Description

Inspired by a hotel John Cleese once stayed in when he was filming "Monty Python." This complete set of Fawlty Towers episodes includes special new commentary by John Cleese. Please see individual volumes for episode descriptions. ... Read more

Reviews (166)

A great DVD set for an even better TV show
Fawlty Towers, among those who know about it, is generally considered one of the funniest television shows of all time. Created by and starring John Cleese (of Monty Python fame), each of the twelve episodes is sheer genius in some way or another.

The setup is simple: Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, the rather snide owner of a second-rate hotel. Cleese surrounds himself with hilarious characters, including his overbearing (but far more competent) wife and the bumbling but good natured waiter Manuel ("You'll have to excuse him; he's from Barcelona.") Each episode finds Fawlty involved in some scheme, which usually has something to do with abusing customers and hiding things from his wife. The plots build in classic screwball fashion, as the situations get more and more absurd while Cleese digs himself deeper and deeper into a hole. The comedy ranges from incredible dialogue to some perfectly timed slapstick, and all of it's funny.

Though I'd seen all of the episodes before many times, the DVD set was a great buy. It's packed with extras, including commentaries by the director of each episode and some really informative, in-depth interviews with John Cleese and other cast members. In fact, while I got the discs just because I wanted copies of the episodes, I've had a ton of fun with the extras. Add in fairly nice packaging (the art on each disc is hilarious) and some other cool things such as cleverly designed menus, and this is one of the better TV collections I've seen.

Well worth your money if you've never seen the show but enjoy British comedy, or if you're an old fan and looking for a new way to appreciate this great series.

Classic & Timeless British Comedy
Now almost 30 years old, this classic comedy series is still holding it's own against today's more contemporary material, and being discovered by a whole new audience. US viewers who may not have been exposed to it, may miss some of the more subtle aspects, but any fans of John Cleese, or more recently Mr Bean, will certainly find it memorable. It is NOT however Monty Python type material, for those expecting more outrageous, and off the wall satire. Basil Fawlty (Cleese) is the owner and operator of a modest seaside Hotel, and is more than ably supported by a great ensemble cast. Ever hen pecked by his domineering wife, often outsmarted, or assisted by his clever maid, and constantly frustrated by his pidgeon English speaking waiter, the results are hilarious, witty and very amusing. Some of the episodes can make the viewer cringe a little (at the frustrating aspects of Cleese's character) but the overall picture is enormously pleasing. If you have never seen Fawlty Towers, you have certianly missed out, and the DVD collection is the best buy, with ALL epsiodes, and some great extra material included. You will laugh, and laugh again at each side splitting episode which manages to be funny, without be overtly sexual, full of innuendo, and reliant on cheap laughs. Great entertainment!

Excrutiatingly Funny
You are invited to the vist the worst-run hotel in England to enjoy a mixture of slapstick and word-wit. Each episode is based around the mental unravelling of the co-owner, Basil Fawlty, as his ill-conceived schemes spiral into the ground with the aid of his long suffering hapless helper Manuel.

I third the notion that tensionfest is the word
I find little humorous about this sitcom. I actually find it all pretty nervewracking and painful to watch.

Great DVD Set - if you have binoculars
Love this series which is, IMHO, the funniest sitcom series ever shown on either side of The Pond. There's no disappointment in re-watching all the wonderful episodes.

There is, however, beaucoup de frustration with the way in which the links were designed. You have sit right in front of the TV, no more than 4' away to read the postage-sized stamps which indicate episodes, commentary, etc. (I still can't read them.)

Still, once you get going, it's hours of laughter, great performances, and great writing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Koyaanisqatsi
First-time filmmaker Godfrey Reggio's experimental documentary from 1983--shot mostly in the desert Southwest and New York City on a tiny budget with no script, then attracting the support of Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas and enlisting the indispensable musical contribution of Philip Glass--delighted college students on the midnight circuit and fans of minimalism for many years. Meanwhile, its techniques, merging cinematographer Ron Fricke's time-lapse shots (alternately peripatetic and hyperspeed) with Glass's reiterative music (from the meditative to the orgiastic)--as well as its ecology-minded imagery--crept into the consciousness of popular culture. The influence of Koyaanisqatsi, or "life out of balance," has by now become unmistakable in television advertisements, music videos, and, of course, similar movies such as Fricke's own Chronos and Craig McCourry's Apogee. Reggio shot a sequel, Powaqqatsi (1988), and completed the trilogy with Naqoyqatsi (2002). Koyaanisqatsi provides the uninitiated the chance to see where it all started--along with an intense audiovisual rush.

Powaqqatsi
Powaqqatsi (1988), or "life in transformation," is the second part of a trilogy of experimental documentaries whose titles derive from Hopi compound nouns. The now legendary Koyaanisqatsi (1983), or "life out of balance," was the first. Naqoyqatsi (2002), or "life in war," was the third. Powaqqatsi finds director Godfrey Reggio somewhat more directly polemical than before, and his major collaborator, the composer Philip Glass, stretching to embrace world music.Reggio reuses techniques familiar from the previous film (slow motion, time-lapse, superposition) to dramatize the effects of the so-called First World on the Third: displacement, pollution, alienation. But he spends as much time beautifully depicting what various cultures have lost--cooperative living, a sense of joy in labor, and religious values--as he does confronting viewers with trains, airliners, coal cars, and loneliness. What had been a more or less peaceful, slow-moving, spiritually fulfilling rural existence for these "silent" people (all we hear is music and sound effects) becomes a crowded, suffocating, accelerating industrial urban hell, from Peru to Pakistan. Reggio frames Powaqqatsi with a telling image: the Serra Pelada gold mines, where thousands of men, their clothes and skin imbued with the earth they're moving, carry wet bags up steep slopes in a Sisyphean effort to provide wealth for their employers. While Glass juxtaposes his strangely joyful music, which includes the voices of South American children, a number of these men carry one of their exhausted comrades out of the pit, his head back and arms outstretched--one more sacrifice to Caesar. Nevertheless, Reggio, a former member of the Christian Brothers, seems to maintain hope for renewal. --Robert Burns Neveldine ... Read more

Reviews (97)

Inproper Matting? Who Cares!
Although some people are quick to point out that the MGM version of Koyaanisqatsi is improperly matted to 1.85:1, who really cares? If you are a fan of the 'qatsi films, then you are well aware that they have been out of print (unavailable to the public for purchase or even rental) for a LONG time. I have long been trying to obtain a bootleg, or even laserdisc copy of the films. On ebay they usually went for upwards of $100 a copy. When I heard that MGM was releasing the films on DVD, I was estatic, and after watching them at home on my TV, I am even more happy.

Koyaanisqatsi is a love-hate film; you either love it, or hate it. For me, the brillance of Koyaanisqatsi comes in the juxtaposition of it's imagery and film score. The imagery is stunning: beautiful yet disturbing at times. The filmmaker Godfrey Reggio gives the viewer imagery and lets them make their own decisions about "what it means." This renders Koyannisqatsi a film where the viewer is quite active. If you do not like to think, or do not like abstractions you will most definitely not enjoy these films. If you enjoy thinking, and want to watch an experimental film that will leave you thinking for weeks, if not months afterwards, I can't recommend this film more.

This is a very different movie
I just found out that this movie is not available for purchase and is hard to find for rent. I bought a copy on VHS over ten years ago and just realized how rare it is today.

