Gloria

Starring:Sharon Stone, Jean-Luke Figueroa, Jeremy Northam, Cathy Moriarty, George C. Scott, Mike Starr, Bonnie Bedelia, Barry McEvoy, Don Billett, Jerry Dean, Tony DiBenedetto, Teddy Atlas, Bobby Cannavale, Sarita Choudhury, Miriam Colon, Desiree Casado, Davenia McFadden, Chuck Cooper, Antonia Rey, Sidney Armus
Director: Sidney Lumet
Studio: Sony Pictures
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Gray Matters has one of the most adorable casts of any movie in recent years--the combined sweetness of Heather Graham (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me), Bridget Moynahan (Lord of War), Molly Shannon (Year of the Dog), Thomas Cavanagh (Ed), Alan Cumming (X-Men 2), and Sissy Spacek (Carrie, In the Bedroom) narrowly avoids being diabetes-inducing. Gray (Graham) and her brother Sam (Cavanagh) have been best friends forever--so close that they find it hard to date. Gray pushes Sam into asking out Charlie (Moynahan), but when Sam and Charlie hit it off so well they spontaneously decide to get married, Gray finds herself unexpectedly dismayed... but not as dismayed as she is when, on a girls' night out before the ceremony, she and Charlie share a drunken kiss that sets Gray's body tingling. Gray Matters juggles a lot of emotional issues; the sibling interconnectedness problem doesn't flow smoothly into the coming-out story of the movie's second half. But sprinkled throughout are charming scenes and wonderfully deft moments that make the story's clumsy missteps all the more baffling. There's no question that Graham is a star who just can't seem to find the right vehicle; Gray Matters won't be her breakthrough, but it's further evidence of her significant appeal. --Bret Fetzer

Description

In this hilarious romantic comedy, Gray (Heather Graham) helps her brother (Tom Cavanaugh) find the love of his life. But the night before her brother's wedding, Gray's world is turned upside-down when she discovers that she has feelings for his fiancé (Bridget Moynahan)! With the help of a sarcastic co-worker (Molly Shannon), a sympathetic cab driver (Alan Cumming), and her therapist (Oscar-winner Sissy Spacek), Gray is forced to figure out who she really is.

Customer Reviews:

Why all the negative reviews?.......2007-07-02

I had heard a lot of bad things about this movie when it first came out but decided to watch it anyway because of the cast as well as the cute storyline. I wasn't expecting much but I was surprised that I actually ended up really liking it!

So what's to like about this movie? First, the cast contains a lot of eye candy. Some actors/actresses you may recognize are Alan Cummings, Molly Shannon, Bridget Moynahan, Heather Graham, and the wonderful Rachel Shelley. Second, the storyline is really cute. Basically, a woman (Gray) and her brother (Sam) agree to find the perfect partner for each other. Gray finds a woman named Charlie for her brother and Charlie and Sam hit it off right away. Within a few days, the couple is in Las Vegas to get married. When Charlie and Gray kiss the night before the couple's wedding, sparks fly and Gray realizes that she might be gay. I was actually really happy with the way it ended. I personally think that it shed some light on gay relationships and it shows that you truly can't prevent who you fall in love with.

And what's not to like? This movie certainly isn't Oscar-worthy. It's a typical romantic comedy. Don't expect this movie to be earth-shattering. Also, without giving too much away, I'll say that some parts progressed rather quickly and I felt a couple of scenes should have gone into more depth. But as I said above, it's not Oscar-worthy (and I'm sure the writers didn't intend for it to be) so I was ok with this one flaw as the movie was still entertaining.

Forget what you've heard about this movie. Check it out for yourself. Like me, you may be surprised and really enjoy it.

Kind of Gray.......2007-06-29

"Gray Matters"

Kind of Gray

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

I had heard so much hype about "Gray Matters" that I could not wait to see it and it seems now that the hype was totally unjustified. The cast is good and Heather Graham as Gray creates a character that I felt for and really liked. Tom Cavanagh, as Gray's brother, Sam, has charm and is quite funny. Charlie, played by Bridget Moyahan, the object of both Gray's and Sam's affection is good and Alan Cummings is great as Gray's cab driver friend. The other cast member, Sissy Spacek and Molly Shannon are also good but the film is lacking something. I liked the film and I am having a difficult time pinpointing where it went wrong. I think it is probably the idea that there are some gay people who do not realize that they are gay until later on. I mean, I know that some embrace homosexuality late but it doesn't seem to work here.
It is hard to accept that when Gray kissed Charlie that she suddenly realized that she was gay. It seems to be grasping at straws to build a plot. Does someone suddenly realize he is gay or is it a process? What was it that lets Gray know she was suddenly gay? Now the kiss was great and hot but it was not enough.
The film does grab the audience and fills it with hope. The script also deals with social issues such as media, image and sexuality as well as identity--issues that are not dealt with completely in mainstream movies. It does not preach and has an important message (but it is somewhat boring as it meanders from situation to situation). As good of an actress that Heather Graham is, she is not convincing as a lesbian.
What really hurts the movie from reaching a level of greatness is that most of the events are unbelievable. Unless you are Britney Spears you do not rush to Las Vegas to get married after knowing someone for only six days. But there are moments that are genuinely funny and there are moments that are thought provoking.

Gray Matters is Great!.......2007-06-28

Great is all I can say. I have been so bored with every romantic comedy that has come out in the past five years. Finally a movie with heart, soul and originality. The cast is superb, the writing is fantastic and it's a great postcard of New York City. I laughed and I even shed a tear or two! This should have been the comedy of the year. I highly reccomend it. Molly Shannon is also hilarious--some of her funniest acting yet.

Pretty weak.......2007-06-24

Unimaginative plotting yields protracted bridges of tedium riveted together with predictability. Sissy Spacek's therapist, Alan Cumming's sympathetic cab driver, and some truly beautiful New York ambient backdrops were just barely enough to get me through to the end.

This would have been way more cogent in a pre Ellen Degeneres era - but come on that was so last Century!

Lost Opportunity for a great romantic comedy.......2007-06-24

Just got done watching the movie and I must say, as a romantic comedy buff this movie had me shouting at it for all the missed opportunities to make the story great. At first hearing that Heather Grahams character was "coming out of the closet" I imagined that it was going to be written as some hilarious temporary crisis over the changing circumstance with her and her brothers extremely close relationship.

Nope, they took the comedy from that, and instead turned it into some very, very overdue realization that she actually was gay, this is not obvious until the last few minutes of the movie.

But not in a clever storyline.

