Prime Suspect 6 - The Last Witness

Amazon.com

Helen Mirren returns in triumph to the role that brought her international stardom, British police inspector Jane Tennison, in the sixth series of Prime Suspect. Tennison finds herself being pressured to retire and responds by seizing a difficult homicide investigation: A young female Bosnian refugee has been tortured and murdered. As the trail begins to suggest connections to war atrocities in the Balkans, Tennison finds herself struggling with resistance from higher up, uncooperative and ambitious underlings, and deeply buried secrets. The strength of Prime Suspect has always been how it merges suspenseful detective work with an intricate grasp of police politics, and The Last Witness is no exception. The plot unfolds masterfully, the program is directed with striking visual style, and Mirren (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, Gosford Park) commands the screen. Her authority in this role, honed through five previous series, is unmatchable; the richness of the character--steely, sexy, obsessive, rash, cunning--makes Prime Suspect essential viewing. --Bret Fetzer

Description

It's been thirty years of police work for Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison. She's older, in some ways wiser, still fighting the urge for a cigarette & still fighting the "men only" attitude of the force. Ripe for retirement in the eyes of some. Tennison is still up for a fight, and she'll need all the energy she can muster when she takes on the darker forces of British government in search of a sadistic killer with a guilty past.

Customer Reviews:

british detective.......2007-08-25

She is a great actress. She has a tough roll to play as a woman in the series, but she does measure up. Do recommend her cds.

Prime Suspect 6.......2007-03-11

I really enjoy Helen Mirren movies. I do have a hard time making out the dialogue, but it is well worth viewing.

All Helen Mirren Prime Suspect Series which I purchased.......2007-03-08

All of them are fantastic - they are in my classic collection and I value them

Wonderful as always!.......2007-02-12

I am on pins and needles for the DVD of Prime Suspect 7!

Great Way to End.......2007-01-17

Ending a series usually goes betraying the characters or their fans. This was the exception, of course HM's acting was impecable but the writing was great, the closest it can get to reality, to human condition and at the same time leaves you with a sense of hope for a very dear character regardless of her flaws and not so wise decisions. Not tragic, not fairy tale, simply positive and realistic and hopeful. As long as there is hope... It will be missed!!!

Average customer rating:

Judi Is The Blonde Bombshell
Nostalgia
Great coming of Third Age tale
Good TV movie made with only modest aspirations
Fancy a bit of fun, Dearie?

The Last of the Blonde Bombshells
Starring: Judi Dench , Ian Holm , Leslie Caron , Olympia Dukakis , and Cleo Laine
Director: Gillies MacKinnon
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs as Low as $5.49 | The Big DVD Sale | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Comedy | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Drama | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | DVD | Video

4-for-3 Television | 4-for-3 DVD | Stores | 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

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

ASIN: B000053VAO
Release Date: 2001-02-20

Amazon.com

Perennial Oscar(r) nominee Judi Dench shakes off the dust of period pieces to play a sassy widow looking to recapture a little of the excitement of her youth: she was the star saxophone player of a World War II-era all-girl dance band. Yanking her instrument from mothballs, she starts blowing the old standards as a street musician, much to the horror of her cultured children (they prefer symphonies to swing classics), and then hatches a plan to track down her band mates for a gala reunion at her granddaughter's school dance. The script carries little suspense and few surprises, but the cast is a delight. Ian Holm costars as the band's womanizing drummer (in a dress and a platinum blonde wig), a rascally old rogue who seduced almost every member during their brief wartime run and married half of them in the intervening years. Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck) is their trombonist, a hard-drinking American widow living it up in a Scottish castle; jazz great Cleo Laine is a trumpeter turned torch singer; and Leslie Caron cameos as their brassy bass player. Joan Sims (a fixture of the Carry On movies), Billie Whitelaw (Quills), and June Whitfield (the mother on Absolutely Fabulous) are among the great British character actors who join the fun. The old broads bring sass to the sentimentality in this fluffy, feel-good, made-for-cable comedy, insisting there is not only life after 60, but that it swings sweetly if only you let it. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Judi Is The Blonde Bombshell.......2007-08-27

What a delightful, fun, family movie. It spans the generations with a little something for everyone. There is some adult content that wouldn't be suitable for young children. It would be great fun for a grandmother and teenage grandaughter to see together, since grandchildren are often more in tune with their grandparents than are the offspring themselves. Suffice to say that Judi Dench uses her many talents to bring the bombshell to life!

Nostalgia.......2007-07-14

This is a fairly entertaining HBO film, worthy especially because of Judi Dench, who gives yet another first class performance. But the script is extraordinarily superficial, and its moral overtone is tedious: all that matters in life is to be young and have sex. The Christian in the film is considered a loony. While the Olympia Dukakis character, a many times married drunk, is just a heck of a lot of fun. And so on. The flashbacks to the 1940s are not at all persuasive, especially the makeup. And the sound that tiny band produces is made in fact by a much larger group. The actors do pretty well at pretending to be musicians, with the notable exception of Leslie Caron. Cleo Laine's presence in the film is gratuitous, and the camera should have avoided closeups. In short, here is a happy, silly, predictable, narcissistic flick worthy of HBO. Still, Judi Dench is something to behold.