If you are an environmentally and socially conscious person and feel that you are pro-earth and pro-people then this movie will connect with you. If you aren't, then don't bother. The message will be lost on you and you'll just fall asleep watching it.

However, the images are something else. I was on a 36 hour fast and put this video on again. I had not watched it in some time. It was like I had never seen the movie before.

The only way that you can get this movie on DVD today is to make a 180 dollar contribution to the makers of this movie who have run short of money and are working on the third part of the trilogy of "Qatsi" movies. They have a website where they will tell you how to make the purchase. Just enter the title of the movie plus .com

It would be well worth the money spent to get this on DVD because of the powerful imagery and the Glass soundtrack.

A Masterpiece
The only shortcoming of the masterpiece epic "Koyaanisqatsi" on DVD is technical: the tape-to-DVD transfer is quite noisy: it's evident in some shots and colors where the shimmering "noise" detracts slightly from the visuals. Nevertheless this is a groundbreaking film, and seeing it 21 years after its cinematic release, yah it blows me (and anyone else who sees it)away.

So hey GR howzaboot a complete remastering, on par with the excellent soundtrack remaster? This film deserves nothing less. One of the top 5 films of all time.

Yes, get the 2- pack!
The first film, "Koyaanisqatsi," is superior, but the second film, "Powaqqatsi," has many visually stimulating moments as well. "Koyaanisqatsi" was a landmark film when it was first released, using time-lapse photography and other trick-cinematography to show the world in a new way. There are many provocative moments, my personal favorites being shots of landscapes and night-time city-scapes accelerated. The final shot of a rocket exploding is simply visceral to the point of being haunting. I can still see the swirling, fiery image days afterward. Now, for the second film. "Powaqqatsi" has some amazing shots, as well, but it lacks the first film's unique originality, using many of the same techniques from the first film but with fewer jarring sequences. However, the score to the second film is what really carries it to the end. The music, in my humble opinion, is more memorable and gives a sense of worldly ambience. Indeed, I loved the score so much that directly after watching "Powaqqatsi" I went on-line and purchased the CD. As a combination, these two films are engrossing, dated here and there, annoying at times, but overall, emotionally moving. What sold me on the 2-pack is the fact it's only a couple of bucks more for both. To me, it was worth it. It's like I got the second film as a rental that I never have to return. Adios.

Astounding
This film is one of few that has used this form of media to it's full potential. The combination of images and music presented in a fashion that allows the view to extrapolate meaning (rather than have meaning thrust upon them) is both refreshing and thought-provoking. This trilogy is a true artistic masterpiece. ... Read more

Description

A female erotic film director and her star head east to New York City to hunt for the perfect new stud for their next movie. Dozens of guys show up to audition, but things don’t go as smoothly as expected as the director tries desperately to keep her wannabe studs on the set and off the casting couch! Things spin hilariously out of control, but in the end, the director has her revenge in the most enviable of ways! This is a satirical look at the adult entertainment business and in a fun way spoofs everything from backstage shenanigans to the egos, fans, paparazzi and even Candida Royalle herself.

Starring: Ava Vincent, Alexandra Silk, Leila Swan, Tara Indiana, Brian Bishop, Johnny Dannon, Marcus Oralius and Grego. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A fun surprise!
I had heard of Candida Royalle's work but had never seen any and I have to admit I was skeptical. It was definitely different from other sex movies I've seen. It was funny and the erotic scenes were both tender and hot. Even my husband liked it! ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Good movie about a little known war
This was a war that the Soviet Union waged on Finland in the winter of 1939 to gain access to a port. They got quite a shock when they were met by extremely stiff resistance. This movie chronicles a group of friends who go together to the front to fight. This is a tough bunch of guys, but they never lose their humanity, like most of the nazi soldiers did. The Soviet forces were lacking leadership due to the fact that Stalin had decimated their ranks in one of his insane paranoid murderous purges. This is the war that convinced Hitler that the Soviets would crumble when his army attacked them. The film does have a kind of washed out, grainy look, a little more than Saving Private Ryan did, but that didn't detract from the movie. It kind of emphasized the bleakness those men were facing. This movie has great battle action sequences, and I'll bet if there were environmentalists on the set, they'd have all had heart attacks because of the number of trees that were destroyed by tanks and artillary. This movie isn't hampered by contrived plots, like SPR, or unnecessary love triangles, like what is in Enemy at the Gates (which is a good movie in every other respect). The only quibble I have with this movie is that the subtitles were sometimes hard to read and the English wasn't always correct (but that was kind of comical).

Good movie about a little known war
This was a war that the Soviet Union waged on Finland in the winter of 1939 to gain access to a port. They got quite a shock when they were met by extremely stiff resistance. This movie chronicles a group of friends who go together to the front to fight. This is a tough bunch of guys, but they never lose their humanity, like most of the nazi soldiers did. The Soviet forces were lacking leadership due to the fact that Stalin had decimated their ranks in one of his insane paranoid murderous purges. This is the war that convinced Hitler that the Soviets would crumble when his army attacked them. The film does have a kind of washed out, grainy look, a little more than Saving Private Ryan did, but that didn't detract from the movie. It kind of emphasized the bleakness those men were facing. This movie has great battle action sequences, and I'll bet if there were environmentalists on the set, they'd have all had heart attacks because of the number of trees that were destroyed by tanks and artillary. This movie isn't hampered by contrived plots, like SPR, or unnecessary love triangles, like what is in Enemy at the Gates (which is a good movie in every other respect). The only quibble I have with this movie is that the subtitles were sometimes hard to read and the English wasn't always correct (but that was kind of comical).

Great combat scenes but some boring parts
This is an okay movie. It tells the extremely dramatic story of Finnland's heroic resistance against the Soviet invasion of 1939 (this, by the way, is one of the things that the Russians would like you to forget about when they assert that they essentially won World War II on their own).

Anyway, the combat scenes are impressive for a film made in 1989. However, unless you speak Finnish, you're likely to get bored and start pressing the fast forward buttton when Talvisota gives you a series of verbose scenes at the beginning that last almost a half hour. There are several shorter (mercifully) interruptions punctuating the combat.

I've often wondered why Hollywood has never made a film about the brave fight that the Finns put up against the Russians. It would seem to me that the story would have the same appeal that "Braveheart" did. But then, I'm not a Hollywood producer.

The bottom line: If you can't rent it, I'd recommend buying it used (like I did). It simply isn't worth 45 dollars brand new.

