Images

Starring:Susannah York, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, Hugh Millais, Cathryn Harrison, John Morley, Barbara Baxley
Director: Robert Altman
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Effectively a "lost film" soon after its original release, this dreamlike yet razor-sharp movie from the amazing early-'70s arc of Robert Altman's career was among the most mesmerizingly beautiful color films ever made. Where on this planet did Altman and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond find such colors, such an awesome fairy-tale landscape? (Ireland, as it happens.) Even more extraordinary was the inside/outside landscape of the heroine's consciousness: this is a movie in which madness is inseparable from imagination. Susannah York gives a brave, supernally freaky performance as a married woman who may be an adulteress, may only be fantasizing about it, may be pregnant, may merely be giving birth to a world. René Auberjonois, Hugh Millais (McCabe and Mrs. Miller's fur-clad assassin), and Marcel Bozzufi play the men in her life, some of whom may be dead, some of whom are going to be. They all exchange names at various times as Cathryn meets herself coming and going, in search of unicorns. --Richard T. Jameson

Images in a Convent
Average customer rating:

Actually ........

Tipical Itilan movie

For Rental Only

Pretty edgy.

Fast forward review

Images in a Convent
Starring: Paola Senatore , Marina Hedman , Paola Maiolini , Marina Ambrosini , and Angelo Arquilla
Director: Joe D'Amato
Manufacturer: Exploitation Digital
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Erotic | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Italian Horror | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video
Damato, Joe | ( D ) | Directors | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Devil in the Flesh

9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version

Frivolous Lola

Lie With Me

Secret Things

ASIN: B0007UVXCW
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Description

As nuns get possessed by the devil, the situation only worsens when well-meaning priests try to intervene.

Customer Reviews:

Actually ...............2007-03-11

if you take out the scenes of the nuns running up and down the dark halls of the convent then this movie is probably only 25 minutes long ... In the short I guess 84 minutes of this film I saw more doors opening and closing that can probably last me a lifetime, but then, of course, its a movie in a convent ......SSSHHHHHHH

All the girls in this movie except for the token fat and ugly nun ... there were no old ones here thats for sure .... are HOT HOT HOT .... The men are all pretty well continental dork material except for the bishop that had screen time at the beginning for about 4 minutes ....

The camera work on the sex scenes is absolutely stupendous and if you can overcome the 'nun' thing its probably one of the best erotica films around ......

Tipical Itilan movie.......2007-03-11

I found it better to watch if you turn the sound off.

For Rental Only.......2007-01-06

Yes, this is typical Joe D'Amato. It is explicit, but the the scenes are relatively short. If your curious and can rent it then do so. I wish that I had now that I'm stuck with a movie I don't particularly like. I've seen quite a few of his films, and I have "99 Women"( the explicit euro vers.), "Emmanuel in America" uncut just to name two. This movie is so bad that I've only seen a portion of it, and I have no intention of seeing the rest of it. I wish they would release "Top Model" as that was a good one.

Pretty edgy........2006-10-04

This one does have some hardcore scenes in here, especially toward the end. recommend the double disk set, has some other interesting sex scene clips.

Fast forward review.......2006-02-22

When you're talking convent movies, you're looking for a lot of lezzing out followed by remorse and self-flagellation or they get caught by mother superior, and get flagellated that way. This chestnut from way back totally delivers on the nun to nun action, kind of a soft "x" treatment, munch out city. Of course, it's 1979, so there's not a lot of hardwood, we're taking serious carpet. Even the obligatory dude who's wounded/sick and brought into the convent to recover is a pretty furry sort.

Hirsute issues aside, we got multiple extended scenes; nun munching, a whipped back lick, a forest rape with hot dogs, a hide the icon scene, lots of carpet rubbing and nudity up the ying yang, which counted for a lot more in the 70's than now of course. There's some plot, but it's not in English and the subtitles dissapear when you fast forward, so that's not a problem. Something missing? You bet, especially from a sex sleaze standpoint - where's the flagellating?? No bathing scenes either, but we'll let that slide.

So, 3 stars for all the sex, 1 star for the NTRL factor (nudity to total running length, although it's short), with a one star demotion for zero nun whipping. Worth a look.

Dream Theater - Images and Words Live in Tokyo / 5 Years in a Live Time

Average customer rating:

interesting footage, bad quality
Excellent - worthy for fans, essential for diehards.
2 Priceless DT Dvd's...for the Price of 1. Hmmm, lemme think about it.
Muy Bueno
Good 2-in-1 pack.

Dream Theater - Images and Words Live in Tokyo / 5 Years in a Live Time
Starring: Dream Theater
Manufacturer: Warner Strat. Mkt.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Dream Theater - Live at Budokan
Dream Theater - Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York
Dream Theater - Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with the Octavarium Orchestra
G3: Live in Tokyo
Octavarium

ASIN: B000286SCO
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Description

With their progressive metal style and exceptional musicianship (learned at the Berklee School of Music) Dream Theater grew to prominence with their MTV hit "Pull Me Under" in 1992. During that time Dream Theater developed a rabid fan base that remains with them today - especially when it comes to their mind-blowing live shows. This 2 DVD set, Images And Words: Live In Tokyo/5 Years In A LIVEtime, is a must-own for any Dream Theater fan. The 2-DVD set is jam-packed with over 3 hours of footage: live performances along with 6 music videos and memorable behind-the-scenes interviews.

