Black Christmas (1974)

Starring:Syd Brown, Leslie Carlson, Marcia Diamond, Keir Dullea, James Edmond, Martha Gibson (II), Lynne Griffin, Art Hindle, Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Doug McGrath, Michael Rapport, Les Rubie, John Rutter, John Saxon, Jack Van Evera, Marian Waldman, Robert Warner
Studio: Eclectic DVD Dist.
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to "reach out" and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal--she's a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with--and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold's outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who's grown immune to her strange son's antics. Gradually, however, the film's clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won't appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you're on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you've ever seen. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

one more person willing to love this film.......2007-06-27

Ok, so like 272 people have had wonderful things to say about this film and what more could I possibly add to the discussion? This movie has over the years fed my soul and "reason to be". It is a beautiful reminder that after all the education and family and work stuff there are still other reasons to remain here. To choose to live. As imperfect as it all is. As sad as our mortality can make us. Life has an aspect to it that is so rich, so lovely, so enchanting, so alluring, that, provided we are capable to slowing down long enough to take a good look at it, can be loved and embraced and followed, like a moth following a candle. Finding yourself wasn't just a sixties slogan, it had to do with letting go of those things we think are important, so that we might truly begin to embrace those things that are essential to happines and to life. Harold and Maude is about all that and more. And as Forest Gump once said, "That's all I have to say about that."

Best movie ever........2007-06-24

The more I watch this film the better it gets, so many subtleties. I bought a copy for my brother to show it to his teenage kids.

TOP 100 MOVIES OF DANY LYNEN.......2007-06-23

THIS MOVIE IS HEART MOVING, AND TEACHES A VALUBLE LESSON IN THE GAME OF LIFE!

"Harold and Maude, a Cerebral Love Affair" .......2007-06-11

This is a terrific movie and has been one of my favorites since I first saw it on VHS late last century. Now it is available upon DVD which means it has a very good quality picture reproduction from the celluloid original upon which it was originally recorded and the audio is as good as it was in the theatre. I just need to acquire the audio components upon which to listen to this movie so I can visually and aurally go back in time, also I can watch it over & over and not have to worry about tape degradation. Amazon.com made acquiring this movie a very good and most cost effective endeavor for me; I will be a customer for the rest of my life and encourage friends of mine to shop @ Amazon.com.

Harold and Maude timeless, naughty and quirky..........2007-05-28

Harold and Maude is a movie that brings to light an assortment of social and familial issues. Both actors do an outstanding job of portraying their characters in pure form. Love this movie!

Average customer rating:

VRonan
GREAT MOVIE
DVD purchase
I looked for this every where.
Just as good as the first!

Home Alone 2 - Lost in New York
Starring: Gerry Bamman , Donna Black , Eddie Bracken , Daiana Campeanu , and Ron Canada
Director: Chris Columbus
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000K3CM
Release Date: 1999-10-05

Amazon.com

This somewhat unpleasant 1992 sequel to the blockbuster Home Alone revisits the first film's gimmick by stranding Macaulay Culkin's character in New York City while his family ends up somewhere else. Again, the little guy meets up with colorful people on the margins of society (including a pigeon woman played by Brenda Fricker) and again he gets into a prop-heavy battle with Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. The latter sequence is even worse than the first film in terms of violence inflicted on the two villains (director Chris Columbus, who also made the first film, can't seem to emphasize the slapstick over the graphic effects of the fight). The best running joke finds a concierge (Tim Curry) at the swank hotel where Culkin is staying trying and failing to prove that the boy is on his own. --Tom Keogh

Description

Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is back! But this time he's in New York City with enough cash and credit cards to turn the Big Apple into his own playground! But Kevin won't be alone for long. The notorious Wet Bandits, Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), still smarting from their last encounter with Kevin, are bound for New York too, plotting a huge holiday heist. Kevin's ready to welcome them with a battery of booby traps the bumbling bandits will never forget!

Customer Reviews:

VRonan.......2007-05-22

I don't know which one was funnier the first or the second, but they are both great.

GREAT MOVIE.......2007-04-28

however...i preorded on Home Alone 2 cause it said it was to be realsed April 27th...there was no picture...i ordered...its still just the regular old edition of the movie...

DVD purchase.......2007-03-26

DVD arrived quickly and was in excellent condition. I will use
Amazon again. Very dependable. Thank you.

I looked for this every where........2007-03-25

So Happy I could find this movie! It is a gift for someone who loves it and I couldn't find it anywhere else.

