Nice romp with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. These two had "That Touch" when it comes to romantic comedies. A nice, easy to watch movie. Just sit back and enjoy the fun.
Showing posts with label disney movies online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disney movies online. Show all posts
That Touch of Mink (1962)
Nice romp with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. These two had "That Touch" when it comes to romantic comedies. A nice, easy to watch movie. Just sit back and enjoy the fun.
Fighter, The (2013)
"The Fighter" is easily director David O. Russell's most conventional film to date. Russell has been out of the film world for a few years after the mixed reception he received with the release of 2004's "I Heart Huckabees," an underrated film that may have tried a bit too hard. But when Russell burst onto the scene with the subversive "Spanking the Monkey," the exquisitely madcap "Flirting with Disaster," and the audacious "Three Kings"--I knew that I would follow this guy wherever he led! Well, he's back. "The Fighter" comes straight from the underdog sports genre of filmmaking, and in its plotting stays true to the course you would expect. But thankfully, there's a bit more to this appealing tale that's as much about brotherhood as it is about prizefighting. Sold by an A-list cast (the acting awards and nominations have already started rolling in), "The Fighter" manages, for the most part, to transcend the usual cliches with its focus on family.Telling the true life tale of Micky Ward's unorthodox, and extremely bumpy, road to capturing the world light welterweight title--"The Fighter" appeals to the same everyman underdog sensibilities that countless films have already tapped. Mark Wahlberg, in a refreshingly understated way, lends a calmness to the center of the picture. The rest of the cast, for good and bad, go for broke in large showy performances. Christian Bale, gaunt and tweaking, plays Ward's brother. A former boxer and Micky's trainer, Bale is hapless and helpless as a habitual crack addict and a lowlife criminal. The drama between Bale and Wahlberg is easily the strongest element in "The Fighter" with Bale being both invaluable AND utterly destructive to Wahlberg's career prospects. Wahlberg is continually overshadowed within the family by his needier brother who tasted greatness before completely falling apart.
Make no mistake, in my opinion, "The Fighter" belongs to Christian Bale in perhaps the finest performance of his career and of the year. Stripped to skeletal proportions, Bale inhabits every moment with a desperate intensity. But despite everything, you understand why Wahlberg can't turn his back on his brother. Amy Adams displays a pleasing toughness in a change of pace role as Wahlberg's girlfriend. And Melissa Leo has been garnering a lot of attention as the brothers' mother. Unfortunately, the film is not without its shortcomings. For my taste, Leo is a bit over-the-top as is much of the other family dynamic. There are many sisters on hand, none of whom are developed, and so when the whole clan gets together--those scenes tend to veer over the line of believability.
I can easily overlook these false (and noisy) moments, however, to admire the interplay between the brothers. Every quiet moment is worth it. It's easy to lose Walhberg in all the larger than life shenanigans, but were it not for his simplicity--""The Fighter" might have pushed into overwrought melodrama. As is, he perfectly balances with Bale's manic energy. And I have to say it again--Bale is stunning! For this alone, "The Fighter" stands apart from every other film selling a similar story. Bale, Bale, Bale!!!!! KGHarris, 12/10.
Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) is following in his brother Dicky's (Bale) footsteps and is trying to make a name for himself as a boxer. Dicky has been giving Mickey advice and helping Mickey train for as long as they can both remember while their mother Alice (Leo) has been acting as his manager the entire time. Mickey knows it's time for a change if he expects to make a serious impact in the boxing world, but a crack addicted brother and a mom who thinks she's helping his career when she's really hurting it have both been holding him back for far too long. So when Charlene (Adams) and Mickey become an item and Dicky winds up in prison, Mickey makes the hardest decision of his life and keeps fighting with new management in tow and seemingly pushes his family out. As Mickey's mother tries to wrap her head around her son replacing her as manager, all hell breaks loose once Dicky gets out of prison. As the date for the most important fight in Mickey's career fast approaches, will he have the support of his family or has everything already fallen apart past the point of being repaired?
The cast is the driving force behind this film. The relationships and arguments that take place between Mickey, Dicky, their mother, her seven daughters, George Ward (Jack McGee), Charlene, and Mickey O'Keefe (as himself) are really the heart behind all the boxing that takes place. Melissa Leo turns in an emotionally powerful performance as you can tell she only wants the best for her family, does everything within her power to do just that, and still seems to wind up hurting them in the long run. Amy Adams character, Charlene, seems to want nothing more than to be with Mickey but is also relying on his success to be the ticket to her bettering her life. Then there's Mark Wahlberg who always seems to play the same role with the same thick Boston accent. The thing about Mickey though is that Wahlberg fits the part very well. The extensive training Wahlberg went through and his experience made him a shoe-in for this role. The real gem of the film is Christian Bale though. Bale has been rather disappointing performance-wise since The Dark Knight and it's nice to see him back in top form here. He surely looks the part as his awkward body language, sick, clammy skin tone, and the way he seems to be chewing on something when he's not eating anything really makes him come off as a genuine crack addict. I was beginning to think that success had gotten to his head, but even if it has it's great to know that he can still turn in engaging performances like this when he feels like it.
What's interesting is the song, "How You Like Me Now?" by The Heavy that was also used in the trailers for Faster is used several times in The Fighter. It seems to be utilized more efficiently in The Fighter though. It felt like the song was used in Faster just because it sounded cool, but the song seems to have a stronger impact in a film about a boxer trying to turn his life around better than a film about a guy trying to gain revenge for his brother's death. It was a very welcome addition to the soundtrack and makes the opening segment to The Fighter even more memorable than it already was.
The film also wastes little time taking full control of your attention. You don't lose interest until that screen turns black. With the little bits of humor thrown in for good measure amongst all of the family brawling and knockout punches being thrown around, it was just really easy to get lost in the film. It was almost as if you were part of the documentary crew filming Dicky watching this all take place in person. The one complaint I have is that it all seems to end rather prematurely. While everything does come together nicely, the ending just doesn't feel fully gratifying. It felt like the film ended right in the middle of the climax, but consider it a nitpick. It's still an excellent film.
The Fighter is an engrossing and emotionally powerful drama that features an incredibly strong cast and the best performance from Christian Bale in a long, long time. I honestly haven't liked a boxing film this much since Raging Bull. With all of the end of the year awards talk and so many movies being released recently and in the coming weeks that'll be potential award winners, it is well worth every effort to see The Fighter in theaters. It has one of the most well-rounded and well put-together casts of any film to be released in theaters this year and deserves to be seen on the big screen.The Fighter tells the real-life story of junior welterweight boxer Micky Ward, of Lowell, Massachusetts. In 1995 HBO produced a documentary, High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell, that chronicled the plights of three crack addicts. One of its subjects was Micky's older half-brother, Dicky Eklund (played by Christian Bale, who won an Oscar for this performance). Dicky was also a boxer. He had "gone the distance" with Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978 but has turned into a self-destructing wreck. The wonder of the film is Micky's relationship with his family: his brother, who is his trainer; his dominating mother (Melissa Leo won an Academy Award for this role), who is his manager; her second husband; and Micky's six sisters (who still live at home and behave like a Greek chorus backing up whatever Mom says). Then there is Charlene, his new love, who is as tough as his mother and trying to get Micky away from this crazy bunch. This film deserved its acclaim.
