The Reader
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Average customer review:
What is the nature of guilt--and how can the human spirit survive when confronted with deep and horrifying truths? The Reader, a hushed and haunting meditation on these knotty questions, is sorrowful and shocking, yet leavened by a deep love story that is its heart. In postwar Germany, young schoolboy Michael (German actor David Cross) meets and begins a tender romance with the older, mysterious Hanna (Kate Winslet, whose performance is a revelation). The two make love hungrily in Hanna's shabby apartment, yet their true intimacy comes as Michael reads aloud to Hanna in bed, from his school assignments, textbooks, even comic books. Hanna delights in the readings, and Michael delights in Hanna.
Years later, the two cross paths again, and Michael (played as an adult by Ralph Fiennes) learns, slowly, horrifyingly, of acts that Hanna may have been involved in during the war. There is a war crimes trial, and the accused at one point asks the panel of prosecutors: "Well, what would you have done?" It is that question--as one German professor says later: "How can the next generation of Germans come to terms with the Holocaust?"--that is both heartbreaking and unanswerable. Winslet plays every shade of gray in her portrayal of Hanna, and Fiennes is riveting as the man who must rewrite history--his own and his country's--as he learns daily, hourly, of deeds that defy categorization, and morality. "No matter how much washing and scrubbing," one character says matter of factly, "some sins don't wash away." The Reader (with nods to similar films like Sophie's Choice and The English Patient dares to present that unnerving premise, without offering an easy solution. --A.T. Hurley
Customer Reviews
i may not be the first to show my love, but i won't be the last
after seeing this film, i was at a loss to figure out why so many people were dead set against it's receiving a little glory at the expense of shutting out 'the dark knight'. many people kept referring to it as the 'token holocaust film'. to me, this film had little to do with the holocaust--outside of one plot point that i won't divulge.
in fact, i'm leaving the plot alone and concentrating on the things i loved the most. the first thing, of course, is kate winslet's subtle, yet emotionally rending work as hanna, the cable car worker that finds herself in an affair with a 15-year old boy. winslet plays this woman over a 30-year span of life and she is nothing short of brilliant. her final scene with ralph fiennes is filled with so much passion that just to remember it gives me goose flesh.
fiennes is more than capable as the lawyer that was hanna's lover; but david kross as the young michael is a standout performance from a young actor. he covers a great deal of emotional terrain in this role and he matches winslet scene for scene. and many of the scenes they play are very difficult, extremely intimate and all are extremely powerful. i wonder if he had been a shade older, could he have played michael through the film?
the film's second surprise (the first isn't that much of a surprise, really) is lena olin as the concentration camp survivor. she too is wonderful and show great range for she plays the woman's daughter at the very end of the film.
there is loads of beautiful yet understated period detail in the first two thirds of the film; once it gets to the late 1980s, it gets a afraid of being honest. that's a pity. but it's a tiny pity. this film is to be appreciated many times over for winslet's brave portrayal of one of the most complex women in a film since blanchett and dench starred in 'notes on a scandal'.
The Reader
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Lost in Austen
From Image Entertainment
Average customer review:
Amanda Price is sick of the modern world. She yearns for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen. But she's about to get a rude awakening as one fateful evening, she is propelled into the scheming 19th century world of Pride and Prejudice while that book's Elizabeth Bennet is hurled into hers. As the book's familiar plot unfolds, Amanda triggers new romantic twists and turns within the Bennet family circle as she clumsily tries to help the sisters nab husbands and even captivates the tantalizing Mr. Darcy herself. But what about Elizabeth...and what will become of one of the world's greatest love stories?
Customer Reviews
Fun, witty, revisionist Austen! I had no idea there was such a production until I stumbled on this show on Youtube of all places. Of course, the format was in parts, and so my viewing experience was quite choppy, but all the same I enjoyed it, and am definitely getting the DVD.
Austen purists will probably revile this witty adaptation/revision of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but fans of Austen who aren't too particular and enjoy some liberties taken with Austen's works [in the interest of fun and entertainment] will find lots to enjoy in ITV's four-part series "Lost in Austen".
Jemima Rooper stars as Amanda Price, who is an avid fan of Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice and who yearns for the romance experienced by Darcy and Elizabeth. One day, she is flabbergasted to find Elizabeth Bennet[Gemma Arterton] herself facing her in her bathroom. Apparently, there is a 'magical' door through her bath wall that is able to transport Lizzie from Meryton to contemporary London. Before long, Amanda gleefully wanders through the portal into Lizzie's house with all its chaos, and life as Amanda knows it will never again be the same.
