Sid & Nancy (Collector's Edition) (1986)

What I enjoyed most about Sid and Nancy was the profile of the Sex Pistols who (unfortunately) are only a vicarious part of the plot. I know that Johnny Lydon did not approve of this film, but I absolutely loved Schofield's portrayal of him here. In fact, he almost steals the spotlight from the train wreck that is the relationship between the main protagonists. I also thought that technically this film was outstanding. My favorite scene involved the press/party boat. After it was forcibly docked, the shot of Sid and Nancy gliding through the melee was exceptional. This movie has something in common with all period pieces we remember--it is incredibly well-done. My own appreciation for the film, however, was sabotaged by the fact that I was not even remotely interested in the love affair between Sid and Nancy. I found the gradual disintegration of their lives to rather depressing.

I think Sid & Nancy might just be the best rock-based biographical film yet done. Better than Oliver Stone's The Doors, better than last year's dismal Brian Jones flick whose name isn't worthy of being repeated here. The reason Sid & Nancy rises above the rest can be summed up in one word: talent. Sid & Nancy is the result of a passionate filmmaker getting near-perfect performances from his well-chosen cast, of welding great music and attention-grabbing scenery to a modern tragedy that touches many emotions. The result is a five-star film.

People are surprised when I tell them the Sex Pistols rank among my all-time favorite groups. No, I was never a punk, and besides, when I was growing up `70's punk bands were mostly curiosities from modern pop culture history, but I do like the music the Sex Pistols produced on their one and only legitimate album, and the film Sid & Nancy, much criticized by pompous purists and much praised by most everyone else, is a chronicle of that era and two of its most infamously doomed participants. The chameleonic Gary Oldman brings Sid Vicious not only to life, he somehow surpasses the original to vicariously embody a character more memorable than the flesh and blood young man on whom the role is based. Likewise Chloe Webb (who really deserved better career choices than she got after this movie) brings the manic-depressive Nancy Spungen back from the grave in all her alienating, irritatingly pathetic hideousness.

Some say this movie takes liberties with the timeline of Sid and Nancy's short lives, and others say it manages to glamorize them for the wrong things. Probably legitimate gripes, I'll grant, but there are also those who refuse to see the greatness in, say, Shakespeare's Richard III, because the fictionalized villain bears scant resemblance to the real man. That's much the same case here. For all one might say in criticism of this movie, Alex Cox did the impossible and revived the decaying, culture-shocked world of 1970's London, and against that stage he crafted a story that works well. Sid & Nancy is about drugs, music, twisted love between two misfit human beings, needless death, and a revolutionary movement that imploded on its nihilism even as its message was lost on the masses. Sid & Nancy is not only about Sid and Nancy, so emblematic of their time and place, it is the tragic chronicle of the spirit of misguided post-adolescent reaction against a dismal age.

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I think many people don't have the right feelings about this film. Empathy being one of them. Although Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungeon could indeed be described as two wastes of sperm and eggs, empty and apathetic as they lie on their beds strung out on heroin in one scene, we have to acknowledge their backgrounds and their ages. Sid, bassist with 70s punk band The Sex Pistols and Nancy, his American groupie girlfriend, were just a pair of misguided teenagers. Nobody is perfect at the age of nineteen or twenty, nobody really knows exactly what they want to do in life. And there are a lot of young people, who at that age, can't see a future for themselves.

We may very well say drugs are bad and drug addicts deserve no respect, both of the above being true. But the fact is that this is being too narrow minded. Those of us who have had wonderful childhoods and loving parents to guide us through those turbulent teenage years may scoff and scorn at the films title characters, as we see them embark on the doomed journey of drug abuse with only one end in mind. Sid might have been an intelligent, bright and witty young man, Nancy could have had the chance to fix her life if her parents hadn't given up on her and sent her packing. This film is a remarkable movie, one that should be watched with empathy, as it replays the ill fated romance of punk's 'Romeo and Juliet' I understand John Lydon when he scorned the film, but no movie can ever capture real life. As a teenager recovering from the draining world of drugs, depression and apathy, I have to say that this movie accurately portrays the effects of drug abuse.

The drugs do eventually end up taking control of you, and there is nothing more dangerous than having a friend or lover who feels the same despair that you do. Trying to escape the dark hole of drugs seems almost impossible in that scenario. I think this film is an excellent portrayal of the effects of drug abuse, of the 70s punk scene, of the blurry details surrounding Nancy's death.

It's a pity the film was given an R rating, because a lot more young people should see this movie. Sex Pistols fans may also ike to see this movie, maybe to gain an idea of the helplessness of Sid and Nancy's situation. For all those drug addicts out there, I just wanna say, you should see this film before you "climb the ladder to the poppy". During a time when I was stupid enough to want to become a junkie, this movie saved my life. The scene that hit me the hardest was one of the last, where Sid tries desperately to get out of the hotel room he and Nancy share, tries desperately to escape Nancy's rantings of death, before engaging in the scuffle that got her killed.

It may or may not have happened in real life, but I had never felt so suffocated watching a movie before, watching helplessly as Sid's fingers reach for the latch on the door but don't quite make it. I won't give the ending away, but many people have scoffed it. I think it worked very well and understood and exactly the irony that Alex Cox was getting at. Maybe some of you will understand it too. But you have to watch it to find out..You can watch this movie with feelings of disgust, scorn, helplessness and sadness. But this move made me personally, empathise with Sid and Nancy, two lost children in a vast world, searching for something that can't be found. And although many punks made it through the seventies, supress your contempt when watching this movie, and feel sadness for those who didn't.

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Probably the benchmark of the punk rock movie genre is this beautifully lyrical love story of destruction. If you're reading this review, you probably don't need the plot spelled out for you, but for those who need it: Sid was the bassist for the original English punk band, the Sex Pistols, and Nancy was the groupie/girlfriend who sent him spiraling to self-destruction. The film is based on their true romance, and is a heartbreaking and aching portrayal of nihilism and narcissism.

Gary Oldman, back when he was a lean and hungry actor at the top of his craft, puts in a stunning tour de force performance as doomed druggie Sid Vicious, while Courtney Love has a pre-fame bit part as groupie Gretchen (a precursor to her real later life with Kurt Cobain, as detailed in Nick Broomfield's "Kurt and Courtney").

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This has got to be the best film that I've seen about drug addiction and the emptiness of people who fall into it. The decline and death of the protagonists are frightening and depressing, so well acted that it is horribly, completely believable. Oldam and Webb are simply brilliant. Webb is totally believable as a border line personality, at times sensitive, but suddenly abusive and paranoid it is subtle and perfectly acted.

But the film is much more than that. There is also a twisted love between two people who can only be described as complete losers: Sid, who is nothing but a youth disaster become celebrity by chance and Nancy, a suburban cast-off who has wandered into the drug world, S&M for pay, and a pathetic search for groupie association with stardom. While almost nothing on their own, together they enter a downward spiral that can result only in death. Together they are far worse than zero. You helplessly witness their descent into a hell of addiction and chaos.

Finally, there is a wonderful evocation of their milieu: the late-70s punk scene. I recall, as a middle-aged man, how this was the first youth movement in which I had no desire to participate: I had been a late-comer hippy and was aspiring to academia when this started. It was the first "movement" that repulsed me personally, that I had no desire whatsoever to mimic. In this film, you see how talentless and nihilistic punk really was, but also how it had the raw energy of urban youth in societies that could offer them nothing of value. Gone are the ideals and dreams of the 60s. Their chaos and drugs and indirection in the end were all that they had, so they lived it unto self-destruction. Their scene, as portrayed in this film, was a revelation to me and is brilliantly evoked.

Reccommended with enthusiasm. This is like a modern Balzacian tale of meaningless annihilation, a rememberance of a time, and a perfect work of art.

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)

Milos Forman has always had a knack for assembling great ensemble casts. This is particularly true in his most critically acclaimed releases (Taking Off, Amadeus and this film). It would be difficult indeed to come up with actors and actresses who were better suited to fill the roles in OFOTCN. This is true in terms of both the stars, Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, and the secondary characters. Who could have been a better Harding than William Redfield? A better Billy Bibbit than Brad Dourif? A better Cheswick than Sydney Lassick? And most especially, a better Chief Bromden than Will Sampson?

I rank this movie as the best of the best of what I consider to be American Cinema's golden decade, the 70s. It certainly won the widest acclaim, with its sweep of the major Oscars for 1975 (Nicholson also won best actor from the New York Film Critics voters that year).

Not to be overlooked is the fantastic job performed by the film's adaptors, Bo Goldman and Lawrence Hauben, who also won Oscars for their screenplay. True, they did have a fairly decent stage version (by Dale Wasserman) to work with. I remember seeing an excellent production of the play, with a terrific cast, in San Francisco circa 1972. Just as an aside, I read in the Norton Critical edition of the novel, a review of a NY production of the play by Walter Kerr that was an absolute pan. Suffice it to say that the movie is much different than either the novel or the play. Those familiar with Kesey's great novel understand how difficult a transfer from page to screen would be; about a third of the story is Bromden's delusional interior monologue. The final script, quite rightly, focuses almost exclusively on Randal P McMurphy's struggle with Nurse Ratched for the hearts and minds of the inmates.

