Death Factory

Starring:Death Factory
Studio: Inspired Corporation
Product Type: DVD

Dancer in the Dark (New Line Platinum Series)

Average customer rating:

Dark~Psychological pornography garbed as "art"
Pushing the envelope of your emotions...
Very upsetting but incredible
Good, but....
Purely Putrid

Dancer in the Dark (New Line Platinum Series)
Starring: Jean-Marc Barr , Catherine Deneuve , Joel Grey , Zeljko Ivanek , and Udo Kier
Director: Lars von Trier
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00003CXKS
Release Date: 2001-03-20

Amazon.com

Masterpiece or masquerade? Lars von Trier's digicam musical split the critics in two when it debuted at Cannes in 2000. There were those who saw it as a cynical shock-opera from a manipulative charlatan, others wept openly at its scenes of raw emotion and heart-rending intensity. There is, however, no in-between. Dancer in the Dark is that rarest of creatures, a film that dares to push viewers to the limits of their feelings.

In her first and most probably last screen performance (she has foresworn acting after her bruising on-set rows with von Trier), brittle Icelandic chanteuse Björk plays Selma, a Czech immigrant living in a folksy American small town with her young son, Gene. Selma is going blind and so will Gene if she does not arrange an important operation for him. To cover the expense, Selma works every hour she can, cheating on her eye tests so she can keep working at the local factory long after her vision has become too unreliable to work safely. She sublets a house from a local cop, Bill (David Morse), and his wife, Linda (Cara Seymour). When nearly bankrupt Bill asks Selma for a loan, she refuses, but he later returns and steals the money, which she demands back in a furious confrontation. In the ensuing melee, Bill is fatally shot and Selma is arrested and put on trial. Will justice prevail?

Von Trier's passionate, provocative film runs all our emotional resources dry with suspense, giving us occasional flashes into Selma's gold heart and mind with superb song-and-dance numbers she conjures to banish the nightmare (Björk also wrote the score). At some two-and-a-half hours, it's not for lightweights, but anyone bored with today's smug, "ironic" cinema will relish this as an astonishing assault on the senses and a stark reminder of von Trier's uncompromising talent. --Damon Wise

Customer Reviews:

Dark~Psychological pornography garbed as "art".......2007-07-02

Director Lars von Trier's DANCER in the DARK is consummate cinematic incarnation of decadence,despair and corruption that comprises Post-modern Europe.Without Christian LOGOS to anchor Good,the Bad and the Ugly into categories reckoning a human's BEING, the director sinks into a nihilistic abyss. Innocence;edifying art(dance& music);fundamental relationality
[Motherhood/parental;friendship;collegial loyalty;childhood itself]is perverted in a Heideggerian anti-aesthetic. Joyce's PORTRAIT of the ARTIST as a YOUNG MAN receives its id chord doppel-ganger rendering in this pas-de-deux celebration of EVIL...

Star of this miserific vision,BJORK is the damned soul:condemned from Purgatory into Hell...rather than Heaven as Christian mercy provides after suffering purification(Cf Dante).David Morse'role as her police officer friend-turned-thief,and molesting pervert(& suicide/murderer)speaks for itself as damning verdict on The West as source of Justice(without/LOGOS God...everything is permitted~ Dostoyevsky).Rave reviews of many are based on FEAR:The CULTURE OF DEATH comprises the anti-Christian/rad-secularist West.Its feckless,self-apotheosizing adherents still refuse to acknowledge self-damnation and repent(See The DEVIL'S BACKBONE & more recent,PAN'S LABYRINTH).DANCER in the DARK reeks death wish.Those who applaud it are insane(though normal by PM standards).Viewers like myself ...bi-polar;
widely read in philosophy,mythology and the occult...shudder in terror to see the Gorgon's face "joyfully" aleathea'd(Heidegger)and worshiped as TRUTH.As T.S. Eliot to Czeslaw Milosz warned:Men cannot bear too much truth.Apparently capacity for mendacity and embracing it,is unlimited. Be warned~this film lauds and celebrates EVIL.Art...by once-revered tradition of the Judaeo/Christian West...comprised unity of truth, beauty and goodness. This "art"exalts evil(alogos)in a Mummer's Dance of Death.(1&1/2 give-the-Devil-his-due,fallen stars)

Pushing the envelope of your emotions..........2007-05-14

A roller coaster ride into the human soul. If you are not moved after the ride, nothing will.

Very upsetting but incredible.......2007-04-15

[...]. This is probably the most upsetting movie I have ever seen, but also the most well-written and well-directed. Bjork gives an incredible performance and soundtrack. It's a beautiful film to watch and appreciate, just be prepared for very emotional scenes that may be very difficult to watch.

Good, but...........2007-02-17

I agree with most viewers that this is a powerful and disturbing film. It can tear a viewer's emotions apart, and perhaps justly so. But good as it is, "Dancer in the Dark" is also a deeply flawed film. First, the musical numbers; they seemed to me purposeless and obtrusive; telling the story straight would have given it more power and polish. Secondly, a classic tragedy also is capable of offering a catharsis, usually obtained by delicatedly handled irony (the villain--David Morse character--could have been divulged to a third party, for instance). Thirdly, filmed in Sweden and supposedly representing rural America, this movie is openly and vitriolically anti-American. Selma's trial is the stupidest trial ever put on film, bigotry admitted, and the system of justice represented here is nothing but a sadistic machine torturing a guitless and noble victim. Yes, injustices like that do exist and should be put on film. Raskolnikov has a dream of a horse being stoned to death. Kafka has Gregor Samsa die in utter loneliness as cockroach. And Fellini gives us Gelsomina dying of unrelieved grief after a brute has killed a friend. Perhaps, Lars von Trier should have tried to imitate those masters. Or did he?

Purely Putrid.......2007-01-29

If I could have given this movie negative stars, I would have. The music is horendous. The howling of my dog is a more soothing sound that listening to Bjork's squaking. Bjork reminds me of a bug-eyed stark raving mad drunken fairy on crack. I liken this movie to watching paint dry. Actually, I think paint drying has more of punch than this movie does.

