Design for Living (The Criterion Collection) (1933)

**EDIT 12-6-11** Overall, I'll say that Criterion did a great job on the restoration and transfer of this 1933 classic. I would describe the picture quality as very good, not perfect, but very good. Signs of aging are still evident throughout the film (mainly vertically running scratches), but not to the extent of distracting or taking away from the viewing experience. Quality-wise, this is the clearest, most crisp version of this film that I have viewed.

Based on the Broadway hit by legendary playwright Noël Coward, Design for Living is an excellent Pre-Code comedy from the always daring Paramount Pictures. Directed by the great Ernst Lubitsch, the film provides us with a refreshing look at the way American films were made before being heavily censored by the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934. With the help of a risqué script from Hollywood veteran Ben Hecht, the director adds his famous "Lubitsch touch" to give us a very witty and fluid movie starring three of the biggest stars of the period. Gary Cooper, Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins have great chemistry together and really help to convey the message of the filmmakers you only live once so do what makes you happy, regardless of how others view you.

In its day, Design for Living was very controversial for two reasons. The first and most obvious reason being the very risqué plot involving a ménage-à-trois relationship between three young Americans living in Paris. This film really took a jab at the morals and virtues that certain groups, namely the Legion of Decency, were trying to infuse back into American cinema. The second reason is that many people, including Noël Coward, were upset that screenwriter Ben Hecht retained only one line from the original play. Whether true or false, it's believed he did this in part to remove the homosexual context present in Coward's play, fearing that this even more controversial subject of the day would inevitably lead to the film being heavily censored, if it was ever played at all.

As always, I will provide only a brief description of the plot itself, as I don't want to ruin the movie for someone who hasn't seen it. The film opens as two friends, playwright Tom (March) and artist George (Cooper), are traveling by train to Paris. While sleeping, they are joined in their compartment by a beautiful young stranger, Gilda (Hopkins). Gilda, who is an artist herself, commences to draw a humorously accurate caricature of the sleeping pair, both of whom are snoring with their mouths wide open and feet propped up. The drawing ends up being the icebreaker for the trio, and after some initial criticisms, they quickly become friends. From here two major problems arise. First, Gilda has a wealthy suitor named Max (played by the wonderful Edward Everett Horton) who has been courting her for five years. Secondly, both Tom and George fall in love with Gilda while being totally unaware of each other's feelings for her. One fateful day, immediately after the friends find out they're in love with the same woman, Gilda phones to say she's coming over. After her arrival, Gilda confesses that she loves both men equally, therefore she can't decide between them. Being the crafty woman she is, Gilda proposes an arrangement to the two unsuspecting men a "gentleman's" agreement allowing her to be with both of them. After a discussion, the newly formed group decides on one major clause in the agreement, no sex. Obviously this arrangement has the potential for causing some major problems, and well... it does. Everything I just revealed to you happens very early in the movie so there are many things left unspoiled. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

As I stated earlier, Design for Living did not sit very well with many people upon its initial release. On this note, I feel like I should clarify something. Just because something was controversial 80 years ago does not mean it will shock audiences today. This movie is fairly tame by today's standards, but in 1933 Hollywood its subject matter was eye-opening, very much so to film censorship advocates. Design for Living, along with Barbara Stanwyck's Baby Face, were two of the final straws that led to the Hays Code being actively enforced in 1934, severely limiting the content of American films until the late 1960's. After the code was enforced, Design for Living was banned by the Legion of Decency and denied a Production Code Administration certification, leading to the film being shelved and almost forgotten for several decades.

**Special Features and Technical Aspects As Listed by Criterion**

-New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)

-"The Clerk," starring Charles Laughton, director Ernst Lubitsch's segment of the 1932 omnibus film If I Had a Million

-Selected-scene commentary by film scholar William Paul

-British television production of the play Design for Living from 1964, introduced on camera by playwright Noël Coward

-New interview with film scholar and screenwriter Joseph McBride on Lubitsch and screenwriter Ben Hecht's adaptation of the Coward play

-PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Kim Morgan

United States

1933

91 minutes

Black and White

1.33:1

English

A disgruntled screenwriter stormed into director Ernst Lubitsch's office, threw 120 blank pieces of paper down onto his desk and said "Here! Give this the Lubitsch touch!"

Obviously, that's a writer's story...but the truth is that when Lubitsch did have a good script...or even a fair one, he was, indeed, able to bring that extra special "touch" to the material, thereby creating a series of risque' sophisticated comedies in the 1930s and 40s that have yet to be equaled. He was never vulgar in his "touches," but employed often hilarious visual suggestions, thus making it quite clear as to what was really going on behind those closed bedroom doors.

DESIGN FOR LIVING (1933) was adapted to the screen by Ben Hecht from Noel Coward's play. Miriam Hopkins stars as a commercial artist, who becomes smitten with both Gary Cooper, a struggling painter, and starving playwright Fredric March. The trio decides to live together...platonically...but you can imagine how long that aspect of the relationship lasts...and the problems that it causes. Edward Everett Horton co-stars in this witty, well-played comedy.

The Criterion Collection has released a marvelous 2-disc edition of DESIGN FOR LIVING that, aside from a new high-definition digital restoration with uncompressed monaural sound, also includes selected scene commentary by film professor William Paul, an interview with Joseph McBride on Lubitsch, plus a 1964 British television version of the play introduced by Coward and, best of all, the short sequence that Lubitsch directed for IF I HAD A MILLION (1932) featuring Charles Laughton. It was the funniest bit in that picture.

Finally, there is a booklet containing an essay by film critic Kim Morgan.

© Michael B. Druxman

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Amazing Pre-Code film that I'm ecstatic to see has been selected by Criterion for this DVD release. I've been a fan of this particular genre for over a decade and when asked by friends to pick a movie that would help introduce them to the best of the Pre-Code releases in existence and release, I almost always pick "Design for Living".

Everything is just spot on excellent performances, witty banter and a most unusual (yet completely plausible) exploration of the very nature of love and commitment. While missing some of the more naughty innuendo of the original Coward production, it still contained enough sex, sophistication and above all and at the heart of the film, a loving trio, to become one of the pinnacle films to sound the death knell on the pre-Hays freedom days and put into action the Production Code.

The bare bones of the story goes like this girl (Gilda) meets boys (Tom & George) on a train. The three start off as friends and I'll leave it at that. Any more would completely ruin the plot and though you can probably guess what happens next, this is a movie that should be seen, savored and enjoyed piece by piece and scene by scene. I must say though, if put in Gilda's situation and forced to choose between Frederic March and Gary Cooper at the height of their talents, handsomeness and charm, why not establish 'a gentleman's agreement', particularly when one of the trio is most notably not a gentleman?

Directed masterfully by Ernst Lubitsch from Ben Hecht's adaptation of Noel Coward's play, this is definitely more than a light, screwball comedy. It's one of the best, most sophisticated and unconventional romances you'll ever see on screen. Even for a modern audience, the theme is not outdated, which just goes to show how ahead of the curve many Pre-Code films were even when seen through our 21st century eyes. One has to wonder just how many more gems such as this we might have gotten, had the Code not crashed the party.

Read Best Reviews of Design for Living (The Criterion Collection) (1933) Here

Noel Coward, at least in the New York theater scene, is having something of another revival which prompted me to take a second, or maybe third look, at his work. No question he had a serious sense of plot and language when it came to writing "manner" plays addressing "high society (or what passed for high society in his day)," a look at that society from one who came to appreciate its frills and follies from a personal past of barely rubbing two nickels together. That is the case here with the film adaptation of the somewhat autobiographical sketch play, Design for Living (along some material help from his coming up from obscurity friends, the actors Lunt and Fontaine).

As with many adaptations from books or plays the relationship to the original source can be, well, attenuated as it is here, at least according to Mr. Coward, on the use of dialogue. But the general plot outline is similartwo guys, two artsy guys (one Gary Cooper who passes for the Midwestern All-American boy complete with ah shuck) and a world-weary gal get all balled up in a threesome, a love triangle, comedic or not, and for a while nobody could win. It all gets sorted out by the end but not before what passed for 1930s humor, including deadpan and slapstick humor, got a workout. This one is probably too tame for today's audiences having seen every kind of social possibility on the screen by now but in the 1930s this was, and rightly so I think, regarded as sophisticated comedy, and certainly the subject matter raised eyebrows. Not the best Coward (or Cooper and March) but interesting.

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There's no doubt about what's going on in Design for Living, a delightful high comedy about a ménage a trois, written by Noel Coward as rewritten by Ben Hecht and directed by Ernst Lubitsch...and it's not hanky panky. No, it's just joyous, straightforward sex.