Great coming of Third Age tale.......2007-05-29

What do you do after your husband of many years dies? Elizabeth (Dench) went to the library twice a week, babysat her granddaughter and that was life enough--til she heard a street busker and took her clandestine saxophone practice to the streets.

Her grand-daughter encourages Elizabeth to re-form her old swing band, "The Blonde Bombshells" for her school dance. That takes some effort--a couple are dead, one's crazy, one's joined the Salvation Army...

But nothing can stop Elizabeth when she's set her mind to something. The resulting story is witty, winning and well worth owning. This film would make a great gift for any woman or man who's entering the third age and looking for some inspiration.

Good TV movie made with only modest aspirations.......2007-04-17

This is a pleasant little movie about a bunch of septuagenarians having a graceful last fling--or perhaps beginning a series of graceful last flings. It is a sort of roll call for some great old girls, ballasted by the presence of Ian Holm, playing a transvestite part at second hand. (Don't ask.) It offers some good forties-style big band numbers and a couple of fine Cleo Laine songs. And if Laine's musical style happens to be incorrect for the intended period, who really cares?

This is a TV movie made without high goals.

It could and should have been better. The whole thing, rebuilding the band to the contrary, is conceived as a long dying fall. The Blonde Bombshells are a band destined to go gentle into that good night. No raging against the loss of light for them. Both the script and the direction avoid triumph. At the climax, where there might just as easily have been a YEAH! moment, there is only a wistful smile and a vision of things past.

This is true not only of the script but of the musical score. In the end, as was inevitable from the first frame of this picture, the reconstituted Blonde Bombshells get the joint jumping with a swinging tune. Having attained that high point, it is immediately squelched by the following wistfully downbeat number. Reverse those two and the audience would be dancing around the screen.

Solid, well-acted, some good music, certainly entertaining--but a movie that sets its sights a little too low.

Four stars.

DVD STUFF: There are no bells and whistles. You pay your penny and you get your movie. That's all.

A TRIFLING OBSERVATION: Leslie Caron must have one heck of a manager. I'd be surprised if she had as many as half a dozen lines, but she has third billing in the credits.

Fancy a bit of fun, Dearie?.......2007-03-31

Some moviies lie buried under the latest box office statistics and smothered by the youth-fixated executives that run the business - but the DVD and VCR make it possible for you to dig them up and appreciate them for the treasures they are. This is one of them - an enjoyable film about grownups who find pleasures in life - making music and finding old friends, and sharing their best with their children. Actually, their grandchildren, since the children are often stuffy about what their parents are really like. Certainly, Dame Judi's are scandalized when she whips out her old saxaphone and starts blowing on street corners with a street musician. Not all of her audience is unappreciative: she gets a note from Ian Holm that says "Fancy a bit of fun, dearie?"

Well, do you? There's more than a bit of fun to be had here, especially when Olympia Dukakis blows that trumpet. And wait till you see Leslie Caron on a bull fiddle!

Panic in the Year Zero/The Last Man on Earth

Average customer rating:

Cult Film Of "Legend"
Panic in the Year Zero / The Last Man on Earth (Midnite Movies)
Last Man on Earth, one of the greatest horror movies ever
One good, one OK
Great stuff

Panic in the Year Zero/The Last Man on Earth
Starring: Franca Bettoia , Antonio Corevi , Christi Courtland , Emma Danieli , and Carolyn De Fonseca
Director: Ubaldo Ragona
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B000787YOA
Release Date: 2005-09-20

Amazon.com

Vincent Price gives an atypically restrained performance as the sole survivor of a worldwide plague that revives its victims as bloodthirsty vampires. During the day, he canvasses his abandoned hometown, tracking down and stalking his former friends and neighbors, always making sure to return before nightfall, when the dead rise to assault his fortified house. Hope arrives in the form of an apparently normal young woman (Franca Bettoia), but her agenda proves to be even more sinister than that of the vampires.

Based on the 1954 novel by coscripter Matheson (whose displeasure with the final product spurred the use of a pseudonym), this Italian-made production is best known for its influence on George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The similarities between the two films go beyond the presence of shuffling zombies and housebound heroes; both feature taboo-breaking scenes of interfamilial murder, and both end on bleak, dystopian notes. While The Last Man on Earth lacks the political and darkly satirical shadings (and graphic gore) that make Night of the Living Dead a more memorable experience, the combination of Bava-esque Gothic atmosphere and bleak, documentary-style camerawork by directors Ragona and Salkow (the brother of Price's agent Lester Salkow) lend themselves to moments of pure frisson that compare laudably to Romero's film. Matheson's novel also provided the source material for the awkward 1971 Charlton Heston vehicle The Omega Man. A planned third version, helmed by Ridley Scott and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was shut down in its earliest stages due to skyrocketing budget costs. --Paul Gaita

Description

Disc 1 Side A: Panic In Year Zero WS Disc 1 Side B: Last Man On Earth WS

Customer Reviews:

Cult Film Of "Legend".......2007-08-10

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is one of those end-of-the-world sagas that posits the notion of what it would be like to live in a largely dead world after some ghastly war or plague with nobody else left. The twist here, taking its basis from Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel "I Am Legend", is that you do have one human protagonist left alive, and a world full of things that want to kill him.

