Viva Pedro - The Almodovar Collection / Volver

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Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Pedro Almodovar broke into the art-house mainstream with this wild, manic comedy about a gaggle of women and their various problems with men, be they married lovers, cheating husbands, fiancés, or terrorists. Almodovar's long-time leading lady, Carmen Maura, stars as an actress (famed for her laundry detergent commercial as the mother of a sloppy serial killer) who's just been dumped by her married lover. In the midst of trying to track him down for a face-to-face confrontation, she crosses paths with her lover's son (Antonio Banderas), his unbalanced wife (Julieta Serrano), and his new girlfriend (Kiti Manver). Adding more fuel to the fire is the hapless friend (Maria Barranco) who got involved with a Shiite terrorist and is now being hunted by the police. Almodovar, a master of farcical screwball comedy, manages to keep all these balls in the air in dizzy, hilarious style without once losing his momentum. Chock full of the director's over-the-top stylization, in terms of both story and sets, the film is a hilarious yet heartfelt marriage of kitsch and drama, verging on parody but never going entirely over the top. Maura is absolutely breathtaking as the unhinged lover, dispensing wise advice to others while trying to keep a semblance of sanity, and the supporting cast is quintessential Almodovar, including a brief but memorable turn by Banderas in what could have been a bland, go-nowhere role. Nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 1989. --Mark Englehart

All About My Mother After her son is killed in an accident, Manuela (Cecilia Roth) leaves Madrid for her old haunts in Barcelona. She reconnects with an old friend, a pre-op transsexual prostitute named La Agrado (Antonia San Juan), who introduces her to Rosa (Penélope Cruz), a young nun who turns out to be pregnant. Meanwhile, Manuela becomes a personal assistant for Huma Rojo (Marisa Paredes), an actress currently playing Blanche DuBois in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire. All About My Mother traces the delicate web of friendship and loss that binds these women together. The movie is dedicated to the actresses of the world, so it's not surprising that all the performances are superb. Roth in particular anchors All About My Mother with compassion and generosity. But fans of writer-director Pedro Almodóvar needn't fret--as always, Almodóvar's work undermines conventional notions of sexual identity and embraces all human possibilities with bright colors and melodramatic plotting. However, All About My Mother approaches its twists and turns with a broader emotional scope than most of Almodóvar's work; even the more extravagant aspects of the story are presented quietly, to allow the sadness of life to be as present as the irrepressible vitality of the characters. Almodóvar embraces pettiness, jealousy, and grief as much as kindness, courage, and outrageousness, and the movie is the richer for it. ----Bret Fetzer

Talk to Her
Writer-director Pedro Almodóvar makes another masterpiece with Talk to Her, his first film since the wonderful All About My Mother. Marco (Dario Grandinetti) is in love with Lydia (Rosario Flores), a female bullfighter who is gored by a bull and sent into a coma. In the hospital, Marco crosses paths with Benigno (Javier Camara), a male nurse who looks after another coma patient, a young dancer named Alicia (Leonor Watling). From Benigno's gentle attentiveness to Alicia, Marco learns to take care of Lydia... but from there, the story goes in directions that deftly manage to be sad, hopeful, funny, and creepy, sometimes at the same time. The rich human empathy of Almodóvar's recent films is passionate, heartbreaking, intoxicating--there aren't enough adjectives to praise this remarkable filmmaker, who is at the height of his powers. Talk to Her is superb, with outstanding performances from all involved. --Bret Fetzer

The Flower of My Secret
Pedro Alomodóvar made this misfired, rambling comedy about a romance novelist (Marisa Paredes) whose crumbling marriage has left her depressed and unable to work. At a low point, she writes a scathing indictment of her own books (which are penned under another name), with no one realizing critic and author are one and the same. Almodóvar ( Law of Desire) has the start of a great idea here, and for once, he's direct about his sympathy for a character. But nothing else about The Flower of My Secret is so clear. Despite its unusual allegiance to the straightforward "women's films" of the 1950s, this movie blows it by becoming needlessly complicated over extraneous junk, forcing one to grope in the dark for Almodóvar's point. -- Tom Keogh

Bad Education
Writer/director Pedro Almodóvar's dark, sexy Hitchcock homage is his best work since his Oscar-winning All About My Mother, and deepened by a sun-dappled sadness. Handsome, enigmatic Ángel (Gael García Bernal) arrives at the Spanish movie offices of director Enrique Goded (Fele Martinez) and happily proclaims that he's actually Enrique's long-lost school chum Ignacio--an announcement that is both less than convincing and more than it seems. A novice actor, Ángel pitches a semi-autobiographical screenplay in which he's determined to star, a revenge-laden reflection of the doomed love he and Enrique shared as boys before a pedophile priest cruelly intervened. The script, and the lost days it recalls, carefully unfurls into a series of brooding movies-within-movies and memories-inside-memories, which allow the sensual, multiple-role-playing Bernal to give the performance of his young career--among other things, he makes a stunningly convincing drag queen--and Almodóvar the opportunity to movingly suggest that people will pay any price to ensure that their stories are told. -- Steve Wiecking

Volver

Spanish for "Coming Back," Volver is a return to the all-female format of All About My Mother. Unlike Pedro Almodóvar's previous two pictures, the story revolves around a group of women in Madrid and his native La Mancha. (The cast received a collective best actress award at Cannes.) Raimunda (a zaftig Penélope Cruz) is the engine powering this heartfelt, yet humorous vehicle. When husband Paco (Antonio de la Torre) is murdered, Raimunda makes like Mildred Pierce to deflect attention away from daughter Paula (Yohana Cobo). After telling everyone the lout has left, she struggles to conceal his body. The other women in her life all have secrets of their own. Her sister, Sole (Lola Dueñas), for instance, has taken in their mother, Irene (a sprightly Carmen Maura). Since Irene perished in a fire, is this person a ghost or simply a woman who looks like her? Then there's their childhood friend, Agustina (Blanca Portillo), who is desperate to find out why her mother disappeared after the blaze. Was she responsible? Almodóvar deftly blends the ghost story with the murder mystery in his tribute to the Italian neo-realist films of the 1950s. The resilient Raimunda is a throwback to the earthy heroines of Sophia Loren and Anna Magnani. The latter appears in Luchino Visconti's Bellissima, which shows up on Sole's television one night (thus confirming the link). If Almodóvar's 16th feature lacks the emotional punch of the more audacious Talk to Her, it's less heavy-handed than Bad Education and Cruz is a revelation. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

More Stills from Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection(click for larger image)

Viva Pedro - The Almodovar Collection (Talk to Her/ Bad Education/ All about My Mother/ Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/ Live Flesh/ Flower of My Secret / Matador / Law of Desire)

