Go Fish

Amazon.com

Go Fish won acclaim in its initial release in 1994, probably because of its irreverence in gazing at the lives of a group of young lesbians in Chicago. The film was directed and cowritten by Rose Troche, who went on to make Bedrooms and Hallways with the help of Guinevere Turner, her then-partner and star of this film. (Turner later appeared in several films and collaborated with director Mary Harron to bring the nearly unadaptable Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho to the big screen.)

Go Fish is an audience film in that it needs a crowd to make its in-joke mentality pulse. In fact, it's hard to believe the film transcended its target demographic despite the fact that in its heart of hearts it's an old-fashioned love story. It feels amateurish upon solo home viewing, though retaining an iota of charm for its low-budget clunkiness and funkiness. While it basically tells the story of a young lesbian (played by Turner) looking for Ms. Right, and conforms to a standard scenario in that love is always found where it's least expected, it benefits mostly from Troche's ability to wring some wit out of "dyke drama" and, with her insider's point of view, poke gentle fun at it with a relatively sharp stick. --Paula Nechak

Description

A film-festival favorite, this "groundbreaking picture" (The Hollywood Reporter) is a candidand honest look at women in love that is "visually audacious, full of surprising charm and highly entertaining" (Variety)! In her directorial debut, Rose Troche (Bedrooms & Hallways), along with her co-writer and lead actress Guinevere Turner, delivers a lively, warm-hearted romantic comedy about the quest for Ms. Right that is "original, witty and delightful" (Los AngelesTimes)! Feisty, beautiful Max (Turner) is an outgoing young woman looking for romance. Tired of hearing her whine about the missing "X" factor in her life, Max's roommate sets her up with bashful, olderbut homelyEly (V. S. Brodie). Needless to say, there's no sign of fireworks! But just as Max begins to think that she is destined to be alone forever, she discovers that some oflife's best surprises come in plain, brown paper packages.

Customer Reviews:

Without Go Fish there'd be no L Word.......2007-01-17

Crtiticze all you want, but without Go Fish breaking the ground that it did, we'd have no L Word. While the production values are low, hollywood was not shelling out millions of dollars tomade for, by and about lesbian films. This film is historical and paved the way for lesbian representation. Hate ot or Love it...we are here because of it.

A must have for your collection!.......2007-01-11

This is a good movie that is well written, acted and a good message as well. A must have for the lesbian collection! It was a low budget film that was creatively done. I highly recommend it.

worst lesbian movie I've ever seen.......2006-12-23

My and girlfriend watched this movie and we hated it. It was senseless and we had to stop it when it was around 35 min. I couldn't watch it no more. It was horrible. My girlfriend gave it to her best friend and she said it was the worst lesbian movie she had ever seen... I agree!

Go Fish vs. The L Word.......2006-11-05

Like many of the other viewers who reviewed "Go Fish," I was initially so repelled by this movie that I shut it off half way through. At the time I had just begun to date women and I was disturbed by the way that this movie represented the lesbian community. I found myself thinking "This is not me. This is not how I want to walk through life. This is not how I want to be seen by others." The experiences of the women portrayed in this film did not (and still do not) represent my experience as a lesbian. Ironically, this is one of the main arguments made by critics of the L-word.
In a way, "Go Fish" is a foil of the L-Word; comparing these two features may be more interesting and enlightening than watching either one alone. It has been argued that the L-word is normalizing or "mainstreaming" the queer community and thereby misrepresenting the actual experience of lesbians--but by only representing a specific subculture of the lesbian community, doesn't "Go Fish" ultimately do the same thing? Wealthy, conventionally beautiful lesbians do exist and have sex with other wealthy, conventionally beautiful lesbians (even if they are a minority).

While in the process of figuring out my own identity and role in the queer community, I found it difficult to stomach a depiction of lesbians who are so completely removed from mainstream society. One reviewer suggested that people who write negative reviews of "Go Fish" have internalized the ideas that this movie is trying to dispel. I can see their point--many people who are gueer struggle with internalized homophobia and may shun a film that depicts lesbians without all the airbrushing. Plainly, many viewers (including myself) do not WANT to see themselves in this movie because it is unconventional and "unattractive."

