Sonny & Cher - The Ultimate Collection

Starring:Sonny Bono, Cher, Ted Zeigler, Chastity Bono, Tom Solari, Clark Carr, Murray Langston, Freeman King, Peter Cullen, Steve Martin, Teri Garr, Billy Van, Bob Einstein, Gailard Sartain, Robert Shields
Director: Art Fisher
Studio: R2 Entertainment
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
It's not what you'd call high art, but there are some highly enjoyable moments in this nicely packaged box set, featuring nine complete shows (plus ample bonus material) spread out over three discs.

Beginning as a summer replacement in 1971, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour earned its own regular time slot that same year, running for three straight seasons and then returning in 1976 (as The Sonny & Cher Show), after the couple's divorce. The show's formula, which had already been established both onstage and on the small screen (their '69 pilot episode is among the extra features), includes plenty of music (duets, Cher's solo performances in typically outlandish Bob Mackie gowns, various guest shots); lots of shtick (consisting mostly of Cher's put-downs of the minimally talented but good-natured Sonny); and sketches and skits (ranging from lame to inspired, including a mock-opera based on All in the Family and starring Metropolitan Opera tenor Robert Merrill as a warbling Archie Bunker). Guests range from the obvious (TV stalwarts like Harvey Korman, Ruth Buzzi, and Don Knotts) to the downright weird (then-California governor Ronald Reagan). It's all fairly middlebrow, but Sonny & Cher's unpretentious, unself-conscious charm carries it; and once in a while everything congeals into one surreally entertaining package, like the '72 show featuring the Jackson 5 (led, of course, by Michael, who was then 14 and still apparently normal), who are followed to the stage by Reagan (telling jokes, sort of) and singer-actor Howard Keel, veteran of numerous movie musicals.

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Critically hailed as an instant classic, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima is a masterwork of uncommon humanity and a harrowing, unforgettable indictment of the horrors of war. In an unprecedented demonstration of worldly citizenship, Eastwood (from a spare, tightly focused screenplay by first-time screenwriter Iris Yamashita) has crafted a truly Japanese film, with Japanese dialogue (with subtitles) and filmed in a contemplative Japanese style, serving as both complement and counterpoint to Eastwood's previously released companion film Flags of Our Fathers. Where the earlier film employed a complex non-linear structure and epic-scale production values to dramatize one of the bloodiest battles of World War II and its traumatic impact on American soldiers, Letters reveals the battle of Iwo Jima from the tunnel- and cave-dwelling perspective of the Japanese, hopelessly outnumbered, deprived of reinforcements, and doomed to die in inevitable defeat. While maintaining many of the traditions of the conventional war drama, Eastwood extends his sympathetic touch to humanize "the enemy," revealing the internal and external conflicts of soldiers and officers alike, forced by circumstance to sacrifice themselves or defend their honor against insurmountable odds. From the weary reluctance of a young recruit named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) to the dignified yet desperately anguished strategy of Japanese commander Tadamichi Kuribayashi (played by Oscar-nominated The Last Samurai costar Ken Watanabe), whose letters home inspired the film's title and present-day framing device, Letters from Iwo Jima (which conveys the bleakness of battle through a near-total absence of color) steadfastly avoids the glorification of war while paying honorable tribute to ill-fated men who can only dream of the comforts of home. --Jeff Shannon

On the DVDs
Like the film itself, the two-disc special edition of Letters from Iwo Jima is predominantly Japanese in content, and that's as it should be. Disc 1 presents the film in a flawless widescreen transfer, with a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround soundtrack that perfectly captures the film's wide dynamic range. The optional subtitles can be turned off for those wishing to immerse themselves in a completely Japanese viewing experience. Disc 2 opens with "Red Sun, Black Sand: The Making of Letters from Iwo Jima," a 20-minute behind-the-scenes documentary that concisely covers all aspects of production, from director Clint Eastwood's initial decision to create a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, to interview comments from principal cast and crew, the latter including Flags screenwriters Paul Haggis and Letters screenwriter Iris Yamashita, costume designer Deborah Hopper, editor Joel Cox, cinematographer Tom Stern, production designer James Murakami (taking over for the ailing Henry Bumstead), and coproducer Rob Lorenz. "The Faces of Combat" is an 18-minute featurette about selecting the Japanese (and Japanese-American) cast of Letters, and how they were chosen through the international collaboration of Eastwood's long-time casting director Phyllis Huffman (who turned over some of her duties to her son while struggling with terminal illness) and Japanese casting associate Yumi Takada, who filled important roles with Japanese celebrities (like pop star Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays "Saigo") and unknown actors alike.

"Images from the Frontlines" is a 3.5-minute montage of images from the film and behind-the-scenes, set to the sparse piano theme of Eastwood's original score. The remaining bonus features chronicle the world premiere of Letters in Tokyo on November 15, 2006. The premiere itself is covered in a 16-minute featurette taped at the famous Budokan arena, where we see the red-carpet procession, a full-capacity audience despite cold November weather, and introductory comments from the film's primary cast and crew, many of them quite moving with regard to the satisfaction of working on a film that helps Japanese viewers come to terms with a painful chapter of their history. The following day's press conference (at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel) is a 24-minute Q&A session covering much of the same territory, with additional testimony from principal cast & crew. Throughout this two-day event, it's clear that Eastwood (referring to himself as "a Japanese director who doesn't speak the Japanese language") was warmly embraced by the Japanese, and that Letters from Iwo Jima had served its intended purpose, reminding us of the horrors of war while uniting both Japanese and Americans in somber reflection, 61 years after the battle of Iwo Jima. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima tells the untold story of the Japanese soldiers who defended their homeland against invading American forces during World War II. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima itself, the unprecedented tactics of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai) and his men transform what was predicted to be a swift defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat. Their sacrifices, struggles, courage and compassion live on in the taut, gripping film Rolling Stone calls "unique and unforgettable." It is the powerful companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers.

Customer Reviews:

Great historical WWII film.......2007-07-07

Well I never learned any of this in history class!! An Amazing look into the hearts and minds of the Japanese. Really wonderful and lovingly done. My heart broke for them, for the way they fought even though it was a complete loss. A great companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers.

Excise the PC section..........2007-07-07

And you would have had a decent picture of the Japanese side of Iwo Jima. But, a thoroughly unneccesary section of the film where first a captured Marine is treated humanely by Baron Nishi, and then shortly thereafter, surrendered Japanese prisoners are executed by another Marine, sits in politically correct smugness smack in the middle of an otherwise decent film. It may make the "anti-war" message, but it rang false, and at that point the film faltered. True, earlier a Marine captive was shown beaten and bayoneted, but this was juxtaposed with another Japanese being burned to death, as if the Marine captive was being punished for that death. The reality of these battles was something else.

The historian William Manchester was a young Marine in the Pacific and in his book, Goodbye Darkness, about his experiences said that there was a tacit understanding between the Marines and Japanese in the island campaigns: neither side took many prisoners. At least while the battle was raging. That was just the way it was. Each campaign was a fight to the death. He also pointed out that the Marines always had help from native islanders against the Japanese, not because the islanders loved Marines or even knew what an American was, but because they hated the Japanese because of their brutality toward these conquered peoples.

Too bad, because otherwise this was a fine film pretty fairly showing the view from the other side of the cultural divide. It demonstrates the crazy waste and harshness of the Bushido code, most especially as it is sternly and unthinkingly applied to the average drafted Japanese soldier. It illustrates how these unyielding notions caused the needless sacrifice of their own troops in forced personal suicide and suicidal frontal assaults on fixed positions. It also showed the human dimension of these men left to do nothing else but die on that sulfurous rock. I had no problems with those elements of the film that depicted the common humanity of men with families and love of their country.

