Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection

Average customer rating:

The PURRRRFECT costume for the day.......

Glad it exists

S-T-A-U-N-C-H

Grey Gardens-Criterion Collection

Can you ever get enough of the Beales?

Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection
Starring: Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale , Edith Bouvier Beale , Jack Helmuth , Brooks Hires , and Albert Maysles
Director: Albert Maysles , Ellen Hovde , and Muffie Meyer
Manufacturer: Criterion
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection

Grey Gardens - A New Musical (2006 Original Broadway Cast)

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ASIN: B00005KHJX
Release Date: 2001-08-14

Amazon.com

Grey Gardens is the name of a neglected, sprawling estate gone to seed. The crumbling mansion was home to Edith Bouvier Beale, often referred to as "Big Edie," and her daughter, "Little Edie." The East Hampton, Long Island, home became the center of quite a scandal when it was revealed in 1973 that the reclusive aunt and cousin to Jackie O. were living in a state of poverty and filth. That's the background to this 1976 film portrait by cinéma vérité pioneers Albert and David Maysles, but it's only incidental to the fascinating story they discover inside the estate walls.

The two Edies have lived in almost complete seclusion since the mid-1950s, ever since Big Edie's husband abandoned her and Little Edie (then a young socialite on the verge of a dancing career, or so she claims) was called home to care for her depressed mother. Twenty years later they continue to live in their memories while camped out in a single bedroom of the 28-room mansion overrun with cats (who use the floor as their litter box). Rehashing mistakes and missed chances with an accusing banter that becomes more stinging and angry as the documentary progresses, they exist in a sad codependency brings new meaning to the term dysfunctional. Disturbing and discomforting, it comes off like a freak show at times, but for all their arguments and recriminations, the Maysles reveal two women abandoned by their families who are left to cling to each other, for better or worse. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Meet Big and Little Edie Beale-high society dropouts, mother and daughter, reclusive cousins of Jackie O.-thriving together amid the decay and disorder of their ramshackle East Hampton mansion. Five years after Gimme Shelter, the Maysles unveiled this impossibly intimate portrait of the unexpected, an eerie echo of the Kennedy Camelot, which has since become a cult classic and established Little Edie as fashion icon and philosopher queen.

Customer Reviews:

The PURRRRFECT costume for the day..............2007-09-13

I had read about Grey Gardens in New York magazine and was intrigued enough to find this DVD. I am so glad I did. I can see why this has become a huge indie/doc legend. Steven Spielberg could not have created these characters! I don't believe in being a plot spoiler or giving away content in reviews but if you are interested in high society of the 40s and 50's or are an Jackie O or culture junkie, this DVD is a must watch.

The fact that it has become a broadway legend already should say it all. Make sure to watch all of the extras as they really are worth the time. You will understand the title of this review as it is revealed in the first few frames of the movie....ENJOY!

Glad it exists.......2007-09-09

I was so excited when this DVD arrived. I thought that I was going to be seeing something really in truly interesting. Turns out, it was just more of the same. (The "same" being great.) Truth is, I wanted to see more of the inside of the HOUSE, not more of the Edies.....Where is the documentary director who'll finally understand that the HOUSE (or the surroundings) is almost as important to the viewer as the PERSON. Being that, one's enviroment is usually what one creates, etc....

S-T-A-U-N-C-H.......2007-08-23

A must have for homosexuals, fashion mavens, and anyone who has ever had a mother. This movie was and is a cinema icon, and remains pertinent in its searing examination of American aristocracy, gender conscription, family dynamics, and conservative New England culture. Little Edie's proclamations are so simultaneously zany and prophetic that they will have you questioning your own sanity.

Grey Gardens-Criterion Collection.......2007-08-16

Very entertaining, a somewhat sad and tragic end to lives that appeared to have had opportunity, promise, and potential.

Can you ever get enough of the Beales?.......2007-07-24

The Beales of Grey Gardens is a great companion disc to the classic Grey Gardens. We get to see the thrilling "fire!" out-take and many more of Little Edie's outfits, or 'costumes' as she refers to them. No, you can never get enough of the Beales!

Average customer rating:

Sloppy Kill
Pretty offbeat and funny
The faciliator of fatalities...
This is what happens after the life of Bond
This Could Have Been Bonds Future

The Matador (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Pierce Brosnan , Arlin Miller , Azucena Medina , Jonah Meyerson , and Wiveca Bonerais
Director: Richard Shepard
Manufacturer: Weinstein Company
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EQ5UIC
Release Date: 2006-07-04

Amazon.com

Pierce Brosnan gives one of his finest performances in The Matador, a low-key buddy comedy with an agreeably sinister twist. Light-years from his former James Bond image, Brosnan is unshaven, unnerved and unpredictable as freelance assassin Julian Noble, who encounters desperate businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) in the bar of a modern Mexico City hotel. Danny is intrigued when Julian reveals that he's a "facilitator of fatalities," and his wife "Bean" (Hope Davis) is equally fascinated when Julian shows up unexpectedly, six months later, at Danny's home in Denver. Having lost his touch as a reliable hit-man, Julian needs Danny's help with "one last job," but the logistics of Julian's lethal profession (involving an employer played by Philip Baker Hall) are secondary to writer-director Richard Shepard's offbeat, slightly uneven character study, which gives Kinnear and Brosnan a memorable opportunity to riff on their established screen personas. In making Julian a likable yet tormented drifter who's made a habit of "running from any emotion," Brosnan creates an edgy yet sympathetic character as mysterious as he is fun to be around; if you're going to befriend a hired killer, you could do far worse than a guy like Julian. As Brosnan plays him, he's worthy of a sequel, but The Matador is the kind of entertainingly quirky movie that's a hard act to follow. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This hip and hilarious dark comedy finds boorish, on-the-job hit man Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) in a Mexico City cantina where he meets mild-mannered Denver businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), both of whom are at a crossroads in their lives and careers. Over too many margaritas, they form a strange friendship built on the dark and drunken honesty shared among strangers who believe they will never see each other in the light of day. However, months later, back in Denver, the doorbell rings at the Wright residence, and Danny and his wife Bean (Hope Davis) find Julian on their doorstep, a desperate, broken man. What else can they do, but to take him in?

