Mol (Dol Dts)

Starring:Disturbed
Studio: Warner Bros / Wea
Product Type: DVD

Product Description

New York writer and opera addict Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser, The Family Stone) loves her girlfriend Samantha (Julianne Nicholson, Kinsey), but can t commit. When Samantha leaves her, Allegra rebounds with handsome philosophy professor Phillip (Justin Kirk, Angels in America) as well as the irresistibly beautiful, recently single Grace (Gretchen Mol, The Notorious Bettie Page). Allegra juggles secret relationships with both of them, never suspecting that Philip and Grace have a connection of their own. With a sophisticated blend of humor and irony, this screwball sex comedy twists and turns with all the drama of classic Puccini. Directed by Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love), PUCCINI FOR BEGINNERS was an Official Selection in the Sundance Film Festival 2006.

Customer Reviews:

What if a lesbian was to not only date a guy but also his ex-girlfiend?.......2007-07-05

Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser, "The Family Stone" but probably more recognizable as "Jane Doe" from last season of "Grey's Anatomy") has commitment issues, which explains why her girlfriend, Samantha (Julianne Nicholson, "Little Black Book"), has dumped her. However, she ends up questioning both her sexuality and her sanity when she falls for Philip (Justin Kirk, "Weeds"). Yes, he is a man, but he is a college professor capable of engaging in verbal sparring and he actually likes opera. If that were not enough complication in her life, Allegra, begins a relationship with another woman, Grace (Gretchen Mol, "The Notorious Bettie Page"), who has just broken up with her boyfriends of six years and never been with a woman before. But, wait, there is more. Grace's ex-boyfriend is Philip and as the "Prologue" of this 2006 film makes clear, yes, everything is going to hit the fan for Allegra in a big way.

Actually, there is not a lot of Puccini in "Puccini for Beginners," although some of the characters go to a production of "Turandot" at the beginning. Philip takes Allegra to see "Don Giovanni," but that is Mozart. In one of the deleted scenes the violinist on the street near the end was playing "Nessun dorma," but that got gut at the end. But then in the trailer the opera music is from "La Donna e Mobile" from "Rigoletto," which is written by Verdi (I do not really think the aria's rant about the fickleness of women really fits the character, but the music is recognizable), which only goes to prove that you do not need to know a lot about Puccini to appreciate this screwball comedy. To the extent that "Turandot" is an apt metaphor for what takes place (the way Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to see "La Traviata" in "Pretty Woman"), Allegra tells you all you need to know when she says the opera is about having to pass a test for the sake of love, with dire consequences if you fail.

Yes, "Allegra" is the brand name of an antihistamine drug, the name of the heiress to the fashion house Versace, and the name of the illegitimate daughter of Lord Byron and Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley's step-sister), but it is also an Italian name for a female meaning "gay" or "happy." Such meanings have meaning for this movie because by thinking she is not the former our heroine may be ruining her chances to be the latter. The name is also related to the musical tempo "allegro," which means "quick and lively" or, literally, "cheerful." That would also provide an ironic encapsulation of our heroine who has to be quick to juggle the two relationships, but does not have the time to be all that cheerful.

Many viewers will be reminded more of Woody Allen movies that Puccini operas anyway, especially "Annie Hall," what with the New York City location, the use of comic subtitles, strangers getting involved in commenting on the proceedings, and the idea that Allegra is not as smart as she thinks. Fortunately, Reaser is not channeling Allen and her restrained performance keeps this one grounded as the complex situation drives towards its inevitable and painful collapse. There are just a pair of deleted scenes and the original theatrical trailer included in the DVD extras, but the commentary track with director Maria Maggenti ("The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love") and editor Susan Graef does an above average job of focusing on how the film was made in terms of cutting, rewriting, and all the thousand natural decisions that making a film is heir to, especially when you only shoot for 18 days and have 8 weeks to edit Final Note: I would not think of "Holiday" as being a screwball comedy, certainly not in the same league as "Bringing Up Baby," and if you were going to reference a Katharine Hepburn film in this movie I would think "Sylvia Scarlett" is the (perhaps too) obvious choice.

Average customer rating:

Great movie; unusually prescient commentary
extended scenes already in the origial cut
One of my favorite movies
GREAT MOVIE!!!!
Donnie rules! Three thumbs up.

Donnie Brasco (Special Edition)
Starring: Al Pacino , Johnny Depp , Michael Madsen , Bruno Kirby , and James Russo
Director: Mike Newell
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B00004XPPB
Release Date: 2000-11-07

Amazon.com

Based on a memoir by former undercover cop Joe Pistone (whose daring and unprecedented infiltration of the New York Mob scene earned him a place in the federal witness protection program), Donnie Brasco is like a de- romanticized, de-mythologized version of The Godfather. It offers an uncommonly detailed, privileged glimpse inside the world of organized crime from the perspective of the little guys at the bottom of Mafia hierarchy rather than from the kingpins at the top. Donnie Brasco is not only one of the great modern-day gangster movies to put in the company of The Godfather films andGoodFellas, but it is also one of the great undercover police movies--arguably surpassing Serpico and Prince of the City in richness of character, detail, and moral complexity. Donnie (Johnny Depp, a splendid actor) is practically adopted by Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino), a gregarious, low-level "made" man who grows to love his young protégé like a son. (Pacino really sinks into this guy's skin and polyester slacks, and creates his freshest, most fully realized character since his 1970s heyday.) As Donnie acclimates himself to Lefty's world, he distances himself from his wife (a terrific Anne Heche) and family for their own protection. Almost imperceptibly his sense of identity slips away from him. Questioning his own confused loyalties, unable to trust anybody else because he himself is an imposter, Donnie loses his way in a murky and treacherous no-man's land. The film is directed by Mike Newell, who also headed up Four Weddings and a Funeral and the gritty, true crime melodrama Dance with a Stranger. --Jim Emerson

