Return to Me

Amazon.com

Bob Rueland (David Duchovny) and Grace Briggs (Minnie Driver) have very little in common. Granted, they both live in Chicago and they're both a bit lovelorn, but that's about it. Still, fate has something in mind for these two somewhat-depressed souls (a construction worker and budding artist, respectively), who've both recently had brushes with death--he's a recent widower, she's just recovered from a heart transplant--and are a little more serious than their friends and relatives. After a series of misbegotten blind dates and almost-meetings, though, these two finally get together, and find that they fit seamlessly with each other. Despite their differences, they have a lot in common--in fact, quite a lot. It seems that the heart that now beats inside Grace's chest once belonged to Bob's wife (Joely Richardson), who died in a car crash. Coincidence? We think not.

A gentle, pleasing romantic comedy, Return to Me marks the directorial debut of Bonnie Hunt, an acclaimed actress known most famously for her role as Renee Zellweger's sister in Jerry Maguire. A shining, happy bright spot in whatever role she's in, Hunt has also invested the film with her trademark brand of humor: dry but sincere, sarcastic but not caustic, and with a deep current of humanity and romance. In the midst of all the permutations that fate surrounds them with, Driver and Duchovny make a pleasantly low-key couple; the triumph of the film is that despite all the contrived angst, the romance is never overly saccharine. They provide a quiet center in a film that has a fair amount of chaos in it, particularly due to Driver's extended family of Irish and Italian relatives (which occasionally tips the film into cutesy territory) and most hilariously to Driver's best friend, played by director Hunt . As a harried mother with innumerable kids and a likable oaf of a husband (James Belushi), Hunt again steals scenes effortlessly; Belushi is a comic revelation, better than he's been in years. You'll have the pleasant memories of both of these couples--one falling in love, one together for years--with you a long while after seeing this film. --Mark Englehart

Description

Who knew that when he ordered the special, he d get the dish of his life? David Duchovny ('the X-Files ) and Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting) ignite sparks in this warm-hearted winner (JeffCraig, 'sixty Second Preview ) about a widower and a waitress who meet and fall in love. Featuring an incredible all-star cast, this hilarious romantic comedy delivers a lot of laughs, tears and joysthat will make your spirits soar. It took a lot of cajoling to get Bob (Duchovny), a recently widowed architect, to go on a blind date at a quirky Irish-Italian eatery. Once there, he's smitten instantly not with his date but with the sharp-witted waitress, Grace (Driver). With unsolicitedhelp from Grace's matchmaking grandfather (Carroll O Connor), Bob asks her out. And as their relationship blossoms, everything seems to be going great, until an unbelievable truth is revealed one that could easily break both of their hearts for good.

Customer Reviews:

For those who love romance and animals.......2007-08-29

This movie is wonderfully acted (the "supporting" cast are headliners themselves) and it is a gentle love story...after the first 15 minutes. The first part of the movie is an emotional roller-coaster that grabs your attention. Too, this is a great film for animal lovers (who can tolerate zoos). - Is this a deep movie? No. Is it a movie that will put you and your significant other in a good mood? Absolutely.

Refreshing Sweet Comedy Romance.......2007-08-14

This is a refreshingly sweet comedy romance that is reminiscent of the comedy romances of the past. The performances are endearing and believable. Makes one want to fall in love all over again.

Finally, A Refreshing Movie for Everyone.......2007-05-25

I thought this movie was a delight even though it was one of those "that'll never happen" movies. The whole family can watch and enjoy it, so it was worth every penny. I plan to share it with friends.

Nice couple-in-love or family flick.......2007-05-19

Enjoyable. Bought only because girlfriend likes to re-watch favorite movies regularly (and VHS copy finally broke). Otherwise, would have rented and been fine.

Very romantic... Interestingly modern moral dilemma.......2007-05-12

I admit it I am a fan of both (actually several) stars of this movie. After Minnie Driver's new show on FX the Riches, reminded me how much I liked her, I got to remembering this film, then coincidentally it was showing on broadcast TV the other day when I came home from work and my wife was watching it and told me to order it, so I did, and we watched it with our youngest who also enjoyed it very much.

But this is a very sweet and touching tale with an interesting twist that is strong on a not too subtle metaphor.
Watch this with your sweetheart for a romantic night at home.

Waiting... (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)

Average customer rating:

If you LOVE Dane Cook - avoid this.
Great Film (with the exception of Ryan Reynolds)
Another underated comedy from Ryan Reynolds
WAY FUNNIER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE!
this movie is hilarious

Waiting... (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds , Anna Faris , Justin Long , David Koechner , and Luis Guzmán
Director: Rob McKittrick
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000CPH9PM
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Amazon.com

The bitter, vengeful world of waiting tables gets the Clerks treatment in Waiting.... A new employee (John Francis Daley, Freaks and Geeks) gets trained at Shenanigan's, a banal theme restaurant where the bored employees play a game of flaunting their genitals. The staff includes a snarky waiter (Ryan Reynolds, Van Wilder, The Amityville Horror) who lusts after the underage hostess; a waiter suffering from crippling pee-shyness (Robert Patrick Benedict, Threshold); an oracular dishwasher (Chi McBride, Roll Bounce); and a conflicted waiter named Dean (Justin Long, Dodgeball), who's just been offered a promotion to assistant manager--a job that offers more money, but threatens to trap him at Shenanigan's for the rest of his life. Waiting... is a loose shamble of a movie--the only thing resembling a story is Dean's life crisis--but that's part of its charm. It's a tricky thing to depict tedium without being tedious, but Waiting... pulls it off; some jokes smack of forced sitcom writing, but most of the humor feels genuine, as if it came from writer/director Rob McKittrick's personal experience. A future cult film. Also featuring Anna Faris (Lost in Translation), Luis Guzman (The Limey), and rabidly adored stand-up comic Dane Cook as..a cook. --Bret Fetzer

Description

A hilarious comedy about frustrated waiters, stingy tippers and dicey food, Lions Gate Films' WAITING... stars Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Justin Long as young employees battling boredom at Shenanigan's, a generic chain restaurant. A waiter for four years since high school, Dean (Justin Long) has never questioned his job at Shenanigan's. But when he learns that Chett, a high school classmate, now has a lucrative career in electrical engineering, he's thrown into turmoil about his dead-end life. Dean's friend Monty (Ryan Reynolds) is in exactly the same boat, but he couldn't care less. More concerned with partying and getting laid, Monty is put in charge of training Mitch (John Francis Daley), a shy new employee. Over the course of one chaotic shift, Mitch gets to know the rest of Shenanigan's quirky staff: Monty's tough-talking ex-girlfriend, Serena (Anna Faris), Shenanigan's over-zealous manager, Dan (David Koechner), and head cook Raddimus (Luis Guzman), who's obsessed with a senseless staff-wide competition known only as "The Game"... Featuring crazy busboys, unsanitary kitchen antics, and lots of talk about sex, WAITING... is a hysterical, behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant industry, and an affectionate ode to those lost, and thoroughly unproductive, days of youth.

