Adaptation (Superbit Collection)

Amazon.com

Twisty brilliance from screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze, the team who created Being John Malkovich. Nicolas Cage returns to form with a funny, sad, and sneaky performance as Charlie Kaufman, a self-loathing screenwriter who has been hired to adapt Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief into a screenplay. Frustrated and infatuated by Orlean's elegant but plotless book (which is largely a rumination on flowers), Kaufman begins to write a screenplay about himself trying to write a screenplay about The Orchid Thief, all the while hounded by his twin brother Donald (Cage again), who's cheerfully writing the kind of formulaic action movie that Kaufman finds repugnant. By its conclusion, Adaptation is the most artistically ambitious, most utterly cynical, and most uncategorizable movie ever to come out of Hollywood. Also starring Meryl Streep (as Susan Orlean), Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, and Brian Cox; superb performances throughout. --Bret Fetzer

Description

The Superbit titles utilize a special high bit rate digital encoding process which optimizes video quality while offering a choice of both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. These titles have been produced by a team of Sony Pictures Digital Studios video, sound and mastering engineers and comes housed in a special package complete with a 4 page booklet that contains technical information on the Superbit process. By reallocating space on the disc normally used for value-added content, Superbit DVDs can be encoded at double their normal bit rate while maintaining full compatibility with the DVD video format.

Customer Reviews:

Adaptation.......2007-07-18

A brilliant meta-narrative and hilarious spoof of Hollywood's formulaic approach to telling stories, "Adaptation" is the brainchild of Jonze and real-life writer Kaufman, who teamed earlier on "Being John Malkovich." In fact, Kaufman really was hired to adapt the Orleans book, and took a chance writing a fun, zany, highly inventive script about his neurotic inability to wedge it into a conventional plot structure. He also invented a fictitious alter ego, twin brother Donald, who despite being a noodle-brained philistine, knows how to write a crack blockbuster. Cage's sweaty, balding, uncomfortable turn in both roles is pure angst-filled genius.

An Amazing Movie.......2007-07-15

I'm not going to waste my time giving a plot synopsis of this movie. In fact, its rather difficult to give a proper review, as this movie goes in so many different directions and has so many different themes and ideas behind it. However, unlike most movies that do this, this one doesn't fail. Quite the opposite, it succeeds in just about every aspect that it can, in my opinion. Definitely one of the best movies I've ever seen.

Watch "Being John Malkovich" first.......2007-06-24

A follow-on to "Being John Malkovich" Being John Malkovich, this film also explores the nature of reality, but goes one step further and considers the nature of the creative process. As the film proceeds, the viewer is constantly exposed to comments about what is happening on the screen (e.g., "Never use voice-overs") which are amusing but also distracting. Viewers interested in the nature of the creative process, especially screenwriting, will find this technique interesting, others will find it distracting.

In any event, rather than being a follow-on in the conventional sense, this film contains actors and sets from Malkovich, which means you will understand it better if you see the earlier film.

Your enjoyment of the film will also be enhanced if you read The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Susan Orlean first. The film is based on, and remarkably true to, this book. The book is enjoyable in its own right, but reading it will give you a feeling for the problems faced by Charlie Kaufman in writing the screenplay.

After appearing in "Being John Malkovich," Cameron Diaz reportedly said, "There are 14 standard plots in Hollywood. This is the 15th.", suggesting how unusual these two films are.

But they are also different. While "Being John Malkovich" has an ending that fits the film, here the ending is contrived, which fits the overall plot but is likely to leave the average viewer dissatisfied.

Clever blending of reality and fiction.......2007-05-08

I preferred the way this film blended reality and fiction over the way it was done in "Being John Malkovich" (Which is by the same writer and director).

This is one of those movie experiences where you know the flim's creators want you to know they are trying to play mind-games on you. ;)

The filming of "Being John Malkovich" is part of this film's story-line, so it does help to have seen "Being John M." before seeing this film.

A movie about trying to make a movie? .......2007-05-01

Look, I understand very well that I'm supposed to find this thing "brilliant, innovative, unique" and so forth. But to begin with, the storyline of making a movie about making a movie is old, tired, and absolutely lackng in originality. This yawner wastes a good cast in telling a ho-hum tale about a mediocre writer. By the end of this thing, I really wanted those 90 minutes of my life back. The humor is lame, the situations are absurd, and the plot is devoid of interest.

