Description

Albert is an introverted travel agent living a lonely life in New York. When Louie, his best friend from childhood, appears having just escaped from prison, Albert's quiet existence is permanently disrupted. What ensues is one long, crazy night in New York that will change both their lives forever. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE MOVIES!
I first saw this movie on IFC. I loved it so much that I went ordered it the next day. Since then I have seen it 11 times! It is one of those great classics that you just have to see again and again. This movie is so damn funny and it gives you a feel for New York like no other. If you are a Sopranos fan you will love seeing two extrodinary actors in a diffrent role than the show. Michael Imperiloi and John Ventamaglia are great together. Imperioli plays the shy travel agent Albert Desantis and Ventamaglia is Louie Salazar, Albert's friend who just escaped prison with only two weeks left on his five year sentence. When Louie goes to Albert for help they end up wandering the streets of New York on one great adventure. Keep your eyes open for many Soprano actors throughout the movie. I'm know good at writing reviews so I'll just end by saying get this movie. It is so worth the money. This is one extremely enjoyable movie. I think it's better than most of the stuff they put in theaters and I saw it for free! SEE THIS MOVIE!

Worth seeing ....Again!
I originally saw this film at the Nantucket Film Festival. Now, for me, Nantucket isn't exactly a drive around the corner, but I can tell you seeing this film was worth the trip! I'm a Joaquim de Almeida fan, whifh is why I went to see the film. His perfomance is brief, but oh-so wonderfully done. His fans all know that he can do the "evil, bad guy" parts quite well, but there is an underlying comedic tone to Ignacio. As a viewer, I couldn't quite decide if he was playing the part straight (evil) or as a characture of a gangster/pimp. I think that was the point... Good acting!

Considering it was such a long trip to get to Nantucket, I am glad I liked the film besides the fact that Joaquim was in it. In fact, I liked it a lot! The film centers around two characters, Albert and Louie. Albert is a shy, retiring sort, and Louie... well Louie is not. The story revolves around Louie's request to Albert to let him come over to Albert's place for just a little while. Louie has just gotten out of prison (we later find out that he's actually escaped).

Albert and Louie have known each other since childhood, and of course whenver they do something together there is trouble and it's Albert who always takes the fall.

The action of the film is based on the adventures that ensue from Louie's visit. On The Run is a chronicle of mad-cap, zany, situations. However, Bruno de Almeida and scriptwriter, Joseph Minion (After Hours), don't always take you where you expect to go. There are twists and turns that add depth to this film. Of course there is plenty of outright comedy, but there is much subtle humor here as well.

There are some downright good performances here as well. Albert is played delightfully by Michael Imperioli. He has been in such films as Goodfellas, Clockers, Malcom X, and the HBO series, the Sopranos. Louie is played by John Ventimiglia, who imbues his character with a lovable, child-like quality. (no matter what he does, you just gotta love Louie!).

Both these actors are excellent in their individual characters. With Imperioli, you'll want to hug him and bring him home to Mom. Ventimiglia, well, you won't know whether you should slap him or bring him home (and NOT to Mom!).

There are other stand-out performances as well. The character of Rita is played by Drena DeNiro (yes, Robert's daughter). The audience adored her. Talking with the others who saw the film it was fun to discuss whether it was Albert or Louie who was their favorite of those two. But, everyone loved Rita!

Is this film perfect? No, I can't say that it is. There were many times I wished the director had had a bigger budget to work with. There were some scenes that cried out for more budgetary freedom. (Give this guy a decent budget to work with and I believe you are going to see a film that will make you stand up and notice.)

The ending sequence was a bit of a victim of budget. Yet, budget or no budget, the ending screen shot, in my opinion, brought together the talent of actor and director into a memorable, emotionally effective scene.

Good movie ... should give it a try.
Just watched it on IFC. Counldn't stop watching it! Great film, funny, wit, good acting and directing.

Funny, Touching, Well-Acted
"On the Run" is a great little comedy from Bruno De Almeida about how much the bonds of childhood friendship can really last through adulthood.

Albert (Micheal Imperiolli) is a shy, New York travel agent who always feels that he never takes an active part in his life, that things just happen to him. One day, he gets a call from his old childhood buddy Louie (John Ventimiglia), who's just escaped from jail with only two weeks left on his sentence. Albert does the "right" thing, and calls the police to pick Louie up.

But sometimes doing the "right" thing isn't always the most honorable thing, and Albert rushes to rescue Louie from the oncoming police. Though he just wants to give Louie a little money to get out of town and lay low for a while, Louie has other plans. Over the course of the film, they make Manhattan their playground as Louie tries to reconnect with Albert and Albert just tries to stay away from the NYPD.

What makes the film is the obvious improvisation between Imperiolli and Ventimiglia, who makes for one of the better comic duos I've seen in a while. Both actors, good friends and "Sopranos" cast members, play off each other very well.

Also quite good in supporting roles are Suzanne Shepard as one of Albert's clients that rips him to shreds, and Drena De Niro who was a jury member in Louie's trial that still has a thing for him.

With great leads and a good use of it's limited budget, "On the Run" is one of those secret little movies that nobody knows about, but once you see, you're going to recommend it to all of friends. Trust me.

**I plan to add to this review, when I have a chance to review the actual DVD. Hopefully there's a commentary with the director and stars or a making-of featurette.** ... Read more

Reviews (3)

excellent
Wow, what a great find. It's amazing to think that this intelligent and thought provoking film was made in 1958 - it's just as relevant and insightful when viewed today. Three rival candy companies try to outdo each other in order to achieve greater sales is the basic premise, and the ways in which they go about this has to be seen to be believed. I'd also highly recommend director Yasuzo Masumura's take on The Collector - Blind Beast. The transfers for both films are superb by the way, utilising pristine source elements.

Greed, ambition and the cult of celebrity
Like the candy companies in the film that aren't really so sweet, this is a great film that deceptively appears to be fun, but becomes quite a serious examination of greed, celebrity and the rat race. It was made in 1958, but could have been made today.

A terrific little-known Japanese film
This is film is about manufactured celebrity and consumerism in Japan, but it might as well be about America. The filmmakers use the candy business as a metaphor to discuss Japan's headlong post-war plunge to catch up with America and it's interesting to see how the attitudes of the company executives have played out in the modern era.

The first 40 minutes of this film feel like a broad farce, but y the end of the film, the characters really take hold and I was actually pretty involved in their plight. In particular, I think anyone with a passing interest in the goofier sides of Japanese pop culture (disposable pop stars who can't sing, weird non-sequitur advertising campaigns) will definately enjoy this film. The transfer is pretty good (although the audio definately reflects the limitations of the source material.) ... Read more

Description

In the tradition of Slacker and Swingers, Late Night Shopping;is a quirky, offbeat comedy, in which four friends who work the graveyard shift at dead-end jobs spend their evenings at the local café. Vincent has an eye for the ladies, while Sean and Lenny are both searching for love in all the wrong places, and Jody is stuck on an assembly line. Stuck in a twilight world, going nowhere fast, the four friends suddenly find they have more in common than they might expect, and embark on a journey that just might change their lives. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Enjoy =)
I watched "Late Night Shopping" one night, then put it on the next night, and the next. Ridiculous plot lines and endearing characters make for quite a funny film. I love the idea that you could be living with someone and never see them. I love the questions posed (which happen to be quite pertinent to twenty-somethings, or anyone working a dead-end job): "And then what?" "So, what now?" Well, if you don't know the answer to those questions, you can at least put on this film and have a laugh. Highly recommended. Enjoy.

