Young Aphrodites

Description

This rarely seen classic is available for the first time on DVD! The Greek myth of Daphnis and Chloe is told through the tale of the sexual awakening of two adolescents in a Greek tribe.

Customer Reviews:

an enigmatic, disturbing film.......2007-06-17

This film is a mixture of realism and myth. There are hints of Daphnis and Chloe, but this is not their story at all.

A naive and good young boy (played by a blonde boy of about eleven) travels with a group of sheepherders. At one of their stops, he wanders off and finds a mysterious young girl of about 13 or 14. He falls in love with her, but she plays hard to get and sets tasks for him to do in order to win her. At one point, she teases him wearing a loose garment off one shoulder. There are several shots in which her young breasts are visible, but the twilight is dim. At the end (spoiler coming), an older boy of his group sees the girl, throws her to the ground and rapes her. She screams and resists at first, then throws herself into it. The boy is totally disallusioned, and we see him walking off into the sea dragging the albatross that has been a bond between him and the girl throughout the movie.

That's really it. You make of it what you will, but few people will be able to watch this movie and not have strong mixed feelings of one kind or another.

Average customer rating:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!"
Absolutely boring and pointless
One of the Best Later Comedies
Greek tragedy was never this funny
Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!"

Mighty Aphrodite
Starring: F. Murray Abraham , Claire Bloom , Helena Bonham Carter , Olympia Dukakis , and Karin Haidorfer
Manufacturer: Miramax
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: 6305291470
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com essential video

Mira Sorvino won an Oscar for her performance as a bubbleheaded hooker and porn star who happens to be the mother of a bright young boy adopted by a Manhattan couple (Woody Allen and Helena Bonham Carter). The story finds Allen's sportswriter character becoming curious about the identity of his son's biological mom, and he strikes up a relationship with her without revealing why. This 27th feature written and directed by Allen is a nice combination of smart comedy and some of the wackier energy of his earliest movies. (Between scenes, there's a running gag involving a Greek chorus--actually filmed among some real Greek ruins--who do song-and-dance interpretations of the script's events.) This isn't Allen at his best, but it is a fine minor work graced by Sorvino's spin on the cinema's archetypal dumb blonde. --Tom Keogh

Description

From Oscar(R)-winning writer-director Woody Allen, MIGHTY APHRODITE is a hilarious, romantic comedy set in contemporary New York. "One of the best comedies of the year!" (The Boston Globe) "Mira Sorvino is wonderful!" (Roger Ebert)

Customer Reviews:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!".......2007-07-29

"Mighty Aphrodite" (1995), Woody Allen's hilarious yet moving and surprisingly optimistic film can be viewed as a modern retelling of the ancient tragedy "Oedipus". Like Oedipus in Sophocles's play who became obsessed with discovering identity of his real parents which led to the most horrifying results, Lenny Weinrib (Allen) wants to find the real mother of his and his wife Amanda's adopted son Max who turned to be a brilliant and incredibly gifted boy. The search brings him to Linda, a small time porn star and a hooker with whom Lenny becomes friends and tries to persuade her to change her life. Mira Sorvino as a naive dumb blonde with a high pitch voice is mighty fine and she more than deserved the Oscar for Best Supporting role. She is convincing and very sweet, and there is not a single wrong note in her acting. Once again, I am fascinated by Allen's ability to work with his actors and to bring the best in them when they perform in his movies. Allen was hilarious trying to resist Sorvino's advances in their first scene together. Not to let us forget that we are in the realm of Greek tra-medy, Allen employs the characters from Greek mythology who comment on and even participate in the events. Among then, the blind seer Tiresias who can see the developing problems in Lenny's marriage better than Lenny himself, "Miss Party Pooper", Cassandra who was cursed to always predict the truth but no one would ever believe her, and the ancient chorus whose leader (Murray Abraham) desperately tries to stop Lenny from finding the truth by begging him in the best traditions of Greek tragedy, "Lenny please don't be a schmuck!" :)

Absolutely boring and pointless.......2007-07-22

I had higher expectations of the film. Usually when an actor or actress wins an academy award, I expect their performance to be oscar worthy. Mira Sorvino's performance was anything but, oscar worthy. I guess she just got lucky, and the academy gave her the oscar for best supporting actress( over Elisabeth Shue, who actually deserved to win for her performance in "Leaving Las Vegas").