Just as good as the first!.......2007-01-22

I cant really decide which one I like better this or Home Alone 1. They are both awesome. My 6 year old and 3 year old absolutely love this one and watch it everyday! Sometimes we even spot "Harry and Marv in thier van" when we are out and about. A really fun movie, I highly recommend getting it.

Black Christmas (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

A Great Gorefest For All Horror Fans
She's My Famliy Now
Dear God why?
Jingle bells, your fear smells...like Christmas spirit
A Christmas Clunker...

Black Christmas (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Katie Cassidy , Michelle Trachtenberg , Kristen Cloke , Crystal Lowe , and Lacey Chabert
Director: Glen Morgan
Manufacturer: Dimension Films
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000MM0LIM
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Amazon.com

Needless and unnecessary are two words that have little meaning in Hollywood, especially when you're talking sequels or remakes. Case in point: Black Christmas, the revisionist version of the 1974 horror thriller largely thought to be the proto-slasher movie (this was four years before the first Halloween installment). The original, from director Bob Clark, is still considered a masterpiece of tension, understatement, innovative camera perspective, economic efficiency (a polite way of saying "ultra-low budget"), and killing off pretty young girls in grisly ways without any cumbersome exposition regarding the psychopath's motives. This, by the way, from the same Bob Clark who would soon bring us the beloved Porky's franchise as well as Black Christmas's polar opposite, the sweetly nostalgic classic A Christmas Story. Anyway, as needless and unnecessary as this remake is, it certainly delivers the goods on 21st-century slasher conventions as the sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa are picked off during Christmas break in ever more gruesome fashion. There's nothing wrong with all of this, particularly for fans of impalements, crushed skulls, ripped-out eyeballs, and some good old-fashioned Christmas cookie cannibalism. Writer-director Glen Morgan, who earned his own credibility as co-creator of the Final Destination series and the interesting 2003 remake of Willard adds a few clever visual homages to the original along with the amped-up extreme gore. Clark's device (was he the first to use it?) of creepy, mouth-breathing phone calls from killer to victim remains intact and creepy. He also resurrects Andrea Martin, one of the then-unknown actor victims who, now famous, plays the prim housemother. Another addition, which may not be so welcome to purists of the genre, is a load of exposition and backstory for the killer. Disturbing as these flashback set pieces are, they're also somewhat distracting to the foreboding tone. But you get what you pay for, and lots of people are going to pay dearly to dream of the shocking frights another Black Christmas will bring. --Ted Fry

Description

(Horror) A remake of the 1974 horror classic that inspired slasher films like Halloween; A group of sorority sisters are terrorized and murdered, one-by-one, during Christmas Break.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Gorefest For All Horror Fans.......2007-07-02

Blood, Guts, Sex And An Insane Psychopathic Killer..What More Could You Ask For? This Movie Was Great. The Original Was Better But This One Is Definitely Worth The Money To Buy And Or Rent As Well...As Big Fan Of Slasher Flicks I Wish I Could Give This One AT Least A Nine But We Only Get 5..So..Yeah..If Your The Type That Likes A Good Slasher In The Spirit Of Freddy And Jason And Chucky And All Of The Above Masters Than This Is IT!

She's My Famliy Now.......2007-06-08

this movie was pretty disturbing, it was a very good movie. it was pretty disgusting, espicaily when billy made cookie cut outs of his moms flesh, nasty. well if you like these sort of films then check it out.

Dear God why?.......2007-06-07

I won't say the original was a classic but this, geeze, is the equivalent of a cinematic abortion. It never truly develops, is never given the chance too, and is so stunted in every way (dialogue, acting, directing, storyline) that I feel justified in being pro choice. One can only imagine how much worse this could have gotten if it had actually run a full two hours.

Jingle bells, your fear smells...like Christmas spirit.......2007-06-05

As a lover of horror movies, classy and cheesy, spooky and blood soaked, hair rinsing scary and the subtle terror subplots all intrigue me and this movie had a little bit of each yet all the parts didn't come together as smoothly as I wished.

Few girls are staying at their snow covered sorority house during the Christmas Season only to discover that they are being harassed on the phone by a maniac. As they slowly start disappearing and their numbers dwindle they finally sense that something weird is going on. When blood appears they realize that the house they have lived in hasn't always been a sorority house but a home to a madman, locked away in prison for horrendous crimes that seems to have broken out....