Great Guy's Movie!
I give this film 5 stars not so much for its storyline or plot (which is virtually non-existant) but for its attempt to show a little known conflict. The combat scenes in this movie are intense. The waves of Soviet infantrymen throwing themselves upon the Mannerheim line gives the viewer a good idea what it must have been like for the Finns. The production value of this film is superb. Those are authentic Soviet T-26 light tanks, and early Yak Fighters. Again, don't look at this movie if you want to see a human interest story or standard plot. The intent of this work is docu-drama. The film accurately shows what the Finns did to resist the Soviet onslaught of 1939-40. There is not much character development here, pretty much all the Finns look like another, but what you see is a gritty determination of a small nation to defend itself against Stalin's tyranny. In the end of course the Finns had to make unfortunate concessions, but few modern wars show a more inspiring image of a small determined people fighting for their survival. This film is worth looking at for its marvalous combat scenes, equippment, and sheer grit. This is certainly a guys movie par excellenece. If you are inspired by it you should read the fine recent history of the conflcit entitled "A Frozen Hell"

Original Film Was Oscar Worthy, DVD Is Cut In Half
I wanted badly to purchase this DVD. However, the DVD running time is only 125 minutes. The film, when released, ran 3 hours and 16 minutes!!! That translates to 196 minutes. I am not surprised that this DVD has collected some very negative reviews here. It is missing an hour of content!!! I am now off on a search for an uncut version. I still have a Los Angeles Times review of this film from December 8, 1989 (when it arrived as Finland's official Oscar submission) written by Kevin Thomas who marvels at "a classic war picture, at once intimate and epic, majestic and numbing." ... Read more

Description

Catherine Breillat's controversial first film centers around the sexual awakening of a young girl on summer vacation. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Discovering Hiram Keller
I give this film 4 stars for its bold character. It confronts issues of sexuality head on. The pubic phase of a young girl's life is in lugubrious presentation here. Yet, even with all the nudity and sexuality, what I remember most about this film occured in the first 15 minutes when the real young girl spoke these three words: "I hate people" It chilled me to the bone.

My initial interest in the film came from my curiosity about the film career of Hiram Keller, who had recently died in Atlanta, GA, his place of birth as well. I am puzzled at his reticent presence in the film. "The Face", as he was called did not enjoy much of a career but he certainly got a great start.

It's a film to watch for you will certainly leave with an impression for better or for worse.

Entertaining and sexy
Acting on a whim, I rented this DVD from my local video store. It's a delightfully decadent little French trifle, if you can get over the salaciousness of the story. Although I would never rank Breillat high on my list of French directors, she sure can spin a good yarn. The plot is about a fourteen-year-old girl who discovers her sexuality is more of a burden than a blessing. This is a better film all around than "Romance", and I highly recommend it.

POSSIBLY THE WORST MOVIE EVER
First of all this movie's origional content is from the 70's and has terrible resouloution. The movie it self is in french with subtitles. This movie is very disgusting and the sex is so gross it makes you want to turn it off and never watch it again! I think I am permanently scared from theses images I cant get out of my head. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS MOVIE!!!!!

A fine student film
Perhaps Catherine Breillat was well into her career when she made this film and the title is not appropriate, I don't know, as I don't follow careers, I watch movies. This movie strikes me as pretty much a student film with sparkles of brilliance. Catherine Breillat deliberately juxtapositions scenes that should be erotic to disgusting, like breaking apart a worm and placing its pieces onto the star's pubic hair while she is tied. This technique is played out so much that "A Real Young Girl" could be used for a curing film like those poor Alex in "A Clockwork Orange" was forced to watch to cure him from his urges. A fine film for anyone following Breillat's career. Otherwise, jump right to Breillat's "Romance", which is an exceptional piece of filmwork and the single most organic representation of life I have ever experienced captured to celluloid.

Quite disturbing and replusing film
Probably one of the worst films I've ever seen. Not that it was absolutely awful, it's just that it was actually quite disgusting. The sexual parts are not so disturbing as are the symbolic parts (i.e., chicken heads being sliced off, etc.) The film is reminiscent of the French New Wave, perhaps it even was classified as such. Then again, I have never see a New Wave film as repulsive. All-in-all, not a film for the light-hearted. Also, the title "A Real Young Girl" doesn't really have bearing on the main girl character. The girl in the movie actually looks like she's in her 20's. ... Read more

Reviews (311)

Dark and creamy
"Chocolat", chocolate in french, is one of the few quality fables filmed in history. Its sweet tooth theme is perfect with the characters' emotions. The old town french town was wonderfully crafted. The fashion designers crafted the costumes perfectly to look 1959. Lasse Hallstrom directed this movie brilliantly. The writers give the movie the extra unique touches that most other today's movies need. They make all the events fit together as one.

Juliette Dimoche was the perfect actress to play Vianne, a chocolate cook whom most of the town calls her "Satan" for no reason. Judi Dench wonderfully portrays a cranky old woman whose fate becomes unexpected. Both deserved their Oscar nominations. Johnny Depp proves that he's improved greatly in the past few years in his role as a river drifter who falls in love with Vianne. Lena Olin plays a battered wife emotionally.

***Important word of caution: One will become very hungry while watching this movie. A small bowl of chocolate will cure the craving and will give the experience an extra touch.

Yummy!!...
This movie is so well made, it is sometimes difficult to remember it was filmed in 2001 and not 1959. It's a mouth-watering experience. Being that I own this movie now, and have seen it 3 or 4 times, I always order chocolate-drizzled brownies from a local restaurant while we watch it. Beware, you don't want to see this one without something sweet.

Vianne(Binoche) and her daughter Anouke, travel with the North winds. On this new journey(in 1959), they land in a small town outside France that seems to be stuck in a time warp.

"Tranquility" , says the town mayer, is the "motto" of his small province. Vianne and her Chocolaterie, bright red shoes, sexy clothes, and illegitimate daughter are exactly what the mayor does not welcome into his quiet little town. Epecially, during Lent.

Vianne still manages to stir up love and lust with her ancient chocolate formulas under the watchful eye of the Mayor. "One bite and you are hooked". Her time in the little moral town is interupted with wonderful characters and new friends. I loved Johnny Depp as the gypsy who lands his riverboat alongside the little town, only to cause distubances amongst the chuch-going frenzy of people. He and Juliet Binoche light up the screen and make a sexy match.

The movie, although a dramatic one, has some outrageous funny moments as well. Dame Judi Dench, one of my favorite actresses, plays the landlord of Vianne's Chocolaterie. Every word out of her mouth is sarcastic and somewhat "dirty"(very reminiscent of her small coveted role in Branagh's "Henry V"). I enjoyed her truthfulness and laughed along with her lines.

It doesn't need to be Valentine's Day for someone to enjoy this delicious movie. Why not buy it and package it with a box of chocolates for your sweetheart.

Chocolat
I didn't get all the hype around Chocolat that everyone made it seem.The acting and dialogue aren't the problem.The film is just extremely strange which made me kind of like it, but it was to odd and boring at times.It tells a sweet tale and ends well but I just didn't get into it.Binoche does a great job along with much of the cast.The characters are loved and you hurt when they are hurt but it doesn't pay back for the dullness.I just can't sit two hours through a film like that.I get bored and start to doze off especially later at night.Don't get me wrong it has a sort of heart warming tale and great looking chocolate but that doesn't help a movie get a good rating.Johnny Depp and Judi Dench especially do a fabulous job and Dench really was in my opinion a stronger and more believable character.Another thing that is interesting about the film is the setting and it's moral.I didn't like the cloudly dark feeling around the film either.The overall major problems though are the dullness and unusual plot; also it is a bit predictable.I really only reccomend this one if you are very easily impressed by all movies or you may want to check it out if your bored.

