Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Amazon.com

If it weren't for a couple of inspired performances, as well as the time-capsule weirdness of it all, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band would be definitively unwatchable. This misguided effort to dramatize the classic Beatles album (the Fab Four had nothing to do with it, thank goodness) also includes tunes from other Beatles LPs, strung together in lumbering '70s rock-opera style. Peter Frampton, then at the crest of his brief run at the top, stars as Billy Shears, with the Bee Gees wearing the glossy day-glo band jackets from the Pepper album cover. Earth, Wind & Fire turn in a spirited revamp of "Got to Get You into My Life," and Aerosmith thrash their way through "Come Together"; but most of the performances are pretty awful. Out-and-out novelties include Steve Martin doing "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and George Burns (but of course) warbling "Fixing a Hole." This high-profile 1978 flop helped kill the hot streak (Saturday Night Fever, Grease) of record and movie producer Robert Stigwood and sink his RSO movie-music empire. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

For the benbfit of Mr. Kite.......2007-09-03

I loved this show ever since I was a kid. One of the few times big name bands worked together to produce a movie. It may be the last time we see something like this come together.

Musical, Fun and Campy.......2007-07-28

Although the Beatles are not performing, the Bee Gee's and Peter Frampton do a wonderful job singing the Beatles' songs. Most of the familiar songs are included. My favorites are all on this DVD. My original was VHS and I remember when we watched it as a family it became a sing-a-long. Also performing in the movies were: Steve Martin, George Burns, Billy Preston, Aerosmith, and Earth Wind and Fire. It is an enjoyable movie and has become a favorite of our teenage grandsons, who have heard of, but were born too late to experience the great talents of the original Fab 4.

bee gees.......2007-06-08

great to have - the boys are at their best and it is a good rememberance piece

Rating of zero is generous.......2007-05-24

I'll challenge anyone who may think they are a bigger fan of the Beatles than myself, however, this is the absolute WORST movie I had ever had the displeasure of viewing in my life. I simply cannot understand how the Beatles could have given the rights to their music to an outfit who could make such a disaster. This is actually painful to watch; you'd get more enjoyment out of watching paint dry. Don't waste your money.

Hidden classic.......2007-05-14

I had known that The Beatles made movies to go a long with some of their albums, like Help! and Yellow Submarine, but I had never heard of this one. My husband had seen it as a child and recently made me rent it and boy am I glad! This movie is amazing! We ended up purchasing it shortly after. It stars the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton with tons of special guest stars. This may sound strange, but their performances are amazing and they add a whole new dimension to the album. The whole movie seems to parallel The Beatles rise to fame and the sex, money and corruption that goes along with it. I think this movie is a classic and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Average customer rating:

More of Gandolfini and Travolta
Great film, but DVD has little to offer
Solid but not a classic
Deserves better
Lonely Hearts

Lonely Hearts
Starring: Laura Dern , James Gandolfini , Alice Krige , John Travolta , and Scott Caan
Director: Todd Robinson
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000QGEB1M
Release Date: 2007-07-31

Amazon.com

Love 'em and leave 'em--dead. That's the unstated but unmistakable motto of the predatory duo in Lonely Hearts, an affecting entry into the neo-noir landscape, with a twist: it's based on a true story. The all-star cast is led by John Travolta as detective Elmer Robinson, a dedicated cop haunted by the unexplained suicide of his wife. Travolta and his partner, played with blue-collar bravado by James Gandolfini, are old-style gumshoes who wear their characters as believably as they do their tattered fedoras. Travolta, particularly, wears his anguish on his tweedy sleeve, and underplays what could have been a scenery-chewing role. In the cops' crosshairs: evil lovebirds Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto), who prey on single women in "lonely hearts" advertisements, bilk them of their money, and! murder them--as much as a way to prove their twisted love for each other as for the financial gain.

The film is uniformly well acted, and transports the viewer to a simpler America that nonetheless echoes modern-day internet dating and the perils that can accompany too much trust. Leto downplays his pretty-boy looks to become believable as the oily and unhinged Ray, and the gorgeous Hayek is made up to a fare-thee-well.