I liked the view of the unconventional General Kuribayashi's strategy, often undone by the willfully obtuse views of his own officers, and the equally effective view of life as lived by the common soldier, often starved and beaten by these same latter day samurai. The action scenes, as in Flags of Our Fathers, were well done and the production design I so admired in that film is, of course, still present here.

I liked the actors and the interplay between them. I admire the production values and this is often a quiet and interesting film. I certainly have no problem with seeing the flip side of the battle depicted in Flags of Our Fathers. I think the film was doing quite well in depicting the humanity of soldiers who, by and large, would rather be home or anywhere else. It didn't need any extra "message" slipped in, and while it might not bother others, I found it an unneccessary excess plea, and a bit disingenuous. At any rate, the film is worth seeing.

Definitely Worth Watching.......2007-07-05

Letters From Iwo Jima is dark. It is claustrophobic. It is gritty and painful and full of rocking explosions and the clatter of machine guns. It tells the story of Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima fighting for honor and to return home.

The characterizations were moving and original. The people in the film truly were human and showed the impact that war takes on the spirit. The atmosphere communicates completely the desperation and hopelessness of the soldiers and the numbing feeling of being so long in battle.

The script and the acting were both excellent and believable. I applaud the casting of Ninomiya Kazunari as Saigo, one of the main characters, a young soldier who just wants to return home to his wife and unborn child. Though the blurb on the back of the DVD case doesn't even mention Saigo, his story is part of the main focus of the story. I am very proud of Nino for being cast in this role. He is one of the reasons I saw this movie and I was not disappointed.

All in all, Letters is not a fun movie to watch. It's dark and bleak but it's a movie that most people, at least in the U.S. and Japan, should see. In the end, it is heart-wrenching and I was very glad that I'd seen it. It humanizes the war and makes you face the reality that our enemies of the time suffered as much as we did. As many have said, it tells the "other side of the story," and it's a story that we need to hear.

Good movie, not historicly correct.......2007-07-04

Not as good as Flags of Our Fathers, it doesn't show the true brutality of the Japanese. Its view is very sympithetic to the Japanese, but still a good movie.

Worst I've seen by Clint Eastwood.......2007-07-04

Watched for 1hour 14 minutes in disappointment. The script is terrible. Don't make the mistake of watching this movie. Why all the hype? How can this be a Clint Eastwood directed movie? Firstly, this movie makes fun of sacrifice. It makes fun of the Japanese commitment to Japan. For sure I do not know precisely what happened at Iwo Jima, all I know is that 22000 fought till only 216 remained. That is a victory. As big as the firefighters of 9/11. It is something, it seems that Clint Eastwood, that willingly directed this movie, will never understand. Having no choice in life but to die honorably.

Iwo Jima was a last-stand before the enemy reached Japan, much like the Alamo. Soldiers don't harbor anti-war sentiment when your home and family is threatened - you pull together. Fight and die together. I didn't get the idea that there were 22000 soldiers on the island. The American forces were realistically depicted. This is a clear anti-war movie - only problem is that it makes fun of the commitment of a die-hard enemy facing destruction.

Forrest Gump (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

Heartwarming, deep and very, very funny. Forrest Gump is the Ultimate Movie.
Forrest Gump a hero for our times
Forrest Gump
a spiritually and intellectually bankrupt enterprise
Forrest Gumpism

Forrest Gump (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Joe Alaskey , Sam Anderson , Geoffrey Blake , Charles Boswell , and Michael Burgess
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B00003CXA2
Release Date: 2001-08-28

Amazon.com essential video

The Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Best Director Robert Zemeckis, and Best Actor Tom Hanks, this unlikely story of a slow-witted but good-hearted man somehow at the center of the pivotal events of the 20th century is a funny and heartwarming epic. Hanks plays the title character, a shy Southern boy in love with his childhood best friend (Robin Wright) who finds that his ability to run fast takes him places. As an All-Star football player he meets John F. Kennedy; as a soldier in Vietnam he's a war hero; and as a world champion Ping-Pong player he's hailed by Richard Nixon. Becoming a successful shrimp-boat captain, he still yearns for the love of his life, who takes a quite different and much sadder path in life. The visual effects incorporating Hanks into existing newsreel footage is both funny and impressive, but the heart of the film lies in its sweet love story and in the triumphant performance of Hanks as an unassuming soul who savors the most from his life and times. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Heartwarming, deep and very, very funny. Forrest Gump is the Ultimate Movie........2007-07-04

The sweetest of love stories, philosophically profound, deep as the ocean and light as a feather... and very funny. Forrest Gump is the ultimate movie in so many ways, there are so many sides to it. It's predominantly a `serious' film about a dim headed, yet good hearted southern boy and how the absence of a dysfunctional ego and a simple sense of honor and integrity enables him to flow through life effortlessly, like the metaphor of the white feather we see at the beginning and the end of the film.

Forrest Gump is a masterfully written and directed tale that punctuates deep philosophical substance with a good deal of humor -the scene of Forrest and Bubba scrubbing the floor with toothbrushes while Bubba enlightens Forrest on the details of `shrimping' is just too funny for words. There's never been a film like it before or since. It ingeniously weaves the history of a generation into the script, taking scenes from the Vietnam war, JFK, the 60's protest movement and flower power, and onward into the age of AIDS. Actual film clippings from various historical events are cleverly edited to enable Forrest to step into them and interact. Wonderful Stuff... it's kind of a nod to the `Wonder Years'.

As richly entertaining as Forrest's life is, and as very funny as many of the scenes are, it's still the character of Forrest that carries the move. He's impossible not to like. You become significantly invested in his life. You share his heartbreak as Jenny repeated shuns the open heart he offers her. And you admire his quiet acceptance of 'what is'. His lack of self consciousness - devoid of the myriad games and manipulations that most people of `greater intelligence' display -his simple open heartedness and sense of personal integrity which he carries through life are inspirational. This clearly is a story that shows the ultimate triumph of virtue over the complex dysfunctions of the mind. Jenny plays out a sad character... always looking somewhere else for love, although she finds it on her death bed And Lt. Dan is just an awesome character. His 360 degree turn through what life deals him is as inspirational as Forrest's.

The closing scene is the most memorable for me... the feather floats in the random breeze, as Forrest muses about predestination vs random existence: " I think it's both... both happening at the same time." - which leads me to believe our beloved Forrest isn't as dumb as he's portrayed.

Forrest Gump a hero for our times.......2007-06-28

Forrest Gump is a greatlook at the 60s and 70s. Tom Hanks is the most likable actor from his generation. Forrest Gump may seem dumb but he mostly makes sense. Forrest Gump has a good heart and guts, his life is a good full life. Forrest Gump is one of the best characters in movie history. This movie is everything its supposed to be.

Forrest Gump.......2007-06-27

It is one of the greatest movies than I've ever seen BUT it doesn't have spanish subtitles.

a spiritually and intellectually bankrupt enterprise.......2007-06-15

This movie celebrates one of the worst possible perspectives on life and does it by exploiting all of the good will and energy of music of the Woodstock generation. Think about it: Tom Hanks portrays a pure innocent who presumably is to be seen as an American Buddha -- detached from everything except pure love. Meanwhile, Robin Wright Penn is portrayed as an idiot because she invests herself in silly causes such as opposing the Vietnam War. We are manipulated into sympathizing with the figure who remains utterly detached from life instead of the figure who cares about the world around her.

Meanwhile, we are further manipulated by a soundtrack carefully assembled so as to have us associate all the good feelings and hopes connected to the songs with what we are watching: a phenomenal bit of film making that successfully transposes the audiences associations with the highest ideals of the sixties and seventies on a film that belittles commitments to those beliefs.

This is a truly insidious, reactionary piece of work. At the end of the movie, "Nashville," Robert Altman cleverly decries the ease by which an audience can be seduced into acquiescing to feel-good nihilism by having everyone leave the theater singing "You may say that I ain't free, it don't worry me." with gospel abandon. The raves that the movie Forest Gump got proves Altman's point.

