Role Reversal

Description

From the moment they are born, men and women exhibit the characteristics of their sex--looking, thinking and acting differently. But exactly what are these differences, and how do they manifest themselves? ROLE REVERSAL seeks to answer some of these questions by having ordinary men and women switch genders for a month, experiencing life as spies from behind the other side of the wall between the sexes. With the help of a team of experts, ROLE REVERSAL transformed Starla, a 40-year-old woman's rights activist, Ryan, a 22-year-old college graduate, Tye, a 27-year-old playwright, and Ary, a 31-year-old professional trainer. For one month, they lived together in a Manhattan apartment and shared their experiences as members of the opposite sex. From the "sexual identity boot camp" that taught them how to pass as men and women to the encounters that highlighted the differences that define daily life for each sex, ROLE REVERSAL chronicles every important moment of their experiment in a fascinating, feature-length film.

De Niro, Robert Early Years Double Feature: The Swap (1979) / Born to Win (1971)

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De Niro, Robert Early Years Double Feature: The Swap (1979) / Born to Win (1971)
Starring: Robert Deniro
Manufacturer: Alpha Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000NQQ4FG
Release Date: 2007-04-24

Product Description

An introspective and disillusioned young film maker becomes involved with high-living jet-setters / A black comedy featuring a fast-talking drug addicts quest to score. All star cast and award-winning film maker Ivan Passer.

Sin in the Suburbs / The Swap and How They Make It

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Sin in the Suburbs
Too good to be called "B" movies
Terrific DVD set of swingin' Sarno sexploitation classics

Sin in the Suburbs / The Swap and How They Make It
Starring: Judy Young , W.B. Parker , Audrey Campbell , Dyanne Thorne , and Marla Ellis
Director: Joseph W. Sarno
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B00022PYRU
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Description

Olga meets Ilsa -- in Suburbia! Yes, before they made their marks as pop-culture dominatrixes, Audrey "Olga" Campbell -- as well as her two co-stars from Olga's House of Shame -- starred with Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne (billed here as "Lahna Monroe") in one of

Customer Reviews:

Sin in the Suburbs.......2007-01-10

Early Joe Sarno features.SIN IN THE SUBURBS from 1964 is paired with THE SWAP AND HOW THEY MAKE IT from 1966.Both are Black and white but brilliantly remastered.If not taken too seriously you can really enjoy both films.Practically no nudity but lots of suggestive situations.This is fascinating watching.Joe Sarno was in a class of his own.I thoroughly recommend this disc and the extras make it even better.Joe's wife Peggy helps in the audio commentaries.I enjoyed them more than the four stars I gave them.

Too good to be called "B" movies.......2006-08-19

Both of these films are excellent. When you watch a "B", or an "exploitation" film, you're often viewing hoping for some camp value. You're hoping that the acting and directing will be so unprofessional, the story-line will be so outrageous, as to make the whole thing enjoyably bad. But every once in a while you go into one of these films with those kinds of expectations and wind up being surprised by finding the movie to be just genuinely good. This is the case with both of these early-to-mind '60's films by Joseph Sarno. The tone in both films is stong, the stories are compelling, the acting is good, there is fluid movement . . . they're just plain good movies. The fact that they are so openly about sex (the theme with both is wife-swapping) is the only thing that makes them exploitation films - otherwise, they're just fine dramas. Some bonuses are getting early glimpses of two exploitation film Queens - Audrey "Olga" Campbell and Dyann "Ilsa" Thorne. There's also great music in both, lots of cool, early '60's surf/rockabilly sounding stuff, which people often twist to.