This is truly a gut and soul-wrenching movie, with many moments of high maniacal comedy interspersed. Though many of his other films are top-notch, this is Forman's masterpiece. If you haven't read the book, read it. It you don't own this movie, buy it. There are few works in the history of American literature and film that are superior.

It has taken me nearly 30 years to get round to watching this film, and I genuinely think I appreciate it more for being that much older. It has had accolades for everything -plot, direction, filming, casting, acting. It deserves them all. It is nothing short of compulsive. The bad guy who has not lost his soul (much less his spirit) is pitted against the embodiment of sanctimonious righteousness who never had a soul to lose.

I wonder whether Nicholson has even yet had full recognition for the truly great actor he is (how many people have even seen The King of Marvin Gardens, for instance?) His screen presence is enormous, magnetic and menacing. He combines outsize testosteronic individuality with the ability to get inside a character, and an electric sense of threat with a real power to tug at the heart-strings. Bad he may be, but unsympathetic never. He is a very big little guy, but he is still the little guy against the system. It must be impossible, surely, to upstage that?

Incredibly, no. The ultimate star in a film that has no shortage of up-and-coming luminaries as well as Nicholson (D de Vito for one) is Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched. I am never going to forget that mask-like expressionless face and that ever-rational, implacable, ever-modulated voice mouthing those soulless, uncomprehending, the-system-is-right banalities. Above all, I am never going to forget that hair. Among the many touches of genius in this production, that hairstyle is the ultimate. I simply could not take my eyes off it. The name is effective too, and I shall continue to believe until someone proves me wrong that it was an inspired borrowing from Jane Eyre -the dreadful and sadistic Miss Skatcherd brought up to date and given a 20th-century twist.

This film is never going to become dated as long as these polarities continue to repel each other. I saw it at all only because my son showed it to me. It is relevant to my generation, it is relevant to his, and I can't foresee when it is not going to be relevant.

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This movie is as relevant now as it was when it first hit movie theaters in the 70's. Hilarious, somewhat dark and thought provoking. Great performances all around, anyone I recommend this film to loves it. You will remember most of these characters, right down to Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito in supporting roles. In my opinion, one of the most uproariously funny moments in movie history occurs when Chezaroo flips out about Nurse Ratched's stingy cigarette policy.

The Blu ray transfer of this movie is excellent. It is not the very best of the best, but for a film that came out in the mid-seventies it has superb PQ on Blu ray.

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This is one of my favorite Jack Nicholson movies. The collector's edition has some nice goodies: a 52 page hard-bound book, reproduction of the original press book, a 52 card deck, 4 mini-reproduction of the original worldwide theatrical posters and 6 cast/character photos. A great package for a great movie that received 5 Academy Awards.

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5 stars for the film, 1 star for the DVD:

There are a lot of reviews that discuss the movie itself, so I will keep this one short and talk about the DVD.

The DVD is a bit of a disappointment. The film itself is very dirty; it looks like the transfer was done from a copy of the film that's been shown a few hundred times in a theater. It's hard to believe that the master itself has deriorated this much.

There are no interesting extras on this DVD. No deleted scenes, no commentaries, no behind the scenes footage. Just some text screens talking about awards the film received, etc.

The are no audio options. You're just stuck with standard sterio. And the menu is bland and static. Basically, you are getting the movie, as you would have experienced it in a theater nearly three decades ago, and nothing else.

I love this film however, especially the ending, so I still recommend buying it if you are a Jack Nicholson fan. Just don't expect the DVD to actually take advantage of the medium.

Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society (2011)

Solid State Society is hopefully a sign of what is to come in the world of Ghost in the Shell. After Stand Alone Complex's 2nd GIG, I was definitely left with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The pacing of the 2nd GIG felt uneven and the story felt more convoluted than tastefully complex, creating an adequate but not perfect addition to the GitS series. However, Solid State Society takes the best from the Stand Alone Complex series and in little under two hours presents a story as rich in detail and as lovingly complex as the series preceding it.

A huge plus of the movie is that instead of feeling like an overstretched episode, it feels more like a long arc of quality episodes stringed together while still feeling cinematic in its presentation. Solid State Society gives us everything we expect in a GitS story: a sci-fi universe that draws you in but never overwhelms, continuity in character development, rich and intelligent dialogue and plot that almost seems plausible down the road, and of course, some light philosophy and shades of grey. Even if you aren't an anime or a strict sci-fi fan, you might just enjoy this one.

This film is one of the best things that I have seen come out of the GITS franchise. I have watched the movie several times, each time enjoying even more. I would give a description of the plot, but I will not ruin it for you. My only complaint about Solid State Society is that it borrows ideas from both of the feature-length movies. If you liked GITS: SAC, and most specially 2nd GIG, you will enjoy this movie.

Note: It is dubbed in English, unlike Innocence. Amazon just has that fact incorrect

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There already are plenty of reviews for the DVD of this title, but I shall just mention a few reactions to the film, then talk about the blu ray release.

Solid State Society is a Ghost in the Shell motion picture. Do not be fooled by the "Stand Alone Complex" subheading and think it is a few TV episodes or something. This means top quality animation, a great music soundtrack, a complete story from start to finish and not much in the way of needing to see previous content to enjoy. I should know, I've only seen the SAC first series and not 2nd GIG yet. It also has a bit darker feel than the TV series, as to be expected from the films. What is so impressive about the animation is (keep in mind I'm comparing this to previous GITS movies) the use of camera shaking, lens flares, and best of all tasteful use of 3D/CGI-type treatments. Personally I think GITS 2.0 completely ruined the original first film, as the added 3D elements painfully stood out in comparison to the 2D shots, but that's another story.

As for the blu ray, you get some extras but as I always watch with Japanese audio & English subs, I don't bother watching the English 'behind-the-scenes' extras. I will say, however, that the Japanese TRAILER that is included is incredible. So much better than the Bandai English trailer... I only wish there was a subtitle option for the Japanese trailer, but oh well. There are no inserts of any kind, just the disc in the case. The picture quality is brilliant; super-sharp, beautiful colors and of course looks great when colors are muted with the lovely washed-out tone that GITS commonly has. Sorry I can't say much about the audio quality as I just use headphones and play it on a computer, but it sure sounded great to me. Currently this movie is at a very affordable price, especially for anime on blu-ray so don't hesitate Ghost in the Shell SAC Solid State Society is worth it!

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I saw this movie for the first time on Sci-Fi Channel's Ani-Monday. I was getting ready to call it a night when this was advertised as being next and had to stay up and watch it. It's a very well done movie with a lot of feeling of the first movie that was brought to the series. Alot of things have changed, alot of feelings are different, but it's all very good. I think I saw an edited version but for the most part it was very well done. All the original cast has returned to do the voices so there's no problem with the english subtitles or with dubbing. Overall it was a good movie.

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Kôkaku kidôtai: Stand Alone ComplexSolid State Society. It has been two years since the end of 2nd Gig, when "Major" Motoko Kusanagi left Section 9, a Special Forces unit assigned to cyber crime and answerable only to the Prime Minister of Japan in 2034. Family man Togusa is now leading a much larger force. Chief Aramaki has visibly aged in the job, walking painfully with a cane and attended by Proto. Batou has become a brooding, depressed commander of the training school. All wonder if the Major will ever return. This time around our heroes must deal with the seemingly unconnected rash of suicides, mass child abductions, conspiracy involving elderly healthcare, a "Wizard Class" hacker called the Puppeteer, and as always, corporate malfeasance and political wrangling. All tidied up with a terrific subtle "what if?" ending. At $3.2 million SSS is one of the most expensive TV movie anime's yet, and all the money is up on the screen. Illuminating the convoluted storyline are: Increased detail in both background and foreground (missing in 2nd Gig). "Busy" scenes found only in big budget movies. Naturally smooth movement by people and machines. Small touches like the Nissan concept cars, wrinkled clothing, reflections and small lighting effects, raindrops, "Handheld" camera angles, etc. There are plenty of "remember this?" scenes and other touchstones from the series, including great music by Yoko Kanno, with Origa singing the opening and closing songs. Motoko's face is even cuter than ever and the rest of heryou just don't mess with perfection. GITS: SAC is not for anime fans looking for scantily dressed little girls, giant robots or magical swordplay. Its story lines, dialogue and multiple overlapping themes are more suited to readers of William Gibson's "Neuromancer" or P. K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" So if you prefer the new "Battlestar Galactica" instead of "War of the Worlds", GITS:SAC-SSS might just be for you.

