A Brief Vacation

Starring:Renato Salvatori, Florinda Bolkan, Daniel Quenaud, JosÃ© MarÃa Prada, Adriana Asti, Teresa Gimpera, Anna Carena, Miranda Campa, Hugo Blanco, Angela Cardile, Monica Guerritore, Julia PeÃ±a, Maria Mizar, Gaetano Amoroso, Christian De Sica, Lia Giovannella, Francesco Rocciola, Alessandro Romanazzi, Vincenzo Rocciola, Franca Mazzoni
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Studio: Homevision
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Actually, this comedy is one of the more enjoyable films to examine midlife crisis in the 1980s. Written and directed by Alan Alda, it examines the effects of middle age on a group of married couples who are longtime friends. Each season they go away on a vacation together, but the dynamic gets skewed when one of the men dumps his wife for a younger woman. Though some may find the characters' self-satisfaction and upscale neuroses a shade cloying, they are more than matched by Alda's solid, often funny writing. The couple with the biggest laughs: the hilariously paired Jack Weston and Rita Moreno (although Alda and Carol Burnett also strike comic sparks). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

A little corny & dated, but still great!.......2007-06-28

I enjoyed this movie back in the 80's and enjoy it almost as much today. A light comedy that pertains to married friendships and what happens when one member of the circle of friends decides to get a divorce thereby threatening the remainder of the group, forcing them to examine their own lives and relationships. Directed by Alan Alda, with very strong performances by Jack Weston and Rita Moreno. Carol Burnett can get on your nerves but also gives an excellent performance.

A Very Funny Movie.......2007-04-05

I love this movie. It is so rare to see Alan Alda much less the remainder of this unique cast all together at one time. This is about a group of spouses/friends that takes four seasonal vacations together, each and every year. This year is different though and that is what makes this movie very special. A definite buy!

Alan Alda's Best !!.......2007-04-04

Surprise ! This is a good movie ! This Early 1980's Comedy - Drama follows three middle aged couples who take vacations in the Spring , Summer , Autumn and Winter. Along the way the couples meet up with Middle age , Marital and Parental struggles. This is by far the best film Alan Alda ever directed as he also writes the moderately funny and (occasionally hilarious) script. The paired couple of (Jack Weston) and (Rita Moreno) provide the best laughs through the picture. (Carol Burnett) is Alda's wife and is no more than just fair in her performance. (Bess Armstrong) is very good as the younger woman for whom (Len Cariou) leaves his wife (Sandy Dennis) of 21 years for. Also watch for Alan Alda's two real life daughters (Beatrice Alda , Elizabeth Alda) who actually appear in the film when the two girls are visited at college by the three couples during their Autumn vacation.

If you Love MASH..........2007-03-30

Alan Alda fans will love this movie. Alda haters, stay away. Alda is great in his role, as are Rita Moreno and an absolutely smokin' hot Bess Armstrong--and I mean en fuego. Carol Burnett is so-so. The story is great, and the script fast-paced. Alda wrote and directed.

Three couples vacation/spend long weekends together in each of the four seasons, accompanied by Vivaldi. When divorce strikes one of the couples, much self-examination, mutual analysis, mortality fears, etc. occur. Definitely a good movie. And did I mention Bess Armstrong is smokin' hot?

Entertaining Movie.......2007-03-08

This is a great movie. Great actors, great performances. It's an older movie, but I don't feel that it is too dated. Fun and interesting to watch.

Average customer rating:

National Lampoon's European Vacation
Typical National Lampoon Humor
The best of the Vacation series
Problems with audio
Classier than film one

National Lampoon's European Vacation
Starring: Chevy Chase , Beverly D'Angelo , Dana Hill , Jason Lively , and John Astin
Director: Amy Heckerling
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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National Lampoon's Vacation (20th Anniversary Special Edition)
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Spies Like Us

ASIN: B00005Y71D
Release Date: 2002-04-02

Amazon.com

After winning a tour package in a game show, the bickering Griswald family carve a trail of destruction through England (where they knock over Stonehenge), France, Germany, and Italy. Somehow Ellen (Bevery D'Angelo), the mom, gets kidnapped by gangsters, leading to a car chase that reunites the family, despite their differences. It's hard to believe that National Lampoon's European Vacation is only the second of the Vacation movies; it has the exhausted pallor of the last of a long series of sequels, drained of all zest or original ideas. The charmless smirk of Chevy Chase, mechanical in its idiocy, hangs over European Vacation like a death mask. It's hard to believe that this hack was once the funny and sexy hero of Foul Play. D'Angelo keeps her chin up and gives the movie whatever class it may have; she deserves better. --Bret Fetzer

Description

The Griswalds are on vacation again when they win a deluxe tour of the old world and take on the European continent -- the continent loses.

Customer Reviews:

National Lampoon's European Vacation.......2007-04-04

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the movie arrived. Also, the disc was in immaculate condition and didn't skip. Overall very enjoyable movie and excellent service from Amazon.

Typical National Lampoon Humor.......2007-01-04

I saw this movie, originally, when it came out in theatres. I loved it then, I love it now. It's not a thinking-man's movie. When you just want to laugh and be entertained, this is a good movie to watch. There are a lot of good one-liners in this movie.

