Shane

Amazon.com essential video

Consciously crafted by director George Stevens as a piece of American mythmaking, Shane is on nearly everyone's shortlist of great movie Westerns. A buckskin knight, Shane (Alan Ladd) rides into the middle of a range war between farmers and cattlemen, quickly siding with the "sod-busters." While helping a kindly farmer (Van Heflin), Shane falls platonically in love with the man's wife (Jean Arthur, in the last screen performance of a marvelous career). Though the showdowns are exciting, and the story simple but involving, what most people will remember about this movie is the friendship between the stoical Shane and the young son of the farmers. The kid is played by Brandon De Wilde, who gives one of the most amazing child performances in the movies; his parting scene with Shane is guaranteed to draw tears from even the most stonyhearted moviegoer. And speaking of stony hearts, Jack Palance made a sensational impression as the evil gunslinger sent to clean house--he has fewer lines of dialogue than he has lines in his magnificently craggy face, but he makes them count. The photography, highlighting the landscape near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, won an Oscar. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

Best Western ever.......2007-09-04

Whenever Shane comes on TV, my wife groans because she knows there is absolutely nothing she can do to prevent me from watching until after the climactic shoot-out at the very end. Fortunately we have 2 TV sets, so she can watch something else. I have a short list of 18 movies I never get tired of seeing. Shane is the only western on my list, though I've seen all the other obvious contenders for best western. But this one grabs me and never lets go. Some of the reviews below do a good job of explaining why.

Shane.......2007-09-02

You don't hear about one hit wonders in acting careers too much, but that could certainly be the case with Alan Ladd is Shane. The films fine pacing and direction is delivered by "multiple hit" director George Stevens and he is perhaps the reason why the film worked so well. Van Hefflin, Jack Palance, and Brandon De Wilde add their own signature elements which highlight the film along with the photography of sultery scenery.

One of the all-time great westerns.......2007-08-14

A true classic; everything works perfectly. An outstanding script & direction that gradually builds to the inevitable & gripping climax, magnificent scenery & cinematography, top-notch performances by all the actors and a stirring soundtrack. I read the book 1st & in it Shane is himself very much like the Jack Palance character but he makes a conscious effort to turn his life around & change his ways forever. Alan Ladd portrayed him as a good-guy gunfighter with Roy Rogers buckskins & pearl-handled nickel-plated pistol. But Ladd played the hell out of this role so it must be admitted that this was a change for the better. He played Shane as a noble, wise & world-weary knight-errant & this turned out to be an excellent choice for the movie version of the character. As noted above, all the performances are right on the money. My personal favorites are Jack Palance and Ben Johnson & even the ranchers are given redeeming qualities so everything is not so clearly defined as it might appear at 1st. The story itself is very simple but there are many underlying subtleties that enrich every scene. The attraction between Shane and Marion, Joey's hero-worship of Shane & Shane's desire to pass on the best qualities of his experience coupled with his aversion to inspiring the boy into following his example. These are just a couple instances - watch the movie from start to finish & you'll appreciate all the ingredients that went into this wonderful film. I fall for all the sentimentality each & every time I watch it. One of the best movie endings of all time - a true tear-jerker when a wounded Shane rides off into the mountains to die all alone while the boy calls after him to come back. Any western fan needs this in their film library - it will stand up to repeated viewings, believe me.

SHANE-THE WAY WESTERNS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE MADE.......2007-08-13

Does not get much better than this; I can watch this movie over and over. Action, good versus bad, young kid and a side line love story. I can just imagine what the story lines would be for this movie if it were made today. The location for the movie is unbelievable, I wish I could have seen it on the big screen. The movie is shot in the Tetons, in Wyoming I believe. I could watch this movie over and over. If you like westerns and have never seen it, do you self a favor and watch it. A good old fashion western, great ending.

Shane Review.......2007-08-09

This is one of the greatest westerns of all time...right up there with Gary Cooper's "High Noon" and John Wayne's "The Searchers". I've seen Shane about a dozen times and have to subdue myself from advancing to the fight scene with character actor Ben Johnson. Top notch movie...top notch DVD.

Average customer rating:

Magnificent-Looking, Solid Western
Pleased as punch.
Format
EXCELLENT
Great western!

Crossfire Trail
Starring: Tom Selleck , Virginia Madsen , Wilford Brimley , David O'Hara , and Christian Kane
Director: Simon Wincer
Manufacturer: Warner Brothers
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JXI9
Release Date: 2001-07-10

Amazon.com

There are unmistakable pleasures to an old-fashioned Western, and Crossfire Trail has 'em. Tom Selleck has a lean, weathered face that sits nicely atop a horse and beneath a broad-brimmed hat; he plays a canny cowboy who's come to make good on a promise to a dying man and ends up caught between a beautiful woman (Virginia Madsen) and a wicked man in black--a couple of them, actually. Crossfire Trail has just about every element you could ask for (a Sioux war party, a cruel hired gun, a shootout in the street, even a cattle stampede), but it spins them out with such clean efficiency that you can't help but enjoy it. Directed skillfully and with heart, Crossfire Trail will satisfy any Western fan. Based on the novel by Louis L'Amour; also featuring Wilford Brimley and Mark Harmon. --Bret Fetzer

Description

A restless wanderer makes a promise to a dying friend to help the man's widow and daughter hold onto their ranch in the lush but lawless Wyoming Territory. But when oil is discovered on the land, the unsuspecting hero must contend not only with the two women who are suspicious of his motives, but also with ruthless men plotting to seize the ranch. Based on the novel by Louis L'Amour.

