Contract

Starring:Lauren Imbault
Studio: Dej Productions Inc
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Gary Cooper in a Three-cornered Hat!
classic Cooper , classic Demille...stunning transfer!!
They Don't Make Movies Like this Anymore
Outstanding
Very Enjoyable

Unconquered (Universal Cinema Classics)
Starring: Gary Cooper , and Paulette Goddard
Director: Cecil B. De Mille
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Broken Arrow
Ball of Fire

ASIN: B000N3T0GY
Release Date: 2007-05-22

Customer Reviews:

Gary Cooper in a Three-cornered Hat!.......2007-07-03

I love this film. This one had an impact on me when I was just a boy and saw it in B&W on TV. I used recreate the after-math of the masacre at the fort with my toy soldiers. Sure the story line stretches plausibility a bit (Catching the limb while going over the falls with Paulette Goddard hanging on your neck is a bit much even for Coop!) but not nearly so much as the things I am asked to accept as reality in modern CGI movies (as in any sequence in the latest remake of King Kong.)

I have to love Boris Karloff as an Indian chief and Miss Goddard as the indentured slave as well as Gary Cooper as an early American freedom fighter. The DeMille touches in the battle scenes and the "almost historical" feel of the film are pleasures as well.

Put this one on the shelf with "Last of the Mohicans," (when will we get the version from the 30's?)"Drums Along the Mohawk" and "Allegheny Uprising" for entertaining films of pre-revolutionary American "almost history" and enjoy.

classic Cooper , classic Demille...stunning transfer!!.......2007-06-20

Unlike the other terrific reviews that discuss the story and movie...i want to weigh in on the DVD...its terrific! Glorious color and sharp as a tack! I've been disappointed lately with several older FOX films on DVD but this is nothing short of glorious! If you are a fan of Cooper...don't hesitate! Paulette Goddard is delicious.

They Don't Make Movies Like this Anymore .......2007-06-17

"Unconquered" is a great historical epic set in pre-Revolutionary America with a "fight the enemy and never surrender" message. Gary Cooper owns the film. When he is on the screen, as is usually the case with his flicks, all the other characters revolve around him.

Cooper plays Captain Holden who is sent on a doomed mission to make peace with Indian tribes that have already decided on war. Holden's main nemesis is a traitor named "Garth" (played by Howard DaSilva) who has not only provided arms to the natives, but who is also secretly in league with them.

The romantic sub-plot involves an indentured servant, Abby Hale (played by Paulette Goddard), who is bought and freed by Holden only to be illegally re-enslaved by Garth. Both Holden and Garth are enamoured of Miss Hale, but you can easily guess which one of the two she loves back.

"Unconquered" exudes good old fashioned conservative American values and, partly for that reason, they don't make movies like this today.

Another reason you won't see a film like this today is because of it's politically incorrect portrayal of Native Americans. American Indians did torture, murder and sometimes even cannibalize settlers, including women, children and infants, but, today, Hollywood is unwilling to portray them as having been anything other than noble, peace-loving ecologists.

This DVD even has an "Introduction" warning the viewer that the White people are all portrayed as "good" and the Indians as "bloodthirsty." This is a pretty stupid thing to say given that the main villain in the film, Garth, is White. Why isn't there an introduction to the "Dancing with Wolves" DVD warning us about how, in that film, Indians are all portrayed as "good" and Whites are portrayed as "bloodthirsty"?

Outstanding.......2007-05-21

UNCONQUERED remains one of my favorite films of colonial America. The ever stoic Gary Cooper represents the backbone of the spirit of America. This film tells a great adventure tale with a lot of atmosphere of perhaps what those time my actually have been like. A visual treat in that respect.

Very Enjoyable.......2007-05-13

This film is one of Gary Coopers best. It is so good I have it in dvd and vhs. He is the greatest. They just don't have stars now like they did then and they don't make movies like they did back then. I feel sorry for the young adults now who really don't know what a good movie really is. I would recommend this movie to everyone.

Smokin' Aces [Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD]

Average customer rating:

Not All Aces
Viciously excessive
Good movie just didn't make much sense to me
Crashed my XA2
Wildly Entertaining

Smokin' Aces [Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD]
Starring: Ben Affleck , Curtis Armstrong , Jason Bateman , Peter Berg , and Ray Liotta
Director: Joe Carnahan
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000NTPFK8
Release Date: 2007-04-17

Amazon.com

A frantic and frequently amusing cocktail of Tarantino cool and Hong Kong bullet ballet, Joe (Narc) Carnahan's Smokin' Aces delivers some inspired moments of action and dark comedy in its dizzying-comic book plot about a rogue's gallery of killers on the hunt for a mob informer. At the core of Carnahan's bloody shaggy-dog tale is Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven, offering a more desperate take on his standard hustler persona), a Vegas magician who's turned informant against the mobsters who have treated him as their personal entertainment. Wishing to close Buddy's overactive mouth permanently, the mob capo puts a bounty on the two-bit showman's head, and a horde of hitmen descends on Buddy's digs to claim the prize. The unholy crew of gunmen offer the movie's most inspired (and outlandish) moments, with R&B singer Alicia Keys (as a cool, Foxy Brown-esque assassin), Nestor Carbonell (as a torture-minded sadist), Ben Affleck and Peter Berg (low-key bail bondsmen) and Chris Pine (the leader of a trio of semi-savage brothers) among the more memorable villains. Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, and Andy Garcia represent the other side of the coin as FBI agents determined to get to Buddy before the legion of doom, and the clashes between both factions produce some eye-popping gunplay. If there's any complaint to be made about Smokin' Aces, it's that the tone shifts between action-drama and hipster comedy feel forced (Carnahan struck a firmer balance between the two in his 1998 indie effort, Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane), but the performances and shootout set pieces, as well as Carnahan's hyperactive camera work, do much to make those transitions palatable. Eagle-eyed audience members will note the presence veteran scene stealers Curtis Armstrong (Ray), David Proval (The Sopranos), and Alex Rocco (The Godfather's Moe Green) in supporting roles. -- Paul Gaita