Please note, before any fastidious persons who fancy themselves "reviewers" nail me to a tree. I have watched this movie more than once when it was released as part of The Gary Cooper Collection. It looked good then, and I plead guilty to not having watched it yet in the newly released Criterion edition I expect Criterion has done it proud. I plan to buy it. I have no idea what the extras may be like, but then I seldom watch the extras or listen to any film's commentary.

When two artists, the painter George Curtis (Gary Cooper) and the playwright Tom Chambers (Fredric March), encounter Gilda Farrell (Miriam Hopkins) on the train to Paris, their 11-year friendship is going to be intriguingly tested. Gilda (with a soft "g") captures them both, and she reciprocates but can't choose. And why should she? She moves in with them. There's only one solution, however, to the inevitable problem. "Boys," she tells them "it's the only thing we can do. Let's forget sex." And with that, of course, neither they nor we can. Says Gilda to George and Tom later, "It's true we had a gentleman's agreement, but unfortunately, I am no gentleman." And says Tom to Gilda later, "George betrayed me for you. Without wishing to flatter you, I understood that. I can still understand it. But you betrayed me for George. An incredible choice!"

Ben Hecht often bragged that only one line of Coward's survived in his screenplay. All I know is that Hecht's words are some of the finest and funniest, as well as the most amusingly realistic, you're likely to find in a high-gloss Hollywood comedy. The movie just barely got in under the wire before the Production Code began to enforce the prude's code of morality on America. Lubitsch and Hecht create a sophisticated world in which going to bed with someone you like is as natural as...well, going to bed with someone you like. There's no leering or innuendo in the movie, just a reliance on the sophistication of the audience. For instance, Gilda explains to Tom and George the differences between how men and women sort things out. "You see," she tells them, "a man can meet two, three or four women and fall in love with all of them, and then, by a process of interesting elimination, he is able to decide which he prefers. But a woman must decide purely on instinct, guesswork, if she wants to be considered nice." The point we're aware of with a smile is that Gilda not only is nice, but smart, and that she's already tested the waters with each of them.

We start the movie with an ménage a trois, but one that turns into a duet with George and then a duet with Tom. After some encounters with business versus art, we all come to our senses and enjoy the sight of Gilda, George and Tom reunited in New York with a plan in mind. "Now we'll have some fun," Gilda says happily. "Back to Paris!" I have a feeling that forgetting sex won't be part of the plan for long.

The frisson of a bi-sexual ménage a trois is substantially toned down by Lubitsch and Hecht. While it wasn't explicit in Coward's stage play, one would have to be deaf and blind not to get the subtext, especially with Coward and Alfred Lunt as the two male leads when the play opened. In the movie, however, this just becomes inconsequential speculation, especially with Gary Cooper and Fredric March in the roles. Cooper manages not to embarrass himself in this highly polished comedy of sex and style, but it's clear that what works in Cooper's favor are his looks, not his line delivery or body language. March and Hopkins, however, are completely at ease and are a joy to watch.

Hollywood wouldn't make movies this adult and amusing until the Fifties, and even then the level of sophistication and respect for the audience, in my opinion, never fully recovered. Every now and then it's possible to come across in pre-Code Hollywood films of such mature pleasure you hope others will like them, too. Says one character in Design for Living, "Immorality may be fun, but it isn't fun enough to take the place of 100 per cent virtue and three square meals a day." How wrong he was...and is.

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Skull World: Warrior Edition (2013)

I will confess that when I first heard the title of this documentary, I thought it was about some horror convention or something. Boy, was I wrong...but that's not a bad thing. This film opened my eyes to a new world, a subset of society that is filled with battle cries and cardboard, and details the concept of Box Wars, a sort of live-action role-playing experience. SKULL WORLD is a riveting look into one man's life and his quest to bring unique entertainment into mainstream culture.

I had never heard of Box Wars prior to watching this film, but I have to admit: I'm intrigued. The concept is brilliant and something I could see coming straight out of my 80s-era childhood: two groups of `warriors' adorn themselves with armor and weapons made of cardboard, and then they commence to beating each other until the armor is torn off. This simplistic idea is appealing to people of all ages across the world. And why not? Box Wars is an adrenaline-fueled battle royale that doesn't require much skill, only a strong will to have fun.

SKULL WORLD is the brainchild of director Justin McConnell, who also did THE COLLAPSED, a post-apocalyptic thriller that I reviewed here last summer. McConnell takes us on a different kind of journey this time, highlighting the exploits of Greg Sommer, a man in his 30s who lives a different kind of life. Instead of bowing to the corporate grind, Sommer spends his working hours as a cemetery caretaker; on his off-time, Sommer rocks out to heavy metal and promotes his entertainment venue, Box Wars.

But there's much more to SKULL WORLD than what you see on the surface. This isn't a film about a bunch of slackers with no ambition in life. On the contrary, this is a look into a growing subculture that encompasses both men and women who are looking to make life better by offering a legal `escape'. Box Wars offers a way for people to let off steam without actually (intentionally) hurting people. Not to mention, it promotes a sense of camaraderie among those who participate, whether your or old, male or female. In short, it's like the metal version of a social mixer.

SKULL WORLD is an eye-opening glimpse into a world you probably never knew existed. The film is based in Canada, but its secondary subject matter, Box Wars, is growing and sweeping across the globe like a tidal wave. I wouldn't be surprised to start hearing about it in mainstream conversation very soon. I suggest giving this documentary a look so you can learn more about Greg Sommer and Box Wars.

"Skull World" is a documentary that follows 32 year old Canadian Greg Sommer; a guy who digs graves at a cemetery, loves metal music to the absolute most extreme degree, and still lives in the basement of his mom's house. Greg has an alter ego that comes out when he puts on a skull mask called Skull Man who basically talks like Lord Humongous from "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior." Greg is unrealistically energetic as you come to realize through the home videos that he's made. A segment was created for his sketch comedy show "Variety Store" that involved a group of people dressing up in cardboard boxes and battling in someone's backyard, but the idea took off and became its own thing. Greg became the founder of the Canadian chapter of Box Wars. "Skull World" not only documents Greg's calling in life over a 2-3 year period, but also the unreal amplification of Box Wars.

While the concept is absurd, you can't help but let yourself get caught up in the amount of work that goes into Box Wars. Cardboard was originally used to ship things like refrigerators and TVs, but it slowly transforms into armory, weapons, dragons, and even brick walls. The devotion to the craft is unheard of as an immeasurable amount of time and effort go into these costumes. Merv Perez always shows up with really intricate armor, but the Australian chapter of Box Wars is on another level entirely. It's just insane to think some of this stuff was made with cardboard and it's even more unbelievable to see it with your own eyes.

You instantly recognize Greg as this Rubik's Cube of a man. He's passionate about metal, women, Halloween, and Box Wars and that's about his life in a nutshell. His eccentricity seems to be both a blessing and a curse as his personality is often one of the main things that attract the public to Box Wars and Greg puts countless amounts of his own time and finances into the sport/show/attraction. But as Box Wars begins to take off, his friends begin to realize the difficulties of working with him. His "genius," as they put it, can't be turned on like a light switch and Greg's often so stubborn with his ideas that other thoughts aren't even considered.

"Skull World" is strangely encouraging and shows that even the most bizarre idea can be successful, help make you a recognized name, and that there could be an audience out there for absolutely anything. Robots were built and battled each other until destruction on "BattleBots" on Comedy Central over ten years ago while eight foot tall humanoid robots battle on "Robot Combat League" on SyFy today. Box Wars seems like it could be marketed to the same audience and be a completely new phenomenon in its own right.

Despite the fact that being around Greg in person would probably be an extremely exhaustive effort, his peculiar yet absorbing behavior makes it extremely difficult not to root for the guy. "Skull World" may be about a grown man still living with his mom playing in boxes on the surface, but there's actually a much more touching story six feet under the initial concept. This is a project of passion and something so abnormal that you can't help but want to see more. "Skull World" is absolutely never boring, centered on one of the most original real-life characters to ever be filmed, and something that demands to be seen all the way through to the end.

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The Guard (2011)

The Guard, a small independent film from Ireland written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, is something of a gem. On the surface, it could fall into any number of the usual categories crime drama, fish-out-of-water story, odd couple forced to work together buddy flick but none of those labels would do it proper justice. The closest thing I can truly compare it to is the Coen brothers' film Fargo. Like Fargo, The Guard deals with a homicide in a quiet rural area (in this case coastal Ireland instead of Minnesota) being investigated by the local authority (in this case an idiosyncratic Garda Irish policeman instead of a highly pregnant sheriff). But also like Fargo, what makes the film truly interesting is the character studies that unfold as we see both sides the police and the criminals going about their missions.