The best of the Vacation series.......2006-10-27

I liked the first in the Vacation series but didn't really find anything truly can't-stop-laughing hilarious. Since I was born a few years after the first two Vacations were released, the movies' 80s-tinged comedic moments didn't really appeal to me. European Vacation is the only movie in the series I could say I really enjoyed. Beverly D'Angelo continues giving a great performance as Mom, especially when she gets drunk after realizing Chevy Chase's character accidentally left some private "footage" on his camera when it turned into a European porn video. But the standout performance here really comes from former child actress Dana Hill as an love-infatuated diet-obsessed teenage Audrey (trust me, she is hilarious!). The antics the family get into aren't believable and it's a surprise to see how Chevy's character Clark even is allowed to book a trip (let alone be in charge of one after his horrible attempts before), but in the end European Vacation makes for a hearty laugh nevertheless.

Problems with audio.......2006-08-22

This is a review of the DVD itself, not the movie (not sure why people seem to want to review the movie itself in this forum).

Overall, a good quality reproduction of the original. (This version does have the topless scenes, for those that have children...) However, the audio is not surround. When you play through a 5.1 speaker system, all the audio goes straight to the center speaker. I am not sure if this was a problem with the disc I received or the DVD in general.

Extras: There are no deleted scenes. The only worthwhile extra is Chevy Chase's commentary, which is actually quite funny and revealing.

Classier than film one.......2006-07-16

Although the original Audrey in National Lampoon's Vacaction was a really cute girl (I had a crush on her when I saw the film in 1983) Dana Hill does a fairly good bit replacing her here. Chase and D'Angelo are back in top form (especially D'angelo) as the Griswold parents. I love Mrs. Griswold's stripping scene she performs in fron't of her husband's camera. The European locations beat the scenes of Chicago and the southwest from film one in giving the 2nd film much more sophistication. Eric Idle is painful to watch (like he is in all his non-Python work) in an irregular series of cameos.

Average customer rating:

LOVE AFFAIR - JUST ANOTHER UPDATED CLASSIC THAT DIDN'T WORK
i love the original but it was still romantic
Get the Original Instead!
Doesn't hold a candle to the original
A pleasant enough trifle

Love Affair
Starring: Warren Beatty , Annette Bening , Katharine Hepburn , Garry Shandling , and Chloe Webb
Director: Glenn Gordon Caron
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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An Affair to Remember
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ASIN: B00005RRJZ
Release Date: 2002-01-08

Amazon.com

You can hear the big gears clank in this glossy, oh-so-watchable remake of the classic 1939 film (and the popular An Affair to Remember). Instead of updating the story with contemporary attitudes (as Warren Beatty did so successfully with Heaven Can Wait), this is a virtual carbon copy of the other films. The early scenes succeed as the two love birds (Beatty and real-life wife Annette Bening) banter with smart, fun talk. But the dramatics never really work in the modern era and romance doesn't blossom. Do we have to visit the Empire State Building again? Why couldn't the man be the victim? Everything looks wrapped for Christmas: a lovely score, nice use of old songs, rich designer clothes, familiar faces popping up everywhere, all surrounded by ace Conrad L. Hall's glowing, luscious light. It comes off like a big still-life, no zeal with two big exceptions: Garry Shandling's comic portrayal of lawyerhood as Beatty's agent and the reappearance of Katharine Hepburn. Seen for maybe 10 minutes, she packs more magic in her work than the entire rest of the movie. --Doug Thomas

Customer Reviews:

LOVE AFFAIR - JUST ANOTHER UPDATED CLASSIC THAT DIDN'T WORK.......2006-06-08

Many of the reviews I read felt strongly in favor of this remake, but some of the people had not seen "An Affair to Remember". Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr had the spark so lacking in this "Love Affair" remake. The original "Love Affair" with (forgive me, I can only remember Irene Dunne as Terry, and my opinion that film was not as good as this "Love Affair", however. I missed hearing the original scoring of "An Affair to Remember", but Annette Benning's music with the children was lovely.

As most of the reviews that stated they were in favor of "An Affair...", I missed the climactic ending with Cary Grant's reactions, and also the shipboard scene where he want's to be "worthy of her love".

I don't wish to underrate or "dump" on this film, but I wish all reviewers would watch the Grant/Kerr version just once. I believe they will become "old movie buffs" too. Thanks for reading my review.

i love the original but it was still romantic.......2006-02-18

This was so romantic, i love the original so much bascially i love them both. I think some old school might only stick to the original but for my generation i think being 24 they were both acceptible..

get your girlfriends and let lose and enjoy...

Get the Original Instead!.......2006-01-03

This is a remake of the classic "An Affair to Remember" starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. A good try, but it just doesn't compare to the original. Warren Beatty is no Cary Grant--in looks, general appeal, or acting ability. Annette Bening is wonderful, but loses some credibility--it's just hard to believe that this beautiful, competent, all together woman would dump urbane and caring Pierce Brosnan to fall for notoriously unfaithful jock Warren Beatty, whose favorite line seems to be "I love to watch you move."

A lot of the dialogue and plot follow the original closely, but several changes were made to modernize the story. I kept wondering how they would pull off the last scene, since Beatty's character was now a retired football player and coach, not a painter. The concept that within those 3 months apart (in the original, it was a more believable 6 months to adjust their lives), Beatty had coincendentally been asked to paint a picture for a New York restaurant and was able to execute a portrait of Bening in his aunt's shawl well enough the she recognized it was far-fetched at best.

The most moving part in the original came when Cary Grant found the portrait in Kerr's bedroom and realized that she was paralyzed. Watch the emotions that play over his face, and then view Beatty's rendition. There is simply no comparison.