Average customer rating:

Todo sobre Pedro
Pedro! Viva!
Great collection to have
VIVA PEDRO
You have to appreciate the improbable and ridiculous

Viva Pedro - The Almodovar Collection (Talk to Her/ Bad Education/ All about My Mother/ Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/ Live Flesh/ Flower of My Secret / Matador / Law of Desire)
Starring: Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EAT24G
Release Date: 2007-01-30

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More Stills from Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection(click for larger image)

More Pedro Almodovar at Amazon.com

Songs of Almodóvar CD
Volver
The Films of Pedro Almodóvar

Customer Reviews:

Todo sobre Pedro.......2007-08-27

Easily one of the best collections offered of one of the best contemporary directors. I was happy to see 'Matador' and 'Carne Tremula' (Live Flesh) included. They are two of my favorite movies and were a long time coming to DVD. I would have loved Tie Me Up Tie Me Down included, but I suppose you can't have it all. If you have never seen any of Almodovar's films, it might be wise to make a trip to the rental store before purchasing a comprehensive set like this. Although, I suppose that's a non-issue. 'Talk to Her' and 'All About My Mother' are two excellent additions as well. Almodovar showcases the strong and vulnerable female protagonist with a warmth and humanity difficult to find in other films. Es para verlas una y otra vez, que disfruten.

Pedro! Viva!.......2007-05-14

I was familiar with the movies. They were part of a Retrospective about 6 yrs. ago at the Museum of the Moving Image. The box set is great!! The layout is fabulous. I had all the other movies except Matador. This is a must have for any Pedro fan. It is only missing High Heels, one of Pedro's best.

Great collection to have.......2007-05-13

I am a big fan of director Pedro Almodovar's films and this collection of 8 of his best movies is a must-have. These timeless movies are presented in a nice, space-saving box. I recommend it wholeheartedly to any fan of Almodovar.

VIVA PEDRO.......2007-05-12

Brilliant fimmaking, enormous vairety, lovely transfers. The material is difficult ot see. If you didn't catch these things when they were first released, you are up the creek. The theatrical reissue that was meant to promote the video release didn't last long enough for me to see but one of them. The dvds of most are out print, but I had LIVE FLESH, TALK TO HER and BAD EDUCATION on dvd and WOMEN ON THE VERGE on laser disc. But still, I had to have the set. Really terrific. got a good price at amazon Marketplace and i'm totlaly satisfied.

You have to appreciate the improbable and ridiculous.......2007-05-01

A pretty good collection, if strangely inclusive of BAD EDUCATION, a recent film, with the older batch of films, mainly of 1980s. This could be because LAW OF DESIRE's film director character is a forerunner of the film director in the later film. The problem is in reviewing the collection or the individual films. For instance, there are 3 documentaries on the filmmaker included on an extra disk. Otherwise the movies are presented w/English subtitle options but no extras, except for one of them.

Almodovar's style as a whole is for wildly improbable plots involving situations and characters that run of the mill people would never experience. American film reviewers love this, as they love French farce, and so give these films a free pass, awarding a blue ribbon. The true question is whether the same films would be as highly reviewed if the identical screenplay were presented as a solely American product.

Almodovar's film staples include (on the 8 films represented in this package): (1) Penelope Cruz going into labor (ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER; LIVE FLESH). (2) The homely guy is always slick, a real winner, at least professionally, and sometimes a film director (BAD EDUCATION; LAW OF DESIRE). (3) There's always strained theatrical moments, such as presentations of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, that take up much screen time, and often are comical without being meant to be. Ditto a usage of older films that his characters seem to be greatly influenced by. (4) The cute guy, who in real life would probably be greatly sought after as a romantic partner, is always a loser who becomes obsessed with another person or thing to the detriment of everything else (LIVE FLESH; LAW OF DESIRE; BAD EDUCATION). (5) Usage of FF nudity is primarily male. (6) Everyone in the world (or at least Spain) is personally acquainted with a transexual or transvestite.

Briefly, on the films themselves, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER is a tear-jerker that goes to extremes and unfortunately goes on way too long. Good acting, but improbable characters and their life histories make this film an experience to endure.

BAD EDUCATION has the superlative Gael Garcia Bernal in it, and is also a blatant indictment of the Catholic Church's methods. The twists and turns in the plot make it worthwhile as well as uniformly good performances. Unusual film from this director, who usually focusses more on the women. For those squeamish of homosexual content, this film is not nearly as explicit as LAW OF DESIRE.

LAW OF DESIRE has the young Antonio Banderas seducing/seduced by a film director whom he is obsessed with. There is FF nudity from Banderas and others. Rather interesting, not quite a thriller, but an ending that brings the story-line full circle in a way. Rather a moral on how what you're looking for may be staring you in the face but you have to be prepared to take it. I found the plot weak whenever it got into the ancillary characters, as they were unnecessary to the main plot but presumably there to soften the main character of the film director.

LIVE FLESH is an unbelievable situation of a young man from prison subsequently having affairs with two police officers' (one of whom he'd shot and crippled) wives. Unfortunately this plot was wholly predictable though improbable. Too many cliches of drunken criminal cop abusing wife, etc. At times seems it was meant to be a music video, and should have been, with pop songs used as narrative.

TALK TO HER, generally considered one of the more popular Almodovar films, and a quiet, sincere character piece. I could easily have lived without the scene of the shrunken man interacting with a woman's nude body; that was outrageous for the fun of it, I guess. But from what appeared to be a would-be homosexual union between two men veered in another direction that also made the ending quite believable. It set up cliches only to knock them down.

WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN has provided me an obsession with gazpacho that has haunted me to this day. I didn't watch it again via this collection, but realized I have no memories of the film from first seeing it, except that it was fun; so that tells me nothing of the plot is essential, and I probably didn't identify with the characters.

THE FLOWER OF MY SECRET is weird, as it takes off from the scenario of ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, which isn't a good thing. It's about a writer's crisis, this time her own self-conceit being played out on a public stage, as she is both a well known author but also writes under a pseudonyn attacking her own work. Meanwhile, her marriage is falling apart. So she's really a woman having an identity crisis, as an artist, and as a woman. Maybe it takes a person who's undergone an identity crisis to understand this one.

MATADOR can be summed as "Can two serial killers find happiness in death with each other?" Add Banderas as a sexually confused young man who appears to have occasional perfect-radar psychic abilities and a young woman who's been sexually assaulted three times and is quite casual about it, and a closeted gay detective, and a psychiatrist who wants to seduce basically anybody, and you pretty much have a would-be psychology thriller very confused about what's going on. The film has the confusion one would expect from a wholly improvisational piece, like the director was making it up as they went along in the filming. I am blinded by the idea any of these characters would even exist in real life, except for the detective, so find it amazing they'd actually be stumbling into each other's orbit. A fun movie to spend some time on, as it is an entertaining mix of psychological motivations and I guess you can breathe easy nobody like this lives on your block.