It's no coincidence that one word which repeatedly comes up in reviews of "Go Fish" is "ugly." The lesbians in the L-word are "hot." Shane is "hot"--people of all genders and orientations want to watch Shane and Carmen having sex. The popularity of this show speaks for itself--I believe that the beauty of the characters in the L-word has contributed to making lesbians (and lesbian sex) appealing to mainstream society, and maybe it's a means to an end (the end being equal rights). But just because people will tune in to watch Shane and Carmen having sex doesn't necessarily mean that they're going to change their minds about gay marriage... And where does this leave lesbians like Max, Ely and Moira (not surprisingly, the LEAST popular character on the L-word!) who don't fit the model?

The big question is... Are we only acceptable to society when we're young, attractive and having hot sex--but not when we want to adopt children, pay taxes together or be politically active? By purchasing and supporting a the L-word and being repelled by "Go Fish" am I just buying into a revised version of homophobia? Do I only watch the L-word because it helps me feel better about being who I am?

Surprisingly Good.......2006-07-15

It's funny that a lot of people are claiming they were "duped" by the cover of this movie, thinking it was going to be about two hot straight-looking girls getting it on. That's exactly what I thought when I saw the cover, which is why I never rented the movie after years of seeing it in the video store. Then after seeing almost every lesbian film there is, I decided, finally, to watch Go Fish, and was shocked when I realized the main characters weren't straight-looking at all (accept for Turner, who seems a little akward playing a butch but tries to pull it off the best she can). I was surprised that I actually ended up liking this movie a lot better than a lot of other lesbian films I've seen, even though the acting is stale. But you have to bare in mind that the movie was extremely low-budget, didn't have any big-name backing, and was basically homemade. I was also a little shocked to find that this movie was made in the early 90s, revolutionary for it's time. As for the comments people have made about the attractiveness of the actors, grow up. The whole point of the film is that looks aren't everything, and yes, in real life, we do sometimes fall in love with people who are, godforbid, unattractive. And you'd think that in the 21st Century people, especially within the lesbian community, wouldn't be as misogynistic as to say "we only want to see hot girls making out." As far as the "duping" cover of this film, I think it's sad the producers had to use it to trick people into buying it, since so many people are too shallow to see past the fact that the characters in this film, except for Turner, aren't beautiful, and that's the whole point, by the way. It's also ironic that so many people who posted hear are saying "Go Fish" sucks, rent the "L Word" instead, when the writers and directors of "Go Fish" are two of the "L Word's" creators (Troche and Turner). The story line is a bit immature but fun, and the film brings up a lot of important issues about gender and sexuality and includes people from all different races and backgrounds (another rarity, even in lesbian films). Anyway, this film is going to remain a lesbian classic inspite of its amateurishness and the bad reviews people have given it.

Average customer rating:

a great munster movie!
a great munster movie!
Great movie featuring the Munster gang!
A Must Have Film For All Munsters Fans!
Great - A 60's Classic

Munster, Go Home!
Starring: Fred Gwynne , Yvonne De Carlo , Al Lewis (III) , Butch Patrick , and Debbie Watson
Director: Earl Bellamy
Manufacturer: Good Times Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000JZHD
Release Date: 2001-05-15

Customer Reviews:

a great munster movie!.......2006-04-23

This movie is fantastic and I don't think a movie based on a television series could get any better than this although universal and goodtimes could put more effort to make a better realease and re-realease it. This film includes the original cast except for pat priest she is replaced by debbie watson. It also includes british comedians terry-thomas and hermione gingold. Overall this movie is great!

a great munster movie!.......2006-04-23

Great movie featuring the Munster gang!.......2005-10-15

This is the 1966 color movie made directly after The Munsters was cancelled. This movie recieved moderate attention at the box office, but it was new to see the family in England, and in color for the first time!

DVD info for Munster, Go Home!
Spoken language: English
Captioning: English, Spanish, French

Don't forget to check out:

The Munsters The Complete First Season
The Munsters The Complete Second Season
The Munsters' Revenge

... which are all on DVD!

A Must Have Film For All Munsters Fans!.......2005-06-07

I am glad this film was made available. It's a hard to find film, It's a wonderful addition to any munsters collection!

