The Jury

Starring:Amanda Royle, Simon Markey, Tiana Paige Johnson, Miranda Pleasence, Peter Gale, Neil Maskell, Sarah Louise Young, Mark Strong (II), Claire Nielson, Matt Dineen, Richard Buss, Ellen Thomas, Jack Shepherd, Martin Troakes, Stuart Bunce, Tim Healy (II), Billy Scott (II), Dimitri Andreas, Isabel Brook, Matthew Thomas Davies
Director: Pete Travis
Studio: Goldhil Home Media
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Is Duvinder guilty? Or is he innocent? Share the tension and the excitement as the jury decides.

John Maher (Billy Scott) lay dead in the grass, the victim of 28 well-placed stab wounds. A stolen sword coated in blood lands near the 15-year-old schoolboy's body. It's clearly a case of unrestrained vengeance. John's Sikh schoolmate, Duvinder Singh (Sonnell Dadral), hated him. Hated him enough to commit murder. A horrendous, premeditated murder in cold blood. Or so we're told.

We're also told this gentle, intelligent boy is incapable of killing. He's innocent. Chilling suspense fills "The Jury" as the highly publicized trial pits Sikh and Anglo communities against each other. Logic against intuition. Pride against shame. The jurors must decide what side they're on - both inside the courtroom, and outside.

Award-winning actor Sir Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park; Gladiator; I, Claudius) stars as George Cording QC (queen's council). As Duvinder's lawyer, he must convince the jury of the young boy's innocence in the face of compelling evidence that suggests otherwise. Cording knows his only hope is to confront the evidence head on and expose a scathing case of prejudice. His powers of persuasion have never been sharper.

Amazon.com essential video

Sidney Lumet's directorial debut remains a tense, atmospheric (though slightly manipulative and stagy) courtroom thriller, in which the viewer never sees a trial and the only action is verbal. As he does in his later corruption commentaries such as Serpico or Q & A, Lumet focuses on the lonely one-man battles of a protagonist whose ethics alienate him from the rest of jaded society. As the film opens, the seemingly open-and-shut trial of a young Puerto Rican accused of murdering his father with a knife has just concluded and the 12-man jury retires to their microscopic, sweltering quarters to decide the verdict. When the votes are counted, 11 men rule guilty, while one--played by Henry Fonda, again typecast as another liberal, truth-seeking hero--doubts the obvious. Stressing the idea of "reasonable doubt," Fonda slowly chips away at the jury, who represent a microcosm of white, male society--exposing the prejudices and preconceptions that directly influence the other jurors' snap judgments. The tight script by Reginald Rose (based on his own teleplay) presents each juror vividly using detailed soliloquies, all which are expertly performed by the film's flawless cast. Still, it's Lumet's claustrophobic direction--all sweaty close-ups and cramped compositions within a one-room setting--that really transforms this contrived story into an explosive and compelling nail-biter. --Dave McCoy

Description

Eleven jurors are convinced that the defendant is guilty of murder. The twelfth has no doubt of his innocence. How can this one man steer the others toward the same conclusion? It's a case of seemingly overwhelming evidence against a teenager accused of killing his father in "one of the best pictures ever made" (The Hollywood Reporter).

Customer Reviews:

Justice in a Small Room.......2007-06-22

1957's "Twelve Angry Men" is the story of a jury confined to a small room on a hot, humid summer night to decide the fate of a young man accused of knifing his father to death. The jury's initial poll has eleven jurors for guilty, one for innocent. The ensuing drama revolves around the struggle by the dissenting juror, an architect played with characteristic understated determination by Henry Fonda, to convince the other jurors of the presence of reasonable doubt.

The outstanding cast, a collection of experienced 1950's movie and tv actors who may not be familiar to today's audiences, each bring their particular insights and prejudices to the debate. An elderly man, played by Joseph Sweeney, sides with the Henry Fonda character because he admires the younger man's grit. Lee J. Cobb has an outstanding role as an angry father who sees his estranged son in the actions attributed to the young man on trial. E.G. Marshall plays a confident businessman who gets a lesson in the limits of memory from the Henry Fonda character.

The confining atmosphere of the jury room adds to the tension. Sidney Lumet's brisk but deliberate direction allows each man a turn in the spotlight to examine his conscience as well as the case in front of the other jurors. The end result is a tense, insightful drama about the nature of man and justice.

This movie is highly recommended to viewers looking for an outstanding example of the movie art and a different slant on today's crime dramas.

Minus 1 star for script/believability - the other four for acting alone.......2007-06-13

All the stars I gave was for the acting alone- superb all around though that old man was pretty annoying at times esp with the close ups on him. But the story itself wouldnt last 10 minutes in real life. It begins with Fonda pleading the boy is only 18 (dont we send 18 years olds off to war? 18 years olds can kill?) But the surreal part is when Fonda pulls out that concealed switchblade in the jury room (gov property), sticks it in the table, and tells everyone how he went into the boys neighborhood and found a store and bought it there (AKA doing your own research); all of this HIGHLY illegal; in real life, someone would have told all of this to the bailif, got Fonda arrested and hauled off, and an alternate or a mistrail would have taken place. End of movie right there. One other thing, Fonda kept mentioning "Is it possible"; Possible is not probable, and a million possibles does not equate to one possible, much less a "Reasonable" doubt.

A Classic !!.......2007-05-27

What a great movie!! I haven't watched it in years, but for some reason i watched it tonite. Wow, as good now as ever!!

A good film.......2007-05-18

Though I did think it to be ever so slightly predictable, I found this movie to be a great murder mystery without all the blood, guts, gore, and horror.
The movie begins with a the jury trying to decide whether or not a eighteen year old boy is guilty of brutaly killing his father. they put it to a vote, and find that all but one of them feels that the boy is guilty without giving it so much as a second thought. The one that refused to say the boy is guilty doesn't necessarily think that he is innocent, he just thinks there aught to be more thought put into it. As the story progresess, you see how everyone's personal intersts, background and prejudices get intangled as they try to decipher between right and wrong.
This movie is well worth watching, and deserves to be in anyone's collection.
And I really have to add that I think Henry Fonda's preformance in this movie is great!

Excellent.......2007-05-09

12 Angry Men is an awesome example of how groups work. It is very useful in demonstrating all the points of group interaction that I teach in my Sociology class. The students liked the movie and were able to quickly tie the movie to concepts taught in class. Excellent plot and follow through in developing the story line.

Average customer rating:

Sam Elliott at his best
Western Movies
Louis L Amor and Sam Elliot are a great team!
Conagher
conagher

Conagher
Starring: Sam Elliott , Katharine Ross , Barry Corbin , Billy Green Bush , and Ken Curtis
Director: Reynaldo Villalobos
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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You Know My Name

ASIN: B0007OY2NA
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Description

Conagher is both a hard-riding actioner and a character-driven look at Western life. Katharine Ross plays Evie Teale, widowed after coming West and forced to prove her mettle in many ways. Sam Elliott plays Conagher, a cowhand who, when not tracking rustlers, drifts in and out of Evie's life. Something about that frontier woman keeps drawing him back. But can Evie ever keep him from drifting out again?

Customer Reviews:

Sam Elliott at his best.......2007-03-10

Conagher is classic western penned by the phenomenol Louis L'Amour. It's a movie my husband and I have watched every time it came on tv. It was a must have movie to own so I was delighted to find it on Amazon. This is a movie you simply cannot forget about a hero who believes in right and has the courage to support his beliefs, despite cattle rustlers who threaten his livelihood as well as his life. Then crank up the excitement with adding a beautiful widow (Katharine Ross, Sam Elliott's real life wife)whom Conagher tries to resist, yet cannot forget and you have western romance at it's finest.

