Shenandoah [HD]

Great Movie, So-so DVD
Classic, family-friendly Civil War story about an isolationist Virginia farmer (James Stewart) who is forced to become involved in the conflict raging around him when his youngest son (Philip Alford) is mistakenly taken prisoner by Union soldiers. Like John Wayne in "The Searchers", Stewart sets out to hunt down his kidnapped loved one, enduring physical, emotional, and spiritual hardships along the way. Uniformly well-acted by a superb cast, with stand-out performances from Patrick Wayne, film newcomer Katharine Ross, talented juvenile lead Alford, and of course, venerable screen legend Stewart. Capably directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, from a solid screenplay that deftly blends moments of sweet-natured humor and wrenching drama. (Take special note of the tragic scene at the family farm ... most of the violence takes place off-screen, and is all the more disturbing because of what you don't see. Now that's skillful, mature filmmaking!)

Fans of the movie who have...

"These are my sons. They don't belong to the state!"
I agree 100% with Steven Hellerstedt's comments concerning the lack of historical authenticity in the film "Shenandoah". The five-star rating I'm giving this is for the acting, plot, beautiful scenery, historical setting, and the entertaining, if hokey, dialogue. I grew up watching this classic Civil War drama and must admit it still captures my heart every time I see it.

Jimmy Stewart stars as the patriarch (Mr. Anderson) of a farming family in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley during the Civil War (I guess this was supposed to be before Gen. Sheridan laid waste to it in 1864!). His wife has been dead for many years and now he's facing the crisis of his life. He tries desperately to keep his six sons out of the war that had torn the nation apart.

Early in the movie we see what kind of a man Mr. Anderson is when he prays at the dinner table with his sons: "Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cooked the harvest. It wouldn't be here,...

A very good heartfelt movie for the whole family
While this movie doesn't fit today's tastes for irony, cynicism, and action that is as violent and graphic as possible, I like this movie a great deal. Actually, it is because it isn't like today's movies that I appreciate it more. Some find its earnestness too sweet and the humor a bit ham-bone. But I am willing to transport myself into a time when such things were possible in movies. All movies have conventions and none are "realistic" - not even documentaries. So, if you can accept one set of conventions, you should be able to adapt to another and appreciate the movie for what it sets out to be.

This is not a movie about violence per se. It is about family and loss, and deals with the notion of trying to be in the world but apart from it and how difficult that can be because the world has a way of rolling over you. The Civil War is the backdrop of this question. Jimmy Stewart's character, Charlie Anderson, is a widower who still grieves for his lost sweetheart. He has a...

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Son of Frankenstein [HD]

One of the Best!
This is one of my favorite old time Frankenstein movies!! Son of Frankenstein starts where Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein ends. It is a truly well written and acted movie with the likes of Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff to name a few. Go grab yourself some popcorn and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by this late but great movie! Thanks and God Bless!

Classic
Classic Frankenstein movie. Gave me a sense of nostalgia. This move is a must see for classic movie buffs . Wow

Gothic appeal
The third sequel in the highly popular franchise has Dr. Frankensteins son, Baron Wolf Von Frankenstein, returning with his beautiful wife back to his home village and father's estate. The couple gets an unwelcome greeting upon their arrival, but determined the shrug off the ill effects his fathers reputation brought upon the family, Baron sets out to make a decent name for himself. Once at the estate, however, it seems as if the monster has survived and is now teamed up with his sidekick, Ygor, a creatively intelligent man with a broken neck. Ygor is up to no good but depends on the naivety of his lumbering friend to overlook this, while using the monsters muscle to create mayhem and obtain protection.

Curious, Baron Wolf reanimates the monster from a table where he has been lying sick. A detective, frightened along with the other villagers, discovers that the fiendish Ygor has been using the monster to do his dirty biddings. Killing the meddling little man, the detective...

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Fried Green Tomatoes [HD]

A fantastic edition for this 15th Anniversary!
Every decade has its chick flicks that define those years and feature a who's who of up-and-coming actresses mixed with veterans. In the 1980s, it was Steel Magnolias and in the 1990s it was Fried Green Tomatoes, a southern folktale based on the novel by Fannie Flagg (who also co-wrote the screenplay).