Great - A 60's Classic.......2005-03-20

The Munsters go to England, and of course end up in a car race. Grandpa builds a race car from a spare coffin, Herman drives it to a win. The race car was a variation of the George Barris "Drag-U-La" classic. Of course it was absurd to think Herman could win a race with the drag tires front and rear, but then the Munsters is all about suspension of disbelief. I have fond memories here, the Munsters was about the coolest show you could watch back in those days and George Barris was everywhere! I've got it on DVD; but unfortunately there is not a "making of" or retrospectives by the surviving cast.

Go Fish DVD: Because of What's on the Line

Average customer rating:

This series is great!

Go Fish DVD: Because of What's on the Line
Starring: Andy Stanley
Manufacturer: Multnomah
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 1590525493
Release Date: 2005-12-15

Book Description

Tell Faith-Filled Fish Tales

We’ve all heard them. âIt was this big.â âYou should have seen the one that got away.â People love to tell stories of their fishing adventures. When it comes to faith, however, most people clam up. Why is it we can’t talk about what God has done in our life as naturally as we can spin fishing tales? This six-part DVD explores the motivation behind sharing our faith and how it can become a natural part of our lives. Its companion study guide is complete with a leader’s guide and six lessons, including conversation-starting exercises, discussion questions, and application steps.

Fishing stories. We’ve all heard them. âIt was this big.â âYou should have seen the one that got away.â People love to tell stories of their fishing adventures. When it comes to faith, however, most people clam up. Why is it we can’t talk about what God has done in our lives as naturally as we can spin fishing tales?

In this six-part DVD, Andy Stanley explores the motivation behind sharing your faith and how it can become a natural part of your life. Sessions include:

We Were All Fish Once

Why Fish?

Fish Guts

Fishing Buddies

Muddy Water

The One That Got Away

This DVD is enhanced with curriculum study sessions that can be used for small groups or individual study. Each session includes fifteen to twenty minutes of teaching followed by several discussion questions. This DVD is designed to work with the Go Fish Study Guide, which helps you apply the principles of this study to your life.

DVD Interior

Part 1: We Were All Fish Once

The foundation of our call to be âfishers of menâ is the perspective that we too were once in a position of needing to hear the good news about Jesus. Recalling our own need helps us grasp the importance of answering God’s call to âgo fish.â

Part 2: Why Fish?

In our culture, there are so many reasons not to fish that it is important to recall why we need to fish. This message explains that Christianity is based on historical events that must be reported in order to be realized; moreover, Christianity is too counterintuitive to be recognized without help. Unless we tell others about Jesus, they’ll never know.

Part 3: Fish Guts

Sometimes our fears keep us from sharing the message of Christ with those who have never heard. We must remember that God is in control, and we have been invited to participate in what He is up to. If we are to be fishers of men, we must ask God to enable us to have the courage to say something when an opportunity to share His love is given to us.

Part 4: Fishing Buddies

What’s the relationship between building the church and being a fisher of men? Fishing was never intended to be a solo mission. The church was meant to partner with us in the fishing process.

Part 5: Muddy Water

Unless we are able to articulate the message of Jesus clearly and effectively, our efforts to be fishers of men will be hindered. Surprisingly few Christians are skilled at making a simple presentation of the gospel. Often, we overcomplicate it. Learn a simple presentation of the gospel that you can easily share with others.

Part 6: The One That Got Away

It is easy to become consumed in our Christian world and forget about those who don’t know God. It is our responsibility to go back to those people and share what we’ve discovered.

Story Behind the Book

Andy Stanley, senior pastor of three North Point Ministries campuses, with a cumulative congregation of more than twenty thousand, has had countless conversations with everyday Christians who struggle to share their faith with confidence and ease. Though not everyone has âthe gift,â evangelism is something we’re each called to. This curriculum was designed to take the fear out of sharing the good news of Christ, and to help you talk about it as naturally as you would that exciting fishing trip last weekend!

Customer Reviews:

This series is great!.......2007-05-17

Our Sunday School Class has finished one DVD by Andy Stanley and has just started this one. We really enjoy the material and our class builds every week as members spread the word about the program. I hope we can find more after we finish this one. Many of our members ask to take the DVD home to listen to it again after we have completed the lessons. We recommend the DVD to anyone and everyone!