Customer Reviews:

interesting footage, bad quality.......2006-06-19

This is a good DVD. It contains lots of rare performances, music videos, and 3 hours of band commentary. The only problem is the sound quality, which is dreaful. Because of the EQ, John Petrucci sounds paper thin, Myung can barely be heard, and James sounds horrible (partly because he "screams" half the songs and partly because of the way it's mixed in). For fans who have a genuine appreciation of Dream Theater, this DVD is worth it. For mere casual fans or new fans who are just getting to know the band now, I'd recommend "Scenes From NY" or "Budokon" instead.

Excellent - worthy for fans, essential for diehards........2006-02-06

It's a great proposition all around: two videos that had been waiting for a DVD release for years, from one of the most intelligent metal bands around, remastered for stellar sound and combined for a good price. 5 Years in a Livetime is almost a nostalgia trip as Dream Theater goes - Jordan Rudess hadn't entered the picture yet - but the definitive Images & Words is as great now as it was in 1992, and the Live in Tokyo video captures that brilliance magnificently. If you're already a fan, this package recommends itself.

The I&W video alone is worth buying this set for, even if some stretches suffer from MTV-style editing with rapid shots. It's nice to have some footage from the recording of I&W and life on the road, plus videos for a couple songs, but they're interwoven with the live stuff rather than kept separate. (Do we really need "Pull Me Under" twice in the course of one video? Couldn't it be an extra?) Not that this should stop you of course. "Wait for Sleep" alone is worth hearing because it gets the full-band treatment, "Surrounded" sounds even more magical than the original and "Ytse Jam" seriously burns. A couple tunes from their debut album are also much improved here, esp. "A Fortune in Lies."

5 Years might not merit repeat viewing as much, but there's still some great musical content here, including some live songs from Falling Into Infinity (still their most underrated disc) and a killer "Metropolis pt1." There's some footage from their all-covers 1994 show, with stellar performances from Steve Howe and the two Steves from Marillion. (Bernie from Napalm Death also drops in for a cameo, although they could have gotten almost the same result from simply plugging in a blender.) Even better is the stuff from a special unplugged show in '95, since we get some rarities: "Cover My Eyes," "Speak to Me," "To Live Forever" and an incredible "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream."

Highly recommended for the good stuff. The rest is still a bonus.

2 Priceless DT Dvd's...for the Price of 1. Hmmm, lemme think about it........2005-10-23

If this ran through your mind after seeing this deal, and you are, to some degree, a Dream Theater fan, than you need to set your priorities straight. Heh. Just kidding, but this dvd is a must for all Dream Theater fans-to-be, or existing ones. I've been a fan of the band since I was hit with the impervious album, Scenes From A Memory, and have bought 6 more of their studio albums since then, and now...this baby. But my point exactly is, you don't have to be this familiar with their material to enjoy this DVD. Both are absolute gems in their own rights, and now that they've released this package deal for such a low price, there is no reason not to buy it at all.

Here is why:
First of all, the Dvd, 5 Years in a Livetime, is pretty long, but not too bad. Just a few hours of concert footage, about another hour of precious behind-the-stage coverage, bonus information, historical facts, some of their music videos, coverage of each bandmember's instruments, and then some more footage of fun little things you'll want to play over and over and over for kicks, adding up to about 30 hours of watching and re-watching. Not too bad, right? Right? I mean, Geez. Just take a glance at the song list, and prepare to poo in your pants. Actually, wait. I meant to say: "Prepare to poo in your pants, and THEN look at the song list." That makes more sense. Then, before you start crying tears of utmost joy, take look at the second Dvd. What a great way to top off the whole package, huh? Well worth the money, I'd say.

This stuff is amazing. The band players have all mastered their instruments. They play like gods, they write technically impossible music, they have some of the most emotional and powerful lyrics I've seen these days, and somehow, in the end...they pull it off flawlessly- and not just in the studio, but on the stage as well. I can't stress enough how much you will enjoy this Dvd combo, man. I really can't. So, once you've massed up the money (I believe it's about 15 dollars or so), treat yourself to a great Dvd, and enjoy it for a long time. Or, do what I do sometimes, and pretend to buy it for my parents, and then "borrow" it for a few years. (Just kidding).

Lastly, I want to thank you for reading my review, and thank you for supporting Dream Theater, my favorite band in the world. I hope you were able to stay awake in the process. And ALSO: before I shut up, here are a few of their other works I highly recommend, just in case you aren't planning to stop at these Dvd's: Scenes From A Memory, Octavarium, Images and Words, Awake, and both of the Liquid Tension Experiments (The Theater without James Labrie and a different bassist).

