Late Bloomers

Starring:Connie Nelson, Dee Hennigan, Gary Carter, Jonah Marsh, Esteban Powell, Joe Nemmers, Jenny Saxon, Ariane Leigh, Manuel GonzÃ¡lez (VI), Angus G. Wynne III, Karl J. Morris, Scarlett McAlister, Alex Vaught, Graham Skipper, T.A. Taylor
Director: Julia Dyer
Studio: Strand Releasing
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

reality
So good to see again
Shirley Valentine
Great chick flick
a must see for all women

Shirley Valentine
Starring: Pauline Collins , Tom Conti , Julia McKenzie , Alison Steadman , and Joanna Lumley
Director: Lewis Gilbert (II)
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Music and Lyrics (Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B000MGBSIU
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com

British actress Pauline Collins repeats her stage success as the character Shirley Valentine, a married woman who decides in her middle years that she wants more out of life. Leaving her spouse behind, she heads to Greece, where she grows close to a low-key, local bloke (Tom Conti). Collins and director Lewis Gilbert (Educating Rita) choose to let the character, as she did in the play, speak directly to the audience at times, and the gamble works in terms of creating a gentle, intimate atmosphere. Conti is a bonus, a warm presence and funny to boot. --Tom Keogh

Stills from Shirley Valentine (click for larger image)

Product Description

In the role that won her Broadway's acclaimed Tony Award, Pauline Collins is the hilariously endearing Shirley Valentine, a wisecracking, completely unpredictable English housewife who proves it's never too late to recapture your dreams. Bored with her suburban life, Shirley takes a chance on adventure when a friend invites her on a vacation to Greece. Within no time she's back to her rebellious teenage roots, saying yes to a wild fling with a handsome rogue (Tom Conti) and the life she's always wanted.

Customer Reviews:

reality.......2007-07-01

I first saw this movie in 1989 - there is something for most women who have become less than themselves by taking care of everyone except themself. You can identify with the husband/wife , girlfriends and mother/child relationships. So if you need to get away - even though it is through Shirley - do it. This is a wonderful story of a 40'ish English woman who finds herself again - and has a good time on the way. I am so glad it is finally out in DVD - I have been looking for it for years.
I have to honestly say that this is my favorite movie!

So good to see again.......2007-07-01

Watch this movie any time you feel sad for a real pick me up--I laughed till I cried!!!!

Shirley Valentine.......2007-06-27

This movie is a wonderful suprise. It's about women who have lost their identity. We are someone's mother and someone's wife, but what happened to us, our hopes, our dreams. Shirley Valentine is about a woman who takes a chance by traveling to another country and discovering herself along the way.
The movie is funny with lots of British humor, the characters are people you know and it shows the Shirley she was, the Shirley she is and the Shirley she wants to be. It's a must have for any woman over 35 who feels old, dreams of running away from everyday life, work, children and what to fix for dinner again. I've bought multi copies for women in my family and friends.

Great chick flick.......2007-06-27

This great old movie is one that all women past the age of 40 can relate to and share together. I watched it with my 87 year old mother and she liked it as much as I did. My good friends recommended it to me and I plan to pass it on to others.

a must see for all women.......2007-06-17

for any woman who has ever felt unappreciated or underappreciated, this movie is bound to lift your spirits. You can live vicariously through Shirley Valentine as she lives out her fantasy of breaking away from her humdrum life and rediscovers the person she used to be. check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Average customer rating:

one more person willing to love this film
Best movie ever.
TOP 100 MOVIES OF DANY LYNEN
"Harold and Maude, a Cerebral Love Affair"
Harold and Maude timeless, naughty and quirky...

Harold and Maude
Starring: Harvey Brumfield , Eric Christmas , Bud Cort , Cyril Cusack , and Gordon Devol
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305882592
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Amazon.com essential video

Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to "reach out" and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal--she's a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with--and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold's outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who's grown immune to her strange son's antics. Gradually, however, the film's clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won't appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you're on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you've ever seen. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

one more person willing to love this film.......2007-06-27

Ok, so like 272 people have had wonderful things to say about this film and what more could I possibly add to the discussion? This movie has over the years fed my soul and "reason to be". It is a beautiful reminder that after all the education and family and work stuff there are still other reasons to remain here. To choose to live. As imperfect as it all is. As sad as our mortality can make us. Life has an aspect to it that is so rich, so lovely, so enchanting, so alluring, that, provided we are capable to slowing down long enough to take a good look at it, can be loved and embraced and followed, like a moth following a candle. Finding yourself wasn't just a sixties slogan, it had to do with letting go of those things we think are important, so that we might truly begin to embrace those things that are essential to happines and to life. Harold and Maude is about all that and more. And as Forest Gump once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

Best movie ever........2007-06-24

The more I watch this film the better it gets, so many subtleties. I bought a copy for my brother to show it to his teenage kids.

TOP 100 MOVIES OF DANY LYNEN.......2007-06-23

THIS MOVIE IS HEART MOVING, AND TEACHES A VALUBLE LESSON IN THE GAME OF LIFE!