Description

Slick Las Vegas illusionist Buddy "Aces" Israel isn't playing nice. Turns out, he's telling mob secrets to the FBI. After a $1 million contract is put out on him, Aces tries to pull his greatest disappearing act before a rogues' gallery of ex-cons, hit men and smokin' hot assassins tries to rub him out in this dark action comedy that takes no prisoners.

Customer Reviews:

Not All Aces.......2007-07-02

I enjoyed the film from beginning to end, but I wish it came with a FAQ I could consult for when my old brain got weary.

SPOILERS ABOUND.

For example, what was Alicia Keys supposed to be doing while her female partner kept watch ovber her from an adjoining tower with the world's biggest gun? Was Keys supposed to go in and seduce somebody--Jeremy Piven I guess? If so, she just seemed like an airhead. The whole plot with those two, and the woman who procured them, could have been dropped with ease, though the film did gain something from seeing two beautiful black women act like old pros at assassination. (Though like I say, they prove singularly incompetent at it, so perhaps it wasn't a great victory for black positivity.) Why not get Pam Grier in the film, if you're tipping your hat to her. Don't get these wannabes, get the real thing! (Though again, Alicia Keys shows some surprising talent as an actress and the other woman, the one I recognize from HUSTLE AND FLOW, knows how to steal every scene she's in, though she fails with the howitzer.)

Director Carnahan has learned from Tarantino, De Palma, Coppola, and much of the film seems like he's mashing together THE GODFATHER II with De Palm's SNAKE EYES and even RAISING CAIN. The multiple narratives interstice with ease and in fact provide a lot of the fun of the film, though maybe they detract from whatever serious points the writer's trying to make. And in the end--

MORE SPOILERS

they positively ruin the moral crisis Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be undergoing. He's trying, but he can't anchor a crazy, out of control movie with his anguished expression, his dead man's walk, and those distracting arrowheads of dried blood smeared across his face. Ryan Reynolds and gravitas, you're in a clown show and you're the only one who doesn't know it.

Viciously excessive.......2007-07-02

Joe Carnahan's SMOKIN' ACES is a strange movie, and definitely one that was poorly marketed. TV ads and trailers make ACES out to be the illegitimate child of Guy Ritchie (SNATCH, LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) and Hong Kong action movies: violent, but with a breezy, carefree manner and a dry sense of humor. This couldn't be farther from the truth, as ACES is incredibly twisted, incredibly intense, and by the film's third act, incredibly serious.

The film's plot is follows a race between a motley crew of assassins and two FBI agents as they all try to reach Buddy Israel, a Las Vegas showman with connections to the mob, before the others. The actual story turns out to be much more complex, but the reality is that it's all fodder to propel the superb ensemble cast towards the film's explosive climax.

The acting is uniformly brilliant, with Ryan Reynolds turning in without a doubt the most impressive performance of his career. Like Will Smith before him, Reynolds has successfully made the jump from likeable, charming comedic actor to full-blown dramatic lead. His performance alone gives the film it's moral grounding. The rest of the cast, from Jeremy Piven as Israel to Ray Liotta as one of the Feds to music stars Common and Alicia Keys are all outstanding. Also outstanding are the action set pieces, which strike a fine balance between gritty chaos and cartoonish choreography.

Writer and director Carnahan builds the tension slowly but surely throughout the first two acts, and by the time the third act literally opens with a bang, the build up has reached an almost unbearable level of stress. This aspect of the film is handled expertly. Where the film falters is in its tone, which starts off with a level of comedy and general insanity that fails to connect properly with the film's shockingly dramatic conclusion. While Carnahan litters the picture with strange little character mannerisms and traits (read: insanity), they ultimately overwhelm and pull ACES away from its rock-solid premise.

SMOKIN' ACES is not a normal film, and definitely requires a slightly tougher, more "hardcore" sitting from its audience. Still, while the film is often compared to Tarantino's works, ACES is better simply because of its basic, shelled out storyline and less emphasis on inconsequential dialogue. ACES is worth a viewing (maybe two, as it seems to make more sense and be more easily appreciated the second time around) for the action scenes, Ryan Reynold's performance, Clint Mansell's pitch perfect music, and a stunning dramatic conclusion that, while easily predicted, is none the less enjoyable.

Good movie just didn't make much sense to me.......2007-06-30

Alicia Keys looks great in this movie. anyway, i liked the action and the twist and turns the story took, but i believe you really have to be attentive to understand the story....i know i don't.

