Lies & Whispers

Starring:Gina Gershon, Rade Serbedzija, Patricia Hodge, Otakar Brousek, Gordon Lovitt, Stuart Milligan, Jan Nemejovsky, VÃ¡clav Knop, Pavel Vangeli, Emma CernÃ¡, Patrik Ziga, David Nykl, Maureen Griffin (II), Richard Toth, Claudia Vasekova
Director: Roger L. Simon
Studio: Allumination
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

From The Terminator to Titanic, you can always rely on writer-director James Cameron to show you something you've never seen on the big screen before. The guy may not consistently pen the most scintillating dialogue in the world (and, especially in this movie, he doesn't seem to have a particularly high regard for women), but as a director of kinetic, push-the-envelope action sequences, he is in a class by himself. In True Lies, the highlight is a breathtaking third-act jet and car chase through the Florida Keys. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a covert intelligence agent whose wife of 15 years (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally finds out that he's not really a computer salesman and who becomes mixed up in a case involving nuclear arms smuggling. Tom Arnold is surprisingly funny and engaging as Schwarzenegger's longtime spy partner, and Bill Paxton is a smarmy used-car salesman (is that redundant?) whom Arnold thinks is having an affair with his wife. Purely in terms of spectacular action and high-tech hardware, True Lies is a blast. --Jim Emerson

Description

Arnold Schwarzenegger is special agent Harry Tasker, a top spy in the ultra-secret Omega Sector who also dances a mean tango- although to his neglected wife, Helen, (Jamie Lee Curtis) he's just a dull computer salesman. But while Harry's been busy fighting terrorists, Helen's been gathering secrets of her own. And when their two secret lives unexpectedly collide, Harry and Helen find themselves in the clutches of international terrorists, fighting to save not only their marriage but their lives as well. Packed with non-stop action, spectacular special effects and unprecedented stunts, this "domestic epic" from director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2: Judgment Day) is a rollicking `90's twist on the super spy genre.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic movie, crappy DVD.......2007-06-18

"True Lies" is one of my favorite action films, being at the same time one of the prototypical mid 1990's action films and a parody of the same genre. It strikes a perfect balance between humor and action throughout the course of the film. It's a must see if you like Arnold.

However, the DVD release presented here is brutal. Do not let the THX certification on the front of the DVD case fool you. The film is presented in 2.35:1 aspect ration, but is not anamorphic widescreen, a format optimized for widescreen televisions. It is presented in letterbox format instead, which means that the picture is much, much worse than its anamorphic equivalent because the black bars at the top and bottom are actually encoded into the video stream. This process leaves less room in the video encoding for the actual image, reducing its quality. Anamorphic widescreen leaves the black bars out of the video encoding, preserving more of the video stream for the actual image and allowing the DVD player and TV to add the black bars if necessary. Since a widescreen TV does not have need for these bars, they can be left off entirely, leaving only the high quality image.

Anamorphic widescreen has been a standard feature of DVDs for years now, so it's easy to forget that not all DVDs have it. Old DVDs are especially suspect on this front. If you have a nice television, the lack of anamorphic widescreen will be very noticeable and distracting throughout the film. Maybe it will be out on Blu-ray soon...

Favorites.......2007-05-13

In this movie Arnold Schwarenegger is perfectly paired with Jaime Lee Curtis, and is a pleasure rewatch if one likes the genre.

WOW DANG ONE OF THE BEST MOVE.......2007-05-08

NOW I COULD EASYLY SAY THIS WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE GRATEST MOVE EVER MADE IN THE WORLD THAT IS SO FOR SHORE

Quirky Not Campy, Clever Not Cliche.......2007-02-02

True Lies is a spy film that doesn't take itself as seriously as The Saint or the newer James Bond films--it borders on campiness, without ever crossing that line. While it gets its chuckles (Jamie Lee Curtis beaning Schwarzenegger with the phone), True Lies also manages to deliver suspense and a healthy dose of blood-pumping action. It's a clever, fun and entertaining movie.

The story revolves around Schwarzenegger who (along with sidekick Tom Arnold) is a Federal agent "deep"-undercover; his wife of 10+ years and his daughter have no idea. When he discovers that his wife is possibly cheating on him, Schwarzenegger plays a practical joke on her that winds up embroiling them both in a real terrorist plot to smuggle nuclear arms into the States.

The action sequences and special effects are all top-notch and the cast is fairly all-star. Even some minor characters who weren't stars then, are now (like Eliza Dushku). If you're one of those people who normally takes exception to Schwarzenegger films, you should know that this is one of his more entertaining roles--but then, Arnie isn't for everyone.

As a fun, original, things-blowing-up flick, with a good deal of humor besides, this is a five star film.

Great movie.......2007-01-17

If you have not seen this movie, borrow, rent, buy, or pay-per-view it.

This is a great action, comedy, suspense, thriller spy movie. As annoying as Tom Arnold can be, he is very good in this one. And Arnold is in top form!

Trust me, this is a good one!

Average customer rating:

fantasy classic
Un gran cuento ...
Grotesquely Magnificent!
A delirious visual tour de force!
wonderful old adventure

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Starring: Mohamed Badrsalem , Ray Cooper (II) , Valentina Cortese , Winston Dennis , and Don Henderson (II)
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0767809335
Release Date: 1999-04-27

Amazon.com essential video

Monty Python's Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) directs this wild, wild version of the stories of Baron Munchausen, pushing the limits of 1989 special effects technology to bring us such sights as a horse divided in half and running around in two parts, and a giant Robin Williams with his head flying off his shoulders. Basically, this is a treat for Gilliam fans, as the sustaining idea of the film runs out of steam, and manic energy alone keeps the momentum going. Casual viewers might find it tedious after awhile. There are nice parts for fellow Python Eric Idle, as well as Sting, Alison Steadman, and Uma Thurman as a dazzlingly beautiful Venus on a half-shell. Gilliam had greater artistic and commercial success with Brazil, The Fisher King, and 12 Monkeys. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

fantasy classic.......2007-07-05

With some of Monty Python's cast, how can you go wrong? Fun for the entire family.

Un gran cuento ..........2007-05-13

como aquellos que nos contaban de niño, pero para entenderlo como adulto. Una historia genial para mayores, aunque no muy entretenidas para niños del 2000.

