Wholesale and Distribution Movie Reviews

This classic black and white film is an intriguingly original and often humorous love story about an American pilot who falls in love with an eloquent German woman during the Berlin airlift. The pilot's cynical buddy, who suffered greatly at the hands of the Nazis in WWII, tries to dissuade his friend from falling for this "Kraut" but to no avail. The film contains many insightful and thought provoking comments on the nature of WWII, the USA, democracy, the Germans, and love itself. Although not a 5 star flick of the calibre of "The Third Man" this film has many similar flickers of genius and a clever twist.

Edward Deskur

One thing overlooked in other reviews, which I am in agreement with over the quality of this film, is that the military people in this film are actually the people serving in the hosting Airforce Unit in Germany at the time. When I first saw it on late night television, I noticed the very real radio chatter that went on in the aircraft and most of all Clift's commanding officer, who had such an un-hollywood demeanor that I wondered where they got this guy and/or who was the genius directing this that created this take on this character. Then when the credits came, I saw that he was the serving commanding officer of the Airforce outfit: he was just being himself (and his "performance" will surprise many who only know the "cartoon version" of military people). And he's not the only one: they show all the "actors" one at a time in formation at the end (the military folks). Good stuff (and as a former military man myself, I found it very refreshing to see this sort of non-cartoonish depiction of military characters in this film).
This film is a great product of it's time, the era which gave us "Third Man" and a few other of the great "Cold War" Noir films (some day "Night People" with Gregory Peck and Buddy Ebsen will come out on Dvd, too!).

You can't go wrong.

I got into Montgomery Clift movies during my teen years, ever since being "forced" to sit through "From Here to Eternity" at my aunt and uncle's house on Thanksgiving Day (I lost out at the video store when all of my relatives disagreed with my selection of "Ghostbusters 2"...pathetic, I know, but I was only 14). Needless to say I was awed by "Eternity" and over the years have seen just about every film in which Monty Clift appeared. Sure, everybody likes "A Place in the Sun" and "The Heiress", but most of his movies, in my opinion, were underrated. "I Confess" (directed by Hitchcock), "Wild River" (directed by Elia Kazan, but unfortunately not yet on videotape), and "The Young Lions" (with Brando) are well worth seeing. One of Monty's earliest films, "The Search" is also a gem and quite similar in style and theme to "The Big Lift". The latter film is part of my video collection and one which I enjoy watching every year or so (and I'm not saying that just because I'm now in the Air Force! ). Monty is at his best in this film and he plays the type of role at which he was most exceptional: the low-key guy with a heart of gold, the kind of guy you'd want for a friend, a co-worker, or as a date for your little sister. :) It pains me to think that Monty's career died out in the early 1960s and that the actor himself perished in 1966 as a result of years of substance abuse. I believe that had he lived, he would have made a comeback, perhaps on television in a "Dynasty"-type show (that, however, is a scary thought). So, in a nutshell, "The Big Lift" is an excellent film, a good choice for film buffs, and an absolute must for Montgomery Clift fans. Incidentally, it is much preferrable to view this movie on videotape rather than on a television network --- I sat through it once on American Movie Classics and it was a frustrating experience: the film quality was grainy, very dark, and "jumpy". BUY IT INSTEAD.

Dirk Longstreet (Olivier Gruner) is the former champion of The Circuit, an underground fighting society. He is the only man to ever make it out unscathed. Dirk is now a University coach with a great reputation. However, he now finds that he must return after his brother, Jeremy, gets in trouble after placing some high bets at The Circuit. Dirk then must step into the ring once again against the newer, younger, "Unbeatable Kwan" (James & Simon Kim).

The wait is over, Olivier Gruner is finally back after nearly a 3-year hiatus as playing the lead in his movies. The fighting scenes were very well done, coordinated by both Olivier Gruner and Jalal Merhi. All of the fighters were seemingly professionals, giving the fight scenes a very polished look. The movie is not without its flaws though, most noticeable is that in the the first 15 minutes the music and background noise drains out the dialogue making it hard to understand what characters are saying at times. The plot overall is nothing special for the movies genre, but who wants to reinvent the wheel? Just stick with the tried and true formula and that is what they did.

Another aspect of the movie is that it has romantic-comedy sub-plot. I am sure some of the female Olivier Gruner fans will enjoy this as a change from some of his other roles. Lastly, you will see Olivier's dog Murphy play a role in the movie, he was also seen in TNT and Savage.