"Harold and Maude, a Cerebral Love Affair" .......2007-06-11

This is a terrific movie and has been one of my favorites since I first saw it on VHS late last century. Now it is available upon DVD which means it has a very good quality picture reproduction from the celluloid original upon which it was originally recorded and the audio is as good as it was in the theatre. I just need to acquire the audio components upon which to listen to this movie so I can visually and aurally go back in time, also I can watch it over & over and not have to worry about tape degradation. Amazon.com made acquiring this movie a very good and most cost effective endeavor for me; I will be a customer for the rest of my life and encourage friends of mine to shop @ Amazon.com.

Harold and Maude timeless, naughty and quirky..........2007-05-28

Harold and Maude is a movie that brings to light an assortment of social and familial issues. Both actors do an outstanding job of portraying their characters in pure form. Love this movie!

Average customer rating:

A wonderful Import~ Stop Bitching!
Things aren't always what they seem
Please release this DVD in Region 1
African Queen
The African Queen

The African Queen [IMPORT]
Starring: Theodore Bikel , Humphrey Bogart , Walter Gotell , Katharine Hepburn , and Richard Marner
Director: John Huston
Manufacturer: Castaway Nw UK
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Queen

ASIN: B000GJ2882
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful Import~ Stop Bitching!.......2007-06-23

Yes, there is not a US edition of The African Queen. So be happy with what we have got in this Asian import. The picture and sound are just fine. The DVD played perfectly in my player, and turing off the subtitles were as easy as reading the instructions on the menu.

So until we get the 2 disc special editon here in the US, order this import edition. It's a must and well worth the money.

Things aren't always what they seem.......2007-06-22

Be somewhat forgiving in criticizing movie releases. It is my understanding that the copyrights for "The African Queen" is privately held which may be why it has never been released on DVD in the USA,i.e., the copyright owner has not released their rights for reproduction. Just recently "Marie Antoinette" with Norma Shearer was put to DVD and that movie, although not on par with "The African Queen" is one of my favorites. Again, the copyright may have been privately held which precluded earlier adaptation to DVD.

Also, I agree with the reviewer regarding "Widescreen". The old movies will not come out in widescreen because that is not how they were filmed.

Please release this DVD in Region 1.......2007-06-22

I just wanted to add in my support of having this DVD released in the US. There is so much crap out there on DVD - why are the classics being held back? I would buy this in a second if it were given a proper release.

African Queen.......2007-06-12

DVD was good til the last 5 minutes or so, then it started to skip. I reversed for a few minutes and restarted and this time it went all the way to the end without a problem. I will watch it again and if the problem occurs again, I will send it back for a replacement or refund.

The African Queen.......2007-06-11

Received the wrong CD Rom/DVD. Was sent The Jacksons instead of what I ordered....The African Queen.

Have not heard back from the merchant and it has been 3 weeks. Very disappointed. Will not purchase any other DVD's.

Judi Feldman

Average customer rating:

Fun movie to watch
Great Family Movie
Fantastic movie!
Doris Day, you still got it!!
Extended family comes together

With Six You Get Eggroll
Starring: Doris Day , Brian Keith , Pat Carroll , Barbara Hershey , and George Carlin
Director: Howard Morris
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0007TKHFW
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Amazon.com

After her long and wholesome run as America's Sweetheart, Doris Day quit movies with this well-scrubbed picture. With Six You Get Eggroll--oof, what a title--caught the wave of blended-family comedies, coming just after Yours, Mine and Ours and just before TV's The Brady Bunch. Doris has three sons, and new beau Brian Keith has an 18-year-old daughter (the still-baby-faced Barbara Hershey). It's family-friendly sitcom stuff, with both Day and Keith doing their comfortable, patented thing; when the two of them are onscreen together it's like watching a couple of old sweaters mate. This one is straight formula for fans only, although connoisseurs of camp will enjoy the whiff of Aquarius in the otherwise square proceedings (it was 1968, after all) when Doris goes to a nightclub where the Grass Roots are playing. There's also a hippie gang (featuring Jamie Farr and William Christopher, before M*A*S*H) with ponchos and love beads. The times they were a-changin', and kudos to Day for bowing out gracefully. --Robert Horton

Description

In WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL, Abby McClure, a widow with three sons, and Jake Iverson, a widower with a teen-age daughter, begin dating and eventually decide to get married. But they're not prepared for the hostile reactions from their children, who are not very excited about the new union between the two families.

Customer Reviews:

Fun movie to watch.......2007-06-08

I grew up in the 60's and 70's and especially love to watch old movies and shows from back then. This movie is so fun to watch when you can't find anything on tv to watch in evenings! I especially dislike what's on tv now....reality shows. So the other night I enjoyed this movie all over again.

Great Family Movie.......2007-05-14

This is a great family movie. They don't make movies like this anymore. You can let your kids watch it without worrying about what might be in the movie that is inappropriate for children. This was one of my favorite movies to watch as a kid.

Fantastic movie!.......2007-05-13

This is simply a timeless classic - though many laughs with the hippie age of the late 60's and early 70's, a great movie with Doris Day, Brian Keith, Jackie Joseph, and other all-star talent. The frustrations of two widowers trying to blend a family, each with children of their own, is hilarious, as well as though-provoking. This is a great movie to have in your library to watch over and over again, as well as the book.