Fried Green Tomatoes is a beautiful shot film that really evokes the rich, lush setting of the Deep South. Director Jon Avnet also uses warm colours to create an inviting atmosphere that draws the audience in. There is real artistic integrity to the camerawork which gives the film a Classic Hollywood vibe.

Fried Green Tomatoes is the perfect lazy Sunday summer afternoon movie that evokes simpler times. The film makes us appreciate taking the time out of our busy lives to stop and smell the roses as it were. The film espouses a simple yet important message of tolerance and compassion towards one another but not in a preachy way. It is a message that is certainly...

Awesome Movie!
My husband had been asking me to watch this movie with him for years - it was one of his favorites (from before we met), even though he continually called it a "chick flick"... I was hesitant to watch it because I had the idea that it would be a sad movie - and I just don't like movies that leave me blubbering & saddened for the rest of the day.

However, last weekend we finally sat down and watched it together, and I was pleasantly surprised! Although there was 1 or 2 parts that led me to cry, it was not what I would categorize as a "sad" movie - in fact, when I really think about it, it was quite uplifting...

"Fried Green Tomatoes" weaves the life experiences of 3 very different women - 2 of them lived their youth about 50 or 60 years ago, and one is currently 40 something years old.

The story revolves around an "old" woman who is sharing her & her friends life experiences with the younger, 40-something woman. This younger woman is quite depressed,...

Fine Adaptation
I love this movie. I watched it and fell in love with Idgie and Ruth, both wonderfully quirky and southern. I'd marry either in a heartbeat and count my blessings.

The rendering is faithful in many ways to Flagg's book: Whistle Stop teems with life in all its contradictions, the actors portrayals are flawless (especially Masterson's of Idgie), the screenplay is spot-on (probably because Flagg assisted), and the artistry is close to that of the book's (anecdotal flashbacks). That the directors found a town in Georgia and not Alabama doesn't matter. We are transported to a special and endearing place in time, and we want to stay.

Everything about this movie works. Watch it and enjoy.

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The Life of David Gale [HD]

See the film before the reviewers barricade its effect
THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE is, I believe, a much better film than many fellow reviewers would indicate. Perhaps they are influenced by the reviews that came out in the media at the time of the film's theatrical release, perhaps the Editorial slam on the Product Page by Bret Fetzer taints opinion. I would urge you to see and/or buy this DVD, keep an open mind, and witness the effect on your own emotional response.

Kevin Spacey fleshes out the title role as a believable philosophy professor who speaks against capital punishment in the state of Texas which just happens to be the place where more executions are performed than any other state. He is not without problems: alcohol, a drunken sexual relationship with a former student, and an awkward but deeply significant relationship with Constance (Laura Linney) who later when found 'murdered and raped' on videotape results in the arrest and conviction of Spacey's Gale, now facing death on death row. Laura Linney is most credible as a...

not as predictable or flawed as many seem to think
scanning the negative reviews posted here, the nay-sayers seem to be divided into two camps: those who say the movie was too predictable; and those who say they can't believe the ending. presumably, one reason the latter group is incredulous is because they didn't see it coming. funny how you get completely opposite views.

me, i didn't see the ending coming, but i do think it made perfect sense. many objected that spacey and linney undermined their own cause by their "stunt". i don't agree. first, the full story wasn't meant to be disclosed to the public, only to the reporter. second, and more important, the ending was not done solely to prove a point, as many have suggested. in fact, linney was already terminally ill and spacey's fortunes had fallen to the point where he had little to live for. the so-called "stunt" was really a way to make their lives - and their inevitable deaths - more meaningful. making a point about capital punishment was only one part of...

Must Be Watched from Beginning to End!
Great movie from the opening sequence to the very last shot! Worth seeing again to see what you missed the first time. This movie is the type where the director and editor did not put any "filler" into. Every scene is important.