Overall, I am very happy with the release of the movie. Hopefully this is a taste of things to come from Olivier Gruner. If you pick-up the DVD version, the Trailer for the movie comes along with a very nice menu screen with a very cool graphic and some nice music. The only disappointing part in my oppinion is the final fight scene, it doesn't really show that Gruner is that great of a fighter.

Score: 4/5

Dirk Longstreet (Olivier Gruner) is the former champion of The Circuit, an underground fighting society. He is the only man to ever make it out alive. Dirk is now a University coach with a great reputation. However, he now finds that he must return after his brother, Jeremy, gets in trouble after placing some high bets at The Circuit. Dirk then must step into the ring once again against the newer, younger, "Unbeatable Kwan" (James & Simon Kim).

The wait is over, Olivier Gruner is finally back after nearly a 3-year hiatus as playing the lead in his movies. The fighting scenes were very well done, coordinated by both Olivier Gruner and Jalal Merhi. All of the fighters were seemingly professionals, giving the fight scenes a very polished look. The movie is not without its flaws though, most noticeable is that in the the first 15 minutes the music and background noise drains out the dialogue making it hard to understand what characters are saying at times. The plot overall is nothing special for the movies genre, but who wants to reinvent the wheel? Just stick with the tried and true formula and that is what they did.

Another aspect of the movie is that it has romantic-comedy sub-plot. I am sure some of the female Olivier Gruner fans will enjoy this as a change from some of his other roles. Lastly, you will see Olivier's dog Murphy play a role in the movie, he was also seen in TNT and Savage.

Overall, I am very happy with the release of the movie. Hopefully this is a taste of things to come from Olivier Gruner. If you pick-up the DVD version, the Trailer for the movie comes along with a very nice menu screen with a very cool graphic and some nice music. The only disappointment that I have is that the last fight is sort of a let down.

Score : 4/5

MAN to MAN ACTION ! and plenty of that !!

FLEEING BY NIGHT [Ye Ben] (China/Taiwan 2000): Tianjin, the late 1930's. A young cellist (Huang Lei) returns home from studies abroad and makes preparations to marry his childhood sweetheart (Rene Liu Re-ying), the daughter of a wealthy businessman. But the relationship is soured when Huang meets and falls in love with a male Chinese opera singer (Yin Chao-te) who is being pimped by his mentor to a local gangster (Tai Li-jen). Tragedy ensues.

Several key personnel from CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON were reunited for this Chinese/Taiwanese co-production, including co-director Hsu Li-kong (longtime associate of director Tsai Ming-liang) and co-writer Wang Hui-ling. And while it's a pleasant surprise to find a government-sanctioned Chinese film addressing a number of previously taboo subjects (corruption and hypocrisy in high places, gay romance, etc.), the results are decidedly mixed. Set against the backdrop of sweeping changes which transformed Chinese society during the first half of the 20th century, FLEEING BY NIGHT invites predictable comparisons with Chen Kaige's superior FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE, but the resemblance is superficial at best. Directors Hsu and Yin Chi employ the trappings of traditional Chinese melodrama - villainous gangsters, thwarted love, enduring loyalty, lifelong tragedy, etc. - though the film relies for much of its dramatic impact on a measured accumulation of intimate details, an approach which reaps dividends in the long run, despite the film's unsatisfying narrative structure. Huang's doomed relationship with Liu is allowed to dominate proceedings for a little longer than necessary, and the subsequent romance between Huang and Lin is thwarted at every turn, frustrating audience expectations and leading some critics to question the film's sexual politics. In fact, despite a lush orchestral score by Chris Babida, the movie lacks a formal visual grace, thanks to production design (by Sung Chun) which fails to generate an appropriate period ambience, and non-stylized cinematography by Tsai Cheng-hui (SWEET DEGENERATION, MURMUR OF YOUTH).

More a tragedy than a love story, the narrative builds to a genuinely heartbreaking conclusion: Few will be unmoved by a blunt, devastating sequence at the end of the movie in which Huang and Yin are 'reunited' after many years apart, all the more heartbreaking for the understated manner in which it is staged. Huang (LIFE ON A STRING, THE PHANTOM LOVER) makes an attractive and sympathetic protagonist, while Yin smoulders intensely in a difficult role, and Liu (who made an impressive debut five years earlier in the title role of SIAO YU) is quietly effective as the understanding wallflower laid low by her fiancee's deceit. Equally memorable is Tai, playing the nominal 'villain' as a sympathetic character hidebound by traditions and his place within Chinese society. Ultimately, some viewers will reject the film's deliberate pacing, while others will embrace its quiet dignity and grand romantic heart.