The Call of Cthulhu: The Celebrated Story by H.P. Lovecraft

Average customer rating:

A stroke of genius
Lights, Camera, Eldritch Horror!
For all the world to see...
A Cyclopean chunk of sheer horror!
Have You Answered The call?

The Call of Cthulhu: The Celebrated Story by H.P. Lovecraft
Starring: Matt Foyer , David Mersault , and Noah Wagner
Director: Andrew H. Leman
Manufacturer: Microcinema DVD
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000BQTC98
Release Date: 2007-05-29

Product Description

Written in 1926, just before the advent of "talking" pictures, The Call of Cthulhu is one of the most famous and influential tales of H.P. Lovecraft, the father of gothic horror. Now the story is brought richly to life in the style of a classic 1920s silent movie, with a haunting original symphonic score. Using the "Mythoscope" process a mix of modern and vintage techniques, the HPLHS has worked to create the most authentic and faithful screen adaptation of a Lovecraft story yet attempted. From the cultists of the Louisana bayous to the man-eating non-euclidean geometry of R'lyeh, the HPLHS brings Cthulhu to the screen as it was meant to be seen. Eighteen months of production and a cast of more than 50 actors went into making this film a period spectacle that must seen to be believed. The DVD includes The Call of Cthulhu (47 minutes, black and white), the high-fidelity and "Mythophonic" soundtracks, a 25 minute "making-of" documentary featurette, two slide shows, deleted footage, a prop PDF of the Sydney Bulletin and more. To appeal to Lovecraft fans throughout across the globe, this DVD provides intertitles in 24 languages including: Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Euskera, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Luxmbourgish, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Welsh. These aren't just subtitles either they are the real title cards rendered tastefully in each language. If you thought the story was scary before, wait until you see it in Welsh!

Customer Reviews:

A stroke of genius.......2007-09-11

Like the very smart people who made "The Blair Witch Project," the even smarter people at the HPLHS turned their handicap (no budget,) into a virtue. In this case, making a silent film in the classic style of 1920s cinema. It works brilliantly, due to the creativity and skill of everyone involved. This film is clearly a labor of love, as is evident by the care taken in the production. Amateur filmmakers everywhere, especially those interested in the horror genre, should take huge inspiration from this terrific work. Who needs color and sound?

Lights, Camera, Eldritch Horror!.......2007-08-17

If you don't know who H.P. Lovecraft is, you are a trodlodyte. If you know, but don't like him, you are a cretin. If you know and love him, owning this film is a spiritual imperative. Not since "Nosferatu" has there been a such a perfectly silent tribute to undying evil. The challenge of translating a work of pure words to a work of no words, and yet communicating the message perfectly is superhumanly met by the good folk who produced "Call". It is the equivalent of a poem about the Mona Lisa that forms her smile in your mind's eye, or a drawing of "Stairway to Heaven" that makes you rock out.

Get this film.

For all the world to see..........2007-08-14

I've given my review this title, for one single reason: this DVD is not Region 1, as stated with the product information, but has region code 0.
This means that there's no restriction as to where you can play the movie: I guess you could see it anywhere in the world... I live in Europe (Belgium, to be exact) and it works on my crude DVD-player and TV-set as if they made it to measure (which I'm sure they didn't).

So don't hesitate to buy the disc because of the region coding.

That being said, the film is BRILLIANT and does a great job, and justice to the story.
The other fine points of this picture have already been statde by the other reviewers, so I'll leave it at that.

A Cyclopean chunk of sheer horror!.......2007-07-21

I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. I knew it was independant and I knew it was LOW budget. There are plenty of other reviews that tell you the highlights of the movie, so I just want to say that if you're on this page and thinking about buying Call of Cthulhu... go ahead and do it!

Have You Answered The call?.......2007-07-14

I'm glad this film was made, and made the way it was. The Lovecraft Preservation Society really put forth an effort to make a faithful Lovecraft film, which as we all know, never really happens. The decision to do this in the old silent film style is a nice choice and fitting to the story. You can tell that the film was made recently because of the quality(and clarity) of the film used, regardless of attempts to show aging. There's just no substitiute for aged film like real aged film, but who wants to have this film sit around and corrode for 70 years before releasing it? That's not a complaint by any means. Everything else-the lighting, the camerawork, the acting-is dead on, just fabulous. You know that Hollywood would never get within five hundred miles of a project like this(unless it was a two and a half hour cgi packed action extravaganza directed by Michael Bay and starring Vin Diesel), but the recent Grindhouse has taught us that when someone tries to do a film in the style or genre of a bygone era, no one understands it, thinks it's dumb, and it flops. Fortunately Cthulhu is a much more hush hush production made on a shoestring and won't have to worry about box office bombing. It was made for fans by fans(I mean, who the hell's really gonna watch this other than Lovecraft fans?), and it's nice to know that things like this still happen in the film world. If you like the Lovecraft story or are a Lovecraft fan, this film should be a no brainer for you. We all know that Lovecraft translates differently from reader to reader, so folks may not consider this a perfect adaptation. But it is very accurate and very well done. A labor of love to be sure.

Average customer rating:

Believing is not necessarily enough
Great movie!
Pleasant love story
Shadyac, take it from me and TLC, don't go chasing waterfalls.
Dragonfly

Dragonfly (Widescreen)
Starring: Lisa Banes , Kathy Bates , Kevin Costner , Matt Craven , and Kathryn Erbe
Director: Tom Shadyac
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JKZH
Release Date: 2002-07-30

Amazon.com

"Belief gets us there," explains nun Linda Hunt to grieving widower Kevin Costner, an emergency room doctor whose ordered world is startled by "messages" from his dead wife. She's talking about the journey from life to death, but it describes the doctor's road from fact to faith equally well as he puzzles out the otherworldly events of his life. Costner's mourning comes off less lost and sad than simply emotionless and inert, but he finds good support from Kathy Bates as his sassy neighbor. Her appearances, along with a few startling horror-movie-type shocks, energize a film otherwise shrouded in loss, grief, and the hushed mood of supernatural spookiness. It's like a fusing of Ghost, The Sixth Sense, and The Mothman Prophecies, a New Age melodrama in a sentimental key that works through a rather contrived mystic mystery to a glowing climax. This is less a ghost story than a modern twist on the old-fashioned miracle. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Believing is not necessarily enough.......2007-09-05

