Friday (New Line Platinum Series)

Amazon.com

Friday is the rarest specimen of African American cinema: a 'hood movie refreshingly free of the semiseriousness and moralism of shoot 'em up soaps such as Boyz N the Hood, yet still true to the inner-city experience.

Scripted by rapper Ice Cube, Friday is a no-frills tale of a typical day in the life of a pair of African American youth in South Central. Cube plays Craig, a frustrated teen who endures the ultimate humiliation: getting fired on his day off. Then unknown Chris Tucker plays Smokey, a marijuana-worshipping homeboy whose love for the green stuff lands him in predicament after predicament.

Sitting on the stoop of Craig's rundown home, the two hilariously confront a kaleidoscopic array of gangbangers, weed dealers, crack heads, prostitutes, scheming girlfriends, and neighborhood bullies--all of whom, it should be noted, come off as sympathetic even as they are being caricatured, a true achievement in the crass, "booty call" environment of '90s African American comedy. --Ethan Brown

Description

A youth tries to survive life in L.A.'s hip-hoppin' South Central 'hood. Includes two music videos from the #1 hit soundtrack. Starring Chris Tucker and Ice Cube.

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Interviews
Music Video
Production Notes
Theatrical Trailer

Customer Reviews:

Laugh out loud funny.......2007-07-25

One of my favorite films of all time. Ice Cube gives us a look at how folks on the West Coast live it up on Fridays. Chris Tucker had me laughing throughout the entire movie. Deebo scared the living daylights out of me, (I would not want to have a boyfriend like that) and I loved Nia Long. She was adorable as Debbie. This is a must have for your DVD collection. Don't sleep on it.

Very funny movie.......2007-05-21

This is a great movie...simple...funny...just a day in the life of some young guys who are bored. Most people can relate. Although I am against pot smoking, the movie is funny enough to be able to overlook all of the smoke being blown.

"Can I borrow y'all VCR? I need to dub a tape...".......2007-03-01

I've seen this movie many and I mean many times. It's very funny and it simply shouldn't be analyzed. A plot doesn't exist in this comedy, nor is this a character-driven vehicle, but it's a wild ride from start to finish without much of a high budget.

"Friday" is an urban comedy that depicts a single day in the life of Craig (Ice Cube), who has just been fired on his day off. Craig's off day consists of interactions with various characters in the neighborhood. They include his cantankerous dad (John Witherspoon); his lovable mother (Anna Maria Horsford); his sister Dana (Regina King); his spoilt girlfriend Joi (Paula Jai Parker); his love interest (Nia Long); Deebo (Tiny "Zeus" Lister Jr.) the hulking neighborhood bully; Big Worm (Faizon Love) the neighborhood gangster; and his token friend Smokey (Chris Tucker).

There's not a lot that can be said about the acting and most of the help comes from the supporting characters. Such as, Chris Tucker who steals the show with his landmark role as ultra-pothead Smokey. Tucker has that unrelenting comic energy that only a comedian of supreme talent can possess. Even when the film falls flat, he picks you back up. I also have to commend John Witherspoon, as Ice Cube's father. I loved him on "The Wayans Bros." and I loved him in this movie. Though I was laughing most of the time, the gags are indeed crude--very crude. And sometimes that crudeness just wears out. Luckily, it's not too often, and there are some memorable lines and memorable moments in "Friday."

I feel as though this is one of the better movies about the hood. It' really more than just a comedy instead it puts forth a deeper meaning in life. It is about facing one's fears and becoming a man. In one scene, the father sees Craig with a gun and tells him that holding a gun won't make him man; it's having the courage to fight with his fists that will. Now, I know this doesn't sound like the greatest thing for a parent to be telling his kid, but in the projects fighting with one's hands instead of picking up a gun is courageous. This movie is great to own as well as the Ice Cube-based sound track.

awww my neck!.......2007-02-27

this movie, i think is the funniest of the 3 because it has chris tucker. i cant belive its still funny after all these years. the fact that its on dvd just made me so exited i bought it just to watch it over a hundred times. it has alot of the best actors today. chris tucker, mia long, ice cube, burnie mac amog many others. i recomend this movie to anyone.