One by one they meet some gristly death, and that's what was actually gory, the death scenes were gruesome, focusing on a certain body part, the eye ball. Much more I dare not say but I enjoyed the creepy beginning as something evil stirs in the darkness and quietly starts to take the house apart from the inside out. The characters were pretty much one dimensional, not likable much and there for great prey for the killer as I can easily say that the not so bright sorority stars who were more likely to be makeup artists than serious scholars almost deserved their fates, that is if they made it all through the night.

The bad parts were the bizarre details, the freaky mother and sister of the killer, the glow in the dark skin, what was that about, what psycho madman glows in the dark? It gave me a few chuckles, the incest scene, brief and pretty much not shown still left a weird taste behind but I liked the twist that reveled itself towards the end and also the fact that the killer wasn't working alone but with someone who seemed to betray them all was a great add on. I really liked the Christmas spirit through the movie, the sorority house was really beautiful and made me miss snow and warm cider, decorations and the resiny scent of pine almost filled my nostrils. There were some cozy and creepy parts but they were broken up by chicks who acted dumb and strange madman behavior that was not explained at times. Overall a good horror flick but I'm still a bit split over it, saying that I'm glad I saw it, as it had a certain quality that fulfilled my horror flick appetite for that night.

If I had to give my own rating and really nit pick, I'd say it's a 3 ¾ star movie but I gave it a 4 because I enjoyed it more than I complained about it so there....

- Kasia S.

A Christmas Clunker..........2007-06-03

My husband and I went to see this in the theater during the holidays and I LOVED the original. I enjoy horror movies , especially holiday-themed horror, and I wanted to like this movie. But we got up and left within 15-20 minutes after the movie started. It was extremely disappointing.

I highly recommend the original Black Christmas however---it's scary and atmospheric and it's one you don't want to miss!

Badder Santa (Unrated Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Bad Santa. Great Movie.
I think I sharted in my pants
Funny
Bad to the Funny Bone
Disappointing

Badder Santa (Unrated Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Tony Cox , Brett Kelly , Lauren Graham , and Lauren Tom
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00020HAB0
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Product Description

Hollywood favorites Billy Bob Thornton (THE ALAMO), Bernie Mac (MR. 3000), and John Ritter (TV s 8 SIMPLE RULES FOR DATING MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER) kick it up a notch in this unrated version of the outrageous comedy hit BAD SANTA. You'd better watch out -- Santa Claus Willie T. Stokes (Thornton) is coming to town and he doesn't care if you've been naughty or nice. Willie's favorite holiday tradition is to fill his sacks with loot lifted from shopping malls across the country. But this year his plot gets derailed by a wise-cracking store detective (Mac), a sexy bartender (Lauren Graham -- TV's GILMORE GIRLS), and a kid who's convinced Willie is the real Santa Claus! You're sure to believe in BADDER SANTA: THE UNRATED VERSION -- once you experience this longer, funnier, and more explicit motion picture!

Bonus Features
1. "Hilariously nasty!" -- People Magazine; "Funny as hell!" -- Washington Post
2. Deleted And Alternate Scenes
3. Behind-The-Scenes Special
4. Outtakes
5. "Badder Santa" Gag Reel

System Requirements:

Running Time 98 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

Instantly qualifying as a perennial cult favorite, Bad Santa is as nasty as it wants to be, and there's something to be said for comedy without compromise. The Coen brothers conceived the basic idea and served as executive producers, but it's director Terry Zwigoff (Crumb, Ghost World) who brings his unique affinity for losers and outcasts to the twisted tale of Willie T. Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton), a hard-drinking, chain-smoking, foul-mouthed sexaholic safe-cracker who targets a different department store every holiday season, playing Santa while he cases the joint with his dwarf elf-partner Marcus (Tony Cox). With comedic support from Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, Cloris Leachman, and John Ritter in his final film, Thornton milks the lowbrow laughs with a slovenly lack of sentiment, warming Bad Santa's pickled heart just enough to please a chubby misfit (Brett Kelly, hilariously deadpan) who may or may not be mentally challenged. As dry as an arid martini and blacker than morning-after coffee, Bad Santa is an instant cure for yuletide schmaltz, and if you think this appropriately R-rated comedy is suitable for kids, your parenting skills are no better than Willie's. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Bad Santa. Great Movie........2007-04-02

Lets face it, only Billy Bob Thornton could pull off a role such as this one. And what's better than the scene with the Gilmore girl screaming F me Santa! F me Santa!
YES! I Love it!

