The Adventures of Milo and Otis (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (1989)

ever since way back when, i was maybe 6 years old, i still remember when i first rented it from the video store. it took my little breathaway. whenever i went back to rent a movie, i begged my mom to let me rent it again, until she finally bought it for me.

this beautiful tale has so many layers, heart, and spirit, i can't begin to explain it. the first thing i should mention is, dont get fooled to thinking animals got hurt during the making of this, because they DIDNT. Masanori Hata takes VERY good care of his animals. he shot milo and otis on his own private island in Japan. the original movie was called the Adventures of Chatran, and it was longer. ( i've never seen it, i've been looking for years ) i hope someday i will see it. koneko monogatari ( milo and otis ) makes me cry at the beauty, sadness, and then joy finally. its a celebration of life. you can't dismiss it as a mere " kid's movie", it is for everyone. i detest the "adult" mindset, because it disables them from experiancing all forms of beauty. this is not a movie to me, it's a part of me, and it shares a special place in my heart.

i love milo and otis. jeffro

I didn't know what to think before seeing this movie. The opinions were so disparate. Now that I've seen it, I find I agree with both camps. It is a delightful AND troubling film.

This is a simple but timeless story of adventure and friendship. Milo the mischievous kitten and Otis the pug puppy are best friends. Otis even pursues his friend when he's carried down the river after jumping into a wooden box. Soon, both of them are lost as well as separated from each other. The adventures they have with other animals are amazing, numerous and varied. They interact with a bear cub, raccoon, fox, seagulls, a turtle, a fawn and many others. The interactions will amaze you -I couldn't believe a pug was riding on a turtle's back!

The footage is incredible, and does make one worry about the animals. While the director has said that the animals were raised together and are friends, and this is believable, it cannot account for the cat being attacked by seagulls and later falling from a very high cliff into the ocean. This troubles me.

Dudley Moore's narration is flawless. He captures every voice perfectly. Background music is gentle orchestral pieces. You will be amazed (and maybe a little troubled). Your children will definitely enjoy it, and adults will, too.

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Milo and Otis is an absolutely adorable movie! I own a pug and let me tell you that Otis's mannerisms and the way he behaves is very true to the breed. Otis is very ornery and gets into so many things, just like pugs really do. I felt so bad and wanted to cry when he got stuck out in the snow towards the end of the movie. I am very glad that he made a friend in Milo and their travels together will warm the coldest of hearts. The end is a perfect end to their travels and now there is not just two of them anymore!

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This DVD is fantastic, it contains a widescreen presentation of a movie that kids love and parents will not get sick and tired of. This is an adventure/coming of age story of a dog and a cat, with nary a human being in sight. All kinds of animals make appearances and contribute to the plot! Narrated by Dudley Moore, who died recently (last year?) with some of the best cinematography EVER amazing nature footage that will always captivate little ones attention. Highly, highly recommended.

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....killed in this film is a retard, that thing about 20 cats being killed is a rumour that was bred by paranoia and ignorance. I can say that this film is amazing in what they accomplished with these animals and Dudley Moore is awesome as the narrator, but the editing was kind of awkward which is understandable when you are piecing fragments of non-cohesive shots. i watched this becuase it is a remarkable achievement as a film. but really, everything that you see in the film is a very basic, and usually very obvious, camera trick made to allude that it was more "dangerous" than it realy was. first off, the japanese man who made this owns a farm and is a devote animal lover so I strongly doubt he would have allowed an animal to be killed. Also, its a trivia fact that ONLY 4 cats were used this film and that was only to show an age progression. really, their was no assembly line of death in this movie. So lets break down the "stunts" in the film.

1. the scene where the pug and bear "fight". The bear in this film was obviously domesticated and was really only playing rough with the dog because by nature, bears play rough. the dog was only slapped on his hind by the bear and not even scratched because it was not an attack, it was play that was meant to look like one with the magic of editing. He did get dunked in the water a few times though which was kind of funny.

2. the box scene where the cat drops off a waterfall. the cat coudnt have been injured. the fall was made to look bigger than it really was with the use of the camera and really coudnt have been more than five feet, and cats are very limber and can sustain a much greater fall than that on solid ground.

3. Seagulls pecking the cat? I didnt see a single seagull even touch the cat. the cat was just running around all erratic to make the situation look really distressing. One gull lifted his wings up to stand his ground from the cat, that was pretty much it.

4. Now the big one, the cliff drop. If you look at the actual shot, you will notice the cat really only fell about a quarter of the way into the ocean but was filmed in a way to suggest that he had fallen from the top.

5. heres a funny one, one person actually believed that the fish really bit the cats tail which is really laughable. the fish that you saw being dragged by the cat was a dead fish prop attached to the cats tail, and then was replaced with a live fish flopping on the ground in the next shot. this film must have been exhausting to make.

6. oh yeah, the crab that pinched the cats cheek. well...ok, that was real. you got me that time. even though that crab was smaller than a baby kitten and could not have broken through his skin.

7. Were they psychologically harmed? doubtful. the average cat or dog owner does far more psychologically damaging things to their pet, you strap a leash on them. you confine them to your backyards. put them in cages to transport them like cargo. really, its a subjective viewpoint.

You know how I know that animals were really looked after intensely when this was made? because the editing is clumsy as hell. If they really were at a complete disregard for animal safety, then they could have gotten these shots to flow much easier and it wouldnt have taken them four years to make it.

If there are any more that i missed, you could probably figure them out for yourself if you stop watching it in such an emotional state and look at it like a film. I suppose the reason they did not include the message "no animals were harmed...." is becuase that was not the standard in 1980's Japan at the time, and instead the message "all animals were treated under the care of supervisors with regard to their safety...etc." was used instead. trust me, i watched the entire film with every allegation that people have made about it in mind and would be surprised if any animal was even injured in the making of this film.

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The Downfall Of Berlin - Anonyma

This is a bit difficult movie to review. Honestly, I was expecting a movie about the street by street or building by building fight between advancing Russian army and defending Germans, along with occasional views of civilian horrors. Instead, the movie centers on a detailed dairy written by a German journalist woman who witnessed and suffered Russian occupation of Berlin during last days of WWII. Overall, the movie is a major achievement. In my opinion, it accomplishes three main points: (a) civilians suffer and pay a major cost in all wars, particularly elderly, women and children; (ii) Russian soldiers acted not differently from any other invading army when they find defenseless civilians, and most interestingly, (iii) relationships between civilians of defeated Germany and invading Russian troops may not have been just about hate, rape and killings. I highly recommend this movie if these topics interest you and if you wish to see them well treated. The DVD transfer is pretty good, with some nice extras (Director's interview and others), Widescreen presentation, English subtitles forced on Russian and German spoken audio.

Too many foriegn war movies are not coming out here in region one on blu ray.

This is playable though on our blu ray players , in fact of all the recent blu ray foriegn language war themed blu ray releases only max manus is not compatible with our blu rays. This movie is a great movie because it really shows how people can adapt to terrible situations that are beyond imagining. This is a absolutely true story true. By the time of the russian entry into berlin , the battle that killed hundreds of thousands of people; berlin was in ruins, people stood in line for food, and if people were blown up they'd take their place in line covered with blood and guts, just to get something to eat. That's a desperate nightmare even before the russian troops entered the city. Most germans too knew that The axis troops had engaged in a orgy of death and rape and extermination on the eastern front and the russian troops were out for revenge. However as this movie makes clear the average soldier usually wasn't there to exterminate the germans. They did rape every woman in site though including elderly women. There was random kilings though of people , but mostly it was rape and this movie shows that women were forced to survive those terrible days that many women had to adjust to this and try to find a russian soldier that they could have as a protector. After all after the fourth rape or much more it would be in your best interest to get someone to keep the others off you.

Some women killed themselves , others went mad, but most just tried to survive and remained strong. They adjust and shockingly discuss their different rapes and how they were treated by different soldiers raping them in groups. They must adapt and if they must sleep with the russians to get food so be it. The men sit around helpless why the women accept things as they are. This story came from a autobiographical book that shocked and angered people in the late 1950's. Noone wanted to accept that women would just deal with the horror of this and do the best they could to survive. The authors name is still not given even after her death. But history is filled with women shacking up with former raping conquerers. It's about survival after all and war drags things down to primitive level. Noone who wasn't there in these situations can judge the women. This movie isn't a great movie like 'downfall' which you can get on blu ray too, but it's a good and important movie about the human condition. It has bloody fighting in the first part as the russains fight their way in and then begin to take their lustful revenge. Even so they are not depicted as mindless beasts but angry wartorn men who feel that true justice would be extermination. That being said the russian leadership did kill several million germans when they forced them out of what is now western poland.

The deaths from the war continued long after the fighting stopped. In fact with many people deported throughout eastern europe to siberia only to die there over the next ten years the true death toll of the war is far greater than anyone wants to admit. This blu ray looks great with a great print , it's in german with english subtitles and that's fine because reading is good for your brain. The acting is very good and the story true and true stories that stick to the facts are the best kind. History isn't boring it's a slaughter really with times of peace inbetween.