Doris Day, you still got it!!.......2007-04-11

What a delightful comedy!! For the time, it really told the story of blending families, and telling of realistic events that occur!!!
Loved the ending and how it came about, made me feel like my family wasn't the only one with these issues!! Highly recommend to all!!

Extended family comes together.......2007-04-06

Loved it. Fun look at an often difficult situation - melding two families into one. Amazing how a common cause can bring people together.

Average customer rating:

"Media" and Antigone
One of the worst films ever!!
depends on what you want
a controversial release
O.K... Am I the only one who got it?

Devil in the Flesh
Starring: Maruschka Detmers , Federico Pitzalis , Anita Laurenzi , Alberto Di Stasio , and Riccardo De Torrebruna
Director: Marco Bellocchio
Manufacturer: NoShame Films
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000AA4F74
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Description

One of the most controversial Italians films of the 80s, DEVIL IN THE FLESH takes Raymond Radiguet's classic novel and updates it to modern times. Dealing with the legacy of Italy's "leaden years" and the aftermath of the social struggles headed by the extreme left wing revolutionary groups, DEVIL IN THE FLESH caused a critical uproar upon it's release due to its highly-charged political and sexually frank subject matter. Marushka Detmers (THE MAMBO KINGS) stars as Giulia, a young woman engaged to marry Giacomo, her fiancée who's sitting behind bars because of his political activity. Restless in her appetites and inner turmoil, she meets a young student named Andrea and a passionate affair quickly ensues. But when the day arrives in which she has to face whether she wants to share her life with Giacomo or not, Giulia takes a surprising decision…

Boldly directed by Marco Bellocchio (GOOD MORNING, NIGHT) and featuring superb cinematography by Giuseppe Lanci, DEVIL IN THE FLESH is a powerfully erotic film that deserves to be discovered and appreciated without preconceptions. With it's mixing of political and sexual issues, Bellocchio retains the strength and relevancy of the classic text and makes a strong contemporary statement in favour of absolute artistic and political freedom. As controversial as films get, DEVIL IN THE FLESH remains one of the most important Italian films of our time.

NoShame Films is proud to present DEVIL IN THE FLESH for the first time on DVD in its original widescreen aspect ratio, digitally re-mastered from the original negative, uncut and uncensored.

Customer Reviews:

"Media" and Antigone.......2007-03-10

Bellocchio refers to this as a mainly political movie, a description of the revolutionary movement in Italy, but that seems more metaphor than reality. Well, almost everything in the movie seems like metaphor. The revolutionaries, of whom we see and about whom we learn very little, might as well be mafiosi. Out with the old and in with the new.

Andrea's Papa, a psychoanalyst, seems to stand for the usual traditional bourgeois values -- morally upright, unperturbed, clean and tidy, thoroughly ritualized.

Giullia, the girlfriend of a revolutionary, seems to represent what can happen to someone who needs very badly a cause to support but is unable to muster up the kind of devotion such a commitment demands. (I'm guessing here.) Andrea, the adolescent boy, seems to be the only guy in the movie who is not in some unquiet way "upatz." He's respectful of his father but disobedient too. He loves Giullia, or so we assume, although he's not really old enough to have learned how to manage his reflexes optimally, but he leaves her in order to show up at school and complete his final exams. His course between these contradictory lifestyles could be described as "media." He's the man in between, who knows the meaning of gradualism, who can keep his cool while those about him are screaming.

Most of this is summed up during the oral part of his finals when he is asked to translate and comment on an excerpt from "Antigone," which contrasts the traditional authority of the gods with the notion of secularity and free will.

That brings us -- by no particular course that I'm aware of -- to Marushka Detmars. She brings to mind a New Yorker cartoon of a few years ago. Two hippos are neck-deep in the river, staring at a gazelle drinking from the bank, and one hippo says to the other, "I hate her." She's a good actress. (Let me get that out of the way.) But so is everyone else in the film. She carries with her, in her speech and manner, the rich glitter of outright lunacy. And it all comes from the actress too, not from directorial aid. Detmars isn't nuts the way Catherine DeNeuve was nuts in "Repulsion." The walls don't turn to rubber and grow hands. Instead, we see her animated -- sometimes TOO animated. And she gives us shocking jolts when her mood abruptly changes and becomes threatening the way a looming thunderstorm crackles with lightning.

A critic described her as sultry, but that's probably not the word he was searching for. She's compellingly beautiful with her fluffy brown hair, her wide white ready grin, her impulsive giggles. And her eyes are like the eyes in the paintings on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs. The sexy parts are pretty erotic, not so much because one of them is explicit, but because we've gotten to know the characters involved. (It's more interesting to spy on the honeymoon couple next door than go to a skin flick.) Actually there isn't THAT much sex. There is only one scene of simulated intercourse but the director lets it play out in what seems to be real time. At least real time for an eighteen-year-old boy.

The young man who plays Andrea is fine too, which is a necessary thing, because the film depends almost entirely on him and Giullia. They have to carry it and they do. If it were not for their performances, I'm not sure this would be as interesting or as admirable flick as it is. It could easily have been turned into a rather slow, boring romance.