An amazing thriller that goes against any kind of logic. Everything is wrong, resolutely wrong. A pregnant woman, a doctor mind you, decides to take a bunch of kids to the jungle deep in Venezuela on an adventurous sabbatical. An accident throws the school bus down into a river. No survivors. The husband, another doctor, is then the victim of visions, hallucinations, seizures of some kind that he very quickly interprets as signs from her trying to speak to him from where she is. He believes and thus is led to going back to where she died and to the village of Indians living at the foot of the waterfall where she met her fate. I won't reveal the end. The film is not interesting because of the thrilling suspense, nor because of the rather sentimental ending. It is interesting because of the way it describes the reactions of normal people in front of something, or someone that does not satisfy their expectations of what they call sanity. Anything or anyone that looks suspiciously insane in our society is at once rejected, becomes suspicious, and is supposed to be pushed aside into some kind of social sabbatical, or even worse is hassled by the guardians of normality in our social order, i.e. priests, and cops, and doctors. The point is that the story that supports this fact is so hectic and farfetched that it gets the true fact down the chute along with the unbelievable elements in the story. Believing is essential, provided what is believed is believable. Otherwise the film becomes pure entertainment, and it is too somber to be pure entertainment.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

Great movie!.......2007-07-16

I can't say enough good things about this movie. Kevin Costner is outstanding in this role. It's a great story from beginning to end with a beautiful message. A truly intense believable thriller! I have watched this movie several times and still look forward to seeing it again. Highly recommended!

Pleasant love story.......2007-06-21

First, I do have to say I like Kevin Costner is just about any movie, but this brought out a very gentle side of Costner.
The movie is part spiritual, mystery, thriller, romance and love. It is definitely, "what would and how far would you go to unearth a mystery and give your love and life for the one you were meant to be with."
I really like the movie-I own the movie (B)

Shadyac, take it from me and TLC, don't go chasing waterfalls........2007-05-19

The concept of death surrounds me recently. Not that friends and/or family or passing away, but with the films and television programs that I have been watching recently, it seems to be a common occurrence. I am in the middle of viewing full seasons of "The 4400" which deals with the death of some to cause a "ripple effect" that would heal the world, "Monk" - which in each episode someone dies and it is up to Shalhoub to solve the mystery of the dead person, and surprisingly I am trying to figure out "Lost", which is teetering on the exploration of the possible death/purgatory of its central characters. So, with all this "death" surrounding me, why not pick up a film that may give me a chuckle (due to the director's prior comedic turns) as well as give me a new insight on the unknown explanation of the death phenomenon. One would hope that this would be the case with "Dragonfly", but upon a second viewing - as well as the voice of director Shadyac informing us that he didn't enjoy the final cut of this film - it was only discovered that Kevin Costner cannot paint us a picture of death - nor should we ever ask him to.

To be utterly up front with anyone reading this review, I am not going to paint a pretty picture of what I witnessed with this outing. There was nothing, I repeat, nothing of value with this film that tried to blend the teary eye of Costner with that of "The Sixth Sense". First time drama director Shadyac (who would be better known as the founder of "Ace Ventura"), cannot seem to grasp this film as he continually combines cliché elements from other films, random occurrences that never quite link us to the ending, and a complete waste of actual talent. He has the blocks to build the story, but instead he just tosses them into a waterfall hoping that they will land upright. Was this a supernatural thriller, was it a romantic drama, or was it just another venue for Kevin Costner to attempt to apply his "leading man" status to? For me, I couldn't quite see where Shadyac was going or what genre he was interacting with. The trouble begins with the story, of which couples with soul-mates, dragonflies, and coming back from the dead, as well as what a popular majority thinks. Listening to the commentary, Shadyac explains that his cut of the film wasn't as received as the final cut because too many people knew the ending prior to it happening. In my eyes - that is worthwhile if the story continues to attract us - but in "Dragonfly" that is not the case. The story is trite and quite dull, leading to an ending that surprises mainly because you don't care any further. Joe Darrow lost his wife, cannot cope even months later, and begins to think that she is contacting him from the dead - but for what reason? If you weren't pulled in by my synopsis, then I do not suggest viewing this film because in 22 words, I have probably told you everything.

The acting is atrocious, possibly the worst roles created for two very talented actors. I am speaking of both Costner and that unknown talent that normally reverberates from Kathy Bates, but seemed to be missing this time. Perhaps it is the tone, the vague symbolism, or just the fact that these two needed paychecks that soured this film, but instances were not connecting. By the big "surprise" at the end, we are either so tired of the events or have (in my case) forgotten them, that there is no "gasp" or shock, merely just excitement to have a finale to this horrid broadcast. Shadyac has talent as a director, I even find myself laughing at "Bruce Almighty", but drama is not his cup of tea. This film was too dark without any signs of light, which can be a good thing for skilled directors, but not for first-time Shadyac. He needed a blend of comic with the eerie unknown, which would have offset the disaster this train was headed towards. Costner couldn't carry Shadyac's work, and became murky and muddled through the middle. He had no central focus, so we - as audience members - didn't know who he was. Was he crazy or just in love? How come we never saw his love for his wife? Unanswered questions that Shadyac and Costner never allowed anyone to answer.

To add to my disgust was the filming overall of this movie. Just as I was confused as to the real ending to the film, I am sure that those involved were equally as confused. We move, rather quickly, from children seeing the dead, to dragonflies, to white water rafting, all the way back to some native tribe in South America. It just seemed like we were jumping rather quickly, but in the wrong direction. Without giving it away, I had forgotten the main element to the ending when we got to it because we were muddled with so many other un-needed moments that the ending just seemed watered down and dull. Honestly, I was bored with this movie because it lead us down one path, somehow jumped to another, and tried to make it back to that original path that was already lost and forgotten. The music didn't match with the actions or emotions of the characters, the hints were hidden and expected, there was no moment of self-discovery. There wasn't a scene in the film where I suddenly went, "oh, I get it" -- and that is sad. "Dragonfly" had the potential, I just felt that Shadyac was behind the wheel of a vehicle that he couldn't control, and as you listen to the commentary, you can sense (and at times hear) that he didn't want to be behind the wheel at all.

