Description

91 minute feature film DVD directed by and starring Jackie Chan. Jackie stars as a man trying to save a friend form reverting to a life of crime. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Telling you how it is
I watched this movie as a kid and loved it! Ten years later, it's a different story. Do not buy this movie if you expect a good quality dvd with good dubbing. Buy this Dvd if you expect some good-ol-fashioned kung-fu action. Also, my little bother (seven) loved it!

Well worth it
This is one of the first movies Jackie directed. The story was made basically as the film was being shot. So, don't expect too much on that end. The drama and comedy are a bit uneven, but who cares? Good fight scenes throughout. Don't expect a lot of props as in his later movies, and this was before his trademark outtakes. Though not indicated, it appears this version is pan and scan. As with all his movies strive to get a widescreen version. Pan and scan usually ruins the action.

Young Master, a great cult kung fu film
This film was one of Jackie's earliest and most interesting films in my opinion. There are lots of great fight scenes, such as the one with Yuen Bao with the miniature benches and also the introductory scene with the dancing dragon competition is really amazing to watch. I'm a huge fan of Jackie Chan and this is one of my favorite films of his to watch, both because of some hilarious moments, and some great action scenes. I recommend to any martial arts fanatic, especially since the price is very low for a DVD, have fun fans!

great
young master will inspire! jackie chan at his best. see him as a young star. fighting scenes are incredible and the story flows smoothly between fights. its a fun movie to watch when you are bored. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

One of Bardot's best
"La bride sur le cou" ("Please Not Now!") is a pure joy to watch. Brigitte is sexy beyond compare, the plot is amusing (and sometimes very funny), and the story has some unexpected comical moments (e.g., the "kitchen" at the hotel).

I loved the opening sequence in which Sofie (Brigitte) is driving her Deux Chevaux through the streets of Paris, creating traffic mayhem in her wake. A creative mix of real time and sped-up photography, it's a comic gem that can't be missed. The Paris driving sequence foreshadows a "cool" moment later in the film where Sofie and two courting men race each other around bales of hay in karts, with the POV at ground level just a few feet in front of the karts.

Because it's a fantasy sequence, Brigitte's nude dance is seen through a glass haze. Enough clarity is seen to make it exciting without sacrificing taste. But what makes this sequence extraordinary is (1) the visual "back and forth" interplay of the la Bamba drummer, who dances while he plays, and Brigitte's strip tease, and (2) the accelerating rhythm of the music itself. I also enjoyed the fact that the director (Roger Vadim) chose to employ (literally) a visual metaphor--smoke and mirrors.

The film quality is excellent. The black and white photography is first rate, and Anchor Bay is to be commended for its transfer.

The subtitles are good, though, of course, it doesn't capture ever single word said in French. What does translate is Brigitte Bardot's sensual innocence and inimitable charm.

The most satisfying Bardot available.
(Though it's only a matter of time before CONTEMPT is issued.) I don't know why it's so hard to get a sex goddess into a great movie. Billy Wilder managed it with Marilyn. Poor Brigitte spent her early years on film saddled with empty froth and scripts aimed more at third-rate philosophy than genuine drama. If not great, at least there's nothing in the way here of getting the full measure of this charming actress. It's amazing how far a few seconds of nudity and a surpisingly joyfull riverdance through La Bamba goes to make the whole deal worthwhile.

Quaint !
Definitely quaint, and sexy, though abominably old-fashionned, in the laboriously goofy plot, and loose character interactions. But all right, it's the sixties, and it's Bardot! My god, she's got something, this Bardot, to lift this little nothing movie out of the nothingness where it actually belongs. Who can forgive director Vadim for giving such small and dead-end parts to actors like Jean Tissier and Claude brasseur, for instance? But sure, he had Bardot, and the Bamba scene as well as the nude scenes remain (cute) classics....The DVD is decent in its viewing and extra features, too...I got my money worth...

Naïf et drôle...
Film à voir pour les fans de la belle blonde pulpeuse. C'est rafraîchissant et léger à souhait, mais quelque peu décevant pour le cinéphile exigeant. Bon cinéma quand même! Les blondes n'y sont pas à l'honneur encore une fois. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The original title of this French-produced English languageproduction was Live Virgin, but after costar Mena Suvari rose tofame in American Pie and American Beauty (a kind of beforeand after snapshot of the American dream), a name change was inevitable.Suvari is the daughter of silver-haired pornographic film producer RobertLoggia. She rebels against her estranged father by signing on to aninteractive pay-per-view sex event with kinky cable porn king Bob Hoskins.She agrees to lose her virginity live on TV while thousands of men acrossthe nation, uh, experience the event via a cybernetic suit wired to thedeflowering stud. Despite its salacious material, this screeching sexfarce earns its R rating for language--there's little nudity but plenty offour letter screaming between the competitors. Not so much plotted as simplylet loose, it's a frantic, sloppy mess with characters rushing every whichway and clashing loudly while Suvari's boyfriend (Gabriel Mann)frenetically tries to put a stop to the whole sleazy affair. SallyKellerman costars as a hypocritical tabloid talk show host who railsagainst the event while feeding its publicity with continuing coverage, andX-rated star Ron Jeremy has a bit part as a cop. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fans of Sammo Hung's TV series, Martial Law, will enjoy Enter the Fat Dragon, the second film Hung himself directed. He plays a young pig farmer who idolizes Bruce Lee and comes to Hong Kong to work in a food stall with his uncle. In no time at all he finds himself brawling with a crew of street toughs, whom he dispatches with dazzling skill--but unfortunately wrecking his uncle's stall at the same time. From there, the plot involves a millionaire art expert with three powerful bodyguards and a long-lost girlfriend, who just happens to be a waitress at the restaurant where Hung starts working as a dishwasher. But it doesn't matter if the story is nonsense--the point is the spectacular fight scenes and broad jokes. It's amazing to watch cheerful, roly-poly Hung whirl and kick with devastating speed; somehow his girth makes his skill all the more impressive. In one scene, Hung gets hired as an extra for a kung fu movie with a Bruce Lee imitator. Unsurprisingly, Hung is disappointed in the fake's abilities and teaches him--and the rest of the stunt crew--how it's done. The scene is not only a tremendous display of fighting prowess, it's also a charming depiction of a young man who clings with childlike wonder to his idols, and yearns to achieve the same glory. Perhaps it's a bit of a self-portrait. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Interesting study of relationships
The most intriguing thing about this movie happened at the very end, giving insight into the main male character and piquing some interest... the movie is unfortunately not otherwise intriguing, and I am sorry to have to give it only three stars. Worth seeing if you like philosophical conversations about men and women and relationships, adultery and jealousy and happiness... there isn't a lot of substance otherwise, I'm afraid.

