Heyy Babyy DVD (2007)

I guess I just can't go a week without a Bollywood fix. This time out, it's HEYY BABYY, which is India cinema's 2007 adaptation of Three Men and a Cradle. If you've already seen THREE MEN AND A CRADLE (or its American remake Three Men and a Baby), then this one doesn't really have much to offer, unless you're a fan of any of the three male leads. And the baby is cute, so there's that. But, then again, this film is 2 hours and 24 minutes long. There's that, too.

Three funloving Indians living abroad, in Australia. There's Tanmay, who dons a Teddy Bear costume in his theme park job. There's Ali, who is lazy and likes to gamble. Arush is manager of Sydney's most happening nightclub. All three are hardliving, irresponsible womanizers. They happen to share a comfy bachelor pad. And life is an ongoing party. Then a baby girl enters their lives, abandoned on their doorstop and with a brief note: "Take care of your daughter." Party's over.

Although HEYY BABYY co-stars Fardeen Khan and Ritesh Deshmukh, the big star here is Akshay Kumar, who was on some kind of a roll in 2007. Along with HEYY BABYY, Akshay made Namastey London DVD (wonderful!), BHOOL BHULAYAA, and WELCOME, all of which were box office hits. Of the four, though, HEYY BABYY may be the film I like least. Bollywood just can't stay away from the extremes. The first half of the film runs like an unpolished, runaway version of THREE MEN AND A BABY, replete with airborne poop-drenched diapers and the three guys flinging baby food at each other. This is also where the three main characters are at their most unlikable and immature. They gripe and moan and despair over the baby's incessant needs,and the audience is soon treated to three grown-up men admonishing kids to shut up and that they hate them. They get so fed up with their infant charge that they actually do something truly reprehensible. And I guess we're supposed to still like these blokes because they later repent and turn into good, responsible dads, right? But, just as life is good for the three dads and the baby, the mother enters into the picture. She wants her baby back, and before the film's intermission.

Minor SPOILERS coming up in the next paragraph.

The film's second half moves the spotlight away from the baby a bit, to focus more on Akshay Kumar's romance with Vidya Balan, who stiffly plays the baby's mother, Isha. You see, a year ago, Arush (Akshay) and Isha had a thing, before Isha caught him with another woman. Thing over. Today, Isha's still got her mad on and doesn't want Arush to have anything to do with the baby (by the way, it wasn't Isha who left the infant at his doorstep). But Arush and his roommates have discovered the joys of fatherhood and mean to have their child back. Plus, Arush is in love with Isha. In desperation, Arush strikes a contract with her. If Isha manages to find a fit husband in seven days, she keeps the baby. If not, then Arush takes the baby away.

But, worry not, Arush has concocted a plan, and it's a goofy one, too. He'll need the help of his friends and that of Isha's father, who's all guilt-ridden. This gives the film license to come up with even more slapstick as Arush, Tanmay, and Ali resort to disguises and crazy antics. One wonders though how Arush, in particular, was able to get away with his flimsy disguises without Isha recognizing her erstwhile lover. And since we're mentioning flaws, coincidence kicks the audience hard in the pants as both parents end up independently naming the baby "Angel." What are the odds?

SPOILERS end.

The three male leads, perhaps fearing being upstaged by a baby, mug their way thru scene after scene. They cry a lot, too, and frolic in a shower (and how weird was that?). Each tender, emotional scene is overwrung with corny over-acting, which ruins the moment. Not only is the story a bit too pat and predictable, it tends to devolve into a Three Stooges type of zaniness (plenty of slaps to the face for everyone). In his film commentary, Director Sajid Khan states that he intended this film to be enjoyed by kids, and I guess that would explain the crass and silly attempts at humor.

The film does have some stuff going for it, enough for me to give it two and a half stars. I've been dumping on the cast quite a bit, but they are occasionally pretty decent and funny. Akshay once again displays how capable he is at drawing out chuckles. And some of the aforementioned silly attempts at humor actually works. My favorite scene is probably when Fardeen Khan was driving the car ever so slowly, to the chagrin of his passengers, even as joggers, a somersaulter, and a guy on a wheelchair breezily pass the car. Then there's that late cameo by the biggest superstar in Bollywood. However, ultimately, I don't believe these positives are enough to redeem the movie.

Since this is Bollywood, there are musical numbers. But the songs end up being lackluster, although the closing credits do showcase some film bloopers and Akshay, Fardeen, and Ritesh doing a bit of the full monty. So there's that.

Lastly, this film demonstrates once again that poop in the face just never gets old. And, if the poop is disturbingly yellow, well, so much the better.

Before I bought this I couldnt work out from the other reviews what the balance of the movie was like. Was it one of the silly Bollywoods where the guys are just jerks or was it more the 'redeemed men' theme such as in the enjoyable 'Bachna Ae Hasseno'?

Well the guys arent quite as inept as I expected and they didnt dwell on their initial silliness or annoyance with the baby's intrusion in their lives too much at the beginning. Yes it was a bit of the silliness but it was tamed down a bit compared to other Bollywoods I've seen. The relationship between the lads is fairly convincing and warm.

For me Akshay Kumar can go either way. I enjoyed him in 'Namastay London' and 'Singh is Kingg' but really didn't like him in 'Garam Masala' for one. He is Ok in this and the other two men balanced a roughness he seemes to have at times.

The overwhelming bulk of the movie is their affection for the kid and how they felt changed and had bonded closely with it.

Then the movie took off in a romance direction of whether one of them could retrieve his relationship with the mother of the child and finally form a family.

Then there was the cameo by Shahrukh Khan. He looked like he'd wandered onto the set to visit a friend and someone threw him a suitable coat and said 'hey what about joining in a moment'. Naturally his presence added to the dance scene he'd wandered into.

The song he danced to is one of the main reasons I decided to buy the movie as I hadnt been sure of whether it was for me. The song 'Mast Kalander' is a very catchy song and I had high hopes for the music. Actually this was the best song in the movie for me. One or two other songs had a little something but a few of the others needed a bit of zip in them (including the opening theme song).

