Manual Movie Reviews

I rented this movie for my whole family to watch, because there aren't too many opportunities for some wholesome family fun anymore in this crazy, violent world. I gotta say, it was hilarious! Mark Twain would be prouder than a peach! My two little girls thought the star was quite a hunk, and little Donnie talked like a prince for a week. I hope the star takes up a modern send-up of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" next! In two words, this movie was "Toooootally rad!" Surfers definitely rule!

As the guardian of a California Teen Age Boy, I found this movie fun with a lot of positive overtones. Arye Gross is listed as director in the actual movie 'credits' and I saw him directing on the beach scenes I am curious how Gregory Gieras came to be listed, as director, here on Amazon?

Went to a screening of the movie with my two kids (my daughter(age 7) and my son (age 11) and we all loved it!!! It is funny, touching and reminded me of the kind of movies I loved as a child. Robert Englund is excellent as the bad guy and former screen icon, Jennifer O'Neal is touching as a queen from a magical country. After the movie, I told my children about the original Twain classic and they immediately wanted to read it themselves. Let me say that anytime a movie makes children want to read the source material, it makes a movie worth watching. Go see it!!!

I rented this movie for my whole family to watch, because there aren't too many opportunities for some wholesome family fun anymore in this crazy, violent world. I gotta say, it was hilarious! Mark Twain would be prouder than a peach! My two little girls thought the star was quite a hunk, and little Donnie talked like a prince for a week. I hope the star takes up a modern send-up of "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" next! In two words, this movie was "Toooootally rad!" Surfers definitely rule!

As the guardian of a California Teen Age Boy, I found this movie fun with a lot of positive overtones. Arye Gross is listed as director in the actual movie 'credits' and I saw him directing on the beach scenes I am curious how Gregory Gieras came to be listed, as director, here on Amazon?

Went to a screening of the movie with my two kids (my daughter(age 7) and my son (age 11) and we all loved it!!! It is funny, touching and reminded me of the kind of movies I loved as a child. Robert Englund is excellent as the bad guy and former screen icon, Jennifer O'Neal is touching as a queen from a magical country. After the movie, I told my children about the original Twain classic and they immediately wanted to read it themselves. Let me say that anytime a movie makes children want to read the source material, it makes a movie worth watching. Go see it!!!

This film displays how two determined young thieves, dream of saving enough money to travel to the United States, where their lives will be much better. These teenagers are dreamers and love to have fun. They find themselves in love with two local girls, who decide to join the trip to America, against all the odds. A very enjoyable film.

These are three of my favorite lexx eps ever. The key is funny and morbide and garden is quite different than most eps but once again it has some hilarious scenes and it has a great score and battle is a terrifict conflict between prince and the lexx crew. If you like the show than get this DVD and if you have never seen the show than i recommend you start either: 3.1-FIRE AND WATER, or go back to the beginning with:1.0-I WORSHIP HIS SHADOW.

Lexx is so far the best show I ever liked. I even wrote Brian Downey and Michael McManus, trying to get them to say "yes" to my oncoming new ideas for animation Lexx. Since Lexx couldn't produce a spin-off, I asked Brian if Lexx can be animated and he said "yes." 2 months later after I mailed my first script, he turned me down and rejected the script. Me and Brian had a common email relationship to bring back Lexx how ever I wanted. I am not trying to hate him for what he did. I was just wanting to bring back Lexx for the sake of the fans.

Anyone who likes Lexx should like this movie. The identity of his Divine Shadow is revealed. Stanley gets revenge. A baby cluster lizard takes a major role. Kai is sustained. And Zev gets to moon over Kai, while 790 moons over Zev. The series one movies are better that the episodes, I think, because they fully explain all the characters. The other series are incomplete without series one.

In 1973, when George Lucas made this movie, the preview audience liked it. They loved the performances of Cindy Williams, Ron Howard, Richard Drefuss, and Harrisson Ford kind of spoke to the early 70's generation of youth who distrusted the establishment and lived a life of fast cars. But Universal did not like the movie and cut about 8 minutes from the film to make it more "mainstream". Lucas was furious. But it did not stop the movie from becoming a hit with the public. about ten years later, after George Lucas had become a very successful film maker, he went back to Universal and said "I want to finish my movie and do my director's cut." By this time, the studio was under new management who realized that a large mistake had been made, and they said "Okay." So today the movie as you see it on the DVD is the director's cut and it's one of the most best praised movies ever spoken of. Since then Lucasfilm and ILM have done a lot of business with Universal in making some very good movies that have done well at the box office.

