Yojimbo & Sanjuro (The Criterion Collection) (1962)

Yojimbo and Sanjuro are great movies for diverse reasons.

Yojimbo (The Bodyguard) is a samurai movie based in the detective novels of Dashiell Hammett particularly Red Harvest. Akira Kurosawa wanted to bring the best of literature and interpret it into Japanese cinema. Its interesting that the two main influences in this process were Hammett's hard-boiled detective fiction and William Shakespeare (Ran, Throne of Blood). The always-excellent Toshiro Mifune plays the nameless title character who schemes and plots of take down an entire town of gamblers and gansters. I won't recap the story, suffice to say that his plans lead into several battles and some beautifully choreographed sword fights. Yojimbo was later made (nearly scene-for-scene) into A Fistfull of Dollars by Sergio Leone with Clint Eastwood as "The Man with No Name." Bruce Willis brought the character back to it's ganster/detective roots with the not-so-good "Last Man Standing." Yojimbo is awash with cinematic violence, but the charm infused into the movie by the cynical, yet obstinately principled, hero surprised me when I first saw it. The performances of the supporting cast, as usual with Kurosawa's films, add depth and wit to each scene. For what its worth, Yojimbo has gradually become one of my favorite movies.

If you end up enjoying Yojimbo, check out The Seven Samurai, Sword of Doom, Miller's Crossing, The Maltese Falcon, and The Thin Man.

The sequel, Sanjuro, is a departure of sorts from Yojimbo. Kurosawa and Mifune return as we find our nameless hero assisting some naive samurai who have been backed into a corner by corrupt officials in their clan. Played more for laughs but still brimming with cynicism and wonderfully orchestrated fights (the final scene will leave you afraid to blink), Sanjuro is a worthy but unusual follow-up to the cynical Yojimbo.

Criterion did an excellent job with their recent re-release of Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, and it appears that they are giving the same treatment to Yojimbo & Sanjuro. A new (and improved) translation, commentary from Steven Price, as well as documentary film focusing on Kurosawa during the time he was making these great movies, and a booklet with info about the two movies, sadly nothing from Mifune (he did have an essay in the Seven Samurai DVD re-release). I can't wait to get ahold of it should be well worth the purchase!

MOVIES:

Introduction:

When you talk about an Akira Kurosawa film there is very little to say because his films speak way more than what any reviewer can write. Any filmmaker or film enthusiast can tell you that Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors to have ever made films. Not only is he able to tell grand and epic stories but he is able to keep his characters intimate with the audience. He is probably the single most influential director to have ever lived. Now the good folks over at Criterion have blessed us with remastered editions of Yojimbo and Sanjuro, two classic samurai masterpieces by the great director. Criterion wowed us last year with their remastered release of Seven Samurai, which was my favorite DVD of the year. This release, while not as extensive as the Seven Samurai three disc set, is still something to jump over. Since Sergio Leone is my favorite director you can assume that Akira Kurosawa is close behind in my taste in film, especially these two films. The two films can be purchased separately, but I highly recommend buying this box set as it will not only save you money but save you shame when you tell people that you own one but not the other.

Yojimbo:

The thing that surprises me the most about Yojimbo was that it was a film that was inspired by American westerns yet was even a bigger inspiration for the genre after it was made. The story is about a masterless samurai who wanders into an old town looking for food and shelter, maybe a job if he can find one. He notices that the entire town is deserted and the first thing he sees is a small dog happily trotting down the dirt street with a severed human hand in its mouth. That image right there sets the entire tone for this fun adventure film with a slight comedic side to it. The masterless samurai who is known as Sanjuro then realizes that the town is in the middle of a gang war with two feuding sides. He takes refuge with an old shopkeeper and decides to use this feud to his advantage. He plays both sides and manipulates each of the gangs in hopes of ridding the town of both groups and making a little profit during the process.

Even though the film was made in 1961 it's still as accessible today as any other film would be. Kurosawa was ahead of his time when it came to pacing films and structuring them. His characters were also so boldly developed that they became unforgettable. His visual style is probably the most unique of any director. The reason why Sergio Leone is my favorite director is because of his appreciation for cinematography and Akira Kurosawa had the same appreciation. While Leone may have been inspired by Kurosawa it was Leone who pushed the limits of the widescreen frame in terms of composition. Kurosawa was never as extreme as Leone was, but his films were nonetheless interesting to watch due to the brilliant cinematography. The final showdown at the end of the film is breathtaking all due to what is captured within the frame. Truly impossible to describe, it must be seen.

When you talk about iconic actors you always come across Toshiro Mifune who embodied the role of the masterless samurai to perfection. Just the mannerisms he uses in the film are entertaining to watch. He'll scratch his beard leisurely in the tensest situations, or even roll his shoulders around as he walks about. While Clint Eastwood without a doubt created his own icon in the Leone westerns, it is without a doubt heavily inspired by Toshiro Mifune.

Sanjuro:

With the immediate success of Yojimbo in Japanese cinema it was inevitable that a sequel was wanted by the studio. When Akira Kurosawa was approached to do a sequel he assured them that he didn't want to do any old sequel, and he didn't. Sanjuro has no relation to the previous film except for the main character. The first scene of the film finds a group of nine samurai in a small abandoned house waiting to be contacted and all the while discussing the state of their clan. Of course our "hero" is sleeping in the closet and ends up hearing their situation. Sanjuro emerges from the closet and tells them they are about to be betrayed and since they are blind to the world he decides to help them weed out the evil and corrupt members of their clan. Sanjuro is slower paced than Yojimbo, and I suppose there are less swordfights. However, just because there are less swordfights in the film does not mean the film has less action. Kurosawa cranked up the intensity of the battling and it makes the scenes all the more exciting. The film also keeps up with the comical side that we saw in Yojimbo. In the end it all dials down to one final samurai duel that will leave you breathless.

Kurosawa paced this film a little differently than Yojimbo. We are almost thrown right into the action with no detailed introductions to our characters. We already know our main hero well, so there is no need to introduce him again. The nine young warriors almost act as one character so just explaining their situation was enough. Sanjuro teaches these young warriors the way of honor and to be weary of their surroundings. It's truly a magnificent film. By the end of the film you will know exactly where Tarantino got his inspiration for Kill Bill and for the style of blood used in the film.

VIDEO: The highlights of these brand new sets are definitely the new high definition transfers, absolutely flawless in every sense of the word. The image could not get any better. Grain and dirt are practically non existent and no signs of any digital flaws. The image itself is not faded and textures come through crisp and clear. I never knew black and white could look so good. Both films are presented in their full 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratios.

AUDIO: Sound is almost as perfect as the picture. We have included the original mono track in Japanese as well as a little bonus. Criterion knows that more and more homes are getting bigger and badder surround systems, but mono tracks on such a big screen may feel uninvolving for today's audience. So, we have an optional 3.0 Dolby track that was created to preserve the original Perspecta simulated stereo effects.

Perspecta was a technology that embedded three separate audio tones into a mono track. It was a cheap alternative at the time since projectors did not need a new sound head. So the DVD is basically using 3 speakers to simulate this early technology that was used during the films' theatrical distribution. Bravo Criterion. Bravo. I'd also like to applaud the effort to provide newly translated and more accurate subtitles for both films.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

Yojimbo's Special Features:

Commentary by Film Historian and Kurosawa Scholar Stephen Prince:

The audio commentary is chock full of important facts and great analysis behind certain techniques used in the film. A must listen for film students and film enthusiasts because I bet anywhere else you'd pay lots of money to hear a professional speak at a seminar or a class to get information like this.

The Making of Yojimbo:

A 45-minute in depth documentary that goes behind the scenes of Yojimbo. There are plenty of interviews with crew members. They speak so much about Kurosawa that by the end you may feel like he was interviewed too. Lots of info such as using a telephoto lens for most of the film to get the look that Kurosawa wanted. Plenty of fun stories from crew members, an especially interesting one from the focus puller.

Theatrical Trailer & Teaser:

The original theatrical and teaser are included. They are nothing like what we know now as the theatrical trailer. It's fun little extra.

Stills Gallery:

Lots of pictures from the set of Yojimbo.

Booklet:

Includes an essay written by critic Alexander Sesonske and some notes from Kurosawa and his cast and crew.

Sanjuro's Special Features:

Commentary by Film Historian and Kurosawa Scholar Stephen Prince:

The audio commentary is chock full of important facts and great analysis behind certain techniques used in the film. A must listen for film students and film enthusiasts because I bet anywhere else you'd pay lots of money to hear a professional speak at a seminar or a class to get information like this.

The Making of Sanjuro:

A 35-minute in depth documentary that goes behind the scenes of Sanjuro. There are plenty of interviews with crew members. They speak so much about Kurosawa that by the end you may feel like he was interviewed too. Lots of info such as using a telephoto lens for most of the film to get the look that Kurosawa wanted. Plenty of fun stories from crew members, especially one story about painting flowers for the highly demanding Kurosawa.

