Small Change

Starring:RenÃ© Barnerias, Jean-Marie Carayon, Katy Carayon, Annie Chevaldonne, Claudio De Luca, Franck De Luca, Francis Devlaeminck, Laurent DevlÃ¦minck, Michel Dissart, Nicole FÃ©lix, Michele Heyraud, Paul Heyraud, Jeanne Lobre, Chantal Mercier, Bruno Staab, Jean-FranÃ§ois StÃ©venin, Virginie ThÃ©venet, Tania Torrens, Vincent Touly
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Critic Pauline Kael neatly summed up the timeless appeal of François Truffaut's 1976 film by calling it "that rarity--a poetic comedy that's really funny." In other words, Truffaut's brilliant, upbeat study of resilient children in a French village is both artistically satisfying and joyously entertaining, proving yet again (after his acclaimed debut film The 400 Blows) that few directors remembered and understood the experience of childhood as clearly as Truffaut. The film's episodic structure reveals its young characters gradually, leaving them and returning to them as their individual stories unfold. Most of the sketches are hilarious (as when a little girl uses a megaphone to announce that she's been "abandoned," resulting in generous gifts of food from her surrounding neighbors), but there's also a story about a boy with abusive parents who learns to survive by his own ingenuity. Throughout, this remarkable film gets all the details precisely right, featuring a youthful cast of kids who don't seem to be acting at all. It's as if Truffaut had somehow gained privileged entrance into their world, and they carried on as if the camera simply wasn't there. (Another French film, Ponette, would achieve a similar, more heartbreaking feat two decades later.) --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Sweet movie.......2006-07-28

I thought Small Change was a delightful film. It is dated 1976 so late baby boomers and early Gen Xer's might really like it. Especially if they remember their childhoods well. I felt Francois Truffaut enjoyed being a child and likes children. That he remembered those little details and feelings so well from his past. Good and bad. I'm one of those people too. I am constantly surprised how few people can remember anything before 12. Or if they do, so few memories. So sad.

Small Change (L'Argent de Poche).......2005-08-23

If ever a movie demonstrated a directors affection for the lives and characters of children, "Small Change" is it. This intimate little film is warm, wise and touching, brimming with humanity and imbued with a delightful Gallic flavor. (Highlight: watching little Gregory go: Boum!). Dont miss this gem.

Truffaut at his best!.......2004-12-05

I first saw "Small Change" when I was only a child myself. At age twelve, I was suffering from serious depression, had a horrible self esteem and was probably at the lowest point in my life ever. This film was just the tonic I needed. The legendary filmmaker, Francois Truffaut, made this film about life through the eyes of children, telling each story with humor, intensity and profound beauty. This film is definitely great for anyone who has suffered childhood trauma. It shows us that we are truly never alone when we suffer injustice, also, that laughter is a universal language we all can relate to.

There are several vignettes told from the point of view of several of the young characters, but the two that stand out for me are about the little girl who claims she was abandoned and left alone in her apartment by her parents (she is actually just a spoiled brat) and proceeds to broadcast this to all of the neighbors via megaphone, and the young boy who lives in an abusive home. These stories were touching and triumphant and they could have truly happened anywhere in the world and would still compel us as audience members. They don't make films like this anymore......

Nearly 30 Years Later, It's Still Superb.......2004-10-19

Never mind that the DVD subtitles call the film Pocket Money, which is the literal translation from the French, this Small Change jingles as lyrically as it did on first release in 1976. These children will now be somewhere in their 30s and early 40s, somewhere in France, anonymous probably in their daily lives, but they will always be here, captured being kids by Truffaut in the most unobtrusive way possible. Their daily resilience is most famously depicted in the scene of Gregory fait boum, but their energy, their mischievousness, their innocence and budding, bumbling curiosity about that great mystery, girls is all here too. As a hymn to childhood, including its darker recesses, Small Change will never be bettered and rarely be equaled, and anyone serious about movies and moviemaking should always have it close at hand.