Average customer rating:

The Bad News Bears go to Japan
one and two were great, third one sucks
HUGE STRIKE OUT
THE BAD NEWS BEARS VS. FATHER TIME.
Well - it is the third

The Bad News Bears Go To Japan
Starring: Tony Curtis , Jackie Earle Haley , Tomisaburo Wakayama , Antonio Inoki , and Hatsune Ishihara
Director: John Berry
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005U5AF
Release Date: 2002-02-12

Description

Caught in a clash of cultures and ready to wreak more havoc on Japan than Godzilla, the Bad News Bears are back for their third outing, following the enormously successful The Bad New Bears and The Bad News Bears In Breaking Training. This time the Bears have been spirited off to Tokyo by Tony Curtis as Marvin Lazar, a slick and sleazy con artist who sees in the team a perfect peg for a get-rich-quick scheme. The strikeout-prone Bears are pitted against a murderously skillful Japanese junior baseball team, and the resulting comic chaos is hilarious.

Customer Reviews:

The Bad News Bears go to Japan.......2007-01-04

Was not impressed, in fact threw the dvd in the trash.

one and two were great, third one sucks.......2006-06-18

this has got to be one of the worst movies i have ever seen. the first and second were great this one sucks.this one was soooo boring. my god they should of stopped after the second one.the second one was awsome.

HUGE STRIKE OUT.......2005-08-20

With this third entry in the heretofore entertaining series, THE BAD NEWS BEARS franchise really struck out. While the first had the blessing of Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal and the freshness of the little hellions trying to be champs, and the second at least had the Bears finally winning, this third entry is so bad that there's nary a chuckle in sight---and the ball players play very little baseball. One has to wonder why Tony Curtis signed on for this one. The writer also made the mistake of focusing too much on Curtis' role as the sleazy promoter/hustler and let the kids merely form a background ploy for Curtis' illwritten character. The boys make the mistake again of not having a coach; they play ball awful; and by now their once humorous hijinx are merely annoying. Trying to mature Jackie Earle Haley to an amorous love interest for a young Geisha girl also misses the mark. In all three movies, we've watched this near juvenile delinquent smoke, drive illegally, drink beer and act basically obnoxious...fortunately, he's not in this one too much, but his mere presence only serves as a reminder to the real fault of this franchise: bratty kids can only be funny for a short time and then they are merely brats. Fortunately, this third entry pretty much ended the series, even though a short-lived tv show followed and this year's remake with Billy Bob Thortnon. Let's hope the latest remake doesn't inspire any more insipid sequels.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS VS. FATHER TIME........2005-07-29

There is an entity all child actors fear. A malignent, evil force that will hunt them down, destroy them, leave them desolate. It is (gasp of gasps!) PUBERTY!!!

Yes, puberty! That irreverible right of passage that will turn their voices squeaky, their general appearance awkward looking - in short, it destroys them! The smart movie producers realize this, they do not try passing, say, a sixteen year old off as a ten year old, it just does not work.

Unfortunately, though, some try. The end result is usually disastrous, silly looking, mediocre at best. With this in mind, I give you a classic casualty of puberty - The Bad News Bears Go To Japan.

The movie is based on a true story. During the seventies, the little league players from Japan were so good the United States little league decided to pull out of the competition. Based on this, you have the Bears, determined to play anyways, who go to Japan. There are the usual hijinks, promoters want to make money at their expense, and so on. It is meant to be funny, and has some amusing moments, but it just doesn't work out - the kids are too old! The cutness is gone, the whole thing is stale, the movie degenerate into a farce.

There was some talk of still another Bears movie being made, in which they go to Cuba. Fortunately, common sense (and the desire not to make what would have been a Bad News Turkey) prevailed, and the Bad News Bears were laid to rest.

Well - it is the third.......2002-08-08

This movie rounds out the three Bears movies and helped pave the way to the short lived tv series of the same name. While there is very little baseball in this film (the filmmakers get to caught up with the idea of being in Japan and forget who the film is about) and Tony Curtis is not Walter Matthau (but who is?) the film still has its moments and isn't without the smallest of pleasures. A perfect film for kids around 7 years old who like baseball. All others need not bother.