Worth having.

One of the worst films ever!!.......2006-07-10

I bought this DVD hoping that it will be a good one but it turned out to be awful and trashy. There is no story or plot to it, so I ended up throwing it away. I really regret buying it.
If you're into sex, then this film is for you but let me tell you this, it is boring like hell.

depends on what you want.......2006-07-06

Each scene is one shot, and that shot goes on and on and on, sometimes staying with the same act or lack of action. This film is pretension personified, but that's okay. Many people can't tell the difference between pretension and art. The music too is full of squeaks and squawks. In case you didn't know, that means that the music too is high art.

There is no story. Boy and girl see each other, and without preliminaries hit the sack. We see boy & girl here, there, in the sack, here, there, in the sack, etc. Occasionally we get a shot of some of the other characters.

Because of the lack of dynamics, the film is not effective, either as drama or as eroticism. Ironically, "The Summer of '42" was much more erotic even without any nudity (which would have helped).

The vaulted sex scenes are three in number, chest and shoulders, and they last about three minutes each. The much-touted fellatio scene is actually surprisingly good, more convincing than the "love" scenes.

There are also a few brief full-frontal scenes of the star, who has a gorgeous body (hence, the two star rating).

Bottom line: the only reason to see this movie is the nudity and the sex. But there are many better movies for that. So, only if you need the pretentiousness in order to permit yourself to see a sex movie should you see this.

a controversial release.......2006-07-06

i liked this movie. it is a story of a girl who is very mischievious and full of fun. she is bored and gets into trouble. it has a scene of explicit sex and is not for children. i would reccomend it.

O.K... Am I the only one who got it?.......2006-06-16

This is a film about the power of erotic love. He's young and naive and doesn't care how hopeless and destructive his affair with this older woman might be. She's older and fully aware of the danger, but not totally at the helm of her own ship; given to bouts of melancholy and psychosis.

Check out the film's last scene: He's there being examined by his professors, and she's there watching him in a growing state of emotion. Watch the expressions on her face (God, what a performance!) and you'll see that she realizes just how much she'll lose by falling in love with this young man but, simulataneously, just how powerless she is to resist the passion, love, lust, self-destruction. I love this film.

Average customer rating:

How good it is can be purely subjective.
Good despite a few flaws
Charly shows its age
Pulls at the heart strings....
Charly review

Charly
Starring: Claire Bloom , William Dwyer , Leon Janney , Barney Martin , and Skipper McNally
Director: Ralph Nelson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: B0002KPHWY
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Amazon.com

Adapted from Daniel Keyes's novel Flowers for Algernon, Charly must be viewed as a soap opera of and for its zeitgeist--the halcyon '60s, when "natural" was nirvana, the air hummed with the mantra "Everybody's beautiful," and all ills stemmed from institutional monoliths such as Science, Government, Education, Religion. Accordingly, Charly (Cliff Robertson) is a 30-year-old retardate whose doofus sweetness makes him superior to most able-minded folk, whether they're the bigoted dolts he sweeps floors for or the ambitious scientists who see him as the human equivalent of Algernon, a mouse they've surgically (but impermanently) smartened up. Naturally, post-op Charly, sporting a genius IQ, "sees things as they are." Trotted out as the neurosurgeons' poster boy, he stands up to the "learned" audience--shot as faceless, inhuman interrogators. He's every '60s flower child, berating his "elders" for blighting their brave new world.

The one gift Charly gets out of becoming Brainiac is sex. In a lengthy montage resembling a retro TV commercial, he and his special-ed teacher (Claire Bloom, madonna with eternal Mona Lisa smile) romp through an Edenic outdoors, their embraces hallowed by sunlight glinting through leaves, moonlight glinting on water, and sappy Ravi Shankar music. (Stylistic clichés also include embarrassing outbreaks of split screens and multiple small screens within the frame, notably when rebellious Charly turns biker.) Robertson's performance is well-meaning but hokey. Still, in the penultimate moments when Charly begins to slide back into retardation, the actor achieves a genuine tragic gravity, and he became a surprise Oscar winner for his pains. --Kathleen Murphy

Description

From the classic Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon comes this "moving" (Boxoffice) and unforgettable adaptation. Featuring an Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning* performance by Cliff Robertson and a "shrewd, talented" score (Variety) by Ravi Shankar, this timeless tearjerker is "definitely one to see" (Cue). When a mentally retarded man named Charly (Robertson) undergoes experimental brain surgery, he is miraculously freed from the prison of his own mind. As his IQ soars to genius proportions, Charly's eyes are opened to a world he's never truly seen. But when the effects of his operation inexplicably begin to fade, Charly must find a way to halt his regression before his own mind destroys his life, his newfound romance and the man he's become. *1968: Actor

Customer Reviews:

