Murder by Death

Starring:Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, James Coco, Peter Falk, Alec Guinness, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Nancy Walker, Estelle Winwood, James Cromwell, Richard Narita, Fay Wray
Director: Robert Moore
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Neil Simon wrote this 1976 spoof in which virtually every famous fictional detective of the 1930s and 1940s congregate at the home of a mysterious fellow (Truman Capote) to try and solve the mystery of who's trying to kill them all. Simon's jokes are mostly obvious, and the film's real appeal is the clever concept matched with fine--sometimes legendary--actors. Peter Falk plays a very Bogart-like Sam Spade equivalent, James Coco is a Hercule Poirot wannabe, Peter Sellers does a Charlie Chan bit, David Niven and Maggie Smith are reflections of Nick and Nora.... You get the picture. Lighthearted and silly, this is cotton-candy comedy for the cast as well as viewers. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

FAST shipping!.......2007-05-18

Good price - got here in GREAT time, even with super saver shipping... The movie is hysterical and timeless.

One of the all-time classics!.......2007-03-27

My daughter and I have loved this movie since she was little and we still catch ourselves quoting our favorite lines from the movie! It is such a great spoof on old detective movies and there are so many of our favorite, big stars in it! It is really a fun movie!

murder by death kills with laughs!.......2007-02-26

murder by death has to be one of the best movies made
in the 70's. it seems nobody ever mentions this movie.
written by neil simon it's just as funny as the odd
couple. one liners just keep coming. the casting is
just brilliant. peter falk, davin niven, peter sellers
alec guiness and truman capote make this a classic!
of course the surprise ending is still a surprise even
after the movie ends! i love it! highly recommended.

Star Studded Spoof.......2007-02-25

A rich millionaire invites the greatest living detectives to his castle (complete with fog, lightning and rain etc) for dinner - and a murder. The surviving detective who figures it out is promised one million dollars.
OK, so it is not the plot or the inherently stagey nature of the movie that is classic - but the mixing of such a fine ensemble cast. A brilliant cast play similes of literatures great detectives - Peter Falk playing Bogart's Sam Spade crossed with Columbo (Sam Diamond in the movie), David Niven playing The Thin Man, Peter Sellers playing Charlie Chan (Wang in the movie), and Agatha Christies Poirot and Marples give rise to the hysterically monikered Milo Perrier and Miss Marbles. Add to that the iconic Truman Capote as the millionaire, and Alec Guinness as the blind butler as well as various sidekicks, and you have possibly the biggest set of scenery chewers crammed into one dining room.
The jokes are thick and fast, always farcical, but never straying too far into slapstick. Any misses are quickly forgiven as the next joke comes along.
Predictably perhaps the ending is not entirely satisfactory - a simple but clever ending would have been more effective than the over elaborate series of revelations which don't quite tie up. But lets face it, when you're having this much fun, who cares.
The 91 minute running time makes this a satisfactorily tight little movie that is ideal for a rainy Sunday evening...

A Wonderful Spoof.......2007-02-16

I first saw this movie as a young man, and I was amazed at the sheer number of first-rate acting talent it contained. With stars like: Peter Falk, David Niven, Peter Seller and Alec Guinness (to name a few) this movie should have been a more mainstream success, but sadly remains a cult-classic. The main appeal of this film, comes in the form of it's spoofing of the Detective drama, and the methods of classic TV and Movie sleuths. If you are fond of movies like "Scarey Movie," then you should enjoy this one. The script and acting are top-notch, especially the characterization of Detective Wong, by Peter Sellers. If you like Charlie Chan, Sam Spade, or the Thin Man movies, you will easily appreciate the humor and repect the writer give to the story. It is especially funny, seeing these loner detectives trying to tell each other how to solve a case. Even if you don't favor the realm of crime drama, there is more than enough goofy sight gags and slapstick comedy to appeal to most anyone. I hope you enjoy!

Halloween H20 - 20 Years Later (Dimension Collector's Series)

Average customer rating:

AT LAST A SEQUEL WORTH WATCHING!
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the film that made her a star
Halloween H20-TwentyYears Later-Zsendsational movie-still
"I'm not who you think I am." Halloween: H20 - 20 Years Later
Surprisingly good!

Halloween H20 - 20 Years Later (Dimension Collector's Series)
Starring: Adam Arkin , LL Cool J , Jamie Lee Curtis , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , and Adam Hann-Byrd
Director: Steve Miner
Manufacturer: Dimension
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Halloween - Resurrection
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Halloween II

ASIN: 6305291446
Release Date: 1999-10-19

Amazon.com

Halloween is one of the great modern horror films, but as a franchise its track record has been spotty at best, painfully bad at worst. Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later, directed by horror vet Steve Miner (Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, House), won't displace John Carpenter's original but it might help you forget the films in between. Miner certainly has: the film begins as if sequels 3 through 6 never happened. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role for the first time in almost two decades) faked her death and is now a single mom and headmistress of an exclusive California private school. She's also a secret alcoholic who lives in fear of her homicidal brother-bogeyman Michael Myers. Guess who decides to show up for a family reunion? The film begins with classic horror-movie exposition (the deserted college campus, Michael's escape, Laurie's waking nightmares) accomplished with some humor and style, but it's all setup for the second half, a driving roller coaster of stalk-and-slash thrills. There's little of the self-conscious genre referencing of Scream and at times the film is a little far-fetched--it is a slasher movie about a knife-wielding homicidal maniac who won't stay dead, after all--but Curtis transforms Laurie from a shrieking victim into an empowered, determined horror-movie heroine who's learned a thing or two from the previous films. Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett, and TV cutie Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek) costar, and the script received uncredited polish from Scream writer Kevin Williamson; Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh, pops up in a cameo. --Sean Axmaker

Description

This smart and suspenseful thriller scares up a bone-chilling good time with original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (TRUE LIES, HALLOWEEN I&II) and a hot cast of hip young stars! Now the headmistress of a private school, Laurie Strode (Curtis) is still struggling with the horrifying, 20-year-old memories of the maniacal killer Michael Myers ... when he suddenly reappears with a vengeance! And this Halloween, his terror will strike a whole new generation! Laurie's rebellious son (Josh Hartnett -- THE FACULTY), his girlfriend (Michelle Williams -- TV's DAWSON'S CREEK), and the school security guard (LL COOL J -- WOO, B.A.P.S.) will become Michael's newest victims unless Laurie can conquer her greatest fears and put evil in its place once and for all! The time has come again for you to experience the frightening fun of HALLOWEEN -- the motion picture series that totally redefined terror!