Stills from Donnie Brasco (click for larger image)

Beyond Donnie Brasco on Amazon.com

DVDs starring Al Pacino
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The Memoir

Customer Reviews:

Great movie; unusually prescient commentary.......2007-06-19

It is hard to believe the best organized crime movie set in the U.S. would be directed by a British director, but that is exactly what you find here. Donnie Brasco eschews the melodrama of lots of mafia films and creates a personal, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and social film all in one--and to top it off it's aesthetically brilliant, and Al Pacino reaches somewhere (not sure where) and creates the most on target portrayal he or just about any actor has done on film. I say this as an actor--and serious actors can tell when an actor 'gets it' or not. It's not clear whether Mike Newell helped him, but Newell provides a min-course in film directing through his commentary--it's the best commentary I've ever heard--and demonstrates, despite what critics don't like to admit (or perhaps don't want to know)that an articulate artist can explicate a work of art better than a critic who is not an artist. This is not an anti-critic rant; just an observation I've made from reading both sides of the equation.

extended scenes already in the origial cut.......2007-06-18

5 stars for better picture quality. Very clean picture quality. Great sound mix.
3 stars for the new cut. Prefer the original cut.
2 stars since the deleted scences are already in the original cut
1 star... No new features. Missing commentary.

One of my favorite movies.......2007-06-17

This is an all around outstanding film. The script is great, the acting is great. The scenery and costumes all feel very real. It's a violent subject (and not one I normally like for a movie) but the film makes you feel for the characters, especially Donnie Brasco/Joe Pistone. And, even though he's the bad guy and I know he got what he deserved, I couldn't help but feel something for Lefty Guns, too.

The film interested me so much that I bought both the book that it was based on and Joe Pistone's follow up book, "Unfinished Business." I highly recommend both of them. Joe Pistone is a true American hero.

GREAT MOVIE!!!!.......2007-06-13

LOVED THIS FILM.IT IS TRULY A MASTERPEICE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE.

Donnie rules! Three thumbs up........2007-05-17

It's a good freakin' film, fuhgedaboudit! If you love Goodfellas, you'll really like Donnie Brasco.

Average customer rating:

It takes stones to steer clear of trouble andd wrong choices - Turturro
A Great Gambling Movie
rounders
Poker Players Only?
DVD Review

Rounders (Collector's Edition)
Starring: Matt Damon , Edward Norton , John Turturro , Paul Cicero , and Gretchen Mol
Director: John Dahl
Manufacturer: Miramax
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ASIN: B0002DRDB4
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Amazon.com

A little drunk on its own arcane exotica as a gambling movie, Rounders is a film that takes us inside a world of high-stakes card players but falls short on such essentials as character development, relationships, that sort of thing. Still, it is a real curiosity, written by a couple of guys (David Levien and Brian Koppelman) who appear to know something about the dark underbelly of card hustling for fun and profit. Matt Damon stars as a reluctant law student who can't put aside his subterranean career of playing poker and blackjack for big money. After he loses his post-grad nest egg to a weird Russian kingpin (John Malkovich)--and also loses his disgusted girlfriend (Gretchen Mol) in the process--Damon's character turns to an unreliable old buddy (Edward Norton) for a dangerous game of sharking wherever there happens to be a game underway: frat boys, cops, bad dudes, you name it. Norton appears to be living out every young actor's fantasy of re-creating Robert De Niro's prototypical head case in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and while his performance is burdened by obvious quotation marks, his estimable talent still shines through. Damon's charm and intelligence bring some oomph to the curiously flat proceedings, and while his hushed, soul-bearing scenes with Martin Landau (as a law professor who takes a shine to the kid) seem gratuitous, they're still nice to watch. Behind all this is director John Dahl (Red Rock West), who is not exactly at the top of his game here but who brings his distinctive toughness to the crime-noir tone. --Tom Keogh

Description

Academy Award(R) winner Matt Damon (GOOD WILL HUNTING, Best Original Screenplay, 1997; THE BOURNE SUPREMACY) and Edward Norton (THE ITALIAN JOB) star in this story of passion, risk, and the extreme price of friendship! After losing a high-stakes card game, Mike (Damon) gives up gambling for law school and a fresh start with his girlfriend (Gretchen Mol -- CRADLE WILL ROCK). But then his best buddy (Norton) gets out of prison and in over his head with a ruthless card shark (John Malkovich -- BEING JOHN MALKOVICH). From there, Mike's strong sense of loyalty -- and the lure of the game -- draw him back to the tables in a game he cannot afford to lose! Also starring John Turturro (O BROTHER, WHERE ARE THOU?) and Oscar(R) winner Martin Landau (ED WOOD, Best Supporting Actor, 1994).

Customer Reviews:

It takes stones to steer clear of trouble andd wrong choices - Turturro.......2007-05-25

ROUNDERS (1998), with an exceptionally well chosen cast (John
Turturro, Ed Norton, Matt Damon, Martin Landay, and John Malkvich) is
a movie that will appeal to those above 25 / 30, considering the
strong mental and rational aspects that the movie emphasizes, coupled
with other human aspects that everyone will relate to, nonetheless.