Theatrical Trailer & Teaser:

The original theatrical and teaser are included. They are nothing like what we know now as the theatrical trailer. It's fun little extra.

Stills Gallery:

Lots of pictures from the set of Sanjuro.

Booklet:

Includes an essay written by critic Michael Sragow and some notes from Kurosawa and his cast and crew.

BOTTOM LINE: As a filmmaker and a film critic, I am simply floored by this set. I love Kurosawa's work, but these films especially since they went on to inspire my favorite director. Sergio Leone remade Yojimbo as A Fistful Of Dollars and added a whole new element to the story to make is just as great as the original. Leone used elements of Sanjuro for For A Few Dollars More and then he created his personal masterpiece with The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Walter Hill remade Yojimbo with Bruce Willis taking the lead role in Last Man Standing. So, you can see that Kurosawa is simply one of the best filmmakers to have ever lived. Criterion continues to raise the bar in terms of home video distribution of important classic and contemporary films. This set is a must buy.

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Got my pre-order a day early!

The HD treatment on these classics can be described in one word...WOW! Exceeded my expectations in every way! Great contrast and lighting with a 3 dimensional pop. Facial detail and expressions are thrilling to watch. Criterion's previous re-release was an excellent DVD translation but this blu-ray version is phenomenal. 99% of the film is gorgeous but there are a few scenes where detail seems low rez. It doesn't feel like a movie made nearly 50 yrs ago but one filmed recently due to the HD restoration.

I have both a 1080p screen and a 720p screen and I honestly can't tell which has better picture quality. There are 2 audio options, the original mono and a new HD DTS 3.0 perspecta and both are very good but I prefer the original. I've watched these films many times and this is the first time I'm noticing details I've not seen before such as fine details on actor's faces, clothes, props, and actor's facial expressions and backgrounds.

The extra features are slim and is probably the only thing that's lacking. Kurosawa's "It is wonderful to create" featurettes as well as an excellent commentary by Stephen Prince is very informative yet his tonal quality can be dry at times.

The set comes in a box exactly like the DVD version but smaller in size and included booklets of 19 pages.

I found Yojimbo to have better picture quality than Sanjuro which has an overall softer look.

I commend Criterion for an excellent job on these films and can't wait for Seven Samurai on blu-ray which was supposed to be ready in march but will be delayed till end of this year due to the magnitude of the HD treatment.

Even if you have the DVD version, this HD version seems like a whole new experience. Must have!

Blu-ray restoration wish list:

All Kurosawa films

The Sword of Doom

Harakiri

Samurai Rebellion

Samurai Trilogy Musashi Miyamoto

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I'm going to work under the assumption that you have already seen these movies (if not, there are plenty of reviews about how great the movies themselves are, so I won't belabor the point). I bought these movies as an upgrade to the 1998 Criterion release that I still have, and I think it was a worthwhile investment.

Although the differences between 1998 and 2007 pressing are not as great as the differences between the 1998 and 2007 pressing of Seven Samurai, these two movies did get a significant upgrade. While they are not flawless, they are closer than I would have ever expected to see them. I actually watched the first few chapters of each pressing of both movies, and the differences are amazing. The graininess has been cleared up, almost all the scratches have been removed, and there are very few blemishes (you pretty much have to be looking for them to even notice them).

Although these aren't cheap by an stretch of the imagination, if you love these movies and would like to see and hear them at their best, then the pricetag is well worth the cost. If, on the other hand, you haven't seen these movies (of you're just not insane about AV quality, like me) keep in mind that you can pick up the older pressing for half as much.

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I'll admit up front I consider myself a Kurosawa fanboy so writing this is hard as I'm constantly trying to keep myself from degenerating into a fanboy rant. I'll just say with the nice price and the remastered video updating the problems with their original releases, this is a great release for those looking to get into Kurosawa films, or chanbara in general. Both films have a lighter tone and are shorter and funner than Seven Samurai and Ran and I loved the films plots over The Hidden Fortress.

First up Yojimbo, like Seven Samurai one of the most copied of Kurosawa's films. This is fun film, that has a streak of black humor that the two remakes A Fistfull of Dollars and Last Man Standing lack. Mifune had a humorous quality to his acting that came up greatly in his role of Sanjuro the wandering ronin who strolls into town after hearing about it from a farmer quarreling with his son. With Mifunes performance, intelligent writing, Kurosawa as usual makes full use of panavision. The opening where Mifune walks into town where all the residents peek out from behind windows and doors is just awesome with the way the camera captures all the small actions. Theres not much more I wanna say except with the opening listen to the confrontation between Mifune and compare it to a certain scene in Star Wars A New Hope. Lucas not only copied many of Kurosawas movies but cribbed scenes from this one and others as well.

Sanjuro is viewed by some like all sequels as inferior to the original. Personally its not a Matrix/Matrix Reloaded situation. Sure it doesn't feature a deep story like the previous film, but it does have the writing that I always like from Kurosawa and the humor in scenes that are great and add depth to the characters. Plus just one of the best endings ever. I've seen the film five times and I've always been suprised by it.

Anyway this whole thing is a great package with excellent video, the usual essays that come from Criterion and the usual documentaries from the Its Wonderful to Create series produced by Toho that have been on other Kurosawa releases, and a cracking commentary from Stephen Prince who gives a in depth commentary definitely worht a listen. Its a great package well worth the price.

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Life as We Know It (2011)

Hollie and Messer, set-up by best friends Allison and Peter, meet, share a disaster of a non-date and develop an intense hatred for each other. Then Allison and Peter get married and have a baby, forcing Hollie and Messer to be subjected to each other often. Glimpses of Hollie and Messer and their interaction flash on the screen as this relationship that ties them together unfolds. Finally, a laughing moment is shared at Baby Sophie's 1st birthday party where a picture is taken with "Godparents," Hollie and Messer, who don't understand exactly what that term means.

Fast forward several weeks and Hollie and Messer meet up at the police station to discover that Allison and Peter have died in a horrific accident and that Sophie needs them. They discover how much as the rest of the story unfolds.

I really liked this film. I watched it with four friends and we all agreed that it was worth the investment. The main characters are three-dimensional and well-cast. Though not laugh out-loud funny in most scenes, there is enough humor thrown in to make the subject matter less intense. Not pure comedy, or drama, also not pure chick flick. Enough deep issues and emotions play out that the movie grabbed my emotions and heart.

A few cheesy moments make their way into the movie...one in particular is a drug thread that ends up falling flat, though it likely supposed to play as a light-hearted moment. There are a group of neighbors that add annoyingly funny moments throughout the film. Language is minimal, the F-Bomb makes few appearances, the most memorable is a whispered fight. Messer is a new-girl-a-night kind of a guy so there are plenty of comments about his tom-catting ways, though the sex scenes are minimal and primarily off-screen. Hollie is an uptight business owner who's rigidity makes for a few annoying minutes throughout the film as well. But overall the relationship between them ends up being respectful of families and love and this one will end up in my DVD library.

From my wife Sarah: From the previews I expected a silly slapstick romance, but found that this was a drama, romance and comedy rolled up into one movie. It had surprising depth, character and story development. It was kind of a believable story. There were times I was touched enough to be tearful, and there was some decent chemistry between the leads. There were some laughs as well.

It was good, but was it fantastic? Not so much. Honestly, it wasn't strong enough for me as either a comedy, romance or drama to be terrific. Regardless, it was entertaining, moving and worth seeing.

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At first I watched it because of the casts. But as the movie flows, I really think it has some depths in it. Not just some other romantic/comedy, this one we can actually relate to (and finally for once no sexual context, well just a little maybe. Which I find it refreshing). How new parents are behaving and adapt with their first child, is sometimes funny to watch but also heartfelt. Overall, this movie has some laughs, tears, and of course love. Can't wait for the DVD to come out!

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This movie has received more than its fair share of bad press. I went and saw this movie when it was in my local theater last summer. I think the major reason people are giving it bad reviews is that they are expecting the whole movie to consist of a mismatched couples attempt to raise a child to yield roll on the floor laughing moments. However, to truely understand this film, you have to look deep for the hidden meaning. I found that when you discover that the movie truly revolves around a child who's parents are killed and is left to be raised by two different people who really didn't want to be together, much less raise a child together, then you get the true spirit of the film. Once you understand this point of view you will truly enjoy this film for what it is, a coming of age story.

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I've read the negative reviews here and I really don't understand them at all... to each his/her own I suppose. I really enjoyed this movie, yes it is similar to other romantic comedies of the same formula (girl and guy despise each other initially but love grows out of it), but sometimes having the same recipe isn't a bad thing. Its like enjoying a chocolate chip cookie recipe like your Mom used to make, you can have them over and over and you still love it. This movie still made me laugh and cry, and I will continue to like romantic comedies even if they use the same formula. If you want a sweet, endearing, funny and yet emotional movie, this is the one for you. The chemistry between Katherine and Josh is fantastic.