Classic.......2007-01-07

This movie is one of the Classics for anyone that was a teenager or in their early 20's back in the mid 90's. Its almost a have to have for the DVD Collection. Enjoy!

Friday Night Lights (Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Sports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00005JNEW
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Based upon the best-selling nonfiction book of the same name, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is the story about Odessa, Texas's high school's bid for a state football championship in the fall of 1988. The movie follows the lives of key members of the team as they begin their summer training through their season that comes to a dramatic conclusion at the Astrodome. Odessa is a small town and doesn't offer many future prospects for the students who live there. Most of them come from troubled backgrounds, for example quarterback Mike Winchell's (Lucas Black) mother is sick and dying and Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund) lives with an emotionally abusive alcoholic father. Nevertheless, hopes and expectations are high for the Permian "MOJO" Panthers and Coach Gary Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton). The town wants perfection, meaning a perfect season with a state title. Coach Gaines wants perfection, too, but he defines it differently. For him, perfection means giving it all; it is a way of life. The Panthers start off the season strong, lead by Winchell and star tailback Boobie Miles (Derek Luke). But then tragedy strikes, distilling the peace and threatening to destroy even Coach Gaines' definition of perfection.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is one of the better team football movies that I have seen. The action on the field is very realistic. That is in part due to some actual footage of Permian football games that were sliced in with filmed footage from the movie. However, much of the realism comes from the attitude of the characters. If you've never been to Texas or Oklahoma and have never played football or personally known someone who has, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is an incredibly depressing movie to watch. The film has been made that way because FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS isn't really supposed to be about football, but it's supposed to be about the characters in the movie. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is really a movie about the friendships between a group of close high school friends.

Yet, it is a football movie. I never played football myself, but I generally like watching football movies. RUDY and INVICIBLE are great films to watch. They aren't as uplifting, but I also enjoyed ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, THE PROGRAM, and VARSITY BLUES as well as comical dramas like THE LONGEST YARD. However, as much as I enjoy watching these films, they are nothing like real football in a small town. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is. It's a very realistic film that illustrates how much the game means to many people and if you are connected to the sport at all, it seems a little insane. For example, in FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS more money is spent on the football team than the rest of a school district's budget combined, the game is followed as a religion, and the biggest moments expected to happen in a person's life are during the Friday night lights of the football season of their senior year. I realize for many people all of that sounds incredible, but in many parts of the country those things are a way of life. Priorities might be out of line, the people might be misguided, and living like that seems incredibly depressing, but it's all very real.

In short, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS is one of the most realistic football movies ever made. Highly recommended for football fans, citizens of Texas, anyone who read the book, and people who favor dramas scattered with a little sport action.

A couple of trivia pieces: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS features country singer Tim McGraw in his motion picture debut. Also, Connie Britton who plays Coach Gaines' wife, Sharon, is also the same actress who plays Coach Eric Taylor's (Kyle Chandler) wife Tami on the television series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS.

An extra on the DVD is the short documentary "The Story of the 1988 Permian Panthers." This featurette is a look back at the 1988 season with some of the real life players from that 1988 team, including Boobie Miles, Mike Winchell, Brian Chavez and Don Billingsley. Real footage from some of their games as well as television interviews and news pieces about the team are seen. I really enjoyed this featurette. It's the best extra on the DVD.

Other extras include the usual directors commentary, deleted scenes, a brief conversation with Tim McGraw about acting, a behind the scenes personal video entitled "Player Cam", and a comment from director Peter Berg about the reasoning why he added the scene at the burger joint.

