Description

Meet handsome Archie MacDonald, a reluctant young Scottish laird torn between his trendy London life and the call of his wild Highland ancestry.You'll be seduced by breathtaking scenery, marvelously original and amusing scripts, and eccentric, thoroughly lovable characters.This pack contains all 16 episodes from Series 1 and2 of the heartwarming comedy-drama. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Best of BBC
I have watched many BBC productions, but this is the greatest of all, I wish they would hurry and release 3 & 4. For 4 nights I have watched the program and have decided to keep this set and not sell as I do with so many others. I will watch them again when they release the others. Archie is the best, Hector is the funniest and I love all things Scottish. If you have a chance to buy this set, go ahead you won't be sorry. Ellie ... Read more

Description

One of the most influential films in the history of political cinema, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers focuses on the harrowing events of 1957, a key year in Algeria’s struggle for independence from France. Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film vividly recreates the tumultuous Algerian uprising against the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, the French torture prisoners for information and the Algerians resort to terrorism in their quest for independence. Children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés. The French win the battle, but ultimately lose the war as the Algerian people demonstrate that they will no longer be suppressed. The Criterion Collection is proud present Gillo Pontecorvo’s tour de force—a film with astonishing relevance today. ... Read more

Reviews (40)

VERY POWERFUL CAUTIONARY TALE
I finally got around to seeing this 1967 film, depicting the French occupation of colonial Algiers in the 1950s, which eventually led to the independence of this Muslim nation. It is well worth watching in order to learn lessons about the Iraq aftermath, although one should not make too many connections. The biggest difference is that the French wanted to stay and maintain the country as a colony, whereas the U.S. cannot wait to get the heck out of Iraq as soon as it is semi-secure. This film is black-and-white with sub-titles. It is very revealing in its descriptions of how terrorists (or freedom fighters) fight guerrilla war, and it is the last straw (after Diem bien Phu) for French militarism. Read Camus to get a perspective on their mindset at the time. The film ends with the French having destroyed the cell responsible for a series of bombings, but in its denoument shows that a few years later an uprising occurred, out of nowhere really, that finally left the French with the conclusion that they did not have the stomach for colonialization. This story should be studied in light of French failures in Syria, Lebanon, its Foreign Legion's wars (plus Belgium's failure in the Congo), and the determination of this study is that the French have contributed mightily to destabilization of the Middle East, a little known fact in today's discourse.

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
...

Realisitc reenactment of a time and place steeped in blood
This is the story of the Algerian struggle for independence from the French between 1954 and 1957. As the Algerians finally achieved independence in 1962, the government was quite willing to allow the Italian filmmakers to shoot the film in 1965 in the very areas of former battle, especially since it is sympathetic to the fight for freedom. Released in the U.S. in 1967, it has the look and feel of documentary, scenes shot with hand-held cameras, the black and white film purposefully scratchy. It looks so real that there is a disclaimer at the beginning asserting that it is not a documentary and there was absolutely no newsreel footage used.

All the actors are unknowns, chosen for their authenticity. There are a lot of close-ups of faces, and the fact that these were real Algerians, with recent memories of the turmoil in their country, certainly comes through. This is not simply a patriotic paean to the freedom fighters however. There is terror and loss of life on both sides. There is one scene where three Algerian women, disguised as French, place bombs around the city. Innocent lives are lost and the tragedy is not lessened because the women are fighting for a cause. Wisely, the filmmakers are willing to look at the tragedy without sparing the horror on both sides of the equation.

The characters were only developed in relation to the battle. I therefore identified with them as a general principle and did not get to experience them as individuals. This was the screenwriter's intent of course. But it didn't keep my mind glued to the story and I found myself fighting off the desire to doze off as I had to be engaged in reading the English subtitles for the French and Arabic dialogue. There was one incident after another of bombing, retaliation and torture. This was certainly not a fun film to watch, which I viewed at Lillian Vernon Center for International Studies in New York where the room was overheated and the hard metal chair uncomfortable. It lasted for 117 minutes, which seemed just a little too long to make its point.

"The Battle of Algiers" is the story of the bloody beginnings of the birth of a nation. Unfortunately, though, the blood bath has continued. Algeria has been engaged in civil wars almost from its inception. And there is still no peace there today.

Ground-breaking film is a must-see
I'll review the actual film instead of rambling on about the politics. The Battle of Algiers is a ground-breaking, must-see film. If you have seen recent films like "Traffic" and "City of God (Cidade de Deus)", then you must see this film, for it pioneered the documentary-style utilized by those other films that puts the grit and gravel under your feet while you watch it. The film does not purport to be a documentary, but rather than the clean, sweeping, over-directed camera shots you may be used to, the camera is usually on the ground, following the characters from their point of view. The action is brutally realistic (for its time). And the film-maker is certainly sympathetic with the plight of the Algerians in their struggle against the French; you will be too, if you do not share the naive view that colonialism is somehow there to "protect" the colonized population. Nevertheless, the filmmaker shows some of the atrocities committed in the name of Algerian independence, such as cafe bombings that killed dozens of innocent people. He doesn't sugarcoat these scenes, and he leaves it up to the audience to decide whether this kind of action can ever be justified (I certainly don't think so).

This film is even more relevent today, as another Arab nation undergoes colonization once again by the West. Watch this film, and you will understand a lot more about the contemporary situation in the Middle East.

Excellent documentary-like...
...about a FEW Algerians making believe they were fighting for independence, since the state of slavery in which they reduced ALL Algerians: slavery being both religious and communist -not so many people did find it strange neither wondered why- that Moscow, although very much opposed to religions, was ALWAYS very sympathetic towards islamism, provided it didn't show itself in USSR). Most of the Algerian people were not really conscious they were victims of colonialism: lot of them got into fight during 1st & 2nd World War, and "Les Tirailleurs Algériens" (Algerian Shooters Corps) were some of the most famous Corps, sharing renown with Senegalese for their bravery and dedication. But, of course, as everyone (with open eyes) have seen during the second half of 20th century in the biggest part of Africa, and some places around the world, it so much better to be slaughtered, martyred (and, for the survivors, to be driven back to the dark ages) by people the same skin-color, than to be protected and educated by people with a fairer skin. As well, a little known fact was, that de Gaulle, who got elected in 1958 (part of the reason being he was pro-French Algeria), had to give up in 1962 (at this time, the few remaining members of FLN could only operate from Tunisia and Morocco). That was not so long after oil was discovered in Sahara: since US oil companies did consider any newly discovered oil wells should be their own to operate, de Gaulle got an ultimatum from US government: either to give up, either to see the US adding their support to the one by USSR, which was not effective enough. Which was the main reason why de Gaulle got rid of the SHAPE and US bases in France (those who were the most sorry were the French people getting work from that presence), and maybe that was one of the reasons why Giscard d'Estaing (10 years later) gave support to Ayatollah Khomeiny (although he was not very much thanked for this by the beneficiary) against the Shah of Iran, who was, until he got in hospital, the US favorite.
I'd like very much to see a sequel to this movie, prefaced by Pontecorvo presenting his apologies for the somewhat biased making of this one (all the way more dangerous, since a very well-made one and apparently sincere: but when you know that apparent sincerity was -and still is- one of the communists' weapon of choice.....). Maybe at the time of this film release, it was fashionable to present the fight initiated by a few thugs making believe it was the legitimate fight by a nation for it's freedom, but, after half a century, when you look at what happened (and is still happening) in this country, there is only one thing anyone can be sure of : Gillio Pontecorvo's moral integrity and intellectual honesty is very much to be doubted; if not, he would have to be one of the most gullible and dumb fools to be put in the Guiness' Book of Records (which I don't think he is).

