Silver City

Starring:Chris Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss, Danny Huston, Michael Murphy, Kris Kristofferson, Daryl Hannah, James Gammon, Thora Birch, Sal Lopez, Alma Delfina, Tim Roth, Mary Kay Place, Charles Mitchell, Maria Bello, Roslyn Washington, Cajardo Lindsey, David Clennon, Jan Van Sickle, Miguel Ferrer, Denis Berkfeldt
Director: John Sayles
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Sometimes people are attracted to each other because of their differences. When there's a nebulous attraction between a teacher and a young teenage child--as in the superb Half Nelson--the relationship has all the makings of confused disaster. Though there are a few uncomfortable moments when it's not obvious whether Dan (Ryan Gosling) and Drey (Shareeka Epps) might cross the line, the attraction between the pair is culled less from sexual tension than desperation. Dan is an idealistic history teacher in an inner-city school. Drey is one of his brightest students. For both, drugs represent something that may help them escape their worlds. He takes drugs to dull his dissatisfaction with himself. She views drugs as a possible way to better her life, even though she knows her brother's foray into that trade landed him in jail. Bleakly filmed and well told, Half Nelson soars because of the immaculate acting by Gosling and Epps. With his impish smile, Gosling provides a character that is at once disarming, alluring, and pitiful. As the young girl who's already seen too much hardship in her life, Epps plays her part with just the right amount of hardened raw emotion. While the ambiguous ending may not please fans weaned on happy Hollywood finales, it's a fitting and believable close to a thought-provoking film. --Jae-Ha Kim

Stills from Half Nelson (click for larger image)

Beyond Half Nelson at Amazon.com

The Films of Ryan Gosling
More Oscar Nominated Roles at the Amazon.com Oscar Store
The Soundtrack

Description

Dan Dunne (Ryan Gosling) is a young inner-city junior high school teacher whose ideals wither and die in the face of reality. Day after day in his shabby Brooklyn classroom, he somehow finds the energy to inspire his 13 and 14-year-olds to examine everything from civil rights to the Civil War with a new enthusiasm. Rejecting the standard curriculum in favor of an edgier approach, Dan teaches his students how change works ' on both a historical and personal scale ' and how to think for themselves.

Though Dan is brilliant, dynamic, and in control in the classroom, he spends his time outside school on the edge of consciousness. His disappointments and disillusionment have led to a serious drug habit. He juggles his hangovers and his homework, keeping his lives separated, until one of his troubled students, Drey (Shareeka Epps), catches him getting high after school.

From this awkward beginning, Dan and Drey stumble into an unexpected friendship. Despite the differences in their ages and situations, they are both at an important intersection. Depending on which way they turn ' and which choices they make ' their lives will change.

Customer Reviews:

Thanks, Hollywood!.......2007-07-05

For staying away from this story, which is so precariously near the edge to disaster and which stays away from the abyss so skillfully.
Brillant study of troubled people, a lost teacher and an endangered pre-teen.
The story is like a Pelecanos novel (drugs, race) without the violent eruption at the end. The potential for violence is there. Good to stay away from it. Now the cliche is a two-edged sword: violence is no solution! Is that so? Apparently non-violence also isn't. Things are as they are.
Brillant and depressing. Not moralizing.

Bonds that Heal.......2007-06-09

If there ever was a movie that should be seen for an astonishing performance by an actor, it's "Half Nelson" with Ryan Gosling. The Canadian born Gosling, who co-starred in "The Notebook" with Rachel McAdams and made his debut on "The Mickey Mouse Club," plays Dan Dunne, a history teacher in a Brooklyn junior high school. Nominated for an Academy Award, Gosling brings incredible depth to the role of the troubled teacher with a cocaine problem.

When Dunne is not struggling with "crash and burn" in the harsh morning light of the classroom, he's hell-bent down the road of self-destruction. Despite the double life, he is a good teacher who really does inspire his students. He manages to bypass the regular curriculum by sharing his belief in Hegelian dialectics, the idea that history or change can only happen through opposing forces. Watching Dunne make such enormous effort to put on a good face for his students is heart-rending. It is impossible to witness his plight in the morning and not remember the worst hangover you ever had.

The story starts moving in a new direction when 13-year-old Drey (Shareeka Epps) finds her history teacher on the restroom floor after a basketball game. From then on, they forge a bond over the disclosure of his drug use, which he still tries to hide from her. He starts driving her home after games and exchanging knowing looks with her on particularly bad mornings.

Lest you think this turns into the tired formula of the forbidden teacher-student affair, let me stop you right there. Director Ryan Fleck and co-writer/co-producer/editor Anna Boden sidestep the genres of romance and inspirational classroom fable, and create an entirely different story of redemption.

There's no doubt that Drey develops a schoolgirl crush, while her teacher grows too protective of her, especially around her drug-dealing older friend Frank (Anthony Mackie). We see the film cut back and forth between two scenes: Drey looking shyly at herself in the mirror during a moment of sexual awakening and Dunne in the throes of a careless, drug-enhanced sexual encounter with another teacher.