Customer Reviews:

Magnificent-Looking, Solid Western.......2007-09-13

This was an excellent western that was beautifully photographed. This looks absolutely stunning on DVD and provides some of the prettiest scenery I've ever viewed on film.

With Tom Selleck in the lead and supporting help from Virginia Madsen, Wilfred Brimley, Mark Harmon and others, this is a good cast for this made-for-cable TV movie. Selleck does his normal excellent portrayal of a rugged cowboy.

Overall, a good movie and highly-recommended for western fans. I see Amazon has this on sale, too.

Pleased as punch........2007-08-25

Once again I was very pleased with Amazon's service and product. Arrived in pristine condition and in a timely fashion. Great movie.

Format.......2007-03-03

This is a great movie. I try to get most of his movies. However, I will not be buying this one because it is listed only in Widescreen.

EXCELLENT.......2007-02-10

Tom Selleck was born to be a "Western" star. Excellent movie! I highly recommend it to any fan of western genre films.

Great western!.......2007-01-22

Based on a Louis L'Amour novel, Tom Selleck is convincing as a cowboy named Raif who keeps a promise to a fellow sailor, Charles Rodney, by helping his widow hang on to her ranch and keep an eye on the widow as well. But a rich scoundrel has plans to talk the widow into marriage and get the ranch for himself. What he doesn't tell her is that he's responsible for her husband's death. Things get real tense for Raif and his friends as the expose the rich man for the cheating liar he is. A well written screenplay adaptation and lovely scenery. The dialogue is also superb (I especially love the Irishman's jokes).

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

Average customer rating:

Someone give me a match
Bug Is In Your Future
A Visceral Experience where Madness is the True Horror
Its hard to rate this movie
creepy and crawly

Bug (Special Edition)
Starring: Michael Shannon , Ashley Judd , and Jr. Harry Connick
Manufacturer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000T5O48K
Release Date: 2007-09-25

Description

A lonely waitress with a tragic past, Agnes (Judd) rooms in a run-down motel, living in fear of her abusive, recently paroled ex-husband (Connick Jr.). But when Agnes begins a tentative romance with Peter (Shannon), an eccentric, nervous drifter, she starts to feel hopeful again - until the first bugs arrive...

Customer Reviews:

Someone give me a match.......2007-09-13

This movie blows in ways I didn't think possible as far as horror movies go it has the essentials it's just a terrible movie. By the time I got to the end of this film I had wished someone had drowned me in gasoline and lit the match.
It started out with alot of promise but strayed and went to some far away land where nothing makes sense.
I just wish I could get the time I wasted watching this turd back.
I'm not sure but it wouldn't surprise me if Linos Gate isn't behind this horrible excuse for entertainment over the last couple of years Lions Gate has been flooding the market with more garbage than a landfill.
I didn't and can't remember seeing a single bug, I get the whole it was all in his mind but how did it get in her mind I just wish I could get the memory of this lame excuse of a film out of my mind.
None of it made sense were they independantly wealthy? how did they pay the rent? where did they get all the tin foil? and what kind of doctor toots away on a crack pipe? DUMB!!! DUMB!!!
I'm Done...

Bug Is In Your Future.......2007-08-27

This is a classic film. Anyone who says otherwise, just didn't get it. What this film depicts is the decent of two individuals, both with troubled pasts, into madness - and a fairly accurate portryal of madness at that (the two main characters could easily be diagnosed with Shared Psychotic Disorder). Ashly Judd does an amazing job of buying into her mysterious new man's delusional world of bug infestation, and it only gets better as the film progresses. And the ending is classic - right up there with Requium For A Dream, in my opinion. Run, don't walk to rent or buy this film the day it comes out!

A Visceral Experience where Madness is the True Horror.......2007-08-15

**No Spoilers**
I read nothing but negative things before watching the new psychological thriller Bug--as a critic, it's hard to go see a film with neutrality and an open-mind. Bug works because of its exploration of paranoia, brainwashing and psychosis. Yes, it does start slow with long explanations and dialogue. But like small drops of rain before a thunderstorm, it becomes a visceral experience where madness--neither gore, nor CGI--is the true horror. Think of it as a Twilight Zone episode on steroids.

Story:
Agnes White (Ashley Judd) is a divorced woman who lives in a remote motel. She is lonely, depressed and always afraid of her ex Jerry (Harry Connick Jr.) who just got out of jail--he harasses her all the time. She also works as a waitress at a local bar, where she hangs out with her lesbian friend R.C (Lynn Collins). One night, they decide to hang out in her motel room and R.C brings a new friend called Peter (Michael Shannon). Agnes is attracted to him right away--his unusual personality and view of the world is something new to her. They become romantically involved--despite her ex--and share deep and painful secrets about themselves. She doesn't know that Peter is the new man who will change her views of the US government and the world.

Review:
The movie is based on play by Tracy Letts and directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist). Bug is not about little roaches or a giant praying mantis. The movie has a deeper meaning than that. It deals with the human psyche, conspiracy theories and power to persuade people. This is where the horror comes from. The beginning might be slow for some fans of the genre--there are long conversations and some character development--but then the action begins once the paranoia penetrates their minds. The small motel room becomes a self-contain universe where madness reigns.

Other good attributes of the film is the acting. Judd and Shannon did an excellent job, especially towards the end of the film, where they commit strange and terrible things to each other and others. Some scenes are very disturbing.

Despite its excellent highlights, Bug has some silly moments. The love scene is probably one of the worst I have ever seen--it's not sexy at all and has this weird "bug" view. Some of the nudity is unnecessary. Also the logic is not the best thing here. I couldn't understand why Agnes was so easily convinced by Peter. Why did she follow him so blindly? Perhaps his personality and strange philosophy are the ingredients.