And in a final comparison to Fargo and to Coen brothers films in general, the dialogue is frequently priceless. At the film's center is the guard of the title, Sergeant Gerry Boyle (Brendan Gleeson), an Irish policeman stationed in the district of Connemara on the western coast of Ireland. In the opening scene, where Boyle witnesses a car accident on a rural road where some local youths are killed, we quickly learn three things about Boyle very little ever rattles him, he's definitely more attuned to the spirit of the law than the letter, and he's far from being above the occasional bit of self indulgence. Shortly after that, when he's investigating an apparent murder and having to break in a new partner, Aidan McBride (Rory Keenan) at the same time, we learn something else about Boyle: he delights in being a crude, rude, pain in the ass to just about everyone, deliberately goading or provoking people just to see how they'll react.

The plot deepens when an American FBI agent, Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle) shows up, tracking an international drug-smuggling operation who's rumored to be in the district planning a drop, and it turns out that Boyle's murder victim is connected to the drug gang. From that point things quickly become a tangle of murder, bribery, blackmail and deception as Boyle and Everett try to close in on the gang before the drop can be pulled off and the gang in turn does everything they can to get the two out of the way so that they can make their pick-up without interference.

But it's the characters and their interactions along the way that really drive The Guard and make it a cut above the usual crime drama fare. Gleeson's Boyle is a delight to watch alternating between charming and sensitive one moment and poke-in-the-eye offensive the next and you can tell Gleeson is having a lot of fun playing him, like when a freckle-faced boy asks him what a derringer he found is for and Boyle replies "It's for shooting small Protestants." A touching sub-plot reveals yet another side to Boyle. His mother, Eileen (marvelously played by Fionnula Flanagan) is in a local hospice, apparently with some form of terminal cancer. The scenes between mother and son are both darkly funny and moving, and you can see where Boyle gets his life-on-my-terms approach to things.

Don Cheadle's by-the-book straight-laced Everett is the straight man to many of Boyle's jabs but he handles the role well, managing to be funny without being ridiculous. One great scene comes when Everett finally sees through Boyle's "Ugly Irishman" game and Boyle realizes it and just grins, the exchange all through facial expressions. Another great scene has Everett tromping through the Connemara countryside trying to question residents who refuse to speak to him in anything but Gaelic (translated in subtitles so that you know what they're saying while Everett does not, adding to the comic effect).

The members of the drug gang two Irishmen, Francis Sheehy (Liam Cunningham) and Liam O'Leary (David Wilmot), and an Englishman, Clive Cornell (a stand-out performance by Mark Strong) are particularly engaging in their scenes. Like one where they're driving along killing time debating the merits of various philosophers based on nationality, or another where they're in a local aquarium and Cornell is staring thoughtfully at the glass and comments "I like sharks. They're... soothing." Or yet another where Cornell delivers a pay-off and flies into a devastatingly sarcastic rant when asked if the money's all there. Other characters add to the color, including a cowboy-hat wearing IRA man embarrassed over a missing cache of weapons, a pale-faced camera-flashing local youth who apparently has a fetish for crime scenes, a pint-sized boy disappointed that Cheadle's FBI man isn't with the Behavioral Science Unit he's seen on TV (apparently the only thing that's going to impress anyone in the district), and a couple of cheery uniformed prostitutes who liven up Boyle's day off.

About the only cautions I would mention are that the accents Irish and English are a bit on the thick side, and the ending does involve one ambiguous outcome. It's well set up and you could come down on either side of it, but it's deliberately left unclear.

Other than that though, I highly recommend The Guard as a film well worth catching and John Michael McDonagh as a writer/director worth following.

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful: Reviewed September 8, 2011. Original reviews of this product have been deleted by Amazon.

Michael John McDonagh previously wrote the screenplay for Ned Kelly starring Heath Ledger which I remember as a good movie. His brother Martin has won an Academy Award nomination, for Best Original Screenplay for In Bruges, which also starred Brendan Gleeson, and what I consider the best performance of Colin Farrell's career, and an Academy award for the short feature Six Shooter, A Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films, also starring Brendan Gleeson, and at least two other characters you will see in The Guard, written and directed by MJ.

As the movie begins we see Gerry Boyle, the guard played by BG, in his white squad car parked behind a stone wall, when a red car whizzes by. He does not respond to the speeding car. His response to what happens next, has no words, yet it establishes the nature of the character, as he rummages through pockets, and does something with the drugs. We can deduce that here is a guard that does not follow the established rules, and in fact may even be corrupt.

Next we see him responding to a murder scene. Here we get a truer sense of his character by how he acts around the new cop who will be his partner. Here the comedic tone of the movie gets established. He likes to push buttons and get a reaction. They theorise about the murder, a potted plant placed on the victim's crotch, the significance of the number 5 1/2 painted on the wall. Perhaps he was the 5 1/2th victim, the young one theorises.

Like another reviewer I was struck by the parallels with the Coen Brothers, particularly Fargo, and No Country For Old Men. Instead of the barren landscapes of Minnesota, and the quirky Nordic accents of Minnesotans, we have the bog landscape of the Wesht of Ireland, and the quirks and mores of the locals. We have sociopathic criminals. We also have the quirky Spaghetti Western music, reinforcing the ironic tone. We also have a trace of Ryan's Daughter, and a half cracked young lad on a bike, who mirrors John Hurt's character in that movie. We have murderous criminals who debate their favorite philosophers as they drive along.

So, strait laced, by the book FBI agent Wendell Evers played by Don Cheadle, moseys into town, hot on the trail of an international smuggling ring hoping to land half a billion dollars worth of drugs in Ireland. Instantly, this sets up a culture clash, with Boyle making racially insensitive comments. When rebuked, his response. "I'm Irish. Racism is part of our culture."

When Boyle is by himself he wanders his house in his red or yellow y fronts scratching. He does not seem like a brilliant cop. However, not following the book, opens up levels of resourcefulness for him. Guards don't carry firearms in Ireland, yet in a prescient way he manages to acquire weapons, donating the balance to the local IRA man who wears a cowboy hat. With his seeming amorality, you wonder if when push comes to shove, he will back off and let the criminals do their thing or if he will intervene.

Perhaps my favorite scene, the second derringer scene, reminiscent of similar scenes at the beginning of Inglorious Basterds, and final scene with Woody Harrelson in No Country for Old Men. Life and death hangs in the balance.

Boyle tells Evers he came fourth in swimming in the Olympics, which made me search the internet after the movie. The answer may surprise you.

Another theme is the nihilism, which is that events have no inherent meaning, a consistent theme in several Coen Brothers movies.

For non Irish speakers, our FBI detective attempts at one point to interview some Irish speaking people. In speech they refer to him as fear gorm, which the subtitle translates as black man. The word gorm actually means blue. If you were saying it literally, it would be fear dubh (pronounced far duhve).

I know that some people claim that they cannot understand foreign accents. Where on earth do you hear more foreign accents than in North America on a daily basis? If I walk the streets of San Francisco, I will hear German, English, Chinese, Filipino, Mexican, South American, you name it. So, we have Oprah Winfrey, or Sigourney Weaver, narrating BBC produced documentaries because producers think customers cannot discern an English accent. The English in this movie is well spoken with a slight accent. West may be pronounced Wesht, just like Sean Connery doesn't say accent, he says ackshent. Even Schwarzenegger was not the governor of California, he was the governor of Callie phone ee yeah.

I saw this at Robert Redford's Sundance Theater in San Francisco. It was an afternoon show, and the political incorrectness, and several American pop culture references, and fun poking commments resonated with the audience.

If you wish to see Brendan Gleeson in another movie, I recommend John Boorman's The General, where he plays Martin Cahill based on a real life Irish gangster.

So, I loved this movie. I think most people will feel the same way, and I think we have seen a great new talent with Michael John McDonagh, in a very impressive first outing as director. It's clear that talent runs in this family, and perhaps they see parallels between themselves as brothers, and the Coen Brothers. I don't think such a comparison is grandiose, and I wonder if they will work together on future projects. I believe that 'genius, in order to be emulated, must first be imitated.'

Update. 11/30/11. Last week, on my flight back to San Francisco, I watched a program about the making of The Guard, which has become the highest grossing Irish made movie ever at the Irish box office grossing 4.3 million Euros, beating the previous best, The wind That Shakes The Barley, starring Cillian Murphy. To put this this in an American context, it's about $1.50 for every man, woman and child in the country.