No one can deny that this movie is a well made film with some sweet and wonderful performances. But, at its core, it is spiritually bankrupt. While it is not as powerful a film as "Triumph of the Will" and the "philosophy" it attempts to manipulate the audience into buying isn't as remotely evil as that of Leni R's patrons, it is nonetheless of that ilk -- a successful attempt to bypass the audience's frontal lobe.

Forrest Gumpism.......2007-05-13

My boys asked me for this. They loved it. It is on TV all of the time but they still wanted the video.

Average customer rating:

Citizen Kane
no film snob here, but neither do I care for Star Wars
The best thing about this much hyped film...
You don't tneed hese reviews to tell you what to think
A TRUE WORK OF FILM ART!

Citizen Kane
Starring: Georgia Backus , Fortunio Bonanova , Sonny Bupp , Ray Collins , and Dorothy Comingore
Director: Orson Welles
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
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Citizen Kane
Working with Orson Welles
Citizen Kane (Score Re-recording Of 1941 Film)

ASIN: B00003CX9E
Release Date: 2001-09-25

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Arguably the greatest of American films, Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece, made when he was only 26, still unfurls like a dream and carries the viewer along the mysterious currents of time and memory to reach a mature (if ambiguous) conclusion: people are the sum of their contradictions, and can't be known easily. Welles plays newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. The result is that every well-meaning or tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event. Written by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and photographed by Gregg Toland, the film is the sum of Welles's awesome ambitions as an artist in Hollywood. He pushes the limits of then-available technology to create a true magic show, a visual and aural feast that almost seems to be rising up from a viewer's subconsciousness. As Kane, Welles even ushers in the influence of Bertolt Brecht on film acting. This is truly a one-of-a-kind work, and in many ways is still the most modern of modern films from the 20th century. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Citizen Kane.......2007-06-21

Perhaps the greatest debut in movie history, "Citizen Kane" remains one of the most influential American films of all time, thanks to the genius of Welles, who constructed this brilliant, elaborate puzzler at the tender age of 25. See it for Gregg Toland's lovely, pathbreaking deep-focus photography, Herman Mankiewicz's witty dialogue, and Welles's legendary performance as the enigmatic Kane. The film also marked the auspicious debut of several actors, including Cotten, Everett Sloane, Ruth Warrick, and Agnes Moorehead, superb as the mother who abandoned the future newspaper magnate as a boy. A peeved Hearst tried to block the film and nearly ruined Welles' career in the offing, but thankfully, art prevailed. "Citizen Kane" is a must-see.

no film snob here, but neither do I care for Star Wars.......2007-06-21

Am I the only one? I don't care about Kane, his life, or his sled. Get it? The character did not interest me. Period.

You want to call this "the greatest film ever made?" Go right ahead. Only it means zip to this viewer. I can think of a few other films that worked way better (for me.)

The best thing about this much hyped film..........2007-06-21

The best thing about this much hyped film is the "Kids in the Hall" skit it inspired...

You don't tneed hese reviews to tell you what to think.......2007-06-14

You don't need these reviews to tell you what to think.

Watch this movie and see for yourself -- not whether you think "it was the greatest movie of all time" whatever that means -- but rather whether you connected with Kane, a man with a life in search of meaning.

Born anonymous Kane's life was dramatically altered when his mother found herself in possession of great fortune. How would the existence of this fortune affect Kane? Would, could money buy him happiness?

Or was happiness something more elusive?

On the one hand this story is sort of the ultimate counter factual for all of us: that if given the money, our lives would not have any more meaning than they otherwise would have. On this hand Kane is like George Bailey from "It's a Wonderful Life" and we all come away realizing that money can't buy happiness and that all was, at the end of the day, for the best.

On the other hand, this story is the ultimate lie: Of course money can't buy happiness but it can secure possession of condos and cars and things and with it the kind of experiences that all too often accompany happiness. In this view, Kane's problem isn't the human condition but simply his lack of imagination.

What ever your views you certainly have a couple hours to sit and view this movie.

Yes, there are the officiandos who know the identity of the camera guy or how many hours it took Welles to prepare for filming or what they served each day for breakfast but those things don't make a film enjoyable.

Watch it for yourself and just see if you connect.

That's what matters.

A TRUE WORK OF FILM ART!.......2007-06-05

When wealthy media magnate Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies, he utters the enigmatic word "Rosebud". An obituary newsreel documents the events in his public life. The producer of the newsreel asks a reporter, Thompson (William Alland), to find out about Kane's private life and personality, in particular to discover the meaning behind his last word. The reporter interviews the great man's friends and associates, and Kane's story unfolds as a series of flashbacks.

First, Thompson approaches Kane's second wife, Susan Alexander (Dorothy Comingore), who refuses to tell him anything. Thompson then goes to the library of Mr. Thatcher (George Coulouris). It is there that Thompson learns about Kane's childhood. In the first flashback, Kane as a young child is abandoned by his mother (Agnes Moorehead) when he becomes suddenly wealthy, and sent to live with his banker, Mr Thatcher, despite the misgivings of Kane's father.

Other flashbacks show Kane's entry into the newspaper business and his profit-seeking with low-quality "yellow journalism". He takes control of the newspaper and hires all the best journalists (which he gets from the Inquirer's rival, The Chronicle). His attempted rise to power is documented, including his first marriage to a President's niece and his campaign for the office of governor. A "love nest" scandal ends both his marriage and his political aspirations. Kane remarries, but his domineering personality destroys his relationships and pushes away his loved ones.

Despite Thompson's numerous interviews with the people in Kane's life, he is unable to solve the mystery; he concludes that "Rosebud" will remain an enigma. However, the camera pans over workers burning some of Kane's many possessions. One throws an old sled, with the word "Rosebud" painted on it, into the fire, the same sled that Kane was riding as a child the day his mother sent him away. There is a shot of a chimney with black smoke coming out. After this twist ending, the film ends as it began, with the "No Trespassing" sign. The closing shot shows the "K" on top of the iron fence.

Susan with a symbolic jigsaw puzzleCitizen Kane has inspired myriad interpretations over the decades. In Orson Welles: Hello Americans, Simon Callow argued that Citizen Kane should not just be understood as a fictional work but also as a post-fictional piece: a piece where the audience is drawn in to view themselves in the process of watching the film. In a 1941 review, Jorge Luis Borges called Citizen Kane a "metaphysical detective story," in that "... [its] subject (both psychological and allegorical) is the investigation of a man's inner self, through the works he has wrought, the words he has spoken, the many lives he has ruined..." Borges noted that "Overwhelmingly, endlessly, Orson Welles shows fragments of the life of the man, Charles Foster Kane, and invites us to combine them and reconstruct him." As well, "Forms of multiplicity and incongruity abound in the film: the first scenes record the treasures amassed by Kane; in one of the last, a poor woman, luxuriant and suffering, plays with an enormous jigsaw puzzle on the floor of a palace that is also a museum." Borges points out that "... At the end we realize that the fragments are not governed by a secret unity: the detested Charles Foster Kane is a simulacrum, a chaos of appearances."

The film combines revolutionary cinematography (by Gregg Toland, with whom Welles shared a title card, which was a gesture of Welles' appreciation for Toland's overall contribution to the film, much like John Ford previously shared credit with Toland for The Long Voyage Home) with an Oscar-winning screenplay (by Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz -- though most film history circles consider Mankiewicz's contribution to the screenplay to be far greater than that of Welles), and a lineup of first time film actors, associates of Mr. Welles from his stint at the Mercury Theatre, such as Joseph Cotten and Agnes Moorehead.This a true work of film art and many have tried to unsuccessfully emulate the camera angles and the methodology of the angles and pathos.