Average customer rating:

Almost as much fun as the first
Hilarious
WHEN YOU STRIKE GOLD THE FIRST TIME IT'S HARD TO DO IT AGAIN THEY CAME REAL CLOSE!
it's a friggin' monster movie!
Tremors 2: Aftershocks

Tremors 2: Aftershocks
Starring: Christopher Gartin , Michael Gross , Marco Hernandez , Thomas Rosales Jr. , and José Ramón Rosario
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783228023
Release Date: 1998-08-18

Amazon.com

When a remote Mexican oilfield comes down with a nasty case of Graboids (for the uninitiated: giant carnivorous worms with tunneling abilities that put Bugs Bunny to shame), it's up to those veteran monster exterminators Burt and Earl (Michael Gross and the wonderful Fred Ward, reprising their roles from the first film) to save the day--and accumulate some much-needed payola in the process. But this time, the slimy critters may have a few new tricks up their...um, sleeves. Although denied a chance to appear in theaters, this unjustly neglected sequel delivers the same winning mixture of cornpone and gore that made the original Tremors a cult classic. A hoot-and-a-half for horror and SF fans, with some genuine scares and a welcome sense of humor. --Andrew Wright

Customer Reviews:

Almost as much fun as the first.......2007-04-22

The graboids have ravaged the drilling site of a petrochemical company in Mexico, so company representatives offer a lucrative bounty to Earl (Fred Ward), who has fallen on hard times. Well-armed survivalist Burt (Michael Gross) is also along for the ride, but the rest of the original cast is absent. Fortunately, however, the creative team of Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson return as well, because they make this outing almost as good as the first one. Just as they did before, they present a powerful creature with one significant weakness that the characters must exploit in order to survive. An intelligent script with lots of laughs and thrills makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.

Hilarious.......2007-03-24

This movie was even funnier than the first. I love how they brought back characters from the first movie and continued storylines. Definitely recommended, but you need to make sure you see the first movie before this one. :)

I'd stop after this one though, Tremors 3 was pretty bad.

WHEN YOU STRIKE GOLD THE FIRST TIME IT'S HARD TO DO IT AGAIN THEY CAME REAL CLOSE!.......2007-03-16

I love the original and I suppose it would be damn near inpossible to top it with a sequel. The did a great job and came close. Very impressive sequel to the first one! The DVD transfer is very good.

it's a friggin' monster movie!.......2007-01-26

I'm so tired of some people whining about how this movie is a let down when compared to the first one. It's a movie about giant underground worms that morph into something else...HELLO!!!! This film does exactly what it set out to do, help you ecscape for an hour or two to relax and enjoy a great b-movie. The scene with Burt blowing the s@!t out of the creature with the giant rifle is worth every penny!

Tremors 2: Aftershocks.......2006-12-07

Okay, my wife thinks I am crazy but I really like the Tremors movies (I-IV) and the TV series as well. I purchased the DVD for Tremors II to upgrade from the VCR tape that I had watched numerous times. This is probably the best of the sequels to the original movie. Fred Ward does an excellent job recreating his character, but the actor in the role of the sidekick is a little lame (the only real downside to the entire movie). Of course, it would be hard to top Kevin Bacon who starred with Fred Ward in the first movie. If you like Tremors I, then this should be your next purchase.

Average customer rating:

Love it or hate it... it's clever
A Travesty
As Bad As a Movie Can Be
Excellent, but disappointed with DVD
fantastic

Othello
Starring: Keeley Hawes , Eamonn Walker , Christopher Eccleston , Christopher Fox , and Allan Cutts
Director: Geoffrey Sax
Manufacturer: Acorn Media
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005YUND
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Amazon.com

Set amid the racially charged politics of London's Metropolitan Police Force, Andrew Davies's deft and gripping adaptation of Othello achieves an ideal balance of realism, contemporary relevance, and respect for the rhythms of Shakespeare's play. John Othello is a black police officer who is named commissioner after he defuses a race riot. His friend and colleague Ben Jago (Shakespeare's Iago) is furious at being passed over for the top job, and he secretly begins a plan to destroy Othello by making him believe that his new wife is having an affair.

Eamonn Walker makes Othello's tragic fall believable and moving, but the story belongs, as it often does on stage, to the villain. Christopher Eccleston's Jago is a wonderfully complex creation, defined by his wickedness but as much a victim of it as any other character. Funny, tragic, and crackling with energy, this is an unmissable performance. Credit should also go to Davies for his script--which echoes Shakespeare's without ever quoting it directly--to a strong supporting cast, and to director Geoffrey Sax, who balances the film's realism with slightly stylized touches that give more dramatic punch to key scenes. Othello offers a daring new version of a familiar story, and it succeeds both as a powerful modern drama and as a testament to Shakespeare's insight into human weaknesses. --Simon Leake

Customer Reviews:

Love it or hate it... it's clever.......2006-11-15

...and I think quite good, actually.

Don't expect Shakepeare's Othello and you won't be disappointed. This retelling of Othello dispenses with Shakepeare's poetry, replaces it with modern dialog and drops the story down into modern day London. This adaptation also uses the maybe too clever device of having Iago speak directly into the camera and letting the audience know what he's up to, a device lifted from BBC's political thriller, 'House of Cards.' If you're not a purist, it all works. While the Shakepearean language may be missing the core of the story, jealousy, obsession and power come through stunningly.

