City Lights (2 Disc Special Edition)

Starring:Jack Alexander (III), Henry Bergman, Betty Blair, Charles Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Al Ernest Garcia, Mrs. Garcia, Joseph Herrick, A.B. Lane, Florence Lee, Hank Mann, Eddie McAuliffe, Harry Myers, Margaret Oliver, Mrs. Pope, John Rand, Cy Slocum, Mark Strong, Tiny Ward, Florence Wix
Director: Charles Chaplin
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

City Lights is a film to pick for the time capsule, a film that best represents the many aspects of director-writer-star Charlie Chaplin at the peak of his powers: Chaplin the actor, the sentimentalist, the knockabout clown, the ballet dancer, the athlete, the lover, the tragedian, the fool. It's all contained in Chaplin's simple story of a tramp who falls in love with a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill). Chaplin elevates the Victorian contrivances of the plot to something glorious with his inventive use of pantomime and his sure grasp of how the Tramp relates to the audience. In 1931, it was a gamble for Chaplin to stick with silence after talking pictures had killed off the art form that had made him famous, but audiences flocked to City Lights anyway. (Chaplin would not make his first full talking picture until 1940's The Great Dictator.) After all the superb comic sequences, the film culminates with one of the most moving scenes in the history of cinema, a luminous and heartbreaking fade-out that lifts the picture onto another plane. (Woody Allen paid homage to the scene at the end of Manhattan.) This is why the term "Chaplinesque" became a part of the language. --Robert Horton

Description

Talkies were well entrenched when Charles Chaplin swam against the filmmaking tide with this forever classic that's silent except for music and sound effects. The story, involving the Tramp's attempts to get money for an operation that will restore sight to a blind flower girl, provides the star with an ideal framework for sentiment and laughs. The Tramp is variously a street sweeper, a boxer, a rich poseur, and a rescuer of a suicidal millionaire. His message is unspoken, but universally understood: love is blind

Customer Reviews:

City Lights.......2007-06-20

A silent released when the talkie sensation was in full bloom, Chaplin's "City Lights" still swept the box office by storm. Produced, directed, edited, and scored by Chaplin himself, "City Lights" melds the sweet, harmlessly buffoonish antics of Chaplin's Little Tramp persona with a larger theme of humanistic social concern. As always, the comic sequences are exquisitely orchestrated, particularly a hilarious boxing match with Hank Mann, as a muscled pugilist. But the real highlight is that eye-opening final scene with Cherrill where Chaplin betrays a touch of something closer to angelic poignancy.

a beacon in the wilderness.......2007-06-11

this is my favorite chaplin movie, both hilariously funny and tenderly moving, as charlot gives his all to help the young blind girl, and then feels he must disappear once she regains her sight so she will not know who her benefactor is. i defy you not to guffaw during the prize fight, and i defy you not to weep at the denouement. plain & simple, a beautiful movie.

Chaplin's Greatest Movie.......2007-04-19

The crowning achievement from Hollywood's first legendary movie star, Charlie Chaplin in his 1931 masterpiece "City Lights" The inspiring and touching story a little tramp who is determined to help a beautiful blind girl with money, in which they have fallen for each other. One of the greatest American films of all time, Chaplin's best, a touching, funny & remarkable masterpiece. If you're Chaplin fan then this is the most must see film or for anyone who loves classic movies.

The Little Tramp perseveres.......2007-01-04

Charlie Chaplin is unparalleled to his abiltiy to pantomime, evoking a whole gamut of emotions playing the kind hearted Little Tramp in "City Lights". Chaplin went way out on a limb producing, directing, writing and composing the music for this 1931 silent film when talkies were the rage of Hollywood.

The crux of the story revolves around the infatuation by the Little Tramp for a blind flower girl played by Virginia Cherrill who he met as he traipsed around the city. In his sojourns Chaplin also met a suicidal schizophrenic millionaire bent on drowning himself in the river, played by Harry Myers, who he convinced to keep a stiff upper lip and work through his difficulties. Myers took Chaplin into his home, lavished him with anything he wished so long as he was tipsy. When he sobered, however, his attitude changed and he spurned the Little Tramp. This kept on happening a number of times throughout the film.

Meanwhile Chaplin tried to do anything to earn money to help the blind girl out of her monetary difficulties, comically working as a sanitation worker, and a boxer. He finally was able to coax $1000 from the millionaire while he was on a bender. He used the funds to pay the appreciative blind girl's debts and for an operation to restore her vision.