Customer Reviews:

Sloppy Kill.......2007-09-02

The only real reason to see this is to enjoy Pierce Brosnan cast against type as a burned out hit man with fainting spells a la Tony Soprano. Brosnan is very funny in the role, but the plot is a shaky affair and the straight man character played by Greg Kinnear is hardly believable. This film would have worked better as a black comedy; for some reason it also tries to be tale of redemption. Doesn't really work, but has its amusing moments.

Pretty offbeat and funny.......2007-08-11

I really liked this film and didn't expect too much when I purchased it. I like Peirce Brosnan and enjoyed this role more than even his Bond roles. Just such a bizarre character that you can't help but like him. The Anti-James Bond, but yet still somehow cool. Won't give the rest away, but a nice offbeat surprise. Probably not for everyone, but I liked it.

The faciliator of fatalities..........2007-08-10

Pierce Brosnan does have an acting life outside of "James Bond". Without his and Greg Kinnear's acting, the film would have died. Pierce plays a lonely hit man kind of looking for a best friend. He meets Kinnear in a bar in Mexico while both are there on business and they begin a friendship. Pierce relates to Kinnear that he is a hit man. The two then went their own separate ways. Pierce shows up on Kinnear's doorstep 6 years later, only to take him on an incredible journey of helping him make the most critical kill of his life. Given the plot, I was looking for more of a thriller/suspense but I didn't get it. It was moving at times, but it dragged on in many scenes. It is worth watching as the two actors make the whole movie worthwhile, but don't look for the "James Bond" type of suspence and thrill, you won't get it...

This is what happens after the life of Bond.......2007-07-02

I see that it's tough for actors who play cultural icons to get work once they end that phase of their careers. George Reeves committed suicide after failing to find work after his 50's portrayal of Superman on TV. Adam West never got a good role after the campy '60's "Batman." Even Sean Connery had a period of obscurity after his James Bond period. This brings us to Pierce Brosnan, another James Bond: movie-star handsome, perfect in the role of the urbane, suave, and emotionally distant Agent 007. Brosnan tried to move beyond this typecasting with "The Tailor of Panama," but didn't quite succeed. Going to a more extreme character in "The Matador," Brosnan proves he might have a career ahead of him. He's going to need more plausible scripts, though, because none of the key plot points in "The Matador" are credible.

I still don't know why they call it a thriller when there wasn't any tension or suspense in here. You kind of knew what was coming except, perhaps, in several instances and there wasn't much tension or suspense in those instances. One of the good aspects of this film was the decision for Brosnan to roughen up his looks. His scraggly beard, bad hair, yellowed teeth, and the wild edge in his smile make him a credible, burnt-out, hit man. Additionally, he takes to his role with gusto. His fear as he begins to have nervous breakdowns, his desperate attempts to booze and whore his way back to sanity, and his life-saving grab to make a friend out of mild-mannered, middle-class Danny, are believably pathetic. I felt twinges of sympathy for this killer going over the edge. Their initial and unlikely acquaintance is believable only because it's in Mexico. The relationship between these two males is under constantly episodic humorous tension throughout the movie which is a plus in this film. Hope Davis also turns in a fine minor performance as Kinnear's character's wife.

The script was pretty good, the bright colors and bold cinematography and banners are reminiscent, in a good way, of Quentin Tarantino at his best. To some extent, the scenic and cinematographic movement is what gives the movie a strong sense of action as much as character movement. The plot almost feels as if it has a life independent of the characters; as if the characters are acting out a minor sequence in a bigger sweep of `Story,' which almost seems like a `Character' in itself. Sound weird? Well, I guess it is, in a way. But it sure seems to work for me. Still, it's a good buddy-flick that's worth your time but try to leave Bond out of your mind before you watch this.

This Could Have Been Bonds Future.......2007-06-14

When I saw the preview for this movie I just had to see it. I don't know why but it just looked funny and entertaining. Maybe it was seeing Brosnan acting like a complete nut in every scene. The movie is about a bored and lonely assassin Julian Noble (Brosnan) who ends up stalking a traveling salesman named Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear). The thing is that Julian met Danny at a bar in Mexico and likes his personality so now he wants to be friends. Julian has bigger problems though like he can't finish his jobs because he freezes up every time he tries to pull the trigger.

Because of this his boss has put out a hit on him so Julian leaves Mexico and shows up on Danny's front door step. What makes matters worse is not only is Julian having a mid life crisis but he has terrible manners and has a problem drinking too much. Danny has to put up with his craziness while trying to spend time with his wife on christmas. Julian finally tells Danny why he really came to his home and tells him he needs his help to complete with his last job. The two set out on a very exciting and funny journey to rescue Julian from death and send him to a relaxing paradise to retire in.

What I like most about The Matador is the comedy that couldn't have been accomplished without Brosnans hysterical but fitting look. He played Julian on point and really got the comedic depressing feeling of his character. The story has a pretty good twist to it but nothing too surprising. You might even guess the end before it gets there as it bites off some other more serious assassin films. The cast did a good job but for some reason you could feel something missing. One more character equally as crazy as Julian Noble or even crazier maybe could have gave the movie that extra something. It has great picture and sound quality, definitely no problems there. Basically The Matador didn't really have flaws but it was just a 4 star performance. From the story to the comedy it was 4 stars, as funny as it is it isn't 5 star bust out crying laughing. If you have time go get it or maybe it's still on TV but this will most likely be enjoyed.

