Debi Mazar

Average customer rating:

THE BEST OF THE BEST
Goodmovie.
Perhaps Scorcese's best film
An Outstanding Gangland Epic...
He did it his way

GoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Robert De Niro , Ray Liotta , Joe Pesci , Lorraine Bracco , and Paul Sorvino
Director: Martin Scorsese
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Casino (Widescreen 10th Anniversary Edition)
Scarface (Platinum Edition)
The Godfather DVD Collection
Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition)
Donnie Brasco (Special Edition) [Region 99]

ASIN: B000286RKW
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com essential video

Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalizes the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director's kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill's ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci's psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as Hill's love interest, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.

Customer Reviews:

THE BEST OF THE BEST.......2007-06-13

LOVE THIS MOVIE! IT IS TRULY THE GREATEST MOB MOVIE EVER MADE. THERE'S ALOT OF GOOD ONES BUT GOODFELLAS IS IN A CLASS OF IT'S OWN. BRILLANT, COMPELLING, AND SUPERLATIVE. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT.

Goodmovie........2007-05-27

Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)

I hated Casino when I went to see it back in 1995. I now understand why; Casino was Scorsese's attempt to remake Goodfellas, but like Brian DePalma attempting to remake Curtis Hanson's L. A. Confidential in The Black Dahlia, the later film ended up somehow being both a shadow of the original and, if unintentionally, a parody of the original as well. Everything about Casino that ended up awful was fantastic in Goodfellas.

Based on Nicholas Pileggi's autobiography, Goodfellas follows three guys--Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro), Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), and Henry Hill (Ray Liotta)--who all want to be mobsters. (Granted, as Tommy is the only Italian in the bunch, they don't have much of a chance.) From the outside, we're perfectly aware that they, and their band of assorted outlaws, are mostly comic relief for the actual made men in the area; they're well-meaning, but usually either not forward-looking enough when planning things, or simply inept. But they're exceptionally-drawn, all three of them perfectly-done pictures of what my in-laws are wont to call "bags of neuroses". We, as the viewers, are alternately amused and horrified by their doings. Meanwhile, when they're not out doing flunky jobs for the mob or trying to get ahead with side jobs of their own, their private lives are even more of a mess. It stands to reason that even the most thick-headed flunky will eventually get tired of riding on someone else's coattails and find some way to push the envelope. When it happens, it's pure screen magic. Then comes the denouement, and Scorsese proves himself a master of pace--the denouement is longer than the buildup, and if anything, even more compelling, as the three of them take different directions towards either redemption or self-destruction.

Simply put, an amazing piece of moviemaking. If you haven't seen it, do. **** ½

Perhaps Scorcese's best film.......2007-05-20

Martin Scorcese's epic tale of the rise and fall of small-time Mafioso Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) and his associates is riveting storytelling that is often as densely packed with information about the details and culture of mob life as a documentary. As a boy, Hill aspires to the power and wealth of the wiseguys he sees around the neighborhood. As he rises through the ranks, accumulating money, power, and a beautiful wife (Lorraine Bracco), Scorcese shows us how seductive this lifestyle can be. Yet he never flinches from its basic brutality and the thuggish mindset that money cannot change. In the end, the concept of honor among theives is shown to be a lie, a self-aggrandizing fiction that lasts only as long as it coincides with self-interest. This is perhaps Scorcese's best film and benefits enormously from complex, important supporting performances from long-time Scorcese accomplices Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci.

An Outstanding Gangland Epic..........2007-05-19

In the 1970's director Francis Ford Coppola treated audiences with possibly the most accurate, yet somewhat romanticized, depiction of life in the mafia with his brilliant films "The Godfather" and "The Godfather 2". Ever since those two movies, no other movie has come close to touching the quality that is displayed in these two films for this genre, some have tried and come close ("The Godfather 3" being chief among them), but none have succeeded. That is until director Martin Scorsese released his biopic on the life of mobster Henry Hill with "Goodfellas".

"Goodfellas" follows the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), a small-time hood who happens to participate in a robbery with Jimmy Conway (Robert DeNiro), calm and calculating individual, and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), a psycho with an incredibly short fuse. Little did Henry know that this robbery would place him on the path to becoming a 'made man' in the very mafia family that Jimmy Conway eventually becomes head of. As Henry Hill rises through the ranks of 'La Cosa Nostra' he manages to find some peace and stability when he meets a young Italian woman (Lorraine Braco) that he marries and has a few kids with. However, the excesses of mafia life eventually begin to get the better of Henry, as he begins to unravel due to heavy drug use, and making matters worse his one-time friend and Don, Jimmy Conway believes Henry may be a threat to him and plots to 'whack' him. With his life in possible jeopardy, Henry has two choices, one stay true to the family and face possible execution, or two, become a government informant and be placed into Witness Protection, becoming a rat in the eyes of the 'family'.

Director Martin Scorsese's work here is by far some of his best. His gritty, realistic approach to this true story, really shows the audience the great wealth and success (if you can call it that) that mafia life can have, while at the same time showing the pitfalls that can occur in that same life. The cast that Scorsese has managed to bring together for this film is truly excellent, and the performances by Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, and Ray Liotta are so powerful, and at times scary, that you can really appreciate the great talent that these actors possess. The supporting cast is equally talented, and just as worthy of praise as the three leads. An interesting note is that for his role of the psychotic Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci improvised some of the more extreme moments the character has, earning him great critical praise and somewhat typecasting him in this type of role. The story is an excellent cautionary tale on what can happen when your choices lead you on the wrong path, even though it's the only path you ever dreamed of. The movie is probably just as strong as "The Godfather", maybe even stronger due to it's even greater authenticity and lack of romanticizing life in the mafia. For those moviegoers that enjoy mafia themed movies, but have never seen this gangster classic, you must do yourself a huge favor and watch this movie, you will not be disappointed.