Thanks again for reading my review. See ya later, dude.
-Lazzerothe

Muy Bueno.......2005-08-09

Esta bien entretenido. Solo deberia tener un poco mas de orden.
Por el resto lo recomiendo para los fans.

Good 2-in-1 pack........2005-06-25

5 Years in a Live Time surely was a good documentary/concert dvd, with enough live presentations, rarities and video clips to enjoy. Now with the extra addition of the always-wanted-in-dvd-format Images and Words Live in Tokyo this pack becomes a must for the collectors and DT fans, and a great presentation card for those interested in knowing this prog-metal band. Most important, you'll never get bored with these Dvd's, watch'em over and over.

Average customer rating:

A very trippy video
Enjoyed!!!
Booooring
Acid flashback
Beautiful and magical

Illuminated Manuscripts
Director: John Banks (IV)
Manufacturer: Artek Images
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

Nature & Wildlife | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Anime & Manga | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

Computer Animation | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Instructional | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

AV3X Vol. 1 / Digital Meditation DVD
Animusic - A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition)
Animusic 2 - A New Computer Animation Video Album
Exotic Robotics:Pleasure141x
Caught Between Worlds - A Computer Animation Vision

ASIN: B00006CFA8
Release Date: 2002-07-11

Description

Illuminated Manuscripts is video DVD featuring a series of animations exploring the visionary nature of journeys. Layering an original soundtrack over photographic scenes of temples, waterfalls, forests and doorways, this DVD introduces a new experience of art that draws from video, music, nature, and organic special effects. The DVD features organically styled computer animation by John S. Banks and world/electronic music by composer Fritz Heede. This disc contains 17 beautiful works that explore visions of lost worlds and journeys of discovery. With original sources drawn from ancient sites, deep green nature and lost languages, Illuminated Manuscripts will appeal to anyone interested in Animation, Nature, Meditation and Fantasy.

In addition to the main animations, this DVD features 6 eternal loops, ambient remixes, alternate soundtracks, still art gallery and interactive menus.

Customer Reviews:

A very trippy video.......2007-06-04

This is a great piece of ambient video background. I would strongly recommend it for any chill space or party. Very psychedelic and evocative.

Enjoyed!!!.......2007-04-18

I really enjoyed this DVD........

I recently bought the recent release of The Ritual Path after seeing some clips on Nijole Sparkis and Fritz Heede's my space pages and really enjoyed the images and music so I thought I would give the Illuminated Manuscripts a try.
I really thought it was well done and would have enjoyed it just for the music. I guess it depends on what you are looking for as to weather or not you will like it. I watched on a regular TV with a $100 DVD player and thought it was great. Someone else may watch on a $10,000 TV and system and may still not be impressed.
I looked at another DVD review that was mentioned and highly recommended by someone that didn't like this one, yet that DVD only had 2 reviews and not good.. So just a matter of taste and perhaps the digital age has made it very hard to impress a person.
I feel the DVD does what it was meant to do, provide some relaxing music with some wonderful scenes, perhaps the title Illuminated Manuscripts explains the writings and emblems that appear in the video.
Perhaps if you are able to watch some clips you will know if it's for you or even check out the more recent Ritual Path. I come from a rock music background and don't feel that I'm easily impressed but from my personal viewing I would recommend both the Illuminated Manuscripts or the Ritual Path. It's been awhile since I have seen some of the other animated clips mentioned in some of the reviews here and admit some of what I remember they were great, but these do what they were meant to do just like Chronos did years ago without the animation.....

Booooring.......2007-01-30

Here is another example of where 90's-era digital animation ends up being mundane. Even with the decade or so that has passed since the brief explosion of digital animation releases, I still enjoy watching the good ones (Gate to the Mind's Eye, Televoid). This one doesn't count.

The effort that went into this work was obviously tremendous, so you can't fault the quality. It's also fairly unique in mixing animation with real imagery shot on location.

But it's just so dull. I suppose if you've had a really bad day and wanted to watch (and hear) something soothing, this would be a good choice. I, although I certainly have my share of hectic days, want my animation to be gripping, weird, and fun. Illuminated Manuscripts is just high-tech yoga.

Acid flashback.......2007-01-12

This video was a little disappointing. I got it for my son who is an illustration student. He found it kind of corny....it was not really "state of the art"...to me it was like a flashback from the sixties. Groovy!

Beautiful and magical.......2006-11-13

This is a beautiful DVD. There is something magical about it. Highely recommended.