The Verdict:
Bug is one of the best horror movies we've reviewed this year. It has great moments of psychosis, paranoia and crude violence. It drags for the first act, but it picks up to an explosive finale that will please most of the fans of the genre.

Its hard to rate this movie.......2007-08-08

My girlfriend said that it was a mess of a movie, not much making sense and basically a car crash with some interesting moments. Myself, i liked the movie more because i enjoy strange, weird , and not your average summer blockbuster(which are for the most part disappointing). Its up to yourself to give this movie a try, for nothing else its a different ride.

creepy and crawly.......2007-08-06

Great eerie terror flick, that will have you glued.Ignore bad reviews,these people trash bodycount movies for unoriginality and then trash a good original movie like this when they finally get it!

Average customer rating:

Too long but....
postamn dvd
what is important enough to hope for? does it matter if it is true?
The critics are idiots!
Ignore the Critics

The Postman
Starring: Todd Allen , Scott Bairstow , Annie Costner , Charles Esten , and Shawn Hatosy
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 0790736500
Release Date: 1998-06-09

Amazon.com

Falling from the Oscar-winning glory of Dances with Wolves to the opposite end of the critical and box-office scale, Kevin Costner must have been deeply humbled when this three-hour postapocalyptic tale--his sophomore effort as a director--was greeted with a critical thrashing and tepid audience response. One of the most conspicuous flops of its decade, the 1997 release must have seemed like a sure thing on paper: a kind of futurist Western starring Costner as a charismatic drifter-turned-hero who leads the resistance against a military tyrant (Will Patton) by reviving the long-dormant postal system to reunite isolated communities in their fight for freedom. The movie bombed, but, like many audacious failures, it's got qualities that make it at least partially endearing, and its earnestness (although bordering on corny) keeps it from being entirely silly. Faint praise, perhaps, but Costner's ode to patriotism is occasionally stirring and visually impressive. The dual-layered, widescreen DVD includes a documentary segment about the creation of the film's special effects sequences, featuring a running commentary by the special effects creators. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Too long but...........2007-09-04

We watched this movie again yesterday, and just like I remembered, it is too long. But I still like it better than the book, which I also liked with reservation.

Here's the thing, you don't have to pay over-much attention of this film to get the good part, which for me, is the message that people need hope, and more than that, anyone who helps give hope to others is a hero.

But that's just me.

postamn dvd.......2007-08-03

I really enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it. I have been looking for it ever since. I would reccomend this movie. I love Kevin Costner movies and feel this is a good movie.

what is important enough to hope for? does it matter if it is true?.......2007-07-19

movie review -- the Postman
I saw it when it first came out, had the opportunity to watch it again this evening.
It's the motivation for hope that interests me most about the movie

The movie is about hope, the kind of hope and strength that comes from believing in something worthwhile and greater than yourself and your immediate gratification.
What is curious is that the plot really proposes a hope in hope, akin to the modern ideas of a faith in faith itself. The content of either is really kind of unimportant, the only thing that seems important is the strength with which you hold to the hope or faith.

He is a fraud. A mild con man, out for a meal and a warm place to sleep. The post system is build by a teenager with a strong hero worship and a great imagination. He too is a fraud, making up letters from the postman to set rules and motivate the postal riders. In some magic way this hope in hope, this faith in faith, transmogrifies itself into a heroic army that sweeps down on horseback to blow the bad guys away. phoey! doesn't it matter if people believe a lie or believe the truth? isn't the content of hope, the object of faith important?

It is a clever plot with enough action and adventure to involve people in watching it. It's not a bad movie, but it really is indicative of the current mentality that faith, hope and love will conquer all, no matter what the content of either is. The orange army, the bad guys, had hope as well. Hope to live another day, hope to watch the flicks that night, and the hope for some loot in raiding the rest of the devastated and depopulated countryside. The leader, the general of the bad guys really had the most hope of all-hope that he would rule and impose his will on everyone around him and knock down anyone who dared stand up to him.

I propose that the object of love, the reason for hope and the content of faith is important. Many of the most motivated and evil people that ever lived had lots of hope, lots of faith, often in themselves and as much love as the next guy. I suppose that those men that devastated this apocalyptic world had lots of hope that they were right, the enemy was wrong and their case just and they virtually destroyed their world. It's all too much like the proverbial airplane pilot that reports to the passengers that he has good news and bad news. The good news is that they are making excellent time, the bad news is that they are hopelessly lost. Great hope and faith in the service of evil is more than wasted it is what makes for so much conflict and evil in this world. People who are completely convinced that their hope and faith is something that i must share or .... . The content of faith, the object and reason for hope is important.

The movie tries to make the connection between home and hearth, between a warm bed with a beautiful wife and the patriotic feelings towards the national state. But it is a sleight of hand trick, the nation state, the big conglomerates of power, this belongs to the evil, orange soldier guys, not to peaceful farmers or really small communities. I can't help but think of the book: The Parable of the Tribes, those evil ones who fight to control and rule over others, they change and shape the world into their image, as force seems the only way to meet force, violence the only way to defeat the violent. It's a stirring enough movie, but it is misdirected, hope and faith are important things, but the object of those very necessary and very human strivings are likewise important.