"Goodfellas" is rated R for violence, language, and sexuality/brief nudity.

He did it his way.......2007-05-16

What a wonderful inspiring film-making by the only director who could possible make the film, the undisputed classic. The cast is superb, the pace - incredible; 145 minutes simply flew by. My beloved "Sopranos", all six seasons of it could fit perfectly like in a case in these 145 minutes. Ultra-violent, mesmerizing, enthralling, "GoodFellas" is an unforgettable wild ride. I have not seen the film for a while and what a great fun it was to re-watch it again and I know it always will be.

Favorite scene - after Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) killed Billy Batts, they and Henry Hill stopped at Tommy's mother (Mrs. Scorsese) house. The contrast between earlier horrifying scene at the bar and the nice family dinner is simply breathtaking.

Average customer rating:

THE BEST OF THE BEST
Goodmovie.
Perhaps Scorcese's best film
An Outstanding Gangland Epic...
He did it his way

GoodFellas
Starring: Robert De Niro , Ray Liotta , Joe Pesci , Lorraine Bracco , and Paul Sorvino
Director: Martin Scorsese
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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Casino (Widescreen 10th Anniversary Edition)
Scarface (Platinum Edition)
The Godfather DVD Collection
Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition)
Donnie Brasco (Special Edition) [Region 99]

ASIN: 0790729725
Release Date: 1997-03-26

Amazon.com

Martin Scorsese's 1990 masterpiece GoodFellas immortalizes the hilarious, horrifying life of actual gangster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), from his teen years on the streets of New York to his anonymous exile under the Witness Protection Program. The director's kinetic style is perfect for recounting Hill's ruthless rise to power in the 1950s as well as his drugged-out fall in the late 1970s; in fact, no one has ever rendered the mental dislocation of cocaine better than Scorsese. Scorsese uses period music perfectly, not just to summon a particular time but to set a precise mood. GoodFellas is at least as good as The Godfather without being in the least derivative of it. Joe Pesci's psycho improvisation of Mobster Tommy DeVito ignited Pesci as a star, Lorraine Bracco scores the performance of her life as the love of Hill's life, and every supporting role, from Paul Sorvino to Robert De Niro, is a miracle.

Description

When Martin Scorsese, one of the world's most skillful and respected directors, reunited with two-time Oscar-winner Robert De Niro in GoodFellas, the result was one of the most powerful films of the year. Based on the true-life best seller Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi and backed by a dynamic pop/rock oldies soundtrack, critics and filmgoers alike declared GoodFellas great. It was named 1990's best film by the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics. And it earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Robert De Niro received wide recognition for his performance as veteran criminal Jimmy "The Gent" Conway. And as the volatile Tommy DeVito, Joe Pesci walked off with the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Academy Award nominee Lorraine Bracco, Ray Liotta and Paul Sorvino also turned in electrifying performances. You have to see it to believe it - then watch it again. GoodFellas explores the criminal life like no other movie.DVD Features:
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Theatrical Trailer:Two theatrical trailers

Customer Reviews:

THE BEST OF THE BEST.......2007-06-13

Goodmovie........2007-05-27

Perhaps Scorcese's best film.......2007-05-20

An Outstanding Gangland Epic..........2007-05-19

He did it his way.......2007-05-16

Average customer rating:

I love this movie
A slice of life
What a gem!
So funny!
so I married an axe murderer

So I Married an Axe Murderer
Starring: Mike Myers , Nancy Travis , Anthony LaPaglia , Amanda Plummer , and Brenda Fricker
Director: Thomas Schlamme
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Wayne's World 1 & 2 - The Complete Epic
Grosse Pointe Blank
Better Off Dead
Austin Powers (3pc) (Ws)
Tommy Boy (Special Collector's Edition)

ASIN: B00000IQBW
Release Date: 1999-06-01

Amazon.com

Mike Myers's first feature role without his Wayne's World wig is a performance at odds with the best interests of the movie. Myers plays a single guy who always manages to find something seriously wrong with each of his girlfriends. His new love (Nancy Travis), a butcher, may be the perfect woman, except for one thing: she might be a "black-widow" killer who prefers dispatching husbands with a sharp instrument. Robbie Fox's original script has a fine shape and strong, black-comedy material within it. But Myers creates unnecessary dissonance by playing a variety of characters (including an irascible Scotsman like the one he often played on Saturday Night Live) and accenting his skills as an improvisational comic (such as impersonating the soothing cadences of a massage therapist). It's not that Myers isn't funny doing all that, but it has nothing to do with the movie. Directed by Thomas Schlamme (Miss Firecracker). --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

I love this movie.......2007-05-19

As with most good movies, the main characters might be the worm, but the backups are what reel you in. This movie is so very watchable, and Mike Meyers is actually funny (!!) in it, but for me, it's all about Anthony La Paglia and Alan Arkin. Sure, it's maybe three scenes in the entire movie, but they really steal the show.

This is a seriously underrated movie. Watch it. You won't regret it.

A slice of life.......2007-05-06

Charlie Mackenzie (Mike Myers) self made poet, has successfully avoided tying the knot with several women by finding out their flaws in the "nick" of time. Looks like his luck may be running out.

He falls in love with the local butcher, Harriet Michaels (Nancy Travis), who may be more of a cut-up than she appears. Will Charlie Axe-cept her at face value or will his suspicious nature once again interfere with marital bliss?

If he takes the plunge will his friend (Anthony LaPaglia) find out that Charlie is not paranoid and come to his rescue (in time)?

What a gem!.......2007-05-06

One of my favorite movies: unerringly charming and hilarious. It's a romantic comedy starring Mike Myers and Nancy Travis, obtrusively set in San Francisco. Myers spends most of the movie believing that Travis, his new love interest, may be a serial killer.

Stunningly, the movie flopped in cinemas. (This despite supremely competent writing and hysterical supporting work by actors such as Anthony LaPaglia and Amanda Plummer.)

