Crime Spree

Starring:GÃ©rard Depardieu, Harvey Keitel, Johnny Hallyday, Renaud (II), SaÃ¯d Taghmaoui, StÃ©phane Freiss, Shawn Lawrence, Albert Dray, Joanne Kelly (II), Richard Bohringer, Abe Vigoda, Gino Marrocco, Sal Figliomeni, Diego Chambers, Carlos Diaz, K.C. Collins, Michel Perron, Louis Di Bianco, Jeff Geddis, Joyce Gordon (II)
Director: Brad Mirman
Studio: Paramount
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

A Clockwork Orange
Better Than the Book
Realist, and Atheist High Art
Another great Kubrick work
An ode to our humble Narrator and Mr. Kubrick...

A Clockwork Orange
Starring: Malcolm McDowell , Patrick Magee , Michael Bates , Warren Clarke , and John Clive
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005ATQB
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Amazon.com essential video

Stanley Kubrick's striking visual interpretation of Anthony Burgess's famous novel is a masterpiece. Malcolm McDowell delivers a clever, tongue-in-cheek performance as Alex, the leader of a quartet of droogs, a vicious group of young hoodlums who spend their nights stealing cars, fighting rival gangs, breaking into people's homes, and raping women. While other directors would simply exploit the violent elements of such a film without subtext, Kubrick maintains Burgess's dark, satirical social commentary. We watch Alex transform from a free-roaming miscreant into a convict used in a government experiment that attempts to reform criminals through an unorthodox new medical treatment. The catch, of course, is that this therapy may be nothing better than a quick cure-all for a society plagued by rampant crime. A Clockwork Orange works on many levels--visual, social, political, and sexual--and is one of the few films that hold up under repeated viewings. Kubrick not only presents colorfully arresting images, he also stylizes the film by utilizing classical music (and Wendy Carlos's electronic classical work) to underscore the violent scenes, which even today are disturbing in their display of sheer nihilism. Ironically, many fans of the film have missed that point, sadly being entertained by its brutality rather than being repulsed by it. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews:

A Clockwork Orange.......2007-07-03

Based on the Anthony Burgess novel, Kubrick's cold, pitch-black satire of modern society received an X rating for violence and was yanked from screens by the rattled director after several copycat crimes. Nevertheless, his chilly vision of a morally ambiguous future world picked up Oscar nods for Best Picture and Director. Outfitted in a bowler hat, white jumpsuit, and codpiece, McDowell gives an iconic performance as Alex, a gleeful connoisseur of brutality who enjoys warbling "Singin' in the Rain" while committing vile acts. A cynical but stylish sci-fi cult hit, "Orange" is a disturbing yet intriguing film in a class all its own.

Better Than the Book.......2007-07-03

There are so few movies that are better than the book from which they have been derived, but this is one of the great exceptions. A Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece of a movie, from one of the great masters of movie making. In my estimation, this movie should be on anylist of the best 100 movies ever made--along with Dr. Stranglove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Full Metal Jacket.

Realist, and Atheist High Art.......2007-06-28

Only an escapist mind can deny the truth in this picture. Only a deranged, and mentally brainwashed mind could possibly beleive people are truly good. People, in reality, rape, kill, and murder, even in the name of some dead guy called Jesus Christ. Nowadays, Satanists are doing the most good. Kubrick, a realist director, has seen reality for what it is, and not only does he present us with Alex(a typic, as I call him)(as in a typical) but he makes Alex, who is man, a beautiful monster with his music, and anarchistic ways. Man is a beast, and kubrick has (realistically) shown the beauty of the beast in heat. Also, kubrick invites us to the sub conscious, with his Freudian imagery, such as the "art" penis. Throughout this movie, society is mean to Alex, but he isn't cured, nor did he ever have a disease. He is just MAN.

Another great Kubrick work.......2007-06-15

Definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I think everyone should see it at least once, there's lessons to be learned here for everyone.

An ode to our humble Narrator and Mr. Kubrick..........2007-06-13

#12 on the list of the 50 greatest heroes and villians sits our good friend and humble narrator...ALEX DeLARGE...all of a terrifying, intriguing, Hateful, loved and feared character that we will never forget! By now you've heard it all fROM every other reviewer but i simply see this movie as one of the most influential viewings i've ever sat thru and i had to chime in. The disturbing nature of this beast is only the basis of it's appeal...futuristic law enforcement in the "Ludovico Technique"...Rape,a Brutal Beating,A fight scene straight from the desk of Vince McMahon, An out and out MURDER make this a difficult film to watch for some...I first saw this at age 10 on Showtime in 1980... i was scared to the point that i couldn't stop watching this brilliant tale of Alex and his 3 "Droogs"...here are some cool side notes on the making of the film: an interesting bit involving the scence where Officer Dim and Officer Georgie beat and stuff Alex's head into a bin filled with water...Malcom McDowell almost truly drowned then as his breathing device failed...wow would that have been "real tragic like"...another cool side note is that at the begining point of talks of making this a movie...Mick Jaegger of the rOLLING sTONES actually bought the rights and had planned on making the film starring himself as Alex and the Stones as the DROOGS..."O'H WHAT A TERRIBLE TRAGeDY THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN OH' MY BROTHERS"...Malcolm McDowell still gives me the creeps when i see him...i see Alex...He plays the role of his lifetime that i simply couldn't see anybody else as...The other huge part of the film is the Music...electric synthesized art from Water/Wendy Carlos( the same person...sex change making him...her)and of course LUdwig Van...the bloody 9th that eventually drove Alex thru a top floor window in effort to kill and free himself from the music's sickening torture on him as a response to the Ludovico Technique...He wasn't in the Korova Milk Bar anymore!...Everything from the made up language of NADSAT("Viddy well Lil' Brother...Viddy well") to the music to a brilliant performance and disturbing images of a sac-religeous image of Christ himself to "Ultra Violent images in every possible frame make this a work for the ages that has endured thru the the ultimate test...time......i should only hope for a remake staying true to this brilliant work( i see it inevitable that it be remade)...i hope not, like countless other works...it never stays true to the initial message of the original movie...Kubrick stays with us thru this film as well as the other works he gave us by walking and crashing thru the lines of acceptablity...this is a disturbing 5 star masterpiece of a tradgic 360 of bad to "suedo good" to Ultra Violent Bad again never to be duplicated no matter how many times it is revised...!!!