It is necessary not just to have hope, but to have hope in things that are true. It is necessary to love, but to love the right people for the right reasons. It is necessary to have faith, but the object and content of the faith must be in real things, things that are worthwhile having faith, hope and love place in them, or towards them. Faith in faith, or hope in hope may very well motivate people to rise above themselves and do heroic things, but it also is fraught with potential to me misguided or worse yet manipulated by those evil ones. Everyone in the orange jumpsuits wasn't impressed and forced to be there, some were there genuinely because they loved, hoped and had faith in their leaders and in their cause. This is the way faith, hope and love are double edged knifes, you can and do have people who are sincerely and whole heartedly committed to false and ignoble causes, ready to die, and worse yet kill for their objects of their misplaced but certainly bold faith.

Well, it's just a movie and not a philosophic treatise, although it is nearly as long as some. But it is worth thinking about and considering, good and evil, the constant battle that swirls around and often through us, the sides don't really differ in the intensity of their desires, but only in the object of them.

The critics are idiots!.......2007-07-15

This is a prime example why I never believe a critic. I loved this movie. It has it's little weird moments, which is why I didn't rate it 5 stars. All in all an excellent movie and worth the long watch.
Again, the critics missed the boat on this one!

Ignore the Critics.......2007-07-04

I've enjoyed this movie so much over the years that I found myself adding it to my personal DVD collection - and I am very selective in what I add. Yes it's long, but it's also exciting, moving, and inspiring in turns. This is a movie that features adventure and explores themes of courage, commitment and patriotism. It's also the best movie Costner's ever done.

An Officer and a Gentleman (Special Collector's Edition)

Average customer rating:

An Officer and a Gentleman Delivers Old Fasioned Romance
Great plight to unlikely success for Richard Gere's character
A great and honest movie
Romantic.
Girl Gets What Girl Wants

An Officer and a Gentleman (Special Collector's Edition)
Starring: Richard Gere , Debra Winger , David Keith , Robert Loggia , and Lisa Blount
Director: Taylor Hackford
Manufacturer: Paramount
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ASIN: B000MGBSGC
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Amazon.com essential video

Richard Gere plays an enrollee at a Naval officers candidate school, and Debra Winger is the woman who wants him. That's pretty much it, story-wise, in this romantic drama, which is more effective in a moment-to-moment, scene-by-scene way, where the two stars and Oscar-winner Louis Gossett Jr.--as Gere's tough-as-nails drill instructor--are fun to watch. Sexy, syrupy, with occasional pitches of high drama (Gere having a near-breakdown during training is pretty strong), An Officer and a Gentleman proves to be a no-brainer date movie. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

Once in a great while a movie comes along that truly grips and uplifts its audiences. Such a movie is An Officer And A Gentleman, a timeless tale of romance, friendship and growth. Loner Zack Mayo (Richard Gere) enters Officer Candidate School to become a Navy pilot and in thirteen tortuous weeks he learns the importance of discipline, love and friendship. Louis Gossett, Jr. won an Academy Award* for his brilliant portrayal of the tough drill instructor who teaches Zack that no man can make it alone. And while Gossett tries to warn the young officer about the local girls who will do anything to catch themselves pilot husbands, Zack eventually learns to love one (Debra Winger) while his fellow candidate, a memorable character portrayed by David Keith, struggles with a very different fate. An Officer And A Gentleman is a rich and satisfying story with moving performances that will stay with you long after the film has ended.

Customer Reviews:

An Officer and a Gentleman Delivers Old Fasioned Romance.......2007-09-02

"An Officer and a Gentleman" is hands down one of the most romantic films to come out in the 90's. Though the premise is one often seen from Hollywood, "Officer" is a rich and often sad romantic journey filled with raw emotions and powerful performances by everyone involved. It is truly a well written (Douglas Day Stewart), well directed story (Taylor Hackford) with an all-star cast and it proves it!

Zach Mayo, played by Richard Gere, is an adorably rebellious, often charming, and cocky Navy brat who enters the Naval Academy with hopes of become a pilot. Almost immediately, he clashes with drill Sgt. Foley, his immediate commanding officer played by Louis Gossett, Jr.. While learning about teamwork, friendship, and fitting in, his life is rapidly complicated by a local factory worker, Paula, (played by Academy Award Winner Debra Winger) looking to find an attractive young officer with a promising future and a way out of town. The film alternates between Gere's progress at the Academy, his ability to be a loyal friend and his blossoming romance. For a while it seems unlikely that either will work out longterm. It's a classic story of over-coming adversity, struggling to do the right thing, and learning to make the right decisions to become a better person. It comes across as very true-to-life and believable with tremendously real performances!

Breathtakingly believable as a selfish, angry and somewhat lost young man, Richard Gere takes us on a roller coaster ride of character development that is stunningly real. I was honestly surprised he didn't receive a nomination for best actor for this performance, hands down one of his best to date. Debra Winger was nominated for Best Supporting Actress while Lou Gossett, Jr. won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the dunting drill sergeant who manages to make a real man and an officer out of Zach Mayo. David Keith in the role of Sid Worley, Zach' best friend, also shines in a moving and ultimately heart breaking performance of his own. Rounding out the cast, Lisa Blount in the role of Paula's white trash best friend did a formidable job of conveying the utter desperation and hopelessness that leads a certain type of woman to do whatever it takes to marry up in life.

"An Officer and a Gentleman" is an intense romance/drama filled with a chemistry seldom seen with such startling realism (despite the supposed conflict between Gere & Winger off camera). The energy and sexual intensity are exactly what great romance is made of. It will make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry and make you sigh. And by the time you reach the end, it will have you cheering. Will anyone who has seen it ever forget the moment Zach sweeps Paula into his arms and marches her out of that humdrum factory life to live happily ever after? I know I won't!