And I love this movie. If you like this movie I strongly suggest you watch School for Scoundrels.

May the force be with me.

I think I sharted in my pants.......2007-02-15

Dark, sick, Vulger, Twisted! but in a strange way it touched my heart... billy bob could only play this part this good.
a Xmas must.

Funny.......2007-01-29

I can watch Bad Santa a hundred times, well I have and enjoyed it every time. If I need a laugh Bad Santa is what I put on.
Christmas can get real busy and hectic, but this movie reminds you to laugh.

Bad to the Funny Bone.......2007-01-23

Watch this at any time and prepare to feel ill due to laughing so hard. Thornton kills Christmas but refreshes the human spirit.

Disappointing.......2007-01-12

I ordered this version after reading reviews of it and Badder Santa, thinking maybe I was getting something more than the movie I'd already seen and loved. I didn't care for this version. It is lacking a couple of scenes that I think help to tie the story together, and in apparently seeking a more "noir" theme includes scenes that are probably more than I needed to know...like the van backing over the security guy. They killed him, okay, I get it. I also didn't like the ending as much (although I won't give it away for those of you just dying to see it). I will donate this to the Friends of the Library sale and buy myself a copy of the "vanilla" version.

Average customer rating:

keep away
kinda lame

Black Christmas (Unrated) [HD DVD]
Starring: Kristen Cloke , Andrea Martin , Michelle Trachtenberg , Lacey Chabert , and Oliver Hudson
Director: Glen Morgan
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000N3AXQ0
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

(Horror) A remake of the 1974 horror classic that inspired slasher films like Halloween; A group of sorority sisters are terrorized and murdered, one-by-one, during Christmas Break.

Customer Reviews:

keep away.......2007-06-22

I was looking at this mostly because I've enjoyed the actresses in this film's previous work. But this movie never game them a chance to act. I was lost through most of the movie as to why things were just now happening. The only noteworthy feature is that it has a True HD audio track.

kinda lame.......2007-06-14

This movie drags... It does however have some good parts where you jump and a few gross parts but not enough...
To me its soft core horror.. def not gross like hostel or the saws, even wolf creek was better...
If its on cable its worth watching.... but dont buy it.

Average customer rating:

must see
A Must See!!
Hysterical...
The Ref
Best christmas movie of all time

The Ref
Starring: Denis Leary , Judy Davis , Kevin Spacey , Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. , and Glynis Johns
Director: Ted Demme
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00008977D
Release Date: 2003-03-04

Amazon.com essential video

Caustic wit gets a full-body workout in this 1994 comedy, in which a cat burglar (Denis Leary) gets trapped in an affluent Connecticut neighborhood and is forced to hold a bickering couple hostage on Christmas Eve, only to discover that their Yuletide spirit is anything but cheerful. Caroline (Judy Davis) and her husband, Lloyd (Kevin Spacey), have been at each other's throats for so long that they've developed domestic arguments into an art form, and the would-be kidnapper turns into a reluctant mediator, even after he's got the battling couple wound up in bungee cords. The situation grows even more complicated when the couple's smart-aleck son comes home from military school, but it's not the plot here that's a top priority. Instead it's the sheer pleasure of witnessing a three-way verbal jousting match, written with razor-sharp skill and delivered by actors who are perfect for their roles. The movie's got a dark edge, but it never gets too dark--you know that it's not going to slide into more seriously damaging territory, so you can sit back and enjoy the volleys of scathing insults and sarcasm the way you would a Don Rickles performance. If that sounds like your idea of entertainment, The Ref will serve it up with style. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Denis Leary plays an unfortunate cat burglar, who is abandonded by his partner in the middle of a heist and is forced to take an irritating Connecticut couple (Kevin Spacey and Judy Davis) hostage. He soon finds that he got more than he bargained for when the couple's blackmailing son and despicable in-laws step into the picture. Before long they're driving him nuts with their petty bickering and family problems. The only way for him to survive is to be their referee and resolve their differences before he can be nabbed by the police.

Customer Reviews:

must see.......2007-05-24

great cast, one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. Never get tired of this one.

A Must See!!.......2007-04-03

This may be the funniest Christmas movie ever made! If you've never seen it, you're missing out!

Hysterical..........2007-03-24

A great holiday movie, especially if the family all hangs out for several days playing video games and watching movies like we do. Purchased this one, Home for the Holidays and Pieces of April, enjoyed them all!

