The Young and the Dead

Starring:Tom Cory, Robert Evans, Paul Schreibman, Brent Cassity, Patt Morrison, Bud Testa, Hattie McDaniel, Bill Obrock, Johnny Grant, Bobs Watson, Jay Boileau, Delmar Watson, Tyler Cassity, Samantha Tibbs, A.C. Lyles, Charles Lyons (II), Michelle Best, Peter Bart
Director: Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Description

In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, a breezy take on writer-director Shane Black's trademark buddy action/comedy oeuvre, a petty thief (Robert Downey Jr.) is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, along with his high school dream girl (Michelle Monaghan) and a detective (Val Kilmer) who has been training him for his upcoming role.

DVD Features:
Documentary:Long Shadows Sharp Tongue: A Noir Documentary
Gag Reel
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Daring dark comedy.......2007-06-12

I had heard about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang prior to its release, and fully intended on seeing it in theatres. However, it was put into limited release, and I missed out on it. It is unfortunate that this is the fate of such a fine film. I'm sure it will be one of those "DVD hits" like Donnie Darko, Boondock Saints and Pitch Black. The movie features under-rated actor Robert Downey Jr. as a petty burglar who happens, by chance, to land a gig as an actor. He's sent to Los Angeles for more screen tests and training with a detective - played by another under-rated actor, Val Kilmer - for his part in the film. Downey finds himself in the middle of the Hollywood party scene where he runs into Michelle Monaghan, whom he had grown up with in a small Iowan town. Together, the three of them are thrust into a plot featuring many dead bodies appearing in places they would rather not have them, and many dark comedic moments. The beauty of this film is how well writer/director Shane Black (adapted from a novel by Brett Halliday) mixes the conspiratorial murder mystery with off-kilter humor and fanciful cinematography. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, suspense, and humor all as independent movies, but brought together into one coherent piece moved it beyond any one part.

Kiss Color Bang Dialog.......2007-02-21

This is a wonderful and much underrated film: and in Blu-Ray format the color is dazzling. Add to that the self-referential script (including set decoration that you have to scan carefully to get all the hidden jokes) and the flip dialog and canny narrative from Robert Downey,Jr. and they add up to a delightful evening of smiles, chuckles and outright guffaws! Watch closely!

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]

Average customer rating:

Absolutely loved this movie! Witty dialogue, wild action and a fun ride for movie-lovers!
We Didn't Like It!
A pleasant surprise.
Clever tribute to crime pix delivers both laughs and thrills
Self-conscious noir

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]
Starring: Julie Aronson , Corbin Bernsen , Jr. Robert Downey , Nancy Fish , and Val Kilmer
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

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ASIN: B000E5KJF2
Release Date: 2006-06-20

Amazon.com

As a screenwriter, Shane Black made millions of dollars from screenplays for the big-budget action movies Lethal Weapon and The Last Boy Scout, among others. With his directing debut Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Black mocks and undercuts every cliche he once helped to invent. While fleeing from the cops, small time hood Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey Jr., Wonder Boys) stumbles into an acting audition--and does so well he gets taken to Hollywood, where--pursuing a girl he loved in high school (foxy Michelle Monaghan, North Country)--he gets caught up in twisty murder mystery. His only chance of getting out alive is a private detective named Gay Perry (Val Kilmer, Wonderland, The Doors), who sidelights as a consultant for movies. No plot turn goes untweaked by Black's clever, witty script, and Downey, Kilmer, and Monaghan clearly have a ball playing their screwball variations on action movie stereotypes. There's nothing profound about Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, but it brings back wicked mischief to a genre that all often takes itself too seriously. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely loved this movie! Witty dialogue, wild action and a fun ride for movie-lovers!.......2007-06-18

Writer Shane Black has always crafted films that may be a little too quirky and over-the-top for the mass audience, but I love his love for film and talent for dialogue which are on display in his directorial debut.

After a botched robbery, the RDJ character stumbles into a film audition, which leads to an LA oddessey. In the course of it, bullets, dead bodies and a severed finger start to pile up, as the case turns into a cheap detective novel - not unlike the kind the characters riff about in the movie.

I found "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" to be a real treat for cinema-philes who like smart characters and a bit of the "breaking the fourth wall" feel. Admittedly, the plot is a little loose, and really only exists to facilitate the action (Noires sometimes have plot issues - see The Big Sleep & Night Moves for examples - so many twists). The movie takes itself just seriously enough to be wild but coherent. The "LA flare" and the fact that the actors seem to be having so much fun made this a fun view for me. RDJ & Val Kilmer (who steals a few scenes of his own) are great together, and Michelle Monaghan was witty, fun and nice to look at. This is the kind of fun film experience I enjoy & miss in the garbage they churn out in Hollywood now - really dug it.

