Average customer rating:
- Love, Not Romance, Or Is It The Other Way Round?
- Quite possibly the worst movie in cinematic history
- Last Tango in Paris
- "Listen, that's not a subway strap...that's me "c**k!"
- Stunning performance by Brando
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Last Tango in Paris
Starring:
Marlon Brando ,
Maria Schneider ,
Maria Michi ,
Giovanna Galletti , and
Gitt Magrini
Director:
Bernardo Bertolucci
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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9 songs - Unrated Full Uncut Version
ASIN: 6305132917
Release Date: 1998-11-03 |
Amazon.com essential video
Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1973 film stars Marlon Brando as an expatriate American in Paris reeling from his wife's suicide and entering into a nihilistic sexual relationship with a young woman (Maria Schneider). The film is still shocking, not simply because of its (sometime unconventional) sexual sequences, but because Brando's protagonist needs his liaison with Schneider's character to remain anonymous, an experience not to be shared but indulged on either end. Bertolucci is also operating on subtext here: in a way, Brando's nonengaging engagement is a metaphor for a certain attitude toward directing movies. Jean-Pierre Léaud costars, but the film is more than anything a vehicle for a great performance by Brando. --Tom Keogh
Description
Penetrate the moody, sensual world of Last Tango in Paris, and prepare yourself for "the most controversial film of its era" (Leonard Maltin). Nominated* for two Academy Awards(r)Director (Bernardo Bertolucci) and Actor (Marlon Brando)and exuding a sexual energy unlike any film before or after, this is the scintillating classic that shocked a nation...and "altered the face of an art form" (Pauline Kael). He (Brando) is a 45-year old American living in Paris, haunted by his wife's suicide. She (Maria Schneider, Jane Eyre) is a 20-year-old Parisian beauty engaged to a young filmmaker. Though nameless to each other, these tortured souls come together to satisfy their sexual cravings in an apartment as bare as their dark, tragic lives. Caught up in the frenzied beat of a carnal dance they cannot seem to stop, these unlikely lovers take their passion to erotic heightsand depthsbeyond anything they could ever have imagined.
Customer Reviews:
Love, Not Romance, Or Is It The Other Way Round?.......2007-07-22
One can certainly love this film for its superb acting. Certainly the cinematography couldn't be excelled. The Gato Barbieri musical soundtrack is great, if you like jazz, and the reproductions of the great paintings by Francis Bacon establish the mood of the piece as the opening credits roll. It's all very artful. The film's soul, however, is not upbeat, the ending is a downer, as we say, and the relationship is a joyful, but confining dead end. The American bohemian played by Brando is seeking to achieve a love that is pure and free, but in the end his lover cares very much about status and class and will not be possessed by a nobody. The film either speaks to you or it doesn't. I have felt moved and affected in one showing, and then turned off in another. The relationship of an large, sexually cruel man with a young 'chick' has far less appeal these days, so one may find the film dated for its sexual dynamic. It is not so much that such relationships no longer exist, but that one may no longer find them exhilarating. On the other hand, it is the director's masterpiece of personal connections and his only successful film of intimacy. His other great works tend to be epics, where the films encompass a grander scale.
Quite possibly the worst movie in cinematic history.......2007-07-13
Finally saw the much-vaunted Last Tango in Paris. On the DVD case, a reviewer squeals: "The most erotically powerful movie ever made!" Its clear to me that every single reviewer who gave a good review was paid off handsomely. To me, words like "vacant", "nihilistic", "empty", roar to mind. Quite possibly, the most over-damn-hyped, contentless, worthless film in cinematic history. I'm appalled beyond words.
Last Tango in Paris.......2007-07-04
Scandalous in 1972 and still unsettling today, Bertolucci's bizarre, fascinating psychodrama depicts sex not as a union of two human beings, but as a reflection of their alienation from each other. While the butter scene is justly famous, this isn't the only reason "Tango" stays with you. Just watch Brando closely: at certain moments you catch a glimpse of that fiery young man in the ripped tee-shirt, railing against the world's injustices, down but never out, and utterly, brilliantly alive.
"Listen, that's not a subway strap...that's me "c**k!".......2007-07-03
Aside from the infamous "butter" and the "pig f***" scene--which are disturbing and can't bring myself to watch!--I wasn't exactly too shocked at this movie at all. Now that sex/porn is pretty much in the open, you can't be. I love Marlon Brando, and as usual, his performance was an emotionally intense one. I didn't realize how comical and hilarious Mr. Brando was until watching this movie. Despite the gloom, and dark (or orange tone!) of the film, I managed a chuckle and a good laugh from his dialogue... I wish Maria Schneider's character was more developed in this film. It just seems "Paul" and her geeky boyfriend (and Bertolucci) used her as nothing but an object. I wanted to know more about her character and what the deal was with her deceased father and whether Paul putting on her father's uniform hat triggered some sort of rage within. Did he sexually abuse her? Was their relationship incestuous? Other questions plagued me. Was Paul his wife's murderer or the lover? There was just way too much blood splatter for it to have been suicide. Was his wife a former prostitute? The end sickened me because you want (I wanted) "Jeanne" and "Paul" to fall in love and live happily ever after...but in this demented, even morbid Bertolucci flick that wasn't gonna happen!
I was teary at the end because it was just so confusing and tragic...this poor man--despite his actions--finds love, refuge, and happiness and they're all literally shot down.
Stunning performance by Brando.......2007-06-11
On the cover of the paperback edition of my novel A Perfectly Natural Act there is the blurb: "As compelling as Last Tango in Paris!" (This is not a shameless plug since my novel is long out of print.) When your work is touted as being "like" some earlier, successful work, you can be sure what is really being said is your work is not all that good and needs some hype to move it off the shelves.
So it took me 33 years to finally get around to watching "Last Tango..." and that is all to the good because if I had watched it when I was young, the barbarous sexuality would have sorely distracted me. Well, Maria Schneider (Jeanne) would have. She is very sexy and is shown complete ("she comes complete"!) in a number of scenes. Her acting ability has been challenged by some, but I thought she did a nice job in a difficult role.
Problem was she was paired opposite Marlon Brando (Paul) who was busy giving one of his greatest performances. Brando said some time afterwards that he never wanted to do anything like this again. Presumably he was referring to the depressing nature of human sexuality portrayed in the film. This is ironic since most of the raunchy and degrading lines are spoken by Brando who improvised them himself! He later commented that some of the lines written by director Bernado Bertolucci were not to his liking. What I think happened is Bertolucci wanted to live out as a director one of his youthful fantasies (raw, anonymous sex with a young beauty) and Brando, with his ultra sophistication about such matters, played his part with a brutal satirical edge, perhaps making fun of Bertolucci's fantasy, turning it into an unpleasant, hard reality.