A Travesty.......2005-12-11

This is a terrible adaption of Shakespeare's Othello. It's more like an adaption of someone's interpretation of Othello, one that I do not necessarily agree with. This movie steers so off-course that it doesn't accurately follow the storyline in the original Othello, thus changing everything and really not having anything to do at all with Shakespeare's play. There is virtually no acting going on in this movie. Instead, there are a lot of in-your-face shots of the characters, giving the viewers a forced set of motivations for the inevitable to happen, which are not convincing in any sense. Sure it happens in the original play, but it is not convincing enough in this version.

Instead of the climax becoming Othello's growing rage and madness, the climax in this movie is when the Iago character perches nude on the edge of a bathtub in a very gargoylesque pose. It becomes obvious why they chose this particular actor to play Iago, or Jago as he is called in the movie, with his ugly gargoylesque looks. It all goes downhill after this scene. The Iago character is constantly shown in close-up, advising viewers "This is a tragedy" or "It's all about love." I guess a viewer could never be sure since it is not obvious in this movie's plot.

Besides of the tragic element in Shakespeare's Othello, there is also a thin thread of dark humor, the misunderstandings newly weds may have with each other, the miscommunications between the sexes, the blindness of love that sometimes blows things out of porportion, the bitterness and disillusionment of older married couples. All these elements that add another dimension to Othello are completely omitted in this version, since as we are informed by the annoying Jago character, "It is a tragedy."

I would highly recommend skipping this one and watching "O" or "Switchblade Sisters" instead, two non-Elizabethan versions of Othello that are more on cue, and American-made versions incidentally, and perhaps surprisingly.

As Bad As a Movie Can Be.......2005-12-10

This is the worst movie I have ever seen in my life, and I don't say that lightly. The Iago character was constantly staring into the camera like an unwitting parody of Dr. Evil while hokey theme music rose in the background. None of the characters' motivations made any sense. Nearly every shot had the most absurd, contorted, wanna-be-artsy camera angles. Everything in Shakespeare's play that adds subtlety and nuance to the plot and characterizations has been stripped bare, exiled, and pooped on in this modernization. It really looks like Cassio and Desdemona (or Cass and Dessie, excuse me) are having an affair, while in the play they obviously aren't. The film, unlike the play, never gives the sense that Othello is in an unfamiliar culture and therefore insecure and confused. Iago's monologues in the movie show a self-awareness completely alien to Shakespeare's character. In short, any change made to this film would have been an improvement. As it is, it doesn't even qualify as "so bad it's good."

This film has the bad lighting, bad soundtrack, cheesy cinematic tricks, and overacting of an unsuccessful soap opera, which would be bad enough in itself even if it were not purporting to have something to do with Shakespeare.

Excellent, but disappointed with DVD.......2005-02-20

The DVD of this program is approximately 10 minutes shorter than the version shown on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. While watching the DVD, I remembered there were scenes with Dessie's father, played by Joss Ackland, that were not included. It is also not the same aspect ratio as the PBS version.

fantastic.......2004-12-08

Unlike many Shakespeare enthusiasts, I adore modern adaptations and staging of Shakespeare's works. One of the reasons his plays have endured is that they have a timeless quality that is understood generation after generation. His stories capture something essential about human nature that cannot be confined to a historical period.

Some modern versions of Shakespeare use original dialogue with updated settings, costumes, and character relationships. This sometimes works very well, as in Ethan Hawke's Hamlet or the Julie Taymor's Titus (my favorite). In this version of Othello, however, the dialogue has been modernized to match the setting.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I saw it in a class on Shakespeare's Tragedies at Syracuse University which was taught by a reknowned Shakespeare scholar. This was her choice as the best film version of Othello to show us. Othello is a story which translates particularly well into a modern version because it deals with issues such as racism, jealousy, and insecurity that make it applicable to a variety of situations. The acting in this movie is excellent - very believable and powerful. I highly recommend this movie to anyone, whether or not you have previous experience with Othello.

Average customer rating:

One of the worst among Zhang Zi-yi's career, but it's not her fault
Good Film, Great Performances!
a very sad yet bitter-sweet family saga

Jasmine Women
Starring: Joan Chen , Jiang Wen , Lu Yin Pei , Zhang Ziyi , and Liu Ye
Director: Hou Yong
Manufacturer: Kam
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000IIFGQM
Release Date: 2007-08-07

Customer Reviews:

One of the worst among Zhang Zi-yi's career, but it's not her fault.......2007-08-01

It is quite rare that I did not even want to finish watching a film. But this movie is beyond just a bad make. The directorship, the script and the performance in combination is probably one of the worst among recent Chinese films. Zhang Zi-yi tried. But even the best actors in the world cannot salvage a movie under such poor construction. The dialogue is as ridiculous as it can be. Joan Chen's performance is as her usual- plain and phony. Cinematography is the only thing worth given some credit. What a waste though. This movie is a rare trash.