Average customer rating:

When Warren and Faye were a lot younger.....
Bonnie and Clyde
Great Classic Gangster Flick
Intense and captivating
A picture that dares to be excessive!,

Bonnie and Clyde
Starring: Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Michael J. Pollard , Gene Hackman , and Estelle Parsons
Director: Arthur Penn
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000ING1
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com essential video

One of the landmark films of the 1960s, Bonnie and Clyde changed the course of American cinema. Setting a milestone for screen violence that paved the way for Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, this exercise in mythologized biography should not be labeled as a bloodbath; as critic Pauline Kael wrote in her rave review, "it's the absence of sadism that throws the audience off balance." The film is more of a poetic ode to the Great Depression, starring the dream team of Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular antiheroes, who barrel across the South and Midwest robbing banks with Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman), Buck's frantic wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons), and their faithful accomplice C.W. Moss (the inimitable Michael J. Pollard). Bonnie and Clyde is an unforgettable classic that has lost none of its power since the 1967 release. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

When Warren and Faye were a lot younger............2007-03-02

Warren either produced/and or directed this movie. This is entertaining and well acted, I'm not sure how historically accurate it is, I've seen black and white grainey pictures of the real Bonnie and Clyde and I would describe them as "hillbilly white trash" looking. Of course this movie started a barrage of similar anti-hero movies of the 60's and 70's. Some were good, some were lousey, but I'll bet none of them were historically accurate. But, I suppose if the truth were told nobody would pay to see it. Enjoy!

Bonnie and Clyde.......2007-02-11

I've been looking everywhere for this movie and finally thought of Amazon and there it was at a reasonable price. Very quick on the delivery and would use Amazon again anytime. Wonderful service. Thanks

Great Classic Gangster Flick.......2007-01-10

One of the greatest all time classic gangster flicks,with brilliant performances by the entire cast.

Intense and captivating.......2006-12-31

The Bonnie and Clyde legend is given some needed realism in this intense and captivating drama. Rather than the "fame" they have oft been given, their more brutal criminal side is made apparent to temper the legend. It is relatively accurate historically and truthfull in the portrayal including the scene of their deaths in a lopsided gunbattle with law enforcement. An honest yet entertaining look at a life of crime that, in the end, leaves nothing to glorrify.

A picture that dares to be excessive!, .......2006-12-19

This hugely influential rural gangster thriller combined black comedy, graphic violence, and a sense of spiritual boredom and moral confusion induced by the cultural and economic poverty of the '30s Depression, to evoke the anti-establishment rebellion of the late '60s... Crucially, Penn's sympathetic view of the Barrow gang was not clouded by sentimentality, and the film's initially funny tone steadily darkens to end in chaotic, bloody carnage...

'Bonnie and Clyde' is not a film about two real people famous for so many bank robberies and murders across the big country... It shows a new kind of violence in which people could be hurt by guns, when Bonnie is shot to death in the end, it really looks as though heavy duty bullets are ripping into her...

'Bonnie and Clyde', however, manages to convey the impression that these two youngsters enjoyed themselves robbing banks and stores... It also implies that it was very easy for them to fool the law - as certainly happened in real life... Though retribution caught up with them, audiences laughed at their exploits and wanted them to escape...

Since then, the screen has enlarged upon this violent mood... Censorship, too, has relaxed in United States of America and Europe... Today it is possible for the bad guys to evade their punishments - something which could never have happened even in the times of 'Scarface,' and 'Public Enemy.'

In 'Bonnie and Clyde,' Penn created a mood, an evocation of the 1930s filtered through his 1960s sensibility...

The sense of period in 'Bonnie and Clyde' reflects Penn's vision of how the 1930s Depression-era seemed, and for all the zany style and banjo score, this vision is highly personal...

What is also personal about 'Bonnie and Clyde' and constitutes its unique flavor, is its unusual mixture of comedy and horror, its poetry of crime as something that is fun, and that also leads to violent bloody deaths...

'Bonnie and Clyde' is both real and abstract... It is a gangster movie and a comedy-romance... It is a comedy that turns dark, a romance that ends with death...

An alternation between fun and darkness is important to the structure of the film... In their second bank robbery, a daring and cheerful action goes sour when Clyde is forced to shoot the bank manager, and real blood gushes from his face...

Bonnie and Clyde take adolescent pleasure posing for photographs with their captive, but when cornered by police in a motel, they turn into vicious outlaws fighting for their lives... C. W. Moss, particularly, evokes Baby Face Nelson, when he kills policemen with a blazing machine gun...

One of the poignant moments in the film occurs when Clyde chases Bonnie through a golden corn field, while a cloud crosses the sun and slowly shadows the landscape... Here the flavor of the Texas countryside and the dim mood of the story are both expressed... The famous reunion scene is taken from a certain distance but urned into an emotional, beautiful piece...

This kind of mythic, abstract, nostalgic flavor of the depression is evoked again when C.W drives the gang members into an Okie camp and the homeless farmers come around the car to look with fear and respect at the legendary outlaws...

The final "ballet of blood" has an extraordinary effect upon audiences too... Penn courts condemnation and risks disaster by putting so personal and unorthodox a conception upon the screen...

Penn's masterpiece was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture... It only won two, One for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and another for Best Cinematography)...

Average customer rating:

Received the wrong edition
A CLASSIC ROAD FILM
You get what you settle for...
A Briliant Piece Of Cinema. One Of The Best Movies I've Ever Seen.
Don't sweat it. Women have secrets. Water is wet, the sky is blue, and women have secrets

Thelma & Louise (Special Edition)
Starring: Susan Sarandon , Geena Davis , Harvey Keitel , Michael Madsen , and Christopher McDonald
Director: Ridley Scott
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00007BKVC
Release Date: 2003-02-04

Amazon.com essential video

Thelma & Louise is a feminist manifesto writ large on the big screen, a smart and funny gender reversal of the standard Hollywood buddy formula, a road movie extraordinaire, with characters who became instant cultural icons. No matter how you define it, Ridley Scott's 1991 box-office hit pinched a nerve and made the cover of national news magazines for tweaking gender politics like no movie before or since. Callie Khouri's screenplay overhauls the buddy formula with its story about two best friends (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) who embark on a liberating adventure that turns into an interstate police chase after a traumatic incident makes both women into fugitives; they are en route to a destiny they could never have imagined. The perfect casting of Sarandon and Davis makes Thelma & Louise a movie for the ages, and Brad Pitt became an overnight star after his appearance as the con-artist cowboy who gives Davis a memorable (but costly) night in a roadside motel. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Directed by action master Ridley Scott (Hannibal, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) from an Oscar(r)-winning* screenplay by Callie Khouri, Thelma & Louise is an "exhilarating" (The Washington Post), full-throttle adventure hailed as one of the best road movies of all time! Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star as accidental outlaws on a desperate flight across the Southwest after a tragic incident at a roadside bar. With a determined detective (Harvey Keitel) on their trail, a sweet-talking hitchhiker (Brad Pitt) in their path and a string of crimes in their wake, their journey alternates between hilarious, high-speed thrill ride and empowering personal odyssey even as the law closes in. *1991: Original Screenplay

Customer Reviews:

Received the wrong edition.......2007-03-19

The movie deserves five stars, but the reason I'm writing is because Amazon has this DVD mislabeled as the Special Edition when, in fact, it is actually the standard edition. I ordered the SE, but received the standard edition. I returned the item and told Amazon other reviewers had complained about receiving the wrong edition as well. I hope they correct the error.