A charming movie
Very little actually happens in this movie yet I found it to be worth watching. This movie is my introduction to the films of Eric Rohmer, and I am sure that I will view as many of his movies as I can. Rohmer is a master.

Great eg. of psychologically subjective storytelling
THE AVIATOR'S WIFE - Eric Rohmer / France 1981 (3.5 STARS)
15 December 2003: It is always difficult to get overtly excited about an Eric Rohmer film or make any relative comparisons with conviction - Eric Rohmer's works are almost like Jazz music, delicate in their appeal and full of irony, yet not given to the charts. The Aviator's Wife, the 1st in Rohmer's series of Comedies & Proverbs is subtle like poetry by full of the irony of urban existence. Set in his hometown Paris (as most of his films are), this is a film about a young woman's insecurity about growing old lonely, and a young man's obsession with the slightly older woman. Artfully made with a color palette that seems to reflect the hues of the lives of the characters, the film is talkative yet reflective and insecure with a certain confidence.
• Mise-en-scene: The character's motivations are developed with painstaking detail in an attempt to build characters that we may grow to either love or loath, but irrespective respect as real people. I was drawn to the young man's character in particular and to his singularly obsessive personality even though he was gentle and carefree at first sight.
• The older woman was so typically stereo cast as idiosyncratic, intense and detached in a manner only the French can be. In the final scene one feel for the boy when he discovers that the young girl he meets on the bus has been feeding him all along, but before we have time to react, Rohmer makes a comic joke of the situation by spinning the movie into a loop so that we end up almost where we started, except that we've got a different man that the protagonist is trailing this time around.
• The Cinematography, is bland, almost dogma like (way before the birth of Dogma- this is 1981), and there is almost no emphasis at technique beyond functionality. Yet sound is used to haunting effect, with ambient sound playing a potent character. Whether this was because of poor on location sound or whether this has been used as a stylistic element to enhance the narrative is however difficult to tell.

The Aviator's "Woman" . . .
La Femme De L'Aviateur, the French title of this movie, translates literally: "The Woman of the Airman." Woman is not necessarily wife, so the movie may be presumed to be about Anne, the pilot's girlfriend, who figures prominently, and thus we dispose of mis-impressions infecting half the reviews and doubtless countless viewers of this movie.

But assuming the English title appropriate, and maybe it is, who is the aviator's wife? If you watch closely, you may come away wondering if the pilot is even married.

We should also dispel a couple of other notions in the various reviews. It is a French "talkie." I happen to like them. It's not completely accurate to say it is about an obsession with an older woman. There is obvious consideration of the younger one at a certain point. It's certainly inaccurate to say the younger one represents the real possibility if one watches all the way to the end, past the aborted letter drop. And by the way, look at that guy closely. He is not a stranger.

Anne does not agree with Lucie entirely that "women decide." It can't be said that these two women are educating Francois. It can't be said that he loses either of them, actually. Although, everyone who thinks they just must talk things through at the earliest opportunity would do well to see how he makes his life more difficult than it need be with this strategy.

I think the movie really is about Anne, the pilot's girlfriend, whose picture appears on the cover. She is the one who is despondent and ready to give up on relationships because she finds no one's feelings true and faithful. And there is one further intriguing argument for this view.

Eric Rohmer is noted for making cycles of movies... the comedies and proverbs, the four seasons, etc. In each cycle, the movies are not related per se, not like a series. But would it surprise anyone if this plotter of cycles hid a series among his cycles? If he did so blatantly, it would be uncharacteristic of the always enigmatic Rohmer. But what if he simply used the same actress, with a different character name, yet to represent the same character at different stages of life?

Marie Riviere (Anne in this movie) appears to be just such a character. As Delphine in "Summer" does she not begin where Anne leaves off, disenchanted with all relationships? Finally healed by the magical Green Ray, she re-incarnates as Isabel in "Autumn's Tale," as the master matchmaker peddling her happiness to others, even training an apprentiss of sorts. If you can view these three movies and not come to this conclusion, do drop me a note and set me straight.

Ah, but with the prospects ahead of a 15 year old detective who suggests murder, a magical green ray, and a master matchmaker, how can you resist all three?