But the "reality" was a bit over the top for everybody. The infamous "Get the butter" scene, which was improvised by Brando and Bertolucci (to Schneider's dismay), made it clear that Paul considered Jeanne an animal that you used and nothing more. The dead rat scene and all the pig talk, ditto. Brando was also projecting his own feelings. He was 48-years-old when the film was released and was getting a paunch and losing his muscle tone. All the sex scenes but one are filmed with Brando clothed so as not to make the decline of his physical prowess obvious. He projected his own feelings about the decline of his body by referring derisively to his hemorrhoids, his prostate, and his paunch.
What Brando does so very well here is become that animalistic, but thinking brute who has his way with women because they cannot resist his alpha male prowess regardless of the gray in his hair. The early scene in the apartment when the nameless Brando just takes the nameless Schneider without so much as a spoken word or a caress might make women say "if only more men could be so commanding," and men say "I wish I had that kind of confidence." I am reminded of Brando's Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) except that here little is left to the imagination. The Brando that was Kowalski at twenty-seven (with an I.Q. upgrade) could easily be the Brando that was Paul at forty-eight.
Almost all the discussion about this movie is about Brando, and that is certainly understandable since, despite all the ugliness of the film, it featured one of Brando's greatest performances. However, the movie was and is Bertolucci's. He wrote it and directed it. His original cut runs something like four hours. The version here rated NC-17 runs 136 minutes. The problem is that just about everything in the movie that does not included Brando is a bit of an anticlimax or an irrelevancy. Jean-Pierre Leaud (Tom) of Truffaut's The Four Hundred Blows (1959) fame plays a film maker and Jeanne's intended. He was possibly chosen for the film because his boyish style and demeanor would contrast so sharply with Brando's commanding style. Two lovers had Jeanne: one was easy and boring, the other was scary and exciting. But I think Bertolucci was also having some fun with the French cinema and especially with Francois Truffaut. Perhaps it is only a coincidence that a year later Truffaut would release Day for Night (1973) (La Nuit americaine) in which Truffaut plays a director directing Leaud in a kind of pleasing but lightweight film contrasting sharply with the dark psychosis of Last Tango.
I don't think I could sit through the four hour version but it might be a good learning experience for young film makers. At any rate, perhaps some of the seeming illogic of the film might become reasonable, including the all too easy and not entirely explicable ending. I rate this film very highly because it was innovative (rather shocking for its time), with a fine jazz score, but mostly because of Brando's stellar performance and the sensual beauty of a 20-year-old Maria Schneider. By the way, the film is in French and English with subtitles. Brando's French is amusing, and whoever dubbed Schneider's English has a cute and witty voice.
Another excellent (and very beautiful) film by Bertolucci is The Conformist (1970) starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Stefania Sandrelli, and Dominique Sanda. Interestingly enough Sanda was originally picked for Last Tango, as was Trintignant, and she would have given some needed depth to Jeanne's character, but she declined I guess because of all the nudity. Ironically a few years later Schneider was tabbed to play the lead in Luis Brunuel's That Obscure Object of Desire (1977) but dropped out during the filming reportedly because of a nude scene! Maybe she was afraid of becoming typecast.
I guess the bottom line on Last Tango is that it is an uncomfortable film illuminated by a veracious Parisian feel and a truly stunning performance by one of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen.
Average customer rating:
- Someone like Hugh......
- Interesting take on "The PG-13 Romantic Comedy"
- New cow? Old cow? Holy cow!
- 5 stars for Jackman's performance
- Just plain cute...
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Someone Like You
Starring:
Ellen Barkin ,
Colleen Camp ,
Daniella Canterman ,
Matthew Coyle , and
Catherine Dent
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00006ZXSO
Release Date: 2003-01-14 |
Amazon.com
Despite its foregone conclusion, Someone Like You is an agreeable romantic comedy about how people construct elaborate defenses to cope with emotional anguish. Based on Laura Zigman's novel Animal Husbandry, the movie is purely formulaic, with a heroine's best friend (played here by Marisa Tomei) and other supporting roles that come straight from central casting. Even the lovelorn heroine is standard-issue for the genre, but as emotionally devastated talk-show booker Jane Goodale, Ashley Judd brings intelligent charm to a role that could have been maudlin and pathetic. For a while, Jane is pathetic: after being dumped by her seemingly devoted boyfriend Ray (Greg Kinnear), she turns heartbreak into a hobby, creating self-assuring theories about male behavior based on the mating habits of cows. She comforts herself with the certainty that all men are scum, when really she just can't accept rejection.
Cast adrift, Jane accepts a roommate offer from her womanizing colleague Eddie (X-Men's Hugh Jackman), who's been nursing his own heartbreak with lots of casual sex. You can see where this is going, and actor-director Tony Goldwyn (following his underrated drama Walk on the Moon) doesn't offer any surprises. But Goldwyn is alert to the comedy of human foibles, and the movie peaks when Jane's defenses are down and Judd's appeal shines at full intensity. At her best, Judd makes an average script better than it has a right to be, and while Kinnear perfects his smarmy routine, Jackman matches them both with star-making sincerity. Someone Like You won't win any awards for originality, but it's universal in its comedic sympathy for the brokenhearted. --Jeff Shannon
Description
Ashley Judd brings irresistible fun to this sassy romantic comedy about a young woman looking for Mr. Right... in all the wrong places! Jane Goodale (Judd) is a talk show talent scout whose shaky love life drives her to study the curious mating habits of the male animal. Dizzyingly sexy complications ensue whne her research turns her into a revered love guru - and lands her smack in-between hunky heartthrobs Hugh Jackman and Greg Kinnear.
Customer Reviews:
Someone like Hugh.............2007-09-10
Hugh Jackman is quickly joining Hugh Grant as a lively romantic comedy leading man. What happens when a talk show producer is dumped for the umpteenth time? She decides to study the males species with a ghost column and moves in with her womanizing co-worker. The problem is that both discover they are nursing broken hearts in different ways and of course, chemistry strikes.
Interesting take on "The PG-13 Romantic Comedy".......2007-09-06
"Someone Like You" Starring Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear and Hugh Jackman is a light romantic comedy that brought a smile to my face. As a 27 year old woman I could relate to the plotline and have had similar experiences and thoughts as Judd's character in the film. A movie any single woman could relate to and get a good laugh the whole way though. Judd's performance was empathetic and charming. I also liked her chemistry with both romantic leads and would have been happy with seeing her end up with either one. Her theory on "cows" and as they relate to humans was incredibly entertaining and at points seemingly true and that is what made the movie so relatable and entertaining....
