Manual Movie Reviews

Dame Joan Sutherland's name is one of the best known in opera history. She was married to conductor Richard Bonynge who launched her career and made her a star. She sang mostly in the 60's and 70's, at a time when Maria Callas's voice was declining as well as her career (Maria Callas had only reigned in the 40's and 50's). Joan Sutherland's voice is miraculously huge. This makes her an essentially dramatic soprano. Even as such, she can sing soft pianissimo and lyric lines (legato) typical of the Italian bel canto repertory. She sang much of the heavy Italian diva roles of the bel canto - Bellini's Norma, Donizetti's Lucia, as well as other challenging roles as Queen Marguerite in Meyerbeer's "Les Huguenots". She had beautiful coloratura as well, evident in her Queen of the Night, Zerbinetta, "Hoffman" heroines and Ophelia from Ambroise Thomas' Hamlet. On this DVD, we have the exceptionally powerful performance of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. No other soprano has truly made the role hers as Joan Sutherland did. The only other "rivals" which are debated about are Montserrat Caballe and Beverly Sills, who coincidentally all sang the same stuff in the same period of time. But rivalry exists only among fans and followers and the venom of the press. Joan Sutherland stood on her own ground and was a remarkable star that shone bright. This is not to say that Montserrat Caballe or Beverly Sills were lesser lights. All these glorious songbirds of the 60's and 70's were equal in success and beautiful to hear in their own light.

Joan Sutherland sings an Oscar worthy Lucrezia on this DVD live performance, eventhough she had sung the role at a time earlier in her career when her voice was in superior shape. There is also a fine recording of Lucrezia Borgia with Joan Sutherland singing the title role in a 1960's recording available at Amazon.com. The reason Joan is older here is that it's either late 70's or early 80' when she was in her fifties and about to retire and when the Met televised broadcasts first went out. Unfortunately, that's the price these singers had to pay to be seen on a performance captured on film. Both Joan Sutherland and Beverly Sills had to deal with aging and declining voices when the opportunity to be televised first appeared. By then, they had a long career of singing sensationally at all the world's leading opera houses far behind them. Alfredo Kraus performs the tenor role of Lucrezia's son. The story is quite dramatic. The Renaissance matriarch, Lucrezia Borgia, who was demonized by many historic accounts of her cruelty and by her ambitious genes (she was the sister of Cesare Borgia after all, Cesare Borgia being the inspiration for Machiavelli's "The Prince"). That she was ruthless and power-hungry is probably true, for after all its power that corrupts any man or woman. Lucrezia's fiery and dark nature is vividly portrayed by Joan Sutherland here, while at the same time showcasing her lyric-coloratura assets (check out the Brindisi and the finale aria). However, Lucrezia's softer side is her maternal nature. She wants to re-establish a relationship with her estranged son but through tragic misfortune ends up poisoning him instead. Her great remorse and feeling of loss is indicated in her final aria as she takes her dead son in her arms.

There is ultimately no superior Lucrezia. So many singers still want to take on this incredible role and kudos to those who try. But we have so many choices to hear from the past- Joan Sutherland with whom you can never go wrong, Montserrat Caballe who provides much fire and passion and Beverly Sills who is transformed in the role of Lucrezia- from light soprano to dramatically masterful (to hear Beverly Sills sing Lucrezia you have to listen to the rare recording "Sillsiana" available on Gala series- a pastiche of many arias and an entire Lucrezia compilation at the end of the album. But we have to applaude Joan Sutherland's unearthly performance as the one and only Lucrezia Borgia. All fans of Sutherland and of opera alike must get this fantastic DVD.

It's and E Flat, not an E natural. Sutherland was long past her high E's at this point. This is a great performance and it was the favorite of Sutherland fans at Covent Garden.

Sutherland is generally consider the greatest Lucretia Borgia of our time. That is on the review on the DVD box set. She is stupendous, a wonder here. She is 53, but she sounds like she's 33 here. She was on that evening, it was a command performance. And the opera stage was covered with a carpet of flowers at the curtain calls that covers the floor completely. This live recording is a total triumph. And the digital recording is as clear as my Titanic DVD that's how good the video and audio is.

Caballe doesn't have a dvd of Borgia. And her coloratura in the final cabaletta is a mess. Caballe also never hit a note above the high C. There are E flats that Sutherland easily hits.
Also Caballe does not have the trill that this role has. Therefore she can't be compare to Sutherland in this fiendishly difficult role.