We Didn't Like It!.......2007-06-05

Wow! If they had left the "F" word out of this movie, there wouldn't have been much dialog!!!! Could have been great, but our poor ears were cringing! Not even funny. What a disappointment. There are a lot better comedies out there.

A pleasant surprise........2007-05-12

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black, 2005)

I sometimes forget that under Robert Downey, Jr.'s deeply troubled exterior lies a world-class actor. Then I see one of his good movies, and the late eighties come flooding back. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, despite its awkward title (and how strange is it that this is the sixth movie to carry that title?), is definitely one of those.

Downey plays Harry Lockhart, a small-time crook who stumbles into the beginnings of an acting career while fleeing from some nasty men with guns. Lockhart is transplanted to the other side of the country and under consideration for the lead in a detective series; in order to get him some ideas about what happens on the job, he gets paired up with real private detective Perry (Val Kilmer). Meanwhile, he's run into Harmony (Unfaithful's Michelle Monaghan), the girl he had a major crush on in high school who went out to Hollywood to become an actress. Perry is planning on keeping Harry out of danger, but the two of them quickly become embroiled in an ugly, complex case.

I don't watch too many comedies; not because I don't like them, but because I prefer other genres of film. So I don't laugh terribly much when watching movies. This month, though, I've laughed more at movies than I have in the past year. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was half the reason. (He Died with a Felafel in His Hand was the other half.) Kilmer and Downey are great foils for one another, and both have very good timing here. Add in a few overly weird minor characters and the mother of all Rube Goldbergian plots, and you've got yourself a winner. No one will mistake this for deathless cinema, but then again, it never aspires to be. *** ½

Clever tribute to crime pix delivers both laughs and thrills.......2007-04-17

"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is one of those humorous takes on the "film noir" genre that wants to have it both ways: it makes clever comments and funny asides about the conventions of the genre (mostly via voiceover narration) while, at the same time, wanting to tell a genuinely involving "noir" story, too. And I have to say that, for the most part, the film succeeds. While I'm not as madly in love with this movie as many of the reviewers here, I certainly didn't feel that it's the train wreck some on this site describe it to be. Discovering this on DVD, I found it to be slick, fun, and clever. Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer in particular seem to be having a lot of fun. The DVD features attractive, slickly designed menus, dynamite picture and sound, and some good extras (including a gag reel that for once is actually fun to watch). Check this one out.

Self-conscious noir.......2007-03-28

A small-time crook (Robert Downey Jr) stumbles into an audition while running from police and ends up with a free ticket to LA, where he becomes involved in a complicated scheme along with his high school sweetheart (Michelle Monaghan) and a gay PI (Val Kilmer). There is much to enjoy here, including some laugh-out-loud moments and some enthusiastic skewering of action movie cliches. In the end, however, it is a little too cute and self-conscious, though never boring. Stick around for the credits. Robert Downey Jr. co-wrote and performs the final song.

Average customer rating:

Life & Death imitates Art...
A LITTLE TOO CAMPY AT TIMES
The Life in Death

The Young and the Dead
Starring: Tom Cory , Robert Evans , Hattie McDaniel , Bill Obrock , and Johnny Grant
Director: Robert Pulcini , and Shari Springer Berman
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00007KK57
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Description

An irreverent look at how a fertile imagination and 21st century technology can turn the most unlikely business into and exciting--and profitable--undertaking. The Young and The Dead tells the story of how the Hollywood Memorial Cemetary became Hollywood Forever. A metamorphosis from decrepit burial ground to a modern, interactive, state-of-the-art facility, with touch-screen kiosks and a gift shop complete with souvenirs. And how a cemetary became, according to LA magazine, one of the sexiest places in LA!