Strand Releasing's all-region DVD - which runs 119m 52s, despite a 123 minute running time quoted on the packaging - is letterboxed at 1.66:1. Colors are muted, and picture quality is compromised by an unforgivable lack of anamorphic enhancement. Unfortunately, like so many movies released on DVD by independent distributors these days, the theatrical Dolby Digital soundtrack has been downmixed to 2.0 stereo, and while the movie isn't affected too badly by this unwelcome audio revision, it doesn't represent the original theatrical experience. The Mandarin soundtrack is supported by optional English subtitles, which are excellent. There's no trailer for FLEEING BY NIGHT in the disc's meager supplemental section, but previews of other gay-themed releases from Strand are included as consolation.

This is a mesmorizing, story of a man who returns home to China to marry but is enthralled by the performance of a male opera star; a lyrically told story of two intersecting love triangles. Flawless!

I am not going to rave about the sets, or the acting, or the quality of the production. They were all very good.

The film is narrated intermittently by the cellist and his fiance, in the form of letters to each other while they are apart at different points in the movie, and I really thought this added to the somber, but also romantic, mood

The background musical scores are beautiful, sometimes touching, often tragic.

This film was absolutely charming, and at the same time, terribly depressing, in a romantic sort of way. A young male cellist meets a woman whom he is supposed to marry, and shortly after they first meet, they attend a Chinese Opera. The lead of the opera is a handsome young man who is srictly "controlled" by a somewhat older rich man, his lover. Both the cellist and his fiance fall in love with the Opera star, and eventually, the two younger men briefly touch upon their love for each other. The fiance discovers this, then the older rich guy does too... and then everyone knows.
From there, it gets more and more depressing. I won't divulge the details of the second half, but especially depressing is the fate of the ex-opera star as he desperately attempts to reunite with the cellist. In the end, you are taught a lesson about never missing an opportunity for true love....

Buy this movie, and watch it with a close friend or someone you love. And then hold him or her tight and never let go.

Desert moon and the mtv unplugged fantastic. rest is videos . desert moon is a video but have never seen before. Need a dvd concert!!!!!! Would love to have the whole unplugged thing any way I could get it

This DVD is worth the money spent! I enjoyed it and recomend it to all looking for good video & sound. The only down fall in this DVD is they edited Rock Me :( WHY? This is one of the best songs Great White ever made and to cut it short is sad! But as for the quality of the DVD I give it a high "9" BUY IT!

It's about time that this was released on DVD. When it first came out on VHS, it contained 2 of the 4 videos (Rock Me and Save Your Love) that were on a previous tape released 3 years earlier. Why they couldn't include Face The Day and Since I've Been Loving You (from Live At The Ritz) to this 11 track disc is beyond me. Is Capitol Records that cheap or shortsighted? I guess I should just be contented that this excellent compilation was released at all. A great archive of a great band that'll be sorely missed. Did I mention all the hot babes in all the videos (except the MTV Unplugged clip, of course)? R.I.P. to all those lost in the recent fire.

Not many people were interested in seeing an overly talky film about politics on the heels of the non-ending Watergate coverage. Few were interested in the rather naive and over-earnestness this extremely flawed re-worked, re-make of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington offered.

I was a big fan of Billy Jack in '72 and I must admit that I also enjoyed Trial of Billy Jack in 1974. I had not seen Trial since 1974 until recently. It's a pretty awful film.

Now I've seen this film. There is some "dangerous" material in the film that probably did upset people in political power who saw the film. It does show how some corrupt politicians work. It wasn't a great revelation to anyone in 1977 however that our political system was loaded with corruption. We had just been through an over-dose of Watergate. The film can be over-analyzed today and you can see some prophetic things in the film if you want to. Let's not go there.

The film plays like an over-produced t.v. movie. There are some impressive location shots in Washington D.C. and around the Grand Canyon. There was a very expensive and detailed sets built to replicate the U.S. Senate accurately. There were some real actors in the film. People like E.G. Marshall and Sam Wanamaker . It was one of the last films Pat O'brien was in, and it was the first one for Lucie Arnaz.

