Terminator Anthology (The Terminator / Terminator 2: Judgment Day / Terminator 3: Rise of the Machi

Something I've heard people ask is why the "Terminator" movies haven't been released in a box set all together. The answer used to be simple: they were owned by separate studios. No longer will I have to throw that disappointing answer out at disgruntled fans. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has taken possession of and released the 5-Disc collection "The Terminator Anthology" on Blu-ray.

"The Terminator Anthology" is everything an enthusiast of the franchise could ever want. You get the original classic in high-definition, the special edition and theatrical versions of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines," and "Terminator Salvation's" director's cut and theatrical version. They're all presented in stunning high-definition transfers that make you feel like you're seeing the movies for the first time all over again.

I enjoy all the films with Arnold Schwarzenegger about the same. In retrospect, "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" is a bit tedious at points and seems overlong and bloated. People couldn't get enough of "Liquid Metal Man" when the movie came out, so I can see how 137 minutes of different appearances by him kept an audience alert in 1991. It doesn't hold the same dazzle today that it did 21 years ago.

"Terminator Salvation" is an entertaining movie even without Schwarzenegger's presence throughout. You have Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Anton Yelchin adding star power to it. The surprise appearance of Arnie's CGI face gave fans something to smile nostalgically about.

There are plenty of special features for consumers to be excited about. They include deleted scenes, "Making of" and "Behind the Scenes" featurettes, audio commentaries, and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" contains an introduction by Arnold Schwarzenegger and a gag reel. Maximum Movie Mode for "Terminator Salvation" provides storyboard comparisons and a Terminator Mythology Timeline. Not to sound like a car salesman, but that's not all!

"The Terminator Anthology" Blu-ray collection comes housed in a cardboard sleeve which features the metallic face of a T-800 peeking out from behind a "T" on the cover. The movies are on four different discs. The fifth disc features the special features for "Terminator Salvation." This is the ideal way for consumers to get these classic films in one handy set. For many fanatics, it's a dream finally realized thanks to Warner Bros.

I am not happy that the original Terminator has been altered in this blu-ray version. The original soundtrack theme has been changed and does not sound punchy and dramatic like the original. Almost all of the sound effects have been changed. During the truck scene just before Kyle uses the bomb to destroy the large truck the Terminator is driving, as Kyle's stolen truck tumbles over that scene is cut short and Sarah screams twice in the original version, not once as in this version.

All the gun shot sound effects have been altered. No longer are they the original BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM-BOOM but piff piff piff piff-piff. I am not a gun or violence fanatic but an original movie fanatic (perhaps nut) trying to make a point the sound effects are all a part of the original film and they create the atmosphere of what made the original film what it was.

I had purchased this set awhile ago and sat down tonight looking forward to watching "The Terminator" as I remembered it. Not so with this set. If you're looking for the original version, I would pass on this blu-ray release unless you don't mind the edits. I hope the other versions of the Terminator films have not been altered, and that there is an Easter Egg opportunity to at least view all the deleted scenes together in Terminator 2 like in Terminator 2: Extreme Edition.

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YES!!!! It's finally here! The incomparable Terminator series brought together in one well made boxset!

Being a HUGE Terminator fan, when I saw this I simply could not pass it up! Of course T2: Judgement Day will always be my favorite and is a true classic, but ALL 4 Films are very entertaining and thrilling! I was impressed with McG's take on the series with "Terminator Salvation". Well done!

I honestly hope that they don't make anymore movies because it's a wonderful series but the main story has been exhausted at this point! This excellent collection is a fine way to say farwell to the story of John Connor!

A-1 Package!!

PS: This one is NOT cheaply made this time around!

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"The Terminator Anthology" is a five-disc Blu-ray set containing seven versions of the four "Terminator" movies -the four theatrical versions, two additional "Terminator: Judgment Day" editions, and the R-rated Director's Cut of "Terminator: Salvation." The first three star Arnold Schwarzenegger, the fourth stars Christian Bale. These films were released previously on Blu-ray, but this set bundles them together with a neat collection of bonus extras.

The original 1984 feature still ranks as one of the cleverest science-fiction movies of the last 30 years. The script combines the tried-and-true sci-fi ingredient of robot-run-amok with time travel, and is well served by the solid performances of Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Michael Biehn, cool special effects, and plenty of action. Many films over the years have tried to duplicate its success but paled by comparison.

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day," gave us the unforgettable images of an evil robot (Robert Patrick) morphing into different objects via a silvery, metallic liquid -a real eye-opener at the time. Those scenes still pack a wallop.

The fourth picture has a pretty good script and Christian Bale does an acceptable job, but Schwarzenegger is sorely missed.

Bonus material includes deleted scenes, James Cameron interviews, audio commentary, behind-the-scenes videos, and multimedia galleries.

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The Blu Ray presentation is excellent. The only thing that is not good is that the lenguage spanish is not available in the both first movies!

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Seven / Copycat / Taking Lives (Triple-Feature) (2012)

For the price this is a terrific set of three thrillers now the quality of the enclosed thrillers vary a bit but all three have their moments.

"Se7vn" included here is the special edition of the movie. David Fincher's thriller holds up remarkably well 17 years on with strong performances all around (although I felt Brad Pitt's performance was a bit too mannered for my tastes at the time and even now).

For those that don't know "Se7vn" follows two detectives (Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt)trying to catch a serial killer taking victims lives based on their violation of the seven deadly sins. "Se7vn" remains an influential thriller that impacted an entire decade of thrillers altering the look and feel of many of them. That doesn't diminish the power of the original though.

"Copycat" came out four years after "The Silence of the Lambs" and while a more it's certainly a bit more traditional in terms of casting compared to that film (featuring stars that were fairly big at the time), "Copycat" got lost in the wake of the more daring "Se7vn" but as a thriller it's still a strong film.

Signorney Weaver plays Helen Hudson a agoraphobic psychologist and profiler who ends up working with detective M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter) in trying to capture a serial killer who copies OTHER serial killers. Both Hunter and Weaver give terrific performances in the film.

"Taking Lives" features Angelina Jolie as Illeana a FBI profiler brought in to catch a serial killer who assumes other people's lives (hence the punning title). When the mother (Gena Rowlands) of the killer recognizes him after he supposedly died twenty years before, the Quebec police bring her in to help them catch the killer when one of his victims is accidently uncovered. An art dealer named Costa(Ethan Hawke) who may have seen the killer agrees to help the police and act as bait to lure the killer out into the open.

Be aware there is a somewhat explicit sex scene in the film. Although a bit predictable "Taking Lives" is still entertaining and the fact that the story takes place somewhere OTHER than the United States adds to that allure. The opening set up is quite impressive and while the movie does have a lot going for it, most viewers as mentioned will figure the twist out well before the mid point of the film.

All three movies as mentioned are on individual discs with the special features for each of the individual releases included (for example the extensive special features from the "Se7vn" release are, as far as I can tell, the same including the multiple commentary tracks and the material ported over from the 2000 Director's Series release on DVD).

"Copycat" has all the commentary track by director Jon Amiel as well as the theatrical trailer for the movie.

"Taking Lives" as the documentary on the making of the film, the gag reel as well as the theatrical trailers.

For the price this is a extremely good set with films that range from five stars to three and since the transfer are all excellent looking and include the special features from the individual releases, I'd recommend this set.

From Warner Bros. we get a collection of serial killer movies, two from the '90's and one from '04, thankfully two of this films are great cause one is just dreadful.

Se7en: Director David Fincher ("Fight Club") gives us a story about a killer whose targeting people that he feels are committing one of the seven deadly sins. Two detectives played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman try to piece together the bits of evidence and inch ever closer to finding out who the killer really is. From the opening frame to the very end this is one magical and great thriller, Freeman really shines here, Kevin Spacey ("The Usual Suspects") plays a great role, Pitt also does well though he would go on to do better roles than this. It's very visual, visceral and fairly unrelenting in how it presents the horror the killer inflicts upon his victims. This is again just magic throughout the whole presentation. **** out of 4 stars.

Copycat: After almost being killed by a killer named Daryll (Harry Connick Jr. "Hope Floats"), a profiler named Helen (Sigourney Weaver, "Alien") is now an agoraphobic, meaning she's confined to the living space of her apartment. She still does her work, helping detectives figure out who and how to capture criminals, but her skills are being put to the test as a copycat killer named Peter (William McNamara) is killing people in the same way Daryll did earlier. Holly Hunter plays a detective who desperately needs Helen's skills to capture Peter before he kills again. Director Jon Amiel ("Entrapment") does a good job with the material provided, it's definitely below "Se7en" in terms of quality, but "Copycat" is a pretty good flick in it's own right and the performances are good for the most part. **1/2 out of 4 stars.