This Gun For Hire (Universal Noir Collection)

Average customer rating:

An Era When Style Compimented Sustance
.........A Hat....a...Trench Coat....a...Gun... and...a...Itchy Trigger-Finger............
This Gun for Hire
"This Gun for Hire (1942) ... Alan Ladd ... Paramount Pictures Film Noir"
Likeable Ladd and Lake

This Gun For Hire (Universal Noir Collection)
Starring: Veronica Lake , Robert Preston , Laird Cregar , Alan Ladd , and Tully Marshall
Director: Frank Tuttle
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B00023P4II
Release Date: 2004-07-06

Customer Reviews:

An Era When Style Compimented Sustance.......2007-08-10

Lately I've been discovering the films of the forties. Some of american cinema's best efforts came from that decade, immediately following the color splash of Gone With The Wind which clearly foreshadowed the coming death of Black and White for mainstream films. Hollywood had spent it's whole history til then bringing B&W cinematography and lighting to wonderful heights of light and shadows capped by Casablanca in it's utterly inadvertent perfection (just watch Bogie's shadow play on the wall while he opens the safe to get more cash for the casino while Claude Raines chews up the scenery).

This Gun For Hire made two stars overnight. Alan Ladd, in an oddly unsympathetic role and Veronica Lake as his onscreen match. They came as close as anyone at capturing the magic displayed onscreen by Bogart and Bacall. In some ways they took it to levels their predecessors couldn't. As a result of all this frenzy to do black and white justice, film noir was born in America. This is one of the finest. Just sit back and watch. You'll love it. There are about a dozen or so from this era done this well. Go do your homework and find them and watch them. It's a great treasure hunt to be on!!!!

.........A Hat....a...Trench Coat....a...Gun... and...a...Itchy Trigger-Finger............ .......2007-07-02

I saw this picture when it was released...now, reviewing it after many decades, it smacks of classic [noir] which Hollywood manufactured like piece-work during WW2 days...Alan Ladd is electric in his breakthrough to big time stardom after mundane debuts co-features [a real mean SOB...in this flick]....watch for the Corporate America wheel/bound mogul who gets his just due from 20 stories high, Robert Preston is clock/work as a street smart Detective, throw in sexy/blonde Veronica Lake is a nice piece of sweet cake...don't overlook wanton Pamela Blake, as the local tramp who takes everything Ladd dishes out to her...she hates him but is captivated by his recklessness; however, Mr. Laird Cregar is immense as is his girth...and steals the show with his defining role of a cunning coward who loves money and peppermint candies...worth buying and worth viewing...enjoy, bye gone Hollywood at it's very best....SSGT CHRIS SARNO-USMC FMF

This Gun for Hire.......2007-06-25

Featuring Ladd's breakthrough role as a baby-faced killer, "This Gun"--adapted from a Graham Greene novel--paired him for the first time with the mysterious, wildly seductive Veronica Lake. The film has all the elements of a classic noir: murder, deception, lust, violence, and dark, moody cinematography to match the conspiratorial tone. Juicy and atmospheric, you'll understand just why this movie made Ladd an overnight star.

"This Gun for Hire (1942) ... Alan Ladd ... Paramount Pictures Film Noir".......2007-03-21

Paramount Pictures present "THIS GUN FOR HIRE" (1942) (80 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Tully Marshall & Marc Lawrence.--- Directed by Frank Tuttle released in May 13, 1942, our story line and film, Outstanding film noir, based on Graham Greene's novel "A Gun For Sale", which presents one of the most disturbed (and disturbing) killers ever to cross the screen ... Ladd is scary because he doesn't care; he is simply a killing machine hired out by whoever will pay ... Only when Lake takes the time to break through the emotional fortress that he has built around himself does Ladd show any signs of humanity --- This is the film that made Alan Ladd a star --- `This Gun for Hire' is much darker and pure film noir --- Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake made 7 films together, "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), "Duffy's Tavern" (1945), "The Glass Key" (1942), "Saigon" (1948), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942), "This Gun for Hire" (1942) and "Variety Girl" (1947). "In Variety Girl" (1947), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) and "Duffy's Tavern" (1945) they appear as themselves --- Visually, this film is pure noir, directed by Frank Tuttle, who made the first version of "The Glass Key" in 1935, combining a hard-boiled gangster story and expressionist-influenced lighting. "This Gun For Hire" fits firmly into that mode, and shows that many of the stylistic trademarks of the supposedly "post-war" Noir style were firmly in place before the US had even been in WW2 for a full year.

Under Frank Tuttle (Director), Richard Blumenthal (Producer), W.R. Burnett (Screenwriter), Graham Greene (Book Author), Albert Maltz (Screenwriter), John F. Seitz (Cinematographer), David Buttolph (Composer (Music Score), Frank Loesser (Songwriter), Jacques Press (Songwriter), Archie Marshek (Editor), Hans Dreier (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Alan Ladd (Philip Raven), Veronica Lake (Ellen Graham), Robert Preston (Michael Crane), Laird Cregar (Willard Gates), Tully Marshall (Alvin Brewster), Mikhail Rasumny (Sluky), Marc Lawrence (Tommy), Pamela Blake (Annie), Harry Shannon (Steve Finnerty), Frank Ferguson (Albert Baker), Bernadene Hayes (Baker's Secretary), James Farley (Night Watchman), Edwin Stanley (Police Captain) - - - - - Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Alan Walbridge Ladd
Date of Birth: 3 September 1913 - Hot Springs, Arkansas
Date of Death: 29 January 1964 - Palm Springs, California

2. Veronica Lake (aka: Constance Frances Marie Ockelman)
Date of Birth: 14 November 1919 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 7 July 1973 - Burlington, Vermont

3 Robert Preston (aka: Robert Preston Meservey)
Date of Birth: 8 June 1918 - Newton Highlands, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 21 March 1987 - Montecito, California

4. Frank Tuttle (Director)
Date of Birth: 6 August 1892 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 6 January 1963 - Hollywood, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 80 min on DVD ~ Universal Home Video ~ (7/06/2004)

Likeable Ladd and Lake.......2006-10-30

Although Frank Tuttle's "This Gun for Hire" was released the year I was born, I hadn't seen it until my newly-purchased copy arrived last week (October 2006). As a movie-mad, Alan Ladd-adoring child I knew about it as the pivotal point of my idol's career, but never found it screening anywhere, not even on television.