Great plight to unlikely success for Richard Gere's character.......2007-08-15

This is a fantastic movie. It ebbs and flows away a good drama should. This movie lacks action because it's a drama and they don't waste a lot of money blowing up cars and buildings just to get people to care. Good acting and a good story. This movie is set in Seattle, Washington and stays true to the areas economic condition. Poulsbo, Washington is where the movie was filmed, but it is supposed to be taking place in Bremerton Naval Academy. The cinematography is a little bit dated, but then again, this film is well over 20 years old. Debra Winger, Richard Gere have good screen chemistry. It's a good date movie for anyone who hasn't already seen it.

A great and honest movie.......2007-08-14

I saw this film for the first time and I wish I hadn't waited so long to see it. An Officer And A Gentleman is a brilliant film with great performances from Richard Gere, Louis Gossett Jr. and Debra Winger. Richard Gere embodies the character of Zack Mayo, a troubled young man who, due to neglect and ill parenting by a military father, signs up with the Navy to get some direction in his misguided life.

Richard Gere is great in adding layers to what could have been a poorly drawn characterisation. Mayo is not always the 'good guy' and is more often than not a complete prick.
This movie shows what a person can accomplish when they believe in themselves and have a big brother who cares enough to make them succeed. This is a great movie.

Romantic........2007-06-23

Although Officer and a Gentleman is riddled with cliches and predictability, it is also one of the most romantic movies of it's time.

Paula, a small town factory worker, meets and falls in love with Zach, an Navy officer candidate. She helps him through basic training, while they both overcome past and present tragedies. Once training is over, what will come of their short-term romance?

Oh, I definitely CANNOT resist a young Richard Gere in uniform. Believe me. I had to wipe the drool off of my chin. :-)

Girl Gets What Girl Wants.......2007-06-12

This is just a simple old-fashioned love story, 1992-style. Lower-class loner guy joins Navy, gets into OCS to be a pilot and, along the way, meets a homie who wants a sailor to take her away from her factory job. A fling turns into the real thing, no matter how hard he tries to deny his feelings for her and, in the end, rescues the factory princess and drives away with her.

A true chick flick.

Average customer rating:

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy" Or The Long, Hot Summer with Young Hot Paul Newman
The Long Hot Summer
You can't miss with this one .
Newman and Woodward - what else can you ask for?
Funny and Sexy

The Long, Hot Summer
Starring: Paul Newman , Joanne Woodward , Anthony Franciosa , Orson Welles , and Lee Remick
Director: Martin Ritt
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
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ASIN: B00008MTW2
Release Date: 2003-05-20

Amazon.com

Paul Newman has his glorious youthful swagger in this southern-fried melodrama, which marked his first picture with Joanne Woodward (they married after shooting ended). The script is a melange of William Faulkner stories, although it appears more under the influence of Tennessee Williams and Picnic than the Nobel Prize winner. Drifter Newman catches the eye of schoolmarm Woodward and her father, a rural Mississippi bigshot (Orson Welles). This is not one of Welles's better moments; he appears to be conducting make-up experiments. There is some enjoyable flapdoodle along the way, in the Freud-meets-Gone with the Wind manner of '50s southern cooking, but the ending is embarrassingly compromised. The same production team would leave out the box-office concessions a few years later on Hud. A studly Newman justifies this description of his character: "I wish I was Ben Quick. He's got the whole state of Mississippi to graze on." --Robert Horton

Description

Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Orson Welles, Anthony Franciosa, Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury co-star in this riveting tale of life in the Deep South. Provocative and compelling, it simmers with sexual tension, bawdy humor and a powerful clash of personalities. When Ben Quick (Newman), a suspected barnburner drifts into town, he catches the eye of Will Varner, a tyrannical, intimidating patriarch (Welles) who decides Quick is the ideal husband for his spinsterish daughter (Woodward). But once the loner moves in, the two men lock horns, drawing Varner's family into a complex web of emotions and actions that leaves all of them changed forever.

Customer Reviews:

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy" Or The Long, Hot Summer with Young Hot Paul Newman.......2007-05-25

It was the time when they called him a young new star and it was his breakthrough to stardom, fame, and success. The moment Paul Newman's Ben Quick, rebellious and irresistible drifter enters a rural Mississippi town of Frenchman's Bend to stir up its women, puzzle its men and to catch the interest of Big Daddy Varner (Orson Welles, the ferocious force of nature seemed to have fun playing Will Varner and experimenting with make-up) the town richest and most powerful redneck who perhaps sees in Ben a lot of himself, the screen legend was born.

"The Long, Hot Summer" (1958) is based on five short stories and a novel by one of the America's greatest novelists and storytellers, the expert of Southern life, William Faulkner, and the film is a steamy, moving, often funny (perhaps, unintentionally) tale of lust, greed, jealousy, and larger than life personalities and their clashes. I guess I need to read more Faulkner's stories because I was surprised to see the film that is based on the works of the writer known for his heavy use of such sophisticated literary techniques as symbolism, allegory, and especially stream of consciousness, the film which linear narrative is easy to follow from the third person point-of-view.

Besides Paul Newman who was as talented as he was hot, his off- screen wife-to-be Joanna Woodward shines as Clara Varner, Will's intelligent, thinking daughter, the teacher in a local school whom her father wants to see married (and not just wants but takes certain steps that Clara does not like and feels offended by). The film was the first of many Newman's and Woodward's collaboration and it is not easy to recall the greater chemistry between two leads. Orson Welles dominates the screen in his every scene as expected. 21-years-old Lee Remick (Eula, Varner's daughter-in-law, sexy and innocent woman-child), Anthony Franciosa (Jody, Varner's overlooked and jealous son), and Angela Lansbury (Minnie, the woman who has her own plans about future that include a widower Varner in them) all add to the sizzling fun that "The Long Hot Summer" is.