Emotionally revolutionizing
This documentary style film captures the strife and struggle that took place during this heartbreaking war. The film profoundly displays the malicious persecution and torture they succumbed to. The Algerians want independance and the french supremacists want to control. This documentary follows the uprising of the F.L.P. showing hard truths about war and terrorism. I applaud the making of this movie (Gillo Pontecorvo), standing up for freedom and liberation during such a dangerous and destructive era. Watching this movie made me cherish my freedom and reminds me to feel passionate about the things I care about the most. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

One of the first Hollywood films to deal openly with white racism toward Japanese Americans during World War II, this drama directed by 1950s action maestro John Sturges (The Great Escape) stars Spencer Tracy as a one-armed stranger named MacReedy, who arrives in the tiny town of Black Rock on a hot day in 1945. Seeking a hotel room and the whereabouts of an ethnic Japanese farmer named Komoko, MacReedy runs smack into a wall of hostility that escalates into serious threats. In time it becomes apparent that Komoko has been murdered by a local, racist chieftain, Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who also plans on dispensing with MacReedy. Tracy's hero is forced to fight his way past Smith's goons (among them Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin) and sundry allies (Anne Francis) to keep alive, setting the stage for memorable suspense crisply orchestrated by Sturges. Casting is the film's principal strength, however: Tracy, the indispensable icon of integrity, and Ryan, the indispensable noir image of spiritual blight, are as creatively unlikely a pairing as Sturges's shotgun marriage of Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Solid "Rock"
This is a thrilling suspense film from start to finish.Though set apparently in post World War II Arizona the film has the feel of a traditional western.One could draw parallels to another classic western, "High Noon", in that the film's protagonist MacCreedy (Spencer Tracy) is confronted with sociopathic bullies and has difficulty enlisting the aid of the few people of good will in Black Rock.Whereas "High Noon" was considered a metaphor for McCarthyism, "Bad Day at Black Rock" tackles the theme of racism, in this case the prejudice that was prevalent at the time against Americans of Japanese descent.John Sturges crafts such an effective tale that you don't feel you are being preached to.Tracy is solid as the one-armed inquisitor.The supporting cast is all first-rate with Robert Ryan, Ernest Borgnine, and Lee Marvin especially good as the creepy heavies.Great Technicolor and tremendous use of widescreen on display here.Andre Previn contributes an effective score.

Audio track for french language - discusting
The english audio track is good, but as far as the french track it's not worth a penny, noise on the track are so loud; My French friends we're so disappointed.
I think WB is producing full sh.. DVD and have no respect for customer. They don't do quality testing on DVD products...
It's an excellent movie, but not the right compagny to produce a DVD...

Excellent!
Spencer Tracy as the mysterious man in black. What is he doing in a small middle of nowhere desert town? It's film noir in color! It's absolutely fascinating and when it's ended, one has to see it over again because it's almost a perfect movie. There are no wasted shots. And the music score by Andre Previn is a perfect compliment to this widescreen thriller. It has Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, and Robert Ryan at their nastiest!! It's great!!

Tracy at his best
Tracy portrays a one-armed man who arrived in a small town only
to discover it is hiding things.Led by Robert Ryan he is stonewalled in discovering the truth but eventually does. This
film also features Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine in supporting
roles.This is a perfect film to watch Tracy.He appears to be
doing nothing but is absolutely wonderful.Anne Francis is very
good also.This is one of Tracy's finest efforts and the dvd
release is most welcome.

Myfavourite film
This is a really good thriller Weston.The cast is wonderful all first class performers especially Tracy and Ryan. It has been around in the pan form. It will be great in wide screen with a good sound track.I can't recommend it enough. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The chameleon-like actor Kevin Spacey is best known for playing pyschopaths (in Seven and The Usual Suspects) and capturing a creepy mid-life crisis in American Beauty--but surprisingly, playing crooner Bobby Darin, Spacey does some snappy dancing and top-notch singing. Beyond the Sea puts Darin's life through a bit of a kaleidoscope: While singing Darin's most memorable hit, "Mack the Knife," Darin suddenly stops the show, revealing that he's not at a nightclub, but in the middle of a shooting a scene about his life as a nightclub performer. Why has he stopped? Because he's just seen himself as a young boy, peering from behind a curtain. Such self-conscious narrative twists recur throughout the movie, turning Darin's fight for fame and respect into a love story between his adult and childhood selves. Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!), a hugely popular movie star in her own right, was supposedly the love of Darin's life, but she never holds his attention as does his childhood self (played by newcomer William Ullrich). It's a striking metaphor for the narcissism that drives such success-hungry entertainers. But despite (or perhaps because of) the complexity of the telling, the events never grip your emotions; though Darin's life featured hits galore and a few soap opera twists, his story lacks the seductive charm of his nighclub show. Also featuring Bob Hoskins, John Goodman, Brenda Blethyn, and Greta Scacchi. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (44)

Un-interesting
From what I remember of him, Bobby Darrin was a colorless character, trying to be more than his talent would allow.This is pretty much how this movie comes across.

Kevin Spacey appears to capture him well, as a vain and ultimately a lonely young man who, in the end, faded away from relevance.But this does not make for a good movie.The movie seemed to be very selective in what it presented, and created no sympathy for the man or for those around him.I was glad when it was over and I can not recommend it as worthwhile viewing.There are much better movies out there based on the life of a musician, and with more interesting characters, such as De-Lovely or Ray, and this one just does not belong in that category.

Great music and performances
I saw this movie in theatres and ever since I've thought about it quite often.Certainly will pick up this DVD - definitely a gem that was missed by many.If you are a Darin or Spacey fan for sure pick this up.If you like music-bios or enjoy the nostalgia of the 50's and 60's, this brings it all together.

A dozen years in the making
I came to this film as a Kevin Spacey fan. I was around when Darin was singing, but my interests were elsewhere. Now, I've seen a couple of his films and a DVD, and hopefully, Kevin has revived some interest in his music. For those critics, who complained Spacey was too old for the part; he was just the right age when he first tried to get backing for the film. Finally, he had to produce and direct it himself. He was born to play the part; no one else could have sang like Darin. Kevin was excellent in the role, and, directed the film with imagination and courage. He was given the cold shoulder from the Hollywood Academy Awards, and many critics used the words"vanity piece" to put the, suddenly unpopular, actor in his place. To be fair, there were some critics, Ebert and Roeper, among them, who lauded the film. Thank you Kevin, for trying the unusual and making it work for many of us. Christine Souter

Bobby Would've Been Pleased
The movie is a musical done in the style of Bobby Darin's era.As a lifelong fan of Bobby Darin, I was hoping for a straight bio with music ala "Ray" as Bobby had a fascinating life. It's always risky to make something that isn't necessary commercial but true art.It's a movie about a cool and classy guy made by a cool and classy guy.It's also nice to do without the usual lip synching.Kevin sings and sings so incredibly well that some of his vocals outshine Bobby's.For that alone, rent the DVD when it's released.For that matter, purchase the soundtrack.You won't be disappointed...it's incredible.

See for Kevin Spacey's Bravura Singing and Dancing
This is no box-office hit, and ignored by Oscar, but 'Beyond the Sea' has lots of good things in it, even if you don't know anything about Bobby Darin.Kevin Spacey made it publicly known that to make Bobby Darin's bio-pic had been his dream, and the film proves that he really meant it.Though the film could be better with different approach, 'Beyond the Sea' is still impressive for its songs, dances, and acting.

Though many remember him as the singer of pop songs like 'Splish Splash' 'Dream Lover' or various jazz numbers including 'Mack the Knife,' Bobby Darin did much more than that.Born in 1936, Bobby Darin was Oscar nominated for his supporting role in 'Captain Newman, MD' in 1963; he sang a Tim Hardin folk rock song; and he hosted a TV show in the 70s.Kevin Spacy as director and star follows the life of Bobby Darin from his childhood in Bronx to his early death.