Late Night Shopping is a Pleasant Surprise
"Late Night Shopping" is done in the style of movies such as "Swingers," "Clerk's," and other sorts of generally chatty films, except these people have great British accents.However, there is most certainly a plot, and a charming one at that.The scenes in the film all connect somehow, bringing together the lives of the characters in a very fun, and smooth, way.The four main characters are friends who initially bonded over the fact that they all work graveyard shifts at thankless jobs.However, a deep friendship has blossomed between the four, which is even more evident by the end of the film.One of the characters, Sean, is trying to save his relationship with his girlfriend -- a storyline that ends up entangling the entire group.The film is funny, bright and delightful.I thoroughly enjoyed "Late Night Shopping," and I recommend it highly.

All i remenber
This may not be a great film as many reviews suggest. But like the charectors in the film it is a good company. a warm and charming film that touches your heart and lingers in your mind long after you have seen. in my case it has been more than two years when i saw the film in a european film festival in India. And i have been wanting to watch the film for long.thankfully i can now watch it again on dvd. i recommened this film strongly especially for some of those lonely nights that dont seems to end. happy viewing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Louise Lasser and Robert Modicka put their hearts into the story of a 60-ish couple trying to make a go of it, regardless of his friends' ridicule and her low self-esteem. Their honest acting nearly gives this failed attempt at a Woody Allen-style episode of Friends needed humanity. The problem? Lasser and Modicka are not the lead actors in this film, whose tritely punning title is about the extent of writer-director Amos Kollek's wit. Anna Thomson is the ostensible heroine in this story about the denizens of a New York City diner and their romantic travails. The 35-year-old waitress, unlucky in life and love, seems such a candidate for long-term therapy that her unconventional outlook isn't so much profoundly sympathetic as simply pathetic. Kollek also stretches credulity by allowing a sex-show performer to melt at the badgering appearances of one of her "clients," the creepiest of the whole lot. --Kevin Filipski ... Read more

Reviews (7)

this was really good
The video cover said this is like the show "Friends if it actually were in New York" -- except no one is really friends with anyone. That said, it follows the interesting path of Bella, a diner waitress approaching her 35th birthday who has been in an affair with a married man since she was 23. (Bella is way skinny and attractive in that guppy-faced way most 1990s models had, but then it's an independent film.) Also no one ever dates anyone their own age. That's fine but EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in the entire movie??? Please.

The loneliness in an urban space, coupled with ther fact that you actually know a lot of people, you just are not close to them, is very true. the stuttering streetwalker from Poland is an especially gripping charcater. The fact that the elderly gentleman Seymour wants to have coffee with Wanda from the live girl show and treat her to an old-fashioned date is way trite.

But what happens to Bella is interesting, varied and will hold your attention to the end. You end up feeling good by the time the closing credits roll.

Wooden, 2-Dimensional and Slow
This movie was filled with stereotypes and characters that just didn't make me care. The editing was self-indulgent and slow and there were several scenes that should have ended up on the cutting room floor. It is an uncomfortable movie with little warmth and an overdose of angst. The quirks that they tried to work in for the characters to make them human were very contrived and made me conscious I was watching a movie rather than allowing me to get involved in the story and characters as people. The actors did their best - but couldn't overcome the flaws in directing, editing and story line.

Louise Lasser does it again!!!
Louise Lasser is as brilliantly funny in this movie as she was in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman over 25 years ago. Although she has a supporting role, she fills the screen with her familiar style of comedy and sweetness. I recommend this film just because of her.

Sparkling
... I have to write about this glorious film as the average rating is way below acceptable. I saw it twice in one week, living in Greece this spring. This is an unusual, refreshing film about Bella, an unusual mid-30's NY woman, who refuses to live typically and a whole set of Big Apple characters she interacts with who share her life and her free spirit. How can you not adore a woman who throws her perfumed just-out-of-the-tub lush towels out the window to tantalize and warm the hobos under her apartment, a woman who still cares for her unkind older lover whom the camera has no sympathy for, and who herself has an elegant compassion for the colourful characters she waits on in her diner workplace or who interact with them? These include the exhibitionist peep show intellectual, the older guy with the shyness of an adolescent, as well as the taxi driver/closet writer and young father who is overawed by Bella's unique outlook and femininity, and you should be itching to know about the fantastical 5-D fairy tale outcome to a chance confrontation in the heroine's NY life. I can't wait for the video...when's it coming out?

I found it kind of strange... and not in a good way..
Normally, i like these kinds of movies, multiple characters who are all very different and weird or out there.. but I don't know.. i guess i never really got into this film completely.

First of all, I could never get past the looks of the main character. Normally, Im sort of sickened by those movies who have to have a beautiful heroine--and i don't know if Bella was supposed to be beautiful or not. She looked as if she was LA beautiful, but not really. She basically looked like a walking plastic surgery patient. Full blown lips, she must have had a face lift (it was distracting cause it looked like she had a difficult time talking) really skinny, really tall, with inflated breasts. I didn't understand, but her looks were distracting to me..

Another thing was that the May/December relationships in the movie were all over the place. I don't disagree with them, and i don't deny that they are out there, but it seems that's all there were! Bella was involved in an older married man, her boyfriend was sleeping with a 65 year old woman, and a regular at the diner started dating a dancer half his age.. I guess it would have made more sense to me if they had relationships across the map, not just older/younger ones.

I saw it in the LA weekly and there was a quote saying "What Friends would be like if they really lived in New York" I don't know about that.. it wasn't hilariously funny and the characters weren't ones that you fell in love with. It jumped around too much and some scenes had no point to them. Like when Bella undresses talking on the phone to her mother and a young boy stands outside watching her. It could have done just as well with her on the phone. I guess what im saying is that certain scenes didn't really go anywhere. But, there was some light humor and interesting parts.. maybe just wait for the rental? ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A wonderfully entertaining French flick.
Let me start by saying that if you don't like French flicks where there is no action and it's mostly just talking amongst the leads in a few different indoor/outdoor settings, then don't look here. However, if you find Eric Rohmer films, and French films that are very "talky" engaging, then this is one of the better ones.

The leads in this films all give wonderful performances and while I don't like every Rohmer film, I liked this one a lot. Even though it is all talking throughout, the conversations and script kept me intrigued and I found the movie flew buy in a good way (normally talky pictures seem to drag on and on).

The plot is basically a beautiful 18-year-old French girl (the redhead on the DVD cover) meets a late 20's/early 30's girl at a party where they are both bored and become friends. The 18-year-old despises her late 30's/early 40's father's girlfriend and believes that if she puts her new friend togther with her dad, he will fall for her and forget his fiancee. That's basically it but the characters keep you focused and quite interested on their simple interactions.

The settings are plain, but rather nice-looking French decor. Even though it's a late 80's film, I didn't see much in it to make you think you were in that time frame. A film that looks very fresh today. Also, the MGM-World Films line does a much better job of the transfer than the rest of Rohmer's films, which are done by the folks at Fox/Lorber. The picture quality is far superior and you can change and remove the subtitles (unlike the Lorber films which are burned in). ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Big Budget film does so-so on the Asian Market.
This film was originally going to be the sequel to Jackie Chan's blockbuster hit "Young Master" and carry the title "Young Master in Love", however, during the making of this film the plot changed from having connection to the original so the title "Dragon Lord" was given. This film was given the title Dragon Strike though because it is the English dubbed version. Jackie has many scenes, which actually included no gung fu at all and were taking place inside a sports arena. Some 50-200 shots were taken on a hackiack scene! Jackie ends up accidentally finding a gangs secret hideout and discovers a smuggling plot to illegally export Chinese artifacts. This film does have a few good fight scenes and is the first of his modern Hong Kong films. It also stars the famous Yuen Biao, which is a happy side note. Not a bad film for the martial arts/Hong Kong film viewer. Also a good pick for Chan fans. All together, Dragon Strike is a film worth owning.