Noel Serrano
Gala Foundation

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Pretty Good
Smarter Than the Audience...
Laugh out loud funny
Great Movie
You Can't Play Dumb, Dumb

Idiocracy
Starring: Luke Wilson , Maya Rudolph , Dax Shepard , Anthony 'Citric' Campos , and David Herman
Director: Mike Judge
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B000K7VHOG
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Amazon.com

Given that Office Space is a bona fide cult classic, it comes as some surprise that Mike Judge's follow-up wasn't more heavily promoted. Granted, this live-action comedy is a darker, more pointed proposition, but it's unfortunate that few theater patrons got the opportunity to, well, judge for themselves. In Idiocracy, the King of the Hill creator visualizes what would happen if Devo's proposition--that mankind is in the process of devolution--came to pass. The catalyst: the overeducated start having fewer children while the undereducated have more. Enter Joe (Luke Wilson), a military librarian with no family and even less ambition. The Pentagon chooses him for a top-secret hibernation project due to his extreme "average-ness." They select Rita (SNL's Maya Rudolph), a prostitute, for the same reason. When the experiment goes haywire, the two emerge 500 years later--rather than one. Now it's 2505 and they're the brightest people in the over-polluted land. Everyone else is, basically, Beavis and Butt-head. Yes, the satire couldn't be less subtle, but the premise gives Judge license to make as much fun of junk food pop culture as dystopian classics like 1984 and Planet of the Apes. Wilson wisely plays it straight, even if the actors who surround him sometimes succumb to excess. And the effects may be cheesy, but that just adds to the fun. Idiocracy features former footballer Terry Crews (Everybody Hates Chris) as President Camacho and Dax Shepard (Punk'd) as Joe's futuristic friend Frito. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Description

From Mike Judge, one of the creative minds behind Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill and Office Space, comes an outrageous sci-fi comedy that'll make you think twice about the future of mankind.

Meet Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson). He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But when a government hibernation experiment goes awry, Bowers awakens in the year 2505 to find a society so dumbed-down by mass commercialism and mindless TV programming that he's become the smartest guy on the planet. Now it's up to an average Joe to get human evolution back on track!

Filled with razor-sharp sarcasm and outrageous sight gags, Idiocracy will make you laugh out loud whether you're an absolute genius or a complete idiot!

Customer Reviews:

Pretty Good.......2007-07-08

This is a very good movie very in the flavor of what Mike Judge usually does. It contains a lot of social satire and a funny view of the future. Also how Dax Shepherd ever did such a voice is beyond me. This is a very quotable movie. It is sad this movie never came to theaters nor was it ever advertised so it is very easy to overlook this very good movie. My only complaint is that the film is a bit on the short side.

Smarter Than the Audience..........2007-07-06

...but that's not saying much, is it? It reminds me of another box office bomb, American Dreamz, in that it's ahead of its time...if only by a few years. Perhaps Fox should have held onto it for a few more years before releasing it?

But I think the movie has deeper problems than being "lost" on audiences unwilling to accept satire. Look at Talledega Nights--a mockery of Nascar, which was accepted by Nascar fans in red states.

It's not that IDIOCRACY is not funny--much of it is hilarious. There are little nuggets here and there that will stay with you forever, particularly the bit about feeding Gatorade to plants because "it's got what plants crave!"

The story never really gels, though, thanks in part to a screenplay that relies on voice-over narration to carry the viewer from one scene to the next. And every second that Maya Rudolph's one-joke character struts in front of the camera is another second of your life that you'll never get back.

Laugh out loud funny.......2007-07-05

It's funny in the sense of Dumb and Dumber. But this movie is absolutely hilarious. Luke Wilson plays his normal whimsical average guy, but only now he is the smartest man on earth.

Great Movie.......2007-07-03

After seeing this movie at a friend's house I had to have it. Mike Judge again creates a very underrated but hilarious movie. I sure do hope the world does not turn out like this. Not an over abundance of special features, but this wasn't the most hyped movie either. Good addition to any collection.

You Can't Play Dumb, Dumb.......2007-07-02

The great sin here is that the film makers didn't see the irony of making a movie as moronic as the society they tried to parody. Judging from most of the reviews here society may already be further gone than we feared.

Average customer rating:

Excellent :)
"That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die."
Vol 2 is better
kill bill vol. 2
A Letdown

Kill Bill, Volume 2
Starring: Larry Bishop , Sonny Chiba , Sid Haig , Samuel L. Jackson , and Gordon Liu
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Kill Bill, Volume 1
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Kill Bill - Volume 1 (UMD Mini For PSP)

ASIN: B00005JMUA
Release Date: 2004-08-10

Amazon.com

"The Bride" (Uma Thurman) gets her satisfaction--and so do we--in Quentin Tarantino's "roaring rampage of revenge," Kill Bill, Vol. 2. Where Vol. 1 was a hyper-kinetic tribute to the Asian chop-socky grindhouse flicks that have been thoroughly cross-referenced in Tarantino's film-loving brain, Vol. 2--not a sequel, but Part Two of a breathtakingly cinematic epic--is Tarantino's contemporary martial-arts Western, fueled by iconic images, music, and themes lifted from any source that Tarantino holds dear, from the action-packed cheapies of William Witney (one of several filmmakers Tarantino gratefully honors in the closing credits) to the spaghetti epics of Sergio Leone. Tarantino doesn't copy so much as elevate the genres he loves, and the entirety of Kill Bill is clearly the product of a singular artistic vision, even as it careens from one influence to another. Violence erupts with dynamic impact, but unlike Vol. 1, this slower grand finale revels in Tarantino's trademark dialogue and loopy longueurs, reviving the career of David Carradine (who plays Bill for what he is: a snake charmer), and giving Thurman's Bride an outlet for maternal love and well-earned happiness. Has any actress endured so much for the sake of a unique collaboration? As the credits remind us, "The Bride" was jointly created by "Q&U," and she's become an unforgettable heroine in a pair of delirious movie-movies (Vol. 3 awaits, some 15 years hence) that Tarantino fans will study and love for decades to come. --Jeff Shannon

Description

With this thrilling, must-see movie event, writer and director Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION) completes the action-packed quest for revenge begun by The Bride (Uma Thurman) in KILL BILL VOL. 1! Having already crossed two names from her Death List, The Bride is back with a vengeance and taking aim at Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), the only survivors from the squad of assassins who betrayed her four years earlier. It's all leading up to the ultimate confrontation with Bill (David Carradine), The Bride's former master and the man who ordered her execution! As the acclaimed follow-up to the instant classic VOL. 1 -- you know all about the unlimited action and humor, but until you've seen KILL BILL VOL. 2, you only know half the story!

Customer Reviews:

Excellent :) .......2007-06-18

Uma Thurman, swords, kung-fu,& Quentin Tarrentino ... how can you go wrong?

"That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die.".......2007-06-01

All grown men have a little boy in their heart that still surfaces every now and again...some fellows more so than others, and it's always so much fun to go back. That is one of the many reasons I enjoy having a son waiting to greet me when I come home from a day of work or a long business trip. On the flip side, Quentin Tarantino gets to go back to being a boy every time he goes to work, and I say good for him.

The Kill Bill movies are a potent effusion of likely all the things Quentin grew up with. Westerns, Kung-Fu movies, Samurai movies and other action films that helped mold and create his robust imagination. Now, he can take the ideas that inspired him as a child and make them even better for the next generation of action-craving bloodthirsty little children. Kill Bill volume 2 is more than a derivitive tribute film, it is an elicitation of massive nostalgia, excentuated keenly by incredible dialogue. Other than function well as a conclusion to the series, it is actually quite different from Kill Bill volume 1 in a few ways. Kill Bill volume 1 contained mostly introductions, followed by bloody action as Beatrix Kiddo took on and took out Vernita Green, O-Ren Ishii, Go-Go Yubari and of course the Crazy 88 (yes, all 88 of them). But in Kill Bill volume 2, I felt like those were merely the supporting villains as Kiddo takes on the more resourceful and profound antagonists in this film; Elle Driver, Budd and of course Bill himself. The sequel, unintentionally perhaps as the two were written and filmed together, possesses more depth than the first part. There is more room for dialogue and that is of course a great thing because outrageous and unlikely dialogue is one of Quentin's strengths, and it serves here to make the characters even more unearthly and super-hero-like then in the first film.