"City Lights" was a representation of the tough times of the Great Depression and Chaplin in his film proficiently evoked a feeling of hope for the possibility of better times in the future.

"Can you see now?" .......2007-01-01

Charlie Chaplin's "City Lights" is the silent star's most poignant film. The laughs are in abundant supply but it is the tender closing moments of this film that makes it special.

While strolling about town one night, the Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) saves a millionaire (Harry Myers) from drowning. To show his gratitude, the wealthy man befriends his rescuer and the two of them find themselves mixed up in a series of misunderstandings. The Tramp also finds himself doing everything he can to aid a blind flower girl (Virginia Cherrill) that he has become smitten with. Of especially high priority is securing the money she needs for an operation that will restore her sight.

Even though "City Lights" is a silent film, it actually does a better job of telling its story than most modern films. It accomplishes the single most important objective of narrative film - tell a good story and tell it well. "City Lights" succeeds admirably in this task and essentially serves as an example of cinema in its purest form. It is not characterized by pretentiousness, a bloated production design, overdone special effects, or unnecessary complications in the plot. Simply put, "City Lights" is an example of storytelling done with care and with a lot of heart.

The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 2 (City Lights / The Circus / The Kid / A King in New York / A Woman of Paris / Monsieur Verdoux / The Chaplin Revue / Charlie - The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin)

Average customer rating:

Don't expect the box to last...
Superb and very entertaining
The true comedy collection
Films to Enjoy
Very good, with few complaints

The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 2 (City Lights / The Circus / The Kid / A King in New York / A Woman of Paris / Monsieur Verdoux / The Chaplin Revue / Charlie - The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin)
Starring: Charles Chaplin , and Charlie Chaplin
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Chaplin Collection, Vol. 1 (Modern Times / The Great Dictator / The Gold Rush / Limelight)
The Art of Buster Keaton (The General / Sherlock, Jr. / Our Hospitality / The Navigator / Steamboat Bill Jr. / College / Three Ages / Battling Butler / Go West / The Saphead / Seven Chances / 21 Short Films)
Chaplin Mutual Comedies - Restored Edition
Unknown Chaplin: The Master at Work
Buster Keaton Collection (The Cameraman / Spite Marriage / Free & Easy)

ASIN: B00017LVRI
Release Date: 2004-03-09

Amazon.com

The second magnificent collection of Charlie Chaplin's work is even more stuffed with goodies than the first: six feature films, a round-up of two-reelers, and a new documentary, plus a cornucopia of deleted scenes and context. Each feature is accompanied by a half-hour "Chaplin Today" featurette, in which a filmmaker comments from a 21st-century perspective. Claude Chabrol extols the wicked virtues of Monsieur Verdoux and calls Chaplin "a thoroughly modern director," while Jim Jarmusch speaks gallantly on the political satire of the problematic A King in New York.

The Kid (1921), Chaplin's first feature, relates directly to Chaplin's own hard upbringing. The Tramp adopts a street kid (Jackie Coogan), in a seamless blend of slapstick and sentiment. For A Woman of Paris (1923), Chaplin experimented: straight, adult melodrama, with no Charlie onscreen (save for a brief cameo). 1927's The Circus is prized by many Chaplin critics as pure sublime comedy, less burdened by sentiment or politics than subsequent films. City Lights (1931) is an undisputed masterpiece; the Tramp befriends a blind girl, leading to one of the great bittersweet endings in film history. (Among the extras: a priceless seven-minute deleted scene involving little more than Chaplin and a piece of wood stuck in a grate.) With Monsieur Verdoux (1947), Chaplin turned his back on the Tramp and invented an elegant lady killer (literally); audiences disapproved, but the film stands as a fascinating essay on himself. Finally, after his exile from the United States, Chaplin made A King in New York (1957), which is mostly flat, except as autobiography.