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Friday Nights

Title: Friday Night Lights
Director: Peter Berg
Produced by: Brian Grazer
Release date: 10/08/04

Did you know that the Permian Panthers have won more state championships then any other high school team in the state of Texas? That is a very good record considering that there are more high school teams in Texas than Kentucky and Tennessee put together.

In this great sports film it tells the true story of a high school football team in Odessa, Texas, where football is life. This movie was inspired by the true season of the 1988 Permian Panthers. Friday Night Lights was based on a book written by H.G. Bissinger, and was voted by ESPN the magazine the greatest football novel of all time.

This movie keys on the life of five ordinary small town boys that all share one dream, a state championship, Mike Winchell (Lucas Black), Boobie Miles (Derek Luke) Brian Chavez (Jay Hernandez), Don Billingsley (Garrett Hedlund), and Ivory Christian (Lee Jackson). These teenage boys have the weight of the world on them as they head into the 1988 season.

In this small town they have one huge quality that is football. Every Friday night all businesses close for the night and all the houses are empty. Since everybody is at Barrett Stadium one of the largest high school fields in the country. The Panthers are always one of the top teams in the state, and every year the community expects a state title. Considering all this anything less then a state championship is failure.

Permian heads in as a good favorite to win state, but when Permian's star All American running back, Boobie Miles, hurts his leg in there first game the teams confidence and chances decline. The panthers were then forced to start a tiny one hundred pound running back that is nowhere near the skill level of Boobie Miles. After Bobbie finds out he is out for the season, the whole team and town about give up on their chances of winning state. It looked as if there was a horrible disaster that happened in the town, the way everybody acted. However quarterback Mike Winchell, fullback Don Billingsley, and defensive end Ivory Christian will not let this team go down that easy.

The panthers manage to pull together a good season. They faced a season that Permian was not use to, finishing barely in front of five hundred. Losing games no one in town thought would be close. But they ended up in a three-way tie for first and second place in the region. As a result they do it the way everyone settles a tie, they flipped a coin. The coin flip went there way and they found them self in the state tournament. The team gets motivated after hearing about Boobie being hurt, and probably having his football career end. They then dedicate the state tournament to Boobie. Permian makes it all the way to the state championship game where they face a powerhouse from central Texas, the Dallas Carter Cowboys. Where Dallas Carter went undefeated and won every game without breaking a sweat. Since Permian barely got into state championship Dallas Carter was heavily favored. But the panthers wont go down without a fight.

This movie has great camera views and makes you feel like your watching a real football game. After I watched the movie I really wanted to play football, it was that good. For example I would watch the part of the movie where they play Dallas Carter before every one of my football games, it made me so pumped and ready to play. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole movie just waiting to see what happens next. I would defiantly advise sports lovers or people who just like a good movie to check this one out.

By.jd

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

I have read so many spectacular reviews of the TV series FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT that I decided that I needed to watch the series myself. But I first wanted to see the film that the TV series was based upon.

This is a carefully crafted film about the somewhat dubious role that football is allowed to play in the lives of small town Americans. What many people seem to miss in seeing the film is the deeply critical aspects of the film. While the struggles of Permian High School to overcome the loss of their star player Boobie Miles -- who is portrayed as a 1988 high school equivalent of today's Darren McFadden of Arkansas (like McFadden, Miles is portrayed as someone who is spectacularly fast, a great receiver, and even an accomplished passer) -- take center stage, there is also a quiet but pervasive criticism of the role that football is allowed to play in people's lives in this small town. There is the sadness of several former players who have never been able to find meaning in their lives after hanging up their cleats. There is also the poignancy of people utterly obsessed with the failure or success of the local high school team, as if there was some connection between the quality of their lives and the fate of the team. From the beginning to the end of the movie there is a sense that these are people without lives, so that while on one level we celebrate the victories of the team on another we experience a deep sadness. I kept thinking of something Kierkegaard wrote while watching the movie. He distinguished between the comic and the tragic, characterizing the latter as regarding with finite interest that which ought to be of eternal interest, while identifying the comic as regarding something finite as of eternal interest. In this sense, the movie is at its heart a tragicomedy. The movie doesn't explore precisely why these people have such sad lives, but it leaves no question at the end that they do.