Director Todd Robinson is the grandson of the real-life Elmer, and did the film as an homage to the case that consumed his grandfather. The making-of featurette is in some ways even more compelling than the feature, because of the moving interviews with the younger Robinson and his memories of his grandfather, and footage and news clips of the real-life Martha and Ray. There's plenty of fodder here for true-crime fans, and anyone who wants to savor a good shudder. --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

Martha Beck (Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Leto) were America's notorious "Lonely Heart Killers." Their lethal scam was simple; they would swindle and then viciously murder lovelorn war widows who would answer their proposal ads in which Ray would describe himself as a sexy Latin Lover. Ironically, Ray's initial introduction to Martha was a prospective mark. But when they met, it was love at first sight, perhaps as a result of their passion for hot-blooded sex and cold-blooded murder. With Martha posing as Ray's sister, they swindled elderly spinsters and widows of their savings then viciously murdered them in a bloodbath of sexual frenzy. Raymond and Martha believe they're literally getting away with murder until homicide detectives Elmer C. Robinson (Travolta) and Charles Hildebrandt (Gandolfini) pick up their scent.

Customer Reviews:

More of Gandolfini and Travolta.......2007-09-14

Lonely Hearts
Gandolfini and Travolta were great together. Not overbearing or superhuman. WE see a couple of guys with character flaws hunting for a couple of killers. I'd like to see Gandolfini and Travolta paired again in future flicks. Hayek and Leto were excellent in their roles. This movie was a surprise for me. I picked it up because Gandolfini was in it.

Great film, but DVD has little to offer.......2007-09-13

I did enjoy "Lonely Hearts" -- Travolta and Gandolfini make an excellent pair, playing the hard-boiled East Coast detectives with panache. Jared Leto was a commanding presence as Fernandez. I also approved of Selma Hayek, although I was amused when I did some reading on the real-life Martha Beck and learned she was, in the flesh, close to 300 pounds.

Hardly a justification for the slender (if shapely) Miss Hayek to portray Martha with any justice. I suppose Hollywood is still light years away from having a "heavyweight" play a leading lady, even if Nikki Blonsky did recently steal the show in the lead of "Hairspray".

The DVD was a colossal disappointment BECAUSE it had no extra features of note. It should have, at the very least, included a documentary about the real-life Lonely Hearts killers. I did my own reading online and learned that the grandson of the actual policeman (played by Travolta) was the director of this film. The scrapbook seen in the movie's opening is the original book the director's grandmother compiled, chronicling her husband's career.

I did enjoy the film-noir feel of the film and found it equally compelling and horrifying, which means it did its work well.

Solid but not a classic.......2007-09-12

This is more like a 3.5 or maybe 3.75 star film, but no half star voting is available...

Everything is well-done in Lonely Hearts. The script is good, performances are all decent, with Selma standing out. Buuut...there's just not enough x-factor, that magic thang that makes a film really get inside my brain and heart. There are so many other excellent films noir out there that this ends up on the A-minus-list. Still, considering how few decent story-based films are made these daze, Lonely Hearts is no slouch.

Unless you've already seen Double Indemnity, The Killing, Touch of Evil, Out of the Past, Maltese Falcon, etc etc, you may want to wait on this one.

That said, it's a good psychological portrait with the added soupcon of being made by the original main character cop's grandson.

(And btw, here's Gandolfini doing his Tony voice as usual...listen to him on the commentary track and you hear his real and very different voice. Is the Joisey crackle the only dialect we're going to get from this otherwise excellent actor? Sorry, Tone...please don't send Paulie Walnuts over with a shovel.)

Deserves better.......2007-09-12

This film disappeared from the theatres so quickly most people never heard of it. It deserves your attention. If only to watch Selma give you a glimpse of madness. Kinky done well.

Lonely Hearts.......2007-09-07

Interesting story plot. Rather slow at times. Rather bloody at times. Not the type of part we expected to see Salma Hayek play.

Average customer rating:

Interesting 70's Sleaze.