She meets a very nice and funny scottish guy who is crazy about her, and the movie spends all this time developing his character to make the viewer support him. They might have thought that this was a brilliant diversion but the effort is doomed to a disappointing end that made us wonder why they even included the nice scottish guy and then through him out of the movie like dirty bath water while hoping that we will cheer for the main character jumping for overly ecstatic joy just for having an unconvincing and lackluster 1 minute conversation with a lesbian at an unwelcoming gay-bar. Forget about the nice scottish guy that always tries to cheer her up and will go so far as to dress up like a woman to keep her company. I personally believe a better ending would have been to continue the uncomfortable lesbian-bar moment with a follow up scene at an apartment where she realizes she's not into it and then runs to the scottish guy so both brother and sister ends up with great people. Its not that I'm homophobic, its just the story as it was told didn't add up.

Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Sunset Boulevard
One of Hollywood's greatest films has gotten the treatment it deserves!
Ready as Ever...
If you only see one noir in your life...
Presages Mulholland Dr

Sunset Boulevard (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: William Holden , Gloria Swanson , Erich von Stroheim , Nancy Olson , and Fred Clark
Director: Billy Wilder
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00003CXCW
Release Date: 2002-11-26

Amazon.com essential video

Billy Wilder's noir-comic classic about death and decay in Hollywood remains as pungent as ever in its power to provoke shock, laughter, and gasps of astonishment. Joe Gillis (William Holden), a broke and cynical young screenwriter, is attempting to ditch a pair of repo men late one afternoon when he pulls off L.A.'s storied Sunset Boulevard and into the driveway of a seedy mansion belonging to Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a forgotten silent movie luminary whose brilliant acting career withered with the coming of talkies. The demented old movie queen lives in the past, assisted by her devoted (but intimidating) butler, Max (played by Erich von Stroheim, the legendary director of Greed and Swanson's own lost epic, Queen Kelly). Norma dreams of making a comeback in a remake of Salome to be directed by her old colleague Cecil B. DeMille (as himself), and Joe becomes her literary and romantic gigolo. Sunset Blvd. is one of those great movies that has become a part of popular culture (the line "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up," has entered the language)--but it's no relic. Wow, does it ever hold up. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

Sunset Boulevard.......2007-06-26

One of the all-time great Tinseltown satires, Wilder's noirish tale of an opportunistic, down-and-out young writer and the nostalgic, delusional film luminary who ensnares him takes a harsh look at an industry that eats its own. Holden, whose character narrates from beyond the grave, is impeccable as the sardonic Gillis, but the show belongs to real-life silent star Swanson, an ideal choice to play the creepy, twisted Norma. Great support from Nancy Olson (playing Joe's appalled girlfriend) and Erich Von Stroheim (as Norma's protective chauffeur) round out this shocking, sordid gem.

One of Hollywood's greatest films has gotten the treatment it deserves!.......2007-05-12

This haunting, magnificent movie has never looked so good. The archivists at Paramount did a fantastic job remastering the film, and the "extras" are very informative. Highly recommended.

Ready as Ever..........2007-04-23

Directed by the incomparable Billy Wilder, this is iconic Gloria Swanson in the comeback-of-all-comeback films (even though as Norma Desmond she protests that she hates that word, it's "Return!"). From the crumbling Spanish Revival (J. P. Getty-owned) mansion to the leopard-upholstered Isotta-Fraschini (once owned by Peggy Hopkins Joyce, the inspiration for Lorelei Lee in "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds"), this is a tour-de-force of behind-the-scenes Hollywood atmosphere, the dark flipside of the other great send up of when Talkies came to Tinsletown, "Singin' in the Rain."

But first of all, dismiss the myth that this movie was a biopic of Gloria's life. Not in the least. True, Gloria had been a huge success in silents (at age 25, the first actress with a million dollar contract) but she made the transition to sound just fine, even singing in early 1930s films like "The Trespasser" ("Love Your Magic Spell is Everywhere") and "Music in the Air" (which Billy Wilder also worked on). If anything, it was her exotic look, not her voice, that made her seem passé in the darkening days of the Depression.

To create Miss Desmond, screenwriters Charles Brackett (who also scripted "Ninotchka"), D. M. Marshman Jr. and Billy Wilder threw in all of the faded film star lore they could, combining the May-December marriage and mostly pickled later life of America's Sweetheart Mary Pickford (who was offered and turned down the part) and the quick fadeout to black of the other Norma (Talmadge). Throw in the other two Talmadge sisters, Clara Bow, Mable Normand, et al; the stories you hear are true, but a compilation and the names have been changed, sort of.

Then, once she agreed to the starring role, as an additional benefit, Gloria graciously allowed all of her personal mementos, from the unreleased and von Strohiem directed "Queen Kelly" to the plethora of 8 x 10 genuine publicity stills, to give the set verisimilitude. Her Chaplin-taught imitation of himself, her collaboration with De Mille (right down to his pet name for her "Young Fella"), the quip about Valentino and the tile floor, and more, were bonuses that make the film more than just another pastiche of a long-gone era.

Swanson and Holden do yeoman's work as the ill-fated couple in a nightmarish liaison that can only end badly. The lush Franz Waxman score augments a script replete with quotable quotes about the perils of a star's decline. There are layers and layers of Hollywood goodies, like the storyline that Holden and Nancy Olson spoof about, concerning a guy and a gal who rent the same flat, one sleeping in the daytime and the other at night, sharing the apartment on a shift basis, never seeing each other; it is a real 1933 film, called "Rafter Romance" starring Ginger Rogers and Laura Hope Crewes.

The staircase finale has become a thing of legend--deftly spoofed by Carol Burnett. Gloria enjoyed Carol's sketch so much, she made a guest appearance on the Carol Burnett Show, as a result. Even so, the film's ending line is surely one of the five greatest in all Hollywood history, the others being, "Casablanca", "The Wizard of Oz", "Some Like It Hot" and "Now, Voyager".

If you only see one noir in your life..........2007-04-13

Sunset Blvd. (Billy Wilder, 1950)

Sunset Boulevard is noir at its best, a simple story of obsessive love gone wrong, but the characters. Oh, the characters. Gloria Swanson plays Norma Desmond, a silent film queen who's been abandoned by the studios as talkies have become all the rage. (Swanson-- and her circle of card-playing friends in the movie-- were, in fact, silent film stars who had been abandoned by the studios after talkies became all the rage. Among the card players is Buster Keaton.) By coincidence, a young screenwriter, Joe Gillis (William Holden, in the first of his collaborations with Billy Wilder), pulls into her garage while fleeing repo men, thinking the place is abandoned. The two meet, and Desmond convinces Gillis to do some editing on a script she's been working on. Erich von Stroheim has a star turn as Desmond's butler, a silent film director also left in the lurch. (von Stroheim was, of course, a silent film director, whose Greed is widely considered one of the best films ever made.)