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Dealing with the taboo subject of the rape of German women by Russian troops entering Berlin in the final days of WWII, no matter how it is dealt with, Anonyma is never going to be easy viewing, so although Max Färberböck's film is very much a palatable mainstream cinematic viewpoint like Downfall and Sophie Scholl, it's a subject that need to be confronted and does indeed need to be brought out into the mainstream.

Anonyma is based on the first-hand account of a woman who experienced rape and abuse at the hands of Soviet troops, progressing their way through the capital towards the Reichstag. One battalion occupy and hold control of the street, ruthlessly wiping out the last elements of resistance, using the few ruined buildings that remain in the destroyed city as little more than makeshift brothels in which the surviving female population are held in fear, and raped at will by as many soldiers that want them. To survive and try and regain some control over what happens to her, one German woman, the proud wife of a loyal Nazi officer, determines to obtain the favour of a high-ranking Soviet official, become his woman alone and thereby avoid a worse fate at the hands of dangerous unknown men.

The film certainly captures the sense of fear for what lies in store for the women, the early part of the film showing them cowering in darkness in ruined basements fearfully waiting for the torches to highlight their faces and drag them outside, but the horror of what they endure is not shown in any graphic detail mercifully, some might feel, while others might find this is avoidant and misrepresents the reality, but it's hard to imagine how the film could otherwise be watchable and reach a necessary wide audience. This is an important factor, since the film is based on the original diaries of the only woman to write about the abuses in any detail, which when first published in 1959, were met with outrage and denial and have subsequently remained out of print, only reappearing after the woman's death, and even then, still anonymously.

What the account and the film confirm however is the same as Rainer Werner Fassbinder covered in his astonishing film The Marriage of Maria Braun, one of the few other films to bravely confront the immediate post-war years and beyond, both of them showing (Maria Braun through the forming a bond with a black American soldier) that it the rebuilding of a destroyed nation was largely built on the strength and determination of the German women, the men living in denial and shame of the defeat that they had suffered. It's there in one particular moving scene of Anonyma where one of the women whispers to the husband of a wife seen dancing with the German troops "We must be practical. Things will get better", only to go and weep behind a closed door for the sacrifice that must be made. The husband doesn't have the same strength to endure it.

Although Nina Hoss is excellent in the central role, one would perhaps have liked to see Färberböck approach Anonyma with the same sense of fearlessness that Fassbinder would have approached such controversial material (the presence of Irm Hermann here, one of Fassbinder group of actors reminding us occasionally of his ability to push buttons and reveal uncomfortable truths about the German character), but even so, the topic of Anonyma needed to be confronted and it makes a strong impression regardless.

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This is a movie that ranks among the best. It is a story of woman living in the hardest times.

Based on the memoirs of a woman who wished to remain nameless it is different in that appears to be as honest as they come. Her book was first published in German in 1959 and received a critical public responce, feeling that the author brought shame on German women and German way of life and watching the film one can see why. For not only does it describe the atrocities that happend in the final days of World War 2 Berlin but it is also critical of Germans and has a spark of life that goes some way in explaining how people survive. There are even moments of humor in those bleak times and the Soviets are described not only as brutes but survivors of their own kind.

All of this makes for a very powerful film and Max Färberböck has done great justice to the story by lavishly constructing large sets and doing his outmost to bring Berlin in April 1945 back to life. In fact I was pleasantly impressed by the scale of things having watched similar films before I have never before seen so many people and Soviet soldiers in each scene before, before everything has been done on a tight budget but Max Färberböck has managed to bring the film to epic proportions. Any history buff with attention to detail will appriciate the work put into the film and the detail that the Red Army receives.

I still consider Downfall (Der Untergang) superior but I feel the two films compliment each others.

Recommended.

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This film is the adaptation of the famous "Woman in Berlin" diary, written from April to June 1945 by a woman from Berlin, who decided to remain anonymous (for quite obvious reasons). The book, which shows the fate of German civilians (mostly women) in Berlin conquered by Red Army, is a very disturbing but brilliantly written thing. To make a movie of "Woman in Berlin" was a very great challenge and after watching the film it is my opinion that the director/writer and the actors rose up to meet it succesfully.

In case you are not familiar with the book "Woman in Berlin" and didn't see yet the film, two precisions are important:

1. Do not expect a war movie. In the film there is ONE short fighting scene and it is all. The film is first about the civilians hiding in basements during the fighting and then trying to survive once the fighting is over and the Red Army occupies Berlin.

2. This is a very dark, violent and disturbing film, which includes scenes of rape. I think that the rating "15" is too liberal for thid film I would really say that it is not for people under 18. This film can also be particularly shocking and disturbing to women, especially considering that it tells a TRUE story!

"Downfall of Berlin" contains many elements which didn't figure in the book, but many of them were at least slightly suggested in "Woman in Berlin". The director also added an element which didn't figure in the book at all, showing that Red Army brought with it not only rape and abuse, but also the omnipresent shadow of totalitarian fear, symbolized by the Soviet political police NKVD, which in a matter of days substituted itself to its Nazi equivalent, the Gestapo. Also, the relation between the Anonymous Woman and the Soviet major is somehow amended here and slightly less unequal than in the real story (in her diary the Anonymous Woman never left even an ounce of doubt, that she was a sexual slave, "owned" by the Soviet officer).

The film also doesn't show the last chapters of the book, after the departure of most of occupying troops (the hunger and forced labor), which are in fact maybe even more shocking than the description of "women hunting" and rapes.

Nina Hoss, who plays the Anonymous Woman, did an amazing job in this film. After reading the book and watching this film I can say that she really, REALLY entered the skin of the author of the diary and played her to the perfection. All other actors did also a great job and I think the director/writer Max Farberbock should be praised for pushing them sometimes to the limits and obtaining the best performance possible.

Bottom line, even if the 5 stars rating maybe just a little too generous (4,5 would be just perfect), I think that considering how hard it was to make a film out of this particular book all the team in charge of "Downfall of Berlin" deserves the highest praise. I watched this film with a mixture of horror and interest and even if there were maybe some weaker moments, I still found it a very good thing.

I do not think that it is possible to actually enjoy "Downfall of Berlin" due to its nightmarish topic, but to anybody interested in World War II this is a definitely recommended viewing, as it shows aspects of this conflict usually never shown or even spoken about.

The Purge (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (2013)

The premise behind writer/director James DeMonaco's film THE PURGE is indeed a fantastic one: set in the year 2022, when unemployment nationwide is down to just one percent, and crimes across the board are at an all-time low. But what if the manner of getting it that was to allow a one-night "purge", in which violent behavior was actually sanctioned by the United States government, and largely to rid America of the poor and the indigent? It is a premise that may seem outrageous; but so too was the idea of a surveillance state as depicted in George Orwell's classic 1948 novel "1984"; and what has America become since 9/11 but a real-life surveillance state? Under the right circumstances, it is completely possible that something like THE PURGE might come to pass.

Ethan Hawke portrays a security systems designer whose entire neighborhood, located in the hills above West Los Angeles, owes its very security and safety to his security designs. It becomes especially important during a twelve-hour time frame from 7 PM to 7 AM on March 21st and 22nd, 2022 known as "The Purge", in which violent behavior, including murder, theft, and even rape, will be allowed--and no police or emergency first responders will be on duty. It is a thing that Hawke and his family, and their neighbors, have gotten used to; and they have also become largely callous when it comes to the potential victims of the Purge, namely the poor who don't have the ability to support themselves with any job or pay approaching anywhere close to what Hawke makes. But on this particular Purge Night, one of Hawke's children (Max Burkholder), out of the goodness and conscience of his heart, lets a wounded black man (Edwin Hodge) enter the premises, which upsets Hawke tremendously. To Hawke, Hodge is exactly the kind of target the Purge people want to kill; and when the leader (Rhys Wakefield) of one such Purge group comes to get Hodge, Hawke, his family, and their home come under siege from that group. Hawke at first advocates handing over Hodge to them (given that the Purge group has already totally crippled what Hawke had once proclaimed a foolproof security system), but his wife (Lena Headey), daughter (Adelaide Kane) and Burkholder, appalled at his descent into cold-blooded "survival of the fittest", force the issue. In the end, they are forced to endure much physical horror and psychological terror until the morning comes. And does the madness really even end there?