Teacher and student are from different worlds, but each stands at the crossroads in their lives. The filmmakers honor this experience between the two without exploitation or spending too much time discussing right or wrong. Neither character is assigned the role as the main catalyst for the change brewing in their lives, but the simple friendship between teacher and student brings healing and transformation.

Dialectics and Drugs...........2007-05-27

Ryan Gosling was justly praised for his fine delineation of a dynamic and committed inner city school teacher whose private life is spinning out of control due to his losing struggle with cocaine and crack. It is fine and subtle work and he conveys paragraphs of dialogue with a self-deprecating smile and hopeless exchange of looks with a caring and adoring student, beautifully played by Shareeka Epps, who has stumbled onto the facts of her inspiring teacher's contradictory sordid private life.

The film generates the same frustrating emotions while waiting for Gosling's Dan to make one more stupid decision, one more self-destructive act, that anyone has felt if they've ever had to deal with someone with an addiction problem. The film gets that right, without being pedantic or preachy.

We don't get to the source of Dan's anger, despair, or whatever his demons may be, and that is just as well because it really doesn't matter. What the film does illustrate is that addictive drugs can addict anyone, even smart and caring people, because they're addictive. There doesn't have to be any other reason.

We see an old girlfriend who has cleaned-up and is about to marry someone else, and we can but hope that Dan, despite his avowed rejection of rehab for himself, will eventually find his way back, and the movie ends with a hope, but not a declaration. Fittingly.

In general, I dislike a lot of hand-held camera work; but, I realize that a film like this wouldn't be made without some budget restrictions and it would require its use. It does lend some intimacy, and besides, a film like this is all about the characters and acting, not where the camera is at any given moment. Worthwhile.

A heavy-duty character and performance driven movie showcasing the best of Ryan Gosling........2007-05-24

Half Nelson is not the most original movie of it's kind dealing with drugs, intergenerational/inter-racial friendship, and spiritual redemption/recovery. It's a very strong movie and captivating in it's own way, because it focuses on character and performances more than plotline. At times, it's feels kind of documentary-like. I must say there is also heartbreaking moments during the scenes when Ryan Gosling's teacher character abusing crack in the school's women's washroom and being rescued by Shareeka Epps(his student) when he was on the verge of overdosing himself. The performances by Gosling and Epps were so real and memsmerizing. Gosling is very convincing with his overall portrayal of a school teacher trying to hide his addiction while struggling to quit at the same time. I think it's certainly a good movie in a way that it's very educational and inspirational to the audiences who have been in those two characters' shoes. This film has it's shocking moments such as the one when Epps became involved and witnessed the drug afflicted party scene in a motel room, and that she was even developing an attraction to her teacher(Gosling). So yes, it was entirely convincing that Gosling's performance in this film was worthy of his Oscar nomination, and IMO he's the best Canadian actor of his generation!

Thought-Provoking Film, Excellent Acting.......2007-05-23

HALF NELSON is one of those wonderfully quiet films that creeps up on you and delivers a one-two punch with its intelligence and insightfulness. Though there have been tons of movies that look at the ways teachers get inside students' minds and help them overcome their circumstances, this one does so with more heart and less predictability than most.

Ryan Gosling's performance as the wise, thoughtful history teacher in an inner-city school is really wonderful. His unhappiness with himself and his incapacity to form meaningful relationships with others (outside of the classroom) leaves him lonely and despondent, and he uses cocaine to help numb the pain. But, when he's in the class with his students, he feels alive and free and he works small miracles with his insights about the ways in which dialectics (opposites) help to create change.

His star pupil, Drey (Shareeka Epps), is very bright, and the two of them have a genuine bond because Drey understands about the drug life (and its effects on she and her teacher). She also empathizes with him.

The way that the two of them bond and perhaps change each other forever through their own brand of dialectics is powerful stuff. And, rather than have everything end up with a sweet little ribbon-tied Disney ending, the film leaves us with questions and hopes, but not certainties. I like that a lot more than a neatly-packaged, and totally false ending.

This film truly moved me, and it stands head-and-shoulders above the likes of "Stand and Deliver" and "Dangerous Minds," films a little too neat and sweet for my tastes.

Average customer rating:

Much better than Cats
Critical FIlm for Hip Hop Lovers
Classic
history
know your history....