A CLASSIC ROAD FILM.......2007-03-14

What everyone says about THELMA AND LOUISE is right on the money; it's one of my favorites. As for this Special Edition: Included are 1) the widescreen (2:35) edition of the film (best seen on a big-screen TV), 2) two commentary tracks, one with director Ridley Scott, the second with Geena Davis, Susan Sarandon and writer Callie Khouri, 3) deleted and extended scenes with footage markers, and 4) the original extended ending with commentary by Scott. The four making-of documentaries, multi-angle storyboards and musicvideo are not on this disc. Is there a two-disc version of this with the extra material?

You get what you settle for..........2007-03-09

The very best line in "Thelma and Louise" is when Louise tells Thelma, "you get what you settle for." I have quoted that line time and time again to my children, friends, family, etc. There are many such literary gems contained within the writing of this wonderful movie.

Virginia Slims specifically marketed carcingenic tobacco products to millions of women by promising them "you've come a long way, baby," but we really haven't come as far as we should have. Thelma and Louise illustrates that very point with fine accuracy and almost too-close-to-reality dialogue.

I was so enamored of this movie that I purchased it and then watched it with each of my three daughters. After the movie, we had a discussion about why this was such an important film. The ending of "Thelma and Louise" is unspeakably sad but it too makes a powerful point about the futility and frustration of a woman's lot, even in our modern times.

The movie is very well written and provides painfully honest portrayals of marriage, men, women and their relationships.

A Briliant Piece Of Cinema. One Of The Best Movies I've Ever Seen........2007-02-26

I watched "Thelma & Louise" knowing it was one of the most highly acclaimed films of the 1990s'. So my expectations were already quite high when I started it. By the time it was over, to say it had met my expectations was an understatement.

"Thelma & Louise" is one of the finest movies I've ever seen. In terms of acting, pacing, writing, cinematography and soundtrack, it is perfect in all aspects. The two main characters could've easily been cliched 2-D cutout rip-offs of Bonnie & Clyde or Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, but the script injects them with enough originality and depth to set them apart. This is also thanks to the the fantastic performances of the two leads, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, who put on tow of the finest performances in all of cinema. They are backed by a solid supporting cast including Michael Madsen and the incomparable Harvey Keitel, as well as early breakthrough role by Brad Pitt.

The plot could've also been one dimensional and uninteresting, but writer Callie Khouri again made ot sparkle with inventive sequences, a solid mix of action, laughter and drama, and crackling dialogue.

And the direction by cinematic auteur Ridley Scott is audacious. The last sequence is one of the most beauotful images in cinema, and it brought a bit of a tear to my eye.

The special edition of this film is a must for all its fans, and the film itself should eb seen by all true cinema buffs.

Don't sweat it. Women have secrets. Water is wet, the sky is blue, and women have secrets.......2007-01-10

I've been doing some thinking, and as I look at the careers of directors Ridley Scott and his brother Tony, I wonder if Greg Araki's "Mysterious Skin" is at all based on their lives.

(If you're unfamiliar with the plot of Araki's film, click over to the Amazon summary then meet me back here.)

Hi.

So, maybe similar circumstances happen with a lot of men, and Araki just picked up an archetype. But check out 1991: Ridley, director of "Alien" releases "Thelma and Louise," one of the greatest feminist films of all time. That same year, Tony Scott, director of "Top Gun," the most homoerotic movie of all time (according to Quentin Tarantino), releases the bloody football actioner "The Last Boy Scout," one of the most misogynistic films of the past decade.

So, I figure if these two work on a movie together again its storyline will fit somewhere between "Mysterious Skin" and "Alien vs Predator." It will take place in the desert, and everyone on screen will be dead by the end, with the possible exception of an ugly Electra. There's an interview with the two brothers in a recent issue of "Post," so maybe a collaboration is in the near future.

"Thelma and Louise" is a hallmark in cinema history, one of the greatest girl power movies ever made. Every man in it is a possessive, scheming creep (save Harvey Keitel as an understanding detective, and, to an extent, Michael Madsen as Louise's musician husband), and every creep gets his comeuppance. All of the scenes are beautifully and meticulously composed -- the filmmakers do an amazing job making shots that must've taken hours to prepare seem as natural and effortless as the good ol'girl banter between Sarandon and Davis. The famous ending, which would have been depressing or dishonest in the hands of someone less skilled, is genuinely uplifting without compromising any of the dignity and freedom T&L have discovered during their journey. The inclusion of B.B. King's "Better Not Look Down" before their final leap of faith definitely helps.

Ridley Scott's films seem to have more warmth, more humanity than T.S., which has me coming back to them more frequently. Tony's films are colder, flashier, more misanthropic. "The Last Boy Scout" exists in an emotional vacuum, excepting the dull rage running through every scene. The film's only noteworthy aspect is an early performance by Halle Berry as a dancing cowgirl (She is gunned down early in the film.)

Any doubt about T.S. being more obnoxious and condescending than his sibling was erased by the inclusion of Pat Boone's "Moody River" during the film's credits. Here's a sample:

"No longer can I live
With this hurt and this sin
I just couldn't tell you
That guy was just a friend."

How does T.S. keep getting away with the subversive homoerotic stuff in these macho action films? I would've never noticed if Tarantino first hadn't pointed out the "Wingman Anytime" analogy in "Top Gun." I don't know about you, but I just wanted to lift weights.

Anyway, I think Ridley Scott's films, particularly "Thelma and Louise" and "G.I. Jane" are subversive -- they're absurdist yet humanist. I believe Ridley wants the men who see these "feminist" films to make him look very silly. After seeing males portrayed as intolerant, monstrous caricatures, I bet he'd be pleased if audience members turned to their partners and said, "he doesn't know what he's talking about. Watch me treat you sweet."

On the other hand, these "empowering" films could be intended by some as a dulling narcotic, keeping kept women kept. Watching is chosen over the actual exhilaration of flying the coup. Near the end of the film, while T&L cruise through the Arizona desert, Thelma describes a feeling which I think everyone, male or female should experience at least once in their life (preferably without the death and destruction). It's a feeling of freedom and optimism I suspect Tony Scott still hasn't experienced, and I suspect he envies his brother's ability to convey it so effortlessly during this film. Further projecting onto Tony, I suspect this deficiency eats at him, drives him to make angry films like "Man on Fire," and feeds his "Deja Vu."

Here's the scene:

THELMA: You awake?
LOUISE: You could call it that. My eyes are open.
THELMA: Me too. I feel awake.
LOUISE: Good.
THELMA: Wide awake. I don't remember ever feelin' this awake. Everything looks different. You know what I mean. I know you know what I mean. Everything looks new. Do you feel like that? Like you've got something to look forward to?
LOUISE: We'll be drinkin' margaritas by the sea, Mamasita.

Hey, where are you girls, anyway?

Average customer rating:

Not What the Title Implies
mushroom-fueled mess
Warning - This movie is deeply violent and disturbing
discombobulated
Awe-inspiring.