New cow? Old cow? Holy cow!.......2007-05-14
Awwww, how cute. Unabashed chick flick. Very funny. Very predictable. Greg Kinnear...what a creep he was in this. (and he was so good at it) Hugh Jackman...Lordie he was funny. Ashley Judd..Who knew she could be this funny? The cow parallel was just inspiration. It made no sense, but it was beautiful. This film is a fun way to spend a couple hours with your honey.
5 stars for Jackman's performance.......2007-02-01
The three main actors are perfectly cast. Ashley Judd plays Jane just right; a woman obsessed, yet a sympathetic character (who hasn't become obsessed over a breakup?). Greg Kinnear is perfect as the cheating, lying Ray, especially in the scenes where Ray puts a look of exaggerated emotion on his face, in an attempt to make himself believable.
When Jane moves in with Eddie, arguments are sparked over their respective attitudes towards relationships, but they have no problem coexisting in the same space. There are no arguments over cleaning the kitchen/bathroom/living room, no sniping about who left the front door unlocked, none of the usual friction that occurs between roommates, especially when one of them has lived in the apartment for some time and the other one is a newcomer.
Eddie and Jane, obviously, have different approaches to being dumped. Jane bemoans her fate and tries to find a reason for Ray's behavior in her books about animals. Eddie doesn't look for reasons, doesn't wait for his ex to magically return, and doesn't get into another relationship immediately. We don't know how long it's been since his girlfriend left him, but we know that his grief was so strong, he took an axe and chopped a hole in the wall of his spare room. Very powerful stuff for a man who's supposed to be unable to stay with one woman.
One of the reasons the movie works is that the two main characters learn from each other in recovering from their breakups. Eddie, in particular, draws in his own pain to help Jane with hers. "It's over! Over! Why can't you just let it go?" he asks her.
The real ace here is Hugh Jackman as Eddie, initially regarded by Jane as simply a womanizer, the stuff of legend around the office. Jackman faces a very difficult task in making Eddie not only believable, but sympathetic. The "womanizing coworker" has been done to death in film; Jackman's carefully shaded performance makes Eddie a real person. Eddie is never seen ogling a strange woman on the street, bragging about his sexual conquests, or behaving in any way as though he thinks he's superior to the women he beds night after night. There's nothing sleazy about him, and that's amazing.
Jackman successfully walks a fine line here; the movie is worth it for his performance alone. I wish they'd left the other ending, the one you can see on the DVD. It's much better and it really sizzles, making full use of the chemistry between the two leads.
Just plain cute..........2007-01-18
Hugh Jackman is so handsome, and Ashley Judd is so funny, you will love this movie.
Description
Pushing his themes of sexual liberation to their boiling point, Yugoslavian art-house provocateur Dusan Makavejev followed his international sensation WR: Mysteries of the Organism with this full-throated shriek in the face of bourgeois complacency and movie watching. Sweet Movie tackles the limits of personal and political freedom with kaleidoscopic feverishness, shuttling viewers from a gynecological beauty pageant to a grotesque food orgy with scatological, taboo-shattering glee. With its lewd abandon and sketch-comedy perversity, Sweet Movie became both a cult staple and an exemplar of the envelope pushing of 1970s cinema.
Customer Reviews:
Grotesque And Beautiful.......2007-09-10
There is nothing I can say about this film that it can't say for itself. Some moments are disturbing (the lady basically exposing herself and deflowering young boys in a boat full of candy, which I still am astonished how illegal it should have been), some moments are depressing (our heroine weeping with a penis against her face as the hoard of people around her are behaving like scat-a-holic animals), some moments are comical (having gotten 'stuck together like dogs' after copulating on the Eiffel Tower, the couple have to be brought to some sort of kitchen to be seperated), and some moments are just plain weird (she's stuffed into a suitcase, for real, and sent to paris). Actually the whole movie was weird, and at many times, cryptic. I'm still unsure of the true 'point' if there even was one. But I know it has something to do with tyranny, communism, self indulgence, and the perversion of mankind. (?) Either way, it's an AWESOME movie, visually beautiful, grimly erotic, emotionally disturbing, and most importantly, ARTISTIC AS HELL. I'll be watching it again and again till I figure out what it's really about.
Senior Pasolini, I think I am ready for your movie now.......2007-08-29
*** This comment may contain spoilers ***
What is it - a satire on social and sexual politics, government sponsored genocide, democracy for Eastern Europe and the stereotypes of the times? Or non-connected collection of shocking images that include "virgin beauty contest" the winner of which would marry a billionaire, Mr. Kapital (John Vernon) with golden penis; an intercourse in Eiffel Tour that ends up with a spasm; a dinner party with the members of Viennese commune Friedrichshof, a revolutionary/ siren /vampire, Anna Planeta who sails a riverboat with a huge Karl Marx head on its bow on the canals of Amsterdam and lures men and young boys aboard with her seductive songs for sex, candies, and death? "Sweet Movie" is all that and it shocks you even more, and I think it is a good and deep movie. It is extremely disturbing and it really tests its viewers on how much and for how long they would endure watching some of very disgusting stuff but everything what happens on screen does make sense and does prove the writer/ director's many points. Actually, first hour or so is a wild and funny surreal black comedy/satire of which my most beloved filmmaker Don Luis Bunuel would be proud.
The two scenes closer to the end really push all possible envelopes. After I found out that the participants in the "commune" scene were actually the real members of Friedrichshof, the Viennese commune that had been founded and run by artist/filmmaker/painter Otto Meuhl, and everything we see is pretty much real, I was shocked even more. Dusan Makavejev explains in the interview on the Criterion disc who the people are and why they engage in the shocking activities. From what I understood, the acts of people urinating on each other, indulging in emetophilia, coprophilia, were the part of Wiener Aktionismus or Viennese Actionism, the Art movement which is remembered for the willful transgressiveness of its naked bodies, destructiveness and violence. Makavejev added that what those people were doing to themselves and one another was also a part of the group therapy. Whatever it was, I had to fast-forward some of the scene.
The most disturbing and important scene in the movie (and it is often overlooked by the viewers and critics) is a real footage of the 1943 discovery of mass graves at Katyn Forest by Germany, after its armed forces had occupied the big European part of the former USSR in 1941.
From Wikipedia: "The term "Katyn massacre" originally referred to the massacre, at Katyn Forest near villages of Katyn and Gnezdovo (about 12 miles (19 km) west of Smolensk, Russia), of Polish military officers confined at the Kozelsk prisoner-of-war camp in 1940. Estimates of the number of executed persons ranges from 15,000 to 21,768."