Fantasm Comes Again
Starring: Angela Menzies-Wills , Clive Hearne , Tom Thumb , Liz Wolfe , and Rosemarie Bem
Director: Colin Eggleston
Manufacturer: Synapse Video
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000654ZHI
Release Date: 2004-11-16

Description

From the producers of the original sex-comedy hit FANTASM, comes the outrageous sequel, FANTASM COMES AGAIN. Libbie, a young up-and-coming journalist, is taking over as a writer for a "Dear Collette" sexual advice column in a local newspaper. Harry, the fellow who's been impersonating "Collette" for years, shows her the pros and cons of the job while they spend the evening responding to the many letters for the next day's news. As they create their responses, we see the sexual hang-ups, erotic fantasies and secret desires of the letter writers come to life on screen.

Directed by Colin Eggelston (LONG WEEKEND, OUTBACK VAMPIRES), FANTASM COMES AGAIN has a classic cast of adult film stars like Uschi Digart, John C. Holmes, Serena, Rick Cassidy and even has a cameo by late cult-film starlet Cheryl "Rainbow" Smith.

Look for the bawdy first film, FANTASM, also available from Synapse Films.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Anamorphic 1.66:1 Transfer of the Original Uncut Version from the Original 16mm Negatives
- Audio Commentary from Producer Antony I. Ginnane
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Liner Notes

Customer Reviews:

Interesting 70's Sleaze........2006-07-31

If you like films from the 70's, as much as I do. You'll probably like this film...It has it all, attractive women, nudity and sex(Some of which I am more than sure, isn't simulated)...Just watch the scene in the pool. The story is rather weak, if you can even locate it and the acting is god awful...But if your in the mood for a slice of 70's sleaze-orama...It doesn't get much better than this. For another great guilty pleasure from the seventies...also try, "In The Realm Of The Senses". It's a very graphic & real film from Japan.

Average customer rating:

"Lonely Hearts" won the Best Film award from the Australian Film Institute...
Well-made film about ordinary people falling in love
Lonely Hearts

Lonely Hearts
Starring: Wendy Hughes , Norman Kaye , Jon Finlayson , Julia Blake , and Jonathan Hardy
Director: Paul Cox
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005R5GH
Release Date: 2001-12-26

Amazon.com

Director Paul Cox (Innocence) began his winning streak of offbeat pictures and off-center character pieces with this deft 1981 romantic comedy. Norman Kaye is a delight as the 40ish piano tuner with a whimsical streak who meets shy, sheltered single Wendy Hughes, a woman 20 years his junior, through a dating service. This unlikely couple hits it off right away, much to the disapproval of her smothering parents. Cox's deadpan observance of Kaye's wacky pranks is hilarious--Kaye convinces one woman that he's blind, and the confused look on her face as he wobbles back to his car and drives off is alone worth seeing the film. But at heart the movie belongs to the awkward, uncomfortable moments of new relationships that Cox so warmly captures in all their nervous excitement. Cox and Kaye followed this lovely little picture with the even more eccentric Man of Flowers. --Sean Axmaker

Description

Treat yourself to a laugh-out-loud look at romance when an eccentric piano tuner and a shy bank clerk fall in love in this heartwarming romantic comedy that critics call a gem of a film (The Hollywood Reporter) and the Australian Film Institute named Best Picture of the Year! Peter (Norman Kaye) is quirky, a bit homely and quickly approaching 50a man in dire need of a well-matched mate. But when a dating service offers him a chance to find romance, he meets Patricia (Wendy Hughes),a reserved woman 20 years his junior. It's a pairing only professionals could manage and a courtship only true dating amateurs could endure! But from their excruciating first date at a geriatric bingo game to an intimate evening that ends with tears, these two hopeful romantics find themselves stumbling head over heels toward love. Their heartfelt and often hilarious attempts make Lonely Hearts an enchanting comedyand a pleasing reminder that even the loneliest of hearts can find its match.

Customer Reviews:

"Lonely Hearts" won the Best Film award from the Australian Film Institute..........2007-01-07

While many Australian directors of the '70s and '80s repeatedly turned to period nostalgia, broad satire and Hollywood-derived thrillers, Paul Cox moved on a more personal path, quietly exploring troubled romantic relationships in modern, middle-class suburbia...

After years of making (mostly short) experimental films, Cox attracted the attention of a wider public with "Kostas," a touching account of a Greek-immigrant taxi-driver's love for an Australian divorcée... Invalidated by obviousness in its portrait of class and racial prejudice, it nevertheless paved the way for "Lonely Hearts." Again an engaging romance - this time between a middle-aged piano tuner and a shy and frigid bank clerk, introduced by computer-dating - the film's emotional honesty was heightened by a fine comedy and by a penetrating awareness of repressive parental pressures: exerting their right to live together, the lovers expectedly win their freedom...