The Surviving Childý.......2004-01-02

Small Change is a film that describes interactions between different children and their social macrocosm and this leads to different results in their social microcosms, since the children are under the complete control of their guardians. The adults' parenting sometimes leaves the children vulnerable and which is presented in a number of troubling scenes. Despite these perilous situations, the children survive and have to learn how to manage by themselves in order to live a happy life. Nevertheless, the parents do offer affection and love for the children, which aids in their struggle through life. In turn, the children also affect adult rule over them through different actions. Truffaut displays great understanding for children through this film by creating a next to perfect dissection of child development and child psychology that psychologists such as Harlow, Vygotsky and Piaget would call "a functioning experiement in action". Overall, there are several pleasurable moments in the film that are well balanced with the serious occasions, which leaves the audience with a brilliant cinematic experience that is full of wonderful life lessons.

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Worth watching
Outstanding Sleeper Movie
A movie of depth and warmth
The things we do for love
In Search of Normal

Normal
Starring: Richard Bull , Mary Seibel , Danny Goldring , Jessica Lange , and Tom Wilkinson
Director: Jane Anderson (II)
Manufacturer: HBO Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Ma Vie En Rose

ASIN: B0000AYJV8
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Amazon.com

As Roy (Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom) and Irma (Jessica Lange, Cape Fear, Tootsie) celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy passes out. While meeting with their pastor, Roy reveals that he's a woman trapped in a man's body, and he wants to get a sex change--setting in motion a complex and emotionally fraught conflict between husband and wife, individual and community, and parent and child. Normal explores Roy's gender dysphoria with empathy, but also has an eye for the social and familial absurdities that come up. The humor, far from trivializing the issue, steers it away from cloying sentiment or politically correct sanctimony. The movie captures the confusion of Roy's friends and coworkers with realism and without judgment, and the stressful changes of Roy and Irma's relationship aren't sugarcoated or made into a moral lesson. Both Lange and Wilkinson are superb, as are the skillful script and direction. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Ray and Irma are a devoted couple living a normal life in rural Illinois, until Roy decides that his life must change and confesses to Irma that he's a woman trapped in a man's body. Now Roy must face their friends, his coworkers and his own children with the whole new way of life he has planned - and they must face him. What happens to a town, a factory and a loving marriage when confronted with such a transformation is all about being who you are, being in love, and simply being normal.

Customer Reviews:

Worth watching.......2007-05-12

A very well written movie, I deffinatly like the small town setting which can hit close to home and bring a more realistic drama into the many lives of those, outside big cities. Set apart from steriotyped lives of the Transgendered, Richard Bull is extrordinary in the problems and frustrations of the "Normal" Transgendered. Jessica Lang was incredibale in portraying the real struggles of the not so excepting wife and plays no falsehood as to what many wives live with when they have to deal and/or cope with their partners and what can be devistating partnerships. This movie has a very comfortable portrayal of "Real Lives"

Outstanding Sleeper Movie.......2006-08-14

This movie is emotionally punched. It moves with a steady pace though. It's based on a play about a man who finally finds the courage to be true to himself, ie. he opts for a sex change operation to become a woman because his inclination is there since the beginning of time. For him, he wishes to be normal and carrying on living. However, being "normal" is a subjective issue because for some, "normal" is where a man is a man, and a woman is a woman. Instead of giving him the support that he looks for, the community is giving him a hard time and even making him into a "pagan" despite his contribution to the Church community for many years. Whilst the wife is shocked in the beginning, as time goes on, she realises that she needs to look beyond the physical aspect and looking at the support and love that he has given her over the years. The movie ends by having the family reconciling with one another and moving on with life. A powerful movie that moves and touches your heart. Highly recommended. No extras in here.

A movie of depth and warmth.......2006-04-14

The accompanying song to the opening scene and several other enchanting tunes; the shots of the growing luscious green corns to signify the passing of the time; the excellent cast with Jessica Lange (Irma, the wife) and Tom Wilkinson (Roy, the husband) all contributed to the movie's sucess. Yet it was Jane Anderson, the director, script writer and the author all-in-one, who was pivotal in keeping the story leap out of the page; making a drastic twist of fate to this normal corn-belt family convincing, sympathetic; not just another cliche and tear jerker.