I have heard that Myers was so despondent after its failure that he took TWO YEARS off of filmmaking in a somber funk.

Whoa! What a loss.

For my part, I've watched it maybe a dozen times and usually find something new to laugh at with each viewing. Even when I don't, this movie is guaranteed to paste a smile on my face for the rest of the day.

I have to say something else: I have never watched a movie that has made me want to move to a certain place so much as this one makes you want to move to San Francisco!

Pity that the powers that be show no signs of coming out with a "collector's edition" or anything like that. All you're getting here is the film itself, essentially. In case you're confused by what Amazon says up there, it's one of those disks where one side is fullscreen and the other is widescreen.

By the way, if anybody knows how Nancy Travis's character was able to afford that stunning loft apartment in the heart of San Francisco while working as an assistant at a butcher shop, please drop me a line. I do believe I chose the wrong career!

So funny!.......2007-03-08

This is one of my all time favorite Mike Myers movies! So funny!

so I married an axe murderer.......2007-01-28

The product is first rate. I love this movie, I hadn't seen this movie since school. I have had no problems with the products frow amazon.

Empire Records (Remix! Special Fan Edition)

Average customer rating:

One of the best movies!
Loved it!
Good Movie
Classic Teen Movie
A Movie to Resist Time!!!

Empire Records (Remix! Special Fan Edition)
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia , Maxwell Caulfield , Debi Mazar , Rory Cochrane , and Johnny Whitworth
Director: Allan Moyle
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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Dazed & Confused - Criterion Collection
Empire Records: The Soundtrack
Can't Hardly Wait
Reality Bites (10th Anniversary Edition)
Almost Famous - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B00008WJEQ
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

This story about a day in the life of an independent record store, truly a threatened species, screeches with the sound of teenagers falling apart emotionally every five minutes. The script, which feels like an old guy's idea of how kids talk and think, concerns the young employees of a Delaware music shop faced with imminent extinction. While the ship is sinking, the staff indulge in tantrums, depressions, and run-ins with low self-esteem. There's a lot of noise in this thing, but not a lot is really said. Rory Cochrane has the best part as a secretive guy who loses the store's proceeds one night while gambling, Anthony LaPaglia is the adult boss and unofficial dad to the others, Renée Zellweger plays a promiscuous girl, and Liv Tyler is OK as a lovestruck sweet thing trying to get up the nerve to express her feelings to a fellow employee. --Tom Keogh

Description

The director of Pump Up the Volume cranks it up another notch with Empire Records Remix! Special Fan Edition, including 16 minutes of never-before-seen footage. A comedy about an eventful day in the lives of the young slackers, doers and dreamers who work at a bustling record store. Stars Renee Zellweger, Liv Tyler, Anthony La Paglia, Ethan Embry and Robin Tunney. Gin Blossoms, the Cranberries, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Cracker, Evan Dando, Better Than Ezra and more hot alternative rock underscores virtually every scene.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best movies!.......2007-05-16

I love this movie. It makes me feel young. Damn the man!

Loved it!.......2007-05-13

This is one of my favorite movies growing up. Very fun, and has a good overall storyline.

Good Movie.......2007-05-06

A little bit crazy. But over all an excellent movie. I have watched it several times.

Classic Teen Movie.......2007-05-02

Empire Records is one of those movies that never gets "played out". It has a fresh, youthful, captivating flow. Set to great music from a mix of genres. This is definitely not just a music video. It deals with a lot of basic life issues, that are part of growing up and growing old. From the little miss perfect, who secretly pops pills to keep up. And is holding onto a teen fantasy of losing her virginity in romance novel style to her heart throb. The weird girl working through depression and thoughts of suicide. A wanna be thug and miserably bad shoplifter that just needs to belong to something. To the washed up old pop star that tries to pathetically hold onto his youth and career. And a wealth of other colorful characters, that are all trying to find themselves, and where they fit into the world. Empire is a great light hearted movie. It doesn't go overboard with drama, romance, or silliness. But it does have a little bit of all those things.

A Movie to Resist Time!!!.......2007-04-28

Fantastic movie that will last through the ages! I can watch this movie any time of the day or night over and over again, I have actually watched it probably about a hundred times. It never gets old and it's one of those movies that you can just put on just to have something to watch. I guess it is more directed at a younger group of people but it can last through the ages.

Batman Forever (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Average customer rating:

Batman as he should be!!
The best film in the series
batman forever rocks!
the worst batman film
Batman played for laughs

Batman Forever (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Val Kilmer , Tommy Lee Jones , Jim Carrey , Nicole Kidman , and Chris O'Donnell
Director: Joel Schumacher
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

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Batman & Robin
Batman Returns (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Batman (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Batman Begins [HD DVD]
The Mask (New Line Platinum Series)

ASIN: B000B5XOXY
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Amazon.com

When Tim Burton and Michael Keaton announced that they'd had enough of the Batman franchise, director Joel Schumacher stepped in (with Burton as coproducer) to make this action-packed extravaganza starring Val Kilmer as the caped crusader. Batman is up against two of Gotham City's most colorful criminals, the Riddler (a role tailor-made for funnyman Jim Carrey) and the diabolical Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones), who join forces to conquer Gotham's population with a brain-draining device. Nicole Kidman plays the seductive psychologist who wants to know what makes Batman tick. Boasting a redesigned Batmobile and plenty of new Bat hardware, Batman Forever also introduces Robin the Boy Wonder (Chris O'Donnell) whose close alliance with Batman led more than a few critics to ponder the series' homoerotic subtext. No matter how you interpret it, Schumacher's take on the Batman legacy is simultaneously amusing, lavishly epic, and prone to chronic sensory overload. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Riddle me this, riddle me that, you'll find adventure on the wings of a bat! Brace for excitement as Val Kilmer (Batman), Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face), Jim Carrey (the Riddler), Nicole Kidman (Dr. Chase Meridian) and chris O'Donnell (Robin) star in the third formidable film in Warner Bros.' Batman series. Joel Schumacher directs and Tim Burton co-produces this thrill-ride of a movie that thunders along on Batmobile, Batwing, Batboat, Batsub and bold heroics. Hang on!DVD Features:
Additional Scenes
Audio Commentary:Commentary by Joel Schumacher
Documentaries:Riddle Me This: Why is Batman Forever? Shadows of the Bat: The Cinematic Saga of the Dark Knight, Part 4 Behind the Scenes Gallery
Featurette:Heroes and Villains Profiles
Music Video:Kiss from a Rose by Seal