Customer Reviews:

If you LOVE Dane Cook - avoid this........2007-08-31

I LOVE DANE COOK and I'd like to keep it that way. Unfortunately I watched this movie and it kinda ruined it a little bit for me but he's redeemed himself many times over!!! Not a great flick. See Employee of the Month, Vicious Circle or Tourgasm instead!

Great Film (with the exception of Ryan Reynolds).......2007-07-16

You really have to be in the Restaurant Business to truly appreciate this film.

BTW Ryan Reynolds is a terrible actor and stinks up every movie set he walks onto.

Another underated comedy from Ryan Reynolds.......2007-06-28

This movie is to restaurant workers as Super Troopers was to cops. A very funny movie. Much love to the goat!

WAY FUNNIER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE! .......2007-06-13

It is always a good feeling to watch a movie that you think is not going to be that good and getting more than you bargained for! This movie is pretty damn funny and I laughed out loud many times watching it. Not much plot,just low brow humor at it's best! The DVD has a great transfer and some funny extras.

this movie is hilarious.......2007-04-20

this is a really funny movie. although the guy from the mac commercials is a tool, but he is the lame dude in all the funny movies lately, he sucks, but the rest of the movie sucks. oh yeah and dane cook blows too, i wouldnt of known he was the cook if my brother didnt tell me. but besides those two cakes, the movie is really funny worth buying a cheap copy of on amazon fo shizzle

Average customer rating:

Tonjan Ninja
An unpolished "Jem"!
So stupid it's brilliant!
A New Cult Classic
Truly a low budget masterpiece.

Tongan Ninja
Starring: Sam Manu , Jemaine Clement , Linda Tseng , Raybon Kan , and David Fane
Director: Jason Stutter
Manufacturer: Starz / Anchor Bay
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0001ZX0JW
Release Date: 2004-10-26

Customer Reviews:

Tonjan Ninja .......2007-08-29

This is a funny movie that FOTC; Jemaine Clement, stars in. He won't be nominated for a 'supporting actor' award, but he is really good here. Worth the time to watch, he can dance too...

An unpolished "Jem"!.......2007-07-25

No, it wasn't made in Japan or China. Yes, it is about ninjas.... sort of. No, it isn't subtitled. Yes, it is dubbed (from English to English). And it's altogether as funny as SHAOLIN SOCCER, but in a very different way.

I confess that it wasn't the ninja part that made me want to purchase TONGAN NINJA (2002). (And purchasing it is the only way you'll get to see it in the US -- AFAIK, no film rental company, either local or online, has it in stock.) It was the integral presence of one particular actor-cowriter-singer, and he isn't Asian or even Tongan, though he is part-Polynesian -- Maori, to be precise.

OK, I admit it, it's Jemaine Clement.... that's why *I* wanted to see the film. Now, why would *you* want to see it? Mainly because it's one of the funniest, silliest, most gloriously ridiculous films you've never heard of -- accurately described by a fellow Amazon reviewer as "so stupid it's brilliant".

Apparently, Jemaine and director-cowriter Jason Stutter filmed the whole thing with no sound, then dubbed it over with their own voices -- frequently ad-libbing and occasionally (but not too often) attempting to synchronize the dubbing with the actors' lip movements. In fact, Jemaine dubs *his own* voice, as well as the voice of star Sam Manu, the "Tongan Ninja" himself. The result is -- as Claudius said of Caligula's interpretive dance in drag -- "indescribable"!

The plot centers around a young Tongan man (Sam Manu, dubbed by Jemaine Clement) whose father was tragically eaten by piranhas while stranded on a remote Pacific island (you see how realistic this is already....). Trained by the master of a ninja dojo that just happened to be operating on that remote Pacific island, the young man is sent to the mean streets of Wellington, New Zealand to protect a young Chinese woman from a so-called syndicate (known as the So-Called Syndicate) that's trying to take over her uncle's restaurant. Along the way, he has to battle a variety of video-game type characters known as Knife Man, Gun Man, Nunchaku Man, and finally Action Fighter a.k.a. Marvin (Jemaine Clement, dubbed by Jemaine Clement). The climactic battle scene on the Patio of Doom, alone, is worth the price of the DVD.... not to mention Jemaine's jaw-dropping performance of the opening theme song in full-throttle Elvis mode.

Like the FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS series (Jemaine's most recent work), TONGAN NINJA's humor isn't for everyone -- though they are at opposite ends of the comedy spectrum: FOTC is incredibly deadpan and understated (think some of the more surreal Monty Python routines), TN is incredibly over-the-top silly (think The Stooges meet Stephen Chow). You will either love TONGAN NINJA or hate it. It definitely helps to get into a junior-high mindset before watching it.... remember what you used to laugh at when you were 12 years old, and you will get the most out of the film.

Good on ya, Jem!

So stupid it's brilliant!.......2006-08-05

I started watching this thinking it was just going to be another one of those stupid ninja movies I get bored with after 10 mins and switch off... however, I soon found it was a comedy, and one that was actualy making me laugh and keeping my interest all the way to the end in whats been the most suprising comedy I've seen for a while.

Togan Ninja kicks off in a small charter plane where a guy is taking his son and another kid for a fly around the place, the kid in the back is a bad egg and decides to cut up some wires in the plane which causes them to crash land on an island somewhere in the south pacific. The father is then eaten by piranas and dies and the two kids end up being taken in by a group who then teach them the art of ninja... then 20 years later or so Togan is asked to go to New Zealand to help someone who is having a problem with a ninja syndicate that want to take over her grandfather resteraunt.