Read Best Reviews of Fighter, The (2013) Here
I loved this movie it offered both a compelling story and great sports scenes. I also thought the acting was wonderful melissa leo, amy adams, christian bale, and mark wahlberg were ALL excellent. You are drawn in my each and everyone of these characters.I love how there were multiple interesting and engaging stories the fighter, the brother, the family, the girlfriend...
This movie is definitely more than a typical "sports" movie there is a lot of depth here, made all the more powerful since this is based on true events.
I love sports dramas and this was one of my favorites.
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"The Fighter" is very much in the mode of American sports movies, where the hero must overcome a tragic character flaw in order to achieve fame, glory, and victory. In this case, the tragic character flaw is also the best part of the movie: Christian Bale delivers an Oscar-winning performance as a crack cocaine addict who is pulling down his younger brother from boxing glory.Christian Bale is one of the best actors, if not the best actor of his generation. He was mesmerizing in "American Psycho," and in "The Machinist" he demonstrates his devotion to his craft by losing enough weight to become skeletal. But "The Fighter" is definitely Bale's best performance to date, and it's his performance which sustains and ultimately propels the movie.
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Meet Monica Velour (2010)
If you're looking for Samantha from Sex and the City, forget it. Kim Cattrall shows her acting chops and plays an entirely different character here. This film is held together by Cattrall; in fact, until she shows up, it is difficult to watch. Once she appears though, the film starts picking up and ends up worth watching.Cattrall plays Monica Velour, an over the hill porn star who is short on money and energy. She wants to get custody of her daughter, but with a jerk of an ex-husband hellbent on on putting her down, Velour can see no other options but to go back to stripping and porn. Meanwhile in the state of Washington, Tobe (played by Dustin Ingram), is a 17 year old who likes old music and 70s porn starring Monica. Living with his grandfather, he sees very few options for himself after graduating from High School until he happens to see that Monica will be stripping at a nightclub in Indiana. Not caring that she is some 20-30 years older from the peak of her porn career, Tobe embarks on a road trip to Indiana to finally meet her in person. The movie goes back and forth from heavy-hitting/unpredictable to sweet/predictable; the relationship between these two unlikely people is fascinating to watch, thanks to Cattrall's performance. Ingram plays the part of an extremely awkward teen well, but it is difficult not to think of Napoleon Dynamite; Ingram's character seems to be entirely patterned after him. The ending is fairly satisfying, although it does seem a little rushed and clipped together. I could have used a few more scenes about Monica and her journey before seeing a photo of a postcard that signifies a rushed (and somewhat unlikely) happy ending for her.
Good quality image and sound on this one, but the Blu-ray is very light when it comes to special features. Included are a few deleted scenes (which are actually enjoyable and probably should have been put back in) and an audio commentary by writer/director Keith Bearden and Cattrall.
Enjoyable if uneven movie that had it been better, could have made Cattrall an Oscar contender.
Tobe (Dustin Ingram) is a teenager about to graduate from high school. With no friends except for the next door neighbor kid, he's a loner, running the hot dog wagon his grandfather (Brian Dennehy) has him work or spending time in his room watching "classic" porn films that star his favorite actress, Monica Velour (Catrall). Determined not to spend his days selling wieners after his grandfather gives him the truck for graduation, he decides to sell it online.
Fortune smiles on young Tobe has a buyer offers to take the weiny wagon off his hands. Better yet, the town this buyer lives in is going to have a personal appearance by Monica Velour at a local strip joint. Anxious to meet his celluloid heroine, Dustin hits the road. The first stop is the strip joint where he's chatted up by a floozy who works there while waiting for Monica.
When Monica hits the stage she's different but not in Tobe's eyes. Instead of the young starlet, Monica has passed over the 40 year mark, gained a few pounds and is not the image seen on the small screen. Some punks in the club make a few comments about her looks which inspire Tobe to defend her. The result is his being beaten up, having his wagon spray painted and Monica losing this small gig.
Monica takes Tobe home with her to mend him up. Her location leaves less to be desired, a mobile home that's seen better days. Drunk and beaten, Tobe falls asleep and she allows him to stay.
What follows is a bittersweet love story of sorts with Tobe fulfilling his life long dream of meeting a woman he thinks of as the epitome of all things female. Unfortunately Monica isn't the least bit interested in Tobe. And she is far from perfect, instead having a drug habit and being in the midst of a custody battle for her daughter, a little girl who means the world to her but who her ex uses as a tool to extract anything he can from Monica.
Along the way Tobe gets a few words of wisdom from the man who wants to by the wagon, an artist named Claude (Keith David). This is someone who has seen the world and the good things it has to offer. Tobe misinterprets the advice he receives but in the end it works out for the best.
The film definitely qualifies as quirky but it has a heart in its center, even though the main character is a faded porn star. The life lessons learned not just by Tobe but by Monica as well make this story interesting but heartrending at the same time. We're offered a world where dreams don't come true, where bad guys win the big prize and where very little good happens.
A happy ending does finalize the film but it feels like ZAP it's there and all's well that ends well. The problem is while we've spent 90 minutes discovering how bad things can be, turning them around in the last 8 just leaves you feeling spent.
The best thing about this movie though is Catrall. She's made better movies in the past, early in her career with TRIBUTE and later hit stardom with SEX AND THE CITY. But here she gets the chance to show a deeper character than she's usually allowed. And Monica Velour is not someone you're likely to forget. It won't gain her the notice of the Oscar committee, but fans should make a point to see her in this film.
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
"The Rules of Attraction" is about rich kids, drugs, partying and a glimpse into college life. Since I've unfortunately known people just like this, it definitely scored with me. From beginning to end, this movie is fascinating and I couldn't pull myself away from it. Each scene is great and its a rare film that doesn't bore you. Its a very black comedy yet in many ways it hits on quite a few real issues. Sean is the main character, a drug dealing sociopathic character who falls for a virgin named Lauren who has a boyfriend named Victor. All the while Paul is in love with Sean. It sounds like a simple plot, but in the hands of Roger Avary its compelling. The backwards scenes, the suicide scene, the parties and the character interaction is disturbing yet intriguing. Of course, the book is better but that is generally the case. Still, I liked this better than "American Psycho" for some reason. It just seemed sadly real to me.My favorite scenes are obnoxious Richard at the restaurant, Sean's excuse to Lauren for sleeping with her friend, the guy going on a debauched trip across Europe and his weird face to face moment with Lauren and the hospital scene.
This is a movie that isn't for everyone. Its a black comedy, but its peopled with strange characters and scenes that will stay with you long after. I loved it!