Overall, in volume 2 we get to see how Beatrix learned her skills and we learn more about the relationship between her and Bill. It all leads up to an often criticized climax between Bill and Beatrix. Between the dialogue and David Carradine's performance, the climax helped me enjoy this film a bit more than volume 1. So, if you prefer action and violence you will like the first movie better, but if you just so happen to get caught up in the characters along the way and have an appreciation for the kind of concentrated cultural yearning crossed with mythical level characters that only a Tarantino film can deliver, then Kill Bill volume 2 is a great cap to the two films. For me, simply put, together they make one amazing movie.

Vol 2 is better.......2007-05-27

You've seen vol 1 and thought do I really want to sit through another 2 hours of swords and kung-fu? Well vol 2 is the much better film, so the answer is yes.

Curiously enough although Vol 2 is longer, it seems to have a tighter construction. Some of the chapters are breath-taking, perhaps because they are shorter. The Pai-Mei chapter is simply marvellous. Uma Thurman gets her training with Pai Mei and Bill tells her "remember no sarcasm, no back-talk at least not for the first year or so, gonna have to let him warm up to you"! The Pai Mei chapter ties a lot of things together as well.

Oh yes in vol 2 we get to see Bill for the first time. David Carradine is great, very cool, and occasionally seems to become Kwai Chang Caine again all these years later.

I'd recommend seeing Vol 1 first, although it isn't quite as essential to do this, as it is to watch vol 2 after watching vol 1.

This is fabulous entertainment made by a master film-maker and I strongly recommend it.

kill bill vol. 2.......2007-04-19

i tend to bounce back-and-forth in my mind as to which half of the "kill bill" story i like better. as of writing this review, i'm going to have to go with "vol. 2", perhaps just because it's the one i've seen more recently, but i'm thinking there's more to it than that, so i'll try to get to those points instead.

first off, this really is like splitting hairs, picking which volume is better. now, believe all of those who point out how incredibly different the movies are because they are absolute night and day, but equally good and, more importantly, equally enjoyable.

i guess the one and only edge that i'd have to give "volume 2" is that the character's you get to spend time watching in this half (alongside the Bride, who is just as awesome here as in "vol. 1") are just more in-tune with what i like to see. for example:

-i LOVE the character of Bill, and found the scenes between he and the Bride to be among my favorite ever "ex-lover" face-off's in all cinema. they're is certainly a nastiness to the scenes, but you can SEE the two of them still deeply caring for another, despite themselves, esp. upon the conclussion of their showdown. it is just excellent.

-Michael Madsen's Bud is quite possibly the most difficult character to not like in any movie ever. despite his actions toward the Bride (no more detail. don't want to ruin anything in case you haven't seen it.), you just can't help but kinda feel for the guy. i mean, a dude that has to take junk off his boss, clean up nasty toilet water at a [...]-hole strip bar, then go home to his El Paso trailer to sit alone and listen to Johnny Cash records just kinda screams "feel bad for me" even if we really don't wanna. Bud is awesome, and i like having more of him, so yet another nod to "vol. 2".

-Pei Mei is freakin' awesome, esp. if you love the old kung-fu movies that the "kill bill" series was so lovingly created to replicate. awesome!

-Elle Driver is my absolute favorite member of the divas, so her being more prominant in this half alone makes me love it, love it, love it! just EXACTLY what a "bad guy" bad girl should be, man. all this, and the revelations made during the throwdown between she and the Bride just makes that fight (and the conclussion of said fight) SO much cooler it's just insane!

there is one more character in this movie that i thought was a really neat addition, but to talk about this is to REALLY ruin the movie, so just in case, i'll let you guys decide who you think belongs in this fifth spot.

overall, "kill bill" start-to-finish is outstanding in everyway, but i wanted to yack about "volume 2" today, so that's that. thanks for reading and enjoy!

A Letdown.......2007-04-03

I liked the first volume, despite the fact that it was mostly plotless, because it was very pretty in all its carnage. Volume 2, however, spends a lot of time on a plot that bothered me more and more when I thought about it. In the end, I found it overly simplistic and irritating (trying not to give anything away here). I kept waiting for a twist that never came. While the first volume was mostly fluff, a lot of style with no substance, it was enjoyable as that at least. The second volume has more plot, but this does not end up as more substance. But in the second volume, the time that is spent on the plot takes away from the style and we end up with two and a half hours which are not very enjoyable.

Average customer rating:

True drek...
Cool
A way to improve....
Love it or Hate it - I just happen to love it!
Brilliant, Not For Everyone However

Kill Bill, Volume 1
Starring: Uma Thurman , Lucy Liu , Vivica A. Fox , Daryl Hannah , and David Carradine
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Kill Bill, Volume 2
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ASIN: B00005JMEW
Release Date: 2004-04-13

Amazon.com

Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is trash for connoisseurs. From his opening gambit (including a "Shaw-Scope" logo and gaudy '70s-vintage "Our Feature Presentation" title card) to his cliffhanger finale (a teasing lead-in to 2004's Vol. 2), Tarantino pays loving tribute to grindhouse cinema, specifically the Hong Kong action flicks and spaghetti Westerns that fill his fervent brain--and this frequently breathtaking movie--with enough cinematic references and cleverly pilfered soundtrack cues to send cinephiles running for their reference books. Everything old is new again in Tarantino's humor-laced vision: he steals from the best while injecting his own oft-copied, never-duplicated style into what is, quite simply, a revenge flick, beginning with the near-murder of the Bride (Uma Thurman), pregnant on her wedding day and left for dead by the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (or DiVAS)--including Lucy Liu and the unseen David Carradine (as Bill)--who become targets for the Bride's lethal vengeance. Culminating in an ultraviolent, ultra-stylized tour-de-force showdown, Tarantino's fourth film is either brilliantly (and brutally) innovative or one of the most blatant acts of plagiarism ever conceived. Either way, it's hyperkinetic eye-candy from a passionate film-lover who clearly knows what he's doing. --Jeff Shannon

Description

The acclaimed fourth film from groundbreaking writer and director Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION, JACKIE BROWN), KILL BILL VOLUME 1 stars Uma Thurman (PULP FICTION), Lucy Liu (CHARLIE'S ANGELS, CHICAGO), and Vivica A. Fox (TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME) in an astonishing, action-packed thriller about brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta! Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, The Bride (Thurman) emerges from a coma and decides it's time for payback ... with a vengeance! Having been gunned down by her former boss (David Carradine) and his deadly squad of international assassins, it's a kill-or-be-killed fight she didn't start but is determined to finish! Loaded with explosive action and outrageous humor, it's a must-see motion picture event that has critics everywhere raving!

Customer Reviews:

True drek..........2007-07-01

Tarantino knows what he's doin', this is truly fodder for the children of suburbia, all the ones who were nurtured on sugar crisps & little league & sesame street & soccer moms & commuter dads, little tubeheads this is your stuff. *Bad language* woowoo, daughters of charlies angels meet asian martial arts movies woowoo.

Bad stuff, like thinking robitussin is a high, imitation of life. hahahaha.

smart move quentin.

Cool.......2007-06-23

While watching the Kill Bill movies, one word continuously and irresistibly comes to mind: cool. Scenes are shot from cool angles, flush with cool colors, at cool speeds, with cool characters that communicate in cool dialogues, all set to the tone of cool music.

Like the Godfathers I&II, Kill Bill immediately jumps right into the plot's heart. Initially mysterious elements are then illuminated as the story repeatedly sidles back through each character's past.