Western Movies.......2007-03-09

Once again, Sam Elliott does a super acting job in this entertaining film of life in the Old West. Katherine Ross was excellent as a widowed stepmother with two stepchildren making her own way in the middle of nowhere.

Louis L Amor and Sam Elliot are a great team!.......2007-02-09

I have had this movie on VHS for quite some time and
just recently purchased the DVD. This movie tells a great story while revealing L Amor's view of the range cowboys morality. There simply are not enough good westerns being made anymore. This is a great western. I would highly recomend any western that is derived from a Louis L Amor novel.

Conagher.......2007-01-22

Sam Elliott at his best ... again ... and Katharine Ross is as natural to his character as one could ask for.
If this couple don't form their own production company they are missing a good bet.

conagher.......2007-01-10

If one likes old westerns, especially written by Louis Lemore, it is excellent and so is the actors, especially Sam Elliot and Katherine Ross.

Law & Order, Trial By Jury: The Complete Series

Average customer rating:

Good series,but it has it's problems
Why did they stop after 1 season???
Jerry Orbach's death and uninspired scripts doomed this show
I Knew This One Would Fail
KILLED BEFORE ITS PRIME

Law & Order, Trial By Jury: The Complete Series
Starring: Jerry Orbach , and Fred Dalton Thompson
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000E8JO2S
Release Date: 2006-04-25

Amazon.com

There are plenty of things about Law & Order: Trial by Jury, the fourth series and third spinoff (after SVU and Criminal Intent) in executive producer Dick Wolf's popular and reliable franchise, that loyal viewers will find familiar, even comforting. There's the taut, ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling; the Kobe Bryant rape case (in "Pattern of Conduct") and the infamous Amadou Diallo shooting (in "Forty-One Shots") are but two examples among the fourteen episodes in this three-disc set. There are appearances, some of them recurring, by Sam Waterston, Fred Thompson, the late Jerry Orbach (in his final episodes as Det. Lennie Briscoe), and other stalwarts from the original series. There's an SVU "cross-over" episode, and another ("Skeleton") that follows up on the shooting of L & O detective Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin). And then there's the theme music, the intro ("In the criminal justice system")… and that ineffable sound that leads from one scene to another. Yet Trial by Jury also has many aspects that set it apart from the other Law & Order shows. In focusing not on police procedure but on the trial process, it shines a brighter light on the defendants (who in most cases have already been apprehended when an episode starts), the juries (including the selection process, deliberations, and the role of jury consultants), the various lawyers' strategies, and even the judges' personal opinions. All of that leads to some interesting situations, like the scene in "Forty-One Shots" that finds a group of policemen, barred from the courtroom for making a disturbance during the trial of a cop killer, waiting anxiously outside for the verdict. Nevertheless, there are reasons why Trial by Jury failed to connect with viewers, airing for just two months in 2005 before being canceled by NBC. The cast is one of them; for example, A.D.A. Tracey Kibre (Bebe Neuwirth), the lead prosecutor, is tough but not especially likable. More than that, with its predilection for tight close-ups, personal details, melodrama, and such, the series is simply too much like standard nighttime TV fare. Good but not great, Law & Order: Trial by Jury (the set includes a few deleted scenes and a short featurette) will certainly have its adherents, but it falls a little short of its distinguished predecessors. --Sam Graham

Description

The jury is in! From creator Dick Wolf comes the most innovative Law & Order series yet: Law & Order: Trial by Jury - The Complete Series. Partner up with Jerry Orbach, Fred Dalton Thompson and Bebe Neuwirth to explore the judicial system like never before: not only from the point of view of police and prosecutors, but also the defense team, judges, jurors and the defendants themselves. This highly collectible three-disc DVD set contains all 13 original episodes of the entire series, including one never broadcast on network TV! Plus witness exciting deleted scenes, a landmark Law & Order: SVU cross-over episode starring Chris Meloni and Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, the philosophy behind this unique show presented by the cast members, and powerful guest-star performances from Lorraine Bracco, Peter Coyote and Candice Bergen. You have the right to Law & Order: Trial by Jury!

Customer Reviews:

Good series,but it has it's problems.......2007-06-08

I first became a fan of the Law and Order franchise when I watched the first series of the original.Then came Criminal Intent followed by SVU.I was getting hooked on the real life Crime and Punishment and I wondered why the plug was pulled.Trial by Jury was good,but it had its flaws.I'm more of a fan of the original and SVU.When Dennis Farina was brought in to replace Jerry Orbach,I thought it was a very good decision.But I was sadden Dennis Farina left the series.He and Jesse Martin's character were a good formula.Despite massive cast changes the franchise will survive.There have been a lot of talk the Law and Order franchise is in a big rivalry with the CSI franchise.This would make great TV.I watch Law and Order because I get into the story faster than CSI.When I am writing my novels I watch the Law and Order episodes,it helps with my writers'block.

Why did they stop after 1 season???.......2007-02-14

I was saddened by Jerry Orbach's death as well as most of his fans were. I think that they had a strong cast though and would have been able to carry the show. I think it was a much better show than Law and Order Criminal Intent,which just confuses me. LOL. I wonder if they will bring it back? I wish they would.

Jerry Orbach's death and uninspired scripts doomed this show.......2006-12-24

Trial By Jury failed to live up to its potential. The first few episodes held out the promise of an in-depth look at how the legal system works from all angles, including the jury, but this was quickly altered to a focus on the Bebe Neuwirth character and her investigators. In effect, it became an hour-long version of the second half of the original L&O. Still, the show was interesting and entertaining, and its crossovers with other L&O shows were fun. I enjoyed Neuwirth, both her acting and her character. I wasn't put off at all by her terse manner or cynicism, and I think she had pretty good chemistry with her female sidekick. Some of the storylines did seem to be retreads of stories from other L&O shows, but if the writers could have managed to overcome that trend, and stayed true to the show's original potential, then it might have been another strong entry in the L&O franchise.

I do have to say, however, that even though I liked the show, the fact that its creativity started waning after a few episodes caused me to be less disappointed by its cancellation than I might have been. Jerry Orbach, who was intended to be a regular on the show playing Lenny Briscoe, could have been the sympathetic character this show was missing, but his worsening illness and then death put an end to those plans and probably this show. He was only able to show up during the first two episodes, and even then he looked quite ill. These days, networks aren't generally willing to give a series time to come into its own. If you don't produce ratings in the first half dozen outings, its generally cancellation time.

I'd recommend this DVD for those of us who are dyed in the wool L&O fans, but if you're not in this category, you might not really like this show that much.

I Knew This One Would Fail.......2006-10-17

When I saw the previews for this show, I was ecstatic. It was Lilith and Murphy Brown in a new show. Of course, I'm referring to Bebe Neuwirth and Candace Bergen (I apologize if my spelling is inaccurate. Too lazy to look up the proper spellings of their respective names). So, I eagerly tuned into this new series since I love these two actresses and I love Law & Order. The first episode was okay, but I felt there was simply TOO MUCH going on! It was hard to keep pace with the show. Everyone talked too fast about too many complicated legal things. You had the defense, the prosecution, the judge, the jury, the families of the accused, the defendant...just TOO many people, too much information.

