a rather "remarkable" ending, involving ideas straight out of Zen Buddhism!!!.
Enjoyable film for the kids around Halloween.
This is one of those films where you need to review it as if you were a child watching on it on the screen.
Adults are jaded and kids enjoy much simpler things in that magical childhood haze.
If you are an adult you will watch this film and won't really think much of it however it does possess a nice Halloween atmosphere and Christopher Lloyd is enjoyable enough to watch.
The plot is ridiculous and the ending is equally absurd but the children will love it and might even get a nice child-like fright out of the whole thing.It is appropriate for children, a concerned parent should of course watch the film themselves first but there are not many things which one would find offensive to a sufficiently old enough child.
Cook up some popcorn and watch this one with your child.
Don't be surprised if you find it to drag a little but the little ones will be fascinated..
Halloween's spirit - Christopher Lloyd!.
Such huge rarity for today's time - film with Christopher Lloyd in a leaging role!
With the beginning of a new millennium this great actor all less often and less often gives to us pleasure the game, even more often appears on TV in films which are almost unknown a wide audience.
To me has carried, I have seen this film.In a role come back from that light of the grandfather - zombie it is simply delightful.
It always ideally accepted such unusual, little bit devil roles - madwomen, maniacs, envoys of a hell, and, on the contrary, representatives of paradise.
In this film Lloyd's by game it is possible to enjoy simply - explosive, bright, comical and touching simultaneously game - a stream of transformations, the rubber mimicry so favourite by admirers, uncontrollable splashes in emotions and mad shine in opinion of.
As it is a pity, that such roles come across recently to the actor so seldom and as it is insulting, that the general public cannot see it at cinemas.Excepting Christopher Lloyd's tremendous game, pluss and minuses of television statements are peculiar to film all - the small budget and economy is visible on everything, and especially on special effects, a make-up, suits, a place of shootings...
However, it is possible to consider it simply as reserve - yes, special effects far are not ideal, and the script limps, and game of many children leaves much to be desired, - but all fascinatingly, cheerfully, interestingly and very much in spirit of a Halloween - informidable horrors and a kind fairy tale.
Separate thanks for the ending, it has appeared unexpected enough and thus touching.
And Christopher Lloyd's statue in the ending as if symbolizes merits of the great actor before cinema.
In general, the excellent family comedy to look in its evening before a Halloween - lovely business, and during any other time it is possible to look with pleasure at Christopher Lloyd's game!.
Above Average for R.L. Stine.
When my 14 year old brother was younger, he was very much into the Goosebumps books that R.L. Stine was cranking out at a very rapid pace.
He still has probably 75 or more of them.
Anyways, being an avid Horror fan, and knowing full well the books were geared towards kids, I still gave them a shot.
I must say R.L. Stine writes like kids are idiots, or they won't questions things.
His stories are very obvious, predictable, and sometimes down right dumb...My little brother quickly out grew the books, but nonetheless, my mother still has them.
I can honestly say there were a few I go in to.
The Haunted Mask being one of them.Anyway, Here we have a Made for Video movie starring Christopher Lloyd.
He truly is the stare of the film.
I must say this one wasn't that bad.
The story was silly, but still gave a creepy Halloween vibe...A creepy vide at all, which is missing from most Stine's stuff.
I was very disappointed with the ending...However, it is in true Stine fashion.My wife and I watched this with my Daughter, who is very intelligent, and loves saying "Scary" in a very deep, almost demonic voice.
She did that a lot though this film.
She is only 21 months old, but movies like Halloween, are more her speed for some reason.
Anyway, she seemed to like this, and I found it to be a refreshing blend of scare and fun....Recommend for any audience...Decent effects, very colorful, beautiful sets....overall not a bad kids flick!8 out of 102006 UPDATE: My Daughter is now 6 years old and still enjoyes watching this film around Halloween.
It is a tradition during that time of year..
perfect Halloween movie.
i just absolutely love this movie..
Christopher Lloyd does a great job in this one, as Uncle Fred.
Apparently 20 years ago or so the town experienced such a horrible incident that they don't celebrate Halloween anymore..
a kid Curtis Danko got killed and the town now fears that his haunted soul will come back and haunt or kill them if they celebrate Halloween,, enter Uncle Fred what a comical character, that humongous stack of pumpkins was just hilarious , and that haunted house was just something that i would like to live in ,, all the decorations and such, would just make for a wonderful Halloween, this movie is great to watch anytime of the year, but of course probably much better at Halloween .
The acting is pretty good , the decorations and costumes are wonderful also, thumbs up to this one..
WoW, This movie really suck!.
This movie is plain out LAME!
The story is dumb, the actors suck and overdo it, escpecially the boy that its about.
He looks stupid when he screams and you don't get really convinced.
It's not a bit scary and the fiction is soooo lame!
When you are waiting to see the zombie that the whole story is about at the end...the resault is wack!
It's so badly made!
It's just a dummy or something, this flick is NOTHING to pay for!.
Great..
for kids, that is..
***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** *Possible Spoilers?*As a teenager, I don't often watch movies made for kids.
But as my little brother sat watching this one, I couldn't help sneaking a peek at it.
The cute little 8th grade goth kid with the crazy long black hair and safety pinned tie was WAY too adorable.
He was THE coolest kid in the whole movie, although the storyline was a little..
mature for 8 year olds.
I was sad when I found out that he dies, and even sadder at the end when I found out the truth.
I think the end when the statue is unveiled is one of the best parts, although I was tipped off at who it was earlier in the movie.
If you want a good Halloween story, but not all the blood and guts...
and a cute goth boy too..
I recommend this one. |
tt1948150 | Singham | Singham opens with an honest police officer in Goa, Rakesh Kadam (Sudhanshu Pandey), committing suicide because of false accusations of corruption filed by Jaikant Shikre (Prakash Raj), a don and politician in Goa running various rackets like kidnapping, extortion and smuggling. Kadam's wife Megha Kadam (Sonali Kulkarni) vows revenge but cannot find any support or help from the police or Minister Anant Narwekar (Anant Jog).
The story moves to Shivgarh, a small village near the Goa-Maharashtra border. Bajirao Singham (Ajay Devgn), an honest Maratha police inspector like Kadam, is in charge of the Shivgarh police station. He resolves most of the problems in his town informally and without filing charge sheets, thereby gaining much reputation and love from the villagers. Gautam Bhosle a.k.a. Gotya (Sachin Khedekar) is an industrialist and a friend of Singham’s father Manikrao Singham (Govind Namdeo). He comes to Shivgarh with his wife and daughter Kavya (Kajal Aggarwal). Eventually Singham and Kavya fall in love with each other. Their courtship takes place through a series of comic events where she initially hates him and then has a change of heart when she sees his honest and simple nature.
Everything seems to run smoothly until Jaikant, who is given a conditional bail for a murder he had committed, is required to travel to Shivgarh to sign the bail every fortnight. He, instead, sends one of his allies to do the formalities, much to the fury of Singham who demands Jaikant sign the bail in person. Humiliated, Jaikant reaches Shivgarh but is unable to take any revenge on Singham fearing the wrath of villagers, who threaten to finish him off. Using his political contacts, he gets Singham transferred to Goa to take revenge.
Singham, unaware of Jaikant’s hand behind his transfer, joins Colva police station. His co-workers, Sub-Inspector Dev Phadnis (Vineet Sharma), Sub-Inspector Abbas Malik (Ankur Nayyar), Head Constable Savalkar (Ashok Saraf) hate Jaikant for his crimes but are unable to take any action because of Jaikant’s political powers. DSP Patkar (Murli Sharma), Singham's senior, is on Jaikant's payroll and takes care in concealing and eliminating the evidence of Jaikant’s crime from the eyes of the law. Singham tries to take this to the notice of DGP Vikram Pawar (Pradeep Velankar)) but it turns out to be of no use as there is no evidence against Jaikant and Patkar. The local minister Anant Narvekar (Anant Jog) does not help Singham and in turn, he warns him to stay away from Jaikant's case. Defeated Singham wants to return to his hometown but is stopped by Kavya and Megha Kadam, who encourage him to fight against the evil and not run away like a coward.
Being mentally tortured by Jaikant, Singham arrests Jaikant’s top lieutenant Shiva Nayak (Ashok Samarth) in a fake case of illegally smuggling alcohol. He thwarts off DSP Patkar in full view of the public when Patkar, bounded by his duties to Jaikant, tries to protect Shiva. Meanwhile, Megha Kadam, after being ridiculed by DGP Pawar and minister Narvekar for her innocent husband’s death, seeks help from Singham to absolve her late husband from the corruption charges . Jaikant kidnaps Kavya’s younger sister Anjali (Sana Amin Sheikh) for ransom. Rescuing her, Singham successfully traces the origins of the kidnapping racket to Jaikant but is unable to arrest him as he wins an election and is set to become a minister of Goa Govt.
Jaikant sends transfer orders to Singham to go back to Shivgarh within 24 hours. That night at a police function organized for the officers with their family, Singham confronts the officers for not abiding by their duties and being dishonest and unfaithful to their profession by protecting Jaikant. At first, the officers disagree with Singham, but filled with guilt, the officers decide to help Singham fight Jaikant. Soon, the entire Goa Police Force reach his home to kill him, with DGP Pawar and DSP Patkar, now in support of Singham. Jaikant eventually escapes but after running through the city, he is arrested by the police the next morning. They bring him to the police station and shoot him dead on the same chair where Inspector Rakesh Kadam had shot himself. Then they threaten Shiva to change his statement. Jaikant and Minister Narvekar are proved guilty. At a media conference, DGP Pawar and Singham clear late Kadam of all corruption charges.
The film ends with Singham and other police officers saluting Mrs.Megha Kadam. | good versus evil, comedy, action, prank | train | wikipedia | "Ajay Devgn , Prakash Raj, Rohit Shetty, Aave Singham, Kajal Aggarwal, Majja Satkeli, Gotya
" These are some phrases that keep rolling onto your mind as soon as you leave the theater.
I saw the portrayal of Pure India, Young India and Beautiful India in this movie unlike some movies which tend to show harsh realities and stuff.Ajay Devgn ( People say Salman is a Mass Actor, But I have never seen people in PVR Cinema cheering and clapping so much in any Salman Khan movie like they did for Singham ).
Background Score (mostly made up from its title track) is up roaring and plays a major role behind Singham's coolness.The movie is made to make you feel good.
The movie is very fast paste and every single moment is enjoyable to watch.Ajay Devgan and the main Villain is Top Notch...both of them does a very good job.
The new girl is cute to look at, and she does do her acting OK.The only minus in the movie is the songs, there is not one single song which touch ur heart, or U feel like listening to again.For me Singham is so far the best movie of 2011, and a big thanks for everyone involved from Directing to writing to give us a Damn Good Movie..
But what it packs in efficiently, are the Performances by it's Screen-Hero Ajay Devgn & it's Screen-Villain Prakash Raj, who hold your attention, with their impeccable performances.'Singham' is the same old-story of how the GOOD tries his best to defeat the Evil.
Sachin Khedekar, Govind Namdeo & Sudhanshu Pandey lend able support.On the whole, 'Singham' is an entertainer, that doesn't disappoint, thanks to it's arresting second hour, clap-worthy scenes & above all, the performances by Devgn & Raj..
Yes, Bollywood has copycat syndrome, and extremely over the top moments, but what they do is make it work to be entertaining, not roll your eyes momentsFrom start to finish I was entertained and found the action scenes to be well paced, entertaining and made me feel Singham is the bollywood Norris, Chan, Willis and Schwarzenegger rolled into one.Couldn't understand a single word, but there was never a moment I was looking at my watch or wondering when it would end.American action films that go over the top don't do it properly, they need to study bollywood films like SINGHAM and make it work.I extremely recommend it..
It's no secret I enjoy the slew of Hindi films out in the last year or so that feature tough, no nonsense cops as their lead protagonist, from Salman Khan's Chulbul Pandey in Dabangg that started the ball rolling, then Abhishek Bachchan as ACP Vishnu Kamath in Dumb Maaro Dumb, and now Ajay Devgn too getting into the act as the titular Bajirao Singham.
Devgn's star has been shining quite brightly of late, with Raajneeti, Aakrosh and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai from last year that allowed him to flex his acting muscles, and here he goes completely brawny as the cop symbolizing the themes from the lion motif of courage and raw power - even the opening song and dance credits are designed around the lion's roar and paw.Director Rohit Shetty teams with his preferred leading man Devgn to bring this remake of the Tamil film Singam which had starred Suriya, though in this version it's less of a mano a mano with the main villain Jaikant Shikre, where actor Prakash Raj reprised his villainous role as the chief gangster operating in Goa, whose links with politicians and the upper ranks of the police make him untouchable, so much so that he's responsible for the suicide of an honest officer whom he framed as he was getting too close for comfort in arresting him.It's interesting to look at the narrative as how a lion got taken out of its den and put into unfamiliar surroundings, forcing it at times into a corner.
This toss up between hero and villain forms the bulk of the second half of the film in what would be a simple, straightforward story, made a lot enjoyable through its sheer entertainment value, with really deliberate, over the top action sequences that you'd chuckle at - you know, how one slap can leave a man flying through the air, or how there are many physics-defying moves that would make all would-be villains give up their life of crime when this long arm of the law reaches them.
In a typical Masala offering, Singham has its fair share of moments away from the pursuit of hoodlums, or goons as the subtitles would have it, for precious romance with Kavya Bhosle (Kajal Aggarwal) and family time both his and hers, and romantic song and dance interludes that are inevitable.
This becomes that over-arching reminder in the film, despite Singham having to involve questionable methods (which can be easily classified as police brutality in certain countries) as well with the number of belt-whipping scenes, though in all earnestness, politicians such as the ones featured do deserve nothing more than a good smack on the buttocks.Still, his is a film after all, which allows for our fantasies at having those evil at heart receive their just desserts swiftly and painfully, without too much fuss in going through a system corrupted by the rich and powerful.
Singham firmly sets itself as one of my favourites of the year, and it's wishful thinking on my part if Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan can share the screen together once again after London Dreams, to feature two tough police characters in one crossover film.
Singham is way better than Dabangg/Wanted/GhajiniBest: This movie has some really good story (Unlike Dabangg - IT was all about Salman's attitude which took movie to that level & Munni, Ghajini -> Music +Hype of Amir, Wanted is a real competitor)Superb screen play -> at least it won't make u bore in any part.Marathi atmosphere -> Its really nice to here Marathi in Hindi films (Remember old Hindi movies with at least few dialogues in Marathi) ...
Feel's great !Prakash Raj -> villainous role is superb, Got a nice role & dialogues, even better than Wanted.Ajay -> Reminds me of Phool aur KaanteBad: Songs (Except title song - Singham) are not so good.
Singham is an entertaining masala flick,a tribute to the 80's era of bollywood masala movies,an addition to the list of Hindi remakes of south blockbusters.I haven't seen the Tamil version,so a comparison is impossible.The film is full of energy,charisma and is sure to get mass applause from the people who love the true Indian flavored cinema,full of colors and raw fight between a honest,loved-by-all hero and the baddie.Seeing these kind of films,i wonder whether the age of pure entertainers is back,after films like Wanted,dabangg and ready have become blockbusters.No doubt,Singham is a sure shot blockbuster,at least in single screens.Director Rohit Shetty,after making some hilarious comedies have gone back to his base and have created an Action packed entertainer(Rohit shetty stared off with Action thriller,Zameen also starring Ajay) which is full of mass appeal.Performances::Ajay Devgn is full of energy and does 100 % justice to his cop uniform.A bunch of Marathi actors,especially Ashok Saraf deserves a big thumbs up for their excellent performances.kajal Agarwal doesn't get needed opportunities to showcase her talent,but makes her presence felt among the audience.Prakash raj is as always at his best .Some +ves::The bench of Marathi actors who does a brilliant job and the Ajay Charisma,Entertaining direction by Rohit shetty,Thrilling Background music,Editing work by Steven.H.Bernard,The raw,desi flavor of the movie.Some -ves::A familiar plot is again used,Very weak love base,The Marathi accent of Ajay,which seems artificial at times.Music by Ajay and Atul Gogavale,noted Marathi music director duo is hummable and melodious.It can be given a 7/10.Verdict::Singham is an action-packed masala movie,a reminder of the 80's era.It is full of unadulterated raw desi flavor and is sure to entertain the masses.Go for it,if you love masala entertainers.Ma Rating::8/10.
editing in this film is also very good and the co ordination between all the dialogues and the brilliance of ajay devgan has been syncrinized beautifully by rohit shetty and they have made a super duper hit movie of the year..
The storyline features Bajirao singham (Ajay devgan) an honest police cop, a good friend and a dark cloud for the wrong doers.
Aprt from the story Ajay devgan is a treat to watch because he has forever been a part of action genre for the cop movies like wanted, dabanng and his very own gangaajal.
And as seen before, there exists the same eccentric kind of villain working against the Cop, whose dialogues become comical towards the end, played once again by the one & only Prakash Raj. The film starts off well with an impressive sequence revolving around the expressive eyes of a small child.
In short the film completely belongs to Ajay and Prakash Raj who generate such kind of mighty impact in their scenes together that the single screen theaters are bound to go full of whistles, claps and thundering applause.In fact, the main reason behind the probable success of this film has to be these particular scenes (including the one with the Neta Ji) where Ajay answers his powerful enemies with fiery dialogues and strong punches along with its worth watching action sequences which have been shot with élan.
i.e. everywhere.Singham (Ajay Devgan) lives in his own happy and non-corrupt world which is disturbed by the villain of the movie.
I guess the name "Singham" threw me off as it sounded like a low-budgeted political kind of movie.A little did I know it was a Rohit Shetty's movie, as I always see him as comedy director.
Indian residents are complete idiots for liking "Chulbul Pandey" so much, Salman's acting was not even close to Ajay's role in this movie.Action was great, casting was great.
The Love Story in this movie between actress and Ajay drives this movie to intense action little romance and gr8 drama this movie shows how the police system should work.
Drawing inspiration from 2010's super-hit Tamil film starring Surya, 'Golmaal' series director Rohit Shetty embraces the high-flying, ridiculous action that defines his absurdity but renders a thrilling, gripping tale of injustice and abuse of power that ensues in the Goan town.
Bajirao Singham is Ajay Devgan's most powerful character yet and this lion hearted Officer's battle is among the most thrilling action films in recent times.
Combining all manner of completely incompatible genres with preposterous action, an inhumanly perfect hero, and a kicking soundtrack, the film sounds like the recipe for disaster, but what it actually is is 2 and a half hours of pure fun.It's probably best to quickly explain just what this movie is first.
Although I know very little of Bollywood, what I've read is that Singham is a throwback to a classic genre of action movies from the 70s and 80s, where reality was thrown out the window in favour of incredible theatrics and wall-to-wall entertainment.
As far as reviving that style goes, I have to say that Singham is a stunning success.Whilst there's so much that you'll love about this film, the one thing that's completely unforgettable is the action.
Yes, he may not have a particularly compelling backstory, nor do any of his abilities have any bearing to the bounds of reality (unless it's a super-moustache that he's wearing), but as far as entertaining, likable and effortlessly cool movie heroes go, Singham has to be up there with the finest of all.As you can tell then, the main thing that makes Singham such a good movie is that it's a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Although doing a great job at bringing a compelling and threatening villain to face off against Singham, and providing an exciting and interesting story, I can't say that the screenplay here brings any real depth to any of the characters.Appearing like the sort of superheroes and villains you see in comic books, there's not much here to engross you beyond the madly enjoyable action, and over the course of a two and a half hour runtime, that does occasionally lead to some less entertaining moments, although that fortunately happens far less often than you'd expect.If there's any major issue that I have with this film, it's the musical numbers.
It's not a so-bad-it's-good movie, rather a deliberate and loving throwback to a genre of yesteryear, and with excellent directing and acting, along with its perfectly manic atmosphere, it makes for two and a half hours of incredible fun..
The film stars Ajay Devgan as Singham, the head of a local Police station, whose character is like a cross between Judge Dredd and a Holy priest.
Agarwal's performance was good considering her part was like a little snack compared to the feast devoured by the other two, and also that she had to pretend to love her Kaka Gee. Maybe the reason for the Johnson style tache is to hide Singham's false teeth?I'm sure most people can identify with the scenarios in the film particularly when dealing with the outlaws that surface in everyday life.
6. Villain has acted well...Now the comedy is very well put in different scenes and the dialogs hit the mark...I think if you want "Entertainment" - with no silly stuff like Salman Khan's ready - then you must watch this ...
This movie was brilliant and entertaining but it's really good to be able and enjoyable I love the songs and entertaining songs Storyline is superb screenplay is superb editing is superb direction is superb background music is superb Ajay devgn is superb kajal does well in her debut performance Prakash is amazing as the villain This movie is really impressive and outstanding Don't miss it 8/10.
For any person who loves a nice action movie, then you should watch Singham.
Follow the non-stop action from the village to the city of Goa as Ajay Devgn delivers a monstrous performance against Prakash Raj. Well directed, with a good, easy to follow story line, Singham provides an all- in-one family entertainment.One striking element in this film is how good the action sequences have been filmed.
How can you take Singham seriously when he chases down a car on foot or rips a steel pole out of solid concrete.This should have been a much better movie, concentrating more on the police corruption than on the ridiculous action stunts.Acting wise Devgan is okay.
NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THE DAY.....Ajay Devgan on an personal ego trip...a.l.a Salman Khan...which is exactly what SINGHAM evolves into....i mean....even without the shades n whiskers, this movie feels EXACTLY like the Box-Office hit 'Dabangg' starring Salman Khan....as Ajay Devgan rampages on, on a personal vendetta against another Cheddi Singh photocopy, albeit a darker, classier, fatter and funnier one (Prakash Raj just got promoted...to my list of favorite villains in Bollywood today..!) :P, forgetting that he has a different fan- base...from the one that Salman has....which is just happy for him to show off his physique....
it's usual of what happen when a politician mess with a policemen, our super hero wins with all the punches, it looked inspired by many successful ballyhooed movies.the movie should had come up with subtitle as Marathi has been used more exceedinglythe basic copy frame fund of romance-action-police-politician is from Salmon's dabangg though looked more repeating gaga zeal , romance scene looked undesirable all the time away divan seems to repeating "once "the widow-wife of killed policemen looked much better then the main actress.Devan tried a 'once upon in mamba ' again (even wears the same outfit in songs)in all the movie Devan is making faces ,opening shirts shouting .
Jaykant Shirke played by Prakash Raj is a goon cum politician who is the king of Goa and has power, police and money to influence things and even makes an honest police office to commit suicide leaving the wife of the police officer fight for justice through out the movie .
Rohit Shetty, after his series of Golmaal comes out with a cat out of bag by bringing in action movie, but that doesn't mean he is going to compromise on his dialog style and the car blowing scenes.
The ill fate of Prakash Raj brings him in contact with Ajay Devgan and this starts the series of bull fight between the hero and the villain.
Overall, I liked the movie more because of excellent acting by the Villain Prakash Raj and Ajay Devgan and yes the dialogs are good though some time senseless by literary terms.
So, if you love bollywood masala flavored by some really good acting then go and watch Singham and you will like it..
But as its Rohit Shetty as the director and Ajay Devgn as the hero, they have made it even more entertaining.
I wonder when will Bollywood make a movie about some decent politicians anyway.If you look for entertainment, Singham is 100% a good choice as it never fails to give you fun.
Compelling performances delivered by Ajay Devgn and Prakash makes Singham a must-watch!.
Singham directed by Rohit Shetty is a long,loud and tiresome work.By the time the end credits roll,you feel exhausted.The movie does offers some clap-worthy dialogs and amazing performances by Prakash Raj and Ajay Devgn.But still it falls apart.Story:- How an honest police officer overpowers an corrupt politician.The direction is plain average.The best scenes of the movie are when Ajay Devgn kicks the butt of a politician and even the climax The music is plain.The action scenes are shot nicely.The dialogs are the high-point of the movie.Each and every dialog was cheered by everyone.Singham is a one-time watch..
this is very good movie i like it ,kajal , Ajay all are well performed.
We have seen many political/police corrupt officer movies in Bollywood, but Ajay Devgn carries his role as Bajirao Singham, with style and the dialogues are very heart touching. |
tt0073109 | The Hiding Place | The book begins with the Ten Boom family celebrating the 100th anniversary of the family watch and watch repair business, now run by the family's elderly father, Casper ten Boom. The business took up the ground floor of the family home (known as the Béjé). Casper lived with his unmarried daughters Corrie (the narrator and a watchmaker herself) and Betsie, who took care of the house. It seemed as if everyone in the Dutch town of Haarlem had shown up to the party, including Corrie's sister Nollie, her brother Willem, and her nephews Peter and Kik. Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, brought a Jewish man, who had just escaped from Germany, as a guest. The man's beard had been burned off by some thugs, a grim reminder of what was happening just to the east of the Netherlands.
In the next few chapters, Corrie talks about her childhood, her infirm but glad-hearted mother, and the three aunts who once lived in the Béjé. She talks about the only man she ever loved, a young man named Karel, who ultimately married a woman from a rich family.
Eventually, both Nollie and Willem married. After the deaths of Corrie's mother and aunts, Corrie, Betsie, and their father settled down into a pleasant, domestic life. Then, in 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands.
The family had strong morals based on Christian beliefs, and they felt obligated to help their Jewish friends in every way possible. The Béjé soon became the center for a major anti-Nazi operation. Corrie, who had grown to think of herself as a middle-aged spinster, found herself involved in black market operations, using stolen ration cards, and eventually hiding Jews in her own home.
Corrie suffered a moral crisis over the lying, theft, forgery, and bribery that was necessary to keep the Jews her family was hiding alive. Moreover, it was unlikely that her family would get away with helping Jews for long, as they had nowhere to hide them. The Dutch underground arranged for a secret room to be built in the Béjé, so the Jews would have a place to hide in the event of an inevitable raid.
It was a constant struggle for Corrie to keep the Jews safe; she sacrificed her own safety and part of her own personal room to give constant safety to the Jews. Rolf, a police officer friend, trained her to be able to think clearly anytime in case the Nazis invaded her home and started to question her.
When a man asked Corrie to help his wife, who had been arrested, Corrie agreed, but with misgivings. As it turned out, the man was a spy, and the watch shop was raided. The entire Ten Boom family was arrested, along with the shop employees, though the Jews managed to hide themselves in the secret room.
Casper was well into his eighties by this time, and a Nazi official offered to let him go, provided he made no more trouble. Casper did not agree to this, and was shipped to prison. It was later learned he had died ten days later.
Meanwhile, Corrie was sent to Scheveningen, a Dutch prison which was used by the Nazis for political prisoners, nicknamed 'Oranjehotel'--a hotel for people loyal to the House of Orange. She later learned that her sister was being held in another cell, and that, aside from her father, all other family members and friends had been released. A coded letter from Nollie revealed that the hidden Jews were safe. While at Scheveningen, Corrie befriended a depressed Nazi officer, who arranged a brief meeting with her family, under the pretense of reading Casper's will. Corrie was horrified to see how ill Willem was, as he had contracted jaundice in prison. He would eventually die from his illness in 1946. Corrie also learned that her nephew, Kik, had been captured while working with the Dutch underground. He had been killed, though the family did not learn of this until 1953.
After four months at Scheveningen, Corrie and Betsie were transferred to Vught, a Dutch concentration camp for political prisoners. Corrie was assigned to a factory that made radios for aircraft. The work was not hard, and the prisoner-foreman, Mr. Moorman, was kind. Betsie, whose health was starting to fail, was sent to work sewing prison uniforms.
When a counter-offensive against the Nazis seemed imminent, the prisoners were shipped by train to Germany, where they were imprisoned at Ravensbrück, a notorious women's concentration camp. The conditions there were hellish; both Corrie and Betsie were forced to perform back-breaking manual labor. It was there that Betsie's health failed. Throughout the ordeal, Corrie was amazed at her sister's faith. In every camp, the sisters used a hidden Bible to teach their fellow prisoners about Jesus. In Ravensbrück, where there was only hatred and misery, Corrie found it hard to look to Heaven. Betsie, however, showed a universal love for everyone—not only for the prisoners, but also for the Nazis. Instead of feeling anger, she pitied the Germans, sorrowful that they were so blinded by hatred. She yearned to show them the love of Christ, but died before the war was over. Corrie was later released because of a clerical error, but she was forced to stay in a hospital barracks while recovering from edema. Corrie arrived back in the Netherlands by January 1945. | christian film | train | wikipedia | null |
tt3397918 | Harbinger Down | In 1982, a Soviet moon lander crashes into the Bering Sea. In 2015, two biology graduate students, Ronelle and Sadie join their professor, Stephen, on an experimental tour to study the effects of global warming on whales. Sadie's grandfather, Graff, takes them to sea in his commercial fishing trawler, Harbinger, which is crewed by Bowman, Big G, Dock, Svetlana, and Atka. Sadie declines when Graff encourages her to helm the boat, as she has lost her nerve since losing her father at sea. After meeting the crew, Sadie, Ronelle, and Stephen go to sleep.
That night, Sadie wakes as the crew catch a load of fish. Detecting that there is whale activity in the area, Sadie unsuccessfully attempts to wake the others, then investigates on her own. She is intrigued when she finds something large under the ice, and the crew help her to recover what proves to be the crashed Soviet lander, now frozen in ice. Ronelle and Stephen are woken by the commotion, and Stephen excitedly claims ownership of the lander. Graff disputes his claim, and says the Russians will want their ship back. Sadie points out that the object was the property of the now-nonexistent Soviet Union, and therefore maritime salvage law would give them the rights to it. Graff infuriates Stephen further by declaring that it belongs to Sadie. Ronelle tries to contact her sister Tamara to tell her about what they found to no avail.
Bowman encourages Sadie to investigate the moon lander before Stephen can find a way to claim it for himself. Bowman recruits Big G to distract Stephen while Sadie sneaks off. She discovers that the Soviet cosmonaut died of an unknown infection and takes a skin sample to analyze. Stephen becomes further frustrated when he learns she has examined the shuttle before him. He threatens to destroy her career unless she signs over the discovery to him. Though Graff threatens to take the issue to the courts, Sadie gives in. Meanwhile, Sadie learns that the moon lander was carrying tardigrades, a hardy terrestial life-form that can survive in extreme conditions. However, cosmic radiation has caused them to mutate and become capable of shapeshifting.
When the cosmonaut's body goes missing, Stephen accuses Sadie of moving or hiding it. She denies this, and Bowman defends her. When Stephen becomes belligerent, Graff threatens him. While examining the lander, Stephen becomes contaminated with the mutated tardigrades. Sadie finds Stephen standing on the deck complaining that he can't breathe and sees him stripping his clothes off despite the sub-zero temperatures. The others drag him back in, after which several stalks sprout from his back and sprays the area with a strange, dark liquid. Dock is sprayed in his mouth, but Sadie confirms that they are all potentially contaminated. They make the liquid nitrogen portable by putting it into a scuba tank and proceed to freeze Stephen's body and the lander.
Dock soon shows signs of infection, and Svetlana locks him in a cage above deck in order to incinerate him using a flare gun. The others object to the plan until Dock also sprouts tentacle-like growths. The tardigrades cut the ship's power, demonstrating high intelligence, but the backup battery kicks in. As they work to restore it, the organism kills Atka, during which Svetlana is revealed to be a Russian spy. Holding Sadie, Bowman, Big G, Ronelle, and Graff hostage, she explains that the tardigrades were part of a Soviet experiment to create radiation-resistant cosmonauts. She does not want to reclaim the Soviet moon lander but instead intends to sink the boat after being picked up by a nearby Russian submarine. Before she can kill her hostages, however, the organism attacks, causing Svetlana to lose her gun. Ronelle picks up the gun, but she is grabbed by the creature, which pulls her through the narrow pipe and presumably kills her. When Svetlana tries to reason with the others, she too is grabbed by the creature.
The survivors, Graff, Sadie, Bowman, and Big G, search for several explosive charges that Svetlana hid throughout the ship. The last four are hidden in the bilge, a tight area which only Sadie has access to. As she collects the explosives, the others discover that the tardigrades have consumed and absorbed their latest catch, two tons of crab. As they call down to warn Sadie, she realizes she is standing amid the tardigrades. Although she escapes, Graff is infected. He instructs Big G to restart the ship and Sadie to pilot it before asking Bowman to kill him.
Big G restarts the ship but dies after battling Svetlana's shape-shifted and mutated body. Before Bowman can freeze Graff with the liquid nitrogen, he is abducted by the creature, and Graff instructs Sadie to scuttle the ship and save herself. She steers it toward an iceberg and escapes just as the creature bursts through the deck. Via the portable radio, the US Coast Guard alerts her that a rescue helicopter is in her vicinity. The helicopter can be heard approaching as Sadie lies motionless on the ice. | suspenseful | train | wikipedia | Films like John Carpenter's The Thing and David Cronenberg's The Fly are some of my favourite films ever, and Harbinger Down looked to bring this classic 80s practical monster effects goodness to the present day.The reality?
