High Society

Starring:Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Celeste Holm, John Lund, Louis Calhern, Sidney Blackmer, Louis Armstrong, Margalo Gillmore, Lydia Reed, Gordon Richards, Richard Garrick, Edmond Hall, Arvell Shaw, Ruth Lee, Richard Keene, Hugh Boswell, Billy Kyle, Reginald Simpson, Helen Spring
Director: Charles Walters, Tex Avery
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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Roman Polanski's brooding film noir exposes the darkest side of the land of sunshine, the Los Angeles of the 1930s, where power is the only currency--and the only real thing worth buying. Jack Nicholson is J.J. Gittes, a private eye in the Chandler mold, who during a routine straying-spouse investigation finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a jigsaw puzzle of clues and corruption. The glamorous Evelyn Mulwray (a dazzling Faye Dunaway) and her titanic father, Noah Cross (John Huston), are at the black-hole center of this tale of treachery, incest, and political bribery. The crackling, hard-bitten script by Robert Towne won a well-deserved Oscar, and the muted color cinematography makes the goings-on seem both bleak and impossibly vibrant. Polanski himself has a brief, memorable cameo as the thug who tangles with Nicholson's nose. One of the greatest, most completely satisfying crime films of all time. --Anne Hurley

Customer Reviews:

Twists & Turns.......2007-06-07

"Chinatown" is an amazing piece of film that grows richer as it grows older. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, only winning one for Robert Towne's Best Original Screenplay. John Alonzo, who was nominated for Best Cinematography, sets a sheen & sparkle to the vintage look of the film. The soundtrack is also brilliant. It was nominated for Best Picture but lost to "The Godfather Part II."

While "Chinatown" did not do well @ the Oscars, it was the Golden Globe winner for Best Drama and also brought Roman Polanski a Best Director Golden Globe award. Roman Polanski has done many classics including his other Oscar nominations as Best Director for Rosemary's Baby & "Tess" to his 2002 Oscar win for The Pianist. "Chinatown's detractors say that the pacing is slow, but I find that it builds intensity as each piece of the puzzle is revealed and somehow doesn't fit or indicates that there is more to the puzzle.

As Jake "J.J." Gittes, Jack Nicholson has never been better. His demeanor that leads you to think he never takes anything seriously is contained, with just enough wiseacre to make him endearing. Nicholson brought home the Golden Globe as Best Actor but lost the Oscar to surprise winner Art Carney for Harry and Tonto in a field that also had Al Pacino for "Godfather Part II," Dustin Hoffman for "Lenny" & "Albert Finney in "Murder on the Orient Express." As Gittes, we watch Nicholson twist and squirm. The scene where Roman Polanski slits Gittes' nose is brutal and remains emphasized as Nicholson plays following scenes with a big bandage on the middle of his face.

Faye Dunaway received her second Oscar nomination for this film. Her performance is incredibly controlled, but throbbing with the underlying secrets of her past and conditioned by the opulence of her wealth. She lost the Oscar to Ellen Burstyn for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.

The film's large cast is peppered with faces we had seen or later saw frequently. Darrell Zwerling whose career spanned the decade was also seen in "High Anxiety," "Grease" & "Capricorn One." As Dunaway's husband Hollis, he remains bespectacled & without dialogue for much of the picture until his character's tragic demise. John Huston's legendary career is reflected in the shadow of his presence on screen as the family patriarch Noah Cross. Perry Lopez plays detective Lou Escobar in his most memorable film. John Hillerman, who would play prominently on TV from 1980-1988 in "Magnum P.I.," plays Yelburton, the assistant water commissioner. Diane Ladd plays Ida Sessions, the fake Mrs. Mulray. Ladd picked up a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" that same year & was later nominated for "Wild at Heart" in 1990 and "Rambling Rose" in 1991. Burt Young who would be Oscar nominated for his character Paulie in "Rocky" in 1976 plays Curly who Gittes helps with marital matters. James Hong who played prominently in 1994's film The Shadow appears stoically as Mrs. Mulray's butler. "Chinatown" picks us up and carries us through to the ending, surprising with twists & turns. It is classic cinema. Bravo!

