Xzaviers Blog

Out in the Silence Description:

Following the story of a small American town confronting a firestorm of controversy ignited by a same-sex wedding announcement in the local newspaper, this gripping documentary illustrates the challenges of being an outsider in a conservative rural community and the change that is possible when courageous people break the silence and search for common ground. Out in the Silence will challenge you to rethink your values and help close the gaps that divide our communities.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5357 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-03-09
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 56 minutes

Features

• ISBN13:
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

A Powerful Story
This film reminds me of an Agnes Varda documentary: you start out thinking it’s about one thing, but it turns into quite another.

The story begins when the filmmaker runs an announcement of his marriage to another man in his hometown newspaper in the small, conservative town of Oil City, PA. Not surprisingly there is quite a backlash, especially from the head of a local right-wing fundamentalist group. But instead of spending the next hour on the pros and cons of same-sex marriage, the filmmaker begins to explore what it’s like to be gay or lesbian in a rural community.
‘
Soon, the film evolves into a completely different set of interrelated stories about a gay youth who is being tormented at the oil City High School and his brave mom, two women who are trying to build a business, and a fundamentalist preacher who has second thoughts about the consequenceses of his religious pronouncements. Each character is wonderful in their own way, but I especially liked the mother, Kathy, who is like a lioness fighting for her cubs.

Despite the serious subject matter, the documentary has plenty of joy and humor. I was fortunate to watch a preview screening in my home town with a supportive audience, and they were alternately crying, laughing and cheering.

This is the best documentary I’ve watched in a long time. The real beauty is that it’s not just for the already enlightened. Nobody with a heart could watch this film and not be deeply moved.

Will be good for promoting discussion and understanding
I was lucky enough to catch an advance preview of this documentary, and sincerely hope it will be seen by as many groups and individuals as possible. As somebody very familiar with a similar community in Pennsylvania, I found the film an important window into small town America’s slowly changing outlook on homosexuality and tolerance. While the filmmakers are open and upfront about their own point of view, they provide a nuanced, compassionate portrait of the residents of Oil City Pennsylvania. A very human story that will serve as a useful tool in promoting discussion and understanding among different people.

Oil City, Pennsylvania
“Out in the Silence”

Oil City, Pennsylvania

Amos Lassen

Occasionally I will see a film that is a total experience and that moves me completely. “Out in the Silence” is such a film. When Joe Wilson married his lover, Dean Hamer, they put a wedding announcement in Joe’s hometown newspaper. Joe had been raised in Oil City, Pennsylvania, a small town that he had left long. When he received a letter from a resident of his hometown, a mother of a gay ten who was being mentally tortured, he decided to go back home and document what he found. The result is this beautiful film, a look at love, hate and understanding in small-town America.
Oil City is a town that had once had industry, a town that the rest of the world has passed by. It was a peaceful, quiet place until Joe Wilson put his wedding announcement in the local paper. Kathy Springer (among many others) saw it and wrote to Joe about how her son CJ was being treated at school simply because he was gay. School authorities looked the other way and Susan having nowhere to turn asked Joe for help. The two soon became fast friends and with Joe’s help, things began to change.
Diane Gramley, the head of the local American Family Association, a very conservative pressure group also saw the announcement but she saw it as an omen that the “homosexual agenda” was coming to town. She used the announcement as an opportunity to get the people of Oil City to say no to same-sex marriage and to homosexuality in general.
Joe Wilson then once again becomes part of his hometown as he looks at the cost of being different in small-town America. He meets a lesbian couple and he helps them renovate an old theater that could change the economy of the town and he becomes friendly with an evangelical pastor and we see how understanding happens. The pastor’s wife so says that we are afraid of what we do not know, something I have always felt and with knowledge comes understanding and in many cases, acceptance.
An interesting aspect of the film to me especially was the use of the American Family Association’s totally erroneous film, “They’re Coming to Your Town” as an example of what gay people can do to a town. It is all harmful and so untrue.
Joe Wilson used his camera in a unique way and this is not just a documentary. The film troubles the viewer as well as comforts him. This is a fascinating and moving look at what it is like to be gay in America and it is to be embraced and applauded. Quite simply, it is beautiful.

Review
Out In the Silence captures the remarkable chain of events that unfold when the announcement of filmmaker Joe Wilson s wedding to another man ignites a firestorm of controversy in the small Pennsylvania hometown he left long ago. Drawn back by a plea for help from the mother of a gay teen being tormented at school, Wilson takes an exhilarating journey through love, hate, and understanding in rural America. The approach to the film is aimed at breaking the mold of the traditional documentary. It is not solely observational. It is not a memoir, and it is not a news piece. As filmmaker, as protagonist, as insider and outsider, Wilson uses the camera to empower, to challenge, to confront, and to look beneath the veneer of the fragile balance of order in his conservative hometown. It is a provocative, entertaining, and deeply personal social issue documentary that dramatically illustrates the challenges of being different in a small town environment and the transformation that is possible when those who have long been constrained by a traditional code of silence summon the courage to break it. –Sundance.org

Review
Filmmaker Joe Wilson travels back to his roots in this autobiographical documentary. Growing up in the small town of Oil City, Pa., Wilson remained closeted, but after college, Peace Corps and settling in Washington, D.C., he came out and wed Dean Hamer (the film’s co-director). After publishing his marriage announcement in Oil City’s newspaper, Joe received a torrent of negative, bigoted letters and one he didn’t expect. Kathy Springer wrote that her 16-year-old son, CJ, had recently come out and was being tortured daily by his classmates. Seeing a community in need, Wilson and Hamer, with camera in hands, headed north to see what they could do. Between interviewing ministers, rebuilding cars, restoring old theaters and battling both the school board and the antagonistic American Family Association (all while making a documentary about it), the newfound friends bring about the change that Oil City needed so badly. A poignant, personal and engrossing story. Karen Price –Philadelphia Citypaper

Review
Growing up as the youngest member of an Irish Catholic family, Joe Wilson realized he was gay when he was a teenager. But in small, conservative Oil City, Pennsylvania, he didn t reveal who he truly was for fear of losing his friends and family. He eventually left Oil City, met his partner, Dean, and got married. But little did he know that his decision to put his wedding announcement in his hometown paper would change his life. The wedding notice resulted in many angry and hateful letters, hardly surprising in a town with billboards about the Bible and a business with a sign out front advertising the upcoming gun raffle. But one letter Joe received really caught his attention. It was from the mother of CJ Bills, a teenager harassed so much because of his sexuality that he had cried for three hours the previous night. Realizing that the hate that still permeated the town was not just directed at same-sex marriage but at the mere existence of openly gay people, Joe and Dean packed their camera and headed back to Oil City. CJ Bills had been a popular High School jock. However, when he defended another gay student from harassment and then came out himself, his so-called friends abandoned him, and he became a target. Teachers and administrators knew of the abuse but did nothing. CJ eventually left school and seldom even left his home to avoid the constant harassment and death threats. Out in the Silence is a must-see, especially for LGBT youth and their parents. In addition to presenting a look at ignorance and homophobia in rural America, the film also examines the challenges of meeting someone in a small town, the use of religion and scare tactics to deny rights to LGBT individuals, and how a community s intolerant attitude can contribute to its downfall. Ultimately, it is reminiscent of Harvey Milk s call to action, the idea that change comes from people being open about who they are, refusing to run or hide. Christopher Roesch –Rochester Image Out

After Dark Horrorfest Vol. 4 Dread / The Final / The Graves / The Hidden / Kill Theory / Lake Mungo / The Reeds / Zombies of Mass Destruction Description:

All 8 films of the 4th installment of After Dark Horrorfest in one gift set. Films include Dread, The Final, The Graves, Hidden, Kill Theory, Lake Mungo, The Reeds, and Zombies of Mass Destruction.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7736 in DVD
• Brand: Lions Gate
• Released on: 2010-03-23
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 8
• Dimensions: 1.30 pounds
• Running time: 733 minutes

Customer Reviews:

A Pretty Good Year!
Kill Theory: This is an above average slasher, with a sort of “Saw” flavoring (though nowhere near as gory). A group of graduating college kids holed up in a cabin are told only one of them can survive till the morning or they’ll all be killed. The rare slasher where the character development actually pays off.