Crashed my XA2.......2007-06-29

I find it to be unfortunate for buyers of this media to be forced into quality checking what should've been checked by the manufacturer prior to release. I was enjoying the movie prior to this disc locking up my player to the point of having to turning the player off then back on to reset. YES my player works with other discs, tested that. I own both Toshiba HD-DVD XA2 and Sony BDP-S300 Bluray players, Universal cannot afford quality control issues to keep pace with the competition!

Wildly Entertaining.......2007-06-29

I have looked over some of the reviews that have been posted for this movie, and it amazes me that every schmoe that gives it a one star rating states that the movie is nowhere near Academy Award material. I'm sorry to be the one to have to elighten you folks, but not every movie IS. That's why few are nominated, and only one takes the cake. If you watch every movie in search of world shattering material, you're going to be let down 99 times out of 100. Sorry to say, not every movie can be 'Pulp Fiction', or 'Traffic', but movies can also be either entertaining, or boring. Now I'm no rocket scientist, but I do believe that when I saw this movie in theaters... I was very far from bored. The movie is full of good acting and wild screen play. I loved it. If you're one of those people, of which there seem to be many on here, who are just dying to throw mud at something simply because it isn't golden... then you should probrably wait till the end of a year and pick a movie to watch that has some awards under it's belt. For the rest of society that just wants a bang for their buck, this movie delivers. The end.

Average customer rating:

A Night at the Opera
FUNNY!
Woo hoo! Fun for the whole family!
Mediocre Marx Madness
The Marx Brothers In MGM Style

A Night at the Opera
Starring: Groucho Marx , Chico Marx , Harpo Marx , Kitty Carlisle , and Allan Jones
Director: Sam Wood , and Edmund Goulding
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0001HAINQ
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com essential video

Absolutely one of the most hilarious movies ever made, this classic farce featuring the outrageous genius of the Marx Brothers is a chance to see some of their best bits woven together seamlessly in a story of high society, matchmaking, and chaos. In order to bring two young lovers together, brothers Groucho, Chico, and Harpo must sabotage an opera performance even as they try to pass themselves off as stuffed shirts. Featuring the classic sequence where Groucho piles as many people as possible into a ship's stateroom, A Night at the Opera is a deliciously zany romp worth watching again and again. --Robert Lane

Description

A near riot on a ship, a New York scandal and an evening of insanity in a concert hall are just some of the fall out from Groucho's outrageous business schemes to bring Milan's finest opera stars to Manhattan. Year: 1935 Director: Sam Wood Starring: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx, Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones

Customer Reviews:

A Night at the Opera.......2007-06-20

This, the first and best of the team's MGM releases, features more focus on plot, musical numbers and romance than their earlier, wonderfully pure Paramount outings, but the results are still first-rate, with a splashy MGM production and a well-balanced romantic subplot (featuring a lovely young Carlisle) complementing some of the team's zaniest antics, including that immortal stateroom scene, and the impromptu baseball game during the opera.

FUNNY!.......2007-04-13

IF YOU LIKE THE MARX BROTHERS, THIS IS GREAT. SOME OF THIER BEST STUFF.

Woo hoo! Fun for the whole family!.......2007-02-20

We'll leave the "which-is-the-best-Marx-brothers-movie" argument to the philosophers. As a long-time Marx Brothers fans, my wife and I recently showed this to our 11- and 9-year old children. We all loved it. My son was laughing so hard after the stateroom scene that we had to pause the DVD ... so he could race off to the bathroom! ;-)

My daughter enjoyed the whole movie, finding the scene in the apartment particularly hilarious.

My wife and I laughed the entire time.

Forget Shrek ... and Monster's Inc ... and the kid's movie du jour. For the real classics in humor, show your children A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.

Mediocre Marx Madness.......2006-08-03

"A Night At The Opera" has some very funny bits - especially the stateroom scene but it is bogged down by numerous interminable musical scenes.
Not only is the viewer subjected to the musical bits from Chico and Harpo but there are operatic arias and dance numbers that stop the plot dead in its tracks.
The Brothers were at their peak in their early films at Paramount, esp. "Duck Soup".
The over-produced comedies they filmed at MGM lost the anarchic madness that was their trademark.

The Marx Brothers In MGM Style.......2006-05-06

The first two Marx Brothers films, THE COCOANUTS and ANIMAL CRACKERS, were essentially filmed versions of their great successes on the New York stage. MONKEY BUSINESS, HORSE FEATHERS and DUCK SOUP were specifically created for the screen on the soundstages of Paramount Studios--but when the latter proved a critical and box office fiasco the comedy team found their careers on very uneven ground.

Enter Irving Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Thalberg was not known for his comedies and MGM, with its emphasis on prestige pictures and family fare, was an extremely unlikely venue for the brothers, but Thalberg was certain he could pinpoint the reason for their sudden and unexpected failure: DUCK SOUP, and to a certain extent all their previous films, lacked appeal for middle American audiences. The Marx Brothers (without Zeppo, who retired from the act when they left Paramount) signed on the dotted line, Thalberg put the machinery of MGM behind them, and the result was A NIGHT AT THE OPERA.