Keving Spacey is great and Kate Winslett convincingly drops her British accent in a tale of an anti-death penalty advocate who is awaiting execution for the murder of one of his fellow advocates. Winslett's character (Bitsy) is a reporter who has the assignment of getting Gale's story before he dies and proving his innocence. As the Gale's story unfolds one scene early on is very important. That is where Gale is in a televised debate with the governer of Texas over the merits of the death penalty. The debate turns into a shouting match with Gale cornering the governer into stating that if Gale could name one "innocent" person who received the death penalty, that he would sign an order to abolish the penalty in Texas. As the movie winds towards a...

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Atonement [HD]

Cinematic Splendor: ATONEMENT reaches the standard of the novel
For those who have had the immense pleasure of reading Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT not once but several times, basking in not only the brilliant story/mystery but also in the inordinately beautiful language, rest assured that the film not only does the book justice in the transference to the screen, but in the hands of screenplay writer Christopher Hampton (we know that McEwan approved of the modifications as McEwan is one of the producers of the film) becomes even more clear in its realization of the complex plot and finds the visual beauty inherent in McEwan's prose. Joe Wright as director steers this story well, finding just the right amount of back and forth nonlinear development that formed the magic of McEwan's initial weaving.

The cast is uniformly superb. From the initial self-centered liar Briony Tallis (an impressive Saoirse Ronan) to the years' later sorrowfully guilty young nurse Briony (Romola Garai) to the 'epilogue' Briony of Vanessa Redgrave, the entire story...

Completely mesmerizing
"Atonement" is a great example of an excellent book that was seamlessly adapted for the big screen.

Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, "Atonement" is the story of Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan), a 13-year-old girl growing up in England in the year 1935. Briony is a very intense girl who is obsessed with storytelling. She witnesses a series of events between her older sister, Cecilia (Keira Knightley), and Robbie (James McAvoy), the son of the Tallis family's housekeeper. Briony things she understands what she sees, but she really doesn't. When a terrible crime is committed, Briony points the finger at the wrong man, sending an innocent person to prison and leaving Cecilia absolutely devastated.

This is an amazing story about love, truth, and justice. I have read McEwan's novel, and I was blown away by how well this story transferred to the screen. Everything in the film looked just the way I'd envisioned it when I read the book, which is a great testament to the...

Unforgiven
You will appreciate the movie more if you have read the novel. It is not a straightforward love story and definitely not a war epic. It is also not an English society story from the 30s, though it starts as such. A young girl with writing ambitions has her share of frustrations with family and with a failed crush. She sees things and misunderstands them involving her elder sister and her crush. This leads to false accusations, a wrong arrest, a life badly damaged, a love unfulfilled. The script handles the misperceptions of the girl perfectly, we get to see things in different versions. It is like time moving in loops.
The middle part shows us the struggles of the two separated lovers towards getting back to each other in the middle of war. Dunkerk for him, London hospitals' nursing wards during the bombing of London for her. The younger sister repents and tries to make up, but is rejected.
The final and shortest part is set in the recent past and has the former young girl...

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Jarhead [HD]

One Jarhead's perspective..
I'm a little confused that there's so many user reviews complaining that Jarhead is 'a war movie without any war.' Well.. based on my own experiences as a Marine in our most recent trip to the sandbox, I'd say war without war sounds true to life. Jarhead isn't showing you what you'd like for Marines and servicemen to be; it's showing you what we ARE like. Yes, we're crude, vulgar, irreverent, and largely morally ambivelant. Mostly though, we're bored. 99.9% of war is waiting. Waiting for to go on patrol, waiting for patrol to be over, waiting to go on or off of guard duty, waiting to sleep, to wake up, to eat, to piss, to finally go home. That's how it was for my dad in Vietnam, for my cousins in the Gulf War, and for myself in Iraq last year. To some degree, that's how it's been for everyone, in every war. To quote this film, "Every war is different, every war is the same."

If you've been in the military, and especially if you've been deployed, this should all be...