Dragon Lord : Don't be confused, This is a good film.
Dragon Lord is the first good Jackie Chan film. All the elements of a classic Jackie Chan film came together in this film for the first time: 1) The well-trained but clumsy underdog hero whose adolescent tendencies get him into big trouble. 2) The use of almost cartoonish humor, blended with spectacular, sometimes death defying stunt work 3)sometimes brutal hand to hand fights with a bare minimum of bone breaking sound effects or blood.

This was only the second film Jackie directed. His first was Young Master and that film established Jackie as the martial arts Buster Keaton. However that film could not break out of the utterly formulaic restrictions the martial arts film and producers insisted upon.

Dragon Lord does change the formula and drastically. It also was not a box office success in Hong Kong and Jackie would work with his friends and Sammo (and fufill his contractual obligation to appear in the dreadful Cannonball Run 2 in 1983) before directing his first full-fledged Chan-masterpiece Project A in 1984. Dragon Lord was originally conceived as a sequel to Young Master, to be called Young Master in Love. But continuity did not allow the film to be an official sequel. It was first released (barely) to the U.S. as The Dragon Strikes in 1982. At this point in his career, Jackie knew he was not going to follow in the footsteps and be the new Bruce Lee for producer director Lo Wei. He had other things in mind and almost got what he was after with Dragon Lord.

For nearly the entire first hour of Dragon Lord , Dragon (Chan) and his best friend Cowboy (Mars) vie for the attentions of a young woman who's name we later learn is Sexxy. We are treated to an incredible display of stunt work in a opening title sequence of a Football game (not soccer) , Chinese Style. Forget about protective gear or the refs calling anyone for unnecessary roughness. 90 stunt people received minor injuries and Jackie hurt his chin so bad he was in pain when he tried to talk .

Later Cowboy and Dragon run into a field of tall grass after a pheasant and meet a desperate man trying to hide from some thugs. The thugs start to rough up Cowboy and Dragon but realize they are just kids and not connected to the man they want.

Dragon, sneaks out of his house and gets away from his studies to try and meet the young woman of his dreams but runs into his best friend and rival Cowboy. Cowboy seems to take the upper hand with a dirty trick performed in front of Dragon's father. But Dragon gets another opportunity and he has a plan. The plan involves staging an attack so that supposedly Cowboy can be a hero, but instead it's Dragon that is about to become a hero. Tempers flare however and Cowboy and Dragon fight and it becomes clear the attack was staged. The girl is not impressed and Cowboy and Dragon get into trouble and stop being friends.

Eventually the two friends make up and compete in a Chinese shuttlecck match which is played like soccer only instead of a ball the players use a shuttlecck )without rackets keeping it off the ground and moving it around without using their hands). The nearly fifteen minute sequence involving the playing of this game is a highlight of physical dexterity and stunt work. Picture the best hacky-sack players you have ever seen , now add non-stop acrobatics to the mix. Wow.

Next Dragon tries to send a note to the girl Sexxy. The kite carrying the note blows in the wrong direction and Dragon goes to retrieve it. He finds himself on a roof top and there is a top secret illegal smuggling operation going on below him. Men with spears try to get him and they almost succeed. Smugglers are stealing Ming Vases to ship out of the country illegally.

Dragon's father gives Dragon a test on his studies, and in another comic slapstick sequence Dragon manages to cheat himself through his father's examination.

This eventually all leads to a show-down with the thugs and smugglers for Cowboy and Dragon and the incredible 20 minute fight sequence finale of the film. A fight sequence which is full of all of the best of Jackie's trademark moves and humor, with only the barest minimum of any wire work or trickery. It's pure Jackie acrobatics for 20 minutes straight and a must see for all Jackie fans. He would re-stage and upgrade the fight slightly (with different characters) to end the Hong Kong film version of The Protector (the American version of this film with Danny Aielo is to be avoided except for the curious to compare it to the superior Hong Kong version of the film which Jackie re-edited and directed additional martial arts sequences for -including a new ending).

Dragon Lord doesn't represent Jackie's finest (look to Drunken Master 2 aka Legend of the Drunken Master and Project A part 2 for that). The first hour of the film feels too light and episodic. The use of music punctuates sequences in much the same way cartoon music is used. The sports sequences are knock-outs but they feel disconnected from the narrative of the film. It isn't until the final 40 minutes the film seems to come together when it generates a little bit of suspense and then delivers the knock out final fight sequence. Chan's direction and choreography though a bit repetitious after a while is impressive.

If you like Jackie Chan at all, put this one on your must see list and if your thinking maybe you'll buy it.. it's worth having!

- -Christopher J Jarmick,is the author of the steamy suspense thriller The Glass Coccon with Serena F. Holder

Uneven, but still entertaining
Dragon Lord is an interesting early directorial attempt by a very young Jackie Chan. It bounces back and forth between some strange sports and an actual story involving friends and girl chasing. Some times it's good, sometimes it drags. For me, the sporting events went on too long, although the bun pyramid race was an interesting depiction of a Chinese custom. I really enjoyed the story on this one, because the friendship between Jackie and his freind "Cowboy" was very charming, and I enjoyed their boyish pranks trying to woo a girl away from each other. The bigger plot is similar to "Drunken Master 2", with theives plotting to smuggle precious artifacts out of China -- a subject Jackie obviously feels strongly about, since it occurs again in "Rush Hour". It has a couple of exciting fights, and lots of athletic clowning which I enjoyed just as much as the fights.

Oops, wong movie!
To be honest, I haven't seen this film, but the very helpful review below is of the wrong movie! The reviewer below is referring to Dragon Fist, not Dragon Lord. They are two different movies!

Light on the Action, but Excellent Stunts!
My jaw dropped when I watched the Chinese hackey sack game. You'll cringe at the beginning of the movie as Jackie falls fromt the top of a human tower! OUCH! But the fight scenes were pretty lame and there wasn't a very good villain either. If you want a movie with a good villain and great action, get Young Master. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Jacques Rivette's exciting and delightful romantic comedy finds the French New Wave giant on familiar territory. Namely: theater as life, life as theater, and the junction where both fold together in an expansive universe of cinematic space and time. The director of such remarkably modernist classics as Celine and Julie Go Boating and La Belle Noiseuse here takes on a story of romantically entangled Parisian actors mounting a production of Luigi Pirandello's play As You Desire Me. As lovers hop in and out of ever-shifting relationships, the production comes together and opens to mixed success. The dynamics on and off the stage, between real life and theater, begin to fuse as Rivette breaks the narrative into disjointed pieces and lifts them to a higher plane of passionate resonance. An enjoyable ride and a tremendous accomplishment from a master filmmaker. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (18)

At last! The best movie of 2001.
'Va Savoir' opens with a voice in the darkness asking for lights to be turned on a stage, and the entire film can be seen as a play or a celebration of play, of acting, role-playng, creating, stories, plots. the two lead characters are actors, and in their forking narratives, bring everyone they come in contact with into their theatrical orbit. Camille is the French lead actress with an Italian touring company who are performing Pirandello's 'As You Desire Me' (the story of the amnesiac mistress of a writer who treats her like one of his creations, filmed by Hollywood with Garbo (another Camille) and Stroheim) in Paris to general indifference. During her hours off, she seeks the lover she dumped three years previously, a sheepish philosophy professsor now living with a domineering ballet teacher.

her co-star and company director Ugo, whose precise relation to Camille we don't learn until near the end, spends his days searching for an unpublished, possibly apocryphal play by his 18th century compatriot Goldoni. this paper chase leads him to the beautiful student Do, whose mother's library may hold the key, and who is instantly smitten by the older man. her brother is used to pilfering valuable books to fund his gambling habit. these two plots, intercut with apparent crudeness early on, begin to interweave to comical, romantic and magical effect, distending its mysteries and crime narrative, collapsing into a farce of dizzyingly shifting relationships and a vertiginous mock duel. 'Va Savoir' creates an enchanted world that looks superficially like ours, but operates on completely alien principles.