The Chaplin Revue gathers six essential short works, from the superb A Dog's Life (1918) to his last two-reeler, The Pilgrim. A separate disc contains film critic Richard Schickel's comprehensive documentary Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin, which does nicely by Chaplin's life and his working process, with keen comments from admirers such as Woody Allen and Johnny Depp. This box set is more than film history; it's a living treasure. --Robert Horton

Description

The wonder. The magic. The genius. Now for an encore presentation with stunning new restorations, all-new special features and more. The Richard Schickel documentary, "Charlie" available exclusively in this Chaplin Giftset. THE CIRCUS The Little Tramp accidentally becomes a big-top star in the comedy that earned Chaplin a special Academy Award?. CITY LIGHTS A forever classic - and an American Film Institute Top-100 Movie. The Tramp becomes a working man, saving money for an operation that will restore a blind flower girl's sight. THE KID The Tramp and his ragamuffin sidekick (6-year-old Jackie Coogan) triumph over life's hard knocks in the landmark film that changed the notion of what a screen comedy could be. A KING IN NEW YORK/A WOMAN OF PARIS Chaplin jabs at social conventions! U.S. pop culture is the target of his satiric A King in New York. And the whirl of French high society frames director Chaplin's tragic love story A Woman of Paris.

MONSIEUR VERDOUX Killer comedy! Chaplin turns his sunny nature inside out to play a roving gent who wins the love and bank accounts of spinsters, then murders the hapless biddies.

Customer Reviews:

Don't expect the box to last..........2007-04-03

When my copy of this set arrived, I found that the set's box (with Chaplin on the cover) was just a little too big for the set itself - maybe an eighth of an inch extra space, so when the whole package got tightly shrinkwrapped, the excess space and the tip of one corner were crushed to fit around the DVDs. Not a huge deal, but it means that the box, already somewhat flimsy for the number of DVDs it houses, lost some of its structual integrity, and now doesn't support itself so well; once you take a couple of the DVDs out, it quickly loses its right angles -- the ramshackle rhombus effect. So I sent it back, and the replacement has just arrived...with the exact same problem. Of course, while Amazon makes it ever so easy to "Leave Seller Feedback" for any of its thousands of Amazon Marketplace affiliates, there is one seller for which they do not allow this option: Amazon itself. Anyway, I'm sure it's a great set, and the defect in question is minor, but it's always a little disappointing when you look forward to a new purchase, then find that it is just a tiny bit damaged before you even unwrap it. I have had this experience twice now, and I guess I'll just give up, and try not to look at what could have been a fairly handsome box. But when you get yours, set the box on a table with the DVD spines lined up in front of you, and have a look at the lower right-hand corner of the box. Hopefully, you *won't* see what I mean. But if you do, you'll find that this box would have been just perfect if the set had included one more, thin DVD.

Superb and very entertaining.......2007-01-19

Excellent variety of Chaplin movies that are worth many viewings and well-worth the price of the collection. Good quality DVD's of very old films. Monsieur Verdoux, a rare Chaplin "talkie", is dated in plot structure and appeal and includes several scenes of stilted acting (Chaplin is actually a better actor than the others in the cast). Although not of the caliber of the silent films, it makes an interesting addition to the masterpieces, if you are studying Chaplin's works and it is fascinating to hear Chaplin's voice. His physical comedy is artful, masterful, highly acrobatic, perfectly timed, surprising, and hilarious; it has not been surpassed in 80-plus years.

The true comedy collection.......2006-12-15

This wonderful boxed set completes the chaplin collection, this in my view is the better chaplin collection it includes such classics as city lights, modern times, the great dictator, and many more classics.my advice to the other chaplin fans is go out and buy the chaplin collection 1&2 before there all sold out.

Films to Enjoy.......2006-08-15

The fine Humor and art creativity found in this treasure films are incomparable. It's worth the price.

Very good, with few complaints.......2006-08-05

Once again, as with Volume 1, the main pieces of this box are first class, simply great quality reissues of Chaplins greatest (and less great) films. It's the other pieces that leave cause me to scratch my head.

So, let's start with what is good.

We have here some of Chaplin's finest silent work, including my favorite, The Circus. The films are expertly restored and projected at a speed which is about as close to the subjective "correct speed" as possible. The soundtracks are well restored, and there are plenty of cut scenes, outtakes and home movies to go along with the original films.

A couple of films are notoriously weak, and one just has to look at the box to figure out which ones those are. "Monsieur Verdoux" has only one disc, and "A Woman of Paris" and "A King in New York" actually share a 2 disc set. But these films are essential to completing Chaplin's legacy, and it is good to have them well issued and in as nice a presentation as possible.

There is a 5.1 surround soundtrack, which is really wierd, since these were issued in mono to start with. Why not just colorize the films while you're at it, M2K? (I know, some people just can't watch a film with a mono soundtrack, but this is really excessive.)