Style Wars
Starring: Sam Schacht
Director: Tony Silver
Manufacturer: Passion River
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Wild Style
The Freshest Kids - A History of the B-Boy
Beat Street
Subway Art
Scratch (Ws Dol Dts)

ASIN: B000A7DVZO
Release Date: 2005-08-23

Product Description

STYLE WARS (DVD MOVIE)

Amazon.com

Some call it tagging, some call it writing, still others call it bombing--it's all graffiti. Whether it's art or not is another matter, but it's undeniably illegal. Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant's historic PBS documentary Style Wars tracks the rise and fall of subway graffiti in New York in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At the peak of its popularity, graffiti was as much a part of B-boy culture as rapping, scratching, and breaking. The filmmakers present a sympathetic, but well-rounded portrait of their subject through extensive interviews with taggers--notably Seen, Kase, and Dondi--art collectors, transit authorities, and even Mayor Ed Koch, who would eventually put the hammer down. Along the way, they documented the burgeoning breakdance scene, with a focus on the world-famous Rock Steady Crew. The soundtrack features selections from Grandmaster Flash, the Treacherous Three, and other tagger-approved icons of old-school hip-hop. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews:

Much better than Cats.......2007-06-22

Art historians comb through years of research to find landmark events or works of art that launched a new era or genre. This documentary is that catalytic event for graffiti at the global level, and hip hop culture in general. The ripple effect that this documentary had across the world was amazing. If you were a kid in 1984, and your parents took you to the museum to see the World Graffiti Tour (I still have the poster) you went out the next day and spray painted your name on something.

After re-watching this in 2007, I noted something that I missed in 1984. The writers are plagued by CAP, the nutball renegade who is bent on crossing out all pieces with his toy throw-ups, yet they refuse to band together and resolve the problem. It struck me that although CAP's actions are antagonistic to the community of graffiti writer's, his principals are the same. He is putting his name up where it will get the most attention. On some subconscious level the larger graffiti community recognizes this and sees that by persecuting CAP, their hypocritical actions would place them in the same category as those that criticize and decry the merits of Graffiti as an art form. As an adult looking back at that time period, I was impressed by this unwillingness to turn against one who is basically on the same side, especially given the general opinion that New Yorkers had at the time of Graffiti writers being a destructive and violent group. I bet those New Yorkers are now longing for the days when kids carried spray paint in their back packs instead of AK-47s in the back seat of their Escalade. Personally, I would prefer it if the kids got the money for the Escalade from painting murals rather than slinging llello, but whatever. Right?

BakaTBakaSTakaT.Cz

Critical FIlm for Hip Hop Lovers.......2007-05-26

If you know your Hip Hop, you'll love this movie. Whether it's the time-capsule like footage tha brings you back, or it's the celebrity citings... you'll be sure to learn a thing or two about Grafitti, and what the 80's were like for young people in New York. Be on the look out for the "Drama King" DJ Kay Slay (DEZ) looking like a true Vandal! Respect

Classic.......2007-02-03

Not only a great documentary, but a fascinating look into early Hip Hop culture and early 80's era New York Cty. The film makers help document the art, the lives of graf writers and the struggle to control public spaces. For those interested in Graf, this is a must see. No matter which side of the debate you are on, you will be glued to the screen awaiting each new character, plot twist and new government sponsored counter graf project. Considered one of the original Hip Hop productions, this film gives the viewer a unique view into the culture before it became a globalized, marketable phenomenon.

history.......2007-01-12

style wars is a crash course in hip hop in it's infancy. If you are a life long b-boy or just someone who's into the culture and wants to know its roots, style wars will show you everything about the birth of hip hop.

know your history...........2007-01-11

No, it is not Dirty Hands.. but if you are a young buck, or even an OG... this is a must for your video collection.

I bough the VHS in Amsterdam 10 years ago.. but was disappointed to find it did not work in US machines. So I recently got the DVD.

Average customer rating:

great movie
best
Mary-Kate and Ashley fail. Again.
I could not help myself from enjoying this movie - a total surprise
New York Minute

New York Minute (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Ashley Olsen , Mary-Kate Olsen , Eugene Levy , Andy Richter , and Riley Smith
Director: Dennie Gordon
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Comic Action | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

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The Challenge
Our Lips are Sealed
When in Rome
Getting There
Holiday in the Sun

ASIN: B00005JMXO
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen play good girl/bad girl sisters who suddenly find themselves on a high-speed chase escaping crooks, attracting hunks, and wreaking havoc in this lightweight comedy set in the Big Apple. Ashley plays high school scholar Jane Ryan, an overachiever with her sights set on winning a college scholarship competition. Mary-Kate plays her sister, Roxy, a rebellious teen truant who would rather be a rock star than a student. Since their mother's death, the sisters' relationship has been strained. Now their worlds collide when a day in Manhattan forces Jane and Roxy to join forces, overcoming their differences to battle an international smuggling ring while trying to make it in time for Jane's competition. While the script is predictably bland, viewers will enjoy the comedic strengths of Eugene Levy (Serendipity, American Pie) as Roxy's ubiquitous truant officer. Though the twins manage some decent slapstick, their sensuality, sexual innuendo, and suggestive disrobing is disappointing. DVD bonus features include some hilarious bloopers and alternate endings. (Ages 10 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Description

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen take their sister act to the next level with the delightful comedy New York Minute. Top student Jane Ryan (Ashley) heads to Manhattan for a college-scholarship competition. Her rebellious twin Roxy Ryan (Mary-Kate) goes along to crash a video shoot. But anything can happen - and does - in a romp involving a pursuing truant officer (Eugene Levy), a smuggler (Andy Richter), hunkalacious guys (Jared Padalecki, Riley Smith) and the girls' realization that when the chips are down, a sister can be the best friend of all.