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The Tuskegee Airmen (2001)

The story of the magnificent 332nd Fighter Group is woven into a dramatic tapestry of the horror of war and the disjointed approach of many Americans to a difficult time and a situation many would have preferred to ignore. The performance of the pilots who graduated the Tuskegee Training Program (they NEVER lost an escorted bomber to enemy action!) unfolds against the backdrop of misunderstanding, racism and political machinations that nearly destroyed the entire enterprise. This film does a magnificent job of telling the tale without being melodramatic, preachy or snide, but does full justice to the accomplishments of the pilots and their eventual victory against both German pilots and their own nation's refusal to recognize their talents. For the student of World War II, this is a well-known and much-respected story. For the student of African-American History, it is a tale of pride which shines as brightly as the stars on the American Flag these men so courageously defended. Fishburn and Cuba Gooding are superior as men caught between their own humanity and the de-humanizing effects of war. If ever a film deserve a 5-Star rating, this one does.

This is an excellent story of real people. It is not PC BS where all whites are bad and all blacks are good. Instead, it is about a great and valiant group of men, the first black combat pilots during World War II. They are depicted as the heroes they were, not as supermen. They faced all of the challenges thrown at them to become pilots and they faced more challenges from their race. Some were primadonnas and some were modest. Some failed and some succeeded. Some were serious and some were jocular. Their humanity made them heroes even when others didn't want to admit their worth. They were regular guys called upon to do a difficult job and they did so with aplomb and dignity. They also did so magnificently.

The story takes a group of the airmen from their pilot training in Alabama through the North African campaign where they were relegated to important but unglamorous work against ground targets. We see them mature into professionals and develop their skills, all while being denied an opportunity to prove those skills. Finally, they are moved to Europe where they face more discrimination. Even though they do a great job, no one wants to admit that they have done so. Even redneck bomber crews who have their bacon saved are reluctant to give thanks when they learn they have been saved by black men. Still, the men of the 332nd persevere.

Finally, comes the push to Berlin. The bomber crews know its going to be tough. For me, the climax comes when one of the rednecks tells his CO, "If its all the same to you, I'd like the 332nd to take me to Berlin". This is the same guy who would not even acknowledge they could fly earlier. While flying bomber escort, the 332nd never lost a single bomber to enemy fire. They were magnificent.

That is the story and it is no secret. I'm not giving away anything not already in the history books. What makes this film so much more than docu-drama are the characterizations of the men who lived the story. They are real American heroes and they are played with greatness. They fought the Germans and they fought their own chain of command and they prevailed.

Bravo!

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The Tuskegee Airmen (Laurence Fishburne) 106 minutes. (for a more historical account check out the PBS with the same title)

Movie starts out with the scene of a black kid on a farm watching a plane fly by. The narrator reads "We all have dreams, regardless of skin color." The Little kid screaming "Wait for me"

The director uses various scenes to show the ugly face of racism: The scene where the black cadets have to get off the train-car, then camera focuses on "whites only" sign for drinking fountain, and then the camera focuses on german prisoners getting off a bus, escorted by american white military soldiers. Quite a lot of symbolism for racism in one little scene. The black cadets are forced to give up their seats for german prisenoners of war (they had to go to the "Jim Crow car"). The introductary talk of the white commanding officer of the base to the newly arrived negro corp, was simply despicably racist, not just the expected putdown from commanding officer, but pure and un-adulterated hate.

The second shock, and this is to my own assumptions ... I was shocked when the negro cadets informally introduce each other and how cerebral some of them were (aeronautical engineer, pre-med, english literature, political science, art history, sociology, economics majors). These were some bright minds there on base to prove America that they could make it.

Another excellent example of contradictory racism, is when a negro pilot does an emergency landing, and the white sherrif watching over a group of negro convicts, a chaingang, says "It's one of our boys" and later learns the opposite.

I love it when the good wins while fighting the evil the white major who gets in trouble with his commander for implementing his racist ideas.

If you want to comprehend the little nuances of racism and its evil, then this is a good movie to see. If you want to understand discrimination and racism in 1940s US (not Canada) while we Americans were fighting Nazis in Europe, as experienced on an airforce base, then this is a good movie to see. Not the whole presentation is profound, but there are moments of laughter, smiles, and chuckles.

In this movie only the ones "who want to learn how to fly" succeed above the rest those who react instead of subversively ignore the racism around them . And the remaining negro cadets surely proved to be some pretty darn good pilots and US Airmen. It's an awefully great moment when racism is fought subversively and peacefully. And there are plenty of these moments in this movie.

Or the moment, when the Bomber white pilot locates the fighter pilots who saved his crews lives, but is actually upset when he finds out they are colored.

The movie has a beautiful turn, and ending. I will not spoil the details, just re-print the message of the last screen:

"The 332nd Fighter Group never lost a single bomber to enemy action."

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This movie not only addresses the tragedy and patriotism of those of served our country in WWII, but in brings to light the discrimination that was also a very real part of the existence of our black american heroes. This movie is not what I originally feared it would be, a typical portrayl of the oppresive white man keeping the black man down. It showed the courage and tenacity of a group of Americans (in the case African Americans) who fought and died for their country in the war to end all wars. The storyline follows a group of black pilots who not only bring honor and pride to themselves, but their country. They lived the motto, "My country, right or wrong, my country." It didn't matter that these men were discriminated against because they were black, they did the job that had to be done and they did it well. What more can we ask of any American? Watch this movie for the accurate history it portrays, not only in the struggle for equality in our country, but for all the guts and glory of those fighting men we owe our very freedom to today. God bless America.

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I tend to get very emotional about this film. I can never see the ending without tears of appreciation, joy and intense pride. HBO is by far the best at making original movies and shows. The film has technical flaws... every film does... but beyond them it tells a story that, by design or negligence, has been ignored by American history for almost a half century.

Laurence Fishburne and Andre Braugher deliver stellar performances as Hannibal Lee and the great military leader Benjamin O. Davis. The other great actors who have some sort of direct or distant connection to the cause, to contribute were Cuba Gooding Jr., Courtney B. Vance, Allen Payne, Malcolm Jamal Warner, and Andre Braugher.

This film was wrapped up for me when a red necked White bomber pilot says in the final briefing: "I have a crew whose lives are my responsibility. If it's all the same to you Sir, I want the 332nd to take me to Berlin and back". That cinematic statement is a long overdue.

`Tuskegge Airmen' is a movie that should be viewed by all Americans interested in seeing a slice of Americana that's been neglected. Most will identify with the raw emotion evoked by the plight of these brave and talented men. Black Americans will be moved to tears as we are reminded of what those trailblazers overcame so that future Black soldiers, airmen and every day citizens could take their rightful place in American society, proud of their past and heritage. We all owe a debt of gratitude to the Tuskegee Airmen. This movie makes it clear why. I hope HBO continues it's long trend of fantastic films and series.

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Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958)

Those who have eagerly awaited some of Jerry Lewis' post-Dean Martin classics being released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time will have a special Valentine courtesy of Olive Films as 1958's "The Geisha Boy," 1958's "Rock-a-Bye Baby" and 1965's "Boeing Boeing" get a 2/14/12 release. It's hard to imagine that these films have not been made available on DVD prior to now! Of course, Lewis still remains a love it or loathe it proposition for many modern era film goers--but there is no denying his legacy and impact on the contemporary comedy scene. Oftentimes content to play the fool, Lewis displayed an innocent appeal on-screen that engaged a sense of silliness in us all. But he had genuine heart too, and his good-natured screen persona created some indelibly beloved characters that stand in contrast to his more complicated personal life. These films are an interesting cross section of Lewis' film catalogue as we see him doing what he does best but bringing additional elements of seriousness to the table. Made of a certain time and place, these films offer great nostalgia value for those that love Lewis--but also an opportunity for new viewers to discover Lewis in his prime.

"Rock-a-Bye Baby" provides Lewis with some of his more inspired and insane comedy bits. Were it content to be just slapstick silliness, it might be one of my favorites but (like The Geisha Boy) the film is also filled with its share of smaltzy sentimentalism. These lightweight concoctions want to tug on your heartstrings, but (in my opinion) rarely develop anything quite real enough in characters or plotting to really engage my emotions. Taking its original idea from Preston Sturges' classic screwball romp "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" and then stripping away every element of that film's story to make a zany Lewis vehicle--this one is highlighted by Lewis hamming it up with three infants. Lewis plays a small town schlub whose former flame (a solid Marilyn Maxwell) becomes a big movie star. When finding herself in "trouble," she resorts to Lewis as a baby surrogate so that the triplets don't end her blossoming career and reputation. Put Lewis together with the babies and you've got comic mayhem.

Some of the wackier bits involve Jerry overacting a storm inside a broken television, a rock and roll contest of lunatic proportions, and (of course) a perpetually sleepy Lewis trying to attend to the multiple nocturnal needs of the infants. In addition to the unrequited love that Lewis displays for Maxwell, there's a secondary love story featuring her younger sister (an early Connie Stevens). Add in a few irresistible musical interludes, and the film has a little something for everyone. But make no mistake. As always, the primary draw is to see Lewis play the lovable clown. I don't know that in the slapstick shenanigans he breaks much new ground, but he's certainly committed to the lunacy. Suitable for family viewing, I know many people who think this is one of his best. KGHarris, 12/11.

Long before "Mr. Mom" or "Kramer vs. Kramer", Jerry Lewis made a great argument for fathers to have as much say in the raising and nurturing of their children as mothers. This delightful comedy (with just enough drama added in for good measure) is about a man who goes beyond expectation to care for three baby girls who are left at his doorstep.