I think you will love it, and I hope this was helpful. Thank you.

Buy The Guard (2011) Now

Even though the movie summary insists that this movie is a raucous comedy, it is NOT, but it is an excellent and entertaining film. Yes, there are laughs, but it is dark and violent as well like "In Brouges." Brendan Gleeson is an outstanding actor and his character is thrillingly idiosyncratic artfully played. Don Cheadle plays the straight man with charm and dignity. One of my favorite films in a long while!

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Being a retired police officer I really enjoyed this movie which I rate as the best cop flick of the year. Gleeson is superb as an old timer who does things his way. The barbs he trades with Cheadles character are priceless and had me LMAO. Watching this movie with some retired LE friends, they all loved it and highly recommend it to others. This is one of those sleeper foreign films that should have had wider release here in the US. A dark comedy showing that police work is the same no matter what country you're in. Great movie, I bought several as Christmas gifts for friends it was so good.

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Brendan Gleeson stars as a small town Sgt. in Ireland. In many ways he reminded me of Andy of Mayberry in that he has his own local quirky ways of doing things, but beneath it all he is quite intelligent. There are some international drug smugglers in his area and the FBI has sent Don Cheadle to work with the very frank, sometimes crass Gleeson who believes racial stereotypes and has no problems questioning Cheadle to the point of his frustration.

The writing is witty and the quirky characters are reminiscent of a Coen brothers masterpiece.

Cheadle is talking about the recent killing to Gleeson:

CHEADLE: "We need to go door to door and ask people if they saw anything."

GLEESON: "You lost me at 'we'".

CHEADLE: "You and I need...

GLEESON: "It's my day off."

Effective use of sound track. Great script. Funny. Clever.

F-bomb, no nudity, adult situations.

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¡Three Amigos! (2011)

"The Three Amigos!" is good fun, a rare comedy that plays well with the whole family. Slapstick, wit, funny songs, sight gags, all tongue-in-cheek transcends generation.

The Plot?

Three actors get fired by their production company and try to make it on their own. Their first gig in Mexico turns out to be more than act. Much to their surprise, they were hired to protect a town from a thieving band of bad guys, lead by El Guapo, an unusual bandito with a strong vocabulary.

As great movie comedy goes, "The Three Amigos!" might be overlooked. It doesn't have the constant laughter that might be expected. Why? It has an intelligent plot.

While calling this a serious drama would be forgetting that Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short are the stars. Steve Martin, though, in the last 20 years, has veered away from total silliness, except when the humor is organic to the plot.

Of all the scenes I found funny, one with Martin Short hanging from a piñata, when El Guapo comments how the Three Amigos keep appearing, like they are falling from the sky. As expected, Short falls. Predicted, and still funny.

There are nuances of Monty Python in here, and some fantastic parody of silent films. Each of three stars purposefully overplays his role is makeup reminiscent of the great Buster Keaton. Overall, the balance between plot and humor, over-the-top and subdued humor works in grand fashion.

I fully recommend "The Three Amigos!"

Anthony Trendl

editor, HungarianBookstore.com

This is Steve Martin, Chevy Chase, and Martin Short in their comedic prime, playing recently fired silent movie actors forced to earn money by ridding a small Mexican village of its evil oppressor. They assume it is nothing more than a Public Appearance gig, but the enemy is quite real!

This movie is kinda goofy, kinda silly, and all funny. Each of the three comics gets his turn to shine in memorable gags, and there are too many of those gags to list here. Watch for a pre-"Saturday Night Live" Phil Hartman and John Lovitz in an early scene. Funniest bits: Short and Martin running out of water in the desert, Short telling his story of being "discovered" by Lillian Gish's sister, summoning the Invisible Swordsman, Chase trying not to blow his cover in front of the main villain and his henchmen, and Steve Martin's character learning that the supposedly "staged gunfight" is actually real.

Cost of DVD with shipping -[item price]

DVD player -$200.00

Microwave popcorn -85 cents

Laughing your [head] of watching "The Three Amigos" -PRICELESS!

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This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest movies ever made. Not only are the comedic situations hilarious, but a classic 'heros save the day' situation touches your heart while tickleing your funnybone. I could never understand why the critics all miss the joke while countless others share my absolute love of this cult classic. It ranks up there with the best of the Saturday Night Live alumni celluloid offerings.

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I love this movie, but this transfer is horrible. It was taken from a movie print instead of an original copy of the movie, so it's grainy, has serious stability issues, and is generally not pretty. Not only that, but it's letterboxed on the disc, so if you have a 16x9 television, you'll be watching the movie with black bars on all sides of the screen, with the actual picture only taking up 50% of your TV's screen.

It's a shame that after all of these years that this movie still hasn't been transfered to DVD or Blu-ray properly. It's terrible that such a classic film has to be represented so poorly.

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This movie is a real riot! The characters, dialogues and situations are simply laugh-out-loud funny.

I am not sure this movie is getting it's' due credit, but at $5 this is simple a steal. The replay value alone is worth so much more! Get it!

P.S. The actors metioned as the main cast in this specific product are not really the principals (those are, of course, Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short) although they do appear in the movie. I think Amazon was just trying to differentiate this dvd from the other one that is out of print but that still appears in the catalogue.

Still, Amazon should do something about this so as not to confuse people.

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Sleepwalk With Me (2012)

I've seen Mike Birbiglia in a few stand up broadcasts, but really knew nothing about him, except that I liked his laconic, stutter-step approach to delivering his material. He seemed like a funny guy who also happened to be sorta nice too. I knew nothing about his book, Ira Glass appearances or one-man off-Broadway show. That's probably a good thing, because I was able to enjoy SLEEPWALK WITH ME pretty much on its own terms.

Apparently this movie is quite autobiographical, even though Mike has changed his character's name to Matt. But Mike/Matt frequently talks directly to the camera, and we're assured the story is true...so it's almost impossible not to assume that we're basically seeing a (perhaps exaggerated) take on Birbiglia's life. But it doesn't really matter either...the story is compelling and says some interesting things about relationships and about how a stand-up comic builds their career literally from the ground up.

Matt is in an 8-year relationship with Abby (Lauren Ambrose, who is wonderful). Abby is a great girl, and everyone (both viewer and the characters on screen) have to wonder why Matt is having a hard time settling down and committing to a marriage with her. But as Matt says, he's unhappy that everyone says the best thing about him is his girlfriend. It's true. He's a bartender who wants to do stand-up. Or at least, he thinks he does...he gets almost no opportunities to try. His life and his relationship is on hold. Abby is faithful and patient, but also growing frustrated. Surely she is wondering what more she can give of herself to this man who trembles at the thought of marrying her.

One day, with Abby's help, Matt actually gets an agent. And the agent begins to give Matt tiny gigs. Gigs that barely cover the cost of gas and food to get there. But Matt wades in, ready to try out his meager material. He's actually a pretty terrible comedian, but he's willing to do just about any lousy gig he can get. He is excited at his new life on the road (there's a great scene when he checks into his first flea-bag motel and is clearly THRILLED).

Abby remains in NYC, but is supportive. Matt continues to limp along until he gets the advice of a more successful peer to use his personal conflicts as fodder for his material. Suddenly, his material connects with the audience, and his success grows. He loves life on the road. And thus, his distance from Abby grows.

Meanwhile, he also suffers from severe sleepwalking, where he gets out of bed and runs from the creatures that are chasing him in his dreams. His dreams of running seem to coincide with this waking fear of commitment. Of a "normal" life chasing him down.

Matt frequently behaves poorly, but Birbiglia is so specific in showing us details of his life, that we tend to sympathize with him, even as we wish he would pull himself together. At one point, before showing us some really poor behavior, Matt turns to the camera and says "before I show you this next part...remember, you're on my side." And he's right, we are.

We're also on Abby's side and that's what gives this movie such a rich, bittersweet quality. We yearn for them to find happiness...yet we see how elusive that is going to be. Birbiglia directs the film, and he shows an adept touch for little details and telling dialogue. I'm not ready to say he's a great director, because so far, he's only used his own life as material...but I'd be prepared to see more of his work.

SLEEPWALK WITH ME is very funny at times. It's very raw at times. It can frequently be surprising (the details of his sleep disorder are fascinating). It's a very adult film (the language is relatively mild though). It is VERY well acted (including great support from James Rebhorn and Carol Kane as Matt's parents). The dialogue is sharp, and few words are wasted. Almost every line is significant.