For a movie that's whole purpose is to showcase practical effects (PFX), it doesn't do this nearly enough, nor does it feature Studio ADI's expected level of quality for these effects.Almost all the scenes that feature the monster are poorly lit (often only by a flashlight).
This is to be expected to a certain extent, being a horror film, however if you watch The Thing/The Fly, you'll notice the creature is always at the forefront, in all it's grisly detail.
I don't believe I'm wrong in assuming most people interested in these kind of films want to see gruesome practical creature effects and all the bloody mess that goes with that.
I was happy to settle down for a hammy, poorly acted film - but in a "so bad it's good" way - where the monster would take centre stage and wreck up the place.
The monster instead cowers in a dark corner, ashamed to show it's ugly face, while unlikeable characters and a largely un-engaging plot take the centre stage.I'm a huge fan of Studio ADI's work and I adore practical creature effects.
Also the thing that she looks kinda botoxed and nip-tucked with some super-fake contact lenses and you can see that she is actually wearing some makeup, makes this particular question even more stupid.So, the story is bleh, script is dumb, acting is the same, are the effects any good?
The settings is pretty nice and the actors are OK.The movie is an obvious reference to "The Thing" and it uses practical effects and no CGI.
I also expected the effects to be a lot more explicit, yet I always got the feeling they try to hide them by shaking the camera, cutting, putting something in front, etc.The last problem has to do with direction: It's pretty obvious that this is the work of a first time director/writer - The movie is very uneven, there are good scenes and bad scenes, there are continuity problems, coverage problems, editing problems, things that simply don't connect and hard to understand what the director meant to do and also many scenes that seem to be missing a dialog.All in all, this is a so-so movie for something independent without a budget.
Both the pictures and Christopher Drake's score, and of course the creature effects, elevate the film way, way above the depths to which many low- budget sci-fi movies fall.So let's not be too harsh on Harbinger Down.
Before I go and tell you about the movie experience, you should know that this film is a Kickstarter movie, with more than 350 thousand dollars coming from that campaign, and made by people with vast experience with practical effects.
What I liked also is that the characters themselves were borderline interesting making the entire feel more engaging when adding a little depth to them.The special effects were just great for the budget they had and in conclusion I would go as far as say they accomplished their mission of creating a movie fans would enjoy and a nice homage to the great horror movies of the late 70s and early 80s.Was the science accurate?
It works as a homage to the great creature horror movies of previous decades like Alien/s and The Thing and has that magic ingredient of keeping me 'in' for the duration of what would otherwise be a schlocky genre.
It would hold up very nicely as part of a retro horror night of films alongside the likes of The Thing, but more in the arena of the home cinema; a movie to watch with a beer, and since this is where all movies end up maybe it is the true yardstick..
It's as if "Harbinger" was so in awe of John Carpenter's "The Thing" (or afraid of it, perhaps, as much of "Harbinger's" backing came from nerdy fans) that it's afraid of entering holy ground.What this film has got going for it (apart from aping "The Thing") is its practical monster effects.
And what's more, the creature effects (usually) look great.There were parts during Harbinger where the twelve-year-old in me who still loves monsters and giant robots (thanks, Pacific Rim!) smiled, watching the plot unfold.
I was recalling the dread and pleasure felt from the heavy atmosphere and creature effects from John Carpenter's "The Thing." Harbinger Down is vastly inferior, and just makes me feel like watching that film instead.So, what's so wrong with Harbinger Down?
The woman playing "Svet" is playing a stereotype as well, with her Hollywood movie Russian accent that falters from scene to scene (and here's a newsflash, filmmakers—no one from Russia actually talks like Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.) The only worthwhile actor Harbinger has is horror movie veteran Lance Henriksen, and the movie has him delivering lines like "we're gonna need a bigger bucket." Yeah.
An eerie soundtrack would've blessed this dumb, ugly, golem of a movie what it needed most: a soul.But when we aren't cringing at our actors or wincing at the music, the film's direction/cinematography robs the film's monster of much of its grandeur (even though it really is just a copy of "The Thing's" monster.) When Lance and the Asian bearded mystic (yet another of the film's stereotypes not worth mentioning) descend to the ship's bunker and first encounter the creature, the lighting and direction couldn't have made it look more like a puppet.Which it is.But Leatherback in Pacific Rim was all CGI, yet it was done so well that I forgot I was looking at a big pile of zeroes and ones while I was watching it.
The special effects like the rest of this film are second rate too and the acting, on the whole, is only passable.
The main reason i watched this flick were that i wanted to see some low-key horror flick and especially something with Lance Henriksen - i really like this actor, so basically i got what i asked for it - a low-key horror flick with Lance Henriksen - and it was pretty OK one.Overall, if you skip "Harbinger Down" you won't lose anything, as you have seen this movie many times if you like the genre and in much better form.
This is a fun B-movie with really clever use of practical effects and miniatures (which most of the time will not be spotted, because they're integrated so well)combined with clever camera work and editing.
I think once the hipster crowed is done being better than this film, retro punks and young horror fans alike will form fond memories of group movie nights over popcorn and Harbinger Down.
I started hearing about this movie a while ago and was really keen to check it out because of its' interesting Kickstarter origins and because of its' rather refreshing commitment (at least in this day and age) to avoid using any CGI in favor of employing entirely practical on-screen monster effects.
It seemed to be, at least philosophically, an attempt to do a throwback to movies like ALIENS and John Carpenter's THE THING (two of my favorite movies), so I was very eager to support the project and primed and ready to go along for the ride.Unfortunately, this movie only ended up reminding me of the very first and most important rule about visual effects in movies--they only ever matter when they are being used as a tool to serve something that is far more important--a great story and interesting characters.
Given how much the filmmakers were trumpeting this movie as a triumphant return to all practical effects, they needed to raise the bar and bring out some mind-blowing, next-level practical on-screen visual magic and it falls well short of that.Bottom line (and important lesson of the day)--no amount of visual effects wizardry, whether CGI or practical, can save a movie that is lacking good storytelling and characters.Here's the thing--at the end of the day, real movie magic doesn't come from creating creatures and effects that seem real.
It was a fun movie to watch, far from perfect, but perfectly good entertainment if you enjoy low budget sci-fi monster horror thrillers.
All things considered, I don't feel I wasted my time watching this movie like I have with some movies..
I only heard of this movie on Friday afternoon , I checked out the trailer The trailer looked really good and it did remind me of the thing, which Is one of my all time favourite movies ever I just seen this movie, I thought the movie did not take long to going Whinch one of things u liked in this movie I really enjoyed some 80 effects in thus movie, I prefer those effects then normal over the top effects we get to see these days.This was sure inspired by thing to me it felt little too similar.This movie was no near as great as the thing.To me where cracks stared to show were some parts of the script, I felt like some of things they were just really odd.I also felt the actors them felt same and he those scenes , we're the script was wake , I felt those acting scenes were really forced And very wood at time I am going to give this movie 5 out of 10.
Trapped on this ship with nowhere to go, Bill, Sadie, and others realize that they all could have been infected by this thing."Harbinger Down" was made by veteran makeup and creature effects creators Alec Gillis (making his writing / directing debut) and Tom Woodruff Jr. as a response to seeing all their hard work for the prequel to John Carpenters' "The Thing" replaced with CGI.
We've been suffering a prosthetic drought, and this particular reviewer is very thirsty.Enter Studio ADI's successful kickstarter for Harbinger Down, which came with a promise of delivering an old school practical effects-driven horror/sci-fi film - an oasis in the desert of creature features.
Unfortunately, not as good as we hoped.On its surface, Harbinger Down is an admirable homage to the classics, drawing its aesthetic and plot directly from Carpenter's The Thing while making numerous visual and dialogue nods to Alien, Jaws, Predator and other beloved creature features.
We need a practical effects monster movie to hit the screens with a force of originality and show that there's still plenty of life in this art form rather than reinforce the idea that it's a thing of the past only worthy of homage and fondness for the good ol' days.
well at blood temp.To compare it against the recent "The Thing" which had a budget of #38mill, and this which was about $2mil max then what they have done is great.So enjoy a good creepy movie - but accept that a lot of this was a labor of love :).
While the reason to make this movie seems like a good idea and the motivation and the effort that were taken to make Harbinger Down are truly honorable - for all creature-feature builder and its fan base.But in the end the movie proofs again, that FX is not enough - especially if the script and the editing are
let us say it nicely; in a poor state.
Or I re-watch an old classic, like Cronenbergs The Fly, Carpenters The Thing or Peter Jacksons Braindead, they proof at least that both works
story and practical FX.I really WISHED for the makers of this movie it would have been a better movie - for the sake of their professions and their future.
This movie has loads of great scenes and i think that go in with an open mind and you will really enjoy this film, decide for your self not base it on ratings!
Campbell short story "Who Goes There?")- and people do seem to insist on doing that - the only effective way to do it is the way the RKO original did: to remove all the close-ups of the "monster" or their modern day CGI equivalents and let the viewers' imaginations supply the chills in classic B-movie fashion.Writer/Director Alec Gillis seems to have understood this perfectly in his low budget but effective HARBINGER DOWN, which cuts right to the chase with his ANDROMEDA STRAIN inspired premise, setting up the origin if his particular "Thing" and then leaps forward 50 years in time to the ice bound body of his creepy tragedy.
A bit more attention to the less is more camp, for achieving a scare where you don't have a big enough budget, would have done more for the poor poor effects and this coupled with poor acting in parts, leaves the film sagging in places where it could have been sailing high.As i said, not the worst, but by no means the movie it could have been.
From The Master Special Effects Technician Who Has Worked In Films Like Aliens(1986), The Monster Squad(1987) and Tremors(1990)..
If you loved the special effects in John Carpenter's The Thing, you dare not miss this film.
It has major actors like Lance Henriksen(from the Alien movies) as the captain of the trawler Harbinger but I think he'd have been kinda disappointed too with how the movie turned out.
This is a great example of how good practical effects actually are, CGI almost always looks like a fly on a windshield but here you really see that it's part of the environment..If they had a bigger budget they could have done the practical effects even better..The story is simple and is mostly the same as The thing.
If you expect a big budget movie then you're in for a big disappointment, if you expect a B-movie then you'll have a good time..As I said, I'm glad that we finally see a completely practical effects monster-movie when most companies go for CGI (which if the budget is low (which still means higher than this movie had) it looks awfully fake, or it looks kinda decent but still fake and did cost tenths of millions of dollars).I did see a webdl version, but as soon as this hits bluray I do hope they have a lot of behind the scenes and this one will enter my already large bluray collection..Hope they'll do another movie with a bigger budget...
Good enough for watching one time - if you like movies like Carpenters The Thing.
Ultimately at the end I really felt I had watched a bad 80's horror B movie..
That said, like most horror movies that were from the 80's, you have no real doubt who is good, who is bad and who is going to die, right from the first few scenes.
Nothing awful, but slightly distracting.Beyond the pro's and con's I've mentioned, the film does indeed remind me of the good old 80's monster movies I watched with friends and a crate of beer, when we couldn't afford to go out, and hit the video stores instead.
I think the latter would hurt, rather than help the film.It is, however, worth a watch whilst keeping in mind there are lots of practical, rather than CGI, effects.
Story and editing aside, it is entertaining, if predictable, and is, unlike many movies these days, mercifully short.SUMMARY: Worth giving a shot, but don't expect something like Carpenter's Thing as far as quality goes.
Ill leave saying this if you where a fan of 80s/90s horror be of big budget or "B-movie" and you appreciate the real effects that films of that era was built on and the talents behind the bog franchises then this is a fond, welcome long overdue return to those days..
IMDb Score: 4.6 out of 10My official Score: 1 out of 10My real score: 3- out of 10When it comes to Sci-Fi In not really that picky in the whole plot thing as long as it has good effects, good acting or something else to balance the movie, (something good to out weight the bad) but even though I thought the script was pretty alright, the effects where terrible.
The great thing about this predictable movie is the special effects, which look fantastic and were done without a single frame of CGI, something very rare in this day and age.
We cant continue half of it, bad acting, sound not match, I feel like its cheap budget film.Story line so poor one.Cinematography all the shot close up close up!!!
It even has Bishop from Aliens in it.I might see things different because I grew up with this 80s style aesthetics in horror movies and in many regards I wish movies were a bit more like Harbinger Down these days.
Character development just wasn't a big thing in the horror movies of the era that Harbinger Down is trying to reflect.It's the ideal movie if you wanna watch a movie LIKE Alien, but can't watch Alien for the 150th time.
It is amazing that all the effects were created using practical effects rather than visual effects that are computer generated.This movie will especially be fun to watch for Alien or The Thing fans as I am one of them.
Which isn't a bad thing, not at all, actually, especially when you consider The Thing to be one of the best horror movies ever made...The reason most people are checking this film out is because of the pedigree of the effects team behind this.
I love practical effects, I love John Carpenter's The Thing, I hated The Thing prequel (and not just because of the CGI), and I really wanted this film to be something to stick in the craw of Hollywood...
I just really, really wanted this film to harken back to Carpenter's The Thing, for the effects to be show stopping, and some were. |
tt0098354 | Society | Bill Whitney seems to have it all. His family is wealthy and he lives in a mansion in Beverly Hills, California. He's popular at his high school, looks to be a shoo-in for class president, has a cute cheerleader girlfriend and owns a new Jeep Wrangler to drive around in. Despite this, he feels as though he does not fit in with his family or their high-society friends. When his sister's ex-boyfriend Blanchard gives him a surreptitiously recorded tape of what sounds like his family engaged in a vile, murderous orgy, Bill begins to suspect that his feelings are justified.
Bill gives the tape to his therapist Dr. Cleveland to listen to. When he comes back for his appointment, Dr. Cleveland plays the tape back for Bill. The audio has now changed and now merely contains the sounds of his sister Jenny enjoying her coming out party. Bill insists that what he'd heard before was real and calls Blanchard to get another copy. When he arrives at their meeting place, Bill discovers an ambulance and police officers gathered around Blanchard's crashed van. A body is placed into the back of the ambulance, but Bill is prevented from seeing its face.
Bill attends a party hosted by his upper-class classmate Ferguson. There, Ferguson lasciviously confirms that the first audio tape Bill listened to—with the sounds of an orgy on it—was the real tape. Angry and confused, he leaves the party with Clarissa, a beautiful girl he'd been admiring. They have sex at her house and Bill meets Clarissa's bizarre, hair-loving mother.
Bill returns home the next day and confronts his parents and sister, who are all in the master bedroom dressed in lingerie. At Blanchard's funeral, Bill and his friend Milo discover that Blanchard's corpse either needed a lot of reconstructive work for display, or is not real. Bill is approached by Martin Petrie, his rival for the high school presidency, who says he must speak with Bill and agrees to a secret meeting. Bill discovers Petrie with his throat cut. He sees someone race off through the woods then runs off to get the police. When he returns with the cops, the car and the body are missing, with a different car in their place.
The next day at school, Petrie shows up, alive and well. When Bill arrives at home, he confronts his family again, but with Dr. Cleveland's help, they drug Bill. As Milo secretly trails him, Bill is taken to a hospital. Bill awakens in a hospital bed and thinks he hears Blanchard crying out, but discovers that nothing is there. He leaves the hospital and finds his Jeep waiting for him. Milo tries to warn him, but he drives back to his house.
Back home again, Bill finds a large, formal party. He is snared by the neck and Dr. Cleveland reveals all of the secrets he has been searching for. He is not really related to his family after all. In fact, his family and their high-society friends are actually a different species from Bill. To demonstrate, they bring in a still-living Blanchard. The wealthy party guests strip to their underwear and begin "shunting". The rich literally feed on the poor, physically deforming and melding with each other as they suck the nutrients out of Blanchard's body. Their intention is to do the same to Bill, but after escaping them and running about the house—seeing his family melding with each other as well—Bill manages to goad Ferguson into a fight. As the "aliens" cheer Ferguson on, Bill is subdued, but in a surprise attack, Bill manages to reach inside the pliable Ferguson and pull his head out through his buttocks, turning him inside-out. With the help of Milo and Clarissa—who is also of the alternate species but has fallen in love with Bill—he escapes, as one of the men at the party tells another he may have an "opening in Washington". | murder, cult, alternate reality, violence, psychedelic, sadist | train | wikipedia | null |
tt1814884 | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | === Setting and characters ===
Skyrim is set around 200 years after the events of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, although it is not a direct sequel. The game takes place in Skyrim, a province of the Empire on the continent of Tamriel, amid a civil war between two factions: the Stormcloaks and the Imperial Legion. The player character is a Dragonborn, a mortal born with the soul and power of a dragon. Alduin, a large black dragon who returns to the land after being lost in time, serves as the game's primary antagonist. Alduin is the first dragon created by Akatosh, and is prophesied to destroy man and consume the world.
=== Plot ===
The player character is a prisoner being led to an Imperial execution in Helgen. Alduin unexpectedly interrupts the procession, destroying the town before the player can be executed. The player escapes in the chaos and journeys to the city of Whiterun to request aid against the dragon threat. After slaying a different dragon that attacks nearby, the player absorbs the dragon's soul which grants them the ability to perform a shout. The city's guards inform the player that they must be a Dragonborn. The player is summoned to meet with the Greybeards, an order of monks who live in seclusion. The Greybeards train the player in using shouts and inform the player of their role in stopping Alduin. The player learns that Skyrim's civil war is the last in a sequence of prophetic events foretold by the Elder Scrolls, which also predicted the return of Alduin.
The player later meets with members of the Blades, an order of dragon hunters. The player and the Blades travel to Alduin's Wall, a prophetic engravement, to learn that ancient Nords used a special shout against Alduin so they could engage him. To gain more information, the player meets the ancient dragon Paarthurnax, the leader of the Greybeards. Paarthurnax reveals that Alduin was cast into the currents of time by the use of an Elder Scroll in the hope that he would never reemerge. The player locates the Elder Scroll and uses it to peer through a window in time and learn the shout to combat Alduin. The player battles with Alduin, who then flees to Sovngarde, the Nordic afterlife, to gain strength by devouring the souls of deceased Nords.
The player summons and traps a dragon named Odahviing, and learns from him that Alduin has fled to Sovngarde through a portal located at an ancient fort called Skuldafn. Odahviing agrees to fly the player to Skuldafn, claiming Alduin has shown himself as weak and undeserving of leadership over the dragon race for fleeing from the Dragonborn. The player enters Sovngarde and travels to the Hall of Valor. There, they meet up with the three heroes of Nordic legend who defeated Alduin originally. With their help, the player defeats Alduin once and for all. | good versus evil | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0089194 | Geraftaar | The film starts off with a happy family consisting of Kapil Kumar Khanna (Satyendra Kapoor), his wife Durga (Nirupa Roy), and their two sons Karan (Master Ravi) and Kishen. Karan is a very naughty kid and usually angers their parents while at his pranks. Kapil Kumar is an honest inspector and one day, on his wife's request, takes Karan with him. While on duty, Khanna goes to arrest Vidyanath (Kader Khan) and Ranjit Saxena (Ranjit) for possessing illegal drugs. Ranjit and Vidyanath try to kill by throwing him onto the ground using machinery, when Karan, in an attempt to save his father, pulls the wrong lever and Kapil Khanna is killed. Vidyanath accuses Karan of killing his father, and his mother Durga also in a fit of rage, beats him and tells him to go away. In a wave of emotions, Karan leaves the house and runs towards the ocean. He jumps in and commits suicide. His mother is heartbroken and says she did not want him to leave her and give her such a punishment. Karan has not died, but has been saved by Hussein (Master Suresh) and brings Karan to his home where he finds a new mother (Renu Joshi)and he and Hussein become best friends, giving an example to mankind, which is later shown in this movie.
The starting credits roll on and shows Durga taking Kishen with her to another place where he grows up. On the other hand, Karan and Hussein's childhood are also shown. Now enters a grown up Kishen (Kamal Hassan), a struggling actor who is in love with Lucy (Rabia Amin), a fellow struggling actress whose father uses all her money on drinking. Kishen returns home and enacts a drama in front of his mother, then the two reconcile. When his mother asks him to get married, Kishen refuses describing the girls of today. Anuradha (Poonam Dhillon) makes an entrance, speeding on her car. While Lucy crosses the road, Anuradha slams her car into Lucy, leaving her wounded. Kishen runs after her and a chase follows where Kishen takes her to the police station and gets her behind bars. Anuradha is an arrogant girl and calls up her brother, revealed as Ranjit Saxena. The police officer refuses to accept bribe and locks Anuradha away.
Ranjit asks Vidyanath's brain to think of a way. Vidyanath sends his son Chutkiram (Shakti Kapoor) to beat Kishen up. Chutkiram has a lisp and has a crush on Anuradha, whom he lovingly calls Anu. A fight between Kishen and Chutkiram and his goons, in which the latter are beaten up by Kishen. Kishen takes him to the police station and explains that he was attacked. Just then Ranjit comes and gives the bail orders for Anu and leaves, saying that Lucy has forgiven Anu for a sum of 25 000 rupees.
Kishen confronts Lucy in hospital and Kishen tells Lucy to keep the money. Just then Lucy's drunkard father (Jeevan) comes, takes the money and leaves. Kishen slaps him and tells him to get out Lucy's life. Lucy's father reluctantly leaves, vowing revenge. Anuradha is released from jail and is planning of take revenge on Kishen, and makes a bet with her friends.
Kishen lands on a job as a chauffeur and he and his mom are very happy for his job. When he attends his first day at work, he finds out that he is Anuradha's driver, and Anuradha uses this a mean to humiliate Kishen by putting her feet in Kishen's face. He then throws her shoe away and she orders him to bring it. He then throws she shoe in her face and tries to slap him. Kishen then humiliates Anuradha and resigns from the job.
The girls then try to fool Kishen's mother by introducing themselves as social workers and tries to get close to Durga, in which she succeeds. The next day, Kishen and Durga go to a mandir, where they find Anuradha, and she being very nice to Kishen, but Kishen doesn't fall for it and taunts her. He still hates her, and Anuradha swears in the mandir that she accepts Kishen as her husband and wants to marry him, but still Kishen doesn't fall for her. She then threatens to kill herself and runs away. She is about to jump off a cliff, but Kishen stops her, and professes his love.
A song sequence occurs, and afterwards, Anuradha holds a party in which Kishen publicly professes his love for Anuradha, but Anu then shows her real face and tells him she did this for revenge. Kishen then forcibly takes her to the very same temple where she swore Kishen as her husband. Kishen then marries her. Anu's brother Ranjit, is looking for her and Kishen takes her home, and tell Ranjit that he has just married Anuradha. Ranjit is furious, but he cannot do anything. Kishen leaves saying that he is leaving his wife in Ranjit's care.
Ranjit goes to Vidyanath to help him out. Vidyanath then calls Durga and tells her that Kishen forcibly married Anuradha, and if he does not stay away from her, they will kill him. Durga collapses, and asks for Kishen to forgive her as she really wanted Kishen to marry Anuradha. She is admitted into hospital, and the doctor tells Kishen that she needs to be operated on and he needs to arrange for the money.
Vidyanath calls Lucy, and proposes to produce a play in which she and Kishen play the lead roles. Lucy and Kishen agree and meet Vidyanath, where they rehearse for the play in which Kishen fake shoots Lucy. While this is all happening, Vidyanath is secretly recording their voices and the gunshot. Vidyanath gives Kishen the money he needs for the surgery and Kishen leaves.
Lucy is practicing her dance, when Chutkiram comes and tries to rape Lucy, and Vidyanath comes and shoots her. He replaces the tape with the recorded voices of Lucy and Kishen. Lucy's father comes and hears the tape playing and steals the tape. Just as he leaves, Kishen comes in and find Lucy dead. Just then the police arrive and arrest Kishen. In court, they are unable to prove Kishen guilty and he is put in remand. Vidyanath then sends in his jailbirds to kill Kishen. A fight ensues, in which Kishen is losing and is about to be stabbed. Just then a man comes to help Kishen (Amitabh Bachchan). When Kishen asks who he is, he talks in riddles.
Here Ranjit and Vidyanath are tense as their plan flopped. Anuradha is listening to them talking and has a change of heart and truly accepts Kishen as her husband and declares this to her brother. Ranjit is furious and tries to kill her, but Vidyanath stops him. They let Anuradha go and Vidyanath reveals that they have the tape (they have found Lucy's father), and give this tape to Vidyanath's lawyer (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), who proves him guilty in court and he is sentenced to death. Vidyanath then kill Lucy's father by throwing off a high building.
In jail, Kishen plays the song ""'Aana Jaana""', the song he and Karan used to listen to in their childhood. Karan listens to the tune and immediately recognises it. They sing the song throughout the jail and finally find each other at the end of the song. They recognise each other from the fight the other day, and it is revealed that the unknown person is in fact Karan Kumar Khanna (Amitabh Bachchan), Kishen's lost older brother. Karan though, does not tell him who he is, but tells his story, from his childhood. Kishen finds a familiarity in his story and asks him to continue and he tells his story
Karan seeks blessings from Hussein's mother for his promotion, and his mother asks when he's going to marry, and tells him to go and propose to Geeta (Madhavi). He goes to Geeta, who is a fellow inspector and proposes to her.
The next day, Geeta and Hussein's mother go to a jewellery shop, where robbers come in and take Geeta and Hussein's mother hostage. Karan then takes an entry and beats the robbers, but they run off. Unfortunate for them Inspector Hussein (Rajinikanth in an extended cameo role) is waiting for them and also beats them up. Both Karan and Hussein take them to jail.
It is revealed, that Ranjit, Vidyanath, Chutkiram and their lawyer are partners in crime and want Karan and Hussein finished. The Police Commissioner's son and Geeta's brother, Vijay (Sharat Saxena) is also involved in the crime gang. Karan and Hussein go and threaten to arrest them and to stop being a criminal. Later Vijay complains to his father, Police Commissioner Sinha (Om Shivpuri). The Commissioner warns Hussein and Karan to stay in their limits.
A new case comes to Hussein and Karan and they promise to look into it. It is also Raksha Bhandhan and Hussein leaves. Geeta and Hussein follow the ritual of "Rakhi", and then Geeta tries to explain to not abuse their police uniforms. A small fight ensues and Karan is listening. They joke around for a while and Hussein's mother blesses all three of them to live happy lives.
According to the two pathans, they go to the place where they instructed, and arrest Ranjit and Vidyanath, but they get bailed out by their lawyer. They hatch a new plan, and call them to different places. Hussein and Karan fall into their trap, and Hussein is beaten up by Ranjit, and is murdered by Vijay and is burnt alive. Karan reaches too late and Hussein breathes his last in Karan's arms. Karan vows revenge. Karan delivers this bad news to Hussein mother, and she cannot bear the shock and dies of misery.
Vijay is in hiding, but Karan finds him and burns him alive in the same way he killed Hussein, thus fulfilling his revenge. As he walks out laughing, he is arrested by Geeta and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Here Karan finishes his story to Karan. At the same time, Durga comes to meet Kishen and Karan recognises her, and without revealing himself, vows to protect Kishen.
The next day Karan helps Kishen escape and is arrested for helping Kishen escape. While humorously explaining the situation, escapes himself. And while on the run, he unknowingly enters the Commissioner' house, who is now handicapped and is confined to a wheelchair. When the Commissioner is about to shoot him, Karan pleads to let him go, to prove his brother, Kishen innocent. The Commissioner does not believe him, but on Geeta's insistence, he relents.
Durga is informed by her father, that Karan is alive and Durga realises that the one who saved Kishen's life in jail, was in fact his older brother. After fleeing from the Commissioner's place, he returns home after a number of years. Mother and son reconcile and the relation between Karan and Kishen strengthens. The brothers decide to trap Vidyanath and Ranjit in their own trap, using Chutkiram as their pawn.They soon find out that Vijay has not died,but has survived.In a final battle,all the gang members are killed while Chutkiram and Vidyanath are arrested by police.The police commissioner dies because he was killed by Vijay,but Karan kills Vijay and marries Geeta in the end. | murder, flashback | train | wikipedia | Grand 80's Bollywood Entertainer.
Geraftaar is now considered a cult classic.
One of the best masala movie of 80's.
It has engaging performance throughout.
The movie is filled with typical Bollywood clichés of the time.
Kamal Hasan plays an innocent victim of murder.
He successfully apes Sammo Hung in a funny martial arts sequence involving a bench.
Amitabh plays Kamal Hasan's long lost brother with his his own back-story involving the murder of his friend.
Rajnikant almost steals the film in the cameo appearance in the role of Amitabh's friend.
This movie also known for the appearance of hilarious villains in the role of father-son by Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor.
The Duo got so successful that they repeated this same combination for next 15 years.
The movie features three heroes (Amitabh Bachan, Rajnikant and Kamal Hasan) who are superstar in their own right.
At the time of this movies release , Amitabh Bachan was the undisputed king of Bollywood.
Any movie with his name on it, was guaranteed great opening week collection.
Rajnikanth at the time was huge star in South Indian movies but was trying to mark his mark in Bollywood movies.
Kamal Hasan was the rising star of Bollywood, having previously made his mark in South Indian cinema.
Initially when the movie was in pipelines it has just Kamal Hasan in lead , however the producers persuade Amitabh to have a small cameo as Kamal's brother in the movie.
Amitabh liked his role so much that he requested his role to be increased and roped in Rajnikant to act in the role of his friend.
Later Madhvi was added his lead Heroine.
During the final editing Amitabh role was increased even at the expense of lead hero Kamal Hasan.
In the final cut of the movie Amitabh's role was almost as big as Kamal Hasan's.
Amitabh appears just before the second half of the movie, but soon becomes the central focus of the movie..
Absoulute entertainer.
Geraftaar is a non stop entertaining movie.
Another classic from the legend himself Amitabh Bachchan.
It has the regular 80s storyline about boy separated from family, father gets killed etc.
Geraftaar entertains thankfully because of Big B and Rajnikhant.
Rajnikhant is a south Indian actor with good fast skills.
Watching him with Amitabh is great fun.
The other lead is Kamal Hassan.
Kamal is practically the main actor in this movie.
Amitabh doesn't appear till half way, that still doesn't stop the movie to disappoint.
geraftaar has a few villains, the one that shines is Kader Khan and his dumb son Shakti kapoor.
It has one nice song Dhoop mein.
If you haven't seen this film, i suggest you watch it..
A complete action drama !!!
Done subtable by three young men.
While on duty one day at a mine, Mr. Kapil Kumar Khanna (Satyendra Kapoor) is killed by criminal elements when he caught them exporting illegal drugs.
However, his elder son Karan (Amitabh Batchchan) receives the blame and is beaten and thrown out from the house by his mother.
Although, Karan is prosecuted, his mother Mrs. Kumar Khanna waited for him to return for years, which didn't happen.
One day, however, her younger son Kishan (Kamal Hassan), falls into the wrong family's hand being persuaded by a young woman called Anuradha Saxena (Poonam Dhillon).
He is later punished by some criminal elements for murdering a woman called Lucy, upon acting a drama, while in jail he met an inmate who save his life, later on it was found that the inmate was none other than his lost elder brother.
His brother was serving penance for murdering the commissioner son Vijay Sinha (Sharat Saxena), some how the two manage to escape from jail and take revenge from the family they hold a gouge against..
All-time classic.
For some reason this film reminded me a lot of ANDHAA KAANOON (1983) which had the same type of cast; Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikant, Madhavi, Om ShivpuriThe film has injustice done to the lead actor with Amitabh Bachchan appearing in the second half taking over the film just like ANDHAA KAANOON.
Rajnikanth's death scene is well-handled and the climax is done-to- death.Amitabh Bachchan shines with his lead role and takes over the second half Kamal Hassan makes a convincing performances as Amitabh's brother and shows a lot of versatile Rajnikant is OK in a special appearance Madhavi and Poonam Dhillon fill the heroine gap and help move the storyline Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor are hilarious while Om Shivpuri, Sharat Saxsena, Kulbacshan Kharbanda are typecast.
Caricature !.
20 years ago, I remember how one of my relatives was telling enthusiastically the story of Indian movie she saw named Geraftaar.
I recall her strong emotions, especially when it came to matters like the name of god being written accidentally on the dead mother's forehead, or the collective bloody vengeance on the bad guys at the end.
So I believed very early that Geraftaar (or Arrest in English) is one effective, exciting and venerable film.
However, when I got to watch it, I discovered the opposite.Nearly nothing is serious here except (Amitabh Bachchan) !
It's the same themes of the commercial Indian cinema at the time : the old lost-and-found, taming-of-the-shrew, frame-the-honest-man, get-the-revenge..
you know.
BUT in a comic or cheesy way most of the time this round !It's obvious how the movie exploits (Bachchan)'s blaze amongst elements lower than him, how (Amar Akbar Anthony)'s successful formula 8 years earlier leaves its affect, and how there is shameful idiocy all over it !