On the other hand, this is also a dark, pessimistic film with very little hope in store for its characters. Here, we follow three young people who live their College years through drugs, parties and sex. They are all without an identity, all without a life so to speak. The only thing they love is feeling sorry for themselves and making everything seem worst than it is.
You can't care for these characters in a way that other movies will make you care. And yet, you can't help but feel sorry for this lot of blinded kids. They are so enthralled with their own little world that they forget about everything else that surrounds them in reality.
This is not a movie for that faint of hearts. But this little piece of cinematic genius (some of the shots are so brilliantly done they left me totally speachless) deserves to be seen by a wider audience. If only people could open up and admire something that is this dark and yet so extremely funny, they would discover a whole new cinematic world.
Buy The Rules of Attraction (2002) Now
Rules Of Attraction is one of those rare movies which doesn't seem to have an audience. Based on the Brett Easton Ellis (author of American Psycho) novel, the basic set-up is a group of college kids including James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman, who is in love with the virginal Lara, who is also in love with him but wants to save herself for Victor. Oh, and Paul is in love with Sean too. This could well be the story for any good-natured quirky teen flick. However, the abandonment with which these kids snort cocaine, drink and have sex sets it apart as more akin to movies such as Go than She's All That.The acting is all good, especially James Van Der Beek, completely ruining any illusions that Dawson will remain Dawson forever. As the carefree, cruel and narcisstic drug dealer Sean he is perfectly cast against type. There are also some much appreciated, though slightly pointless, cameos from Eric Stoltz as a corrupt tutor and Faye Dunaway as Paul's mother. Director Avery worked on the script to Pulp Fiction, and it shows. There are flashy narrative effects aplenty time runs backwards, speeds up and there's split-screen. Unfortunately this is nowhere as original as the Tarantino original and doesn't come close to the superior Go, the other teen movie to try and replicate the formula (which incidentally also starred Dawson co-star Katie Holmes). This being the case the drugs, sex, porn, masturbation and loud music come across as aiming to shock rather than the satire that you can't help but feel that the book contained. Brett Easton Ellis's satire was much better adapted to screen in American Psycho and The Rules Of Attraction just comes across as its junior brother that doesn't really know what it's doing but is more than happy to ape Tarantino's visual style and the shock imagery of American Psycho. It's just a shame that through such consistent repetition it just becomes dull.
This being the case it comes across not as a genuine effort to transplant the novel to the screen but as a vanity project for James Van Der Beek to show that he's not such a goody goody. That said, the movie is still enjoyable, even if most of the laughter is raised when we see Dawson doing something Dawson wouldn't do in the Creek, something that you see as being the movie's biggest asset or its biggest flaw. The end message, that no-one ever knows anybody really is impressive, although the characters don't seem to go through any emotional changes to realise this. In particular the ending will leave with that 'so what' feeling inside. Even so, the novelty value of this vacuous movie is higher than most, and it's never less than engaging. It's just that the story obviously has so much potential that you can't help but wish that something better had been done with it.
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THERE REALLY AREN'T ANY RULES THAT AREN'T MEANT TO BE BROKEN... The Rules Of Attraction pulls no punches when it comes to breaking almost EVERY sexual & social more known to man. A not so charming look at college life for the poor, spoiled, upper-middle class at it's seediest & most hedonistic. Suicide, bisexuality, masterbation, pornography, rape, & drug/alcohol abuse abound in this film. Along with some very cool cinematography & decent acting makes this film a great psudo-psycho-sexual shockumentary. Such things as split screens, freeze-frames, running the film backwards, & a very memorable & intense rapid editing scene make you feel as if you have just snorted coke with the cast. Weird and very trippy movie with a GREAT ENDING. This film, of course, will not appeal to all since it's frankness in the above mentioned topics will make some uncomfortable at best. If you can view objectively and appreciate Pulp Fiction, Requiem For A Dream, My Own Private Idaho, & other films in genres such as this, then you will appreciate this film.Want The Rules of Attraction (2002) Discount?
What I have gathered from reading a number of these reviews is that many of the film's viewers have not read "The Rules of Attraction" by Bret Easton Ellis. First off, here's a little background on the novel:The novel consists of mainly Sean, Paul, and Lauren; plus Victor, Mitchell, Judy (Lara is her name in the movie; I'm not sure why it was changed), and a number of other characters, who aren't featured in the movie. The novel takes place at Camden, a small liberal arts college where the students' mindless self-indulgence reigns supreme over their pursuit of knowledge. The book is a satirical look at the hedonism of college, but with much truth behind it as well. What makes the book interesting is that chapters are repeated, but, for instance, Sean will tell his side of the what happens in one chapter and Paul will tell his side in the next. For example, at a noisy party, during Sean's chapter, the keg goes dry and Sean complains and says he wants to get a case of beer, and that he'll buy. In Paul's chapter, however, he thinks Sean says they should get a quesadilla, and that he's bi. Case of beer=quesadilla; buy=bi; you get the idea. This whole ordeal makes Paul excited that the two will be going on a date, whereas Sean thinks nothing of it, except that he still wants beer. Each chapter begins with a character's name, and what they have to say about the scenarios they are a part of. Now on to the movie:
The movie illusrates the book's multi-perspective aspect with a few split-screen scenes, which doesn't translate perfectly, but are interesting, nonetheless. The main differences between the movie and the novel are that there are key scenes and chapters in the book which are cut out completely. Then, there are some scenes that are completely made up to make the movie more accessible to those who haven't read the novel. While I did find this problematic, the acting in the film is phenomenal. James Van Der Beek really shows that he has transcended the teen heart-throb status that "Dawson's Creek" plagued him with. While Sean Bateman is not nearly as slimy and intimidating in the book, nobody could have done a better job translating his character to film as Van Der Beek did. I never thought I would ever say it, but James Van Der Beek really is a great actor. I really enjoyed Kip Pardue (Paul Denton) as well. Paul actually got on my nerves a little in the book, but Pardue does a great job of exemplifying Paul's selfish, cynical, yet humorous attitude toward everything. While the movie isn't set in the 80s like the book is, Roger Avary did a wonderful job of creating what I pictured was going on in the novel.
I don't want to give too much away from either text, but if you truly want to enjoy "The Rules of Attraction" in film format, I highly suggest you read the book first. It's like an instruction booklet and a model airplane: if you don't read the instructions, you won't be able to figure out what to do. But if you do read them, it will make a lot more sense.
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Swing Vote (2008)
"Swing Vote" is a delightful parody of the American political system. If the viewer can put aside their credulity their sense of the logical this film can be humorous and generally entertaining.Kevin Costner plays the part of Bud Johnson, a man who mostly drifts mentally, and
simply does not care about politics and current affairs. Bud is sort of a poor man's playboy.
Bud has a daughter Molly, played by Madeline Carroll, who is smart, peppy, and knows much about American government and politics. Molly is a pre-teen who has a serious sense of public responsibility. Molly cares for her wayward father since her mother left when she was very young.