DeMonaco wrote and directed THE PURGE on a budget of just slightly more than $3 million; and apart from the sometimes shaky and unsteady camera work (a trait that came from the quasi-documentary style of films like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY), every penny of that $3 million budget shows up here. There are a number of things that don't quite work the way they should; and some of the acting, especially by Wakefield as the chief Purge instigator, is overly hammy. In terms of what DeMonaco is basically trying to do with what is certainly a fantastic and crazy premise (one that seems to take a number of shots at right-wing elements of America, up to and including the Tea Party), however, THE PURGE is effective enough. There is something extraordinarily ironic at rich, upscale people turning on one another, either for harboring a "filthy swine" such as Hodge, or for having their supposedly "foolproof" security system exposed. In many ways, it derives its power and plot from many films: the original ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13; A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (the masks worn by Wakefield and his posse); THE BIRDS; NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD; STRAW DOGS (the original 1971 Sam Peckinpah classic); and even THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND (Peckinpah's last, released in 1983). But these are films that have a kinetic and psychological power that very few other "horror" or "thriller" films of this kind can have without spiraling into hyper-violent absurdity, and they are films that DeMonaco clearly has learned a lot from.

Hawke does a fairly good job of being a somewhat callous capitalist who grossly underrates the impact that the violent behavior of the night of the Purge will have on his family. Headey also does a credible job as his wife, who questions his motivations and his morality when, at first, he decides to hand Hodge over to Wakefield, instead of doing the right thing and fighting for his humanity. In the final analysis, and in terms of its credibility and plausibility, it has to be said that THE PURGE isn't necessarily the best psychological "horror" or "thriller" film that has ever been. But it is effective enough to deliver what it promises for its eighty-five minute running time.

"The Purge, for its time, is by far one of the most daring and intriguing thrillers and social conscience dramas released in recent memory. While some people might find the concept bewildering to grasp (a 12-hour period known as The Annual Purge involving free, legalised criminal activity), it is nonetheless stronger for consideration than the average "horror" film especially when recent discussions about the Second Amendment, poverty, race/class issues, and mental health all have been in the spotlight.

The film, as the trailers might hint, starts off more as a dark and chilling parable and then switch its gears for more conventional thriller devices with the Straw Dogs-like house invasion toward the middle and end of the film. Nonetheless, much of its messages and intrigue are not lost in the mist as many things can be read and interpreted upon (the affluence of preppy university students showcasing their snobbery through racial violence, fear of the very poor and very rich, taking advantage of innocent women).

While much of its glory comes from the themes, The Purge also complements its too realistic for science-fiction, claustrophobic narrative well with intense cinematography, graphic violence, paranoia, and slow-burner pace of frequent domestic threat. Performances are rather good too with Ethan Hawke plays a believably stuck-up security systems consultant and Lena Headey as the fearful yet resilient matriarch of the Sandin family. The soundtrack, with its clever yet unsettling use of Debussy's Claire de Lune, sets to complement a tone to the film that hints paranoia and horror with "violent peace" (oxymoronic to say the least).

From a person who hardly goes to see these so-called "horror" films (ParaNorman, The Shining, Cabin in the Woods, An American Werewolf in London, and Splice are just a few recent ones I have seen), this one can be construed as more close to horror because of the feeling that you are not safe in your own home but the thriller aspect plays into it moreover due to its realistic albeit futuristic setting. On merit, the film delivers a stronger argument about the trouble vigilantism may bring or provide good or bad and is a good enough film for older audiences to critique and question about much of the film's meaning. On that note, it is also best if you stay in for the credits too so to get the experience of knowing how many of The Annual Purge participants feel glad or feel sorrow."

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By the year 2022 the US government, led by our New Founding Fathers, has managed to crawl its way out of a triple dip recession and record crime rates. Unemployment stands at 1%, and crime is at an all time low. With one exception. Once a year, on a date designated as The Purge, for twelve hours all crime is legal. Rape, murder, theft, the entire US has a free pass to do whatever they wish and suffer no repercussions for it. In a single day thousands are murdered and millions of dollars worth of property destroyed in order to give everyday American's an outlet to vent their rage, anger, and frustrations in the hope that they will "cleanse their souls" and not be tempted to commit crimes for the rest of the year.

First of all let's put aside the fact that the premise at face value makes absolutely no sense. I'll let that slide, though I do feel it needs to be said. The premise is what it is, and as implausible as it is, I still thought it interesting enough to warrant a look. But even overlooking this, the movie has some serious flaws that I felt wasted what could have been a very intelligent film. First of all, this film is produced by the same people who brought us great horror movies like the Paranormal Activity movies, Insidious and Sinister, and while I loved those movies this film should have been different. The premise screams suspense thriller, as instead of dealing with supernatural beings like in their previous films, the main baddies in this one are a bunch of teenagers in masks and an old homeless man. To put it simply, there is nothing even remotely scary about this movie, so the fact that they filmed it like a horror movie with the typical horror movie tropes, jump scares, loud music, etc only served as a distraction both for the director and the audience from what should have been the main focus. These sort of things worked for Sinister and Insidious because of their supernatural elements, because the villains were invisible, evil forces that couldn't be talked to or reasoned with. This film doesn't have that. Instead we have some homeless guy wandering around an inexplicably enormous house for an hour while the idiot family that lives there stumbles around in the dark. Am I honestly supposed to be scared by this? The Purge is a thriller in a horror movies clothing, and ultimately in my opinion fails horribly at being either.

But what about The Purge itself? Do we get to see the streets turn into battle grounds? Is there subtle yet engaging social commentary to go along with such an interesting premise? Sadly, no. I don't know what these producers deal is with filming well off families in big houses, but this story should have really been told from the POV of someone who is poor and, thus, unable to afford protection from the roaming bands of psychotic rich kids trying to kill them. This is what should have been the focus of the film, not some boring rich family with first world problems, but the poor and downtrodden who are the real victims of this sick tradition. Imagine a film where a poor, single mother/father flees with their children from bands of killers who are not only allowed to kill at will, but encouraged to do so as well. That would have been a great movie. Instead we get boring suburban dad with boring suburban wife, and boring suburban kids. Nothing gets my heart strings strumming like privileged rich people trying to throw some poor homeless guy to the wolves. Yeah, I feel real sorry for those guys.

The Purge is a film that had a great idea but no idea how to see it through. Its boring, badly directed, and commits the cardinal sin of being a horror movie that isn't even remotely scary. If you really want to see it, wait until its on netflix and stream it. Otherwise, my suggestion is to pass. Its really not worth the effort.

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This movie is not supose to be scary. It was really good (in my opinion). It delivered what it promised to deliver. People always complain about things. It is sad how people ca never be satisfied. The idea was really creative and well built.

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For Hollywood, this was a goldmine!! With a budget of only a reported 3 million, this movie exceeded and surpassed expectations! And here is why. The acting was superb, Ethan Hawke and company did an excellent job in portraying the story. The audience felt the families plight, they were right there with them. This ultra violent horror movie actually has heart. The ending will surely suprise any veteran horror movie fan. Excellent film!!! The supporting cast, right down to the most minute part did an excellent job as well. We love love love this movie.....go see it!!!

The only issue I have is that I wish that the story was carried outside of the family, but other than that, it would have been a 5 star!!!

Christopher Berry

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At the Gate of the Ghost

I expected this to be a grand martial arts movie with lots of action scenes. Instead I found a really well told story with lots to consider. Thoroughly enjoyable.

this movie is only a modern adaption of the movie "rashomon" by akira kurosawa. get the original instead.

there are very little changes to kurosawas version.

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Spirits of the Dead (Histoires extraordinaires) (1968)

Janus Films participated in the restoration of this film and you would think that that alone would ensure high standards of quality. And for the most part it did. But unmentioned in all the reviews of this DVD is the fact that the best film of the three, Toby Dammit,does not have its English soundtrack included.

Terence Stamp is English and he spoke his part in English.(and what an amazing bit of verbal it was) It just ain't the same thing in dubbed French by another actor. An earlier release of this film delivered the English soundtrack as an option but did not allow you to turn off the English subtitles! (Some of the people that put these things together are really lacking in simple, common sense.) Also the image quality on the previous release is faded and not real sharp. Image quality on this current DVD is excellent. Rich color and very sharp. So the horror of it all is you are left with a very well done restoration with a rather important detail inexplicably left out. The English soundtrack exists and isn't this the whole point of DVD's? I took a chance buying this DVD hoping for an improved version that fixed some of the problems on the earlier release.

The frustrating thing is that it is so close to being there, but a French speaking Terence Stamp is just absurd. Janus Films was also involed in the Criterion Collection new version of Amarcord and they did it perfectly. Everything is there. Wish they used as much care on this one.

As originally conceived by Fellini, the Toby Dammitt segment was, imho, the greatest work he ever committed to film. Taut, lean, stylish and very effective. I saw the film when it was first released and am fortunate enough to have this segment on an old beta tape.

Beyond Terrence Stamp's wonderful delivery, is the crucial element of the english actor being alone and isolated in Italy by his language, slowly pushing him deeper into surrender and madness. All of this is lost in the current French dubbed edition.

(On the other hand, it must be a plus to have the first two segments, overdubbed into English for US release, back to their original French. However, these segments are competent, or somewhat interesting at best, compared to fantastic finale.)

Please let Janus know that they have broken trust by butchering a great artist's masterwork.