Avoid it .. Please !!
Horrible Movie !!
You just see people chatting all the time !! No particular storey .. very boring movie .. It's good only for people with sleep disorder .. it will help you to sleep if you watch it for 10 minutes. ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Entertaining...
This 90 minute action adventure is entertaining especially if you enjoy Jackie Chan movies. The film is full of the familiar Jackie Chan stunts and fighting sequels with some "matrix" like effects thrown in.
The story revolves around a young Chinese boy who is kidnapped by an international smuggler called Snakehead (Julian Sands) and a medallion considered the holy grail of eastern mythology which holds the secret to eternal life. The legend states that every thousand years a child is chosen who can combine the two halves of the medallion and restore life to the dead.
Agent Eddie Yang (Chan) working with Interpol in Hong Kong discovers that Snakehead has kidnapped a boy from a Buddhist Temple, but doesn't understand why. The chase for Snakehead and ultimately the boy leads Eddie to Dublin, Ireland.
Upon locating the boy at a shipyard, Eddie is drowned in a cargo container that sinks to the bottom of the harbor. Unbeknownst to anyone the boy has the ability to resurrect Eddie and does so with a medallion giving Eddie super human strength and immortal power.
Snakehead seeks to gain the powers of the medallion to become totally immortal. However, the interesting thing is one must die first to be restored immortal.

Forgettable
Jackie Chan has really cranked out a lot of movies and I have found some of them quite entertaining with action packed fight scenes, good stories, great stunts, and Chan's self deprecating sense of humor. This is not one of them.

There is not much to the plot - Chan is a Hong Kong cop facing off against a super criminal "Snakehead". Snakehead is after a medallion that is possessed by a kid. The medallion gives people special powers. Snakehead kidnaps the kid and Chan is in the hunt to save the kid and keep the medallion out of Snakehead's hands.

Unfortunately, the plot is awful and makes little sense. The fight scenes are not very good. The movie essentially breaks down into a not very interesting series of vignettes that I could never decide whether they were supposed to be funny, scary, thrilling - they were just plan dumb.

Chan would be better served to make fewer, higher quality movies than to churn out forgettable fare like The Medallion.

Not one of jackies best.
Maybe it is because I love jackie's earlier movies which he surpassed himself in, but I was very disappointed with this film. Okay, so it's funny in parts but having said this that's about it. I realise that jackie is trying different things in his new films, but for me I preferred the original hong kong movies. I really never thought I would ever give a JC movie 3 stars, but I have to be honest and do so. Sorry jackie. But I am still an avid fan of yours.

Worst Chan Movie Ever
I haven't seen every Jackie Chan movie, but I've seen many of them and this is the worst. I've never walked out of a film before, not even considered it, but opening night I was there to support Jackie, and half-way in I nearly got up and left. Bad, really, really bad.

superb
this movie i would say is superb. since this movie has alot of action. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Standing The Test Of Time
BEAT THE DEVIL is a very funny movie which retains its subtle charm even after many viewings, It reminds me of the MALTESE FALCON not only because of the similarity of some of the characters but also because of the likeness of the screenplays. Both films essentially focus on a treasure hunt with an array of buffoons vying for the prize. Humphrey Bogart's characters seem to be about the only really normal people in either movie. While it is definitely considered to be a comedy, BEAT THE DEVIL is also not a bad adventure story. Most of the subdued action takes place on shore while the assorted crooks and cutthroats are waiting for a leaky old ship to take them to Africa.

The cast includes Humphrey Bogart, Robert Morley, Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lorre, Ivor Barnard and Edward Underwood.

John Huston was the director and Truman Capote contributed heavily to the screenwriting after the filming began in Italy.Truly a ton of Hollywood talent was assembled for this one movie in a relatively charming location.

It is no wonder that the movie is standing the test of time and is now enjoying a revival of sorts with even a minor cult following.

Either You Get It or You Don't
Optioned as a drama by Humphrey Bogart's own production company, this movie was hijacked by director John Huston and screenwriter Truman Capote, who turned it into a subversive comedy under Bogart's nose. Some swindlers assembling in Italy would like to clean up a uranium concession in Africa but can't seem to keep the plot on the tracks. Almost entirely dialogue-driven, this satire relies in no little part on the mangled English dubbed for several of the characters by Peter Ustinov. Critic Pauline Kael quoted Humphrey Bogart about it: "Only phonies think it's funny." But even phonies like to laugh.

GOOD MOVIE ???
Great story with a great cast,but horrible sound and picture quality.

A jar of pickled clichés
Certainly not a masterpiece with a terminating Humphrey Bogart and a debutante Lollobrigida. Two odd couples with crossing affairs lost in a small harbor no one knows where because their derelict ship has broken down, surrounded by a band of three or four would-be gangsters who are nothing but weak bad boys. They even end up with a taxi jumping into the ocean, an attempted murder by overboard throwing in the middle of some ocean night, a shipwreck that brings all that nice group of adventurers to some Morocco where they are forced to bribe the locals to get through, and that is not as easy as one may think. In other words quite a compilation of clichés. And yet it is some fun to see such naive queer composition that someone in Hollywood called a film.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

FILM NOIR SPOOF
This glorious spoof of the film noir genre of the 1940's, has direction by John Huston, an ever evolving script by Truman Capote and stars:Humphrey Bogart - HB (Billy Danreuther), Jennifer Jones - JJ (Gwendolynne Chelm), Gina Lollobrigida - GL (Maria), Edward Underdown - EU (Harry Chelm), Robert Morley - RM (Pierson), Peter Lorre - PL (O'Hara) and other notable character actors.

Basically a group of rogues are vieing with each other to be the first to obtain a rich uranium deposit somewhere in "British East Africa" but we are never told where precisely.It was filmed on location in Italy and features the only other comic role of JJ, (her first being "Cluny Brown (1946)) as a congenital liar, whose Spanish Nurse taught her all there is to know!.What a pity Selznick did not recognise the comic potential of his wife and instead of putting her in soulful dirges like "Indiscretion of an American Wife"(1952), he had developed her natural comic potential."Beat The Devil" did not perform at the box office in 1953/4 when released but is now, thankfully, being re-evaluated by discerning film connoiseurs, achieving almost a cult like status.