Taking Lives: Here we have a killer who takes on the identity of each of his victims, a profiler named Illeana (Angelina Jolie) is brought by the French Canadian police to assist them in identifying and capturing this killer before he can assume another identity and possibly evade police for good. The whole idea isn't the problem, to me it's the execution and the simple fact it is painfully and I mean painfully obvious who the killer is early on. Unfortunately most of the characters in this flick are just too plain dumb to figure out this obvious fact, though the cast is actually fairly impressive Ethan Hawke ("Training Day"), Kiefer Sutherland (TV's "24"), Oliver Martinez ("Unfaithful"), Gena Rowlands ("The Skeleton Key") and Tcheky Karyo ("Kiss of The Dragon").

How these actors thought this was a good project to be in just eludes me and it stuns me how bad this is with all whose involved. The final sequence is really the icing on the cake as those left alive realize what's happening and who the killer is, it's all just laughable. This is the one lone bad flick in this 3 pack, worth watching to make fun of it. * out of 4 stars.

It's a worthy collection to get especially for "Se7en" and 3 movies for a low price is never a bad thing, especially on blu-ray.

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Love these movies. Great bundle. Seven and Copycat are my favorite out of the 3. I did like them all so 5 solid stars.

Perfect addition to my collection. You get 3 blue-ray disks here. No cramming movies onto one as you see sometimes with other sets or triple features.

Totally worth the money.

Mine came in with slight damage to the plastic case but it was very minor so I decided to keep it since movies or disks were fine.

It was new as described.

Very happy overall and highly recommend this triple feature!

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Picture is good and price was realy good Even thought is used blu ray looks like new im a fan of good thriller and those 3 all the best

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How to Marry a Millionaire (1953)

This movie is half a century old and followed The Robe as the second Cinemascope feature. It's visually beautiful in the DVD widescreen version, evoking the thrill of first seeing Cinemascope in 1953 (which I'm old enough to remember). Though the story and humor are extremely dated and so many of its stars are now dead, the photography and sound are both so breathtakingly clear and beautiful, it makes one realize how advanced the technical side of filmmaking was that long ago. It's amazing how cinematographers of that day were able to adapt so quickly to the much wider screen and take full advantage of its sweep even during scenes filmed in close quarters, such as those on the airliner (which was a propeller plane, by the way). It's true that Lauren Bacall, though lovely in the film, looks much older than the "25" she's supposed to be. (I saw Ms. Bacall in person pitching her bio at a bookstore 45 years later and she looked un-surgically young and beautiful, so go figure.) While the movie is not great in terms of content or performances, it's worthwhile because it's a beautifully restored piece of movie history that recaptures a more innocent (?) age and preserves an important part of the Monroe legend.

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE was the first non-musical comedy to be released in the CinemaScope ratio. The film was released in 1953, which proved to be Monroe's breakthrough, watershed year, with the success of MILLIONAIRE, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES and NIAGARA cementing her place as one of the top box-office attractions of 1953.

MILLIONAIRE is one of Monroe's most delightful offerings. She plays the visually-challenged Pola, who, along with Chotzi (Lauren Bacall KEY LARGO, THE BIG SLEEP) and 'Loco' (Betty Grable MOTHER WORE TIGHTS) rents a Manhattan penthouse in the hopes of snagging rich husbands.

Of course, Fate often hands you things totally unexpected, and soon the girls realise that money can't be a substitute for happiness. There are plenty of pin-sharp observations about the opposite sex, a good 50-odd years before "Sex and the City" decided to make a whole TV show about women in the Big Apple.

Marilyn, Lauren and Betty make a colorful trio, and the CinemaSope picture is indeed a treat to the eyes.

The DVD includes restoration comparisons and trailers. Available separately or as part of the Marilyn Monroe Diamond Collection.

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Lauren Bacall, Betty Grable and Marilyn Monroe star in a Broadway play adaptation, as three New York models who together rent a Sutton Place apartment in order to attract rich husbands. Their plan appears to go awry when after a few months they are forced to sell the furniture in the lavishly appointed pad for living expenses.

The girls fortunes appear to turn when Bacall meets elderly Texas cattle baron J.D. Hanley played by the debonair William Powell. Grable gets lured to Maine by wealthy but married Fred Clark but winds up falling for and marrying penniless forest ranger Rory Calhoun. The visually challenged but super sexy Monroe winds up on the wrong plane when going to meet her prospective beau in Atlantic City. She winds up enamored with and marrying tax cheat and previous owner of their apartment David Wayne, who is equally blind.

Throughout the film Bacall is pursued by a Tom Brookman played by Cameron Mitchell. She dismisses him as being a poor gas station attendant. Bacall and Powell are all set to be married but at the last moment she can't go through with it. Mitchell, who Bacall really cares for, stands in for Powell and marries her. They are all shocked when they learn that Mitchell is actually worth 200 million.

The gals have their plans dashed but wind up marrying for the right reason...........LOVE.

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First of all, this movie is still hysterical. It is a work of art. Although Marilyn got top billing, she's clearly out-performed by both Lauren Bacall and Betty Grable.

Let me, for a brief moment talk about the "Diamond Collection" version of How To Marry A Millionaire. When you think of remastering, especially older films made on Cineascope or Technicolor, you think of rich, vibrant-colored stories in particular the Rogers and Hammerstein collection. Excellent. You, especially, think of the remastered Disney Collection. Excellent. Both of which, were competing genres at the time Marilyn was making a name for herself. You might even throw the remastered "The Wizard of Oz" (1937) in the fray. And yet, this "Diamond Collection" is barely passable as a DVD version. This isn't a distinct restoration. The images, even in the special feature section "Restoration Comparison" shows how little the previous version and the film version hasn't had much improvement with this collection. Don't get me wrong, the sound reproduction is superb, but this is comedy and a lot depends on visuals.

Recently, I started to repurchase the Disney collection-their "Platinum 2-disc" set. Cinderella, Peter Pan. And, there is a profound difference between the last version and this deluxe version. The Sound of Music, the same thing.

This isn't to say, it's not worth watching, but there's little to no improvement in picture quality. And, that's too bad, the technology is already here and their apology for "grainy film loss" is no excuse for not investing in a better color transfer system.

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Other reviewers do a fine job summarizing the plot and the reasons for viewing this film, so here's an overlooked morsel to savor: the opening orchestral number is the ultimate inside joke.

The number Alfred Newman conducts had been used as the title theme for the Oscar-winning movie "Gentlemen's Agreement" a half-decade earlier. While the plots of the two films are light years apart, the title of the earlier one (which had to do with anti-Semitism) addresses one of the final plot twists in "How To Marry..." In essence, the orchestra's opening performance represents a droll set-up to this delightful movie's windup, but so subtly that only Hollywood insiders would be aware of what was being done.

Funniest bit in the movie: a very lecherous Fred Clark foiled by a bridge tolltaker.

Innocent playfulness with a great Fifties cast and well worth a view.

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Prey (2007)

My son is obsessed with movies and has well over 700 in his collection. A lot of them were VHS tapes that were destroyed in a flood so I'm replacing them as I can with Blu-ray, a few at a time. He saw this movie a couple of years ago and liked the action and adventure. A mother and her son and daughter are stranded in their jeep on a remote African trail when their guide is attacked by lions and they are trapped inside as lions are stalking around the vehicle. It's not an A list movie but it's got action and it's good enough to keep you interested. .

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Tarantino XX: 8-Film Collection (Reservoir Dogs / True Romance / Pulp Fiction / Jackie Brown / Kill

To start, I own each of these already on dvd previously before picking up the Blu-Ray. I felt obligated to do so because of some of the additional special features, as well as, seeing each of them look gorgeous on Blu-Ray together. Was I right by picking this up. Absolutely love it all.

I've read quite a few reviewers trying to understand why True Romance is included when Mr. Tarantino only wrote this. Then why not include From Dusk Till Dawn or Natural Born Killers because he wrote those as well. If you read up on a lot of his movies are within the same universe. "John Travolta's Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction is the brother of Michael Madsen's Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs, Harvey Keitel's Mr. White worked with Alabama from True Romance, the plot basis for Kill Bill is described as the synopsis for a TV series (basically Fox Force Five, right on down to Mia Wallace playing the title role) in Pulp Fiction, etc. Now the epiphany that Eli Roth's character of Donny Donowitz aka "The Bear Jew" in Inglourious Basterds is the father of the movie producer Lee Donowitz in True Romance has inspired a truly mind-blowing theory that the rest of the films (chronologically speaking) in Tarantino's filmography..." The other movies he has written do not truly fit within the "universe" Mr. Tarantino has created.

All in all, this is an amazing, must have collection to pick up.