A sugar-coated political story. Spain was in the twilight of political tyranny. The science teacher, however well-educated and well-meaning he was, his torch of enlightenment was just too small. Oppressions and persecutions were still prevalent, life and human relationship even of the most intimate and innocent kind suffered... Fortunately, Spain soon turned herself into a butterfly as beautiful and as meaningful as the one the teacher showed his pupil who took part in his persecution by throwing stone at him...

A heart-warming but also politically hair-raising story. Recommended.

"Butterfly" ("Mariposa" in Spanish) is a Spanish film set in 1936, in the pre-stages of the Spanish Civil War.
Filmed in the standard European method (i.e., very well!), this film brings together Moncho (a young boy), his family, his village and its politics, and an aging school teacher, who only wants to teach that everyone should live free (or "at least one generation of Spaniards should live free!"). It is a heartwarming and heartbreaking film about the struggles, internally and outwardly: of trying to grow up and understand an adult world that seems bizarre at best, of wrestling with a myriad of political "solutions" facing the country at the time (which pitted Church against king against the fascists against the communists, thus leaving innocent Moncho completely confused.

The film quite adequately carries these themes and, alas, with no happy conclusion (it's not Hollywood, after all!). Moncho sees this adult world come crashing down upon his own sensibilities, and being six years old, find himself unable not only to cope with it but not to be able to understand it at all, try as hard as he may. Politics wins out, at least at this time and civil liberties (certainly a stranger to Spain at that time in history) once more fall by the camino real.

"Butterfly" makes a striking statement about the Human Condition, and how some cope, some reject, some distort, and some accept it. Seen from the perspective of Americans who seem to take civil liberties for granted, freedom on every corner, and rights in abundance, we can only feel saddened that these citizens know not freedom's ring. We do know, however, even though perhaps in another venue, the heartbreak of deception, of lost love, of being manipulated by false forces.
This is a powerful film that, subtitles aside (American audiences don't always "accept" them!), is worth the effort.

La pelicula se basa en un libro que consta de una serie de cuentos escrito por el joven escritor gallego, Manuel Rivas. La coleccion se llama "Que me quieres, Amor?". Fernando Fernan Gomez, el gran actor y novelista espanol, protagoniza un maestro de colegio que influye la vida de sus alumnos, y en particular, la de un alumno encantador a quien le pone el nombre "Gorrion". El pequeno se llama Moncho y la trama que desarrolla entre alumno y maestro tendra al espectador maravillado por la belleza y el poder de la obra cinematografica. Le hara a uno reir, sonreir, sentir y llorar al final. Hay que verla!

The movie itself is a great mexican masterpiece, but avoid this DVD at all cost

It have none extra features, and the worst of all, you can't remove the english subtitles.... the aspect ratio is Full Screen and the audio is 2.0

I recommend this movie in a VHS rather than a DVD

(unfortunatelly the only dvd version of this movie, is this featureless DVD... grrr!)

Let's face it. This film won 49 awards from Latin American film festivals (including 1995 Ariel award - the Mexican Oscar - for best movie) but never really got a big welcome on the American market, even after being shown at the Washington D.C. International Film Festival. Was it because, when it comes to this kind of romantic drama, American moviegoers had seen a lot better? This film was acclaimed for a good screenplay (based on the novel by an Egyptian Nobel prize winner) and its cast and crew deserved some credit for their efforts, but all for all, it did nothing but reminded me of a fabulous classic, 1959's "Imitation of Life" (with Lana Turner, Sandra Dee and Susan Kohner).... Anyway, now that Salma Hayek has worked her way to stardom, anybody who's interested in her stunning beauty wouldn't want to miss her debut as an actress in "Midaq Alley". That's fair, because she truly carried the film so well. Although Margarita Sanz also won some Best Actress awards, people would definitely tend to remember more of Alma than of Susanita -- or so I think.

Beginning with a game of dominoes in a Mexico City cantina, we are introduced to the people who frequent this neighborhood bar and then to their families, and the extended family of their poor neighborhood, ironically known as Midaq Alley or Callejon de los Milagros. We watch helplessly as a series of events unfold drawing in other characters and changing their lives forever.

As the film progresses, this same game of dominoes begins again and again. Each time, we see how the same basic sequence of events unfold through the eyes of a different set of characters and and how their lives are changed forever.