DVD Features:
Alternate endings
Featurette:Behind-the-Scenes Featurette- In a New York Minute
Outtakes
Photo gallery:Mary-Kate and Ashley's Behind-the-Scenes Slide Show, including official behind-the-scenes and Mary-Kate and Ashley's personal photo album
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

great movie.......2006-07-16

After Jane (Ashley) and Roxy's (Mary-Kate) mother dies, they drift apart. Jane is a perfectionist focusing on her future and Roxy is a drummer in a band and could care less about school.

On the same day, they both need to go to NYC: Jane to make a very important speech for college and Roxy to attend a Simple Plan video shoot and give her CD to people who could make them famous.

Everything goes wrong: They get kicked off their train, they get a limo ride from a Chinese man who boot-legs movies and cds and is after them, they sneak into the senator's hotel room to get cleaned up and have to leave fast while they're in towels and bath-robes, a truancy officer is after Roxy, and of course: 2 cute boys they keep "bumping" into and begin dating at the end.

This movie is a crazy, fun, and enteraining film! Fun for the entire family to watch!

best.......2006-06-12

me natalie again loved the movie all you haters can screw off I liked this movie.

Mary-Kate and Ashley fail. Again........2006-06-03

Think of everything that you would despise in a movie. Throw that all in to one, and you get New York Minute. In addition to an excruciatingly terrible plot line, 3rd grade acting, and horrific accents, you also get incessantly annoying 'actors' ripping an hour and a half of your life. An hour and a half that you can never get back, and that may end in some need for cleansing as a human being and the reassurance that, by the way, the world isn't completely full of morons.

Admittedly, I approached the film warily, and I didn't expect much, but I was hoping for a slightly enjoyable film at least, for I am easily pleased. But I was not even granted that relief, and so I sat through the film...hoping against hope that maybe, just maybe there would be a redeeming factor near the end.

There wasn't.

I could not help myself from enjoying this movie - a total surprise.......2006-05-21

Something must have appealed to me about NEW YORK MINUTE for me to add it to my TiVo list. As someone who managed to miss all of the previous efforts by the twins it wasn't an attempt to capture any nostaligic feeling. It wasn't also based on anything related to the story - teens get mixed up in series of mishaps in big city has been done many times before, such as Elizabeth Shue's ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING. You know what I think it was, most possibly a clip of two totally hot looking blonde actresses (let's face it they are) and the chemistry and comic timing they seem to have together.
No, high-class art NEW YORK MINUTE is not. It's not the funniest movie out either. But what is lacks in what some perceive as it flaws it makes up for with good natured fun. Yes, this is a fun movie. It's fun to see the two go from one misadventure to another initially with a mutual contempt that becomes a realization on the importance of family and family ties.
The movie features Jane Ryan (Ashley Olsen), a straight-A uptight Long island high school student who organizes her entire life around her day planner. She's driven and ambitious and determined to win a scholarship to go study at Oxford in England. She has her speech/pitch ready to be delivered in New York and seems as preapred as anyone could be. But fate has a cruel twist in store for her. Enter her sister Roxy (played by Mary-Kate Olsen), she's about as different from Jane as possible. Roxy is with a rock-band and acts with spontaneity that Jane would find scary. She also has made a habit of playing truant, something that has brought her to the attantion of Nassau Co. truancy officer Max Lomax (played by comic genius Eugene Levy.)
Roxy is tasked with getting her sister to the train station, but she has her own plans for the big city, determined to deliver some demo tapes to record producers on hand for the videotaping of a new rock video. So, the two head for the big city with the bumbling Lomax in hot pursuit. Through some crazy machinations they become entangled up with some music and video pirates (including the hilarious Andy Richter as a goon who thinks he is Chinese) and the son of a U.S. Senator (and her dog) and are soon running through the streets of New York City in little more than bath towels.
I've read a lot of reviewers on her dissing the acting of Ashley and Mary-Kate. Well, it's true that they are not going to be winning any Oscars for their roles here, but they deliver their performances with an infectious enthusiasm that had be lapping up every minute of the movie. I enjoyed it, I simply could not help myself.
This movie comes recommended, and I really didn't think it would be. I surprised myself by enjoying every zany moment of it. And those girls are too cute!