With all the similarities to real life going on in this movie, it's hard to examine it without a lengthy diversion into the movie being a savage satire on Hollywood itself, but that's not what most struck me about this movie. It's Joe Gillis, possibly the least effective manipulator ever captured on a screen, a man who desperately needs to become hard-hearted to gain his independence from an ugly, overbearing relationship. It's Norma Desmond, already half-mad at the beginning of the movie, rolling the rest of the way off the cliff as she tries, just as desperately to hold on to Gillis. It's Betty Schaefer (Nancy Olson), torn between her growing love for Gillis and her engagement to his best friend, Artie Green (Jack Webb), coming under the withering gaze of Desmond's scorn. It's Max the Butler, so proud and so pathetic, who understands exactly where Gillis' road is headed, but is powerless to do anything about it. It's Cecil B. DeMille, who didn't have to do anything other than play himself. Satire can't work unless you've got the fundamentals in place. And in this case, the fundamentals are the characters and how they interact. And they're fabulous. Sure, Wilder and collaborator Charles Brackett wrote a great script, and Wilder, as was his wont, filmed the whole thing with precision and flair, and it wouldn't be as good a movie without those qualities. But you could put these characters, with these actors playing them, on a bare stage with a single lightbulb, and let them improvise till the cows came home, and I believe the audience would have still been deathly quiet and stock still. This is genius, pure and simple. *****

Presages Mulholland Dr.......2007-04-01

A crazed aged actress played with moxie by Gloria Swanson entices a struggling scriptwriter to live in her insane mansion in a film that combines satire and horror. The writer, played by a disaffected, cynical William Holden, enters the belly of the beast and makes what becomes a deal with the devil. Part Blanche Dubois, Swanson plays a faded actress, a "sleepwalker," who lives in the past. The cynical tone of the film amazingly reminds me of the dead narrator who speaks in Desperate Housewives, a technique used in the film's voice-over. It's weird seeing the same Los Angeles roads and buildings from 60 years ago, virtually unchanged today. In fact, the film is not at all dated.

The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions/ The Animatrix)

Average customer rating:

The ultimate sc-fi adventure for adults in one box set!
QUE PASA CON LA GENTE LATINA????
Great collection for what you are paying for.
The Matrix Trilogy and Bonus DVDs
Great

The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/ The Matrix Reloaded/ The Matrix Revolutions/ The Animatrix)
Starring: Keanu Reeves , Laurence Fishburne , Carrie-Anne Moss , Hugo Weaving , and Gloria Foster
Director: Larry Wachowski , and Andy Wachowski
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002Y69NG
Release Date: 2004-12-07

Description

The definitive ten-disc DVD set, The Ultimate Matrix Collection features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound for The Matrix. Also included is the companion piece The Matrix Revisited and the best-selling The Animatrix, plus five entirely new DVDs packed solid with brand-new supplemental materials that encompass every aspect of the Matrix universe, including two new audio commentaries on each film, Enter the Matrix video game footage, 106 deep-delving featurettes/ documentaries and much more!

DVD Features:
Additional Scenes:Filmed for Enter the Matrix video game
Audio Commentary:The Philosophers: Dr. Cornel West and Ken Wilber; The Critics: Todd McCarthy, John Powers and David Thomson
DVD ROM Features
Documentary
Easter Eggs
Featurette
Introduction:by the Wachowski Brothers
Music Video
Photo gallery
Storyboards
TV Spot
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate sc-fi adventure for adults in one box set!.......2007-07-04

I'm like the 187th person to review this, but all that can be said incase your completely oblivious to classic movies....THIS IS THE BEST BOX SET THERE IS!!!

QUE PASA CON LA GENTE LATINA????.......2007-06-27

ESTE DVD CONTIENE TODO EL MATERIAL ADICIONAL QUE UNO DESEA PERO LAMENTABLEMENTE LAS PRODUCTORAS SE OLVIDAN O A MI PARECER SIMPLEMENTE NO LES INTERESA EL PUBLICO LATINO Y POR LO TANTO NO HAY SUBTITULOS EN CASTELLANO MAS QUE SIMPLEMENTE EN LAS PELICULAS Y ASI NO ES, NO ME PARECE JUSTO YA QUE NOSOTROS TAMBIEN SOMOS UN GRAN PUBLICO QUE CONSUME ESTOS PRODUCTOS Y POR CONSIGUIENTE NO APOYAMOS A LA PIRATERIA.

Great collection for what you are paying for. .......2007-06-21

All aesthetics aside with the nice hologram box and interesting boxing it all comes in, this series of movies (or trilogy... *awaiting the e-bashing from star wars fans* )is a great collection to own.

Apart from the movies themselves, they all come with revisited discs which go into the background of each movie as well as a seperate box for documentaries on the background of character development, social/philosophical references, set design and visual technology make this a gem of a collection to own.

Top that off with the official animatrix all included in this boxset, you are left with the entire story and background from the movies seires.

To be honest with you, I dont feel the need to watch an entire movie over with commentary from the directors. I feel its a waste of time and if i do look for a particular scene's meaning I would just go to the scene instead of watching the whole thing. Each to their own though.

As are most of my reviews, a lot rides on the price of the boxset. I payed $37 dollars for it and i feel it was worth every penny. Definatly a set I will be holding onto for a while to watch with friends for a few years to come.

If you are looking to get the movies ONLY (which I'm sure a lot of the extras will come with on their extra's disc's) then maybe buying the movies seperatly is for you. However, the slight price difference gives you hours more of entertainment and a broader understanding of the saga.

The Matrix Trilogy and Bonus DVDs.......2007-05-25

The trilogy is very good and Keanu Reeves is a good action actor in the trilogy.

Great.......2007-05-16

Very good. Obviously, towards the end they got worse and actually a little boring, but otherwise matrix and matrix reloaded were very good, and the first part of matrix revolutions was good. animatrix is very entertaining(some of them), but some are a bit strange for me.

Average customer rating:

"i'm going to enjoy watching you die, mr. anderson."
Beginning of a revolution
One of ten top ten films ever made
Comics, Comparative Religion and Kung Fu
Too complicated

The Matrix
Starring: Keanu Reeves , Laurence Fishburne , Carrie-Anne Moss , Hugo Weaving , and Gloria Foster
Director: Larry Wachowski , and Andy Wachowski
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Accessories:

The Matrix: Music From The Motion Picture

ASIN: B00000K19E
Release Date: 1999-09-21

Amazon.com essential video

By following up their debut thriller Bound with the 1999 box-office smash The Matrix, the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.

Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that The Matrix is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). --Jeremy Storey

Description

Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells of a computer hacker (Reeves) who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth. The computers are powered by human beings...

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary by C. Moss, J. Gaeta, & Z. Staenberg
Featurette:"Bullet Time" Featurette (6:01) "What is the Concept" Featurette (10:50)
Music Clips:2.0 Music only with commentary
Other:HBO 1st Look Special: Making the Matrix (25:48) "White Rabbit" Clips (22:22) [4x3]

Customer Reviews:

"i'm going to enjoy watching you die, mr. anderson.".......2007-06-15

It is the movie that set new standards in the world of movie making. Terminator 2 did it in 1990, and the Matrix took it to the next level in 1999. Other films, such as Romeo Must Die, have tried to duplicate these wonderful effects, but have come up short. Not only is the Matrix a first in superb visuals and animation, but it is a dang good movie too.

If you haven't heard of the Matrix yet, this first installment explains everything. It might take a few viewings to understand every nook, but once it all fits into place it is a great theme, "is this world we live in real, or not, and what exactly defines "real". The Matrix will explain it all, in the eyes of Neo (aka Mr. Anderson as Agen Smith likes to call him), from his simple days as another man in the Matrix to becoming unplugged and becoming "The One".

The story is great. The characters are top notch and the visuals are to die for. Many even place this movie into martial arts category, as each fight scene displays true martial arts choreogrpahy intertwined with visual effects of animation. Truly though, the Matrix is a sc-fi action blast. Although there is the R rating, I have seen PG-13 films with more questionable content that this film. Most teenagers and above should be suitable for this.

Arguably the best in the trilogy, The Matrix is in my opinion that compared to the other two. Be sure to watch Reloaded and Revolutions, though not as good in story, the visuals are simplying mind-blowing, only expanding on what the first installment created.

Beginning of a revolution.......2007-06-08

If one could rate a movie's greatness by how many other copy it, then the Matrix has to be one of the greatest movies of all time. This movie was the first US film to use "bullet time" whereby entire action scenes are filmed in slow motion slow enough to see bullets move across the air. This is also the first movie to copy martial arts fighting scenes from Chinese films, and incorporate them into an American film in totality, including freeze frame shots, 360 pans, and really high jump kicks. Combined with the great storyline, dialogue and casting, this movie became a trendsetter. Other movies like LOTR, Shrek, and even Animal Channel specials have copied this style of action films.

The storyline itself is incredible, probably the best plot of any movie released in 1999. But it is not wholly original. Earlier in the decade the sci-fi movie Dark City was released, and back-to-back viewings of both movies reveal many similarities in the story, setting and even cinematography.

The casting was great. This is by far the best movie for Keanu Reeves. This movie was also groundbreaking in having a black actor and black actress in key protagonist roles; these being Morpheus and the Oracle. The casting of Carrie-Ann Moss was also great. A younger woman would not have lent the emotional weight as Ms. Moss. The use of a sexier woman might have reminded fans more of the Pamela Anderson bomb, Barbed Wire. Carrie-Ann Moss was the perfect actress to play Trinity; athletic but not buff, attractive but not bombshell, mature but not old. Interestingly, the movie's basis on science and computers has kicked of a fashion trend in US cities with large populations of young East Asian women in the high tech fields such as Seattle or San Francisco. Walking through these downtowns one can notice the large number of hot Asian chics dressed in black in the style of Trinity.

This DVD is fairly simple; the same movie as in theaters, some special features but no extended scenes. The movie is a great watch, but since it shows so often on TV, I would not recommend buying this DVD.

One of ten top ten films ever made.......2007-06-06

I mean how can you not list Matrix as one of the most extraordinary films in history,with one of the most intriguing storylines to ever hit the big screen. How utterly original, how truly amazed I am every single time I watch it. It is a movie that can sit in the background of a party, on multiple tv's and everyone is in tune with it. Visually brilliant and the sound is bar none. If you couldn't follow this one, or could not keep up with the fast paced and intricate plot, well then do not say you are too 'American' for a film such as this like the reviewer below. How shallow is that; instead go rent Fantastic Four, that should be trite, unmoving and American enough for you.

Matrix is one of the greatest, and always will be. Stunning, rich in depth and suspense, totally engrossing and mesmorizing.

Comics, Comparative Religion and Kung Fu.......2007-06-05

Just about perfect, as long as you don't think too much.

In a world of nuclear ruin, I imagine your average intelligent computer could probably find a better fuel cell than a slightly warm, always hungry, constantly defecating comatose human, for whom they have to invent an elaborate mind warp, so as to, what, keep all their blood-slaves happy?

But Besides That...perfect in all regards.

With technical and martial arts grace, thanks to a long line of predecessors.

See the "Once Upon a Time in China" series (especially the first, with dvd commentary) for a great introduction to wire-fighting.

Next, pick up a concise guide to Hindu philosophy, a compendium of Dark Horse comics, and a pair of anti-gravity boots, and you've got it.

And Keanu? I'm tempted to say that making ineffectual look superhuman is the single greatest special effect, but that would undermine the great artistry that is painted all over the digital cells.

In the `nuked-world' scenes, the film looks like it was photographed in an Eastern European sewer system, and the actors let you feel the grit and mold.

A very good action movie, plus a high school treatise on comparative religion....who could ask for more?

Too complicated.......2007-05-11

Maybe I'm too american and simple minded, but the plot twists and turns too often in the series. You have to remember every little plot twist or risk not understanding the next ones in the series.

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)

Average customer rating:

It certainly is a Wonderful Life!
It's a Wonderful Life
Quintessential christmas movie
It Was Indeed a Wonderful Life!
A Timeless Classic

It's a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition)
Starring: James Stewart , Donna Reed , Lionel Barrymore , Thomas Mitchell , and Henry Travers
Director: Frank Capra
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B000HEWEJO
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Amazon.com essential video

Now perhaps the most beloved American film, It's a Wonderful Life was largely forgotten for years, due to a copyright quirk. Only in the late 1970s did it find its audience through repeated TV showings. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad, and probably the wildest thing Capra ever shot (the director's optimistic vision may have darkened during his experiences making military films in World War II). Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming--in the teary-eyed final reel--his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. It's a Wonderful Life was not a big hit on its initial release, and it won no Oscars (Capra and Stewart were nominated); but it continues to weave a special magic. --Robert Horton

Description

George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it all - and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence. Clarence then shows George what his town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all of his good deeds over the years. Will Clarence be able to convince George to return to his family and forget suicide?