If you believe that full stars should never be awarded to a story
that has a happy ending, (guy gets the girl and the money), then you
will understand how this movie is a remarkable achievement, yet not
the best I've seen, due to the Hollywood policy of avoiding tragic
endings, steering clear of despair, suffering from gambling
addiction or otherwise, due to entertainment reasons.

The acting is splendid and beyond reproach, from all actors, by
exposing the subculture of gambling as a hobby and as a social
networking and human release tool. It also exposes those players who,
naturally, take advantage and profit insidiously from the humanity
and compelling addition that exists in the weaker players at the
tables.

As such, the story is a somewhat of a microcosm of what goes on in
the financial markets, the greed and fear emotions that go back and
forth among the traders, the majority of whom lose as much as they
gain from the game, in the long run, not knowing when to stop or how
much is enough.

With a pleasing widescreen release, and sharp, professional
technique, and perfect transfer to DVD, the story underlines the
importance of one's reputation and ability to socially network to be
able to get a seat at the tables where the action occurs. It also
brings up the banking aspects, and loan sharks charging "juice", and
of collectors who are called on to act on difficult debts, the
pariah mechanics, the special visual reading skills needed to be
successful in beating opponents.

Perhaps unnoticed, is the aspect of the movie, that contrasts and
compares the various protagonists character, who they really are,
their destinies, how they found their niche, by choosing settings at
peep shows, or libraries of wealthy reputable judges, lawyers, at
police officers messes, intermixed with convicts, gambling addicted
people of all kinds, including innocent tourists to Las Vegas, etc.

Catchy one-liner: "It takes stones to steer clear of trouble and the
wrong choices" ... yet overall, the movie suggests to viewers that
those making no choices, stopped in the middle of the road of life,
still get run over.

A Great Gambling Movie.......2007-05-14

Matt Damon and Edward Norton team up in this Gambling drama about two men who love to play cards. Both men live different lives, and conflicts arise but in the end one thing is never forgotten; How good these guys actually are at what they do.

rounders.......2007-05-10

this is a wonderful story about two guys who cheat at everything. A few ups and a lot of downs. hustlers to the enth degree. very entertaining

Poker Players Only?.......2007-03-25

There seems to be mixed reviews about this movie. One either likes it or has very little if any response. I'm a poker player and I loved the story and the cast is excellent. If you like poker as well as suspense, I believe this film will be very satisfying to you. If you don't fit that description, it's still worth a look.

DVD Review.......2007-02-01

Quick delivery, quality picture, good price. What more can you ask for?

Average customer rating:

Great Performance in a Mediocre Film
Betty Page on the Screen
Sexual harassment is despicable
Gory Days
Nice film about the pin-up star of the universe

The Notorious Bettie Page
Starring: Gretchen Mol , Chris Bauer , Jared Harris , Sarah Paulson , and Cara Seymour
Director: Mary Harron
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000GB5M42
Release Date: 2006-09-26

Amazon.com

The cult pin-up idol Bettie Page gets the full-fledged biopic treatment in The Notorious Bettie Page, a movie that somehow seems as tame and innocent as the naughty photographs Bettie made in the 1950s. After a few scenes of Bettie growing up, the film quickly leads us to her more-or-less glory years, when she posed for countless peekaboo photos and some nudie films. These would make her an underground star for decades--long after she gave up modeling for religion, in fact. Gretchen Mol, a premature starlet in a redemptive role, does nicely at suggesting Bettie's too-trusting nature, maintaining her equipoise in a sleazy world. Her nude scenes are as liberated and no-sweat as those old nudist films always wanted people to believe. Director Mary Harron plays most of the film in the black-and-white that Bettie thrived in, which seems fitting enough (although the Kodachrome-bright color interludes are welcome). There's an air of "Ed Wood" about the project, and Harron maintains a similarly jovial tone, but the film does have a tendency to fall into the and-then-this-happened metronome rhythm of film biography. Even a promising venture into the Senate hearings on pornography is a minor joke. Jared Harris and Lili Taylor, veterans of Harron's "I Shot Andy Warhol," play colorful characters out of the grindhouse world, but few supporting players get a chance to make an impression. The main draw is Mol's commitment to the role and the film's goofy re-creation of a most peculiar subculture at an unlikely time. --Robert Horton

Description

In an incandescent performance, Gretchen Mol (The Shape of Things) stars as Bettie Page, who grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie?s legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day. Complemented by an ensemble cast of acclaimed actors, such as David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck) and Lili Taylor (High Fidelity), the film brings to vivid life Bettie?s fascinating world.

Customer Reviews:

Great Performance in a Mediocre Film.......2007-07-05

Mary Harron, one of a slew of concerned filmmakers to appear in Kirby Dick's recent indictment of the MPAA This Film is Not Yet Rated, writes and directs her third picture. The Notorious Bettie Page is about the cult icon and pinup and bondage model that influenced pornography's entry into the cultural mainstream. Bettie Page unwittingly became kind of symbol of women's liberation long after she rediscovered Christianity. She slipped into the mainstream in variable flashes in comic books, music, television, and of course a new generation of inspired Goth burlesque models. This film is her biopic and unlike many biopics the melodrama is downplayed which is of course good for both the subject matter as well as the length of the picture (just 90 minutes). It comes off as a bit more honest and real then some other biopics but on the other hand it sacrifices being as entertaining for these same reasons. Strange considering the rumors of her violent life after she left modeling.

Bettie Page is played by Gretchen Mol and the rest of the cast is good but they are truly drowned out by a boring script, and of course Gretchen herself. Mol's performance is anything but boring and shows a deep understanding of what makes Page a worthy icon. Mol seemingly disappeared for years and then suddenly showed up and did this. I don't want to dwell on how daring she is for the nudity she does in this movie, because even without that kind of commitment and risk Mol deserves the highest praise possible. She was outstanding and was arguably snubbed of some awards.