Vincent Price stars as Robert Morgan (though he is Robert Neville in both the book and the latter film THE OMEGA MAN [and the soon-to-be-released third version with Will Smith, under the author's original title]), the only survivor of a terrible plague that decimated Earth, and turned everyone into vampires. By day, Price goes out into the city to stake and burn as many vampires as he can. And at night, he must barricade himself against the hordes that prowl around his isolated fortress each night, including his ex-friend Ben Cortman (Giacomo Rossi-Stuart), wanting to get at him. Price tries to find a logical and scientific explanation for the vampire plague (explained in flashbacks to when the plague began); and in due time, he happens upon another survivor, a woman (Franca Bettoia) who seems to be normal. But there is a fairly diabolical twist that Bettoia turns out to have in store, for both Price and the vampires.

Often seen as a precursor to George Romero's 1968 horror classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and Danny Boyle's more recent 28 DAYS LATER, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, though very flawed in many aspects due to its rather low budget and its being filmed in Rome (Matheson's original novel is set in post-plague Los Angeles, as is THE OMEGA MAN), does have an extremely high creepiness factor that is very difficult for a lot of horror/sci-fi hybrids to come by, especially today. Price may not have necessarily been the ideal one to play Robert Morgan (one of the many reasons Matheson disavowed the film and used his pen name Logan Swanson for the screenplay credits), but he does a fairly good job all the same. The direction of Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona is fairly perfunctory for the most part, but certain scenes do stand out, including Price being caught outdoors at dusk after visiting his wife's grave; and Price having to see his wife come back from the dead as a vampire.

Matheson's novel remains one of the high points of both horror and science fiction literature (and without much doubt the greatest vampire story since "Dracula"), and ironically it has proven to be a fairly tough one to adapt and still fit Hollywood (THE OMEGA MAN differed wildly from the letter of the novel but retained the basic spirit of it; how the Will Smith version will fare is yet to be determined). But if one ignores the inherent flaws of this near-Poverty Row production, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH can easily be seen as a fairly good cult film of "legend."

Panic in the Year Zero / The Last Man on Earth (Midnite Movies).......2007-08-04

I've bought many of the MGM "Midnite Movies" titles in the past few months and they ALL have satisfied! Speaking just of the technical aspects, they have all been clean transfers. They have little extras that they could get away with not having (Theatrical trailers, occasional interviews) that I'd like to see more of. All in all, a good product.

Last Man on Earth, one of the greatest horror movies ever.......2007-07-21

Before Romero and Night of the Living Dead there was the Last Man on Earth. There are no zombies in this movie, they are vampires, but they movie slow and are pretty much the same thing you'll see in Night of the Living Dead. This is a true classic. A great post apocalypse movie. This is definately Vincent Price's greatest movie. Nobody could have played Nevilles part better. I cannot comment on this specific dvd version of it, as I have never seen it. However, there are enough comments on amazon to tell you that this is probably the most high quality transfer of this movie available. And its in the letterbox format. It will be nice to see the movie the way it was intended to be seen. I would love to see a colorized version!

One good, one OK.......2007-06-14

"Panic in the Year Zero" is an outstanding movie. It is as timely today as it was when made. "The Last Man on Earth" is OK and Vincent Price carries the day. It did show its European production style with a lot of fits and starts and no smoothness in continuity.

Buy the set for "Panic in the Year Zero" which is thought-provoking and a good survival primer. Watch "The Last Man on Earth" on a rainy day.

Great stuff.......2007-05-26

I remember seeing Panic when I was just a little (like maybe eight or nine years old) kid. It was on TV and I thought it was great. Having watched it now, as an adult and having grown up during the Cold War, I see just how great it really was. In a sense, it was visionary in its portrayal of society's reaction to a nuclear attack. Miland's performance was incredible as were the other actors in the film. Add to that fact that Miland also directed this film and I believe it truly shows the man's talents and genius. Yes, there was a level of nostalgia for me as I watched it, but the film points to some very significant issues that I feel we all need to address.

I have not yet watched Last Man but will do so soon.

Last Year at Marienbad (Anno scorso a Marienbad)[ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]

Average customer rating:

The Perfect Film

Last Year at Marienbad (Anno scorso a Marienbad)[ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Great Britain ]
Director: Alain Resnais
Manufacturer: StudioCanal
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000F2SN0M

Product Description

Great Britain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: French (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Subtitles), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SYNOPSIS: In a huge, old-fashioned luxury hotel a stranger tries to persuade a married woman to run away with him, but it seems she hardly remembers the affair they may have had (or not?) last year at Marienbad. SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Short Film, Scene Access, Interactive Menu, Documentary, Cast/Crew Interview(s),

Customer Reviews:

The Perfect Film.......2006-08-28

People tend to either love or hate this film. Whilst some adore it's labyrinthine, non-linear structure; the playfulness of the imagery; and the innate contradictions between the voice-over narrative and the visual imagery, others consider this irrelevant and tedious.

The subtlety of the film in both the auditory and visual modes encourages examination. Why do the figures in the garden cast shadows, when the garden itself doesn't? The film has the texture of a dream, reminiscent of the eerie paintings of Paul Delvaux and Giorgio de Chirico.

