A Family Affair

Starring:Mark DeWhitt, Arlene Golonka, Michele Greene, Joel Hepner, Tracy Hughes (III), Ellen Lawler, Don Loper (II), Michael McGee (II), Suzi Miller, Michael Moerman (II), Kelly Neill, David Radford, Erica Shaffer, Jack Silbaugh, Barbara Stuart, Sue Wakefield, Suzanne Westenhoefer, Keith E. Wright
Studio: Wolfe Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Kate Winslet operates at a galaxy-class level in Little Children, Todd Field's gratifyingly grown-up look at unhappy suburbia. Winslet is magnificent, in an Oscar-nominated performance, as a stroller-pushing mom who becomes attracted to a passive househusband (Patrick Wilson). Their slow-burning infidelity (Field wisely allows time to pass in this unhurried film) is contrasted with a more sensational subplot, about a convicted pedophile (Jackie Earle Haley, also Oscar nominated) returning to the neighborhood to live with his mother (Phyllis Somerville). Field, who brought his civilized approach to In the Bedroom, uses a deliberately literary style here, including a device with a narrator who sounds as though he's sitting at our side as he reads from Tom Perotta's novel. (The narrator is a superb touch--his cultivated voice distances us from the sloppy passions of the characters.) The film's biggest miscalculation is a self-appointed neighborhood vigilante (Noah Emmerich) determined to make life miserable for the pedophile. But Wilson is appropriately nebulous, Jennifer Connelly solid as his wife, and Haley (child star of the Bad News Bears movies), as the creepy, childlike molester, found himself rediscovered after a long career layoff. There's decent acting here, but Winslet is in a zone of her own, with so much emotional honesty and subtlety of expression that she transforms a good movie into a must-see. --Robert Horton

Description

Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Wilson star in the Academy Award nominated film Little Children, the latest work from Oscar-nominated writer/director Todd Field. Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, Little Children centers on a handful of middle-class suburban parents whose lives unravel in the wake of an adulterous affair.

Customer Reviews:

Good tale that could have been treated better.......2007-07-05

"Little Children," adapted from the novel of the same name, is a movie about suburbia, what lies beneath the surface and the sympathetic battles we all have to overcome whatever they be. Jackie Earle Haley excellently captures an uneasy pedophile, otherwise, the acting is competent, but not fantastic. The script is also adequate enough. The problem with "Little Children" is it doesn't appropriately rise to either its potential or its source material. What "Little Children" needs is slickness, flash and flow to highlight the message it is trying to bring across and the tremendous talent behind it. The movie needs to better deliver its product. As it is, it is very wooden and hard to digest. The movie needs to set up better and pull harder on the heartstrings.

Life in Your Head.......2007-07-03

"Little Children" captured my imagination. I found the characters fascinating. Each person seemed to be so isolated, living inside their head. Todd Field who directed the bold and dramatic "In the Bedroom" does an incredible job. He and book author Tom Perrotta deservedly earned Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. Sarah Pierce played by Kate Winslet loves her daughter, but isn't having much fun at being a mommy or a wife. Her husband has his own private life lurking at internet websites and ordering worn panties in the mail to spur his fantasy life. Both are incredibly isolated. Contrast this to the other couple with Jennifer Connelly playing Kathy Adamson who is lost in her work as a documentary filmmaker and so wrapped up in being a mommy that their child sleeps in their bed, literally creating a barrier between husband and wife. Patrick Wilson, who is also very good in "Evening" with Claire Danes, Vanessa Redgrave & Glenn Close, plays Brad, a young stay-at-home father who has twice failed the bar exam to become a lawyer. He isn't certain he wants to be a lawyer and spends evenings watching skateboarding teenagers. The park where they meet is populated with judgmental urban wives who call Brad the "prom king" because he's a good-looking young father who fuels their fantasies. Marsha Dietlein Bennett in her second film ("Little Manhattan") plays the blonde Cheryl who is hysterical in her chronic put-downs of everyone else. She's the kind of person who really couldn't think of anything nice to say about anyone. Then we meet the sex offender Ronnie who moves back into the neighborhood after two years in prison. Again, we meet a clinically isolated man, unable to socialize, living inside his head. Jackie Earl Haley who was in "The Bad News Bears" years ago and recently in "All the King's Men" earned his first Oscar nomination as well as film critics awards in Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, New York, Oklahoma & the Southeastern Film Critics' Circle. Larry Hedges is the policeman who assumes a vendetta against Ronnie, which climaxes at the film's finale. Noah Emmerich from "Cellular" & "Crazy in Alabama" plays the cop who is also isolated & whose world is falling apart.

This was one of the Oscar-nominated films that never played in our little town. I wanted to see Kate Winslet's Oscar-nominated performance, which earned her fifth nomination. In fact, she had nine nominations at festivals around the country and world for "Little Children," but remained winless. Phyllis Somerville who was in "Swim Fan" does a tremendous cameo as Ronnie's mother, May McGorvey. I was touched by how sincerely both Brad and Sarah loved their children, despite feeling trapped by their roles as parents. The laundry room affair was shocking with its intense explosion of desire.

"Little Children" was excellent because there were no clear good guys or bad guys. It shows everyone living inside dreams in their head while trying hard to cope with the world around them. As a result, it came across as extremely realistic. Enjoy!

Watch it for Patrick Wilson.......2007-07-03

Patrick Wilson is so hot in this, great body, great face. The movie is good too, but I could not keep my eyes off that hot man. Wait til you see him in a pair of swimming trunks. Whoa! Even better, when he is in the raw.

Blackest of Dark Dramedies.......2007-07-01

I'm so glad I saw this without having known anything about the storyline nor having too high of expectations about the quality of the film, because the acting and storytelling here are nothing short of a voyeuristic revelation, and not knowing about it only enhanced the experience.

Kate Winslet first caught my attention in SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, and I rooted for her character there and in TITANNIC. Since then I've watched her career with interest. But it's as though she has risen to a new level in LITTLE CHILDREN. Here she gives a far more nuanced performance as a modern-day Emma Bovary, trapped in a loveless marriage, yearning for romance and passion while saddled with dreaded parental responsibilities. Winslet's performance especially -- as well as the entire movie -- serves as a primer on moral ambiguity and its depiction in art and film. She is so good that you forget you're watching a movie featuring the star of the biggest blockbuster in history and must remind yourself that you're not peeking through the blinds of someone who lives in your neighborhood.

As I watched I was reminded of another subtle mood piece, IN THE BEDROOM, which stays in your memory just as persistently. Afterward, when I looked up the names of the writer and director, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Todd Field had directed both films.