Mol is the only great thing about this movie. Page was naive to her situation and just happens to not be shy about showing off her body. You can even see in some of the bondage photos with whips in her hand that she may as well be holding a duster instead...while delicious cookies are being prepared in the kitchen. That innocence combined with the suggestive subject matter is what makes Page so enticing and exceptional. Gretchen Mol got that vibe just right and it permeates throughout this film.

In short, Bettie becomes a model and eventually meets Irving and Paula Klaw who begin shooting her bondage photos. She then goes on to model for Bunny Yeager and those photos show up in Playboy. Bettie gets caught up in a senate hearing about pornography and then she finds Protestantism and leaves modeling. The film doesn't bother to address the more controversial and debated elements to her later life (those mentioned in The Real Bettie Page: The Truth about the Queen of Pinups).

Mary Harron's vision focuses on her career and then just before her disappearance. These early years are worth knowing about even though the story doesn't contain some of the dramatic elements we might find in say Walk the Line or Ray. So it sticks to the public's perception of Bettie. Instead of going with the tabloid drama of her later life it focuses on why she is an icon and that is overall probably more important anyway. There is more that troubled me though as the film also doesn't even touch on the political commentary it could have. Maybe that's alright as well because Bettie Page didn't seem to understand or even care about her role in fighting censorship. Something tells me there could've been a more exciting story here but on the surface The Notorious Bettie Page is a beautifully shot film with one great performance...perhaps that is all it needed.

Betty Page on the Screen .......2007-07-04

Gretchen Mol does an excellent of portraying Bettie Page and the fact that that movie is shot in Black and White doesn't hurt either except for the Florida scenes that are in Technicolor , which is a nice surprise. This movie reminds you of Good Night and Good Luck in that plot centers around a smut trial. It shows how far the feminist movement has evolved to include women similar to Betty Page that might be in the forfront of the adult industry. This an excellent voice for those women and men that understand that sexuallity is natural thing to cherrish and explore.

Sexual harassment is despicable .......2007-07-03

Only a movie based in the 1950s can depict sexual harassment and the damage it does to women. In films set in the present day, women at least American women are depicted as enjoying, inviting and participating in the behavior that qualifies as sexual harassment.

I can see how Bettie didn't see anything sordid in fetish footwear. If one is not interested in the fetish, the shoes just look like shoes.

Gretchen Mol did a good job and even managed to appear without clothes in a natural way without being illicit.

Gory Days.......2007-06-01

On the 26th of September 1983 a short dumpy 60 year old woman stood trial for the attempted murder of Leonie Haddad, a lady whose husband had recently died and had agreed to take in a lodger who came via a housing authority for the elderly. Haddad was not made aware that her new lodger had, in fact, come fresh from The Patton State Mental Hospital where she had been incarcerated for an inexplicable knife attack on a married couple three years previously. Haddad soon realised that something was `rotten in Denmark' when the woman began to lock herself in the bathroom with a tape recorder reciting prophesies about' seven Gods'. Haddad's fears were confirmed one night when she awoke to find her lodger sitting astride her chest holding a bread knife announcing that "God has inspired me to kill you". Haddad managed to knock her assailant out with a telephone but not before she had lost a finger and suffered deep lacerations to her face and chest. It was a miracle she survived. The lodger was judged to be innocent by reason of insanity but sent, kicking and screaming, back to the laughing academy.

Ten years later she was released and found that she was now a celebrity; but not for the brutal attacks on her innocent victims, but for her incarnation of 25 years earlier when she was known as the `Queen of the Curve's, the `Tennessee Tease' and `Miss Pin Up Girl of the World' - the Notorious Bettie Page.

Director Mary Harron, mainly known for `American Psycho' takes us back to the glory days of a legendary cheesecake and bondage model (played solidly enough by Gretchen Mol) who inadvertently wrote the blue print for fetish iconography and whose influence can be detected in everything from comic books to catwalks. T.N.B.P is day-glo fun ride through an evocative depiction of the 1950's where Page, with the familial help of good intentioned boyfriends and photographers, becomes the number one star of pocket sized men's glossies with titles like Wink, Tab and Parade. Her real dream of movie stardom evades her and a brush with the authorities over obscenity charges in 1957 is the inciting incident which leads her to retire from modelling and give herself to God. The overall style of the film is light and frothy and only darkens momentarily with an allusion to her father's incestuous attentions and a sexual assault which inexplicably appears to have no discernable effect on her. Mol plays Page as she seems in her photographs, happy, carefree and fun - even the bondage shots betray little more than a good humoured incomprehensibility. The film concludes on the upbeat with Page cheerfully handing out bibles in a park with no indication of the real life unhappy marriages, personal tragedy and decent into murderous insanity which lay before her; avoiding what I think is the essential core of Page's story - rebirth and resurrection.

Having emerged from a decade of incarceration Page found that her cult had been in the ascendance since the mid 1980's and that she had become a huge underground icon, during which, many were asking "whatever happened to Bettie Page". Her `mysterious' disappearance fed the fires of any number of conspiracy theories only adding to the allure of her legend. When the world's media finally caught up with her she gave no hint of her darker past and she was soon giving interviews for magazines, T.V and being photographed at Playboy parties with the likes of Pamela Anderson and the equally tragic Anna Nicole Smith.

She found that she was now more famous than she ever was in her `glory years' but in the glare of this `resurrection' it was only a matter of time before the full story would come to light.