How good it is can be purely subjective. .......2007-06-02

Unliike many reviewers, I saw this movie when first released before I read the book. Like many movies of its period this one has a distinct 60s flavor to it in many respects. Like movies from the 70s, many of the production qualities of this movie's time seem incredibly dated. But hindsight can put that kind of stamp on any time period (anyone ever watched an episode of "Miami Vice" in hindsight with a straight face?). So just when one saw "Charly" for the first time makes all the difference, as does which they did first- read the book or saw the movie. The impact it had on me when I first saw it was tremendous. I wanted to see it again but before that occurred I read the book. I probably enjoyed the book much more as a result. I agree that the two have dramatic differences, but that has always been the risk when adapting a movie from the book. Robertson gives a solid, award winnng performance that evokes pathos, though today it seems a bit over the top. The direction and camera work are reflective of the late 60s, which unwittingly seems to make this movie that much more of a time capsule, almost worth watching for that reason alone- almost! But that detracts from the film at hand. One could argue that if this movie was produced in a different decade it might still bear trademarks indigenousness to that time and place. When younger I demanded films that suited my taste buds of the age I was at that time. Since then, over the years I've watched lots of movies from different time periods that I either hadn't seen before, or now viewed differently. But generally that didn't take away from the appreciation originally instilled in me for a movie. I still find many scenes in this movie heartbreaking, particularly the sequence in which intelligent Charlie can't escape the vision of what inevitably awaits him once the experiment wears off. Just how that was accomplished by the film is irrelevant. Some movies demand remakes. Others are remade merely to add contemporary flavor in some shape or form and should never have been remade. In between those two there is a wide gap of grey, which is where I feel this movie falls. There are numerous films that don't find a contemporary audience due to the time it was released. I still know many who either haven't seen "Rosemary's Baby" or couldn't make it through it because they could taste the 60s while watching it. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a great film. Not to compare the two films directly, but it can be argued that "Charlie" suffers in the same manner. Though great movies withstand the test of time, to me, how much you enjoy "Charly" is purely subjective. How will good films from today look 20-30 years from now?

Good despite a few flaws.......2007-02-25

Daniel Keyes's Flowers for Algernon was voted one of the greatest stories of the past 25 years when I read the story in junior high in the mid-60s. Eventually made into this movie, I enjoyed it despite several points where the movie departs from the book and gets pretty hokey, when the director should have had the sense to stick with the original book. As has been mentioned before, the photo montage sequence of Charlie with Miss Kinian and Charlie's riding off on the motorcycle was almost embarrasingly bad (maybe they were recalling the movie, "Then Came Bronson," from the same period). But overall Robertson's portrayal of Charlie was engaging and believable and the scene where he addresses the assembled scientists is certainly very memorable as a demonstration of his newly attained genius. "Brave new loves, brave new hates," was how he summarized the coming age, a quote which turned out to be more prescient than anyone could have imagined. The movie in many ways epitomizes the 60s fascination with personal transformation through chemical means, and if only genius were so easily attainable as taking a drug. We may never achieve such advanced brain science but for its time the movie was a poignant and credible portrayal of fleetingly attained but ultimately lost genius.

Charly shows its age.......2007-02-18

Cliff Robertson plays the mentally challenged Charly Gordon in this so-so adaptation of Daniel Keyes's short story "Flowers for Algernon." Robertson volunteers to be a human guinea pig after an operation on the brains of mice have shown them to appear "smarter." Indeed Charly becomes a genius, after which he falls in love with his clinician (played by Claire Bloom). Director Ralph Nelson plays up this romantic element using all the cinematic clichés of the late 60s - falling leaves, pastel colors, soft music - perhaps new and different at the time, but pretty hard to take today. Worse is that Nelson's attention is drawn away from the real point of the story - the results of the experiment and what it says about the way we view each other, though the best scene in the movie is where Robertson lectures a roomful of doctors about their arrogance as he holds the dead mouse Algernon in his hand, a victim of the experiment - as Robertson will shortly become as well. Keyes's short story is dramatic and probing where this movie goes flat and flakey. Robertson won the Academy Award for his efforts.

Pulls at the heart strings...........2007-01-10

I purchased this movie to watch with my 8th grade language arts class. We had recently read "Flowers for Algernon" and I thought that the movie would be a good suplement. I was correct. The children, all 13 and 14 year olds related with this movie much easier than the text and when we went back and reviewed what we read they brought a bigger perspective and the conversations really picked up. I would recomend this movie to anyone that teaches and would be reading "Flowers for Algernon" or to anyone who is interested in Mental Retardation. This is a science fiction film but can really pull at your heart strings. Have a tissue close-by.

Charly review.......2007-01-04

I find the story hopeful and sad together. It is a great story.

Average customer rating:

The Sigh of Midnight Trains in Empty Stations
Wonderful
An obscure treasure
An adult movie without the embarrassment
Hilarious!

Brief Encounter - Criterion Collection
Starring: Celia Johnson , Trevor Howard , Stanley Holloway , Joyce Carey , and Cyril Raymond
Director: David Lean
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0780023420
Release Date: 2000-06-27

Amazon.com essential video

To many, Brief Encounter may seem like a relic of more proper times--or, specifically, more properly British times--when the pressures of marital decorum and fidelity were perhaps more keenly felt. In truth, David Lean's fourth film remains a timeless study of true love (or, rather, the promise of it), and the aching desire for intimate connection that is often subdued by the obligations of marriage. And so it is that ordinary Londoners Alec (Trevor Howard), a married doctor, and contented housewife Laura (Celia Johnson) meet by chance one day in a train station, when he volunteers to remove a fleck of ash from her eye (a romantic gesture that, perhaps, inspired Robert Towne's "flaw in the iris" scene in Chinatown).