This is a film that all students of the subject should see. It is not an easy film to watch, but an endlessly rewarding one to consider and reconsider. It is a film for those who believe art should challenge.

Average customer rating:

The First Years Last Forever
Starring: rob Reiner
Director: rob Reiner
Manufacturer: Parents' Action for Children
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

Kids & Family | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Special Interests | Independently Distributed | Stores | DVD | Video

Independently Distributed | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B000EBFVYU
Release Date: 2005-05-01

Description

Hosted by Rob Reiner

Recent research in brain development shows how critical the first years of a child's life are to their happiness and success. That puts a special responsibility on parents and caregivers. The First Years Last Forever provides guidance to new parents to help their child thrive and reach their full potential, including information and practical tips on: bonding and attachment; building self-esteem; communication; health and nutrition; effective discipline; and choosing quality child care among other topics.

Amazon.com

One of the most ferociously iconoclastic and experimental films of the French New Wave, Alain Resnais's 1961 feature, winner of the grand prize at that year's Venice Film Festival, is based on a script by Alain Robbe-Grillet. At its center is what seems to be a simple but unanswerable puzzle: Did its protagonist (Giorgio Albertazzi) have an affair the year before with a woman (Delphine Seyrig) he just met (or possibly re-met) at his hotel? The inquiry becomes an unsettling experiment in flattening the dimensions of past, present, and future so that any difference between them becomes meaningless, while Resnais's coldly formal but oddly dreamlike geometric compositions make space itself seem a function of subjective memory. Add to that Resnais's trademark tracking shots--long, smooth, a visual correlative of a wordless feeling--and this is a film that truly gets under the skin in almost inexplicable ways. One of the most influential works of its time. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:

Symphony for the senses...........2007-08-06
This is such a mesmerizing film. I saw it in a poorly transfered, VHS copy, and I still loved it. I have the DVD, and it looks wonderful. This film is more on the lines of a symphony, a film of movements and feelings. There really is no logic to it, and anyone who really knows what happened is just fooling themselves. It's such a unique work, really unto itself, with nothing before it or after it to compare it too. I think Alain Resnais is a great filmmaker, and who is never really mentioned with the other great French filmmakers. Alain has made many great films, such as Night and Fog, Hiroshima mon Amour, and Mon Oncle d'Amerique. He is also the director of 2 "legendary, unseen" films called Melo and Providence. This is also Peter Greenaway's favorite film, and you can see its influence on its work with the fantastic, widescreen compositions and the amazing photography. This is really a great, cinematic puzzle, one that can be put together and taken apart over and over again.

Flawless for who understands this kind of cinema.......2007-08-04
Hint: if you are expecting Hollywood-like entertainment this is not for you. Also, if you get dissapointed when things are not made 100% clear and are partly left to your power of imagination pass this one.

However, if you have a tooth for the artistic cinema this movie is one of the best ones ever made.
Again and Again this WONT END!.......2007-07-27
I can tell you only one thing today, I tried watching this for 35 minutes and it was the worst 35 minutes of my like. This is not a drama, This is a bore. You never seen anything like it, is the words perfectly. They could make this movie any worse. I heard god aweful organ music for most of my 35 minute sit thru this. The game they play in parts of the movie leaves me wondering if anyone making this film knew where the plot was.

I unlike some souls came down here at the 35 minute marker and began reading.

Warning: This movie is no good. Boring doesn't begin to describe this. I love dramas and really like those mental movies too, but this never goes there.

Heres the scene names:The Mournful Mansion, The Game: M Wins, In the Gardens at Frederiksbad, Meeting Again and Again, When I Came to Your Room, M Questions You, Our Agreement,Together at last.

Those titles speak volumes for how boring this is.
Brave and unique experiment in cinematic narrative technique.......2007-03-06
Tired of feeling blase about the movies you see? Unable to remember details about them? Look no further, you will definitely remember this movie (if you can sit through it without managing to throw the nearest heavy, metallic object through your TV screen!), and you will either love it or loathe it; this is anything but run-of-the-mill or forgettable.

To describe Last Year at Marienbad is extremely difficult other than to say the movie should be seen as an experiment in cinematic narrative. It is among other things, mostly a depiction of memory, fantasy, imagination, detailed description and emotional distance on film. To some it will seem like a bold experiment, while just as many people, if not more, will think it bizarre and pretentious.

For the first two thirds of the way at least, you will feel indifferently toward the characters even if you are enthralled by the plot ... which is doubtful. Even the most patient viewer will sometimes wonder about the point of making a movie like this. Action-packed this definitely is not. Nor is it dramatic, sexy, suspenseful, stressful, unsettling or any other word one uses to describe human emotions. Most of the time the characters display hardly any emotion at all. Odd, considering allusions to possible marital infidelity, the possibility of psychological illness and one character all but stalking another. Often the people seem more like mannequins or props than actors. Many a shot looks like a tableau in which barely anyone or anything moves. Wind, footfalls, breathing, vocal inflections -- for the most part these are absent. It is set in an opulent mansion and shot with a cold, Versailles-like formal symmetry, and the story is told mainly vocally, rather than visually, using a mostly low-key, evocative narration and accompanied and punctuated with organ music that seems like it was taken from a silent horror movie.