The we have the documentary by Richard Schickel, which, which good, is very frustrating. It's great to see brief clips of the Keystone films in excellent quality, but isn't it time to release the ENTIRE collection of Keystones in best-possible quality? WHEN, OH WHEN, WILL THIS HAPPEN!

Some argument could also be made that the short films in this collection could have been better considered. There are several different versions of some of these films, "Shoulder Arms" comes to mind, and it is quite possible that the version sused here are the best pictorial quality, but not the best acting quality. This is a very subjective topic, but I would have liked to see the original "Shoulder Arms" included as well, perhaps the most substantially different of the versions. This is a minor complaint, though.

The "Chaplin Today" documentaries, as in the first box set, are rather pathetic, and self-defeating in their attempts to make Chaplin relevent to today's audiences. If Chaplin wasn't relevent, then nobody would by this box set, and I wouldn't bother writing this review. But he is relevent. Trying to convice people so doesn't work, unfortunately, so we end up with these rather pathetic documentary attempts.

But overall, this is a collection of gems, and complaining about the ancillary pieces of this collection is like complaining about the floor in the room containing the Hope Diamond. It's only the actual films that matter, and they are superb.

Average customer rating:

Riveting
Breathtaking film
In their own words
Only the Devil can delude people that well
"Suicide Killers" Exposes the Rage and Frustration of the Arab World

Suicide Killers
Director: Pierre Rehov
Manufacturer: City Lights Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000NVHWIE
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

Suicide Killers is a trip to the dark side. This is a place where one Palestinian bomber, checking his stock of guns and grenades as he prepares for his next mission, expresses the hope that his three young children will follow in his footsteps, while another says, "I will not regret it if (the target) is a nursery full of kids." Yet these extraordinary statements are only part of the tale told in Pierre Rehov's 80-minute film, which sheds light not only on terrorists but also on the others in their grim orbit. There are Israelis who survived attacks staged by Hamas; parents of bombers, some bewildered by their sons' deeds, others proud of them; and a few voices of reason, such as a Palestinian in Gaza who says, "You can't build a security (sic) life by blood." There are also scenes from a "summer camp" for kids where "martyr training" is conducted, and, most strikingly, multiple interviews with jailed bombers who failed at their appointed rounds, including a couple of women whose serenity, as Rehov puts it, is more disturbing than their desire to fight. Much of this isn't typical fly on the wall documentary stuff, but direct, intimate contact with the terrorists (including one whose cell wall is draped with a giant Minnie Mouse curtain), often featuring extreme close-ups of their eyes. Along the way, there's plenty of speculation about the motives that drive people to blow themselves up in the hope that they'll take dozens of victims, if not more, with them. One pundit suggests it's pure brainwashing, while another dismisses the bombings as a "cynical tactic… for political ends." Others posit the theory that the repressive separation of the sexes in strict Muslim society has so frustrated some men that they're willing to die young in order to reach paradise, where they'll be surrounded by 72 virgins. And, of course, there's virulent anti-Semitism, and hatred of Israel and its "brutal occupation" of Palestinian territory. At times, the terrorists' endless rhetoric comes off as posturing. But then you see the bloody results of their handiwork, and when you hear them proclaim their willingness, eagerness even, to get another chance to kill, you know they're deadly serious. The DVD features include additional scenes, further interviews, and more. --Sam Graham

Description

Literally torn from the headlines: "a Martyr on the Loose"... The viewer is taken on a disturbing journey that few can comprehend - deep into the culture and psychopathology of suicide bombers - this century's latest warfare phenomenon! This feature documentary takes the audience on a disturbing journey deep into a culture that few can comprehend - that of suicide bombers. Filmmaker Pierre Rehov examines the phenomenon of suicide bombers through rare and never-before-seen interviews with actual family members of terrorists, the prisoners whose bombing attempts have been thwarted, and exclusive footage of a terror bomber as he prepares for a mission! This film provides a message of urgency for increasing our understanding of the psychopathological dynamics of these terrorist bombers. We finally gain insight to how these human bombs "tick". The DVD features include US Theatrical Trailer, Additional Scenes, Interactive Educational Tools, Exclusive Interviews with Survivors and Jailed Bombers.

Customer Reviews:

Riveting.......2007-06-08

This documentary examined the psychological, religious, and economic factors that foment suicide killers, both men and women. By interviewing prisoners who had attempted suicide bombings, the director was able to explore their motivations for wanting to take their own lives as well as others. In addition, psychologists, cultural critics, and religious leaders also weighed in. These multiple perspectives helped overthrow the simple explanations and easy assumptions that politicians and journalists sometimes throw around. It was a chilling, yet thought provoking, documentary.