The only notorious thing about The Notorious Bettie Page is they left out the part when she became truly notorious.

Adrian Stranik

Nice film about the pin-up star of the universe .......2007-05-28

This was a good look back at the life and times of one of the most famous, and still best known pin-up girl in history betty paige. The acting was superb and really brought across Betties sunny disposition and the innoscence which was taken from her many years before. They do gloss over her past, but there is enough there to know where she is coming from, and if they would have brought out more of her inner pain, it would have taken away from the impact of how resilliant she was. Mrs. Mol who played Bettie is an almost spot on clone of betty, and hats off to her. It's amazin how tame this stuff looks now, but how much controversy it was then. A look back at a much simpler times. This is movie is worth watching. Bettie is not as "Notorious" as you think.

Average customer rating:

Great movie; unusually prescient commentary
extended scenes already in the origial cut
One of my favorite movies
GREAT MOVIE!!!!
Donnie rules! Three thumbs up.

Donnie Brasco (Extended Cut)
Starring: Al Pacino , Johnny Depp , Michael Madsen , Bruno Kirby , and James Russo
Director: Mike Newell
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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GoodFellas (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Carlito's Way
Casino (Widescreen 10th Anniversary Edition)
Blow (Infinifilm Edition)
Scarface (Platinum Edition)

ASIN: B000NHG7BG
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Amazon.com

Stills from Donnie Brasco (click for larger image)

Beyond Donnie Brasco on Amazon.com

DVDs starring Al Pacino
More Gangster Movies
The Memoir

Product Description

Posing as jewel broker Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone (Johnny Depp) is granted entranceinto the violent mob family of aging hit man Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino). When his personal and professional lives collide, Pistone jeopardizes his marriage, his job life and, ultimately, the gangstermentor he has come to respect and admire. From acclaimed director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral), and featuring an extraordinary supporting cast including Michael Madsen, Anne Heche, BrunoKirby and James Russo.

Customer Reviews:

Great movie; unusually prescient commentary.......2007-06-19

extended scenes already in the origial cut.......2007-06-18

One of my favorite movies.......2007-06-17

GREAT MOVIE!!!!.......2007-06-13

LOVED THIS FILM.IT IS TRULY A MASTERPEICE. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE.

Donnie rules! Three thumbs up........2007-05-17

It's a good freakin' film, fuhgedaboudit! If you love Goodfellas, you'll really like Donnie Brasco.

Average customer rating:

Either you get it or you don't.
THE CHILD DEVIANT!
boring and distasteful film, but the "Spinal Tap" special feature is funny
GARBAGE!
A Trash Treasure

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
Starring: Asia Argento , Lydia Lunch , Ornella Muti , Winona Ryder , and Jeremy Sisto
Director: Asia Argento
Manufacturer: Palm Pictures (Home Entertainment)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000F1IO3E
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Amazon.com

Asia Argento's adaptation of JT Leroy's short story collection, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, still has the heartbreaking urgency of a tale about child abuse, regardless of Leroy's proven fraudulent identity. Weaving plots together from Leroy's two books, Sarah, and The Heart Is Deceitful, Argento relays the history of orphaned Jeremiah (Jimmy Bennett/Cole Sprouse), whose mother Sarah (Asia Argento) abandons him as a baby to work as a truck-stop lot lizard for her methamphetamine habit. Sarah tears Jeremiah away from a stable foster home to pathetically attempt mothering her seven-year old son. Jeremiah instantly grows up in strip clubs, drug dealers' homes, big rigs, and in the hot rod that he and his mother call home. His sadomasochistic sexual psychology also develops prematurely, informed by men who rape and beat him, and a mother whose work as a hooker requires Jeremiah's dressing up as a girl to pass as her younger sister. Enter a born again, psychotically zealous Grandfather (Peter Fonda) who takes temporary custody of Jeremiah, and the viewer begins to understand Sarah's severe rebelliousness, sensing that the punk, 23-year old prostitute may be a better parent for Jeremiah, simply because she loves him. Shot by Eric Alan Edwards (Kids, My Own Private Idaho), and with a soundtrack including Sonic Youth, Subhumans, Billy Corgan, and Hasil Adkins, the film has a raunchy, Southern appeal similar to that of Leroy's books. Cameos appearances by Winona Ryder and Marilyn Manson add rock star power. Argento keeps it sexy, as this is as much a story of the mother-child bond as it is about the malformation of a boy's sexual identity. True or not, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is a sincere yet stylized rendition of a terribly sad story. --Trinie Dalton

Description

Seven-year-old Jeremiah lived a calm, comfortable life in the care of a loving foster home until the day his young mother Sarah (Argento) came to take him against his will into her reckless life of turmoil and depravity, between desolate truck-stops, flea bag motels, strip joints, drug den and deadbeat surrogate dads until he finds himself in the custody of his ultra-religious grandparents. Having adapted to his new life as a Christian fundamentalist, Sarah returns to claim her son. Bound by a love only a mother and son could have for each other, Sarah pulls Jeremiah further and further into her dementia. When Sarah is finally and wholly consumed by drugs, prostitution and violence, Jeremiah is forced into a desperate struggle to survive the madness of his surroundings.