The Graves: Mal-direction and less-than-tight editing make the actors look bad (even Tony Todd!) in this “Texas Chainsaw” meets “The Devil’s Rain” story. Two girls are stalked by maniacs in mining town, then by crazy culty townsfolk. Standout performance by Bill Moseley. The Grave sisters themselves are easy on the eyes and had good chemistry. Marred by run-of-the-mill-ishness and some unbelievably bad choices.

Zombies of Mass Destruction: Sharp, funny, campy, gory, and fast-paced for the first two thirds. A Persian-American woman and a gay couple return to their hometown in time for a zombie invasion. Very left politically, but okay until political bent takes over last third, when movie bogs down with torture scenes, and a church confrontation. With “Dread”, Best in Show.

Hidden (Skjult): Broody Norwegian film about a crazy guy who goes back to childhood home and the bodies start stacking up. Is he doing it? Or is it the changeling who he left to his abusive mothers’ devices on the night he escaped? Almost had me believing it wasn’t going to end in the obvious way.

Dread: Clive Barker produces first-time director Anthony diBlasi in this tense adapation of Barker’s short. Little boy Quaid sees his parents murdered with an axe and grows up with nightmares–fear of the axe murderer’s return. Two film students are seduced by the idea of studying dread for their final project, but when the results don’t deliver what Quaid wants, he goes to greater and greater extremes to get them. Disturbingly violent, with plenty of typically Barker-esque mixing of sex and horror. Best in Show with “ZMD”.

The Reeds: English movie about something haunting the Norfolk Broads. Many attempts to distract from actual story (which is run-of-the-mill) tend to dilute the effect it should have. A rather typical, somewhat muddled ghost story, with some very good moments.

The Final: Boorish kids are punished by their oddball classmates. “Breakfast Club” meets “Silence of the Lambs”. Or something. Extreme stereotypes clash. Movie depicts terrible torture, but in an oddly bloodless and detached way.

Lake Mungo: Not a horror movie. Realize that going in. If “The Reeds”, “Hidden” and “The Final” feel low key, they’re high-powered adrenaline-fueled thrill rides compared to Mungo. This movie is a documentary about the family and friends of a missing girl, with the family being semi-sorta haunted by the missing girl. Since it’s all happening in the past, with the people relating in the present, a great deal of potential menace is gone. Since it’s all secondhand, it’s also a little abstract for anything really visceral. if you can stay awake, it’s not bad. Stunning video of Australia.

Kind of a low-key year, but not a bad one.

There’s something in The Reeds
Set in the Norfolk Broads, a desolate but photogenic part of the UK, six attractive Brits go on a weekend boating trip on the Corsair Star to celebrate two of their number getting engaged to each other, little realising that there’s more to the reeds than, well, the reeds. There’s laughing, joking, high-jinks, and then some weird local kids appear and things start getting creepy. Suddenly the film turns, as most good horrors do, from nicey-nicey to oh-my-God-how much nastier can it get??? I think that the final act could probably have done with a little bit more thought, but I don’t think the film suffers terribly from this. To the contrary, for the most part it’s an extremely watchable horror. The slightly retro feel is very ‘movie’: you can tell this was shot on film and not digital, and the piece benefits from this.

The girl who plays the lead ‘Laura’ (Anna Brewster) is very good, natural and believable and the Brit TV actor Will Mellor makes a great, humorous and then horrific (in a good way) impression. The cinematography is good, very good in fact. From a directing/writing perspective there’s certainly not too much fat on the story, and what is clever is that there’s sufficient misdirection to keep the eventual outcome in the balance. I think this would deserve another half-star IF - and only IF - the last act had had a bit more thought, and maybe punch but then some will really love it and some won’t.

Three point seven-five stars, which Amazon nicely rounds up to four for me.

Nice attempt at creativity, but falters somewhat
It’s a shame that After Dark Horrorfest 4 only got a week long run in the theater. The Reeds is the second film I was able to catch on the big screen, and it was a solid attempt by writer Chris Baker and director Nick Cohen.

The story is pretty basic–a group of 20-something year old friends embark on a weekend boating trip through the Norfolk Broads. Disaster strikes as something stalks them from the reedy tidewaters.

This story is developed pretty well, taking its time with character development and building tension. There is solid acting from the cast, plus believable dialogue. The setting is superb, as the tall reeds in the water make for difficult navigation. But when a horrible accident occurs, things start to sink rather quickly.

I’m all for a story with a mysterious deadly force wrecking havoc on an unsuspecting crew. Nothing groundbreaking, but it provides one hell of a creepy story. But eventually I’d like to have some sort of halfway legitimate explanation of the evil forces–what the hell is going on here? Ghosts, demons, river bandits, dopplegangers, zombies? It seemed this film didn’t really know where to go, so it decided to go nowhere.

Plus the end was totally ridiculous. Not wanting to give anything away, but it seemed to me (and several people in the theater) to just be a bad joke on the audience.

Maybe with another attempt I’ll get more out of this film. As for now, I can only recommend it for bored horror fanatics. 2.5 stars

Amazon.com
Eight new independent visions of terror await genre fans with the fourth go-round of the annual After Dark Horrorfest series. As devotees have discovered from past festivals, the Horrorfest lineup is usually hit or miss, with at least one standout and a few genuine dogs. The 2010 edition is no exception: depending on your taste for terror, the highlight will either be Dread, a fairly harrowing if thinly dramatized take on producer Clive Barker’s short story about a college project about fear going terribly awry, or Lake Mungo, a bloodless but genuinely chilling ghost story done in a convincing documentary format. Norway’s Hidden also eschews gore for atmosphere; its glacial pace may put off some viewers, but the patient will find subtle scares in its tale of a troubled homecoming overshadowed by murders. If it’s body counts you’re looking for, Kill Theory and The Final have them in spades–you’ll just have to put up with heavy-handed proselytizing in the former (and some truly ugly scenes) and shopworn characters in the latter. Overly familiar plotting and personas also undo the UK import The Reeds, a sluggish thriller that pits boaters against killer strays, and Zombies of Mass Destruction, a broad political comedy that takes potshots at lame-duck conservative targets. Of course, for some, the horror movie is pure popcorn material, best enjoyed at top volume with the rowdiest of audiences, and comic book writer-creator Brian (Evil Ernie) Pulido’s debut feature The Graves delivers exactly that in its B-movie bouillabaisse of nubile heroines, crazed killers (among them Bill Moseley of The Devil’s Rejects and Candyman’s Tony Todd), and cursed towns.

Extras are fairly light throughout the set: a smattering of discs offer deleted or alternate scenes, while others offer nothing at all. Ironically, the two weakest films (The Final and The Graves) have the most supplemental features, including not one but two commentary tracks for The Graves. Clive Barker fans might find some nuggets of interest in his conversation with Dread director Anthony DiBlasi on that disc. –Paul Gaita

Amelie Description:

Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Original Screenplay, this magical comedy earned overwhelming acclaim nationwide! A painfully shy waitress working at a tiny Paris cafe, Amélie makes a surprising discovery and sees her life drastically changed for the better! From then on, Amélie dedicates herself to helping others find happiness … in the most delightfully unexpected way! But will she have the courage to do for herself what she has done for others?