I can see why some reviewers have compared LITTLE CHILDREN with AMERICAN BEAUTY, what with the story about suburban infidelity, the longing for passion and youth and depiction of graphic sex. But in this movie, when the adult characters behave like self-centered LITTLE CHILDREN, their behavior feels more plausible, less comical (despite the documentary-like black comedy of the voice over -- compare with Kevin Spacey's voice over), less naive about consequences, more true to life. And while I love AMERICAN BEAUTY and can watch it over and over, I think LITTLE CHILDREN is a very different film, a better film, but one with an unfortunately more limited appeal.

No, LITTLE CHILDREN isn't a perfect movie. The character of the child molester, despite an excellent performance, is the stereotypical sniveling misfit we expect, rather than a smart and skillful child rapist from the real world, one who knows how to lure his prey with patience and subtle appeal. Jennifer Connelly's character has too small of a role for her considerable talents. And in the real world, the overbearing former police officer's actions would have landed him in jail, or at least with a restraining order, long before the climax. But all of these quibbles are hardly noticeable at all as one is quickly involved in a story that doesn't let you go, one whose moral ambiguity has you rooting for the wrong people, hating the wrong people, and daydreaming for days afterward. Highest recommendation.

(By the way, I would be careful about letting teenagers watch, as this contains explicit adulterous sex scenes, a disturbing masturbation scene (not visible) and nudity that comes unexpectedly.)

Superb film until the ending.......2007-06-28

The acting here is superb throughout, with Winslet the standout in a stellar cast. The human drama keeps you hooked all the way. The ending, though, is a bit of a cheat. You spend most of the film wondering if these two people will run away together. When they finally decide to do so, their plans are undone by basically random events. True, that happens a lot in real life, but in films you like a little more resolution. You never know if they would have gone through with their plans or how it might have worked out. It's still a film very much worth seeing, though, and the Oscar buzz about Winslet's best-ever performance is justified.

Average customer rating:

Fantastic
This is BY FAR the best movie that I have had the chance to lay my eyes on!
Heavy Irony on Amazon
not my genre
Not an "American" issue...

American Beauty (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Annette Bening , Thora Birch , Chris Cooper , Peter Gallagher , and Sam Robards
Director: Sam Mendes
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00003CWL6
Release Date: 2000-10-24

Amazon.com essential video

From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave.

It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders. A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence.

Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......2007-06-22

American Beauty is the greatest movie ever made.

If you haven't already, watch American Beauty by yourself and give yourself some time afterwards to think it over. You will never, ever look at life the same way. It does exactly what movies are meant to do - give us a window into ourselves, and American Beauty does that better than any other film has ever done. No word of dialogue is unnecessary, no character exaggerated, everything is perfect...but if you have seen American Beauty you should know that already. Once you look closer at this movie, and see Beauty in every frame, it becomes so much easier to look closer and see Beauty in everything around you. You think I'm waxing poetic? Then you must not have seen the movie. Every character is a part of each of us: the Lester Burnham of change, the Carolyn of uncertainty and failure, the rebellion of Jane, the defeated Barbara, the false control of Angela and the Colonel, and the real control of Ricky. To me Ricky, not Lester, is the center of this story; he somehow controls or sets in motion the heart of Lester's rebirth and downfall. There are several parts of this movie where I lose control every time I see it, and none more so than the paper bag scene. To me that scene is simply the greatest monologue ever written.

I listened to the message of American Beauty - look closely and you can find Beauty in anything - and it changed my life. I rose out of a long, deep depression and started out into the world. Sometimes there is so much Beauty in the world, I can't even stand it, and it feels like my heart is going to burst.

This is the most beautiful movie I have ever seen.

This is BY FAR the best movie that I have had the chance to lay my eyes on!.......2007-06-15

Let's get this out of the way: Annette Bening (Carolyn) totally steals the show. She shows so many different sides to a human being, especially the extreme. She's super peppy and I almost loved to hate her in the movie. Kevin Spacey was pretty good. He plays a depressed man named Lester who's highlight of the day is pleasuring himself in the shower in the morning. In many ways I could relate to this character. Actually, most of the characters are relate able. Lester and Carolyn have a daughter by the name of Jane. She's pretty mean to her parents and wishes they would just disappear. I liked her character, but Mena Suvari's character was even better. I like the scene where some girl says "You're no goddamn Christie Turlington." Her response to that was very funny.

The ending was quite exciting with many things going on so I was definitely sad when it was over...I'm glad they never made a part II to it too because they probably would have tainted the name.

I left a lot out but I'll just say that if you haven't seen the movie, you really need to. Rent it, buy it, borrow it from a friend; whatever. Just get your grubby paws on it. It shows how beautifully messed up life can be. Bittersweet really. :)

Heavy Irony on Amazon.......2007-06-06

I'm always surprised by how many people do not appreciate this movie. The reasons people give for not liking it ARE OFTEN INCREDIBLY IRONIC.....think about it.

The movie says that morals (and pretty much everything else in life) are relative and subject to being perceived in every possible way...

Hell, Shakespeare said "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." -Hamlet

Society is often so focused on nonsense that we all accept it without really stopping to think.

People read beauty magazines so they think people will love them more, and in turn people loving them will make them love themselves (Caroline). Many women have ingrained themselves so strongly in this that eating disorders have become a rampant problem in the U.S. With television shows like "The Swan," "American Idol," and who knows what else...it's no wonder this is the case.

Who says that smoking marijuana is "bad?" Who says that being fat is "bad?" Who says that being a homosexual is "bad?" Who says that never being afraid of anything is "bad?" In fact, why are we all so afraid of everything?? WHO is telling us to always be afraid? I think this is a very very important question in today's society.

Who says that a bag floating in the wind (litter) is necessarily "bad?" To really be content in life you have to perceive "reality" the way you want to. Not the way people (and the media) tell you to.

The fact that Lester Burnham chose to work at a fast-food restaurant, smoke pot, and lust after an underage girl (was she under 18?) is irrelevant.

He could have done anything other than what he was doing. He could have chosen to get up and follow his dream of starting a business, take over the world, become a monk in the mountains...IT DOESN'T MATTER. Was what he really did that "bad?" That's what made him content because that is the role HE WANTED to play in this world, but never had the guts to actually play out for himself.

If you've seen Fight Club the concept is pretty much the same (also came out in 1999, coincidence?) I like Fight Club, but this movie is much better. I believe Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) makes a statement like, "People do it everyday. They look into the mirror and see the person they'd like to be, but don't have the guts to run with it like you did."

The point is that THIS is what LESTER wanted to do. NOT Caroline, not his boss, and most importantly NOT SOCIETY.

Of course there are limits to this. Hurting people is never a good route. I doubt the movie was advocating people with the dream of being a serial killer to become a serial killer...Though of course Shakespeare's quote also applies here. Think about it...

The movie is saying that people need to stop being robotic automatons and become the person that they want to be, not what everyone else "thinks" they should be.