What is most memorable and amazing is the musical parts inserted here and there in the story.Kevin Spacey is usually associated with the part of A) creepy guy or B) weird guy, but here he shows his side of great entertainer.Not only he sings Bobby Darin songs himself, but shows amaaing dancing.In fact, the film looks as if it stops to show his skills, and though some may say it's his vanity, his talent is still undeniable.

The supprts include Kate Bosworth as Sandra Dee, John Goodman, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn and Greta Scacchi.Quite frankly, none of them are as effective as Kevin Sapcey, perhaps with an exception of Brenda Blethyn who disappears too soon from the film.I really like Kate Bosworth (and I liked her in 'Blue Crush'), but there's hardly any chemistry between Spacey and her that makes us believe Bobby and Sandra are married.Real Sandra Dee was younger than Bobby Darin by six years while Kate Bosworth, gifted as she is, is younger than Kevin Spacey by 24 years.That's too much descrepancy.

But my real complaint is not this: as some of you know, Bobby Darin knew he was not going to live long (see the film), and was determined to be a professional singer no matter what people say.This is a great story, and Kevin Spacey must have known it.However. Kevin somehow decided on using 'frames' or unorthdox storytelling (used also in 'De-Lovely') in which Kevin's Bobby sees his life, guided by a child actor playing Bobby Darin's childhood.Why not use more orthodox way of telling a story when there is a good story at hand?

At one scene (I don't say where), Kevin Spacey indirectly gives his answer to some of the media people who continues to say he is too old to play the role of Bobby Darin.At another scene (in fact, it's opening), Kevin's Bobby Darin stops singing in the middle of 'Mack the Knife' and shows us that it's part of shooting the bio-pic of Bobby Darin.Take away these self-conscious moments, which clearly lessen the impact of the story, and 'Beyond the Sea' would be much better.

Still, the songs and dances are all great, full of energy and expert skills of first-rate artists.I don't know you and your reaction, but I like this film as the showcase of Kevin Spacey's talent. ... Read more

Reviews (344)

Visually spectacular (unbelievably cheesy storyline)
I know "What Dreams May Come" is a constant punching bag for movie critics alike and it wasn't exactly a blockbuster smash for Robin Williams but I sincerely like this film. I first saw "What Dreams May Come" when it was in the movie theaters. It was total eye candy with the gorgeous colors and the art-like quality. I felt like I was watching an artist creating his art work. The premise of the film is a bit silly. Robin Williams's character Chris is killed in a freak accident, leaving his emotionally unstable wife Annie played by Annabella Sciorra devasted and alone. The viewer also finds out that their two children were killed earlier in a car accident so when Chris dies, Annabella is completely consumed by grief and chooses that life is not worth living any more. Chris is sent to heaven which is basically a Monet painting. The bright vivid colors were stunning and made it a joy to watch. Cuba Gooding Jr. welcomes Chris into the after life and eventually helps Chris in his quest to find Annie. At the time, I enjoyed the storyline but as I was watching it tonight on tv, I never realized until now just how hokey the storyline and dialogue could be. Despite the hokiness of the film, I still enjoy watching "What Dreams May Come". I think my favorite scenes had to be when Chris literally went to purgatory. The images and colors were spectacular. Those scenes of people falling from the waves as well as from the air and exploding when hitting the ground was stunning to say the least. Those scenes were pure eye candy. "What Dreams May Come" is a good movie. It isn't nowhere as emotionally manipulative as "Patch Adams" was except maybe for a few scenes that involved the children. Otherwise "What Dreams May Come" is a good popcorn movie. It may not be Masterpiece Theater but I will take this movie over something as tripe as "Patch Adams" or overblown as "Armaggedeon" any day.

I wish my dreams were this cool.
What Dreams May Come is a very powerful movie. Simply put, it can make you think some very deep thoughts.

The story is very moving and brilliantly crafted. The main character is a doctor named Chris (Robin Williams). He has a wife (Annabella Sciorra) and two kids. His family is great and he seems to be living the American dream. Then his children are killed in a car accident and his life is shattered. He spends the next four years trying to recover from the tragedy. Then he is killed in another traffic accident and the story takes off as he goes to the beautiful afterlife.

The movie seamlessly transitions from present to flashback to give a sense that time is irrelevant in the afterlife and to fill in the rest of the story. The first person he sees is a young version of the doctor he apprenticed under (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who later turns out to be someone else, but I won't tell you because I don't want to ruin any parts of the movie. He is then taken to a beautiful heaven, which is actually his mental re-creation of one of his wife's paintings. He later learns that his wife has committed suicide and in doing so has trapped herself in a never-ending spiral of guilt (a.k.a. Hell). Chris then has to travel to the depths of Hell to find and attempt to bring back his wife.

This movie is loaded with abstract thoughts and themes. For example: Your obsessions in life will become your afterlife; Thought is real, physical is the illusion; God lets bad things happen to good people; and far too many others for me to list here.

The movie is visually breathtaking and the computer-generated graphics add greatly to the realness of the movie. The acting is good and director obviously knew what he was doing. I will recommend this movie to anyone who has ever contemplated his or her existence.

Visually beautiful and theologically interesting
There are surprisingly few movies dealing with a nonterrestrial afterlife. While there are hundreds of films dealing with the existence of individuals following death as embodied or disembodied spirits on earth, there are remarkably few that provide any glimpse of heaven. The few that do tend to present it as an inconceivably white, vast, and indistinct place, from HERE COMES MR. JORDAN to A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH to THE HORN BLOWS AT MIDNIGHT. In contrast to these other films, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME stands out as one of the most intensely colorful, beautiful, and vividly concrete films in cinema history.

The cast of the film is strong, but it would be a mistake to imagine that they are the reason for the film's success. Robin Williams as Chris Nielsen, Cuba Gooding Jr., Rosalind Chao (who I previously mainly knew only from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), Max von Sydow, and the lovely but underused (not only in this film, but by Hollywood in general) Annabella Sciorra all hand in wonderful performances, but they are largely overwhelmed by the astonishing beauty of the sets, the inconceivably vivid colors, and the marvelous use of light. No performers could have competed, though they try gamely.

I find the film especially interesting for theological reasons. Ron Bass based the screenplay on a novel by Richard Mattheson. I must confess to not knowing the work of either, but I would lay heavy money that one of them (probably Mattheson) knew well C. S. Lewis's THE GREAT DIVORCE. In that work Lewis was concerned to lay out a concept of heaven and hell that did not regard God as responsible for sending people to hell. Instead, he described an afterlife in which people in hell still had the option of leaving hell and departing for heaven. These two ideas--of people placing themselves in hell and of having the option to leave hell for heaven--drive the metaphysics of WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, as I'm sure anyone who has seen the film will recognize.

So why do I give the film only four stars after all the nice things I have said about it? Primarily because the film doesn't really have all that much of a story to tell. The plot feels like a short subject stretched to feature length film proportions. Once you subtract all the amazing visuals, there simply wasn't that much to the film. The challenge for the filmmakers was primarily padding out the action of the film. Nonetheless, I do recommend this as an interesting and intensely beautiful film, despite the slender narrative.

Interestingly, the title of the film comes from Hamlet's famous soliloquy, in which he ponders whether or not to commit suicide. In the end, he decides not to because of the dreams that the dead may dream, presumably worse for having killed oneself. But such dreams did not prevent Annie Nielsen in the film from committing suicide. It is a nice ironical touch.

