Ann Miller

Average customer rating:

Don't Set Your Expectations Too High
Shallow and weak!
I enjoyed this from beginning to end . . .
Good Scares: Satisfying Jolts
OK Ghost Story

The Messengers [Region 99]
Starring: Kristen Stewart , Dylan McDermott , Penelope Ann Miller , John Corbett , and Evan Turner (III)
Director: Danny Pang , and Oxide Pang Chun
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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Ghost Rider (Two-Disc Extended Cut) [Region 99]
Norbit (Widescreen Edition)
Hannibal Rising (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Deja Vu
Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000OVLBGM
Release Date: 2007-06-05

Amazon.com

Lithe and tomboyish Kristen Stewart (Panic Room, The Safety of Objects) anchors the derivative but potently atmospheric horror movie The Messengers. The story--a troubled family moves into one of those creepy farmhouses that scream "serial murder site" and find their lives disturbed by unearthly occurrences--is a puree of plot elements from The Sixth Sense, The Birds, The Amityville Horror, The Shining, the recent spate of Japanese horror remakes, and more. Despite this, the movie may get under your skin; between the bleached sunlight, the effective ambient sound, and scenes that linger unexpectedly on quiet suspense, The Messengers creates a vivid and unsettling mood. There are still plenty of the abrupt jolts that make teenager girls clutch their dates, but this artful creepiness--combined with Stewart's engaging presence--will have a longer effect. Also featuring Dylan McDermott (The Practice), Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito's Way), and John Corbett (Northern Exposure, Sex and the City). Directed by the Pang Brothers, the duo responsible for Hong Kong hits like The Eye and Infernal Affairs. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Desperate for a fresh start after a tough two years in Chicago, the Solomon family retreats to a desolate sunflower farm in North Dakota. But the calm of farm life is shattered when 16-year-old Jess (Kristen Stewart) and her 3-year-old brother Ben begin to see nightmarish apparitions throughout their new home - visions that nobody else can see. As the visions grow darker, they become fear-inspiring experiences and Jess' parents (Dylan McDermott and Penelope Ann Miller) start to question their daughter's sanity. Now, Jess must find a way to save her family and win

Customer Reviews:

Don't Set Your Expectations Too High.......2007-06-20

If you're looking for a up-the-pulse movie, this isn't the one. The best scenes were in the trailers; and, unfortunately, when seen within the rest of the movie, they weren't so great after all.

This movie does have some moments that can make you jump, but those quickly fade. As the movie carries on, you find less "excitement" and more "What?" going on. So many things are left unexplained; for example, we're not told in the beginning what the issues are with Kristen Stewart's character but it's obvious there's SOMETHING wrong. When we finally do learn what the problem is, it's a huge disappointment; especially the way the story is delivered!

Overall, my recommendation is to watch it if there is nothing else to watch. It's a great time filler, because your expectations are usually already low at that point!

Shallow and weak!.......2007-06-19

Typical cliche' movie. Hollywood has a -one size fits all- movie script which the only thing they change are the names and locations. Overall: BAAAAAAAD!!!!!!

I enjoyed this from beginning to end . . ........2007-06-18

"The Messengers" was directed by the Pang Brothers, which means I knew it would be a good film. Much too subdued for U.S. audiences, I can understand why it has only received "3" stars on Amazon so far; I am afraid that Americans cannot comprehend understatement in horror films. In sum, I enjoyed this film from beginning to end, even though the storyline wasn't terribly original. I was truly frightened by the intense supernatural scenes. The young actress was a good choice -- she projects self-control and intelligence rather than sleaze. This is a good horror movie overall and I highly recommend it.

Good Scares: Satisfying Jolts.......2007-06-16

I feel like I saw a different film after all the negative reviews here.Ever since I saw the promos for MESSENGERS I was caught by the basic idea of kids seeing the spirits: Its a common enough motif, but not done in the same way as done in the messengers.
I will say up front that whom-ever did the sound design in this made the 5.1 experience the best.I can see why on some level some might not be so happy with the film experience, especially if a large part of the scare lives in the audio.
The story line is fine.Nothing outrageously original, but its aimed at a PG13 audience, and so understand the ascerbic reviews against this film with that in mind.I think that Ghost House Productions has a long way to go before it can satisfy a large majority of film goers who clearly like this film, and the demands of the "Horror" fans who possibly cannot be satiated.Just my view, but so far GHOST HOUSE productions seem to be doing a great job.About all I would like to see is an uncut option that ramps up the scares, and I don't mean the double dip uncut that has been done where a movie gets released, then 8 to 12 months later the "Uncut" Version comes out... Uncut should be on the same disc as the Theatrical, or as an alternative to the Theatrical when it goes to DVD ( or whatever format wins).
The Bonuses are good, also: Not excessive, but enough to give you extra info in the featurettes. And the commentary has a few words that make me think that an uncut might be on the way... but I am not sure, since they would probably have to reshoot some elements.

OK Ghost Story.......2007-06-15

I had high hope for this one, but it disappointed me. Not much of a plot. Dragged out. Things that go bump in the night over and over again.
It was OK, but I can't really recommend it. But I'll give it two stars because I have seen a lot worse.

Average customer rating:

Simply Outstanding
Kubrick's Magnum Opus
Just another case of the "King's clothes"...
do not do not watch this film on a 50 inch plasma tv
2001 as an archetypal movie experience

2001 - A Space Odyssey
Starring: Keir Dullea , Gary Lockwood , William Sylvester , Daniel Richter , and Leonard Rossiter
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

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2010: The Year We Make Contact
Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Special Edition) [Region 99]
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) [Region 99]
Citizen Kane
Forbidden Planet (Ultimate Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B00005ASUM
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Product Description

2001: A Space Odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. It is a dazzling, Academy Award-winning visual achievement, a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. It may be the masterwork of director Stanley Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke)... and it will likely excite, inspire and enthrall for generations.

To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millennia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin.

System Requirements:
Starring: Keir Dullea, and Gary Lockwood.
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick.
Running Time: 148 Min., Color.
This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.
Copyright 2000 Warner Home Video.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Simply Outstanding.......2007-06-17

If you like science fiction then there is no doubt that first, you have probably already seen this. If not, then I can guarantee you that this will captivate you beyond belief. I can find few movies from its time to compare to this masterpiece.

Some have been posting that the quality of this version is not as good as they expected, or not as good as the original. Since I have never seen the original in VHS format, all I can say is that it's totally watch-able. I cannot however note the precision of the transfer of the veteran viewers.

Stanley Kubrick is one of the most ingenious film makers of all time. The cinematography of the film is incredible in the way he uses the limited special effects that were available at the time, and especially sound. The sound is one thing that I find that Stanley Kubrick knew how to use best. The voices that he used in this movie for the monolith gave a tide of mysteriousness, curiosity, and the potential to freak someone out.