Customer Reviews:

It certainly is a Wonderful Life!.......2007-06-27

Not only do I own this movie, I have the board game as well. No Christmas season is complete without at least one viewing of this classic movie. It stresses the idea of being grateful for what you have and seeing the silver lining in any given situation. Children of all ages should watch this one every year.

It's a Wonderful Life.......2007-06-25

The quintessential Frank Capra film and a heartwarming holiday treat year in and year out, "Life" is the ultimate optimistic statement on the value of love, life, and community. Capra's masterful handling of the bittersweet storyline--in which Bailey sacrifices his own dreams to run the family savings-and-loan business and keep his hometown of Bedford Falls out of Potter's greedy paws--is pure Hollywood magic. Reed and Barrymore give exceptional performances, but Stewart, in one of his all-time great roles (a personal favorite), is the dynamic, all-too-human force holding it all together. Revived in the '70s after languishing in copyright limbo, "Life" is nostalgic and achingly sentimental, but doesn't shrink from portraying the dark side of American life. If "Zuzu's petals" don't put a lump in your throat, wait till a revivified George finds a special surprise waiting for him back home. Let those tear ducts flow, because "It's a Wonderful Life."

Quintessential christmas movie.......2007-06-11

This movie is a tradition in our house during the Christmas season to watch at least once! It never grows old to see Jimmy Stewart realizing that being rich sometimes has very little to do with how much is in your bank account and more to do with how many friends you have. Get the hot chocolate out, cuddle up with your sweetie, build a roaring fire in the fireplace and put the DVD in the machine and remember that your life does matter in the world.

It Was Indeed a Wonderful Life!.......2007-06-04

What would the Christmas holiday season be like without Frank Capra's 1946 classic, It's A Wonderful Life? For millions around the world, watching this inspiring, heartwarming movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed is as much a part of the Christmas celebration as putting cookies and milk out for Santa Claus, caroling, drinking eggnog, or trimming the tree.

Of the hundreds of movies I've seen during the forty-one years I've lived so far, there isn't one I can think of that is so quintessentially American as It's A Wonderful Life. Part comedy, part melodrama, and part supernatural fantasy, the film recounts the life of an apparently ordinary guy, George Bailey, who keeps getting the short end of the stick when it comes to realizing his extraordinary dreams and plans for the future.

However, I've learned first-hand that professing my love for this film is sure to provoke arguments with those who accept the ethics of objectivism (the philosophy of Ayn Rand). On its face, the message of the film appears to endorse self-sacrifice for the good of others. But I disagree with that interpretation. In fact, I think that the choices made by George Bailey during his life were truly wonderful, embodying a full and proper conception of personal, long-term self-interest, but without preaching egotism.

The movie opens to the voices of George's loved ones, family and friends who are sending up prayers to God to take care of and watch out for George, who's fallen on the hardest of hard times on Christmas Eve. George's bad luck doesn't look like it's about to change when he is assigned a guardian angel ("second class") named Clarence, a benevolent bumbler who hasn't even "earned his wings." We then learn what has brought George Bailey to the brink of tragedy as director Capra tells the man's life story in a long flashback that makes up most of the picture.

Ever since boyhood, George Bailey has been there for others. When he was twelve, he rescued his brother, Harry, from drowning in a pond after he had crashed through the ice while sledding. Later, working as a drugstore delivery boy, he prevented his distraught, drunken boss from accidentally dispensing poison in prescription capsules.

As he grows up, George dreams of bigger things than can be found in the confines of his small town: seeing Europe, becoming a civil engineer. About to head off to tramp through Europe before going to college, he shares with his girlfriend, Mary (Donna Reed), his secret aspirations:

"Mary, I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow and the next day, and next year and the year after that. I'm shaking the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world! I'm gonna build things: I'm gonna build airfields. I'm gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high! I'm gonna build bridges a mile long!"

But at every crucial turn in his life, George's grandiose dreams are thwarted by the responsibilities of everyday life. As he's about to set sail, he learns that his father had a fatal stroke. After the funeral, George stays in Bedford Falls to run the Bailey Bros. Building and Loan, the family business that his father and Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) had built up, rather than allow it to slip into the grasp of the family's avaricious nemesis, Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Potter is the town's Scrooge-like magnate, a corrupt, power-lusting slumlord who owns most of the key businesses in Bedford Falls. George puts his dreams on hold while he manages the business--and while he watches his younger brother, Harry, go off to college instead.

Then, rather than jump at the opportunity to invest in the promising plastics industry, George instead goes after his real love, Mary, finally proposing to her. One of the movie's pivotal scenes occurs on the day of their marriage. Just as they are about to embark on their European honeymoon, fate again steps in: their wedding date is "Black Tuesday," October 29, 1929--the day of the stock market crash. En route to the train station, George and Mary see the people of Bedford Falls running toward the building and loan. George rushes over to find that Uncle Billy has panicked and shut the doors to depositors, having disbursed all the money on hand. Worse, Mr. Potter telephones and tells George that he will "help" bail out the building and loan by offering its members fifty cents on the dollar for every share.

While everyone is losing his head, George keeps his cool, despite the throng of terrified customers demanding their money. George staves off the building and loan's collapse not by whining to the crowd to bail him out, but by appealing to their long-term self-interest: by asking them not to sell out their future to Potter.

"You're thinking about this place all wrong, as if I have the money back in the safe. The money's not here. Well, your money's in Joe's house, that's right next to yours. And the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Maitlin's house and a hundred others. You're lending them the money to build, and then they're going to pay it back to you as best they can....Now, listen to me, I beg of you not to do this thing. If Potter gets a hold of this building and loan, there will never be another decent house built in this town.... Joe, you had one of those Potter houses, didn't you? Well, have you forgotten, have you forgotten what he charged you for that broken down shack? Here, Ed, remember last year, when things weren't going so well, you couldn't make your payments? Well, you didn't lose your house, did you? Do you think Potter would've let you keep it? Can't you understand what's happening here? Potter isn't selling, he's buying! And why? Because we're panicking and he's not.... Now, we can get through this thing all right, we've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other."

I once argued with an Objectivist about that scene, maintaining that George and Mary did the right thing by using their $2,000 honeymoon nest egg to help their depositors weather the storm. But all my friend could see in that scene--indeed, in the whole movie--was altruism. "One of the very first lines in that movie," he told me, "is `he never thinks of himself'!"

But was that true? Consider what would have happened had George and Mary gone on their honeymoon instead of bailing out their building and loan. Yes, they would have had an enjoyable, relaxing couple of months in Europe; but what would they have come home to? The business that George's father had sweat blood to create and keep afloat would have gone bankrupt. Not only would George and Mary have had no source of income, but their depositors--family, friends, loved ones--would have seen their life savings evaporate. The housing development George had built would have fallen into Potter's hands.