The Cranes are Flying - Criterion Collection

Average customer rating:

Magnificent Film, Magnificent DVD
The Cranes are Flying
Not Over-rated
Understanding War and Humanity
Russian Love Story

The Cranes are Flying - Criterion Collection
Starring: Tatyana Samojlova , Aleksey Batalov , Vasili Merkuryev , Aleksandr Shvorin , and Svetlana Kharitonova
Director: Mikheil Kalatozishvili
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Ballad of a Soldier - Criterion Collection
Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
Closely Watched Trains - Criterion Collection
The Shop On Main Street - Criterion Collection
The Conformist (Extended Edition)

ASIN: B0000633SD
Release Date: 2002-04-30

Amazon.com

Mikhail Kalatozov's luscious portrait of love and loss during World War II stars almond-eyed beauty Tatyana Samojlova and handsome Aleksei Batalov as moony-eyed young lovers whose innocent romance is shattered by war. When the idealistic boy volunteers for service, his draft-dodging cousin steals the despondent girl by brute force, yet she never gives up on her true love, even when he's reported dead. Kalatozov's patriotic paean to fallen soldiers and home-front heroes is an undeniably sentimental melodrama suffused with lush images and lyrical sequences, a kind of cinematic poetry unseen in Soviet cinema since the experimentation and optimism of the silent days. Produced during the "thaw" following Stalin's repressive reign, it won the Palme d'Or prize at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival and set Kalatozov on the road to more ambitious expressions of Soviet idealism in the modern world, culminating in his masterpiece, I Am Cuba. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Veronica and Boris are blissfully in love, until the eruption of World War II tears them apart. Boris is sent to the front lines...and then communication stops. Meanwhile, Veronica tries to ward off spiritual numbness while Boris' draft-dodging cousin makes increasingly forceful overtures. Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival, The Cranes are Flying is a superbly crafted drama, bolstered by stunning cinematography and impassioned performances.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent Film, Magnificent DVD.......2007-06-29

CRANES is known to most film students as the first major post-Stalin success of the Soviet film industry -- but the picture's vastly more enjoyable than that dry statistic would suggest. Lyrical and rhapsodic, this film benefits greatly from a director, cameraman and actors who don't shy away from the extravagant gesture, the romantic moment, or the juice inherent in melodrama. Viewers will be swept away by a poignant love story and its operatic manner of telling, from a joyful, playful opening to the bittersweet conclusion. The screenplay's also a fascinating mix of the romantic and cynical -- what a breath of fresh air this film must have seemed to audiences in its original release, with their memories of the suffering hidden behind the recent war's heroic facade. This DVD transfer's exceptionally good, even for Criterion -- CRANES wears its age lightly here, the film looks new-minted. If you're unfamiliar with this classic, don't hesitate to snatch it up.

The Cranes are Flying.......2007-06-28

Made in the post-Stalin years, Kalatazov's tragic, visually poetic "Cranes" concerns a timeless theme--lovers separated by war-- explored through a grim, heartbreaking series of events. The gorgeous, moon-faced Samojlova gives a touching performance as the beleaguered young war widow fighting against dispiriting circumstances, ably supported by a talented supporting cast. Kalatazov's mobile camerawork and swooping crane shots lend "Cranes" an exhilarating visual feel to match the hurtling passion of its ill-starred protagonists, introducing techniques he used again for his other masterwork, "I Am Cuba." Though it immerses us in despair, "Cranes" ends where it began, with a triumphant renewal of spirit.

Not Over-rated .......2007-05-18

I had read somewhere that "The Cranes are Flying" was a rather over-rated Russian movie. It had won the Cannes Palme d'Or or whatever they call their top award. I have noticed that a number of the past such awards were for movies that I thought were over-rated (although, in fairness, many of the award winners were outstanding movies). Thus I was prepared to be sceptical. However, I was impressed when I saw it last night. It is a very good (not quite "great") movie in my estimation.

It begins with scenes of two young lovers. Their relationship seems destined yet not determined. We are quickly introduced to the extended families and, before we know it, war breaks out. I must admit that I wasn't sure just what war this 1960 movie was referring to. Some of the architecture that we get glimpses of seems post-WWII. While I don't think that there was ever any specific mention of the enemy, there were too many terms that made it clear this this was WWII ("fascists', "Stalingrad", "Leningrad under siege", etc). Our young man, Boris, feels compelled to enlist, much to the dismay of his fiance. His decision is quick and unquestioned. One of the best series of scenes in the movie has to do with the lovers parting at the crowded train station.

Home life during the war becomes increasingly difficult and there arises a serious problem for the young lady. At the Front, there is a chillingly beautiful scene in which a soldier is shot. As he falls, we see, through his eyes, the tree tops spinning while his fondest dreams are brought to view amid those spinning trees. The home front becomes even more challenging for our heroine. In time she has to face up to choices that were forced upon her; choices that stain the dreams and asperations of her life with her beloved Boris. We rediscover a code of ethics for the homefront in a series of impressive scenes. At the end there is an outstanding scene depicting loneliness in a crowd; misery amidst celebration. We are left with the realization that wars create victims in ways we don't always appreciate. At the same time, the cranes remind us that life goes on.

I was tempted to put 5 "stars" on "The Cranes are Flying" but I started thinking of the many movies that have had a greater impact on me than this one. Nonetheless, there are several scenes from "The Cranes are Flying" that will stay with me a long time.

Understanding War and Humanity.......2007-03-06

Mikhail Kalatozov's THE CRANES ARE FLYING is a cinematic masterpiece. The film was made during the height of the Cold War, but depicts World War II Russia. Boris(Alexei Batalov) and Veronica (Tatiana Samoilova) are the two star-crossed lovers who get caught in the whirlwind of war, and are separated when Boris volunteers to go to war to fight against fascism.

The plot becomes complicated when Veronica assumes that Boris is not coming back and marries his cousin. She becomes the focal point of the film, and Kalatozov does a fine job at depicting her changing state of mind after her parents die during an air raid -- from carefree to madness. One can see how Veronica has become disturbed by her actions, such as in the hospital ward where Boris' father, Byodor Ivanvich (Vasili Merkuriev), tries to calm an injured soldier who becomes upset upon finding out that his girlfriend married another man.

The cinematography is exceptional in capturing the dramatic scenes. The images of World War II Russia are wrenching, but the images of the characters within the modernist infrastructures is artistically attractive to the eye. Photographer Sergei Urusevsky simulates human chaos with his camera movements, which almost looks like a bird flying out control -- Veronica running side by side with a train amongst a snow covered landscape. However, the most effective aspect about films, such as Cranes Are Flying is that it is shot in black and white and creates an abstract and ambiguous quality to the film as well as depict the emotions between the characters in their light and dark moods.

Overall, The Cranes Are Flying is a recommendable film. For those not familiar with Russian cinema, this was quite a surprise. The film captures the images of war and humanity, and brings an understanding of this particular period in Russian history that is not usually portrayed.

Russian Love Story.......2007-02-21

The triumphant success of this film started with its winning the first prize at the Cannes festival in 1958, where an excellent acting by Tatiana Samoilova was also recognized. After that the picture was welcomed in numerous world's movie theatres. This is a story of love that could not be destroyed even by war. Boris is felled by an enemy's bullet in action. Veronica is devastated: she has lost her lover, her parents, her home. As an act of despair, she attempts to find a new family for herself, but only loses her self-respect. She is finally redeemed by rescuing a little boy from being run down by a car. She finds strength to continue living, refusing to believe that Boris is dead. Veronica would not stop waiting for him. Life for her is love, and its loss is equivalent to death...