So how did it shape up? Regrettably, not as well as I'd hoped. First, the notion of traitorous war-time activity is too big an angle for a small film - why not a simple, grubby little motive (anything to do with sex)for blackmail? Second, there are too many weak performances in supporting roles - not to mention 3rd-billed Laird Cregar's amateurish turn as the double-crossing Gates.

That aside, Ladd is sensational as the bitter-and-twisted Raven - no wonder the role made him a star. What a shame his career was so badly-handled - not just by Paramount, who never gave him the vehicles (apart from "Shane") a star of his popularity deserved, but also by his none-too farsighted agent Sue (Mrs. Ladd) Carroll. And Veronica Lake - what can one say? Fabulous in all the few films she made (the cabaret numbers she performs in this film are total delight), it's outrageous to think her name means nothing to so many of today's movie-goers.

Shortcomings aside, I'm pleased finally to have seen and enjoyed "This Gun for Hire".

Average customer rating:

From good books to just o.k. movies
spenser for hire release
Decent Movies if You Are a Spenser Fan
Happy
Spenser for Hire - the movie collection

Spenser For Hire - the Movie Collection
Starring: Robert Urich , Avery Brooks , Cynthia Dale , Ross Petty , and Hayley Tyson
Director: Joseph L. Scanlan , Paul Lynch , and Andrew Wild
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009NSDW0
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Product Description

Following the surprise cancellation of the hit series Spenser: For Hire, ABC produces four full-length movies starring the late Robert Urich as the wisecracking-but-deadly Boston detective. Avery Brooks (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) co-stars as Hawk in these top-rated television events based on the best-selling books by Robert B. Parker that The New York Times calls one of the great series in the history of the American detective story.

System Requirements:
Running Time: 364 Mins

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

From good books to just o.k. movies.......2007-08-29

Being a fan of Robert B. Parker's books, and loving one of his characters in the form of Spencer, it follows that one would want to see him come to life in film form. Somewhere in the translation from book to screen, something was lost for me. Robert Urich does only an adequate job, perhaps due to the script he was given, but Hawke, as portrayed in the videos, loses his "cool" demeanor, (the actor seems to be trying way too hard to be cool) and the Susan Silverman character is not portrayed, to my eyes and ears, in any of the ways as she comes across in the written word of Parker nor are her looks, dress or behavior as Parker/Spencer describe. I always laugh out loud while reading Parker's Spencer, especially when he and friend Hawke spar, and much of that relationship is missing, for me, in the videos. The character of Susan is too present in the videos, much more than she is in the books. I do know that those of us who read a lot, form pictures in our minds of how the characters look, move, and speak, so it may be a mistake, on my part, to watch a movie after reading the book and "knowing" in my own mind how those characters should come across. I will continue to read Parker and all his much loved characters, but please, no more Spencer depicted on the screen unless drastic changes are made in the characterizations.

spenser for hire release.......2007-08-09

i plan on buying and watching the movie collection. When will they release Spenser-For-Hire tv series on Dvd!!!!????

Decent Movies if You Are a Spenser Fan.......2007-07-15

I love Robert B. Parker's Spenser character. As a kid growing up I also loved the television series. Spenser and Hawk are, simply put, two of the greatest characters in crime fiction ever.

These four Spenser movies starring Robert Urich as Spenser and Avery Brooks as Hawk, were produced in the mid-1990's and are nostalgic for me, reminding me of the television series. That said they are made for television movies with all the flaws. The supporting cast is pretty weak in terms of acting ability and the stories are just a tad less dramatic than the books. It's kind of like watching the Lifetime Movie of Week for men. So, overall, after seriously viewing these movies again, I have to say they are not all that good. Urich and Brooks do make a great team though and while not totally true to Spenser, are close enough, and entertaining enough.

The four movies in this collection are:

Ceremony
The Judas Goat
A Savage Place
Pale Kings and Princes

Happy.......2007-07-13

I loved watching these three movies, can't wait to buy more.
If your a Spenser fan you will love this box set.

Spenser for Hire - the movie collection.......2007-06-27

If you renember the Spenser for Hire television series, you will truly enjoy this colleciton of four full length movies. Spenser and Hawk are great and set the tone for exciting stories. This is a must for suspense and mystery buffs, with some humor thrown in.

Average customer rating:

Film noir at its finest
Has you in the first moments
Another Christopher Nolan Masterpiece
If you liked memento, you'll like this one
It is like they dropped the slides of the movie and mixed it up

Following
Starring: Jeremy Theobald , Alex Haw , Lucy Russell , John Nolan , and Dick Bradsell
Director: Christopher Nolan
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000F3CD
Release Date: 2001-12-11

Amazon.com

Creepy intimacy, plenty of suspense, and a few surprises enliven this black-and-white treat from the director of Memento. Bill is a struggling writer who fills his time and mind by following random strangers he sees on the street. After breaking his own rule ("never follow the same person twice") he becomes fascinated by Cobb, a voyeur who takes things one step further--actually breaking into people's homes to sift through their things. As you might expect, the relationship soon becomes unhealthy. Writer-director Christopher Nolan already reveals a sure hand in this early neo-noir work. Like Memento, Following toys with timelines, jumping back and forth and carefully dropping bits of information exactly when they're needed. Short and sharp, Following features an intriguing plot line and fine, understated performances by the entire cast. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis

Description

An unemployed aspiring "writer" Bill (Jeremy Theobald) has a peculiar hobby, shadowing strangers at random in the streets of London. When Cobb (Alex Haw), a man Bill has been following, catches him in the act, Bill is drawn into Cobb's world of breaking into flats and prying into the personal lives of their victims. In Bob, Bill finds a strange companion - part mentor, part confessor and part evil twin. With an ingenious structure that involves flash forwards and doubling back, the film tests our knowledge and understanding just as the protagonist is being duped into an elaborate triple-cross. "Following" heralded Christopher Nolan as a promising new talent whose promise was amply confirmed with "Memento."