IMO, there's also an inside story kind of approach here--we all know that in "real life" Beatty and Bening are married, and I guess the director assumed that this casting would make us believe more in the attraction and deep love developing between these two. I found the attraction between Bening and Michael Douglas in The American President far more believable, and for all I know they may not even like each other in "real life!" Go for the original--sure it's dated, but the acting is superb, and I guarantee it will give a greater pull to your heartstrings.

Doesn't hold a candle to the original.......2005-02-28

This is a remake of An Affair to Remember with Cary Grant and Deborah and it does not work. Some movies just should not be remade. The ONLY thing good about this movie is Katharine Hepburn's appearance. Get the original!

A pleasant enough trifle.......2005-02-18

I remember the legend of Warren Beatty trying to sweet talk Katharine Hepburn into appearing in this remake of AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, which is in every way a better picture. Hepburn made some outrageous demands and Beatty (as producer) just smiled and gave in everywhere, for he knew that he would need one last gasp of the old Hollywood to give this remake what luster it had, the way that RAGTIME floated by on the coattails of Jimmy Cagney's great return to the screen.

Earlier in his career Beatty had successfully transplanted HERE COMES Mr. JORDAN and made it into HEAVEN CAN WAIT, displaying a casualness about the title that made some of us wince (for HEAVEN CAN WAIT was a different old movie, all its own, and totally different than the reincarnation plot line Beatty and Buck Henry "borrowed" from the old Robert Montgomery classic. But turning AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER back to LOVE AFFAIR (its original title) Beatty came a cropper. Parts of the movie are cute, and Bening is a wonderful actress, and almost a star, but it needed someone (I think) who is 100 per cent a star and she's only about 95 per cent.

This was the first time that his fans noticed the heavy gauze veils through which our aging Adonis Warren was now forced to photograph himself, otherwise he'd look rotten as old scungilli. In some shots the gauze droops a little and it looks like another actor entirely, it's disconcerting. Director Glenn Gordon Caron had previously worked some chemistry magic between feuding co-stars Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, actually making them look as though they could tolerate each other, on their TV series MOONLIGHTING, but the magic isn't there for LOVE AFFAIR. Is it true what they say, that box office dwindles when you put a married couple in as the leads of your film? Seems like it here. What a disappointment.

Average customer rating:

A Brief Vacation
one of the very best
Want To Get Away?
Finally available!! Hurrah!!!!!!!!!
Life goes on

A Brief Vacation
Starring: Florinda Bolkan , Renato Salvatori , Daniel Quenaud , José María Prada , and Teresa Gimpera
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Manufacturer: Homevision
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000CG8IB
Release Date: 2003-12-16

Amazon.com

For anyone who's ever yearned for respite from a life of loveless drudgery--or just a break from the daily routine--A Brief Vacation offers a breath of fresh air. Having enjoyed latter-day success with frothy comedies and prestigious acclaim for The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, Vittorio De Sica returned to his neorealist roots (at least partially) with this engaging study of Clara (Florinda Bolkan), an exhausted factory worker in Milan, unappreciated by her demanding family and suffering from the onset of tuberculosis. She's sent to a sanitorium in the Italian Alps for rest and treatment, where she's befriended by wealthy and working-class patients alike, and falls in love with a charming Frenchman (Daniel Quenaud) who promises everything she's denied by her selfish, jealous husband. "It's swoony romanticism from then on," wrote critic Pauline Kael, but A Brief Vacation--and especially Bolkan's marvelous performance, alternately weary and radiant--avoids blatant sentiment, favoring instead the richly emotional study of a woman who has earned the right to elusive happiness. In his final collaboration with the great Italian screenwriter Cesare Zavattini, De Sica harkens back to the heartbreaking truthfulness of Umberto D., while suggesting just enough hope for a better life ahead. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A Brief Vacation.......2006-08-28

Italian director Vittorio De Sica returns to my newsletter. THE BICYCLE THIEF, AFTER THE FOX, and this. This one's 1973, Italian with English subtitles, in color. The premise is "sickness is the vacation of the poor." Clara has a lousy husband and a lousy job, but some lung damage sends her to the sanatorium in the mountains. I like the premise. I grew up in the "work til you drop" culture, and in fact I'm still fighting to reprogram myself.

I really wanted to like this movie, as a De Sica fan, but it was boring. The acting was surprisingly bad, and the opening 50 minutes in the factory were so cliche. I waited for the part in the hospital, hoping it was "the good part." Nah, just some eccentrics and a romantic interest. A few good performances, largely wasted. I've seen movies excel with less, but this one just didn't pull it off. But on the plus side, the scenery was great.

one of the very best.......2006-01-13

This is one of the few foreign films that is extremely realistic without being depressing.

In the first half-hour, we are made not only to see Clara's grim life but to feel it. And this is done without the usual grinding away on the same scene until it becomes unbearable. We get brief touches of so many of the aspects of Clara's life, that the weight of these has more effect that all the belabored scenes of other European films. Clara is the only one earning money. Her husband is injured and out of work. His brother is sponging off her. Her mother-in-law is senile and useless. She has three young children.

When we come in, Clara is nearing the breaking point. She breaks down, cries, swears she can't go on. Then, she pulls herself together and does go on. She rides a bicycle, takes a train and then takes a bus to get to work. We are taken into the factory where she works. De Sica says it all with pictures: the huge dirty machines, the noise, the clock. Finally, Clara nearly faints and is persuaded to go to the National Health and be examined.