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The Sound and the Fury (1959) - Yul Brynner, Joanne Woodward, Margaret Leighton, Jack Warden (Blu-r

Adapted from a William Faulkner book that utilized multiple, "stream of consciousness" narrators, 20th Century Fox and producer Jerry Wald's 1958 filming of THE SOUND AND THE FURY was dismissed by certain critics upon its original release. Since then, viewers have had little chance to reassess (or, simply, assess) this reunion between the creative team of "The Long Hot Summer" (Wald, screenwriters Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., and director Martin Ritt).

Never commercially released on video and only infrequently shown on cable (often times in terrible pan-and-scan transfers at that), THE SOUND AND THE FURY is one of the neglected gems of the late `50s, and Twilight Time's Blu-Ray release of the film limited to 3000 copies is spectacular, preserving the film's potent Cinemascope cinematography and effective performances.

Once again focusing on Faulkner's fascination with the decaying fortunes of a once-proud Southern family, the Ravetch-Frank-Ritt version of "The Sound and the Fury" follows the lives of the Compson clan through the prism of Quentin (Joanne Woodward), a rebellious young girl who skips school and teeters on turning out just like her floozy Mama Caddy (Margaret Leighton), who left Quentin and their Mississippi home shortly after her birth. Raised by pragmatic, gruff step-uncle Jason (Yul Brynner), Quentin is surrounded by a family that's faded from their glory days, with uncles either alcoholic (John Beal) or mute and autistic (Jack Warden), and an African-American servant (Ethel Waters) single-handedly holding what's left of the ancestral home together. Quentin's turbulent adolescence and unhealthy home life is compounded by her attraction to a hunk (Stuart Whitman) working at a carnival passing through town, as well as the return of her destitute mother, just looking for somewhere to live.

Though shot on the Fox backlot, "The Sound and the Fury" is rich with atmosphere. Credit goes out to Ritt and cinematographer Charles G. Clarke for establishing a sense of rural time and place without having to leave southern California; the Ravetch-Frank screenplay (their second of three Faulkner adaptations with "The Reivers" to follow over a decade later), meanwhile, enables the cast to give a variety of strong performances. Woodward is beguiling here, mixing the playful innocence of a teenage girl with the blossoming qualities of a young woman that develop as the film progresses; she meets her equal in Brynner's hardened Jason, whose tough demeanor masks a sympathetic interior that just wants Quentin, ultimately, to stand on her own and be something more than the rest of her family. Their relationship is the cornerstone of the picture, and while the picture was derailed by many for failing to adhere to Faulkner's book, the film itself is a strong piece of work on its own terms thanks to the fascinating evolution of their relationship. They're supported by top work in front of and behind the camera: Leighton turns in a fine performance as the lost Mama, Warden delivers one of his strongest dramatic roles as the troubled Benji, and Alex North's soaring score jazz infused but marked by one of his sweetest love themes is, for my money, one of his finest. His underscoring for the movie's sublime finale is just glorious, beautifully shot by Ritt and perfectly delivered by Woodward and Brynner ending a turbulent slice of Faulkner melodrama on a thoroughly romantic and even optimistic note.

The 1080p AVC encoded Blu-Ray transfer from the Fox vaults is terrific: fine detail is in evidence throughout without any trace of processing. The print shows occasional wear and tear but displays no major issues; for a movie that's never been treated as well as it should've been, "The Sound and the Fury" ranks as one of the Fox highlights in the Twilight Time catalog so far, both for its technical presentation as well as the content of the movie itself. On the audio side, the movie's original stereo soundtrack has been mixed in 2.0 DTS MA with an isolated score track, prepared as always by Mike Matessino, rounding out the release. Highly recommended!

This is a Jerry Wald movie. When I was a very young girl, I knew even then that any movie by Jerry Wald was going to be slightly naughty in a sexual context. Yeah. Well. The combination of Jerry Wald AND William Faulkner, the spokesman for Southern decay, was tailor-made for steamy content.

If you read Faulkner's novel, not a particularly easy read, you learn about the twisted dynamics of the Compson family, albeit this film is a very loose adaptation, with the illegitimate daughter, the runaway mother, the idiot brother, the alcoholic brother, and the hard-working step-brother, Jason, trying to keep the family together. Wald cleaned up the murky waters by making Jason respectable, but he does imply there's a sexual attraction between Jason and his much, much younger step-niece, Quentin. It's not incest exactly, but it sure feels like incest.

Yul Brynner, with hair, plays Jason with his usual penetrating stares, catlike grace, regal strides, and uber-testosterone persona. What was that guy's secret? I mean, no one could fail to notice or respond to his utterly MALE presence whenever he came on screen. And yet, the man could act. There is a scene in the ice cream parlor between Jason and Quentin where the normally strict and gruff Jason lets his guard down just a little and we're treated to the briefest glimpse of his true feelings for Quentin. It's thrilling and un-nerving at the same time. The viewer sees that underneath Jason's tyrannical exterior is a man with a heart. That Quentin is the object of his affection is a stunning revelation.

Joanne Woodward plays Quentin as a whiney, slouching, dowdy teenager with a hormonal surge. She doesn't look like a high school student by any stretch of the imagination. Frankly, I've never understood Woodward's appeal. She's as plain as a pie plate and there something funny with the center of her upper lip.

Margaret Leighton is the prodigal mother, an alley cat with airs of a long-gone gentility, whose promiscuous predilection may have been genetically transmitted to her precocious illegitimate daughter, Quentin....or else it's the heat making everyone twitchy.

This movie has a great on-screen kiss. The sets are fantastic. The soundtrack features raucous 50's jazz as well as a pleasant lyrical love theme. Other than that, I'm hard-pressed to say what makes me like this movie, and yet I do. I DO like it, probably because it represents an era in movies and literature ala Faulkner or Tennessee Williams where the theme of Southern decline and decadence involved something other than vampires.

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Another great Twilight Time blu-ray.... Martin Ritt does a fantastic job directing this great widescreen masterpiece with a cool jazzified score that really makes this something special.... Many complain that this film is not like the book, but who cares? This is a great film based on the book and nothing more.... The video looks fantastic and the sound is excellent....and, since the story takes place in the South, one of the characters has a mental problem....great stuff....

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I saw it when I was a child with my mom and sister's . It was GREAT seeing it again !! A lot of good memories !! Beautiful in blue ray !

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2011 Tour De France 12 Hour Blu-ray Collector's Edition

This is the first time World Cycling Productions has released the Tour in Blu-ray and the timing couldn't have been better. The intense competition has been magnificently captured with crystal clarity in high definition. If you're a cycling fan like me, you'll enjoy watching all the mountain stages in full in the 12-hour edition. My favorite stage was Number 19 Alpe d'Heuz won by Pierre Rolland, where he rode away in the final 2 km after chasing down Alberto Contador with the help of Sammy Sanchez. No wait, maybe my favorite is Stage 17, won by Edvald Boassan Hagen after he cut through the narrow mountain roads ahead of Phillipe Gilbert, chased furiously by Contador and Sanchez trying the escape the peloton. Or maybe Stage 12 where Sammy Sanchez won on Luz Ardiden after a huge effort. The magnificent French countryside looks stunning in high definition and I love being able to spot the equipment the riders are on.

The only complaint I have is that the critical Stage 20 time trial where Cadel Evans took back 2:30 from Andy Schlek to win the Tour is only very briefly covered. There are a couple of extra-feature segments with Chris Boardman that I did not find interesting and took up unneccessary time away from the competition. Also, the way the Blu-ray menu works is not very convenient. It doesn't resume from where you left off if you stop playing and then want to go back to the same point.

As always, the narration by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin gives you the full picture of the competiton for all the categories like the overall points leader, the king-of-the-mountain, the green jersey for the sprint, the best-young-rider category and the best team. You are able to follow the strategy of each team as they try to win in the category with the best potential outcome for them. Great job, Phil and Paul!

Nothing beats the Official SBS coverage of the Tour de France 12hrs of the BEST footages from the BEST vantage points.

It's not just about watching the race but also a helicopter tour of the breathtaking french countryside.

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"There are 12 towns in France named Roquefort, but only one that makes the cheese!" Phil Ligget.

I always love Phil Ligget's stream of consciousness style commentary on these DVD's and this one of the best. Great coverage, footage, and commentary. Much more enjoyable that the 2012 sky-train.

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Good product. Exciting race to watch when training indoors. DVDs do have a couple of bad spots where the video gets froze up like it is scratched but it does recover and play again.

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I was in France in 2011 and was able to see some of the stages. It was great to actually see the places we visited and try to pick us out of the crowd. Since we only got to see a small portion of the tour, this dvd provided us the opportunity to see what we missed.