THINK. It's the greatest gift you'll ever have.

not my genre.......2007-05-24

I really liked "existentialist" lit and those Russian literary genres (pathetic character dramedy) when I was a teenager but can no longer stomache them. I never cared for the work of Kaiser Soeze. I find mid-life crisises to be a boring subject. Many of the details are absurd and hard to swallow. I'm not a fan of fractured plots esp. plots that start with the ending - what could be more played out? starting with the main characters death is not new or clever (like in "The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas"from the 1800s -or a more direct cinamatic comparison "Sunset Boulevard" with the main characters voice over and sympathetic conclusion to the love triangle before the big finale).

But I do appreciate that amalgam of literary, theatrical and clean cinematic/TV writing styles that went into the story. And I liked the look of the film. I'm sure it deserves all it's praise.

Not an "American" issue..........2007-05-05

I enjoyed all the feedback and interesting comments and points of view about the "issues" this movie conveys. But a sad truth that we all seem to miss is that the United States is a huge country with people from many different races and cultures all mixed and blended together. Add to this mix a society and culture that thrives on materialism and self-centeredness and you have what American Beauty attempts to communicate and raise our awareness about.

Needless to say, this movie does not portray an "American" issue, it effectively raises our awareness that IT IS a world issue because of the fact that most nations around the world make up what we like to call our "American Society and Culture." I DO agree with Mrs. Walker when she stated, "...it's a sad day when a movie likes this says something this important about who we are as a culture. A sad day indeed..." People like to say that this movie displays an "American" issue and it thrashes its culture, but it is a sad world out there where all nations and cultures have been "sedated" with its own desires for personal gain and power. BUT, thank the Lord that there is still "good" out there, around the whole globe...but we are just too "blind" to see this subtle beauty that surrounds us daily...

Average customer rating:

tasty, romantic and incomparable.....
Hands Down, The BEST Romantic Movie Ever!
Like Water for Chocolate
Silly, but lovable.
A Sensual, Spellbinding, Love Story--Truly Magical!

Like Water for Chocolate
Starring: Marco Leonardi , Lumi Cavazos , Regina Torné , Mario Iván Martínez , and Ada Carrasco
Director: Alfonso Arau
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series)

ASIN: 6305428476
Release Date: 2000-03-14

Amazon.com essential video

Expect to be very hungry (and perhaps amorous) after watching this contemporary classic in the small genre of food movies that includes Babette's Feast and Big Night. Director Alfonso Arau (A Walk in the Clouds), adapting a novel by his former wife, Laura Esquivel, tells the story of a young woman (Lumi Cavazos) who learns to suppress her passions under the eye of a stern mother, but channels them into her cooking. The result is a steady stream of cuisine so delicious as to be an almost erotic experience for those lucky enough to have a bite. The film's quotient of magic realism feels a little stock, but the story line is good and Arau's affinity for the sensuality of food (and of nature) is sublime. You might want to rush off to a good Mexican restaurant afterward, but that's a good thing. --Tom Keogh

Description

Based on the best-selling book -- now experience for yourself the erotic tale of forbidden love that seduced both critics and audiences nationwide! Tita and Pedro are passionately in love. But their love is forbidden by an ancient family tradition. To be near Tita, Pedro marries her sister. And Tita, as the family cook, expresses her passion for Pedro through preparing delectable dishes. Now, in Tita's kitchen, ordinary spices become a recipe for passion. Her creations bring on tears of longing, heated desire, or chronic pain -- while Tita and Pedro wait for the moment to fulfill their most hidden pleasures!

Customer Reviews:

tasty, romantic and incomparable............2007-06-13

If you are looking for a great introduction to magical realism and food, in cinema, COMO AGUA PARA EL CHOCOLATE (LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE), directed by Alfonso Arau, is the film to see. For those of you unfamiliar with magical realism, this is probably the most straightforward way to explain it. It is an artistic genre in which magical elements appear in an otherwise realistic setting. CHOCOLATE is rich in this fine art of storytelling, prevalently seen in Latin American literature. This splendid adaptation of the novel of the same name, by Laura Esquivel, is beautiful.

Tita (Lumi Cavazos) is the youngest daughter of Elena (Regina Torné), a heartless Mexican woman, who, by tradition, must stay with her mother and take care of her. This tradition is upheld even when Lumi remains in love with Pedro (Marco Leonardi), who wants her for his wife, but is turned away by Mama Elena, and marries her older sister, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi) to be close to her. This is just the beginning of Tita's deeply rooted connection between her emotions and the food she prepares. Everything from a wedding cake, to a dinner, becomes a reflection of Tita's state. It also is her way of connecting with Pedro, to show him her love.
What's more, those who consume the food absorb Tita's mood and react accordingly. One example is in the wedding cake she prepares of Rosaura and Pedro. Tita cries tears of anguish into that batter and everyone who eats it wants to die and gets really ill.

I feel that food and mood are very interconnected. I have made a habit not to cook when I am angry. Something always goes wrong when I am unhappy. I will burn the meal, it will come out too salty or I will almost have an accident with the knife. Yes, I have had kitchen accidents. This film confirms that for me. This film is a very sexy, beautifully acted and sensuous journey for the senses. Tasty!

Hands Down, The BEST Romantic Movie Ever!.......2007-06-09

Like Water For Chocolate is an amazing film that I very, VERY highly recommend. I've always loved foreign films and this one is by far the best. For those who prefer hearing it in english, this dvd offers the english language track, which helps you enjoy the film even more.

Basically, this is the story of Tita, the youngest girl of 3, who is bound by tradition to never marry so that she can care for her heartless mother until she dies. Tita falls in love with Pedro, who then requests her hand in marriage. But because of the tradition, the mother decides Pedro can not have Tita as his wife, and promptly offers her eldest daughter! That is terrible enough, but then when Pedro accepts the offer, it is even more troubling. His idea is to marry the sister so that he may be close to Tita (a difficult task considering the mother watches them like a hawk).

Over the period of many years, Tita uses her cooking to express herself and her love for and with Pedro and it affects her family in many interesting ways that make this an excellent film. It is not for children, so please do not share it with those under age 12.

Like Water for Chocolate.......2007-05-31

Wonderful movie. I purchased this movie many years ago in VHS format. My recent purchase of this movie in DVD format is because I am updating my movie library of my favorites from VHS format to DVD format.

Silly, but lovable........2007-04-10

I don't often enjoy indulging in sentimentality, but this was a good one. It was silly but lovable. I wished it would have ended a little differently, but that just shows I cared, huh? It got me.

A Sensual, Spellbinding, Love Story--Truly Magical!.......2007-02-01

If you are, have been, or ever wish to be in love, then you NEED to see this movie. It's a familiar formula...Love that cannot be permitted for unjust reasons--and being unjust, the rules must be flouted. There is a storybook quality, a natural, beautiful kind of magic permeates this truly great movie. It's hypnotic, visually appetizing, funny, beautiful and erotic...and they're not shy about nudity, which is a sweet plus.