Even when the doctor tells the family, she has TB and must go to a sanotorium, the family tries to keep her home and working for them. That night, in bed, she is exhausted and tells her husband she doesn't feel like it. He has sex with her anyway.

After all this, when Clara arrives at the sanotorium in the mountains, we feel her joy. The room is a bare, plain one in a square institutional building. Yet, to Clara it is paradise. She goes around beaming at the plain but clean bathroom (which she didn't have in her cramped dirty basement apartment back in Milan), at the plain bed. She turns on and off the bedside lamp. And we beam with her. Without the first half-hour, this room would have looked depressing. Now, it looks and feels like heaven.

The patients are segregated into paying and non-paying. But several of the rich patients sense Clara's inner strength and talk to her, then invite her to join them, then seek her out with their troubles. And she listens to them all and her quiet strength comforts them.

Books have been left in her room and for the first time in her life, Clara has time to read for pleasure. The books, the worldly women, the young political woman--all of these broaden Clara's outlook and she begins to grow. She also meets a man, a skilled worker, and falls in love with him.

At this point, the family visits her en masse and demands that she come home before she is cured. Her husband even tries to force sex on her in the bathroom of her room at the sanotorium. The next week, she spends the day with the man she has met, and the two make love.

Then, she is discharged. Her shock is our shock. Alone in her room, she breaks down in tears.

But it is a different woman who takes the train back to Milan. The viewer can write his/her own ending to the story; but to this viewer, Clara uses her strength and her changed view of life to free herself.

This movie would not have been as effective as it is with the performances turned in by most actresses. Florinda Bolkan gives a performance that is as moving as it is natural and unaffected. De Sica is at his best with every shot, and we can assume that De Sica used his knowledge of acting to shape the fine performances of all the cast.

Each of us needs a brief vacation now and then. This is one vacation you'll take over and over again for the rest of your life.

Want To Get Away?.......2005-03-22

Perhaps no other director could have made "A Brief Vacation" except for Vittorio De Sica.

De Sica, who directed my favorite film of all time "The Bicyle Thief", is the kind of filmmkaer who is capable of projecting sincere raw emotions in his work. Whether it's "The Bicycle Thief", "Two Women" or "Umberto D." De Sica's films make us care about his characters. We have a full emotional investment in what happens to them.

"A Brief Vacation" tells the story of Clara (Florinda Bolkan) a housewife, with 3 children, who lives with her mother and brother in-law. Clara is the only one who works, since her husband was in an accident and broke his leg. But still she is expected to do for everyone and remain unappreicated. For some reason I thought of my mother while watching this movie. She too on many occasions said she never has time for herself because she's busy doing for others.

As the film goes on we find out that Clara is sick, due to the unsafe enviroment of the factory she works at. In a very telling scene notice the reaction of her family as they try to convince her the doctor was trying to scare her. The doctor recommends that Clara go for a rest. If her condition does not improve she may die.

Once away Clara doesn't want to leave. It's not that she doesn't care about her family, but, she has never done anything for herself, and finds that she enjoys her time alone. But reality will soon set in. And end her happiness.

I suppose in a worst case scenario "A Brief Vacation" could have been a cliche, overly sentimental sobfest. But De Sica and Bolkan give the film a genuine feel. We accept Clara and her problems, mostly because we can relate to her situation. As I said before I thought of my mother, other may have the same experience.

De Sica had died a year before this film was released in America, but remained one of the key figures in the Italian neo-realism movement. His films of course did more than simply tell a good story. Like the best films they were insights into their times. His films were a reflection of the social and political developments. Just as Rainer Werner Fassbinder made films dealing with Germany in post WW2 years so did De Sica with "The Bicyle Thief", "Two Women", and "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" (during WW2).

"A Brief Vacation" has become an obscure title. It is not available on vhs and only recently has been released on DVD. Hopefully many people will discover this De Sica masterpiece.

Bottom-line: One of Vittorio De Sica's best films on par with "The Bicyle Thief" and "Two Women". Extremely involving.

Finally available!! Hurrah!!!!!!!!!.......2004-10-12

I have been wanting to share this movie with friends for more than 30 years. It has always been on my top 10 list of best movies ever seen. What I remember most are the subtle scenes which communicate so much, the woman wrapping her meat patty from her factory provided lunch in a napkin and slipping it into her purse in order to be able to give it to her son later on. Or after finally going to see a doctor, making a quick detour first into a department store to buy new underwear, too embarrassed that the doctor would see her in what she had on. Or at the very end, when the train passes by the billboard with the Mao graffiti on it (the most subtle of political comment). This is a splendid and brilliant movie, exposing the complexity of social circumstance without ever taking the easy way out, or suggesting there is ever an easy answer, in this case just a brief vacation.

Life goes on.......2003-12-24

This has always been one of my favorite movies, and I was overjoyed to see that it was finally available on DVD. Unfortunately over the past 30 years we have grown, and what was once cutting edge, now appears to be something that has been seen many times before. Florinda is still beautiful and the clothing styles would fit right in today. The return to 1973 that I was hoping for didn't happen. A tad dissappointed, but still a great movie, and I am glad to have it in my collection.

Average customer rating:

Wow!
One star for effort
Watching the dedication of Jorge Ameer
instant camp classic
Contadora - Amateur movie night!