It's not a perfect film. Sometimes the pace drags...it felt longer than its 90 minutes. It occasionally struggles to reconcile its varying tones. I like movies that shift tone, but I like to feel the director MEANT for the tone to shift...sometimes I think it does despite Birbiglia's efforts. But these are fairly minor complaints and I'd give the film 4.5 stars.

"Sleepwalk With Me" (2012 US release; 90 min.) brings the story of Matt (played by Mike Birbiglia) as he struggles with a sleep disorder and tries to salvage his long-time relationship with Abby (played by Lauren Ambrose). Abby wants to get married, badly. Matt, not so much. Abby is looking for any sign from Matt that he will propose, which he eventually does, after an emotional side trip that makes him feel guilty and ashamed. Parallel to all of this, we see Matt getting his start on the stand-up comedy circuit, and barely hnaging on. Then, one day, he makes a funny quip about his failing relationship with Abby, and wouldn't you know, the audience eats it up! I don't want to give more away, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Several comments: first and foremost, even though he plays a character called "Matt", this story is based on Mike Birbiglia's own life experiences (in fact, before this became a movie, this was an unexpected off-Broadway hit play). Birbiglia not only stars but also co-wrote and co-directed the movie. Second, the movie makes the most of the shoestring budget on which this obviously was made, and I was pleasantly surprised how well it all flowed. Last but not least, the overall tione of the movie is very much bitter-sweet (to me at least). When I saw this in the theatre a few days ago (at the Landmark E Street Cinema in Washington, DC), there were a number of people who were laughing out loud in many parts of the movie. I never felt quite that way. Yes, there are funny moments in it, but when all is said and done, this movie documents a failing relationship and a serious disorder, so how truly laugh-out-loud funny is that?

Besides Bribiglia, who obviously carries the movie (and quite well at that), the support cast is nothing short of terrific, including the already mentioned Lauren Ambrose as his girlfriend, but equally if not even more so James Reborn and Carol Kane as his parents. They make the most of the limited screen time they have. This movie is MILES away from your standard Hollywood fare, but if you are in the mood for something quirky and slightly left of center, "Sleepwalk WIth Me" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

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A funny comedy about a man with a serious medical problem while we get observe his life. It's something to watch before considering marriage.

Read Best Reviews of Sleepwalk With Me (2012) Here

Comedian Mike Birbiglia's first movie is an autobiographical story of his life as a struggling stand-up comic and his relationship with his longtime girlfriend Abby (Lauren Ambrose). Both issues are complicated by a sleep disorder that causes Matt to sleepwalk, sometimes with disastrous results.

When Matt (Birbiglia) attends his sister's (Cristin Milioti) wedding, all fingers begin to point at him and when he and Abby will get hitched. After all, it's been 8 years. Everybody likes Matt but they love Abby. Matt bartends hoping to become a stand-up comic, but as more than one person tells him, "you're not very good." And he's not, at least early on. There's one telling scene in the picture, when asked why he's not sure about marriage and his response is that he's afraid that the best thing about him is Abby. We get it.

As luck would have it, Matt gets a series of one night stands that force him to travel throughout the northeastern United States, alone in a crummy station wagon donated by his critical father (James Rebhorn). He stumbles and fumbles along the way but eventually finds his rhythm and discovers a new line of jokes. And they all feature him and his fading relationship with Abby.

Fortunately for both, they each discover that they weren't meant for each other, even as they were closing in on a wedding. The movie is certainly more comedic than dramatic. It works even if it is sometimes a bit awkward with Matt talking into the camera. There are several funny scenes involving Matt's sleepwalking. They are at their best when we get to see what Matt is actually dreaming about. This certainly isn't a great movie but was fun to watch and not mean spirited toward marriage in general.

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It's great when a low budget film makes it big, like this one did at the Sundance Film Festival. I think Mike Birbiglia bared his soul in a very creative but real way. He shows the struggle of becoming himself while becoming a stand-up comedian. I'm a big fan of Ira Glass, and I enjoyed the Q&A on the DVD as well.

Cathy in Atlanta

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Throw Momma From the Train (1987)

Really, how can you go wrong? Billy Crystal and Danny Devito in their primes. I still hear the old lady's voice in my head whenever I hear the name Owen. This movie is hysterical, both in situational and physical comedy. Devito and Crystal made a good team, it would have been nice to see them work on another film together. Owen's mother is played by the same woman who played Mama Fratelli in the Goonies. A great character actress, she makes you hate her as soon as she makes her entrance. Devito is wonderful in his portrayal of an immature man who stills lives with his mother and can't seem to stand up on his own. Crystal plays one of his classic type roles, similar to the Albert Brooks characters, the whiny and frustrated average Joe. A very fun dark comedy, one that every comedy fan should own.

Despite the dark story that lurks behind the comedy in this film it is entirely entertaining from beginning to end.

Larry (Billy Crystal) is a creative writing teacher with a class full of inept writers. He is divorced from a woman (Kate Mulgrew) who has taken his novel and "written" it herself and is now receiving all the glory. Larry is stewing. One of Larry's students, Owen (Danny DeVito), becomes obsessed with a murder mystery he is working on and he follows Larry around hoping for a moment of his attention. Owen has issues....his Momma (Anne Ramsey). The fun begins with a mistaken clue being taken by Owen to mean that he and Larry should criss-cross their anger and murder one another's nemesis and it all leads to a completely amusing journey into the dark part of a suffering mind.

Danny DeVito is the king of black comedy and here he stars and directs with a talented ability to find humor in the darkest desires. Along with Billy Crystal they complete a madcap comedy duo in search of some relief from those who taunt their insecurities. The stand out talent in this film is of course Anne Ramsey, who as Momma, will make you roar with laughter....you stupid poop! For you writers out there this movie takes a great look at the inevitable block that stares us in the face every now and then. Get ready to laugh and store this classic close at hand to re-watch time and again when your own heart feels a little heavy and you need a dose of Momma to ease the pain.

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Absolutely hilarious from the beginning to the end! Billy Crystal plays a creative writing instructor who has writer's block. He also has an ex-wife who has just published a best seller. His best seller. He is frustrated with the writer's block, furious with his ex-wife for stealing his book and being driven insane by the pathetic stories coming through his creative writers class (i.e. 40 yards of Nawgahide and a Dream the story of an upholsterer).

Danny DeVitto is a slow witted man in about his late thirties or early forties living with his mother who is always yelling at him and being generally disgusting. He is aspiring to be a writer and is taking Crystal's college class. When Crystal tries to explain motive to DeVitto by sending him to see a Hitchcock Film, he sets loose an imaginative and resourceful streak in DeVitto, who gets from the Hitchcock film (Strangers on a Train) that Crystal has offered to set up a reciprocal killing Crystal would kill his mother if DeVitto killed his wife.

Without realizing what DeVitto is thinking and without having an opportunity to explain the concept of an alibi, Crystal's life is turned upside down as he is put on the run from the law and the only one he can turn to is DeVitto who expects him to kill his mother.

Read Best Reviews of Throw Momma From the Train (1987) Here

I didn't expect to really like this movie all that much. At times I find DeVito to be rather over-the-top, and not in a good way. I also am not a biggest fan of Billy Crystal either. I actually find him rather dull a lot of the times (aside from his stellar work in `When Harry Met Sally'). Really, I'm not sure why I truly wanted to see this movie. Knowing that it was inspired by the Hitchcock film `Strangers on a Train' was incentive I guess, but since my personal opinion of that movie has lowered since seeing it I guess really the only reason I sat down to watch this comedy was that it has been lauded as truly worth the time.

Yes, `Throw Momma from the Train' is supposed to be really funny.

So, it's safe to say I wasn't expecting much. I think at times that is the best way to walk into a film; without high expectations. That way, when the film bombs at your feet you're not left disappointed. It also works the other way, because when the film excels you are truly surprised and very appreciative.

I think you can tell by the five-star review that this movie excelled, at least for me.

Larry is a Writing Teacher who is tormented by his ex-wife who has stolen his novel and published it as her own. She is ruining his life, his career, his name and he cannot take it anymore, despite pleas from his current girlfriend to just let it go. One of his students, the not so bright Owen, has a similar problem; his mother. She is overbearing, condescending and just plain gross. She is ruining his life and he cannot take it anymore. That's when Owen proposes a solution, an absurd solution, that Larry wants nothing to do with.

But Owen takes it upon himself to set his plan in motion.