Jacques Rivette is one of cinema's great fabulists, but he doesn't depend for his fantasy on special effects or the literally supernatural. Every scene, even the long excerpts from the play, are filmed with plausibility and an air-brushed realism. It is in plot development that Rivette's fantasy lies. having begun the film with rehearsals for a drama, Rivette proliferates confusions between reality and illusion. there isn't a single sequence in the entire film that doesn't have characters walking down corridors, streets or paths, or walking into rooms, but these everyday events are transformed, corridors become labyrinths or secret passageways, rooms become magic chambers or dungeons, rooftops the plains of undiscovered planets. People dreaming becoming creating authors, mirrors portals to another dimension. The emphasis is on characters seeking to affirm their identity, but continually transforming, metamorphosing, renegotiating. Allusions abound, as often distracting the viewer as enlightening the theme.

'Va Savoir' plays like 'Celine and Julie go boating' (Rivette's most famous film) updated, with the theatre as haunted house, caretakers Camille and Ugo releasing all kinds of ghosts from the past. it is also similar to Bergman movies like 'the Face' or 'Fanny and alexander', their plot-displaced climaxes extended over an entire film. If Rivette has decided to charm his audience rather than challenge it, it is somehow appropriate that in this age of infantile, no-attention-span cinema, the most adventurous, enjoyable and youthful film in years is made by a 73 year old.

"... as many pregnant pauses as bon mots"
Although billed as a romantic comedy, Jacques Rivettes' relatively terse 1990 film "Va Savoir" ("Who Knows?") focuses on the priority of obsession over romance. At a few critical junctures, the tension breaks and we are allowed a nervous laugh before it resumes.

I found the whole drama oddly compelling. This is much the same reaction as I had to "The Venus Beauty Institute". And "Va Savoir" is every bit as pointless. Its two and a half hour running time allows for as many pregnant pauses as bon mots. I neither liked nor understood any of the characters, who were alternatively morose and manic. Their introversion evokes the claustrophobic feeling of the staged play within a play, Luigi Pirandello's "As You Desire Me".

The plot involves an actress Camille (Jeanne Balibar), who is returning to her native Paris after three years in the Italian theatre company directed by her Italian lover Ugo (Sergio Castellitto). She becomes re-acquainted with her previous lover in Paris, a Heidegger-obsessed professor of philosophy (Jacques Bonaffe), who is living in their former apartment with an ex-con ballet-teaching feng-shui practicing lover Sonia (Marianne Basler). Meanwhile, Ugo seeks out a manuscript to a lost play, crossing the path of a literature student/ingenue Do (Helene de Fougerolles), in one of the the most photogenic libraries encountered since "A Name of the Rose". Do's mysterious, ladies man of a brother Arthur (Bruno Todeschini) becomes involved shortly thereafter. The rest of the movie sees the various characters face off alone (yes, they're all deeply conflicted, even with themselves), one on one, or in groups. All the loose ends are summarily tied up or discarded in a grand finale on stage, a contrivance on a par with the Marx Brothers' "Coconuts".

(Note: I watched this with English subtitles and I speak neither French nor Italian.)

My favorite movie of 2001
When I saw "Va Savoir" in theaters, I loved it so much that I stayed in my seat for the next showing (with the film's lethargic 154-min running time, that's around 5 hours or so) and I enjoyed every second of it. I just love the characters in this film. The way they talk, the dialogue, the situations and places they find themselves in, all of it magical. I do not understand people saying the film is enjoyable, but not heavy or a "major Rivette", which I wholeheartedly disagree with (I find this to be Rivette's best work since "La Belle Noiseuse"). I have seen the film around 6 or 7 times and have yet to tire of it. For anyone looking for a charming, intelligent, hugely entertaining, and romantic movie...this is it. Highly recommended.

VA GARBAGZE IS MORE LIKE IT
THIS MOVIE HAS ALL THE EXCITEMENT OF A FRONTAL LOBOTOMY.FRENCH NEW WAVE IS JUST ANOTHER TERM FOR UTTER GARBAGE. THIS MOVIE CAN BE USED TO HELP CURE SLEEP APNIA.

I agree.... so boring I had to turn it off...
Now I've seen quite a good share of foreign films. Maybe it is my ignorance on theatrical names and topics in the film, but I could not follow any of it. The characters were very dry and distant. It has a very disappointing ending and the plot is just very slow moving.

Not very highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Big Budget film does so-so on the Asian Market.
This film was originally going to be the sequel to Jackie Chan's blockbuster hit "Young Master" and carry the title "Young Master in Love", however, during the making of this film the plot changed from having connection to the original so the title "Dragon Lord" was given. This film was given the title Dragon Strike though because it is the English dubbed version. Jackie has many scenes, which actually included no gung fu at all and were taking place inside a sports arena. Some 50-200 shots were taken on a hackiack scene! Jackie ends up accidentally finding a gangs secret hideout and discovers a smuggling plot to illegally export Chinese artifacts. This film does have a few good fight scenes and is the first of his modern Hong Kong films. It also stars the famous Yuen Biao, which is a happy side note. Not a bad film for the martial arts/Hong Kong film viewer. Also a good pick for Chan fans. All together, Dragon Strike is a film worth owning.

Dragon Lord : Don't be confused, This is a good film.
Dragon Lord is the first good Jackie Chan film. All the elements of a classic Jackie Chan film came together in this film for the first time: 1) The well-trained but clumsy underdog hero whose adolescent tendencies get him into big trouble. 2) The use of almost cartoonish humor, blended with spectacular, sometimes death defying stunt work 3)sometimes brutal hand to hand fights with a bare minimum of bone breaking sound effects or blood.

This was only the second film Jackie directed. His first was Young Master and that film established Jackie as the martial arts Buster Keaton. However that film could not break out of the utterly formulaic restrictions the martial arts film and producers insisted upon.

Dragon Lord does change the formula and drastically. It also was not a box office success in Hong Kong and Jackie would work with his friends and Sammo (and fufill his contractual obligation to appear in the dreadful Cannonball Run 2 in 1983) before directing his first full-fledged Chan-masterpiece Project A in 1984. Dragon Lord was originally conceived as a sequel to Young Master, to be called Young Master in Love. But continuity did not allow the film to be an official sequel. It was first released (barely) to the U.S. as The Dragon Strikes in 1982. At this point in his career, Jackie knew he was not going to follow in the footsteps and be the new Bruce Lee for producer director Lo Wei. He had other things in mind and almost got what he was after with Dragon Lord.

For nearly the entire first hour of Dragon Lord , Dragon (Chan) and his best friend Cowboy (Mars) vie for the attentions of a young woman who's name we later learn is Sexxy. We are treated to an incredible display of stunt work in a opening title sequence of a Football game (not soccer) , Chinese Style. Forget about protective gear or the refs calling anyone for unnecessary roughness. 90 stunt people received minor injuries and Jackie hurt his chin so bad he was in pain when he tried to talk .