It's as though the game of dominoes is a metaphor for life. At some level each life touches another and determines what will happens to the other characters. A decision taken by one character limits and directs the choices of the others.

Not having had the advantage of reading the novel in advance of renting the movie, I did not have a preconceived notion of how the characters should behave, or how they stacked up against the book. Generally the translation of a novel into a movie is sketchy at best. However, taken at face value Midaq Alley works very well on film.

The plot is strong and the characters are well defined. What appears to be a slight nuance in one sequence becomes the obvious catalyst that motivates a character in a later sequence. The whole effect ties the characters together as an extended family, a neighborhood, a nation, and finally as archetypes for the human experience. I recommend Midaq Alley as the best type of "art film" -- one that serves as a catalyst for thought and discussion.

This is a predictable spy-espionage movie. I bought this movie and was fairly disappointed because I'm a Ben Kingsley fan. Acting is mediocre and you can tell that this is budget-constrained movie.

That's a perfect action pack! It's profound and actual. All 3 stars (Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, and Ben kingsley) have done a tremendous job. I deliberately give thumbs up for this thriller.

Me and Comacho love this movie. Comacho is cool so you should like it too. The bald guy is a good actor and the others are nice...though that Sutherland fellow needs a haircut really bad.

Bottom line (or top line if you prefer):This movie is not a waste of your time. It is about a young man deserting the military towards the end of the Spanish Civil War. On the surface level, you won't find anything really outstanding here, just a guy who is taken in by a stranger and decides to stay on after meeting his four very very lovely daughters. Each, in turn, seduce and confuse the poor boy. This level alone is fun. However, the dialog between the two guards at the begining set the tone of social commentary. If you know anything about the Spanish Civil War you will find that each of the daughters represent also the four main factions of the war. Watch deeper and pay attention to the social and historical events that were taking place in the time setting of the movie, you will understand the film's muted anti-war commentary and why it won the '92 Oscar. If you don't really care about all that bookish stuff it is still a funny and sexy film about finding the right girl. Bottom line: this movie won't waste your time.

Belle Epoque is a beautifully rendered film with a good sense of humor and a well-paced plot. Unlike what a previous reviewer wrote, it is actually set in the years PRECEDING the Spanish Civil War, that is, when a republic was established after the abdication of Alfonso XIII in 1931. The debate between Monarchism and Carlism versus Republicanism and Anarchism -a split in Spanish society that would culminate in the outbreak of the Civil War in 1936- is made accessible as expressed by the colorful characters in this movie: the pampered mollycoddle Juanito, the irreverent priest, the artist-patriarch (who nevertheless lives like a "scared old bourgeois"). The Civil War of the 1936-39 was only the last of the many civil wars that erupted in Spain during the modern era (e.g. the Carlist Wars of the Nineteenth Century). The movie will throw light on this turbulent time as it affected ordinary people, and for those of you not squeamish about the idea of a man sleeping with four beautiful women in the course of a few days, I recommend this movie highly. "Belle Epoque" is NOT fluff or late-night soft porn; it is only disguising its gravity behind a façade of lightheartedness.

Gomez brings the audience characters you fall in love with...
If you liked "water for chocolate" and "women on the verge of a nervous breakdown" or even "woman on top"- you'll enjoy this!

A silly, unbelievable romp, but still fun. Michael Douglas does a great job of being unimpressed and annoyed with kathleen Turner's character. I love it when he chops off the heels of her shoes and she bemoans their designer and price. He says, "Now they're practical." the sad thing after this movie they ran the Michael-Kathleen partnership into the ground.

This review refers to the DVD edition(Twentieth Cent Fox) of "Romancing The Stone"....

I could not even think of going less than 5 stars on this film. It is one that is as enjoyable the 50th time you watch as it was the first. If it was playing on TV, I could not pass it, without stopping to watch it. So when I saw it at such a great price, I could not pass it up. Here's my only problem with it...I'm having a heck of a time trying to decide what genre to put it with. It has something for everybody. Action-Adventure, Comedy, and Romance. It's a Caper and a Cliffhanger.

Here's the story for those that may have missed this gem....

Joan Wilder(Kathleen Turner)is a romance novelist who's hopes and dreams are to be swept off her feet by a man like Jessie, the hero of her adventurous stories. She's about to have her own adventure though, one that includes a man, well... not quite like Jessie,but a hero in his own way, Jack T. Colton(Michael Douglas). He has dreams too. And he's into "short-cuts" to make them come true.