The Ref.......2007-01-16

This movie is funny, we always watch it while wrapping the kids christmas presents.

Best christmas movie of all time.......2007-01-07

Love it more than any other christmas movie out there. Great acting and VERY funny. Wonderfull movie!

Average customer rating:

THE ORIGINAL, AND BEST SLASHER FLICK!!!
Originally titled 'A Stranger in the House"
This movie scared the life out of me
Overrated
A Great 70's Classic

Black Christmas (Special Edition)
Starring: Les Carlson , Marcia Diamond , Keir Dullea , Lynne Griffin , and Robert Hawkins
Director: Bob Clark
Manufacturer: Somerville House
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000IMUYJM
Release Date: 2006-12-05

Amazon.com

You may never have heard of this neglected 1974 gem, but you've probably seen one of its many imitators. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder (also look for Andrea Martin of SCTV fame) star as two residents of a sorority house that is emptying out as Christmas approaches. The atmosphere is jolly and carefree, except for an ongoing series of menacing telephone calls, and, oh yes, we've just seen someone climb into the attic with apparent ill intent. Kidder does some scene-stealing as the bad girl, Hussey illustrates one of the downsides to having beautiful long '70s hair, and Keir Dullea does a nice turn as the creepy boyfriend. Director Robert Clark knows that the unseen is far scarier than what can be seen and he ratchets up the tension beautifully, making good use of ominous shadows, and putting in nice touches like replacing the sound of a distraught woman's scream with the piercing ring of yet another ominous phone call. This is a terrific, well-made little movie that is genuinely sleep-with-the-lights-on scary. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis

Album Description

Canadian DVD release for 1975 thriller starring Margot Kidder, also known as 'Silent Night, Evil Night' and 'Stranger In The House'.

Customer Reviews:

THE ORIGINAL, AND BEST SLASHER FLICK!!!.......2007-06-06

I have been watching horror films for as long as I can remember, and this is one of only 2 movies that has ever really scared me(the other being "The Shining"). As time has passed I just remebered it being the best of the "killer in the house movies". As I was browsing amazon I stumbled upon the special edition of this priceless gem and bought it immediatly. I watched it as soon as it arrived, and while watching it, I felt like I was 8 years old all over again. Bob Clark creates a very dark and menacing atmosphere and wastes no time in indroducing the killer in first-person perspective(a much copied technique). One of the most disturbing thing about this film is the killer is well defined, but we know nothing about him(other films such as The Hitcher and Se7en use this technique).The only clues we have of the killers motives are the very disturbing phone calls(What your father and I must know is...What did you do with the baby,What did you do with agnes??) John Carpenter definitly borrowed alot from this movie. Great story, great acting, great editing, I can't say anything about this movie that has not already been said, so let me just say they caught lightning in a bottle with this movie. A MUST HAVE FOR ALL HORROR MOVIE FANS

Originally titled 'A Stranger in the House".......2007-05-19

I saw this movie on HBO in the late 1970's, as a kid, under the above listed title. This one is well worth the watch. I have watched horror movies my whole life and can honestly say that very few genuinely scared me as much as this one. (Yes, Halloween and The Exorcist were also very scary the first go 'round, but this movie affected as much as either of these movies). It may be that nowadays the plot has been repeated ad nauseam but I still feel that the impact of this movie is viable. You will not see gore, so you will have to use your imagination. That is a good thing. Your imagination is far more disturbing than any gore onscreen. The antagonist, whoever did the voice, is fantastic. He really sounds crazy, and not in a good way, either.

This movie scared the life out of me.......2007-05-10

The first time I saw it was a year or two after it came out. I was a teenager and had never seen anything that scary. This was, remember, several years before the genre of the teenage slasher flick first appeared.

One of the creepiest and most effective things about this movie is that you never got to see the face of the killer. There was never a reason given for what he did, and you had no idea who he was. It was just some lunatic who got into the house through a window, No other explanation given. Not many scripts or stories have the guts to pull this off.

Once the maniac gets in, he begins a series of chilling, sickening and utterly terrifying phone calls to the sorority girls in the house, who are in the midst of a Christmas party. You realize, when listening to this psycho, that whatever is wrong with him is beyond a prank, beyond mental illness. This person is unbelievably twisted and deranged. The ability he has to shift his voice patterns and imitations, not to mention his hoarse, guttural and violent thrusts when he shouts are what let you know how unspeakably horrifying it is going to be for the parties involved.