Customer Reviews:

AT LAST A SEQUEL WORTH WATCHING!.......2007-06-04

This entry into the halloween series is probably about as good as it is gonna get! After two really really bad installments(parts 5 and 6) we get a pretty darn good sequel "Halloween H20". The best thing about the movie is that Jamie Lee Curtis is back and it makes all the difference. I still don't understand why they keep changing Michael's mask? It looked great in the first movie...why fix what ain't broke? This movie is really a 3 and 1/2 star movie,but they don't have that option. The DVD transfer is good,but I would like to see a 16X9 upgrade someday.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the film that made her a star.......2007-05-20

In HALLOWEEN H20, Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the film franchise which made her a star. This is probably the best entry since "Halloween II", in terms of performances and the fact that Jamie Lee Curtis is back as terrorised Laurie Strode. To properly enjoy this film, you have to disregard the 4th, 5th, and 6th films which featured Laurie's daughter, Jamie Lloyd. There is no daughter here, instead we have Laurie's son John (played by Josh Hartnett).

The film picks up 20 years to the day of the original Haddonfield slayings. With a new name and persona, Laurie Strode is the headmistress of a private school in Southern California, yet still living with the daily terror of her past literally coming back to haunt her. Sadistic, unstoppable Michael Myers has tracked down her records and decides a little family reunion is needed, but this time, Laurie vows to ensure it will be the final showdown...

Jamie Lee Curtis perfectly slips back into the role of Laurie, and the rest of the cast is equally fine, including Jamie's legendary mother (Janet Leigh, "Psycho") in a fun cameo as the school receptionist, Josh Hartnett as her son, and Adam Arkin as her boyfriend. There are some brilliant set-ups and action scenes, and the tension is taut.

HALLOWEEN H20 originally set out to close the chapter on Laurie and Michael, but the franchise has continued with "Halloween: Resurrection", again with Jamie Lee Curtis.

Halloween H20-TwentyYears Later-Zsendsational movie-still.......2007-05-15

The cast of actors-charactors blend in so well with suspense-its just unbelievable. Ms.Jamie Lee Curtis and the cameo appearance of her mother working together is very nice to see-and historical (Ms. Lana Turner was in the orginial movie of the notorious thriller, "PSYCHO") and her appearance really contribute to the suspense to the movie-Halloween H20. And seeing LL Cool J acting, WOW! Mr. LL Cool J is a multi-talented performer-he can do it all! I just love this movie.

"I'm not who you think I am." Halloween: H20 - 20 Years Later.......2007-05-13

In 1998, Director Steve Minor put his stamp on the Halloween series. This is the entry, the sequel everyone was looking forward to, the return of Jamie Lee Curtis and when Laurie and Michael see each other again. "I'm not who you think I am." is exactly right, it truely is a great sequel even though it is part 7.

Laurie has a 17 year old son and she is the headmistress of a secluded private boarding school. 20 years after he first attacked her he came back, she thinks her son is the one in danger, he is, but she has more to fear than her son's life. Laurie stops running and faces her fear in the most amazing ending the series has ever seen.

Note that this movie completely ignores parts 3-6 so continuity for this entry as part of the series is completely screwed up. The acting is extra ordinary in this entry, the best acting in the entire series comes from this entry. Jamie gives her strongest performance as Lauries in this entry. And unlike the previous two entries Michael is top notch in this entry, Michael is really scary.

This entry doesn't suffer from much asside from giving LL Cool J a role this entry soars on all levels. The ending where she attempts to grab his hand is the most emotional part of the series.

The bonus feature "Unmasking the Horror" is very informative, but again, Jamie sounds like an idiot in her interviews and everyone else sounds smarter than her which is the exact opposite as on film where she appears to be the smartest person on screen.

In conclusion, this is the definitive ending to one of the longest running horror series. This entry has an A list cast and some great scares. Too bad the series continued on and on and on...

Surprisingly good!.......2007-04-12

I liked it! While nothing can top John Carpenter's original Halloween -- sequels and remakes almost always fall short of our expectations -- H20 is suspensful and good, and the musical score includes a variation of John Carpenter's classic, errie theme as a reminder. Jamie Lee Curtis brings class and authenticity to the film, which is almost as scary as the original Halloween. The film's vibe succeeds without too much gratutious sex and gore, and keeps you on the edge until the end. I agree with the other reviewers who didn't like the other cheap sequels after Halloween II ... they just didn't have the same vibe as the first two films with Jamie Lee. This one is a worthy addition to anyone's Halloween collection.

Average customer rating:

Good but boring
very emotional, driven by great performances...
Drawn into the Mystic
Much Ado about nothing
Almost Great

Mystic River (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Sean Penn , Tim Robbins , Kevin Bacon , Laurence Fishburne , and Marcia Gay Harden
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Million Dollar Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Road to Perdition (Widescreen Edition)
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ASIN: B0001ZX0OW
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Amazon.com

Superior acting, writing, and direction are on impressive display in the critically acclaimed Mystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by L.A. Confidential Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston--played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon--drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present. These dual tragedies arouse a vicious cycle of suspicion, guilt, and repressed anxieties, primed to explode with devastating and unpredictable results. Eastwood is perfectly in tune with this brooding material, giving his flawless cast (including Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden and Laurence Fishburne) ample opportunity to plumb the depths of a resonant human tragedy, leading to an ambiguous ending that qualifies Mystic River for contemporary classic status. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Drama. Mystic River tells the story of three men whose dark, interwoven history forces them to come to terms with a brutal murder on the mean streets of Boston.