Moreover, this is not merely a comedy, but a musical, with songs that deserve the right to be as well remembered as any from "The Wizard of Oz" or "The Sound of Music".

This, among other Jerry Lewis classics, should be issued on DVD, but until they are VHS still looks pretty good.

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It's tough to choose which Jerry Lewis movies is my favorite, but I have to start with this one. It's sweet, darlin' and romantic all rolled up into one. It's about Clayton Poole (Jerry Lewis) a bumbling TV repairman, who by surprise becomes an adopted father to triplet baby girls. Clayton's former girlfriend turned movie star, Carla Naples (Marilyn Maxwell) springs the surprise when she leaves them on his doorstep. Noble Clayton tries to keep everything a secret but all mayhem cuts loose. And Clayton's other love interest Sandy Naples (Connie Stevens) helps Clayton out of his dilemma and from the suspicions of their father Gigi (Salvatore Baccaloni). I'll leave the ending for you to see. If you love the wacky antics of Jerry Lewis and romantic comedy by all means go for it!

Read Best Reviews of Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) Here

This is one of my favorites. I had seen it many years ago as a kid, and it made quite an impression. For several years I kept track of it on the internet to see when it would be available on VHS, and now I am doing the same thing regarding DVD. Not only is Jerry Lewis hilarious as a "mother in training", but I enjoyed Connie Stevens as a "sweet girl next door" who knows what or rather who she wants.

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I have always loved Jerry Lewis! I loved him as a kid and now my children do too! This movie has always been my favorite of Jerry's and I have waited for it to be released forever it seems! I have been serching the net for quite a while... Finally! My second favorite of Jerry's is, Ladies Man. It was years before I figured out the name of that one! I never forgot Rock-A-Bye Baby, and you won't either!!! Jerry Lewis is the greatest comedian of all times! You gotta see this one again and again!

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Black Sunday: Remastered Edition (1960)

Italian director Mario Bava exploded onto the horror scene with the wonderful black and white film "Black Sunday," also known as "The Mask of Satan" (a title I prefer because it does such a better job describing the movie). This picture borrows heavily from a Nikolai Gogol short story called "The Vij," and while I am not familiar with the story, the movie succeeds fantastically at conveying a bleak atmosphere of horror. "The Mask of Satan" was Bava's official directorial debut, giving viewers a chance to see the genius that was to come from this excellent filmmaker. Bava didn't merely direct films, however. He also worked on all aspects of movie making during his long career. The director even helped his son cut his teeth in the business immediately before his death in 1980. Fans will miss Bava terribly after viewing just a few of his films, as he was one of those rare Italian horror directors who could truly deliver the goods.

"Black Sunday," set in Romania, opens at an unspecified date in the seventeenth century. Some of the local nobles decide to get together and roast a couple of Satan's followers, but this barbecue bears a special meaning for the House of Vajda because one of its own is on the spit. The beautiful Princess Asa Vajda fell under the evil spell of the dark one, along with her unseemly lover Javutich, and both now face a painful execution. In order to insure that these two sullied creatures wear the mark of their crimes, Asa's own brother orders a metal mask of Satan nailed to their faces. Unfortunately for the Vajda family, Asa casts a curse on the family immediately before her execution, promising to come back from the dead and plague her relatives throughout the centuries. After carrying out this sordid task, the people present attempt to burn the corpses, but a rainstorm conveniently whips up and prevents the destruction of the bodies of these two satanic worshippers. In order to rid themselves of the bodies, the House of Vajda orders Asa interred in the family crypt with a few conditions: a glass pane and a cross must be placed on the sarcophagus in order to keep Asa firmly in her coffin. Javutich's corpse doesn't fare as well; his body ends up in a grave in the cemetery. All's well that end's well after this incident, as Asa and Javutich waste away the centuries in their tombs.

Flash forward two hundred years. Two doctors traveling to a medical conference stumble upon the decaying Vajda crypt. In a fit of scientific defiance to peasant tradition, one of the doctors named Kruvajan bumbles around Asa's coffin and causes some damage to it. From this point on, Bava takes his viewers on a roller coaster ride of creepy imagery, walking corpses, vampiric transformations, and oppressive atmosphere rarely seen in even the best of horror films. As the horror of "The Mask of Satan" unfolds, we meet the various characters who will play witness to the resuscitated curse on the House of Vajda: Doctor Gorobec, the young, heroic companion of Kruvajan destined to save the day; Katia Vajda, the present princess of Vajda; and her fearful father and brother. Katia's father knows about the curse of Asa, and he spends a significant portion of his time worrying about it. Moreover, several people remark on the amazing resemblance between Asa and Katia Vajda as seen in an old portrait of the Satan worshipping princess. Does this similarity have anything to do with the Asa's seemingly renewed deathbed curse? Probably, and the fun comes from watching it unfold through Bava's masterful use of cinematography, sets, atmosphere, sound effects, and gruesome special effects.

That Universal horror films influenced "The Mask of Satan" is so obvious it really doesn't need mentioning in the editorial review on this site. Throughout the movie, I continually recognized these similarities. Perhaps the surprising revelation here is that Bava's film is markedly better than many of the influences he supposedly borrowed from. Check out the coach moving through the forest in complete silence, or the trip Javutich and the doctor take through the castle. These are superb effects accomplished without the benefit of CGI or fancy prosthetics. Additionally, every movement of each character seems choreographed for maximum creepy effect. I kept wondering how Bava managed to get his actors to move so SLOWLY while making it look so natural. Special mention goes to the eerily effective Barbara Steele, the actress who plays both Asa and Katia. I wouldn't go as far as a few horror fans and say that this woman is drop dead gorgeous, but she is pretty and the make-up effects used on her face give her a ultra creepy appearance when she is playing Asa. I could go on and on about the things I liked in this movie. Everything works masterfully, giving "The Mask of Satan" a classic feel right from the start.

The DVD version of the film I watched carries a "Special Edition" label, meaning that you get a Mario Bava biography and filmography, a trailer, a photo and poster gallery, and a commentary by Bava historian Tim Lucas. The package claims this is the uncut version of the film, always a good thing when you decide to watch a horror movie. Mario Bava went on to make a slew of films in a wide range of genres, but so far "The Mask of Satan" has been my most satisfying experience with this director. With Halloween right around the corner, this film would nicely fit the bill for a home horror movie marathon.

Black Sunday is an engrossing, well-crafted, and suprisingly beautiful horror film. This DVD is testament to that fact and a sharp back-handed slap at those who automatically dismiss genre movies as trash. The respect Black Sunday and director Mario Bava are given is long overdue.

I won't bore you with tedious plot summarys. All I will tell you is that if you haven't seen Black Sunday, you must, and that if you have seen it, you must see it again in this presentation (because you've been missing plenty both in content and quality).

Presented in its origanal 1:66:1 theatrical aspect ratio, viewers for the first time can see this classic in ALL its macabre glory. The image quality is absolutely astounding when one compares it to the VHS editions floating around. The audio is also presented in pristine condition gaurenteed to sound excellent in any stereo thanks to the various formats.

All this makes one wonder exactly how much time went into this? If Video Watchdog editor/publisher Tim Lucas's liner notes and commentary are any indication, then the answer has to be a lot! Both are well-informed and thorougly entertaining.

It is a wonderful feeling to know that someone took the time to give you your money's worth -that is exactly what the people behind this gorgeous DVD have done.

As an avid fan of the writings of Tim Lucas, I would like to strongly encourage fans of Mario Bava and like-minded artists to check out his magazine, Video Watchdog and his post-modernistic vampire novel, Throat Sprockets.

Buy Black Sunday: Remastered Edition (1960) Now

Actually, my rating for this DVD version of "Black Sunday" would be 5 stars for the video transfer, 5 stars for Bava's cinematography (seen here like never before), 2 stars for the audio transfer, and 3 stars for the overall quality of the film itself. Bava was not a great director, and didn't like to be called a "cinematographer," but this film really is a painting in motion: every scene is a paradigm of Gothicism - the cinematic equivalent of Gustave Dore. Like other

reviewers, I was floored by the print used for this disc: it looks, almost literally, like it was shot yesterday, and it's almost impossible to believe the film is almost 40 years old. If there are other films from this era that look this pristine, I haven't seen them. My only quarrel with the disc has to do with the dubbing. In all honesty, I feel this film sports one of the worst American dubbing jobs ever performed on a film, and the big question (which neither Tim Lucas nor anyone else seems to have raised)is this: WHERE is the original Italian-language version of "Black Sunday," and why wasn't an attempt made to give us the original dialogue with OPTIONAL English subtitles? Mr. Lucas would have us believe that this DVD was the original version, but obviously the entire cast is speaking Italian (duhhh why else would you have to dub in English?). So, yes, I'm thrilled to have this beautiful print, but hopefully in the future we'll get the original Italian dialogue and not have to endure the abominable dubbing...