Contadora Is for Lovers
Starring: Vincent DePaul , Tony Santiago , and Renee Pietrangelo
Director: Jorge Ameer
Manufacturer: Ariztical
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Cowboy Junction
Phoenix
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Shortbus (Unrated Edition)

ASIN: B000KN7BMW
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Product Description

A newly engaged couple travel from the U.S. to the romantic tropical Isle of Contadora, off the Gulf of Panama, to celebrate their recent commitment to each other. Upon arrival, they meet their host and tour guide Gabriel (Tony Santiago), a hopeless romantic who is confused about his own sexual identity. As Gabriel accompanies the couple on island adventures, both individually and together, bisexual feelings and experiences begin to flourish. An unexpected reaction comes from Helen (Renee Pietrangelo) when she learns her fiancé Mike (Vincent De Paul) and Gabriel have spent the night together in a deserted island location, and have admittedly "fooled around". Surprising bisexual twists and turns follow, reminiscent of the Theatrical and Home Video Hit, "Threesome". Will the couple's engagement survive, and will Gabriel become a part of a newly formed complex relationship?

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2007-04-29

Wow!
All the acting, directorial, and technical finesse of a home video made by someone who just bought his first camera!
I'm sure everyoine involved had tongue firmly in cheek.
At least I hope they did.
Pee-yew!

One star for effort.......2007-04-06

One star for effort. This is truly an awful film.Clearly the screenwriter/Director needs to review some film school classes and pay attention this time. The script is so poor that the actors don't really have a chance. I'm not altogether sure that given a decent script they'd be much better but I do believe in the benefit of the doubt. Obviously shot with a small video camera sans dolly and with a very small pan ratio,the camera once placed in each set seems rooted there. The editing is at best abrupt.Lighting by sun-guns. Hasn't the sound guy heard of wind-screens? Pretty much an amateur effort throughout.
I think this is an interesting script idea, it is unfortunate that it couldn't have been better realized.

Watching the dedication of Jorge Ameer.......2007-03-19

Now and then we see early films by a well-trained and well-educated writer/director and enjoy the journey from amateur to professional status. Jorge Ameer has been actively and consistently making films since 2000 (with an earlier 1994 work) and it is therefore disappointing that he has not been able to garner financial backing to step beyond the low budget status that grounds his latest feature CONTADORA IS FOR LOVERS. Why is that happening?

For starters Ameer needs to assign the writing of his screenplays to others, find a competent cinematographer with the right equipment to step beyond the video state, and spend time with his actors in rehearsal and polish before the film is committed to the can. This particular film demonstrates all of those flaws. The story - an engaged couple Mike (Vincent De Paul) and Maria (Christina Antelo) arrive on the off-Panama island of Contadora where they are warmly received by host Gabriel (Tony Sago) - has a good setup, but very quickly turns into an impractical love triangle with the bifurcated aspects of each character skipped over so quickly that the progress of the interrelationships just falls flat. Gabriel is gay and manages to swoop Mike off for a hike on the island Gabriel 'knows like the back of his hand' only to 'get lost' and spend the night on the beach where some very rusty and insensitive attempts to show attraction and rejection are shown. Barely questioning the previous night's events Maria works back into the vacation and touches of ambiguity fizzle like water on hot rocks. It seems Ameer wants to explore bisexuality but just doesn't understand the conflicts well enough to place words in the mouths of his actors.

Each of the actors is attractive and at the beginning of the film there is hope that they can also act. But the script and the filming and direction prevent this little travelogue crew from sinking with the sunset. Maybe next time....Grady Harp, March 07

instant camp classic.......2007-03-03

Must be seen to be believed. Nutball direction (camera shakes, off-kilter framing), ludicrous script (with some lines repeated verbatim in successive scenes), and awful acting add up to this so-terrible-it's-great-fun entry. Completely entertaining in a perverse sort of way. It does have a sweet, innocent feel, but disparate elements keep that sentiment at bay. Three stars for high camp; one if you are taking this seriously.

Contadora - Amateur movie night!.......2007-02-20

Although the story line of this movie is not unpleasing, the quality of both the filming and acting are substandard. "Contadora is for Lovers" was filmed with a video camera. It's not that I dislike all video filming, I would just rather see it used on a documentary than on a romantic love story. There is a very special filming technique that needs to be utilized in order to successfully pull off shooting a feature film on video. This film just doesn't use it! Do not let the DVD jacket cover fool you, this movie is strictly amateur night. If you were to spent all of your time on an island Holiday behind the lens of a camera by filmed the daily activities of your own family, it is doubtless that you could come up with pretty much the same effect. There is no movement in the scenes at all because the actors are delivering their lines to a camera that is seemingly rooted in the earth. Poor fade-ins and fade-outs end scenes abruptly, breaking any continuity that there might be in the film. Nevertheless, I give this film three stars for story effort.

Average customer rating:

Renny Harlin's strange take on the Cold War
Pathetic
Very intense and provocative
"JÄÄTÄVÄ POLTE"

Born American
Starring: Markku Blomqvist , David Coburn , Steve Durham , Sari Havas , and Laura Heimo
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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Con Games
Balkan Runner

ASIN: B00005AFST
Release Date: 2001-04-24

Description

Three young men journey to Finland on one last grand adventure before taking on adulthood in this explosive, nail-biting thriller directed by action film veteran Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea, Die Hard 2). After the friends sneak across the Russian border, their carefree lives quickly turn into nightmares. They are pursued and captured by Russian soldiers, interrogated by the KGB and imprisoned. Their only option left--a highly dangerous and nearly impossible escape.