It so happens that their schedules coincide at the train station every Thursday, and their casual attraction grows, through quiet conversation and longing expressions, into the desperate recognition of mutual love. From this point forward, Lean turns this utterly precise, 85-minute film into a bracing study of romantic suspense, leading inevitably, and with the paranoid, furtive glances of a spy thriller, to the moment when this brief encounter must be consummated or abandoned altogether. Decades later, the outcome of this affair--both agonizing and rapturous--is subtle and yet powerful enough to draw tears from the numbest of souls, and spark debate regarding the tragedy or virtue of the choices made. A truly universal film, with meticulously controlled emotions revealed through the flawless performances of Howard and Johnson, and an enduring masterpiece that continued Lean on his course to cinematic greatness. --Jeff Shannon

Description

From Noël Coward's play Still Life, legendary filmmaker David Lean deftly explores the thrill, pain, and tenderness of an illicit romance in the dour, gray Britain of 1945. From a chance meeting on a train platform, a middle-aged married doctor (Trevor Howard) and a suburban housewife (Celia Johnson) enter into a quietly passionate, ultimately doomed love affair, set to a swirling Rachmaninoff score. Criterion is proud to present Lean's award-winning masterpiece a beautifully restored digital transfer.

Customer Reviews:

The Sigh of Midnight Trains in Empty Stations.......2007-05-06

This is my favorite British film of all time. Brilliant writing, fine acting, ecconomicaly concise production and inspired direction all combine to make a landmark movie and a defining moment in social history.

Celia Johnson is terrific! She is talented and beautiful. More than girlishly pretty, she has the deep resonant beauty of a full grown woman. Her eyes are huge and so expressive, as she copes with the guilt and sordidness of an extra-marital love. She narrates to move the story along in places. Her performance draws you in and holds you. A lesser actress could not have pulled it off so well.

Trevor Howard plays her illicit love. Their screen chemistry is subtly electric. Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey provide a light sub-plot, which compliments the main story.

The film was released in the Spring of 1945, just as World War 2 was ending in Europe. Whether on purpose or not, the film announced a return to peacetime morality. The characters fall in love, but their love remains unrequited. Love is allowed, but the heart is not allowed to rule the head. The film is set in an unspecified time of peace with no blackout, no bombsites, and with cakes and chocolate freely available. There is a 'forward to the past' kind of message.

Speak to an old Brit who was there, and you will find out that all sorts went on during the war when couples were separated, and there was horrific stress. A lot more than dancing went on up on Plymouth Hoe, when people did not know if their homes would be standing from one day to the next, and they barely had enough food to keep a cat alive.

In truth, food was rationed into the '50s in Britain, and I wonder if we have ever got over the effects of that war. The film portrays a British middle-class idyl that would never return. Even the British laugh at those accents now. Nobody talks like that anymore.

If you've never seen it, you are in for a rare treat. If you haven't seen it for a while, then it is well worth revisiting. My review title is a line from a Noel Coward song. I thought it fitted since he wrote the screenplay, and the main setting is a railway station.

Wonderful.......2007-04-27

What can you say about this movie? The story is an endless tail of love found and love lost. The movie is wonderful acting from the leads to all the secondary actors. No matter how many times I've seen this movie the kicker is ALWAYS the final sceen when you find the dolt of a husband is no dolt after all and the kleenex comes out every time. You just can't lose with this movie. It's the best.

An obscure treasure.......2007-04-19

A beautiful movie in all respects. Filmed in Great Britain in the 1940s, and therefore black and white. A thoughtful, reflective presentation, from the woman's perspective, of a relationship that developed over a period of a few weeks. Deeply tender.

An adult movie without the embarrassment.......2007-01-11

The subject is temptation. The affair begins innocently enough, but escalates to something that threatens to destroy two families. The suburban housewife played perfectly by Celia Johnson does the right thing when she realizes what she was about to lose. There is passion without profanity or nudity, and in the end, everybody does the right thing. I think we could all learn from this movie.

Hilarious!.......2006-11-17

Every time this movie comes on my husband (who is English) and I watch it and laugh our heads off.If you have ever been in an English train station,drinking weak,watery cups of tea out of dirty,cracked cups.Smelling mildew and stale cigarettes while you freeze to death you would see the humor in anyone being romantically moved while sitting there.And not to be crule,but these are not exactly a couple of sex-pots.The thought of two stodgy old English people being driven wild by their passion for each other is,well------------------ hilarious! I give it 5 stars for being so darn funny.Oh--- and the music---- PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! But it is worth watching for a good laugh!

Average customer rating:

Late 50s, yes. A bit hokey, yes. Enjoyable? YES!
"Water! I recommend it"
Introducing Elvis Presley as Jim Currie
Classic Romance
A hope maker!