Amanda tries her best to get the other characters from P&P to follow through on the novel's plot, a situation made difficult by Lizzie's absence [glibly explained away as visiting Hammersmith, Amanda's home]. Mr Bingley in the meantime finds Amanda more interesting than Jane, and things get more complicated when Amanda meets Mr Darcy[a suitably brooding and haughty, yet drool-worthy Elliott Cowan]. Though Amanda finds Darcy interesting and attractive, his rudeness towards her is irksome, and the pair are soon engaged in witty verbal sparring.
The dialogue is part of what makes this production so entertaining. At one point, Jane is ill and ensconced in Bingley's country estate, and Darcy asks that Amanda leave. Bingley protests, saying 'She has paracetamols!' [paracetamol being the British equivalent of our Tylenol, or other fever-reducing medications]. There are lots of anachronisms in this series,which is to be expected given the two distinct time periods.
The cast is excellent - Alex Kingston [of ER] plays a very different Mrs Bennett, portraying a woman who has steely determination and can be downright nasty when she feels her interests threatened. Hugh Bonneville makes a livelier Mr Bennett than we are used to in the other adaptations. Guy Henry plays the greasy Mr Collins to a "T", and his performance actually made me shudder in revulsion. George Wickham's role here is quite surprising, with a twist in his story that was unexpected.
All in all, this is a fresh, revisionist approach to P&P, and though it does not follow the traditional plot of P&P, it is fun and entertaining, and with a mostly likable cast that carry this production through. Final verdict - fun and fresh, not to be taken too seriously.
Lost in Austen
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![Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Jb2Vs-9WL._SL210_.jpg "Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray]")
Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray]
Directed by Simon Langton
Average customer review:
Jane Austen's classic is finally available on Blu-ray!
The timeless themes of love and marriage in Jane Austen's superb romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice have captured readers for generations--the novel has sold more than 20 million copies and has never been out of print. Now, A&E and the BBC have brought this beloved classic to life in a compelling production directed by Upstairs, Downstairs' Simon Langton. This stunning production captures all the celebrated beauty of the English countryside and its glorious, stately manors. It features lavish costumes and an exquisite soundtrack from noted composer Carl Davis.
Pride and Prejudice is the story of the lively and rebellious Elizabeth Bennet, one of five unmarried daughters living in the countryside of 19th-century England. In a world where obtaining an advantageous marriage is a woman's sole occupation, Elizabeth's independent manner threatens her family's future. Will her romantic sparring with the mysterious and arrogant Darcy end in misfortune--or will love's true nature prevail?
Blu-ray features brand new bonus materials including a fascinating short film about the technical restoration process.
Customer Reviews
Pride and Prejudice DVD Fully Restored Version
Howdy this is for people who can only afford and still like dvds. Let me say this you are going to be very happy with the new release of Pride and Prejudice Fully Restored Version the quality of the tranfer the improvement has to be seen to be belived I love this series the 5.1 audio sound quality its great I bought my copy in Australia the ABC Shop I highly Recommend this one If you dont belive me then rent it first from your local dvd shop. I am glad I waited for this one.
Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray]
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The Spirit [Blu-ray]
From Lions Gate
Average customer review:
Above shadowy, crime-infested streets a masked avenger watches. Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) was one of Central City’s finest cops until a gangster’s bullet ended his life. Now Fate has brought him back from the beyond as The Spirit, a street-hardened hero who faces off against seductive foes like the voluptuous Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) and the alluring Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson). Then, of course, there’s his evil archenemy, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), with a mission to wipe out Spirit’s beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality in this graphic action-thriller.
Customer Reviews
A brilliant mix of The Spirit and Frank Miller's style
If you 'get' Frank Miller, and like the way he tells a story, you will love this misunderstood/underrated and brilliant movie.
Everyone thinks they 'get' Frank Miller... 'neo-noir', 'gritty', 'crime drama', I suppose there is a point there, but no one seems to understand that his stories are told with a sense of joy, and a flair that is unique. I enjoyed Sin City (the movie) greatly, but... I was missing that joy. Robert Rodriguez's influence is just too strong and it makes the movie much bleaker than the comics. I didn't like 300 (the movie) at all, though the massive over-usage of slow motion and sub-bass had a lot to do with that, but it too was missing the joy... they made the movie about being brave instead of about the joy of battle even against insurmountable odds, and a glorious death (which was a Spartan thing and Frank got it, but Snyder didn't). Here with The Spirit, Frank made a movie only Frank could make, and I loved it. Loaded with that unique sense of joy that only, only Frank Miller can create.