Breathtaking film.......2007-05-16

This was an amazing film that just left me breathless at the end. It gets into the minds of a lot of people who are in one way or another associated with suicide bombing missions, from the actual men and women who have attempted suicide bombing missions and those in training, to their victims, their families, their trainers, even children training for such missions. It is a must see for anyone interested in world politics, regardless of their politics.

For me, the most powerful parts of the film were the interviews with families who were proud of the "martyrs" in their family. To me, it demonstrated the insanity of the idea of suicide missions (not that I really needed that to be reinforced) while also showing the very real human suffering experienced by many of these people.

I'm sure many people will come away from this film with the feeling that we need to redouble our efforts to kill all Muslims before they can become terrorists and, in a way, I can see how they might feel that way, though I strongly and vehemently disagree. The people in this film are very determined and absolutely convinced that what they are doing is good and justified and convincing them otherwise is a very daunting task. However, we need to remember that the majority of Muslims do not think this way (regardless of what many people would lead us to believe) and, indeed, several Muslims and Palestinians interviewed for the film condemn the practice of suicide bombing. For me, the film just reaffirmed for me that we absolutely need to find a better way to address the rift between Muslim cultures and western civilization other than an endless, continuous cycle of violence. As difficult (indeed, seemingly impossible) as it will undoubtedly will be, we need to find a way, as human beings, to create some kind of understanding between our cultures. Otherwise, we will just see more and more violence and it will never end until we cause our own extinction.

Anyway, great film. Go see it or buy it, watch it, share it and discuss it.

In their own words.......2007-05-16

This is a very intimate account of aims and motivations of suicide bombers in their own words. Overall, the producer manages to fade into the background and let the interviewed prisoners express their own belief that lead them to what they do. Still, some freudian nonsense and postmodernist narrative manages to creep in through the opinions of "experts": their guns are the phallic expression of their sexual frustration, the moment of suicide is the orgasmic passage to afterlife, women blow themselves up as a way of feminist revolt. Again and again I kept saying, "Cut the crap and let them talk!".

Also, I noticed some omissions in the English subtitles over Arabic interviews. For examples, one particularly young prisoner talks about his expectation of meeting the past prophets, saints and marrying 70+ virgins after he becomes a martyr. The subtitle omits the prophets and saints. There seems to be many other incorrect translations. One still gets the message, though.

Only the Devil can delude people that well.......2007-05-12

Extraordinary. This documentary really takes you into the living grounds of these people. We are in a search to find the reasons why some Muslims want to die as martyrs killing as many Jews (or infidels) as possible. 80 minutes, plus some short -but good- extras.

Muslims -and especially Palestinian Muslims- should ask themselves if any of their national leaders has followed through with their preaching. Have any of their Mullahs, for that matter, died martyrs as they so fervently encourage others to do? Of course not. They all die in their beds, of old age, and rich as the good capitalists they are. This documentary interviews the very terrorists that failed to die in their blasts, also psychiatrists, Israeli victims, and even some Palestinian who questions the worthiness of this bloody deal they are into. It's comprehensive and riveting. The focus is not so much on the political issue as on the human level. Just how can people, normal people, even decent people, be willing to commit these atrocities? This is what we are trying to understand.

My conclusion is that they have been deceived. They honestly seem to believe that they are doing the right thing, simply because the god they believe in tells them so, and he's got to be right. Thus the devil uses even the most honest and humble people for his evil purposes. The devil, through his radical islamist leaders, has taken good care that their muslim populations stay in poverty. Living in daily anguish, poverty and sexual repression, what are the things life can offer to them? What can they loose? The promise in the Coran of 72 virgins is self-explanatory of why so many young kids want to die quickly and have their dreams come true. Their descriptions of the promised heaven are rather (as one interviewee mentions) more like desciptions of America, discounting the 72 virgins (and maybe even not discounting them). Another explanation that helps us digest this giant delusion is the sadic use of guns as substitute phallic organs, erect and ready. If you are asking how come even young girls and mothers do this, you may get a good idea seeing how gloomy their earthly prospects are. Their lack of equal rights is just an understatement, as you may imagine.