Awards: Palme d'Or at the Cannes IFF, 1958; Special Diploma for Best Actress (Tatiana Samoilova) at the Cannes IFF, 1958; Honorary Diploma at the Locarno IFF, 1958; Silver Sombrero Prize at the Guadalajara IFF, 1958

Average customer rating:

Ethereal Matters
Family magic
An Existential Tweener Fantasy--"The Dust Factory" Is Overly Sentimental And Ultimately Cloying
Too Slow
Danger-Philosophical-Requires Functioning Viewer Brain Cells

The Dust Factory
Starring: Armin Mueller-Stahl , Hayden Panettiere , Ryan Kelley , Kim Myers , and George De La Pena
Director: Eric Small (IV)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0007GP6ZG
Release Date: 2005-03-22

Description

Hayden Panettiere (Ice Princess) and Ryan Kelley (Mean Creek) are "attractively earnest"(Variety) teenagers who find budding romance in a magical realm somewhere between Heaven and Earth. An "original and imaginative"(Dallas Observer) fantasy about conquering your fears, The Dust Factory co-stars screen veteran Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine) as the boy's sage grandfather. After suffering accidents, Ryan (Kelley) and Melanie (Panettiere) meet in an enchanting new world called the Dust Factory, where amazing things happen. People walk on water and disappear in the mist, and Ryan's grandfather, who has Alzheimer's, is now lucid. With magic everywhere, will Ryan and Melanie ever find the courage to leave this wondrous sanctuary and return home?

Customer Reviews:

Ethereal Matters.......2007-06-12

I find this film somewhat similar to, "Dream a Little Dream." The main characters in both films are suspended between perception & reality, and are given the opportunity to see life from a new perspective & correct past mistakes.

Family magic.......2007-01-09

Our whole family loved this movie - daughter age 11 and son age 16 tell me they feel so strong and uplifted after watching.

An Existential Tweener Fantasy--"The Dust Factory" Is Overly Sentimental And Ultimately Cloying.......2006-12-04

I can certainly understand why some people have connected with "The Dust Factory." At least it attempts something intriguing. This is an existential fantasy that explores a world of "limbo," a place between life and death. It's a rather fantastical world, too--what with the circus standing as the surreal exit from this idyllic place. As a film geared toward younger viewers, I suppose there are some interesting ideas and visuals to recommend the film. However, for me, the execution was cutesy and cloying. I didn't expect a film about life and death to contain such contrived "preciousness."

Ryan Kelley plays a teenager who has remained mute since the death of his father. It's one of those classic movie cliches--this boy must be fixed. One day, he plunges off a bridge and appears to be drowning. He is transported to The Dust Factory. In this world, he meets his Grandfather (who in the real world was disconnected with Alzheimer's). Of course, here his Grandfather is fully capable and loaded with charm and wisdom. He also meets a young girl played by Hayden Panettiere. She is impossibly cute and upbeat, so obviously lives in denial about her real circumstances. They form a tentative romance and together contemplate never leaving this world.

With some heavy-handed metaphors, the exit to The Dust Factory is a trapeze act. If you are successful, you move to another realm. If not, you're reduced to dust and return to the physical world. The circus ringleader is a vague reference to death--at one point, Kelley even plays hockey with "death" to win Panetierre's freedom (not quite the chess game from "The Seventh Seal"--but similar in conception).

I was never particularly captivated by the fantasies within "The Dust Factory," but that wasn't my biggest issue. I just found the whole thing emotionally manipulative--sweet and sugary. Many find that this film doesn't talk down to kids--I don't know, maybe I was a rather sophisticated kid (or maybe just emotionally stunted). The romance is cutesy cute, the lessons obvious, and the cliches abundant. A good idea, but it just didn't work for me. KGHarris, 12/06.

Too Slow.......2006-11-13

I was very disappointed in this movie. I thought it was slow moving and found myself contunually calling up the display to see how much longer it lasted. The Grandfather has such a heavy accent that I missed a lot of what he was saying but didn't want to drag out the movie by playing it back. I have seen many fantasies in my time but this one left me cold. Didn't like! I was sure glad I had gotten it from the library and not bought it.

Danger-Philosophical-Requires Functioning Viewer Brain Cells.......2006-09-04

Contrary to popular belief, films do not have to be dumbed-down for children. Much of the pleasure they get comes from puzzling out complex plot developments and recognizing subtle details. And there is actually a small sub-genre of children's films (mostly independents) that challenge young viewers to use their imaginations and film viewing skills.

"The Dust Closet" joins "An Angel for May" and "Restless Spirits" as the best recent examples of this type of film. These films have a hidden depth to their story and storytelling technique that will interest even the most sophisticated viewer-provided that they retain at least some of their childhood capacity for wonder. The weak vote count probably reflects viewers unable or unwilling to deal with a film that requires some mental energy and a few functioning brain cells.

Ryan Flynn (Ryan Kelley) is a teenager who has refused to speak since being traumatized when he saw his father killed at a train crossing. Ryan's father died when Ryan was nine years old, but not before he passed on a passion for astronomy to his son. But now Ryan is having trouble connecting with astronomy, symbolized by his inability to find the man in the moon his father drew for him. Like an impressionist painting, the moonscape becomes meaningless when viewed close up through his new telescope.

Ryan's family takes care of his grandfather (Mueller-Stahl), but Ryan barely knows him because he has had Alzheimer's for a number of years. Ryan hangs out with his best friend Rocky (Michael Angarano), and they communicate fine nonverbally. Rocky does not question Ryan's silence-he just accepts it. Things dramatically change one day when Ryan falls off a bridge and into a lake while roller-blading. When he surfaces Rocky is gone and everything is a little off-kilter. His grandfather is completely recovered and living alone it their house, which was his originally. They have meaningful conversations and his grandfather tries to pass on advice on how to get the most out of life. Ryan meets a pretty girl his own age named Melanie (Hayden Panettiere) who can ice skate on the surface of the lake-even though to Ryan it is summer and the lake is not frozen.

The story is basically told from Ryan's point of view and we learn along with him that this new reality is a place called "The Dust Factory". The film is an allegory (the expression by symbolic means of generalizations about human existence) about the process of living; much like "Groundhog Day". The idea is that most of us just go through the motions of living (each day is just a repeat of the day before). The themes are basically the same, the importance of having the courage to live life to the fullest and to get the most out of each day.