This New Zealand comedy is great, its funny in the slapstick kind of way, it's zanel and corney but enjoyable. There is some classic comedy lines, memorable scenes and laughs and is a-ok for the entire family to enjoy. It's a shame it's not a well-known title, it's sure to have been a hit in the comedy rentals if it had've been promoted (better?)

Hearing New Zealand and Australian voices for ninjas is a crack up... in a ninja fight where 100 bad-guy ninjas are circling the good guy and being beaton off one by one, you have to crack up laughing hearing a ninja with an aussie accent say, "step aside ladies, let me have a crack at it"... if that sounds humours to you, you may well just like this comedy!

A New Cult Classic.......2005-03-02

I was blown away by this low-budget, high quality film. While the cast and crew eschew a self-deprecating humor in reference to their own work (don't forget to see the "interviews" after the movie), the viewer's experience is one of appreciation and awe.
The movie does to the martial arts genre what "Airplane" did to mainstream Hollywood films, only better. The plot is a perfect vehicle for the physical humor, and subtly hilarious script of brilliant writers and cast members.
With satirical nods to the great cinema of the 20th century, Stutter keeps the viewer belly laughing while trying not to miss the next joke.
Also, Sam Manu is my hero.

Truly a low budget masterpiece........2004-08-28

I too saw this little gem at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 02 and have been waiting for this DVD ever since. A big audience favorite. I remember watching this movie with absolutely no idea what it was about. As soon as the first actor starting talking, I knew this one was special. I laughed throughout the whole thing. I have never honestly laughed that hard ever. Me and my friend kept hitting each other trying to stop each other from laughing.

Obivously making the best of every buck this sucker never lets up. Everything is done so spot on professionally that you overlook the low budget nature. There isn't much of story but it's so way over the top, witty, colorful, and creative that you can't but help smile at the chaos being thrown up on the screen...Truly a low budget work of art.

Total motivation for aspiring filmmakers who don't have money to spend but have big ideas for movies. This is how it's done.

A definte must see!!!!

Average customer rating:

Alternate view of the universe
White trash humor at it's best - not for the easily offended
Bring TP
Laughs
redneck in the city

Larry the Cable Guy - Health Inspector
Starring: Larry The Cable Guy , David Koechner , Michael Papajohn , Phyllis Alexion , and Tony Hale
Director: Trent Cooper
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000FSME3S
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Product Description

Larry The Cable Guy plays a big city health inspector who's happy with his usual beat of greasy spoon diners. His easygoing life is turned upside down when he's saddled with a straight arrow rookie partner. When his unorthodox methods cost him his job, Larry has to go undercover to bring the conspirators to justice and "Git-R-Done!"

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

The redneck rube from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour franchise plays a character much like himself in this feature, which balances Larry the Cable Guy's occasional excesses in toilet humor with strong comic performances from the supporting cast. Larry plays a dedicated health inspector who gets in over his head when the city mayor (Joe Pantoliano) personally appoints him to investigate a rash of food poisonings at five-star restaurants. Larry's ignorance of anything cultural that doesn't involve his truck or MoonPies proves a handicap, but his knowledge of vermin and disarmingly unabashed way of interviewing witnesses and suspects slowly gets him where he needs to go. For the most part, the movie gives the comedian plenty of room to indulge his gross-out shtick. But it helps to have some other talent on board, notably Tom Wilson as Larry's exasperated boss, Iris Bahr as a dreary new partner Larry thinks is a man, David Koechner as a halfwit friend, Joanna Cassidy as a restaurant owner, and Megyn Price as Larry's shy but headstrong girlfriend. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Alternate view of the universe.......2007-09-05

The title says it all. Larry just sees things from a bit different viewpoint, which is what makes him funny. That, and his willingness to excite our "don't do that" imperative that our mothers tried to teach us. Dad could fart and scratch his butt, but mom said that was nasty and that we weren't to do that. I think that may be the underlying cause for a bunch of the reviews this movie is receiving. Larry's doing his best to tell you that we all pee and fart and that maybe it's time to get over wishing things were different.

All that aside, I used to be a County Health Inspector. If you think this movie is made up, it's not. This stuff, and more, really happens. Larry's just acting it out. No matter how fancy the restaurant, there are things going on in the kitchen you just don't want to know about. I laughed until I hurt watching this movie. You may not.

White trash humor at it's best - not for the easily offended.......2007-08-05

This movie is rude, crude, and lewd. It offends just about everyone. That's what makes it so funny.

In this politically correct society of ours, we need to let our hair down and have fun occasionally. It's ok to laugh at sophomoric jokes every once in a while. Humor is a great stress reliever. It is good for us emotionally and physically. So, lighten up and have some fun.

If you are too embarrassed or ashamed to admit that this is really funny stuff, watch it alone with the curtains shut. That way the neighbors won't know that you can't help but laugh at this movie and possibly ruin your reputation. :)

Bring TP.......2007-07-28

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector is a very funny movie if you like the comedy of Larry the Cable Guy himself. The role model of rednecks will have you chuckling from the opening scene throughout most of the movie. Very dignified viewers are sure to be turned off by the generic plot (replace a rebel cop with a rebel health inspector) and the abundance of flatulence and toilet humor. In the end, its funniness outweighs its weaknesses. Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector doesn't disappoint.

Laughs.......2007-07-02

I rented the movie and now I want to buy it because I laughed through the whole thing. It is full of bathroom and redneck humor so if you are PC and a little uptight you might not like it. I found it even more amusing because I know people that are a little bit like the character Larry. I don't care for a lot of comedians these days because their humor is awkward or lame but Larry is easy going and his humor just rolls off and makes me laugh. It's been a long time since a movie has made me laugh this much so I'm looking forward to more movies by Larry. I might even start going to movies at the theater again. If you like to laugh, aren't to uptight in your humor and aren't looking for an in-depth plot....kick back and enjoy Larry.

redneck in the city.......2007-05-20

Very country, if you don't like country you won't care for this one. Hope he makes another with less city and more woods, a good start however.