• Amazon Sales Rank: #952 in DVD
• Brand: TAUTOU,AUDREY
• Released on: 2002-07-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .40 pounds
• Running time: 122 minutes

Customer Reviews:

Tips for english viewers
I have seen thousands of films in my life, and thought nothing could surprise me anymore on a screen. Amelie proved me I was wrong. Instead of writing another “best film ever” comment, I would like to give some indications for non-french speaking viewers, as the translation might have made some lines a bit obscure.
Amelie says to Colignon “Meme les artichauds ont du coeur” (Even artichokes have a heart). In french, “un coeur d’artichaud” (an artichoke heart) is a person that falls very often and easily in love.
Colignon calls Amelie “Amelie-melo” (pronounce “ah-may-LEE-may-low”) which sounds like “un meli-melo”, a muddle or mix-up.
In the cafe, people discuss about time and weather, as the same word “temps” means both “le temps qui passe” (time that passes) and “le temps qu’il fait” (the weather). So goes Hippolito’s theory : they speak about the weather because they are afraid of the passing time.
Collignon says about his mother : “Elle a une memoire d’elephant, un elephant de mer” (literally: she has memory like an elephant, a sea elephant). A “sea elephant” is a sort of walrus, and “mer” (sea) and “mere” (mother) are pronounced the same.
When Amelie is in a theater, she watches “Jules & Jim”, a movie by Francois Truffaut. There are many references to Truffaut in the movie : Claire Maurier plays the mother in “the 400 blows” and many scenes refer to “Bed and Board”, which itself refers to Hitchcock’s “Rear window”. I still have to figure which was the movie whith Spencer Tracy driving without watching…
When Amelie watches her projected life on TV, a scene that refers to Woody Allen’s “Zelig”, the voice over is from Frederic Mitterand, nephew of his uncle, who is famous for commenting weddings or funerals of aristocrats on french TV.
The “likes/dislikes” narration was experimented by Jeunet in a short movie “Foutaise” with Dominique Pinon, that will be included in the collector edition of the DVD. It also refers to “La vie, mode d’emploi” (Life: a user’s manual) from Georges Perec, although Jeunet admits he could never finish the book.
Most TV scenes are stock shots. The story about the horse running in the Tour de France is true. Most stories told in the film are true, including the one about collecting discarded pictures.
There are numerous references in the movie, including to other Jeunet films. The scene in the mystery train is almost a copy of a similar scene in Alien : Resurrection where Ripley has an almost tender behaviour with the alien.
Finally, “Amelie” comes from “Emily”, as Emily Watson was supposed to play the role, and “Poulain” is both a young untrained horse and a chocolate brand. And this is not a coincidence.

An irresistible smile of a film
Like the star of Chocolat, the title character of this magical comedy also wants to heal people inside. But this particular healer is a daydreamer with an irresistible smile, a Louise Brooks bob hairstyle or an Audrey Hepburn-like bun when it’s tied up, and will charm the pants off the iciest of souls.

The only-child of a tight-lipped, hard-hearted doctor father and a neurotic schoolteacher mother, Amelie Poulaine grew up being too much unloved, with a not too happy childhood. As a young lady, she becomes a waitress at the Two Windmills cafe, but other times spends her time in an imaginative world of dreams, not forming close ties with people, being terribly shy.

One day, she is watching TV when Princess Diana’s death is announced. From then on, she decides to be a healer of sorts, whether it be uniting a man with childhood memories he left in a cubbyhole in the skirting board long time ago, trying to soothe the hearts of people, make people’s lives better, or being an avenging angel. The scene where she helps a blind man across the street and describes what’s going on is simply magical.

Amelie is also befriended by artist Raymond Dufayel, known as the Glass Man because of a disease that has given him very brittle bones. They communicate indirectly through a painting he’s working on, particularly a young girl that Dufayel’s trying to figure out.

Amelie meets Nino Quincompoix, a man who collects discarded, frequently torn ID card photos from a photo booth and puts the reconstructed pieces in an album. Included in there many times is a stern bald man whose pictures are always torn up. Amelie finds Nino’s album and wonders who the bald man is. This is a mystery included in the film.

There’s Colignon the grocer, an obnoxious middle-aged man who delights himself in disparaging his assistant Lucien, who’s slow-witted but nice and sensitive. Amelie feels sorry for Lucien and the scenes where she becomes his avenging angel at Colignon’s expense are hilarious. At one point she tells Colignon, “You’ll never be a vegetable. Even artichokes have hearts.” Ouch, but well deserved.

Amelie’s widowed father spends his life collecting garden statues to decorate his dead wife’s shrine, instead of travelling around the world. Amelie steals one of them, a bearded garden gnome complete with red pointed hat, and then something weird happens. A few days later, her father receives a postcard from the gnome, who is apparently on holiday abroad!!! This goes on for a while and completely baffles him.

Audrey Tautou would’ve been my choice for Best Actress of the year. I simply melted everytime she smiled in the movie. She also bears a slight similarity to another Audrey–Hepburn. Both have in common black hair, a face brimming with charm, and irresistible smiles. Maybe that’s why it was love at first sight with me.

Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet uses some quirky film techniques, mostly visual imagery, such as a scene when Amelie literally dissolves into water. The onscreen narration is also useful. At times, it sets the stage for turning points in the film. Earlier, it describes the likes and hates of the Poulaines and the one important characteristic of the Two Windmill employees. He creates an imaginative film that’s a breather from the usual Hollywood grind. But it’s his closeups of Amelie and her smile that make this worth seeing over and over.

Makes you feel all warm.
Before I urge you to rush out and revel in this romantic wisp of a movie, I must warn you that it is the kind of film that will make you either quake with bleary joy, or propel you out of the cinema with an ungovernable urge to smash things. If the words ’sugar’, ‘naive’ or ‘cute’ are not in your vocabulary; if the mere sight of a bobbed gamine making eyes at you across the screen doesn’t make your heart flutter; if scenes where lamps discuss their owner’s love life with her paintings, or a young girl screams to save her suicidal goldfish don’t enchant you, than, in the words of Gilbert and Sullivan, don’t go.

If, however, you feel your spiritual home is in France, than ‘Amelie’ might just make you fall in love again. it is for those who love Paris in sunshine or rain; who palpitate at the very thought of tree-lined Parisian streets and cafes; who have experienced haunting musical epiphanies at night in empty Metro stations; who have read Raymond Queneau novels; who rejoice in street markets, Renoir paintings, or the sight of horses running in the Tour de France.

‘Amelie’ is a romantic comedy for those who prefer the chase to the clinch. its heroine is almost a ghost, unloved and friendless as a child, who presides disembodied over strangers’ lives, linking characters, punishing baddies and deciding destinies in ways that seem supernatural to them. She can only observe others from a distance and act accordingly - her own life remains emotionally dead. Of the various Queneau-like mysteries, red-herrings, non-sequiters and paper trails strewn throughout the film, the most pressing and emotionally charged is - will Amelie find love and rejoin the real world?

The film is unashamedly nostalgic in its romantic vision of a vanished (never-was?) Paris, where musette is still played in sparse cafes, and funfairs and ghost trains become sites of erotic possibility. The CGI effects are used not for inhuman spectacle, but to do rich justice to individuals’ inner lives. The idea of reworking the past; the comfort of myths, lies and delusions; the creation of one’s own future - these are some of the film’s themes, and they encompass characters, culture and place. As such, the film has been condemned as reactionary. It’s probably sexist (although I identified with Amelie, rather than simply fancying her).

It has reminded people of various reference points from the Oulipo writers to the early films of the French New Wave to Ally MacBeal. its most recent counterpart might be ‘Magnolia’, from the opening narrtion with its comic chaos theory, and its narrative about disparate people trying to connect, to the godlike force that contrives to do so. But it’s much more treasurable than that. i loved this film. I loved the adorable Audrey Tautou, funny and smart, with huge melancholy eyes - a 21st century Audrey Hepburn. I loved the way the film felt like a cinematic novel without being literary. I loved the way the mystery plots took on emotional dimensions - the connection of clues to recover the past to restore happiness. I loved the colours, especially those rich reds; the wistful accordian music; the love of vignettes, photographs, chance, fantasy, dreams…

Amazon.com
Perhaps the most charming movie of all time, Amélie is certainly one of the top 10. The title character (the bashful and impish Audrey Tautou) is a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Her widowed father yearns to travel but won’t, so to inspire the old man she sends his garden gnome on a tour of the world; with whispered gossip, she brings together two cranky regulars at her café; she reverses the doorknobs and reprograms the speed dial of a grocer who’s mean to his assistant. Gradually she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all. This is a deeply wonderful movie, an illuminating mix of magic and pragmatism. Fans of the director’s previous films (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) will not be disappointed; newcomers will be delighted. –Bret Fetzer

From The New Yorker
A waifish, bobbed Parisienne discovers her mission in life: to bring unexpected happiness to others, and so to herself. Such is the story of Amélie (Audrey Tautou), and the simplicity of it-not to mention its dangerous surfeit of sweetness-appears to have touched a universal nerve. (In truth, the saga of the movie’s success is more telling than anything in the movie itself.) Tautou is clearly a find, although one wonders what Mathieu Kassovitz, who plays the object of her affection, made of his role; it was Kassovitz who, in 1995, yanked French cinema up to date with his baring of ethnic hostilities in “La Haine.” The Paris of this new movie lies at the other extreme, although what nags at you most is not the neighborly charm but the itchy, unsettled manner of the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. How far should we trust a plea for benevolence when it feels like a box of tricks? In French. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Shaka Zulu - The Complete 10 Part Television Epic Product: Shaka Zulu - The Complete 10 Part Television Epic Sale-$47.99! List Price: $79.95 Amazon Price: $47.99 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on Shaka Zulu - The Complete 10 Part Television Epic

Studio: A&e Home Video Release Date: 11/05/2002 Run time: 500 minutes Rating: Nr

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3580 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2002-10-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 500 minutes

Amazing Story, Production
One of the best movies/series I have ever seen; the story is epic and well-told, and the acting and cinematography are fantastic.