Natural Born Killers
Starring: Woody Harrelson , Juliette Lewis , Tom Sizemore , Rodney Dangerfield , and Everett Quinton
Director: Oliver Stone
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003BDXG
Release Date: 2000-01-25

Amazon.com essential video

Oliver Stone would like to have the last word on America's media culture of voyeurism and violence, but whatever he's trying to say in this grisly, unconventional movie comes across terribly garbled. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play traveling serial killers who become television celebrities when a Geraldo-like personality (Robert Downey Jr.) turns their madness into the biggest story in the country. Stone extensively rewrote an original script by Quentin Tarantino, and he employs a mosaic of different film stocks, video, and pop pastiches to create a sense of blurred lines between visual phenomena. (The background on Lewis's character's life as an abused child, for instance, is presented as a sitcom starring Rodney Dangerfield.) But the result of these experiments is a pompous, even amateurish effort at grasping the reins of a real-life national debate. One almost wants to tell Stone to sit down and raise his hand next time if he thinks he has something to say. The controversial director would like Natural Born Killers to be nothing less than a monumental achievement, but it's one of the emptier entries in his filmography. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Not What the Title Implies.......2007-05-18

THIS IS NOT THE DIRECTORS CUT.

I give the Directors Cut 5 stars, and ordinarily I would give even the edited version at least 4, but when I purchased "The Oliver Stone Collection" edition of this movie, I assumed the movie contained therein would be the Directors Cut. IT IS NOT.

The deleted scenes are great to have, but those scenes were also contained in the old beat-up VHS of NBK I owned years and years ago and lost. Attempting to replace it (my DIRECTORS CUT version), I bought this one on DVD. I was extremely disappointed that this is not the version I had come to love.

Very little of the movie is deleted, but purists seeking to obtain the TRUE version of this movie should stay away. Remember when Robert Downey Jr. gets a hole shot in his hand? Gone (or at least cut away far faster than it's supposed to). Remember when Tommy Lee Jones gets his head mounted on a stick? Gone. These are just two examples.

For those of you specifically seeking the Directors Cut, this is not it. I love this movie to death, but I was looking for something specific and did not get it. Very misleading labeling, if you ask me.

mushroom-fueled mess.......2007-03-25

it amazes me that people give this mushroom eater money to make crapola like this.
I usually like Harrrelson, J. Lewis is (very often) terrific in everything she does--but here, man, both are UN-NATURAL, stiff--and not to be taken serious at all. Nothing that happens in this flick has a flicker of believability.
I'd say this is another one for the trash--except I have way too much respect for the late, great Rodney Dangerfield to do that. Too bad his appearance is nothing more than a cameo here.

Lastly, I liked Platoon just fine when I saw it many years ago; it was right on the mark, authentic...however, this effort here is one, big, bogus mess. It seems somebody's had too damn many mushrooms...or something.

Warning - This movie is deeply violent and disturbing.......2007-03-15

This is one of the most haunting movies i have ever seen, It is one of my favorites. Those of you who havent seen this, read the warning above. If you like Tarentino-ish movies like yours truly, than watch it. The riot scene at the end of the movie gives me chills every time I watch it.

discombobulated.......2007-03-08

i always wanted to use that word (discombobulated) for a movie and this movie is a perfect one. everything from the soundtrack to violence and the cameo appearence from the late Rodney Dangerfield all turn this bizarre movie into a success. it felt as if you really took a trip into the mind of a couple of maniacs, in a way that they saw the world.

not for everyone is an understatement. If violence isn't a problem, go ahead and watch. There are plenty of trip scenes where i almost felt like either this movie or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was copying each other somewhat (not sure which one came out first and don't feel like looking it up)

nevertheless, i loved this movie for a long time. it had the perfect soundtrack picked for it as well as many memorable scenes. it was one movie you can't erase from your brain so if you haven't watched it yet, the name alone should let you know what it's about if it wasn't obvious enough. I think the reason so many people didn't like it is because the movie jumps around quite a bit, feeling very disconnected. Of course, that was the effect the director was going for so you could feel what these two nutty a--holes were going through. i say in that aspect, he succeeded.

Awe-inspiring........2007-02-28

Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994)

I never really expected all that much from Natural Born Killers. All the reviews I've read have spent thousands of words going on and on about what a scathing indictment of American media culture this movie is as if it's the only thing about the movie that matters. That'll teach me to listen to reviewers. What's great about Natural Born Killers is that, within the space of Stone's ham-handed assault on the media, there are two characters who have a real relationship. We see how that relationship unfolds, in all its ugly glory. And that's what will keep you riveted.

This doesn't feel like an Oliver Stone movie, really. He deals with the basic nastiness of his premise in a dadaesque fashion more reminiscent of David Lynch or Peter Jackson than Oliver Stone; the uglier the scene he's depicting, the more over-the-top he gets. The cast is more than ready to ham it up with him. Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis make perfect thrill-killers, but it's some of the minor characters who really shine here. Who knew Rodney Dangerfield could project such an air of depraved menace? Tommy Lee Jones and Tom Sizemore, whose characters could have easily been cardboard cutouts representing the corruption of the law enforcement, are three-dimensional (though Jones' character never misses a chance to play to stereotype). Everyone seems as if they're having a great time. Kind of odd given that mass murder is the subject of the movie, but there you go.

Capping that is the direction, which is exceptional throughout. The film comes across as thoroughly frenetic, partially because Stone manhandled five hundred more cuts into this movie than there are in Dawn of the Dead (which held the previous record), and Natural Born Killers is almost half an hour shorter. The movie plays like an adrenaline rush-- which is, of course, exactly what Stone intended. It pounds away at the viewer, merciless and relentless; it may be the only film extant capable of leaving an audience physically exhausted after doing nothing more than sitting in a comfortable chair for two hours.

Somehow, after all these words, I've only touched the tip of the iceberg about Natural Born Killers. Since I'm running out of room, I'll just have to say "trust me-- this was one of the best American films of the 1990s." **** ½

Average customer rating:

Douglas on top form
Life vs Foster
loss
Our Greatest Fear.
ive seen this movie 300 times

Falling Down
Starring: Michael Douglas , Robert Duvall , Barbara Hershey , Tuesday Weld , and Rachel Ticotin
Director: Joel Schumacher
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0790742780
Release Date: 1999-10-26

Amazon.com

This film, about a downsized engineer (Michael Douglas) who goes ballistic, triggered a media avalanche of stories about middle-class white rage when it was released in 1993. In fact, it's nothing more than a manipulative, violent melodrama about one geek's meltdown. Douglas, complete with pocket protector, nerd glasses, crewcut, and short-sleeved white shirt, gets stuck in traffic one day near downtown L.A. and proceeds to just walk away from his car--and then lose it emotionally. Everyone he encounters rubs him the wrong way--and a fine lot of stereotypes they are, from threatening ghetto punks to rude convenience store owners to a creepy white supremacist--and he reacts violently in every case. As he walks across L.A. (now there's a concept), cutting a bloody swath, he's being tracked by a cop on the verge of retirement (Robert Duvall). He also spends time on the phone with his frightened ex-wife (Barbara Hershey). Though Douglas and Duvall give stellar performances, they can't disguise the fact that, as usual, this is another film from director Joel Schumacher that is about surface and sensation, rather than actual substance. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Douglas on top form.......2007-07-03

This is easily Michael Douglas's best ever acting performance. In Falling Down he is a man on the very edge of a complete breakdown. The problem is that anybody who upsets him is likely to come off badly.