A Presidential election occurs and, Molly sneaks into the voting booth and signs a voter card for her father after he fails to arrive at the voting station before closing time.
Then, when the election results are counted they yield a perfect tie with one unfinished ballot that did not vote for the federal offices due to a power outage. The one vote to break the tie has Bud's name on it. He, alone, will determine the next president.
When the news becomes public, news media, lobbyists, politicians, and curious voters descend on Bud's home town like a plague of locust. Into that mess, both Precedential candidates and their staff come to seek an audience with Bud to get his vote.
The scenes are a riot. Pressure groups and politicians come prepared to offer Bud anything he desires in exchange for his vote. The interaction of the many organizations is very funny and educational. This part of the film is a must see for anyone interested in politics .
I highly recommend "Swing Vote". It is a fun movie.
The movie fell short in some areas:
#1 once again the portrayal of American politicians whether democrat or republican was harsh and phony. How stupid can we make our president look?.
#2 This would have been better if they cut out the swear words and made it into more of a PG family film. It was right in that gray area where I wouldn't want young kids to watch but it could have been a great movie if they hadn't tried to make it more of an adult hit.
#3 If they actually wanted to make this movie more for adults then they didn't go far enough and they made every single character except for the daughter look too stupid to even live life. Or was that the point?
#4 Personally the way the movie sums up is a little rough. But that is for you to decide.
Overall will you enjoy this movie? Yeah I think so but it could have been better and I think you will wish the same thing? Is it better than a lot of movies out there? Yes so it isn't a complete life waster. Just warning you though it is somewhat enjoyable you will probably wish for changes by the end.
Read Best Reviews of Swing Vote (2008) Here
I fell asleep a couple times during this movie because it was so boring. Kevin Costner's acting was less than stellar. The girl was OK but the movie was too boring for me to care. It all felt completely contrived. There was no depth to anything in the movie either, except for the final speech which was the only 2 minutes of the movie worth watching.Really the whole message of that speech is that Americans (yes Kevin represents most of us) are lazy, ignorant, selfish people who deserve the politicians that we put in office with our ignorance and falling for their manipulative advertisements. After I gave it a little thought, I find this highly offensive.
Regardless, the movie was boring, bland, predictable, and I wish I had not wasted my time watching it. It's not HORRIBLE it's just not good.
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My wife and I watched Swing Vote on Blu-ray and found it enjoyable, though not necessarily much more than middle of the road for the overall package.While the Blu-ray touts high def (HD) picture and sound, the picture quality is nice but not much more than that as unfortunately there is just not much impressive scenery throughout the film to really wow the audience with. What is there looks nice, and there are a couple of what could be called scenic shots, but much of the film takes place indoors and/or is compromised of a bunch of close-up shots of the characters that really drive the film.
The story itself is cute but quite predictable election and family relationship comedy with Kevin Costner and Madeline Carroll. Costner plays the part of a bum that is nicknamed Bud, about to lose his job because he takes too much sick time and can't seem to stay sober enough to get to work on time and/or not make a mess by accident. Getting to work shouldn't be that difficult as his daughter Molly (Madeline Carroll) serves more as his guardian rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, like Bud's work habits, his parenting skills are quite poor and it leaves Molly repeatedly disappointed in his efforts or lack there of.
One of those disappointments comes when Molly is working on a school project that involves watching Bud practice his civic responsibility by voting in the national election. Bud winds up drinking himself into a stupor when he's supposed to meet Molly at the polling place, and Molly takes matters into her own hands (again) and sneaks into the polling place and actual voting booth to register Bud's vote for him. As things turn out the vote is never registered thanks to an error with the voting machine, yet Molly still has the receipt for the ballot. Things go more than a little crazy from there when we learn that the election is a dead heat with the state of New Mexico up for grabs, the same state that (coincidentally) Molly and Bud live in. It seems that even within the county that Bud lives in there's a dead heat, so Bud's 'one vote' must be cast to determine who the next President of the United States will be.
Over the course of the nearly 2 hour running length we see Molly and Bud's relationship warts and all, and we might, just might, also see some growth from Bud as his 15 minutes of fame starts to flame out leaving his friends disappointed and jealous. What makes the film a bit more fun is that viewers are treated to a total lampooning of both of the political parties and their sacred platforms. In the effort to win the one all important vote the political operatives and candidates from those parties (played primarily by Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer and Dennis Hopper) make promises to Bud and steal issues from each others sides so they can demonstrate to Bud why he needs to vote for their side.
Sadly, while I found the film enjoyable, I don't think it would hold up to multiple viewings and therefore rates more of a 'rent it' rating from me rather than a buy it.
Family viewers should be warned that Bud's language is coarse and could be objectionable. Consider the PG-13 rating well deserved.
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The Waterboy (1998)
Personally, I loved this movie! Adam Sandler, Henry Wrinkler, and Kathy Bates were all fantastic! However, I do have a problem with other reviewers who insulted this film. It is not the film that I have a problem with you insulting, it is the people who watched the film and enjoyed it! I have read at least eight reviews with "critics" derogating the intelligence of an audience of people they do not even know because we enjoyed a movie they did not! Hint: Have you all ever heard of "variety" and "diversity"? If you didn't like the movie, fine. You have that right, I and many others, however; loved it! I am not stupid or a "nitwit" as one viewer put it. I am simply an indiviual with an individual mind and opinion. I laughed because I thought it was funny...that does not make me stupid.
I (and I am sure many other viewers)don't analyze every single aspect of a movie and rule it the worst movie of all time simply because it didn't fit my criteria of what I am "suppose" to feel and what I am "suppose" to be thinking.
It was a good solid comedy that showed a different side of Henry Wrinkler and Kathy Bates that I was very impressed with. Also, I don't think this comedy was "empty" or "mindless". It offered some insights on life's philosophy's, but it just didn't do it in the traditional "movie" way.
Hats off to the entire cast of Waterboy especially the writers of it!
dllewis
One day while perorming his waterboy duties, something he takes to ridiculously hilarious extremes, Bobby is abused by his new team. His precious water gets spit in, he gets tackled, and everyone of the players makes fun of him. With his old team, he had to endure the pain and ridicule without retaliation, but not with the new team.
A star is born.
Bobby eventually joins the team where he immediately, albeit inexplicably, becomes the starting linebacker. Despite his lack of football knowledge, he ends up becoming one of the greatest forces in college football history. He destroys everyone and everything on the opposing team, with highlight after highlight, using visualizations of all who have wronged him in the past to fuel his aggression.
Waterboy is highly enjoyable, with classic Sandler, and tons of either comedy or action to satisfy all needs. Henry Winkler is great in his role, bringing laughs whenever he's on-screen. Kathy Bates is great as the near-psychotic mother, a Col. Sanders lookalike who brings about easy comedy, and the cameos of Rob Schnieder and Clint Howard are subtle comedic genius.