Later Cowboy and Dragon run into a field of tall grass after a pheasant and meet a desperate man trying to hide from some thugs. The thugs start to rough up Cowboy and Dragon but realize they are just kids and not connected to the man they want.

Dragon, sneaks out of his house and gets away from his studies to try and meet the young woman of his dreams but runs into his best friend and rival Cowboy. Cowboy seems to take the upper hand with a dirty trick performed in front of Dragon's father. But Dragon gets another opportunity and he has a plan. The plan involves staging an attack so that supposedly Cowboy can be a hero, but instead it's Dragon that is about to become a hero. Tempers flare however and Cowboy and Dragon fight and it becomes clear the attack was staged. The girl is not impressed and Cowboy and Dragon get into trouble and stop being friends.

Eventually the two friends make up and compete in a Chinese shuttlecck match which is played like soccer only instead of a ball the players use a shuttlecck )without rackets keeping it off the ground and moving it around without using their hands). The nearly fifteen minute sequence involving the playing of this game is a highlight of physical dexterity and stunt work. Picture the best hacky-sack players you have ever seen , now add non-stop acrobatics to the mix. Wow.

Next Dragon tries to send a note to the girl Sexxy. The kite carrying the note blows in the wrong direction and Dragon goes to retrieve it. He finds himself on a roof top and there is a top secret illegal smuggling operation going on below him. Men with spears try to get him and they almost succeed. Smugglers are stealing Ming Vases to ship out of the country illegally.

Dragon's father gives Dragon a test on his studies, and in another comic slapstick sequence Dragon manages to cheat himself through his father's examination.

This eventually all leads to a show-down with the thugs and smugglers for Cowboy and Dragon and the incredible 20 minute fight sequence finale of the film. A fight sequence which is full of all of the best of Jackie's trademark moves and humor, with only the barest minimum of any wire work or trickery. It's pure Jackie acrobatics for 20 minutes straight and a must see for all Jackie fans. He would re-stage and upgrade the fight slightly (with different characters) to end the Hong Kong film version of The Protector (the American version of this film with Danny Aielo is to be avoided except for the curious to compare it to the superior Hong Kong version of the film which Jackie re-edited and directed additional martial arts sequences for -including a new ending).

Dragon Lord doesn't represent Jackie's finest (look to Drunken Master 2 aka Legend of the Drunken Master and Project A part 2 for that). The first hour of the film feels too light and episodic. The use of music punctuates sequences in much the same way cartoon music is used. The sports sequences are knock-outs but they feel disconnected from the narrative of the film. It isn't until the final 40 minutes the film seems to come together when it generates a little bit of suspense and then delivers the knock out final fight sequence. Chan's direction and choreography though a bit repetitious after a while is impressive.

If you like Jackie Chan at all, put this one on your must see list and if your thinking maybe you'll buy it.. it's worth having!

- -Christopher J Jarmick,is the author of the steamy suspense thriller The Glass Coccon with Serena F. Holder

Uneven, but still entertaining
Dragon Lord is an interesting early directorial attempt by a very young Jackie Chan. It bounces back and forth between some strange sports and an actual story involving friends and girl chasing. Some times it's good, sometimes it drags. For me, the sporting events went on too long, although the bun pyramid race was an interesting depiction of a Chinese custom. I really enjoyed the story on this one, because the friendship between Jackie and his freind "Cowboy" was very charming, and I enjoyed their boyish pranks trying to woo a girl away from each other. The bigger plot is similar to "Drunken Master 2", with theives plotting to smuggle precious artifacts out of China -- a subject Jackie obviously feels strongly about, since it occurs again in "Rush Hour". It has a couple of exciting fights, and lots of athletic clowning which I enjoyed just as much as the fights.

Oops, wong movie!
To be honest, I haven't seen this film, but the very helpful review below is of the wrong movie! The reviewer below is referring to Dragon Fist, not Dragon Lord. They are two different movies!

Light on the Action, but Excellent Stunts!
My jaw dropped when I watched the Chinese hackey sack game. You'll cringe at the beginning of the movie as Jackie falls fromt the top of a human tower! OUCH! But the fight scenes were pretty lame and there wasn't a very good villain either. If you want a movie with a good villain and great action, get Young Master. ... Read more

Description

Pier Paolo Pasolini's (Decameron) startling candor and ribald humor illuminate these classic tales of romance, deception, murder and lust. A host of passionate lovers unite for a glorious, sometimes unexpected journey through Chaucer's medieval England. ... 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

Reviews (18)

The most thrilling, spectacular and entertaining movie ever
I consider myself to be Jackie Chans most loyal fan. I own almost 20 of his martial arts movies, including classics from Police Story to Who am I. The Young Master is an absolutely essential purchase for anyones martial arts collection, which is guaranteed to remain a highly regarded Jackie Chan classic. The movie is set during Chans younger days in cinema and demonstrates his amazing skill in martial arts as well as his great talent in entertaining the viewer through his humorous performances. He even sings the song to the ending of the movie. The film really does show how energetic and original Jackie is, and this is the main reason why I simply admire his artistic talent. The Young Master tells the story of an orphan named Dragon (Jackie) and shows how he struggles to set his friend free from the evil clutches of Master Kam. The master uses his friend to commit a number of crimes and in the process people confuse Jackie with his friend and mistake him for the criminal. The final showdown shows Jackie confronting the Master in a well-coreographed and extremely realsitic fight scene. This is the first most important movie which catapulted Chans career for Golden Harvest Productions and established himself as a great perfomer in all aspects and not only in kung-fu. In conclusion, this is the most thrilling, spectacular and entertaining movie which I have ever seen, and from all his greatest hits this has to be the most enjoyable.

Jackie Chan at his best?
There's no doubt about it. Jackie Chan is one of the most talented martial arts stars in the world. While The Young Master was the 2nd movie Jackie Chan ever directed, it was his first film for Golden Harvest Productions.

The Lion Dance was really awesome, and was a great way to start the movie out, setting the pace for the rest of the movie. It truly was great, and is a scene you really have to respect. The rest of the fight scenes are for the most part your average Jackie Chan kicks, flips, punches, and lunges. But what's really cool is the bench fighting. Really good stuff, which is often seen in some of Jackie's newer films, but not to the same extent. But what was probably the best part of the movie was the final battle. It was really exciting, and really funny. Truly Jackie Chan at his best.

The story and acting are also a step above most of Jackie's older films. Sure, there was plenty of Jackie's trademark "over-acting", but not nearly as much with most of his older films. This is the movie where Jackie Chan really started to shine in the acting department. From his funny sense of humor (which never fails at making me laugh), to his deadly seriousness (which is still funny most of the time), Jackie Chan really entertains in The Young Master.

The only thing that keep this movie from getting 5 Stars is, while it's entertaining, the bad dub voices spoil the experience. While this movie was basically a step above most of Jackie's older films in every way, the only catigory that remained at the same level was the cheesey voice acting. I'm sorry. Maybe if I'd seen the subtitled version I would have given it 5 Stars, but I haven't. But 4 Stars will have to do, sorry Jackie.

With the minor dubb problems aside, this is truly an exellent Jackie Chan flick, which all fans simply can't be without. Buy The Young Master today, and I promise you won't be dissapointed. Just don't forget to go with the Widescreen Edition, becuase the action scenes may suffor in the formatted version. - Ducky

A little-known classic
This is a great Chan film with great choreography and some really great comedy. I'm surprised by how unknown it is... I rarely see it for sale or rental in the stores, but it really is on par with films like Drunken Master or Fearless Hyena. If you liked those films check this one out!