What I liked best was the ambivalent nature of all of the main characters, not the two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs typically encountered in movies (and series). Shaka, while certainly a great leader, warrior, and king, is also certainly an utterly ruthless, blood-stained tyrant; this production does an amazing job of illustrating these and other facets of the man. As other reviewers note, Henry Cele was just amazing in this role.

The English characters were also portrayed well; the leader, Lt. Farewell, is depicted as a well-intentioned rogue seeking ivory, but ultimately his relationship with Shaka changes him. Normally he might not be a very sympathetic character, but compared to the British colonial officials in Capetown, he is practically a paragon of wisdom and virtue. The Scottish doctor meanwhile attempts with rather limited success to school Shaka in the tenents of the Christian faith–Shaka has a way of turning all of the doctor’s earnest efforts completely backwards.

Finally, a comment about the large portion of the series devoted to Shaka’s birth and childhood–it is Shakespeare and Greek tragedy rolled into one–prophecies, witchcraft, parricide, regicide, vengeance, love, war, etc. Very very interesting.

Quite rewarding!
When Nandi and her unborn child are saved by the ancient witch doctor, he proclaims: “A force has been generated that in time will rock the foundation of the African sub-continent.”

Indeed the prophecy shaped the event and Shaka was the ruthless founder of southern Africa’s Zulu Empire… In less than a decade, the paramount chieftain of the Zulu clan revolutionized the techniques of tribal warfare and fashioned an efficient and terrifying fighting force that devastated the entire region…

Set against the emergence of British power in Africa during the early 19th Century, the film provides some valuable insights into comparative cultures…

Shaka (Henry Cele) is a man of considerable height, thin, with athletic body and white teeth who can read and write… He is a great warrior, tactically, strategically and physically… He rearms his army with a long-bladed, short-shafted stabbing spear, which forced them to fight at close quarters… He goes for extermination, incorporating the remnants of the clans he smashed into the Zulu, making it increase with numbers and power..

The Mini-Series begins with a letter to the British king (George IV) regarding the Zulus’ potential threat to the Cape Colony… In an attempt to intimidate Shaka into an alliance with the British empire, the Secretary of War sends a delegation to inner African to meet with the fearful warrior…

We see :

- The meeting of Nandi, an orphaned princess of the neighboring Langeni clan and Senzangakona, the chief of the then small Zulu tribe… They are instantly attracted to each other… Nandi becomes pregnant, at the same time as Kona’s wife, but the marriage did not last… Their marriage violated Zulu custom, and the stigma of this extended to the child…

- The couple separated when Shaka was six, and Nandi took her son back to the Langeni, where he passed a fatherless boyhood among a people who despised his mother and made him the butt of endless cruel pranks… He grew up to be bitter and angry, hating his tormentors… The Langeni drove Nandi out, and she finally found shelter with the Dletsheni, a subclan of the powerful Mtetwa…

- Shaka ruled with an iron hand from the beginning, distributing instant death for the slightest opposition…

- While en route to Shaka’s capital, the crew’s doctor saves a girl who is in a coma and nearly buried alive by her tribe… Impressed by both the deed and their horses, Shaka agrees to meet with the crew… And so begins the clash of two cultures, two different worlds…

- Shaka, seriously wounded for saving an unknown warrior (King Dingiswayo), is nursed to health by a beautiful Mtwetwa girl…

- Shaka, believing in total annihilation, joins the Mtwetwa army and creates a dangerous weapon for the African warfare…

- Shaka grants Port Natal, with its ivory rights, to the British crew after he is saved by the crew’s doctor from an assassination attempt…

- Shaka’s mighty army saving the British delegation in a battle against thousands of Ndwandwe warriors… To test the alliance and allegiance of the British delegation, Shaka orders them into battle alone against the Ndwandwe warriors…

- With his mother’s death Shaka becomes openly psychotic… Thousands are killed in the initial paroxysm of his grief…

- Shaka rules by the sheer force of his personality, building, by scores of daily executions, a fear so profound that he could afford to ignore it…

Set against the spectacular panorama of the Zulu tribal homelands, and with graphic violence and frequent nudity, “Shaka Zulu” is a tremendous epic Mini-Series, chronicling the rise and fall of one of the most famous South Africans who has already passed into legend…

Short Changed
I watched the entire series when it was aired on TV. I finally decided to spend $70.00 for purchase + shipping on Amazon. I’m so disappointed because there is a whole section missing. It doesn’t show how Shaka was in training for war, how he took the throne from his brother and other important parts. What make matters worse is Amazon want returns to be unopened (which is impossible in this situation) or you should contact the merchant (How do I do that?). All I can say is be careful about what you purchase and make sure you really understand your options if you’re not satisfied with the produce.

ER: The Complete Thirteenth Season Description:

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1084 in DVD
• Released on: 2010-07-06
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6

Customer Reviews:

Top 5 Season in My Book!
If I were to rank seasons of ER, this (and season 15, the final season) would make the top five, along with three of the earlier seasons. Season 13 is major
improvement over season 12, partly because the writers stop forcing us to
sit through Africa episodes.

While I think this is one of the best seasons, there is one flaw I’d like to
mention early in the review, and that has to do with ER taking (bad) cues
from what became it’s Thursday night hospital drama competition starting with
this season: Grey’s Anatomy. During season 13, I got the feeling that the creative forces behind ER were trying to win over Grey’s Anatomy fans
by increasing the amount of sex scenes and “cute” relationship storylines/moments.
ER always had it’s relationship stories and sex scenes, and that was fine,
but for a brief period in the season, they piled it on too thick. The prime example is Neela’s sex dream about Gates in episode 6 or 7. Fortunately, they backed away from that tactic quickly (although this type of scene made another appearance
late in season 14).

Now that I have that out of the way, I can mention what makes this an outstanding
season of ER. (CONTAINS SPOILERS) First and foremost, Dr. Weaver departs for
a (Dr. Sanjay Gupta) type job at a TV station in Florida. She is missed, but her
final two episodes (as a regular) are well written and, of course, her acting is
top notch. Another highlight is Forest Whitaker’s emmy nominated role as Curtis
Ames, a former patient of Dr. Kovac who sues him for malpractice. Sally Field makes her final appearance, Abby and Kovac are married, Dr. Morris matures (a little),
the hospital is closed for renovation and Stanley Tucci makes the first two appearances of a story arc that continues until the end of season 14.

In between these storylines, there are many other shorter patient storylines,
many of which are excellent and fresh, unlike some of the repetitive storylines
tossed around in seasons 11 and 12.

On one final note, this is the season when ER became the most emmy nominated
TV series of all time, with a total of 120 nominations (by the time the series
ended in 2009, the show had been nominated for 124 emmys).