For George, the choice was between short-term pleasure and long-term priorities. Did he choose irrationally?
What makes It's A Wonderful Life work so well is that we get to see a different, less readily apparent kind of heroism in George Bailey. Sure, it's easy to notice and admire the swashbuckling valor of a Scarlet Pimpernel or the "damn the torpedoes" military bravery of a John Wayne. But the real world doesn't always present opportunities for obvious and flamboyant heroism. More often than not, it presents instead tough value choices that reveal an individual's true priorities--and his true character.

It's A Wonderful Life is a testament to the power of free will when the going gets tough. In every instance when George faces adversities, he could easily make the easy choice, opting for the fleeting promise of instant gratification. But instead, he consistently makes the harder decision to delay immediate pleasure in order to achieve or preserve his larger, lasting, most profound values.

Today, most people watching the scenes in the building and loan's offices probably cannot quite grasp the bold, life-changing message on the banner that hangs there: "Own Your Own Home." But I remember as a kid talking with my father about what it was like for him growing up in a Depression-era coal mining town in West Virginia. "You had to have at least a fifty percent down payment to buy a home in those days," he told me. "If you were poor, you had to rent." More than any other movie I've seen, It's A Wonderful Life makes real the enormous benefits of the credit revolution, a tribute to "man's faith in man."

To Frank Capra, it was men like George Bailey who helped lift the working class into the middle class. Capra considered this film his personal favorite, and put into it a lot of his own experiences as a first-generation immigrant from Sicily. It's A Wonderful Life is his love letter to the American Dream.

What makes the movie so credible, and Jimmy Stewart so believable as George Bailey, is that he and Capra had both faced those tough choices just months before it was shot. It's A Wonderful Life was the first movie they worked on after World War II. Shortly after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Stewart joined the U.S. Army Air Force and served as a decorated bomber pilot. Capra spent most of the war shooting the Why We Fight series of propaganda films that proved so crucial to the Allied war effort. Both men could easily have avoided service: Capra was too old when the war began, and Stewart flunked his first physical, being too thin for service. But they put aside the glamorous lifestyle and money Hollywood afforded them for the higher purpose of defending America and freedom. I only wish that such values were held in higher esteem by Americans now, in supporting the war effort against the terrorist threat. Today, we seem less eager to make the kind of hard choices that the men and women of Capra's and Stewart's generation did.

The movie's famous climax takes place on Christmas Eve. Bedford Falls awaits the return of its hometown hero--George's brother, Harry Bailey (Todd Karns). As a Navy fighter pilot, Harry saved a transport ship full of American troops by shooting down a Japanese torpedo bomber. However, a few hours before his arrival back home, the building and loan comes up short $8,000. Uncle Billy has absent-mindedly mislaid the money, and now, with the bank examiner and police breathing down his neck, the distraught George sees his entire life coming apart. After fighting Potter all his life, he's reduced to pleading before him, begging to borrow the cash to rescue the building and loan. His only collateral is $500 equity in a life insurance policy. The smirking Potter mocks him, saying, "Why, George Bailey, you're worth more dead than alive!"

George soon finds himself standing alone in the blustery snow atop a bridge, weeping in drunken desperation, thinking about jumping into the icy rapids below.

At that very moment, guardian angel Clarence Oddbody (Henry Travers) leaps into the river himself, giving George the opportunity to let his inherent goodness emerge once more. George rescues Clarence, then slowly learns the incredible truth: that the old man is an angel sent to protect him.

But still believing that his life has been a failure, he informs the eccentric Clarence that he's wasting his time. "I wish I'd never been born," George mumbles bitterly.

The words inspire Clarence to grant George his wish. In the film's closing moments, he gives the man a shocking tour of what Bedford Falls would have been like if George Bailey had never existed.

The housing subdivision that George envisioned is never built; it becomes "Potter's Field," a graveyard for paupers. The wife of his cabbie friend, Ernie (Frank Faylen), leaves him because Ernie wasted his money paying rent for one of Potter's tenements, instead of investing in his own home. Deprived of the chance to lead a productive life with the building and loan, eccentric Uncle Billy is eventually committed to an insane asylum. George's beloved Mary remains a spinster; their children are never born. And Bedford Falls itself--a small, thriving American community right out of a Norman Rockwell illustration--deteriorates into "Pottersville," a sleazy town full of bars, strip joints, and pawn shops.

Most devastating to George, Clarence leads him to his brother Harry's gravestone in Potter's Field.

"You're brother, Harry Bailey, broke through the ice, and drowned at the age of nine," he informs George.
"That's a lie!" George protests. "Harry Bailey went to war! He got the Congressional Medal of Honor! He saved the lives of every man on that transport!"
"Every man on that transport died," Clarence corrects him. "Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry.... You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?"
"You have been given a great gift," Clarence adds. "A chance to see what the world would be like without you."

As I do every Christmas, this year I'll again be watching It's A Wonderful Life with my family. I'll once more share with my loved ones Frank Capra's timeless tale of a man who always remained loyal to his highest and dearest values, and who ennobled the lives of everyone he touched through his common sense, farsighted thinking, and uncommon integrity.

To those who might dismiss George's story as not the stuff of epic heroism, I can only repeat the director's own words. Decades after It's a Wonderful Life first appeared, Frank Capra said: "The importance of the individual is the theme that it tells. That no man is a failure, that every man has something to do with his life. If he's born, he's born to do something."

He added: "To some of us, all that meets the eye is larger than life, including life itself. Who can match the wonder of it?"

A Timeless Classic.......2007-06-04

It's A Wonderful Life is a one-of-a-kind christmas movie with a hint of horror. Not only is this movie unique, but it also has a charasmatic cast. I bought this movie to add to my modest DVD collection, and its the perfect flick arund christmas time.

Average customer rating:

Underrated sequel
Decent flick with color-coded spheres
Blink and you'll miss the unrated footage!
what's the difference???
Best of the series...