The Young Master (1980)
Jackie plays a young kung fu student who disovers that his martial arts brother, Tiger, is secretly betraying their Master. However when Tiger gets framed for murder and Jackie gets mistaken for Tiger Jackie's forced to prove his innocence and Tiger's.

One of Chan's best earlier films
There's no doubt about it, Jackie Chan is one of the most accomplished martial arts action stars in the world today, but long before he made it to the North American mainstream, this little beauty was alive and well in Hong Kong. Other than the 1977 version of Drunken Master, this has got to be the best film I've seen from Jackie Chan in his earlier period. The fight scenes are truly a spectacle to behold. The lion dance is one thing, but the actual fighting is just superb. During the scene where the crime boss is released from the custody of the authorities, he delievers the greatest kick I have ever seen. I must have stopped and rewinded about 8 times! The sound is not bad at all, and the picture is not too shabby either. The story and plot is pretty good, even if some dialouge leaves more to be desired. Other than that, no complaints. The Young Master is really something to see, and I would recommend it to those who truly enjoy Jackie Chan's martial art skill! ... 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

Reviews (1)

Tour de farce
This is a verry funny movie that is irreverent towards several aspects of Mexican society. A satirical punch in the face of big business and its leaders and the corruption power spawns. This movie is deserving of a review rather than an annonymous play on words. There is some good acting , especially by Fernando Lujan and Julietta Equrrola, both of whom won awards at the prestigious Guadalajara Film Festival 2000. The film also won Best Picture at the festival. They won best actor and actress for their performances as a married couple living in Mexico City. Fernando Lujan is Enrique aka William to his mistress Rita who is an aspiring rock star . Enrique is part of a company that is invloved in drug dealing and money laundering while fronting as a distributor of milk for social programs. His wife Elena is always fantasizing in soap operas, seeing herself in various roles(she even dresses up as a super heroine) but is caught in an unhappy mariage. She gets wind of her husbands philandering via video tape and thinks it is joke until she meets the mistress. One of the funniest scenes is when she accidently drinks a drug spiked litre of orange juice while listening to Rita's band and everything suddenly is lovely and the story takes an odd turn. There are also a couple of inept kidnappers who take Enrique in the meantime where a whole series of outrageous scenes develop. It is a movie that will make you laugh as no punches are held back when it somes to societies ills in the form of corruption, money laudering, infidelity, kidnapping, robbery and crooked business deals. It is a farce of the highest order. There is much to see in this film as things are constantly happening away from the main action as muggers and car jackers go unnoticed and people nonchalantly go about their everyday business. The comedy of errors by the dim witted kinappers is hilarious as is the persona of Enrique during his captor. Mexican rockera Julietta Venegas lends her talents to the musical soundtrack for some memorable tracks that Rita lip syncs. It is movie that is similar to other films from Mexico like "Todo El Poder" and "La Ley De Herodes." Recommended for people who can laugh at Mexican culture, themselves and a good satirical look at modern society. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Playing murder as farce is nothing new for French filmmakers, but Bertrand Blier brings the concept to a new level in Buffet Froid, a bleak, ironic black comedy. An unemployed man is enmeshed in a nightmarish situation that plays itself out with unapologetic illogic: he falls in with shady characters like his wife's killer, a corrupt police chief, and a young beauty who is definitely not what she seems. Like all Blier romps (most notably the scatological Going Places and Ménage), Buffet Froid is definitely not for everyone, and Gérard Depardieu fans might feel especially cheated by his passive performance. But if your own taste runs to the surrealistic dreamscapes of Luis Buñuel's final films, then Blier's cheerfully amoral tale is worth seeing. --Kevin Filipski ... Read more

Reviews (15)

BEST SERVED COLD
The blackest of black comedies, Bertrand Blier's surreal "BUFFET FROID" (Fox Lorber,...), stars Depardieu as Alphonse, a jobless man who may or may not be a murderer and his relationships with his wife's killer, an oddball police inspector and other cynical misfits.

Very French in it's skewed perspective and very cold-hearted in its execution, this bizarre film is from the director of the shockingly funny "Get Out Your Handkerchiefs" and the equally disturbing ugly love story "To Beautiful For You." When I first saw this movie it held my attention and I thought about it for days. Seeing it again, I recall that I never had emotional or intellectual closure. It's meaning escaped me and the subtext was unsettling. I was not enlightened about life but only allowed to share a dream where life is unpredictable, has no meaning and the attempt to seek answers is the first step in one's eventual downfall. Pretty cold servings to digest (hence the title?). Still, this singularly bizarre tale from 1979 is worth seeing. Maybe somewhere in this material is the key to David Lynch's "Mullholland Dr."

The best black comedy in the seventies
In the best tradition of Luis Buñuel and a touch of Billy Wilder, this puzzle comedy turns around three paranoid men each one with his particular focus.
Blier plays the role of the policeman who decides to break the rules.
Depardieu as always is top notch.
The script sails between the irony and the tragedy. It's a clever surrealistic journey about situations out of control.
Please, let the logical out your mind and be part of this well made film.
Enjoyable from beginning to end.

A buñuelian film noir
In the best tradition of the sarcasticc, ironic and devasting spirit of Luis Buñuel's filmography (and obviously a Billy Wilder's touch), the film runs by its own with a masterful plot brilliant travels and remarkable performances.
Blier made a film absolutely free of any kind of convencionalism, intelligent humor, clever sense of absurd and mesmerizing laberyntic journey into the underworld, the acid view about a policeman who decides breaking the rules together with two men who are under a high stress anguish by different reasons . Suddenly all the sense of reality suffers a blackout and you become part of it.
Watch this film. And convince by yourself this is a fascinating tale, a brilliant work, and an unforgettable movie in any age.
You'll be widely rewarded. And please, forget the logical and drown in this surrealistic story.
Eternally enjoyable.
Depardieu as always at his top.

Death Warmed Up
"Buffet Froid" is a thriller without thrills, a murder mystery with no solution, and a comedy that's only funny to a certain type of person. When you add all these ingredients up, you get one heck of a surrealist piece. It is a movie many people will hate after just one viewing. It is bleak, morbid, ruthless, and bizarre in its apparent lack of concern for plot or realism. When I watched in my high-school French class, there wasn't much laughter, though there was a lot of "What??" and "Oh, my God..." I didn't hate it, though. I was quite intrigued.

The film opens in a metro station, where a young man named Alphonse (Gerard Depardieu) attempts to engage an unfriendly older man in conversation. Oddly, the man warms up when the topic of duscussion switches to death and murder. Alphonse produces a switchblade knife, and it's hard to tell if he's threatening or just emphasizing his words. The knife vanishes; the older man grows frightened and flees on a train; and very shortly afterward, Alphonse finds him lying in a passageway with the knife buried in his stomach. Is Alphonse the murderer? Not even he knows.

Alphonse goes home, where his wife doesn't react at all upon learning of the murder. They live in a cheerless apartment halfway up a large tenement complex that is completely uninhabited except for them and their new upstairs neighbor, a police chief. Alphonse's wife goes missing and turns up murdered in a vacant lot, and before we know it, a short, nervous man is knocking on Alphonse's door and introducing himself as the murderer. Alphonse invites him in for a drink, and they are soon joined by the police chief ("I'd like you to meet my wife's murderer." "Pleasure."). Then another man shows up who wants Alphonse to assassinate someone for him, but the victim turns out to be...and so on.