As soon as the episode was over, I said to my boyfriend, "Wow. They are going to have to dumb this down for American people." I'm not saying Americans are dumb because I am one, but this was one show that didn't appeal to the O.C./American Idol generation of TV viewers we have now. You really had to want to stick with this show and give it a chance. It was very fast paced and there was a lot to take in.

Still, it's sad that this didn't last. I would've liked to have seen this show develop, just like the other Law & Order shows have.

KILLED BEFORE ITS PRIME.......2006-10-05

This short lived series in the successful L&O franchise wasn't given enough time to connect with the viewers. While not as emotionally engaging as its predecessors, the series nonetheless offered some gripping storylines, and some superb performances from its regulars and guest stars.
While Bebe Neuwirth's character isn't exactly likeable, she nonetheless brought a strong sense of justice and strength to her role. Amy Carlson as her assistant was a little warmer and added a touch of sensitivity. Kirk Acevedo was understated and sincere; Steve Cohen brought a little more volatility to his role. The guest list was impressive: Lorraine Bracco, Alfred Molina, Angela Lansbury, Annabella Sciorra and others all brought class to the series.
Too bad NBC gave up too quickly; I would've enjoyed more episodes.

Average customer rating:

John Cusak, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz nice combo!
Top pedigree, middling result.
Things that make you go huumm!
Highly Recommend
Jurors Are Not King Solomon

Runaway Jury (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: John Cusack , Gene Hackman , Dustin Hoffman , Rachel Weisz , and Bruce Davison
Director: Gary Fleder
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00014NEZI
Release Date: 2004-02-17

Amazon.com

Based on the bestseller by John Grisham, Runaway Jury is a slick thriller that's exciting enough to overcome the gaps in its plot. The ultimate target has been changed: Grisham's legal assault on the tobacco industry was switched to the hot-button issue of gun control (no doubt to avoid comparison to The Insider) in a riveting exposé of jury-tampering. Gene Hackman plays the ultra-cynical, utterly unscrupulous pawn of the gun-makers, using an expert staff and advanced electronics to hand-pick a New Orleans jury that will return a favorable verdict; Dustin Hoffman (making his first screen appearance with real-life former roommate Hackman) defends the grieving widow of a gun-shooting victim with idealistic zeal, while maverick juror John Cusack and accomplice Rachel Weisz play both ends against the middle in a personal quest to hold gun-makers accountable. It's riveting stuff, even when it's obvious that Grisham and director Gary Fleder have glossed over any details that would unravel the plot's intricate design. --Jeff Shannon

Description

From master storyteller John Grisham and the director of Don't Say A Word comes a taut suspense-thriller that "grabs hold of you and never lets go" (Philadelphia Metro). In their first film together, screen legends Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman face off in this electrifying nail-biter about a ruthless jury consultant who'll do anything to win. With lives and millions of dollars at stake, the fixer plays a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a jury member (John Cusack) and a mysterious woman (Rachel Weisz) who offer to "deliver" the verdict to the highest bidder. Packed with danger, intrigue and pulse-pounding twists and turns, Runaway Jury rules!

Customer Reviews:

John Cusak, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz nice combo!.......2007-07-01

This movie is not your usual cop and trial movie. There's suspense, twist and turns, and a great finale. Hard to find a movie that actually suprises me, cuz i always know the plot before it even starts. But basically heres the run down without me giving it away. Gene Hackman, Bad Guy, Dustin Hoffman Good Guy, John&Rachel at first bad guys, but then later you realize their the Good Guys, then again their always the good guys cuz to me anybody that can make a lawyer sweat is good in my book. The trial is about sticking it to the gun company, John& Rachel are going to achieve this by infiltrating the system, by making the gun company believe that they're on their side, which their not. The Gun company looks like they're going to win, then they're not, then they are, then.....Oh just watch the movie and you'll see.

Top pedigree, middling result........2007-06-09

Another John Grisham thriller is churned out as a star studded movie. It seems the books with the most thrills have been taken, as this is somewhat pedestrian, although still entertaining.
So what's it about? A big trial against the gun manufacturers is in progress, and both sides are anxious to have the jury on their side. The gun manufacturers hire Gene Hackman, representing the dark corporate side of jury manipulation. However, the apple-cart is upturned when it turns out that the jury is already being manipulated and may be for sale, engineered by someone on the jury and an accomplice (Weisz).
The collection of stars is fantastic - Hackman, Hoffman, Cusack, Weisz. In fact, as the interesting extras point out, Hackman and Hoffman have never shared screen time before. Seeing them in their one big screen moment together is the highlight of the movie. Hackman does not quite bring the same complexity to the role as he did to his other Grisham movie, `The Firm', but he lends real gravitas to his unscrupulous jury consultant. Hoffman is unusually restrained for the most part to play a convincing attorney, but it's Cusack once again who shows himself as a truly natural talent, morphing into just about any role he is given with ease. Here, the entertainment is in watching him manipulate the jury with some applied psychology, while his own motivation remains obscured until a time of his choosing.
Most of the movie is a bidding war and cat and mouse game, until the final denouement unveils the true motivation in a reasonably satisfying way. Along the way, the thriller elements seem shoehorned in, with the real joy in watching the process of choosing and manipulating the jury - the indictment of the system the movie is aiming at.
It's a solid enough story, and well told - but somehow you get the feeling the source material was never as cinematic as Grisham's previous movie adaptations. The cast and acting, especially by Hackman and Cusack, make this worthwhile. For legal thriller buffs, it won't disappoint, but it's not the real classic it might have been.
The extras where Hackman and Hoffman chat about their on screen scene together and their long friendship, is probably the most interesting thing on the disc.

Things that make you go huumm!.......2007-05-18

Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz what could be better? Gene Hackman, always the consumate professional, is wonderfully sinister. Dustin Hoffman delivers. And Cusack and Weisz simmer as a scorned couple out for redemption in this tight thriller. It makes you wonder sometimes whether or not companies really do go to this extent to rest decisions in their favor. It's also kind of scary knowing technology exist that allows people with know how avenues to poke around in your private matters. In the end, Runaway Jury delivers!

Highly Recommend.......2007-03-04

Just watched this movie for the second time, and it was as suspenseful as the first. Great acting, and a plot that keeps you guessing. I liked that although there was some emphasis on the issue of semi-automatic weapons in the hands of civilians, I never felt like this was the focus of the plot. The way the characters played and conned each other through out was the most interesting for me, definitely takes the viewer on a good ride. What is great too is that I forgot how the movie ended, which made my second viewing that much more interesting.

Jurors Are Not King Solomon.......2007-02-28

The acting in this Grisham book made movie is excellent. As others have reviewed, Hackman is exceptional in his role as the cool, calculating jury selection expert. Cusack is equally cast and performs admirably as the juror with a motive who ends up having the tale revolve around.

It unfolds slowly, suspensively with snippets of past events flashed at the right moments to reveal just enough and keep enough still in doubt.

Having just served on jury, this is fascinating stuff. Wonder two things: how true to book? how true to civil Louisiana trials? In any case, for viewing this is riveting tale with sophisticated technology, body language experts, and feasting upon human behavior at its weakest.

Makes for great drama! Grisham is winner again and this movie depiction is worth the watch.

Average customer rating:

Unexpexted turns of the characters
A movie to go back to
A bitter innovative comedy!
Flashback.. fun.. and there's a heart.
I may be young, but I've got good tastes.