When he wasn't making digital modifications to his original Star Wars trilogy, director George Lucas apparently found the time to tweak his first blockbuster, American Graffiti, as well. A glorious orange sunset has been dropped behind Mel's Drive-In in the opening shot, where originally was just a solid blue sky.

I saw this film and Diner (1982) when each was first released and have since followed with interest the subsequent careers of their youthful lead actors, notably Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith and Cindy Williams in American Graffiti and Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Kevin Bacon, Ellen Barkin, and Paul Reiser in Diner. Separated by nine years, the two films offer informative as well as entertaining perspectives on their respective youth cultures. George Lucas directed this film which focuses on Modesto (California) during the late-summer of 1962. The screenplay and cinematography are seamlessly integrated with 4l popular tunes which comprise the soundtrack. Most of the central characters can be viewed as "tweeners," in awkward transition from one phase of life to another. For example, Curt Henderson (Dreyfuss) will soon depart for college but seems ambivalent about that. The others' plans are even less certain. Meanwhile, together or separately, they spend their evenings cruising around town. (All of the scenes are at night.) I enjoyed the humor, some of it poignant, and could identify with many of the situations which closely resemble those of my own teenage years in Chicago. Keep an eye open for Harrison Ford in a brief appearance as Bob Falfa. Who knew then what awaited him next: a minor part in The Conversations (1974) and then starring roles in Lucas' Star Wars (1977) and Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Of course, I have no idea how appealing American Graffiti will be to those born since (let's say) 1985 but it is still great fun for many of us born before then and will perhaps be of greatest interest to cultural anthropologists who study the teenage culture in the U.S. in the 1960s. For me a sobering thought with which I conclude this brief commentary: if Curt (Dreyfuss), Steve (Ron Howard), Terry (Smith), and Laurie (Cindy Williams) were real people and alive today, they would be about 59 years old. Hmmmmmmm....

If you purchase the DVD version (which I strongly recommend), be sure to check out the documentary "The Making of American Graffiti" which features interviews with director George Lucas, executive producer Francis Coppola, and other cast and crew members as well as never-before-seen screen tests. Excellent stuff.

Quite possibly the greatest concert film ever made. Scorcese does a wonderful job of digging into the lives of the Band, with some wonderfully candid comments backstage between the glorious songs of this concert. The Band was in full flight, with memorable guest appearances in what was ostensibly their swan song. Take your pick of favorites. Mine were "Who Do You Love" with Ronnie Hawkins, "The Weight" with the Staple Singers, "Mystery Train" with Paul Butterfield, and "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" with Bob Dylan. Some of the guest performers looked a little out of place like Emmylou Harris, who didn't seem to find her voice on "Evangeline." But, then there is Joni Mitchell singing a lovely rendition of "Coyote." The concert builds to its closing crescendo on "I Shall be Released" with everybody joining in for this rousing rendition of the classic gospel song. You will not be disappointed!

This has got to be the best jam session ever recorded. Everyone looked as though they were having a great time. I wish I was old enough to have been there. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" "Caravan" "Weight" and "Ophelia" oooowee!!!!!!!!!!!! The sound is spectacular and the various inputs by the Band members were insightful and a little bitter sweet.
Go for it!!!

I don't know how this concert film could rate anything but five stars; I don't know what more one could expect. One of the greatest bands, period, with an incredible array of guests "stars" that all shine brightly without ever outshining The Band. All beautifully captured on 35 mm film by the brilliant Martin Scorsese. The off-stage interviews capture the slyness, charisma and chemistry of the individual members, particularly Robbie Robertson, and are edited between the concert songs in such a way as to provide marvelous, illuminating segues. I don't know which is more brilliant, the concert or the direction and editing. It just all melds into one fantastic experience.

If you want to become an instant Band afficiando, just put this DVD into your surround sound system, and you'll be hooked, I guarantee. You'll also sharpen your appreciation for a host of artists at least as influencial (and just plain good) as The Band.

What a way for the Band to go out! The Last Waltz, indeed.