This is a very slick movie, which is impressive given that it was essentially a low budget film (it was made for around $30 million) with a very large cast. As a result the film has pretty much a no name cast, the only actor that most people would be familiar with being Billy Bob Thornton. But the film never reveals its low budget. From beginning to end every aspect is highly polished.

I mentioned the way that the movie criticizes our obsession with football and how this obsession is contrasted with the fundamental emptiness in the lives of the characters in the film. The two characters who most display these aspects of the film are the aforementioned Boobie Miles and former star Charles Billingsley, played by country music star Tim McGraw. The only thing that Miles has going for him at the start of the film is his athletic ability and as we hear him struggling to read a recruiting letter we realize that he is borderline illiterate. When he learns that his knee injury is far worse than anyone imagined he realizes how little life has to offer him. He is a man with rapidly collapsing horizons. Billingsley, on the other hand, has only his memories of having starred for Permian. He relentlessly drives his son to achieve a similar kind of success so that he can relive some of it vicariously.

This film in the end is not a celebration of football, but a paean on our excessive obsession with what is, in the end, only a game. It does not mean that football is devoid of all redeeming values, but it does mean to point out that there is more to life than football.

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

"Friday Night Lights", the inspiration for the 2006-2007 TV series of the same name, is an unflinchingly look at a small, economically-depressed Texas town where the only exciting event is the Friday night high school football game. That kind of spotlight creates intense expectations for the Permian High School Football Team to succeed, causing players to make tough choices and live with the consequences.

Billy Bob Thornton does an inspiring turn as the football coach who rallies the team after a season-ending injury to a key player. His leadership and mentoring of the team causes the players to come together and make the best of their situation and of each other. The movie avoids a cliche ending but leaves the viewer with the sense that what the players accomplish together will be with them all their lives.

This film is highly recommended as an excellent capture of high school sports as preparation for the challenges of adult life.

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

I don't claim to be a movie critic, I'm just a regular guy. And I thought this movie was one of the best sports movies that I've ever seen! I would rank it right up there with Hoosiers, Rudy and Remember the Titans. It's not necessarily a feel-good movie, like the others I mentioned, but it's just a great story! The west-Texas realism is outstanding!

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights [HD DVD]
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Josh Pate , Peter Berg , and Mark Piznarski
Manufacturer: Universal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: HD DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

General | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video

Drama | HD DVD | Formats | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000FGG60C
Release Date: 2006-07-11

Description

A genuine stand-up-and-cheer movie about a courageous high school football team's fight to fulfill their destiny and live their dream, Friday Night Lights is "unforgettable and real!" (Larry King) Billy Bob Thornton stars in a true American story of how one legendary Texas town made hope come alive under the exhilarating glare of Friday Night Lights! "One of the greatest sports stories ever told" (Sports Illustrated) is now "one of the greatest sports movies ever made!" (Larry King)

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

Average customer rating:

great movie, awful DVD
His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy

His Girl Friday
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Satire | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Screwball Comedy | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: 6305416192
Release Date: 2000-11-21

Amazon.com essential video

The Front Page, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's classic 1928 newspaper play, has had three official film versions and contributed structural DNA to half the movies ever made about professional camaraderie and fierce love-hate friendships. Lewis Milestone's 1931 movie is well respected (Billy Wilder's 1974 version isn't), but this is one case where the remake towers brilliantined head and blocked shoulders above the original.