Read Best Reviews of Black Sunday: Remastered Edition (1960) Here

Italy produced many creepy horror efforts of the '60's, but this is the most effective by far. From its ominous opening to its fiery finish, BLACK SUNDAY is a terrifying cinematic experience. The hauntingly beautiful Barbara Steele, who went on to become Italy's foremost Scream Queen, plays a dual role: a lovely virginal princess, and a wicked witch who returns from the grave to seek vengeance on the descendants of those who burned her at the stake over a hundred years before. Steele is strikingly effective in both roles, and the mysterious Gothic atmosphere is both sinister and beautiful. The film was shot in gorgeous black and white, and it just wouldn't look right any other way. This was also the directorial debut of Mario Bava who, like Steele, would become a crucial name in '60's Italian scare flicks. Horror fans just won't be able to do any better than this!

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I'll leave it to other reviewers to give you their opinions about the movie itself. I'll just put it like this: It's a magnificent and masterful classic that should be watched by anyone interested in the golden age of horror and more specifically, the origins of Italian horror. Black Sunday was innovative and inspirational, paving the way for many thriller, suspense and horror tropes still in use today. Kino's blu-ray treatment is almost passable. The first thing I noticed: no Italian dialog track with or without subtitles. Unacceptable. I almost couldn't believe it. Instead, Kino gives us only an English dub with some glaring synchronization issues. When the product description reads "original Italian cut", it's only referring to the picture, and has nothing to do with the audio. Concerning the picture quality, this transfer looks like it was straight from the source. Obviously, no restoration, not even cleaning was completed. This film went from the can and straight to the scanner, nothing in between. It's as pure a transfer as we're going to get, but beware that the complete lack of restorative efforts is evident throughout. If you've been pampered by the awesome restoration efforts of Criterion Collection or Masters of Cinema, prepare yourself for disappointment here. This Kino blu ray release is more like an old Ferrari barn find than a Ferrari manufacturer's corporate collection piece. The image quality certainly has its high points as any film stored in a sensible archive will have, but they are exceptional. The audio is good, perhaps as good as mono audio can get. Distortion is evident in places, but it's otherwise highly satisfactory, considering the audio recording equipment at the time of recording. Additional features are minimal. There are a few trailers and a single commentary track; that's it. Packaging is your standard blu-ray fare, with no special case and no insert. I should have bought the cheaper DVD.

EDIT: After listening to the commentary track on this BD by a Bava film scholar, it's evident that the film was originally shot with the actors speaking in English. Contrary to my assumption, the actors did not originally use Italian to speak any of the dialog. I think perhaps the use of Italian dialog in the original cut is a common misconception, the result of which is likely due to such a terrible English on English dub. Even so, I'd still like to see a version with the original dialog track intact. This dub is horrible, but perhaps that's the only way we can have it. Maybe the original dialog track doesn't exist.

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¡Three Amigos! (2011)

"The Three Amigos!" is good fun, a rare comedy that plays well with the whole family. Slapstick, wit, funny songs, sight gags, all tongue-in-cheek transcends generation.

The Plot?

Three actors get fired by their production company and try to make it on their own. Their first gig in Mexico turns out to be more than act. Much to their surprise, they were hired to protect a town from a thieving band of bad guys, lead by El Guapo, an unusual bandito with a strong vocabulary.

As great movie comedy goes, "The Three Amigos!" might be overlooked. It doesn't have the constant laughter that might be expected. Why? It has an intelligent plot.

While calling this a serious drama would be forgetting that Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short are the stars. Steve Martin, though, in the last 20 years, has veered away from total silliness, except when the humor is organic to the plot.

Of all the scenes I found funny, one with Martin Short hanging from a piñata, when El Guapo comments how the Three Amigos keep appearing, like they are falling from the sky. As expected, Short falls. Predicted, and still funny.

There are nuances of Monty Python in here, and some fantastic parody of silent films. Each of three stars purposefully overplays his role is makeup reminiscent of the great Buster Keaton. Overall, the balance between plot and humor, over-the-top and subdued humor works in grand fashion.

I fully recommend "The Three Amigos!"

Anthony Trendl

editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short in their comedic prime, playing recently fired silent movie actors forced to earn money by ridding a small Mexican village of its evil oppressor. They assume it is nothing more than a Public Appearance gig, but the enemy is quite real!

This movie is kinda goofy, kinda silly, and all funny. Each of the three comics gets his turn to shine in memorable gags, and there are too many of those gags to list here. Watch for a pre-"Saturday Night Live" Phil Hartman and John Lovitz in an early scene. Funniest bits: Short and Martin running out of water in the desert, Short telling his story of being "discovered" by Lillian Gish's sister, summoning the Invisible Swordsman, Chase trying not to blow his cover in front of the main villain and his henchmen, and Steve Martin's character learning that the supposedly "staged gunfight" is actually real.

Cost of DVD with shipping -[item price]

DVD player -$200.00

Microwave popcorn -85 cents

Laughing your [head] of watching "The Three Amigos" -PRICELESS!

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This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest movies ever made. Not only are the comedic situations hilarious, but a classic 'heros save the day' situation touches your heart while tickleing your funnybone. I could never understand why the critics all miss the joke while countless others share my absolute love of this cult classic. It ranks up there with the best of the Saturday Night Live alumni celluloid offerings.

Read Best Reviews of ¡Three Amigos! (2011) Here

I love this movie, but this transfer is horrible. It was taken from a movie print instead of an original copy of the movie, so it's grainy, has serious stability issues, and is generally not pretty. Not only that, but it's letterboxed on the disc, so if you have a 16x9 television, you'll be watching the movie with black bars on all sides of the screen, with the actual picture only taking up 50% of your TV's screen.

It's a shame that after all of these years that this movie still hasn't been transfered to DVD or Blu-ray properly. It's terrible that such a classic film has to be represented so poorly.

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This movie is a real riot! The characters, dialogues and situations are simply laugh-out-loud funny.

I am not sure this movie is getting it's' due credit, but at $5 this is simple a steal. The replay value alone is worth so much more! Get it!

P.S. The actors metioned as the main cast in this specific product are not really the principals (those are, of course, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short) although they do appear in the movie. I think Amazon was just trying to differentiate this dvd from the other one that is out of print but that still appears in the catalogue.

Still, Amazon should do something about this so as not to confuse people.

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Coma (2012)

After his success with the 1973 sci-fi thriller "Westworld" director Michael Crichton followed up with 1978's "Coma". In the earlier film he dazzled us with a fantastic futuristic vacation resort that turns against it's patrons. Here Crichton depicts the medical care system as a treacherous terrain where some patients may fall victim to odious conspiracy's.

Most people quite naturally experience an overwhelming fear of being defenseless and vulnerable while at the mercy of a hospital staff when they are admitted for surgery. Crichton explores this tendency of ours to suffer anxiety and apprehension at this prospect without being exploitative. He carefully crafts a believable scenario and we soon become caught in the same tangled web as the lead character Dr. Susan Wheeler, played marvelously by Genevieve Bujold. Wheeler is a bright, strong willed, liberated woman who supports herself and can withstand a challenge from her current boyfriend Dr. Mark Bellows, well played by Michael Douglas. Crichton received both critical praise and public criticism for the movie's portrayal of such an emancipated heroine, a role which has fortunately become more standard in the years that have followed.

When Wheeler's friend Mary is admitted to the hospital for an abortion Mary expresses her fears to Wheeler who assures her it is a routine operation and that she shouldn't feel a need to worry. Something does go wrong with the operation however and Mary falls into a coma, shortly afterward she dies. This event doesn't seem possible to Wheeler and out of curiousity she reviews Mary's medical records and notices inconsistencies and inquires about them. This sequence begins what will become a complicated and formidable investigation that she proves completely capable of following through on. Her defiance is so threatening that soon a predator is stalking her intending on silencing her permanently and she handles this situation resolutely, fighting against her fears and facing the enemy.

Crichton presents coherent, edifying scenes of doctors, interns and nurses going about their daily duties that adds authenticity to the film. The anesthesia explanation is well written and necessary for our understanding of the plot. The Jefferson Institute complex is the film's great set piece. It stands isolated in a lush green valley looking sterile and impersonal, matching the cold treatment that Wheeler has been receiving from her male superiors who she has been reporting her findings to. The building also adds a striking Gothic horror feel to the movie; the sight of bodies suspended by wires from the ceiling is eerie, chilling and unforgettable.

"Coma" also features splendid supporting peformances by many recognizable faces. Tom Selleck has a brief bit as a patient who is victimized; Ed Harris appears as a Pathology resident with a headful of hair!; Rip Torn plays Dr. George, the hospital's Chief of Anesthesiology, who Wheeler suspects; Elizabeth Ashley is the autocratic and apparently soulless head of Jefferson Institute. But it's Richard Widmark who makes the strongest impression as the hospital's administrator, Dr. Harris. His final self-righteous discourse to Bujold, as she slowly succumbs to poisoning, is memorable he brazenly explains away ethics as if they were a mere contrivance. It's at this point you realize that throughout the film he has been dispensing his diabolical medical elitism with all the ease and grace of a seasoned diplomat.