Yet, despite it all, I found it fascinating and hypnotic. Whether others will like it is extremely difficult to say. As for the moral of the story ...? Well, good luck with all of that.

Leave it to the French to make a movie that seems almost devoid of plot, conflict and emotion. Just like a French author produced a 200-plus page novel, a couple of years ago, that did not contain a single verb. Strange? Yes. Brave? Also. But in the case of Last Year at Marienbad, I leave it to each individual viewer to decide if the experiment succeeded.

Essential viewing for cinephiles.......2007-02-19
A man approaches a woman. He tells her of a past liaison they've had but can't recall all the details. She has no memory of this past. The scene is repeated in a different setting, sometimes the garden, sometimes a corridor or the dining room, but always at the hotel where they are staying. Every time they see each other additional details of this possible affair are provided but we're never sure of their veracity. Occasionally a second man, who might be the woman's husband, is with her. Sometimes the men are at a table playing a variety of games, one of which initially seems without rules and which a beginner can never win, according to the speculation we overhear in the background (later we overhear that a beginner always wins but this is never demonstrated).

Each shot is very carefully composed. Often the only movement is the camera's as it slowly glides between the actors, who are frequently motionless, resembling well-dressed mannequins. The effect is like moving through a photograph, unpacking the details of a moment in time.

Is it all a dream? Is the man's account of the past true? Is he manipulating the woman or is she just pretending that she can't remember any of his stories?

TimeOut's annual film guide describes the film as "either some sort of masterpiece or meaningless twaddle." The film requires patience to sit through. It seems to have a language of its own and how you judge it will partly depend on the effort you are willing to exert to learn this language. Time, memory, perception - all are manipulated in the film, preventing the formation of a solid foothold for understanding and suggesting that the process of cognition is the film's true subject. Through both its use of the medium and choice of subject matter, Last Year at Marienbad pushed the boundaries of cinema to another level. It is an important viewing experience in the education of a film lover.

Fox Lorber's DVD release offers few extras to help in unravelling any of the film's mystery, providing only actors' filmographies, a trailer and a list of the awards the film received. Interestingly, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay - something that seems unthinkable in the artistically conservative climate of today's mainstream.

Average customer rating:

Some hits; some misses

good story, but very bad acting

Some good acting but on the whole a bad film

A Fairly Good Story Distorted by Extremes

Mediocre (as expected from London), but with some good performances

The Last Year
Starring: Ron Petronicolos , Mike Dolan , Patrick Orion Hoesterey , Merrick McMahon , and Elizabeth Flesh
Director: Jeff London
Manufacturer: WOLFE VIDEO
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Gay & Lesbian | Genres | DVD | Video
DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Gay & Lesbian | By Genre | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Dante's Cove

Almost Normal

Regarding Billy

Third Man Out

Adam & Steve (2005)

ASIN: B000F8O38M
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Description
It's a new school year at Bible College, but Paul has a problem: over the summer, he's realized that he is gay, and feels torn between his true nature and religion. To complicate matters, he's attracted to a new student at school - Alex. As he and Alex grow closer, rumors begin to spread across the campus, and the two friends become the target of hate and face possible expulsion from school.
Customer Reviews:

Some hits; some misses.......2007-04-17
I enjoyed Regarding Billy enough to be interested in this movie just because it was directed (and written, I think) by Jeff London, a movie-maker who makes sweet, innocent movies about Average Gay Joe's falling in love and having diffiulties and successes unique to gay folks.

This movie is no exception, and, like his other movies, is stunningly successful at times and embarrassingly amateur at other times.

I like to end on a good note, so let's start with the "bad". There is too much going on in this overlong movie and many unnecessary and underdeveloped characters which muddy up the central story and theme. Some of the peripheral actors are really bad. Some of the dialog is really forced. (Some of it actually made me squirm.)

Now the good. The principal young men in this film are great. Ron Petronicolos and Mike Dolan are absolutely mesmerizing together and it's a joy to see their subtle and somewhat unexpected romance blossom. It's the love story part of this film that's the great part, and I can watch it over and over. True to Jeff London, it's not smarmy and tacky, but wonderful and refreshing.

I'd love to give this film more stars, but it wouldn't be true. You have to take the good with the bad here, and it's certainly worth your time and attention. If you like this film, you'll love Regarding Billy which is a love story without a lot of distracting side stories, and features two similarly talented and refreshing characters and actors.

This film is "worth it" just for the scene when Dolan tells Petronicolos (clearly smitten with each other) that he wishes he didn't make him so nervous (and there can be no turning back.) Enjoy.
good story, but very bad acting.......2007-04-08
don't waist your money on this one. this move has good story behind the very bad acting.
Some good acting but on the whole a bad film.......2006-04-27
Like others I do what I can to support and promote independent films. This film tells an important story (citing the real Bible to debunk and confront homophobes and others distorting the teachings of Jesus), but it is not a good film (slow, stilted dialogue, lots of pregnant pauses and searching for lines, some bad acting, poor direction, poor editing, predictable story). It was a very long film to endure. However, Ron Petronicolos and Craig Staswick are particularly good so for them I give it one star. Mike Dolan is also good. I am sure they will go on to bigger and better things.
A Fairly Good Story Distorted by Extremes.......2006-04-19
Jeff London ('Regarding Billy') seems to be a director and writer who is committed to investigating the various degrees of problems young gay men face as they live in a homophobic society. His films resound with an honest feeling but too often he settles for stereotypes at both ends of the spectrum and that tends to weaken his work.