What Thalberg did, essentially, was to place the anarchy of the Marx Brothers at the disposal of romantic subplot. Otis B. Driftwood (Groucho) has promised to get Mrs. Claypool "into society"--for a fee, of course--and has arranged for her finance a season at The New York Opera. What Mrs. Claypool gets for her money is tenor Rodolfo Lassparri (Walter King), an unsavory man who is sweet on soprano Rosa Castaldi (Kitty Carlisle), who is in turn in love with tenor Ricardo Baroni (Allan Jones.) When Lassparri attempts to trump Baroni both on stage and in Rosa's affections, Baroni's friends Fiorella (Chico) and Tomasso (Harpo) enter the fray. Throw in an impressario (Sig Ruman), three famous aviators, a herd of New York police officers, and an opening night, and before you can sing a chorus of Figaro that special brand of Marx Brothers mania holds full sway.

Marx Brothers fans argue a great deal about which was better: the Paramount films or the MGM films? I tend to come down on the side of the Paramount films, in which the humor tends to have a sharper edge, but there's no denying the charm of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. A list of the film's famous moments would require a catalogue, with the legendary "stateroom scene" merely one in a hilarious sequence. The supporting cast is also quite fine; Margaret Dumont is, as always, excellent; Kitty Carlisle and Allan Jones are charming indeed. It's all tremendous fun.

The DVD release, which is available on its own or in a package of the Marx Brother's MGM films, is more than respectable. The film was cut during World War II and the edited scenes seem lost forever; it is therefore occasionally abrupt, but even so it all hangs together extremely well, and while the print has not been restored per se it is quite good. The DVD bonus package includes a brief documentary and several vintage shorts, but the real prize is the audio commentary by Leonard Maltin, who is both amusing and informative in the way I wish all commentators would be. If you are in the mood for outrageous farce, you couldn't make a better choice.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Average customer rating:

Le Samourai
The epitome of 'Cool'
pretty noir but also very very pretentiously made
Le Boring
Full of Air

Le Samourai - Criterion Collection
Starring: Alain Delon , François Périer , Nathalie Delon , Cathy Rosier , and Jacques Leroy
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Point Blank

ASIN: B000AQKUG8
Release Date: 2005-10-25

Amazon.com

Alain Delon is the coolest killer to hit the screen, a film noir loner for the modern era, in Jean-Pierre Melville's austere 1967 French crime classic. Delon's impassive hit man, Jef Costello, is the ultimate professional in an alienated world of glass and metal. On his latest contract, however, he lets a witness live--a charming jazz pianist, Valerie (Cathy Rosier), who neglects to identify him in the police lineup. When Costello survives an assassination attempt by his employers, he carefully plots his next moves as cops and criminals close in and he prepares for one last job. Melville meticulously details every move by Costello and the police in fascinating wordless sequences, from Costello's preparations for his first hit to the cops' exhaustive efforts to tail Jef as he lines up his last; and his measured pace creates an otherworldly ambiance, an uneasy calm on the verge of shattering. Costello remains a cipher, a zen killer whose façade begins to crack as the world seems to be collapsing in on him, exposing the wound-up psyche hidden behind his blank face. Melville rethinks film noir in modern terms, as an existential crime drama in soft, somber color and sleek images (courtesy of cinematographer extraordinaire Henri Decaë). Le Samouraï inspired two pseudo-remakes, Walter Hill's Driver and John Woo's Killer, but neither film comes close to the compelling austerity and meticulous detail of Melville's cult masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker

Description

In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays blue-eyed Jef Costello, a fedora- and trench-coat-wearing contract killer with samurai instincts

Customer Reviews:

Le Samourai.......2007-06-27

Seminal gangster movie homage combines elements of Kurosawa and American film noir to create a spare film strikingly short on dialogue. Delon is ideal for the role of Jef, as his surface male beauty amplifies the character's underlying moral and emotional vacuum. Behind those icy, classic features, you glimpse nothing but oblivion. (Note: Delon's wife Nathalie plays Jane, who furnishes Jef's alibi).

The epitome of 'Cool'.......2007-05-29

Delon at his coolest and best. The clothes, the hat, the cars. All scream '60's COOL'. This update(from the Japanese) of the lonely hitman, the outsider with few friends, has been a long time coming to DVD. Any fan of the French new wave, who has never caught this film, should see it immediately. There are many themes and influences that are later repeated in the American crime films of the 70's. The only reason that it does drop a star, is that is was a film very much of its time and place. As such, it should be viewed historically, and may disappoint fans of later, more violent, US and Japanese films in the same genre. Delon steals every scene by doing almost nothing. A masterclass in mimalism, and a good example for the later much wordier, and more character-driven pieces we are more used to. For the more mature movie buff, it's a must!

pretty noir but also very very pretentiously made.......2007-05-10

cat and mouse, hide and seek, the game was on but circled around and finished up with a no-way-out ending. the screenplay sometimes gave you a false hope that the whole thing might have turned out differently, but the french screenplay writers usually knew how to start a story with great scenario and plot, but they also got a problem: they never quite got the grip how to finish a story in the end. alain delon in this movie looked too stereotyped noir, very pretentiously cool with hat and windbreaker. you didn't feel any empathy or compassion about how he survived or not, because the movie itself was too 1 dimensional simple, lack of a strong dose of mystery. the hired assassin/hitman he played was just a too simple-minded gofer with a gun for hire. very appropriate title: 'the samurai', a servant (usually no brain needed) blindly serves to the rich and the powerful, no question asked, just like what the samurai did in ancient japan.

Le Boring.......2007-04-03

I think there was packaging or a sticker that compared this film to Pulp Fiction. As if. Beyond minor superficial similarities - I dont see it.