Howard Hawks had the inspired notion of making Hildy Johnson--the ace newsman whom demonic editor Walter Burns is trying to keep from quitting and getting married--a she instead of a he. What's more, she's not only Walter's star reporter but also his ex-wife. When Hildy (Rosalind Russell) comes to tell Walter (Cary Grant) she's leaving the newspaper business, he bamboozles her into carrying out one last assignment--a death-row interview with a little nebbish (John Qualen) convicted of killing a policeman. It sounds like a snap, but before you can say screwball comedy, the press room of the Criminal Courts Building has become ground zero for all the lunacy a jailbreak, a shooting, an impromptu suicide, a corrupt city administration, and the most Machiavellian "hero" in the American cinema can supply.

His Girl Friday is one of the, oh, five greatest dialogue comedies ever made; Hawks had his cast play it at breakneck speed, and audiences hyperventilate trying to finish with one laugh so they can do justice to the four that have accumulated in the meantime. Russell, not Hawks's first choice to play Hildy, is triumphant in the part, holding her own as "one of the guys" and creating an enduring feminist icon. Grant is a force of nature, giving a performance of such concentrated frenzy and diamond brilliance that you owe it to yourself to devote at least one viewing of the movie to watching him alone. But then you have to go back (lucky you) and watch it again for the sake of the press-room gang--Roscoe Karns, Porter Hall, Cliff Edwards, Regis Toomey, Frank Jenks, and others--the kind of ensemble work that gets character actors onto Parnassus. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews:

great movie, awful DVD.......2007-07-20

This is a truly horrible rendition of a wonderful movie. It's like watching it with cateracts and hearing aids.

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

The legendary Howard Hawks directs what may be the fastest film comedy ever. A re-make of "The Front Page", this version's inspired plot twist is that Hildy is a female reporter, formerly wed to loveable scoundrel Burns. The conceit works, as underneath Walter and Hildy's scathing, rapid-fire repartee we sense a strong (though somewhat twisted) animal attraction. Both Grant and Russell are in top form, and all we have to do is keep up with them. A rip-roaring good time, start to finish

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

Right in the middle of one of the most successful three years anybody has ever had, Howard Hawks gave us his new and improved reworking of Ben Hecht's comedic play, The Front Page. He changed the title to His Girl Friday. It was sandwiched in between Only Angels Have Wings in 1939 and Sergeant York in 1941. This amazing string of five classics began with Bringing Up Baby in 1938 and wound up with my personal favorite, Ball of Fire in 1941. WOW, what a run!

Bringing Up Baby and Only Angels Have Wings both starred the irresistible Cary Grant. He was probably the inspiration for Hawks' reworking. Grant owned the role of Walter Burns. It was a role that allowed him to ham to his heart's content. Burns is the freewheeling owner/editor of a big city newspaper that's at odds with its local government.

Originally, the plot revolved around Burns trying to keep his star reporter, Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson, from quitting his job to get married. Hawks made a brilliant revision turning Hildebrand into Hildegaard and made her Burns' ex. When she shows up at the paper Walter conceitedly thinks she's there to get her job back but she's actually there to tell him that she's going to live in Albany with her soon to be husband, the nebbish insurance agent Bruce Baldwin beautifully self-parodied by Ralph Bellamy. Walter, unwilling to see his ex and star reporter walk out on him, works the kind of magic only he can work. This results in one of the top ten American comedies of all time and one that can truly be called madcap.

Hildy is realized in a frenetic performance by not the first nor second or even third choice, Rosalind Russell. Russell was borrowed from MGM after Jean Arthur turned the role down and for whatever reasons Irene Dunne and Claudette Colbert also didn't work out. One could only guess their ultimate choice would have been Kate Hepburn but RKO would probably never lend her out to play the part. The stars must have been aligned. Because she was their last choice, Russell played the part with a huge chip on her shoulder, which was just what the role needed. She was so miffed she even felt the script gave Grant the lion's share of good lines and injected her own prewritten adlibs to offset. This did not endear her to Grant and the two never worked together again but once again it worked toward the betterment of the film as this two giant talents rivaled to "one up each other" in scene after scene.