Frank Capra Jr. was one of the producers of the film which borrows quite a bit from the classic Frank Capra film. Mr Smith Goes to Washington.

If you expect the film to have some action or even a couple of good martial arts fights you will be very disappointed. There is a brief, poorly choreographed fight scene that occurs in about the middle of the film. Future bad action director Hal Needham was stunt coordinator. And Dolores Taylor who always turned the other cheek rather than fight, actually is part of the fighting in this one. Sometimes pacifists get angry and kick ass too I guess.

The film is more interested in its message and in showing us how the mechanics of political corruption work and how one man might change the system and fight corruption. The structure is close to the Mr. Smith film.

E.G. Marshall does put in a watch-able performance and Tom Laughlin who would only be considered a decent actor if you put him next to someone like Chuck Norris is better than you would think. He's still a stiff, soft spoken guy, but there's a natural quality to his performance through most of the film. He's not trying too hard to act (which is good because he can't). But through most of this film you don't get the feeling he's looking for his camera marks or too conscious of where the camera is.

A Senator suddenly dies and the top secret document he has is stoeln by a mid-level lobbyist. Senator Joseph Paine played by E.G. Marshall, calls Governor Hymie (I'm sorry Dick Gautier plays the Governor and when I see him I think of him as Hymie the robot from Get Smart) to go over possible replacements for the Senator. At the meeting is Bailey (Sam Wanamaker), a rich power broker who's got Senator Paine and others in the palm of his hand. He doesn't agree with Govenor Hopper's choice of Billy Jack for Senator. Hopper likes the demographics Billy Jack appeals to and since he's been pardoned of his felony conviction he's in. He won't be too difficult to control for the few months he's in office it's decided.

Ah but of course Billy Jack isn't easy to control at all. He puts through what everyone believes to be an innocuous bill for a National Children's School. Unfortunately it's proposed location happens to the be same place as the nuclear power plant all the heavies have been maneuvering to put through.

Senator Paine who was one partners with one of Billy Jack's relatives must save his political career and destroy Billy Jack and ignore that he was once once a champion of lost causes. Eventually the deck is stacked so heavily against Billy Jack it looks as if he can't possibly win or even save face. Ah but then it's time for the famous filibuster scene. Laughlin does better than you think in the scene that will of course remind you of the classic one with Jimmy Stewart. Some of the same lines are used as a matter of fact. Laughlin isn't just ripping off the film though, he is using the movie to deliver a message about how the people really do have the power to change a corrupt system. It's an optimistic message. The film does offer a couple of good scenes. Most of them however play like scenes from an episode of an old version of West Wing. The film is sometimes very dull with scenes allowed to go on for several minutes too long. Establishing shots are also stretched a bit too long. There are several scenes that fade to black... which adds to the t.v. movie feel of the film-- you almost expect there to be a commercial.

If you have any affection for Billy Jack, the film is worth seeing and is not the total disaster you might have been led to believe. It's corny, cliche'd and rather predictable, but there are a few scenes that have enough edge to them as to be borderline daring for their day.

There may be some truth to what Laughlin says about the film not being distributed because of political pressure. I don't think there was much interest in distributing a somewhat controversial film after the country had been through Watergate. It was a minor reason however to not push the film too hard. If distributors thought they could make money, they would make money and distribute just about any film. The main reasons the film wasn't distributed was because it wasn't a very good film, it was critically savaged at press screenings, it came after Watergate, the recently released film Master and The Gunfighter starring Laughlin was a box-office disaster and it had been over three years since Trial of Billy Jack which had been only a modest success. Laughlin was not well liked in Hollywood and he had certainly lost a lot of his Billy Jack fan base.

Billy Jack was a film much like a one hit wonder. It appealed briefly to a wide demographic for a variety of reasons that had little to do with quality. The success of Billy Jack went to Laughlin's head and he burned a lot of bridges talking about how he was single handedly responsible for its success and he knew how to make important films that spoke to the people. He claimed he had important things to say and he was going to be not just a big powerful movie -maker and star, but a force that would make changes in politics.

Wait a minute said people who saw Billy Jack. We liked the film because it was cool, not because Tom Laughlin was beating the system and proving he knew what the public wanted by its success.