Great Jack Nicholson as Humphrey Bogart type pi.......2007-05-25

Great actors, script, and direction. Very good film noir technique. Can seen several times. The details are great.

Very Good.......2007-05-13

GO on seeing the movie until u are twisted by the twist given by the director

Classic Film Noir. .......2007-04-15

You're going to spend the majority of this movie wondering why it has the title it does and I'm not going to spoil it for you by mentioning it, but what I will say is that it has one of the great surprise endings in the history of Hollywood. The plot is outstanding and it's hard to tell where its going based on the first hour alone. Nicholson is superlative in the role of J.J. Gittes. His performance is nearly as good as Bogart's was in The Maltese Falcon. Dunaway and Houston are outstanding as well. Chinatown is every bit as entertaining as it is excellent.

If you like "period" films, this is one of the best.......2007-03-17

A classic right from the start, this film gives you the sense of the old 30's and 40's film noir. Made 30 years ago, it still feels contemporary today and will always be a modern classic piece of excellent film-making.
For anyone who enjoys authenticity of the movie in the retelling of the novel, including the setting, feeling of the story, and the atmosphere it generates, this is a masterpiece. I recommend it highly!

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Absolutely Timeless
Good for class
saving the banter and redundancies of previous reviews...
Breathing Life into School
a great and inspiring film......

Dead Poets Society (Special Edition)
Starring: Robin Williams , Robert Sean Leonard , Ethan Hawke , Josh Charles , and Gale Hansen
Director: Peter Weir
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000B8QG1S
Release Date: 2006-01-10

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Robin Williams stars as an English teacher who doesn't fit into the conservative prep school where he teaches, but whose charisma and love of poetry inspires several boys to revive a secret society with a bohemian bent. The script is well meaning but a little trite, though director Peter Weir (The Truman Show) adds layers of emotional depth in scenes of conflict between the kids and adults. (A subplot involving one father's terrible pressure on his son--played by Robert Sean Leonard--to drop his interest in theater reaches heartbreaking proportions.) Williams is given plenty of latitude to work in his brand of improvisational humor, though it is all well-woven into his character's style of instruction. --Tom Keogh

Description

In an age defined by crew cuts, sport coats, and cheerless conformity, he not only broke the mold ... he reinvented it. Academy Award(R) winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, GOOD WILL HUNTING, 1997) delivers an extraordinary performance in one of the most compelling motion pictures of all time. Williams stars as English professor John Keating, a passionate iconoclast who changes his students' lives forever when he challenges them to live life to the fullest and "Carpe Diem" -- seize the day! Keating's unconventional approach meets with irrepressible enthusiasm from his students, but the faculty at staid, exclusive Welton Academy prep school is, to put it mildly, not amused. Featuring a star-marking performance by Ethan Hawke and over three hours of never-before-seen bonus materials, this Special Edition of DEAD POETS SOCIETY will captivate and inspire you again and again.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Timeless.......2007-06-16

Some of the more cynical movie critics out there have been quick to slam 'Dead Poets Society', mistaking its beauty and idealism for over-sentimentality. In my view these critics simply need to open themselves up a little more.

The arrival of John Keating in a strict boys boarding school, blows open the lives and minds of all his young students. Perhaps this is where the film finds a place in the hearts of so many viewers. Many people will have spent their schooldays mired in tedium and waiting for someone to truly engage them. This is the gift that Mr. Keating bestows upon his students. The movie is a subtle, beautiful and moving examination of human relations.

The movie works heavily with the idiom that still waters run deep. Todd Anderson is new to the boarding school and extremely quiet. His shy nature is what guides him into the purview of Mr. Keating and allows him to become a sort of poetic protegé. The relationship between these two is one of the most touching parts of the movie and is sure to reach even the hardest of cynics out there.

To any potential viewer of this film, all I would say is open yourself up. This is a beautiful fim and will perhaps show what those schooldays could have been, given a little inspiration in the faculty.