Well-made film about ordinary people falling in love.......2006-12-14

This is a very simple film about two fairly simple people who find that love is never so simple. Norman Kaye plays a 49 year old piano tuner who, following his mother's death, attempts to meet someone through a arranged dating service. He is introduced to a much younger woman, who as a result of domineering parents has come to isolate herself from others and to fear intimacy. The ultimate outcome is fairly predictable (while remaining open-ended in the way of life, and against the grain of standard Hollywood films that like to tie everything up neatly at the end), but the director has chosen to satisfy the basic demands of the romantic comedy while avoiding both cliche and melodrama. The result is a set of fine and subtle performances, and a light and easy style that nevertheless does not shy away from frank depictions of the neuroses that each of us possesses but can rarely face up to, and depicts the inescapably sexual dimension of relationships both directly and with sensitivity, neither aiming to exploit the characters or titillate the audience. In many ways this reminded me of the films of Cassavettes -- though the film feels a bit less epic and overwhelming than most of Cassavettes film, it is slightly more optimistic without being false.

Lonely Hearts.......2002-03-11

I was lucky enough to catch this movie from beginning to end on a local cable station. In the first five minutes of the film, I was so engaged that I could not change the station. I really enjoyed watching this movie. The characters were very funny and realistically human. At the end of this movie, as with any great novel, I wondered what else would happen to the characters. I highly recommend this movie for viewing.

Average customer rating:

your lonely heart will get you killed

Lonely Hearts

Manufacturer: Screen Media Ventures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000LMPLNI
Release Date: 2006-12-21

Customer Reviews:

your lonely heart will get you killed.......2007-03-05

this is another mediocre screenplay loosely knitted together with the cliched characters and scenario. but if you are serious enough to readily view this movie and noted that this movie is based on a true serial murder case, just type in 'lonely hearts serial killers' or 'lonely hearts murder cases' in your search engine, they you'll see lot of relative material about this bizarre case.
but by doing so, you'd be also amazed to see how ugly this pair of murderers were and how plain and almost ugly those victims were. it would make you wonder how it would be possible, these people would fall for each other, lived in those lies. perhaps that's why only lonely and stupid people got conned and killed?
what we saw in this remake of 'the lonely hearts killers' was like a remodeled and well staged scenes and characters. travolta played the investigation task force leader who was always one or two step behind that couple serial killers. the cop, unfortunately was formulated as a single parent who used his time to make a boat (why all the detectives like to own boats?), and his partner as usually we've seen, like to keep eating junk food (why there's always a partner detective likes to eat all the time?)
the serial killer couple, well, if compares to the real killers' photos, that's about heaven and hell's difference.
the whole movie is just an all-too-common, too ordinary, nothing exciting, bland and loosely scripted one. nothing outstanding at all. there's only one thing pretty weird in this movie: the female serial killer (she's actually the real stone-cold killer) was actually another lonely heart who fell for that baldy guy and always jealous. aside this part, the whole movie got no steam at all, only got some sexual scenes, blood spreading, floor scrubbing scenes. i try to write some after thoughts about this movie but find it difficult, because there's really nothing to write about.

Average customer rating:

The Japanese English subtitled version is 100 times better.
Schwarz take action
Soap Oprea?
Weiß just gets better and better...
The most angsty anime series ever

Knight Hunters - Lonely Heart (Vol. 3)
Starring: Patrick Lanczki , Hiroko Kasahara , Todd Aikens , Rutledge Varley , and Jeff Swarthout
Manufacturer: Anime Works
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B0000633QR
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Customer Reviews:

The Japanese English subtitled version is 100 times better........2004-12-13

As an anime fan, I am open to all types of anime make and re-makes so Im being fair in this assessment. For Weiss Kreuz, or, as the Media Blasters people prefer to call it, "Knight Hunters" --which I think is corny and unauthentic in comparison to the symbolism of the original name--, I personally think the story line itself is great and has many references to gothic culture and religious issues, clever use of dual code names for the main characters, the symbolism of the assassin girls' names, the grandeur of the beliefs of the "bad guys", and basically all other workings of the such nomenclative details in the anime. (sorry! Im trying to avoid including spoilers. haha)

