Uncle Buck [HD]

Typical John Hughes
Director/writer John Hughes is one of those Hollywood success stories who has left in his wake a heap of popular and often entertaining films, leaving an indelible stamp on motion picture history. He may not have won a ton of awards, but the regular folks (as opposed to film snobs) love his work and have made him a very wealthy man. A list of his better known films would have to start with "Home Alone" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and would continue with "The Breakfast Club," "Pretty in Pink," "Planes, Trains, & Automobiles," and "Sixteen Candles," as well as many others.

This particular John Hughes film stars John Candy as Uncle Buck, the kind of character Candy specialized in. He's a middle-aged kid who can't seem to find a good reason to accept any responsibility in life. As he says in one scene, "People used to say to me, 'Buck, you've got it made. You've got no kids, no wife, no office, no desk, no boss, nothing to tie you down. You've really got it made.'...

Too funny
I miss John Candy. He was one of my favorite comedic actors in the '80s. Some of my favorite movies stars John Candy like "The Great Outdoors" and "Spaceballs". "Uncle Buck" is another hilarious movie John starred in. He plays a happy-go-lucky bachelor named Buck who is a bit of a slob and not very responsible either. He gets a call from his brother in Chicago asking him to babysit his children while he and his wife go take care of his wife's father who had fallen ill. Buck agrees and goes to his brother's house, not knowing what was in store for him. Buck has to contend with two precocious children (one of them played by then unknown Macaulay Culkin)and one angst-riddled teenager named Tia. Tia gives Buck a run for his money with her teenage angst. This leads to a lot of conflict between the two especially when it concerned Tia's boyfriend. The two younger siblings Maisy and Miles are simply a handful and enjoys Buck's company. I particularly loved the scene when Buck is making...

Buck Russell... Best Uncle EVER!
John Candy has his BEST performance EVER in this film by John Hughes. "Uncle" Buck Russell (Candy) is a perpetual screw-up who HAS to get his act together enough to watch over his older brother's three kids & dog, Tia, Miles, Maisy and puppy, Parsey since his sister-in-law's father had a heart attack.

The cast includes Mac Culkin as Miles, Gaby Hoffman as Maisy, Amy Madigan as Buck's girlfriend, Chanice Kobolowski, & Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne's sister, Jackie) as the crazy neighbor lady, Marcie Dahlgren-Frost. Also billed in small parts are Anna Chlumsky (My Girl), Patricia Arquette, and Devon Odessa (My So-Called Life).

This film is totally hilarious but also has those wonderful John Candy touching/sentimental moments.

A wonderful family film that can be watched over and over again!

Happy Watching!

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Black and Blue- The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward and the 1934 Michigan-Georgia Tech Game

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Kindergarten Cop [HD]

Where's the Special Edition?
Great flick, good for all ages, and above all else, it's SCHWARZENEGGER!!! I would really like to see a widescreen special edition of this film, but Universal is severely lacking in that department. The picture quality isn't that great and it's only available in fullscreen pan and scan. But it's a great film either way.

Five Star for the movie but Not for the DVD
I think this is one of the worst DVD attempt by Universal Studio. They have totally ignore the fans of this movie. The picture transfer of this movie to DVD was not up to the standard. And why in the world they will only release this in Full Screen format only? What happen to the Widescreen format? I am sure many of us here like to see this movie as it meant to be seen. I felt like cheated by the studio. I should have read the fine print.."FULLSCREEN" I suggest not to buy this dvd and wait for better quality dvd version of this movie. I think Arnold should say something to the studio.."What Ah you thinking?!!"

A charming, family-friendly film...
Long before Californians elected him as the Governator, former elite bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger took Hollywood by storm as The Terminator. An overpowering figure with amazing charisma on and off the screen, Schwarzenegger did his best to secure roles outside of the typecast blood and destruction movies for which he seemed destined. Instead, Arnold showcased his diversity by branching out into differing genres with such flicks as Twins, Junior, and Kindergarten Cop... Arnold's success is apparent in this light-hearted romantic comedy which utilizes his likeability as well as his macho man image. A delightful bit of entertainment, Kindergarten Cop is classic Arnold, spawning another of his usual famous one-liners, "It's not a tumor"!

When Detective John Kimble (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his partner, Phoebe O'Hara (Pamela Reed), get a hot tip that a drug dealer, Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson), who they've long pursued is searching for his ex-wife because of some money...

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The Sting [HD]

WHY NOT GET THE FACTS BEFORE COMPLAINING???
I just bought this DVD for my father because this movie IS a classic, no matter what anyone says. But, when it came in the mail, I was surprised to see "Full Screen" on the front of the box. So I did what many of you did NOT do (with the exception of reviewer cammonro dated Sept 2, 2003), I went to the Universal web site and emailed their Home Entertainment division.