Flashback
Starring: Dennis Hopper , Kiefer Sutherland , Carol Kane , Paul Dooley , and Cliff De Young
Director: Franco Amurri
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B00006F7IL
Release Date: 2002-09-24

Amazon.com

Inspired casting puts sparks in this comedy of counterculture clash between an aging 1960s radical and a buttoned-down FBI agent. Dennis Hopper plays an Abbie Hoffman-esque sixties activist and prankster who lands in the custody of a conservative young agent (a suitably uptight Kiefer Sutherland) and proceeds to literally unravel the agent's carefully constructed front through a series of slippery mind games. Hopper has a blast as the unreformed sixties relic, and Carol Kane is delightful as a hippie holdout who puts both men back in touch with their identities. There are few surprises, plenty of heart, and even a little sentiment in this story of rebellion and the legacy of the counterculture. The soundtrack is gilded with well-chosen 1960s anthems. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Unexpexted turns of the characters.......2007-03-28

Very human and a look back to the ideals of the sixties- at least those of the hippies and how their children experienced them

A movie to go back to.......2006-04-02

This came out when I was 3, and Mom and I still have the laserdisc version of it. This movie is a great showing about how things have changed, if what Mom says about the 60's and 70's is true. Either way, it's a very fun movie. I feel the urge to watch it at least once a year. Keifer Sutherland plays a "me generation" FBI agent who is sent to take an ex-yippie, played by Dennis Hopper, to a prison where he can serve his sentence for disconnecting Spiro Agnew's train car. The cop and the ex-yippie end up having to flee for their lives and depend on each other for their survival, even if they drive each other crazy. In the end, the cop decides to let the ex-yippie run away. The sort of twist at the very end is nice, and I smile and chuckle thinking about it. I highly recommend it to anyone born in the late 80's who feels like they should have been in college in the 60's.

A bitter innovative comedy!.......2005-04-10

Two opposites gazes. One of them is the counterculture embodied by a man literally inmersed in his own universe of the sixties. He lives in the time tunnel: in the other hand a special agent extremely conservative and following every line of the established codes. This agent will have to make a unforgettable ride through a train from to other state. And then a funny chain of smart and laughable events will fill the screen.Highly inspired and intelligent comedy that presents to Dennis Hopper as he wolud have got out from Easy rider twenty years later.
A tour de force comedy with many, many highlights. Recommendable all the way. Hopper and Shuterland made a maginficent team!

Flashback.. fun.. and there's a heart........2004-08-25

While looking at the box art.. or maybe just reading on the box.. You may think this film is your stanard opposites clash, then become buddies film.. Well, you'd be right.. and, you would be WRONG. I admit, there are a few contrived scenes.. and the relationship is pretty much spelled out from the beginning of the film and the two main character's FIRST meeting.. BUT, the way it's played is definitely not the same old formula.

Dennis Hopper easily slips into the aging hippie radical.. It's no surprise that he's comic gold. The more surprising part, and it is no knock against him, is Keifer Sutherland. He plays the straight man to the crazy radical, yet also brings an unexpected depth to the character of the FBI agent who's responsibility it is to take Huey (Hopper) back to jail.

Not saying Hopper's character lacks depth.. He is very much a cardboard cut out loudmouth that also has a depth to him when he refers to his regret of having been a fugitive for 25 years after pulling off an amateurish stunt against the establishment.

BUT.. the real surprise to me is still of course Sutherland.. in retrospect.. looking over his career, even up to this point, his most effective roles (and even now, on the big screen anyway) had been of villains and people who are evil.. pure and simple, and without reason for the most part. His character of the sadistic Ace Merill (Stand by Me) was a great role.. but rather just an evil role.. but, of course, Sutherland never let his evil turn into the level of mustache twirling.. He was the bully.. Or his later turns in the small parts in "A Time to Kill" and almost invisible (a completely omniscient and almost spectrual figure, well voice, in "Phone Booth". Here he plays the straight man.. An uptight FBI agent who triest to resist the humor and charm of the aging hipster..

And he seems to have a rather good time playing the almost lack of humor FBI agent.. then he gets his chance as the antagonistic prankster.. But, the most shocking.. Were two particular scenes between Buckner and Carol Kane regarding his childhood.. When he talks about going to school for the first time.. The second was just one simple moment where his character was totally changed.. I am assuming everyone has seen the film and know to what I refer here. As Buckner (Sutherland) watches a family video, watch Sutherland's reaction.. As his character totally breaks down..

Anyway.. I can only recommend this film to anyone.. who doesn't mind the language.. It is definitely a film for ADULTS.. but there are messages for the younger generations as well. So.. it's a buddy film.. there are opposing idealogies.. there's some character depth.. and a satisfying conclusion.. You will laugh, maybe cry.. and hopefully think about the generation that was and what it means to us now and how it may be important now than ever.

I may be young, but I've got good tastes........2003-10-08

This is the movie that made me a huge Kiefer Sutherland fan. I saw it when I was young (age 12 or so) and it's been one my absolute favorites ever since. A lot of talent and heart went into this film and it always puts me in a good mood. Dennis Hopper is awesome as always and he and Kiefer made a great screen team. A must see, especially for any Kiefer fans out there. I'm so excited to finally have this movie in my film library.

Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre Melbourne

Average customer rating:

G & S fan? Don't miss this one.
Interesting interpretations
Delightful HMS Pinafore
Nice Try But Doesn't Measure Up
Sailing the celebrity seas

Gilbert & Sullivan - H.M.S. Pinafore / Trial By Jury - David Hobson, Anthony Warlow, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia, State Theatre, The Arts Centre Melbourne
Starring: Gilbert & Sullivan , Warlow , Hobson , Greene , and Opera Australia
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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( G ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Eric Idle, Lesley Garrett, Richard Van Allan, Felicity Palmer, Richard Angas, Bonaventura Bottone, Susan Bullock, English National Opera
Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience / Douglas, Olsen, Warlow, Australian Opera
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance / Kline, Ronstadt, Smith, Routledge, Delacorte Theater (Broadway Theatre Archive)
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Reed, Adams, Potter, Masterson, Godfrey, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Gilbert & Sullivan - The Gondoliers / David Hobson, Roger Lemke, Australian Opera

ASIN: B000FII2F2
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Description

For most of the 20th century, the D'Oyly Carte Opera performed HMS Pinafore with a companion piece, Trial by Jury. Opera Australia re-unites these long-standing stage-mates with two fresh productions and an inspired cast. While HMS Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's first full-length satirical work and first major international success, Trial by Jury was their first collaboration - the show's outrageous antics made it the toast of London.

In this filmed recording, Anthony Warlow, Australia's musical theatre superstar, is at the helm as both the "right good captain" and the "good judge" too. He is joined by a stellar cast featuring David Hobson, John Bolton Wood and Colette Mann as "dear little Buttercup".

Featuring: Anthony Warlow, David Hobson, Colette Mann, Tiffany Speight, John Bolton Wood, Richard Alexander, Opera Australia Melbourne Chorus, Orchestra Victoria.

Customer Reviews:

G & S fan? Don't miss this one........2007-06-13

First, you must be a Gilbert & Sullivan fan. Given that, you will love this video, in spite of its few shortcomings. This is a video made from a live performance in front of an audience. That actually added to my enjoyment of the video, but it may not be true for you.

I had never seen "Trial by Jury" before and didn't realize that the story is just a vehicle for the music, which is excellent. I wish it had a bit more plot to back up the singing.