The Soviet Union continued to deny responsibility for the massacres until 1990, when Mikhail Gorbachev in his attempt to openness, acknowledged that the NKVD (People Committee of Internal Affairs, later known as KGB - Committee of State Security) secret police had in fact committed the massacres and the subsequent cover-up. The Russian government has admitted Soviet responsibility for the massacres, although it does not classify them as war crimes or as acts of genocide. Including the footage of the war crimes of such scale that were completely unknown to the West during the high point of the Cold War, and trying to get attention to those crimes and acknowledge their victims, was a courageous act from Makavejev. As he said in the end of his interview - as long as we remember the ones who died, they are not dead.
Reading the reviews and comments about "Sweet Movie", I realized that some posters were puzzled and somehow confused with the "revolutionary" part of the story that involves Anna Planeta and her killing boat. Since I also "came in from the Cold", like Dusan Makavejev did, his many references to the history of Eastern Europe of the last century, including two World Wars, and Revolutions, make a lot of sense to me. For those who want to learn more, I highly recommend watching featurette with the film scholar Dina Lordanova. This 20 minutes long documentary may help you to understand better what is behind all the shocking imagery and what Makavejev wanted to say. I already mentioned interview from 2006 with the director/writer which is very interesting. The last featurette presents Anna Prucnal who talks about the impact "Sweet Movie" made in her life and she sings the song "The Urchins Down In the Meadow" in Italian (it is performed in Greek in the movie during the Katyn Forest scene). Pier Paolo Pasolini wrote the Italian lyrics for the song.
Senior Pasolini, I think I am ready for your movie now.
Not what it seems.......2007-08-14
This movie is not as great or as shocking as billed. Apart from that, the movie really suffers from being poorly edited. It is hard to follow what's going on.
A sweet transfixion.......2007-08-06
This is the ultimate "art" film. It will intentionally toy with your emotions while rattling every corner of your inner senses and perceptions. I've never seen a movie so quick to change gears, it will hit you with the most bizarre erotic sequence or humorous moment and then BAMMM! blind side you with some completely devastating images.
As it drags you through the quagmire, it flashes lots of obvious statements about Soviet Communism and capitalism and probably lots of other stuff that went over my head. That's the beauty of great art films, you can understand and pull new things from them with each viewing.
This obviously won't appeal to many, there are some shocking and confusing moments that will likely leave you bewildered. This film is quite an experience.
wow, that really sucked........2007-07-26
first, a little about me. i love things that are weird, original, creative, sexually explicit, subversive, and substantive.
i was led to believe (from other amazon reviews) that Sweet Movie was worth seeing, if not owning. well, i bought it and was completely bored and unsatisfied. sure, there were a couple neat subtleties in that hour and a half, but mostly it was vague, nonsensical twaddle (with annoying singing)!
why this is a Criterion Collection film, i have no idea. i own a number of Criterion movies and really enjoy them, but this is extremely crappy.
Darrick
Average customer rating:
- Tango is passionate and sensual without being sexual...
- Best Foreign Musical
- Love story - man/woman/tango/light/color/history/music
- tango afficionados only
- You can turn them off
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Tango
Starring:
Miguel Ángel Solá ,
Cecilia Narova ,
Mía Maestro ,
Juan Carlos Copes , and
Carlos Rivarola
Director:
Carlos Saura
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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Flamenco
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Assassination Tango
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The Tango Fundamentals - Volume 1: Basic Elements
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Burn the Floor
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The Best Tango Album in the World, Ever!
ASIN: 0767835174
Release Date: 1999-08-03 |
Customer Reviews:
Tango is passionate and sensual without being sexual..........2007-09-13
I love Tango, the movie, the music and the dance and I don't tire of watching this movie. My copy ended up coming from Hong kong so it took me a little while to figure out how to turn off the Chinese subtitles, but once I did that, it was heavenly. The dialogue is clever. The story is not a new one. His movie is a metaphor for the mess of his life which is also a metaphor for the mess the country has become. The use of color and lighting is very Storaro and in my opinion, this movie easily surpasses Sally Potter's "The Tango Lesson" in film quality, storyline, acting and choreography. (Interesting how both directors chose to tell a story within a story about love affairs with their protegees during the making of both of these movies.) It's almost as if they needed an excuse to make their dance movies. That being said, whatever your preference, there is something for everyone- women with men, women with women, men with men- the tango is one of the few dances where it is acceptable to dance with a same sex partner, and consequently, some of the dances have very sensual overtones, almost like you are watching something forbidden. The Pogrom sequence is very disturbing- a little remisniscent of the recent Cabaret revival ending - but it fits in the movie and what he ends up having to do to get his show staged is a humorous and unexpected ending to this dance spectacle.I wish he had found a better dancer than Mia Maestro but I reading somewhere online that this had been a case of art imitating life -so ladies and gentlemen, introducing the Mia Maestro!
Nevertheless, I found this beautifully done and I have watched it over and over and over. It is much better without subtitles of any kind blocking the dancer's feet, so brush up on your Spanish. It's not an instructional DVD and it's not quite the tango you see in Buenos Aires'crowded milongas, but it is a veritable feast for the eyes and the soul.The movie's original score is some of the best work of the incomparable Lalo Schiffrin and the choreography is something you will want to see again and again.
Best Foreign Musical.......2007-09-05
The music is marvelous,dancing,no way I can put it in words. I am an amature ballroom dancer & to be able to dance like that is a dancers dream. I WILL WATCH THIS OVER & OVER. BOB
Love story - man/woman/tango/light/color/history/music.......2007-09-02
In reading the reviews here I'm struck by the wide spectrum of opinions. It seems that quite a few DVDs were faulty and people were stuck with a version of the film that had the director's and leading actress' voice over commentary. This is not necessary and it seems a shame that people thought that this was the way the film was supposed to be. If you get the film, make sure that you turn the commentary off; you may have to play around a little but it was not a problem on my copy.
Also, be aware that this is not a documentary on the history of the tango. Nor is it a how-to-do the tango! Nor is it a typical American musical. And yes, there are subtitles. If you get past these conditions, keep on, you may love the film.
I loved Saura's flamenco trilogy a lot and this didn't live up to that, in my book. Maybe because I prefer the flamenco to the tango...am not sure. There are many similar themes here to "Carmen" - the love affair of the director and the young dancer, the connection to the underworld, the knife fights, the rivalry between the older and younger female dancers. There is a lot of tango dancing here and how much you like the film depends a lot on how much you love the tango. I am not a big dance fan so for me it was a bit much. It is all very stylish and beautifully done, though.
I found the leading actor extremely attractive and sympathetic which helped me to sit through all of the dancing. The older woman dancer is wonderful, with her mature fierce beauty, and the younger one, looking a lot like Audrey Hepburn, holds her own, with her own pride and style. The older male dancer is a real treat to watch--his joy of dancing really comes across. You don't have to love dance to enjoy him.