Customer Reviews:

Life & Death imitates Art..........2005-08-20

If you have ever read Evelyn Waugh's satirical novel The Loved One or seen the film adaptation of the novel you will find the documentary The Young and the Dead interesting. It seems that Mr. Waugh's satirical view of the funeral and cemetery business in the US is now a reality. This documentary, part of the HBO's America After Dark series, takes a look at the transformation of the run down Hollywood Memorial Cemetery into the Hollywood Forever facility. Just when you think they could not come up with a new spin on the inevitable, the death industry comes up with a new gimmick. At the hands of its owner, Tyler Cassity, this ongoing tribute to dying is a continual work in progress. The film makers, Robert Pulcini and Shari Berman, do a great job of showing how much death is part of life in America. Apparently Mr. Cassity's family is in the corporate cemetery business and own Hollywood Forever and other cemeteries in the Unites States. What is endearing about this film and Tyler Cassity is that they care about the people, both living and dead, who make up day to day life at Hollywood forever. But the whole time I watched this documentary I kept thinking of Rod Steiger as Mr. Joyboy in the movie version of The Loved One. I thought the most interesting part of this film was when it focused on the cemetery's previous owner, Jules Roth. The film's only failing was that there wasn't enough footage of the run down Hollywood Memorial Cemetery and I would like to have seen more information on the corporate cemetery business in the US. As they say, "Only in California." This one is worth seeing.

A LITTLE TOO CAMPY AT TIMES.......2003-05-01

The plot (if there is one) involves a young man named Tyler Cassity and his attempt to transform an overgrown, sorry excuse for a cemetery into the now beautiful Hollywood Forever. Mr. Cassity moves in a crack group of media savy professionals as his management team and they merge business savy, public relations expertise, and a hefty tranfusion of $$$$ to turn this cemetery around and make it a viable financial venture. They brainstorm new ideas and implement them and you realize that this business is like any other except it is very well run and the management team appears to have a better grasp on the situation at hand then most large corporations these days. The
whole story sounds remarkably hokey at times and is reminiscent of a Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney 'let's put on a show' flick on a
certain level. However, this is all for real and in spite of
some too cutesy interviews and a couple of oddball participants, the viewer really starts buying into this cemetery of the future
concept where memorials are stored in video kiosks and the
cemetery becomes the backdrop for a variety of activities that include not only funerals, but other activities such as concerts, parties, and picnics as well.
I'm not certain if I would have bought into this as readily if I had not visited Hollywood Forever before and after its transformation, however I was extremely impressed with the changes I saw. None of the concepts implemented seemed weird when you experience them firsthand.
The entire dvd was engrossing and contained all the essential elements: humor, pathos, romance, tragedy, comic relief, and even some subtle fun poking.
The end result is that dying doesn't seem so bad if you're guaranteed a nice resting place at HF with the stars.

The Life in Death.......2003-03-21

"The Young and the Dead", part of the HBO series "america undercover", shows a twist to a side of life all of us have yet to deal with. Very reminiscent of the quirky "Six Feet Under" which would follow a year or so after,

Once in disrepair, forgotten, and ready for the scrap heap, Hollywood Memorial Park gets a wonderful chance at life again with the resurrection powers of Tyler Cassity, wunderkind of the funeral business. Bringing on a team of visionaries, they not only save the cemetery, but create new ways for loved ones to remember their dearly departed.

You get from watching this DVD the sense of honor and pride that the staff at the cemetery has at their missions in life. It honors the history of the place, while helping to bring it into the twenty-first century. Featuring people's stories brings to life the video, especially the internment of Hattie McDaniel,who was denied a spot their fifty years ago because of the color of her skin.

Customer Reviews:

Stephen King Collector Set.......2003-04-09

I just recently bought this DVD mainly for Rose Red and Storm of the Century. Two of King's newer Made for TV mini-series. These are definately two of his best and most watched series.

I only gave this product a 2 because the Dead Zone and Tommyknockers just don't deliver. Don't get me wrong, I love USA's Dead Zone series but this is only the pilot epsiode. I'd rather buy the complete first season. The glimpse of 2nd season special feature was only about 3 minutes long and didn't give any good details.

Then the Tommyknocker fiasco. I don't know about anyone else but I had problems with my copy. The sound and audio does not match on screen. You see the actors talking but you have to wait a half second to a full second before their lips move. Pretty bad. And of course I couldn't exchange it for another copy since I had already taken it out of the plastic. What a bummer.

Other than that, Rose Red and Storm of the Century are worth buying this. Give me what I want and I'll go away. hahaha. LEGION

Creepy as HELL :-).......2003-03-11

This collection of Stephen King videos has kept me hooked for hours in front of the TV.

Customer Reviews:

An Entertaining Docudrama.......2006-04-23

Based on a true case that took place in Dallas in 1987, "Dead Before Dawn" is about a woman caught in a viciously abusive marriage, who despite her fear and no resources of her own, files for a divorce. Her ambitious husband decides that a little more finality in their split would be less embarrassing for his real estate partners than a messy divorce, and hires a hit man for a "permanent solution." Unfortunately for the husband, the contractor he hires hands the job over to an "expert," but not the kind of expert anyone expects...as he works for the FBI.