Customer Reviews:

Batman as he should be!!.......2007-06-11

Val Kilmer is perfect as Bruce Wayne, Jim Carrey is the perfect renewal of the Frank Gorshen Riddler and only Tommy Lee Jones could pull off the maniacal Two-Face!! Batman is Back!!

The best film in the series.......2007-06-08

After Michael Keaton, Val is the only otheractor that I consider when I hear Batman. Kilmer is the best at all of the action sequences in the film. Kilmer like Keaton, can also handle the role of Bruce Wayne without a hitch. I also like the villans in the movie. I think Tommy lee Jones and Jim Carey handled their roles flawlessly.

batman forever rocks!.......2007-03-15

Batman/Bruce Wayne(Val Kilmer)had one of the best preformances in this film.He had the eye look and tone of voice that made him perfect for the role.Tommy lee Jones made a perfect Two Face.He had the perfect look that made two face come alive.Jim carrey on the other hand was a good Riddler,but had the same hyperactive preformance as Frank Gorshin.Nicole kidman was a perfect role to play as Bruce wayne's girlfriend chase meridian.I liked how Joel Shcumacher had her help Bruce Wayne 's past.Chris O' Donnell's robin was excellent!He had that type of charm in him that made him a prefect Robin.I also liked the opening credits theme Batman song.other than that ,Batman forever was the best Batman film yet!

the worst batman film.......2007-02-28

i actually hate this even more then batman & robin to be totally honest. Atleast from beginning to end we all saw a camp train wreck with no plot; so it can be laughed at the for the camp classic that it is. Batman Forever masqurades as a good film but falls so far short that it earns much more of my hatred. there's just so much too hate about this film. first off lets get one thing straight...Jim Carrey is just awful as the riddler shouting and mugging through the movie. TLJ is just as bad as TwoFace laughing and screaming. Nicole Kidman is horribly miscast as bruce waynes love interest. Joel Schumacher seems to be obssesed with beauiful women then actually above average ones that are better suited for the part. the music was also horrible loud and annoying. funny enough Kilmer and O'donnel are the only actors who adds a sense of seriousness too the movie. in the end you will see a movie that had poteintial but in the end comes crashing to a big terd.

Batman played for laughs.......2007-01-29

It took the James Bond series seventeen years to really descend into self-parody and foolishness with "Moonraker." Batman did it in six.

Warner Bros.' third Dark Knight opus, "Batman Forever," would make a good companion piece to the same studio's "Superman III." That film pitted the Man of Steel against comedian Richard Pryor with dire results. "Batman Forever" pits the Caped Crusader against comic Jim Carrey for an adventure that is more laughs than thrills. Carrey, as his character The Riddler says, is "over the top," and so is Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face. And for those who prefer their Batman movies dark and brooding, the introduction of sidekick Robin (Chris O' Donnell) is most unwelcome. On the other hand, Val Kilmer as Batman plays his role so straight he might as well be auditioning to replace the late Jack Webb in a revival of "Dragnet."

As directed by Joel Schumacher, "Batman Forever" looks great. It's filled with striking sets, cinematography, and day-glo colors, and that, along with the presence of Nicole Kidman and Drew Barrymore, make it easy on the eyes.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Average customer rating:

Simply mesmerising, what a movie!
Awesome and beyond the box plot!!!
Great action/drama with superb acting
Excellent, well-crafted thriller
Decent action, terrible story

Collateral (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Starring: Tom Cruise , Jamie Foxx , Jada Pinkett Smith , Mark Ruffalo , and Peter Berg
Director: Michael Mann
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Man on Fire
The Bourne Supremacy (Widescreen Edition)
The Manchurian Candidate (Widescreen Edition)
I, Robot (Widescreen Edition)
Ray (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00005JN2Z
Release Date: 2004-12-14

Amazon.com

Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that's just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It's from Michael Mann, after all, and the director's stellar track record with crime thrillers (Thief, Manhunter, and especially Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie's screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann's directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in Ali and his title-role showcase in Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series Robbery Homicide Division). Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Simply mesmerising, what a movie!.......2007-05-22

This movie proves Tom Cruise is an actor par excellence.

Forget about Hollywood [...] like Top Gun - Cruise is a serious and remarkably talented actor. I was absolutely glued to the screen watching this movie; Cruise created an "air" and "presence" that was simply electrifying. *Note* The way Cruise "moves" through the crowded nightclub to acquire his target you would think He was the only person in the room.

Collateral is a stunning movie, a psychological/action thriller without compare.

Unfortunately, Collateral has never received the credit it truly deserves - it will, I have no doubt, become a classic.

I gave this movie five stars; I wish I could give it six.

Awesome and beyond the box plot!!!.......2007-05-13

This movie has an awesome plot. How often do we see a movie from almost a hitman's perspective? The gun fighting and hand-to hand combat is pretty realistic. Tom Cruise does look like he knows what he is doing with his USP .45 ACP. Jamie Fox should probably be dead the way they both were shooting, but otherwise great movie. I like the views of LA and the whole town not just the part everyone sees. You can tell the director knew LA. Yes, I have been to LA use to live in CA. Plus the music made this just as much as anything, Air in G in the cab, and the Korean Club music were awesome adding to the mood. This a great movie with a different plot. Warning: may make you almost like Tom Cruise again!!!!