Historic Dust Bowl Films DVD Series: Disc One: The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936) & Rain For The Earth (1937) Which Focus On Dust Bowl Farming History

Average customer rating:

Historic Dust Bowl Films DVD Series: Disc One: The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936) & Rain For The Earth (1937) Which Focus On Dust Bowl Farming History

Manufacturer: Quality Information Publishers Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

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

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl
The Great Depression - 1930's-40's - 5 Hours of Early Films on DVD
Letters from the Dust Bowl
The Plow That Broke the Plains & The River / Gil-Ordonez, Post-Classical Ensemble

Product Features:

Table of Contents:
(1) The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936) - 25 minutes
(2) Rain For The Earth (Incomplete ~ No Ending) (1937) - 10 minutes
(3) Farmers War Against Dust; Fight To Save Wheat Crops (1937) - 1 ½ minutes

ASIN: B000IGC7WA

Product Description

The Dust Bowl is an important piece of American history that had many contributing factors, such as The Great Depression, poor farming practices, and the promise of wealth. Farmers moved to the Midwest in search of arable land and set up huge wheat and grain farms. Things worked out fine for a few years, but eventually the lack of water resources and the overworking of the field led the entire region to be dominated by large clouds of dust or dust storms. Almost all of the pioneer farmers, despite aid from the US government, were forced to migrate from the Great Plains of the Midwest. Table of Contents: (1) The Plow That Broke The Plains (1936) - This film is part of the 1999 National Film Registry of "artistically, culturally, and socially significant" films. It takes a realistic look at how farming in the Midwest turned the land into an uninhabitable cloud of dust, later coined "The Dust Bowl" 25 minutes (2) Rain For The Earth (Incomplete ~ No Ending) (1937) - Discusses the desperation that the drying land caused the Dust Bowl farmers and their families and the US government's failed attempts to help them maintain their farms - 10 minutes (3) Farmers War Against Dust; Fight To Save Wheat Crops (1937) - Newsreel footage of the farmers struggle against dust in the Midwest sponsored by an engine company who claims that their new engine and well drilling system will save the farmers of the Midwest 1 ½ minutes

Average customer rating:

Images
Can you work this out?
A brilliant and disturbing journey inside one woman's mind
Reappearance of a Long Lost Masterpiece
A Must-Have for Any Horror Collection

Images
Starring: Susannah York , Rene Auberjonois , Marcel Bozzuffi , Hugh Millais , and Cathryn Harrison
Director: Robert Altman , and Greg Carson
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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

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

3 Women - Criterion Collection
The Long Goodbye
Nashville
California Split
Robert Altman Collection (M*A*S*H / A Perfect Couple / Quintet / A Wedding)

ASIN: B00009Y3NA
Release Date: 2003-09-16

Amazon.com

Effectively a "lost film" soon after its original release, this dreamlike yet razor-sharp movie from the amazing early-'70s arc of Robert Altman's career was among the most mesmerizingly beautiful color films ever made. Where on this planet did Altman and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond find such colors, such an awesome fairy-tale landscape? (Ireland, as it happens.) Even more extraordinary was the inside/outside landscape of the heroine's consciousness: this is a movie in which madness is inseparable from imagination. Susannah York gives a brave, supernally freaky performance as a married woman who may be an adulteress, may only be fantasizing about it, may be pregnant, may merely be giving birth to a world. René Auberjonois, Hugh Millais (McCabe and Mrs. Miller's fur-clad assassin), and Marcel Bozzufi play the men in her life, some of whom may be dead, some of whom are going to be. They all exchange names at various times as Cathryn meets herself coming and going, in search of unicorns. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

"One of the most important American directors of our time" (Life), Oscar(r) nominee* Robert Altman delivers a "fascinating [and] compelling" (Interview) thriller that delivers an "original cinematic jolt" (Playboy)! Susannah York, who won the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival for her role, is "spellbinding" (Filmex) as a woman whose psychological demons are becoming quite real! Suffering from schizophrenia, Cathryn (York) can't seem to shake her hallucinatory apparitions. Unable to bear the torture any longer, she decides there's onlyone way to clear her mind: Kill the people haunting her in her visions. So one by one, she offs herghosts. But are the people she's killing just figments of her imagination or are they real? *Director: Gosford Park (2001), Short Cuts (1993), The Player (1992), Nashville (1975), M*A*S*H (1970); Best Picture: Gosford Park (2001, with Bob Balaban, David Levy), Nashville (1975)

Customer Reviews:

Images.......2007-07-03

Weird, creepy film builds dread and disorientation as we experience madness right alongside the central character. Altman's choice of rustic Irish setting is ideal, as cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond uses its dank, remote quality to accentuate Cathryn's building isolation and paranoia. The movie's bleak, opaque quality will not be to all tastes, but psychological horror fans should pounce. York is outstanding in the lead.

Can you work this out?.......2007-04-23

Robert Altman's "Images" is a powerful and bewildering film. It's ability to throw the viewer completely numerous times throughout it's running time is something I have seldom encountered before while watching a psychological thriller. You'll need to have all your wits about you to appreciate what you see here.

The plot, as written on paper, is not complicated. Susannah York plays Cathryn, a married woman who seems rather highly strung and nervous. Together with her husband she goes to a remote house in the country to write a children's book. Once there, she gradually begins to lose her grip on reality. That's all I can really be sure about, because the viewer lives Cathryn's experience as fully as the character does. Throughout the movie, events happen that can't possibly be explained as rational or real, and the only possible explanation is that Cathryn is hallucinating. A film that does this without ever making it clear whether the audience it supposed to be able to work out what is reality and what is a dream, is audacious indeed. I watched, baffled, as Cathryn encountered various people who may or may not have actually been there, saw her own double moving around the landscape, received mocking telephone calls, and had whole conversations with someone in the room who then suddenly became someone else. It took the first 30 minutes of watching to become accustomed to how slickly the film tosses you between the various states of reality and unreality. Once I loosened up and started to just go with it, it was easier...oddly enough, I was mirroring the emotions of the main character, as she too realises that if she can't shake the nightmare off, she's going to have to just deal with it...watch the movie to see how she does!