I'm a big fan of QT, so this was a no brainer purchase. Comes with a look back at all of Tarantino's classic films and a good amount of special features. Not sure why True Romance was included as he was only the writer, but it's a must have for a QT fan. I already own most of the movies on DVD, but the upgrade to Blu-Ray was a necessity. Would buy again.

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This is an amazing set of movies from an amazing filmmaker, and on Blu Ray non the less! I was, however, VERY unimpressed with the quality and design of the packaging. The box that holds all of the disks is quite flimsy. It is easy to bend, and could also rip without too much effort. The disk insert itself is also quite flimsy, and comes out from the BOTTOM of the box, not the side like most other collections. This may be an issue if you plan on keeping this on a shelf. Someone may take this off the shelf and the entire collections of disks will come out from the bottom if you aren't ready to catch them. The inner sleeve comes out with no effort at all. The artwork and graphic design included on the packaging is very awesome which is a plus. Perhaps they had to use such cheap materials to keep the cost low on a 10 disk Blu Ray set? I don't see an excuse for the opening to be on the bottom, though. That is just poor design. I have made a strap to go around the outside of the box to keep the inner sleeve from coming right out any time this collection is picked up. If you can get past the materials used and poor design of the packaging, this is a MUST HAVE collection for any Tarantino fan!

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I bought this box set as a fathers day gift. He absolutely loved it. He is a big tarantino fan. It had all of his favorite movies and also additional footage

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I was so happy to buy this item.

All my Tarantino's favorites movies (exept Four Rooms) in one pack !!!!

But I'm a f... french Guy, and in contrary that is wrote, there is no french subtitles, just english and spanish ones.

If you can read and spoke spanish or english clearly, it's a Big deal for you.

If you not, ruuuuun !!

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Unthinkable (2010)

As stated by many reviewers, this movie is a 5 star "under the radar" supernnova! Samuel Jackson portrays a "non-existent" terrorist interrogator, who is brought out to save the country from a nuclear Muslim terrorist, Arthur Younger played beautifully by Michael Sheen. Younger is frighteningly convincing with a mysterious conviction, a personal and religious agenda involving at least 3 hidden nuclear bombs of mass destruction, hidden in unknown metropolitan America.

Jackson's character is magnificent, simply known as "H," the silver bullet weapon who is the only chance to extract key information and save millions from an impending holocaust. The movie races under a pressure cooker of time, obstacles of authority, and confusion on how far to go in this unbelievable quandry of intensity and horror. What does "H" need to do to uncover and neutralize this madman's design to kill millions of innocents? The military and intelligence teams are portrayed with sublime perfection, especially the supporting actress, Carrie Ann Moss. She is utterly convincing as an icon of righteousness in being Helen Brody, FBI supervisor. Helen is on a rollercoaster of confliction, bound by integrity, ethics, and procedure who undergoes a shattering metamorphasis as the plot unfolds into one of narrowing, "unthinkable" choices.

This movie is more than thought provoking...it erupts off the Richter scale with aftershocks of repercussion that stay with the viewer for days! Shameful, painful, but somehow justifiable degradation of civilized behaviors under the duress of mass annihilation. What exactly will we do to protect our own and how will we justify it after the fact? "All virtue is summed up in dealing justly." ~Aristotle~ The premise remains as to "What is justice in certain circumstances...or does it cease to exist?" How far can we go before we individually and collectively blur the lines of our ethics and morality and revert back to primitive survival instincts? Is survival a matter of virtue or justice? Are basic instincts wrong?

This movie is impossible to watch without churning up inevitable questions of what lies beneath our civilized behaviors. Physical and mental torture are dancing on the razor's edge, the director (Gregor Jordan) is masterful at capturing the hidden, delicate and sledge hammer effects of this incredible and poignant battle. A masterpiece that will haunt our thoughts into analyzing each and every facet in this prescient film. Absolutely unthinkable to miss this one...

Extremely powerful. I finished watching this movie a few moments ago, and am struggling to come up with the words to describe it. First I should say that the movie is graphicly violent, as most of it is based on the torture of one suspected terrorist. The movie generally plays on the what-ifs and what people assume is the worst case scenario to an attack on the United States. However unlikely we may want to say the story is, those that have researched wartime history know that as humans we have been and can be amazingly cruel. One of the things that I thought was well done with this movie is that... at least to me... did not seem to tell the story from only one perspective. Whether it was the conflict between "suspect" and government agencies, or the conflict between giving life value or to torture, or whether we would be willing to destroy everything we are in order to save ourselves. I was hesitant to rent this movie at first simply because I have not been impressed with Samuel Jackson's choices of roles over the past few years... but I think this is the best work he has done in a long time. Despite that the movie may take some turns the viewer finds unthinkable, they were smart enough to know that not everything has to be shown to be conveyed. And unfortunately for us as the human race, the reality could be worse than what the movie even implies. But I believe the movie was made to make the viewer think, because in the end there may be no definitive moment for either side to say "Aha! See I was right, and therefore it was all worth it."

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I am usually hard pressed to give 5 stars to any movie, game, etc but this movie gives excellent reasons for me to give 5 stars.

The review by M. Himed was excellent except one point. He/she stated that there was a scene where a woman said she had been raped. He said we didn't know if she was Muslim or Christian. He/she was incorrrect. The woman speaking to Carrie-Anne Moss was Sam Jackson's wife and in the beginning of the movie they clearly state, his wife is a devoute Muslim. She was the one who was raped at one point. It's one of the reasons Sam Jackson is considered to be one of the most dangerous people that the Gov reps use to do their dirty work. He has reasons to hate terrorists.

Michael Sheen is awesome in his performance. With a large, well known cast around him, he stepped up and delivered an amazing performance. The mental chess game he plays is very well acted.

This movie shows the average viewer that sometimes, the unthinkable MUST be done in order to save the lives of the innocent.

Some people watching this have said that "You just can't do that!" or "That would never happen!". This is a movie called "Unthinkable". It is A MOVIE about an interrogator that will do anything to get the information in order to save lives. Even use women and children for leverage. Yes, it's hard to watch but that is what this movie is about.

I can't recommend this enough.

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A very hard-hitting film with an ever harder-hitting performance by Samuel L. Jackson. Samuel portrays the character so beautifully that while the menace in his character is easily believable, nobody would hate the character played by him. The balance achieved by Samuel was superb. He deserves an Oscar for this performance.

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The situation: Nuclear bombs are planted in at least three American cities and a terrorist has decided he will endure any torture, if necessary, to stick to his beliefs. Samuel Jackson plays H, a man who is willing to do just about anything to get information from the terrorist. Things become very bloody and very gory quite quickly.

Before describing this movie any further, I need to be clear that if you have ANY difficulty watching graphic portrayals of a man being tortured...you will definitely have issues with this one. Whether you can stand to watch the movie or not, at least think about what levels of torture you would find acceptable to save lives. Not every single detail of the torture is shown but there is enough to be quite graphic, along with the screams of a man in deep pain. It is very easy to imagine exactly what is being done...even when it isn't shown.

Helen Brody, played by Carrie-Anne Moss, balances out H's commitment to full scale torture. She is horrified by how the terrorist is treated but also has to question her values as time goes on.

When the movie ended, I confess that I said, "Wait! Is that the ending? They left it like THIS?!"That ought to tell you that this isn't one of those movies where every last detail is nicely explained and packed in a fine, neat ending with a moral or message with a capital "M". You aren't pounded over the head with any meaning. However, after I got over my initial disappointment (after all, I'd watched all those torture scenes and that is NOT my cup of tea), I started to realize how the ending made sense.

My take is that this movie is meant to get people thinking how far they would be willing to go to potentially save lives. Also at stake: how useful is torture in getting the truth out of the tortured? What toll does it take on those who are torturers? How do people who have a strong distaste of certain types of torture react when they have to question their deepest beliefs?

In spite of my strong reaction to the ending, this movie did leave me thinking about it for days so that could be reason enough to see it. Samuel L. Jackson gives a very strong performance and the woman who plays his wife (can't recall the name of that actress) has one powerful moment where I believe she makes Helen Brody realize that life is far more complex than Brody ever realized. I may not be remembering these words perfectly but Brody doesn't hide her disgust when she asks H's wife something like "How can you justify what he does? How can you accept him?" The wife explains her side of things and Brody is forced to think beyond "good" and "evil" and truly wonder what needs to be done to keep the country safe. At least, she starts down the path of doubt.

I related strongly to the characters and wish I hadn't assumed that the ending would be so pat. If you want a suspense movie that makes you think, try this one. If you like to know exactly "what happens next?" the ending may leave you feeling let down. It left me feeling that way. But the movie still haunted me.