Good for class.......2007-05-07

I used this in my class after reading several of the poems. Outstanding! Gave students a lot to think about.

saving the banter and redundancies of previous reviews..........2007-05-01

Unarguably, one of the finest films in the history of cinema.

Breathing Life into School.......2007-03-17

`Dead Poets' Society' feels like a classic from start to finish. The movie finds Robin Williams in a break-out role that transcends his earlier, comedic work. Which is not to say he isn't funny at times in this movie; it's just that he's more well-rounded. If we didn't care about the poor lads at Welton Academy, the whole film would fall apart. A boarding school with the highest academic standards, Welton is presented as the epitome of 1950's conformity and convention.

It all begins when alumna, John Keating (Williams) replaces a deceased English professor at the aforementioned school. It's school motto is "Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence". It lives up to the standards, even if the emotional needs of the all-male institution don't seem to be met. Keating comes into the classroom, tearing at the textbook--literally, as well as metaphorically--while giving a context and a passion to find the meaning of poetry in their young lives. Digging out his old yearbook, they discover he was a decorated academic figure with a colorful past: He belonged to "The Dead Poets' Society," a secret, male-bonding organization off the school's extracurricular path. Wanting to emulate their "Captain, My Captain," as he takes from Walt Whitman, they reinstate his contraband club by skirting curfew and meeting in their teacher's former lair, a cave, where they perform pagan rituals of passion and enjoyment. Of course the whole affair is bound to bump heads with tradition and the administration, but the developments admirably keep our studied interest.

While columnist George Will has stated objections to the movie, noting that gratitude back then was higher and the tragedy presented in the film was far lower, the main mentor is a mouthpiece of caution. Good judgment is part and parcel to enjoyment of life. Who then can argue that pursuing one's passion is the goal and impetus to avoid making life "a life of quiet desperation," as he quotes Thoreau? In a separate column, Will did argue that the fifties weren't "The Dark Ages" they have been reported to be, significantly citing the advent of Alan Ginsberg, a Beat Poet, as his evidence. Nevertheless, 'Dead Poet's Society' supports a vision to grab the gusto in life and jealously guard one's dreams. Even though the actual cave scenes sometimes leave something to be desired, they are important for the development of the flow and the plot of the movie. They certainly are genuine. Making poetry a living art to try and match the soul is work of a real mentor. Even taken with a grain of salt, the movie's message is convincing and important.

a great and inspiring film.............2007-03-14

DEAD POET'S SOCIETY remains a very important film, to me. It reiterates the importance of being true to oneself in the face of conformity and alludes to the quote from scripture, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Poetry teacher John Keating (Robin Williams), hired by Welton Academy Prep School (an all boys school) to teach their young students about Henry David Thoreau. His class leads to more than just a revival of poetry, but is also a visionary experience for the young men in Mr. Keating's course. The teacher inspires Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke), Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles), among others to Carpe Dieum ("Seize the Day"). The boys revive the Dead Poet's Society, a club that Keating himself belonged to in prep school. The study of poetry leads to the examination of their life's purposes and brings about a chain of important, life-changing events for all involved (I don't want to spoil the plot with any specific details).

Director Peter Weir (PICNIC ON HANGING ROCK) paints a compelling and sensitive portrait of the lives of young men, who were inspired and instructed by a truly visionary teacher. Not only do the actors deliver strong and engaging performances, but it also leaves the audience inspired.........