Although disorientating, thanks to the overall quality of the film, it becomes a fairly gripping experience to actually watch. You really never know what is going to happen next, or what thing Cathryn has just experienced is going to turn out to have been imagined. And not in some corny, cliche-d way like a friend saying "But so-and-so couldn't have just been here - he died two weeks ago!". It's all much more subtle than that. As films that tamper with your perception of what is reality and what is not go, there are few other works that can rival this. It's been compared to Polanski's "Repulsion", and I think the comparison is fair, but "Images" manages to be an even more immersive experience than that film. Susannah York never hits a false note as the troubled Cathryn, and all the other actors do well, acting naturally and understatedly, especially Cathryn Harrison as the teenage daughter of one of the (few) other characters.

By the time the credits roll, you may feel terminally confused, speechless, or even cheated, but there's no doubt in my mind that you'll remember it as a fascinating 95 minute experience. This film is a significant contribution to the cinema as a whole, and quite a remarkable acheivement.

A brilliant and disturbing journey inside one woman's mind.......2007-02-25

"Images" is another great movie from the master of the living paintings, Robert Altman. It is a brilliant, scary, beautiful, and very disturbing journey inside one woman's mind that was leaving her as the movie progressed. What we saw was not a ghost story but a very real descent to the world of nightmares and monsters that would not stop torturing the struggling and guilty mind for a second.

Susannah York as Cathryn, a young writer who tries to finish a children's book in a remote country home is simply breathtaking. She carries the movie (which only has five characters) almost by herself and being present in every scene, she is equally sympathetic and frightening. In his interview on DVD, Altman mentioned that he had started making the movie in Milan with Sophia Lauren. As much as I admire Lauren, I don't see anyone other than York playing Cathryn. While watching her, I kept thinking of her Alice in Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Alice, one of the participants and victims of a killing dance marathon, loses her mind by the end of the movie and the scene where she breaks down mentally, was heartbreaking. Altman himself reminded me of the witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth that would throw all kinds of ingredients in their cauldron. The director mentioned how he would add the new details to the script as the real life situations changed: York was writing the children's book about Unicorns at the time - we can hear the long parts of her book in the background. I am not too crazy about the book but the idea seems to be brilliant. York had informed Altman that she could not make the movie because she was pregnant but Altman just decided to add her pregnancy to the script. There is some dry humor in the movie - all five characters have the first names of the actors who played them: Susannah played Cathryn and young Cathryn Harrison plays a girl named Susannah, Rene Auberjonois, Marcel Bozzuffi, and Hugh Millais played three men in Cathryn's life - Hugh, the husband, Rene - the neighbor, and Marcel, her dead lover (who was quite alive for a dead man, at least in her memory). John Williams wrote an absolutely unforgettable score for the film (it is not a melody, rather some strange, persistent, scary, and disturbing sounds - very experimental at the time, it is still quite unusual).

As for its visual site - the film that was made during one wet November in Ireland is brilliantly dark and hypnotizingly beautiful. I am jealous of everyone who was able to see it in all its glory on the big screen at the theater - it would be impossible to forget.

Reappearance of a Long Lost Masterpiece.......2006-07-27

The first thing that I think Altman fans will notice when they watch this is that this is the only 70's Altman film that takes place in another country. And that other country, Ireland, is in many ways the star of this film, or at least Ireland as it is seen through the lens of cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond.

The other star of the film is the musical score. John Williams did the musical score but there is also a "sound" credit given to Stomu Yamashta who is referred to as a creator of sound sculptures.

The cinematography and the music (which sounds, at times, like Japanese horror film music) combine to give this film more atmosphere than all of Altman's other films combined. For a film with a comparable atmospheric setting think Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS or Skolimowski's THE SHOUT.

Also the writing credits are divided between Robert Altman and Susannah York. Altman wrote the story but York wrote the story within the story called "In Search of Unicorns" and this Hobbit-like fantasy story about a medieval tribe searching for unicorns was actually published. In the Altman film York's character, Catherine, is writing this fantasy story and we can see that she is very good at allowing herself to completely float away from reality. Plus the Irish landscape that surrounds the cottage, populated by sheep and shetland ponies, and the cottage itself, seem more fantastical than real. Its an excellent setting for a story about psychoses (a person who experiences a break from reality).

As Altman films go this is in a different category altogether from his usual ensemble pieces. This is the film he made after McCabe and Mrs. Miller and, in some ways, it picks up where that film left off. Imagine McCabe and Mrs. Miller told entirely through Mrs. Miller's opium-induced vision and you get some idea where Images comes from and where Altman is going.