I must warn all potential viewers. You may find yourself quoting several portions of the movie when finished, and quotes are FOR THE DEVIL!Back in 1998, comedian Adam Sandler was coming from a string of solid box office hits such as "Happy Gilmore" and "The Wedding Singer".
Sandler would return with "THE WATERBOY", a film that proved that despite how crude the humor a film may be, people just want to laugh and have a good time. And sure enough, the film would rake in over $160 million dollars in the US and signified Adam Sandler as box office draw.
The film was directed by Frank Coraci (director of "The Wedding Singer", "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Click) and a screenplay by Sandler and Tim Herlihy ("Bedtime Stories", "Mr. Deeds", "Little Nicky", "Big Daddy" and "The Wedding Singer"). Also, featuring music by Alan Pasqua and cinematography by Steven Bernstein ("Corky Romano", "Scary Movie 2' and "Bulletproof").
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"THE WATERBOY" receives its first 1080p High Definition transfer (1:85:1 aspect ratio) and for a film made eleven years ago, the film looks great on Blu-ray. With a large part of the film shot outdoors, you can see the bright colors from the various football teams to natural skin tones for the characters. Day time scenes in particular reveal plenty of the film's fine details across the board. You can also pick up a lot of detail from the grass on the football field, to the griminess of the run down home that Bobby's mother lives in and more. Vivid contrast gives daytime exteriors and low-lit interiors a really good amount of depth. Blanks are are nice and deep.
As for the soundtrack, "THE WATERBOY" sports a lossless English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (also French 5.1 and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital). Although primarily a dialogue-driven film that uses the center channel and is heard clearly, there is occasional music that utilizes the front channel speakers. It's not until you start getting into the football games where the team gets more of an audience and scenes with crowds, where you hear the surrounds being utilized. The film doesn't have an immersive soundtrack compared to other sports-based films on Blu-ray but the audio is nice and clear and overall, satisfactory for this film.
As expected from a Disney release (via Touchstone Home Entertainment) on Blu-ray, the transfer is gorgeous.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There are no special features included on this Blu-ray release of "The Waterboy".
JUDGMENT CALL:
"THE WATERBOY" is one of those films that people will either love or hate it. Since this is one of the earlier Adam Sandler films, he has a nack of playing parts that are just outrageously funny but at the same time, some people may find it too idiotic for their taste. So, suffice to say, if you are the latter, more than likely this film is not going to appeal to you.
But for those who have enjoyed his films, "THE WATERBOY" is just hilarious and is a Sandler classic!
Adam Sandler's "Bobby Boucher" is a stuttering mama's boy that is definitely going to make you laugh. Granted, he has a speech impediment but its not his way of talking but the way he was raised, the way he thinks and although innocent, it just comes off as idiotic.
The whole film just made me laugh and although people in Southern Louisiana may not like how they were characterized in this film (living in the swamp and eating dead animals, a hillbilly which no one knows what the heck he's saying as the assistant head coach and cheerleaders inebriated, a man who looks like Colonel Sanders as a professor, etc.), I guess if you can take this comedy and not be so serious about it, you can easily be amused. Especially if you are a sports fan.
The Blu-ray release of "THE WATERBOY" definitely has its positive marks for its HD transfer. The picture quality and lossless audio are awesome but I was surprised there are no special features. I would have loved to hear Coraci, Tim Herlihy or Adam Sandler come back and do an audio commentary or some sort of behind-the-scenes featurette.
So, for those who own the previous DVD and are wondering if its worth the double dip, it all comes down to whether or not you want to watch the film in High Definition.
Back then and even today, Adam Sandler films will be love or hate for many viewers but the sheer amount of outrageous comedy from this film is what made it so hilarious. And for a film that came out in 1998, it manages to retain its humor and craziness eleven years later.
"THE WATERBOY" is just hilarious and crazy but overall, an enjoyable film on Blu-ray!
Read Best Reviews of The Waterboy (1998) Here
I wasn't sure if I was going to like this movie because I thought it was going to be another tacky and tasteless movie by another "Saturday Night Live" alum. In "The WaterBoy", Adam Sandler is the "SNL" alum. However, I liked this movie and actually thought it was pretty funny. Adam Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, a dimwitted waterboy for the University of Louisiana's football team. Bobby Boucher lacks social skills and is always ridiculed and picked on by the football players. After having had enough of Bobby's stupidity, Coach Red fires him. Bobby Boucher immediately seeks another waterboy position and gets hired by Coach Klein (who heads South Central Louisiana State University's football team). Soon, this crazy coach puts Bobby on the team when he sees how powerful Bobby becomes when he gets angry ("tackling fuel" as Coach Klein puts it). Now that Bobby is on the team, he helps them move from last place to first place. He also gets the chance to go to college and improve his social skills with his new-found friends. This movie was good because Bobby Boucher was an inspiration to his fans, his teammates, and most importantly, to Coach Klein. Bobby inspires Coach Klein to stand up against his long-time arch-rival (Coach Red) who stole his treasured book of game plans in order to get the head football coach position at the University of Louisiana. Coach Klein finally stands up against Coach Red and regains his manhood. This movie was also good because it contained lots of funny supporting characters like Bobby's crazy, in-and-out of jail girlfriend Vicki Vallencourt, a coach that talked gibberish, Coach Klein (played by Harry Winkler), and Mama Boucher (played by Kathy Bates). Kathy Bates gave a terrific, comic performance as Bobby Boucher's overprotective, if psychotic, mother. Harry Winkler also gets honorable mention for giving a funny performance as the crazy and hallucinatory Coach Klein. Of course, kudos go to Adam Sandler for playing a character that was funny, lovable, and sympathetic. "The WaterBoy" was short and to the point and it managed to be funny without falling into the retarded or the grotesque.Want The Waterboy (1998) Discount?
I am not a big Adam Sandler fan. I find most of his movies to be a little bit on the boring side but for some bizarre reason, I absolutely love this movie. Maybe because it's just bizarre.Adam Sandler plays Bobby Boucher (pronounced Bo-shay). He's not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, he's in his thirties, he's a momma's boy, and he makes his career as being a professional water boy. Water is his life. Sandler created a very interesting character in Bobby Boucher.
He goes to work for the Louisiana Mud Dogs where the Coach, played by Henry Winkler discovers a "hidden talent" in Bobby. When Bobby gets angry, he has the strength of twenty men so the coach makes Bobby a defensive tackler with the Bobby's condition that nobody tell his momma.
In college Bobby learns that alligators are aggressive not because they "have all these teeth and no toothbrush" but because of the way their medulla oblongata is geared. He learns to have friends' outside of his momma. In other words, Bobby is growing up which is his momma's biggest fear because she is afraid that once he grows up, he won't need her, any more.
It's actually a very sweet movie. What I really liked about this movie were the visualization scenes. The Coach has Bobby visualize his opposition as people who have made him angry in the past. There is this one scene where he sees the whole offensive line with Henry Winklers head on their shoulders singing, "Water sucks...it really, really sucks..."