"HMS Pinafore" was a joy. I followed along with the libretto in Ian Bradley's book, "The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan" and discovered some places where the performance didn't match the book and some places where lines had been deleted. The total may have amounted to a dozen lines, none of them crucial. I cannot say whether the book is correct or the performance, so I don't consider that a fault.

The only real drawback to "HMS Pinafore" was the terrible singing performance of Colette Mann, who played Buttercup. She is a very good actress, but does not have a singing voice. She's better than Clint Eastwood was in "Paint Your Wagon", but that's not saying much. Her poor singing was overcome by the very good voice of David Hobson (Ralph Rakestraw) and the tremendous voice of Tiffany Speight (Josephine).

The camera and audio work was also top notch. You don't have strain to catch every word, because all the soloists were wearing microphones. The audio is Dolby 5.1, and the picture is widescreen.

I noticed that Opera Australia has made "Pirates of Penzance" for TV also. I hope to see the DVD on Amazon soon.

Highly recommended.

Interesting interpretations.......2007-05-30

I would love a traditional version of "H.M.S. Pinafore" and "Trial By Jury," but I also love seeing different interpretations that bring fresh life to these old favorites. That's what we have here. I have never seen Little Buttercup so bawdy before and at first I thought "What on earth is going on?" Then I caught the joke and found this new interpretation of her as delightful. Of course she should be a little bawdy... she is, after all, a criminal for mixing up those babies, and she is, after all, on board a ship at night long after she should have gone home.

Seeing "Trial By Jury" presented as a modern day Celebrity Scandal Trial was also a brilliant bit of business. All of the old Gilbert bits were in there, plus some new ones that might be fresh out of any modern tabloid.

Delightful HMS Pinafore.......2007-05-25

Wonderfully performed. I'm glad that I chose it. I have not yet viewed the other operetta, Trial by Jury, but am looking forward to it.

Nice Try But Doesn't Measure Up .......2007-05-20

I am an avid G&S fan and I have seen Pinafore performed several times and this isn't the best one. This is well staged and the costumes are excellent. Buttercup screeches her way through some of the best parts. The Sailors are so busy and there is so much business going on that it is distracting. The real culprit here is the music which has been slowed to a crawl. The patter songs and general sprightliness is missing so this production comes across more like an operatic wannabe, than a true G&S. The music virtually drowns out the singers who suffer from poor ennuciation to begin with. If you are not familiar with the libretto much of the humor is lost.

I had never seen Trial By Jury performed before so this performance was a real challenge since I never could determine precisely what was going on and the Judge came across as silly. The ennuciation was so poor that I never determined exactly what was going on and who had done what to whom.

The other reviewers all found this to be an outstanding performance so perhaps I am being overly critical. To be fair I did enjoy the performance -- can G&S ever be totally bad? I gave it three stars because it is beautifully staged and remains fun -- and a wonderful satire.

Sailing the celebrity seas.......2007-05-17

The main thing I can away with from this twofer is that Anthony Warlow is the most versitile actor singing Gilbert & Sullivan today. On one hand, he is superb as "Pinafore"'s handsome Captain Corcoran, and grotesquely funny as the half-senile judge in "Trail by Jury".

H.M.S.Pinafore - slightly "updated" to make the Pinafore a contemporary of the Titanic, I'll admit I have seen better. It is well sung, and on the whole well done, and perhaps I am being picky. But it is not easy to find a middle ground between romantic comedy, social satire, and a contrived, uncomfortable ending that for me has always been more worthy of Monty Python than Gilbert & Sullivan. Balancing these elements is never comfortable, and this is yet another well-staged version that doesn't quite do it.

Trial by Jury - on the other hand, I wildly applaud this droll and unique production that has had it coming for years. After all, why would half of London concern themselves over an engagement breakup if it were not involving high-profile personalities referred to only by their first names? In this version, Edwin and Angelina are obviously socialites and celebrities, instantly recognizable to all, especially a Paris Hilton-like Angelina (even though the real money belongs to Edwin). In this modern setting, the little quaint Victorian comedy comes wonderfully to life (only another production with 1920's golddiggers came close) in ways that we cqan all recognize and laugh at. In many ways, "Trail by Jury" is the most timely G&S of all, and in this version, looks as if it popped right off the pages of London trabloids. Fantastic.

Average customer rating:

"The minute one meets anyone, one makes judgements."
STRONG DRAMATICALLY, WITH GERARD BUTLER AS STANDOUT
Brilliant British production....
Drama, a British film trademark
A well written, well casted, well acted, court drama

The Jury
Starring: Tiana Paige Johnson , Miranda Pleasence , Mark Strong (II) , Claire Nielson , and Matt Dineen
Director: Pete Travis
Manufacturer: Goldhil Home Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008DDVG
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Description

Is Duvinder guilty? Or is he innocent? Share the tension and the excitement as the jury decides.

Customer Reviews:

"The minute one meets anyone, one makes judgements.".......2007-04-04

"The Jury" is a made-for-British-television 6-part mini-series that focuses on a high profile murder case. A teenage Sikh schoolboy Duvinder Singh (Sonnell Dadral) is accused of brutally murdering a schoolmate with a sword. While Duvinder admits hating the victim and planning to kill him, he argues that he's innocent--even though he stole the sword and intended to use it. It's a weak defence at best. The case gets plenty of media attention due to the ages of the victim and the accused killer, the race issue, and the viciousness of the crime.

As the title suggests, the film focuses on the jury--not just the crime, and it's an unusual yet fascinating focus. The script concentrates on several members of the jury--Marcia (Nina Sosyana)--a young black woman, Peter (Michael Maloney)--a Jewish man who is thrilled to serve as part of a murder jury, Jeremy (Nicholas Farrell)--a man who still hasn't recuperated from losing his home and savings due to faulty investment advice, Rose (Helen McCrory)--an unhappily married woman, Johnny Donne (Gerard Butler in a marvelous performance)--a recovering alcoholic, Elsie Beamish (Sylvia Sims)--a lonely catholic woman, and a seminary student who's agonizing over his decision whether or not to enter the priesthood.

"The Jury" is extremely well constructed. As various witnesses are called to testify for the prosecution and for the defence, the case is pieced together, and one cannot help but feel part of the jury--in an off-screen sort of way. For example, in one scene Duvinder testifies in his defense, and it's easy to be swayed by his testimony. However, shortly thereafter, the prosecution cross-examines, and this raises further questions.

Years ago, I had a close friend who served as a member of a jury for a lengthy murder trial. He told me it was an experience he wouldn't wish on anyone, and that it altered his life--leaving him with sleepless nights and ulcers. Decades later, he is still haunted by the verdict. Many of the things he told me came back to me as I watched "The Jury"--these are twelve people--regular, ordinary people--dragged from their usual routines and problems and told to focus on a case that will decide the fate of a man who may--or may not--have taken the life of another. The background stories of the jurors were all quite fascinating--with the exception of the seminary student--his story didn't really seem to add anything to the film. The film depicts the jurors as people who have many problems in their lives--debt, unhappy marriages, loneliness, addiction and a crisis of faith, and yet these problems must be checked at the door each day as the trial begins. Participation on the jury means many things to the participants--some see it as a welcome responsibility--others as a liability or a citizen's duty. No one takes it lightly, however. It's both inevitable and unavoidable that these twelve people bring their own beliefs, experiences, and prejudices to the final verdict. "The Jury" is riveting entertainment, and it's the marvelous, haunting ending that lands this film its 5-star rating--displacedhuman

STRONG DRAMATICALLY, WITH GERARD BUTLER AS STANDOUT.......2007-02-04

Everyone is agreed, I think, that the Brits put out great drama. This is no exception. THE JURY is a very interesting ensemble piece - almost a soaper - interweaving the lives of seven of the twelve members of a present-day jury that is hearing a teenage murder case in London's Old Bailey courthouse. Antony Sher (Shakespeare In Love), as coldly calculating and always smiling Prosecuting Attorney Gerald Lewis, is exceptionally riveting. Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius, Gladiator, Gosford Park) gives a warmer, more humane, and often witty performance as Attorney for the Defense, George Cording. Michael Maloney (The Last Place On Earth, Henry V), as high-strung jury foreman Peter Segal, delivers one of the more interesting performances, trying to fend off his ever interfering father-in-law, who is determined to solve the case and influence Peter's vote. Helen McCrory (Anna Karenina, Lucky Jim) as Rose Davies, a woman who is doing jury duty in order to escape a dull and smothering marriage, is also quite interesting, changing her clothes and makeup at the courthouse each day to become a different person from the one she is at home.