I liked the integration of Argentine history into the film. Saura is not one to shrink from the dark side of life and he uses his art to transform it into beauty, very successfully, in my opinion. This is a glimpse into another world, where passion reigns supreme, for better or for worse. It may seem too "foreign" to many American viewers.
tango afficionados only.......2007-05-07
Wonderful and soulful. Very artistic and great sense of the real tang of Argentina. A must have for would be dancers of the tango. In Spanish with subtitles however.
You can turn them off.......2007-04-11
There is a way to turn off the subtitles...it makes the movie much more watchable trust me. We watched it in my college spanish class and it took us an entire day but you are able to turn them off, you just really have to play with the dvd remote you have, once the movie has already started...it won't work if you try to turn it off in the menu, don't ask me why, because that would actually make sense haha...but it IS possible to turn them off, try and then watch it, trust me it's better!
Customer Reviews:
B Movie Pride & Prejudice.......2007-08-31
This is an incredibly badly acted movie. There are long scenes where nothing really happens. As a Janeite, I love all things Austen, but I will never rewatch this movie. The only way to enjoy it is for the B movie campiness. Character development and motivation are totally lacking.
A fun movie, loosely based on Jane Austen's book........2007-08-27
This movie is different than most. It's supposed to be. ;o)
This film is set in the LDS singles' scene in Provo, UT. But you wouldn't know that unless you had been there and lived in it. If you're LDS, and have experienced some of the singles' culture there, the film will be all the more rich and funny for you. If you're not, you'll miss some of the nuances, but it's still totally enjoyable. (Once you understand that there are strong pressures to marry in your early twenties, and that abstinence before and fidelity after marriage are highly prized, you're good to go.) The college Elizabeth (Kam Heskin) attends is never identified as Brigham Young University, but it's recognizably evident it was filmed there. I had a Physical Science class in the room where her English class is held, and the library scenes were unmistakable, as were the scenes filmed on West Center Street downtown, and at the hotel just west of the NuSkin building on Center Street. (There may have been one or two outdoor campus shots taken at UVSC down in Orem, as well.) When Elizabeth and Jack Wickham are walking back to Elizabeth's car after their dinner at the Indian Restaurant (where they were given the check by the Daniel himself (executive director and owner of the Bombay House where Jack & Elizabeth ate)), they're walking along the street right in front of the Utah County buildings there on Center Street and University Ave. It was a kick recognizing the various scenes and settings, right down to the tux shop where I rented tuxedoes for the groomsmen at my wedding, just two doors down from the bookshop where Elizabeth works.
As for the supposed religious slant of the film, the words "Mormon" and "LDS" are never mentioned, and there is very little reference to anything religious. They do mention "church" a few times in context, there is a scene in a religious service monopolized by Collins as he humiliates Elizabeth, and there's a 3-second shot of Elizabeth reading a slim, navy blue softbound book. (Btw, Collins would have not gotten away with that in real life. The bishop would have stopped him within the first few minutes. The things he was saying are totally skewed in regards to LDS doctrine concerning marriage, let alone how we're supposed to treat one another!) The biggest things that point out the faith of the cast and crew were the lack of cleavage, foul language and sex scenes. (If those are vital in order for you to enjoy a movie, then just skip this one.) I really enjoyed the fact that this film was about the characters themselves, without those distractions.
****Spoilers Ahead*****
Kam and Orlando (Elizabeth and Darcy), did a bang-up job on their parts. They're the only characters who were afforded the screen time to really develop much. (In a 104 minute movie, I'm surprised they did as well as they did. I would have loved to see this with an hour more screen time.) The rest of the cast (Kitty, Lydia, Charlie, Jack, especially Mary & Collins, and even Jane) were foils for those two, and did a great job in that capacity. (Remember, a "foil" is a one- or two-dimensional character meant to set off a lead role.) Mary is a nod to the old cultural idea of the "Molly Mormon," and Collins is the iconic male counterpart to that concept. The scenes where Elizabeth and Darcy are able to interact are magical to me. They say so much with their eyes and faces. Just after Elizabeth tells Darcy that she's leaving for London to TA for the next semester, her eyes are enough to make your own heart ache, waiting for her tears to spill. And when Darcy first tries asking Elizabeth out, you're just squirming inside . . . you can see that he knows that he's taking a long shot, but he's so inexplicably attracted to her that he's compelled to at least try. Then you want to throttle Caroline at several points in the film, and hug Charlie (Charles Bingham) because he's such a sweet innocent (and purposefully so--he's Jane's counterpart, remember?). Lydia and Kitty have their own cute moments, as well as a touching one at the end. There's a lot of depth to this film, if you take the time to really pay attention. You pick up a lot of hilarious details the second time through that you wouldn't catch the first time.
****End Spoilers****
This film has its limiatations--it was a tight-budget affair, with all kinds of hitches and obstalces along the way. A wrecked generator, the party set blew down the mountainside THREE times over the three days they shot there, extras leaving during the all-night shoots for the party scenes (they had 12 extras left during the punchbowl scene with Elizabeth and Collins), and other miscellaneous run-ins made for creative workarounds (like the low-angle shot in the punchbowl scene). But it's very well done nonetheless. I think that constraints like that make for a far more interesting film.
I think I'm going to watch it again tonight. :o)
WATCH OUT!!!! LDS FILM!!!.......2007-08-25
I'd give this a negetive rating if I could. It was the worst ever!! If you've ever seen a Mormon movie you know what I mean. I don't know what happened to the Mormon's where they take really good stories and then butcher them, but that's what they do. I mean, even if you are LDS, can't you tell a good movie from a bad one?
They have bizzar squences that seem...wrong. They do scenes from weird angles and sometimes in the middle of a scene the backgroud will become totally black or white, for no reason.
The good guys go to church and are perfect little Mormon's who never do anything wrong. The bad guys don't go to church, they don't even follow the church, they drink and/or smoke, and they sometimes have sex before marrige. Because, you know, if you do those things you're obviously a horrible person who needs to go to prison.
They change the relationships in this story to work out the way they want them to. Everyone has a "happily ever after". If you've read the book or seen just about any other version of the film, you'll know that's not how it's supposed to go.
They also feel the need to make sure you know that the characters believe in God and are going to church or are reading the Book of Mormon. They throw in lines here and there just to make sure you got it. Even though the book was never written like that.
Bottom line; if you're a Mormon who doesn't care about quality and just wants to find a film that's rated G, PG, or PG13, you'll love this. But if you're not brainwashed into loving any film that mentions God and the Book of Mormon, DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM!!!
Painful.......2007-07-18
I love to watch different film interpretations of classic lit, and grabbed this off the shelf in Blockbuster as soon as I saw it. I should have known it was a questionable choice when I went to the check out, and the girl said, "There's a book? It's like a modern-day Cinderella!" A few hours later I'm bored and hugely unimpressed with the adaptation, and my family is all glaring at me for my pick. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, or prefer enjoyable movies, skip this one.