It is the late 1950s, but it might as well be the late 1850s in a small French town where everyone behaves as they should (supposedly), and attends church regularly. When a strong North wind blows through town, it brings the vivacious and mysterious Vianne (Juliette Binoche) and her young daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol). Vianne is soon the talk of the town: an unwed mother who declines to go to church and opens up a chocolate shop in the midst of Lent. Her good-natured, honorable personality and psychic ability (she can predict what kind of sweets best suit each person, and magically cures each of them of their particular maladies) make her as irresistible as her delectable treats. However, Vianne and her daughter are resented by the conservative mayor, the Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina), and by the pious Caroline (Carrie-Anne Moss), who has disowned her own spirited mother (Judi Dench, who plays Vianne's landlady), refusing the elderly woman access to her beloved grandson.This touching fairy tale, based on the novel by Joanne Harris, was filmed on location in rural France. An intelligent, exquisitely filmed fable that deals with the idea of 20th Century paganism rising up against a closed-minded church and a persevering aristocracy, CHOCOLAT is enjoyable, romantic, and entertaining, with affecting performances by both its stars and its supporting actors (Lena Olin and Johnny Depp.)

Where's the "E"?
I'm a collector of movies with the word 'Chocolate' in the title (Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory, Like Water For Choclate, Chinese Choclate, Stawberry and Chocolate, etc.) I don't really watch the movies, A.) because I don't want to break the anti-theft seal and reduce the collector's value. B.) because I don't really have the patience for movies. C.) Even if I DID have the patience for movies, I wouldn't have the patience for movies like "Chocolate And Strawberries" and "Like Water for chocolate" because I find them--I don't know--artsy fartsy, I guess you'd call it. The only reason I watched "Chocolat" is because I was intrigued that the director would leave the "e" off Chocolate which everyone knows ends in "e". I found myself dozing through a lot of it because-- like I said-- most movies with chocolate in the title are rather boring and arty. Also my father was always telling us when we were kids that he'd "sell us to the Gypsies" if we didn't behave so it was hard for me to get behind the Jonnny Depp character. I don't know, I just always loved movies with the word chocolate in the title. I don't even really like the word chocolate written on anything else, nor do I like the sound of it spoken aloud. I don't eat chocolate because it gives me hives. I just like the word chocolate in movie titles be they on marquees, video, or dvd boxes; and so I expect to see the full word there without any dropping of the last letter.

One of my favorites
This moving is moving and touching. I loved how chocolate bought the town together. ... Read more

Description

A middle-aged philosophy teacher begins an affair with a young girl that drives him past the point of obsession when he realizes that he can not possess her. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

A thought provoking film ...
The plotine is basically about a philosophy professor,an unsympathethic womaniser who has the desire to do something with his life. He meets a young woman, who was a model for a painter, who died while they were having sex, he doesn't get along well with her yet he has this physical connection to her. His obsession with her and her inability to respond to him make him resort to violence, he wants to break up with her and yet he cannot. Can a person love and despise another at the same time? This film explores that premise and utilises a lot of gratuitous sex and nudity ... Overall, it was a thought provoking film and I would only recommend it to any fan of French Cinema.

about this movie L ennui.....
A middle-aged philosophy teacher is having sex with a horde(whom later also have 'relationship' with another two men) where he could get give up the woman as he is too obsessed by her. This movie will be recommened to those whom like multiple sex scene and the rating I give to the scene are 4 star. The story of this movie is only a three star rating. The story end up with an accident where the philosophy teacher almost had himself killed.

Long and Boring
I guess people wants to see this movie for different reasons, I'll try to analyse this movie according to what I expect viewers are looking for and try to dissuade you from seeing it. There is nothing in this movie where you can't find in another with more bells and whistles and fun.

[1] If you're looking for hot arousing sex scenes, forget about it.

[2] If you're trying to explore / understand the psyche of middle aged men, forget about it too. All you'd see is this divorced Professor of Philosophy in his 40s/50s being obsessed about a girl half his age, ringing the girl at all times, tracing her phone numbers, and being confused why he likes the dull boring girl so much. Interesting, but you might wonder if you really need to spend 2 hours to examine the issues?

ABSOLUTE AWAKENING
I think you miss the whole point of this movie if you are expecting a typical Hollywood "brainwashing" movie. This movie is French. The whole point of the movie is precisely that the woman is not slim and gorgeous like a model (as Hollywood would make you want to believe all woman should be to be desirable to men). The fact that she is chubby makes the point precisely. She is not beautiful in his eyes, she is plain and chubby but he is crazy about her, why? because he cannot posses her. (Apart from physical pleasure there is nothing he can give her to make her interested in him.) And the farther away she is emotionally the more he wants her, and the more obsessed he gets with her. It has nothing to do with the outer physical beauty --she has managed to possess him in every way, without the "beauty" attributes that Hollywood movies would want to instill in the audiences. Her character has weaknesses as to the emotional and that is what drives him crazy about her. This movie is a great awakening into the deeper psyche of men.

L' Ennui - DVD
Martin a 40-something teacher has an affair with a girl half his age. There is plenty of sex and nudity (front & rear) in this move. I can't understand how a director could cast a plain, chubby young women in such a role. Any erotic value that this movie may have is taken away by how fat (chubby anyways) this girl is. This would have been a much better movie had the lead role been played by a younger and much more attractive (physically and sexually) girl. As you read the other reviews you need to determine for yourself if you want to waste your money on this one.

Gatekeeper Reviews movies only for their sexual, violence and nudity content. There is no child nudity in this movie. Please read other reviews if you're interests lie elsewhere. ... Read more

Description

Presented on 4 DVDs, The Man Who Planted Trees Deluxe Edition is the complete collection of celebrated works by one of the most acclaimed animators of our time, Frederic Back.

This tribute to Frederic Back contains 9 animated short films, fully digitally re-mastered for the first time, featuring: Academy Award winners The Man Who Planted Trees and Crac!, and the Academy Award nominated film The Mighty River.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Interviews with Frederic Back, Interview with Jean Giono (author of The Man Who Planted Trees), Interview with Hubert Tison, Frederic Back Biography, Interactive Menus, Photo Galleries, and Lists of Festivals & Awards. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Back's work deserves to be seen by a wide audience
Others have listed the contents, so I won't bother. I bought this on the strength of two shorts-Crac! and The Man Who Planted Trees, both of which I have on VHS, but wanted on DVD.I figured anything else was a bonus.All nine of the animated shorts are good to excellent, but I now have two more reasons to be delighted to have bought this set: All Nothing and The Mighty River.The Mighty River is almost as incredible as The Man Who Planted Trees.It deserves to be more widely known than it is.Everything on the set is worth checking out, but most especially watch the various Photo Galleries.The detail is all the more impressive in stills.A most highly recommended set.

Pricey, But Worth Every Single Cent
I have heard of Frédéric Back's The Man Who Planted Trees before by virtue of it being an Oscar winner for Best Animated Short in 1988, but have never seen it. When I found out that there was this DVD set collecting all his work, I was quite enthusiastic about it. It was expensive, but I ordered it anyway. And then I was left thinking or the next three weeks if my money was dumped into the drain for something I didn't know what to expect.

Since receiving my copy of The Man Who Planted Trees DVD, I have watched all the animated shorts, and bonus features. I am so amazed by his work -- both as an animator as well as an environmental activist.

When I was watching the films, I was thinking that this guy is carzy -- To think that Back hand-drew and used coloured pencils to complete every individual frame (background and foreground) of the film is just incredible. His films play with a continuous flow of images that is very much like a stream of consciousness projecting life at it's fullest -- alert, active and vibrant. And to add to that liveliness is the suitably used Impressionistic style with the rich beauty, movement and colour.