Customer Reviews:

Good but boring.......2007-07-01

Clint Eastwood makes boring movies. I don't know what else to say. It may just be that the cinemotography itself is dark so you fall asleep. It was a good film, with the acting saving it and though I never read the book, I heard it was like the book. Sean Penn deserved the Oscar but why this film got a Best Picture Nom. is beyond me. Eastwood is the golden child of the Academy and it is starting to get me mad

very emotional, driven by great performances..........2007-06-09

Sean Penn, without a doubt, is the heart and soul of this movie... Mystic River is one of the very best of Clint Eastwood's pictures and it features highly charged emotions in a great screenplay that flows beautifully despite the length of the film... It all comes back to childhood this is something (I think) we should all know - and something the characters in this movie discover as they fumble around trying to right the wrongs of the world.. Tim robbins' character (i try to be careful not to give away plot elements) is torn inside from a childhood experience and sees the world as a place where vampires roam and suck the blood of the innocent - something he takes upon himself to venge against.. Sean Penn's character is intent on finding justice himself following the death of his daughter.. and kevin bacon (who is a cop) is obviously trying to make up for the wrongs of the world - all three try and fail - because at heart they are children (like we all are) born to suffer in an unjust world.. Mystic river will make you cry if you truly let it break through your personal barriers.. Though i am not normally a fan of such movies (i generally find them predictable) 'mystic river', despite its rehashed dramatic techniques, works out - highly recommended..

Drawn into the Mystic.......2007-04-06

Mystic River is a triumph for Clint Eastwood. Truly a moving film, Mystic River never lets your eyes wander from the screen as you're completely focused on this very disturbing story. A film capturing the adult lives of once childhood friends, played by Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, you watch as they come together once again after what appears to be many years of brief and intermittent run-ins with each other.

Sean Penn plays somewhat of a wise, yet immature loose cannon of a man, Kevin Bacon as a MPD (Massachusetts) detective and Tim Robbins as the man whose life was forever altered because of a shocking childhood trauma, these three play off of each other very well. I wanted to reach out to each of them. There are moments where some may see Kevin Bacon's character as a bit flushed out, but it appears that this is more effective than not. We jump from age 10 to probably late 30's, early 40's of these three men and we learn little about them that helps to explain so much.

After Penn's daughter is brutally murdered, Bacon and Laurence Fishburne (a fine choice to partner with Bacon) take on the case to find her killer. The three friends are all shaken up (obviously Penn is destroyed over hiss loss) and the mystery seems to unfold quite rapidly. This is definitely one of the most intriguing mystery films I've seen in a long time.

Fans of those earlier mentioned should really enjoy this film. There are also some excellent and shocking performances by Laura Linney and Marcia Gay Harden. I highly recommend this film. Its disturbing and almost heart-wrenching (perhaps even angering) subject will attract any looking for a solid dramatic mystery with some very memorable characters. This is one to add to your collection.

Much Ado about nothing.......2007-04-01

I personally started liking Tim Robbins from Shawshank Redemption & Sean Penn from Dead Man Walking and I believe these were the movies these guys should have recieved oscar for their outstanding roles.
Keeping than in mind and seeing lot of recommendations I saw Mystic River which the review said was the best as far as Clint Eastwood was concerned
Again he had adapted another movie, Bridges of Madison County, which in my personal opinion was much better adaptation of a novel.
The story line eventhough is good about three friends meeting again by fate and all the script is not that strong. I actually fell asleep in between.
Off the cast my personal belief is Kevin Bacon was really good. Sure Tim
Robbins plays a character of sexually abused child with lot of conviction but even that was potrayed better in Shawshank Redemption where he is abused by a few inmates.
And the end is kind of loose.
Give it a miss

Almost Great.......2007-02-18

You have a cast that includes Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, Laurence Fishburne, Tim Robbins, Laura Linney, and Marcia Gay Harden. This elite cast is directed by Clint Eastwood. The story is meaty and suspenseful. Can't miss, right?

It can and does miss, in my opinion. What makes it just miss is an acting fundamental that most did not pay attention to, and that is diction and enunciation. These actors use sotto voce too much, fake Boston accents with varying degrees of accuracy and precision, and generally speak as though they have a mouth full of marbles. I had to turn my TV volume to 48 to hear some of the dialogue. That dialogue is usually important in a movie or play, and in this film, it is critical. As any high school drama teacher will tell you...if the audience can't hear you, you are cheating them.

This is generally the only mar on an otherwise fine film. All of the actors turn in very good performances, particularly Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Marcia Gay Harden. Robbins plays David Boyle, a man who cannot escape the horror and trauma of his rape by pedophiles at a young age. He carries himself with sadness, and his internal rage and confusion show in his face and body. His wife Celeste is capably played by Marcia Gay Harden. Her fear grows as she comes to believe that her husband may have murdered a 19 year old girl. In a panic, she turns to the murdered girl's father (Jimmy) and tells him that she believes that her husband is the killer. In this scene of ultimate betrayal, Harden is at her best. We see it all...relief to have unburdened herself, but guilt and fear knowing that she has likely signed the death warrant of her own husband. Finally, there is Sean Penn's portrayal of Jimmy. Jimmy is an ex-con, who lost a wife as he was going to prison, and then loses the daughter of that wife. He is a man trying desperately to hold it together and operate within the legal rules of society. In the end, his desire for street thug retribution wins out, and his guilt is palpable. Penn turns in a great performance.

So, the movie basically goes from 5 stars to 3 stars because a director didn't insist on clear speech. But hey, if that doesn't bother you, you'll probably find this to be an outstanding, disturbing, impactful film.

Recommended.

Average customer rating:

Largely Forgotten Gem
Scary and Wonderful
Let's Bore Film Fans to Death
Seriously Stupid
It Scared Me to Death as a Kid

Let's Scare Jessica to Death
Starring: Zohra Lampert , Barton Heyman , Kevin O'Connor , Gretchen Corbett , and Alan Manson
Director: John D. Hancock
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000FSME2E
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Description

Jessica goes to the Connecticut countryside for some rest following her release from an institution where she has just recovered from a nervous breakdown. She arrives with her husband and friend, but the three find little relaxation. Instead, they become entangled in a creepy tale of the supernatural which involves murder, an attempted drowning, a séance, disappearing bodies, vampires and constant torment for Jessica. Her marriage is strained, she hears voices, and she can't escape the mental turbulence which haunts her - for there really is something after Jessica.