Here, and here only, you'd find : one man can beat up 5 bigger men by only one arm, the strangest mustache in the whole history of movies, and a plastic brain that gives advice !Above all, making the villains as the movie's relief weakened the conflict's strength.
The rest of it wasn't less comic.
There are many scenes that make (Geraftaar) some kind of rare parody for the Indian movies (and by their original stars !).
I can't forget its highest 3 points : (Rajnikanth) gets killed and while he's dying he still smoking his cigarette passionately; Ah..
that could be the most creative ad about cigarettes ever made, but surely I deem it one of the greatest comic scenes I've ever seen (I know that I couldn't stop laughing till the end of the movie !).
The other moment is when (Bachchan) escapes from the courtroom..
WAW, you'd never forget it !
And last but not the least the scene of killing the dancing girl's father by showing him the bank; actually the spoof can't get any smarter than this !Save the good theme song, the soundtrack got funny moments too; whenever we see the evil men there is something like the main theme of John Williams's Jaws in the background, repeating in unbearable boring way.
Or how while (Rajnikanth)'s intro you'll hear the same music of (Bachchan)'s memorable intro from (Coolie - 1983) !!
Let alone Rajnikanth's way of throwing his cigarette in the air, then lighting it by shooting it with his gun, to receive it in his mouth all while threatening the thieves in front of him !
Or how he shoots the criminals perfectly while his back is to them ?!
That's not cool inasmuch as laughable !
By the way, Rajnikanth here appears as a cameo in a Bachchan movie.
2 years earlier, Bachchan appeared as a cameo in Rajnikanth's movie (Andhaa Kanoon).
Most probably it was a mutual favor.
But I see it as out of favor !Furthermore, there are 2 scary extra guys in the movie.
One is white and bold, and the other kinks his eyebrows.
They played : the jewelry store's thieves who (Bachchan) arrests, then the leads' troublemaker associates in the prison's cell, and finally the evil man's henchmen at the end ??!!
That could mean 1) they work for the same evil man from the start and all along, or 2) evil is evil in everywhere and every time, or 3) this movie is short-handed (I'm with number 3 !).Some of the moves of (Bachchan)'s dance with his love were strange or rather foolish.
(Kamal Haasan) looked unbelievable in his action scenes (and his black and white T-shirt looked too funky !).
And the flying of the good guys in the sky while facing the baddies was badly-made and overdone; I just want to know who's the one that began it primarily in the Indian cinema ?!(Prayag Raj) is an important scriptwriter who wrote or co-wrote some of the grandest hits – mostly directed by Manmohan Desai – like (Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb..) or even co-directed (Coolie) with Desai himself, and for the big B also.
This round, unfortunately, his job as a director was like the production : so poor.
Aside from tasteless execution, the camera's shadow is clear at one moment in the climactic fight, (Bachchan) jumps from the speedy police car while it's lucidly still, and so on.
It assured the spirit of naivety and artlessness that immersed the whole thing.
It's only the last 10 minutes where the things transformed into somehow hot.This is unoriginal, averagely entertaining or worse.
(Bachchan) was wasted, delivering earnest performance in the middle of absurd everything; like solid melodramatic act lost in big comedy.
It's not the most comic "masala", because it can make you laugh at it not with it.
It's rather one of the most weak, fabricated, and wretched masala, considering what it has of rich starts too, despite how people, like my relative, loved it at the time, or how millions this very movie impressed one way or another, because it's simple and I've learned it by heart : success got nothing to do with quality.For me, the short bit of the young dancer which remakes slightly one of (Flash Dance)'s sequences yet with more voluptuous girl, along with Bachchan's stylish sweaters, both could be the best of what this caricature provides. |
tt1173568 | Slam | Raymond "Ray" Joshua (played by Saul Williams) is a young man growing up in the Southeast, Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Dodge City, slang for a real Southeast D.C. neighborhood. Despite his innate gift for poetry and his aspiration to be a rapper, he finds it difficult to escape the pressures of his surroundings: violence and drug dealing. While participating in a drug deal gone wrong, Ray's close friend Big Mike is shot. Ray is caught by the police and sent to the District of Columbia Department of Corrections' central detention facility. He is arraigned for possession of a controlled substance at the H. Carl Moultrie Courthouse and bail is set at $10,000. When his public defender explains his options ("cop out" and plead guilty), "rock" (stand trial), or "cooperate" (serve as an informant), Ray despairs, particularly as he is being pressured to participate in a drug culture "inside" very similar to what he was a part of "outside".
Ray takes no sides, unwilling to believe that his options are limited to the choices he is being presented with. When threatened with violence in the prison yard, he retaliates with words, speaking the truths that he's witnessed in the form of a poetic rap meant to show the other inmates how their power and energy is being diverted into petty struggles with each other, rather than being directed toward the system that is keeping them down. In prison, he participates in the writing class of teacher Lauren Bell (Sonja Sohn), whom he comes to respect and admire. She advises him to pay more attention to his talents.
When Ray is unexpectedly released on bail for a few days prior to his court date by an incarcerated drug dealer whom Ray had inspired with his revolutionary ideas, he is able to convince his friends and their Dodge City crew not to retaliate with more violence for the shooting — to break the cycle instead. He explains that the "projects" where they all live and die are a government experiment and that continuing to kill each other is exactly what those who set up the experiment want them to be doing. On the outside, he also reunites with Bell, and is welcomed into her circle of friends at a poetry reading at her home. They wind up spending the night together, despite her reservations about the future. The next day, she urges him to settle his legal troubles by agreeing to serve a year or two of prison time, rather than fighting the charges and potentially being put away for much longer.
They quarrel, because Ray feels that Bell doesn't understand his situation. He leaves, but shows up that night at a poetry slam event in D.C.'s Cleveland Park neighborhood that Bell had invited him to, just in time to see her perform an extremely powerful and empathetic piece that was clearly written for him. When the crowd demands an encore, she invites Ray onto the stage to perform instead, and he delivers an impromptu dramatic poem — scrawled as he crossed the city on public transit on his way to the slam — an emotional piece about black males and the criminal justice system. When the crowd demands an encore, Ray tells Lauren he needs to get some air, then leaves again. He wanders the streets until he is drawn to the Washington Monument. | melodrama, revenge, flashback | train | wikipedia | A Nutshell Review: Slam.
I guess in movies with sports themes, it is never really much about the goal and the destination, but rather the journey the characters take in finding strengths amongst themselves, shore up weaknesses and collectively present and mount a challenge, that makes it compelling viewing.
And it's little surprise that Slam fits into this mould and what resulted is a thoroughly enjoyable film on schoolyard pride, camaraderie and 3 on 3 basketball.It is almost a no brainer to want to compare Slam with the other recent basketball movie effort from Asia, Kung Fu Dunk.
While the target audience might be different with the latter appealing more to fans of Jay Chou, Slam has a more universal appeal and easily identifiable themes that don't pretend to be anything more than they are.
There are many aspects in Slam that makes it a far more superior basketball / sports themed movie, and I'd probably incur the wrath of many fans if I were to state that the music here by Machi Entertainment outscores Jay Chou's rap on tofu (Swordsman Chou by the way) from the 3 point line (check out "Nothing is Impossible" to keep that adrenaline pumping, from the official website).The relationships between the characters here also felt more down to earth, probably without the "star appeal" factor to take the attention away from the collective, with the relatively new protagonists given almost equal opportunity in a sport that emphasizes on teamwork, rather than the sole fixation in executing a particular move in the various permutations possible.
In that respect, the moves here were sans Kung Fu and wire work stunts, keeping it very much grounded to reality, and of course, believable, while at the same time, entertaining with nifty executions.
However, those who cannot tolerate MTV-styled quick edits might find something to gripe about here, but I thought those hand-held shots employed fit the premise of the game, not the standard court games that you watch on television, but the quicker in pace 3 on 3 street game, giving it a feeling of raw energy somehow, especially coming from a team of youthful exuberance.At its core, Slam contains a simple losers versus bullies storyline, and one between the haves and the have-nots.
Mouth (Lin Xiao Fan) is your typical introverted kid who's having major troubles with his non performance in his schoolwork, while nursing a high school crush on the prettiest (and smartest too) girl in school Xiao Xiao (Zhao Wenqi).
But his passion for the basketball game sees him train by walking around with weights attached to his legs, and shooting hoops with good friend Monkey (Zhang Yi Shan), whose cousin Jason (Andrew Chou aka Machi Di Di from the Taiwanese hip hop group Machi) completes the trio.
And as you may have it, the one-dimensional bullies, led by Li Wei (Wang Wei) of "The Hawks", take every opportunity to stir trouble with our motley gang, inside and out of the basketball court.Sound quite familiar?
Yes it does, and in any self-respecting sports movie, there's a well made training montage to inspirational, beat-pumping music too.
But what shines here are the earnest portrayals, and not for one minute I felt that the actors were trying too hard to act their roles, but were quite natural in fleshing out their respective characters, so much so that they endear and are likable enough for you to root for them all the way, and not only when the time came for it, like the big games.
Needless to say with teenagers in the brew, parents too come into the picture, and there were some subtle reminders on developing the potential of a child, and that need not necessarily come from books alone.
And furthermore, to do so by teaching them to combat self-doubt.Succinctly put, Slam is a simple to follow story with excellent delivery that worked remarkably.
It took a while for the main action to come to the foreground, but when it did, for casual / non-basketball players like myself, you'll probably find yourself wide-eyed at the level of energy exuded, and wanting to shoot some hoops with friends too, replicating the moves being an optional.
Should Goal be used as an epitome of a good football movie, then Slam will be in my list as one for a good street basketball film.
Highly recommended!.
Dumb sports movie.
Seriously, this movie uses so many clichés from sports films like there's no tomorrow.
The storyline is wholly impossible given that the three kids have minimal basketball skills and are completely overwhelmed by the other teams in the 3-3 tournament.
The team sucks so bad and then starts to get game right as the tournament picks up?
I also have no idea why the Chinese American boy was put into the story -- he added little or nothing to the movie.The viewer never gets to see who the main character really is and why he has a strained relationship with his father.What a waste of about 93 minutes.
I certainly do not recommend this movie to anyone..
A nice Asian gem.
I got bored by Hollywood production, because their movies started too look all the same, so I often watch foreign movies.
I have learned to love both European and Asian cinema because they offer something new, instead of superhero movies and shallow comedies which are lately coming from Holywood.
Slam is a hidden gem, nicely paced, with a simple yet interesting story, beliveable acting, I enjoyed watching it with my friends..
A great family movie.
I watched Slam with my girlfriend and we both liked it, even though, it might be a movie for a younger audience.
There was a decent suspense in the movie, the story was cute and we were not bored for a single minute.
Editing is very good, and overall it is a very motivational and a good-vibe movie.
The director did a wonderful job, the cast was great and main characters are very sympathetic.
Slam was a good Saturday night time waster..
A good time waster.
I love watching non-Holywood movies, especially when they come from Asia, because they have a special impression on me.
This cute little movie was a pleasant surprise and, both my kids and I, loved it!
When it comes to family movies I watch them only because of my kids, because I am a fan of different genres, but Slam was a good time waster.
The action in the movie is great, young actors were OK, some of them were more convincing than the others, and the story was nice.
I would recommend it to the audiences of all ages..
Good and relaxing movie.
A nice Asian movie that is a great piece of work done by Mr. Jonathan Lim, who is known to me by his movie Pali Road, which I also loved.
In some segments it resembles to Holywood kind of movies, but in a GOOD way!
The story is easy to understand, most of the characters are likeable and the story develops nicely.
The young actors did an outstanding job in portraying their roles and I would definitely recommend Slam to anyone wanting to watch a quality sport-family movie..
Enjoyed it !.
If you are into sports and family movies, you don't want to miss this one.
It will probably be more appealing to younger audiences, but I also liked it and I am 35.
The story is not new, a battle between complete underdogs and the ones that are suppose to beat them easily.
I won't reveal much of the story, but I found the movie both motivational and inspirational.
I liked the characters, the action and the ending was great too.
I would gladly recommend this cute little movie to anyone! |
tt0072750 | Bug | Agnes White is a waitress at a gay bar living in a run-down motel in rural Oklahoma. Unable to move on from the disappearance of her son some years previously, she engages in drug and alcohol binges with her lesbian friend, R.C. Lately, she has been plagued by silent telephone calls that she believes are being made by her abusive ex-husband, Jerry Goss, who has recently been released from prison.
One night, R.C. introduces Agnes to Peter Evans, a drifter who says he is a recently discharged soldier. Agnes and Peter reach out to each other out of loneliness, and start a relationship. He convinces her that he was the subject of biological testing by the U.S. government while he was in the military, and says the anonymous phone calls she has been receiving were made by government agents in anticipation of his arrival. After they have sex, Peter tells Agnes that their room has become infested by bugs sent there by the government as part of their experiments.
Peter's movements and behavior become more erratic as he fights the bugs, invisible to the audience, that he claims are infesting his body. Agnes soon joins in this behavior. Over time, they isolate themselves from the outside world, sealing themselves in their room and covering it with flypaper and aluminum foil and lighting it with the glow from bug zappers. Peter, believing that a colony of microscopic bugs was implanted in one of his teeth, tears it out of his head. Using a child's microscope, he says he sees the bugs in the remains of the crushed tooth, as does Agnes.
A Dr. Sweet arrives, and tells Agnes that Peter has escaped while under treatment at a mental institution and that delusions about insects are a known symptom of Peter's mental illness. Peter kills Sweet, telling Agnes that he was a robot sent by the government. Together, Peter and Agnes elaborate upon Peter's beliefs in a conspiracy, including that Agnes' son was kidnapped by the government to lead her and Peter to meeting and that each of them is infected with bugs that are meant to mate with one another and take over the world. In order to prevent this, Agnes and Peter douse each other in gasoline and set themselves on fire.
In the end credits, the audience sees shots of the toys in Agnes and Peter's room completely intact, with no sign of the aluminium foil, and the body of Dr. Sweet, in the room covered with foil but undamaged by fire. Which shot, if any, shows "reality" is left unclear. | insanity | train | wikipedia | This is a dandy little nature-run-amok film, in which giant cockroaches from the center of the earth make their appearance in a small farming community.
This scared the hell out of me when I saw it.Roaches that rub their legs together kill everything and everyone.Bradford dillman is a good actor and I think this movie is his best work.The ending of the movie is really strange and I think This is the best of killer bug films.A good companion to this movie is the nest [1988]Only in this film they kill by using teeth..
Hadn't seen this since I was 8,so I didn't know what to expect,since it was directed by the infamous Jeannot Szwarc,who helmed such big budget disasters such as Supergirl & Santa Claus The Movie,have to say it was very creepy,well made, & even scary in some spots,believe me,after watching this,you'll be up all night spraying your kitchen with heavy doses of Raid.I hope that Paramount releases this on DVD.Check It Out!!!.
Viewers who may be having some insect problems in their own abode may feel a bit better about their domestic situation when they see what the residents of a small California desert town have to contend with, in 1975's "Bug." After a seismic event releases the titular nasties from deep underground, the ugly, beetlelike creatures start making trouble, setting fires wherever they go by rubbing their chitinous rear antennae together.
(Come to think of it, the Firebug almost looks like a pint-size Tingler!) My buddy Rob has astutely pointed out to me the picture's skillful use of establishing shots, prolonged silences, "disturbing imagery" and "unnerving stillness," and I must admit that a repeat viewing revealed the film to be not so much slow as deliberately paced.
Based on the book "The Hephaestus Plague" by Thomas Page, who also penned the screenplay with help from Castle, the chills start after an earthquake rocks a small community, bringing mutant roaches up from the earth.
Lots of close-ups of scaly legs and bug guts, yet the production values are disappointingly cheapjack, a depressing reminder of far better days at the Castle horror factory.
An awful nature gone wild film from the 70's about prehistoric cockroaches finding their way out from middle earth via an earthquake.
Dillman gives yet another manic performance as a man who is also a school biologist that begins trying to figure out these new bugs.
Bug, produced by William Castle, is a truly bad film in the its-so-fun to watch vein.
The best has to be the scene where Dillman's wife, played by Johanna Miles, has these "bugs" somehow jump on her from phone and other stationary objects in the living room while eventually able to set fire to her hair.
Based on a Thomas Page novel called The Hephaestus Plague, Bug centered on a scientist played by Bradford Dillman, studying subterranean roaches released from an earthquake.
Local professor (Bradford Dillman) must learn more about the bugs in an attempt to stop the path of destruction, but finds himself aiding their evolution into unassailable marauders.Interestingly handled thriller, produced by horror royalty in William Castle focuses on the mental disintegration of the lead character, following the death of his spouse.
Where most of the cast (Gilliland, Vint, Jackson, Miles) fade out after the first half, Fudge and McCormack come into focus in the second half, as they attempt to coax Dillman out of his self imposed isolation.The concept that mankind is the subject of the experiment and ultimately the more vulnerable of the two species, is canvassed abundantly in the second half of the film and while engaging, slows the pace considerably.
An earthquake uproots cockroach-like bugs that can set fire to things and, more importantly for a horror film, also to animals and humans.
But never fear, a biology professor played by Bradford Dillman is on the case.This great little 70's B movie is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (who would go on to make the hugely enjoyable Jaws 2 and the brilliant campfest that is Supergirl) and produced by William Castle (no introduction needed).
This is a great popcorn movie.But then the movie changes course and gets all metaphysical as the film's designated bug expert starts to research the incendiary insects in greater depth and even starts to communicate with them!This is the kind of film that you could stumble upon on a late night TV channel and absolutely love.
Killer roaches encroach on a sleepy, god-fearing rural California town in the aptly titled "Bug." From producer William Castle, "Bug" is everything you think it is, nothing more, nothing less.
"Bug" deserves its place alongside other semi-forgotten b-fare like "Frogs" and "The Swarm." Fun facts: Director Jeannot Szwarc would go on to direct the slightly more competent "Jaws 2," while keen viewers might notice portions of the set were recycled from "The Brady Bunch.".
"Bug" sort of reminded me back in 1954 where man created the "killer bees", but it's not a movie about bees, it's about killer roaches from the Earth.
This is a movie about fire breathing bugs that come of the earth when there is an earth quake in a small American town.
There are a number of Sci-fi and horror movies from the 70s that defied all odds and were actually shot on film, despite the lack of good writers or actors, money and thought.
With ecological horror being one of my personal favorite trends in 70's cinema, I cannot believe it took me until now to check out this awesome creature-feature called "Bug", scripted by no less than horror maestro William Castle ("House on Haunted Hill", "Homicidal") and directed by Jeannot Szwarc ("Jaws 2", "Enigma").
The suspense unfolds gradually, as more and locals find their houses infested with the nasty little fire-bugs, and certain death sequences are truly unforgettable, like the spontaneously combusting housewife in her kitchen.
The tone of the film drastically changes in the last forty or so minutes, since Bradford Dillman isolates himself with in order to investigate the insects' weaknesses and we exclusively follow up on his progress.
Apparently I'm not the most reliable source when it comes to recommending 70's creature features, since I even worship junk movies like "Squirm" and "Empire of the Ants", but I presume that "Bug" will appeal to a very wide range of open-minded horror fanatics..
Another big plus here is the excellent central performance by Bradford Dillman his presence in any film is always welcome, but I've rarely seen him this good!
I'm not squeamish about bugs, so I wasn't bothered by having to watch a film with hordes of them menacing a community (unlike snakes, for instance which has kept me from checking out SSSSSSS [1973] during this Halloween challenge!); even so, it's not that the insects are used throughout for any overtly revolting effect.
Like I said at the beginning thanks also to the unenthusing write-ups on it by both Leslie Halliwell and Leonard Maltin (online assessment at the time of Paramount's DVD release, then, is split pretty much down the middle) I had anticipated this to be a typical (read: low-brow) small-town-invaded-by-insects film a' la THE SWARM (1978), presenting a succession of contrived situations where various cast members meet a grisly death at the hands of the bugs.While it has a few scenes in this vein to cater to just that section of its intended audience and the fact that they are combustible (their sudden emergence the direct cause of an impressively-staged earthquake) certainly provides a novel touch for this type of film!
The film makes use of an electronic score for maximum unsettling effect; incidentally, this proved to be notorious showman producer William Castle's swan-song (he also co-wrote the script with Thomas Page, author of the novel on which it was based)..
The bugs manage to burn down buildings, set wild fires, and ignite cars while people sit in them listening to Steely Dan and the Eagles(a fate they moost likely deserve...).
Bradford Dillman("Escape from Planet of the Apes", "The Swarm", "Lords of the Deep"), Joanna Miles("The Ultimate Warrior", "Harvest Home", "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"), and Alan Fudge("Galaxis", "Airport '75", many 70's tv shows) lead a non-cast of yawn-inducing b-actors trying to look cowcerned that the little critters are setting fire to the universe.
"Bug" was William Castle's swan song, after producing many, many schlock films of the 50's & 60's, including "The Tinger", "The House on Haunted Hill", and "13 Ghosts", as well as directing a whole slew of 40's B pictures.
Released in 1975, "Bug" stars Bradford Dillman as a professor who becomes fascinated by a fire-starting breed of large cockroaches after they're released from their subterranean habitat via an earthquake.
As he descends into madness he descends into hell.The movie starts off good with an earthquake at a church in rural Southern California and the ensuing mystery of the fire-starting roaches, but the second half becomes draggy as it largely consists of the professor going recluse as he studies the roaches and performs an experiment.
The most memorable part of the movie occurs near the end when the bugs do something on the wall, which utterly freaks out the professor (and the viewer).
This was a lot better then I thought it would be , I did not think I would actually even like this movie, never mind loving it The movies dose not take long to start of at all, There a number people attending A church and there is a earthquake .
The earthquake scence dose seen a little outdated now but easy to get pass as the rest of the movie was Really fun.I liked the first part half of the movie better then the second, as I enjoyed the scenes of the bus killing.Then the movie can turns into another kind of story, which try blended into early part of the movie and the some how makes news bugs Which in the end backfires on him 7/10.
This movie really is scary.The story is about cockaroaches that when they rub their legs together sparks flame and kill it's prey.Bradford dillman is great and has an interesting set.A good companion to this movie is the nest which is again about killer roaches only this time the roaches use teeth..
BUG is one of those movies that will have you scratching your arms, legs, and back because as you watch it, you will think that you feel the insects on you.
Bradford Dillman is interesting but a little over the top as the normal human being who degenerates into a mad scientist after several other characters fall victim to the bugs..
Despite the lurid exploitation title, this is for the most part a grim and weird semi-art-house sci fi movie, more akin to PHASE IV than something like THEM or even THE BIRDS.BUG benefits greatly from the intense and nervously twitchy central performance of BRADFORD DILLMAN as the scientist who goes off the deep end after his wife is set ablaze by the title critters.
The scenes near the end where Bradford Dillman starts performing bizarre experiments upon the BUGs and establishing some sort of contact with them remain potent and eerie and all of the scenes where he finds them crawling loose in his farmhouse are disturbing; If you are willing to forgive some poor special effects near the climax you wont be disappointed by Bug. It is a genuinely creepy movie, one which manages to conjure up a disturbing atmosphere of heat and paranoia and eventually crumbling insanity.
In 'Chinatown' John Huston has a line that goes something like, 'Politicians, ugly buildings and whores get respectable if they last long enough.' Well, based on the nostalgia-based fondness so many reviewers have for this film, 'Bug' is an old whore.Playing out like a combination 70's disaster film (with none of the budget
the town is populated by 30 people) and 50's mutant monster flick, 'Bug' gets points for weirdness and occasional moments of creepy tension, but to enjoy these, one has to put up with some of the worst acting ever set to film.The plot is familiar in that 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' kind of way: earthquake releases plague of indestructible bugs that shoot flames out of their butts.The star of the film is Bradford Dillman.
Cute Patty McCormack from 'The Bad Seed' has an underwritten bit part but at least has a hilarious death scene, and an actress named Joanna Miles should have sued for being given a role without a character to play.As stated, the plot per se isn't bad, but the execution is; awkward camera set ups, draggy pacing, clumsy special effects
'Bug' is so bad that it's actually surprising that it wasn't directed by William Castle (he produced) who seemed to have learned absolutely nothing from being involved with 'Rosemary's Baby.' However, when I saw that it was directed by that hack Jeannot Szwarc, it all made sense.'Bug' has nostalgia appeal, a great cheesy 70's look in its costumes and sets, is fun in a guilty-pleasure kind of way, but it's a terrible movie pure and simple..
Moreover, this film's shockingly harsh violence pushes the PG rating to its utmost limit: a cute little kitty cat gets torched, one of the bugs blows up something messy, and both Miles and McCormack meet hideously brutal incendiary ends.
The last film produced by legendary schlockmeister William Castle, "Bug" overall rates as a hugely enjoyable nature-gone-wrong fright feature..
Bug (1975) is a movie that starts out simply enough with a woman who is late to church and trying not to disturb anyone as she sits down.
Enters Dr. Parimeter, who in an attempt to study them, ends up breeding one of the bugs with a regular cockroach.
BUG is a truly awful film.The "story" is a about a scientist who studies some underground bugs who turn up after an earthquake opens a small fissure in the desert.
That's it.It spends a slow 99 minutes to expand on a not so complex story (one man vs big pyro-cockroaches) and then effectively doesn't go anywhere with a climax that kills its only main character and the potentially cool idea of killer incendiary bugs.
It's a micro-movie.If you want to see a fantastic "man vs bug" story, check out PHASE IV.
Reading an old issue of UK film mag Empire,I Checked the "archive" pages,and spotted a review for William Castle's final "shock Horror." Previously having only seen his famous House on Haunted Hill,I decided that it was the perfect time to see Castle build his ant (bug) kingdom.The plot:Shaken by being caught in the middle of an earthquake, a town finds itself surrounded by mutant bugs,who can unleash fire that murders animals and people.Thanks to the low air pressure on the Earth's surface most of the bugs die.
Taking them to an isolated location for research, Parmiter begins to find his own mind bugging him.View on the film:Sliding out of Thomas Page's book,the screenplay by Page and producer/cameo actor William Castle slime's between a Disaster Movie and a creepy Sci-Fi Creature Feature.
Leaving behind some of Castle's famous "shock & awe" antics for the second half,the writers lock James Parmiter in for an unexpectedly eerie,slow-burn Sci-Fi Horror,that takes advantage of the "last man on earth" setting to turn the bugs (who are given sex scenes!) into objects of paranoia,closing in on James ParmiterGrabbing handfuls of the bugs, director Jeannot Szwarc and cinematographer Michel Hugo wrap the film in Charles Fox's nerve- shredding synch score moving in time with the brash primary colours of the bug attacks.
In movie 1 these bugs come out of the ground after an earthquake.
This starts movie 2 which finds the guy whose wife is killed hanging on to one of the bugs and using some pressure thing to keep it alive.
"BUG!" was a movie I saw on T.V. when I was still in High School.
I think she was included in the film so she could be killed off and help push Parmiter even further into madness against the bugs.
In the book Metbaum is burned by the bug, just like in the film.
Parmiter does try to kill the bugs eventually, but after seeing them spell lots of things on the wall and tells him they must return to the hole due to the pressure, Parmiter would rather study them more.
If bugs creep you out, you may want to stay away from this movie.
The bug on the phone (as seen on the poster) is probably one of the most shocking scenes in the film.
The acting wasn't anything special, but the bugs were.I give this film 6/10..
As I like to see bad films on occasion (they're great for a laugh), I decided to give this one a try.After an earthquake in a god-accursed town in the desert, hoards of insanely silly fire-cockroaches invade the town.
This goof-ball scientist (Bradford Dillman--who I assume was trying to commit career suicide with this film) at first mourns his wife's death--then becomes obsessed with the creatures and eventually fills his house with the things.
As for "Bug", however, it's probably not a film you should rush to watch..
Too Bad The Bugs Didn't Burn The Film And Spare Us From This.
In the end, it seemed not so much a "creature-feature" as it was a psychological study of obsession - Dr. Parmiter (played by Bradford Dillman) having become obsessed with these creatures to the point at which everyone and everything around him is destroyed by them - as he himself ultimately is.
We also get a nauseating scene where a cat decides to toy with a roach and gets fried, not once, but by dozens of bugs.Bradford Dillman ("Piranha") plays Prof.
The second half felt like I had wasted my time getting the movie.
One, Castle could have changed the second half of the movie so that more of the roaches are shown, along with Man's approaches to stopping them. |
tt0077174 | Are You in the House Alone? | 16-year-old Gail Osborne is a typical high school student with a passion for photography. Six months ago, she and her parents moved from New York to a smaller town due to her father Neil's claim the city was too dangerous following a burglary. Gail, a high spirited romantic, initially started dating classmate E.K. Miller, but he broke off their relationship because Gail was unwilling to sleep with him.
Now, Gail is dating Steve Pastorinis, despite her overprotective mother's objections. After a while, she receives an anonymous letter which says: I am watching you. Gail thinks the letter is creepy, but is convinced by her best friend Allison Bremer that it is a practical joke from some student. However, when another note is found saying, "I know where you are I'm watching you you tramp I'm coming after you", and phone calls from a strange man laughing in a creepy way. Gail decides to warn her principal, who informs her it could be the act of her current or former boyfriend, someone she's rejected or perhaps someone she's knows that's hanging around.
One day, Gail tries to tell her mother Anne about the stalking, but Anne is too busy to pay attention and blows Gail off. Therefore, Gail ditches school and heads to San Francisco to visit her father at work. There, she finds out her father has been fired. Back home, she confronts her mother with this, who demands her to keep silent so Neil will not feel ashamed. Gail realizes more serious matters are going on in her life and decides to no longer pay attention to the notes and phone calls. One day when she's late for class, there is another message sticking out of her locker. A black and white picture of herself that she took in photography class with the word "RAPE" all in red across her face.
One night, she is babysitting the children of Jessica Hirsch, who is dating Gail's teacher Chris Elden. She receives a phone call from her boyfriend Steve Pastorinis, and he asks if he can come over after work and spend time together. Gail, relieved, says yes, and he tells her he'll be there soon. The phone rings again, thinking it's Steve she answers, but it's the same stalker, laughing hysterically asking: Are you in the house alone? Afraid, Gail locks the door and windows all around the house.
Someone knocks on the front door. Excited to see Steve, Gail opens the door and sees it's Allison's boyfriend, Phil Lawver, who stopped by. Phil asks if Allison is around because she said she was going to come by, and Gail responds she isn't there. Phil then asks to use the phone to call Allison's house. Phil picks up the receiver and dials the number but then puts his finger on the receiving end to cancel the call, and then pretends to be on the phone with Allison's mother while pulling out a handkerchief wiping off the phone. Gail looks over and sees him wiping the phone and he looks back at her before dropping the phone on the ground.
He looks at her and says, "I really had you fooled didn't I?" Gail lets out a sigh of relief figuring he was pulling a prank on her. Phil continues saying, "Had you real scared". Gail, upset, replies "Phil, will you cut it out", showing fear. Phil then says in a raspy creepy voice "Are you in the house alone?". Phil then reveals that it wasn't a prank and that he's been stalking her, that he knows all about her, he knows what she likes, he's been watching her a long time, he's been real patient, that he's waited for her, and not to give him that "lily white virgin" stuff cause he knows she has nothing to lose. He then attacks her, forces her down on the ground and proceeds to rape her. He sits up sweaty, looks down at her beaten bloody body and runs out of the house.
Due to the trauma, Gail is hospitalized and at first refuses to say that Phil raped her, claiming it was all a blur, knowing she won't be believed, refusing to return to school. Another female officer comes in to ask if she can try to remember, and Gail continues to lie out of fear. The female officer leaves, but tells her that if she changes her mind, to call her at the station. She also mentions that if Gail doesn't give her a name, they have no case, and her attacker can do this to someone else. Fearing that some other girl might endure what she just went through, she tells the officer it was Phillip Lawver. Her father is outraged at Phil, but finds out they can not sue him because Phil's father is a close friend of the local judge. The fact Gail recently lost her virginity to Steve also plays a role.
Gail is eventually encouraged by her teacher Malevich not to be afraid any longer and she returns to school. There, she finds out another girl is receiving the same creepy notes. Determined to stop Phil, she attempts to catch him with her camera. Phil, however, is on to her and attempts to beat her up, but he is caught by Steve. In the end, Phil pleads guilty to assault but is not charged with rape. He has since disappeared, and one rumor has it he is in a boarding school in New Hampshire. | cult | train | wikipedia | Others though like the the made-for-TV slasher flick "Deadly Lessons" seem to be lost forever.The 70's TV movies were not necessarily good, but they were often pretty enjoyable in a cheesy way.
This movie actually kind of does tackle an issue (stalking and acquaintance rape), but it was really before it was an issue.
It also has some pretty effective suspense leading up to the rape (scary notes, creepy phone calls, "Halloween"-style POV camera shots ).
And instead of turning into a predictable courtroom drama after the rape, it ends on a rather ironic and somewhat cynical note.
Interestingly, the movie was based on a fairly well-known young adult novel of the same name by Richard Peck (whose other book "If You Don't Look, It won't Hurt" would later provide the inspiration for the theatrical art film "Gas, Food, Lodging).