New York Minute.......2006-04-09

Mary-Kate and Ashley are two of the richest teenagers in the world. New York Minute shows the different personalities they can both act out. It has a series of unfortunate events which causes them to turn on each other, but they soon have to realise that they need each other to make things right. As Mary-Kate plays rebel and truant Roxy it's great to see her twin Ashley play the opposite- a germaphobic brainbox with a goal to get in to Oxford University. I totally recommend this dvd for anyone. It even has a little romance for the girls. So what are you waiting for? Get it! lol

Yours Sincerely Sophie Chandler xxx

Average customer rating:

Amazon Extremely Slow To Deliver
The Duel At Silver Creek 1952
Great Little B Western
The only time I draw is when I'm crowded
Overlooked but very good....

The Duel At Silver Creek
Starring: Audie Murphy , Faith Domergue , Stephen McNally , Susan Cabot , and Gerald Mohr
Director: Don Siegel
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

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No Name on the Bullet
The Texican
Night Passage
To Hell and Back
The Quiet American

ASIN: B00008CMSW
Release Date: 2003-05-06

Customer Reviews:

Amazon Extremely Slow To Deliver.......2007-03-08

Item purchased Jan 30th 2007 and as of March 8th it still has not been shipped.

The Duel At Silver Creek 1952.......2006-04-26

Celebrated war hero Audie Murphy (1924-1971) packs a two-fisted punch in this action filled western adventure , which also features legendary Oscar winner Lee Marvin (1924-1987) in one of his screen appearences . Stephen McNally (1913-1994) is lightning , the quick-drawing Marshal of Silver City wh?s intent on capturing a ruthless gang of claim jumpers that have been terrorising and murdering local miners -including his best friend . After losing the of his famed trigger fingers in a shootout , Lighting deputizes the sharp-shooting Silver Kid (Murphy) , whose own father was killed by the gang to help bring
the outlaws to justice . But their plans are complicated when Lighting falls for beautiful new lady in town ( Faith Domergue 1924-1999), whose interest in the Marshal is a thin disguise for her own dangerous agenda , in this unforgettable drama brimming with puls-ponding thrills , danger-tinged romance and Gun-Blazing glory ! . This is a classic and well done plot ! . High Quality digital transfer . Highly recommended

Great Little B Western.......2004-09-10

We're not talking classic here but this is a good example of the solid little B westerns the studios were churning out in the fifties. There's a ton of action crammed into the modest 77 minute running time, from the opening montage of violent killings through to the final gun battle between the baddies and the town posse. Audie Murphy is his usual average self as The Silver Kid (yeah, it's that kind of western where charcaters get saddled with dumb names like Brown Eyes and Sombrero), but Steve McNally is good as the sherrif (making a change from his role as the villainous brother in the classic Winchester 73) and Lee Marvin adds solid support in a small role as a town heavy (it's never really made clear whether he's in league with the bad guys or not). Don Siegel who would go on to make Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry and The Shootist, directs with an eye for tough action (this is one of those rare fifties westerns where you actually see blood on the guys who are shot). Universal has come up with a beautiful full screen print. Sure, there's not much in the way of extras (theatrical trailer and that's it), but it's not really the sort of film you can say a lot about. Good, modest entertainment that I'm sure western lovers will enjoy.

The only time I draw is when I'm crowded.......2004-06-28

I've been avoiding Audie Murphy for years, copping the attitude Howard Cosell had for the Frank Giffords of the world. Cosell devoted a good portion of at least one book attacking "jockocracy," the invasion of the professional broadcasting booth by unqualified ex-jocks. Audie Murphy was a war hero but the bits and clips I've seen of his work always made it look like he was in over his head. Murphy's appearance in a movie meant one unemployed real actor.
So I was a little trepidatious when I hit the play button on DUEL AT SILVER CREEK. I hung with it through the slow opening exposition scenes (a pod of claim jumpers are terrorizing silver miners, forcing them to sign over their deeds and then shooting them.) By the time Murphy's pa was kilt and he morphed into the poker playing Silver Kid I was hooked. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a fun little flick.
Look, this movie made me laugh at things decent folks don't laugh at, but I believe these elements were put in deliberately. This is director Don Siegel's first western and his first Technicolor production. He would go on to work with the likes of Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry) and John Wayne (The Shootist.) Siegel knew what he was doing.
One of the humorous elements, to me at least, was the proliferation of nicknames. Murphy's Luke Cromwell is the "Silver Kid," or just "Kid." Sheriff Stephen McNally is "Lightning," there's a character called "Rat Face." Lee Marvin plays a heavy nicked "Tinhorn." The lovely Faith Domergue (Opal Lacy) is nicked "Brown Eyes" early on by "Lightning."
Then there's mondo-heavy Eugene Iglesias, who plays Johnny Sombrero. I honestly couldn't refrain from laughing every time he was on screen. Dressed in red and white striped pants and wearing an impossibly large sombrero pushed back off his head he was a caricature of... something. How can a guy in candy stripe pants and a balloon hat intimidate?
Wisely the film-makers don't overload Murphy in this one. Although he's the nominal star, McNally does most of the heavy lifting. Murphy is along more as a wise-cracking (!?) sidekick. My uninformed take on Murphy was that he was a Roy Rogers/Gene Autry type. Squeaky clean, you know. Siegel gives the Silver Kid an edge, and to Murphy credit that edge remains sharp. Still and all it was a bit of a surprise to see Lightning and The Kid interrogating Brown Eyes and hearing The Kid impulsively say "I bet I can get it out of her." Heeheehee. I was half expecting The Kid to call her a punk and ask her if she was feeling lucky.
DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is a dandy little horse opera. It will satisfy without offense those who love traditional westerns, and sate those with less conventional tastes.