Good Film, Great Performances!.......2006-12-02

Jasmine Women is the story of three generations of women from the same Shanhai China family: grandmother, mother and granddaughter.

Chapter 1: Grandmother - In the 1930's, Mo (Zhang Ziyi/Ziyi Zhang) who lives with her mother (Joan Chen), meets Mr. Meng (Jiang Wen), a manager of a movie studio. A close relationship with Meng makes Mo's dreams of being a famous movie star come true and leaves her pregnant and abandoned by Meng after the japanese invasion of China. After the baby girl is born Mo blames her daughter for everything that she has lost in her life.

Chapter 2: Mother - In the 1950's Li (Zhang Ziyi/Ziyi Zhang) has lived a life of great misery. She marries Zou Jie (Lu Yi) just to get away from her mother Mo, now played by (Joan Chen). Unable to bear children of her own, she adopts a baby girl, named Hua. In time, from miscarrying and bad childhood memories, she starts to lose her mind, which leads her husband Zou to commit suicide. Li leaves the family never to be seen or heard from again.

Chapter 3: Granddaughter - In the 1980's Hua (Zhang Ziyi/Ziyi Zhang) has been raised by her grandmother Mo (Joan Chen). Mo treated her own daughter Li very badly, but now finds comfort in caring for her granddaughter. Hua gets pregnant from her husband Xia Du (Liu Ye), who got married in secret from her grandmother, after her husband goes far away to school she tells her grandmother about the marriage and that she's pregnant. After finding out, she tells Hua about how having children in the family is a curse to them, not listening to her grandmother she commits suicide by drinking a bottle of Jasmine perfume that she had when she was very young. Hua divorces Xia because of his infidelity and starts a better life with her daughter.

The performances from Zhang Ziyi/Ziyi Zhang and Joan Chen are excellent. Zhang/Ziyi won the Best Actress Golden Rooster award in 2004 for this film, she also plays all three of the young women and Joan Chen plays them when they get older. However like a reviewer said on another website "the story leaves you wanting more" & he is right, I wanted more out of the three storys. The film does have drama in it, but it's no "The Joy Luck Club" which was a great film!. I didn't mention everything that will be in the film, because that would give it all away. I don't know if this is a Bootleg version of the film, because it's plays and it looks like a Offical release, which is really good, The colors on this DVD are dark and rich. The sound is really good, I see nobody getting up in front of the screen, so it's Offical and the picture nevers freezes. This film only contains one disc too.

DVD information:
16:9 Widescreen. In color. All NTSC. Language: Mandarin or Cantonese. Subtitles: Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese. English. 130 mins.
Sound: Digital DTS Surround or Dolby Digital 5.1.

DVD features:
The making of "Jasmine Women". Poster gallery. Photo gallery. and the Trailer to the movie. (note that the behind the scenes and the Trailer are in Mandarin/Cantonese, also for those two special features there are no subtitles) to understand.

a very sad yet bitter-sweet family saga.......2006-10-03

the bad luck and bad fortune haunted this single-mom family generation after generation. what a sad story...but the castings, the directing and the screenplay are all the best ever! a very sad sad story.

Culture Shock - International Students in the United States

Average customer rating:

Perfect for Orientation

Culture Shock - International Students in the United States

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000DIMFFC
Release Date: 2006-07-13

Product Description

This video is about cross-cultural adaptation and culture shock. Foreign students share their perceptions of their experiences in the U.S. as each of them (plus one specialist in cross-cultural relations and a few American Students) is interviewed about living and studying in a new culture. The focus is on the arrival and immediate postarrival period and the culture shock which, for most of the interviewees, follows on its heels. It becomes clear that central to the problems encountered are major differences in values and behaviors between the foreign students and the Americans they meet. The documentary covers a range of basic characteristics of American culture: openness/directness, privacy, attitudes toward time, friendship patterns, informality, and competitiveness. Culture Shock is an excellent resource for any program wishing to help its participants better understand the cross-cultural adjustment process and the experience of being a foreigner in the United States. Useful in foreign student, refugee, and teaching assistant orientation programs; briefings for Americans dealing with foreign students; and orientation for exchange students

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for Orientation.......2007-08-23

This is the perfect video for orientation for an international program. We used it for Faculty, Staff, Peer Advisors and the Students themselves. It helps everyone understand what the students experience and is the perfect length. Anything over 30 minutes would have lost our audience.

National Geographic Beyond the Movie - The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring

Average customer rating:

Interesting
Has nothing to do with the film.Do not buy it.
Not quite what I wanted.
LoTR Fans: Save Your Money
About history more than myth...

