Aging Movie Reviews

This DVD is dated. It looked as if it was made no later that 1960. Poor picture quality, and they could've featured more love goddesses.

While most DVDs add something special to the disc, this one has nothing new to add. Both the video and DVD have some entertaining clips of Theda Bara, Marlene Dietrich, Clara Bow, Pola Negri, Ingrid Bergman, Marilyn Monroe and others, but, unfortunately, the cuts between the Love Goddesses are obvious, as if the producers have done a quick job of putting all the actresses on a list and then splicing from one actress to another, without rhyme or reason. That's a shame because the subject is interesting. Still, if you love to watch some fascinating footage and will forgive the sudden shifts from one actress to another, you will enjoy "The Love Goddesses."

This film, produced in 1965, is a wonderful collage of the many kinds of vamps, starlets, love goddesses, girls-next-door and sirens that have graced the silver screen since the turn of the century. See Theda Bara, Pola Negri, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth and even the child star Shirley Temple put their own indelible brand of love on the screen. It examines how, over the course of sixty years, women's sexuality has evolved, and played itself out in different arenas in film. While some of the film clips are a little iffy, it is exceptionally well made. A pure joy to own if you are an admirer of any of the actresses presented, interested in women's studies, pre-code Hollywood or the history of sexuality in film.

Let's start this off by stating that I am NOT a big Jess Franco fan. So, while I did hate this movie, I suspect that the big fan base that Franco has will love this film.

Mari-Cookie is good in how simply outrageous it is. There is no attempt to mimic Hollywood. There is no attempt to present this film as anything but crazed low-budget entertainment. It IS low-budget. It IS crazed. But the filmmaking is so lacking in competency and artistry, the end result is anything but entertaining. So, despite the insanity - which I admire - this film falls way short. It was difficult to sit through.

DVD - the transfer is okay; not bad, not great. The extras are more entertaining than the actual movie, but not nearly good enough to justify buying this disc. And the menu pages of this DVD are about the most annoying motion menus I've ever been forced to endure.

Jess Franco fans, you may love this DVD. To the rest of the world: AVOID!!

If you are tired of the same old same old, take a look at director Jess Franco's Mari-Cookie and the Killer Tarantula! I had tried some of Franco's movies from the 1970s (the ones with Christopher Lee as Dracula and Klaus Kinski as Jack the Ripper) but this is nothing like that. This is one psychedelic trip to a new world of wry comedy and unbounded imagination. Michelle Bauer is more beautiful now than she ever was -- even better than she was in Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers -- and Linnea Quigley is exquisite. Lina Romay proves that she is best acting talent that Eurotrash has exported in the last 35 years. This simply has to be seen to be believed. This is not for the weak-hearted though. There's a lot of nudity and some creepy spiders but what's wrong with seeing a lot of beautiful women in a very funny film?

I am a late-comer to the world of Jess Franco. I had only heard bad things about his films. When I came to the United States I was suprised to find out that he was still making films. I though he stopped in the 1980's. But I find his new production company is still making them fast and furiously. "Mari Cookie" is very funny and sexy and it has wonderful music by lots of cool Spanish bands. "Mari Cookie" must be like a 90 minute trip on LSD with the rock music blaring in the background. I hope that Franco works more with Michelle Bauer because she is an exciting find. Many people probably think that Franco and Bauer are relics from the '80s but both are still vibrant and Michelle is more beautiful and talented than ever! I highly recommend this sarcastic sexy comedy!

A TOUCH OF ZEN is a little marvel of a film that modern cinemaniacs probably don't revere as much as they might given the fact that much of what's explored in the legend has already influenced countless other more contemporary films, and, thus the impact of ZEN has probably lessened over the years. This tale of redemption has experienced a resurgence of interest on the coattails of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, but it lacks the emotional resonance of that film for today's more cynical audiences.

Still, ZEN isn't easily dismissed. It's a formidable story, based on legend, that's well worth the screen time. A word to the wise: the film clocks in at around three hours, and this is largely due to the photography of lush visuals. Arguably, ZEN is one of the most beautifully photographed films of its time.

