Amazon.com

It's more of the same for Larry David's sitcom from HBO, and for fans, that's a good thing. The show--largely extemporized--follows suit of David's former series, Seinfeld: it's a show about nothing, just the everyday life of the star going about his pseudo-real world. But David's show has far more edge (thanks, in part, to airing on cable TV) with all the bad luck, embarrassing situations, and dreadful behavior as its premiere season. The closest thing to an arc is David's season-long pitch to the networks for a new show starring former Seinfeld stars Jason Alexander and Julia-Louis Dreyfus. Each network is lampooned, especially HBO, which David has a bad history with in this alternate world. Sure to repel those with soft funny bones, Curb's acerbic comedy allows jokes where David is accidentally framed--if ever so briefly--as a child molester, wife abuser, or murderer. But for those who do love his shtick, there are big laughs, especially when we bump into characters as unbridled as David, like a fellow writer who is quite protective of his dad's invention, the Cobb salad.

Many comic actors pop up, some as "themselves" (Richard Lewis, Rob Reiner) and others as characters (Rita Wilson, Ed Asner) along with the delights of co-stars Cheryl Hines as David's wife and his affable manger, Jeff Garlin. There are several touchstone bits: what a thong brief can do to a relationship, a run-in with pro wrestler, Larry's first baptism, and one very collectible doll. To pick one episode to capture this second season--and its grandstanding nature--it would be "Shaq," in which the NBA star is accidentally tripped, changing David's usual bad luck with gut-busting results. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Seinfeld... Part II
If you loved Seinfeld, you will love Curb Your Enthusiasm. Like Seinfeld, this show is mostly about nothing. While it does have situations mixed into the fold, the core laughs come from throwing the characters into everyday situations and picking apart the day-to-day things that we all can relate to.

It has been common knowledge that Larry David, the co-creator of Seinfeld was the real-life version of Jason Alexander's character, George Costanza. When you watch this show, you can't help but see the similarities.

One of the more interesting things about this show is that the dialogue is totally unscripted. This adds a freshness to the show that is very unique.

The show features a lot of cameos from Larry David's circle of Hollywood friends who generally play themself.

My only complaint is that there are only 10 episodes per season. I can't get enough of this show. It's clearly the funniest show on TV today!

THE TOP 10
Like the arguement of the grassy knoll, the 10 episodes that make up Season 2 of CURB are the some of the best ever seen on either network or cable. Larry David is on an amazing genius run. No one is spared: Jason Alexander, HBO, Starbucks, The WWF...Enough cannot be said about these 10 classics. Is that Jewell (or her little sister) performing in the talent show? And yes, Richard Lewis' sweater is cashmere (albeit a blend).

Nowhere near as funny as the first season
Don't get me wrong...I don't regret the purchase. It's just that the first season was consistently laugh-out-loud funny and this one just isn't close to that level.

Enthusiastic About Season Two
Curb Your Enthusiasm is the hilarious HBO series starring Larry David as himself. The series have no solid plotlines, they are basically set up as shells, with the actors improvising most of the lines. Mr. David may well be the funniest actor on television. He is a crotchity, acerbic guy who is constantly getting himself into trouble by saying or doing the wrong things at the wrong time. Season two features one of the series' best ever episodes, Shaq. Larry is bemoaning his perpetual bad luck when he gets courtside seats to a Lakers game. During the game, he accidentally trips Lakers star Shaquille O'Neal, sending Shaq to the hospital with an injury. Of course Larry is blamed for the injury and is ostracized by all his friends and hated by everyone. But Larry hits a good luck streak, where everything is going his way for a change. He even starts hanging out with Shaq in his hospital room, but in the end, Larry screws it up and his bad luck returns. Season two features the usual compliment of guest stars including Mr. David's former Seinfeld cohorts Jason Alexander & Julia Louis-Dreyfus, good buddy Richard Lewis and the usual stellar support from regulars Cheryl Hines & Jeff Garlin.

Still superior to all other TV comedy series...
I rated this four stars relative to the series as a whole; in relation to every other comedy currently on the air, it really warrants the full five stars. In short, I have to agree with other reviewers who feel Season Two is probably the weakest in the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" series. Still, this is worth the price of admission for the "Doll Head" episode alone, maybe the funniest 30 minutes ever aired in television history, even if the rest isn't quite up to the usual Larry David standards. And while I'm not generally a fan of DVD extras, shelling out 35 bucks for a no-frills five-hour's worth of viewing seemed a tad inflated compared to similar DVD sets on the market (really, all the HBO series DVD's are over-priced).

It was still worth it in the end, as nothing makes me laugh harder than watching this poor shlub stammer his way through ridiculous situations of his own making. Priceless moments this season include an uncomfortably realistic bit with Jason Alexander suffering the slings and arrows of post-Seinfeld Costanza-typecasting; Ed Asner's hysterical turn as a gruff and horny old geezer on his last legs; and a horrified Larry encountering his shrink sporting a package-revealing thong at the beach -- not to even mention the nightmarish water bottle incident in the "Doll Head" episode.

This is "Curb Your Enthusiasm" undergoing growing pains, unsuccessful in fully re-capturing the spontaneous greatness of Season One and not yet on the reliably steady legs that will later hallmark its prime. While the writing and guest spots improve markedly in subsequent years, this series is still superior to everything being served up by the networks, even in its weakest hour. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Steven Seagal needed a new approach to his standard head-busting heroics, so he teamed up with Keenen Ivory Wayans for this routine 1996 action flick. This time stone-faced Steve plays Los Angeles homicide detective Jack Cole, newly transplanted from New York and teamed up with Jim Campbell (Wayans). They're assigned to track down "The Family Man," a serial killer who earned his nickname by crucifying entire families and leaving religious graffiti as his calling card. The case heats up when the latest victim turns out to be Cole's ex-wife, and Cole is considered a primary suspect. That makes Seagal get really mad--you don't wanna get Seagal too upset, y'know--but he still has time to quote Buddhist wisdom and crack wise with Wayans, who plays it relatively straight as the practical half of this partnership. It's typical Seagal stuff all the way, with obligatory fight scenes every 10 minutes or so, but Seagal fans will enjoy it, and Brian Cox makes a suitably hissable villain. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Buddha Worship
"The Glimmer Man" is about a Buddhist police officer played by Steven Seagal. That's the whole movie. He teams up with Keenen Ivory Wayans and they try to look for 'The Family Man,' a serial killer who uses religion to make his mark. Steven Seagal was about to be killed by a Russian gang, but he told them, "I gotta lot of cash OR you can take plastic." He used his credit card as a weapon, how nifty is that? Another encounter involved Seagal walking into a restaurant and he caused lots of damage. All of that wine gone to waste and Seagal managed to try some of the food! He sure does enjoy food! Then Seagal fought a bald martial artist at the end of the movie and asked, "Is that the best you got!?" Yes, Steven Seagal can bring it and eat it in this movie. The duo found the killer and uncovered a deep plot involving smuggling. This movie is comedy, especially when Seagal gave Wayans a taste of powdered deer privates. It was disgusting, yet satisfyingly original! Good movie.

Typical Seagal
O.K.-- Steven Seagal was not considered for a Best Actor award for this movie (nor for any of this other flicks). This is, however, an enjoyable little movie -- you just have to get past Seagal's wooden acting, his love beads, and the huge holes in the plot. Keenen Ivory Wayans' character worked well -- he gets credit for all of the intentional humor, including one particularly funny line.