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Chihuly in the Hotshop (2008)

Sadly Dale Chihuly does'nt blow much glass works himself anymore,due to a serious car accident,but he does help design some of the coolest looking glass works imaginable,sure he does look kinda likea mixture of Wavy Gravy and a pirate,but he IS hip!!! During this 90 min. program,watch magic being made,via very hot material,see some the best "gaffers"(not the movie type,okay!)make some very beautiful glass works!!! Get this before it goes out of print!!! And it look and sound good on Blu Ray Disc!!! Don't collect glass works myself,but I DO appiciate great art!!! Recommended for fans of Chihuly or just graet art in general!!! Igot this great disc for $9.99 new at find that quite a bargian!!! No extras here,not even sound options,just enjoy it for the great program it contains,and it's Blu Ray to boot!!! A+

I saw the original show on PBS last year, and immediately called all my friends to watch the repeats during the week. When I saw the Blu-Ray on a large screen in a Sony Style store, I had to have the disk myself.

I collect glass, blown and fused, and have made stained glass windows off and on for 30 years. I've watched glass blowing dozens of times, and have friends who are commercial glass artists. Dale Chihuly has never been one of my favorite glass artists, and own none of his designs, but I recognize his design talent and role in the studio movement.

What this video shows is not his technique [since he hasn't blow glass in decades], but his design work with some extraordinary glass artists you rarely see, including William Morris and Lino Tagliapietre, each of whom is a grand master glass blower.

If you want to watch this expecting to learn how to be a glass blower, you will be disappointed if you want to see how the process of design is carried out into finished work by true experts, this DVD won't disappoint I just recommend getting the Blu-Ray version, as the colors and sharpness are very good.

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I purchased this Blu-ray because I have always been very interested in glass blowing and glass art. I previously researched Chihuly's work and observed various demonstrations of Chihuly and many other glass artists. I wanted more of that, and this Blu-ray did not disappoint.

The disc is composed of various chapters (I think 10), each focusing on a different glass piece that forms the basis for much of Chihuly's work (i.e., seaforms, machia, persian, baskets, etc.) Each chapter is filmed in the same demonstration auditorium with stadium style seating surrounding a large glass blowing area. I believe this auditorium is in the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington.

The video quality is excellent, with minor imperfections and noise in various places throughout. The audio quality is also great. The soundtrack is comprised of a very strange hodgepodge of mid-90's pop music -very strange, but mildly entertaining.

I am giving the disc 4 out of 5 stars for one reason. There is simply not enough focus on what the artists are doing. There is very little explanation of the tools and techniques that are being used -which is what I wanted. Chihuly narrates much of the video, providing a brief history of the particular piece, the people involved in its original creation, and what inspired him to start making them. Then, the rest is just soundtrack with various individuals creating the pieces (Chihuly himself no longer blows glass). There is simply not enough focus on the detail or technique for me. I'm not sure if this information is intentionally withheld as it may reveal Chihuly's secrets, but each segment left me wanting a whole lot more. Maybe I'm too accustomed to shows like How It's Made, which do a great job of explaining what is going on at all steps.

Corresponding with this lack of detail was a lack of actual camera time on the intricacies of the glass. For example, when pieces are finished, there is no final shot of the piece. You simply see the piece transferred into the cooling box and that's it. No final shot or pan around the piece.

All in all, the video feels more like a preview -it lacks depth and detail. There is a lot more personal stories from Chihuly himself, rather than demonstration and explanation of the glass work. If I could have, I would have rented it and moved along. I don't think I will ever watch the video again for the next 10 years. That said, I still admire the artwork, the video quality of the disc, and substance covered throughout

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If you have ever heard of Dale Chihuly, you owe it to yourself to get this film! It shows a large number of small sessions where he & his team create the items he has become famous for. The only thing I hated was the "background" music, which was way too intrusive, way too loud, and way too much! I would have loved to hear more dialogue between the craftsmen, or narration, or anything but this annoying music by the tom Tom Club, whoever in the world they are. Sounds like some sort of musical torture session, why the producers used so much and so loud is beyond me.

To top it off, you never know when there is going to be talking by the glass blowers inserted into the music, so if you don't want to miss anything you have to just endure it. But it is still worth the purchase!

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Great PBS special showing Chihuly and his extremely gifted peers and students making all that tremendously beautiful glass art that those of us who know and love Chihuly feel such awe and admiration for. Any true glass art lover will enjoy this educational video which shows the glass blowers at work, from drawing to finished product. Recommended.

Spider-Man 1-3 (2007)

Anyone looking to purchase this trilogy is already a fan of the SPIDERMAN movies and wants to know how they stand up in the magic of blu ray. We all know that the original SPIDERMAN was an amzing film a rare treat of exemplary action with superb acting for a change. Tobey Maguire and cast finally brought to the comic action movie acting ability that made the film believable. With Tobey Maguire was born Peter Parker/Spdiderman. We also know that with SPIDERMAN 2 the same cast and crew came together with a film that far surpassed the hugely succesful and critically acclaimed original to be the best in the trilogy. All that was good in the first was raised many notches. SPIDERMAN 3 was still a good film but certainly not a match for 1 and 2. Very enjoyable but a little lackluster in comparison.

Now for the blu ray test. All I can say is AMAZING. The source they are working from on the original is not as superb as the other two which makes the picture quality slightly grainy in its 1080p hd presentation. But this in no means is a bad thing. It is still a very vivid picture with blacks and colors strongly presented. You quickly get used to the slight grain and the film becomes the best presentation you will ever see of it. With SPIDERMAN 2 the caliber raises. All grain is gone and the picture remains crystal clear and vibrant throughout. All fight/action scenes are awesome and the entire film will leave you breathless. SPIDERMAN 3 has a picture of the great quality the same as the second film and it helps immensely to raise the quality of the film itself much higher for you will be in awe watching the richness and awe striking special effects.

With all three films the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio is of the highest quality. Dialogue is strong and crisp with all speakers in strong, heavy use for action sequences and it seems even the smallest scenes manage to work the rear speakers which is rare. These three films are at their best here and perfectly made for the high standards of blu ray. You cannot imagine how great these films appear in blu ray till you actually see them for yourself. You will never be able to view them another way again.

I do agree that the only flaw with this set is the absence of substantial special features. They do provide the 2nd disc with SPIDERMAN 3 that is all features but do not have it for SPIDERMAN 1 or 2. Having all this would have made the set perfect. So it is not perfect but it still cannot make me lower my 5 star rating for the blu ray presentation of these films is exemplary.

If you are developing a blu ray library and love these films this SPIDERMAN HIGH DEF BLU RAY TRILOGY is a definite must. Highly recommended.

...since the movies in the trilogy deserve their own reviews and have been done to death already. The low cost (even lower by $10 since I bought it) is what motivated me to buy this blu-ray disc set. I already have the special editions of all three Spiderman movies on DVD, so I wanted to see what blu-ray would bring to the home theater table, having recently bought a PS3. True, the picture quality is awesome and the audio certainly will blow you away. However, there are hardly any special features only the third disc has any to speak of. This is an underwhelming effort, considering the massive amount of space availalble on blu-ray discs. Compare, for example, the featurettes and even mini-movies on "I Am Legend".

One thing I discovered about audio selection: if you choose PCM and your receiver is not capable of processing uncompressed signals (my Onkyo only does HDMI pass-through), all you'll get is simulated surround (e.g. Dolby ProLogic). So I ended up with 5.1 and although it may not be true HD, it's good enough for my 7.1 setup. But if you're an audiophile you would have known about this already.

My summary HD picture quality: a strong 4 stars, audio quality and options: 4 stars, special features: a dismal 1 star hence the overall 3 star rating. I guess for the price, this set is not too bad, but considering the wealth of possibilities for the Spiderman franchise, it fell short of my expectations.

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Spider-Man 1 & 2 Does not include any of the amazing behind the scenes content originally released on the DVDs. Why would a studio release two extraordinary FX films of this magnitude and incredible production values on a format that can hold so much information, and fail to include the extras? If you're a fan of behind the scenes content, hold onto your DVDs.

Movie A+. Blu-Ray value for Spider-Man 1&2 FAIL.

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This review is for the Spider-Man: Ultimate High Definition trilogy Box Set.

It contains the following films: "Spider-Man" (2002), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), "Spider-Man 2.1" (an extended cut of Spider-Man 2 featuring some new sequences, and some entirely different alternate scenes) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007).

As for the films, I'd rate them as such:

"Spider-Man" ... 8 out of 10

"Spider-Man 2/2.1" ... 10 out of 10

"Spider-Man 3" ... 7 out of 10 (I didn't hate it, it had a charm and a lot of good factors, despite it's obvious large faults.)