Average customer rating:

Really a Disappointment
hoot
Kiddie Conservation
HOOT IS GREAT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
A good movie

Hoot (New Line Platinum Series)
Starring: Logan Lerman , Brie Larson , Cody Linley , Luke Wilson , and Eric Phillips (II)
Director: Wil Shriner
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GB5MH4
Release Date: 2006-08-15

Amazon.com

The natural beauties of Florida find some young champions in Hoot, based on the young adult novel by satirical crime writer Carl Hiaasen. While trying to resist being bullied on the school bus, Roy (Logan Lerman, Jack & Bobby) becomes intrigued by a barefoot boy running frantically along the sidewalk. As he investigates, Roy learns that a nearby construction site is a habitat for a protected species of burrowing owl and that a tough girl at his school named Beatrice (Brie Larson, Sleepover) has some connection with the barefoot boy, who has some connection with vandalism at the construction site. Hoot has been attacked by conservative critics for promoting eco-terrorism--a charge most viewers may find overheated--but the movie's real weakness isn't political but artistic; the clumsy dialogue barely sounds like human speech and the plot takes some hard-to-believe turns. At one point, as part of protecting the burrowing owls and their chicks, a kid releases poisonous cottonmouth snakes onto the construction site; apparently his ecological knowledge doesn't include the feeding habits of these snakes, which eat birds. The colorful scenery and the affable presence of Luke Wilson (Bottle Rocket, Old School) keep the movie alive. Also featuring Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Holes) and singer Jimmy Buffett, whose tropical honky-tonk bubbles up all over the soundtrack. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From Walden Media (The Chronicles of Narnia franchise) and based on the best-selling book, Hoot is a classic story that is fun for all ages. When a boy and his classmates realize that a population of endangered, burrowing owls is threatened by new construction, the kids decide to take on crooked politicians and bumbling cops in the hope of saving their new friends.

Customer Reviews:

Really a Disappointment.......2007-08-26

We rented this movie to watch with our children because we thought it would be educational and entertaining. We ended up having to explain to the children that the behavior of the teenagers in the movie was not proper behavior and not even legal at times. Throughout the movie one of the main characters trespasses on private property, vandalizes a police car by spray painting the windows, steals parts to a bulldozer and then ends up abducting an adult to prevent the demolition of the lot on which the owls are living. In real life any person who did those types of things would be arrested but in the movie it is brushed off and the boy responsible is never even punished. On top of all this the owls are only shown a few times making you wonder why they didn't at least try to insert more footage of the owls since the title is called 'HOOT". If you want your kids to watch a wholesome movie with educational value this isn't the movie.

hoot.......2007-05-16

fun movie for kids and adults. humorous, educational, kids get to triumph over environmental trashers, appealing leads. a relief to find an intelligent movie we can enjoy together that is neither insipid nor loaded with the usual bad language, nudity, violence. hope more of carl hiaasen's books go the movie route.

Kiddie Conservation.......2007-04-28

"Hoot" tells the story of three unlikely heroes, Roy, Bea, and Mullet Fingers (Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, and Cody Linley, respectively), who attempt to thwart the construction of a new pancake house in Florida on land that is inhabited by federally-protected burrowing owls. Young Roy has just moved to Florida with his family from Montana. As is with most tween-aged tales, he's an outcast who gets bullied, picked on, etc. Through a series of funny events he becomes good friends with the bully who bullies bullies, Beatrice, and her tree-hugging brother, Mullet Fingers. Up until the point where the three begin working together, Mullet Fingers has done the bulk of the dirty work at the jobsite by sabotaging contractor Curly's (Tim Blake Nelson) survey stakes, releasing cottonmouths on the property, and a few other things. When Roy enters the picture, evidence is uncovered that will shut down the construction completely. Of course, the main problem is that they are just three kids. Who'll listen to them?

As the story rolls along we get to meet "buffoon-in-blue" Delinko (gamely played by Luke Wilson) and Roy's cool science teacher, Mr. Ryan (Jimmy Buffett). Robert Wagner shows up in a brief but funny role as the city mayor. The cameras also give us a healthy dose of Florida's beautiful beaches and the swamp and her creatures that Mullet Fingers loves so much.

Some have stated that this movie promotes eco-terrorism and they do have a little bit of an honest gripe. What Mullet Fingers does is illegal, but so is what the pancake house is attempting to do. Both sides are wrong in the matter, but Roy's use of the legal system shows the viewer that stealing dozer seats and tearing out specific pages of a document eventually prove to be empty ventures. In short, eco-terrorism ideals are present, but they are shown to not be the solution to the problem.

Unlike a few other reviewers here, I'm glad that the owls received only a little screen time. This only enhanced the fact that they are endangered and worth protecting.

Overall, the movie does a good job of entertaining the entire family. It is somewhat generic as far as tweener tales go, but it is very likeable as a whole. I think I caught only one or two brief slips of the tongue in the whole movie. There's only a little onscreen violence involving a bully and Roy and some hilarious offscreen violence involving Bea and the same bully. The film has plenty of laughs for all ages and the cast does a pretty good job with their respective roles. Families should have no problems watching this one together.

HOOT IS GREAT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT.......2007-03-31

I WAS THRILLED TO SEE A MOVIE THAT WAS JUST LIKE READING THE BOOK! IT WAS FUN & LIGHTHEARTED WITH AN UNDERCURRENT OF ENVIRONMENTALISM. A TRULY ENJOYABLE FILM. HATS OFF TO CARL FOR A WONDERFULLY ENTERTAINING FAMILY MOVIE!

A good movie.......2007-03-13

This is a delightful family film. Some youths fight to keep a Pancake house from being built over the nesting site of protected burrowing owls. One of the boys, Mullet, has already had trouble and must hide from sight while still trying to prevent the construction from taking place. There's plenty of humor thrown in with this serious theme. I especially love seeing Jimmy Beffet play a teacher! He did a wonderful acting job.

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

Average customer rating:

i wanna KILL! KILL!! KILL!!!
Alices Reasturant
Probably Get Slammed
Great document of the times. Less than great movie.
I WANNA SEE BLOOD AND GUTS AND VEINS STICKING OUTTA MY TEETH... I WANNA KIIIILLLL!!!