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In response to the reviewer's query below concerning the French overdubbing of "Toby Dammit" sorry, this DVD ALSO features a French actor's voice dubbed over that of Terrence Stamp. I, too, was greatly disappointed at this.

I do not know of any other version available that has Stamp's English dialogue, but I remember seeing it on television in the 80s and onscreen at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood in 2004. Maybe if there is enough demand they will remaster it and put out an English version of this delightful foray into subtle, 1960's-style psychological horror? One can hope.

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Spirits of the Dead (Histoires extraordinaires) [Blu-ray]This is a clarification rather than a full review: several reviewers have indicated that only the French dubbed version of Toby Dammit (Fellini's contribution to this anthology) is available on this Blu-Ray disc. That is INCORRECT! The original Italian and English soundtrack is included on this version, and the French dub is also included as another soundtrack option. If you buy this disc, you will in fact have the pleasure of hearing Terence Stamp deliver his lines in all their lunatic, English glory--and my guess is that the reviews listed under this Blu-Ray were originally from some other release of the film that did not have the Italian-English soundtrack for Toby Dammit; either Amazon goofed by using reviews of an older release in their listing of this Blu-Ray, or the reviewers have mistaken this Blu-Ray release for an older release of the film.

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Spirits of the Dead, a handsomely mounted 1967 film that features three segments from three European giants (Vadim, Malle, and Fellini) all based on Edgar Allen Poe short stories. The third segment, Fellini's Toby Dammit, is so incredibly different and dense when compared to the other two that you almost forget you've watched an anthology by the time the film ends. His work here is as good as he's ever been visually, and the world that he creates perfectly represents the inner turmoil of the self-destructive actor Toby Dammit (Terrance Stamp). The director presents his typical circus or parade; whichever you want to call it, and this time it shows the world of the celebrity in modern day Rome. It's obviously been liberally adapted from the original Poe story, and it's only nominally a horror tale (Toby is stalked by a Björk-ish devil figure), but the film transcends any generic or authorial labels: it's purely Fellini's, and at a little over forty minutes long it doesn't burn out the audience in the way that his longer pageants tend to.

The other two segments are certainly solid, even if they might not top Fellini's work with sheer panache. Vadim's piece is the better of the remainder, and it features Jane and Peter Fonda as feuding cousins. This is the most overtly supernatural segment of the trio, and even it feels somewhat subdued when compared to modern ghost stories. Jane Fonda is excellent in her role, and she brings a combination of refinement and haughtiness to the part that vitalizes the character. Like all of the film, this bit of the film is well shot, but Vadim's captured some gorgeous outdoor scenery, whereas the others take place mostly indoors. The tale itself is spooky enough, and the running time feels sufficient. The only real negative mark here is that the film resorts to a slightly jarring voiceover narration here to fill in background details. Malle's segment is likable enough, but it feels somewhat slighter than the other two. Its gambling scene evokes Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (just as the driving sequences in the Fellini segment recall A Clockwork Orange), even if Spirits was made several years earlier, and there is genuine tension aroused at the card table. Throughout the film, there is a relatively low gore quotient, and the acting is uniformly solid. As far as psychological horror goes, the films work well, and that they realize Poe's stories were mainly internalized distortions of the world works to their advantage, even as they approach the material in vastly different ways.

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Band of Brothers (2008)

That modesty and that sentiment seems to be shared by all the survivors of Easy Company, 506th PRI, and many of them can't hold back the tears as they mumble it. One of the great benefits of this marvelous series was the closeup interviews of the real men portrayed, those wonderful old seamed faces, breaking at last with emotion as they recall their experiences and the love of their comrades and the pain of loss of other friends. It moves me greatly, and I'm glad the Extras in this set has an extended documentary re-tracing the time-frame of the film with these real veterans recalling the action we've seen re-created.

Brought with loving care and fanatic attention to detail by producers Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks and their carefully chosen band of producers, directors and actors, this is an unsentimental, near-documentary telling of the story of Easy Co. from training to D-Day, Hedge Row fighting, Operation Market Garden, Bastogne, into Germany, liberation of Death Camps, and the capture of Berchesgarden & Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

Throughout it all, the aim has been to tell it straight and get it right. They have done so in remarkable style. The truth HAS enough drama, and the various episodes reveal it. We get to know these men and care about them. We marvel at their endurance and the way they go about getting the job done, professionally, and with matter-of-fact, everyday courage. It is a true tribute to the Citizen Soldiers who won the war.

With 10 episodes and lots of extra goodies, presented within an exceptional package, there is just too much to review here. Some memorable moments: the harrowing jump into the explosive, tracer-lit night skies of Normandy; the assault on the 88's; Winter's killing the young German; the episode dedictated to the Medic; the monstrous artillery barrage on the men in the snowy forest of Bastogne; the shock of the farmer's wife on seeing the closeup hand-to-hand killing of the German by "Bull"; and finally, the incredibly moving scenes of the liberation of the Concentration Camp, and the final days of Easy at the War's end.

These last episodes are all the more powerful because we have followed Easy Co. and these men and have seen the death so random and arbitrary around and among them that a slow emotional tension has been built that we now realize with the intensity of anger/pity/horror at the Camps and the bittersweet joy and subsequent farewell of VE day.

I could cite great moments by each individual actor, and nicely played and effectively understated but powerfully emotional scenes but suffice it to say this is an ensemble piece with superb performances throughout. The quiet power of the different episodes underscores how wonderfully written the entire piece is, and with corresponding excellent direction and production values.

A one-of-a-kind production, having the time to tell the tale with detail and care, and with all involved doing honor to the men who lived it. And finally, there are those men, bringing it all back to the reality of real lives lived. Exceptional stuff.

Band of Brothers is an awe inspiring and visually stunning tribute, not only to Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, but to the "Greatest Generation." But for their sacrifices, would we share the freedoms we so cherish and covet to our vests today! Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg deserve all of the awards and accolades they received for bringing this epic to HBO and now this incredible DVD box set!

Part 1 Currahee Currahee is a wonderful beginning to this unprecedented HBO miniseries. Outside of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" there has never before been such a realistic series such as this one. Currahee poignantly highlights the training that was necessary for the newly designed Airborne Infantry. While some may think that Captain Sobel was a complete idiot, in all truth, his combat skills were obviously lacking however, as a trainer, he put Easy Company in a very good position as a well trained unit.

Part 2 Day of Days D-Day has arrived and Easy Company makes the jump that they've been preparing two years for. As history unfolds, the German flak has caused nearly every plane to miss their designated drop zone. 1LT Winters finds he's in Normandy, lost his weapon and his company. He finally arrives at the assembly area and is given the mission to take out a German artillery position. Day of Days is an excellent episode that doesn't miss out on 1LT Winters depth of emotions as he loses his first soldier in combat.

Part 3 Carentan Easy Company is ordered in to take the French village of Carentan. While encountering only minor resistance, they take light casualties. After successfully taking the town, they're ordered to move on to the next objective. En route, they encounter the German force sent to retake Carentan. They stalemate for the evening, expecting to forge a full assault in the morning. The Germans have other plans though and counter attack in the morning with a combined force of mechanized infantry and armor. Fortunately for Easy Company, they are finally rescued by the 2nd Armored Division. Shortly after this action they are lucky enough to get some R&R back in England. The show ends with orders back to the front and a very poignant final scene to yet another wonderful episode.

Part 4 Replacements Replacements jumps forward to September and Easy Company is on R&R in England. They're called into Operation Market Garden. Easy Company is given the mission to take Eindhoven, Holland. They were told they would be running into light resistance. Operation Market Garden turns into a huge failure and the Allied Forces are turned back with heavy casualties. Sgt "Bull" Randleman is quite unfortunate enough to get stuck behind enemy lines. "Replacements" is another excellent episode.

Part 5 Crossroads Crossroads is one of the best shows of the whole miniseries. Captain Winters, due to the costs of war, garners advancement from Easy Company Commander to Battalion Executive Officer. The episode is shown, through the eyes of Captain Winters as he is preparing a report on the actions of October 5th when he led his company in the attack of a German SS position. The more telling part is later in the episode when he gets an R&R in Paris and the horrors of war catch up to him.

Part 6 Bastogne To quote Captain Winters, "we're paratroopers; we're supposed to be surrounded." Bastogne tells the tale, from Easy Companies point of view, about the 101st Airborne Infantry being surrounded by German forces and holding the line during the Battle of the Bulge. This is also the combat action where the Commanding General of the 101st Airborne replied to the German Commanders request for their surrender, "nuts."

Part 7 The Breaking Point January 1945 and Easy Company is on the verge of attacking the Germans in Foy, Belgium. Due to heavy resistance, Easy Company endures nearly a month of being barraged by German artillery on the front line. This episode is very telling as far as the how demoralizing the artillery can be.

Part 8 The Last Patrol Easy Company is on the front line in the Alsacian town of Haguenau. They now have the sense that the war is coming to a close, as they are just across the river from Germany. The brigade commander orders a patrol across the border to secure German prisoners. This episode again brings to the forefront the emotions of the soldiers as they again are counted on to accomplish their mission!