The movie is about an old man named Lenny (played by Woody Allen), he is a sportswriter as well. He is married to a younger woman named Amanda (Helena Bonham Carter), they decide to adopt a son. As the son grows older he turns out to be a genius. Lenny soon becomes determined to find out who the birth parents are. He goes through hell to get to it, finally he finds Linda Ash(Mira Sorvino), she is actually a porn-star and a prostitute with a squeaky voice. He can't believe it at first, but as he gets to know her he forms a deep connection with her.

The story also in a way is told in the form of the greek play "Oedipus". I kind of felt that Allen was mocking the greek tragedy and adding his own twist to it. Lenny starts to discuss his options with the people who are acting in the play, it is extremely stupid. Meanwhile, Lenny's marriage is falling apart, as Amanda is cheating on him with another man. Their sexual life is drying up as well. The movie turns out to be pointless, Lenny just tries to get Linda out of her prostitution and into a better life, in a way he succeeds.

The movie was just really pointless. Sorry, but it just a coincedence that I just don't like any movie that Woody Allen stars in, because he is just not a good actor. The only good movie that Woody Allen has ever done-that I think so, is "Match Point". I don't understand why all the top critics such as Roger Ebert, and Los Angeles times, are raving about Sorvino's performance in the film. It wasn't that great. There are so many other memorable performances of actresses that portray prostitutes such as Elisabeth Shue in "Leaving Las Vegas", who lost the oscar for best supporting actress to Sorvino. Kim Basinger's performance in "L.A. Confidential" was great and it was scene stealing as well. She played a prostitute who had a warm heart, she deserved the oscar. Woody Allen, I'm sorry to say is just losing his touch in directing. I don't feel that he was any good to begin with. "Annie Hall", was pretty boring I gotta say. As was several of his other films. Personally, if you're a die-hard Allen fan go for this film. But if you like comedies, and you are curious about how the performance of an oscar winner is, don't see this film. Trust me, it isn't worth it.

One of the Best Later Comedies.......2007-04-26

It's easy to break Woody's directing career into three phases. Early career, which would be the seventies movies with Diane Keaton. The mid-career phase was the eighties and early-nineties, including all of the films with Mia Farrow. And late career would be everything after that, up through the latest films with Scarlett Johansson.

Of the later films, this one is often considered the best--though you could certainly make a case for "Deconstructing Harry," or even "Sweet and Lowdown." This one is certainly the best of his later films that might be called a straight comedy.

Woody's experimented with almost every type of movie: slap stick (Bananas), musical (Everyone Says I Love you), fake biopic (Zelig), Fellini inspired (Stardust Memories), Bergman inspired (Another woman), whodunnit (Manhattan Murder Mystery), etc, etc, etc. On this one he found something truly inspired--he blended the elements of Greek tragedy with a Woody Allen comedy--and it worked.

The story here doesn't have the layers of a film like "Hannah and Her Sisters." It's a comedy about a couple who adopt a child. Woody plays the father, and he becomes obsessed with learning about the child's real mother. After building her up in his mind, he's let down to discover she's a call girl, so he takes it upon himself to make her life better, and comedy ensues.

Mira Sorvino won an Oscar for her role, and there is good supporting performances from F. Murray Abraham and Helena Bonham Carter, but what really makes this movie is the idea of a Greek Chorus narrating the tale and gradually taking a larger role then you'll ever find in "Oedipus" as they become more and more involved in Allen's decision making. The movie even ends with the Greek element of a deux ex machina.

Like most of Allen's movies, this may not appeal to everyone, but if you're a fan then you will really enjoy this movie and you need to see it.

Greek tragedy was never this funny.......2007-03-01

This is the last hilarious movie made by Woody. He adopts a kid and the kid turns out to be very bright, so Woody goes on a quest to find the birth mother. Woody is at his peak, my only complaint was Mirs's voice, I heard her speak before and it wasen't this annoying. Other than that you could do a lot worse comedy wise. Enjoy!

Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!".......2006-10-21

So this was the breakout movie for Mira Sorvino, the one that earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1995.

This movie, and Mira Sorvino's performance in it, was so bad that after it was over, I just had to find out who her competitors were for the 1995 Best Supporting Actress category.