A Different Type of Love Story
This is a wonderful tale of death and love. Robin Williams dies in a car crash and wakes up in heaven. He sees his old dog and friends from his life that have died before him along with his two children that have died in a previous car accident. Robin finds out he that his wife is having an impossible time of living without him. She ends up committing suicide and then is sent ot hell. The rest of the movie is Robin on his quest to find his wife in Hell. The movie is stunning in detail and is truly beautiful to look at. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Max Von Syndow give stellar performances as supporting actors in this film. The DVD has the usual extras including a less than happy alternate ending.

A great movie despite some flaws
"What Dreams May Come" is an overlooked film that should have gotten more attention than it did. While not perfect, it's one of the most visually stunning and thought-provoking films to come around in a long time. Chris (Robin Williams) and Annie (Annabella Sciorra) are a happy couple who suffer the devastating loss of their children. Shortly afterwards Chris dies himself and goes to an afterlife, which turns out to be a surreal lush dreamworld that is a reflection of his wife's paintings (which deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects). While there Chris meets an "angel" (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who guides him through the transition. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Annie becomes unable to cope with all the pain and losses and takes her own life, sending her to Hell. Determined to rescue Annie from an eternity in damnation, Chris sets out to find her and re-establish their bond together.

This movie could have easily been a masterpiece, with such a great cast, excellent visual effects and production. However, there are two things which severely take away from its effectiveness. For one, the flashback style becomes tedious after a bit and interrupts the flow of the story. Many other reviewers have commented on this. It's a major drawback. And two, some scenes simply do not work. For example, when Chris arrives in Hell and begins maneuvering around the heads sticking out of the ground. This scene is done in a humorous way, seemingly for comic relief. It simply does not work and is majorly out of place. Comic relief isn't what should happen here.

Aside from these flaws, "What Dreams May Come" is an enlightening viewing experience and will stay with you long after you're finished watching it. It can be interpreted in many ways: a film about the possibility of life after death: a film about never-ending love: a film about affirming the beauty of life. However you may see it, you will surely take away at least something from it after the credits roll. ... Read more

Reviews (260)

Weather Report: Tuscan Sun Fun, Diane Lane Shines
Take this for what it is and you might enjoy it -- complete fantasy stuff, wish fulfillment, a brief escape from real world life and complexities into the stuff of make belive, completely lacking in any substance whatsoever.

Why make a book into a movie and COMPLETELY change it? This is Audrey Welles inflicting HERSELF, her agenda, in fact, her completely different story, onto Frances Mayes' story, where the only thing left is the name of the house (Bramasole) and the name of the main characer (Frances/Fran/Francesca Mayes).

In real life Mayes is married to Ed Mayes, they're university professors, writers/poets, and they bought a house in Tuscany over ten years ago and started cranking out books about their new adventure (it's HUGE house, even more imposing than the one in the film).

Apparently not seeing any dramatic potential in Mayes' work, Welles arrogantly GRAFTED a completely different story onto the title ("Maybe no one will notice") wherein HER "Frances Mayes" is married then divorced then goes off to Italy and buys a house on an impulse (and strangely meets a man named "Ed" at the end which is supposed to bring some kind of nod to the real Ed Mayes, like an inside joke or something or a little piece of magic that plays out like a lump of coal on a Christmas morning. Stupid (her last name is already Mayes before she meets this Ed so his had better be Mayes too if you're following the silly logic of the story).

Don't pick this movie apart (pull one thread and it unravels rather easily). Instead see it for the wish fulfillment fantasy of buying a house in Tuscany, the Italian countryside (most of which was actually rainy and overcast all through filming) an attractive cast (Diane Lane is STILL stunning after all these years), and a complete dose of fantasy -- a guilty pleasure, like watching "Dynasty" in the 80s.

Leave the critical thinking elsewhere and pretend the world today is no more complex than an episode of The Brady Bunch (yeah right). Watch the scenery. Watch Lane's comic performance and stunning beauty, and Sandra Oh's great supporting performance. Then forget this crazy thing.

And if you liked the book, may I recommend At Home in France by Ann Barry and Extra Virgin by Annie Hawes, both of which I liked better than the book Under the Tuscan Sun and its followups as did many other reviewers on amazon and elsewhere they report.

The best part of this movie, for me, was seeing it in the theatre and suddenly seeing on screen the love interest's 1980s Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce two-seat convertible driving "picturesquely" through Italian cityscape and Italian coastline, and laughing to myself because it was the same car waiting for me in the parking lot.

Do a theme night. Make some bruschetta and other Italian culinary items and watch this fluff with friends. You won't be able to keep a straight face at how "schmaltzy" it is. You'll be absolutely embarrassed, but you still may take a second look later in privacy for an indulgent pleasure.

Ciao!

Such lovely scenery - such an awful film!
This is a really bad film. Okay, so it has nothing to do with the book except that it shares a title - that I could live with. But the story is hopelessly cobbled together and totally unbelievable. Surely this was a first draft of the script that they accidentally filmed?

The main character is played by the pretty Diane Lane, but looks alone cannot salvage this dreadful character. She cries, she pouts, she is unbearably naive and, let's just say it, she is an idiot.

The storyline is full of cliches. And where there are not cliches, there are gaping plot holes: why does her far-too-attractive-to-be-true Italian boyfriend drive a sports car when his family run a modest cafe on the beach that is supposed to support all of them? And just how does she manage to up and move to Italy without even having to fill in an immigration form? And if she was so broke that she had to move out of her mansion in San Francisco into a run-down fleabag hotel, just how the hell can she afford to suddenly buy and renovate a house in Italy, as well as living there for months with no visible means of income?

The worst part of a spectacularly awful script is the love interest suddenly written in at the very last minute to tie everything up neatly - that really is bad writing of such magnitude that it deserves a special Oscar.

Still, if you turn the sound off, you can enjoy genuinely beautiful photography of Italy.

hooked on tuscany
I have watched this movie twice so far, and will probably watch it more often. Tuscany is a countryside that got me hooked the first time I saw it appearing in front of my train window, and it is the same with the movie. So, I could empathize, seeing the same happening to "Frances" (Diane Lane) when she sees Tuscany and decides to buy a house and stay. Diane Lane in one of her best roles, her face very expressive, her acting excellent.
The only disappointment came when I read the book the movie was made after: in the original autobiographic story, Frances Mayes is not at all a divorcee struggling with recurring bouts of loneliness, but rather, a woman already happily attached again to a new steady boyfriend, with a fulfilled life, and full of energy for the work on their new house. The movie trailer says, the character were "changed for dramatic effect". Wonder who did not like the idea that a woman could be happy again so soon, and decided it should not be shown in the movie that way ? Anyway, both are definitely worth your while, and in the book you can even find the recipes for all that great Italian cooking too.

YAWN!
I eagerly anticipated watching this movie, as I thoroughly enjoyed the book; however, the movie shares only a passing resemblance to the book. It gets 2 stars because I enjoy Diane Lane and Tuscany is gorgeous, but other than that the movie was dull, Lane's character is nothing short of pathetic, and the ending is trite.

Get Your Passport Ready
I loved this movie. I don't usually watch too many movies but a friend loaned me this one and am I glad she did.
It is about a woman betrayed and how she goes on with her life. It made me think that I too could do something exciting with the rest of my life.
For the scenery of Italy alone, this movie is worth watching. Just beautiful.
I had never seen Diane Lane in any performances but I will seek her out now. All in all I give this movie a 5 star rating. ... Read more

Reviews (147)

Early DiCaprio is great
This is a great movie, which features Leonardo DiCaprio, playing a role which is so distant from any other roles he's ever done, and he really shines. If you've seen Titanic, and a couple of his other movie roles, you'll be really shocked, that he can play a totally different role. He's not a pretty-boy as he normally is.

It's never really explained what's the matter with Leo's character, Arnie. He has a lot of different characteristics which relate to different special needs people. I tend to think he's autistic, but he never comes across as especially autistic. So it does get a bit confusing.