National Geographic Beyond the Movie - The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring
Starring: John Howe (II) , Phil Crowley , Peter McHugh , Oliver Muirhead , and Alan Lee (II)
Director: Lisa Kors
Manufacturer: Nat'l Geographic Vid
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005UV3Q
Release Date: 2002-02-19

Amazon.com

The connection between National Geographic and The Lord of the Rings may seem tentative, but this illuminating TV special proves otherwise. While incorporating cast and crew interviews and film clips from director Peter Jackson's 2001 blockbuster The Fellowship of the Ring, this hourlong documentary transcends timely opportunism to explore the myriad inspirations for J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy classic, beginning with the influence of Tolkien's idyllic childhood in rural England, which served as the model for Tolkien's threatened Hobbit paradise. Equally fascinating are the influence of Tolkien's experience in World War I, the "evil" of industrial development, and especially the influence of Anglo-Saxon poetry (notably Beowulf) and the mythology of the Finnish Kalevala, which formed the basis of Tolkien's elfish culture. Tolkien's passion for nature conservancy and cultural preservation is what ultimately serves the National Geographic agenda, but eloquent testimonials by archaeologists, anthropologists, and filmmakers make this a most agreeable hour of justified propaganda. --Jeff Shannon

Description

National Geographic Beyond the Movie: The Lord of the Rings explores throught provoking questions for viewers who want to go beyond the richly fanciful film into the world that started it all.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting.......2004-12-26

I thought it was very interesting. I was intrigued by the ideas of Tolkien'a life as presented by National Geographics. As well as the influences that went into the "Lord of the Rings." I found it very insightful. I've studied Tolkien before maybe that is why I enjoyed this more than other reviewers.

Has nothing to do with the film.Do not buy it........2004-04-10

This National Geographic DVD has nothing to do with the actual film. It just compares the characters with real life characters.
Save your money and do not buy it for it is irellevant to the film. Tolkien repeatedly said that his Lord Of The Rings books were not allegorical and yet we still have those that like to use it to make up their own revisionist history.
Shame on you National Geographic for selling this piece of tripe.

Not quite what I wanted........2004-01-31

I purchased this DVD hoping to find an exploration into the historical and anthropological background to Lord of the Rings. Did it deliver? Well...sort of.

It gives us some information (precious little) about the life and times of J.R.R. Tolkien - but nothing much that we did not all ready know: he fought in World War I, he was from the English countryside and was not a fan of industrialization, he was educated and taught at Oxford, etc.

Some insight is provided into the historical aspect of the Trilogy. Tolkien was heavily influenced by Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon history. Most illuminating was the discussion of the Nordic Kalevala, and the possible roots of Elvish. (For all you MST 3K fans out there, the Kalevala is the source of the Sampo).

Where I feel the documentary went wrong is that there is not enough of such material. Instead, it comes off as too much of a plug for the movie The Fellowship of the Ring. It is chock full of interviews with Peter Jackson and the cast and would certainly be at home as an extra on the DVD. It also tries to justify its existence by providing parallels between themes in the book (like nature conservation) and our world today.

Unfortunately, we live in a time when we seem to be at war every other year. Sauron's and Saruman's abound. It is not too hard for us to find the parallels between Earth and Middle-earth for ourselves. As Christopher Lee puts it at the end of the documentary, "Where is the Ring Bearer now?"

Where indeed?

LoTR Fans: Save Your Money.......2003-12-17

This is getting one star because you can't give it a half star.

The worst part about this DVD is that it doesn't do a good job at masking the fact that's its not really educational- it feels more like a long winded commercial for the movie. It hits on historical bits and points here and there but never goes into much detail. Additionally, it just seems to wander from point to point without a lot of structure.

Sleep inducing, really.

Save your money.
LoTR can easily sell itself without the help.

About history more than myth..........2003-12-07

How sad that so many so-called fans of LOTR don't want to think about the actual meaning of the story. Tolkien's passions, his influences, the things he most valued and most feared, permeate the Lord of the Rings, and it is his life and influences that this documentary explores, not a behind-the-scenes look at the movies. If you want to see how the movies were made, there are plenty of other dvds to watch. One review said Tolkien would be horrified at this documentary; on the contrary, he would probably be fascinated by all the "boring" parts about nature, language and vanishing culture!

Average customer rating:

What's not to like?

OTHERS: The Tales of F. Paul Wilson

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000K2VITU
Release Date: 2006-10-30

Description

For the first time on DVD comes three short-films based on the tales of New York Times Best-selling Author F. Paul Wilson. OTHERS collects "Foet", "Traps" and "Lipidleggin'" from three young filmmakers along with never-before-seen material.

"Foet" (12 min.) Pro Lifer Denise falls in love with Manhattan's latest fashion trend: handbags made out of fetal skin.

"Traps" (18 min.) Hank begins a game of cat and mouse when his attic is overrun with what he believes to be mice.

"Lipidleggin'" (9 min.) A man who sells illegal "fatty foods" on the black market is forced to protect himself when threatened by the authorities.