The setting is a Bible College somewhere in America where hunky Paul (Ron Petronicolos) is entering his 'last year' of study, his summer having been disrupted by an incident that is revealed later in the story. He re-joins his longtime roommate Robby (Patrick Orion Hoesterey) but keeps asking about his good friend Hector (Merrick McMahon), a subject no one wants to address. He meets Hector's roommate Alex (Mike Dolan) and gradually Alex lets Paul know that he is gay. Paul learns that the Bible College has discovered Hector is gay and the Dean (Rand Smith) and his henchmen are out to have Hector expelled. Paul's changed ways are noted by Robby and he finally confides that his summer incident was a gay experience in a restroom - a fact that Robby finds repulsive at first but soon comes to support Paul's anguish about his parent's disapproval and punishment.

As Paul's feelings for living who he really is surface he finds solace and sanctuary with Alex and the two become lovers. The Dean's spies gradually intimidate the group of four (Paul, Alex, Hector and Robby) and disciplinary action is taken. Among Paul's discoveries in his rebellion against the Bible College's stance against gays is the fact that the dean is a closet case and that is the reason for the rough action against Hector (with whom the dean had an assignation). It all comes to a tragic end for some and a sense of freedom for others - to find out who belongs to which category requires watching the film!

The movie has its moments, due largely to the ability of the actors Petronicolos, Dolan, and McMahon, but it sadly is buried by otherwise mediocre to poor acting from the rest of the cast. The work of Rand Smith, Penelope Ma (who plays the dean's wife), and Lawrence Rinzel (who plays Paul's father) is particularly weak just when strong acting could have supported the flimsier portions of the script. London needed to spend more thought on Bible Colleges, finding that more razor sharp line between right wing bias against gays instead of opting for the usual clich?s that are found everywhere. That dividing line among young men challenged by sexual identity would have made a far more successful film. But the film is worth watching for the performances of the three lead actors - strong young men each! Grady Harp, April 06
Mediocre (as expected from London), but with some good performances.......2006-01-25
A film that could have been a serious depiction of young gay men attempting to reconcile their religious convictions with their sexuality becomes instead an often unbelievable melodrama bordering occasionally on gay porn fantasies. (When a supposedly straight student in a Bible college tells a gay student in the locker room "Take my 8 inches," you know you're far removed from reality.)

The film is also hampered by a pair of truly execrable performances by Rand Smith and Lawrence Rinzel. Poor Ron Petronicolos in the leading role of Paul has to play a number of scenes opposite these utterly talentless "actors." Hunky Petronicolos appears to be quite a good actor (despite some unfair comments posted here), but one wonders how much his performance was hampered by having to play opposite these pitiful performers. (Penelope Ma as Smith's wife seems marginally better than Smith, but it's hard to tell, as their scenes together are badly written and any actor would suffer having to play opposite Smith.)

There are some very good performances in this film: Sexy Petronocilos is a star in the making, and Mike Dolan as his boyfriend is also clearly a young talent to be watched. Merrick McMahon (who is by the way a gifted musical theater performer) nails his Latino character, accent and all, and his scene atop the tower is truly devastating and beautifully performed.

Other reviewers here have justly criticized the largely unbelievable depiction of the homophobic jock Bible college students (their locker and dorm room scenes must be seen to be believed), though I did buy the possibility that the Dean's homophobia may have come from a repression of his own sexuality and hiding of his secret sexual exploits (as the example of former Spokane mayor Jim West illustrates.) It also seems clear that the writer should have done his homework better, as a number of the references to (Catholic) Saints would not seem to fit an evangelical Christian university.

Director London might also have thought twice about casting straight actors in gay roles. Petronicolos and Dolan are both very good actors, but they never once come across as anything but straight, and Patrick Orion Hoesterey tries valiantly to appear straight, but is no more believable as a heterosexual than are Petronicolos and Dolan as young gay men. (It's called gaydar, Mr. London, and you insult your audience when you assume that we do not have it.)

Ultimately, The Last Year is the work of an only marginally talented writer/director (sad, because he has the means to make movies, but the results can never be anything but mediocre). There are many many good moments in the film, and I was often gripped by the performances of the talented young actors.

Kudos to obviously straight Petronicolos and Dolan for committing to the passionate kissing and cuddling scenes. I could (almost) buy those moments.

Then there are scenes and aforementioned performances that defy credibility and doubtless led to the ridicule the film was apparently submitted to at the Philadelphia Gay/Lesbian Film Festival.

Still, to give the film one star is to put it on the level of something like the truly horrendous Issues 101 when The Last Year is a seriously flawed (yet noble) effort, with at least some aspects worthy of a look. I hope to see more of Petronicolos, Dolan, and McMahon's work in the future.