However, in reference to the production of the anime, I feel that the voicing for the Japanese version is more in-character. After all, judging by their interviews, we can see that they were more committed to analysing their own personal character's psyche pre-recording. This is proven by the American voice-actors' out-takes. These out-takes, although humorous, clearly puts across the message that the dubbing actors were not as serious. Moreover I think that the new voice-character combination simply makes the American anime remake feel really off-balance and cheesy.

If you have sampled the original, never mind if you dont understand what they are saying, the range of voice-talents itself is visible, and really wide. The expression, the tone! Plus, the animation was made for Japanese audio, surely one can tell that the lip movements of the characters are more in-sync in the original language?

I just feel that if you want to watch anime, you should purchase the Japanese audio version, with English subtitles, not English dubbing. Unless of course you really dont mind and cant find these versions. Well, to each his own, I am merely giving my take on Weiss Kreuz/ Knight Hunters as a whole on whatever experience I have. The subbed version is where the authenticity lies. Actually, the subbed version is second best, but the closest to authenticity we can get, since we all dont understand Japanese. So that's too bad; there are some ingenius expressions within the anime that cannot be translated into English, well, the problem of the century really, that involves everything that needs translation. I am from Singapore and dont understand Japanese (but wish I could), but appreciate the beauty of the language. I urge you as an anime fan to DO buy this Weiss Kreuz piece of work, but dont miss out on searching for Japanese subbed versions! :)

You will not regret it!

Schwarz take action.......2002-09-03

From buying the first three DVDs, I noticed that there was a slow start to the Weiß Kreuz series mainly in vol 1 and 2. But as the series progresses, the story develops more and more around the Takatori family and we are introduced to Schwarz hence there is a lot more excitement throughout the series. Schuldig gets lots of screen time to begin with and because of this we see what his abilities are i.e. telepathy, speed and mind manipulation. Actions from the other members follow suit soon after in later episodes.

From where the previous volume left us, Omi is still shocked from finding out he is Takatori Mamoru, who is the younger brother of Masafumi and Hirofumi. Episodes 11 and 12 focuses on Omi's struggle from realising he is Takatori Mamoru. Not only did he find out who his brothers are but he also finds out one other secret connecting to Ouka. There are many family secrets being revealed in this volume and Persia discovers something about him and Omi. I won't say anymore since it will give away spoilers. Schuldig takes this opportunity to torment poor Omi about killing both his brothers as well as attempt to get all of Weiss against one another. Ouka becomes a pawn in this game as a result.

Episodes 13-15 focuses on the rise of Takatori's power as a politician and this concerns Persia, who we learn is Takatori Reiji's younger brother. Volume 3 of Weiss Kreuz is the conclusion to the first arc of the series. There's tragedy but there's victory in the end. Altogether I'd say this volume packs enough excitement for a night or two.

Soap Oprea?.......2002-08-04

The 3rd DVD, is the best one so far BY far. Bishies...the bad guys (who are also bishies), and a soap oprea of pasts and family. You get to see some more of the bad guys (attempting to write without spoilers here), and........SCHU-KUN!

The interviews aren't half bad either, if you understand what they are talknig about. The outtakes--scared me. Okay, so they were childishly funny, but I was sweatdropping the whole time. The english dub isn't exactly worth it. But, the production sketches are coolie! You get tosee the sketches of out favorite bishies. I think this one has Tot and the weapons?