Mysteriously, Crichton chooses to film a climax that has Wheeler falling into an all too familiar 'damsel in distress' situation where she needs to be rescued by a man. But the sight of her lying helpless on the operating table makes your heart pump with fear and anxiety, creating another of the film's most effective moments. Not one of us wants to be this completely helpless and vulnerable!

"Coma" remains a top-notch medical thriller today despite it's lack of special effects that today's sophisticated audiences demand from this genre. Still, it remains largely unknown, enjoying a bit of cult movie status among the moviegoers who came of age in the 70's.

One final note: People often mistakenly credit Crichton for writing the book upon which the film "Coma" is based. Actually Robin Cook is the book's author although I can see why people would easily make this incorrect distinction due to some similarities between them. They each have a medical degree and earlier in his career Crichton penned a handful of novels that had a medical setting and wrote the non-fiction book "Five Patients" as well.

I discovered by chance that this 1978 thriller with Michael Douglas was written and directed by Michael Crichton, who was himself a qualified medical doctor, but this film would have one believe that he had no love lost for his original profession (as would "The Andromeda Strain".)

Coma despite being an "old" movie by many standards, is surprisingly fascinating on DVD. Crichton gets good performances from the whole cast, with Genevieve Bujold, in particular, reminding us of what a fine actress she can be. As a doctor suspicious of certain goings-on in her hospital but disbelieved by everyone around her, she shows courage and determination (without ever losing her femininity) which is welcome in a female lead. She finds herself forced to question her own sense of perspective, even her sanity, as she struggles to uncover the mystery of comatose patients that surround her.

There's one sizeable twist towards the latter half of the movie, but you generally know what's going to happen. The beauty of this movie is in the overall execution -it's VERY well done.

Recommended rental. Especially for the medically inclined.

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Writer/director Michael Crichton's second film was an adaption of Robin Cook's bestselling novel. Michael Douglas plays the role of the heroine while Geneviene Bujold has the hero's role in this role reversal thriller. This was made prior to Douglas becoming a break out star. There are a number of fine performances including a great turn by the always interesting Rip Torn.

The extras are slim; we get the trailer and both the widescreen and standard versions of the movie. No director's commentary or observations from the cast; no "making of" documentary (or promo fluff piece for that matter). Which is a pity as this fine thriller does deserve better but then that was SOP when DVD's started coming out.

You can't argue with the price nor with Crichton's direction. He really never got any better than this as a director (although there are a couple of films like The Great Train Robbery that hold up to this and Westworld). Crichton isn't a great film director (he's a better writer) but he gets the job done. Coma will keep you guessing.

Read Best Reviews of Coma (2012) Here

For a period in the 1970s, it looked as if Michael Crichton was on his way to becoming a film director instead of the author of popular science-thrillers that he is principally known as today. He had a hit with the robot science-fiction meets the Western flick with "Westworld" in 1973, and he followed it up with this medical thriller in 1978. Based on a book by another M.D.-turned-novelist, Robin Cook, "Coma" is an entertaining suspenser with some good performances and nice pacing, helped immensely by Crichton's expertise on the medical profession and the politics of working in a hospital.

Unfortunately, "Coma" is one of those films that's good enough to make you wish it could have been even better. You feel satisfied with the viewing experience, but feel that the movie could have pushed itself even farther and turned from a good film into a very good film. The potential is certainly there, with a fun conspiracy plotline (Why are supposedly healthy people at a Boston hospital falling into irreversible comas? What is the purpose of the freaky, mysterious Jefferson Institute to where the coma patients are being shipped?), its level of paranoia (no one believes heroine Genevieve Bujold's suspicions -or perhaps everyone around her is in on it), and Crichton's perfectly realistic representation of medical jargon and the workings of a busy hospital (a prelude to his television creation, E.R.). Many of the performances are excellent as well, especially Michael Douglas as Bujold's ambitious doctor boyfriend, Richard Widmark as the chief surgeon, and Elizabeth Ashley as the nearly robotic and incredibly frightening head of the Jefferson Institute. Rip Torn also pops in for a brief but noticeable role as the gruff head of anesthesia. (And hey, look, it's Tom Selleck in a brief appearance an an unfortunate patient!) The score by Jerry Goldsmith is also deliciously suspenseful and takes an unusual approach (no music at all for the first forty-five minutes, then almost non-stop growing fear through pounding pianos and creepy strings).

But "Coma" is often too cold, too distant, and Bujold's performance is too one-note and disinterested to make the film work as well as it could. Crichton also handles many of the scenes in a flat, pedestrian manner; he has trouble dealing with the character-driven scenes, and really needs actors like Michael Douglas and Rip Torn to carry these sequences. Except for the scenes at the Jefferson Institute and its ghastly "hanging room" (the film's best set-piece), the whole movie has a bland, flat look that makes it feel as if it were shot for television. And the final twist in the story won't surprise anybody.

But I still recommend "Coma" as an entertaining thriller. Even if you can see the surprise revelation coming long before the heroine does, the actual finale is a squirmy, suspenseful bit that plays off everyone's hidden fear of hospitals in general and surgery specifically. And Crichton's attention to realism in his setting puts the film far ahead of most of the overactive, loud and obnoxious thrillers released today. People in the medical profession in particular will enjoy the movie, but even if you can't tell a stethoscope from syringe, you'll find yourself enjoyably drawn into the mystery of "Coma." (Don't expect much in the way of extras on this DVD -they're really aren't any. Commentary from Crichton would have been extremely interesting, but alas, nothing.)

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A great movie from start to finish. Young Genevieve Bujold and Michael Douglas give outstanding performances. Everyone in the movie is great. An excellent "conspiracy theory" come true movie. A good add for your DVD library.

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The Illusionist (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (2010)

The latest animated film by Sylvain Chomet is based on a script by the late Jacques Tati, who intended the film to be live-action but ended up never bringing the film to fruition. Tati died in 1982 and the script was passed to Chomet by Tati's daughter Sophie Tatischeff, who died before Chomet's debut feature-length, animated film The Triplets of Belleville was released. Since The Illusionist debuted it has been criticized by family members of Tati for straying from his original vision, as well as his original intention for writing the script in the first place. Since Tati is credited with writing the original script and Chomet is credited with adapting it, it is unknown how significantly Chomet altered the original script. Whether Chomet strayed from Tati's script or not becomes irrelevant as we can't judge a film based on what it could've been but for what it is. The fact is, the film exists in its current form and here it is:

The film begins in Paris, 1959 with Tatischeff, the illusionist of the title, performing his act for anyone who will watch on any stage he can find. While not very successful Tatischeff is an effective illusionist, whose only problem seems to be his unruly rabbit. Constantly searching for a stage to perform on, Tatischeff travels to Scotland and meets a young woman named Alice who believes that his illusions are really magic. Following Tatischeff to Edinburgh, Alice takes care of the house while he goes around performing his act. Alice's love for his tricks and his unwillingness to admit to Alice that what he does is all illusion causes Tatischeff to slowly become bankrupt in his attempts to always have gifts on hand to impress the girl with.

Tatischeff is animated to look like Jacques Tati and Tati's persona is conveyed through his animated counterpart quite well. Those familiar with Tati should appreciate this animated version, as well as the scene where Tatischeff wanders into a theatre playing Mon Oncle. The animation in The Illusionist is much more straight-forward than The Triplets of Belleville, but retains a similar look and feel that identifies Chomet as the maker. Like that film, there is very little dialogue and when there is it's usually brief, mumbled, and nearly inaudible. Finally, just as Bruno the dog was one of the most amusing characters in The Triplets of Belleville simply by being a dog, so is the rabbit in The Illusionist simply by being a rabbit.

Chomet is one of the few animated filmmakers able to use their animation so poetically and while Tati was an immensely talented filmmaker who was more than capable of putting his vision onscreen, this film seems very well-suited for Chomet's animated interpretation. While this film may not be a perfect representation of Tati's vision or intent, it is a respectful tribute to both the man and his style. While I admittedly haven't re-visited Tati's films in sometime, Chomet stays true to his style with his use of wide shots, keeping his distance from Tatischeff in much the same way Tati kept his distance from his Monsieur Hulot. Chomet's film may not convey exactly what Tati wished it to, but the fanciful, melancholy it conveys is quite effective.

Through animation, Chomet is able to capture and convey more emotion than his medium should allow. There are directors who would struggle to capture this emotion with a live-action adaptation of Tati's script and actors who would struggle to convey as much meaning with a lengthy monologue that Chomet effortlessly conveys with sparse dialogue. It's a beautiful film to behold, has a lovely musical score, and happens to be one of the most poignant films of 2010.

The Illusionist is a touching, at times depressing, but always effective film that succeeds at capturing the spirit of Tati where it may have failed to capture the message. Chomet continues doing great things in animation and this is another masterful example that truly deserves to be called one of the best films, animated or otherwise, of 2010. Whether you're a fan of Tati, Chomet, or you're new to the films of both, you owe it to yourself to see this film. It's a masterpiece and a wonderful addition to Tati's legacy.