District 9 Single-Disc Edition Description:

From producer Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) and director Neill Blomkamp comes a startlingly original science fiction thriller that “soars on the imagination of its creators” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone). With stunning special effects and gritty realism, the film plunges us into a world where the aliens have landed… only to be exiled to a slum on the fringes of Johannesburg. Now, one lone human discovers the mysterious secret of the extraterrestrial weapon technology. Hunted and hounded through the bizarre back alleys of an alien shantytown, he will discover what it means to be the ultimate outsider on your own planet.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2009-12-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Cantonese, English, French, Korean, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 112 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0043396275140
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Best Film of 2009
Note: For those who have not seen the film, there are no “spoilers” in the review. The plot details I list have little to do with the focus of the story aside from providing exposition.

“District 9″ is one of those rare gems that immediately immerses you in its world. Beginning in medias res with stark images of a massive spacecraft hovering over Johannesburg, the audience quickly discovers it’s been there for over thirty years by the time our story picks up. For months after the craft appeared the Earth waited for a response. When none came, the decision was made to send special teams to board the vessel and finally get some answers. What they got, instead, were more questions.

The aliens inside were malnourished, unhealthy and their intelligence appeared to be below that of most humans. Labeled “prawns” due to their appearance, the aliens were removed from the ship and placed into a temporary encampment known as District 9, which has rapidly deteriorated into an outright slum. Enter Wikus van der Merwe, a seemingly naive yet likeable fellow employed with Multinational United (M.N.U.), the pseudo-U.N. organization tasked with handling the prawns. He’s just received a promotion and is ordered to relocate the prawns to a newer camp set up in an area more isolated from humanity.

While the scope of “District 9″ seems initially epic, the film wisely follows a very focused tale centered on Wikus and a prawn known as Christopher. As the story unfolds, the development of these characters is outstanding - particularly for an action-oriented film. A lesser film would’ve transformed Wikus into a more compassionate person as the events transpired, perhaps even culiminating into some sort of freedom fighter for the prawns. With this film, however, we’re finally presented with a very real, very flawed character.

Even at his best, Wikus is a wholly self-serving individual and stands as a damning indictment of humanity as a whole. His most selfless act in the film is tempered by the fact that it’s still in his best interests to do so. Christopher is, ironically, the most human character here and is unquestionably the most deserving of sympathy. Yet it’s interesting to note how many still think Wikus is the true victim of it all. Watch how cunningly manipulative Wikus is when he’s attempting to evict the prawns. His demeanor is slick and polished. He uses bribes, lies, and outright threats against them - not to mention the intimidating image of armed soldiers and armored vehicles surrounding the prawns.

The documentary format in which the film is shot is a phenomenal aspect and one which is very original and innovative. Technically this technique has been used before, but it’s typically in something like a Christopher Guest comedy and nothing substantially riveting aside from humor. Some have critiqued this film for dropping the documentary style mid-way through and becoming a more action-oriented film. However, had they paid closer attention, the reason for this is quite evident. It’s made clear at the beginning of the film that the persons providing the commentary have no idea what happened to Wikus, or indeed what really happened in District 9. M.N.U. predictably covered it all up and only the audience is privy to what really occured. Their commentary mid-way through the film would’ve been precisely what it is at the end - mere conjecture and thus useless to the audience.

Further, some have felt the film draws large plot elements from a myriad of other films such as Enemy Mine, Robocop, or Alien Nation. This can hardly be a criticism, because “District 9″ incorporates elements from these films in only the broadest sense possible. It’s akin to declaring that American History X is influenced by To Kill a Mockingbird or Hart’s War is influenced by The Great Escape. While there may be a modicum of truth to this, the respective narratives are much too wildly divergent to be categorized in this manner. I can agree, however, that it seems very unlikely (even for a science fiction film) that the fuel/fluid could perform both the uses it does in the film. Still, this plot device provides an excellent catalyst for what transpires and is entirely forgiveable.

I’ve read some critics believe the themes are a bit on the nose, and while I definitely concur that occasionally a subtle route is best, “District 9″ is so thematically rich and the narrative is complex enough that this rings as a hollow criticism. “District 9″ is, on the surface, an action film. Yet this film has more to say about human nature than any film in years. If this weren’t so, how else could a film about alien creatures on Earth feel so real?

The polarizing opinions and wildly diverse interpretations of this film are precisely what writer/director Neill Blomkamp was aiming for. It’s been labeled as both a brilliant allegory of apartheid and of the Iraqi war, it’s been accused of somehow being a ‘racist’ film, while others simply see it as violently offensive rubbish. Many watch “District 9″ and cannot see the forest for the trees, they simply cannot see past the gore and violence to the core of the film. Further, they want the film to provide answers and solutions, when the truth they’re unable to face is that there are no viable solutions.

These spirited debates, in a sense, mirror the ones in the film concerning the handling and treatment of the prawns. Ultimately, whether you like or dislike this film, it’ll almost certainly have you talking about it for days afterwards. This can be credited to the fact that, once the smoke clears, there is a very real beating heart at the center of “District 9″ (provided you’re able to look beneath the surface). In the end, these are the true marks of a lasting, important film.

* The text hereafter refers to the features included on the 2-Disc DVD of “District 9″. As this assumes you’ve already seen this film, fair warning, there are spoilers below. The disc has two menu screens, one in an M.N.U. design and one in a prawn design, the difference between the two being entirely cosmetic. It’s a nice touch to a fantastic home video release. The first disc contains three special features: a fine selection of deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and a commentary track with director Neill Blomkamp. There are roughly twenty-three minutes of deleted scenes that shed a little more light on Blomkamp’s vision. Almost all are little more than a minute each and a few have incomplete special effects (much like the ones from the recent “Star Trek” release). A handful are uninteresting filler, but the best ones range from a scientist explaining the reproductive habits of the prawns to one which depicts Wikus forcefully stealing the vehicle he drove to the M.N.U. headquarters. While I enjoyed the scenes immensely, I feel it was a wise decision not to offer an “extended” version of the film. The pacing of “District 9″ is lighting quick without feeling rushed, something that the addition of these scenes would’ve ruined entirely.

Next is a thirty-four minute making-of featurette which offers a generalized overview of how the film was conceived, shot, and edited. I’m not typically interested in this sort of thing, but a film like “District 9″ is anything but typical itself, so I found this highly entertaining. It’s precisely what one expects from a feature of this sort - plenty of interviews with the cast & crew along with some great behind the scenes footage. Watch for an amusing scene where Sharlto attempts to eat his lunch using his alien hand. Rounding out the first disc is a commentary track which is also excellent, well-stocked with Blomkamp’s wealth of tales and comments about the genesis of the film. If he at times spends a bit too much time describing rather personal details, they still only serve to provide deeper insight into the film, especially considering Blomkamp was such an integral part of the film’s creation. There are plenty of details covered here that aren’t mentioned in the other features, though some of it could be considered a bit extraneous. (All of the above is also included on the single disc version.)

The second disc contains four featurettes which in toto run approximately forty-five minutes. These are focused on a specific aspect of the film’s production, as opposed to the more generalized feature on the first disc. The first is called “Metamorphosis” and highlights how the makeup crew gradually transformed Sharlto Copley’s character from human to alien (if you liked seeing how the “Benjamin Button” crew transformed Brad Pitt, you’ll love this one too). The second is “Conception and Design” which details the inspirations and ideas that led to the creation of the film. It’s interesting to watch Blomkamp acknowledge previous sci-fi films that served as templates for the themes he wanted to flesh out with his own film, while simultaneously illustrating how brilliantly original the mechanics of “District 9″ are. The piece begins with some great photos and information on how Weta Workshop created the unique alien weaponry. The third is “Alien Generation” which delves into the special effects work. This primarily focuses on the mechanics of creating the aliens and making them interact seamlessly with the human characters. The fourth is “Innovation” which details Blomkamp’s approach to directing the actors in the film, along with how he felt improvisation was the key to making the film feel more organic. All of these features have tons of interviews and comments from the cast & crew (including Blomkamp & Copley).