There is a really powerful connection between Johnny Depp's character, Gilbert, and Arnie. Gilbert is really protective of his younger brother, and ashamed by everyone else in his family. This relationship comes to a terrific climax later in the movie, which will shock everyone who's enjoyed their relationship up until then.

Juliette Lewis plays the girl Gilbert falls in love with, and who he gives up his older, married lover for. Most people in other reviews I've read don't seem to like her character, but I do. She was great for the part, and although I wasn't keen on her too short hair, I loved everything else about her role.

Darlene Cates plays the abnormally obese mother, who hasn't stepped out of the house in 7 years, until Arnie gets arrested. I'm not sure whether the sheer size of her was for real, or whether it was body padding/suit kinda thing. Her size is almost too realistic to be a body suit.

All in all, this is a terrific movie, which wrenches at your heart strings, and has you in tears with the dramatic finale.

THIS IS AN ENTERTAINING, ENJOYABLE AND SWEET MOVIE.
"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is the kind of movie which you don't expect too much before you see it, but after you've seen it, a smile in your face will appear.

The movie tells the story of Gilbert Grape, a nice guy trapped in a small town, with a dysfunctional family (as almost every family is), a job without a future and a relationship with a married woman. And despite all this, he is not a sad man, he is not depressed, he is not worried about himself; his main reason to live is to take care of his family. Everything else comes in a second place, including himself.

Johnny Depp is the center of the movie and his low-key performance is excellent, but the reason why this movie works so fine is the supporting cast; Leonardo DiCaprio is terrific as the mentally retarded brother, he and Depp are the fuel of the story. The rest of the cast includes: Darlene Cates as the big, big, big mother, John C. Reilly as Gilbert's best friend, Juliette Lewis as Gilbert's new love interest and Mary Steenburgen as the married woman who is having an affair with Gilbert, all of them are terrific in their roles.

The main purpose of "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" is to entertain audiences, and it does...a very enjoyable movie.

Excellent
This movie is indeed a tear jerker, yet work seeing.

What's eating Gilbert Grape?
..Well that's very simple. It's Gilbert's (Johnny Depp) disfunctional family. His brother (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mentally challenged, his mother (Darlene Cates) is morbidly obese, his youngest sister is a brat, there is also a house wife (Mary Steenburgen) who orders groceries from the store Gilbert works at, she has reasons of her own that does not include the need for food. She's quite capable of going to the supermarket herself. Let's just say she has more than a little thing for Gilbert. Gilbert's father passed away years earlier. Now only himself and the older sister seem able to take care of the home and family. I would like to mention that actress Darlene Cates has lost over 200 lbs. since this film was made. What's Eating Gilbert Grape is a wonderful, funny, sad and off beat drama that is sure to have something for everyone. I think it was very silly for one reviewer to say that this film makes fun of obesity and mentally impaired people. Are we not ever to have these types of characters in movies? I'm not sure if this person watched the entire film. It does have a positive message about these issues. This film doesn't make fun it only points out ignorance in people who do. When you see an overweight person do you stare at them? What if they are very overweight? I really liked the scene when Gilbert's mother said "I haven't always been like this." and Becky (Juliette Lewis) said "I haven't always been like this either." As if Becky didn't even notice that Gilbert's mother was of a beyond plus size. I myself work with mentally challenged kids everyday so Arnie just seemed like a kid to me. But in reality I have to say Leonardo DiCaprio was superb. On a less superb note however the DVD has zero extras. Well I guess if you wanna call having a theatrical trailer an extra feature go right ahead. I think a few featurettes and a director commentary is a must now days. Other than the lacks of DVD features this is a must purchase. Add it to your movie library ASAP.

the heart: you'll know it when you see it.
Needless to say this movie is NOT about making fun of the mentally retarded, the obese, grocery store stockers, randy housewives, or anyone else.
This movie is about the human heart, its complexity, pain, love, and cruely.
Gilbert is trapped by his heart. He wants to be a 'good person', but really he's already good enough, and its killing him: his spirit, his hope, and his love.
This is a wonderful movie if you can withstand the bleakness of Gilbert's life and not despair.
In the end, the story is lovely and the actors are marvelous. And where there's a good heart, there's hope. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fill a bowl with alpine strawberries, break out the Château Lafite (1899, of course), and bask in this benchmark 1981 British miniseries based on Evelyn Waugh's classic novel. Adapted for the screen by John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey), this impeccable, nearly 11-hour production mesmerized American viewers during the course of its PBS run in 1982. In his breakthrough role, Jeremy Irons stars as Charles Ryder, a disillusioned Army captain who is moved to reflect on his "languid days" in the "enchanted castle" that was Brideshead, home of the aristocratic Marchmain family, whose acquaintance Charles made in the company of an Oxford classmate, the charming wild child Sebastian. Anthony Andrews costars as the doomed Sebastian, whose beauty is "arresting" and "whose eccentricities and behavior seemed to know no bounds." The "entitled and enchanted" Sebastian takes Charles under his wing ("Charles, what a lot you have to learn"), but vows early on that he is "not going to let [Charles] get mixed up with [his] family." But mixed up Charles gets. He becomes a friend and confidante, not to mention a lover, to Sebastian's sister Julia (Diana Quick). Meanwhile, the self-destructive Sebastian's life spirals out of control. Brideshead Revisited boasts a distinguished ensemble, including Laurence Olivier in his Emmy Award-winning role as the exiled Lord Marchmain, Claire Bloom as Lady Marchmain, and the magnificent John Gielgud as Charles's estranged father. Grand locations and a haunting musical score make this a memorable revisit of an irretrievable bygone era. For those who scheduled their weeks around the original Monday-night broadcasts or those visiting Brideshead for the first time, this boxed set release will be, as Charles rhapsodizes at one point while strolling the castle grounds, "very near to heaven." --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

Reviews (41)

Great TV drama
This is a beautiful television production. Nothing I have seen captures so well the manners, dress, language and attitudes of upper and upper-middle class Britain in the twenties and thirties.

The acting is superb, the script even better. Based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh, John Mortimer's dialogue wastes not a word and uses pauses and silences to extraordinary effect.

As a portrayal of a family and its entourage this 11-part series bears comparison with the very best, even perhaps the Godfathers I and II, and with top notch photography to portray the stunning sets - on an art deco-drenched QEII, at Oxford, Castle Howard and at a Venice Palazzo - this could be the ultimate TV production of all time.

But perfect as it is technically, Brideshead has, for me at least, a couple of problems. The first is, the sheer improbability of the main plot. Essentially, the central figure and narrator, initially rather boring Charles, makes friends with dashing Lord Sebastien Flyte at Oxford (after the latter vomits through Charles' window), and finds himself immediately taken into the bosum of Flyte's highly aristocratic family; ultimately Sebastien's ravishing sister Julia falls in love with him and he comes very near to inheriting the family estate. The Flyte/Marchmain family is portrayed as charming, but also deeply and somewhat offensively dismissive of anyone they consider beneath them: Julia becomes quite vicious about her husband Rex, once she has tired of him. Lord Marchmain, a rather feckless former alcoholic and wife-hater, at one point muses on Neville Chamberlain who at that moment was doing his best to avoid world war "knew him. Mediocre fellow". I just can't believe that this family would have given tuppence for Charles, a mere middle-class architectural painter, far less virtually adopted him.

The second problem is that Charles is not even very likeable. He drifts through the film looking bored or worried and acting self-righteously. He cheats on his wife and generally bad mouths her, prefers to consort with his lover than go see his two year-old child who he's never actually seen due to a long trip abroad, and does little to actually help his dear friend Sebastien (who has descended into alcoholism) except frequently tell us morosely and self-indulgently how much he loved him and what a sacred love it was.