Part 9 Why We Fight This episode is clearly the most poignant of the series as Easy Company finds and liberates a concentration camp. Although there had been rumors of these concentration camps, no once could truly comprehend what they were about until they were faced with them! This episode alone should've garnered several awards.

Part 10 Points Easy Company takes Eagles Nest, Hitler's mountaintop fortress. The company settles in as an occupation force, yet expecting to be redeployed to the Japanese warfront. A very emotional what happened to several of the units members after the war. Overall, this episode is a fantastic conclusion to the "Band of Brother."

Disk Seven

We Stand Alone Together: The Men of Easy Company An outstanding documentary containing interviews with surviving members of Easy Company! Once you've seen all of the episodes, this documentary introduces you to the real members of Easy Company.

Ron Livingston's Video Diaries This is an exceptional set of clips filmed by Ron Livingston, who played Lieutenant Nixon, covering the "actor boot camp" run by Captain Dale Dye, USMC Retired.

HBO's The Making of Band of Brothers' This is another excellent "Making of" clip by HBO, covering the creation of this spectacular miniseries! {ssintrepid}

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I have to say that this series blew me away. I was so impressed with the effort put into Saving Private Ryan to give it a documentary look and feel. Band Of Brothers falls from the same tree. Once again, Hanks and Spielberg reunite to produce this epic cable series of WW2 as told by the men themselves. Every episode has interviews from the soldiers who were there. Very realistic and emotional stuff.

First off, the set comes in a metal box with fold out style disk holders. Exactly like the standard dvd edtion a few years ago.

The Blu-Ray edition has 6 disks total. 2 episodes per disk on the first 5 with many, many extras on number 6.

The quality of the picture is perfect. These films were shot with tons of natural grain for that documentary style look. The lenses also give the look of a 40's camera used in the field. Although the film itself is washed out and very rough, it has awesome detail. You will notice so many things going on in the background. The size of the shots sometimes leave you in awe. The blacks are sometimes unstable, but that is the intent. The daytime scenes are beautiful in their full scope. The greatest thing about this series is the uncompromising attention to detail. From the uniforms to the weapons. The skintones are spot on and very nice looking with great detail. The majority of these episodes were shot outdoors. So, the landscapes look fantastic! From the coast of France, to the mountains of Austria, this has some amazing and beautiful scenery. While the picture may be " washed out ", it looks and feels just as you would expect from the point of view from a combat photographer. The battle scenes are simply unbelievable. It takes you to a new level realism.

The sound is second to none. You will easily be blown away with the audio track quality. You have to turn down the volume at many points during battle scenes. The voices are crisp and clean, but the battle scenes really rock your sound system. All of your speakers get a good workout. The subwoofer really hammers out the explosions. The rear speakers have tons of gunfire from all directions, as do the side speakers. You will have a true surround sound experience. Many movies do not make full use of the full audio possibilities. This one does!

There are great extras here as well. Great in depth interviews from the soldiers themselves. A really cool making of documentary called " We stand together: The men of easy company " And many other things for the history buff. Cant say enough about this product. If you are a war genre lover, this is one of the best. If you love history, and dont want a watered down, made for Hollywood war film. This is how it happened as told by the men of the 506th E Co. You will have a new respect for these guys who gave so much. It is hard to believe that some people could give so much for so little. Thank god they did.

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First of all let me just say that i have never seen Band of brothers before so I'm not a blind fanboy or anything like that , and because I'm not an american so i thought this mini series is not going to be interesting to me , However this mini series is highly praised everywhere and it have 9.6 score on IMDB plus it won the Golden Globe award and Emmy as the BEST series made for TV , so i said to myself lets give it try

So far i have seen only 5 episodes on the BLU-RAY and i have to say that the picture quality is insanely good i own over 30 Blu ray movies and series like Planet Earth, Band of brothers picture quality beat every movie i have ever seen ,yes even Disney Blu rays like pirates, the colors is perfect and its crystal clear, its just UNREAL how good its, i was really surprised i didn't expect TV series picture quality to beat Movies picture quality (Its simply the Best picture quality so far on blu ray to me, but sometimes picture quality jump from crystal clear to "extremely" Grainy on some parts which is intended i believe)

Blu-ray.com reviewed the series today also and gave the picture quality 5/5 and everything else 5/5 kinda XD

I have only seen 5 episodes so far! and i don't want it to end ;( that's why i'm watching it slowly, to be honest i have always hated and avoided World war Movies because to me they are boring as hell, i have heard the story god damn million time in books/video games and Hollywood movies even school books and most of the times each version of the movie is different so you don't know which version is real or accurate about what happened in the world war 2 because a lot of movie directors change events and make them different to sell tickets, but with band of brothers the men who went to the war speaks to you and tell you there REAL story "there is picture in picture mode where you can watch the movie and small screen like 1/4 of the TV pop and the Real people who was at the event speaks and its optional"

Band of brothers is a masterpiece its Story,Characters,Script, Events,Sound is too good plus its very emotional story.... i don't know where to start about this series it just blow my mind from its goodness

I hope this review was helpful to you

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My father was 22 years old when he left Philadelphia and joined the army in the spring of 1942 he volunteered for the 101st, in the summer of 1942 he left Philadelphia and found himself at Camp Toccoa, he was not in Easy Company, I don't know the name of his company.

He was a sergeant and squad leader he named his squad "Maguire's Magpies". He fought in France, Holland and Bastogne. Out of the original squad of 12 that landed in Normandy only 4 men survived the war, 8 men were killed in action during the following twelve months. And 6 of the replacements were killed in action as well. He himself received 2 Purple Hearts, the original squad and the replacements endured 150% casualities.

My father died in 1988 so he'll never read the book, or see Band of Brothers. When I was young I would pump him for information about the war, he told me everything. We discussed his experience at length, over the years he told me all the details. So much so, that when I read the Ambrose book it was like I had already read the book. But I wasn't prepared for the visual images in the Band of Brothers, I was overwhelmed, the intensity and the brutality of what my father and his fellow soldiers experienced brought me to tears. This production is a fitting tribute to the ultimate sacrifices that these young men made.

My father traveled to Europe for business frequently in the 60's and 70's. He would take time on this trips to visit France, Holland and Belgium, he would locate that certain village, and find that particular farm field or forest where one of his "brothers" had fallen, he never forgot how special and exceptional these young men were.

My father is still the most exceptional human being I have known in my life, seeing this production gave me a great insight to his personality. He was a person who truly appreciated what life had to offer, he was active, loving, funny and always emphasized the positive. Those thirteen months in 1944-45, gave him an understanding of humanity that few of us possess.

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Unknown (2011)

"Unknown" is a wonderful suspense/thriller action-er that finds (the always excellent) Liam Neeson's Dr. Martin Harris fighting an identity crisis as another man (Quinn) has taken his identity after a car accident. There is a twist that I have to admit that I figured out fairly early in the film. However, that doesn't take away from the film. It all plays out very well. The movie is based on the French novel Unknown: A Novel by Didier van Cauwelaert, and there is no lull in the film. This is probably the best suspense action film I've seen so far this year. Definitely a film that should've had much better reviews, "Unknown" delivers the action, drama and suspense that you want in a film.

Unknown may be marketed as a sequel of sorts (at least in tone) to Liam Neeson's surprise hit of a few years back, but this is not the action packed thrill ride that Taken provided. This film is about 75% mystery/thriller and 25% action. In fact, there were only a couple of fight scenes and one neat car chase to fill in the gaps when the pace needed picking up. I agree with the other reviewer here who said they wished the twist came earlier and left more time for Neeson to kick some serious booty. Speaking of the twist, I couldn't figure it out and I felt it worked really well.

Liam Neeson once again proves to be an unlikely yet very believable action star. You can't help but root for this guy. I hope he continues with these types of roles every so often. January Jones and Diane Kruger are here to look good, but only Kruger has a character worth any interest. There is a quiet scene with Frank Langella and Bruno Ganz that stands out.

Taken or Unknown? Which one do I think is better? I'll take the action in Taken any day of the week, but I feel this movie has a stronger cast and a more interesting story. Too bad they couldn't throw just a little more Qui-Gon beatdowns into the mix. Still, this is a wild ride worth at least a rental, or maybe even a nice spot next to your copy of Taken.

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Along with his wife, Liam Neeson is in Berlin for a biotech conference. He forgets his briefcase at the airport and realizes this when they arrive at the hotel. He takes a cab ride back to the airport to retrieve the briefcase and has an accident along the way. Four days later he awakens from his coma, after being dead for 7 minutes. He has no ID. He goes to the hotel where he sees his wife, except she is with a man with the same name as his (Martin Harris) and he claims that he is her husband and his wife likewise makes the same claim! At this point I was divided as to what is going on. Is this a Twilight Zone where a guy goes to an alternate reality? Maybe a "Dark City" experiment. Is this an elaborate hoax? If so why is his wife a part of it? Maybe they decided to remake Hauser's Memory (am I showing my age?) Or none of the above? Liam contacts the underground in Berlin to help him find out what is going on.