This movie isn't just a remake of 'Three Men and a Baby' and actually I think I like this one better.

Overall not to bad and I will hold onto it (this is often a test for me am I likely to revisit it sometime in the futureYes worth holding onto...)

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I really enjoy watching this movie. This movie is all about being a father and loving your children. This movie was very funny but also has some very serious matters in it. This Movie taught those three men to stop fooling around and stop hurting women. They learn to respect women and learn about being a father. Its a movie for all those dead beat dads that dont care about their children and treat women badly. I also enjoy watching akshay the best. He's hot.

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Watch the wedding scene very closely, and you will see a couple of 20 something western extras milling around in the background at various times. They are my son and a friend who were having a beer in Mumbai one night when a guy approached them and asked them if they were interested in being extras in a Bollywod movie. He gave them a card and told them where to show up at 8 the next morning. They thought it was some kind of scam, but they checked it out and it turned out to be true, so they went. That scene took a full day and they were paid $20 each.

They were great extras. They did mention that the female lead was a real b*tch and that the director was a tyrant. As for the rest of the film, I can't say!

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Akshay kumar is so funny not only in this film, but in so many others. Boman Irani brings out his comical side as well as his soft side. This is a heart welding movie based on family values, love, respect and keeping a family together. There are some scenes where everyone quarrels with one another, but at the end Vidyas character knows what's right and follows her heart and keeps her promises to bring back her family!!! It's auwsume!! A must see film.

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Moonstruck (1987)

When MGM first released Moonstruck on DVD they inexplicably did so with an inferior pan and scan transfer. They've rectified this situation with a new deluxe edition that restores its proper aspect ratio and with a collection of new extras. Moonstruck was the My Big Fat Geek Wedding of its day only infinitely better and about an Italian family as opposed to a Greek one. Watching Norman Jewison's film again, you realize just how much Nia Vardalos' film is heavily indebted to it. If Moonstruck is La Boheme than Greek Wedding is Tony and Tina's Wedding.

It's time to use your old disc as a coaster as this edition is definitely worth the double dip. MGM has taken TBS' dinner and a movie to the next level by including three recipe cards with fine Italian meals so that you can do your own cooking and eat it while watching the movie.

Carried over from the previous edition is the audio commentary by Cher, director Norman Jewison and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley. Both Jewison and Shanley talk about their fascination with death while Cher talks about the importance of costume and how it helps her get into character. This is a solid commentary with smart observations and excellent anecdotes from everyone.

"Moonstruck: At the Heart of an Italian Family" takes us through the genesis of the film mixing interviews done at the time of filming (Cage and Cher) and new ones (Aiello and Dukakis). There is great, behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage as Jewison and Shanley take us through the film telling several entertaining anecdotes.

"Pastas to Pastries: The Art of Fine Italian Food" is a tour of some of the best restaurants in Little Italy, in particular on Mulberry Street. You have six different places to choose from and their chefs demonstrate how to make a few choice foods guaranteed to make you hungry. If you love to cook and eat than this extra is for you.

Finally there is the "Music of Moonstruck" that examines the role that music plays in the movie. The first screening went badly because the music was all wrong.

Despite comments by previous reviewers this video is not pan and scan, it is cropped. There is a difference although I can understand how people could confuse the two. Moonstruck was originally shot with the intention of a 1:85 aspect ratio for theatrical screenings and 1:33 for television. The tops and bottoms of the frame were cropped to give it the widescreen ratio in the theatre. When films are shot for cropping they are essentially composed by the DP for both for 1:85 and 1:33 ratios simultaneously. Full frame video versions simply remove the cropping bars and show you more than you would have seen in a theatrical presentation. Pee Wee's Big Adventure and The Shining are two other films that utilized this (relatively uncommon) process. While one would still prefer that these films be cropped so as to provide a more "theatrical" feel it is incorrect to call this pan-and-scan because there is no panning and the viewer isn't losing any of the original frame information.

Pan-and-scan is when a film is shot in a widescreen format such as cinemascope, panavision or Super 16 and then transferred to video full-frame. In this case you actually are losing the material at either side of the film frame and you get that notorious back-and-forth panning as the transfer people try to focus the viewer on what they consider the "important" part of the frame. This injustice is still perpetrated for a majority of VHS releases but DVD producers for the most part have caught on that people "want widescreen". So yes, most of the time a full-frame release does indicate the pan-and-scan process but not with this film.

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First off, this is a brilliant movie. Absolutely wonderful, delightful, funny, romantic, and magical. Divine. Worth a cosmos of the brightest, most glorious stars, but I guess in this case a mere five will do.

But I'm sure you've heard what a great film this is by now, if you haven't seen it already and found out for yourself. What I want to address is the controversy regarding the new widescreen transfer on the deluxe DVD. It is indeed true that you see more in the original MGM pan & scan release--but this is still a legitimate widescreen presentation, and the way this beautiful movie was originally intended to be seen. There are many different ways to shoot film in widescreen, and one of these involves shooting onto 1.37 ratio film (pan & scan ratio) while composing it for theatrical widescreen with the aid of two lines representing the "bars" you see on a TV on the monitor. This how "Moonstruck" was filmed, and it is done so that the director can have control over how the film will look both when seen in a theater and when cropped for viewing on a conventional television. Thus, the film is shot with more image on top and bottom than you actually end up seeing in the theater, but although you are technically seeing more in pan & scan, the widescreen is still really the "definitive" version.

Anyway, I hope this review helps those who may be debating between which version of this wonderful movie they ought to buy. Both are legitimate--I've seen the pan & scan and it's lovely (it clearly was carefully composed for both aspect ratios) but I'm going to buy the widescreen version. Thanks, and hope I could help!

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(formerly a THREE-STAR review)

GOOD NEWS AND ALTERED COMMENTS!! BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!!! "Moonstruck" is a fabulous modern comedy/romance, a classic!! I LOVE this film, and you will, too!