Terrific DVD set of swingin' Sarno sexploitation classics.......2004-07-08

Sin in the Suburbs was one of the early groundbreaking hits of the 1960s post-nudie-cutie 'grindhouse' era, single-handedly establishing the 'suburban swingers' subgenre. (Sarno actually based this movie rather closely on a true story he researched for a magazine article seven or eight years prior to shooting.) Future House of Shame ringleader Audrey "Olga" Campbell stars as Geraldine, a bored, unappreciated New Jersey housewife who's indulging in daytime "bottle parties" with other men because her workaholic husband is spending too much time at the office ("the plastics line isn't what it was ten years ago"). Sexually frustrated neighbor Lisa (fashion model Marla Ellis in a terrific performance), unsuccessfully begs her hubby to call in sick for a little afternoon delight, then seduces construction worker Roy to cool her desire. (His loaded opening line, "Can I hook onto your outside tap?", delivered as he fingers the tip of his coiled garden hose, is priceless.) Geraldine entices her daughter Kathy's hormonally charged boyfriend, who later assaults Kathy (future Olga co-star Alice Linville). She runs home in tears, only to discover mommy in the midst of a foursome! This trauma sends her reeling into the arms of predatory bisexual neighbor Yvette (buxom Dyanne "Ilsa" Thorne) who's already planning a sex-for-money cult involving the dallying neighbor ladies with her foppish, reptilian "brother" (wonderfully played by another future Olga alumnus, W. B. Parker, once described perfectly as a cross between Martin Kosleck and Harvey Fierstein). Soon, half the neighborhood is attending vaguely satanic, cloaked-and-masked, exhibitionistic mate-swapping rituals at a local hotel, presided over by Parker's hissing "ringmaster." Further complications ensue before the "shocking" finale. While dialogue and acting are occasionally problematic, Sin in the Suburbs plays overall more like a "real" movie than nearly any other Adults Only flick. Sarno, perhaps sexploitation's only genuine auteur (he's often dubbed "the Ingmar Bergman of sexploitation"), delivers one of the first frank and provocative studies of taboo sexuality in American cinema. The cinematography alternates between suburban-sunny and dark, moody chiaroscuro, and the characters are sometimes framed to appear "trapped" by their kitschy 1960s furniture and decor. The score, non-stop low-rent jazz (each household is given its own musical "theme"), occasionally can get a little nerve-wracking, but definitely contributes to the film's relentlessly building tension. Even though most of the sexual grappling is implied and there are only a few flashes of nudity, the movie still has the power to shock and disturb (especially Thorne's seduction of Linville). One can only imagine its impact on audiences of the day, but I'd agree with Frank Henenlotter's observation that Sin in the Suburbs is more subversive than any hardcore porn, deftly exposing the dark underbelly of 1960s suburbia and savagely skewering the 1950s ideal of the "organization man." One of my top-five favorite Adults Only flicks.
The Swap and How They Make It could almost be a loose remake of Sin in the Suburbs, sharing a number of similar plot devices. This time gorgeous, icy blonde Mona (Patricia McNair, familiar to Sarno fans from The Love Merchant and the Ride the Wild Pink Horse trailer) is being ignored by her overworked hubby. Her wanton girlfriend Karen is using Mona's empty bedroom during the day to pursue a fling with a high school jock. Soon they all fall into a local mate-swapping club called "The Exchange", run by Mona's next-door neighbor Brooke, resulting in a tangle of relationships and plot twists that you'll need a scorecard to keep track of. (Sarno's wife appears briefly as one of the swingers.) The ending isn't as surprising as it should be if you've seen Sin in the Suburbs, but overall the film is extremely well done by sexploitation standards, offering a little more skin than Suburbs along with a similar, nearly unbearable feeling of mounting tension. The Swap is longer than Suburbs and more slowly paced, with numerous terse dialogue scenes set up in tableaux fashion, again creating the feeling that the characters are somehow trapped in their sterile suburban environment. The overall execution and pacing vaguely recalls Carl Dreyer's Gertrud (released two years earlier and perhaps a more apt comparison than Bergman), especially the scene where "prudish" blonde Mona doffs her civvies to reveal "naughty" black bra, panties, garters, and stockings. It's a jarring moment following all the low-key, deliberately paced dialogue scenes. This time, Sarno dispenses with music almost entirely, relying primarily on an insistent, repetitive drum figure as a tension-building transitional device and occasional snatches of fuzz-tone garage rock. Less campy, more "serious" than Suburbs, The Swap is still quite entertaining, and fascinating for Sarno freaks.
The source print of Sin in the Suburbs shows generally very good to excellent tonal values and acceptable detail and sharpness, although there is minor speckling/lining and the occasional dialogue-eating splice. We really can't complain since this was remastered from the only known remaining print. The Swap, on the other hand, looks just fabulous, with excellent tonal values, detail, and sharpness, and only very minor speckling. It does, however, appear to have been shot widescreen, with SWV's full frame source print looking slightly cropped on the sides. Not a major problem, but mildly distracting. Extras include seven wife-swapping-related trailers (including The Swap); a nothing Sarno short, A Sneak Peak at Strip Poker; an exploitation art gallery; and Easter Egg revealing the trailer for Olga's House of Shame. What should be the prize of the set, an audio commentary by Joe Sarno, wife Peggy Sarno (who acted in sexploitation flicks as Peggy Steffans and Cleo Nova), and SWV honchos Mike Vraney and Frank Henenlotter, is a bit frustrating. While the discussion, ranging over Sarno's entire B&W 1960s period, is always quite interesting, I often wished that Vraney and especially Henenlotter would allow Mr. Sarno more time to collect his thoughts and get a few more words in edgewise. Vraney occasionally tries to steer the conversation back to Joe, but I feel a bit disappointed that he didn't get more air time. A minor complaint about a fantastic package that is even more impressive when you hear Vraney discussing the daunting task of finding and preserving these impossibly rare movies. Highly recommended. (Note to Mike Vraney: please release Moonlighting Wives on DVD, print quality be damned!!)