Customer Reviews:

Film noir at its finest.......2007-08-18

Christoper Nolan debut film is a rare treat. He expertly weaves a tangled web that ensnares you in its seductiveness.
It's the mind-boggling story of Bill, an ordinary seeming guy that has a strange habit of following people on the street. No reason, he just randomly picks strangers and watches there every step.
But his weird little habit backfires when a man named Cobb catches him in the act. Bill then unknowingly gets sucked into an elaborate scheme, and you the viewer are forced into this clever mystery along with him. The ending left me stunned, I love when movies can have such a profound impact on you.

This is a very well written story that is confusing the first time watching. It jumps around chronologically and will probably frustrate you, like Nolan's follow-up movie, Memento. One cool feature this DVD has is the option of rearranging the scenes, if you want to watch this unfold without the mystery. I wouldn't reccommend watching it that way the first time, but if you don't like being toyed with, then feel free.
I think it is truly amazing that such a clever story could be wound up in only 71 minutes. A must see for Nolan(The Prestige, Insomnia)fans. He is quickly becoming the next Hitchcock, in my opinion.

Has you in the first moments.......2007-02-06

More than anything, I was struck in this movie by how quickly and easily the director and main actor were able to pry me out of myself and put me in the shoes of the main character. Before I knew it, I was joining in his main passtime of Following strangers to see their lives. I've never wanted to do this before, but it was instantly effective filmmaking, and I could see how people would be fascinated by this activity.

I won't give away any plot points, but there is a very satisfying and unanticipated storyline resulting from the introduction.

Watch it for 5 minutes and see how well the film puts you into unfamiliar shoes with your unknowing consent.

Another Christopher Nolan Masterpiece.......2007-01-11

Following is the first full-length film directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins). It certainly has the same feel as a Nolan movie, however, it's not quite as polished as Memento is. The film is short (only about an hour long), but its length serves as one of its strengths as you never lose interest in the story. The acting isn't exactly top-notch, but it's not really that kind of movie. Following is really one big showcase for the talent of Christopher Nolan. If you enjoyed his other work, you should defintely see this.

If you liked memento, you'll like this one.......2006-10-24

I have to say that Memento is the best movie I've ever seen. I decided to watch this because it's by the same director and I was wondering what else he could come up with. And I wasn't dissapointed. The movie is in black and white and jumps around the timeline in an interesting way, which keeps you focused and trying to figure out what's going on. I thought the general idea of the movie, about a guy who follows and watches random people, trying to figure out who they are and what they do, is quite original but at the same time common to everybody -- who hasn't wondered about the random person on the street (I sure have).

The way the movie is presented is involving and at times humorous. The way the camera is positioned you really get a feel for being right there, next to the characters and involved in the storyline.

The movie is just as good on the second or third viewing (like Memento), and that's definitely evidence to the fact it's good.

I would definitely recommend this movie to people who liked Memento; you won't be dissapointed with it.

It is like they dropped the slides of the movie and mixed it up.......2006-10-10

This movie is really fun because they mixed everything all around and made it confusing. Pay attention the other person is right. This movie is for people who like art movies. It is violent. Some people cannot follow it, but those who do love it. I really loved it. It is black and white so hopefully that does not turn you off, but it is really great. This is one you have to think with and pay attention to. This is not something to walk in and out of. It would not make any sense at all. Not one for kids. They will be really confused. It will take so long to explain it to them and still you may not be able to. A smart teen could probably understand it, but some adults cannot. If you are reading reviews I am sure you can. It is some great mental exercise and so much better than other movies when you want something of more substance.

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Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth...
Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama
Still, it IS Welles. . .
enticing sexy dip into film noir waters
"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness"

The Lady from Shanghai
Starring: Glenn Anders , Steve Benton , Vernon Cansino , Al Eben , and Edythe Elliott
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B00004W229
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Amazon.com essential video

Legend has it that Orson Welles more or less conned studio boss Harry Cohn over the phone into making this movie by grabbing the title from a nearby paperback. In any case, The Lady from Shanghai is one of Welles's most fascinating works, a bizarre tale of an Irish sailor (Welles) who accompanies a beautiful woman (Rita Hayworth) and her handicapped husband (Everett Sloane) on a cruise and becomes involved in a murder plot. But never mind all that (the aforementioned legend also claims that Cohn offered a reward to anyone who could explain the plot to him). The film is really a dream of Welles's driving preoccupations on- and offscreen at the time: the elusiveness of identity, the mystique of things lost, and most of all the director's faltering marriage to Hayworth. In the tradition of male filmmakers who indirectly tell the story of their love affairs with leading ladies, Welles tells his own, photographing Hayworth as a deconstructed star, an obvious cinematic creation, thus reflecting, perhaps, a never-satisfied yearning that leads us back to the mystery of Citizen Kane. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Welles' camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth..........2007-01-04

After all, you do not go to an Orson Welles movie to see a nice simple little plot and a burnishing of the image of a happy-ever-after star...

You go to see theatrically heightened characters locked in conflict against colorful and unusual settings, lighted and scored imaginatively, photographed bravely, and the whole thing peppered with unexpected details of surprise that a wiser and duller director would either avoid or not think of in the first place...