Le Samurai is one of the most boring films Ive watched recently without turning it off. In retrospect I wish I had turned it off or never wasted my time since the ending is so dull.

Imagine if breathless had a slightly more complicated plot, but the main character had no charisma. Or if Alphaville (the film not the treatment) was more 100 times more boring. Le Samurai makes Tokyo Drifter seem like a thrill ride. I was not impressed by this film on any level.

If you are into being bored. Or if your so freaking smart you can watch paint drying and fill it with significance, this is the film for you.

Full of Air.......2007-03-14

From the beginning the viewer expects a great film; the blank face of the main character, his silence, and his solitude prelude what seems is going to be a lot of excitement. We witness the daily chores of this seemingly cool (but liable to absurd) hired killer, we share his vital space, we follow him. He speaks hardly any word, he has no facial expression whatsoever... how cool. What kind of a man is this? Very interesting, you may think. Well, think not, because whatever he is underneath that handsome face is not the point of this film. The point is the facade itself. A big balloon filled with nothing but air and liable to explode any moment.

How the critics fell for this one does not amaze any more. They took the gag seriously! Check out the other reviews. The funny trick is, I believe, that Melville didn't pretend to do anything else but a mock of all the cliches of the genre. He meant it for a mock. Therefore all the iconography of film noir: the raincoat, tha hat, the jazz, the cigarette, the beautiful girl, the gun fight, the blank face, the bluffing detective... at least it must provoke some smile. How about the artificial style of the police station, or the night club? All these elements are chosen intentionally to produce this effect, not to be taken serious. This is the product of an onanist's dream. An interesting, though not fulfilling, film.

Average customer rating:

The Contract [HD DVD]
Starring: Ned Bellamy , John Cusack , Alice Krige , Bill Smitrovich , and Morgan Freeman
Director: Bruce Beresford
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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Breach (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Shooter [HD DVD]
The Bourne Identity [HD DVD]
Hot Fuzz [HD DVD]
The Good Shepherd (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000P0I4OY
Release Date: 2007-07-24

Average customer rating:

ENTERTAINING
Dumb Film, Redeemed by One
Should Have Stuck to the Stage Play
Anything Goes--up to a point, that is...
Some Entertaining Elements

Anything Goes
Starring: Bing Crosby , Donald O'Connor , Zizi Jeanmaire , Mitzi Gaynor , and Phil Harris
Director: Robert Lewis
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000A6T1I6
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Amazon.com

This is the second film titled Anything Goes to star Bing Crosby (the first was a 1936 film). Both films change a lot of the original Cole Porter stage musical, but at least the later version keeps a few more Porter songs. Still, there is something odd about a Cole Porter film filled with "additional songs" by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen (perhaps Porter's work was not warm and cuddly enough for 1956 America, although it seemed to work well at MGM with High Society, released the same year). Crosby plays a Broadway star teamed up with young TV hotshot Donald O'Connor. Vacationing separately in Europe and needing a leading lady for their upcoming show, each signs a prospect--Crosby snaps up Mitzi Gaynor (at her perkiest) and O'Connor finds Jeanmaire, a French dancer. The show can only have one female star, so when the quartet crosses paths on the ocean liner back to the U.S., sparks will fly. Or not--this Paramount musical lacks any definable zip, from the sleepy dialogue to the listless camera. The capable Nick Castle staged the musical sequences, although Jeanmaire's numbers were choreographed by Roland Petit (also her husband). The Porter songs are half-heartedly rendered, although O'Connor and Gaynor get some oomph into "It's De-Lovely." Der Bingle was born to burble "Blow, Gabriel, Blow," but it's too little, too late. --Robert Horton

Description

In ANYTHING GOES, Bill Benson and Ted Adams are to appear in a Broadway show together and, while in Paris, each 'discovers' the perfect leading lady for the star female role. Unfortunately, they each promise the role to the girl they selected without informing the other until they head back home - with their leading ladies!

Customer Reviews:

ENTERTAINING.......2007-06-27

Love the dance scenes with Mitzi Gaynor and Donald O'Connor. Don't think Bing Crosby suited the part & some of the acting was very forced. Remember this film from years ago simply for the dance sequences.

Dumb Film, Redeemed by One.......2007-06-04

There's only one reason to watch (or purchase) this dumb film: Mitzi Gaynor. Especially in her "Anything Goes" number. She's irresistably sexy, funny, feline: a supremely electrifying beauty, singing/dancing talent, and screen presence. And Miss Gaynor is one of very few film actresses who, wrapped to voluptuous form in a satiny strapless evening gown, can walk across a nightclub floor onscreen and absolutely take my/(your?) breath away.

Miss Gaynor's romantic pairing with Donald O'Connor in this film is less than convincing (or welcome). On the other hand, her simpatico sibling pairing with O'Connor in "There's No Business Like Show Business" (also available on DVD) works tremendously well.

Should Have Stuck to the Stage Play.......2007-04-13

Anything Goes is a fabulous musical from the stage of the 1930s containing show girls, gangsters, and romance. However, this film version has very little of the above and therefore has only mild entertainment value.

Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor play stage stars, both enjoyable in their own right. They need a female lead for the show, so they split up in search of one. Crosby digs up Mitzi Gaynor and O'Connor finds Zizi Jeanmaire, neither of them expecting the other to find a girl. Herein lies the problem. Both girls believe they will be starring in the show. Steps are taken to let one of the girls down easily, but both men fall in love with the other man's choice of a star.