On the surface it seems that there is really very little story at all in Images and yet when you begin to study this film you realize that everything is in its proper place, and that this character, Catherine, has been thoroughly imagined by Altman/York. The atmospheres, both the interiors of the remote country house and the exterior landscapes, are alluring and hypnotic. The John Williams music seems to stress the actual reality while the harsh and dissonant Yamashta soundscapes stress that something within this landscape is disjointed, disconnected, disturbed. This is the kind of place you would dream of living but it also seems to be a place that is so isolated from the mainstream of society that it requires its inhabitants to foster an intense fantasy life. Catherine's psychoses seems to either be caused or aggravated by the landscape itself.

The fact that this film has not been seen for so many years just adds to its almost mystical allure. The year it was released it did garner a couple of awards at Cannes (an acting award for York and a Golden Palm for Altman) so it was appreciated in 1972. For many years this film was thought to have been burned in a fire, and then a copy was found in a rarity shop. Its reappearance after so many years is a very unexpected surprise and i think that is the response most people will have to the film itself as well. One difficulty that this film presents is how to categorize it. It has elements of fantasy, psychological thriller, and horror. The point of originality here I think is that everything we know about this character, Catherine, all comes from a very unstable source, Catherine herself. The unreliability of all that we see makes the film particularly disturbing and particularly effective. More conventional psychological horror films eventually allow us some way of verifying just what was real and just what was coming from the haunted character's psyche. But we really never depart from the main character's psyche in this film and so we never get anything like distance or closure.

Plot details below (so read no further if you haven't seen the film yet).

The plot in a nutshell: Catherine is married to Hugh. While Hugh is at work one night and Catherine is home writing her children's story she begins receiving phone calls from an unidentified source who claims to have information about her husband and another woman. Apparently (and I stress the "apparently" because nothing is certain in this film) Catherine in years past was something of a philanderer herself and in her present life she has a habit of talking to her ex-lovers who she is pretty certain, but not altogether certain, are not really there. Certain clues are dropped that tell us that one reason Catherine may have been unfaithful is because she desperately wants to have a child but she may be barren (and this may partially explain her obession with children's books and children and all may stem from Catherine's own childhood traumas which are intertwined with her family cottage that she and her husband now live in). The dramatic tension of the story is Catherine's attempt to overcome her psychic imbalance and determine once and for all what is hallucination and what is real. But just when we think she has found her psychic equilibrium there is one more surprise.

I love the cinematography and the music and the splendid atmospheres this film offers us; the story is also structured with incredible care. There are clues scattered everywhere but Altman seems to enjoy leaving things in a state of disarray. One of the visual metaphors of the film is the jigsaw puzzle and this film in many ways is just that. This film will appeal to fans of psychological films like Bergman's PERSONA, Polanski's REPULSION, DePalma's SISTERS & Altman's own 3 WOMEN.

In addition to the psychoses the film also has a supernatural element to it that may appeal to some and that made me think of the strange flashbacks and flash forwards in Nicolas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW. Some of the most powerful scenes in the film have Catherine viewing herself from afar and these scenes emphasize Catherines growing disconnectedness to the world and herself; as the film goes on the other Catherine gets closer and closer. These are frightening scenes precisly because we do not know if it will be a good thing or a bad thing if Catherine's parallel worlds come together.

If you're not a person who feels the need to rationally understand all you see, or, if that is precisely the kind of experience that you seek, then you may enjoy this element of the film.

For me the pieces of this puzzle come together this way: Everything Catherine sees is an emanation from her own psyche. Catherine's childhood was spent in the cottage where she now writes. As a child she was left alone for days at a stretch and it was then that she began the habit of creating imaginary companions. Later, when she became an adult, she wanted to create a real companion by having a child of her own. Since she could not have a child of her own she had to settle for male companions that made demands on her that she did not want to or could not fulfill and thus she desires to kill them off in order to preserve the sanctity and order of her imaginary realm. In addition to the male lovers (who both have French names, Rene and Marcel, and this contributes to our wandering if they are just products of Catherine's imagination) Catherine imagines a young girlfriend, Susannah, that also may or may not be just another imagined figure. Catherine seems to prefer her fantasy world to the real one but the tragedy and horror of her life is that she can no longer tell the difference between the two. Who is real? Who is merely imagined? We and she never really can say.

A Must-Have for Any Horror Collection.......2006-05-29

I collect horror films and have several hundred in my collection. It may be an ill-advised hobby, but it has its satisfactions. Perhaps I watched too much Night Gallery and Twilight Zone as a kid and I was imprinted with a love for the macabre.

This movie is superb. I'm surprised it does not have vast notoriety; it certainly deserves that. It is extremely weird and dreamy and it is an artistic masterpiece on several levels. It is visually beautiful throughout, and the performances are first-rate. Ms. York is astonishingly convincing. My wife and I had to pause this movie about a half dozen times to catch our breath from the tension. The music and audio effects are the gold-standard for a horror movie (which I believe was composed by John Williams; this movie has major talent from top to bottom).