Overlooked but very good...........2003-09-23

I had forgotten just how enjoyable this little Audie Murphy Western was until I recently purchased this handsome Universal DVD release. Murphy in this venture is "the silver kid," and his co-star Stephen McNally actually steals the show. The action is fast-paced and believable, the plot way above average. There are shoot outs, claim jumping, and some humor thrown in--Audie has some droll lines. Universal-International made a number of fine Murphy Westerns in the 1950s into the mid 1960s. DUEL AT SILVER CREEK is one of the better ones. Now let's hope that Murphy's finest outing in the genre, NO NAME ON THE BULLET, and some of his other, better films---RIDE CLEAR OF DIABLO, GUNSMOKE, SEVEN WAYS FROM SUNDOWN, TUMBLEWEEDS, get the nod from the engineers at Universal.

Average customer rating:

great movie
best
Mary-Kate and Ashley fail. Again.
I could not help myself from enjoying this movie - a total surprise
New York Minute

New York Minute (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Ashley Olsen , Mary-Kate Olsen , Eugene Levy , Andy Richter , and Riley Smith
Director: Dennie Gordon
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Challenge
Our Lips are Sealed
When in Rome
Getting There
Holiday in the Sun

ASIN: B0002HT552
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Amazon.com

Description

Customer Reviews:

great movie.......2006-07-16

best.......2006-06-12

me natalie again loved the movie all you haters can screw off I liked this movie.

Mary-Kate and Ashley fail. Again........2006-06-03

I could not help myself from enjoying this movie - a total surprise.......2006-05-21

New York Minute.......2006-04-09

Average customer rating:

Earnest attempt at political satire
satire and commentary
Wait a minute. I thought this film was supposed to be a savage polticial satire?
Low budget but good
Disappointing

Silver City
Starring: Chris Cooper , Richard Dreyfuss , Danny Huston , Michael Murphy , and Kris Kristofferson
Director: John Sayles
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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Sunshine State
Limbo
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Matewan

ASIN: B0006GVJEO
Release Date: 2005-01-11

Amazon.com

John Sayles tackles one of his most provocative projects in Silver City, a broadside on politics and campaigning. It's one of Sayles's multi-character tapestries, set during a tarnished governor's race in Colorado. Chris Cooper has kicky fun as a feather-brained candidate, whose nonsensical speeches deliberately evoke the 43rd U.S. president. He doesn't get nearly enough screen time, because the film follows a burned-out private detective (the awkward Danny Huston) as he tugs at conspiracies. Sayles's understanding of the connected relationships in the political world is keen, and his malignant ending scores points--though the issues are more convincing than the characters. A subplot romance between Huston and journalist Maria Bello is tired, and there's a rushed quality that undercuts the political barbs. The crowded cast helps it perk along. This is a companion piece to Sayles's City of Hope and Sunshine State, and proves his teeth are only getting sharper. --Robert Horton

Description

Grammatically challenged, user friendly gubernatorial candidate Dicky Pilager has just launched a rosy campaign for the citizens of the New West. But things take an unexpected turn when the taping of an environmental political ad ends up with Pilager reeling in a corpse. Enter his ferocious campaign manager, Chuck Raven who hires idealistic journalist turned rumpled private detective Danny O'Brien to investigate potential links between the corpse and the Pilager family's enemies. In the tradition of the great films noir, Danny's investigation pulls him deeper and deeper into a complex web of influence and corruption, involving high stakes lobbyists, media conglomerates, environmental, plunderers, and undocumented migrant workers. Written and directed by John Sayles

Customer Reviews:

Earnest attempt at political satire.......2007-06-09

I found the film very slow for the first half but it picked up a little and I managed to sit through it and actually enjoy it. I think the main problem is that John Sayles cares too much about the subject matter and loses the aesthetic distance it requires to make an enjoyable movie. I totally share his political concerns and only wish that this could have succeeded. He piles horrific offense on top of horrific offense and I got bogged down. The romantic encounters of the star, Danny Huston, with Darryl Hannah and Maria Bello, relieved the dreariness and made the film more watchable, at least for me.

The cast is excellent, and as others have mentioned, Chris Cooper does a pretty humorous version of the man we all love to hate, although I actually think he overdid it a little. I always enjoy Kris Kristofferson and would have liked to have seen more of him as the arch villain.