Average customer rating:
L' Ultimo Capodanno / Humanity's Last New Year's Eve
Director: Marco Risi
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Genres | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
Product Features:

All Regions PAL

1:37:43 Confirmed Runtime

Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Unrated

Optional English, French, Italian Subtitles

ASIN: B000RTG1WU

Product Description
Millions of unsuspecting adolescent fanboys flocked to see The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and came away with a whole new obsession: that sultry and shapely apparition of brunette feminine fire who played the beguiling Persephone. The passion-flushed supermodel face. The fleshy bombshell bust. The mesmerizing curves of twisting seat meat... she is Monica Belucci ! Free Theo Van Gogh's double feature "blind Date / 06" with this purchase!

Average customer rating:
L'Ultimo Capodanno (aka Humanity's Last New Year's Eve)
Starring: Monica Bellucci , Francesca d'Aloja , Alessandro Haber , and Marco Giallini
Director: Marco Risi
Manufacturer: DVD Storm
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Comedy | By Genre | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video
DTS | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Comedy | By Genre | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
Comedy | By Genre | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Product Features:

Region 2 - PAL - Region Free Dvd Player Required

Unrated Uncut 1 h 37 min 43 sec (Actual Confirmed Running Time)

AUDIO: Italian 5.1 - SUBTITLES: English, French, Italian

Import - Italian Cover

Trailer

ASIN: B000V0NDBW

Product Description
You will need a REGION FREE DVD PLAYER to watch this movie****Import***Unrated Uncut 1 h 37 min 43 sec (Actual Confirmed Running Time)*Import*Cover and Menu in Italian*LANGUAGES: English*SUBTITLES: English, Italian, French*Region 2 - Pal*** This release is really special because it's presented here in Anamorphic Widescreen with Optional English, French, and Italian subtitles*** New year's eve at "The Islands" condos. An aging countess's party is crashed by the soccer team from her gigolo's town. While dressing for a dinner party, the wealthy Guilia (Monica Bellucci) discovers her husband's affair with her best friend and vows revenge. Next door, a family prepares their vintage Dodge for a drive through the streets. A call girl ties up a lawyer while, unbeknownst to him, three men await the right moment to break into his office. Across the hall, a woman downs pills in a lonely suicide attempt. Two young men hide out in a bedroom smoking dope; one of them has some dynamite. As midnight approaches, each group draws closer to grotesque tragedy. ***Monica Bellucci is Gorgeous here!**A Must Have for Monica's fans!

Average customer rating:

Some hits; some misses

good story, but very bad acting

Some good acting but on the whole a bad film

A Fairly Good Story Distorted by Extremes

Mediocre (as expected from London), but with some good performances

The Last Year
Starring: Ron Petronicolos , Mike Dolan , Patrick Orion Hoesterey , Merrick McMahon , and Elizabeth Flesh
Director: Jeff London
Manufacturer: Wolfe Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Gay & Lesbian | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
School Days | By Theme | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Art House & International | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Gay & Lesbian | Genres | DVD | Video
DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
General | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Drama | By Genre | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Gay & Lesbian | By Genre | Indie & Art House | Stores | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

Dante's Cove

Almost Normal

Regarding Billy

Third Man Out

Adam & Steve (2005)

ASIN: B00009AV9E
Release Date: 2003-05-27

Customer Reviews:

Some hits; some misses.......2007-04-17
I enjoyed Regarding Billy enough to be interested in this movie just because it was directed (and written, I think) by Jeff London, a movie-maker who makes sweet, innocent movies about Average Gay Joe's falling in love and having diffiulties and successes unique to gay folks.

This movie is no exception, and, like his other movies, is stunningly successful at times and embarrassingly amateur at other times.

I like to end on a good note, so let's start with the "bad". There is too much going on in this overlong movie and many unnecessary and underdeveloped characters which muddy up the central story and theme. Some of the peripheral actors are really bad. Some of the dialog is really forced. (Some of it actually made me squirm.)

Now the good. The principal young men in this film are great. Ron Petronicolos and Mike Dolan are absolutely mesmerizing together and it's a joy to see their subtle and somewhat unexpected romance blossom. It's the love story part of this film that's the great part, and I can watch it over and over. True to Jeff London, it's not smarmy and tacky, but wonderful and refreshing.

I'd love to give this film more stars, but it wouldn't be true. You have to take the good with the bad here, and it's certainly worth your time and attention. If you like this film, you'll love Regarding Billy which is a love story without a lot of distracting side stories, and features two similarly talented and refreshing characters and actors.

This film is "worth it" just for the scene when Dolan tells Petronicolos (clearly smitten with each other) that he wishes he didn't make him so nervous (and there can be no turning back.) Enjoy.
good story, but very bad acting.......2007-04-08
don't waist your money on this one. this move has good story behind the very bad acting.
Some good acting but on the whole a bad film.......2006-04-27
Like others I do what I can to support and promote independent films. This film tells an important story (citing the real Bible to debunk and confront homophobes and others distorting the teachings of Jesus), but it is not a good film (slow, stilted dialogue, lots of pregnant pauses and searching for lines, some bad acting, poor direction, poor editing, predictable story). It was a very long film to endure. However, Ron Petronicolos and Craig Staswick are particularly good so for them I give it one star. Mike Dolan is also good. I am sure they will go on to bigger and better things.
A Fairly Good Story Distorted by Extremes.......2006-04-19
Jeff London ('Regarding Billy') seems to be a director and writer who is committed to investigating the various degrees of problems young gay men face as they live in a homophobic society. His films resound with an honest feeling but too often he settles for stereotypes at both ends of the spectrum and that tends to weaken his work.