Underrated and Underappreciated - Welcome to the suck.
Anticipation was high for Jarhead, the cinematic adaptation of Anthony Swifford's book of the same name about his experiences as a U.S. foot soldier in the first Persian Gulf War. The reaction to the movie was underwhelming to say the least as critics savaged it and audiences stayed away. Something was definitely in the air as the film also failed to pick up any nominations or awards at any of the important ceremonies (Golden Globes, Oscars, et al). Was the film really that bad or had it just been marketed wrong? Or, was it simply the victim of our current political climate?

Jarhead is a film filled with striking images captured wonderfully by director of photography Roger Deakins. For example, Swofford and his platoon come across oil wells burning out of control, oil raining down on them. At night, they continue to burn providing the only light, and coupled with downpour of oil, looks like some kind of nightmarish vision of hell.

Critics complained that nothing...

A Day In The Life of
I'm a retired Sergeant First Class from the U.S. Army. I didn't get a chance to see the movie at the theater but I bought the DVD yesterday. Personally I thought it was a great movie. There was a great deal of reality to it. Soldiers, Sailors, Airman or Marine, it matters not. You have some that act totally ignorant in certain situations to help cope with stress while others just deal better with it. I've seen it in many forms over my 21 years of Active Duty. I don't think it shed a bad light on the USMC, because these troops didn't act much differently then some of the Vietnam troops did. If you're a warmonger and want to see a lot of action this is not the movie for you, but if you are interested in the day to day or A Day In The Life of kind of movie that shows how a person or typically a servicemember grows this is the one for you. The language is what it used to be like in the Army until they started changing the regulations. The movie took me back to my Army days. I...

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Being John Malkovich [HD]

I agree with Roger Ebert- THE film of 1999.
Don't get me wrong- I loved American Beauty. I was shocked by The Sixth Sense. I was moved by Magnolia. But for me, the movie in 1999 that made me sit back and say "wow" was Being John Malkovich.

I am sure you know the plot, and words wouldn't help to describe how original (and ingenious) it is. The film works on so many levels- it is a screwball comedy, an existential discussion of the nature of existence, a study of sexual identity, and a satire of the modern desire to "escape" from life. On top of all of that, it is darn entertaining to watch!

The characters (played to perfection but Cusack, Diaz, Keener, and Malkovich himself) are all well-drawn, and the actors do a fantastic job- wait until you see Diaz, unrecognizable in frizzy hair and frumpy dress.

The directing is top notch as well. Spike Jonze (of Three Kings fame) has made a wise choice- he recognizes the script is the star and has directed a film without any flashy camera work,...

"Being JM" is incredibly original thanks to cast, screenplay
"Well, there's this guy...." That's all that some viewers could really come up with when asked to describe "Being John Malkovich", the latest film starring Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener and John Cusack. Oh...and John Malkovich is in it, too. This movie is so original, I can't even begin to explain this movie, other than that it was intelligent, fascinating, and hilarious. Because of the originality, it is completely unpredictable: you are so completely in the dark trying to guess what is going to happen next, that you end up not even bothering to guess-which makes a great movie-going experience.
Cusack plays Craig Schwartz, a puppeteer who believes he is not just a puppeteer, but an artist. Diaz, in a wig that makes her nearly unrecognizable, plays Schwartz' animal-loving wife, Lotte. Cusack, upon the realization that he might not make it as a puppeteer, decides to get a day job, at a place on the seventh and half floor of a New York skyscraper. It...

Who do you want to be today?
In case, you don't know, that's a line from an Oingo Boingo song.

Being John Malkovich is a movie about people. John Cusack is an unemployed puppeteer who gets a new job in a very peculiar place: the 7 & 1/2 floor of an office building. He soon discovers a tunnel into the mind of movie star John Malkovich.

That's the plot at it's most basic. Trying to summarize this movie is like trying to explain what color looks like to a blind man. It is a shockingly original, amazing film. It was truly robbed of an Oscar for best original screenplay: while American Beauty was good, it wasn't as good as Malkovich and not nearly as original.

The direction by Spike Jonze is strange and surreal. There aren't a lot of bright colors or beautiful shots, but the movie really draws you in with it's dark, strange atmosphere. As I said before, the screenplay is utterly brilliant. The movie kind of reminds me of Terry Gilliam's Brazil - only it's not nearly as maddening to watch.

The...

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