You have to see it...it's hysterical.
For the most part I review spiritual/metaphysical/philosophical books and movies, but I love films like this even though they may appear to have no "redeemable" aspects. Which is not true. I can find meaning and depth in everything. I'm not saying that The waterboy is a major philosophical triumph, but it does have meaning and depth even though it's primarily silly and highly bizarre...which is also good!
I love this movie and even though I do not own this DVD, I do watch it every time it's on television. It does generate some hardy laughs and I appreciate it just for that!
Peace & Blessings.
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World's Greatest Dad (2009)
If you are looking for the typical Hollywood, predictable, cliched, played-out comedy-drama--then this is not for you! I feel it was an artistic attempt to analyze some very disturbing trends in our society and bring them to light in a dark comedy. You will recognize some of the troubling shifts our society has undergone in the last two decades, especially if you are an educator or care at all about our young people. It also has a lot to say about how we as a nation no longer have a genuine closeness to each other, little true togetherness and far little intimacy with our friends, families and partners.You may think am I am over analyzing or being too deep but comedy is really just an exaggerated tragedy. That's what this film is. It gets the audience to look at some of our cultural weaknesses such as narcissism, superficiality, opportunism, objectification, permissiveness, etc.
Not readily evident, it also explores the ramifications of too many years of "corporatizing" our society--how it's affected the way our schools treat people. As well the corporation has affected how we place value on each other as people.
I know that was a long review, but if you appreciate intelligent comedies this one gets at least a B+.
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The problem with all the negative reviews, is that everyone takes World's Greatest Dad way too seriously. The son's attitude is so exaggerated and over the top "not very realistic," that it's ok to laugh at the irony of what ends up happening "again because it's not realistic." If it had been some kind of movie where the son was bullied to the point that he went home and killed himself and it was labeled a comedy, then I could understand people being upset. I almost didn't watch this and the Observe and Report movie because of all the bad reviews. If you're easily offended by dark comedies, then why watch them to begin with?!Read Best Reviews of World's Greatest Dad (2009) Here
Robin Williams stars in World's Greatest Dad which carries a misleading title that sounds like another family, which I can assure you could not be further from the truth. The film is a dark comedy from controversial director Bob Goldthwait and it's not afraid to bring out some true dysfunction in its characters.Williams plays Lance Clayton, a high-school teacher thoroughly unhappy with his life. His aspirations of being a writer are dashed with every rejection letter he receives, he watches helplessly as the pretty, young teacher he's been with seems to be falling for a younger, more popular teacher, and (worst of all) his son is an unlikeable pervert. The first time we see his son Kyle (Daryl Sabara, from the Spy Kids movies), Lance has caught him attempting autoerotic asphyxiation. Everything changes when Lance finds Kyle dead from the aforementioned act and sets the scene to look like a standard suicide, along with a fake note.
It's this that puts what Goldthwait is trying for in motion. When "Kyle's" suicide note goes viral at the school, the entire student body (who once despised him) sees him as a hero. This kind of story is particularly relevant considering its release this year. Does any of this sound vaguely similar to the death of Michael Jackson?
World's Greatest Dad is certainly in a league of its own, as far as 2009-movies go. It's a dark comedy, but has just enough of a light tone to make it commercially accessible. I think I would've enjoyed it more than I did without the lighter tone, but I do appreciate the way it presents it's characters. Kyle is portrayed as an unintelligent, foul, thoroughly unlikeable character. Lance is a little more complicated; he cared about his son, but is very much driven by his own selfishness.
Williams is great here, finding a comfortable medium between his manic energy and his more subdued, quiet persona. He plays a character here that is so unhappy; he's right on the edge of sanity. It's one of the best performances I've seen from him in a while.
World's Greatest Dad is a flawed, but darkly amusing film that is frequently hilarious. It's not for all tastes and many will complain that they couldn't empathize with any of the character's, but I recommend just trying to enjoy it based on it's comedic merit. Williams' final eulogy for Kyle is nearly worth the price. While it gets tedious, I do recommend the movie as long as you're aware of what you're about to watch.
GRADE: B
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There are consequences for Robin Williams devoting the vast majority of his film career to churning out family-friendly groaners like "Patch Adams" and "Bicentennial Man." When you've made your career turning out overly sentimental, syrupy schlock then you shouldn't be surprised when your fanbase recoils in horror when you take a chance doing a very dark comedy such as this film. Additionally, people, who normally avoid Robin Williams' usual fair, didn't give this movie a chance probably because he was in it. The end result was that "World's Greatest Dad," despite garnering positive reviews, was in-and-out of movie theaters in a heartbeat. It was a bomb. However, this an interesting film with a very funny, dark comic touch about it.Robin Williams plays "Lance" a divorced, high school poetry teacher, and frustrated writer. Although he's involved in a sort of relationship with a pretty teacher at his school, she insists it be kept a secret. Meanwhile, much to Lance's bemusement, she's openly (and maybe overly) friendly with the handsome rival English teacher whose creative writing class has little problem drawing students unlike Lance's sparsely attended poetry class. Threatened with his class being cut for budgetary reasons and his dreams of becoming a famous and wealthy author of an "important work" getting more and more farfetched with every rejection letter, Lance is not a happy man.
Adding significantly to his unhappiness is the rotten, selfish, perverted, and loathsome behavior of his only child: his teenaged son, "Kyle" (Daryl Sabara). Kyle is a sex-obsessed moron whose obnoxiousness is burden to his only friend, "Andrew" (Evan Martin) and especially his father. Lance tries to reach out to his son and be involved in his life, but oafish Kyle only rejects and mocks Lance's attempts to be a good dad. Kyle, who attends his father's school, openly embarrasses him in front of his principal, his peers, and his students. Sabara's performance as the perverted Kyle and Williams' Lance attempting to deal with him make for most of the comic highlights of this film. I laughed pretty hard at the interplay of this truly dysfunctional father-son duo.
However, a tragic accident and Lance's attempts to put it in a better light results in a completely unexpected redemption of both Kyle and Lance's dreams. In the end, Lance must decide whether to reveal a truth that will hurt everyone around him, but may also allow him to experience some true happiness.
Why four stars? I laughed pretty hard at many parts of this film especially Sabara's character. That and the hysterical ending made me boost-up this film to four stars. Further, Robin Williams is really good as an unhappy middle-aged schlub who faces a moral dilemna that would tempt a saint. Overall, it's an entertaining dark comedy.