Gridiron Gang (2006)

"Gridiron Gang" is the true story of Sean Porter (The Rock), a detention camp officer who tries to make something out of the kids in the camp at which he works. He attempts to instill discipline, honor, teamwork, and pride through football. He feels that this will help to keep them from going back to their old lifestyle once released. He wants to help them break the cycle of violence. Initially met with some resistance, he manages to schedule a season and help the kids make something of themselves.

While being a typical "feel good" sports movie, "Gridiron Gang" feels less clichéd than the majority of these kinds of films. The acting is good all around, and The Rock is well suited for the role of Porter. It is truly remarkable what the real Sean Porter accomplished. I liked this film more than I anticipated, and recommend it.

I would recommend this movie for anyone who wishes to watch a film that shows true emotion, that shows real characters overcoming obstacles in their lifes. This is without a doubt, The Rock's best performances in a movie. So if you enjoy a hard-hitting, emotional underdog story, then pick up The Gridiron Gang, because it won't disappoint. Absolutely awesome movie in my opinion. Its worth your money.

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What Gridiron Gang lacks cinematic acheivement, it more than makes up for in heart.

For those that don't know, Gridiron Gang is based on the documentary of the same name which itself was the true account of a youth correctional facility using the sport of football to teach kids all the things the normal process was failing to do. It's an important film because it, like the documentary, point out real problems that cities all over this country have not only with youth crime but most importantly the failure we are as a society to rehabilitate.

The previews, and indeed the film, focus a lot on the football aspects of this film almost to a fault. I say this because this story is about the achievements made with these kids off the field rather than on it. We shouldn't be caring so much about whether these kids win a football game as much as we should be caring whether they do something to cause them to end up back in prison. I say almost to a fault because while there are considerable football scenes, it is important to see these kids' achievements on the field in order to make sense of their acheivements off it, and while there may be a lot of action on the field, it never overshadows the fact that this is a tough-love teacher film a la 'Lean on Me' and 'Stand and Deliver', not a sports movie.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson as coach Sean Porter isn't going to be winning any academy awards for this film, but he does show considerable screen presence and enough talent as an actor to pull off a dramatic role like this. Xybit as Malcome Moore not only adds a certain credibility to this film, but I found his parts to be to few and far between which should speak to his talents. The rest of the cast and especially the kids I found to be highly believable. A few times the dialogue they would have to say was a bit too cheesy (or too profound), but one can hardly fault them for that.

The strength of this film lies in the characters and the story. Sean Porter is a hero who had to fight against a society that doesn't care about these kids. These kids, while criminals deserving punishment (and rehabilitation), are kids who live in a world where any one of us would likely have grown up the same way. Sean Porter doesn't work miracles and turn all these kids into honor students and model citizens. What he does is sacrifice of himself to make a dent. There is a touching realism to that as well as a profound realization that we could make miracles instead of dents if the rest of us were more like Sean Porter.

Gridiron Gang is a very enjoyable film. It has it's flaws, but at it's core it's a very human film capable of winning you over with it's moving and inspirational story. I found myself questioning some directorial decisions of the film, but I was never bored. It will almost certainly find it's way into my DVD collection eventually.

Read Best Reviews of Gridiron Gang (2006) Here

Who really wants to see another feel-good movie about a tough educator who takes on both the most violent juvenile delinquents and "the system," raising them from the abyss of failure and imprisonment to success that they wouldn't have dared dream of only months before? Do we really need another formulaic sports flick, "based on a true story" about a coach taking his rag-tag team of underdogs all the way to the city championship?

You bet we do!

In what's being touted as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's dramatic debut, Gridiron Gang showcases both the former professional wrestler's physical prowess and his emerging acting chops as tough-as-nails juvenile detention officer Sean Porter. Frustrated by the 75 percent recidivism rate of the teen felons in his charge at the Camp Kilpatrick reformatory in Los Angeles County, Porter sees that the vicious circle of violence, gang activity, and growing up without fathers has doomed them to wasted lives behind bars.

He keeps sending one troubled kid in particular, Roger (Michael J. Pagan), to "the hole" for punishment.

"Where're you gonna be in four years?" Porter grills him.

"In jail," the sulking youth answers.

"No! You're going to be dead!"

Sure enough, even though Roger is trying to go straight, while on release a week later he is gunned down in a drive-by shooting while hanging out with his old gang. Soon Roger's brother Willie (Jade Yorker) winds up at the same reformatory when he shoots his mother's abusive live-in boyfriend.

Driving home from work one night, Porter spots a group of kids playing football under the lights and has an inspiration. As a last-ditch effort to try to turn around the presumably unsalvageable lives of Camp Kilpatrick's murderers, rapists, and carjackers, he launches a football program.

Porter cajoles many of the toughest youths to join the Mustang team, where nobody gets a free ride and membership has to be earned. Attempting to convince the skeptical administration to fund his team, he reminds them that "these kids have never worked hard for anything in their lives." Once his kids amble onto the practice field, they learn that being tough is more than bullying and posturing, but requires discipline, commitment, and self-restraint.

What impressed me most were the sequences in which Porter builds up the team, drilling them through tough workouts and scrimmages, testing their endurance, and, for the first time in their lives, forging their characters. As with Spencer Tracy's Father Flanagan in the 1938 classic Boys Town, Porter operates on the premise that his boys are not inherently bad. "You are somebody," he tells them, "and are worthy of something." But his attempts to inspire the team go beyond mere pep talks: Porter instills in them the lesson that true self-esteem can be gained only by achievement, not merely by inflating their egos with false praise. "It's a whole new world out there when you earn things," he tells them.

Having Coach Porter as the first man in their lives to believe in them and serve as a father figure fills the youths with false expectations at their first game. Despite a couple of good tackles early on, the Mustangs get a rude awakening once their opponents gather steam. After getting stomped on for a 38-0 loss, not only do many on the team start to question whether the football program is worth it, but so do some of Camp Kilpatrick's administrators.

"We wanted to create self-esteem, but it was just the opposite," one of them laments to Porter. "These kids can't handle that kind of disappointment. We have to pull the plug."

Just as everyone seems willing to throw in the towel, one of Porter's players, Junior (Setu Taase), discovers that self-esteem is more than immediate gratification, and requires diligent effort even in the face of crushing defeat. Junior convinces his teammates why they must not give up. "It's like I told you, Coach," he explains to Porter, "we're tired of being losers." Predictably, the Mustangs improve and fight their way to the playoffs.

While the action on the field is shot a little too claustrophobically with telephoto lenses, the movie as a whole doesn't suffer much. Trevor Rabin (of the group Yes) provides an emotionally rousing soundtrack. But the pillar of the film is The Rock, who supports it with a strong performance. A former University of Miami football standout, he brings credibility and conviction to his role. While he's come a long way from his "Layeth the Smacketh Down" WWF days, The Rock is still not exactly an accomplished and subtle actor. Of course, tough kids don't need understatement and nuance--they need sturdy and straightforward. Think Lee Marvin's Major Reisman from The Dirty Dozen, crossed with Glenn Ford's Mr. Dadier in Blackboard Jungle.

In the durable genre of tough educators who turn around troubled inner-city youths, The Rock's turn on screen in Gridiron Gang doesn't rise to the level of Morgan Freeman's breakthrough performance in Lean on Me (1989), or Sidney Poitier's memorable turn in To Sir, with Love (1967). Neither does Gridiron Gang belong in the same league with other great sports flicks about underdog teams who go all the way to the top, like Hoosiers (1986) or Friday Night Lights (2004).

But, as a movie which straddles both genres, it really gels and will lift the spirits of most viewers. Sure, Gridiron Gang is formulaic. But what makes it enjoyable and moving is the true-life example of how one man turns around the lives of troubled kids by instilling them with pride, faith in themselves, and awareness that they are not born criminals, but possess the free will to make productive lives for themselves.

No-excuses self-esteem requires a formula, too; and Gridiron Gang shows how it's done.

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Heartwarming. It will make you laugh, make you cry. Make you want to work out.

I loved this movie. Based on a true story at the end, they show the real guys liked that.

the Rock, is a hunk, no need to argue that. Hot. mmmmmm. But, more importantly, he was really good in this film. He is a worker at this prison for boys, and gets disgusted with the return rate, and death rate of the kids who get out. so, he comes up with a plan to help these boys.

as a mommy, I loved all the boys. wanted to hug them all. sniff. very good casting of all of the kids.

truly a heartwarming story. good for kids over 14. swearing and some violence. actually would be very educational for boys that think they are real "tough" hummm, I can think of a few! Good lessons, good entertainment.

buy it.

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Dave (2012)

This movie is one of those gems that quietly grows on you -each viewing creating anticipation and appreciation for its wit and style. The casting is superb. Kevin Kline doesn't know how to give a bad performance. Frank Langella's brilliant characterization of the ambitious, power-hungry 'man behind the throne' is perfect, and a wonderful contrast to his long-ago role as the cad/seducer in Diary of a Mad Housewife.