With songs from the original musical peppered throughout, the songs lose their meaning in a different context. The choreography is uninspiring and that singing is not all that great despite the major names featured. This one is a real bomb.

Anything Goes--up to a point, that is..........2007-03-30

Anything Goes boasts a great cast. Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor play two entertainers called Bill Benson and Ted Adams respectively; and Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmarie play dancing actresses named Patsy Blair and Gaby Duval respectively.

The plot revolves around the world of entertainment. Bill and Ted are going to perform in a Broadway show together; and with their terribly fat egos both men simply assume that they have the exclusive prerogative to choose the leading lady for the show. On the bright side, both Bill and Ted choose very talented young ladies to play the leading female role. Bill chooses American dancer Patsy Blair; and Ted chooses the French starlet Gaby Duval. However, trouble heats up fast when neither man can get up the gumption to tell one of the two ladies that she is not needed for the show after all. When all four of them are on a ship headed from Europe to New York where the show will open things only become more complicated. How will Bill and Ted handle this sticky situation? Will they have a tug of war over which one has to do the dirty work of firing one of the ladies? Will each lady stay when they discover that only one of them is needed? No spoilers here, folks--you'll have to watch the movie to find out!

They all do a superlative job with the script that they're given which, by Hollywood musical standards, is still rather thin. The singing and dancing is what carries this movie, especially when Patsy (Mitzi Gaynor) and her male backup dancers perform "Anything Goes." I loved the panache with which Gaby Duval (Zizi Jeanmarie) and her backup dancers perform both "I Get A Kick Out Of You" as well as the extravagant and elegant "dream sequence" when Gaby imagines herself dancing with people in Times Square. Other musical numbers are more ordinary or even forgettable, especially the one in which Donald O'Connor as Ted Adams dances with some children on the ship to New York. Then again, the finale of the cast performing "Blow Gabriel Blow" has style and good taste; and "Blow Gabriel Blow" is a strong number to end this film.

The Technicolor still shines and the crystal clear sound will please you, too. The choreography of the dance scenes stuns you with its fastidious attention to detail and the cinematography frames the characters well in each frame. Excellent job on both counts!

The DVD offers nothing in the way of extras. You can view the whole movie straight through or just select scenes you wish to watch again; but that's the extent of it, I'm afraid. Sigh.

Nevertheless, Bing Crosby fans will delight in this version of Anything Goes. He sings and dances very, very well--and he makes it all look so easy. Of course, Donald O'Connor sparkles like the true champ that he always was in all his dancing scenes. Donald's energy, combined with the energy of Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmarie, pops out at you and all three performers dance and sing to hold your attention well.

I must caution that the plot runs thin in this movie. However, many musicals of this era had this characteristic so perhaps you won't be surprised. I recommend this movie for fans of the great Hollywood musicals of the 1940s and 1950s. In the final analysis, I give Anything Goes four stars instead of five because of the thin plot and a few numbers that just don't quite do the trick.

Some Entertaining Elements.......2007-01-15

It's easy to understand why they took their time getting around to releasing a DVD of this one. As can be seen from other comments, the 1956 film version of "Anything Goes" will generally disappoint those who love the stage version. Other than some of Cole Porter's songs and a setting on a cruise ship there is no similarity between the two productions. The very entertaining (and still frequently performed) Cole Porter musical has been transformed into a pretty lame film, and three songs by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn have been inexplicably added to the production. Even worse is the loss of most of P.G. Wodehouse's clever script, which was rewritten by a Hollywood hack into this dumbed-down version.

This doesn't make "Anything Goes" unwatchable. The choreography is mostly first rate. Most of the musical numbers are entertaining and several are excellent. The performances are typical of each cast members material (both good and bad) and the film has some interesting film history aspects.

You know almost immediately that this will not be a rousing bit of entertainment, instead of a high-energy opening number the film begins with a back stage party scene that is about as lively as an abandoned railroad track.

Bing Crosby and Donald O'Connor play Broadway co-stars who go to Europe to recruit a leading lady for their upcoming show. Each brings their discovery aboard a cruise ship for a transatlantic voyage. Mitzi Gaynor and Zizi Jeanmaire play the girls. Since there is only one role the remainder of the film is about determining which one will be featured and keeping it secret that both were already promised the role. There are two romances, with the two actors falling for each other's girl during the ocean crossing. Suspense and comedy are in short supply.

Gaynor manages a pretty good performance; she gets one very hot feature number (the title song-although Porter's original four letter word lyrics are toned down) and duets with O'Connor in the film's best number "It's De-lovely". O'Connor is also featured in a very original dance routine with children and a lot of bouncing balls. In this he dances to Van Heusen's "Bounce Right Back," not much of a song but a good excuse for using him in another unique routine.

Jeanmaire was a French ballet star ("Carmen") who briefly tried her stuff in mid-50's Hollywood. She was a Leslie Caron clone complete with the same hairstyle. Her two solo numbers "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Dream Ballet" are surprisingly good, at least the dancing portions.

Bing Crosby of course is well known to old movie buffs but others will be somewhat puzzled by his popularity. Nothing he does in "Anything Goes" sheds light on this question. He was a "popular" extremely bland singer and a horrible actor with some comic ability. In "Anything Goes" even his comedy stuff is pretty awful. Paired with Bing, O'Connor has about the same chance for success as going through a balloon shop wearing a porcupine overcoat.