Customer Reviews:

Renny Harlin's strange take on the Cold War.......2007-05-07

BORN AMERICAN (1986)
directed by Renny Harlin
approx. 95 minutes

Three young American tourists cross the border from Finland to the USSR as part of a "thrill seeking" vacation. Chaos ensues, with the Americans becoming involved in an ultraviolent village brawl and eventually getting incarcerated. Along the way they encounter various strangers that may or may not be able to help them escape.

There are a lot of problems with this movie, I guess if I had to pick one it would be that the only plot device Renny Harlin seems to utilize to move the story along is his trademark violence. This is a shame because the more "restrained" scenes (such as the beginning where the Americans are evading the border guards) are pretty suspenseful and could've been a part of a great drama. Another problem is that many characters become interchangeable at some point. For example, one of the Americans falls for a girl. A second girl has the unfortunate task of telling him that his love interest has been killed, but he seems to fall for her in a matter of seconds! On top of this, the characters themselves are so rude and impulsive that when they show any other kind of emotions it must be the for first time in their life.

The most ridiculous scene is the one where we discover that prisoners are entered into a deadly "human chess game" where inmates go head to head in a dim room on a life size checkerboard*. The horrors of the gulag system are not something that have to be fabricated, especially in such a theatrical way! Perhaps worst of all is that this movie missed an opportunity to show American audiences a European perspective on the Soviet system. The movie ends with a last minute criticism of Cold War policy that states that the CIA and KGB are deliberately prolonging the war to consolidate power for themselves.

Finnish director Renny Harlin is best known for big budget action movies such as 'DIE HARD 2' and 'CLIFFHANGER'.

*- this movie was released 2 years before the computer game 'BATTLE CHESS', but after Michael Crichton's 'FUTUREWORLD' which has a similar scene!

Pathetic.......2006-06-09

Stupefying and moronic is the most apt description of this waste of celluloid. Though made during the Cold War, its portrayal of Russian people is unfairly mean-spirited and in a review I read elsewhere, it was described as xenophopic. I would go so far as to say it is propagandistic. Its the kind of film which will appeal to today's dumbed-down American who thinks he's a little more special than everyone else in the world and that he has the right to blow up foreign villages and otherwise disregard laws and civil behavior. The idiotic characters justly deserved the punishment they received in this pathetic film.

Very intense and provocative.......2004-01-15

Your milage may vary; but I found this movie white-knuckle intense and extremely provocative. There is little danger of giving away the plot; it is not particularly complex. Three stupid, arrogant American teenagers tempt fate by crossing an unguarded gate from Finland to the former USSR, which at the time was very much the USSR and a Very Bad Place for Americans. They make photographs of themselves on the wrong side of the gate. So far so good, but then they get lost and go the wrong way right into the hands of the Russians who mistake them for spies. Some interesting subplots are also happening that keep things moving, that I'll keep a secret for ya. I can promise you one thing: If you are American, after seeing this, you'll salute the flag, think real hard before traveling overseas and I'll bet you never photograph yourself on the wrong side of an international border!

"JÄÄTÄVÄ POLTE".......2001-04-26

Well, absolutely the film of the year 1986! Real masterpiece in it's own genre. Nice casting, including lot of well known Finnish actors like: Vesa Vierikko, Ismo Kallio and Sari Havas. Renny Harlin and Markus Selin really made the film, which still make conversation and sometimes even headlines in the papers.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful and painfulll..........2005-08-15

This film is wonderful, but every review I've read about this film misleadingly calls it a romantic comedy. I wish that you'd watch it, but it is very heartwrenching. I won't give the film away, but I feel that it is important to give it a true representation.

Demasiado Amor is about the more homely, naive, and earnest of two sisters. Tired of the monotony of saving for a future dream, Laura leaves for Spain with all the sisters' savings. She will find a house that will become their bed and breakfast inn.

Beatriz stays. She becomes a prostitute to help to cover Laura until she can find a house, set up, and send for her. Carlos is her first john and the one she falls in love with. I believe that they had just one night together, but Beatriz makes up a whole relationship with him as her dream lover. All her love and devotion is with him.

She has a variety of encounters with different types of men. But don't think that these meetings are sordid or pornographic. She has a great time with these men and they stave off her loneliness. She even meets a gay man who offers her a marriage of convenience.

Beatriz is three people, a sister, a prostitute, and the lover. The only place where these three people meet is in a collage on the wall of her apartment. During a confrontation with her sister, we realize that Laura knows about Beatriz's prostitution, but in every letter that Beatriz sends she never mentions the painful side of her life. Laura never asks Beatriz to come to Spain. Instead, the sisters begin sending each other video tapes of each other.

Finally Beatriz gets to a point where she can not avoid dealing with her internal struggles and she faces all of who she is. In the end, she does not stay in Mexico, but she does not go to Spain.

You'll have to watch the film to find out what she does.

Lessons in Love.......2004-03-30

Director Ernsto Rimoch has created in DEMASIADO AMOR not only a tender story about two sisters and their dreams of moving from Mexico City to Spain to buy a house that will be a Boarding Home for their future income. Beatriz (Karina Gidi) is the less attractive of the two sisters and the more responsible one and is elected to stay in Mexico City until the Spanish house is located and bought by Laura (Ana Karina Guevara). Beatriz sees herself as unattractive and it is only after her neighborhood flower vendor (Luisa Huertes) that she feels beautiful and can begin to look at men! Here begins the change! Beatriz has a chance encounter with a handsome man, Carlos (Ari Telch) in her local cafe and has a whirlwind love affair with him before he disappears. Demands for money from Spain and from her landlord force Beatriz to do extra work and that need for money also results in other encounters with men with whom she has brief affairs (Martin Altomaro, Daniel Martinez, Paul Mendez, etc). She is wined and dined and adored but still longs for her first love Carlos. Meanwhile her sister Laura falls in love in Spain, marries and has two girls, and asks Beatriz to move to Spain. But Beatriz' encounters and experiences in Mexico City override her desire to leave her beloved Mexico. There are twists and turns that bring the story to a close, but disclosing them would be unfair. This is beautifully photographed, sensual, dreamy little film that merits your attention. In Spanish with English subtitles.