Customer Reviews:

Either you get it or you don't........2007-06-23

The people that are complaining about this movie wouldn't know a good movie if it him em in the face. These are probably the same people who get excited when Ben Affeleck's new movie comes out, or whatever blockbuster mega studio production movie they can attend. If your one of them, than you'll never appreaciate this movie. This is an indy flick, low budget, cult classic. The acting and directing is amazing, and the story is fabulous. Even the soundtrack (Subhumans, Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, Sex Pistols) is great. The actors, Peter Fonda, Asia Argento, Marilyn Manson, Jeremey Sisto, Michael Pitt, and Winona Ryder are all verry good in this movie. If you know good movies, than you'll love this film. If your amongst the silly ones who only watched this movie because Marilyn Manson is in it, than your wasting your time...go watch Ghost Rider instead.

THE CHILD DEVIANT!.......2007-06-13

This is an unforgettable low budget classic cult drama that is written by J.T. Leroy and directed (also starring) Asia Argento. The story is about a little boy who suffers some unspeakable abuse...the film shows you the world through his eyes. Many great actors are in the film such as Winona Rhyder, Jeremy Sisto, Michael Pitt, Peter Fonda, and an surprisingly good performance by Marilyn Manson. I strongly suggest this film. One of the most impressive indy films ever made in the history of history. Warning: Please be prepared to be shocked and offended by the substance matter.

boring and distasteful film, but the "Spinal Tap" special feature is funny.......2007-05-29

An ugly film about lowlifes. Young boy is taken from his foster parents and raised by a "white trash" mother. She becomes a prostitute, performs as a stripper, steals, does drugs and booze. She gives him drugs, lies to him, abuses him, and dresses up up like a girl. He's also whipped. He's briefly taken by his Christian conservative grandparents, where the boy witnesses more whipping.

Long periods of boredom, punctuated by moments of intense distaste.

What's the rational for filming this story? Well, it's based on a true story; how the boy eventually had a sex change ... oh wait, that's right. The "true story" turned out to be a HOAX. The author was born a female, and her book is a lie.

Which brings me to the funniest part in this DVD -- the special features, wherein director/star Asia Argento, when asked if she's bothered by filming a hoax (they discovered this two months into filming), says, "Oh, no. Everything's a lie. What's truth? I'm lying to you now. We all lie."

And all the other participants go on about how "it's even better that it's based on a lie," yada, yada.

I don't believe them. They sound like the clueless band on Spinal Tap. Ian Smith comes out with the dreadful black album cover, and they're all saying, "It's like a black mirror," and "How much more black can it be, and the answer is, none."

Only one band member has the brains to say, "Is that good? You all sound like you're rationalizing, like this is something you did on purpose. I think we're stuck with a very dismal, stupid album cover."

Likewise, I think the filmmakers found out, to their horror, that the basis for their film was a lie, but the money was spent; they were already filming. So all the lawyers and agents and executives huddled, and after threats of lawsuits were bandied about, everyone came to a settlement about how they'd spin this to the public. So now the lying author, and director Asia Argento, and everyone else is spinning from the same page, pretending that this is all wonderful and the film is "even better" that it's not true.

Excuse me, but much of the power of SCHINDLER'S LIST and GLORY is that they are based on truth. If those stories were to be hoaxes, the films would lose much power. So too this film. That's how truth works.

Marilyn Manson fans have expressed disappointment over Manson's brief cameo. I can empathize. I only got this film because Winona Ryder is listed at the IMDB as being in it. And she is -- for all of about two minutes. Tellingly, while Ryder is in the DVD insert promo booklet, her name is not on the film's credits. Perhaps she was so embarrassed that she demanded her name be removed?

GARBAGE!.......2007-05-10

THIS MOVIE IS BORING!I DON'T LIKE ASIA.SHE'S NOT A GOOD ACTRESS OR DIRECTOR.SHE USES PEOPLES NAMES TO GET MONEY,AND RECOGNITION.SHE GAVE MANSON A VERY SMALL PART,AND IT WASN'T A GOOD PART AT THAT!SHE USED HIS NAME TO GET SALES-BUT TREATED MANSON LIKE JUNK.MANSON'S MY IDOL!SHE SHOULD HAVE GIVEN HIM A MUCH BIGGER,AND BETTER PART!WHAT SHE DID TO MANSON WAS WRONG!DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY OR TIME WITH THIS MOVIE!I THREW MINE AWAY!

A Trash Treasure.......2007-04-01

I rarely say this, but Argento's film is better than the short story collection from which it is adapted. Like the trash cinema it seeks to emulate, the film utilizes B-roll like a fortunate accident, creating nuanced symbolisms through cuts to photographs, 1950s cartoons, and stop-motion animation. While some might disparage the film's lack of a "central theme" or "story arc," the collaged images become both dissociative and fanciful, sparing The Heart is Deceitful from an emotional realism that would be excruciating for viewers, given the film's subject matter. At times, the children's acting is uneven because of poor direction and the actors's probable ignorance of the film's true narrative, but Argento is convincing as a beautifully damaged Southern- trash drug addict from the first to the last frame. Well-placed props tag several of Sarah's boyfriends as Vietnam vets, subtly weaving the theme of post traumatic stress disorder into a tale of trauma and abuse, and the film's score is a perfect counterpoint, never overwhelming and often provocative. While the film doesn't display the polish many have come to expect from blockbusters, Argento's film shines as a nouveau trash-cinema treasure.

Average customer rating:

Awful; just plain awful
Seriously Underappreciated - One Of The Better Action Movies Of The 2000s
just missed
Ignore the Critics on Amazon.... this is a cool flick !
.