For five minutes he scared some people, but when the public took a closer look at Laughlin they decided they didn't like him. He wasn't a good actor, writer or director and he was just another egotistical guy who thought he could have a ministry based on making movies, rather than being a t.v. evangelist. He wore out his welcome and he refused to accept the public responded to his film for a variety of reasons, not just because of Tom Laughlin or an optimistic message.

Laughlin still very much believes in himself and his message. The message is one that involves personal responsibility and morality. If you listen to him part of you will scream out, who the hell does this guy think he is and part of you might agree with what he says. But Laughlin isn't John Lennon and he still tries to convince you that doors have been slammed shut on him because he wants to tell people the truth about conspiracies and corruption. Because of his limited talent, he has an every man kind of appeal. But he's an ends justify the means kind of guy, and he believes he alone has figured out the way some things are. That type of thing changes from being interesting to being annoying, unrealistic and then just plain tired. I'm glad the world has people like Tom Laughlin in it, but I wouldn't want him to run things anymore than I would want another Nixon or Gingrich to. And Laughlin's idealism is fused with his huge ego.

What no one can ever take away from Tom Laughlin, is that he did accomplish something pretty amazing. He forced himself onto the American screen and for a brief period of time was embraced by a very fickle public. When it was time for him to fade away he didn't want to give up his fame and celebrity. He over-stayed his welcome and I hate to say embarrassed himself, but that's what he did. When a shaggy underdog gets some success and is perceived as a pompous ass, it's time to lay low. He didn't. He misread the market, over-estimated his own talent and abused the bit of public goodwill he had won over. I don't know that he's even yet realized exactly what has happened. Perhaps he still believes that he crashed and burned because a secret society of power brokers wanted to silence him.

Then again maybe he knows this very well and realized if he continued to play his role, he wouldn't completely fade away into obscurity.

Chris Jarmick, Author (The Glass Cocoon with Serena F. Holder Avai

Billy Jack fans will love this movie, critics will hate it.... but who cares what critics think. The thing I find the most interesting about this movie is how it seems to be quasi- Nostradomus like in predicting future corruption in our capital. The murder of a Washington insider seems to reflect the Vince Foster mystery. The big business influence on legistalors and their irresponsible behaviors reflect the many scandals we've witnessed through the 70's and 80's. You have to hand it to Mr. Laughlin for his ability to look into the future with the scenes that constitute this movie. In the book that was written about the making of the Billy Jack series, it talks about how some legislators were shaken by this movie.... and how some even threatened to kill the project so it would not get to theaters. Billy Jack fans need to get this in their collection. Also-- visit the Billy Jack Website.... it's worth a look.

Until this movie was recently released on home video, I knew very little about this movie, since there was no general release to the public. In many ways, this is the best and most ambitious BILLY JACK film. With almost crystal-ball-like accuracy, Tom Laughlin shows us the seedy side of Washington; the way both political parties are bought off by the special interest groups and power brokers. In the light of the last twenty years of political history, this is an amazing feat. Mr. Laughlin has more insight on the conscience of the human condition and how the shadow side of our personality must be dealt with than most professors that have a string of letters following their names. This is a must see!

I bought this movie to watch it in 3d on a front projection system with a 6 foot wide screem . I bought the recommended 3d equipment to see it, and while it almost works it was disappointing. They need to get the bugs out. You can watch this movie in 2D and its entertaining but it would really be impressive in the 3d mode it was intended for. I am sending the equipment back and the three other movies that came with it..If this equipment is improved I'd like to try it again.

I first saw Haunted Castle as a feature at the IMAX in New Orleans, LA. The imagery alone was enough to astound, but the music that follows the story added a dimension that no pop-up graphics could. The band which supplies the music, Arid, also performs a live set at the end. The lead singer Jasper stars as the film's lead character in a sticky situation. You will love this DVD, even if only for the music. And guaranteed you'll be left wondering who that enchanted voice (and face) belongs to long after the credits roll.

The first time I heard about this movie was on IMAX. I'm like cool, Haunted Castle. So I went and saw it and it was the best I had to see it again. When I first heard it was on DVD I'm like, hurry hurry- I need to get this. I got it and it was the best. My only complaint is you can't view it in 3D unless you have a what-chu-macall-it video system. This is the tightest DVD.

I loved the concert, what little of it was on the DVD, which is a short coming of Rieu DVDs. But the video contained a great deal of glare and was hard to watch at times. I have determined that the problem is in the DVD. I noticed when viewing other Rieu DVDs that show samples from the Albert Hall concert that the color quality is poor.