I had complained in my previous comment about the lack of widescreen theatrical release format in the previous release of this film, but I have just received word straight from the horse's mouth (MGM, via e-mail at their website) that the re-release of 'Moonstruck' on DVD (Nov.) will be available in either full-frame or (finally!) widescreen. AND they told me, in answer to my direct question, that 'Moonstruck' was shot in a full-frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio; theatrical presentation was 1.85:1. (Huh?)

I found out that most 1.85:1 aspect ratio movies are actually shot in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, with the intention that the top and bottom of the frames will be trimmed (matted) for 1.85:1 widescreen theatrical presentation. The cinematograper and director frame the shots with this in mind. The result of this is that the movie can be transferred easily to video without doing a pan-and-scan treatment of the photography for full-framed TV presentation. In other words, you're not missing anything in the full-screen framing. This is much preferred by the director, but still not ideal.

In fact, you get MORE than the director and cinematographer intended you to see, so the framing of the shots is a bit tall, less subject-focused than intended for cinematic presentation. This is by far a better compromise than a pan-and-scan transfer: rather than losing portions of the picture and ruining the framing, you just get some extra film that the director considers superfluous. It's still a compromise, and as you watch the film, it could mean the difference between a great shot and merely a good one.

So I personally still prefer theatrical release format, but I don't begrudge those who dislike widescreen their full-frame option, especially if they're not missing parts of the picture. I must say though that it surprises me how many people out there are bothered by widescreen movies on the normal 1.33:1 television. You get used to it quickly, unless you LET it bother you. (Have you noticed all the commercials and TV programs shot in widescreen recently? You probably haven't, so look for them!) As an owner of only a 27" TV (new), and a 20" before that, I say you can enjoy widescreen on TV!

I would now buy this DVD even if it were only full frame. GEORGE'S RECIPE FOR INCREASED DVD AND VHS SALES: the movie studios should inform us on the back of all video releases as to what alterations have been made for the video release. If it says it's pan-and-scan, I won't touch it, but if it's this other method, I might. Many feel the same as I.

I have many DVDs with widescreen on one side and full-screen on the other: the perfect compromise!

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Like the Movie, this soundtrack offers the perfect setting for Romance. With Some traditional Italian Music, you also can taste a bit of Puccini's La Boheme. The Opera was perfectly added to the rest of the album. The perfect Romance atmosphere is set. Good Luck !!!

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When in Rome (2010)

I love the people who trash romantic comedies that deliver exactly what you expect a romantic comedy to deliver. "When in Rome" is nothing more and nothing less than a cookie cutter chick flick about romance, finding love, a happy ending, with some jokes thrown in to make you laugh. I enjoyed the movie and for the fee of renting it on demand, felt it was well worth the 91 minutes of run time, not including previews of course. Please people, who doesn't think that Kristen Bell is cute and even my girlfriend perks up a little when Josh Duhamel comes on screen.

Kristen Bell plays a working woman who finds her job much more rewarding than any relationship she can find. It doesn't mean she isn't sad nothing has worked out with the men in her life. It just means that she can feel rewarded standing on her own two feet. Hello, am I connecting with the female population yet? She is a lead curator at the Guggenheim museum and just when she concedes to living a life of solitaire, her sister decides to get married and things go a little haywire. So off to Rome she flies for a weekend of family hell.

While in the romantic city she picks a few coins out of a fountain and unknowingly captures the hearts of some lucky dudes who had previously dropped them in the mysterious fountain. While the magic is working its way towards insanity she meets Josh Duhamel who happens to actually like her. The two of them make a great pair. As corny as the scene is with breaking the vase and short circuiting the electricity, it actually made me laugh. Without giving too much away, the commercials do that all too well already, I will say that several scenes had me laughing pretty loud at times. It really was a funny movie, even if it was a little trite and predictable.

In my book Dax Shepard was absolutely hilarious with his washboard stomach. He spent most of the movie with his shirt off as he looked at himself almost as much as he sat admiring Kristen Bell. How this guy is not cast in more movies is beyond me, but we can continue to enjoy his work next season in Parenthood.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie. If you go in expecting a nice romantic comedy with several funny scenes you will leave happy. It isn't anything ground breaking and there is no thought involved. It is simply 91 minutes of mindless entertainment where everything works out in the end. What more can you ask from a movie of this nature. In my book it delivered, so have a few laughs and move on to the next one. Hollywood has been making these since the moving picture was invented, and it will continue as long as people buy the tickets to see them. I for one think it was adequately worth the price.

So, I realize that I am writing this right when it shows up in theaters, but I decided to go ahead and rate the movie based on the actual movie (not the DVD), because alot of times I will go on here to see what other people are saying about the movie, before I go see it. So, I decided to do that for this movie. :)

Overall, I enjoyed When in Rome. It's a great chick-flick.

When in Rome tells the story of Beth (Kristen Bell) who, while visiting Rome for her younger sister's wedding, realizes that she may never actually settle down because no man has ever ranked above her job. So, in a drunken craze, she visits the Fountain of Love and removes several coins from the fountain's water. This brings five guys (Will Arnett, Jon Heder, Dax Shepard, Danny Devito, and most importantly Josh Duhamel) into her life...all of whom have fallen madly in love with her. She has to figure out a way to break this spell, while also trying to figure out whether or not some of those feelings may be for real.

As I said, overall it was an enjoyable movie. It is one of those movies that you have to accept that it's not supposed to happen in real life. I mean, it's all about magic and falling in love with the right people. It does have funny enough parts to keep a guy entertained, but it is definitely a chick flick that I recommend. It made me want to visit Italy and find this so-called Fountain of Love. :)

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Leads Kristen Bell & Josh Duhamel have fantastic chemistry in this very light romantic comedy; however, the supporting cast is even more impressive: Anjelica Huston, Danny DeVito, Don Johnson, Peggy Lipton, Dax Shephard, as well as the duo from Napoleon Dynamite Jon Heder & Efren Ramirez (Vote Pedro!). Here's the plot: Beth (Kristen Bell) puts her career at the Guggenheim first since her love life has continually left her burned. Things begin to change when she meets the best man, Nick (Duhamel) at her sister's wedding in Rome. Unknowingly, by taking 5 coins from the Fountain of Love during a drunken romp, she causes 5 men to fall madly in love with her. All 5 follow her back to America and stalk her...until she is able to return the coins to them to break the spell. Although she loves Nick, she discovers that his love might have been caused by one of the coins; should she return the coin to him or live without fear that he will leave her? The plot is very predictable, so not a lot of surprises, but the comedy from her suitors as they attempt to impress her provides most of the hijinks here. Heder as an amateur Criss Angel magician is definitely the funniest of the bunch.