To some extent, as I watched the "The Man Who Planted Trees" and "Crac!" I was reminded of Winsor McCay's work such as "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1913). Here is a man so dedicated to his art. When McCay drew 10,000 ink-drawings to make the Gertie move, Back spent five years doing some 200,000 drawings to make his 33-minute The Man Who Planted Trees film.

That's what I call dedication and passion to his work and art. And you don't come across people like that very often.

So is the DVD set worth buying? I believe it was money well spent.

Brilliant Animation with a Heart, a Soul and a Purpose
Whether you are a longtime fan of the work of Canada's Frederic Back, or you are just discovering the masters of animation, you'll both be equally and incredibly pleased with this four-disc anthology.Nine films are included: Abracadabra, Inon or the Conquest of Fire, The Creation of Birds, Illusion?, Taratata!, All Nothing, Crac!, The Mighty River and The Man Who Planted Trees -- as well as several insightful interviews and a documentary retrospective of the life and work of Frederic Back.All are presented beautifully, with each film looking and sounding fresh and well-cared for.

But beyond the presentation, these films (particularly The Man Who Planted Trees, Illusion? and The Mighty River) get to the heart of environmentalism and stewardship.They are not shrill or glib, not reactive or stalely didactic -- these films are awash with animism and life, each using this unique medium to exhalt the beauty of creation, and to exemplify the folly of excess.Back's impressionistic style flows like a river itself, rolling and moving and churning, urging us to face the simple truths of our abuses, and to consider the possibility of a more harmonious course.

I'll stop there, because I'm afraid I'm making Back's work sound contrived.Walt Disney once said that a true animated film could not be put into words, and he was right.I can only urge you to see these truly remarkable films, and to share them with the youngest generations. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

From its first gliding aerial shot of a generic suburban street, American Beauty moves with a mesmerizing confidence and acuity epitomized by Kevin Spacey's calm narration. Spacey is Lester Burnham, a harried Everyman whose midlife awakening is the spine of the story, and his very first lines hook us with their teasing fatalism--like Sunset Boulevard's Joe Gillis, Burnham tells us his story from beyond the grave.

It's an audacious start for a film that justifies that audacity. Weaving social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, Alan Ball's first theatrical script dares to blur generic lines and keep us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctionalAmerican families, as Lester is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening, making the most of a mostly unsympathetic role) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter, Jane (Thora Birch, utterly convincing in her edgy balance of self-absorption and wistful longing). Into their lives come two catalytic outsiders.A young cheerleader (Mena Suvari) jolts Lester into a sexual epiphany that blooms into a second adolescence. And an eerily calm young neighbor (Wes Bentley) transforms both Lester and Jane with his canny influence.

Credit another big-screen newcomer, English theatrical director Sam Mendes, with expertly juggling these potentially disjunctive elements into a superb ensemble piece that achieves a stylized pace without lapsing into transparent self-indulgence. Mendes has shrewdly insured his success with a solid crew of stage veterans, yet he's also made an inspired discovery in Bentley, whose Ricky Fitts becomes a fulcrum for both plot and theme. Cinematographer Conrad Hall's sumptuous visual design further elevates the film, infusing the beige interiors of the Burnhams' lives with vivid bursts of deep crimson, the color of roses--and of blood. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (1022)

Astonishing
This is one of the truly rare films that works brilliantly on every possible level. As a satire, it delves deep into the heart of society, and illuminates the strong undertones of resentment, despair and desire that flourish beneath glossy facade of American life. It displays the reasons why so many lives unfold without any happiness, because people choose to live without going after their dreams and ambitions. On the other side "American Beauty" is also a modern tragedy, a story of one man's search for identity and freedom, and the way he profoundly impacts the people around him. The film slowly unravels the masks people where, and explores the moral obscurity and emotional chaos they could plunge into when they decide of follow their heart instead of their conscience. Kevin Spacey is phenomenal as Lester Burnham, his performance is 100% worthy of an Oscar. Alan Ball's script never ceases to amaze me, it's abundance of shrewd observations and insights is something to marvel at. Visually, the film is stunning, it's imagery is nothing short of cinematic poetry, you will find yourself in awe in every frame, every moment. "American Beauty" never shies away from reality, no matter how sad, and in the end, you will find yourself looking at the things that surround you with a whole new outlook. This is a truly remarkable film, one of the decade's best.

Visually stunning and utterly repellent.
There's a scene in American Beauty in which a teenaged boy is found filming a dead bird by two girls his age. They ask him why, and he explains, "Because it's beautiful." That's one opinion: another, which also applies to "American Beauty," is that no matter how beautifully you light, film and score it, something foul and rotten is still foul and rotten.

Director Sam Mendes is clearly gifted; cinematographer Conrad Hall's use of color and light is stunning; the music is haunting, and the cast talented, and even Alan Ball's script shows a deliberate intelligence too many movies lack. But none of these elements can disguise the fact that this movie is sad, cynical and sick at heart. It's a mean-spirited chronicle of suburbia as hell which tries to patch itself over with a feel-good moral and fails utterly.

With the possible exception of one semi-redeeming choice Kevin Spacey's character makes at the end of the film, none of the main characters exhibit any likeable or even remotely worthwhile traits. Spacey's Lester Burnham goes from being a wimp to an arrogant lecher; Annette Benning as his wife is a shrill Martha Stewart caricature; Mena Suvari, as Burnham's teenaged lust object, is profoundly unlikeable; Thora Birch's daughter character is selfish and sullen; her creepy love interest, boy-next-door Wes Bentley, deals drugs when he's not filming her obsessively. Then there's Bentley's abusive ex-Marine dad... the list goes on and on.

No one is having a good time in American Beauty. Everyone is miserable. And the one person who figures out a way to escape that misery is horribly dead soon after. There is a worthwhile message in American Beauty, as well as one utterly lovely scene involving nothing more than a videotape of a windblown plastic bag. But the brighter elements of this movie feel hastily tacked on to its warped, unrealistically dark world view, and in the end they cannot compensate for the utter, gaping landfill where this film's moral center ought to be.

An amazing film
I thought this movie was awful. It's amazing to me how anyone could like this. I couldn't wait for it to be over. I had to rate it when I saw how many people thought it was a masterpiece? This simplistic piece of badly acted crap? The situaion with the father and the teenage girl is almost child pornography.

AN EXQUISITE AFFIRMATION OF LIFE
On the surface, this stunner from Sam Mendes is such a relentlessly bleak look at the vacuity of the supposed "American Dream" that viewers may just turn off to it en masse. And it shows in the acute polarization of reviews here on Amazon.

But if you can be a little less knee-jerk and not shut off all rational thought when confronted with what's disturbingly familiar, you may also find that the film is genuinely, voraciously amusing, and directed with such breathtaking flair that Spacey's bravura performance seems like a career-defining one.

Beneath the surface of all the seeming pettiness in our daily idiosynchrasies, the theme points out, is an entire world of such simple elegance that chortles to be seen and heard, but is neither recognized nor heeded to.

An interesting visual device in the film is the use of windows. Not just a use, but a splurge, come to think of it. Almost everything important happens in front of, around, or through windows. Could this be a metaphor perhaps for self-examination, for viewing one's life from the outside?