Believe it or not, DeVito and Crystal make a dynamic team, hilarious from beginning to end. They feed off one another wonderfully, playing to each others strengths in order to create a great comedic duo. DeVito is a surprisingly adept director. Between this achievement and his stellar work on `The War of the Roses' I must say that I am impressed with his comedic technique. He knows how to develop a strong emotion core to secrete his comedic focus and engage the audience in more than just a string of gags. Both films are strong examples of how to make an engaging and intelligent dramedy.

Stealing the show here is Anne Ramsey, who just delivers one of the funniest performances in recent memory. She is hard to look at, hard to listen to; she's even hard to stomach but the fact remains that she's impossible to forget.

In the end I highly recommend this film. It is a surprisingly effective reimagining of the prose originally written by Patricia Highsmith and serves as a very entertaining comedy that will bring loads of laughs and smiles.

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We all have certain movies that we inexplicably never tire of watching. That's not to say that we consider these films to be among the best ever made, but that they're just one of our favorite movies. THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN is one of those for me, and I can't quite pinpoint why.

The story focuses on two men: there's Larry (Billy Crystal, at his neurotic best), a novelist who is having severe writer's block (he's been on "The night was..." on the 1st page since July) after his ex-wife Margaret (Kate Mulgrew) stole his masterpiece and made a fortune off of it; and Owen (director Danny DeVito), a 40-year-old man trapped in a child's body (not a short joke, by the way) who lives with his monstrous mother (Anne Ramsey, nominated for an Oscar for her outlandish performance) and daydreams about doing her in. Owen takes a writing class, taught by Larry, at the local community college, and soon the two strike up a friendship of sorts (that is to say, Owen asks Larry for writing advice by constantly following him everywhere). Larry tells Owen that the story he wrote for class, "Murder at My Friend Harry's," fails because it has 2 characters, one killing the other, with neither having a motive nor an alibi (which are key to a murder). He tells Owen to look to Hitchcock, and Owen does just that, watching STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (which this of course takes plot points from) and concocting a scheme that he thinks Larry was hinting towards: Owen will kill Margaret, and in turn, Larry will kill Owen's mother; that way, both men have killed a total stranger (no motive) and will each have been elsewhere when the murder of the person they hate happens (alibi). Owen, being not too bright, does his part before telling Larry, and now Larry has no alibi and must stay low with Owen, being told he must kill Owen's mother (and then Owen will turn himself in, I think) or else go to jail for a long, long time.

If you think I gave it all away, don't worry. Most of that is in the synopsis, and besides, you probably already know how it will all end up (this is a comedy; a dark one, sure, but nowhere near as dark as DeVito's later efforts). There's also a tepid romance with Larry and fellow teacher Beth (Kim Greist), but the film sparkles when DeVito and Crystal are together. This may not be CITIZEN KANE, but I could watch this movie everyday. Why, I don't know. But if you haven't seen this movie, please do so, and maybe it'll have the same effect.

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K-ON! Volume 4 (2011)

The hugely popular animated series "K-ON!" is back with its third volume on Blu-ray and DVD and this time, a new member named Azusa Nakano joins the band!

So, what is "K-ON!"? Well, it happens to be one of the hottest anime series in Japan that has not only dominated in the TV ratings but also on Japan's Oricon music charts!

The series has been a phenomenon as it has attracted fans all over the world, those who want to cosplay as the characters, those who want to sing like the characters and those who want to play the music of the characters. Just one look on YouTube and you can see how passionate people are for this series!

"K-ON!" began as a four-panel comic strip written and illustrated by kakifly and the manga would then be serialized in Houbunsha's seinen manga magazine "Manga Time Kirara" between May 2007-October 2010. In April 2011, the manga was relaunched on both "Manga Time Kirara" and Houbunsha's magazine "Manga Time Kirara Carat" with two separate storylines.

The popularity of the manga series led to a 13-episode anime TV series which aired in Japan on April-June 2009, an OVA episode in Jan. 2010 and a 26-episode second season titled "K-ON!!" which aired in Japan from April through Sept. 2010 and a new OVA released in March 2011.

The series would also lead to a Sony PSP music rhythm video game and now fans in Japan are awaiting for the film adaptation set for Dec. 3, 2011.

As for fans in the United States, there has been high anticipation for its anime release and the first two volumes are now available courtesy of Bandai Entertainment and in Sept. 2011, a third volume featuring episodes 9-11 is out on Blu-ray and DVD.

"K-ON!" is a play on the Japanese word "keiongaku" (light music) and the series follows four high school students of Sakuragaoka Girl's High School who are members of the "keiongaku" club.

In the first volume, the four characters featured thus far in the series are Yui Hirasawa, a naive and clumsy student entering high school who is not entirely sure what she wants to do in terms of extracurricular activities. While she tries to figure out what she wants to do, two other students, Ritsu Tainaka and Mio Akiyama join the keiongaku club to find out that most of the members have graduated and the only way they can keep the club open is if they have four members.

Because Ritsu plays the drums and Mio plays the bass guitar, they hope they can find other musicians and form a band.

Fortunately, a new member joins the group, Tsumugi Kobobuki, a student from a wealthy family who plays a Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard. Now all they need is one member.

While Yui is trying to think of activities to do, she sees a flyer for the keiongaku club and in her mind, she remembers light music as something she did when she was young student in elementary school and so she joins. Meanwhile, the other three members are happy because with a fourth member, the club will stay alive but also the fact that maybe Yui is a guitarist and now, they can start their own band.

But Yui is not a musician and if anything, what she loves about the club is the ability to eat desserts and drink tea with the other members but when the three members perform in front of her, she becomes inspired and wants to be a member of the club and be part of the band.

The second volume focuses on the club dynamics, having to find an advisor for the club in order for the club to exist and the band preparing for their very first live performances and preparing for another school year in which they hope to attract more members to the club.

The third volume is here and it focuses on the introduction of a new club member Azusa Nakano, a friend of Yui's sister Ui and a guitarist and the group trying to make her feel comfortable around them.

The fourth volume of "K-ON!" marks the final volume for the first season and features the two final TV episodes plus the OVA.

With the band having practiced together for so long, especially with new member Azusa, it's time once again for a new live performance at the school festival. But unfortunately, Yui has caught a cold and is very sick. The band wonders if Yui will be better before their live performance.

The final TV episode features a storyline that features a storyline of each member who have decided to do their own thing for winter vacation. Everyone is keeping their lips sealed of what their plans are, but Yui wants to have a hotpot party. Will the group eventually hang out before their winter break is over?

And the OVA features the band being invited to perform with other female bands for a live gig. Will Hokago Tea Time be ready for their first live performance outside of a school function?

"K-ON!: Volume 4' features the following episodes:

EPISODE 12: Light Music! The band has a new live performance but with Yui sick, will the band be ready to perform?

EPISODE 13: Winter Days! It's winter vacation and Yui hopes to get everyone together but unfortunately, everyone is busy and are out doing their own thing during vacation. Ritsu thinks she has a secret admirer, Mio travels in order to come up with inspiration to write lyrics, Azusa is taking care of a friend's cat and Tsumugi takes a job at a fast food restaurant.

EPISODE 14 (OVA): Live House! When Hokago Team Time are invited to perform with other bands for their first live gig, how will their first experience performing outside of a school function be?

VIDEO:

"K-ON!" is an anime series that is stylishly created but also features beautifully painted art backgrounds. Presented in 1080p High Definition (1:78:1 anamorphic widescreen), one thing that I love to see when it comes to anime series is the attention to detail when covering a modern setting.

A lot of TV series tend to not make the backgrounds of a city landscape so detailed and tend to put a lot of recycled trees, dirt and sky but "K-ON!", is not one of those anime series. There are scenes and also still images of natural settings that are beautifully painted and added to the series. There is detail for the instruments, for the desserts and I felt that with each episode, aside from the practice room and the wideshot image of their school, there was always something new being featured in terms of location. So, the color palette of the series is full of color and nothing is stale or seemed regurgitated.

With that being said, the colors are a bit saturated but for an anime TV series (which is expected) but the OVA does feature more vibrant colors and a bit more detail.

For the many decades I have watched Japanese animation, for anime series that are set in a modern Tokyo setting, I prefer anime series that focused on the smallest details, such as what is inside their bedrooms and home. What's inside the stores when they go shopping, etc. I love seeing those details instead of the typical walls or trees that are part of the banality anime TV series.

"K-ON!" is one of those series where those little things matter and for me, those attention to small details enhanced my appreciation for the series.