"Buffet Froid" may not look like a surrealist piece, but it definitely is. All throughout the movie, there's a sense of wrongness and unreality. Alphonse, the chief, and the murderer form a kind of alliance and have an odd series of adventures that all result in someone's death. Over the course of the film, no less than fifteen people are shot, stabbed, strangled, drowned, or suffocated, and yet the characters never react to the deaths with anything other than vague interest or mild annoyance. Everyone in the movie is either a murderer or has the potential to be one. No one behaves like a normal human being would in the circumstances, and this makes the film much more unpredictable and unsettling.

It's not just the acting, either. The cinematography is all browns, grays, and earthy colors, with an occaisonal startling splash of bright red (not blood; there is no blood anywhere in the film, despite all the death). There is virtually no music, except in a bizarre scene where Alphonse and the police chief visit a wealthy home and the chief is literally tortured by a string quintet. The scenes have little connection, and the motives of the characters are completely random, except for one person who I won't reveal. The closing scenes involve a bridge, a rowboat, and an ironic final twist that brings the plot in a macabre full circle. As the end credits roll, you feel unsatisfied because you're used to a conclusion that makes sense and wraps everything up. Oh, "Buffet Froid" wraps everything up, but definitely not in a happily-ever-after kind of way.

So, these are my thoughts on this peculiar little film. I recommend it to fans of surrealism and/or morbid humor. I can't say how much I "liked" it, but I admired its style and unapologetic ghoulishness. As long as France keeps making weird movies, I suppose I'll keep watching them. That is all.

comedy's hard to do...black comedy even tougher
I'm a fan of "Get Out Your Hankerchiefs" so assumed this offering from the same director would at least be enjoyable. I kept waiting for something funny to be done or said. I waited and waited. "The Trouble With Harry" or "Dr.Strangelove" are both great black comedies. This strives to be in their league but falls way short of the mark. It's possible that something's lost in the translation because to give the subtitles a dry read is to only further understand why French people revere Jerry Lewis-silliness in a somewhat surreal setting (wow, listen to that alliteration) does not necessarily make for a good comedy. Also the lack of subtlety (in every way with every character)makes this particularly off-putting. I'm at a loss as to how anyone could consider this even mediocre, much less brilliant. ... Read more

Description

The late Leslie Cheung (The Bride With White Hair, Farewell My Concubine) stars in this Hong Kong remake of Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria. Tomboy Lam (Anita Yuen in a performance that won her the Best Actress award at the 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards) is so obsessed with pop music diva Rose (Carina Lau) that she decides to disguise as a man to meet her idol at a singing audition. There, Lam meets Sam (Cheung), Rose's producer-boyfriend who signs the talentless "boy" to a recording contract to spite his moody girlfriend. It doesn't take long before Rose--and Sam--find themselves both falling for Lam! ... Read more

Description

"A must-see!" - CHICAGO READER** GRAND JURY PRIZE, VENICE FILM FESTIVAL ** "Four stars!" - CHICAGO TRIBUNE-The NEW YORK TIMES called it "wise, sad, chilling and funny" and the CHICAGO READER said BRIGANDS, CHAPTER VII is "a witty, despairing art movie." Vano, the main character, is the king of a country so beautiful and so rich that all the neighboring countries are jealous. But he is soon beset by treachery, and even his wife deceives him.Jumping through time, director Otar Iosseliani also situates Vano in the heyday of Communism, and in today’s Paris, where wealthy arms dealers live it up with beautiful women. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Beware! This edition is dubbed into English!
Do not buy this 2 pack if you want the original French edition. This one is dubbed into English and was very disappointing for me to watch. The original French edition is supposedly coming out in March. So much of the flavor of this movie is lost with the dubbing.

Bardot is adorable; the film's a dud.
Bridget Bardot stars in this slight, ineffective would-be slapstick comedy, co-directed by Roger Vadim. The plot is slapdash, and while Bardot is a total babe, we don't really get much of a chance to take in her charms... she has a kooky, carefree dance scene, and wears some weird outfits during a dream sequence, but really none of it is worth sitting through the actual film.

Entertaining and fast paced comedy
I was finally able to get a reasonably clear version of this movie to properly evaluate it. You may not be so lucky.

This movie turns out to be very entertaining and amusing. The comedy is part wit and part slapstick. The entire cast is quite good. Bardot is simply adorable as the teenage daughter of a nightclub owner. She may look like a goddess but Bardot is very earthly in her ways. She is not so much naughty in this picture as she is accident prone and inept at virtually anything she attempts. Her sensuality is quite apparent but still developing at this early stage of her career.

I don't believe there is a digitally restored version of this movie. One of the production companies should do it as done with other Bardot movies. This movie then can really be enjoyed.

A French screwball comedy with sex kitten Brigitte Bardot
"Naughty Girl" ("Cette sacreu gamine") was made the year before Brigitte Bardot "...And God Created Woman" and became a world wide sensation. This film is a French version of an American screwball comedy. Bardot is a precocious schoolgirl whose father (Bernard Lancret), the owner of a Parisian nightclub called the Mississippi has to flee the city after being charged with forgery. Brigitte (that is also the character's name) ends up in the care of playboy lounge singer Jean Cleary (Jean Bretonniere), and immediately turns him life upside down, similar to Katharine Hepburn doing in Cary Grant in "Bringing Up Baby." Of course, this is Bardot, not Hepburn, although she is referred to as "a big baby" by her father during the early part of the film (the irony is lost on neither the audinece nor the gardener). But Brigitte is a handful, almost burning down Jean's apartment while ironing. The ending is a fairly dumb chair smashing brawl at the Mississippi that goes on way too long. The best sequence is an extended fantasy where Jean has to sit through a dull lecture on psychoanalysis and each of his dreams end up involving Brigitte dancing in a series of revealing outfits. "Naughty Girl" is not one of Bardot's best films, but it does capture the "sex kitten" aspect of her early film career when her characters were never aware of their incredible sexuality. Written by Bardot's husband, Roger Vadim, this 1956 French film (with English subtitles) was directed by Michel Boisrond. The film was also released in the U.S. in 1957 as "Mam'zelle Pigalle" and "The Naughty Girl," not to be confused with "Naughty Girl." Oh, the difference a le makes...

How could anyone not love Bardot ...
The storyline is simple, Brigette Bardot is a school girl who imagines that her father has an exciting other life which he is keeping from her. Little does she know that he owns a nightclub in Paris and is in trouble with the law. When he has to flee town, her father entrusts her to a nightclub singer, whose life turns topsy turvy when she goes to stay with him. The story is not the focus of the film, but rather Bardot's innocence and sensuality, the way she flaunts it throughout the film, one of the few actresses who has that child/woman duality about them. Of course, Brigette Bardot is a goddess, and if you are a fan, you should not miss this movie, it doesn't require much thought but is thoroughly enjoyable ... ... Read more

Amazon.com

This terrific, heartfelt Belgian comedy won a much-deserved Academy Award® nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000. Jean dreams of giving his daughter Marva a better life than the endless slog in the factory for which he fears she's destined. He does everything he can to launch her to singing stardom, but Marva, shy and overweight, finds the contests she enters humiliating and can barely conceal her contempt for Jean (as well as the songs he composes for her). Then fate comes along in the guise of beautiful singing star Debbie and a few sleeping pills Jean has handy. For all its broad comedy plotting, Everybody's Famous has a shining, gentle spirit and offers a touching portrait of proud fatherhood, including moving little moments such as Jean sitting on the concrete and listening through a window just to hear his daughter sing. This movie is so charming you can't help but enjoy it. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Everybody's Entertained
"Everybody's Famous" is one of the best films released in 2000. It rightfully earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film(Belgium). Its plot is highly catchy and funny. Its highly creative scenes keep everyone's interest the whole time. Its plot about a father, whose family is in poverty, who will do anything to make his daughter famous keeps everyone's eyes wide open, especially while he's taking action. The plot of the #1 singing sensation's kidnapping builds to a fine climax and conlusion. In average movies, such chain of events would never work. The writer's brilliance makes every scene fit as one movie. The acting is wonderful. Everyone offers their own humor and seriousness in the right times. The song "Lucky Manuelo" has a great unforgettable rhythm that should have become a hit in real life. "Everybody's Famous" is a great comedy for those looking for something unique. This will please many during and after viewing.