Customer Reviews:

Largely Forgotten Gem.......2007-05-17

It's not often, anymore, that I get to see a truly excellent horror movie for the first time, so "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" was quite a pleasant surprise. It's got a dumb title, but everything else about the film is quite good. It won't be to everyone's taste, since it's not a commercial, mainstream horror film nor is it a gruesome underground gore film. "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" is just a dreamy, slow-moving horror film where the supernatural creeps into a seemingly ordinary situation and gradually makes itself known. Lotsa of people will think it's boring, no doubt, but these people just have no taste for what I think is the truest, best distillation of horror in film. I like the sense of otherworldliness that you get in some of your more low-key horror, and "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" has about as much of this as any film I've seen. If that's what you're looking for, it doesn't get much better than this.

The film opens with Jessica on a boat, alone in the midst of foggy lake. She wonders what has happened, and what is real just as the narrative moves back to the beginning, with Jessica, her husband Duncan and their friend Woody moving to a small, unassuming rural town in New England. Jessica has, apparently, just finished a stay in a mental institution, and this move represents a new beginning for her and Duncan, as they plan to begin a new low-key life on an apple ranch. Not all is well with Jessica, however, and she sees strange things, things that, perhaps, the others can't see. Furthermore, they arrive at their new rural home to find a mysterious, pretty redheaded girl by the name of Emily who has been squatting in their home. She seems pleasant enough, though, so they let Emily stick around for a while, and they even grow somewhat attached to her. (Perhaps too attached, in Duncan's case.) Everything seems more or less fine, but strange occurrences and odd behavior by the local townspeople begin to add up, and Jessica gradually comes to believe that more is going on here than meets the eye or, perhaps even worse, that she's lost her mind.

"Jessica"s critics generally accuse it of being dull, and though I don't agree, I can see where they're coming from. Virtually nothing happens for the films first half, and it doesn't really kick into top-gear until the climax late in the film. Still, it has a certain air to it from the very first frame that I just love. The film isn't about major action or great scenes, it's about the slow buildup of seemingly minor scenes and details which combine to generate a palpable sense of the unnatural. This all begins with the pitch perfect score, mostly slow, mournful piano and guitar with some occasional ominous synth that build a proper feeling of sorrow and foreboding. And then we get the seemingly trivial details: They drive a hearse (cheaper than a station wagon, apparently); The town is populated entirely by old men, hostile old men with strange marks and wounds; Jessica makes grave rubbings, and keeps them in her bedroom where they shudder and seem to whisper at night; Emily herself is just a bit odd, with her long red hair and impish smile. Who is she where did she come from? While exploring their new home, Jessica finds a painting in the attic which looks strangely like Emily. Coincidence? (A great scene by the way, with Jessica being unknowingly trailed by a vague, half-seen black force. What is it, if anything? We never know.)

Eventually, the film becomes more forthright. Turns out Jessica and Duncan bought the the old Bishop place, a long empty home with a tragic history with superstitious connotations in the community. Even worse, Jessica's visions become more common and intense, as she again sees a mysterious white gowned woman roaming the area and believes that she is attacked by a pale figure beneath the surface of the nearby lake. Tension rises: Duncan wants to send Jessica back to New York and his attraction to Emily becomes more and more overt, and now Jessica has to fight to save her mind, her marriage and her life.

"Jessica" really benefits from being a cheap film from 1971: They don't ruin the eeriness with phony CGI or unnecessary cheap scares, nor is the pacing forced in anyway. It builds as is necessary. Equally significant, we get to have mature, adult characters rather than a pack of tiresome teenagers, well-played by a generally unknown cast. (Some have complained about the acting. Anyone who does so clearly hasn't watched much low-budget horror, cause this is way above average in that respect.) Zohra Lampert is particularly good in the lead, as is Mariclare Costello, though her effectiveness is more her basic look than the real acting. For a film of limited means, the technical aspects are solid, with some generally nice photography, though the occasional zooms are a bit dated.

Normally I'm not too hesitant to give away late film details in horror movies since they're generally so formulaic, but I'm going to avoid doing this here, because "Jessica" follows no specific horror movie formula. Sure, it is, at heart, a mystery-horror movie, where the supernatural occurrences function as clue towards the central secret, but even within this form it doesn't follow the traditional routes and clichés. I doubt anyone will be too shocked by the end, but it's not nearly as inevitable as the ending of your typical horror movie. The film does become a bit more conventional at the end, dispensing with the subtle, atmospheric horror and working the standard run-and-chase angle, but I think they do this fairly well, and it is ultimately necessary. Even though the climax rarely lives up to the buildup in this kind of movie, to exclude it is a cheat, because half of the interest in the mysterious occurrences lies in finding out what they ultimately mean. You gotta lay your cards down sooner or later. This isn't to say you need to explain absolutely everything, and the film doesn't, but I've never bought the ludicrous "incoherence is a virtue" principle that so many lazy critics invoke and almost as many obliging filmmakers cater to.

Anyway, I hate to invoke the old cliché, but they really don't make `em like this anymore. Too bad, but at least we've got plenty of classics to fall back on, like this one.

Grade: A-

Scary and Wonderful.......2007-01-11

I had waited thirty years to get Let's Scare Jessica To Death, and now I have it on DVD thanks to this great seller. Fast delivery, too.

Let's Bore Film Fans to Death.......2007-01-10

I tried this one based on other submitted reviews and was sorely disappointed. Where were the scares? A little trippy, it hints at being a countercultural horror film: Easy Rider on Vampire Island. Interior monologue from our heroine, Jessica, reflects her insecurities about what her friends will think of her, but offer no insights into her mental illness. This is the film's one and only device. And the filmmakers have no idea what to do with it. BORING.

Seriously Stupid.......2007-01-09

I love 70's horror movies like the exorcist and The Changeling. This movie is so stupid, I turned it off half way through. It's poorly acted and not in the charming way that so many older movies are either. I would suggest renting it before you buy. I just don't know what other reviewers saw in this.

It Scared Me to Death as a Kid.......2006-12-20

Cookieman's review is perfect, so I don't have anything earth-shattering to include here in my review other than I didn't see this in the movies and felt like I missed a great experience as this is one spooky film, but edited and interrupted by commercials certainly dulled the impact this film could have had on me. It is truly terrifying in it's atmospheric direction.