The Technicolor and VistaVision completely overpower the cheap production design as well as Sidney Sheldon's (the hack writer mentioned above) weak adaptation.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Average customer rating:

'Z'
Extraordinary
Lithe and fierce... like a tiger
This is an Important Film
IT LIVES "Z"

Z
Starring: Maurice Baquet , Jean Bouise , Marcel Bozzuffi , Gérard Darrieu , and Jean Dasté
Director: Costa-Gavras
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( Z ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Missing
The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection
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The Conformist (Extended Edition)

ASIN: B00005JKIF
Release Date: 2002-07-02

Amazon.com

Costa-Gavras's Z, winner of the 1970 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, is a classic political thriller, combining intrigue with raw emotional power. The story turns on the investigation of the assassination of a left-wing Greek politician (Yves Montand), and his government's attempts to cover up the murky circumstances. Montand receives death threats as he prepares to give a speech condemning the government, and is then run down in front of numerous witnesses. Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist) plays the judge assigned to the investigation, who gradually discovers how far the state will go to rid itself of political opposition. As he is warned off the case by his superiors, the judge becomes even more determined to discover the truth, no matter where it might lead. Costa-Gavras (Missing, Mad City) is in familiar territory here, but no one handles this type of material better. Z is a classic of political intrigue and social consciousness. --Robert Lane

Description

From the acclaimed political film maker Costa-Gavras (Amen, Missing, Music Box) comes Z, winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar® in 1969. Z's edge of your seat action closely parallels the real life assassination of Gregorios Lambrakis, a Greek doctor and humanist whose murder in 1963 led to an abortive public scandal. Hailed as one of the greatest political thrillers ever made with superb performances by a top international cast including Yves Montand (Jean de Florette), Jean-Louis Trintignant (Red) and Irene Papas (Zorba the Greek), Z is one movie "you can't afford to miss."

Customer Reviews:

'Z'.......2007-07-02

Based on the real-life murder of populist Greek liberal Gregorios Lambrakis in 1963, this incendiary political thriller epitomizes the idea of a "cinema of resistance". It is also a compelling story, with Montand delivering a brief but intense performance as the assassinated pacifist, and Trintignant providing an emotional jolt as the puppet judge who surprises everyone by indicting high-level officials. Costa-Gavras keeps our pulse pumping with shotgun pacing, punchy edits, and sudden turns of events. "Z," which means "He is alive" in ancient Greek, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, and remains timely in today's world of lapsed ethics.

Extraordinary.......2006-09-30

I have seen this movie untold number of times since it first came out. I first saw it in NYC in 1969 and it was the first movie where the audience applauded at the end. This was a time of activism on the part of the young people and even older people against racism and the war in Vietnam (unlike today where kids only care about their ipods, etc.) and this film hit a nerve. The Greeks, unlike Americans, have a long attention span and still hold a grudge against the American support of the dictatorship in Greece (so do I). To understand the present you must know the past and this is still an important picture. Just look at the present administration with its lies, deceptions, preemptive wars, and meddling in foreign affairs, mainly propping up corrupt and dirty leaders.

I have an older VHS version (when it first came out) but it has English subtitles in white, making it almost impossible to read at times. However, after seeing the movie about 20 times when it first came out and watching it many more times on video, I can pretty well understand what is going on.

I have read the book (still have the original paperback released when the movie came out) plus Theodorakis' soundtrack (written while he was under house arrest).

Extraordinary and timely film. Not to be missed.

Lithe and fierce... like a tiger.......2006-08-05

This is Costa-Gavras' masterpiece. It deservedly won two academy awards (Best Foreign Language Film, Best Film Editing) and was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture, and Writing. In my opinion, this is one of the best ever foreign language films.

The cast is outstanding. Jean-Louis Trintignant is great as the deceptively quiet and unassuming investigator who doggedly persues the truth behind the political assassination of the left-wing minister (Yves Montand). The supporting cast does equally well, with Irene Pappas as the minister's devoted wife and Jacques Perrin as the photojournalist as stand-outs.

This is a political drama which moves along quickly and, as the conspiracy begins to unravel, takes on significant edge-of-the-seat atmosphere. The music track is second to none and promotes the film's intrigue. Altogether this is a great film which deserves its reputation. See it. Worth owning.

In short, the movie is "lithe and fierce... like a tiger".
;-)

This is an Important Film.......2006-02-23

"Z" was perhaps the first Foriegn film I remember really making an impression on me. Remember Martin L.King and Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated just a year or so before, so this film felt like it was real life! Yves Montand is outstanding as the opposition candidate who is assassinated by Thuggs who inturn are protected by government conspiracy. It is on a par with any Hollywood film of it time. The sound track music is unforgetable and is a perfect match to the drama.

This release is in french with english subtitles!
There is also a earlier, "above average English dub" that aired on TV and in a Laser Disc release that I would also recommend if you can find it.

IT LIVES "Z".......2006-02-20

An exciting music and film about a real modern day greek tragedy creatively presented by the french cinema.It is greeces' Watergate" put in a fast gripping film and music format.

Average customer rating:

movie
Sex shouldn't be boring
intense sexy drama with leads in great performances
It's 10:00 p.m.: Do you know where your lap dance is?
"You create a frontier."