The best remedy for this craziness -aside from the Lord bringing some Light into their heads- is jobs and prosperity, so they would really have something to distract their brainwashed minds with, something not so deathly. Love? Oh, they have love alright. This is one of the illuminating things one learns watching this film: they are not hateful or perverted people, on the contrary, they are easy to love. But they have made a deal with the wrong person, they've sold their souls to the great Liar. May the Lord pour his lifegiving love on all of us, the killers and the victims. "Greater love has no one than this, that to lay down one's life for his friends." 1 John 14:13.

Our greatest commandment is not to kill the infidel, it is "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind," AND "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39. His Word also says: "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you and persecute you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" Matthew 5:44. Who but the Devil would want them to do just the opposite?

"Suicide Killers" Exposes the Rage and Frustration of the Arab World.......2007-05-06

The nihilist interpretation of Islam is centered in the Arab social milieu. "Suicide Killers" allows the adherents of this radical movement to speak for themselves. Many of them are obviously sexually frustrated and existentially unable to deal with the modern era---which is dominated by the values and successes of the hated West. They are losers, but how can this be? Aren't these Muslim men and women God's favorites? If so, have they not been cheated by Jews and other infidels? How can outsiders be more accomplished than the faithful? What explains the logical inconsistences between their faith system and reality? Who is to be blamed for this sad state of affairs?

Many of those interviewed have yet to reach their twentieth birthday. The full grown adults, however, also come across as intellectually shallow, immature, and suffering from low self esteem. It soon becomes clear why it was so easy to entice them to volunteer for a suicide bombing operation. No, they are not mere victims of alleged Western imperialism. Their difficulties far transcend the lazy and incomplete perspective of Marxist ideology. A number of them seem gentle and inoffensive. They don't appear even slightly threatening. I am sure of this: you will not be able to look away from the screen. "Suicide Killers" will demand your full attention. You must see this movie. Order a copy today. You will not be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

Turn out the lights..........
It all went up his nose, and we parted with our cash for this too!
Bright Lights, Big Sh*tty
Bright stars, small gem
Tedious

Bright Lights, Big City
Starring: Michael J. Fox , Kiefer Sutherland , Phoebe Cates , Swoosie Kurtz , and Frances Sternhagen
Director: James Bridges
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: B00009OWJR
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Amazon.com

Michael J. Fox plays the most sympathetic cocaine addict you've ever seen in the movie of Jay McInerney's popular novel Bright Lights, Big City, the book that famously chronicled the coke- and cash-fueled era of the 1980s. Jamie Conway (Fox) works as a fact-checker for a major New York magazine, but because he spends his nights partying with his glib best friend (Kiefer Sutherland), he's on the verge of getting fired. His wife, a fast-rising model (Phoebe Cates), just left him; he's still reeling from the death of his mother (Dianne Wiest) a year earlier; and he's obsessed with a tabloid story about a pregnant woman in a coma. Bright Lights, Big City doesn't have much of a plot, but in its meandering way it captures some of the glossy chaos of the time and of a man desperately trying to escape the pain in his life. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Turn out the lights.................2006-10-30

The only Michael J. Fox film that is worse than "Bright Lights, Big City", is "Light of Day" with co-star Joan Jett. Fox gives a good performance considering, but I would call both of these films "duds". Every actor has to make a few appearances in bad films, to pay their dues, so to speak, to acquire name recognition within the industry. This film was made before Fox's career really starting taking off. He came off running good in "Back to the Future", but "Bright Lights, Big City" was nothing more than a stumbling block to his career, in my humble opinion. This film was not well written, poorly directed, distasefully done. It is boring and the subject matter goes way overboard into the drug scene. I felt it gloried a lot of disgusting things. I was not at all impressed. The acting was good, casting was good, good cinematography, but just a very poor screenplay to begin with, for which there is no resurrection. Not something I would recommend. There are many other movies to choose from that are entertaining, and well done. This is not one of them.

It all went up his nose, and we parted with our cash for this too!.......2006-02-05

Michael J Fox stared in a few movies in the 80s about being a yuppie in New York. While in The Secret of My Success he was a lovable yuppie scum from Kansas, here he is a not so lovable yuppie scum from Kansas who is absorbed in the heady nightlife of cocaine and all that was New York in the 80s. He is in despair, as his job is going downhill, his wife has left him, there are no friends to be found, and it's all falling apart.