Great action/drama with superb acting.......2007-05-09

I'm not a big fan of action movies, or Tom Cruise, and the only other Michael Mann movie I've seen is Last of the Mohicans. I still should have known better than to wait three years to check out Collateral after the glowing reviews and Jamie Foxx's Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.

Tom Cruise shows that he really does have the acting chops to pull off a variety of roles as his portrayal of Vincent is quite a departure from the typical Cruise hero. He's got a different voice, walk, and attitude. And with the white hair and beard he's captivating to watch as he unstoppably takes on the sociopathic hired [...] role.

Jamie Foxx is equally engaging as Max, a big-dreaming cab driver that has never has the follow through to make any of his dreams happen. Collateral follows a night in Max's cab and the character arc that Max follows because of the events that transpire.

Jada Pinkett Smith has a smaller role, but still puts in some solid acting as a prosecuting attorney who rides in Max's cab.

The action and dialogue throughout Collateral are brilliantly played out and hard to turn away from. You won't want to miss a minute of the movie for fear of missing a cool special effect, a great acing moment, or just a quick plot point. The helicopter panning shots over the city of LA are pretty awesome too.

The second disc is full of special features, including a short about Tom Cruise dressing up as a FedEx worker in order to work on not being recognizable for the role of Vincent. There's also a making of featurette and a clip of rehearsals between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx with director Michael Mann. It's all worth checking out.

Excellent, well-crafted thriller.......2007-03-27

Collateral is a truly excellent and intelligent thriller. One of the most captivating movies I have seen since the start of the new Millennium. I am not a Tom Cruise fan, on the contrary I would say, but in his role of contract hitman Vincent he is very convincing. Jamie Foxx is impressive. I agree with a remark that I read somewhere that the city of Los Angeles plays the third leading role in this movie. Director Michael Mann creates a fascinating athmosphere. The photography is breathtaking. I was unable to focus on the action and found myself wandering away and simply gawking at the images of nighttime L.A. a couple of times. The brutal and for some characters fatal events seem small and unimportant and isolated when played out against the backdrop of this huge antheap of a city. This is surely a movie that you'll want to see more often than once. The violence is very brutal and explicit, but mercifully short and well spread out over the story. It is also very realistic and functional violence, not the bizarre and completely over-the-top superhero stuff that you see in too many movies nowadays, where the opponents constantly smash, stab and shoot each other into a bloody pulp and still manage to keep on fighting. Collateral therefore is not your typical run-of-the-mill action movie, but instead a well-crafted psychological thriller and police-movie. I absolutely recommend it.

Decent action, terrible story.......2007-02-25

First of all, I don't know who Michael Mann is. I've gotta look him up.

Second of all, I'm writing because I'm surprised by the positive reviews for this movies. I finished this movie in half the time. It was just corny, predictable, and all in all pretty lame. 2.5 stars, mostly for the action scenes. The characters, while not wholly one-dimensional, are too easily read. There is no complexity, which makes it a subpar drama. It's also a lame action movie because of the ill-disguised attempts to put artificial depth into the characters. I find most of the dialog agonizing to sit through.

But at least I finished the movie.

Average customer rating:

A Story of Two Honorable Men in a World Gone Awry
Awesome!
Troubling times when a man takes on the machine
Truth to power
The Future Revealed

The Insider
Starring: Michael Paul Chan , Lindsay Crouse , Russell Crowe , Colm Feore , and Michael Gambon
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

L.A. Confidential
Proof of Life
Heat
Good Night, and Good Luck (Widescreen Edition)
Munich (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B00003CWRX
Release Date: 2000-04-11

Amazon.com essential video

As revisionist history, Michael Mann's intelligent docudrama The Insider is a simmering brew of altered facts and dramatic license. In a broader perspective, however, the film (cowritten with Forrest Gump Oscar-winner Eric Roth) is effectively accurate as an engrossing study of ethics in the corruptible industries of tobacco and broadcast journalism. On one side, there is Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), the former tobacco scientist who violated contractual agreements to expose Brown & Williamson's inclusion of addictive ingredients in cigarettes, casting himself into a vortex of moral dilemma. On the other side is 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), whose struggle to report Wigand's story puts him at odds with veteran correspondent Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) and senior executives at CBS News.

As the urgency of the story increases, so does the film's palpable sense of paranoia, inviting favorable comparison to All the President's Men. While Pacino downplays the theatrical excess that plagued him in previous roles, Crow is superb as a man who retains his tortured integrity at great personal cost. The Insider is two movies--a cover-up thriller and a drama about journalistic ethics--that combine to embrace the noble values personified by Wigand and Bergman. Even if the details aren't always precise (as Mike Wallace and others protested prior to the film's release), the film adheres to a higher truth that was so blatantly violated by tobacco executives seen in an oft-repeated video clip, lying under oath in the service of greed. --Jeff Shannon

Description

THE INSIDER recounts the chain of events that pitted an ordinary man against the tobacco industry and dragged two people into the fight of their lives. Academy Award(R)-winner Al Pacino (1990 Best Actor, SCENT OF A WOMAN; THE RECRUIT) gives a powerful performance as veteran 60 MINUTES producer Lowell Bergman and Academy Award(R) Winner Russell Crowe (2000 Best Actor, GLADIATOR; A BEAUTIFUL MIND) co-stars as the ultimate insider, former tobacco executive Dr. Jeffrey Wigand. When Wigand is fired by his employer -- one of the largest tobacco companies in America -- he agrees to become a paid consultant for a story Bergman is working on regarding alleged unethical practices within the tobacco industry. But what begins as a temporary alliance leads to a lengthy battle for both men to save their reputations, and much, much more. As they soon find out, Corporate America will use all legal means at its disposal to save a billion-dollar-a-year habit. And as the corporate giants soon find out, Bergman and Wigand are honorable men, driven to smoke out the evidence. Also starring Christopher Plummer (MALCOLM X) as anchor Mike Wallace and Gina Gershon (FACE/OFF), THE INSIDER will chill you with its cold, hard edge -- and thrill you with its unbelievable twists and turns.