He begins the movie displaying evolution and highlights particularly how apes gained intelligence by figuring out how to use bones as weapons. The movie then leaps forward to the space age, where a crew subsequently discovers a large, black, and mysterious object, known as the monolith, on the moon. The only thing the crew knew about this object is that it was buried on the moon 4 million years ago, deliberately.

On a spaceship heading towards Jupiter, the flawless computer known as HAL 9000, makes its first mistake, and begins the worry the crew with its erratic behavior. Afterwards, the mysterious monolith returns, but this time not on the moon.

2001 - A Space Odyssey is one of the best films of all time that I could not recommend more. The captivation will glue your eyes and ears to the screen.

Kubrick's Magnum Opus.......2007-06-05

Few auteurs in film history possess the visionary talent that Kubrick had. His Space Odyssey, the first film of its kind, proves that. Invoking awe and wonder in new audiences and old, the film stands the test of time and continues to inspire.

The film is meant to be viewed on a large auditorium screen, and though Kubrick was an avid supporter for mono sound, today's modern sound technology provides for a much better experience. The hums and clicks of the spaceships, the vaccuum of space, and the brilliant soundtrack create an eerie aura, made more believable with surround sound. The best way to view this film is to do so in a theatre. Kubrick intended for his audience to view the Odyssey on the big screen. This way, the film transports its audience to space itself, and embarks on a timeless journey for the ages. There are many long shots of spacecraft and nebulae that a television set simply can't reproduce on the same scale of the theatre. It's like viewing the Mona Lisa on a mail stamp.

The story should be familiar to audiences by now. On the surface, the plot is one of Kubrick's more simple ones, but critics go very deep into its symbols, allegories, and other interpretings. Many filmgoers are turned off by its curious ending, but that is because they simply don't understand it. Just keep in mind that the ending represents man's evolution.

As for the DVD, many complain that the transfer quality is poor, but I hold no grievances whatsoever. I enjoy viewing the film in its original state, just like its first audiences saw it. It is clean enough to enjoy without distraction, and the sound was upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. If you are a true Kubrick nut, however, then you will want to alter the sound output to mono, but that option is up to your discretion.

Just another case of the "King's clothes"..........2007-05-25

Without a doubt one of the most overrated films of all time. It lacks substance and any memorable characters, and has no clear plot nor message. For God's sakes. the most memorable character is a voice. The reason so many "intelligent" viewers say it's great is because they feel they are supposed to; otherwise other "intelligent" viewers will dismiss them and say, "You just don't get it." I would go so far as to say no one gets it. Kubrick was so full of himself that he made a film that was totally self indulgent. If you question the greatness of his work then you must be questioning his greatness; and to do so would be "unintelligent". What a load! Granted he gave us a glimpse of what everyday life may be like in the future, but that alone does make for a great film. A 20 minute short could have done the same without being so presumptuous. If anyone disagrees, then by all means share with us what makes this film great. Please enlighten us but try not to sound too full of yourself.

do not do not watch this film on a 50 inch plasma tv.......2007-05-17

I love the movie for over 20 years but man if this wasn't the worst dvd transfer Ive seen. It's watchable from about 15 feet away but if you looked up close which I did & told my friend who owns the dvd and the tv "my god it's full of pixels"

2001 as an archetypal movie experience.......2007-04-21

Combine Stanley Kubrick's ability to make every scene intensely watchable with subject matter that is natively fascinating to begin with and you have one of the most hypnotic films ever made. The film is long but it never ambles or stalls. It marches at its own "just right" pace from beginning to end inviting you to savor each word, each scene, each dizzyingly perfect camera angle. I've heard many versions of what the film is about. But after almost 40 years of sometimes sober, sometimes drunken and occasionally post-coital discussions about it, I still don't know what it's about and frankly I just don't care anymore. I can recite the story line, sure. But what are the major themes? How does one articulate them? I think only the writer, Arthur C. Clark, knows for sure how to frame those notions into a coherent whole. But for the mentally fragmented rest of us, the movie shines like a multi-faceted crystal twirling in the light, inviting us to think, to ponder, to have our own epiphany or two about consciousness, human evolution, and the collective destiny of humankind. Or was that the destiny of a single human in the context of the many? I forget. Not sure it matters. Nonetheless, the film causes you to ponder yet again the nature of the universe and more than anything come to the conclusion that the universe could be even stranger and more beautiful than you thought. Or is that - more beautiful than you remember? I don't know. It turns out that the distinction is not all that important either. The film will forever remain a beautiful, unparalleled and utterly glorious enigma to me. If it hasn't already, I hope it does for you as well.

Average customer rating:

A heart-warming chick flick.
Always Remembered
Love is like the wind. You can't see it but you can feel it.
Wonderful
AWESOME!

A Walk to Remember
Starring: David Andrews , Al Butler , Peter Coyote , Clayne Crawford , and Lauren German
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Notebook (New Line Platinum Series)
A Walk to Remember
A Walk to Remember
Message in a Bottle
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00005JKW0
Release Date: 2002-07-09

Amazon.com

With refreshing intelligence, A Walk to Remember offers welcome relief from the recent onslaught of teen-movie crudeness. Adapted from the novel by Nicholas Sparks and transplanted from 1958 to the present day, this admirable teen romance recognizes that two 18-year-olds--Landon (Shane West) and Jamie (pop singer Mandy Moore)--can be smart, mature, and sensible about the very real love they share. He's a popular kid in the cool crowd. She's got a goody-goody reputation as the dowdy daughter of a local minister (Peter Coyote); her values and priorities aren't rooted in peer pressure, and Landon feels blessed by her self-assured nobility. Their mutual affection inevitably heads into Love Story territory, but the movie is honest enough to survive its own schmaltz, and its attractive cast (including Daryl Hannah as Landon's mom) embraces a tone of sincerity and mutual respect. Finally... a teen movie with teens you can admire. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Love brings together what peer pressure and lifestyles seek to keep apart in this coming-of-age story based on the bestselling book. Teen idol Shane West and multiplatinum recording star Mandy Moore star as two high schoolers -- she a straitlaced preacher's daughter and he an unmotivated delinquent. When events thrust him into her world, he begins an unexpected journey he'll never forget.DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:2 Feature-length commentaries: - #1 by Shane West, Mandy Moore and director Adam Shankman - #2 by author Nicholas Sparks and screenwriter Karen Janszen
Filmographies:Cast film highlights
Interactive Menus
Music Video:Mandy Moore, "Cry"
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

A heart-warming chick flick........2007-06-21

A Walk to Remember stars Mandy Moore and Shane West. I remember when it first came out, it was the "IT" movie to see. Even now, roughly 5 years after its initial release, teens are oogling not only over the eye candy, but also from the heartwarming storyline.