Average customer rating:

Disappointing Wisdom in swinging sixties setting
what a goose

What's Good For the Goose
Starring: Norman Wisdom , Sally Geeson , Sarah Atkinson , Sally Bazely , and Stuart Nichol
Director: Menahem Golan
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
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Love Is a Splendid Illusion

ASIN: B0002EJ7Z8
Release Date: 2004-08-17

Description

Combine classic British comedy star Norman Wisdom with swinging sixties psychedelia, and you get this outrageous ode to free love as a dull bank clerk's life is transformed by the shapely forms of two hitchhikers, Sally Geeson and Sarah Atkinson. On the way to an executive conference at a resort, Norman experiences life-changing rapture with these two vixens. Directed by drive-in maestro Menahem Golan (The Apple, Enter the Ninja), this rowdy, colorful British sex comedy also features a nightclub appearance by cult band The Pretty Things.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing Wisdom in swinging sixties setting.......2006-07-27

Hardly in the best tradition of Norman Wisdom.
Stodgy banker gets involved with sixties free-love hippies but then goes back to his wife and life. Not comparable with the fifties Norman Wisdom films (Up in the world, On the best, etc)

what a goose.......2005-03-10

While the movie is a well-made and fairly amusing late-60's British comedy and has been well transferred to DVD by Image, this is a heavily edited/censored version of the original and would easily achieve a PG-13 rating.

Average customer rating:

Go Fish
Starring: Go Fish
Manufacturer: Direct Source Label
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0007PCDNK
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Average customer rating:

Keaton's most lyrical and surreal comedy
Nice mix of Keaton themes
Bizzare stuff from the Bus man
Go West, Young Man, Go West!
A film for Buster's fans

Go West
Starring: Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle , Brown Eyes , Joe Keaton , Gus Leonard , and Babe London
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000021Y7N
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Description

A fascinating alternative to the manic stunt work and elaborate sight gags that distinguish the films of Buster Keaton. "Go West" (1925, 69 min.) offers a rare and satisfying glimpse of his talent for more expressive comedy: charming moments of intimate humor flavored with rich pathos. Setting traditional ideas of romance and masculinity on their ears, "Go West" is uniquely graceful and characteristically hilarious especially in the film's dynamic finale as hundreds of cows are unleashed upon downtown Los Angeles. Included on this DVD is one of Keaton's most mind-boggling mechanical comedies, "The Scarecrow" (1920, 19 min.), which follows two roommates vying for the affection of a young lady. Also added is "The Paleface" (1921, 20 min.), in which Buster helps a Native American tribe defend their land from greedy developers.

Customer Reviews:

Keaton's most lyrical and surreal comedy .......2006-07-29

In his memories Luis Buñuel mentions Keaton's films as the surrealist group's favourite comedies: " Go west" is not an exception, and what's more, it inspired a little play to Lorca and a delicious surreal poem to Rafael Alberti. A young man whose precarious economic situation forces him to move permanently decides to go West to make fortune after a brief and discourageous stop in the overpopulated New York. He accidentaly arrives to a ranch in the middle of the desert and try to make a living as cowboy. With a cow named "Brown eyes" as his best friend he'll try everything to avoid that his "lady" be carried to the slaughterhouse.

" Go West " is at time the most subversive and lyrical of all Keaton films. In it Keaton satirizes western movies' platitudes and dynamites many topicals of romantic melodrama through the unusual "romance" between the protagonist and his peculiar female partner ( a cow ) and the use of discontextualization techniques. He introduces too one of the most sarcastic and fine satires against the law and order forces and the practice of all kind of authority ( and now we can understand why the group leaded by André Breton adored this movie ): the climactic slapstick scene in which Keaton try to take the cattle through the streets of Los Angeles provoking the panic of the citizens and the hilarious chase with the cops running away of the cattle unable to stop the angry herd and stopped by the water of the firemen ( for Keaton is obvious that the truly menace are the cops ) figure for me as one the most memorable and subversive moments in film history. But under this comic scenes we find a a dark and disaffected satire about human condition: in many ways " Go west " reminds me Werner Herzog's " Stroszek ". As Bruno Stroszek, the character who plays Buster is an uprooted: he moves from a quiet provician town to the convulsed and dishumanized New York to finally try to get his place in a ranch in the middle of the desert where the hard work and climate do people also tough: so, surrounded by this " fauna ", our sensible hero 'll find in a cow his closest allied . For other part, the abstract landscape of the desert and the habitual use of long shots emphasizes the solitude of the character, an exiled in the " promised land " . In short, surreal poetry and subversive humour in this untemporary and beautiful movie.