Alice's Restaurant
Starring: Arlo Guthrie , Patricia Quinn (II) , James Broderick , Pete Seeger , and Lee Hays
Director: Arthur Penn
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000053VAR
Release Date: 2001-01-23

Amazon.com

You can get anything you want there, or so went Arlo Guthrie's song, a lengthy monologue about a Thanksgiving dinner and how its aftermath kept Guthrie out of the Vietnam-era draft. Arthur Penn's movie version, which stars Guthrie, James Broderick, and Pat Quinn, has a shambling, good-natured feel, much like Guthrie's epic tall tale. But as it follows Guthrie's adventures (he gets arrested for improper disposal of Thanksgiving garbage and the arrest renders him unfit for military service, in the draft board's eyes), it also examines the freewheeling nature of relationships in that period--and the toll that freedom took on those relationships. Guthrie is a natural performer, particularly funny during the draft board sequence; but the heart of the film is Quinn and Broderick's troubled marriage. --Marshall Fine

Description

"It is hard to imagine a more beautiful movie" (Time) than this critically acclaimed chronicle of hippie life during the late 1960s, which garnered the acclaimed director of Bonnie and Clyde his second Oscar(r) nomination*. Based on the song by folk music troubadour Arlo Guthrie, son of legendary "Dust Bowl" balladeer Woody Guthrie, this tribute film to "the lost generation" features memorable scenes with other folk artists like Pete Seeger, who join Arlo in song to make a profound statement about war, protest and change. In the late '60s, a changing social and political climate inspired a new generation to create a lifestyle outside of the mainstream. Twenty-two year-old Arlo's journey to find a place for himself and his music includes a visit to his dying father in the hospital, gigs in New York and romps with his friends Alice and Ray, who run a small restaurant in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. And when an incident at Alice's Restaurant plays a pivotal role inArlo's avoidance of the draft, it sends him down a road that he will consider a small price to pay to keep his freedom and his beliefs. *Arthur Penn: Director; Alice's Restaurant (1969); Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Customer Reviews:

i wanna KILL! KILL!! KILL!!!.......2007-03-30

arthur penn directed this very dark comedy which only tangentially touches on arlo guthries classic song. however, arlo is a born natural, and the rest of the cast wonderfully captures some moments of the late 60s (tho, as you listen to arlos frequently hilarious and always astute commentary track, much of the madness was a producers fantasy on how hippies actually behaved). the 20 or so minutes devoted to the events of the song (officer obie, the draft board, &c) are almost a set piece that can be removed from the rest of the film, but this is a movie that deserves to be watched every thanksgiving weekend.

Alices Reasturant.......2007-01-16

I thought the quality of the DVD was good and it was delivered in a prompt manner

Probably Get Slammed.......2006-12-07

I didn't like this film. I heard the song every Thanksgiving and even bought myself a copy. So when I found out about this film I rented it. It is an interesting cultural movie, but the acting is horrid throughout. This isn't a bad film, but for me the actors brought down my enjoyment. It obviously has a lot of fans who enjoy it. My dvd copy was not very clean, a number of pops and crackles in the sound and grainy film stock. I think that they should produce a nice version for the fans.

Great document of the times. Less than great movie........2006-08-31

`Alice's Restaurant', directed by Arthur Penn, following on his great success with `Bonnie and Clyde' is a great bookend to that other 1960's cinematic document, `Easy Rider'. Both movies are less well known for their quality as works of film art as they are for statements of the counter-culture state of mind in the late 1960's.

I saw the movie when it was first released in theaters and I even bought Arlo Guthrie's `Alice's Restaurant' album (his first) when it was first released in 1967. At the time, I was not especially impressed with the quality of the movie; however the thrill of seeing the ceremonial passing of the torch from Woody Guthrie's generation, represented in the flesh by Pete Seeger, to the next generation was really nice, in spite of the irony that Arlo Guthrie was much less a standard-bearer of that torch than the far greater talents such as Bob Dylan, Richard Farina and Phil Ochs. And yet, it was Arlo that managed to capture the spirit of 1960's counterculture dropouts driven less by doctrinal zeal than by simple self-interest.

Like `Easy Rider', `Alice's Restaurant', the movie has a depressing ending, albeit not quite so tragic. If Penn and his collaborators are to be given any credit, it is that they took the sweet little story behind the 15 minute `talking blues' which was the album cut (the full first side of the album of the same name), and expand it into a morality play about great counterculture ambitions and less great drug culture dangers.

The weakest part of the movie may be the fact that at this age, Arlo Guthrie was simply did not have what it took to hold up a major role in a feature length movie. All the heavy lifting in the acting department was done by Pat Quinn as Alice and James Broderick as her husband who, together, were the earth mother and father of a loose band of hippies living, per the song, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. As I recall from the newspaper stories of the day, the skeleton story was almost all true, as there was a real Alice and there was a real `Alice's Restaurant', evidenced by pictures of actresses Quinn standing beside the true to live Alice.

The foreground story, the famous Thanksgiving feast, the disposal of the refuse, the call to the draft board, and the segregation of our hero with the other of society's miscreants is funny enough, but from this distance in time, the background story of the failure of Alice and Ray's little commune is much more durable. It shows how fragile `new' value systems can be, when they don't have all the resources or support of mainstream society.

I watch this movie with great nostalgia for a milieu of which I was a part, and a great longing for the fact that like so many great `60's sentiments, they are preserved only in such greatly metamorphosed form to be almost unrecognizable.

An average movie which captures a distinctly admirable, but ephemeral spirit of years gone by.

I WANNA SEE BLOOD AND GUTS AND VEINS STICKING OUTTA MY TEETH... I WANNA KIIIILLLL!!!.......2006-06-24

This movie was made in the late sixties, which was a time when Rock and Roll was great, but for the most part rock and roll movies weren't so great.
Arlo Guthries ALICES RESTRAUNT may be the exception (maybe one or two others..but anyway).. This movie captures the fun of that classic ARLO GUTHRIE rant, about thanksgiving, littering, and the Draft (and, check out the title of my review, that too). NOW- the live track that A.G. recorded manages to tell the whole story in seventeen minutes, and I have got to tell you, that for the years and years of hearing that tune every Thanksgiving, I had painted a somewhat different picture of the story.
The movie adds a lot of details, and extends the plot somewhat, to make it proper film length. None of this hurts in any way. Arlo Guthrie is very funny in the film (those Guthries were a witty bunch anyway) -and we get a good view of sixties subculture, from a sideview of Guthries counter culture, within a counter culture.
I used to have this on video, but my moms copied over it with the last episode of Seinfeld in the late nineties (der)... I haven't seen the movie since.
Arlo himself wrote a review for this one, asking us to please wait on this release until he releases it himself. MAN... I wanna help, but he wrote that review five years ago.
Well- if you ain't familiar with Alices Restraunt at all, you should get the CD. After all, the original story is told in song, and is capital H hillarious... (especially those mean and nasty father rapers) The movie manages to seperate itself a little from what makes the song great, but in itself, the movie is pretty great too.