Being a strong amateur chess player, I particularly liked the scene outside the Italian cafe where JJ is "duffing up" EU again with an almost instant sight of the board, while chatting up HB.(Note to chess geeks - JJ plays much more weakly in "A Farewell to Arms (1957) vs Rock Hudson!!).Incidentally HB liked to play chess himself when off camera.

The plot twists & turns and being English with a bawdy sense of humour, I laughed when GL says to EU "I've brought you some tea & crumpet" while almost smothering EU in the eye with her... well you get the point! It is reported John Huston rather sadistically requested JJ to climb to the rocking crow's nest- a fearsome climb - to do her leg stretching exercises on the ship taking them to Africa.The gang, led by RM, hope she breaks a leg - & not in the theatrical sense!My favourite scene is in the office of the African potentate who is questioning the motley group of rogues.In reality all he wants to know is whether HB has met Rita Hayworth as he is a big fan!.If you look carefully you can see her pin-up on his office wall.The quivering of RM's various chins when he is threatened with torture, is a delight to behold.

The trick of Nazis having escaped to Latin America after WWII, is lampooned by PL who insists everyone calls him "O'Hara" (our little Irish leprecaun!).Everyone seems to be having a ball.Look out for Bernard Lee playing his usual police inspector role.This was long before he shot to fame as "M" in the Sean Connery, James Bond series from 1962 onwards.I've noticed in memorable films there is usually a catchy tune somewhere and here is no exception as played by an Italian brass band.I even find myself whistling the pianola music played on the ship while Ivor Barnard is away with his stabbing swagger stick ready to bump off EU.I voted 3/5 stars for this film. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Lina Wertmüller's harrowing 1976 film stars Giancarlo Giannini as a petty crook with seven unattractive sisters to support, and it features a picaresque, World War II-era journey through a prison asylum, army service, and a Nazi concentration camp. Wertmüller is more indulgent in highbrow sadomasochism than she is real profundity, but there's no denying that the film is powerful in its story of subjugation and survival. A climactic scene in which Giannini saves his skin at the camp by seducing its disgusting female commandant is unnervingly honest. Giannini became a '70s international icon partially on the basis of this work. The DVD release has optional English and Italian soundtracks, production notes, and filmographies of the talent. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (19)

One of the best Italian films
I've decided to watch this one to form an objective opininon on the director, Lina Wertmuller. This movie is in such a sharp contrast with her other movie, Swept Away, which I found a failure. However, I wouln't hesitate to call this one a masterpiece, for me it is a multi-dimentional film, impossible to say that it's all about survival. I think it's about a one's loss of his soul; the final scene when his mother is saying that he is alive, he doesn't seem to fully agree, althought physically he is indeed alive. A very powerful film, much more complex that Life Is Beautiful. One has to wonder if Lina Wertmuller had the same quality swings as Ken Russell, for example, where Lisztomania cannot even come close to Mahler.

My favorite movie
I have been searching everywhere for this movie since I saw it in my Italian class in college. I think it's the best movie ever made. At times it's touching, sad, and funny. It's a wonderful tale about survival and how each person has one special quality that can save them. For Pasqualino, it is his ability to woo women. For him to muster up his libido while so very close to death in order to save his life is a very heroic deed. Giancarlo Giannini and Shirley Stoler are great in this movie. It's very similar to "Life Is Beautiful", but that movie is much more of a fable than this one. Not to detract anything from "Life Is Beautiful" (which I think is a very good movie) but I think "Seven Beauties" is a superior film. Thank you Amazon for making this fantastic film available to me!

Swept Away
This is not the original R rated version I saw in New York City in 1977. It is edited into mediocrity! Sincerely, Wm Greenwood

Worst Movie I've ever seen- bar none
"Highlight" of movie: Concentration camp prisoner committs suicde by dving into a cesspool. Need I say more?

Hideous!
I knew that this film was a turkey from the get-go: Archival footage of war catastrophe accompanies an obnoxious voiceover of some guy repeating ad nauseam, "oh yeah! oh yeah!" Fighter pilots crash and burn, and we have this annoying, idiotic, "oh yeah, oh yeah."

There's a beautifully photographed scene shortly after this, set in a lush German forest. The camera should have stayed in that shot. Watching the green leaves sway outpaces everything to come. I thought the mass grave shooting was handled with taste. In fact, it's less shockingly portrayed than the gross Italian dance hall bit that follows, a sequence that runs on entirely too long, close-ups of an unattractive, untalented woman who is later thrashed around by her brother, the Giancarlo Giannini character -- a man who's impossible either to care about or laugh at. Awful, sick, repellent, and worst of all, empty and uninsightful.

People, just because a movie is unpleasant does not make it a masterpiece. I like difficult, challenging films; Seven Beauties, however, is squalid junk posing as art. ... Read more

Amazon.com

As its title suggests, Drôle de Drame is a very droll drama indeed. It's a farce, to be specific, deftly handled by director Marcel Carné and screenwriter Jacques Prévert, eight years before the release of their masterpiece, Children of Paradise. Surprisingly, this was the only box-office flop of Carné's early career, later recognized as a classic ahead of its time, comparable to American screwball comedy but subtler in wit and delivery. Set in Edwardian London and illustrating the absurd lengths that the social elite will go to preserve their privileged status, it follows the exploits of M. Molyneux (Michel Simon), who's accused of murdering his wife by his cousin (Louis Jouvet), a self-righteous bishop who denounces popular crime novels written by... well, it's best not to give too much away. Plot twists, romance, and an elegant parade of comedic circumstances make Drôle de Drame a real treat for Anglophiles, Francophiles, and cinephiles alike. No wonder critic Pauline Kael called it "Dadaist frivolity, with sequences one giggles over happily for years." --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A first-rate absurdist farce. A true classic.
I've been looking for a good clean version of this film for many years, having spent many blissful & lucky summer hours at the old Thalia movie theater in NYC devouring the great French films of the 1930s. Now at last the treasure has arrived. Three of the giants of the golden age of French film are present in this film: Jouvet, Simon & Barrault, masters of farce, tragedy, voice, movement, gesture & innuendo.