This is a slow, but very disturbing film and the joy is the unfolding of the tale. The slowness can be annoying, but it's worth it as it was with the equally slow Nicole Kidman film The Others. Zohar Lampert is a very talented actress who shamefully never made it as big in Hollywood as she should have. I've loved her in everything I have ever seen her in. She has a graceful beauty to her and a wonderful speaking voice that has a soft by determined quality to it.

If you like slow, but involving films that are open to interpretation and are heavy with atmoshere and looks, then this film is for you.

Average customer rating:

Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips.
An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come...
loved it
Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!
This is a very good movie

Open Your Eyes
Starring: Carola Angulo (II) , Gérard Barray , Joserra Cadiñanos , Penélope Cruz , and Ion Gabella
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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Vanilla Sky
Belle Epoque
The Sea Inside
Woman on Top
Amores Perros

ASIN: B00005LZOD
Release Date: 2001-08-21

Amazon.com

Imagine if an actor's director like Eric Rohmer--whose films consist almost entirely of conversation between pairs or small groups of people--made a film that incorporated elements from movies like Dark City, eXistenZ, The Thirteenth Floor, The Truman Show, and Total Recall. The result might resemble Alejandro Amenabar's remarkable second feature, Open Your Eyes, which favors ideas over effects and offers twist upon twist with mind-warping agility. This film rewards multiple viewings, pushing the viewer toward one perception of reality, then switching to another until reality itself is called into question. Melodrama, love story, and psychological thriller combine with a dash of science fiction, forming a plot that is both disorienting and deceptively precise.

Set in Madrid, the story defies description, but this much can be revealed: young, handsome Cesar (Eduardo Noriega) is vain, rich, charming, and--following a botched suicide-murder scheme by a jilted lover--horribly disfigured. He'd fallen in love with Sofia (Penélope Cruz) but is now an embittered husk of his former self, stuck in a "psychiatric penitentiary" on a murder charge and hiding behind an expressionless mask. His reality has crumbled, but as the film's agenda is gradually revealed, we realize that there are other factors in play. Exposing that agenda would be a criminal offense against those who haven't seen the film; suffice it to say that Open Your Eyes takes you into the twilight zone and beyond, and does so cleverly enough to prompt Tom Cruise to produce and star in an English-language remake, Vanilla Sky. The 2001 remake, directed by Cameron Crowe, costars Cameron Diaz and Penélope Cruz, who reprises her original role. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Okay, so I'm the one guy who didn't think it was all that and a bag of chips........2006-12-21

Abre los Ojos (Alejandro Amenabar, 1997)

Okay, I have to say this first: Eduardo Noriega is the male lead in the new Brad Anderson movie Trans-Siberian. I don't need to know anything else, because Brad Anderson is about as close to being a god as movie directors get. If Anderson thinks Eduardo Noriega is the goods, then Eduardo Noriega is the goods.

He's also the star of the much-talked-about Alejandro Amenabar film Abre los Ojos, which everyone and his mother complained was desecrated when remade in America as Vanilla Sky a few years ago. And while I can't find anything wrong with slagging a Tom Cruise flick, I'm not terribly sure why this movie is being held up as the gold standard. Maybe it's a relativity thing; I have (to the value of my sanity, according to friends) managed to avoid seeing Vanilla Sky.

In any case, the plot: Cesar (Noriega, who, did I mention, is in the new Brad Anderson movie?) is an arrogant, handsome womanizer who meets the woman of his dreams, Sofia (Penelope Cruz). Problem is, the girl he jilted for Sofia, Nuria (Before Night Falls' Najwa Nimri), isn't too happy with the arrangement. While offering him a lift home, she commits suicide by crashing her car, an accident that leaves handsome Cesar horribly disfigured.

Now, intercut with all this are scenes of Cesar being interviewed by a doctor, so we know there's a lot more to this story than we're being let in on. And that's all well and good, except that the movie keeps raising two questions for each one it answers. At that rate, you're going to be left with a whole lot of unanswered questions when the movie ends. And that's exactly what we get. It's not so much that the film is ambiguous, which it is, but it's that the ambiguousness of the ending is the part about which we can feel we have the clearest grasp on. There's an "as you know, Bob" character at the end to explain everything, but Amenabar has given us a very strong feeling throughout his tenure in the film that the guy is, quite simply, lying his tuckus off. And where does that leave us? (Knowing nothing but our interpretation of the ambiguous ending, of course.)

What we do get is some rather fine shots of Penelope Cruz showing a lot more skin than we've seen from her before, a handful of really good performances (including Noriega's), and a mystery that, were it to come to any sort of conclusion, would be a cracker. Now, I'll be the first to admit that it's entirely possible I missed some small detail that makes the whole thing make perfect sense, but until someone points it out to me, 'm still wondering what it is about this movie (aside, of course, from Penelope Cruz naked) that gets peoples' juices up.

And did I mention that Eduardo Noriega is in the new Brad Anderson flick? ** ½

An Experience that will Stay With You For Some Time To Come..........2006-10-02

Abre Los Ojos came to my attention after seeying it's American Remake, Vanilla Sky. Vanilla Sky had amazed me and had been spinning in my mind for a long time after I had seen it. Then I found this dvd of the original, and bought it here on Amazon.
When it arrived I immidiately watched it, ready to be pulled into that world which Vanilla Sky had pulled me in about a year ealier. Only this time, this movie stunned me even more than Vanilla Sky did, it captured me, moved me and gave the world of dreaming and love a totally different perspective than it gave me when I watched Vanilla Sky.
The reason?
The original is simply more powerfull than it's remake.

Abre Los Ojos is one of those movies that is everlasting. It is a tense thriller, a beautiful love story, an emotional drama, a big mystery and can even be placed under the catagory Horror at some moments.
The story is the most original and one of the most powerfull stories I've ever seen. It's complex, it's tempting, it's confusesing, it's powerful... It's everything that makes a story worthwhile and is absolutely something to remember and think back to.
The cast is fantastic. Penelope Cruz plays the exact same role that she plays in Vanilla Sky. The thing that makes her better in this one than the remake is that she has no problem pronouncing her scentences. Spanish is her motherlanguage, the language she was raised with and the language she can pronouce with pure pasion and fantastic acting. She also did a fantastic job in Vanilla Sky, don't get me wrong, but here you can feel her emotions fluently and she gives her absolute best and in Vanilla Sky you can't really feel that even though she acts absolutely great in that movie.
The leading role is for Eduardo Noriega, an actor that is absolutely convincing and realistic for the part he plays. He was a great casting choice and gives his very best. The thing that makes him believable is that you will feel for his character during the movie. He portrais his character in such a way that is only said in one word: powerful.