Overall, the film is enjoyable even if predictable; a little uneven, it goes from insightful comedy & drama into downright stupidity all in the same scene. In the hands of a more experienced director, this one really could have been much better and with the talented cast, it's a real crime that the opportunity for perfection was missed. I would recommend this movie mainly to the teen/early 20's group who seems to have really enjoyed it the most.

SPECS:

91 minutes * Video: Widescreen 1080p, 2:35:1, Enhanced for 16x9 TVs. Audio: Dolby TrueHD (48kh2/24-bit) & 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound (Bluray); English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound & Spanish & French Dolby Digital 2.0 (DVD). Languages: English, Spanish, and French. Subtitles: Spanish & French.

I actually enjoyed the extras almost as much (if not more) than the movie.

DVD Bonus Features:

-Kerplunk! Bloopers from Rome (3 minutes): You really get a sense that the cast worked well together and was having fun during the entire shoot in this medley of expected flubs from the making of this film.

-Deleted Scenes (7 minutes on Blu-ray): Usually I feel the deleted scenes were correctly removed from a film; however, in this case, there are some that would have added some extra humor, including a very funny bit with Dax Shepard in front of an Abercrombie & Fitch store.

-Music Videos: "Starstrukk" by 3OH3! with Katy Perry RT and "Stupid Love Letter" by Friday Night Boys RT.

Additional Extras on Bluray:

-Alternate Opening & Ending (7 minutes) (these were wisely not used!)

-Crazy Casanovas: Mischief From The Set (12 minutes): We meet our hilarious cast and crew that brought this film to life

-Extended Scenes (3 minutes): Pain with the Suitors. Deleted sequence showing the final exhibit at the Guggenheim with the suitors providing a few funny moments, some which would have been great in the finished film (especially an electric chair sequence with Jon Heder).

-Additional Deleted Scenes (7 minutes of deleted scenes total on the Blu-ray): The deleted scenes on the Blu-ray are Getting Married, Playing Cat & Mouse (cute Danny DeVito bit), Setting the Record Straight, Throwing Out The Mummy, It's The Naked Lady, The Saddest Thing, Look Both Ways, Suitors Make A Scene.

Sneak Previews: Alice in Wonderland, ESPN World Cup 2010, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Lost: The Complete Sixth And Final Season, and On Blu-Ray Disc

There is some adult humor and some mild (I mean mild!) sexual situations that would make this film not a great fit for the wee ones. Other than the paintings, there is no nudity in this film.

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I purchased this movie to watch over the weekend with a few close friends. It's a movie that doesn't require a lot of thinking. It's entertaining and a cute movie. Worth watching if you like cute and funny.

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I'm going to quit watching romantic comedies for a while; they have been totally abused and over done; this movie is no exception. Cute and good looking people are not necessarily funny, and getting some famous stars to act in a stupid plot doesn't make it a good plot as you can see in this movie. A cute girl takes coins out of the love fountain in Rome, while attending her sister's wedding and suddenly many men start falling for her (I still can't figure why her sister looks like she's 12. Is that even legal?) . Anyway, she believes that all of the guys are falling for her because of the coins she picked up, including a guy that she really likes. The moral of the story is that the girl doesn't want to have some body's love against their will, I think she needs to figure out that this is what alcohol is for, but she reaches a different conclusion! You might want to see for yourself, if you have an hour or so to kill!

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Ladykillers

A comedy from another place and another time, that right now seems so long ago and far away, "The Ladykillers," directed by Alexander Mackendrick, stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Peter Sellers and Herbert Lom, and stands as a perfect example of how charming, delightful, civilized and yes, "funny," a film can be when approached with intelligence and respect for the audience. Guinness plays Professor Marcus, who puts together a gang to pull off the "perfect" robbery he has concocted. But, as it always is with all things "perfect," it quickly goes awry for the gang, thanks to the involvement of an old lady (Katie Johnson), in whose house Marcus has taken rooms. And as the situation in which the gang finds themselves escalates as they try to put things to rights, the audience is treated to an exemplary piece of truly humorous and memorable cinema. Guinness anchors the farce with a superb characterization (even to altering his appearance with false teeth) of the Professor. It's a prime example of just how great a character actor Guinness was; as in all of his films, he creates a total character of Marcus, inside and out, beginning with the attitude and right on down to the smallest details that many actors would deem insignificant. There is a studied consistency he maintains throughout the film that would stand up to the closest scrutiny; it is not by accident that he is considered by many to be one of greatest actors of our times. And how great to see the youthful Peter Sellers in one of his earliest roles. Watch closely and you can see traces of the unique mannerisms that would mark his career; the slight hesitations, the inward, subtle consideration of the status quo and the sense he conveys in a split second that Murphy's Law is about to go into effect. He makes Harry, a member of the hapless gang, a memorable character. Herbert Lom (as Louis, in this precursor to his pairing with Sellers some twenty years later in the "Pink Panther" movies), Parker (Major Courtney) and Danny Green (One-Round) round out the gang, the likes of which you have never seen before, nor in all probability will ever see again, because-as the saying goes-they just don't make `em like this any more. The supporting cast includes Jack Warner (The Superintendent), Philip Stainton (Sergeant), Kenneth Connor (Cab Driver) and Ewan Roberts (Constable). Clever and sophisticated, "The Ladykillers" is a testimony to just how grand and uplifting comedy can be, without resorting to the gross and often unpalatable "humor" upon which so many of today's contemporary comedies seem to depend. Not to say that today's comedies are no good; it's just that they so often lack the esteem and the "humanity"-not to mention the longevity-which lends itself to a film such as this one. Movies like this will be around long after most of the addle-brained Saturday Night Live induced fare is gone and forgotten. With the added bonus of having Guinness and Sellers together, this is a true classic in every sense of the word. This is what the magic of the movies is really all about.