The cast is fine, with the attractive Cheryl Ladd lovely as Linda, the bruised and frightened wife, Jameson Parker good as the horrible husband, and Kim Coates creepy as Zack the hitman/FBI agent. Matt Clark and Hope Lange do well as Linda's parents, who are helpful with her 2 children. Directed by Charles Correll with nice pacing and some intense moments, the plot is intriguing and keeps one's interest despite a few holes here and there, and if you enjoy true-life crime dramas, you'll find this TV movie quite entertaining.

Average customer rating:

Dead Before Dawn
Starring: Stanley Anderson , G.W. Bailey , Kim Coates , Jensen Daggett , and Cheryl Ladd
Director: Charles V. Correll
Manufacturer: Mac Filmworks
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Release Date: 2007-01-23

Average customer rating:

ugh!
Interesting little flick.
Confusing
AMBIGUOUS BUT SOMETHING WORTHY
The cover is deceiving!

Sorum
Starring: Jin-Young Jang , Myeong-min Kim , An Jo , Young-hoon Park , and Ju-bong Gi
Director: Jong-chan Yun
Manufacturer: Tartan Video
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Wishing Stairs
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ASIN: B0009NCQKU
Release Date: 2005-07-26

Amazon.com

Eerie and elliptical, Sorum slowly builds an atmosphere of psychological disintegration. A taxi driver with a Bruce Lee obsession named Yong-hyun (Myeong-min Kim) moves into a decaying apartment building and learns that his apartment was the site of both a recent mysterious death as well as a murder from 30 years earlier. When an abused woman down the hall named Sun-yeong (Jin-Young Jang) asks for his help, they step down a path that will gradually reveal secrets of hers, of his, and of the building itself. Though there are jolting moments of sex and violence, most of Sorum is simple and still: Sun-yeong standing at the doorway of the convenience store where she works, Yong-hyun wandering down the long hallways of the building, the two of them sharing hot dumplings, pages of a book flipping in a draft. But though there's not much to satisfy those who like their horror with lots of gore, this slippery but elegant movie will creep under the skin of more patient viewers. The extras are minimal, including a peculiarly uninformative making-of documentary and movie trailers, one of which features some intriguing footage that's not in the final film. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Looking for a fresh start, a young taxi driver moves into apartment 504 of a crumbling tenement. He soon discovers the previous tenant died mysteriously and everyone on the floor is somehow connected to the dead man. After befriending the battered wife living a few doors down, he stumbles into an affair that sends them both down a dark path. But there's something else odd about the atmosphere in the run-down building. Does a ghost haunt those living here, or does true evil exist in those left alive?

Customer Reviews:

ugh!.......2007-06-06

i found this movie to be rather boring and not very suspenseful at all. i would have been better if it concentrated more on the ghost/child relationship as opposed to the relationship between him and his neighbor going for tea, or going to the movies or helping her bury the body of her husband. it sounds alot more exciting than it actually is.

Interesting little flick........2007-05-27

Sorum (Jong-Chan Yoon, 2001)

The first thing to know about Sorum is that, despite Tartan (who released it in their excellent Asia Extreme line on DVD) calling it such, it is not a horror film. There are a few mentions of a ghost, and some things unexplained within the bounds of the story, but all of them are easy to find alternate explanations for; this is a drama about a guy who starts off disturbed, and gets more so as the movie goes on. So as long as you know what to expect, there's a lot to be liked here.

Yong-hyun (Into the Mirror's Myong-min Kim in his debut role) is a disaffected taxi driver who moves into a crumbling tenement building. He soon finds out that the previous owner died during a mysterious fire. Down the hall from him lives Sun-yeong (The Scent of Chrysanthemums' Jin-young Jang, who won the 2001 Best Actress award at Fantasporto for her role here), a withdrawn convenience store employee with an abusive compulsive gambler for a husband. Yong-hyun and Sun-yeong become reluctant friends, but their relationship is suddenly catapulted into much deeper realms when Sun-yeong kills her husband in self-defense.

While Sorum is for the most part a slow film, it is intense and compelling as the relationship between the two veers all over the map. Is Yong-hyun falling in love with Sun-yeong? Is she falling in love with him? And what of the supposed ghost of the woman who died in a similar fire in Yong-hyun's apartment thirty years before? Does her ghost really wander the halls of the building, endlessly calling to her lost child? And does the obsessed novelist in the next apartment over know more than he's telling? What about Eun-soo, the former girlfriend of Room 504's previous tenant?