The acting was good, as expected. The chase and action scenes were about a C+. It could have used some good swagger music, which seems to be the norm in modern movies.

No sex or nudity. Thank you Frank Langella for keeping your pants on.

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This was such a good movie. Sometimes I feel cynical about movies since so many are predictable, and while this one contained the elements you'd expect a catalyst to get the story moving, running from bad guys, a mystery that needs solving, thematic conflict and tension, and finally a resolution I was still captivated the whole time, often on the edge of my seat, and even surprised a few times. I definitely got swept up in the story! I'll probably even watch it again. Liam hasn't failed me on-screen yet.

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(Note: this review has spoilers so if you don't want to know them, _don't_ read beyond the first half.)

Unknown, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and starring Liam Neeson, is a decent thriller that keeps things interesting for most, though unfortunately not all, of the film. It had the potential to be so much more, but about three-quarters of the way in it tosses that potential aside and deflates into Hollywood cliche. A large part of the blame for this must be laid at the feet of Collet-Serra (who aside from directing music videos and TV commercials, was responsible for the hideous remake of House Of Wax and the cliche-ridden Orphan) and the hack writers Oliver Butcher (Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde) and Stephen Cornwell (Marshal Law, Killing Streets), whose only real claim to fame is that he's the son of John LeCarre.

Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson), a prominent botanist, arrives in Berlin with his beautiful wife (January Jones) to attend a conference. When they reach the hotel, Harris realizes he left his briefcase back at the airport and goes back to get it, hailing a cab driven by Gina (Diane Kruger), a Bosnian immigrant working in Germany illegally. An accident on the way back to the airport sends the taxi off a bridge and into a river, causing Harris to strike his head and go unconscious. He wakes up in a hospital four days later with hazy memories and no identification, his passport and other documents apparently in the missing briefcase. The hospital, not knowing who he was, had not been able to notify anyone. Harris, worried about his wife, hurries to a reception at the conference, only to find that his wife does not recognize him and that there is another man with her (Aidan Quinn) claiming to be her husband... Dr. Martin Harris. And to his confusion and consternation, his wife is acting as if the other Harris is her husband while professing to never have seen Neeson's Harris before in her life. Furthermore, Quinn's Harris has identification as well as photos of him with his wife, and an internet check turns up Quinn's photo as Dr. Harris and not Neeson's.

From that point, Harris must try to prove who he is, to himself as much as to everyone else, and to find out why his wife is refusing to acknowledge his identity. He goes back to where his problems all began with the cab ride back to the airport and manages to track down Gina and convinces her to help him. Then strange things start happening. People are trying to kill him and anyone he comes into contact with. He finds messages in code that make no sense but seem to have something to do with a conspiracy. And he keeps getting flashes of memory that seem real and yet are confusing and dream-like. Just who is Martin Harris? And is he the real Harris?

The cast is generally capable. Neeson turns in his usual first-class performance while most of the other actors are workmanlike, if not exactly riveting, in theirs. Bruno Ganz however outshines everyone else in the film in a minor role as a thoroughly unapologetic and unrepentant former Stasi (East German secret police) officer Neeson seeks out to help prove who he is. Ganz (Wings of Desire, Downfall) is truly a marvel to watch, showing how a great actor can turn what might have been a trivial role into one that steals every scene he's in. Frank Langella, a very gifted actor when given the chance (Frost & Nixon, Good Night And Good Luck), is unfortunately wasted in this film. He's played so many villainous and/or creepy characters in recent years that he's become type-cast and his mere presence is a dead giveaway that his character is not on the side of the angels.

All in all, Unknown is a watchable if not particularly memorable thriller, so long as you are willing to suspend the average level of disbelief and don't mind its failure to rise above the level of usual Hollywood fare.

(*** Warning From this point on, spoilers await ***)

A number of problems keep Unknown from living up to its potential, a big one being its sheer predictability: I had already guessed what the mystery of the two Harrises was just from seeing the trailer. It really was fairly obvious that there was no real Martin Harris and that Neeson had only been pretending to be Harris when the accident threw a monkey wrench into everything.

The other problems with the film generally fall into three categories: (1) characters behaving either stupidly or inconsistently because the plot requires it, (2) plot-holes and character actions requiring repeated suspension of disbelief, and (3) taking the easy, cliched way out to resolve things rather than going in a direction that the audience might not have expected.

In no particular order, Unknown is burdened with:

Characters with inexplicable driving skills. One has to wonder about taxi drivers not to mention botanists who somehow pull off stunts and maneuvers that would (and probably did) stagger entire teams of experienced stunt-men.

Head trauma as a force for good. It's been done so many times that it's almost a film cliche that a villain, having taken a good knock in the head that leaves him unable to remember who or what he really is, somehow undergoes a personality transformation that stays in place even when he finally remembers. And so Neeson's professional assassin who had no problems whatsoever killing people in the past and was on a mission to kill new targets, is now nobly scrambling to save them. The film would have been far more interesting if Neeson's personality had reverted to sociopathic killer when his memories returned. But then that wouldn't have given the cliched Hollywood ending the script was calling for.

Pointless code to be solved. The whole sub-plot around the code, written by Jones, that Neeson finds in a book he's carrying is ridiculous as the only thing they're concealing is the Latin names of two flowers. First of all, who couldn't simply remember the Latin names of two flowers? Secondly, given that Jones is using them to hack into a laptop from another laptop, why wouldn't she simply keep them on her own laptop? And why did she bother writing them in a book Neeson was carrying? Particularly given that when she needed them to hack into the target laptop, she didn't use the book at all.

Convenient loss of specific items. A large part of the plot depends on Neeson losing his identification in the accident. But it also depends on him not losing the book and on having some cash. So voila! While being fished out of the river, he somehow loses all identification but still has plenty of cash and the book with the code written in it. Why? Because the plot requires it.

Gina. So, we have a female cab driver (already a low-level probability) with fashion-model good looks (an even lower probability) who speaks perfect English (try finding one of those here!) and who continues to hang around Neeson even after it's clear that he's being pursued by professional assassins who are killing anyone Neeson comes into contact with.

People being stupid and/or incompetent because the plot demands it. Once their targets are no longer in the hotel room, Jones' assassin goes back to disarm the bomb. For what earthly reason? Because the plot demands it. And despite knowing everything about where the bomb is, how it's armed, and exactly when it's supposed to go off, she fumbles around ineptly for five minutes trying to disarm the bomb until it finally goes off, killing her and only her.

When the shaved-head assassin goes to Neeson's hospital room to finish him off, he kills two nurses in short order, snapping their necks. But for Neeson, instead of simply snapping his neck like the others, the killer decides to tie him to a gurney and then inject some kind of drug into his IV bag which will take minutes to make it down the tube into his system. Why? To make it seem like an accident? When he's already leaving two bodies very obviously murdered? Because the plot demands it, that's why.

And why do the other assassins keep trying to kill Neeson in such a way that it will look like a drug accident/overdose? They've been leaving bodies littered left and right with broken necks all over Berlin but for some reason Neeson must look like a drug death? Why? Because the plot requires Neeson must always have enough time to avoid being killed. Stupid.

And on top of it all, the whole elaborate conspiracy to kill a scientist by making it seem as if he was simply a bystander killed in a bombing attack on a rich Arab prince? Why? Again, because the plot demands it.

All in all, Unknown was an okay thriller, but only just barely. In the end it was both frustrating and disappointing. Frustrating because it had the potential to be so much more; disappointing because it settled for the safe, lame and thoroughly cliched Hollywood outcome that we've seen a thousand times before.

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Monte Carlo (+ Digital Copy) (2011)

This was a really cute movie probably aimed at teens. It was not meant to be high art, so I'm rating it for delivering a good job for what it was intended to be: a cute and well written story about 3 nice and likeable Texas girls, mostly set in wonderful, romantic European settings, and just a lot of fun overall. All three actresses were quite good and this was a nice afternoon escape film. It was nice to see a teen film that was pretty positive and wholesome for a change, not too old for its intended audience. I saw this in a theater mostly full of mid to late teen girls, and they all seemed to be enjoying it a lot.

I don't know about you..but as a mom to a 7 year old girl, I get tired of watching cartoons all the time. Sometimes, I just like to watch a movie with real actors. I saw this movie with my daughter and it was cute and fun! In fact, it sparked a great conversation about Paris and traveling. We made a plan to go there together after she graduates high school! I thought this was a clean movie (other than one of the characters using the word "ass") that was suitable for my daughter. The scenery was breathtaking and we enjoyed it very much!