As usual, as well as directing, Welles wrote the script and he also played the hero - a young Irish seaman who had knocked about the world and seen its evil, but still retained his clear-eyed trust in the goodness of others... Unfortunately for him, he reposed this trust in Rita Hayworth, whose cool good looks concealed a gloomy past and murderous inclinations for the future... She was married without love, to an impotent, crippled advocate, acted like a malevolent lizard by the brilliant Everett Sloane...

There is a youthful romanticism underlying it all, and this quality came into exuberant play in "The Lady from Shanghai." Before the inevitable happened, Welles escaped - to a final triangular showdown in a hall of mirrors, which has become one of the classic scenes of the post-war cinema ...

Welles did not miss a chance throughout the whole film to counterpoint the words and actions with visual detail which enriched the texture and heightened the atmosphere... His camera seemed almost to caress Rita Hayworth as the sun played with her hair and her long limbs while she playfully teased the young seaman into her web...

Orson Wells and Rita Hayworth Drama.......2006-12-29

In London, Michael O'Hara meets Elsa 'Rosalie' Bannister and decides to introduce himself by offering her a cigerette. Elsa tells him that she doesn't smoke but takes the cigerette and wraps it in a napkin and insert into her purse. Michael hears a scream and sees three men pulling on both of Elsa's arms; Elsa is helpless against her attackers; Michael sees Elsa's purse and the cigerette and grabs it; the attackers are defeated soundly by Michael, who is an efficient fighter; Michaels learns from Elsa that she dropped the purse hoping Michael would see it and rescue her; this is the first clue that Elsa has a grand plot for Michael; Michael tells Elsa that he killed a man in Spain during the war; Michael guides Elsa's horse carriage to her car, a real stylish car; Elsa ask Michael work for her on her husband's boat; Michael tells Elsa that he won't work for a married woman.

Arthur Bannister asks Michael to be the Captain of ship which he plans to sail to San Francisco. Michael and his friends join Arthur in a drinking binge and then Michael decides to join the voyage because of his attraction of Elsa. George, Arthur's gay law partner joins the voyage. George sees Michael kisses Elsa and tells Arthur. Arthur is cruel to Elsa calling her, "lover"; Arthur suggests to Elsa that she would like Michael, a strong and bigger male; Arthur acquired the ship when one of his opponents perjuryed and used money to pay for a maid, who had worked for another law firm; Arthur knows that Elsa wants to murder him and take his money. Arthur is murdered by gun; a gun that Michael has seen Elsa use.

Elsa plot fails when her hired killer, kills George instead of Arthur. Michael forces Elsa to reveal the gun that killed George. At the Chinese fun house, Arthur and Elsa kill each other and Michael says, "sharks feeding on each other" suggesting his repulsion of the super rich and the conceit of the super rich with their feed frenzy arrogance.

Still, it IS Welles. . ........2006-11-10

I must confess at the outset that I am an Orson Welles fan. This is not to say that I am unaware of or wish to minimize his faults. What I mean is that, for me, his work possesses a set of characteristics, not all of them completely definable even yet, which are nonetheless rich and compelling. Furthermore, I maintain that enough (all?) of this "Welles aesthetic fingerprint survives the tribulation, sometimes extreme, to which his work was all too often subjected at the hands of others, to render even his lesser efforts very worthy of serious attention rewarded by enjoyment.

"The Lady from Shanghai" illustrates the above very clearly. Welles made the film at a very serious juncture in her career. His "boy wonder" reputation was fading rapidly. His political views were becomming less popular as the country began to move toward the right. His radio work had begun to dry up. His finances were a shambles. In desperation, he turned to Harry Cohn, a man he had contemptuously attacked, to support his latest project. He meant "The Lady from Shanghai" to restore his reputation as a viable filmmaker, proof that he could make a film that would be "aminstream" enough to pay off at the box office, and yet not represent artistic capitulation to commercial Hollywood. It was also to be a both a starring vehicle and a "stretch" performance for his then-wife, Rita Hayworth.

Unfortunately, the film proved typical of most of Welles work in one significant way: it was taken out of his hands in post-production, and as a result, was, when released, by no means the film Welles had in mind.

I inssist, however, that it does manage to succeed to a great extent as an intelligent, originally handled thriller. Welles's genius for visual elements -- location, lighting, camera angles, etc, retain their fascination and beauty. A certain viewpoint still pervades the handling of plot and character -- satiric, bitter, increasingly surreal. And, I maintain, Rita Hayworth does "stretch" as an actress, creating, with, admittedly, a lot of help from her husband and his camera, a memorable femme fatale. The high quality of her performance is uniform with the rest of the cast, such as the very fine Everett Sloane.

The is a film not only for fans of Welles, such as myself, but for anyone who enjoys an intelligent film noir,

enticing sexy dip into film noir waters.......2006-09-27

The Lady from Shanghi's reputation is secure as a classic of film noir but then this genre is notoriously disrespected probably because many film noirs are based on dime novels and sound like it; in order to appreciate a film noir, therefore, you have to be able to enjoy the kitschy quality of snappy dime-novel dialogue. But kitsch alone is not what makes (some) film noirs great. What really sets film noir apart from other genres is its striking, even elegant, visual style which often contrasts sharply with its stark subject matter. Film noir has a way of glamourzing corruption, and giving corruption a unique aesthetic allure all its own. Film noir probably owes something to the German Expressionist film masters (Murnau, Lang, Von Stroheim) and the Hollywood grotesques of the 20's and 30's but it absorbs and evolves these influences into a highly refined style of its own. Orson Welles is the undisputed master of the high noir style. All of his films after Magnificent Ambersons mobilize film noir methods and techniques and so Welles' reputation rises and falls with that genre that he did not create but that he perfected.