The girls have a range of emotions, from frightened, amused, and, provocation, which is a mistake.

A side story of a missing, later found murdered child in a park lends to the growing terror. A race against time while police try and track the calls from inside the house adds to the tension.

There is no satisfying, feel-good ending.

The great touches in this movie come fom everything you do not see, but from what is inferred. There is almost no blood in the movie. You do get to see several murders, but the murders themselves are almost beside the point. Its the heart-pounding fear leading up to it that makes the movie worth seeing. None of the slasher movies that followed can touch this one. What a forgotten piece of work.

Hands down one of the best scary movies ever.

Overrated.......2007-04-09

BLACK CHRISTMAS is not as effective as HALLOWEEN. The killer is annoying, some gurgling lunatic who uses obscene language to get his point across. The direction and editing is weak. How many times do we have to see the woman wrapped in cellophane up in the attic...she's dead ..I get it...Move on! I wasnt routing for the characters or the killer for that matter...this movie just didnt deliver. HALLOWEEN and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS "borrowed" from this film and both movies were scarier!

A Great 70's Classic.......2007-04-08

I guess you can say that this movie spawned many copycats but this one is still supreme. This 70's classic has great atmosphere and chilling sequences. The creepy phone calls are awesome, how else can you creep out a house full of college girls? Great movie. No remake could ever come close to recapturing the escence of the original.

Average customer rating:

They Dance as if Nobody's Looking
Classic Steve Martin Meets Lily Tomlin
Don't Buy It
Really like this movie
Least of the Martin/Reiner comedies

All of Me
Starring: Steve Martin , Lily Tomlin , Victoria Tennant , Madolyn Smith Osborne , and Richard Libertini
Director: Carl Reiner
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305262225
Release Date: 1999-02-02

Amazon.com essential video

This 1984 Carl Reiner comedy is one of the best film showcases of Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin's sundry talents. Tomlin plays a sickly spinster who is given the chance to transfer her soul to the body of another woman, and thus go on living. But the magic man who is supposed to make this happen goofs up and locks her spirit inside a bachelor lawyer (Martin)--or, more accurately, within the right half of the poor fellow's body. Suddenly, the swinging man-about-town is literally at odds with himself, unable to make a self-determining decision without a huge internal struggle. Martin's physical comedy, always remarkable, is absolutely inspired this time around, as he convincingly portrays a man split down the middle between opposing sensibilities. This is also one of the best films by Reiner, a filmmaker whose novel ideas are sometimes more striking than their execution. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

They Dance as if Nobody's Looking.......2007-06-23

"All of Me," a 1984 romantic comedy/fantasy starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, directed by Carl Reiner, catches all three stars at the top of their form. Tomlin plays Edwina Cutwater, spoiled rich brat of fragile health. Steve Martin is Roger Cobb, hapless lawyer of working class origins who'd really rather be a jazzman. Selma Diamond ("Night Court") is just right as Cobb's law secretary in a part that feels like it was written for her. Richard Libertini is over the top as Prahka, eastern swami, in a part that also feels like it must have been written for him. And then there's Victoria Tennant as Terri Hoskins, beautiful daughter of Cutwater's stable man.

After a lifetime of threatening to die any minute, Cutwater is actually dying. She makes arrangements with Prahka so as to transfer her soul into Terri Hoskins's tidy body. Then the heiress requires Cobb, as he protests all the way, to write the unusual will leaving everything to Hoskins. The heiress dies, Prahka trips, and her soul goes into Cobb's body, where it controls his right side.

Many people speak of Martin's gift for physical comedy, and praise his three inspired scenes early in the picture. First on the street, struggling to walk to his office building, then, somewhat later, his efforts to relieve himself, and to make love to Hoskins, all with Cutwater supposedly controlling half his body. Hilarious these three scenes are, as is his split personality courtroom scene. But they can't compete with the touching last scene, as Martin and Tomlin, their characters freed at last, do a wild and crazy jitterbug to "All of Me." They say you should dance as if nobody's looking; that's what these popular comic actors here achieve.

Classic Steve Martin Meets Lily Tomlin.......2007-05-16

In my opinion, this is one of Steve Martin's best movies. It's a comedy with heart (my favorite kind) and the premise, together with the casting, works remarkably well. Lily Tomlin initially plays a super-rich, bed-ridden grouch. Her plan is to enter the body of a woman whom she has paid to allow her to possess her body on her death. Instead, through an accident, she ends up in Steve Martin's body, and they battle for control. Thus the title -- why not take "all of me"? I highly recommend this movie.