I enjoyed the movie "Nashville" (another Altman film) and now having watched this I am forever a Robert Altman fan. I'm going to buy or rent all his other films and examine them closely. This guy is obviously a certified genius, and I realize I've been missing out on someone of the magniutude of Stanley Kubrick, my favortie director. In fact, as I was watching this I kept thinking of "The Shining"; the fear, curiosity, and dread I felt during this film were very similar to what I felt during "The Shining." This movie couldn't be more different from "Nashville," which yet again brings to mind Kubrick, whose films were all so different from one another. I love virtuosity in any discipline--and I feel it is best displayed in diversity. These gentlemen definitely show diversity in their works.

I don't want to comment on too many particular events or aspects of this movie because the "unknown" progressions will be important for you. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy horror or thriller films, this will be one of your favorites. I should clarify one issue: is this movie supernatural horror or psychological horror? Some folks prefer one type and shun the other. Answer: both groups will be very pleased, and the distinction is all but moot by the end of this movie where reality is not quite ascertainable throughout.

This is easily in the top ten of my favorites in my voluminous collection. It gets 100 points out of a possible 100. Others in the same league: "The Legend of Hell House" ( w/Roddy McDowell); "The Haunting" (the 1964 B&W original); "Burnt Offerings" (w/ Karen Black); "The Shining"; "The Innocents"; "Death Bed--the Bed That Eats" (really--another obscure gem); "The Changeling" (w/ George C. Scott); "Phantasm".

Whenever I discover such an awesome film as this--which has been around for 35 years!!--it brings to mind the question: what other masterpieces are there out there which I have yet to discover?? The search continues for more ultimate films....

Max Fleischer's Famous OUT of the Inkwell Vols. 1 & 2

Average customer rating:

A Treasure for Fans of Silent Shorts and Animation.
Max Fleischer's Landmark on DVD!
AN AMAZING PRODUCTION
AN AMAZING PRODUCTION

Max Fleischer's Famous OUT of the Inkwell Vols. 1 & 2
Starring: Koko the Clown Max Fleischer
Director: Ray Pointer
Manufacturer: Inkwlel Images
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Max Fleischer's Color Classics: Somewhere in Dreamland
The Golden Age of Cartoons: Cartoons for Victory!
Walt Disney Treasures - More Silly Symphonies (1929-1938)
Walt Disney Treasures - Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts, 1920s - 1960s
The Golden Age of Cartoons: Cultoons! Ads and Oddities

ASIN: B000096JHT
Release Date: 2004-10-01

Product Description

Factory-pressed DVDs of volumes 1 and 2. Total running time 90 minutes. Contains two themed programs with complete cartoons and documentary sequences. Volume 1 includes: "The Bray Years": "The Tantalizing Fly" (1919), "The Chinaman (1920), "The Ouija Board" (1920), "The CLown's Little Brother" (1920), "Perpetual Motion" (1920), and "The Automobile Ride" (1921). Volume 2 includes: "The Inkwell Studio": "Modeling" (1921), "Fishing" (1921), "Invisible Ink (1921), "Bubbles" (1922), "Flies" (1923), "Jumping Beans (1923), "Bedtime" (1923), and "Puzzle" (1923). Includes commentary from veteran animator, Berny Wolf. Includes complimentary music and sound effects to enhance viewing enjoyment.

Customer Reviews:

A Treasure for Fans of Silent Shorts and Animation........2005-04-26

I highly recommend this DVD set to all fans of the Fleischer studios and to fans of silent cinema. This DVD set contains Ko-Ko the Clowns earliest cartoons from a time before he was just a costar in Betty Boop's shorts. These shorts are also interesting because they are a mixture of live action and animation. The shorts have an excellent background score done by animation legend Winston Sharples. This DVD set also contains lots of info on the Fleischer Brothers and on the actual shorts themselves. The picture quality is also very good.

Max Fleischer's Landmark on DVD!.......2003-04-19

Reviewer: Jerry Beck
Excelent examples of Fleischers earliest films, with a well done background on Fleischer. The prints are superb(or at least the best we'll ever get),many are tinted. and come with the
"classic" Winston Sharples Ko-Ko music (added for TV release in the 1950s).

My only request is: more of this wonderful Fleischer collection.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

AN AMAZING PRODUCTION.......2003-04-19

Reviewer: bookhound99 (see more about me) from Beacon, NY USA
Ray Pointer has outdone himself! " Max Fleischer's Famous Out of the InkWell" Vols. 1 and 2 is a very inspired and wonderfully undertaken venture. Mr. Pointer has not only presented us with the animation stylings of Max Fleischer and the directorial talents of his brother Dave Fleischer, but has included some biographical information in the form of an introduction/narration about the history of the Fleischer brothers. Mr. Pointer has also included insights from Berny Wolf (an animator working for the Fleischers, and Max's nephew Bernard Fleischer.

As far as the visual and audio quality of this production, to quote Jerry Beck (Animation Authority/Historian) "The print quality is the best...and the transfers are excellent." Ray Pointer also makes the very best use of sound effects and music (by Winston Sharples, Fleischer cartoon music composer) which, to quote animation instructor Brian LeMay, "...didn't intrude on the original animation..." and gives each cartoon a wonderfully authentic period feel.