What I do not understand is why most films in this genre (Ice Storm, Ordinary People) end with a dramatically tragic finale. Does it take a shattering turn of events to break everyone out of their daily reverie? Something to think about.

Any rate, long story short: an evocative gem you need to own.

There is only one word for this movie..... PERFECT
I've seen a lot of Hollywood crap, and I was just getting sick of that whole movie industy when I happened to see American Beauty. I'm a story-line fanatic and I've seen way too many stupid blunders on most movies, but this one was just flawless.
It was absolutely perfect. In fact, the only camparable movie to this one was that Korean film, Old Boy. ... Read more

Reviews (807)

A heart-shaped French delicacy!!!
Amelie is a rare delight. The title character is a painfully shy loner who discovers a small box filled with a little boy's keepsakes. She seeks the rightful owner of the box. The charm of this film is that Amelie wants to perform her little miracles, hiding in the shadows, with no recognition for herself. The characters in this piece are fascinating, each one reflecting back a facet of Amelie's personality. In the end, Amelie's compassion ends up being her own salvation - and that is what makes the film so much of a joy to watch. Hollywood has pretty much exchanged emotion and subtlety for rudeness, crudeness, and over processed digital special effects. Like a good French wine, this motion picture is an experience to be savored - not devoured. Amelie has a look and feel that stands out from anything I've seen in recent years. So many modern films are filtered with a grayish or orange tint, which tricks the viewer's eye into thinking it is watching a stark, gritty documentary. Steven Soderbergh seems to be the reigning master of this technique. Amelie by contrast, with it's deep reds and fluorescent and forest greens accented by cobalt blues and electric yellows, transports you to a world full of magic and hope. The effect is enchanting.

The DVD package is complete with commentaries and documentaries on the making of the film. These added features make it clear that this film was carefully planned by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, much like "The Sixth Sense." Shots were storyboarded, set up, and orchestrated months in advance. And any extra footage of Audrey Tautou is always welcome in my home. A blend of the beauty and grace of Audrey Hepburn, the humor and physical skill of Charlie Chaplin, and the vulnerability of early Winona Ryder, and the sultry elegance of a sixties European model. Her method of using her eyes, facial expression, and body language (relying less on verbal expression) to create a character is what helps makes Amelie transcend language barriers.

I was a little disappointed there wasn't a version with dubbed English, but after 15 minutes or so, I didn't even notice that I was reading subtitles. There were more than quite a few belly laugh moments, and it became very apparent that this is one of those rare films that is so good it completely transcends culture, language - the universal message is "The good you do for others returns - especially when you don't expect it to." A French delicacy. I just hope we get to sample more of Jeunet, Tautou, and the rest of this team's products soon. Thanks, Miramax.

A Mainstream Hit Dipped In Euro-Sauciness!
The lack of any decent films from the English lingo countries of England and America has given rise to an increase in recognition of some of the finer foreign language exploits into cinema. Earlier this year we had "Amores Perros", and in England we had Japanese shock-fests "Audition" and "Battle Royale" (the latter has to be seen to be believed). The most successful foreign language film this year, bar "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" obviously, was this French trifle that whilst appealing to the fickle tastes of mainstream audiences superbly serves up its romantic hokiness in a touching and cute way. Over-hyped, to be sure, but not without its pleasures.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "The City Of Lost Children", which he co-directed with Marc Caro, bears the most resemblance to the look of "Amelie", which looks different to any other film this year with all of its rich, antique-looking cinematography as well as its inclusion of several effects shots that help to render Paris as paradise on Earth. Visual coups include Amelie herself collapsing to the ground as a puddle of water and the titular garden gnome that travels the world much to the chagrin of its owner, Amelie's father. Everything smacks of resplendence in this movie and no cinematic trick is left not utilised.

In all respects, "Amelie" is likely to play better in America than it should in Europe, where its cute benevolence will be welcomed by many, especially after September 11. If you are one of those people who can't help but giggle as bug-eyed little girls stare into the camera with a cheeky smile, then this film is for you (indeed, Audrey Tautou is bug-eyed, cheeky and very good in the title role). If you are like those who criticised "Amelie" for its lack of interracial characters, then don't bother: this beguiling trifle is a fantasy, pure and simple, like "Amelie" herself.

Green and Red beauty and smiles
A beautiful movie about a simple, and pretty weird girl. Pay particular attention to the beautiful color selection and Audrey Tautou's flawless acting. Amelie is the feel-good movie of our times and is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face.

really, what's so great about this?
Its quirky and pretty and all, but then it turns into a typical love story in the end. Dissapointing, I would rather it be a film where she makes everyones lives nicer, and this importance isn't placed on her Only Being Happy If She Gets The Guy. The actress is really pretty, there are nice scenes and ideas, parts are funny, but I don't understand why it has this cult status.

Lithe and awake.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet makes a welcome return to his home country after the loud but pedestrian 'Alien Resurrection'. In 'Amelie' Jeunet seems to have taken as much influence from Danny Boyle as Francois Truffaut. The accelerated jump-cuts, tracking shots and zooms all make for high-octane energy even if most of it is artifically created. Although 'Amelie' herself is almost too twee to identify with, many of the other characters' faces simmer with restrained intensity (increasingly becoming a Jeunet trademark.) The acting is above average (exception being the always good Domnique Pinon), but it's the quality of the storytelling that shines. Trust the French to be able to remind us that cinema is still relevant in it's second century, that evocative minor epiphinies such as running your hand through grain or the sights and sounds of a market are not just the preserve of the written word but can actually be rendered on screen (and still find an audience!). Through imaginative editing, camerawork and a little help from CGI, Jeunet's film packs in more incident and wonder than most of today's novels are capable of producing. ... Read more

Description

Learn to dance authentic Argentine Tango in 10 easy lessons with Fabián Salas - Argentine Tango dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Buenos Aires, with over 15 years of professional experience. Fabián has successfully taught Tango to thousands of students in Argentina, Brazil, USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain, France, Norway, and other countries. He has tutored numerous dance couples towards success both on stage and competitions. Fabián has judged professional tango competitions both in Argentina and the USA. Tango lovers around the world acclaim him as a Master Teacher and performer extraordinaire. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

10 easy lessons of Argentine Tango
This video is comprised of 10 lessons, which start at the very basic and progress at an easy pace. Different viewing angles and slow motion are very useful. Excellent quality images and sound. Especially impressive is the impeccable footwork of the teachers - Fabian Salas and Cecilia Gonzalez. The style of dancing being taught is very elegant, as authentic argentine tango is. The two exhibitions by Fabian and Cecilia are very impressive and a great bonus. Well done!

Best in class
This instructional video is the best in its class. Lessons are simple and fun, progression is quick and easy, yet the tango being taught here is the authentic Argentine tango. What more can one ask? Well, maybe a DVD edition ... In any case, this is the best way to start learning the most intimate dance of all time - the Tango!

Logical and enjoyable
I am just a beginner, but I find this instructional series (all three volumes) to be very logical and well prepared. It allows me to progress very fast and not forget what I've learned in previous lessons. It is also very enjoyable, as I am having lots of fun with my partner.

Master level instruction
Tango can be one of the hardest dances to learn by video but this video makes it very easy.
After following the detailed instruction in this dvd you will be able to Tango with style for a complete Tango song.
Each of the steps flows beautifully into the next step so the flow you learn is great.
Highly recommended.