Here is where Hawks developed his trademark style of layering dialog, making actors start their line before the other actors had finished their line. This wasn't the first time it was done but in His Girl Friday it was brought to the level of fine art. It was not only practiced by the stars but also perfectly played by the innumerable character actors. The core of pressroom actors did this so well they will always be thought of not as actors but reporters. The pacing is blindingly fast and rarely ever achieved again. The celebrated scene in Broadcast News pales by comparison.

If you've haven't seen this American treasure, I envy you. I wish I could see for the first time again but I can attest to its ability to make you laugh even after twenty viewings.

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

This movie reminds us what movies used to be: fun.

Carey Grant is handsome and debonair (and all that stuff that drove women crazy) and downright evil sometimes in this movie. He is not above twisting arms (men or women's) to get what he wants and needs, but he does it with such charm that most people just follow him. This is a lesson in alpha-male behavior 101. I won't reveal the storyline or any spoilers (I am sure someone has already done that), but instead I ill say that the movie reeks of another era, which wasn't that long ago chronologically. The witty banter and seemingly endless conflict between the main characters drives the movie forward like a roller coaster that threatens to come off of the tracks at any moment.

This is Howard Hawks' brilliance. The director, the actors, even the lighting all work together seamlessly to create this film. The truest beauty of this film I believe was not the way that Hawks was able to entertain men and women equally in this truly romantic comedy (as compared to the trash that passes for "romantic crap (oops! I mean 'comedy')" today. It was the way this and other films laid down archetypes to aspire to. Cary Grant wasn't just a good looking guy with money - he was a good looking guy with money and a demonic bent and a razor-sharp tongue that he coated with just enough charm to make the poison work all the better. He had an iron will and was Hell bent on getting his way, and not looking like the bad guy in the process. His counterpart, "Hildy Johnson" was his intellectual equal and very sexy, and independent as well. Not the type of woman you would ever get tired of - or bored with.

With characters like this on screen, it became all to easy to imagine that people like that existed somewhere, and that you might get lucky enough to snag one. The characters in this film were not as flat and 2-dimensional as many of the films today, and that is why it stands up so well even though it is shot in black and white, and the actors are long deceased. This is truly a night's worth of great entertainment and a movie *worth* owning, not just viewing.

Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy.......2007-02-16

This is the 95th review to appear here at Amazon on this movie. As always, it has proved enlightening to read the preceding writers had to say. Most of them loved the film, as was wholly predictable. A goodly number issued dire warnings about the appalling quality of one issue or another, so there is very much a buyer beware factor involved here. A handful didn't care for the film at all, almost always because thedialogueissofasttheycan'tkeepupwithit. That ... is ... a ... real ... shame, especially in this era of the fidgety edit, the sound bite and the five-second commercial.

Many, altogether too many, praised director Howard Hawks to the skies for his brilliant story, his brilliant dialogue, his brilliant re-visioning, his brilliant this, his brilliant that. Now that requires a comment or two.

In the Roaring Twenties, Chicago was the most raffish newspaper town in the world. Reporters who had seen it all--many, many times--covered Prohibition-era beer wars, gangsters several times bigger than life, crooked politicians, lurid scandals of every conceivable stripe, Red scares, repeated labor strife, mesmerizing mouthpieces who reduced juries to tears in order to save thrill killers from their justly deserved dates with public executioners, and any other mad things that turned up by land, sea or air. The pop culture of the day was fascinated by it all and two contemporary plays survive into our time to remind us of those hard-charging times: "Chicago" and "The Front Page." "Chicago," of course, was a hit play, that became a hit movie (and advanced the career of Ginger Rogers), that became a hit Broadway musical, that became a hit retro-movie musical.