One of the characteristics that I have liked about Rieu's concerts is that there is a wide selection of music so that each DVD presents different music. Not so in this DVD. Many of the selections are repeats of the music from "Dreaming." The interesting thing is when the same pieces were played in "Dreaming" they were dull and poorly played. Yet in this video they are lively and well played and interesting. I must say that there were two pieces on this DVD that I found uninteresting and thank gosh I could just fast forward over them.

Again the problem with Rieu DVDs is that only half the concerts are included. Maybe that is because the rest of the concert was boring and for that reason was not included. But I enjoyed most of what was included.

Although I enjoyed the DVD, I discovered that Amazons' listing of the songs on this DVD are in error. None of the selections listed are correct. Therefore, I was disappointed, as I did not get what I thought I was ordering.

This DVD is absolutely wonderful! The music is varied and well-played. Ive seen Andre & Company in concert and this DVD is almost as good as being there. The "chapter" of the Andre Sisters is a classic. The quality of the DVD is amazing. I play it frequently and I am charmed all over again by these very talented and lively musicians. The ladies colorful gowns are a welcome change from the plain black gowns that most female classical musicians wear. Andre Rieu and the Johann Strauss Orchestra are proof that classical musicians dont have to be stodgy and solemn.

I bought this DVD after recently seeing Ben Harper live in concert in Byron Bay,Australia. The DVD does not do justice to his live performances which are emotionally uplifting and awe inspiring. It's very bland and monotonous. The footage looks really unproffesional and the editing/direction is poor.
I can't wait to take it back to the store and exchange it for something else.
Rather watch it at a friend if you must just don't buy it.

As a huge Ben Harper fan, I had been hoping that Ben would release a DVD of one of his live shows, because Ben Harper is the greatest performer I've ever seen live. I was a bit disappointed when I heard that his DVD was going to be a documentry. I am a big fan, so I knew I would get it eventually, but I am not typicly a fan of documentries. Besides, I thought, this would be just another low production value, behind the scenes interview.

Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. This Documentry does more to show why so many people love Ben Harper than any strait concert DVD could have. We get behind the scenes footage along side live performances, and together they paint a fuller picture than I could have imagined. Besides the documenty there is extra stand alone concert and studio footage, lot's of it, but there is no question that the documentry is the feature presentation on this DVD.

I have to give it to director Danny Clinch for giving us such great insite into a band that I loved before, and love more now. He catches not just the physical actions of a moment, but also the emotions of the moment as well. His camera work is invintive, and enhances the visual rather than distracts like one might think invitive camera work might in a documentry.

I can not overstate how much this documentry is important to true fans of Ben Harper. Also, if you want to win Ben more fans, next to taking them to one of his live shows, showing them Pleasure and Pain is the way to do it. On all levels this DVD is a success. As Concert footage, as a Documentry, and as another essential item that fans can put on the shelf with all his albums.

Ben Harper has organically grown his career over the last ten years through personal and intimate recordings with often great depth of meaning. Couple that with mesmerizing live performances, whether acoustic or rocking, and it is easy to understand how and why Ben Harper has built a very nice sized audience and music career of substance and quality.

Ben Harper's journey through life and music has touched so many listeners because, like most great musicians, he is sincere and honest in sharing his thoughts and feelings. That sincerity and the continuing striving to uncover, reveal and share the emotional travels one must navigate in seeking those universal truths, plus what has become a crackerjack band in "The Innocent Criminals" - along with Ben's virtuosity, is what makes Ben Harper a special artist. The ultimately hopeful and uplifting message of his music doesn't hurt either.

His music rises from such a rich soup of diverse influences that nourish his soul so that the spice of "variety" is natural and tasty in his music. You won't find this kind of soup from Campbell's, but it is mmmm, mmmm, good. Good for the soul.

In an age of manufactured bands and "hits", with one or two decent songs (maybe) on albums, Ben Harper cd's can be bought with confidence. Every Ben Harper cd returns great value of many good songs, some great and some even profound. Multiple listenings are richly rewarded. Ben Harper has released four cd's of studio recordings along with the "Live From Mars" two-cd live set. Get them all, certainly the four studio recordings, at least. Then, absolutely see Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals when they come to your town. Everything I have said about Ben Harper is elevated exponentially in the context of a performance not just for, but with, an audience. Ben Harper is a great showman not because of tricks or gimmicks but, like all the greats through the years, because Ben and the band communicate. The best performers do this. This is music's highest potential, to communicate. And that ability to communicate is what makes Ben Harper, like all the greats - no matter the genre, such a special artist.