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The Great Gatsby
Starring: Robert Redford , Mia Farrow , Bruce Dern , Karen Black , and Scott Wilson
Director: Jack Clayton
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000AUHQT
Release Date: 2003-12-02

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This adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, scripted by Francis Ford Coppola, puts costume design and art direction above the intricacies of character. It's certainly a handsome try, and perhaps no movie could capture The Great Gatsby in its entirety. Robert Redford is an interesting casting choice as Gatsby, the millionaire isolated in his mansion, still dreaming of the woman he lost. And Sam Waterston is perfect as the narrator, Nick, who brings the dream girl Daisy Buchanan back to Gatsby. No, the problem seems to be that director Jack Clayton fell in love with the flapper dresses and the party scenes and the Jazz Age tunes, ending up with a Classics Illustrated version of a great book rather than a fresh, organic take on the text. While Redford grows more quietly intriguing in the film, Mia Farrow's pallid performance as Daisy leaves you wondering why Gatsby, or anyone else, should care so much about his grand passion. The effective supporting cast includes Bruce Dern as Daisy's husband, and Scott Wilson and Karen Black as the low-rent couple whose destinies cross the sun-drenched protagonists. (That's future star Patsy Kensit as Daisy's little daughter.) The film won two Oscars--not surprisingly, for costumes and musical score. --Robert Horton

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The Heart of the Game
Starring: Ludacris , Joyce Walker (III) , Devon Crosby Helms , Maude Lepley , and Bill Resler
Director: Ward Serrill
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000LXGXX4
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Amazon.com

The Heart of the Game is, simply put, one of the most enjoyable and joyous documentaries ever made. For several years, the movie follows a girls' basketball team called the Rough Riders from a Seattle high school as they strive to win the state championship, and in the process discovers heart-wrenching twists of fate, vivid and compelling characters, colorful dialogue, and a nail-biting conclusion. The Heart of the Game starts with Bill Resler, a professor of tax law who agrees to become the head coach for the girls' basketball program at Roosevelt High School. He swiftly challenges the players with demanding drills and wild metaphors (each year he picks a different theme for the team, from "pack of wolves" to "tropical storm")--and the girls take him on, pulling together into a potent team. But when a girl from a poor neighborhood named Darnellia Russell joins the Rough Riders, her skill takes their fortunes even higher--until she unexpectedly has to quit. From there, the movie takes more and more compelling turns, carried along by the winning personalities of Bill and Darnellia. The Heart of the Game, like Hoop Dreams, works first as an exhilarating sports movie, but has a rich human story that will make it fascinating to people who don't care about basketball. First-time filmmaker Ward Serrill lucked out with the material, but he clearly labored to shape what must have been thousands of hours of footage into a taut, headlong movie. His labor paid off. See this movie. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Go courtside for a true-life rush like no other in this passionate and inspirational documentary in the same powerful tradition as HOOP DREAMS. Director Ward Serrill brings the camera up close and personal to capture the Roosevelt Roughriders girls' basketball team during six turbulent seasons, taking us far beyond the court. You'll meet Bill Resler, the tax professor turned hard-driving unorthodox coach who turns the team around — and Darnellia Russell, the talented inner-city tough girl who battles off-court threats to regain eligibility. You'll meet a real team full of drive, toughness and the unbridled desire to make history.

Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition)

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Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition)
Starring: Bob Dylan , Albert Grossman , Bob Neuwirth , Joan Baez , and Alan Price
Director: D.A. Pennebaker
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000KJU1HI
Release Date: 2007-02-27

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Both a classic documentary and a vital pop-cultural artifact, D.A. Pennebaker's portrait of Bob Dylan captures the seminal singer-songwriter on the cusp of his transformation from folk prophet to rock trendsetter. Shot during Dylan's 1965 British concert tour, Don't Look Back employs an edgy vérité style that was, and is, a snug fit with the artist's own consciously rough-hewn persona. Its handheld black-and-white images and often-gritty London backdrops suggest cinematic extensions of the archetypal monochrome portraits that graced Dylan's career-making early-'60s album jackets.

Pennebaker's access to the legendarily private troubadour enables us to witness Dylan's shifting moods as he performs, relaxes with his entourage (including then lover Joan Baez, road manager Bob Neuwirth, and poker-faced manager Albert Grossman), and jousts with other musicians (notably Animals alumnus Alan Price and Scottish folksinger Donovan), fans, and press. It's a measurement of the filmmaker's acuity that the conversations are often as gripping as Dylan's solo performances. Grossman's machinations with British promoters, Baez's hip serenity, a grizzled British journalist's surrender to the fact of Dylan's artistry, and the artist's own taunting dismissal of a clueless sycophant are all absorbing.