"Dragonfly" is a pointless corporate film driven to bring in more money while capitalizing on the income produced by "The Sixth Sense". There are borrowed elements that Shadyac cannot control as well as actors that walk through their scenes wondering when the paycheck will arrive at their doorstep. This is the worst film to see Kathy Bates perform, and Costner continues to dig himself a bigger hole. As you listen to the commentary, this film underwent quite a bit of changes due to viewer issues and response, which I think is the worst way to edit a film. Shadyac has no problems saying that he edited this wrong, and that he didn't like "x" scene, and that he felt this was completely amateurish - which only helps solidify a inner feeling of disappointment with the film. He selflessly promotes "Bruce Almighty" during this film, which drove the nail further into the already built "Dragonfly" coffin. I do not suggest this film to anyone unless you like your water from the tap, meaning that if you don't mind drinking muddled, tainted, and possibly poisoned liquid - than "Dragonfly" will be the film for you. It was that bad.

Shadyac, take it from me and TLC, don't go chasing waterfalls.

Grade: * out of *****

Dragonfly.......2007-05-08

Very good movie. Most interesting as it starts as sorta very sad when the doctor loses his wife while she was on a missionary trip. Couple of weird and a little scary movie until the end which is a heartfelt surprise. The doctor (Kevin Costner) wins something most beautiful. It's definately worth watching.

Average customer rating:

Great movie
"But I still have to face the hours, don't I?"
Sadness with no escape
I Don't Think Some People Got The Point
Very very deep

The Hours
Starring: Nicole Kidman , Julianne Moore , Meryl Streep , Stephen Dillane , and Miranda Richardson
Director: Stephen Daldry
Manufacturer: Paramount
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00005JKTI
Release Date: 2003-06-24

Amazon.com essential video

Delicate and hypnotic, The Hours interweaves three stories with remarkable skill: in the 1920s Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) grapples with her inner demons and slowly works on her novel Mrs. Dalloway; in 1949 housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) feels her own destructive impulses; and in 1999 book editor Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep)--much like the title character of Woolf's novel--prepares to throw a party, in honor of her dearest friend, a seriously ill poet (Ed Harris). Small details reverberate from story to story as a powerhouse cast (including Allison Janney, Toni Collette, Claire Danes, Jeff Daniels, John C. Reilly, Stephen Dillane, and Miranda Richardson) gives subtle and beautifully modulated performances. In the hands of director Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot), The Hours is almost more a piece of music than a story, and like music, it may move you in unexpected ways. --Bret Fetzer

Description

THE HOURS tells the story of three very different individuals who share the feeling that they have been living their lives for someone else. Virginia Woolf (Kidman) lives in a suburb of London in the 1920's as she struggles to begin writing her first great novel, Mrs. Dalloway, while also attempting to overcome the mental illness that threatens to engulf her. Laura Brown (Moore), a young wife and mother in post-World War II Los Angeles, is just starting to read Mrs. Dalloway, and is so deeply affected by it that she begins to question the life she has chosen for herself. Then, in contemporary New York City, Clarissa Vaughan (Streep) is a modern-day mirror image of Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway as she plans what may be the final party for her friend and former lover, Richard (Harris), who is dying of AIDS.

Customer Reviews:

Great movie.......2007-07-04

... my wife got this to see with her friends ... they loved it ... must have been heartwarming with honest, realistic emotions and without melodrama, violence or chase scenes. Hope that helps.

"But I still have to face the hours, don't I?".......2007-06-22

"A woman's whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day her whole life." (Virginia Woolf)

A very special place is reserved in my DVD collection for "The Hours", a treasure-work of inner conflict, self-questioning and the human eternal quest for purpose. And successes. And defeats. This movie is as delicate, as rude, as poignant and as moving as any movie can be.

The lives of three women separated by several decades within each other, are pieced together in an impossible puzzle of simultaneous stillness, even though in each one of them, events, decisions and fates are rapidly unfolding and developing in simultaneous momemtums that will eventually lead to destiny.

Writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) in 1921, submerging more and more in the depths of mental illness but still as coherent and logic as a human being can possibly be. Unrestful housewife Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) in 1951, tormented and trapped by a life she doesn't remember anymore how could have possibly happened. And busy entertainer Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) in 2001, who everybody perceives as ok, but in reality she's not. Their lives intertwined by The Hours... And in the background just the sadness of consequence. Of cause, and effect.

To try and describe how colossal is the role of Ed Harris in this movie is simply impossible. Mr. Harris delivers what to date I believe to be one of the best performances by a male actor, ever. Of course "The Hours" has a top of the line cast. Put that together with a great book, script and a marvelous director (Stephen Daldry, who in 2001 directed the beautiful movie "Billy Elliott") and you will get this: a feature film as simple, and yet as profound and labyrinthic "The Hours".

Sadness with no escape.......2007-06-17

Well, if this movie sets out to emphasize what Virginia Woolf was doing with "Mrs. Dalloway" or what Michael Cunningham was intending to achieve with his book, then the movie succeeds. At least with me. What is sad is to think a sad story may be what it takes to achieve it.

I Don't Think Some People Got The Point.......2007-06-09

This is a very deep film that actually needs to be viewed several times over since the underlying story is like weaving a pearl necklace. The times and plots go back and forth, yet when all is over, the entire necklace represents a sad storyline that spans generations.

I am not going to rehash the story or give a spoiler, but if you did not like the film the first time around, give it another chance. It is a work of cinematic art.

The DVD contains lots of extras, one of which is a brief outline of Virginia Woolf.

Very very deep.......2007-05-24

Wow! Not a movie for the depressed indivual on medication. Very moving.

You're Gonna Miss Me : A Film About Roky Erickson

Average customer rating:

I MISSED MY FLOOR
Very good, but not great.
Exploitive view into a Mentally Ill man
A Happy Ending for a wonderful person
Great DVD But You Need To See Extra Features Postscript to Appreciate It More

You're Gonna Miss Me : A Film About Roky Erickson
Starring: Billy Gibbons , Patti Smith , Thurston Moore , Roky Erickson , and Evelyn Erickson
Director: Keven McAlester
Manufacturer: Palm Pictures / Umvd
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000P0J060
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Amazon.com

In the annals of spooked rock, Roky Erickson is a legend. When you hear his wobbling, impassioned, vocal yowl, you have to admit: He could've been a sort of psychedelic, proto-punk, American Van Morrison. Alas, history has been less kind to Roky. Kevin McAlester's documentary discloses precisely why (and how) Roky's early status as an icon--a maverick rock genius as demonstrated by his band, the 13th Floor Elevators--went sadly awry. At the center of You're Gonna Miss Me are some crucial dramatic tropes: a terribly broken family; a pressing, age-old "Am I my brother's keeper" predicament; and a relatively simple case of schizophrenia. The film opens in a courtroom, Erickson's aging and awkward mother, Evelyn, and his youngest brother, Sumner, locked in a battle for guardianship over the then-53-year-old, mentally imbalanced singer. The film captures Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), Patti Smith, and Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), among others, testifying to Roky's non-pareil genius. Also present, however, are tales of Roky's singular madness--extended acid and heroin binges and, alas, his then-present-day condition, living in cramped, decrepit quarters with an array of transistor radios, stereos, TVs, and keyboards, all cranked fully as he placidly reclines or wanders aimlessly.