The Long Hot Summer.......2007-05-14

The original version with Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and Orson Wells is one exceptional movie. Made in 1955-57 it is still just as rewarding to watch as it was then. A great love story and a dysfunction family that actually does have alot of love for each other. I can watch it over and over. Glad to see it in DVD format.

You can't miss with this one ........2007-03-19

This is an excellent movie . Brought me back to a time when I was young and reckless . You certainly did a marvelous job putting it on a DVD .

Thanks to the people who made it happen and Amazon for their professionalism .

Newman and Woodward - what else can you ask for?.......2007-03-09

TERRIFIC movie - Newman and Woodward sizzled. My husband and I watch this and we both think it's one of the best romantic yet gritty movies ever made. Each character/actor is a gem and the story is timeless. The only one I might like more is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor. Same genre - great performances, great scripts, family realities.

Funny and Sexy.......2007-01-20

Great movie with witty dialogue and wonderful performances. Having read quite a bit of Faulkner in my college days, the script seems to have combined the first in the Snopes Trilogy - "The Hamlet" - with some Faulkner short stories. The script is good, but I don't recall Faulkner being much for happy endings.

Average customer rating:

Places in the Heart, a wonderful movie
I know this sounds corny but the movie really did win a special place in my heart
One of the best American films of the eighties
Has a place in my heart!
FABULOUS

Places in the Heart
Starring: Sally Field , Lindsay Crouse , Ed Harris , Amy Madigan , and John Malkovich
Director: Robert Benton
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B00005NRN8
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Customer Reviews:

Places in the Heart, a wonderful movie.......2007-08-15

This movie is a must see for the whole family. I saw it years ago, but never with the family. When I saw the DVD I new it was one to watch on a family Sunday afternoon. We all loved it. Sally Field is a really good actress and she shines in this. And Danny Glover is just fantastic. This is one movie you must watch for pure entertainment with fine acting from everyone.

I know this sounds corny but the movie really did win a special place in my heart.......2007-05-13

PLACES IN THE HEART is an excellent movie that takes place in 1930's rural Texas. The movie starts sadly with the tragic death of a sheriff who is also a husband and father. Sally Fields is his widow, Edna, who is left to deal with an almost Biblical plague of difficulties and setbacks. Fields' acting is great as she transforms from a woman who did not even know her husband's salary to one who can negotiate a deal with an unscrupulous cotton gin owner. Danny Glover shows his acting skills as Mose a homeless drifter who miraculously comes to help her save her farm. And John Malkovich is amazing as the bitter blind man Mr. Will. The subplot about Edna's beauty shop owning sister and her unfaithful husband was not as compelling and did not quite seem to belong in the same movie.
The famous ending at the church during a communion service is very powerful no matter what the viewer's spiritual beliefs and leaves many in tears or with goosebumps.

One of the best American films of the eighties.......2007-04-04

With storytelling of Dickensian authority, brilliant casting matched with excellent performances including the work of the two children, this film remains a very strong candidate as one of the best American movies of the 1980's. The central story follows the story of two sisters in parallel - one loses her husband through an accident in the line of duty, the other (nearly) loses her husband through his infidelity. The widow overcomes her loss through faith in her ability to prevail, through ignoring the question of race - her husband was shot dead by a young black boy - and through love. Her sister forgives her unfaithful husband. The film does not ignore the cancer of racism in a country that professes to be "the land of the free", nor does it ignore the struggle those of the land face with the forces of nature - and banks. It is all of a whole and adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Brilliant but not flashy. It seems as real as the land it depicts.

Has a place in my heart!.......2007-03-13

This is a wonderful movie. As always, Sally Fields is just great in it.
It is a "Kleenex- Box" movie, so have a few handy, but has a wonderful ending.

FABULOUS.......2007-01-09

This is one of my favorite movies, it is a great story and one you can
watch with the whole family. A classic in my book.

Average customer rating:

High Plains Driffter
Psycho-western
High Plains Drifter
Eastwood's first masterpiece as a director....
Clint's Homage to Sergio Leone

High Plains Drifter
Starring: Walter Barnes , Verna Bloom , Paul Brinegar , Richard Bull , and Billy Curtis
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: 0783225725
Release Date: 1998-02-24

Amazon.com essential video

Clint Eastwood's second film as a director (and his first Western) is a variation on the "man with no name" theme, starring Eastwood as the drifter known only as "the Stranger." He rides into the desert town of Lagos and is quickly attacked by three gunmen. Recovering with the aid of a local dwarf (a memorable role for Billy Curtis), the Stranger is hired by the intimidated townsfolk to fend off a band of violent ex-convicts. After teaching the citizens self-defense and instructing them to paint the entire town red and rename it "Hell," the Stranger vanishes. He reappears when the marauding criminals arrive, and delivers justice and teaches the townsfolk a harsh lesson about moral obligation. Is he a figure from their past or a kind of supernatural avenger? Combining humor with action, High Plains Drifter is both a serious and tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Westerns that made Eastwood a household name. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

High Plains Driffter.......2007-08-14

One of Clint's best westerns. This ranks right up there with Jose Wales and Unforgiven.