With the exception of the studio recording of "Subterranean Homesick Blues," the live performances (including five newly restored, complete audio tracks excised from the original film but included on the DVD version) are constrained by crude audio gear. Their urgency, however, is timeless, as is Pennebaker's film, a legitimate cornerstone for any serious rock video collection. --Sam Sutherland

Description

BOB DYLAN: DONT LOOK BACK--65 TOUR DELUXE EDITION is the ultimate look at Bob Dylan's concert tour of England in the spring of 1965--one of the most intimate profiles of an artist ever put to film. This definitive set includes the remastered classic film by D.A. Pennebaker, a brand-new, hour-long look at Dylan, and the original 168-page companion book to the film. More than just a concert film, DONT LOOK BACK is a window into the spirit of the 60s, and one of the poet-musicians whose words and songs defined it.

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Triumph of the Will
Starring: Adolf Hitler , Sepp Dietrich , Josef Goebbels , Konstantin Hierl , and Hermann Göring
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: Synapse Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E41MRC
Release Date: 2006-03-28

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Riefenstahl was hired by the Reich to create an eternal record of the 1934 rally at Nuremberg, and that's exactly what she does. You might not become a Nazi after watching her film, but you will understand too clearly how Germany fell under Hitler's spell. The early crowd scenes remind one of nothing so much as Beatles concert footage (if only their fans were so well behaved!).

Like the fascists it monumentalizes, Triumph of the Will overlooks its own weaknesses--at nearly two hours, the speeches tend to drone on, and the repeated visual motifs are a little over-hypnotic, especially for modern viewers. But the occasional iconic vista (banners lining the streets of Nuremberg, Hitler parting a sea of 200,000 party members standing at attention) will electrify anyone into wakefulness. --Grant Balfour

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Triumph of the Will is one of the most important films ever made. Not because it documents evil--more watchable examples are being made today. And not as a historical example of blind propaganda--those (much shorter) movies are merely laughable now. No, Riefenstahl's masterpiece--and it is a masterpiece, politics aside--combines the strengths of documentary and propaganda into a single, overwhelmingly powerful visual force. Riefenstahl was hired by the Reich to create an eternal record of the 1934 rally at Nuremberg, and that's exactly what she does. You might not become a Nazi after watching her film, but you will understand too clearly how Germany fell under Hitler's spell. The early crowd scenes remind one of nothing so much as Beatles concert footage (if only their fans were so well behaved!). Like the fascists it monumentalizes, Triumph of the Will overlooks its own weaknesses--at nearly two hours, the speeches tend to drone on, and the repeated visual motifs are a little over-hypnotic, especially for modern viewers. But the occasional iconic vista (banners lining the streets of Nuremberg, Hitler parting a sea of 200,000 party members standing at attention) will electrify anyone into wakefulness. --Grant Balfour

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Roger & Me
Starring: James Bond (IV) , Pat Boone , Anita Bryant , Karen Edgely , and Bob Eubanks
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B00009YXAS
Release Date: 2003-08-19

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Roger and Me is a loose, smart-alecky documentary directed and narrated by Michael Moore, an everyman host with a devastating wit and a working-class pose. When his hometown is devastated by the plant closure of an American corporate giant (making record profits, one should note), the hell-raising political commentator with a prankster streak tries to turn his camera on General Motors Chairman Roger B. Smith, the elusive Roger of the title, and the film is loosely structured around Moore's odyssey to track down the corporate giant for an interview.

Description

This witty, musical version of The Philadelphia Story stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and the jazz master himself, Louis Armstrong, playing the hottest trumpet in the land. Year: 1956 Director: Charles Waters Starring: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong

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Holiday
Starring: Katharine Hepburn , Cary Grant , Doris Nolan , Lew Ayres , and Edward Everett Horton
Director: George Cukor
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)

ASIN: B000ION7AI
Release Date: 2006-12-05

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