From Universal Studios Home Entertainment:

'The Sting' is only available on DVD in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which in this case displays the same picture information side-to-side as was seen theatrically. Also, more information is shown top-to-bottom than in the theatrical version because of the way the film was originally shot.

One process used in creating movies for theatrical exhibition is to place 'mattes' over the top and bottom of the 35 mm film frame to alter the aspect ratio to 1.85:1 'Widescreen.' To avoid black letterboxing bars on the top and bottom of the picture when it is...

Stop whining about "full screen"!
Please stop whining about this DVD's aspect ratio. It's not "full-screen." It's widescreen with the original top and bottom sections restored.

According to film historian David P. Hayes, THE STING was filmed in 4:3 (equivalent to "full-screen") ratio because director George Roy Hill wanted it to look like an old movie. The studio (and/or the exhibitors) apparently had second thoughts about it, though, so theatrically-released prints had the top and bottom sections blocked ("matted") to fit the widescreen format.

What you see on this DVD is not "pan and scan" (with missing left and right content), but the original format with the top and bottom restored.

(...)

Awesome Movie on HD DVD!
Honestly i've seen better HD DVD's but still this one is remastered like crazy,its a hell of alot clearer than the original dvd release and its amazing to see what they can do with movies such as old as this one. I mean 1973 this movie comes out and after watching the HD DVD you would think it was a new release. All in all to keep this short this is an amazing film and you should pick it up on HD DVD right now!

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Frenzy [HD]

Droll and dark Hitchcock suspense film
Frenzy was a homecoming of sorts as it was Hitch's first film shot in the UK since he left during the 40's. I would disagree with those who claim that Frenzy can't stand with Hitch's best work; Hitch's droll and dark sense of humor change what could have been a run of the mill thriller into a minor masterpiece. The best bits in Frenzy are every bit as startling and powerful as those in Rear Window, Vertigo and North by Northwest. Although his wife Alma's heart attack couldn't have informed the pre-production stages of the script and film, it certainly had an impact on the atomsphere captured in the film. There is an underlying darkness here only hinted at before (most explicitly in The Birds, Vertigo and Marnie).

The performances are uniformly excellent. The fact that Hitch chose stage actors and lesser known British film actors for this film gives it a bit more grit and reality than his earlier films. Anthony Schaffer's script plays with the routine cliches of suspense films. A...

The Master's Last Psychological Thriller
For the first time in twenty-plus years, Alfred Hitchcock returned to his native England to make what turned out to be his final psychological thriller FRENZY. Despite a series of only modestly successful films since his 1963 triumph with THE BIRDS, Hitchcock had not lost his touch when he was handed Anthony Shaffer's fine screenplay (based on the Arthur LaBern book "Goodbye Picadilly, Farewell Leicester Square"). And although his approach to sex and violence is more explicit here (thanks to the ease in censorship restrictions that happened only a few years before), Hitchcock still delivers a film quite typical of his work--suspenseful, chilling, and often quite funny in a blackly humorous way.

The film revolves around a series of grisly strangulations of women occurring around London that have the police totally baffled. The killer's choice is a necktie, which pretty much leaves the door wide-open, since almost every man there wears a necktie. We are then introduced to Richard...

Review of 2001 DVD and 2012 Blu-ray
*** UPDATED OCT-08-2013 ***

Director Alfred Hitchcock's second last film is a suspenseful mystery-thriller about an unlucky bartender who is framed for murder by a cunning and psychotic villain. This is one of Hitch's best films, with many trademarks of the master of suspense: his cameo, the "wrong man" theme, the occasional black humor, and voyeuristic camera movements. But this is a fairly atypical Hitchcock film as well. Set in a working-class London neighborhood, "Frenzy" is quite far apart from the elegant and urbane settings of his earlier films with actors like Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Instead of Hollywood glossiness, Hitch gives the film a fairly realistic, decidedly unglamorous look and feel. And he even goes far in portraying ugliness. This film has one horrific murder scene in which the depiction of brutality and evil reaches a new height in Hitchcock's career, earning his first R-rating from the MPAA. (His 1960 film "Psycho" would be his second R-rated...

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Hollywoodland [HD]

When Films Collide--A Great Hollywood Story At Odds With An Average Detective Flick
There is a fantastic film within "Hollywoodland"! That film stars Ben Affleck and Diane Lane, both giving superlative performances. As TV Superman George Reeves, Affleck connects with a role that some say mirror his own situation. He's an appealing, handsome actor of limited range who is not generally regarded for having actual talent. And Affleck steps up to the task of inhabiting that persona--he shows the frustration, rage, and longing for respect that comes with being typecast as Superman. Diane Lane plays the wife of a studio exec who fancies Reeves and turns him into her kept "boy." Well, an older woman never looked so good! Lane just seems to get better and better as the years go by. She hits all the right notes in a performance that's wickedly sexy, desperate, charming, and funny--all rolled up into one.