Psycho-western.......2007-07-20

Disquieting and unique, High Plains Drifter is not your grandfather's western. Eastwood's sophomore directorial effort borrows from many sources and Clint pays his respects to the styles of both Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone for this offbeat western. Part western, part psychological treatise, and all Clint, this is a unique vision of the western that delivers a sharp commentary on fear, guilt, revenge, and greed. The acting is very good with highlights including Geoffrey Lewis as head bad guy Stacey Bridges and Verna Bloom as the lone conscience of the town. Eastwood's Stranger character is a mixed bag of misogyny and righteousness delivered in his trademark laconic style.
This movie forces us to confront our own moral ambiguity and is a highlight of the revisionist westerns of the time.
The dvd offers little in the way of special features save a trailer, some filmographies, and a brief write-up about the making of the feature.

High Plains Drifter.......2007-07-03

Eastwood's eerie, magnificent "Drifter," his second effort in the director's chair, turns the final showdown cliché of the Hollywood Western on its head: Instead of confronting the killer posse alone, for money or out of brute contempt, The Stranger teaches the cowardly townsfolk how to defend themselves--then promptly disappears. And where else but in an Eastwood flick would the protagonist, for the purposes of intimidation, have a town literally painted red and renamed Hell? Such flashes of dark humor animate the story, as do The Stranger's haunting flashbacks, the austere sets, and the cast of irregulars. Enigmatic and violent, "Drifter" reworks the Man With No Name persona into a mystical folk hero, and the effect is riveting.

Eastwood's first masterpiece as a director...........2007-06-16

This is Clint Eastwood's first masterpiece as a director. This was Eastwood's 3rd film (after Play Misty for Me and Breezy), and it still remains one of his best films. Misty and Breezy are excellent films, but this one is far better than both of them. Many critics have said this is a tongue in cheek Western. I digress strongly. Yes, there are humourous elements in it, but it's a morally complex, eerie, and brilliant piece of filmmaking. Eastwood's character doesn't really have a name, but this isn't an extension of his work with Sergio Leone. It has a lot to do with revenge, karma, greed, and what small town America in the west was really like. It wasn't like the idealised, "God-fearing" folk (that cliche gets a real takedown in this film) you see in typical Hollywood westerns. The ending is downright surreal, but it works brilliantly. Even the supporting players (especially Billy Curtis) are excellent here. A decent number of Eastwood's films have some bad acting in them in the supporting roles, but here that doesn't happen. Eastwood shot this masterpiece in 24 days, and under budget too. This was Clint's first great film.

Clint's Homage to Sergio Leone.......2007-06-03

Clint Eastwood starred as the "man with no name" in many of Sergio Leone's "Spagetti Westerns." Here, Eastwood directs his own similar-type western, although, at the end of this flick, we find out that Eastwood's character really does have a name.

After Eastwood rides into the town of Lago and kills the three hired guns who were the village's protectors, he is hired by the townspeople as a replacement gunman. They hope that Eastwood will protect them from a ruthless gang that was sent to jail on trumped up charges by the townspeople. The gang members have done their time and are now coming back to get their revenge. But it turns out that Eastwood has his own reasons for wanting some revenge too.

"High Plains Drifter" ranks with the best of Leone's westerns. It is an excellent film and a classic of the genre, with a supernatural twist.

Eastwood's forgettable "Pale Rider" was a sort of remake of "High Plains Drifter." In "Pale Rider," however, the individualistic message of "High Plains Drifter" was replaced by a communitarian one.

Average customer rating:

location for the picnic scenes.
Full-Screen...YES!!!
Hard movie to find in DVD
Picnic 1955
Desire under the elms

Picnic
Starring: William Holden , Kim Novak , Betty Field , Susan Strasberg , and Cliff Robertson
Director: Joshua Logan
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: 0767827791
Release Date: 2000-04-18

Amazon.com

William Holden is the hunky drifter who rides the rails into a small Midwest town with dreams of landing a "respectable" job with his rich college buddy (Cliff Robertson). Kim Novak is the small-town beauty queen engaged to Robertson who falls for the cocky dreamer, as do repressed schoolmarm spinster Rosalind Russell and Novak's tomboyish kid sister Susan Strasberg. Their unleashed passions reach a crescendo at the Labor Day picnic.

Joshua Logan directed William Inge's play on Broadway and carried it to Hollywood, earning Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director in his screen-directing debut. Holden is years too old for the role but oozes sex appeal and makes a swoony stud when he takes his shirt off (or when, better yet, it's ripped from his back by a boozing Russell), and Novak is a lovely lost girl yearning for something she can't quite grasp. Arthur O'Connell earned an Oscar nomination as Russell's tippling boyfriend. The film was a huge popular and critical hit, but Logan's stiff and strident direction hasn't dated well. He makes his points in big capital letters--subtlety was never his strong point--and loses the natural beauty of the Kansas locations when he takes the climactic picnic scenes into an obviously artificial soundstage. Picnic remains a loved American classic, largely for Holden's tough-guy vulnerability and James Wong Howe's brilliant widescreen color photography. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

location for the picnic scenes........2007-09-13

Some or all of the on location actual picnicing scenes were shot in Halstead Kansas. There is a metal plaque attached to a flat rock in the city park commemorating the filming there. There is a small river with a falls and a pedestrian bridge crossing the river. There was a baseball field adjacent the picnic grounds that had high bleachers similar to what Roz and A. O'C. sat upon. I was there about 20 years ago with my brother who was looking for a teaching job in the area. It was a blistering hot summer day and the park was very empty, dusty and neglected. The plaque looked and felt like a gravestone.It was quite a contrast to the polish and shine that the Hollywood production standards brought-- or maybe 30 years had taken its toll. I felt an odd sense of loss. I knew it was just a movie and that Hal and Madge were hollywood actors making alot of money--- but the illusion of the fictional place and people,----the movie illusion, was pretty powerful. No use looking for Mrs Potts, she'd probably passed on by then.