It's a film worth seeing, for the importance of the message. The last scene, of dead fish floating on the water, with someone singing America the Beautiful in the background brought tears to my eyes.

satire and commentary.......2006-07-25

I put this movie alongside "The Candidate", "Bob Roberts" and "Wag the Dog" for pointed political commenary that is also entertaining.

Wait a minute. I thought this film was supposed to be a savage polticial satire?.......2006-01-23

When I first saw the trailer for "Silver City" I assumed it was going to be a political satire that was out to savage George W. Bush. After all, the trailer shows us Dickie Pilager (Chris Cooper), a (1) conservative candidate from a (2) political family running for (3) governor in (4) the western state of Colorado whose political ideology is revealed in (5) torturous sentences that make no sense. There are five points of commonality between Dickie and the current occupant of the White House. The fact that John Sayles ("City of Hope") wrote and directed this 2004 film also seemed like a hint, and if you watch the "Making of" featurette on this DVD he comes out and says that "Silver City" is a response to what Bush has done as president. But since Dickie Pilager becomes a relatively minor character in this film, you cannot really say that Bush is only target. Then again, Dickie's campaign manager is named Chuck Raven (Richard Dreyfuss), and that is within easy nudge-nudge wink-wink territory of Karl Rove, so maybe we just need to cast the net of Sayle's disdain a bit wider.

I watched the trailer for "Silver City" as soon as I finished watching this DVD because I was thinking that I had been the victim of some sort of bizarre bait and switch. But there is the bit from the beginning where Dickie hooks a dead body in a Colorado lake while filming a political ad, and the character of Danny O'Brien (Danny Huston) is featured prominently as the person investigating the murder. So it is my fault that I got all excited about Dickie Pilager being a political joke when the movie wants to go in another direction. The problem is that where the movie wants to go is rather convoluted and ultimately unsatisfying, especially if you already knew that politicals was a cesspool and that if a candidates lips are moving it is safest to assume they are lying.

What happens in "Silver City" is not so much a plot as it is a chain of relationships. O'Brien is the private eye investigating the case who used to be dating Nora Allardyce (Maria Bello), a reporter. She thinks there is a connection between the floating corpse and the election campaign. Nora is engaged to Chandler Tyson (Billy Zane), a lobbyist, who appears to know where the bodies are buried. Meanwhile, O'Brien hooks up with Madeleine Pilager (Daryl Hannah), Dickie's sister, whose illegitimate child derailed her Olypmic skating career. She would love to get sink her brother's campaign, which is being kept afloat by Wes Benteen (Kris Kristofferson), who apparently owns all the mines in Colorado and since he already has a Pilager in his pocked as a U.S. Senator (Michael Murphy), just needs that one's son as governor to cover the other half of his rear end.

Also running around in this film are James Gammon, Tim Roth, Mary Kay Place, David Clennon, Miguel Ferrer, Alfre Woodard, and Thora Birch, so there is no doubting Sayles' ability to assemble an ensemble cast. It is just that are of the piece and parts of "Silver City" end up constituting a whimper rather than a bang. Obviously my heightened expectations are coming into play here, because I was expecting a scathing political satire and what Sayles hath wrought is more of a sad acknowledgement of the way the world works. At one point a character allows that people have lost their ability to be scandalized, and that is probably as good an explanation as any as to why Sayles appears to be pulling his punches. However, my disappointment at the end result causes me to round down on this one. Fortunately this movie clearly clicks with some people and hopefully it will for you, but I am not to be counted in their number.

Low budget but good.......2005-08-24

This film grew on me.

I first saw it after it was advertised in "The Nation." It had just enough laughs--and mystery--to keep me interested.

Others have gone over the plot. Chris Cooper plays quite a good dimwit--actually no less articulate than the dimwit who now occupies the formidable house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

I disagree with those critics who say Richard Dreyfus's character, the dimwit's campaign manager, is not slimy enough. I thought he did a good job as a Rove-like snake, of no integrity whatsoever. In fact, in the "making of" bonus feature, Dreyfus says what I've been saying since I was a teenager (and I'm almost Dreyfus's age!): People essentially don't care [about much of what's going on] until they're affected by it. And then it's too late. Thanks for confirming my assertion of the last nearly 40 years, Richard!

Frankly, at first I thought Michael Murphy was too young to play Dicky Pilager's dad, but, when I saw it a few more times, he did all right.

I had a slight problem with the sherrif, Skaggs I think the character was called. He was apparently the one responsible for the lead character, Danny O'Brien, played by Danny Huston, getting fired in the first place. But by the end, the guy bordered on being Danny's political advisor. There was nothing Danny could do, so, the sherrif advised him, he'll have to reconcile himself to what's happened.

But I can live with that as the consequence of a lower-budget story.

Overall, I'm glad I have it. Sayles says in one of the special features that we are a story-telling species. That's obvious, from oral tradition of religious scripture to tales told by vikings which became epics. Those stories are important. I'll use this story it at the "salons" some friends plan to have. It's a great caricature of what we face with the neocons running the show so far. And until we realize that, things'll keep getting worse.