All of the so-called 'movie reviewers' and so-called 'comic fans' that didn't like this movie, just simply didn't 'get' it, or don't like Frank, or don't like The Spirit. Most of these people have never read Frank's comics, or any The Spirit comics, any yet feel 'informed' enough to just assume that because it wasn't what they expected, it must suck. Wrong. I've seen comments about how small most of the femme fatales roles were... there are like seven of them since Frank was trying to get them all some face time. What do these people want? 20 minute monologues for each girl? Or for Frank to narrow it down to 2? Why? Why does a character have to have a huge role just because they are played by a known actress? If they had boring names and boring outfits, and weren't known actresses would anyone have complained? How about the 'inconsistent tone/all over the place' comments? Yes, because every movie must always be serious, or always be silly, or always be melodramatic, or always be zany for it's entirety. I'm sorry but that concept is just too daft for words. News Flash: life has inconsistent tones, and since the movie follows several characters coming to the same end point, it, you know, makes sense. Grow up, and step out of the group-think, comics fans and movie reviewers.
Bottom Line: this movie is an absolute ton of FUN. Pure, joyful, unadulterated Frank Miller fun. Enjoy.
The Spirit [Blu-ray]
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The Story of India [Blu-ray]
Directed by Jeremy Jeff
Average customer review:
Sixty years after Indian independence, British historian Michael Wood presents the tale of the oldest and most diverse civilization, and largest democracy. A nuclear power and a rising giant, India's population will overtake China's within 10 years and its economy is predicted to overtake that of the U.S. in the 2030s. This journey of sights and sounds, and achievements takes him from the deserts of Turkmenistan to the Khyber Pass.
Customer Reviews
As an Indian This series probably cannot be compared with Discovery-of-India/Bharat-ek-Khoj by Nehru/Benegal. But, it has lot of useful information for NRI (non-resident-indian) children living outside.
I got the Blue-ray directly from PBS. I am very happy. My family including 8 and 12 year children, watched it in one go.
As a presenter, Mr. Wood has been well received by my family. The other British presenter, my family liked the most, is Sir David Attenborough.
The Story of India [Blu-ray]
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Barney - Barney's Super Singing Circus
From Lionsgate / HIT Entertainment
Average customer review:
Barney's Super-dee-duper™ Singing Circus has arrived! And it's got everything children want to see: a marching band (led by Baby Bop ™), a carful of silly clowns, a flying squirrel (Scooter McNutty) on a trapeze, prancing ponies, a lion tamer, whistling wiener-dogs, a strongman that can lift Ringmaster Barney high over his head and more. And you'll never guess what BJ ™ is planning for the big finale! It's big fun under the big top for Barney™ and ALL his friends when this circus comes to town!
Customer Reviews
Barney - Barney's Super Singing Circus This item is vertually impossible to find in stores. We tried for 5 years toreplace the tape we once had and this is the only place we could find it!!
Barney - Barney's Super Singing Circus
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Crude Impact
Directed by James Jandak Wood
Average customer review:
It took hundreds of millions of years for petroleum to form on Earth. It took just 150 years for human beings to bleed the planet of roughly half of this oil.
Arresting in its honesty and erudition, CRUDE IMPACT examines the catastrophic prospect of ''world peak oil'' - or the point in time when the quantity of petroleum extracted from the earth begins to irreversibly decline. The film illuminates a vicious cycle of escalating dependency and need, as well as the behaviors and patterns fueling this cycle, such as consumer fetishism and the myth of endless supply, the tremendous rise in population, and the demands of many more quickly-industrializing nations. It also surveys the devastating and far-reaching effects of the rampant pursuit of oil, including increasingly aggressive political turmoil, irreparable ecological damage, economic turbulence, and gross human rights violations.
Elegantly weaving together an alarmingly accelerating pattern of consumption and depletion, the award-winning CRUDE IMPACT reveals a frighteningly dark future that can only be averted by becoming informed, spreading awareness, and revolutionizing the way we think and live.
DVD Features: Over an hour of additional interviews on globalization, 9/11, alternative fuels and more.
Customer Reviews
See this film!
An interesting, informative and entertaining film that commanded my attention throughout. It also serves as a warning that we must move quickly toward, and support the development of, alternative forms of energy. Share this with your already formed groups - watching together is a great way to continue or start a discussion about energy, conservation, and social justice.