So what's this movie about? Basically, you have a popular guy, Landon, and a geeky girl, Jamie, who are obviously from completely different worlds. When the two are forced together due to a school play, things heat up between the two and they eventually fall in love. Unfortunately, something comes between them that tries to pull them apart.

So what's to like about this movie? First, I believe this was Mandy Moore's debut in acting. She does a pretty good job playing her role and Shane West does a superb job as usual. Second, this movie brings out a ton of different emotions. You feel sympathetic, you feel happy, you feel sad, and you feel the cockles of your heart warming up. A really good movie not only makes you think, but also strikes a chord with you and this movie certainly did. Third, this is just an overall entertaining film. If you've read the book, you know what's going to happen, but that won't stop you from enjoying the film.

And what's not to like? The storyline is nothing new. We've seen it with Never Been Kissed and She's All That. The ending is different from the majority of movies with the same storyline but it's still not a ground-breaking film.

If you're looking for a cute, chick flick-type movie to watch, this is a great example. But keep a tissue box handy. You might need it.

Always Remembered.......2007-05-31

A very well written story of life in the high school years. Exactly as I remember it being when I was in school. From what Grandchildren say it still is.

Love is like the wind. You can't see it but you can feel it........2007-05-25

A walk to remember is a story of Landon Carter, the rebellious trouble maker(Shane West)and Jamie Sullivan, the reverend's daughter (Mandy Moore), a quite good-natured girl but teased by Landon and his friends. When Landon finds himself playing the lead role in the highschool musical along side Jamie he turns to her seeking help with lines. As he spends more time with her the two become closer and closer. Jamie shares a list of life goals with Landon inspiring him to do more with his life. He begins his own list of goals. When he first learns Jamie has terminal leukemia he is shocked but then talks to his dad who pays for her home care. Landon helps Jamie complete many tasks from her list as she is too weak to do them herself. Jamie's number one is finaly completed when Landon and Jamie are married in the church where her parents were married. Jamie dies just one summer later but in that short time she had changed Landon's life.

This is one of my favorite movies! It has great charaters, story line, music, lesson...everthing about this movie is great!!! This is one of the very few movies I enjoyed more than the book!!

Wonderful.......2007-05-21

When i first saw this movie i was rather uneasy because most teen movie have sex and profanity, but this movie surprisingly had none of that! A very good movie for the whole family cause it teaches the real meaning of life and i liked that it had some God related parts that made me like it even more! I don't want to ruin the end for you but for sure it will make most of you cry! I cried more in this movie than in the Titanic which is famous as being a tear gerker. And you can't beat the price!

AWESOME!.......2007-04-09

this movie was incredible. it is for sure one of the most romantic movies i've ever seen. it is truely just an honest & heartwarming film. i recommend to all audiences!

Average customer rating:

Adventures in Babysitting
Still A Favorite
Good Comedy/Adventure
RELIVE THE EIGHTIES AND ENJOY!
Babysitting Blues with Albert Collins and Elisabeth Shue

Adventures in Babysitting
Starring: Elisabeth Shue , Maia Brewton , Keith Coogan , Anthony Rapp , and Calvin Levels
Director: Chris Columbus
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
Can't Buy Me Love
Troop Beverly Hills [Region 99]
Teen Witch
Girls Just Want to Have Fun

ASIN: 6305428050
Release Date: 2000-01-18

Amazon.com

Way before she grabbed an Oscar nomination for her searing performance as a world-weary prostitute in Leaving Las Vegas, Elisabeth Shue was known as one of the squeaky-clean actresses of the '80s. Having made a splash in The Karate Kid and the '60s-nostalgia TV series Call to Glory, Shue cemented her good-girl reputation with the charming but badly titled Adventures in Babysitting. Set in the John Hughes-style suburbs of Chicago, the titular adventures follow babysitter Chris (Shue), who agrees to watch the Anderson kids (Keith Coogan and Maia Brewton) when her boyfriend cancels their anniversary date. All is quiet on the home front until Chris is called upon to rescue her best friend (Penelope Ann Miller, also doing good-girl duty) from the seedy downtown bus station. She can't leave the kids, and she can't leave her friend alone in the big bad city, so she packs everyone in the station wagon and heads into Chicago. Screwball craziness begins as they encounter car thieves, knife-wielding gangs, gun-toting truck drivers, and, worst of all, Chris's duplicitous boyfriend. It's hardly mature entertainment, but Shue makes it work; when she wins over the audience at a blues club with her improv singing, you'll be won over, too. In his directorial debut, Chris Columbus (who later went on to helm the sap-fests Mrs. Doubtfire and Home Alone) gently skewers the suburbia white-bread mindset of the main characters, and plays up the comedy over the schmaltz with a subtlety of which he now seems incapable; the near romance between Shue and Coogan is played lightly and adorably. Look for brief appearances by art-house faves Lolita Davidovich as a college party girl and Vincent D'Onofrio as an unlikely savior. --Mark Englehart

Description

Chris Parker (Elisabeth Shue) agrees to babysit after her "dream" date stands her up. Expecting a dull evening, Chris settles down with three kids for a night of TV ... and boredom. But when her frantic friend Brenda calls and pleads to be rescued from the bus station in downtown Chicago, the evening soon explodes into an endless whirl of hair-raising adventures! Babysitter and kids leave their safe suburban surroundings and head for the heart of the big city, never imagining how terrifyingly funny their expedition will become.

Customer Reviews:

Adventures in Babysitting.......2007-05-25

This movie always makes me laugh... esp the part in the phonebox "get out of my house!" This is a good movie for a quiet nite at home and to have a laugh...very 80's!

Still A Favorite.......2007-05-09

I purchased this movie for my 4 year old daughter. It was one of my favorite movies when it came out on video (I was in high school at the time). I still love this movie! I don't watch much TV, but my daughter watched this movie again last weekend and I found myself sitting down and catching a few scenes. It is such a great movie! I love it! Some of the clothing the characters wear (leggings) "date" the movie, but overall, the story line and film quality is like a "new release." There are a couple of instances of inappropraite language, but nothing major. I'm so glad this movie is available on DVD. This movie is definitely a "buyer." One of my other all time favorite movies is "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" with Sarah Jessica Parker and Helen Hunt.