"Groundhog Day" illustrated this by having one day keep repeating itself for the main character . "The Dust Factory" does it by creating a symbolic place between life and death. This place is populated by all those in a coma state, their bodies are alive but their conscious mind is no longer functioning. These people are allegorical and meant to symbolize those who are not living a full life. The circus ring is the point where people finally decide whether to get on with living or to get on with dying (a line borrowed from "Shawshank Redemption").

Either choice is a valid alternative depending mostly on what stage you are at in your life (the grandfather chooses death-the teenagers choose to live for a while longer). The wrong thing is being stuck there in limbo, afraid to risk it in the circus ring. Such people are called dawdlers and symbolize the day-to-day existence of many people. But "The Dust Factory" is also a place where people can pull back and take an objective and distanced look at their lives; seeing things from this perspective allows them to recognize things (like the man in the moon) they were too close to see before (can't see the forest for the trees). Those who come back have no conscious memory of the place (they have been dreaming while in a coma) but subconsciously retain things they have learned; like the Grandfather's advice to not forget that you are on a quest for paradise, and that a fear of dying or hurting keeps you from letting go of security and really living. It takes some work to sort this film out and it probably should be viewed several times because it withholds a lot of its pleasure from the first viewing. The cast does a first-rate job. Panettiere is unexpectedly effective. In her prior film work, her extreme self-assurance overwhelms the character she is playing and works against her performances. Here she plays someone who uses a cocky attitude to hide her fear and insecurity. This multi- dimensionality connects with viewers who then relate to the protectiveness Ryan develops toward Melanie.

The movie goes out on a painfully sappy duet "Someone Like You," performed by Panettiere and Kelley (she can sing-he cannot). My advice would be to hit the off button very early in the closing credits.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Average customer rating:

EMOTIONALLY DRAINING
Monotony Of Pathos

The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal
Starring: Wil Albert , Olivia Barash , Tom Bosley , David Dukes , and Tovah Feldshuh
Director: Mel Stuart
Manufacturer: Direct Source Label
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000KQF734
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Customer Reviews:

EMOTIONALLY DRAINING.......2007-06-22

I watched this film several years ago and found it very poignant. Seeing it again made me hold my breath once more waiting to see what would happen next.

This story is a great history lesson for everyone.

Monotony Of Pathos.......2007-02-13

If you enjoy pathos in its simple and variant hues you should enjoy this movie; other wise, not much of historical reality into it nor dynamics in emotions or visual scenes.

Average customer rating:

Crawford formula
SUSPENSE, DRAMA, MOBSTERS, GREAT ACTING & THE BEAUTIFUL JOAN CRAWFORD ~ A MOVIE THAT HAS EVERYTHING!!!!!
Glamorous Film Noir Fun
Joan Crawford Commands The Screen In Fascinating Gangster Melodrama
Not Bad......

The Damned Don't Cry
Starring: Joan Crawford , David Brian , Steve Cochran , Kent Smith , and Hugh Sanders
Director: Vincent Sherman
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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The Star

ASIN: B0008ENI84
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Amazon.com

Joan Crawford bashes her way through this melodrama inspired by the Bugsy Siegel-Virginia Hill story. Our girl walks out of tacky poverty at the beginning and re-shapes herself into a fur-lined mobster's moll, her will of steel out-pointing the men at every stop. David Brian (recently her Flamingo Road co-star) is the looming blond monster who runs the organization, Steve Cochran is the Bugsy guy building his own network in Nevada, and Kent Smith is the meek accountant Joan bullies into becoming a syndicate player. It's all from that mid-career post-Mildred Pierce period that served Crawford so well, with the full-on film noir look (Ted McCord photographed) and the strong whiff of American sleaze.

Joan Crawford's face had assumed its masklike quality at this point, and at times she seems more of a business manager than an actress: organizing each scene, pushing the story along to its next stop. In its own over-the-top way, it works: there isn't a moment when she doesn't seem capable of devouring anybody that stands in her way. Everything is writ large in this movie, which makes it a fitting target for a Carol Burnett send-up... and which also makes it a great deal of fun. --Robert Horton

Description

It's a man's world. And Ethel Whitehead learns there's only one way for a woman to survive in it: be as tempting as a cupcake and as tough as a 75-cent steak. In the first of three collaborations with director Vincent Sherman, Joan Crawford brings hard-boiled glamour and simmering passion to the role of Ethel, who moves from the wrong side of the tracks to a mobster's mansion to high society one man at a time. Some of those men love her. Some use her. And one a high-rolling racketeer abuses her. When the racketeer murders his rival in Ethel?s swanky living room, she flees a sure murder rap right back to the poverty she thought she had escaped. And this time there may not be a man to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

DVD Features: Audio Commentary:Commentary by Director Vincent Sherman Featurette:New Featurette The Crawford Formula: An Interview with Director Vincent Sherman

Customer Reviews:

Crawford formula.......2007-02-24

Not long after "Mildred Pierce", Joan Crawford starred in this gangster film about a woman who grew up with nothing, got married to a mean guy, had a child who died ... then decided to pursue a better life for herself at any price. Sounds a little like Mildred Pierce, but that's OK because Joan did these dramatic roles extremely well. And who could blame her for cashing in on the success of Mildred Pierce.

"the Damned Don't Cry" is an interesting film for any Crawford fan because she is once again very watchable in every scene and not just for her fine acting. Her face is captivating. As she grew older, her face became more prominent ... those big eyes, those big eyelashes. She almost became a parody of herself.

Crawford was not classically trained yet always delivered fine performances every time. This film is high up at the top, and is deserving of a place in your collection.

SUSPENSE, DRAMA, MOBSTERS, GREAT ACTING & THE BEAUTIFUL JOAN CRAWFORD ~ A MOVIE THAT HAS EVERYTHING!!!!!.......2006-10-03

I just love this fast-paced, action drama. Sexy, Joan Crawford, Handsome, David Brian, et al., perform brilliantly. The dialog is very cleverly well-written, and the sound and picture is of very good quality. A must see the the Joan Crawford and Film Noir fans!!!!!