DVD FEATURES "Foet" (dir. Ian Fischer) - Newly edited 2006 version - Director's Commentary - Storyboards "Traps" (dir. Marc Buhmann) - Newly edited 2006 version - Director's Commentary - Behind-the-Scenes Video Montage - Deleted Scenes "Lipidleggin'" (dir. David Moore) - Director's Commentary - Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Customer Reviews:

What's not to like?.......2007-03-23

Three short films by three very talented young directors dramatizing three classic short stories by master storyteller F. Paul Wilson. The films are low-budget, independent productions, allowing each director to express his unique style.

In Foet, director Ian Fischer does an excellent job of showing how the main character is both repelled by and attracted to her new handbag made of foetal skin. I love the scenes where she's strolling down the sidewalk as if she's in a high fashion commercial.

Director Marc Buhmann lets you get to know his characters while slowly but relentlessly building the tension. It gave me the classic horror movie watching experience - wanting to shout at the actor, "No! Do NOT go alone!"

Director David Moore's Lipidleggin' is full of warmth and charm even as it delivers a rather serious message about freedom of choice. The acting in Lipidleggin' is better than a lot of what comes out of Hollywood these days.

All in all, this DVD is WELL worth the price. Fans of F. Paul Wilson will not be disappointed. You'll wish it wasn't over so soon.

Average customer rating:

Placed me inside of Intuit culture and enriched my life.
I agree with one of the other reviewers,
The mythic past meets the modern world
Interesting and ambitious, if not wholly successful
human, nature and deep respect

Heart of Light
Starring: Rasmus Lyberth , Vivi Nielsen , Niels Platow , Kenneth Rasmussen , and Knud Petersen (II)
Director: Jacob Grønlykke
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 1892649357
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Description

Heart of Light tells the story of a family in Greenland torn apart by conflict between past traditions and the modern world. The point of departure is a bloody tragedy when Nisi, the older son, suffers a mental collapse and goes on a killing rampage before pointing the gun at himself. Grief, disgrace and shame invade the world of the involved and his father Rasmus, faced with a growing contempt from his younger son Simon, decides to leave the community. He heads for the icy inland on a broken dogsled. He encounters an old hermit who magically takes him into the past. It is a perilous journey between a stark reality and a mystical world in search of an inner compass.

The location shooting was carried out under extremely tough conditions with temperatures down to 70 degrees centigrade below zero. The cast and crew had to stay in a camp near the ice cap and sleep in tents raised on the bare ice.

Customer Reviews:

Placed me inside of Intuit culture and enriched my life........2004-02-15

Filmed in the Greenlander Inuit language, this 1998 film works on two levels - realism and myth.

Native Greenlanders who were colonized by Denmark in 1947. Now, fifty years later, their culture has been marginalized by alcoholism. Rasmuth is typical of his people. He drinks too much and embarrasses his family. And when he tries to go hunting, he doesn't even have the proper clothing. One of his teenage sons has drifted into the mainstream culture and despises him. The other son has a mental breakdown and goes on a murderous rampage before turning the gun on himself. Rasmuth is shamed beyond belief, and goes on a journey into the heart of the frozen world to redeem himself. Along the way he meets a hermit who helps him on his quest. This is where the film turns mythic.

Usually I don't like films that bend reality. But this film was different because it was told from inside the Inuit culture. The acting was of high quality. And the cinematography was excellent. I felt I was picked up and put down in a world I know little about. And when the film was over, I knew that my own life was enriched because of it. I didn't even mind the slightly uneven pacing. I therefore highly recommend this film for anyone who doesn't mind a bit of sadness and is willing to learn about a way of life outside our everyday world.

I agree with one of the other reviewers,.......2003-12-20

you forget that there are subtitles and it is very refreshing to watch a movie without a 'movie-star' and alot of production. It is not a 'Hollywood movie', filmed on a set made to look cold with a star wearing caribou skins acting like she is an 'Eskimo' with the trials & tribulations of that life.
This is not a movie for someone who needs a 'big name', and/or alot of car chases/explosions. I do not think this is a chick flick or date movie.
I do not usually do reviews but i had to weigh in on this one.
I really like it.