Disadvantages? The aforementioned audio track does sound less-than-remastered. Especially, the music accompanying the story has a decidedly 'tinny' quality to it, and the track actually drops about five seconds of any sound during one of the tense moments of Part I (the film is told in two pieces). Also, the wonderful choreography of two major fight sequences unfortunately take place at night, shrouded in darkness; while the filmmaker clearly wanted to use the mystery of darkness to his advantage, I don't think he wanted his audiences squinting so much. The translation of this film from the big screen to the small screen even darkens those scenes more, and the action is a bit of a loss as a result.

Definitely worth a rent for fans of serious martial arts films. The mysticism is thick here, and, while some may only guess at the possible impact of the film's conclusion, it's a great conversation starter for film groups.

I am glad to see this movie on DVD finally - but it seems to be MONOaural and thats too bad. Have the movies been mono in 1960s ? Sad.

I haven't seen this movie in over 20 years. The first time I saw it was as part of a Chinese film festival at the U. of Minnesota. It was a massive hit at the time. There are several things I remember about it. The first half was unbelievable, the second half, fairly slow. The cast had great chemistry together. In fact, they tried making a follow-on movie with the same cast, but it didn't fair as well. I'm a big 'Crouching Tiger' fan, but as I recall, it did not push beyond what Zen accomplished. I just hope when I do see it again, that it does not disappoint me like so many 'classic' movies do when I re-watch them long after their initial release(Godfathers I, II, Lawrence Arabia being exceptions).

well, i guess the editing made it bad( i watched it on tv). but honestly, i think Andy is getting old.......the storyline is simple, King, a gambler, is color blind and is looking for his lost wife and son. He meets dragon, whom was told to take care of King and be his apprentice or soething to make some money. The story goes to tell you how King falls in love with Dragon's sister.

mediocre movie....andy lau didnt fight the way i want. but i still got love for this guy tho...check out fulltime killer

Andy Lau stars as a conman in this movie. Don't be mistaken by the title, this film has no correlation to his role in God of Gambling series. Released from jail for a crime he committed during a gambling game with a mob head where he killed him, he came out searching for his lost wife only to find Cheung Ka Fai, an admirer of his, to be around when he was released from jail. The story goes and talks about different ways to con people and how conman makes a living from card games to horse races. Athena Chu, the female lead plays Cheung's sister meets up with Andy and they two fall in love. The story goes on about Andy discovering his loss wife and the setup to gamble with the #1 Asian gambler to play a game of Big 2 with someone wanting to take revenge and win it all.

well, i guess the editing made it bad( i watched it on tv). but honestly, i think Andy is getting old.......the storyline is simple, King, a gambler, is color blind and is looking for his lost wife and son. He meets dragon, whom was told to take care of King and be his apprentice or soething to make some money. The story goes to tell you how King falls in love with Dragon's sister.

mediocre movie....andy lau didnt fight the way i want. but i still got love for this guy tho...check out fulltime killer

Andy Lau stars as a conman in this movie. Don't be mistaken by the title, this film has no correlation to his role in God of Gambling series. Released from jail for a crime he committed during a gambling game with a mob head where he killed him, he came out searching for his lost wife only to find Cheung Ka Fai, an admirer of his, to be around when he was released from jail. The story goes and talks about different ways to con people and how conman makes a living from card games to horse races. Athena Chu, the female lead plays Cheung's sister meets up with Andy and they two fall in love. The story goes on about Andy discovering his loss wife and the setup to gamble with the #1 Asian gambler to play a game of Big 2 with someone wanting to take revenge and win it all.

Although this selection of episodes are better than most DBZ episodes it still doesn't get anywhere close to the standard of Toriyama's manga. Infact Dragonball is really what got me intrested in anime and manga about four years ago. In total i've read the 42 books 640 times. Many times all books in one go. Enough of that now and back to the DVD. It has some cool fight and some good humuor but the continuation in the storyline gets a bit slow and tedious. Even though i gave it 2 out of 5 i don't think it's that bad. if you're a fan of Dragonball you probably want to buy this and I think you should. Most people that will buy this probably knows about the problems of this anime but the concept of Dragonball creted by my biggest idol will be enough to forget the flaws that has occured in the conversion of the great manga. If you've seen DBZ on cartoon Network and you're thinking of buying DBGT or DB you should definetly leave out DBGT and go for DB. Afterall the first 17 books and 36 pages is the best part of this wonderful saga.