Kino DVD edition of this film also contains two splendid Keaton shorts: " The paleface " (1920), probably the first pro-indian "western" in film history and " The scarecrow " (1920), one of the best Keaton's two-reels comedies with an hilarious chase with Buster disguised as a scarecrow and an unforgettable comic scene in which take part ingenious gadgets the protagonist couple has invented to do most bearable the housework.

Nice mix of Keaton themes.......2006-04-26

The two short films and one feature in this set span four years (1922-25) of Buster Keaton's rise as a comic film star. They amply illustrate that, of all the great comics, Keaton was able to mine visual humor from the widest range of situations. The Scarecrow, the earliest of the three, is a charming, innocent romp, from a mechanized "house with all rooms in one room", to a love triangle with Joe Roberts and Sybil Seely, to a wild chase involving Luke the dog (who was at his best either chasing someone or being chased), to a happy climax involving a wedding ceremony on a motorcycle. The style and pace of this film is not far removed from the Fatty Arbuckle-Buster Keaton period just completed, and Joe Roberts, Buster's rival, suggests Fatty at least in girth, if not in comic style. It is a perfectly charming and often very funny outing. By the way, the scene in which Buster disguises himself as a scarecrow was used later by Max Linder in Be My Wife.

The Paleface, from 1922, shows more maturity and coherence. The chases here are more refined; for example, Buster eludes his pursuers by moving a bridge, piece by piece, between two mountains. Hilarious sight gags abound, as when after Buster escapes being burned at the stake by wearing asbestos underwear, he casually pulls out a cigarette but can't find a match! This film also has more of the Keaton character's persona: a victim of nature, machine and being at the wrong place at the wrong time, he perseveres by creative use of his environment, as well as his physical grace and athletic prowess.

Go West, from 1925, shows how as Keaton moved into features, his films sometimes took on more dramatic, even darker themes. One recurring theme here is Buster caught in a "stampede", either people, cattle, horses, or barrels on a moving freight train. Many shots of Buster are from a distance, standing alone in a field against a distant backdrop. The mood suggested here is a lonely lost individual trying to survive with no friends and no prospects. Unlike Harold Lloyd in a film like the Freshman, Buster's character does not conquer by winning society over to his ways; he wins alone, in this case, successfully leading a cattle drive single-handedly through the streets of Los Angeles! Buster's love interest, Brown Eyes the cow, only increases the sense that his character is incapable of attracting human friendship, that each relationship with a human will be one of conflict. This film does not have the optimistic charm of The Three Ages or Our Hospitality. It has funny moments but the enduring appeal of this film is mostly figuring out how "Friendless" Buster can escape the endless abuse of man and nature. The result is a classic comedy of a unique kind.

You simply can't go wrong owning this set.

Bizzare stuff from the Bus man.......2004-07-18

This is one of the Bus man's strangest films. Our man, for reasons never made clear, is known as "Friendless" and is so despised that when he puts his arm around a dog, the dog walks away in disgust. Following Horace Greely's famous saying "Go west young man," he does that and even though he can't milk a cow or saddle a horse, somehow gets a job as a cowhand. Still abused by all of mankind, he does an "androcles and the lion" bit (as he did in "Three Ages" with a lion) with a cow named "Brown Eyes" and and last finds a friend. I'll let you see the rest for yourself. But this is really strange stuff, and the ending ("I Want her." You'll see what I mean.) will leave a particularly odd taste in your mouth.

Go West, Young Man, Go West!.......2004-02-09

GO WEST provides cinema with one of its most surreal moments ever: Buster Keaton, dressed as Satan, riding a cow through the streets of downtown Los Angeles, being pursued by a large herd of angry cattle. I thought I'd mention that right up front, so that people know what they're getting in to.

This is a rather sweet film. The driving force behind it is the relationship formed between Buster Keaton's character and a cow named Brown Eyes. Keaton removes a troublesome pebble from Brown Eye's foot, and Brown Eyes saves Keaton from being trampled by a bull. They become firm friends afterwards. Yes, I know that this sounds like something out of a nauseating children's movie, but the whole thing is obviously played for laughs. While it's silly, it never becomes overbearingly so.