The mythic past meets the modern world.......2003-09-27

What a fascinating and unique film! I think this is the first film to be produced in Greenland, using Inuit actors, since Knud Rasmussen produced his silent classic "The Wedding of Paolo" back in the 1930's. I had heard that "Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner" was the first film to be produced in the Inuit language, but this film is primarily in Inuit too ( and some Danish). This is a film about the human side of a culture in transition- the Inuit people are proud, self sufficient and live in beautiful modern houses, but something is missing. What is missing is a piece of the soul, both the soul of the protagonist, Rasmus, and the soul of the whole culture. The Greenlanders quick advancement into the modern world, an issue that is dealt with in the film, leaves a fractured and incomplete culture struggling to adapt. The beautiful church were Services are held does not completely fill this gap, because some of it lies in the past and in the pre-Christian myths that are so important to a culture's identity. On one level the film is a brutally real look at the worst aspects of modern times, on the other it is a surreal journey into the mythic past and into a man's hidden Psyche that allows him to piece together what is missing to make him a whole person again, and also to help heal a community torn by a tragic murder and suicide. The scenery is beautiful, and as a sled dog enthusiast I enjoyed the scenes with the beautiful Huskies pulling the sled with tails happily waving- Rasmus cracks his little whip but does not beat his dogs like the villain in Atanarjuat. Rasmus is a kind man to other people and his dogs- he will not abandon his team to be rescued by helicopter when stranded, and when he runs out of food and bullets so he can not feed himself or his dogs, he decides in desperation to kill one of the dogs to feed the others ( animal lovers, this does not happen due to an intervention, in fact no animals are killed on camera). In a particularly touching scene, he slowly and gently leads the dog away from the rest, strokes it tenderly, and says "easy boy" before he is stopped by a strange hermit who helps him find food. The hermit is both a Human and kind of a magical being, as he takes Rasmus into the past and into his own memories, and shows him the inspiration to keep going. Rasmus' wife comes across as a very strong, wise and compassionate woman who deals with her husband's failures with humor and evening optimism, even after she loses one of her sons and is shunned by the community. And she is a bit psychic, which even sceptics like Peter Freuchen noticed was a real, effective, and accepted part of life among the Inuit, as was stepping easily back and forth between the "real" and mythic worlds to learn and heal and remain whole. The film's use of this concept makes it particularly Inuit in it's viewpoint, though it may seen odd to outsiders.
The film shows a particularly traumatic flashback associated with, of all things,the nursery rhyme "Itsy Bitsy Spider" - but you have to see the film to know what I am talking about. Cultural oppression takes some pretty bizarre forms sometimes!

Interesting and ambitious, if not wholly successful.......2002-06-06

I have been intrigued by Greenland ever since I read Peter Hoeg's novel "Smilla's Sense of Snow." That's what attracted me to this film, and while I'm glad I saw it--and enjoyed it--it's not entirely successful. Performances are uneven and there are holes in the story that beg to be filled. Nevertheless, the Greenlandic landscapes of the second half are breathtaking, and it's interesting to see a story about a different culture told by someone OF that culture. It's certainly worth a watch.

human, nature and deep respect.......2002-01-06

Heart of Light is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It tells a story of a man finding his identity after huge changing of society. This combined with experiences in his childhood - experiences that he felt like a runaway from his roots - sends the man out on a quest. And what a quest! A beatiful, genuine and deep story - I cried every time I saw it. And I guess I will all the future times I will see this movie, again and again. Rasmus Lyberth, though not an actor, has the power of the Greenlandish people - power of nature, power of life. A masterpiece by Jacob Gronlykke. Congratulations!

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ASIN: B0001WTWGU
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Description

THE SOLAR SEA Peel back the visible surface of our sun and peer inside the star that gives Earth life. The Solar Sea presents an unprecedented view of a power beyond the grasp of human imagination. Experience the amazing effect of solar wind raging through the cosmos at a million miles per hour. Look down from outer space at the fiery ring of gases known as Aurora Borealis. Bear witness to the awesome power of the solar sea's sunspots and flares in the most dazzling light show ever seen from PLANET EARTH.

Amazon.com

Henry Purcell wrote only one opera, Dido and Aeneas, in a form that would be called operatic today. Other Purcell works that bear the operatic label, including The Fairy Queen and King Arthur, are actually masques or pageants, royal divertissements that sadly illustrate the decline of English drama during the late 17th century. Being the work of Purcell, The Fairy Queen has a lot of musical value. Its melodies are fresh and lilting, and its rhythms have a distinctive sparkle and vitality. Purcell's brilliantly baroque imagination was allowed to run wild in embroidering themes inspired (rather remotely, to be sure) by the fairyland fantasies of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Lovers of the Bard should be warned, however, that not a single line of Shakespeare's masterpiece has been set to Purcell's music in this adaptation. For its revival in 1692, Shakespeare's text was considered not good enough. The play was rewritten, probably by the profoundly forgettable Elkanah Settle. The plot was altered, and characters and incidents added (nymphs, shepherds, a Chinese man and woman, the God of Marriage, the four seasons personified, and even a dance of monkeys). The text was spoken, not sung, except for long, elaborately staged musical extravaganzas (bearing little thematic relation to Shakespeare's text) that were tacked on at the end of each of the play's five acts. These songs, dances, and choruses--more than two hours of them--are the content of the English National Opera's production of The Fairy Queen.