The other aspects of the movie: the setdesign, the locations, the lighting, the music, the cameramovements, the editing, the atmosphere and everything else is all maqnificent and leaves a powerfull impression. It helpes the story live and feel real to the audience.
Everything has been taken care of to make every small detail look stunning which helps you even more with falling in love with this movie.
Don't you worry about the language (the whole movie is spoken in Spanish), cause when you are into this movie you won't even notice that you are still reading the subtitles.

My only left advice to you is: Watch Abre Los Ojos first, and after that Vanilla Sky. I did it in the other direction and all I can say is that I think it's a pitty that I did so. So don't make the same mistake that I did and watch Abre Los Ojos first! You will understand what I mean when you will watch Vanilla Sky secondly.

So open your eyes and be moved by this absolute masterpiece of filmmaking. Yes people, this is what the movies are all about!
WOW, what a film!

loved it.......2006-08-28

This film, which in my opinion is way better than Vanilla Sky, flat-out spreads important questions to the viewer. the most important being: how far are you willing to go, how much of your life will you allow beauty to control?

Ridiculous ending, not worth watching!.......2006-08-10

This movie was captivating and interesting for the first 3/4ths of it. It is a psychological thriller/mystery and you obviously want to find out the big explanation at the end that resolves all your questions. Well, the ending was so incredibly far-fetched and crazy that I can't believe that anyone who read the WHOLE script actually wanted to work on this movie. It ends up being a stupid "sci-fi" type ending. So, if you want to get all into a movie, only to have them resolve it with the most ridiculous scenario possible, buy this one!! ....or....DON'T.

This is a very good movie.......2006-08-05

I got this movie so that I will continue to improve on my Spainish. I am thrilled to find such good movie in the process. I have seen Vanillia Sky, but this is so much better, in some way much more original. The performances...what can I say, I stayed glued to the television until the end.

Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Ruby In the Smoke (Masterpiece Theatre)

Average customer rating:

The smoke's a little thick...

Sally Lockhart Mysteries - Ruby In the Smoke (Masterpiece Theatre)
Starring: Billie Piper , Matt Smith (XXXII) , Sian Thomas , Kay Lyon , and Robert Putt
Director: Brian Percival
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
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The Last Detective - Series 3
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ASIN: B000NIBUP8
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Description

Fearless young Sally Lockhart (Billie Piper, Doctor Who) has a mind for numbers and for sleuthing, and in Phillip Pullman's quartet of novels, set in Victorian London, she is put through the paces of melodrama and mystery. In this vivid adaptation of the first book in the series, recently orphaned Sally Lockhart, armed with a pearl-handled pistol and her keen mind, uncovers the secrets of her father's death aboard the sunken schooner Lavinia, discovers hidden cursed jewels, and faces England's deadliest villains with bold courage. Sally's friends, the street-smart Jim and besotted photographer Frederick, help her expose the truth - no matter how dangerous. Sally navigates through the constantly twisting plots with the savvy dexterity of a sharp-eyed detective.

Customer Reviews:

The smoke's a little thick..........2007-06-14

This show, based on the first in a series of books, seems a little like the start to a series itself. It's rushed, awkward, with little character development and less real emotion. The evil old woman is the best of a bad lot, as far as characters go; at least she gets to play with her false teeth. Billie Piper is a terrific actress but she's all wrong for this part. I really wasn't thrilled. I'll stick with Dr. Who and Jayne Eyre, thanks...

Average customer rating:

huffman again
GREAT SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!
MR. AND MRS. MACY'S PARADE
Long, Boring
Great Character Study

Reversible Errors
Starring: William H. Macy , Tom Selleck , Monica Potter , Felicity Huffman , and James Rebhorn
Director: Mike Robe
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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ASIN: B0002S94C0
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Product Description

William H. Macy and Tom Selleck star in this new four-hour miniseries, based on Scott Turow s best-selling novel. The suspense drama revolves around Arthur Raven (Macy), a successful corporate lawyer, whose world is turned upside down when he is assigned to draft the final appeal of a potentially innocent inmate nearing his execution date.

System Requirements:

Running Time 173 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Based on the bestselling novel by Scott Turow (Presumed Innocent), Reversible Errors presents a first-rate cast in a penetrating look at the death penalty. The made-for-TV movie begins in 1991 when small-time thief Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph (Glen Plummer) is convicted of triple homicide and sentenced to death. Larry Starczek (Tom Selleck), the detective on the case, also happens to be involved with prosecuting attorney Muriel Wynn (Monica Potter). Seven years later, he's still single, she's married, and her old colleague, attorney Arthur Raven (William H. Macy), is assigned to Gandolph's final appeal. Former judge Gillian Sullivan (Felicity Huffman), who presided over Gandolph's trial (and has since done time for bribery) becomes his unlikely ally. The Emmy-winning Selleck (Magnum P.I.) is in typically fine form, but real-life couple Macy and Huffman steal the show by virtue of the greater complexity of--and chemistry between--their flawed, but noble characters. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

huffman again.......2007-06-30

Huffman shines in a star turn about the death penalty. republicans will not like this movie because they will have to THINK, Peo-ple!!! Huffman is brilliant acting as her character in this. SOme people may wish she was better looking in the face as she is kind of frumpy, but she isn't Julia Roberts and doesn't want to be!!!

GREAT SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2005-10-12

DVD arrived promptly, as described, well packaged. I would gladly buy from again!!

MR. AND MRS. MACY'S PARADE.......2005-02-24

This well done adaptation of Scott Turow's novel is a made for tv miniseries, and features an outstanding cast in a complex, but riveting story. William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman (Mrs. Macy) get the acting honors, as their characters are more fleshed out and flawed, and their performances are wonderfully controlled and executed. Not to take anything away from the other actors: Tom Selleck as the cop whose devotion to his ex-lover makes him break the law; Monica Potter as the up and coming attorney who looks like she's going to be the city's next prosecuting attorney; James Rebhorn as the security cop whose dying secret gives the plot a strange twist; Glenn Plummer as the halfwitted Squirrel who confesses to a triple murder; Shemar Moore as the loudmouthed con who finds Jesus and has his own little secrets. Since this is a tv miniseries, the pacing does slow down some times and handicaps the movie's suspense, but overall it's an entertaining, well done film buoyed by the star turns of the Macys.