"The Front Page" was an even bigger hit on stage in its first go-around. It was written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur who had served time in the news bullpen at the Chicago City Hall and had finally escaped to write for other venues that were no more respectable but paid a whole lot more money. Their subject was Hildy Johnson, a reporter on his last day in the bullpen before escaping into the real world and his boss Walter Burns, an amalgamation of every editor who'd ever run a beady eye over Hecht and MacArthur's deathless prose. I should point out that Hildy Johnson in the play is a man. The reason for that is ... well, because there actually was a Hildy (short for Hilding) Johnson who happened to be a bullpen reporter at the Chicago City Hall. Whatever inclination (if such a thing ever entered their minds at all) that Hecht and MacArthur had to make Hildy Johnson a woman would have promptly fallen by the wayside because the two authors were aware that the real Hildy Johnson would be in the theater on opening night to observe the antics of the fictional Hildy on stage. By all accounts, the real Hildy was a large and formidable Swede, not at all someone H&Mac wished to annoy.

In very short order, the play was faithfully transferred to the movie screen with Pat O'Brien as Hildy and dapper Adolph Menjou as Walter Burns. That film is largely forgotten today, but is well worth watching. It was the first major film of the talkie era in which the old fluid movement of the silent film camera was re-attained. Menjou and O'Brien are both terrific.

More than a decade later, a geologic era of Hollywood time, Howard Hawks set himself to the task of making a remake. He hired Charles Lederer, yet another raffish writer, to make a 1940-ish screenplay out of the 1928 play. He, or Lederer, or both simultaneously succumbed to the psycho-magnetic pull of that name, Hildy. They subjected Johnson to a gender transformation ... which changed the relationship between Burns and Johnson from Mephistopheles and Faust to lovers-separated ... which allowed for the importation of a new character as the temporary impediment to the course of true love ... which yielded a magnificent screenplay that maintained all the cynical energy of the original, but in the context of a romantic comedy.

In the apportioning of credit, so far, I would put writer Lederer far ahead of director Hawks. Hawks racks up points for casting Cary Grant in the unaccustomed role of an authority figure, for casting Roz Russell who was perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with Grant and always giving as good as she got, and for tossing in the wonderful, but still under-appreciated Ralph Bellamy as hilarious ballast to keep everything on course.

Hawks did one more thing. He rehearsed each scene in long takes, again and again, until the rapid, overlapping rhythm of the words was ingrained in the performers. Then, and only then, did he shoot it.

This film is a masterpiece for its screenplay, for its performers down to the smallest parts (a perfect, Big Studio-era repertory company of players), for Hawks' masterful direction. Sheesh, what more could you want? Of course it's worth five stars!

Average customer rating:

great movie, awful DVD
His Girl Friday
He looks like that film actor
A classic screwball comedy
Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy

His Girl Friday
Starring: Cary Grant , Rosalind Russell , Ralph Bellamy , Gene Lockhart , and Porter Hall
Director: Howard Hawks
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Comedies | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

4-for-3 All DVDs | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00006RCLG
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

great movie, awful DVD.......2007-07-20

This is a truly horrible rendition of a wonderful movie. It's like watching it with cateracts and hearing aids.

His Girl Friday.......2007-06-22

He looks like that film actor.......2007-06-14

A classic screwball comedy.......2007-04-19

Breathless take on old-style Chicago news hounds with Grant, Russell and Bellamy.......2007-02-16

Friday Night Lights (Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

Very Realistic Football Film
Friday Nights
Definitely an above average sports film
Small Town Football
A great movie!

Friday Night Lights (Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Billy Bob Thornton , Lucas Black (II) , Garrett Hedlund , Derek Luke , and Jay Hernandez
Director: Peter Berg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Sports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0006IJ5PM
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Customer Reviews:

Very Realistic Football Film.......2007-09-09

Friday Nights.......2007-05-17

Definitely an above average sports film.......2007-04-10

Small Town Football.......2007-03-17

A great movie!.......2007-02-21

The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)

Average customer rating:

Classic Non-Dracula Lugosi and Karloff
bela lugosi collection
Mysterious
Should have been titled Lugosi/Karloff collection
Horrors!