GRADE: A

The Illusionist is a beautifully-rendered animated story about a French stage magician, Tatischeff, and his relationship with a young Scottish girl named Alice, at a time when his kind of entertainment is being displaced by the onset of television and rock-and-roll.

Stylistically, The Illusionist will be immediately familiar to fans of Chomet's best-known film, The Triplets of Belleville. The animation is gorgeously detailed, the characters unique, and the story presented with virtually no dialogue, relying on an occasional comprehensible word or two emerging from deliberately garbled bursts of psuedo-language, French or Scottish-English depending on the setting.

Storywise though, The Illusionist is distinctly different from Triplets. While Triplets was imbued with a manic glee, The Illusionist is instead tinged throughout with a mix of sweetness and sadness. The film begins with Tatischeff's stage magician having to deal with a changing world in which his style of entertainment is increasingly less in demand. This is brought painfully home early on when he ventures to the UK for a gig, only to find his act's slot on stage pushed back again and again by a rock-and-roll band's repeated encores for an audience of screaming teenage girls, forcing the magician to go through his pre-act preparations repeatedly. And when the band finally leaves the stage and Tatischeff gets his chance to go on, it is only to find that the bulk of the audience has already departed, leaving only a solitary grandmother and grandson for him to perform for. The scene is at once absurdly comic and yet achingly sad, and portrays in a nutshell what the magician's life has become.

A chance encounter at a gig for a garden reception takes the magician to a small village in Scotland, where in an intimate tavern setting, he performs his act to a genuinely appreciative audience. But even this small victory is not to be left untouched, as no sooner is he done than the tavern owner installs a juke-box, playing records by the same rock-and-roll group that displaced him from his earlier theatrical gig. At the same time though, he meets a young girl who works at the tavern, a naive teenager named Alice, who becomes thoroughly entranced by his illusions, believing them to be real. An exchange of impulsive kindnesses she washes and irons his shirts; he gets her a badly-needed pair of new shoes, making them appear as if by magic forms the beginnings of a relationship that prompts Alice to follow him when he leaves the village to head to Edinburgh in hopes of finding work there.

In Edinburgh, a number of side characters are introduced. One of the best features of Chomet's style is how distinctive the personalities of even minor characters are. The two agents who take the magician on as a client are wonderfully done as they work to promote his act; the brief scene where they get him a gig at the local theater is priceless. And as the hotel where the magician and Alice settle in apparently caters to theater people, they meet a number of other performers, including a chatty ventriloquist, a depressed clown, and trio of constantly leaping acrobats, all of whom are facing the same difficulties as the magician.

The ending sequences are achingly sad as the magician faces not only that his way of life is fading but also that Alice's life is just beginning. When the magician takes his cantankerous rabbit and frees it on a hilltop, you feel that he is turning his back on his profession, but it is a later scene on a train where, in an exchange with a little girl who has lost her pencil, that you truly realize he has given up.

But even within the sadness and the defeat, the film does not give in completely. While the magician leaves Alice some money and a note which says "Magicians do not exist", the film suggests that the magician is wrong. In the empty hotel room, a gust of wind through the window causes the pages of a book to turn, casting shadows on the wall of a bird appearing and flying away, a classical image of magic acts. And as we see Alice walking away with the young man she has met, we realize that in the end, the magician has despite his assertion in fact unwittingly performed an act of magic of his own, the Pygmalionesque transformation of Alice from the shyly awkward and drab young girl he first met into a beautiful young woman venturing out into the world.

It's a different film from Triplets to be sure, and while it does not give one the happy ending one might initially have hoped for, it does stay true to itself, reminding us that even sadness has its own kind of beauty that we should not turn away from. Highly, highly recommended.

Buy The Illusionist (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo) (2010) Now

Sylvain Chomet's "L'Illusioniste," based on an unproduced screenplay by Jacques Tati, is a worthy follow-up to his Oscar-winning "Triplets of Belleville," even if it is a gentler, less flamboyant work than its predecessor. "L'Illusioniste" is the story of Tatischeff (Tati's real name), a magician in 1959 Paris, who finds his old-fashioned hat-and-rabbit tricks in ever-diminishing demand. Forced to take a gig on a remote Scottish island, he entrances Alice, a young scullery maid who believes his tricks are real. When Tatischeff leaves to accept an engagement in Edinburgh, Alice stows away on the boat. The bulk of the movie is about the chaste, father-daughter relationship between Tatischeff and Alice, and their inevitable estrangement as Alice discovers the bigger world on her own.

Because "L'Illusioniste" is based on a screenplay that was meant to be a live-action film, Chomet's animation doesn't take Disneyesque liberties with the laws of gravity and physics. There are jokes and gags, but they are low-key and almost always included to make a serious, even melancholy point. (At one point Tatischeff stumbles into a movie theater showing "Mon Oncle," thus allowing him to come face-to-face with his doppelganger on the screen.) Tatischeff is one of the last survivors of a dying world, the world of the music hall, and we see his world constricting even as Alice's grows. Yet life and happiness go on, as symbolized by the drunken, kilted Scotsman who shows up in places both natural and unexpected. (Be sure to watch the credits to the very end; as in "The Triplets of Belleville," Chomet has a little surprise for us.)

There is not a single computer-generated image in "L'Illusioniste," and Chomet's hand-drawn panoramas of Paris, Edinburgh and the Scottish coast will take your breath away with their pensive beauty. "L'Illusioniste" is an animation for adults; it contains nothing children shouldn't see, but the themes and emotions it explores are not those children would understand. It is gentle, thoughtful, and exquisite.

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This wonderful film worked out as a posthumous Op of Jacques Tati, the major figure of the French illusionism, the poet, the naive but always smiling man whose clumsy actions always delighted us, but also the human being of endless kindness, respectful, gentlemanly behavior which represents an era that no longer exists.

The crude and acidic message nested under the script, is profoundly revealing and hopeless. The illusionist is an endangered species, a profession that has no place in a world like today where the fashioned artist rocker has supplanted it.

There's no time for such charming, the illusion is an old fashioned issue and now the frivolity's the master of the world.

The secondary line of the script is very touching too. With the dissapearance of the illusionism the loneliness is an unwanted guest, although he makes the best he can to rescue the humanity of that humble girl who once falls in love forgets him.

Another train, another hope, another city perhaps will wait for him, although the public will be limited.

Nostalgic and haunting film.

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If anyone wants to know the difference between foreign films and American ones a comparison of "The Illusionist" with "Toy Story 3" is a good place to start. Both are excellent movies in their own way...but employ very contrasting styles.

"Toy Story 3" takes some familiar characters, puts them in danger, provides laughs and tears, and ultimately delivers a satisfactory ending.

The "Illusionist" is all about sublety. There is practically no action and practically no dialogue. Ultimately it is a story about relationships the relationship between an out of date vaudevillian magician with his lost audience, the relationship of down-on-your luck theater performers living in the same tarnished hotel, the relationship of the magician with a young admirer who travels with him from an outpost in Scotland to the "big city" of Edinburgh.

Some might see this as the old giving space to the new...although it is not just about that. The young girl and the magician ultimately drift apart because their opinion of what is important was never the same anyway. This is the melancholy in the film.

It is a slow film totally unlike the bizarre, hectic zaniness of "Triplettes de Belleville." But whereas "Triplettes" is a cartoon of sorts, the story played out on film in "The Illusionist" is all too real. People, jobs, and expectations do go out of date...far more quickly today than ever.

I can't say enough good things how fantastic the animation looks on the screen those beautiful hand drawn watercolors. Now "this" is a film to get on Blu-Ray just to appreciate the marvelous artwork. In seeing hundreds of animated films...I have NEVER seen an illustrator do such a spectacular job in depicting light light in every shade and variety from the harsh lights of an electric bulb, to the golden light of lamps seen through windows, to the flashing red lights of the theatre district, to the evening light on the moors of Scotland. For that alone, the film is worth the price. One thinks of the French impressionists or the Dutch Vermeer in their use of the play of light in their art.

I am convinced that I could see this film twenty times....and if I do so, I will notice new nuances and interpretations each viewing. That's what I expect in a great film. And that is why the movie is worth owning.

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Pitch Perfect (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (2012)

If you read a synopsis of Pitch Perfect, it just sounds like your typical rom-com, coming-of-age, singing movie; but I swear to you it's not. After being forced to see it by my stepbrother and his girlfriend, I was very, very pleasantly surprised. Pitch Perfect is probably one of my favorite movies ever now. As soon as the credits started rolling I knew I was in love and I needed to see it again. So I did, a week later. The music was aca-mazing! The soundtrack is absolutely off the charts! I am obsessed! My favorite song from it is the Bellas finals. The plot was a bit cliché, but good. The acting wasn't fantastic, but the goal here clearly wasn't to try and get nominated for an Oscar. They just wanted us to like the movie, and I more than liked it, so they succeeded.