I absolutely loved the Buena Vista Social Club album, but this DVD was not all that I had hoped for. It had a nice slow pace, but it became a bit boring at times. I don't feel like I really got to know the artists, although there are some nice moments (when they are exploring New York comes to mind), it is mostly abbreviated footage from concerts and recording sessions along with some brief interviews with the performers. It shows some very flavorful images of Cuba, but I couldn't help thinking about how much money Ry Cooder must have made off of these amazingly talented musicians! He seems very aloof in the parts that show him. My biggest disappointment: I was hoping for uncut footage of the concerts, but we only get two or three uncut songs. The "El Cuarto de Tula" concert at Carnegie hall that plays during the credits is fantastic, but this DVD needs either more documentary or more music! It is somewhere in between. Also, my favorite song "De Camino a la Vereda" is nowhere to be found in this DVD.

What exactly was on Wim Wenders' mind, I wonder, when he was shooting this movie? Was he trying to make a concert film? A documentary on forgotten Cuban musicians? A travelogue of Havana locales? Well, "Buena Vista Social Club" is all those movies wrapped in one, but only one problem--it's not long enough to carry them all. Maybe it was meant as an introduction to the music, so that if you liked it, you could seek it out on your own. Either way, it's really unfortunate that there isn't a single complete song anywhere in the movie, and sequences like the one with Ry Cooder and his son riding through Havana on a motorcycle cannot serve any purpose.
Another bone to pick--most DVDs these days come with hours upon hours of extras, usually useless crap scraped off the editing room floor. One would think, then, that the producers of this DVD would try to fill in the gaps and put in the complete concert and studio performances that were captured. More likely, they'll wait a while, then try to push a 2-DVD set, then a 3-DVD remastered collector's edition, then a 4-DVD...

On second though, just buy the CDs. All the music is there.

Watching a documentary one takes the view of who handles the wandering camera, and, at this time, this is more worthwhile than watching a studio manufactured dream- or nightmare- world.
We find a few old Cuban entertainers, retired singers, in the streets of Havana, at their homes, at rehearsal, performing in public...They have not performed for a long time, but they are ready to do it now. They speak some times plainly, other times as seasoned entertainers delighted to be at the centre of attention.
These are not stars, they are 'plain' singers, theirs faces beautiful with wrinkles. They have dignity, humanity, and a great sense of humour. They tell us their story, how they happened in this business, at a time when Cuba and its populace were mainly catering for all sorts of entertainment for the mainland Americans, before the revolution.
Buena Vista was an entertainment palace of that time, and we follow the camera through the streets of Havana, in search of that lost memory. The palace is long gone but some of the performers are there, and through their narrative, indirectly, we have a glimpse of what was lost and what was gained during that time.

At the final sequence, before a performance at Carnegie Hall, these magnificent old Thespians are allowed a stroll and shopping tour in the commercial streets on New York, and we see their wonderful amazement.
We feel their difference of attitude.

A rare gem, not to be missed!

"All About My Mother" eschews the trite little star-studded pap that passes for drama in Hollywood these days, and carries with it a tremendous pedigree: masterful acting (some of the best I've seen in years), a great script, and possibly the most underrated director in film today, Pedro Almodovar.

Almodovar has hit a few bumps in his time ("Live Flesh", "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down"), but this one is the goods. Being a guy who digs mindless action flicks as well as tasteful foreign cinema, I can honestly say I almost cried at the end of this one. Cecilia Roth is the rope that anchors the entire cast, made up of old/young/transgendered women, and the emotion that permeates through the screen is considerable.

Penelope Cruz? Who knew she could act? I still think they should keep her away from the Hollywood machine; she performs adequately here.

As other reviewers have stated, it's a torturous ride, but one that pays off double by the end.

When her son is killed, Manuela quietly comes unglued and returns to her old stomping grounds in Barcelona, exploring the fragile strings of friendship that bind her to three other women, a pregnant nun, a prostitute, and an actress. There's a quiet sadness that permeates the otherwise melodramatic events in this movie. It's quite spectacular.

The problem with too many "dramas" is that they constantly fall into straightjackets like "tearjerker" or "realist", loaded with terrible amounts of sentimentality or so depressing they're like staring into the sun. Happily, All About My Mother avoids both drops, it's never maudlin nor harsh, and for the most part the characters behave human (rather than psychopathically emotional), which makes the circumstances surrounding them neither too depressing to bear, nor too fantastic. Almodovar's direction is, as always, well paced and shot, providing enough visual spark to heighten interest, but never overwhealming the story.

All About My Mother is perfect if you're looking for a well balanced and interesting movie that's neither depressing nor cold. Perhaps it wraps things up a bit too cleanly, but this hardly diminshes it's value as art or entertainment.