Customer Reviews:

A Story of Two Honorable Men in a World Gone Awry.......2007-03-15

THE INSIDER is so many things at once that it becomes hard to catalog them. It is, at the same time, a movie about two men who fight against the system and large corporations, a semi-historical account of the real life whistle blower who brought down the tobacco industry with the help of an intrepid news reporter and news agency, an examination of ordinary characters made into heroes by extraordinary pressures, and an exploration of journalistic ethics. At a little over two and one half hours, director Michael Mann manages to squeeze everything into a tightly woven film that delivers everything it promises.

The film opens up on a disconcerting image of cloth, only to realize that it is a head covering over the face of a man being escorted by armed soldiers through the dangerous streets of Lebanon. Who is the masked man? Where are they taking him? Finally, they reach their destination and the masked man is seated in a chair before Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Fadlallah. The meeting is about a possible interview between the Sheikh and 60 Minutes anchor, Mike Wallace. Despite his dangerous circumstances, the masked man is surprisingly bold in the negotiations and manages to secure the interview. The masked man is soon revealed to be none other than 60 Minutes produces, Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino).

Meanwhile, a tired executive makes his way home in an unexplained daze. We later find out that he is Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), a former head of research and development at tobacco giant Brown & Williamson, who has been recently fired for nonsense reasons. Wigand has an expensive life, two daughters (one with asthma), and the prospect of losing his job is tremendously hard to bear. The severance package they have offered him is limited, but does include medical. But everyone knows that no one hires ex-tobacco scientists in the health profession. Where will he find employment? How will he support his family?

With our two main protagonists situated and developed, the plot begins to thicken in order to bring our two heroes together. A package is mysteriously sent to Bergman containing insider tobacco documents. The only problem is that they are written in technical language. Bergman is given Wigand's name as a possible "translator," thus entwining our two protagonists for the rest of the film. After much cat & mouse, Wigand eventually agrees to meet with Bergman to discuss the job. Bergman's excellent instincts sense that there is a lot Wigand isn't sharing and he discovers the reason. Wigand has signed a confidentiality agreement with his former employer, agreeing not to talk about company business on pain of losing his severance and medical benefits. Slowly, Bergman begins the process of convincing Wigand to blow the whistle on his former employers.

What evolves is a classic tale rooted in real world events. The first half of the film is dedicated to getting Wigand to testify and give an interview for 60 Minutes, risking his family's life, financial well-being, and sanity along the way. Most films would have ended at this point, but with about an hour left to go, the film makes a dramatic turn, almost completely dropping Wigand out of the plot. Under threat of litigation, CBS News decides not to run Wigand's interview. Suddenly, Wigand is at risk of doing everything for nothing. Bergman is outraged by CBS's decision and the film follows his character's attempts to fight against CBS to get it released.

Hence, THE INSIDER is about two men who each fight their own respective corporations. But while one can't ignore the "man versus the machine" aspect of the film, ultimately it doesn't seem to be Mann's primary interest. What THE INSIDER truly focuses on is the character of our two protagonists. Wigand decides to testify and blow the whistle on his former employer because he has betrayed his values working for the company. He was a man of science and a man who worked for healthcare companies, he tells us early on, but who sold out for the money they offered him. Wigand is, at times, an uncomfortably honorable character and the film seeks to restore himself in his own eyes. Bergman is equally engrossing and, thanks to Pacino's superb performance, is, perhaps, even more inspiring to watch. CBS's threat not to release the material is not an attack on the freedom of the press or on Bergman's hard work. It is an attack on Bergman's personal integrity and honesty. "I have never burned a source," he tells us emphatically. Whatever Bergman promises, he delivers. And he shows us that he is willing to pay dearly in order to maintain that integrity.

The performances are brilliant all the way around in this film. Crowe's performance of a man pushed to the edge by extraordinary forces is brilliant. I was nervous in every scene he was in and wondered if he would snap at any minute. Pacino, as mentioned, is wonderful in his part, in a rather understated performance. Christopher Plummer seems to capture Mike Wallace completely. Though not many of us have had the chance to see Mike Wallace "off camera," there is a certain believability to the performance that is undeniable. No one gets to be the anchor of 60 Minutes unless he or she is prepared to play serious hardball. It was refreshing to see. Reminiscent of ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, this film also manages to give you a very candid look into the making of broadcast news and all of the work that goes on behind the scenes (some of it quite dangerous) to produce a story. Michael Mann's directing is quite capable; the music and sound compliments the beautiful imagery; and the script is well crafted.

All in all, THE INSIDER is a great film that should have taken home some Oscars. I highly recommend it.

Awesome!.......2007-03-06

This is truly a GREAT movie--its story, acting (Pacino and Crowe are superb), directing, and set design. It has all the ingredients of a great true-to-life thriller. To some it will be quite an eye opener about the lengths the giant cigarette companies will go to protect and enhance their investment at the expense or harm of their loyal customers. Also, what happens when one of its scientist blows the whistle and the dire consequences that follow in his business and personal life. DON'T MISS THIS ONE! It's message and delivery are PERFECT.