This is definitely a movie to buy because it needs to be seen many times. The innumerable funny pearls in this movie alone are worth the price of the DVD. For Minnesotans, one of the slyest gags was Dave's gig early in the moview, imitating the President at the grand opening of Durenberger Motors in his home town. The movie was released around the time that David Durenberger (Minnesota's senior senator) was embroiled in an ethics scandal. A personal favorite moment was the scene where Dave (with the help of his accountant buddy played by Charles Grodin) pares the federal budget to save a homeless shelter for children -the cabinet members bemusedly participating just like a family sitting around the kitchen table wrestling with its own budget. Priceless.

How do you solve a potentially explosive scandal, solve all the world's problems, and get rid of the greed and corruption in the White House? Well, you make an affable liberal actor take the President's place of course!

Kevin Kline plays Dave, an affable temp agency owner who on his off-time likes to do small event impersonations of the President. As for his luck, he strikes an uncanny resemblance, a la the Prince and the Pauper, and is found by the Secret Service to be an ideal candidate for a decoy body while the President is off doing... confidential things.

However, when the real President has a stroke, his advisors don't want to set off a national emergency... especially with a liberal vice-president around to think about. Thus they move Dave in a la The Hudsucker Proxy as the new President... but of course, Dave has a warm heart and an inspiration to try his hardest at everything he does, so... he goes at his job with the energy, charisma, and skill that everyone wants from the most powerful man in the world, even warming the angry scowl off of Susan Sarandon's face!

Of course like most cathartic entertainment like this, it's not so much about the actual presenting of ideas on how to solve all the problems (some hints on where to start are made), but more a vehicle for opening up the minds of the audience to the possibility of TRYING to make the world a better place. You can't get answers from it, but dreams, so dream hard. Don't worry, Ving Rhames will grow to like you.

The true entertainment from this comes from Kline. His acting is wonderfully physical and involved, and bleeds a sincerity to the common man, the salt of the Earth, that keeps the audience cheering for him the entire way.

--PolarisDiB

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Though this film was directed by Ivan Reitman, it's the screenwriter's picture all the way. Gary Ross has made his reputation spinning stories of innocents caught up in the world of the not-so-innocent--or vice versa. With Big, starring Tom Hanks, it was a 12-year old magically transformed into a 30 year old man, contending with the world of grownups. In his latest film, Pleasantville, it's two hip, decidedly uninnocent teenagers zoomed into the innocent world of a typical 50s TV show.

In this, his middle film, it's the owner of a copy shop, Dave, called on to impersonate the president--a high strung cad who's just suffered a heart attack. Dave is a heck of a lot more innocent than most guys his age. Divorced, he busies himself with his work and sports, always hoping to meet the right woman.

What's groovy about this film is that it's a hip, comic American remake of the great Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha. In that film--a powerful drama with no comedy at all--a grievously ill warlord tells his vassals to find a man who resembles him as closely as possible so the warlord can instruct the other man in the ways of ruling a region; if his subjects see him alive and healthy, they'll be reassured and spies from enemy regions will know he's still a force to be reckoned with.

The vassals find a commoner whose resemblance to the warlord is so striking, there's no one else who could do the job. He's told exactly what to do, how to stand, sit, and do all the other stuff a warlord should. The same happens in Dave--he learns what to do from the evil Frank Langella, the White House press secretary. As Dave, Kevin Kline strikes the perfect balance of innocence and determination to right the wrongs so clearly in evidence. And Sigourney Weaver does a more than credible job as the first lady who's charmed by this knowledgeable innocent.

Also here are Ben Kingsley as the just as innocent Vice President (contrast this with his absolutely astounding performance in the recent Sexy Beast as a nasty rotten gangster!) and Ving Rhames, always reliable, as the secret service man who's on Dave's side all the way.

Ross is one smart cookie. Taking Kagemusha and updating it to 90s America, mixing it with big dollops of comedy and a poignant love story, was a great idea. This film really works. Take a look at Ross' other films; they're just as great.

Read Best Reviews of Dave (2012) Here

"Dave" was a pleasant enough movie the first time I saw it, in 1993, with the good guys winning, and with superb acting performances by Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Ben Kingsley, and particularly Ving Rhames and Kevin Dunn in supporting roles. In a very small role, Charles Grodin does his best work that I've seen him do, and has one of the outstanding lines: "Who DOES these books?" Langella is quite believable as the astute, scheming politico who has never been bested; Dunn develops his character's moral conscience as we watch him on screen; and Rhames balances perfectly his character's initial distrust of the faux-president with his growing admiration of--and loyalty to--the kind of integrity so many of us wish we could find in "the leader of the free world."

When I decided to see it a second time, I viewed it as a movie or literary critic would, and found that it held together structurally, it developed organically, and it balanced some pretty heavy duty themes with good humor and almost-perfect timing. We have nearly worn out the original VHS tape that we bought, watching it whenever we want a "feel-good" movie, especially after seeing or reading about too much national and international news. Each time I watch it, I see more complexity to the character development and to the plot intricacies (which at first seem to be pretty straight-forward but, upon reflection, are not quite so simple).

"Dave" grows on its audience, appealing initially because it does represent what so many Americans would really like our government to be like; but it invites repeated viewing because of its texture, its acting, and so many of its memorable lines. How often, for example, can you imagine laughing at, "I once caught a fish THIIIIIISSSS big!" In the context of this movie, however, it is funny repeatedly while contributing seriously to character development. And how touching is the simple statement near the end of the movie, "I woulda taken a bullet for you," spoken quietly though in turbulent surroundings.

Even the ending, sappy though it may seem to be, holds open a subtle promise for the future when it is viewed in the light of the early political career of the movie's Vice President. "Dave" has risen steadily to become one of my five or six favorite movies, with "8 1/2," "Inherit the Wind," "Rear Window," "Tootsie," and "Blazing Saddles." I heartily recommend it: for a good time, call "Dave." Really.

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Hollywood has long bashed politicians in its films. Usually, these greasy-palmed lechs are seen as no more than variations of Willy Stark from ALL THE KING'S MEN. But there have been a few notable exceptions: MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, and now director Ivan Reitman presents Kevin Kline as the sainted president-imposter of DAVE. The plot is nonsense, of course. Kline is a businessman who bears a stunning resemblance to the real president who unexpectedly suffers a stroke. Frank Langella, who also bears an equally stunning resemblance in both looks and attitude to former Nixon henchman Bob Haldeman, recruits Kline to stand in for the president. Kline's imposture is so convincing that everyone, including the president's wife (Sigourney Weaver), is fooled. Langella sees Kline only as a buffoon, easily manipulated until he is ready to annoint himself as the new president.

The joy of DAVE is watching an updated version of the fish out of water routine. Kline is genuinely funny as he struggles to master the protocol needed to run the free world. What gives DAVE a touching resonance is the subtle transformation of Kline as the admitted fish out of water to a good-hearted human being who slowly realizes that the power of the presidency can do far more for America than merely enrich the one who sits in the Oval Office. Even the burgeoning romance between Kline as the fake president and Weaver who thinks him the real thing is touching. Director Reitman diluted the focus of interest with a deluge of cameos of famous politicians and Hollywood stars, all of whom do little more than add one moment of cheap laughs in a movie that tries hard for serious laughs about serious issues that range from who we are to who we might be. It is the totality of questions about the need to establish our moral center in our rightful identity that makes DAVE such a refreshing breath of air after the thundering blasphemies of that self-appointed crude politico Willy Stark.

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What's Up Doc? (2010)

WHAT'S UP DOC? is a "Streisand" movie, but the supporting players are just as much responsible for its success. I echo the previous reviewer and dare you to take your eyes off of Madelaine Kahn as Eunice. ("Eunice? That's a person called Eunice?") She is absolutely hilarious as she counts to ten, badgers fiance Howard Banister ("as in 'up the...'"), and reads "A Woman's Guide To Sex" in bed - a hilarious character moment.

The script by Buck Henry is full of little comic gems of lines. One of my favorites:

"Has anyone ever told you that you're very sexy?" "Well actually, no." "They never will."

Streisand is gorgeous with her long hair and tanned body. Ryan ONeal is very good as a bewildered musicologist. Streisand gets a great singing moment perched on top of a piano as she seduces ONeal with "As Time Goes By".

There are so many funny moments in this film: the chase through San Francisco, the courtroom scene at the end ("First there was this trouble between me and Hugh." ... "You and me? " .. "No, me and Hugh." ... "Stop that! Make him stop saying that! ") and of course, Streisand in the towel out the window.

This is truly a funny, madcap kind of old fashioned movie. I highly recommend it. Let's hope for a crystal clear DVD version that includes all of those hilarious Bogdonovich outtakes -are you listening out there?

It's a smart-zany-girl-meets-absent-minded-professor-and-hijinks-ensue movie modeled on the screwball comedies of the 30's. This is a funny movie for the whole family. And it's now on a great DVD with commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich (the whole movie) and Barbra Streisand (on selected pieces of the movie.) It also includes some behind the scenes footage including Peter demonstrating for Barbra how to seduce co-star Ryan O'Neal in the "Time Goes By" scene.

