Don Movie Reviews

However, this is a movie that deserves at least a look. It has a deluxe cast (Warren Beatty, the pretty Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, Harvey Keitel, Elliott Gould, Joe Mantegna, among others), a good director (Barry Levinson), a fascinating main character (gangster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel), good music (courtesy of composer Ennio Morricone), well, overall the film has good elements.

"Bugsy" is a good movie, but with several superior movies in the genre, is not an essential movie.

If you're expecting non-stop, slap-stick hijinks ala Jim Carrey - you will be extremely disappointed.

This is a lot of subtle, dead-pan, insider humor - most of it requires some knowledge of the music industry, as others have said. I *do* find the film to be very funny - for me, it was one of those movies that you watched with a buddy, and then go around and incorporate lines from it for several years to come - actually, we still do.

It works from the aspect of being a buddy movie - two better "buddy" characters, in terms of believabilty, you'd be hard pressed to find. It also works as a film that creates this absolutely ridiculous world for these characters to live in - yet they generally accept that that's just the way things are - though there's a great scene where the characters look at the camera, as if to acknowledge the absolutely ludicrous nature of the situation to the viewer. Again - that's funny, to me.

As for the actual jokes, it's not going to be a movie that makes you shoot milk out of your nose - well, there are some parts that might - but it's still "funny" nonetheless. The characters are wonderful, the cameos are great, the writing and dialogue are sharp as a tack, and the performances are truly great from the entire cast - even down to the burned out rocker at the Menudo concert.

And the commentary track on the DVD was entertaining to me. It did explain most of what they were going for - most of which I got... though some of the stories about the set design were quite amusing, and had escaped me.

Then again, if you need a joke explained to you, is it funny?

Bottom line: A fun little indie-type film that remains subtle even while drowning in a sea of absolute nonsense.

Best advice: Go rent it first, if you're on the fence. If you like it, then I'd buy it.

Caution: Spoilers ahead!

There's way too much to list here, but among the things to watch for are the catchy rap-metal of the Roscoe's Chicken commercial, the low budget paint-feathers-and-fireworks video of Cube-Squared done in hilarious deadpan style, the psychic channeling the dog Fluffy, Jello Biafra playing an FBI agent with the line "remember what we did to Jello Biafra", a very early appearance of Courtney Love (in a spanking video!), RVTV, Brothers Against Drunk Driving, the Blender Children spoofing 80s hair metal, Bob Goldthwait spoofing the infomercials hawking get-rich-quick books, the song "Repave America" used in the Norman Mart for President commercials (the same song would later appear in "Bob Roberts"), Norman's wife's name: Kay (as in K-Mart), and the Roscoe's Chicken redux that closes the film.

That's only the more obvious. This can be watched over and over and you will pick up new things every time, guaranteed. Watch for "Repave America" to start appearing among the shots of street graffiti. Note what kind of beer the guys are drinking in at least two scenes: Cerveza Panama, of all things (Why? A political spoof on Noriega, maybe, since he was a hot news item in 1988? And how'd they get that beer in the States anyway??) Keep an eye on the art which graces the background scenes throughout the film, some of which is made by stacking the same chairs in different ways each time. Watch for a light bulb to light up above a certain character's head at a key moment. Norman Mart's TV ads where the kids are singing "ashes, ashes, we all fall down" while he passes out candy cigarettes to them and recites poetry in favor of nuclear weapons in space have got to be seen to be believed. And why does Mo Fuzz look so familiar, where have I seen him before, hmmm?

Well, shoot. The Cube-Squared and Fluffy segments had me rolling on the floor laughing in ways that few movies before or since have ever done, and that Roscoe's Chicken song has been stuck in my head for years, but others I've tried showing this movie to have told me it was one of the stupidest things they've ever seen. I rate it 5 stars, but to each their own, I guess. You might love it, or you might not.

In the meantime, Dryden the merchant pieces together some clues and discovers that the secret they are looking for is in The Mystic Valley - the hidden home of the Atlanteans on Gaea. With the help of the diary of Allen Schezar's father, Dryden pinpoints the location on the continent of Asgard. This throws Allen into his own conflict - his father deserted Allen and his mother in his quest for the valley and Allen has never forgiven him.