Grotesquely Magnificent!.......2007-04-12

This film delights the eyes with its startlingly beautiful, and often disturbing, imagery. In one unforgettable scene, for instance, we see the Baron's ship coming to rest on the white rippling sands of the moon, as a spattering of stars--constellations of the zodiac--whirl past in a midnight-blue firmament. In another, which plunges us into the fulminating fury of Mount Etna, we see a a Botticelli-like Venus emerging tranquilly from her seashell, as handmaidens and cherubs drape her in white silk and pink satin ribbons; we then watch her levitating with the Baron in a magical waltz, as they spin heavenwards in front of Tivoli-like cascading fountains. In a third sequence, which depicts the almost unrelieved distruction of war, we see a great black-winged Angel of Death, who swoops down and kneels over the recumbent Baron, its skeletal fingers gently lifting the fire of the soul from his mouth. This image of Death, as beautiful as it is dreadful, has come straight off a seventeenth-century Italian baroque church.

Underneath the unbridled fantasy however, "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" poses a serious question: Can the creative power of the imagination survive in a world of cold--and supposedly enlightened--reason which inevitably conjures up fear of 'the other' as an excuse to inflict suffering on its peoples through wars? And if reason succeeds in stifling imagination, will the world not be a poorer place? The Baron's opening of the city gates to end the people's suffering represents an opening of the mind to the possibilities of new creative solutions to the problems of mankind.

This beautifully acted as well as darkly humorous film is sometimes disturbing to watch, but it never ceases to fascinate!

A delirious visual tour de force!.......2007-02-21

Adventures of Baron finds to Gilliam in absolute plenitude of his imaginative abilities to create an anthological feats for eyes, plenty of ravishing inspiration and lovable savoir vivre.

An absolute must for all those hard fans of Gilliam around the world that I guess, must be too many.

wonderful old adventure.......2007-01-10

My father got my son started on this movie when he was very little and he has wanted to own a copy for years now. The movie itself is a little hard to follow at times and not believable at all but is entertaining. It has some amazing animation/special effects for its day and it never fails to make you smile. Robin Williams is an extra treat in this movie.

Average customer rating:

Secrets and lies
Great movie
A gripping supernatural thriller!
A good sleeping aid.
Great!

What Lies Beneath
Starring: Ray Baker , Mitch Carter , Wendy Crewson , Tom Dahlgren , and Moosie Drier
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXI7
Release Date: 2001-01-30

Amazon.com

A good old-fashioned thriller that wears its Alfred Hitchcock pedigree proudly on its sleeve, What Lies Beneath stars Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer as picture-perfect married couple Norman and Claire Spencer, who seem happy and content with a fabulous house, college-age daughter and still-active libidos. When said daughter heads off to college, Claire starts obsessing about her new neighbors, and becomes convinced that the moody husband killed the neurotic wife, and that the wife's ghost has a desperately important message for her. Yes, it's true, there is a ghost, and there is a message, but it has decidedly more personal--and life-threatening--implications for Claire and Norman. Suddenly, that car crash last year that Claire can barely remember and the circumstances surrounding it start falling into place, and Claire begins to realize Norman may have a secret.

Director Robert Zemeckis loads the first half of What Lies Beneath with humorous cheap thrills (the suddenly ringing phone, etc.) that poke fun at Claire's dilemma while simultaneously making you tense beyond belief. Between each goofy thrill, though, is one true one that will make you jump out of your seat, including a bathtub that keeps filling itself. And all the while, Zemeckis subtly telegraphs the fissures in the Spencers' marriage, slowly revealing that all is not well between these two. Yes, it's a blatant Hitchcock homage to movies such as Rear Window and Suspicion, but it's sleekly made, entertaining and engrossing. Ford does his stoic thing well (and looks great doing it), and Diana Scarwid provides a refreshingly lighthearted turn as Claire's best pal, but it's pretty much Pfeiffer's movie all the way, and she carries the film on her not-so-fragile shoulders. And the third act is a suspense tour de force, complete with a breathtaking sequence featuring Pfeiffer and that menacing bathtub. In a time of obvious horror films, What Lies Beneath is an intelligent, fun thrill ride that will leave you breathless. --Mark Englehart

Description

In this exciting supernatural thriller, Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer play a seemingly happily married couple who uncover a terrible secret…a secret so disturbing it threatens to destroy them.
When Claire Spencer begins seeing ghostly images and hearing mysterious voices in their home, her husband Norman suspects it's just her imagination - until the images turn real. Now, together they must uncover the truth, confront their worst fears and find "what lies beneath"…with twisting and terrifying results.

Customer Reviews:

Secrets and lies.......2007-06-02

I wasn't sure what to expect with this movie when it first came out. I've always enjoyed Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer, but wondered what this movie was all about. I was pleasently surprised, as it was far better than I thought it would be, and I didn't anticipate the twists and turns.

Harrison and Michelle play Norman and Claire Spencer, a happily married couple who are adjusting to their new positions in life. Their daughter has just gone off to college, and they are now pseudo empty nesters. While Norman still has his work as a college professor, Claire finds herself a bit bored. Their new next door neighbors have become an object of fascination, as they have passionate fights and reconciliation. Clarie eventually becomes convinced that the husband murdered his wife when she sees some strange things in the middle of the night. After attempting to contact spirits on the Ouija board and some odd goings on here and there, Claire becomes convinced that the wife's ghost is trying to communicate with her. When she confronts the neighbor, he explains, once his wife appears at his side, that he didn't kill his wife. Embarrassed, Claire leaves with her tail between her legs, thinking it's just some paranoid fantasy.

But there really is a spirit trying to connect with her, just one not in association with the neighbors. It's of a university student who disappeared last year named Madison. Who Norman had an affair with. Who Claire walked in on, ran away in shock, had a car accident, bumped her head, and forgot about.

It's a juicy tale, to be sure. It's a good, old school kind of thriller, without blood and guts, and keeps the suspense going until the very end. A good movie to rent some night when you want some lite entertainment and a little horror mixed in.

Great movie.......2007-04-30

This movie has a little bit
of everything and it is very
entertaining. So enjoy this
one with friends and family.
I recommend this one.