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A young woman takes her dream vacation to Paris with her best friend and her step-sister. The trip doesn't go as planned, and then she is mistaken for a wealthy heiress. The three go on to connect with hunky guys and vacation in luxury. In the end, they may learn something about themselves. This is a harmless film that just about anyone can enjoy. It is predictable, and does not contain any great dramatic moments, but it has an attractive young cast and the movie's target audience of teenage girls will find it entertaining. I would recommend this one if you are in the mood for some lighthearted entertainment.

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Grace (Selena Gomez), a small town Texas girl has been saving up for 4 years through High School to go to Paris. She is excited about going with her friend Emma (Katie Cassidy) who seems to be a bit of a floozyshoes she says, "If they ain't hurtin' they ain't helpin'. However Dad wants her to take along her step sister Meg (Leighton Meester)who is not exactly welcomed as she looks too much like Kristen Stewart with the blood drained out of her and acts about the same.

The three are in Paris having a miserable time because their tour is inanely rushing them. It isn't long before they become separated.

Grace is mistaken for Cordelia Winthrop Scott, British heiress and the 3 Cinderellas end up in Monte Carlo, dressed up and going to a ball. At this point the plot is pretty well established. The acting was less than expected, as was the script. Comedy is very light. This is perhaps a young teen female movie. Originally Nicole Kidman and Julia Roberts were supposed to star in this film, but the producers wanted a younger cast...guess how that worked out?

No bad language, so sex, no nudity. Drop the girls off and go.

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I went to see this movie for one reason only: Selena Gomez starred in it! She is a very talented young actress and she plays the double role fantastic! It is a very cute story and fun for girls of all ages! I am buying this movie, and watching it over and over again!

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Doghouse (2009)

The zombie resurgence continues (really now, the undead are everywhere!) in the delightfully silly British import "Doghouse." The horror/comedy zombie mine has been drilled so many times lately, I was afraid this film might be dead on arrival. But with a playful wink at sexual politics, "Doghouse" adds a new man versus woman angle that keeps things lively. Director Jake West manages to infuse the film with plenty of appropriately gruesome moments, gross visuals, hilarious sight gags, and then tops it off with a biting social satire on sexism. With no pretensions, "Doghouse" qualifies as a rollicking good time and I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had.

The film starts out as a bit of male wish fulfillment. To support a friend going through a divorce, a group of guys decides to take a "boys only" vacation. The joke is that they decide to go to a remote town where women reportedly outnumber men four to one. Even though the logic of this escapade is a bit sketchy, the guys are eager to take a break from their everyday lives (it helps that all their introductions present cloying spouses and unpleasant situations). So maybe this vision of a town with randy and willing ladies seems perfectly reasonable. Traveling via bus (in scenes eerily reminiscent of "Severance"--check it out as well), the guys eventually discover things all but deserted--until they start finding body parts and bloody remnants. But that's not all--the women have been turned into ravenous zombies!

A military/government experiment has gone awry and the resultant virus affects only the fairer sex. The zombies are hysterically attired in various garish outfits--sexy bride and maniacal beautician are my favorites, at least until an unlikely encounter occurs with one of our heroes (Danny Dyer) and a very large negligee-wearing seductress. Once the guys hit town, "Doghouse" becomes a frantic and non-stop adventure. Dyer (who co-incidentally was also in "Severance," about the ultimate corporate retreat) is spot-on as the biggest dog in the pack, but all the guys fill their roles nicely.

"Doghouse" is first and foremost a comedy. While the attacks and splatter scenes are well choreographed, there will be more laughs accompanying the slapstick antics than jolts from pure fright. "Doghouse" is very successful at achieving its modest goals. Entertaining and strangely endearing, you might find yourself liking the film and its heroes more than you might want to admit. So, I'll go ahead and make my confession--I loved "Doghouse!" KGHarris, 10/10.

I saw that this had one of the actors from Kidulthood so I looked at the preview. The preview cracked me up. The movie itself walks a line between thriller and comedy and I think they did a great job. It's not an all-out comedy like Shawn of the Dead, but it has some very funny parts. It is definitely worth a watch.

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This movie is a zomedy from the U.K. and it looks great on blu ray for sure. It features a group of average brit blokes who take their divorced friend on a vacation tour trip and end up in a village filled with female women infected with a virus that makes them zombie like. But they are not zombies really , instead mutated would be a better word for them. The music in this movie is really cool rock and that helps the feel of the movie. The cast itself are all veterans of british tv and film and NOT first timers, in fact this is way above some amuteur film made by beginners. So you get a low budget flick done by seasoned professionals all the way here. The negative reviews on amazon about acting are not accurate at all I believe, the sets looked fine to me as well. It was a small village set and that's that. The story is not pollitically correct at all and of course we get silliness some. The whole idea that the brit government would test a virus on a village in their own country is lame but who else would this movie work? well it could have been a meteor and that would have been less distasteful but it's now become part of filmland to always blame governments for everything so this is what you get. However it doesn't matter as this is a zomedy anyways. I thought the movie moved fast and was funny and even offensive which is what it aimed to be anyways. However the idea of men finding themselves in this horrible situation seems far fetched.

Instead regardless if you knew these cannibal women you'd be filled with horror and not take this lightly. But this does have the actors act that way to a degree which lets us all know that this is a comedy to a degree. Still it's a fast moving flick and if you don't take it seriously you'll have fun watching it. The blu ray has deleted scenes and extras as well. the blu ray is all region but the extras are not though. you'd need a all region blu ray to watch the extras but the feature film is fine on your american blu ray player. The uk has lots of horror blus that aren't making it out over here and most of them are all region so it's a good idea to grab them if you want a hd version of a movie like this.

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I wont bore you with too much back story cause it's all been done here, lets just say male friends on a male weekend and they so go to the wrong town. This movie was just funny, and I actually liked the guys, I was sad to see bad things happen to some of them. The crazy psycho women are just over the top. But it was one thing after another with these poor guys so it's certainly not boring on any level. And it will make the gore lovers happy as well. But this movie will make you laugh if you have any kind of sense of humor.

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The movie is fun, hilarious and just gory. Highly recommend this film to anyone looking for an awesome zombie movie or if you're a huge fan of Shaun of the Dead.

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The Clowns (1970)

I first saw this film in college in the early 70s; it was about the time of SATYRICON and after JULIET OF THE SPIRITS, thusly, around the time that Fellini was moving away from narrative cinema and into the "metacinema" that would be more and more prevalent in his later films. I CLOWNS was by far his most successful foray into films reflexive onto themselves as "film". Surely, none of his other pseudodocumenataries ever approached the emotional tug that I CLOWNS produces. The lovingly recreated clown acts that Fellini films, accompanied by the haunting trumpet theme that winds through one of them, has never left me. I am gratified that I CLOWNS will be available on DVD, finally; I only hope it is struck from a clean master and not just a rebooting of the inferior VHS copy that is still out there somewhere. I CLOWNS is a film that, if viewed with a sympathetic imagination, can bring anyone back to the wonderment felt at the world when one was young. Now that I CLOWNS is available, by my reckoning it is only LA VOCE DELLA LUNA, Fellini's last film, that is not available on DVD. C'mon, guys, someone's gotta release this one too!

I'd like to defend this against some of the negative reviews here. Just my opinion. I don't work for the company. I haven't seen the French release but then that's not widely available, and not everybody has a multi-region player. I Clowns was just not available for so long. This is a full-featured disc with a 40 min. video essay about the film, a 50 pg. booklet filled with Fellini's color drawings, reproduced beautifully, and his long essay of reflections on clowns "A Journey Into The Shadow," the most important bits from the coffee table hardback "I Clowns" published by Rienzi in 1970 (also pretty hard to get). And Fellini's 16 min. short from the omnibus film "L'Amore in Cittá," which has also been unavailable in the US. That's not all, sound in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, and meticulous listing of cast, crew, and credits, identifying every person appearing in both films explaining where they appear, and even where scenes were shot and when.

The Product Description is misleading. It's not one of Fellini's "final masterpieces." It was done 20 years before his final film and is not a masterpiece, as Fellini himself describes in his essay, recounting the "carefree and laid-back attitude with which (he) approached it," "without thinking about it too much," approaching it with his "left hand." And it doesn't "feature" Anita Ekberg, she has a short cameo appearance in it.

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For Fellini fans, this is a treat the director's lengthiest and most elaborate examination of one of the mainstays of his films clowns and circuses. It's part biography (what an wonderful opening, with a small boy watching a circus tent going up outside his bedroom window, as if it's an extension of his dreams), part history and part circus extravanganza. Rota's score is a gem circus versions of themes from practically all Fellini's films to that point. Shot for television but released soon after in theaters, the movie is not one of Fellini's best-photographed films, and I recall finding the color odd and grainy in the original 35mm prints. But this edition is about as good a transfer as you could hope for. Also, for Fellini completists, the disc includes Fellini's "Matrimonial Agency" from the early 50s compilation movie, "Love in the City." That film has yet to be released on DVD in the US. It's rather minor Fellini, but contains the seed from which Marcello, the central character in "La Dolce Vita," grew.