Good Comedy/Adventure.......2007-04-11

When seventeen-year-old Chris Parker's boyfriend cancels their big date, she reluctantly agrees to baby-sit for Sara and Brad Anderson. Chris thinks she is too old to baby-sit but Brad doesn't mind - he has a huge crush on Chris. When Chris gets to the Anderson's, she has just settled in for what she thinks will be a very boring evening when she gets a phone call from her friend Brenda who is stuck at a bus station in "The City". Chris agrees to pick up Brenda and has to take Sara, Brad, and Brad's friend Daryl, with her for what she hopes will be a quick trip. Instead, a flat tire leads to all kinds of adventures including a crazed tow truck driver; a stolen car ring; a gang fight; a visit to a Blues Bar; a frat party; a meeting with "Thor" (Sara's hero); and a heart stopping chase down the side of an office building. Suddenly, what looked to be one of the most boring nights of Chris's life turns out to be one of the most exciting.

"Adventures in Baby Sitting" is a good fun movie, the kind you can watch without thinking too much about it - the kind of movie that keeps you smiling the whole time you are watching it. Nothing in it is to be taken seriously (for one thing Brad is way too old to need a babysitter) and while there are bad guys, they are never too scary and the kids easily outsmart them. The film is non-stop action and there are a lot of fun scenes in the movie. The scene in the Blues Bar is an instant classic. This is a good family movie, but parents should be aware that there is some colorful swearing (but in a very funny scene). The acting is good. Elisabeth Shue shines as Chris; Keith Coogan is good as the love struck Brad; Maia Brewton is wonderful as Sara; and Anthony Rapp is sufficiently annoying as Darryl. Of the supporting cast, Calvin Levels is a standout as Joe Gipp, the not so bad car thief.

"Adventures in Babysitting" is a great comedy/action film.

RELIVE THE EIGHTIES AND ENJOY!.......2007-03-29

FUN MOVIE ! MOST ENJOYABLE FOR THE 30 SOMETHING CROWD THAT WERE TEENAGERS IN THE EIGHTIES!
FUNNY!! CHECK OUT VINCENT D'NORFIO AS THOR!!!

Babysitting Blues with Albert Collins and Elisabeth Shue.......2007-03-10

Funny, brave, adventures of 80's kids from the suburbs was the intention of this movie, but the key element here is the music.

This is your only chance to see one of the greatest blues legends in a movie...namely Albert Collins. If you love and live the blues, then the movie is about the scene with "Babysitting Blues". Albert Collins (aka The Iceman, aka The Master of the Telecaster) is worth the price of the DVD. Along with him you get the music of Koko Taylor's "Evil", Edwin Starr's "Twenty-five Miles", Muddy Waters, Southside Johnny, the Crystals and more.

Actually (for the Canadian reviewer) the movie is about overcoming racism.

Average customer rating:

Travolta's Defining Role!
Dance the night away
TRAVOLTA CARRIES THIS MOVIE!
Classic film about the 1970s, filmed in the 1970s...
Great Product & Service

Saturday Night Fever
Starring: Shelly Batt , Val Bisoglio , Julie Bovasso , Joseph Cali , and Sam Coppola
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Grease (Rockin' Rydell Edition)
Staying Alive (Widescreen Edition)
Flashdance
Urban Cowboy
Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track

Accessories:

Saturday Night Fever
Staying Alive

ASIN: B00003CXCH
Release Date: 2002-10-08

Amazon.com essential video

Saturday Night Fever is one of those movies that comes along and seems to change the cultural temperature in a flash. After the movie's release in 1977, disco ruled the dance floors, and a blow-dried member of a TV-sitcom ensemble became the hottest star in the U.S. For all that, the story is conventional: a 19-year-old Italian American from Brooklyn, Tony Manero (John Travolta), works in a humble paint store and lives with his family. After dark, he becomes the polyester-clad stallion of the local nightclub; Tony's brother, a priest, observes that when Tony hits the dance floor, the crowd parts like the Red Sea before Moses. Director John Badham captures the electric connection between music and dance, and also the desperation that lies beneath Tony's ambitions to break out of his limited world. The soundtrack, which spawned a massively successful album, is dominated by the disco classics of the Bee Gees, including "Staying Alive" (Travolta's theme during the strutting opening) and "Night Fever." The Oscar®-nominated Travolta, plucked from the cast of Welcome Back, Kotter, for his first starring role, is incandescent and unbelievably confident, and his dancing is terrific. Oh, and the white suit rules. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Travolta's Defining Role!.......2007-04-28

Tony Manero (played brilliantly by John Travolta) is a 20 year old paint shop assistant living with his devout Catholic mom and his hard working dad. He doesn't get along very well with them. There are a lot of tense moments at the dinner table.

But on the weekends, Tony rules the disco! But this dancing champion of the New York disco scene needs to learn about how to treat other people like champions. He talks sassy to his mom, and he treats females with disrespect. He even blows off and ignores a friend who admires him and needs him most (the boy who commits suicide by jumping off the Verrazano Bridge).

But Tony starts to change when he meets a slightly older and more mature disco queen. He learns from her that treating people with respect is just as important as being good at what you do.

All the while, the movie is propelled by one of the greatest soundtracks in movie history, certainly the best disco album ever assembled. You also get a look at one segment of the late 1970s New York youth culture scene.
The movie still hits hard after 30 years.

Dance the night away.......2007-04-17

This movie is about a man and a woman, in the prime of their lives fighting the New york city meat grinder. They both find one another in a smoke filled bar and lit dance floor.They equally appreciate glances as one impresses the other on the dance floor. In the sounds of the legendary "Bee Gees" you find your self dancing your imagination away as the leading actors fight against each others impossible love that will never happen. Both actors find resolve in dance, and agree to be friends in the crazy world that is entertainment.

TRAVOLTA CARRIES THIS MOVIE!.......2007-04-11

Like another reviewer said, I too grew up hating this film. I was a young teen and a rocker and would not be caught dead watching this film. I have seen it many times now and I think it captures that 70's disco time period perfectly. Travolta is the whole show and of course the classic music soundtrack. The DVD has a good transfer and weak extras.

Classic film about the 1970s, filmed in the 1970s... .......2007-04-01

I had watched "Summer of Sam" not that long ago, and it seems like they tried to cram too many characters into this one neighborhood block. "Lords of Flatbush" also sprung to mind..this could've been one of their kids 20 years later.

Getting past the music, this is a downbeat film about people who live their boring lives to rule the night, some people who don't want to move on, others who want to get the hell out of there.

The people are portrayed as average joes, unsophisticated,the language is shocking by PC standards, sexual and vulgar. Travolta's Tony kind of reminds me of Tony from "West Side Story", someone who is a reluctant leader, only because they're the smartest out of the group. When he's on the dance floor, he is in his element.

I think that the people who hated disco at this time and the parodies that followed didn't give this film a chance, and the cut version really neutered it, but watching it uncut, it's a working class love story without turning into a chick flick.