Phantasm III
Starring: Reggie Bannister , A. Michael Baldwin , Bill Thornbury , Gloria Lynne Henry , and Kevin Connors
Director: Don Coscarelli
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
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ASIN: B000MV8AC2
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Amazon.com

In the original Phantasm, The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm), a villainous mortuary employee, breeds dwarves inside tombs to be "workers" in another realm. Don Coscarelli's film was enticingly cryptic, but Phantasm III is a confused mess. Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and his big brother, Jody (Bill Thornbury), are recently orphaned and become grossly entangled in the supernatural crime scene occurring at the cemetery, as The Tall Man seeks to kill everyone in town. The boys recruit Jody's buddy, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), an ice cream man, to help squelch The Tall Man, to no avail. In Phantasm III, the same boys, all grown up, are still battling The Tall Man, though his dwarves have multiplied and have wiped out entire cities across Idaho. Zombies prevail, and the viewer never really finds out The Tall Man's purpose, or why he wants to claim Mike. Phantasm's inimitable mystery and style, with the chrome orb that flies towards victim's heads with rotating blades, the finger in a box that bleeds yellow goo, or the tuning fork gate to the dwarf netherworld, is replaced in Phantasm III by schlock gore, in which dwarves are shot with machine guns and felled like trees. Mystery is spoiled by too much dialogue spoken by the before nearly-mute Tall Man, and by the dwarves who've acquired silly monster faces under hoods that previously hid their identity. The film's greatest asset is its wondrously eerie title theme song by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave, reiterated from the original horror masterpiece. --Trinie Dalton

Description

If You Don't Get It This Time, He'll Have To Drill It Into Your Head! The mutant dwarf creatures are attacking, the silver spheres are flying, and The Tall Man is back with a vengeance! Fifteen years after the original horror classic, writer/producer/director Don Coscarelli reunites brothers Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) and Jody (Bill Thornbury) to help their friend Reggie (Reggie Bannister) destroy The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) once and for all. Is the ultimate force of evil any match for a bald, former ice cream vendor with a `70 Hemicuda and a four-barrel shotgun? Cindy Ambuehl (JAG) co-stars in this insane sequel packed with sex, violence and gore galore that takes the PHANTASM series to a whole new dimension! Features: Widescreen Presentation Audio Commentary with Stars Michael Baldwin and Angus Scrim Deleted Scenes, Also On DVD PHANTASM and PHANTASM III trailers PHANTASM III: Behind The Scenes Screenplay (DVD-ROM)

Customer Reviews:

Underrated sequel.......2007-06-01

Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead, the second sequel to Don Coscarelli's original, cerebral horror flick, picks up right where the second film left off. Reggie (Reggie Bannister) and Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) are still on the run from the seemingly indestructible Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) who is in the process of devestating small towns across the mid-west. In the meantime, he has plans for Mike, which leads Reggie across the country on a rescue mission along with some unlikely allies. Mike's older brother Jody (Bill Thornbury) returns as well, in an unexpected form, to lend a hand too. Like the above Amazon review states, Phantasm III leaves little to the imagination in terms of gore effects, and the story is nowhere near as cerebral as the original Phantasm, but Phantasm III is still a more than solid sequel in Coscarelli's series. The overall story becomes expanded and Coscarelli does a great job tying things together using footage from the original film, and despite some plot holes, just about everything works here. All in all, Phantasm III is a fine and underrated sequel, and once again, thanks to Anchor Bay, such a film gets an equally fine DVD release featuring commentary, behind the scenes, and trailers.

Decent flick with color-coded spheres.......2007-04-20

Not as interesting as the original or part IV, but worth watching. The ending sets up #IV nicely.

Blink and you'll miss the unrated footage!.......2007-04-19

I know there's some concern regarding whether this region 1 DVD release is the unrated version as the packaging indicates or the VHS R-rated reissue. I watched both the DVD and VHS versions simultaneously last night as picture-in-picture and there is definitely one noticably extended scene. When Reggie enters the mausoleum and is captured by Rocky and Tanesha, the sentinel punctures into Tanesha's forehead. You now see much more blood pouring out of the sentinel, more screaming and a larger puddle of blood on the floor. This scene runs at least 10-15 seconds longer compared to the R rated version. It's funny to see in the R rated version, no blood is seen pouring out of the sentinel. Other than that, I found no other differences between versions. I know 10-15 seconds doesn't sound like much, but being the sentinel scenes are the standout scenes in these films, they're always the ones that get trimmed. I think those extra seconds make a difference and it's worth the purchase. The DVD looks and sounds great.

what's the difference???.......2007-04-11

I have the VHS R rated version clocking 91 minutes. I just bought the Phantasm 3 DVD from Anchor Bay but the DVD states it's the Unrated Director's Cut on the plastic covering also clocking 91 minutes. So what's the difference? The DVD distributor's will claim it was a printing error but I think it's really a scam. It's probably not unrated at all, just an
R version.

Best of the series..........2007-04-07

Tall man and tons of gore. What more do you want?

Average customer rating:

Oklahoma!
One of the all time great musicals
Purchase for use in Europe
An American original
Great music. lyrics

Oklahoma! (50th Anniversary Edition)
Starring: Gordon MacRae , Gloria Grahame , Gene Nelson , Charlotte Greenwood , and Shirley Jones
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000AP04NI
Release Date: 2005-11-15

Amazon.com

The hit Broadway musical from the 1940s gets a lavish if not always exciting workout in this 1955 film version directed by old lion Fred Zinnemann (High Noon). Gordon MacRae brings his sterling voice to the role of cowboy Curly, and Shirley Jones plays Laurie, the object of his affection. The Rodgers and Hammerstein score includes "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," and "People Will Say We're in Love," and Agnes DeMille provides the buoyant choreography. Among the supporting cast, Gloria Grahame is memorable as Ado Annie, the "girl who cain't say no," and Rod Steiger overdoes it as the villainous Jud. --Tom Keogh

Description

Set in the Oklahoma Territory in the early 1900's, this joyous celebration of frontier life is a story of tender romance and dangerous passion. Gordon MacRae is Curly, a sunny, good-natured ranch hand, and Shirley Jones is Laurey Williams, the farmer's daughter he loves. Rod Steiger is he menacing Jud, who tries to comes between them. The first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, this Academy Award winner for Best Score features the classic songs "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and "People Will Say We're In Love."

Customer Reviews:

Oklahoma!.......2007-06-26

Though the film is long and contains a fairly high corn factor, it's also visually stunning, and truly soars whenever the music and dancing starts, with peerless renditions of "People Will Say We're In Love," "The Surrey With The Fringe On The Top," and the immortal title tune. The dance numbers, choreographed by Agnes de Mille, are original and exuberant, while Steiger and Gloria Grahame turn in fine performances, respectively playing the dastardly Jud and the naively amorous Ado Annie, "the girl who can't say no."

One of the all time great musicals.......2007-05-13

The music is great as well as the singing and acting. This movie is a visual treat for the eyes and it has great dancing as well. If you love musicals (particularly those made in the 40's 50's and 60's) than you will love this movie. While this movie has a dark side for the most part it reflects the optimism that seems to be so much a part of the American character. Watch it you will enjoy it.