The Rainmaker
Starring: Burt Lancaster , Katharine Hepburn , Wendell Corey , Lloyd Bridges , and Earl Holliman
Director: Joseph Anthony (II)
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009CTVGI
Release Date: 2005-07-12

Amazon.com

This 1950s classic is based on the N. Richard Nash play of the same name (and not to be confused with the John Grisham novel and subsequent film). It's drought time in the Southwest; things are so bad that when a con man (Burt Lancaster) comes to town promising he can make rain, a rancher takes him up on it. But the rancher's spinster daughter (Katharine Hepburn) is skeptical--until Lancaster makes lightning strike her heart, with the unexpected consequence of the rainmaker falling in love with her. Lancaster is charismatic and funny and finds his match in Hepburn (with Earl Holliman providing comic relief as her impulsive younger brother). Think Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian on a farm, minus the music (though Rainmaker later was made into the Broadway musical 110 in the Shade). --Marshall Fine

Description

In THE RAINMAKER, a lonely ranch girl blossoms into full womanhood under the spell of a wandering charlatan named Starbuck. Katharine Hepburn garnered an Oscar nomination as the "believably plain yet magnetically beautiful" tomboy rancher, with Burt Lancaster brilliantly cast in the role of the smooth-talking con man.

Customer Reviews:

Late 50s, yes. A bit hokey, yes. Enjoyable? YES!.......2007-07-01

The story is now a bit stale, but this film is more than the sum of its parts.
The exterior sets are transparently artificial, and Ms Hepburn played another variation on her patented spinster role (see also The African Queen, The Corn is Green, Rooster Cogburn, Summertime, etc). Her acting range is better exhibited in "The Lion in Winter" or "Bringing Up Baby." Burt Lancaster also played his charlatan/con man role on other occasions (see Elmer Gantry.)

The writing (adapted by the author from his play) was excellent; contrived in plot yes (and remarkably similar to "The Music Man" in story), but surprisingly moving, intelligent and even free-thinking for its time--here's a father who encourages his daughter to become a "fallen woman". The original play "The Rainmaker" was adapted into the lovely musical "110 in the Shade" which is currently (June 2007) being revived on Broadway with the fabulous Audra McDonald. The film has comedy of a sort, personal drama, and a scene with Ms Hepburn's Lizzie in which she predicts her old-maid future that brought tears to my eyes. THAT's where her acting shines through. The ending has an unconventional twist.

Unfortunately there are no special features on this DVD; I would love to know what the actors thought of this film.

"Water! I recommend it".......2007-02-03

Bill Starbuck (Burt Lancaster) is a charlatan selling multi-flavored hopes of fulfilled dreams. Take your pick: early-warning tornado devices or cumulous nimbus over drought stricken cattle. It requires more than animated gestures and wild stories to satisfy the matrimonial desires of aging Lizzie Curry (Katherine Hepburn). Their paths cross in the Southwest as THE RAINMAKER promises thunder to the Curry family of hopefuls and hopeless.

At 49 - just six years older than Lancaster, Hepburn appears old enough to be mother to her theatrical siblings - a mistaken assumption expressed by daffy brother Jim (Earl Holliman) when he remarks how wonderful it would be for her to conceive a child so he could have a little brother. Nevertheless, the vigorous passion of this Old Maid desiring change without changing well compliments the undesputed Star - buck. From the moment he enters a scene, Lancaster steals the show with prolific lines of what Hepburn shamelessly labels "bunk."

The smile that overcomes me when the film begins is frequently interrupted by tears of joy and thunderous outbursts of laughter. I love it when a DVD investment pays off this well. Put your faith in THE RAINMAKER.

Movie quote: "Rain is rain, brother. It comes from the sky. It's a wetness known as water - 'aqua pura.' Mammals drink it. Fish swim in it. Little boys wade in it. And the birds flap their wings and sing like sunrise. Water! I recommend it."

Introducing Elvis Presley as Jim Currie.......2007-01-31

This movie would have been a better start for Elvis than Love Me Tender. Elvis did a screen test playing a couple of scenes from The Rainmaker and even said in an interview that The Rainmaker would be his movie debut. A journalist who attended the screen test was very impressed with Elvis' acting, but alas... As for the actors who did play in the movie, they are all great. Lancaster's and Hepburne's acting is at times more suitable for a theatrical stage, but then the setting of the movie, especially the interior of the house does have that atmosphere. An unforgettable movie!

Classic Romance.......2006-12-02

I first saw this film when I was 10, and fell instantly in love with Burt Lancaster. His enthusiasm, amazing smile and sheer energy make this story a joy to watch. Katherine Hepburn always struck me as a little too old for the part, but she is so good that you can't imagine anyone else playing Lizzie. When I saw Burt Lancaster later in Elmer Gantry, I was stuck by the likeness to his character Starbuck in The Rainmaker; Starbuck is a sweeter, less manipulative charater than Gantry. The Rainmaker is set in a western town suffering from a drought; into the town comes Starbuck, a seller of hope in the form of a promise to make it rain. He meets Lizzie, an "old maid" who longs for a man to love her, and the promise of children and security this brings. This is a very sweet story; while I could not understand Lizzie's final choice when I was younger, now I can see what she wanted and why she made the decision she did. This is a charming film, and it is lovely to see it looking to clear and bright on DVD.