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K-On! Vol.2
K-ON! vol 2 continues the first season of the series. Though more of a sitcom style series (there is no real overlying plot, aside from the general background oh high school life) with each episode bringing up new adventures and possibilities. But K-ON! is better known for the adorable characters (Mio Akayama has an insanely large otaku following), the fun music, and, most important, the mood that the series cultivates. This series has such a feel-good take on friendship that it makes for a really fun slice of life style anime.I love the K-ON! series (including the K-ON!! follow up), though i understand the criticism that there isn't much plot development and the characters don't arc much. However, if you are looking for a series wherein you can enjoy a fun cast of characters and join them for their afternoon tea, then this will prove to be a rewarding series. You will like this if you enjoyed Azumanga Daioh. it has a similar feel.
a note on the product: 100 minutes seems not much (half of a short season). but if you already got volume 1, this will make for a necessary follow up.
Now getting to the basics of this volume, The voice acting from the English dub team at Bang-Zoom continues to improve and the actresses are getting better and more suited in there roles. However the Japanese version is still my preferred track. A lot of people have complained about the 2.0 stereo track, while yes I would love to have the dub in TrueHD 5.1 Lossless audio, It doesn't bother me that much and both tracks come though clear and with good quality. The bonus features are well done with a interview with Cristina Vee (English voice for Mio) as well as an English version of the one of the songs "Fuwa Fuwa Time" witch sounds really good in my opinion.K-On is an excellent Series, Combining Musical Features with Reality, Making it feel like you are apart of a band! (I have Previous Band Experience.) Going through the motivation, and fun events and learning about each-other more and more.
Read Best Reviews of K-On! Vol.2 Here
I think that this anime is one of the best, in my opinion. It's smart, funny, and original. If you want to see the lives of some not-so-ordinary teenage girls who build their own rock club, I suggest you watch this. The main character is a girl named Yui Hirasawa who joins the dying club, and discovers just how much she loves music and being with the friends who help her along the way. And in this volume, the high school adventures continue. Great for everyone of all ages!It was a great DVD no scratches top quality product, shipped fast and in one piece. I loved it 5 stars
Paris, je t'aime (2006)
Paris is a city of light, lovers, art and beauty. And "Paris, Je T'aime" explores all the sides of the city in in eighteen brief fiolms, all set in various arrondissements of Paris, and directed by some brilliantly underrated directors. And they seem to be about love -often it's a person, but each one is also an ode to Paris itself.A somewhat lonely Denver mailwoman (Margo Martindale) makes her first trip to Paris, and recounts how "I fell in love with Paris, and Paris fell in love with me." A mime spreads colour and mischief on his way to love. Two strangers fall in love in a bar. A medic learns that a dying man is in love with her, and seeking her out inadvertantly led to his death at the hands of a racist gang.
A young boy leaves his misogynistic pals behind, to seek love with a young Muslim girl. A pair of British people visit the tomb of Oscar Wilde in Pere-Lachaise, an American actress falls for her drug dealer, and a young nanny's dismal living conditions are a stark contrast to that of the people she works for. All these -and more -are intertwined gently in the finale.
But two stand out especially. Tom Tykwer's includes a young blind man (Melchior Beslon) receiving a call from his American actress girlfriend (Natalie Portman). She tells him, "Our spring was wonderful but summer is over now and we missed out on autumn... our love fell asleep, and the snow took it by surprise." In his sorrow, he thinks back to how they met, and how their relationship continued... and gets a surprise.
And Vincenzo Natali turns in a bloody, gothic love story. A young American tourist (Elijah Wood) is walking alone at night, when he steps in a pool of blood. He follows the blood to where a beautiful vampire (Olga Kurylenko) is slurping someone to death -only to have a sudden attraction bloom up between them. When he has a fall, what will happen?
"Paris Je T'aime" has it all -comedy, tragedy, romance, racial tension, religion, vampires, sunlit vacations, glamour and cliches. Okay, there's the occasional dud -"Tuileries," about an American tourist by the Coen Bros., is just lame. But since all the directors are given only about five minutes, most of them are tiny, polished gems without any extraneous material.
Natali's is colourless (except for blood) and eerie, Gurinder Chadha's is shyly sweet and sunny, Richard LaGravenese's is adorable, Craven's is syrupy, and Tykwer's is a delicate web of camera tricks and blurred glimpses. Sylvain Chomet even charms us with mimes zooming through the streets. And each brings another dimension of Paris to life, from lush green parks to bars to the Eiffel Tower itself.
And the acting is just as great -the great Juliette Binoche, Seydou Boro, Catalina Moreno, Marianne Faithfull, Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu, and the adorable Melchior Beslon. Martindale deserves special praise for her sweetly realistic portrayal of an American tourist, and Portman is brilliantly vibrant as a girl who yells a lot. And Elijah Wood turns out a brilliant performance in total silence, managing to convey fear, mischief, eroticism and love.
"Paris Je T'aime" is a collection of little gems, with the occasional dull pebble thrown in -brilliant directors, emotionally charged stories, and great acting. Enchanté!
As is usually the case in this type of enterprise, the directors with the best scripts and the best technique and vision come off the best. The amazing thing is that producers Emmanuel Benbihy and Claudie Ossard have double-handedly breathed new life in what was thought of as a pretty much dead, at least in its commercial art form entity
...the short film, by assembling 18 films made by 21 directors.
In one of the best and most effective and affecting, "Bastille," a man (Sergio Castellito) on the verge of leaving his wife (Miranda Richardson) for his mistress learns that the wife is terminally ill and decides to stay with her. The main character's wall-to-wall stream-of-consciousness takes us through the whole story in voice-over: "by acting like I was in love, I fell in love with my wife again."
In "14ème Arrondissement," directed by Alexander Payne, a middle-aged American mail carrier from Denver, who diligently studied French as she prepared for the trip of a lifetime to Paris, walks around the city sharing her impressions in voice-over. She talks about her lonely life, the beautiful scenery, her happiness at being in Paris but her sadness at having to experience it alone. But, sitting in a Paris park one day she experiences a sudden epiphany: a life affirming and life changing epiphany that she will without a doubt take home with her to Denver.
Acting-wise, along with those mentioned above, Ben Gazzara, Gena Rowlands, Gaspard Ulliel, Juliette Binoche, Steve Buscemi, and Fanny Ardant...organic, deeply committed actors all make the very best of their short but sweet appearances.
Like its literary twin, the short story, the short film has very little time to make an impression and impact and though there are a couple of miss-steps presented here, "Paris Je T'aime" is as a whole a very beautiful, very cohesive, effective and blissfully thoughtful film.
Buy Paris, je t'aime (2006) Now
Paris is a city of light, lovers, art and beauty. And "Paris, Je T'aime" explores all the sides of the city in in eighteen brief fiolms, all set in various arrondissements of Paris, and directed by some brilliantly underrated directors. And they seem to be about love -often it's a person, but each one is also an ode to Paris itself.A somewhat lonely Denver mailwoman (Margo Martindale) makes her first trip to Paris, and recounts how "I fell in love with Paris, and Paris fell in love with me." A mime spreads colour and mischief on his way to love. Two strangers fall in love in a bar. A medic learns that a dying man is in love with her, and seeking her out inadvertantly led to his death at the hands of a racist gang.