DEFINITELY NOT ORIGINAL
SEAGAL AND KEENEN IVORY WAYANS PLAY TWO COPS THAT'RE GOING AFTER A SERIAL KILLER KNOWN AS THE FAMILY MAN. SEAGAL AND WAYANS ARE DEFINITELY NOT GIBSON AND GLOVER. BUT THIS MOVIE ISN'T AND COULD NEVER BE ''LETHAL WEAPON''. SOME OF THE ACTION IS GOOD, BUT THE MOVIE'S JUST HARD TO SIT THROUGH. AT LEAST KEENEN IVORY WAYANS DOES DELIVER SOME FUNNY MOMENTS. WELL, SEAGAL HAS DONE WORSE MOVIES THAN THIS. BUT THEN AGAIN, SEAGAL HAS ALSO DONE BETTER MOVIES THAN THIS.

Steven Seagal: the name says it all!
This movie is one of my personal favorites. It keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. You had comedy, drama, suspense and action all rolled into one fantastic movie. Before this movie, I hadn't been a big fan of Keenan Ivory Wayans but he was actually very good in this film. Steven Seagal's performance was excellent and his martial art moves was over the top! I own this video and I never get tired of seeing it. It's all that and a bag of chips!!

One of my favorite Segal movies
This is one of Segal's better movies. I would rate it with Under Siege in quality. Good plot, great supporting cast. He does not inject the PC [stuff] that many of his later movies seem to have. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"I try very hard never to distort or dissemble," says Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins), a draughtsman of considerable talent contracted by a certain Mrs. Herbert (Janet Suzman) to make 12 drawings for her absent husband of their English estate. Part of that contract involvesMr. Neville taking his pleasure, and that pleasure is Mrs. Herbert.While Mr. Neville aims for fidelity in his drawings, infidelity in privateis quite another matter. Then the film becomes a cerebral puzzle when objects start appearing mysteriously in the subjects of Mr. Neville's various drawings: a ladder that wasn't there before, a pair of boots standing in a field. Mr. Neville's penchant for realism is stymied by these clues, which may or may not suggest the murder of Mr. Herbert. Peter Greenaway seems to have directed this, his first art-house success, with the aim of exploring the failings of perspective in art and casting his doubtful eye on the possibility of "faithful" drawings such as those by which Mr. Neville makes his living. Greenaway was, after all, an art student, and must have known that drawing machines like the one Mr. Neville uses in the film (whichis set in 1694) led not only to the invention of photography, and therefore of film itself, but also to the renouncing of perspective that informs so much of 20th-century painting.

In the film, Greenaway overlays the story's mysterious elements withhighly mannered tableaux, making each scene like a realistic, though sumptuous, painting, while having his actors spout witty and complicated sentences. While this is very entertaining, it has a dual purpose, which is to depict the falseness of surfaces. Mr. Neville's faith in the same is his downfall, and Greenaway's triumph is in his distortions and dissemblings, the narrative lie that gets closer to the truth than any architectural drawing could. --Jim Gay ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Lovely & Amazing
I first saw "the Draughtsman's Contract" in the movies when it first came out. I was rivited by the wholeness of every detail in the film. For example, the filmmakers eye for accurate detail, even down to the orange ribbions the men & women wore on their clothes!
The story is a real mind bender as well. Everything seems so matter-of-fact, but it's not that way at all. I also love how the tables turn for the obnoxious, know it all draughtsman, and how the clothes colors were reversed when that happened(black/white).
The scenes filmed by candelight were wonderful, not as pretty as those in Barry Lyndon, but with a starker authenticity, making them appear more real.
Another great thing about this movie is how it was scored. Greenaway uses Purcell, but with a twist, it's so clever & very appropriate to this film. Also, Janette Suzmann is terrific as Mrs. Herbert.
Like all of Peter Greenaway's films, this does not have mass appeal, but it's truly a masterpiece & worth a watch especially for those who enjoy period peices, mysteries & stories about the human condition.

Utterly British
This film could have come only from England, and only from director Peter Greenaway. I wasn't sure what this film would be like, but I'd enjoyed all the other Greenaway films I'd seen: THE COOK..., BELLY OF AN ARCHITECT, DROWNING BY NUMBERS, THE PILLOW BOOK, and 81/2 WOMEN. Still, this one seemed different from all of those. I was sure it'd be at the very least interesting, but like I said I had no idea what to expect when I put the brand new DVD into the player. Right away, I liked the film, as I saw a group of powder-faced aristocrats relate some "Tales of Ribaldry". Immediately, I was reminded of Ken Russell. But as this most unusual film unfolded, I realized that this was the first time I could actually call a film a "moving painting" and not feel totally pretentious; THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT is nothing if not an animated landscape painting of the 17th century. Mr. Neville (Anthony Higgins) is our "hero"; he isn't a very likeable sort, supercilious and overeducated, and unabashedly lustful. But even as he causes trouble among the men and women of the Herbert household, beginning an affair with Mrs. Herbert as part of his payment for the 12 drawings of the estate he has been commissioned to produce, he is a fascinating character, played to the T by Higgins. But something strange is going on: as she peruses his drawings, Mrs. Herbert's daughter, Mrs. Talmann (whose husband dislikes Mr. Neville very strongly) believes she sees evidence of "misadventure" (in 20th-century parlance, "murder") in the pictures. So she now blackmails him for favors similar to those which Mr. Neville gets from her mother. Complicated? It gets worse... but if you're really into it that won't matter. Plot isn't important here. Greenaway is making a statement about art which, in spite of the epoch in which it is set, is timeless. No matter how hard an artist (presumably in any medium) tries, it is impossible not to "distort or dissemble". There's more to it than that, but if you're interested you'll have to work to get to it like I did. Don't worry, it's probably more interesting and entertaining than the way I've described it; Greenaway's dialogue is DELICIOUS and the photography (this was before Sacha Vierny became his cinematographer) is excellent, making brilliant use of light and shadow, evoking some of the nuances of painting at that time. Each frame of Greenaway's film is literally a painting in and of itself, and instead of an easy, comprehensive story with likeable characters that anyone could identify with, Greenaway gives us a narrative that resembles that of a painting (witness the scene in which Mr. Neville and a haggard Mrs. Herbert examine a painting, trying to ascertain the story it tells). For those tired of films with characters and situations that supposedly "anyone could relate to", Greenaway's crisp, challenging, funny, and fascinating THE DRAUGHTSMAN'S CONTRACT may be just what you're looking for. See it!

The Draughtsman's Contract
"The Draughtsman's Contract" is a precise, almost mathematical dissection of human motivation, desire, envy and retribution. The wonder is that it is delivered by a painterly director at the height of his powers. A rare mix.

Cunning and subtle, yet in love with the subject...usually doesn't work - but while you're being beguiled by the visuals, the story sneaks up on you from behind, and leaves you with a puzzle which rewards the solving.

Michael Nyman's memorable score perfectly complements the gorgeous cinematography, while providing a constant reminder of the enormous underlying tension of the story.

If all of this sounds a little earnest, let me put it another way - it's all about..., and it looks and sounds beautiful - what's not to like?

Simply perfect
Minimal style could perfectly fit this work. Notwithstanding, it is not a minimal music understood as a boring, monotonous or interminable series of notes, but a magisterial example of mixture 20th and 16th century music. Watching the film is not a neccesary condition to understand this surprising music, supposed to be dated on Purcell's times.

Nyman wonderfully metamorphoses his music, according to the film. You must also listen to Gattaca, a very realistic view of our future world. In this film, the images of the scenes and the music "inhabit" in a perfect simbiosis. The same as this score.

The first song "Chasing Sheep Is Best Left to Shepherds" is the main theme, from which all the music is developed. This is why it could sound minimal but the lovely use of different baroque instruments (and not so baroque, such us harspichord, horns, electric bass...)smears up any idea of monotony.
Quite right.

Detached & Aloof.
This tale of a 17th Century draughtsman who takes a commission to do drawings of a wealthy Englishman's estate only if he can "do" the Lady of the estate at the same time, is an intriguing piece for those unhurried and with a taste for something different.

Meticulously recreating the era, with the best candlelit scenes since Barry Lyndon, we realize that a stately sort of mystery is unfolding as we watch the arrogant artist have his way with first the mistress of the house and then her daughter, all the while insulting and denigrating everyone around him.