Better than VHS
This is a DVD version of the same excellent volume 1 of the Tango Fundamentals by Fabian Salas. The advantage here is the digital quality and the interactive menue which gives direct access to all ten lessons, plus the terrific exhibition dancing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This unpretentious, endearing film is a modest triumph. Based on interviews with more than 500 people about the one memory they would choose to take with them to heaven, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda has modeled a unique blend of documentary and fiction that addresses the vagaries of memory but also what it means to make films. After Life transpires in a sort of way station where the dead must select one memory to be re-created on film and taken on with them forever, relinquishing everything else. Over the span of a week, a dedicated group of caseworkers tease out self-deceptions as well as real epiphanies from 22 different lives. An old woman remembers reuniting with her husband on a crowded bridge after World War II; a man recollects the breeze felt on a tram ride the day before summer vacation; a successful man faces his own treachery. Remembering becomes a courageous act in the casual exposition of this lovely film. --Fionn Meade ... Read more

Reviews (45)

You don't know about life--how can you ask about death?
A masterfully humorous, compassionate, quiet and moving film by a Japanese director whose work has primarily been in documentaries. The premise is strange but thought-provoking: after death, you have to choose one memory to take with you into eternity; everything else will be forgotten. In a brilliant series of cuts the staff at a run-down, out-of-the-way establishment explain this to the weekly intake of their "clients"--people who have just died. They have three days to decide; then the staff, with summer-camp-like enthusiasm, stages tiny films that recreate the memories. On the last day of the week the films are shown, and the clients vanish, one by one, as they relive the memories that are projected.

Kore-Eda worked with actors and scripts, actors telling the camera their own memories, and non-professionals; the marvellous cast mixes all three and it's impossible to tell which is which. A young girl wants to relive Splash Mountain, only to reconsider after a worker gently tells her that thirty others had made the same choice that year. A boastful roue explains that the memory of course has to be of sex--and then chooses something quite different. An old woman remembers dancing for her older brother's friends in a red dress, and shyly coaches the little girl who will play her in the memory film. And a seventy-year-old salaryman can find nothing worth remembering, so videotapes of his life are requisitioned--touching off what plot there is.

There are no flashbacks and little overt drama, but as the clients look back at their lives the staff are drawn in, and the viewers, too, can't help but wonder what memory would be worth living with for ever. What glows from the placid surface of this extraordinary film is the wonder and mystery of everyday things, the tenuous but rich beauty of merely living. "After Life"-- the Japanese title is "Wonderful Life"--is only ostensibly about death; no film of recent years has been more life affirming.

Witty but suffers from tedious pace
Pick one memory from your entire life, and spend eternity reliving it over and over...it's the sublimely simple idea that forms both the solid foundation and quiet joys of After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda's thoughtful meditation on spirituality, humanity, and the changing nature of both. Although the action of After Life is set in an otherworldly processing center for the souls of the recently deceased, the film is actually a gentle introspective journey for each and every viewer. Watching Hirokazu's beautifully austere work, one can only ruminate on one's own life, asking the questions the persons are asking on screen. What is your most treasured memory? Has your life had meaning? Will you be remembered, or did your life pass by without the world's notice? The cast, made up of professional and novice actors, is one of the film's greatest joys. Many of the non-actors, in fact, used their actual lives and memories in coming up with their unscripted, improvised answers to the questions. Especially memorable are an almost silent old lady who collects pretty things from the garden, the little girl who chooses Disneyland as her best memory and then changes her mind, and Iseya, a street tough who refuses to choose any memory at all. Unfortunately, despite a sometimes witty script and solid premise, After Life suffers from a tediously dull pace. As the film continues on, it becomes a series of notable moments. Further on, the moments come further apart, until finally the idea has played itself out. The ending drags on with an unnecessary after-thought that adds a spirit-killing half hour to the running time. It's a shame that such an admirable effort bogs down into a disappointing, meandering whole.

It's a wonderful life
The Japanese title of this film is "Wonderful Life," and wonderful it is.

Kore-Eda uses the premise of choosing one memory for all eternity as a compelling way to explore themes of memory, closure, loss and existential meaning. The film starts out with interesting stories of unique memories recounted by actors and non-actors. A small plot develops as the story follows the case of an older, slightly arrogant retired salaryman who believes he lived a meaningful life but is having a hard time choosing his one memory. Keep in mind that people who hated this film probably prefer plot-driven dramas. "After Life" is driven by quiet observations, with a small plot driving the film's main statement.

The thing that impressed me the most was Kore-eda's representation of heaven or the after life. Kore-eda's heaven evokes and celebrates so many aspects of Japanese daily life -- the school life of children, the driving productivity of salarymen, and the quiet, contented simplicity of the elderly population. The staff of counselors at this halfway-house to eternity scrub the floors and tidy up their office first thing in the morning the way my Japanese mother remembers doing at her school in 1950s Tokyo. Like salarymen, they discuss their increasingly heavy case load and the film follows the tense timeline of their one-week deadline to recreate and film the memories. The film also captures the beauty of falling autumn leaves and sakura (cherry blossoms) through the eyes of an elderly woman with Alzheimers.

There is no idealism in Kore-eda's heaven. The staff's building looks like an old, run-down school house and the props they use to film their staged memories have a summer camp, high school production feel to it. Some of the dead change their minds about their memories, and one chooses not to pick at all. The staff is also faced with a corporate schedule and mom-and-pop resources, but things eventually fall into palce.

Oddly enough, in Kore-Eda's heaven, there is no closure. The counselors who run the place have chosen for various reasons to not pick one memory for all eternity, and they must continue on with the daily frustrations of being human. People still experience unrequited love and loneliness in heaven. Counselors pass time by reading the encyclopedia volume by volume. There seems to be little solace, except in the closure one makes for oneself by finally choosing a memory.

Kore-eda's film doesn't make any striking or profound statements about existential meaning, God or eternity. In fact, there are no evocations of God or a higher power. By singling out one memory (true or fabricated), the film almost suggests that the experience of living is really just "content" for us to draw from in deciding what the meaning of our existence has been in the end. The film benignly suggests that meaning doesn't seem to exist in its own right, it's something illusory that people create. We aren't faulted for needing illusions, it just seems to be an accepted part of our humanity.

For such a quiet film to make such compelling and powerful observations, I give it 5 stars.

One Memory
_After Life_ was one of my numerous unopened DVDs that sat upon my one of my shelves untouched by human hands but caressed by a large amount of dust. Bored, I finally decided to view it today and I was not disappointed. The plot of the film is quite simple: Individuals who have recently passed away are asked by an after life bureaucratic bureau to select one incident from their lives to take along with them to the next world as the only thing that they will remember. However, instead of taking their memories along with them in their brains, a short film is made instead.

If one is looking for a film with even a modicrum of action, this is not the film. For the most part this film has the feel of a documentary which, in a way, it actually is. 500 people were asked to relate what memory they would like to take to the next world, and the result is this film. In fact some of the "actors" in this film are not actors at all, but individuals expressing their favorites memories which includes an old man telling of when he was given water and rice by US soldiers, an old woman's memory of the dresses her older brother purchased her, and a young girl remembering how her mother cleaned her ears. There are also other individuals who feel as if they do not have any good memories so they have to search through their lives to find a spark of goodness.