The film painstakingly shows the Erickson family's longstanding fissures, contextualizing Roky's schizophrenia and, disarmingly, putting his mother's own awkward idiosyncratic behavior on display. Lee Daniel's cinematography brilliantly captures the desolation and desperation of Roky's life, camera shaking and panning and finding hidden angles to show the strange, seemingly endless schizophrenic signs around the singer--dozens of antennae, stacks and stacks of mail strewn throughout his apartment, and Evelyn's complicated obsession with Roky's history--from his highpoints as a rocker to his tragic three-year stay at the Rusk State Hospital for marijuana possession (where, for example, he played in an ad hoc band with a couple of murderers, a rapist, and, improbably, a hospital counselor) to her own, eerie film project where she casts Roky as "the king of the beasts" in a home-movie she undertakes as a "legacy" for the family. The film is all about otherworldly dimensions, centering in large part on youngest brother, Sumner--himself an accomplished musician playing tuba with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra--and his legal battle to become Roky's guardian and get Roky "simple medical care" and medication for his schizophrenia. This is an important chapter in the history of rock, without the underlying humor that made Dig! an indie film hit in 2005 but with a much larger historical purview. --Andrew Bartlett

Description

The Fascinating Story of Rock `n Roll Pioneer Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson And His Struggles With Drug Addiction and Mental Illness.
Outside Austin, Texas, a 53-year-old man sits in an apartment with four radios, three televisions, two amps, a radio scanner, and a Casio electric piano playing all at the same time. Loudly. He has three teeth, his hair is matted into one huge dreadlock, and he has a notarized document on his wall declaring himself an alien, "so whoever's putting shocks to my head will stop."

Special Features: 90+ Minutes of Rare & Exlusive Bonus Footage including:
* Historic, Uncut Live Performances: "COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATROS" & Intimate Acoustic Performances of "BLOODY HAMMER," STARRY EYES," "RIGHT TRACK RIGHT NOW," "DON'T SLANDER ME," and many more
* The Complete "I KNOW THE HOLE IN BABY'S HEAD" and other readings by Roky
* The Collected Works of EVELYN ERICKSON
* POSTSCRIPT: Austin City Limits Festival Documentary (2005)
* POSTSCRIPT: Roky's Emancipation Hearing (2007)
* DELETED SCENES & EXTRA DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE

Customer Reviews:

I MISSED MY FLOOR.......2007-09-10

A sort of 'Clockwork Orange' rock and roll documentary about Roky Erickson, lead singer of renowned late '60's garage band, 13th Floor Elevators, (who have gained deserving greater fame today than they did in their brief history), and his plunge into druggie mental illness and subsequent controlled sanity. It's another dysfunctional family documentary, like Terry Zwigoff's docu on underground comics writer, Robert "Crumb", where family members are revealed as social oddballs whose own sad turn of events rival the main pathos. Erickson was a heavy drug user, singled out by drug enforcement and finally busted on a marijuana charge and confined to a crude Texas mental institution for the criminally insane for three years, where, of course, he started a band, which included, for instance, a child killer on drums. Upon release he is a total social misfit, addicting The Cartoon Network as his new drug of choice. The film is not complete without the DVD extras which add a needed conclusion, (otherwise the skepticism is, once a heroin addict ...), but you'll have to decide if genius is lost between the pre-saved Erickson, reciting a harrowingly dark poem about family life in a drug induced stupor, and the post-saved rock 'n roller, likely to be found in a Starbucks signing autographs, and who the freaks are; the lunatic jumping the barbed wires of prison to go get high, or his symphonic tuba playing straight laced brother in a 'mommy loves me' session with his therapist.

Very good, but not great........2007-08-10

Roky Erickson is/was crazy, right? Well...wait until you get a load of his mother. While I definitely do feel sorry for her, her lack of faith in psychiatry displayed in this film almost angers me. Who knows? Maybe Roky could've had a more lucrative career if it wasn't for some of the stuff that happened. If it wasn't for his courageous brother, we might've never even seen this film. Or a completely different/ultra-sad film. Either way, the ending will manage to both depress & make you happy at the same time. A little more live footage would've made this a 5 star DVD.

Exploitive view into a Mentally Ill man.......2007-08-04

This film is interesting in a family's treatment of a mentally person who really just happens to be famous. It's kind of like all the recent documentaries like Stevie and Capturing the Friedmans in this sense. Kind of makes you squirm kind of makes you watch on (I guess for some). But as an examination of a very talented person who fell on very hard times due to schizophrenia which may be genetic or may be pushed on by acid or shock treatment it left me feeling sad and empty. It shows everyone's view of Roky through their own self-interest. I think most people in this film have little understanding of mental illness. The seemingly sanest younger brother even blows it on his mentor's (and his belief too I'm sure) thoughts that Roky had to go mad because there was so much chaos on in the house so little lack of love. My guess is...probably not... given the mental illness of the mother and the symptoms of roky. Schizophrenia just doesn't manifest itself because there is too little love in the house. If so, many depressed people would become schizophrenics. I'd prefer just to hear Roky sing and watch some performances. I think he'd be happier with that too - with that being his legacy, as opposed this film which forces itself into his private world.

A Happy Ending for a wonderful person.......2007-07-22

Not often do stories of the rock N roll greats of our time end as positive as Roky's. As a long time fan of his music (since I heard Burn The Flames in Return Of The Living Dead) I was really excited to hear about this documentary, which is so much more than just a documentary. Roky did get a bum rap when he was admitted at Rusk State Hospital, and despite his mothers efforts, he really had a hard time throughout the 80's and 90's. Luckily, Sumner, Roky's brother was there for him. You realy get a feel for how much of a caring person Roky's brother really is. If it werent for Sumner, Roky might not be hear to share his music with us. While this story starts out kind of grim, it ends with Roky breaking free of his past demons, which were truly real to him. It brought a tear to my eye seeing Roky take the stage again for the first time in almost 20 years. The guy always had this sutble gentleness to him and his voice was always so pleasing to the ear, especially to me because I love Rock N Roll and Roky is very influential. I hope to hear a new album from him. At 60 years old, the future seems bright for Roky who, along with his brother Sumner, helps to maintain health and stamina, as well as promote Roky's return to music. This is a magical look at a tragic character who pulls through to prove to the world that you can turn your life around and defeat depression and schizophrenia( whch really doesnt even exist). I look forward to one day seeing Roky perform. I totally recommend this documentary, it is really awe-inspiring. Here's to your health and happiness Roky. Also, get The Evil One and Don't Slander Me as they are classic albums by this highly influential character.