The Draughtsman is arrogant, self-confident, and sure that he is superior to the aristocratic twits he serves with his art. That he believes he is smarter than everyone around him will come around to be his undoing. Being used while he thinks he is doing the using, the Draughtsman finds out too late that he has been nothing more than a pawn in a game he never understood.

Not for everyone, I found the film fascinating but as detached and aloof as its protagonist. This cold detachment becomes the wry amusement in the story, but also separates us from any emotional connection to the characters. There are also the typical Greenaway non sequiturs, in this case a naked fool, painted, posing as statues etc. At any rate, worth a look for those wanting something different. ... Read more

Reviews (73)

"The world in solemn stillness lay, to hear the angels sing"
December 1944--A team of rookie American soldiers are put to the test as they go on a mission to the German Front. They don't really know whether they really believe in putting their lives at stake, and soon they happen upon a group of German soldiers in the forest. They discover, however, that the German soldiers don't want to fight any more than they do, and so a tentative truce is called between the soldiers as they spend Christmas together. One deadly mistake, however, soon leads to a terrible tragedy that will haunt young Private Will Knott for the rest of his life.

This is a deeply moving and highly underrated anti-war film that's not even available on DVD. It's a lot more complex and less grisly than "Saving Private Ryan". I was a little surprised at some of the similarities in this film to the classic anti-war novel __All Quiet on the Western Front__ by Erich Maria Remarque. But that's a good thing; all the characters are so well developed and do such a great job of displaying their emotions (my personal favorite was Gary Sinise as "Mother").

The dialogue is thoroughly thought-provoking, especially the lines spoken by "Mother" in the scene with the painting; how "somebody cared" and "somebody made something...probably not even for money, but for love" in a time when so many people "wonder if there is any love left." There are also a few humorous lines here and there (like when everyone started calling Private Will Knott by the name of "Won't"), and the scene with the bathtub is sure to tug at your heartstrings. Also, the ending isn't as predictable as you may think it might be.

If you're looking for an unusually non-violent and tender anti-war drama, and if you don't mind the unhurried pace, frequent dialogue, and relatiely little action, then I can't think of a better film for you to see this holiday season. "A Midnight Clear" is a masterpiece.

Rated R, mostly for language. There are a few brief images of war violence, but no prolonged gore. There is also a scene involving an encounter between the soldiers and a prostitute, but there's no nudity. I guarantee this film wil be unlike any other you've ever scene, and now is the perfect time to see it.

Merry Christmas to all.

A hands down GREAT movie!
his is a great film and if you enjoy war movies you'll love it. It is a non-traditional stary that doesn't have a lot of shoot em up action but is more of an emotional story set during the American advance through France. The lead character I felt was kinda weak in the actors performance but the story called for a very boyish soldier barely old enough to be in the Army who is made a leader. The small patrol is stationed on the outskirts of the American line and they encounter some very strange Germans. It is their dealings with the Garmans nearby that bring out their emotions and feelings and the story is unique in how it portrays the German Army as being little different than the Americans. Not every German was a Nazi and this film really touches on that point. The film is well done and great to watch. The end is a bit of a shocker and quite emotional.

A Midnight Clear
Not a typical war movie and difiniteley not a "feel good" story.
This is not a war movie crammed with unlikely battle scenes, heroic "citizen soldiers", or wisecracking warriors. The action is sparse and concentrated in just a few, brief minutes of the film. The casting is near perfect as is the acting and photography. It is definitely an anti-war movie, but the producer and writer do not hit the viewer over the head with this message. It is a very powerful movie in spite of what must have been a relatively low budget. Highly recommended for the serious, thoughtful, viewer.

A Great War Movie
This movie illustrates the power of subtlety and restraint in the screenplay and action. Of course there is gunplay, it is a war movie, but there is a point to it all. The message is much more powerful than the medium in this rare case. I heartily urge anyone who has not seen this movie to do so and buy it. It is one of the best of the best.

A Dreamlike Presentation of War's Harsh Reality
As I saw this film and Castle Keep again recently, I thought about Stanley Weintraub's book Silent Night in which he discusses a brief period prior to Christmas in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders, when German and British soldiers spontaneously agreed to declare a truce and suspend fighting, thereby defying their commanding officers. Centuries ago, knights and their attendants would work with their enemies to clear a field for combat the next day. Such cooperation had an obvious practical value. That's not what interests Weintraub as he examines a temporary truce during one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. It had little (if any) practical or tactical value but it did (and does) suggest a human need which transcends military obligations. However, war is war. After a brief respite, the carnage inevitably resumes.

A Midnight Clear was directed by Keith Gordon and is based on William Wharton's autobiographical novel. Rather than featuring a star such as Burt Lancaster (as in A Midnight Clear), the lead roles in this film are played by those normally seen in supporting roles. For example, Kevin Dillon, Ethan Hawke, and Gary Sinise. They and all others in the cast are first-rate. Basically, here's the situation. An elite U.S. Army intelligence unit is given a reconnaissance mission in the Ardennes Forest in December of 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge. The men in the platoon may be far from home as Christmas approaches, lonely and miserably cold, but they retain a certain playful spirit comparable with what Robert Altman celebrates in M.A.S.H. They encounter a German unit and then....

While seeing this film the first time and then again recently, I felt as if I were dreaming that I had returned to the 1940s in a time machine, to Belgium near the end of World War Two. Credit Tom Richmond's cinematography with creating an uncommonly beautiful setting for the savage combat which occurs there, as does John Mathieson during the "Hell Unleashed" sequence early in Gladiator. The dreamlike atmosphere continues throughout as the men suspend and then resume their own involvement in the war. This is a haunting film, at times an exquisitely lovely film, but also one which raises some serious questions. Why not throw snow balls instead of grenades, then treat each other to a round of drinks? Why not celebrate Christmas together, exchanging gifts and singing carols, as their ancestors once did on Christmas Eve in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders? Doesn't all that make much more sense than killing each other? Of course. ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Lilies is a masterpiece...a brilliant piece of art.
I accidentally saw Lilies about five years ago when it was released on VHS in Canada. Me and my friends who had no idea what we were to watch, sat in silence for the two hours of this film with our jaws on the ground. Lilies remains one of my favorite movies, always causing catharsis.

This is a piece of theatre on film which, unlike many movie musicals or plays put on film, transfers beautifully and clearly. The conventions used in this film highten the truth and beauty captured in Bouchard's [stage] script. Though in the first few minutes of the play there may be a few unanswered questions, everything becomes clear--more than clear; poetic.

The acting is this film is beautiful. With a cast of mainly unknown actors, the subject matter is handled sensitively with a delicate touch. The central relationship of Simone and Valier is well defined and very well acted. Brent Carver proves his brilliance repeatedly in all his work, whether it's on stage or on screen.

I am a little tongue tied when I think of this movie becuase I get moved everytime I replay the story in my mind. It is powerful and beautiful. If this review has meant anything, let it mean that this movie could leave you speechless.

A great love story
An evocative, beautifully shot, and well acted love story. The movie opens in a prison, where a bishop has been invited to hear a convict's confession. Once on prison grounds, the bishop is confronted by that same convict, Simon, for whom he has lusted unrequittedly when they were childhood friends. What follows is the retelling of a tragic love triangle and the devastating events which led up to the imprisonment of Simon, the death of Vallier, his lover, and the bishop culpable role in them.

Unlike many other movies with a gay theme, this one is very well acted. Young Simon, played by Jason Cadieux, has dark hair, dark eyes, and is drop dead gorgeous. It is easy to see why he is the object of every man's lust. But the one who really caught my attention was Vallier, played by Danny Gilmore. Though pale and a little thin, he is ethereally beautiful. What's more, Gilmore and Cadieux has such an erotically charged chemistry that is not often seen in any cinema. Although not as sexually explicit as some others, the bathtub scene is as sensual as any I've seen.