A gripping supernatural thriller!.......2007-04-28

I never expected to see Harrison Ford & Michelle Pfeiffer in a supernatural themed story, but What Lies Beneath was a pleasant surprise...Ford plays Norman Spencer, a scientist married to Claire [Pfeiffer] who gave up a promising career as a cellist to be a supportive wife & mother. Claire is experiencing the empty nest syndrome after sending off her daughter to college. Norman & Claire's idyllic life in their beautiful lakeshore Vermont home is shattered by Claire's visions of an entity, and Norman's callous dismissal of her visions only strengthens Claire's resolve to get to the bottom of the matter. The rest of the story revolves around Claire's investigative efforts that takes a supernatural twist when she tries unconventional methods to commmunicate with the spirit...and finds a shocking revelation thathas to do with the mysterious disappearance of a beautiful college student. The truth indeed does lie beneath the surface, and you will have a great time unearthing the mystery with Claire!

A good sleeping aid........2007-04-20

The movie moves very slow at the beginning (and by "beginning", I mean the first 3/4 of the film). Some "surprise" plot twists keep you interested, only to let you down again.

At best, a renter. But only if you have nothing better to watch.

Great!.......2007-03-11

Received in good condition and on time. Great price. This was a gift. No problems that we know of.

Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)

Average customer rating:

As the Decades Pass
very, very good
Interesting premise, pretty decent film
Nothing here is convincing or engaging
More to the picture than meets the eye

Where the Truth Lies (Unrated Theatrical Edition)
Starring: Kevin Bacon , Colin Firth , Alison Lohman , David Hayman , and Rachel Blanchard
Director: Atom Egoyan
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000DZ8540
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Amazon.com

Director Atom Egoyan's 2005 film Where the Truth Lies is laden with nudity, sex, violence, lies, blackmail, betrayal… and really, what more could you want? Other than some genuine tension, a more compelling story, and better acting, that is. In adapting Rupert Holmes' novel, the Cairo-born Egoyan (Ararat, Exotica, The Sweet Hereafter) has taken on a murder mystery with film noir elements that will leave many viewers wondering exactly "whodunit" until the final few scenes; and while that's surely a good thing, the ride itself simply isn't all that scintillating. Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth star as a (Dean) Martin & (Jerry) Lewis-style team whose principal talents seem to consist mainly of pill-popping, soulless sex with a stream of nubile young women, and hosting an annual polio telethon. Fifteen years after their '50s heyday, journalist Karen O'Connor (Alison Lohman), who appeared on the telethon as a child, seeks out the pair to determine why they split up and, not coincidentally, what really happened to the dead girl with whom they had dallied the night before. Bacon is reasonably unctuous as the leering Lanny Morris; but Firth is uninspired as the more elusive Vince Collins, and although Lohman is game, she sometimes seems out of her depth in a role that calls for her to both seduce and be seduced, to manipulate and be manipulated. Egoyan, who also wrote the screenplay, has an eye for odd little details (much is made of Pan Am's first class dinner service, for instance) and an ear for great music (the soundtrack includes tunes by Charles Mingus, Louis Prima, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Funkadelic) and good dialogue ("Having to be a nice guy is the toughest job in the world when you're not"). But the film is curiously tepid; the sex is unconvincing, the mystery lacks a sense of danger, and the resolution is hardly shocking. One wishes that, having dipped into this genre, Egoyan had gone all out and made a film as delightfully sleazy as, say, Basic Instinct. --Sam Graham

Amazon.com

Starring Kevin Bacon (Beauty Shop, Mystic River), Colin Firth (Love Actually, Bridget Jones's Diary) and Alison Lohman (Big Fish, Matchstick Men), Where the Truth Lies is a suspenseful mystery from acclaimed director Atom Egoyan. In the '50s, Vince Collins (Firth) and Lanny Morris (Bacon) are the hottest showbiz duo in America. The combination of Lanny's brash American style and Vince's biting British wit is irresistible, especially to beautiful women. When a beautiful young woman, Maureen (Rachel Blanchard) is found dead in the bathtub of the duo's suite, their glittery world begins to crumble. They have rock solid alibis and are exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing; however, the scandal causes the once inseparable pair to part company. Fifteen years later, Karen O'Connor (Lohman), a young and ambitious journalist, is determined to uncover the secrets of the two men who, coincidentally, touched her life when she was a child. She persuades a publisher to offer a guarded Vince Collins one million dollars to collaborate with her on writing the untold story of his life with Lanny Morris. There is one condition: the truth must be told about the scandal that destroyed the duo. What really happened the night Maureen died? As Karen continues to search for many different truths-the truth about Vince and Lanny, the truth about Maureen's death, and even suppressed truths about herself- she becomes embroiled in a tense and bewildering game of cat-and-mouse.

Customer Reviews:

As the Decades Pass.......2007-04-20

Interesting adaptation of songwriter Rupert Holmes' celebrated thriller is no masterpiece, but it's continually involving and takes the career of Canadian auteur Atom Egoyan to places he's never been before. While his bid for mainstream commercial success may have stiffed at the box office, on DVD the movie may have a new life as people start watching a picture that will reward them for their patience. Anyone adapting Holmes' novel would first off have been challenged by its timeline, for the two main male characters must age dramatically so you have to hire actors who might clean up enough to look sort of young in the earlier scenes, and not too vain to forgo aging makeup for the present-day scenes. Bacon and Firth do well, though Firth's aging makeup makes him look totally gross, while Kevin Bacon looks more or less the same except with rooster-red Rod Stewart hair, giving him a strange resemblance to Gary Oldman playing Sid Vicious in SID AND NANCY. But why on earth hire Alison Lohman to play O'Connor? (We remember in the book how we never find out O'Connor's first name, just her first initial. Here that game is sacrificed right away in the service of naturalism.) O'Connor's supposed to be young, but not that young; she's old enough to have established herself as an up and coming name in "New Journalism," while Alison Lohman still looks like she's being passed around from foster family to foster family in WHITE OLEANDER. She doesn't seem to have the journalistic savvy O'Connor is said to have had before falling for Lanny Morris, so that when she throws away her objectivity it hardly seems shocking any more, she's just doing what any lovestruck teen might do.