At the start of the film we see 'D-Fens' (Douglas) in his car in a non-moving traffic jam. Its a boiling hot day, his air-conditionaing has packed up and everything is annoying him. Eventually he just walks away and leaves the car saying hes going home. Home it turns out is where his estranged wife and daughter live. To get there he has to walk miles and its his journey home that the core of the film revolves around. The set-pieces in this film are very well done. In particular his visit to a store to buy a pair of hiking boots is brilliantly done. Robert Duvall plays the Policeman (who is retiring that day) who realises that De-Fens is very dangerous indeed. Duvall as always is excellent and in an under-stated way matches Douglas's very edgy performance.

The film isn't without its faults. The message that D-Fens is cracking up is hammered home over and over, uneccessarily in my view. We can see this from D-Fens actions, so the frequent shots of people carrying placards emphasing this point weren't needed. However overall this is a well directed and very well written film.

Life vs Foster.......2007-04-19

William Foster is pretty much your average Joe with a nowhere job doing nothing much with life. "Falling Down" takes you into his world during the one day that he decides to fight back against life's trials. A traffic jam seems to be the trigger for what is a rollercoaster ride through the city, all the while Detective Prendergast is trying to track him down on his own last day before retirement.

This is a seriously powerful look at life just wearing someone down, and their explosion against it. I saw it as a comment on the soul-destroying, monotonous lives that a lot of people have, and the yearning for a reality that could never be. Foster seemed to live in an idealised past that was no more.

Michael Douglas is intense as William Foster, putting in a gritty and raw portrayal of a man fighting against the very world he lives in. While there are some humourous moments, mostly it is a shocking walk through the worst day of a man's life.

Not a film to go "Wow! That was cool!" about, "Falling Down" is a fantastic movie with real depth. I would recommend it to anyone who just felt like choking the living **** out of some smarmy shop assistant. One might be surprised at how relatable Foster is.

loss.......2007-04-11

A man pushed to the edge. But the way he finds a temporary reprieve from his situation...............is a roller coaster ride in itself. Michael Douglas steps out of his clean cut, do everything right image and what he does will leave you breathless...................

Our Greatest Fear........2007-04-09

In life we set our course and we put one foot in front of the other and we start along that chosen path. Every so often something comes along and pushes us one way or the other and we fight to remain on the path we've chosen. We hold on with tenacity, with hope and sometimes through sheer faith that everything will turn out like it's supposed to.

Michael Douglas does a fantastic job of playing the part of a man who is sort of yanked from his path, then as he tries to pretend that nothing has changed is given the final push towards oblivion. His actions seem to be those of a psychotic, but the end result, which he outlines for Robert Duvall at the end of the film, sadly, makes sense.

He realizes his path is gone, he realizes he is too broken to fix, but some good can still come from his lack of usefullness.

He does what we all fear doing while following that path we set for ourselves in life. He falls down and doesn't have it in himself to get back up.

ive seen this movie 300 times.......2007-04-04

ive seen this movie 300 times. and it gets better with each viewing.

Average customer rating:

Carey and company smash another homer
Don't Mess With Dick and Jane...
Not so fun the second time around.
Much better than the original
Run,Dick,run!

Fun with Dick and Jane
Starring: Jim Carrey , Téa Leoni , Alec Baldwin , Richard Jenkins , and Angie Harmon
Director: Dean Parisot
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000E8N8H0
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Amazon.com

Remakes are always a gamble, so it's a pleasant surprise that Fun with Dick and Jane pays off with unexpected dividends. It's as entertaining as the 1977 original starring George Segal and Jane Fonda, and the teaming of Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni makes this a safe bet for comedy fans, in spite of a slapstick screenplay that fails to achieve its fullest potential. Rather than attempt a darkly comedic send-up of the Enron scandal that left thousands of stockholders in financial ruin, director Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest) opts for a lighter, more accessible (read: commercial) satire of corporate greed and cynicism, beginning in the year 2000 when Dick (Carrey) gets a plum promotion as a mega-corporate communications director just as his boss (Alec Baldwin) is preparing to bail out before stock prices plummet. Dick's wife Jane (Leoni) has quit her job as a travel agent, so the corporate bombshell leaves them penniless and desperate, resorting to petty thievery and, eventually, plotting high-stakes revenge against the greedy executives who ruined their lives. As a send-up of financial distress in a ravaged post-Enron economy, Fun with Dick and Jane delivers laughs with just enough pointed humor to give it a strong satirical edge, and Carrey's reliable brand of zaniness is controlled enough to balance nicely with Leoni's more subtle (and woefully underrated) skills as a screen comedienne. And while the "special thanks" end-credits hint at the sharper, more biting satire this might have been, there's enough fun with Dick and Jane to make this recycled comedy worth a look. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Fun With Dick And Jane provides comic relief alongside a relevant look at today's corporate scandals. In the film, Dick Harpers' (Carrey) years of hard work finally pay off when he is promoted to vice president of Globodyne, a worldwide business leader. After exactly one day at his new job, Globodyne is destroyed, leaving him and his loving wife, Jane (Leoni) without financial security. This sudden reversal of fortune has left them both unprepared to give up their comfortable lifestyle and Dick comes up with the brilliant idea of turning to robbery to pay the bills. Utilizing newfound skills, Dick and Jane exact hilarious revenge while teaching big business a lesson.

Customer Reviews:

Carey and company smash another homer.......2007-05-09

A very economical film that mixes satire with goofy slapstick. Leoni gives
a decent performance, but has good chem w/ Jim. The film is exquisitely
paced and features an excellent soundtrack and songs. Odd twists such as the immigration adventure, working at "costmart", the final bank switcharoo and others keep the movie lively. Carey once again
plays his character to the tee and does not over act when required. Rack 'em! PS - See the toy store extra in the deleted scenes, I have no idea why this hilarious romp was cut!

Don't Mess With Dick and Jane..........2007-05-03

If you were to lose your job due to the evil machinations of your boss, what would you do to get payback? How far would you go to ensure that your family is taken care of financially? Would you be willing to steal for the money? Sell your body to science? Dress up like Sonny and Cher? Well, not everyone would be willing to go to those lengths, especially the latter, but that's how far Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni are willing to go in the hit comedy remake of "Fun with Dick and Jane".

"Fun with Dick and Jane" gives us a glimpse into the happy life of Dick and Jane Harper (Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni), a loving, middle class couple whose lives are turned upside down when Dick is terminated as Globodyne Corporation's VP of Communications after being set up by his boss (Alec Baldwin). After months of searching for new work Dick and Jane are at the end of their ropes; virtually everything they own has been repossessed, including their lawn, and both have tried to make money on the sides by having Jane sell her body to science and Dick working as a day laborer only to find himself temporarily deported to Mexico. Feeling increasingly desperate, this once happy couple turn to their last resort, stealing money from the rich and giving to the poor... basically themselves.