Average customer rating:

Christmas Joy
SO GOOD, IT'LL MAKE YA' WANTA SLAP YO' MOMMA!
The second best alternative Christmas classic since A Christmas Story
Better than Next Friday, but not the first.
YYYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH BOY!

Friday After Next (Infinifilm Edition)
Starring: Ice Cube , Mike Epps , John Witherspoon , Don 'D.C.' Curry , and Anna Maria Horsford
Director: Marcus Raboy
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JLQT
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Ice Cube (Barbershop) uses his relaxed, raffish charm to glide through the third movie in his Friday series. As Craig (Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps) sleep in the wee hours of Christmas Eve, a burglar dressed like Santa Claus breaks in and steals their presents and rent. Thus begins a classically bad day full of unsympathetic family members, obnoxious neighbors, squealing pimps, pot smoking, and sexy babes. No one's going to win any awards for this sloppy installment, loaded with preening stereotypes and half-hearted low humor; Cube generally plays straight man and lets the rest of the cast screech, yowl, and contort their faces, their performances as ornate and ritualized as a Japanese Noh play. But if you're a fan, Friday After Next will give you a modest dose of Cube's goofy humor. John Witherspoon and Don "D.C." Curry return as Craig's eternally disgruntled father and uncle. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Sequel. Craig and Day-Day move back into the hood, where they find jobs as security guards at a strip mall. Hijinks ensue on their first day on the job, which happens to be Christmas Eve.

Customer Reviews:

Christmas Joy.......2006-11-01

This movie is too funny, the scene at the abc store and the "sisters". That's all I'm going to say this is a must have in your personal collection it's well worth the money.

SO GOOD, IT'LL MAKE YA' WANTA SLAP YO' MOMMA!.......2005-11-13

"Tastes so good, it'll make you want to slap your momma"!! This is just one the hilarious quotes from "Friday After Next". This is one seriously funny movie. If you don't just bust-up with laughter, then you are probably already dead. Ice Cube and his buddy Mike Epps deliver one Hell of a good Christmas themed comedy. This time around, Ice Cube plays his role to the max, and manages to showcase the "Craig" character in ways not shown in the two previous "Friday" films. Craigs entire family are here, engaged in antics wild and crazy enough to make anyone roll with laughter. The whole "Bro's Bar-B-Q" scene alone, makes this a film not to miss. I watched this film again, while visiting friends in the Philippines. And the Filipinos laughed eved harder than my American friends did! It seems that Ice cube's movies are a big hit all over the world. So I say get yourself a copy of "Friday After Next", and invite some friends over to watch it. This is one movie worth adding to your comedy film collection. Ice Cube always delivers, and this time, he really takes care of business.

The second best alternative Christmas classic since A Christmas Story.......2005-09-08

Having no idea this was a Christmas movie when we rented it, I have a new tradition to pop this and Bad Santa in every Christmas Eve. For a white girl from the suburbs, you can't get much more alternative than this!

Craig and DayDay are living in an apartment a California ghetto. THey endure the typical trials and tribulations of single living - paying the rent on time, working, etc. - but put the urban spin on everything. THeir house is broken into by Santa, their landlady (with a moustache problem that really bothers me) is harrassing them, and her enourmous son has just been released from prison and wants a piece of them. At their jobs at the strip mall we meet an entire separate cast with their family barbeque restaurant ("Bring your big ass down here! Tastes so good, make you wanna slap yo mamma!"), the Holy Moly Donut Shop, and the Pimps n' Hos store. Hilarity unfolds in drug humor, physical comedy, and innuendo.

The pimp at the Pimps n' Hos shop stole the show once he was introduced. The cute little man with the Napoleonic Complex who wants to be a tough guy. It's a scream! With the pink limos, skanks, and urban mentality, this is one rip roaring good time. All I want for Christmas is two fat bitches who smell like cheeseburgers, a bag of weed, and this DVD!

Better than Next Friday, but not the first........2005-09-01

For the second straight time, Mike Epps replaces Tucker, but he plays Craig's (Ice Cube) cousin. Don't get me wrong, he's funny. But come on. Thats Chris Tucker. But anyway, this time the two are owing rent money by the nightfall or the landlords diesel son Damon is going to set them straight. One thing about him. He should try setting himself straight first. The two are security guards in a mini mall and Day-Day (Epps) is taking his job a little too seriously. Until finally they catch two people stealing at the store next door to they're fathers barbeque, they invite the pimp owner to come to they're Christmas Party that night. Unfortunately for him, he runs into Damon in the bathroom and the rest is just crazy. Many funny parts, but still think it could've been funnier with Tucker.

YYYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH BOY!.......2005-07-10

This is what I was waitin for. It wasn't better than the first one but it put the second to shame. The story was funny to me. A black santa robbin the neighboorhood, that s*** is crazy.The pimp had me laughin half to death son. And pinky is as crazy as ever. This could'nt match the greatness of one. But its still a good movie. The soundtrack was trash though and there where a couple of songs in the movie that wasn't on the soundtrack, that's some bs.

Average customer rating:

Waiting...

Waiting... (Unrated and Raw) [Blu-ray]
Starring: Don Brady , Pat Hazell , Wendie Malick , Luis Guzman , and Alanna Ubach
Director: Rob McKittrick
Manufacturer: Lionsgate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: Blu-ray

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ASIN: B000PMGS6S
Release Date: 2007-07-17

Description

Always remember the cardinal rule of eating out: Never mess with people who handle your food! Ryan Reynolds (VAN WILDER), Anna Farris (the SCARY MOVIE series) and Justin Long (DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY) star in this hilarious comedy about the band of mischievous waiters, waitresses and cooks just waiting to show guests how extraordinary the service at ShenaniganZ restaurant can be.