"The Ladykillers" is regarded as the last of the great Ealing comedies and another macabre black comedy in the style of "Kind Hearts and Coronets." However, I had picked up the film because it had both Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers and was therefore rather surprised that the one doing all the scene stealing is Katie Johnson as Mrs. Wilberforce, a sweet little old lady who makes it a daily practice to go round to the local constable's station each day to keep them apprised on what is happening in the neighborhood. Guinness plays Professor Marcus, a criminal mastermind who plans on duping Mrs. Wilberforce into being an unwitting member of his gang, who are going to rob a armored car. As a cover, he tells the old lady that they are a string quartet, and they play the same record over and over again while they develop their scheme. When Mrs. Wilberforce repeatedly arrives to offer tea, coffee, or any other comfort that comes to mind, the criminals all stand around uncomfortably holding their instruments and try to make small talk.

The gang has all of your standard criminal types. Danny Green is the gentle giant, One-Round (a.k.a. Mr. Lawson), Cecily Parker is the old army chap Claude (a.k.a. Major Courtney), Herbert Lom is the cold-hearted killer Louis (a.k.a. Mr. Harvey), and Sellers is the young rouge Harry (a.k.a. Mr. Robinson). However, the ironic point of this 1955 black comedy is that together they are no match for Mrs. Wilberforce. The heist goes off without a hitch, that is to say until Mrs. Wilberforce plays her unwitting role in the proceedings. What follows is like the old Chinese finger torture, where the more things work for the gang the worst off they get as the little old lady thwarts their plans without even trying. Eventually even Mrs. Wilberforce is able to add up things enough to become a liability. Then the criminals make the biggest mistake of all: they draw lots to see who has to do the old lady in. The idea that Guinness, Sellars, and the rest of the gang could be reduced to minor roles by a little old lady is astounding, but that is the precise irony that makes "The Ladykillers" a classic.

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Years ago, before the networks realized there was a late night culture that could be exploited with mindless extreme sports and shopping channels, you could find classic British films like this one on TV in the wee hours. This film is a must-see for Anglophiles, along with School For Scoundrels, Whisky Galore, and Kind Hearts and Coronets. Star Wars fans should see this, if only to understand why Alec Guinness was able to become Obi Wan so effortlessly, his skill as an actor was already finely honed at the time of this great film. And today's film writers should study it to gain an insight into the proper way to put a real twist on the end of a film.

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I recently purchased The Horse's Mouth (1958) from Amazon as well as "The Alec Guinness Collection" which includes The Ladykillers (1955) plus four others: The Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), The Man in the White Suit (1951), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), and The Captain's Paradise (1953). Frankly, I was amazed how well each of the six films has held up since I first saw it.

For me, the most memorable performance in this film is provided by Katie Johnson as Mrs. Louisa Alexandra Wilberforce who rents a flat to Professor Marcus (Guinness) and his companions. The plot such as it is involves their theft of 60,000 pounds and subsequent efforts to remove it from a locker they have rented to store it temporarily. For about half of this film, brilliantly directed by Alexander Mackendrick (who also directed Guinness in The Man in the White Suit, 1951), Mrs. Wilberforce believes that Marcus and his friends are honest citizens and amateur musicians. When she learns that they are thieves, her first concern is not for her personal safety (which is never in doubt, anyway) but to return "the lolly" to its rightful owners. Complications include her elderly friends who appreciatively swarm around the Marcus group during a hilarious afternoon tea party. One development of special interest to me is the fact that, except for the psychopath Louis Harvey (Lom), the thieves do not want Mrs. Wilberforce harmed in any way and begin to feel protective toward her. This proves to be significant as the plot proceeds gracefully to a conclusion I did not anticipate.

Given the number of deaths which occur in this film, it seems inappropriate to describe it as "charming" and "delightful" but it is nonetheless. For that, I give most of the credit to the performance by Katie Johnson under Mackendrick's direction and with the strong support of Guinness who obviously defers to her prominence in so many important scenes. The supporting cast is first-rate. Yes, that really is a very young Peter Sellers in the role of Harry Robinson who is given relatively little to say and do. Danny Green is excellent as One Round, providing the muscle needed to complete the plan devised by the group's brain, Marcus.

For these and other reasons, this is my favorite among the five films in "The Alec Guinness Collection."

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Ladykillers occupies a quirky cinematic space halfway between Mary Poppins and Psycho, a delight from the golden age of Ealing Studios which will remind you of the Sgt.-Pepper-charms of British eccentricity. But this is a movie with a dark, ironic energy which might well have influenced Stanley Kubrick's directorial style, too. The dark, 1955 comedy was directed by Alexander MacKendrick, beautifully restored and released on Blu-ray by Studio Canal.

A talkative spinster-widow named Mrs. Wilburforce -who nobody takes seriously, most especially the police -takes on a lodger, a certain "Professor" Marcus, in her rickety old house perched over a smoky London railway yard. Played by Alec Guinness with artificial teeth and all the charm and composure of a child molester, Marcus is actually a criminal mastermind planning a robbery upon a London armored car. Marcus and his four partners in crime plan and execute the robbery using the rented quarters in Mrs. Wilburforce's house as a base of operations, concealing their covert discussions under the awkward guise of, of all things, pretending to be a string quartet.

While the string-quartet shtick of non-musicians is a five-star stroke of genius, the core humor in the story is generated in the funny tension between the unsuspecting and long-winded Mrs. Wilburforce, and the small, eccentric gang of bumbling criminals who would like very much to get on with their work without her annoying interruptions. When their crime is discovered, the gang are subdued not by force but by the shame and guilt rained down upon them with deadly avuncularity by the good Mrs. Wilburforce and her coffee klatch of elderly spinsters.