The setting is a Bible College somewhere in America where hunky Paul (Ron Petronicolos) is entering his 'last year' of study, his summer having been disrupted by an incident that is revealed later in the story. He re-joins his longtime roommate Robby (Patrick Orion Hoesterey) but keeps asking about his good friend Hector (Merrick McMahon), a subject no one wants to address. He meets Hector's roommate Alex (Mike Dolan) and gradually Alex lets Paul know that he is gay. Paul learns that the Bible College has discovered Hector is gay and the Dean (Rand Smith) and his henchmen are out to have Hector expelled. Paul's changed ways are noted by Robby and he finally confides that his summer incident was a gay experience in a restroom - a fact that Robby finds repulsive at first but soon comes to support Paul's anguish about his parent's disapproval and punishment.

As Paul's feelings for living who he really is surface he finds solace and sanctuary with Alex and the two become lovers. The Dean's spies gradually intimidate the group of four (Paul, Alex, Hector and Robby) and disciplinary action is taken. Among Paul's discoveries in his rebellion against the Bible College's stance against gays is the fact that the dean is a closet case and that is the reason for the rough action against Hector (with whom the dean had an assignation). It all comes to a tragic end for some and a sense of freedom for others - to find out who belongs to which category requires watching the film!

The movie has its moments, due largely to the ability of the actors Petronicolos, Dolan, and McMahon, but it sadly is buried by otherwise mediocre to poor acting from the rest of the cast. The work of Rand Smith, Penelope Ma (who plays the dean's wife), and Lawrence Rinzel (who plays Paul's father) is particularly weak just when strong acting could have supported the flimsier portions of the script. London needed to spend more thought on Bible Colleges, finding that more razor sharp line between right wing bias against gays instead of opting for the usual clich?s that are found everywhere. That dividing line among young men challenged by sexual identity would have made a far more successful film. But the film is worth watching for the performances of the three lead actors - strong young men each! Grady Harp, April 06
Mediocre (as expected from London), but with some good performances.......2006-01-25
A film that could have been a serious depiction of young gay men attempting to reconcile their religious convictions with their sexuality becomes instead an often unbelievable melodrama bordering occasionally on gay porn fantasies. (When a supposedly straight student in a Bible college tells a gay student in the locker room "Take my 8 inches," you know you're far removed from reality.)

The film is also hampered by a pair of truly execrable performances by Rand Smith and Lawrence Rinzel. Poor Ron Petronicolos in the leading role of Paul has to play a number of scenes opposite these utterly talentless "actors." Hunky Petronicolos appears to be quite a good actor (despite some unfair comments posted here), but one wonders how much his performance was hampered by having to play opposite these pitiful performers. (Penelope Ma as Smith's wife seems marginally better than Smith, but it's hard to tell, as their scenes together are badly written and any actor would suffer having to play opposite Smith.)

There are some very good performances in this film: Sexy Petronocilos is a star in the making, and Mike Dolan as his boyfriend is also clearly a young talent to be watched. Merrick McMahon (who is by the way a gifted musical theater performer) nails his Latino character, accent and all, and his scene atop the tower is truly devastating and beautifully performed.

Other reviewers here have justly criticized the largely unbelievable depiction of the homophobic jock Bible college students (their locker and dorm room scenes must be seen to be believed), though I did buy the possibility that the Dean's homophobia may have come from a repression of his own sexuality and hiding of his secret sexual exploits (as the example of former Spokane mayor Jim West illustrates.) It also seems clear that the writer should have done his homework better, as a number of the references to (Catholic) Saints would not seem to fit an evangelical Christian university.

Director London might also have thought twice about casting straight actors in gay roles. Petronicolos and Dolan are both very good actors, but they never once come across as anything but straight, and Patrick Orion Hoesterey tries valiantly to appear straight, but is no more believable as a heterosexual than are Petronicolos and Dolan as young gay men. (It's called gaydar, Mr. London, and you insult your audience when you assume that we do not have it.)

Ultimately, The Last Year is the work of an only marginally talented writer/director (sad, because he has the means to make movies, but the results can never be anything but mediocre). There are many many good moments in the film, and I was often gripped by the performances of the talented young actors.

Kudos to obviously straight Petronicolos and Dolan for committing to the passionate kissing and cuddling scenes. I could (almost) buy those moments.

Then there are scenes and aforementioned performances that defy credibility and doubtless led to the ridicule the film was apparently submitted to at the Philadelphia Gay/Lesbian Film Festival.

Still, to give the film one star is to put it on the level of something like the truly horrendous Issues 101 when The Last Year is a seriously flawed (yet noble) effort, with at least some aspects worthy of a look. I hope to see more of Petronicolos, Dolan, and McMahon's work in the future.
DVD:

Pushing Tin

Raising Cain: Exploring the Inner Lives of America's Boys

Requiem for a Dream (Director's Cut)

Ripe for Change

Ripley's Game

Romeo is Bleeding

Roseland - The Merchant Ivory Collection

Roughing It

Salome / Lot in Sodom

Scoop

DVD
DVD