Anyway, the character development is great (even if the animation isn't the best) and it is starting to have a nice plot. This DVD also marks the end of the first season. DVD 4 and 5 will be the second season. It's a great anime, and now, my favorite

Ja~
Shime

Weiß just gets better and better..........2002-07-11

I bought the first DVD after reading about the series online, and wasn't entirely impressed. The second DVD had more well-animated episodes and a definite plot, probably enough to get a person hooked. This, the third DVD, is not only exciting and pivotal but much easier on the eyes. We get to see (and hear) a lot more of the Schwarz, learn more about Persia and the tangled web of the Takatori family, and finally figure out exactly what happened in Aya's past. If you liked the first two Weiß DVDs, you're sure to love this one. If you saw the first few episodes and ditched the series, now is the time to give it a second chance! If you've never heard of Weiß Kreuz [Knight Hunters]... where have you been and what are you waiting for?!
If that's not convincing enough, allow me to mention my little brother. Despite the fact that it meant missing the All-Star Game, he watched this DVD with me all the way through without once telling me how stupid anime is. I think that's about as strong an argument as you can get.
Sure, the outtakes are at an all-time low and the English voices aren't worth not having to read subtitles, but that's just the dub, and the rest of the DVD is top-quality entertainment.

The most angsty anime series ever.......2002-07-09

This is a must buy DVD. If you are into hurt/comfort or angst, then Knight Hunters is the series for you. If you tried the first DVD and are still unsure, buy this one. The story has changed from the one shot deals of the first few DVDs to an arc that lasts throughout the remaining episodes. The characters become much deeper and angstier. Add to that a great opening theme and very cute boys and you have the receipe for the perfect anime.

Average customer rating:

Even after all these years....
American Pastoral: captures the spirit of McCullers' poetic study of loneliness
A Message To All Of Us
A movie you will probally want to see agian.
Read hearts not lips (recommended)

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
Starring: Alan Arkin , Sondra Locke , Laurinda Barrett , Stacy Keach , and Chuck McCann
Director: Robert Ellis Miller
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ASIN: B00005JO5S

Amazon.com

This quiet, sentimental 1968 drama based on the Carson McCullers novel is considered a classic contemporary coming-of-age film about alienation and love. Alan Arkin (The In-Laws) stars as a kind, but lonely deaf-mute who befriends a lonely teenage girl in his boarding house. Set in the deep South, the film depicts a wistful small-town life with an undercurrent of turmoil and intolerance. It features a standout performance by Arkin and the debut of Sondra Locke (Bronco Billy, Sudden Impact) as two fundamentally lonely people who find solace in themselves as they reach out to each other. --Robert Lane

Customer Reviews:

Even after all these years...........2007-02-26

I saw this film in an "art" theater thirty-eight years ago when I was 15. I have never forgotten it. I fell in love with the character John Singer and the actor who played him, Alan Arkin. He was one of my favorites from that day forward. His loneliness and compassion came through though no words were spoken from his mouth. It was in his eyes. The movie moved me in a way that I can still feel to this day. It was my awakening to the sad fact that humans do not always take the time to really see into the heart of another. I'm hoping it comes out on DVD soon.

American Pastoral: captures the spirit of McCullers' poetic study of loneliness.......2006-07-11

No, it's not the novel, which is a multi-plotted study of four characters whose lives are symmetrically developed and eventually tied together like the themes in a sonata, all of them linked by their attraction to a deaf-mute as an alternative to a profound sense of futility, despair and, above all, loneliness felt by each of the four. The ultimate irony is that the only character who affords the others a solace from their alienation is himself the most isolated and miserable character in the story, denied even an illusory companionship when his only friend dies.

The film omits much of the confused and failed political agendas of the black Southern doctor (Dr. Copeland) and the inarticulate Marx idealogist (Jake Blount) as well as the antisocial preoccupations of the novel's unlikely, voyeuristic hero, the restaurant owner, Biff Brannon. But by focusing on the struggles of the deaf-mute (Alan Arkin) and the idealistic young woman seeking to escape from oppressive social circumstances (Sondra Locke), it accomplishes more than many films. In fact, I can think of few movies that so effectively represent life in a small-minded, provincial Southern community: a form of American pastoral that is also a microcosm of life--from racial and social prejudice to economic hardship to dreams of personal freedom and achievement to the universality of the loneliness that paradoxically joins and separates the often dysfunctional family of humanity.

This is a film with a lot of heart, one moreover that's capable of gettihg under your skin and leaving a lasting impression much like McCullers' writing. Its strengths are more likely to be apparent to someone who sees the movie before reading the novel that inspired it. Most importantly, despite simplifying, sentimentalizing, and "sanitizing" the original novel considerably, this is not the kind of film present-day Hollywood would risk an investment on. It retains far too many of the themes, realistic portrayals and aesthetic elements of serious, non-escapist literary art to be seen as a viable property for a popular and commercially successful movie, or even as a candidate for a DVD transfer.