No effort has been made--wisely--to preserve any plot or other form of thematic coherence. The numbers are simply presented as a sort of mildly erotic variety show. There is a recurring cast of characters, including supernatural beings, humans, and animals. Costumes and props are wildly eclectic, ranging from modern realism to antiquarian fantasy. The attraction of this production lies in its skilled combination of baroque music and modern dance, both performed deftly and working together more smoothly than might have been expected. --Joe McLellan

Description

Based on an incident in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen is extraordinarily beautiful and contains some of the most inspired arias penned for the English language. David Pountney's production for the English National Opera is a spectacular offering as phantasmagorical as the enchanted dreams in the magical moonlit woods. The tale is a joyful fusion of music, dance and comedy which brings alive the splendor of the Baroque for a modern audience. Thomas Randle, Simon Rice, Richard Van Allan, Yvonne Kenny. 133 minutes.

Customer Reviews:

This night's dream.......2007-03-18

This is a lively production of a musical form that, if seen as 1st done, would baffle, insult [How can they do this to Shakespeare?!] and bore a modern audience to tears. For this disjointed, vaguely attached to "Midsummer" romp, the wisely chosen way to go is a modern dream: a dream on the Shakespearian subject one might have this very evening.

The music is the star. Purcell is divine in this reading. The ditties are catchy and rare, fun and tinged with melancholy, simple and complex...all at once. The imagery doesn't try too hard to make sense of the tableaux... just enough for it all to hold up more than what it originally was... which was a parade of allegorical characters "Night", "Secrecy", the 4 Seasons, Hyman, Phoebes... This version is not unlike a string of music videos that have a thin thread to hold them together.
Because this is a modern dream, the costumes and scenery are modern in their look and symbolism. The dance is perfect for the 20th century feel, it's not Swan Lake, y'know. The dance is remarkably balanced with the dramatic and comic action. Again, the music is the catalyst and whole reason for anything. It is well worth the time to watch. But it never goes over the top, really. There is an English reserve about it. Duh!

Another opera that has a similar type of approach .... though it does go over the top and is more period... is Les Arts Florissants and the Opera National de Paris's production of Rameau's "Les Indes Galantes". Be sure to check it out!

Both these productions give us a taste we can savor of a type of theatre long gone out of fashion... by putting it in a modern style that recaptures the flavor of the old style without copying it.

Don't Buy This.......2006-02-27

The music and singing are beautiful (it's Purcell after all) but the production is a freak show, full of repulsive characters, ugly (as opposed to graceful) modern dancing and lots of silly and meaningless stage business. There is no attempt to recreate the beauty of the masques or relate the action to the musical themes. It is modern updating at its worst! See Minkowski's Platee for a successful update of a Rameau classic. If you like Purcell, get the CD and avoid this nightmare.

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2006-02-12

I recently purchased this DVD and watched it last evening and I'm still reacting to it in a very positive way! It was a glorious mixture of art and dance and singing and comedy.Based on an incident in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,it is held together with some of the most inspired and beautiful arias penned for the English language. At first one attempts to be logical and follow the "story" which is really not obvious or important. It consists of 9 Masques portraying various scenarios interwoven with the beautiful songs of Purcell sung with much skill and enthusiasm by the chorus as well as the many soloists. I was delighted by Michael Chance's intermittent roles which fortunately included his uniquely lovely voice. The duet at the beginning of part two is hilarious. Having followed Chance's career for 20 years I was amazed to see him in a comedy role, and I liked it! Thomas Randle in the role of Oberon was memorable in his singing as well as his facility to move with grace and ease. Puck (played by Simon Rice)was very convincing as the chief mischief maker. I think the entire Opera is great!!!! BUT do not expect to enjoy it unless you have a well-developed sense of humor; for it is reflected in
the scenery, the costuming; even the dance itself; and the music of Purcell suits it very well.The entire production brings alive the splendour of the Baroque for a modern audience.

Fresh and Sagacious.......2004-09-11

Something fresh,something sagacious.Whereas Purcell's music was performed in genuine style by Nicholas Kok and his fine musicians,David Pourtney burts routine and obviousness in this charming,clever production.That modern drag queens(Titania's fairies)just rescues ancient traditions on male actors performing female characters.Statesmen,drunk guys,political satire...A whole human being panorama was there.Truly,I can fell all Shakespeare's tale spirit on costumes by Dunya Ramikova.Of course,many listeners will prefer a better singer to Oberon.Nonetheless,we have Titania by Yvonne Kenny,her outstanding "O,Let me Weep",that delicious Yvonne Barclay soprano voice (Caroline),that so funny countertenor duet leading by Michael Chance on Part two,...Jonathan Best!What a triumphal actor and singer(The Drunken Poet)!Listen me,all of you;don't deprive yourselves of this optimistic,cheerful DVD just because some people become impervious to new ideas.

Outstanding.......2004-07-11

This production is brilliant and imaginative from every point of view.

Playing and singing are a delight from beginning to end.

Highly recommended.

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