They made a sequel but it was more over the top than gritty. Hopefully Travolta can return to being Tony one more time the way Stallone wound up Rocky's character.

Great Product & Service.......2007-03-26

I really bought this video because I love the Bee Gee's music. The story is just so-so but oooooh those moves. I love to watch people dance. Too bad the disco days are long gone. Travolta is great fun to watch. I pretend I am there with him on the dance floor. I would recommend this to anyone who loves dancing ang the Gibbs brothers' music.

Average customer rating:

A Dance Historian's Point of View
On the Riviera
On the Riviera

On the Riviera
Starring: Danny Kaye , Gene Tierney , Corinne Calvet , Marcel Dalio , and Jean Murat
Director: Walter Lang
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Can-Can
Tyrone Power: The Swashbuckler Box Set (Blood and Sand / Son of Fury / The Black Rose / Prince of Foxes / The Captain from Castile)
Ball of Fire
Lucille Ball Film Collection (Dance Girl Dance / The Big Street / Du Barry Was a Lady / Critic's Choice / Mame)
Esther Williams Collection (Bathing Beauty / Easy to Wed / On an Island with You / Neptune's Daughter / Dangerous When Wet)

ASIN: B000ND91Z4
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Amazon.com

Just as Love Affair inspired An Affair to Remember and Sleepless in Seattle, Folies Bergère inspired That Night in Rio and On the Riviera. In Walter Lang's Technicolor version, Danny Kaye takes on a dual role previously assumed by Maurice Chevalier and Don Ameche. A master of mistaken identity, Kaye makes it his own. His Jack Martin is an American song and dance man based in Monte Carlo. When playboy aviator Henri Duran (Kaye with French accent) returns from his latest adventure, Martin notices a resemblance. He also notices Duran's neglected wife, Lili (Gene Tierney). After Duran is called away on business, Martin is enlisted to impersonate him for an important function. That gives him the chance to cozy up to Lili--and infuriate dance partner Colette (Corinne Calvet). Duran pays him back with an impersonation of his own. It isn't Twelfth Night, but On the Riviera is an enjoyable diversion. It also represents a family affair, since designer Oleg Cassini outfitted wife Tierney and Sylvia Fine penned tunes for husband Kaye (except for the standard "Ballin' the Jack"). Though considered a minor effort in the canons of Lang and Kaye--the musical was more of an audience favorite than a critical darling--Fox has done right by this long-unavailable title with an interactive press book, featurettes, lobby cards, and a pristine print (heavy on the brilliant blues). Look sharp for future Fosse hoofer (and wife) Gwen Verdon as a dancer and Tierney's famous Laura portrait above Duran's fireplace. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

A Dance Historian's Point of View.......2007-06-13

Warner set the standard with well-produced DVDs of classic MGM musicals - 20th Century Fox is up for the challenge.
A lot of love and care went into the making of this DVD. It comes in a slipcase and contains four b/w lobby cards. The picture and sound were superbly restored. By the way, the format is of course 4:3 fullscreen, not widescreen. The extras section includes the trailer, a still gallery and three comprehensive featurettes:

"The Riviera Story" (10 minutes): "On the Riviera" is a remake of "Folies Bergère" (1936) and "That Night in Rio" (1941), respectively. The featurette compares the three films and its stars.

"A Portrait of Danny Kaye" (26 minutes): A biographical look at Kaye's impressive life, featuring, amongst others, his daughter Dena Kaye.

"The Jack of Clubs - Choreographer Jack Cole" (10 minutes): An appreciation of Cole's work (that's been long overdue).

I don't consider the film a great comedy. (If you want to see Danny Kaye at his comical best, get "The Court Jester".) Nevertheless he does a good job in a dull plot that's constructed solely around his persona. The two girls, Gene Tierney and Corinne Calvet, contribute nothing except their lovely looks.
The big plus however, besides Kaye's performance, is the lively and hummable score by Kaye's wife Sylvia Fine and Cole's galvanic choreography featuring the stunning Gwen Verdon. (Verdon was a dancer in a class of her own. Jack Cole, Michael Kidd and her later husband Bob Fosse knew it and made great use of it. She danced for Cole in many shows and films, always receiving solo or centre stage spots. Her work as a dancer can be studied in the films "Meet Me after the Show", "The I-Don't-Care-Girl", "The Farmer Takes a Wife", "David and Bathsheba" (available on DVD), "The Mississippi Gambler", "The Merry Widow" (available on DVD in South America), "Gentlemen Marry Brunettes" and "Damn Yankees" (available on DVD). All of them a testament to her unequalled talent.)

Let's take a look at the five musical numbers:

"On the Riviera": Kaye performs the title song impersonating Maurice Chevalier. A little tip of the hat to the man who originally played Kaye's character.

"Rhythm of a New Romance": A big production number that introduced Gwen Verdon to movie audiences. It starts with a dynamic Can-Can. (Two years later Verdon would do the Can-Can again in the MGM version of "The Merry Widow". This would land her a job in a new Cole Porter musical - called "Can-Can". The rest is Broadway history.)
The number continues with an amazing East Indian dance sequence featuring Verdon and Jack Cole (wearing a Kathakali mask). (Cole studied authentic Bharata Natyam and other ethnic dances and integrated them brilliantly into his style.)

"Ballin' the Jack": This is one of Kaye's trademark songs. It was part of his stage act for many years. Here's a very laid back and sophisticated version.

"Popo the Puppet": A highly imaginative number featuring Danny Kaye and the dancers Gwen Verdon and Ethel Martin in Commedia Del Arte costumes. The droll song received an Oscar nomination. (By the way, look for the similarities between the tambourine players and the tambourine playing doctors in the "Some of These Days" sequence the next time you watch Bob Fosse's "All That Jazz". Fosse admired Jack Cole's work.)

"A Happy Ending": The finale is pure heaven for anyone who's interested in dance history and a rare chance to see almost the entire core of the Jack Cole Dancers together:
There's Cole himself, Gwen Verdon, Buzz Miller (An excellent jazz dancer. He would also work extensively with Fosse (in both the stage and movie version of the "Pajama Game" and in "Redhead"). He was Jerome Robbins' boyfriend.), George and Ethel Martin (They were the most loyal of Cole's dancers and had been working with him since the early Forties. George Martin appeared in all of Cole's Columbia musicals usually partnered with Rod Alexander and Alex Romero. George and his wife Ethel would re-create parts of Cole's original stage choreography for Richard Lester's movie adaptation of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum".)

If you'd like to know more about Jack Cole I recommend to get Glenn Loney's book "The Unsung Genius - The Passion of Dancer-Choreographer Jack Cole". Look for a list of his films under imdb.com.

Thanks 20th Century Fox for helping to keep the legends alive. I hope that you will continue to release rare and forgotten musicals on DVD.