The cause of these problems surely goes back to Waugh himself and the original novel, which was part autobiography, part wish-fulfilment. Waugh was partly Charles, and like Charles, Waugh wasn't always lovable. The upper classes were Waugh's favorite subject, his bread and butter, and his vice. He was irresistibly drawn to them and wanted them to love him and confide in him too. Sometimes they did, because he was a brilliant society novelist, not just a good architectural painter. But not quite as much as everybody, from servants to Lord and Lady Marchmain, appears to love Charles.

However, I think this only makes the whole production more interesting. And such is the charm of the brilliant cast, which includes Jeremy Irons in the lead along with Olivier and Gielgud in majestic supporting roles, I suspect many people will consider my low opinion of the characters quite misplaced.

Well, it's about time!
Well, it's about time. One of the best (in my opinion, the best) of the British mini-series has finally made it to DVD. Although not perfect, the transfer is very good indeed, and a vast improvement over my ancient tapes.

My only (minor) complaints involve the sound, which is occasionally a little muddy; and now and again the dialogue seems ever so slightly out of sync with the actors. Also, there is no close captioning or English subtitles.

But forget that and think of what we're getting: an excellent adaptation of Waugh's fine novel; first-rate performances (keep a special eye out for John Gielgud, who gives what must be one of the funniest performances ever put on screen); glorious location sets and period costumes which can be appreciated fully now that their colors can be seen.

There are a few extras on the disc, and a small booklet with some interesting information. But it's the show that's the thing here, and it gets the treatment it deserves. Highly recommended.

British drama at its best
This must be one of the alltime classics of British drama. Saw it on TV when it was aired, bought the VHS and when released on DVD, bought it on DVD. Well, that must be saying something. It is one of my favourites. I think this must be one of those productions where you can say in hindsight that you would have done it in exactly the same way. I do not have higher praise to give. Shame the DVD release does not give extras and is really badly done. One would have thought that a high profile production like this deserved a better fate.

Et In Arcadia Ego
Brideshead revisited, Evelyn Waugh's portrait of a world trying to come to terms with the obliteration of what for its inhabitants were absolute certainties, by war and its aftermath represents a mountain of almost Himalayan proportions for any would-be adaptor, so much so that it's surprising that anyone was ever mad enough to try. Luckily for us though John Mortimer (more widely celebrated for "Rumpole of the Bailey") was indeed mad enough to give it a go. What he came up with has over the intervening years come to be seen as one of the finest adapted screen plays ever set before the viewing public.

Remaining remarkably faithful to the spirit of the book, Brideshead Revisited is told from the prospective of the painter Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons). From a decidedly upper middle class background, when we first meet our narrator, Charles is an officer in the British army at the outbreak of World War 2 whose general disillusionment is exceeded only by his distaste for army life. From this present we are taken back twenty years by Charles' reminisces to his first term at Oxford University at the beginning of the 1920's and to his developing relationship with the aristocratic and charmingly dissolute Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews). Supported by a truly superb cast of characters including, Jane Asher, Diana Quick, Clair Bloom, Nikolas Grace, Sir John Gielgud and in what was to be his final performance Sir Laurence Olivier. The acting is just what you would expect from such an accomplished bunch, as close to perfection as can ever be obtained.

As absorbing as the story is, it is almost overshadowed by other aspects of this production. Shot on location at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (the home of the then chairman of the BBC George Howard, even though this production was made by the BBC's rival Granada Television), Oxford, Venice and aboard the cruise ship the Queen Elizabeth II. The location filming has a beauty that at times can be truly breathtaking, with a lushness and sensuality that is a perfect foil for the decadence of the Sebastian and his circle.

Just as in Waugh's original text, the whole atmosphere of the piece is redolent with nostalgia. This takes two forms, the most prominent from the beginning is Charles' nostalgia for his youth and idealism, his feeling that his life could be what he wanted it to be, the friends he knew, his time with the Flyte family and his love for Lady Julia. Secondly and perhaps most importantly is nostalgia for the world of the Victorian and Edwardian upper classes with its certainties and its view of Britain as the centre of the greatest Empire that the world had ever known. Post World War 1, it was rare to find an aristocratic British family who had not suffered the loss of a Father, Son or Brother in the trenches and this longing for a world which was as "irrecoverable as Lyonnesse" was all too real for many people of all classes and backgrounds.

In this story of the rise and to a certain extent destruction of a single man, Waugh has given us a metaphor not only for the British aristocracy, but for the wealthy and socially mobile wherever and whenever they may be. I remember once discussing the novel with my Father and he expressed the opinion that while Waugh may not have loved the aristocracy as such, he certainly loved the life of an aristocrat. In many way's Brideshead Revisited reminds me of Edward Elgars' Cello Concerto, possessing the same kind of painful beauty combined with the most agonising sense of grief and heartache, but in the final analysis it is this love that colours both the book and this adaptation, rendering it as sublime as the memory of a summers afternoon and just as unattainable.

An intriguing mini-series
I came across this mini-series completely by accident. The episode descriptions sounded interesting, and I am a fan of British period drama, so I decided to give it a try. I was really suprised at how much effort went into it--after taking a peek at a few chapters of the novel, I found that it's an almost word for word adaptation. The characters are all well developed and fascinating, but none is more intriguing than the tragic Sebastian. In addition to the story, the scenery and the performances given by all involved make this mini-series one to remember. ... Read more

Description

The Astaire and Rogers Collection: Volume One debuts five memorable classics from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, whose magical chemistry made them Hollywood's greatest dance duo. Featuring five new-to-DVD titles, The Astaire & Rogers Collection: Volume One includes the critically acclaimed Top Hat and Swing Time, along with Follow the Fleet, Shall We Dance and The Barkleys of Broadway, the couple's final film together. All five films have been newly remastered and include extensive bonus features such as documentaries, featurettes and commentary by Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie.

Top Hat (1935)
One of the most beloved Astaire-Rogers musicals, Top Hat has it all: art deco elegance, a whimsical storyline involving a case of mistaken identity and the ideal chemistry of the two leads dancing to Irving Berlin's finest film score. Directed by Mark Sandrich (Gay Divorcee, Shall We Dance), Top Hat was nominated for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture. The film's highlights include Astaire's signature "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails," as well as "Isn't It a Lovely Day (to Be Caught in the Rain)?" and "Cheek to Cheek." An added treat is a young Lucille Ball appearing in a small role as a flower clerk. DVD Special Features: Commentary by Fred Astaire's Daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie and Film Dance Historian Larry Billman, New Featurette On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat, Comedy Short Watch the Birdie with Bob Hope, Classic Cartoon Page Miss Glory

Swing Time (1936)
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers headline Swing Time, the romantic comedy buoyed by a sublime Jerome Kern/Dorothy Fields score, nimble direction by George Stevens and the leads' effortless dancing (after reportedly 350 hours of rehearsing). Standouts of the film, considered one of the team's very best, are the songs "Pick Yourself Up," "Never Gonna Dance," and the Oscar-winning "The Way You Look Tonight" – plus Astaire's "Bojangles of Harlem" t ap tribute. DVD Special Features: Commentary by John Mueller, Author of Astaire Dancing, Musical Short Hotel a la Swing, Classic Cartoon Bingo Crosbyana

Follow The Fleet (1936)
In the fifth of ten Astaire-Rogers pairings, Fred trades his top hat for a sailor's cap, Randolph Scott gets the girl (Harriet Hilliard), Ginger gets a tap solo and viewers get the unending delight of seven sparkling Irving Berlin numbers, including "Let Yourself Go," "We Saw the Sea," "I'm Putting All My Eggs in One Basket" and "Let's Face the Music and Dance." DVD Special Features: New Featurette Follow the Fleet: The Origins of Those Dancing Feet, Musical Short: Melody Master: Jimmie Lunceford and His Dance Orchestra, Classic Cartoon Let It Be Me