Okay, for a modern version...........2007-06-08
It is not a Jane Austen movie for sure but will do for a quick fix of a chick flick.
Average customer rating:
- Full screen DVD. Someone tell Lionsgate this is 2007 not 1997.
|
Honor Among Thieves
Starring:
Michel Barcet ,
Charles Bronson ,
André Dumas ,
Marianna Falk , and
Brigitte Fossey
Director:
Jean Herman
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
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ASIN: B000OY9V9I
Release Date: 2007-06-19 |
Description
In this stylish, riveting French thriller, film icons Charles Bronson and Alain Delon team up to create a one-of-a-kind buddy film with a fascinating premise. After serving together in the French Foreign Legion, Franz Propp (Bronson) and Dr. Dino Barran (Delon) go their separate ways only to be reunited by an extraordinary coincidence. Barran is persuaded by a friend to sneak into an underground bank vault and help return stolen bonds. While he is hiding, he comes upon Propp who is actually there to rob the safe. After getting locked inside the vault, the two very different men strike up a powerful friendship that binds them together through a series of shocking developments - from a miraculous escape to being framed for murder.
Customer Reviews:
Full screen DVD. Someone tell Lionsgate this is 2007 not 1997. .......2007-07-01
A classic 4 star old style 1960's thriller with good performances from Alain Delon and Charles Bronson. However, do not be fooled by Lionsgate's marketing department DVD cover art, this is in no way a Bronson action film such as The Mechanic, Mr Majestyk, Stone Killer, Death Wish or any number of other 1970's/1980's action rolls Bronson took on. This movie is for one third of its running time, a two man show with Alain Delon and Charles Bronson trapped inside a bank vault with little dialogue at times. Honor Among Thieves is one of four 1968 movies Bronson made in Europe after his big break in The Dirty Dozen the previous year. This one was made in France and as such is very typical of the type of movies being made in that time period. Honor Among Thieves is a small scale thriller reliant on characters with little to no action but does show that Bronson as an actor had more to offer than the simple action man roles that he ended up being type cast in. If you enjoyed other non action Bronson outings such as Twinky, Someone Behind The Door or Cabo Blanco then you will probably enjoy Honor Among Thieves also.
This movie has been out on Region 2 DVD for 3 years now under its European title "Farewell Friend". The Region 2 DVD is from a Studio Canal master with an excellent transfer to DVD with an Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen. This Lionsgate DVD has been presented in full screen.
It's good to see semi-respectable studio releases of some of these lesser know Bronson outings on DVD and perhaps Lionsgate may also get the distribution rights with decent DVD transfers for Rider On The Rain, Guns For San Sabastian, You Can't Win'Em All, Telefon or the two Bronson movies Paramount Pictures hold the rights to, When Hell Broke Loose and Villa Rides. This is 2007, 10 years since DVD first hit the market and still we have not seen DVD releases of Run Of The Arrow, Target Zero or A Thunder Of Drums.
Average customer rating:
- The insights of desperation, depressive mood or lack of love!
- Great!
- This film is a powerful concentration of life in a small area of Italy.
- Magnificient Italians in a magnificent film
- Freud could only imagine
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Respiro
Starring:
Valeria Golino ,
Vincenzo Amato (II) ,
Francesco Casisa ,
Veronica D'Agostino , and
Filippo Pucillo
Director:
Emanuele Crialese
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B0000C23T0
Release Date: 2003-10-21 |
Amazon.com
A sunny seaside location and the radiant beauty of Valeria Golino are enough to set the mood in Respiro, a fitfully effective Italian film. Hollywood never quite figured out what to do with Golino, but she blossoms in this story about a sensual wife who's either free-spirited or manic-depressive, depending on your perspective. Her fisherman husband (Vincenzo Amato) finally decides to have her sent away for professional help, which only provokes an even more impulsive act from her. Within this story is a pointed critique of male machismo--Italian style. Director Emanuele Crialese veers between the neo-realist tradition and a more Fellini-esque taste for symbolism, never quite settling on one or the other. But the whiff of classic-era Italian film is welcome, and the seasoned, sun-baked presence of La Golino makes this movie compelling even when its point seems obscure. --Robert Horton
Customer Reviews:
The insights of desperation, depressive mood or lack of love!.......2007-07-10
A small village of fishermen, who live in Lampedusa, a small Italian island, a young marriage; a woman who simply doesn't accept the boredoma and the reduced existential universe, where nothing happens. she needs to be listened, but the level of her demands are quite above the surroinding affective world who involves her. So she has not many options except the sea with its enormous significance of freedom, an existential metaphor where love is just a part of that crisis.
An unusual movie that possesses its own rhthym, slow but rewarding. The sensual beauty of Valeria Golino, the beauutiful island, baked by the sun lights, hovered by the dark cloud of social conventionalisms and lack of perspectives for a recent future in which tomorrow simply will be a simple varaint respect today.
A brilliant film that unavoidably, reminds us to Antonioni, the great master of silences, existential anguish and desperation. There are exquisite images throughout it.
Great!.......2007-06-06
This is a masterpiece...
Good performances, beauty and feelings!
The boy that plays in the film is unbelievable, to much sensitive!
I've liked!
This film is a powerful concentration of life in a small area of Italy........2006-06-17
Although subtitled Grazia's island (Grazia is the lead role, magnificently realized by Valeria Golino), "Respiro" could have well been called "Scenes from rural Sicilian life", as the scenography, cinematography and tableaux-like imagery seem as important to the director as her thin narrative line. Respiro's locale is Lampedusa, a tiny island far off the west coast of Sicily. About the same latitude as Malta, this place is about as remote as it gets - Tunisia is closer than Palermo. It can be safe to say that Italian time here has pretty much stood still for decades; this is Italy of de Sica and Mascagni, not Fellini and Prada. The men go out to sea, the children play, women pack fish, old black-clad crones meddle and the languid summer air of total boredom hangs down from the cloudless sky.
Throughout this film you would probably ask yourself, "Is she really as crazy as the family and neighbors think she is or just free spirited?" It's a fairly typical story, the type that a few great (and many, many average) Italian filmmakers have been serving up for the last three generations - life in the sun drenched rural, ritualistic and tribal south and the saga of one village denizen who dares to break the moulds. How long since "Cinema Paradiso?"