Customer Reviews:

Waiting... .......2007-08-26

this movie has me laughing the whole time I've seen it 5 times already, a must have for anyone who ever eats out.

Waiting... (Two-Disc Full Screen Edition)

Average customer rating:

funny
I'm still waiting
Incredible

Waiting... (Two-Disc Full Screen Edition)
Starring: Don Brady , Pat Hazell , Wendie Malick , Luis Guzman , and Alanna Ubach
Director: Rob McKittrick
Manufacturer: Lions Gate
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000CPH9Q6
Release Date: 2006-02-07

Customer Reviews:

funny.......2007-08-23

hilarious movie with lots of laughs but it makes you not want to go to a restaurant for awhile :)

I'm still waiting.......2006-07-20

Workplace comedies are something that strike a chord in us all -- most people have held less-than-glamorous tuition-paying jobs, and sometimes resented the people we have been forced to deal with politely. No tips. Annoying coworkers. Twerpy customers who just don't get it, at all.

That's the main idea of Rob McKittrick's "Waiting...", a pale imitation of Kevin Smiths' breakout film "Clerks." It could have been a delightful comedy in the vein of "Office Space," but alas, we get a pale, rather cliched comedy with a few gem-like moments.

Mitch (John Francis Daley) is starting his first day on the job at Shenanigan's, and he rapidly learns that the ropes are tangled and grubby. There's a philosophical dishwasher (Chi McBride), a smart-aleck, the nice guy with issues, a snarling dominatrix, and a sexpot waittress. And that's only the beginning...

Though Shenanigan's seems normal, there are drunken parties, crazed employees, and food seasoned with dandruff. With disdain for the customers and for each other, the employees spar, stare, and make jokes that will instantly offend gays, women and people with Down Syndrome. Can Dean (Justin Long) manage to get a decent job, or will he sink into the mire of Shenanigan's kitchen?

Anybody who has ever worked a minimum wage job like this will know that it's a gold mine for comedy. I myself have fond memories of a coworker going ballistic when a customer demanded that she spread the cream cheese for him. Unfortunately, that kind of delightful comedy isn't present. Instead, we get armpit-noise-level stuff -- bodily substances being spread on food, and so on.

Even crude films can be funny... but this one isn't. It's just moronic. McKittrick tries to spice it up with stuff like the "Penis Game" and workplace Lolitas, but it's a bit like trying to rescuscitate a week-old dead moose. Even the name of the restaurant is lame -- okay, Shenanigan's, we get it. The place has shenanigans. It's not really very funny anyway.

The characters are all cliches of the slacker worker, and they are so uniformly nasty that you really hope they rot behind those counters. It's a credit to the actors that they manage to inject any humour at all; Daley of "Freaks and Geeks" fame is the most entertaining character of all, and the only one that shows a spark of life.

The only thing that could be as bad as working at Shenanigan's is watching a gross-out comedy full of obnoxious stereotypes. You won't laugh. You'll just leave feeling bitter and queasy.

Incredible.......2006-01-12

This is an incredible movie. I saw it in theatres the day it came out. I have my phone alarm set for the minute I get out of school on Febuary 7th (when it comes out on DVD) to go get it.

BUY IT

Average customer rating:

A Very good story
Haunting, beautiful movie
Handsomely crafted WW2 romantic intrigue
Gloomy Sunday
An unforgettable, achingly beautiful masterpiece of cinema

Gloomy Sunday
Starring: Erika Marozsán , Joachim Król , Ben Becker , Stefano Dionisi , and András Bálint
Director: Rolf Schübel
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GB5M10
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Amazon.com

The magic of music, the power of love, the evils of money, and the horror of genocide are the weighty themes tackled in Gloomy Sunday, a moving German-Hungarian film from director/co-writer Rolf Schubel. Released theatrically in 1999, it's said to have been "inspired by actual events," and it is true that the title song, written in the '30s by Rezso Seress (with Hungarian lyrics by Laszlo Javor), was a worldwide hit in its day; it's also a fact that the song has since been covered dozens of times, by artists ranging from Billie Holiday to Bjork and Elvis Costello. As for the suggestion that "Gloomy Sunday" was banned after being connected to multiple suicides, including the composer's, that's a bit more dicey. In any case, it plays a pivotal role in the love story set in Budapest during the ascension of the Third Reich and the onset of the Holocaust. Restaurant owner Laszlo (Joachim Krol) is in love with Ilona, his hostess (Erika Marozsán), a dark-eyed beauty who plays men as easily as Horowitz plays "Chopsticks"; she loves him as well, but that doesn't mean she won't welcome Andras (Stefano Dionisi), the restaurant's new piano player, into her bed as well. Everyone seems to handle that with admirable equanimity, at least until the young German Hans (Ben Becker) inserts himself into the scene. Having been rejected by Ilona, Hans throws himself into the Danube, only to be rescued by Laszlo; when he assures his savior that "We'll meet again," we know that's not necessarily a good thing. Indeed, when Hans returns to Budapest, he's a Nazi colonel. Things get hairy in a hurry after that: Laszlo is Jewish, Ilona still doesn't want Hans, and we're left to discover if the German officer is either another Oskar Schindler or a heartlessly venal criminal loyal only to himself. All of this is played out against the backdrop of a lovely city, with costumes, art direction, and a palette of rich, warm colors creating a convincing period feel. The DVD has no bonus features, but a cursory search of the 'net will turn up multiple versions of the title tune, a sweet but melancholy melody that sounds, as one character puts it, "as if someone were saying something you don't want to hear" but know to be true. --Sam Graham

Description

Gloomy Sunday, winner of major German film awards and an art-house favorite that ran 70 weeks in Boston, hits all the right notes with its poignant, glowingly shot tale set in Budapest during the Holocaust and, like Schindler's List and The Pianist, filled with the passion and pain of that tragic era. The song itself - recorded by Billie Holliday and other greats - is the stuff of legend, reportedly having a fateful real-life impact similar to that shown on screen. But it's love's power that is ultimately at the heart of this acclaimed film. And from the opening scene to the deft twist ending, that power is extraordinary.