Ealing studios is legendary for it's stylish black and white comedies from the 1950's, but Ladykillers represented a departure from this norm, as it was shot in three strip Technicolor. This was a rather special and cumbersome technology that required a huge camera running three strips of film through it at the same time, but the color fidelity and resolution of I.B. Technicolor is nearly unimpeachable. Not only does having a discrete red, green and blue film record make Technicolor ideal for archival purposes, but the fact that the grain is distributed between three color separations should, in theory, make the quality superior to even the most modern color films. Certainly the idea of taking RGB emulsions direct to digital should yield amazing color fidelity.

On the other hand, each film layer also has the potential to pick up dust and damage. But the Ladykillers was very fortunate in it's time to have been shot on the new safety film, which also had superior archival properties. Thus, Ladykillers represented for Studio Canal an almost ideal candidate for digital restoral. The Blu-ray includes an eye-popping special feature which vividly illustrates in A/B split screen style before and after images of the restoration.

But I digress. Let me simply say that the Blu-Ray of Ladykillers is phenomenal on the digital screen -assuredly a far superior visual experience to the version originally released in theaters. The colors are so rich yet subtle, and the London and Ealing studio locations so charming, Ladykillers is almost like a Mary Poppins story gone wrong, as if Walt Disney took a wrong turn on his Fantasyland train tracks.

The jaw-dropping (in this case, literally jaw-dropping) range of characters that Alec Guinness was able to conjure onto the screen over his varied career is nothing short of astonishing, and in Professor Marcus, Guinness created yet another totally unique gothic character. At one point, as Marcus is about to explode with destructive anger, Guinness even takes on a Hitchcockian profile -but his rage is checked just in time by Mrs. Wilburforce. After all, it would be improper to act uncivilized in front of a lady.

Rounding out the wonderful cast of miscreants are the demure and proper Cecil Parker, Peter Sellers in one of his earliest roles (compared to Sellers' later work, very tame), Herbert Lom as an aggressive gangster-type, and the massive Danny Green as the small-brained "One-Round", the "muscle" of the outfit.

The string quartet motif drives much of the score, with a wealth of appropriately heavy-handed, sinister background music further supplied by the most able Tristram Cary, interwoven with train sound effects which penetrate the old house incessantly, also cued by the composer at exactly the right moments to insinuate danger or to help with the next scene transition.

I suppose one could even suggest that the multiple train tracks in the rail yard are a metaphor for the 3 strips of technicolor film running through the camera. Train tracks have long been recognized as an allegory for movie film. And in the end, our five, pathetic villains drop themselves onto the technicolor train tracks and thus are immortalized for posterity on the emulsion itself.

On a technical note, this film has much less foley and effects than we would accept as normal today, with sound effects coverage rather thin at times on the outdoor locations, where of course dialogue would be dubbed heavily. Where there were sound effects, they were often heavy and grating. Such are the contraints of optical film sound. Driving in cars in the streets of London, in the interiors of vehicles for example, there was no discernible automobile engine sound -or much of anything else -at times.

The house interior set is brilliantly crooked by design, the lighting and camera movement are very controlled, often exaggerating the contrasts between light and dark, and I give tremendous credit to cinematographer Otto Heller for his many dolly shots and other unusual set ups with such a massive camera. The surrealness of the imagery and characterizations give the film an hallucinatory, experimental, yet meticulous quality, which reminds one of Kubrick's best work.

But more than anything else, The Ladykillers is a study in how gothic comedy -which normally is best executed in Black and White -can be rendered in color with great success. It represents an important milestone in the transition between B&W and Color cinematography. I highly recommend the special features on this Blu-ray as well, especially the accompanying commentary by Philip Kemp.

Tragically, it seems this was Ealing's last great film, as the studio was thereafter purchased by the BBC, and was soon producing television shows.

While it does have it's imperfect moments, Ladykillers is destined to become a cult classic, if it isn't already, and will far outlast it's modern reincarnation.

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Road Trip (2000)

Definitely an OUTSTANDING COMEDY, Road Trip, brings to the screen exactly what the title implies: the story of four college students who end up driving from NY to TX in an effort to prevent a mailed videotape from reaching one of the guy's girlfriend. Along the way, they get into all sorts of trouble resulting in one of the best movies in recent years!

Breckin Meyer, Seann Willliam Scott, and the rest of the cast, have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are exceptional to say the least. All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows (the chemistry is AMAZING)! Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide more than just a few laughs. Road Trip is simple enough, but does a great job of describing people's (in this case college kids') every day lives and the problems they face. It just goes to show that simplicity is often far better than complexity, when trying to present issues of a human nature.

Strongly recommended along with Old School, the Girl Next Door and of course (!!!) the American Pie trilogy.

In short, Road Trip is a movie definitely worth watching, and actually one to seriously consider adding to your collection!

Picture this, you are leaving the safe surrounds of high school to enter the unknown realm of university, being wise you decide to visit what could be potentially be your place of study, partying and security for the next three years, so you take the campus tour to get acquainted with the grounds as well as meet some new people. Sounds perfect, right? Wrong! Your tour guide is non-other than MTV shock jock and crazy man Tom Green, who in this case is actually named Barry Manilow. What results is the telling of a tale of the most time honoured campus tradition, the ROAD TRIP. So begins the story of four guys who embark on a three-day ROAD TRIP to retrieve a video containing highly sensitive material before it lands into the wrong hands and creates total havoc. Their journey is riddled with numerous encounters of both strange people and incidents that will ultimately affect/scar them forever, even if merely on a superficial level.

Whilst the film is aimed at a predominately teenage audience, it will prove to be thoroughly enjoyable to an audience of 15 to 50years of age. However those offended by course language, sexual references and gratuitous female nudity are advised to steer clear, as the unrated dvd edition of ROAD TRIP goes that little bit further than its theatrical version.