AUDIO:

If there was a weak side of this Blu-ray release, I'm sure the audiophiles might be a bit cranky that the soundtrack is not Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA. What you get is an English and Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. What surprised me is the fact that even with the work for the English dub version, there was no change to make it a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack or to increase the bitrate for Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD MA. But for a Blu-ray release, those who expect lossless audio are going to fret about it, while those who have been waiting for this series to come out to the U.S. will be perfectly fine with the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.

Personally, I chose to have my receiver play the anime series with stereo on all channels for a more immersive soundscape. But nevertheless, with the awesome music featured in the series, it would have been wonderful to hear that music via uncompressed lossless.

As for the voice acting, I am a bit biased to the Japanese voice acting but I did watch the series also with the English dub soundtrack and for the most part, the voice acting will appeal to both fans who prefer one over the other.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"K-ON!: Volume 4' comes with the following special features:

Brush Pen, Ballpoint Pen Music Video The English dub music video for "Brush Pen, Ballpoint Pen".

Interview with Shelby Lindley (6:00) English dub voice actress Shelby Lindley talks about how she got the part as Tsumugi Kotobuki but also her approach to voice acting and how different she is from the character.

Trailers Bandai Entertainment trailers

JUDGMENT CALL:

And the final volume of "K-ON!" is here and the first thing that comes to my mind is how I want more episodes of this awesome, fun and exciting rock n' roll anime series.

I love this series! And loved the progression of the Hokago Tea Time band and how each of these young ladies grew up together to become a band that can actually perform quite well and start playing their first major gig.

I love the fact that it focuses on normal high school life but also the formation of a band and the dynamics with each of the members as they go through their ups and downs but also the little cute quirks that come with each character.

I typically don't go crazy over anime series, nor am I the hardcore fan that goes out and buys anything after I see a series but this is probably the first time since I watched an anime series such as "Ranma 1/2' back in 1992, where I went out and started buying merchandise related to the series. In fact, I have purchased the PSP video game, the Figma figures and it has become one of my favorite series that I have really got into in a very long time in this manner.

The music is awesome! The characters are entertaining. The animation and art backgrounds were very good and for the most part, it has been a long time, possibly since "Azumanga Daioh" in which I really enjoyed gakusei-based anime series (student anime series focused on a school setting).

If anything, while the episode "Light Music!" eventually shows us Azusa now playing live with the band, the growth is seen in the OVA episode "Live House!" as the band ventures out of the school setting and are performing with other bands who perform different styles of music. You sense their fear when they started out but eventually learned along the way.

So, I look at these two performance episodes as growth episodes for each of these characters. The final TV episode #13 was rather interesting because it is a story about individuals not relying on the group. For the majority of all episodes, these teenagers are together. But for "Winter Days!", they are busy and want to do their own thing for winter vacation. You would never think of a wealthy daughter such as Tsumugi wanting to work at a fast food restaurant, Azusa's fear of cats, Ritsu finally removing the headband and showing us how she looks with bangs and of course, there is Mio...trying to create more music.

So, I'm quite happy that this episode was created because it gives us insight to the characters outside of the group and the band.

The final volume of "K-ON!" was absolutely fun and entertaining and now is the big question, will Bandai bring the 26-episode+OVA to Blu-ray? I hope so!

But I'm loving "K-ON!" and if you are an anime fan who loves a straight-up, feel-good anime series with nothing dark, nothing to risque but something just all out-fun, give "K-ON!" a chance! It's a wonderful anime series on Blu-ray and there is really nothing like it out there (although one may want to check out the live action film "Linda Linda" if they are interested in a storyline of all-girl rock bands).

Overall, another exciting, fun and entertaining volume of "K-ON!" and definitely one of my top three picks of must-own anime series on Blu-ray for 2011!

Definitely recommended!

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.

Buy K-ON! Volume 4 (2011) Now

Great lighthearted series about a group of high school students joining a music club that I would recommend for anyone or even families to watch.

Read Best Reviews of K-ON! Volume 4 (2011) Here

I can enjoy this blu-ray because blu-ray system is quite same in Japan and USA.

I can also study English and enjoy pretty stories at the same time.

It was delieved earlier than I expected.

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I now have all the blu-rays in this series (currently up to no. 4) and it is really good fun! The story follows initially four (later five) high-school girls who form a band in an after-school club, and the ups and downs of their progress in life, school and the world of music. The characters, Yui (guitar Les Paul Standard), Mio (bass left-handed, 3-Colour Sunburst Fender Jazz Bass), Tsumugi (known as Mugi keyboards Korg Triton Extreme 76-key keyboard) and Ritsu (known as Ricchan drums yellow Rick Marotta Signature Yamaha Hipgig drum kit), are all lovable and cute, and musicians will appreciate a lot of what they go through in their efforts to make it into the music big-time. Later episodes see another band member, Azusa, adding a second guitar (Fender Mustang) to their line up. The story is detailed, innocent, cute and funny I loved it! Highly recommended, whether you are a musician or not!

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Tommy Boy / Black Sheep (Two-Pack)

Tommy Boy and Black Sheep were two of the best movies of Chris Farley, and now they are sold together for a great price! One side of the DVD is Tommy Boy and the other is Black Sheep, so you have to be careful to not touch the DVD. It has many deleted scenes and outtakes that are hilarious. Good for the Chris Farley fan or anyone who liked either one of these movies.

If you like Chris Farley and his physical brand of humor, these two are for you. We have falling down mountains, getting stuck in airplane doors, getting stuck in trunks lids, being crushed by refrigerators and slamming fingers in a car hood. . . how much better does it get than that! And that's just a few of the "gags". I'm a fairly educated guy and I certainly like cerebral humor but you just cannot watch Farley when he is "on" and not laugh.

When you think your life is going all wrong, just plug in this DVD and things will get better!

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RIP Chris Farley. You were one of the funniest actors around. Tommy Boy was a great movie and it always makes me laugh.

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I know there are better duo's but to me David Spade and Chris Farley are my favorite next to Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Tommy boy is such a classic of a movie. It has a great feel through the whole movie and it WILL keep you laughing. Black Sheep is a bit wackier then Tommy Boy and lacks that good feeling, however, the guys still deliver and its hilarious. I was hoping for remastered but it seems both of these were just up-scales of the original. But if you enjoy these movies you should get them on blu ray its always nice to watch something you enjoy in a better quality i suppose. It has great special features for Tommy Boy. WORTH THE PURCHASE if that's what you wanted to know.

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Two of the funniest movies Chris Farley ever made, on one DVD, at a great price. Why read the reviews? Buy this DVD!! Did I eat paint chips as a kid? Hahaha.......why?

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Waiting for Dublin (2011)

***1/2

"Waiting For Dublin" is a modest, unassuming little charmer set in the peaceful Irish countryside just a few months prior to the end of World War II (Ireland being a "neutral" country in the conflict). Mike (Andrew Keegan) is an American fighter pilot whose plane goes decidedly off course, stranding him and his British co-pilot, "Twickers" (Hugh O`Connor), in a village just chock full of lovable eccentrics and cranks, brimming over with thick brogues and quaint, old-fashioned country ways. Mike is also one "kill" shy of the five he needs to officially become a flying ace and to win the $10,000 bet he inadvertently made with Al Capone's nephew back in the States right before heading off to war. The opportunity for achieving that goal comes in the form of a German flyer who finds himself stuck in the same town. Now all Mike has to do is to somehow convince the affable chap to let him shoot him out of the sky so the American can claim his fifth victim and win both his title and his wager.

With cleverness and wit and more than a touch of the customary blarney, "Waiting For Dublin" doesn't add up to very much in the end, but the truth is it really doesn't care that it doesn't and, quite frankly, neither do we. For its greatest charm lies in its not trying to be anything more than just a pleasantly innocuous, no-sweat-no-strain kind of offbeat diversion. And at that it succeeds very well even if it does go off the rails a bit towards the end. Pleasant performances, lovely cinematography, and a fine sense of atmosphere are just icing on the cake.

It's not a movie you're likely to remember much about years after having seen it, but it makes for enjoyable enough viewing while you're at it.

A slice of Irish history that I was not aware of, Ireland's internment of both German and English pilots during WWII. This was a fun, sit with the family-kinda of movie and we all enjoyed it. We gave it two thumbs up!

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Love this movie, my family is Irish it was funny ! family would tell stories about Ireland and this was a lot like what they said

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Funny flick have to get used to the accents but a second watch is worth it anyway! Especially like the fact that it is not a 'copy-cat' movie.

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Not at all what I expected. I was very disappointed this movie was more of a chick flick than a war movie.