Uma Thurman's character avenges her former assassin squad colleagues one-by-one as payback for their having tried to murder her on the eve of her wedding. Her brutal violence and feverous hatred make her a textbook anti-hero character similar to Clint Eastwood's "man with no name" persona in old Sergio Leone Westerns.

With so many other movies featuring fight scenes, it's not easy to produce ones that hold the viewer's interest; however, Kill Bill's do because they blend the right combination of novelty, violence, creativity, suspense, and general eye-pleasingness.

If you're worried about violence, you shouldn't let that deter you from watching this series. There are some bloody parts, no doubt; however, perhaps because the violence is seemingly deserved, just twisted enough to be more comical than gross, or somehow alluringly cool, it doesn't seem quite as bad as it should.

If you want to see a cool movie, see this one.

A way to improve.... .......2007-06-18

The first, I really enjoyed... and the second didn't disappoint! Cheers!

Love it or Hate it - I just happen to love it!.......2007-06-08

After reading the other reviews, good and bad, I just decided to chime in with my two cents.

To be quite honest, I love this movie. Tarantino must have had an amazing time making it, and that shows up in the final product. It's just fun to watch. It introduces those of us who aren't very familiar with the kung-fu genre to it and makes us want to go watch a bunch of them. Volume 2 does the same with spaghetti westerns. These movies are like a crash course in Grindhouse-type cinema. I noticed one reviewer who negatively critiqued the film commented on the black and white photography during the fight scene-Quentin had to do that to get it past the MPAA; the Japanese version is all color. Anyway, the movie was a blast, and if you can stop being a snooty cinephile for about 2 hours, you should have a blast too.

Brilliant, Not For Everyone However.......2007-05-29

My first viewing of this volume in the Kill Bill saga occurred at two in the morning, as I suffered from severe insomnia. I was desperate, hoping that it would help me drift off. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately, this film did anything but. The action, cinematography, and witty script blew me away; I loved it. The next day, however, I was surprised to learn that many people I knew did not feel the same way as I did regarding this flick. Willing to form a better opinion of the movie and shrugging the fact that I loved it off to simply being overtired, I watched it again.

I still loved it. And herein was where I realized that this film is not for everyone. As it is a homage film, a tribute to Spaghetti Westerns and Kung-Fu flicks, one must look from this perspective. I myself enjoy these genres of film and lapped up Tarantino's unique and witty take on them. It is apparent (as it is in most of his work) that he is a great fan as well.

As mentioned numerous times by others, there is gore abound here. Ridiculous violence, blood spurting everywhere, and bodies flying constantly. But somehow Mr. Tarantino, and you may call him sick or twisted for it, made all the slicing and dicing humorous and never too serious, witty lines and funny visuals all the way through. True cinematic genius in my book.

On the surface it looks like a senselessly violent revenge movie, but underneath it is far more. Like most of Tarantino's films, Kill Bill is riddled with culture references and contains a wonderfully varied soundtrack; absolute joy for the pop culture buff. It is a cleverly written, and the wonderful talent of all involved is clearly exhibited.

On to the acting, Uma Thurman is a true standout. Prior to this film I hadn't thought much of her, even believing her to be overrated. This one role of hers changed my opinion completely. Thurman is brilliant as "The Bride"; her piercing eyes and intense persona portray a woman out for revenge amazingly. Lucy Liu is also impressive as a cold Yakuza headlady, and Vivica A. Fox and Daryl Hannah both provide great supporting roles as well.

Overall this film is most definitely not something that everyone will go for- in fact, most will find it odd for the first ten minutes or so, but stick with it. This film is one of the most brilliant in recent years, even though it might not hit you with its depth right away. Highly recommended.

**By the way, make sure to buy Volume 2 along with your purchase of Volume 1- the films were intended to be one but due to time constraints two were made, as you see them now. It will add for a more complete viewing experience, not to mention the cliffhanger at the end of the first.

Average customer rating:

This movie rocks!!!
Great Great Family comedy!
Hairdo detention, integration angst, TV dancing competitions, kids who really knew how to tease and one great big campy YES !!!
How is the new movie going to top this?
wonderful!

Hairspray
Starring: Sonny Bono , Ruth Brown , Josh Charles , Divine , and Jason Downs
Director: John Waters
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006RZ9Y
Release Date: 2002-11-05

Amazon.com essential video

John Waters made his bid for PG respectability with this enjoyably trashy comedy about the racial integration of a teen dance show on Baltimore television in the early '60s. Waters, as always, makes a virtue of junk culture and the powerful emotional forces it can represent as kids vie to get on the show. Meanwhile, a parade of former stars (Pia Zadora, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono) and pseudostars (Divine, Ricki Lake) cross the screen, playing freakish characters absorbed by thoughts of fame. (Waters himself turns up as a weirdo psychiatrist.) This transitional film for Waters is rough going at times and not as interesting or funny as his later features Cry-Baby and Serial Mom, but it's worth a look. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

This movie rocks!!!.......2007-07-05

Ricki Lake is so good in this movie! This a great movie that makes you wanna get up and dance!

Great Great Family comedy!.......2007-06-23

This movie is probabally one of the best films I have ever seen! It is about an overweight girl named Tracey Turnblad (Ricki Lake) who, like every other Baltimore Teenager loves the local tv dance show the corny collins show. When her mother and father (Divine and Jerry Stiller ) find out her mother is angerd by the obsession but her father thinks it is a finee show with really no problem. When Tracey gets excepted as a dancer her mother loves the attention and publicity her daughter is getting. However with tracey becoming famous she kicks bratty Amber Von Tussle out of the spotlight. Amber, madder than ever starts spreading nasty rumors about tracey. However sweet sweet Tracey doesn't let it bother he. The rest is a hilarious fun comedy about dancing, the 60's and the serious part racial issues in Baltimore. Parents who may know John Water's other films are downright weird and nasty but there is nothing weird or nasty. However there is one scene where the kids are hiding from their parents and run into bizzare beatniks who suggest drugs but link sends a good message by getting him and his friends out of their and says to not do drugs or you's get addicted and get hurt. That's really the only reason it got the PG rating. I think that if the scene weren't in there it would be a G rating. Now for special features there is a nice reunion commentary between John Waters and Ricki Lake. Besides that there is the original trailer also I have not checked it out but the dvd case says there are special features only viewible on a computer. I highly reccomend this to all familys or just people who love fun movies. But parents of kids 7 and younger should watch this with them. So whether you rent it or buy it you will not be dissapointed!

Hairdo detention, integration angst, TV dancing competitions, kids who really knew how to tease and one great big campy YES !!!.......2007-06-13

Hairspray is one of John Waters' more mainstream movies in that it deals with the themes of racial tensions leading up to an integrated Baltimore, teen angst and first true loves, and those incredible dances and dance shows on TV from the late 1950s into the 1960s. Of course, with Hairspray being a John Waters movie, characters become grossly exaggerated for a humorous effect; you get a very funny, playful and harmless cast of both young and older people in Baltimore facing changing times as they try to live their lives as best they can.

Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) is an overweight teenage girl who can shake off jokes about her weight with a type of self-confidence that is truly remarkable. Tracy and her friend Penny Pingleton (Joann Havrilla) enjoy watching and dancing along to The Corny Collins TV Show in Tracy's living room at home; and one day Tracy sets her mind to trying out for the show with some support from her friend Penny. When Tracy does try out on the Corny Collins TV dance show for dancing teenagers, she wins a spot on the council almost immediately! This upsets the stuck up, racist reigning queen Amber von Tussle and her parents (Sonny Bono and Debbie Harry) who make their living running Tilted Acres, a segregated theme park in Baltimore. As Tracy's star rises she also charms the heart of Amber's boyfriend, Link Larkin (Michael St. Gerard). Of course, this means war. Amber and her parents must--I mean, must--find a way to disgrace Tracy so that Amber can remain the star of the show and ultimately win the highly coveted 1963 Miss Auto Show award. Of course, as this all happens, Hairspray pokes fun at the obsession some people had with getting their hair to be as high and as perfect looking as they thought it could or should be.