On that note, let me give you a rundown on the dvd itself. The film is featured for the first time in its complete uncut, uncensored and unrated edition, which basically breaks down to a few scene extensions and alternative shots not contained in the theatrical release actually incorporated into the movie itself. As this is the US import, you have a choice of either a DTS 5.1 soundtrack or the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (my preference as I got a DD 5.1 set-up at home). The picture remains in its original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1, which some will consider to be quite a bonus during one particular sequence in the film (ie. the obligatory shower scene). In terms of special features, the disc contains seven deleted scenes aptly titled `Road Kills', a behind the scenes featurette hosted by Tom Green called `Ever Been On A Road Trip', a music video by the Eels `Mr E's Beautiful Blues' and two theatrical trailers, all this in addition to the standard cast & crew bios and production notes. An audio commentary by with director Todd Phillips, executive producer Ivan Reitman and comedian/star Tom Green would have been awesome but you've to be grateful for what you get and all in all its an awesome package.

Film: 8/10 Extras: 8/10 Overall: 8/10

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I expected this to be a stupid movie about four stupid guys who go for a drive, with Tom Green making appearances throughout. But fortunately I was wrong about this hilarious movie. Road Trip is about an average college guy, Josh (played by Breckin Meyer), who chases down a videotape recording of him cheating on his girlfriend (Rachel Blanchard) with the beautiful Beth (Amy Smart). This video is accidentally sent to his girlfriend, who goes to school half-way across the country, thus inspiring a road trip to retrieve the tape before his girlfriend views it. While Barry (Tom Green) stays back at the dorms to feed a live mouse to Rubin's pet snake, Josh and his three friend Kyle, Rubin, and E.L. embark on their long trip. As Josh and his hilarious friends travel across the country to save his long-distance relationship, they have many laughs and adventures, and along their journey they all realize important things about themselves which makes this movie end with a sort of reassuring, happy sigh. Some of the deleted scenes are really funny. They feature more of Barry giving his campus tour, Rubin's cool dance beats, and Josh's run-ins with cops and Barry's grandma who's "seen it all before."

Read Best Reviews of Road Trip (2000) Here

If you're into party movies, go ahead & add this one to your DVD collection. It has everything you want in a party film: an outlandish plot, funny scenes, Sean William Scott, the classic "nerd" character, some gorgeous babes, male fantasies and lots of gratuitous nudity. Of the latter, seeing Amy Smart take her shirt off is worth the price of the DVD all by itself!

Party movies are not the types of movies where it is productive to go into plot analysis. Let's just say that we have to track a group of college guys who have to make a trip cross-country to the university of Texas. Along the way, just about every zany thing that can go wrong does go wrong, and the result is a movie that is way fun.

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It was pretty damn funny!

This movie was recommended by my good friend, Bobby Asslong. In most cases his recommendations are a bunch of , but he hit it right on, with this one! I detest Tom Green. He is one of those guys, who that when he fails at something (Talk Show, most of his movies, life) I actually feel happy. And this is actually contrary to my normal personality. I normally automatically love all Canadians. Just kidding. I normally want people to succeed, and feel bad when they fail.

But Tom Green is so annoying.

Great news! He is in only about 4 or 5 scenes in this whole movie, so you should be able to get through this movie, with little to none hatred for Mr. Green.

I love all the characters in this movie, especially the main protagonist, who accidentally sends the videotape to his girlfriend at a far away college. He is very likeable, and you're pulling for him the whole time. Another thing I like this movie, is that it pulls a lot from other "gross out" teen and college flicks, but it doesn't go overboard in the gross out department.

Tom Green plays the Voice Over explainer in the movie, and he actually does a pretty good job, without appearing stupid.

I give this high reviews!

MC White said: Check it out!!!

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K-On! The Movie (2011) (2011)

Alright, those of you looking for a self-contained anime film will be disappointed this was a project that was obviously made for fans of the series. It's pretty much an episode of the series expanded to an hour and forty-five mins. It contains in-jokes from the series and while there is a plot there's no major conflict. In fact, the opening few minutes makes a joke about the lack of real conflict in the film.

Now, if you are a fan of the series, this is a dream come true. The characters are all there, most side characters get enough screen time that you get to revisit just about everyone. The plot is partially about the London trip which was discussed in the season 2 OVA, but it's also about writing the song that they will sing to their underclassman as they graduate. It's sentimental, sweet and everything you've come to expect from the series. As a bonus, just about every song in the series is in it at some point.

The animation is beautiful, and expands upon the already wonderful look of the series. The London trip is well done, and for those who have been there, you'll be sure to recognize some lovingly recreated sights. There are a few moments of CGI that feel a bit off, but that may just be my personal bias against CGI.

The quality of the Blu is wonderful. The animation looks simply breathtaking at times and there are a quite a few special features. As someone who has gotten used to anime discs only containing the opening and closing as special features, this was a treat.

In closing, if you're already a fan of K-On season 1 and 2, this is totally worth a purchase. It's a wonderful closing to one of the most fun anime series to come out in years.

One of my favorite movies based off an anime, You can tell the animators took their time on it. It is cute and the music is great. If you are a hardcore K-ON you'll love this movie ^_^

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[*First off, my apologies for the novel I seem to have written. I tried to strike a balance between short and informative. Anyhoo...*]

The overview below is based off the 2-disc DVD edition (so the content would be the same as the blu-ray but you'll have access to it all on a single disc). I outlined a summary but if you want a super short summary, it's basically: getting this movie gives you almost 2 hours of film and 2 and a half hours of special features.

The movie continues where the end of season 2 was leading into: the 5 members of the Light Music Club are going to London for their graduation trip and Yui, Mio, Ritsu, and Tsumugi plan what to get Azusa before they graduate. If you've watched the series then watch the movie; if you haven't [see my note at the bottom], start here (K-ON!, Vol. 1) or here (K-ON! DVD [Anime Legends).