The Blu-Ray version includes all of the above as well as the ubiquitous digital copy and an exclusive feature called “Joburg from Above: Satellite and Schematics of the World of District 9″. This is a unique feature which allows the user to explore sensitive locales on both the alien and M.N.U. sides with an interactive map. Also included are a couple of newish features popping up on all new Blu-Rays: the “CineChat” feature, which allows users to chat with friends while watching movies; and “MovieIQ” which provides a large database of technical information about the film. For those who are interested in this sort of thing, there’s also a demo for a video game called “God of War III” for the Playstation 3 which includes a making-of clip once the demo is completed. I don’t own a PS3 so I can’t comment on the quality of this feature. A final note: the one feature that many hoped would be included is absent on all versions, which is the original “Alive in Joburg” short that inspired the film. However, the short can easily be located and viewed online.

Spellbound!
Just watched the movie at the opening night and I am spellbound! Firstly, I am living in Johannesburg and was absolutely amazed at many a subtle hints and glances at history this movie gave. There were too many moments that only living in Johannesburg will make one truly understand what the director was hinting at, and all done and put together brilliantly in a way I haven’t seen done much before. Secondly, I simply loved the way Neil (btw never heard of him before) didn’t conform to the traditional and all too cliched Hollywood sci-fi recipe, and wasn’t scared of breaking lots of Hollywood cinema ‘laws’. Alien ships always land somewhere in the US, aliens are always here to kill us with no reason, we always are the experts in solving any issues in the end - none of these were followed. I read some reviews of the film being too racist, xenophobic, sexist etc. which were issues that I believe the director was actually trying to highlight to us, rather than capitalise on them. And these are real issues well and alive in many countries outside of South Africa, not sure why people pretend to see past and overlook them as if life is all perfect. In conclusion, a very thought-provoking movie for me that combines great elements of sci-fi action and storytelling - and maybe the message is, sometimes to be human again we have to think like and become alien.

The absolute best movie of the summer
District 9 is something that perhaps no one saw coming, and ends up being the absolute best movie of the summer hands down. Produced by Peter Jackson and helmed by Neill Blomkamp (the director Jackson hand picked for the shelved Halo movie), District 9 depicts an alien race that came to Earth on an emergency basis a couple decades before hand, and have since become refugees in a violent slum in Johannesburg. Bureaucrat Wikus (Sharlto Copley) is charged with serving eviction notices to the alien “prawns”, and through a mishap, ends up undergoing a horrifying transformation that makes him a wanted man by everyone. As he and a prawn dubbed Christopher Johnson become unlikely allies, things begin to really kick into high gear. Beginning as part mockumentary and part satire on apartheid, District 9 takes its time to become a bloody full-blown action/sci-fi opus that stays with you long after the credits are done rolling. What also helps make District 9 so good is that you truly never know what is going to happen next. The sheer unpredictability of the film helps make it so magnetic, and newcomer Copley manages to be hateable, likable, and sympathetic all at the same time as his character continues to develop and change (literally) as the film goes on. All in all, District 9 is an incredible science fiction film that features equal parts action and heart, and in a bloated summer full of empty blockbusters like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe, and the like; it is indeed refreshing to see something like this on the big screen. Do yourself a favor, don’t miss out on District 9.

Amazon.com
A provocative science fiction drama, District 9 boasts an original story that gets a little lost in blow-’em-up mayhem. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, District 9 begins as a mock documentary about the imminent eviction of extraterrestrials from a pathetic shantytown (called District 9). The creatures, it turns out, have been on Earth for years, having arrived sickly and starving. Initially received by humans with compassion and care, the aliens are now mired in blighted conditions typical of long-term refugee camps unwanted by a hostile, host society. With the creatures’ care contracted out to a for-profit corporation, the shantytown has become a violent slum. The aliens sift through massive piles of junk while their minders secretly research weapons technology that arrived on the visitors’ spacecraft.

Against this backdrop is a more personal story about a bureaucrat named Wikus (Sharlto Copley) who is accidentally exposed to a DNA-altering substance. As he begins metamorphosing into one of the creatures, Wikus goes on the run from scientists who want to harvest his evolving, new parts and aliens who see him as a threat. When he pairs up with an extraterrestrial secretly planning an escape from Earth, however, what should be a fascinating relationship story becomes a series of firefights and explosions. Nuance is lost to numbing violence, and the more interesting potential of the film is obscured. Yet, for a while District 9 is a powerful movie with a unique tale to tell. Seamless special effects alone are worth seeing: the (often brutal) exchanges between alien and human are breathtaking. –Tom Keogh

District 9 downloadables (Click for pdf file)

The Taming of the Shrew Product: The Taming of the Shrew Sale-$8.49! List Price: $14.94 Amazon Price: $8.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on The Taming of the Shrew

Lavish screen production of the classic Shakespearean play, with Taylor starring as the wealthy Katharina and Burton as Petruchio who tries to subdue her.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: UN
Release Date: 1-MAY-2007
Media Type: DVD

• Amazon Sales Rank: #865 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1999-10-26
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Georgian, Chinese, Thai
• Dubbed in: Portuguese
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .26 pounds
• Running time: 122 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 9780767828000
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

One Of The Absolutely Great Ones
If you love Shakespeare this one has to be in your collection. The DVD version is nothing spectacular (no extra anythings) but it will probably keep forever now that it has been digitized…..so forget about the next generation in your family not being able to view the crumbling magnetic tape from your VHS copy.

A classic for-the-ages Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film from their peak period in 1967. Directed by *the* Zeffirelli, what more could you ask for. Oh…..you want a good score….this one is award winning…..Nino Rota. There is absolutely nothing lacking in this version…..you can enjoy it every time. It’s one for kids to watch to see how much fun real Shakespeare can be. It’s one for budding actresses to watch to see Taylor at her best. It’s one for anyone studying the Bard in school to have under their belt. And it’s one for all the rest of us to enjoy again and again.

Burton & Taylor Are Pure, Fiery, & Feisty Sex Magic
No wonder Burton and Taylor married and divorced many times. The sexual tension between them in this film can be cut with a knife. Taylor plays Kate, the beautiful, fiery, feisty, mean-spirited, unloved eldest daughter of a wealthy man. She has a beautiful & kind sister who has a string of beaus, but… the eldest sister MUST marry first. Enter Burton as Petruchio. Loud, boisterous, dirty, obnoxious and SEXY! He plans to tame Kate, marry her and be a rich man on her dowry. The famous tongue in the tail speech is given on their first meeting, which sets the mood for lusty, sweaty, swarthy fighting. All the while, the sexual tension builds throughout. Many fights & torments ensue… with a beautiful ending that I will not spoil. If you like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton or just the great and powerful Bard, himself, this is a great movie, directed by the great Franco Zefferelli that is a must see! “There is no other beast on Earth so horrible as man…” (Katharina, Taming Of The Shrew)

An excellent movie to add to your collection!
This Shakespearean story is about the daughter of Baptista (Michael Hordern), Katarina (Elizabeth Taylor). Very unlike her younger, quiet and gentle sister Bianca (Natasha Pyne), Katarina is strong-willed and has a nasty temper. Many men want to woo the lovely Bianca, including a young scholar (Michael York), but Baptista is adamant that nobody will be wed with his Bianca until the older daughter, the shrew Katarina, is married. And there is only one man who is willing to marry her for her dowry, Petruchio (Richard Burton). When Petruchio and Katarina are wed (forcefully against Katarina’s will), Petruchio proceeds to make his ‘dear Kate’ into a good wife, but is anyone capable of ‘taming the shrew’?
A remarkable tale by the talented and famed writer, William Shakespear. And with a delightful cast of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who can resist liking it? Elizabeth Taylor practically shines in her role! Especially at the part in the end where she makes her strong speech. I was as quiet and attentive as all the guests at the wedding.
For anyone who likes Shakespeare, who likes Elizabeth Taylor, or Richard Burton, or for that matter, want to watch a good movie, watch “The Taming of the Shrew”.

Les Miserables Description:

Ex-convict Jean Valjean tries to rebuild his life to be a respectable citizen. However, police inspector Javert relentlessly hounds him and won’t let him escape his past.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 6-NOV-2007
Media Type: DVD

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2133 in DVD
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1998-11-03
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds
• Running time: 134 minutes

Customer Reviews:

Great movie, fair adaption
Les Misérables - 1998 film version - formal review

This newest film version of Les Misérables presents this classic story as the grand sweeping epic that it is, yet diverges from the original story, leaving much to be desired. Fans of Victor Hugo’s beloved novel, published in 1862, and of the popular musical, produced in 1985, may be disappointed in this movie’s truncated version of the story. However, the film manages to keep intact the main themes of Hugo’s story of love, mercy, and redemption.