The Blu-Ray image is pretty incredible. I already owned all three on DVD, but I wanted to upgrade, as these films deserve the High-Def treatment. All three look significantly better, compared to their standard-def DVD counterparts. The first "Spider-Man" is the least dramatic upgrade, but the image is still clearer, sharper and more detailed... I was able to see a lot of things I missed on DVD (I didn't realize how much of the image was lost on DVD from compression and whatnot, because every shot I was seeing things I hadn't seen since the movie theater in 2002)so even though it wasn't the greatest Blu-Ray picture quality, it was still definitely worth the upgrade.

The second and third films are where the High-Def image pays off, though! I had just watched the second and third films days before this set arrived on DVD, and it is like night and day. "Spider-Man 2" was astounding in terms of how much more I could see in the image. You felt like you could reach into the movie. Textures looked real (DVD won't give you that), colors were brighter, small things (sparks, bits of glass, sweat, water) had astonishingly more detail. It was a huge upgrade. And "Spider-Man 3" was just as incrediblewhat really got me is that you could literally see things that are invisible on the DVD (Ex. You can see every single speck of sand during the Sandman scenes, and when we see the news broadcast towards the end of the film, I couldn't see the "horizontal TV lines" on DVD at all, whereas here, they're clearly visible.).

I can't comment much for sound, as I just play my sound through the TV speakers, but judging from that, everything is mixed well.

The special features are where this review almost slipsthe only special features are those from "Spider-Man 3", which felt a bit odd. They are cool features, but it seemed like a missed opprotunity.

But all in all, the price (which has come down a lot) makes it worth it. You can find really good quality used or even new copies in the $25-$35 range, so I can't complain much about the featuresthe price is right, the quality is amazing, and what features there are, are very solid.

I'd highly recommend this set! Great films.

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Following the cult classic status of Blade and the surprising box office success of X-Men, Marvel decided to lend out the rights of another one of their most cherished characters. Based on the success of the cartoons, this was sure to pull in a very specific demographic, but I doubt they expected it to be as popular as it became. It surpassed the success of X-Men, and ushered in a decade that would have many more comic book, cartoon, and toy movies set records. For too many years, these types of properties did not get the respect they deserved as real dramatic and action movies, and not just dumb superhero fun. Spider-Man finally got that due respect. The weekend it came out, my focus was on Star Wars Episode II, but after I saw Spider-Man I was blown away. Like many others of my generation, my fandome really started with the first Spidey film, and then blossomed into collecting stacks upon stacks of comics. The visual effects were not the standard for the time, especially with the aforementioned Star Wars film coming out, but they were still pretty damn good. The music was fantastic, thanks to Danny Elfman (the man behind The Simpsons music, and so many other great film scores). Director Sam Raimi created a truly stylistic and visual masterpiece. Honestly, I'm not a fan of the Evil Dead series. I doubted a director best known for horror movies would do the material justice, but he did not disappoint.

Neither did the cast. All of the actors were fairly new to me. I had no idea who most of them were, except Kirsten Dunst I knew from Small Soldiers (I was a child). But I always applaud and appreciate big blockbusters that turn lesser names into household names. Tobey maguire and Dunst had a chemistry that really dold the complex relationship of the two iconic characters they were portraying. To this day, my favorite character, besides Spider-Man, is definitely JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson. If ever there were an actor born to play a specific supporting role, it was him. Willem Dafoe was great as Norman Osborn. As the serum changed him from a desperate businessman to a conflicted monster, the not so subtle nuances of Dafoe's performance really began to shine through. If only Green Goblin's costume had less of a silly looking design, then his character would be one of the premier villains in Marvel film history. As it stands, Goblin's costume only hurts the film by making it seem more campy than it really is. It serves as a constant reminder that you're watching a cartoon with real people acting it out. Nevertheless, Spider-Man should definitely be creditted as the film that sparked the hype and interest that comic book adaptations get today. If it were not for Spider-Man (as well as Blade and X-Men), I doubt that movies like Watchmen, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic 4, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Dare Devil, or any of the other countless comic book and superhero flicks would have been taken seriously enough to be converted from script into film.

And the Blu-ray presentation of this old favorite of mine was night and day upon my discovery of the disc. I had seen the DVDs countless times, but it wasn't until my eyes were laid upon the BD that I appreciated every inch of every frame as they were shot. Detail is remarkable. Color is rich. It truly is like watching the movie for the very first time.

Spider-Man 2 is what fans dream about when the sequal to a movie as fantastic as Spider-Man is announced. Topping a film as great as that one is a definite challenge, but it seems to happen more and more each passing year. Sequals like this one, X2: X-Men United, T2: Judgement Day, The Dark Knight, and others all have one thing in common. Beyond just being a "sequal", they managed to outdo their predecessors in almost every way. Spider-Man 2 is not only a great sequal, it is one of the best comic book movies ever made. It doesn't go for the mature adult feel that The Dark Knight has. On the contrary, Spider-Man 2 maintains that corny camp and tongue-in-cheek humor that made the first one so good. Sure some of the dialogue is cheesy at times, and the action is never tries to be realistic, but isn't that why we go to these movies? To be virtually thrilled to the point of exhaustion? Okay, maybe that's taking it a bit far, but my point remains that these films don't need to strive for realism. Their fantasy elements and use of childlike imagination and wonder are what make them so great.

Its about a man with spider-like abilities fighting a man with mechanical tentacles attached to his back. The only thing I felt was lacking in TDK, is very abundant in Spidey 2. There is great humor, and the movie has the overall feel of an actual comic book. I also got a sense of the director and writers respect for their source material, but not being afraid to have fun with it. The ending of this film gave me chills the first few times I saw it. It wasn't until Spider-Man 3 actually came out, that the end of Spidey 2 lost some of its magic. Spider-Man 2 is in a solid second place on the list of my favorite comic book movies of all time. Right above films like The Avengers, Sin City, Iron Man, etc. There is really only one thing I didn't like about the movie. There were too many close-ups of random women screaming. It was okay once or twice, but not four or five times. That's minor though. This movie was a fine achievement. As for the Blu-ray transfer. Is it as great as the first one's? An emphatic yes! Even better, in fact. The adundance of detail and clarity are remarkable. This disc is a reference disc to show how amazing catalogue blockbusters can look.

As far as Spider-Man 3 goes, I want start off by saying that I like this movie. Probally more than you do. With that said, I'll also add that it does serve its purpose, which is to prove that any Spider-Man movie will have great special effects, fine character development, okay acting, and make a shitload of money. Spider-Man 3 is a good film in its own right, but only a decent one when put in the tall dark shadow of its amazing, and incredibly revolutionary predecessors. It does not add much of value to the franchise, aside from introducing some of the most popular characters in Spidey's publication history. That said, those characters aren't given the attention and respect they deserve. They feel more like late additions that were shoehorned in. Overall the movie was not terrible though. It was definitely better than both of the Fantastic 4 movies, Ghost Rider, Elektra, and Daredevil, as well as some other less than savory comic book adaptations. The only thing that really held this movie down were the, not one, but two unnecessary dance scenes, and underdeveloped characters. The worst of the two dance scenes was Peter walking down the street like he was in a music video. The second dance scene reminded me of the jazz flute scene in Anchorman. That should never be. Those scenes made me feel like Sam Raimi was too comfortable with the fact that the movie would make alot of money, and there was no major competition in the superhero/comic book movie department, besides a few hits and a couple of upcoming challengers.

That may have been passable in the summer of 2007, but now we have The Avengers saga and The Dark Knight trilogy that have set the bar so high that movies like them should be treated with the utmost respect and care. The addition of Gwen Stacy seemed rather pointless to me, unless they planned on ellaborating on the love triangle between her, Peter, and Mary Jane from the comics in later installments that never came to fruition. The running time was noticably longer than the previous two films, and it felt like a bloated Thanksgiving turkey. There's no reason the two dance scenes should have made the final cut. Some editors and directors don't understand what truly qualifies as a "Deleted Scene". Aside from the dance scenes, perhaps the biggest issue I have with this film is the treatment of my all-time favorite Spidey villain, Venom. Venom was so obviously a late addition to the script that it made me mad. And in addition to that, he was not the towering, manacing presence that we know him as. I must admit though, I loved the wonderful, yet very predictable team-ups of Spider-Man and the New Goblin versus Sandman and Venom. That really brought something to the movie when it was in desperate need of a kick-start. Spidey 3 was not the disaster it has so often been called by geeks and armchair critics alike, but it wasn't an achievement either.

Now for the Blu-ray treatment of this rather mid-level, if slightly above average comic book film. Simply put, it's reference quality. The audio and video transfers are pretty much flawless. The extras are incredibly thorough and comprehensive as well. This trilogy is one of the best looking and sounding sets on the market. The only flaw with the set, aside from the decrease in quality entering the third installment, is the lack of extras on the first two discs. Overall though, this set is Highly Recommended, but the re-releases of the first two films are better than the first two discs in this set.