Get Carter
Starring: Michael Caine , Alan Cumming , John C. McGinley , Miranda Richardson , and Mickey Rourke
Director: Stephen Kay
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000056PNL
Release Date: 2001-02-13

Amazon.com

The original Get Carter (1971), directed by Croupier's Mike Hodges, stars Michael Caine as Jack Carter, a mob enforcer who returns to his hometown after the suspicious death of his brother. The plot has a breezy, improvised feel and Caine is fantastic, an amoral man who would sleep with any girl or torture any guy to get what he wants. In the American remake, Sylvester Stallone plays a sanitized version of Jack Carter, a guy who is violent but ultimately moral. It doesn't work nearly as well. The whole movie seems like it's been crafted around the Stallone persona, which gives it a manufactured rather than spontaneous feel. Admittedly, that is not helped by the film-school pyrotechnics of director Stephen Kay, who fills the frame with so much unnecessary camera movement that it really feels like he spent more time setting up the camera shots than he did on the script. Moving the story from a small town north of London to Seattle works better because of the subplot concerning Internet porn, of which Seattle is a virtual hotbed. The downside is that it allows for Alan Cumming's portrayal of a Bill Gates-like billionaire as a near-retarded boy-child. Other actors fare better with their roles, particularly Rachel Leigh Cook and Mickey Rourke, though Michael Caine's presence only serves to draw unfair comparisons to the original. That said, if you buy both versions you will learn more about the state of Hollywood at the turn of the millennium than with a year's subscription to Variety. --Andy Spletzer

Customer Reviews:

Awful; just plain awful.......2006-06-03

I LOVE Sly Stallone. Love the man dearly, but wow, is this movie bad. I really couldn't even make it all the way through, it was so bad. As heralded as Stallone is as an actor, he really only made a few good movies. The Rocky movies, Rambo movies, and Cliffhanger was pretty good. Get Carter was an abomination.

Seriously Underappreciated - One Of The Better Action Movies Of The 2000s.......2006-01-06

Easily one of Sylvester Stallone's best movies (and best performances), this remake of "Get Carter" was relentlessly bashed upon its release but seems to be gaining more of a following in the subsequent years. It's a good thing too, because if you pass this one up you're actually missing out on one of the most intense and just plain best action movies of the last several years. Carter (Stallone) is basically a bad guy who doesn't want to be a bad guy, a midlevel mob enforcer who it seems gotten into his current lifestyle and occupation rather unwittingly some years ago and now can't find a way out. It never says that in the movie, but that's what I got right from the beginning. He seems resigned to his role until the death of his brother brings him home to his estranged family for the first time in years, where he becomes suspicious that his brother's death wasn't an accident. When his sister-in-law and niece begin to be terrorized by some unknown assailants, Carter goes on the warpath against whoever's after them and whoever killed his brother, turning his violence loose without reserve. The bond he forms with his niece (played by Rachel Leigh Cook in a big change of pace from her comedic roles) seems to galvanize his courage to not only pursue his current targets but to re-evaluate his whole life and the choices he's made and the position as a common thug he's lived in during recent years. Very effective use of inner drama intermixes with tension and top-of-the-line fight scenes to make this a cut above many similar movies. Was ripe for a sequel but it appears unlikely one will materialze. "Get Carter" is disturbing, sursprisingly realistic, populated with well-constructed characters both good and bad, and kicks Way into full-throttle whenever the plot calls for it. A great choice for action fans and non action fans alike.

just missed.......2005-12-12

This movie just missed greatness. If it weren't for the acting and the script.

Ignore the Critics on Amazon.... this is a cool flick !.......2005-11-14

Ignore the critics here on Amazon.
This is a cool and much improved remake of the 1971 GET CARTER.

Brief synopsis....

"Bad brother" and occupational debt collector returns home after 5 years to attend his younger "good brother's" funeral.
It becomes quickly apparent the circumstances of his brother's death are not what they appear to be.
Stallone makes up for his failure to be a part of the family these past few years by getting to the bottom of things and "making things right".

With dark rainy imagery, some upbeat soundtrack movie and good acting by not only Stallone but Rourke and Leigh, this is a great film that deserved more attention.

Only the casting of the billionaire computer-geek is bad casting.

My wife loves this film so much she watches it at least once per month !

........2005-09-29

This is worse than my eighth birthday party. Some kid brought his pet Teradactyl and let go of the leed. Also, the hired band 'The Caz Dolowicz Experience' didn't show up. Something about a hijacked subway train. They think we're mugs? Anyway, the photography in GC was worse. Everbody too big in the frame and sort of artless and wobbly. How does Rachel Leigh Cook manage to appear in so many disasters? Does she have a homing beacon in her nose? It's a very small nose which just goes to show how amazing technology is today. Stallone looks like he's on Dialysis. I didn't watch the end. It either ends in a friendly game of Jim Rummy or a blowtorch enema. Gosh, I wonder.

Average customer rating:

Who dunnit
A real mind bender!
"Mother"/ "Father" of "Matrix"
Cool movir=e
I've always loved this one

The Thirteenth Floor
Starring: Craig Bierko , Armin Mueller-Stahl , Gretchen Mol , Vincent D'Onofrio , and Dennis Haysbert
Director: Josef Rusnak
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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eXistenZ
Impostor (Director's Cut)
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The Whole Wide World
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ASIN: 0767821629
Release Date: 1999-10-05

Amazon.com

Computer scientist Hannon Fuller (Armin Mueller-Stahl) finds something extremely important. Knowing that he's marked for assassination, he leaves a message in the virtual reality world he's designed, hoping it will be found by colleague Douglas Hall (Craig Bierko). Hall is a suspect in Fuller's murder and indeed finds a bloody shirt in his house, with no recollection of what he did the night before. Hall plunges headlong into Fuller's world (a re-creation of 1937 Los Angeles) to try to unravel the slaying and is soon knee-deep in confusion and trouble. What this film lacks in character depth and plot cohesiveness it makes up for in special effects and high concept. Fans of films like Blade Runner, Dark City, eXistenZ, and even the game Sim City should find this appealing. Of course, there's the question of letting the computers do all the heavy lifting in films while the humans walk through the plot (an all-too-familiar scenario in 1999), but the re-creation of '30s Los Angeles is certainly something to see, pallid script and acting or not. The Thirteenth Floor is a stylish modern-day noir that raises questions about technology versus reality, all the while wrapped up in a murder-mystery story line. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews:

Who dunnit.......2007-04-14

Skewed reality, or is it schizophrenia?
The line between the real & the imagined is criss-crossed & blurred countless times in this well-acted sci-fi movie. It's interesting, fun, and quirky....but with Vincent D'Onofrio in it, could it be anything else?!