Drôle de Drame is a cornucopia of hilarious moments: Michel Simon catching flies & tenderly feeding them to his precious plants; Simon tripping with drunken blitheness down a flight of stairs. Jouvet careening from unctuous righteousness to lasciviousness to extreme paranoia. Barrault's ethereal & other-worldly & highly moral serial killer / poetic lover.

Drôle de Drame is a fusion of classic French farce & theater of the absurd. One of my favorite scenes is the one in which the Chinese hoodlums determinedly & methodically mug a series of slumming drunks in order to collect their boutonnieres for a lover's bouquet. My next favorite is the kitchen enhusiastically overflowing with beautiful dadaist milk bottles delivered by a love-struck milkman in a surrealist costume.

This was an early effort by Jacques Prévert & Marcel Carné who respectively wrote & directed the masterpiece, Children of Paradise. It's not a satire of British manners or mores at all, save perhaps for the more imagination deprived. It's a comedy of the human condition, a link in a wonderful chain of offbeat French films from Le Million to Boudu to Delicatessen & Amélie.

Now, how about a set of DVDs of Marius, Fanny & César. Please someone?

WEIRD FRENCH SILLINESS
From 1937, DROLE DE DRAME (Home Vision Entertainment) is a French farce set in Edwardian England 0f 1900 that almost defies description.

Director Marcel Carne and writer Jacques Prevert (who later collaborated on Children of Paradise), leapfrogged ahead of contemporary trends and came up with a zany film adaptation of J. S. Clouston's nutty "The Lunatic At Large."

When the Archbishop of Bedford suspects his weird cousin of killing his wife and hiding the body, he sets off an outrageous series of events. What's at stake is the absurd lengths the social snobs will go to maintain their upper class distinction when fear of a stalking vegetarian serial killer threatens the delicate social order. For serious videophiles, this oddity has become a minor classic.

What was going on in the real world of 1937? It's interesting that the French would make a crazy farce of a film that ridiculed English class distinctions. This was released in the USA at only 84 minutes in 1939 as "Bizarre, Bizarre." The timing was unfortunate considering the international scene: i.e., it appeared the French were mocking the English at the very time the Nazis were a threat against both the French and the English. Luckily, the USA rescued the French from the Nazi's in spite of being mostly baffled by this exceedingly silly film.

That said, watching it today in the right Edwardian frame of mind may generate chortles and chuckles but probably few guffaws. ... Read more

Description

Plucking the Daisy is just one of the two-dozen films of the 1950s that swiftly established Brigitte Bardot as the bold new model of female sexuality in post-war society.In the film, also known as Mademoiselle Striptease, Bardot plays the coquettish daughter of a stuffy French official.Finding herself in Paris at the center of several well-timed misunderstandings, BB's sexual high jinks culminate with an unforgettable performance in a striptease contest.Home Vision Entertainment is proud to present BB fans with this scintillating screwball romp in a stunning new digital transfer. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Epitome of striptease in all its restored glory
I first saw this movie when I was ten and it began my lifelong fascination with striptease. But, I had only seen a version (probably trimmed for North America) featuring only partial strip, a version which was later released on video. When I saw the DVD version, my eyes popped out of my head : the contestants performing just before Bardot in the striptease contest were fully nude at the end of their act! It was so unbelievable and unexpected that at first I thought that it was fake, that the remaining clothes had been digitally edited out, but no! As I saw by comparing with the VHS version, those are really different takes on the same scene! And the quality of the transfer is top-notch, much better than on the VHS.

Entertaining wacky comedy
Plucking the Daisy is a zany comedy in black and white.

The cast of characters do a fine job. Bardot here looks so very young.This lady always seems to be a joy to watch especially in lighter fare such as this movie. While maybe not one of her sexier performances it is still one of her better overall performances.

Bardot plays the role of a 'good girl' and a rather atypical shy and modest one. She gets into trouble by her own doing and enters an amateur striptease contest to win some much needed cash to bail herself out of her predictament. While other contestants take it all off during the competition, Bardot bares very little at all but still manages to win the contest (first phase).

Other versions of this movie are called Madamoselle Striptease and Please Mr. Balzac. Plucking the Daisy is the film you want to see since it has been digitally restored and is in excellent condition.

While I can't put Plucking the Daisy high on my list of favorite Bardot movies it is nonetheless an eminently watchable and entertaining flick. Those who enjoy wacky type comedies should really enjoy this one.