The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)
Starring: Boris Karloff , Bela Lugosi , David Manners , Julie Bishop , and Egon Brecher
Director: Edgar G. Ulmer , Arthur Lubin , and Lambert Hillyer
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Classics | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0009X770E
Release Date: 2005-09-06

Customer Reviews:

Classic Non-Dracula Lugosi and Karloff.......2007-08-01

Lugosi and Karloff made several classic non-Dracula non-Frankenstein movies together. This is the whole enjoyable classic black-and-white collection!

bela lugosi collection.......2007-07-15

I bought this as a gift for a nephew who likes all the old time horror movies.

Mysterious.......2007-05-12

In this collection you find one of the cineastic highlights of the 30ties; "The Black Cat", directed by Edgar G. Ulmer; a fantastic variation of the old Edgar Allan Poe - Story; crossed with demonic memoires of the 1st World War - Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi have been in this war, one has become a victim, his love ans life destroyed, the other is a human monster, responsible for the death of thousends of soldiers and a sick collector of female beauty. The setting is a Bauhaus-building on a mountain, where the battlefield was, a kind of futuristic mausoleum. This film was made in Austria in 1934, the time of fascism, and you can smell the near danger of Nazi-Terror. John J. Mescall is a genius on camera. I think this movie is singular in the history of gothic art. The other movies are good exampels for the singular art of the Dracula-actor Bela Lugosi.
CMF

Should have been titled Lugosi/Karloff collection.......2007-04-25

This box set of movies captures Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff at the height of their respective careers. Both are highlighted here in 5 different films that allow them to share the spotlight and explore some fairly meaty roles. Especially in the "The Black Cat" A particularly subtle yet brutal horror tale pitting Lugosi against Karloff in a twisted psychological battle of revenge, mysticism and devil worship. Very much ahead of it's time in both subject matter and brutality. The makeup, set design, mood and lighting are quite memorable.

All 5 movies though are quite enjoyable, and while tame compared to today's horror fare, they still explore some weighty subjects with an appropriate amount of abject horror and suspense.

It's fun to review some of the details of each of these movies, and pick out small little mistakes and missed edits. A particular example is seen in "The Invisible Ray" watch closely as Walter Kingsford as he plays a murdered Sir Francis Stevens. He is lying on the bed as Lugosi shines a bright light into his face to snap a couple of photos. After Lugosi turns off the bright light, Kigsford obviously blinks his eyes, even though he's supposed to already be dead. pretty funny, and the first time I watched the movie, I could hardly believe the obvious mistake.

At any rate, all 5 movies are entertaining, well written, and provided both Lugosi and Karloff with vehicles with which to display their talent.

Highly recommended for any classic horror buffs.

Horrors!.......2007-02-05

Universal Pictures has had a number of different movie openings over the years, but my favorite has always been one of its oldest, the one showing the airplane flying around the Universal Globe. This opening is shown on several films in the Bela Lugosi Collection, which is just another little perk in a generally decent set.

Three of the movies (all on Side One of the single disc) are loosely based on Edgar Allan Poe stories. In Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lugosi plays a demented showman at a circus. His show features an ape that is willing to kill for his master. Lugosi also has an obsession with creating some sort of ape-human hybrid, and if a few women need to die in the process, so be it. Although not the most well-written of movies, it does have a nice look to it, with that eerie German Expressionist influence that is seen in other horror films of the period. This is also the only film in the set that doesn't also include Boris Karloff.

The Black Cat has Lugosi in a more heroic role as a man out for vengeance against Karloff's villainous Satanist, who years earlier had committed a treasonous act that led to Lugosi's imprisonment. Now Lugosi and a honeymooning couple are at Karloff's estate where both characters plot against each other. In a nice contrast to the standard old dark houses, the setting for this film is a futuristic mansion.

The Raven has Lugosi returning to evil as a doctor obsessed with a woman whose life he has saved. He also is an avid Poe fan, leading him to set up some nasty t