If you can't figure out who committed the murder within forty-five minutes into the picture, it's because you, poor thing, have never seen any movies. Here's what you should do, don't start with this one, try RASHOMON or CITIZEN KANE or WINTER LIGHT, but after those chart topper you might try this one again. Egoyan's trademark suburban acuity, and his mastery of pathos and atmosphere, have rarely been so exercised. On the DVD there's an unusual featurette on the making of WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, that is so not your ordinary "Making Of" featurette, that it should get some sort of award for "most moody."

very, very good.......2007-04-18

After reading all the reviews for this movie, I was not sure I really wanted to see it, even though I am a insatiable Colin Firth fan and cannot get enough of him. But I decided to risk it, and I am SO very glad that I did! This movie was so good! It was a very intriguing story, great acting, it held my rapt interest from beginning to end. I am not a huge Kevin Bacon fan, but he was incredible in this part, and, I may have to further investigate other things he has done. And of course, as usual, Colin Firth is extraordinary. The only negative thing I have to say is that the part of Karen O'Connor could have been better cast, I felt like Alison Lohman was playing a part in a school play, yeah, she's beautiful, but not up to the part of the journalist she played. That was a bit disappointing, but not disappointing enough for me to dislike this film. When I got the dvd and saw that it have been given "two thumbs up" by Ebert and Roeper, I knew I had a winner, as I rarely disagree with Roger Ebert. Its a great film, high underrated, IMHO.

Interesting premise, pretty decent film.......2007-02-13

This is a fairly complex mystery, wherein a young, pretty journalist (Alison Lohman) attempts to unravel the truth behind a fifteen-year old murder of a young woman while she gathers research for a biography she is writing. Much of the film is told in flashbacks, alternating between the present (1972) and the time of the murder (1957). The journalist, Karen, is obsessed with solving this crime because her life was changed in 1957 upon meeting the two men intrinsically linked to the murder, Vince and Lanny. At the time, she was ten years old and recovering from polio, a disease for which Vince and Lanny had been hosting a fund-raising telethon. The two men, played by Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon, are a fictitious comedy duo not unlike Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. They have never been charged with the crime because there isn't any concrete evidence against them. Karen knows that, unless she cracks the mystery herself, the murder will remain unsolved because it occurred at a time when justice still had 20/20 vision. As I watched the film, I could not extricate it from its novelist, Rupert Holmes, and kept drifting back to "The Piña Colada Song" and "Him." To me, the film eventually became the story behind a whimsical Holmes song and, consequently, much less intense. Or perhaps, without the distraction of this song filter, the film really isn't very dramatic, which would be a shame because a murder mystery really should be dramatic and suspenseful. Nonetheless, this film is worth watching because it is at least entertaining throughout and because Alison Lohman is so darn cute; as the saying goes, I would watch her read a phone book and she is worth at least an extra ½ star here. Kristin Adams and Sonja Bennett provide some added attractions as well. This movie is slightly above average and I recommend it, at least to liberally-minded adults. It is rife with sex, nudity, language and violence, which will likely offend the more conservative viewers. As one would expect from an official studio release, the DVD transfer is very good and there are subtitle options in addition to deleted scenes.

Nothing here is convincing or engaging.......2007-01-04

I didn't think it was possible to make a movie as bad as this with Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon in major roles. It's really poor. Really. Partly it's the plot -- so much is unbelievable, from Collins' reason for blackmailing O'Connor, to O'Connor's ability to solve the entire mystery after 15 years on the basis of a couple of casual words from Morris. But mostly it's the fact that none of the main characters is remotely convincing or engaging. Lohman is entirely out of her depth, and though Bacon and Firth are competent they're uninspiring. And the pivotal sex scene, which I suppose I shouldn't detail in case I give away the plot, is completely flat. And... well, enough. My advice is, don't bother.

More to the picture than meets the eye.......2006-11-01

Not one of Egoyan's best due to miscasting. Allison Lohman is unconvincing as a reporter doing a "where are they now" piece on a Martin and Lewis-like comedy duo, played flatly by Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. Supposedly Lohman's character has been a fan of the duo since her childhood appearance on their polio telethon, but there's little in her performance (verbally or nonverbally) that shows why she's willing to go to such lengths to get her story, which evolves into a sleazier version of a Mary Higgins Clark murder mystery:

Years ago, a beautiful woman, who both men were trying to attain, was found in the duo's hotel room. Though the two were never charged, the death was the downfall of their careers. The murderer was never caught.

The film has the usual Egoyan look, and a lot of the dialogue would crackle if the actors seemed to be behind the material. Unfortunately, it seems as if Egoyan took all of the Lewis and Martin humor from Firth and Bacon and saved it for the film's droll punchline.

Average customer rating:

EXCELLENT FILM! DON'T MISS IT!
What a crime !
11:14
Top Notch Filmmaking
Entertaining, But Trite

11:14
Starring: Henry Thomas , Blake Heron , Barbara Hershey , Clark Gregg , and Hilary Swank
Director: Greg Marcks
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000ALM40I
Release Date: 2005-10-11

Amazon.com

How is it possible that 11:14 went virtually unreleased in theaters? After modest film-festival exposure, it played briefly in San Francisco in August 2005 (over two years after it was completed), but that's a cruel twist of fate for such a cleverly twisted movie about cruel twists of fate. Destined for sleeper status on DVD (and given a slightly higher profile by Hilary Swank's subsequent Oscar-winning performance in Million Dollar Baby), the audacious debut of writer-director Greg Marcks boasts a fantastic cast in a smartly constructed comedy/thriller, partly inspired by Blood Simple, in which a fatal traffic accident is examined and re-examined from multiple perspectives. The flashback structure involves all of the characters and events that lead up to the accident's deadly occurrence at 11:14 on an otherwise pleasant evening in Middleton, a typical suburb of Anytown, USA (filmed in the vicinity of Los Angeles). Marcks's screenplay attracted an impressive ensemble cast (costar Swank also signed on as an executive producer), and they're all given equal time as the intertwined plots are revealed. They include Rachael Leigh Cook (whose bad-girl behavior sets the chain of events in motion); Patrick Swayze and Barbara Hershey as her worried parents; Swank and Shawn Hatosy as would-be criminals with a dimwit plan; Henry Thomas as a drunk driver whose involvement is deeper than we realize; and Colin Hanks as one of three teenage vandals on a fast track to trouble. With falling corpses, graveyard sex, reckless gunplay, and a severed penis, it's all in good, grisly fun (apart from intricate plotting, Marcks has no lofty agenda up his sleeve), and there's ultimately not much point to its random misfortune, but 11:14 is clearly the work of a promising filmmaker, worthy of rediscovery on DVD. Bonus features include Marcks's intelligent commentary, a standard behind-the-scenes featurette, and a useful "character jump" feature allowing viewers to choose a plot trajectory whenever one character encounters another. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Tells the seemingly random yet vitally connected story of a set of incidents that all converge one evening at 11:14pm. The lives of many cross at this one point in time which shall have life-altering effects.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Filmmaker Commentary with Director Greg Marcks
Deleted Scenes
Featurette:46 Minutes to Midnite
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

EXCELLENT FILM! DON'T MISS IT!.......2007-06-25

This is a really cool movie. If you liked Crash or even Pulp Fiction you will really like this little known film. One of the best I've seen in a while.