It's hard for me to feel sympathy for someone like this. He made choices to live this way. His use of drugs was not the result of abuse, desperation or being forced into doing something he didn't want to do, it was the result of his own choices. His wife left him because she doesn't want to watch him go down. His friends are not really his friends, and he is loosing footing with his job. "What? Me? Get up and go to work? I don't like the way you said that, I'm not going." And the coke straw says "You know you're right." Michael J Fox seems to be someone who has had a lot of advantages in life and he is throwing them away for the next high. I've watched many friends ruin their lives with this, and none of them are my friends anymore because of their choices. I choose to live in happiness, to be in the light, and to be responsible enough to support myself. Guess what? That's cool and they're not.

Why not one star? In terms of a cinematic achievement, they were able to capture the paranoia and upset that is cocain addiction so the audience is able to experience it for themselves. A few movies have been able to achieve this, such as Good Fellas and Boogie Nights, and this movie for that alone has fallen into the slush pile. Michael J Fox had his own addictions he was able to overcome, I wonder what happened to a lot of those people this movie was about from the 80s.

Bright Lights, Big Sh*tty.......2005-09-09

Some people may think it's difficult to watch a movie where the lead spends almost the entire film being a jerk and snorting his paycheck - but stick with this one and you witness Michael J. Fox reaching his (sort of) salvation. The score is outstanding 80's, especially the Donald Fagen version of the title song and the closing number.
Watch for a great cameo by Jason Robards and the painful reward given to Keefer Sutherland.

Bright stars, small gem.......2005-08-08

James Bridges (Urban Cowboy) directs Michael J. Fox (Back To The Future), Phoebe Cates (Fast Times At Ridgemont High), and Keifer Sutherland (The Lost Boys, Stand By Me) in this overlooked 80's movie about a man's struggle with a dark past and the overwhelmingly hysterical cocaine-driven nightlife of New York City.

Fox plays Jamie Conway, a struggling writer and editor in a small time magazine, who has just been dumped by his big shot model wife Amanda and is still mourning the death of his mother from cancer a year ago. He's also concerned with a newspaper article following the tragic events of a pregnant woman in coma simply because it reminds him of the last conversation between him and his dying mother about how painful it was for her to give birth to him because he "didn't want to get out".

The events of the movie pursue Jamie on his manic pursuit of Amanda and the fact that he feels used and terribly upset with the way she left him, and his dreadful shortcomings at work that cost him his job. The main focus of the movie however is how addicted Jamie gets to cocaine and the negative results it has on his health. Keifer Sutherland plays Aligash, a suave businessman who joins Jamie in the crazy nightlife scene and ends up hooking him up with a woman that seems to be what Jamie was looking for for a long time.

Although the movie might seem plotless, it captures a certain vibe that you can't seem to pull away from. It's also very interesting to see Fox play a character that totally defines the complete opposite of what Marty McFly is.

Bright Lights, Big City features cameo appearances by high profile actors like John Houseman, Sam Robards, and Dianne Wiest.

Recommended

B

Tedious.......2005-02-21

Man! They call people today self-absorbed! This movie felt so repetitive (how many times do we need to see the main character bolt for a bathroom stall to get high?) and forced. I ended up leaving it on as background noise while doing better things with my time than continue watching. The only thing powerful about this movie was how powerfully self-important and tedious it was!

Average customer rating:

City Lights
a beacon in the wilderness
Chaplin's Greatest Movie
The Little Tramp perseveres
"Can you see now?"

City Lights
Starring: Jack Alexander (III) , Henry Bergman , Betty Blair , Virginia Cherrill , and Al Ernest Garcia
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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Modern Times (2 Disc Special Edition)
The Gold Rush (2 Disc Special Edition)
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Double Indemnity (Universal Legacy Series)

ASIN: 6305759774
Release Date: 2000-02-08

Amazon.com essential video

Description

With "City Lights," Charlie Chaplin gambled that the power of good storytelling and the appeal of The Little Tramp could overcome any perceived advantages of the captivating but still primitive technology of sound. His gamble paid off as critics and fans alike raved about this touching and simple story of a young blind woman who believes the Little Tramp is a wealthy duke. In a series of comic adventures that only Chaplin could pull off, The Tramp sets out to earn the money that will pay for an operation to restore the young woman's sight. While he succeeds, his efforts land him in jail, but the girl still has a successful operation and yearns to meet her benefactor. The closing scene in which she discovers that he is not a wealthy duke but only The Little Tramp was described by critic James Agee as "the highest moment in movies" and brought the audience to tears.