Shall We Dance (1937)
In their seventh movie, Astaire and Rogers croon, swoon and sway, this time to a glorious score from George and Ira Gershwin which includes "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off," Oscar-nominated "They Can't Take That Away from Me," "They All Laughed" and more great numbers. Dance highlights include a terrific roller skate number and Astaire's solo in the art-deco boiler room of an ocean liner. The film centers around world renowned ballet star Petrov (Astaire) and musical revue sensation Linda Keene (Rogers) who decide to wed and publicly divorce to quash persistent rumors of their secret marriage. DVD Special Features: Commentary by Kevin Cole and Hugh Martin, New featurette They Can't Take That Away from Me: The Music of Shall We Dance, Musical Short Sheik to Sheik, Classic Cartoon Toy Town Hall

The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
After 10 years apart, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers reteam for their final film, written by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and directed by Charles Walters. The story mirrors real-life creative tensions the two shared, with Astaire playing driven musical comedy hoofer Josh Barkley and Rogers his wife Dinah. When Dinah leaves to become a great dramatic actress, Josh vies to win her back. The routines include Astaire's "Shoes with Wings On" and a reprise from Shall We Dance, "They Can't Take That Away from Me" by George and Ira Gershwin. DVD Special Features: New Featurette Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together Again, Vintage Short Annie Was a Wonder, Classic Droopy Cartoon Wags to Riches ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Why on earth has it taken so long?
I'm simply drooling to get my hands on this set.Can we assume Volume 1 means there will be Volume 2 with the rest of these great, great musicals?If I could tap dance, I'd do a tap dance of happiness!

Truly Unbelievable
After coming online periodically and searching for these classics, they are FINALLY coming to DVD! My only regret is that they can't all be produced at the same time, but these should last me for a while. All WONDERFUL movies, my favorites of the five being "Top Hat" and "Swing Time." I pre-ordered this baby the minute I spotted it, and I will be fervently waiting for the second collection, especially for my favorite, "Carefree", and hopefully another great one, "Roberta." (Oh, who am I kidding, I'm crazy about them all!) In the meantime, realease date can't come soon enough for me on these infectious, highly entertaining DVDs!

Heaven, I'm in Heaven!!!!
Finally Warner Brothers finally decided to release five of the ten films Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together. This set includes Top Hat (1935) one of their essential films, Follow the Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936) another essential film, Shall We Dance (1937), and The Barkleys of Broadway (1949), the last film they made together. I hear Volume 2 is supposed to come out early next year! Can't wait! As for special features.....

Top Hat
Audio Commentary: Commentary by Fred Astaire's Daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie and Film Dance Historian Larry Billman
Featurette: On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat
Other:
-Comedy Short Watch the Birdie with Bob Hope
-Classic Cartoon Page Miss Glory

The Barkleys of Broadway
Featurette: Reunited at MGM: Astaire and Rogers Together
Other: Vintage Short Annie Was a Wonderm and Classic Droopy Cartoon Wags to Riches

Swing Time
Audio Commentary: Commentary by John Mueller, Author of Astaire Dancing
Featurette: The Swing of Things: Swing Time Step by Step
Other:
-Musical Short Hotel a la Swing
-Classic Cartoon Bingo Crosbyana

Follow the Fleet
Featurette: Follow the Fleet: The Origins of Those Dancing Feet
Other:
-Musical Short Melody Master: Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra
-Classic Cartoon Let It Be Me

Shall We Dance
Audio Commentary: Commentary by Kevin Cole and Hugh Martin
Featurette: They Can't Take That Away from Me: The Music of Shall We Dance
Other:
-Musical Short Sheik to Sheik
-Classic Cartoon Toy Town Hall
... Read more

Amazon.com

Otto Preminger expanded his vision in the 1960s with a whole series of ambitious, expansive dramas with huge casts and big themes. Advise and Consent, an examination of deal making, party politics, and congressional diplomacy in Washington's legislative halls (based on the novel by Allen Drury), is one of his best. Preminger broke the blacklist with his previous film, Exodus, and it rings through in this drama about a controversial nominee for secretary of state (a confident, stately Henry Fonda) accused of being a Communist. The nomination process becomes the center ring of the political circus, with fidgety accuser Burgess Meredith in the spotlight; devious, silver-tongued Charles Laughton cracking the whip as a southern senator with a grudge against Fonda; and party whip Walter Pidgeon lining up votes behind the scenes. Arm twisting and diplomatic hardball turns to perjury and blackmail, and a melodramatic twist gives this lesson in party politics a salacious soap opera dimension. Preminger's style has been hailed as "objective," but it's really a matter of attentiveness: he gives all the character their due and their say, eschewing heroes and villains for an exploration of people clashing over opposing goals. In fact, the weakest elements of the film are the unscrupulous populist senator played by George Grizzard and the badly dated caricatures that populate a notorious underground club. The video preserves the handsome widescreen black-and-white photography, keeping Preminger's careful and measured editing intact. --Sean Axmaker ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Mildly Interesting Political Drama
Anybody who has seen C-Span can verify the authenticity of the Senate debates portrayed in the film.All the rhetoric and long-winded posturing on display here feels real.The film is long and at times it borders on the tedious, but so is alot of Senate debate.The film is almost torpedoed by a subplot involving the skeletons in one senator's closet.The film recovers at the end for a thrilling floor vote of a controversial Secretary-of-State nominee(Henry Fonda).Probably the film's best performances come from the older cast members, Walter Pidgeon, Lew Ayres, and Paul Ford.Fonda, the film's ostensible star, basically appears in a glorified cameo and seems to be phoning it in.

Not as goodas"The Manchurian Canidate", from the same
year, (1962).But it is still a very good political mellow drama.The excellent cast presents a primer on how congress works, the presidency, succession & party politics. An almost comatose Henry Fonda plays the Secretary of State nominee, Robert Leffington & suspected Communist. Walter Pidgeon does a fine job as the Majority Leader sheparding the nomination through the Senate. The real scene stealer is Charles Laughton in maybe his best role as Senator Seab Cooley, a red-baiting, red-neck determined to destroy Leffington at all costs.
A fine well know cast included, Lew Ayres, Peter Lawford, Gene Tierney & Burgess Meridith. Charles Laughton however, saved his best performance for last.

A classic for all times
This book is a classic.The acotrs are marvelous.Orrin Knox could have been more involved in the movie like he was in the book.I really didn't like the actor who protrayed Orrin Knox.The ending of the movie was brilliant.Seab Cooley and the vice president have always been two of my favorite characters.The movie is just as good as book (which I have read numerous times) and this is unusal.Both the book and the movied should be required in both high schools and colleges.

"C'mon in! Don't just stand there!"
Talk about an all-star cast: when Otto Preminger brought Allan Drury's epic study of a Senate confirmation of a morally ambiguous nominee for Secretary of State, he got just about everyone in Hollywood to participate. Though the best roles go to Charles Laughton as a manipulative (but intensely likeable) South Carolina senator and Franchot Tone as the tortured President, not everyone got so lucky; the novel had so many characters that some big actors (like Gene Tierney, wasted as a Washington hostess) are pretty much trapped in throwaway roles.

Preminger was pretty progressive by Hollywood standards, and so the Senate he depicts is remarkably diverse, with senators of many ethnic backgrounds. There's a great cameo (the film's standout moment) from Betty White, who, as a shrewd Kansas senator, trounces George Grizzard, the despicable Senator Van Ackerman (from Wyoming, of course, so as to offend the least number of audience members possible) in open debate on the Senate floor. Preminger was really daring (for the time) in his willingness to tackle the subject of the blackmail of homosexuals in the film. It should be said, however, that the film's notorious depiction of a gay bar (the first Hollywood film to do so openly since the institution of the Hays code) as a nightmarish cesspool of vice, where the fat effeminate bartender hysterically beckons in the horrified Don Murray (see my title), probably did more to keep gay men in the closet in the Sixties than anything Hollywood ever did.