Great DVD But You Need To See Extra Features Postscript to Appreciate It More.......2007-07-22

This is a great DVD but too truly appreciate it you need to see the Extra Features Postscripts which show you exactly how Roky's story has "ended" happily for the moment. The funny thing is, too me Roky, other then looking disheveled, doesn't really sound all that nuts & came off alot more "Normal" then I thought he was, although you can totally recognize he was in a depressive state, for lack of a better word, compared to how he is today after his brother helped get him much healthier, mentally & physically. Without his mother's help beforehand, I doubt he could have survived, albeit she didn't steer him to proper psychiatric/medical help. I didn't realize his work after the Elevators was so good & as a result, I'm buying a collection of his "Solo" work too. I was under the wrong impression that he lost his musical ability after the Elevators because of his "problems", but it appears that is totally untrue as his stuff sounded great.

Average customer rating:

Unnerving and interesting horror film dealing with psychological state of mind
Chillings, Original, Thought-provoking
A Truly Unique Movie
Boring till the last 5 minutes
I love this movie!

Session 9
Starring: David Caruso , Stephen Gevedon , Paul Guilfoyle (II) , Josh Lucas , and Peter Mullan
Director: Brad Anderson (II)
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006AUIG
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Amazon.com

Few things are more sure-fire creepy than huge abandoned buildings, and Session 9 has one of the eeriest buildings you've ever seen. A hazardous-materials-cleanup company has been hired to eliminate asbestos tiles and other toxic material from a gigantic mental hospital that had been shut down in the 1980s. But as one member of the team starts to nose into old files in the office, he uncovers a series of tape recordings of psychiatric sessions--nine of them--related to a notorious sexual abuse case. Soon, toxic materials and dark spirits start to merge. Like The Blair Witch Project (and most horror movies, really), Session 9 is longer on atmosphere and dream logic than story--but the atmosphere is effectively unsettling. A strong cast (including Peter Mullan, David Caruso, and Brendan Sexton III) do an effective job of slowly cracking under stress and evil influences. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

Unnerving and interesting horror film dealing with psychological state of mind.......2007-09-03

Hmmm. This isn't the type of film you can really "nail down," in fact, I'd say the entire point of the film is to be confusing and ephemeral in its own way, which is a nice change from all of the horror movies trying to explain their plots in such a nice packaged sort of deal -- and of course, horror is more in its own element when it is mostly unexplained, isn't it? I have to say that this film was sort of dull, but it had its interesting moments too. I usually don't watch anything with David Caruso in it, but he's outstanding here. Brendan Sexton III is mostly vapid-looking, but I suppose served as the "eye candy" of the film? The Scottish actor (Peter Mullan) who played the main character Gordon, did a great job. And yes, it's true, this film heavily borrows from Kubrick's atmospheric "The Shining," in fact, by the ending, you swear you *must* be watching "The Shining," as it tries so hard to emulate it. Despite it all, this film is still subtle in its horror aspects, and deals more with the psychological state of mind.

Chillings, Original, Thought-provoking.......2007-08-23

Session 9 is one of the creepiest movies I've ever seen. It's made all the creepier when one realizes that the movie takes place in an actual, long-abandoned mental hospital with a controversial past. According to the commentaries, there was plenty of creepy elements in the hospital already, including strange graffiti messages. There is some division of opinion over the ending, which I won't spoil. But after repeated viewings, I think the ending is excellent, raising questions about human madness. The taped therapy sessions of a multiple-personality patient named Mary are especially chilling. Good performances, direction and set design.

A Truly Unique Movie.......2007-07-14

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people expect this movie to be something its not when they rent it which would account for some of its negative ratings because this is a great great movie. Just keep an open mind when watching it, and dont dont try to figure out whats going on in the middle becasue it makes sense in the end. This is one of my favorite movies because of it's ability to use subtleties to scare the crap out of you. I've watched this movie over 10 times and i still find things out about it every time i watch. It's not a very popular movie so it's kinda hard to find but if you can find it, its definitly worth it.

Boring till the last 5 minutes.......2007-07-03

This movie was dull until about the last 5 minutes when the pace picks up a bit, its not scary or atmospheric, the mental hospital does not look old or drab enough to give it that old scary feel.
I like David Caruso and think he is a great actor, but why he signed up for this I don't know.
Obviously once again I missed something with all the good reviews this film got, maybe I fell asleep again !!

I love this movie!.......2007-07-03

This is one of my all time favorite movies. One of the best psychological thrillers that I have ever seen. The creepiness factor never diminishes for me. Even on repeated viewings, I am still captivated by it.

Average customer rating:

Thank You for Saving My Life...Literally
schizophrenia
Emotionally Powerful
A beautiful mind
Wow wonderful movie do not let anyone give it away to you

A Beautiful Mind
Starring: Jennifer Connelly , Russell Crowe , Adam Goldberg , Ed Harris , and Judd Hirsch
Director: Ron Howard
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000FVQLQQ
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Description

Winner of 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind is directed by Academy Award winner Ron Howard and produced by long-time partner and collaborator, Academy Award winner Brian Grazer. A Beautiful Mind stars Russell Crowe in an astonishing performance as brilliant mathematician John Nash, on the brink of international acclaim when he becomes entangled in a mysterious conspiracy. Now only his devoted wife (Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly) can help him in this powerful story of courage, passion and triumph.

Customer Reviews:

Thank You for Saving My Life...Literally.......2007-08-18

I first saw this movie about five years ago. My wife had asked me to go see it with her. After we watched, I said to her, `I don't know how to tell you this, but I got to tell you something, and it is kinda hard to say." She said, "Go ahead, honey." So I said to her, "I don't know what that stuff is that Crowe has in that movie......" She says, "go on." "But I have it, too." She then says, "Well, we got to get you some help." The next day she tells me the soonest a psychiatrist can see me is in a month and a half. I tell her that I can't last that long. I need to see someone right away. A psychiatrist tells her to take me to the nearest ER room at a hospital.

Sitting in front of the ER doctor at a large hospital in the Denver suburbs, the doctor asks me, "So what's bothering you?" I tell him, "Oh, nothing really." (I'm afraid they are going to lock me up forever.) My wife across the little room says, "You have to tell him everything, to get help." So I proceed to tell him, "I'm hearing voices which are telling me to do terrible things. They are loud command voices, they don't stop, and I can't deal with it anymore. They say people in the neighborhood are plotting to kill me and my family."