Customer Reviews:

City Lights.......2007-06-20

a beacon in the wilderness.......2007-06-11

Chaplin's Greatest Movie.......2007-04-19

The Little Tramp perseveres.......2007-01-04

"Can you see now?" .......2007-01-01

Average customer rating:

City of Blinding Lights
Starring: U2
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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City of Blinding Lights

ASIN: B0009RB6TS
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Average customer rating:

Paris - The City of Lights

Manufacturer: TravelVideoStore.com
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000CQPHCS

Product Description

(IMPORT) Sold in Gift and Souvenir Shops in Paris Paris -- the capital of France, considered by its many admirers to be the most beautiful city in the world. Our film will familiarize you with the most known places of this captivating metropolis. You will accompany us on a walk down the Champs Elysee, Place de la Concorde, the Louvre, the largest art museum in the entire world, Place du Trocadero, as well as the Cathedral of Notre Dame, an architectual jewel made famous by Victor Hugo's famous novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". You will see the architectural monuments from the heydey of French monarchy, buildings from the Napoleonic period, but also the controversial Centre Pomidou, or the ultramodern La Defense quarter. Our film also includes the nearby chateau of Versailles, the crowning monument of classical revival architecture, with its extensive gardens. Paris, a city admired for centuries by poets and painters is simply unlike any other city in the world. For those who have seen it, this DVD will be a reminder of their visit, for others it will be an invitation to come and see for themselves. Audio Languages - German, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian

Average customer rating:

City of Binding Lights
Starring: U2
Manufacturer: Msi Music Corp
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000MGBMA4
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Charlie Rose with Joseph Rotblat; David O. Russell; Jay McInerny; Noah Adams (May 10, 1996)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Joseph Rotblat; David O. Russell; Jay McInerny; Noah Adams (May 10, 1996)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

First, Physicist Joseph Rotblat was the only scientist to leave the Manhattan Project before the A-bomb was tested. Ten years later, he signed the historic Russell-Einstein Manifesto. It called for the end to all nuclear weapons and was the beginning of Rotblat's fifty year fight for total nuclear disarmament. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995 and tonight he talks to Charlie about his cause. Then, filmmaker David O. Russell discusses his new film, Flirting With Disaster. It is about a young father's search for his biological parents, which sends him on a cross-country trek. Also, author Jay McInerny's 1984 debut, Bright Lights, Big City chronicled the excess of the 1980s and made him an overnight success. More than a decade later, he talks to Charlie about the dawn of a new century and his latest book, The Last of the Savages. Finally, Noah Adams, host of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, talks about his experience learning the piano at age 51 and the book it led to, Piano Lessons: Music, Love and True Adventures.

Charlie Chaplin: Gold Rush (2 DVD Set) [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2,

Average customer rating:

Charlie Chaplin: Gold Rush (2 DVD Set) [Non-US Format, PAL, Region 2,
Director: Charles Chaplin
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Chaplin's personal favourite among his own films, The Gold Rush embodies all the trademarks of his mix of slapstick, satire, social commentary and sentiment--a perfect showcase for his ever-popular Little Tramp. Set during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, the film features a comic reworking of the gruesome Donner Party story, where a group of snowbound immigrants resorted to eating their clothes and then each other to stay alive. It opens with a grand shot of gold prospectors snaking up the side of a mountain. We then see the Tramp, typically estranged from the rest of the group, making his own way across the snow. Seeking shelter in a blizzard, he finds the cabin of the dangerous criminal Black Larson (Tom Murray) and when another prospector, Big Jim McKay (Mack Swain), comes along, the two of them take charge of the cabin and eventually drive him out. Starving on Thanksgiving, the pair decide to dine in style when the Tramp cooks one of his shoes, famously acting as if he's cooking a fine piece of meat; twirling the laces up like spaghetti and savouring every last nibble. When he finally escapes, the Tramp ends up in a local town and falls in love, only to be rebuffed on New Year's Eve. When a chance meeting reunites him with Big Jim, the two go back in search of gold hidden near the cabin. Despite its unlikely origins, the story is shaped into a classic comedy containing many famous set-pieces, including the cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff and the Tramp morphing into a chicken before the starving Big Jim. Ultimately it's Chaplin's endearing and amusing persona that makes this material genuinely enduring. ----------------------DVD Features: Original Silent Version / Sound Re-Release Version /Trailers / Documentary - 1. CHAPLIN TODAY: THE GOLD RUSH / Introduction to THE GOLD RUSH / Scenes From The Chaplin Collection / Stills Gallery / Poster Gallery

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