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Oh, come on, it wasn't THAT bad.
Terrible
F+ ....click.
Probably the worst DVD ever produced
This is just.... bad

Swap
Starring: Robert De Niro , Jennifer Warren , Jarred Mickey , Terrayne Crawford , and Martin J. Kelley
Director: John Shade , and John C. Broderick
Manufacturer: United American Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

Oh, come on, it wasn't THAT bad........2007-04-21

The editor took an older film with DeNiro about a sad weekend amongst rich vacuous people, and added lots of footage to make it be about a guy getting out of prison and trying to find out how his brother (DeNiro) died after a weekend amongst rich vacuous people. It's quite clever how the old footage was used. The scene with DeNiro faking his death repeatedly is very charming. The guy who plays his ex-con brother is not a wonderful actor in this role, but he is tough and fun, doing a film noir imitation, more or less. The secret to wresting some enjoyment out of this film is to treat it as a low budget student film, as a curiosity. Then you will like it. There is a young whore with a heart of gold who drives the ex-con around and she is charming as well. I only got this as part of a boxed set of "50 Suspense Classics" many of which are worse than this. It's a freaky, bad b-movie with some scenes with DeNiro, and if you can deal with that you might find yourself enjoying this little film. I've seen far worse films and enjoyed them. I paid 20 dollars for 50 films with the boxed set, so I paid less than 40 cents for it and let me tell you it was TOTALLY worth more than 50 cents. Maybe even two bucks. Other interesting features: cool music; nice ending titles; a foxy tall blonde with sculpted calves. Probably a good one to see with other people.

Terrible.......2006-03-28

I saw it in the supermarket for $6, so I thought 'hey, it's got Deniro in it, so it can't be that bad'. It was that bad. It's old, unclear, and a terrible movie. Deniro is not even the main actor. Stupid plot, lousy acting, and a horrendeous ending. Don't waste your time and/or money!

F+ ....click........2005-04-11

I find it funny that everyone posting a review here feels betrayed and used, probably because they had to pay 9 or 10 dollars for this awful movie. I payed less than a buck at Wal-mart for this, so I knew it had to suck. And it did. But I found its crappiness so amusing that I like it for that sheer fact, especially since it was no skin off of my nose to see it. That doesn't do it for most people.

I'll admit, it was a dirty, dirty trick to make it look as if Deniro was the star of the movie when he's not. The level of false advertizing should be illegal. The synopsis doesn't even mention that the main character it's talking about is not DeNiro at all. I believe most everything about this movie was bad, though I still liked DeNiro whenever he was onscreen.

Reasons to buy this movie:
1. If you are amused by crappy filmmaking.

2. If you can find it for a dollar - no more. I suggest Wal-mart, though I hate giving them business.

3. There is this great sceen about 2 or 3 minutes where DeNiro is pretending to shoot people on the beach. He rolls around and acts silly. Its worth the dollar.

Reasons not to buy this movie:
1. If it's more than a dollar. That's how bad this movie is.

2. If you do not have a sense of humor and are serious about your filmwatching.

I've got nothing else.

Probably the worst DVD ever produced.......2004-04-03

Wow, where to start? Pretty much everything about this DVD is a lie. On the back the DVD says "Guaranteed Superior Quality" - HA! What a laugh! This DVD pretty much has the feel of a bootleg. The picture and sound are terrible. The picture is constantly shaking. There's no address to write to this Gemstone Entertainment. The DVD doesn't even list what the movie is rated or when it came out.

On the back of the DVD it says "Bonus Info: Biography / Filmography / Trivia / Scene Access / Interactive Menus" - LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! There isn't even a scene selection! The menu screen is just blank and says "Play Movie".

Then, of course there is the extreme false advertising which tries to make it seem as if Robert De Niro is the main character who is plotting revenge for his brother's death when in fact De Niro plays the brother, who dies at the beginning of the movie!

The cover photo has a picture of De Niro that looks like it's from the late eighties or nineties when his footage was filmed in 1969! Doesn't this qualify as false advertising? You can't put a picture from a completely different movie on the cover of a DVD!!

Do NOT buy this DVD! No matter what you think. Even if you're a De Niro buff, like myself, it will just get you mad. This DVD is a disgrace. Gemstone Entertainment should be ashamed of themselves. In the meantime, I'm going to try and find an address for the company so I can write to them to find out exactly what this "Guaranteed Superior Quality" means.