The fact that the original "Out of the InkWell" releases on VHS (which were the inspiration for the DVD for Volumes 1 and 2...go to [a website]...won the "GOLD AWARD in the Entertainment Category for the Houston International Film and Video Festival in 2001 and 2003" is only the icing on the cake.

Thank you Ray, for preserving this piece of history and for giving us an insight into the mind and talents of Max Fleischer!"

Richard Kish
Animation Enthusiast and Devotee

AN AMAZING PRODUCTION.......2003-04-19

Thank you Ray, for preserving this piece of history and for giving us an insight into the mind and talents of Max Fleischer!"

Product Description

684 digital images taken throughout England, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Croatia.

Average customer rating:

A Duke Named Ellington
Starring: Duke Ellington & others
Director: Terry Carter
Manufacturer: Council for Positive Images, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( D ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Playboy After Dark, Vol. 2
Tim Buckley: My Fleeting House
Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built
R. Strauss - Salome
Count Basie - Live in '62 (Jazz Icons)

ASIN: B000NDJGYU
Release Date: 2007-05-15

Product Description

Council for Positive Images, Inc. presents the award-winning, universally acclaimed musical biography of one of the world s most influential composers and musicians, Duke Ellington. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON had its world premiere on network television in the United States, on the PBS American Masters series (1988). It has since traveled the world, garnering praise. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON was selected for screening in international festivals at Cannes, France; Gijon, Spain; Spoleto, Italy; Banff, Ontario, Canada; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Warsaw, Poland; and Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON has been awarded the C.I.N.E. Golden Eagle, the Golden Antenna, First Prize at the Bulgarian International TV Festival, and was nominated for an Emmy Award as Outstanding Informational Special. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON was acclaimed by the critics as A masterly portrait of a master. (Politiken, Denmark) In a class by itself... a triumph of film and tape research... what can you say but that it is achingly good... (Los Angeles Times) Can't be beat... a superb two-parter... the perfect example of just how an in-depth profile of an artist should be done... (New York Daily News) A Duke Named Ellington accomplishes something that very few documentaries of this sort ever accomplish. It leaves the viewer and listener with a deep sense of Duke Ellington s genius. No small achievement. (New York Post) Much more than a documentary about the Duke... an essential testimony about the music of our century. (Jazz Magazine, France). For the first time, the full panorama of the life and artistic accomplishments of that musical giant, Duke Ellington, has been brought to the television screen. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON is a unique study of Ellington s life and works, capturing the genius and charisma of a cultural phenomenon that transcended time, space and musical form. A DUKE NAMED ELLINGTON , an extraordinary two-hour program, is a bl

Average customer rating:

An Introduction to Poser
Starring: Arena Reed
Director: Rex Olson
Manufacturer: Desktop Images
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

( I ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Secrets of Poser Experts: Tips, Techniques, and Insights for Users of All Abilities: The e-frontier Official Guide
Practical Poser 7 (Graphics Series)
Poser 7 Revealed: The efrontier Official Guide
eFrontier Poser 7 3D Figure Design and Animation
Poser 7 Essential Training

ASIN: B000HBKZ5C
Release Date: 2006-07-14

Product Description

Master the powerful features of Poser the fast and easy way... just watch and learn! Take a guided tour of Poser's interface and discover time saving tips and techniques to work with speed and efficiency. Navigate library menus to load models, clothing, hair and props. Modify facial characteristics and skin tone. Position and adjust lighting and cameras to set the scene. Bring your creations to life with powerful tools that make it easy to place, position, move and animate in 3D. Interface Tour Lighting Controls Camera Views Posing Tools Keyframe Animation Clothing & Hair Walk Animation Facial Expressions Strand Hair Attributes Learn the easy way with your own personal DVD tutor, ready for you anytime and anywhere. This DVD Video can be played right from your computer or standard DVD Video player with DVD menus to find any topic quickly and easily.

TOO MANY NIGHTS: The Images of Bob Carlos Clarke

Average customer rating:

TOO MANY NIGHTS: The Images of Bob Carlos Clarke
Starring: Too Many Nights-Images of Bob Carlos Clarke
Manufacturer: Panoramica
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Musicals & Performing Arts | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Art & Artists | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

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

( T ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky (Fando y Lis / El Topo / The Holy Mountain)
Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [Blu-ray]
Pan's Labyrinth (New Line Two-Disc Platinum Series)

ASIN: B000H0M6FU
Release Date: 2006-07-01

Product Description

TOO MANY NIGHTS: With style, sensitivity and a sense of humor uncommon in the genre, Carlos Clarke balances his highly-charged images on the razor-edge of fine art. Nobody does it better. PANORAMICA MOTION GALLERIES: Breathtaking still and moving images from a broad range of world-reknowned artists and photographers. 'Ambient' in concept, there's no storytelling, no narrative, just a constant stream of compelling beauty.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

The Brave One

Missy Elliott - Hits Of Miss E - Vol. 1

Quiet Fire (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Leaves From Satan's Book

ECW - Living Dangerously Hard Hits