I really wanted to see this movie when it was initially released to theaters, but reviews from critics and average movie audiences weren't always so kind towards it. Thus leading me to doubt whether I wanted to pay the expensive cost of tickets to see what could possibly be just another comedy where all the funny parts are in the previews. So, I waited until its arrival on DVD, and upon renting and watching this movie I discovered that not only did I find the movie to be very funny, downright hilarious in some spots, but it also had a large amount of drama and heart as the characters dealt with a lagging income due to their current circumstances. I was really impressed by Jim Carrey in this movie, because he generally has a tendency to go over-the-top with most of his characters, but for this movie he stayed pretty even, and I thought that for the subject matter of a couple being down on their luck being such a highly relatable topic for many people, he played the role respectfully to those in that position. Tea Leoni did a wonderful job as the loving housewife whose watching her dream house and life being stripped away from her, and feels helpless to stop it from happening, but in all the insanity still providing the loving support her husband needs, even in some of the not-so-legal money making endeavors.

The story for "Fun with Dick and Jane" contained a very serious undertone, covered by comedy without being too nonchalant about the subject matter. The writers along with the director did a very good job of walking that fine line between being too serious and making a drama out of the movie and isolating Jim Carrey's core audience, while not being too light and comedic to make those that are in that position or have been feel as if they are being made light of. So, kudos to the creative team behind the film to find the proper balance to deliver a very solid comedy with the right amount of drama to make the whole movie believable and enjoyable to watch.

"Fun with Dick and Jane" is rated PG-13 for language.

Not so fun the second time around........2007-03-30

Fun with Dick and Jane starring Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni is a movie that just never got off the ground for me. The leads are a hoot and completely talented but the script does nothing to show how funny they are. I am so tired of Alec Baldwin, he is in every freakin' movie and t.v. show, who said he could act!? The original flim is so more unique and funnier. It's a shame this movie was such a disappontment, I was expecting so much more. The beginning and ending of the film were such a letdown but I am giving this movie three stars 'cause I love the leads and the middle of the movie did have some standout moments. This is a so-so flim so you be the judge of it.

Much better than the original.......2007-03-28

I wasn't a fan of the original with George Segal and Jane Fonda; their characters were cartoonish, and they spent most of their time in the film whining. Carrey and Leoni however are genuinely funny together, and I loved the running gag of their son speaking Spanish. I enjoyed the Enron spin they put on this update, even if it does lead to a fairy tale ending. Since the critics savaged this film, I wasn't expecting much. Sadly I should have known better than to listen to the critics, especially since almost every reputable critic praised the endless KING KONG remake by Peter Jackson to high heaven. By the second hour of that film, I was almost comatose. Luckily FUN WITH DICK AND JANE is a breezy, entertaining little film. An amusing way to spend ninety minutes. Check it out.

Run,Dick,run!.......2007-02-28

Fun with Dick and Jane is one of those moves that you just have to see again. Add that with the comic genious of Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni and you have one hell of a funny movie. Carrey plays Dick Harper,who is terminated from his job,Globodyne,after it crashes suddenly. The company's CEO,Jack McCallister,played by Alec Baldwin,is suspected. Meanwhile,Dick and Jane both hunt for jobs,and hit dead ends at every turn. Eventually,their lawn is taken away,Dick is off hunting for jobs in Mexico,and Jane has had some reconstructive surgery done. Pissed off,Dick and Jane start a new hobby:armed robbery, as they take back what was taken away from them. It all leads to a showdown with Jack McCallister as Dick seeks to get revenge on his destruction of Globodyne.All in all,a pleasing and funny family comedy

Average customer rating:

Good intentions ...
A tale of media
Good storyline, but weak tension setting...
Not Bad, but Not Great either
Couldn't finish watching this movie

15 Minutes (Infinifilm Edition)
Starring: Robert De Niro , Edward Burns , Kelsey Grammer , Avery Brooks , and Melina Kanakaredes
Director: John Herzfeld
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
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The Score
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ASIN: B00005LDDD
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Amazon.com

15 Minutes wants to be provocative, but it exists in an alternate reality where rules of logic and credibility no longer apply. In his underrated film 2 Days in the Valley, writer-director John Herzfeld wryly exposed the underbelly of California's San Fernando Valley, but in the artificial New York City of 15 Minutes, he attempts a timely mixture of satire and social commentary that's only marginally convincing. Herzfeld's premise is both vivid and valid in addressing the deterioration of morals in American mass media, but in exploring the dark side of fame, the last few minutes of Taxi Driver have more impact than this entire movie.

Robert De Niro stars as Eddie Flemming, a hotshot homicide detective whose current double-murder case teams him with arson investigator Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns). Their investigation leads to a pair of Eastern European nut-jobs (one Czech, one Russian) who've embarked on an impromptu killing spree--all captured on video by the Russian, who fancies himself an auteur of the American dream. In a pileup of contrivances, a reporter (Melina Kanakaredes) is also Eddie's girlfriend, and a tabloid TV host (Kelsey Grammer) seeks the killers' video with the scruples of Adolf Hitler. Blink and you'll miss Charlize Theron in a throwaway role, but that's nothing compared to the killing of a major character--a scene devoid of emotion that's more grist for the media mill. With appalling bloodlust, 15 Minutes sheds a sickening light on America's twisted character, but instead of illuminating, it only darkens the gloom. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Robert DeNiro (Meet The Parents, Analyse This) and Ed Burns (Any Given Sunday, Saving Private Ryan) star as two detectives on the trail of two killers who videotape their crimes.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by director John Herzfeld
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes
Documentaries:"True Tabloid" and "Does Crime Really Pay?" documentaries.
Featurette:"Oleg's Video," actual video footage captured from actor Oleg Taktarov's perspective.
Interviews
Music Video:God Lives Underwater "Fame" Music Video
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Good intentions ..........2007-01-28

The title of this movie refers to the well known American saying of someone having their "15 minutes of fame" and of course the media are only too happy to keep the myth alive. The moral bankruptcy of the media is at the core of this movie, intertwined with the flaws of the judicial system.

Oleg and Emil respectively are a Russian and a Czech, that want to make it in the US with their very personal version of living the American dream. They videotape a series of murders and try to hock these fruits of their labour to the media. Lighting their way on the road of this American tradition is a notorious criminal who had been found guilty on a series of murders, manages to get an insanity plee and subsequently sells the rights to his story in a million dollar deal.

Attempts to obstruct Oleg and Emil in achieving their goal is Eddie Flemming (de Niro), police detective, media celebrity, flamboyant and experienced who always does well in front of a camera with juicy stories and arrests. He's put on their case and finds himself partnered with fire inspector Jordy Warsaw (Edward Burns) who gets involved after one of Oleg and Emil's pr-stunts includes torching an entire appartment block, with its inhabitants still inside that is.I will not give away how it all ends, but will divulge that a pretty big surprise is in store for de Niro's character.