After a quick criss-cross dash around the country, Keaton eventually ends up in the Wild West. Dressed as a cowboy (although he forgoes the usual cowboy hat in favor of his trusty porkpie), he quickly goes about subverting many Western clichés. There's the tense poker-game with the cheating scoundrel, of course (where the Great Stone Face finds himself flummoxed when told to smile), and the exciting shoot-outs (where Buster is equipped with a ludicrously small weapon).

As with Keaton's SEVEN CHANCES, the big payoff comes in the final third. But instead of enraged would-be brides, Keaton alternatively herds or flees from hundreds of cattle running through city streets. Cows run people off the road. They create chaos in barbershops and department stores. Let's face it: cows are funny.

One thing I didn't like about this release was the reliance on sound effects. Silent films don't require cymbal crashes during gun battles, nor do slapstick pratfalls scream out for "hilarious" comedy musical riffs. Still, the picture looks quite nice.

THE SCARECROW (the first of the two shorts also included on the disc) is a film that you've seen parts of, even if you've never watched a silent short before. This is the one with Buster Keaton and his large roommate (played ably by Joe Roberts as a nice guy rather than his usual "heavy" role) sharing a mechanized apartment and attempting not to share the farmer's daughter. With utensils and gadgets hovering over their kitchen table, suspended by strings and counterweights, the pair eat their meals in a wonderfully choreographed display of swinging salt and pepper shakers, torpedoing bottles and revolving bathtubs. The rest of the film is composed of various chases: Buster running from a dog, Buster running from the farmer and Joe Roberts, and Buster and the farmer's daughter running from the farmer and Joe Roberts. Wonderful stuff.

THE PALEFACE isn't exactly the most sensitive portrayal of the Native American people that you'll see. Er, I'll leave that aspect of the film at that (though it should be noted that the bad guys are the white corporate types who try to throw people off their land). This isn't nearly as strong a film as the other short on this disc, but it's certainly got some good sequences to offer. The obligatory chase scenes are quite fun. The picture quality is fairly good throughout most of it, but there are a handful of individual camera shots where the image goes completely fuzzy and blurred. I imagine that some sort of reconstruction from various sources was involved.

GO WEST might not be the film that's more representative of Keaton's work, but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy it. The two short films are quite funny; THE SCARECROW should be required viewing for anyone interested in what made the silent short such an enjoyable art form. GO WEST, young DVD-collector, GO WEST!

A film for Buster's fans.......2001-01-20

Go West is not out one of Keaton's very best films, but this DVD should still be a must for Keaton fans. After all, gradually one wants to collect them all. Go West is not consistently funny nor ingenious and thus cannot really compare with either The General or Our Hospitality. Nevertheless, it has many brilliant moments. I particularly enjoyed the parody of the 'smile when you say that' scene from The Virginian. How is stoneface Buster going to smile? His solution is another parody, this time of Lilian Gish in Broken Blossoms. The best thing about this DVD however, is not Go West but the short film The Scarecrow. This is both extremely clever and funny. It is among the very best of Keaton's films. As far as I'm concerned it is worth the price of the DVD on its own. The final short film The Paleface I found the least interesting part of this DVD. The story, even within its own terms, did not quite hang together. Even so, once again, it has moments of great comedy. The quality of the prints on this DVD are fine while the music is appropriate and well played. This DVD is probaly not the best place to start for those new to Keaton's films. However, for those fans who are building a collection it should not be ignored.

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Join the guys as they perform songs from their albums 'Splash' and 'Superstar', introduce their favorite animals at the fair, and explain why they're called Go Fish! If you're tired of your kids watching videos that drive you nuts, then this refreshing combination of music, humor, and fun is definitely for you! Featuring music videos for 'The Ten Commandments Boogie', 'This Little Light Of Mine', 'I've Got The Joy', 'That A Cappella Sound', and 'Superstar'! ====================================== Introducing Jason, Jamie, and Andy - the Go Fish Guys! They've sold over 500,000 albums, toured all across the country, and now they're bringing their unique brand of kids entertainment into your living room. It's Showtime! Find out why parents everywhere are loving Go Fish just as much as their kids. Introduce your family to Go Fish today!!!

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