The Granddaddy Of Political Movies!
This ultra-realistic 1962 drama of the goings-on in Washington, D.C. must rank as one of the best films of its type ever made. It's a lengthy one (2 hrs., 19 min.), but it never gets dry.The many veteran actors assembled to comprise this cast see to that.The roster includes Henry Fonda, Franchot Tone, Charles Laughton, Lew Ayres, Walter Pidgeon, and Burgess Meredith!There's also Don Murray, who probably gets more screen time here than anyone else. And I think Murray shines bright in his role as the senator with a deep, dark secret!Pidgeon is also particularly convincing in this film.This was Mr. Laughton's final motion picture.

If you've never seen Advise & Consent ..... then get it today!It's a thoroughly engrossing and powerful movie experience! ... Read more

Description

What starts out as a weekly anonymous tryst between a divorced man and a married woman turns into a searing portrait of loneliness and emotional need. Directed by Patrice Chereau (Queen Margot), INTIMACY won the Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival where lead actress Kerry Fox also won the Best Actress Award. Based on Hanif Kureishi’s controversial novel, INTIMACY was selected to play at the Sundance and New York Film Festivals. DVD extras include the original theatrical trailer and cast and filmmaker bios. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

When the center doesn't hold
This amazing movie is a look at the ways that a man, the protagonist Jay (Mark Rylance) once-married, and a once fairly conventional husband and dad, can utterly fall apart in divorce, the heartbreaking ways he might try to put a life back together, and the ache for connection and communion that can't necessarily be soothed - within or without "happy" marriages.

By now the plot and the fact of its depiction of acts of sexual intercourse are well-known. There is a woman, Claire. She shows up at Jay's door, Wednesdays at 2 PM. We don't know anything about her at first - just that once she's in his apartment, her clothes (and his) come off. The five to ten minutes of intense once-weekly sex on Jay's apartment floor is no less important for being quick and wordless; it is a sort of a pact between the couple, and their shared illness, really. But it can't, ultimately, do the trick, and the film succeeds - unmoralistically - in showing us how and why. The urge to find either oblivion or ecstasy - whether via alcohol or sex or other means - fuels the couple. There are amazing surprises along the way, via a script that is utterly believable and natural.

In fact, every aspect of the protagonist Jay's life is in fact shown harshly, "graphically," whether it is his hectic job tending bar, his messy, depressing apartment (further evidence that he has lost his moorings), his several friends, or his frantic travels through London. (The camera chases him, and he is chasing her). We're by turns frustrated, confused, and focused. One's attention never wanders during this story.

Children (Jay's and Claire's) are used well in this film. They can tell the truth, and they do. They use the word "love" - and the adults in this movie really can't. In several scenes Jay is at his ex-wife's apartment, bathing his beautiful little sons. He lies on what was the marriage bed and makes a sort of sad and frantic fetish of his ex-wife's underwear, and is interrupted by his son, who needs his help. We are never asked to be voyeurs, but witnesses to a lot of sadness, distress - and the difficulty, really, of the attainment of happiness.

This is an astonishing film about broken hearts - and what people might do to try to mend them.

A Limp Mess
Helmed by French auteur Patrice Chéreau, who directed the vastly superior "Queen Margot," the Birtish film "Intimacy" is a limp mess. A man and woman carry on an illicit affair - they meet at his house Wednesday afternoons for sex. They know nothing about each other, not even names. Eventually, the man (Jay, played by Mark Rylance) finds himself wanting to know more about the woman (Claire, played by Kerry Fox), and he begins following her after their trysts. What he finds out about her throws their relationship into question.

"Intimacy" gained attention and notoriety for its explicit sex scenes (the R-rated version is also available, and these scenes are edited a great deal). The sex scenes are among the most graphic ever seen in a mainstream movie, including a rather shocking scene where Fox fellates Rylance (everything is shown). Ultimately, however, the sex scenes are quite un-sexy as the characters are so distant from each other. A movie called "Intimacy" that lacks any intimacy whatsoever? Sounds like an elaborate joke to me.

Aside from the explicitness of the sex scenes, the movie offers nothing new. The characters are not well-delineated, and the conflicts are ill-defined. On the plus side, Mark Rylance ("Angels & Insects") and Kerry Fox ("Shallow Grave") give good performances; however, it's rather disconcerting seeing such talented actors engaging in graphic sex scenes in a tepid movie. Both actors have impressive backgrounds in the theater, and Rylance has acted extensively in Shakespearian productions at the Globe Theatre. Shaking his spear indeed!

Extras: The DVD includes minimal extras: a photo gallery, brief bios of the actors, and the trailer. A director commentary would be much appreciated, or even a commentary from the actors. I'd love to hear what filming the explicit sex scenes was like!

NOT VERY INTIMATE.....
Like other reviewers, I was disappointed in "Intimacy". I found that the film had very little to say in terms of why the two main characters (Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox) carried on such an unpleasant sexual relationship. Their weekly meetings in Rylance's grungy apartment for sex obviously indicated they each had deeper more emotional needs. But neither find what they are looking for. They are both frustrated, unhappy people with unfulfilling lives and blunt, crude sex grants them the temporary escape valve. However, it's obvious that the sex isn't really fulfilling either one of their needs. Rylance and Fox are good actors and Marianne Faithful is good as one of Fox's friends. But neither Fox nor Rylance is terribly attractive so their nude sex scenes aren't that interesting which makes the sadness and desperation of their acts even more downbeat. I agree the film is more explicit than most but without a good story and at least a positive note or two I can't really recommend it. If the film's intent is to show that an empty sexual relationship gets you nowhere, then it succeeds very well on that premise.

Mark Rylance in all his glory. James Bond for 2008?
Some films from England, France, Italy and Germany are allowed to have such freedom and liberties to filming nude scenes whether they are in the natural state or erotic. Very few American actors in American films will allow themselves to be seen in a natural state. Most American actors wear a willie stocking or a clamshell or prefer a body double. But those actors that agree in their contract to full frontal nudity know they will get more pay and a very handsome paycheck at that. Some have reached success very quickly. It could make a film successful too. (...). Mark Rylance is not afraid to show his erotic side in this very adult film. This unrated DVD version pushes the red line of sex and nudity on screen and yet it is still simulated sex. The nudity is more shocking as the actor allows his uncut member to be seen in various stages. I have also seen Mark Rylance in Angels & Insects were his performance is more tender and soft. (...`).

Sex and the City
For a while, this arty movie about sexual encounters between two strangers in London is actually quite intriging and unsettling. Unfortunately, after the first half hour the plot starts repeating its premise with little further development and moving at a slow, ungaging pace.

"Intimacy" tries to deliver some food for thought about loneliness and despair in the modern world, focusing the relationship (or lack of it?) between a divorced man and a married woman that get intimate before they even manage to know each other properly. It`s an interesting idea, even if not completely original, but it could work better here.

The movie has some good elements: the acting is consistent (Mark Rylance is excellent), the soundtrack captivating, the photography well-crafted and the direction is moody and atmospheric enough. However, the character development isn`t that great, and the story loses its point halfway through, turning this project into a curious yet semi-failed picture. The sex scenes, which generated some controversy, aren`t really that strong or offensive, and director Patrice Chéreau portrays those moments with a sense of style and cleverness (an harsher perspective was done in Catherine Breillat`s ridiculous "Romance").
"Intimacy" has some guts and ideas, still it soon loses its strenght, approaching a bland and tepid development on its second half that fails to seduce.
Another case of "and all it could have been". ... Read more

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