After being defeated by Piccolo Daimao, Goku heads for Korin's Tower in hopes of getting stronger. There, he learns of a sacred water that is said to release his hidden strength. While Goku embarks on his quest for the water, Piccolo Daimao takes over as King of the world, creating a hell on Earth! Of course, it all ends in a final climatic duel to the death between Goku and Piccolo...or does it?! This DVD set contains the next 11 episodes concluding the King Piccolo saga, and features one of Goku's greatest moments in the entire DB/Z story. Buy it!

A thriller that is fascinating from the very start. A serial killer is handcuffing his victims and then killing them ruthlessly. But a girl has a sixth sense and she sees the killings, the murders, the victims in their ordeals. The murderer is the final surprise of course, especially since the police goes the wrong way and covers him for us. The problems touched in this film are simple. the role of the media and particularly TV as a discloser of investigation details, and then the development of a debate about such serial killings with only one objective : to make a lot of audience and hence a lot of money. To be famous first of all and above all. The second question is that of prescience : is it possible, acceptable, believable, etc ? It is convincing in the film, but not much more. The third problem is the motivation of a serial killer and the famous profiling of the FBI. It is both rejected by the older cop who is responsible for the investigation, and by the film because the motivation of the killer is totally antagonistic with the profiling technique. All the victims have handcuffs but apart from that there is no other connection between the various victims or murders and the motivation has nothing to do with standard and even substandard serial killing motivations. It is something completely different. I can't reveal it here of course. But this very « plot » makes the film very trite. It is dynamic, entertaining but it is not very enlightening on the subject it deals with. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

At first glance, you might think this is an exploitation movie that thrives on T and A and extreme violence, but the Killing Hour, aka the Clairvoyant, is a surprisingly well produced, well directed, and well acted movie. Good perfomances by Elizabeth Kemp (especially Liz Kemp) and Perry King.

Once called "The Clairvoyant", The Killing Hour is a suspense/thriller/murder mystery rolled into one. Personally, I prefer the original title, since it better captures a key element of the story. Our protagonist (played by Elizabeth Kemp) has two unique gifts. She is an artist and has a sixth sense. But she doesn't see dead people, instead she can foresee who will be the next victim in a series of seemingly unrelated murders. Unrelated that is, except for the handcuffs found on each victim. Her clairvoyance strikes her when she is drawing and usually, she draws the next victim. She begins to panic, when during one of her episodes, she draws herself.

When she finally goes to the police, she manages to convince the skeptical officers assigned to the murders that their may be some validity to her story. More willing to believe her, a TV talk show host/reporter (played by Perry King) tries to befriend her and interview her on his show.

Slowly, the killer moves in on her. The clairvoyant knows he (or she) is near, but her power doesn't reveal the face to her. Nor does the director give this one away. We have to wait until he is ready to reveal the killer, but once he does, it all makes perfect sense.

Overall, I found this movie to be a pleasant surprise. Suspenseful, cleverly written, well acted, it will keep you guessing until the end, when the killer finally and unexpectedly, is revealed.

I thought "Read Along" meant a book - Not. It is a DVD "book" with subtitles on the screen, the characters don't talk or move, it only has a narator's voice and the pages "flip" on the screen. The whole story is over in 5 minutes. Most of the DVD is taken up with ads for other movies, and 3 music videos (Elton John, etc) which children aren't interested in anyway. Should be rated "fast reading adults only" who want a summary of the story at best.

I bought this DVD because it is formatted like a book with words on the screen in five languages. A group of words are shown in bold as they are read. My only complaint is that the words should be highlighted or change colors as they are read. Also, I had some trouble with the speed of the DVD. Initially it was reading fast but when I slowed it down, the words being highlighted did not match when the words are being read.
If the words are in synch and the each word highlighted as it is read, I think it will do a much better of job teaching young children reading.

Anyway, my four year old loved the DVD. He already knows how to speak French and English and the vocabulary section got him interested in other languages too.

The games are also pretty nice...only problem is that you can't choose which game to play. You always have to start from the beginning.