Long, Boring.......2005-01-17

This was so long and drawn out. It took over 3 hours for this film to lay out what any crime show could have done on TV in an hour, including all the commercials. There were so many scenes that just went ON and ON - that's what they make DVDs for: to cut out long useless scenes to add to the "deleted scenes" special edition, so people who actually liked the movie can watch more of it, haha. acting wasn't even very good and not always very believable. just CHEESY. save yourselves 3 hours of your life.

also, i have no idea why one reviewer thought there was no sex. though it really wasn't as violent as most movies, still it's no family movie.

Great Character Study.......2004-12-30

I enjoyed this film. It's probably Tom Selleck's best role and Shamar Moore did his character justice as well. Once I saw the ending I replayed the entire DVD to go back and catch things the second time. Knowing what motivated the prinicpal characters made it even more enjoyable the second time through. This was a great film and it shows that a thriller can be great without the sex and extreme violence.

Average customer rating:

Good but boring
very emotional, driven by great performances...
Drawn into the Mystic
Much Ado about nothing
Almost Great

Mystic River (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Sean Penn , Tim Robbins , Kevin Bacon , Laurence Fishburne , and Marcia Gay Harden
Director: Clint Eastwood
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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Million Dollar Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
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ASIN: B0001ZX0OM
Release Date: 2004-06-08

Amazon.com

Description

Drama. Mystic River tells the story of three men whose dark, interwoven history forces them to come to terms with a brutal murder on the mean streets of Boston.

Customer Reviews:

Good but boring.......2007-07-01

very emotional, driven by great performances..........2007-06-09

Drawn into the Mystic.......2007-04-06

Much Ado about nothing.......2007-04-01

Almost Great.......2007-02-18

Average customer rating:

"Once you pull the trigger you can't turn back!"
The Funeral
Amazing, but only a few will understand it.
Great Film

The Funeral
Starring: Benicio Del Toro , Chris Penn , Isabella Rossellini , Annabella Sciorra , and John Ventimiglia
Director: Abel Ferrara
Manufacturer: Platinum Disc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bad Lieutenant
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ASIN: B000AGTPTG
Release Date: 2005-08-09

Customer Reviews:

"Once you pull the trigger you can't turn back!".......2007-06-15

This film is not THE GODFATHER; it is not MYSTIC RIVER; it is not GOODFELLAS; it is not THE DEPARTED. This is THE FUNERAL!!! I simply will not lump this film into a category that defines this as another "gangster movie."

Director Abel Ferrara (BAD LIEUTENANTS) has crafted a tense and unflinching psychological look at three Italian brothers in the politically/crime charged 1930's who have been scarred by the violence into which they have been plummeted from their earliest childhood. The film carefully examines the deep contradictions of religion, family,morality and fidelity that combat the souls of those who "inherit" the criminal world as their family legacy. Unlike so many "Italian gangster movies", THE FUNERAL has incredible heart and soul. These characters are "trapped" in a world that causes such vaccilation of emotion that no matter how they might try to change they simply cannot.

Yes..this film is full of bloody violence, sex and explosive rage, but Abel Ferrara asks us to understand WHY these brothers and their companions act the way they do.Ferrara wants us to examine these men and their women who fall for and fear them. We are also forced to examine the continued place that Roman Catholicism and it's teachings had as a foundation for life and thought of these people.

As a rule, I simply do not care for mob/violent films. I must say,though, that THE FUNERAL is completely unique. The script is intelligent in that instead of senseless and gratuitous violence, we are asked to think about the causes, motivations and devastating consequences of violence when it is passed down from generation to generation.

One special note about the acting: CHRIS PENN is downright frightening as middle brother Chez.

The ending was a positive shocker!!!

The Funeral.......2007-01-12

If you like movies about the mob you'll probably enjoy this movie. It's very interesting. At times it's sad, at other times wonderful, and yet other times, it's almost disgusting. It shows human beings and family members at their best, and worst, when they care, and when they don't. The ending, both shocked and disturbed me. I would recommend this movie.

Amazing, but only a few will understand it........2006-06-10

Well its not your typical mob film, it does not contain alot of tough guy bravado, nor does it have that element of comedy most mob films have, No its a realistic modern morality tale from the brilliant and underrated Director Abel Ferra. Here just like Bad lieutenant and King of New York he displays a hard crime story with religious morality thrown in for good measure,its really sad that this brilliant trilogy of films will never get the credit there due since lets face these excellent movies ( The Funeral my favorite) are the type of films mainstream society just cannot accept, why? because no one cares about originality anymore they want all flash and no substance overrated actors and actresses who could not act to save there lives, and pathetic remakes. Is that a fair assesment of all people in todays modern day society? perhaps but there is still a strong minority who demand something more from films, the basics of originality, a good plot, and actors and actresses who give a damm. Plain and simple Abel Ferrera and his films are a blessing in todays world since there is to much crap that is in todays theaters, and while there are his critics about him and his complicated films lets just say they should look closer at Abel Ferreras works of art and this brilliant crime trilogy of King of New York, Bad Liutenant, and The Funeral, should be viewed by all and if you don't understand or somehow are bored LOOK CLOSER.

Great Film .......2006-04-15

Really great film that focuses on the psychological underpinnings of mobsters. The whole thing surrounds the funeral of a mob boss's son and questions the various moral dimensions involved in the life of mobsters; religion, family, loyalty, and revenge to name a few. Also it provides a poignant view of women and their various roles in the mob family. Great companion to the Godfather movies and it has a terrific cast!