Troubling times when a man takes on the machine.......2007-02-28

The machine in this case, is big tobacco. It is a giant business that is maybe too much for one man to take on. That is until a guy named Jeffrey Wigand did just that. Russell Crowe has played a lot of main parts before and after this movie, but his portrayal of this man was great. Crowe shows us a solemn, somber man who works for a large tobacco company as a scientist doing research. He has a falling out you could say, and is soon watched, harassed and blackballed. He decides to expose some major truths about what is really going on with the cigarettes and the research going into making them...well you know. Al Pacino is also in this film and does a fine job as a 60 minutes producer who tries to bring Wigand's dilemma to the people so they can see for themselves. A lot of Red tape and some big business aspects stand in the way though, and Wigand's life spirals into further decline. This is a great film and the special features show interviews with the real Mr. Wigand. I did not like Christopher Plummer portraying the part of legendary 60 minutes journalist Mike Wallace though. The two look nothing alike, and Plummer is much larger in size than Wallace. That is the only thing I found wrong with this film. It is very moving and I recommend it.

Truth to power.......2007-01-19

This film is a gutsy portrayal of the lengths the cigarette manufacturing industry would go to, to profit from their deathserving product. Russell Crowe brilliantly portrays the "insider", the "whistle blower", who publicly has the courage to state how the industry is serving up death
surreptitiously to a naive American public,despite threats against his and his family's life by the cigarette company he had worked for. Al Pacino brilliantly portrays the representative of CBS's 60 Minutes, who
offers the vehicle through which the "insider" can speak to the American public.

The Future Revealed.......2007-01-16

This is a dark movie about a tobacco scientist who wants to come clean, a TV producer that wants his story and all the obstacles they face: tobacco companies who seem undeterred by ethics and by a network that is intimidated by the power of big tobacco. In the end, the story comes out but not until the resolves of the producer and scientist are tested.

After watching this movie I was startled by my thoughts about the future of the press. If they had this much trouble exposing the lies the tobacco industry told how will they resist the armada of industry arrayed against global warming?

If this review helped, please add your vote. Thanks.

Average customer rating:

Malcolm X
Overlooked And Underrated
Denzel should have won the Oscar....
Any Better and you Would Need to Meet the REAL Malcolm
The Powerful Message Will Always Resonate

Malcolm X
Starring: Angela Bassett , O.L. Duke , Al Freeman Jr. , Sonny Jim Gaines , and Albert Hall
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Murder & Mayhem | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

General | African American Cinema | Genres | DVD | Video

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( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Spike Lee Joint Collection (Clockers/ Jungle Fever/ Do the Right Thing/ Mo` Better Blues/ Crooklyn)
Rosewood
School Daze [Region 99]
Amistad
A Soldier's Story

ASIN: B00002ND77
Release Date: 2000-01-18

Product Description

Filmmaker Spike Lee, actor Denzel Washington and other top talents vividly portray the life and times of Malcolm X. "Here s a man who rose up from the dregs of society, spent time in jail, reeducated himself and, through spiritual enlightenment, rose to the top," Lee says. Academy Award winner Washington was an Oscar nominee and the New York, Boston and Chicago Film Critics choice as 1992 s Best Actor.

System Requirements:
Starring: Denzel Washington, Tommy Hollis, Ernest Thomas, James McDaniel, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Spike Lee, Delroy Lindo, Al Freeman Jr., Theresa Randle, Lonette McKee, and Kate Vernon.
Directed By: Spike Lee.
Running Time: 201 Min., Color.
This film is presented in "Widescreen" format.
Copyright 2000 Warner Home Video.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

Just as Do the Right Thing was the capstone of Spike Lee's earlier career, Malcolm X marked the next milestone in the filmmaker's artistic maturity. It seemed everything Lee had done up to that point was to prepare him for this epic biography of America's fiery civil-rights leader, who is superbly played by Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington, from his early days as a zoot-suited hustler known as "Detroit Red" to his spiritual maturity after his pilgrimage to Mecca, as a Black Muslim by the name of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. Do the Right Thing climaxed with the photographic images of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King engulfed by flames of rage; Malcolm X explores the genesis and evolution of that rage over Malcolm's lifetime, and how these two great figures--held up to the public as polar-opposites within the African American human rights movement (King for nonviolent civil disobedience, Malcolm for achieving equality "by any means necessary")--were each essential to the agenda of the other. Lee careens from the hedonistic ebullience of Malcolm's early days to the stark despair of prison, from his life-changing conversion to Islam to his emergence as a dynamic political leader--all with an epic sweep and vitality that illuminates personal details as well as political ideology. Angela Bassett is also terrific as Malcolm's wife, Betty Shabazz. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

Malcolm X.......2007-05-30

It's really an amazing film in which Mr. Freeman does an magnific interpretation. It hit you in your stomach the way it present the black people in the american society and really think.

Overlooked And Underrated.......2007-05-24

Spike Lee's masterpiece, and visually one of the best films ever made. Denzel Washington gives his best performance by far, and probably should have received that year's Academy Award for Best Actor. Losing to Al Pacino for "Scent of a Woman." Though as Mr. Washington once expressed, if he had to lose to someone that year, it should only have been to Mr. Pacino for his powerful performance in that film. And until recent years, Hollywood and the white viewing public just weren't ready for a story like "Malcolm X", and the effort to confront centuries of racism in America. Even denying it any other well deserved Academy Award nominations.

But to all true fans of cinema, do yourself a favor and view this film, if you haven't already. You will have to agree; powerful film making, even if the subject matter is not to your liking. Some scenes will be offensive to Christians, though we must understand where people are in the world.

A born again African-American Christian.

Denzel should have won the Oscar...........2007-04-30

This is my favorite Spike Lee "joint" (personally, I hate that characterization, but Spike likes being Spike). I saw the film in a theater, and I didn't get up once. Despite the fact that the film is 201 minutes long, and there was no intermission, it was absolutely riveting, and one of the better epics ever made. Denzel Washington is utterly amazing as Malcolm X, bringing the fire, passion, intelligence, and dignity the man had. He should have won the Oscar. Spike's direction is really assured, and he doesn't use too many visual tricks here, because the original story is so good. Spike is also good as Shorty, one of Malcolm's friends from his crime days. Originally, I thought Lee had just added the character to give himself a role, but Shorty is mentioned in The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The Mecca scenes are mesmerizing and visually stunning, but it almost didn't happen. Warner Brothers wanted Spike to shoot these scenes in Jersey (!) on the beaches there. Spike ended up calling Warner's racist (which they weren't, they were just being a cheap studio), and it turned a lot of people off of this film and may have cost Spike and Denzel Oscars. Denzel won for Training Day, which is a far worse film. Regardless, this is a magnificent, balanced, and very thorough biopic of a fascinating man. It's one of the better biopics made. Spike never rushes through anything here. It's one of Spike's best films...