Oh yeah, the movie. Well, context is everything. So too with the film, "Pleasure + Pain". Long time fans will really enjoy getting to know Ben and the band even better. While this is not a concert performance (can't wait for a full blown Ben Harper concert on dvd!!!), there is enough music to allow one to get a sense and feel for the music of Ben Harper. (But you may want to pick up all his cd's, just the same.:-))

There are moments funny (Juan is especially photogenic and fun, while Ben does a mean Dr. Evil impersonation) and lovely (Ben talking about his father and performing a newly composed song with his mother, a musician). We also learn about Ben's childhood and the musical influences from his parents and his kind, sweet and musical grandparents - the owners of a music store where Ben learned about music and life (same thing, right? - it can be!).

I am rambling, but I hope this gives you a sense of what you are going to experience with Ben Harper's "Pleasure + Pain", but most gratifyingly, mostly pleasure. This a touching film. Whether this is your introduction to Ben Harper or a visit with an "old friend", I don't think it is possible for the viewer to come away with any feeling beside gratitude. Thankfulness that they saw this and learned more about music, the making of music and that there are still kind, good and thoughtful people like Ben Harper sharing such music.

Bluebeard is definitely a film to rediscover. It might not be Ulmer's best but there's enough here to please any serious movie lover. John Carradine gives the performance of his life and although it's obvious that budget is non existent, Ulmer solves the problem with beautiful expressionist sequences, very Caligaresque. Real problem is the print that is often pretty terrible, bringing serious frustration. Have Scarlet Street from the same editor and print is terrible as well.

"Bluebeard" is suspense packed thriller. If you love the old Black and White films of the horror genre, this one is for you. It was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, who keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, and stars John Carradine who is at the top of his form in this one.

The legend of Bluebeard is a frightening one. It is 19th century Paris, and young women are being murdered by Gaston(Carradine), a serial killer. On the surface, he is a quiet artist and puppeteer, but deep down he is psychotic and homicidal(naturally he claims a woman made him this way... HA!). All the models he paints, seem to disappear. But now he has fallen for the very beautiful Lucille, can he control his thoughts when it comes to her,will she be his next victim, or will Lady Jusitce prevail? It's a nail biter!

The DVD I have looks to be the same one here. The image is the one of John Carradine in a red jacket strangling his victim, with a shadowy charcater in the background. The title is in bold blue letters(I mention this because there are a few different editions). The only difference is that in the tech info here the studio of release for this edition is Gotham Distribution but on my copy it says Alpha Video (both released in 2002). The transfer is not the best I've ever seen for a film made in the 40's, but it's not too bad. The film shows it's age, but there was nothing distracting to take away from the enjoyment of the film. The sound was decent, although a bit muffled at times. But I would say, for the price, you get a good old scarey movie to enjoy on a rainy afternoon. Oh and don't be fooled by the cover art..this IS a good ole black and white film. Short but good!

So get the popcorn ready..and...enjoy..Laurie

Firstly, just a word or two about the images and sound quality of this DVD. If I except the Madacy productions which everyone knows to be awfully bad, I haven't seen until now a so terrible DVD transfer. Considering the fact that most of the action of BLUEBEARD is filmed at night in a foggy Paris, the defaults of the transfer are patent. Shameful.

As bonus features, you will find a gallery of photos and posters and a very interesting featurette presenting, among other goodies, an interview of director Edgar G. Ulmer's widow.

BLUEBEARD is the first Edgar G. Ulmer's movie I have the opportunity to see and I cannot wait now to see the other two DVD available here at amazon. It's so obvious that Ulmer was a movie genius and that solely the lack of money has prevented him to direct masterpieces. The artistic quality of BLUEBEARD is far ahead of the quality of, let's say, a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie. There are minutes of pure cinema in BLUEBEARD that reminded me at times of the dreamy atmosphere of Charles Laughton's NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. John Carradine, in the role of a schizophrenic puppeteer, is perfect with his voice so sweetly innocent. At last, a special word regarding the quality of the musical score ; Edgar G. Ulmer's BLUEBEARD lasts 73 minutes and so does the musical score that is literally a character of the movie.

A DVD for your library if you are a movie lover.