A young boy leaves his misogynistic pals behind, to seek love with a young Muslim girl. A pair of British people visit the tomb of Oscar Wilde in Pere-Lachaise, an American actress falls for her drug dealer, and a young nanny's dismal living conditions are a stark contrast to that of the people she works for. All these -and more -are intertwined gently in the finale.
But two stand out especially. Tom Tykwer's includes a young blind man (Melchior Beslon) receiving a call from his American actress girlfriend (Natalie Portman). She tells him, "Our spring was wonderful but summer is over now and we missed out on autumn... our love fell asleep, and the snow took it by surprise." In his sorrow, he thinks back to how they met, and how their relationship continued... and gets a surprise.
And Vincenzo Natali turns in a bloody, gothic love story. A young American tourist (Elijah Wood) is walking alone at night, when he steps in a pool of blood. He follows the blood to where a beautiful vampire (Olga Kurylenko) is slurping someone to death -only to have a sudden attraction bloom up between them. When he has a fall, what will happen?
"Paris Je T'aime" has it all -comedy, tragedy, romance, racial tension, religion, vampires, sunlit vacations, glamour and cliches. Okay, there's the occasional dud -"Tuileries," about an American tourist by the Coen Bros., is just lame. But since all the directors are given only about five minutes, most of them are tiny, polished gems without any extraneous material.
Natali's is colourless (except for blood) and eerie, Gurinder Chadha's is shyly sweet and sunny, Richard LaGravenese's is adorable, Craven's is syrupy, and Tykwer's is a delicate web of camera tricks and blurred glimpses. Sylvain Chomet even charms us with mimes zooming through the streets. And each brings another dimension of Paris to life, from lush green parks to bars to the Eiffel Tower itself.
And the acting is just as great -the great Juliette Binoche, Seydou Boro, Catalina Moreno, Marianne Faithfull, Fanny Ardant, Gérard Depardieu, and the adorable Melchior Beslon. Martindale deserves special praise for her sweetly realistic portrayal of an American tourist, and Portman is brilliantly vibrant as a girl who yells a lot. And Elijah Wood turns out a brilliant performance in total silence, managing to convey fear, mischief, eroticism and love.
"Paris Je T'aime" is a collection of little gems, with the occasional dull pebble thrown in -brilliant directors, emotionally charged stories, and great acting. Enchanté!
Read Best Reviews of Paris, je t'aime (2006) Here
This is THE WORST Blu-Ray transfer I have seen yet, merely because there are only Subtitles for The Hard Of Hearing, which destroy the film.The most glaring offense is the mime scene, which has subtitles!
Simply beautiful movie simply ruined.
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Those with large-screen HDTVs have something of a dilemma here. The Blu-ray version is sharper and more beautiful to look at than the DVD, but it is marred by excessively large and intrusive subtitling for the hearing-impaired. Subtitling is a necessary evil for those of us who do not have a fluent understanding of French, but those of us with hearing do not need to have every sound effect explicated, nor English subtitles for those bits of this film that are spoken in English. Although the subtitling is larger than it needs to be, I would still recommend the Blu-ray version for those who are not bothered by what amounts to closed-captioning rather than standard subtitling. You're also in luck if you can read Spanish, for which standard subtitles are available.My aggravation with the Blu-ray subtitling led me to do some research, including the reviews here at Amazon; and I found contradictory and ambiguous remarks regarding the subtitling available on the DVD, which is entirely understandable because the DVD itself is confusing in this regard. To resolve the matter, I rented a copy of the DVD; and the following are my findings, which I hope will clear this up for customers:
If you simply play the movie on DVD without going through subtitle setup, you will see normal English subtitles; however, if you go through setup, you will see only a choice between Spanish and English SDH (or "Off"); and if you choose English SDH, you are stuck with the extraneous and distracting information on screen. The main reason that I am writing this footnote of a review is to say that, in spite of the labeling on the package, and in spite of the explicit choices on the Setup Menu, there are--on the DVD only--*four* subtitle options; to access them you simply have to use the subtitle button on your remote control while the disc is playing. There you will find that you can choose "English," "Spanish," "English," or "Off." That's right: there are two labeled "English" without differentiation, except for one being numbered (on my player, anyway) #1, and the other #3. On my player #1 was English SDH; and #3 was standard English subtitles.
Please understand that I have nothing against providing English for the Hearing Impaired, and the DVD shows that this can be done without rattling the rest of us; I do not know what the constraints were on the Blu-ray that prevented this sensible approach, nor why First Look Pictures chose to hide the standard-English option on the DVD.
One of the things that was unclear to me in going through the reviews was whether or not one needed to buy the special 2-disc edition in order to get the standard English subtitles. Based upon the fact that my rental disc does not say Disc 1 on it, I assume that it is not from the 2-disc set; furthermore, some of the reviews here and elsewhere have indicated that Disc 1 of the 2-disc set is identical to the single-disc edition. I cannot speak for the Steelbook edition, but I would be surprised if the standard-English-subtitle feature had been removed, which I assume would have been extra effort for Steelbook. Thus, I believe that only the Blu-ray edition suffers from this particular flaw, leaving prospective buyers with the choice of a clearer but more cluttered image on Blu-ray, or a fuzzier but less distracting image on the DVD.
Oh, yes, the movie: I found this collection of short films charming, often whimsical, and sometimes wise; and the Paris scenery ain't bad, either. If I were reviewing the DVD, I would give it four stars, but have docked the Blu-ray a star for its clumsy production.
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Mafia! / The Crew (Double Feature)
I'm speaking specifically to The Crew. Dreyfus, Reynolds, Cassell, and Hedaya form a quartet of hilariousness when they come together as masters of their craft. Four elderly former mobsters are being pushed out of their home in South Beach Miami, so they push back, winding in a modern day Spanish drug kingpin, a dirty cop, and all the boys from the old neighborhood. Dreyfus is the usual smooth Dreyfus running the show. Reynolds hasn't lost a millisecond of his comedic timing. Hedaya plays a goofy character, borderline crazy with a heart of gold. Cassell is the ladies man who's perpetually silent except when he needs to be.
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I bought this double feature to get Mafia on Blu-ray. Mafia is a very funny satire and spoof on several gangster movies. This was the last movie Lloyd Bridges made. A fun movie. The other movie was also good but not a classic like Mafia.Read Best Reviews of Mafia! / The Crew (Double Feature) Here
Mill Creek does it again, this time with two Mob themed comedies, BOTH of these are PG-13.Both are in thier original widescreen ratios, and have optional english captions.
The PQ and AQ are great with this release.
Mafia stars Lloyd Bridges, and Christina Applegate
Thr Crew stars Burt Reynolds, Seymour Cassell, Richard Dreyfuss, and Dan Hedeya.
Mill Creek is really releasing some stellar products lately!
Recommended!
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both the movies are on the same disc.so the quality of video was not up to the mark.there were no extrasSave 35% Off