But the real standout is Gerard Butler (Beowulf And Grendel, Phantom Of The Opera, Dear Frankie) as Johnnie Donne, a recovering alcoholic who has just gotten out of rehab and is unsure if he can emotionally handle a high-profile court case. Halfway through the trial, he finds himself falling in love with Rose, whom he doesn't realize is married, and being punished for it physically by her husband. Things go from bad to worse when Johnnie discovers that Rose is married. But he rises to the occasion in the jury room to convince one of his fellow jurors to cast the deciding vote in the trial. Butler does an exceptional job selling his character and fulfilling all promises in his more emotionally charged scenes. He did this coming off Attila, in which he played the title role - a 180-degree different type character from Johnnie - and one in which he also excelled. Butler was helped in the role of Johnnie by having struggled with alcoholism in his own life, which he readily is willing to discuss.

Some viewers may be disappointed by the visual blandness of THE JURY. It does not hold your attention in that regard. As a matter of fact, I was very disappointed when I first saw it, having become used to such visually stunning British dramas as Horatio Hornblower and Pride And Prejudice. However, what it lacks visually, it pretty much makes up for dramatically. I think I was first pulled into the story by the discussion over the blood-drenched shirt of the defendant versus his red school tie. Which was it that the crossing attendant (the "lollypop man") saw? The filmmakers, and the lawyers, handled that question masterfully, and had my respect from that point on.

You won't be disappointed. This is a very good series, and, as I said, Gerard Butler is excellent.

Waitsel Smith

Brilliant British production...........2006-08-13

Positively riveting British drama about a Sikh teen, played by Sonnell Dadral, on trial for the brutal murder of a fellow classmate who was bullying him.

This 6 episode mini-series explores prejudice on all levels, intolerance, hatred and cruelty..not only between the victim and the accused, but in the diverse lives that make up the jury.

Jurors can't help but explore their own feelings, inadequacies, prejudices when trying to reach a verdict. Not only does the trial become life changing for the families of the victim and the accused, but for the jurists as well. We not only anxiously await the fate of the accused teen, but also the decisions the jurors will reach to dilemmas in their own lives.

The ENTIRE cast is amazing, and I hesitate to name just a few:
Sir Derek Jacobi, defending the Sikh teen, despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt; Sir Antony Sher the intimidating, arrogant prosecutor; Michael Maloney as the foreman, who struggles with an overbearing, prejudice father-in-law; Gerard Butler as the recovering alcoholic, right out of rehab; Stuart Bunce as the seminary student wrestling with his devotion to the priesthood; Helen McCrory as a woman feeling trapped in her marriage with a desire to escape; Jack Shepherd as the grieving father of the slain boy, wanting revenge, but waiting for the 'process' to work...
The whole cast is superb!

This is British drama at its best and a MUST for Gerard Butler fans, who gives an absolutely stellar, heart-rending performance!

Drama, a British film trademark.......2006-07-14

Once again the British show us how to make a meaningful drama, a well thought out plot, a superb cast, Derek Jacobi again shows us why he is one of the best in the world. (Gladiator) In this drama are some of the tightest camara shots I've seen in a long time. The plot, well I won't rehash it like some do and spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but there are enough twists in the series to make you change your mind many times, my wife figured it out, I didn't, she has watched many more British murder mysterys than I have. The music is perfect, fits the series to a "T". My only minor complaint is, if you have someone in your family who has a hearing problem like at our home, the British accents are a problem to those who are not quite deaf yet, there are NO closed captions in this series, we had to stop it many times to explain just what was happening, a big problem at my home.

A well written, well casted, well acted, court drama.......2006-06-02

This set of DVDs are well worth the price if you enjoy an intelligent, thought-provoking drama. Though the plot line is not new, the presentation of the jury as the focal point for telling the story of a murder trial and the effect the experience had on the diverse people on the jury was near perfect. The author gave us seven in depth views of jurors and glimpses to the other five with above average dialog and a keen unfolding story line. By the end I was more conerned for finding out what happened to the jury than if the accused was really guilty. The cast was stellar and portrayed their roles to perfection. The side charactors, the lawyers and families of the victum and the accused rounded out the drama with realistic and tense perfomances. I am lending out THE JURY to close friends, knowing good discussions will follow.

Average customer rating:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth...
Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama
Still, it IS Welles. . .
enticing sexy dip into film noir waters
"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness"

The Lady from Shanghai
Starring: Glenn Anders , Steve Benton , Vernon Cansino , Al Eben , and Edythe Elliott
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004W229
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Orson Welles more or less conned studio boss Harry Cohn over the phone into making this movie by grabbing the title from a nearby paperback. In any case, The Lady from Shanghai is one of Welles's most fascinating works, a bizarre tale of an Irish sailor (Welles) who accompanies a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her handicapped husband (Everett Sloane) on a cruise and becomes involved in a murder plot. But never mind all that (the aforementioned legend also claims that Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him). The film is really a dream of Welles's driving preoccupations on- and offscreen at the time: the elusiveness of identity, the mystique of things lost, and most of all the director's faltering marriage to Hayworth. In the tradition of male filmmakers who indirectly tell the story of their love affairs with leading ladies, Welles tells his own, photographing Hayworth as a deconstructed star, an obvious cinematic creation, thus reflecting, perhaps, a never-satisfied yearning that leads us back to the mystery of Citizen Kane. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth..........2007-01-04

After all, you do not go to an Orson Welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy-ever-after star...

You go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings, lighted and scored imaginatively, photographed bravely, and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place...

As usual, as well as directing, Welles wrote the script and he also played the hero - a young Irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil, but still retained his clear-eyed trust in the goodness of others... Unfortunately for him, he reposed this trust in Rita Hayworth, whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future... She was married without love, to an impotent, crippled advocate, acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant Everett Sloane...

There is a youthful romanticism underlying it all, and this quality came into exuberant play in "The Lady from Shanghai." Before the inevitable happened, Welles escaped - to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors, which has become one of the classic scenes of the post-war cinema ...

Welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere... His camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web...

Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama.......2006-12-29

In London, Michael O'Hara meets Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister and decides to introduce himself by offering her a cigerette. Elsa tells him that she doesn't smoke but takes the cigerette and wraps it in a napkin and insert into her purse. Michael hears a scream and sees three men pulling on both of Elsa's arms; Elsa is helpless against her attackers; Michael sees Elsa's purse and the cigerette and grabs it; the attackers are defeated soundly by Michael, who is an efficient fighter; Michaels learns from Elsa that she dropped the purse hoping Michael would see it and rescue her; this is the first clue that Elsa has a grand plot for Michael; Michael tells Elsa that he killed a man in Spain during the war; Michael guides Elsa's horse carriage to her car, a real stylish car; Elsa ask Michael work for her on her husband's boat; Michael tells Elsa that he won't work for a married woman.