This TV movie is surprisingly good about a girl being stalked at school.
I used to watch a lot of these movies as a kid and this one stands out as one of the best.
The best thing going for this rather routine TV movie melodrama is spirited performances by the young stars, including a very youthful Dennis Quaid in a part that would have gone to Bruce Dern 15 years before.
The movie is almost two separate movies in one, the first part leading up to the assault on the teenage female lead babysitter is a quasi-horror film not unlike the original When A Stranger Calls, which was released later.
There are various suspects who may be making the terrorizing phone calls and messages, and we are in the dark until the assault.
The adult leads are really unspectacular and mediocre at best, and Tony Bill displays good reasons as to why he left acting to be a producer/director.
The title is a bit misleading on this TV movie, in that we expected a horror film.
What we actually get is a reasonably decent high school bullying/stalking drama, with the long-haired Kathleen Beller as the victim.
The plot also deals with a rape that goes unpunished, truly edgy material for a 1970s family TV flick.
Beller plays a high school senior who starts getting nasty phone calls and notes from a stalker.
Blythe Danner plays her high-strung mom and Dennis Quaid is one of her fellow students.
Looks like it was filmed in a real high school, which helps.
Truth is, a little bit of Beller goes a long way.
A young high school student begins getting creepy phone calls which eventually leads to her being stalked in 'Are You in the House Alone?".
Gail Osborne is a sweet teenage girl who begins going out with classmate Steve.
Gail takes a babysitting job in town and that's when the stalker gets close and sadly Gail is raped by this person.
We know who did it, and the rest of the film shows Gail trying to prove this person did this to her.'Are You in the House Alone' is actually an important film for it's time as it tackles tough topics such a rape and women's rights.
It isn't so much a horror film (like the title might make it seem) as it is a suspense/mystery movie.
Once we find out the identity of the person, it's hard to watch Gail have to prove it to her closest friend and even the courts/police.
Some of the stalking scenes were REALLY well done, and add creepiness to the movie.The acting was very well done from Kathleen Beller, Scott Colomby, Robin Mattson and a young Dennis Quaid.
It drags on quite a bit, and focuses a lot of the time on Gail's family issues and her father who's been recently laid off of his job.
Good performances by her parents Blythe Danner and Tony Bill.
The opening where we see the aftermath of a high school girl beaten and raped, which really set the tone for what this movie is about and then it flashbacks to the previous events leading up to what happened.Like I said this movie is not a slasher but features several elements like the young girl getting strange phone calls, threatening notes and tense stalk scenes.
However the suspense here has a very realistic feel and you do feel the raw emotions that this character is going through especially when she sees her rapist getting ready to stalk his next victim and of course we do get a list of suspects and this movie doe's display that angle well and keep you guessing throughout.
While what happens is horrifying, there's not much in the way of true horror, but what we have is a pretty solid thriller with lots of build up and a great pay off thanks to its good pacing.The strongest thing about this movie is the acting which is top notch Kathleen Beller who plays the main character was very good and believable, her innocence and beauty makes you really root for her especially when she turns detective and eventually turns the tables on her attacker.
Plus we get a standout performance from a fresh faced Dennis Quaid and Scott Colomby as the boyfriend also really stood out, displaying great chemistry with Gail, in fact all of the cast had great chemistry with each other, even the parents were great.All in all "Are You in the House Alone" may seem a bit dated by today's standards, but still genially creepy and frightening realistic..
A typical TV thriller where a teenage girl named Gail is harassed by a stalker with threatening notes and phone calls.
This main plot point is distracted with the sappy subplot of Gail's dating life with her boyfriend, Steve.
Her complicated relationship with her parents (played by Blythe Danner and Tony Bill) is more interesting and I especially liked the performance of Blythe Danner in the mother role (including the part where she says she does not want her daughter to settle down at an early age, but to find herself first).
The plot's pacing, though, is very slow and takes a long time to gain any suspenseful traction.
I think my issue with this film is that I was expecting a very different movie, but I also think it makes sense to expect a different one.
It's called "Are You in the House Alone?" and is apparently about a babysitter being stalked by an unknown assailant, but that's really about 10 minutes of the running time.
Most of this film is a high school drama about this girl's teen angst and her current boyfriend ...
and she receives the odd anonymous note leading into the 10 minutes of not very effective horror.
The film tells us of the main event early on and then flashbacks to give us the lead up and aftermath.
Watching it I wasn't sure this was a good idea but it works astonishingly well with much tension and suspense.
Kathleen Beller is excellent as the wider eyed victim and a young Dennis Quad does well in one of his very first films..
(1978) ** (out of 4) Made for TV drama is actually disguised as a horror movie.
The film starts off as teenager Gail (Kathleen Beller) is being taken to the hospital after being beaten and raped.
We then flashback and see the events leading up to the rape, which include her dating a new guy, being made fun of by her old boyfriend and having several other men set themselves up as red herrings.
The first hour builds itself up as a horror movie in the same vein as BLACK Christmas but things take a turn in the final act when the rape happens and I must admit that the movie got rather disgusting to me.
This was made for TV so everything is very tame but at the same time I thought the rape stuff was very poorly handled and in the end it come off more distasteful than anything else.
Beller does a pretty good job in her role, although she does go over the top from time to time.
This film actually goes to the way of rape instead of murder but the idea of a young babysitting getting calls from a stranger over and over is the same.A young Dennis Quaid is really good in this one - he plays the bad guy Phil Lawver.
Kathleen Beller plays the young, scared babysitter Gail Osborne quite well.
The rest of the cast is really good.Some of the first part is boring - a drawn out family drama.
Not Horror, But Alright For What It Is. A teenage girl is plagued by harassing phone calls.
It is more a "crime drama" or some such thing.That being said, it is not a bad movie if you go in under proper expectations.
A young Dennis Quaid gives a powerful performance, Blythe Danner does her part, and the rest of the cast is quite good.
The story is fairly tight in its script.For horror fans, what may be worth pointing out is that this film actually predates "When a Stranger Calls" by a year.
Although the calls in this film are not coming from inside the house, there is a similar feeling and possibly a connection (though it could just be coincidence)..
Are you sure you want to watch this movie?.
With such a title, film poster and plot synopsis like these, I was expecting a horror/thriller but there isn't a single casualty.
I'll be the first to admit there are a few suspenseful moments and, more importantly, the film features many eerie trademarks that later would be copied & pasted in countless of other (and real) slasher movies like menacing phone calls, stalkers' notes and POV camera shots.
The real story is about the - incredibly cute - teenage girl Gail Osborne of whom we learn at the very beginning of the film that she was raped in her own living room.
She finds disturbing little notes in her school's locker and at home she receives nasty phone calls with uncomfortable silences, creepy laughter and eventually the titular question.
For some bizarre reason, there's also a totally irrelevant and dull sub-plot about Gail's father having lost his job and both her parents concealing this for their almost adult daughter.
The final act, taking place after the rape, is reasonably interesting but, again, it's drama instead of thrills.
Kathleen Beller is an indescribably beautiful lead girl in peril, but if you want to see a truly tense film dealing with similar themes I advise you to check out either "Black Christmas" (1974) or "When a Stranger Calls" (1979).
Distributor: GOODTIMES home video Plot: A pretty high school student is marked for unrelenting terror in this suspense filled made for TV movie.
After more and more phone calls, she is raped.
throughout most of the movie, she tries to find proof that the person did rape her.Audio/Video: This 1987 VHS edition from Goodtimes stinks.
There are constant lines at the bottom and top of the screen.Extras: No extras from Goodtimes home video.Final thoughts: This suspense filled made for TV movie was made in 1978, so don't expect many deaths (there are none).
This can be a little boring, but if you are patient, the ending is pretty good..
There is a lot to like in this film, despite its humble trappings of a preachy PC tale about rape and the perp always faring better than the victim.
The movie did create a fair bit of suspense in the mystery surrounding who was sending the notes.
Like all preachy films the plot lasts 15 minutes past the climax so you might want to quit watching at that point.
A must for Beller fans and highly recommended for fans of 70s High School melodrama or 70s kitsch in general..
this film is a good film about Gail Osborne a girl who is raped at a house she is babysitting multiple flashbacks tell how she was stalked at school AND at her house AND while babysitting this inspired Halloween oh and when a stranger calls by the why hysteria lives should not assume this came first some people wished there was a body count but this is lucky this isn't a mindless gore flick Gail Osborne is a likable character and though there isn't a body count she belongs in the line of all those final girls this good movie that came before and possibly inspired movies of equal quality .
further more this is not boring hysteria lives which is usually a very right site very good film.
Sweet and beautiful high school student Gail Osborne (a solid and personable performance by the fetching Kathleen Beller) finds herself being terrorized by a persistent stalker.
Director Walter Grauman, working from a compact and compelling script by Judith Parker, relates the absorbing story at a steady pace, builds a good deal of suspense, and grounds the premise in a believable everyday working class reality.
Moreover, Grauman and Parker not only do a nice job of credibly showing how being the unwilling recipient of a stalker's attention can make one edgy and unsettled, but also tackle the relevant topics of rape and stalking in a tasteful and provocative manner.
The sound acting by a fine cast helps a lot: Blythe Danner as Gail's preoccupied mother Anne, Dennis Quaid as smug and cocky rich jerk Phil Lawver, Tony Bill as Gail's earnest, but ineffectual father Neil, Robin Mattson as Gail's perky gal pal Allison Bremer, Tricia O'Neil as sensible lawyer Jessica Hirsch, Alan Fudge as creepy photography teacher Chris Elden, and Scott Colomby as amiable nice guy Steve Pastorinis.
Thought it was going to be a creepy 70's horror but this was not a horror film at all.
However, I could only bear 20 minutes before giving up because of the terrible acting, the lack of anything happening and the really, really slow pacing.Every scene dragged.All the characters were dull.
In "Are You in the House Alone?!," teenager Gail (Kathleen Beller) begins receiving threatening phone calls and notes.
Who is stalking her and why?I can't begin to tell you how tedious and slow "Are You in the House Alone?!" gets towards the end.
Early appearances by Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents") and Dennis Quaid ("Frequency") makes this a little easier to sit through..
It has all the trappings of a bad movie about high school students, their loves, intrigues, and murders, but it's a little better than that.
Poor Kathleen Beller, a pretty student at Oldfield High, starts getting mysterious notes saying things like, "I'm watching you." If that weren't unnerving enough, the phone calls begin.
It all finally ends in her being raped, rather decorously.
It essentially a drawn-out story of Beller and the conundrums she faces regarding sex, family disputes, the threatening phone calls, her talent at photography, and whatnot.A lot depends on Beller.
He was to improve mightily over the next few years.I don't know that the film deserves too much acting talent.
The device was much less offensive in "Rear Window." Final cliché: After the rape, Beller wakes up in the hospital, bruised and deflowered, surrounded by loving family, doctors, and police.
I'll skip the legal improbabilities that follow.I'm being kind of harsh on the movie not because it's so terrible but because with a little imagination and talent it could have been better than it is.
Much is made of Dad's being laid off and hiding it from Beller to "protect her." Mom, with her part-time job showing houses, is holding everything together.
But the movie has little sympathy for the parents.
Instead, as Beller finally tells them, they should stop treating her like a baby.Nice photography in joyous color.
***SPOILERS*** The both buxom-34 C bra size-as well as cute as a Barbi Doll Kathleen Beller is high school student Gail Osborne who at the beginning of the movie is rushed to the hospital after being raped while she was babysitting for a neighbor's child.
The film then goes on to show in a number of flashbacks the hell Gail was going through in and out of school with and admirer-or better yet creep-from afar stalking and phoning her as well as leaving crazy and threatening messages that drove her almost to the point of a nervous breakdown.This all began when Gail started dating Steve Pastorinis, Scott Colomby, that seemed to have set off the person who feeling rejected started putting the squeeze on Gail with a number of obscene phone calls as well as letters or notes stuck on her high school locker.Trying to get support from her friends and parents they in fact told her to just forget about it and go on with her life.
Things got even more worse for Gail when she found out that her dad big time architect Neil Osborne, Tony Bill, got laid off from his job forcing her mom Anne, Blythe Danner, to were the pants , by getting a job as a real estate broker, in the family which is why her parents took her being harassed so lightly.****SPOILERS**** It's later that Gail together with her boyfriend Steve took matters into their own hands by setting up a trap for the person who's stalking as well as raped, he still didn't learn his lesson, her to get caught red handed when this time around, when caught with his pants down, tried to murder her.
The ending was anything but satisfying for Gail in that her rapist using an insanity defense almost got away all Scott free to commit rape again but only being expelled or forced to leave school due to his parents money and political clout in town.
But the good point in all this is wherever he goes to school and collage if anyone is raped he'll be the #1 suspect and, if in fact he did it, not be able to get away with it as easily as he did with Gail Osborne. |
tt2314886 | Breakout | Harris Wagner (Huston) frames Jay Wagner (Duvall). In order to keep him silent, Jay is incarcerated in a Mexican prison.
Jay's wife Ann (Ireland) is unhappy at this turn of events and hires a Texas bush pilot in Brownsville, Texas, Nick Colton (Bronson) and his partner Hawk (Quaid), to fly into the prison and rescue her husband.
The first attempts don't work, so Colton quickly learns how to pilot a helicopter.
While Hawk and accomplice Myrna (North) feign a rape to distract the prison guards, Colton pilots a helicopter into the prison complex, Wagner boards the helicopter, and they escape. The group (Colton, Hawk, Myrna, Wagner) return to Texas in a four-passenger light aircraft.
Alerted to the escape, Harris Wagner orders his agent Cable (Mantee) to Texas to intercept the group. Cable, driving a Citroën SM with Washington, D.C. license plates, locates Ann Wagner and follows her Chevrolet Impala convertible, knowing she will lead him to Jay Wagner.
Cable uses false identification to lure Jay Wagner away from the group when they land. Cable nearly succeeds in kidnapping Wagner, but Colton becomes suspicious and pursues them. The film ends with a runway incursion as Cable and Colton fight among departing airplanes at Brownsville Airport. | murder | train | wikipedia | The bad guy is the worst shot on the planet.
And the good guy kept shooting at a distant target with a sawed off shotgun.
The topper was when the good guy fights with the bad guy and does not take his rifle from him and then runs away to continue the chase.
I think if the people responsible for this movie every want to work again they are going to have to change their names..
Plot - weak, poorly planned, full of holes and questions, and well, kinda dumb.Acting - Not one of Dominic Purcell's best moments.
Brendan Frasier is just a poor actor to begin with so casting him in an action/thriller is a recipe for a lot of good jokes and unbelievable acting.
Its nice to find a movie that does not have sex and nudity in it.
So if you are looking for a good clean suspense-thriller movie, I would recommend watching this one.
Just finished watching this movie.
The few written reviews this movie has received so far are a little on the harsh side.
The idea behind this movie is solid enough the acting was a bit weak even for a big star like Brandon.
I would say the best acting was from Dominic Purcell who is best known for his role in Prison Break.I rated this movie an 5 out of a possible 10.
I think the storyline of the movie was decent, but there were so many mistakes it's impossible to list them all.
There are also LOTS of missed opportunities - one being that the good guy leaves a rifle with the bad guy after fighting with him.
Just don't watch it if you're one to really pick movies apart.
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
A movie where the good guys let the bad guys keep the guns while they run away..
What we have here - loosely - is 'Die Hard in the woods.' The former 'George of the Jungle' (aka Mr Fraser) has only gone and got himself locked up for protecting trees (perhaps he should have lived on Pandora?) and thus has found himself separated from his (not so loving) family.
Cue Brendan Fraser deciding that that was the time he better break out of prison and save them.
Because - and let's face it - no one knows those woods better than an eco-activist who's dedicated his life to protecting them.So, if you think that sounds any way enjoyable or believable, go ahead and watch it.
I'm all far 'suspending your disbelief' while watching a film, but this is taking it too far.If you like the idea of 'Die Hard in the woods' try a little-known film called 'Predator.' It was kind of cool.
As they said in the movie, RUN!!!
There was no connection from the flashback introduction to the main story, chasing kids in the woods, running in circles (really they seemed to run in circles for 3 days) to try to get away and too many holes to fill in the movie.
(why were the 2 brothers running to Canada?)All in all, this movie falls into the category of "2 hours I'll never get back again.".
STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday MorningJack (Brendan Fraser) was imprisoned after accidentally killing someone during an environmental protest.
He now has his ex wife as his attorney, and is on the verge of securing his release, only to find himself working outside jail when his own kids find themselves hunted by Tony Baxter (Dominic Purcell) after witnessing him commit murder.This DVD offering has the right ingredients in place, in regards it's eerie atmosphere and setting, as well as a villain in the shape of Purcell, who has an undeniable presence in these roles that you just wish would be exploited in something better.
Review: I really got what I expected with this movie.
I really didn't understand how Brendan Fraser was able to find his kids in the woods so easy, when the baddies couldn't find them anywhere.
Anyway, you do end up sticking with the movie to see how the whole running in the woods thing pans out, but the acting was pretty terrible and the storyline really needed some thought.
Disappointing!Round-Up: Brendan Fraser has just gone from bad to really bad in my estimation with this movie.
The film looks and feels like it's made for TV and any idiot could have played Brendan's role.
I recommend this movie to people who are into there drama/thrillers about a father and his kids trying to escape killers in the woods.
The bad guys scoped high powered rifle was not to be believed!
This movie was excruciating to watch.
Having paid nearly £5 to watch it on Sky Box Office last night, based purely on the synopsis which sounded amazing, I was dismayed at the shockingly poor standard of acting, weak bordering on pointless plot-line and low level camera work throughout.
I expected marquee actors like Brendan Fraser and Dominic Purcell to bring substance and weight to the picture but their performances were as wooden and amateurish as the rest of the cast.
Had I not paid money, I would have dismissed this movie within a minute when a glimpse of the poorness to follow was highlighted by Fraser.
Please don't waste 90 minutes of your life watching this film, it's truly not worth it..
I want that two hours of my life back.The characters were so hollow and stupid that you just want the bad guys to get them.
The environmental line was bullshit and none of the plot hangs together at all.In fact,easily one of the worst movies ever made..
The environmentalist Jack Damson (Brendan Fraser) accidentally kills a man during a protest in the woods and is imprisoned.
Years later, his former wife and lawyer Maria (Amy Price-Francis) now is living with their daughter Jenny (Holly Deveaux) and their son Mikey (Christian Martyn) with Jack's friend Chuck (Daniel Kash).
Meanwhile the psychopath Tommy Baxter (Dominic Purcell) travels with his retarded brother Kenny (Ethan Suplee) to a cabin in the same forest and Tommy kills the owner.
However Jenny and Mikey witness the murder and Tommy hunts them.
Will Jack succeed in his intent?"Breakout" is an awful thriller with a lame and stupid story full of clichés and terrible screenplay.
For example: (a) Jenny and Mikey sleep in the woods like angels while the psychopath is chasing them.
(c) Jack easily finds Chuck and instead of the wounded guy drives his car out of the forest to call the police, he walks with Jack without a gun and slowing down his friend.
(d) Jack easily finds his kids since he knows the forest, but he never brings them back to Maria's car.
(e) Tommy misses all his shots except the one that kills the ranger.
(f) Jack stabs Tommy on his hand but he never throws away the rifle in the river or brings the weapon with him.
In this movie, when the good guy knocks down the opponent, he runs without doing any of the above.(3) if you have a rifle with a scope, you hide, take good aim and snipe at your opponent.
In this movie, the guy with the rifle stands in the open, shoots without aiming and misses.(4) if someone with a scoped rifle is hunting you, you try to stay hidden.
In this movie, the good guys hop into a canoe, paddle in the river with clear view from surrounding areas and make themselves easy targets.A bad movie is one thing, a movie made to insult my intelligence deserves a low rating..
I watched about 40 minutes before I realised how junk the play off of this film was going to be...After the basic character build (which was decent) the film just descended to a big clichéd mess.
*Semi Spoiler* "Watch out for the river current" because any simple knowledge of water seems to go a miss with the kids and surely enough as I skip through the film, hey look!
/SpoilerThis film is an absolute joke, after watching many 'manufactured' films (Production companies pumping budgets into making any old crap in the hopes of making a profit in the opening weekend before everyone relays how bad it is...) this is the one that has finally got me to sign up for an IMDb account to write reviews to throw down the bad and praise the good.The film industry has become very competitive and Breakout(2013) just isn't up to par at all....
While this movie was tense at times, it was so lacking in detail accuracy that it distracted you from the rest of the story.
The one bright spot was the bad guy's friend/brother, who seemed to be sharper/tougher than anyone else in the movie.
Awful plot, Stupid Characters.
Awful movie that seemed more like a propaganda film.
Evnironmentalist - Good Guy. Guy from South and believes in God - Bad Guy. The writer can't develop proper characters so he just repeats awful stereotypes of people from the South.
I guess the "Good" environmentalist just can't bring himself to kill to save his and his children's lives.
I have rented several movies with well known actors that have turned out to be dogs.
You business is getting the reputation for being a repository of dumb movies..
I too have to state my disappointment with this movie, a couple of things that had us yelling at the screen and there were lots i.e the kids after escaping might have gone back to their camp, the bad guy didn't go to the camp either, even though he knew there was one!!they all seem to be running around in circles, Brendon said he could track, yea right.
after seeing Brendon appearance for the second time and each time after that my family would all call out "Run" cause that's what he was yelling out, won't mention the rifle thing, except the bad guy did use the scope to sight his quarry but not when shooting it, may be a sporting chance.
BREAKOUT is a lacklustre and low budget B-movie action thriller from Canada.
A couple of kids vacationing in the wood accidentally witness a murder so the bad guys come hunting for them.
Dominic Purcell plays the main antagonist of the film and is on autopilot for the most part while the victimised kids remain resolutely unsympathetic.
Perhaps worst of all is the film's protagonist Brendan Fraser, who breaks out of prison in poorly-contrived scenario and becomes one of the unlikeliest action heroes you'll ever see.
None of this is remotely convincing with the director coming off as the worst of the bunch as it feels like he has no conviction in his own story..
Jack (Brendan Fraser) is a tree hugger who gets himself landed in jail.
While Jack is in jail, his family (minus his separated wife/lawyer Lara Daans) are out camping when they run into a Steinbeck novel and become hunted.
The main interest of the film becomes Kenny (Ethan Suplee).
He believes Jack's wife, who he talks to by cell phone, is his own mother.
Apparently Canadian films has solved the problem of cell phone reception in remote areas.The cat and mouse chase in the woods seemed secondary to the film which was pushing the theme of Jack reconciling his actions with his daughter.
Tommy Baxter misses 8 shots at 80m with a 40x scoped rifle.
He would have to be the worst shot in movie outdoor history LMAO At that range anyone half competent would be deciding between a head or body shotPleeease - stop the rubbish 😂.
Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe" director Damien Lee's adventurous epic "Breakout," starring Brendan Fraser, Dominic Purcell, and Ethan Suplee, amounts to a contrived outdoors thriller about a prison inmate who escapes from jail to track down the murderer responsible for terrorizing his family in the woods.
Everything gets off to a bad start when our tree-hugging, conservationist hero, Jack Damson (Brendan Fraser of "The Mummy"), promises his young daughter, Jen (Holly Deveaux of "Mutant World"), that he will protect the welfare of trees.
While all this convoluted nonsense is occurring to Jack and his family, two brother are trying to leave the country.
Tommy Baxter (Dominic Purcell of "Prison Break") is driving his mentally defective brother Kenny (Ethan Suplee of "American History X") to Canada.
Tommy kills the owner with a high-powered rifle equipped with a telescopic sniper scope.
Jen and Jack's son Mikey (Christian Martyn) are canoeing in the river when Tommy shoots the home owner.
The man who took Jen and Mikey out to a weekend in the woods, Chuck (Daniel Kash of "Aliens"), was one of the protesters who worked alongside Jack.
Chuck gets the children to flee into the woods before Tommy can kill them.
Tommy beats up Chuck and threatens to kill him unless he calls for Jen and Mikey to come to him.
The two struggled in unarmed, close-quarters combat, and Kenny kills Chuck.Maria has agreed to help Jack during her latest prison visit to leave a car in the woods.
Ironically, it seems that Jack is out in the open on a prison detail to clear up overgrown areas in the forest.
Jack stashes his chainsaw so that it appears that he is operating it and takes off into the woods.
Nevertheless, Tommy refuses to give up his pursuit of the family that he has vowed to kill.
Miraculously, Kenny shows up and shields the kids from Tommy.
Tommy shoots Kenny.
Dominic Purcell plays a thick-skulled idiot out to protect his brother.
Now all that is left to do is to fill all other spaces with running around the forest a lot and utter the word 'run' a lot and there you have it.Plenty of TV programs and films appear full of guns with endless ammo and bad guys that couldn't hit a barn door from two paces.
Well, I am sure that "Breakout" was meant with the best of intentions, however, director Damian Lee just made some really bad choices along the way.This movie was sort of a very light version of "Deliverance", except it was nowhere as interesting, captivating or thrilling as that classic movie.The story is about Jack (played by Brendan Fraser) who is prisoned for being an environmentalist, and his children (played by Holly Deveaux and Christian Martyn) and friend (played by Daniel Kash) get trapped in the Canadian wilderness where they witness a man being killed.
The killer Tommy (played by Dominic Purcell) and his brother Kenny (played by Ethan Suplee) hunt down the witnesses, as to erase all trace of their crime.
Luckily, the imprisoned environmentalist bust out of prison work in the forest in order to help his endangered kids.Storywise, then "Breakout" is actually alright, if it wasn't for some really, really awful moments throughout the course of the movie.
I am talking about the fight scene of course, where Jack just runs off after having grounded Tommy and leaves the rifle behind for the deranged killer to pick up.
He most definitely have studied at that 'bad guy academy' where all villains and goons learn not to hit whatever they are firing their weapons at.
There was a scope on the rifle, and it wasn't even put to use.As for the people on the cast list, well they were doing good enough jobs with the limitations they were imposed through the script.
It was a bit strange to see Brendan Fraser out of his ordinary comedy element, but he pulled it off well enough, not great mind you, but passable for entertainment."Breakout" is the type of movie that you know exactly how it will turn out and you are always one step ahead of the story, because it is just that predictable and that much slave to the step-by-step 'how to make a Deliverance spin off movie' handbook.As for the title of the movie, well it could have been better picked, perhaps at something that actually had more to do with the movie than the "Breakout" title actually did.But still, "Breakout" passes as good enough, albeit mindless, entertainment and is good enough for a single watching.
Brandon Fraser plays a likable character.
While he is in prison, his children, a 16 year old girl and 13 year old boy, go camping along a river with a friend of the family.
The paths of an evil guy and his mentally challenged brother intersect with Fraser's children during the camping trip, leading to the dreaded chase you have seen 100 times before.
There are severally shoot-outs between Fraser and the evil guy.
Boy, these guys are bad shots!
Although the plot manipulates you into feeling sorrow for him, and pride in his final actions, it apparently forgets the cruelty he exhibits to another character mid-way through the movie.
The likability of Fraser's character erodes as the movie progresses.
The set-up leading to Fraser's character getting into the chase was implausible.
This movie could have been so much better. |
tt0479537 | Seraphim Falls | In 1868, within the Ruby Mountains, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) roasts hare over an open fire. Suddenly, gunshots ring out with one striking his left arm. He grabs what he can and races down the mountain. His attackers emerge from their cover to inspect his campsite. Colonel Morsman Carver (Liam Neeson), a former Confederate officer, is accompanied by Pope (Robert Baker), Hayes (Michael Wincott), Parsons (Ed Lauter) and the Kid (John Robinson); who are all engaged in a bounty operation to apprehend him.
After removing the bullet from his arm with his hunting knife at a secluded locale, Gideon leaves an open fire burning, which attracts the posse. He ends up killing Pope with his knife and then ventures out again into the wilderness. He attempts to steal a horse, but is caught by a young woman named Charlotte (Shannon Zeller) who helps him after she realizes he is injured. She redresses his wound and her family lets him sleep overnight in their farmhouse. He later offers to buy their horse and leaves before daybreak. As the group of men approach Gideon's trail, he lays an ambush using a bear trap which impales the Kid, who is then shot by Carver as an act of mercy. Later, Parsons decides to leave the other men following the discovery of a dead bank robber (James Jordan), whom Gideon had killed earlier in an act of self-defense and whose bounty money exceeds Gideon's. As Parsons is preparing to load the dead body to take to Carson City for the reward money, Carver shoots the horse - which he declares is his, leaving Parsons to walk the 30 miles back to town carrying the body.
Encountering a railroad under construction, Gideon hitches his horse and steals some food. The foreman recognizes the stolen horse and detains Gideon. Carver and his remaining man, Hayes, come upon the railroad site and search for Gideon. Meanwhile, Gideon escapes from custody and makes off with another horse. As Carver and Hayes draw closer, Gideon's horse can no longer take the strain of the heat and collapses. Gideon euthanizes the horse with his knife. When Carver and Hayes finally reach the horse's carcass, Hayes dismounts and marvels at what type of an animal would disembowel the creature. Suddenly, Gideon leaps out from the horse's belly, where he had been hiding, and grabs Hayes threatening to kill him if Carver doesn't give up his gun. Carver instead shoots Hayes with his last bullet. Confronting each other, Carver and Gideon recall the events that put them at odds. After the end of the American Civil War, Gideon was ordered to track down former Confederate officers. When he arrived at Carver's home in Seraphim Falls to interrogate him, Carver was out in a nearby field. To coerce Carver's wife (Angie Harmon) into revealing his whereabouts, and believing that their house was empty, Gideon ordered their barn to be set on fire. The blaze quickly spread to the house, as Carver returned from the cropland. While the soldiers restrained him, his wife and son ran inside the house to save their infant child who was still in a bedroom. Both men look on with horror at the unfolding tragedy; trapped by the flames, Carver's wife and children perish. Gideon, racked with guilt over the tragedy, is seen dropping his gunbelt and walking away from his men.
The two men fight, Gideon eventually getting the better of Carver. He points Carver in the direction of a town and tells him that he will get nothing but torment if he continues his pursuit. Gideon takes the horses ridden by Carver and Hayes and sets off deeper into the countryside. When Carver later catches up with Gideon, both men are on the brink of exhaustion. They confront each other again with their pistols. Gideon shoots Carver in the side but, instead of finishing him off, he offers himself to Carver. Carver decides not to shoot him and throws his pistol aside. Gideon helps Carver to his feet and the two men walk into the distance away from one another. In a final scene, Gideon takes his knife, which he has used throughout the film, and throws it into the ground.
Notable similarities have been found between the film and the 1976 revisionist western, The Outlaw Josey Wales directed by Clint Eastwood. | murder, cult, violence, flashback, psychedelic, revenge | train | wikipedia | The tragedy is that it's going to be picked up primarily by fans of westerns, who are looking for shootouts and plots that can be boiled down to "good guys" and "bad guys." Do not go into this movie expecting that.This is ultimately a revenge story, but not a straightforward or clean-cut one; in this way I would compare it to "Memento" and "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada".It's not clear who we're "supposed" to sympathize with at the beginning.
Not something that your average Western viewer is likely to accept or appreciate.Viewers will come to this film expecting a completely realist story; and that's what they seem to be getting at the beginning of the movie.
The viewer is not prepared for this realism to slowly and obscurely fall apart - and while that may be the reason that the film creates such a powerful and somehow creepy experience by the end, the same factor is likely to leave most viewers feeling robbed.Ultimately this film is definitely worth watching, but may not have enduring appeal to lovers of the traditional Western genre.
Thank goodness there are still directors that believe in having movies being filmed this way!While the story grabs your attention from the very beginning and moves quickly, it takes its time in revealing who the characters are, and what are their motivations and the demons they are dealing with.If you watch this with a preconceived notion of what a western should be, a la John Ford, Howard Hawks, etc.
The plot is little more than a straightforward revenge tale involving Liam Neeson (sans Southern accent) as a sadistic Rebel army colonel who hires a posse to track down the marauding Union officer he believes slaughtered his family in the days following the Civil War. The officer, played with steely-eyed determination by Pierce Brosnan, is a savvy, quick-on-the-draw survivalist who, through sheer ingenuity and skill, stymies and outwits the colonel and his men at every turn.What "Seraphim Falls" lacks in substance, it more than makes up for in grit and style.
For even though there isn't a great deal of depth to the characters, there's much pleasure to be derived from merely watching two actors of the caliber of Neeson and Brosnan squaring off in a grueling game of cat-and-mouse played out in a punishing, unforgiving landscape.
There is very little story to relate: Carver (Liam Neeson) with a small posse of bounty hunters (Michael Wincott, Ed Lauter, John Robinson and Robert Baker) treks Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) through snow, forests, mountains, rough water, and desert over a Civil Ear seed of hate.