Glamorous Film Noir Fun.......2006-01-19

"The Damned Don't Cry" is the kind of movie that Joan Crawford excelled. The formula consisting of either "shop girl" seeking the good life or "unappreciated wife and mother" seeking the good life, which is the case here, are played to perfection by the ultimate movie star. Joan leaves her hard working, yet seemingly uncaring husband, after the death of their young son and goes out seeking the "good things in life." This is a "from rags to riches" story that mirrors the film noir classics, but is a step above due to the acting talents of Joan and her male co-stars. David Brian is excellent as the sophisticated mob boss who seduces Joan into his world of luxuries and crime. Kent Smith plays a smart accountant which gets pulled into the world of the mob by his ambitious "true love" played by Joan. And then there's the tough and handsome playboy, Steve Cochran, (who also claims to be Joan's true love) which plays the rival mobster to David Brian's mob boss. I highly recommend this movie to both film noir fans, as well as to all Joan Crawford fans. The dvd features the original movie trailer, as well as a nice "making of" featurette, "The Crawford Formula: Real and Reel". The dvd has a clean transfer, however the film itself has a few minor blurs and glitches but nothing that would detract the viewer's enjoyment of the movie, but this is on the film itself and has nothing to do with the dvd's transfer. "The Damned Don't Cry" ranks right up there with Joan's other classics, such as: "Harriet Craig," "Flamingo Road," and one of my personal favorites, "Female On The Beach." All of which are sadly missing and desperately needed on dvd. If you're considering purchasing the Joan Crawford Collection box set, I highly recommend all the films in this collection. As one of the reviewers here mentioned, there are only three titles here that were not previously on dvd, "The Damned Don't Cry," "Humoresque," and "Possessed (1947)." And two titles that were already available on dvd, "Mildred Pierce," and "The Women." I would love to see all of Joan's movies available on dvd, for after all she was, and will always be, "the ultimate star."

Joan Crawford Commands The Screen In Fascinating Gangster Melodrama .......2005-08-22

By 1950 Joan Crawford was coming towards the end of her reign as one of the reigning stars at Warner Brother's Studios through most of the 1940's. However before she finally left the studio in 1952 to seek new challenges and better roles than she had been getting of late she had one last powerhouse performance to give in the bleak but riverting melodrama "The Damned Don't Cry". The Crawford on display in this story is the mature actress fully in command of her craft who by her sheer star power and gritty performing literally wipes every one else off the screen in this tawdry tale of underworld thugs and the women they use along the way. In many ways the screenplay is your typical rags to riches story so familiar to Crawford enthusiasts however Joan Crawford under the solid direction of veteran Vincent Sherman in the first of their three collaborations together really works magic with the stock character and makes the at times unbelievable "The Damned Don't Cry", a taut and totally fun outing. Full of double dealings, shoot outs, deception and a central female character who ruthlessly takes on the boys in a man's world, it makes a fitting conclusion to Joan Crawford's amazing career run at Warner Brothers and definately helped pave the way for the many hard broiled roles that became her trademark in the 1950's.

Based on a story by Gertrude Walker the story opens with a distraught woman dressed in a beautiful mink coat arriving at a dreary old house on the outskirts of the coal fields. She is no ordinary woman however as the story reveals and Ethel Whitehead (Joan Crawford) appears to be escaping from some dangerous past. With her story told in flashback we first see Ethel as a down trodden, financially strapped housewife married to a hard working but unimaginative husband Roy (Richard Egan), living with her parents and having to bear the criticism of her harsh father. Ethel's existence is shattered when her young son is killed while out riding the new bike his mother had just bought for him despite the disapproval of her husband. Deciding life must have more to offer than this existence Ethel packs up and moves to the city where she finds work firstly in a cigar store and then in modelling clothes for a firm handling out of town buyers which often involves the women being the "dates" for the travelling salesmen. Ethel gains in self confidence and in the belief in her own attractiveness towards men and when she meets gifted accountant Martin Blackford (Kent Smith), Ethel sees her chance to develop a better life. She pushes Martin into an involvement with the owner of a local nightclub to handle his financial affairs for a good price and from there they make the acquaintance of hardened gang land figure George Castleman (David Brian), who sets up a reluctant Martin as his organisation's chief accountant. Martin does it solely to please Ethel who he is in love with and proposes mariage to despite disapproving of Castleman's shady operations. Ethel however has her sights set much higher and begins an affair with Castleman during which she undergoes a complete transformation emerging as the mysterious but socially prominent Lorna Hanson Forbes. However the luxury apartment, beautiful clothes and world travel provided by Castleman have their price as she now discovers when she is caught in a plan by George to remove one of his underlings Nick Prenta (Steve Cochran) who is in charge of Castleman's operation in the west coast area of Palm Springs. Lorna reluctantly travels out to Palm Springs to spy on Nick for Castleman however she ends up falling in love with him and attempts to head off the inevitable show down between the two men that will only end in Nick's death. A now hardened Martin travels out to Palm Springs to warn Lorna that Castleman is onto her and when Castleman himself arrives there is a shootout which sees Nick killed and Lorna fleeing the scene in a frantic effort to get away from him. He however follows her back to her impoverished parents house and in one final fiery showdown between Lorna, Martin and Castleman where she is injured Ethel/Lorna finds herself right back where she began all those years ago with only a mink coat as evidence of her former glittering life as the "socially prominent", but equally mysterious, Lorna Hanson Forbes.

Largely based on the story of Las Vegas gangster Bugsy Siegel and his mistress Virginia Hill, "The Damned Don't Cry" proved to be one of the strongest vehicles that screen legend Joan crawford had enjoyed in some time. At this stage in her ever enduring career the role of Ethel Whitehead/Lorna Hansen-Forbes was one that suited Joan Crawford perfectly and in this lurid story she makes the absolute most of the meaty part. Rarely have I enjoyed her as much as here and the unique thing is that she makes her character's transformation from dowdy law abiding housewife to mistress of a mobster totally believable and she is equally riverting in both parts. Joan Crawford enjoyed a very successful collaboration with director Vincent Sherman here and in her next feature when she went on loan out to Columbia Studios for the suberb "Harriet Craig" and indeed by this stage in her career Crawford undoubtedly knew as much about directing herself as those hired to perform the task. She is totally compelling on screen and never for a moment does she really share the screen with anyone as the viewers attention seems to be constantly fixed on her. What is so pleasing about "The Damned Don't Cry", is that it provides such a strong central woman's role despite the story being the "rough and tumble man's story", type of product so familiar in the output at Warner Bros. Despite the Crawford powerhouse the two leading males in David Brian as the ruthless George Castleman and Steve Cochran as his rival Nick Prenta also make memorable impressions. One critic likened David Brian's character to a snarling cobra and that's a perfect description of his character here and rarely has Brian been so effective on screen. He enjoys an electric chemistry with Joan Crawford and their scenes together especially when the cracks start appearing in their relationship are especially noteworthy. Production wise "The Damned Don't Cry", has alot of the famed "noir" look about it and the cinematography is especially effective in depicting the drab and grainy existence of down trodden Ethel Whitehead which stands in stark contrast with the filmy look to those scenes when Ethel becomes Lorna and is enjoying the good life of priviledge in New York and Palm Springs which is further enhanced with some wonderful location photography in the desert resort. Sheila O'Brien's fashions for Joan Crawford are another visual standout in "The Damned Don't Cry", perfectly tracing the rise and fall of Ethel Whitehead from coal town to the heights of international society.