What a crime !.......2007-06-25

...that this fantastic film seemed to slip under the radar.
It has a great cast, impressive direction and a story that "knocks it out of the ball park." This also happens to be one of those films that not only impresses, but, it also happens to be a lot of fun....even after repeated viewings.
If you enjoy well written and well performed movies, and ones that have an edge as well as a gimmick that doesn't come off as pretentious, then I would strongly recommend watching 11:14.

11:14.......2007-04-11

I find this a well put together flick. there are parts that remind me of my past, a fast thrill, a fast buck and covering up for mistakes made.

Top Notch Filmmaking .......2007-03-14

I got this movie, not expecting much, other than a great performance from the always great Hillary Swank. I set the bar too low. This is a gripping, tense and completely engrossing film. Similar to "Crash" in some respects, but "11:14" is a much better film, in my opinion. Swank, Cook, Thomas, Hershey & Gregg are all at the top of there game in this 90 minute puzzler. You will not be able to turn away....Which is good....If you do, you will miss something. Great film. Highly recommended !!! 5 Stars.

Entertaining, But Trite.......2007-01-29

This was an interesting, entertaining film as far as gimmicks go, but in the end it left me unsatisfied.

Like a lot of movies today, the premise revolves around a series of seemingly random stories that all intersect. In this one, the lives of several people in a small town all come together at exactly 11:14. Throughout the 90 minute movie you see the story of half a dozen characters (Henry Thomas, a group of boys, Patrick Swayze, Hillary Swank, Shawn Hatosy, Rachel Leigh Cook). As the movie progresses, you begin to see how all the stories come together, but it's not until the last minute of the film that you can see the entire picture.

It's an interesting way to make a movie, and it certainly keeps you guessing until the end, the problem is that a lot of films today are using this gimmick of intersecting story lines, and this is far from the best. The acting from several of the characters is poor, and in the end the stories leave you wanting more of a resolution--you know what happens to everyone at 11:14, but what happens after?

Average customer rating:

Golden performance collectively. Leigh's genius shines.
true gem on family relations
Secrets and Lies.
superb acting
Wonderful movie

Secrets and Lies
Starring: Timothy Spall , Phyllis Logan , Brenda Blethyn , Claire Rushbrook , and Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Director: Mike Leigh
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B0006HBZD8
Release Date: 2005-02-01

Amazon.com

If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explain him as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leigh's films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish, and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allen's work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mother's identity. She will find it's Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures we've seen in film. She's also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most lovable. Timothy Spall is Cynthia's brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan).

There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme D'Or and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leigh's honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, see Secrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas

Description

After her adoptive parents die, a young black woman seeks out her natural birth mother, only to discover her mother is white, thus setting in motion the revelation of a whole series of secrets and lies.

Customer Reviews:

Golden performance collectively. Leigh's genius shines........2007-03-29

With regards to it's level of poignancy and bittersweetness this film rates with Mike Leigh's other film "Career Girls".
In terms of acting ability EVERYONE in this film, even the cute dog who poses for the camera, gives the performance of their lives and should've received awards. Few films leave me trembling with emotion but also loving all the characters. Timothy Spall's performance is just TOTALLY beyond explanation. I just loved his line "That's life isn't it? Somebody always has to draw the short straw" when he was speaking to the young lady with a facial scar. The power behind that line really got me thinking.
In the end basically we ALL draw the short straw although we might get there by different means.
Brenda Blethyn must've been an emotional wreck after this film similar to the character she plays. How she kept up constant weeping baffles me.
Marianne Jean -Baptiste is just beautiful. What a stunning, multi-talented actress.
Claire Rushbrook's character reminds me of so many characters i knew back in London. Good , honest hearted people, slightly near the edge but then we ALL are near the edge in truth.
A more candid look at life could not be put on film but then this is what Mike Leigh excels in.
Leigh's criticised sometimes for making his scenes dismal (although it's sunny throughout this one) and his characters wretched, beyond salvation and to be pitied but far from it. After all what he unearths is the truth that exists in families, the skeletons in the closets.
If this film had been done in Hollywood it would never have the same impact.
It's a petty argument indeed but some folk have suggested that Marianne Jean-Baptistes character is too dark skinned for her considered being of mixed parentage. I can tell them otherwise. It CAN occur on rare occasions and i have firsthand proof of this. Genetics is something we still don't have full control over, thankfully.
Forget analysing this film in detail and just enjoy a collective solid gold standard of performance.

true gem on family relations.......2007-02-21

I remember my wife renting this film years ago when it first came out, and loving it for its very realistic portrayal of a family not in crisis but in a kind of bad equilibrium of recrimination and misunderstanding. Well, I just saw it agian and it met the test: I was moved all over again, I laughed at the wonderful dialogue ("you been sittin there for two months with a face like a slapped a**") and acting, and found the resolution realistic. This is a truly wonderful film. At the center of a film is a brave young black woman searching for her birth mother. She meets her uncle, who is a truly courageous yet completely mundane man to all appearences.

Warmly recommended.

Secrets and Lies........2007-02-19

This movie is brilliant and Brenda Blethyn gives the best performance ever. The film was made without a set script and is a testament to the talent of the actors.

superb acting.......2007-01-19

A heart warming look at very personal issues that affect the actions of certain individuals. Inspiration to be more open with loved ones.