A real mind bender!.......2007-01-31

This movie had a unique slant on an unusual type of time travel (more like 'mind travel'), though it really goes far deeper than just a 'man with a glorious machine' concept. It's hard to get your gray matter around this one, but the submersion into the intense Science Fiction element prompted me to watch it several times. A great techno-thriller with a twilight zone twist. If you liked the mind manipulation of 'Matrix', I believe you'll be intrigued from start to finish with this one.

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

"Mother"/ "Father" of "Matrix".......2007-01-29

Really, i'm at 99% sure that idea of Matrix came exactly from this movie.

Most of my views on this film have already been put very effectively by other reviews. Thus: the "predictable" twists still work (and I didn't predict most of them!), the performances are well judged if subtle, and the atmosphere and production values (mostly) lift themselves above the genre and the budget. I like to say that The Thirteenth Floor is an unusually, and genuinely, moral and humanistic tale, for something that is basically entertainment.

I cannot reveal exactly why I hold this opinion without generating plot spoilers, but this aspect should not be difficult to spot. Finally, who else thinks there is a final possible twist right the end, and why do we not see more of the delicately beautiful Gretchen Mol?

Cool movir=e.......2007-01-06

I actually enjoy it more than the matrix. Check it out, i liked it, so will you!

I've always loved this one.......2007-01-03

In the vein of The Matrix, revealing what's real and what's not is a great plot device. The Thirteenth Floor was a refreshing movie that really gets you thinking about one's perspective. This one's a keeper!

Average customer rating:

It takes stones to steer clear of trouble andd wrong choices - Turturro
A Great Gambling Movie
rounders
Poker Players Only?
DVD Review

Rounders
Starring: Matt Damon , Edward Norton , John Turturro , Paul Cicero , and Gretchen Mol
Director: John Dahl
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 6305268789
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

It takes stones to steer clear of trouble andd wrong choices - Turturro.......2007-05-25

A Great Gambling Movie.......2007-05-14

rounders.......2007-05-10

this is a wonderful story about two guys who cheat at everything. A few ups and a lot of downs. hustlers to the enth degree. very entertaining

Poker Players Only?.......2007-03-25

DVD Review.......2007-02-01

Quick delivery, quality picture, good price. What more can you ask for?

Average customer rating:

thought provoking
Labute at his best
She loves me (not)
Time To Shape Up
No, No, No!

The Shape Of Things
Starring: Gretchen Mol , Paul Rudd , Rachel Weisz , and Fred Weller
Director: Neil LaBute
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
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Your Friends & Neighbors
In the Company of Men
The Shape of Things
Beautiful Creatures
Nurse Betty

ASIN: B00005JMBQ
Release Date: 2003-09-23

Amazon.com

Controversial director Neil LaBute tweaks our culture's moral compass in his dark comedy The Shape of Things. Dorky museum guard Adam (indie heartthrob Paul Rudd, made to look as dweebish as possible) meets student Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) as she's preparing to deface a classical statue; instead of stopping her, he musters up the courage to ask her out. But soon he finds himself so completely in her thrall that he willingly succumbs to her every want--and she wants him to change his hair, his clothes, his face, even his friends (Frederick Weller and Gretchen Mol). In In the Company of Men, LaBute presented two men cruelly experimenting with a deaf woman's affections; The Shape of Things proposes that women can be just as monstrous. Though LaBute could stand to delve more deeply, this well-acted and cunningly written film will provoke conversation afterwards--and not many movies nowadays can do that. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

thought provoking.......2007-06-24

I knew nothing of this movie and didn't expect to like it, but I found it interesting. Once I became interested in the unusual pairing of Rachel Weisz and Paul Rudd, I had to watch the whole thing through.
There's a very sinister suprise ending that made me say...HOW COULD SHE DO THAT? Check it out, it's not too bad!

Labute at his best.......2007-05-28

Deception. Hate. Cheating. Heartbreak. For some, these are aspects of life and relationships best not explored in films. For all others, there is Neil LaBute, a writer/director who's fearless when it comes to exploring the darker side of human nature. LaBute exploded onto the scene in 1997 with the controversial "In The Company Of Men," a film about two young men who play a devastatingly cruel trick on a deaf female coworker. Subsequent efforts such as "Your Friends And Neighbors" and "Nurse Betty" showed LaBute continuing to push the envelope while enlisting A-list actors such as Morgan Freeman, Renee Zellweger and Ben Stiller.

"The Shape Of Things" shows LaBute at the top of his game. Paul Rudd plays Adam, a shy, nerdy college student who works part-time at a local museum. While working one day he meets Evelyn (Rachel Weisz), an attractive graduate art student who surprisingly takes a liking to Adam. The two begin seeing each other, later embarking on an ill-fated double date with Adam's f