What I like most about the movie, besides the appealing scenery, was the interrelations of the characters, the humor, petty gossips, the impromptu emotional outbursts, the displays of maternal and filial affection. The two boys are tremendous: the older Pasquale (Francesco Casisa) is the more mature of the two. The younger Filippo (Filippo Pucillo) has an unregulated diarrhea mouth filled with hilarious and inspired ravings, often without sense. His rant against the busybody women is a treasure, as is his little-brother-as-big-brother protectiveness of his sister from the policeman-friend. The boy embodies an epic Italianate inflammability far beyond his years. While viewing this I thought the son's affection was overtly and uncomfortably oedipal at times. They do spend a lot of time and energy comforting their mom plus defending her against verbal attacks in the village.
After seeing this film, I have realized that the rural lives by the sea in many countries are similar, the differences are in the languages, but the feelings are same. I enjoyed this film so much I might see it a couple of times.
Magnificient Italians in a magnificent film.......2006-01-07
This beautiful film impacted me at a very physical level. The beauty of the sun baked island of Lampedusa in the turquoise Mediterranean Sea is stunning and elicits images of antiquity. The actors are almost angelic in their beauty. The life of the family and villagers is primal and native, simple and sometimes harsh. There are multiple issues that could be discussed about this film. I will discuss three below:
First, the mother in this story, Grazia, is a functioning manic-depressive who is wild and delightful in her manic stages. Yet, she frightens the town's other residents and she is an embarrassment to her husband, mother-in-law, daughter, and two sons. The overt, primary story line revolves around this woman and the struggle her family endures trying to get her into psychiatric treatment in Milan and then dealing with her mysterious disappearance.
Second, the story explores machismo and male dominance in native village cultures. The father Pietro is often compelled to act in socially prescribed ways, such as demanding complete obedience from his children, beating the children when they misbehave, not allowing his wife to converse with his brothers and buddies, and reacting strongly when his wife puts lipstick on local boys and when oldest son paints his mother's toe nails.
Third, under the primary story of a families reaction to a manic-depressive mother and to the social context of Italy, there is a deeper underlying story of an Oedipal struggle between a father and his eldest son for the love of the mother and the struggle to be her protector. Pietro and Grazia appear to be only around 18 years older than their daughter Marinella and maybe 20 years older than their son Pasquale (who seems to be around 15). The 35 year old Pietro is at the height of lusty manly power and loves his wife completely. Yet when he is pushed by family and neighbors to hospitalize her, it is her eldest son, Pasquale who comes to her rescue. Pasquale is fast leaving the world of boyhood behind and entering the mysterious world of adult sexuality. He struggles with the father, rarely overtly, usually covertly, to save the mother from hospitalization.
It is the resolution of this conflict that begins to dominate the second half of the film and which is the climax of the film. The beauty of the actors and scenery, the basic primal reactions to the struggle for village existence, and the life affirming and basic humanity of this film all come together into a magnificient production.
Freud could only imagine.......2005-10-30
I loved this movie. If I came to it with a literal mind then I would have been perplexed. Steeped in metaphor, it works like a poem, under the skin in a different language other than prose. It works in its images -- the sea, the cave, the feet gathering in water, like babies as they swim. It turns Freud right on his head with a child, a son no less, presenting the mother a cave out of which he will "birth" her. She will swim in the birthing water surrounding by townspeople whose feet resemble so many infants. The mother's death and resurrection are ultimately the salvation of the small minded, controlling town where men have always been at the center of all activity. Thank you for making this beautiful film.
Average customer rating:
- Only connect . . .
- love and compassion for others can be the source of one's emotional strength
- Truly a classic
- Solas
- The story is a tragic one, but told wonderfully.
|
Solas
Starring:
María Galiana ,
Ana Fernández ,
Carlos Álvarez-Novoa ,
Antonio Dechent , and
Paco De Osca
Director:
Benito Zambrano
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
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Butterfly
ASIN: B00009XN66
Release Date: 2003-08-12 |
Description
A powerful and touching story of love and redemption, Solas is a drama of Spanish women whose emotional life is as rich as their surroundings are poor. Maria is a beautiful but troubled woman adrift in a nameless city in southern Spain. She drinks, smokes and steals, desperate for oblivion and angry at the entire world. Emotional rescue comes in the form of her own mother, who comes to stay with her daughter when Maria's father needs surgery at the hospital in town. The mother cooks, crochets and befriends the gentlemanly neighbor downstairs while patiently trying to reach out to her daughter, whose bitterness is no match for her mother's love and devotion.
Customer Reviews:
Only connect . . ........2007-07-31
This is a somber and troubling film, about an angry, single woman in her 30s, whose mother comes to live with her while the older woman's husband recovers from surgery in a hospital. The mother is long-suffering and patient, rarely objecting to her daughter's bitter outbursts, rudeness, and drinking, while not yielding to her pessimism and anger. It is a collision of opposites until the daughter discovers that she is pregnant by an unsympathetic long-haul truck driver. A gray-haired widower with a German shepherd who lives in the same building completes the set of characters, and we wait with considerable patience as the resolution we yearn for eventually plays itself out and brings a measure of happiness for at least some of them. This is a thoughtful film, painful to watch at times, with fine performances, illustrating E. M. Forster's belief that people would be better off if they would only "connect."
love and compassion for others can be the source of one's emotional strength.......2007-01-03
Ana Fernandez played the role of a daughter who was embittered by unhappy relationships with her parents. Living alone in a city, she found herself unhappy and desperate. Trapped in poverty, excessive drinkings, a failing relationship, and employment difficulties, she grew indignant at everything around her. During one of her mother's brief visit, she saw how the love, care, and compassion towards others in her mother could be the source of emotional strength. The discovery allowed her to seek redemptions and find a path towards positive life.
The story-telling isn't perfect, nonetheless it is a realistic, emotionally rich, and highly satisfying movie with superb performances turned in by all the actors. It makes me want to learn more about the director Benito Zambrano, in particular his thoughts and comments on making this movie. Unfortunately this version of the DVD does not provide any extra material, I long for a version that does.
Truly a classic.......2006-08-23
This movie is truly a gem. Of all the best Spanish movies that I've seen this one tops my list. It's a wonderful character study of individuals in desperate situations and how each one confronts them. I found particularly moving the saintly mother. I'd highly recommend this movie to those who also enjoy Mike Leigh's 'Secrets and Lies'.
Solas.......2006-07-05
I have not been able to see this movie becasue the CD is defective.
The story is a tragic one, but told wonderfully. .......2006-03-30
Unfortunately rather overlooked as this film came out the same year as Almodóvar's `Todo Sobre mi Madre' (All about my Mother) this went on to reach fame and glory. However, if you liked Almodóvar's excellent drama you will also like `Solas'. The two films have certain similarities inasmuch that also in `Solas' the accent is very much on strong characterization, profound human feelings, though perhaps a little less intense here than in Almodóvar's film.