Enjoyable Fun!
The story line of this film is an enjoyable vehicle which displays the timeless beauty of Brigitte Bardot. This VHS version is marred, however, by the terrible audio and video quality. 5 Stars for Bardot + 0 Stars for the quality of the tape = 2 Stars. If you are a big fan of Bardot (such as myself) you may want to pick to this up to add to your collection, otherwise buy something else. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A glammed-up Juliette Binoche and a slimmed-down Jean Reno are the main attractions in this very slight comedy--sort of a Planes, Trains, and Automobiles without the trains and automobiles. After they meet repeatedly at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, beautician Binoche and chef Reno decide to share an airport hotel room during a layover. She's a self-dramatizing chatterbox with a fondness for make-up and perfume; he's a fussy neurotic who can't stand artificial fragrances. They've just met and they're headed to different parts of the globe, but still... could this be... amour? Director Daniele Thompson, whose previous feature, La Buche, was a much more entertaining effort, would like it to be so. But the setting gets monotonous and the stakes never seem terribly urgent. Without the Chocolat smile of Binoche and the uniquely rough-and-tumble coolness of Reno, this one would never get off the ground at all. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Funny and Romantic
Juliette Binoche's is not the first name you associate with romantic comedy, but here she is as the tarty Rose in Daniele Thompson's Jet lag. Jean Reno plays Félix, a grumpy chef. the pair "meet cute" in an airport during a strike and end up.... well you know. While Jet Lag's outcome is obvious, we are offered a fun time getting there. thompson has dispensed with sex and smut in favour of ironic black humour. The result is a deliciously grown up mix of excitement and resentment.

However it is the lead actors who lift the whole excercise into the realms of worthiness. Binoche is loud, shrill and completely different to anything she has done before. Reno is grumpy and taciturn taking a well deserved break from his action roles. Jet Lag is sublime entertainment!

Rose Meets Felix: Slight, But Delightful Romantic Comedy
Contrary to what some people say, "Decalage Horaire" ("Jet Lag") is NOT middle-aged version of "Before Sunrise." The story is similar, but this French film is more 'French' ... I mean, relying on very subtle things expressed in the short course of the film, including cultural aspects of its contents. You should not take this film simply as 'chick flick' because the writer/director is Daniele Thompson, veteran writer with long career of more than 30 years, is making a very sophisticated romantic comedy in which small things really matter.

The film is, simply put, Jean Reno meets Juliette Binoche (or vice versa) at Paris airport. Rose, played by Binoche, loses her cell phone, and borrows one from Reno's character Felix. After we see several more rather complicated (some say contrived) events at the airport -- like, bad weather, strike, and so on -- they decide to spend the time together before the flight. They know they are going to part soon, never to meet each other again, but as you soon realize, they don't know whether they should continue the original plan of the trip.

The basis of romantic comedy is all here. Surprisigly, the film is originally written for American production about ten years ago, but the final result is absolutely French, or European. The characters are more mature than the ones in Hollywood-made films, and sometimes do or say very cruel things.

Some (or many) funny part of the film depend on the language; that means, if you don't know the French, you might miss several of the points the film is making. Reno's Felix often uses English, which reflects his career as chef travelling around the world. He even misuses French even though he is born French (hence, "Jet Lag"?), and if his conversations with Rose sound a little awkward at first, it is not all because he had been a total stranger to her. These liguistic aspects, which tell us the different background of these characters, might appeal to French people, but are sadly lost on many of us including me.

But Binoche's makeup is not among them. Her initial appearance is a bit of surprise because of her heavy make-up. It was done beautifully, but the fact that it is overdone is too obvious. And then, later in the film she appears as she is, being very natural and beautiful as before. The gap between the two Binoches is one of the fun you will get in "Decalage Horaire."

This is not a film that provides big laughs. This is a romantic comedy of which contents are too slight for some people, but still remains a delightful experiece especially for the fans of the two leads. And don't forget the cameo of Rose's ex-boyfriend Sergeo played by Sergi Lopez, whose creepy performance fascinated us in thriller "With a Friend Like Harry." So, Rose was dating with that Harry, huh.

Wonderful, charming movie
My husband and I actually saw previews for this movie repeatedly while in Paris. Even though I didn't speak French, I knew this was a movie I would love. I continually checked around, and when it finally came to our city, we were there. It lived up to my expectations. Such a charming romantic comedy. Jean Reno has never been sexier and Juliette Binoche was radiant. Not as syrupy and sticky-sweet as a Meg Ryan romantic comedy. I really loved this movie and can't wait to own it.

Mediocre
Jet Lag proves that just because it's in French, doesnt mean it's good. The movie is dull and looks like a French version of an American romantic comedy. If there was an American version, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan would star in it. There are so many good French movie, Jet Lag isnt one of them.

a real charmer
***1/2 "Jet Lag" is a French romantic comedy that takes place almost entirely in an airport terminal and an airport hotel. Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno are two strangers who meet at the Paris airport and end up sharing a room when all flights are cancelled due to an air traffic controllers strike (think of how this affair would have been thwarted had Reagan been France's president at the time!). Rose and Felix are both riddled with insecurities and anxieties, having been largely unlucky in the ways of love. Yet, after some predictable initial tension between them, they somehow manage to find a mutual strength - and attraction - in their combined weaknesses.

"Jet Lag" is so simple and unassuming in its early stages that we are amazed to discover, about a third of the way through, just how completely it has managed to sneak up on us and win us over. Unlike most American romantic comedies, "Jet Lag" allows its characters to actually talk and get to know one another. It sure doesn't hurt, of course, that Binoche and Reno are such talented, attractive performers who establish an astonishing rapport in their scenes together. Sure, the plotting isn't exactly believable, but when is that ever the case in a film of this type anyway? The thing that matters is that we like the people we have become involved with and that we can accept, if only for just a moment, the possibility that they might be able to find happiness together. That is certainly the case in this film. (If there is a criticism to be leveled against the film, it is that it is simply too short, clocking in at barely over 80 minutes. How many films can one say THAT about?).

"Jet Lag" could have been a completely insubstantial little film; instead, it resonates with a joyfulness and charm that truly captivate the viewer. This is a winner well worth checking out. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

Funny movie!
Brando is absolutely charming and hilarious in this dark comedy and the writing is first-rate. The cinematography of the woods and country is breathtaking and you really get a sense of this "small town" from the script and acting. Sheen and Church are fabulous in their parts although Sheen sometimes speaks a little fast in some of the comic punchlines, so seeing it more than once would be of benefit. The twin girls are lovely and cute and I daresay we may see more of them in future films.