If Sorum (the name, loosely translated, means "goosebumps", though you'll not find that out in the movie itself) were an Italian film, I'd not hesitate to label it a giallo. Yoon (Blue Swallow) has all the ingredients for a good giallo in the mix-- protagonist who's not entirely stable, house (okay, apartment building) with a dark past, a surprising crime, a mix of the weirdest neighbors you'd ever not want in a living situation, a situation ready to explode into violence at the drop of a hat. (To add to the comparison, I swear I saw more than one nod to Profondo Rosso.) And it's a pretty good giallo for all its pretensions to the horror genre. The movie lacks a Big Reveal(TM) at the end, but that's certainly not a bad thing. Sorum is a good one if you like to spend hours afterwards at your favorite watering hole discussing particulars with your pals. *** ½

Confusing.......2007-05-07

I love asian ghost stories as a rule, but this one was so twisted that it made no sense at all. I found it boring and confusing.

AMBIGUOUS BUT SOMETHING WORTHY.......2006-08-21

"Sorum" may seem a bit confusing, odd and incomprehensible. Well, I must confess I was confused too because this film is not what usual thrillers and movies a la "Sixth Sense" tend to offer. It's quite different and I think fathomless to an unprepared viewer even to those who've seen a lot of Asian and to be precise - Korean mystical films.

A young taxi driver settles in a big crumbling tenement house with dark history. Relations between neighbors are rather strange, some time ago there was a big fire here with dramatic consequences, some people died in the house and presumably something ghostly dwells there. What is the truth behind the above-mentioned fire? What ties certain tenants of the building? Are there any ghosts there? Are all the strange things happening because of those ghosts or by evil intentions of the occupants? I wish I've received the answers to all of my questions in the end of the film, but I can't definately say so. "Sorum" is one of those movies you are left wondering after: what was all that? And then you start writing to some movie-forums naming your topic "THE ENDING???"

Even if "Sorum" gives you the answers they are not clear and distinct. Pretty much is left for your imagination and your ability to interpret what you just saw. It's not that kind of a movie when you think "What a twist!" in the end. It's of another kind when you want to watch it for the second time to clear everything out. Or throw the DVD away with annoyance. Personally I think it's always better to watch again but I'm not sure when I'm going to because "Sorum" is moody and maybe a bit dull so you need to wait for the right humour.

Maybe I'm too harsh saying the movie's boring - it's rather thoughtful and lingering, its slow-paced manner leaves a lot of space for silent long frames and pensive dialogs. It has a lot of mataphors you have to dig out and hidden meanings. I'm not sure maybe a viewer has to be born in Korea to understand them all. Anyway don't try to watch "Sorum" if you're looking for some lightweight flick to kill an evening with. Or even if you want to watch some intense, tough thriller. You'll obviously have to organize yourself for this one and be prepared that probably you'll need to watch it again.

"Sorum" more likely deserves four stars. I gave it three only because it's not quite my cup of tea. It doesn't mean a thing, it's not that "Sorum" is not worth your attention. It's mine three, but if to judge objectively it's rather four. The only thing I'd advise is to rent it first.

The cover is deceiving!.......2005-08-02

I was so excited to get this film because I thought it was going to be scary, especially since the cover illudes a creepy essence. Wrong, wrong! This is a "real" review and I am not going to give away the ending or other significant attributes to the movie... what fun would that be?!

This is a beautiful story about this taxi cab driver who moves into this rundown, nasty apartment with a bunch of strange neighbors, one of which he befriends in time. She is this woman who has been beated by her husband and has little love to give. To me it is somewhat of a Sid and Nancy story without all of the cursing and violence; one wants so much to love, the other finding it hard to give.

A mysterious death in apartment 504 links everyone in the apartments together since they knew the victim. Each one has their own story and knowledge to aid in putting the tiny puzzle pieces together so you know what to expect. I found that the ending was quite predeicable if you pay enough attention to the clues in the movie... even those that may not seem so significant.

This movie is definitely not a horror movie, nor a thriller, but I would call it a good drama with maybe one or two chances to jump out of your seats. These are easily recognized!

My advice is to rent before you buy. This would help alleviate any questions and thoughts you may have before making that commitment!! (no pun intended to the movie!) As with all movies, or a life's lesson in general, "you can't judge a book by its cover!" As with me, I should have taken my own advice!

As for other movies to suggest, I will name a few horror movies to check out: Infection, A Tale of Two Sisters, Audition, Acacia, Premonition, and Whispering Corridors. I hope this information is helpful! Happy watching! :)

Average customer rating:

Amy Jo
Killing your teacher, even accidentally, is not a smart move, boys and girls
No closed caption or english subtiles.
Great page-to-screen adaptation
Would you go as far as murder for payback?