This is a wonderful movie, one of my favorites. The only down side is that it has such a sad story line.

L'art pour l'art
Some films just can't be grasped on the first go-around. Lillies is one such film. After the first viewing, I was left more confused than moved, but the second time meant a significant improvement. Things came into perspective and I realized what a superb little film this is.

The story itself is quite ingenious. Quebec, 1952. A prison. The first scene opens with a priest arriving to hear confession. Nothing out of the ordinary......but as soon the confessional door closes, the mind-boggling roller-coaster begins. The penitent, Simon, has plans other than unburdening his soul. He and his fellow inmates put on a play within a play in order to help the unsuspecting Bishop Bilodeau refresh his clouded memory of events that happened some fifty years ago.....

Simon and Bilodeau study together at the local school where a third boy, Vallier, has fallen in love with Simon. Simon and Vallier tryst in the school's attic, while Bilodaeu secretly lusts after Simon himself. Bilodeau attempts to separate the lovers in the guise of 'saving' Simon's sin-tainted soul, when in actuality, he only wants Simon for himself. Simon's father soon learns of his son's secret affair and brutally beats him. In reaction, Simon runs from Vallier and prepares to marry a visiting baroness. The wounded Vallier retreats to his equally-forlorn mother and together they plan to crash the approaching wedding and put Simon's love to the test. Their plan reaps it harvest and Simon soon confesses his love for Vallier. A happy ending is in the works, when Bilodeau blunders back into frame hoping to elope with Simon. Rejected, he reacts rashly and seals Simon's fate for the next fifty years.

All the while, the film dances among the colorful past and dreary, incarcerated present as the inmates do their best to make Bishop Bilodeau confront his long-forgotten deed. The long-awaited 'confession' comes and the curtain draws, Simon avenged.

No doubt a sumptous feast of colors, striking images, great performances (the baroness steals the show with her smoldering, sexy aura), Lillies is also arch and contrived, in a word, theatrical. The dialogue is so poetic as to seem rhetorical and forced. The characters say everything so touchingly, yet they fail to touch us. Even the final confession falls limp. Everybody tries so hard to say dramatic things that the drama itself suffers. The characters don't make us feel their predicament. This unnaturalness--for lack of a better word--is further compounded by the complete absence of women in the film. Understandable, but the excess of male-ness unnerves and annoys after awhile.

Despite its artistic over-kill, Lillies is ultimely redeemed by its creativity and stunning beauty. Every scene is superbly crafted. Kudos to director Greyson, he truly understands his camera. No shot is wasted. Whether it's a close-up or a back-drop, the images in this movie often hit home harder than the dialogue. And the music. Lofty and atmospheric, it alone is worthy of four stars.

And true to its theatrical origins, Lillies does deliver the moral goods. We are instructed and edified through the suffering of Simon and Vallier. Bouchard's play starkly outlines the tragic cost of running from ourselves. To quote another 'playwright's' immortal words, 'To thine ownself be true.' For those looking for a luscious piece of tasty and filling eye candy, then look no further!

Outstanding, ground breaking and fresh
This was an exceptional film with a fresh and enjoyable concept. The story was wonderful and dramatic. It was strange but that's part of the charm of this film. The other reviews gave you the basic concept of the story line, so all I can add is that it is an excellant addition to my collection and will be one of my more unusual selections. I was unsure when I ordered it however I'm very happy I did. This is a very good investment. Buy it!

Buy this! Now!!
A beautiful film, with a beautiful cast....A tale of young (gay) love, treachery, and vengeance...One of my all-time favorite films....A must-see film, must-own esp. if you love gay cinema... ... Read more

Reviews (46)

One of the truly special film events.
I remember seeing this movie in the theatre, first run, knowing nothing about what was to come. I remember thinking as I left, how it was movies like this that made the movies so special. How a story could be so simply, and beautifully told.

There is nothing usual in the world of Antonia. A single mother, she leaves the city with her young daughter to return to the small hamlet that was once her home. It is the time of her mother's death, and Antonia will take over the operation of the now-decrepit farm. She is ill equipped to run a farm at face, yet her force of will and purity of spirit make no task impossible. She is a strong woman, a good woman. She does what has to be done, and uses or finds the necessary tools amongst the chaos at hand.

I believe the English title Antonia's Line (rather than Antonia) refers to the line of people she gathers through her life. This extended family grows from the most unlikely sources. They feast together outdoors weekly at one long table, and as the movie progresses, the size of the table grows and grows to accommodate each and every new member in Antonia's Line.

Antonia is a tale of tales, some mysterious and wonderful, some very basic and also wonderful. And throughout the line grows as Antonia's extended family encompasses more and more endearing souls.

I was hardly surprised when Antonia won a well-deserved Oscar for Best Foreign Film.

Every time I see this film I find I do not tire of it, and every time I see it I come away feeling better.

Exasperating
"Antonia's Line" is one of those movies that's in love with its own quirkiness. This isn't always necessarily bad. Quirky films can be quite delightful when done well. However, in this case, the quirkiness comes at the expense of plot and logic.

My sense is that this film's director intended Antonia and her line of female descendants to represent strong, fearless heroines imbued with the fighting feminist spirit. I get this sense because most of the men in this film are brutes, buffoons or a combination of the two, and the women kick butt, make love to each other and tell all of the men off at regular intervals.

This film is insulting to anyone who truly values feminist sensibilities in our movie culture. As so often happens, the makers of this movie equate "strong" with callous and emotionally distant. It's hard to care about Antonia and her relations because they all come across as either vacuous or heinous. Antonia's daughter casually chooses a complete stranger to impregnate her because she wants a child but doesn't want to have to deal with the father. Did she ever think that maybe the child would want a father. Is selfishness like this supposed to impress me with its strength of character?

The script meanders from one incident to the next, characters you barely learn anything about appear and drop out of the movie listlessly, and the pacing of the whole thing is limpid. The film is only about 110 minutes long but feels much longer.

I'm tired of the trend of thinking that propagates the belief that in order to be considered strong, women must prove that they can live entirely without men. That's such a juvenile attitude and serves no purpose. Callousness is callousenss whether displayed by a man or a woman, and there's nothing weak about letting leaving yourself vulnerable to the complex relationships that spring between men and women. Of all the life lessons Antonia supposedly passes down to her ancestors, this is the one she forgot to include.

Grade: D+

Feminist Fantasy
European trash are not interesting enough for a two hour movie. The characters are all cliche's of village life. The bad guy is a blond (facist) rapist. He rapes his sister and a little girl. He comes back to town in a military uniform. The good people in this movie are all Lefty lesbians and tough grandmothers. This movie is a feminist fantasy of the European variety. The men are stupid and the women are brilliant. The only smart man in the film commits suicide.

Race, gender, and the role of motherhood
Antonia's line is an amazing film about four generations of strong, independent women. While most movies about single mothers stereotype them in both positive and negative ways, Antonia's Line is different. Antonia moves back to the dutch countryside after being away for twenty years. She has to face many difficulties in the town, yet through it all she is a pillar of strength. She knows what she wants, and she acts upon it, regardless of what people think of her. She passes on these same views to her daughter. Antonia's line seems to critique the normal stereotypes by portraying Antonia as a foil to them. Her honesty, and disregard for public opinion sets her apart. The film also works to intersect Antonia's race, culture, gender and class in an amazing web that shapes her character. The influence of Antonia's race is clear in the way that she acts around the people of the town. She explains to her daughter who each person is, and why they act the way that they do. She knows how to handle even the most obnoxious of the town memebers. She is every bit a women, yet she exhaults in her femininity rather than hiding behind it. She makes her opinions and ideas well known. She is not afraid of the judgement that may accompany her views. She entertains suitors, while maintaining an honest attitude about exactly what she wants. She is able to accept her family for who they are without exception. Antonia's Line is a wonderful story with fully developed characters. Antonia and her family portray the true essence of femininity better than any other characters I have seen. Do not let the subtitles stop you. This film is a must see.

what is the perfect mother anyways???
Antonia's Line directed by Marleen Gorris depicts the women characters as strong women who do not care about what might be lacking in their lives. Each of the characters is their own person and no one could make them feel any less. This film helps to illustrate to young women that they can reject the silly myth of motherhood and as long as they are their own person, they do not need to be thinking of themselves as what is wrong with them.