On first sight it's pretty standard Hollywood fare and in part that's true, the obligatory ingredients to a crime story are there. What lifts the movie just a notch above the average are four things:
- The excellent cast
- The sharp attack on the media
- The equally sharp attack on the judicial system
- The manipulation of the audience

The latter I should explain: The viewer is manipulated into feeling sympathy to some degree for the two villains who commit the most terrible and atrocious crimes, giving him a firsthand experience as to how easy it is that these kind of psychopaths can become media "heroes". It reminds us of our own dark side, the fascination we have for this kind of criminals, we want to see and it's never enough, the way people look at someone, just to pick a real event I read in a newspaper, being kicked to death and everybody looking on transfixed but no one interferes and not just only out of fear. Man has a dark fascination with violence and crime, if that weren't the case, then all these reality cop tv shows wouldn't have the ratings they have and they would have disappeared from tv. The fact that these kind of shows, covering the whole spectrum from petty crime to the most serious variety (like a documentary series portraying the most notorious US serial killers), have only increased in popularity over the years, which saids enough.

In this light I believe we should very much understand that an accusation towards the media indirectly is also a moral finger pointing at us and to me that is the most important effect of the movie, though one may easily choose to ignore this aspect and simply come to the conclusion of having watched an average cops & robbers movie.

Unfortunately there's also a lot to be said against this movie: its themes have been addressed before and in most ways I regret to say much better. Films like "Broadcast News" and "Network" come to mind when it comes to critically focussing on the media, while a movie like "Natural Born Killers" like this movie links the glorification of violence in the media with our own part in it and in a far superior way than "15 Minutes".
De Niro is acting on auto-pilot and has effectively the movie stolen from him by the dynamic duo Karel Roden and Oleg Taktarov, both quite unknown at the time. Naturally they couldn't leave well enough alone and a contrived love story was thrown into the already convoluted mix.

Nevertheless it's a movie that is worth a look, but I don't think it will stand many repeated viewings.

A tale of media.......2006-08-12

On the lines of Wag the Dog, but nowhere near as powerfully satiric/dark, is 15 Minutes. The basic undercurrent of the movie is the theme of media, its influence on people and the kind of perceptions & distortions that it can create. Somewhere, at least in the screenplay, there is a bit of lampooning of the USofA, not just the way the media controls people, but also in the aspect of the legal systems - the double jeopardy law & the "unable to stand trial" on grounds of insanity and stuff. Having said that, the movie does provide a sharp look into media & its effects in one dimension.
In the backdrop of this scenario comes yet another strong performance by De Niro & Burns. The characters are well fleshed out and played quite well by their cast. The liberal smattering of Czech & Russian influences gives the movie an interesting twist. And therein is threaded the plot, two guys coming to the US as tourists and trying to make it rich quick by beating the system. There are elements of the movie which are cliched & trite, which tend to take away from a serious theme, but in the interest of 'masala' viewability, I guess these foibles can be passed over and the movie enjoyed well.
15 minutes - definitely worth a watch, slightly violent though.

Good storyline, but weak tension setting..........2006-07-04

I was surprised by this movie. It is the first Robert DeNiro movie that I did not really enjoy. I thought the "reporter" character was overacted, and I've never enjoyed this actor's work, including the long running Cheers show, and the spinoff show in Seattle.

SPOILERS ALERT:
Robert DeNiro dying half way through, was quite a shock. I actually bought it, to enjoy Robert DeNiro's acting.

I thought it was over-violent for the storyline. I know that seems strange, being a DeNiro film. But, I thought it was overkill. I thought the actions towards the females were blantantly overkill as well.

I would not recommend this film to anyone wishing to enjoy a Robert DeNiro movie as I was. I would say that it is "interesting" at the most.

Not recommended.

MC White said: Not recommended.

Not Bad, but Not Great either.......2005-04-21

15 Minutes was a bit of a disappointment considering the makeup of the cast: Robert De Niro, Avery Brooks (Star Trek DS9's Commander Sisko), and Kelsey Grammer among others. The film brings to the screen the story of two Eastern Europeans who arrive in the US to pay a visit to an old acquaintance of theirs living in NYC. Things get more complicated when they soon realize that they can use the system to their advantage in order to carry out their sinister plans and get their "15 minutes" of fame.
In short, the acting is pretty good/above average (but nothing great), the plot is about average, while the dialogues are average and sometimes way below average; the common denominator being "average."

On the positive side, the film does shed light on such important current issues as the excessive amount of power, the often manipulative, media and lawyers have, not to mention that it acknowledges several loopholes in the American legal system; all of which being in desperate need of immediate attention.
Moreover, it was a pleasant surprise to see all those "guest appearances," (Charlize Theron, Kim Cattrall etc).
Furthermore, Noelle Evans was definitely "honey" and so were Vera Farmiga, and Irina Gasanova; Well Done!

On the negative side, the fireman (arson investigator) being completely useless became rather annoying rather quickly.
Moreover, the chase outside the hair salon was badly done, with both the police and the villains at the start of the scene with too short a distance between them i.e. realisticaly, the "bad guys" should have been caught with great ease!
Also, kidnapping the prime murder suspect from the midst of the police was a little far fetched!
In addition, it seems like the chemistry between Robert De Niro and Edward Burns is not all that great. To that, one has to add some poor dialogues and some bad choices of lines that the actors are given. The rest of the cast carry out their performances well.
Finally and most importantly, Eastern Europeans, especially Russians, are fast falling prey to those who would portray them as villains (if male) or prostitutes (if female), in part due to their being viewed as "easy" and "convenient" targets. This way one easily avoids the hassle from other more powerful and influential minorities that seem to be running the show lately.

In a nutshell, it's probably not a movie you would want to add to your collection, but it will provide for an evening's entertainment. 3½ Stars
No masterpiece here.

Couldn't finish watching this movie.......2005-04-19

Too many cliches and cliched wisecracks to the point of being annoying.

Average customer rating:

It's about time this DVD was released!
Another Altman Gem
Slow-moving 'Thieves' finally captured on DVD
Another Altman Classic
One of the reasons Altman's considered a genius.....