Don't Buy It.......2007-03-31

The movie, in and of itself, is a good one (4 stars); but the quality of the DVD is amazingly bad. If I had known that it was even possible for a DVD to come out so badly, I wouldn't have bought it. To boot, it's not in widescreen.

Really like this movie.......2007-01-05

Big fan of the major actors in this film: Steve Martin, Lily Tomlin, Victoria Tennant. Think the premise is good and silly but really love watching Steve Martin play both his and Lily Tomlin's parts in one body.
Great music, good silly fun way to spend a few hours.

Least of the Martin/Reiner comedies.......2006-09-09

Steve Martin and director Carl Reiner made some wonderful comedies together, but this tale of soul transference from a wealthy woman (Lily Tomlin) to a bachelor lawyer (Martin) is probably the least of them. Martin and Tomlin don't develop much chemistry until the final scene when they dance together while the final credits roll. Martin's physical comedy here is astonishing, but unfortunately, nothing else in the film seems to work. Tomlin isn't very good, perhaps because her roll requires here to remain rather stiff and stationary for the most part, confined within the frames of mirrors. For a true dose of Martin/Reiner magic, I recommend "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" or "The Man with Two Brains."

Average customer rating:

Scrooged for Christmas
A funny and different take on a classic story.
Scrooged
Bill Murray at his Best
I THINK THAT WHAT THE WORLD REALLY NEED,ALOT OF LOVE!!

Scrooged
Starring: Bill Murray , Karen Allen , John Forsythe , John Glover , and Bob Goldthwait
Director: Richard Donner
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6305609764
Release Date: 1999-11-09

Amazon.com

Most critics couldn't get behind Bill Murray's modern retelling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, finding it too unfocused at times and not nearly wicked enough. Still, if you're a Murray fan, you have to enjoy his deliciously nasty portrayal of the world's meanest TV executive, who has his cathartic moment one cold Christmas night in New York City. The various ghosts lead him on a ghost-town tour of Manhattan, with stops at holidays past, present, and future and a Kumbaya moment when Al Green and Annie Lennox sing "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." The effects are otherworldly, but one wishes the writing were as sharp as Murray's edgy portrayal. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Scrooged for Christmas.......2007-04-03

This is one of the best Christmas movies, and should be in everybody's collection.

A funny and different take on a classic story........2007-02-23

Bill Murray's monologue and Carol Kane's scenes are the highlights of a thouroughly enjoyable movie.

Scrooged.......2007-02-15

Really enjoyed the movie and is a great addition to add to your Christmas collection.

Bill Murray at his Best.......2007-02-03

Great family show for christmas time. Funny and unique. Kids under 10 should be with parents for a better understanding.
Enjoy.

I THINK THAT WHAT THE WORLD REALLY NEED,ALOT OF LOVE!!.......2007-01-27

I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THAT THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD OF SCROOGED PEOPLE REALLY NEEDS TO HAVE A CHANGE OF HEART TO THOSE UNFORTUNITE PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE EVERYTHING THAT WISH COULD COME FROM THEIR HEART.THAT IS TO SHARE A LITTLE PIECE OF THEIR LOVE IN THEIR HEART.SO THOSE SCROOGED UP PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, YOU ALL SHOULD BUY THIS DVD MOVIE AND SEE WHAT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU.

Average customer rating:

Perversely amusing, although the novel is better
Why wasn't this in the theaters?
so-so dark film...
WELL DONE AND WORTH SEEING
Film Noir?

The Ice Harvest (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: John Cusack , Billy Bob Thornton , Lara Phillips , Bill Noble (III) , and Brad Smith
Director: Harold Ramis
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000DZ7YN8
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Amazon.com