The saying "they sure don't make 'em like that anymore", is an apt description of "The Damned Don't Cry"., and for all Joan Crawford fans who like to see her in commanding, fully cut roles this one is a real treat. Along with "Harriet Craig", it is by far my favourite Crawford vehicle from the 1950's and it has everything a full bodied melodrama should have with ruthless men always ready to pull a gun, and classy no nonsense women who are prepared to use their "charms", to get ahead in a man's world. Joan Crawford like no other actress was perfect for these hard broiled type roles and she makes a real meal out of her part turning a fairly unbelievable story into an exciting and highly entertaining viewing experience. Don't miss Joan Crawford in one of her last Warner Bros. roles before she became a freelance actress in the sordid and fast moving "The Damned Don't Cry".

Not Bad.............2005-08-15

This is not the quintessential Crawford film. But it does have its moments, particularly at the film's climax towards the end. It has gangsters galore with Joan her typical shopgirl on the make for a better life. The film is uneven. It starts strong, then vacillates back and forth until the climax toward the end which finishes strong. Crawford gives a strong performance and is a much stronger actress here than she is usually given credit for. The DVD has parts that are grainy but for the most part it is a good transfer. There is a useless documentary with Vincent Sherman and a documentary called "The Crawford Formula" which lasts about 32 minutes but really isn't all that interesting.

Average customer rating:

Multidimensional drama!
Compassionate study of a woman, and a scathing social satire
Excuse me, can I exploit your personal tragedy?

Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven
Starring: Peter Bollag , Karlheinz Böhm , Margit Carstensen , Ingrid Caven , and Peter Chatel
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00008L3WC
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Amazon.com

When Hermann Kusters goes berserk at his factory and murders his manager before killing himself, a media blitz descends upon his middle-aged wife (Brigitte Mira) and her adult children. Her daughter attempts to use the situation to improve her cabaret singing career, but Frau Kusters remains distraught that her husband has been depicted in the papers as a boozing maniac. Her search for some solution leads her to the communist party, then finally to a group of anarchists who take drastic action. While Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven isn't one of German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder's more lively films--the pace is almost monotonously steady--but Fassbinder's eye for selfishness, hypocrisy, and manipulation remains sharp. The movie shifts from a darkly comic tone to a deep sadness; perhaps unable to decide which mood to commit to, Fassbinder shot two strikingly different endings, both of which are presented. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Multidimensional drama!.......2006-01-13

A German factory worker kills his boss and then commits suicide. His widow will have to face the ulterior aftermath of this unhinged and convoluted act. Tense and potent drama politically charged; banned by the Berlin Film Festival. One of the most devastating works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the tormented conscious of the German nation.

Compassionate study of a woman, and a scathing social satire.......2003-08-23

Like all of Fassbinder's best films, Mother Kusters Goes to Heaven (1975) is many things at once. It is simultaneously a deeply compassionate portrait of a working-class woman and a scathing satire of her exploitation by the media and political factions, as she tries to clear the name of her dead husband, branded "the factory murderer." It is emotionally rich but intellectually dense, filled with arguments and counter-arguments galore; psychologically astute yet highly stylized and visually lush. It is a comedy, a drama, and much more. It is also an excellent example of how Fassbinder uses image and sound, often in subtle ways, to develop - and play with - his themes. A unique feature is that he wrote and shot two strikingly different endings (both are included on the excellent DVD), one for Europe, and a more hopeful one for the U.S. They provide two very different ways in which the title character "goes to heaven."

The character of Mother Kusters is remarkable for several reasons. Although Fassbinder often has a tendency to allegorize his characters (albeit in fascinating ways), even as he does here, Emma Kusters (Brigitte Mira) is both a potent symbol of The Mother and, simultaneously, a flesh and blood woman. When so many of his characters, not to mention people in the real world, are destroyed by their rigidity, her willingness to explore new ideas - to incorporate an increasingly complex view of the social world, her family, and even herself - seems a genuine form of optimism.

The film's literary roots also connect with Fassbinder's aesthetic and political aims. Although he attributed its inspiration to an obscure story, the key cultural "mother" is Gorky's in his 1906 novel, Mother (an indomitable Russian peasant woman, after having her political consciousness raised through a family tragedy, joins the Russian revolution). It was also dramatized by Brecht, whose theories of how to engage the audience's mind as well as emotions were a crucial early influence on Fassbinder. But sure to raise the hackles of his Leftist predecessors, Fassbinder takes some hilarious jabs at Communists and anarchists, not to mention right-wing journalists. With so much humor, many people consider this an outright comedy.

But Fassbinder also raises many serious, and still-relevant, social issues - about the nature of mass media and politics - even as he returns to one of his perennial themes, exploitation. And although he satirizes most of the characters, except Mother Kusters, he never dehumanizes them. Take the photographer/reporter Niemeyer (Gottfried John). He is tall, lanky, almost vulture-like, yet he comes across as sincere and likeable, even as he wheedles the most intimate details out of Emma Kusters - and even beds her crudely self-promoting daughter Corinna (Ingrid Caven). It would be easy to reduce Niemeyer, for cheap laughs, to a one-dimensional stereotype. But Fassbinder gives him considerable emotional, even moral, depth. And he is defended by Mother Kusters herself: "It's his job to create sensations. Everybody has to make a living." Fassbinder is merciless, and witty, at condemning the institution; but he ekes out some sympathy for the employees.

Fassbinder uses visual design to make his themes still more complex and involving. He begins not with an expected establishing shot, to show us where we are, but by holding on a closeup of Mother Kusters' hands, as she screws a round brown part into a small white plastic box, one after another after another. Eventually he reveals that she is working not in a factory but at her kitchen table, as she laments, "I'm getting slower." The routine is efficient, even graceful, yet dehumanizing. Not only does this establish her socioeconomic status and long-suffering character, it indicates the same type of repetitive work which drove (the never-seen) Mr. Kusters to murder and suicide. Throughout the film, Fassbinder also uses color in fascinating ways, contrasting the unfulfilled lives of the Kusters with bright primaries - blues, yellows, and especially reds. This is simultaneously satirical, poignant, and even beautiful. He also makes achieves visual coherence and thematic resonance through the use of shape. In contrast to the often comic tone, the dominant visual motif is oppressive, of narrow openings (in doorways, halls, corridors) between stark walls, often shot from twisted angles and in shadow.

Although I don't want to give away either of the surprising endings, I believe both are effective. Each gives characters and themes closure, albeit in dramatically - or comically - different ways, even as they bring to mind Mother Kuster's bittersweet key line: "As my [husband] used to say, you have to see the good in all people." Fassbinder understands that simple, but difficult, maxim too, as he explores the emotional complexity of characters and their lives, in a film without any villains, but with one extraordinary woman at its heart.