Average customer rating:

Don't answer that...just think about it!
Rolling in the Aisle
Sordid Lives
Fell off the couch laughing!!
Sordid Lives: White Trash Black Comedy

Sordid Lives
Starring: Newell Alexander , Beau Bridges , Bonnie Bedelia , Earl Bullock , and Delta Burke
Director: Del Shores
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Sordid Lives

ASIN: B00003CY27
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Amazon.com

If you've got a taste for big hair, broad Texas accents, and gay rights, this mixture of white-trash comedy and coming-out melodrama is for you. Sordid Lives starts out as chicken-fried farce, as a funeral is prepared for a woman who died when she tripped over her adulterous lover's wooden legs; about midway the emphasis shifts to a drag queen unfairly held in a mental institution and the dead woman's grandson, an actor in Los Angeles who hasn't come out to his mother. The tone shifts wildly, and the humor depends on your fondness for the white-trash genre--if you like it, this will tickle your ribs; if you don't, it'll fall flat as the panhandle landscape. But it must be said that the cast (including Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Delta Burke, and Olivia Newton-John) dives right in, no matter how over-the-top their characters get. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

Get ready for laughs the size of Texas when Olivia Newton-John, Beau Bridges, Bonnie Bedelia and Delta Burke lead an all-star cast in this twisted, white-trash tale "that puts the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional'" (Toronto Sun). The hilariously sordid details about a southern family surface with a vengeance when relatives converge for the funeral of "Grandma Peggy," who died after tripping over her lover's wooden legs! Toss in a couple of feuding, big-haired daughters, a jumpy aunt who just quit smoking, the scorned neighbor from hell, and crazy, cross-dressing "Brother Boy" - and you've got an outrageous "train wreck you can't help but watch!" (Chicago Tribune)

System Requirements:
Running Time: 111 minutes

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Don't answer that...just think about it!.......2007-05-29

We have watched this movie about nine times in the month that we have had it. The performances are great, especially Bonnie Bodelia's portrait of a mother in denial. It makes us laugh and cry every time. What more can you want for in a movie? Don't answer that...just think about it.

Rolling in the Aisle.......2007-04-11

A true classic belly laugh. There are so many good laughs in the flim, when I saw it in a theater in Palm Springs I literally fell from my seat and into the aisles gasping for breath. The big name stars are not the film's best assests. Screenplay and secondary characters carry this film throughout. See this one several times and you'll find a new laugh each time.

Sordid Lives.......2007-04-06

Funny, funny, funny. If you're from the South you'll have an example of each character in your life. Hilarious!

Fell off the couch laughing!!.......2007-04-05

Wow this movie was almost as funny as the Bird Cage!! Me and my friends still laugh about this movie as we recite lines from the characters.

Sordid Lives: White Trash Black Comedy.......2007-04-04

Sordid Lives is one of my favorite movies. Full of superbly acted, quirky characters who come together around the death of "momma" in this white trash town.

If you like Australian comedies, like Muriel's Wedding, you will love Sordid Lives.

Average customer rating:

excellent, but maybe one twist too many
Not enough artifice to be 'artfilm'; too much artifice to be 'mainstream.'
Too Many Other Good Things To Do
Spark of Romance
Better than expected

Breaking and Entering
Starring: Jude Law , Vera Farmiga , Juliette Binoche , Robin Wright Penn , and Martin Freeman (II)
Director: Anthony Minghella
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000N4SHOO
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Amazon.com

The atmospheric and erotically charged Breaking and Entering reunites director Anthony Minghella with Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain) and the haunting Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, for which she and Minghella won Academy Awards). Law fully invests himself as pre-occupied landscape architect Will Francis, who with his partner (Martin Freeman from the original British version of The Office), is heading a gentrification project in London's seedy, crime-plagued King's Cross neighborhood. At home, he and Liv (Robin Penn Wright), his morose Swedish-American girlfriend of 10 years, are increasingly estranged over the demands of his job and of caring for Liv's autistic daughter, a 13-year-old aspiring gymnast. Will, hiding his identity, begins an affair with Amira (Binoche), the mother of a youth who has twice ransacked Will's office. Amira is a Bosnian refugee with a fierce survival streak that is not above blackmail when she learns who Will is. This is Minghella's first original screenplay since his little-known romantic gem Truly Madly Deeply. The dialogue has Woody Allen pretensions: A cleaning woman who comes under suspicion for the break-ins invokes Kafka. A prostitute (Vera Farmiga giving the film's liveliest performance) has a philosophical bent. Will himself ham-handedly explains how he much prefers metaphors to straightforward communication (he'd love this film's title). An art-house film with an A-list cast and wrenching performances, Breaking and Entering couldn't get arrested in theatres, but it is a fine addition to Crash and other liberal-minded "them and us" dramas. --Donald Liebenson

Description

Sexy and seductive, Breaking & Entering stars Academy Award nominee Jude Law (Cold Mountain), Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient), and Robin Wright Penn (Message in a Bottle) in "one of the most personal, provocative, and satisfying dramas in recent memory" (Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight). A string of robberies brings two very different Londoners together, drawing them into an unexpected, passionate, and forbidden affair that threatens to destroy the lives of everybody around them. Written and directed by Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), Ebert and Roeper's Richard Roeper calls it "a beautiful piece of work."

Customer Reviews:

excellent, but maybe one twist too many.......2007-06-30

Renault below wrote a good review. But I differ somewhat. I'm not bothered by the film not fitting into a genre. I just think it might have packed one too many reversals into too short a space. For my taste, this is completely superior to a film like Crash. It's just that the introspection indulged in by the Jude Law character and Robin Wright Penn feels a little phony, and I grew tired of her character. The final scene between the Jude Law character and Penn was a bit annoying, but overall, the film was excellent. All the minor supporting characters were an absolute pleasure.

This was a find. I don't like movies where characters act "logically", i.e. predictably.

First rate score. Added a lot. (my line of work, so I know.)

Not enough artifice to be 'artfilm'; too much artifice to be 'mainstream.'.......2007-06-27

In fact I think the script would be really wonderful as a play - where elegant constructedness is often an asset. Kudos to Minghella as a writer, as there are many (rather obvious but nevertheless enjoyable) points of interest - the complex, metaphor-filled point/counterpoint dynamic for every character (e.g. Liv/Amira on several levels, Will/Miro, Miro/Bea, Oana/fox, Bruno/Dragan, old/new King's Cross... it goes on...) and the ironic plot reversals. But in my opinion, all of this thoughtful artifice Minghella sets up doesn't quite work in a semi-mainstream film that I think means to stay within some bounds of naturalism - or more "natural" than, say, "Crash," which though mainstream clearly means to be at least in part about structure and form.