Mona Lisa (1986)

"Mona Lisa" remains one of Neil Jordan's best movies. Bob Hoskins plays George a small time thug who took went to prison to protect his boss Mortwell (Michael Caine). To reward George for his sacrifice he gives him a job chaffeuring around Simone (Cathy Tyson)a high priced call girl that Mortwell wants to keep track of. Despite her initial chilly reception, George falls in love with her. Ultimately she asks him to make a major sacrifice so she can be free of Mortwell and his world. It's a price that leads to tragedy and violence.

A brilliant film noir, Hoskins earned an Oscar nomination for his performance and really he deserved it. His portrayal of George is complex. While he's a criminal, he's also surprisingly naive and innocent in his own way and the code of conduct he follows in his life reflects much more solid values than that of a petty crook. Michael Caine shines in a pivotal but small role as Mortwell. Caine has never given a performance as nasty and chillingly evil as he does here. Cathy Tyson ("The Serpent and the Rainbow", "Priest") also deserves kudos for her performance as Simone. Although the surface of her character is chilly she hints at the depths of emotion raging beneath the surface of this sophisticated and sad woman.

The Criterion edition of this looks exceptionally good with nice color reproduction and a crisp, sharp picture. It appears that the same master that was used for the 1996 laserdisc was used here, though, and it probably should have been remastered from a new digital transfer. While presented in its original format this isn't an anamorphic transfer that I can tell which is, again, another reason to update this and create a high definition DVD.

Neil Jordan and Bob Hoskins commentary track provide a surprising amount of interesting detail about the making of the movie. Usually commentary tracks with an actor and director devolves into a lovefest with little actually uncovered but that's not the case here. We learn about the difficulty that Jordan had initially interesting backers in the project and how pivotal the casting of Michael Caine was to making this project viable.

I still would have liked to have more in the way of extras for this classic film. Like the recent re-release of "The Crying Game", there has to be some alternate scenes that survived or outtakes that might have been of interest to fans. Additionally, why not do a retrospective documentary or a glimpse back at Jordan's career as a featurette? Hopefully Criterion (or whomever picks up the license on this film for DVD release in the US) will remaster this and add the extras that this classic film calls for.

Fresh out of jail and trying to reconnect with his daughter, Hoskins is a working stiff/street thug who gets a job from crime boss Michael Caine chauffering a "high-class black tart" played by Cathy Tyson. The Hoskins character is remarkably naive, falls in love with the prostitute and tries to protect her, and disaster ensues.

There's an unforgettable moment, when they're both in tears, hiding behind silly plastic eyeglasses in a garish carnival setting, and, trying to explain her odd situation that he's just beginning to understand, she says, "Haven't you ever needed someone?" and he squeezes out the reply: "All the time."

It's a remarkably tender story in a chokingly ugly environment. Caine is gruesomely sleazy.

I remember seeing this when it first came out, about the time of "Blue Velvet" and "Brazil"; what an amazing era that was! All three movies even had ironically sweet or upbeat theme songs from a few decades before.

Director Neil Jordan later moved on to the weirder pastures of "The Crying Game," and then the glossy jobs "Interview with the Vampire" and now "The End of the Affair," but I still consider this his best -not to mention Bob Hoskins's most incredible acting work.

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I believe Neil Jordan put together a work of perfection here. I deeply cared for the two main characters (played brilliantly by Hoskins and Tyson). The portrayal of the pain of isolation and the hopelessness of not being able to connect with their desires touched me at a level only great works can do. All the details of a film are done with perfection.(Don't forget the fine little performance of Robbie Coltrane who later became the main charater in "Cracker".) But given the individual stengths of the fascinating plot, the extraordinary performances and the effective filming and music, it is the whole, the gestalt of this work, that reaches the highest level of art.

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Firstly I would say that if you have in your library John Mackenzie's THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, also available in the Criterion collection, and Neil Jordan's MONA LISA, you already have a good specimen of what the British cinema was able to offer in the eighties. A fabulous actor, Bob Hoskins, is present in both movies; he won the best actor prize at the 1986 Cannes Festival for MONA LISA.

Neil Jordan began his career as a writer and is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting film directors nowadays. It's always challenging for the common viewer to watch a movie directed by a former writer. One often wonders why the director has left his books for the cinema. Some of these ex-writers use the camera as if they were handling a pen and the result is dreadful. Or too intellectual. Fortunately, with MONA LISA, Neil Jordan has created a stunning visual world and George and Simone's night wanderings through the London underworld an unforgettable cinematographic journey.

MONA LISA develops a lot of themes that will touch you in a way or in another. The different levels of the movie are so well mingled in the story that you will be able to watch MONA LISA several times and still discover little pearls hidden by the brilliant director. At the end of the movie, I just wanted to check the sound quality of the commentary track recorded in 1996 by Neil Jordan and Bob Hoskins and I found myself trapped into MONA LISA for an immediate second screening.

Apart from the commentary, this Criterion DVD offers the theatrical trailer and a one page written Neil Jordan commentary.

A DVD for your library.

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Upon its 1986 release, "Mona Lisa" was proclaimed a masterpiece of the British crime film drama; it brought the Irish-born Neil Jordan, who'd both written and directed it, to the forefront of working British film directors. Reminded everyone of Nat King Cole's great song. Won its star Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination, as well as the Cannes Film Festival and British Academy Awards. It's since been recognized as one of the big three of British noir crime dramas: Michael Caine made "Get Carter," Hoskins made "The Long Good Friday;" together, they made "Mona Lisa."

The movie has frequently been compared to Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," for many reasons. Hoskins stars as George, typical, low-wattage East End thug, just getting out of jail after doing seven years for crime boss Mortwell (Caine). George thinks he's owed; Caine gives him a job chauffeuring high priced hooker Simone (Cathy Tyson). Hoskins is expert, as ever, in conveying the controlled violence in George's soul; he also conveys as well as possible the character's surprising naivete. Caine is the cool, even-tempered, joking, fierce villain we saw in "Get Carter;" there's a ten-second bit where he allows Mortwell's mask to slip; we see him with bared teeth, closing in for the kill. Tyson, on her way to a television career, does a good job as Simone, with her own problems. The young Sammi Davis, best known for "Hope and Glory,' stands out as an exploited young drug-addicted prostitute. And the economy-sized Scots comic Robbie Coltrane, before his television success as "Cracker," seems wasted in a pointless subplot, as George's best friend.

Still, to me, the most apt comparison to this movie is actually the movie of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." We have Coltrane, as Hoskin's friend, often asking him to "Tell me a story, George." That's a direct quote from Lenny (Lon Chaney Jr.)'s frequent request to his George, Burgess Meredith. And we have cockney George buying a rabbit for Mortwell, we're never told why, but Lenny had a pet rabbit in "Of Mice and Men." However, on a first viewing after several years, what was most striking to me about this film was how mannered the script is, how careful to alternate dramatic highs and lows. And how unlikely it is that Hoskins' character could be quite so naive, after an adult life spent the shady side of the law, and a seven-year jail stint.

The seamy London underworld of homelessness, drugs, and kinky sex is well-captured in this movie; the powerful photography gives us the feel of some of the city's meanest inhabitants and streets.

Otherwise, this movie builds upon another of Jordan's signature themes: the love of a man for an inappropriate woman. George is evidently greatly mistaken in believing that a character as damaged as Simone can be talked into a future of love, marriage, and a baby carriage. The same theme pops immediately to mind in at least the eight other feature films, that Jordan wrote, and/or directed, that I've seen. Many viewers will be familiar with the recent "Breakfast on Pluto." Liam Neeson, an Irish parish priest, fathers a child upon his housekeeper, whom he actually loves. In "The End of the Affair," Ralph Fiennes tries to continue seeing Julianne Moore, but she's sworn off him, in a prayer to God to save his life during the London blitz. In "Interview with the Vampire," the seven-year old vampire played by Kirsten Dunst, will never, in all eternity, be mature enough for Tom Cruise's undead character. In "The Crying Game,"well, the transvestite Dil will never be the woman Fergus thought she was. Then there's "The Good Thief:" Nick Nolte's old enough to be a grandfather to that movie's teenage prostitute. In "We're No Angels," Robert De Niro, masquerading as a priest, is flummoxed by Demi Moore's Molly. And "The Miracle," an adopted Irish teenager unknowingly falls in love with his biological, and fully-aware, mother. And then there's "High Spirits," Peter O'Toole at his least disciplined, a silly little haunted castle movie. Poor Steve Guttenberg finds himself in love with a ghost in that one. So what's a feller to do?