Thieves Like Us
Starring: Keith Carradine , Shelley Duvall , John Schuck , Bert Remsen , and Louise Fletcher
Director: Robert Altman
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
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ASIN: B000MTFFPO
Release Date: 2007-04-17

Amazon.com

Every few years Robert Altman gets rediscovered by critics and audiences, yet somehow this middle-period gem remains underviewed. It's hard to understand why. In 1974, when he made Thieves Like Us, Altman was in top form. He'd recently made McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Long Goodbye, and the next year would bring Nashville, his touchstone masterwork. As with his other films, Thieves Like Us at first has a homemade immediacy, chugging along like back-porch skiffle music. Set in the Midwest of the 1930s, early scenes between the three thieves (Keith Carradine, Bert Remsen, and John Schuck) feel like silent-movie era routines about a trio of affable farm boys turned bank robbers. Altman's subject--the "thistledown" critic Pauline Kael once described as Altman's real material--emerges by degrees. The story of hell-bent innocents devolves into a tale of the spell cast over the boys by the newspaper stories that mythologize them. (They turn a corner when their pictures appear in an issue of Real Detective.) The string of bank robberies, interlaced with episodes of a shy romance between Carradine and his Coke-sucking girl, Keechie (Shelley Duvall), becomes an agrarian noir by way of Madame Bovary. These thieves lived just at the point when American pop culture was emerging; the cities may have had Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra, but in the Altmanesque countryside sheet music was wallpaper and what pulled were radio serials such as Gangbusters. Compared at the time to Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, Thieves Like Us now seems singular, a fable of fatal crime and punishment amid barbershop-quartet music and cricket song. --Lyall Bush

Description

The film follows the exploits of three recent prison escapees who become wanted after a string of bank robberies. While on the lam, the youngest member of the group falls for a girl and must balance his newfound love affair with the loyalty he has to his crew. Altman tells an honest story of ordinary people who fell into a life of crime because it was the only thing they knew how to do.

Customer Reviews:

It's about time this DVD was released!.......2007-06-19

This was the first Robert Altman film I ever saw. The realistic re-creation of the period and the "no-acting" acting sucked me right in, thereby 'hooking' me on Altman (and Altman-ish) films forever.

The remarkable transformation of Shelley Duvall's "Keechy" from greasy-haired, floppy-eared picayune in the background to Leading Lady is one of the elements of the film which make it unforgettable.

Louise Fletcher is flawless as the matron Mattie, cautioning her children to mind their manners even as bad news looms darkly over the dinner table.

The DVD of "Thieves Like Us" came from seemingly nowhere -- Can "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," "Welcome to L.A." "Remember My Name" and "Health" be far behind?

Bring them on!

Another Altman Gem.......2007-05-12

I would have loved the pitch meeting for this film. I'm sure the studio honchoes had "Bonnie and Clyde" dancing in their heads with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway and a ballet of bullets. Their jaws must have dropped when they got...Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall. All kidding aside this Depression era bankrobber saga is a great mood piece. Director Robert Altman isn't so much concerned with the visceral but with charaterization. Carradine and Duvall are certainly fine as our perfunctory "protagonists" but the real story is the supporting players. John Shuck is great as Carradine's moody hard drinking co-hort. Bert Remsen is even better as a gimpy banrobber who after every bank job adds five more to his running count. Louise Fletcher is understatement personified as a motel owner who shelters the crew. "Thieves Like Us" is definitely a picture worth checking out. Bring on "Brewster McCloud". As a sidebar, the cover photo on the DVD is sure misleading. I can't remember Shelley Duvall wearing anything but a dowdy dress throughout the whole movie.

Slow-moving 'Thieves' finally captured on DVD .......2007-05-04

"Thieves" is getting its first U.S. release on DVD. Robert Altman convinced UA to finance the pet project by promising to do its country music project "Nashville" (which the studio later discarded!).

Keith Carradine and Shelley Duvall star in the tale of some 1930s band robbers who are just plain folks, unless they're packing heat. The movie's leisurely narrative means a lot of the time we're lying low with the gang (Carradine, John Schuck and Bert Remsen), playing with the kids and watching the dishes get washed. In a great touch, the soundtrack is made up of radio shows from the era, like "The Shadow." "The pace is different than you'd do (today)," Altman says in an equally leisurely DVD commentary recorded in the mid-'90s. "Unless it was a film out of Europe or something."

Altman recruited cinematographer Jean Boffety, in part because the Frenchman actually was excited about photographing backwoods Mississippi. Altman went in for a lot of "screendoor" atmospherics and dewy greens. "It feels like an old movie," the director observed, watching it two decades later. Also, "These people (onscreen lovers Carradine and Duvall) weren't big stars." The story came from the novel by Edward Anderson, which Altman and screenplay collaborator Joan Tewkesbury followed closely. Then, it was off to "Nashville."

The DVD looks just OK. Audio is fine.

Another Altman Classic.......2007-04-17

Nice to see this classic finally get a DVD release in the US. Altman was at the top of his game in the early 70s (between MASH and Nashville) and this movie fits in perfectly alongside such classics as McCabe & Mrs Miller, The Long Goodbye and California Split. Great performances from Shelley Duvall and Keith Carradine dominate this gangster film that's much more interested in the two young lovers than in bullets or blood.

A must-see for all Altman fans. For collectors, be forewarned by the short shelf-life of the California Split DVD and grab your copy now.

One of the reasons Altman's considered a genius............2006-12-09

This movie, a better rendition, if you ask me, of the whole "Bonnie & Cllyde" type of story, with Shelley Duvall practically owning the movie as Keechie, the quirky love interest of Keith Carradine's Bowie in this film, was made THIRTY-THREE YEARS AGO by the late, legendary Robert Altman. All things seem to come together nicely in this film: the art direction, something which Altman and his protegé Alan Rudolph were noted for on generally small budgets; the acting, by Duvall, Carradine, Remsen, Schuck and Fletcher; the cinematography, which is flawless and denouement, which flows like clear water to its final destination.

Remsen, Carradine and Schuck play bank robbers in this movie, but Altman takes pains not to portray them as monsters, with the possible exception of Schuck's character. Bowie is parlayed by Carradine as a sensitive, good-humored, "aw shucks" type who woos the rail-thin, down-home Keechie all through the movie. Remsen's character, "T-Dub", is portrayed as a bit of a randy old man, but essentially good natured. It is only Schuck's character that gets the standard "criminal [...]" treatment in the film, as a drunken, abusive and violent type. The upshot of this all is, BOWIE is the one who's a convicted murderer, but in the film, he's as gentle as a lamb with Keechie and the children he comes in contact with, all related to "T-Dub" and Louise Fletcher in one way or another.

Duvall's Keechie is her best role to date! Nobody can wield a rocking chair like her! Keechie falls for Bowie, (in fact, Carradine's Bowie is an awful lot like his character in "Trouble in Mind", a thief who wants to keep his family out of it,) and loses it when the inevitable happens at the end.

This was the kind of film Hollywood did beautifully in the 70s...the nostalgia movie that somehow managed to replicate earlier eras like they had somehow rigged up a time machine to transport whole audiences to the period. There isn't one anachronism or historical inaccurancy to speak of, and the radio shows, especially, some so obscure, I'm sure Newton Minnow would have had a hard time placing them, help establish the feel for the era.

A fitting tribute to a filmmaker whose later ouvre was a bit wanting. Joan Tewksbury also helped adapt this novel to the screen. Rent or buy...you can't lose.

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Happy with Lone Wolf McQuade
An Old Favorite
LONEWOLF MCQUADE
Chuck Norris is the man!!!
Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people.

Lone Wolf McQuade
Starring: Chuck Norris , David Carradine , Barbara Carrera , Leon Isaac Kennedy , and Robert Beltran
Director: Steve Carver
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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