After coming into possession of a mysterious treasure map, Joan finds herself in the jungles of Columbia. She must use the map to bargain for her kidnapped sister's life. Things are not going smoothly though. All kinds of villains are after the map. Enter Jack to the rescue, but are his intentions to help her or is he also after the treasure at the end of the map?? Find out as things go downhill(literally), they are swinging from vines, fighting off crocodiles, and are all the time being chased by bad cops and bumbling thieves, including the likes of Danny DeVito!

Good job by Twentieth Century Fox.I was pretty pleased with the DVD. The picture is one of the better non-anamorphic transfers I have seen. It is presented in widescreen(Aspect Ratio 2.35:1), is clear and bright in all scenes, with great color. The sound(DD Surround), including the always wonderful scoring by Alan Silvestri is very good.All the action is sharp and crisp. The only minor thing about it is the dialouge seemed low at times. I would have to turn it up and then during action sequences, turn it back down a bit. This was only on occassion and not a big problem. No special features, but there is a theatrical trailer and it may be viewed in French(also Dolby Surround) and has subtitles in English and Spanish.

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it is a wild and romantic ride. Take it.. and then watch the sequel..."Jewel Of The Nile".

Go for it....and thanks....Laurie.....p.s. It's in my comedy section ...for now!

It's a DVD keeper. I'm glad that I purchased this movie.There's not to many movies you can watch over and over,but this one holds a spot in my DVD collection.Romancing the Stone & Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom make a great double feature!

Kevin

This is not your typical mindless, hollywood affair. "El Espinazo del Diablo" is great for those of us who yearn for a film exempt of all the Hollywood must have's (absolute good vs. absolute evil, teenage party slaughters, weak scripts, annoying kids who save the day, trying to come up with a "surprise ending" to make for the lack of plot, etc.)

Devil's Backbone is set during the Spanish civil war, in a rather isolated boy's academy. One of the newcomers stumbles across the ghost of a child who was murdered there, the rest is for you to find out.

Everything about this film is top notch.

Moody, atmospheric, like reading a literary novel. Will reward those who watch it...

THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE [El Espinazo del Diablo] (Spain 2001): During the Spanish Civil War, a young orphan boy (Fernando Tielve) is sent to an isolated boarding school where he encounters the ghost of a murdered child (Junio Valverde) who warns him of impending disaster...

A masterpiece. Filmed in Spain by writer-director Guillermo del Toro following his unhappy Hollywood debut (MIMIC), this spellbinding melodrama works both as an examination of the political turmoil which characterized the Spanish Civil War, and as a simple ghost story in which a tragic spirit seeks vengeance for a terrible crime. Employing restless camerawork and atmospheric set designs to their best advantage, del Toro visualizes his own script (co-written with Antonio Trashorras and David Munoz) as the story of a vulnerable child cast adrift in a strange new world, where he must contend not only with everyday problems (such as the school bully, Inigo Garces, whose motives are rather more complex than they first appear), but also his frequent encounters with the unhappy ghost, some of which are genuinely unsettling (watch out for the heart-stopping sequence in which Tielve is besieged in a closet by the enraged phantom). Production values are first-class throughout, ranging from Cesar Maccaron's evocative art direction and Salvador Mayolas' ultra-creepy sound design, through to Luis de la Madrid's crisp editing skills and Javier Navarrete's unforgettable music score. Visual effects and makeup designs are also superb, though deliberately underplayed for maximum emotional effect. The cast is toplined by Spanish movie veterans Marisa Paredes (a favorite of Pedro Almodovar) and Federico Luppi (CRONOS), and there are impressive turns by Irene Visedo as a young woman whose loyalties are divided by circumstances, and rising star Eduardo Noriega (the Spanish equivalent of Brad Pitt) as Visedo's boyfriend, an orphan-turned-caretaker whose volatile nature leads to a dramatic conclusion, with appalling consequences for everyone around him. Tielve is magnificent as the wide-eyed innocent around whom the entire narrative revolves, and Garces is every bit his equal as the bully who reclaims his dignity during a climactic showdown with the forces of evil. Released around the same time as THE OTHERS (Los Otros, 2001) - another Spanish ghost story, filmed in English as a vehicle for Nicole Kidman - THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE was consigned to Art-house distribution by virtue of its status as a subtitled movie and suffered a comparative loss at the US box-office, though del Toro's magical fever dream is unquestionably the better of the two films.