Antonia's Line, directed by Marleen Gorris, does not accept the stereotypes of ideal mother. As we all know, mothers are always maternal, wanting to be pregnant, heterosexual and have the need to take care of their children. Yeah right! Antonia's Line does an excellent job of criticizing this stereotype by depicting different types of mother-daughter pairings. Letta was the only woman that would support this stereotype while the other mothers diverge. For example Antonia played by Willeke van Ammelrooy, criticizes the idea that mothers should be married because she refuses to give Farmer Baas her hand. She also works on the farm. Danielle diverges from the simple fact that she is a lesbian. Therese criticizes the idea that all mothers are naturally maternal and always want to have children.

This film also does not completely objectify women to the same effect that most films end up doing. Antonia and the other women really do not 'appear' for the men in their lives. The characters are strong women and they just worry about the many generations of women in their family. Antonia and the other women due to their strong characters, I feel, do not have the need to see themselves through the eyes of their male viewers. Antonia cares a great deal for the well being of her family that she has no need to fix herself up and she does not need a husband around to make her 'whole.' She finds nothing wrong with the way that she is living her life or the way she looks. Another thing that this film does that helps to not objectify the women characters is that the audience is not clued into every aspect and thought of these characters lives. This makes them their own person and not a mere cinematic object that bases their views on the idea of men.

This film is a great movie in making one aware of such women's issues. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

A Cult Horror Movie
This is an awesome two movie set-up. Even if the movies weren't scary. I don't care what any of you say, the first one was awesome. Its like one of those movies you could quote any line, from. I mean you got Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah MG, Freddie Prinze Jr, Ryan Phillipe. Its an awesome cast. The second wasn't as good, but hey its still worth watching. And Jack Black is in it, how could you go wrong.

I reccomend this movie for people who liked Urban Legends, SCREAM, Idle Hands, and all those other Horror movies from the late 90s. Its essential. Plus Kevin Williamson (Scream; Dawson's Creek) wrote the movie.

The scariest!
I recently bought the package of both DvDs' and watched them both as soon as I arrived home. I loved them so much! The second one is my favourite, yet I liked the first one lot's to becuase Sarah Michelle Gellar is in it! The only thing I didn't like, is that you already know who the murderer is in both of the movies, like duh! Of course it's the fisherman! But I highly reccommend seeing, and buying it!
The first one begins with them running over a man, and then they start getting stalked and people die. Then in the end, Julie trusted the fisherman and went onto his boat where he plans to kill her.
The second one starts out with her at college iwth her mysterious friend will. Her friend Carla gets a feee trip to the Bahamas and Ty, Will, Julie and Carla go, when it's the storm season! The fisherman is there and kills everyone on the island (like 6 people) and then goes for Julie and her friends!
So you have to see this movie!

I Know / I Still Know (Deluxe Box Set)
I Know What You Did Last Summer
A really good movie by screenwriter Kevin Williamson!It wasn't as good as SCREAM, but I think it has it's place in horror movie cinema.I really liked the characters.I wasn't that big on the dialogue, but the young fresh cast made up for it.Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze make up foe that.I liked how it wasn't that gory; it made it different from horror movies these days.I would definetly reccomend this movie to anyone who in the mood for a good scare.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Nowhere near as good as the first! The plot is very weak, but has some high points.The characters are kinda cool.The dialogue is cheesy, but It wasn't a total waste.I enjoy watching the ending to these movies they make me want to see more.I just didn't feel that with this one like I did the first one.I didn't really like the killers motive in this movie.I would had never guessed who the other killer was.If you have an hour and a half to blow then you might want to check this movie out.

Great film! SEE IT!
I thought I KNOW... was a terrific film. It's not the best at scaring. It has it's jumping moments but it still keeps you on your toes. I STILL KNOW... is more of a horror film. There is really no suspense but it's still great. NOT as great as the first film but still good enough. IT has it's scary moments too. I'm a little disappointed that I SITLL KNOW doesnt' have many special features. All in all the films are good and I highly suggest them. SEE EM!

CAN WE SAY-CHEESY?
This late nineties light headed SCREAM/HALLOWEEN teen slasher knock-off is the worst thing to happen to slasher films since the early nineties!!!Part one was decent, except for Sarah Gellar who gets killed again! (Scream 2 and the season finale of Buffy weren't enough?) Part 2 has the annoying, terrible actress Brandi, who only helps the movie however, because she screams alot and the killer almost gets her like 3 times, so she has the 2 scariest scenes...although a decent sequel, the movie just doesn't seem to hold up, weak and meaningless, I think the series is cheap horror for fans of pure C.R.A.P. Please rent first! Don't do the mistake I did!!! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Forty-three years since the release of À Bout de Souffle (Out of Breath), Jean-Luc Godard has still got it. And like his first film, the English title (in that case, Breathless) incorrectly represents the essence of this intricate work. "In Praise of Love" suggests a joyous celebration, but in actuality, Éloge de l'Amour (Eulogy for Love) is a meditation on life, love, and particularly loss.The 2001 film is highly reminiscent of Godard's films from the '60s in structure and attitude. On the surface we may be watching the making of a film (similar to Le Mépris), but in actuality, we are deep in the exploration of love's melancholic elements. In the typical Godard style, In Praise of Love's essence is told through its characters' conversational criticisms towards art, literature, philosophy, politics, capitalism, and cinema, all displayed through the unstructured use of digital video that has the director's distinct, rebellious look and feel. It is amazing that at 73 Godard still has the capability to successfully redefine how we look at film. In Praise of Love definitely requires repeat viewings and may not be for everyone, but for those interested it is well worth it. --Rob Bracco ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Europe uber Alles
It is important that "In Praise of Love" is watched by many ordinary intellectuals in US, for it is a beautifully stated manifesto. "We are all tricksters" states Godard, and here he tricks the cinema lovers into the formalist heresy of acknowledging his "masterful" technique, his "outstanding" cinematography.
However, the supposedy profound content of this film is actually nothing other than a set of actions, thoughts, and presumptions usually found in a teenager who is well read, lives in Europe, and never lived in US: extensive citations from unpopular books by the great (French) philosophers, paranoidal hate of the Americans, and the constant mention of death...
Has the great European film director Jean-Luc Godard become wiser and better with age, or the most horrible is true? That he has finally shown us the true face of his and of European intellectualism in general: an adolescent burdened by his own thoughts of love and death.
Aside from it all, this film has moments for which the author could get punched in the face. There is a mention of the "fact" that most Albanian "refugees" were in their home at the time of the Serbian army attack. Mr. Godard ommits the fact that they were not refugees at that precise moment yet.
It is neccessary to see and look deep into what Godard is saying and what he is showing us. The great repository of culture (Europe = France) has History on its side, and that makes all of US population - an inferior breed of humans. It is all very "profound" indeed!!!

A Poetic Essay
If you only know Godard from his 1960's films this late phase masterpiece will come as a surprise. In Praise of Love could just as well be titled In Praise of French Culture as this film is like a testament to all of the things Godard loves most about his countries cultural traditions. We know Godards taste in philosophy, music, literature, painting and most importantly film because his favorite sources decorate every frame of the film. References abound within the film to Robert Bresson -- who I think could well be called the patron saint of French Cinema. The New Wave film makers were always fond of Bresson but here Godard not only shows a young man standing in front of a movie poster for Pickpocket but he also quotes from Notes of a Cinematographer-- this book provides wonderful insights into Bressons mind set but also Godards who obviously reveres him . There is also a moving reference to Vigo's L'Atalante. The Godard of the 90's is a much matured artist less concerned with shaking things up than with learning how and teaching us how we must look backward and remember in order to move forward. The view of an aging artist yes but also the view of a mature artist.