Tom Wilkinson has portrayed his emotional and physical change from a dutiful father, Roy, to an evolving woman, Ruth, with subtlety, dignity and elegance. But it was Jessica Lange who kept the family and Roy from falling apart. Her even temper, smile and tenacity under the adverse condition all bespoke her strength and love for her husband. She shielded her husband from being ridiculed - picking his new clothes, stood by him in church, work place and his extended family. The 11-year old daughter(Hayden Panettiere) accepted her father's switch in gender with as much intensity as the 20-something son (Joseph Sikora) shunned it. She bombarded her father with questions while the son could barely stay in the same room with his father at the thanksgiving dinner.

It was bittersweet for Roy to be accepted by his strict and unforgiving father only because the elder man suffered from dementia; yet it was upbeating to find Roy acknowledge his mother's difficult job of taking care of his father. Being able to put himself in the shoes of his mother, understand the situation perfectly and articulate it in words, Roy completed his emotional transformation to Ruth.

The things we do for love.......2006-03-08

This movie is so beautiful. it really makes you ask what would you do to help your lover be themselves...

it's about time the issue of transgenderism was discussed.

In Search of Normal.......2006-01-10

"Normal" attempts to tackle a highly complex issue in the space of a feature-length movie, and this limitation makes it not a wholly successful effort. The sheer complexity of transgender issues warrants a miniseries treatment such asn HBO did for AIDS in the gay community with "Angels in America", and if "Normal" has a weakness, it's that it tried to cram too much into too brief a space. However, as the first serious dramatic treatment of a transgendered person's unique challenges, "Normal" deserves kudos, not the least for the brave performances from Tom Wilkinson & Jessica Lange. Ms. Lange in particular has a very difficult role, perched on the razor's edge between feelings of love & betrayal, and she captures this inner war brilliantly. Her face reflects all the conflicting emotions of anger, grief, bewilderment & pain, leavened with flashes of wry amusement at the ridiculousness of her situation, with grace & never, ever overacting or seeming to try too hard. Even though Tom Wilkinson's character, Roy, is the one facing the biggest outward changes, Lange reminds us that internal changes can be just as transforming, though not as evident. Her performance is the centerpiece of the film. She has gotten even more luminously beautiful over the years; we reason that if she, as his wife, can't make Roy glad he's a man, then he must really be serious.

As Roy, the catalyst for all this family trauma, Tom Wilkinson has more of a one-note performance; it seems that having made up his mind, despite 50-odd years of cultural conditioning to the contrary, Roy never looks back or even feels a twinge of doubt or regret over what he's about to do. We feel sympathy for Roy, but not nearly as much as we do for his wife, if only because we don't feel we know him as well. Our sympathy springs less from identification with his plight as it does from knowing that Roy could hardly have engineered more difficult circumstances for himself to realize his dream. His determination verges on delusion, such as when he wears perfume and earrings to work, and is surprised that his tough factory-worker colleagues slam his head into a locker. The movie ends just prior to Roy's surgery, but the odds seem stacked against him for making a successful transition; how can he, without therapy, support groups, fashion sense or seemingly any plan in place for 'after'? Does he really suppose that he'll be able to continue his life in all its outward particulars--living in the same house, working at the same job--as he did 'before'? Indeed, he seems aghast that anyone else in his life should have the gall to have a problem adjusting to his new lifestyle. These issues are not addressed satisfactorily; nor is the the problem of Roy's sex life after he becomes Ruth. Despite all of Mr. Wilkinson's best efforts, he remains a very masculine-looking man, with only the very subtlest of feminizing changes to his look or his body language. He radiates sincerety in his belief that he can become feminine, but the rest of us remain doubtful. I would've been tempted to dismiss Mr. Wilkinson's Roy as a completely unrealistic portrayal had I not recently seen a cable documentary about a MTF transsexual very like Roy: a middle-aged, burly man from the heartland with a butch job and strained family relations, whose only concession to femininity prior to his operation was bleaching his longish hair. In all other particulars of dress and manner, he was still extremely masculine. So perhaps Roy isn't as far out of the 'norm' of sexual reassignment seekers as it might seem at first blush.