He says, "Oh, you must have a microchip in the back of your head."

I exclaim back, "No, no, that's not possible! I never had a chip operation... I have a tooth. It's in the back of my mouth. It has a large filling in it. I got it when I was 15. The dentist put two pins in it, and the pins act like a harmonic receiver for a satellite in the sky." Then I paused again and looked over at my wife, and she said, "You got to keep going." I continued, "They are sending the voices to me through this tooth, and they can hear what I am saying when I speak. I am part of a super-secret military project, and they're communicating with me. For future one-man missions."

The doctor then left, and came back a few minutes later with two armed hospital guards. He read me my rights, and informed me that the state of Colorado allows him to put me on a 3-day involuntary commitment to get me medication and counseling. I was ready to jump right out of there, but my wife said, "They are going to help you, but you have to let them." So I went along with them to the psych ward of that general hospital, and they helped me by giving me a 10mg dose of tongue dissolvable Zyprexa, and I slept for about 19 hours. When I woke up, they let me talk to the doctor and some counselors. The medication gave me a clear brain, and stopped the voices and delusions. They released me to my wife that day (the day after admitting me). My wife was an angel.

This movie, that "3-day commitment", and the doctors & nurses with the meds are some of the best things that have every happened in my life. This movie gave me the courage to seek help. It is hard to take the news that I was not part of a special super-secret military project for 19 years. But instead I have a serious, chronic, incurable, brain disease. But that's life, that's my life. I now accept the fact that I have the brain disorder known as schizoaffective. It reminds me of the movie, "Predator". And it terrifies me.

Other people here have commented that the film does not portray the actual life of John Nash. Well, maybe it's because the real story of schizophrenia is too depressing for people to want to pay money to see. There simply is no pretty Hollywood ending to our story. And besides, Hollywood has skewed other films in the past that were supposedly about the life of a real person.

One that comes to mind so unnervingly is the movie, "Emily Rose." Talk about a farce! Oh, this movie was "INSPIRED BY" the life of Emily Rose. And then two consultants to the film with the title of Msr. in front of their names (this stands for Catholic monsignor priest) proceeded to make a girl's paranoid manic psychotic episode look like demon possession. That was cute. And what a cruel joke it is to all of us who suffer from psychotic brain disease (about 8 million US people - paranoid schizophrenia, psychotic bipolar I, psychotic depression & post-partum depression).

I can hardly wait until the researchers find a cure for this illness. Hopefully within the next 20 to 30 years. I hope and pray for this everyday. I'm sure John does, too. For the sake of our children.

You won't hear from many people with psychotic based-illness. It is simply too horrific to talk about. You can take my word for it. I say this because you all have paid a lot of money to send me to some of the world's best schools. Schools which uniquely teach soldiers how to look fear in its face, to confront it, and then to walk right through it. As I have posted before, and in spite of this myriad of specialized training, it still terrifies me to talk about this disease like I am doing now, and it takes a terrible toll.

To everyone who had a part in making this film, thank you. Thank you for saving my life, literally. I really appreciate that. So do my wife and two children. And thank you, John, for telling your story. You have helped us all. You will never know how much, because we simply cannot talk about it. As you already know.

schizophrenia.......2007-06-08

An excellent overview of the struggles and tortuous life of a schizophrenic. It brings to the attention of the public the pain and suffering both of the person who is mentally ill, and the caregiver.The movie is excellent.

Emotionally Powerful.......2007-05-08

This film was just flat out enticing. I have watched it over and over again, and it never seems to lose its value. Crowe is a great actor, and pulls off his role with perfection. This is one of my most favorite movies ever, and is one of the very few that ever made me tear up. Some may find the beginning to be a little slow, but after about twenty minutes of watching, you'll be hooked. Don't miss this one!!!

A beautiful mind.......2007-02-06

Excellent ! A story especially close to me as my ex-wife suffers from this same disorder.

Wow wonderful movie do not let anyone give it away to you.......2006-10-17

I saw this movie when I was working at a mental hospital. I helped me to understand what schizophrenia might be like to some people. If you want to know about that watch this and do not learn to much about the movie it will reck it. Just know that this is very well done and respectfully done. It is based on a true story, but not a documentary. The acting is excellent. If you want to understand more watch this. It is a beautiful movie.

Average customer rating:

YOU STOLE MY STORY.
Uninspired performance from Johnny
Insane People Shouldn't Write Reviews!!/Let Me
(CAUTION - PARANOID PSYCHOSIS & MENTAL ILLNESS STEREOTYPE & STIGMA SPOILERS)
"I'm Sure Eventually that her Death will become a Mystery even to me"

Secret Window
Starring: Johnny Depp , John Turturro , Maria Bello , Timothy Hutton , and Charles S. Dutton
Director: David Koepp
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Suspense | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

Mystery | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B0002234LS
Release Date: 2004-06-22

Amazon.com

Johnny Depp gets high off another acting challenge in this tricky adaptation of a Stephen King yarn. Although the mood is too sinister to allow for the mischief of his Pirates of the Caribbean turn, Depp still manages to embroider his role here with plenty of quirky business. He plays a writer, depressed and nearly divorced, who's stuck in an isolated cabin (shades of The Shining) when a stranger (John Turturro) arrives, accusing him of plagiarism. Writer-director David Koepp (Stir of Echoes) does his best to make the rickety material compelling--he gets the maximum out of the cabin set, for instance--but the problems inherent in the King story eventually win out. The climactic scenes are particularly unpleasant, especially in contrast to the cleverness of Depp's performance. A Philip Glass score adds class, but this one ultimately feels like a disappointment. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

YOU STOLE MY STORY........2007-06-27

This movie was on television a few months ago. My daughter who is 15 years old, watched the movie also. She loves Johnny Depp, so I got the movie for her. It's funny, and psychological to me. Poor Mort, his mind was so messed up he couldn't tell reality from fiction. The DVD also has features about the story. It explains certain scenes about the movie also deleted scenes. I really liked the man Mort made up Mr. Shooter. The beginning of the movie" You stole my story" I recommend this movie to any person who likes Johnny Depp.

Uninspired performance from Johnny.......2007-04-09

I was really disappointed in this movie, as Johnny Depp seems to sleepwalk through the entire role, and shows none of his previous greatness from other roles. And the two tone hair? Not a good look.

My dad has all of Stephen King book's but the last couple he has read, he has either struggled to get into, or found it was too similar to previous novels. I've read a couple, but watching this, I discovered every Stephen King stereotype/cliche is included. The loner eccentric writer, by himself in the middle of nowhere, the strange man - just everything about this film.

There's also a very unexpected twi