The first half of In Praise of Love is shot in black and white and the most memorable shots are of Paris at night -- the cinematography is achingly romantic which is fitting for the first halfs main theme is the search for romantic love. It is misleading to say this is the only theme though as while that theme is explored Godard also speaks of the current state of France and through his actors offers his insights into the modern state of French public life and politics which obviously leave him cold -- ie the state has no love for its people, and, anyone who makes over 10,000 francs a month in France no longer has a political conscience. As he films his young actors you can tell Godard is reminiscing about his own youth and own first love Anna Karina. For Godard politics are never far from love -- the two seem to go hand in hand for him -- because the search for love is intimately connected with our search for an ideal. Love will always fail, Godard seems to say, because we can never achieve our ideal of it -- or, searching for the ideal we cease to see the object that we love. In support of this examination of the early stages of love by a young man he offers an older gentlemans memory of his first love and how the memory of it still stings him. The film has a decidedly documentary feeling and a decidedly somber tone which is reinforced by the elegiac piano music. Though the narrative is not strictly linear it is fairly easy to follow. In addition each time Godard quotes one of his cherished sources (Chateubriand, Balzaz, Bataille's Blue Noon) the book is usually in the frame. The Godardian methods will be familiar to someone who has only seen his sixties work but you will also notice that those methods have mellowed, deepened, and become more intimate, and furthermore the pace of his films has slowed considerably reflecting the directors age and this is actually a welcome nuance as it allows one to absorb the content of each sequence. I am tempted to say I prefer this late phase of Godards career to his early phase but of course one would not exist without the other.

In the second part the main theme shifts away from love, although that continues to be a minor theme, and towards history -- in truth the two themes are interrelated and comments made about one topic invariably have significance for the other. Memory becomes an obsesion for the aging artist and Henri Bergson is a major reference point in this section of the film. Godard argues that until nations are willing to confess their crimes and own up to them and allow for open discourse they will remain in a kind of infancy. National identity and growth is dependent on memory and thus America is ridiculed for failing to have any kind of memory. In fact in the funniest part of the film a representative for an American film company is in France trying to purchase the rights to a resistance fighters memoirs. Godard has a character comment that America has no memories of its own and thus must buy them from other countries. America is seen to be suffering from the worst case of arrested development but France is also seen to be guilty of it as well.

The film is a rich essay with many themes which complement each other in unusual ways. I found it moving and thoughtful and infinitely rich -- at any given moment you will find yourself contemplating a particularly evocative reference which connects the past to the present. This is the kind of film you like immediately and the kind of film that invites you back to it. There is much here and I've only hinted at some of the things I noticed on a single viewing but I plan on watching this many more times.

Melancholy
An incredibly melancholy movie by Godard. Interesting experimental use of digital video too.

what a junk! 1 star minus 100
this is one of the worst movies (if you could called this junk, a movie) that i've ever watched. the whole thing is such a pretentious and obscure junk that tried very hard to be DEEP and nostalgic, but only resulted in an aimless and purposeless dead-beat. the quality of this film, my god, the worst i've ever encountered. i've tried 5 times to restart and to rewatch this junk, from the very beginning to the end, or by selected chapters or scenes one by one, but never could get any meaningful thing out of it. the whole film was chopped into pieces, suddenly black n white, or terrible colored and fuzzy scenes, suddenly, two years back, suddenly two months later. And, did you ever see the sea turn red? or it's the 'red sea' geogrphically speaking? those characters in this so-called film, either sitting around or walking around, for what? NADA! most of them were talking deep, i mean, really deep, and everybody was a philosopher, aimlessly gazed through windows at outside, talked about time, life, all the necessary evils about life, but in the end, what goes around, comes around, the u.s. hard currency, man, to make a better living in france. what a pretentious and pathetic junk. if you could call this a movie, i'd prefer watching chaplin's black/white silent ones, at least they sometimes could still make me laugh. i rest my case.

The best film of 2001...another great Godard film
I really love this film. Like most of Godard's best work, it yields itself to repeated viewings (I have seen it now 4 times) because it is such a rich work, including so many ideas (on language, love, memory, Paris, America, poverty, and of course cinema). The film is very much like a novel in that each scene is imbued with more and more layers one on top of the other. Highly complex, original, and intelligent cinema is hard to come by nowadays, so thank you Jean-Luc for making movies for INTELLIGENT people. ... Read more

Description

With A Woman Is a Woman (Une Femme est une femme), compulsively innovative director Jean-Luc Godard presents "a neorealist musical, that is, a contradiction in terms." Featuring French superstars Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Claude Brialy at their peak of adorability, A Woman Is a Woman is a sly, playful tribute to - and interrogation of - the American musical comedy, showcasing Godard#s signature wit and intellectual acumen. The film tells the story of exotic dancer Angéla (Karina) as she attempts to have a child with her unwilling lover Émile (Brialy). In the process, she finds herself torn between him and his best friend Alfred (Belmondo). A dizzying compendium of color, humor, and the music of renowned composer Michel Legrand, A Woman Is a Woman finds the young Godard at his warmest and most accessible, reveling in and scrutinizing the mechanics of his great obsession - the cinema. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

A glorious celebration of life!
When you watch "A Woman is a Woman" you enter a cinematic fantasy world created by Godard, one of our most inventive filmmakers. It is a world filled with color, music, humor, heartbreak, fluid tracking shots, creative editing and groundbreaking audio tracks. When you watch films like Coppola's "One from the Heart" or the recent "Moulin Rouge" you can instantly see how much "A Woman is a Woman" influenced those films. The big difference is Godard's film was made in 1961! Years ahead of it's time. The acting from Brialy, Belmondo and Karina is nothing short of brilliant. They play off of each other so well and look like they're having a marvelous time thru-out the film. The music score by Michel Legrand is one of the highlights of the viewing experience. There are so many musical interludes that pay homage to Hollywood musicals and at moments grand opera. They're just breathtaking! But remember, this is Godard's version of "life as musical." The actors don't break into song at any given moment. The musical score accents their dialogue as if they were in a musical, operatic production. In reading the other reviews posted here I am shocked to see people write the film off as a piece of boring fluff. If you keep an open mind and allow yourself to enter the world created by Godard in "A Woman is a Woman" you will be greatly rewarded. You'll wish you could go back in time and be on the streets of Paris sharing Anna Karina's red umbrella!

"I'm Not Without Shame. I'm a Dame!"
With the minor exception of the new english subtitles messing up this great final line, the Criterion Collection edition of Godard's "A Woman Is A Woman" is yet another outstanding release, on par with their "Contempt" and "Band of Outsiders" DVDs. Great picture/sound quality and great extras. An early short film (from 1957), "All Boys Are Called Patrick" is alone worth the price of the DVD. It's nice to see even in 1957, Godard had his style down; it's quite a funny bit of cinema. Wong Kar-Wai clearly liked this short-film, because there's a scene from "Chungking Express" lifted straight from it. Also included on this DVD is a 1966 French television interview with Anna Karina and she's enchanting as always (interesting to, because this comes right after her break-up with Godard), plus you see a bit of Serge Gainsbourg talking about Anna! If you're a Godard and/or Anna Karina fan, this is a must-own DVD. The movie itself, "A Woman Is A Woman", is one of Godard's most expiermental yet more accessible films. It's without doubt, his funniest film with several verbal and sight gags that will cause you to laugh-out-loud. And Raoul Coutard's camera work is amazing as usual. This film was definitely a few years ahead of it's time, seeming more in line with post-LSD flicks like Magical Mystery Tour and The Thomas Crown Affair than anything else form the early 1960s. Also, there's Michel LeGrand's outstanding, hyper-active score, which foreshadowed his Thomas Crown work.