Anna Kendrick played Beca, an amateur DJ who wants nothing more than to leave college and move to Los Angeles, causing her to be miserable all the time and shutting out everyone who cares about her. Her main love interest Jesse, played by Skylar Astin (Ugh, I just melted when I said his name), is everything a charming college boy should be. Plus, he can sing. He tries to bond with Beca and sweep her off her feet, but she just shuts him out. This causes Jesse's heart to break and every girl in America to get tears in their eyes. Needless to say, I fell in love with him. Brittany Snow and Anna Camp were hilarious as the Bella's head voices; and Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins were scene-stealers playing the commentators for the competitions. But, no one (not even Skylar) stole the show like Rebel Wilson did as Fat Amy. I won't say anything else. Go see Pitch Perfect!

Definitely a PG-13 flick, this over-the-top story of a talented DJ who discovers the Accapella Diva within is well worth adding to the DVD library. Crazy talented men and women, some sweet relationship development and just enough raunchiness from the ladies to to keep any viewer on their toes, this is a movie that one will watch over and over and over again. Sure, it's a movie with a bunch of pretty people set at a college that looks nothing like reality, but hey . . . stranger things have been made believable on the silver screen.

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I loved this movie soo much. The songs were great, probably even better than the original artists themselves. I am going to buy this movie and watch it all the time. I gave it 5 stars because I loved every part of it, and it was hilarious and almost made me pee myself, it was so funny. I love the voices and the story and the cute guys and this movie is just amazing. It was 'pitch perfect!'

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I'm not a Ron Swanson, but I am a beer drinking, boot wearing, steak eating Die Hard loving guy. In other words, I was pretty much not the target audience for this film. But enough of my lady friends convinced me to give it a shot. I got these girls into Sons of Anarchy and Spartacus: Blood and Sand respectively so I figured I owed it to them to take their word.

I loved this film for a variety of reasons. I remember seeing the trailer and rolling my eyes and assuming it was some kind of terrible Glee era product trying to capitalize on the success. And honestly it could have been, but that still didn't detract from my enjoyment.

First, so far as I can tell this is an original script/film etc. And whether that's good or bad doesn't detract from my appreciation. So already points for being something new, even if the story is as predictable as you can kind of guess it is. But I've seen Die Hard tons of times. It's about the journey not the destination.

And Pitch Perfect's journey is great. You all know the story, Beca (Anna Kendrick) joins a fledgling college Accapella group and they go to finals. But it's charming, sweet, witty, and the music is actually pretty good. Special mention again to Anna Kendrick who is a FANTASTIC singer, I was very blown away. Gorgeous voice.

It's a very fun and enjoyable film and I actually wanna see it again. I'm not the target audience but it still hit a home run in my book. Great film that leaves you in a good mood.

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Laughs is what sets this "misfit saves the day" singing movie apart from other teen and/or singing movies. Laughs and a satiric wit ably presented by an engaging cast. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Victoria B, calls it "surprisingly really funny" and says she intends to watch it over again which is also surprising as she shares that this type of movie is not usually one that's for her.

Pitch Perfect

Reviewed by Victoria B

Video reviews may be found at kidsfirst dot org

I went to see Pitch Perfect and it is surprisingly really funny. I do not usually like musical types of movies, but this one was one of the best.

At first I thought that this movie would be one of the ones with random outbreaks of song, but this movie has a nice storyline and it is funny. The singing is amazing. Plus, since the move is about an a capella group, it is interesting and kind of impressive to see the actors make the track to the music with their voices.

This movie is about Beca (Anna Kendrick), a girl who wants more than anything to be a music producer but her dad makes her go to college first. Finally, her dad says that if she goes to college for a year, joins a club and really tries her best, he will let her drop out and go to California. This gives her some incentive to do well in school and join the Barden Bellas, the school's all-girl a capella group.

The Bellas' arch rival is the all-boys group, the Trebles. Beca starts to fall for a member of the Trebles, Jesse (Skylar Astin), which is forbidden by the Bellas' uptight leader, Aubrey (played by Anna Camp). The Bellas are old-fashioned and Beca is tired of it so she quits, then she rejoins and makes the Bellas better than ever, new, and ready to win. Whether they win against the Trebles is a mystery that you'll have to watch to find out.

I love this movie, and the characters are very eclectic to say the least. My favorite character is Fat Amy because she's hilarious and says whatever is on her mind, and it shows because she calls herself "Fat" Amy. I absolutely love this movie and will definitely be watching it repeatedly.

I give it five out of five stars because I like that the actors can sing well, and the way that they make the music track with their voices is amazing. I recommend this movie for anyone who likes music and comedy, because together it is a great combination. I like that the movie is not just about the singing and that it has a good storyline as well. I recommend this movie for ages mature 12 and up because the movie has some foul language but overall is a good movie.

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My Son John (1952)

One of the best things to happen in the world of home video in recent days has been Paramount releasing a virtual explosion of classic titles on both Blu-ray and DVD under the Olive Films label. The stellar releases continue with MY SON JOHN, an anti-Communist picture from the early fifties that's part political thriller and part family drama, featuring an outstanding cast that includes Helen Hayes, Dean Jagger, Van Heflin and, in his final screen appearance (he died during the film's production), the great Robert Walker.

The story concerns some proudly patriotic and religious parents (Hayes and Jagger) who begin to have suspicions that their oldest son (Walker) is a Communist. Walker gives a fascinating performance, similar to his role in Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN but this time giving his character a kind of scoffing arrogance to go along with his sinister charm. You get the feeling that this guy is so much smarter than everyone else that he finds their beliefs and traditions rather amusing.

Script-wise, the film has some weaknesses. There seems to be a conscious effort to avoid any specific explanations of what's going on regarding unlawful activities: we never really learn exactly what John has done or get any insight into his political philosophy other than a few vague inferences here and there. One keeps hoping that John and his father will have a meaningful conversation about the relative merits of communism versus democracy, but it doesn't happen. This is one case in which some over-the-top patriotism would have added some punch to the story. Further, the fact that Robert Walker died before the film was completed (the shots of him in the last part of the movie are taken from STRANGERS ON A TRAIN) leads to a somewhat unsatisfying ending.

Script problems aside, MY SON JOHN is one of those movies that can be appreciated both as a drama and as a historical document in the sense that it's very much a product of the time in which it was produced. Admittedly, it's not for the casual viewer some people would undoubtedly find it too long and overly talky. It's not as entertaining as THE RED MENACE or as well done as I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI. However, if you're someone who enjoys watching fine actors and loves films that reflect a particular period in history, MY SON JOHN is a thought-provoking movie that will stay in your memory long after you've seen it.

I have just recieved and watched the Blu-ray version of "My Son John".. I'de seen it when I was a teen ager in the 50's and I thought it was pretty slow, but interesting. I went to see it because of Robert Walker who had been MGM'S Golden Boy next door. He was such a sweet charming guy in those Golden Age of MGM films. But of course Walker never got a chance to really act until he got from beneath MGM's grasp. Like he did in Hitchcock's "Strangers On A Train". And I don't believe that Leo McCarey produced or directed anything quite like this either. Poor Robert Walker had a sad personal life and I believe it showed in his face in this film. And it's a shame that he passed away, because he had just proven what a great actor he really was. But I don't believe they had the help back in the early 50's that they do now. Help that may have saved Robert Walker. Helen Hayes was also very good, but I thought that half her scenes were drawn out too long and very overacted. (excuse me Helen Hayes fans, but that's the way I saw it)

I know they probably didn't know really how to deal with communism on film 'back in the day', but some of the scenes were very vague. And like Kurt Corbin said in his review that it was hard to catch onto what Robert Walker's character "John" was really up to. And I really couldn't really tell if he was 'all that bad'. Because my open-mind is set in the new millennium, not in the early 50's. What was John really up to?

What were the unlawful activities? Yes it was rather vague. But I do remember as a child and teenager the sence of patriotism all around me. I sort of miss that 'long ago feeling'. I'm afraid with all that's going on today people don't know what to believe anymore and that's a damn shame. Dean Jagger was also very stong as a real old fashioned patriot. God bless his character. And I remember many like that. Oh yeah. So I say this is 'a time capsule of the way people thought back in the day. And God bless each and every one of them. Bob "Ziggy" Anderson

Buy My Son John (1952) Now

Produced during the Second Red Scare and the McCarthy era, My Son John, embodies the patriotism and paranoia of the early fifties. Robert Walker's last role is intended as a moral lesson for "good Americans" but also panders to the fears of a nation fresh out of a world war with facism, entering a cold war with communism and engaged in a "non-war" police action in Korea.

Read Best Reviews of My Son John (1952) Here

Worth watching if only for the "key in the hand" moment a real Leo McCary movie manipulation, but it gets me every time. (I wonder if Emilio Estavez "borrowed" it for a moment in "Bobby.")

It may be time bound, but don't kid yourself that those kinds of personalities do not still exist, whatever your political or religious point of view may be.

In any case, strong performances from professionals who know their craft. It's a good watch.

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FANTASTIC FILM WITH A STUNNING PERFORMANCE BY HELEN HAYES AND ROBERT WALKER. THE FILM CREATES THROUGH A GOOD STORY LINE AND EXCELLENT DIALOGUE THE SICKNESS OF PARANOIA THAT ENVELOPED AMERICA DURING AMERICA'S DARKEST TIME.

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