What? You want to know what the movie is about? Well it's about these four identical suitcases, and... oh, let's just let the main character put it in his own words:

"My name is Howard Bannister and I'm from Ames, Iowa. It all started when I bumped my head in the taxicab on my way in from the airport. I went to the drugstore for some aspirin and he tried to charge me for a radio because she said her husband would pay for it. But I didn't of course. Anyway, she ripped my jacket and then Eunice, my fiancé, came along. But she kept calling me Steve. Not my fiancé, my wife, or rather the one who isn't my wife.

"Well, anyway that night at the banquet she was there again and everyone was calling her Burnsy. That's short for Burns, Eunice's last name. But Eunice wasn't there. Burnsy was there. Or rather the one who isn't Burnsy. That night I went back to my room and she was there taking a bath. Well, Eunice walked in and the drapes caught fire and the room burned and they asked me to leave the hotel. I really don't blame them. Then today, Mr. Larabee asked me to come to his house and to bring my rocks and bring Eunice. Or, rather Burnsy, the one he thinks is Eunice. Is that clear?"

"No, but it's consistent."

That last line is from the judge, driven to the edge of a nervous breakdown and memorably played by Liam Dunn, who I learned from the DVD was a casting agent, not an actor, and this was his first film appearance.

This film is full of great lines that you will be repeating to yourself for weeks afterward:

"Now don't be nervous Howard, just remember, everything depends on this."

"You'll be safe in the bathroom. Snakes, as you know, live in mortal fear of... tile."

"Since when have you taken bubble baths?" "It came out of the faucet like that."

"So what is the point? The point is, the point is, oh God I've forgotten the point."

Doc is that rare comedy that excels both in snappy dialog and physical shtick. And it throws in just about every physical bit you can think of: pie in the face, a keystone-cops-like group of fireman, girl hiding out on the window ledge and getting knocked off but hanging on by her (well-manicured) fingernails. And a chase scene to end all chase scenes up and down through San Francisco streets.

If nothing else, the film deserves a place in movie comedy history for introducing us to Madeline Kahn. Here, fresh out of college, Pete Bogdanovich found her at an audition in New York and brought her out to California for this film. And what a talent! She gets a laugh with every line, grimace, and whine and all but steals the film right from underneath Barbra Streisand's nose. And she does it by creating a character that at first makes you groan, but you really get to feel for as movie develops. The other supporting players are all the best of Hollywood at the time and are top-notch.

Streisand returned to the screen in this film after a year off, and looks relaxed, tanned and sexy. The script doesn't ask her to do much, other than be herself and use her natural comic talents, which are considerable. She takes old vaudeville shtick (such as "has anyone ever told you that you're very sexy? They never will") and makes it sound fresh.

Ryan O'Neal has two things going for him. He looks cute in his underwear and plaid bow tie, and he has terrific chemistry with Barbra. But he comes off as wooden and empty. This is Ryan O'Neal imitating Peter Bogdanovich imitating Cary Grant. Ironically, in the off screen footage included on the DVD, Ryan is charming, sexy and funny between takes. For some reason Bogdanovich has asked him to hide is charm under a bushel to portray this dull professor. (Fortunately, Peter allowed Ryan to redeem himself the following year in "Paper Moon", arguably Ryan's best screen performance.)

Fast pacing, snappy dialog, great character actors, funny shtick What's Up Doc has it all and is just as funny today as it was when it broke box office records in 1972.

Back Stage Note: While Barbra was taking vacation, ex-husband Elliot Gould was becoming the busiest star in Hollywood pumping out film after film in the early 70's. In 1971 he was both producing and starring in the drama "A Glimpse of Tiger". Although versions differ, Gould seemed to go out of control, threatening co-star Kim Darby and trying to fire director Anthony Harvey, and finally disappearing for days. Warner Brothers shut down production and tried to recast the picture. Ironically, the star they eventually got was Barbra Streisand who wanted to work with director Peter Bogdanovich. Peter wanted to work with Barbra, but wanted to do a comedy instead of a drama. In a matter of weeks, he and Robert Benton wrote the first draft of "What's Up Doc?". They gave it Buck Henry, who produced the second draft in another three weeks which became the shooting script. Thus, eight weeks after shutdown, "Glimpse of Tiger" had morphed into "What's Up Doc?" and was filming in San Francisco.

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WHAT'S UP, DOC? has to stand as one of the finest remakes of a great original ever made. By and large, remakes of classics are profoundly stupid. Although the remakes virtually never match the originals (and admittedly this one is no exception), most are merely pale imitations. Although this one does not come close to supplanting BRINGING UP BABY, it nonetheless manages to bring enough originality to make it utterly delightful. Ever since I first saw it, it has remained my favorite Barbra Streisand film, and is delightfully kooky in a way completely different from the way that Hepburn is kooky in the original. Ryan O'Neill is indeed a pale imitation of Cary Grant, but then, who wouldn't be? But Madeleine Kahn, on the other hand, is a remarkable addition to the storyline. This was, for all practical purposes, her film debut, and she makes the most of it.

This was director Peter Bogdanovich's second hit film in a row, following his marvelous THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. The next year he would make PAPER MOON, and for all intents and purposes he seemed to be the next great American director. But then for whatever reason his gifts seemed to desert him, and while he has occasionally reemerged with a decent film, he has never managed to reascend to the level of these three films. He has, however, managed to write a great deal of film criticism, along with one of the greatest collections of interviews with directors ever published. But in this film his direction was fine, and if the comedy towards the end sometimes seems less screwball than Keystone cops, I find it easy to forgive him.

I repeat that this is my favorite Barbra Streisand film. I know people are divided on her looks, but when I look at her in this one, I think she is remarkably beautiful, and her personality is so infectious that she manages to dominate the screen every second she is onscreen. She was so superb in this film that I wonder why she didn't try to undertake similar parts in the future. She did the follow up to FUNNY GIRL, but she never really tried anything this goofy again. It's a tremendous loss, because she obviously excelled at it.

I'm surprised at how well this film has aged in thirty years. Sometimes you go back and see a film two or three decades after you first saw it, and it can be shocking how aged it appears. I had that experience with both TOOTSIE and ROXANNE, and both now seem hopelessly outdated. But this one, despite the early seventies clothes and decor, remains truly fresh.

Read Best Reviews of What's Up Doc? (2010) Here

One of my favorite leisure activities is watching movies at home, and my wife and I have seen hundreds. Yet, "What's Up, Doc?" holds a special place in our heart, and that says a great deal. Madeleine Kahn is whiningly brilliant in her debut role as Eunice The Nagging Fiancee, and even now, when my spouse reminds me of something for the umpteenth time, I will often jokingly reply, "Yes, Eunice." This film also reminds us fondly of my late grandfather, because some years ago we watched it during one of his visits, and all of us laughed until our sides hurt. Every time the secret agent with the golf clubs came on the screen -even before he DID anything -it would set off my mom and my grandfather into gales of laughter.

This movie succeeds on multiple levels. The characters (especially Howard, the dazed, somewhat helpless musicologist; Eunice, his bossy fiancee; Judy Maxwell, the sweet interloper who attracts mayhem and chaos like a magnet) are amusing and well-portrayed. There is both silly visual slapstick AND brilliantly-written humorous dialogue. Comedy cliches like The Car Chase, The Pane Of Glass Crossing The Street, and people dodging in and out of rooms on a hallway are shamelessly invoked and then taken to a whole new level.

And let us not forget that Streisand is a singer! When Judy meets Howard (Ryan O'Neal) later in the film, with a piano conveniently nearby, and she launches into "You must remember this", (prompting Howard to wake up and play the changes, already) her "A siiiiiiiiiiigh, is just a sigh" is enough to melt the most cynical heart. And Streisand's rendition of "You're the Top" for the opening title is positively electric.

All in all, it is an absolute crime that Speed 2 is available on DVD, and What's Up, Doc (as of now) is not. This film is terrific in whatever format you can get it, and the minute it is available on DVD, my well-worn cassette of it will be honorably retired! Highly recommended.

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I saw this movie when it first came out in the theater. I laughed hysterically then, and on viewing it now I still laugh. There are priceless comic bits throughout the movie "Use your charm", Madeline Kahn's whimpers reading the sex book in bed, the taxi driver answering "Yes, Eunice", Vocal Reverberation under Spinal Pressure, etc., etc., etc.

Loosely taking Bringing up Baby as a pattern, this film inserts 4 suitcases for 2 leopards, tosses in the screwball female with the nerdy professor and comes up a winner. But while Bringing up Baby had a great comedic cast, the ensemble here actually does it one better. Madeline Kahn is a scene stealer right from the start. You do not realize how hilarious her performance is until you go back and watch the film a second or even a third or fourth time to see where the original script would have placed the focus of the action, and then how she manages in her understated way to garner the attention.