Wonderful movie.......2007-01-09

Has wonderful humor and drama. It deserved the Oscar attention it got in it's day.

Average customer rating:

Liar Liar (HD DVD) Review by Justin Sluss

Liar Liar [HD DVD]
Starring: Jason Bernard , Jim Carrey , Randall "Tex" Cobb , Amanda Donohoe , and Cary Elwes
Director: Tom Shadyac
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000OHZL30
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

In this uproarious hit from the director and producers of The Nutty Professor, comic genius Jim Carrey stars as a fast-talking attorney and habitual liar who, forced by his son's birthday wish, must tell the truth for the next 24 hours. Co-starring Jennifer Tilly, Swoosie Kurtz and Amanda Donohoe. Siskel & Ebert give Liar Liar "Two thumbs up!"

Customer Reviews:

Liar Liar (HD DVD) Review by Justin Sluss.......2007-06-21

The Movie Itself tells the story of how one smooth talking, habitual liar of an attorney "Fletcher Reede" (played by Jim Carey) is forced by his son's birthday wish to have to tell the truth for the next 24 hours. From the second his son "Max" (played by Justin Cooper) blows out his birthday candles until that exact time the next day "Fletcher" (a shady lawyer) is in for 24 hours of telling "the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

This movie for it's time was a huge hit and allowed star Jim Carey to portray a character that looked normal (meaning not have to wear a wig, make-up, etc.) but still allowed him to be able to do his crazy spontaneous comedy type of acting at the same time. This film is not only hilarious and one that is sure to make you laugh but it's also kind of touching the story between the father, son. Obviously not as much so as just downright how funny Jim Carey is in this film. Even with all the other ratings considered this is still a film worth checking out if you have never seen it.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p VC-1 on a 15 gigabyte HD DVD disc. To be a film from 1997 and only on a HD-15 (15gb HD DVD) the video quality here looks really good I think over the original DVD. I for one owned the original `97 DVD release which was actually a 4:3 Fullscreen version, so for me this is almost like night and day but still it's nothing worthy of a 5 star rating. Honestly at times I have to say this is almost just as good as the video transfer for "Bruce Almighty", the other Jim Carey film released the same day on HD DVD. There is some obvious film grain in a few scenes that just hasn't been cleaned up. This translates into some very noticeable film noise in the video presentation from time to time. This is I guess to be expected from a 1997 release like this but I'd have to say the video transfer is an improvement overall and very watchable.

Audio Quality on this release is in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 @ 1.5Mbps which is an improvement over the original DVD releases' Dolby Digital tracks but still nothing that amazing. It gets 3 stars for being an improvement over the original DVD and really that is why it gets this audio quality rating. The film is primarily dialog driven anyway so it really doesn't matter too much about an improvement in audio quality here. This film is mostly about Jim Carey's character and his hilarious dialog he dishes out once his son has makes the birthday wish. You're most likely going to be laughing so hard at some points I doubt you'll hear too much of the movie's sound over yourself.

Bonus Materials appear to be nothing more than the latest DVD release's ("Collector's Edition") bonus materials ported over and presented in 4:3 standard definition. Really disappointing as you'd expect but let's begin with what all you'll find here. First off there's audio Commentary by Director Tom Shadyac. "Bridging the Comedy Chasm" (16 minutes) starts off to appear to be nothing more than Jim Carey goofing off but soon we get interviews not only from him but also the producer, Director Tom Shadyac and other cast members like the young Justin Cooper. This proves to really showcase Jim obviously more than anybody but it still is worth watching and has some laughs. "Deleted Scene" (4 minutes) is just what you'd expect. Only one deleted scene here obviously but it's a good one if I say so myself. It shows "Fletcher Reede" in a court case (which would have been shown probably near or at the beginning of the film if it had not been deleted) defending this big neanderthal of a criminal against this little old man in a neck brace. It's "Fletcher" at his finest when he could lie. This scene honestly shouldn't have been deleted if you ask me. It's worth 4 minutes of pure laughter, I think anyway. Last we get a very horrible quality (for both video and sound) version of the original Theatrical Trailer to the film. These bonus materials are nothing short of really disappointing as I started this off saying. The only reason this got as high of a rating as it did for bonus materials is the fact Universal not only includes bookmarks now but the ability to make In and Out's to your favorite scenes. If it were not for that, this would have been rated probably 1 or 1 1/2 stars.

-- Review written by Justin Sluss

Average customer rating:

A couple of days with a liar
Investigating the Investigative Journalist
A Brilliant Movie
SERIAL LIAR
He Should Have Been a Novelist

Shattered Glass
Starring: Hayden Christensen , Peter Sarsgaard , Chloë Sevigny , Rosario Dawson , and Melanie Lynskey
Director: Billy Ray
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
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ASIN: B0001907AI
Release Date: 2004-03-23

Amazon.com

Shattered Glass is the best film about journalism since All the President's Men. If that seems like lofty praise, consider this: In telling the true story of fallen journalist and pathological liar Stephen Glass, writer-director Billy Ray had to thoroughly and believably demonstrate how Glass--played in a pitch-perfect performance by Hayden Christensen--could single-handedly betray the trust of vigilant editors, writers, fact-checkers, and copyeditors while he falsified numerous highly praised articles as a hot, seemingly gifted reporter for The New Republic magazine in the late 1990s. Making an assured directorial debut, Ray brilliantly explores the delicate office politics that allowed for Glass's ongoing deception, which was diligently exposed by a reporter (Steve Zahn) from Forbes Online Tool, thus toppling Glass's tower of lies and setting a noble precedent for online journalism. From Glass's ingratiating psychopathology to the anguish of TNR's then-unpopular editor (Peter Sarsgaard) as he discovers the extent of Glass's wrongdoing, Shattered Glass is a riveting, perfectly cast study of ambition gone sour, countered by the nobility of respectable journalists in the wake of a worst-case scenario. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A couple of days with a liar.......2007-06-27

I have showed this movie to two of my high school classes for several years now, and they are riveted to it. It provides a little bit of real-life journalism, but basically includes what not to do. It serves as a nice springboard to several ethical issues discussions. The 60 Minutes interview afterwards is a nice feature, too.