But it's more intimate (and less preachy) than "Crash." And the characters' inner struggles are really well-conveyed by the actors. Especially Law, doing his usual intense-sincerity-and-charisma thing but doing it well, and the newcomer Rafi Gavron as the emotionally-closed but physically expressive Miro. Binoche is also wonderfully alive, vulnerable, captivating. Wright Penn unfortunately I found a little weak, though maybe only because her intermittent accent (unlike Binoche's) distracted me; but she did look the part in all of its icy 'Scandinavian' depressive interiority. So, the movie is definitely worth watching for its mostly successful performances.

It might even be worth watching for its almost-successes - which I'm guessing as largely directorial (or producer) failures, having to do with the heavy-handed and misplaced artifice mentioned above. And also having to do with its not having a clear idea of what it means to be. Kinda modern Ibsen, but kinda parable. Kinda mainstream-slick (especially the cinematography/production), but kinda too raw for that. Kinda arthouse, but then again, though I don't know anything about its distribution, when Blockbuster has an exclusive on it, it's not exactly squarely in the arthouse, either.

I'm absolutely okay with genre-bending and complexity and even some unsubtle symbolism, if it's intentional and it all works, but I don't think it's either here. Maybe a result of trying to do/say too much and never quite managing to satisfy any one thing. But maybe I'm unfairly exacting too much from Minghella given his masterful "English Patient."

Too Many Other Good Things To Do.......2007-06-22

Gave this movie forty-five minutes, but it was so slow moving and seemingly pointless -- okay boring -- I gave up. Don't waste your time.

Spark of Romance .......2007-06-19

Director Anthony Minghella won his Best Director Oscar 10 years ago for "The English Patient." Both of Jude Law's Oscar nominations came in Minghella collaborations, "Cold Mountain" (2004) & "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999). Juliette Binoche's Oscar came in 1996 for "The English Patient." So "Breaking & Entering" is a reunion of sorts.

"Breaking & Entering" is mostly successful. It does seem a bit long with the pacing tending to drag. However, that's the way I experienced "The English Patient"; so perhaps others perceive this as depth. Jude Law's character covers similar territory as "Closer," exploring the tedium of routine vs. the spark of romance. Law has this now familiar wide-eyed startled look like he has no clue what's happening around him. Perhaps he plays similar characters or perhaps it's schtick that is now over-used. But he does carry the film, riveting our interest and fueling audience speculation, even saddled with the character of Will Francis who seems to suffer from chronic indecisiveness.

Juliette Binoche as the relocated widow from Sarajevo does an excellent job as Amira. The scene on the hill where she begs Will to help her son is a powerful screen gem. We understand this woman, who is not too complex, and admire her dedication to her family. The racial/religious prejudice that she confronts with anger makes Amira all the more sympathetic.

Amira's son Miro is played by Rafi Gavron in his first screen role. It's an impressive debut as he hops from rooftop to rooftop and plays at being a gangster that nearly brings his family to ruin. While not overly deep, he does a good with what he's given.

Robin Wright Penn from Unbreakable & "Hurly Burly" seems too fragile as Liv. She is supposed to hold her family together & suffers from coldness & depression. It seems impossible that her character would be able to be so strong. One of the DVD deleted scenes shows her moody by the window that takes her in even more of a fragile direction. There doesn't seem to be a connection between Penn & Law that would make the film conclude as it does. It reads like actors going through the paces.

Other parts are well done. Vera Farmiga from "The Manchurian Candidate" & "The Departed" is excellent as Oana who walks the street. Her gyrating car dance is endearing & provocative. Ed Westwick who was in "Children of Men" plays Zoran, Miro's rooftop hopping buddy. He doesn't have a lot to do, but does it well. Poppy Rogers has been acting since she was six. As the autistic daughter Bea, she does a good job of portraying social maladjustment. Erika, the maid at the office, is given a nice cameo. Played by Caroline Chikezie from "Eragon" & "Aeon Flux," she makes the small part memorable with a total commitment to the character's world. Martin Freeman from "Shaun of the Dead" plays Will's partner Sandy in a routine performance.

B&E works when it does because of the star power of Law & Binoche. Minghella's screenplay is a character study of romance in the modern world. Scenic designs like the Kings Cross office and the rooftop chases perk up an otherwise plodding picture. The film is worth seeing for Law & Binoche. Enjoy!

Better than expected.......2007-06-08

This movie is better than I expected based on the Trailer and other reviews. It is a good film about relationships and how we tend to lose sight of who we are in relationship to others, especially close relationships. It reflects we need to keep present in relationships; or face the prospect of losing them. However, on the rare occasion when honesty prevails, there is a chance to re-discover ourselves and our partners in life.

Average customer rating:

Terrific
Why no Widescreen version?
One of the BEST!
A love story with Passion
To find true love at the wrong time and place...

The Bridges of Madison County
Starring: Michelle Benes , Brandon Bobst , Art Breese , Annie Corley , and Pearl Faessler
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: 0790729369
Release Date: 1997-03-26

Amazon.com

Some called it a snooze-fest, while others tearfully clutched their Kleenex. In any case, Clint Eastwood was an unusual and (as it turned out) perceptive choice to direct and costar in this lush adaptation of Robert James Waller's phenomenally bestselling novel. Meryl Streep costars as Francesca, the lonely Iowa farmer's wife who is instantly attracted to Robert (Eastwood), the photographer from National Geographic who is in the area to photograph the bridges along Iowa's rural roadways. The two fall in love while Francesca's husband and children are away at a county fair, but the story's passion and lasting appeal derive from their decision to part forever after just a few brief days of intimate connection. Superbly acted with an emphasis on quiet, graceful moments of tender revelation, the film builds to a crescendo of powerful and conflicting emotions. Like David Lean's Brief Encounter (to which it bears marked similarities), The Bridges of Madison County is destined to become one of the classic movie love stories. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Terrific.......2007-06-15

A very mediocre, sappy book became a terrific movie. Mr. Eastwood and Ms. Streep breathe life into their roles, making the characters people you'll care deeply about. The dilemma Ms. Streep's character has at the end of the movie and its resolution are completely believeable. There is no right answer; there is only the answer that hurts the fewest number of people. There isn't one misstep in the entire film. I can watch it over and over. It never gets old.

Why no Widescreen version?.......2007-04-29

The movie on this DVD "has been modified to fit your TV screen." Who makes these awful decisions? Why is there no version in widescreen?

One of the BEST!.......2007-04-17

This DVD is a true classic, one of the most beautiful grown up romance stories. Each time I watch it I fall in love again!

A love story with Passion.......2007-03-29

I read the novel couple of years back, but got a chance to view the movie recently on DVD. It was an excellent movie that followed the novel. I'm sure there are many people who identify themselves with the characters. I loved Robert Kinkaid in the novel and Clint Eastwood did justice to that role. I recommend this movie.