Customer Reviews:

A Very good story.......2007-08-02

Left the world outside and enjoyed this movie.It is set on the backdrop of the nazi atrocities.An insight into the lives of four peaple who met at a restaurant at the outbreak of world war two. I found this movie to be very sweet,sad, sexy and moving. Would recomend it and give it 5 stars.

Haunting, beautiful movie.......2007-07-27

I've never liked a movie enough to be motivated to write a review. The other reviewers have captured the themes, so I won't repeat them. It's a very emotional movie, capturing both the joy and sorrow in the midst of World War II and the Holocaust. There aren't many movies worth watching twice; this is one of the very few I've seen in the past decade.

Handsomely crafted WW2 romantic intrigue.......2007-04-24

GLOOMY SUNDAY is the name of a bittersweet song that drives listeners to suicide in World War Two Hungary. And as more people hear the song, more and more people kill themselves and also flock to a Budapest restaurant to listen to the song played on a piano. GLOOMY SUNDAY is also the title of a handsomely crafted and intelligent, fact-based 1999 German film from director/co-writer Rolf Schubel. It has a compelling blending of CASABLANCA, SCHINDLER'S LIST, and Polanski's THE PIANIST, as a Jewish waitress named Ilona (Erika Marozsan) is romantically torn between the restaurant's Jewish manager Laszlo (Joachim Krol), the German pianist Andras (Stefano Dionisi) who composes "Gloomy Sunday", and a Nazi commandant named Hans (Ben Becker). (The song was really composed in the 1930's. I am not sure when Billie Holliday scored a vocal hit with it in America.)

But then Hans attempts suicide and is saved by Laszlo around the same time that Nazis invade Hungary and flock to the Budapest restaurant. They, too, are fascinated by this piano tune that drives people to destruction. The Nazis, especially Hans, get romantically involved with Ilona and pretty soon are trading sexual favors in exchange for freeing Jews headed to Auschwitz. The movie becomes an intoxicating blend of romance, suspense, and despair. Schubel's film is, according to the back of the DVD box, an art house blockbuster that ran 70 weeks in Boston (!).

Who will be alive at the end of GLOOMY SUNDAY? Certainly Ilona as our heroine. But I believe we have a prologue and epilogue here that is set decades after the war--and still in Hungary. The film supposedly has a twist ending, which I don't understand. But it is always a gorgeously made movie, lushly photographed by Edward Klosinski, designed by Csaba Stork and Volker Schaefer, and costumed by Andrea Flesch. Written by director Schubel and Ruth Toma, this powerful and romantic movie is in German with English subtitles. Unrated; I would give it an "R" for sex scenes with full nudity and Holocaust violence. It is for adult audiences, not children.

Gloomy Sunday.......2007-01-31

In my friendship circle this has become a "cultfilm".. to view again and again. It is well acted, supspenseful and with great emotional feelings. characters are well developed and the scenery is fabulous. The back ground of World War II is scary and believable. I highly recomment it.
Leona Biddle

An unforgettable, achingly beautiful masterpiece of cinema.......2006-11-21

Gloomy Sunday (Ein Lied von Liebe und Tod) is a hauntingly beautiful gem of a movie, a unique blending of romance, drama, and tragedy all compressed under the oppressive weight of history. This film lives and breathes, transporting you back to 1930s Budapest with beautiful cinematography, a fascinatingly brooding musical score, and the most human of characters. Released in 1999, I have no idea why this German-Hungarian film took so long to make its way to American audiences or why it was not rewarded with an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Those of us fortunate enough to have seen it have certainly appreciated it. Just asks the folks in Boston, who kept the film running for a record-breaking 70 weeks in 2004-2005. If you have a heart and soul, this film will touch and haunt them both for a long, long time.

The title refers to a song written by one of the characters, but the historical reference is to a song by Hungarian composer Rezso Seress which became known, especially in America, as the Hungarian Suicide Song. Supposedly, many souls took their own lives after basking in the emotional power of this melody, but there is virtually no corroboration for the stories that have grown up around it. (One should keep in mind that the era of the 1930s was a time of worldwide economic depression, in which the Nazi menace cast its foreboding shadow over Europe and eventually the entire world.) In the film, Gloomy Sunday is basically a love song, written by a pianist named Andras (Stefano Dionisi) for the absolutely captivating Ilona (Erika Marozsan). Ilona is the hostess of an elegant restaurant in which Andras finds employment as an in-house pianist. He falls for the dark-eyed beauty just as Laszlo (Joachim Krol), the restaurant owner did, and the three soon develop a strange but very close relationship. Jealousy sometimes arises, as Ilona shares herself with both me, but both Andras and Laszlo would rather share her than lose her. I should point out here that Ilona in no way comes across as a loose or in any way disrespectable woman. She's an angelic creature, a woman with whom men constantly fall in love, including a shy, awkward German youth named Hans Wieck (Ben Becker), who leaves Budapest broken-hearted but returns several years later as an important Nazi colonel.

Laszlo, Andras, and Ilona grow ever closer over these same years. Andras finds instant fame as the composer of Gloomy Sunday yet still struggles to understand just what his song is trying to say. When he despairs over the staggering numbers of suicidal men and women who left life serenaded by his mysteriously cursed song, Laszlo and Ilona are there to rescue him emotionally. Their mutual bond is eternal and true. All too soon, however, the trio's strangely enchanted world begins to come apart. The restaurant is still prospering and "the song" is still being played every night by popular demand, but the arrival of the Nazis in Hungary casts an increasingly foreboding shadow on the lives of these incredibly captivating characters. Fear takes on a palpable presence in their lives as Jews are rounded up and transported to concentration camps. Only Hans affords them, especially Laszlo (for he is Jewish), any kind of safety net in this oppressive and increasingly dangerous environment.

The dogs of greed, betrayal, and pure evil inevitably come to have their day, making for an emotionally jarring final half hour of this film. The subtlety with which the most painful blows strike only makes the tragedy all the more intense - and instructive. That subtlety carries over to the ultimate conclusion, which could not have been presently more effectively.

I could go on and on about the unsurpassed strengths and natural beauty of this film, but words can never communicate my true passion for this film. Gloomy Sunday approaches cinematic perfection, in my humble opinion, and I would urge any and every person to experience its emotional power for himself/herself.

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