Perhaps the most striking revelation is the nature of Hitomi's powers - that she is quite a bit more than an amateur card reader. Hitomi nearly crumbles when she realizes the extent of her responsibilities. Bringing the third of Escaflowne's main characters face to face with her own crisis. And the Mystic Valley is not necessarily the best place to have an identity crisis.

For a set of episodes where much of the action is internal, there is much to look at and absorb. The viewer will discover the truth of Gaea and get a deeper glimpse into the Zaibach Empire. One such is a bit of the story of Dilandau who has apparently been through brainwashing by the Sorcerers. To what point we have yet to find out, but perhaps he is more than the psychotic we've been let to see him as.

Writer Shoji Kawamori and Director Kazuki Akane have mastered the trick of pulling a new layer of the story out of their creative hats almost at will. Nor are they afraid to shift from romance, to philosophy, to action drama. The result is a story with enough to satisfy and grow with it's innumerable fans. Well worth pursuing.

It must have been sarcasm because Goku sounds like a little school boy when he's screaming in the Japanese version. What's so hard core about that? Not to mention the horrible 60's Godzilla music that comes along with the Japanese version. Ugh. HOrrible. Only thing the Japanese version has is a few swear words here and there.... but it's not worth sitting through 60 minutes of monotonous voices that detract from the true DBZ potential.

I think I'll stick to the English dubbed version where Goku sounds like a man and Vegeta doesn't sound like an onld Japanese guy trying to sound tough.

I'm going to watch the Japanese version of Goku going SS for the first time. GOku sounded like a maniac losing it when he was transforming in the enlgish version. I wonder how he'll sound in the Japanese version. My guess is that there will be Godzilla music in the background from the early 1960's with Goku making a "kkkk-kkkkkk-kkkkk" sound from his throat. Yawn.

This is NOT the case in Movie 7 (called "The Three Super-Saiyajin" in Japan). However, as a basic quick intro to the characters and the power levels of DBZ, Movie 7 is actually one of the best and most enjoyable of the Dragonball Z movie series. As actual stories, I prefer movie 2 ("The World's Strongest", featuring a mad scientist and his super-technological creations against the Z-team) and the double bill of 5 and 6 (the "Cooler" movies). The Three Super Saiyajin, however, is just a more FUN movie. No real wasted time; we set up our heroes in nice calm settings, and then send some nasty androids to attack them, letting the action continue until the very end.

This movie also features two of the "coolest entrances in Anime" sequences: one for Vegita, one for Piccolo. Well worth the watching. If you like DBZ, or if you'd like one mindless-but-fun anime combat fest to watch, grab this one.

Instead Gary Busey has strapped on a Fender and in effect becomes Buddy Holly. The rhythm and beat, the frantic excitement, the sheer enjoyment of the music, it is all there. We actually get to experience a timeslice of a period some of us recall fondly and others would like to share. A wonderful reminder of good music for us oldies or a enjoyable introduction to a legend for others, a Rock'n'Roll legend quoted by The Beatles and a number of other major musical identities as a major influence in their music.

One of the lesser known items about this film and the making thereof is that Gary Busey actually formed a band and toured up and down the west coast of the USA before the making of it to provide himself with the feel and practice of performing Buddy Holly songs before an audience. He actually played and sang the songs in the film rather than lip-sync Buddy's records to provide some authentic feel to the whole thing - good on yer Gary !

Elizabeth Taylor received an unexpected Academy Award for her role and the film was also nominated for Best Color Cinematography. The main competition for Oscars in 1960 came from ELMER GANTRY and THE APARTMENT.

Taylor is gorgeous as the woman who lights the evening fires of mens hearts. Her ethics prevented her from taking money for she is looking for true love only to be reminded what kind of woman she truly was. Lawrence Harvey is an unhappily married wealthy man who does fall in love with Taylor. His constant insecurities and jealously drives their romance and lives over the edge. Can Taylor ever achieve a normal life ? Will she escape her past? The ending will surprise you.