Average customer rating:

Pristine
Skip It
nicely textured film

Butterfly Man
Starring: Stuart Laing , Napakpapha Nakprasitte , Francis Magee , Gavan O'Herlihy , and Abigail Good
Director: Kaprice Kea
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bangkok Dangerous
The Legend of Suriyothai
Jan Dara
Beautiful Boxer
6ixtynin9

ASIN: B0000D9PLB
Release Date: 2003-12-23

Description

A romantic adventure filled with passion, humor, and intrigue. Packed with colorful characters and stunning, exotic locations, Butterfly Man is the story of English backpacker Adam, whose world falls apart when he meets and falls in love with Em, a beautiful Thai masseuse. Featuring a young international star cast, Butterfly Man confronts issues of human trafficking, prostitution set in a world of adventure, intrigue, and the unknown.

Customer Reviews:

Pristine.......2004-10-18

Butterfly Man is a touching and complex movie about the despair and hope of a British backpacker who finds a deeper sense of purpose in the colorful and beautiful world he experiences in Thailand. The visuals of this movie will make you feel that you are in an island paradise yourself, as they're filled with prelapserian visions of purity and sweetness. The two main characters, Adam and Em, acted expertly by Stuart Laing and Napakpapha "Mamee" Nakprasitte, share a passionate bond, one that will make you believe in the redemptive and soulful power of love.

Skip It.......2004-04-30

The only redeeming quality of this film is the fact that the gorgeous scenery of Thailand is shown in full grandeur. The viewer can really get a feel for the country. However, the storyline and characters are weak, trite, and boring. The film uses the all too common theme of Western man's infatuation for a young Thai woman but tries to convince the audience that it's true love. It is an unbelievable story with an even more ludicrous ending.

nicely textured film.......2004-01-20

This is one of the few movies shot in Thailand, with Thailand as a subject, that really shows any insight into the country (unlike The Beach, for example).

Considering this is a low-budget, it really doesn't look budget. The cinematography is superb and in fact it earned the Best Cinematography award in 2003's Slamdunk Film Festival (the truly indie alternative to the Sundance Fest, and also held in Park City, UT). The performances are also uniformly excellent. Here again, the Thai female lead, Mamee, earned Best Actress at Slamdunk.

Description

In the history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Arthur Cohn has received more Oscars® than any other producer. He is the only foreign film producer to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame. Home Vision Entertainment is proud to present this unique collection of highly acclaimed films produced by the legendary Arthur Cohn, available exclusively from HVe in this special nine-disc collector's set.

Assembled and distributed by Home Vision Entertainment, this homage to Academy Award™-winning Producer Arthur Cohn is an unprecedented collaboration among Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Classics, Paramount Pictures,
Universal Studios, Miramax Studios, and Buena Vista's Home Entertainment Group.

This unique set features the following films, produced by Arthur Cohn, on DVD:
American Dream, Behind the Sun, Black and White in Color, Sky Above Mud Below, A Brief Vacation ,The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, One Day in September, Two Bits, and Dangerous Moves

Oscar™ and Academy Award™ are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Average customer rating:

This is not Subspecies 2
You just can't keep a good vampire down
NO ONE MAKES A BETTER VAMPIRE THAN ANDERS HOVE!
NOT BAD OR PRETTY GOOD
Great sequel

Bloodstone
Starring: Brett Stimely , Rajnikanth , Anna Nicholas , Charlie Brill , and Jack Kehler
Director: Dwight H. Little
Manufacturer: Simitar Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Bloodlust - Subspecies 3
Subspecies 4: Bloodstorm
Subspecies 4-Bloodstorm
Vampire Journals
Hideous!

ASIN: 6305451680
Release Date: 1999-06-08

Customer Reviews:

This is not Subspecies 2.......2004-07-25

If you're looking for Bloodstone: Subspecies 2, this ain't it.

You just can't keep a good vampire down.......2004-07-09

First of all, if you haven't seen the first of the Subspecies movies, this review mentions things that happened in it, so go rent it first and then come back for more.

At the end of Subspecies, we left Radu impaled and decapitated by his brother Stefan and Stefan's love, Michele. Stefan bit Michele so that she could be with him forever, and retired to his casket clutching the Bloodstone.

Bloodstone:Subspecies 2 picks up exactly where the first movie left off, with Radu's headless body lying upon the cold stone floor of the castle. But Stefan missed Radu's subspecies, the little gargoyle type creatures of Radu's creation. The subspecies push Radu's head back onto his shoulders, where it knits back into place, and pull the stake out of his chest.

Welcome back, Radu! The first thing Radu does is kill Stefan as he sleeps in his coffin, then moves to kill Michele also. But the sunlight comes in and chases Radu away, not just from Michele but from the Bloodstone still clutched in Stefan's hands.