As a movie in its own right, this film deserves the highest praise. As historical drama it is of the highest quality. The movie portrays Jean Valjean as a true hero, a person whom we can admire because of his courage and self-sacrificing commitment to godly principle. The acting is excellent — Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush star as Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, and both simply become their characters. Uma Thurman gives an exceptional performance as Fantine. The soundtrack for the film is beautiful as well.

However, this movie cannot be evaluated separately from the novel and musical (which follows the novel quite closely and has gained a wide following of devoted fans). In terms of faithfulness to the original story, the film falls short. The first half of the movie follows the novel quite well; much of the screenplay is taken almost directly from the book, and no important characters or events are removed. Unfortunately, however, the first half of the movie covers less than one third of the story. In the second half, the movie diverges widely from the original. Enthusiasts of the musical and novel will be disappointed to see that two important characters from the Paris setting, Enjolras and Eponine — both of whom are popular favorites among fans — are completely eliminated from the film, their roles given to other characters or deleted altogether. The second half of the film is mercilessly truncated and adapted.

The film’s portrayal of Cosette as a rather spoiled young woman who is always ready to pout if she doesn’t get her way is inconsistent with the sweet and oblivious Cosette of Hugo’s novel. The character of Javert, the obsessed policeman who hounds Jean Valjean, is also altered — perhaps more subtly — to make him out as the depraved villain of the story, when in the novel and musical he is more complex and less of a villain. The other characters, however, are faithfully portrayed in the film.

Even in the second half, the movie does shine at times. The depiction of Jean Valjean continues to be brilliant (except for one scene in which he slaps Cosette and then reveals his past to her, both actions in complete inconsistency with his character according to Hugo). The last fifteen minutes of the film do portray well the important universal theme of Justice versus Mercy. However, the movie curtails the original story, robbing it of a good deal of its poignancy.

Altogether, though, the film manages to preserve the main themes and characters of the original novel. It serves as a good introduction to the story. It should inspire viewers to read the original book and listen to the musical as well!

A Terrible Adaptation
This is a good movie. I mean, not badly cast. Lovingly done. The acting is great. Yeah, you should enjoy it. Assuming you know absolutely nothing about Victor Hugo’s original story. The truth is, if I didn’t know better, I’d say whoever wrote the script never read Hugo’s masterpiece and based it completely on the 1935 version. Come to think of it, I don’t know better. That’s probably exactly what happened.

I never thought I’d say this, but I am so glad Hugo didn’t have to live to see this movie.

If you’ve read the book, you will hate this film. TRUST me. The plot, especially toward the end, is mercilessly butchered and rewritten. At some points it becomes utterly unrecognizable. Many of the revisions completely miss or even destroy the essence of characters, and some do not even make sense, the movie ending with Jean Valjean jubilant over the death of Javet, whose life he has made an enormous sacrifice to save.

Likewise, Javert would never attack Cosette; he was obsessively professional, not cruel. Nor would end his life (with minimal explanation, no less) in front of Valjean. Marius would NEVER act like Enjolras (oh, I forgot, there IS no Enjolras). Neither Marius NOR Enjolras would smile at remarks about making love to Cosette, so I find it hard to believe that some mutant hybrid Marjolras would. Cosette would never consider leaving Marius, her soulmate, to stay with Valjean, her adoptive father. And above all, Jean Valjean would NEVER, EVER fall in love with Fantine. The mere suggestion of this limits the portrayal of his charity to people he takes a special interest in.

Small variations are to be expected in any film adaptation of a book, but these all completely distort characters. The people who made this movie may have gotten the message (love, charity, etc.), but they missed the point.

If you’ve never read the book, see this movie. It is touching and carries a good message.

But it is not Les Misérables.

One question…
Did the writer of the screenplay even READ Hugo’s masterpiece novel? This movie may be nice-looking, have a generally excellent cast (with the exclusion of the whiny Claire Danes as Cosette), but in everything else, it falls sickeningly short of the mark. First off, one of Hugo’s chief themes in Les Miserables is redemption; Jean Valjean becomes a saint-like man after being saved by the kindly Bishop of Digne, he goes from an embittered man to a gentle, merciful man, not a wicked convict to a frightened man on the run! This film lost that essence of redemption and thus lost one of the most important parts that made Les Miserables what it is. Also, we were shown that the screenplay writer obviously didn’t know who was who in the novel; Marius takes the place of the god-like (they liken him to Apollo in the novel) Enjolras as the student leader, they completely lose the political pun of the Friends of the A B C (ah-BAY-SAY! )… and other small errors that are altogether a display of laziness or dispassion on the part of the writers. The insurrection of the students gets turned into a five minute action scene that serves no purpose in the film thanks to the loss of an ample description of the troubles in Paris.

But back to characterization problems. As above, Valjean has become a harsh, paranoid old man on the run, whereas Javert has become a selfish, overly ambitious cop with an unhealthy obsession and a nasty personality. Cosette has become a headstrong, spoiled little brat as opposed to a kindly young lady in love, and Marius… Marius has turned into Enjolras with his hair dyed black, too many freckles, and a talent for writing love letters in his spare time. Oh yes- one more question. Where are the Thenardiers and their daughters? For that matter– why didn’t the other students get their moments in the spotlight? If a musical can do a better job at illustrating the theme and characterizations true to the novel on which it’s based– something is most certainly wrong with this film. There are countless more mistakes in this film, but some have already been mentioned in other reviews, and there are simply too many to be counted… A pity; this film could have had promise, being taken off of such a beautiful story…

Amazon.com
Frenchman Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson), imprisoned for stealing bread, is paroled after nearly two decades of hard labor. A gift of silver candlesticks from a kindly priest helps him begin anew. Forging a decent and profitable existence, he finds success as a businessman and as the mayor of a small town. He even takes in a pregnant young woman (Uma Thurman) and raises her daughter as his own. When a former prison guard (Geoffrey Rush) recognizes Valjean, his past catches up to him. Director Bille August culls mesmerizing performances from his cast, but loses us with an ending that panders to teen audiences. The focus shifts dramatically, and uncomfortably, from the haunted Neeson and his hawk-like pursuer, to his daughter (Claire Danes) and her romance with a handsome revolutionary. After this narrative shift, the script leaves behind the Victor Hugo classic’s themes of revenge and redemption to focus improbably on teen angst–hardly what Hugo had on his mind. –Rochelle O’Gorman

What About Bob? Product: What About Bob? Lowest Price! List Price: $9.99 Amazon Price: $9.49 Click Here To See Amazon Sale Price Add to cart to see low price@ Availability: In Stock Usually ships in 24 Hours Free Shipping Available

Compare Prices on What About Bob?

Comic wizard Bill Murray (CRADLE WILL ROCK, THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS) teams up with Academy Award(R)-winner Richard Dreyfuss teams up with (Best Actor, 1978, THE GOODBYE GIRL) in an outrageously wild comedy that’s sure to drive you off the deep end! Murray plays Bob Wiley, a troubled but lovable therapy patient who fears everything! After seeking help from noted psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin (Dreyfuss), Bob feels revived. But when the good doctor skips town to go on a quiet family vacation, Bob, afraid of being alone, follows — showing up unexpectedly at the therapist’s lakeside retreat. That’s when the fun really begins! Bob innocently becomes the houseguest who just won’t leave — endearing himself to the other family members … and, in the end, driving the stressed-out shrink absolutely crazy!