Let's see.....according to Wikipedia they were: Kathleen Quinlin ("Apollo 13" - a fairly standard worried-wife-of-astronaut-in-danger role), Mare Winningham ("Georgia" - did not see this one), Joan Allen ("Nixon" - did not see, but how hard can it be to play the wooden Pat Nixon?), and Kate Winslet ("Sense and Sensibilities" - did not see either, but Ang Lee was robbed by the Academy here also).

It only proves just how few good roles there are for women in today's Hollywood that Mira Sorvino could win an Oscar for this sort of performance.

And I was beginning to warm up to her, too - she was great in "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion", and terrific also in "Beautiful Girls".

So, what exactly is so bad about this movie? Here's a brief list:

1. Mira Sorvino plays the entire movie in a high-pitched falsetto that sounds like her voice is breaking. Another reviewer described this as similar to listening to fingernails on a blackboard. Maybe in 1995, because she was new, the Academy didn't realize that this wasn't her real voice and took pity on her....

2. Stupid plot device of the Greek Chorus.

3. Stupid happy ending with a twist.

4. Lots of profanity and dialogue that includes explicit descriptions of sex acts done in pornography movies.....while this movie is not itself a porn flick, the explicit details of the porn industry included in the dialogue definitely makes it NOT a movie for families to watch.

5. Odd sight of a very old and wrinkly Woody Allen (with dyed hair and bald spot) making out with TWO women young enough to be his granddaughters.....all right, so I'm just jealous - Woody still looks gross....

6. Cliched, poorly developed characters, a plotline that goes around in circles, and lots and lots of pointless, unfunny dialogue.

In summary, this movie is bad, bad, bad......

Average customer rating:

This is a CUT version

Aphrodite
Starring: Valerie Kaprisky
Manufacturer: Jef Films/Mvd
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0007GP7QY
Release Date: 2005-03-29

Customer Reviews:

This is a CUT version.......2005-07-31

Dont even bother, just look at the product specs at the running time. The difference between 88 and 90 minutes might not seem like much but for this movie its the whole cake. If I just wanted to see Valerie standing naked in front of a mirror I would download a picture off the internet. What you are looking for is the orgy which contains things rivaling Caligula. Nuf said...

Charlie Rose with Mira Sorvino; Gwyneth Paltrow & Doug McGrath (December 6,1996)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Mira Sorvino; Gwyneth Paltrow & Doug McGrath (December 6,1996)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino speaks about her Oscar win for her role in the film Mighty Aphrodite, attending Harvard University and her new movie Sweet Nothing. Then, At the Lowell Hotel in New York Charlie speaks with actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her director Doug McGrath about her new movie, a film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel Emma

Average customer rating:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!"
Absolutely boring and pointless
One of the Best Later Comedies
Greek tragedy was never this funny
Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!"

Mighty Aphrodite [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

( M ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B00005U1XS

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!".......2007-07-29

Absolutely boring and pointless.......2007-07-22

One of the Best Later Comedies.......2007-04-26

Greek tragedy was never this funny.......2007-03-01

Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!".......2006-10-21

Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century (PAL Version)

Average customer rating:

Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century (PAL Version)

Manufacturer: Customflix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000PTYK8E
Release Date: 2007-04-25

Amazon.com

Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century is a shocking but profoundly psychological investigation into Mars' realm. [Mars... The God Of War.] Experience yourself, how Mars, The God Of War, seduces humans into war through the immense & epic themes that comprise his realm, as well as through the tendency of his archetype towards the continual development of an enemy image. One of the darkest secrets of this human life is that we are easily led into being a warring species. Only by acknowledging and respecting Mars' influence over human affairs, might we be more cognisant of him - and thus avoid the pitfalls he lays across our path and, the epic themes of his realm turned to the advantage of peaceful human life. In Loss Of Innocence, hear about the psychology of war from the most important psychologist & philosopher of our age, James Hillman ? as well as from Shakespeare, Jacob Bronowski and military greats such as General George S. Patton, General Robert E. Lee, General Smedley Butler and General William Tecumseh Sherman. With references to the work of Chris Hedges, J. Glenn Gray, and carried along by the humanistic spirit of great thinkers such as Freud, Fromm, Rogers & Hesse, Loss Of Innocence will unmask your innocence & change the way you think about war - forever. In addition, whilst drawing on classical themes (such as the Greek/Roman myths of Mars, Aphrodite & Athena), as well as current events such as the 11th September (9/11), Loss Of Innocence seeks to educate at one of the most important levels of human experience, that of the psychological. Two and a half years in the making, Loss Of Innocence is far more than entertainment, rather the film is representative of a higher level of distilled knowledge, and as such, is a bearer of the next level of information which the majority of human beings on this earth need to come to understand within themselves, if humanity is to establish a stable and enduring peace. This a PAL version DVD of the film.

Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century (NTSC Version)

Average customer rating:

Essential for pondering on WAR

Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century (NTSC Version)

Manufacturer: Customflix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $9.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000RES664
Release Date: 2007-05-29

amazon.com

This an NTSC version DVD of the film. Loss Of Innocence: War & Peace In The 21st Century is a shocking but profoundly psychological investigation into Mars' realm. [Mars... The God Of War.] Experience yourself, how Mars, The God Of War, seduces humans into war through the immense & epic themes that comprise his realm, as well as through the tendency of his archetype towards the continual development of an enemy image. One of the darkest secrets of this human life is that we are easily led into being a warring species. Only by acknowledging and respecting Mars' influence over human affairs, might we be more cognisant of him - and thus avoid the pitfalls he lays across our path and, the epic themes of his realm turned to the advantage of peaceful human life. In Loss Of Innocence, hear about the psychology of war from the most important psychologist & philosopher of our age, James Hillman ? as well as from Shakespeare, Jacob Bronowski and military greats such as General George S. Patton, General Robert E. Lee, General Smedley Butler and General William Tecumseh Sherman. With references to the work of Chris Hedges, J. Glenn Gray, and carried along by the humanistic spirit of great thinkers such as Freud, Fromm, Rogers & Hesse, Loss Of Innocence will unmask your innocence & change the way you think about war - forever. In addition, whilst drawing on classical themes (such as the Greek/Roman myths of Mars, Aphrodite & Athena), as well as current events such as the 11th September (9/11), Loss Of Innocence seeks to educate at one of the most important levels of human experience, that of the psychological. Two and a half years in the making, Loss Of Innocence is far more than entertainment, rather the film is representative of a higher level of distilled knowledge, and as such, is a bearer of the next level of information which the majority of human beings on this earth need to come to understand within themselves, if humanity is to establish a stable and enduring peace. This an NTSC version DVD of the film. =========== Please note: Loss of Innocence is meant as a psychological & philosophical presentation aimed at education only, and not in any way meant as entertainment. As a potential viewer, you should be aware that the presenation is intense, contains a substantial number of concepts & ideas, and therefore takes a significant effort on behalf of the viewer to keep up with the pace. ===========

Customer Reviews:

Essential for pondering on WAR.......2007-07-14

A profound exploration of WAR as an innate trait of humans and the way it influences any community. A horrible, but real idea: that we all respond to the enticements of Mars of thriving in destruction and killing, and once we have started have little control over its development.I discovered it through Google Video, but I recommend the DVD version to enjoy the quality of the production.

Charlie Rose with Jimmy Breslin; Mira Sorvino (September 19, 1996)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with Jimmy Breslin; Mira Sorvino (September 19, 1996)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Description

Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper columnist Jimmy Breslin discusses his book, I Want to Thank My Brain for Remembering Me, which recounts two years prior, when doctors found he had a brain aneurysm in the very area of the brain that controlled his writing skills. After, Academy Award-winning actress Mira Sorvino talks about her new film, Sweet Nothing, in which she plays a Bronx housewife whose life unravels when her husband turns to drugs.

Average customer rating:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!"
Absolutely boring and pointless
One of the Best Later Comedies
Greek tragedy was never this funny
Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!"

Mighty Aphrodite [Region 2]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

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

ASIN: B00004RYS3

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

"Of all human weaknesses, obsession is the most dangerous, and the silliest!".......2007-07-29

Absolutely boring and pointless.......2007-07-22

One of the Best Later Comedies.......2007-04-26

Greek tragedy was never this funny.......2007-03-01

Awful movie...ditto on "WHAT WAS THE ACADEMY THINKING?!".......2006-10-21

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