To find true love at the wrong time and place..........2007-03-20

...and to perhaps never recognize you found it indeed, but until way past its time. This is what this beautiful movie is all about. Soulmates eternally searching and loosing each other in an endless sucession of human lives, happen to cross each other's path one day, in the middle of nowhere. No one expected it to happen. No one seeked for it to happen. And yet, all surroundings (including family and social conventionalisms) are bound to become mere accidents. And love fulfills itself. A love, so brief and yet so meaningful and powerful that will be forever treasured in their hearts. Like a candle that lits only as they encounter. Isn't this the stuff all tragedies, dreams, dramas and everlasting love stories are made of? This beautiful, beautiful movie perfectly showcases Clint Eastwood's uniqueness as a Director, a trademark he will carry on all the way up to masterpieces like "Mystic River" or "Million Dollar Baby". Such a deep and profound touch that reaches people's hearts. The product of a genius in the making. I loved it.

Average customer rating:

awesome
Hilarious fun!
Brought back so many memories ....
Muriel Steals Everything, Including Your Heart!
A delight about people, their hopes, desires and despair

Muriel's Wedding
Starring: Sophie Lee , Rosalind Hammond , Toni Collette , Belinda Jarrett , and Pippa Grandison
Director: P.J. Hogan
Manufacturer: Miramax
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ASIN: 0788814958
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com

Ever since the late '70s when the Australian New Wave was in full surge, Down Under directors have delivered movies that often hit you like news from another planet. Offbeat characters, weird narrative twists, and a tart mixture of laughs and catastrophe--this is the juice that fuels such flicks as Proof, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Strictly Ballroom, Heavenly Creatures, and most certainly Muriel's Wedding. Directed by P.J. Hogan (who would go on to helm the Hollywood hit My Best Friend's Wedding), this little gem follows tradition by featuring an authentic misfit: Muriel (Toni Collette), a great overweight horse of a girl obsessed with getting married and the music of ABBA. Appropriately, we first meet Muriel at a wedding, all trussed up in a leopardskin number she's boosted for the occasion. When her snotty peers insist that she give up the bridal bouquet to someone who might actually get hitched, when one of the guests turns out to be a clerk in the very store where Muriel ripped off her outfit--you gotta laugh, she's such an unmitigated mess. A loser, her philandering politician father (Bill Hunter) calls her--along with his doormat wife and his other couch-potato offspring. But this movie's no exercise in geek-bashing. As Muriel takes up with feisty Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) and moves from Porpoise Spit to the big city, her good-hearted grin and zest for life draw us in despite hilarious gaffes and mishaps. (Making out with a boy for the first time, Muriel suddenly finds herself awash in styrofoam: the oaf has unzipped the beanbag chair instead of her skin-tight leather pants.) Muriel's Wedding covers territory Hollywood would banish from a comedy--Rhonda's cancer, the suicide of Muriel's mother, a marriage of convenience to an arrogant athlete--yet, like its heroine, it never loses its sense of humor, its will to move on to whatever good thing might happen next. Everyone in the idiosyncratic cast is terrific, but it's Toni Collette's Dancing Queen who makes Muriel's Wedding a cinematic celebration you won't forget. --Kathleen Murphy

Description

Hysterically funny, fresh, and brimming with wit, MURIEL'S WEDDING is the comedy hit celebrated by critics nationwide! No one ever paid much attention to Muriel and her humdrum small-town life, so she and her best friend, Rhonda, decide to leave it behind and head for the big city ... where they end up having the exciting adventure of their lives! What's more, soon everyone takes notice when Muriel becomes engaged to a handsome and popular sports hero! You'll love every hilarious minute as Muriel discovers that even when it seems all her dreams are coming true, the path to the altar still has plenty of surprising twists!

Customer Reviews:

awesome.......2007-06-29

this is the bestest movie ever.. if you're a 20-something girl who dosn't really know what you're doing in life.. this is a perfect movie for you... it show's Muriel.. i mean Mariel's ups and downs in her life.. a great movie for that special 'girl's night in'.

Hilarious fun!.......2007-05-31

This movie combines the brutal honesty of being different with the very celebration of it. The music (predominantly ABBA) brings us, as an audience, up and down the emotional scale. We feel for Muriel, cheer her on, and admonish her at the same time. Muriel's Wedding is on my list of the best chick flicks out there.

Brought back so many memories ...........2007-05-29

The last time I ever saw this movie was over 10 years ago with my sister when we rented it on VHS. On DVD, it's even better. I wish they added a feature where they interviewed the cast now and see what they all look like. I know Collette is still acting, but whatever happened to those snotty friends of hers that make you want to punch them out.!

Muriel Steals Everything, Including Your Heart!.......2007-05-12

Muriel (Toni Collette) is an overweight, somewhat dense teenager who still loves ABBA and lives with an overweight somewhat dense family in Porpoise Spit, Australia. Dad is an incompetent and crooked local politician who belittles his family at every turn. Sounds like a real downer, huh? Throw in cruel girls, suicide and cancer and you'll have a real party! Right!? Director/Writer P. J. Hogan ("My Best Friend's Wedding") somehow manages to turn this screwball plot on its collective head and produces outrageous, hilarious scene after scene. Sure, Muriel is a loser until she gets together with Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) and the two of them party and get revenge on the nasty girls. Both characters are extremely charismatic and likeable in every scene. There's no sense in going into all the plot changes and twists; it just keeps getting better and better. There's a certain realistic pathos of humor to Hogan's script, which never feels false and certainly not contrived. His aim is to make the losers the winners and the winners the fall guys. He succeeds marvelously.

A delight about people, their hopes, desires and despair.......2007-03-06

Before Tony Collette arrived in Hollywood she conquered her homeland, Australia, with this wonderful dramedy about losers, winners, life, love, fantasy and reincarnation.

Collette plays flabby loser Muriel, then renames herself Mariel after moving from little Porpise Spit to Sydney, where she embarks on a campaign to reinvent herself as a winner. Turns out she made the move by stealing money from dad, which she uses to pay for her best friend's cancer surgery, which turns out badly.

All the while, family angst and Muriel's fantasy about being a bride trump the social action in the film. She realizes her dream when she agrees to marry a South African Olympic athlete who can only compete for Australia if he acquires citizenship, which he does through marriage. Even though a loveless marriage, it works for both members.

"Why would you marry someone you didn't love?" the swimmer asks Muriel.
"You did."
"I want to win!" he responds.
"So do I."

And win Muriel does, metaphically and in life, by gaining fame through TV and newspaper coverage of her fancy wedding, and by turning around her peers that once belittled her...beautiful girls that couldn't wait to be her bridesmaids.

The loveless marriage is followed by the death of Muriel's estranged mother and her being reunited with family -- including her estranged and insensitive dad -- back in Porpoise Spit. The films ends on an upbeat with Muriel and friend returning to Sydney, seemingly leaving all their problems behind for a second time.

Collette is nothing short of a miracle in this film, which has parallels to "Bridget Jones Diary". She is a wonder in her delivery, facial expressions, voicing and overall acting. The script is a masterpiece of sardonic humor laced with pathos. You will identify with almost every character, cheering on many including Muriel, while reviling others.