The movie runs 107m 21s on Columbia TriStar's region 1 DVD (not including the Columbia Classics logo at beginning and end, which wasn't part of the original film), and the image - less vivid and colorful than DVD versions from other countries, but still impressive - is letterboxed at 1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced. Released theatrically in Dolby Digital, the film's all-important soundtrack is reproduced in Dolby 5.1, and is deeply immersive throughout. Extras include a trailer and brief 'Making-of' featurette, and a terrific commentary from del Toro and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro. The film itself is presented in Spanish, with optional English subtitles, though closed captions have not been included.

It's quite a long action movie with a very standard story, two hot tempered guys chasing after a cuban ectasy dealer.....That doesnt matter. The gun fights, the car chasing scenes are so fantastic with much improved cinematography than the first episode, certainly attributed to a much higher budget and the pressure on the whole original team including the producer and the director with their current superstar status that could not allow them to disappoint. I am bold enough to say that the amount of "good stuff" can actually be spilt into two more average action films. More importantly, some scenes are quite "new" or "creative", such as dumping cars from a big truck along the highway .....

In short, a must rent and watch! If you got a good 5.1 AV system, it's a must buy.

... Well I finally got to see Bad Boys 2 a few weeks ago and I was very pleased. I can't wait for the dvd to come out.

The movie is ACTION packed to say the least. There is action, brief nudity, a lot of cursing, violent and digusting killings, and a lot of drugs. It is not a kid's movie and I was disapointed to see how many people brought their kids with them to see this movie.

Anyway, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence make a great team and yes their jokes were sometimes annoying and dry but not enough to be overshadowed by the really funny scenes. I liked the first Bad Boys film but I really feel that the sequel is much better. I would not be surprised to see a third installment.

If you like action, good special effects and great stunt coordination, this film is for you. I can't wait to watch it again!

I really enjoyed this movie. It was the best 2 1/2 hours of my summer. If it ever comes back in theaters, I will see it again. Regardless where it is playing at.

It's quite a long action movie with a very standard story, two hot tempered guys chasing after a cuban ectasy dealer.....That doesnt matter. The gun fights, the car chasing scenes are so fantastic with much improved cinematography than the first episode, certainly attributed to a much higher budget and the pressure on the whole original team including the producer and the director with their current superstar status that could not allow them to disappoint. I am bold enough to say that the amount of "good stuff" can actually be spilt into two more average action films. More importantly, some scenes are quite "new" or "creative", such as dumping cars from a big truck along the highway .....

In short, a must rent and watch! If you got a good 5.1 AV system, it's a must buy.

... Well I finally got to see Bad Boys 2 a few weeks ago and I was very pleased. I can't wait for the dvd to come out.

The movie is ACTION packed to say the least. There is action, brief nudity, a lot of cursing, violent and digusting killings, and a lot of drugs. It is not a kid's movie and I was disapointed to see how many people brought their kids with them to see this movie.

Anyway, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence make a great team and yes their jokes were sometimes annoying and dry but not enough to be overshadowed by the really funny scenes. I liked the first Bad Boys film but I really feel that the sequel is much better. I would not be surprised to see a third installment.

If you like action, good special effects and great stunt coordination, this film is for you. I can't wait to watch it again!

I really enjoyed this movie. It was the best 2 1/2 hours of my summer. If it ever comes back in theaters, I will see it again. Regardless where it is playing at.

I cannot warn you AWAY from this film enough. Did Bill Murray even READ this book??? My god! This was a serious piece of work and Bill approached it like it was Caddyshack. Bill Murray bought the right to this and then he took liberties which are clearly out of the scope of Somerset Maugham's intent. I really can't fathom what he was thinking by doing this.

This tortures The Razor's Edge as much as the remake of The Scarlett Letter with Demi Moore.

So,if you like fine literature tortured and twisted until it is unrecognizable, you'll love this movie!

Even though this movie is loosely based on the book.
It is a painfully, yet spirtiual adaptation.
Bill Murray gives a performance that is truely beautiful.
The actors in this movie should have received high praise for there performances.
Like when "Larry is on top of the mountain, and has to burn his books to stay warm, or when he tells his first love to always wear the ring he gave her so she will always know that someone out there loves her.
I really enjoyed this movie it was an attempt to truely make a movie that showed the meaning of unconditional love in that society.

It is a treasure as far as movies and art is concern.
J.Botto Bellaire, TX