The movie moves along at an even pace and the action keeps your attention. Look for John Waters himself as the psychiatrist hired by Penny's parents when they find out she has a black boyfriend named Seaweed. Divine turns in quite a performance as both Tracy Turnblad's mother and Arvin Hodgepile, the TV studio owner who could can The Corny Collins Show if it becomes integrated against his will. As if that weren't enough, Ruth Brown plays the role of Motormouth Maybelle, a female record store owner who is a prominent integrationist in Baltimore and who also sometimes judges on The Corny Collins Show.

Overall, the acting exceeds my expectations for a John Waters flick; and the choreography shines in great scenes where large crowds must move about. I won't give away the plot; but if you want to see excellent choreography look not at just the complicated dance scenes they had to manage but also the race riot scene near the Tilted Acres segregated amusement park.

The cinematography works well; and each character is developed nicely as the movie goes along. The casting is flawless, too.

Hairspray earns its keep quite well; it will hold your undivided attention as you howl with laughter all the way through! The DVD also features commentary by John Waters and Ricki Lake.

When it comes down to it, Hairspray manages to do be funny, hold your attention and explore rather serious issues concerning racial tensions, segregation, integration and the first true love each teen inevitably experiences--all at the same time and all in the same movie. That's quite a feat; and I recommend this film for fans of John Waters movies but also for people who enjoy comedies that involve social commentary. Great!

How is the new movie going to top this?.......2007-06-05

Honestly, I don't know.

I first became aware of Hairspray when I was 12-years-old(in the early 90's). It aired on Network television and I can't tell you how much I loved it! The music, the clothes, the dancing, and the poignant message of racial segregation had me riveted.

John Waters is notorious for making campy, sometimes just plain BAD, films. But Hairspray had the right amount of camp and attitude. I've seen the trailers for the new Hairspray film and I just don't see the flash and pizzazz of the original. I think I'll skip the theatre and pop in the DVD.

Fantastic!

wonderful!.......2007-05-30

I loved this movie! Ricki Lake is awesome :) who knew she could dance?!?

Average customer rating:

This Movie Does No Justice for Ruffian!
Okay for a TV movie
Ruffian, Horse Racing, And The Decade Of The 1970s
The Legend of the Real Life Black Beauty
What About Her Legacy?

Ruffian
Starring: Sam Shepard , Frank Whaley , Jason Douglas , Laura Bailey , and Christine Belford
Director: Yves Simoneau , and David Dwyer
Manufacturer: ESPN Original Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000OCY7KI
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Description

(Sports / Doc) Based on the story of the great filly who was undefeated until suffering a fatal breakdown in a match race against Foolish Pleasure at Belmont Park in 1975 . Only lasting two short seasons on the track, Ruffian was unbeaten through her first ten starts - shattering records at nearly every race. It was the much anticipated 11th race, on July 7, 1975 in front of a packed house at Belmont and a television audience of 18 million viewers, that proved to be her last. Hailed as the battle of the sexes, Ruffian went head-to-head with Kentucky Derby winning colt Foolish Pride, in what became the last match race in professional horse racing. Just short of the one mile marker, Ruffian went down hard with a broken leg, ultimately leaving doctors with no other option than to put the horse to sleep. The next day, she was buried at Belmont and to this day remains the only horse granted that honor.

Customer Reviews:

This Movie Does No Justice for Ruffian!.......2007-06-27

This movie is lame and doesn't do justice for her. Ruffian was an exquisite, wonderful being. I watched her race... it was amazing. I watched the match race... it was horrendous. Why make us relive it? The last 30 minutes of the movie was just as horrible as it was watching it real time.

The best part of the movie was the ending credits where it actually showed Ruffian. (I only saw the movie when it aired on tv.) Maybe the additional clips on the DVD are worth it; not sure. I recommend instead purchasing the book "Ruffian" by Edward Claflin.

Okay for a TV movie.......2007-06-19

This review is for the TV movie, which I viewed. I haven't seen the DVD extras, so I can't rate them. This movie was probably as accurate to the facts as one could expect for a TV movie. It has the usual dramatic device of a protagonist (Nack) who is around for nearly every scene, even though in reality he wasn't. I agree with one of the other reviewers that it's a little disappointing to see horses that look much older and heavier (probably quarter horses) portraying the tall, slender Ruffian, but I suppose it can't be helped, given the limitations of the filming process and budget. Overall, this is worth seeing if you're a fan of Ruffian or horse racing in general. The TV broadcast did include some very short clips of some of Ruffian's actual races. I hope the DVD includes more of that.

As an aside, there are several mistakes in the description of the movie's story on the Amazon product description page. Ruffian isn't the only horse buried at Belmont (she was the first), she was injured well before the mile marker, the date was July 6th, and she didn't fall hard on the racetrack. Also, the second time Foolish Pleasure is mentioned, his name is listed as Foolish Pride. Pretty sloppy on the part of whomever wrote that story description.

Ruffian, Horse Racing, And The Decade Of The 1970s.......2007-06-15

When I heard they were making a film about Ruffian, my first reaction was that I didn't want to see it and relive the emotions I felt back in 1975 while watching the match race on TV.

But by the time the movie debuted on ABC, I decided to watch it and I'm glad I did. Seeing the movie helped put it back in perspective and made me remember the glory of Ruffian and not just the tragic ending.

If you are too young to remember 1975 or weren't born yet, please watch the movie to see the cultural significance of the "He vs. She" match race. It was an indelible part of the 1970s decade, coming on the heels of the 1973 Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Fisher tennis match, and the rise of Women's Lib.

There are a lot of other things about that tumultuous decade that we'd like to forget (such as polyester!), but in horse racing, it was the best decade of all. Three smashing Triple Crown winners in Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed; the rise of jockey Steve Cauthen as a household name; women jockeys breaking down the doors of the men-only club; plus Ruffian and other horse racing greats such as Spectacular Bid, Forego, and Alydar.

There are always inaccuracies that plague horse racing movies, and the Ruffian movie is no exception. Workout scenes show Ruffian alone with no other horses on the racetrack. I worked as an exercise rider for 20 years at Thoroughbred racetracks, and believe me, horses don't train alone. There are hundreds of horses on the track galloping and breezing during training hours, which really changes the dynamic of the scene.

The horse they used as Ruffian on the racetrack was a fairly decent representation of the real Ruffian, but the horse they used for the barn scenes looked like a Quarter horse, and just stood there like a nag. I'm sure it was for practical reasons, they needed a quiet horse to put up with all the filming, but I wish the barn-scene horse was more true to Ruffian's looks and personality. Ruffian was an extremely high spirited horse, she kicked up a fuss on a regular basis, and part of her allure and fame was due to her high voltage personality.

Even though in reality Bill Nack's character wasn't there for Ruffian's every move, I don't have an objection to him constantly being in and around the Whiteley barn as Bill Nack helped explain and drive the story. If the story was told from Frank Whiteley's perspective alone, it would have been a near-silent movie as he was cranky and didn't say much in real life.

In the 30+ years since Ruffian died, she has stood the test of time as an all-time great. Sports Illustrated included Ruffian as the only non-human on their list of the top 100 female athletes of the 20th century. The Blood Horse Magazine ranks her #35 in their top 100 racehorses of the century.

Real footage of Ruffian racing is shown at the end of the movie, it's a great addition as she truly was a dynamo. The inaccuracies I stated above don't detract that much from the real story, so I am giving it my top rating.

The Legend of the Real Life Black Beauty.......2007-06-13

My late father worked in horse-racing in NY for 35 years,
and I grew up listening to horse stories. No horse ever
captivated my heart and mind in quite the way that Ruffian did.
She was the real life Black Beauty for millions of little girls,
and the day she died, I walked away from horse-racing forever.
I was seventeen years old.