Killing Mr. Griffin
Starring: Scott Bairstow , Amy Jo Johnson , Mario López , Chris Young , and Jay Thomas
Director: Jack Bender
Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
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Customer Reviews:

Amy Jo.......2006-07-26

The movie is awesome as far as tv movies go. Amy Jo was amazing, definitely proved how talented she is...a definite plus for amy jo fans! The character she played was a good girl seeking popularity and the attention of her crash that most of us can relate too, so when she gets the chance despite the fact it involves a joke gone wrong, she she goes for it. Soon she becomes driven by guilt when her teacher ends up dead from the practical joke she took place in. Movie is much better than my description and acting is pretty good, but Amy Jo steals the spot light.

Killing your teacher, even accidentally, is not a smart move, boys and girls.......2006-03-19

I had to remind myself that I checked out "Killing Mr. Griffin" because Michelle Williams was in it and I had thrown all of her movies that I had not seen into my queue because she has done some fairly interesting Independent films since "Dawons's Creek." However, this made for television movie predates those dates. It was not really at the top of the queue, but I have a lot of movies on short, long and very long wait ahead of it and was looking for a horror film for Saturday night and this is what arrived.

The heroine of the film turns out to be Susan McConnell (Amy Jo Johnson, from "Felicity"), who used to be the favorite student of Mr. John Griffin (Jay Thomas), her English teacher. But her approaching senior year, boys, or other indeterminate issues related to teenage angst have set her back. The class is discussing and reading aloud Shakespeare's "Tragedy of Julius Caesar" and Amy's reading of the title role at the start of the assassination scene lacks the arrogance that Mr. Griffin demands. A few harsh words from the teacher send Amy back to her seat in tears. It is after this point that we learn that Amy is one of his better students. This is a surprise because the way he treats her is indistinguishable from the way he treats Mark Kinney (Scott Bairstow), a student with arrogance oozing from every pore who does not like being forced to apologize to his teacher before the class.

Mark exercises the divine right of the Big Man on Campus to take down the teacher who pointedly asks him, "Has anybody ever told you 'no' and really meant it?" So he gathers his small group of fans and gets them to go along with what he describes as a prank: they will kidnap Mr. Griffin, humiliate him the way he has humiliated them, get him to beg and videotape it. Either Griffin will treat them right, or the video will makes its way around the school. Mark gets his best bud Dave Ruggles (Mario López) to get Susan to be part of the plot. She does not want to, but changes her mind when she is the target of the teacher's barbs. Susan delivers the teacher to the trap, but when he is attacked his first words are for her to run to safety and her second thoughts kick in at that point. We are encouraged to have such thoughts about Mr. Griffin when he chats with his wife about what he is trying to accomplish in the classroom, but when class is in session he just seems like an angry burnout who is incapable of making a connection of convincing his students that he cares about either them or the material. Just film one of his classes and the principal is going to show this guy the door.

Short version of what happens at that point is that Mr. Griffin ends up dead and the only people who do not know who did it and how it ended up happening are the characters in this movie. So Susan and her classmates think they are in a mystery, when this 1997 television movie is just another teenage horror show. Susan ignores several obvious clues until she finally finds proof positive. Does this mean that the film will try to overstep its limitations to come up with an important or at least intrinsically interesting way of turning the tables? No it does not, and if you have not agreed to with this rating by that point then the coda provided by Susan's father will certainly have you reaching for your remote to at least spare you from wasting time on the credits.

No closed caption or english subtiles........2004-11-30

I am not happy with that dvd cause it says has closed caption and english subtiles on dvd but i put that dvd in player and it has no closed caption or english subtiles, It is not fair for deaf or hard of hearing people. That dvd looks good but no closed caption or english subtiles. U need to put them for deaf people to watch that dvd. I put one star cause no closed caption.

Great page-to-screen adaptation.......2004-01-27

Lois Duncan's Killing Mr. Griffin was an interesting novel in its own right, but this made for television movie manages to improve on the original. Amy Jo Johnson, the pretty young actress many may recognize as the former Pink Power Ranger, stars as Susan McConnell. Susan is a good student, yet she is shy and awkward around the popular crowd. She is especially shy around Dave (former "Saved by the Bell" player Mario Lopez), the handsome jock she has a crush on. Mark, the leader of the group Dave hangs with, is bent on becoming student body president and the most popular guy in high school. After being humiliated by Mr. Griffin, the notoriously strict English teacher, Mark develops a plan to get revenge. They will kidnap Mr. Griffin as a prank to humiliate him as he has humiliated students. Susan is unwittingly sucked into the plan by her feelings for Dave and her desire to become popular. Dave is pressured into using Susan's obvious feelings for him to a nasty advantage. The plan to kidnap Griffin goes almost as planned...but then he dies unexpectedly, and things spin out of control. The climax of the film is better than that in the novel, with just enough suspense to keep viewers hooked. Overall, this movie was excellent, and serves as a grim reminder of what peer pressure is capable of. The only qualm I had was that it was not a theatrical release. Highly recommended.