This is a very great film that deserves the widest distribution. Rent, borrow, buy or steal this DVD today if you've never seen this wonderful movie.

Average customer rating:

Something to Talk About
I enjoy observing social mores i.e. deep lying by Southerners
a look at relationships
Good couples movie
good

Something to Talk About
Starring: Julia Roberts , Dennis Quaid , Robert Duvall , Gena Rowlands , and Kyra Sedgwick
Director: Lasse Hallström
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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ASIN: B00002ND7J
Release Date: 1999-12-14

Product Description

Grace has a picture-perfect life. And it goes dizzyingly out of focus the day she discovers her husband Eddie has been unfaithful. Julia Roberts headlines this acclaimed movie that aims for the heart and funnybone - and scores a bull's eye. In her best screen role yet, Roberts is Grace, whose reaction to the infidelities of Eddie (Dennis Quaid) turns the lives and loves of the people around her into something like falling dominoes.

Robert Duvall, Gena Rowlands, Kyra Sedgwick and others in "the years best ensemble of characters" (Jack Matthews, Newsday) join Roberts for this juicy, truthful story written by Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise) and directed by Lasse Hallstrom (What's Eating Gilbert Grape?). Folks are talking about Grace. You owe it to yourself to see why.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com essential video

This well-intentioned but strangely cold tale concerns an emotionally repressed Southern belle (Julia Roberts) who separates from her husband (Dennis Quaid) after discovering he is an unabashed philanderer. Pressed by her dominating father (Robert Duvall) into reconciling with her spouse, Roberts's character chafes against so much male control over her destiny. Defended by a fiercely independent sister (a catchy performance by Kyra Sedgwick), the heroine develops the nerve to plot her own course in life while her mother (Gena Rowlands) finds the gumption to throw her own mate out of the house. The script by Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise) is intelligent but hardly clear, and direction by Lasse Hallström (Once Around) can't keep Khouri's unfocused scenes and uncertain purpose from dissolving like sand castles in the rain. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Something to Talk About.......2007-06-30

This movie is one of the best movies ever made. It covers the dynamics of relationships in a way that allows the viewer to recognize them in thier own lives or of people that they know. Julie Roberts, Dennis Quaid, Kyra Sedgwick, Robert Duvall and Gena Rowlands are all at their best. THis is a movie that I enjoy every time I watch it and that is often.

I enjoy observing social mores i.e. deep lying by Southerners.......2007-06-04

I can't remember the other movie about Southerners I enjoy watching though not for its intended purposes - probably Steel Magnolias. I know everyone enjoys using that accent but I think the South is a treacherous place (excuse me, Delta Burke, Steven Colbert, Amy Sedaris and Florence King.)

I like watching how the South propagandizes itself in everyday life and I can see how it does make life smoother sometimes but that kind of lifestyle doesn't make for a safe place instead it makes me worried more that the gimmicks especially the drawl and the social pressure is so obvious and easily used for manipulating the wrong person into office. I kind of ignored the point of this movie but I like to rewatch it when it is on tv. I'm not susceptible to either Julia Roberts or Dennis Quaid but there's a lot of spendiness in this movie and Kyra Sedgewick may be why Julia Roberts does not do many movies with other women.

My one like without reservation in this movie is Robert Duvall character's advice to the little girl to save your treats for the horse you're going to ride. Too bad he didn't follow his own advice.

a look at relationships.......2007-05-09

I liked this movie alot prehaps because I liked the actors but also because it deals with some real issues in not only marriages but also families. Julia Roberts does a great job as a wife who has been cheated on and as she struggles to deal with the fall-out from this she also has to work on family relationships. The movie does have some colorful language and deals with some serious subject matter so it does deserve the R rating that it has.

Good couples movie.......2007-02-05

This is a very good movie for a couple to watch. Heart touching.

good .......2007-01-26

i love this movie. it is smart & funny. dennis Quaid is hot in this movie.

Average customer rating:

Real love
one of the lines you will here again
Deeply moving if not unsettling masterpiece of modern cinema...
Art
Western Skies

Brokeback Mountain (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Heath Ledger , Jake Gyllenhaal , Randy Quaid , Valerie Planche , and David Trimble (III)
Director: Ang Lee
Manufacturer: Universal
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ASIN: B00005JOFQ
Release Date: 2006-04-04

Amazon.com

A sad, melancholy ache pervades Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's haunting, moving film that, like his other movies, explores societal constraints and the passions that lurk underneath. This time, however, instead of taking on ancient China, 19th-century England, or '70s suburbia, Lee uses the tableau of the American West in the early '60s to show how two lovers are bound by their expected roles, how they rebel against them, and the repercussions for each of doing so--but the romance here is between two men. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two itinerant ranchers looking for work in Wyoming when they meet and embark on a summer sheepherding job in the shadow of titular Brokeback Mountain. The taciturn Ennis, uncommunicative in the extreme, finds himself opening up around the gregarious Jack, and the two form a bond that surprisingly catches fire one cold night out in the wilderness. Separating at the end of the summer, each goes on to marry and have children, but a reunion years later proves that, if anything, their passion for each other has grown significantly. And while Jack harbors dreams of a life together, the tight-lipped Ennis is unable to bring himself to even consider something so revolutionary.

Its open, unforced depiction of love between two men made Brokeback an instant cultural touchstone, for both good and bad, as it was tagged derisively as the "gay cowboy movie," but also heralded as a breakthrough for mainstream cinema. Amidst all the hoopla of various agendas, though, was a quiet, heartbreaking love story that was both of its time and universal--it was the quintessential tale of star-crossed lovers, but grounded in an ever-changing America that promised both hope and despair. Adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx's short story, the movie echoes the sparse bleakness of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show with its fading of the once-glorious West; but with Lee at the helm, it also resembles The Ice Storm, as it showed the ripple effects of a singular event over a number of people. As always, Lee's work with actors is unparalleled, as he elicits graceful, nuanced performances from Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway as the wives affected overtly and subliminally by their husbands' affair, and Gyllenhaal brings surprising dimensions to a character that could have easily just been a puppy dog of a boy. It's Ledger, however, who's the breakthrough in the film, and his portrait of an emotionally repressed man both undone and liberated by his feelings is mesmerizing and devastating. Spare in style but rich with emotion, Brokeback Mountain earns its place as a classic modern love story. --Mark Englehart

Description

Brokeback Mountain is a sweeping epic that explores the lives of two young men, a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection. The complications, joys and heartbreak they experience provide a testament to the endurance and power of love. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal deliver emotionally charged, remarkably moving performances in "a movie that is destined to become one of the great classics of our time" (Clay Smith, The Insider).