The other cast members are priceless as well Austin Pendleton (the stuttering attorney in My Cousin Vinny) is great as Frederick Larrabee, donor of the Larrabee prize. His reaction throughout the banquet scene to Streisand is fantastic "She's a gem" making Ryan O'Neal/Howard Bannister's renunciation of Madeline Kahn/Eunice Burns inevitable. Kenneth Mars is the other conniving aspirant to the Larrabee grant, John Hillerman is the hotel manager who has just had a room destroyed, and a bit of Buck Henry and Randy Quaid at the banquet. There are so many great minor performances that it is impossible to document them without presenting an endless list....

The chase scene is the final third of the movie and it is one of the biggest, most over-the-top chase scenes envisioned. Bogdonavich took all the wacky chase scenes from the silent films and compressed them into this one. You have the just-missing-the plate glass window scene, the just-missing the newly poured cement scene, and the addition of a chinese dragon, a VW, strange costumes, the SF harbor ferry, and a bicycle.

See this movie you'll laugh, then laugh again, and again and again...

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Heaven's Memo Pad: Complete Collection (2012)

Narumi has never really fit in at school. He becomes increasingly isolated every day. Ayaka, the only other member of his gardening club, and maybe his only friend, invites him to go meet her friend that lives above a ramen shop. Alice is a NEET. Don't let her hear you call her that though. She prefers to be called a NEET detective. She is hold up in her apartment with her many computers, stuffed animals, and hacking skills. She takes on cases that seem impossible to solve. Narumi is dragged into working as Alice's assistant. Along with Alice's posse, he does the running for her to solve the cases. He also does the delivering for the hot ramen shop owner below. He's about to enter a world of weirdness and danger.

This anime is pretty darn good. It has a lot of good mysteries, suspense, action, drama, and comedy. The animation is great, the soundtrack is cool, the voice actors are among some of the best, and the vibe created is really addicting. This anime grows on you more after each episode. Especially when the final mystery starts to rear it's ugly head. I was a bit surprised at how dramatic this series got toward the end. There are lots of cool characters that give the story depth. This is a great new anime that definitely deserves a look see!

Im really happy that this anime is coming out in it's English dub. I've seen many anime movies and tv shows but this struck me by surprise. A girl who has an interesting personality with being a NEET and owning a collection of stuffed animals doesn't seem out of the ordinary, but being a genius hacker, a good detective, and having an arsenal of NEET friends to help her out makes this anime pretty unique. I can't wait to see this.

UPDATE: I've had the pleasure of watching this twice in it's subtitled form, my review above was my take on how it was going to be about. Now its time to fix it. The main character Narumi doesn't really stand out much and he tries not to get involved with the other students. Until one of his classmates pursues him and persuades him to join the gardenclub. Her name is Ayaka, she takes him to the place where meets Alice. Alice is a neet detective who really helps people when they bring her a case. Narumi didn't know it before but he got roped into becoming Alice's assistance. Sorry I can't I keep going, might give away spoilers. All in all I love this series and the opening and closing songs/animation are great. You should really buy this but before you do check it out at the Anime Network's website. PS Blake Shepard plays Narumi/ Brittney Karbowski plays Ayaka/ and Hilary Haag plays AliceAdam Gibbs plays Tetsuo Ichinomiya/ Shelley Calene-Black plays Ming Li Huang (MASTER)/ David Matranga plays Hiroaki Kuwahara/ Greg Ayres plays Hitoshi Mukai (MAJOR). Im so happy, these are all my favorite voice actors/actresses and my favorite anime.

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this is a great anime and i couldnt be any happy. i will be buy from this again . and the price is not bad at all

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heaven's memo pad is a very solid anime which i enjoyed greatley it is a detivce / mstrey show the main charter is a girl named alice who has way too many hang ups but has many loyal followers this story takes place as a new foller comes into her world and becomes intersed and indeed facinted in her world an enjoyable romp in anime not much nudeity here some cussing and violence but not over the top i think most pepole who enjoy animes or detiveces will enjoy this one.

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This anime is really good if you like mystery, loli's and great graphics. The storyline is awesome and always pulls you in to want more.

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Mighty Aphrodite

`Mighty Aphrodite', written, directed, and starring Woody Allen seems to be the kind of movie Allen makes after he is worn out doing a strictly realistic, mostly serious movie such as `Crimes and Misdemeanors', `Hannah and Her Sisters', and `Husbands and Wives'. Unlike these excellent seriocomic works, `Mighty Aphrodite' flies off into a world of fantasy similar to the crazy / inventive situations in `Zellig' and `A Midsummer's Night Sex Comedy'.

Allen brings along with him his usual band of big name actors taking off from more remunerative roles to have some fun with this lighthearted comedy. As usual, heavyweights such as F. Murray Abraham, Claire Bloom, Jack Warden, and Olympia Dukakis have such small roles that you hardly notice they are there until they are off screen. In the case of Abraham and Dukakis and Allen stock player David Ogden Stiers, this anonymity is heightened by the fact that they are playing masked members of a Greek chorus, filmed in a ruined Roman amphitheater, in Italy, according to the location credits.

This movie was done for Mirimax and a sizable number of new names appear among the film's executive producers, although I am certain Allen still has his hands firmly on the artistic reins for the filming of the movie. I have no idea which of these new names represents `Sweetland Films', but their only contribution seems to have been a slightly less austere credit crawl at the end of the flick.

Aside from Allen, all of the really heavy lifting on the screen was done by title character actor Mira Sorvino, and it is beyond me how she was nominated for the supporting actress Academy Award and not in the lead actress category, although I suspect it did improve her chances of winning in the lesser category, which she did.

Of Allen's two most important movie subjects, love and death, love is certainly the main issue in this movie, signaled by the fact that Aphrodite is the name of the ancient Greek god of love, represented in this flick by Sorvino's character who is a prostitute and pornographic movie actress who wants to get out of that life and settle down in a more normal setting.

Allen plays a successful New York City sportswriter who gets connected with Sorvino when he and his wife decide to adopt a baby boy, and Allen becomes obsessed with the identity of the real mother, who turns out to be Sorvino. While Allen tries to set Sorvino up with a farmer turned boxer turned farmer, his wife (Carter) hooks up with a business partner (Peter Weller) who threatens to break up their marriage.

While there are a few brief moments of apparent danger when Sorvino's pimp threatens Allen's life if Sorvino quits, the pimp is bought off with nothing more than a pair of courtside tickets to a Knicks game. While the main `realistic' plot is pretty improbable as it is, the real silliness is going on in asides to a full masked Greek chorus very similar to what you would find in productions of plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Thrown into this absurdity is Jack Warden playing a modern blind man named Tiresius encountered on the streets of New York. The joke is that Tiresius is the name of a character in Sophocles' `Oedipus Rex' who makes the prophecy that Oedipus will kill his father. In Allen's version, Tiresius simply clues Allen into the fact that his wife is fooling around with her business partner.

The invocations of the Greek choruses get even more silly as the movie progresses, with the chorus appearing in modern New York near the end of the film, bursting into renditions of Cole Porter and tunes from other modern composers.

Like `Zellig', there is no attempt to avoid straining credulity. Near the end of the movie, Sorvino is rescued from her life of sin by a totally improbable `deux ex machina', which Allen glorifies by simply describing it as such in the voice-over.

This movie is about as close as Allen ever comes after `Annie Hall' to returning to the silliness of early movies such as `Bananas' and `Sleeper'. Unlike the early gag fests, you really feel for the characters in this movie. You don't want Allen to break up with his wife and you want Sorvino to get out of her sex business. And, we are much happier at the end of the movie than we are at the end of `Crimes and Misdemeanors' where a killer escapes justice and the nebbish gets cheated out of his girlfriend.

This is not one of Allen's very best movies, but it is in the upper half. Sorvino's performance is definitely worth the price of admission.

There seem to be three camps when it comes to Woody Allen. (1) People who love his earlier works and villify his most recent films (2)People who love all of his films (3) People who hate Woody Allen, his films, and anything else related to him. I belong to the second group, and like most of his films. Mighty Aphrodite is a great movie, featuring the performance that put Mira Sorvino on the map. This film also contains a great performance by Michael Rappaport, who has gone on to do more stellar work with Allen. Every time I watch this movie I laugh. If anything, see this film for the Greek chorus led by F. Murray Abraham. Like most of Allens more recent works this film is funny and wacky, while at the same time you don't leave the movie feeling as if you've lost brain cells by watching it.

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Woody Allen is a comic genius, and he outdid himself in "Mighty Aphrodite." But the real comic treat in this film is Mira Sorvino. Her role as the air-head porn star was hilarious -she was the scene-stealer of the movie and she deserved every bit of that Oscar.

There are very few movies whose comic timing is as precise as this one. This is a dark comedy that you wouldn't want to miss. It's one of the best I've seen in recent years.