The 'story' fades to a philosophical stance (somewhat clumsily) by the intervention of some ghostly creatures (Anjelica Huston, et al) and ends without much more than a whisper of a memory about the futility of revenge.Bronson and Neeson do well with their scant dialogue, revealing more of their character's minds with physical action and the power of facial expressions.
Liam Neeson as Carver is hunting Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) through the wilderness of the old west, in this minimalistic western that takes place a little after the Civil War. Very well acted by all involved, and I found myself enjoying it quite a lot.
At 2 hours, the film hardly feels it and is seems like a fast watch, never wearing out it's welcome (although coming close to it around the end due to the cameos of Angela Huston and Wes Studi, both parts felt forced and didn't jibe with the film in any way) Aside from that, if you're a fan of the Western genre, you'll find much to enjoy in this one.
A film of epic dimensions magnificently filmed in the grand Western tradition, Seraphim Falls combines breathtaking action with fine acting by Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson.
With this film you have to take your hat of for Mr. Brosnan he is great in his acting, This is a movie that will remain as one of the greatest western films of all times and some sequences of this film will be remembered for ever I will not tell anything but if you see it(and you must) you will remember this.It is beautifully shot and has a solid script, great action and deep emotions mixed along the way.
If you like western you will not be disappointed.When you watch Seraphim Falls you will have your emotions mixed as the movie develops and when the fantastic finale arrives you will be even more pleased.
David Von Ancken's Seraphim Falls is Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan at their grizzled, violent, moody best, in a phenomenal western that went inexplicably overlooked back in 2006.
Seraphim Falls casts two actor whom you would not associate with the western genre as a couple of bitter enemies from the Civil War. I'm convinced that Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan did Seraphim Falls so they could say they've got a western in their credit lists.
Let's just say he's had some brutality inflicted on him in General Sherman's particular brand of war on the south in the person of Brosnan when he was in uniform.Though Angelica Huston as a medicine show lady and Wes Studi as a philosophical Indian have some interesting roles, Seraphim Falls is a film that belongs to its well matched leads.
And then it goes all siddhartha in the end.I'm open to new ways of using the western formate, I love a movie that surprises me and makes me think.
Well, because besides being a bit of a western, with rugged men toting guns on horseback, and a bit of a drama, with sad faced innocents, glimpses of lost love, and lots of deaths, "Seraphim Falls" plunges along into a great chase story without ever revealing who the bad guy is.
Neeson brilliantly played such a man - a man who would trade his last drink of water for a gun with one bullet as he crossed a desert in search of Pierce Brosnan, the bad guy, who really wasn't.Brosnan, who out-Ramboed John Rambo as he treated his own wound early in the film, gave a really cool performance as the man who just couldn't understand why Neeson couldn't let go.Writer/Director David Von Ancken did a credible job with a story that plays well for all of us.Oscar-winning Cinematographer John Toll (Braveheart, Legends of the Fall) gave us breathtaking scenes in Oregon and New Mexico to take away with us..
I've seen Seraphim Falls last night and I really like it.Its very underrated and Pierce performance is superb ,I can't believe one day I will see him in a western and he nail the part so perfect.The casting of this film with Brosnan and Neeson (two Irish legend) really blow me away,its the best casting of the year,the photography is another plus point for the film.But sadly not many people embrace this film,the marketing push for the film by the distributor is very poor.The filmmaker made a western that pay homage to classic cowboy film from the 50s and if this film was made during that time it would have been hail as one of the finest western ever.Hope when it get released thru DVD it will get a larger audience.I predict Seraphim Falls will be a cult classic within 10 yrs from now..
This hunting of Pierce Brosnan's "Gideon," by Liam Neeson's ("Carver") and his help, most notably Michael Wincott as "Hayes" is the whole story.
Anjelica Huston gets good billing on the back of the DVD box, but doesn't show up on screen until after an hour-and-half, and then plays a small and sleazy role similar to all the men in the picture.Not recommended for western fans who like good guys versus bad guys, because there are no good guys in this film..
You never doubt the motives of the characters or fail to understand what they are thinking and feeling.The scenery is fantastic, the contrast of the snowbound environment at the films outset, through to the arid desert settings of the finale, the irony of the initial danger of water and then the necessity of it at the end, is a real strength of the picture.If you enjoy Westerns, chase movies, people in life or death survival situations and well filmed and acted pictures, i highly recommend this one..
One of the first scenes in the movie involves Pierce Brosnan falling down a very mountainous, steep snowbank for several minutes before coming to rest, then soon after he drops a knife from a branch near the top of a tree, impaling one of Liam's henchman through the head...
Seraphim Falls is a chase film, but it's filmed with beauty and precision in New Mexico, and thought the plot is equally simple, the character development and the allegorical overlay makes it, if perhaps a little long, a compelling old fashioned Western.Neeson and Brosnan, both Irish, play Civil War officers with bad blood between them, the reasons for which slowly unfold as one stalks the other--on the way, they encounter a railway being built, a religious cult plopped down in the desert, a lone native American in a top hat by an oasis--in other words, enough variety to keep the chase fascinating--and the music drives the plot along nicely, the grand sweep of the photography from mountain ranges to cracked desert floors a trip in itself.
But the idea behind Seraphim Falls, I can image, sort of falls half way between a traditional Spaghetti Western in the sense it takes place in a vast and open world in which different, shady characters get involved with one another and it's hard to tell apart a good guy to a bad guy and a more artistic, slower film that utilises a simple concept of chase but puts its characters in a location in which there are many places to run but few to hide.Make no mistake, I am impressed with director Von Ancken's ability to come up with a basic story but transform it from script to screen; often the best stories that are going to be told with an artistic approach are the most simplistic ones.
It is true to say that the only real characters in this film are the two leads; Carver (Neeson) and Gideon (Brosnan) with the rest being relegated to names and faces of people who are either: a; in Carver's gang and represent a sort of sacrifice if the audience get a little bloodthirsty, b; passers by of Gideon's journey who might also act as ammunition for the bloodthirsty audience or c; nameless and faceless people there to stall Gideon as he gets lost in a sea of people (the railroad construction is this segment).
"Seraphim Falls" makes the most of its spare 20-minute opening, little more than an excuse to see Pierce Brosnan desperately fleeing Liam Neeson's nearing posse (honestly, the guy gets punished in all manner of ways, gunshot, wilderness, what-have-you).
Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan play pursuer and the pursued in this intelligent, beautifully filmed, and provocative Western / revenge saga.
: ) The only other thing that I want to add is that this is an EXTREMELY Existentialist film (well, technically until the odd couple of encounters toward the end which will likely turn off the Western 'Realists' that ol' IQ is talking about) As he also said, this is not your usual by the numbers, Good Guys / Bad Guys kind of film.
In one way it is REALLY stripped down to very RAW, primitive elements; but, on the other hand there is a very low-key, sort of subtle underlying almost metaphysical feel to it, ESPECIALLY at the end.So, as IQ said about 'Misdirected'; I wouldn't really quite use that word, since I do not feel that the film itself is misdirected, but I would say that people who go to watch this movie can VERY easily and mistakenly be misdirected into thinking or erroneously jumping to the conclusion that it is overly simple and / or boring with nothing much to it.So, in a unique way it is sort of a 'Thinking Man's' Western, but only in a deep down, almost vague kind of way.
The 'Thinking' part isn't based upon any obvious 'Cleverness', but more in a 'Pondering' kind of way well after you have finished watching the movie.Heh, truly a hard one to put across to others as to whether they would want to watch it or not, but like IQ stated far more eloquently than I could, if you consider what kind of Western it is that you enjoy, you should be able to make a decent guess as to whether you would like this film....
The landscapes look and feel beautiful and the characters all have that weathered look, particularly Pierce Brosnan who's almost unrecognisable in the leading role.It kicks off with action at the outset and remains a chase film throughout.
I rented this movie because my husband adores westerns and I adore Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, well most of the time; but definitely not this time.
The last of the sidekicks, in a very good performance by Michael Wincott, get taken out by the ugly face the revenge at a hands grasp.We can see two great actors – Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson, portraying two soldiers, hardened by war and hardship, making their way into an ending which turns out to be a little weak, where we can see that the men aren't so hardened.
I think so ..., in a little twisted and just way.It's a very good movie with great landscapes and very worthwhile example of the long lost western..
Seraphim Falls was the third Western of that year and whilst it was not as good as the first two films, it was a very bold and solid debut by David Von Ancken.In 1868, a nameless outlaw (Pierce Bronson) is living a very rustic live in the Ruby Mountains in Utah when he is hunted down by a group of bounty hunter lead by Carver (Liam Neeson).
Seraphim Falls can truly be called an old style western; it doesn't deliver a whole lot of dialogue but the scenery and firm story make you forget about that.When you watch this film think not about watching some big shoot'em up, but about watching a film that makes you think if you don't look for forgiveness you may never find redemption, if you don't go back to face what you have done instead of running away you will at least know you stuck it out and saw it trough to the end.That's what this movie is trying to put across and if you stop and think long and hard about it you will see it too, this may see o you like a revenge movie but it's actually a story of redemption and forgiveness.
If you are looking for a Liam Neeson or Pierce Brosnan film, watch it, if you seek for a good western and non cliché movie, do not waste your time.
(Director Van Ancken isn't afraid to borrow from a whole host of sources yet giving the film it's own very distinctive stamp).Fundamentally a chase movie as Neeson and his men hunt down Brosnan for an act of violence that occurred just as the Civil War was ending, (they were on opposite sides), the 'plot', such as it is, becomes secondary to the look and texture of the film.
SERAPHIM FALLS (2007) *** Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Angie Harmon, Anjelica Huston, Ed Lauter, Michael Wincott, Robert Baker, Kevin J.O'Connor, Xander Berkeley, Wes Studi, James Jordan, Nate Mooney, Jimmi Simpson, Tom Noonan, Shannon Zeller.Vengeance has its price.The revenge Western has been around for quite some time as long as revenge has been around I suppose (which may be redundant) and the latest of this sub-genre owes quite a bit to John Ford's "The Searchers" and a kissing cousin to the Clint Eastwood revenge oater "The Outlaw Josey Wales'.In its latest incarnation, the story begins in the wintry confines of the Ruby Mountains circa 1868, and Gideon (a nearly unrecognizable Brosnan as far away from being The Artist Formerly Known As Bond here) is being pursued by a relentless tracker in the form of a taciturn man named Carver (low-key Neeson speaking volumes in his determined yet steely silent eyes), hell-bent on catching his fugitive, in tow with several hired guns to get the job done, by any means necessary.Opening with Gideon being shot in the arm and running through the wintry landscape, falling into a freezing river and eventually excising the silver-dollar sized bullet with wincing dexterity, the pace continues to be breathless and anticipatory as Gideon manages to be one-step ahead while Carver's troupe are two-behind.The reason for Carver's intent is not revealed until the final act (which is the weaker part of the film) but consider its post-Civil War thread and that should sate those who don't want a spoiler thrown in for good measure.Both actors give finely tuned turns here with Brosnan in one of his most physically demanding performances with a certain dirt-under-the-fingernails grittiness, sporting a Don Quixote VanDyke and thatch of graying hair, a grizzled wrinkling pre-aged look that suggests his suffering character is damned in the long run.
It's just about revenge, like some of the best westerns of the 50s and 60s.Carver (Liam Neeson) is on the hunt for Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) with a set of accomplices (including most notably Michael Wincott and Ed Lauter -- men with great western faces that Leone himself would have adored).
those kind of 'wise messages' were trivial and stupid...It's a lame to have such great cast like Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan or Angelica Huston just to develop a nonsense story with terrible special effects (who would come out from a dead horse like that!?) and a terrible ending...Don't waste your time....
Though the answers do come, the first hour of the film has to rest of the performances of Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson. |
tt3322904 | Lego Marvel Super Heroes: Maximum Overload | The mischievous Loki challenges the Marvel Super Heroes yet again. But this time, he's cast a snowball-themed spell that has Norn Frost in it to "Overload" various villains.
At a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. base in New Jersey, Doctor Octopus raids it in order to obtain the Beta Burst Missile. Using the Norn Frost obtained by his Chitauri minion, Loki "overloads" Doctor Octopus. In Manhattan, Nick Fury calls upon Spider-Man to help defeat Doctor Octopus. Before Doctor Octopus can use the Beta Burst Missile on the trapped S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents, Spider-Man arrives and tricks Doctor Octopus into shocking himself on a nearby power generator. The next morning, Spider-Man brings a bound Doctor Octopus back to Manhattan in a truck upon running out of web fluid on the Garden State Parkway. Nick Fury takes Doctor Octopus to be locked up as Spider-Man is left walking back to Queens, New York. Loki is not pleased that his Doctor Octopus "Overload" was defeated and vows that it's not over.
Some time later, news articles are shown about the "Overloads" like the rise of the Red Skull "Overload," the Wizard "Overload" forming the Frightful Sixteen which outnumbers the Fantastic Four, and the Green Goblin "Overload." J. Jonah Jameson reports on the "Overloads" and claims that Spider-Man is behind this. Loki then uses the Norn Frost on Venom since he is a creature worth overloading. Appearing near the stand of the Hot Dog Vendor, Venom is overloaded as Loki commands Venom to attack Spider-Man. Their fight takes them through the Daily Bugle much to the dismay of J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man manages to defeat Venom by getting one of Venom's tendrils into the Linotype machine where Venom ends up flattened onto a bunch of newspapers. Venom's body is taken away by Nick Fury, Captain America, and Wolverine. As Spider-Man swings away from the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson rants about his newsroom getting trashed as he vows to get Spider-Man for this. Spider-Man runs out of web fluid and falls into a dumpster leaving him to walk back to Queens again.
While reprimanding his Chitauri henchman for sitting in his chair, Loki sees a helicopter carrying Mandarin flying to Tony Stark's Malibu mansion to attack it. Loki then throws the Norn Frost at Mandarin who then prepares to attack. Iron Man saves Pepper Potts by getting her into an Iron Man armor. Iron Man then begins to fight Mandarin. As Loki plans to overload Mandarin further, his Chitauri minion slips and causes the Norn Frosts to fall into the nearby crevices. Iron Man uses his left glove to knock Mandarin out of his helicopter as he is grabbed by Falcon who takes Mandarin to the Helicarrier. Iron Man is then helped out of the rubble by his left glove before leaving with Pepper to eat out somewhere. Spider-Man suddenly finds himself at an offshore oil platform wondering how he got there.
While his Scrying Mirror is getting fixed, Loki reaches out with his mind where he finds Iron Man and Iron Fist looking for Abomination. Loki finds Abomination on top of a passing airplane as he overloads Abomination. Upon Abomination breaking the airplane, Iron Man and Iron Fist rescue the passengers and land them safely on the offshore oil platform while Hulk arrives to fight Abomination. With help from Iron Fist, Hulk knocks Abomination into the ocean. When Loki plans to overload Hulk to serve him, Hulk notices his floating eyes and punches it as Loki feels the pain while getting a black eye.
Loki declares that his plans are almost complete as his Chitauri minions sweep the floor. On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Wolverine, Captain America, and Black Widow do a roll-call on the captive supervillains Doctor Octopus, Venom, Abomination, Mandarin, Red Skull, and Wizard. Loki then commands the supervillains to arise as they all end up overloaded again while being ordered to hop. The constant hopping causes the Helicarrier to fall onto Tony Stark's rebuilt mansion. The supervillains then go on a rampage as Iron Man, Nick Fury, Black Widow, Captain America, Wolverine, and Hulk fight them. Thor arrives with Spider-Man upon finding him whining outside Avengers Tower. Spider-Man claims that he was angsting. Upon taking down Doctor Octopus, Thor traces the Norn Frost back to Loki. Thor brings Iron Man and Spider-Man to Asgard to confront Loki while the others fight the supervillains.
Upon the Chitauri minions fixing the Scrying Mirror, Loki views it and sees Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man approaching his lair. Upon the arrival of Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man, Loki eats all the Norn Frost in the possession of one of his Chitauri minions and fights them. After throwing Spider-Man into a wall, Loki states to Iron Man and Thor that he is meddling in the affairs of Earth and take the throne of Asgard (Loki whispered that part which the Chitauri minion said out loud). Upon Loki slipping, Thor throws Mjolnir at Loki as he hangs over the crevasse. Thor then demands that Loki removes his enchantment and vow to never disturb the peace of Midgard under the threat of the hammer noogie. Loki surrenders where the Norn Frost's enchantment wears off enabling the supervillains to be defeated. Thor then plans to tell Odin what Loki was doing. Loki begs for Thor not to tell their father or to tell him that he was watching the Scrying Mirror since Odin took away his scrying privelages 3 centuries ago. After Thor, Iron Man, and Spider-Man leave, Loki changes the channel on the Scrying Mirror before Hulk can do another attack on him.
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, the supervillains are locked up as they plan their revenge. On the deck of the Helicarrier, it was mentioned that Iron Man's mansion has been repaired and the Helicarrier is back on the air. To get the angst out of Spider-Man, Nick Fury gives Spider-Man a S.H.I.E.L.D. Security Card and a Spider-Bike. As Spider-Man rides the web line off the Helicarrier, the superheroes celebrate their victory. As the Helicarrier takes off, the web line breaks causing Spider-Man and the Spider-Bike to fall.
In the post-credits, J. Jonah Jameson is visiting the Hot Dog Vendor's cart ordering a hot dog from him. Spider-Man lands safely on the nearby streets as his Spider-Bike falls on the Hot Dog Vendor's cart. Getting mustard on him from the resulting incident, J. Jonah Jameson states that Spider-Man must be responsible as Spider-Man sneaks away. | humor | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0037902 | Marshal of Laredo | Oh his first day as Marshal of Larado, Red Ryder (Wild Bill Elliott) and his Indian ward, Little Beaver (Robert Blake) are summoned to duty when the town’s bank courier Barton (Tom London) is robbed. However Barton is able to fire his weapon and the fleeing robber whom he recognizes as Ferguson (Bud Geary) who tosses the money he’s stolen into a water trough where it is latter collected by his crime partner, Pretty Boy Murphy (Don Costello). Red captures Ferguson, however Murphy delivers the stolen cash to the head of the gang, saloon owner, Denver Jack (Roy Barcroft).
Denver Jack plans to use a photograph that he took of Ferguson robbing the bank in order to maintain control over Ferguson, less he talk and confess all to the Marshal of Laredo. Jack has maintained similar evidence on all of his men and considers Ferguson as no different.
Denver Jack’s continuing threat of matches around Pretty Boy Murphy, horribly scarred from a fire, continually terrorizes the henchman, demonstrating the cold cruelty of the gang-boss. Denver contacts his lawyer, Larry Randall (Jack McClendon), who tells him that if the courier fails to identify Ferguson, the gunman must be released. Denver Jack sends Pretty Boy to work Barton over and thus frighten the courier into keeping quiet. Barton refuses to identify the gangster and Red is compelled to release Ferguson. Randall is dismayed by Denver’s methods and Larry’s fiancée, Judy Bowers (Peggy Stewart), becomes furious that he is working for such a bad person as Denver Jack. Judy’s father, the banker Mel Bowers () is angry as well and orders Larry to never see his daughter again.
Randall wants to win Judy back and so breaks his ties with Denver Jack and recovers the stolen money, which is returned to the banks. Larry expresses his regrets for working with Jack and says that it is over. Bowers agrees to allow Larry to continue to see his daughter provided that he continues to honor his words and remain straight for six months. However, as they are talking, Bowers is gunned downed by Pretty Boy and Larry is arrested for murder.
Laredo’s Dr. Allen (Wheaton Chambers) tells Red Ryder that he was present at the beginning of Randal and Bowers’ conversation, and that he saw Larry kill the father. Larry is puzzled by Dr. Allen’s statement because the doctor had left before the shooting. Suddenly, he comes to the realization that Denver Jack must also be blackmailing Allen.
Denver Jack approaches Larry Randal at a later time and promises that he will get Randal released from jail if he promises to continue to work for him. Randal refuses and so later, it is Dr. Allen’s testimony that results in a conviction. In the meantime, Red Ryder has become increasingly more suspicious of Denver Jack and arranges for Larry to break out of jail. He follows Randall to Allen’s office where Larry confronts the doctor who confesses that he is being blackmailed by Denver Jack. Overhearing the admission, Red bursts into the room and orders Allen to write a confession. Unfortunately, before the doctor can finish the letter, he is shot dead by Pretty Boy, who fires through a window.
Denver Jack complains loudly to the locals that Red Ryder is in league with Larry Randall and works to stir up the gathering crowd against the Marshal. As the rowdy crowd closes in, Red, Larry and Little Beaver manage to get away. Later that evening, Red returns to Denver Jack’s office and discovers Jack’s blackmail material. Denver Jack and Pretty Boy Murphy capture Red and trap Little Beaver when Larry tries to escape. To protect the Indian boy, Larry allows himself to be returned to jail, now guarded over by Pretty Boy. Read starts a fire and escapes but not before forcing Pretty Boy to confess to the killings of Bowers and Allen.
Red manages to stop Larry’s hanging just it time and stops Denver Jack. With Larry’s name cleared and the criminals arrested, Red, Little Beaver and Red’s aunt, The Duchess (Alice Fleming), watch cheerfully as Larry Randall is once again back together again with Judy Barton. | murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0118949 | Into Thin Air: Death on Everest | The film portrays the 1996 Mount Everest disaster and the events that preceded it. The film mainly follows Jon Krakauer, the author of the book on which the film is based (Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster (1997)); it also follows the climbing teams of summit guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer.
The film begins with Krakauer giving a monologue about the events about the disaster. The guides, Rob Hall (Nat Parker), and Scott Fischer (Peter Horton) introduce themselves, their teams, and discuss with the clients how they intend to reach the summit by the set date. Hall's group contains Doug Hansen, a mailman from Seattle, Krakauer, Yasako Namba, and several others. Fischer's group contains a New York socialite, Sandy Pittman, who will perform what Krakauer does for Hall's group, reporting and bring attention. At base camp, Hall speaks with his pregnant wife Jan, in New Zealand, about potential names for their daughter. The groups slowly make their way through camps 2, 3, and 4, and then begin their ascent for the summit. However, in camp 2, Fischer is forced to go all the way back down, so he can take a sick client, Dale Cruz, down for help. Scott refuses help, and returns exhausted and out of breath.
The ascent begins well, with both groups making steady pace. However, upon reaching the bottom of the Hillary step, they realize that there are no fixed ropes. The Sherpa there states it's a two-person job, and the other Sherpa never arrived, mostly due to being too tired and sick from dragging Pittman and all of her heavy equipment all the way up. Mountain Madness guides Anatoli Boukreev and Neil Beidelman set the fixed ropes, but by then dozens of climbers had already reached the step, and now a large jam is at the bottom. Krakauer continues up, and reaches the summit with Anatoli Boukreev, where shortly afterward they are joined by Adventure Consultants guide Andy Harris. Krakauer begins his descent, but reaches the step only the find the jam has only gotten worse, and is forced to wait it out. Meanwhile, Hall is forced to tell client Doug Hansen that they have to turn around and go back. Hansen refuses, as he failed to reach the summit the year before, and he knows he won't be able to afford a third attempt. Hall and Hansen argue before Hall finally caves in and they continue, missing Hall's 2:00 PM turnaround time. Finally, the path down the step clears and Harris begins to descend; Krakauer meanwhile begins to hallucinate from a lack of oxygen. Earlier he had asked Harris to decrease his oxygen flow, but Harris instead increased it, and Krakauer nearly falls over the side, but manages to catch himself. He makes his way down the step and to Harris, and realizes something is wrong with Harris, who thinks the completely full bottles at the oxygen drop are empty. As he descends, he runs into Hansen and Hall, and points out to Hansen that storm clouds are making their way up through the valley and up the mountain.
Shortly after 3 PM, the majority of Hall's and Fischer's groups finally reach the summit. As Krakauer continues his descent, he runs into Scott Fischer, who is completely exhausted and refuses to turn around. Shortly after 4 PM, Rob Hall and Doug Hansen finally reach the summit, where Hall remarks to Hansen that a storm is coming. As he continues to go down, and the weather starts to get bad, Krakauer runs into Beck Weathers, sitting alone by himself in snow. Weathers had eye surgery performed prior to the trip, and has lost vision in his eyes during the summit ascent. He declines to leave with Krakauer, explaining he had promised Rob Hall that he would wait for him to go down. At 4:30, Fischer and his Sherpa, Lopsang, finally reach the summit where Scott feels ill and collapses. Around 5, Krakauer finally reaches the tents at camp 4, where he goes to sleep. The weather continues to worsen, and later, Beidelman, Mike Groom, and the majority of both teams' clients stop to rest, where they run into Beck Weathers, who agrees to descend with them. Storm clouds and thick snowfall cause the guides to lose their positions and not know where they need to go. Higher on the mountain, Hall and Hansen watch as Scott Fischer is dragged by them, so weak he can no longer stand.
Night falls, and Krakauer is awoken in his tent by Rob's Sherpa, Angdorjee, who informs him that the storm is getting increasingly worse, and that Rob and majority of the clients have yet to return. The pair make an attempt to find them, but quickly turn back when they realize the conditions are too treacherous. Meanwhile, Rob attempts to convince Doug to stand up and continue descending, but Doug begs Rob to leave him, telling Rob he will die if he attempts to save him. Rob refuses to leave him behind, and they continue. Scott, suffering from edema, walks off the side of the mountain, and is only saved when his Sherpa pulls him back up with their connected short rope. Scott then begins to fall into unconsciousness, and Lopsang radios for help. Rob continues to struggle down with Doug. In the darkness, Rob slips and falls down, and becomes separated from a hallucinating Doug. He then watches helplessly as Doug, too far away to help, tumbles over the side to his death. Rob is then found by Andy, who attempts to help him up. Andy then leaves, telling Rob he is going to get help. Despite Rob's plea's, Andy continues to go. Andy disappears from view. Rob then hears him cry out, and crawls forward to find Andy's hat lying next to a large drop off, and assumes that Andy has fallen to his death. Rob, buried under snow, communicates with Krakauer attempting to get direction on where he can find oxygen. He gets direction, but then falls down again, and begins to moan. The oxygen bottles are then revealed to be less than twenty feet away from him, but he doesn't see them. Beidelman and Groom's group becomes hopelessly lost, and they take only the clients who can walk with them, dropping Yasuko, Beck, Sandy Pittman, and Charlotte Fox. Scott continues to drift in and out of consciousness, only muttering the words "I am invincible" to his Sherpa, before again losing consciousness. Anatoli Boukreev appears, and helps down Charlotte Fox and Pittman, but is unable to get a third client. Rob begins to hallucinate about seeing his wife Jan, but then snaps outs of it, to realize he is still stuck. He also begins to realize that his hands and his legs are getting extremely frostbitten, and he is having trouble moving. He then blacks out again.
Rob then awakens the next morning, to realize that he is still alive, but barely. He radios the camp, who put him onto the radio with his wife Jan. He asks her if Sarah would be an appropriate name for their daughter, and she agrees. They both tell each other they love them, and then Rob says goodbye to his wife. He dies shortly afterward from hypothermia. Beck Weathers then wakes up, somehow having survived being buried under the snow with no oxygen. Still blinded, he stumbles back to camp, where he receives help. Meanwhile, Anatoli climbs up, and finds the now frozen corpse of Scott Fischer. He says goodbye, and after pulling Fischer's backpack over his face, he leaves. Back at base camp the survivors reminisce about the friends that they have lost. | tragedy | train | wikipedia | I have that film as well.Too me the Into Thin Air group did a good job of simulating the conditions on Everest and the quiet heroism of both Hall and Scott at the end.The real reason to watch Into Thin Air is to watch Nat Parker as Hall.
This scene had me in tears, just as the real voice of the real Rob Hall recorded in the Miramax documentary made me cry.Not a great film by any means, but still worth watching.
"Into Thin Air: Death On Everest" is a wonderful film and a good start into understanding -- if that is possible -- the need some people have to climb mountains.
To mark a landing spot, those on the mountain made a large X in the snow with a red sports drink.Since the film was produced directly from Krakauer's book, it does not reference other accounts.
Krakauer's book is only one of several accounts of the tragic climb that took a fifteen lives in all.
Anatoli Boukreev wrote a reply to Krakauer in his book "The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest." Scott Fisher's lead Sherpa, Lopsang, also responded to Krakauer's criticisms in writing.
Tragically, both Boukreev and Lopsang died in separate climbing accidents not long after the fatal Everest events (Lopsang in September 1996 and Boukreev in December 1997).For those who wonder about what it would be like to climb Everest, it is much safer to watch the film.
Based on Jon Krakauer's book, the story is a fascinating account of the tragic event of May 10, 1996 when two ill-fated expeditions to climb Mt Everest took place and the mishaps that occurred.
Jon Krakauer did a good job of describing the Everest climb in which he participated and which was a fatal disaster for a dozen of those who were with his team.The book was probably the most popular and best-selling mountaineering tale of all time.
The movie is perhaps a greater disaster for those who never read Krakauer's book - the editing leaves one wishing for a guide, the acting leaves one wishing for a dinner theatre musical, and the overly trite 'messages' that the movie pounds into the viewer ("be prepared", "you can't always be prepared for disaster", "respect the mountain") left me wishing for a quick ice axe to the forehead..
I feel compelled to comment as the film tarnishes the good names of Rob Hall and Scott Fischer.
As John Krakhauer notes in his book, Into Thin Air, Fischer looked up to Hall.Anyone who wants to know what REALLY happened in 1996 should read the following books.
After all, these words are from the people who experienced it, not by a poor director's interpretation.Into Thin Air by John Krakhauer The Climb by Anatoli BoukreevThe reading mentioned above will show you that errors in judgement were compounded by the totality of the situation: not just a small group of leaders..
I found the portraits well-drawn and well-acted given that the production had only two hours to convey the entire story, which of course is much more complex and horrific than could be possibly be presented in a TV movie.While I could not comprehend the obsession that drove these people to take what seemed an extreme and ultimately deadly risk to climb and "conquer" the mountain, I really wanted them to survive and was saddened when they didn't.
I thought Jon Krakauer's book on the 1996 Everest climbing disaster, while not great literature and while a rather subjective and partial account, was well-observed and reasonably absorbing.
The acting is at least professional; Nat Parker as guide Rob Hall is quite convincing, though his NZ accent switches to London Cockney at times, and Peter Horton does a good impression of the ebullient American guide Scott Fisher.
It's not likely to change anyone's ideas about mountaineering though I suppose there is some schadenfreude in seeing rich doctors and socialites with no or limited climbing experience attempting to wipe themselves out in various stupid ways at very high altitudes.
I felt a little sorry for the guides, generally people who love the mountains, having for economic reasons to take such awful people up them; in my day as an amateur climber I at least got to choose my companions, though some of them were pretty wild.
After reading Jon Krakauer's book and MANY other reliable sources on the subject of the 1996 Everest tragedy, I was dismayed by what I saw in this film.
One cannot understand what goes into an expedition like the one portrayed in the movie, the many personalities and complex decisions occurring on such an expedition, and the emotions and needs of someone participating in such an expedition, by watching a 90 minute movie.
I feel that the writers took the characters and reduced them into stereotypes - Scott Fischer, the reckless daredevil; Rob Hall, the calculating, stern guide; Anatoli Boukreev, the non-caring, self-serving workhorse; and, finally, the many clients, unexperienced and not prepared for such an undertaking.On a technical note, the writers reduce a +- 7 week acclimatization/climbing process into a 5 day climb!
Obviously, they need not go into extreme medical detail, but the scenes showing Scott Fischer and Rob Hall talking to their groups about the climb do not show the complexity and difficulty of the acclimatization process.
Many of the climbers had serious Himalayan experience under their belts, but these scene portray them as mere babes attempting their first climb.Obviously, the film had to be simplified from the book to fit into 90 minutes, but I feel that the film was an insult to those who lost their lives that day, and to those who gave everything they had to save their comrades' lives.
For one, Anatoli Boukreev went out into the storm three times, and single-handedly saved three lives.Finally, and this is the most important point, Mr. Krakauer was criticized to the extreme for his seemingly one-sided perspective in his book.
Although the movie is based on Mr. Krakauer's book, it seems to me that the writers would want to show what REALLY happened that day..
The movie was confusing but piqued my interest and I spent the next few days researching the event on the internet, and reading Jon Krakauer's book, as well.Of course, no movie would do justice to the events of the 1996 expedition (or any other expedition for that matter), but for those who find climbing and mountains in general thrilling, it is a good starting point.
It is unsurprising that several accounts of the events exist, and thanks to the movie I was motivated to find out more about it.Since this film is very closely related to real events, I wouldn't think it wise for anyone to focus their attention solely on a 90-minute adaptation made for TV..
Jon Krakauer's story of climbing Mount Everest earned him his first best seller.
This movie has a good cast featuring Christopher McDonald as Jon Krakauer, Peter Horton as team guide Scott Fischer, and Richard Jenkins as Beck Weathers.
Jon Krakauer's book has had its share of controversy but overall was a good attempt to tell a harrowing story as it was.