Arthur Bannister asks Michael to be the Captain of ship which he plans to sail to San Francisco. Michael and his friends join Arthur in a drinking binge and then Michael decides to join the voyage because of his attraction of Elsa. George, Arthur's gay law partner joins the voyage. George sees Michael kisses Elsa and tells Arthur. Arthur is cruel to Elsa calling her, "lover"; Arthur suggests to Elsa that she would like Michael, a strong and bigger male; Arthur acquired the ship when one of his opponents perjuryed and used money to pay for a maid, who had worked for another law firm; Arthur knows that Elsa wants to murder him and take his money. Arthur is murdered by gun; a gun that Michael has seen Elsa use.

Elsa plot fails when her hired killer, kills George instead of Arthur. Michael forces Elsa to reveal the gun that killed George. At the Chinese fun house, Arthur and Elsa kill each other and Michael says, "sharks feeding on each other" suggesting his repulsion of the super rich and the conceit of the super rich with their feed frenzy arrogance.

Still, it IS Welles. . ........2006-11-10

I must confess at the outset that I am an Orson Welles fan. This is not to say that I am unaware of or wish to minimize his faults. What I mean is that, for me, his work possesses a set of characteristics, not all of them completely definable even yet, which are nonetheless rich and compelling. Furthermore, I maintain that enough (all?) of this "Welles aesthetic fingerprint survives the tribulation, sometimes extreme, to which his work was all too often subjected at the hands of others, to render even his lesser efforts very worthy of serious attention rewarded by enjoyment.

"The Lady from Shanghai" illustrates the above very clearly. Welles made the film at a very serious juncture in her career. His "boy wonder" reputation was fading rapidly. His political views were becomming less popular as the country began to move toward the right. His radio work had begun to dry up. His finances were a shambles. In desperation, he turned to Harry Cohn, a man he had contemptuously attacked, to support his latest project. He meant "The Lady from Shanghai" to restore his reputation as a viable filmmaker, proof that he could make a film that would be "aminstream" enough to pay off at the box office, and yet not represent artistic capitulation to commercial Hollywood. It was also to be a both a starring vehicle and a "stretch" performance for his then-wife, Rita Hayworth.

Unfortunately, the film proved typical of most of Welles work in one significant way: it was taken out of his hands in post-production, and as a result, was, when released, by no means the film Welles had in mind.

I inssist, however, that it does manage to succeed to a great extent as an intelligent, originally handled thriller. Welles's genius for visual elements -- location, lighting, camera angles, etc, retain their fascination and beauty. A certain viewpoint still pervades the handling of plot and character -- satiric, bitter, increasingly surreal. And, I maintain, Rita Hayworth does "stretch" as an actress, creating, with, admittedly, a lot of help from her husband and his camera, a memorable femme fatale. The high quality of her performance is uniform with the rest of the cast, such as the very fine Everett Sloane.

The is a film not only for fans of Welles, such as myself, but for anyone who enjoys an intelligent film noir,

enticing sexy dip into film noir waters.......2006-09-27

The Lady from Shanghi's reputation is secure as a classic of film noir but then this genre is notoriously disrespected probably because many film noirs are based on dime novels and sound like it; in order to appreciate a film noir, therefore, you have to be able to enjoy the kitschy quality of snappy dime-novel dialogue. But kitsch alone is not what makes (some) film noirs great. What really sets film noir apart from other genres is its striking, even elegant, visual style which often contrasts sharply with its stark subject matter. Film noir has a way of glamourzing corruption, and giving corruption a unique aesthetic allure all its own. Film noir probably owes something to the German Expressionist film masters (Murnau, Lang, Von Stroheim) and the Hollywood grotesques of the 20's and 30's but it absorbs and evolves these influences into a highly refined style of its own. Orson Welles is the undisputed master of the high noir style. All of his films after Magnificent Ambersons mobilize film noir methods and techniques and so Welles' reputation rises and falls with that genre that he did not create but that he perfected.

Film noir came of age during WWII and like many film noirs Lady from Shanghai is about anxieties over race, class, sexuality, and identity and, in this particular noir film, negotiating racial, social, cultural and sexual difference in an increasingly globalized world. The film takes place in several international (Acapulco) and exotic (Chinatown) settings and these strange locales allow Welles to examine how his characters respond to a diverse array of atmospheres and social/cultural settings. Welles himself plays the central character in the film, Michael O'Hara, and to do so he affects an Irish accent (another international touch) that, some critics argue, is supposed to sound false/inauthentic. O'Hara has a way of talking that sounds a bit too self-consciously literary; and though he affects a working class worldliness his yarns sound like they come straight out of Conrad (O'Hara echoes many of Conrad's colonial concerns) and Hemingway (O'Hara echoes Hemingway's anti-Franco sentiments) and so we suspect that this character has spent more time reading and writing stories than in actually working. Whether we believe Michael's Irish brogue is authentic or not we know that he is fond of creating fictions and this casts suspicions on his identity as well as on his version of events that we hear on the voiceover. Furthermore, we can see that his obsession with literature has given him a taste for the romantic and the typically masculine posturing of his favorite literary heroes and instead of making him worldly wise this just makes him all the more gullible when a pretty lady and the promise of a new adventure come along.

Elsa (played by Welles' then-wife Rita Hayworth)identifies Michael as an easy mark the first time they meet. Unlike Michael Elsa actually is worldly and we can tell she's seen and experienced a lot and that she knows a lot about the world (not just read a lot about it) and she sees through Michael's pseudo-brogue and bravura right away and knows exactly how to exploit his romantic tendencies. She sums him up and plays him from the first moment they exchange knowing glances (hers much more knowing than his). Michael prides himself on his independence and his integrity but he just can't help falling for Elsa's pretend innocence and helplessness--its just too good to resist-- and he can't help wanting to come charging to her rescue even though there are signs everywhere that indicate that Elsa is in no need of rescuing. At first Michael resists her job offer but she is a woman who always gets her way and soon Michael is one of her employee/servants just like all of the other men in the film. Michael just can't tear himself away from Elsa's dangerously seductive & corruptive charms that he willingly and perhaps willfully misinterprets as innocence and helplessness only because that version of her makes him feel better about his own true motives. Michael has been hired on as an extra hand on Elsa's husband's yacht and as soon as he steps foot on deck everyone else aboard sizes him up and begins figuring how they can use him to further their own plots. Elsa's husband Bannister is a famous lawyer and both he and his partner Grisby are, like Michael, under Elsa's spell and trying to plot their way out of captivity. As the yacht pulls out of harbor we see the word "Circe" written in bold letters on the yacht's hull.

Elsa's past is a secret only hinted at (all we know is that she was born on an island somewhere in the east & spent some time in Shanghai). She looks like the penultimate American blonde but she is not from America and her cultural reference points are decidely eastern in contrast to Michael's western points of reference; to Michael she represents the unknown and perhaps the unkowable, and this is part of her allure and also what makes her so dangerous. "Elsa" is the prototypical femme fatale and the conventions of the film noir genre tell us that things will not end well for anyone that gets too close but she's just too enticing. The most famous scene of the film has Elsa in a sleek black bathing suit diving off some perilous rocks as if she were accustomed to such danger and as if danger was her natural element. But then she lays down to sunbathe on the rocks and from the relative safety of the boat Michael looking on, anxiously aware of how dangerous she is, can allow himself the comforting illusion that she is vulnerable and that she needs saving and that only he can save her not only from all the other male predators on board, but save her from her own eastern imbued fatalistism.