Film noir came of age during WWII and like many film noirs Lady from Shanghai is about anxieties over race, class, sexuality, and identity and, in this particular noir film, negotiating racial, social, cultural and sexual difference in an increasingly globalized world. The film takes place in several international (Acapulco) and exotic (Chinatown) settings and these strange locales allow Welles to examine how his characters respond to a diverse array of atmospheres and social/cultural settings. Welles himself plays the central character in the film, Michael O'Hara, and to do so he affects an Irish accent (another international touch) that, some critics argue, is supposed to sound false/inauthentic. O'Hara has a way of talking that sounds a bit too self-consciously literary; and though he affects a working class worldliness his yarns sound like they come straight out of Conrad (O'Hara echoes many of Conrad's colonial concerns) and Hemingway (O'Hara echoes Hemingway's anti-Franco sentiments) and so we suspect that this character has spent more time reading and writing stories than in actually working. Whether we believe Michael's Irish brogue is authentic or not we know that he is fond of creating fictions and this casts suspicions on his identity as well as on his version of events that we hear on the voiceover. Furthermore, we can see that his obsession with literature has given him a taste for the romantic and the typically masculine posturing of his favorite literary heroes and instead of making him worldly wise this just makes him all the more gullible when a pretty lady and the promise of a new adventure come along.

Elsa (played by Welles' then-wife Rita Hayworth)identifies Michael as an easy mark the first time they meet. Unlike Michael Elsa actually is worldly and we can tell she's seen and experienced a lot and that she knows a lot about the world (not just read a lot about it) and she sees through Michael's pseudo-brogue and bravura right away and knows exactly how to exploit his romantic tendencies. She sums him up and plays him from the first moment they exchange knowing glances (hers much more knowing than his). Michael prides himself on his independence and his integrity but he just can't help falling for Elsa's pretend innocence and helplessness--its just too good to resist-- and he can't help wanting to come charging to her rescue even though there are signs everywhere that indicate that Elsa is in no need of rescuing. At first Michael resists her job offer but she is a woman who always gets her way and soon Michael is one of her employee/servants just like all of the other men in the film. Michael just can't tear himself away from Elsa's dangerously seductive & corruptive charms that he willingly and perhaps willfully misinterprets as innocence and helplessness only because that version of her makes him feel better about his own true motives. Michael has been hired on as an extra hand on Elsa's husband's yacht and as soon as he steps foot on deck everyone else aboard sizes him up and begins figuring how they can use him to further their own plots. Elsa's husband Bannister is a famous lawyer and both he and his partner Grisby are, like Michael, under Elsa's spell and trying to plot their way out of captivity. As the yacht pulls out of harbor we see the word "Circe" written in bold letters on the yacht's hull.

Elsa's past is a secret only hinted at (all we know is that she was born on an island somewhere in the east & spent some time in Shanghai). She looks like the penultimate American blonde but she is not from America and her cultural reference points are decidely eastern in contrast to Michael's western points of reference; to Michael she represents the unknown and perhaps the unkowable, and this is part of her allure and also what makes her so dangerous. "Elsa" is the prototypical femme fatale and the conventions of the film noir genre tell us that things will not end well for anyone that gets too close but she's just too enticing. The most famous scene of the film has Elsa in a sleek black bathing suit diving off some perilous rocks as if she were accustomed to such danger and as if danger was her natural element. But then she lays down to sunbathe on the rocks and from the relative safety of the boat Michael looking on, anxiously aware of how dangerous she is, can allow himself the comforting illusion that she is vulnerable and that she needs saving and that only he can save her not only from all the other male predators on board, but save her from her own eastern imbued fatalistism.

Elsa is so beautiful that she has all of the men in the film believing exactly what she wants them to believe and all of them believing that they've actually got a chance with her. And the men all slowly lose their head around her. Some of the men talk down to her but still they do what she says and she has all of them plotting against each other while lighting her cigarettes. The film has been criticized for having an impossibly tangled plot but I think the point of the film is that you are never supposed to be certain or not whether Elsa is merely defending herself against the men who want to control her or if Elsa has been in control of all of them (just like she has been in control of Michael) from the start. Even at the end we still want to believe that Elsa is a victim of something, perhaps something from her past that she just can't escape, but since we don't know what her past was we have no ultimate insight into what has been driving her all along nor for that matter do we have any insight into what originary crime or sin has been driving the men all along; all we know is that the sexes and the races and the classes are at odds. Elsa remains an unknown all the way through and Michael once ensnared must realize that he too is an unknown because under her influence he has been forced to act against what he perceived to be his own true nature.

The Lady from Shanghai offers some of the most stunning visuals of any film noir I know of. The Acapulco scenes are especially exciting as the danger and unpredictability of a foreign woman is made especially inviting and exciting in a foreign land. In this film Welles offers the ultimate noir vision of anxiously uncertain men and women attracted to each other but also repelled by what they find themselves attracted to and what they find themselves doing in the name of desire. Its a film noir and that means that the film follows certain recognizable conventions but it does more than simply follow those conventions, it pushes those conventions as far as they have been pushed and explores the nature of those conventions in a more thorough way than any noir before or, arguably, since. By the end of the film the characters have become lost in their own plots and no longer know who they are and this is conveyed brilliantly with Welles use of masks & mirrors in the celebrated and luridly twisted funhouse scene which feels a bit like the famous Dali sequence in Hitchcock's Spellbound but is even more disorienting & disconcerting (Spellbound was released in 1945 so it is possible, even likely, that Welles had seen it and that it influenced his own film that was made in 1946 and released in 1948). [In the extra featurette that follows the film we learn that Welles himself painted much of the funhouse props and set.]