Under the constraints and parameters of trying to re-create historically-accurate, emergency conditions on Mt. Everest, as experienced by a somewhat disparate and hodge-podge assembly of climbers and guides, this movie excels.
Anatoli Boukreev is depicted as complex, demanding and rigid, but his act of heroism: Going back out into the storm to find lost climbers after just barely making it back to his tent with his life, is one of the high points in the movie, and unexpected, as well.
Considering that the two group leaders lost their lives on this climb, it is very likely that the relentless heroism as portrayed in Into Thin Air is quite close to the truth: They probably ended up sacrificing themselves to save others.
As someone who has read Jon Krakauers novel I was really interested in this movie although I did not expect much and how right I turned out to be.
I just finished watching "Into Thin Air" after having read Anatoli Boukreev's book "The Climb." I was aware of the book on which this movie was based (I gave it to my mother for Christmas) but not the controversy over what really happened.
I have ZERO experience with mountain climbing (I live in Kansas) but I could tell from comparing the book to the movie that the authors/director didn't really care to even try to correctly portray what mountain climbing is all about.
Mr. Boukreev makes a good case in his book that Mr. Krakauer did not accurately portray events on the mountain.
I wish all climbers would look at this film as a learning experience and when faced with unnecessary difficulties in a climb to stop and take a long moment to consider options, enjoy the view, look at the time and the conditions and if necessary seek safety quickly so you can climb another day, another mountain.
'Into Thin Air' is a film based on a true story of one occasion when high-altitude guiding went desperately wrong, and several climbers died in one day, including two expedition leaders.
The exploits of Anatoli Boukreev, the senior guide who survived (until another climbing accident a year later) but who was much criticised for his behaviour (including in the book on which this film is based), are less featured.Since this film was made, of course, 'Touching the Void' has set new standards for mountain movies.
That film eclipses this one in several ways: the less melodramatic rendering of events; the use of real interviews with the participants (instead of the ponderous voice-over we get here); a better invocation of the true viciousness of mountain conditions; and not least the superior storyline and dignity of its characters.
The book in which this film is based was a good read because of the events it described in the adventure of climbing the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest, in the Himalayas.
Even though the screenplay tries very hard to present an even-handed and fair account of a complex and chaotic series of events in under two hours, the way the story is filmed sinks the movie.
I assumed, going 'blind' into this movie (I know of the book, I've read discussions of the book and the events it portrays, but I haven't actually read the book), that since it involved disaster while climbing at high altitudes, that we would be hearing a lot of strained respiration, a lot of gasping and panting, a lot of throaty vocals.
This movie did an excellent job laying out the events that led to the May 10, 1996 disaster on Mt. Everest.
It makes the movie a lot more interesting.The cinematography was excellent and I can imagine how the actors felt when trying to film the story.
By the way, the scene which really tugged at my emotions was when Rob Hall called his wife from the top of the mountain, in the middle of the storm.
After reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer then watching the movie I can say that the movie is almost nothing like the book.
The movie paints Scott Fischer as a reckless person, determined to get his people to the top no matter what, makes for great story telling, unfortunately for this movie completely false.
While it seemed like a pretty good and realistic portrayal of a climb of Everest (I am not a climber and have no intention of taking up the "sport"), I found the book far better than the movie.
Krakauer's book was subtle in places where the movie felt it had to slap you in the face.
And the movie failed to show the up and down climbing that the team has to do -- going up to another base camp to get acclimated, then back down to regain strength -- in order to be ready to begin the final assault on the mountain..
Into thin air is a movie based on a true story that was originally written as a book.
This technique of using bestsellers to create a movie makes the film the most popular and appealing to those who have read the book.
This movie does not do an excellent job of maintaining your interest because it shows the same basic scenes over and over again, such as showing the climbers climbing slowly up the mountain.
For one, the setting of the book is in the Himalayas on Mount Everest, however the movie was not filmed on Everest, but on a mountain in Australia.
I think that it is ok for a movie to differ from the book if it is something that is hard to portray, but this is one difference that could have been made correctly.
On the mountain the dialogue is very scarce and doesn't give you a good sense of who the people are.The general effect from this movie is that it could have many changes to the plot and improved dialogue.
However I sympathize with the director because I can't think of a better way to do it, climbing up a mountain is very repetitive, and he is more limited when he has to make it to correspond with the book..
I believe the book of this film is a minor classic in climbing circles - the film must rank as a minor disaster.Watching this film left me with not one single shred of sympathy for any of the climbers who died in fact I was disappointed so many survived.Are we led to believe that on an expedition to climb Everest one of the climbers successfully chatted up another (female) climber and we had the absurd scene of him entering her tent with the Sherpa wisely shaking his head and remarking that "the spirits of the mountain will not be pleased"?
This movie is based off the book about a deadly day on Everest where 8 hikers died in a massive storm, but an amazing survival story of Beck Weathers emerged.
Although the account on which this film was based has been criticized for implications by Krakauer as to where and upon whom blame for the disaster should fall, the movie falls short of the sense of camaraderie, the overwhelming sense of wonder (albeit the film's greatest asset is the location/sets/cinematography), and the intense sense of loss and tragedy of the book.The acting is slick and rather true to the book, but the casting (anyone remember Shooter from Happy Gilmore and Peter Horton's character from Thirtysomething?)makes it more than a little hard to believe, especially if you have already read the book; it did not measure up to the characters I had "created" for myself while reading Krakauer's account.
Or if you have seen the film, read the book.
Some people were saying stuff about the movie was unrealistic, some of the stuff that actually happened, such as Beck Weathers not having gloves on...in his book he says he took his gloves off.
(A book I'd encourage everyone to read: "Left For Dead" by Weathers...surprisingly well-written, engaging, humorous...) All in all, I love this movie a lot, but I agree, it could have more attention to detail...
Having never read the book, I began watching this movie without any prior knowledge of climbing or the story of the book, however I found the movie extremely informative of Mt.Everest and climbing in general.
Tragic but true story about the disastrous mountain climbing expedition of Mount.
Two teams assemble at the foot of Everest headed by world renowned mountain climbers Rob Hall and Scott Fischer with a group of armatures climbers who paid as much as $65,000.00 apiece for the opportunity to scale the highest point on earth; the 29,028 foot five and a half mile high Mount.
This is what happens to a mountain climber reaching these heights, +20,000 feet, who's not fully aware and prepared for the reception that he'll get up there from Mother Nature.Going towards the Everest summit in sub-freezing weather the men, and women, of the expedition scale the dangerous "Hillery Step" which is the last step to climb before reaching the very top.
Earlier on the climb at camp #1 Sherpa guide Ang Dorge spotted two of the climbers, a man and woman, embracing outside their tent and got very upset feeling that they, not being married, were very disrespectful to the mountain and that it would lead to an angry response from Everest.
Among those who perished in the snows of Everest were the two team leaders of the exportation Scott Fischer and Rob Hall.
The story of the climb is told to us in flashback by the author of the book "Into Thin Air: Death on Everest" writer Jon Krakaur who also was on the expedition but unlike some of his fellow mountain climbers lived to tell, as well as write, about it..
I defy anyone not to weep at the scene where Rob Hall speaks to his wife as he lies dying.I have seen it three times now, and intend to read the book upon which it is based, and others.
I appreciate that the film may be a partial view, based as it is on one man's account, and I agree that at times it can be confusing, but the story and action are so strong that they carry you through.As most of the audience won't be expert mountaineers, and as anyone interested can find out as much as they like by reading the books, I think this film is an admirable success..
I have read the book and watched the recent Everest film.The acting is bad, direction terrible, over the top operatic soundtrack not appropriate, over dramatisation of the deaths disrespectful.It's also way of the mark in terms of staying accurate to the book and missed several key events.
I am only writing this review because of the half witted comments made about it by people who have not risked their lived climbing mountains.
I have NOT read the book but I have climbed not a few mountains. |
tt0051819 | Kings Go Forth | In the final year of World War II, units of the United States Army are in the foothills of the Alps between France and Italy, trying to dislodge a unit of German soldiers from a supply post in the middle of a small village. 1st Lt. Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) is in charge of a reconnaissance unit that has just lost its radioman. A truckload of fresh young soldiers arrive, one of whom, Corporal Britt Harris (Tony Curtis) admits to radio training and experience—Harris is immediately appointed the unit's radioman by Loggins.
Harris reveals himself at once as a lady's man and a schemer, acquiring girlfriends, food, and other luxury items. Corporal Lindsay (Edward Ryder), in charge of the unit's paperwork and logistics, reveals Harris' story to Loggins: Harris is the son of a wealthy textile mill owner in New Jersey—in order to avoid criminal charges of trying to bribe a member of the local Draft Board with a car, Harris has "volunteered" for combat duty in Europe. Harris does show bravery while rescuing a group of men trapped in a minefield and while attacking a German bunker single-handed, but Loggins still has his reservations about the man.
The Colonel (Karl Swenson) grants Loggins and his unit leave in the seaside town of Nice. While walking by himself on a quay, Loggins is attracted to Monique Blair (Natalie Wood) -- they go to dinner, and she explains she was born in America, but has lived in France since she was a small child. She's unwilling to go out with Loggins again. Loggins ask her to meet him in the same cafe the next week at 8PM. The next week, Loggins waits at the cafe, Monique doesn't show, and he walks out despondent, only to be asked to have a drink by an older American woman who has apparently been waiting for him. He finds out it is Monique's mother, who was checking him out, he passed, and she takes him to her palatial home to join Monique. The two spend a great deal of time together each time Loggins gets his Saturday night pass. One night he tells her he loves her, and Monique finally reveals to him that she is afraid to get involved with a US soldier because her now-dead father was a Negro, and she has seen the general bigotry all American soldiers seem to have. Loggins is confused and leaves, not sure about his feelings.
After a week of anguished consideration, Loggins decides to put aside the former prejudices he would have had about Monique's parentage, and goes to see her. She and her mother are delighted to see Loggins. Loggins invites Monique to go out on a date with him. They end up going to a smokey jazz cafe, where they are surprised to see Harris play a fantastic jazz solo on a trumpet, to the acclaim of the entire French crowd. Harris joins Loggins and Monique at their table, and Loggins is left on the sidelines as Harris and Monique are immediately drawn to each other. Harris and Monique dance closely late into the night. After Loggins takes Monique home, she asks Loggins to tell Harris about her Negro father.
Back on surveillance duty of a town where the Germans have set up, Loggins does so, and it doesn't seem to bother Harris. Then the Germans begin shelling their observation position. After three days of shelling, Loggins suggests to Harris that they should infiltrate the village on a covert mission to observe from a church tower in the middle of town; Loggins goes in to see the Colonel who says he'll pass the idea on up to Headquarters.
The next weekend, Loggins and Harris return to Nice to visit Monique. Once again, Loggins is forced to the sidelines as the handsome and smooth-talking Harris takes over. Loggins returns to his hotel room alone. Harris and Monique stay out most of the night. When Harris returns to the hotel, he tells Loggins he's asked Monique to marry him, and she has said yes. Loggins is shattered, but he puts on a brave face. He tells Harris about the paperwork he will need to fill out to get the army's permission to marry. When they return to their unit, Harris immediately asks for the marriage permission form. Two months pass, and Harris still hasn't received an answer from the army on his request to marry. On his way to report to the Colonel, while talking to Corporal Lindsay, Loggins finds out that Harris had indeed picked up the completed paperwork 3 weeks earlier. In fact, Harris had told the corporal that the whole thing was a gag. Loggins is furious when he hears this.
Thereafter, the Colonel tells Loggins that Headquarters has approved the covert operation of Loggins with Harris as his radioman—Loggins asks for a few hours leave for both of them to take care of some important personal matters in Nice, to which the Colonel agrees.
Loggins and Harris go to the Blair mansion, and Loggins forces Harris to admit to Monique that Harris is not going to marry her. Monique runs away in tears. Harris tries to explain himself to Loggins ("it was a kick"), and Loggins punches him out. Loggins then goes out to find Monique. It turns out she had tried to drown herself, but a fisherman fished her out of the water while she was still alive. Loggins tries to talk to her, but she doesn't want to talk to him.
Back at the US Army base, Loggins and Harris prepare for their mission. Soon after leaving, Loggins tells Harris he is going to kill him. Harris responds that reaction "works both ways". They eye each other suspiciously and cautiously. However, Loggins clarifies that Harris won't 'get it in the back'.
On the mission, they encounter and kill a German soldier together. The duo establishes themselves at 2 AM in the church tower, calls in, and reports their observations, especially that a hidden section of the village contains an enormous German artillery/ammo dump. Loggins sends an order back to the base to begin a bombardment at 4 AM that will certainly destroy most of the village. They leave the tower, and are soon discovered by a German patrol. Harris is shot by the Germans and dies after Loggins drags him out of the line of fire, but Loggins is pinned down. The German officers, panicking at the thought of American soldiers in the village, order an immediate evacuation. Hearing this, Loggins grabs the radio and tells the US artillery to begin firing right now. Shells fall on the village and the ammo dump, and everything blows up.
The movie ends with Loggins relating how he was found under the rubble still alive by US troops, and brought to a hospital, where his right arm was amputated. He had gotten two letters from Monique. In one of them she says that she has learned that Harris was killed. She also tells Loggins that her mother has died. When Loggins is finally released from the hospital after many months, he decides to go to Nice to visit Monique one last time before returning to the States. He finds that she is now heading up a school for war orphans. She invites Loggins to come into one of the classrooms. As a tribute to Loggins and all the American soldiers who fought to free France, the children sing a song of appreciation. During the singing, Monique and Loggins look earnestly at each other. Will their romance bloom once again? | romantic, melodrama | train | wikipedia | None of the hipster slang, not the nebbish of his forties musicals, Sinatra plays a really good man trying to deal with his own inner conflicts about what he's been brought up to believe and the feelings he has for Wood.
It's something different and Sinatra does it well.Natalie Wood was as beautiful as they come and Leora Dana as her mother who's seen too much of the world and is determined to protect her daughter has some of her best screen moments.
Tony Curtis liked working with Natalie Wood very much in the films they made together, but he does mention in his autobiography it would have really been great if someone like Dorothy Dandridge had been cast in her role.
It might have made Kings Go Forth better remembered today, as much as classic as Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.Elmer Bernstein did the film score and one of the themes was given a lyric by Sammy Cahn and became the song Monique after Natalie Wood's character.
The whole premise of the film is the plain Sinatra and the smooth Curtis competing for Wood.
Its a good war movie and a great love story about a triangle between Wood, Sinatra and Curtis.
Obviously Wood does not remotely look half black (as she is supposed to be) and her French accent leaves a bit to be desired but she is beautiful, Curtis is handsome and Sinatra plays quite well the man whose beauty lies within.
This looked like an important picture with big stars (Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood).
However, the interracial theme is really not all that important to the story, as the themes of Sinatra's alienation, Wood's infatuation and Curtis' narcissism are probably elements familiar to MOST of us.
I would, however, like to touch on what I believe is an unfair criticism of the film; i.e., that Natalie Wood is not convincing as someone of mixed race.
Blonde, blue-eyed Cameron Diaz is Swedish and Cuban, and has said in interviews that her father's skin is black and that it is very likely her children would be.I thought Natalie Wood and Tony Curtis were just great in this movie, as was Leora Dana as Natalie's mother.
Frank Sinatra made an awful lot of World War II pictures, though he never looked terribly convincing dressed in battle uniform (especially the helmet, which covers most of him).
The girl is played by Natalie Wood--she's French by way of West Virginia and Philadelphia!--and there's some hesitant talk early on of her being from a white mother and a black father (it gives Frank momentary pause, but Tony thinks of her ancestry as a novelty).
Pleasing and enjoyable story about love , race and war with a great trio : Sinatra , Wood and Curtis.
Loving triangle , hormones and war rage in this sensitive story set against the backdrop of WWII France .
Toward the end of World War II, two American soldiers 1st Lt. Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) and (Cpl. Britt Harris Tony Curtis) fighting in Southern France become romantically involved with a young, American woman called Monique Blair (the role of Monique was originally written with Dorothy Dandridge in mind) .
At the end the soldiers take on a dangerous assignment behind enemy lines with unexpected consequences .This wartime movie picture is an enjoyable tale with an interesting characterizing about a few characters , tragic drama and evocative outdoors from French Riviera , including some war scenes .
The film utilizes an oft-used storyline of the war movie genre which has two soldiers in love with the same girl .
And there I was, crying and loving it."Kings Go Forth" is actually a slightly late in the game WWII flick that shifts attention at first to luxuriating soldiers in the south of France just as the war was ending.
Natalie Wood in one of many great roles between "Rebel Without a Cause" and "West Side Story" is rather perfect, except maybe her French accent.
The other lead, the main character Sam Loggins, is played by Frank Sinatra, and Loggins also loves Blair.
And it's the worst and best of love, too, with an ending just slightly hanging in mid-air.Director Delmer Daves pulls off a lot of great, nicely felt films.
And don't be put off by the first twenty minutes or so when the establishing scenes seem like just another good war film.
The female roles are equally well filled: a lovely 19-year old Natalie Wood plays a young mulatto American raised in France who comes between Army “buddies” Sinatra and Curtis, while 35-year old Leora Dana is cast as Wood’s proud middle-aged mother (she must have quite impressed Sinatra because she was in SOME CAME RUNNING too – as Arthur Kennedy’s wife).The film – backed by a fine score from Elmer Bernstein and including a jam session featuring Curtis and real-life jazz musicians – is well enough made scene by scene and certainly well acted, but the effect is slightly diluted by the unnecessary and ultra-soapy coda (Sinatra losing an arm, Dana dying, Wood gathering together and teaching war orphans – but especially the corny children’ song at the very end).
The film is much more of a romantic melodrama than it is a war movie, but the few action sequences therein are good and well spread out throughout the film.Delmer Daves may have been best renowned for his Westerns – but his very first shot as a director had actually come via a war movie, DESTINATION TOKYO (1943), and he eventually returned to the same territory intermittently with PRIDE OF THE MARINES (1945), TASK FORCE (1949) and, finally, KINGS GO FORTH itself..
KINGS GO FORTH (1958) is an excellent war drama with Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, and Natalie Wood and directed by Delmer Daves.
Sinatra and Curtis are in the same army unit and there is a love triangle with a young and beautiful Wood who also possesses an important secret.
Natalie Wood is the girl with a black father,torn between the man she loves and Frank Sinatra-the one who loves her and understands her..
Frank and Natalie's roles are well done-the surplus of war scenes detracts a bit from the love story and the ending is a surprise, but it's a great film.
This film takes place during WW II in Southern France in 1944 almost at the end of the war.
Frank Sinatra plays the role as a First Lt. Sam Loggins who is a war veteran and he is given a new assignment to try and destroy and remove the Germans in Southern France.
Besides fighting the war, Sam Loggins goes on leave in town and meets a charming young gal who he seems to fall in love at first sight, this gal's name is Monique Blair, (Natalie Wood) who is an American but has lived most of her life in Southern France.
Mediocre WW2 film slowed down by soap opera-ish subplot involving love interest Natalie Wood's " passing " for white.
This causes issues of course.I won't talk about the big "gasp" in the movie but needless to say, whether you believe in miscegenation or not, you'll probably agree at what Tony Curtis has comin to em at the end.This one is certainly not an award winner but all in all...a decent film.
The cover and premise (haven't admittedly read the source material) were great and further talent like Natalie Wood and Frank Sinatra were ingredients enough to want to see 'Kings Go Forth'.For me, 'Kings Go Forth' is uneven but quite decent, although remembered fondly by other reviewers here it is generally better than given credit for.
While there is some hard-hitting action the war scenes are too few and they are out of kilter with the racial melodrama.However, 'Kings Go Forth' is carried by its sterling cast with Frank Sinatra giving one of his best film performances and Tony Curtis bringing charm and intensity to one of his better dramatic roles.
The screenplay is so predictable that you will not be surprised once while you are watching such a tepid weepie.Natalie Wood 's character was inspired by Fannie Hurst's "imitation of life" (see Stahl and Sirk),but who could believe she's a black man's daughter anyway?Susan Kohner was more credible in "imitation of life")and Sinatra and Curtis are given so stereotyped parts that they cannot do anything with them:the poor officer,and the wealthy good-looking -and mean- sergeant.Guess whom will Natalie fall in love with?France is shown as a land of tolerance ,where interracial unions are warmly welcome.At the time(circa 1944) it was dubious,it still is for narrow-minded people you can find here there and everywhere..
This film is set in Europe during WWII and concerns a couple of American soldiers who fall for the same French girl.
However, while the notion of two guys falling in love with the same person isn't particularly novel, how this is handled is.The movie is narrated, at times, by Frank Sinatra and is told from the viewpoint of his character, Sam. Sam is in charge of a unit of soldier and when they are in France, he falls hard for a gorgeous French lady (Natalie Wood).
Unfortunately for her, however, she soon falls for Britt (Tony Curtis)...and Britt is a grade-A heel and only is interested in using this sweet girl.This is a very good film.
Sinatra is great in the movie, by the way...really, really good.
In Kings Go Forth, Natalie plays a French girl who "passes for white".
Yes, I could have phrased it differently, but I was just trying to prepare you for the kind of language that's used in the film; there are some very politically incorrect lines of dialogue used by all three leads.Anyway, if you can get over the fact that Natalie Wood is supposed to be half-black, feel free to read more of the plot.
A soldier on leave, Frank Sinatra meets and falls in love with Natalie, unaware of her parentage.
With all the ridiculously dated parts to the story, I'll bring up an unrelated problem I have with the movie: In this love triangle, it's blatantly written out that Tony is the charming, attractive one and Frankie is not.
If Frank Sinatra was interested in me, I wouldn't look twice at Tony Curtis.If you really like any of the three leads, you might want to check this out, because despite the horrifically dated script and Natalie Wood's terrible French accent, the acting is pretty good.
It's World War II in France as an officer played by Frank Sinatra gets a recruit who's an expert in radio in Tony Curtis.
His fine novel was altered in keeping with the climate of the times yet although the girl survives we are still denied a happy ending.This is one of Sinatra's finest acting jobs and his understated Sam Loggins surpasses the flashier Frankie Machine of The Man With The Golden Arm because he is saddled with the thankless task of portraying basic decency, if not goodness, and not being Jack Lemon, James Stewart or Gary Cooper, all of whom personify the quality before saying a word or doing a thing, Sinatra is obliged to ACT it and makes a first rate fist of it.
The Sinatra persona we know is highlighted in the opening sequence; it's 1944 and Sinatra's company are in the South of France marching to a new base camp; Paris has just been liberated and the locals are cheering the arrival of the Americans but one old lady (Maris Isnard) silently offering a drink of wine - probably all she has - is totally ignored and even Sinatra's Lieutenant Sam Loggins passes her by at first but then he pauses, walks back to her and graciously accepts a glass of wine with a smile.
In the fullness of time Sinatra meets Monique Blair (Natalie Wood) and is instantly smitten.
In the novel Monique who had led a sheltered life to say the least - her parents had deliberately moved to France for her birth and Sinatra was the first American she had ever seen - commits suicide and Sam kills Britt but in the movie Sam sees to it that Britt is killed, loses an arm himself and visits Monique for a last farewell before returning to the States; since the death of her mother (for which no explanation is offered) she has taken to running a school for orphans and that's where we leave her.
When this is comes up in the scene, I really expected the Sinatra character, to whom this revelation was made, to look confused and say "So what?", but of course he didn't (he looks shocked and dismayed, although he gets over it eventually -- it's rather sick-making how the girl's mother acts as if there is some nobility in this: "You reacted like a bigot idiot, but after a week of struggle you have decided to overlook what is at most a disgusting cultural artifact, and I'm sure that the fact that my daughter looks like a young Natalie Wood has nothing to do with it.") Anyway, Natalie (who is 19) doesn't love Frank (who is 43, but looks older), so when she falls for Tony, Frank steps aside despite his great love for her.
Then Tony breaks her heart by dumping her (can't marry an African American woman even if she looks like Natalie Wood), and so Frank decides to see to it that Tony dies (by going on a suicide mission with him).
Tony dies, Frank loses an arm, and then comes back an visits Natalie after the war.
Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtiss, and Natalie Wood, make a good trio cast in these roles.
The book by Joe David Brown (called Combat Mission) had it end in a much darker way than was acceptable for movies in 1958.It could be done correctly these days, filmed in a dark nor style in wartime of 1943-44.
It does not make any sense to show Monique Blair (Natalie Wood) very much impressed when he met Lieutenant Sam Loggins (Frank Sinatra) for the first time, then without any justification she said that she did not like him as a lover.
Then Monique met Britt Harris (Tony Curtis) for the first time, and here the real love started.
One of Frank Sinatra's best performances, and certainly very good performances from Tony Curtis and Natalie Wod too.
Sinatra and Curtis are the American soldiers who both fall for the beautiful French girl Wood (trying an accent on for size), who is also half African-American.
Sinatra loves her dearly, but Wood falls for the charming Curtis, with bad results.
You know, from where I was sitting, I thought that this rather oddball, 1958, WW2 drama was really expecting just a little too much of the viewer by asking them to believe that Natalie Wood, as the Monique Blair character, was, in fact, half-black (or "Negro").I'd say that if Monique's father was, indeed, black (he is never seen in the movie), then, by looking at Natalie Wood who played his daughter, then he must've been the absolute most whitest looking black man on the entire face of the Earth.
To me, the casting of Wood as Monique was a grave mistake, especially in a film whose story was apparently striving for believability.
No way, Jose!Other than that valid beef, this picture (concerning a decidedly silly, melodramatic love triangle) was corny, clichéd and too predictable (Hollywood-style) to be at all considered worthwhile entertainment.Set in and around a small town along the French Riviera, this film's attempt at dealing maturely with such issues as racism missed the mark, big-time.Though it did contain some intense battle scenes (seemingly thrown in for good measure), these, in turn, did nothing to alleviate the overall monotony that prevailed in this trite, little soap opera..
It's the time of Worldwar II and the place is Southern France.Lt. Sam Loggins, a serious man, falls for Monique Blair, an American girl raised in France.Sergeant Britt Harris, who is the total opposite of him, falls for the same girl.But Monique carries a secret: her father was black.Kings Go Forth (1958) is directed by Delmer Daves.The screenplay is by Merle Miller and it's based on the novel by Joe David Brown.Frank Sinatra does great job as 1st Lt.Sam Loggins.Tony Curtis, who turned 85 two days ago on Thursday, is terrific as Cpl. Britt Harris, the man of many flaws.And he carries his flaws with pride.Natalie Wood is brilliant as Monique Blair.Leora Dana is amazing as her mother.Karl Swenson is very good as The Colonel.Also very good job by Jacques Berthe, who plays Jean-Francois Dauvah, Boy.I liked this movie I just watched on DVD, pretty much.It does a good job dealing with love, war and racial issues.It's not the brightest classic, but it has its moments.It seems like an amazing shot when Sam walks in the bar at night to have some cognac.There's a lot of intense when Sam and Britt go to the Blairs and Sam shouts "If you touch her, I'll kill you".And when those two men, that want to kill each other, are together surrounded by all those Germans.Britt gets shot, which doesn't make Sam feel happy.This is a good movie that mixes love and war.Those two often walk hand in hand..
They become part of a love triangle with Monique Blair (played by Natalie Wood).
The first problem was the substitution of a well written dialog, with the monotonous voice over by Sam; Frank Sinatra's character was used as a narration throughout the entire movie.
Despite some decent lines from the character, Monique, Natalie Wood's French accent made me cringe each time she spoke.
It made the supposedly sensible good girl, Monique turn fickle and the otherwise dominating lieutenant, Sam turn passive as he set back and let the charming handsome Britt, Tony Curtis, take over his date.Although the film was classified under the war movie genre, the parallel plot involving Allied military operations was disconnected and irrelevant to the primary romantic drama. |
tt0439662 | Fanaa | Zooni Ali Beg (Kajol) is a blind Kashmiri woman who travels for the first time with a dance group to New Delhi to perform in a ceremony for Republic Day. On her journey, she meets Rehan Qadri (Aamir Khan), a Casanova tour guide who flirts with her. Although her friends warn Zooni about him, she cannot resist falling in love. On her last night in Delhi, Rehan and Zooni spend the night together and end up in bed. As Zooni is leaving the next day on a train, Rehan comes in and takes her away with him. Her parents arrive in Delhi to marry them. Zooni has a procedure done that helps her see again, but when she comes out of surgery, she finds out that Rehan was killed in a bomb blast in the city, and is heartbroken. She is taken to the hospital mortuary, and told to identify his body. As Zooni cannot see anybody there, she is quickly made aware of the sweater that Rehan was wearing which she knitted for him covered in blood and soot.
Meanwhile, Malini Tyagi (Tabu) is a special intelligence agent brought in to assess the threat of the bomb blast and the group responsible, an independent organization fighting for an independent Kashmir known as IKF. She believes it is the work of one man who is helping IKF. It is revealed that the man is Rehan, who placed the bomb blast in motion, then faked his death so Zooni wouldn't come looking for him. He privately admits that he loves Zooni, but also concedes that he can never see her again because of his dangerous life.
Seven years later, Rehan is on an Indian army camp on another mission for the IKF. IKF has acquired a nuclear weapon but needs to get hold of the trigger, which is in the army's possession. Rehan manages to steal it, but Tyagi has figured out his plan and sends forces to stop him. In the ensuing shootout, Rehan is injured severely. He makes his way to a remote house looking for help. The door opens, and it turns out to be Zooni's house. It's also revealed that Zooni had given birth to Rehan's son after Rehan's supposed death. Zooni and her father manage to save Rehan, though neither knows his real identity. Though initially distant from them, Rehan develops an affection for his son and becomes friendly towards Zooni and her father.
Rehan eventually reveals his true identity to them. Initially hurt, Zooni refuses to let Rehan leave her again, and the two of them are married by her father. Tyagi has a report published about Rehan, warning the public that he is a dangerous terrorist. Zooni's father sees this report, and realizes that it's Rehan. He holds him at gunpoint, but Rehan thwarts him and manages to get the trigger back. In the process, though, he accidentally throws Zooni's father off a ledge, killing him. He radios the IKF from an army officer's house describing his position. However, the officer discovers Rehan, who then kills the officer.
Zooni finds her father's body later, and when she tries to tell Rehan, he covers. However, Zooni later sees the news report, and finds the trigger. She takes her son and the trigger, and goes to the officer's house. When she finds blood there, she radios for help, and gets in touch with Tyagi, who tells her to stop Rehan at any cost. Rehan arrives at the house the next day, and tries to convince Zooni to hand over the trigger. He takes it from her, saying the IKF will kill her and their son if he doesn't. Zooni, though, follows him outside and shoots him in the leg. Rehan draws his gun on Zooni, but can't bring himself to shoot her. Zooni shoots him again to stop him. Tyagi arrives and stops the IKF from shooting Zooni. Rehan dies in Zooni's arms.
Zooni and her son later visit the graves of both her father and Rehan, who are buried next to each other. When the son asks if his father was wrong, Zooni tells him that his father did what he thought was right. Both tell Rehan that they love him before leaving. | tragedy, romantic, murder | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0071412 | The Marseille Contract | Set in the mid-1950s, the story is about the "Wormsley Common Gang", a boys' gang named after the place where they live. The protagonist Trevor, or "T.", devises a plan to destroy a beautiful two-hundred-year-old house that survived The Blitz. The gang accepts the plan by T., their new leader, and executes it when the owner of the house, Mr. Thomas (whom the gang call "Old Misery"), is away during a bank holiday weekend. Their plan is to destroy the house from inside, then tear down the remaining outer structure. Mr. Thomas returns home early, however, and the gang locks him in the outhouse. T. refuses to stop until the destruction job is complete, because even the facade is valuable and could be reused. Inside, they find a mattress filled with money—which they burn. The final destruction of the house occurs when a lorry pulls away a support pole from the side of the house. Mr. Thomas is released from the outhouse by the lorry driver to see the rubble of what once was his home. When the driver finds the situation funny Mr. Thomas is incensed, but he is still unable to stop laughing. | murder | train | wikipedia | I like this movie, a good seventies action flick.
I like the Alfa Romeo Montreal that Michael Caine's character drives, an exceedingly rare and attractive model.
I feel you need to look at "The Destructors" as a group of vignettes, individually well done.While player motivations are sometimes a bit unclear,and some subplots lead nowhere, most of the main scenes are well presented.
Younger people used to the slam bang action and quick scene cuts of newer movies may call it dull, but those who appreciate fine actors like James Mason, Anthony Quinn and Michael Caine may see this as a diamond in the rough.
Yes, Tony Quinn over-emotes on occasion (e.g., poker scene) and his affair with Rita (Alexandra Stewart) goes undeveloped, but the story line itself is well paced, interesting and suspenseful.
If you're looking for an esoteric, psychologically penetrating example of the crime drama genre, this film is probably not for you.
It is, however, a 90 minute "straight, no chaser" crime caper with the obligatory chase scenes, double-crosses, romantic entanglements, etc.