Any Better and you Would Need to Meet the REAL Malcolm.......2007-03-22

This movie definitely did not get all of the praises that it deserved. Spike Lee basically brought Malcolm X's life story back to life. Every aspect of his life was in this film. Furthermore, Denzel put his heart and soul into this role. If you didn't know better you would say that he was Malcolm X for real. I still don't understand why he didn't win an oscar for this role. Everybody else in the movie like Angela Bassett and Al Freeman did their thing too. This is a film that you will enjoy forever.

The Powerful Message Will Always Resonate.......2007-03-13

With tremendous performances by Denzel Washington (Malcolm X) and Angela Bassett (Betty Shabazz), Spike Lee delivers what is arguably his greatest movie which will stand the test of time.

Lee does a masterful job in showing how this was truly a partnership between husband and wife, which - in my opinion - is too often ignored by authors/historians when chronicling the life of Malcolm X.

It is Betty Shabazz who enlightens Malcolm X on any number of subjects, including the philandering of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman Jr.), and how the young women are tossed to the side like bags of trash, especially in their greatest time of emotional need, when they are pregnant.

The process is arduous and painful for Malcolm X to finally admit that the evidence is overwhelming that his mentor & teacher has used his position of power to manipulate the fragility of others for crass carnal desires. It begins the chasm between the pair that ultimately led to the assassination of Malcolm X.

What remains the most powerful single scene is Malcolm X walking down the street while the ills of the 'hood are played out before him. So much is said in so little time in depicting the black holocaust of the mind, body and soul.

Lee takes cinema to a powerful and dramatic level that is rarely achieved. This is an epic tale of spiritual growth, family and how jealousy & hatred can destroy so much in the instant it takes me to finish this sentence.

Average customer rating:

Woody's Best Light Comedy?
"You better get in the mood, honey, 'cause he's payin' the rent."
Toot, Toot, Tootsie it's good!
A Classic that alot of people over look
Everything is a Trade Off

Bullets Over Broadway
Starring: John Cusack , Dianne Wiest , Jennifer Tilly , Chazz Palminteri , and Mary-Louise Parker
Director: Woody Allen
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Satire | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Urban | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Comedy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Mighty Aphrodite
Deconstructing Harry
Manhattan Murder Mystery
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Husbands and Wives [Region 99]

ASIN: 6305327068
Release Date: 1999-04-20

Amazon.com

One of Woody Allen's best films of the '90s, Bullets over Broadway stars John Cusack as a virtual Woody surrogate, a neurotic, Jazz Age writer whose new play sounds wooden and unrealistic to a low-level mobster (Chazz Palminteri) assigned to watch over his boss's actress-girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly). When the hood starts contributing better story ideas and dialogue than what the official playwright can conjure, questions (not unlike those of Amadeus) about the price we pay to make art at the expense of other responsibilities are intriguingly raised. Palminteri gives a very interesting performance as the enforcer waking up to the desperate (and almost feminine) demands of his own creative psyche, and Dianne Wiest (who won an Oscar), Tracey Ullman, Jim Broadbent, and Jennifer Tilly are very funny together playing the ensemble cast of Cusack's play. --Tom Keogh

Description

Big city mobsters and the Broadway stage collide hilariously in this side-splitting all-star comedy that had audiences and critics rolling in the aisles! John Cusack (SERENDIPITY, HIGH FIDELITY) stars as David Shayne, an idealistic young writer who'll do anything to get his first Broadway play off the ground -- even if it means teaming up with the mob! Surrounded by a wacky cast of characters including a gangster's ditzy girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly, LIAR, LIAR), a tipsy actress (Dianne Wiest in her Academy Award(R)-winning performance -- Best Supporting Actress, 1994), and a mob hit man (Chazz Palminteri, THE USUAL SUSPECTS), Shayne's got to pull it all off before the curtain falls and bullets start to fly!

Customer Reviews:

Woody's Best Light Comedy?.......2007-04-18

For the most part, you can fit each of Woody Allen's movies into one of three categories: serious drama, dark comedy, or light comedy. "Bullets Over Broadway" definitely falls into the third category. Though some critics have suggested there are allusions to Allen's own life and beliefs (a recurring them is that an artist makes his own moral code), the movie mostly ignores the darker, philosophical things that Allen typically covers in his more introspective comedies.

"Bullets Over Broadway" is the story of a struggling playwright from Pittsburgh (John Cusack). In order to get his play financed in New York, he accepts funding from a gangster and in turn casts his talent-less girlfriend (Jennifer Tilly) in a major roll. As an added bonus, he has to deal with her bodyguard (who takes an interest in the play) and troublesome actors. The leading man has a constantly expanding waistline, the leading lady is a manipulative, alcoholic has-been (played excellently by Diane Wiest), and Tracy Ullman plays temperamental supporting actress with a yapping dog.

As a writer, Allen is at his best when he's dealing with darker subject matter, but that doesn't mean he's not capable of creating a flawless, sophisticated comedy when he wants. "Bullets Over Broadway" is probably too fluffy to be considered among Allen's best, but it's definitely in that second tier, along with "Zelig" and "Radio Days." In terms of tone, it's probably most significant to "Manhattan Murder Mystery," although Allen doesn't make an appearance in this film.