Roy's family, and his life as a whole seems like a construct of TV Screenwriting 101. He's got two children, a son and a daughter, who function merely as plot conveniences and an audience for Daddy's experiment. The middle-school-aged daughter, who is coping with her own body changes provides a counterpoint to her father's concurrent body issues. To be sure the audience understands this, we are provided helpful shorthand: Patty Ann favors men's shirts, hates wearing bras & stands outside her parents' bedroom saying helpful things like "Is Daddy in drag? Can I see?" While it is not out of the realm of possibility that a teenage daughter might be able to eventually accept a transgendered parent with a minimum of trauma, it is NOT likely that she would be as glib about it as Patty Ann. Would a 13-year-old girl really be swapping makeup and waxing tips around the pool with her erstwhile dad, painting his toenails with easy familiarity like he was some kind of cool life-size Barbie, and not the person who was turning her life upside down and making her an object of ridicule among all her peers? Likewise, the opposition of the older son has the same forced glibness. Would it occur to a young man, no matter how opposed he was to the operation, to call his father a "c***" at Thanksgiving dinner? Perhaps a slew of other pejorative names, but not that one, surely. Nor would this exchange of insults culminating in a broken nose be likely to be the balm that mends the rift in their rocky relationship either, but the movie seems to suggest that after one altercation, things are all better now and the son has come around to the father's point of view. Roy's fellow townspeople, predictably, react to this metamorphosis of Roy's none too favorably. There is the locker incident. Someone writes "You are not normal" in the dirt on his truck. He is given the cold shoulder when he comes to church in a dress. However, Roy gets off very lightly, considering that his story could have an ending like "Boys Don't Cry" or "The Matthew Shepard Story". This movie was afraid to pull those kinds of punches . . .or maybe it just ran out of time.

"Normal" is a good start to a nationwide dialogue about transgendered issues, and helped pave the way for Felicity Huffman's probable Oscar nomination for "Transamerica". Despite its flaws, it depicts a transgendered individual's personal war to achieve what feels "Normal" to him, rather than being just a freak show. Better to be considered a freak show on the the outside than to feel like one on the inside, it seems to say.

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La Mesa Que Mas Aplauda
Starring: La Mesa Que Mas Aplauda
Manufacturer: Laguna Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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La Llorona (The Wailer)
El Padrino: The Latin Godfather
La Mujer de Mi Hermano

ASIN: B000E5N6JI
Release Date: 2006-02-21

Amazing Stress Solutions For Small Spaces

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Amazing Stress Solutions For Small Spaces

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Fitness | Fitness & Yoga | Genres | DVD | Video

Tai Chi | Fitness & Yoga | Genres | DVD | Video

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Description

This is a totally RELAXING approach to EXERCISE! It will be your traveling gym. Download it to your PDA, IPod, Computer or Mobile Phone and relax...wherever you are. The Way To Wellness gives you quick and easy exercises that may be done in really small spaces...at your desk, in your office, on the plane, bus, train, or in your home. These are perfect for people who are overworked, overstressed, overwhelmed, and who have no time to run to the gym or even take more than a 5 minute break. Based on the elemental principles of Tai Chi and QiGong, these exercises relax and invigorate your muscles and joints, massaging your internal organs at the same time. Give your mind, body and spirit a real lift...in just a few minutes a day. With special music by Anugama, you will be transported to relaxation.

Average customer rating:

Sweet movie
Small Change (L'Argent de Poche)
Truffaut at his best!
Nearly 30 Years Later, It's Still Superb
The Surviving Childý

Small Change [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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My Mother's Castle
My Father's Glory
The Wild Child
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The Bride Wore Black

ASIN: B00008XO8X

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

Sweet movie.......2006-07-28

Small Change (L'Argent de Poche).......2005-08-23

Truffaut at his best!.......2004-12-05

Nearly 30 Years Later, It's Still Superb.......2004-10-19

The Surviving Childý.......2004-01-02

Average customer rating:

Timothy Goes To School - The Great Race

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Timothy Goes to School, Vol. 1: Lessons Learned

ASIN: B000BUW86S

Product Description

The children enjoy a day games and races at the scool picnic and no one cares if they win or lose. No one except Claude and Grace, who have to win every time. Until the last Obstacle Race where everyone's a winner.