Holiday movies don't get much darker, or more darkly humorous, than The Ice Harvest, an offbeat comedy that defies expectations. The involvement of director Harold Ramis might lead some to expect a straight-up comedy like Groundhog Day or Analyze This, but despite Ramis's fine and atypically subdued work here, it's the writers (Robert Benton and Richard Russo) who put a stronger stamp on their adaptation of the novel by Scott Phillips. Benton and Russo previously collaborated on Nobody's Fool and Twilight (with Benton also directing), and those films are similar in tone and spirit to this quirky, modern-day film noir, set on a freezing Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas, where mob lawyer Charlie Arglist (John Cusack) has a lot on his mind. He's just stolen $2 million from his boss (Randy Quaid), he can't trust his partner Vic (Billy Bob Thornton), he's secretly in love with the manager (Connie Nielsen) of the strip bar he owns, and his best friend (Oliver Platt, giving yet another terrific performance) is married to his ex-wife. Before the night's over, several murders will complicate matters even further, and throughout it all, The Ice Harvest is anchored by Cusack's good-natured presence in a bad-natured story that dares to combine double-crosses and bloodshed with elusive yuletide cheer. It's a strange but oddly appealing combination, not for all tastes but refreshing for that very same reason. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Perversely amusing, although the novel is better.......2007-06-29

Judging from the few dozen reviews I perused, not too many people read Scott Phillips' novel upon which this movie is based. Phillips has a great ear for dialogue, which by & large survived the transition into screenplay form. However, there are some significant differences between the novel and the film, not the least of which is the ending. Scott Phillips was involved to a certain extent in the production of the film, and I have to assume that he was OK with these alterations --- but I can't help but think that the movie would have been more effective if it had remained faithful to the novel all the way through.

Additionally, although I like John Cusack generally, I wasn't entirely satisfied with his portrayal of Charlie Arglist, who comes off as a doofus way in over his head. The Charlie Arglist in the novel may be in the dark on a lot of details, but he is not an idiot, nor is he out of control of his own destiny --- something which the novel's end makes all that much more poignant. This poignancy was missing from the movie, and while reviewers may not have realized it, perhaps this is one of the reasons that this film was not well-received.

So --- even though I enjoyed it, I would give it a very qualified four stars, owing largely to some solid performances from Billy Bob Thornton & Oliver Platt. But I understand why the opinion of others might be more harsh.

Why wasn't this in the theaters?.......2007-06-15

I caught 1/2 this movie on HBO. Got up went to Amazon and bought it! Great dark comedy. John Cusack is really good in this and Billy Bob is,, you know... Billy Bob!!! Simply put, it's a great movie. The outakes are even great. Billy Bob rehearsing a scene as "Carl" (Sling blade)is a perfect ending to a great movie.

so-so dark film..........2007-05-15

*The Ice Harvest* was an alright dark-humor film. The other reviewers here have pretty much said everything about this movie.

There's so many things going on. A stripper and her abusive boyfriend. Charlie's drunken friend who is married to Charlie's ex-wife. A cop who keeps pulling Charlie over but lets him go with the hope that he'll get recommended. A councilman is trying to buy back incriminating photos of him in a compromising position. Charlie and his infatuation with the owner of a club.

However, the main thing is that Charlie Arglist and Vic Cavanaugh have stolen over $2 million dollars from their boss, Bill Guerrand. They plan to act cool by sticking around town, Wichita Falls, for Christmas eve/Christmas. After that, they'll escape. Of course, things go wrong when Bill discovers that money is missing and knows that Charlie and Vic are involved. While Charlie and Vic are doing their best to stay alive, some truths are spilled out.

All I can say is that this movie was alright. There's nothing here that is memorable. I do not believe I'll recommend this movie to others.

WELL DONE AND WORTH SEEING.......2007-04-20

Good acting and cinematography combine in a stylish crime noir tale set on Christmas Eve in Wichita, Kansas during an ice storm. John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton star in this excellent sleeper about a couple of guys who rip off two mil plus (the "ice harvest") from a mobster but then have to wait out the storm before catching a plane to someplace warmer and far away. The perfect crime? Or a very, very bad idea? It starts seeming to be a bad idea pretty quickly and then bobsleds downhill in a hurry on the winter ice. In THE ICE HARVEST you are treated to nice performances from the entire cast which includes Randy Quaid. Director Harold Ramis does a good job keeping things moving and he is working with a tight script. Throughout THE ICE HARVEST you are wonderfully reminded of the cold, dark, icy night of the story that helps sustain that noir feeling. Notable is the excellent photography, costumes and visually pleasing sets, elements not always appreciated enough in good movie-making. Well done and worth seeing.

Film Noir?.......2007-04-13

I suppose this qualifies as film noir. It's dark comedy, with some interesting twists in it. Several sub plots that resolve in an interesting fashion. Great one liners through out. Blessed is the casting director for each actor brings the right choices from their limited bag-O-tricks to their character.

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