While the film may not be 100% historically accurate,
it was accurate enough to break my heart all over again
and send me hunting through my drawers to find my old Match Race
pins so I could hold Ruffian one more time while I cried for her.

It was accurate enough to make my best friend scream and grab her own
bad leg (previously broken several times)when Ruffian's leg snapped.
I think Ruffian's story still has the power and the magic to make little
girls everywhere believe that anything is possible, and that they can
truly be Champions like the Magnificent, Tragic Ruffian.
I will be going back to Belmont to visit Ruffian's final resting place
one more time.

Sam Shepard and the rest of the Ruffian "crew" did an excellent job
of portraying both the love and the limitations inherent within
the close-knit support system of the beloved Heroine Filly.

What About Her Legacy?.......2007-06-13

I think the movie was humble, in that it did not credit Ruffian, rather, let the facts speak instead; it did mention at the end, where it listed who went on to do what, that it was the last match race in professional horseracing. However, Ruffian's legacy may be much more: For example, the Wikipedia (where they edit each other's writing mercilessly) article about her recalled that,
'Her breakdown and tragic death led to a public outcry for more humane treatment of racehorses. One result was that medications, such as Lasix for bleeding and corticosteroids for inflammation and pain management, came into common use in racehorses.'
The article goes on with the rather astute observations that,
'While helping the horses in the short term, the increased use of medications at the track had a downside, as many horses were raced while injured. It can be argued that thoroughbreds are becoming more delicate as a result; racehorses today run only half as many starts before retirement as did their counterparts 50 years ago. Some of this effect is likely also due to breeding practices that select for horses likely to have short, brilliant careers--like Ruffian's--instead of the traditional racing career which might have lasted several years. Indeed, Ruffian's bloodline may be considered at least partly to blame for her broken leg; her sire, Reviewer, suffered three breakdowns.'
The movie shows Ruffian's burial at Belmont, also mentioned in Wikipedia, but neither point out that she has been the only horse honored with burial there. ESPN's coverage of the 2007 Belmont Stakes seemed complete, but failed to show Ruffian's grave at the pole or make the connection, upon the occasion of Rags to Riches being the first filly to win in over a hundred years, that their host, ABC, would air the movie Ruffian later that evening, about a filly who was leading to have won at the same Belmont Park, had a foreleg not broken, or anything about her. Certainly the movie, much less ABC, has no responsibility for ESPN or Wikipedia content, so I plead guilty to being a Monday-morning quarterback (I am interested in contributing to Wikipedia, but feel that I would have to return to college in order to wade through all their rules and regulations, etc.).
Yes, I specified 'foreleg,' as both the movie and the article mention her other leg breaking, but which leg is her 'other leg?' The article refers to Ruffian 'thrashing about wildy' coming out of anesthesia, so as to break the cast and her 'other leg' (front, presumably), but the movie only illustrated a running motion with her front legs, breaking the 'other.' Also not shown in the movie is the description in the article of how far/long she ran on after her leg broke, 50 yards, or as one account put it, to the effect that, the ambulance was there by the time she quit running. Perhaps the post-surgery running effort shown was chosen to illustrate this part of her reaction, the story of which may have gotten better over time. Without meaning to criticize the movie or the article based merely upon my own incomplete research, I point out these elements and the others as worth a look, because the running lame and fighting surgery, for example, touched the hearts of the country, I am sure, and are, therefore, important parts of her history/story.
The movie does show Ruffian's grave marker with epitaph paragraph, but in a flash like credits; to read it, I will have to buy this DVD and put it on pause, or else drive up to Belmont Park, in which case I could find out, too, if she is buried at the finish pole or the flagpole, or, maybe they are one in the same. You may also wish to see my Listmania list, 'Great Horse Movies on DVD.'

Average customer rating:

Long overdue release of a controversial thriller
Perception
you loved it or hated it
Why all the angst over this film & others like it?
PUT IT OUT ON DVD !!!

Cruising (Deluxe Edition)
Starring: Al Pacino , Paul Sorvino , Karen Allen , Richard Cox , and Don Scardino
Director: William Friedkin
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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The Panic in Needle Park
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Zodiac (Widescreen Edition)
Prince of the City (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Deliverance (Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: B00005JO5L
Release Date: 2007-09-18

Customer Reviews:

Long overdue release of a controversial thriller.......2007-06-22

This review is about the actual features contained on the Deluxe Edition that is due for release in September 2007. This marks the long overdue release of this controversial film on DVD, and it is good to see that there shall be plenty of extra features, since I have been arguing with other people about the meaning of this film's ending since its release in 1980. Cruising stars Al Pacino as a cop who infiltrates the homosexual S&M night life scene in order to solve a murder. Unable to just leave his work at the office in this case, the experience begins to affect his whole life - his outlook, his relationship with his girlfriend, everything. This is one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies. Few people come out on the fence on this one. It is a shocking dark film any way you approach it, but it is also just about the first major motion picture to portray homosexual men as strong masculine types, not just as the effeminite stereotypes that had been characteristic of the role since the birth of motion pictures. The soundtrack for this film has been remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and includes the following extra features:

Commentary by Director William Friedkin

2 New Featurettes: "The History of Cruising" and "Exorcising Cruising"

Original Theatrical trailer

Languages: English & Spanish

Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish (feature film only)

Director William Friedkin has personally supervised the creation of an all new high-definition master and new 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track for the release with the new director's commentary. Eminent documentarian Laurent Bouzerou is the creator of the included featurettes which contain interviews with actors and filmmakers who provide thorough perspective on the incidents surrounding the production. In addition to Friedkin and producer Jerry Weintraub, participants include editor Bud Smith, actors Don Scardino (Ted Bailey) and James Remar (Gregory), and real-life cops Randy Jurgensen (Det. Lefransky) and Sonny Grosso (Det. Blasio). The bad news is that the 40 minutes of deleted scenes that were removed from Cruising 26 years ago at the behest of the MPAA have not been restored in this release. The information on these special features is from a press release from Warner Home Video.

Perception.......2007-05-25

"Cruising"

Perception

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

It is hard to believe that William Friedkin's "Cruising" is already 27 years old. What is amazing is that it has not been released on DVD but rumor has it that it will be soon. Friedkin
has recut it and is showing it again at this year's Cannes Film Festival so I suppose that is a sign that its release is imminent.
When "Cruising" came out it created quite a furor because of the way it depicted gay men as "they are". People saw masculine men dancing and kissing and participating in S&M activities and this was something that many had never seen before. The movie violated the picture people had of gay men as being effeminate and weak. The movie broke ground by showing that gay men, in particular the leather subculture, are real people and have some influence. The movie also showed the interiors of gay bars and the activity there as it was.
This is a brutal film and definitely affects the viewer as it combines murder, mystery, sex and subculture. Viewed today it still shocks and many still consider it to be homophobic by depicting gay men as being sexually obsessed whereas those many of the men who are members of the leather scene claim that it is accurate. It is important to remember that the movie was made before AIDS when sexual excess was extremely popular.
I do not think that people were fair to the movie--it is not a look at gay culture as a whole--it uses the leather scene to show how one man's life is affected by his work. Al Pacino as a cop investigating a murder gives an outstanding performance.
William Friedkin is known for making mysterious, dark films and he has done himself proud with this film. The controversy around it brought about a dialog which led to a better understanding of the gay community and if had done nothing else, that would have been enough. But "Cruising" is also a good movie even with all of the controversy.
This is not an easy film to watch. The characters are not the kind of people that we like and for some reason the film seems incomplete. I have heard that 40 minutes of film were cut due
to censorship problems but some of that is being restored to the film with the new cut. This should clarify any ambiguity of the film. What the film really seems to be about is the thin lie between good and evil.
"Cruising" is