There She Goes...
The New Wave has been assessed in every intellectual capacity, and using every aesthetic criterion imaginable, but what makes the New Wave the most beguiling of cinematic phenomenon is that, in essence, it is a declaration of the love of cinema, through cinema itself.

AWOMAN IS A WOMAN ("Une Femme est une Femme"), Godard's third film, is as much a milestone as his own "Breathless" two years earlier. The basic premise is effectively that of a kitchen sink drama; an exotic dancer's (Anna Karina) whim to have a baby is met with consternation by her boyfriend (Jean-Claude Brialy), who is further dismayed when she asks a mutual friend (Jean-Paul Belmondo) to act as a surrogate father.

But the neo-realist background gives way to a film shot in bold, giddy colours and synchronised to Legrand's harebrained soundtrack - A WOMAN IS A WOMAN is best described as a musical with no singing. Actors frequently affect choreographed like stances and positions, their conversations punctuated with overtly dramatic interventions from Legrand's score. Our heroine expresses her desire to appear in an American musical, "with Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse", before adopting the relevant deportment for the approval of the audience, who are constantly consulted, bowed to, winked at and cavorted with by actors revelling in front of Godard's lens.

It is Godard's preference for the actor, in favour of the character, that makes A WOMAN IS A WOMAN an unparalleled experience in spontaneity. Filmed without a script, the actors wear their own clothes and concoct their own dialogue. Belmondo in particular frolics in the new-found fame gifted to him by Godard, expressing his wish to be present when "they're showing Breathless on television", and grinning at the audience as he namedrops new acquaintance Burt Lancaster. Later, he meets Jeanne Moreau in a bar, and asks her "how JULES ET JIM is coming along".

And it is with Truffaut's masterpiece that A WOMAN IS A WOMAN shares its essential raison d'être - the embodiment of femininity through a dazzling and formidable singularity, in this instance Anna Karina, whose whims, mood-swings and impetuosity are her right and privilege as a woman, as all women. "Women have a right to dodge issues, men don't", she tells Brialy, shortly after decreeing the stupidity of modern women, "these women who imitate men". A smile turns to a frown or a tear in the blink of an eye, and back again just as quickly, in an infectiously joyful and touching performance that is among cinema's most engaging. Karina, the new wave bride, worked with husband Godard on seven of his greatest films, but it is this wonderful and dizzying cinematic cocktail that is Godard's most translucent love poem to an extraordinary actress touched by an impulsive genius and unique beauty.

Along with JULES ET JIM, Jacques Demy's LOLA and Godard's own BAND A PART, A WOMAN IS A WOMAN is the most energizing and uplifting of all New Wave films. Ironic, gleeful and baffling, it is essentially summed up by Brialy himself, who towards the film's delightful conclusion declares: "I don't know if this is a comedy or a tragedy, but it's a masterpiece"

To be re-released by Criterion
A Woman is a Woman should be re-released by the Criterion Collection in the 2nd half of 2004. Save your money from buying the expensive Fox-Lorber version.

Woman is a Ho, at least in this case.
I can forgive Godard for any number of sins but being cute is not one of them. This cloying, silly movie is embarassing, a total fluff from one of the most daring filmmakers ever. What led him to this? Love for Karina make his head go pop fizzle dizzy wizzy? This is Godard as an auteur of Hallmark I-Love-You cards. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

At last, the series complete
At last. With the appearance of the 3 tapes that comprise "Poirot, Set 12," the Acorn Media series of releases of all the Poirot episodes is now available, the short episodes on tape only but soon to be released on DVD and the longer episodes in both formats.

The three stories in this last set are a cut above average (and that average is pretty high in this series). "The King of Clubs" involves the murder of a detestable film producer and opens with a very funny and technically fascinating sequence of a movie set during the era of the early talkies. Note especially the use of matte for special effects. While you might find the "solution" not quite satisfying, the whole thing is a lot of fun.

"The Dream" suffers as most television versions do of stories that involve one character made up to resemble another one. A little subplot is added concerning Miss Lemon's need for a decent typewriter and Poirot's strangely obtuse reaction to her demands. Again the opening sequence around the assembly line of a great pie factory with its female workers in fetching blue and white uniforms is beautifully done.

"The Incredible Theft" does have a double turn of events at the end and a pretty good car chase preceding it. And it is in this episode that we learn from Hastings that Chief Inspector Japp talks in his sleep as he relives past arrests!

It is little touches like this that have made the series such a success, not to mention the fine acting of leading and supporting actors and the impeccable period designs. Set 12 is a worthy ending to a fine set of video recordings from Acorn Media. ... Read more

Description

Ten of the world's greatest directors produce one unforgettable film in this sumptuous visual and musical feast based on the most famous arias in the history of opera. Erotic, violent, thought-provoking, funny, and moving, this critically-hailed milestone features the electrifyingly erotic film debut of Briget Fonda, a revealing appearance by supermodel Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers), and unforgettable performances from John Hurt (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone), Tilda Swinton (The Deep End), Beverly D'Angelo (Vacation), Theresa Russell (Wild Things), and many more! Segments directed by Robert Altman (Gosford Park), Bruce Beresford (Double Jeopardy), Bill Bryden, Jean-Luc Godard (Contempt), Derek Jarman (Edward II), Franc Roddam (Quadrophenia), Nicolas Roeg (Performance), Ken Russell (Tommy), Charles Sturridge (Longitude), Julien Temple (The Filth and the Fury). ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Liz Hurley's first important role in a movie
This movie provided Liz Hurley with her big break. Soon after this, Dennis Potter snapped her up for the lead role in the BBC adaptation of Christabel Bielenberg's 'The Past is Myself'. She became Hugh Grant's girlfriend and the rest is history. She transformed herself physically during her twenties, which is why some viewers have had problems identifying the occasionally nude actress that appears here as the very slim Liz Hurley they now know.

For me, 'Aria' was the classical music community's response to the rise of MTV and the pop video. Directors like Ken Russell and Nick Roeg wanted to show us that opera could be equally colourful and sexy, even if you couldn't dance to it. And they proved their case, to my mind.

But like a pop video, you wouldn't want to watch this too often. There's no substantive connection between each of the videos, so you end up feeling much the same as you would after a 90-minute immersion in MTV.

A Visual and audial smorgasbord
I have loved this movie for years. Granted, it may be for deep film buffs, but it is powerful.

Each vignette offers a top director's interpretation of a provocative aria. Opera lovers know how emotionally provocative the music can be; and that raw emotion is shown by each director.

The love story is one of the most romantic and tragic stories I have ever seen--the images are still in my mind 10 years after first seeing it. I had enjoyed a light introduction to opera before this movie, but after feeling the raw emotions this film created in me, I bought a few opera CDs based simply on first hearing the arias in this movie. There is even some VERY funny stuff is one scene.

So, in summary, the music, images, and emotions from this movies were all so intense, they've stayed with me for years. If you can take the intensity, do not miss out on this powerful movie that can be both sublime and intense at the same time.

The movie that started me on opera
I first saw Aria in the theater back in high school (about 3 million years ago) and only because I wanted to impress a girl way more artistic than myself.

It worked, but not in a way I'd expected. The movie, a series of vignettes, runs the whole emotional spectrum. In my younger days, we were blown away by the Wagner/Roddam piece starring a young Fonda, so loving and jarring at the same time. These days I find all the music beautiful, but one or two of the vignettes boring. The entire movie is beautifully shot and all deserves to be watched at least once.

After having done that you'll find continual enjoyment watching Sturridge, Beresford, Roddam, Jarman, and Bryden's interpretations.

Who knows, you might fall in love with opera too.