On the Riviera.......2007-06-13

This is probably one of the most underrated movies of all time.
Alright, some of the musical sequences are dated - especially the "Rhythm of a new romance"-number - but the dialogue and the story are still extremely witty and funny. And it's Danny Kaye at his best. Not as brilliant as in "The Court Jester" three years later, but more mature and refined than in "The secret Life of Walther Mitty" (which is a great movie, too!), Kaye gives a wonderful performance as nightclub entertainer Jack Martin ("Ballin' the Jack" and "Happy Ending" are just wonderful). And he plays rich aviator Henri Duran who neglects his wife and only comes to his senses when he thinks that she's betraying him with Martin. Kaye is believeable in both parts.
"On the Riviera" is a very entertaining musical comedy and it makes fun of every glamour cliché ever used in Hollywood.
Highly recommended!

On the Riviera.......2007-06-11

An adorable Danny Kaye movie. He plays two parts a rich playboy and a night club singer/dancer. Danny can not be beat - I especially love his song, "Popo the puppet" - that alone is worth buying the movie!

Average customer rating:

When Warren and Faye were a lot younger.....
Bonnie and Clyde
Great Classic Gangster Flick
Intense and captivating
A picture that dares to be excessive!,

Bonnie and Clyde
Starring: Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Michael J. Pollard , Gene Hackman , and Estelle Parsons
Director: Arthur Penn
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Chinatown
Midnight Cowboy
The Graduate
Annie Hall
On the Waterfront (Special Edition) [Region 99]

ASIN: B00000ING1
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com essential video

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

When Warren and Faye were a lot younger............2007-03-02

Warren either produced/and or directed this movie. This is entertaining and well acted, I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, I've seen black and white grainey pictures of the real Bonnie and Clyde and I would describe them as "hillbilly white trash" looking. Of course this movie started a barrage of similar anti-hero movies of the 60's and 70's. Some were good, some were lousey, but I'll bet none of them were historically accurate. But, I suppose if the truth were told nobody would pay to see it. Enjoy!

Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-02-11

I've been looking everywhere for this movie and finally thought of Amazon and there it was at a reasonable price. Very quick on the delivery and would use Amazon again anytime. Wonderful service. Thanks

Great Classic Gangster Flick.......2007-01-10

One of the greatest all time classic gangster flicks,with brilliant performances by the entire cast.

Intense and captivating.......2006-12-31

The Bonnie and Clyde legend is given some needed realism in this intense and captivating drama. Rather than the "fame" they have oft been given, their more brutal criminal side is made apparent to temper the legend. It is relatively accurate historically and truthfull in the portrayal including the scene of their deaths in a lopsided gunbattle with law enforcement. An honest yet entertaining look at a life of crime that, in the end, leaves nothing to glorrify.

A picture that dares to be excessive!, .......2006-12-19

This hugely influential rural gangster thriller combined black comedy, graphic violence, and a sense of spiritual boredom and moral confusion induced by the cultural and economic poverty of the '30s Depression, to evoke the anti-establishment rebellion of the late '60s... Crucially, Penn's sympathetic view of the Barrow gang was not clouded by sentimentality, and the film's initially funny tone steadily darkens to end in chaotic, bloody carnage...

'Bonnie and Clyde' is not a film about two real people famous for so many bank robberies and murders across the big country... It shows a new kind of violence in which people could be hurt by guns, when Bonnie is shot to death in the end, it really looks as though heavy duty bullets are ripping into her...

'Bonnie and Clyde', however, manages to convey the impression that these two youngsters enjoyed themselves robbing banks and stores... It also implies that it was very easy for them to fool the law - as certainly happened in real life... Though retribution caught up with them, audiences laughed at their exploits and wanted them to escape...

Since then, the screen has enlarged upon this violent mood... Censorship, too, has relaxed in United States of America and Europe... Today it is possible for the bad guys to evade their punishments - something which could never have happened even in the times of 'Scarface,' and 'Public Enemy.'

In 'Bonnie and Clyde,' Penn created a mood, an evocation of the 1930s filtered through his 1960s sensibility...

The sense of period in 'Bonnie and Clyde' reflects Penn's vision of how the 1930s Depression-era seemed, and for all the zany style and banjo score, this vision is highly personal...

What is also personal about 'Bonnie and Clyde' and constitutes its unique flavor, is its unusual mixture of comedy and horror, its poetry of crime as something that is fun, and that also leads to violent bloody deaths...

'Bonnie and Clyde' is both real and abstract... It is a gangster movie and a comedy-romance... It is a comedy that turns dark, a romance that ends with death...

An alternation between fun and darkness is important to the structure of the film... In their second bank robbery, a daring and cheerful action goes sour when Clyde is forced to shoot the bank manager, and real blood gushes from his face...

Bonnie and Clyde take adolescent pleasure posing for photographs with their captive, but when cornered by police in a motel, they turn into vicious outlaws fighting for their lives... C. W. Moss, particularly, evokes Baby Face Nelson, when he kills policemen with a blazing machine gun...

One of the poignant moments in the film occurs when Clyde chases Bonnie through a golden corn field, while a cloud crosses the sun and slowly shadows the landscape... Here the flavor of the Texas countryside and the dim mood of the story are both expressed... The famous reunion scene is taken from a certain distance but urned into an emotional, beautiful piece...

This kind of mythic, abstract, nostalgic flavor of the depression is evoked again when C.W drives the gang members into an Okie camp and the homeless farmers come around the car to look with fear and respect at the legendary outlaws...

The final "ballet of blood" has an extraordinary effect upon audiences too... Penn courts condemnation and risks disaster by putting so personal and unorthodox a conception upon the screen...

Penn's masterpiece was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture... It only won two, One for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and another for Best Cinematography)...