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One Piece: The Princess and the Pirates - Adventures in Alabasta Movie #8

How my ratings work:

5 I really liked/loved it

4 I liked it

3 Could've been better/worth a look

2 Just didn't live up to the potential

1 Simply awful

I just saw this movie today with my friends. I've been a fan of One Piece for a good while. I've yet to read the manga, but I plant to read it some day. This movie has everything you could want: action, comedy, drama, intense battles. I don't need to go into the plot since it's mentioned above. The voice cast is outstanding, and it's cool to see it all uncut (I've mainly seen it on tv). If you love One Piece, you'll love this. If you're a fan of anime, movies, and pirates, you should love it in general.

Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program I don't know anything about the Manga upon which this is based and have never had the chance to see any of the episodes of the popular television series featuring the characters from One Piece -but all that really isn't necessary to enjoy the eye-poppingly enthusiastic animation and delightful story of how a mismatched group of super-powered pirates rally behind a desert princess to save her kingdom from the dangerous fiend Crocodile.

I suppose this ought to be classed under the heading of guilty pleasure (for me) since its target audience seems to be teenage boys and girls -though I understand that manga and anime have a much larger adult audience in Japan than comics and animation have in the US. The animated women are all voluptuous and not afraid to use their feminine charms to disarm an enemy, and there is lots of blood and violence -though it is certainly not to the point of being gory or pornographic, the film does "earn" its PG-13 rating. Still, the film remains playful and inventive in its approach, somewhat like Pirates of the Caribbean, and would be hard to describe as offensive (my wife and I saw this together and both of us smiled through it).

While the characters and story are lots of fun, the real delight in this picture is the animation. It is endlessly inventive, over-the-top, and gorgeously rendered. The images strike a very nice balance between the lush style of visuals associated with the most artistic of anime productions, such as the work of Hayao Miyazaki, and a cartoonish and playful style that is closer to Pokemon, with visual jokes and excess that could have been contributed by Mad Magazine enthusiast (here the limits of my knowledge of anime show themselves, since there has to be a better Japanese analogy for the combination of slapstick, adventure, mild sensuality, martial arts and swashbuckling violence and fantasy that is on display here). It is really quite exciting to watch, since not only the story but the visual style is unpredictable without overwhelming the cohesiveness of the whole.

All I can say is that I wish we had stuff like this when I was a kid -though I can't say I'm ready to introduce it to my own kids yet. It's probably better for them to find it on their own when they are no longer taking my suggestions. If you end up taking my suggestion to check this out, and find yourself or your kids or your parents becoming hooked on the delightful characters and style, and are impatiently waiting for more of the series to make it overseas, don't blame me.

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One Piece is my favourite anime, and I think this story arc is great.

I give this movie 1 star because it is a cheap cop out. If we're watching the 8th One Piece movie then odds are that we've seen the anime and the Alabasta story arc which happens relatively earlier on.

Alabasta isn't even the longest story arc, so why re edit it into this rushed movie?

In the story arc (Episodes 92 130) we are given are much more in depth backgrounds about the characters. We see Vivi as she grows with her kingdom, the people who make the kingdom and so forth. It establishes an importance of the kingdom and actually makes you feel for the characters. The film cuts all of that and just gets to the fighting. It's like an abridged youtube version let alone an actual film.

Many memorable moments are cut short as well, Usopp "trying to get into the mindset of crocodile" is reduced. Zorro learning to cut steal is almost gone. I swear Luffy escaping the sandtrap is also gone. He just randomly shows up on a bird in this version.

In the arc I liked the bit where Nami asks Usopp to manufacture weapons. They realise their weaknesses, it adds depth to the characters.

Well there's my two cents. The story arc is much much better and it has so many tense moments. This film does not.

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After buying several of the Fox 4 Kids DVD versions of the "One Piece" series, I was close to giving up on ever seeing a U.S. release of the show, with both the Japanese AND English soundtracks, and without the EDITED video (where they added 'water guns' and changed parts of some storylines). It had reached a point were I ended up purchasing DVDs with only the Japanese soundtrack, with really bad English translations. However, now Funimation have STARTED to release "One Piece" with BOTH Japanese and English soundtracks (Sanji no longer sounds like he has a stuffed nose!), and with the ORIGINAL video/story intact!!! (I say 'started' because the DVD says that the TV series will be released UNCUT starting MAY 2008!!!) I've waited so long for this. While some people may look at this series as just a 'kid's show,' it isn't. It's entertainment for ADULTS as well as children! It's funny. It's heartwarming. It's inspirational. Now, hopefully, people will understand why it's celebrating it's tenth anniversary in Japan!

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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program The release of "One Piece The Movie 8 The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta" (let's see how much paragraph space I can waste just by typing that) is a significant release for fans of the hit Japanese TV show "One Piece," which is one of the biggest hits in Japan since "Dragon Ball Z." Here in America though it's the most popular series since "Shaman King," another series that is also less popular then it deserves to be. All things considered, "One Piece" should be more popular then it is. Ever since Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies were released, pirates have been the thing. So a series about pirates, even one that feels more Tex Avery then Johnny Depp, should have been a sure thing.

Though I don't want to get into the whole history of the show, it was basically bought by a company called 4Kids Entertainment (makers of "The Cabbage Patch Kids") and run through the editing machine so thoroughly, that it showed up on kids TV in a form that made it almost unrecognizable to it's fans. One of my friends calls "One Piece" his favorite show of all time, and this includes epic masterpieces like "Star Trek" and "Seinfield," and his reaction to the editing of the show was "I now know what a woman must feel like when she gets raped." Yeah, that comment may be extreme, but so were the changes to the show. Recently the rights of "One Piece" were given to a company called Funimation Productions, the most known (ironically enough) for making "Dragon Ball Z" popular in America.

Though the company had eight movies to pick from, they decided to start with "One Piece The Movie 8 The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta" over the first movie. I think the reasoning for this was more political then it was just because it was the latest movie to be made. People are watching Funimation, expecting their first release of "One Piece" to be nothing short of perfection. This movie is actually an odd duck of the movies. It's simply a retelling of one of the best arcs in the TV show, with better animation and music. Though intentions are good, this makes it feel pretty out of place. It's useless to newcomers who won't get whats going on, and fans of the show may appreciate the better animation, but will want to stick with the TV episodes for being more fleshed out.

For America though, this may be the release Funimation needed to show the fans what it was going to do differently. As chance would have it, the arc that this movie retells was one of the last arcs to air on 4Kids TV. It was also the worst edited, changing what was one of the emotional climaxes of the show into slush that would embarrass the writers of Barney. The final fight was especially noted for turning one of the shows most intense battles into nothing more then mindless chatter. "One Piece The Movie 8 The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta" takes what was already an intense story of the show and pumps up the intensity and the violence well above what could even be shown on Japanese TV.

In this sense, it releasing this movie would not only show how different Funimation's translation of "One Piece" is going to be, but it would also give people who may have only seen the edited TV showing something to compare it to. To prove this point even more, Funimation submitted the movie to the MPAA, where the movie received a PG-13 for "violence and some sexual content." And violent it is. People who have only seen "One Piece" on TV will notice a difference in the action right away. How much more intense it is. How much blood is spilt. How the characters not only get cut up, but how the comic relief character even gets his skull smashed in with a metal bat. The widescreen adds a bonus to the movie in that the fights are now given more depth and visuals, and it makes the action a highlight of the film.

That said, this is easily the worst "One Piece" film of the bunch. While most of the other "One Piece" movies are stand alone stories, taking one of the most loved story arcs of the TV show and dwindling it down to ninety minutes is a tragedy. The story and characters aren't developed enough to get emotionally connected to, and we are only truly entertained near the very end of the film, where Luffy has his epic fight with antagonist Crocodile. On top of the shallow condensing, the movie has this annoying habit of stopping the movie with oil painted frames of the same scene. Which...admittingly, looks cool, but comes off as utterly pointless none-the-less. Though I can't really recommend "One Piece The Movie 8 The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta," I don't think it ultimately matters.

And not because I feel people will say "Screw you, I'm going to buy this anyway," but because for all my complaints about the movie itself, it does what it sets out to do. That is, it gives us a glimpse at what the show will be like under the arms of a different company, cast, and director. And while the dub for this movie is by no means perfect, it's a BIG step up from what we've seen on TV! I feel "One Piece" fans will watch this with much joy, because they will be watching the show as it was supposed to be seen all this time. For some who've been watching it on TV, this will be a revelation to how much better the show should have been, and now looks to be. Once we get the new episodes and movies, I think the importance of this one will slowly disappear, but for now it does what it sets out to do.

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