Purchase for use in Europe.......2007-04-23

I was so disappointed on receipt of the Oklahoma DVD that it would not work outside of the USA. I am sure it is well the cost.

An American original.......2007-04-05

This version of "Oklahoma" will always remain my favorite. Gordon McRae and Shirley Jones are sheer perfection. Every single Rodgers and Hammerstein song including "Oh What a Beautiful Morning,""People Will Say We're in Love," "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top," "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No," and the title song are romantic, humorous, original and beautifully sung and directed. This show is considered the quintessential American musical and after experiencing the amazing on-location sets, costumes, choreography by Martha Graham, dream sequence, and charming and delightful overall mood of this movie, you'll be humming these tunes for days!

Great music. lyrics.......2007-03-17

One of Rodgers and Hammerstein's best. I think 4.5 would be more accurate. But not quite up to "The Sound of Music", or "The King and I"

Average customer rating:

fabulous dvd and movie
I LOVE IT
"I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen"
Absolutely fantastic love story
My favorite teen movie!!

Say Anything
Starring: Amy Brooks , Jonathan Chapin , Lois Chiles , Gloria Cromwell , and Joan Cusack
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXCI
Release Date: 2002-03-05

Product Description

To know Lloyd Dobler is to love him. Diane Court is about to know Lloyd Dobler.

In this charming, critically acclaimed tale of first love, Lloyd (John Cusack), an eternal optimist, seeks to capture the heart of Diane, an unattainable high school beauty and straight-A student (Ione Skye). He surprises just about everyone - including himself - when she returns the sentiment. But Diane's over-possessive, divorced dad (John Mahoney) doesn't approve and it's going to take more than just the power of love to conquer all.

System Requirements:

Starring John Cusack, John Mahoney, Ione Skye

Directed by Cameron Crowe

Running time: 113 minutes

Amazon.com essential video

Seven years after he earned his first screen credit as the writer of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, former Rolling Stone writer Cameron Crowe made his directorial debut with this acclaimed romantic comedy starring John Cusack and Ione Skye as unlikely lovers on the cusp of adulthood. The casting is perfect, and Crowe's rookie direction is appropriately unobtrusive, no doubt influenced by his actor-loving, Oscar®-winning mentor, James L. Brooks. But the real strength of Crowe's work is his exceptional writing, his timely grasp of contemporary rhythms and language (he's frequently called "the voice of a generation"), and the rich humor and depth of his fully developed characters. In Say Anything... Cusack and Skye play recent high school graduates enjoying one final summer before leaping into a lifetime of adult responsibilities. Lloyd (Cusack) is an aspiring kickboxer with no definite plans; Diane (Skye) is a valedictorian with intentions to further her education in Europe. Together they find unlikely bliss, but there's also turbulence when Diane's father (John Mahoney)--who only wants what's best for his daughter--is charged with fraud and tax evasion. Favoring strong performances over obtrusive visual style, Crowe focuses on his unique characters and the ambitions and fears that define them; the movie's a treasure trove of quiet, often humorous revelations of personality. Lili Taylor and Eric Stoltz score high marks for memorable supporting roles, and Cusack's own sister Joan is perfect in scenes with her onscreen and offscreen brother. A rare romantic comedy that's as funny as it is dramatically honest, Say Anything... marked the arrival of a gifted writer-director who followed up with the underrated Singles before scoring his first box-office smash with Jerry Maguire. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

fabulous dvd and movie.......2007-06-27

I actually just caught the movie on Encore the other week, and it was excellent. I thought the commentary was really interesting, and the special features were pretty good too!

I LOVE IT.......2007-06-08

John Cusack gives an amazing performance. You can't help but fall in love with Lloyd Dobler. The movie is funny, engaging and completely romantic. The ending is perfect and if you are a hopeless romantic, you MUST see this movie.

"I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen".......2007-05-14

Every time I watch Say Anything I love it a little bit more. I don't know what it is. The loner guy who aims a bit too high in hoping that the class valedictorian will be the one for him. The perfect girl who can only reveal her insecurities around the guy who no one can imagine her with. The daddy's girl who learns her father isn't as perfect as she always believed. All of which are elements of teen film that have been done to death, but there's something about Say Anything, maybe that it came before all those other played-out teen films that tried so hard to be like it. Maybe John Cusack and Ione Skye's innocent portrayals of young love. Whatever it is, this is a movie that only gets better with time. Even if you've already seen this movie, I'd highly suggest watching it again. Like a fine wine, this film only gets better with age.

Absolutely fantastic love story.......2007-02-07

Okay, kids. First, PLEASE stop calling this an '80s movie. It's not - it may have been released in 1989, but it's a prototypical '90s movie. In fact, it may arguably be the first of the pack of young-disenfranchised-Gen X-teens-looking-for-love movies that typified the early '90s (see also: "Singles," "Reality Bites," etc. ).

For those of you who are too young to have seen this movie when it first came out, you can't begin to understand the effect it had on its target audience. It's about as seminal as the John Hughes/Molly Ringwald movies were to the '80s (THOSE are typical '80s movies). It's a brilliant treatise on teen angst in the early '90s, when people spent a lot of time weighing socially-conscious, indie "slackerdom" against more conventional (and lucrative) "sell-out" paths.

This is also the first teen movie I can remember seeing where the leads behaved like actual people - nothing contrived or jokey. The romance seemed normal (or, okay, maybe a little bit better than normal - that scene where Lloyd holds up a boombox outside Diane's window is iconic for a reason) and believable.

I guess some aspects of this movie probably seem a little dated or difficult to understand for people who didn't grow up then. However, for my money, this is one of the most honest, thoughtful, and enjoyable contemplations of love and angst in the Grunge Era.

My favorite teen movie!!.......2006-11-09

I rented Say Anything from the library because I heard what good ratings it was getting from both people and critics. I could see why they thought the way they did about this film, it truly is sweet to watch. John Cusack does well playing the cool Lloyd Dobler as well the beautiful Ione Skye as valedictorian Diane Court. It is a very good movie about true love between two different high school graduates, one who is valedictorian of the class and the other a famous kickboxer. Say Anything is probably Cameron Crowe's best film with Jerry Maguire coming in dead second, thats how good it is. Its a teen comedy film with substance, intelligence and feeling that I just had to go out and buy the DVD. Forget all the brat pack films, Say Anything is the best you'll ever find.

Average customer rating:

Laura
Orpheus in the Underworld
Laura
what a great old movie
Laura

Laura (Fox Film Noir)
Starring: Gene Tierney , Dana Andrews , Clifton Webb , Vincent Price , and Judith Anderson
Director: Rouben Mamoulian , and Otto Preminger
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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