Finally, A Lion King DVD from Disney that has all the songs with the words and some fun games as well. My two year old has learned the words to I Just Cant Wait to Be King, Circle of Life and Hakuna Matata. He has also learned to distinguish various animal tracks from one of the games included. If you are looking for the movie wait for the Special Edition in October, but if your child loves the Lion King and plays the audio tape over and over this is the DVD for you!!

This historical period drama focuses on the young concubine played by Chingamy Yau who manipulates the Emperor through her sexuality and eventually takes power. The film is a Hong Kong Category III classification which suggests that it will contain far more nudity and sexually explicit scenes than it does. There are a number of supposedly erotic scenes but they fail to titillate with the possible exception of the pseudo-lesbian scene. Paradoxically the sex scenes are as tasteful as they are gratuitous. There are a couple of action scenes but not near enough to satisfy fans of the genre. The concept of the female concubine being the strong, intelliegent character while the male Emperor is shown as weak is unlikely to win any support from feminists as she only achieves power through exploiting her sexuality. There are a few surprises in the movie and it is reasonably well filmed. Anyone looking erotica will probably be disappointed as there are better films available. Those who are looking for the type action Hong Kong action typified by John Woo films would be advised to opt for a film by the aforementioned director. For fans of Chingamy Yau this film is an absolute must have. For everyone else there are worse films that you could watch, but alas, there are also a good many better.

Previously, I've only thought of Tzu Hsi as the old imperial Empress Dowager who ruled China for a half century. "The Lover of the Last Empress" is not a Chinese action movie. It's a drama chronicling the rise of Tzu Hsi from imperial concubine to Empress.

There's a lot of sexual content. But the story is of a concubine whose role was to be a sexual object of the emperor.

Tsu Hsi was probably one of the most ruthless women in history. She was the mother of the new child emperor, when Emperor Hseih Feng died of illness at an early age. But Emperor Hseih Feng's edict left the regency to eight trusted advisers and empowerment of his widow Queen. Also the late Emperor Hseih Feng's brother Prince Kung had the military power in the capital. The concubine Tzu Hsi overcame them all to rise to Empress.

The movie only deals with the rise of Tzu Hsi. As a historical note, Tzu Hsi is said to have murdered her own son in order to retain power as regent by naming a child successsor.

There is a lot of bad translation in the movie. I had to rewind some of the dialog. But it is a good movie about the subject.

A good companion to this movie is a two part Chinese saga dealing with the same subject, "The Burning of Imperial Palace" and "Reign Behind the Curtain." The latter two movies were made in the early 80's.

I thought this was a pretty good flick that had a beautiful leading actress, an actual story that go in hand with the very sexy scenes...

However, some of the violence may put off some...

Even though the box claims a digital transfer, the source elements must be poor. Sections of the film are too dark, and it is noisy and grainy throughout. This film needs a more serious restoration than provided here.

Lewis Milestone's adaptation of John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony," which has the surprising virtue of a screenplay by the author, tells the story of the love of Tom Tifling (Peter Miles) for his pony Galiban. The film was shot mainly on location in the coastal range mountains on the western edge of the Salinas Valley. The ranch belongs to Tom's maternal grandfather (Louis Calhern), a talkative old geezer who longs for the old days of the Wild West. Fred (Shepperd Strudwick), Tom's father, came from the city to live on the ranch where his wife Alice (Myrna Loy, looking decidedly out of place out on the farm) grew up. Fred is trying to come to terms with whether or not he has a future being a rancher, but also with the fact that his son feels closer to the ranch's trusted hand Billy Buck (Robert Mitchum). Billy is a real cowboy and figures largely in Tom's imagination: there is a wonderful scene where Tom imagines himself leading a magical processing along the country road. When Tom gets his pony Galiban, he learns a lot about responsibility; in time, he will also learn about loss as well. The climax of the film contains a cruel and terrifying scene that threatens to destroy the overall pastoral mood of the film. "The Red Pony" also features a score by Aaron Copland, which certainly helps elevate the tone of the film. Steinbeck's novel has long been a staple of Junior High English classes and this film version is a decent albeit dated effort. Note: Look for a young Beau Bridges playing "Beau" in this film.

It was a great movie and I watched it cause I read the boo