Excuse me, can I exploit your personal tragedy?.......2002-04-13

A bitingly clever film from Fassbinder. It apparently offended a lot of Germans when it was initially released, but is quite interesting to watch now as a document of Germany in the `70s. No one is the "good guy" here - the newspapers, the Communists, and the anarchists all want to use Mrs. Kuster's tragic story to their own benefit. Even the laughably ignorant Mother Kusters fails to become a sympathetic character. The woman just doesn't have a clue.

As in all Fassbinder films, the regular actresses steal the show. Ingrid Caven is lovely as the aloof nightclub singer. Irm Hermann isn't quite as strong as she is in `Bitter Tears of P.V.K.' or `Merchant of Four Seasons,' but she makes an impression all the same. Margit Cartensen and Karl Heinz Bohm are very picturesque as the "armchair Communist" couple - all ideals but probably not willing to make any real sacrifices.

Amazon.com

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress--even better than Maria Ewing in the competing DVD edition from Covent Garden, though Ewing acts very well and has a more appropriate voice.

This movie version was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence hard to achieve in a staged performance shot for television. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes. The opening titles are superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. The changing of the guard in the opening scene, with the boys' chorus playing soldier, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act II, the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout, all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. But the music is, on the whole, more effectively performed in the Covent Garden production, which also handles close-up shots better, perhaps because it was directed with a small screen in mind. The opera house atmosphere will make hard-core opera fans feel more at home. The movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. --Joe McLellan

Description

All the passion and spectacle of Bizet's Carmen comes to life in this dazzling screen opera starring Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes-Johnson. In 19th century Seville, the lusty, tempestuous Carmen (Migenes-Johnson) seduces a naive Army corporal, Don Jose (Domingo), newly assigned to the village fortress. Jose abandons his career, his fiancée and even his dying mother for the love of this sultry gypsy. But soon she spurns him in favor of a toreador, Escamillo (Ruggero Raimondi). Crazed with jealousy, Jose begs Carmen to return to him, but her taunting declaration of independence results in tragedy. Shot entirely on location in Andalusian Spain, Bizet's Carmen has been hailed as the definitive version of this classic opera. 155 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

Gritty realism juxtaposed with the artifice of opera.......2007-06-15

This film version of the great Bizet opera aims for gritty realism right from the start - during the opening credits a bull is impaled and killed during a bull-fight - of course this realism goes out the window as soon as the characters open their mouths and begin to sing!

This is a well-mounted and well-sung production but the juxtaposition of a realistic setting with the artifice that is opera just doesn't work. The cast are not helped by the obvious lip-synching especially noticable during close-ups. The limitations of the singers as actors are also ruthlessly exposed.

Lovers of the vibrancy and passion of Bizet's great opera are best advised to look elsewhere.

one of the most beautiful versions of Carmen I have seen.............2007-03-22

This 1983 version of Bizet's Carmen, directed by the great Italian filmmaker, Franco Zeferelli, is wonderfully done. We really don't see enough of the great soprano, Julia Migenes, who is seen here as the title character, opposite the marvelous Placido Domingo, as Don Jose, her jealous lover. This film glows with exhuberance and fire and the cast does a fantastic job. I definitely reccomend this film to those who consider themselves opera fans, as well as those who have never seen an opera before. For starters, the cinematography is so earthy and beautiful to look at. Secondly, the acting is best-described as smouldering. Julia Migenes and Placido Domingo have great on-screen chemistry. Finally, this opera has some of the most well-loved and recognized operatic songs ever heard. Not to be missed.....

Amazing, not to be missed.......2006-10-22

An amazing visual feast - a palette of tawny burnt golds and sunsplashed white, relieved by the earth tones of the villagers' dresses and the grey-green of the uniforms...no pinks or purples here! Just a dash of red in the blooded bulls...and the only blue is the muted blue of Michaela's dress (the virginal one?) And those incredible towns and villages, and the vast striated rockfaces in the countryside. This is the land where the relentess sun beats into brains and perhaps turns everyone a little mad.

Wonderful little touches: dramatic duets sometimes sung by the couple in the distance while in the foreground the villagers work quietly at their tasks and the dogs wander about: the infants brought to the tobacco factory by their mothers, kept safe in cane walking frames or lying in cots...

But how can I write two paragraphs and not mention MUSIC??? Because I believe that this filmic rendering is actually truer to the heart of opera than many a stage production. Nowadays with our full-realism movie experiences we enjoy opera mainly for the music and silently forgive the limitations of stage sets and scenery. But opera is not only a series of arias. The wrenching emotional dramas were as important to those audiences as the musical medium. Surely if Bizet could have used movie cameras, he would have created something like this experience.

Anyway, musically, Domingo is splendid: Raimondi is excellent as Escamillo: on his first appearance you sense true musical authority. Carmen...she gives great hipswings, but the voice doesn't quite have the power this gypsy wildcat needs. Lorin Maazel's interpretation I like except for his too-fast tempo in the entrance of the toreadors: a scramble instead of a pageant.

Overall, not a Carmen to miss! I had no idea what to expect and was riveted from the introductory bullfight.

Simply the best representation of Bizet's.......2005-12-22

opera ever! It's very raw and authenic interpretation of both Merimee's and Bizet's story. Filmed in Spain back in 1984, the movie holds a special place in my imagination. Real places such as the cigarette factory, the bullring in Ronda where Escamillo received accolades for his bullfighting prowess. What I really liked about the movie are the performances by Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes. They brought Jose and Carmen to life with their dialogue and acting.

Please buy this movie. You're in for a real treat!

A moving Carmen - the movie of the opera.......2005-10-18

You cannot close your eyes, the film adds something so special to the music even if Migenes is not the best voice Carmen ever had ... More beautiful than any other Carmen movie (let alone the opera on stage) because it was shot in Spain.

Average customer rating:

Pure Campy Fun!
Death factory -- what it is and what it isn't
Send Death Factory back to the assembly line..

Death Factory
Starring: Lisa Jay (II) , Karla Zamudio , Jeff Ryan , David Kalamus , and Rhoda Jordan
Director: Brad Sykes
Manufacturer: Brain Damage
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Detour
The Hazing
Turistas (Unrated Edition)

ASIN: B00006L92G
Release Date: 2003-10-07

Customer Reviews:

Pure Campy Fun!.......2005-01-01

This Movie is pure campy fun! It caught my attention at the video store so i rented it! It was pretty scary and really gory! The acting sucked though which you usally see in low-budget horror flicks, but the story and the ending were great! The ending has some emotional-depth which made this film more enjoyable! The movie was predicatble though, you would know who would die next! But still it was enjoyable with alot of suspense and chills!