Is it Caine and Mason at their best?
No, but they don't need to be to fulfill their contribution, individually and collectively, to the flow of the story line.
Also, the not-so-well known French actors (to American audiences) cast in the film were up to the task at hand.In conclusion, great camera shots of Paris, southern France and Marseille.
In no small manner, they augmented the film's overall thrust and added an extra dimension of cinematic flavor..
As a fan of Micheal Caine and of action thrillers from the seventies I was looking forward to watching this film.
I'd listened to the wickedly funky soundtrack by Roy "Get Carter" Budd, and spent a while tracking down a copy of the film on VHS.Firstly i'll deal with the good points.
Marseille is a good location to film a thriller, think of French Connection 2 for example, and it is well used.
Caine looks very seventies cool.Now for the not so good points.
Budds soundtrack although is efficient, it is too efficient for my liking, i'd like to hear more of it in the film.
There are a couple more chase scenes thrown in for good measure, but they are boring.
The acting is very very average, as is the film.In my opinion I think that the director should have made a decision to go with either A) A gritty, hard hitting thriller.
This film has both qualities at certain points within the movie, but it doesn't have the mix right.
This is a shame because it could have been much better, perhaps a bigger budget was needed, who knows.So to sum up, if Michael Caine in various seventies fashions such as roll neck sweaters, giant aviator sunglasses, a smoking jacket with cravat and the odd kipper tie floats your boat, this is the move for you!.
Decent European thriller with plenty of action , big name cast and fine secondary players.
April in Paris is a time for lovers , but for a ruthless drug baron called Jacques Brizard (James Mason) is the smuggling season and for the destructors it's the killing time .
When a US intelligence agent , Steve Ventura (Anthony Quinn) , is unable to bring a heinous kingpin to justice , he resorts to hiring and is put in contact with a likable contract killer , John Deray (Michael Caine) , who results to be a former friend .
These Three Great Protagonists Anthony Quinn , Michael Caine , James Mason Live the Sweet Life But They Play a Game of Sudden Death.Nice Paris-located crime drama with intrigue , suspense , thrills , car pursuits , twists and turns .
The picture succeeds because of the thriller , tension , as well as an intelligent written script written by Judd Bernard delving into a twisted intrigue dealing how to chase an extreme villain .
It packs an exceptionally fine camera work , attractive sequences and car crashes on the metropolitan streets , in Paris and Marseille .
This thrilling picture mingles action-packed , drama , exciting pursuits , suspense , cross and double-crosses as well as spectacular sequences though won't mean much on little screen TV .
Pulse-quickening thriller movie but plenty of clichés and lots of violence , shootouts and killings .
Anthony Quinn is top-notch as US drug agent to stop a nasty kingpin , being helped by a hired killer who turns out to be an old friend .
An animated Michael Caine stands out as the sympathetic assassin .
And James Mason is perfect , as usual , as a drug lord who belongs to aristocracy of underworld .
Colorful cinematography by Douglas Slocombe , shot on location in Gare d'Orsay, Grotte, Parc des Buttes-Chaumont , Paris , Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, and Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France .
This film also released as "The Destructors" was professionally directed by Robert Parrish , though it has some flaws and gaps .
Robert was an Academy Award-winning film editor who also realized and acted in movies .
As an editor he won an Academy Award for Body and soul (1947), the 1947 Robert Rossen film that starred John Garfield as a money-grubbing, two-timing boxer on the make.
Parrish also worked on All the King's Men (1949), an account of the rise and fall of a Louisiana politician that won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Parrish then moved on to direct films during the 1950s and 1960s .
Among his best received works was the brooding western ¨Saddle the Wind¨ (1958) , a Noir film titled ¨Cry danger¨, a Sci-Fi picture titled ¨Journey to the far side of the sun¨, the wartime movie ¨Purple plain¨ that resulted to be one of the best films and other strange Western called ¨A town called Bastard¨ .
And of course , this his final film , the exciting thriller titled ¨The Marseille Contract¨ ..
I'll start by saying this is not a good film.
The cinematography makes poor use of the south of France location.
James Mason makes no attempt to be play a French gangster and reverts to his usual film persona - he doesn't even bother with an accent.
Antony Quinn is great though, particularly with the material he has to work with.
Overall it seems a waste of the talent in this film and the stunning locations.
Bog-standard 1970's thriller that is dull despite the cast.
Police officer Steve Ventura has tried and failed to catch Jacques Brizard a respectable businessman who deals drugs.
In his frustration he hires a hitman to kill Brizard the hitman turning out to be old friend John Deray.
As Deray starts to get close to Brizard, Ventura strengthens his case.I watched this back to back with another Michael Caine movie Without a Clue.
In that his presence lifted an average film into something better
.however here he can't manage it.
The action and the characters could also be in any other of hundreds of cheap thrillers.
There are few scenes that make the film interesting Deray showing how ruthless he is on top of a building site is one of the highlights, the car chase/romance is also interesting as it was copied (but extended) for Mission: Impossible 2.Caine appears to be in a different movie from Quinn he's happy go lucky, enjoying romantic dinners etc while Quinn is gritting it out on the streets with informers etc.
It creates a split feel to the movie but it's better when the two come together.
Neither are good enough to make the film better than average nor is James `The Voice' Mason, who looks like he's asleep for most of it.Overall, there are plenty of good 1970's thrillers out there that contain these actors separately (Quinn in Across 110th Street for one) here the three can't manage to lift this out of being average and a bit dull..
Disappointing thriller despite the triple "A" cast..
The plot sounds intriguing and we know Caine can play a hit man, but he lacks any of the bite we saw as Harry Palmer.
It was his mega busy period, and this was appears to have been just another gig.James Mason is underused, having little to do,and Anthony Quinn, despite sharing several scenes with Caine, appears to be in a different film.
He looks ill at ease throughout, and a nonsensical plot twist undermines his honest cop routine.Considering the salary bill for just these three the studio could surely have hired a director who could breath some sort of life into the limp script, hang on, why was it green lighted with that script at all?
Fine cast, nice settings, but lousy plot (and sound editing).
My main reason for tracking this poorly rated 70s flick was Roy Budd's score.
Unfortunately there is almost nothing from his beautiful work in the final soundtrack, so don't lose time with this very bad movie, get Budd's score instead!
Or if you're looking for a better euro gritty 70s crime movie starring Michael Caine and making good use of a Budd score, try The Black Windmill.Mostly The Marseille Contract suffers from a story that succeeds in being both pedestrian and erratic.
Michael Caine is barely guest-starring, getting his buoyant gig while Anthony Quinn's main/gloomy story is suddenly demoted to the background.
James Mason simply says his uninteresting lines as requested, and the girls are great.Too bad Roy Budd didn't get to unleash his talent for excellent movies.
For me Get Carter is just OK-cool thanks to Budd + Caine, but they are both underused in The Marseille Contract.François de Roubaix also wrote magnificent scores for lame movies but you can watch them just to enjoy the music in context; and often his scores inflated movies above their mediocre boilerplate qualities.
And he also scored fine movies, even during the seventies..
All I knew was the cast of The Destructors before I started watching it.
How could a film starring Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, and James Mason be bad?
It's an extremely entertaining movie with three powerhouse actors making the most of their roles.The start of the film shows Anthony Quinn and his lover Alexandra Stewart getting dressed after a liaison.
It's a perfect warning for the audience because nothing's as it seems throughout the film.
Tony's fed up and decides to take matters into his own hands by hiring a hit-man.Even more than I love the performances of the three leads—which are very good—I love Judd Bernard's screenplay.
He introduces each character with a uniquely interesting scene that helps the audience gain an accurate picture.
There are so many scenes I'd love to describe in hopes of getting you hooked on the premise, from the meaningful, tension-filled scenes between Tony and Alexandra to the introduction of Tony to Michael Caine—it's natural yet nerve-wracking.
Both Tony and Michael are particularly yummy in this film, if you happen to think either of them is handsome like I do.
James Mason has a few miles on him, but he's classy and almost regal-looking, and his sensitive expressions outweigh any bad behavior he might be getting into.
If you like any of the three actors, European-styled films, thrillers with bad boys, or want to see the famous ten-minute car chase seduction that so many films have subsequently copied, rent The Destructors for a very fun weekend movie night..
good actors.
a film who, far to be great, reminds the rules of genre in correct manner.
a sketch itself, at the first sigh, it is seductive for the tension and for the memories with many other films about same theme, for the sensitivities illustration of period, for the dust and landscapes and the tricks and the presence of actors.
a film for remember the flavor of an old cinema more than entertainment.
and delight for the fans of Anthonz Quinn, James Mason or Michael Caine..
Good Actors, Weak Script.
The actors (mainly Quinn) give the impression that a classic, perfect movie is going on.
Unfortunately after a few scenes the script shows its weakness.
But the dialogues reveal soon a number of commonplaces and the director seems not to be really convinced about the movie.
A very good performance by Anthony Quinn, while Michael Caine plays below its average..
Sort like "The French Connection" but nothing short of eye-candies.
The yellow Porsche was still a race car, but I prefer more that car Michael Caine drove.
Now in 2018, Anthony Quinn, James Mason and most of the supporting bad guys and good guys were all dead for a long time, Caine is now an very old guy too.
But look at Caine in the 70's, what a handsome dude!
Yes, I do know Marseille was the major drug export city at that time, but how come the role Mason played, a pure English breed, would have been the powerful drug lord in France?
Why Quinn hired the hitman then had the second thought and wanted to cancel the contract?
The audience gets beautiful Parisian scenery and a ton of action.
Another element that they get are pieces of recent hits jumbled together in a film that can be entertaining, but lacks in structure that makes memorable cinema.As head of an American agency involved in investigating drug trafficking, Anthony Quinn must find a hit man to knock off powerful drug cartel leader James Mason, and ironically he hires old pal Michael Caine who utilizes his wiles with women to break into Mason's circle.
The scene is almost erotic, and just one sequence where this feels like a cartoon.Finding out that Caine is wanted allegedly in Paris for murder and bank robbery, Mason has him do an impromptu hit that is beyond comical.
The way this is filmed you half expect them to remove the corpse yo leave the man shaped hole in the ground exposed.
By this point the film just falters in its obvious attempt to emulate "The French Connection" where it fails miserably.I was more interested in the scenery than the plot, although these are three of my favorite actors.
Still, the opportunity to see real streets of Paris and the parks and rivers surrounding the Eifel Tower and the train system (where Quinn jumps off and fools several of Mason's men) is fascinating.
There are certainly memorable single sequences than the ones I mention, including one with Quinn being chased by Mason's men through the underground after they abduct him that concludes with them in a lavish but abandoned train station.
Even at only 90 minutes, however, I was hoping for more than just moments, particularly a story with structure, character and real motivations, not just the thought design that "If it's written down on paper, then people will believe it.".
Dull, exceedingly unoriginal Euro-thriller..
Anthony Quinn and Michael Caine had previously worked together on the critically panned The Magus, but undeterred they reunite in this typical '70s Euro-thriller.
If rumours are to be believed, Caine accepted the role of assassin John Deray in this movie without reading a single word of the script.
Alas, The Marseille Contract is a disappointing and exceedingly familiar thriller, utterly reminiscent of a hundred other movies made around that time.
Those who have not seen many movies of this ilk might enjoy it more than others, but for the connoisseur of the '60s/'70s continental thriller there is absolutely nothing fresh about this one.American intelligence agent Steve Ventura (Anthony Quinn) is out to nail a seemingly respectable French citizen named Jacques Brizard (James Mason).
In reality Brizard is a major drug lord who uses his privileged reputation to evade the suspicion of the French police.
Unable to get close to his quarry, Ventura decides to take the unorthodox method of hiring a contract killer to erase Brizard.
The assassin who comes forth to carry out the job, much to Ventura's surprise, is John Deray (Michael Caine).
Deray sets about completing his contract, but various twists and double-crosses await along the way.When a star trio of Caine, Quinn and Mason can't save a film, you know it must be a pretty hopeless case.
Judd Bernard's clichéd script simply regurgitates characters and situations from other movies in the genre it's basically like rolling Caravan To Vaccares, The Mackintosh Man, The French Connection II, The Mechanic and Cold Sweat into one.
If you've seen any of those films, you've more-or-less seen this one.
Director Robert Parrish goes through the motions in by-the-numbers fashion, tossing in competent car chases, cold-blooded killings and attractive locations without ever creating any real interest in the story.
Roy Budd contributes a cool score (very much of its era) and ace director-of-photography Douglas Slocombe captures the appealing locations very nicely.
But these are just minor compensations in a film of mind-numbing unoriginality.
If you are on some sort of personal quest to watch every Michael Caine film, or every Anthony Quinn film, or even every James Mason film ever made, then you may have a reason to seek out this title.
But everyone else will find it is not a film that offers its audience any particular pleasure or reward..
Bland thriller with a high dead body count.
A bland film starring Anthony Quinn as a US narc in Paris trying unsuccessfully to take down ruthless drug lord James Mason.
He brings in hit-man Michael Caine to do the job.
Although there's plenty of action, the movie is really too drab to be recommended.
Director Robert Parrish tries every camera angle imaginable in an effort to breathe life into this hokum.
Quinn dominates the first half of the film with a very forceful performance as the world weary government man and Caine takes over for the second half.
Clearly it's a tip of the hat to THE FRENCH CONNECTION's dapper drug pusher Fernando Rey. The oddball supporting cast includes Alexandra Stewart, Maurice Ronet and, in a cameo, former JFK crony Pierre Salinger (as Quinn's crusty superior). |
tt1202150 | Beauty and the Beast | A widower merchant lives in a mansion with his six children, three sons and three daughters. All his daughters are very beautiful, but the youngest, Beauty, is the most lovely, as well as kind, well-read, and pure of heart; while the two elder sisters, in contrast, are wicked, selfish, vain, and spoiled. They secretly taunt Beauty and treat her more like a servant than a sister. The merchant eventually loses all of his wealth in a tempest at sea which sinks most of his merchant fleet. He and his children are consequently forced to live in a small farmhouse and work for their living.
Some years later, the merchant hears that one of the trade ships he had sent off has arrived back in port, having escaped the destruction of its compatriots. Before leaving, he asks his children if they wish for him to bring any gifts back for them. The sons ask for weaponry and horses to hunt with, whereas his oldest daughters ask for clothing, jewels, and the finest dresses possible as they think his wealth has returned. Beauty is satisfied with the promise of a rose as none grow in their part of the country. The merchant, to his dismay, finds that his ship's cargo has been seized to pay his debts, leaving him penniless and unable to buy his children's presents.
During his return, the merchant becomes lost during a storm. Seeking shelter, he enters a dazzling palace. A hidden figure opens the giant doors and silently invites him in. The merchant finds tables inside laden with food and drink, which seem to have been left for him by the palace's invisible owner. The merchant accepts this gift and spends the night there. The next morning, as the merchant is about to leave, he sees a rose garden and recalls that Beauty had desired a rose. Upon picking the loveliest rose he can find, the merchant is confronted by a hideous "Beast" which tells him that for taking his most precious possession after accepting his hospitality, the merchant must die. The merchant begs to be set free, arguing that he had only picked the rose as a gift for his youngest daughter. The Beast agrees to let him give the rose to Beauty, but only if the merchant or one of his daughters will return.
The merchant is upset but accepts this condition. The Beast sends him on his way, with wealth, jewels and fine clothes for his sons and daughters, and stresses that Beauty must never know about his deal. The merchant, upon arriving home, tries to hide the secret from Beauty, but she pries it from him. Her brothers say they will go to the castle and fight the Beast, but the merchant dissuades them, saying they will stand no chance against the monster. Beauty then agrees to go to the Beast's castle. The Beast receives her graciously and informs her that she is now mistress of the castle, and he is her servant. He gives her lavish clothing and food and carries on lengthy conversations with her. Every night, the Beast asks Beauty to marry him, only to be refused each time. After each refusal, Beauty dreams of a handsome prince who pleads with her to answer why she keeps refusing him, to which she replies that she cannot marry the Beast because she loves him only as a friend. Beauty does not make the connection between the handsome prince and the Beast and becomes convinced that the Beast is holding the prince captive somewhere in the castle. She searches and discovers multiple enchanted rooms, but never the prince from her dreams.
For several months, Beauty lives a life of luxury at the Beast's palace, having every whim catered to by invisible servants, with no end of riches to amuse her and an endless supply of exquisite finery to wear. Eventually, she becomes homesick and begs the Beast to allow her to go see her family. He allows it on the condition that she returns exactly a week later. Beauty agrees to this and sets off for home with an enchanted mirror and ring. The mirror allows her to see what is going on back at the Beast's castle, and the ring allows her to return to the castle in an instant when turned three times around her finger. Her older sisters are surprised to find her well fed and dressed in finery. Beauty tries to share the magnificent gowns and jewels the Beast gave her with her sisters, but they turn into rags at her sisters' touch, and are restored to their splendour when returned to Beauty, as the Beast meant them only for her. Her sisters are envious when they hear of her happy life at the castle, and, hearing that she must return to the Beast on a certain day, beg her to stay another day, even putting onion in their eyes to make it appear as though they are weeping. They hope that the Beast will be angry with Beauty for breaking her promise and eat her alive. Beauty's heart is moved by her sisters' false show of love, and she agrees to stay.
Beauty begins to feel guilty about breaking her promise to the Beast and uses the mirror to see him back at the castle. She is horrified to discover that the Beast is lying half-dead from heartbreak near the rose bushes from which her father plucked the rose, and she immediately uses the ring to return to the Beast.
Beauty weeps over the Beast, saying that she loves him. When her tears strike him, the Beast is transformed into the handsome prince from Beauty's dreams. The Prince informs her that long ago a fairy turned him into a hideous beast after he refused to let her in from the rain and that only by finding true love, despite his ugliness, could the curse be broken. He and Beauty are married and they live happily ever after together. | romantic, fantasy | train | wikipedia | null |
tt0054098 | Mughal-E-Azam | Emperor Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor), who does not have a male heir, undertakes a pilgrimage to a shrine to pray that his wife Jodhabai (Durga Khote) give birth to a son. Later, a maid brings the emperor news of his son's birth. Overjoyed at his prayers being answered, Akbar gives the maid his ring, and promises to grant her anything she desires.
The son, Prince Salim, grows up to be spoiled, flippant, and self-indulgent. His father sends him off to war, to teach him courage and discipline. Fourteen years later, Salim returns as a distinguished soldier (Dilip Kumar) and falls in love with court dancer Nadira, whom the emperor has renamed Anarkali (Madhubala), meaning pomegranate blossom. The relationship is discovered by the jealous Bahar (Nigar Sultana), a dancer of a higher rank, who wants the prince to love her so that she may one day become queen. Unsuccessful in winning Salim's love, she exposes his forbidden relationship with Anarkali. Salim pleads to marry Anarkali, but his father refuses, and imprisons her. Despite her treatment, Anarkali refuses to reject Salim, as Akbar demands.
Salim rebels and amasses an army to confront Akbar and rescue Anarkali. Defeated in battle, Salim is sentenced to death by his father, but is told that the sentence will be revoked if Anarkali, now in hiding, is handed over to die in his place. Anarkali gives herself up to save the prince's life, and is condemned to death by being entombed alive. Before her sentence is carried out, she begs to have a few hours with Salim as his make-believe wife. Her request is granted, as she has agreed to drug Salim so that he cannot interfere with her entombment. As Anarkali is being walled up, Akbar is reminded that he still owes her mother a favour, as it was she who brought him news of Salim's birth. Anarkali's mother pleads for her daughter's life. The emperor has a change of heart, but although he wants to release Anarkali he cannot, because of his duty to his country. He therefore arranges for her secret escape into exile with her mother, but demands that the pair are to live in obscurity, and that Salim is never to know that Anarkali is still alive. | tragedy, romantic | train | wikipedia | I haven't seen the black and white original of Mughal E Azam since the '80's, but I recently saw the restored revived colourised 2004 re-release for the first time and was astounded by the results.
I'm not a believer in messing around with the originals, but bearing in mind director Asif always wanted to make the whole film in colour but didn't have enough money the "final" product is amazing to see - such is technology!
It was incredibly expensive to make as it was, the restoration process must have cost a fabulous amount too.Seminal Indian epic purporting to deal with events from about 400 years ago around Prince Saleem (Dilip Kumar) falling in love with a court dancer Anarkali (Madhubala) to his father Akbar's utter opposition and eventually causing a rift leading to all out war.
But it's Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya (If I have loved someone>why should I be afraid?) sung by Anarkali (Lata) to the 2 of them in the Hall Of Mirrors that is absolutely stunning - I will have to get the original and compare, because the remaster seems to have turned this song into something even more magical and mesmerising than I remembered.
According to the legend it was supposed to have an unhappy ending - needless to say I'm glad it was altered here to a happy one after such a roller-coaster ride!A tremendous work of Art, showing the very best of Indian cinema..
From Prithviraj Kapoor's magnificent rendering of the imposing Emperor Akbar to Dalip Kumar's obvious love for the spectacular Madhubhala.
But for those that can appreciate the finer things in life -- not some cloying Hum Apke Hain Kaun or Shah Rukh Khan's obsession with bleeding and overacting in every single film -- Mughal-e-Azam fits the bill perfectly..
A true masterpiece,featuring some of the greatest actors ever to grace the Indian screen.Prithviraj Kapoor,the doyen of Indian Cinema is Akbar himself and Dilip Kumar & Madhubala both put in sterling performances There is a question as to whether the storyline was actually true but the very nature of the story indicates the level of religious tolerance that existed at the time of Akbar.Akbar's wife Rani Jodhabhai was a hindu and that was the mughal method of building bridges with their hindu subjects.The role of Akbar would really serve as a model for religious amity today.The major issue Akbar had in consenting to the marriage of dancer Anarkali(represented by Madhubala) and Prince Salim(Dilip Kumar) was the class status.After all it was the 16th century All in all,a grand spectacle which showcases Indian culture at its very best and grandest and leaves one to wonder at the relative deterioration in subsequent centuries.
One is sure to be mesmerized by the love affair, the Mughal Emperor and the India of that time.
Salim, played by Dilip Kumar is one of his best known acting and film.
I watched the latest 2004 re-release of this film in a theater and the experience was superb.
I had earlier watched the movie (earlier release) in television before, but the latest release in colour and Dolby digital sound adds to the experience.
Based on Classical music, the songs adds life to the film and are strongly linked with the story-line as well.
The movie shows the love and emotions through powerful poetic words (dialoges).
When one thinks of great movies they remember the classics such as gone with the wind, Ben hur etc...
but let us not forget one of the greatest cinematic triumphs of Hindi Cinema Mughal-e-Azam a film set in the times of the great Moughul Empire.
Mughal-e-Azam is indeed a colossal of a movie and its spell binding appeal and courtly grandeur has been further enhanced by the recently released color version.Dilip Kumar, the icon of Indian Cinema and its first super star as well, has rendered complete resonance to the hedonistic persona of prince Saleem.
The love travails of the myth of Anarkali have been splendidly captured on the tinsel screen through the superb portrayal by both, Madhu Bala and legendary Dilip Kumar.
Today I am very lucky and felt an honored of writing the review for the greatest epic of Indian cinema and biggest Indian film ever which has been hailed as a masterpiece.
The ostentatious look, the unforgettable music, the awesome war scenes, superb performances, the well-known romance between Salim and Anarkalis MUGHAL-E-AZAM will always remain as a point of reference.After 44 years, this masterpiece has been released after reviving it in color (the original version was 85 percent black and white and 15 percent colour), with an upgraded, contemporary sound system (Dolby Digital).The Story is about the Ruler Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) and Queen Jodha (Durga Khote) give birth to a son, Salim, after years of prayer.Prince Salim (Dilip Kumar) grows into a commendable combatant.
Salim falls in love with court dancer Anarkali (Madhubala).
It is a must see movie for every moviegoer for its pure canvass, for its majestic framing and not just for being a colorful costume drama, for its romance, for the glorious Sheesh Mahal and also for our fake filmmakers (like karan johar, aditya chopra, nikhil advani, kunal kohli and many others like them) who cannot think beyond Manhattan and singing heroes and have light years to reach this level of film-making.
MUGHAL-E-AZAM is a must for todays generation, who, perhaps, may not have watched this classic.
There will only be one "Ben-Hur", one "Lawrence of Arabia", one "Sound of Music", one "Sangam", one "Gadar-Ek Prem Katha" and only one "Mughal-E-Azam".
After I watched the movie after three decades, few things stood out-the ornate settings for the Madhubala's (Born as Mumtaz Begum, was married to singer/actor Kishore Kumar, and died at age of 36, from a congenital heart problem), dance sequence, the rich music, the beauty of the yesteryear actresses and the devotion of the directors to make a statement-not just a movie.
Excellent performance by each & every character "Mughal Emperor Akbar - Zealous Prithiviraj", "Maharani Jodha Bai - Motherly Durga Khote", "Prince Salim -Bold Dilip Kumar", "Anarkali Servant Girl - Beautiful Madhubala".Carefully made & splendid effort by team to portray the communal harmony enjoyed by people of those times.
The best part is the friendship of Durjan (Ajit) and Prince Salim, he sacrifices life for the honor of Prince.Prithiviraj Kapoor gets full points for his role as a emperor who keeps his promises made to his subjects, adamant/uncompromising to lower the dignity of his empire.
Mughal-e-Azam is arguably the BIGGEST production in Indian cinema ever.
This masterpiece directed by K.Asif unleashes the Mughal era on the big screen in a simply magnificent manner.
The dialog in pure Urdu, the magical music, amazing dance sequences, unforgettable songs, and amazing performances by the entire cast and the scale and magnitude of the film...you actually start living in the Mughal era.
Prithviraj Kapoor portrays emperor Akbar with élan, Dilip Kumar as Salim lend realism to the character and stunning Madhubala pulls of the Anarkali role with effortless ease.
The film was re released in color and Dolby sound version, which again created history at the box office, confirming that pure magic never dies down.
Dear Reader, Its one of the best made movies ever, Excellent characterization starting from Anarkali (Madhubala, the best actress India has ever produced.), to Akbar, to Salim, even supporting actors characters are too good like Durjan singh, and Manaraja Mansingh.
Its one of the best and most celebrated movie of India cinema.
The music and lyrics you will keep rhyming for days after watching the movie.
The new color version of the old classic has given viewers one more chance to view the hugely celebrated movie.Given a choice its worth seeing it N-times.Simply Excellent!!!TC, prakash.
Prithviraj Kapoor is excellent in a wonderfully dramatic and appropriately theatrical performance as Emperor Akbar.
I found the film a greatly entertaining watch, and while I had a problem with its overlong running time, as well as some faulty sequences, such as the less convincing battle between the father and son, Mughul-E-Azam remains a meticulous piece of art, and a rightly-touted all-time classic of Indian cinema..
If you watch one Indian movie, this should be the one....
Sort of Indian cinema's 'Gone With the Wind' in its scale and impact, this huge 3 hour epic started slowly for me, feeling awkward, dated, and a little stagy.But then, I found myself unexpectedly swept up in this story of a prince defying his father for love of a woman, really enjoying it, and wanting to see how the story would turn out.Some amazing set design, and some beautiful songs, along with often really strong cinematography.2 versions of film exist.
Filmmaker Asif had wanted to make the whole film in color, but lacked the funds.
While that would normally be a film sacrilege to me, in this case it was done with loving care, at great expense, and with the intention of finishing Asif's version the way he wanted.
Maybe the early Indian color process had a slightly unreal look that let the reels that were originally in color blend just about seamlessly with the colorized reels, but in any case the whole worked wonderfully.On the other hand I recently watched the film again, this time in the original mostly black and white/2 reels in color version.
ONE of the Best Bollywood Movies with a Very Interesting Story and Great Presentation.
I loved the music, the dances, the culture, and the depiction of India during the Mughal empire.
I especially loved the purity of the language, though I couldn't understand every word because a significant portion of it was in Urdu whereas I'm Hindu.That said, this is certainly not THE best Bollywood movie ever.
From insisting on real pearls for a scene to getting the best classical dancer in India to choreograph his heroine & to getting the best vocalist (who never sang for any other movie) to provide the backdrop to the most iconic love scene in Indian film history the director K Asif created this masterpiece over a period of 12 years.
Mughal E Azam is synonymous with scale - the grandness of its sets, the loftiness of its dialogue, the brilliance of its actors, the astuteness of its photography (check out the sequence in the palace of mirrors) as well as the timelessness of its music.
If you have to watch one India Movie, this is it.
Imagine getting hold of an iPhone in the early 1990's Thats what Mughal e Azam was way ahead of its time.
Every single frame of the movie is a piece of art and a tribute to perfection in cinema.Many people have said this before that K Asif was sent on this planet to create Mughal E Azam ,that was his sole purpose of life.
Choosing a timeless story and enacting it on cinema by ensuring that every single inch of the movie frame is filled with perfection and passion is no easy feat.
Coming to the movie, the direction, acting, music, sets.....Oh boy don't get me started on the sets, imagine the sets were so lavish and close to perfection that the Heads of states from across the world visiting India would make it a point to visit the Sheeshmahal ( Glass palace) , which was depicted as Akbars palace.
Don't watch Mughal E Azam for its lavish sets, or the perfect cast, or the mesmerizing acting, or the dialogues or the songs or the dance, or the fact that people in 60's would line up weeks in advance camping outside the theater for tickets, or the period it depicts or the work of the director.............Watch it for what Cinema was meant to be, watch it as a tribute to what Cinema was created for.
Giving it a rating would be an insult to Cinema so as a humble movie goer I can only go as high as the rating would allow me to, where as the reality is Mughal E Azam is above all of it.
Mughal-E-Azam is a film which can never die or be forgotten.
Acting- Dilip Kumar as Salim leaves you speechless and so does the ethereal beauty Madhubala as Ananrkali.
A 'Perfect' casting for a film.Music- Pyar Kiya To Darna- Picturised on Madhubala, Dilip Kumar, Prithviraj Kapoor, Durga Khote, Nigar Sultana still is the grandest song ever.Mohe Panghat Pe- Picturised on Madhubala, Kumar, Kapoor, Khote is still played on Lord Krishna's Janmasthmi.Teri Mehfil Mein- Picturised on Madhubala, Nigar, Kumar is arguably the best duet till date.Other hits like Mohabbat Ki Jhooti, Humen Kash Tumse, Jab Raat Hai Aisi, Aye Mohabbat Zindabad, Bekas Pe Karam Kijiye, Khuda Nigeheban, Aye Ishq Yeh Sab Duniyawale...
THE ONLY FILM OF K.ASIF!Release Dates- 05-08-1960 (BW/ Partly Color) 12-11-2004 (Colorized)its a much watch 4 every youngster...
All the songs, are indeed emotion pumping and perfect for the scene it plays for.Direction, screenplay and the restoration into color - everything is so majestic, you will want to watch it again and again, provided you were successful in creating that ancient, old mindset required for this movie.K Asif's classic cinema delivers more than it proposes and is for sure a treat to your eyes, emotion quotient and the way of thinking!
A very finely made epic with a all-star cast,great screenplay,music,songs and direction.Some of the dialogue is immortal.I have heard it said that Dilip Kumar was outstanding but i find his performance dull and uninteresting.The stars are Madhubala and Prithviraj.If ever i wanted someone to play Akbar it would be Prithviraj.Madhubala was in her prime in this movie.The scene where she tears off her jewelery after drugging Dilip is so good and so well filmed that it becomes the whole love story itself.The dialogue is beautiful.Ajit,Murad and Durga Khotay also excel themselves.The oddity is the pale-faced Dilip.It happens that expect in Tarana,he always seems subdued whenever he is paired with Madhubala.Mughal-e-Azam is a classic but historically it is based on a myth and has no resemblance to the truth about Akbar and Jahangir..
My reliance on English subtitles may have a lot to do with my under-appreciation of this one, but I found it the toughest sledding so far in my progress through a good list of the top Indian movies of all time.
I also imagine there are subtexts about the history of India that I can't pick up.That said --this is a big historical melodrama about the tragic romance between Salim, son and heir of the Moghul ruler Akbar, and a slave girl called Anarkali.
There is a respectable implicit psychodynamic element to the story -- as a child, Salim was seen by his father as spoiled, so he was sent off into wars for ten or 20 years, ripped out of his cozy life and away from his mother -- which can kind of "explain" his later willingness to risk absolutely everything for the love of the beautiful slave girl.For me this was the kind of Bollywood movie parodied in "Bollywood Calling," though it is much better--but every line delivered is stentorian or worse, the characters are really one-dimensional (mother is motherly, Salim is passionate and self-willed, father is virtually unyielding, slave girl is alluring and vulnerable), there are many scenes of the slave girl in chains, etc.
There's a good amount of spectacle--big armies, big terrifically-costumed armies on horseback and of course elephants, and some very satisfying palace dance performances, most notably in the last third of the movie which is in color..
Mughal-e-Azam may represent history both of India and of film but, as in any good tale, the tensions within and between the characters surprised me by being fresh and immediate.