This DVD has both Full Screen & Anamorphic (auto adjusts to your tv) WideScreen formats. The picture quality is good, but disappointing considering this is 2003. Extras only include; Trailer and cast & crew listings.

Worth a rental view before buying. Enjoy.

Taylors performance and beauty is worth the viewers time.

Miss Taylor was dead set against playing Gloria Wandrous. She felt was a deliberate play by M.G.M. to capitalize on her recent notoriety in the Liz-Eddie-Debbie scandal. Also, she was anxious to move on to her first ever million-dollar role in Fox's Cleopatra. She was told by M.G.M that if she did not fulfill her contractual obligation to her home studio for one final film on her eighteen year contract that she would be kept off the screen for two years and miss making Cleopatra all together. She swore to the producer Pandro S. Berman that she would not learn her lines, not be prepared and in fact not give anything more and a walk through. Mr. Berman knew her better than she suspected. In the end Elizabeth Taylor turned in a professional, classic old style Hollywood performance that ranks at the top with the best of her work. She brings a savage rage to live to her searing portrait of a lost girl soaked through with sex and gin. A woman hoping against all hope to find salvation in yet one last man. Weston Leggett, a man who is worse off than she is in the self-esteem department. In her frantic quest for a clean new life Gloria finds that the male establishment will not allow her to step out of her role as a high priced party girl. She is pigeon holed by her past and the narrow mores of the late 50's are not about to let her fly free. Not the bar-buzzards of Wall Street, not her best friend Steve who abandons her at his girlfriend's insistence. Not even her shrink Dr. Treadman believes in her. The three women in her life are blind to who she really is. Her mother will not admit what Gloria has become. Mrs. Thurber will not believe she can ever change and Happy, the motel proprietor is too self involved in her own past to care who Gloria is She is the dark Holly Golightly and this is the lurid red jelled Metro-Color Manhattan that is the flip side of Billy Wilder's The Apartment (also 1960). Wilder's New York is cynical. Liz's tony East Side phone exchange rings only one way, the hard way. This New York is dammed. Recrimination and death are Gloria's final tricks, and she goes out in a melodramatic blaze that Douglas Sirk might have envied in place of his usually unsettling, unconvincing happy endings. In the end we have a bravura performance by the last true star of the old system. Yes she deserved the Oscar more for `Cat'. Yes it was given to welcome her back from the brink of death in London. And even Shirley MacLaine's lament on Oscar night, `I lost the Oscar to a tracheotomy.' can not diminish this must see performance by Miss Taylor.

In what one could call a perfect example of what an `Oscar scene' is all about she says it all. `I loved it! Every awful moment of it I loved. That's your Gloria, Steve. That's your precious Gloria!' She gave it to us with both barrels blazing, and M.G.M., and Berman be dammed.

Yes, today that would be an overused plot. Yes, it's not very interactive. But keep in mind - the game is almost 20 years old - it made its arcade debut in 1983. It made jaws drop (especially mine - seeing it in 84 as a 4 year old - hey a cartoon! It's a GAME?) - amazing animation - and you CONTROLLED it! Of course, it's a watch the video press a button game - some newer games today even use a similar control sequence.

Anyone who remembers this game should buy this - anyone who doesn't - rent it from a Blockbuster (it's usually in the Playstation 2 section) and give it a whirl once. You'll likely want it in your collection - even if it's just so you have a "DVD that's actually a game". As the other reviews state - it's a riot at parties, especially if you have parties with nostalgic arcade-goers who remember the game well ;-)

Why'd I rate it a 4-star? Because on many DVD players, you'll get 'pauses' every so often - something of a hardware limitation, however.

As always, read the other reviews before making your final decision. After all, I'm biased (Now if only I could remember how to pass that one level!)

I ran the dvd on my Xbox and also my standard el-cheapo korean clone DVD player, it played like the original and brought back some real memories. I would recommend it to any game freak out there, the additional material is excellent.

On the reported second delays commented in other reviews, I was hesitant on getting this DVD due to these but I am happy to say I did not experience these issues at all. To those people.. buy a console (PS2 & XBOX) and run it on this, incidently the DVD is not region coded.

What a buzz I finally finished the game and take great joy in "up, right, sword, up, down" all night long.