Crude Impact
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Mean Girls [Blu-ray]
Directed by Mark Waters
Average customer review:
A new term at high school is even more of a trauma for Cady (Lindsay Lohan) than it is for everybody else, since she is not just an out-of-towner but an out-of-Africa, her parents having raised her as a bush baby. Now she is confronted with the complexity of school loyalties and fads, which-as we are reminded by innumerable slo-mo sequences with an added roartrack-are twice as bloodlusty as the lives of African fauna. Her first friends are Janis (Lizzy Caplan) and Damian (Daniel Franzese), who dare her to hang out with the second wave-a trio of acid beauties, led by the queenly Regina (Rachel McAdams). The twist is that Cady, in pretending to fall for their spoilt ways, really does fall for them, and the problem is that we ourselves never fall for this notion of Cady as weak-willed. Though the movie sags in the second half, your spirits are kept up by the steady flow of slashing lines-courtesy of Tina Fey, who not only wrote the script but also stars as Cady's teacher. If anything, the grownups-especially the school principal, played by Tim Meadows, of whom the picture needs much more-tend to nudge these pushy teen-agers into the wings. The movie, produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Mark Waters, is often funny, but it was conceived by people who are plainly wiser and more worldly than their target audience, and there's something about that discrepancy that, you know, totally sucks. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker
Customer Reviews
the Real Lives of "Little Women" from the 1990s on - a new classic, this movie is everything a great movie should be - absorbing, entertaining, smart, real, true, nails everything it portrays, uniformly great acting by everyone --- somehow it manages to put down everything that is so wrong... and to support what's right -
i'm 56 and had no interest in ever seeing Mean Girls until my 29-year-old daughter assured me that i'd like it A LOT. she was right - i like Mean Girls, i admire the brilliance of Mean Girls, i enjoyed watching every minute of it and watched it a few times over, wanting to catch everything in it -
i think it would be empowering for every girl in middle school to see this as a heads up - if anything can beat back the BS of the snots in high school, this movie can help inspire everyone else to not be intimidated by the mean girls, the smug, self-appointed cool kids who usually do NOT end up with the coolest adult lives...tina fey being a perfect example of that in real life having earned being very much the cool girl AND the hot girl in her 30s...
it's about time for the negatives in the high school culture to be defeated - and the genius and heart of Mean Girls is a start - as we all start to realize we don't have to stand for what is wrong and start to think about [eric clapton] "if i could change the world..."
how amazing that there are 4,717 customer reviews of a movie! what an achievement for everyone who worked on it -
Mean Girls [Blu-ray]
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Splinter
Directed by Toby Wilkins
Average customer review:
A young couple retreats to the wilderness for a romantic camping weekend, but the trip quickly spirals into a nightmare when they are carjacked by an escaped convict and his girlfriend. Thrown together by chance, no one can imagine the
terrifying horror that awaits the two couples at a remote and isolated gas station.
Customer Reviews
A scary 4 star film, a 5 star Blu
Usually do not get to horror that often, but this title was given such a miserable release slate, no one got to see it around here. But Magnet titles are almost a must see for customers now (Let the Right One In and Timecrimes especially) and once again they provided a nice little (and overlooked) independent.
A simple enough story of good and bad souls unwittingly brought together in a remote region, then subjected to some nasty creatures while taking refuge in a gas station. There are the flurry of moments where the characters drivel on and plan dumb things, but Shea Wigham (from all the way back in Tigerland) has a great screen presence and really holds this together. A few guys asking about this new hot gal (most recognized from the Blade series) in Jill Wagner, who manages not to be the irritating-useless-screaming victim. Jittery cameras, fun looking critters/zombies (very reminiscent of the Thing creatures) , and plenty of blood to go around make this a fun title.
The picture and sound were great. The 5.1 DTS gets used mostly when the critters do their little cricket sounds. The picture clarity was outstanding for an independent film and came across superbly for Blu. There were lots of chances for this to go bad with all of the moving spikes/spines and night footage, but they did well. There were plenty of prop flubs and unanswered questions but once you watch the plethora of short supplements, one realizes what a challenge it can be to make a film like this. The featurettes include material on the special effects, creatures, weather, props, and even a how to on making a Splinter pumpkin (courtesy of the extrovert Ms. Wagner).
A worthwhile purchase for the creature fans out there, and the lower list price doesn't hurt either.
Splinter
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