Average customer rating:

A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau
The Bride Wore Black (1968) - Francois Truffaut
An entertaining murder melodrama!
An excellent, original movie
Truffault and Moreau: Who Could Ask for Anything More

The Bride Wore Black
Starring: Jeanne Moreau , Michel Bouquet , Jean-Claude Brialy , Charles Denner , and Claude Rich
Director: François Truffaut
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000053VBL
Release Date: 1999-09-07

Amazon.com essential video

François Truffaut's 1968 thriller was an attempt to reconcile the exclusive experience of the Hitchcockian hero with the expansiveness of Jean Renoir's view of flawed humanity. Jeanne Moreau stars as a newlywed whose husband is shot dead on the church steps following their wedding. The story then follows her systematic and relentless efforts to track down the men who were involved in the killing, murdering each one with a creative efficiency that Truffaut does not mean for us to take too seriously. The film's real point is the interesting tension between the audience's growing knowledge about and sympathy toward the guilty fellows, who really are rather ordinary people, and the narrative hook concerning the heroine's reinvention into a figure of insulated emotion and revenge. (Moreau's character resembles nothing so much as the pathological but vulnerable title character of Hitchcock's Marnie.) The Bride Wore Black (based on a novel by Cornell Woolrich) is not meant to be taken as an object lesson in irony, however. In the finest and most entertaining tradition of Hollywood movies (certainly most of Hitchcock's movies), one can watch Truffaut's film without giving a thought to anything other than its own smooth movement. Take a step back, however, and there are riches to be explored. --Tom Keogh

Description

An engrossing, enigmatic tale of passion and revenge, this 1969 Golden GlobeÂ(r) nominee* from FranÃ§ois Truffaut and co-writer Jean Louis Richard is "cool, witty and disturbingly heartless" (Saturday Review). The bewitching Jeanne Moreau is "simultaneously stunning, chilling and altogether remarkable" (Boxoffice) as a woman who will stop at nothing to avenge her husband's death! Julie (Moreau), a beautiful young bride, has just married her childhood sweatheart and love of her life. But just moments after the ceremony, her beloved is murdered on the steps of thechurch. Emotionally distraught, Julie becomes obsessed with her bridegroom's death and begins a descent into madness as she relentlessly pursues the men responsible. One by one, Julie sees to their demise, and, with each murder more bone chilling and diabolically clever than the last, the question is not who will be next--but rather how they will meet their ghastly end. *Foreign Language Film

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful Hitchcockian black comedy of murder and revenge by Truffaut, starring Jeanne Moreau.......2006-12-04

Truffaut said The Bride Wore Black was his homage to Hitchcock. A great homage it is, with that Bernard Herrmann score, murderous psychological ambiguity, bad things happening on warm, sunlit days and a complex -- and looney -- main character. Think of it as a black comedy with enough riffs on Vertigo to smile at. Just as importantly, while the film may be Truffaut's homage to Hitchcock, the film remains completely Truffaut's. It's one of his best, and features a wonderful performance by Jeanne Moreau as a woman whose husband is shot and killed as they're standing on the church steps just after they've been married. After recovering from the shock, depression and a suicide attempt, Julie Kohler decides to do something about the five men responsible. If you are unfortunate enough to hear the whispered words, "Je suis Julie Kohler," they will be the last words you'll ever hear.

Julie methodically checks off the names on her list as she finds ways to see that her version of justice is done. She may be obsessed, but she knows exactly what she's doing...and she is implacable. Jeanne Moreau, with those plump, downward-turning lips and puffy smoker's eyes, has never been better. Moreau is an extraordinary actress. She had features that at times could seem almost coarse, but then almost beautiful and certainly desirable. She had a strange fusion of intelligence which challenged and a vastly intriguing nature. I could easily picture her watching Casanova with those reserved, quiet eyes while he struggled to mumble self-consciously, "I love you." Moreau can do more with a stare, a look, a glance than just about any actress I know.

As much as the movie is a joy to watch, the last five minutes has a conclusion that is unexpected and completely satisfying. I think even Hitchcock would have had a smile on his face as he patted Truffaut on the back.

The Bride Wore Black has a fine DVD transfer. It is not anamorphic. There are no extras of any importance. Let's hope it gets reissued not only anamorphic, but with the substantial extras on Truffaut and Moreau the film deserves. For those fans of Truffaut and Hitchcock, you may find of interest Hitchcock (Revised Edition) by Helen G. Scott and Francois Truffaut. The book covers the lengthy interviews Truffaut had with Hitchcock as they discussed Hitchcock's work and each of his films.

The Bride Wore Black (1968) - Francois Truffaut.......2005-10-14

The Bride Wore Black is yet another average film by the always irregular French director Francois Truffaut. Truffaut is such a talented director that it's a shame he never quite found his place before his untimely death. Barrowing elements from Hitchcock, and mixing it with some oddly placed comedy, The Bride Wore Black is a mishmash of cruelty and farse that never comes together to form anything coherent. Visually the film is good, and the music is nice and fitting, but none of these elements saves the ridiculous story from veering off in too many different directions. The Bride Wore Black is ultimately a film that doesn't know what it wants to be, just as Truffaut never quite found what type of films he wanted to make.

An entertaining murder melodrama!.......2005-10-09

Dedicated to Hitchcock, whom Truffaut admired so much, it tells us the sordid revenge of a suddenly when leaving behind the church minutes ago, his husband is shot by three men. He will assume the role of Fair Agent even she has to be in jail in order to come to the last act.
Jeanne Moreau as always was magnificent and the rest of the cast too.

An excellent, original movie.......2005-10-05

"The Bride Wore Black" is not your typical French film. It keeps your attention throughout the whole film. I have never come across something quite like it.

The film is centered around a woman, who is seeking to kill five men. When the film commences, you have no idea exactly why she is doing this. Through her clever tactics, she manages to kill them all.

As the film progresses you understand each piece of the puzzle, and by the end, the puzzle fits together, and you learn exactly why the film is called "The Bride Wore Black" and why she needed to get her revenge.

Truffault and Moreau: Who Could Ask for Anything More.......2005-09-08

Truffault brilliantly brought to the screen Cornell Woolrich's outstandingly paranoiac thriller, The Bride Wore Black. And who but Moreau could have played the role of the relentless avenger who finds so many inventive modes to destroy those who killed her husband. On the church steps! I like Truffault's ending better than the novel's contrived ironic one. The novel, though fine, lacks the melancholic and weirdly comic quality of the film. It is a film that puts one in the uncomfortable position of rooting for its murderous heroine though one of her muders is especially distressing to both her and us because the victim is endearing. But see for yourself.

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