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Gordon Sullivan, DVD Verdict --When The Clowns first arrived on DVD, fans were ecstatic that this little-seen Fellini film was getting an American release. However, most reviewers noted that the release wasn't as stunningly remastered as they would like. Many of those problems--though not quite all--have been addressed with this Blu-ray disc. The AVC-encoded transfer has an impressive amount of detail, and the print from which it was made is surprisingly free of damage. Color saturation is spot on, but there's something about the image that can look a little over-processed. It's nothing in particular (like edge-enhancement or excessive DNR) that I can point my finger to, but the transfer gives the impression that it could be better. For audio we get a pair of Italian DTS-HD tracks. One is mono, the other 5.1. The 5.1 track is a total waste, with no real surround use and little in the way of directionality or atmosphere. In either case, we're dealing with forty-year-old location sound on a television documentary. The audio doesn't have the body or clarity we expect from contemporary sources, though it's still very listenable.

The disc itself houses a pair of extras. The first is a short film that Fellini made for an anthology; it's a fictional take on marriage and comedy. The second is the more substantial of the two, a 42-minute "visual essay" on The Clowns that discusses its style and history while comparing it to other artifacts from the period (like archival photos of clowns). Finally, this release includes a long booklet with information from Fellini himself about the genesis of the project and how he envisioned it. In many ways fans of Fellini will appreciate this booklet and the "visual essay" more than the film itself.

The Clowns is a very minor entry into the director's canon, and it's hard to trust a "documentary" from a filmmaker as interested as Fellini is in blurring the line between fact and fiction. A rental is probably best for the curious before deciding to plunk down the cash for this release.

The Clowns is a fascinating peek into the mind of an internationally beloved filmmaker and his passion for clowns. Yes, that sounds a bit odd, and Fellini must have known he was making an oddity. Fans of the director should give the film (and especially the extras) at least a rental. Those who bought the previous DVD should seriously consider an upgrade for the improved audiovisual presentation of this disc.

-Full review at dvdverdict.com

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It's hard to believe only 4 other people have reviewed this film, and that it seems to have passed under the radar. This is another Fellini film I hadn't seen in years. I remember that it depressed me the first time I saw it, but then I was much younger, and now my life experience has caught up to that of Fellini's age when he made this picture for television. This time, I was inspired. And I learned a lot. Fellini's non-commercial pictures are often better than his more mainstream, commercial hits! Granted, this film is not entirely consistent in terms of quality; but when it's good, it's really good! One of the important themes of "The Clowns" is that of the White Clown versus the Augusto; the White Clown representing authority, discipline, respectability, moral superiority, parents, what one should do or is supposed to do: the Augusto representing the rebel, the enfant terrible, the spoiled brat, the practical joker, the delinquent, the one who screams, jeers and disrespects. This picture was done in a faux-documentary-style that at first seems to be authentic; gradually it becomes evident that Fellini is satirizing the documentary process. The working lives of several famous 20th century European clowns are explored in this film, many of them being of Italian and French origin, but Spanish, Cuban and English as well. A diverse array of clown makeup, costumes and styles are presented in this film. The clown costumes especially are stunning; they could even be described as Dada-influenced. Selections from Nino Rota's various compositions are appropriately and effectively utilized as a soundtrack.

The most compelling sequences in this picture are those in which Fellini re-creates his conception of the world of the clown in a circus environment, particularly the amazing, extravagant final scene, the "Clown Funeral", which vacillates between faux documentary and outright spectacle. There are a few sad visits to clowns in the twilight of their lives, but other than that atmosphere is quite upbeat. Fellini also examines characters from his hometown, "grotesques", who reminded him of the clowns he saw at the circus in his youth; the maestro reveals that as a boy, he found the clowns to be disturbing, as opposed to funny. Fellini compares the clown to man's "shadow side" (IE in one sequence where high-profile individuals are being qualified by Fellini as clowns, Sigmund Freud is classified as a "White Clown"; Carl Jung is qualified as an "Augusto"). At the end of the picture, perhaps to illustrate a symbolic reconciliation of opposites, the White Clown and the Augusto, both playing horns, leave the circus theatre together. A 42-minute documentary, included as supplemental material, deconstructs "The Clowns" from various technical perspectives; much of the supplemental documentary contains repeats of chapters from the main feature. A booklet is included with the DVD containing Fellini's essays about clowns and his drawings of various colleagues and concepts. Fellini is a great writer as well as a filmmaker, and thus I found this booklet to be educational, entertaining and informative.

Stephen C. Bird, author of "Hideous Exuberance: A Satire"

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Something Wild (The Criterion Collection) (1986)

An interesting choice for the Criterion label, I have hoped desperately that Jonathan Demme's 1986 madcap road picture "Something Wild" would get a deserving upgrade from its rather drab earlier DVD presentation. I actually went to a theater and saw this film twice and it is easily one of my favorite Demme pictures. With his eclectic resume, Demme will perhaps always be known best for "The Silence of the Lambs" but his legacy has several terrific screwball comedies (Married to the Mob) and understated masterpieces (Melvin and Howard) prior to him being anointed an Academy Award winner. "Something Wild" fits comfortably into the screwball comedy category--but what makes it so unorthodox and refreshing is that it has both heart and edge. A lot has changed since 1986. Back then, Jeff Daniels was still a leading man as opposed to a character actor. Melanie Griffith was sexy, surprising, and a blossoming talent. And a relatively unknown Ray Liotta was trying to break into a big screen career after years on television. These three leads turned in unexpectedly strong performances and ALL were nominated for Golden Globe awards.

Styled after silent screen star Louise Brooks, Griffith vibrantly portrays Lulu (at least, that's the name she calls herself). Wild, aggressive, and sexually uninhibited, Lulu crosses paths with Daniels' uptight businessman. Challenged by the rebellious free spirit, Daniels' mild mannered existence is all but hijacked by adventure as the unlikely duo take to the road. A culture clash and wacky hilarity ensue--but then the picture softens as a real persona emerges from beneath the Lulu alter ego. As tentative romance and understanding bubble to the surface when the couple reach Griffith's home town, a further complication arises in the character of her violent ex-con ex-husband (that's one too many exes to sit comfortably with me--it's Liotta and you know he's trouble!). A real dangerous undertone pervades the final acts of the film--and the movie shifts again for its final transition. Going from ribald to heartfelt to thrilling, "Something Wild" crosses genre boundaries even as it's a quintessential romantic comedy.

This is Daniels at his most appealing--this with "The Purple Rose of Cairo" remind you how dashing he could be. Griffith is so strong. She really has to embody a tremendous character arc and she does so with precision. But the break-out star has to be Liotta, magnetic and absolutely chilling. I think it's one of the most undervalued supporting performance of that era! The film also boast a smart screenplay and a distinguished soundtrack. Not only do I think that the film holds up well to the nostalgia factor, I think it's primed to be discovered anew.

However, it is with much regret that I report that the usually impressive Criterion treatment seems a tad lackluster. The film receives a new, and much needed, restored digital transfer (with a DTS-HD Master Audio Soundtrack for Blu-ray). The extras? Not much. The DVDs have only new interviews with the writer and Demme and the film's trailer. Really? What's up with that? The movie is only 25 years old, there has to be supplemental material to include and Demme is still cranking out A-list projects. So my happiness at the Criterion treatment is short-lived with a big fat zero in special features. Great movie, glad it's re-mastered, but still disappointed! KGHarris, 2/11.

I thought Demme walked on water after seeing this movie (and its follow-ups, Married to the Mob and Silence of the Lambs). I love the layers of texture to this movie--there's always some set decoration I never noticed before, and the performances he wrings out of his stable of actors is great. This movie defined "alternative" when it was released, and deftly pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of starting out screwball comedy and turning violent halfway thru without losing its voice. All three leads have never done better than they did here (okay, maybe Liotta in Goodfellas). So why is SW subjected to the basement of video VHS? This movie made tons of critics top 10 lists for the Eighties (sadly not much of a challenge, but still...) and yet can't even get a DVD date to prom. Wild...

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I remember seeing this waaaay back when it was in theaters. One of those incredibly under-rated cinematic gems. What I liked most about it was the transition from a seemingly lighthearted Indie-ish goofball romantic comedy, to dead on noir. I caught this recently on a High-Def channel on cable. All I can say is WOW ! It was like I was seeing it for the first time, Déjà vu all over again. This film deserves a Blu-ray release, preferably packed with extra features, commentaries etc.

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this film knocks me out every time I see it. the acting is great and the story so different and original. Jonathon Demme really knew his stuff. Generally an all round brilliant effort and an unlauded gem in the opinion of yours truly.

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This is a great twist on the traditional love story. Demme takes you on a 'wild' ride. Inspires to get priorities correct in life. An interesting evening for two: somthing for the guys someone who get over their head, something for the girls an untraditional love story that touches the heart. Let's hope that not every couple starts out like this. Great cast with Griffith, Daniels, Liotta (in a superb and very scary performance).

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