Humorous
This movie made me laugh. In addition to the comic elements, it had an interesting group of actors. I hadn't expected too much from the film, so it was a pleasant surprise.

One Of My Favorites
This is one of my favorite movies. I'm a fan of offbeat comedies like Stay Tuned, FRAUDS, Austin Powers and George of the Jungle, so this fits in my collection perfectly.
Thomas Haden Church really stands out as the dumb, loveable, cuddly Larry Lumstrum. He has an unusual shock of yellowish white hair, odd for him, he has golden blonde hair!
Larry might remind viewers of Lowell Mather from Wings. To tell you the truth, Larry IS Lowell Mather with white hair.
My favorite scene has to be when Larry is stuck in the black Dodge truck as the train is zooming for the vehicle. It reminds one of Marty McFly trying to jump out of the doomed DeLorean near the end of Back To The Future Part III.

Brando has fun
The picture is by no means great, but for the first time in decades Brando is clearly having fun here, and there is no actor more enjoyable to watch have fun than Marlon Brando. It is by no means his best performance, but as he chews the scenery, savoring every bite he is a joy to watch.

free money,d v d
not one of charlie sheens better scripts.very silly and enjoyable though.i expected it to be a comedy but allthough it starts that way it gets quite dark. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In the films of Bertrand Blier, love is a virus that sends its victims on a feverish fling of impulsive passion before leaving them abandoned and alone. The difference in Too Beautiful for You is an empathy and warmth rarely seen in Blier's often cynical work. Gérard Depardieu is the successful car dealer ambushed by Cupid when plain-looking secretary Josiane Balasko clumps into the office. It seems to defy all reason, how this frumpy, dumpy woman with eyes that caress lures Depardieu from elegant wife Carole Bouquet, a woman so poised and perfect she's more trophy than trophy wife, but love follows no reason. Neither does Blier's film, which dances through fantasies and flashbacks with the abandon of a daydream. It makes for a confusing story but a vivid experience, all passion and music and joy and pain: love, in all its obsessive, destructive ecstasy. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"Gorgeous women create chaos."
"Too Beautiful For You"--a Bertrand Blier film--is the story of an affair between a middle-aged businessman, Bernard (Gerard Depardieu) and his employee. All of Bernard's male friends envy the fact that he has a beautiful society wife, Florence (Carole Bouquet). One look at his wife, and they say "Bernard's a lucky stiff." One day, Colette (Josiane Balasko), the new office temp, arrives in Bernard's office. She's plump and "a bit of a slob," however, there's instant chemistry between her and Bernard. Within a matter of days, Bernard is embroiled in a passionate affair with Colette.

The film explores some interesting ideas about adultery and love triangles. For example, why is Bernard attracted to Colette? Florence appears, on the surface at least, to be the sort of woman every man would select--while Colette is rather average. When Florence suspects her husband is having an affair, she stomps down to the office to take a look at the new temp, and when she sets eyes on dumpy Colette, she is relieved. Of course, every woman thinks her adulterous husband is having an affair with a woman who is more attractive, but what happens when the "other woman" is much less attractive?

There's some clever photography--for example, one scene is shot of Bernard and his wife with the camera placed in Colette's office looking through the glass divider. Not only do we see the husband and wife interact as Colette is seeing them, but we also see Colette's reflection in the glass as she stares at the couple and tries to analyze the competition.

The film, however, is completely ruined by its ever-increasing reliance on surrealism. At first, the surreal scenes are quite acceptable--for example, there's a great surreal scene when Colette strolls through a train station and imagines she's the focus of ever man's desire. However, the surreal scenes then begin to eat the plot, and soon, it's unclear what is plot, and what is fantasy. The scene when Florence is the dowdy housefrau is particularly ludicrous. While raising some intriguing questions, the film fails to speculate about answers, and instead, we are subject to a surreal drift towards pretentious absurdity, and this is highly unfortunate--displacedhuman

Clever film on the meaning of love
In this clever take on love and relationships, the affairs of three people are enigmatically
portrayed. Everyone adores Bernard's wife Florence. His friends lust for her, her friends envy her. She is very beautiful, and for Bernard there is nothing more left to desire. And that is precisely what troubles him: she may just be too beautiful. His secretary, a temp named Colette, is completely the opposite to Florence. But in her physical unattractiveness Bernard finds a refuge to his peculiar dilemma. Despite of what may seem as a logical explanation, he is not plagued by an inferiority complex. What drives Bernard is the psychological force of the middle-age crisis. Some people wonder whether what they have is as good as it gets. Bernard actually knows that. The second he is near Florence he knows that that is true; gazes of his friends reassure him in that.

With Colette, however, he feels completely at ease. There is no need for self-assertion and he is free to choose. Naturally, there is much more to this film, which is full of surprises and unexpected events. The only country where such a complex and somewhat surrealistic plot could have been brought to life, where careful avoidance of turning the film into a soap opera, a pointless comedy, or a tedious drama meets with the bittersweet taste of love and desire is France, and the philosophy of love, the satire, and the superb acting -- Depardieu, Bouquet, and Balasko make a lovely team -- are also typically French here. Ironically enough, the question of the age is inverted to "what does a MAN want?" ... Read more

Reviews (7)

What Film Should Be
This picture has compelling drama that ranks with the height of American film in the '40s and '50s and insightful intellectual themes that proves it to be a forerunner of modern works like "Waking Life." Thoroughly engaging, trying and reasonably positive in the end. A masterpiece.