Investigating the Investigative Journalist.......2007-06-17

This is an absorbing account of how a failure of journalistic ethics at "The New Republic" magazine was uncovered. It is like a serious version of "The Office," with a number of people eventually reaching beyond their individual workspace cubicles to collaborate on finding out whether the fascinating stories that Stephen Glass submitted to the magazine were fact or merely fictions he invented to advance his career as a writer.

There is a lot of suspense in this movie. Like me, you may find yourself holding your breath, waiting to see if a given website that Glass cites as a reference to substantiate the factuality of his story - actually exists. And in those tense moments, you are not sure what you are hoping, where your sympathies should lie. The times you cheated on school exams or failed to report something on your income tax form may flash through your mind.

So the film centers on detective work, but not the kind of detective work that Sherlock Holmes would readily recognize. It involves tracking elusive sources through cyberspace, through re-routed and hand-off websites, through drop-box email addresses.

The presumption is that if Glass' stories are fictitious, he has committed the ultimate journalistic transgression. The viewer is left with no alternative but to agree with that strict standard. But the movie might have left just the least little bit of wiggle-space for an advocate of leniency. After all, ""The New Republic" is a magazine of feature stories written from a definite personal point of view. It does not deal in hard news.

An acquaintance of mine once posed as a French woman to entice a man she was interested in. She plowed through the deception with such saucy aplomb that at the end of the date, the man winked and said, "If you aren't French, you should be." Although ultimately I suppose we do have to enforce strict standards of veracity in journalism - it's just that wink I miss in this movie.

A Brilliant Movie .......2007-04-09

I just finished watching this movie for what has to be the 10th time and I'm sttill blown away by it. The power of the film is based in how much you want to like Stephen Glass played by Hayden Christiansen. The desperation and intensity of the performance is a wonder. In fact, the entire cast is a joy to watch from Stephen Zahn finally revealing himself as something other than a nerd to Hak Azaria being serious to Sargaard stepping forward and out of the shadow of his sidekick character status.

As a study of codependency gone over the edge, this film is incredible and even the score offers a unique combination of range and consistency.

The DVD also offers commentary by the director and Chuck Lane, the TNR editor who along with Forbes exposed Glass. The commentary allows this movie to step beyond Hollywood history to being actual history.

On a final note, it's interesting that Tom Cruise is an executive producer of this film. Whatever his beliefs and personal life, as an executive producer he had a hand in bringing this brilliant film to the screen and it is for contributions like this, as much as his acting, he deserves consideration.

SERIAL LIAR.......2007-04-08

SHATTERED GLASS was the first movie written and directed by Billy Ray, a screenwriter who wrote or co-wrote, among others, the screenplay of Flightplan (Widescreen Edition) and Suspect Zero (Widescreen Edition). As though SHATTERED GLASS is based on a true story, the movie is more the portrait of a man than the account of a [...] that shook the small world of journalism.

SHATTERED GLASS is told in a flashback mode by Stephen Glass, the journalist a la mode in 1998. Stephen explains to a class of students how to write a good article. As we watch on the screen the events described by Stephen Glass, the director squeezes, at first discreetly, but then more and more often, the film of what had really happened to Stephen Glass. The split between these two narrations creates a discomfort in the viewer's mind as we start to understand that Stephen Glass could be a mythomaniac. And, thanks to the performance of Hayden Christensen and the director's vision, we will never know, or rather want to know, whether Stephen Glass was a brilliant crook or simply a sly psychopath who managed to cheat on dozens of so-called professionals.

A DVD zone who cares if it's real or not.

He Should Have Been a Novelist.......2007-03-04

Stephen Glass was an up-and-coming journalist who created this world of fiction in the articles that he wrote for The New Republic. He was an aspiring journalist who wanted too much too soon. What got him in trouble was the final article on a hacker's convention. There was no convention and there is no possible way that hackers are going to congregate in public for a convention!
We see Stephen as outgoing and cordial. He is full of life talking to his colleagues about what he's doing. However, a new editor steps in and finds that something isn't right about the stories that Glass writes and gets to the bottom of things which causes Stephen to crack. When he is finally exposed for the person he is, there is resentment.
Stephen Glass has left some bitterness among his former friends and colleagues. He is no longer in the journalism field but it hasn't stopped him from writing a fictional novel The Fabulist. He was better off writing fiction than covering stories.
Then again, journalism hasn't always been about the truth. There has been and still is libel and slander. News publications get sued or even shut down because of false allegations and plagiarism.
I learned that Glass was a fact checker for Ruth Shalit who was exposed for plagiarismm at The New Republic. This is a classic case of the blind leading the blind.
Whatever Stephen Glass is doing for himself, I hope he just don't mess it up again!

Average customer rating:

Love the nightmare
Dense plotline, pretty interesting approach
Interesting
Potent
James Spader Best Actor??

sex, lies, and videotape
Starring: James Spader , Andie MacDowell , Peter Gallagher , Laura San Giacomo , and Ron Vawter
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: 0767812158
Release Date: 1998-10-07

Amazon.com essential video

Winner of the Palm d'Or and Best Actor awards at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, sex, lies, and videotape transformed the independent film industry and turned writer-director Steven Soderbergh into the envy of aspiring filmmakers everywhere. Sly, seductive, and coolly intelligent, the movie explores the sexual shenanigans and personal preoccupations of its four central characters, revolving around a selfish lawyer (Peter Gallagher) who responds to his wife by having an affair with her free-spirited sister (Laura San Giacomo). But when the lawyer's college roommate (James Spader) arrives for an unexpectedly extended visit, the neglected wife (Andie MacDowell) is surprisingly responsive to his seductive hobby of videotaping women as they describe their sexual fantasies. It's his way of compensating for impotence, but the curious wife considers this a sexual challenge, and Soderbergh turns sex, lies, and videotape into a fascinating chamber piece that puts a decidedly different spin on the consequences of infidelity. Balanced on a risky and finely tuned performance by Spader, the film delivers frisky passion and emotional intrigue, and yet much of its allure is found in the exchange of secrets and the hidden mysteries of sexual desire. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

Customer Reviews:

Love the nightmare.......2007-06-26

Claustrophobic, dyspeptic and pathological, sex, lies and videotape revisits the insalubrious Freudian vertigo first visited upon the public with Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Tormented, arrrogant, self-destructive Spader made his case as Gen X's Richard Burton with this, then Crash. Unlike the Great Drunken One, however, it's Spader's feminine facial features (prominently displayed here) that gives the plot thrust it's disarming realism. Of course, Andie MacDowell kicks off proceedings in therapy, where her professional medicine man fails to get her talking about ... sex. Soderbergh is a clever lad - notice MacDowell mimicking Spader's black top and blue jeans near the close. Queasily perfect -

EXCEPT the final scene. What's up with the happy ending? I LIVED this movie and, let me assure you, there is NO happy ending to this stuff.