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1181 in DVD
• Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
• Released on: 2000-07-11
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, Letterboxed, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 99 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 9780788818806
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

“Is this a radical new form of therapy?”
Masterfully directed by Frank Oz, this comedy is one of the brightest spots in a long line of tasteless 90’s comedies. In an era where comedies are dominated by sex, crudity, and horrid language, “What About Bob?” is a breath of fresh air. The comedy is a harmless and sinless masterpiece of irony with chuckles. The head-scratching, laugh-at-loud compulsive mannerisms combined with symptoms of paranoia from patient Bob Wiley (B. Murray) pushes this film to the top of clean comedies. Bob has issues. Bob is afraid to touch things without a handkerchief. Bob is afraid of crowds. Bob has fears of his bladder exploding. Bob is afraid of anything and everything outside his apartment. But Bob finds hope in a new and famous psychiatrist named Dr. Leo Marvin (R. Dreyfuss). Dr. Marvin is at the pinacole of his career with his new best selling help-book that has earned him fame. When Dr. Marvin takes Bob on as his client, he has no idea what he’s getting himself into.
Bob goes bananas when his new doctor, Leo Marvin, decides to go on vacation and will not be available to treat Bob for a whole month. Desperate for his doctor, Bob tracks Dr. Marvin down. The relaxing Leo Marvin has his vacation interrupted and imposed upon by a friend-seeking Bob Wiley, who wants to enjoy Dr. Marvin’s vacation time with him. Dr. Marvin, shocked by Bob’s behavior, is unable to convince Bob to leave. Before Dr. Marvin can begin to realize that Bob has latched onto him, Bob is aleady befriending Dr. Marvin’s entire household; which includes his wife (J. Hagerty) and son (C. Korsmo) and daughter. Resentment and jealousy become evident in Dr. Marvin as his growing frustration with Bob intensifies. As Bob grows more popular with everyone, Dr. Marvin sinks into a state of irrational hatred toward his new patient. Eventually Bob shows evidence of progress as Dr. Marvin displays signs of regress.
Even though the movie is a great comedy, it is truly a psychology film. It takes a neurotic, crazy man–Bob Wiley–and puts him into a setting he doesn’t belong in, and he improves. On the flip side it takes a successful, sane man–Dr. Marvin–and places him into situations he doesn’t want, and he deteriorates. The irony is the patient becomes sane as the doctor turns insane. It’s a very clever concept by Oz and it should be applauded, because it makes the movie very funny.
No doubt that the film succeeds in its comic aim and ironic formulas, while sending a distinct message that it’s all right not to be entirely sane and serious. Bob Wiley is the perfect, likeable looney while Dr. Marvin is the serious stiff that we all want to see lighten up a tad.
The movie is rated “PG,” with hardly any offensive elements. There is no sex, no nudity, no violence (although hints of killing is mentioned), and mild language. A joke that Bob tells has a crude reference, but it’s nothing to shutter from. The film is quite clean in an age of film-making that has been anything but.
In summary, “What About Bob?” is the perfect family comedy. It is light-hearted, genuine, and funny for everyone. If any criticism could be applied is that it is simply not long enough and goes by too fast. To say the least, it’s a gem worthy of praise and laughs.

What About Bob
Funny, funny,funny! I laughed all the way through this movie! The chemistry between annoying but lovable patient “Bob,” (Bill Murray), and the extremely uptight Dr. Leo Marvin, (Richard Dryfuss), is pure perfection! The writing is excellent, as is the casting. This movie is a classic; one you can watch over and over and over - and still find the line: “There are two types of people in the world - those who LIKE Neil Diamond, and those who don’t” as hysterical as the very first time you heard it! (I just wish this movie would come out on DVD)!

“Gimme, gimme, gimme, I need, I need, I need!!!”
“Hello, I’m Bob. Would you knock me out, please?” To paraphrase Bob on Neil Diamond, there are two types of people in this world — those who like What About Bob and those who don’t. It’s such a shame comedies never really win oscars — especially for absolutely priceless Richard Dreyfuss here. (It’s a toss up between this and Groundhog Day for Bill Murray’s best.) Human crazy glue patient Murray and “Baby Steps” author/psychoanalyst Dreyfuss and his “fam” trying to take a vacation — “just me and the family and my book” — years since its release, I still sometimes leave What About Bob running as background priceless comic relief and it’s still Dreyfuss who leaves me sore and speechless. (It does get a little bit weak at the end, but the flying bust of Freud pretty much makes up for that.) The memorable quotes are nonstop. “That patient Bob committed suicide. Oh, well, let’s not let it spoil our vacation.” Perfect “who’s the crazy one?” writing, beyond perfect comic timing and acting, perfect silly soundtrack — near perfect casting including Julie Hagerty as the dangerously naive wife whose blouse is the same fabric as the couch and the bus driver “Wing” (”You think you can do it today, Bob? We have a baby schedule to keep.”). “I feel good, I feel great, I feel wonderful.” There should be midnight showings ala Rocky Horror of What About Bob. Not to be missed, sometimes not to be taken out of the VCR.

The Monster Squad Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition Description:

Count Dracula adjourns to Earth, accompanied by Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolfman, the Mummy, and the Gillman. The uglies are in search of a powerful amulet that will grant them power to rule the world. Our heroes - the Monster Squad are the only ones daring to stand in their way.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8945 in DVD
• Brand: LION’S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2007-07-24
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, German
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 82 minutes

Features

• ISBN13: 0017153215663
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Customer Reviews:

Meeting adjourned…
I’ve been waiting for this DVD to come into print for years, and now the wait is finally over. Thanks to Lionsgate for finally stepping up, straightening out the rights issues, and putting together a nice 2-Disc special edition of this classic 80s kids flick.

The Monster Squad, much like the Goonies and the Lost Boys, is a kid’s flick at heart, but it doesn’t come off as if it were written and directed down to children. The flick stars Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert (of Kids Incorporated fame), Brent Chalem, Michael Faustino and Robby Kiger as a group of kids that have a secret Monster club where they pontificate on all things monster related. Quick, two ways to kill a werewolf? Stumped? That’s right, everyone knows you need to shoot `em with a silver bullet. Anyway, the group runs into trouble when unbeknown to them the all too real rouges gallery of the classic Universal monster movies are converging on their town looking to destroy an amulet that can prevent them from taking over the world. Sean, the leader of the club, lucks into a copy of Van Helsing’s diary, which provides the instructions to a ritual that will banish the monsters into limbo. With the help of “Scary German Guy” (played by the always excellent Leonardo Cimino) a concentration camp survivor and resident German diary translator, the group bands together to save their families, their town, and quite possibly the entire world.

The film was directed by Fred Dekker and co-written by Fred Dekker and Shane Black (of Lethal Weapon and Predator fame) with amazing special effects and make-up by the legendary Stan Winston. This DVD was made possible by the director, actors, and fans who banded together in the past year through letter writing campaigns and revival screenings which proves just how much of a cult classic this flick is. If you are a generation X’er who’s into action, horror or nostalgia the Monster Squad is sure to be a perfect addition to your DVD collection.

The 20th anniversary special edition set is reported to contain 2 audio commentary tracks, deleted scenes, an making of featurette, trailers, as well as a vintage interview with Tom Noonan (who played the Frankenstein’s monster.)

Wolfmans Got Nards & I Can’t Wait For The DVD To Be Released
This is a great scary movie for kids and adults alike…
This little-known GEM of a film & one of my favorites with mostly a cast of unknowns. Stephen Macht (Graveyard Shift& many other stephen King films) & Jason Hervey (older brother, Wayne on Wonder Years) are familiar faces. A great kids frightfest that has the Creature From The Black Lagoon, Mummy, Wolfman, Frankenstein & a really hot & sexy Dracula with his female coven!

A passel of oddball kids fight the dark forces of evil in their small neighborhood with the help of Frankenstein & Scary German Guy (an old Germanic man that is a neighbor). Great plot, cool special effects, some excellent one liners & some wonderful child acting all make for a terrifc family frightfest! Check out the teacher in the beginning of the movie. The kids call her “Meow Mix” because her head is shaped like a cat’s head! Great oddball writing in this movie makes it scary & funny!

Wonderful story! I just can’t wait for this to come out on DVD!

A cool horror..comedy
I saw this movie when i was 12 and i must say i loved it…I always wanted to get this film on tape but I never could find it. until i was at a garage sale and load and behold in the video section i saw it monster squad in the 1.00 dollar videos..i got it for a buck…it is in great condition..
well anyways i think that this movie is really smart and witty and funny with a little jump in it… i think that the studio should re-release this film on video and dvd….i give it 5 stars and two thumbs up.