Would you go as far as murder for payback?.......2004-01-26

Killing Mr. Griffin could as well be true. A lot of people would go through anything just to fit in. But could you lose everything you know and understand in the process? An understandable movie about Responsibility, and Mistrust in the way of fitting in.

Mr. Griffin is a strict teacher. Maybe too strict. Five seniors at the school Mr. Griffin teaches at think so. When revenge is the first thought that comes to mind, Mark, David, Jeff, Bree, and Tori set out to find a way to get back at Mr. Griffin for what he's done, but no one is volunteering for bait. When Susan McConnell is put under the spotlight for what seems a harmless prank, she decides to go for it. Besides she gets a couple of satisfactions to go with it. One, she gets to fit in. Two, she can get Mr. Griffin back at embarrasing her in class, and Three, she can hang out with David, the guy she has a crush on. When Susan sees what doesn't seem like an inoccent prank, she goes to where they have left poor Mr. Griffin tied up, and hostage. But Mr. Griffin isn't moving. He isn't even breathing. He's dead. After trying to figure out what happened to Mr. Griffin, the six are faced up against the biggest decision of their lives. Tell what happened, or keep it a secret.

An amazing story. The characters may have been mixed up a little bit, but it still made a great story. Lois Duncan did well with the book, but I think the movie was better. In the book you weren't as sorry for Mr. Griffin as you were watching the movie. Jay Thomas gave an awesome portrayal of the overlystrict Mr. Griffin. I think they kind of mixed Susan and her friend Maya up on accident. Susan was supposed to be the loner with glasses, and not exactly attractive. But Susan was very attractive in this movie. It was kind of hard to believe she couldn't get a boyfriend. Like someone said before, Tori and Bree were a split up of Betsie in the book, but I don't think Betsie was exactly that "I'm so cool" kind of girl in the book. The boys were portrayed great. Snobbish, not exactly serious.

Customer Reviews:

Billy Halop leads the pack with little tough guys........2004-02-20

It began with DEAD END (1937), The boys came from the Broadway play and landed their first starring role togther. After Dead End (1937), First National Pictures picked them up for CRIME SCHOOL (1938) and they made many more films for over 20 years until 1958. In 1938, Billy Halop brought along Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell and Bernard Punsly in Little Tough Guy (1938). This spun off into another film series with a total of nine films for Universal from 1938-1943. They also made film serials for the new Universal: JUNIOR G-MEN (1940), SEA RAIDERS (1941) and JUNIOR G-MEN of the AIR (1942). In 1940, Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan bacame The East Side Kids for Monogram Pictures Corp. for 22 films from 1940-1945. Huntz Hall and Gabriel Dell would later join the new gang. Then in 1946, The East Side Kids bacame The Bowery Boys and made 48 more films from 1946-1958. Now back to Billy Halop and Bernard Punsly. They continued with The Dead End Kids with The Little Tough Guys film series until they both said goodbye in MUG TOWN (1943). Billy Halop continued a film and television career, but getting parts was hard. In between acting jobs, Halop was a chef, electric dryer saleman and in his final years was a male nurse. He played "Bert Munson" in he CBS tv series, "All in the Family" in 1972 and aired through 1977. In 1976, Billy Halop had a heart attack and passed away ending a 50-year career in show biz that started with radio in the 1920's. Bernard Punsly last film ever was MUG TOWN (1943). He became a gynocologist M.D. in Torrence ,California and recently passed away on January 20, 2004 as the last surviving Dead End Kid. Huntz Hall died January 30, 1999. Marjorie Main who was in DEAD END (1937) plays a role as Halop's mother in this film. She went on to do THE EGG AND I (1947) as "Ma Kettle" (which spawned into a new film series "Ma & Pa Kettle"). This film, Little Tough Guy is also David Gorcey's (Leo's younger brother) film debut.