Gemstone Entertainment = Cheap Lying Dirty Thieves

This is just.... bad.......2004-02-01

I am not one to waste my time by writing reviews here, but after watching "The Swap", I feel it is my duty as a fellow human being to warn you of how this movie will utterly suck the life-force out of you without mercy. By simply reading the reviews of others here, you can pretty much get an idea of what you will expect should you happen to make the decision of buying or renting it.

However, what I would like to touch on is of how disappointed I am in the desperate attempts on behalf of the distribution / marketing company to get fellow DeNiro fans out there to actually buy this movie....

1) "Never judge a book by its cover"... how true that is when it comes to this movie. They market the DVD cover with a somewhat recent 1990's portrait of DeNiro, when in fact, this film was obviously made in the mid-late 70's (yes, the movie was not even properly dated).
2) DVD features??... there were none, despite what the backcover claims. Simply an introduction screen with the large words "Play Movie" as your *only* option.
3) The movie synopsis is very, very misleading in wanting you to think that DeNiro is the main star, when in reality, his total screen time (initial scenes and flashbacks) total less than 10 or so minutes.

Customer Reviews:

INFO..........2007-09-10

1. THE SWAP (1969): Robert De Niro (two-time Academy Award winner for Best Actor, 1974 Godfather II and 1980 Raging Bull) stars as the seedy underworld figure Sam Nicoletti. Told in flashback after a jarring murder, the film quickly reveals a frightening glimpse into a dangerous world of mystery and murder, culminating in an exciting ending that will leave you stunned....

2. TEARS IN THE RAIN: In an effort to honor her late mother's last wishes, Casey Cantrell (Sharon Stone) is on a mission to deliver a mysterious letter to a member of English nobility; Lord Richard Bredon. Following her encounter with Lord Bredon, Casey begins to develop a romantic relationship with the Lord's son; Michael. as their relationship develops, Lord Bredon becomes even more suspicious of Casey's motives and his examination of her past leads to a shocking discovery. What unfolds is a bitter story of romance, fortune, blackmail, deceit and extreme suspense.

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Swap (Sam's Song)
Starring: Robert DeNiro; Jennifer Warren; Jered Mickey; Terrayne Crawford; Martin Kelley; Viva
Director: Jordan Leondopoulos
Manufacturer: Reel Enterprises
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000KIX8WE
Release Date: 2006-11-13

Description

Early DeNiro film casts him as a New York film editor working on a documentary about Nixon and spending a weekend with rich friends Warren and Mickey. Crawford enters their lives and proceeds to disrupt everyone.

Robert Deniro Festival; Born to Win & The Swap

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Robert Deniro Festival; Born to Win & The Swap

Manufacturer: Movie Classics
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

ASIN: B000A1M8IQ

Product Description

BORN TO WIN: (Not Rated.1971, 83 minutes, color)Starring Robert DeNiro, Karen Black, George Segal, Paula Prentiss and Hector Elizondo. A heroin addicted hairdresser, needing one hundred dollars a day to support his habit, robs a Broadway restaurant. The tough, harsh world of Times Square junkies is brought to the screen with powerful drama and gentle humor. THE SWAP: (Rated R, 1969, 89 minutes, color)Starring Robert DeNiro, Jarred Mickey and Jennifer Warren. When Sammy Nicoletti (Robert DeNiro), a promising young film director, is mysteriously murdered, the case is eventually closed by the police and left unsolved - that is, until his brother Vito is released from prison ten years later. In keeping with Italian tradition, Vito sets out to find the answer to the question of Sammy's death, and will stop at nothing and for no one to get it. Retracing the final days of Sammy's life, Vito begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Now his own life is in danger: Vito's fate could echo Sammy 's ... unless he agrees to make The Swap.

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Port of Shadows (Le Quai Des Brumes)

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ASIN: B000TU1NDY

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The Swap
Starring: Sam Anderson , Phyllis Black , Lisa Blount , Tony Brande , and Anthony Charnota
Director: John C. Broderick , Jordan Leondopoulos , and John Shade
Manufacturer: Passion Productions
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Analyze That (Widescreen)

ASIN: B0002I604K
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Product Description

Some answers are worth killing for! Robert DeNiro is Sammy Nicoletti, an up and coming film director, who is suddenly and mysteriously murdered. However, the police close the case, and label it unsolved. Ten years later, when Sammy's brother Vito gets out of jail, he is thirsty for revenge. During his search for the truth, he potentially faces the same consequences as his brother, if he gets too close.

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The Swap

Manufacturer: Vina Distributor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

A Young Robert DeNiro plays ex-con Vito Nicholette, fresh from prison, and seeking to avenge the death of his brother Sammy. Sammy had been a playboy film-maker who got caught up with a bad crowd. By watching Sammy's movies, Vito pieces together enough information to discover his brother's killer. Revenge is sweet!

DVD:

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