Elsa is so beautiful that she has all of the men in the film believing exactly what she wants them to believe and all of them believing that they've actually got a chance with her. And the men all slowly lose their head around her. Some of the men talk down to her but still they do what she says and she has all of them plotting against each other while lighting her cigarettes. The film has been criticized for having an impossibly tangled plot but I think the point of the film is that you are never supposed to be certain or not whether Elsa is merely defending herself against the men who want to control her or if Elsa has been in control of all of them (just like she has been in control of Michael) from the start. Even at the end we still want to believe that Elsa is a victim of something, perhaps something from her past that she just can't escape, but since we don't know what her past was we have no ultimate insight into what has been driving her all along nor for that matter do we have any insight into what originary crime or sin has been driving the men all along; all we know is that the sexes and the races and the classes are at odds. Elsa remains an unknown all the way through and Michael once ensnared must realize that he too is an unknown because under her influence he has been forced to act against what he perceived to be his own true nature.

The Lady from Shanghai offers some of the most stunning visuals of any film noir I know of. The Acapulco scenes are especially exciting as the danger and unpredictability of a foreign woman is made especially inviting and exciting in a foreign land. In this film Welles offers the ultimate noir vision of anxiously uncertain men and women attracted to each other but also repelled by what they find themselves attracted to and what they find themselves doing in the name of desire. Its a film noir and that means that the film follows certain recognizable conventions but it does more than simply follow those conventions, it pushes those conventions as far as they have been pushed and explores the nature of those conventions in a more thorough way than any noir before or, arguably, since. By the end of the film the characters have become lost in their own plots and no longer know who they are and this is conveyed brilliantly with Welles use of masks & mirrors in the celebrated and luridly twisted funhouse scene which feels a bit like the famous Dali sequence in Hitchcock's Spellbound but is even more disorienting & disconcerting (Spellbound was released in 1945 so it is possible, even likely, that Welles had seen it and that it influenced his own film that was made in 1946 and released in 1948). [In the extra featurette that follows the film we learn that Welles himself painted much of the funhouse props and set.]

There are a lot of bad noirs out there and these give the genre a bad name but the few good ones are among the best films ever made. Welles' reputation would be greater if film noir were better understood and appreciated not as a genre that is as cheap as the dime novels that inspired it but a genre where cinema explores its own methods and techniques. The great directors from Lang & Von Stroheim to Welles & Hitchcock to Godard & Chabrol and the other new wave auteurs have all been attracted to noir for this reason.

A brilliant film. After this film (which was a commerical flop) Welles didn't work in America for ten years and when he did return to America he made Touch of Evil (another brilliant noir film). Touch of Evil also failed to generate revenue and effectively ended Welles career as a mainstream director even though he continued to make independently financed small pictures like Othello, Macbeth, The Trial & Chimes at Midnight.

"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness".......2006-09-16

"The Lady from Shanghai" crackles with Welles' energy and intelligence inspite of the tampering done during post-production by Columbia with the film. Welles ended up working his advesary Harry Cohn the head of Columbia on this unusual, imaginatively photographed (by the late great Rudolph Mate)noir thriller. This "Lady" is memorable if for nothing else than the amazing fun house scene at the conclusion of the movie.

Michael O'Hara (Welles)is immediately smitten with Rosalie (Rita Hayworth)the wife of the super wealthy Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane in a terrific performance). He ends up employed by Bannister on his yacht putting him close to his wife and making sparks fly with the amoral Rosalie. Money seduces Michael into participating in a faked murder of Bannister's law firm partner Grisby (a great performance by Glenn Anders)which turns from fantasy to reality and making Michael the primary suspect.

Welles' film is full of brilliant visuals, witty dialogue and lovely location work (particularly the sequences set in 1948 San Francisco). The last sequence in the funhouse full of mirrors is brilliant realized. Like Hitchcock Welles' liked to take genre conventions and turn them on their head with inventive, intelligent plots and visual sequences. Where the film goes wrong is in post-production. With the exception of "Citizen Kane" Welles ended up abandoning his babies or had them taken away from him and messed with by studio heads. "The Lady from Shanghai" is not an exception. Welles uses extremely close ups to make us feel as uncomfortable as Michael does about his employers and the situation he finds himself in when he realizes he's been duped.

From the insistence that Welles go back and shoot glamor shot close ups of his soon to be ex-wife Rita Hayworth to meddling in the editing room and the misbegotten musical score (a pity Welles didn't have Bernard Herrmann working on this film)enforced on the film "The Lady from Shanghai" ended up being compromised. A pity that Columbia hasn't tried to dig up the cut footage (if it exists) along with the temp score (they could recreate that based on Welles' notes)that Welles used to help "guide" Heinz Roemheld (who totally ignored Welles' notes and the temp soundtrack) It still manages to a classic Welles film despite all the interference. Roemheld's forte was scores more like the one he composed for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and he was totally out of his element here.

Columbia includes a fascinating commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich and vintage advertising to compliment this release. I just wish that Columbia had gone the route of Warner with "Citizen Kane" but the extras are pretty good overall. I'd highly recommend this now if Warner would get around to releasing "The Magnificent Ambersons" on DVD I'd be a happy camper...

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Pauly Shore As A Stripper, And A Dog Obsessed With "Jeopardy"...Sound Good?
horrible
HORRIBLE
The Movie is Funny, and they finally dropped the price
Pauley's 5 But The movie's a 1

Jury Duty
Starring: Pauly Shore , Tia Carrere , Stanley Tucci , Brian Doyle-Murray , and Abe Vigoda
Director: John Fortenberry
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000DKDUV
Release Date: 2003-12-09

Customer Reviews:

Pauly Shore As A Stripper, And A Dog Obsessed With "Jeopardy"...Sound Good?.......2007-04-27

"Intense Pain." Those are the two words that best summarize my feelings about the Pauly Shore travesty "Jury Duty." You know it's going to be a fabulous film when the movie opens with Shore as a male stripper whose onstage persona is "The Milkman" at the "International House of Beefcakes." Pauly Shore in a sequined thong writhing in milk is a sight I could have done without for the rest of my life.

Shore wriggles his way onto a jury in a sensational murder trial and repeatedly annoys Abe Vigoda, whose portrayal of a judge and utter contempt for Shore gets the nod for best performance in the movie. Shore ends up in love with fellow juror Tia Carrere, and has unusual relationships with his former principal, the accused, and several other oddballs. Along the way we are treated to typical Shore humor showcases, many of which involve the bathroom (extended physiological needs, ducks in the tub, etc.,) cross-dressing, or his ugly dog who is addicted to watching "Jeopardy."

In a completely predictable turn of fate, Shore ends up being a cross between Columbo and Clouseau as he solves a felony, causes a mistrial, and becomes a national and environmental hero. It was a forgone conclusion that Shore would end up the hero and get the pretty girl, so if you want to see that, this movie might appeal to you. What appeals to me right now is putting this DVD in the trash can, or perhaps more in the spirit of Brian Doyle-Murray's "styrofoam miner" character, I will put it in the recycle bin.