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Waltz with Bashir (2008)

"Waltz With Bashir" is one of the great recent examples of how animation can be used not just as a tool for children's entertainment, but as a serious film medium that can have a powerful impact. It is unashamed at being an anti-war film, this is because the director lived and survived the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel, he participated in it and had things to say through his memories and talent. Some on here are going nuts by bashing the film as "anti-Israel," shocked at a movie that would present a realistic, honest portrait of a certain political fantasy they want to keep alive as do most statist devotees. But "Waltz With Bashir" is not just about Israel, it is about war in general, about the experience of war and the brutal reality of violence. As an animated movie, it has deeper, more intelligent things to say than typical gung ho works like "Band Of Brothers" or even the recent "The Hurt Locker."

The film chronicles director Ari Folman's search for his memories of the Lebanon War and more specifically, the Sabra and Shatila massacre, a brutal massacre of Palestinian civilians by the Nazi-inspired Christian Phalange, which at the time was supported by Israel considering the Phalange's leader, Bashir Gemayal, was a potential puppet ruler the Israelis sought to install (for a detailed account of the whole war and the assassination of Bashir Gemayal, read Robert Fisk's brilliant book "Pity The Nation: The Abduction Of Lebanon"). Folman revists old army buddies to recount the war and his own memories of the night Israeli troops fired flares into the sky and stood by as the Phalange carried out is butchery.

This is not the sort of material one would immediately think of as cartoon material, but in the hands of Folman the movie is a masterpiece of the animation medium. The images are haunting and sometimes breathtaking in their depth and scope. Like the best films, the images sometimes say and express profound ideas not found in just the dialogue or plot. The beautiful music by Max Richter helps enhance the film's hypnotic power. Folman's story brilliantly travels from documentary to psychological landscapes, from questions of history and politics to topics of psychology and how memories work and transform themselves. Folman also manages to tell very human stories without resorting to holding big banners in our faces. The politics and other topics all come with a real sense of humanity.

One of the great achievements of "Waltz With Bashir" is how it uses its medium to explore the subject of war. There are moments as surreal as "Apocalypse Now" and as raw and honest as Oliver Stone's "Platoon." Folman is making big statements, but he makes them by simply sharing what he and his fellow soldiers witnessed during the invasion of Lebanon. The visions of war and death can sometimes be terrifying in their clarity. Like the great Israeli writers Uri Avnery and Gideon Levy, Folman doesn't march in step with those who only wish to glorify the Israeli state and every single one of its military operations, he puts a mirror to the reality of the violence and terror of war because no matter how much some try to paint over them with heroism, wars usually spiral into orgies of human corruption and criminal mayhem. In the era of Gaza and Afghanistan, "Waltz With Bashir" has very relevant things to say about the realities of occupation, the politics of war states and the human toll they impose on general populations. The ending of the movie is an especially shattering experience that brings the point home.

"Waltz With Bashir" asks tough questions, which is more than can be said about typical movies these days. It challenges the viewer, this is no doubt what disturbs the die hard Israel supporters on here who immediately respond to the movies with a whole scroll of "facts" or "historical notes" instead of discussing what Folman has to say, or even the accuracy of what Folman shows (and it is accurate even when one looks at Israeli scholarship on the issue). This is an important war film, because it is actually about war itself, it isn't just trying to tell a war story. Folman has made a work of truth and conscience, it will stand the test of time.

Memory is a fickle day dream, and Ari Folman brings it to life as its own character in his animated attempt to document and process his repressed memories of his role in the Sabra and Shatila camp massacres during the 1982 Lebanese War. Although one-sided in its historic depiction, Folman's personal story of working back through the holes in his psyche is gripping. The accounts of his friends as they fill in his experience are as triggering for viewers as Folman. Somewhat intense and sensually disturbing, the graphic artistry is compelling and deceptively simplistic. As memory serves detachment, the quality of animating such charged material creates a layer of psychological comfort for watching horrific events, at least until their reality becomes undeniable. This is not a film for young viewers, and one that older viewers should approach carefully.

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The Bottom Line:

An "animated documentary" which moves along in a way that most docs don't, Waltz with Bashir concerns itself with different perspectives on Israel's controversial 1982 war with Lebanon and delivers a load of fascinating material in addition to some beautiful images; the Academy may have passed over Folman's impressive film, but that doesn't mean you should.

3.5/4

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I'm compelled to write this review after watching the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Foreign Film selectors botch yet another award. David Ansen wrote in Newsweek last year about how the selection committee's decision-making, umm, 'process' is the industry's "long-standing joke." The right films don't even get nominated (Ansen's article centered on the egregious omissions last year of 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and The Band's Visit). And the ultimate winner is often the ultimate head-scratcher: faced this year with two sure-fire classics this film and the equally worthy French offering The Class (Entre les murs) [Theatrical Release] the committee chose instead the little-known (and almost completely unseen) Japanese nominee Departures [Theatrical Release]. With all due respect to those filmmakers, you could hear the sense of bewilderment in the hall as the dazed winners (I suspect even they were dumbfounded) made their way to the stage. I'm sure that bewilderment was mixed with murmurs from an audience of insiders something along the lines of "unbelievable, they've blown it again."

A shame because this film is among the best you'll ever see it's writer/director Ari Folman's attempts to deal with his repressed memories of his role in the Sabra and Shatila camp massacres during the 1982 Lebanon War. Folman's innovative use of animation allows him to re-stage the memories of his fellow soldiers. At the film's end, Folman's role (or at least his proximity to the events) is revealed and animation segues into real-life footage of what transpired in the camps.

The Golden Globe committee with a far more firmer grasp on common sense than the Academy handed 'Waltz' its award for the best foreign language film of 2008.

Ansen's article from last year reveals the Academy's "attempt to reform a misbegotten system," and concludes that "Mark Johnson, chairman of the committee, has vowed further reforms. History suggests it's going to be an uphill battle."

Keep working at it, Mr. Johnson. This thing is still broken.

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This movie is one of the best accounts of the trauma that affects young men -boys really -sent to fight wars which deeply affects them decades after.

The war in question is the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon which quickly went bad and ended up with the Israelis providing a security perimeter for Christina Falangists to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla where they massacred several hundred civilians.

The Falangists were avenging the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel, who gives his name to the movie's title. The Israelis ought to have know their Christian allies were bent on revenge. Moreover, on the night of the massacre, there were numerous reports trickling out of the camps that atrocities were taking place -but no-one acted on them. The Israelis only stopped the killing the next morning.

Years later, through interviews with Israeli soldiers who took part in the war and psychologists, this animated movie examines the deep guilt and trauma many still feel. The animation is beautifully done -some scenes are truly lyrical -and it somehow allows the characters to become "everyman." We see young, poorly trained kids panic under fire and lash out by firing indiscriminately themselves killing civilians. We see a 12-year-old Palestinian kid wielding a rocket-propelled grenade, determined to kill and ending up himself being killed. The opening scene with ravening, yellow-eyes wolves bounding through the streets of Tel Aviv to howl under the balcony of one ex-soldiers is particularly striking.

These kind of scenes could apply to any war or insurgency and parallels between this conflict and the current U.S. struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan are clear and urgent. Yet there is a special Israeli angle. Some of these soldiers were the children of Holocaust survivors, making the moral failures of this war even more traumatic.

Making this movie was an act of courage and honesty and we should honor the filmakers and listen to their message.

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If.... (The Criterion Collection) (1969)

When I was in high school, we had a tradition where we'd go out and rent bad movies. Gradually, this changed to renting weird movies and eventually segued into renting GREAT movies. One of our favorite actors was Malcolm McDowell, the smirking imp we'd seen in "A Clockwork Orange" and later in "O Lucky Man!", another collaboration with the great British director Lindsay Anderson ("This Sporting Life", "In Celebration", "Britannia Hospital", and, incredibly, "The Whales of August"!) I grew particularly fond of his blend of sarcasm and vulnerability (vainly believing I possessed same; I may have been right) and as a result became quite desperate to see this rare movie, which was actually supposed to be BETTER than "O Lucky Man!" I didn't get to do so until a few weeks ago, fully nine years since I graduated high school. I was not disappointed.

As it stands, "If..." isn't only a great Malcolm McDowell film, it's also a great movie about the 60s in both Western society and more specifically Britain in its post-imperial hangover (one of the last British imperial dramas before the Falklands, the conflict in and evacuation of Aden--present-day Yemen--reached completion in 1967, probably while "If..." was filming). The title itself apparently comes from the famous Kipling poem which embodied the highest ideals of imperial Britain. College House, the school attended by Mick Travis--McDowell--and his two friends, is dominated by prefects, or "whips," seniors who control the student body in the name of the weak-willed headmasters and teachers, who represent the 60s radical view of liberal democracy. The coercive actions--cold showers, beatings--administered by the whips to Travis and his fellow rebels prefigure the punishment that would be delivered by the Chicago police, Parisian CRS, and Red Army to student demonstrators and the Czech people in May and August 1968 (in both capitalist and communist regimes the punishments are justified in the name of "society" or "the people").