A hope maker!.......2006-07-02

This is an emblematic metaphor that reflects with remarkable intensity, the disturbing years of the Fifties signed by the desperation and the phantoms of the Cold war, the racism and the nuclear fears.

A little town is beset for drought and an ex con, featured by a smooth talking way will redeem himself before the residents and the spiritual and physical support for a spinster. Lancaster would seem to be involuntarily anticipating, his future personage in Elmer Gantry, that would deserve him the coveted golden statue. Hepburn as the spinster is extremely eloquent.

Average customer rating:

Awkward, but sweet.
A realistic, fun film
wow....this is the way it happens!
late bloomers
Sweet Love Story

Late Bloomers
Starring: Connie Nelson , Dee Hennigan , Gary Carter , Jonah Marsh , and Esteban Powell
Director: Julia Dyer
Manufacturer: Strand Releasing
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0000AZT3J
Release Date: 2003-10-01

Customer Reviews:

Awkward, but sweet........2007-06-17

Not terrible, just too many problems for me to really fully enjoy. The basketball coach is a complete dork, and the housewife is overweight and frumpish, so no way can you ever feel like there is anything hot going on. The love scenes were awkward, un-sexy. And the naked basketball playing? Uhhh, no. What worked was the reality that this kind of thing happens (the falling in love between women thing), the feelings between the women, and their developing love is sweet. The ending was very unrealistic though. If you absolutely have nothing else to do one day, it's not an entire waste of time.

A realistic, fun film.......2007-05-07

I liked this film a lot and found myself smiling through most of it. The lead characters look like school teachers, not actors, the script handles their emerging attraction in a fresh way, warts and all, and the situations they find themselves in feel real. There is a scene where they face their colleagues which seems a bit contrived, but maybe that's how they do it in Canada! In any event, the scene brings out the issues attaching to gay teachers quite well. All in all, a really entertaining film, especially for gay women past the baby dyke stage.

wow....this is the way it happens!.......2004-09-28

Falling in love with a woman, for the first time in mid-life, as many of us have experienced, is an astonishing occurrence. LATE BLOOMERS shows this to be true by including large doses of engaging tenderness and realistic scenes of stark honesty. In this film there are no women wearing slinky dresses, seducing one another in a pseudo-romantic Hollywood setting. Instead, Late Bloomers portrays finding love, and finding it just around the corner, all as it often happens. Quite unexpectedly, the lovers discover one another, and find the closeness and romance previously missing from their past involvements. One of the women is married, so if you first fell in love with a woman when married with children; you will appreciate the character's struggles and those of her family. However, alls well that ends well and this is without a doubt what this film portrays. LATE BLOOMERS is believable, with fine acting and a great story line. The women who play the roles of the two lovers are perfect, uninhibited in their lovemaking; funny, tender, and even sometimes fearful; yet always finding a way to stay the course together. LATE BLOOMERS creates an entirely possible story and presents it by using, not only some drama, but also a great deal of humor. Buy this film. You will absolutely adore it.

late bloomers.......2003-09-25

Two high school employees end up with an unexpected romance with each other, after one of them suspects the other of having an affair with her husband. When there love affair is outed, their suburban lives are in turmoil. Another reminder of being different in a "staight" community.

Sweet Love Story.......2003-09-17

Late Bloomers is an enjoyable sweet love story about two women who find love in the middle of life's journey. One woman, a school secretary, married with children, finds that her long marriage has died on the romantic vine many years ago. The other woman is a geometry teacher and girl's basketball coach who has never been in love. Through the learning and teaching of basketball, each woman finds in the other a love that they never thought they would find at this stage in their life.
I love that this movie portrays love and sex between two women who are not beautiful hard-bodied teenagers. It is fun however to see them react like giddy hormone driven teenagers in love's first blush. The actresses did an outstanding job playing two women awkward at love and there was a nice chemistry between them. I will never look at basketball the same way again and enjoyed the sport that plays as the platform for the women's romance.
The movie is meant to be part of the "feel good" genre so it is hard to criticize what appears to be unrealistic actions and reactions by some of the characters but I do have to say that the husband's reaction to his wife's new found love was quite implausible.
I would recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a lovely simple love story and would especially recommend it to anyone like myself who at middle age wants to see a semblance of their own life on screen.

Average customer rating:

Not thrilled with this DVD

A Fine Romance
Starring: Michele Amiel , Julie Andrews , Isidro Arruti , Michele Buczynski , and Jean-Michel Cannone
Director: Gene Saks
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F7MIC6
Release Date: 2006-05-30

Customer Reviews:

Not thrilled with this DVD.......2007-01-16

I was so excited when I saw that this film was available on DVD. As a huge fan of Julie Andrews, this is one of only a few of her films that I hadn't seen.

I bought it immediately, but was disappointed. The film isn't great, but it's not bad. I'm glad I own it because I love Julie, but it's not one of my favorites.

It's the DVD presentation that I'm most unhappy about. First of all, throughout a great deal of the film, the sound and picture are not in synch. There also aren't any scene divisions on the disc. It's just one big scene, and you have to fast forward to get to a certain place.

If you're a fan of Julie Andrews, you'll want this in your collection, but otherwise don't bother. Hopefully a better quality edition will be released someday.

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