This relationship, her open marriage to Bob Hoskins, his courtship with a golddigger played nicely by Robin Tunney, and the tale of Reeves' struggle in...

Broken Lives
"Hollywoodland" is everything that the dreadful "The Black Dahlia" isn't: interesting, beautifully acted, intelligent, respectful to it's time and place which in both cases just happens to be Southern California circa 1945-1959. Both concern a death: one perhaps a suicide and the other definitely a murder.
Directed by Alan Coulter with a genuine empathy for his characters sad, sordid lives: a brilliant Ben Affleck as TV Superman George Reeves, a committed though out-of-the-box style performance from the always interesting Adrian Brody as a down-on-his-luck Private Investigator, Louis Simo and the luminous Diane Lane as Reeves paramour and fading beauty Toni Mannix.
Coulter spends a lot of time on the back lives of these three which adds texture and resonance to their film lives and by extension the film. Of particular note is Simo's story: his son, his ex-wife (the terrific Molly Parker), his father or lack thereof. Brody is particularly thoughtful and emotionally open in...

When Films Collide--A Great Hollywood Story At Odds With An Average Detective Flick
There is a fantastic film within "Hollywoodland"! That film stars Ben Affleck and Diane Lane, both giving superlative performances. As TV Superman George Reeves, Affleck connects with a role that some say mirror his own situation. He's an appealing, handsome actor of limited range who is not generally regarded for having actual talent. And Affleck steps up to the task of inhabiting that persona--he shows the frustration, rage, and longing for respect that comes with being typecast as Superman. Diane Lane plays the wife of a studio exec who fancies Reeves and turns him into her kept "boy." Well, an older woman never looked so good! Lane just seems to get better and better as the years go by. She hits all the right notes in a performance that's wickedly sexy, desperate, charming, and funny--all rolled up into one.

This relationship, her open marriage to Bob Hoskins, his courtship with a golddigger played nicely by Robin Tunney, and the tale of Reeves' struggle in...

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Howard the Duck [HD]

The 80's film that all is required to hate, apparently, but still has a special edition dvd!
This is a review for the 2009 American dvd special edition release.

This is one of the most well known, whether you've seen it or not, films of all time. 23 Years ago George Lucas was one of the hottest producer/writer/directors in Hollywood thanks to his involvement with the original Star Wars trilogy and Indiana Jones. Everything he touched turned to gold. He started his own sound and effects companies that revolutionised the business and the method in which films are made, and he still does that today. Then came the infamous Howard The Duck. Even when it was announced some were unsure why Lucas would gravitate to such an offbeat concept(originally an equally offbeat and satirical Marvel comic). Then, the reports of the budget and reshoots(which thanks to this edition, you find out was due to the limitations of the original Howard puppet) had the skeptics reeling even more. Every writer would make sure to note the huge budget of the film, as if it was relevant to...

Just to counter all the negative reviews...the Duck is what it is.
I understand why someone who is looking for a great film would be disappointed. Howard the Duck is no Saving Private Ryan or English Patient. Thankfully not all films are or we'd be really bored. What Howard The Duck IS is entertaining. It's a guy in a duck suit...so what? It's pretty funny and refreshingly enjoyable to watch. It is a well made B-movie...so if you look at it on that level then it's a lot of fun. And it's not helpful to compare the film which is aimed at a young audience to the comic which was very adult. Two different things entirely...really, if there were enough fans of the comic (and I'm one) then there would be a new, adult version of Howard. I don't see that happening. So enjoy the film for what it is. I hope the DVD does it justice.

All Hail Howard the Duck!!!
(...)Howard the Duck is all of this and more. I first saw this movie in theaters and loved it. Lea Thompson and the rest of her band The Cheery Bombs are sexy, and the theme song is real catchy!

The special effects are up to par with the technology at the time, and the comedy is right on the nose. I mean c'mon those Dark Overlords were pretty cool looking. Anyone who claims to hate this movie is obviously an 80's hater. (...) This film defines great 80's cinema and I could never understand the backlash. Many great movies have bombed at the theaters only to become favorite classics (the original Blues Brothers and It's a Wonderful Life come to mind).

(...)I will defend this movie until my dying day. Howard the Duck is a great movie from the greatest decade of the 20th Century. Hail Howard!!!

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