Poor DVD quality aside, this release is WELL worth the price
There are certain directors whose films can survive even the worst video transfers, and Resnais is one of them. Not that New Yorker Video should not be chastized for giving us yet another scandalously poor video and audio transfer of a classic film. Rather, one should not let the poor DVD quality deter one from buying this DVD, as Resnais' MON ONCLE d'AMERIQUE is masterful and argueably the director's greatest achievement. To be completely honest, in my humble opinion Resnais is the greatest living director. For what it is worth, I have seen everyone of his feature films, including everything in the 80s and 90s, and I find this picture to be the most compelling. Having carried out his most rigorous investigation of the time and memory of personal consciousness in "Je T'aime, Je T'aime," Resnais' work in the 70s undergoes a gradual shift in emphasis toward a time and memory belonging to community. At the risk of sounding overly reductive, one might locate the decisive moment of this shift in "Providence," in which the radically subjective, stream of consciousness narrative is completely undermined in the film's epilogue. In reflecting on Mon Oncle d'Amerique, I think it is paramount that one sees the film in the context of this decisive shift (which is not to say that Resnais simply abandons his earlier project). The film produces some of the most extraordinary images of time and memory reconfigured from the standpoint of community, and argueably marks the director's crowning achievement. One need look no further than the opening sequence in which a camera circles around a canvas comprised of still shots from scenes in the film, such that already at the film's outset the viewer is confronted with an image of the whole.

Having laid out this context, I strongly disagree with the general presupposition, betrayed in Maltin's summary and many of the customer reviews below, that Resnais has somehow attempted here to illustrate the behavorial theories of Henri Laborit. Resnais himself (in the DVD notes) expressly rejects this reading, which is nowhere corraborated by the film itself. He explains that in the film he has tried to set the biologist's theories and the narrative side by side, such that the two elements can co-exist, without either one dominating the other. The unmistably ambivalent tone of the ending testifies to the success with which Resnais has executed this vision. The superb direction and screenplay are supported by an outstanding score and an excellent cast. I cannot recommend this DVD more highly.

Terrible audio and video.
I don't know about the actual movie... The DVD audio is just awful -- imagine the distortion you get when the volume is set higher than cheap computer speakers can handle, now imagine getting this distortion every time somebody speaks no matter what volume your tv is set at.

Also, people move at the wrong speed, and not even a "consistent" wrong speed. The subtitles are part of the picture; they can't be turned off.

Resnais' best film as far as I know.
I haven't seen 'Smoking and Non-Smoking' and not that singing film he did recently, but otherwise I'm pretty well informed about Resnais and amongst his other work I rank this film as being his best.

It lacks many of the 'arty' touches, that Resnais otherwise and most regrettfully endulges in. This one tells it to you straight - most people live lives that resembles what rats do in captivity or otherwise. The comparison is most amusing but there is a very serious side to it as well. In the end Resnais states: "As long as we do not realize that we use the cortex of our brains chiefly in order to dominant others, then nothing can change." Power'full' (powerless really, since directed against power) words indeed.

People break their necks in order to fit in or make a career, which in truth is as rediculous as when Stan Laurel speaks of it in that wonderful short "Their First Mistake". When will this madness of competition between people cease in order to leave room for a competition directed towards your own ability to enhance your consciousness instead? When will competition for competitions sake alone cease, a competition which does not even care about what it is competing about, as, for instance, present competition of market economy, which is just a competition about the 'skills' of cheating one another? That is the question and Resnais doesn't have the answer but at least he poses the question.

Minor Resnais
*Mon Oncle d'Amerique* is a smoothly crafted, occasionally funny, but ultimately rather thin exploration of the theories of behavioral psychologist Henri Laborit. Juxtaposing interviews with Laborit that feel like lectures with fictional scenes illustrating his theories, it all feels more than a touch diagrammatic. Laborit's ideas allow Resnais to explore his familiar interests in time and memory, but the film never escapes an air of cute pointlessness. The idea of mixing didactic material with fictional constructions is certainly intriguing, but this example of it isn't much more than a promising sketch.

Though certainly not "sketchy" or "unfinished." With the possible exception of the rather tepid *Je t'aime, Je t'aime,* Resnais seems incapable of making a film that isn't polished to the nines. Once again we're treated to the smooth camera moves of *Marienbad,* the artful editing of *Stavisky* and *Hiroshima, mon amour,* the lovely, delicate shots of the seaside first seen in *Muriel.* Although New Yorker's transfer is never much better than adequate (and would be improved considerably by being presented in a widescreen aspect ratio), it's good enough to prove to any doubters Resnais's consummate technical finesse.

Unfortunately, the film also supports the criticism frequently leveled against the director, that in the pursuit of exquisite form, he abandons all interest in character. I don't agree with this criticism. (Even if I did, I don't know why anyone feels comfortable dismissing "mere" formal perfection as if it were an everyday occurrence.) Nonetheless, with Laborit quietly intoning every few minutes, it's far too obvious that the characters are being pushed this way and that to fit his theories, walking through a demonstration rather than living convincing lives.

Maybe the film needs a bit more skepticism. There are sardonic touches at the edges. For example, when one character high on the bureaucratic ladder arrives at work, everyone in the hall he passes makes a point of shaking his hand. We realize he's fallen when he arrives and everyone looks away from him. There's nothing that undercuts Laborit's basic thesis, however. If Resnais felt as playful with the ideas as he does with the characters (he occasionally has them acting out their aggressions dressed in rat costume, for example), if he weren't so impressed and convinced by them, the film would have more spark. Instead, *Mon Oncle d'Amerique* is a neatly turned experiment, defined and limited by the validity of Laborit's theories. ... Read more