"Solas" spends its 100 minute run digging deep into the character of Ana Fernández (Maria), who is magnificent, playing just right the rather confused, unlucky thirty-five year old young woman a bit given to alcohol, not overplaying her part; that bears the scars of childhood abuse at the hands of her father, drinks too much, and works as a janitor. María Galiana as her mother shows even at her age that she has come from good theatre, as no less does Carlos Álvarez-Novoa as the lonely neighbor.
Benito Zembrano - as Almodóver - , not only directs his film but is also responsible for the script, which is truly magnificent, especially taking into account certain Andalucian styles of speech. The Andalucian accent may at times cause a bit of a problem if you know Spanish a fair amount and watch this film without any subtitles. Try it, anyway: it is well worth the effort. An excellent piece of drama which certainly deserves more recognition than it has got. An award winning film hailed by the critics and an exemplar for American Indie makers, "Solas" will appeal most to more mature audiences.
Curiously both films end with a remarkably similar dedication at the end: `A mi madre; a todas las madres' - To my mother; To all mothers.
Average customer rating:
- Someone like Hugh......
- Interesting take on "The PG-13 Romantic Comedy"
- New cow? Old cow? Holy cow!
- 5 stars for Jackman's performance
- Just plain cute...
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Someone Like You
Starring:
Ellen Barkin ,
Colleen Camp ,
Daniella Canterman ,
Matthew Coyle , and
Catherine Dent
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD
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Camp, Colleen
| ( C )
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Friedman, Peter
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Judd, Ashley
| ( J )
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| ( K )
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| ( K )
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ASIN: B00005K3OI
Release Date: 2001-09-18 |
Amazon.com
Despite its foregone conclusion, Someone Like You is an agreeable romantic comedy about how people construct elaborate defenses to cope with emotional anguish. Based on Laura Zigman's novel Animal Husbandry, the movie is purely formulaic, with a heroine's best friend (played here by Marisa Tomei) and other supporting roles that come straight from central casting. Even the lovelorn heroine is standard-issue for the genre, but as emotionally devastated talk-show booker Jane Goodale, Ashley Judd brings intelligent charm to a role that could have been maudlin and pathetic. For a while, Jane is pathetic: after being dumped by her seemingly devoted boyfriend Ray (Greg Kinnear), she turns heartbreak into a hobby, creating self-assuring theories about male behavior based on the mating habits of cows. She comforts herself with the certainty that all men are scum, when really she just can't accept rejection.
Cast adrift, Jane accepts a roommate offer from her womanizing colleague Eddie (X-Men's Hugh Jackman), who's been nursing his own heartbreak with lots of casual sex. You can see where this is going, and actor-director Tony Goldwyn (following his underrated drama Walk on the Moon) doesn't offer any surprises. But Goldwyn is alert to the comedy of human foibles, and the movie peaks when Jane's defenses are down and Judd's appeal shines at full intensity. At her best, Judd makes an average script better than it has a right to be, and while Kinnear perfects his smarmy routine, Jackman matches them both with star-making sincerity. Someone Like You won't win any awards for originality, but it's universal in its comedic sympathy for the brokenhearted. --Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
Someone like Hugh.............2007-09-10
Hugh Jackman is quickly joining Hugh Grant as a lively romantic comedy leading man. What happens when a talk show producer is dumped for the umpteenth time? She decides to study the males species with a ghost column and moves in with her womanizing co-worker. The problem is that both discover they are nursing broken hearts in different ways and of course, chemistry strikes.
Interesting take on "The PG-13 Romantic Comedy".......2007-09-06
"Someone Like You" Starring Ashley Judd, Greg Kinnear and Hugh Jackman is a light romantic comedy that brought a smile to my face. As a 27 year old woman I could relate to the plotline and have had similar experiences and thoughts as Judd's character in the film. A movie any single woman could relate to and get a good laugh the whole way though. Judd's performance was empathetic and charming. I also liked her chemistry with both romantic leads and would have been happy with seeing her end up with either one. Her theory on "cows" and as they relate to humans was incredibly entertaining and at points seemingly true and that is what made the movie so relatable and entertaining....
New cow? Old cow? Holy cow!.......2007-05-14
Awwww, how cute. Unabashed chick flick. Very funny. Very predictable. Greg Kinnear...what a creep he was in this. (and he was so good at it) Hugh Jackman...Lordie he was funny. Ashley Judd..Who knew she could be this funny? The cow parallel was just inspiration. It made no sense, but it was beautiful. This film is a fun way to spend a couple hours with your honey.
5 stars for Jackman's performance.......2007-02-01
The three main actors are perfectly cast. Ashley Judd plays Jane just right; a woman obsessed, yet a sympathetic character (who hasn't become obsessed over a breakup?). Greg Kinnear is perfect as the cheating, lying Ray, especially in the scenes where Ray puts a look of exaggerated emotion on his face, in an attempt to make himself believable.
When Jane moves in with Eddie, arguments are sparked over their respective attitudes towards relationships, but they have no problem coexisting in the same space. There are no arguments over cleaning the kitchen/bathroom/living room, no sniping about who left the front door unlocked, none of the usual friction that occurs between roommates, especially when one of them has lived in the apartment for some time and the other one is a newcomer.
Eddie and Jane, obviously, have different approaches to being dumped. Jane bemoans her fate and tries to find a reason for Ray's behavior in her books about animals. Eddie doesn't look for reasons, doesn't wait for his ex to magically return, and doesn't get into another relationship immediately. We don't know how long it's been since his girlfriend left him, but we know that his grief was so strong, he took an axe and chopped a hole in the wall of his spare room. Very powerful stuff for a man who's supposed to be unable to stay with one woman.
One of the reasons the movie works is that the two main characters learn from each other in recovering from their breakups. Eddie, in particular, draws in his own pain to help Jane with hers. "It's over! Over! Why can't you just let it go?" he asks her.
The real ace here is Hugh Jackman as Eddie, initially regarded by Jane as simply a womanizer, the stuff of legend around the office. Jackman faces a very difficult task in making Eddie not only believable, but sympathetic. The "womanizing coworker" has been done to death in film; Jackman's carefully shaded performance makes Eddie a real person. Eddie is never seen ogling a strange woman on the street, bragging about his sexual conquests, or behaving in any way as though he thinks he's superior to the women he beds night after night. There's nothing sleazy about him, and that's amazing.
Jackman successfully walks a fine line here; the movie is worth it for his performance alone. I wish they'd left the other ending, the one you can see on the DVD. It's much better and it really sizzles, making full use of the chemistry between the two leads.
Just plain cute..........2007-01-18
Hugh Jackman is so handsome, and Ashley Judd is so funny, you will love this movie.
Amazon.com
See a side of Sola you have never seen before! Sexy never before seen shots of Sola! Birth place: Tokyo. Hobbies: Movies & Dancing.
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