Dense plotline, pretty interesting approach .......2006-11-11

This movie was very erotic without being truely graphic. It was a new approach for it's time. James Spader was very good (best actor though?), and Andie Mcdowell played the neurotic housewife well. Based in New Orleans, Mcdowell finds herself in therapy and in a loveless marriage, while her husband is confirming her suspiciouns of an affair. Then, a stranger comes to town from her husband's past and turns her life upside down. The pace is slow at times, but it pulls you through just fine. The ending was lackluster, but they had to end it somehow. If you like darker movies, with a little dark humor, then this is worth a watch for you.

Interesting.......2006-06-20

I already knew Steven Soderbergh was a talented director, but I'd never seen a film that he had written. This movie, his first, is written and directed by the Oscar winner (Best Director, 'Traffic') and it's one of my favorite movies by him. I think it's better than both Traffic and Erin Brockovich. The only Soderbergh film I've seen that I like more is Out of Sight. This movie is funny, interesting, intriguing, and very entertaining. I thought there was one downside to the movie...No nudity. The whole time I was watching this movie, everytime Laura San Giacomo was onscreen I was thinking "Take off your shirt." But, I'm getting ahead of myself. The movie stars Peter Gallagher ("American Beauty") and Andie McDowell ("Michael") as a married couple John and Ann. Ann is a stay at home wife, who secretly attends therapy sessions where she confesses her relationship with John isn't much and that they don't have sex. Meanwhile, John (a lawyer) is having sex with Ann's sister Cynthia (Giacomo). At the same time, an old friend of John's named Graham (James Spader in one of his best performances) arrives at their house to stay for a few days until he gets on his feet. Ann is drawn to Graham and finds him interesting, but her opinion is changed when she finds out that Graham interviews woman and asks them personal questions about their sex lives while filming the entire thing. After hearing about this, however, Cynthia takes an interest in Graham. It's basically just one big love triangle. But, this movie is truly a fantastic and extremely interesting film. Soderbergh brings up really interesting points about everything from love to sex to marriage to impotency. The score by Cliff Martinez also helps to move the film along perfectly.

GRADE: A-

Potent.......2006-04-24

It's remarkable that this movie is more than a decade old and yet, its story is still as relevant and potent as nowadays. With a shoestring budget and with a basic premise of analysing the dynamics of a relationship between four persons, this movie captives my imagination from beginning till the end. The title itself can be misleading. Whilst from the outset, it's literally sex, lies and videotapes but without those issues, there wouldn't be the much needed honesty, transparency and communication that facilitate a satisfying resolve for all parties that are concerned. An intelligent movie indeed. Highly recommended. No extras in the DVD other than the set-ups.

James Spader Best Actor??.......2006-03-16

The movie was good but i dont know how james spader got best actor for it..dont get me wrong he was good in it, but i guess the rest of the nomminees really sucked..i like james spader and this was one of the only things ive seen him in, besides boston legal, and the last season of the practice.. worth the money i spent on it..recommended for fans of james spader..

Average customer rating:

..enjoyable sensual drama..
Power as Aphrodisiac
well done if un petite french
bad drama clothed in shabby eroticism
It's O.K.

Secret Things
Starring: Aude Breusse , Blandine Bury , Patricia Candido Trinca , Lydia Chopart , and Alain Couesnon
Manufacturer: First Run Features
ProductGroup: DVD
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9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
Lie With Me
Devil in the Flesh
Frivolous Lola
Intimacy (Unrated, Widescreen Edition)

ASIN: B0002ZDWVM
Release Date: 2004-11-23

Description

Two young women discover the power of sex to get what theywant in the male-dominated business world. Nathalie, a performance artist-stripper, instructs her new friend, the beautiful but inexperienced Sandrine, on the art of seduction. Without delay they put their skills to the test at a Parisian bank, where both rise to the top. But they meet their match in the ruthless son of the bank's president -- a vain, unbridled, power-hungry monster.

Customer Reviews:

..enjoyable sensual drama.........2007-04-15

I bought this looking for some decently explicit lesbian movies and in many ways I found this to be quite enjoyable, a believable, well acted story line with some srong characters...

The story revolves around 2 young women one sexually experienced and confident the other shy and innocent... how they use their sexuality to manipulate men... all works well but soon things turn ugly for both... there is a fair amount of nudity and lesbian sex scenes which fit in well with the story... as usual the lighting, camera angles and distance from the subject make it a little less graphic than it could have been... all in all it was enjoyable.

Power as Aphrodisiac.......2007-03-10

The anthropologist Jules Henry once wrote that "men compete for power; women compete for men." Okay, it's kind of simple minded, but this movie neatly illustrates the point Henry was trying to make. Two women, Sandrine and Nathalie, meet by accident and begin an affair. Nathalie, the older and more experienced of the two, teaches Sandrine how to seduce her way up the corporate ladder, including instructions on how to improve your fake orgasms. Treat them nice and then dump them for someone better, but do it subtly.

The first guy at this huge corporation is nothing more than target practice for Sandrine. She works through him to get at the next guy in the bigger office, a happily married winsome man with a face that has all the sympathetic appeal of road kill. Sandrine, following Nathalie's instructions, works overtime at the office and spurns all hits until one night she allows the 47-year-old boss in the bigger office to catch her in a do-it-yourself mode. The older man, Delacroix, whom I'd supposed to be dead since 1863, begins a passionate affair with the delectable young Sandrine. She teases and taunts him and makes him feel vigorous again. He can't do without her. Then after tricking him into visiting her unannounced at her home, she lets him wander in on her and Nathalie while they are making love. Only in a French movie would his first question be, "Are you in love with her"? No bothering with the fact that he's just surprised two lesbians at work in front of him. That is what we blue-blooded church-goers call "sang-fr