A Message To All Of Us.......2006-04-22

This is, as promoted, simply a nice story about a really good guy: a deaf mute who helps some people and, in the end, desperately needed someone to help him.

Alan Arkin is memorable as the deaf mute and Sondra Locke, in her first screen role, also shines as the second lead. A pity Locke was never given roles this meaty since then. Percy Rodriguez also is memorable here.

Since this is good storytelling, from a best-selling book by Carson McCullers, all the characters here stand out. It's not a fast-moving film yet it is an involving story in which the viewer winds up caring about these people. Yes, the ending is sad and shocking but, in this case, a good ending because it makes you reflect more on what perhaps you and I neglect to do: to remember that everyone needs encouragement from time to time, even the encouragers.

This movie a throwback to some of the nice films of the 1940s, except that, despite being rated "G," there were several instances ofprofanity in here, including one usage of the Lord's name in vain. Still one for the whole family.

A movie you will probally want to see agian........2006-04-10

This movie is one of those about everyday life and about one's journey through his own life. One thing that I saw that was significant that all the reviews to date missed with the fact that John Singer had really only one friend whom brought him joy and confort. This movie builds from Singer's desire to be near his friend, who is mentally challenged, mute and hospital bound.

In Singer's quest to be with his only friend, his path crosses with others whom he is able to help, one way or another as they deal with their problems; one is a black doctor who hates whites, disapproves of the man his daughter marries and her employment (this movie takes place during the Civil Rights Era), the life of one teenager who is not a girl, not yet a woman, a brief crossing with a man who is drunk but he befriends and finally the lives of the doctor's daughter who becomes enbittered toward her father. All of these people's find comfort from Singer but are unable to return it, partly because of the communication gap and partly because of their own problems. The centerpiece in Singer's life that brings him the comfort and satisfaction he needs comes from his friend in the hospital. While this aspect of the film does not get alot of film time, the lack of cannot take away the significance of it in the life of the muted man whom others find comfort in all the while he is living in lonely isolation.

Don't look for a happy ending here, this movie is about life, be it fictional or not, life does not always afford us that luxury but it does go on.

One drawback about this movie that may necessitate reading the book is the lack of captions for when Singer was communicating, especially with his friend, though the significance of the relationships in his life cannot be diminished by not knowing what was being communicated, it may have gave more depth to the role being played out.

Read hearts not lips (recommended).......2006-04-01

Try as he may, stranger John Singer (Alan Arkin) just can't fit in. Responding to a vacancy ad, he becomes a single-room boarder in the home of a financially challenged family. Despite his handicap, he is one of the most helpful and caring persons in this southern town he tries to call home. If others could only read hearts as well as he reads lips his internal vacancy could be very easily filled. Nevertheless, his loneliness -- transparent to onlookers -- grows with unspoken words until it eventually becomes unbearable.

It is hard to believe that Arkin can deliver such a dramatic role without uttering a word. This is a testimony to true versatility as you compare him in WAIT UNTIL DARK. Obviously Arkin must be accompanied by a great supportive cast. And he is with Cicely Tyson delivering a powerful performance.

Lonely Hearts [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]

Average customer rating:

Lonely Hearts [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.0 Import - Australia ]
Director: Andrew Lane
Manufacturer: MRA
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Australia released, PAL/Region 0 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), SYNOPSIS: Alma, a lonely woman, falls for the conman who steals her money after seducing her. Frank doesn't want Alma around him, but he cannot do anything about the situation in case she goes to the police. Hot on the trail of the two is a female private detective, working for another of Frank's victims. SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access,

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Lonely Affair of Heart (Sub)
Starring: Rumi Sakakibara , Masakane Yonekura , Kazuya Takahashi , Kimiko Yo , and Megumi Sakakibara
Director: Junichi Suzuki
Manufacturer: Pathfinder Home Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( L ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Average customer rating:

Lonely Hearts
Starring: Hughes , Kaye , Finlayson , Blake , and Ha
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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

General | Foreign & International | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000TJ6PUQ
Release Date: 2005-01-25

DVD:

DVD

DVD