Average customer rating:

Lynch is the man!!!!!!!
Brilliant
100% Percent Weird!
Right up there with Rosemary's Baby
lovely mystery

Mulholland Drive
Starring: Michael J. Anderson , Diane Baker , Scott Coffey , Billy Ray Cyrus , and Chad Everett
Director: David Lynch
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Blue Velvet (Special Edition)
Lost Highway [IMPORT]
Wild At Heart
Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me
The Elephant Man

ASIN: B00005JKJA
Release Date: 2002-04-09

Product Description

This sexy thriller has been acclaimed as one of the year s best films. Two beautiful women are caught up in a lethally twisted mystery and ensnared in an equally dangerous web of erotic passion. There s nothing like this baby anywhere! This sinful pleasure is a fresh triumph for Lynch, and one of the best films of the year. Visionary daring, swooning eroticism and colors that pop like a whore s lip gloss! says Rolling Stone s Peter Travers. See it then see it again! (Time Out New York)

System Requirements:

Running Time 147 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Pandora couldn't resist opening the forbidden box containing all the delusions of mankind, and let's just say David Lynch, in Mulholland Drive, indulges a similar impulse. Employing a familiar film noir atmosphere to unravel, as he coyly puts it, "a love story in the city of dreams," Lynch establishes a foreboding but playful narrative in the film's first half before subsuming all of Los Angeles and its corrupt ambitions into his voyeuristic universe of desire. Identities exchange, amnesia proliferates, and nightmare visions are induced, but not before we've become enthralled by the film's two main characters: the dazed and sullen femme fatale, Rita (Laura Elena Harring), and the pert blonde just-arrived from Ontario (played exquisitely by Naomi Watts) who decides to help Rita regain her memory. Triggered by a rapturous Spanish-language version of Roy Orbison's "Crying," Lynch's best film since Blue Velvet splits glowingly into two equally compelling parts. --Fionn Meade

Customer Reviews:

Lynch is the man!!!!!!!.......2007-06-17

Never mind the bollocks of any negative reviews. I'm not going to go any details about this film seeing I'm the "M" of the count (yeh!!!!).If you are into mindblowing films that will leave you in a trance for days on end , well then by all means just buy-watch-and enjoy.

Brilliant.......2007-06-07

THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME, i don't even wan't to talk about or explain this movie because for people who haven't seen it, it will take away from the film's brilliance. Excellent movie.

100% Percent Weird! .......2007-05-21

Director David Lynch is one of the most bizzare directors of our time. Once again, he continues to keep our interests in check with a spinning web of intrigue and danger. Naomi Watts is one of the most promissing actresses in Hollywood. Her performance as Betty, the naive actress from Deep River, Ontario (just east of Ottawa) is genuine and sincere. Laura Elena Herring's pressence as Rita is just mezzmerising. She's one of the most beautiful women I've scene on film. The camera just loves her! However, the film story and plot is enough to frustrate the average viewer. If you've scene some of Lynch's other work (minus "Dune", "The Straight Story" and "The Elephant Man"), you'll know you're in for a challenge. Fans of "Twin Peaks" will enjoy this one! Aside from the twists and turns and the bizarre sub-plots, this film is 80% percent good, 100% percent weird!

Right up there with Rosemary's Baby.......2007-05-10

Lynch's story-telling and directing are unparalleled and unique. What is important about this film is that it depicts a certain truth that no other film has ever achieved: DEPICTS THE SUPERNATURAL STRANGENESS OF GOING TO THE SUPERNATURAL "OTHER SIDE" for fame and fortune. Expert landscaping of Hollywood, covering Mind Control, Handlers, controllers, where power comes from, the satanic system and how it is propagated...

More important, Lynch shows what happens to people who rebel once they have sold their souls.

I believe that Lynch here is a prophet screaming in the wilderness about a reality that he knows--now he can't just outright tell you. So he disguises much of it in confabulistic imagery and metaphor...but for those who know, IT IS THE REAL THING.

I am surprised they released it, but Lynch fooled them. If you want to know how it works in Hollywood from a supernatural-mind-control-soul scalping perspective...see it. As for the sex... it's psycho-sex... not gratuitous sex... everything in this film advances the plot, the point of which is: YOU CANNOT WIN. No one wins in Hollywood. You just prolongue losing.

There are several versions of the devil depicted in the film--all of whom run Hollywood and all of whom are the same character. See if you can spot them. Hint. One resides outside by the dumpster of Mr. Winkie's diner, ruling the world. The other is a cowboy. In my opinion, these are all the same Person.

I'll leave it right there. I think the film is required viewing for any serious film buff interested in Hollywood and how it works.

lovely mystery.......2007-05-08

I have watched this movie many times and still don't really understand it although i have read a lot of explanations -but to be honest I love the new questions it raises everytime -how often does one stay puzzled enjoyably in life? And of course the Lynchesque style of color,music,beauty in different forms,evil and violence - it s all there at its best!

Average customer rating:

One of the finest gangster films ever made
A slippery slope
A somber, contemplative, tragic version of Scarface
A true classic
The perfect genre for Al Pacino!

Carlito's Way
Starring: Al Pacino , Sean Penn , Penelope Ann Miller , John Leguizamo , and Ingrid Rogers
Director: Brian De Palma
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Donnie Brasco (Special Edition) [Region 99]
Scarface (Platinum Edition)
Casino (Widescreen 10th Anniversary Edition)
Carlito's Way - Rise to Power (Widescreen)
GoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000AARKW6
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Amazon.com essential video

Al Pacino cuts a noble figure in this very enjoyable drama by director Brian De Palma (Scarface), based on a pair of books by Edwin Torres. Pacino plays a Puerto Rican ex-con trying hard to go straight, but his loyalty to his lowlife attorney (a virtually unrecognizable Sean Penn) and enemies on the street make that choice difficult. Penelope Ann Miller plays, somewhat unlikely, a stripper who has a romance with Pacino's character. The film finds De Palma tempering his more outlandish moves (think of Body Double or Snake Eyes) just as he did with the popular Untouchables and Mission: Impossible. But while Carlito's Way was not commercially successful and never rises to the level of greatness, it is a genuinely compelling movie graced with a fine performance by Pacino and a surprising one from Penn. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

One of the finest gangster films ever made.......2007-03-29

A longtime fan of Al Pacino, I saw "Carlito's Way" when it first came out, in 1993. Even back then, it was apparent to me that I was watching something very special. Since then, I've literally seen the movie hundreds of times, and it remains one of my all-time favorite films.

The plot summary has been covered many times here, so I'll just stick to my comments. I think "Carlito's Way" is Brian DePalma's finest hour as a filmmaker. I could never understand the lukewarm critical response it received, though, ironically, time has been very kind to it. A lot of critics dismissed it as a second-rate follow-up to "Scarface"--which, interestingly, was also panned upon its release--but it possesses a depth and resonance that "Scarface" (or any of DePalma's other films, for that matter) just can't match.

Having grown up in Queens, New York, in the 1970s--and having run with a pretty tough crowd--I was stunned at how well DePalma captured the sights and sounds of the time. It was like being transported back 20 years. But, perhaps because the film was made two decades after it's supposed to take place, "Carlito's Way" hasn't aged at all. Like many great films, it has a timeless feel to it, because it avoids many of the filmmaking clichés of the period in which it was made.