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Got the European version -- unplayable on U.S. DVD. No statement made of

a version that was unplayable. Not acceptable! I can't be bothered with returning

this. Better things to do. A clear warning should be there upfront no mistaking what

is being offered.

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I am a fan of Woody Allen films. Like most people, I got interested in his early comedy films and then appreciated his development into a master of serious film. Occasionally, Allen bring the serious and the comedic together in a film that simultaneously cracks you up while amazing you in his innovative method of conveying a message. "Mighty Aphrodite" is an example of this successful mix. I remember the movie from the 1995 Academy Awards when Mira Sorvino won the Best Supporting Actress Award (and her father's touching reaction). However, I never had the chance to see the movie until it was on the Independent Film Channel last night. I was surprised by the opening scenes but I quickly came to appreciate the somewhat wacky Greek chorus. As the movie moved along, I got a bigger and bigger kick out of the chorus's persistent reappearance.

The basic story line was about a couple who adopts an infant child. The reluctant father becomes more and more absorbed in the many fine qualities of his son. He becomes obsessively curious about the boy's biological mother and manages to track her down. What he finds destroys his image of what she should be. Nonetheless, he can't shake this obsessive involvement in her life.

Mira Sorvino truly earned her Oscar for her preformance. She was so uniquely inappropriate that the comedy had trouble keeping up with her. I usually disdain the profanities of modern cinema but I have to acknowledge that, in "Mighty Aphrodite", the profane and obscene really added to the story. Ultimately the movie comes to an end in which almost all is well. In the process we discover that it is best to leave well enough alone, you can't make silk out of a sow's ear, true love takes commitment, and a variety of other messages.

I rated this movie "4 Stars" mainly because most of Woody Allen's comedies are funnier and most of his serous films are more profound. However, this was well worth watching.

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I really, really loved this anime. The animation and the voice dubbing is top notch! The storyline is pretty original as well and it's not something you can just have on in the background you have to pay attention or you may not quite get it.

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Con Air (1997)

MOVIE: Con Air, an incredibly loud and in your face action movie that does what it sets out to do. Recently Disney has released a bunch of Jerry Bruckheimer produced "unrated" DVD's. Con Air was re-released with Crimson Tide and Enemy Of The State. This so called "unrated" edition is nothing but a marketing ploy, but we did need new editions of these Bruckheimer action extravaganzas. Con Air, directed by Simon West, is a flick about a man who is sent to prison after accidentally killing a man during a bar brawl. The opening scene and credits are set to a montage of Cage writing letters to his daughter that was born while he was in prison, and she writes back. So basically it's a narrated reading of the letters back and forth. Okay, we got the character development out of the way in about five minutes, now time for the action. Cameron Poe (Cage) is put on a plane to be sent back home, but he is transported with other hardened criminals. Cyrus The Virus (John Malkovich) has other plans though, and he stages a takeover of the plane. Let the mindless but fun action ensue. Nicolas Cage sports a bad southern accent, long hair, and pumped up biceps and is our protagonist. The movie has some bad dialogue and some cliched scenes, but it never takes itself seriously. We also get Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin's full blown action score. Mancina and Rabin are members of Hans Zimmer's studio at Media Ventures, and Bruckheimer almost exclusively uses Zimmer or one of the composers that collaborate with him. The score is all electronic based, but it suits the movie well. As for the "unrated" material, there is basically nothing. The original running time was 115 minutes, so that makes 7 minutes of added footage. There really isn't anything more in terms of violence and action, just some awkward dialogue scenes that didn't really fit. So, yes, in a way the added footage hinders the movie if that's possible.

ACTING: The movie also has a topnotch cast. Nicolas Cage, who is a favorite when it comes to Jerry Bruckheimer, is great as Cameron Poe the simple southern boy. John Malkovich steals the show as the movie's antagonist. He plays a serial killer yet adds class to the character. John Cusack plays the good cop who is back on the ground trying to handle the situation and believes that Poe is a good guy. So, you see the characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts, but they work. We have some great support from Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, and good ol' Dave Chappelle.

VIDEO: The original release came with a non-anamorphic transfer, which is why this release is appreciated. This release comes with an anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer. The picture is sharp, no signs of any major flaws.

AUDIO:The sound mix isn't the best, it's pretty much the same thing from the old disc, a basic 5.1 Dolby Digital track. It's not as spread out as I'd like it to be, but it's okay.

SPECIAL FEATURES: None. When you have no special features, that's a sign that this DVD's only purpose is to sucker in losers like myself into buying them. Oh well, I enjoyed it and don't mind double dipping for a better transfer.

BOTTOM LINE: They should have just thrown in a featurette or something to at least show some effort was put into it. I feel a little cheated that there is absolutely nothing on this set, especially since the added footage is pretty much crud. For those who don't own it, get this edition. However, if you do own it then don't double dip unless you really liked the movie or if you have a widescreen set that would benefit from the anamorphic transfer. Con Air is your typical mid 90's Bruckheimer actionfest. Nothing here to intrigue your mind, just entertain it.

Pound for pound, for pure fun, this is one of the greatest movies ever. Please note that I said for pure fun. I'm not comparing this movie to "Ben Hur," "I, Cladius," "Shakespeare In Love," or any other movie that has a great deal of scope & breadth. Again, I'm only talking about movies that are for unfettered entertainment's sake.

"Con Air" is a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, and you shouldn't, either. This is a Bruckenheimer movie that is heavy on action and comedy, and light on plot & character development. Yes, most of the movie is absurd, but it is also absurd in a fun way.

The cast is absolutely impeccable, featuring Nicholas Cage, John Malchovich, Steve Buscemi and John Cusack. We even get Colm Meaney as an irate Irish DEA agent a wonderful touch! The direction is superb, and Trevor Rabin delivers yet another riveting score.

This is a can't miss for anyone who wants to sit back & watch an hour & a half of hilarious mayhem. This is what I would call a guy movie squared!

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Con Air is a good action film and several things keep it alive. One is acting. John Malkovich is good as Cyrus "the Virus" Grissom, who claims he's killed more people than cancer. John Cusack is in good form as U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin, who owns the plane the criminals take over, named "the Jailbird". Nicolas Cage delivers one of his best performances as Cameron Poe, a decorated military hero who is catching a ride home after being in prison for 8 years for defending his wife in a bar fight. Other good performances were by Steve Buscemi as serial killer Garland Greene and Ving Rhames (Mission:Impossible) as Nathan "Diamond Dog" Jones. The musical score was very good. There are a few plotholes but hey, there aren't too many movies that don't have a few plotholes here and there. Another good thing is action. Most of the action on board the plane is hand-to-hand combat. Probably the best action scene in the movie is where the criminals stop to get a new plane. U.S. troops attack them in a long and great gunfight. The other action sequence is when Cusack and Cage chase Cyrus on motorcycles through a tunnel in Las Vegas. It is very humorous when the plane is crashing and Garland Greene is singing "He's got the whole world in His hands". At the Academy Awards Con Air was nominated for two things:Best Sound and Best Original Song. It did not win either. Though Con Air may be a level below Crimson Tide, The Rock, and Air Force One, it's still a great action film

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This review refers to "Con Air: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack".....

"Con Air" was a terrific action-packed film,filled with top notch actors, edge of your seat moments, and even a little romance. The music though, is really something special. Composed by Mark Mancina and Trevor Rabin, it really captures the tense, blood pumping,moments of the story. Even on it's own,it's an album you can listen to and feel exhilareted by any time. I enjoy putting it on in the car, it will defintely keep you awake on those long and boring drives.

All the tracks are instrumental, and if you have seen the movie, the music will have you recalling "The Con Air Theme","Lear Crash","The Takeover", "The Battle in The Boneyard" and the wonderful "Overture".(see buying info for complete track listings). The only thing that is missing from the soundtrack is the beautiful ballad,"How Can I Live". This song was a very big part of the romantic aspect of the film and should have been included.And afterall it was nominated at Oscar time for Best Song. For this reason alone I am going with 4 stars instead of 5.

The music fills the room(or the car) and is joy to listen to.The drums (Lou Molino III) are a standout. There are 17 tracks in all. They range from an all to short "The Fight" at 0.22 to a breathtaking 7.41 min of "Battle in the BoneYard", most somewhere in betweeen.

More thrilling than the film itself!(but missing the romance!)

enjoy....Laurie

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Most people don't consider this movie to be an action-comedy, but is. This is definetly John Malkovich's funniest movie. It is about a plane transporting deadly convicts across the country, until it is taken over by the convicts. The convicts include, Cyrus "the virus" Grissom (Malkovich), a deadly killing machine who's violated every law in the book. A black-supremeist leader "Diamond Dog" (Ving Rhames), and a quiet, psychotic killer, Garland Greene (Buschimi) who's creepy in his own little way. Cyrus's plans are fouled by a parolee, Cameron Poe (Nicholas Cage), an ex-army ranger charged with manslaughter returing home to see his family. This movie is packed with action, plenty of laughs, and great actors give this movie two thumbs up.

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