Great the first time, tends average, not for everyone
This movie was great the first time, on the big screen. The music and the images shock you, and make you squirm and react to this movie. It's an artistic roller coaster ride.

I've found since, however, that this shocking quality doesn't preserve especially well. My favorite way of watching this movie these days, is to turn the music on, while I'm doing stuff around the house, occassionally looking at the images.

It's artistry, it doesn't hold up under critical thinking.

Who will like this movie? Despite (or perhaps because of) the billing of mature content, I think that this is a good film for teenage viewers with a liking for art films. One must be able to appreciate both the variety and intensity of the images, and be able to forgive the story. Not a problem in an action movie, but for an "art film", it shows it's high concept roots.

Maybe a gift for an opera lover, or an "art film" buff.

A Most Incredible Experience
Aria is 90 minutes of pure wonderment -- I'm not certain what demographic this project was aimed at, but I definitely fall into it. You have to love opera style music yet not be so attached to the operas themselves that the re-presentation of the music offends. You have to enjoy video that your average couch potato won't get, no matter how many mind altering drugs he takes.

To really enjoy Aria, you have to check your expectations at the door and accept it for what it is -- a set of brilliant visual explorations fueled by some of the most incredible music ever written. With any other attitude, you're far more likely to find this a miserable experience. Too vulgar, too highbrow, too bizarre, too surreal, too whatever.

Some pieces tell a solid story, ranging from humorous to tragic. Others lack story line and speak to a different level of consciousness. Pathos. Humor. Death. Life. Celebration. Brilliance. Aria cleanses windows of perception, like a good wine between courses of a meal. On the other hand, it's a main course, in and of itself.

This is not fodder for young children, and most teens won't have the patience for it either. If you thought "Dude, Where's My Car?" was a brilliant movie, perhaps you'd better pass on this one as well. I only wish that more Wagner had been included ... perhaps an Aria II consisting solely of Wagner arias?

(If you'd like to discuss this movie or review in more depth, click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!) ... Read more

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Despite its melodramatic title, which carried on a '50s doomsday naming convention, this taut 1961 English science fiction thriller offers an object lesson in the power of story over special effects. When both the Soviets and the West detonate nuclear tests simultaneously, the seismic double whammy jolts the earth off its axis and onto a new orbit sending it fatally closer to the sun--a fate that writer-director-producer Val Guest views from the street-level perspective of its principal characters, rather than an off-world vantage point. The street in question, however, is London's Fleet Street, the venerable hub of its newspaper and tabloid publishers, and the hard-nosed reporters growing realization that their number is up carries its own stark punch. Edward Judd is Peter Stenning, a rugged, appropriately grim reporter, Leo McKern is tough but compassionate editor Bill Maguire, and Janet Munro is Stenning's love interest, in an elfin, sexy turn that's a striking contrast to her best-known turn in Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People. With an effects arsenal that consists largely of a spray bottle to apply beads of "sweat," Guest and his small but crack cast are surprisingly effective, and the cold war plot hook still works, thanks to its uncomfortable proximity to more contemporary environmental terrors. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (17)

A definite must-see!
This is one of my all-time favorite films, available at long last in widescreen format on DVD! Intelligent and classy, The Day the Earth Caught Fire isn't my usual so-bad-it's-good fare, but a movie you'll actually enjoy watching.

Reporter Edward Judd uncovers a nefarious cover-up on the part of the government: the Earth's been knocked out of orbit by atom bombs, but the powers that be want to keep the lid on the news to avoid mass panic...which of course happens anyway. Janet Munro sets the screen on fire as the sexy temp who spills the beans to Judd, doing her first nude scene after leaving Disney. Leo (Rumpole) McKern as Judd's fellow reporter is his excellent, lovably irascible self. Some very effective special effects

The DVD includes commentary by producer/director/co-writer Val Guest, and features tinted opening and closing scenes as shown in some theaters.

Very highly recommended.

I've got the marshmellows...
The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1962) has impressive credentials, given that it was co-written and directed by Val Guest, the man who brought to the screen such classic films as The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) and The Abominable Snowman (1957).

Peter Stenning (Edward Judd) is a down on his luck newspaper man, struggling with the difficulties of his recent divorce, maintaining a relationship with his young son, and taking up the drink a bit more often than he probably should, all having a negative effect on his once upwardly mobile career and his life in general. To top things off, London begins suffering a heat wave like it's rarely seen before. Not only that, but it seems all around the world strange phenomena has been occurring from flooding, earthquakes, drought, freak snowstorms, typhoons, etc. All coming on the heels of news that within the past week the Soviets and the Americans both detonated atomic devices larger than had ever been seen before.

Leo McKern plays Bill Maguire, an associate and close friend at the newspaper where Peter works, and begins to develop a theory about what's going on, but is not able to confirm anything as the government has kept a tight lid on what it knows, handing out canned responses to an ever questioning press and public. Peter, while trying to squeeze some information out of a government office, meets Jeannie Craig (Janet Munro), a worker within the office who sometimes operates the switchboard receiving calls. Peter starts putting the moves on her, but she isn't very responsive...at first.

Soon the temperature starts rising, lakes and rivers start drying up, and government enforced water rationing measures are put into effect. Facts about the current condition are sketchy as the government is still not very forthcoming, but Jeannie overhears some startling information she is hesitant to share, but is unable to keep it to herself. She shares it with Peter, after making him promise that it would only be between them, to which quickly releases the information to his newspaper. One may think Peter quite the cad, but given the enormity of the information, he really had no choice. Jeannie finds herself in hot water as she is discovered as the 'leak', and Peter finds himself on the outs with Jeannie for the betrayal. What was this startling information? What is the government hiding? What's causing the all the natural catastrophes? It's not too difficult to figure out, but the film does offer a few surprises you may not see coming.

Despite the low budget, director Guest does an amazing job creating a world on the verge of an apocalyptic nightmare. The focus on the newspaper and its' staff, working feverishly to uncover facts and report accurately while the world is falling apart around their ears gave a unique view into the genre. The main characters in the film were nicely developed, but not always likeable, adding a realistic sense. Also, the documentarian style used in many of the scenes served nicely to give the viewer more of a sense of dread, as if this was something that could really happen, or was really happening. Shot primarily in black and white, there are a number of scenes at the beginning and the end in color, but use an orangish gel to create a creepy and oppressive effect. The effects are decent, but are used in a complementary effect, taking a back seat to the substantial, intelligent, sparkling and well thought out plot.

The wide screen print provided by Anchor Bay Entertainment looks beautiful, and the audio is quite good. The listing of features on this site claims a full screen format is available here, too, but I didn't see it. Special features include a commentary by director Val Guest and journalist Ted Newsom, TV spots, a theatrical trailer, radio spots, a still gallery (with a couple of pretty racy photos of Janet Munro), and a biography of director Val Guest. If you're looking for big bang effects to cover an inconsequential plot, like the more recent films Independence Day (1996) or The Core (2003), then you'll be disappointed here. If you're looking for an effective, thought-provoking science fiction thriller with lots of meat and little filler, then this is a great choice.

Cookieman108

A disaster classic from England...
With the summer hoopla of the end-of-the-world saga "The Day After Tomorrow" smashing theaters, I'm reminded of one of the great disaster films of all time. You probably haven't heard of the 1962 flick, as it was made in England of all places. But it was a brilliant little suspense drama, told from the viewpoint of a bustling London newsroom. Called "The Day the Earth Caught Fire, this terrific disaster drama did not have great box office success, but critics rightfully regarded it as a diamond awaiting discovery. The special effects are minimal, as we see littered abandoned streets, thick London fogs, a few burning buildings and drunk beatniks dancing on cars.

The beauty of this film is emphasis on story and character rather than special effects. British science fiction from this period leaned towards respectability, and "The Day the Earth Caught Fire's" writer/director Val Guest was responsible for many of these films. His "The Quatermass Experiment" began the trend in 1955,