There are a lot of bad noirs out there and these give the genre a bad name but the few good ones are among the best films ever made. Welles' reputation would be greater if film noir were better understood and appreciated not as a genre that is as cheap as the dime novels that inspired it but a genre where cinema explores its own methods and techniques. The great directors from Lang & Von Stroheim to Welles & Hitchcock to Godard & Chabrol and the other new wave auteurs have all been attracted to noir for this reason.

A brilliant film. After this film (which was a commerical flop) Welles didn't work in America for ten years and when he did return to America he made Touch of Evil (another brilliant noir film). Touch of Evil also failed to generate revenue and effectively ended Welles career as a mainstream director even though he continued to make independently financed small pictures like Othello, Macbeth, The Trial & Chimes at Midnight.

"It's a bright, guilty world"..."I told you...you know nothing about wickedness".......2006-09-16

"The Lady from Shanghai" crackles with Welles' energy and intelligence inspite of the tampering done during post-production by Columbia with the film. Welles ended up working his advesary Harry Cohn the head of Columbia on this unusual, imaginatively photographed (by the late great Rudolph Mate)noir thriller. This "Lady" is memorable if for nothing else than the amazing fun house scene at the conclusion of the movie.

Michael O'Hara (Welles)is immediately smitten with Rosalie (Rita Hayworth)the wife of the super wealthy Arthur Bannister (Everett Sloane in a terrific performance). He ends up employed by Bannister on his yacht putting him close to his wife and making sparks fly with the amoral Rosalie. Money seduces Michael into participating in a faked murder of Bannister's law firm partner Grisby (a great performance by Glenn Anders)which turns from fantasy to reality and making Michael the primary suspect.

Welles' film is full of brilliant visuals, witty dialogue and lovely location work (particularly the sequences set in 1948 San Francisco). The last sequence in the funhouse full of mirrors is brilliant realized. Like Hitchcock Welles' liked to take genre conventions and turn them on their head with inventive, intelligent plots and visual sequences. Where the film goes wrong is in post-production. With the exception of "Citizen Kane" Welles ended up abandoning his babies or had them taken away from him and messed with by studio heads. "The Lady from Shanghai" is not an exception. Welles uses extremely close ups to make us feel as uncomfortable as Michael does about his employers and the situation he finds himself in when he realizes he's been duped.

From the insistence that Welles go back and shoot glamor shot close ups of his soon to be ex-wife Rita Hayworth to meddling in the editing room and the misbegotten musical score (a pity Welles didn't have Bernard Herrmann working on this film)enforced on the film "The Lady from Shanghai" ended up being compromised. A pity that Columbia hasn't tried to dig up the cut footage (if it exists) along with the temp score (they could recreate that based on Welles' notes)that Welles used to help "guide" Heinz Roemheld (who totally ignored Welles' notes and the temp soundtrack) It still manages to a classic Welles film despite all the interference. Roemheld's forte was scores more like the one he composed for "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and he was totally out of his element here.

Columbia includes a fascinating commentary track by Peter Bogdanovich and vintage advertising to compliment this release. I just wish that Columbia had gone the route of Warner with "Citizen Kane" but the extras are pretty good overall. I'd highly recommend this now if Warner would get around to releasing "The Magnificent Ambersons" on DVD I'd be a happy camper...

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It's worth watching once to satisfy your curiosity. That's it.
GOOD MOVIE
good movie
Could have been so much better!
Horrible Remake. Samuel Jackson is too old to play Shaft

Shaft
Starring: Christian Bale , Philip Bosco , Toni Collette , Zach Grenier , and Dan Hedaya
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B00004Z1FX
Release Date: 2000-12-12

Amazon.com

Samuel L. Jackson makes a gleefully updated John Shaft in John Singleton's homage to (not remake of) the early '70s action classic, picking up where Richard Roundtree's legendary Shaft left off. The Manhattan-set film is highlighted by excellent performances, dynamic action scenes, and witty one-liners (Jackson's Shaft: "It's my duty to please the booty"--although the line's deceptive: there's a surprising lack of sex in the film). Unfortunately, it's offset by a surprisingly uninspired, predictable, one-dimensional story, penned by Singleton, Richard Price, and Shane Salerno. The story, in which Shaft investigates the murder of a young African American, is without suspense, since from the start the audience knows that rich white boy Walter Wade (Christian Bale) did the deed, and that Shaft is going to kick his ass, big time. That said, charismatic performances--from Jackson (who, in keeping with the times, is more volatile and fiery than his predecessor), Toni Collette (as a frightened witness), the villainous Bale, and the utterly amazing Jeffrey Wright (Basquiat)--make the film enticing and watchable. Look for a cameo by the original Shaft's director, the legendary Gordon Parks, and fans of the original should note that a still stunningly handsome Roundtree briefly appears as Jackson's uncle. --N.F. Mendoza

Customer Reviews:

It's worth watching once to satisfy your curiosity. That's it........2007-08-08

It's worth watching once to satisfy your curiosity. That's it.

There's no suspense, nothing new, nothing interesting in this movie. Samuel Jackson could not save it.

GOOD MOVIE.......2006-10-15

This was an entertaining movie, which is more than I can say for some other movies that get rave reviews. I guess everyone sees things differently, therefore, form different opinions. Compared to Shaft of the past, this one doesn't stack up, but I don't think the intent was to compare.

Answer to L. Gontzes comment...I would assume the reason for there not being a nude scene with the lovely (not so lovely in this film) Vanessa Williams would have something to do with the fact that she was very much pregnant during filming! notice they tried not to shoot any shots of her from the waist down?

N-E-Wayz...this film had several different elements to appeal to a diverse audiences. I would recommend to others.

This is the second posting of my review. My first review was accidently given **. I deleted and reposted, in order to keep the low rating from affecting the overall average........

good movie.......2006-06-03

This movie has a lot of meaning behind it. The actors put on a really good show. Movie is lacking special effects but that does not hurt the q