Full-Screen...YES!!!.......2007-09-10

I LOVE the fact that this DVD is a FULL-SCREEN version! I don't know why the studios that produce these DVDs don't come out with discs that are full-screen on one side and wide-screen on the other, like my version of 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' and 'Forbidden Planet' are! I'll take FULL-SCREEN any day!
I wasn't going to buy this film until I realized it was full-screen.

Hard movie to find in DVD.......2007-09-05

When I couldn't find "Picnic" locally, I turned to AMAZAON. My order arrived promptly - however when we popped it in the DVD player excitedly, there were weird subtitles. Also, the quality of color could be better. It wasn't until after we watched the entire movie that we discovered it was pre-set with subtitles in Korean. The second time I watched it alone, I had to reset the monitor to "English with no subtitles." There should have been an accompanying note of explanation.

Picnic 1955.......2007-07-05

It's labor day weekend , and fresh off a freight train is Hal Carter (William Holden 1918-1981) , a happy-go-luck drifter looking for a brand new star in life . A robust , handsome show-off , Hal is coming to Kansas to seek gainful employment in his old fratenity brother Alan's ( Cliff Robertson 1925 - ) Family granary but despite his high hopes and expectations , Hal's ambitous plans soon go awrt when his sexuall magnetism attracts every woman in town , including 19-year old Madge Owens (Kim Novak 1933 - ) - the alluring young beauty queen who also happends to be Alan's girlfriend . Also Starring Rosalind Russel (1907-1976) , Arthur O'Connel 1908-1981)Susan Strasberg
1938-1999) , Nick Adams (1931 - 1968) . Picnic was nominated for six Academy Awards . Best Director (Joshua Logan 1908-1988) . Best Supporting
Actor (O'Connel) . Best Music . Best Color Art director and Best Editing . High Quality Trasnfer .

Desire under the elms.......2007-05-17

Years after become famous for his role in the film version GOLDEN BOY, William Holden was still working against being typecast in "hunk" roles, none odder than the drifter Hal in this this beautifully photographed film version of William Inge's famous drama of loneliness in small-town Kansas.There were so many younger fine actors who could have played the part--Brando, Newman, Ralph Meeker (the latter two who played Hal on Broadway)--that it's a bit astonishing to wonder what the studio saw in Holden: he's certainly got the torso for the part, but he's fifteen years older than his love interest in the film (Kim Novak) and seven years older than Cliff Robertson, who plays his college classmate--and he looks it, too. And the role of the boisterous braggart Hal is almost exactly wrong for the ruminative Holden's talents. But he's still fine enough an actor to be moving, and he and Novak have an incredibly memorable slow erotic dance to the tune of "Moonglow" at the Labor Day festivities of the film's title for which alone it is worth seeing the entire movie.

Novak is herself ideally cast as the insecure passive beauty queen Madge Owens, and she has solid support from Verna Felton as the sensible Mrs. Potts and Arthur O'Connell as the bewildered Howard Bevans. As the loud and awesomely lonely schoolteacher Rosemary Sidney, Rosalind Russell is also very well cast, although she tends to overplay her hand too much (as she always did in her later years); Susan Strasberg tries hard as Madge's intellectual sister Millie but is far too beautiful to be taken seriously as a teenage "goon." The screenplay is a bit too worked out and stagey, but the gorgeous James Wong Howe cinematography beautifully displays that midwestern American Gothic territory so peculiar to the work of William Inge--that odd and fascinating combination of wide open landscapes and claustrophobically repressed emotional space.

Average customer rating:

Great Movie
Zorro Nut
The Mask of Zorro
family film
LOVE MY ZORRO

The Mask of Zorro (Deluxe Edition)
Starring: José María de Tavira , Diego Sieres , Emiliano Guerra , Yolanda Orisaga , and Paco Morayta
Director: Martin Campbell
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
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ASIN: B000ARXF96
Release Date: 2005-10-18

Description

A sweeping romantic adventure of love and honor, tragedy and triumph set against Mexico's fight for independence. Twenty years have past since Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins) fought oppression as the legendary hero, Zorro. Now he must find a successor and he chooses Alejandro Murietta (Banderas), a bandit with a troubled past who he must, somehow, transform into the fearless fighter he once had been. Then, armed with sword, whip, mask and the jet-black stallion, Tornado, the new Zorro must stop tyrant Raphael Montero, newly returned from Spain with a plot to actually buy California and enslave the populous to work in his mines.

Customer Reviews:

Great Movie.......2007-09-07

This is a great movie a definite must buy for all!!! Also fast shipping from Amazon!!

Zorro Nut.......2007-09-05

I'm partial to Zorro from my youth. This is a decent effort with the usual Zorro to the rescue theme. It brings back nostalgia for those old segments (weekly serial) that were played on Sundays at noon with Ovaltine as the advertiser. Get out your sword and mask and get ready to save the good guys.

The Mask of Zorro.......2007-06-13

I love it for a modern day sword fighting movie it is entertaining and a must have.

family film.......2007-05-07

Great entertainment for the whole family, I enjoyed it age 72 and my grand children 14 and 11 and daughter age 45 .........forany age I think.

LOVE MY ZORRO.......2007-01-10

Antonio Bandaras is the far best Zorro actor. His accent brings life to the folk hero. Catherine Zeta-Jones is perfect for the part she plays.
Over all the movie is great for those who like action movies as well as romance. Bring on Antonio as Zorro!

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