The Center of the World
Starring: Shane Edelman , Peter Sarsgaard , Molly Parker , Karry Brown , and Alisha Klass
Director: Wayne Wang
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005LPZW
Release Date: 2001-12-18

Amazon.com

The titular center of the world is a matter of perspective in Wayne Wang's (The Joy Luck Club, Smoke) notorious, explicit drama of emotional isolation and sexual commerce in the modern world. According to rich, apathetic cyber-geek Peter Sarsgaard (Boys Don't Cry), it's his home computer. Amateur rock & roll drummer and part-time stripper Molly Parker (Wonderland) deems it an erotic part of the female anatomy. Their "date" is merely a sexual contract that takes them to Las Vegas, a place as phony and impersonal as their so-called romance. "You know it's just an act, right?" she reminds him between her slinky bump-and-grind striptease shows and their sweaty sexual gymnastics.

The Internet makes a great metaphor for modern social alienation, with its impersonal communication and virtual sex, but there's not much else new in this familiar story other than the erotic content. Shot on dimly lit, high-definition video, the gray, washed palette sucks the glamour and titillation right out of the spectacle, turning it into an empty, soulless exercise in physical sensation and self delusion--appropriate to this story of lonely souls unable to break through their own isolation. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

movie.......2006-11-10

It was a very unusual movie. I was a bit confused about their relationship, but I was entertained enough to watch the whole thing.

Sex shouldn't be boring.......2006-10-14

Two moderately decent-looking white people who apparently aren't very good at sex go at it in this movie. If that's your thing, why not just rent a bad softcore porn film and be done with it? At least then you won't have to listen to the cornball pseudo-artistic dialogue in this film. What a crock. They could at least have cast a fine young sista like Rosario Dawson or Gabrielle Union to make this movie moan and squeal! This movie makes sex seem boring.

intense sexy drama with leads in great performances.......2005-05-24

Peter Sarsgaard(The Salton Sea, Empire) is in love with Molly Parker(Bliss1997, Sunshine) who is a hooker& a stripper and so Sarsgaard brings Parker to Vegas for 3 days where then things start to unfold. Sarsgaard's passion for Parker breaks down a wall and she might like him too. Great performances by the leads with some intense, sexual moments, some of which Parker shows some skin, nice..adult drama about obsession. Also starring Balthazar Getty (Project Greenlight's Feast, Lost Highway) and Alisha Klass.

It's 10:00 p.m.: Do you know where your lap dance is?.......2005-01-31

Las Vegas. A computer nerd with too much money--a thin, freckled redhead with too little money. A gaudy hotel suite, complete with erotic paintings; a set of two double-doors, separating (permanently) our two protagonists.

And behold the movie THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. That's pretty much it.

Okay, there is a little more than the above, but not much. When computer wonder-boy Richard Longman (Peter Sarsgaard) finds himself infatuated with a stripper and rock drummer-wannabe Florence (Molly Parker), he offers the lady ten grand to spend three pleasurable nights in Las Vegas with him. Never mind the fact he could have used the money for a decent set of clothes and a shampoo, but I digress. Florence accepts the offer, but there are conditions. Primarily, ala the film "Pretty Woman," the conditions have to do with avoiding liking one another, so at once the viewer knows immediately what's going to happen.

So, in essence, we are treated to a film where two characters prance and frolic in wanton self-denial, until, at last, one of them finally succumbs to his/her (no giving away the storyline for me, by golly) emotions. The confrontation/climax is both bittersweet and unbelievable--especially once the rejector treats the rejectee to a most puzzling episode of self-pleasure, before the lowered eyes of said rejectee.

Where the heck did that come from?

But, again, I digress. THE CENTER OF THE WORLD is a handsome film, and very easy on the eyes. Both main characters could stand a square meal, by the way, but again, that's just me. Eat hearty, folks. The ending is contrived, nothing is actually resolved, and now I'm pulling the cushions off my sofa looking for loose change. Gotta save up my money: Ten thousand buckaroos is going to be dang hard to come by.
--D. Mikels

"You create a frontier.".......2005-01-19

Florence (Molly Parker) drummer by day and stripper by night meets computer geek & millionaire Richard Longman (Peter Sarsgaard). Richard abandons his computer screen and checks out Florence's act at Pandora's Box. He likes what he sees, and he offers Florence $10,000 if she will spend the weekend with him in Las Vegas. Florence, at first rejects the idea, but then presents a counter-offer with VERY strict rules of engagement allowing limited sexual favours between the hours of 10pm-2 am. A contract is literally drawn up, and Richard agrees--reluctantly--to abide by the rules. Florence packs her rubber dresses and her high heels, and the two head to Vegas and check into a sumptuous adjoining suite.

"The Center of the World" is a fascinating film, and it's most fascinating in its depiction and exploration of sexuality. Here we have two characters who attempt to create a contract regulating the limits. Richard clearly wants more than Florence is prepared to give him, and Florence is only comfortable 'performing' literally with music. It's a situation that's destined for trouble. And there's a sort of naked honesty and best of intentions here, but at the same time the characters struggle and fail to understand each other.

The character of Richard is a little overdone--the scenes with his takeout food containers and half empty pizza boxes emphasize that this is a man who has put his personal life on hold while pursing his career. But Florence is a truly great character--someone who can't be bought but someone who