A great film that not only touches on what is important to various human beings, but on how memory and fiction mingle.

...ponder your own existence while breathing.
After Life is a thought provoking film that depicts 22 individuals who have been sent to a place between the living and the hereafter. This place functions as a reflective and meditative station where three counselors are to guide the 22 characters through questions to remember their most enjoyable moment while alive. However, there is one stipulation to this task for each individual, which limits their contemplation of their memories to three days. The following step for the three counselors is to recreate the memory of each individual through shooting a film that resembles their fond memory. After Life is shot with a grainy texture and the cinematography reminds the audience of the spontaneous camera movement of documentary styled films. This is a part of Koreeda's deliberate direction as he wants to depict his brilliant vision and persuade the audience to ponder their own existence while breathing. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Imagine a Cheech and Chong pothead comedy, only instead of two scruffylowlifes, the movie is about an aimless Scottish gardener and a middle-agedBritish widow with a green thumb. Grace (Brenda Blethyn of Secrets andLies and Little Voice) has just discovered that her recently deceasedhusband has left her with an enormous debt when her gardener Matthew (CraigFerguson, The Big Tease) asks her to help him tend to his small,personal-use marijuana crop. Grace soon realizes that they can turn her greenhouse into a hydroponics laboratory and turn out a profitable crop--if only theycan keep the local constables at bay and then find a dealer to actually sell thestuff. Saving Grace has well-developed characters, intelligent dialogue,a charming and capable cast, and clean, clear direction. But at heart it's stilla marijuana comedy, with most of its funniest moments coming from the silly,stoned behavior of elderly ladies and other stuffy Brits. Nothing wrong withthat, and Blethyn and Ferguson give the film a strong anchor. The ending goes alittle over-the-top, but most of the movie is well-grounded in genuine humanbehavior. A subplot about Matthew's girlfriend's pregnancy is treated withrespect and integrity. Sweet, silly, and sincere. --Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Reviews (55)

Quaint, entertaining and enjoyable
This droll English comedy kept me enchanted and amused throughout. Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn) is widowed by her husband when he takes a flying leap out of an airplane without a parachute. Upon putting their affairs in order, she discovers that he spent all their money and mortgaged the estate leaving her penniless and steeply in debt. In a last ditch effort to save the estate, she hits upon the idea of using her hothouse and her considerable skills with plants to grow and sell high quality marijuana. Thus, the formerly wealthy widow collaborates with her gardener to grow and process the weed and attempt to bring it to market. The results are often hilarious, especially her negotiations with the drug kingpin and the reactions of the local residents.

The film is well directed and written with numerous funny situations throughout. Director Nigel Cole keeps the pace brisk and works well with the actors to produce a good deal of physical comedy laced with comical reaction scenes by various characters. He also treats us to some terrific locations that show off the wonderful English countryside. The acting is excellent, especially by Brenda Blethyn, who is quite humorous as the fish out of water determined to make her way in the drug culture. She has a quality that makes her equally believable as a proper English aristocrat and a common conniver. Craig Ferguson is also good as her partner in crime, a hapless fellow whose harebrained ideas are always getting him into trouble.

The story is not very original, the film having thematic similarities to numerous British comedies of the recent past ("Waking Ned Devine", "The Full Monty"), however one can do worse than imitate the success of these films. I rated it an 8/10. Overall, it is quaint, entertaining and enjoyable. For those looking for a light film that will tickle them, this is an excellent choice.

Charming and Quirky
I first saw Saving Grace on a Virgin Atlantic flight in July, coming home from Scotland. I never heard of the movie, but was quickly drawn in by the characters setting and plot. When it finally opened in the U.S., I became a one-man PR firm, talking the film up and getting people to go see it. Brenda Blethyn is one of my favorite actresses, back from when she played the mother in "A River Runs Through It." She plays Grace with dignity, warmth, and just a touch of desperation. Craig Ferguson is nothing like the character he plays on Drew Carey. His Matthew is sweet, concerned, and a little irresponsible, but trying hard to do the best he can. The supporting cast is wonderful too, adding a richness to the village in Cornwall that makes you care about what is happening, and believe it to be possible. Martin Clunes as Dr. Bamford, and Valerie Edmond as Matthew's girlfriend, Nicky, provide a sense of whimsy and groundedness to the events that unfold. Combine the performances with a good soundtrack and the beautiful setting on the Cornish coast and you have a great "little" film in which you will discover new things with each viewing.

Pass the dutchie, Grace
I loved Brenda Blethyn so much in "Secrets and Lies" that picking up "Saving Grace" was a no-brainer for me. Grace Trevethyn (Blethyn) is devestated by her husband's sudden suicide, but even more astonished at what apparently brought it on- he mortgaged everything they own and the bank is ready to foreclose. As Grace brainstorms how to get the dosh to keep her home, her gardner and loyal friend Matthew ("Drew Carey"s Craig Ferguson), whose girlfriend is unexpectedly pregnant, offers Grace a solution that will solve their prospective money woes: use Grace's horticulture know-how and ample greenhouse to nurse and multiply his marijuana plant to sell to a dealer. The humor sometimes slips into Benny Hill mode as Matthew and his doctor friend Martin (played by "British Men Behaving Badly"'s Martin Clunes, who is also the voice of the children's cartoon "Kipper")help Grace fend off the bank and the cops, not to mention the stodgy residents who all know what Grace is up to, but don't discuss it. One of the films funniest moments comes when two old ladies (one of whom is played by Emma Thompson's Mum Phyllida Law) stumble upon Grace's stash and think it's tea. They brew up a cuppa and get seriously stoned. Then, the film takes a more ridiculous approach as Grace and her husband's mistress enter a seedy London club to find a dealer to sell the stuff to. Still, this little ripple isn't enough to bring "Saving Grace" down to 4 stars for me. All around jolly good fun!

It'll sneak up on you
This charming, amusing film starts out fairly quiet and unassuming. When the recently widowed Grace Trevethyn (Brenda Blethyn) finds that her husband left her with a pile of debt, she slowly realizes that if she doesn't find a way to increase her income dramatically, she would lose her house. Her gardener Matthew Stewart (Craig Ferguson) encourages her to help him with his struggling pot plants. She takes this to her greenhouse and is hit by an idea on how to make money. All this is encouraged by her doctor Martin Bamford (Martin Clunes). Watching the remaining sequence of events unfold will leave you laughing.

Cornwall is not in Scotland or Northern England..?
Contrary to some really bad reviewers on this site [Shashank Tripathi on "'WEED"ING OUT MONEY TROUBLES IN A CORNWALL SETTING" and Ante Soda on "Grace saved herself"] Cornwall is not in Scotland or Northern England..? Some of this film's harshest reviewers have no idea about the setting of this work. Were they stoned when they watched the show, or wrote their reviews? Either way, don't take their word for it because they are obviously clueless about this motion picture which is outstandingly charming. British comedy fans won't be disappointed with "Saving Grace" either... ... Read more

Reviews (272)

Another masterpiece from Guy Ritchie
Highly talented writer/director Guy Ritchie delivers another masterpiece with Snatch, that equals the sheer quality and genius of his other masterpiece, Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrells. Once again the film is edgy with vast undertones of dark, gritty realism centering on the underworld but refreshingly enc