--DISC 1--

-main feature [approx. 1 hour 50 minutes] *16:9 anamorphic

-audio selection [Japanese w/ English subs or English dub] *English 5.1 / Japanese 5.1

-scene selection

-"Also Available from Sentai Filmworks" [some previews to other anime produced by Sentai Filmworks; they're essentially textless openings]

-DVD credits

--DISC 2--

*note: unless otherwise noted, by "the cast", I mean the Japanese voice actresses for Yui, Mio, Ritsu, Tsumugi, and Azusa*

*the extra features are original content from the Japanese programs so they're in Japanese with English subs*

1. Minami Tanaka's Dubbing Investigative Report

--TBS announcer Minami Tanaka visits the cast at the recording studio and interviews them (they do a little tongue twister activity, they're asked what they're favorite scene from the show is, a message to the fans, etc.) [approx. 23 minutes]

2. London bus & Press Conference at TBS

--a pre-opening press conference with the cast (this was a week before the movie hit theaters in Japan) about their feelings about the movie, the live performances they've done, etc. [approx. 19 minutes]

3. Navi Show 1-2-3 is K-On!

--2 TBS announcers talk about the show and its characters (I guess this can be thought of as a crash course / refresher of the show) [approx. 24 minutes]

4. Movie Premiere Event

--the cast and director talk to the audience at the movie premiere about their feelings about the show up to that point [approx. 22 minutes]

5. Director Naoko Yamada in London

--the director does some "scenario hunting" in London over 4 days for the movie [approx. 29 minutes]

6. Good Luck Music Hall K-On! Music Hall

--...umm...I'm honestly not sure how to describe this extras clip...2 TBS announcers talk about K-On's music a bit and there are 3 short message clips about the movie from the Japanese voice actresses for Ui, Nodoka, and Jun [approx. 15 minutes]

7. Japanese Trailer

--not much to explain here [approx. 2 minutes]

8. Japanese Teaser

--a teaser...just a shorter version of the trailer [39 seconds long]

9. Japanese Spots

--short, entertaining tidbits advertising the movie; it's continuous [approx. 3 minutes] but it looks like it's 3 spot shorts...just a guess though...

10. Clean Opening Animation

--title: Ichiban Ippai [around 1:46 long]

11. Clean Closing Animation

--title: Singing! [around 1:34 long]

My personal opinion about the special features: the extras are great! It's nice to see the original voice actresses because nothing like this is available as special features from the series. However, there are interviews from the English voice actresses that were included in the season 1 DVDs and blu-rays but there are none whatsoever here. A bit of a letdown because K-On! is one of very few animes that I can comfortably switch between Japanese dub and English dub so it'd be cool to see how both teams feel about the characters they've grown with and their journey up to it becoming a movie. But hey, you can't have your tea and drink it too...

**Just some extra information for those late to the K-On! [tea] party**

Here is where the anime and manga stand as of near-end May 2013 so you know what you need to catch up on (the following dates are relative and approximate):

K-On! volume 1 (manga): released November 2010

K-On! volume 2 (manga): released March 2011

K-On! volume 3 (manga): released August 2011

K-On! volume 4 (manga): released December 2011

K-On! College (manga): released July 23, 2013 (K-ON! College)

K-On! High School (manga): planned release date of October 29, 2013 (K-ON! High School)

*manga published by Yen Press*

K-On! Season 1 (anime): available in DVD and blu-ray (the DVDs can be purchased as 4 separate volumes or a 4-disc complete collection and the blu-ray as 4 separate volumes--there's no blu-ray complete collection) in Japanese w/ English sub or English dub; released April 2011, July 2011, September 2011, November 2011 (as the 4 volumes) and February 2012 (as the 4-disc complete collection)

K-On!! Season 2 (anime): broken up into 2 parts (released June 2012 and August 2012, respectively) and available in DVD and blu-ray in Japanese w/ English sub or English dub

K-On! the Movie: available in DVD (2 discs) and blu-ray (1 disc) in Japanese w/ English sub or English dub; released May 2013

*season 1 is produced by Bandai and season 2 and the movie are produced by Sentai Filmworks; the English dubbing is in association with Bang Zoom Entertainment so the voice cast stays the same in both seasons and the movie*

Read Best Reviews of K-On! The Movie (2011) (2011) Here

Has a quick recap of the show in the beginning so if you haven't seen the show you're not completely in the dark. For those of you who have seen it get to have a cute narration by Yui which is why you watch this in the first place. K-On! girls are back, and heading to London, and their typical shenanigans, and fun ensues. Overall it was another good show to see them all again after graduation.

Want K-On! The Movie (2011) (2011) Discount?

As a major fan of all things K-On!, I have been waiting nearly 18 months for the English version of this movie; it finally arrived yesterday, and I watched it last night. Suffice it to say, it was well worth the wait!

The movie covers the girls of High-school Tea Time's last few weeks before graduation (except for Azusa, who is one year behind the other four, of course). They decide to go on a graduation celebration trip, and eventually settle on London as the destination (although Yui says she would have preferred to go to England, until the others point out that London is in England!). So, in the week following their finals, and before graduation day, they pile on a plane and head for the UK. I won't elaborate on the details, except to say that the story lived up to K-On! expectations, with Azu-nyan being the most together and organised of the girls, in spite of being the youngest. They visit many famous locations in London, all beautifully filmed and then digitally imported into the proceedings. The only complaint I have is that all the Londoners they speak to (in the English dub) sound like Dick Van Dyke did in Mary Poppins; surely they could have got some real Brits in to speak the parts? They really were awful! But that aside, and it is only a minor point, I loved every minute of it; Yui is suitably nutty as usual, and Azusa gets suspicious and paranoid when the others all stop speaking whenever she walks in the room, but actually they are planning a nice surprise for her!

The movie offers a somewhat different view of the run up to the girl's graduation than the second series did; it is more light-hearted, and not nearly as emotional as the latter, but great fun, nonetheless. If you are a fan of K-On!, just get it; it's wonderful!

One last point; I had puzzled for ages over the actual meaning of the term 'K-On!', but it turns out that it is a contraction of the Japanese word for light music, 'keiongaku' (軽音楽). So now you know!

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