I was a little skeptical beforehand about the colorization--but this is done lovingly as an art in itself and fully supportive of the cinematographic effects of the original filming.
In the meantime, the scenes of the movie play out in my mind as I wonder about fate, justice, and--of course--human love.
A work of Art - Ben Hur of Indian Cinema.
Mughal-e-Azam is the culmination of a dream, of a man possessed to make this movie - K Asif.
He used 8 cameras simultaneously, for filming the battle scenes, which are surprisingly realistic for a 1950s Bollywood movie.
Dilip Kumar and Madhubala's performances and their on-screen chemistry are great.
Especially if you consider the fact that they had a break-up in real life, and Dilip Kumar appeared as a witness against Madhubala in a court case!Performances by Prithviraj Kapoor and Durga Khote might appear a bit too dramatic and overdone.
(I am not sure if translations and sub-titles could do proper justice to them)Western audiences would find this film a bit long, and then it has that compulsory ingredient of any bollywood movie - the songs.
(Which are good if you understand the language and the poetry) This is not to say that film doesn't have its flaws - to show Akbar as a compassionate king and to have a "happy ending" Asif changed the popular legend by letting Anarkali escape through the false bottom of the wall that opens out into a tunnel unknown to Salim.
A classic movie of all times..
It shows the love story of the mughal emperor Akbar's son Salim with the singer/maid Anarkali.
The war scene is filmed very well keeping in mind the kind of special effects available at that time.
This movie is must watch for all Indian classic movie lovers..
Albeit some performances and dialogs are melodramatic, over-the-top- especially the ones with the mother, Queen Jodha Bai, yet one must understand the requirement of the time, as well as the archetypes that were (and are) close to the heart of the audiences.
Finally- the fabulous on screen chemistry of Dilip Kumar and Madhubala.
With his nuanced acting and the slightest inflection in tone conveying volumes- Dilip Kumar is simply arresting and with her naughty, flirtatious first dance as Radha, Madhubala conveys the passionate Anarkali. |
tt0053779 | La dolce vita | Based on the most common interpretation of the storyline, the film can be divided into a prologue, seven major episodes interrupted by an intermezzo, and an epilogue (see also Structure, below). If the evenings of each episode were joined with the morning of the respective preceding episode together as a day, they would form seven consecutive days, which may not necessarily be the case.
=== Prologue ===
1st Day Sequence: A helicopter transports a statue of Christ over an ancient Roman aqueduct outside Rome while a second, Marcello Rubini's news helicopter, follows it into the city. The news helicopter is momentarily sidetracked by a group of bikini-clad women sunbathing on the rooftop of a high-rise apartment building. Hovering above, Marcello uses gestures to elicit phone numbers from them but fails in his attempt then shrugs and continues on following the statue into Saint Peter's Square.
=== Episode 1 ===
1st Night Sequence: Marcello meets Maddalena by chance in an exclusive nightclub. A beautiful and wealthy heiress, Maddalena is tired of Rome and constantly in search of new sensations while Marcello finds Rome suits him as a jungle he can hide in. They make love in the bedroom of a prostitute to whom they had given a ride home in Maddalena’s Cadillac.
1st Dawn Sequence: Marcello returns to his apartment at dawn to find that his fiancée, Emma, has overdosed. On the way to the hospital, he declares his everlasting love to her and again as she lies in a semiconscious state in the emergency room. While waiting frantically for her recovery, however, he tries to make a phone call to Maddalena.
=== Episode 2 ===
2nd Day Sequence: That day, he goes on assignment for the arrival of Sylvia, a famous Swedish-American actress, at Ciampino airport where she is met by a horde of news reporters.
During Sylvia's press conference, Marcello calls home to ensure Emma has taken her medication while reassuring her that he is not alone with Sylvia. After the film star confidently replies to the barrage of journalists' questions, her boyfriend Robert (Lex Barker) enters the room late and drunk. To Sylvia's producer, Marcello casually recommends that Sylvia be taken on a tour of St Peter's.
Inside St Peter's dome, a news reporter complains that Sylvia is "an elevator" because none of them can match her energetic climb up the numerous flights of stairs. Inspired, Marcello maneuvers forward to be alone with her when they finally reach the balcony overlooking the Vatican.
2nd Night Sequence: That evening, the infatuated Marcello dances with Sylvia in the Baths of Caracalla. Sylvia's natural sensuality triggers raucous partying while Robert, her bored fiancé, draws caricatures and reads a newspaper. His humiliating remark to her causes Sylvia to leave the group, eagerly followed by Marcello and his paparazzi colleagues. Finding themselves alone, Marcello and Sylvia spend the rest of the evening in the alleys of Rome where they wade into the Trevi Fountain.
2nd Dawn Sequence: Like a magic spell that has suddenly been broken, dawn arrives at the very moment Sylvia playfully "anoints" Marcello's head with fountain water. They drive back to Sylvia's hotel to find an enraged Robert waiting for her in his car. Robert slaps Sylvia, orders her to go to bed, and then assaults Marcello who takes it in stride.
=== Episode 3a ===
3rd Day Sequence: Marcello meets Steiner, his distinguished intellectual friend, inside a church playing Bach on the organ. Steiner shows off his book of Sanskrit grammar.
=== Episode 4 ===
4th Day Sequence: Late afternoon, Marcello, his photographer friend Paparazzo, and Emma drive to the outskirts of Rome to cover the story of the purported sighting of the Madonna by two children. Although the Catholic Church is officially skeptical, a huge crowd of devotees and reporters gathers at the site.
3rd Night Sequence: That night, the event is broadcast over Italian radio and television. Blindly following the two children from corner to corner in a downpour, the crowd tears a small tree apart for its branches and leaves said to have sheltered the Madonna. Meanwhile, Emma prays to the Virgin Mary to be given sole possession of Marcello's heart.
3rd Dawn Sequence: The gathering ends at dawn with the crowd mourning a sick child, a pilgrim brought by his mother to be healed, but trampled to death in the melee.
=== Episode 3b ===
4th Night Sequence: One evening, Marcello and Emma attend a gathering at Steiner’s luxurious home where they are introduced to a group of intellectuals who recite poetry, strum the guitar, offer philosophical ideas, and listen to sounds of nature recorded on tape. An American woman, whose poetry Marcello has read and admired, recommends that Marcello avoid the "prisons" of commitment: "Stay free, available, like me. Never get married. Never choose. Even in love, it's better to be chosen." Emma appears enchanted with Steiner's home and children, telling Marcello that one day he will have a home like Steiner's.
Outside on the terrace, Marcello confesses to Steiner his admiration for all he stands for, but Steiner admits he is torn between the security that a materialistic life affords and his longing for a more spiritual albeit insecure way of life. Steiner philosophizes about the need for love in the world and fears what his children may grow up to face one day.
=== Intermezzo ===
5th Day Sequence: Marcello spends the afternoon working on his novel at a seaside restaurant where he meets Paola, a young waitress from Perugia playing Perez Prado's cha-cha Patricia on the jukebox and then humming its tune. He asks her if she has a boyfriend, then describes her as an angel in Umbrian paintings.
=== Episode 5 ===
5th Night Sequence: Marcello meets his father (Annibale Ninchi) visiting Rome on the Via Veneto. With Paparazzo, they go to the Cha-Cha-Cha Club where Marcello introduces his father to Fanny, a beautiful dancer and one of his past one-night stands (he had promised to get her picture in the paper, but failed to do it). Fanny takes a liking to his father. Marcello tells Paparazzo that as a child he had never seen much of his father, who would spend weeks away from home. Fanny invites Marcello’s father back to her flat, and two other dancers invite the two younger men to go with them. Marcello leaves the others when they get to the dancers' neighborhood. Fanny comes out of her house, upset that Marcello's father has become ill.
4th Dawn Sequence: Marcello's father has suffered what seems to be a mild heart attack. Marcello wants him to stay with him in Rome so they can get to know each other, but his father, weakened, wants to go home and gets in a taxi to catch the first train home. He leaves Marcello forlorn, on the street, watching the taxi leave.
=== Episode 6 ===
6th Night Sequence: Marcello, Nico, and other friends met on the Via Veneto are driven to a castle owned by aristocrats at Bassano di Sutri outside Rome. There is already a party long in progress, and the party-goers are bleary-eyed and intoxicated. By chance, Marcello meets Maddalena again. The two of them explore a suite of ruins annexed to the castle. Maddalena seats Marcello in a vast room and then closets herself in another room connected by an echo chamber. As a disembodied voice, Maddalena asks him to marry her; Marcello professes his love for her, avoiding answering her proposal. Another man kisses and embraces Maddalena, who loses interest in Marcello. He rejoins the group, and eventually spends the night with Jane, an American artist and heiress.
5th Dawn Sequence: Burnt out and bleary-eyed, the group returns at dawn to the main section of the castle, to be met by the matriarch of the castle, who is on her way to mass, accompanied by priests in a procession.
=== Episode 3c ===
7th Night Sequence: Marcello and Emma are alone in his sports car on an isolated road. Emma starts an argument by professing her love, and tries to get out of the car; Marcello pleads with her not to get out. Emma says that Marcello will never find another woman who loves him the way she does. Marcello becomes enraged, telling her that he cannot live with her smothering, maternal love. He now wants her to get out of the car, but she refuses. With some violence (a bite from her and a slap from him), he throws her out of the car and drives off, leaving her alone on a deserted road at night. Hours later, Emma hears his car approaching as she picks flowers by the roadside. She gets into the car with neither of them saying a word.
6th Dawn Sequence: Marcello and Emma are asleep in bed, tenderly intertwined; Marcello receives a phone call. He rushes to the Steiners' apartment and learns that Steiner has killed his two children and himself.
6th Day Sequence: After waiting with the police for Steiner’s wife to return home, he meets her outside to break the terrible news while paparazzi swarm around her snapping pictures.
=== Episode 7 ===
6th Night Sequence: An unspecified amount of time later, an older Marcello—now with gray in his hair—and a group of partygoers break into a Fregene beach house owned by Riccardo, a friend of Marcello's. To celebrate her recent divorce from Riccardo, Nadia performs a striptease to Perez Prado's cha-cha Patricia. The drunken Marcello attempts to provoke the other partygoers into an orgy. Due to their inebriated states, however, the party descends into mayhem with Marcello throwing pillow feathers around the room as he rides a young woman crawling on her hands and knees. Riccardo shows up at the house and angrily tells the partiers to leave.
=== Epilogue ===
7th Dawn Sequence: The party proceeds to the beach at dawn where they find a modern-day leviathan, a bloated, stingray-like creature, caught in the fishermen's nets. In his stupor, Marcello comments on how its eyes stare even in death.
7th Day Sequence: Paola, the adolescent waitress from the seaside restaurant in Fregene, calls to Marcello from across an estuary but the words they exchange are lost on the wind, drowned out by the crash of the waves. He signals his inability to understand what she is saying or interpret her gestures. He shrugs and returns to the partygoers; one of the women joins him and they hold hands as they walk away from the beach. In a long final close-up, Paola waves to Marcello then stands watching him with an enigmatic smile. | murder, cult, psychedelic, philosophical, satire | train | wikipedia | but it's not that these people are difficult to understand to someone other than marcello - i think we can see that anita ekberg's character really is just a big good-natured blond and not the mysterious goddess marcello makes her out to be; his father is again - the typical traveling salesman and perhaps not the paternal figure that marcello would like him to be.
Fellini made several exceptional films: 81/2, La Strada, Amarcord, and The Nights of Cabiria come to mind, but La Dolce Vita may be, when all is said and done, his masterwork..
LA DOLCE VITA presents a series of incidents in the life of Roman tabloid reporter Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni)--and although each incident is very different in content they create a portrait of an intelligent but superficial man who is gradually consumed by "the sweet life" of wealth, celebrity, and self-indulgence he reports on and which he has come to crave.Although the film seems to be making a negative statement about self-indulgence that leads to self-loathing, Fellini also gives the viewer plenty of room to act as interpreter, and he cleverly plays one theme against its antithesis throughout the film.
manipulative hypocrisy are but two of the most obvious juxtapositions.) But Fellini's most remarkable effect here is his ability to keep us interested in the largely unsympathetic characters LA DOLCE VITA presents: a few are naive to the point of stupidity; most are vapid; the majority (including the leads) are unspeakably shallow--and yet they still hold our interest over the course of this three hour film.The cast is superior, with Marcello Mastroianni's personal charm particularly powerful.
Long, episodic film by Federico Fellini about the conceits and facades of life: fame, intellect, sex, friendship, despair, innocence, etc.Marcello Mastroianni is perfect as the shallow tabloid reporter who joyfully follows around Rome a blonde movie star from Sweden (Anita Ekberg) as she prowls around the city's bars and bistros.
He is also having an affair with a woman (Anouk Aimee) while his girl friend (Yvonne Furnaux) seems to be going nuts.But as Marcello moves through the city following the movie star, the miracle of the virgin, a few parties, etc.
We see that fame and fortune and the trappings of success are meaningless.Marcello starts to realize that the movie star is a vapid airhead, the miracles are a sham, and his friend's (who seemed quite happily married) ghastly murder and suicide show the futility of life itself.The Fellini themes are common to many of his films, but what makes La Dolce Vita so memorable are the cynical tone, the Nina Rota music, and the string of terrific visual images.The opening scene is of a helicopter hauling a gilded plaster statue through the air across Rome.
"La dolce vita" is the first film that uses the concept of "paparazzi", which implies the importance of "image", separate from substance.Throughout the various episodes Marcello sees these "images" of happiness, of contentment, but the images are deceptive, elusive, unreliable.
He is a man trapped in his life of superficiality.Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita is a very aesthetically beautiful film.
We are introduced to an array of beautiful but shallow character's; from Marcello Mastroianni's gossip journalist, via Anita Ekberg's international film star or Nico's fashion model, everyone is beautiful on the surface but somewhat dead underneath.
This justifiably famous sequence is the most purely cinematic moment in La Dolce Vita and, in my opinion, the film could have benefited from more scenes of such striking power punctuated through its three hour running time.Overall, although I do admire this film, I find it too tiring and drawn out to love.
A triumph of style over substance.One can't overcome the feeling while watching "La Dolce Vita" that Federico Fellini thinks he's being terribly intellectual and profound, but there's precious little going on in this film's head.
It's telling that on a second viewing, when I thought I would discover nuance and detail I missed the first time around, I was instead bored and found myself counting down the minutes until the film was over.Fellini seems to be criticizing a decadent, empty modern society in which ideas have died.
Fellini beautifully caught the utter absurdity of people trying to convince themselves that what they want to believe is true, and the sadness that this need is necessary in the first place.In the film's final sequence, Marcello Mastroianni's character tells the people he's partying with that they're the most boring people alive.
Marcello tries to write a book and end a relationship with Emma
Federico Fellini is a tremendously talented director, but in my opinion more successful in his first film-making phase of realistic, simple films with heart ( shining La Strada" and La Notti Di Cabiria" ) than in his second from Da Dolce Vita" ( 1960 ), in which he went on producing weird, surreal and heavily pretentious satires and farces.
But although Vita" won the Golden Palm in Cannes and was nominated for an Oscar for best director, set design and script, it feels rather shallow and empty itself.------------------Many sequences are great - for example, the opening shot in which a helicopter is shown carrying a statue of Jesus Christ, or the one where a man is protecting" his face from the photographers by placing a newspaper in front of himself as are some details but Fellini decided to put too much of his ideas in the story, causing it to go out of control.
And that is leaving out of course, acting, writing directing!Briefly, the film follows seven aimless days and nights in the life of Marcello Rubini, a world weary Roman "reporter" who writes for gossip magazines.
(We forgive him for those tiny imperfections!) Likewise, all the players - from leads to bit roles are brilliant.A film then, not in this world, or really even of it, but an oblique reflection of the coming decade (the movie was shot in 1959) the details of which, Fellini already seemed to know!
When I finished watching this film the main thing I felt was frustration - I think my conclusion is that there are lots of good elements but they aren't well combined.The opening is promising - the premise is interesting and the striking images and soundtrack impress a character.
But then, nothing, the film's stillborn, this frustrating episodic structure means that the initial impetus has dissipated well before the 3 hours are up.There are lots of things I like about each of the episodes individually - more than just decadence I think there's a tangible menace in the party scenes.
What's the big deal?There are some interesting scenes going nowhere: two children who lie about having a vision of La Madonna (no, not HER, the other one) which results in a lot of havoc where a mob tears apart the little tree under which the vision didn't happen, and an old man dies in the rain; there's a bit with a really charming dancer (who later played the beauty in "Amarcord") who seems to be having a lot of fun amid these jades.But "La Dolce Vita" is really just one of those passe things where rich people have money up to their ears and nothing to do but act bored.
I wanted so badly to like this movie, knowing it is an all-time favorite of Steven Spielberg and that so many modern directors take influence from Fellini, but the story just didn't work for me.
I appreciate that the movie is the story of the life of an Italian journalist, and maybe it is a metaphor stating that no matter how interesting your title is (like Marcello) you really are boring.La Dolce Vita is a beautiful movie, the costumes are beautiful, well deserved Oscar there.
But I think that having your own style is a great thing when doing good cinema (that's why I like Greenaway, Lynch, Hitchcock, Tsukamoto because even if maybe sometimes they don't make perfect movies, always follow their ideals, their atmosphere, their way of intending cinema; they invent or reinvent something).
No, for a true, kick in the guts, life changing movie about the inauthenticity of our socially constructed world, and the struggle of the individual to wake up and break free, you can't go past "American Beauty" or "The Truman Show", or many other wonderful movies out there that I feel are far more deserving of the label "classic" and of the adulation that this film seems to inspire..
This movie almost changed my life.I can still remember how three or four big scenes (I am sure everyone who really liked the film see what I am talking about: the helicopter flight, the Trevi foutain, the unreal argument between Mastroianni and his girl along an isolated road-just mark the surrounding sounds!- and of course the girl's farewell in the end) completely took me aback.
Instead ofconveying a clear message of how shallow and pathetic these really peopleare, Fellini borders on glamorizing them and insulting his audience, as if to say, "look at how cool and happening we are and how dull and uninteresting you are for having any moral and ethical sensibilities." Of course, the great irony of all this is after watching 2 hours of people partying, they quickly become boring and dull.
Only a few half hours of conclusion come to mind to even nearly equal it: Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, the last fifteen minutes of Naked Spur, the last fifteen of My Darling Clementine; very heady company indeed, though pound for pound the last fifteen of both westerns I think are its equal, but good lord, out of all the movies ever made, La Dolces final moments are as good as a film can get.Anybody looking for any kind of depth to the Mastroianni character will do so in vain.
Perhaps this is the first time the world had seen some of these characters and situations, the dizzy 60s blonde (plus the husky variant), the paparazzi, and swinging - not shown explicitly, but only thinly veiled.Journalist Marcello (Mastroianni) is on a trajectory towards nonchalant decadence, the benchmark being set at the beginning by bored socialite Anouk Aimee, who wants to do it in a prostitute's bed while being watched.
It is also perhaps the finest and most meaningful section, notwithstanding Anita Ekberg in the Trevi fountain (it's a pity Ekberg didn't keep the kitten on her head as it was beautifully symbolic).Each section reads like a portrait of the deadly sins of moral decadence: insincerity (Aimee), superficiality (Ekberg), unreliability (his father), weakness (Steiner), insecurity (his girlfriend), and, least effectively, irrationality (the crowd at the miracle site, a long barely relevant section that the film would have been better without).
One of the Minority Who Doesn't Like It. Character study of Marcello Mastroianni, a struggling writer and social/gossip reporter looking for the meaning of life in decadent postwar Italy.
Fellini is not much of a thinker here, and the movie works best in it's pure emotional moments: Anita Ekberg in the fountain (in a justly famous scene), Marcello with his father, Marcello's encounters with an innocent country girl.
At first anyway.The story of 8 1/2 revolves around a director, Guido played by Marcello Mastroianni, struggling artistically with his newest film project, much like Fellini apparently was at the time, hence deciding to make a movie about a director having no ideas what to make a movie about.
Mastroianni himself is one such person and in the end he pretty much accepts his life the way it is (as is evident in the final scene during the encounter with the girl at the beach) because he fails to see a way out.Fellini has often told his stories with a distinct style and 'La Dolce Vita' is no different in that aspect.
The cast is superb as it includes Fellini's regulars like Marcello Mastroianni, Magali Noël, Anouk Aimee and more.'La Dolce Vita' is like a beautiful poem on canvas.
Fellini at his best, shows a remarkable and unique combination of mastery domain of the film language, a powerful imagery and a fine and subtle apprehension of the emptiness and lack of meaning of the elite's way of life, not only in Rome but around the world.
La Dolce Vita(1960) was the film that turned actor, Marcello Mastroianni into a star.
The director when he did La Dolce Vita(1960) at the beginning of the 1960s was coming off a decade in which he produced some of the great films of the 1950s Italian cinema such as I Vitelloni(1953), La Strada(1954), Il Bidone(1955), and Nights of Cabiria(1957).
This does not mean that La Dolce Vita is a bad film or is one of Fellini's worst.
Marcello's eyes only continue to darken as Fellini's cynicism grips ahold.La Dolce Vita seems to celebrate the women who change the world and deplore the men who stand and watch.
The film itself seems to be adrift as we see the world through the eyes of Marcello, a tabloid writer who again and again experiences the night life in Rome among fading aristocrats and B movie- stars.
Federico Fellini's panoramic odyssey into 'the good life' may have lost its shock value, but the film is no less exhilarating or provocative, from the justifiably famous opening shot of Christ flying by helicopter over the eternal city to the final scene (three hours later) showing a party of bored to distraction sophisticates marveling over a beached sea creature.
Probably not Fellini doesn't even really tell a story but there's so much great theatre in each of the set pieces: the pursuit of the buxom movie star, ending in the waters of the fountain; the children's vision of the Madonna and the madness that ensues; the journey to Rome's poor outskirts and the flooded apartment; the Jesus statue and the helicopter; the night out with Marcello's father; the little girl at the café; the weird fish; the striptease; the echoing room and Marcello's pathetic attempt to express love; the fight with the girlfriend; and so much more, that you're dazzled by this great artist at the height of his powers..
Fellini's La Dolce Vita is one of those post-modern European films from the 1950s and '60s that made an incredible impact on contemporary filmmakers, and the reason I saw it was because I wanted to see what left such a deep influence on so many directors, writers, and critics.
In this foreign film, Marcello Rubini (who played by Mastroianni gets as much credit from me as to fellini) plays a journalist who gets slipped into a world where he sees bad things happen, but are just today's taboo.
La Dolce Vita is an amazing movie that chronicles Italian hipster life in the 60s, and Fellini is a master of projecting this reality on the screen..
It captures the country in a way that has yet to be seen in any other film to this level of craftsmanship.La Dolce Vita is a sobering and dark take on a man simply drifting through life full of emptiness.
With this we have in the proposal made by Fellini, the registration and the use of a (privileged) form, which confuses and generates moments that makes his speech unfeasible.Having only this caveat, "La Dolce Vita" is a timeless film, of pertinent considerations to contemporary life and a flawless style narrative, which are true legacies for the history of world cinema, and that will be for generations, like forgetting the Famous scene in which Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg bathe in the Fontana di Trevi or the children who parody and criticize the history of the children of Fatima, fed by the search of adults for a way out, a solution to the harshness of life.
The opening with the Jesus statue attached to a helicopter, the fountain sequence with Anita Ekberg (which is perhaps the most famous), and the ending scene on the beach come to mind as highlights, but they certainly aren't the only memorable scenes in this extraordinary film.Throughout "La dolce vita", Fellini satirizes the paparazzi's obsessive nature, taking photographs at everything they see, and the world's overall obsession with gossip and celebrities.
Mastroianni lived the role of Marcello and he is one of the two reasons (the other being Fellini) why you could instantly identify with so disheartening a character.Original screenplays like this require a profound vision of life as one sees it.
Federico Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" is routinely touted as a masterpiece, one of the greatest films of world cinema.
It may indeed be that for all I know but the fact is that I couldn't discern what on earth Fellini was trying to accomplish.The plot (what little of it there is) follows journalist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni) as he lives the sweet life among the top tier of Rome's social strata.
After the vision I think the title should be "The bitter-sweet life"; it's because the director shows us a protagonist (Marcello)living in a Rome full of V.I.P in parties, beautiful women, smart clothes but it's a fake world, a world where he can't taste a simple but essential feeling like real love, real friendship.
Well, while most films that "scope" cover years and years, Fellini manages to create so many situations, introduce so many people, and address so many issues in the one week of La Dolce Vita that one would have to agree that it does indeed scope the life of this reporter.
Federico Fellini's ironically named masterpiece - "La dolce vita" means "the sweet life" - is a kaleidoscopic look at unfulfilled gossip writer Marcello Rubini's (Marcello Mastroianni) search for meaning in the high society world.
LA DOLCE VITA is an important film, indeed; a movie of high class.
" The main character of Fellini's La Dolce Vita says this to a movie star he has become infatuated with. |
tt0078422 | True Grit | Mattie Ross's father was murdered by Tom Chaney when she was 14 years old. While collecting her father's body in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Mattie asks the local sheriff about the search for Chaney. He tells her that Chaney has fled with "Lucky" Ned Pepper and his gang into Indian Territory, where the sheriff has no authority, so she inquires about hiring a Deputy U.S. Marshal. The sheriff gives three recommendations, and Mattie chooses Rooster Cogburn. Cogburn initially rebuffs her offer, not believing she has the money to hire him, but she raises the money by aggressively horse-trading with Colonel Stonehill.
Texas Ranger LaBoeuf arrives in town, pursuing Chaney for the murder of a Texas State Senator. LaBoeuf proposes joining Cogburn, but Mattie refuses his offer. She wishes Chaney to be hanged in Arkansas for her father's murder, not in Texas for killing the senator. Mattie also insists on traveling with Cogburn but he leaves without her, having gone with LaBoeuf to apprehend Chaney and split the reward.
After being refused passage on the ferry that conveyed Cogburn and LaBoeuf, Mattie crosses the river on horseback. LaBoeuf expresses his displeasure by birching Mattie with a stick, but Cogburn eventually allows Mattie to accompany them. After a dispute over their respective service with the Confederate States of America, Cogburn ends their arrangement and LaBoeuf leaves to pursue Chaney on his own. Cogburn and Mattie meet a trail doctor who directs them to an empty dugout for shelter. They find two outlaws, Quincy and Moon, and interrogate them. Quincy insists they have no information about the Pepper gang, but eventually Moon divulges what he knows; Quincy fatally stabs Moon, and Cogburn shoots Quincy dead. Before dying, Moon says Pepper and his gang will be returning for fresh horses that night.
LaBoeuf arrives at the dugout and is confronted by the Pepper gang. Cogburn, hiding on the hillside with Mattie, shoots two gang members and accidentally hits LaBoeuf, but Pepper escapes. However, Cogburn and LaBoeuf argue the next day, and the latter departs again. While retrieving water from a stream, Mattie encounters Chaney. She shoots him, but he survives and drags her back to Pepper, who forces Cogburn to leave by threatening to kill her. Pepper leaves Mattie alone with Chaney, ordering him not to harm her or he will not get paid after his remount arrives.
Chaney tries to knife Mattie, but LaBoeuf appears and knocks Chaney out. They watch from a distance as Cogburn fights the remaining members of Pepper's gang, killing two and wounding Ned before his horse is shot and falls, trapping his leg, whereupon LaBoeuf snipes Pepper. Chaney regains consciousness and knocks out LaBoeuf, but Mattie seizes LaBoeuf's rifle and shoots Chaney in the chest. The recoil knocks her into a deep pit, where she is bitten by a rattlesnake. Cogburn cuts into her hand to suck out as much of the venom as he can, then rides day and night to reach a doctor, carrying her on foot after her horse collapses from exhaustion.
Mattie's left forearm is amputated due to gangrene from the snakebite. Cogburn stays until she is out of danger, but leaves before she regains consciousness. She never sees Cogburn or LaBoeuf again, despite writing a letter inviting Cogburn to collect the money she owed him. Twenty-five years later, she receives a note from Cogburn inviting her to a travelling Wild West show where he now performs. She arrives, only to learn that he died three days earlier. She has his body moved to her family cemetery. Standing over Cogburn's grave, she reflects on her decision to move his remains, and about never having married. | murder | train | wikipedia | Oh my what have they done?. Oh my what have they done? Why would anyone take on the awesome responsibility of filling John Waynes shoes especially when he won an Oscar for the role? Warren Oats takes over as Roster Cogburn in this "further adventures" story. He makes no attempt to look like Wayne except for the eye patch. In this film he is sporting a full beard and an equally full buffalo coat. I am assuming that he wanted to add his own take to the character but it fails something awful. The story line is weak. The supporting cast is weak. But most of all Oats himself is weak. I must say that I loved Oats when he did what he was best known for. A supporting player. He was super in the Wild Bunch or Major Dundee. He was known for playing tough, down on his luck rednecks and hicks. Sherif Cogburn was none of that. Wayne played him as a cunning and grizzled gunslinger slash lawman with vim and vinegar running through his veins. Oats portrayal left me searching my stack of DVD's looking for True Grit to get the bad taste out of my mouth from this film. If you are looking for a good, not great western just to amuse yourself pop in a flick like They Came To Cordoba or Rio Conchos. So do yourself a favor. If you ever see this late at night as you are flipping through the channels quick jump up and pop in a western into your DVD player. Any western. It's worth the trip to the DVD cabinet.. Old One Eye Is Back!. True Grit (A Further Adventure) is directed by Richard T. Heffron and written by Sandor Stern. It stars Warren Oates, Lisa Pelikan, Lee Meriwether, James Stephens, Jeff Osterhage and Lee Montgomery. Music is by Earle Hagen and cinematography by Stevan Larner. This is a TV movie that follows on from the two Rooster Cogburn movies that featured John Wayne in the iconic title role. Here we have Warren Oates donning the Rooster eye patch, he's on escort duty but as he has Mattie Ross (Pelikan) trying to reform him, he winds up in a town trying to make things right - you know, bad guys to be sorted whilst looking after those he has a soft spot for. It's actually not a bad piece as such - in that fun episodic Oater kind of way - but that's the problem, it feels like, and should have been a one hour picture. There's simply not enough weight here to carry the pic through an hour and forty minutes. Oates wisely doesn't try to mimic Duke Wayne by putting his own stamp on the character, and turns in a good perf (some serious non wild west white teeth there though!). Unfortunately the supporting cast are desperately poor, and while the playing it for jolly pulse beat entertains to a degree, the lack of serious tension undermines proceedings and renders the whole thing pretty pointless. 5/10. The obscurity of some films is unfair, but True Grit '78 deserves it. If you were prompted to think of Rooster Cogburn or "True Grit", you would most likely think either of John Wayne or Jeff Bridges. My experience after this film suggests that this shouldn't change. The memorable Western protagonist is played this time by Warren Oates. He'd only live a few years after making this film, but his filmography is full of well-known titles, like "In the Heat of the Night" and "Badlands". I think he may be one of those actors, like Lee Van Cleef, who is best suited to supporting roles, as he simply can't pull off the character. In the film he looks more like Jeff Bridges than John Wayne, sporting a grey beard with the characteristic eyepatch, although he lacks Cogburn's portly figure ("That's bold talk for a one-eyed fat man" - one of the story's most memorable lines). People who've seen either "True Grit" will know that Cogburn isn't the only significant character, which brings me to Mattie Ross. In this film she is played by Lisa Pelikan. I believe that her performance is somewhat inferior to Kim Darby's (1969), and vastly inferior to Hailee Steinfeld's (2010); however, some of this may be due to the script, which rarely awards any of the actors a decent line. Given his size, temperament and involvement in all the action, Rooster Cogburn, even in this TV film, is always in the viewer's mind. Unfortunately, the combination of lacklustre acting and forgettable lines means that Mattie Ross provokes nothing but apathy (in this she reminded me of Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor in "Terminator Genisys": more "invisible" than "bad"). The other aspects of the film fail to redeem it. There are one or two fairly fun action scenes, but - even for a TV film - it feels *much* older than it is. If I hadn't known that John Wayne was too ill to take the lead in 1978, I'd have suspected that this was the older version. I've read that it was intended to be launched into a TV series; it's a good thing that it wasn't.. More Adventures For Rooster. True Grit: A Further Adventure is a TV movie that serves as a sequel to the movies True Grit and Rooster Cogburn. After John Wayne portrays Rooster Cogburn in the first two films, Warren Oates takes over the legendary actor.Meanwhile,the supporting cast includes Lisa Pelikan,who now portrays Mattie Ross together with Lee Meriwether and Parley Baer. In it,we get to see Rooster battle outlaws and Mattie trying to change him to become better.As expected,we don't see something really good without John Wayne.But it was decent enough especially for movie fans who could not get enough of the character after True Grit and Rooster Cogburn.This is also a good addition for people who love Western movies. |
Subsets and Splits