Michele awakes, and grabbing the Bloodstone, leaves the castle and heads out to Bucharest. She calls her sister Becky, who immediately jumps a plane to find out what's wrong. Michele knows what she is now, and desperately wants to be human again.

Radu follows Michele, and now we are introduced to Radu's "Mummy", a skeletal creature to whom he brings the blood of his father. Radu admits to his mother that he wishes to keep the girl Michele instead of kill her, and with mother's help and a lot of manipulation, they all return to Transylvania with Becky in tow.

This is a great sequel to the first Subspecies movie, and as I said before, Radu is the best vampire ever. Anders Hove does a great job acting, and Denise Duff takes over the role of Michele here in part 2, a role she continues with through the end of the series.

There is more biting, more drooling, more blood, more beautiful scenery; just as we saw in the first movie. In the ending, Michele must fight Radu for her sister's life, even knowing that it is too late to save her own.

Well, don't just sit there, go and watch it for yourself. This is vampire cheese at its tastiest peak, smelly and pungent and terrific with crackers. Enjoy!

NO ONE MAKES A BETTER VAMPIRE THAN ANDERS HOVE!.......2004-06-24

This is the best vampire movie you could ever buy.Because even though the budget was not all that big.As is alot of Fullmoon's movie's,it was still surprisingly very amazing.Whoever thought of the Subspecies is a freakin genius!That has got to be the coolest idea I've ever seen take shape in a vampire movie EVER!Plus Anders Hove is the tuffest looking vampire EVER!It makes me wonder why those big budget film's keep feeding us crap like Dracula 2000,and a so called spin off from subspecies the Queen of the Damned.I no,I no,that it had some real good idea's,and all,but I mean really!Are pretty people with cute little fangs suppose to frighten me.I felt like I was watching a soap opera or something.Although it did have good eye candy,it shouldn't of been really called a horror movie I think.Now with that being said,this movie does have some filming flaws.Like sometimes I'd watch Radu lay down in his cript,and the sun would be right on him.What's up with that!Couldn't you people of used a filming jell on the camera or something to change it from day to night,plus why does he look so tough,and act tough in the beginning,and than at the end(sorry for the spoiler)the girl's kill him with hardly a hole lot of effort.That makes him look like a wimp to me!Plus I thought the Mummie bit was quite funny at the beginning.But I wouldn't of made up a hole sorry character that wasn't really even that cool to begin with.Just to use that short little line.All in all though,I think if the rest of the movie would of been as cool as the first fifteen minutes.I would of liked it even more.But still even with all the low budget flaws that I mentioned,I'm gonna definately give it a five star rating.Just because to me there's no person who makes a scarier looking vampire than Anders Hove.

Plus the girl actor's did a fine job,as did all the cast.I think the biggest flaws were in the latter half of the script itself.And as everyone know's the ending can either make or break a movie.Plus just one more flaw,I didn't like the fact that they made Radu out to be a total hermit with absolutely no vampire fallower's,living a life with his Mummie.I mean I doubt dracula would be living like that.Although I did get a weird beauty,and the beast vibe also from this movie,and I liked that,but even that didn't play out at the end.Overall though I reccommend this one the most!Along with part 3 the Bloodlust.Although I do think that commando guy was a cheesy idea to have in the movie Bloodlust.Other than that it's almost as good as this one.Part one is real boring,and doesn't have a hole lot of cool part's at all.Just a really cool cover,and a part where he cut's off his finger,and the subspecies go to work.Part four is unfortunately the utter worse in the series,a really horrible place to start.There's like no subspecies at all!Just a bunch of flamboiant looking follower's.That made me wish that Radu would of killed them all.Just so he could start fresh.Plus it was so low budget it looked like an old television series or something.With not exactly a horrible storyline just some real bad casting,and some bad outfit's.The only new actor I liked was the girl that almost get's bit by the vampire doctor.So in my oppinion Bloodstorm is a definate watch at you'r own risk movie.Anyway's I think if you can actually find this movie on VHS you should definately buy it.Because this one Bloodstone,and Bloodlust our definately worth the buy.And I think the other two you should buy only if you really,really would like the hole series.And who know's maybe if they get a much bigger budget someday they'll even put Bloodstone to shame...Until then I'll be waiting....

NOT BAD OR PRETTY GOOD.......2004-04-02

This movie suprised me. I had watched the trailer first and groaned, "another bad, bad movie." It turns out the movie is not bad and there are some great extras. The image and sound is good. There is one caveat, make sure you get the copy that has "2003 Version" near the top of the title. Another bit of advice. This DVD is not worth the price Amazon is charging, unless you are a die-hard Mastorakis fan. You can pick this up at many other vendors for a third of the price. One of the extras on this disc and others in this "collection" is a great autobiograpy on the films of Nico Mastorakis. He seems like a fairly smart and decent person. It makes you want to buy the entire "collection", but like I stated not at the Amazon price.

Great sequel.......2003-10-30

I must admit this is one of the best horror sequel movies made about vampires. It is about a vampire named Radu who is the previous movie mixed his blood with his soon-to-be fledging Michelle. In this film michelle is inbetween humanity and vampirism. But by the middle of the film she becomes a full blown vampire. At which time she starts to fight to save her humanity with the help of her sister Rebecca. While Radu is chasing them to claim the "Bloodstone".Which is a mystical relic that allows any vampire who drinks from it to live without taking human life. While in the same time forcefully takes Michelle as his student. Then the plot continues into the 3rd movie of a 4 movie series. This movie I recommend to anyone on is interested in a good horror movie.

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