Death factory -- what it is and what it isn't.......2003-01-13

You know, there are certain bad things you must expect from a film like this. I don't get why people rent these type of movies and then totally trash on things like the bad acting, horrible story line, the bad camera work, and the all horror movie cliches. That is to be expected from films like these. Low budget horror movies have formed into a sub-genre of traditional horror movies and if these films didn't include all the bad acting, horrible story line, the bad camera work, and all the horror movie cliches, they would betray their own sub-genre and go against the real intent of why films like these are made. Films like "Death Factory" aren't meant to touch your heart and soul. Films like "Death Factory" are supposed to be low budget, politically incorrect, immoral, and full of more blood and violence than films produced for the big screen. This is a straight-to-video blood and guts film targeted to fans of the low-budget horror film sub-genre who raise no expectations and enjoy the film for what it is worth, and not for what should be expected of it. Moving on, what I liked about "Death Factory" was how good the killer Alexa looked. They did a great job on making her brutal but sexy at the same time. And the 2 minute killing sequences were pretty brutal and worked nicely. The story twist at the end provided some emotional character attachment to Alexa with the viewer, making the ending much more interesting. This is why I give this movie 3 stars. To the people who expect all films to have the best of everything, my 3 star rating probably seems like an insanely high rating for a film like this, but you have to realize that these films aren't made for the people that expect every movie ever made to be Academy Award winning material, and nothing short of that or it's a disappointing film, but are made for the people that appreciate films like these who aren't distracted by the supposed standards of high-budget films.

Send Death Factory back to the assembly line.........2002-11-25

From the front and back of the DVD I was expecting to see a movie that was going to scare the living hell out of me..but alas I was very disappointed.
A bunch of stupid horny kids are tossed into this old factory for a little secret party freaky deaky action and all of a sudden this wild woman crazed out of her mind from this government chemical virus turns the kids night of orgy fun into an all you can eat buffet.
I do however, offer a golf clap to Tiffany Shepis playing Alexa, the blood thirsty beast of a woman. The last indie film I was in, had me sucking down tons of the corn syrup blood capsules and as Tiff can probably attest to, they don't taste like cherries like the box advertises.

Also, an interesting choice of clothing for our man-eating beast..kneepads and a thong.. she looked to me more like an extra from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome than a modern horror flick.

There was more blood in this flick than most horror films. Blood pouring out of every human orifice..you have to love it when the beast goes right for the man's groin when he calls her a b!tch.. But I think they spent a little too much time on each kill, taking the shock factor out of the attack. Sure when the beast comes out of nowhere and starts tearing out your throat we gasp, but let the guy fall and die already!

It's quite obvious that this film had absolutely no budget, save for dollars needed to buy the buckets and buckets of cherry flavored goodness they used for blood.

Product Description

The BBC brought this Charles Dickens adaptation to the screen, with a young Nigel Havers (CHARIOTS OF FIRE) starring as the title character.

System Requirements:
Running Time: 325 minutes

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

"Dickens takes aim at social injustice ... Nicholas Nickleby (2006) ... Koch Vision".......2006-10-20

Koch Vision and BBC present "Nicholas Nickleby (1977) - Nigel Havers (325 mins/Color) (Dolby Digital) --- Under Christopher Barry (Director), Barry Letts (Producer), Chris Wimble (Editor), Charles Dickens (novel), Hugh Leonard (Screenwriter) ----- the cast includes Nigel Havers (Nicholas Nickleby), Peter Bourke (Smike), Kate Nicholls (Kate Nickleby), Derek Godfrey (Ralph Nickleby), Robert James (Newman Noggs), Derek Francis (Wackford Squeers), Anne Ridler (Mrs. Squeers), Isabelle Amyes (Miss Fanny Squeers) . . . . . our story as it begins is like nearly all of Dickens' works, the novel has a contemporary setting ... the action takes place in London, with several scenes taking place in Dickens' hometown of Portsmouth, as well as settings in Yorkshire and Devon ... with Dickens taking aim at what he perceives to be social injustices ... the cast of characters are introduced, including Nicholas' malevolent uncle Ralph, and the villainous Wackford Squeers, who operates a squalid boarding school at which Nicholas temporarily serves as a tutor. ...the film such as the novel centers around the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies ... and as for Uncle Ralph, who thinks Nicholas will never amount to anything, plays the role of an antagonist ... just remember Nicholas Nickleby is the hero of our story, his father has died and left Nicholas and his family penniless ... Nicholas is not a common Byronic hero ... Nickleby can be emotional, naive and violent, but through it all he is devoted to his friends and family, fiercely defiant of those who wrong those he loves ... the director Christopher Barry brings to the screen page by page of the novel keeping faith with the author Charles Dickens.

Great job by Koch Vision for releasing "Nicholas Nickleby" (1977) - Nigel Havers, the digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more high quality releases from the BBC mini-series film market...order your copy now from Amazon or Koch Vision where there are plenty of copies available on DVD, stay tuned once again for top notch drama mixed with an outstanding cast and director --- just the way we like 'em

Total Time: 325 mins on DVD ~ Koch Vision KOCV6361 ~ (5/02/2006)

Dated version of a Classic.......2006-07-18

This BBC production definately shows its age especially in the acting department.Nigel Havers, who plays the lead, manages to appear sincere even though there doesn't seem to be a lot of depth to his characterisation. But it is actress Kate Nichols, as his sister kate Nickleby, that is particularly painful to watch...her acting range appears to be limited to looking started,puzzled and vaguely troubled...with a few prolonged crying fits thrown in. She alone makes you want to hit the fast foward button.A particularly lacklustre production.

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive overview of a fascinating place

Ends of the Earth: Death Valley

Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Road Guide to Death Valley National Park, Updated Edition
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ASIN: B00003XAMQ
Release Date: 2000-02-15

Description

Take a journey of discovery to a mysterious land. Death Valley is a place of ever-changing color and mood. Home to peculiar plants and uniquely adapted animals, this otherworldly atmosphere is etched into the American consciousness. Sense the stunning appeal of this powerful site, and discover why no one leaves Death Valley untouched. Join geologists for a fascinating tour of this place of incredible extremes. Learn the secrets of a remarkable land as you experience the mysteries, marvel and magic of one of the Earth's most extreme environments--the hostile beauty of Death Valley. Hosted by Peter Coyote (E.T.). Filmed in High Definition format.

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive overview of a fascinating place.......2000-03-13

This tape has just about all you might want to know about Death Valley--Geology, Geography, History, Climatology, History, and Scenery. It addition, it has some stunning views of the Valley. The original was filmed in High Definition, and it shows in the crisp imagery of this work. Also, the DVD medium perfectly suits the location--with its stability of color even for the bright, strong reds and golds of the location.

In short, this comemoration of one of our newest National Park properties is a pleasure to own!

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Shakes the Clown

North Avenue Irregulars

Last King [2003] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Jack Reed: One of Our Own

Zardoz