Disappointing.......2005-08-23

Add this to the list of "movies that could have and should have been great but weren't".

Richard Dreyfuss is just not slimy enough to play the campaign manager. Sorry, Richard. Chris Cooper is great as the dimwit candidate, but doesn't have enough material to work with. The plot drags, and overall, it's difficult to care what happens to whom.

Don't waste your money. If you've seen the trailer, you've seen all the good parts already.

Average customer rating:

Much better than Cats
Critical FIlm for Hip Hop Lovers
Classic
history
know your history....

Style Wars
Starring: Seen , Kase 2 , Edward I. Koch , Frosty Freeze , and Min One
Director: Henry Chalfant , and Tony Silver
Manufacturer: Plexifilm
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Wild Style
The Freshest Kids - A History of the B-Boy
Beat Street
Subway Art
Scratch (Ws Dol Dts)

ASIN: B00008MTWY
Release Date: 2003-04-22

Amazon.com

Description

When director Tony Silver and co-producer Henry Chalfant delivered the broadcast version of their prize-winning film to PBS in 1983, the world received its first full immersion in the phenomenon that had taken over New York City. The urban landscape was physically transformed by graffiti artists who invented a new visual language to express both their individuality, and the voice of their community. In STYLE WARS, New York's ramshackle subway system is their public playground, battleground, and spectacular artistic canvas. Opposing them by every means possible are Mayor Ed Koch, the police, and the New York Transit Authority. Meanwhile, as MC's, DJ's and B-boys rock the city with new sounds and new moves, we see street corner breakdance battles turn into performance art.

STYLE WARS has become an emblem of the original, embracing spirit of hip hop as it exploded into the world from underground tunnels, uptown streets, clubs and playgrounds. New York's legendary kings of graffiti own a special place in the hip hop pantheon. This film is regarded by many as the definitive document of the emerging hip hop culture, and the continuing struggle to keep its authentic spirit alive.

Customer Reviews:

Much better than Cats.......2007-06-22

Critical FIlm for Hip Hop Lovers.......2007-05-26

Classic.......2007-02-03

history.......2007-01-12

know your history...........2007-01-11

American Experience: New York Underground

Average customer rating:

This Is Just As Advertised
Whatever!
NOT AS DESCRIBED

American Experience: New York Underground
Starring: David Ogden Stiers , Frances Sternhagen , Robert Sean Leonard , Frank McCourt , and Spalding Gray
Director: Lisa Ades , and Ric Burns
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

American Experience - Coney Island
American Experience - Transcontinental Railroad
American Experience - Hoover Dam
American Experience - Streamliners: America's Lost Trains
American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl

ASIN: B000A0GYMS
Release Date: 2006-12-12

Customer Reviews:

This Is Just As Advertised.......2007-02-13

I don't know what these other two reviewers were expecting but this is exactly what it says it is, the story of the building of the New York Subway. No it's not Ric Burns New York Documentary...why you thought it was is beyond me...this is an excellent documentary of the early years of the Subway system.

Whatever!.......2006-12-24

Imagine my shock and dismay to find out that the gift I was most looking forward to giving my husband was not at all what it was advertised to be.

56 minutes! What a load.

NOT AS DESCRIBED.......2006-12-23

This is not a 14 hour documentary about New York City, instead it is a 56 minute long documentary about how the old Electric Subway in NYC was built in 1900, as seen on public television and "American Experience".

Average customer rating:

RODENTS ON THE RUN

Revenge of the Rats
Starring: Herforth , and Buhtz
Manufacturer: Silver Nitrate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( R ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Horror | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo
Killer Rats
The Rats
Scratch
Day of the Animals

ASIN: B000H0MN9E
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Description

A city faces its most terrifying nightmare when a breed of flesh eating rats crawl out from under the street and begins hunting humans…

Customer Reviews:

RODENTS ON THE RUN.......2006-11-13

This is a dubbed German made for TV movie that isn't all that bad, nor all that good. The scenes with the thousands of rats is pretty effective. The dubbing is pretty bad and hinders the actors (?) performances. The story revolves around a rat infestation in Frankfort, where the bitchy mayor lowered funding for waste removal thereby causing a strike, in which the garbage isn't picked up; it's also the hottest summer in Frankfort history so this situation inflames the rodent's appetite and ferocity.
Not a complete time waster for fans of this kind of movie.

Saturday Matinee - Bandit Kig Of Texas / The Silver City Kid

Average customer rating:

Saturday Matinee - Bandit Kig Of Texas / The Silver City Kid

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Westerns | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Fort Dodge Stampede : Corpus Christi Bandits
saturday matinee double Feature:renegades of Sonora & Wells Fargo Gunmaster
Marshal of Cedar Rock
Law of the Lash

ASIN: B0009T8FKO

DVD:

DVD

Malibu Express (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: The Toolbox Murders

Charlie Brown - I Want A Dog For Christmas / A Charlie Brown