DePalma was already working from a very good foundation--Edwin Torres' two books on Carlito Brigante, "Carlito's Way" and "After Hours," are exceptionally well written--but he could've easily dropped the ball. Thankfully, he didn't. Though he and Pacino were both initially opposed to rehashing the success of "Scarface," they eventually decided to work together again. The combination was pure magic. Like many great actors, Pacino sometimes needs to be challenged, and DePalma challenged him. And he responded with one of the best performances of his legendary career. He brings an elegiac air to the character of reformed drug kingpin Carlito Brigante, which brings out a level of depth and emotional weight that the character of Tony Montana just didn't have. In fact, Carlito makes Tony seem woefully cartoonish and two-dimensional by comparison. As the film progresses, the psychic weight of Carlito's worsening dilemma is channeled perfectly by Pacino's every move and word. Despite Carlito's sordid past, you sympathize with him and his increasingly futile attempt to escape that past. The rapidly shrinking box that is Carlito's way out is communicated stunningly, by Pacino's acting, the excellent dialogue and cinematography, and, crucially, the music, which builds to a crescendo during the subway chase scene--one of the best chase scenes ever committed to film, in my opinion.

A movie is nothing without fine acting, and DePalma did a wonderful job of casting "Carlito's Way." The cast is, to a person, first-rate: John Leguizamo as up-and-coming gangster Benny Blanco; Penelope Ann Miller as Carlito's love interest, Gail; Luis Guzman as the traitorous Pachanga; and the ringer, Sean Penn, as Carlito's sleazy, out-of-control lawyer, David Kleinfeld. Penn has had a lot of great roles in his career, but his turn as Kleinfeld is definitely one of his most memorable: over-the-top, but never less than eminently believable . . . and chillingly frightening.

As I said earlier, the years have been very kind to "Carlito's Way." It has aged better than any of DePalma's other films, and still looks and sounds as vital today as it did upon its release. That's a tough trick to pull off, but it's a testament to DePalma's filmmaking prowess and the actors' collective skill that, never once, do you catch yourself thinking about the age of the film. It's, quite simply, timeless--and, in this viewer's opinion, one of the best gangster films ever made. Whether history will judge it as such is debatable, but I believe that time will continue to enhance its reputation. It's a stunning cinematic achievement that will gain more and more supporters as the years go buy. I have absolutely no doubt about that.

A slippery slope.......2007-03-23

(3.5/5 stars) Carlito "Charlie" Brigante has just been released from prison on a technicality, after serving five years of a thirty-year sentence. He proclaims he has retired from the life of drug dealing and crime that landed him in prison, and he resolves to go straight. He wants only to save $75,000 so he can head to the Bahamas and buy into a car rental partnership. When he chances upon his ex-girlfriend, Gail (the beautiful Penelope Ann Miller), all indications are that his life will turn out superb after all. Carlito discovers, however, that escaping his former lifestyle proves nearly impossible as his past catches up with him. In the lead role, Al Pacino offers the perfect complexity that makes him believable as a reformed thug, whose experiences have wrought him the wisdom and paternal temperament he will need to survive. As in so many other films, we sympathize with his character here because he brings such a gentle demeanor to the role. Also outstanding is Sean Penn, who is terrific as Carlito's attorney and "brother," among other roles. "The Ultimate Edition" features a widescreen presentation with DTS sound and deleted scenes. For about $10, you cannot go wrong. (And, if you are a fan of Penelope Ann Miller, you'll want this DVD to enjoy her nude scenes repeatedly)

A somber, contemplative, tragic version of Scarface.......2006-09-18

In many ways, Al Pacino's performance in Carlito's Way is far superior than that of his Tony Montana portrayal in Scarface. Montana was just a young, greedy, genuinely bad person. Carlito Brigante, on the other hand, is an old, pessimistic, ex-con who is trying to turn his life around.

Carlito's Way is a very tough film to watch. The whole time, there is an aura of dread surrounding every decision that Carlito makes. Whenever he tries to do the right thing, there is always someone waiting there to guide him in the wrong direction, and it hurts the viewer every time he takes a step toward the fate that you know is coming.

The only true De Palma moment in the film is the climactic chase and shootout throughout Grand Central Station. The cinematography and score are amazing. And the climactic shootout has some clever homages to a previous De Palma classic. (Think train station escalators instead of train station staircase.)

In many ways, this film doesn't feel like a De Palma, but it might be his highest quality film in terms of story, acting, and message.

A true classic.......2006-08-20

I can't say enough about this movie. I'll put it up there with the Godfather because the story is that deep. Everybody loves Scareface, but in my opinion this is the better movie. Scareface, although a great movie (and personal favorite) goes way over the top but Carlito's Way stays in the steet. In fact, when Carlito says the streets are watching you can almost see the eyes in the background. The story, the actors, and the script all work well together. This movie is the real deal and worth spending the money to find it.

The perfect genre for Al Pacino!.......2006-07-28

Carlito's way is another maffia movie with al pacino as the maffia boss working his way up. In this movie we get to see a more relaxed and laybacked Al Pacino who tries to stay of out the dirty work in order to get back on his feet and to get control of his life.

Average customer rating:

Lots of surprises
Brought back my childhood radio daze . . .
In The Shadow
The SHADOW
Good/Clean Sci-Fi Fantasy

The Shadow
Starring: Alec Baldwin , John Lone , Penelope Ann Miller , Peter Boyle , and Ian McKellen
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Action & Adventure | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Phantom
Rocketeer
Dick Tracy
Darkman
The Saint

ASIN: 078321958X
Release Date: 1997-11-19

Amazon.com

A mixed bag that received mixed reviews when released in 1994, this lavish film works overtime to honor the spirit and style of the vintage pulp novels and radio shows that made The Shadow a household name in the 1930s and '40s. Alec Baldwin plays the Shadow, a.k.a. Lamont Cranston, who arrives in New York from his decadent life in Tibet, fully reformed and disciplined in his ability "to cloud men's minds." A crime fighter who lurks in the dark recesses of the city, the Shadow faces his most deadly challenge when Shiwan Khan (John Lone), the last surviving descendant of Genghis Khan, hatches a plot to conquer the world. The scheme involves a madman (Tim Curry), a hapless scientist (Ian McKellen), and various traps designed to catch and kill the Shadow, who must also contend with his blossoming romance with Margo Lane (Penelope Ann Miller), a slender beauty capable of a little mind play of her own. The movie's art deco production design turns out to be a scene-stealer when the plot drags, and in the title role Baldwin is never given enough good material to create a compelling character. Still, The Shadow is true to the legacy that inspired it, admirably avoiding any conspicuous compromise of its 1930s style and setting. If you can't get into the story, you're sure to be hooked by the look of the production, which is never less than dazzling. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Lots of surprises.......2007-05-13

This movie has fast paced action,good acting with a touch of the exotic. Based on an radio series. I liked it!

Brought back my childhood radio daze . . ........2007-04-25

I really liked this movie. I saw it in the theater and several times on DVD and V