Average customer rating:

Bad movie
Crab 187/Slob 187 is better.......i give Dead Homiez 3.5 *'s
best gang doc video i've seen
p-funk every day!
How is 2pac involved in this vid

Dead Homiez
Starring: Shannon Luckey , Michael Gillett , Cynthia Berry , Treyvon Green , and Ggreg Snyder
Director: Billy Wright
Manufacturer: Trinity Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Gang Tapes

ASIN: B000059RZ8
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Description

This DVD is a feature film based on true story following l ife of a 17 year old high-ranking member of Los Angeles str eet gang The Bloods .It is a dramatic look at life in Sou th Central Los Angeles & young black men who seek to rule t he streets. There are special bonus interviews & live foota ge of Tupac Shakur & The Notorious B.I.G.

Customer Reviews:

Bad movie.......2005-09-14

20% was the plot on the jacket case
40% was preaching from gang members telling you to stop violence and not follow their lifestyle
40% was funeral/preaching/singing/mourning

Crab 187/Slob 187 is better.......i give Dead Homiez 3.5 *'s.......2002-11-22

I give Dead Homiez 3 1/2 stars. When i first read about it in the video store, i had to see it... so i did... and personally felt it could of used more documentary footage. I didn't really dig the funeral scenes of pooh bear, etc... i sort of thought that was fictional, but i guess its real, since i read the reviews from the rest of you below. It's a good movie, i found it to be a little boring... but i wish that the people who shot it oculd of done a better job, becuase i found it really hard to hear what the loc's from Grape Street Watts were saying... that's my only beef with this movie... the fact that stuff was hard to hear... and my volume was up and my house was empty... but stuff was hard to hear... ( i don't have a hearing prob either...

best gang doc video i've seen.......2002-01-20

This video is well worth getting. I have the DVD version but I've seen the VHS and there is no benefit to getting the DVD. Both are full-screen, and there are no extras on DVD. Picture quality and indexing problems on the DVD suggest that the VHS version is better (until a new master appears on DVD).
Basically this doco contains the following:
1) a dramatisation of the real story of a cousin of the director -- the cousin (Pooh Bear) is a blood who is killed in payback for the killing of Cartoon, a member of a crip gang. In turn Pooh Bear's little brother gets into some payback of his own when released from jail on a furlough to attend the funeral of Pooh Bear. In general this part is good, and contains some underground hard-core g-funk in the funeral scene and there is some cool scenes with lowriders in those sections too.
2) An interview with KAM, a rapper who many probably know ('Neva Again', 'Made in America', 'Kamnesia'), and his homies Lay Back and Big Solo etc. This part is good if you like KAM, if not it's relatively short.
3) Crips Roster. Interviews with actual crips from LA. Goes through several neighbourhoods. Interviews here are very good, especially the one with Big Loc and Lil Loc of Grape Street. Some cool lowriders here, the usual 63's etc but also some later chevys.
4) Bloods roster. Interviews with actual bloods from LA. Some great interviews here but you may need an interpreter, know what I'm sayin? P-Funk every day. No lowriders here, some nice red shoes though and for the ladies there are some pretty built homies here ;-) EXTRA SPECIAL FEATURE: interviews with rappers Hi-C and 2nd II None. Tha D looks like he may have been hitting the pipe at this time though -- sorry D! Interviews cool though.
5) Biggie & Tupac. Yes, there is a little bit at the end with Biggie and Tupac, where they bust a freestyle rap together over drinks. If you like Biggie or Tupac this part is good, if not it's at the end of the tape, so ... Personally I would have preferred some more doco footage, or maybe an interview with DJ Quik!

p-funk every day!.......2001-12-03

this is an excellent DVD, especially the interview footage with the crips and bloods. if you like lowrider chevvies the crips roster and the dramatic re-enactment sections have some sweet ones too, and some choice underground gangsta rap tracks. KAM, Hi-C, and 2nd II None also appear in the interviews.
The only criticism I have is with the quality of the disc. I have a Pioneer DV-344 and experienced some glitches in the second half (the bloods part) of the feature, with the visuals becoming pixellated and jamming up the first time I played it, but none since thankfully. A friend had serious sound and visual problems in his Grundig player in the same part. This would seem to indicate indexing problems with the master, and some players are obviously more sensitive than others. If your player is more sensitive than some, think twice about this item. Also there are no special features on this disc.
I'd give the feature itself 5 stars, but this DVD is little improved on the VHS (it's full screen, no special features) and may be troublesome on some players. I would give the VHS 5 stars.

How is 2pac involved in this vid.......2001-10-21

I heard there is a live preformance and other stuff
give some feed back {those who have seen it} I heard this is a good video as well!

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