Charming movie about following that dream
In looking at the blue-haired Debbie on the cover, one might think, "Oh great, a bimbo picture for teenagers and young people." Think again--this is a quirky but refreshing feature from Belgium, set in Flanders. And by the way, Debbie's actually a stunning brunette with a great personality.

As for our cover girl, that's Debbie, the #1 pop sensation who's sold more records than the Beatles, Elvis, and Michael Jackson combined. Yet she seems more interested in car mechanics rather than singing, much to the chagrin of her promoter Michael.

Jean Vereecken, a worker at a bottle factory in his mid-forties, has dreams of becoming a songwriter, and thinks his daughter Marva is a talented singer. He writes songs for her but his efforts are underappreciated by his down-to-earth wife Chantal and totally unappreciated by Marva, who is irritated. Part of that comes from a lack of confidence. She is nineteen, a bit on the portly side, isn't exactly fashion model pretty, and doesn't have much of a life. Consequently, she gets low marks at the lookalike singing contests.

A crisis comes when the bottle factory goes bankrupt and all the workers get the sack. What to do? Jean's unemployment will cause him to lose more face in the eyes of his family. Jean's younger co-worker Willy, is financially supporting his girlfriend Liz, who is going to college. Any genuine feelings towards him are conspicuous by their absence. His unemployment means Liz will have to pay her own way, and that's the last thing he wants.

It's only when Debbie meets the downtrodden Jean that things begin to click a notch, and sets into motion a hairbrained scheme that draws in Willy and Michael.

Of the stars, Josse de Pauw succeeds as Jean, trying so hard, maybe too hard to please his daughter and gain her love at whatever cost. His singing attempts are clumsy but given his enthusiasm and joy at finding what he thinks is a winner is so encouraging. And if genuinely pretty and pleasant women--as opposed to fashion-model pretty--like Thekla Reuten (Debbie) were in plenty supply, this world would be a better place.

Victor Low (Michael) does a great job as a savvy businessman who's a master at artist promotion and publicity gimmicks. And Werner de Smedt plays Willy as someone who's actually sensitive and that part of him is drawn out later involving Jean's scheme.

The homages to 80's music was fun for me, as well as the lookalike contests. And there's a funny bit involving (kind of) Michael Jackson. The songs done here (not by the original artists) are Vanessa Paradis's "Be My Baby," Queen's "I Want To Break Free," and Madonna's "Material Girl."

As for the title, it's a reference to why everybody wants to be famous. Yes, it is to escape an ordinary life, but what is the result? Part of the answer comes from Debbie and involves talent. She is talented, therefore she didn't have to sleep with any managers to get to the top. And for those real-life girl singers today and yesterday who weren't talented but made it to the top? I wonder how many of those there are.

An entertaining comedy-drama that also explores the importance of being what one wants to be in one's heart, but also fighting the odds to discover that one precious dream, trying to rise above an anonymous crowd. Jean, Marva, and Debbie do just that in this charming movie.

A Belgian Oddball Comedy/Drama about a Father and a Daughter
One of the nominees at the Academy Award for Best Foreigen Film category, "Everybody's Famous" gathered considerable attention of critics, but at the same time divided their opinions. That is only natural because this Beligian film is too light-weight and predictable for all its charms and sentiments. So, which side you take totally depends on your feelings.

The story is reminiscent of the underrated Robert DeNiro - Jerry Lewis comedy satire, "The King of Comedy." A Belgian father working for a bottle factory is desperate to make his 17 year-old daughter a star. But as the terrible performance at local talent show testifies, she is no talent (but she seems to have some potential, since she can really sing at a puppet show, without showing herself up before the audience). One day, however, an incredible chance visits him. He finds a super-star singer Debbie riding a bycicle alone on the road, and inspite of his better judgement, he kiddnaps her, to threaten the producer into making the much-coveted TV debut for his beloved daughter.

After these initial events, there are some plot twists leading up to the final moment. I don't know how Belgian people reacted to the film, but I, being a Japanese, found the Flemish humors (if there are) very strange and unique. Of course, that depends on you and your culture, but maybe, I am afraid, during the process of translation we have lost many things. I suspect that, whatever the reason may be, it is nearly impossible for most of English-speaking viewers to seek for the kind of laughs you find in regular Hollywood outings.

But you still can enjoy the film as it is, and the father's love for his daughter is a universal theme, which is possibly the best thing of "Everybody's Famous." The last sequence is certainly heart-warming, but I still am not sure whether I really appreciated the film in the right way. That is because the film's satires on show biz world and craze for 15 minutes celebrity are, for me, are too self-evident these days when we have so many "reality TVs" and instant celebrities around us. If only the director developed the initial premise, that's how I thought.

The father is played effectively by Josse De Pauw, and also good is Debbie played by Thekla Reuten (if you are looking at a mysterious blue-haired girl on DVD jacket, that is her). But the father's daughter, key character of the film, is played by a newcomer (auditioned for the role, I read) Eva Van der Gucht, who clearly needs more training as a professional. She is no Toni Colette, who could have easily raised the credibility of the film several notches higher.

"Lucky Manuelo!"
What happens when a father's love for his child brings him to commit abduction? This Belgian film is an extremely accessible film as the themes are universal. A father has such strong love for his daughter, but his daughter sees him as unsupportive and his wife plays the middle of the fence. So, when he loses his job, he gets desperate and takes illegal action to get his daughter a record contract. But who is blackmailing whom? This film is extremely enjoyable with a similar flavor to the equally charming THE FULL MONTY. The DVD has very little to offer other than the widescreen film. Well worth the Best Foreign Film Oscar nomination from 2000.

Those amusing Belgians......
In Europe, the Belgians are generally held to be the butt of jokes, especially by their French neighbours, in the same way that the English are always making Irish jokes. However in recent years there have been a number of films that have come from that little country which have shown a dark and wicked humour. This film, while not quite as original as the hilarious "The Carriers are Waiting" does have enough camp humour to keep viewers entertained.

Working at a bottle factory, Dad has dreams for his not-so-talented daughter, who is forever coming last in the local talent contests. He also believes he has a pop hit on his hands, with a tune that he has been humming. As chance would have it, he comes across .... What follows is a mostly funny, sometimes cruel look at the notion of celebrity and the lengths people will go to in order to achieve it - a natural bedfellow, though not in the same class as Scorcese's "King of Comedy".

The humour is not terribly subtle but scores in the talent show scenes, especially the Michael Jackson lookalike and the blacken-faced man who does Otis Redding and also with Marva, the daughter, ....

That aside, it is an entertaining diversion in the same way as "Muriel's Wedding" was, and I dare you not to hum 'Lucky Manuelo' days after watching this! ... Read more