Travis and his friends, the sarcastic Knightley (David Wood) and the pensive Wallace (Richard Warwick), negotiate their travails with wit and cunning and pick up allies along the way, a waitress from a local coffeeshop (Christine Noonan) and younger student Bobby Phillips (Rupert Webster). These two apparently become lovers of Travis and Wallace, respectively. Interestingly, while Anderson follows the pattern of other 60s "rebel" movies by marginalizing women, the relationship between Wallace and Phillips is sensitively and touchingly handled. This was a rare thing for the macho boys of the New Left, whose radicalism stopped at the closet door and who generally seemed to perceive homosexuality as an aberration of the ruling classes. The film eventually ends with a surreal, bloody battle on school grounds that, while it will probably make post-Columbine viewers understandably squirm, seems, in the movie's moral universe, the only possibly end to the institutionalized oppression Travis and his pals face.

Just as in "O Lucky Man!" there are hilariously surreal touches to the movie, lessening the shock of its end and underscoring the absurdity of life at College House. Fans of Anderson and McDowell won't be disappointed, and any who are interested in the intersections between film and history are definitely recommended to rent or buy this bewitching movie.

When i got out of the Navy and moved to Atlanta in 1972, there was a great hole-in-the-wall cinema (174 seats, one broken) called "The Film Forum". George and Mike Ellis served the best fresh popcorn in town, and ran movies you just didn't see anywhere else in the early 70's -I first saw "The Boys in the Band", "The Ruling Class" and "Phantom of the Paradise" at the Film Forum. I saw so many great films there that i can forgive them for running "Harold & Maude" about every fifth week...

In addition to two shows a night every evening of their regular feature for that week, they also ran a special $1 midnight movie on Fridays and Saturdays. (In later years, "Rocky Horror" became the midnight standard for a couple of years.)

And that is where i saw "...if..." for the first time.

I've been an anglophile most of my life (beginning at a rather tender age with "Swallows & Amazons"), so i had some idea of what English Public (private) School life was likely to be like, and may have understood what was happening here more quickly than some of my firends who saw it with me.

In the context of what starts out as a pretty starightforward-appearing school film, Anderson & MacDowell give us a rather Marxist allegory of modern class struggle, steadily but almost imperceptibly moving from realism to a surreal parable of revolution.

The final sequences, with the little old lady with the submachine gun blazing away screaming "Bastards! Bastards!", the school prefects organising the "good" (loyalist) students to fight the Revolution and pitched battle raging, have stayed with me ever since, even when i wouldn't see the film for years at a time.

MacDowell (in his first real feature role) gives an incredible performance that both foreshadows and (in my opinion) *over*shadows his next role, as Alex in "A Clockwork Orange". "Clockwork" was hailed, pretty much rightly, as a view of a disintegrating society tearing itself to pieces -"..if.." covers much the same ground, and does it better and more memorably in miniature than Kubrick's huge canvas and broad brush strokes.

MacDowell's Mick Travis and his friends are pretty much decent if disaffected characters; but the System, which cannot tolerate any variances, must either grind them down or drive them to rebellion -they choose the latter, and you will never think of school in the same way again after you see their gradual radicalisation and the result.

((Don't believe the stories about not having enough money to print the whole film in colour being the reason for several black&white scenes in the film -the real reason is that for the scenes shot in chapel they were not able to set up lights and had to shoot by natural light, which came in through a big stain-glass window. They tried some test shots on high-speed colour stock, but the results were hopelessly grainy and the colour values shifted constantly as the angle of the sun changed. So they decided to just go ahead and use B&W for those scenes, and, when Anderson saw how the B&W footage cntrasted with the colour, he decided to use B&W at other points to keep the audience off-balance as the film slipped from realism to surrealism.))

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I've been waiting for a release of If... for a long long time, and it is so good to see it will be given the deluxe treatment with Criterion. Lindsay Anderson created a landmark film which captured the talents of a young Malcolm McDowell at his best. You get the feeling that Wes Anderson took his cue from this film when he made Rushmore, but what sets If... apart is the surrealism that creeps into the movie and eventually takes it over, resulting in its wildly hallucinogenic climax. All the extras will make this anxiously awaited DVD a real treat, as hopefully we will be able to get a peek into the mind that created this film. The addition of Thursday's Children certainly makes this deluxe package worthwhile.

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"Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding." --Proverbs IV:2

The opening quote from Lindsay Anderson's if... is what three sixth formers (one year away from being seniors) named Travis, Knightley, and Wallace strive for, in a revolutionary way. (Note: there are seven forms {grades to us Yanks} in a British school below university level).

This is also the story of Jute, the first former who's nervous in his debut at College House. It's a strange new world, but it's stifling, rigid, full of discipline, conformity, obedience, and an adherence to religion and national pride. Figures--since they lost an empire, now they turn on their own people for their mass state. Mr. Kemp, a professor, tells the first formers: "We are your new family and you must expect the rough and tumble that goes with any family life. We're all here to help each other. Help the House and you'll be helped by the House." Professors, the student whips, and the bishop are the authority figures to be reckoned with. Jute is pressured into learning the names of the seniors and pronouncing school terminology correctly--e.g. local girls are called local tarts. But this is a well-known slice of British culture, the British boarding school. The communal study areas, dining halls, rugby matches, mandatory church attendance, war games,... it's all there. Scenes in b&w at times underline the lifelessness and austerity of the school, but also serve as a moving photograph that mirrors that photos Travis collects in his dorm room.

Speaking of which, the ongoing turmoil is a backdrop in the form of LIFE magazine-style photos of Vietnam, civil strife in African countries, soldiers, predatory animals, portraits of Che Guevara and Mao Tse-tung strewn in Travis and co.'s room. Travis utters his revolutionary credo while reading from a book: "The whole world will end soon--black brittle bodies peeling to ash." "There's no such thing as a wrong war." "Violence and revolution are the purest acts." "War is the last possible creative act."

There are hazings, instructors who are bored, instructors who fondle students, but there's also a headmaster who tries to be understanding, as he does to Travis and company. He tells them that to proclaim individuality is sense of existentialism and that it's the hair rebels that step in the breach. But do society and the establishment really value the rebel, without whom there is no progress?

Various scenes spell out the positive and more refreshing emotions. Release is found in the fencing between the three rebels. The sight of blood is reality. Also, the smell of freedom is expressed when the girl whom Travis and Knightley meet at the coffee shop stands atop their stolen motorcycle, arms outstretched as if in flight, a smile of ecstasy on her face, with choir song "Sanctus" from the Missa Luba playing.

One b&w scene that made an anti-war statement was that of the nude Matron alone in the school while the boys and instructors are out on war games. She walks inside the dorm rooms, handling one of the boys' clothes. It's that maternal instinct of longing for children as well as the simplicity and beauty of her nudity in contrast to the ugliness of war. But it also denotes the contrast of the peaceful interior to the violence going on outside.

Malcolm McDowell (Travis) is wonderful in his starring debut as the leader of the "crusaders." A host of well-known British actors include Graham Crowden as the history professor, (Waiting For God series), Arthur Lowe as Mr. Kemp (Bless Me Father series), and Peter Jeffrey as the headmaster who tries to understand the three rebels.

The final scene generates a lot of debate and controversy but it's an apt denouement of what has been portrayed up to that point. An artfully executed film not to be missed.

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One of the great movies from the 60's -or any other decade. When originally viewed in that time of civil disobedience and resistance to "authority" it was riveting, provocative, and stirring. But that was then, this is now. As great as the ending was during its original release, all who saw it knew that it was still fantasy -an insightful comment on the suffocating strictures of public morality and convention. Now the fantasy has become reality. Columbine, Palestine, and 9/11 have shown us what Travis and his friends already knew -that a single bullet (or act) can change history, and that those unafraid to die are the ones to be feared the most. There was nothing inherently sinister about the boys of College House. They were the children of the establishment. Children of the privileged, unlike the borstal boys of "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner". Travis was not born to violence, he was driven there by things that should not have done so -patriotism, reasonableness, and the "consequences" of resisting authority. Who dares to draw the line between a revolutionary and a terrorist? Do you find the actions of today's ultra-radicals incomprehensible? Try examining the labyrinthine psychological journeys portrayed in this incredible film. Did Anderson realize what he had done here? Sometimes, it seems, the creation acquires insights and takes on a meaning of its own, regardless of the intent of the creator. Pogo was right.

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