Customer Reviews:

Real love.......2007-06-28

The acting is inspired; the story is amazing. Set in beautiful Wyoming, this film captures what love really means. A friend and I watched this late at night and had to go to a 24-hour diner to "recover." It's not a movie I can watch over and over again -- it's just so heart wrenching -- but I own it. I own it because it's so real, the same reason I own Gibson's "We Were Soldiers." It makes me cry a lot, but it's an "OmigodWOW-thatsreallybeautifulandsad" kind of crying. Everyone should watch this movie. And if it makes you uncomfortable, maybe you should look deep inside and ask yourself why.

one of the lines you will here again.......2007-06-27

this is another movie that is as close to the bok as you will see

Deeply moving if not unsettling masterpiece of modern cinema..........2007-06-25

`Brokeback Mountain' will stand the tests of time, for that I'm certain. Many would argue that it's only because of it's taboo subject matter or controversy but in the end, after the dust has settled and the smoke has cleared `Brokeback Mountain' is more than just a superlative talking point, it's a monumental powerhouse of a motion picture, from it's brilliant script to it's earth shattering acting to it's award winning directing. At it's very core `Brokeback Mountain' is a story about life as we see it, live it and need it and it reaches to the heartstrings of much more than would be expected. This is far deeper than `gay cinema' as some have labeled it but is modern cinema at its finest and teaches valid and life changing points that everyone can learn from despite their orientation and or morality.

The film, based of Annie Proulx's short story, centers around the lives of two sheepherders Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. The two meet when they are but eighteen, Ennis engaged to his sweetheart Alma and Jack just trying to find himself. They spend the summer together on Brokeback Mountain, herding sheep and albeit unintentionally falling in love. The film setting begins in the early sixties and advancing twenty-some-odd-years before its conclusion and throughout the notion of repressed sexual feelings it made apparent. It's not culturally acceptable for these two men to even entertain the idea of loving and or being together, and so after their summer-long affair they go their separate ways, Ennis to marry Alma and Jack to eventually find and fall for Lureen. Years later, after the births of their children, the memory of their affair still plagues them, not in regret of action but in regret of leaving it alone for so long and so they start up again, rekindling a flame that could only end in tragedy.

The film is less a `gay love story' and more a universal cry for love in the most complex of terms. This film proves that you can't pick the one you love but that the thoughts and feelings of those around us, whether it be close family, friends or the idea of a culture in whole can and will affect our decisions to whom and how to love. While I feel that Jack Twist's character is and was a homosexual man I feel that Ennis was more or less a man you found love in a place he least expected it. He never sought after the attention of other men as Jack did. In fact even after Alma leaves him he still seeks the affection of a woman, but Jack and Jack alone had stolen his heart. That's what's so moving and inspiring about this film is that it parades the truth that love is love and one must embrace that love of lose all happiness they could ever know.

What helps elevate this film so far above the competition is the brilliant acting on the entire cast, a cast of young talented stars who blew up in such a big way by taking on such a mature film. Looking at the roster one may not believe they could handle the material but everyone involved is stellar. Ledger plays Ennis with such restraint and precise confusion that one is brought to tears almost as much for Ledgers star turn as he is for the tragedy wrapped within his character. Ledger creates a performance that stays with you. Gyllenhaal also manages to brilliantly create a character we can relate to. Jack Twist is someone we know and maybe even a little bit of each of us, a man who just wants to live his life and doesn't care what the consequences. Death to him is a fair enough price to pay for freedom. Michelle Williams is a revelation as Alma, her pain, her subtle emotion, her breakdown and her silently unraveling sanity is as moving as it is astonishing to watch. Anne Hathaway, while not receiving the critical attention of her co-stars delivers a brilliant performance and deserves to be recognized. Her performance as Lureen may not have been as baity as the character given to Williams, but she maneuvers her character through her scenes with a maturity that she is recently blossoming into.

Visually stunning and emotionally captivating `Brokeback Mountain' is a movie that demands to be seen and taken seriously and is one that will stay with the viewer for years even decades to come. We feel the pain in Ennis' gut as he falls to his knees in despair over leaving Jack. We feel the torment in Alma's eyes as she watches the man she loves embrace another man. We feel the frustration in Jack's demeanor as he pleads for Ennis to stay with him, give him anything more than an annual escapade. But most of all we feel our own heart breaking and setting as we realize how this film and it's very essence effect us in ways we'd never imagine. Gay, straight, male or female we have all met our Ennis or Jack and maybe even let him or her go because of outside influence or confusion of heart. May this tragic tale of love denied and love lost move us to never let that happen to us again.

Art.......2007-06-23

Over time we have seen expressions of beauty created by men and women that we want to perserve. In our time it's not so much a painting as it is and in the future will be certain films. This is one of those films. It's not groundbreaking as one is often lead to believe because it's not really approaching the idea of love that differently. When two people are in love there is nothing that can stop the expression of that love. This is an example of that desire to jump the hurdles. Someone said that the two shirts that went on sale on ebay and sold for 101,000 dollars was because they were the ruby slippers of our time. Well I believe is film is the Romeo and Juliet of our time, and who cannot help but fall under the spell of that.

That said, I've read all about the mumbling (from those below) that Heath Ledger did during his performance. The mumbling is suppose to represent is inability to let go and be with his lover, it is the phyiscal manifestation of the feelings inside.

As for Jake his performance is so honest, so urgent. His need to be with Ennis is so powerful that he'll risk everything.

The rest of the cast is supurb and the story is faithful to the amazing short story. The direction from Ang Lee is as usual impecable and awe inspiring.

It will break your heart but it will also remind why we risk our heart in the first place. For those few moments not where you're waiting to begin what is suppose to be the "happy part of the rest of your life" but the happy moments we have for just a moment with that one person we can't live without.

Western Skies.......2007-06-18

Well, after 1000 reviews, who needs my opin ion? I'm simply a country boy who took this film to heart, sadly know a few men whose lives are/were like this, even today. But as a film itself, it's a wonderfully simple, plaintive accomplishment.

I didn't have a problem understanding Heath's mumbled "ennis" accent. It's an all-too familiar tone from uptight men who can't open their hearts.

The massive hype and hoopla of this film having settled down, perhaps the viewing public will someday see the other hundreds of films with gay characters; granted, not all better, but more uplifting, and not so predictably tragic.

A nice film, based on a great short story. But when ever gay actors will be able to do as much, that'd be nice.

Can you imagine white actors playing African-Americans who suffer oppression? No.

Well, then, why does it have to be the same for gay cinema?

Who knows. anyway, not much special in the DVD. widescreen is the only way to see it, for the cinematography.

I liked watching it in Spanish, too.

Average customer rating:

One of My Favorite Movies of All Time
Why have I never heard of this movie before?
something new that grows on you with every taste
International Whine Fest Entry
Unique, Creative, Well Done

Playing By Heart
Starring: Angelina Jolie , Dennis Quaid , April Grace , Patricia Clarkson , and Gena Rowlands
Director: Willard Carroll
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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